ROH- Survival of the Fittest 2010 DVD Review

I think I’ve made this known before, but Survival of the Fittest is one of my favorite tournaments in professional wrestling. I think the unique concept is a big reason. What also helps is the fact that it’s one night, and each wrestler only has to win two matches. But it’s still a tough test of endurance by virtue of the fact that you’ve got to win a singles match and then beat five opponents in an eliminator. I had the pleasure of attending the 2009 version. Let’s see if the 2010 version can top it.
-Taped from Dearborn, Michigan
-Your hosts are Kevin Kelly and Dave Prazak
-Survival of the Fittest Qualifier: Rhett Titus vs. Colt Cabana
Match in Five Words or Less: Fine Until The Ending
Match Summary and Analysis: Cabana has a quick announcement before the match. He’s going to beat Titus and then go on to beat the Hulkster. See, the guy who dresses up as Hulk Hogan at every Detroit show in the history of wrestling in the crowd. Except he’s wearing a Red Wings jersey brother. Cabana has some fun while Titus tries to be serious. Who would have thought? Pretty basic opener with Cabana controlling things early. Titus wears Cabana down and makes sure to use a slower pace like any good heel should. Lots of submission holds. Titus wins the match after hitting a drop toehold into the ring bell, which Titus placed on the middle turnbuckle. What a lousy ending. Look, if you want to actually get Titus over and have him taken seriously, he has to win certain matches clean.  This should have been one of them, especially with recent improvements Titus has made. Until ROH has him winning matches in a serious fashion, no one is going to take him in a serious fashion. An awful finish in the opening match of the tournament.
Winner/Time/Rating: Rhett Titus/8:21/**
-Grizzly Redwood gets promo time. Really? He states the obvious before Claudio Castagnoli walks by him to show how much bigger he is. Awesome little moment there.
-Survival of the Fittest Qualifier: Claudio Castagnoli (ROH Tag Team Champion) (w/Shane Hagadorn and Sara Del Rey) vs. Grizzly Redwood
Match in Five Words or Less: Grizzly Didn’t Die
Match Summary and Analysis: My dream for this match was to have Claudio toss him so high in the air, he never came back down. How amazing would that have been? Everyone is just waiting and waiting. Never comes down. Claudio shockingly uses his power to dominate the littlest lumberjack. A shocking strategy.  Easily one of Redwood’s best matches ever even though he gets waaaaaay too much offense. European uppercut by Claudio leads into the UFO and a three count. Director blew the camera shot. Never do a close-up on a move with that much movement. Not an impressive start to the tournament.
Winner/Time/Rating : Claudio Castagnoli/5:17/*1/2
-Survival of the Fittest Qualifier:  Kevin Steen (w/Steve Corino) vs. Kyle O’Reilly
Match in Five Words or Less: Poor O’Reilly
Match Summary and Analysis: That tag match with Cole and O’Reilly against Steen and Corino now makes all the more sense. Mark my words. In two years, this will be a main event on any indy across the country.  Steen starts out quickly cause he’s a dick. His parade of disgustingness (if that’s even a word) also continues. More snot and body fluid goes flying. While Steen does a great job giving the beating, O’Reilly does a great job taking it and selling. I know he’s a protégé of Davey Richards, but they wrestle different styles. To me, O’Reilly comes off less intense (not saying that’s how he really is) and also less inclined to take stupid bumps. Then Steen punches him right in the face, and I feel like I may have killed Kyle O’Reilly. O’Reilly hits a beautiful dropkick off the apron onto a prone Steen. That was sweet. Cross armbreaker locked in for a long time. Steen manages a one armed package piledriver but picks O’Reilly up at two. Oy vey. Steen puts the Generico match on his face. Brainbuster gets three for Steen. Way to make O’Reilly look like a complete jobber. I’m not saying he should have won, but Steen won the match and took a lot of the offense. Steen tries to attack O’Reilly with a chair after the match. Corino says it’s too much and puts O’Reilly over a little bit. Foreshadowing? Corino gives Steen a pep talk about Final Battle. Corino says they’ll both be in the finals of the tournament and then they’ll win the ROH tag team titles the next night. Steen goes after a guy in an El Generico match in what seemed to be a pretty insane situation.  Steen tears the barricades down. Corino ends his diatribe by calling out Adam Cole,
Winner/Time/Rating: Kevin Steen/10:21/**1/4
-Survival of the Fittest Qualifier:  Steve Corino vs. Adam Cole
Match in Five Words or Less: Adam Cole Is A Jobber
Match Summary and Analysis: What’s up with the heels attacking the babyfaces before the bell in every match? Corino spends a good portion of the match selling the left arm that Colt Cabana brutalized back in Chicago. This match didn’t exactly showcase  Cole. Steen gets on the microphone and decides to commentate the rest of the match. Cole rolls Corino multiple times throughout the match. In fact, it’s about the only offense he manages. Cole gets one final roll-up out of the abdominal stretch for the victory. Steen immediately comes in and beats Cole up. Biting, punching, the works. Corino continues to double team. What the hell was the point of Cole winning? He’s got no offense, then got beaten up after the match. Then to complete the jobber treatment, Generico runs out and Cole is disregarded like nothing. Generico controls on Steen until Corino helps him. Steen puts Generico through a table with a Michinoku driver. Did I mention Generico has to wrestle Kenny King as part of the tournament? Steen says Generico dies at Final Battle. Steen goes after generic in the entranceway cause he’s a dick.
