Death Before Dishonor II, 07/23/04
Austin Aries, Roderick Strong & Jack Evans vs. John Walters, Matt Stryker & Jimmy Jacobs

Walters has a hard time starting his promo because of the fan reaction to Jacobs. Walters, who is nicely matching both Stryker and Jacobs in ring gear, introduces Steamboat as their corner man.

Jacobs and Evans start. Evans hits an armdrag and taunts Jacobs. Jacobs gets all armbaranddraggy on Evans and tags Walters in. Evans tags to Strong, who is met by Stryker armbars. Strong tags to Aries who comes in and gets dumped on his head. Arm Attack fest continues to the point that the crowd actually chants "work that arm." Stryker misses a knee in the corner and Aries smells blood and attacks. He stretches the leg in his corner and tags Strong. Strong goes right to the leg with a cross-legged surfboard while slamming his face into the mat. Awesome. Evans tags and attacks the leg in his own unique way. He hits a dragon screw and puts on an ankle lock. Stryker socks him to get out. Steamboat stupidly distracts the ref as Aries comes in. Stryker pulls out of an Aries stretch and tags Jacobs in. Jacobs is a Huss of Fire until Generation Next nails some awesome triple team action. Steamboat kills me further by distracting the ref like an idiot. Aries hits a huge dropkick for two. Jacobs' tag is blocked by a spinebuster for two and Strong tags in. Strong hits a back suplex for two after knocking Stryker off the apron. Evans comes in, hitting a dropkick and his nutty flippy legdrop for two. He tags Aries in but Jacobs gets put on top and fights off Generation Next only to have his crossbody reversed to a fireman's carry slam. Strong comes in with a flying elbow for two. Jacobs tries to make the tag but Strong just beats him into the turnbuckle. Another amazing Generation Next triple team gets one as Steamboat's distraction FINALLY works for his team. Strong hits a double underhook suplex and tags in Aries. Aries hits the first snap side slam ever for two. Jacobs is able to make the tag but the ref doesn't see it causing Jacobs gets messed up as a result. He gets kicked into the turnbuckle for two. Whoa, that was nasty. Aries tags in with a slingshot senton and elbow drop for two. Jacobs fights back with everything he has and dodges a triple team attack, tossing Evans into his teammates and tagging in both Stryker and Walters. They clean up the ring and work like a couple of guys who've been teaming for a while. Elevated lung blower gets two on Evans. Strong gets a big powerbomb on Stryker and Aries hits a 450 but Jacobs breaks the pin with a senton. Shelley interferes so Steamboat takes him out. Evans misses the 640 on Walters, who locks a submission on him for the win.

The portion with Stryker getting worked over was awesome, and Jacobs plays a great Ricky Morton. A couple awkward spots and a strange performance by Steamboat bring this down from freaking awesome to just plain awesome.
Rating: ****

Credit: 411mania.com