Saturday, 23 April 2011
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
ROH Glory By Honor IX - New York, NY 09/11/10
The DVD begins with hype videos for all the major matches on this show. They look slick and very well produced and are a great touch to show us some background. It's often a chore to rewatch the videowires before a show and I feel ROH should continue for all their big shows such as IPPVs.
1. Jay Briscoe vs. Kenny King
***
Really fast sprint that's all action. Crowds pretty into it as well. Kenny King looks very good here and, as usual, so does Jay Briscoe. All in all it's quick, it's fun and in my opinion the right person went over. Titus appears at the end of the match so we then get...
2. Mark Briscoe vs. Rhett Titus
***1/4
Tightly fought contest here. Much like the match before it was kind of a showcase of what each guy can do. Titus is really coming into his own at this point and he does a couple of nice moves I hadn't seen from him before. Mark Briscoe goes all out to make Titus look good. Both matches were nicely used to further a feud between the two teams.
Nice little video package to setup the next match. I can't help but laugh out loud when Nana looks at the camera wide eyed with confusion and says..."Balls? We didn't come here for balls!?!". Tremendous.
3. Ballz Mahoney and Grizzly Redwood vs. Erick Stevens and The Necro Butcher
**
What can I say? I hate the Embassy team at this point but even they can't stink up what is undoubtedly a brief and entertaining match. The crowd is just pumped for Balls Mahoney and he plays up to them at every opportunity. Grizzly Redwood, as usual, does everything he can to put on something good for the people in attendance. Even Necro and Stevens seems fairly on the ball. It's not great or anything but it served its purpose.
4. Double Chain Match: Kevin Steen and Steve Corino vs. El Generico and Colt Cabana
****
If you have followed ANY of this feud then you know what to expect. It must be tough for those guys to go out and deliver in accordance with expectations and hype. This match is no exception to all four men’s work ethic and it's another very strong chapter in the Generico vs. Steen feud. Lots of sick spots in this match including Generico being yanked off the top rope through a table of the outside, Cabana being almost crucified with chains and the obligatory masses of crimson all help tell the story of the match. There's some nice little things such as Corino grabs a chair to hit Cabana, realises it's Balls Mahoney’s ECW chair so throws it to the ground to get another one and Colby Corinos important role that keep the matches tempo and drama going. After the match Steen unmasks Generico and in one of ROHs most sick and twisted iconic moments...he uses Corinos blood to paint MR WRESTLING on the chair over the mask.
We get a nice interview with Davey Richards conducted by Jim Cornette as out intermission filler. It's a good insight into Richards "non" character and addresses rumours of his departure.
5. World TV Title Match: Eddie Edwards vs. Shawn Daivari
**1/4
This is one of those matches which is perfect for its place on the card. It's not too flashy and doesn't take too much of the crowds investment in the show but it does entertain. There's no doubt during Edwards TV title reign he pulled several watchable - good matches out of lower named and less competent opponents. Tonight is no exception. Daivari is not bad by any means but I've just never really thought his style meshed well with the ROH product. It's an ok match but pretty much a throwaway affair.
6. Christopher Daniels vs. Austin Aries
***1/4
Aries kicks off proceedings with a nice short promo where he refers to Daniels as outdated and irrelevant. Tremendous! However what he ends with is the phrase "why don't we steal the show" and steal show they...don't. And it's probably neither mans fault either, very early in the match Aries comes off the top to the outside with an elbow and lands funny injuring his knee. His performance is then hampered throughout and he can be seen limping at times. Daniels brings the goods but the knee injury seems to have thrown a lot of whatever they had planned out the window. There are still some great moments in this match such as Daniels missing the arabian press to the floor and of course the Super Angels Wings. This match on paper could have stolen the show and I think it could have done had it not been for Aries knee injury.
7. Non Title Tag Team Dream Match: The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) vs. Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas
****1/4
The KOW come to the ring having their entrance music performed live by the artist who originally did it by their side, nice touch. The crowd throughout is REALLY into Haas & Benjamin but thank god some of the ROH faithful still chant for the Kings of Wrestling, they're OUR tag team dammit!
This match is something to behold - ROHs finest tag team go move for move and hold for hold with Haas & Benjamin and at times it's simply breath taking. The one thing I notice with this match (and several others I've seen) of WGTTs is that their matches are all fairly simple with very good basics. They pulled one or two tricks out of the bag but I do feel they could show us more another time.
The KOW are just on another level around this time period and it's no surprise when they do all they can to make WGTT look good. The compliment is more than repaid though, especially with Shelton Benjamin’s terrific selling at times. I also need to give props to whoever booked this match; the right team absolutely went over in my opinion. Very good job all round and I would say this worth buying the DVD for just this one match.
8. ROH World Title Match (with Terry Funk as the special ringside enforcer): Tyler Black vs. Roderick Strong
****1/4
Good god the heat on Tyler Black during this match is off the charts. All those fans that have been DYING to turn on him now have every reason to and they make themselves heard! As per the past few shows since the announcement of his departure to greener pastures, Tyler Black is now a full blown heel and feel it's this character of Black is where he was at his best. He pulls out Roderick’s gut buster as an insult and even pulls out a "You Can't See Me" before slapping on an STF, something he did at the last show, but here in NY the people become even more livid! At this point both men have had several matches against each other so it's really no surprise that they have a terrific contest. What differs this match from the others is the heat from the crowd and the inclusion of the hardcore legend Terry Funk. Now I thought Funks role in this match was well done except when the HOT come rushing down to the ring just to be used as fodder for Funk. Although Strong's been turn heel before this match (so technically it's a heel vs. heel match) the crowd are behind him and I just felt it was kind of the wrong place to have that much interference. All that being said it's an exciting ride and a strong finish (no pun intended) to Tyler Blacks hugely successful run as ROH World champion. Whilst the match from SCOHV is just as good as this one I'd pick this one as my favourite of the two with both of them being behind their finals encounter from Survival of the Fittest 2009.
BUT WAIT!!! There's more...the lights go out and then a familiar tune from Kill Bill begins...ITS HOMICIDE! Pop is HUGE! He gets in the ring and then the show ends as he goes face to face with Strong.
To summarise, the second half of the show really picked up the pace after the first half was just OK until the Double Chain match. The crowd is hot throughout and that adds to the overall enjoyment of a lot of the undercard matches (except the Aries vs Daniels match where they get bored and begin the twinkies chanting). The advancement in the El Generico vs. Kevin Steen feud is possibly reason enough to purchase this DVD, it is honestly that well done! Add to that the Kings of Wrestling’s minor classic against Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team and the ROH World Title match and it's pretty much a no brainer. Outside of the aforementioned matches everything else is just kind of there, not bad but just OK - good.
On a side note; What the hell’s happened with the commentary volume? Last show (Fade To Black) seemed an almost perfect mix between live noise and commentary yet now the commentary seems far too quiet. I bought the IPPV and don't remember any problems like this at the time.
