Live coverage of ROH Glory by Honor 9 courtesy of Matt Waters.
That’s right everyone, live coverage of GBH9 throughout the night, courtesy of me (Matt Waters). The show start time for us in the UK is 1am, so this truly will be an all-night job, but one I’m more than happy to do for you readers of PWPonderings. So… on with the show! Find some great pics of it here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=86811&id=1136205555
– Bobby Cruise has officially begun to warm the crowd up and thus far the feed is terrible. Audio is great, but the visuals are jittery. Hope this improves because I’ll feel sick after 3 hours for sure.
– Your broadcast team will be Kevin Kelly and Joe Dombrowski (spelling?). No Prazak!!!
– Moment of silence for 9/11 anniversary. Some jackass heckled and was told to shut up.
– After some initial audio issues, Kevin Kelly welcomes us and we’re away!
Match 1 – Singles Challenge 1
Kenny King vs. Jay Briscoe
They start off trading some slaps, and Jay takes the advantage with a snapmare and running kick combo, and then a big dropkick. Lucha body slam and then a standing double stomp by Jay. King takes over with a hotshot and then a big running clothesline. King keeps control and goes to a chinlock. Jay elbows free but eats a helicopter kick for 2. King has a hot chick with him at ringside by the way. Body slam and then the springboard leg drop from the bottom rope. Jay attempts to go up top but King easily jumps and kicks him in the side of the head. King charges in for Shotgun Knees but Jay catches him and seemingly botches the hell out of the counter, dumping King on his head. “You Killed Kenny!” King’s lucky to be walking. Jay asserts his advantage with a huge spinebuster for a close 2. King comes back with a spinning kick but Jay fires right back with a big yakuza for another 2. Rhett Titus is now at ringside and trying to distract Jay. He succeeds for a moment as King attacks, but Jay hits a tope dive to the outside and wipes him out! King nearly gets the win after sitting down on a sunset flip attempt. Jay Driller is blocked! Butterfly kick! Royal Flush! King wins!
Winner: Kenny King via Royal Flush
The All-Night Express attack Jay after and here comes Mark Briscoe! Red-Neck kung fu! Double shoulder block by the Briscoes. No bell yet. Briscoes not wearing matching trunks either.
Match 2 – Singles Challenge 2
Mark Briscoe vs. Rhett Titus
Mark controls the match for the opening minutes, hitting a big vertical suplex and beating up on Titus. Rhettski finally gets going with a perfect dropkick and off comes the bow-tie! Nice lariat by Titus gets 2. King & Jay are still at ringside by the way. Match begins to turn into a slug-fest but Rhett goes to the eyes and now has a headscissors. Titus heads up top and Mark attempts the Iconoclasm but Rhett hops over and lands on his feet and then boots Mark in the face. Insanely awesome rolling neckbreaker style move down onto Titus’ knee only gets 2. I’d buy that as a finisher any day. Titus looks great here. Fighting on the apron now and Mark is throwing headbutts. Titus is knocked off the apron… WHISPER IN THE WIND TO THE OUTSIDE!!! So much for Mark not being able to be as crazy anymore. Back inside now and both men are up top fighting for position. Titus rolls through after being pushed off and attempts the Super Sex-Factor but Mark stops him. SUPER CUTTER! Mark nearly fell off the top but spun in mid-air to hit the move. That was awesome. Both men are down. Titus runs the ropes but Mark hits an exploder suplex and then attempts the Cut-Throat driver but Titus does a rolling clutch pin for 2. Backslide by Mark. More crazy pin attempts from both men. Kenny King is on the apron holding Mark but Jay pulls him down. Superkick! Cut-Throat Driver (they called it a Burning Hammer). 3 Count!
Winner: Mark Briscoe via Cut-Throat Driver
– The Briscoes celebrate as the announcers put over the All-Night Express for making a point. We now get a special video package of Grizzly Redwood & Balls Mahoney (who I will now be calling the Grizzly Balls) vs. The Embassy. Yes. Their own package…. sigh.
