Match #1: Samoa Joe vs. Bryan Danielson (Revenge on the Prophecy – 1/11/03)
Danielson slaps Joe and hits a dragon screw leg whip. Danielson continues to ground Joe, working over the left leg. Joe blocks a charge and connects with a huge lariat. He applies a half crab but Danielson reaches the bottom rope. Joe suplexes Danielson to the floor and Danielson lands on his tailbone. That looked painful. Joe connects with a facewash kick into the guardrail. In the ring, Danielson narrowly escapes an STF. He recovers with a butterfly suplex and connects with a diving headbutt. Joe responds with an flying knee strike and hits the Island Driver for the win at 11:57 (shown). Criminally short but an enjoyable twelve minutes of professional wrestling nonetheless. Danielson’s bump on the floor was cringe-worthy. Although the leg work never really went anywhere, the finishing stretch provided enough great back and forth wrestling to somewhat compensate. ***
Match #2: Paul London vs. AJ Styles vs. Low Ki (One Year Anniversary Show – 2/8/03)
Styles goes crazy to start the match, connecting with a springboard forearm smash on Low Ki. London dropkicks Styles through the ropes. Low Ki blocks a dive from London with a kappou kick. Low Ki wins a strike exchange on the outside against Styles. London lands a frog splash to the floor onto both of his opponents. Styles connects with his signature dropkick in the ring on Low Ki. London catches Styles with a missile dropkick and follows with a series of suplexes. Low Ki takes control of the match with his kicks. Styles DDTs Low Ki to save London from the dragon clutch. Styles puts London in a muta lock while Low Ki kicks him. Low Ki connects with a springboard gamengiri on Styles and hits the Krush Rush. London blocks another Krush Rush with a tornado DDT and all three men are down. London unloads with strikes on Styles in the corner. Low Ki hurricanranas Styles off the middle rope into a powerbomb from London. The crowd erupts. Styles hits a german suplex and a back suplex on London. Low Ki connects with a cartwheel enzuigiri on London and kicks Styles in the back of the head. All three men battle on the top rope. Low Ki hits the Ki Krusher on Styles from the middle rope. London follows with a shooting star press for the victory at 19:21. For every overly-contrived spot in this match there was a jaw-dropping moment that made me look twice. When looked at as a spotfest, this contest easily holds up nine years later. While it didn’t touch the original three-way from the first Ring of Honor show, this was still highly enjoyable. ***¾
Match #3: ROH World Title: Xavier © vs. Paul London (One Year Anniversary Show – 2/8/03)
Xavier immediately made London cash in the title shot he received by winning the last match on this compilation. Xavier attacks from behind. London fires back with a spin kick and a yakuza kick. Xavier hits an overhead suplex. Allison Danger and Alexis Laree get into a scuffle at ringside. Xavier blocks an armbar and hits a brutal german suplex. He sends London through the table at ringside. Xavier lawn darts London into the ringpost. London is busted open after that spot. Xavier takes control until London hits a crossbody out of a superplex. London connects with a springboard forearm smash but Xavier rolls to the floor to avoid a shooting star press. London improvises and lands a dive off the top rope. He absolutely levels Danger with a plancha. Jesus. In the ring, London hits a shooting star press but Danger pulls Xavier out of the ring. Xavier takes advantage of a distraction and hits a 450 splash for a nearfall. They trade quick rollups and Xavier retains his title after a handful of tights at 19:25. The crowd undoubtedly made this match, as they wanted nothing more than to see London win the title. Part of the credit goes to the booking, as London winning two grueling matches in a row would have been a fitting way for him to become champion. Both Xavier and London played their roles perfectly and this worked on many levels. ***½
Match #4: ROH Tag Team Titles: Christopher Daniels and Xavier © vs. The Amazing Red and AJ Styles (Expect the Unexpected – 3/15/03)