7.5/10
1. Jay Briscoe vs. Kenny King
***
Really fast sprint that's all action. Crowds pretty into it as well. Kenny King looks very good here and, as usual, so does Jay Briscoe. All in all it's quick, it's fun and in my opinion the right person went over. Titus appears at the end of the match so we then get...
2. Mark Briscoe vs. Rhett Titus
***1/4
Tightly fought contest here. Much like the match before it was kind of a showcase of what each guy can do. Titus is really coming into his own at this point and he does a couple of nice moves I hadn't seen from him before. Mark Briscoe goes all out to make Titus look good. Both matches were nicely used to further a feud between the two teams.
Nice little video package to setup the next match. I can't help but laugh out loud when Nana looks at the camera wide eyed with confusion and says..."Balls? We didn't come here for balls!?!". Tremendous.
3. Ballz Mahoney and Grizzly Redwood vs. Erick Stevens and The Necro Butcher
**
What can I say? I hate the Embassy team at this point but even they can't stink up what is undoubtedly a brief and entertaining match. The crowd is just pumped for Balls Mahoney and he plays up to them at every opportunity. Grizzly Redwood, as usual, does everything he can to put on something good for the people in attendance. Even Necro and Stevens seems fairly on the ball. It's not great or anything but it served its purpose.
4. Double Chain Match: Kevin Steen and Steve Corino vs. El Generico and Colt Cabana
****
If you have followed ANY of this feud then you know what to expect. It must be tough for those guys to go out and deliver in accordance with expectations and hype. This match is no exception to all four men’s work ethic and it's another very strong chapter in the Generico vs. Steen feud. Lots of sick spots in this match including Generico being yanked off the top rope through a table of the outside, Cabana being almost crucified with chains and the obligatory masses of crimson all help tell the story of the match. There's some nice little things such as Corino grabs a chair to hit Cabana, realises it's Balls Mahoney’s ECW chair so throws it to the ground to get another one and Colby Corinos important role that keep the matches tempo and drama going. After the match Steen unmasks Generico and in one of ROHs most sick and twisted iconic moments...he uses Corinos blood to paint MR WRESTLING on the chair over the mask.
We get a nice interview with Davey Richards conducted by Jim Cornette as out intermission filler. It's a good insight into Richards "non" character and addresses rumours of his departure.
5. World TV Title Match: Eddie Edwards vs. Shawn Daivari
**1/4
This is one of those matches which is perfect for its place on the card. It's not too flashy and doesn't take too much of the crowds investment in the show but it does entertain. There's no doubt during Edwards TV title reign he pulled several watchable - good matches out of lower named and less competent opponents. Tonight is no exception. Daivari is not bad by any means but I've just never really thought his style meshed well with the ROH product. It's an ok match but pretty much a throwaway affair.
6. Christopher Daniels vs. Austin Aries
***1/4
Aries kicks off proceedings with a nice short promo where he refers to Daniels as outdated and irrelevant. Tremendous! However what he ends with is the phrase "why don't we steal the show" and steal show they...don't. And it's probably neither mans fault either, very early in the match Aries comes off the top to the outside with an elbow and lands funny injuring his knee. His performance is then hampered throughout and he can be seen limping at times. Daniels brings the goods but the knee injury seems to have thrown a lot of whatever they had planned out the window. There are still some great moments in this match such as Daniels missing the arabian press to the floor and of course the Super Angels Wings. This match on paper could have stolen the show and I think it could have done had it not been for Aries knee injury.
7. Non Title Tag Team Dream Match: The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) vs. Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas
****1/4
The KOW come to the ring having their entrance music performed live by the artist who originally did it by their side, nice touch. The crowd throughout is REALLY into Haas & Benjamin but thank god some of the ROH faithful still chant for the Kings of Wrestling, they're OUR tag team dammit!
This match is something to behold - ROHs finest tag team go move for move and hold for hold with Haas & Benjamin and at times it's simply breath taking. The one thing I notice with this match (and several others I've seen) of WGTTs is that their matches are all fairly simple with very good basics. They pulled one or two tricks out of the bag but I do feel they could show us more another time.
The KOW are just on another level around this time period and it's no surprise when they do all they can to make WGTT look good. The compliment is more than repaid though, especially with Shelton Benjamin’s terrific selling at times. I also need to give props to whoever booked this match; the right team absolutely went over in my opinion. Very good job all round and I would say this worth buying the DVD for just this one match.
8. ROH World Title Match (with Terry Funk as the special ringside enforcer): Tyler Black vs. Roderick Strong
****1/4
Good god the heat on Tyler Black during this match is off the charts. All those fans that have been DYING to turn on him now have every reason to and they make themselves heard! As per the past few shows since the announcement of his departure to greener pastures, Tyler Black is now a full blown heel and feel it's this character of Black is where he was at his best. He pulls out Roderick’s gut buster as an insult and even pulls out a "You Can't See Me" before slapping on an STF, something he did at the last show, but here in NY the people become even more livid! At this point both men have had several matches against each other so it's really no surprise that they have a terrific contest. What differs this match from the others is the heat from the crowd and the inclusion of the hardcore legend Terry Funk. Now I thought Funks role in this match was well done except when the HOT come rushing down to the ring just to be used as fodder for Funk. Although Strong's been turn heel before this match (so technically it's a heel vs. heel match) the crowd are behind him and I just felt it was kind of the wrong place to have that much interference. All that being said it's an exciting ride and a strong finish (no pun intended) to Tyler Blacks hugely successful run as ROH World champion. Whilst the match from SCOHV is just as good as this one I'd pick this one as my favourite of the two with both of them being behind their finals encounter from Survival of the Fittest 2009.
BUT WAIT!!! There's more...the lights go out and then a familiar tune from Kill Bill begins...ITS HOMICIDE! Pop is HUGE! He gets in the ring and then the show ends as he goes face to face with Strong.
To summarise, the second half of the show really picked up the pace after the first half was just OK until the Double Chain match. The crowd is hot throughout and that adds to the overall enjoyment of a lot of the undercard matches (except the Aries vs Daniels match where they get bored and begin the twinkies chanting). The advancement in the El Generico vs. Kevin Steen feud is possibly reason enough to purchase this DVD, it is honestly that well done! Add to that the Kings of Wrestling’s minor classic against Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team and the ROH World Title match and it's pretty much a no brainer. Outside of the aforementioned matches everything else is just kind of there, not bad but just OK - good.
On a side note; What the hell’s happened with the commentary volume? Last show (Fade To Black) seemed an almost perfect mix between live noise and commentary yet now the commentary seems far too quiet. I bought the IPPV and don't remember any problems like this at the time.
