Mike Reviews ROH War Of The Wire – 29.11.2003

Happy Friday Everyone!

We’ve got some ROH for you today, with War Of The Wire 2003. As the name would suggest; we’ve got a barbed wire match to close things out here, as Steve Corino and Homicide take their brutal feud to the next level. Elsewhere, we’ve got Samoa Joe taking on AJ Styles and John Walters grappling with Xavier, so we should have a good mixture of bloody violence and slick wrestling.

Indeed, according to the ThROH The Years podcast, the promised violence of the Main Event caused ROH to have to move the show twice when a local promoter kept grassing them up. Eventually local wrestler John Walters managed to secure a venue so that War Of The Wire was ultimately able to go ahead.

You can view the full card for War Of The Wire by clicking below;

ROH War Of The Wire Card

War Of The Wire is emanating from Framingham State College in Framingham, Massachusetts on the 29th of November 2003

Calling the action are “Chris Lovey” (actually Gabe Sapolsky) and CM Punk

Gary Michael Cappetta tries to get an interview with Steve Corino prior to the show. Corino does a really good job getting across how dangerous a Barbed Wire Match is. Corino also works in a funny line about how Homicide hit him in the ear to deafen him, meaning he couldn’t pull a pretty girl in a Japanese night club. Corino takes it back to being serious again after that though and it ends up being a really good promo that hypes up the Main Event well.

We then get a promo from Samoa Joe, where he addresses those that say he’s losing his touch as the World Champion, which of course just makes him even more determined to destroy poor AJ Styles tonight. This was a good intense Samoa Joe promo, mixed with plenty of menace and also a natural cool factor.

Cappetta tries to grab a word with Homicide and Julius Smokes outside the venue, with Homicide not being interested in talking or having the camera crew following him around.

Opening Match
Fast Eddie and Hotstuff Hernandez Vs The Backseat Boyz (Johnny Kashmere & Trent Acid)

Eddie was often announced as being legally blind, but I’m not sure if that was true or how severe the blindness was. Hernandez would eventually end up in TNA as “Super Mex”. The Backseat’s worked in both ROH and CZW, amongst other places, with Acid sadly passing away at a young age. They are kind of playing the role of strippers who are there to thrill the ladies, and they enter to the Midnight Express’ entrance music, which I always thought was strange as they are nothing like the MX really except that they are conceited dudes.

Hernandez uses his size and deceptive speed to dominate The Backseat’s during the babyface shine, with neither of them really having an answer for him. Hernandez looks impressive here, and you can see why TNA eventually tried to push him. The Backseat’s use tandem offence to get themselves back into it, with Punk delivering a “because 2003” line by declaring that their fancy double team moves are “gay”. The Backseat’s kind of work heat on Eddie, although it’s not like they’re really cheating or being especially devious, so it’s more a control segment.

Hernandez gets the scary big man hot tag, where he flings around The Backseat’s with some signature throws and then gives Eddie a sloppy throw over the top rope onto the opponents before following up with an, admittedly very impressive, TOPE CON HILO onto everyone. That rescued the section to be honest as the fans did not like the Eddie dive and Sapolsky wasn’t even trying to really cover for it on commentary. Things continue to be sloppy back inside the ring, with Punk basically burying it all on commentary. The Backseat’s manage to knock Hernandez out of the ring and finish of Eddie with the T-Gimmick.

9 Minutes

WINNERS: BACKSEAT BOYZ
RATING: *1/2

Thoughts: This was Indy-riffic, and not really in the good way. Hernandez did show some potential here, but the match was pretty sloppy and lacked a proper heat segment because neither team really wanted to work Heel

Steve Corino and his entourage hang out in the locker room, including young Colby. Who brings their 7 year old son to a barbed wire match for chuff’s sake?!?! Colby does cut a good promo on behalf of his dad in fairness.