Match 3 – Tag Team Grudge Match
Erick Stevens & Necro Butcher vs. Grizzly Balls
The crowd are very into Balls… sorry, couldn’t resist. But yeah, he’s getting a good reaction, surprisingly. He’s brought a chair with him too. They turned the volume down during Balls entrance, perhaps an attempt to cover for him using copyrighted music… Necro is wearing Jimmy Rave style pants. Balls is throwing beer at Stevens. Grizzly tossed Necro off the apron off-camera. Grizzly Balls take turns charging Stevens in the corner and then Balls assists Grizz in hitting a hurricanrana and then a big senton. We’re now being told Grizzly was born 2 or 3 months premature, explaining his size…. enough of that though, The Embassy just hit my favourite move in the world; Stevens military press tossed Grizzly out of the ring, and Necro hit a huge punch to the face in mid-air. Awesome. Embassy beating Grizz down on the outside now. Nana hits a body slam on the floor! Chokeslam in the ring by Necro, he holds on, another chokeslam! Holds on! Huge punch! Only 2. Nice work Necro. Stevens hits the Embassy elbow and they’re all over Grizz. We just got word that the double-chain match will be next! Stevens tries a delayed vertical suplex but Grizzly turns it into a sleeper hold. He lets go and hits a diving hurricanrana off the middle rope that sends Stevens head first into the turnbuckle. Hot tag! Balls with huge jabs and knock-down right hands to everyone in the Embassy. Necro charges and Balls hits a leg-hook suplex and then a sit-out spinebuster on Stevens! Things are breaking down now with all four men in and 10-punches and bites by Grizzly Balls. The Embassy re-take control thanks to a big boot from Necro. Balls tosses Stevens out of the ring and helps Grizzly with a dive to the outside. Kevin Kelly just stole my Grizzly Balls line! Dammit! Balls hits the New Jersey Jam off the top rope and he has Necro pinned…. but Nana interrupts the pin. Stevens kills Grizzly on the outside as Balls tries to powerslam Nana but Stevens stops it and hits…. Ghanarhea! 3 count!
Winners: The Embassy via Ghanarhea
– ECW chants for Balls after the match. We’re told we’re going to interviews with Genericolt and Steerino but we don’t. The show is going very quickly by the way.
– Coin toss will determine which team decides who is chained to who. Cruise warns the fans this could be very violent. Could be?
Match 4 – Double Chain Match
Kevin Steen & Steve Corino vs. El Generico & Colt Cabana
Steen calls heads and it’s tails. Generico demands to be cahined to Steen, and so Cabana and Corino will be chained. We start with a tug of war and GeneriColt toss Steerino out of the ring and then use the chains to drag them back in. Jabs and bionic elbows from both men! Steerino try to leave, but get pulled back into the apron and then eat a pair of baseball slides. Brawling outside the ring now. Generico coils the chain around the top turnbuckle and pounds Steen’s head into it several times. He and Steen go back outside as Corino and Cabana take over in the ring. Steen is bleeding! Generico bites the wound. Cabana wraps the chain under Corino’s legs and pulls the chain up and down. Ouch. Colt wraps the chain around his fist and begins a 10-punch. Corino is bleeding too. Generico wraps the chain around Steen and holds him in place for a Flying Apple! Corino levels both men with his chain and Steen is licking the blood off his fingers and now Steerino have control in opposite corners. Cabana is bleeding too now and Steen is choking Generico hard with the chain. Steen and Generico in the ring, Corino and Cabana on the outside. Steen wraps his knee in the chain and grinds it in Generico’s face. Front-flip leg drop, and Steen is licking his bicep again. Three of these guys are a mess, Generico is lucky he wears a mask. Steen hits a superkick and then locks in a Sharpshooter with the chain wrapped around his legs! Cabana breaks it up though. Corino takes him out. Steen is threatening fans now. Corino teases the Brainbustaaaaahhhh!!!!! on Cabana, and Steen is trying to help him, but Generico drags him off with the chain and hits an exploder suplex into the turnbuckles! Cabana then hits a mid-air Flying Apple on Corino and takes him down. Cabana puts Corino in the tree of woe and holds a chair in front of his face as Generico heads up top… Steen won’t let him fly, so he bounces off the top rope and hits a flip dive on Steen on the outside!!! Cabana destroys Corino with the chair but only gets 2. A table has been set-up outside now. Generico and Steen are fighting on the apron to try and put each other through it… Generico tries a superfly splash but Steen yanks him off the top rope and through the table! Corino and Cabana tattooing each other with rights. Steen tries to get involved but Generico keeps him tethered. Colby Corino is here! He’s cutting the chain off Generico’s wrist! Steen hits a pumphandle neckbreaker on Cabana and then cuts Corino loose too. The fans are calling “Kill the Kid!” Oh my god… Steen and Corino are using the chains to tie Cabana’s wrists to the two corners… he’s essentially handcuffed to both corners! Arghh, my feed died… hang on… Wasn’t just me, it said “we had an outage”. Ok, we’re back. Cabana is getting wailed on while still tied up and Generico seems to be taking a beating. Corino sits on a chair while choking Generico out. Steen clubs down on Cabana on the apron. HALF AND HALF SUPLEX ON THE CHAIR!!! Yakuza to Steen! Generico tosses the chair in Steen’s face! Huge running flip dive on the outside! Cabana is free… powerbomb! Billy Goat’s Curse! Tap out!
