These children are NOT AMUSED!

I suppose it does not reflect well on me to have so much fun at the expense of these kids, but it just isn't getting old. Good Times.

Yeah, this is happening.

So my last "review" of The Dark Knight was more advertisement than anything of actual substance, but, you know, its not like anybody's paying me to do this or forcing you to read, so get over it. Anywho, as we sit here today, I have seen the Dark Knight two more times and this last time, I saw it on the IMAX. If you haven't seen it on the IMAX and its a viable option for you, I highly, highly reccomend doing so, it will be worth the trip, because seeing it on the IMAX definately enhances the experience. I've already been giving thoughts to seeining it again on the IMAX while I can. I don't go see movies 4 times in theater, I just don't, but I have totally nerded out on the Dark Knight.

Warning for those of you who have not seen the Dark Knight yet (and if you haven't, I can only imagine you've just been released from prison, been living in the woods mailing explosive packages or are just being that jerk who rebels for the sake of being rebellious and if you're that guy, get over it, join the flock): While I'm not going to be blatantly posting spoilers, I'm not going to be avoiding them as I write this either, so they might be there. There, you've been warned. Now either go see the damn movie already or sit down shut up and enjoy the blatant ass-kissing I'm probably about to do.

Where to start? I guess I'll start with where you should start when reviewing a movie with as much history as the Batman franchise, and that is how you are acquainted with the franchise, because that definately colors how you view the franchise. To this day, I have never actually read a Batman comic. I've never been much of a DC guy, for whatever reason. The Batman I got into where the Animated Series and Michael Keaton... and Adam West (Come on, admit it, we all love him and that campy series). Those where what I loved, what I know and through which I have viewed the Batman mythology. The Animated Series really caught me as a kid because it was one of the few cartoon shows that didn't pander to the kid crowd, which made it cool. It could do serious. Also, I remember a few years ago when I found out that Luke Skywalker was the voice of the Joker and to this day, i still have trouble wrapping my head around that concept. Bless you, Mark Hamill, bless you. Also, I loved the original Batman movie. Tim Burton certainly has a flair and I would would go to battle for Michael Keaton as the best Batman. The sequel creeped me out as a kid (and still does, honestly). In all honesty, I actually liked the third and fourth one's when I saw them. I still think three is all right, definately a step back from Burton's Batman films, but not altogether bad. However, kind of like the Matrix sequels, upon subsequent viewings of the fourth one, I have developed a strong hatred for it. To this day, I still hold a grudge against George Clooney, even though his role in that disaster is limited.

Fast Forward a few years and enter Batman Begins. I entered that movie hesitantly, coming off the disasterpiece that was that fourth Batman movie. I had no idea who Christopher Nolan was and I'll be honest, I had difficulty differentiating between Christian Bale and Christian Slater. Christian Bale, I knew from Equilibrium, which a friend had reccomended to me and I was imminently impressed with him, but didn't have him committed to memory. Christian Slater as Batman was not something that inspired confidence (not a direct knock on Slater, really. he was great in True Romance, but I just don't think he's got Batman in him). Then there was the villain combination of the Scarecrow and Ra's Al Ghul, which did not inspire much confidence, even though Ra's was slated to be played by Ken Watanabe, who ruled in the Last Samurai (a movie I love, even if Tom Cruise is a nutball. Dude's still Maverick in my heart). They did not strike me as A-List villains, particularly Ra's. The supporting cast did inspire some confidence, because Michael Caine, Gary Oldman Liam Neeson, and Morgan Freeman (get well soon) aren't going to suck and its unlikely you'd get all these guys on board for a crappy movie. I also harbor a crush for Katie Holmes (even if she is being smothered by Crazy Tom. Anybody think that, like, Nicole Kidman held the keys to Tom's sanity? because when they were together, dude didn't seem to me to be so out there and it was only after their break-up that the wheels came off, I digress). As it turn out, I love Batman Begins. One of the things that impressed me about this interpretation of Batman was how it didn't feel like a comic book origin story. They told a story that made an emotionally scarred rich kid who becomes a bat themed masked vigilante and they made it make the kind of sense that works in movies. It was a movie that, I felt, you didn't have to be a fan of the comics (or cartoons) to enjoy, while also providing a backstory that showed the beauty of "interpretation." They didn't stick to the perscribed story, instead they explored the mythology and worked with it to create their story. Christian Bale rocked. I love this man. Liam Neeson played his role extremely well, as well. Poor guy seems kinda typed cast into the mentor role since Star Wars, but the man works it, Cillian Murphy is also underrated in what he does with the Scarecrow. Scarecrow wasn't much of a threat, sure, but he managed to be a great mix of creepy and slimey. Also, it seems to me Katie Holmes gets a bad rap for her performace. Seems to me Rachael is a thankless role to begin with. She's not great, but I wouldn't call her a negative. My biggest problem with Begins was the Batman voice. When under the cowl, Batman adopts a deep gravelly accent that was a bit much. However, over subsequent viewings, I've noticed the voice in this movie less and less and it makes sense for a few reasons. Its definately better than Superman, who looks acts and sounds exactly the same as Clarke Kent and no one notices. Also, in context, Batman is supposed to be a nightmare, not a person, so its another way that the voice works. It was a minor irritation, but one I've moved on from.

Now on to The Dark Knight. Going in, my concern was how can they possibly follow up on a movie as good as Batman Begins. I also had reservations of revisting the Joker. As I said, I was a big fan of the original Batman and Jack's performance is definately on my mind. My reservation are added upon when my buddy tells me that they cast Heath Ledger was the Joker. The pretty boy from the Patriot and that Knight movie? And you've got him trying to do a role Jack has already done? Uh-oh, they are f'n it up. ... Yeah, I look like a moron now, but... yeah, I'm a moron. Of course, my confidence is slightly restored when I saw an image of Ledger's Joker and found it thoroghly creepy, maybe this has got a shot. I mostly tried to avoid the previews, but you can only avoid so much and The Dark Knight has been everywhere for a while. It helped that the previews ruled. Then, of course, there was Heath Ledger's untimely passing and it became impossible to avoid elevated expactations for the Dark Knight. Also not helping keep expactations in line, there was Iron Man, which was another great comic book movie and had to be competition for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight as the best Super Hero movie.

It is astonishing that a movie with this much build up can not only deliver, but to deliver so thoroghly as the Dark Knight does. One of the recurring problems in comic book movies, especially sequels, is trying to do too much in their movies. Its a problem that plagued that latter Batmans, the third X-Men and Spider-Man films, among others. Either introducing too many new characters and new plot threads that nothing is allowed to develop or satisfy. The Dark Knight illustrates the difference between "trying" these things and "doing" them, because The Dark Knight is a big movie that does a lot, plot-wise and character wise, not to mention action wise. Where other movies fail to explore and develop their mythology or allow their threads to evolve into something satisfying, The Dark Knight succeeds because it manages to rush these elements without feeling like they are rushing. Through tremendous scripting and direction, the movie moves both briskly enough to keep the viewer engaged through its long running length, but also slow enough to allow the characters to develop and deliver the exposition necassary to make them count.

The atmosphere established in the Dark Knight is also a tremendous accomplishment. A problem many comic book movies have is creating a tension surrounding that world. The Dark Knight manages to create an atmosphere of true tension. Even the established characters don't feel safe. This is not a movie where everything is going to turn out all right, where good triumphs over evil and the good guys are always right and better than the bad guys. Eliminating this sense of safety has to be considered one of the top accomplishments. Many supposed triumphs are hollow triumphs, if they are evn triumphs at all and there are true consequences for the character's actions. There is no doubt that this is a dark and violent movie (its a wonder that it got a PG-13, then again, the MPAA is far more concerned with protecting our eyes from sex than they are violence, so whatever), but it is not without its moments of triumphs and levity. Insteadm I'd say that it is because the darkness faced by the good guys is so oppressive that their triumphs, even the modest ones, are so much more satisfying.

Heath Ledger is certainly one of the lightning rods of conversation surrounding this movie. It has become almost impossible to seperate this performance from the actor's death. There's something about dying young that can turn even the pedestrian into genius in some minds. However, Ledger's Joker is not pedestrian. As it stands right now, I'd have a hard time making a case that he should not be awarded an Oscar for this role post-humously (not that I'd want to take that position). I also think that its likely he would not be considered for that award had he not died. However, I don't think its fair to say that he wouldn't deserve it. This is truly an amazing performance. Ledger's Joker is truly a frightening, yet magnetic character. He manages to be terrifying and amusing all at the same time. The degrees of seperation you see between Joker's humor and his madness probably says something about you. Some of the stuff people laughed at from the Joker was a little disconcerting. In general, you just don't take roles that Jack has done and do them better, you just don't, but that's what Ledger does. his Joker makes Jack's look like a harmless prankster. One of the most impressive aspects of Ledger's performance, to me, is how he disappears in the role. While the makeup certainly helps and deserves its own props, Ledger still manages to be almost invisible. I didn;t see or hear heartthrob Heath, all I saw was the Joker. This Joker is a character that is exhausting to watch, I can only imagine how exhausting it would be to play. I think this performance is going to be a lightning rod of conversation for years to come, but, whether its because of his death or not, has earned its lofty elevation and any awards it may bring.

