Note: For Full Live reviews of the matches, check out my Review page, where I reviewed all these matches. You can check out the ROH live reviews here: Live McReviews

This tape features alot of ROH showcase matches that were never before released. It also features some of ROH's worse moments, as well as ROH's most controversial moments. The tape also features the best showcase card, in my opinion, the 12/27 Final Battle show. Other show case matches on this tape came from the 11/28 Connecticut show, as well as the 11/1 Rexplex show. The tape started off with matches, then got into the worse or controversial, whatever adjective you think fits, happenings of ROH. Also, the showcase matches are shot "FanCam Style" as it was just one camera. Here are the matches:

-Outcast Killaz (Oman Tortuga/Diablo Santiago) vs. Cloudie & Lit w/Special K
I think the OCK have improved since this match. Cloudie and Lit aren't a regular tag team and it showed at points here. OCK win this fast paced match.

-Jose Perez vs. Luis Ortiz
Ortiz was able to achieve victory with a mahistrol cradle in this contest. I'm surprised Ortiz hasn't been brought back to ROH, as I thought he looked very well here. This match translated well on tape.

-Dunn & Marcos vs. Slyk Wagner Brown & Grim Reefer w/April Hunter
This was a good little match, that saw Slyk pin Dunn for the win. It's very odd watching this, as I saw the show live, because whenever Slyk got into the ring he got booed hard. I'm talking Alex Rodriguez giving the middle finger to the fans in Fenway Park boos. I didn't remember Slyk getting booed like that live. Interesting match to watch, especially if you were there live.

-Allison Danger vs. Sarah Stock
There were two women matches on this tape, and I think this was the weaker of the two. The crowd didn't seem really into it on tape. Allison wins this with a variation of the flatliner.

-The Solution (Papadon/Havok) vs. Bison & Slugger w/The Rottweilers
This was another match I thought looked better live, than on tape. One of the bigger pops of this tape is when Bison hits a wicked german suplex on Papadon. Slugger and Bison win this match, when Slugger pins the illegal man, Papadon.

-Jimmy “Jact” Cash vs. Slyk Wagner Brown w/April Hunter
Slyk won this match with the Holy Slyk. This match did not translate well on tape. Slyk recieved a monstrous pop at the live show, but the crowd came off dead on the tape. Jimmy Cash didn't look good at all, and that's probably why he hasn't been back since.

-Dunn & Marcos vs. Hydro & Angel Dust w/Special K
This was a strong match, that translated well on tape. I also liked it live as well. Lethal cradled Dunn for the pinfall.

After these matches, we then go to the 12/27 Final Battle Showcase show:

-Sumie Sakai d. Allison Danger
This was a good womens match, and definitely the better of the two women matches on the show. Sumie did her "switch hands on a hair pull every 4 seconds gimmick." Definitely cool shit right there. Sumie pegs Allison Danger with a missle drop kick for three. Good job by both wrestlers here.

CM Punk came out and threatened to ruin the show, due to the Lucy abduction angle. This would be important for later on.

-Josh Daniels d. Puma
I didn't get to see this match live, but I'm glad I got to see it on tape. This was a good contest here. Daniels picked up the win here.

-Ring Crew Express (Dunn and Marcos) vs Christopher Street Connection (Mace and Buffy) w/Ariel went to a no contest
This wasn't much of a match, as Punk jumped the RCE. Punk threatened to ruin the show yet again. Thankfully, a real man, Mace was ready to take on Punk.

-CM Punk d. Mace of the CSC
Another good little match on this tape. Mace didn't look out of place in a singles match. Punk, who was furious about Lucy, went on a tear, and put away Mace with a Pepsi Plunge.

-Hydro (aka Jay Lethal) w/Special K d. Oman Tortuga, Slyk Wagner Bown w/April, and Nick Gage in a fatal four way match.
It was really weird seeing Nick Gage in ROH. This was one of the better matches on the tape. Oman Tortuga, like Mace, didn't look out of place in a singles match. I always thought Tortuga had talent as a singles wrestler. Lethal, as Hydro, came off well in this match. Thank god ROH took him out of Special K. I could see Lethal as a main eventer for ROH. Slyk seems to be the king of these four way matches, as he's done alot of his best ROH work in them. Lethal gets a big win here.

-Carnage Crew (HC Loc, DeVito and Justin Credible went to a no contest with Special K (Angeldust, Izzie, Dixie, Cloudy, Lit and others)
This match started after Lethal's victory, as Carnage Crew attacked Special K. This was a bloody match that was called off due to too much blood loss. The blood is shown on the tape. At one point in the match, you see Tony Devito looking maniacal, and just laughing with a face full of blood. After the match, Slugger ran out and just wiped out all of Special K, signifying some sort of alliance between The Carnage Crew and The Rottweilers.

