ROH Northern Navigation Review

Ring of Honor makes its Canadian Debut

ROH Northern Navigation

Toronto, Ontario 7/25/08

1.) Chris Hero vs. Ruckus: **1/2

This was a nice way to open the show. Nothing fantastic, but solid stuff.

2.) Delirious vs. Kenny Omega: **3/4

Here we get the ROH Debut of Kenny Omega as he's facing off against Delirious. It was a good contest. Omega definitely made a great first impression.

3.) Sara Del Rey vs. Jennifer Blake: *1/2

Nothing much to this one. Just a women's showcase, more specifically a showcase for Sara Del Rey.

4.) Erick Stevens vs. Go Shiozaki: ***1/4

Knowing the reputation of both guys this one should be hard hitting. It was a pretty good match with lots of hard hitting action. Pretty much what you'd expect from these two. They go to a 15 Minute Time Limit Draw. Stevens wants five more minutes, but Larry Sweeney would not allow it.

This brings out Canada's own Lance Storm!! He tells Sweeney that ROH is not about payoffs but leaving it in the ring. Chris Hero then comes out & attacks Lance Storm. He & Go put the boots to Storm & Stevens, but make a comeback with Shane Hagadorn eventually eating a superkick from Storm.

5.) Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli: ****1/4

This was a very good match. Not much else to say. In fact, anything from American Dragon in 2008 is pretty good.

Rhett Titus comes out to cut a promo. Daizee Haze then comes out and asks Rhett why he's been such an asshole (presumably referencing the video Titus has been showing everyone). She continues to confront him but Sara Del Rey comes out & attacks her, bringing out Delirious to make the save.

6.) Roderick Strong vs. Naomichi Marufuji: ***3/4

Here we got another hard hitting contest, but then again, would you expect anything less from these two. Another good match on this show.

7.) ROH World Title Match - Nigel McGuinness vs. Kevin Steen: ****1/4

Kevin Steen has the home field advantage in this one. This was a great World Title Match. The Canadian crowd made this match even better. Just great stuff in this one. This match probably should have ended the show but I guess with ROH's first time in Canada they perhaps wanted to send the people home happy, so instead the main event was...

8.) Non-Title No DQ Match - Jay Briscoe & Austin Aries vs. The Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black): ***1/2

This started out as a two-on-two match, but Necro Butcher & Mark Briscoe both got involved early, essentially turning this into a Six Man. Necro Butcher eventually walks out on his fellow Age of the Fall members, leading to the good guys getting the win. It was a fun, entertaining match. A nice way to end the show.

Overall: 8.75/10

Ring of Honor's debut in Canada went pretty well. The opening matches were decent, but everything after the Stevens/Shiozaki match was great. More than enough reason to get this show.