ROH: Aries vs. Richards Review

 
November 13th, 2009 in Novi


Opening Match: Jay and Mark Briscoe vs. Josh Raymond and Christian Able
Mark catches Raymond with a spin kick and Jay adds a clothesline. The Briscoes follow with double teaming on Able. Jay gets planted with a slingshot DDT from Able and the House of Truth isolate him. Jay hits a spinebuster on Raymond along with a flatliner on Able and makes the tag. Mark lays out Able with an overhead suplex and follows with a middle rope ace crusher on Raymond. Truth Martini stops a possible Cutthroat Driver. Jay connects with a superkick on Able and the Briscoes follow with the doomsday device for the win at 10:35. I think it’s great that the House of Truth put up a good fight every time, but they are going to have to actually win a match soon. They have some solid double teams and work well with their opponents. Give them a win or people will stop caring about them. This was a fine way to start the show. **½

Match #2: Tyler Black (2) vs. Claudio Castagnoli (6)
From now on in my reviews, a number next to a wrestler’s name indicates that the match is apart of the Pick 6 Series. It also indicates their rank in the Pick 6. Black steals Claudio’s gloves and puts it down his tights. The action goes to the floor where Claudio is sent into the barricade. Back in, Black hits a delayed vertical suplex. Claudio comes back with a dragon screw leg whip and tosses Black around. Black connects with some chops and a dropkick. He follows with a dive to the floor but misses a moonsault off the barricade. Bad landing there. In the ring, Claudio misses a flying crossbody but connects with an elbow drop from the middle rope. Black clotheslines him to the floor but ends up being sent into the barricade. Claudio controls back in the ring. Black tries to stage a comeback, but a distraction from Prince Nana prevents it from happening. Black is able to finally fight back with a pele kick. He follows with a springboard clothesline and superkicks Ernie Osiris. Claudio charges with a bicycle kick. He tries for the UFO but Black counters into a rollup for the victory at 11:51. They kept the action fast-paced and made the most of their twelve minutes. Claudio is quietly becoming one of the most consistent wrestlers going today and Black was solid as usual. Good first-time encounter. I hope there is a rematch down the line, possibly for the ROH World Title. ***

Match #3: Erick Stevens and Joey Ryan vs. Player Uno and Player Dos
The Embassy attack before the bell. Uno connects with a double pele kick and the Super Smash Brothers utilize some double teaming on Ryan. They follow with stereo dropkicks on Stevens. A distraction by Prince Nana allows Ryan to hit a spear on Dos. The Embassy isolate him until some miscommunication allows him to make the tag. Uno connects with a running knee on Stevens and Dos follows with double knees from the top. The SSB hit a side slam-neckbreaker combination on Ryan. A possible dive from Uno is stopped by Ryan, who gets dropkicked off the apron by Dos. Stevens murders Dos with a clothesline for the win at 9:16. While these two teams didn’t have great chemistry, I’m glad that the match was competitive. Stevens and Ryan compliment each other well and the SSB should be used whenever possible. **

Match #4: Kenny Omega (3) vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima
Omega wins a shoulder block exchange but gets kicked in the face. They trade slaps and Nakajima hits a german suplex. He whips Omega into the barricade four times and lays him out with a DDT on the entrance ramp. Back in, Nakajima starts going to work on the left leg. Omega snaps off a hurricanrana and follows with his leaping bulldog. He tries for a flying crossbody but Nakajima meets him with a dropkick. Nakajima lands a missile dropkick and locks in a figure four. Omega makes the ropes. He dodges some kicks and hits a uranagi followed by a moonsault to the floor. In the ring, Omega connects with a springboard dropkick along with a 2k1 bomb. Nakajima answers with more kicks and a brainbuster for a two count. Omega hits a reverse hurricanrana, Hadouken, and dragon suplex. Nakajima is up! Another dragon suplex…Nakajima kicks out at one! They trade pin attempts and Nakajima connects with four superkicks. Omega answers with two of his own. Nakajima counters Croyt’s Wrath into a hurricanrana but gets planted with another dragon suplex. Omega hits Croyt’s Wrath for the victory at 18:28. Nakajima worked a terrific match, always going back to work on Omega’s left leg when he needed to gain the advantage. Omega did a fine job of selling and they made the body part work interesting. When the match picked up down the stretch, the live crowd became 10x more vocal than they were up to this point. My only knock against this match is that the finish was flat. After the fighting spirit spots, the crowd died down and didn’t react as much to the finish. Still, a tremendous showing from both men. ***¾
Nakajima lays in a forearm after the bell. They trade slaps and Nakajima asks for a rematch. They then shake hands. That was…odd.

