Colt Cabana & Brent Albright vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Ernie Osiris (w/Prince Nana).
Cabana is over HUGE. Poor Ernie gets tossed around for a while before Colt and Claudio turn it into a European clinic. Ernie tosses a shoe at Cabana, distracting Cabana long enough for Claudio to jump him from behind. Colt cartwheels out of a corner, though, and tags in Brent. Brent. Is. Pissed. He destroys Castagnoli, but Claudio quickly tags in Ernie and gets the hell out of there. Cabana tags in and turns Ernie over into the Billy Goat's Curse (reverse Boston Crab) at 4:40. Oddly enough, Ernie really works as ROH's Brooklyn Brawler. Of course, he was the weak link of the team, and the only reason Colt and Brent even had a chance was because Claudio wasn't tagging with JIMMY RAVE, THE CROWN JOO-ELL! **
Bryan Danielson puts over his opponents and talks about how hard it is to be champion.
Tyler Black thinks his youth and unpredictability give him an advantage.
Austin Aries, 'the Greatest Man that Ever Lived,' thinks the other guys have ego problems that he can exploit.
Jerry Lynn says it's the same as any other match only now he has three opponents. See, kids. Stay in school.
Bobby Dempsey vs. Sal Rinauro.
The Man They Call Bobby shoves down the trash-talking Rinauro, but Saved by the Sal goes to the eyes. BOBBYBLOCK! DVD! Sal is a grease spot at 0:46. Proposed tag team: Colt Cabana & Bobby Dempsey. 1/4*
Ric Flair endorses this product and/or event by way of putting himself over. Not that he shouldn't, but he didn't seem like he cared about anything that was going on. Like they woke him up at 3am… okay 10am, to cut this promo.
ROH World Title: Jerry Lynn vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries vs. Tyler Black.
The fans HATE Jerry Lynn. Jeez. Rob Van Dam didn't hate him that much, and he *feuded* with him. I like that they actually make a big deal about the intros. If you're going to hype this as a big event, you got to treat it like a big event. Aries makes a dick of himself early and pays for it as they all turn on him. Lynn hits him with a cannonball on the floor. Lynn knocks Aries off the apron and headscissors Black, but Dragon jumps him from behind and ties him up with the Indian Deathlock. Aries returns and RAKES LYNN'S BACK! He's hardcore. Danielson blows them off and puts Tyler in the Mexican Surfboard. Aries breaks it up and tries the same on Danielson, but Dragon powers out. We get a triple chinlock, but Black breaks it up with the centipede jawbreaker. Aries spins Lynn and Black over while they're in the figure-four and puts Lynn in a chinlock. Silly. Dragon breaks that up with a kick, but Aries yanks him to the floor. Aries gives Lynn a backbreaker on the ropes and puts him in the Stump-puller. He drops it to keep Black on the floor and then takes a victory lap. Dragon trips him up on the heat-seeking suicida, so Aries knocks him off the apron and threatens to hit one on Dragon… only Lynn trips him up this time. Ha ha! Dragon backflips over Black and tries a German Suplex, but Lynn sunset flips both of them to turn it into a Sunset German Suplex. Lynn gets two. Lynn and Dragon go for the Flair-Steamboat sequence, but Black destroys them in mid-bridge with a quebrada. Danielson powers up anyway and throws kicks Aries' way. Aries catches him and hits the shinbreaker/backdrop combo. That sets up the heat-seeking suicida on Lynn. Black adds a somersault plancha, but Aries tosses him into the crowd. Ah, I know what's coming. Danielson springboards into a plancha on both guys. Aries is content to win by countout (a quirk in the rules means you can do that). Lynn dives in at the last second, though, while Aries is paying attention to Black and Danielson. Aries rolls through a sunset flip and hits a dropkick. That sets up the IED and the Brainbuster. ONE, TWO, THRE-foot on the ropes. The 450-splash misses, and Black Bucklebombs Aries into Lynn. CRAZY! SUPERKICK! ONE, TWO, THRE-Lynn makes the save. Black sets up for the Phoenix Splash, but Danielson crotches him and hits the belly-to-back superplex onto Lynn and Aries. Ho-lee shit. Danielson recovers first and stomps another hole in Black's face. That sets up the Triangle Choke, but Aries puts Lynn in the Last Chancery. Black powers Danielson up and slams him down on Aries to break the hold. Gotta love the ingenuity. Danielson recovers and nails Aries with the lightning legline. Black Pélé Kicks Dragon, though. IT JUST COMES OUT OF NOWHERE! Lynn saves, drawing the ire of the crowd. Aries hits him with the IED, but Dragon saves Lynn from the Brainbuster and hits Aries with the Tiger Suplex. That gets two, so Dragon tries Cattle Mutilation. Lynn catches him, though, and drops Danielson on his head with the Cradle Piledriver at 21:39. Loved the creativity in the spots and reversals, plus the use of having four guys in there at once (something that is usually a detriment). The best match on TV so far this year and one of the best overall. ****1/4
After the match, all four guys look like they were in a car wreck. Danielson struggles to get to his feet but manages to shake Lynn's hand anyway.