Red catches the Prophecy with a double dropkick. Styles and Red land stereo dives to the floor. Red lays in a series of kicks on Xavier. Styles and Daniels square off; little did we know at the time how many singles matches they’d have together throughout their careers. Red connects with the 718 on Daniels and Styles adds a flipping senton. The Prophecy find an opening to isolate Styles until he connects with a double dropkick and makes the tag. Red connects with a double missile dropkick and cleans house. Xavier saves Daniels from a monkey flip by snapping Red’s neck across the top rope. Styles hits his inverted DDT on Daniels along with a neckbreaker. Allison Danger and Alexis Laree go at it again. Xavier hits Kiss Your X Goodbye on Styles. Red hits the Code Red on Xavier. The Prophecy hit a double team neckbreaker on Styles. They follow with the Revelations on Red for a nearfall. Styles and Xavier trade kicks and Styles hits a brainbuster. Daniels plants Red with a uranagi and lands the Best Moonsault Ever for a two count. Daniels hits Angel’s Wings on Styles and lariats Red. The man is dominant. Styles hits the Styles Clash on Daniels. Xavier breaks up the pin, but the referee counts anyway. Styles and Red become the new ROH Tag Team Champions at 21:08. This match was going along nicely until the botched finish. Xavier certainly receives flack from a lot of fans, but his two performances on this compilation thus far have been enjoyable. The best parts of this contest were the interactions between Styles and Daniels. I don’t want the finish to detract too much from the match, as the crowd gave the title switch a standing ovation and didn’t seem to mind too much. ***½
Match #5: Low Ki vs. Jody Fleisch (Night of the Champions – 3/22/03)
They exchange control on the mat. Low Ki shrugs off a kick and swings wildly with a roundhouse kick to no avail. Fleisch almost hits the 720 DDT and barely avoids the dragon clutch. They stare each other down as the crowd erupts. They battle over a knucklelock. Low Ki takes down Fleisch with a headscissors. Fleisch responds with a reverse hurricanrana. Low Ki staggers to the floor. Fleisch lands a springboard shooting star press to the outside. In the ring, Low Ki connects with a springboard gamengiri and hits a butterfly suplex. Fleisch lands a twisting crossbody. Low Ki blocks the 720 DDT and hits the Krush Rush. He follows with a kappou kick. They trade chops and both men fall to the canvas after an enzuigiri from Fleisch. Low Ki blocks a satellite headscissors by ramming Fleisch into the bottom turnbuckle. Low Ki connects with the Tidal Crush. Fleisch answers with a shooting star piledriver. Good Lord. Fleisch pulls Low Ki to the top rope, but Low Ki hits the Ki Krusher from the top rope for the win at 19:40. Maybe someone can fill me in on whatever happened to Fleisch, but he must legitimately be out of his mind. A shooting star piledriver? There wasn’t a second during this match where I wasn’t having fun. Sure, there were a few seconds where I was concerned for their safety, but this would have been just as crazy had it happened in 2012. Consider my rating more of an “entertainment” score. ***¾
Match #6: ROH World Title: Xavier © vs. Samoa Joe (Night of the Champions – 3/22/03)
Michael Shane and CW Anderson brawl to the back with the Prophecy members at ringside. Joe shrugs off a few chops from Xavier and stops him from skinning the cat. He connects with the ole kick at ringside. Back in, Xavier creates an opening with a backcracker. He dives to the floor and hits a tornado DDT mid-flight. Joe fights back with a big lariat. He hits a german suplex followed by a dragon suplex. Xavier finds life with the X-Breaker but finds knees on a 450 splash attempt. Joe connects with repeated knees to the head and locks in the Coquina Clutch to become the new ROH World Champion at 11:55. Xavier had a couple of nice tricks, but Joe’s dominance was clearly the story of this match. His dominance here would foreshadow the lengthy title reign that was to come. This wasn’t the best match of 2003, but its inclusion is important for historical purposes. **¾
Match #7: 2 out of 3 Falls: Bryan Danielson vs. Paul London (The Epic Encounter – 4/12/03)
Danielson controls on the mat early on. Still, London seems intent on keeping the action mat-based. There’s a point where London slaps Danielson, so Danielson kicks him in the face. London hits a belly to belly suplex and grabs onto a side headlock. Danielson reverses into a brutal backbreaker. He takes over until London blocks a charge and connects with a lariat. London headscissors Danielson to the floor and connects with a springboard enzuigiri. Danielson lands a dive to the outside and connects with a diving headbutt in the ring. He hits a german suplex for a close two count. London reverses a back superplex into a crossbody. He lands on Danielson and is able to pin him for three. London wins the first fall at 20:29. Danielson comes