Ring of Honor does not have another big bang in Charlotte!
-El Generico vs. Erick Stevens (w/Prince Nana)
Hey hey. An Embassy match that might finally hit the three star mark. Miracles do happen. So does El Generico being great. Stevens starts before the building with a series of stomps. He chokes Generico with his cape. That’s appalling. Into the barricade on the outside. Chop followed by a clubbering blow. Dive by Generico. Back in the ring for a chop. To another corner for a chop. Some strutting. Ten punches in the corner. Leg lariat. Stevens comes back with forearms. Kick by Generico. Irish whip. Stevens with a sunset flip. Generico flips over. Dropkick to the back of the head. Yakuza kick attempt. Stevens catches him and tosses him in a cradle suplex. Stomp. Bodyslam. He steps on Generico. Rakes the eyes along the mask. Elbows. Chinlock. Shots to the midsection by Generico. Stevens tears him down. Choking along the bottom rope. Nana gets in on the act too. Kick to the head. Shoulder tackles in the corner. Chops by Generico. Knees by Stevens. Forearm. Whip in the corner. Generico comes back with clotheslines. Back drop. Stevens reverses another whip. Charge misses. Crossbody off the top gets a nearfall. Back suplex but Stevens hits an elbow. Another back elbow. Michinoku driver by Generico for two. Chop to the chest. Swinging DDT but Stevens hits a side slam. 1-2-NO! Nana yells at Todd Sinclair. Off the ropes. Generico gets his boot up. Stevens takes Generico into the corner. Release German suplex. Running yakuza by Generico out of nowhere. BRAINBUSTAH! This gets Generico the deuce.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: El Generico/8:24/***
-Good exciting way to start the show. Generico actually got the crowd into things right away, and Stevens is very capable of putting good matches together. I wouldn’t have minded them getting five more minutes or so.
-Steve Corino vs. Bobby Dempsey
I realize why Corino had to wrestle a preliminary guy in Richmond (Roderick Strong’s transportation problems), but what is the point of Ring of Honor transporting Corino all the way to Charlotte to wrestle Bobby Dempsey? Least his pre-match promo was pretty good in building to his upcoming Glory by Honor chain match against Cabana and Generico. Then the match starts. We have a feeling out process. Oh no. An appallingly long match develops. I’m talking a whopping ten minutes. Feels like 18 hours. Look up the word barn burner. Then look at the antonym section. You’ll find a screencap of this match. Corino is mildly entertaining at times with his interactions, but in no way should this have gone almost ten minutes. Very basic match with a minimum amount of pure wrestling. Corino cheats his way through a good portion of the match. We even get the thumb in the ass during the abdominal stretch. Dempsey makes Corino suck his own thumb. Side slam. Anaconda vice. Dropkick. Corino with gets a Colby Slam, a move named after his own son. Pair of lariats. Dempsey no sells? Corino hits a left-armed lariat. Dempsey splashes him. Irish whip. Fallaway slam into a bridge for two. Corino sends Dempsey into the ref? In this match? Corino uses the chain, hits a low blow, and hits sitting clothesline. So if you’re keeping score at home… we had a match between these two going ten minutes. We had a ref bump. To top it all, Corino had to cheat to win. Know what that equals? DUD.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Steve Corino/9:33/DUD
-The final insult? This match received more time than the opener. Whoever made that decision should be shown the door. Horrendous decision making there. What a complete waste of time.
-Grizzly Redwood promo. Why does he of all people get freaking promo time on this DVD?
-Grizzly Redwood vs. Necro Butcher (w/Prince Nana)
This is billed as a grudge match. I call shenanigans. At the ten second mark, I realize immediately this match has gone too long. Especially after watching Bobby Dempsey for ten minutes. Necro controls the early portion of match. Nana even attacks Grizzly. After nearly getting powerbombed to the outside. Redwood makes his comeback. Enziguri and ten punches in the corner. Necro reverses a whip in the corner. Airplane spin slam. Redwood with a small package. Chokeslam by Necro. Clothesline for only two. I’ve never wanted a clothesline to win a match more in my life. Camel clutch. TAP! TAP! TAP! Strikes in the corner. Redwood pulls the shirt over Necro’s eyes. Bulldog. Fist to the face. Suplex attempt off the apron. Redwood gets a sunset bomb off the apron. Redwood tosses a garbage can in Necro’s face. When was this made into a no DQ match? Off the top. Necro with a right hand to the face. Tiger driver gets three. Piss poor match with little heat.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Necro Butcher/7:26/DUD
-Seven minutes of this garbage? This gets a DUD and likes it. Horrendous work here. Necro is no great wrestler anyway, but Redwood is another example of just how much the Ring of Honor training academy has been a failure. And seriously, when was the last time a Ring of Honor show had two DUDs on it?