7.5/10
Friday, 15 April 2011
Fade To Black Disc 2 - The Best of Tyler Black
1. ROH World Title Match: Nigel McGuinness vs. Tyler Black- Take No Prisoners 3/16/08
****1/2
It's funny that ROH gets accused of going overkill on finishes yet these accusers have probably not seen this match which is just a terrific use of false finishes to get a guy over. I don't think there has or will ever be one single match that puts somebody as much as this match put Tyler Black over. The crowd was SO sucked into this one and there are SO MANY close calls that all were legitimate false finishes that you can see people jumping up and down on several occasions cheering on Black thinking that that particular pinfall was going to be it. An absolute ROH classic and I must say a great job done by Prazak & Leonard on commentary who are just as into the match as the fans are.
2. Relaxed Rules: Tyler Black and Jimmy Jacobs vs. Jay and Mark Briscoe- Supercard of Honor III 3/29/08
****1/2
Good grief this is an intense all over the place brawl! There comes a point during this match just after Mark Briscoe dives off the balcony to put somebody through a table when I got the feeling like...this is SO chaotic it really gives that ECW feeling and it's GOOD ECW feeling! Everybody's doing crazy stuff including multiple chair shots and several times a person is tossed onto a load of chair in the crowd. The finish is REALLY out of nowhere and was truly innovative at the time. Probably the best Briscoes vs any AOTF combo match.
3. Tyler Black vs. Bryan Danielson- New Horizons 7/26/08
****3/4
Ah yes, my favourite Black vs Danielson match! This is just an out and out wrestling classic. Danielson is just SO captivating with his submission wrestling in the early stages of the match. Black sells it all so well too and it's not long before he gets his own opportunity to show what he does. Of course Black isn't quite the machine he would become in late 2009 and 2010 but he's still damn good here. So many good moments in this match but no doubt the one everybody remembers is the bucklebomb that brakes the turnbuckle. Great moment and an absolute must see match for all wrestling fans.
4. ROH World Title Elimination Match: Nigel McGuinness vs. Tyler Black vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli- Death Before Dishonor VI 8/2/08
*****
What is there to say about this match that has not been said already? When it comes to multiman matches that need to tell a story Gabe Sapolsky is at his finest. The Redepmtion 4 way with Joe, Punk, Gibson & Daniels was a very good memorable journey to Gibsons ROH World Title win and in many ways it laid the foundations for this match.
The story is initially very simple...Nigel is facing his three biggest challengers that he has already defeated by realistically any of them could dethrone him. There's so much goodness to be found here!
For a start the crowd is in uber Bryan Danielson mark mode which means anybody that isn't Bryan Danielson is shit. Case in point the face Claudio Castagnoli get's a lot of heat but what's great is that when the do the turn it adds a justification to it, almost like Claudio can no longer please the fans so screw them, he's going to attack their favourite! It's a very good turn and Claudio looked trememendous for it stamping the chair onto Danielsons head then tossing students around and causing mayhem. Nigels title reign has really picked up steam by this point and he really is THE MAN in ROH. Tyler Black is the next big thing and they play up to that so well. Once it's down to the final two it's like Take No Prisoners all over again and the fans go nuts for every near fall. The atmosphere's amazing and the match increases it with every passing minute. One of the best ROH matches EVER.PERIOD.
5. World Tag Team Title Match: Tyler Black and Jimmy Jacobs vs. Kevin Steen and El Generico- Driven 2008 9/19/08
****1/2
So here we are the last match on the DVD and of course it's another ROH classic! At the time this match got a rediculous amount of hype and when I first got to see it I was a tad let down. On reflection now that it’s been 2 and a half years I must say I enjoyed it a lot more now. It’s not THE best ROH tag team match ever but it’s way up there on the list! The match just flow perfectly and the false finishes at the finishing stretch are so believable that I was reacting just like the crowd. It’s rare where you can’t see a finish coming these days but this match had me on a few occassions and at the time there was a lot of emotion behind the match as Steenerico had been chasing the tag titles for about 18 months. This is a match without over the top moves , overkill finishes and dull drawn out portions to give the match an “epic feel. It’s tag team wrestling at it’s finest and it’s a great example of the goodness that can be found in ROH. Another ROH classic.
I can’t even begin to try and put down some words to go in depth about this DVD. All I can say is it’s not like the old ROH best of DVD’s where you get a full spectrum of matches ranging from ok to great. This is all great stuff and while there maybe a few omissions in some peoples opinions,ROH has served us a very healthy portion of the best of Tyler Black.
10/10
****1/2
It's funny that ROH gets accused of going overkill on finishes yet these accusers have probably not seen this match which is just a terrific use of false finishes to get a guy over. I don't think there has or will ever be one single match that puts somebody as much as this match put Tyler Black over. The crowd was SO sucked into this one and there are SO MANY close calls that all were legitimate false finishes that you can see people jumping up and down on several occasions cheering on Black thinking that that particular pinfall was going to be it. An absolute ROH classic and I must say a great job done by Prazak & Leonard on commentary who are just as into the match as the fans are.
2. Relaxed Rules: Tyler Black and Jimmy Jacobs vs. Jay and Mark Briscoe- Supercard of Honor III 3/29/08
****1/2
Good grief this is an intense all over the place brawl! There comes a point during this match just after Mark Briscoe dives off the balcony to put somebody through a table when I got the feeling like...this is SO chaotic it really gives that ECW feeling and it's GOOD ECW feeling! Everybody's doing crazy stuff including multiple chair shots and several times a person is tossed onto a load of chair in the crowd. The finish is REALLY out of nowhere and was truly innovative at the time. Probably the best Briscoes vs any AOTF combo match.
3. Tyler Black vs. Bryan Danielson- New Horizons 7/26/08
****3/4
Ah yes, my favourite Black vs Danielson match! This is just an out and out wrestling classic. Danielson is just SO captivating with his submission wrestling in the early stages of the match. Black sells it all so well too and it's not long before he gets his own opportunity to show what he does. Of course Black isn't quite the machine he would become in late 2009 and 2010 but he's still damn good here. So many good moments in this match but no doubt the one everybody remembers is the bucklebomb that brakes the turnbuckle. Great moment and an absolute must see match for all wrestling fans.
4. ROH World Title Elimination Match: Nigel McGuinness vs. Tyler Black vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Claudio Castagnoli- Death Before Dishonor VI 8/2/08
*****
What is there to say about this match that has not been said already? When it comes to multiman matches that need to tell a story Gabe Sapolsky is at his finest. The Redepmtion 4 way with Joe, Punk, Gibson & Daniels was a very good memorable journey to Gibsons ROH World Title win and in many ways it laid the foundations for this match.
The story is initially very simple...Nigel is facing his three biggest challengers that he has already defeated by realistically any of them could dethrone him. There's so much goodness to be found here!
For a start the crowd is in uber Bryan Danielson mark mode which means anybody that isn't Bryan Danielson is shit. Case in point the face Claudio Castagnoli get's a lot of heat but what's great is that when the do the turn it adds a justification to it, almost like Claudio can no longer please the fans so screw them, he's going to attack their favourite! It's a very good turn and Claudio looked trememendous for it stamping the chair onto Danielsons head then tossing students around and causing mayhem. Nigels title reign has really picked up steam by this point and he really is THE MAN in ROH. Tyler Black is the next big thing and they play up to that so well. Once it's down to the final two it's like Take No Prisoners all over again and the fans go nuts for every near fall. The atmosphere's amazing and the match increases it with every passing minute. One of the best ROH matches EVER.PERIOD.
