ROH: Civil Warfare Review

May 7th, 2010 in Manassas

Opening Match: Eddie Edwards vs. Bobby Dempsey
If Dempsey can defeat Edwards within or simply survive for ten minutes, he will earn a shot at the ROH World Television Title. Dempsey utilizes his power advantage early on. Bobby Cruise is announcing how much time is left after every minute goes by. Dempsey pleases the crowd with a few snapmares and hits a belly to belly suplex. Edwards answers with a running knee strike and takes over. Dempsey comes back with (of all things) a headscissors and hits an overhead suplex. The straps come down and Dempsey follows with a corner cannonball. Edwards walks into a spinning side slam but recovers with a lungblower. Edwards connects with an enzuigiri and applies an achilles lock for the win at 7:17. Dempsey has truly fallen off the face of the earth when it comes to how many times he has appeared in ROH recently. He looked fine here but has lost a good bit of crowd support. I’m also not sure how the Ten Minute Hunt concept is going to help the prestige of the title. Bobby Cruise giving an update every minute was annoying and I rather see Edwards defend the title in quality matches. *¾
Edwards grabs a microphone after the match. He states that he will make Christopher Daniels tap out. The hunt is on for a fallen angel.


Match #2: Jay Briscoe vs. Claudio Castagnoli
Jay takes the fight to Claudio from the start. Claudio attempts to ground Jay but gets caught with a leg lariat. The action goes to the floor where Sara Del Rey interjects herself. A distraction from Shane Hagadorn allows Claudio to send Jay into the barricade. Claudio hits a dead-lift gutwrench suplex in the ring and takes control. Jay flatlines him into the turnbuckles and snaps off a hurricanrana. Jay clotheslines Claudio to the floor and whips him into the barricade. In the ring, Jay lands a flying crossbody but Claudio slows him down with a lariat. Jay counters the UFO into a crucifix for the victory at 10:09. This match went along exactly how you would expect it to. They never shifted into second gear and the finish came quickly. Considering that these two men have a grudge, I don’t think the match should have ended via rollup. Technically fine but extremely predictable. **
Claudio attacks Jay after the match. Chris Hero runs out to help his partner. Mark Briscoe makes the save and catches Hero with a missile dropkick. He lands a dive to the floor onto the Kings of Wrestling. Ironically, Hero and Mark have a match scheduled for tonight…
Match #3: Mark Briscoe vs. Chris Hero
Mark lands a flying crossbody and hits a suplex. He adds a springboard senton and Hero retreats to the floor. Shane Hagadorn distracts Mark long enough for Hero to catch him with a dropkick through the ropes. Hero hits his mat-assisted senton and maintains the advantage in the ring. Mark comes back with an elbow strike and connects with a spin kick. He ducks a roaring elbow and hits a northern lights suplex. Hero is able to connect with a roaring elbow followed by a mafia kick. He hits a saito suplex but Mark answers with an exploder. Mark lays out Hero with an ace crusher from the middle rope. Hero blindsides Mark with a roaring elbow. Sara Del Rey distracts the referee and Hero puts on his loaded elbow pad. Hero avoids the Cutthroat Driver and connects with a roaring elbow for the win at 9:42. This was definitely more spirited than the previous contest. I don’t mind the finish either, as Hero resorted back to the tactic that won the Kings of Wrestling the titles. Solid action for the time given. However, I much rather see tag team matches continue the feud. **½

Match #4: Roderick Strong (1) vs. Erick Stevens
Stevens doesn’t provide a clean break and opts to chop Strong. Bad idea. Strong connects with a loud chop and adds a leg lariat. He hits a back suplex and more chops follow. Stevens gains control, catching Strong off a slingshot attempt with a powerslam. Prince Nana and Ernie Osiris get involved from the floor as well. Strong stages a comeback with a springboard crossbody but finds himself in a bodyscissors. He escapes and connects with a dropkick. Stevens falls victim to a falcon arrow but is able to catch Strong with a samoan drop. Strong misses an enzuigiri and Stevens connects with a lariat. Stevens hits a german suplex and an ace crusher. He follows with a another lariat. Strong responds with a yakuza kick for the victory at 14:10. I’ve seen these two put on much better matches. They kept the action pretty back and forth. While that style of match usually works for these two, I think the predictable result hurt the action. I never gave Stevens a chance to win, with Strong having a world title shot on the next show. The finishing stretch was also a bit tame. While this was the best match on the show up to this point, it’s nowhere near comparable to their earlier work together. **¾

