Mike Reviews – ROH Vs FWA: Frontiers of Honour (17th May 2003) – Concluding Part

Back again for another ROH Wednesday!

Last week we left things with the FWA leading the inter-promotional series with ROH by a score of 2-1. This week they will try to close the series out when Zebra Kid, Flash Barker and Jody Fleisch take on Samoa Joe, Low Ki and Christopher Daniels respectively.

We’ve also got an FWA six person hardcore brawl on the docket as well, so let’s wait no longer and conclude things on this here shindig!

As a reminder, the event is emanating from York Hall in London, England on the 17^th of May 2003

Calling the action are Tony Giles and Nick London

Match Five
ROH Title
Champ: Samoa Joe (ROH) Vs The Zebra Kid (FWA)

Joe defending the belt here officially makes the ROH belt a World Title, because it’s now been defended outside of America. Zebra Kid is a member of the Knight family, and is the brother of Paige. He’s renowned for being a hard-hitting wrestler, so he makes a natural opponent for Samoa Joe in that respect. Joe’s belt isn’t originally supposed to be on the line, but he decides he’s going to defend it anyway, because he’s a member of The Group and they basically do what they want.

This one is certainly snug, with Zebra nearly taking Joe’s head off with an Enziguri at one stage, which sends Joe stumbling to the floor where Zebra gets one of his trademark spots of laying Joe on a chair and then coming off the apron with a Cactus Jack-like elbow drop. That seems to just fire Joe up though, and he fights back inside the ring before going to the Face Wash and then doing a lap around ringside in classic soccer style.

Zebra fights back with another big Enziguri back inside before coming off the second rope with a leg drop to the mid-section, although it might have been a little bit lower than that. Add Joe to the list of ROH guys who have been selling and making the FWA guys actually look competitive. Joe even takes a big DDT off the ropes at one stage, followed by a big Missile Front Dropkick. Zebra goes for his top rope elbow drop finisher following that, but he takes too long to head up top and that allows Joe to counter it into a Fujiwara arm bar in a slick counter.

Joe delivers some big knee strikes on the mat before getting a big Lariat, but it only gets two. The FWA announcers have clearly been briefed on Joe’s style, as they correctly point out that those knees are usually a prelude to the rear naked choke. Joe decides to mix things up on this show however as he instead hits Zebra with three rolling German Suplexes, which is enough to keep Zebra down for the three count.

WINNER AND STILL CHAMPION: SAMOA JOE
SCORE: ROH 2 – 2 FWA
RATING: ***1/4

An absolute WAR there, as both men beat the absolute stuffing out of one another

Joe shows some respect to Zebra following that and Zebra gets a great reaction from the crowd.

Alex Shane, Ulf Herman and Nikita cut a promo backstage ahead of the upcoming hardcore match. The Family took the tag belts from Shane and Herman, as well as beating up Nikita, so now it’s personal and threats are exchanged.

Match Six
Hardcore Six Person Match
The Family (Brandon Thomas, Paul Travell and Scott Parker) w/ Greg Lambert, Ian Disciple and Ashe Vs Alex Shane, Ulf Herman and Nikita

The Family are an evil cult-like faction, and they ram that point home by bringing burning crosses down to the ring with them during their entrance. Alex Shane was a fixture on the British scene during this period and also had the pencil at this time I believe. Herman is a big burly German who had a brief stint in ECW and is known for hardcore brawling, and Nikita would go on to become Katie Lea and Winter in WWE and Impact Wrestling respectively. Lambert cuts a promo on the fans prior to the match, but the audio sadly isn’t great and it’s hard to make out exactly what he’s saying.

Herman was a huge cult favourite with the FWA fan base, and he’s pretty much the star of this match due to how over he is. It’s a wild brawl to start, with The Family members not involved in the match being told they have to leave. Following that it does the ECW thing of settling into a standard tag match for a bit until it’s time to start brawling again. The regular part of the match is actually okay, with Nikita looking decent when she’s working with bigger people who can be a base for her, but we’re not here for wrestling. Get to the firework factory already!

Alex Shane was mostly a career Heel, but he’s decent babyface actually, as it allows him to hit all of his big flashy power moves to get a pop. Scott Parker (Not that one) looks to get knocked out legit from a Baldo Bomb at one stage, so they kind of just scoop him out of the ring and Travell comes in without a tag to keep the match chugging along. Parker seems to regain his bearings outside of the ring though and does eventually get back onto the apron, but for a moment there he looked like his clock had been legit cleaned.