-Non-title Match: Eddie Edwards (ROH World Television Champion) vs. Colt Cabana
Speaking of a joke, Edwards is in yet another non-title match. There’s already been precedence for defending the title on DVD releases and iPPVs. Why not have a title match here? Yeesh. Lock-up into the corner. Clean break. Cabana tries to kiss Paul Turner. That kind of show I guess. More comedy as Edwards tries to work Cabana’s arm. Headlock exchange. Front chancery by Edwards. Cabana locks the wrists and holds Edwards up by his feet. Bodyscissors. Edwards gets a rocking chair. Into a roll-up for two. Cabana with a takedown. He wraps Edwards’ legs up and holds him in a bridge. Grapevine of the leg. Chop. Whip but Edwards goes over. Dropkick to the leg. Series of nearfalls by both men as they roll along the ring. Flying asshole gets two. Bit of an exchange. Double chops by Cabana. Off the ropes. Duck of the clothesline by Cabana. Series of right hands. Elbow. Down for a two count. Edwards runs and meets a boot. Cabana with another roll-up. Double chops. Edwards ducks a Cabana dive. Running knee. Charging forearm. Cabana with a shot to the midsection. Edwards hits a rana. Missile dive. Dropkick off the top. Shining wizard gets two. Chops. Running boot. Cabana hits a northern lariat. Colt 45 attempt. Edwards out and then ducks a charge. Leaping enziguri. Off the rope. Cabana gets his boots up. Flying asshole misses. Edwards with a roll-up and a bridge. 1-2-3!
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Eddie Edwards/11:42/**1/2
-This was like a masterpiece compared to the previous two matches. I liked how they incorporated some unique offense and at least tried something different. Very much appreciated since Cabana especially can get pretty stale.
-The Bravado Brothers (Lance and Harlem Bravado) and Cedric Alexander vs. Marker Dillinger, Caleb Konley, and Jake Manning
Konley and Manning already lost a match the previous night to one member of the other team, that being Cedric Alexander. Bravados were nearly murdered by Dark City Fight Club. Dillinger is new but he wears shiny pants. Babyfaces work Manning over early. Alexander misses a crossbody. Heat segment. Alexander hits a dropkick. Dillinger comes in. Armdrags and another kick using the ropes. Split-legged moonsault misses. Back to the heat segment. Alexander appears to be the one guy Ring of Honor should consider bringing back soon. And I include the Bravados in that conversation. Konley does hit a nice hip toss into the corner. Manning hits a backbreaker/flatliner conbo for two. Then he hooks a chinlock. *sighs* Alexander out and gets a hot tag. Bravados run wild. Harlem hits a dive. Lance with a belly-to-belly suplex. Harlem with a frog splash. Manning breaks the cover. Double team neckbreaker on Manning. Alexander hits a flying knee. Double team enziguri. German suplex by Harlem gets his team the win.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: The Bravado Brothers and Cedric Alexander/8:08/*1/2
-No real complaints here. Bravados were the hometown boys and got the victory. Cedric Alexander looked good in for a couple minutes he was in. Least it didn’t come off like a complete amateur hour unlike two of the earlier matches on this show.
