I didn’t hate this show… yeah, that was lame I admit. But the show wasn’t lame! I promise!
-Due to Ryan Rozanski going off to college and exploring the wonders of books and beer pong, it has fallen upon me to review Ring of Honor DVDs. I’m not going to pretend that I’ve enjoyed everything the company has done the last 18 months, but I can say I’m interested and excited by what Ring of Honor is doing these days. With a new booker, a new world champion, and the television tapings potentially being moved out of The Arena, I think Ring of Honor can gain some semblance of an audience to the point where Cary Silken doesn’t have to answer questions about the company going bankrupt. Even with the production problems of the DVDs, I’m hopeful ROH gets their crap together. Especially important because I’ve thrown the towel in when it comes to the national companies.
-With that being said…
-Taped from Collinsville, Illinois
-Your hosts are Dave Prazak and Joe Dombrowski
-The Bravado Brothers(Lance and Harlem Bravado) vs. The House of Truth (Josh Raymond and Christian Able) (w/Truth Martini)
YEAH! We’ve got The House of Truth and Kevin Harvey. I’m going to check to make sure this is a Ring of Honor DVD and not an AAW DVD. Harvey announces Martini proper because Martini is of course a world renowned author and “Life Intervention Coach.” Harlem starts out well against Able, but one person in the crowd insists on booing him. Double kick by the Bravados. Able really needs to keep his head shaved. Raymond in with punches. Bit of an exchange. YEAH! Leg lariat by Lance gets two. Double Russian legsweep on Raymond. Team work by both men. Raymond fires back. Raymond puts on the breaks, takes out Harlem, and we have a heat segment on Lance. H.o.T act like complete dicks and excel at it. Martini reads from his book. He needs to sell copies. I’d buy one. Lance chops Raymond. Belly-to-belly suplex, but Raymond quickly regains the advantage for his team. As Truth continues double-teaming, the crowd gets more behind them. Interesting. Hot tag to Harlem. Elbows for everyone. Raymond whipped in the corner. Another reverse elbow. Backdrop. Able comes in. Rana. Reverse DDT on Raymond. Raymond placed on the top rope. Able slaps him Lance with a baseball dropkick. Raymond misses a lariat. Nice enziguri into a German suplex. Cover for two. Able dumps Lance out. Harlem goes for another inverted DDT. Able lawn darts him in. Tower of truth. 1-2-3 for Able.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: The House of Truth/8:25/**
-Decent way to open the show. House of Truth got to look good in what basically amounted to a squash. One thing about thee Bravados. They didn’t completely wet the bed. There is hope for them, and I think their improvement will be something to watch over the next year or so.
-Erick Stevens (w/Prince Nana) vs. Grizzly Redwood
I’m practicing a rule for these ROH DVD reviews. No play-by-play for Embassy matches. The faction doesn’t matter. The feuds suck. I love Nana and his promos (St. Loserville), but the Embassy is as stale as shrimp cocktail from 2006 (when the Embassy was over and relevant). I feel like I’ve seen these two wrestle a million times. Stevens defeated Redwood in his second ever Ring of Honor match three years ago in a random factoid. Nana actually interferes in this match. Way to make Stevens look like a geek. The announcers mention every member of the Embassy. The lack of talent makes me want to vomit. Nana deserves so much better. Stevens controls an awfully boring match. Doing squats while having Redwood in a suplex position was cool. A sleeper and bearhug are worked. Just end it. Comeback by Redwood to tepid cheers. Almost a win with the victory roll. Swinging DDT almost gets three. Stevens catches Redwood on a dive but gets sent into the post for his troubles. Redwood goes after Nana. To the top. Necro comes from behind and tosses a chair at Redwood. Referee rings the bell for a disqualification.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Grizzly Redwood/7:03/*
-Way to make a heel faction complete geeks. Erick Stevens can’t even beat Grizzly f’ing Redwood. Want to know why no one except Redwood and Rasche Brown are fighting the Embassy? Because the faction sucks. Speaking of Brown, he makes the save for his friend as Necro and Nana go to work on Redwood. Brown with a sweet spear on Stevens at least. Geeks try to separate Brown and Necro, but they’re having no luck whatsoever. The battle continues as Brown chops away on Necro. Crowd wants the referees and jobbers to LET THEM FIGHT! Redwood takes Nana down and sends him into the guardrail. Bell continues to ring. Jobbers are being tossed about. Necro grabs the ring bell. Brown punches him in the gut. Off the apron on to the floor. Brown in the ring with the bell. Necro tries climbing in the ring. Stevens separates Necro from the ring. Brown press slams Grizzly on to everyone outside the ring. That brawl was actually fairly well done and got the crowd involved.