Travell takes a slew of big bumps for Ulf, making him look like an absolute monster in the process, and the crowd eats it all up. There are wrestlers in the major companies today that would kill to get the sort of reactions that Ulf is getting here. It’s almost kind of bonkers just how over Ulf was in the FWA during this period. We eventually get a series of dives, with Ulf getting one of his own, and that leads to everyone fighting outside the ring to signal that the brawl portion of the bout is due to start up again.

Weapons get involved and Ulf clobbers poor Parker with them inside the ring New Jack style, whilst Shane and Thomas fight over in the bar area and Nikita fights up the stage with Travell. Shane grabs a staple-gun over by the bar and does a clever bit of smoke and mirrors by stapling a poster to the wall and another to the corner pad, thus emptying the staple-gun of all of the staples. However, the crowd don’t know that, so when Shane “staples” the Heels they buy that it’s actually happening.

You still get the big pop but no one actually has to get stapled. It’s almost as if this whole shebang is supposed to be a work and the art comes from not actually hurting people whilst making it look like you are. What madness is that?! Thomas gets stapled in the face a few times by Shane, including getting one in the crotch for good measure, and he blades from that in order to sell it. Everyone brawls into the crowd following that and we get the spot this match is known for, as Nikita climbs the balcony in York Hall and dives down on top of everyone. That looked incredible.

Shane goes after Lambert following that and chases him up the stage, but Travell uses that as a chance to cut him off. Thomas comes over to help, but he punches Travell by mistake and Shane then gives him the One Night Stand (Fireman’s Carry into a Michinoku Driver) off the stage through a table, but as he climbs back onto the ramp he finds Travell waiting for him, who gets a big Tornado DDT off the entrance way onto the ramp. There have been some utterly wild high spots in this, and whilst it’s all gone on Ulf has continued to destroy poor Parker in the ring with weapons.

Eventually the numbers game proves too much though, as Ashe and Disciple have come back down from their earlier banishment and they help set Ulf up so that Parker can give him a Van-Terminator. Nikita is now the last person standing on her team, but she bravely fights against The Family on her own, with the ref taking a bump in the process. Nikita gets Travell with her neck breaker finisher, but the ref is out and can’t count, which allows Disciple to come into the ring and hit Nikita with one of the tag belts before following up with a TKO for the pin, even though he wasn’t legally a competitor in the match.

WINNERS: THE FAMILY
RATING: ****

If crazy wild brawls full of big high spots aren’t your thing then you’ll probably hate this, but if you enjoy matches like that then there’s a great chance you’ll love this. It was on par with the better brawls the likes of ROH and CZW were putting on at the time, and wild matches like this were one of the main selling points for the FWA as you could get American indie style in your own backyard

The Family bails following that, but this feud must continue. Eventually Shane and Herman would defeat The Family later in the year, meaning that Lambert was supposed to take a chair shot form Ulf, but Shane chose that moment to switch back to his more traditional Heel role.

Match Seven
Low Ki (ROH) Vs Flash Barker (FWA)

Barker had been a previous top Heel for the group and had held the FWA Title, but since then he’s swapped to more of a shooter babyface role, which makes him a natural opponent for Low Ki. The match making really has been spot on here, with guys getting paired with the ideal opponents. Low Ki is making his FWA debut here and he’s super over with the crowd.

They work this one as shoot-style, with both men focusing on strikes and trying for submissions. Low Ki actually goes all Inoki Vs Ali at one stage, by lying on his back and throwing kicks towards Barker’s legs. It’s another example of a different style of match, which I personally appreciate because it helps the show flow better when there’s some variety to the in-ring aspect, but you might not like it if you’re not into this style of wrestling.

Barker is bigger than Low Ki, so he uses that to his advantage at points, especially when it comes to throwing strikes. Barker does seem to tire however, which takes some of the spice off his strikes as the match progresses. Low Ki throws a number of stiff kicks, with Barker selling it all well. The crowd pops big for all of Low Ki’s incredibly stiff shots, and get behind Barker when he’s on the defensive. This crowd has been consistently great all night, although I think a lot of them have to leave after this because the show was delayed and a lot of people had to leave to make the last train.

Barker tries fighting back with some punches and knees, but he’s starting to look absolutely bushed here, and I’m not going to blame him either as this has been a gruelling clash and he’s legit had the humus knocked out of him by Low Ki. I think Low Ki suffers a legit arm injury somewhere in there as well, although I’m not sure what actually caused it. Low Ki keeps going despite the arm injury, and even manages to muscle Barker over with a Tiger Suplex at one stage. Low Ki goes to an arm bar following that, but Barker refuses to tap and the bell rings for a draw.

