Steen & Corino collide with Cabana and Generico in a wild anything goes match, Rasche Brown does battle with the Embassy, Sara Del Rey continues to stake her claim as the most dominant woman in wrestling, and Up in Smoke are in action this week on ROH On HDNet.
Hey everybody, I’m back recapping ROH for you after finally giving the Necro Butcher a beat-down and banishing Chris back to the role of webmaster. I still don’t have my laptop back yet, but I’ve at least got access to someone else’s for this week, so while I will be recapping this week’s episode, there will be no pretty pictures I’m afraid.
Quick Results
– Up in Smoke beat The Set
– Sara Del Rey beat Jamilla Craft
– Rasche Brown beat Erick Stevens by DQ after Necro Butcher interfered. After the match the Dark City Fight Club came to Brown’s aid and chased the Embassy away.
– Kevin Steen and Steve Corino beat Colt Cabana and El Generico in a crazy anything goes match after Corino hit a superplex through a table on Cabana. After the match Tyler Black attacked Kevin Steen in the parking lot.
Full Results
Match 1 – Tag Team Match
The Set vs. Up In Smoke
Pre-Match Thoughts: I’m prepared to take some abuse for this, but I really don’t like the Set despite their following. I think Cheech and Cloudy are decent, but I normally prefer their opponents so I’ve got diminished interest in this match.
The Match: Dave Prazak points out that Lance Lude is about the same size as Cloudy… maybe if Lude started eating. Test of Strength!!! Who will win this epic battle? Lance Lude via knee to the gut. Cloudy fights back with an arm whip takedown. Body Slam! How many times do you see Cloudy hit a body slam? Cheech gets the tag and they hit a vertical suplex/tope atomico combo. A thumb to the eye allows J-Sinn to be tagged in and he hits a nice arm-trap sweep on Cheech. Immediate tag to Cloudy and a flying dropkick takes the big man down. J-Sinn uses his size advantage though and catches Cloudy in Oklahoma slam position but instead throws him backwards. Lude back in now and they hit an assisted spear in the corner, followed by a tumbling spear and then a ridiculously elevated splash. Oh the advantages of having half of your team weigh 100lbs. J-Sinn back in now and luckily for Cloudy he misses the Bubba Dudley senton bomb. Cheech and Lance Lude get tags and Cheech proceeds to throw Lude way up into the lights before letting him crash down on his stomach. Cloudy runs in and hits an assisted tornado DDT on J-Sinn. Lude hits a double arm drag on Up in Smoke and they roll to the outside. J-Sinn launches Lude over the top rope onto Cheech and Cloudy to minimal reaction. Cheech counters a powerbomb and hits a facebuster on J-Sinn. Lude flies off the top but Cheech catches him like a child and he and Cloudy hit a huge twisting crucifix slam. Partly Cloudy with a Chance of Cheech! Tidal Wave (Tope atomico off Cheech’s shoulders) That’ll do it.
Winners: Up In Smoke via Pin-Fall (Tidal Wave)
Post-Match Thoughts: Well, the crowd weren’t huge fans of this and neither was I. It wasn’t bad, but both of these teams function better when played off against a more established team, so they had some trouble getting a reaction. I guess this was an experiment to see if Up in Smoke could pass as a top face team. They certainly looked solid, but apparently they weren’t impressive enough to make it into Tag Wars 2010… or were already booked, either way.
– Highlights now of Rasche Brown’s dominance on HDNet (where he is undefeated so far), his refusal to join the Embassy and Necro Butcher breaking the wooden board over his head. Tonight he will face Erick Stevens (the only man to defeat him so far, but I’m sure that won’t be mentioned.)
– Next we see Kevin Steen laying out Tyler Black with a Package Piledriver at the end of last week’s main event and are reminded that Tyler will defend against Mr. Wrestling in Chicago this Saturday.
Match 2 – Women of Honor Match
Sara Del Rey vs. Jamilla Craft
Pre-Match Thoughts: Craft looked pretty good against Daizee Haze a couple of weeks back and Sara Del Rey may be the best female wrestler in North America, so I look for five minutes of women’s wrestling that manages to out-do every bout involving women that WWE and TNA put on this week combined.