Second Match
Scramble Tag Team Bout
Slugger, The Carnage Crew (DeVito & Loc) and The SAT (Joel Maximo & Jose Maximo) Vs Special K (Angel Dust, Dixie, Hijinx, Hydro & Lit)

Slugger used to be security for Special K but he’s moved on from them now and joined up with two of their rivals. These Scramble matches are basically the AEW “Party Match”, where you have a series of big moves and spots, with none of it really meaning anything except as an exhibition of MOVEZ. Hydro would end up becoming Jay Lethal, with them already pushing the idea that he’s in better shape and a better wrestler than the rest of the crew. Lit would go on to be Ashe Samuels, the man who actually named Brodie Lee back in the day when he switched from wrestling to promoting, and he takes some nice bumps from DeVito, although I’m guessing DeVito probably didn’t give him much choice.

Slugger is kind of just a generic big man who does power moves, but he would have probably gotten himself an EVOLVE deal were he around today. We get a fun little bit where all of Special K get put in submission holds by the babyfaces, which Special K responds to with a parade of dives. Slugger ends up leaping off the top rope onto everyone for the big showcase spot, which the fans obviously go nuts for. Ray Morrow joins the commentary desk around this time, as Punk has to run off to “prepare” for the next match. Slugger gets another big showcase when he essentially fights off Special K all by himself after they have laid out the rest of the babyface team. SAT and Carnage Crew actually show some continuity by helping out the other with a Spiked Piledriver and Spanish Fly respectively, but they argue over who gets the pin and that leads to Dixie getting a dirty pin on DeVito for the three count.

12 Minutes

WINNERS: SPECIAL K
RATING: **1/2

Thoughts: This was fun as a conveyor belt of MOVEZ, but it won’t be for everyone. Slugger got a decent showcase here, although you could tell that he was basically just a big stiff and that would leave him with a ceiling in a place like ROH

Match Three
Gauntlet Bout
CM Punk Vs Jimmy Rave Vs Matt Stryker Vs BJ Whitmer Vs Colt Cabana

Session 1
CM Punk Vs Jimmy Rave

Punk was angry at the time (when isn’t he?) because a mysterious attacker had taken out Lucy (Daffney of WCW fame) and he was trying to find the culprit. Rave was actually a hand slapping babyface here, although he might possibly be better known as a cocky Heel both in ROH and TNA. Alisson Danger joins Sapolsky on commentary here, with Sapolsky being a creep, as per usual for most commentators towards women around this time. Sapolsky asks Danger if she and The Prophecy were behind Lucy’s attack, and she storms off.

Rave’s whole thing at the time was that he was struggling to get his first big win in ROH, which would lead to AJ Styles taking Rave under his wing and Rave eventually turning on Styles to start a big feud between the two. Punk had wrestled the previous night against Raven in a Cage, so he’s a bit banged up here and that leads to Rave going after Punk’s leg. There’s something that looks like a botch where Rave goes for a rana off the apron onto Punk on the floor, and they both kind of just stumble into the metal hoardings at ringside. Punk just picks Rave up and flings him into the hoardings for the cut off, making me think Punk was supposed to catch the rana and then swing Rave into the metal himself.

Punk works some heat back inside the ring, with the leg actively slowing him down a bit, which is nice to see. So many times you see someone just ignore all the work done to an appendage because a certain section of the match requires them to do so, but Punk has kept the selling consistent in a believable way here, so kudos to him for that. Rave makes a comeback and goes to some kind of leglock, although the fans don’t really buy it as a submission near fall. Punk fights out of that but ends up taking a Shining Wizard for two in a good near fall. The fans didn’t really bite on that near fall, but it was executed and timed very well. Rave makes the mistake of setting Punk up for a Superplex though, which leaves him in prime position for a low blow and Pepsi Plunge for the three count.

12 Minutes Total Match Time

Session 2
CM Punk Vs Matt Stryker

I’m not sure why Punk wasn’t DQ’ed there as it all happened right in front of the referee and he clearly hit Rave low. Stryker is not the Matt Striker who worked in WWE as an evil teacher, but rather a technical wrestler who featured quite a bit in ROH’s earlier days. Stryker’s whole thing is that he’s a submission expert and Punk has a bum wheel, so you can guess where this one is going. Punk is on the defensive throughout, which is strange booking for a Heel really, but he sells well at any rate. Stryker gets Punk in some kind of leg submission called the Stryker Lock and Punk eventually submits clean, which gives Stryker a decent scalp.

