ROH - Showdown in Motown - 2005

Hi folks! Today we're going to take a look at the Ring of Honor show Showdown in Motown. This is ROH's first show in Detroit, MI 2005.

BJ Whitmer vs Delirious - BJ's powerhouse style vs Delirious' high flying. Solid, exciting stuff. Good match! 

Claudio Castagnoli vs Nigel McGuinness - Damn Claudio! That's a helluva start! I wish these two fought more often. Two of the physically larger wrestlers with similar styles. Kinda seems like a no brainer now. Definitely a pure wrestling match until Nigel starts heeling it up. Very good stuff.

Chad Collyer & Sal Rinauro vs Roderick Strong & Jack Evans - FIP flashback for the Badger. God damn, that was a sick under card tag match! Everyone was going off, doing crazy moves & hitting them perfectly. Sal...man, I forgot how much I like his wrestling. Chad was super solid here and wouldn't mind seeing him again. Jack & Rod brought their A-game. This was a great under card tag match. Real bananas shit.

Homicide vs Colt Cabana - An awesome through the crowd brawl. This was supposed to be the intro for another match & these two just beat the crap outta each other. Julius Smokes gets mixed up in the melee. This is the 187 at his best and definitely puts Cabana in a new light for me. It's perhaps the best Cabana match I've seen. It's not some 5 minute brawling segment, this is ECW Arena/ FMW Korakuen Hall fans need to get the fuck outta the way stuff.

Jimmy Jacobs vs Adam Pearce vs Samoa Joe vs Christopher Daniels - Good match with some comedy as Jimmy was doing his Bruiser Brody shtick. It's mainly a showcase match for him as he's a local talent. The final third was pretty good.

Daizee Haze vs Allison Danger - Way too quick as Allison is a really good wrestler & Haze was keeping up. 

Alex Shelley vs Austin Aries - Embassy vs Generation Next was the best thing going after the Summer of Punk in 2005. I don't think folks appreciate the booking. Gen Next were cocky heels but kinda became tweeners because their matches were so exciting. This was a really good match but the "relaxed rules" meant TNA style shenanigans instead of ECW style chair assisted spots. Still, good action, good psychology and finish that works and leads seamlessly into the next match.

AJ Styles & Matt Sydal vs Abyss & Jimmy Rave - Abyss in Ring of Honor is cool. There's no one else like him. Pairing him with Styles was very smart because of their familiarity. Also remember that AJ was feuding with Rave over the Styles/Rave Clash. This was a near classic, all action tag match. Jimmy was smarmy, Abyss was the powerhouse monster, Sydal was the plucky side kick & AJ the super hero. 

Bryan Danielson vs Chris Sabin - Great title match! Excellent technical wrestling at the start. Sabin brought his high impact offense. The champ eventually slows the Detroit challenger down with back breakers & submission holds. Sabin doesn't quit pushing forward. It was a great showing from him in his first ROH appearance (I think). Dragon early in his reign feels fresh. 

Summary: Showdown in Motown is a great jam packed ROH DVD. Storylines were entertaining. The action was diverse. Nothing felt dragged out. I would definitely recommend picking this golden era B-show DVD up. It's an affordable way to get a lil bit of that classic ROH magic in a single purchase. Thanks for reading!