out firing after the rest period. London matches him with a superkick and a knockout kick. Danielson hangs him in the ropes by his left knee and repeatedly stomps on it. Danielson goes ballistic on London’s left knee, hitting a shinbreaker, dragon screw leg whip, and applying a half crab. Danielson just stretches the left leg, and London taps out at 27:12. We’re tied at 1-1. London kicks Danielson away from going after his leg. He hits a leg-sweep DDT but gets caught by a roaring elbow. Danielson locks in Cattle Mutilation but London reaches the ropes. Danielson hits a dragon suplex and goes back to the half crab. London hits a powerbomb out of desperation. Danielson answers with a back superplex and reapplies the hold that won him the second fall. London makes the ropes this time. London hits a tornado DDT and lands a shooting star press for the victory at 41:12. The storytelling here was incredible and completely took advantage of the stipulations. The first fall featured a transition in strategies by Danielson. He kept things on the mat, moved to a striking game, and played into London’s high risk strategy, which ultimately cost him the fall. Danielson was able to successfully refocus himself for the second fall. However, although he tried to do the same for the final fall, London had adapted and an amazing finishing stretch followed. This is a clinic and worthy of having the show named in its honor. ****½
Match #8: Paul London vs. Christopher Daniels (Retribution: Round Robin Challenge II – 4/26/03)
London’s playfulness frustrates Daniels early on. Daniels offers a handshake but it’s all a ruse. London dropkicks Daniels as he tries to skin the cat and lands a plancha to the floor. In the ring, Daniels takes over, focusing his attack on the midsection. London attempts a comeback but he falls victim to Angel’s Wings for a nearfall. Daniels is not happy about that. London connects with a spin kick but misses a lionsault. Daniels hits an iconoclasm. They trade rollups to no avail. London lands a shooting star press but Allison Danger distracts the referee. London kisses her and back drops Daniels onto her. London lands a dive to the floor onto Daniels. Back in, Daniels blocks another shooting star press and hits a flatliner. Daniels follows with the Best Moonsault Ever for the win at 24:52. This compilation is making me a big fan of London, or at least 2003 London. Daniels did an excellent job of working over the ribs and London didn’t miss a beat with his selling. London’s unwillingness to go crazy with his offense really put over Daniels as a threat. I could do without the constant interference from Danger, but this was just a solid overall package. ***¾
Match #9: AJ Styles vs. Paul London (Night of the Grudges – 6/14/03)
They begin with some chain wrestling and find themselves at a stalemate. They battle over a knucklelock and Styles tries a quick cross armbreaker to no avail. Things start becoming intense as they slap each other and sarcastically shake hands. They exchange armdrags and both attempt dropkicks at the same time. London barely avoids a Styles Clash. Styles connects with a springboard dropkick but misses a plancha. London connects with a dropkick through the ropes. He drop toe holds Styles into the barricade. London yanks Styles’ leg into the barricade. In the ring, Styles hits a neckbreaker. London shrugs off an enzuigiri and hits a dragon screw leg whip. He takes control, continuing to work over the leg. Styles comes back with a discus lariat and both men are down. Styles springboards into an inverted DDT. They battle up top and London lands the shooting star press onto the injured leg. London locks in a figure four but Styles reaches the ropes. Styles hits a sunset bomb followed by the Styles Clash for a nearfall. He follows with a german suplex but he can’t hold the bridge due to his leg. Both men’s shoulders are down, so the referee counts them both down for a double pinfall at 24:30. Reading the play by play, you wouldn’t necessarily think that there was an issue here, but everything they did was performed with a great deal of force, from armdrag exchanges to simple kicks. While we saw London sell excellently against Christopher Daniels, he took the role of working over a body part here and was great once again. There were so many smart moments from a psychology perspective that even the finish didn’t come off as forced. London was a machine back in the day. ****
Match #10: ROH World Title: Samoa Joe © vs. Dan Maff (Wrestlerave ‘03 – 6/28/03)
