ROH: Fate of an Angel 2

-Taped from Toronto, Ontario
-Your hosts are Kevin Kelly and Dave Prazak
-Mike Elgin and Zac Gowen (w/Truth Martini) vs. Grizzly Redwood and Bobby Dempsey
Match in Five Words or Less: Raymond and Able… SAVE US!
Match Summary and Analysis: It’s really sad to think that just as Christian Able and Josh Raymond were hitting their stride in professional wrestling, they each ended up out of the business for two different reasons. I wish this match was just Elgin tossing Redwood around for 30 seconds before killing him dead. Some people have pointed out Elgin looks like Shane Douglas. Honestly, I don’t see it. I see Hugh Morrus. Fairly even contest between the two B-teams. Nothing good or botched. Elgin came off as something of a bad ass, which is good. Heat segment on Redwood. Duh.  After going quite a long time, Dempsey is a house of fire. He’s moving fast… if you’re hitting the fast forward button. Elgin throws his hands in the air and appears to give up. Then he goes back in the ring to nail Dempsey. That was awkward. Dempsey hits a fallaway bridge for two. This match has fallen off a cliff. Dempsey takes a good shellacking. Gowen then misses a moonsault. Elgin goes after Dempsey. Even the announcers call Todd Sinclair for doing a terrible. Another miscommunication spot by Elgin and Gowen. A carbon company of the night before. Double team on Gowen. Redwood hits a top rope elbow for three. Nearly 12 minutes this match got. Started out okay but those last couple minutes were hard to watch. Elgin clotheslines Gowen after the match.
Winner/Time/Rating: Bobby Dempsey/11:38/*
Trial Series #4: Andy Ridge vs. Mark Briscoe
Match in Five Words or Less:
Match Summary and Analysis: Ridge looks like he could be the younger brother of Mark Briscoe. Prazak buries Mark’s wrestling ability before the match. Guess all those six man tags and **** were a part of my imagination. Ridge finally gets his opportunity to showcase his ability and not have to deal with shenanigans or a bad opponent. Very fun little match. Ridge bumps like a madman but doesn’t come off like a jobber. I was even amused by Mark taking Ridge to the outside and beating on him with chops. Ridge’s chest is pretty nasty after eating all the various chops and strikes to the chest. Sidewalk slam leads to an elbowdrop for two. BURNING HAMMER! Done. Very watchable little match. Ridge came off as a rookie who could take a beating. Mark gives him props after the match.
Winner/Time/Rating: Mark Briscoe/7:39/**
–Nice timing on ROH’s part as they show a commercial for the ROH Training Academy. You too can take a beating from Mark Briscoe.
-Jamily Craft vs. Sara Del Rey (w/Kings of Wrestling and Shane Hagadorn)
Match in Five Words or Less: Del Rey KILL!
Match Summary and Analysis: Does Del Rey really need three people at ringside. I like how Craft gets on this show but not a women who won on the Chicago show in Naveah.  Craft doesn’t come off as being totally awful, but Del Rey puts her out quickly with a piledriver. Whatever.
Winner/Time/Rating: Sara Del Rey/4:33/1/2*
All Night Xpress (Rhett Titus and Kenny King) vs. El Generico and Colt Cabana
Match in Five Words or Less: Fine
Match Summary and Analysis: Winner of this match gets a tag team title shot at a date to be determined. Well, that’s a little vague. Generico was supposed to wrestle Eddie Edwards for the television title, but Edwards hurt himself and is completely out. Generico is not his jovial self, very much like Cabana back in the Homicide feud. Serious King and Titus is much better than the jokes they were before. Although I wish Delirious wouldn’t be so blatant with his hard on for these guys. Generico tags in after a few minutes and blitzes Titus with offense. He shows no ill effects from the previous show. Dave Prazak talks about losing the HDNet deal because Generico’s face will destroy televisions. Swear to God he said this. I can’t think of a funny, so I’ll let the paraphrase stand for itself. Heat segment is on Cabana as ANX work the neck. Generico with the hot tag and we don’t have any OLEs! He battles both Titus and King. Tornado DDT on Titus for two. Blue thunder powerbomb also gets two. King grabs Generico’s foot. Titus hits a flying rocker dropper for two. More double teaming by ANX. Cabana joins the party but gets sent out quickly. Nice catch of the yakuza into a suplex by King. Good stuff from Cabana and Titus. After nearly getting a three count, Kevin Steen runs out. Gaggle of men prevent Steen’s interference. Generico dives on everyone. Titus gets a roll up and gets the win. I am so goddamn tired of roll up endings in this company. And ANX getting cheap wins does nothing for them. I appreciate their improvement but have grown weary of them constantly needing help to win. It shows by the fans doing jack squat after the match. They barely even booed. Cabana gives Generico a pep talk. Generico teases taking the mask off.