-Kevin Steen (w/Steve Corino) vs. Roderick Strong
Nothing like having a guy who Ring of Honor will want to be a heel champion going against the top heel in the company. Not to mention Strong doesn’t have his usual manager at ringside, while Steen has his partner with him. Feeling out process doesn’t last long. Steen with a snot rocket. Off the ropes and a leg lariat by strong. Steen heads outside. Steen claims to want a handshake. Forearm exchange. Strong with a chop on the outside of the ring. Steen sends Strong into the barricade. He rips at his face and bites him. Strong reverses a whip and sends Steen into the barricade. Now Strong rips at Steen’s face Steen throws a sign into Strong’s face. He throws it back at the fan. Chop by Strong. Steen into the barricade once again. Strong with right hands. One more chop before heading back in the ring. Corino grabs Strong’s leg. Steen kicks Strong back to the floor. Forearms by Strong. Steen goes underneath the ropes and sends Strong knees first into the apron. Leg into the barricade. Leg into the edge of the ring. Appears we have a limb to work over now. Steen takes a bow in the ring. Pressure on the knee along the bottom rope. Choke along the middle rope. Corino takes a cheap shot. Forearm in the face. Strong with chops. Steen takes him down and DDTs the left leg. More jaw-jacking with fans. Awesome. Kick to the leg. Steen ties Strong’s legs up and uses a leg drop. That was different. Straight right hand to the face. More stomps and a snot rocket in the corner. Steen teases a figure four leglock. Instead he stomps and struts. Chops in the corner. Strong responds in kind. Steen with a kick. Vertical suplex attempts blocked. Gordbuster hit by Strong. Right hand misses. Strong hits chops. Kick by Steen. Strong reverses a whip. Sliding dropkick to Corino. Shoulder tackle into a sunset flip. Sharpshooter blocked by Strong. Off the ropes. Kicks to the gut and head. Drops Steen down for two. Gutbuster doesn’t turn out well. Steen sends him on the apron. DDT from the apron back into the ring. Swanton completely misses. Strong hits a gutbuster… no. Sharpshooter. Strong to the ropes. Corino distracts the referee. Steen grabs the chain. Cabana prevents the chain from being used. Cabana and Corino go at it. Steen has the chain again. Now El Generico comes out and hits a dive on Corino. Leaping enziguri. Gutbuster. Superkick. Strong goes 2-0 the weekend before challenging for the world title. Almost makes sense.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Roderick Strong/15:06/***1/4
-A good match. Nothing to get overly excited over, but there was some sound booking here as Strong defeated two other top guys. Not a big fan of Strong wrestling two heels, but at least he went over. Far better than previous build-ups when a guy would go on a losing streak before winning the Ring of Honor world title.
-Ultimate Endurance- ROH World Tag Team Championship: Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli w/Shane Hagadorn)(champions) vs. Dark City Fight Club (Jon Davis and Kory Chavis) vs. All Night Express (Kenny King and Rhett Titus) vs. The Briscoe Brothers (Mark and Jay Briscoe)
First Fall: Four Corner Survival
Rules are simple. You can tag anyone on any other team, but the tags are necessary. Davis and King start off. Feeling out process. Vertical suplex attempt by Davis. Chinbreaker by King. Titus in and he gets nailed with a suplex. Blow to the back. Tag to Chavis and some double team work. Strike exchange. Chavis gets some forearms and a back elbow. Davis back with a vertical suplex. Chavis with a right hand. Forearm. Tag to Davis who boots Titus in the face. Titus takes him into his corner. King in and some double team stomps. Forearms while on top of Davis. Shots to the midsection by Davis. Tag to Chavis. King rips at the eyes. Hero is rudely tagged in. Kick to the midsection. Blow the back. KOW both send Chavis into the corner. European uppercut by Claudio. Knee drop. Cahvis fires back with a right hand. Another uppercut. Off the ropes and a clothesline by Chavis. Forearm. Davis tags and delivers some shoulder blocks. Knee to the midsection. European uppercut. Hero with a headlock. Davis sends him off the apron. Shoulder tackle but no one moves. Hero with a boot. Hip toss blocked. Hero over on a back suplex. Davis gets his back suplex and a clothesline. Chavis fires a shot of his own. Forearm. Davis with right hands. Elbow by Hero. Chavis hits a dropkick. Forearm. Irish whip and a rydan bomb attempt. Jay Briscoe tags and blitzes Hero. Head into the turnbuckle and a series of shoulder blocks. Back in the corner. Claudio knocked off the apron. Mark with jab combinations. Belly-to-belly suplex. Front facelock and blows. Knee by Hero. Tag to Jay Briscoe. According to the rules, they must have physical contact and competition. YOU’VE GOT TO BE BLEEPIN ME! When has that EVER been a rule in the history of professional wrestling? They go through the motions to humor the rules. Kings of Wrestling are both tagged in next. Some criss cross action. No one wants to tag Claudio or Hero. Chavis in. Hero hits a hard elbow shot after Chavis gets some brief offense. Claudio with forearms and then a camel clutch. Double team running senton. Kick to the side of the face for two. Cravat as he rams his knees into Chavis’ head. Claudio with a knee to the back as Chavis tried to get on the offensive. Press slam. Davis breaks the count. European uppercut. Tag to King. All Night Express work Chavis over. Some decent double teams. Spin kick misses. Sky high bomb for Chavis. Titus and Davis in. Forearm and back elbow by Davis. Titus with a boot. Acecrusher. Spinebuster. Catches King in a powerslam . Knee strike on Titus. Titus ducks. Forearms. ANX goes for a double team. Davis fights them off. Claudio takes a swing at Davis. Titus eats a POUNCE! King tosses Chavis into the barricade. Series of kicks by King and Titus. Guillotine on Davis. Double team blockbuster ends DCFC’s night in 19:40.
