The first portion of this compilation is a seventy-five minute interview with Jacobs. Among the topics discussed include:
-How he got started in the professional wrestling business
-How he found out and ended up in Ring of Honor
-Traveling and working with Alex Shelley
-Teaming with BJ Whitmer and winning the ROH World Tag Team Titles
-Lacey and trying to figure out what “emo” is
-Attempting to save his ROH career with the Ballad of Lacey
-The powerbomb spot at Dragon Gate Challenge
-The difficulty of making his various videos
-The cage match against BJ Whitmer at Supercard of Honor II
-Planning the Age of the Fall
-Jacobs being responsible for the first Ladder War
-Working with the Briscoes, Bryan Danielson, Joey Mercury, and Austin Aries
-Jacobs’ prominence in the main event in 2008
-Adam Pearce taking over as booker
-Jacobs’ disappointment with the Tyler Black feud
-The end of the Age of the Fall and leaving Ring of Honor
-Choosing between ROH and DGUSA
-Returning to Ring of Honor as Steve Corino’s sponsor
Jimmy Jacobs has clearly been involved in some newsworthy storylines throughout the course of his ROH career and this sit-down interview provides some insight into those angles. Smart Mark Video could definitely do a five-hour shoot interview with Jacobs, but this interview nicely touches upon a lot of the high points. As a compliment to the matches included, this interview adds a decent amount of value to the compilation. That is especially true since Jacobs provides some interesting background to most of the matches on this DVD.
Match #1: Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer vs. Alex Shelley vs. Tony Mamaluke (Wrestlerave – 6/28/03)
Jacobs and Mamaluke trade quick pin attempts to no avail. Mamaluke almost snaps on an early cross armbreaker. Shelley and Jacobs have a nice exchange on the mat. They trade armdrags. Whitmer hits an exploder on both men. Mamaluke targets Whitmer’s right leg. The action starts to break down with everyone connecting with strikes. Jacobs blocks a charge from Shelley and hits a backbreaker. Shelley gets worked over until he catches Jacobs with snake eyes. Whitmer hits a brainbuster on Mamaluke. Jacobs adds a senton but falls victim to a blue thunder bomb from Whitmer. Shelley stands up to Whitmer but eats a lariat. Shelley saves Jacobs from a Mamaluke submission by landing a frog splash. Whitmer lariats Mamaluke to yesterday and hits an exploder on Shelley. Mamaluke applies a triangle choke on Shelley. Meanwhile, Whitmer hits an exploder on Jacobs for the win at 14:53. This seemed like a random four corner survival, but the differences in the participants made the action work. You also get some sense of how well Jacobs and Shelley worked together. As far as including a match from early in Jacobs’ career, this was a nice little gem to add to the compilation. ***½
Match #2: Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer vs. Jay Lethal and Samoa Joe (The Best of the American Super Juniors – 4/2/05)
Jacobs snaps off a satellite headscissors on Lethal. He doesn’t find much success against Joe, so he tags in Whitmer. Joe hits a senton on Whitmer. Lethal catches Jacobs with a back suplex. Jacobs whiffs on a missile dropkick and gets worked over. He hurricanranas Joe into Lethal and makes the tag. Whitmer rolls through a crossbody attempt from Lethal and hits a brainbuster. Lethal comes off the middle rope with a DDT. Whitmer catches Joe with an exploder. Jacobs hits a wheelbarrow bulldog on Lethal and follows with a doomsday hurricanrana for a nearfall. Joe snaps off a powerslam on Whitmer. Lethal dumps Jacobs to the floor. Joe and Lethal hit a back suplex-STO combination on Whitmer for a two count. Whitmer hits an exploder from the middle rope on Lethal for the victory at 18:05. Aside from a few moments of miscommunication, this was a decent tag team match with constant action. The exchanges between Jacobs/Lethal and Whitmer/Joe were memorable and both teams also showed off some great double team maneuvers, like the doomsday hurricanrana down the stretch. ***¼
Match #3: Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer (Dragon Gate Challenge – 3/30/06)
Jacobs snaps off a satellite headscissors. Whitmer catches him on a plancha attempt and flings him into the barricade. Whitmer connects with a leg lariat. Jacobs hurricanranas him into the middle turnbuckle and connects with a slingshot double stomp. He takes over until Whitmer gets his knees up on a senton attempt. Whitmer hits an exploder and counters the Contra Code with snake eyes. He hits a german suplex and transitions into a dragon suplex. Jacobs tries a few rollups to no avail. Whitmer suplexes Jacobs and himself to the floor. Whitmer hits a powerbomb into the barricade and connects with a running knee strike in the ring. They battle up top. Whitmer attempts a powerbomb but falls to the floor and Jacobs head smashes off the apron. Good Lord. Whitmer gets to his feet and is limping. Somehow, they reenter the ring. Jacobs hits the Contra Code. He puts Whitmer onto a table at ringside. Jacobs becomes too distracted with Lacey and Whitmer overhead suplexes Jacobs off the top rope. Whitmer connects with a lariat for the win at 15:14. It’s hard not to be overly consumed by that bump to the floor. That has to be one of the most dangerous things I’ve ever seen in professional wrestling. Aside from that bump, this was an awesome match and Ring of Honor should have known from this encounter that they had a money feud with these two. ***¾
Match #4: ROH World Title: Bryan Danielson © vs. Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer (Throwdown – 6/23/06)
This match will be conducted under elimination rules, so the champion has to be pinned. I like that a lot. Everyone tries various submissions to start. Danielson catches Whitmer with a dropkick and airplane spins Jacobs. Whitmer dropkicks Danielson during the airplane spin. Danielson traps Whitmer in a surfboard and Jacobs chops Whitmer while he’s in the hold. Jacobs connects with a missile dropkick on Danielson. Whitmer follows with a saito suplex but Danielson responds with a dragon suplex. Jacobs breaks up Cattle Mutilation with a top-rope senton. He hits an impressive death valley driver on Whitmer. Jacobs and Whitmer hit a doomsday hurricanrana on Danielson for a nearfall. Jacobs hits the Contra Code on Whitmer with help from Danielson to eliminate him. Danielson becomes aggressive and throws Jacobs into the barricade. The champion takes over in the ring until Jacobs spears him in mid-air. Danielson hits a shoulder-capture suplex. Jacobs blocks a sunset flip and tries a quick pin attempt of his own for a nearfall. Jacobs hits the Contra Code for a two count. He applies Cattle Mutilation but Danielson quickly escapes. Danielson connects with MMA elbows and applies a crossface chicken wing to retain his title at 24:42. This was a perfectly executed triple threat match. The beginning portion with all three men featured a lot of fun interactions. I appreciated Jacobs and Whitmer agreeing to use some of their old double team moves for the sake of winning the title. Once Whitmer was eliminated, Jacobs played a great underdog babyface and had the crowd with him. Everything really came together here. ****
Match #5: Windy City Death Match: Jimmy Jacobs vs. Colt Cabana (Fifth Year Festival: Chicago – 2/24/07)
Jacobs creates some space between him and Cabana to start. Cabana gets his shots in and throws Jacobs into the barricade. Lacey interjects herself, allowing Jacobs to clip Cabana’s knee. Daizee Haze runs out to take care of Lacey. Cabana grabs a ladder but Jacobs baseball slides the ladder into him. Cabana busts Jacobs open with scissors. Jacobs looks for his spike but he can’t find it. Cabana has the spike! Jacobs breaks a flag pole in half and uses the sharp edges to bust open Cabana’s forehead. He takes control until Cabana charges at him with scissors. He hits Jacobs across the head with a chair shot. Brent Albright interferes and lays out Cabana with a half nelson suplex. BJ Whitmer makes the save for Cabana. Cabana lands an asai moonsault to the floor onto Jacobs and Albright. In the ring, Cabana hits Jacobs with a hammer of all things. He follows with the flying asshole and launches a few chairs at Jacobs. Cabana lands a top-rope moonsault and sets up a table at ringside. He puts Jacobs onto the table but the table breaks from the pressure. They try another table. Lacey crotches Cabana on the top rope. Jacobs jumps from a ladder and sentons Cabana through the table. That gets a nearfall. In the ring, Jacobs misses a spear and crashes through a propped table. Cabana connects with a lariat and hits the Colt 45. He hits the Colt 45 on Lacey as well. Cabana pins both of them for the victory at 22:52. Jacobs is well-suited for this type of match and I think Cabana is grossly underrated in these situations. They were able to put over their hatred for each other with minimal weapon usage. Although they had some difficulties with the table, when the big table spot finally occurred, it seemed like a huge deal and the crowd popped accordingly. A strong feud-ending match that doesn’t get talked about very much. ***¾