While, to a certain extent, Ledger owns this movie, the rest of the cast does its job tremendously. Christian Bale is Batman. I used to be a staunch supporter of Keaton, but Bale just own this role now. I'm not entirely sure how to explain this, but one of the things I love about Bale's Batman is that he is a complete character, he doesn't play Batman and Bruce Wayne, where one is more obviously the strength than the other, he plays it as Batman/Bruce Wayne, if that makes any sense. There isn't the seperation between the ego and the alter ego. The way it is played, clueless billionaire playboy Bruce is clearly an act and it is clearly used and manipulated by Bruce (in Begins, his brilliant get out of my house speech). In this movie, the subtle move of dumping out his wine at his party. Bruce's billionaire antics provide some of the moments of levity in the film. Bale doesn't display the insecurity some stars have when they are not the sexiest character. He doesn't try to steal thunder from his co-stars and, instead, works with them to enhance their scenes. He did so opposite Russell Crowe in 3:10 to Yuma and does so here when opposite Ledger or Eckhart.

Speaking of Eckhart, he also provides a, rather unexpectedly, great turn as Harvey Dent. He brings a lot of charisma to Dent and plays him with a great mix of brashness and swagger. You see how this man can earn the nickname Gotham's White Knight. He also gets to show his chops, as Harvey Dent's fall is as important a part of this movie as the Batman or the Joker, if not more important and Dent does a very solid job of playing this role.

Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are their usual excellent selves in their supporting roles. They bring with them a dignity to any role they play that you just can't quantify.

Gary Oldman is excellent as Gordon. Oldman is a guy who has made an excellent career out of playing scene chewing villains or other over-the-top characters, has done well going against that type recently, with Gordon and as Sirius Black in the Harry Potter movies. He was painfully underused in Begins, but gives a really underrated performance here as the good cop, struggling to do the right thing in a world that has little room for good people.

Maggie Gyllenhal replaces Katie Holmes as Rachael Dawes. The change is largely cosmetic, IMO. If you aren't paying attention, you probably wouldn't even notice, as Gyllenhal plays Rachael very similar to Holmes. It just seems to be a thankless role.

One of the other aspects I love about The Dark Knight is the sense of continuity between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. While I don't think its necessary to see Begins to appreciate The Dark Knight, it certainly doesn't hurt. The Dark Knight picks up in a logical point from where Begins left off. There isn't that need to reset or reintroduce things. The world of the Dark Knight is the same as the world of Begins. I love that they brought Cillian Murphy back for a cameo to tie up one of Begins's loose ends (it also provides one of my favorite lines in the movie).

The movie is not without its flaws, but they are nitpicks as much as anything. The Batman voice is exposed here, as Batman has more lines and more important lines and that voice is distracting when delivering them (to be fair, Batman had been battered, stabbed and shot when he delivers some of them, which I think is quickly forgotten). Also, what the hell happened at Bruce's party after Batman falls off the roof?

I have a lot of faith in Christopher Nolan. Not just for his Batman series, but his other work (I highly recommend Memento with Guy Pearce and that guy and girl from the Matrix. Great movie. Insomnia is pretty good, but more impressive is the fact that Nolan is able to restrain Al Pacino and Robin Williams), but how the hell do you follow this movie up? I mean, I don't think you can possibly top this movie, but it is just too good, making too much money and had an ending sequence that just leaves me salivating for more. The ending, while I don't think necessarily requiring a sequel, sets up one beautifully for the most part. This is further complicated by Ledger, as I just don't think you can recast the Joker in a sequel (who the hell would want to try and follow that?) and it seems pretty clear that Joker was in the plans for one. Without a return of the Joker, what Batman villains are left that could really follow this one and work for the themes? I hope they make a third, because that ending was just too awesome not to follow up on, but I just don't know if you can realistically expect them to match what will have to be the unrealistic expectations it'll have. However, as long as Nolan and Bale are on board, I'll give it a shot.

See it.

... Go.

...

...

Why are you still here? What were you expecting? ... A review? Oh, yeah, that's kinda my thing. Well honestly, unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard, by now, about how great this movie is. Well, honestly, I have nothing else to add to those, so I'm not really going to try. I could probably link you to a few if I must.

...

Ugh, fine, I'll say a little more.

Fan of the comics: you've probably already seen it... twice

Fan of comic book movies: Definately see it. It makes other comic book interpretations look like they've been done by amateurs

Fan of Batman Begins: Are you serious?

Fan of Heath Leadger: You need to see it... like 7 times at minimum. He's going to take home a few awards.

Fan of Christian Bale: ... And you haven't seen it yet? You're reading this. Are you high?

Fan of action: Just f'n go already!

Fan of acting: It ain't all about the explosions. Go.

Fan of movies: Stop reading, its obvious, by now what I'm going to say.

Not a fan of anything: Ya know, you'll probably still love this movie.

Though, I wouldn't take Grandma or the young ones. That's about it. Otherwise, you really don't have an excuse as far as I'm concerned.

Just f'n go! If you've already seen it, you know how good it is, go see it again. Give these people your money. Support movies like this, don't let your girlfriend (boy that's a generous assumption) force you to see Mamma Mia. If you are forced to, buy a ticket to the Dark Knight anyway!

Rating: Take a guess.

Sadly, this probably isn't even my most poorly written review.

I'll go ahead and summarize the gist of this review right here for those of us who may have short attention spans or don't feel like reading paragraph after paragraph of me gushing like a school girl about... whoever school girls gush about these days:

Buy this show.

If you buy one ROH show ever, this should be it.

If you spend any money on anything wrestling, you oughta spend some money and get this show.

If you don't spend any money on wrestling, you should start with this show.

Buy this show. Do it... now. I'll wait for you to come back.

Okay, now I'm assume that everyone reading from this point on either already has the show or has just made their order and has nothing to do but wait for it to come (or stopped reading, probably in disgust, poor saps), so I'll go ahead and get on with the review. ROH has established something of a tradition of piggybacking shows with Wrestlemania to try and capitilize on the maximum interest in wrestling and the national scale and granduer of Wrestlemania. This tradition started with the At Our Best show that ran with Wrestlemania XX. The attendance record ROH set at that show would stand for quite a while. They'd miss running shows alongside 21, because that was in LA, which is a bit out of ROH's range. When Wrestlemania 22 landed in Chicago, ROH ran three shows alongside that event, one in Detroit, two in Chicago. For these shows, ROH brought in 6 stars from Japan's Dragon Gate promotion, as well as drew Lance Storm out of retirment to challenge for the ROH Title. This would result in a new attendance record, 3 critically acclaimed shows and even an infamous 5 Star match from Dave Meltzer for a Dragon Gate 6-Man Tag (not to mention one of my personal favorite matches in Roderick Strong vs Bryan Danielson III). They would continue the tradition the next year, bringing Dragon Gate stars back to run a couple of shows piggybacking off Wrestlemania 23 in Detroit, again to much success. This year, ROH would follow Wrestlemania into the uncharted territory of Orlando, Florida with Dragon Gate stars in tow for another pair of shows and another resounding success. Supercard of Honor III is the second show of this double-shot and it ran opposite the WWE's Hall of Fame ceremony and Ric Flair's retirement.

Commentary is handled by Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard and they are solid, if unspectacular. I'll still take them over any other commentary tandem going right now. Lighting and sound are good. Crowd is alive and this is a venue that looks good on DVD.