17 Minutes Total Match Time

Session 3
Colt Cabana Vs Matt Stryker

Cabana is Punk’s partner in the Second City Saints and Punk encourages Cabana to get serious and win the match here, which is probably unlikely to happen, but you can’t fault Punk for trying. The music operator has fun speeding up and slowing down Cabana’s music, with Cabana of course playing up to it for comedy’s sake. Cabana refuses to dance once the music starts up again though, earning him some disappointed boos from the crowd. Cabana manages to get Stryker in a chin lock at one once stage and then plucks some of the hairs in Stryker’s monobrow, which of course infuriates Stryker in a funny bit.

They end up perched on the second rope trading chops, as you do, and that leads to Cabana knocking Stryker down and then making a bit of a hash of a crossbody for two. Stryker makes a comeback following that, busting out the not often seen sequence of a Thesz Press followed by a Quebrada for a two count. Cabana responds with a neck breaker over the knee from an Air Raid Crash position, which gets a two count. Stryker catches Cabana with a Spicolli Driver though and that’s enough for the three count to eliminate Cabana. That was kind of just people doing MOVEZ, but it wasn’t dull to watch.

29 Minutes Total Match Time

Session 4
BJ Whitmer Vs Matt Stryker

Whitmer and Stryker had battled quite a few times prior to this, with this being another chapter in their series. These two are also due to wrestle at Final Battle 2003 in the Final of the Field of Honour, which was basically ROH’s version of the Champions Carnival/G1 Climax, where they had a Round Robin stage building to a singles Final with the winners of each block. They don’t do a lot here, as Stryker has been wrestling for nearly 20 Minutes and they don’t want to overdo it when they have a big match between the two already booked for December, so Whitmer controls things for the most part whilst Stryker fights from underneath. Both men end up taking a tumble off the top rope down to the outside of the ring, with Stryker selling it more than Whitmer. Whitmer teases his eventual Heel turn though by throwing Stryker back into the ring for an Exploder 98 for the three count.

33 Minutes Total Match Time

WINNER: BJ WHITMER
RATING: **3/4

Thoughts: This had some decent stuff in it, with the best work coming from Punk, as you’d expect. The finish was a good way to plant a seed for Whitmer going Heel, but you could also dress it up as him just doing what he needed to win the match and that the referee should have just stopped the bout if he thought Stryker couldn’t continue. It’s Pro Wrestling, not a politeness competition. I liked how they didn’t really have anyone display superhuman abilities here. Punk’s leg was buggered up by Rave and he was able to win due to cheating, but when matched up against a healthy Stryker he quickly lost, which made sense because he had a bad leg. Stryker was mostly fresh for the Cabana bout as a result, but by the time Whitmer got in he was already flagging so he just lost, which sometimes happens. Decent overall

AJ Styles is chewing out Jimmy Rave backstage, which leads to Rave getting angry and shoving Styles, which Styles is apparently happy about because he wants Rave to show some fire. That would end up backfiring on ol’ AJ.

Steve Corino is still preparing backstage, and he seems worried about Homicide using his ghetto fork later on.

Julius Smokes is firing up Homicide

Match Four
April Hunter and Slyk Wagner Brown Vs The Outcast Killaz (Diablo Santiago & Oman Tortuga)

Hunter probably came along roughly 20 years two early, as I imagine WWE would have signed her to NXT had she been around today. Hunter supposedly embarrassed the Killaz on a previous show in the Boston area, so a singles match between one Killa and Brown was turned into a tag team match instead, although we don’t get to see that on the tape itself. This one is JIP, with Hunter tagging in and taking a double team clothesline/leg sweep move from the Killaz for the three count.

1 Minute (shown)

WINNERS: OUTCAST KILLAZ
RATING: N/A

Thoughts: I’m guessing the match wasn’t very good if they cut basically all of it?

