Match #1: Colt Cabana vs. CM Punk (Night of the Butcher – 12/7/02)
Cabana catches Punk with an armdrag after a few leapfrogs. Punk responds with a nice armdrag of his own. He monkey flips out of a powerbomb attempt by Cabana and they find themselves at a stalemate. They battle over a knucklelock and Punk snaps Cabana’s arm across the top rope. Punk connects with a missile dropkick to the left arm and takes control. Cabana finds life with an asai moonsault to the floor. In the ring, Cabana lands a frog splash and hits a snap suplex. Punk lands a flying crossbody of his own. He hits a butterfly backbreaker and adds a neckbreaker. Cabana levels him with a lariat. Punk answers with a reverse hurricanrana. Both men are down. Punk blocks another lariat with a dropkick. He escapes the Colt 45 but Cabana is able to hit the maneuver on his second attempt for the win at 12:28. If you told me Punk and Cabana had a match in 2002 and did a reverse hurricanrana spot, I’d call you crazy. That’s not a bad thing. Punk and Cabana have evolved into two of the most polished professional wrestlers around in the past ten years. This was a solid exhibition with some standout action down the stretch. ***
Match #2: Colt Cabana and Raven vs. CM Punk and Ace Steel (Night of the Champions – 3/22/03)
Punk does his best to avoid Raven early on. Raven catches Steel with a trash can lid shot. Cabana connects with double knees on Punk and tags in Raven. Punk runs away. Raven gives chase but Steel catches him with a chair shot and sends him into the guardrail. In the ring, Punk and Steel isolate Raven until he drop toe holds Punk into a chair and makes the tag. Cabana cleans house and hits a sit-out powerbomb on Steel. He follows with the Colt 45 on Punk for a nearfall. Steel hits an implant DDT on Cabana and Punk adds a butterfly suplex. Punk giant swings Cabana into a dropkick from Steel. I thought the Kings of Wrestling invented that. Raven eventually reenters the match with a garbage can. Punk tries a springboard maneuver but gets caught by the garbage can. Raven drop toe holds Steel to the outside onto Punk. Raven follows out with a dive. Cabana adds a moonsault. He immediately clutches his leg after hitting the moonsault and screams in pain. In the ring, Steel connects with a springboard dropkick on Raven. Punk misses a flying elbow drop and crashes through a table. Raven hits the Raven Effect on Steel for the win at 15:34. The inclusion of Steel and Cabana was interesting and this match continued the feud by featuring Punk keeping his distance from Raven. It’s also significant for Cabana turning on Raven after the match. Am I the only one who smiles when thinking about Cabana turning heel on Raven? ***
Match #3: ROH Tag Team Titles: Jay and Mark Briscoe © vs. CM Punk and Colt Cabana (ROH Reborn Stage 2 – 4/24/04)
Punk and Mark exchange chops and attempt quick pin attempts to no avail. Cabana trips Jay during a shoulder block battle to the crowd’s amusement. Cabana snaps off a headscissors and gets the better of Jay. The Second City Saints take over with some also double teaming. Mark catches Punk with a springboard dropkick and the Briscoes isolate him. He manages to avoid some offense and make the tag. Cabana lands a springboard moonsault onto the Briscoes. He hits an air raid neckbreaker on Jay but gets caught by a reverse hurricanrana. Punk spikes Mark with a DDT but Jay breaks up the pin with a top-rope leg drop. Jay hits a gourdbuster on Punk followed by a death valley driver. Punk counters the doomsday device by powerslamming Mark in mid-air. Awesome. Mark back drops out of the Pepsi Plunge. Everyone connects with strikes and all four men are down. Mark hits a springboard ace crusher on Punk while Jay hits the Jay Driller on Cabana for a nearfall. Punk comes back with the Pepsi Plunge on Mark and the Second City Saints become the new ROH Tag Team Champions at 19:47. Since this show took place in Chicago, the crowd was absolutely in love with Punk and Cabana. The eventual title win felt that much sweeter as a result. There were some pretty sophisticated sequences down the stretch pulled off without a hitch and they featured some spots I’ve never seen before. This was an excellent tag team match that caught me off-guard. ****
Match #4: ROH World Title: Samoa Joe © vs. Colt Cabana (Death Before Dishonor II Night 2 – 7/24/04)