Maff attacks at the opening bell. He connects with a facewash knee strike and lands a dive to the floor. This man is serious. They slap each other and Joe connects with two ole kicks. He utilizes a chair at ringside. Back in, they exchange strikes and tease finishers. Maff hits a saito suplex and both men are down. Joe recovers with a powerbomb and transitions into an STF. He escapes another burning hammer and connects with an enzuigiri. Joe hits a dragon suplex to retain his title at 11:04. They packed a decent amount of action into eleven minutes, as the match remained predominantly back and forth for its entire duration. There wasn’t much to sink your teeth into story-wise, but the question remains: what would’ve happened had Maff been able to hit the burning hammer? ***
Match #11: Fight Without Honor: Homicide vs. Trent Acid (Wrestlerave ‘03 – 6/28/03)
Acid lands an asai moonsault to the floor. Homicide connects with a facewash kick in the ring and hits a northern lights suplex. Acid connects with a missile dropkick to the back of the head. Homicide overhead suplexes Acid onto a ladder. Acid soon responds with a DDT onto the ladder. Acid throws a chair at Homicide’s head and props the ladder in between two chairs. Acid hits a blue thunder bomb through the ladder. Homicide recovers with a brainbuster onto a chair. The Cop Killa is interrupted by Johnny Kashmere. The Backseat Boys hit the T Gimmick on Homicide. Julius Smokes fights off Kashmere. Homicide blocks a lariat and hits an ace crusher. He follows with a northern lights bomb. They battle up top and Homicide hits an ace crusher, sending Acid through a table on the floor! Both men manage to reenter the ring. They exchange yakuza kicks. Acid climbs a ladder but Homicide pushes him to the floor. Acid collides with the barricade. Homicide misses a dive and crashes through the ladder. In the ring, Acid flips out of the Cop Killa and sneaks in a rollup for the victory at 19:26. Some of this match’s luster might have diminished over the years due to the craziness bar being continually raised when it comes to weapons-based brawls. Still, they delivered a great brawl with an underwhelming finish. Granted, I don’t know the full context of this feud, but the finish seemed out of place and remains the only mark against an otherwise sound feud-ender. ***½
Match #12: ROH World Title: Samoa Joe © vs. Paul London (Death Before Dishonor – 7/19/03)
London grabs hold of a side headlock and attempts a quick rollup to no avail. He pushes Joe to the floor and connects with a dropkick through the ropes. Joe throws London into the barricade. London blocks an ole kick and lands a moonsault off the barricade. In the ring, London lands a slingshot splash. Joe hits an STO out of the corner and takes control. Joe crotches himself on a facewash kick attempt. He catches London on a plancha attempt and slams him into the ringpost. Now Joe is able to connect with his ole kicks. Back in, Joe finds success with a missile dropkick and hits a german suplex. London finds an opening to hit his leg-sweep DDT. He follows with a shooting star press for a nearfall. Joe traps London in the Coquina Clutch. London is able to leverage out of the hold. Joe lays in repeated knee strikes and goes back to the Coquina Clutch to retain his title at 14:12. This match started around midnight, so I’m assuming they kept things short to hedge against burning out the crowd. London was on his way to the WWE, so the finish wasn’t in doubt. I’m curious as to why they included this match but left out the dog collar match between CM Punk and Raven from the same show. ***¼
Match #13: CM Punk vs. AJ Styles (Tradition Continues – 10/16/03)
They trade control on the mat where Punk shows some aggression. That attitude continues when Punk hits a nasty saito suplex. Styles answers with a dropkick and drops a knee. Punk drop toe holds Styles into the turnbuckle and connects with a baseball slide. He takes over until Styles snaps off a quick hurricanrana from his back. They exchange chops and Styles hits a back suplex. Punk responds with a brutal DDT. They battle up top and Punk hits a sunset bomb for a two count. Styles connects with a discus lariat and both men are down. Styles attempts a middle-rope Styles Clash to no avail. Punk shrugs off a tornado DDT. Styles blocks a shining wizard by hitting the Styles Clash for the win at 18:20. The solid mid-card outing that you’d expect from these two. They weren’t shooting for something epic and delivered an enjoyable match. The action down the stretch successfully took things up a notch, and the finish was quite the visual. ***½