Match #6: Steel Cage Match: Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer (Supercard of Honor II – 3/31/07)
Jacobs dives onto Whitmer during his entrance. He throws Whitmer into the barricade and drops an elbow. In the ring, Whitmer throws Jacobs into the cage repeatedly. He dropkicks a chair into Jacobs’ face. Whitmer hits a spinebuster onto the chair. Jacobs drop toe holds Whitmer into the chair and grabs his spike. Whitmer has a spike too! They stab each other with their spikes. This happens about twelve more times and both men are busted open. Jacobs spikes himself in the forehead for good measure. Whitmer hits a bucklebomb and grabs a barbed wire bat. Jacobs eventually gains control of the bat and hits Whitmer in the arm with it. Jacobs dual wields the two spikes and alternates between stabbing Whitmer in the forehead and in the arm. He drives Whitmer’s face into the barbed wire bat with a chair shot. Jacobs misses a spear and collides with a propped chair. Whitmer hits an exploder and both men are down. He gets in a couple of shots with the barbed wire bat. Whitmer hits a brainbuster through a propped chair for a nearfall. Lacey slams the cage door into Whitmer’s face. Jacobs lands a top-rope senton for a two count. Whitmer blocks a top-rope hurricanrana and hits snake eyes. He hits a german suplex and transitions into a dragon suplex. Jacobs hurricanranas out of a top-rope powerbomb attempt. Whitmer blocks the Contra Code and hits the Adrenaline Spike. Lacey runs into the cage but Whitmer lays her out with a tombstone. Whitmer climbs to the top of the cage but misses a frog splash. Jacobs hits the Contra Code for a nearfall. Jacobs sets Whitmer on a table in the ring and climbs to the top of the cage. Jacobs lands a senton, sending Whitmer through the table for the win at 24:25. There’s a strong case for calling this the best cage match in Ring of Honor history. The action never let up for twenty-five minutes. In order to finally erase Jacobs from his memory, Whitmer was willing to become as barbaric as his former partner. Moments of great brutality followed and Jacobs’ win would springboard him to start the Age of the Fall later in the year. If you haven’t seen this match yet, seek it out as it showcases Whitmer and Jacobs at their true best. ****½
Match #7: Jimmy Jacobs vs. Bryan Danielson (Unscripted III – 12/1/07)
Jacobs attacks before the opening bell. Danielson applies a cross armbreaker and reigns down punches. After regrouping, Jacobs continues to struggle on the mat. Danielson hits an air raid crash and looks for a half crab. Jacobs kicks him in the face and creates an opening to take control. Danielson cuts him off with a diving european uppercut from the middle rope. Danielson hits a butterfly suplex and connects with a diving headbutt. Jacobs avoids Cattle Mutilation and hits a top-rope senton. Danielson is able to lock in Cattle Mutilation but a distraction from Lacey causes him to break the hold. Jacobs stabs Danielson with his spike and Danielson is busted open. Jacobs connects with a hesitation dropkick and regains control. Danielson fights back with a superplex and lands a dive to the floor. In the ring, Jacobs spears him in mid-air. Danielson hits a german suplex and goes back to Cattle Mutilation. Jacobs shrugs off MMA elbows and hits the Contra Code for a nearfall. He finds knees on another top-rope senton attempt. Danielson stomps his head in and synchs in a triangle choke. Jacobs is able to reach the bottom rope. They battle up top and Jacobs hits an implant DDT. Jacobs locks in the End Time for the victory at 23:43. I think this is a grossly underrated match in ROH history. There’s no better way to get over Jacobs’ demented character than to have him physically dissect Danielson like he did here. Jacobs struggled while playing Danielson’s game early on but everything changed once he found an opportune time to make Danielson bleed. The match progressed from there and both men played their roles perfectly. This was a terrific match that almost saved this show. ****
Match #8: ROH World Tag Team Titles: Jay and Mark Briscoe © vs. Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black (Final Battle 2007 – 12/30/07)