Xavier comes out to cut the generic “this town and everyone in it s*cks” promo, which achieves the goal of riling up the crowd. Brown and Hunter, who are both apparently from the local area, just dejectedly slink away rather than defending their home. However, John Walters, who is also from the local area, heads down to defend its honour and gets a good response from the crowd as a result. This was basic promo work from both, but it hit the beats it needed to

Match Five
“The All Around Best” Xavier Vs John Walters

These two had a feud going on at the time, owing to Xavier cheating to defeat Walters a few times. Xavier was the Heel who really leaned into being a Heel, which made him stand out a bit in early ROH because most of the Heels were still trying to be cool, whilst Xavier was happy to just be devious and cowardly. Walters slaps Xavier to start, leading to Xavier bailing and going to the Larry Z book of stalling techniques. They actually tell a decent story here of Walters being really fired up and wanting to take it to Xavier for some revenge, which gives Xavier openings to catch Walters out at points.

Xavier uses Walters’ own momentum against him by sending Walters over the top rope to the floor for the cut off and then flings Walters into the metal hoardings for good measure. The crowd is probably the most invested they’ve been all night in this one, so the evil out-of-towner Vs hometown hero angle looks to be working, especially as Xavier is pro-New York, which plays into the Yankees Vs Red Sox feud in baseball. Walters eventually manages to mount a comeback, leading to the two trading chops and Xavier kicking out of both a DDT variation and a Back Cracker from Walters. Xavier fires back with a Reverse DDT from the top rope, but Walters manages to kick out of that.

Xavier misses a 450 Splash in response, which leads to Xavier trying to use a ladder, teasing the eventual No DQ match the two would have in order to finally end their feud for good. The ladder doesn’t even end up getting used though, as Walters counters an Xavier move into a pinning hold for the three count. In a funny bit, Punk does the Bobby Heenan technique of cheering for one wrestler the whole match (Xavier) but then acting like he knew the other wrestler (Walters) would win all along.

12 Minutes

WINNER: JOHN WALTERS
RATING: ***1/4

Thoughts: I usually enjoyed the matches in this feud, as they had good chemistry as opponents and Xavier as the cocky Heel exasperating the earnest babyface was a good story. This was another solid chapter in their rivalry, with the New York Vs Boston aspect of it ensuring that the crowd was into it

Xavier brutalises Walters with a chair after the match, leading to Walters doing a blade job and setting up one last match between the two at Final Battle. The chair shots were disgusting, with Walters not getting his hands up and Xavier just WAFFLING him with the chair. 2003 was a different time folks, let me tell you.

Match Six
ROH Tag Team Titles
Champions: The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe) Vs The Prophecy (Christopher Daniels & Dan Maff) w/ Allison Danger

Mark was briefly a prospective member of The Prophecy but they kind of just hand waved that away by saying “Oh, Mark doesn’t want to be a singles Heel and just wants to be in a tag team with his brother, so he’s doing that now and hasn’t tagged with the Prophecy for a few months. Mark gets to shine on the challengers to start, even doing a Shooting Star Press from inside the ring out onto both of them, but Danger distracts the referee and that allows the Prophecy to cheat and cut Mark off. I like how the challengers are actually attempting to work Heel in this one and work some heat, with Mark selling it well.

The crowd doesn’t really get into the traditional tag team formula that’s being served up here, but the wrestlers are doing a good job executing it at least. Jay eventually gets the hot tag, although the crowd goes pretty flat after initially giving it a mild pop. Jay looks decent running wild at least, and that leads us into Finisher Madness(tm), with everyone getting a chance to come in and hit a big move for a near fall. The kick out’s and last second saves are all executed well, but the crowd continues not to really care. Danger heads into the ring at one stage, which the referee allows for some reason, and she eventually gives Mark a DDT whilst Maff takes the referee.

Mark manages to kick out of the resulting pin though and the Champions rally, with Jay laying out Danger with a Falcon Arrow. The Briscoe’s actually manage to heave the huge Maff up for the DOOMsday Device, but Daniels breaks up the pin and the bout continues, as the near fall game has been strong in this one. The fans continue to sit on their hands through all this for some reason, even though the wrestlers have structured this well and we’re now getting into proper Indy big move wackiness. Jay ends up pinning Daniels with the J-Driller during the commotion, meaning that Mark pinned Samoa Joe on the previous show in a tag and now Jay has pinned Daniels on the next one, thus giving both of the lads a bit of a rub.