-Pick 6 Contender’s Series: Roderick Strong (w/Truth Martini) vs. Colt Cabana
Strong still gets cheered despite coming down with Martini. Heel turn is really taking I see. If Cabana wins, he goes right to the top of the Pick 6. Cabana takes a picture of Strong and even wants him to go naughty. Says a whole lot about Mr. Cabana. Martini volunteers to shake Cabana’s hand. Cabana hugs him. And then Paul Turner. And then a fan. That Colt Cabana. A real friendly man. Lock-up in the corner. Cabana makes kissy faces. Strong shoves him. Arm work from both men. Shoving as both men get a little angry. Cabana sent outside and avoids being nailed in the nuts. Cabana looks for advice from some fans. That might be his worst career move ever. Headlock by Cabana. Strong continues going after a wristlock, but Cabana is persistent with the headlock. Cabana works the arm and then holds the hands. Strong tries to bridge out but gets chopped. Strong tries to slap Cabana in the face. Cabana moves out of the way. Strong goes to console with Martini. Cabana consults with the timekeeper. Joe Dombrowski questions Martini’s managerial credibility. I question Dombrowski’s broadcasting credibility. Cabana with the boot in the corner. Martini trips Cabana. Sliding dropkick by Strong. Clubbing shots and kicks. Chinlock but Cabana reaches the ropes. Chops in the corner. Punch to the back. More shots in the corner. Whip teased but Strong delivers a chop instead. Cabana fires back. Knee in the midsection by Strong. Irish whip. Cabana ducks a clothesline and hits double chops. Kick by Strong. To the outside. Cabana sent into the guard rail. Bodyslam on the floor. Cabana comes back in the ring. Strong delivers a DDT. Cover for two. Strong with a waistlock. Cabana uses his butt to work his way out of the hold. Irish whip and a reverse elbow. Strong hits a dropkick and gets a two count. Seated abdominal stretch. Cabana takes him over. Strong reverses a whip in the corner. Running forearm. Strong goes again but eats boot. Cabana hits a charging Strong with a forearms. Jabs to the face. Strong gets a chop. Cabana with an elbow. Series of chops. Whip in the corner. Flying asshole. Clothesline. 1-2-NO! Strong reverses a whip. Cabana with an elbow Roll-up by Cabana for two. Kick by Strong. Strikes by Strong. Kick. Enziguri. Side slam turned into a roll-up by Cabana. Strike almost sends Cabana out of the ring. Strong pulls him back. He can lift him up for the gutbuster. Strong with a knee and another enziguri. Quick cover for two. Into the stronghold. Cabana roll-up for two. Leaping kick by Strong. Strong places Cabana on the top rope. Cabana punches him down. Sick kick. Strong slowly goes to the top. Cabana gets him in a fireman’s carry. Drop on the turnbuckle gut first. 1-2-NO! Colt 45 but Strong works his way out of it. Cabana nearly gets the billy goat’s curse. Martini gets involved as he hits Cabana with the book of truth. Gutbuster. Sick kick. 1-2-3.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Roderick Strong/14:23/**3/4
-Interesting story told here. Strong once again becomes the benefactor of the interference courtesy of Truth Martini; however, Strong didn’t actually see what happened with the book shot. With Cabana, you almost know what you’re going to get. Nothing too spectacular but nothing offensive. This was fine.