Match #14: CM Punk vs. Steve Corino (Empire State Showdown – 10/25/03)
The pre-match shenanigans are included, which are a lot of fun. This should be eye-opening for those that aren’t familiar with Corino’s history in Ring of Honor. They reluctantly shake hands. Punk gets the better of a test of strength and mocks Corino. Corino dares Punk to hit him. The ensuing strike exchange ends poorly for Punk. They criss-cross and Corino hits a powerslam. Punk connects with a leg lariat and gains the advantage. He resorts to blatant cheating to maintain the advantage as well. Punk hits a twenty-second delayed vertical suplex. Corino tries to match him, but only gets eight seconds. He blames his shortcoming on Punk’s fatness, which makes no sense. Punk hits a russian leg sweep but misses a frog splash. Corino starts to mount his comeback. He hits the STO and Colbykaze. Punk avoids the Old-School Expulsion but runs into a lariat. That only gets a one count. Punk hits a northern lights suplex and connects with a shining wizard for a nearfall. Corino lays in a superkick out of nowhere. He hits a saito suplex but the time limit expires at 20:00. Obviously, the clash of personalities was entertaining but I’m unsure if everything translated to the DVD. I’d probably only ever need to watch this match once and I wonder why this was included on a “best of” compilation. **¾
Match #15: Scramble Cage Match: The Backseat Boyz vs. The Carnage Crew vs. Special K vs. Jack Evans and Teddy Hart vs. The SAT (Main Event Spectacles – 11/1/03)
I’m only going to hit the high points with my play by play. There are platforms on top of the cage, which the competitors can use to dive from. Two teams begin the contest and there cannot be a winner until all five teams enter the cage. The Backseat Boyz start the match with Evans and Hart. Evans falls victim to a double team saito suplex. Referees rush to ringside to check on him. The Carnage Crew enter the match and violently throw Hart over the barricade. They back drop the Backseat Boyz into the cage wall. The match settles down until the SAT enter. They catch Acid with stereo enzuigiris and total elimination. They hit the Washing Machine on Kashmere into the cage! Special K are the last team to enter. Hart hurricanranas Evans off the top of the cage and onto their opponents. Angel Dust lands a dive through the cage door. Pure carnage ensues but mostly everyone works their way back into the ring. The SAT hit a spanish fly on Hydro from the top of the cage. Hart lands a dive from the top of the cage to the floor! Evans follows with a 720 moonsault. Insanity. The Carnage Crew hit a spike piledriver from the second rope on Angel Dust. The Backseat Boyz interrupt with the T Gimmick on Hydro for the victory at 14:12. There is a great deal of controversy surrounding this match in regards to Hart’s actions afterwards. Still, this was a spectacle and people will either love it or hate it. I’m learning very quickly with this compilation that Ring of Honor was having spotfests in 2003 that would more than hold up by today’s standards. This is craziness for the sake of craziness, but you probably knew that going into the match. ***½
Match #16: ROH Tag Team Titles: Jay and Mark Briscoe © vs. Christopher Daniels and Dan Maff (War of the Wire – 11/29/03)
Mark connects with a springboard dropkick on Daniels and hits a northern lights suplex. The Briscoes hit a flying leg drop-side slam combination on Maff. Mark lands a plancha to the floor onto Maff. Daniels accidentally takes out Maff with an arabian press. Mark lands a shooting star press from the top rope to the floor. In the ring, the Prophecy find an opening to isolate Mark. He takes advantage of some miscommunication and makes the tag. Jay connects with a double clothesline and a corner yakuza kick on Maff. Daniels hits a flatliner on Mark and lands the Best Moonsault Ever for a nearfall. Jay lays out Daniels with a gourdbuster and follows with a death valley driver. Maff hits a fisherman neckbreaker on Jay along with a saito suplex. Mark catches Maff with a springboard ace crusher. The Briscoes hit a backbreaker-springboard knee drop on Daniels. Maff throws Jay into the barricade. Allison Danger interrupts a pin attempt. Daniels saves her from a Cutthroat Driver, and she DDTs Mark. Jay hunts down Danger and delivers a falcon arrow. Maff takes out Mark with a lariat. The Briscoes flapjack Maff and hit the doomsday device for a nearfall. Daniels hits Angel’s Wings on Mark for a two count. Jay avoids an enzuigiri from Daniels and hits the Jay Driller. The Briscoes retain their titles at 18:21. In front of a hotter crowd, this would have been the solid outing that you’d expect from these two teams. Instead, the action just seemed like a collection of spots receiving little reaction. For about the third or fourth time thus far with this compilation, I’ve wondered why ROH decided to leave out certain matches. For instance, the Homicide/Corino barbed-wire match seemed more relevant and of a higher quality than this match from the same event. **¾