Match #5: Kenny King (5) vs. Colt Cabana
King escapes two snapmares and lets the crowd get under his skin. Cabana cartwheels out of two snapmare attempts and finally is able to snapmare King. Cabana sends King to the floor with a fallaway slam. In the ring, Cabana grabs hold of a side headlock before King lures him to the outside. Back in, King controls until Cabana blocks a springboard attempt. Cabana baseball slides King into the barricade and then throws him into the barricade three more times. Cabana connects with a bionic elbow in the ring. The crowd is becoming extremely annoying, now chanting “people’s elbow”. Cabana hits the flying asshole but walks into shotgun knees. He applies the Billy Goat’s Curse but King makes it to the ropes. The action goes back to the floor where King lands a senton off the apron. They start battling on the apron. Kevin Steen runs down to the ring and attacks Cabana, causing a disqualification at 15:07. I know that people have different opinions regarding the whole snapmare deal in Manassas. If it gets on your nerves, avoid this match at all costs. The crowd didn’t stop at snapmares. They started chanting for many different moves throughout the match and as a DVD viewer, it took away from the action. King reacted to the antics well and showed some nice athleticism. The match was picking up and then the finish occurred. Fifteen minutes of wrestling to be capped off with a disqualification. No thanks. It would have been less complicated to give King the clean win and play it off like Cabana was too focused on his upcoming match against Steen. **¼
Steen continues to attack Cabana. They brawl around ringside until referees escort Cabana to the back. Steen to Paul Turner: “keep him back there or I’ll rape you”. Steen says that he will make Christopher Daniels’ return the quickest comeback in history. Daniels makes his entrance, leading to…
Match #6: Kevin Steen (2) vs. Christopher Daniels
Steen attacks before the bell. Daniels fights back with two dropkicks and snaps off an armdrag. He stops a negative TNA chant and starts an ROH chant. Steen elevates him to the floor and uses the ringpost to attack Daniels’ left shoulder. In the ring, Steen continues his attack on the left shoulder. Daniels gets his knees up to block a swantan. They trade shots and Daniels unleashes a flurry of offense. He hits an STO and sends Steen to the outside with an enzuigiri. Daniels follows out with a moonsault. Back in, Daniels comes off the top with a clothesline. Steen answers with a corner cannonball but falls victim to a flatliner. Daniels tries to setup for the Best Moonsault Ever but gets caught in a crossface. He’s able to make the ropes. The referee accidentally gets bumped and Steen hits a DDT. He brings a chair into the ring. Colt Cabana runs out and takes the chair away. His distraction allows Daniels to hit a uranagi. Daniels follows with the Best Moonsault Ever for the win at 15:50. Steen ended up being the perfect opponent for Daniels in his return match. He got the crowd even more behind Daniels and worked well with him. Until he proves me wrong, I think Daniels could get a good match out of anyone. The finish wasn’t thrilling but it was more acceptable than the disqualification in the previous match. Ultimately, this was an effective return for Daniels and it helped setup both of their matches on the next show. ***

Match #7: Tyler Black and Delirious vs. Austin Aries and Rhett Titus
Aries cuts a promo before the match, calling for a good wrestling match. Delirious charges straight at Aries, allowing Titus to attack from behind. Delirious drop toe holds Titus into the barricade but gets back dropped into the crowd. In the ring, Black catches Aries with a dropkick. He hits a backbreaker on Titus and stomps him in the face. Delirious is once again too focused on Aries, allowing the heels to gain the advantage and isolate him. He takes care of Titus and makes the tag. Black lands a lionsault onto Titus and blocks the IED. He lands a dive to the floor onto Aries and connects with a springboard lariat in the ring. While the referee is distracted with Delirious, the heels gain the advantage. They work over Black until he hits Paroxysm on Titus and makes the tag. Delirious enters and Aries immediately tags out. He hits a flatliner on Titus and adds a german suplex. Aries low bridges Delirious to the floor and Titus connects with a flying knee to the throat back in the ring. Black tags in and superplexes Aries. He hits an F5 on Titus but gets caught with a back suplex from Aries. Black falls victim to the IED for a nearfall. Aries synchs in the Last Chancery but Delirious breaks it up. Titus connects with a dropkick on Delirious. Black hits a bucklebomb on Aries and Delirious follows with the Panic Attack. Titus inadvertently gets caught with Shadows Over Hell. Black superkicks Aries to the floor. Delirious hits the Bizzaro Driver on Titus for the victory at 19:03. I’m going to be a little critical on this match. First of all, it’s no secret that this show is just a lead-in to Supercard of Honor V. Looking at this contest, I would say it’s more deserving of an undercard spot. That stigma can be completely erased if the competitors go all out to make the match something worthwhile. That didn’t happen here. The focus was more on the Aries/Delirious storyline, with Aries constantly avoiding Delirious. While the storytelling was executed well, the action never reached the point of being worthy of the main event. This match (and the show in general) is a perfect example of why ROH fans call certain events “B” shows. **¾
The following bonus matches are included on this release:
-The Kings of Wrestling vs. The Set
-Eddie Edwards vs. Kevin Steen (HDNet Episode #2)
-Chris Hero vs. Kenny Omega (HDNet Episode #7)
-The American Wolves vs. Orange Cassidy and Leslie Butterscotch (HDNet Episode #8)
-Kevin Steen and Jay Briscoe vs. Eddie Edwards and Chris Hero (HDNet Episode #6)
There are a few reasons why I don’t bother reviewing bonus matches on ROH releases. First of all, they’re only included when the main show lacks quality wrestling. Secondly, most of the matches aren’t worth watching. This is the first set of bonus matches from the television show. The funny thing is, I don’t have to buy this DVD to see them. I can find them online. So I’m going to pass up this opportunity to see Leslie Butterscotch.

Overall: Civil Warfare is easily the worst offering from ROH so far this year. The only significant occurrence on this show was the return of Christopher Daniels. He has a solid match with Kevin Steen, which proves to be the lone bright spot on the card. Strong and Stevens have done way better in the past while the main event proved to me that this was a worthless show. I’m hoping that Supercard of Honor V delivers as ROH totally treated this show as a joke because of it. Honestly, I think I would have rather fought in the Civil War than watch this show. Strong recommendation to skip.