Mark lands a dive from the apron onto Black and throws him into the guardrail. The Briscoes biel Jacobs onto the entrance ramp. They catch Black with stereo shoulder tackles and Jay follows with a top-rope leg drop. The Briscoes just punish Black with more double team maneuvers. Jacobs interrupts a doomsday device and spears Jay. The Age of the Fall isolate Jay until he flatlines Black into the middle turnbuckle and makes the tag. Mark superkicks Black and hits a fisherman buster on Jacobs. He lands a springboard corkscrew splash onto Black. The Age of the Fall catch Mark with stereo dropkicks in the corner. Black hits Paroxysm for a nearfall but falls victim to an exploder. Mark elevates Black into a neckbreaker from Jay. Jacobs hits a neckbreaker on Jay and the Age of the Fall follow with a doomsday hurricanrana for a nearfall. Black hits a burning hammer on Jay and Jacobs applies the End Time. Mark breaks up the hold with a springboard double stomp. Black pele kicks Jay to the floor and back drops Mark to the outside as well. The Briscoes hit the doomsday device, sending Black from the apron to the floor. Mark hits the Cutthroat Driver on Jacobs for a nearfall. The doomsday device gets a two count as well. Black powerbombs Jay into the barricade. The Age of the Fall hit a Contra Code on Mark from the top rope. Black follows with the Phoenix Splash and the Age of the Fall become the new ROH World Tag Team Champions at 18:54. I remember the New York crowd being completely dead for the entire show and my memory serves me correctly. These two teams threw out some pretty incredible spots but the crowd just couldn’t care less. Thus, the finishing stretch came off like a bunch of spots without any heat. However, I agree with the end result and this being the main event of Final Battle put an exclamation point onto the title change. ***
Match #9: Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black vs. Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley (Tag Wars 2008 – 4/18/08)
The Jacobs/Shelley rivalry is renewed. Sabin gets the better of Black after a quick exchange. Shelley enters the match and shows Black no respect as expected. Jacobs and Shelley stare each other down. They trade punches. Jacobs bites Shelley’s forehead and spits at him. Shelley hits a lionsault on Black and the Motor City Machine Guns make a wish. Black catches Shelley with a pele kick and tags out. Shelley skullf**ks Jacobs. Black pulls Shelley to the floor and Jacobs follows out with a dive. In the ring, Sabin catapults Jacobs into a superkick from Shelley. The MCMG follow with stereo superkicks. Black reenters the ring with superkicks of his own and hits Paroxysm on Shelley. The Age of the Fall work him over until he hits a DDT-flatliner combination and makes the tag. Sabin connects with a missile dropkick on Black and hits a tiger suplex. He connects with a hesitation dropkick onto both of his opponents in the corner. Sabin hits a top-rope leg drop on Black. Shelley counters the Contra Code into snake eyes. That’s the classic reversal. Jacobs locks in the End Time but Shelley counters into the Border City Stretch. Sabin hits a backbreaker on Jacobs and Shelley adds the Shellshock for a nearfall. Black connects with a double springboard lariat. The Age of the Fall hit a doomsday hurricanrana on Sabin. Black bucklebombs Shelley and lands a frog splash. Jacobs follows with a top-rope senton for a nearfall. Shelley connects with a lariat on Black. Jacobs hits the Contra Code on Shelley and snaps off a satellite headscissors on Shelley. Jacobs hits the Contra Code on Shelley for a two count. Sabin comes off the top rope with a back elbow on Black but gets speared by Jacobs. All four men are down. Shelley hits a 2k1 bomb on Jacobs. Sabin hits the Cradle Shock on Black. Jacobs somehow applies the End Time on Shelley for the win at 32:50. I’m glad that this match happened when it could because the rivalry between Shelley and Jacobs is so unique. We received a lot of interaction between them here. The MCMG are so good and a lot of their mystique has been lost throughout the years. This was an awesome tag team match that bordered dangerously on overkill down the stretch but they managed to keep it together. Also check out Briscoes/MCMG from the same weekend. ****¼
Match #10: I Quit Match: Jimmy Jacobs vs. Austin Aries (Rising Above 2008 – 11/22/08)
