Ring of Honor - Rising Above Results

*Daizee Haze defeated SHIMMER champion Sara del Ray and Lacey in a non-title Three-Way match when Haze pinned Lacey. Tammy Sytch came out before the match saying she came to see some quality women's wrestling. After the bout, Sytch lauded the women on the mic and Lacey took the mic and ripped apart Sytch saying she did nothing to help women in the business and the only wrestling matches she ever had were in the hotel room with the boys. Sytch went back at her and Lacey went to attack her. Daizee got involved and Sytch nailed Lacey, knocking her out of the ring.

*Dave Prazak introduced guest timekeeper Bushwhacker Luke Williams. Luke got a huge ovation, right down to the crowd doing the Bushwacker march. Adam Pearce and Brent Abright attacked him and laid him out.

*The PPV, titled Rising Above, opened with Pearce and Albright in the center of the ring. They prevented Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard's introduction of the PPV. Pearce said he was here to address Delirious. Pearce said Delirious tried to gnaw his ear off at the PPV and signed his death warrant in the process. He challenged Delirious to come out and face Brent Albright.....

Delirious caught Albright with a small package for the pin. Albright wore the Delirious mask the Hangmen stole to mock him. Delirious came out wearing a new red tinged outfit. He blew mist in Pearce's face. After the pin, The Hangmen attacked Delirious. Kevin Steen and El Generico hit the ring for the save and all six began brawling around the ring.....

The Age of the Fall came out and Jimmy Jacobs cut a promo in the middle of the the brawl. This led to the Vulture Squad clearing the ring and Julis Smokes challenging for a tag team, four way Scramble Match right there....

*In an awesome Scramble match, Kevin Steen & El Generico defeated Adam Pearce & BJ Whitmer, Jack Evans & Ruckus and Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black. This was an insane off the charts cluster of high impact and aerial moves. It may have even been the best Scramble in company history.

*Daniel Puder and a companion were placed in seats on the stage.

*Davey Richards forced Erick Stevens to tap out with a keylock. Stevens, in the ring, had words with Puder on the stage during the bout. That distraction allowed Richards to nail Stevens with a missile dropkick to set up the finish. The crowd chanted, "F*** you Puder" and "You can't wrestle." Stevens took the mic and asked him where he gets off. He said Puder may have credentials but this is ROH and he hasn't proven anything to Stevens or the ROH fans. The crowd chanted "You're not Tough Enough." He told Puder that if he wanted to go, just hop the rail.

Puder got up but Larry Sweeney came out to the stage and introduced himself to Puder. He invited Puder backstage to Sweet N Sour Inc.'s private locker room to watch the rest of the show without being surrounded by fans. Puder left with Sara Del Ray to head backstage.

Sweeney kept talking saying that when his man Chris Hero beats Claudio Castagnoli tonight, Sweeney would own Claudio's contract and once ge gets it, he's selling it to Vince like he did Matt Sydal. Claudio chased him to the ring. Tank Toland and Bobby Dempsey attacked Claudio but he fought them off, then went back after Sweeney. Hero attacked him, setting off their match, which Claudio won with a sitdown powerbomb. It was a good match.

ROH champion Nigel McGuinness pinned Austin Aries in an amazing bout. Nigel seemed thrown off by the crowd ragging on him and was teasing a slight heel turn. He went outside and while his back was facing away from the ring, Aries nailed a stiff baseball sliding kick out of the ring. Nigel slammed forward, hitting his face on the railing, busting open his eyebrow and nose hardway. There were a lot of snug shots and MMA inspired striking in the guard. Nigel drilled Aries with a lariat. Aries dropkicked Nigel to the floor while he was attempting a handstand in the corner. Aries went for a tope suicida but was caught by a Nigel forearm then hit with a stunner to the floor off the apron. McGuinness nailed a lariat for a two count. Aries attacked Nigel's bad shoulder then drilled a missile dropkick from the top. Aries charged towards Nigel in the corner but was caught with a big boot. McGuinness went for the rebound lariat but Aries nailed him and splashed him to the floor. They battled on the floor. Aries ravaged Nigel with elbow strikes in the corner. He went for a brainbuster but McGuinness reversed it and crotched him on the top rope. McGuinness nailed Aries with a lariat sending Aries to the floor taking an insane 360 bump. They battled on the floor with Aries dropping Nigel's bad shoulder on the railing. Aries worked over Nigel and hit a brainbuster. He went for the 450 but Nigel got his knees up. Aries came back with another brainbuster and submission attempt. They went crazy with back and forth slaps and strikes. Nigel finally caught Aries with a rebound lariat for the pin. Insanely awesome match.

We are now at intermission.

Necro Butcher was victorious In a Four Way Fray. Necro Butcher nailed a knockout punch then pinned Mitch Franklin. Jigsaw pinned Cross with a bridged rollup. Necro nailed Jigsaw with a knockout punch then hit a sitdown powerbomb for the pin.

*In a PPV match, Bryan Danielson defeated Takeshi Morishima in a bout with "relaxed rules." Morishima attacked Danielson as he came down the aisle and beat him outside, bloodying him by throwing him into the barrier. Morishima decimated Danielson early. Danielson came back with a fiery comeback but was cut off with an insane lariat. He nailed a backdrop driver and a lariat but Danielson got his shoulder up at two. Morishima began kicking Danielson low and when the referee stepped in, Morishima shoved him down. They DQ'd Morishima. Morishima laid out the referee with a backdrop driver. Officials hit the ring to pull Morishima off. Danielson grabbed the timekeeper's hammer and went after Morishima's eye with it.