TIME LIMIT DRAW
SCORE: ROH 2 – 2 FWA
RATING: **3/4

A draw is an unsatisfying ending but there’s a legitimate story line reason for it as it means the Main Event will now guarantee a winner in the series. The match itself had some good stuff in it, but Barker looked like he was struggling for a bit towards the end and the match ran out of steam somewhat in the closing stages

Low Ki and Barker want to go for another five minutes and the crowd is up for that, but head referee Steve Lynksey decides the result will stand and the match will remain a draw to boo’s. Both men shake hands following that though and get the crowd back onside as they appreciate the efforts they both gave.

Main Event
Christopher Daniels (ROH) Vs Jody Fleisch

Daniels had worked for the FWA prior to this show and had actually been FWA Champ for a bit until Doug Williams had travelled back over to America in order to win the belt back. Daniels and Fleisch still have unfinished business due to Daniels defeating Fleisch to win the belt in October 2002. Daniels cuts a promo to state that he isn’t representing ROH here, but rather The Prophecy, and then insults the FWA in order to draw some Heel heat.

Jody gets the elongated babyface shine on Daniels to start, getting the better of him with traditional babyface fare such as side headlock takedowns and leapfrogs. It’s nicely done and the crowd is into Fleisch so it works well. Daniels ends up outside the ring and Fleisch follows with an impressive Asai Moonsault, which leads to both men fighting up the entrance ramp to the entrance area, where Fleisch gives Daniels a suplex. The commentary team make an effort to explain that the ref is letting this go due to how important the match is, which I appreciate.

Fleisch goes all Sabu by springboarding off a chair to give Daniels a rana all the way down the ramp back to the ring in a cool spot, before following with a picture perfect twisting cross body block back inside for two. Daniels finally manages to get a foothold in the match following that by turning Fleisch inside-out Marty Jannetty style with a clothesline, which leads to him working traditional Heel heat spots such as choking Fleisch on the ropes.

Daniels completely understands his role here and he’s fully committed to working as a Heel, and as a result he’s drawing some decent heat as a response. Fleisch sells well during the heat and Daniels’ offence looks good, with him mostly focusing on basic stuff so that the flashy stuff is left for Jody to do so as to differentiate the two wrestlers. Daniels gets a submission tease with a crossface at one stage, but Fleisch doesn’t tap and eventually makes the ropes.

Fleisch eventually manages to slip out of a back breaker attempt and makes the comeback, with Daniels bumping and feeding for it well. We head into the finishing stretch following that, with both men getting some near falls and the crowd continuing to be into the action. We get a very slick pin-counter sequence, where both men trade roll up attempts for a collection of two counts, and that leads to Fleisch trying to go up top for his 720 DDT.

Daniels stops that with a Shotei and then goes for a superplex, but Fleisch fights him off and then follows with a springboard Shooting Star Press for two. Fleisch looks to follow up with the 720 DDT following that, but Jonny Storm returns to cost his former friend the match, leading to Daniels getting the Angel’s Wings for the three count.

WINNER: CHRISTOPHER DANIELS
FINAL SCORE: ROH 3 – 2 FWA
RATING: ***1/4

Having Storm be the one to cost the FWA the win was a good way of getting around the FWA losing on the night, as the heat can now go onto him and he’ll be coming back more regularly than any of the American’s will. The match itself was a good solid Main Event, with Daniels working the crowd well and Fleisch’s offence being on point

Storm and Daniels try to injure Fleisch post-match, but both the FWA and ROH locker rooms empty to stop that, thus keeping ROH the company as babyfaces whilst the heat goes on Daniels for being a jerk. Acting FWA commissioner Dino Scarlo comes down to try and restore order, but Daniels and Storm hold him hostage before hitting him with a chair, which leads to the ROH and FWA rosters storming down the ramp to send them fleeing.

In Conclusion

This is probably one of the best shows in the FWA’s history, with nary a bad match in sight and some genuinely really good ones. In some ways this was the peak of the company when it came to pure show quality, although they would still hold some big events throughout 2003 and 2004, featuring the likes of Super Crazy, Justin Credible, Steve Corino and Terry Funk as imported talent. I’d been aware of the FWA prior to this event as they tended to have decent coverage in the British wrestling magazines, but this show was probably the first time I ever got to see an FWA event as it was shown on The Wrestling Channel over here.

If you want to take a look at what the company was capable of then I’d suggest either checking this show out or the first British Uprising event from 2002.

Recommended show!

Next week we’ll return to American based shows, with the first part of ROH Do or Die show, when ROH Wednesdays continue!