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Match #1: Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards vs. Jay and Mark Briscoe vs. Nigel McGuinness and Claudio Castagnoli (All Star Extravaganza IV – 12/26/08)
This was the debut of the American Wolves as a team. There’s a feeling out process between all three teams early on, with Richards coming out on the winning end. Nigel and Claudio take over with some underhanded tactics. Mark connects with a top-rope elbow on Claudio. Richards interrupts a springboard doomsday device from the Briscoes and Claudio catches Jay with a pop-up European uppercut. Edwards comes out of nowhere and rolls up Claudio to eliminate the European Union. Claudio becomes extremely upset and flings the timekeeper into the front row. The Wolves isolate Mark until he hits a back suplex on Edwards and makes the tag. Jay hits a spinebuster on Richards along with a falcon arrow. Edwards utilizes the same move that injured Mark (a top-rope knee drop) on Jay. Both teams exchange strikes. The Wolves hit their superkick-german suplex combination on Jay for a nearfall. They attempt a doomsday device but Mark breaks it up. Jay hits the Jay Driller on Edwards soon after for the win at 19:53. The booking is confusing, as you’d think that the Wolves would have benefited much more from a win in their first bout as a team. The match featured some decent action with a couple of unique interactions and ended up being an acceptable way to utilize Nigel without having to throw a predictable title defense on the card. **¾
Match #2: ROH World Tag Team Titles: No Disqualification: Kevin Steen and El Generico © vs. Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards (7th Anniversary Show – 3/21/09)
Steen and Generico rush the ring. Steen cannonballs Edwards while Generico connects with a yakuza kick on Richards. Steen follows with a dive to the outside. Back in, Steen hits a front-flip leg drop on Edwards, with Edwards’ head in between two chairs. Generico misses a maneuver onto the chairs, allowing the American Wolves to take over. They go to work on Steen’s previously injured knee. Steen sends the Wolves to the floor and Generico follows out with a double-jump dive. Steen hits his pumphandle neckbreaker on Richards and utilizes a ladder against him. Generico misses a springboard dive and crashes into the ladder. The Wolves hit a chair shot-german suplex combination on Generico for a nearfall. Steen hits a limping cannonball on Edwards and Richards. Generico adds a ladder-assisted coast-to-coast dropkick. Steen hits a chair-assisted pumphandle neckbreaker on Edwards. Richards finds an opening to trap Steen in a texas cloverleaf. Generico accidentally hits Steen with a chair. Richards misses a shooting star press. Steen gains some revenge by going to work on Richards’ leg. Steen locks in a sharpshooter, allowing Steen and Generico to retain their titles at 16:28. This was a step above their previous match at Motor City Madness 2009. They utilized weapons in creative ways and made the stipulation worthwhile. I especially liked the finish with Steen attacking Richards’ leg. Very good showing here that made you look forward to their future encounters. ***½
Match #3: ROH World Tag Team Titles: Tables Match: Kevin Steen and El Generico © vs. Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards (ROH on HDNet #11)
The American Wolves attack Steen and Generico during their entrance. Generico drop toe holds Richards into a flipping leg drop from Steen. Edwards gets caught by a few sentons from Steen and Generico. The Wolves are thrown into a table. Generico overhead suplexes Edwards into the turnbuckles. Richards kicks out Steen’s bad knee and connects with the Alarm Clock on Generico. Edwards superkicks Generico and Richards follows by german suplexing him through a table. Steen gets slammed knee-first through a table. The Wolves take control until Generico hits a tornado DDT on Richards and lands a dive to the floor onto Edwards. Steen powerbombs Richards into a propped table. Ouch. Steen lands a swantan onto Richards and Generico follows with a top-rope splash for a nearfall. Steen and Generico stack two tables at ringside. The Wolves fight back with stereo offense on Steen. Richards misses a shooting star press. Generico hits a tornado DDT through the ropes on Edwards. Steen hits a corner cannonball on Richards and Generico splashes Edwards through a table at ringside. Steen applies a sharpshooter on Richards but Shane Hagadorn comes out to break the hold. Hagadorn falls victim to a package piledriver. Steen goes up top but Richards pushes him through the double stack of tables. Edwards low blows Generico and the Wolves hit a doomsday ace crusher through a table to become the new ROH World Tag Team Champions at 15:11. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a “tables are legal” match, but these two teams used the stipulation in creative ways and I’m not sure what more you could ask for from the stipulation. These type of contests can be tough because the crowd is only interested in seeing the weapon of choice, but they delivered on the table spots and everything made sense. I wish they would have expanded upon the work on Steen’s injured knee, but this was a satisfying way for the titles to change hands. ***¾
Match #4: ROH World Tag Team Titles: 2/3 Falls: Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards © vs. Kevin Steen and Jay Briscoe (The Homecoming II – 4/25/09)
The American Wolves sneak in through the crowd and attack from behind. Everyone brawls around ringside, with Steen and Jay gaining the upperhand. Back in, Steen hits a cannonball on Edwards followed by a facebuster from Jay. The faces dominate the early portion of this match, lighting up Edwards with strikes. Richards is finally able to make the blind tag and the Wolves isolate Steen. Steen finds an opening to hit a powerbomb on Richards. He applies a sharpshooter on Edwards and the challengers are up one fall. Edwards is able to recover and hit a dragon screw leg whip on Steen. The Wolves target Steen’s left leg until he’s able to make the tag after pegging Richards with a superkick. Jay hits a spinebuster on Richards but the Wolves respond with kicks. Edwards hits his backpack chinbreaker on Jay along with a german suplex. Richards goes back to Steen’s leg and applies a texas cloverleaf to win the second fall. We are tied 1-1. Richards escapes the package piledriver and synchs in another cloverleaf on Steen. Jay breaks the hold and trades kicks with Richards. Steen lands a dive to the floor and the challengers follow with a swantan-splash combination on Richards back in the ring. Steen and Richards apply dueling sharpshooters. Steen hits a package piledriver on Richards for a nearfall. Edwards low blows Steen. When Steen tries to return the favor, he accidentally strikes Jay. The Wolves hit their superkick-german suplex combination on Jay for a nearfall. The Wolves follow with a doomsday ace crusher to retain their titles at 24:40 Fantastic match that played with the 2/3 fall rules in a smart way. Edwards tapped away the first fall as either a means of preservation or knowing that Steen’s leg had yet to be worked over. When the second fall started, the Wolves went right to work on the leg and smartly won the second fall. The third fall featured some great nearfalls, especially after Steen inadvertently hit Jay. The Wolves were really picking up steam as a unit at this point. ****
Match #5: ROH World Tag Team Titles: Submission Match: Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards © vs. Kevin Steen and El Generico (Manhattan Mayhem III – 6/13/09)
Everyone brawls around ringside, with the challengers dominant. Steen lands a dive to the outside onto the American Wolves. In the ring, Steen locks in a sharpshooter on Richards but Edwards breaks it up. Steen follows with a front-flip leg drop on Richards and he gets worked over. The Wolves find an opening to isolate Steen, targeting his injured leg. Generico reenters the match with a flying crossbody and lands a dive to the floor onto Edwards. Steen catches Richards with a superkick and hits a corner cannonball. He locks in a sharpshooter but Richards makes the ropes. Generico connects with two yakuza kicks on Richards. Edwards saves his partner. Richards lands a shooting star press to the outside onto everyone. Back in, Generico hits a michinoku driver on Richards but falls victim to a dragon screw leg whip. Edwards snaps off a top-rope hurricanrana on Generico. Richards applies a texas cloverleaf but Steen makes the save. Edwards accidentally superkicks Richards, allowing Steen to apply a sharpshooter. Generico busts out a sharpshooter of his own on Edwards. Edwards makes the ropes and elevates Steen to the floor. Generico yakuza kicks Edwards but Richards hits him with the ring bell. Edwards loosens Generico’s knee brace and synchs in the achilles lock. The Wolves retain their titles at 18:40. These two teams cannot have a bad match together. Once again, they worked their stipulation effectively. For instance, Generico is not known to be a technical wrestler. His first attempt to win the match comes when he applies a sleeper hold. Later on, when the titles are almost in reach, he finds the ability to perform a sharpshooter out of sheer adrenaline. Maybe I’m reaching, but the little touches here put this match over the top. ***¾