5. World Tag Team Title Match: Tyler Black and Jimmy Jacobs vs. Kevin Steen and El Generico- Driven 2008 9/19/08
****1/2
So here we are the last match on the DVD and of course it's another ROH classic! At the time this match got a rediculous amount of hype and when I first got to see it I was a tad let down. On reflection now that it’s been 2 and a half years I must say I enjoyed it a lot more now. It’s not THE best ROH tag team match ever but it’s way up there on the list! The match just flow perfectly and the false finishes at the finishing stretch are so believable that I was reacting just like the crowd. It’s rare where you can’t see a finish coming these days but this match had me on a few occassions and at the time there was a lot of emotion behind the match as Steenerico had been chasing the tag titles for about 18 months. This is a match without over the top moves , overkill finishes and dull drawn out portions to give the match an “epic feel. It’s tag team wrestling at it’s finest and it’s a great example of the goodness that can be found in ROH. Another ROH classic.
I can’t even begin to try and put down some words to go in depth about this DVD. All I can say is it’s not like the old ROH best of DVD’s where you get a full spectrum of matches ranging from ok to great. This is all great stuff and while there maybe a few omissions in some peoples opinions,ROH has served us a very healthy portion of the best of Tyler Black.
10/10
ROH Fade To Black - Plymouth, MA 9/10/10
We open with a direct and purposefull promo by our TV champ Eddie Edwards. I like.
1. ROH World TV Title Match: Eddie Edwards vs. Erick Stevens
***1/4
Neat opening match with the crowd fully behind their (almost) hometown boy. They work a good pace and there's the odd cool reversal/move here and there to give the crowd something without giving them too much. I for one wish Stevens would get the chance to work this kind of match more. His earlier ROH stuff was fantastic yet since the Embassy angle and heel turn it's pretty much been all downhill which is a shame. Edwards however looks every bit the star a television champion should look.
2. Grizzly Redwood vs. “Brutal” Bob Evans
*
First of all who the flog decided an out of shape with t shirt tan lines Bob Evans would be a good addition to an ROH card? He looks bad, he moves worse and i'm willing to bet those who bought a ticket were wondering why this guy was even on the show. Maybe it's a continuation of a HDNET angle? That I can't answer. Also there's a really daft and fairly obviously worked spot where a crowd member helps Griz up to his feet by his head to Griz gets in a ruck with him and security throws him out. Why bother insulting out intelligence and wasting our time with this stinkypoop? Honestly WHY!?! If this was real there's no way it would be included in a DVD release. Match itself is just meh and even Griz's talents can't make this one any good. At least it's pretty short.
3. Austin Aries vs. Kyle O'Reilly
***1/2
Aries cuts a fun promo with Taler Hendrix before the match starts. This match is, as Aries states in his promo, kind of an exhibition except more for Kyle O'Reilly. There's some good action in this match and as usual with Aries at points he's impossible to dislike even as a heel. It is noticable though more and more that from around the start of summer 2010 that Aries has lost a bit of his drive and motivation. That's not to say his work suffered because of this, it's just that it appears that a certain something is missing. As for O'Reilly he impresses here with some nice moves and a couple of great facial expressions that get the crowd behind him easily. Expect great things from him in the future!
4. First Blood Tag Match: The Necro Butcher and Shawn Daivari vs. Kevin Steen and Steve Corino
**
Pretty short brawl that serves its purpose to gear up a certain team for a match they would have the night after. This probably came across way better on DVD than it did live thanks for the marvels of editing. It seemed chaotic throughout and had a SICK ending involving a beer bottle being smashed and a shard of it being rammed into an opponents forehead. NICE! Normally it would seem odd having two heel teams go at it without a backstory but as one of the teams in part of the Embassy everybody can't help but cheer against them and that's not because they have good heat, it's because people legit don't want to see them.
5. The All Night Express (Kenny King & Rhett Titus) vs. Matt Taven and Sid Reeves
*1/2
Basically this is an extended squash. ANX look pretty good for it but the local guys look like stinkypoop. Reeves is just absent performance wise and poor Taven botches a spot which turns the crowd into the ECW mutants of yesteryear. Not to much to say about this one, like a lot of recent ROH undercards everything kept short so if you don't like it you don't suffer for too long.
6. Roderick Strong vs. Mike Bennett
***
Simple match with both guys looking strong. Bennetts an interesting one in the sense that the guys has the potential to have money written all over him, especially with the fact that his style if pretty old school and of course the majority of ROH fans prefer the style of say a Davey Richards so instantly dislike him. Not much to say about the match other than it's some ok - good action and there's no lull.
7. ROH World Tag Title Match: The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) vs. Colt Cabana & El Generico
****
Ok so we got the semi main event at about 1 hour 10 mins into this show. Did they cut a load of bad stuff or are we just having a short show? At this point who knows?!?! A really good tag team title match that had the crowd with several of the false finishes. It's just bell to bell non stop action and it's great to see Cabana and Generico work so well together as a team. The KOW at this point can have good matches with a couple of broomsticks and really doing just a quarter of what we know they can do is still enough to make this a good watch. It's a damn shame they couldn't get 5 or 10 more minutes, this could have gone to MOTYC levels.
8. Non-Title Match: Tyler Black vs. Christopher Daniels
****1/2
I think it's fair to describe this match as just an all out wrestling extravaganze. Black is just awesome in his role as a chicken stinkypoop heel and Daniels is fully backed by the ROH faithfull in attendence. It's hard to talk about the match without giving away the ending but needless to say it did well to put the heat on Black vs strong for the next night while cementing Daniels as a title contender down the line. There's some really great moments in this match such as Daniels catching Black mid-air and forcing him straight into the koji-clutch and when Blacks arm gets near the ropes Daniels uses his spare leg to trap Blacks arm. I'd never seen that before! Black, as I said, is great at heeling it up and he pulls out some nice stalling tricks together with busting out the STF to stick it to the ROH fans. Blacks post match promo is fun too, he even finishes with a "YOU CAN'T SEE ME"! Classic.
Overall, this show is a difficult one to rate. On one hand it's a fairly solid show with 3 matches out of the 8 being meh - ok. The two main event matches will no doubt be the selling point (as well as the bonus disk but we'll get to that later) and they do indeed deliver. The thing going against this show is that it's basically all a build up to the next show but i'm glad to say for once that ROH doesn't just put out a throw away show. It's paced extremely well on DVD, probably to include all the bonus features. And at 2 hours long, even the skippable stuff is bareable. Let's face it, how many shows can you say that about? Not a classic show and was heading to mediocreville before the two main events. On a side note the audio seems mixed a little differently that previous releases with the crowd being louder. It's a nice touch as it adds some extra atmosphere to the lower card matches where you know the crowd possibly was not all that into it.