Cabana is his jovial self in front of his hometown crowd and Joe is not pleased. They stay pretty even chain wrestling. Cabana tries to lift Joe and eats an uppercut. Cabana stares him down and actually wins a shoulder block battle. Joe sends Cabana to the floor after a strike exchange and hits his STO out of the corner. The champion takes control until Cabana finds an opening to connect with double knees. Cabana goes up top for a moonsault but Joe pushes him to the floor. Cabana blocks an ole kick and throws a chair at Joe’s head. Cabana connects with an ole kick of his own. That might be a bad idea in the long run considering Joe’s temper. Cabana hits a saito suplex and lands a frog splash for a nearfall. He locks in an STF but Joe reaches the bottom rope. Cabana did not have the hold fully synched in. Joe connects with an enzuigiri. Cabana rolls out of the coquina clutch but walks into a lariat. Joe catches Cabana up top and hits a Muscle Buster to retain his title at 17:25. Cabana didn’t rely on his own signature moves because he knew that Joe would have them scouted. Instead, he tried using Joe’s own moves against him. The problem is that no one can perform Joe’s offense better than Joe himself. Cabana made for a great underdog story here and the match was really well-executed. ***½
Match #5: Colt Cabana and Jimmy Jacobs vs. Jack Evans and Roderick Strong (All Star Extravaganza II – 12/4/04)
Bobby Heenan is in the faces’ corner while Jim Cornette is with Generation Next. Strong and Evans stall early on but pay for it. They retreat to the floor where Heenan pokes them in the eyes. Cornette is furious. Heenan slips Jacobs a chain and he hits Strong with it behind the referee’s back. Todd Sinclair confiscates the chain but Heenan gives another one to Cabana. More chain shenanigans ensue. Cabana teases a dance-off with Evans but slaps him instead. Heenan gets involved again, causing Cornette to enter the ring and call him out. Heenan and Cornette stare at each other from across the ring. Cornette misses an elbow drop and scurries to the outside. The match somewhat settles down. Cabana uses Jacobs’ head as a battering ram to clear the ring. Generation Next threatens to leave but they eventually think better of it. Jacobs hits a spear on Evans but gets caught by a springboard moonsault. Generation Next isolate Jacobs until he hits an inverted DDT on Evans and makes the tag. Cabana lands an asai moonsault onto Strong and hits the Colt 45 on Evans for a nearfall. Cornette hits Cabana with the tennis racket behind the referee’s back. Heenan hits Cornette with the racket and puts Cabana on top of Evans. Cabana picks up the victory at 17:17. There was a lot of comedy but the crowd was into everything, including Heenan’s involvement, which was key. In a lot of other promotions, the Cornette/Heenan confrontation would’ve came off as lame and forced, but it actually worked here. **¾
Match #6: ROH World Title: Cage Match: Austin Aries © vs. Colt Cabana (3rd Anniversary Celebration Part 1 – 2/19/05)
Aries demands a clean break in the corner so that he could try to escape through the door. Awesome. Aries connects with a basement dropkick. Cabana comes back with a back drop and hits a series of scoop slams. Aries charges but gets back dropped into the cage wall. Cabana connects with a huge lariat and starts climbing. Aries dropkicks his leg and repeatedly drives him into the cage. The champion takes control as Cabana is busted open after having his forehead grinded into the cage wall. Cabana attempts an exploder but Aries blocks and punts him in the head. Cabana shrugs off a few punches and makes his comeback. He throws Aries into all four sides of the cage and grinds his forehead across the grating. Cabana tries to climb. Aries gets him into position for a super crucifix bomb (!) but Cabana fights it off and lands a springboard moonsault. They battle on the top rope and Aries hurricanranas Cabana to the canvas. Aries connects with the IED but almost dropkicks Cabana out of the cage door. They battle on the top rope again and both get crotched. Cabana hits a huge splash mountain for a nearfall. They fight over the door to no avail. Aries connects with a running knee strike and hits a reverse hurricanrana for a two count. Cabana fights back with a suplex into the cage wall and uses the brainbuster against Aries. They both make their way to the top of the cage. They exchange punches on the top rope. As Cabana climbs over the top, Aries darts out of the cage door to retain his title at 20:35. The in-ring action was very solid, but what separates this cage match from many others is the way that they were able to utilize the stipulation. There was a genuine feeling of drama down the stretch and the door being in play did not lead to any annoyances. In fact, they created some pretty suspenseful false finishes with door and the eventual finish was clever. If cage matches aren’t your thing, this would be a good match to check out to see the stipulation done well. ***¾