The 411: Hey, second week in a row they've had a FTVMOTYC (you know, acronyms are getting less useful). Can't argue with the quality this week. It will be interesting to see if they adopt a more mainstream business model in light of dropping their PPV schedule.
Smackdown's produced matches better than that on a weekly basis. Even a Superstars match was as good this year (I think it was Jericho-Morrison.)
Posted By: ND (Guest) on June 11, 2009 at 05:58 PM
Smackdown's produced matches better than that on a weekly basis. Even a Superstars match was as good this year (I think it was Jericho-Morrison.)
Posted By: ND (Guest) on June 11, 2009 at 05:58 PM
So you can't even remember which match you claim was "as good?" Great argument and use of evidence there. Stick to your PG show and leave the real wrestling for the grownups.
Posted By: Guest#3425 (Guest) on June 11, 2009 at 08:13 PM
If by real wrestling you mean good wrestling which happens on Smakcdown quite a lot then maybe someone should get their head out of their ass. Just look at this past week when you had Edge v. Mysterio.
Posted By: Kyle (Guest) on June 11, 2009 at 09:07 PM
Jd no more animal abuse in the rohport? I miss that in the review
Posted By: jushin53 (Guest) on June 11, 2009 at 09:26 PM
Yeah kids, wrestling with these fake storylines isn't for you, it's for us 30 to 40-year-olds.
Posted By: Fat guy (Guest) on June 11, 2009 at 09:49 PM
Gentlemen, Gentlemn. Please, let us direct the hate to the wrestling shows that deserve it. IE; Raw and Impact. One blows the other sucks. ECW and SUPAstars are solid. ROH and Smackdown are where it's at with two turntables AND a Microphone. Advice, try not to watch just one wrestling company! You might enjoy it(maybe)!
Posted By: SMYK (Guest) on June 11, 2009 at 10:29 PM
I just watched the main event and I've got to admit that it's definitely the TV match of the year so far. Smackdown is awesome and produces great matches on a weekly basis now, but this match trumps anything I've seen on free TV this year. I think Edge/Mysterio is second, followed by Morrison/Bourne. But neither of those matches were as good as this one. Sick and innovative action from start to finish.
Posted By: Monty (Guest) on June 11, 2009 at 11:26 PM
I wasn't a hater of the animal analogies, they were well written after all, but I am glad to see that they have departed this column. It takes a high-caliber author to know when a bit has run its course, and Dunn qualifies! Consistently my favorite review of the week.
I know wrestling fans are a different breed, but I did not appreciate the chants directed towards Jerry Lynn. He is far from being my favorite performer, and I would have liked to have seen the title dropped here, but I feel that he is in no way deserving of such spiteful spoutings from a spoiled crowd. Some folks need to evolve from the shell, show some respect, and stop pissing all over the product.
I know they are well within their rights to express their views however they choose, but, unfortunately, this is the trend rather than the exception.
Posted By: CanadianCrippler (Guest) on June 12, 2009 at 08:56 AM
FORNICATE ON A LION'S BED, IT'S OVER!
Posted By: Vintage Dunn (Guest) on June 12, 2009 at 09:16 AM
Actually, the animal things just slipped my mind even though I'm sure Hogewood used "Slap the porpoise" again this week.
Posted By: J.D. Dunn (Registered) on June 12, 2009 at 12:52 PM
boring tna is way better
Posted By: guest88474 (Guest) on June 12, 2009 at 08:51 PM
I have been a critic of modern day wrestling, but watching this show made me realize something...it really is only Raw and Impact that suck.
Real talk.
And, it gives my husband more things to do with the Fire Pro Wrestling creating thing he's always doing. Not to knock it or anything, but I cannot comment on something that I never get to play [/rant]
Posted By: MissyNEVERWearssocksWithShoes (Guest) on June 13, 2009 at 07:25 PM
I watched the main event, my first ROH match, after Aaron provided the link.
A good match, yes, but could have been excellent. Great work rate, but I though the pace was too quick. Seemed like a 30+ minute match squeezed into 20.
Example - look how quick Lynn and Aries(?) get up after sick the 'heat seeking missile' spot. He nearly took Lynn's head off as well as crashing himself into the barrier. It's gotta put you down for more than 2 seconds.
People dog on the 'WWE style', but at least the slower style helps get moves/stars over and establish heels/faces better.
P.S. Tyler Black will be the first WWE signing out of all of these.
Posted By: Probes (Guest) on June 14, 2009 at 03:57 PM