Winner/Time/Rating:  Adam Cole/6:49/*
-Survival of the Fittest Qualifier: Eddie Edwards (ROH World Television Champion) vs. Chris Hero (ROH World Tag Team Champion)(w/Shane Hagadorn and Sara Del Rey)
Match in Five Words or Less: Eddie Edwards Ain’t Too Bright
Match Summary and Analysis: Chris Hero is of course the 2007 Survival of the Fittest winner. He’s the only man who ‘s ever eliminated all five people in the SOTF final. I’m desperate for a quality match with a clean ending at this point. Good start as these two deliver some stiff chops and strikes in the early going. Good back and forth between these two men. Edwards gets a tremendous kick in the face as Hero tries to skin the cat. Then Edwards dives and crashes hard on the floor. Well, he done gone and injured himself. Hero then accidentally elbows Hagadorn while on the apron. Edwards rolls him up and switches over into the Achilles lock. Hero taps immediately.
Winner/Time/Rating: Eddie Edwards/13:44/**1/2
-Survival of the Fittest Qualifier: Kenny King vs. El Generico
Match in Five Words or Less: Yawn
Match Summary and Analysis: I could not disagree with every aspect of this match more.  Here you have Generico getting put through a table, and he actually starts out getting some offense, including a headscissors. And to me, not having Generico win this entire tournament was a poor decision. For this company to pretend he’s not amongst the best singles wrestlers in the company at this point drives me crazy. Then there’s Kenny King. Receiving the biggest push of his career and getting a huge opportunity with the company. What does it say about him that he doesn’t take Generico out in five minutes or less? This is a very slow paced match, and the crowd heat is non-existent. It’s actually shocking to hear a Generico match have such little heat attached to it. The black mask he’s wearing probably did him no favors.  King gets a couple shots to the ribs and rolls Generico up out of nowhere. Stunned King won relatively clean.
Winner/Time/Rating: Kenny King/7:55/**
Homicide vs. Andy Ridge
Match in Five Words or Less: Waste of Homicide
Match Summary and Analysis: If Homicide was some great technical wizard, I could see the value of putting Ridge in there for a trial series. I guess this amounts to a night off for Homicide, but I’d rather see Ridge take on guys who have more of a reputation for their in ring prowess. I’m not bagging on the skills of Homicide. I’m a fan of the guy and will defend him from those who have bagged on him recently. I’m just saying there are better opponents for Ridge to face, and Homicide is back to being “just another guy” as opposed to being someone special. Match goes about ten minutes, and Ridge gets what can only referred to as a minimum amount of offense. Ridge goes for a big kick but runs into an acecrusher. LARIAT gets Homicide the victory. This merely existed.
Winner/Time/Rating: Homicide/9:52/**
-Truth Martini asks who the House of Truth is? He mentions Josh Raymond is no longer with the group, and Christian Able is injured. Who can possibly replace these two men?  This is a very low key promo. Not at all what I’ve come to expect from Truth Martini. How is that AAW lets Martini be this bombastic personality, and ROH neuters the guy? Makes no sense. Especially considering Jim Cornette has an association with the company.
Christopher Daniels, Mark Briscoe, and Jay Briscoe vs. Roderick Strong (ROH World Champion), Mike Elgin, and Zack Gowen (w/Truth Martini)
Match in Five Words or Less: Perfectly Acceptable Match
Match Summary and Analysis: I refuse to call Martini’s group House of Truth out of principle and respect to the previous incarnation. In all seriousness, Gowen looks very good from a physical standpoint and a gear standpoint. He looked very professional, and I hope he continues to do well in his life, even if ROH isn’t part of this life on a regular basis. He makes a good showing of himself in the amount of time he’s in the ring. Ironically, he (along with Krotch) defeated Truth Martini to win the AAW tag team titles in 2007. Although Elgin and Gowen are not ROH regulars, they don’t embarrass themselves here. Helps to be in the ring with three good to great workers. And to have the ROH world champion on their team.  Maybe it’s just me, but Mike Elgin looks exactly like Hugh Morrus in the early days. Thoughts, PWP Omniverse^TM? I’m struggling to find things to say about  the match because it’s solid but absolutely nothing spectactular. Fine for a strong show. Bad for a show that desperately needed something special to elevate it even to being worth a thumbs in the middle.Nice sequence when everyone does a dive to the outside except Elgin, who gets backdropped over. Mark even breaks out the moonsault off the top rope to the outside. Strong, Elgin, and Gowen focus on Daniels with a triple team sequence. Jay Briscoe makes the save and continues his simmering rivalry with Roderick Strong by having a nice back and forth with him.   Samoan drop/fallaway slam by Elgin! That’s worth a quarter star right there.  Daniels rolls him over. Gowen accidentally hits Elgin with a dropkick. Angel’s Wings and Daniels gets the win for his team. Would have preferred Daniels defeat Strong or Elgin, but at least he didn’t lose.