Winners: Colt Cabana & El Generico via Billy Goat’s Curse
– Steen tries to attack after the match but Generico puts him up top for the Brainbustaaahhh!!!! Corino stops it and Steen whips Generico’s mask off! He goes down in a heap and covers his face and Cabana hurries him out of the arena. Steen puts Generico’s mask on the chair and uses Corino’s blood to write a message on the chair, recreating his t-shirt. Steen puts the mask on and celebrates as Colby and Corino hug. Awesome yet sick.
– Intermission time!
– During intermission we have Jim Cornette interviewing Davey Richards. He expresses disappointment that he isn’t at the iPPV but he understands Richards’ love of Japan. He asks Davey if he still intends to retire at the end of 2010. Davey says it evokes a lot of emotion and he never saw wrestling as a hobby or to get attention or money. Davey remarks on how most of his family is dead and wrestling is what bonded the family he did have. He remarks on how he moved to St. Louis for his wife, and got educated so he could create a new life with her after wrestling. Comments how he wanted to get out of wrestling a while ago but wrestling still has its hooks in him. He confirms Final Battle 2010 will be his final night in wrestling. He’s talking about his mother now and her addiction problems, and how she told him that wrestling has been there for him when she couldn’t be. Jim asks again if he’s going to stay as he seems conflicted…. “I’M NOT GOING ANYWHERE JIM.” Davey is staying. Apparently his marriage has fallen apart though… so…. that sucks. Awesome promo though.
Mid-Show Review: This show has been blistering by at a very quick pace, we’re at intermission after only an hour. King vs. Jay got less time than Titus vs. Mark for some reason, and I was pleasantly surprised that King got to go over clean, which made it fine for Titus to lose. Rhett looked awesome though. The Grizzly Balls vs Embassy tag match was thankfully short and sweet, and Balls got a good pop, which actually made me feel better about watching. The chain match was pretty brutal, but the finish felt like it came a little too early. The unmasking was a stroke of genius, and will lead to Steen taunting Generico with that mask for weeks. In terms of technical issues, well there have been a few. As of this writing, the feed is still jittery and the feed cut out across the board during the chain match as Go Fight Live reported a power outage. Davey announcing he is remaining in wrestling during intermission made it instantly the greatest intermission of all time. Good start, but not of the quality of Death Before Dishonor yet. I hope the main events will change that.
– Jim Cornette is in the ring now, and he is delivering a message to the live crowd from Davey Richards. He basically tells the live crowd that he’s not retiring to whip them into a frenzy. Not just that though…. Davey Richards will main event Final Battle against whoever the champion is!