-The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) vs. The American Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards [ROH World Television Champion])
I refuse to call Matt and Nick by their TNA names. I also refuse to call them by a team name TNA gave them. Don’t like it? Too bad. These two met on HDNet at the beginning of 2010, and it was one of the better tag matches of the year. Should expect nothing less in this encounter. Matt and Nick go heel before the match because ROH fans hate TNA, and the Bucks fully understand that. The only thing the Bucks have gotten from their TNA contracts is heel heat in PWG and ROH. That’s it. Richards makes a homophobic comment and announces his hometown is St. Louis of which Collinsville is a suburb. Easy babyface heat there. Edwards and Matt start. Davey quickly tags in. Guess who the crowd is behind. Matt stalls for a bit and commiserates with his brother. Slap to the face. Matt leaves the ring and sells his arm. Another lock-up. Matt slaps Richards in the face. Richards kicks him in the stomach. Matt powders once again. Nick and Edwards lock-up. Into the ropes where Nick tries a punch. Chop by Edwards. Another chop. Whip in the corner. Backdrop. Richards helps with a double elbow. Edwards knocks Matt down. Richards applies an elevated cloverleaf. Edwards helps out with the referee being distracted by Matt. Nick takes Richards to his corner. Matt fires away with right hands. Series of stomps. Nick chokes Richards. Matt helps his brother. Front facelock by Matt. Rip of the eyes. Matt punches Richards into his corner again. Crowd wants the Bucks dead. Richards with a headbutt. Into Edwards’ head. Richards and Edwards have some fun with Matt on the outside. And to think. They’re the babyfaces. Edwards gets a two count in the ring. Clothesline by Edwards. Edwards hits a powerslam. Richards with a flying headbutt. 1-2-NO! Kicks by Richards. Edwards with a series of chops. Boot to the face. Stalling vertical suplex. 1-2-no. Richards with strikes. Matt grabs Todd Sinclair’s shirt and hits a low blow. Nick works Richards over on the outside. Chinlock. Heat segment on Richards. Bucks don’t break out a lot of their cool high-flying stuff. Richards goes over the apron hard, kicks Nick flush in the chest, and allows Edwards to kick Matt in the back. That was a unique spot. Edwards hits a flying kick on Nick. Overhead belly-to-belly on Matt. Running forearm in the corner. Snap suplex. Up top and a dropkick off the top rope. F-5 and kick to the chest on Matt. 1-2-NO! Bucks double team. Edwards holds the ropes down sending the men over. Duel kick to the back. Double dives. Wolves sure have taken a lot of this match. Edwards miss a double stomp. Roll through into an Achilles lock. Matt to the ropes. Rake of the eyes. Tag to Nick. Reverse elbow and a dropkick. Irish whip and another elbow. Richards holds Nick’s leg. Doesn’t matter. Nick hits a moonsault off the apron. Crossbody on Edwards for two. Snapmare but Edwards sends him off the ropes. Acecrusher by Nick. He goes up top. Edwards hits a leaping kick. Superplex. Matt tagged in. Richards with a hot tag. Strike exchange doesn’t go well for Matt. Kick to the chest. Series of reversals and pinning combos by Richards and Matt. Great stuff here. Richards with an enziguri. Backdrop driver. 1-2-NO! Waistlock but Matt continues working his way out. Codebreaker by Edwards. Disgusting superkick by Nick on Edwards. Superkick on Richards. Matt gets a tombstone piledriver. 1-2-NO! Bucks fire each other up. Double vertical suplex but the knees come up. Edwards clotheslines Nick over. Richards works his way into an anklelock on Matt. Roundhouse Kick by Nick. Enziguri by Edwards. Acecrusher by Matt. Superkick on Richards. Richards applies the anklelock again. Matt out of it. Reverse rana. Richards charges with a clothesline! ALL FOUR MEN ARE DOWN! Edwards and Nick tagged. Strike exchange. Back and forth. Ridiculous. Crowd cheers Edwards on. Series of forearms by Edwards. Boot exchange. Alarm clock. Richards with a German suplex. Edwards gets the bridge. 1-2-NO! Richards sends Matt into the guard rail. Edwards places Nick on the top rope. Nick elbows him down. Richards with a release German suplex off the top. Forearm/kick combo by the Wolves. Double stomp across the back by Edwards. 1-2-NO! Edwards picks Nick up. Matt takes Richards outside.Superkick by Nick on Edwards. Dive on him. Matt hits a twisting overhead stomp. Nick in the ring for the cover. 1-2-NOOOOO! Set-up for More Bang for Your Buck. Richards breaks it up. Slaps and strikes for everyone. Series of kicks. Matt with a superkick on Richards. Nick superkicks Richards. More Bang for Your Buck attempt again. Edwards catches Nick in the air. LUNGBLOWER OFF THE TOP BY RICHARDS! ACHILLES LOCK! NICK TAPS!