Match #17: Fight Without Honor: John Walters vs. Xavier (Final Battle 2003 – 12/27/03)
They start brawling before the opening bell. Walters hits a powerslam and catapults Xavier to the floor. Xavier gets sent into the barricade. He ducks a chair shot and connects with a few knee strikes. Prince Nana comes to ringside. Xavier drives a chair into Walters’ face. Xavier brings a ladder into the ring but Walters throws it at him during a charge. Walter hits an alabama slam into the ladder. A ladder is propped in between the apron and the barricade. Xavier does a crazy arabian press onto Walters, who was laying on the ladder. In the ring, Walters hits a lungblower and both men go back to the outside. Walters hit the hurricane DDT onto a propped chair. Xavier is busted open. Walters applies a chair-assisted stretch. Xavier kicks Walters onto a table at ringside. He lands a springboard 450 splash, putting Walters through the table. A bigger ladder is brought into the ring. They battle on the rungs and Walters hits a backcracker off the ladder. Nana interrupts the pin attempt. Xavier hits the X Breaker and a super Kiss Your X Goodbye. They battle on top of a ladder. Walters hits a sunset bomb, sending them both through another ladder. Xavier’s head violently hits off the bottom turnbuckle. Walters covers for the win at 18:45. They brought the violence while spacing out their big spots and not going overboard. The spots that involved an elaborate setup didn’t feel convoluted either. While the finish didn’t happen as planned, the fact that Xavier’s head banged off the bottom turnbuckle made it a believable way to end the match. I think this Fight Without Honor aged slightly better than Homicide/Acid from earlier in 2003. ***¾
Match #18: AJ Styles vs. Kaz Hayashi (Final Battle 2003 – 12/27/03)
They trade control of a wristlock and find themselves at a stalemate. Hayashi grabs control of a side headlock. Styles connects with his signature dropkick but Hayashi responds with a dropkick of his own. The action goes to the floor, where Styles leaps over the barricade. They reenter the ring and trade chops. Styles connects with a spin kick but Hayashi mimics him once again. Hayashi hits a brainbuster and takes control. Styles finds life with a backbreaker and gains the advantage. Hayashi kind of hits a slingshot DDT. Styles answers with a gutbuster and a backbreaker. Hayashi connects with a handspring mule kick. They both land lariats at the same time and fall to the canvas. Hayashi spikes Styles with a hurricanrana. He applies a crossface but Styles quickly rolls through. Hayashi transitions into a dragon suplex for a nearfall. Styles rolls through a hurricanrana and hits the Styles Clash for the victory at 14:49. I wasn’t a fan of independent wrestling in 2003, so I can’t quite grasp how much of a disappointment this match was. Aside from a few moments of sloppiness, I enjoyed the action for its place on the card. They didn’t have great chemistry and there’s really no clear story, but a collection of solid exchanges down the stretch raise this match to a worthwhile level. ***
Overall: While Ring of Honor: Year Two might not represent the absolute best that the company had to offer in 2003, there’s still a lot of value in the way of match quality. Paul London dominated the first disc with consistently awesome performances (especially his singles encounters with Bryan Danielson and AJ Styles). The quality drops a bit on the second disc, but the scramble cage match and the Walters/Xavier Fight Without Honor stand out. As mentioned throughout the review, I’m left scratching my head at some of the inclusions and exclusions on this compilation. However, I’ll give ROH the benefit of the doubt because gems like Danielson/Styles from Main Event Spectacles are included on previously released compilations. Ring of Honor: Year Two receives a mild recommendation, although I’m still hesitant to call it an accurate representation of 2003’s best matches.
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