Match #6: ROH World Tag Team Titles: Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards © vs. Bryan Danielson and Tyler Black (ROH on HDNet Episode 15)
I thought their match at Tag Title Classic is one of the best matches in ROH history. The match begins with a feeling-out process between both teams. Danielson catches Richards with a dropkick and he grabs a chair at ringside in frustration. Edwards calms him down. Danielson catches Edwards with some well-timed kicks. Black stomps Richards across the chest and the challengers are in firm control. There’s a pretty intricate exchange ending with Danielson landing a dive to the floor onto the American Wolves. Back in, Richards catches Danielson in mid-air with a dropkick. The Wolves work over Danielson until he connects with a double dropkick and makes the tag. Black dives to the floor onto both of his opponents. He reenters the ring with a springboard lariat on Richards. Edwards hits a sit-out gourdbuster on Black and Richards adds a missile dropkick. Danielson connects with a missile dropkick on Richards. The Wolves send Danielson to the floor and connect with an assisted Alarm Clock on Black. They follow with a double team backcracker for a nearfall. Everyone trades strikes. Black superkicks Richards while Danielson traps Edwards in a triangle choke. Some miscommunication by the challengers allows Richards to roll up Black and the Wolves retain their titles at 18:23. This felt too much like a standard television main event, if that makes sense. At the very least, the finish felt completely out of place given the solid action that came before it as well as their classic previous encounter. The match was still worthwhile, but this paled in comparison to the Tag Title Classic contest. ***¼
Match #7: Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards vs. Cheech and Cloudy (ROH on HDNet Episode 23)
Up In Smoke snap off stereo headscissors but both wipe out on plancha attempts. In the ring, Cloudy connects with a missile dropkick on Edwards and an enzuigiri on Richards. The American Wolves fire back with an assisted Alarm Clock and a double team backcracker. Edwards applies the achilles lock on Cloudy for the victory at 2:01. Squash city. Hog says “slap the porpoise!” ½*
Match #8: ROH World Tag Team Titles: Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards © vs. Jay and Mark Briscoe (Final Countdown Tour: Chicago – 9/19/09)
They waste no time getting intense. Mark hits an overhead suplex on both American Wolves. The Briscoes hit a double team splash mountain on Edwards. They follow with stereo shoulder tackles. Mark lands a middle-rope senton onto Richards. Mark wanders into the wrong corner, allowing the Wolves to isolate him. Jay eventually receives the hot tag and hits a death valley driver on Richards. Jay gets caught by a missile dropkick and the Wolves work him over. He flatlines Edwards into the middle turnbuckle and hits a spinebuster on Richards, allowing him to make the tag. Mark lands a flying crossbody onto Edwards and hits a fisherman buster. He hits an ace crusher from the middle rope on Edwards but Richards plasters him with a handspring enzuigiri. Edwards hits a dragon screw leg whip on Mark’s bad leg. Edwards snaps off a top-rope hurricanrana on Mark and Richards locks in a texas cloverleaf. Jay breaks up the hold. Everyone connects with strikes and all four men are down. The Wolves hit an assisted Alarm Clock on Jay. They follow with a double team backcracker. Edwards accidentally superkicks Richards. Mark missile dropkicks Edwards and Jay hits the Jay Driller for a nearfall. The Briscoes hit the doomsday device on Edwards. During the pin attempt, Richards missile dropkicks the referee, drawing a disqualification at 18:11. As expected, this was a very good match between these two teams. They kept things interesting early on and the last five minutes featured some great action. The finish is obviously going to put a damper on things here as I never like DQ endings in title matches. However, this DQ ending happened to look pretty awesome, with Richards plastering Paul Turner with a dropkick right before the three count. There was a lot to like about this match and I’d assume a rematch was in the cards. ***½
Match #9: ROH World Tag Team Titles: Ladder War: Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards © vs. Kevin Steen and El Generico (Glory By Honor VIII: The Final Countdown – 9/26/09)