Winner/Time/Rating: Rhett Titus and Kenny King/15:27/***1/4
-The Bravado Brothers (Lance and Harlem Bravado) vs. Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly
Match in Five Words or Less:
Match Summary and Analysis: I like the gimmick of Lance and Harlem Bravado thinking they’re babyfaces, but they’re actually heels. I think it’s unique, and they actually have the perfect look for it. At this point in the game, they were still sort of babyfaces. So were O’Reilly and Cole. Guess this makes up for all of the heel versus heel matches we’ve seen recently in Ring of Honor. Bravados do show some heelish signs in this contest. Some good work from both teams. Cole nails an enziguri as Lance Bravado charges the corner. O’Reilly comes off the apron with a missile dropkick on Harlem. More double teaming from O’Reilly and Cole. I don’t understand why the pace was slowed back down again. Lance sends O’Reilly into the barricade. Powerbomb on Cole. O’Reilly has to break the count. Neither team can gain any sort of advantage until a combination of moves from O’Reilly and Cole get the victory on Lance Harlem. Good work from both teams. Lots of hope for the Bravados in the future, and there’s no reason O’Reilly and Cole shouldn’t be in the main event by the end of 2011
Winner/Time/Rating: /8:46/**3/4
-Jay Briscoe vs. Homicide
Match in Five Words or Less: Callback To A Better Time
Match Summary and Analysis: This feud goes back a very long way. We’re talking 2004 with the Rotweillers against the Briscoes. Fans show their displeasure for a certain wrestling company based out of Florida. Hint: It’s not FIP. If you were expecting a hard hitting stiffest, then you got what you paid for. I thought this was Homicide’s best effort since his independent wrestling return. Jay Briscoe established himself as one of the more underrated singles wrestlers in ROH. No feeling out process here. These two smack, strike, and brawl in and around ringside.  Todd Sinclair continues his awful night of officiating by taking a chair away from Homicide but then  letting him use the do rag against Jay Briscoe.  Homicide provides a tribute to Eddie Guerrero on the 5^th anniversary of his death by of course performing the three amigos suplex. Then he goes for the frog splash. Jay gets his knees up. He goes to the top rope himself, and his abdomen meets Homicide’s knees. Neither man can keep the other down. We get some high impact moves to build up to the finish. This feels like a 2006 match, and it’s pretty refreshing. Tons of cursing and un PG language too. Homicide unlaces his boot… and Sinclair yells at him? Did he take stupid pills this morning or what? Nothing is actually in the boot. Sometimes, Homicide does things that make no sense. Oh I get it. Jay grabs Homicide’s leg, and the boot comes off just like Wrestlemania 20 when Guerrero beat Kurt Angle. I’ll give whoever came up with this finish credit. It’s not totally original but felt very appropriate and was a great tribute to Eddie Guerrero. Acecrusher gets three for the still undefeated Homicide. This was easily the most enjoyable match of the weekend as both guys went back and forth in multiple styles. Not sure others will enjoy as much, but I dug it.
Winner/Time/Rating: Homicide/16:59/***1/2
-ROH World Tag Team Championship: Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli (champions)(w/Shane Hagadorn and Sara Del Rey) vs. Kevin Steen and Steve Corino
Match in Five Words or Less: Hagadorn Is A Ruiner
Match Summary and Analysis: Steen brings out some jobbers to babysit the ring, so El Generico can’t interfere. Brawl immediately starts us off. Hey, who are the fans supposed to cheer? They go all over the place. Referee Paul Turner stands in the ring and doesn’t count. I did hear the bell ring. Match finally settles down. Steen and Corino start out in control of Hero. Shane Hagadorn’s mere presence ruins matches for me with his shouting and being a complete moron at ringside. Why should the two best wrestlers in Ring of Honor have some hanger on who adds nothing to their dynamic. Heat segment on Corino where Hero and Claudio cheat on an abdominal stretch.  Steen gets a…hot tag? He makes a good accounting for himself and applies a sharpshooter to Claudio while flipping the bird to the Canadians. Hero uses his elbows and might as well have killed Steen dead.  Hero goes to the boots. Steen taking quite the beating in this match. Corino sounds like he has laryngitis. I’m surprised the man isn’t in intensive care. As good of a heel against heel match as you can possibly have I’d say. Corino brings his working boots and even takes the UFO. Claudio Castagnoli… you are ridiculous. All four men nail each other with strikes. Big swing into the dropkick to the side of the head gets 2 ½ as the crowd gets behind the champions. Colby shock into the swanton. Again only two. Steen goes for the sharpshooter. Claudio sent to the floor. Hero kicks Steen out of the ring. Corino with an Eternal Dream for two. Corino hooks a sharpshooter. That has to be a first. Steen gets a crossface to harken back to 2001. Claudio breaks the hold. Challengers go after Hero but can’t put the man away. El Generico runs from the back of the building. The jobbers stop him. Steen in the ring. Vicious double team strikes lead to a death blow by Hero. Kings reign supreme. Very good match until the ending. I can say that about 100 ROH matches this year
Winner/Time/Rating: STILL ROH World Tag Team Champions- Kings of Wrestling/19:04/***1/2
-Steen and Generico begin brawling in the back of the building. Geeks have no luck keeping them separated. This isn’t nearly as long as the Moxley/Homicde brawl from the DG USA PPV thankfully. Cary Silken orders Steen and Generico not to have physical contact and must be 50 feet from each other. Well, those rules will last… one event.