The Match: Death Rey affirms her nickname by answering Craft’s handshake with a kick to the face. German Suplex! Only 2. Del Rey laughs at the kick out and proceeds to choke Craft with the top rope while posing for the fans. She breaks the choke and then kicks Craft into next week while she’s still tied up in the ropes. Snap suplex by Del Rey and now she’s going after the mask but finds it too tricky so decides to kick her in the spine instead. Craft lands on her feet out of a tilt-a-whirl and hits an inverted DDT. Craft runs the ropes and gets her face kicked off. Spike Piledriver! Book it.
Winner: Sara Del Rey via Pin-Fall (Spike Piledriver)
Post-Match Thoughts: I thought this would go a little longer and be slightly more even, but this was a showcase of Del Rey to promote her rematch with Awesome Amazing Kong this weekend, and she sure looked vicious here. The interesting thing is most of her moves don’t require lifting so it’s believable that she could take the fight to Kong. The key word however is most. Her two main finishers, the Royal Butterfly and the Spike Piledriver seem out of the question, but Death Rey is an adept striker and I believe she’s put a few opponents away with submissions lately too so it’s not out of the question that she could get it done without her biggest weapons.
– Next is a pre-taped interview with the Kings of Wrestling. They call the Briscoes immature for attacking Del Rey and Hero claims he did not mean for things to get out of hand with their father and was merely retaliating for being struck first. Both are fantastic points. Claudio suggests that the pair will be staying away from the Briscoes in future due to the volatile nature of their feud. Kings. Reign. Supreme.
Match 3 – Grudge Match
Erick Stevens vs. Rasche Brown
Pre-Match Thoughts: I really like Erick Stevens and I think he fits perfectly in the Embassy. I also like Rasche Brown in small doses and I think these two destroying each other could be pretty interesting.
The Match: Skull Krusher wants Stevens so bad that he almost runs over a cameraman sprinting to the ring. Clobbering time! Rasche wins the punch up and throws Erick out of the ring. They brawl for a while and then Rasche whips Stevens towards the guard rail but he puts the brakes on. Unfortunately, just as he’s indicating how intelligent he is for being able to stop running, he gets annihilated with a running palm strike to the chest that hurls him backwards into the barrier. That was badass. Rasche isn’t happy though and attempts a huge running cannonball but there’s no water in the pool and he bounces off the steel. Stevens brings him back in the ring and chokes him in the ropes. Osiris joins in for good measure when the ref turns away. Rasche no-sells some punches and tattoos Stevens. Boo/Yay chants as they trade punches. Stevens goes to the eyes to reclaim the advantage. Discus lariat turns Stevens inside out! Nana prevents Brown from hitting his big spear… CHOO! CHOO! Stevens poses and then goes for the follow-up lariat but Rasche spears him hard. Chokeslam? Here comes Necro Butcher! We have a disqualification.
Winner: Rasche Brown via Disqualification (Interference)
Post-Match Thoughts: They’re doing a really good job putting Skull Krusher over as a monster face as he manhandled one of the strongest guys in the company and made it look easy. Stevens used some nice heel tactics to stay in the match and I will continue to demand a main event push for him until I’m blue in the face. Now the Necro feud is done, the Embassy can be a bigger threat. Let Tyler overcome some odds, send him to war with them!
– Necro and the Embassy continue to beat Rasche down after the match which brings out the Dark City Fight Club for no good reason. The Embassy bail and the face trio are left posing in the ring. No main event push for the Embassy yet. Darn it.
– We move to a new video package of the Steerino vs. Generico & Cabana feud. It was ok, it showed all the major events and plugged the three iPPVs that the war has stretched across, but parts of it dragged. They put more emphasis on Cabana and Corino than there has been in the past.
Main Event – Anything Goes Tag Team Match
Kevin Steen & Steve Corino vs. Colt Cabana & El Generico
Pre-Match Thoughts: What on earth is the difference between a street fight, a no disqualification match, an anything goes match and a Fight Without Honor? What rules apply in some but not in others? Anyway, you know the four guys who are involved, you know they’re allowed to use weapons, no musings necessary.