1. Delirious vs Go Shiozaki. Go is in ROH on loan from NOAH, similar to former ROH World Champion Takeshi Morishima, KENTA and Marufuji. He is a protege of the legendary Kenta Kobashi and it shows. He's known for having great chops and a beautiful moonsault. He's young and earning his stripes in Japan and not nearly as protected as the other guys NOAH has sent over. This is a fun opener, played mostly for comedy, with some decent action. It seems like ROH has backed off the serious push of Delirious and are scaling him back. He's back to being goofy here and I'm liking it. Go does a good job playing along with Delirious and we get an entertaining opener. I'll call it an entertaining *** out of 5,
2. The YRR of Kenny King, Sal Rinauro and Chasyn Rance vs Buschwacker Luke, Dingo and Sugarti-I mena Sugarfoot Alex Payne. The YRR stands for the Young, Rich and Ready for action and they are a force in ROH's sister promotion, FIP, holding two of that promotions three titles. They've been periodically brought into ROH to mixed results and with ROH treading into FIP's territory, they are here. Buschwacker Luke, yes, that Buschwacker Luke, holder of one of the fastest Royal Rumble eliminations, was in ROH as a special gues for the weekend. At the previous show, the YRR mocked him, leading to Luke fining partners in ROH students Dingo and Alex Payne. On paper, this looks like a disaster waiting to happen, but its not that bad. Its a simple tag that doesn't overstay its welcome and actually turns out pretty fun. Kenny King is a talent and none of the other guys really screw anything up and the YRR do well as heels here. Luke's role is limited but he does exactly what he needs to do in the match. We'll say **1/2 out of 5, which I'd still say is overachieving.
3. FIP Title: Roderick Strong vs Erick Stevens. Strong and Stevens have collided several times at this point in ROH and FIP for the FIP Title and it has turned into one of the most entertaining rivalries going. These two work great together. The bell never rings so this is never a match. What this is is an awesome brawl, a fight, two guys just beating the tar out of each other. It is brutality, it is awesome and they don't even use very many weapons to do it. This is bloody, hard-hitting action and a great effective chapter in the feud between these two. Its not really rateable, but its great and represents where this show starts hitting the gas and shifting gears.
4. Relaxed Rules: The Briscoes vs the Age of the Fall of Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black. The Age of the Fall made their heavily hyped debut in dramatic fashion at the expense of the Briscoes at the Man Up PPV ruining the Briscoes celebration after winning an amazing Ladder War with Steen and Generico. Since then, the Briscoes and the various incarnations of the AOTF (whose members include the Necro Butcher and ex-WWE'ers Joey "Mercury" Matthews and Zach Gowen) have met in any number of matches and brawls and they all kinda run together. In my book, this is easily the best of the bunch and the definitive briscoes vs AOTF match (and what a shock, its one of the few that don't involve Necro Butcher). This is a fun brawl which also manages to be uniquely different from the Strong-Stevens brawl that preceeded it. This one uses all sorts of plunder and goes all over the building. It is nicely edited together and includes some great spots, including Mark briscoe once again channeling his inner jeff Hardy and a brilliant finish. The crowd loves it (when they can "see ****"). This also contains the ROH debut of Mr. Milo Beasley, who's story is for another place and another time, but he gets his place in this match, too. I'll call it ***1/2, if my star ratings mean anything.
5. Kevin Steen and El Generico vs Shingo and BXB Hulk. Steen and generico made their mark in ROH with their series of matches against the Briscoes and have established themselves as a force in ROH, both individually but especially as a team. Shing and Hulk are one of the tandems brought in from Dragon Gate. Shingo was pretty regular in ROH in 2006-early 07 and improved dramatically in his time here and is now, honestly, one of the hottest wrestlers going. I don't know much about Hulk. He's goodlooking, definately the best dancer in this match and a great flyer. I like what I see from him. These guys tear the house down. In all honesty, there's not much I can say to do these next three matches justice. I could bust out the thesaurus and give it the old college try, but there are only so many ways I can say it ruled, I loved it. Whatever, I'll call it ****1/2.
6. ROH Championship: Austin Aires vs Nigel McGuinness. Aires and McGuinness met in the main event of ROH's Take No Prisoners PPV. Their match there was a great, great match, far better than I expected. When live reports said this was better I laughed it off, thinking people were blinded by the live experience (perfectly understandable). But damn, if this match isn't as good, if not better. Austin Aires is eating his Wheaties these days or something because he is just rocking it in the ring these days and Nigel is just much more fun as a heel (he's officially turned since the PPV). I suppose one thing this match has going for it is Nigel doesn't die 6 minutes into it. It lacks some of the huge spots of the PPV encounter (including said death spot) but its a smoother match that is damn near perfect in execution. I'll go ***** stars. I'm not stingy with that rating and I see no reason that this match shouldn't get it.
7. CIMA, Dragon Kid and Ryo Saito vs Masato Yoshino, Naruki Doi and Genki Horiguchi. This is, more or less, a rematch of the original, 5 Star, Dragon Gate 6-Man, except CIMA and Genki have traded places (and Genki has apparently adopted Vampirism to fight male pattern baldness) and this is just typical Dragon Gate awesomeness. Like I said, I really can't do it justice, but this is the kind of match you just don't see anywhere else. It is mindblowingly fun. I doubt the real wrestling critics (let's face it, I'm definately a fake one... whatever that means) won't drop 5 snowflakes on it because its not the first, but I'll go that way, because again, I see no reason to knock it. If you've never seen a Dragon Gate tag (and maybe even if you have) I'll guarantee you you'll see something you've never seen before. I'll go 5 stars on this bad boy to. Its a 5 Star sale and I'm going craaaaazy handing out these stars, I guess.

Manhattan Mayhem, IMO, is the best show ROH has put on, certainly its my favorite. Good Times, Great Memories challenged it. This show, IMO, surpasses both... pretty thoroghly, IMO. This show is that good IMO. There's a little something for every wrestling fan on this show, two completely different matches that I believe are just about perfect in execution. I think this show can work well on its own, but familiarity isn't a bad thing, either, especially in a match like Nigel-Aires, that plays off their previous encounters.

If you're an ROH fan, you don't want this show, you need it. If you're not an ROH fan, this is the show to try, IMO. If there's nothing on this show that you can't hang your hat on, then I really don't know what you could be looking for. This show is damn near perfect.

So, buy it. In the words of Ben Stiller, 'Do it"

"Do it."

As is something of a theme for my "blog" of reviews, I'll review in spurts, then hit a dry spot when I'm not buying DVDs or just flat out can't bring out that motivation to write. This review pretty much catches me right in the middle of each. I rented Wrestlemania 24 and really don't have the motivation to write up a full review, but I do want to touch on a few things and give my take on them.

My short review of Wrestlemania 24 goes like this. I believe it is right on par with the last few Wrestlemanias. Not excessively better, not worse, right in line. Its a good, but not great show. I think WWE has found a groove for Wrestlemania and 24 operates within that groove. The matches are generally very good, much better than the build-up going into them, but the show will have at least one awful segment or match, often during the now mandatory T and A portion (not TNA portion, but its kinda funny how that could be confusing... and how they both suck). However, I don't typically associate Wrestlemania with "status quo" but that's what WWE seems to have found.

For the specifics of what I want to discuss, I'll start with what wrestling fans think is the most notable occurrence on the show, Ric Flair's retirement match against Shawn Michaels. Having seen it in its entirety now, I am convinced WWE blew Flair's retirement worse than they blew the Invasion. I was far closer to outright hatred of this match than I am to the love it has recieved from seemingly every source. I could waste a lot of time writing about all of the problems I have with Flair's retirement angle and specifically the angle with HBK (which was more about kissing HBK's ass than it was anything else). I'll just choose to focus on one aspect here and that's Shawn Michaels. I understand the logic of matching up these two for this match. There may not be a guy on the planet that can give you a better match than HBK, but he was the wrong opponent for Flair's final match. My problem with the feud is the same as the problem with the match, its as much about Michaels as it is about Flair. I don't believe its HBK's intention to steal Flair's spotlight when he does the awesome moonsault on the announce table or survive any submission move longer than any other wrestler alive, I think he does it for the sake of the match, but that's what happens. Its what Michaels does. When he storms off after the win, I think his intention is to give Flair the spotlight, but I couldn't help but be reminded of Montreal in 97 when he does that. There was also the fact that no one bought Flair as having a chance to win, which just kills this match. The match is perfunctory, any emotion (even some of the genuine ones) felt forced because we all know how its going to end before the bell rings. He may never have been one of my favorites, but I have a lot of respect for Ric Flair and the effort he has given us over the years and in this match. I went in wanting to love it, but before it was over I was considering hitting the skip button and I felt Flair deserved better.

Its worth noting that my opinion seems to be among the vast minority. It seems like I might be the only one that wasn't moved to tears by the match.

But how does Ric Flair wrestle a final match that doesn't incorporate a Flair Flop?

And there's a long list of things I hate associated with HBK, but "I'm sorry, I love you" skyrockets up that list. (Meanwhile, Batista has suddenly become one of my favorite wrestlers for "I'm not sorry. I don't love you")

One of my problems with Flair-HBK, Flair's less than 0 percent chance of winning, is also my problem with Edge-Undertaker. Action-wise, this might well be the Taker's best match in the ever-so-vaunted Streak (I mean that as faint praise, because the Streak is full of stinkers), as well as one of the best matches Taker has had in recent memory (less faint praise, Taker's been putting in some much stronger efforts over the last few years). The problem is that there is absolutely no drama to go along with that action. Bless him, Edge tries his damnedest to sell you that he will beat Taker, his promo at Mania was just excellent, but no one buys it. I think one near-fall gets a blip on the radar. Their effort deserved a better response.

Also, the Cole-Coach commentary team is flat out exposed being thrown into the Wrestlemania main event spot. It is inexcusable to put them in that position.

On a side note, I think Edge really needs a finisher to be built up like the Pedigree or the RKO, a true stopper of a finisher, that would have helped. That overzealous hug he calls a spear just ain't it. I wish they'd do it with the Impaler, but it doesn't seem like that's happening.