-Truth Marini says there’s three sides to every story. His promos are not worth their salt in Ring of Honor. And what is the point of him being there if Roderick Strong is going to continue cutting shitty promos?
-ROH World Championship: Roderick Strong (champion)(w/Truth Martini) vs. Christopher Daniels
Match in Five Words or Less: Borderline Classic
Match Summary and Analysis: Funny story. Both of these guys used to be employed by TNA. I bet they have a better match than any TNA PPV main event in the last two years. Strong gets into with a girl in the crowd. Kevin Kelly calls the woman a troll since she’s not very tall and somewhat homely looking. Way to make of the fans you’re supposed to be catering to there Kevin. Some mat wrestling to start. Strong slaps Daniels to get him all fired up. Champion takes advantage. Daniels gets his revenge with a slap. To each his own. Strong works the neck and back of the challenger. Well, that makes sense. Daniels does much the same.  Strong bodyslams Daniels’ into a chair after using his powers of deception on Todd Sinclair. Having seen Sinclair’s work tonight, I can tell you how unimpressed I am. Parade of suplexes as Strong continues his verbal joust with the woman he was arguing with earlier. I love how ROH has these plant fans, but then when a real fan is being dumb, security is nowhere to be found. Not that Strong should be responding, but it’s kind of ridiculous. Boston crab but Daniels finds his way to the ropes despite having one arm grabbed by Strong. Strong climbs up with Daniels for a Gibson driver. Battle on the top rope. Daniels comes off with a giant hip toss. A flurry of offense leads to an iconoclasm and a two count. Strong responds with strikes and a falcon arrow.  Gutbuster for a long two count. More forearms and a roaring elbow for two. Daniels counters a Gibson driver attempt into a Boston crab of his own. Well, we’re playing the countering game. Daniels dominates Strong outside of the ring. Kick by Strong. Back first into the frame leaves Daniels in bad shape. A side suplex across the back of Daniels. And you thought their backs would hurt from having to carry the show. Strong goes for a Gibson driver on the apron. DDT by Daniels. Ring frame sure is taking a beating in this match. Things get serious. Barrage of strikes and high impact and submission moves by both men. Although this match goes over a half hour, the 30 minutes flies by. Props to both men for keeping things entertaining.  Truth grabs the leg of the challenger. Daniels goes after him. Strong decks his manager. Angel’s wings. 1-2-NO! Wow. Crowd bought that one. Daniels points to the corner. Crowd wants it. Strong dead weights him. Boston crab attempt. Daniels rolls him up for two. Backslide. Strong hits a Gibson driver for TWO! Uranagi. Best. Moonsault. Knees. SICK KICK! Twisting backbreaker gets three. Ecstatic to see a clean finish in this match. Amazing match to end what was a pretty good show anyway.   
Winner/Time/Rating: STILL ROH World Champion- Roderick Strong/35:21/****
Best Line: Dave Prazak harkening back to where Bret Hart thought the enema should be stuck in the United States.“Stick the nozzle right here in Missausaga.”
Best Finish: Homicide and Jay Briscoe is the easy choice here. Especially with Ring of Honor match endings being generally poor these days.
MVP: Christopher Daniels didn’t need to prove anything, but he showed once again why he’s one of the best and most professional workers in the business. A fantastic ROH championship match, and it’d be nice to see Daniels win the championship before his career is over.
The Verdict: Definitely a better show than Survival of the Fittest. Lots of good matches peppered throughout the show with a fantastic main event to cap the show. Really glad to see Daniels putting on quality performances. Homicide also turned in his best performance too. While the older generation shined in some ways, young guns all across the show also made Fate of an Angel II an easy thumbs up.
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