Gabe's thoughts on ROH year one

[kylehynson]

Back during the first year, Gabe used to review each ROH show right after it was over. I found the old reviews on the wayback machine. I will post them to see what you guys think a decade later. I would love to know Gabe's thoughts as well.

[kylehynson]

Gabe's Round Robin Challenge review:

"I had a chance to watch the rough footage of last Saturday's ROH show. I feel that it had more better wrestling than the first ROH show. After the main event of American Dragon and Low Ki, the crowd gave them both an over SIX MINUTE standing ovation complete with chants of "American Dragon," "Low Ki," "Ring Of Honor," and "Thank You." I can't remember a match ever getting that kind of response except the first three-way dance at The Night The Line Was Crossed and Malenko vs. Eddy Guerrero in 1995. The only reason the standing ovation ended was because all the men left the ring. It was truly a special moment.

I also believe that not only were all three Round Robin matches great, but they proved how versatile Dragon, Ki and Chris Daniels are because each match was a different style. Ken Shamrock did a tremendous job as ref. He really added to the match with those heart stopping two counts. He also brought legitimacy to it. He loved the show. His only complaint was that every match was a main event quality match!

James Maritato, formerly Little Guido, deserves more accolades for his match against Xavier. I really feel this match deserves more attention and credit. I thought Joey Matthews & Christian York looked great and Elax did a fantastic job in that match.

Spanky and Jay Briscoe put on a phenomenal match too. They had a tough task of getting the crowd back into it after that terrible injury to Chris Marvel and it only took them two minutes to capture the crowd. Prince Nana was great on the mic, Simply Luscious is a future star and Da Hit Squad are OVER!!!

I was also pleased with the Natural Born Sinners vs. Boogie Knights match. The Boogie Knights cut a great promo for the videotape and are both fantastic talkers with a natural chemistry. I feel that some characters and storylines moved forward in a very positive direction last Saturday. We are just getting started with storylines and character development.

One thing everyone knows is that when you wrestle for ROH, you have to bust your ass and there are really high expectations. I admit a couple of things didn't work and a couple of guys didn't deliver, but I really couldn't have asked for a better show with better wrestling. It accomplished our goal of presenting the best talent in the different styles of wrestling as every match had a different style.

If you go by the Meltzer rating system, I feel that there were three matches that were *** stars or over (Maritato vs. Xavier, Daniels vs. Low Ki, Spanky vs. Jay Briscoe), a **** star bout in Dragon vs. Daniels and a ***** main event with Ki and Dragon. All in all, I am extremely happy with the show and feel people will remember it for a long, long time.

The videotape is currently available for pre-order in the Buy It Now section. The first tape is about one week or two away from being completed. Once we learn how to use the new equipment, which Doug is doing a great job learning, the tapes will be out much quicker. These tapes will blow away anything else RF Video has released. Funny thing is that I feel we will top ourselves on April 27th."

[kylehynson]

Any thoughts on him giving Low Ki vs. American Dragon 5 stars? A little over the top or right on the money?