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: The Amercan Wolves/21:26/****1/4
– It would have been easy for the big television stars to got give 100% and just collect a payday. Thankfully, the Bucks did anything but that. They took a tremendous butt whooping for a lot of the match. Both teams worked really hard and didn’t stick to the tag team formula a lot of wrestling fans pretty much know all too well. Fantastic work by both teams, and this is one of my favorite matches of the entire year.
-Richards puts over his television championship partner. Aww. Richards calls Wolves the best tag team in the world and says he tells like it is. Must be a Howard Cosell fan. Richards wants to steal the show in St. Louis when they come back. Too bad Ring of Honor hasn’t announced a return date.
-Austin Aries, Kenny King, and Rhett Titus vs. Tyler Black (ROH World Champion), Delirious (w/Daizee Haze), and Jerry Lynn
Austin Aries cuts a promo before the match. I typed that before it even happened because him talking before matches has become as predictable as clockwork. He claims to have something important to say. Oh my God. Theme music plays. No Aries promo. BEST. DVD. EVER. Big old six man brawl to start. Aries, Titus, and King clear the ring. Then they proceed to each miss dives. The babyfaces each hit triple dropkicks and brawl on the outside of the ring. King, Titus, and Aries proceed to have their butts handed to them. Lynn fires away at Titus back in the ring as things settle down. Black continues working Titus over. King and Aries go after Haze a little bit. Jawbreaker by Titus. King in. Black hiptosses him. The babyfaces use quick tags on King in the corner. Whip in the corner and a forearm by Lynn. Black with a snapmare. Lynn comes off the rope and hits a perfect neckbreaker. Delirious picks him up in a fireman’s carry slam. Senton. Into the double boots of Lynn and Black. King with a jawbreaker. Tag back to Titus. Delirious camel clutches him. Bodyslam and a stomp to the face. Double team facebuster by Lynn and Delirious. Lynn hits a headscissors on Titus, but there was a blind tag. All-Night Express try a double team and fail miserably. Clothesline/bulldog combination. King takes Lynn into the corner. Lynn cannot fight the heels off. Running dropkick by Aries. Heat segment on Lynn. All-Night Express work really well together, and I think it’s obvious their strength is in these six man tags. Lynn out of a spike piledriver attempt. Slingshot on Aries into the top rope where King is. Champion in with a forearm. Clotheslines. Backdrop. F-5 attempt countered. O’Connor roll into a peroxism. 1-2-no. Titus dropkicks Black in the face. Double team tried by the All-Night Express. Black is caught by King . Royal flush attempt. Pele kick. Black dropkicks Titus in mid-air. Aries runs into Delirious. Black hits an F-5. Delirious with shadows over hell. 1-2-NO! Cobra clutch by Delirious. In the corner with a chop. 10 punches in the corner. Titus goes for a powerbomb. Delirious with a rana. Catches Aries with a headbutt. Fameasser by Titus. Lynn come in. Sends Titus to the apron. Legdrop to the back of the head. King guillotines Lynn. Black dives on the All-Night Express. Aries goes for a dive. Headbutt by Delirious again. Panic attack misses. Kick to the face by Aries. Cobra stretch. Aries focuses on Daizee Haze. Delirious gets a small package for the three count. Cheap win.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Tyler Black, Jerry Lynn, and Delirious/15:45/***1/2
-Austin Aries kidnaps Daizee Haze as the brawl between the other four men continues. Kevin Steen, the challenger for the ROH world title in Chicago the next night, comes out to assault Black. Crossface. Guess that’s what call an easy transition. Music of El Generico plays.
-Steen brings out a chain. Cabana tries to make the save, but Steen uses the chain on him. One of the geek referees also gets choked out with the chain. Generico makes the save himself and tosses Steen out by the chain. Steen runs through the crowd. Generico gives chase. They end up on the platform where the hard cam is just as they did back at Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies II. Generico places Steen on a table. Big splash through the table! Hell of a brawl I’d say.
– The match was going really well, even better than their Death Before Dishonor Pay-Per-View match, until Steen used the chair. Crowd was chanting along and going crazy until the disqualification ending. Then they went dead silent until the post match brawl began in earnest. I guess the feud must continue.
-Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli [ROH World Tag Team Champions) and Sara Del Rey (w/Shane Hagadorn) vs. Amazing Kong and The Briscoe Brothers (Mark and Jay Briscoe)
The women start the contest. Heels are in matching red. Faces in matching black. Cute. Hero tags in before physical contact is made. Claudio tags before contact is made. Kick and a shot to the back. Now Del Rey tags in. Forearm and kicks. Kong with double chops. Chop exchange. Running splash. Jay in. Del Rey runs to her corner. Heels commiserate until the Briscoes and Kong take the fight to them. All kinds of craziness goes on. All the heels sent into the guard rail. Hagadorn is beaten like the coward he is at least. Jay sends Hero back in the ring. Claudio headbutts Jay. Mark helps his brother. Kong kicks away at Claudio. Jay sends Hero back in the ring. KOW sent off. Triple should tackles out of the three point stance. That was cool. Bodyslam and legdrop by Jay on Claudio. Claudio takes Mark into the corner. Hero kicks away. Elbow. Mark fires back with a forearm. Jay kicks away. Kong headbutts Hero from the outside. Kick by Kong. Running splash. Mark with punches and chops. Into the buckle goes Hero. More jabs from the younger Briscoe. Claudio tries to help to no avail. Mark out of the corner. Leaping kick. Blind tag to Claudio. Boot from Hero. Boot from Claudio. Boot from Del Rey. Boot by Hero on Kong. Claudio off the second rope with a kick. Legdrop. Claudio with a gutwrench suplex. Crossbody by Mark. Hero pulls him to the outside and sends him in the barricade. Del Rey sends Mark in the ring. Triple team by the heels. Heat segment on Mark Briscoe continues. Mark hits a reverse elbow on a charging Hero. Neckbreaker. Battle over a backslide. Claudio takes the advantage back for the heels. Claudio with the horse collar submission. Mark gets to the ropes. Hero in with a cravat. Pair of vicious elbows. Crowd is going “HEY!” through the entire match. Actually gets annoying after a while. Finally, some miscommunication leads to a hot tag. Jay with clotheslines on both kings. Claudio sent off. Backdrop. Chop ion Hero. Off the ropes and a dropkick. Clothesline sends Hero outside. Claudio whipped in the corner. Charging clothesline Del Rey flatlined into Claudio’s lower midsection. Death Valley Driver gets two. Claudio pushes Jay off and gets a shut to the back. European uppercut springboard style. Triple team by KOW and Del Rey on Jay. Claudio with the big swing. Hero gets the kick. Del Rey covers. 1-2-NO! Del Rey kicks Jay. Huge forearm sends her down. In comes Kong. Both KOW members are pulled off the apron. Suplex on Del Rey. Running splash. Huge splash leads to a cover. 1-2-NO! Implant buster. 1-2-NO! KOW break the count. Double team. Kong slaps them both. Off the ropes goes Kong. Double shoulder tackle by Kong. Whip sends all three heels in the corner. Mark and Jay get clotheslines. Del Rey roll-up on Kong for a nearfall. Irish whip. Del Rey goes for a German. No dice. Kong sends her in the corner. Blind tag by Hero. Boot by Del Rey. Boot by Hero. He calls for the death blow. Kong backslide for two. Hero sends Kong into the top rope. Jay hits a charging boot. Running clothesline by Claudio. Crossbody by Mark. Big boot by Del Rey. Clothesline by Kong. Roaring elbow by Hero. 1-2-NO! Hero can’t believe it. Hero rolls the pad down. Kong with a roaring elbow of her own. Backfist. Briscoes send Del Rey and Claudio down. Double team powerbomb/neckbreaker combo. Kong with a splash. Claudio and Del Rey break the count. Jay and Mark hit dives. Five people on the outside. Kong eventually hits a dive of some of the people in the match. Briscoes signal for the doomsday device. Hero gets an elbow. Doomsday European uppercut. Kings Reign Supreme broken up by Mark. Jay gets a roll-up on Hero for three.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: The Briscoes and Amazing Kong/23:05/***1/4
-A pretty good match with some solid action and good effort. I guess my problem with the match is they didn’t differentiate it enough from the six man tag which took place a couple matches earlier. The booking should have created two unique matches, especially since the women added a completely different dynamic. I felt like I saw something similar on the same show, something ROH could have easily avoided.
Final Thoughts: An easy thumbs up for the last four matches alone. The fact that we had a match of the year candidate before intermission establishes this as a really strong show by itself. The two six man tags served as solid ways of continuing feuds and forwarding angles while the Steen/Generico was an intense brawl that topped their work at the Pay-Per-View. Even the matches involving the Embassy didn’t offend me that badly.
