ROH stars tear it down to virtual silence!
-Davey Richards(ROH World Tag Team Champion) (w/Shane Hagadorn, Eddie Edwards, and Sara Del Rey) vs. El Generico (Kevin Steen) (Episode 20)
Richards and Generico spent most of 2009 feuding over the Ring of Honor world tag team championship. This was to help set up their ladder match at Glory by Honor VIII. With all these people at ringside, you think they’ll be interference? Nah. This is Ring of Honor. We wrestle dammit! Immediate yakuza kick into a blue thunder powerbomb by Generico. Wow. To the outside. Chop by Generico. Richards tries to escape. Generico fires forearms. Richards sent into the barricade. Back in the ring. Richards wants a timeout. Clearly, he hasn’t read the wrestling rulebook. Shot to the bad knee of Generico. Generico back suplexes his opponent to the floor. Big dive. Forearm exchange back in the ring. Headbutt and leg lariat by Richards. Cloverleaf attempt but Generico gets to the rope. Hard clothesline. Forearms by Generico. Kick by Richards. Back suplex. Referee turns his back and of course blatant interference takes place. Choke in the corner. Chinlock. Punches in the corner. Generico misses a dropkick. Another cloverleaf attempt. Generico powers out. Whip by Richards. Running forearm. Snap suplex. Headbutt off the top rope misses. Clotheslines by Generico. Back drop. Clothesline over the top rope. Sliding dropkick but Richards powers. Generico dives between the ropes and gets a swinging DDT. Back in the ring for a two count. Brainbuster attempt. Richards hits an enziguri. Generico catches Richards in a michinoku driver. Yakuza blocked. Dragon screw leg whip. Richards gets caught with a boot. Richards grabs the boot. Alarm clock and clothesline by Richards. German suplex for two. Cloverleaf. Small package by Generico. Kicks by Richards. Hard slap by Generico. Richards responds. Charge but Generico hits an exploder into the corner. Yakuza kick. Places Richards on the top rope. Edwards interferes. Steen goes after Edwards. Sinclair tosses the match out. Despite Edwards interfering first, IT’S A NO CONTEST! HOW DOES THIS MAKE SENSE?
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: El Generico/9:45/***
. Brawl continues while geeks break them up. Fight even goes into the crowd. Hell of a feud these two teams had throughout this year. Just pure insanity for a couple minutes.
-Match itself was going quite well until the dumb ending. I wished Richards had focused more on the knee of Generico based on that big brace being there and announcers going out of their way to mention it multiple times.
-Nigel McGuinness vs. Tyler Black (Episode 21)
Black’s road to losing at Final Battle 2009 continued here. McGuinness’ new angle after losing the ROH world title, and keep in mind this was just before he departed the company, was not going out of his way to hurt himself for the fans. He implied that his offense would change and he wouldn’t take any unnecessary chances. Feeling out process. McGuinness takes Black down with a front facelock. Back on their feet. Elbow to the face. Kick to the back. Boot to the head. Black with a right hand. Shoving and slapping. Headbutt to the midsection. Black lands on his feet. Pulls McGuinness down to the mat. Springboard leg lariat. Elbow to the head. McGuinness heads to the outside. Black teases a dive. McGuinness moves out of the way. Chop by Black. Into the side of the ring. Chop by Black. Kick by McGuinness. Black sends McGuinness into the barricade shoulder first. Back in the ring. Armbar. Kick to the left leg as Black keys in on that body part. McGuinness gouges the eyes. Forearm by Black. Chop. McGuinness turns an Irish whip into a divorce court. Kick to the back and another armbar. Ties up the legs next. Rolls over and twists the arm. Tyler out of the hold but he grabs his arm. Tyler goes into a defensive position. McGuinness drives the arm into the mat. More stretching of the arm. Black out. McGuinness with a kick. Into the corner. McGuinness tries to put Black on the top rope. Settles for a whip to the other corner. Back elbow. Black blocks the Tower of London. McGuinness headbutt. Black out again. Dropkick as McGuinness off the ropes. Black hits a dive. Black comes off the barricade with a lionsault. That was pretty unique. Springboard clothesline. McGuinness small package. Black with a kick to the midsection. Chop. McGuinness with a kick to the back and a forearm to the chest. Third attempt at the Tower of London fails. Peroxism by Black. Lionsault misses. McGuinness drives the shoulder into the mat. London Dungeon attempt. Black with a roll-up for two. McGuinness drives the shoulder yet again. Crotches Black across the top rope. Lariat misses. Springboard clothesline misses. McGuinness jawbreaker lariat attempt nearly leads to him getting bucklebombed. Roll-up into the London Dungeon. Black to the ropes. Black kicks McGuinness away in the corner. Leapfrog off the top. Tower of London FINALLY hits. Black with a kick. Jawbreaker lariat misses. GOD’S LAST GIFT! Black covers and gets another huge singles victory.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Tyler Black/14:35/***1/2
–Very good match between these two. McGuinness didn’t take anywhere near the risks but still managed to come off like a huge threat just by working the arm the entire match. I liked how McGuinness continually went back to the Tower of London but still couldn’t pin Black because of his own arrogance. It was also important for Black to continue getting wins against the top guys like Danielson and McGuinness based on him being elevated once and for all to the main event.
-Non-title Match: Austin Aries (ROH World Champion) vs. Roderick Strong (Episode 22)
Basic to start. These two have had a number of matches over the years, particularly in 2007 when each man led their own faction. Aries hooks the last chancery very early in the match, but Strong gets to the bottom rope. Stronghold attempt. Aries goes to the ropes even before the hold can be locked in. Shove by Strong. Headlock by Aries. Off the ropes and a shoulder tackle. Off the ropes. Aries cartwheels. Strong hits his first chop of the match. Another chop in the corner. First backbreaker of the match. Another chop. Stomp. Forearm into the corner. Chop. Kick to the body. Knee by Aries. Strikes in the corner. Strong turns around and hits more chops. Aries gets hung up in the ropes. One more chop gets Strong unhung. Aries sends Strong’s shoulder into the barricade. Stomp with the bottom of his boots. Aries takes the mats on the floor apart. Aries goes for a brainbuster. Strong hits a gordbuster. He breaks the count. Back outside for a chop that sends Aries into the front row. Fireman’s carry but Aries sends Strong into the ring post. Top rope double axehandle. Back in the ring for a two count. STO. Pendulum elbow. Shoulder blocks by Strong. Aries chokes away along the middle rope. Inverted atomic drop by Strong. Elbow. Clothesline. Whip in the corner. Running forearm. Backbreaker over the shoulder for two. Aries grabs the bottom rope. Strong goes for a half nelson backbreaker. Aries hits a crucifix bomb. 1-2-NO! Strikes in the corner. Whip chest first. Russian legsweep right into a pin. Shot to the gut. Series of punches. Backrake. Running dropkick caught. Aries out of the gutbuster attempt. Guillotine on the back of the neck. Neckbreaker on the middle rope. Aries with a slap. Strong hits a chop. Aries with a knee to the midsection. Whip in the corner. Strong hits an enziguri. Strong drops Aries on his front side. Strike exchange. Irish whip leads to a Strong dropkick. Running clothesline. Another clothesline. Backbreaker for two. O’Connor roll attempt. Aries sends Strong outside. Heat seeking missile dive. Back in the ring. Double axehandle met with a uranagi backbreaker. 1-2-NO! Stronghold attempt. Aries kicks away. Aries to the top. Enziguri by Strong. Gutbuster turned into an O’Connor roll by Aries. Kick to the head. Both men down. Running dropkick into a two count. Last Chancery. Strong gets his foot on the bottom rope. On the edge of the ring frame they go. Strong back inside the ring. Strong hits a slingshot falcon arrow. 1-2-NO! Strong counters Aries counter into a nearfall. Elbows by Aries. Strong goes for another gutbuster. It hits. SICK KICK! 1-2-Aries puts his arm on the bottom rope. Sweet Jebus. Aries to the ropes. He shoves Strong away. Another backbreaker. Stronghold but Aries gets a roll-up. He hooks the tights and puts his feet on the rope to finally get three.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Austin Aries/16:45/***3/4
-Brilliant match between these two. Well-paced and well-worked. The problem I had was Aries won a non-title match against a potential world title contender. The fact that these two never had a main event match for the ROH world title was fairly stupid. I don’t understand why this wasn’t just a world title match. Aries could still win by nefarious means, and the drama may have been even greater. As it is, this was still an excellent match between two of the best wrestlers in the company.
-The Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark Briscoe) vs. All Night Express (Kenny King and Rhett Titus w/random bimbos) (Episode 24)
This would be the first time Mark and Jay teamed on HDNet. Brawl between all four men starts once the bell rings. Titus sent out. Briscoes go for the double team shoulder tackle. Titus pulls King out. They commiserate outside the ring. Titus comes from behind on Jay. Get your mind out of the corner. Jay reverses a whip. Running clothesline. Snapmare and a boot to the side of the head. Chop. Mark in with right hands. Back suplex. Into Jay’s boot goes Titus. Tag to Jay. Double team curb stomp. Right hand on Titus. Titus fires back with right hands. Hip toss by Jay. Double stomp. Bodyslam. Leg drop. Chop on King. Tag to Mark. Back elbow by Mark. Legsweep by Jay. Senton off the middle rope by Mark. Titus with a primal scream. Chops by the Briscoes. Double beel. Back to King. Hard chop by Mark. Vertical suplex. Headscissors. King rolls to the ropes. Forearm by Mark. Sunset flip attempt. Tag to Titus. Kick to the back of Mark. Jay knocked off the apron. Double team by King and Titus. Strike exchange. Titus hits a knee. Heat segment on Mark. Roll-up by Mark. Another one. Titus sends Jay off the apron. Mark with forearms. Dropkick by Titus. Heat segment continues. Mark counters out of a double team blockbuster. Titus pulls Jay off the apron. King hits shotgun knees on Mark. Nice sequence there. Jay finally gets in. Series of clotheslines and a dropkick on King. Chops. Off the ropes. King uses elbows to get out of a DVD attempt. Quick spinebuster by Jay. Mark dropkicks Titus out of the ring. Whip in the corner. Double boots by the Briscoes. Chinbreaker by King. Forearm exchange. Headbutt by Titus. Whip in the corner. Elbow by Jay. King grabs Jay. Titus hits a facebuster off the top rope. 1-2-NO! Rana on Titus. Kick by King. Coronation by King. Choke in the corner. Whip reversed. Jay hits a flatliner into the middle buckle. Mark in. King off the ropes. Mark hooks a full nelson. Into a fisherman buster. All four men in the ring. Titus avoids the double shoulder tackle the first time. Not a second time. King out of a double beel. Superkicks by Jay and Mark. Doomsday device on King gets the win in their return to tag team action.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: The Briscoe Brothers/12:02/**1/2
-Solid return for Mark Briscoe. All Night Express slightly improved in the ensuing months, but you could see Titus in particular getting better by this point. You pretty much know what you’re going to get when the Briscoes wrestle, but that doesn’t mean they’re still not one of the best teams in the world.
-Tyler Black vs. Jerry Lynn (Episode 24)
Black’s parade through main eventers and former world champions continues. Feeling out process. Shoulder tackle by Black. Hip toss by Lynn. Shoulder tackle by Lynn. Hip toss but Black avoids it. Each man works the arm. Ducks of a clothesline. Rana by Lynn. Armbar. Off the ropes. Back elbow by Lynn. Back to the armbar. Off the ropes. Black lands on his feet going for a dropkick. Dropkick does eventually hit by Black. Right hands to the head. Bodyslam. Stomp to the face. Chinlock. Lynn elbows out. Black with a back elbow of his own. Kick to the back. Knee drop. Shots by Lynn. Irish whip. Back drop by Black. Knee drop. Cover for two. Snapmare. Stomp misses. Lynn takes Black over. Enziguri. Springboard clothesline misses. O’Connor roll but Black out. Double crossbody. Both men down. Nigel McGuinness comes out to watch the match. Black runs into a Lynn boot. Swinging DDT but Black pushes him away. Clothesline. Lionsault met with knees. Sunset flip by Lynn gets two. Black out of a cradle piledriver attempt. Lionsault misses. Standing shooting star press hits. God’s last gift attempt. Black gets a roll-up. Kick to the top of the head. Peroxism but Lynn comes over and gets an inverted DDT. Chinbreaker by Black. Takedown into a cover. Lynn bridges out. Backslide for two. Black with an elbow. Pele kick. Black gets himself all fired up. Lynn takes him all the way out to the floor. Lynn teases a dive. He goes to the top rope and nails Black with a dive. Axehandle to the back of Lynn. Into the barricade he goes. Black puts Lynn back in the ring. On the apron. Lynn leg drops Black in the back of the neck. Sunset bomb attempt to the floor. Black with a right hand. Leg drop on the steel ring frame. Springboard clothesline for two. Bucklebomb attempt. Lynn turns it into a rana. Black hits the middle turnbuckle hard. Lynn heads to the top rope. Black hits a pele again. Lynn gets a sunset bomb right into the cover. 1-2-NO! Fireman’s carry into the TKO. 1-2-NO! F-5 by Black as he avoids a cradle piledriver. Peroxism for two. Bucklebomb. Superkick. 1-2-McGuinness puts Lynn’s foot on the bottom rope. Interesting. Black becomes distracted. He jaws with McGuinness. Black goes for God’s last gift. Lynn counters into a roll-up for three.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: Jerry Lynn/16:27/***1/2
-Yet another spot where Ring of Honor completely blew it with Tyler Black. Just amazing. He goes from defeating two ROH icons and former world champions to losing to a man who had no business being the world champion and who would be taken out of action shortly after this match. Black looked like a complete geek for becoming distracted without being physically provoked. Not a good move to have a top babyface consistently lose under these circumstances and never seem to be able to win the big one. And it’s not like Lynn was getting a rematch for the ROH world title any time soon.
-Dark City Fight Club (Kory Chavis and Jon Davis) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) (Episode 25)
I believe this was the Bucks second match on HDNet and the return of DCFC. This was a personal dream match because I thought the idea of two huge men throwing around teeny boppers would equal magic. Nick Jackson and Jon Davis start. Davis quickly uses his power. Duh. Knee to the gut. Blow to the back. Forearm. Off the ropes. Nick goes for an armdrag. He gets whipped into the buckle. Dropkick but Davis no sells. Shove by Davis. Nick responds. Clothesline misses. Punch by Matt. Powerslam by Davis on Nick. Chavis in. Matt tags from behind. Missile dropkick doesn’t drop Chavis down. Double team work on the arm. Very similar to something you might see out of The Rockers in the 1980s.Ten punches in the corner by Nick Jackson. Double team still won’t take Chavis down. Clothesline sends Nick out of the ring. Forearms on Matt. Tag to Davis. Davis hits a leg lariat as his partner holds Matt. Matt with forearms. Off the ropes into a roll-up. Davis hits a lariat. Double stomps by DCFC. Matt with forearms again. Knee to the gut by Chavis. Davis hits a backbreaker and holds it. Matt fights out of the hold. More forearms. Chop misses. Forearm by Davis. Whip misses. Davis knocks Nick to the floor. Whip. Elbows on each member of DCFC. Top rope acecrusher. Hot tag to Nick. He knocks Chavis off the apron. Elbow on Davis. Springboard crossbody for two. Chavis knocked down again. Whip. Double team dropkick. Spear by Matt. Double team splash. Chavis sends Matt outside. POUNCE on Nick. Whip into the corner. Chavis with a clothesline. Double team acecrusher. Matt saves his brother. Matt over. Superkick by Nick. Davis crotches Nick. Matt dropkicks Davis. Spinning side slam by Chavis. Nick with a sunset flip into a quick roll-up for three.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: The Young Bucks/ 7:42/**3/4
-These two teams set a breakneck pace from the time the bell ring. Wish DCFC could have dominated a bit more and tossed the Bucks around. I guess this felt like DCFC in a nutshell. Solid but ultimately underwhelming. Good stuff nonetheless with the time given.
– Number One Contender’s Match: Kevin Steen and El Generico vs. The Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark Briscoe)(Episode 25)
These two teams had an incredible rivalry in 2007. From steel cage matches to street fights to the first ladder war. Now both teams are battling for the opportunity to wrestle the world tag team champions, the American Wolves. Mark starts with Steen. Shoving match. Headlock by Steen. Off the ropes with a shoulder tackle. Mark leap frogs and hits a leg lariat. Generico in and gets kicked immediately. Irish whip. They flip back and forth. Three armdrags by Generico. Tag to Jay. Kick to the midsection. Hard chop. Back elbow. Steen in again. Stare down. Shoulder tackles lead to a slap contest. Snot rockets delivered by both men. Forearm exchange. Dropkick by Jay. Chop exchange. Forearm by Jay. Whip in the corner. Running clothesline. Snapmare. Dropkick to the face. Mark with forearms. Steen sent into the top rope turnbuckle head first. Steen with a vertical suplex. Front facelock. Tag to Generico. Chop. Forearm. Mark with forearms of his own. Double team shoulder tackle. Strike exchange by Jay and Generico. Snap suplex by Jay. Into the corner where Steen tags. Chop. Forearms and a chop by Jay. Irish whip. Steen rolls underneath and gets a DDT. Mark breaks the count. Steen with another snot rocket. He asks Generico to put the boot up. Generico with a right hand. Bodyslam for two. Off the ropes. Generico with a drop toehold. Steen hits a flipping leg drop. Generico with a forearm to the back. Chop by Jay. Kick by Generico. Strikes in the corner. Whip in the corner. Jay with a back elbow. Flat liner into the middle turnbuckle. Hot tag to Mark. Redneck kung fu. Irish whip and an Alabama slam. Chop to the throat and a leg lariat by Mark. Generico gets his boot up on a charging Mark. Generico takes Mark over. He dives on Jay. Mark dives on Steen. Mark and Generico forearm exchange. Generico with a michinoku driver on Mark. Into the corner with a yakuza kick. Mark gets a superkick. Jay and Steen each get tagged. More hard forearms. No one seems to be able to get control. Jay wins the strike battle with punches. Kicks into the corner. Face wash. Generico hits a yakuza kick. Mark with a back drop driver. Steen hits a powerbomb. Everybody is out. Steen hits a lungblower on Jay. To the top rope. Senton is met with knees. Generico in once again. Jay hits a forearm. Generico takes him over. Mark hits a running clothesline and acecrusher. Jay with a DVD on Steen ON THE SIDE OF THE RING! Briscoes hits a double team neckbreaker. Jay covers. 1-2-NO! Briscoes set up for the doomsday device. Steen tears him off. Generico gets a roll-up for two. Exploder by Generico on Jay. Steen has an announcement. CANNONBALL! Generico goes coast-to-coat with a kick. Then the American Wolves run into the ring because certain bookers who shant be named was too lazy to come up with an ending.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: No-contest/13:14/***1/2
-This is another infuriating match because it was going so well before the ending. Both teams were going back and forth. Neither could gain any sort of advantage. Then the Wolves run out at some random time. This is what made the television show so frustrating at times. They claimed to be the only hour of wrestling on Mondays and talked about being a real wrestling show, yet they consistently had lousy endings just like the national companies.
-KENTA, Bryan Danielson, and Roderick Strong vs. The American Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards)(ROH World Tag Team Champions) and Chris Hero (w/Shane Hagadorn) (Episode 26)
This has the potential to be even better than the six man tag on volume two because Strong and Danielson are even better than Steenerico. Pretty amazing when you think about it. Tension is established even before the bell rings. KENTA refuses to shake Hero’s hand. Setting up their future singles match on HDNet nicely. Danielson and Hero start. Hero goes after KENTA. By this point, Danielson was on his way out the door to WWE… the first time. Feeling out process between Danielson and Hero. Strong and Edwards in. Kick and a headbutt by Edwards. Off the ropes and a crossbody. Leg lariat. Strong knocks Edwards’ partners off the ropes. Chops by Strong and Danielson. Kicks by KENTA. Running kick to the chest. Edwards along the ropes. Irish whip and a running kick by KENTA. Tag to Danielson. Kick in the corner. European uppercuts. Edwards take Danielson into his team’s corner. Snapmare and a kick to the back by Richards. Headlock. Danielson sends him off the ropes. Back and forth. Great chain wrestling from both guys, and neither can gain the advantage. Shove by Richards. Kicks by Danielson. Off the ropes. Chinbreaker by Danielson. Edwards with a boot to the side of the head as he makes a blind tag. Wolves double team with a series of kicks. Danielson gets his knees up on an attempted lionsault. KENTA and Hero go at it hard outside the ring. Danielson with a triangle choke on Edwards. Edwards lifts him up. Richards with a backcracker. Two count as Strong breaks the count. Edwards locks in a half crab. Danielson to the ropes. Hero with a kick to the side of the head. Heat segment continues on Danielson. Some stiff blow inside and outside the ring. Danielson with forearms on the Wolves. Alarm clock attempt leads to miscommunication. Hero knocked off the apron. Big kick on Edwards. Hot tag to KENTA. House of fire as he takes everyone out. Hard kick on Edwards. Springboard dropkick on Richards. Yakuza. Running dropkick. Sit down powerbomb for two. Go 2 Sleep attempt. DR driver countered. Double boots. More kicks. Handspring enziguri by Richards. Hero in. Running elbow. Off the ropes with an elbow. Kicks by KENTA. One more elbow from Hero gets a nearfall. Hangmen’s elbow attempt. KENTA backslide for two. Elbow by Hero. 1-2-NO! Powerbomb attempt. KENTA rolls through. A Hero elbow blocked. KENTA with a clothesline. Strong tags. Chops for Hero. Whip in the corner. Clothesline. Forearm. Hero out of the gutbuster. More elbows. Off the ropes. Strong with a dropkick. Falcon arrow gets two. Chop. Hero nails another elbow. Strong with a chop. Criss cross. Flash kick by Hero as the Wolves knock KENTA and Danielson off the apron. Double team work by the Wolves. Edwards nearly gets three. Chop by Edwards. Backpack chinbreaker countered. Kick exchange. Jumping knee by Edwards. Take a breath. Strong catches Edwards in an enziguri. Uranagi backbreaker. Stronghold. Hero boots Strong in the face. Strong maintains the hold. KENTA hooks an octopus on Hero. Edwards rolls Strong up for a long two count. Complete mayhem. Edwards counters a gutbuster attempt into a rana. Double team alarm clock. Elbow/superkick combo leads to Richards hitting a German suplex. Edwards with the roll-up, but the pin is broken yet again. Edwards lifts Strong on his shoulders. Charge met with a boot by KENTA. Bootto the side of the head. Strong with a leaping kick on Hero. Superplex by Strong on Hero. Back suplex by Danielson on Edwards. Super falcon arrow by KENTA on Richards. Jesus. Danielson and KENTA take turns diving. Edwards and Strong in the ring. Back and forth with kicks and strikes. O’Connor roll by Edwards. Kick off the rope. Lionsault misses. Charge misses. Leaping kick. SICK KICK! 1-2-NOOOO! Gibson driver finally gets Strong the win.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: KENTA, Bryan Danielson, and Roderick Strong/16:43/****1/4
-Another incredible six man tag team match. Lots of good back and forth. They turned the volume up pretty early and just went 100 miles an hour for what seemed like over half the match. Good to see Strong get the win since he didn’t do a lot of that in main event type matches on HDNet.
-Hero and KENTA have a shoving match afterward. Foreshadowing?
-Jerry Lynn vs. Kenny King (Episode 30)
They’re really not showing this match because of how awesome it is but more because of the angle that follows. Lynn works over King’s left arm. Ducks out of the ring. King with a dive. Fails miserably. Cannonball off the apron. Back in the ring. King with a chinbreaker. Guillotine. Choking along the middle rope. Choking in the corner. Lynn comes back with choking and striking. Ten punches in the corner. Ten punches in the corner. Suplex right into forearms. King works the arm now. Irish whip leads to a King leg lariat. Chinlock. Shots to the midsection by Lynn. Forearm. King guillotines the neck of Lynn again. Leg drop to the back of the neck. Back drop. Off the ropes. King’s leg lariat misses. Thesz press by Lynn. Charge in the corner misses. King misses one of his own. Sunset bomb for two. Cradle piledriver attempt. King out. Royal flush by King for two. Coronation but Lynn counters. Titus comes down to ringside to save his partner from being piledriven. King roll-up. He holds the ropes and gets three.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: 6:45/*1/2
-Pretty basic match to start the feud between the elder Lynn and the younger King. Problem is having Titus help King out doesn’t get King over as anything except a cheater. The only way individuals get over as either heels or babyfaces is to actually have them win matches clean on the way up. Plus, this isn’t Memphis in the 1980s. It’s 2010. Finishes like this are what help turn long-time fans away.
-Titus and King hit a horrible looking piledriver. This was an injury angle which put Lynn on the shelf and out of Ring of Honor for months.
-ROH World Championship: Austin Aries (champion) vs. Bryan Danielson (Episode 30)
I’ve watched these two wrestle 1,000 times, and not a single one has sucked. I’d be hard pressed to think of a year they haven’t wrestled in one-on-one since 2004. They also had to have wrestled in most every market ROH has ever run. Feeling out process because… I’m not sure actually. They’ve wrestled a million times. They could probably roll out of bed and have a ***1/2 without even trying. Aries works a headlock. Danielson locks in a headscissors. Aries doesn’t dropkick out. Danielson locks an early anklelock. Aries to the ropes and then out of the ring. Shot to the neck and then a headlock. Off the ropes. Dropkick by Danielson. Aries to the floor once again. Danielson teases a dive. Settles for a flying knee off the apron. Danielson to the top rope. Aries knocks him down. Drops Danielson across the rope. Neckbreaker. Off the ropes with a back elbow to the neck. Vulcan nerve hold? Elbow drop to the midsection. Knee to the back. Chinlock. Danielson sends him off the rope. Sleeper hold. Aries sends him off the ropes. Sleeper of his own. Chinbreaker by Danielson. Kick to the back by Aries. Dragon sleeper. Danielson heads on over. Sleeper hold again. Aries kicks himself over, but Danielson manages a back suplex. Forearms by Danielson. Whip. Aries reverses. Danielson underneath. Jawbreaker. Kick to the chest. Off the ropes. Danielson with a knee to the midsection. Knee to the back. Bridges the arms. Aries sends him in the corner. Whip. Danielson over. Aries catches him with a forearm. Heat seeking missile met with a forearm by Danielson. Dropkick off the top. He kips up. Running forearm. German suplex gets a long two count. Danielson places Aries on the top rope. Elbows by Aries. More shots. Danielson hard to the floor. Heat seeking missile hits this time. Missile dropkick. Aries kips up. Danielson with a flash triangle choke. Knee to the head by Aries. Brainbuster attempt. Danielson locks in the triangle again. Anklelock. Aries tries to kick out of it. Danielson sits down. Aries still manages to kick him away. Kneeling down, both men fire forearms. Kicks by Danielson. Tiger suplex but Aries out of it. Kick to the head. LAST CHANCERY! Danielson to the ropes. Aries sends Danielson outside. Turnbuckle comes off. Nearly sends Danielson into the buckle. Danielson blocks twice. Sinclair blocks Danielson. Ram into the other corner. Tiger suplex. 1-2-NO! CATTLE MUTILATION! Aries sends Danielson out of the corner. Shinbreaker into the back suplex. Running dropkick but Danielson grabs the anklelock. Aries sends Danielson into the exposed buckle at last. Running dropkick while Danielson’s head is against the medal turnbuckle. Cover for three.
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: STILL ROH World Champion- Austin Aries/14:55/***1/2
-Nothing too spectacular from these two, but of course it was technically sound and these two guys know how to pace themselves. I actually liked the finish here. They’ve pretty much done it all, so I liked they came up with something a little different. Aries didn’t win with one of his finishers but a simple running dropkick. Danielson’s one huge mistake the entire match cost him one last chance to be world champion.
-Chris Hero (w/Sara Del Rey and Shane Hagadorn) vs. KENTA (Episode 29)
These two wrestled have been on opposite sides in tag team matches for both NOAH and ROH but have never gone one-on-one. Some basic stuff to start. Very quickly turns into a strike exchange. KENTA comes out on top. Series of kicks by KENTA. Hero responds with elbows. Off the ropes. Knee by KENTA. Another knee. Kick to the back of the head. Bodyslam. Kick to the back. Elbow drops. Wraps the legs around the midsection of Hero. Shoulder blocks to the midsection. Hero lifts the boot. KENTA charges and rams his shoulder right into the post. Elbow shot by Hero. Boot to the side of the head. To the middle of the ring. Standing senton. Chop. Dropkick attempt while KENTA resides on the outside. Kicks from KENTA. Hero balances himself on the barricade and comes back with a roaring elbow. Head first on the edge of the ring. Back in the ring. Hero applies an arm submission. Gouges the eye. Boot. Hero threatens to put Hero to sleep. Elbow to the side of the head. Bodyslam and a senton. Arrogant cover only gets two. Elbow to the side of the neck. Slaps to the face. Chinlock into a stretch. KENTA puts his foot on the rope. Strikes by KENTA. Elbow by Hero. Irish whip. Forearm and pair of clotheslines by KENTA. Flying kick for two. To the top. Flying clothesline gets two. Waistlock. Hero goes for a boot. STF by KENTA. Hero to the ropes. Elbow by Hero. KENTA with a boot up. Elbow and a suplex slam for two. more stretching of KENTA’s upper bottom. Elbow combos. Off the ropes with one more big elbow to the head. Hero with a charging elbow in the corner. KENTA catches Hero and nearly gets Go 2 SLEEP. Brief strike exchange. Double clothesline. Both men are down. Springboard dropkick. Running boot. Hero with one of his own. KENTA gets one again. Charging flying kick. Running dropkick. Amazing sequence. Fisherman suplex. DOUBLE STOMP! 1-2-NO! Strike combo. Saiku knee leads to another two count. KENTA calls for his finisher. Hagadorn goes on the apron. Del Rey grabs KENTA’s leg. Elbow to the back of the head. Elbow to the side of the head. Hangmen’s elbow. 1-2-NOOOOO! Go 2 Sleep but KENTA out. Kicks. Waistlock by Hero. Another elbow to the back of the head. 1-2- NO! Del Rey tosses the lucky elbow pad while Hagadorn distracts the referee. Eddie Kingston takes the pad. Kicks by KENTA. Go 2 Sleep finally gets KENTA the victory
-Winner (s)/Time/Rating: KENTA/16:32/****
-A lot of people considered this the best match in the brief history of the HDNet television program. I’m not so sure about that. It was a bit short, and Hero used an awful lot of elbow shots, which got annoying at a certain point in the match. However, this was still awesome (just like the Philly crowd said) and an easy four star must see match.
Final Thoughts: A lot of what I had to say about volumes one and two also apply here. Because it’s a “Best of,” you’d have a hard time screwing a DVD like this up. For 15 dollars, you get three hours of great wrestling with the occasional storyline thrown it. Another easy recommendation, particularly for those who have not had a chance to see a lot of the HDNet matches.
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