Match 5 – ROH World Television Title Match
Shawn Daivari vs. Eddie Edwards
Nana cuts a quarter of a promo on Balls Mahoney but Eddie Edwards interrupts and we’re away. They lock up to start off and each man tries to go to the arm. Spinning wheel kick from Edwards. Daivari catches a kick so Edwards gives him two quick slaps and then an enzuigiri. Back suplex is turned into a sit-out facebuster and Edwards has control, but Daivari tosses him shoulder first into the ring post and is now taking apart his arm on the outside of the ring. Daivari with a body slam back inside the ring and he heads up top but Edwards hits a running dropkick to the face to cut him off. Super-duper-plex! Belly to belly toss from Edwards, strange leapfrog move that sends Daivari out of the ring and then a big elbow suicina! Why does he keep doing this move that his given him two big injuries? Cos he’s awesome. Front missile dropkick back inside the ring! Daivari cuts Edwards off and attempts to run the ropes but Eddie hits him with a big leg lariat/knee strike. Daivari finally gets back in the match with a jumping tornado DDT and then a big lariat. Fans are only half into the match. Leg lace takedown from Edwards and he has the Achilles Lock but Nana gets up on the apron so Eddie goes after him. Daivari charges, misses, wipes out Nana! School boy by Edwards is turned into the Achilles Lock. Tap out!
Winner: Eddie Edwards via Achilles Lock
– Nana looked like he was going to cry. Our announce team discuss Terry Funk and seemingly only Kevin Kelly gives a damn. Joe seems pretty apathetic tonight…
Match 6 – Battle of the Best
Austin Aries vs. Christopher Daniels
It seems like forever since I saw Austin Aries, luckily he’s out now, so I’ve got my fix. Aries nearly didn’t cut a promo, but he found a microphone before it was too late. Aries gives credit for inventing the A-Double nickname. He says we should call Daniels CD… because much like CDs, he’s obsolete nowadays. BURN! Aries encourages Daniels to help him steal the show. They shake hands but Aries immediately tries a flash pin. Aries takes Daniels down, rides him, gets a nice pin attempt, and decides he should go to the apron to gloat. Arm drags from Aries and it’s all A-Double so far. Aries is whipped to the corner but he hits a springboard back elbow, gloats, and goes back to a headlock. Daniels puts him in a headscissors and Aries uses his signature escape but doesn’t get the dropkick. Arm drags from Daniels now and we have a shoving match. Daniels hotshots Aries and then hits a slingshot splash. A few jabs and now a body slam and an Arabian press. Crowd love both men. Aries goes to the eyes and then hits his rope-hung neckbreaker and Daniels falls to the outside. Flying axe handle! Aries hits an STO back in the ring and then his pendulum/powerdrive elbow while the fans start a “F*** TNA!” chant. Angel’s Wings? No. They trade blows in the corner and Daniels eventually hits a neckbreaker. The fans are busy chanting about anything but the match, and the commentators are busy talking about Tyler Black, and it’s really sapping the life out of this match. Blue Thunder Bomb from Daniels. Aries skins the kitten but gets clotheslined out of the ring again. Daniels tries an Arabian Press to the outside but Aries moves…. Heat Seeking Missile! Missile Dropkick back in the ring and he attempts the I.E.D. but gets a boot to the face. Running snapmare driver into the turnbuckles from Daniels a la Suicide. Fans have chanted for WCW, Teddy Hart and UFC now. Retarded. Koji Clutch! Aries gets to the ropes. Uranage is counted into the Crucifix Driver! Brainbuster! Only 2! 450 Splash!!! Again, only 2! Aries puts Daniels up top and attempts a super brainbuster but Daniels fights back and crotches Aries on the top rope. Super Angel’s Wings!!!!! 3 Count!
Winner: Christopher Daniels via Super Angel’s Wings
– Man the crowd did their best to kill that match, but they popped big time for the finish, as they should.