-Trent Acid d. Sonjay Dutt
This is the best match on the whole entire tape. Lots of false finishes and just crazy ass action. Too bad TNA dicked ROH out of Sonjay, because Sonjay is very talented and capable of having a good match with anyone. Both guys went all out and stole the show. After teasing the yakuza kick several times, Trent connects to end this match with a pin.

For the ROH Tag Team Titles
-© The Briscoe Brothers (Mark and Jay) d. The SAT (Joel and Jose Maximo)
Good match here. I said it once, and I'll say it again- in my opinion, the Briscoes are the best tag team in wrestling. These two are full of talent and wouldn't look out of place against anyone. I would love to see The Briscoes vs the ThrillSeekers in a dream match. The SAT looked better here, than they have in recent matches. SAT always wrestle well against The Briscoes. After several false finishes, The Briscoes retained their titles after a roll-up.

Samoa Joe and American Dragon then came out and had an altercation. The tape cuts out in the middle of it, as we go to the controversial moments of ROH.

The Insane Clown Posse d. The Outcast Killahz (Diablo Santiago/Oman Tortuga)
This was a short ass match. Shaggy 2 Dope hit a legdrop from the top rope on Diablo for the pin, ending the match at around the 2 minute mark. For some reason, this match was totally forgotten by me, even though I saw it live. I really don't remember why this match was so short. For what it's worth, Shaggy 2 Dope did show some signs of athleticism. Give OCK credit for being professional and working with these two, cough, clowns.

Konnan d. Chris Divine
Man, this was awful. Konnan got booed out of the fucking place, as he blew up 4 minutes into the match. You might think the tape was dubbed in slow motion during several parts in this match. I respect Konnan like most wrestling fans, but this match was like watching an old dog forget his old tricks. After pinning Divine, Konnan tried going 2-2 against Divine's partner, Quiet Storm.

Quiet Storm d. Konnan
This was even worse than the first match. Quiet Storm won quickly, as Konnan missed all his signature moves. You can definitely see an audible being called in the ring, to send the match home early. Storm wins the match.
POSTMATCH: Konnan celebrates with Divine Storm. Konnan goes to the back, but as he's leaving the ring and making his way to the locker room, the crowd starts a huge "DON'T COME BACK" chant. Gotta love the Philly Wrestling Fans. Anyway, the camera man follows Konnan to the back, and we see Konnan give a pep talk to the SAT and company. Konnan says it's gonna take some time for him to get his wind back. After watching some of his TNA work, it looks like he's still working on that.

To conclude the tape, we go back to 11/1's "Main Event Spectacles". We go straight to the Scramble Cage, and we relive the indy birth of Teddy Hart's unique behavior. You all know what happened. Teddy did his three moonsaults from the top of the cage, and threw up after doing it. He threw up all over the place. He stole alot of heat from the match, and hit a SSP on an unsuspecting Angel Dust. Chaos ensues here, as Tony Devito is enraged. You can see the blood vessels pop in his face as he calls for Hart's body. This also leads to ROH Booker, Gabe Sapolsky, coming out and telling Jack Evans and Teddy Hart to go to the back. Then-ROH owner, Rob Feinstein comes out and just looks perplexed at what just happened and gets Teddy to go to the back. Like I said then when it first happened, the whole entire crowd popped. It wasn't until internet reports went up that people started questioning Hart's actions. While at the show live, I thought it was messed up what Hart was doing, but I have to admit I was cheering and watching in awe as he showed off his gymnast talents. So did about 700 other people. Teddy Hart is crazy.

Final McWord
This tape is only a must in two situations. One- if you're a die hard ROH fan. Two- if you want to see talked about, exclusive footage of the most controversial happenings of one of the most biggest promotions today. For anyone else, I would recommend checking out another ROH show on tape, as the quality of wrestling is better. This is definitely a change from most ROH tapes, and it was good as a fan of ROH to have some of these never before released matches on tape.

As far as what stands out the most, well obviously the Teddy Hart stuff. It is after all, "the main event" of this tape. Trent Acid vs Sonjay Dutt was easily the best match overall. Most ROH fans might be turned off on some of the showcase matches, featuring non regular ROH wrestlers. For me, I enjoyed it, as I am a fan of independent wrestling as a whole, but I don't think every ROH fan will get into it.

This is a pretty quick tape and easy to go through. The tape has no commentary and like I said above, is taped with one camera, except for the non-matches. It isn't like any other ROH tape. At some points, you feel like you're watching a live show on TV, as the only sound you hear is crowd emotion. You can hear the crowds pleasure and displeasure in every match. It sort of felt like an old ECW FanCam show.

To purchase this tape, go to http://www.rohwrestling.com, or go to ROH Uncensored Volume 1 directly.

Overall- A must for hardcore fans, but if you've never seen ROH or if you want a sample to see what ROH is all about, this isn't it.

That does it for this review. Let me know if you rather the play by play review or reviews like these. (And are alot quicker to do!)

Look for more ROH tape reviews soon. For previous ROH Tape Reviews check out: Tape Reviews

Sean "The MiC" McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com