The Triple Threat match exceeded my expectations and not just because of Wrestlemania's one shocking result. It seems in the time since XX, WWE has taken a few notes on how to wrestle a triple threat match as opposed to a one on one match that just happens to have 3 people. Plus, Triple H didn't win, Orton did.

Mayweather-Show was a pleasant surprise. That definately could have been a disaster. I give Mayweather credit, he was a professional throughout the whole angle, where a lot of guys may not have been, which is a reason it worked.

Money in the Bank was also a pleasant surprise (seems to be a theme that the unpredictable stuff is the stuff I enjoyed). There have been so many ladder matches with so much crazy **** that its tough to make a dent these days, but this match pulls out some new tricks. Plus, CM Punk picks up a signature win and Shelton Benjamin dies, what's not to love?

Again, if you've enjoyed the last few Wrestlemanias, this one'll be worth a look and you'll probably enjoy it.

As I seem to say every year, the Royal Rumble is probably my favorite event WWE produces. Sure, all WWE's effort goes into Wrestlemania, but the uniqueness of the Rumble match provides a charm that all the pomp and circumstance of Wrestlemania just can't match. This is the first WWE show that I've bought since One Night Stand and RVD's last night with WWE. Plus, with the Rumble itself being a guaranteed draw, it has opened the door for the WWE to experiment with the show's title matches. While these experiments have mostly ended in disaster (Steiner, Bob Holly, Test, Mark Henry), sometimes something sticks and some magic happens, for instance the title match of the 2003 Rumble, which if you can get past the path that one of its participants tragically took, remains one of the best matches I have ever seen and, I believe set the stage for a memorable Wrestlemania moment a year later, even if that moment has become somewhat infamous today. This year's Rumble finally provides Jeff Hardy an opportunity to step into a WWE Title match on PPV. Plus, The 2008 incarmation of the Royal Rumble comes with the added bonus that its undercard doesn't look like its been written down on a napkin seven minutes prior to the show. It also benefits of one of the biggest shockers in recent memory, which unless you've been really out of the loop, you already knew about, that being the impossibly fast return of John Cena from injury.

This is the first WWE PPV to be broadcast in High Definition... which has little, if any, affect on the DVD (outside of, perhaps, a larger price tag at Best Buy (like $25, compared to the usual $19 or sale price of $15. I swallowed my integrity and got it at Wal Mart for cheap). Its from the familiar setting of Madison Square Garden and as is typical for the Garden, its a good crowd. The announce teams have switched up, with JBL making the selfish decision to return to the ring, instead of continuing to be about the best damn announcer around, even if he has a tendancy to yell a bit much. His spot carrying Michael Cole is inadequately filled by Jonathan Coachman. Coach isn't really all that bad, but JBL was vastly superior and the Cole-Coach team leaves much to be desired. JR and King handle the Raw side and its unlikely, if you're reading this review, tha you don't know what you're getting with them. Also, unless Joey Styles and Tazz get paid by the word, they have the best job in the world. they get a front row seat for the whole show and only have to do one little bit and add the occasional comment on the Rumble match. WWE has also added formwe American Gladiators commentator Mike Adamle. Why they did this is uncertain. Adamle has not aged very well from his AG days and seems flat out uncomfortable doing his thing, which I'm not sure how to describe. Its worth noting that if my ears don't decieve me, that Adamle's "Jeff Harvey" is edited out. The commentary on the Rumble match itself is actually handled by everyone, which seems to have all the making of a catastro****, but actually works out pretty well. I haven't watched the two bonuses, but one is advertised as a match between Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton for the Intercontinetal Title, but its not much of a match, really, but it should contain one of Hardy's suicidal dives. The other is label Triple H talks to John Cena, its pretty unlikely that I'll ever watch it. On to the show.

1. Ric Flair's Career is on the Line. Ric Flair vs MVP: Ric Flair is on the way to retirement... for realz this time and this is the MSG stop on his farewell tour. The story goes that if Flair loses, he's gone. Unfortunately for this match, no one buys that Flair's career is in any jeapordy until Wrestlemania, even when the ref counts to three, and without that drama, there isn't much to the match. MVP had a breakout year in 2007 and is one of WWE's rising stars, but there's only so much you can do with Flair these days. Its not a bad match, but its not good either and without the drama, is less than satisfying. Rating *1/2 Star out of 5.
2. Chris Jericho vs JBL: As I mentioned earlier, JBL has decided to return to wrestling. Jericho has also made a return after a lengthy hiatus, targeting Orton, but it, unfortunately, derailed pretty badly by now, partly because of JBL. JBL would cost Jericho the WWE Title in his match against Orton at a PPV. The video package highlights the really disturbing subtext to this feud, post-Beniot, which i may be reading too much into. But there's just a little too much referencing family and family man and strangling to be comfortable, these days. The match itself highlights the contrast in **** between JBL, who has never exacttly been the greatest wrestler in the world pre-retirement, and Jericho. Again, its not bad, but its not good either. Like the first match, its a bit below average for a PPV match, IMO. Jericho opens a vein, but it doesn't mean much really. Its worth noting that a screw-up in the match is noticeably edited, if you're paying attention. Rating *1/2 stars out of 5.
3. World Title Match: Rey Mysterio vs Edge. Disappointing. This match did not meet my expectation, but my expectations were very high. The background of this story continues the use of the late Eddie Guerrero as a plot device, which is uncomfortable. Edge, upon his return, has entered into a relationship with Vickie Guerrero to get his way (Somewhere along the line, Vickie became Smackdown's GM or something... and if you squint, she kinda looks like Lita, interestingly enough. I guess Edge has a type). I expected this to have a faster pace than it did and I just expected these two to have a better match. This is an average match especially for a PPV title match. As it stands, the best part of the match is the crowd going Candian and going predominantly Pro-Edge. Its worth noting that WWE has changed up their ring announcing for Title matches, doing them in a more boxing inspired way, after each wrestler has made their interest, which they have been doing on and off again since RVD won the title a while back. I like it, it gives the matches a big-time feel. Rating: **1/2
4. WWE Tite: Jeff Hardy vs Randy Orton: And we hit the first thing that I feel is actually good and PPV-quality. For whatever reason, WWE appears to have heard the cheers the Hardys, particularly Jeff, get no matter what WWE does to them and decided to give him a PPV title match opportunity. They also gave him a win over Triple H to set it up. It appears they stumbled into some magic, because the fans embraced Hardy, Hardy delivered both in the ring and on the mic in the build-up, also delivary some highlight reel moments on the way and even Orton seemed motivated and the feud seemed to grow on its own into something more than anyone expected. People bough in. Unfortunately, WWE's over long video package is shockingly poor. The idea behind it was solid, showing Orton as a guy who was destined from birth for greatness, born for the business, while Jeff as the guy who scratched and clawed and earned his way to this position, but the execution was poor. Its also odd that each man's victories over Triple H, Hardy to get the match, Orton to win the title are not mentioned, as it seems like they should the way the video goes. The match itself is good, Orton and Hardy look to have some good chemistry. It isn't a great match, but it wasn't really designed for that. Unfortunately the match, like the video, didn't really match the intense buid-up on Raw, IMO. Its still good, but the way it was built, something epic was expected and it doesn't come. The match is good, but it actually leaves a lot to be desired, IMO. I'd love to see these two lock up again. Rating: ***
5. The Royal Rumble: Going into this Rumble, there were two names that were clearly odds on favorites to win were Triple H and Undertaker, with heavy emphasis on Triple H. However, WWE's clever misdirection and John Cena's apparently Wolverine like healing ability throw everyone for a loop. Unfortunately, kinda like the Sixth Sense, when you know the big surprise ending, much of the charm is lost. Fortunately, this is another strong Rumble, even without the big surprise. The 90 second interval seems to be the magic number, even if I'm not positive they are strict on 90, because this is another lightning fast Rumble. They more or less have killed the conciet of a "random drawing" but its not much of an issue, because starting where last year's Rumble ended was cool. This is a good, borderline great Rumble and live I can see where people would really love it. Its a consistently engaging and entertaining Rumble, as WWE appears to have figured out how to keep things interesting throughout. Rating ***1/2.

Overall Thoughts: This is a very solid show for WWE, IMO, even if the ratings may not reflect it. Top-to-bottom, this is a more even show than last year's Rumble. The 2007 had a couple of good undercard matches and some outright bad stuff. This one lacks the outright bad, but the good isn't up to the good of last year's show. The Rumbles are about equal, IMO, though I'd edge 2007 ahead of 2008, since 07 doesn't rely on the a surprise. Overall, I'd say that this Rumble is a good show, not a great one. Don't expect too much from the undercard and you should be satisfied by the show.

For whatever reason, I'm feeling pretty motivated to do some writing. Its weird. I'll probably go another 6 months without writing a word following this. Whatever...