Edwards is coming into this match with a broken elbow. Steen and Generico gain the advantage with some early ringside brawling. Ladders come into play. Steen back suplexes Richards onto a ladder. Richards hits Generico with a chair to stop him from climbing. Steen hits a chair-assisted leg drop on Edwards. The American Wolves send Generico into a ladder. The Wolves handcuff Steen’s hands behind his back and send Generico through a table with their superkick-german suplex combination. Richards wraps a chain around his boot and repeatedly kicks Steen in the head. Steen low blows Richards and stops Edwards from retrieving the belts. Generico takes the handcuff keys from Shane Hagadorn at ringside and releases Steen. A ladder is setup with a table on each side of it. Generico lays out Edwards with a chair shot and hits a michinoku driver on Richards. Steen slams Edwards into a ladder. Richards tornado DDTs Steen through a table on the floor. Generico sunset bombs Richards from a ladder through a table. Edwards back drops Generico from a ladder through a table. He superkicks a chair into Steen’s face. Hagadorn brings a big ladder into the ring. Generico lands a dive to the floor onto Richards while Steen takes out Richards with a chair shot. Steen climbs the ladder, but Edwards pushes him to the floor and through a table. Generico and Edwards battle on top of the big ladder. Richards hits Generico with a chair and Edwards applies an achilles lock through the rungs. Richards retrieves the belts and the Wolves retain their titles at 23:56. They were in a unique situation with Edwards’ broken elbow. However, they still managed to deliver some high spots without putting Edwards in jeopardy. It would be wrong to knock them for not going full speed ahead for the entire duration. Nevertheless, there were multiple points in the match where there was a noticeable lull in the action. Another aspect that I didn’t like was the lack of suspense. There was a genuine feeling that anyone could win given Edwards’ injury and the one time the match was going to end…it ended. You have to give these two teams credit for delivering under these circumstances, but I very much preferred the original Ladder War. ***¾
Match #10: ROH World Tag Team Titles: Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards © vs. Bryan Danielson and Roderick Strong (ROH on HDNet Episode 33)
Richards and Danielson wrestle to a stalemate. Strong catches Edwards with a leg lariat and the challengers hit a double team suplex. Danielson blasts away at Edwards with kicks in the corner. Edwards comes off the middle rope with a codebreaker on Danielson while Richards tornado DDTs Strong onto the floor. The American Wolves isolate Danielson until he blocks a handspring enzuigiri from Richards and makes the tag. Strong dropkicks Richards and powerslams Edwards. He falcon arrows Edwards onto Richards and hits a half nelson backbreaker on Richards. Edwards hits a sit-out gourdbuster on Strong and Richards follows with a missile dropkick. Richards traps Danielson in a texas cloverleaf while Edwards applies the achilles lock on Strong. The challengers hit the hart attack on Edwards. Richards saves his partner from the Stronghold. Everyone connects with strikes and all four men are down. Richards sends Danielson and himself to the floor with a clothesline. Edwards and Strong trade forearms and Edwards hits his backpack chinbreaker. Danielson connects with a missile dropkick on Edwards and dives to the floor onto Richards. Strong plasters Edwards with the Sick Kick for a nearfall. Richards low blows Strong and the Wolves hit their double team backcracker on him. Edwards applies the achilles lock on Strong and the Wolves retain their titles at 16:39. Unlike the other HDNet match against Danielson and Black on this compilation, they eschewed traditional formula here and the match was better for it. The contrived television finish still snuck its way into the action, but this was a good sprint and everyone worked well together. ***½
Match #11: ROH World Tag Team Titles: Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards © vs. Matt and Nick Jackson (ROH on HDNet Episode 35)
Nick snaps off a few armdrags on Richards and the Young Bucks catch him with stereo basement dropkicks. They land stereo planchas to the floor. In the ring, the American Wolves find an opening to work over Matt. He takes advantage of some miscommunication and makes the tag. Nick hits a slingshot facebuster on Edwards and lands a moonsault to the outside onto Richards. He reenters the ring with a flying crossbody on Edwards. Nick hits a tornado DDT on Edwards. The Young Bucks continue to maintain the advantage with various double team maneuvers. Edwards blocks More Bang for Your Buck. He catches Matt with a codebreaker and Richards adds a tombstone for a nearfall. Nick hits a reverse hurricanrana on Edwards and hurricanranas Richards off the top rope. He lands a dive to the floor onto Richards. Matt hits a slingshot ace crusher on Edwards for a nearfall. The Young Bucks hit More Bang for Your Buck on Edwards for a two count. Richards connects with a handspring enzuigiri on Nick. Matt superkicks Richards but gets caught by the Alarm Clock. The Wolves hit a double team backcracker on Matt and Edwards applies the achilles lock. The Wolves retain their titles at 12:13. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the crowd so loud on an HDNet program. This was a condensed version of a great match. The way both teams threw out double team offense, you’d think there were no better two teams around at the time. The only criticism I have is that there wasn’t any work done on Matt’s leg and they still used the achilles lock as the finish. Still, this was a fun sprint. ***¼
Match #12: ROH World Tag Team Titles: Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards © vs. Jay and Mark Briscoe (Final Battle 2009 – 12/19/09)
Richards and Mark trade control on the mat and find themselves at a stalemate. Edwards and Jay tag in. Edwards boots Mark off the apron, which only makes Jay angry. Richards and Jay have a shoulder block battle. The Briscoes catch Richards with stereo shoulder tackles. Mark hits an exploder on Edwards and Jay follows with a boot. Richards catches Mark with a dragon screw leg whip in the ropes and the American Wolves isolate him. Jay just kind of enters the ring and hits a spinebuster on Edwards. Richards takes care of Mark on the floor and connects with the Alarm Clock on Jay. The Wolves hit their superkick-german suplex combination on Jay for a nearfall. The Wolves now work over Jay until he hits a death valley driver on Edwards and makes the tag. Mark connects with a spin kick on Richards and a forearm smash on Edwards. He takes them both out with a dive. In the ring, Mark connects with a missile dropkick on Richards. The Briscoes follow with a flying leg drop-side slam combination. Edwards hits a backpack chinbreaker on Jay and hurricanranas him off the top rope. Richards hits the DR Driver for a nearfall. The Wolves apply stereo submissions but the Briscoes turn them into rollups for two counts. The Wolves hit their double team backcracker on Jay for a nearfall. Jay fires back with a lariat on Edwards and all four men are down. The Briscoes connect with stereo superkicks on Edwards. Jay hits the Jay Driller for a two count. The Briscoes hit the doomsday device on Edwards to become the new ROH World Tag Team Champions at 22:51. With the right crowd, this match would have felt much more special than it did. Sometimes you’ll run into a tag team match that, without the crowd being invested in the action, it just feels like a collection of moves without any purpose. Unfortunately, this match fell into that category and on a show with a disastrous main event, the show needed something more here. **¾
Match #13: Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards vs. Matt and Nick Jackson (ROH on HDNet Episode 46)
The Young Bucks dropkick the American Wolves to the floor. They tease dives but the Wolves scatter. In the ring, Nick hits a neckbreaker on Edwards and Matt follows with a slingshot senton. Richards punts Nick in the chest and the Wolves isolate him. He blocks a handspring enzuigiri from Richards with a dropkick and makes the tag. Edwards catches Matt with a codebreaker from the middle rope and Richards adds a tombstone. The Wolves work over Matt while keeping Nick at bay. Nick eventually hits a slingshot facebuster on Richards and lands a moonsault to the floor onto Edwards. He lands a flying crossbody onto Richards and hits a wheelbarrow facebuster. The Young Bucks land a springboard frog splash-standing moonsault combination on Richards. Edwards hits a dragon screw leg whip on Matt in the ropes. Matt responds with a springboard ace crusher. Richards connects with a missile dropkick on Matt. Matt hits a reverse hurricanrana on Richards. The Young Bucks miss More Bang for Your Buck and Richards german suplexes Matt off the top rope. The Young Bucks turn stereo submissions into small packages for nearfalls. The Young Bucks connect with superkicks. They hit More Bang for Your Buck on Richards for a nearfall. Nick lands a dive to the floor onto Edwards. Matt counters the DR Driver into a rollup for the win at 20:54. While they repeated some of the spots from their previous HDNet match, this contest was structured completely differently. Instead of a sprint, this match was about the Young Bucks finding a way to overcome the determined former champions and it worked quite well. Between ROH and PWG, these two teams seem to always have a worthwhile match together. ***½
Match #14: ROH World Tag Team Titles: Jay and Mark Briscoe © vs. Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards (From the Ashes – 3/26/10)
Richards and Mark wrestle to a stalemate. Jay snaps off a hurricanrana on Edwards and Mark catches him with a spin kick. Both teams trade control. Jay stops a dive from Richards by catching him with a spinebuster. The Briscoes follow with stereo shoulder tackles. Richards hits a dragon screw leg whip in the ropes on Jay. The American Wolves work over Jay’s right leg until he staggers Edwards with a chinbreaker and makes the tag. Mark hits a fisherman buster on Richards. He misses a plancha to the floor and Edwards sends him into the barricade. The Wolves hit their superkick-german suplex combination on Jay, sending him into the crowd. In the ring, Mark connects with a missile dropkick on Edwards. Richards catches Mark with an Alarm Clock and the Wolves isolate him. Jay breaks up a cloverleaf by laying out Richards with a falcon arrow. This gives Mark an opening to make the tag. Jay flatlines Richards into an inadvertent low blow on Edwards. He plants Richards with a death valley driver but gets caught with a kick from Edwards. Jay falls victim to a shining wizard and Edwards comes off the middle rope with a codebreaker. Commentary references Christopher Daniels on commentary, which is just extremely bad foreshadowing. Richards hits a german suplex on Mark and follows with a superplex. They trade offense, ending with Mark overhead suplexing Richards. Edwards takes out Mark with a flying kick but gets nailed with a lariat from Jay. All four men are down. The Briscoes connect with stereo superkicks on Richards and hit a diving elbow-side slam combination. Edwards stops a doomsday device and the Wolves hit their superkick-german suplex combination on Jay. Richards saves Edwards from the Jay Driller by connecting with a missile dropkick. Richards lands his insane dive to the floor onto Mark. Edwards hurricanranas Jay off the top and the Wolves follow with a backcracker-powerbomb combination. Edwards synchs in an achilles lock but Jay makes it to the ropes. Mark hits a springboard ace crusher on Richards while Jay plants Edwards with a reverse hurricanrana. Jay hits the Jay Driller on Edwards for a nearfall. The Briscoes follow with the doomsday device on Edwards to retain their titles at 26:23. This was a tremendous main event that made it feel like I was watching Ring of Honor at their best on WrestleMania weekend. These two teams already proved that they have good chemistry and they capitalized on that here. The match put little spins on the usual tag team formula and they managed to generate some suspense down the stretch despite it being early in the Briscoes’ title reign. My only gripe is that the continuous slew of moves down the stretch was nearly overkill. Nevertheless, the crowd stayed with them throughout the entire contest. This show needed a strong main event and these two teams delivered. ****
Match #15: Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards vs. Jon Davis and Kory Chavis (Pick Your Poison – 4/23/10)
Davis bulls over Richards with a shoulder tackle. Edwards catches Chavis with a dropkick. Chavis hits a suplex on Richards. Davis gets caught by a missile dropkick from Richards and the American Wolves isolate him. He hits a powerslam on Richards and makes the tag. The Dark City Fight Club begin working over Richards. He fights them off with kicks and tags out. Edwards lands a dive to the floor onto Davis and connects with a missile dropkick on Chavis. He lands a lionsault onto Chavis. The Wolves soften up Chavis’ leg with dragon screw leg whips. Edwards applies the achilles lock. Davis throws Richards into the front row and breaks up the hold. Davis hits a spinning powerbomb on Edwards and the DCFC hit a heart attack. Richards connects with his handspring enzuigiri on Davis. Chavis lays out Richards with a blue thunder bomb. Davis pounces Edwards across the ring and all four men are down. Davis hits a powerslam on Edwards and connects with a running knee. They hit total elimination for a nearfall. Edwards counters Project Mayhem with a hurricanrana. The Wolves connect with stereo knockout kicks on Davis. Edwards synchs in the achilles lock on Davis for the victory at 16:40. The DCFC definitely provided a different type of challenge for the Wolves and this match stood out as a result. The DCFC were a very good team for what they were going for, and the Wolves worked well with them. For some reason, I think a Richards/Davis match would be pretty good right now if it were to ever happen. ***¼
Match #16: Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards vs. Christopher Daniels and Roderick Strong (ROH on HDNet Episode 64)
Daniels connects with a leg lariat on Edwards. Strong tries a quick crucifix to no avail and snaps off some armdrags. Richards and Daniels exchange pin attempts and Richards makes a statement with a kick. The intensity picks up between them. The American Wolves take over with some double team tactics on Daniels. Strong enters the match and kicks Edwards’ face off with a facewash kick in the corner. Anyone else who’s ever done a facewash kick eat your heart out. Richards pulls Strong off the middle rope into an Alarm Clock. Strong gets worked over until he hits a sit-out gourdbuster on Richards and makes the tag. Daniels spin kicks Edwards and hits an STO. He follows with a death valley driver. Edwards hits a dragon screw leg whip on Daniels and applies the achilles lock. Strong hits a backbreaker on Edwards to break the hold. He has another backbreaker for Richards, who fires back with a series of kicks. The Wolves connect with stereo knockout kicks on Strong for a nearfall. Daniels hits a blue thunder bomb on Richards. He finds himself in an ankle lock but reaches the bottom rope. Richards connects with the Alarm Clock but falls victim to a uranagi. Edwards interrupts the BME. Strong takes out Edwards with a plancha. Richards german suplexes Daniels off the top rope for the victory at 18:48. With five more minutes, this could have been an unbelievable tag team display but as it is, it’s very good. Daniels and Strong made near perfect opponents for the Wolves, especially with the history between Daniels and Richards. While I thought the finish was abrupt, a german suplex off the top rope should be a believable finish, so I can’t really complain. ***½
Match #17: Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards vs. Matt and Nick Jackson (Hate: Chapter II – 7/23/10)
The Young Bucks are in their Generation Me attire. Richards applies a cloverleaf on Nick and Edwards pulls Richards chin back for added pressure. Edwards facewash kicks Matt into the barricade. Richards follows with a charging boot. The American Wolves punish Matt in the ring until he low blows Richards behind the referee’s back. Generation Me take over until Richards low bridges Matt into a nasty enzuigiri from Edwards. Edwards hits an overhead suplex on Matt and connects with a missile dropkick on Nick. He hits a TKO on Matt and kicks him in the face. The Wolves land stereo dives to the floor. In the ring, Edwards traps Matt in the achilles lock, but he reaches the bottom rope. Nick moonsaults to the floor onto Richards and lands a flying crossbody onto Edwards. He hits a wheelbarrow ace crusher for a nearfall. Edwards superplexes Nick and Richards follows with a saito suplex on Matt. Nick levels Edwards with the loudest superkick I’ve ever heard. Matt hits a tombstone on Richards for a two count. Everyone connects with a kick and falls to the canvas. Richards applies an ankle lock on Matt, who responds with a reverse hurricanrana. Richards fires back with a lariat and all four men are down. Edwards and Nick trade forearms. The Wolves hit their superkick-german suplex combination. Richards german suplexes Nick off the top rope and Edwards connects with a flying double stomp for a nearfall. Nick lands a dive off the apron onto Richards. Matt hits an ace crusher on Edwards. Edwards interrupts More Bang for Your Buck and the Wolves hit a double team backcracker on Nick. Edwards applies the achilles lock on Nick for the victory at 19:33. The reason that this match was better than their previous two encounters on this compilation was because they had the correct face/heel dynamic. I think the Young Bucks are at their best as heels (especially in front of an ROH audience) and they got the crowd behind Richards and Edwards. Both teams also really went into overdrive down the stretch, with some awesome exchanges and nearfalls. I’ve said it before, but these two teams have underrated chemistry. ***¾