Second Fall: Texas Tornado Rules
No tags are necessary. Everyone is legal. It’s pure madness. I’m not going to call everything. Jay Briscoe hits a dive on the champions while Mark holds All Night Express off for a bit. Leg lariat on King. Mark over. Running knee on Titus. Hero with a front facelock. Into the barricade. Jay Briscoe is a bloody mess at this point. Mark does a fairly good job back in the ring. Titus placed on the top rope. King with shotgun knees. Jumping rocker dropper by Titus. Jay is a mess. Double team by All Night Express. Claudio with a dropkick to Jay. All Night Express completely ignore the actual world tag team champions and focus on Mark Briscoe. Makes no sense. Mark knocks King coming off for a springboard. Fisherman buster on Titus. Iconoclasm on King. KOW comes in to double team Mark. All Night Express focus on Jay Briscoe. European uppercut. Mark kicks out. H-bomb for two. Big swing by Claudio. Dropkick by Hero. 1-2-NO! Jay still can’t get back in the ring. Titus and King come from behind and nearly pin the KOW. Shoving match ensues. Exchange of strikes. Double sunset flips for two. Clothesline for both King and Titus. Briscoes back in the ring together. Noggin knockers for both heel teams. Double back drop on Claudio. Double shoulder tackle out of the three point stance on Hero. Double beel on Titus. Chops and a beel on King. He lands on his feet, only to get hit duel superkicks. Whip in the corner. Clothesline by Mark. Double team neckbreaker. Hero puts the lucky elbow pad on. Doomsday device hits, and the All Night Express are eliminated in 9:39 (28:19 overall).
Third Fall: Scramble Rules
Chris Hero comes from behind, nails Jay Briscoe with it, and covers the Briscoes for three. Briscoes eliminated in :16 (28:35 overall).
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: STILL ROH World Tag Team Champions- Kings of Wrestling/28:35/**
-I hated this match for so many reasons. I’m going to try and list my issues as concisely as possible. For a company like Ring of Honor, they need to constantly be working on finding, building, and cultivating new stars. Ever since Gabe Sapolsky was fired as booker, there has been a void of new stars. When Tag Wars 2010 was announced, this was the opportunity for Ring of Honor to build up some new teams and perhaps have someone like Dark City Fight Club legitimately compete for the belts. Instead, ROH muddled it up by having three block winners compete for the belt. Then they have this silly ultimate endurance with rules that could barely be differentiated from each other. By having DCFC and ANX get eliminated, it once again seemed to show a glass ceiling within the division. Why did the Briscoes and KOW have to be the last two teams? Why did we have to see Hero use the loaded elbow AGAIN to win against the Briscoes? It’s not that their feud isn’t something I don’t want to see, but I’d also like to see other teams develop, challenge for the titles, and perhaps be ready to feud with whomever the champions are when their feud is over. This concept and match really frustrated me because of the opportunity that was presented, but ROH ultimately did not take advantage.