Match #5: Kenny King and Rhett Titus vs. Colt Cabana and Delirious
The heels attack before the bell but get taken down with clotheslines. Delirious lands a rolling dive from the apron on King. In the ring, the faces control until Delirious finds himself in the wrong corner. Titus and King isolate him until. They do a great hope spot where Delirious is inches away from making the tag but Cabana is pulled off the apron at the last second. King continues the attack with shotgun knees. Delirious is able to dodge Titus long enough to make the tag. Cabana lands a springboard moonsault onto his opponents. King blocks the flying asshole with a spin kick and Titus adds a flying knee drop. Delirious takes out Titus with a Panic Attack while Cabana hits the flying asshole on King. Delirious connects with Shadows Over Hell on King and Cabana synchs in the Billy Goat’s Curse for the win at 11:10. This was a lot more energetic than I was expecting. King and Titus reacted perfectly to the comedy that Delirious and Cabana brought to the table. It didn’t reinvent the wheel or anything, but this was a fun match that kept me entertained. **½

Match #6: Roderick Strong (1) vs. Chris Hero
They start with some chain wrestling. Strong connects with his first chop, making Hero retreat to the floor. Strong continues with his stiff offense until a Shane Hagadorn distraction allows Hero to connect with a baseball slide. Hero follows with an elbow and starts going to work on Strong’s right hand. The idea here is to stop Strong from connecting with more chops. Hero misses an elbow and gets caught with a dropkick. Strong hits a backbreaker but Hero responds with a roaring elbow. Hero starts targeting the right leg, in an attempt to prevent yakuza kicks. Great moment as Strong blocks a senton by getting his knees up and Hero just smiles as he knows that Strong hurt his own right leg in the process. Strong comes back with an enzuigiri, falcon arrow, and backbreaker. Hero connects with two roaring elbows but falls victim to a backbreaker. Strong hits a gutbuster but Hero answers with another roaring elbow. Hero hits a powerbomb followed by the an elbow for a nearfall. Strong answers with a torture rack backbreaker and a yakuza kick. He deals with Hagadorn as Hero puts on his golden elbow pad. Hero connects with two final elbows for the victory at 15:30. Strong really sucked all of the fun out of this match. Hero had an interesting strategy that made the match unique. He wanted to take away Strong’s chops by working over his right hand and yakuza kicks by working over his right leg. You think this would stop Strong from performing those moves or at least from performing them as frequently. It doesn’t. We could of had something here if Strong wanted to play along. Instead, this is just a fantastic showing from Hero and that’s about it. **¾

Match #7: Matt and Nick Jackson vs. Kevin Steen and El Generico
Nick breaks control of a side headlock and catches Steen with a dropkick. Steen comes back with a senton. Nick snaps off an armdrag on Generico, who answers with a few of his own on Matt. Matt headscissors Generico and the Young Bucks follow with some double teaming. Both teams trade control. Steen hits a lungblower on Matt along with a corner cannonball. He DDTs Nick and then Generico takes him out with a moonsault to the floor. Steen crucifix slams Matt and follows with his flipping leg drop. Steenerico isolate Matt until he hits a standing sliced bread on Steen and makes the hot tag. Nick dropkicks Steen off the apron and Matt dives out onto him. Nick lands a springboard crossbody on Generico along with an assisted dropkick. Generico catches Matt with a michinoku driver and Steen adds a stunner. Steen follows with his pumphandle neckbreaker but gets caught with a knee from Nick. Generico charges with a yakuza kick on Nick but falls victim to a superkick from Matt. Steen powerbombs Matt and locks in a sharpshooter. Nick superkicks Steen to break the hold and everyone is down. Steen is lured to the floor. Nick hits a slingshot facebuster on Generico but gets powerbombed on the apron by Steen. Generico overhead suplexes Matt into the turnbuckles and hits a half nelson suplex. Steen adds a swantan but Matt kicks out at two. Generico accidentally yakuza kicks Steen. Matt plants Generico with a facebuster and the Young Bucks hit their moonsault-frog splash combination. Generico breaks up More Bang for Your Buck and hits a top rope brainbuster on Nick for the win at 19:26. By the looks of it, it’s impossible for these two teams to have a bad match together. Everyone involved works well together and the Young Bucks take offense from Steen perfectly. The finishing stretch is where things start to intensify. While there wasn’t much suspense, the sheer high pace and constant moves made it hard for me not to be into the action. The fact that everyone is so fluid with their offense helps out too. They managed to top their match at Contention with this outing. However, they would really top themselves eight days later in PWG. ***¾