Match #18: Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards vs. Player Uno and Stupefied (ROH on HDNet Episode 73)
Uno hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Richards and connects with an enzuigiri on Edwards. The Super Smash Brothers land stereo dives to the floor. Back in, the SSB hit a leg drop-side slam combination on Richards. Richards punts Stupefied from the apron and connects with a missile dropkick on Uno. The American Wolves isolate Uno until he hits a flatliner on Richards and makes the tag. Stupefied lands a flying crossbody onto Edwards and connects with a double pele kick. He plants Edwards with a tornado DDT and hits a dragon suplex. Uno low bridges Edwards to the floor and follows out with a moonsault. Back in, he hits a dead-lift german suplex on Richards. The SSB hit FATALITY! on Richards for a nearfall. Edwards takes out Stupefied with a missile dropkick and connects with a flying kick on Uno. Edwards and Stupefied have a nice exchange. Richards connects with the Alarm Clock on Stupefied and the Wolves follow with their superkick-german suplex combination for a nearfall. Uno hits a half nelson suplex on Edwards. Stupefied misses a frog splash. The Wolves hit their double team backcracker on Stupefied and Edwards transitions into the achilles lock for the win at 10:17. This was a great showcase for the Super Smash Brothers and it’s a shame that they never had an extended run in ROH. Fortunately, I think they’ve done pretty well for themselves. ***
Match #19: ROH World Tag Team Titles: Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli © vs. Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards (Tag Title Classic II – 12/17/10)
The Kings of Wrestling try to capitalize on their size advantage on Richards early on. Edwards snaps off a few armdrags on Claudio and he retreats to the floor. Both teams trade control in the ring. Edwards gets worked over for awhile. He fights back with a superkick on Claudio and an enzuigiri on Hero. Richards flips out of a german suplex attempt and rocks Claudio with a running knee strike followed by a missile dropkick. Hero intervenes with a flash kick on Edwards. Claudio giant swings Richards into a basement dropkick from Hero. The Kings isolate Richards until he avoids a roaring elbow and makes the tag. Edwards lands a flying crossbody onto Hero and comes off the middle rope with a codebreaker. The American Wolves land stereo dives to the outside. In the ring, Edwards connects with a flying double stomp on Hero. The Wolves follow with stereo knockout kicks for a nearfall. Claudio bicycle kicks Edwards, who responds with a hurricanrana from the middle rope. Richards and Claudio do their famous code red out of the Ricola Bomb spot. Hero saves his partner from an ankle lock. Claudio hits a superplex on Richards and Hero adds a moonsault for a two count. Hero absolutely levels Richards with a superkick and a roaring elbow. He hits a shoulder-capture suplex for a nearfall. Edwards takes over Hero with a tiger suplex. He follows with a saito suplex but Hero won’t stay down. Hero fires back with a series of strikes on the Wolves. The Wolves slow him down with a superkick-german suplex combination. The Wolves follow with a backcracker-powerbomb combination. Edwards applies the achilles lock but Hero reaches the bottom rope. Hero and Edwards trade rollups. Hero connects with three roaring elbows and the Kings retain their titles at 34:41. I’m partial to the argument that you probably could have shortened this match by ten minutes and still achieved the same result. However, the thirty-five minute duration didn’t wear on me too much. These four worked incredibly hard to make the action interesting for that amount of time and the crowd hung with them. Sure, they might have been trying to force an epic and I wouldn’t consider this a “classic,” but it was still a highly worthwhile main event. ***¾
Overall: The American Wolves: The Hunt Never Ends is a timely release for Ring of Honor because the American Wolves look to be a tag team once again. Richards has even stated that he believes they were broken up too soon. This compilation shows just how good the American Wolves were as a team, with a high match quality. As would be the case for nearly any tag team compilation, the matches can become repetitive when watching all nineteen consecutively. Yet you get to see the American Wolves against a nice variety of opponents here and I walked away excited to watch the team reunite. This compilation earns a recommendation.
You can purchase this DVD at Ring of Honor’s store right here.
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