I guess as a way to make a quick buck, WWE chose to release a 3-Disc DVD compiling what someone believes is the best of Raw over the last 15 years to go along with WWE's recent celebration of its 15th aniversary. However, anyone expecting production on par with some of the WWE's other DVD releases, such as the Rise and Fall of ECW or any of the biographical releases, will be sorely disappointed because, for the WWE, this is not their best effort. This is, like, their C-grade effort. It seems to me that WWE didn't really plan on releasing a DVD like this until the last minute and they decided to just throw some stuff together. The majority of these DVDs are comprised of clips, clips that are shown without any context or introduction to them. They also recycle some material from other DVDs. For instance, the segment covering the original ECW Invasion is actually, literally, from the Rise and Fall of ECW. There are also some matches, which is what the focus of my review will be. While there's a lot of fun to sitting down and watching these clips, particularly if you've been a fan, like me, from the beginning, its a great nostalgia trip of how great things were in WWE, you can't help but wish that WWE had taken things a step farther like they've done in their other DVDs and brought in the personalities to discuss, provide context and make fun of the things that are included in the DVD, because, in covering 15 years, the DVD could stand to have all three. But again, drawing on 15 years of material, there's a lot of fun to be had. The show is "hosted" by Todd Grisham, which is never a positive, but he's, thankfully, not used much. They employ a "pop-up video" type thing throughout the DVD, but they do a decent job with minimizing how obnoxious it is, particularly during the matches. Over the 15 years of Raw, there have been a wide array of announcers and you get a taste of just about all of them. They range from good (JR, early King, Heenan) to tolerable (King, Macho Man) to bad (recent King) to awful (Vince McMahon and Michael Cole).

Disc One:

1. Ric Flair vs Mr. Perfect: This was a loser leaves the WWF match, but it is unfortunately very clipped, which is annoying and ultimately never lets you get a feel for the match. Between the clipping and the pop-ups, I was beginning to get worried about buying the DVD.
2. The Lightning Kid vs Razor Ramon: Now this match isn't clipped, it really is that short. Too short to really be considered much of a match, but it does represent a really cool moment that established one of these men's careers.
3. Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty: Here we go, now this is what I wanting to see. This match was a big reason I picked up this DVD. The one-time partners in the Rockers facing off for the Intercontinental Title. Michaels and Jannetty had tremendous chemistry as partners and it translates as opponents. The pop-up says that this match was voted the "Match of the Year" for 1993, which I'd say would speak more to the quality of wrestling in 93 rather than the quality of this match. Not to say its a bad match, its very good, as any encounter between HBK and Jannetty has been, but it does not scream MOTY at me. Rating ***1/2.
4. Bret Hart vs 123 Kid: Wow, this is an epic match. A forgotten fact about Sean Waltman was how great he once was, before injuries took their toll. In there with Bret and you can expect good things, but this still manages to blow my expectations away. The thing that blows me away by this match is how it suspended my disbelief. It sucked me in and didn't let me go and it is a testament not just to Bret, but the skills of both men. I wish we got to see more matches like this on TV today and less of Vince McMahon's ass. Rating ****1/2.
5. Shawn Michaels vs Owen Hart: I believe this match is clipped, too, which is a shame because what they show is really good. However, this is more about the angle and it is about the best execution of an injury angle that I've ever seen. i remember watching this as a kid and how much it affected me then, too.
6. Mankind vs Undertaker: Another clipped match, but in this case, I'm not complaining because what they show isn't great. Its a brawl, but the kind of brawl that makes you appreciate how much better brawls will get. This worked then because it was so rare, not because of hwo good it was.
7. Owen Hart vs The British Bulldog: And here's where the DVD pays for itself. This match is absolutely fantastic. This match is to crown the first European Champion and occurs in Europe and what a way to inaugrate a championship. Unfortunately, this is also pretty much the high point for the European Title. Seriously, this match is on par, if not maybe a little better than Bret's damn near legendary IC Title match with Bulldog at Summerslam 92. I have nothing but praise for this match and am running the risk of overhyping it, but I love this match and see no reason not to drop 5 stars on it. Rating *****
8. Flag Match: Austin, Dude Love and Undertaker vs Bret Hart, Owen Hart and British Bulldog. Well, it looks like if they shown the match in its entirety it'd have been good. Too clipped.
9. Shawn Michaels vs Triple H: If you're expecting a ****c, you'll be disappointed. That's the point. Though, what they try actually works pretty well, as opposed to when WCW does it a few years later, but it does serve to explain why the Eurpopean Title ends up meaning so little.

Disc 2

There is practically no wrestling on the disc devoted to the Attitude Era. If you think about it, that's about right. This is about the great (and not so great) moments and storytelling of this time period, which completely overshadowed the wrestling of the time. The difference is that the writing was actually mostly good, at time great in this time.

1. Mankind vs The Rock: This is as much angle as it is a match. Its not bad, but the wrestling is secondary to the storytelling for this match. Its a great and historical moment, but not for the wrestling as Rock and Foley will go on to have some great ones, just not here, really. The thing that sticks out like a sore thumb here is Michael Cole's commentary. Its not just that he's not Jim Ross, but he's trying way too hard, too and its just painful.
2. Chris Jericho vs Triple H: Decent, but not spectacular. It does highlight the differences between Triple H during this time period and the 2007-08 Triple H, not the least of which is just how much better Triple H was in the ring. He is a shell of the wrestler he was at this time. This does cover one of my favorite angles. Rating **1/2

Disc 3

We get a bit more wrestling, but here's where the "how great we were" comes into play. Even the supposed "Best of" skits from this time illustrate how far the quality of the writing has fallen. Luckily the wrestling is pretty good.

1. Shelton Benjamin vs Shawn Michaels: This match is a big, big reason why, after countless botches and the complete failure to develop a personality, people remain miffed as to why Shelton Benjamin has fallen so far. This match really does illustrate how good Shelton can be in in the ring as he and Shawn do have a great little match here. However, despite how good this match is, I'd have preferred Shelton's big win over Triple H, because that match really put Shelton on the map, while this was just a great match. Still, I can't complain about having this match. It really is some fine wrestling. Rating ***1/2
2. Ironman Match: Shawn Michaels vs Kurt Angle: I'm not sure what it is about this match, but it doesn't click with me. There are a few reasons, it could be how far Kurt Angle has fallen in my eyes since his move to TNA, it could be that there are some times where I just find Angle difficult to watch, not because his wrestling, but because his health and well-being. It could be because this match illustrates the difference between the a typical Raw match and a PPV match. It could be the Ironman gimmick. For whatever reason, this match just wasn't great for me. Still, its not bad by any stretch. Rating ***
3. RVD vs John Cena vs Edge: Another good, but not great match. Illustrative of WWE's problems with multi-man matches, but better than most 3-ways WWE does with some clever spots and solid wrestling from all three men. Cena was really beginning to turn the imaginary corner as a wrestler in my eyes, Edge was solid as usual and RVD seemed highly motivated as the champion and, it would seem, to make up for his catastrpohic lack of judgement that lead to this match. Rating ***1/2
4. Edge vs Shawn Michaels: Good, but not quite as good as I remembered it being when it aired. It takes a while to get rolling and once it gets into gear the match doesn't last as long as I'd have liked. I'd really like to see Edge and Shawn get a few more single matches. They tend to be at minimum good and I think they've got a great one in them. Rating ***

Overall Thoughts: This is a tough DVD to really recommend. Its not as good as, maybe, it could have been, but there is a lot to love on here. Its a nice little nostalgia set, regardless, capturing the good and some of the laughably bad. Its got some really good matches that you might not be able to find elsewhere. It certainly isn't a waste of money, IMO. However, its not something that I'd think every wrestling fan owes it to him or her (who am I kidding?) self to own. However, I would go out of my way to check out Bret vs 123 Kid and Owen-Bulldog and it might be worth the price of the DVD just to get those matches, IMO. I suppose that isn't much help, but I do believe WWE could have done a better job with this DVD, it not their best effort. Maybe with the 20th Aniversary set?

Well, for whatever reason, I feel motivated to drop another couple of reviews for whoever out that might check out this "blog." This time I'll review a pair of shows from ROH in the later part of last year, both shows from the same venue, the Grand Ballroom in the Manhattan Center, which is the same location the WWF/E called home for a number of Raw tapings in the early days of that show. Its a great venue and has had a great history of shows. ROH has always coveted the New York market and tried to put its best foot forward for every show in that market, even before the move to the Manhattan Center, which came about because of the strong showings and turnouts ROH has had in New York. These shows represent the fifth and sixth straight sell-outs ROH has gotten in the Manhattan Center. However, do the shows live up to the hype.

Manhattan Mayhem II

The original Manhattan Mayhem was ROH's first show ROH held in the New Yorker hotel as ROH looked for a permanent venue to call home in New York City. The intimate and unique look of the venue the New Yorker along with a great crowd provided a great atmosphere for the show. The orginal show itself is considered one of the best top-to-bottom shows in ROH history. The show was headlined by the long-awaited ROH Title match between then Champion Austin Aires vs Alex Shelley, the original founder of Generation Next and the man Aires usurped and booted from Generation Next, a Pure Title match between then Champion Jay Lethal and his mentor, Samoa Joe, CM Punk vs Jimmy Rave in a dog collar match and some form of involvement by the Rottweilers with New York natives Homicide and Low Ki. The show is not considered great because of one great match, but because of how well the show flows and how it showcased everything that makes ROH great. It is my personal favorite ROH show to this point and well worth checking out. I may need to drop a review on that at some point. However, this review is not about the original Manhattan Mayhem, but its sequel, Manhattan Mayhem II. Needless to say, when a show carries the Manhattan Mayhem name, it comes with a certain expectation.