8/10 for the show
*SUPER DUPER BONUS CONTENT!*
- World Tag Team Title Match: Jay and Mark Briscoe vs. Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black- Final Battle 2007 12/30/07 ****
- Tyler Black vs. Bryan Danielson- ROH on HDNet Episode 18 ****1/2
- Tyler Black vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega- Bound By Hate 11/8/08 ***3/4
Just under an hours worth of bonus material and it's REALLY good stuff. Not like a lot of the bonus material found on ROH 2010 dvds where it's matches that just arn't appealing or are appealing but are just middle of the road. The tag title match from Final Battle 2007 is one of the AOTF's best matches, the HDNET match is probably the right up there for being considered the best match between Danielson and Black and then the three way is just a fun sprint and at the time was a nice introduction to Kenny Omega. So right here is some damn fine matches and I would have bumped Fade To Black as a whole dvd package with just these bonus matches to a 9/10.
Coming soon a review of the bonus disk from Fade To Black - The Best of Tyler Black!
1. ROH World TV Title Match: Eddie Edwards vs. Erick Stevens
***1/4
Neat opening match with the crowd fully behind their (almost) hometown boy. They work a good pace and there's the odd cool reversal/move here and there to give the crowd something without giving them too much. I for one wish Stevens would get the chance to work this kind of match more. His earlier ROH stuff was fantastic yet since the Embassy angle and heel turn it's pretty much been all downhill which is a shame. Edwards however looks every bit the star a television champion should look.
2. Grizzly Redwood vs. “Brutal” Bob Evans
*
First of all who the flog decided an out of shape with t shirt tan lines Bob Evans would be a good addition to an ROH card? He looks bad, he moves worse and i'm willing to bet those who bought a ticket were wondering why this guy was even on the show. Maybe it's a continuation of a HDNET angle? That I can't answer. Also there's a really daft and fairly obviously worked spot where a crowd member helps Griz up to his feet by his head to Griz gets in a ruck with him and security throws him out. Why bother insulting out intelligence and wasting our time with this stinkypoop? Honestly WHY!?! If this was real there's no way it would be included in a DVD release. Match itself is just meh and even Griz's talents can't make this one any good. At least it's pretty short.
3. Austin Aries vs. Kyle O'Reilly
***1/2
Aries cuts a fun promo with Taler Hendrix before the match starts. This match is, as Aries states in his promo, kind of an exhibition except more for Kyle O'Reilly. There's some good action in this match and as usual with Aries at points he's impossible to dislike even as a heel. It is noticable though more and more that from around the start of summer 2010 that Aries has lost a bit of his drive and motivation. That's not to say his work suffered because of this, it's just that it appears that a certain something is missing. As for O'Reilly he impresses here with some nice moves and a couple of great facial expressions that get the crowd behind him easily. Expect great things from him in the future!
4. First Blood Tag Match: The Necro Butcher and Shawn Daivari vs. Kevin Steen and Steve Corino
**
Pretty short brawl that serves its purpose to gear up a certain team for a match they would have the night after. This probably came across way better on DVD than it did live thanks for the marvels of editing. It seemed chaotic throughout and had a SICK ending involving a beer bottle being smashed and a shard of it being rammed into an opponents forehead. NICE! Normally it would seem odd having two heel teams go at it without a backstory but as one of the teams in part of the Embassy everybody can't help but cheer against them and that's not because they have good heat, it's because people legit don't want to see them.
5. The All Night Express (Kenny King & Rhett Titus) vs. Matt Taven and Sid Reeves
*1/2
Basically this is an extended squash. ANX look pretty good for it but the local guys look like stinkypoop. Reeves is just absent performance wise and poor Taven botches a spot which turns the crowd into the ECW mutants of yesteryear. Not to much to say about this one, like a lot of recent ROH undercards everything kept short so if you don't like it you don't suffer for too long.
6. Roderick Strong vs. Mike Bennett
***
Simple match with both guys looking strong. Bennetts an interesting one in the sense that the guys has the potential to have money written all over him, especially with the fact that his style if pretty old school and of course the majority of ROH fans prefer the style of say a Davey Richards so instantly dislike him. Not much to say about the match other than it's some ok - good action and there's no lull.
7. ROH World Tag Title Match: The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) vs. Colt Cabana & El Generico
****
Ok so we got the semi main event at about 1 hour 10 mins into this show. Did they cut a load of bad stuff or are we just having a short show? At this point who knows?!?! A really good tag team title match that had the crowd with several of the false finishes. It's just bell to bell non stop action and it's great to see Cabana and Generico work so well together as a team. The KOW at this point can have good matches with a couple of broomsticks and really doing just a quarter of what we know they can do is still enough to make this a good watch. It's a damn shame they couldn't get 5 or 10 more minutes, this could have gone to MOTYC levels.
8. Non-Title Match: Tyler Black vs. Christopher Daniels
****1/2
I think it's fair to describe this match as just an all out wrestling extravaganze. Black is just awesome in his role as a chicken stinkypoop heel and Daniels is fully backed by the ROH faithfull in attendence. It's hard to talk about the match without giving away the ending but needless to say it did well to put the heat on Black vs strong for the next night while cementing Daniels as a title contender down the line. There's some really great moments in this match such as Daniels catching Black mid-air and forcing him straight into the koji-clutch and when Blacks arm gets near the ropes Daniels uses his spare leg to trap Blacks arm. I'd never seen that before! Black, as I said, is great at heeling it up and he pulls out some nice stalling tricks together with busting out the STF to stick it to the ROH fans. Blacks post match promo is fun too, he even finishes with a "YOU CAN'T SEE ME"! Classic.
Overall, this show is a difficult one to rate. On one hand it's a fairly solid show with 3 matches out of the 8 being meh - ok. The two main event matches will no doubt be the selling point (as well as the bonus disk but we'll get to that later) and they do indeed deliver. The thing going against this show is that it's basically all a build up to the next show but i'm glad to say for once that ROH doesn't just put out a throw away show. It's paced extremely well on DVD, probably to include all the bonus features. And at 2 hours long, even the skippable stuff is bareable. Let's face it, how many shows can you say that about? Not a classic show and was heading to mediocreville before the two main events. On a side note the audio seems mixed a little differently that previous releases with the crowd being louder. It's a nice touch as it adds some extra atmosphere to the lower card matches where you know the crowd possibly was not all that into it.
8/10 for the show
*SUPER DUPER BONUS CONTENT!*
- World Tag Team Title Match: Jay and Mark Briscoe vs. Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black- Final Battle 2007 12/30/07 ****
- Tyler Black vs. Bryan Danielson- ROH on HDNet Episode 18 ****1/2
- Tyler Black vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega- Bound By Hate 11/8/08 ***3/4
Just under an hours worth of bonus material and it's REALLY good stuff. Not like a lot of the bonus material found on ROH 2010 dvds where it's matches that just arn't appealing or are appealing but are just middle of the road. The tag title match from Final Battle 2007 is one of the AOTF's best matches, the HDNET match is probably the right up there for being considered the best match between Danielson and Black and then the three way is just a fun sprint and at the time was a nice introduction to Kenny Omega. So right here is some damn fine matches and I would have bumped Fade To Black as a whole dvd package with just these bonus matches to a 9/10.
Coming soon a review of the bonus disk from Fade To Black - The Best of Tyler Black!
ROH Tag Wars 2010 - Charlotte, NC 8/28/10
1. El Generico vs. Erick Stevens
***
Nice opening match that the crowd really got into. Stevens portion of the match was, of course, less interesting but when you have one of the best sellers in the world with you EVERYTHING you do looks good. Generico's firey comeback was everything opening matches are about.
2. Steve Corino vs. Bobby Dempsey
*
Apart from a tiny bit of good Corino shtick this match just did nothing for me. The best bit was where it ended...
Backstage Grizzly Redwood cuts a promo but the mic must be really far away because it seems very quiet despite him shouting.
3. The Necro Butcher vs. Grizzly Redwood
*1/2
Just who exactly decided that the wild uncontrollable monster that was the Nerco Butcher was going to stop doing all the things that made him 1) wild, 2) uncontrollable and 3) a monster? It seems being part of The Embassy in 2010 meant you were added to the black hole of ROH. To me it's just sad that somebody like Necro who a lot of fans got into has at this point been reduced to just another guy on the roster without anything special about him. Nobody really wants to see Necro in straight up matches all of the time, mainly because he's not the kind of worker that does very good straight up matches. It's watchable but damn those 7 minutes felt like a long time. I must say I still love Grizzly Redwoods performance in his gimmick. It's those subtle little things he does such as trying to whip Necro to the far turnbuckle by hopping off the bottom rope because he's a lot smaller than Nerco. Small things like that go a long way in my book. At least half a snowflake is for the Necro taking a sunset bomb to the floor, that my friends was sick.
4. Non-Title Match: ROH Television Champion Eddie Edwards vs. Colt Cabana
***1/2
Very good match between these two but then again would you really expect any less? Cabana and Edwards just bring the goods with some really fun technical wrestling back and forth action with a tiny bit of Cabana's staple comedy. Cabana out wrestle Edwards quite a lot at the start just to remind us that he really can go when necessary.
5. Caleb Konley, Jake Manning, & Mark Dillinger vs. Cedric Alexander & The Bravado Brothers
**
A lot of fresh new talent of display here. I have to say more multi man matches with names nobodys heard of were quite normal on older ROH shows and it felt good to see something akin to that back. The Bravado have been on ROH shows before but I didn't recognise any of the others. They all seemed solid but I feel Cedric Alexander stood out the most. His flippy crisp movements reminded me of that great ROH/Indy style of the early 00's. The Bravados continue to impress in the ring with what little they had to do in this match however I still feel they're fairly personalityless and when they find that they break into that next level.
*I keep saying this a lot of ROH 2010 shows but DAMN 5 matches gone in just over an hour!!!*
6. Kevin Steen vs. Roderick Strong
***1/4
Is Steen hurt? Who knows but there is something about this match that's keeping it from being as awesome in reality as it is on paper. Dare I say this but it seemed like a streamline almost ROH version of the WWE "main event style". I try to always be a fan and not get too picky with selling etc however Strong did nothing really to change up his offense after Steen worked his leg. My knee hurts so why don't I just drop the fat guy onto to my knees a lot. Yeah you get the picture. This match slightly dissapoints.
7. ROH World Tag Team Title Ultimate Endurance Match: The Kings of Wrestling vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. The Dark City Fight Club vs. The All Night Express
***1/2
I'm not gunna lie, I thought the portion until the first elimination was REALLY pedestrian and kind of uninteresting. Then the rules change and the matches comes alive! The remaining three times kick it into another gear and the gimmick of this match actually works well. Plenty of cool action and a classic Jay Briscoe bloodbath all add up to a good watch.
8. Non-Title Match: ROH World Champion Tyler Black vs. Davey Richards
****1/2
Wow the crowd have REALLY turned on Tyler Black by this point. "YOU SOLD OUT" chants and total booing from all the crowd rather than the split reaction he recieved previously. The promo segment before the match involving Cornette is just fun to watch and felt pretty old school to me. It adds another layer of heat to an already very interesting match. Here's the thing about this match, people will probably always debate over which match is better - the first match from DBDVIII or this one. For me this match isn't quite as good as the one from DBDVIII. For a start the Toronto crowd was just rabid and it was live on IPPV. Add to that the fact that they had longer to play with in Toronto and although these may seem like small things, I feel they contribute to a certain fizz that this match misses. Don't get me wrong it's an absolute gem but it's kind of like Danielson vs McGuinness from 6 Year Anniversary. A classic match that's just a shade behind their other matches such as Driven & Unified.
*SUPER DUPER BONUS CONTENT!*
Delirious vs Sonjay Dutt from HDNET 23
Nigel McGuinness vs Eric Scott aka some job guy HDNET 24
American Wolves vs Up in Smoke HDNET 23
These matches were an ok addition but more of a teaser for what the HDNET show is actually like. A nice little gift from ROH I guess.
To sum up this show is difficult. Nothing blowaway or outstanding apart from the main event however for the most part it's solid and what's not good isn't too long either. The show itself flows really well and much like a lot of 2010 ROH shows the undercard that not many people are that invested in is short and the bigger attraction matches get more time. It's probably an essential purchase though just for the main event. 2009 ROH would have killed to have a match as good as that.
7/10
ROH Salvation - Chicago Ridge, IL 7/24/10
1. Tag Wars 2010 Opening Round: Erick Stevens & Necro Butcher vs. Rasche Brown & Grizzly Redwood
**1/2
I must say that I've not been thrilled with any of the Rasche Brown vs Embassy stuff so far. However here I think the right team went over in a very appropriate manor. This match also served its purpose as the crowd was very into it at times.
2. Sara Del Rey vs. Amazing Kong
**3/4
I was hoping they'd finally get the time to tell the story I wished they could have had a Supercard of Honor V. Sadly they get less time here although it must be said they tell a completely different story here. Match was just lower than my expectations and was not as good as their SCOH V match at all.
3. Tag Wars 2010 Opening Round: Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. The House of Truth
***3/4
Well I'll be damned! I believe these two teams have met several times before in matches I've just not been able to get into. Not this time though. HOT have really found a bit of groove at this point and needless to say The Briscoes just add their bit of shine to the proceedings. HOT this time looks every bit as equal as The Briscoes which just goes to show you that perceverance to a gimmick can pay off. I will say that Josh Raymonds shooting star spear is rediculous and should never be used anything other than a finishing move. Seriously it was INSANE!!