They immediately start to brawl. Jacobs connects with a dropkick on the floor. He sets up a table. Aries throws Jacobs into the barricade and teases putting Jacobs through the table. Tyler Black comes to Jacobs’ aid. Jacobs blocks the heat-seeking missile by hitting him with a dog collar (they had a dog collar match not too long before this encounter). Jacobs takes over and busts Aries open with the chain. Jacobs spears Aries from the apron to the floor and follows out with a dive. In the ring, Jacobs ties Aries to a chair with the chain. Lacey makes her return to Ring of Honor. She appears on the apron with a towel and thinks about saving Aries by throwing in the towel. This whole ordeal gives Aries time to escape his contraption. He lands the heat-seeking missile and hits a brainbuster onto a chair. Aries returns the favor by busting Jacobs open with the chain. Aries doesn’t allow Todd Sinclair to ask Jacobs if he quits. They battle on the top rope, lose their balance, and go crashing through the table at ringside. In the ring, Jacobs delivers a low blow and synchs in the End Time. He mocks Aries by locking in the Last Chancery. Aries punts Jacobs and applies his own Last Chancery. Aries starts stabbing Jacobs with his spike. Jacobs quits, giving Aries the victory at 21:27. This was reminiscent of the Jacobs/Cabana Windy City Death Match in that they didn’t rely too much on weapons and utilized blood to put over their hatred for each other. I actually disliked Lacey’s involvement, as it didn’t come off like a huge deal and made Tyler Black look stupid at ringside. They were still able to plant the seeds of dissention between Jacobs and Black and this was a great hate-filled brawl for the majority of the match. ***¾
Match #11: Steel Cage Match: Jimmy Jacobs vs. Tyler Black (Violent Tendencies – 6/26/09)
Black slams the cage door on Jacobs and throws him into the cage wall. Jacobs is already busted open. They exchange punches and Jacobs snaps off a satellite headscissors, sending Black into the cage. Black begins bleeding a little as well. He powerslams Jacobs into the cage and hits a TKO. Black follows with Paroxysm. Jacobs blocks a bucklebomb by stabbing Black with his spike. Jacobs takes control until Black blocks a satellite headscissors and slams Jacobs into the cage. Black hits a bucklebomb and connects with a superkick. Jacobs crotches him on the top of the cage. They battle for awhile and fall to the floor. Jacobs hits a russian leg sweep into the barricade. In the ring, Black hits another bucklebomb. Jacobs dodges a superkick and synchs in the End Time. Black suplexes out of the hold but Jacobs reapplies it. Jacobs goes for a spear but Black applies the End Time. Jacobs escapes and hits a successful spear. He hurricanranas Black off the top rope and hits the Contra Code for a nearfall. Jacobs brings a table into the ring. They stab each other with spikes, a la Jacobs/Whitmer from Supercard of Honor II. Black hits yet another bucklebomb and adds God’s Last Gift. Black splashes Jacobs through the table from the top of the cage for the win at 22:02. It’s hard not to compare this match to the Supercard of Honor II cage match. Unfortunately, this match was strictly worse. While they did some creative things such as stealing each other’s finishers, it felt like they didn’t need the cage and would’ve had a better blow-off in with a street fight or something of the sort. The post-match angle is included on the DVD, where dozens of thugs dressed in black rush the cage and attack Black. It’s an incredibly cool visual but the angle went nowhere. ***¼
Overall: Whenever Ring of Honor decides to release a compilation centered around a current roster member, they should strongly consider adding an interview portion as they did here. Jacobs provided some insightful background knowledge to a lot of the matches included. In his interview, Jacobs stated that he might not have a great match on every show, but he’ll always contribute something to the product such as proper build to a great blow-off match. Well, most of those blow-off matches are on this compilation. His feuds with BJ Whitmer, Colt Cabana, Austin Aries, and Tyler Black receive some form of treatment. Between the interview, matches, and bonus videos, you really get a sense of who Jimmy Jacobs is. From Love to Hate: The Jimmy Jacobs Story earns a solid recommendation.
You can purchase this DVD at Ring of Honor’s store right here.
Chat with Ryan on twitter by clicking the button below