Winner/Time/Rating: Christopher Daniels, Jay Briscoe, and Mark Briscoe/20:59/***1/2
-Survival of the Fittest 2010: Kenny King vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Adam Cole vs. Kevin Steen vs. Claudio Castagnoli (ROH World Tag Team Champion)( vs. Rhett Titus
Match in Five Words or Less: *Insert crickets*
Match Summary and Analysis: Kevin Steen has some handcuffs removed before the match. Then El Generico runs out and yakuza kicks Steens. DDT off the barricade to the floor. Another yakuza before Steen is sent back in the ring. This all before the bell rings. Steen essentially no sells but eats an immediate bicycle from Claudio Castagnoli and gets pinned. Steen runs to the back. The man just ate two yakuza kicks, a DDT to the floor and then a bicycle kick. WHY IS HE RUNNING TO THE BACK LIKE NOTHING?  Titus and King double team Castagnoli next.  Cole begins with a flurry and battles ANX as best he can. King and Cole duke it out. Solid action from these two. King and Titus resume their double teaming tactics. Edwards reluctantly comes in to continue beating Edwards down. This heat segment on Adam Cole goes on FOREVER.  Claudio clothesline Cole and pins him. What a complete waste of time. Here you have Adam Cole getting beaten on and beaten on. Then he gets beat. ANX goes to work on Claudio next.  Claudio makes his own comeback (remember he’s a heel), nails a pop-up European uppercut on Titus, and pins him. Edwards comes in. Claudio slaps him and nails him in the injured left arm.  Edwards heads to back. Since he’s legal in the match, shouldn’t he have been counted out? I know I’m supposed to shut my brain off when watching wrestling, but yeesh. Claudio waves good-bye and of course fails to see Kenny King come from behind. Springboard blockbuster gets two. King and Claudio go back and forth. Crowd gets behind Kenny King. Really? King counters out of the bicycle kick and bridges him over into a suplex. UFO for two. Pace of the match has finally picked up. Edwards comes back to ringside. Claudio again becomes distracted. Edwards kicks him. King gets a royal flush and pins Claudio. This entire show has been a blueprint for how to have guys win but still not get over. So now we have Eddie Edwards, who’s injured, against Kenny King, who needed help from his partner or a distraction to actually survive. King goes to a half crab. Umm, he’s wearing a bandage on his arm. WORK THE ARM! Achilles lock (with the bad arm) and Kenny King taps. So King just tapped to a one arm man while in a hold being grabbed on with the bad arm.
Winner/Time/Rating: 2011 Survival of the Fittest- Eddie Edwards/19:54/**3/4
-A professional wrestling organization has two goals in my view. The first and most important is to protect their wrestlers. The second is to entertain the fans to the best of their ability. It was blatantly obvious Eddie Edwards could not put forth the kind of effort required needed to have a great Survival of the Fittest 2011. There’s nothing wrong with this. ROH should have scratched him from the match or taken him out early in the night. It feels like we’re living in a world of extremes. Either companies aren’t planning anything, or they’re unwilling to change their plans despite common sense telling them otherwise. Would it really have been so bad to change the booking plans and have Claudio Castagnoli win?
Best Line: Kevin Steen of course, this time during the Corino/Cole match, “Todd, if you touch him one more time, I’m going to rape you.”
Best Finish: None of the finishes were anything special, so I’m giving props to Mike Elgin for the fallaway slam/samoan drop move. Very cool and it will help Elgin get over quickly.
MVP: My default winner is Eddie Edwards for winning the tournament and battling through the injury to finally pick up the victory in the end. Not a very impressive award winner unfortunately.
The Verdict: Easily the worst Survival of the Fittest ever. 2007 wasn’t a great show, but at least it told a good story. At least you had Hero cheating and conniving his way to beating six men. This tournament was missing so much. Crowd didn’t seem into anything. The wrestling wasn’t good. The finishes, especially in the first round, were brutal and didn’t make anyone look particularly good. It’s tough to say whether this was the worst show of 2010, but I can say with absolute certainty this is a thumbs down.
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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