The show, as already discussed, is from the sold out Grand Ballroom in the Manhattan Center and, as far as venues go, this is the best venue ROH runs. It looks great on DVD and just has a certain aura about it. The crowd is electric and commentary is handled by Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard, who despite not having a well-defined dynamic or roles, are, for my money, the best commentating duo in wrestling. In addition, ROH has added Becky- excuse me, Rebecca Bayless's boobs to ask really dumb questions and generally annoy me. She's rarely around long enough to really negatively impact anything, but the fact that she is probably being paid to do what she does annoys me. This will be a rather long review because, due to ROH's debut on PPV, the ROH roster has gone through an overhaul, with new talent replacing anyone associated with TNA, who have been pulled due to ROH's move to PPV. I will try my best to give some background to the new guys to give the reader an idea of what to expect out of them, should they decide to follow up on a purchase,

1. Matt Cross and Erick Stevens vs Mike Quackenbush and Jigsaw: Matt Cross and Erick Stevens were recruited by Austin Aires to form the Resiliance to combat Aires's former GenNext partner Roderick Strong's No Remorse Corps when Strong turned on Aires. Cross is a high-flyer in a similar vein to Jack Evans and Matt Sydal who showed a lot of promise in his early outings, particularly against Christopher Daniels and teaming with Daniels against Aires and Strong when Matt Sydal was injured, but has yet to develop that potential in the eyes of most fans. He brings great athleticism, but lacks the charisma of Jack Evans or the polish of Matt Sydal. He has great high flying skills, but his offense leaves a lot to be desired and has not connected with he crowd. Erick Stevens is one of the larger athletes in ROH and is a bruiser. He resembles Rhino with a mohawk. Roderick Strong had a hand in his wrestling training, which I do not believe is acknowledged by ROH, and it shows in his wrestling style. Mike Quackenbush is a mainstay of independent wrestling who, after much demand from the ROH fanbase, is finally getting his opportunities in ROH. He is a unique and highly skilled, particularly in the technical aspects and more or less rules. He is joined by fellow Chikara mainstay and masked man, Jigsaw. Both Quack and Jigsaw bring something of a different style to ROH and its both refreshing and blends in well. Both teams compliment each other well and it makes for a very good, fast paced tag team opener. The match accomplishes exactly what an opener should, as it gets the energy going and leaves the crowd excited. Rating: *** 1/2 stars out of 5.
2. Jimmy Jacobs vs Mitch Franklin: Jimmy Jacobs is making his return following a major knee surgery that came about following his absolutely brutal cage match against BJ Whitmer at Supercard of Honor II to cap off their long running violent feud, which is one of the most brutal and best matches of the year. Mitch Franklin is the holder of the Top Of The ****Trophy, meaning he is the top Graduate of ROH's wrestling school, which is akin to being the skinniest kid at fat camp. He also resembles a hobbit. This is meant as a test for Jimmy's knee as he works his way back into ROH competition. Jimmy is in a state of transition following his development in the feud with Whitmer, but the crowd welcomes him back. The match is actually longer and more competitive than one might expect, but that is not exactly a positive when dealing with an ROH student. Not much to it, though. Rating: * out of 5.
3. BJ Whitmer, Adam Pearce and Brent Albright (with Shane Hagadorn) vs Nigel McGuinness, Delirious and Pelle Primeau. Whitmer, the former Gunner Scott and Adam Pearce are in the stages of forming a stable, which will become known as the Hangmen 3. They targeted Delirious in forming their group. Nigel was, to some extent, caught in the crossfire as this happened after a match he was involved in. BJ also has issues with Pelle, who holds an upset over him. Pelle is another ROH student, but who takes a good enough beating and is more or less passable in the ring, now. Hagadorn has adopted a Friar Tuck hair****for the night. I have no idea who would think that was a good move. This match exceeds my expectations, as I'm not a really huge fan of any of these guys individually, but the match manages to stay consistently interesting and Nigel is the star of the match. Whitmer, Pearce and Albright seem to be a pretty good team if people give them a chance to be. This match is actually about on par with the opener as far as action goes, with a more well established dynamic. Rating ***1/2.
4. Davey Richards vs Pac. Davey Richards turned heel and joined Roderick Strong's No Remorse Corps. Pac is a high flyer from the UK getting a weekend in ROH. Pac is capable of some jaw dropping manuvers. This match got horrible reviews from the live crowd and is, apparently, edited a little to cut out a few botches by Pac. However, it is nowhere near as bad as the reports made it out to be, its actually quite good and if you can determine the edit, you've got a better eye than me. Its unlikely you'd notice even if you look for them. The problem is the crowd makes an ass of itself. They never give the match a chance and I felt bad for both men, particularly Davey. They manage to win the crowd over before the end, as I said, the match is actually pretty good. Rating ***
5. Roderick Strong vs Austin Aires vs Jack Evans. This is the first-time match between the remaining members of the Generation Next stable (Alex Shelley and Matt Sydal were each members at one time) and the action in the match is top notch, showing potential, IMO, to be up there with the Aj-Joe-Daniels 3-Ways from TNA. However, the match takes a turn for the TNA and it kind of derails the match. While it becomes more about the angle than the match, its still a lot of fun and this is the type of spark the GenNext faction warfare needed, but came a little late. It could have been great, and is entertaining, but a little too much going on for my taste and too much focus is taken away from the match. I'd love to see a rematch down the line. Rating ***.
6. Ruckus vs Eddie Edwards. This is Ruckus's debut and he's another high-flyer. Eddie Edwards is a young guy who has yet to reallt stick in ROH despite some impressive outings. For the most part, this is a competitive squash, kinda like Jacobs-Franklin, but much better. Edwards manages to impress, even though this match is all about Ruckus. Still, this is not meant to steal the show, but its not bad, either. Rating: **1/2
7. Chris Hero vs Claudio Castagnoli: This is the much anticipated battle of former ROH Tag Team Champions, as after a false-start with WWE for Claudio, Hero abandoned him to join Super Agent Larry Sweeney and his Sweet and Sour inc. Unfortunately, this match falls short of what I was hoping for. With all of the build to this match, Hero's antics and the antics of all his accessories at ringside are out of place and distracting and really took me out of the match early. I wanted this to be better than it was, but its not bad, either. Rating ***
8. ROH Title: Morishima vs Bryan Danielson: This is another highly anticipated match. It is Danielson's first title match since losing the ROH Title and Morishima was putting on the type of quality matches that people have come to expect out of the ROH Champion. This is an outstanding match and what is more amazing is that Danielson's eye is injured very early into the match and they still deliver. Danielson can have a tendancy to go a little long in his matches, but that is reeled in and is almost all action from start to finish. Just great action and great drama and another testament to what kind of wrestler Bryan Danielson is to deliver even when he is injured. Rating: ****1/2
9. ROH Tag team Titles: 2 Out of 3 Falls. The Briscoes vs Kevin Steen and El Generico. Kevin Steen and El Generico are an interesting tandem. Each man was given an individual shot earlier in their careers in ROH and nothing came of either (Steen was pretty actively bad). The exodus of TNA opened more spots up and gave Steen and Generico another opportunity and they delivered as a team and have picked up a feud with the Briscoes. Generico is a comedy gimmick of a generic luchador... who's Canadien, but he is a hell of a worker. Steen is also Canadien and is fairly unpleasant to look at. However, Steen is winning me over from his initial, awful run. He's still ugly. They have a unique dynamic as Steen is a heel through and through, with Genrico being a goofy face. This is the culmination of several matches between the two teams and the Briscoes enter with a streak of falls in this kind of match. This is a good match even though it is one of their less violent encounters. Just more great tag team action from the Briscoes, as expected of them. Rating ****

Overall Thoughts: This is a great show from top to bottom, with the last two matches standing out and a worthy sequal to Manhattan Mayhem name. I still prefer the original, but with a lot of expectations, ROH still delivers a great show. Favorite match of the show goes to Morishima-Danielson, followed by the Tag Team Title match. This show has a great flow and few low points. This is definately a show worth going out of your way to pick up.