Match #7: Colt Cabana vs. Nigel McGuinness (3rd Anniversary Celebration Part 2 – 2/25/05)
Cabana does his best to escape a wristlock but Nigel doesn’t budge. Cabana thinks about pulling the hair but comes back to his senses. They battle over a knucklelock and Cabana is able to out-smart Nigel on the mat. They get into some predicaments while mat wrestling that only these two can convey in the ring. Nigel almost sneaks in a quick bridging rollup but only gets a nearfall. Cabana challenges Nigel to a shoulder block battle. Nigel catches Cabana trying to trip him. They exchange pin attempts to no avail and eventually pin each other at the same time. Cabana hangs onto an armbar. Nigel uses the referee for leverage to escape. He starts working over Cabana’s left shoulder. Cabana sneaks in a rollup for the surprise pin to pick up the win at 12:07. This match never settled down but it didn’t need to. They didn’t overstay their welcome at twelve minutes and the crowd was vocal for every exchange. Cabana and Nigel are so good in the ring and matches like this make that point crystal clear. ***¼
Match #8: ROH Pure Title: Samoa Joe © vs. Colt Cabana (Death Before Dishonor III – 6/18/05)
These two wrestled at last year’s Death Before Dishonor for the ROH World Title. Cabana grabs Joe’s arm at the opening bell and drags him to the ropes, causing him to use a rope break. Joe is furious. Cabana frustrates Joe with his offense, causing Joe to connect with a closed fist and lose his second rope break. However, the closed fist allows Joe to gain control. Cabana tries coming back with slaps but Joe easily shrugs them off. Joe goes for a cross armbreaker and Cabana uses his first rope break. He continues to work over Cabana’s left arm. Joe stunts a comeback by mafia kicking the left shoulder. Cabana falls to the canvas in pain. Cabana blocks a dive with a quick sunset flip for a nearfall. He applies an STF and Joe uses his last rope break. Cabana lands a springboard moonsault and hits the flying asshole. He connects with a lariat for a two count. Joe hits a powerbomb and transitions into the STF. Cabana uses his second rope break to escape. Joe connects with a running knee strike. Cabana fights off the Muscle Buster and connects with a missile dropkick. Joe fires back with an enzuigiri and hits a powerslam. Joe locks in a cross armbreaker to retain his title at 14:06. Cabana frustrating Joe early on was a lot of fun to watch and the match progressed nicely from there. Joe ultimately winning after blocking some of Cabana’s “British style” made a lot of sense and I liked the finish a lot more as a result. ***¼
Match #9: 2/3 Falls: Colt Cabana vs. CM Punk (Punk: The Final Chapter – 8/13/05)
They trade control of a wristlock. Cabana backs Punk into the corner and humorously forces a clean break. They begin chain wrestling and Cabana frustrates Punk with his usual offense. Punk feigns a headscissors and snaps off some lucha armdrag. Cabana is astounded. They battle over a knucklelock and Punk lands a springboard crossbody. He starts working over Cabana’s left shoulder. Cabana dodges a sunset flip by stomping on Punk’s head. Punk gets heated and questions Cabana’s cockiness. Cabana tries to fool Punk with the “look up there” but he doesn’t fall for it. Cabana stomps on his foot instead. Punk yells at him for doing too much “British crap.” He low blows Cabana behind Todd Sinclair’s back. Punk hits the Colt 45 to win the first fall! Punk takes control to begin the second fall. He connects with a springboard dropkick. Cabana fights back with a huge lariat to win the second fall out of nowhere. We’re tied at 1-1. They stare each other down and trade strikes. Cabana sends Punk to the floor. Punk blocks a sunset flip and jumps off the apron into a hurricanrana. In the ring, they tease finishers and Cabana hits a tiger driver. He knocks Punk off the apron and lands a beautiful asai moonsault to the floor. Back in, Cabana rolls through a hurricanrana and applies a boston crab. Punk is able to reach the ropes. He catches Cabana with a reverse hurricanrana and connects with a huge flying knee strike. Cabana won’t stay down. Punk goes up top but Cabana sends him to the canvas with an inverted DDT. Both men are down. Cabana blocks the Pepsi Plunge and hits a samoan drop from the middle rope. They trade rollups and Cabana is eventually able to pin Punk for the victory at 27:42. This match ranged from comical to serious without much warning and I think it confused the crowd to some extent. The contest felt like a decent exhibition but perhaps not as special as you’d expect Punk’s last ROH match to be. Still, Punk busted out some offense I’ve never seen before and you’ll probably enjoy this match much more if you’re familiar with their history together in the promotion. ***