Match #8: ROH World Title: Austin Aries © vs. Davey Richards
Richards shows some respect by offering a clean break. Aries does the same. Richards tries to kick out of a wristlock but Aries is prepared. Aries escapes a headscissors and tries a dropkick but Richards is prepared. Aries dodges a handspring kick and celebrates on the floor. He hits a handspring elbow in the ring and more celebrating ensues. Richards connects with his first kick and Aries answers with one of his own. Richards responds with plenty of kicks and throws Aries into the barricade. He kicks Aries into the crowd and takes over back in the ring. Aries sends Richards to the outside and connects with a double axe handle from the top. Back in, Aries takes control, showing us a new submission: a full nelson while bending Richards’ back over his knee. Richards avoids a powerdrive elbow and comes back with a diving headbutt. He locks in a cross armbreaker but Aries turns it into a pin attempt for a two count. Richards gets tangled in the ropes and Aries starts targeting his left leg. Richards connects with his handspring kick but Aries stops his momentum with a DDT from the top. Aries synchs in the Last Chancery but Richards makes the ropes. After some reversals, Richards hits a tombstone but misses a shooting star press. Aries goes back to the bad leg and suplexes Richards to the floor. Aries takes him out with the heat seeking missile and uses the barricade to attack his bad leg. In the ring, Aries blocks the Alarm Clock and powerdrive elbows Richards’ leg. Aries locks in a figure four but Richards turns it over. Richards sends Aries to the floor and follows out with his wild dive into the crowd. In the ring, Richards lands a missile dropkick and connects with the Alarm Clock. He follows with kicks and hits a top rope german suplex. He synchs in a texas cloverleaf and kind of hits the DR Driver. Aries falls victim to another Alarm Clock and Richards hits another DR Driver for a nearfall. That was a good way to reintroduce the move after the first one came off sloppy. They battle on the apron and ARIES HITS A BRAINBUSTER! That looked brutal (in a good way). Aries dumps Richards into the crowd and tries for a countout victory to no avail. They trade strikes and Richards synchs in a texas cloverleaf. Aries turns it into a small package for a two count. They exchange forearms and clotheslines. Aries hits a crucifix bomb followed by his corner dropkick. He hits another brainbuster for a two count. Aries locks in the Last Chancery, hits a brainbuster, and goes back to the Last Chancery to retain his title at 44:36. Fantastic encounter that truly proves how versatile and unique Aries is. I’m going to give this match the same rating that I gave Danielson/Richards but for different reasons. Aries came into this defense with a plan: stop the tremendous momentum that Richards can build. The leg work went a long way in doing so but there were numerous little details throughout the rest of the match that made the duration feel like twenty minutes at most. Aries’ early celebrations and him trying for a countout victory come to mind. It also helps that the crowd was insanely behind Richards and the tremendous in-ring work made them more ruckus. This match is among the elite this year due to its excellent storytelling. It may not have the balls to the wall action like some of Richards’ matches, but the efforts of Aries compensate for that brilliantly. I highly suggest checking out this match. It’s different from many of Richards’ recent matches as it features less devastating moves and more storytelling elements. The key note to make is that it’s storytelling done right and that’s why I love this match. ****¼

Overall: Aries vs. Richards is one of the strongest shows of the year for ROH. The show features two very good matches in Omega/Nakajima and Steenerico/Young Bucks. Both encounters are a lot of fun and feature the solid fast-paced action you would expect down the stretch. Richards and Aries provide a slower match in the main event but it also showcases some of the best storytelling that I’ve seen all year. There’s also some solid undercard contests that may be worth checking out. The event features a wealth of quality wrestling and that’s really all I can ask for. I highly recommend purchasing this show. It’s among the best Ring of Honor has offered this year.