Glory By Honor VI Night II

Glory By Honor is one of ROH's signature shows, akin to the Big Four of WWE. This year, ROH brings in Japanese legend Mitsuhara Misawa to defend the Pro Wrestling NOAH's premier title, the GHC Heavyweight Title, against KENTA. ROH also managed to bring in legend Kenta Kobashi for a match that many still claim is the best match in ROH history against Samoa Joe (Personally, I don't think it was even the MOTY that year). In other news, Nigel McGuinness defeated Morishima to win the ROH Title, but was forced to pull out of this show, rather contreversially, and a defense of the title against Austin Aires, which was not well recieved. The Briscoes were also feuding with Jimmy Jacobs's movement, the Age of the Fall, after the events that unfolded at the Man Up PPV. This is another show from the Manhattan Center, however, the crowd at this show is awful in comparison to Manhattan Mayhem II's show. The people who were there live claim that it is a mic problem, but I don't buy it. They react just fine during certain matches of the show, but for the most part, this is just a bad crowd and it sucks life out of this show.

1. Chris Hero vs El Generico: This match is actively bad. I like El Generico and think he is a great worker. Hero can be all right, but this match has absolutely no flow to it and with the poor crowd, this match is almost painful. Hero's antics overwhelm the match to its detriment and keep the match from building momentum and the match never gets into gear. Disappointing and poor match, not a good start. Rating: *
2. BJ Whitmer and Brent Albright vs Kevin Steen and El Generico: The Hangmen 3 targeted El Generico and tried to recruit Kevin Steen, however, Steen stuck with Generico and turned face and this match comes about because of those developments. The first time through this show, I actually skipped this match after Hero-Generico, feeling there was no way it would be good. However, it exceeded my expectations. Its actually a pretty good, hard-hitting match, particularly coming off the previous match. Rating: ***
3. Austin Aires vs Shane Hagadorn: Hagadorn is another ROH student and Adam Pearce's man-servant. He challenges anybody and Aires answers the call. If you can't guess who wins this one, you need more ROH DVDs. Its quick, though not as quick as Aires anticipated. This is more to set-up Nigel's promo. Its barely a match. No Rating.
4. Claudio Castagnoli vs Naomichi Marufuji: This was a match I was really looking forward to, but something is missing from it. This one might be on the crowd, who certainly weren't a help, but, still this match doesn't come together the way I was expecting it too. My expectations might have been a little high, because I have a lot of respect for both workers and the match shows flashes of something better, but it just doesn't come together the way I was hoping for. Disappointing **1/2.
5. The Briscoes vs Jimmy Jacobs and the Necro Butcher does not last long enough to rate. Unfortunately, the outcome angers the already poor crowd, which does the show no favors.
6. Tyler Black vs Alex Payne: A Sunday Night Heat type squash. About as much of a match as Aires Hagadorn. Black, an AOTF member, does not get much of an opportunity to showcase himself.
7. Morishima vs Bryan Danielson: This is the saving grace of this show. This isn't for the ROH Title and thus doesn't have the same scope as their previous encounters, and may not be as technically good but I actually like it a little more than their previous matches, because it is just a balls out intense contest. Maybe because I've been so disappointed in everything else, but i don't think so. This is another great encounter. Rating: ****
8. Roderick Strong, Davey Richards and Rocky Romerro vs Jack Evans, Ruckus and Jigsaw. This is the Strong's No Remorse Corps vs Evans's Vulture Squad and has the makings of a fun 6-Man and while its all right, I expected better here to. Its another match that just doesn't have a great flow to it. Its a choppy match and just doesn't connect the way I expected it to. Rating **1/2.
9. Chris Hero vs Austin Aires: Not as bad as Hero-Generico from earlier in the show, but this isn't great either. Hero's antics are toned down so there is more wrestling, but its not particularly interesting. Its just another blah match where I was hoping for something better. Rating **1/2
10. GHC heavyweight Title Mitsuhara Misawa vs KENTA: Ultimately, for most in ROH, its more about Misawa's presence than it is the actual match. To host Misawa in the US and to host the second ever GHC Title match in the US is what matters. To his credit, Misawa does not phone it in, which he could have. He gives an effort, but its not enough to make this what it was cracked up to be. There are similarities to Kobashi's match against Joe, but the crowd is nowhere near where the Kobashi crowd was and the match itself just can't match up, despite the effort. I'm not sure how many great matches Misawa has left in him, and while he may have wanted and tried to give one, he and KENTA did not have it. I appreciated his effort, but the match is not great. Rating ***
11. ROH tag team Titles: The Briscoes vs Necro Butcher and Jimmy Jacobs. No DQ this time around, so there's an actual match and despite the crowd deciding to ruin parts of the show due to their disappointment in the first one, they don't rise to the occasion here, either. Necro Butcher is like what Mick Foley would be if Foley didn't have his personality, mic skills or in-ring talent. This is another match that is just there, despite its efforts and its build-up. Rating **1/2.

Overall thoughts: This is the most disappointed I have ever been in an ROH show. It is not all the show's fault. I had very high expectations, which is a big reason I'm so harsh on this show. I'm sure ROH has had worse shows and that I may even own a couple of them, but none of those shows had a card that I had these kind of expectations for and it is the disappointment which drives my opinion. If you enter the show with proper expectations, you might think I'm way out of line and I may be, however, this show is such a letdown, IMO. Had it not been for Danielson-Morishima, this might have been the first show that I felt did not give me my money's worth. However, unless seeing Misawa in ROH is a big draw (in which case you already own this DVD) or you want every Danielson-Morishima, I cannot reccomend this show.

Thanks for reading, those who did, and I'd love to hear some feedback. I'm not sure what or when my next review will be. Thanks for reading, again and I hope I helped.

"Better late than never," if I had a motto, this, sure as hell, would not be it. However, a review of this year's Royal Rumble probably won't help that many people considering buying that particular DVD. However, I'm bored and this show is pretty fresh in my mind and I don't have anything else I really want to review so I'll do it anyway. Maybe someone will care.

The Royal Rumble is one of the "Big 4" WWE PPVs and alongside Wrestlemania is the only PPV with any form of identity these days as there seems to be an over-priced PPV every weekend. The 2006 Royal Rumble was a massive letdown, despite the return of my personal favorite Rob Van Dam. Between having the Royal Rumble going on before the two title matches, to needlessly having Rey Mysterio and fat Triple H go coast to coast, to being completely devoid of any breakout performances, to having to listen to Michael Cole and King completely suck at commentary, to a disappointing on so many levels WWE Title match between Edge and John Cena (they would go on to do ridiculously better), to possibly the worst Kurt Angle match ever, to, finally, the Undertaker being the Undertaker, the 2006 Royal Rumble was just a huge disappointment. This brings us to the 2007 Royal Rumble, which, initially, had all the makings of completely outcrapping the 2006 Rumble. With the exception of the rematch of the "one-time only" MNM-Hardy match, the undercard looked like complete garbage. Fortunately for this year's incarnation of the Rumble, Triple H is nowhere to be found as the Game went down to another quadricep injury and really, unusual to the Rumble since the winner became #1 Contender to the WWE Title at Wrestlemania, opened up the field of potential winners. When I heard the results of this show, I swore I'd never buy it... then I rented it at Blockbuster and watched it and totally shut my trap. While there actually is a lot of garbage, this show has more than enough redeeming qualities.

On to the aesthetics, this is your typical WWE release, with sound being good. I'm pretty sure whatever the original theme song for the Rumble is, that its been edited off, which is kinda annoying. If you can find the DVD at Blockbuster, I highly reccomend buying it there. Blockbuster now has exclusive bonus discs for WWE DVDs sold there, and Royal Rumble contains an excellent street fight from Raw between HBK and Edge. I tried like hell to find it, but was unsuccessful. Commentary is handled by WWE's three commentary teams. The always solid JR and King for Raw, Joey Sty-les and Tazz for ECW's one contribution, and JBL and Cole for Smackdown. JBL is terrific in his color commentator role. He's the type of announcer that makes matches more watchable. He could stand to learn to tone it down on occasion, but he is easily the best color commentator of the three and I'd have loved to see him and JR call the Rumble. However, the Rumble commentary is handled by JBL, Cole and King (thanks for coming out Joey and Tazz), I'm usually not a huge fan of Cole and was very critical of his 2006 Rumble call, but the man came prepared for this bad boy. He's done his research and does admirably with the Rumble. These three do an excellent job calling the Rumble. Now on to the matches.

