We begin the very first ROH show of 2011 with a tasty little promo from Christopher Daniels. See tonight he's teaming with a load of guys he's got nothing in common with other than BEEF! This was the usual high standard promo from Daniels.
In the ring Roderick Strong is extremely chuffed with himself for pissing on Davey Richards’s chips by beating him at Final Battle and tonight the Champs will reign supreme despite the weak link - Christopher Daniels! Daniels of course comes out tells Roderick that if he has something to say to him he should say it to his face and this brings us to...
1. Non Title Champion vs. Champion- World Champion Roderick Strong vs. TV Champion Christopher Daniels
**3/4
These guys had a difficult job but ultimately do well enough by putting on a solid match without giving us or the fans in attendance any of their usual offense whatsoever and I think they deserve a pat on the back for wrestling smart. After 7 minutes or so of action the Kings are out to break it all up and we get a nice out of nowhere finish just to really add some intrigue to the main event which of course was the whole point of this little match/segment whatever you wanna call it.
2. Grizzly Redwood and Andy "Right Leg" Ridge vs. The Bravado Brothers
**1/2
Not a bad tag match at all, just fairly unremarkable. The Bravados look better and better every time I see them, although still a little devoid of characteristics in regards to their mannerisms, but so do Grizzly and Ridge albeit on more of an individual basis as opposed to being a team. I have to question the decision of who went over though...
Backstage Mike Bennett informs us of the whereabouts of Brutal Bob Evans and then has a few words for Adam Cole. Decent enough promo without all the shouting and screaming a lot of heels feel the need to do in front of the camera to get over.
3. Adam Cole vs. "The Prodigy" Mike Bennett
***
Great little match between these two that really showcased each competitor in their own way. Cole has such a lot of potential and here you can see he just gets "it". A lot of times you see young guys who can do crazy head drops or high spots but their basics are just horrific to watch. Coles completely the opposite, he's almost like another coming of Spanky in the sense that he's got a great all round style but knows where to pick his spots. As for Bennett, well his style is certainly tailor made for WWE but it works so well at riling the crowd up. There's some nice action from both guys and ultimately after going out and putting on a good undercard match the winner's almost inconsequential.
Outcome the Kings of Wrestling! They complain that since their team is now less than 100% that Davey Richards should wrestle El Generico so even things up for the main event. Clever! Davey gets on the stick and tells the crowd that it's not gunna happen so the Kings attack them both anyway which brings out The Briscoes to make the save! ROH is doing a great job of hyping this shows main event so far.
4. Homicide vs. Rhett Titus
**
If you think the rating I gave this is way too low then you probably don't wanna know what I had in mind before the ending sequence! Somehow between the skills of both men and having some decent time to play with this match manages to just never kick into a higher gear and is just disjointed at times. Stuff happens and then it ends but at least they had some goals to achieve and I guess they did successfully to a degree. Titus gets the rub whilst Homicide also looks strong going into his title match at the 9th Anniversary show. The hard way cut from the head butt is pretty sick and gave the finish an edge it was definitely lacking.
Backstage Rhett Titus is on his arse thanks to Homicides head butt and he cuts a good little promo about unleashing his killer instinct. Titus continues to improve and grow right before our eyes.
5. Steve Corino vs. Kaleb Conley
**3/4
Before the match Steve Corino cuts a really great promo about how he's trying to change. How Kevin Steen’s departure from ROH was his own fault and that it's going to take time but he's going to prove to everyone that he's a better person and of course he drops the immortal line "My name is Steve Corino and I'm an evil person - but I'm going to change that". This angle is interesting and of course Corino's promo skills will only make this story more and more compelling.
As for the match, well it really served its purpose with Steve Corino totally playing by the book only to keep finding that it leads to his undoing. It's a nicely told little story and not only does this launch the Steve Corino recovery angle but I think Kaleb Conley looked pretty impressive too. This one killed two birds with one stone and did it in an entertaining manor.
Backstage Caprice Coleman cuts a little promo about his upcoming match against Colt Cabana. This kid has definitely got his own unique style but is still a little rough around the edges. OK promo.
6. Colt Cabana vs. Caprice Coleman
**1/4
What can I say without being too harsh...this is just another comedy Colt Cabana match. It is entertaining and of course Cabana does a great job but I feel Coleman didn't get much chance to really show everyone what he can do. There is one very funny spot where Cabana goes to the crowd and asks a group of kids for some tactical advice and I can't help but think that if ROH ever went to a bigger stage Cabana would definitely be a draw for the younger audience.
7. Kenny King vs. Kyle O'Reilly
***1/2
MOTN so far and a good back and forth encounter that really helped showcase both men’s talents and skills. O'Reilly looked every bit on the same level as Kenny King and that's saying something bearing in mind Kings been in ROH on and off since 2007. I loved the fact that both guys used their feet and kicks against each other and because that was one of their big assets they each knew how to counteract. It's not too ridiculous to say that this match could be main eventing an ROH in the future at some point!
8. Champions Vs. All Stars: World Champion Roderick Strong, TV Champion Christopher Daniels, and World Tag Team Champions The Kings of Wrestling vs. Davey Richards, El Generico, and The Briscoe Brothers
****
Very long feeling out process that is pretty interesting to watch as one by one each member of each team gets a turn in the ring for a minute or two. They play up nicely that nobody wants to start off against Davey Richards, especially Roderick Strong, and all the heels bail from the apron leaving Davey & Daniels to start off with a little sequence that literally picks up where their classic match from last year left off.
The heels eventually pick off Jay Briscoe, which makes sense as he's Roderick next challenger for the night after and boy do they work over him! They tease some very good hot tags to Generico and Mark Briscoe but of course it's when everybody's down apart from Roderick on the Champions team and Davey on the All Star team that the hot tag really comes. They even get their own one on one sequence and for a while I thought to myself "If it ends now I guess its ok but what about the other guys? They didn't get too much chance to shine". Turns out that's just the tip of the iceberg! There was a LOAD more action after that including stereo dives, shooting stars to the outside and of course the finish. Even after all that, nobody really delved into their bag of tricks too deep. Nevertheless, a really good main event match that delivered.
Post match Davey puts over everybody and thanks the fans for their attendance as Mark Briscoe tries to jump over his own leg...
Backstage Harlem Bravado is ranting about their loss. Lance simply reminds him that it's "not happening in Charlotte". WOW! BIG MONEY PROMO TO END THE SHOW!
So as a standalone show it's a very average affair. Nothing apart from the main event is really worth going out of your way to see however this show was an absolute breeze to sit through and it was a nice change of pace compared to previous regarding the influx of promos. Pretty much everything is kept fairly short apart from the main event which obviously required time given the participants plus I feel that ROH did well to to add a new angle with Steve Corino's redemption, hype the main event and then also give some spotlight to a lot of newer faces. All in all an ok show that won't be for everyone and as a standalone show it's probably skippable however with the addition of the Best of American Wolves bonus disc I imagine as a whole package this will be a worthy purchase.
6.5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment