Thursday, 12 May 2011
ROH Allied Forces Disc 2 - CM Punk vs Samoa Joe: The Trilogy
1. ROH World Title Match: Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk- "World Title Classic" Dayton, OH 6/12/04
****1/2
There’s just so much good stuff going on throughout this classic match. The mat wrestling sequence at the start, the multiple arm drags section where Joe really shows his pace and agility to hang with Punk move for move, Punk using the rope a dope tactic on Joe at times and all the while he keeps on that headlock.
There's even a classic ROH fan moment as a diehard punk fan throws up the X to Joe who then fakes hitting him. The fan recoils like a wuss and Joe wets himself with laughter along with the crowd. Punk then comes outside to check on his devoted follower and just as he extends his hand to the fan he takes it away further embarrassing the poor sucker.
But the goodness just doesn't stop there; it's a constant throughout the entire match. There's never one period where attention begins to wander or interest waning because even when there are the necessary rest holds it's not for too long and they each have little intricacies they make you stay glued to the action.
After the match the crowd chants 5 more minutes and that brings Homicide to piss all over their chips by attacking both of them and stealing the new ROH World Title belt. Punk cuts the promo of all promos putting over the ROH World Title and Joe gives the immortal line "Fuck anybody who tries to stop us" as he shakes Joes hand.
We get the CM Punk in ring promo from the start of the Joe vs. Punk II DVD. Great promo.
2. ROH World Title Match: Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk- "Joe vs. Punk II" Chicago Ridge, IL 10/16/04
*****
Without question this was the best match in company history up this point and still is one of ROH's most defining matches, one that drew me personally into the promotion. It builds perfectly from the first encounter from World Title Classic as Punk frustrates Joe with his insistence on using headlocks to wear Joe down. They even draw reference to Cabana using a roll up to pin Joe during Survival in the Fittest as when Punk goes for a roll up the crowd is all over it. Speaking of the crowd, as we're in Chicago - Punks home town, they're mostly rooting for Punk which plays well into Joe's actions as, realising he has to beat Punk early, shows no sportsmanship and doesn't break clean on a number of occasions.
The first half is pretty much ALL Punk. He goes from working the headlock to the arm and back again. It all just makes sense though, as Punk wants to prevent a muscle buster, island driver or a choke from Joe. The pendulum eventually swings when Joe works on Punks back which was injured the night before. It's all these small intricacies and consistencies from previous shows and matches that all add up to make one all time classic match. The build to the finish is just so involving with each man being the others counterfoil and the crowd is just ecstatic throughout and at the end match chant for 5 more minutes.
Punk gives Joe the belt at the end as they shake hands. The crowd half chants "ROH, ROH, ROH" whilst the other half boo because they realise they won't get another 5 minutes. Ultimately Joe gets a luke warm reaction as the fans thought Punk really did have this one in the bag. Punk gets left standing in the ring where he receives a "Thank you" chant and a standing ovation.
Post match promos by both Joe and Punk are shown. Punk states next time there will be NO TIME LIMIT! Nice shot of his black eye too.
3. ROH World Title Match: Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk- "All Star Extravaganza II" Elizabeth, NJ 12/4/04
****3/4
Personally this is my favourite of all three classic matches. If you thought the second match played well off the first one well then you're in for a treat as I think they actually surpass the story telling aspect of the previous encounters. Punk bleeding adds an extra edge to the match and there are so many nearfalls that the crowd is super into that as a viewer it's impossible to not be immersed by the action. They play off the Punk headlock strategy and then Joe gets his sparring session he sought in the first two matches and from there we're on the journey of total peaks and valleys as every great wrestling match should be. There's not really a point where you don't think the match couldn't end at any second and that's testament to the booking of the match and the performances that build towards it. Punks never say die attitude and Joes utter desperation are key points to the story and they are emphasised so well. When Joe tries to pin Punk with his feet on the ropes the fans are livid and you can see one guy in the background who's just DISGUSTED by this. Tremendous!
That's it for Allied Forces Disc 2 - CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe Trilogy...a collection of wrestling masterpieces and an absolute must buy for ANY wrestling fan.
10/10
*SUPER BONUS CONTENT*
CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe - International Showdown, Coventry, UK - March 19th 2005
****
Certainly whilst not quite up to the lofty standards set by their infamous trilogy of matches in ROH this is still quite a gem of a match. Imagine a compacted version of the trilogy done in a more exhibition style and you get this match. Punk tries his headlocks and the rope a dope tactic but here he plays very subtle heel as demonstrated when he slaps Joe right in the face when they go to break on the ropes. His arrogant and cocky demeanour afterwards worked nicely into the match. There's a nice moment when the commentators are talking about Punks SXE lifestyle and Dean Ayass asks "Has he never had a night out on the lash?". That had me laughing out loud. Anyways, both of them manage to pull out some tricks not seen in their previous meetings which gives this match its own identity when put up against their other encounters. They also do well to get the crowd into it as at the start only about 50% seemed lively for them due to the Mick Foley segment being right before the match. Fans of the infamous trilogy should seek this match out.
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
ROH Allied Forces- Dayton, OH 10/15/10
The DVD kicks off with an introduction promo by Mike Mondo. He tells us it's his time yadda yadda yadda, its short and trust me that's a good thing.
1. Mark Briscoe vs. Mike Mondo
**
Poor Mondo, he still gets a hard time from fans after the whole Spirit Squad gimmick but I still can't help but smirk as fans at ringside do the Spirit Squad name dropping thing. I feel Mondo works hard but his style just doesn't mesh all that well with Mark Briscoes and at times I got the feeling Briscoe was almost holding himself back to try and not overshadow Mondo. It's fine as it is an opening match and there's just about enough to get the crowd amped.
2. Daizee Haze vs. Lady JoJo
*
I think this maybe the worst ROH match I have seen in 2010. JoJo's pre-match promo was at least half decent but her in ring work was just beyond bland. The match was possibly 7 or 8 minutes long but felt like 15 and when I look back at the match, they really didn't do much out there either.
A pre-taped promo from Colt Cabana tells us that he's not going to beat the crap out Andy "Right Leg" Ridge but he's going to take him to school. Nice!
The Haze then gives us post match promo about not getting the war she wanted against Lady JoJo...no kidding!
3. Trial Series Match #1- Andy "Right Leg" Ridge vs. Colt Cabana
***
What a lot of fun this was. Colt Cabana in front of a live audience messing some young rookie around, what more could you want!?!? I had to turn the commentary off after a few minutes because I found myself missing out on some nice dialogue between Cabana, Ridge and the crowd. As for the trialist himself, Andy Ridge plays his role as the young kid being school VERY well and he plays along with Cabanas antics well also. He has a few impressive moves, sells well and at times showed some nice facial expressions. I'm looking forward to the rest of the trial series now.
Adam Cole & Kyle O'Reilly tell us backstage how stoked they are to face the challenge of Steve Corino and Kevin Steen. Not bad.
4. Kevin Steen and Steve Corino vs. Kyle O'Reilly and Adam Cole
**3/4
To start, Kevin Steen cuts a nice promo heeling on the crowd after he finds a sign that reads "Kevin Steen for Magistrate" backstage. The fans just LOVE Steen though so they're pretty into being disrespected by him anyway. In a way this is very similar to the previous match. The rookie team of Cole & O'Reilly trying to make a name against the established team of Kevin Steen and Steve Corino, both of which act like total arses throughout the match. When Corino busts out the line "You can't do that to me, look at me I'M JACKED!" you know you're in for a comedic treat and there's humour like that found all over the first half of the match. Once again, it's a must to have the commentary turned off. This match would have been better had it been a bit shorter. Steen and Corino were just in charge for too long and the crowd just didn't seem behind the faces when the hot tag came. Kyle O'Reilly looked good but Adam Cole only got the chance to put in an OK showing. Crowd give them a standing ovation after the match, I guess this would classed as their official breakout.
5. The Metal Master vs. Ricky Reyes
*3/4
Oh my, why on earth is Ricky Reyes back in ROH? His singles matches used to bore the pants off me and even now years later nothing has changed. Metal Master quite clearly puts a shift in but it's not enough to save this match. One thing that's knocked down the rating a bit is yet another one of those lame TruTV angles where a "fan" hops the rail and tries to attack Reyes. What exactly is the point of these angles? I don't care so long as I don't have to see any more of them.
Backstage the All Night Express let us know who the new guard is, further adding to the overall theme of this show. Titus is still a little hokey but King delivers in convincing manor.
6. Jay Briscoe vs. Rhett Titus
***1/2
This has to be without question Rhett Titus's best singles match in ROH. There's no point in this match where I think Titus is neither capable of hanging with Jay Briscoe or beating him and that's truly a testament to all the hard work he's put in over the past few years. The match is a nice rollercoaster of drama that starts with Jay Briscoe subtly schooling Titus until Titus gains the upper hand. What's important is the phase of the match where Titus is in charge, it's not once boring and that's something that a lot of the undercard guys on the indys in general are guilty of. They know how to start matches off to get the crowd popping and know how to end the match with a cool finish but the middle is just kind of lost, something Titus may have guilty of in the past but not in this instance. Jay Briscoe is more than willing to help Titus look good but it's only a small dose of that needed here. All in all it's a minor breakout performance for Rhett Titus.
7. Kenny King vs. Homicide
***
I'd love to say that this match is another great example of an established start helping make a new star but in this case I'm afraid it isn't. King has already been made to certain extent by several star making performances (including a very good ROH World Title match against Tyler Black from Pick Your Poison) but a match against The Notorious 187 should only further his star power right? Well yes and no. This is the period of time where Homicide is still hampered by injury and it's either that or their styles just don't mesh well that has the match lacking that certain something to take it to the next level. That's not to say it's bad though, as there's some good action to be found here and it's thoroughly engaging just a tad disappointing given the names involved.
After the match Titus attacks Homicide which brings Jay Briscoe out to make the save. Homicide does NOT approve of the help though and they have to be separated by security. Interesting...
8. World Tag Team Title Match: The Kings of Wrestling vs. Davey Richards and Christopher Daniels
****1/2
When you look at this match on paper you expect awesome and what you get is just that. It's non-stop great action from bell to bell and they work a pretty fast pace throughout. Everybody is on their top game here and there are a couple of very good false finishes. The inevitable friction between Richards and Daniels happens in a rather contrived manor to the point where some people may knock the match for it but this is wrestling and what hasn't been done before already? Yeah ok the way it came was a little off but that shouldn't affect what is a truly excellent tag match. A must see for ROH fans.
Hero grabs the stick and gloats over the KOWs 9th successful defence. Davey challenges the KOW to face the Wolves in Plymouth and then he and Daniels cut a very good promo for their match the night after.
Daniels talks to the camera backstage adding further interest for the epic Richards vs. Daniels match. The build for this has been pretty good and I can't wait check this out!
Allied Forces on paper was always going to be a show that could one of two ways; either be a bit poor or be surprisingly good and the weird thing is it to me is neither. There's no question the main event is terrific and I felt I got my moneys worth just for that. The rest of the card is a mixed bag of a few good matches and, a few ok matches and a few bad matches. The commentary has once again changed and is now back to being louder than the crowd. ROH MAKE YOUR MIND UP! I was thankful I could turn off the commentary as the Cabana vs. Ridge, Steen/Corino vs. Cole/O'Reilly and the main event all were more enjoyable without the drone of Dave Prazak and Kevin Kelly. They have a nice dynamic but the aforementioned matches just had that extra something when I could hear Davey Richards say "FUCK YOU" to Chris Hero as he backdrop drivers Hero on his head. One thing that held the show together was the intrigue of seeing the old guard facing the new guard throughout most of the card. Can't say I personally agree with who went over in some circumstances but I understand some guys have to be kept strong.
As a stand alone show it's a worthy purchase if you fancy the main event, but if you can live without seeing it or seeing some of the newer growing stars of ROH then you can save yourself $20. However ROH played the bonus disk trump card with this release and being as it does come with the CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe Trilogy (review coming soon), it's a absolute must buy if you don't have the matches already.
6.5/10
1. Mark Briscoe vs. Mike Mondo
**
Poor Mondo, he still gets a hard time from fans after the whole Spirit Squad gimmick but I still can't help but smirk as fans at ringside do the Spirit Squad name dropping thing. I feel Mondo works hard but his style just doesn't mesh all that well with Mark Briscoes and at times I got the feeling Briscoe was almost holding himself back to try and not overshadow Mondo. It's fine as it is an opening match and there's just about enough to get the crowd amped.
2. Daizee Haze vs. Lady JoJo
*
I think this maybe the worst ROH match I have seen in 2010. JoJo's pre-match promo was at least half decent but her in ring work was just beyond bland. The match was possibly 7 or 8 minutes long but felt like 15 and when I look back at the match, they really didn't do much out there either.
A pre-taped promo from Colt Cabana tells us that he's not going to beat the crap out Andy "Right Leg" Ridge but he's going to take him to school. Nice!
The Haze then gives us post match promo about not getting the war she wanted against Lady JoJo...no kidding!
3. Trial Series Match #1- Andy "Right Leg" Ridge vs. Colt Cabana
***
What a lot of fun this was. Colt Cabana in front of a live audience messing some young rookie around, what more could you want!?!? I had to turn the commentary off after a few minutes because I found myself missing out on some nice dialogue between Cabana, Ridge and the crowd. As for the trialist himself, Andy Ridge plays his role as the young kid being school VERY well and he plays along with Cabanas antics well also. He has a few impressive moves, sells well and at times showed some nice facial expressions. I'm looking forward to the rest of the trial series now.
Adam Cole & Kyle O'Reilly tell us backstage how stoked they are to face the challenge of Steve Corino and Kevin Steen. Not bad.
4. Kevin Steen and Steve Corino vs. Kyle O'Reilly and Adam Cole
**3/4
To start, Kevin Steen cuts a nice promo heeling on the crowd after he finds a sign that reads "Kevin Steen for Magistrate" backstage. The fans just LOVE Steen though so they're pretty into being disrespected by him anyway. In a way this is very similar to the previous match. The rookie team of Cole & O'Reilly trying to make a name against the established team of Kevin Steen and Steve Corino, both of which act like total arses throughout the match. When Corino busts out the line "You can't do that to me, look at me I'M JACKED!" you know you're in for a comedic treat and there's humour like that found all over the first half of the match. Once again, it's a must to have the commentary turned off. This match would have been better had it been a bit shorter. Steen and Corino were just in charge for too long and the crowd just didn't seem behind the faces when the hot tag came. Kyle O'Reilly looked good but Adam Cole only got the chance to put in an OK showing. Crowd give them a standing ovation after the match, I guess this would classed as their official breakout.
5. The Metal Master vs. Ricky Reyes
*3/4
Oh my, why on earth is Ricky Reyes back in ROH? His singles matches used to bore the pants off me and even now years later nothing has changed. Metal Master quite clearly puts a shift in but it's not enough to save this match. One thing that's knocked down the rating a bit is yet another one of those lame TruTV angles where a "fan" hops the rail and tries to attack Reyes. What exactly is the point of these angles? I don't care so long as I don't have to see any more of them.
Backstage the All Night Express let us know who the new guard is, further adding to the overall theme of this show. Titus is still a little hokey but King delivers in convincing manor.
6. Jay Briscoe vs. Rhett Titus
***1/2
This has to be without question Rhett Titus's best singles match in ROH. There's no point in this match where I think Titus is neither capable of hanging with Jay Briscoe or beating him and that's truly a testament to all the hard work he's put in over the past few years. The match is a nice rollercoaster of drama that starts with Jay Briscoe subtly schooling Titus until Titus gains the upper hand. What's important is the phase of the match where Titus is in charge, it's not once boring and that's something that a lot of the undercard guys on the indys in general are guilty of. They know how to start matches off to get the crowd popping and know how to end the match with a cool finish but the middle is just kind of lost, something Titus may have guilty of in the past but not in this instance. Jay Briscoe is more than willing to help Titus look good but it's only a small dose of that needed here. All in all it's a minor breakout performance for Rhett Titus.
7. Kenny King vs. Homicide
***
I'd love to say that this match is another great example of an established start helping make a new star but in this case I'm afraid it isn't. King has already been made to certain extent by several star making performances (including a very good ROH World Title match against Tyler Black from Pick Your Poison) but a match against The Notorious 187 should only further his star power right? Well yes and no. This is the period of time where Homicide is still hampered by injury and it's either that or their styles just don't mesh well that has the match lacking that certain something to take it to the next level. That's not to say it's bad though, as there's some good action to be found here and it's thoroughly engaging just a tad disappointing given the names involved.
After the match Titus attacks Homicide which brings Jay Briscoe out to make the save. Homicide does NOT approve of the help though and they have to be separated by security. Interesting...
8. World Tag Team Title Match: The Kings of Wrestling vs. Davey Richards and Christopher Daniels
****1/2
When you look at this match on paper you expect awesome and what you get is just that. It's non-stop great action from bell to bell and they work a pretty fast pace throughout. Everybody is on their top game here and there are a couple of very good false finishes. The inevitable friction between Richards and Daniels happens in a rather contrived manor to the point where some people may knock the match for it but this is wrestling and what hasn't been done before already? Yeah ok the way it came was a little off but that shouldn't affect what is a truly excellent tag match. A must see for ROH fans.
Hero grabs the stick and gloats over the KOWs 9th successful defence. Davey challenges the KOW to face the Wolves in Plymouth and then he and Daniels cut a very good promo for their match the night after.
Daniels talks to the camera backstage adding further interest for the epic Richards vs. Daniels match. The build for this has been pretty good and I can't wait check this out!
Allied Forces on paper was always going to be a show that could one of two ways; either be a bit poor or be surprisingly good and the weird thing is it to me is neither. There's no question the main event is terrific and I felt I got my moneys worth just for that. The rest of the card is a mixed bag of a few good matches and, a few ok matches and a few bad matches. The commentary has once again changed and is now back to being louder than the crowd. ROH MAKE YOUR MIND UP! I was thankful I could turn off the commentary as the Cabana vs. Ridge, Steen/Corino vs. Cole/O'Reilly and the main event all were more enjoyable without the drone of Dave Prazak and Kevin Kelly. They have a nice dynamic but the aforementioned matches just had that extra something when I could hear Davey Richards say "FUCK YOU" to Chris Hero as he backdrop drivers Hero on his head. One thing that held the show together was the intrigue of seeing the old guard facing the new guard throughout most of the card. Can't say I personally agree with who went over in some circumstances but I understand some guys have to be kept strong.
As a stand alone show it's a worthy purchase if you fancy the main event, but if you can live without seeing it or seeing some of the newer growing stars of ROH then you can save yourself $20. However ROH played the bonus disk trump card with this release and being as it does come with the CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe Trilogy (review coming soon), it's a absolute must buy if you don't have the matches already.
6.5/10
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)