1. MNM vs The Hardy Boyz. This is the rematch of what was orginally billed "one-time only" match between MNM and the Hardy's at the ridiculously bad ECW December To Dismember PPV. Maybe because it was the one bright spot of that horrid show, maybe because both teams were more over as *gasp* tag teams than singles wrestlers, WWE brought them back again and they once again deliver a very solid tag. The match has a good backstory which is well explained and worked throughout the match. It won't win any awards but it was a good, crowd-pleasing opener. *** stars out of 5.
2. ECW Title: Bobby Lashley vs Test. Out of context, this is simply an awful match, in context, this is mind-numbingly stupid in addition to sucking up the joint. On the ECW before the PPV, Lashley would cleanly beat Test in a bad match... on free TV, which is supposed to make us want to see this match more. Here, they go out and suck it up again, but this match doesn't even have a definitive finish. The match itself sucked, as neither man had anything going for them and neither did anything impressive or get the crowd into things at all. I give this match a generous 1/2* because they did, technically, show up.
3. World Title: Batista vs Mr. Kennedy. Because the Royal Rumble is the selling point of the PPV, WWE can feel free to experiment occasionally with its title matches to see how guys respond. In 93, Razor Ramon and Bret Hart had a great match, in 04, Bob Holly showed why it took him 10 years to get to one and why it should have been longer. In 06, they threw Mark Henry out there and Kurt Angle couldn't get anything out of him. This year, WWE decided to give the up and comer Mr Kennedy a shot. Batista has never exactly set the world on fire in the ring and Kennedy has shown enough flashes and personality, especially in comparison to other newcomers like Chris Masters, to gain a following, but is not a guy you'd expect to carry a match, but this had all the makings of another bad match. However, these two manage not to embarrass themselves. They actually have a pretty focused, decent match. Kennedy actually has a sizable amount of support as well, adding to the fun. Batista's selling is spotty, but he tries, it seems. It didn't totally suck. **1/2
4. WWE Championship: Last Man Standing. John Cena vs Umaga. A month earlier, WWE forced their cartoonish throwback Samoan monster character Umaga into the main event against John Cena to be a placeholder for Triple H's impending challenge, which would have to wait as he would be injured at the cursed New Year's Revolution PPV. WWE actually did some great writing to add some interest to the feud and give people a reason to get people behind Cena. They get a rematch because Cena's win at that PPV was not decisive. They play up a rib injury to Cena to reinforce the Cena "against all odds" cliche. This has become, IMO, one of the most overrated matches of the year. I believe its because it blew away people's expectations. It was far better than you would expect out of these two, especially since many, including myself thought it would suck and people then take it too far. This is not going to be anywhere near my MOTY list, but it was a worthy WWE Title match and really gave me a reason to support both men. I'd rate it at a solid ***1/2.
5. The Royal Rumble Match: This is an excellent Royal Rumble. They really gave you everything that you could ask for and probably a little more in this Rumble. They do a great job of spreading out the talent and giving the talent good strong runs. There is very little downtime in this Rumble and there is almost always something interesting to watch going on and that's all you can ask for. There are a few annoyances and decisions I didn't like, but the Rumble is excellent from beginning to end and, IMO, may be the best Royal Rumble and I'm a huge fan of the match. Rating ****

Also, as a bonus on the regular DVD, as well as the Blockbuster DVD, there's a decent tag match from Raw between Edge and Orton vs Michaels and Cena. Nothing spectacular, not as good as the Street Fight bonus, but an enjoyable extra.

Overall: I'd give this DVD a solid recommendation. The good definately outweighs the bad in this DVD. An excellent Rumble, a good Title match and a good Tag match more than make up for a bad ECW Title match. If you love the Rumble, you need this DVD, IMO. For the rest, this is a pretty good pick up.

Overall Rating: ***1/2 out 5.

2007 has seen the entire landscape of Ring of Honor Wrestling change and ROH's show on 4-28 in Chicago was very much the end of an era. Entitled "Good Times, Great Memories" because this show was the announced final show for Colt Cabana, who has quietly been right alongside the ROH icons since 2002, before he made his way to the WWE, following his longtime tag team partner CM Punk. This show celebrates Cabana, including highlights from his ROH career. However, that alone does not make this an "end of an era" show for ROH. This show would also be the last show before ROH announced that it would debut on PPV and it would be the last show for any TNA contracted wrestler to appear in ROH, as a result. This means not only is this Colt Cabana's last show, but Christopher Daniels, Homicide, Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin and, for a while, Austin Aires would join Samoa Joe in leaving ROH, changing the landscape of ROH. While this show may be the end of an era for ROH, its delivers exactly what it advertises as it is full of Good Times and Great Memories.

Lighting and sound are good for this release. Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard are your rock solid commentary team and Chicago is back on track with an awesome crowd. Becky Bayless handles a few interviews and is pretty useless, overall. She is not attractive enough to forgive her annoying deliverary and braindead questions. On to the matches.

1. Gran Akuma vs Delirous vs Jigsaw vs Hallowicked vs Mike Quackenbush vs Pelle Primeau: This is the second ROH match for Chikara regulars Akuma, Jigsaw, Hallowicked and the heavily hyped Mike Quackenbush as they face Delrious and ROH Student Pelle Primaeu, who's last 6-Man Mayhem appearance saw him get annihilated, and man is this an awesomely fun opener. All 4 of the newcomers look pretty impressive and there were loads of unique matchups and moves thrown out. This match could have gone longer, as the action was very good. This match gave you a satisfactory taste of what these guys have to offer and left you wanting more and was just an awesome opener. Rating ***1/2 out of 5. Balls out Fun.
2. Christopher Daniels vs Erick Stevens: Erick Stevens is a newcomer to ROH and he looks a lot like Rhino with a mohawk. I believe he was trained by Roderick Strong and it shows in his **** This is a solid, well-worked, if unspectacularmatch. What sets this match apart (outside Allison's Danger's skirt, which covers less than an XL T-shirt), comes in the show's aftermath as Christopher Daniels says his good bye to ROH in the best promo he's delivered in years. He delivers a promo that is nearly as good as the promo that saw his return to ROH at Death Before Dishonor 3. Solid match, excellent aftermath. Rating: *** out of 5.
3. Jimmy Rave vs Brent Allbright vs BJ Whitmer vs Homicide. I really enjoyed this match, quite a bit more than I expected. Jimmy Rave was returning from very early from a broken jaw suffered at the hands of Nigel McGuinness, but looked absolutely fine. Whitmer was retunring after an absolutely brutal, bloody must see Cage War with Jimmy Jacobs. All 4 men get in good showings in a 4 Corner match that thankfully doesn't follow the typical 4 Corner Survival tradition and just keeps things roolling along. ***1/2
4. Rocky Romero vs Austin Aires. A continuation of the faction warfare between former Generation Next teammates Austin Aires and Roderick Strong's No Remorse Corps. This is a good solid match that builds its was to a really good final few minutes. Rating: ***
5. ROH Title: Morishim vs Shingo. This match is an interesting match because it features a battle between two Japanes promotions as ROH Champion and Pro Wrestling NOAH star Morishima, kind of a Japanese Samoa Joe,faces Dragon Gate's Shingo, who was more well known for his awesome hair than his wrestling. its also interesting because it blows away any and all expectations I had going into the match. This is an excellent match. Both men put in hugely impressive performances, particularly Shingo. No way I expected this match to be as good as it was. Rating: ****
6. The Fat Dempsey vs Alex 'Sugarfoot' Payne Thankfully never happens. Instead former member of the short-lived Tag team The Dicks, Tank Toland cuts a very entertaining promo on the two ROH students. Toland sounds a lot like Kurt Angle in both his voice and actual content. Toland takes the Fat one's place in a pretty entertaining squash as Chicago is inexplicably red-hot for everything Sugarfoot does. Its kept short. Rating *1/2, but a very entertaing segment overall.
7. Roderick Strong vs Jack Evans: The second ROH match and third overall match between former GenNext and Tag Partners Roderick Strong and Jack Evans. A very good match between these two. Its not quite as good as their match at ROH's All Star Extravaganza 3, but it is still a very good match as Strong and Evans compliment each other nearly as well as opponents as they did as a Tag Team. Evans has improved drastically and Strong is almost always money. Really good, ***3/4, even though I don't like to go beyond halves.
8. ROH Tag team Titles: The Briscoes vs Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin. Excellent tag team match. These 4 came gelled even better than I anticipated. This match takes a while to really crank into another gear, but the road is smooth and the final few minutes of the match blew me away. Rating: ****1/2
9. Colt Cabana vs Adam Pearce: The type of match that seemingly only Colt Cabana can get away with. Cabana has the crowd eating out of his palm in this hugely entertaining match. While solidly wrestled, this match is held together by Cabana's antics, the crowd, and by not overstaying its welcome or scope. It successfully follows the tag by giving you something entirely different and satisfying in its own way and was a fitting farewell to Colt. ***1/2

Extras: In addition to the video wire which has become simply pretty much become highlights from previous shows, which are worth a look, this show also contains the PPV Announcement, which is a pretty awesome package.

I may like this show more than Manhattan Mayhem, and that is not a comment I throw around lightly. IMO, this may be the best overall DVD release ROH has done. The lowest point on this show is the Jimmy Jacobs promo that opens the show, which is a good promo that goes a little long. This is a show where every match entertained me and it had some really blow-away matches to boot and it didn't even feature some ROH mainstays like Matt Sydal, Nigel McGuinness or Davey Richards. The show seems to blow on by. I'd say the best match goes to the Tag Team Title match, followed by the overachieving ROH Title match, then Strong vs Evans and then everything else isn't far behind.

If you buy this show off my overly positive review and hate it, I'm going to go ahead and apologize to you in advance, because I highly reccomend this show. I really loved it. It may have been the end of an era for ROH, but it was a really awesome era. Thanks for reading.