4. Pick 6 Contender's Series: (1) Roderick Strong vs. Austin Aries
****
There's certainly been a lot of heel vs heel matches regading Austin Aries final run in ROH. This is no exception here as Roderick Strong is very miffed at being screwed by ROH and it's fans and well Austin Aries is a winky...plain and simple! Call me old fashioned but the fact that Truth Martini gets ejected from ringside baring in mind Roddy has relied on Truth to help him out in his previous matches, was just trememendous and MADE TOTAL SENSE! Crowd really popped for it too. Now then, baring in mind these two have had many matches in the past I feel this was refreshing as their dynamics had changed and in Aries case so had his character and moveset. A lot of this felt quite old school in a good way and they played off the fact they had met before. Some great exchanges in this one and quite simply put two of ROHs greatest workers together in the ring with a hot crowd and guess what? They had a very good match.
Aries cuts a great promo about Strong not needing Truth Martini or the HOT but him needing The Greatest MANager That Ever Lived. He then introduces the team he's about to manage which leads us to...
5. Tag Wars 2010 Opening Round: Jerry Lynn & Delirious vs. The All Night Express
***
I believe in giving credit where credit is due and at the start of this match I could really see only one team winning. This was until the end stretch where the match picked up and my opinion was in doubt. That right there is the product of good booking and some good work by those involved in the match. ANE look awesome as a team here with Lynn & Delirious making them look like a million bucks. The face team are no slouches either though showing those veteran instincts that help take this match out of mediocrity.
6. Tag Wars 2010 Opening Round: The American Wolves vs. Colt Cabana & El Generico
****
Did you expect anything less? Very good match between 4 pro's who know what they're doing. Anybody could have won at any time and that feeling was put across well. Cabana & Generico again come across as a good team and not two guys just put together. The American Wolves...well they're on their game right here playing subtle heel to the face team of Cabanerico. This match got just the right amount of time and kept the pace pretty quick throughout.
After the match Hagadorn comes out and feels the wrath of Davey Richards boot!
7. Non Title Match: World Tag Team Champions The Kings of Wrestling vs. GenerationMe
***3/4
I'll be honest here, I don't feel this is the match I expected. Maybe my expectations were too high but I just don't feel the two teams clicked that well at times on this night. Crowd was into it there's no doubting that however the back and forth action after a while was just mind numbing. I personally have always been fairly skeptical of GenMe because they seem to just be complete spot monkeys earlier in their careers. The match against The American Wolves from the previous night was a refreshing look at GenMe. Here I think the Kings want to work a smart match but we kind of just get the usual GenMe action for actions sake style match. It's not bad and whilst we see the obvious size differences played up to periodically there's nothing that really screams story telling. I don't mind that for certain matches but I think this could have benefitted from a more focused story.
8. ROH World Title Match: Tyler Black vs. Kevin Steen
****1/2
If there are ever two characters most suited to each other in ROH in 2010 it was these two. Tyler Black the plucky face who fights off all adversity against the mentall unstable meniacle Kevin Steen. In a world without Richards vs Black from Death Before Dishonor VIII this would probably have been the match of the year! Steen's just on another level in this match. Smearing his face in Blacks blood and proclaiming himself the anti-christ of ROH. He honestly at times makes Black totally vanilla and characterless but to be fair Black has a knack of knowing what to do when. Steen screams at Black "YOUR NOT BETTER THAN ME" and Black slaps him right around the face. It's those little things that add to the story. Steen takes Black to another level here in a match ROH & wrestling fans in general HAVE TO SEE!
In summary Salvation is top to bottom a very good show. 3 matches **** and above and two others very close to that. The other matches are not offensive in anyway. The shows pace is tremendous and it's very consistent. I'd say this is way up there on the list of top ROH shows from 2010. Is it better than SCOH V? Ooh that's a toughie. Right now I can't decide so I'm sticking dead evens on that. Is it better than DBDVIII? No, but it's only hare behind!
9/10
ROH Hate: Chapter II - Collinsville, IL 07/23/10
1. The House of Truth vs. The Bravado Brothers
**
Good god this isn't a match that's going to fire up a crowd for a show. At this point the HOT are just about getting over and the Bravados are just kind of there. They could be a great team if they had a bit of interesting character or some mannerisms. At first it's a so so affair but it actually gets interesting toward the end. HOT have some nice neiche offense on offer too.
2. Erick Stevens vs. Grizzly Redwood
**1/2
In juxtaposition to The Bravados, Grizzle Redwood has THE CHARACTER, THE MANNERISMS and THAT connection with the crowd. He's just great at what he does. This is in the midst of the Rasche Brown/Grizzly Redwood vs Embassy feud which is probably the worst thing ROH has done in 2010. The match has an ok little story of the big strong guy against the little quick guy and they work that aspect really well. It goes nowhere however as we soon get...
3. Necro Butcher vs. Rasche Brown
No Rating for this one, it's just a bit of a brawl. Necro takes a nasty looking slam to the floor off the apron, that's all to report I guess for this one without spoiling anything.
I'd like to point out that the previous 3 matches took up about 30 minutes of the dvd. Then we get to the portion of the DVD i actually wanted to see onward.
4. Pick 6 Contender's Series: (1) Roderick Strong vs. Colt Cabana
***
Dyu know it's kinda funny that these two, given a main event spot against each other could have a really GREAT match. Here however they are on midcard duty and proceed to put on a fun match where both guys "get their stinkypoop in" and look good. Strong's chase for the title continues.
5. The American Wolves vs. GenerationMe
***3/4
Wow the opening promo by Young Bucks...I mean GenerationMe is really funny. I didn't realise they had such personality! Then Davey gets on the mic and royally BURNS them which is just tremendous.
The match is really good but is a tad odd for my liking. Bascially the Wolves almost squash GenMe for almost the entire match. GenMe get in some offense every now and again but not half of what they usually do. That being said this formula seems refreshing even if a tad old school in the way the heels disrespect everybody then get their asses whipped by the faces. The Wolves seem like a really old school tag team and the booking of the match to me just screams CORNETTE. If you like that, you're in for a treat. If not then maybe this won't be your cup of tea. My advice is try it anyway and see what kind of taste the tea leaves you with.
6. ROH World Champion Tyler Black, Delirious, & Jerry Lynn vs. Austin Aries, Rhett Titus, & Kenny King
***1/2
A lot of issues and backstory going into this one. I think if anything this match could have done with an extra 5 or maybe even 10 minutes as there's so much talent in there that you really only got a glimpse of what each guy can do. Having said that this felt very much like those Crockett style Horsemen vs an all start faceteam (Sting, Nikita Koloff, Dusty Rhodes etc etc) matches. The crowds hot throughout and the match runs at the same pace as this show...fast!
Wow this show's moving fast...90 minutes in and we have two matches to go!!! Steen is out and he attacks Tyler Black!