18 Minutes

WINNERS AND STILL CHAMPIONS: THE BRISCOES
RATING: ***

Thoughts: This was a good traditional tag team formula match that eventually moved into more of a Japanese/Indy big move near fall fest. However, it was wrestled in front of a crowd that didn’t really care, so that hampered my enjoyment of it a bit. Daniels was the star of the match for me, as all of his work looked smooth and he was trying to be a Heel and rile up the fans, but they just weren’t biting on it. I guess you can argue that the poor reactions were on the wrestlers for not giving the crowd what they wanted, but I’m unsure as to what the crowd actually DID want here, so I’m going to blame them more than the wrestlers

Match Seven
ROH World Title
Champion: Samoa Joe Vs AJ Styles

Joe was in the midst of a dominant run here after winning the belt back in March, whilst Styles had been getting a strong push in TNA and had even held their World Title earlier in the year. Styles defeated Bryan Danielson back at Main Event Spectacles to get himself in contention. Joe and Styles had tried to win the Tag Titles on the previous show, but some miscommunication led to them losing, adding some spice to this World Title match.

Even all the way back in 2003 these two had good chemistry, with them going on to have a famous series in TNA a few years later. Styles uses speed and technical wrestling to try and combat Joe to start, but Joe uses his size and aggression to send Styles out to the floor, where he nearly lands on his head by giving Styles a TOPE SUICIDA. Styles gets a really fun counter to when Joe attempts to fling him into the metal hoardings at ringside, by simply leaping over the hoardings into the front row and then following up with a leaping dive over the hoardings onto Joe. I love when young AJ would bust out stuff like that. It made use of his athletic gifts in a way that was both exciting and made sense in the context of a wrestling match.

Styles even manages to heave Joe up into a Powerbomb when they get back into the ring, but Joe fights back, even using Perry Saturn’s A+B move from No Mercy at one stage, with Styles taking a fantastic snappy bump for it. Joe toys around with Styles though rather than going for the kill, which allows Styles a chance to fight back, with the action continuing to be good. The crowd reactions have been better here than they have been for some of the other matches on the show, but it’s still lacking a bit from what you’d want for a World Title match between two stars that has been worked very well.

They have a great exchange of strikes at one stage, that Styles actually kind of gets the better of when he ducks Joe’s big attack and fires off a Pele. Styles gets a great near fall at one stage when he delivers the Styles Clash, with Joe only just kicking out and the crowd giving it a great reaction. That finally woke the crowd up, where has that sort of reaction been all night? Joe manages to reply by countering a Styles Moonsault and turning it into the Island Driver, but Styles kicks out at the last possible moment to keep us going. Styles replies with a Discuss Clothesline and heads up for something, but Joe puts a stop to that with a Muscle Buster and follows up with the rear naked choke for the stoppage finish.

17 Minutes

WINNER AND STILL CHAMPION: SAMOA JOE
RATING: ****1/4

Thoughts: This was an excellent match, with them working hard and finally managing to get the crowd into it, which has not been easy on War of the Wire. Even back in 2003 these two made for great opponents, with Styles bringing the speed and the fire against Joe’s power and stoicism, leading to a natural chemistry that delivered a fantastic bout. Definitely the one match on this show that you should really seek out

Special K are bragging about their win from earlier, but they haven’t got any chicks to party with. They were suitably annoying here.

Corino has his entrance robe and mask, and is ready to go

Homicide is saying a prayer ahead of the bout whilst Julius Smokes hypes him up.

Whilst the wire is being set up ahead of the Main Event, Punk and Daniels apparently had a brawl, but we only get to see still photos of it. Apparently, the video camera they were using ran out of battery, hence why we only get the photos and no video for it.

Main Event
No Ropes Barbed Wire Bout
Steve Corino w/ Guillotine LeGrande Vs Homicide w/ Julius Smokes

These two had been feuding since 2002, going through riots and everything in between, with this supposedly the big blowoff so that they could finally move onto new things. The ropes have been removed, and wire has been put in their place. There’s also a barbed wire wrapped table in the ring as well, just for the heck of it I suppose. Bobby Cruise was Corino’s personal ring announcer at the time and usually did long indulgent comedy intros for Corino, but because this is such a serious match he shortens it down to just doing a regular length intro.