The Match: Attire may play a role in answering my above question. Three of the guys are in wrestling gear rather than street clothes, so we know it’s not a street fight. Steen and Corino have chairs and swing them every time Generico or Cabana try to enter the ring. Mexican standoff. See what I did there? Generico slips into the ring and takes Corino down while Cabana drags Steen to the outside for some brawling. Round and round the ring we go, punching all the way. Generico grabs a knucklelock on Corino in the ring and walks the ropes but changes his mind and instead flips from the top rope down onto Steen on the outside. Mike Hogwood erroneously identifies revenge as an emotion as Generico hurls Steen into the guard rail. He and Cabana swap dancing partners and it backfires as Steen dislodges one of the barriers and body slams Cabana onto it. Corino meanwhile flies over the rail on the other side of the ring. Brawling in the crowd. Steen bites Cabana’s ear. Yum. Fisherman Buster by Steen to Generico on a chair!!! Steen is now kissing the referee. Back to the ring finally now. Steen and Corino have Generico and four chairs in the ring, which can’t end well. Chair to the ribs. Corner clothesline, running chop, cannonball, all in sequence. Nice combination. Cabana tries to jab his way back into the match but gets interrupted as he winds up for an elbow. They whip him off the ropes and he attempts to counter with a springboard moonsault but they simply stand aside and watch him land before adding a pair of kicks for good measure. Steen licks the camera. Eww. Corino hits Generico with a piece of broken table and then grabs a pair of complete ones and sets them up in the corners in the ring. Cabana tries a comeback but gets his code broken by Steen. Hog has been impressed with Colt for some reason. Generico low-bridges Steen and then gives Corino an exploder suplex into the table but it doesn’t break. Half and Half Suplex! Only 2. First pin attempt of the match right there. Steen throws a chair at Generico’s face and then sets a pair of chairs up to deliver a Package Piledriver onto. Cabana interrupts the attempt with a bionic elbow… HALF AND HALF SUPLEX ONTO THE CHAIRS! Steen’s head and shoulders took all the impact right there. He may not make it to Chicago. Yakuza kick in the corner on Corino. Flying Apple into a chair to Corino! Superkick from Steen. Enormous powerbomb on Generico by Steen. PUMPHANDLE NECKBREAKER ON A CHAIR! Generico kicks out! Corino and Steen play construction workers, setting up a table on the top rope in the corner, and a guard rail balanced on four chairs in the middle of the ring. It took them a while. Steen heads up top onto the table but Cabana pushes him to the outside. Generico lays Corino out on the rail and heads to the top rope as the crowd come alive. Steen crotches him and Corino recovers to deliver a superplex onto the rail! Corino’s head and neck were swallowed by one of the chairs so I think he got the worst of the exchange. Cabana breaks up the pin. Spinebuster by Colt onto a chair! Four chair shots to Corino’s head. Hog makes an awkward comment about where to find ROH and Prazak saves it by plugging the upcoming live events. Cabana puts Corino onto the table on the top rope, sets up another one in the ring, and then heads up after him. Steen and Generico brawl to the backstage area leaving Corino to hit a superplex through a table and win the match. I’m more impressed that neither man fell off the wobbly table to be honest.
Winners: Kevin Steen & Steve Corino via Pin-Fall (Superplex through a table)
Post-Match Thoughts: This was pretty wild for a television match. Obviously not on the level of the Chicago Street Fight or New York Death Match, and none of them bled, but there were chairs, tables and guard rails aplenty. Corino deserves a medal for the amount of punishment he has taken throughout this feud and I hope when it all ends we recognise his contributions to the war despite being only a supporting character.
– We cut to the parking lot where Steen and Generico are brawling. Powerbomb on the hood of a car!!! Steen talks trash to the fallen Generico but Tyler Black attacks him from behind and rams him into the side of the car twice. Whoever owns that vehicle is going to be owed some money. That’ll do it for this week!
Overall: I’ve missed covering ROH and I maintain it’s the best wrestling product in the United States in terms of use of time. The big two struggle and often fail to match this quality in double the time in my opinion. That being said I think this week’s episode was missing a certain something that I can’t quite articulate.
The opening tag match was fine but wandered dangerously close to being boring. The Women of Honor match was a little too short but was very good. Rasche Brown looked great and his war with the Embassy developed well with the addition of DCFC as his allies. The main event was wild and certainly of live event quality, though didn’t match previous efforts the four have put forth. I could have done with some Austin Aries/American Wolves/Roderick Strong/Briscoes, but this was still a solid show from top to bottom.
See you next week everybody!
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