Match 7 – Dream Tag Team Match
The Kings of Wrestling vs. Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin
Cody B. Ware performs the Kings’ theme live on their way to the ring. Hagadorn is with the Kings but of course was not with Edwards earlier. Haas and Benjamin are out now, with matching tights (Shelton’s short, Haas’ long). Their music is AC/DC’s TNT. Crowd are giving both teams love. They’re in each other’s faces and Hero punks Haas out. Ref restores order though. Shelton and Claudio start out and lock up fiercely. Slap from Shelton. European uppercut from Claudio. Vertical suplex from Shelton (who looks odd with dark hair again). Hero gets the tag and a huge amount of love from the crowd. Hero picks the leg and they roll around a little looking for pins with Hero ending up in the WGTT corner where Haas tags in. They take turns to chop each other and back comes Claudio who school boys Haas. He tries to follow up but Haas amateur-wrestles his ass off and he and Claudio start slapping each other. Fireman’s carry and then a pair of arm drags from Haas. Shelton back in and he goes to Claudio’s arm. Claudio takes Shelton’s arm but Shelton leaps and uses the top rope to backflip and hit an arm drag. Monkey flip from Claudio! Shelton lands on his feet! Monkey flip from Shelton, Claudio is absolutely launched! Tag to Hero. Big boots galore from the Kings and they have control again. KRS-ONE? Haas pulls Claudio out and they turn it into their leap-frog attack but Hero bails from the ring and the Kings are regrouping as WGTT pose. Haas hits Claudio with a European uppercut which pisses him off. They trade uppercuts and Claudio hurls Haas into the corner. Hero in now and he hits a giant senton. Basement dropkick. Claudio back in and they make a wish with Charlie Haas. Haas ducks a clothesline from Claudio and hits an exploder suplex. Shelton gets the tag and Hero immediately low-bridges him to kill the momentum. Hero and Shelton fight on the outside and Hero gets the better of it. Dead-lift gutwrench suplex from Claudio. Shelton mounts a comeback but Claudio hits a snap powerslam and brings Hero back in the ring. Hero locks in a cravate on Shelton and hits a few knee strikes. Shelton fires back with right hands but Hero wins the strike exchange and Claudio is in again. Shelton lands on his feet out of a double suplex attempt and hits a double neckbreaker. Shelton makes the tag and Haas hits a flying headscissors, a dropkick, a clothesline and a back body drop! Yakuza kick! Belly to belly suplex! Haas has never looked better. Multiple German suplexes on Claudio! Haas catapults Claudio and Shelton catches him and plants him with a Samoan drop! Awesome move. Hero tosses Haas out, Claudio launches Shelton up over his head and Hero elbows him out of the damn sky. Insane. Claudio holds Shelton up in a delayed vertical suplex, Hero passes by, Claudio drops Shelton to his feet, elbow to the back of the head! Shelton kicks out. Hero with his leaping elbow in the corner and tries to follow up but… Dragon Whip! Haas gets the tag and they hit their leapfrog move in the ropes this time. Haas signals for the Haas of Pain but Claudio interrupts. Rolling Elbow to Haas! The Kings look for the Kingsday Device but Haas tosses Hero out of the ring. Shelton runs across the ring, leaps to the top rope and hits an overhead toss from the top rope on Claudio!!! Haas of Pain! Hagadorn on the apron! Loaded Elbow is on! Claudio is tapping but the referee doesn’t see it! Hero off the top rope and he hits an elbow to Haas! Knocked him out… 3 count!
Winners: Kings of Wrestling via Loaded Elbow Strike from the Top Rope
– The Kings try to attack after the bell but Haas & Benjamin hit stereo German Suplexes and the Kings run away as the World’s Greatest Tag Team soak up the cheers from the fans. They notice that Hagadorn was left behind. They put the boots to him, de-pants him, and then whip him with his own belt. Shelton traps his legs and Haas hits an elbow drop from the top rope onto Shane’s…. area. Odd, but hey, the fans liked it.
– Jim Cornette comes down to do commentary with Kevin Kelly and they seem to be unaware that the microphones were on the whole time as Joe complained, and Jim cursed that something wasn’t quite ready. Ah well… main event time!