Corino is deaf in one ear due to a Homicide slap on a previous ROH show, so Homicide tries to target the ear early on to push the hatred between the two. They build up to using the wire, with a few teases until Homicide takes a trip into the wire, leading to him coming up bleeding. Corino gets a gnarly looking move of catapulting Homicide throat first into the wire at one stage, but when he tries to use a barbed wire baseball bat he ends up getting DDT’ed onto it, leading to Homicide drawing blood. Yes, Steve Corino did a blade job, I’ll let you take a moment to sit down from the shock of it all.

The crowd is pretty muted for this all things considered, outside of reacting to some of the more violent spots, such as Corino giving Homicide a monkey flip into the wire at one stage. I’m not sure if anyone has tried that spot before in one of these matches, but it’s certainly the first time I can recall seeing it. I’ve not seen every match in the genre though, so if someone wants to chime in the comments that they saw Great Sasuke do it to someone in Japan then I’ll take it at face value. Corino hangs Homicide up in the wire again at one stage, leading to the managers going at it briefly. Homicide is finding interesting and violent ways to get tangled up in this wire I must say.

The barbed wire table ends up getting used of course, with Homicide giving Corino a suplex through it for a two count. Corino manages to fire back with a Cobra Clutch, but Homicide sends them both tumbling back into the remains of the table, hurting himself further to break the hold. That’s some proper hatred right there! Homicide ends up flinging a guardrail from outside of the ring onto Corino in the ring, but Corino’s entourage help their man out by stacking the railing onto some chairs so that Corino can give Homicide a Northern Lights Bomb onto it. Homicide rallies from that though and locks Corino in the Step-over Toe-hold Face-lock, a move which he’d previously used to defeat Corino, but LeGrande throws rubbing alcohol in Homicide’s face to break the hold. Corino then wraps Homicide in the wire and locks in the Cobra Clutch again, leading to Smokes throwing in the towel for Homicide.

21 Minutes

WINNER: STEVE CORINO
RATING: ***3/4

Thoughts: The crowd was once again pretty flat for this outside of the big spots, but it worked as a violent war between two blood enemies. We got the expected blood and chicanery with the wire, with Homicide in particular taking some impressive bumps into it. The ultraviolent aspect won’t be for everyone, which is totally fair, but if you don’t mind violent bloody brawls then this should be something you’ll enjoy

Corino offers a handshake following the bout, which Homicide doesn’t accept. That makes sense actually, as Corino needed help from his manager and his two young boys to win there, so why would Homicide want to shake his hand when he was cheated out of a win?

Corino says in his locker room that he would have killed Homicide tonight if the towel hadn’t been thrown in and bemoans Homicide not shaking his hand. Again, why would he shake your hand dude? He had you beat, and your manager threw alcohol in his face to cost him the match. Who is shaking your hand after that?

Colt Cabana is hosting “Good Times, Great Memories” with Jose Maximo and Joel Maximo. Colt has prepared cue cards in Spanish, but Los Maximo’s speak English, so he doesn’t need them in a funny bit. Colt asks his guests when Amazing Red is coming back, and they say it will be the following year. The SAT then cut a terrible promo helping up a future match with The Briscoe’s. Cabana was good here; Jose and Joel were not.

BJ Whitmer and Matt Stryker face off ahead of their bout at Final Battle 2003. Whitmer is heelish again, saying that winning is the only thing that matters.

In Conclusion

War of the Wire had some decent wrestling on it and came in at around 3 hours, which meant it didn’t really drag at any point. However, the show felt pretty flat overall, owing mostly to the crowd just not being into the action for most of the night.

The Main Event delivered the advertised violence and Joe Vs Styles delivered the advertised great wrestling, but the crowd just gave the impression that they’d rather be doing something else rather than watching a wrestling show, and it hurt the even overall.

There are definitely better ROH shows from 2003, so I don’t think you really need to seek War of the Wire out outside of maybe hunting down the ROH World Title match, which is an excellent bout and well worth a watch if you’re a fan of one or both of the competitors involved.