-Non-title Match: Tyler Black (ROH World Champion) vs. Davey Richards (w/Eddie Edwards)
Jim Cornette makes the same dumb offer he made last night. Since ROH feels the need to repeat itself, I’m going to follow suit. Why would any babyface or heel champion accept defending the Ring of Honor world title when they haven’t already been contractually obligated to do so. I also find it stupid to tease the fans with a title match and then not deliver, especially after a screwjob finish in the previous match on this night. Black teases accepting but of course doesn’t. Rinse, lather, repeat. Black even tosses Edwards from ringside just as he did with Richards the previous night. Feeling out process. Black hits a shoulder tackle. Richards sweeps him over and stretches him out in a submission. Shots by Black Richards takes him over. Kick to Black while in the apron. Strike exchange outside the ring. Black sent into the barricade. Running boot by Richards. Another kick. Back in the ring. Another kick. Snapmare into a chinlock. Richards into the cloverleaf. Kick to the chest once Black reaches the rope. Reverse figure four leglock. Shot by Black. Jawbreaker. Right hand. Off the ropes and he flips over. Dropkick misses. Richards catches Black. Slingshot over the top. Sliding dropkick misses. Back in the ring. Black finally gets the dropkick. Strike exchange. Black sends Richards into the barricade. Chinbreaker but Richards reaches the rope. Stomps in the corner. Snapmare and a knee drop. Chinlock. Bodyscissors. Richards rolls over into a rocking chair. Cover for two. charging forearm. Series of stiff kicks. Sinclair has to pull Richards off. Crowd appreciates that. Charging forearm right into a snap suplex. Headbutt misses. F-5 by Black for two. chop exchange. Black rakes the eyes. Back into the ring. Cocky cover only gets one. Bodyslam. Stomp misses despite his claims of not being able to see him. Richards takes him over. Kick to the back sends Black into the barricade. Missile dive. Dropkick off the top rope. Charge but Black gets his boot up. Richards gets his boot up. Slugfest. Off the ropes and a springboard enziguri. DR driver but Black takes Richards into the corner. Whip. Richards over. Black gets a rana. Kick to the midsection. Bucklebomb countered into a cloverleaf right in the middle of the ring. Kicks to the chest. Last misses. Black with a roll-up for two. Kick to the head. Clothesline over the top. Dive to the floor. Springboard misses. Boot hits. Richards takes him over. Leaping enziguri. Springboard clothesline gets two. Series of counters leads to a series of nearfalls. O’Connor roll but Black hits peroxism. Strike exchange. Amazing. Kick exchange. Black wins it with a pele. Reverse rana. God’s Last Gift! BY RICHARDS! Another strike exchange. Kicks by Richards. Off the ropes and an enziguri by Richards. Belly-to-back suplex. German suplex by Black. Richards out of the corner. Clotheslines. Boots. Superkick by Black. Into the electric chair. Rubix cube. 1-2-NO! Black climbs to the top rope. Richards punches him in the leg. Chops. Black with one of his own. They battle. Black with a series of chops. Richards prone. Double stomp. Springboard coast-to-coast dropkick. Black to the top. Richards with a kick. Richards demands the crowd in a section get out of the way. He wants a DR driver from the top rope to the floor. That’s insanity. Black hits a superplex, rolls through, but Richards counters into an ankelock. Black kicks out. Boot to the face. Alarm clock. Black with a pele…CAUGHT! Anklelock. Black sends Richards to the floor with a little help from momentum. Superkick as Richards charges. Bucklebomb. Immediate clothesline by Richards. DR DRIVER! 1-2-NOOO! Bucklebomb buy Richards. Black spits in his face. Kawada kicks. One big kick to the head. God’s Last Gift. 1-2-NOOOO! Richards over into the cloverleaf. Black finally taps.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Davey Richards/27:36/****1/4
-Well, there’s at least something worthwhile on this show. Another classic match that was almost as good as their match in Toronto and a step up from their HDNet match if you ask me. Some quality work as always, and I liked some of the twists they inserted into this match. Also loved Black pulling one of his trainer’s (Danny Daniels) old moves (rubix cube). Good job trying to save the show at least.
Final Thoughts: Considering you can go to gofightlive.tv and watch their match of the year for 15 bucks or find their HDNet match for free, it’s hard to recommend this show for the main event. There really isn’t any other redeemable match that’s worth watching. Tag Wars 2010 is not only one of the most disappointing events of the year, but it really is one of the worst except for the main event. Not a good start to the Delirious era of booking as far as the DVDs go.
I know there are some bonus matches from HDNet on the DVD, but based on the quality of those matches and the quality of this show, I refuse to review them. I’d send the link to where you can watch them, but ROH now frowns on that.
For more information on ROH and their upcoming shows , check out ROH’s Website. To buy this and many other ROH DVDs, check out their store. To watch all of the videowires that are included as bonus features and check out the tremendous video packages which hype various matches and iPPVs, check out ROH’s Youtube page.. Below is a list of contact information for both the website and me.
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