Match #10: Soccer Riot Match: Colt Cabana vs. Nigel McGuinness (Night of the Grudges II – 8/20/05)
Cabana makes up the rules as he goes. We come to find out that pretty much everything is legal. Cabana wrestles the first couple minutes of this match on the microphone explaining the rules. He hits Nigel in the head with a chair and they brawl throughout the crowd. Nigel gets buried under a pile of chairs. Cabana sends him down some bleachers and crotches him on the railing. Cabana sets up for a dive from the balcony but Nigel runs away. Nigel turns the tide by throwing Cabana into a set of chairs. He takes control in the ring until Cabana fights back by utilizing a soccer ball. He positions Nigel for Shattered Dreams and just punts him down low. That looked excruciating. Everyone yells “goal” in an awesome moment. Cabana whiffs on a dive attempt from the top rope. They battle over a suplex and both end up on the apron. Cabana connects with a missile dropkick and lands a top-rope moonsault. He grabs Nigel’s iron (which is legal) but suffers a low blow. Nigel hits a DDT and sends Cabana through a ringside table after hitting him with the iron. Cabana recovers with an iron shot of his own. They exchange strikes and Cabana connects with a lariat for the win at 17:35. Although the match may have been a bit too long, they kept the crowd interested for the most part and Cabana establishing the rules mid-match was entertaining. If nothing else, this was an interesting deviation from the match we’d expect between these two and setup Cabana nicely for a title shot. ***
Match #11: ROH World Title: James Gibson © vs. Colt Cabana (Dragon Gate Invasion – 8/27/05)
They begin with a lengthy feeling out process. Cabana stays ahead with his unique mat wrestling and Gibson becomes frustrated like most of Cabana’s opponents. Gibson holds onto a hammerlock but Cabana uses his momentum to send him to the floor. Gibson takes a moment to regroup on the outside. In the ring, Gibson hits a furious powerslam and starts taking over with impactful offense. Cabana counters a tiger driver and dumps Gibson to the floor. He chops Gibson around ringside. Back in, Cabana twists Gibson’s neck with his feet and the move seems to really hurt Gibson. I always thought that move hurt more than people made it out to hurt. Gibson recovers with a neckbreaker and starts working over Cabana’s neck. After some time, Cabana finds an opening to connect with a few bionic elbows. He gets a close nearfall out of a folding press. Gibson sends him over the top rope and follows out with a dive. In the ring, Gibson hits a backbreaker and goes up top. Cabana crotches him on the top rope and hits a spinning splash mountain. Gibson charges with a knee strike and hits a german suplex. Cabana blocks a springboard maneuver and lands an asai moonsault to the floor. Back in, Cabana hits the flying asshole. Gibson blocks a second one and applies an inverted cloverleaf. Cabana is able to reach the bottom rope. Gibson hits a swinging neckbreaker from the top rope. Cabana counters the tiger driver once again but finds himself in a guillotine choke. Cabana tries to power out, but Gibson reapplies the choke to retain his title at 28:21. I don’t think they were able to successfully keep the flow of the match going for all twenty-eight minutes. That’s evident by the crowd response waning in and out at times. Still, I like that Cabana was put over as a serious challenger that takes time to beat. Cabana is known for being a very smart wrestler and it makes sense that Gibson would have to take some time to figure his challenger out. While this match had its moments, it never came together the way it could have. ***
Match #12: Colt Cabana vs. Homicide (Glory By Honor IV – 9/17/05)