Main Event: ROH World Championship No DQ Match
Tyler Black vs. Roderick Strong (Terry Funk as ringside vigilante)
Roddy is out first with Truth Martini. Tyler out next and the fans are hitting the “You Sold Out” chants hard already. NXT chants now. Future jobber too. Tyler’s laughing it all off. Roddy has some fancy new tights by the way… but on to the match. Roddy goes for a pin very early and they’re going into the pin exchanges. Leg lariat from Roddy and Tyler goes to the outside. Chops are being unloaded. F8 (F-5) on the apron by Tyler! Body slam, but the jumping stompis countered and they go for more pins. Dropkick from Tyler. Release gourdbuster by Roddy but Tyler comes straight back with his Chaos Theory variant (back suplex rather than a German) for two. Snapmare and a weak kick to the back from Tyler. FCW chants now. “You’re an emo” wow… pointing out his gimmick, cutting. Roddy hits a step-up enzugiri and then a jumping knee strike. They seem to be at the closing stages of the match five minutes in. Chops from Roddy and then a running forearm in the corner and discuss clothesline. Falcon arrow! 2 only. Back suplex into a side slam from Roddy. He goes for the Gibson Driver already but Tyler blocks it and tries the Paroxysm but Roddy hits a rolling “forearm”. Tyler comes right back though and hits Roddy’s signature gutbuster. You Can’t See Me taunt! STF!!! Roddy gets the ropes. He ducks Tyler’s springboard lariat but Tyler immediately hits the pele enzugiri. Tyler hits a superplex and rolls right through and tries God’s Last Gift…. craziest backbreaker EVER! Roddy lifted him up for a vertical suplex, dropped him and went down to his back and held his knees up. Insane. Gutbuster from Roddy… Sick Kick misses and hits the ref! Superkick! Terry Funk is in the ring and he reveals a referee shirt! Tyler hits Roddy with the Book of Truth! God’s Last Gift! Only 2! Tyler puts Roddy in the tree of woe… Warrior’s Way…. Roddy rolled through into the Strong Hold! Tyler turns it into a pin but Roddy hits a superkick! 2 count only. The House of Truth run down to the ring and Terry Funk knocks them both out. Truth Martini is in the ring now and Funk decks him as well. Enzugiri from Roddy… Superkick from Tyler! Two bucklebombs from Tyler! SUPERKICK! ANOTHER! Phoenix Splash misses, enzugiri, torture rack backbreaker, gutbuster, Sick Kick! RODDY WINS THE TITLE!
Winner & New Champion: Roderick Strong via Sick Kick
– Cary Silkin immediately gets in the ring to congratulate Roddy. Truth Martini celebrates and Roddy commands Tyler to get to his feet. The fans chant “Thank You Tyler” and he looks genuinely perplexed. Roddy offers a handshake and Tyler flips him and the fans off and then leaves. Roddy celebrates with the belt… wait a minute…
– HOMICIDE!!!!!!! He’s out now in street clothes. He steps up to Roddy and the two start talking trash. They cut the PPV feed as it’s clear something was about to go down that breaks the 30-Day Non-Compete Clause!!! Booooooo!!!!!
End-Show Review: This didn’t match Death Before Dishonor, but it outstripped Final Battle 09, and in my personal opinion, the Big Bang as well, but I’m sure many will disagree with that. It didn’t feel like an iPPV though, but rather just one of their bigger live events. It’s still one of the best shows of the year, but DBDH felt huge and important, and the iPPVs are all hyped to be just that, whereas this didn’t quite get there. The overall results make it seem bigger than it felt from a pure in-ring stand-point. All the matches were quick, with almost all of them having finishes coming out of almost nowhere.
– Still, let’s look at what we got here. Generico was unmasked (sort of) in a brutal double-chain match. The Kings of Wrestling defeated Haas & Benjamin, but it seems it’s not the last
we’ll see of Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team. Davey Richards announced he will remain with ROH after 2010. Daniels defeated Aries. Roderick Strong became the new world champion. Tyler remained a heel to the very end. Homicide returned. All of these things are awesome, but I can’t help feeling perhaps a tiny bit more could have been added to the execution of these awesome results. We also took a step back in terms of technical issues, but I just learned to live with the jittery picture (was it just mine?).
– The amount of big news that came from this event makes it well worth seeing, and none of the matches were in any way bad, but none of them were fantastic either.
Match of the Night: Kings of Wrestling vs. Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team This could have done with a longer finishing sequence, because it was really good until the end. I have no problem with Hero using the loaded elbow, but it didn’t feel like it was time yet. Haas & Benjamin looked like they had the technical edge, something the Kings seemed surprised about, but ultimately they fell short to the cunning tactics of the ROH Tag Champs. Rematch please.
Dud of the Night: Eddie Edwards vs. Shawn Daivari Somebody’s got to take it, and it goes to the TV Title match in this case. Daivari is just plain boring in my opinion, and Edwards hit a lot of good moves, but not enough to rescue this match.