7. Grudge Match: Kevin Steen vs. El Generico
***3/4
Whilst a really good match I can't help but feel this was a slight step behind the minor classic from Death Before Dishonor VIII. All the ingredients are there but it just doesn't taste the same. The only minor thing to note is the crowd are nowhere near as rabid as the crowd was in Toronto for this match. I'd also like to mention that the finish is fair but given the set presedences of many previous incidences in other ROH matches it comes off as a tad lame.
After the match Steen has a chain but Generico turns the tables on him! Thet brawl and Generico dives off a lighting rig to splash Steen through a table. Pretty cool moment right there!
8. The Kings of Wrestling and Sara Del Rey vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe and The Amazing Kong
****
A really well worked main event that sees the lines of intergender tag wrestling removed as after mere minutes I removed any prejudice I had against womens wrestling and that WWE esque view that the women can only wrestle other women. Everybody is on their game and they all make each other look good. Some very believable nearfalls towards the finish.
So, the show in general was ok. The pace of the show was so quick that on paper you see the first 3 matches are fairly skippable but that takes up about only 30 minutes of the DVD. The matches that mattered got more time apart from ANE/Aries vs Black/Delirious & Lynn match which could have done with a tad more (but by no means felt short) and there's some important occurences such as the continuation of the epic Steen/Generico feud as well as the KOW/Briscoe feud. The Wolves match against Generation Me was something that felt different and to me is the match that stands out the most (despite technically not being the best match on the card). The dvd just flows incredibly well and at no point did I feel my attention waning.
6.5/10
However ROH kindly included a great midcard gem from the 100th show back in 2006...
DVD Bonus:
- Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. AJ Styles & Matt Sydal- 100th Show 4/22/06
****
Whoa I don't think I can recall a match that has as much action in 13 minutes as this! A complete balls to the wall all out movez fest and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that! No doubt there are some that will complain and say "it doesn't have psychology". To those people...try and remember what it's like to be a real fan and suspend your disbelief for while. If you cannot do that then this match, and ROH in general during much of it "glory years" is possibly not for you.
As with the last dvd for Bluegrass Brawl, the inclusion of a very good match from the ROH vault bumps this DVD slightly.
7/10
**
Good god this isn't a match that's going to fire up a crowd for a show. At this point the HOT are just about getting over and the Bravados are just kind of there. They could be a great team if they had a bit of interesting character or some mannerisms. At first it's a so so affair but it actually gets interesting toward the end. HOT have some nice neiche offense on offer too.
2. Erick Stevens vs. Grizzly Redwood
**1/2
In juxtaposition to The Bravados, Grizzle Redwood has THE CHARACTER, THE MANNERISMS and THAT connection with the crowd. He's just great at what he does. This is in the midst of the Rasche Brown/Grizzly Redwood vs Embassy feud which is probably the worst thing ROH has done in 2010. The match has an ok little story of the big strong guy against the little quick guy and they work that aspect really well. It goes nowhere however as we soon get...
3. Necro Butcher vs. Rasche Brown
No Rating for this one, it's just a bit of a brawl. Necro takes a nasty looking slam to the floor off the apron, that's all to report I guess for this one without spoiling anything.
I'd like to point out that the previous 3 matches took up about 30 minutes of the dvd. Then we get to the portion of the DVD i actually wanted to see onward.
4. Pick 6 Contender's Series: (1) Roderick Strong vs. Colt Cabana
***
Dyu know it's kinda funny that these two, given a main event spot against each other could have a really GREAT match. Here however they are on midcard duty and proceed to put on a fun match where both guys "get their stinkypoop in" and look good. Strong's chase for the title continues.
5. The American Wolves vs. GenerationMe
***3/4
Wow the opening promo by Young Bucks...I mean GenerationMe is really funny. I didn't realise they had such personality! Then Davey gets on the mic and royally BURNS them which is just tremendous.
The match is really good but is a tad odd for my liking. Bascially the Wolves almost squash GenMe for almost the entire match. GenMe get in some offense every now and again but not half of what they usually do. That being said this formula seems refreshing even if a tad old school in the way the heels disrespect everybody then get their asses whipped by the faces. The Wolves seem like a really old school tag team and the booking of the match to me just screams CORNETTE. If you like that, you're in for a treat. If not then maybe this won't be your cup of tea. My advice is try it anyway and see what kind of taste the tea leaves you with.
6. ROH World Champion Tyler Black, Delirious, & Jerry Lynn vs. Austin Aries, Rhett Titus, & Kenny King
***1/2
A lot of issues and backstory going into this one. I think if anything this match could have done with an extra 5 or maybe even 10 minutes as there's so much talent in there that you really only got a glimpse of what each guy can do. Having said that this felt very much like those Crockett style Horsemen vs an all start faceteam (Sting, Nikita Koloff, Dusty Rhodes etc etc) matches. The crowds hot throughout and the match runs at the same pace as this show...fast!
Wow this show's moving fast...90 minutes in and we have two matches to go!!! Steen is out and he attacks Tyler Black!
7. Grudge Match: Kevin Steen vs. El Generico
***3/4
Whilst a really good match I can't help but feel this was a slight step behind the minor classic from Death Before Dishonor VIII. All the ingredients are there but it just doesn't taste the same. The only minor thing to note is the crowd are nowhere near as rabid as the crowd was in Toronto for this match. I'd also like to mention that the finish is fair but given the set presedences of many previous incidences in other ROH matches it comes off as a tad lame.
After the match Steen has a chain but Generico turns the tables on him! Thet brawl and Generico dives off a lighting rig to splash Steen through a table. Pretty cool moment right there!
8. The Kings of Wrestling and Sara Del Rey vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe and The Amazing Kong
****
A really well worked main event that sees the lines of intergender tag wrestling removed as after mere minutes I removed any prejudice I had against womens wrestling and that WWE esque view that the women can only wrestle other women. Everybody is on their game and they all make each other look good. Some very believable nearfalls towards the finish.
So, the show in general was ok. The pace of the show was so quick that on paper you see the first 3 matches are fairly skippable but that takes up about only 30 minutes of the DVD. The matches that mattered got more time apart from ANE/Aries vs Black/Delirious & Lynn match which could have done with a tad more (but by no means felt short) and there's some important occurences such as the continuation of the epic Steen/Generico feud as well as the KOW/Briscoe feud. The Wolves match against Generation Me was something that felt different and to me is the match that stands out the most (despite technically not being the best match on the card). The dvd just flows incredibly well and at no point did I feel my attention waning.
6.5/10
However ROH kindly included a great midcard gem from the 100th show back in 2006...
DVD Bonus:
- Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. AJ Styles & Matt Sydal- 100th Show 4/22/06
****
Whoa I don't think I can recall a match that has as much action in 13 minutes as this! A complete balls to the wall all out movez fest and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that! No doubt there are some that will complain and say "it doesn't have psychology". To those people...try and remember what it's like to be a real fan and suspend your disbelief for while. If you cannot do that then this match, and ROH in general during much of it "glory years" is possibly not for you.
As with the last dvd for Bluegrass Brawl, the inclusion of a very good match from the ROH vault bumps this DVD slightly.
7/10
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