Cabana spends the early part of the match making fun of Julius Smokes. The crowd remains pretty evenly split. It takes them a long time to finally lockup. Homicide comes out firing with some punches. Cabana eventually decides to match Homicide’s intensity and it works out for him. He connects with a nice dropkick and catapults Homicide into the ropes. Smokes takes his shirt off in frustration and the crowd gets onto his case. Smokes is able to interject himself into the match by attacking Cabana behind the referee’s back. Homicide takes control until Cabana dodges a diving headbutt. Cabana suplexes Homicide from the apron into the ring. He misses an elbow drop and Homicide hits an exploder. Cabana misses the flying asshole but recovers with a clothesline. Homicide begs off but hits an ace crusher out of nowhere. He brings a chair into the ring. Cabana stops Homicide from using the chair and goes up top. Smokes distracts Cabana, allowing Homicide to throw the chair at his face. That causes a disqualification at 14:29. The early stalling, Smokes’ interference, and the disqualification finish meant that this match was fighting from behind from the beginning. Not the most inspiring start to a feud but I guess this contest accomplished its goal. **¼
Match #13: Colt Cabana vs. Low Ki (Buffalo Stampede – 10/15/05)
Cabana mocks Low Ki’s karate stances. I’m having a hard time believing that there’s a legitimate feud here if there’s going to be a lot of comedy in these matches. Low Ki applies an early submission in the ropes out of nowhere. They try to one-up each other for a bit. They trade control of a wristlock and both find unique ways to counter. Low Ki’s answer is to bite Cabana’s fingers. Cabana fools Low Ki into dancing with him. They have a few exchanges on the mat, with Cabana frustrating Low Ki for the most part. Low Ki drapes Cabana midsection-first across the top rope and takes over. Low Ki applies a bodyscissors and continues to work over the midsection. Cabana fights back with a series of bionic elbows. He connects with a lariat for a nearfall. Low Ki blocks the Colt 45 but gets taken over by a hurricanrana. Cabana goes up top but Low Ki catches him with a double stomp. Cabana blocks a flying double stomp and hits a spinning splash mountain. Homicide appears and starts taunting Cabana. This allows Low Ki to connect with a flying double stomp for the win at 19:32. The mix of comedy and seriousness didn’t really work for me. In fact, most of this match consisted of Cabana frustrating Low Ki. If the eventual finish was just going to be a distraction from Homicide, it seemed like they could have trimmed a few minutes from this one. **¾
Match #14: No Disqualification: Colt Cabana vs. Homicide (A Night of Tribute – 11/19/05)
They trade punches at the opening bell. Cabana pulls a fork out of his boot and Homicide retreats. Grim Reefer tries to provide a distraction but Cabana fights him off. Homicide sends Cabana to the floor and follows out with a dive. He sends Homicide into the barricade and they brawl around ringside. Cabana punches Julius Smokes and steals his baseball bat. Homicide is able to attack Cabana from behind and choke him with the bat. Cabana props a chair in between the turnbuckles but Homicide sends him into it. Homicide takes control and busts open Cabana with repeated fork shots to the forehead. Cabana comes back with a superplex onto a chair. He connects with a lariat but Homicide kicks out at one. Homicide delivers a low blow and connects with a lariat of his own. Cabana kicks out at one! They take each other’s lariats and then both connect with lariats at the same time. They tease finishers and Cabana hits an air raid crash neckbreaker. He grabs a pipe and tries to gouge out Homicide’s eye. Smokes intervenes. Cabana lands a plancha to the floor. Smokes and Reefer distract Cabana, allowing Homicide to hit an ace crusher through a table. That only gets a nearfall in the ring. Homicide chokes Cabana with a coat hanger for the victory at 19:35. Now we’re talking. The feud was picking up at this point in a big way, mainly because these two were attempting to perform some gruesome, violent acts to each other and the crowd completely believed that they were willing to go to extremes. Prazak and Leonard on commentary were brilliant as well, especially during the finish. You started getting vibes during this match that the feud might end up being something special. ***¼
Match #15: Ghetto Street Fight: Colt Cabana vs. Homicide (4th Anniversary Show – 2/25/06)
They start brawling before the opening bell. Cabana gets some shots in before Homicide connects with a back elbow. Cabana fires back with a mafia kick and reigns down punches. They brawl around ringside and Homicide throws an assortment of weapons into the ring. They trade chair shots and Cabana gets sent into the barricade. Homicide throws a chair at a busted-open Cabana. Homicide continues to work over the open wound. Cabana finds some inner strength after some time but Homicide slows him down with a mere poke to the eye. Homicide comes off the middle rope with a tornado DDT. Cabana avoids a flying elbow drop and starts choking Homicide. He misses a moonsault and Homicide connects with a lariat. Homicide brings a coat hanger into the match and chokes Cabana. Todd Sinclair calls for the bell. Cabana refuses to give up, however, and the match is restarted. They start brawling again and Homicide hits an ace crusher. Cabana fights back until a distraction from Julius Smokes allows Homicide to sneak in a chair shot. The Rottweilers tie Cabana to the ropes. Homicide repeatedly throws a chair at Cabana’s face and Sinclair calls for the bell once again. Cabana still wants to fight! He battles all of the Rottweilers at once. They battle on the apron and Smokes gets involved. Homicide hits a piledriver through the ringside table. Sinclair ends the match at around 21:00. The two restarts were a lot more tolerable than I expected. One thing that the restarts did establish is that Cabana was willing to die to prove himself to Homicide, with or without the Rottweilers. The feud was on all cylinders at this point and one of the aspects elevating this match is both men’s non-reluctance to put themselves through anything to win. You got the sense that their eventual blow-off would be absolutely crazy. ***¼
Match #16: Chicago Street Fight: Homicide vs. Colt Cabana (Better Than Our Best – 4/1/06)
Cabana comes out of the gates hot, back dropping Homicide and firing off punches. The action goes to the floor where Homicide finds an opening by ramming Cabana into the barricade. They battle over a coat hanger and try to choke each other. Homicide lands a dive to the floor. Cabana brings a ladder into the ring but Homicide makes him feel it with a tornado DDT. Cabana ends up on a table at ringside. Julius Smokes holds him at place while Homicide splashes him through it. Homicide brings a barbed wire board into the match. Cabana sends Homicide through a ladder with a nasty suplex. Homicide saves himself from going into the barbed wire by hitting a russian leg sweep. Cabana pulls out a fork and stabs Homicide in the forehead. He throws rubbing alcohol into Homicide’s bloody face. Homicide goes into convulsions, as he should. Good Lord. He buys some time by low blowing Cabana. Homicide rallies on a chair riot. This would be the second chair riot in ROH history, with the other happening at Death Before Dishonor II Part 2. Chicago has a thing for these chair riots. Cabana hits a superplex onto the chairs! Homicide responds with a Pepsi Plunge and connects with a lariat for a nearfall. Cabana ties Julius Smokes in the ropes. He powerbombs Homicide through a table and connects with a lariat. Cabana hits the Colt 45 for the win at 26:36. Watching this match in isolation is probably not the best idea, as I’m sure there were many little intricacies that you miss if you haven’t watched their entire feud play out. Still, this was the sort of brutality that you might not expect from Cabana today. The rubbing alcohol being thrown into Homicide’s face was sickening and you really got the sense that Cabana could find peace after this war. ****
Also included on this compilation are four episodes of Good Times, Great Memories with Julius Smokes, Ace Steel, Dusty Rhodes, and a final one with both CM Punk and Ace Steel.
Overall: Who doesn’t love Colt Cabana? Though this compilation might not have the highest match quality, there are still plenty of solid matches to be found. Honestly, a lot of the intangibles that Cabana brings to the table really aren’t captured in star ratings and I think many are confused as to why Cabana isn’t in Ring of Honor today. While some of the matches here are included on previous compilations, a lot of the pertinent title matches were included as well as a pretty in-depth look at his feud with Homicide. This would be a decent look at Cabana for someone who isn’t too familiar with him or a fun watch for a fan of Cabana who doesn’t already own most of these matches.
You can purchase this DVD at Ring of Honor’s store right here.
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