In a Best of Three Falls bout, ROH Tag Team champions The Briscoes defeated Roderick Strong and Rocky Romero.

Naomichi Marufuji pinned Claudio Castagnoli. Sweet N Sour Inc attacked Claudio. He fought them off. Daniel Puder hit the ring and laid out Claudio with a leglock. Erick Stevens hit the ring and faced off with Puder. Davey Richards and Roderick Strong beats down Stevens. They went to nail Stevens with the FIP belt but the Vulture Squad hit the ring and laid them out. The show ended with Julius Smokes cutting a promo to lead a ROH chant.

The PPV portion of the taping will debut in March 2008.

Few changes to the card. Nigel isn't wrestling because he suffered a
concussion, a broken nose and received 14 stitches thanks to last
night's match with Aries. The 4 way will now see the winner receiving
a world title shot at the next NYC show in February and will now
feature Aries/Danielson/Morishima/Hero. Aries and Marufuji vs Richards
and Romero is now just Marufuji vs Richards. Evans/Necro is now a no
DQ match (I guess they felt bad about Nigel not being able to wrestle
so they thought we'd enjoy that last change).

1. Ruckus and Jigsaw of the Vulture Squad defeated Matt Cross and
Bobby Fish. Good opener. This was Fish's ROH debut and he meshed well
with Cross. Ruckus surpisingly didn't do any of his usual
flippy-offense. Jigsaw pinned Fish following the Gin-n-tonic.

2. Larry Sweeney defeated Claudio Castagnoli. Sweeney introduced
Daniel Puder as officially the newest member of Sweet 'n Sour Inc.
After a few minutes of action, Puder cheapshotted Claudio's leg from
behind with Tank Toland's exercise dealy and Sweeney got the win. Sara
Del Ray sold this like she was disappointed, perhaps signaling a face
turn. Claudio then gave Toland a Ricola Bomb before leaving. Not
Claudio's best weekend.

3. Jack Evans defeated Necro Butcher in a No DQ match. This is where
the show really started picking up. Necro took lots of sick bumps (big
surprise), but Evans took just as many, including a sideslam onto the
tops of two chairs. Necro took a sunset flip powerbomb from the apron
to the concrete at one point. Lacey interfered on behalf of Necro and
Mercedez Martinez ran out and decked her, shortly after which Evans
rolled up Necro. Evans then christened her "Booty Vulture," the newest
member of the Vulture Squad. Julius Smokes is insane, by the way. In a
good way.

4. Naomichi Marufuji defeated Davey Richards. Great match that hovered
around the 4 star mark. Davey stayed with Maru the whole way, nailing
lots of stiff kicks and nice power moves. Maru eventually got the win
with the Shiranui.

5. The Hangmen Three of Adam Pearce, Brent Albright and BJ Whitmer
defeated Kevin Steen, El Generico and Delirious. Insane match. They
must've broken about 6 or 7 tables. Albright did the spot where he
kicks the table into pieces and uses them on people's heads.
Bushwhacker Luke came out at one point and he and the faces gave the
heels battering rams to avenge last night's beatdown, then they all
did the Bushwhacker bounce (yes, even Steen). Pelle Primeau came out
later and hurrancanrana'd Shane Hagadorn through a table on the
outside. Pearce nailed Delirious with a piledriver from the top
through a table for the victory. Great effort from everyone here.

Intermission

6. Rocky Romero defeated Ernis Osiris. Short, nothing match,
presumably to give Romero a spot on the card.

7. Erick Stevens defeated Roderick Strong to become the NEW FIP
Heavyweight Champion. Just another great match. It took a while to get
going, but the last few minutes were tremendous. Strong powerbombed
Stevens near the entranceway, but Stevens got back in just before the
twenty-count. Stevens won with a doctor bomb.

8. Four Way Eliminaton Match: Bryan Danielson defeated Austin Aries,
Chris Hero and Takeshi Morishima. I hate to be redundant, but this was
another fantastic match. Hero was really on tonight, which I think he
had to be after that poor showing last night. Funny altercation
wherein Morishima absolutely owned Hero. Aries hit the 450 on Shima,
then he and Dragon covered him together and Hero ran it and put his
arms on top (contributing nothing, of course) to eliminate Shima. Hero
then celebrated and raised Aries's and Dragon's hands. Really funny.
Aries cradled Hero to eliminate him, leaving Aries and Dragon to
battle it out. After a heated final exchange that saw Dragon lock in
the cattle mutilation, Aries lock in his finisher and both men deliver
stiff elbows and knees, Dragon eventually elbowed Aries into oblivion
until the ref called it. Aries wouldn't shake Dragon's hand
afterwards. I guess he's turning heel after all.

9. Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black of the Age of the Fall defeated The
Briscoes to become the NEW ROH Tag Team Champions. Great stuff here.
Daizee Haze was there to counter Lacey, but neither got involved. This
was tag team wrestling at its best. Highlights included the Briscoes
(Jessica) bieling Jacobs TWICE on the concrete and also nailing Black
with a doomsday device from the apron to the floor (ala the bump Aries
took last night). After TONS of hot near-falls, the AOTF got the win
and the titles following a sick Contra Code off the top rope. The only
thing that bothered me about the match was the fact that nearly
everyone was booing the AOTF at the opening bell, but then began
chanting "Age of the Fall!" when they won the belts. Lame. It was
probably the right time to get the belts off the Briscoes, though, and
Jacobs and Black are the right team to win them.