Pre-Show: Kenny King vs. Alex Payne.
Okayish showcase for King highlighted by Prazak and Leonard's conversation over how cool it would be if someone were actually decapitated by a clothesline. Payne gets in his spunky offense, including a nice DDT counter to a suplex, but King excels with his spinebuster and Elijah Express to the corner. That sets up the Coronation at 5:12. 3/4*
Pre-Show: Irish Airborne vs. Grizzley Redwood & Andy Ridge.
The Airborne cheapshot the faces but tumble to the floor off a blind charge. Bison Smith runs in and destroys everyone at 0:16. What kind of monster destroys people on the pre-show? [N/R]
Jay Briscoe thinks Nigel is scurred because he's not putting the title on the line. He says Nigel will have to MAN UP once he beats him.
Opening Match: Bryan Danielson vs. Rhett Titus.
Rhett tries all sorts of goofy mind games, but Danielson refuses to grind his hips, much to the disappointment of Lenny Leonard. He also can't believe Rhett jerked off with his arm. We call that "the stranger." Titus repeatedly pretends that Danielson is hitting him below the belt. Rhett is able to cheapshot him the second time to take over. He busts out a nice guillotine scissors, but Danielson rocks his way out of it. The flying clothesline puts Titus down, and we finally get the "sexy party" dance from Danielson. Titus tries to claim low blow again, but Paul Turner isn't buying it. Danielson gives Titus a kick in the back and knocks him into Turner's crotch. CROTCH IRONY~! That sets up the suicida and Stampede Dropkick. Titus blocks a charge and hits the Sky High Rocker Dropper. Danielson blocks the Rude Awakening, though, and hits a flying knee. That sets up the Trapped Elbows and Cattle Mutilation at 13:42. Titus got a surprising amount of offense, and this was probably his best match. I miss fun-loving Danielson. **1/2
Austin Aries vs. Silas Young.
Aries says Young hasn't excelled like he has because Young cares what the fans think hence using "Don't Stop Believin'" as his entrance theme. Aries says the fans wouldn't care if Young got injured tonight, but since Aries cares so much, he'll make sure Young's wife and daughter are taken care of. Well, Silas doesn't care for that, so he mauls "A Double" and clubs him with crossfaces. Aries darts to the floor. Silas hits the Finlay Roll, but Aries avoids the handstand slingshot moonsault and yanks Silas to the floor. Aries takes over with his ARROGANT OFFENSE! Lots of eye rakes along the ropes. Young hits a nice backbreaker into a clothesline for two. Aries catches him with the hot shot and a Brainbuster. The Last Chancery finishes at 9:12. Aries gets a lot of heel heat for the win, which is good. Aries is an AWESOME heel. The match had extra heat on it from his pre-match promo. **3/4
Claudio Castagnoli lets us know he's not intimidated by Brent Albright.
Brodie Lee vs. The Necro Butcher.
Brodie attacks Necro during his entrance, but Necro fires back. This is possibly the exact opposite of what you'd expect from ROH. Brodie misses a big boot and gets tossed to the floor. Necro hits a somersault bodyblock and tosses a chair into his face. Jimmy Jacobs comes down to coach Brodie. Necro pulls back the mat and sets up for a piledriver, but Brodie backdrops out of it. Both guys tumble into the audience for the countout at 4:16. *
The battle continues, though, as Necro and Brodie battle all the way back to the ring. Eventually, Delirious runs in and helps out. When the smoke clears, Jimmy and Delirious are left, so we get
Roderick Strong & Erick Stevens vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Delirious.
Delirious has NO LUCK with either Strong or Stevens. Jimmy cheats to take over and stomps Stevens in the gut. Stevens plays face-in-peril. Delirious suddenly gets all bad-ass on him and locks in an Anaconda Vice (not called as such). Jimmy cuts off a tag, but Strong gets a few seconds later. Strong takes on BOTH Delirious and Jimmy and backbreakers Jimmy on Delirious' knee. Ha ha! That's great. The faces set up for a doubleteam, but Jimmy breaks it up. That allows Delirious to hit Strong with the Cobra Clutch suplex. Strong kicks out at two. He clotheslines Delirious but runs right into the spear. End Time, but Strong powers out and leaves Jimmy in the corner. Stevens tags in and destroys Jimmy with the Samoan Drop. Jimmy scurries out of the Doctorbomb, setting Delirious up for Shadows Over Hell. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Stevens picks up Delirious and holds him for the Yakuza Kick. That gets the win for the Florida Connection at 13:15. This had a lot of interesting and creative spots in it. I was surprised. Roderick looked strong too no pun intended. ***
Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brent Albright.
This one was a bit of a shocker, mostly because Albright actually started out wrestling instead of brawling. Sweet 'n' Sour Inc. come out to observe from the ramp. Albright takes an impressive bump into the ropes off a missed crossbody. Claudio is content to win by countout, but Albright just won't die. Claudio refuses to use the Giant Swing just to piss off the fans, so Albright uses it himself. Odd finish as Albright slaps on the Crowbar and Claudio taps, but he's in the ropes for a five count. I HAVE 'TIL FIVE but this is a six count, so Albright is disqualified at 13:28. Albright seemed to adapt his style to less power and more wrestling. I'm not sure if he's trying to become a more well-rounded character or if it's a sigh one shot deal. I'm so sorry. **3/4
In the back, Jimmy Jacobs threatens to beat up Daizee Haze, but she threatens to stab him with a spike. That is one hardcore little stoner.
Jerry Lynn vs. Tyler Black.
Prazak objects to the chant of "New fuckin' show!" given Lynn's age. This would be a de facto #1 contender's match, and it gets pretty good. They start with the respectful babyface stuff, which means a lot of headlocks and counters. The fans get bored and make fun of referee Todd Sinclair. Things pick up once Tyler misses a moonsault off the railing and SPLATS on the floor. They tease a double countout (with Prazak rooting for that result). A furious series of nearfalls follow, prompting a "this is awesome!" chant from the crowd. Black hits the springboard clothesline, but Lynn comes back with the Schwein. Black appears to have it won with a superkick, but Lynn gets his foot on the ropes. Black saves himself the same way after an Orton DDT. Sadly, the time limit expires at 20:00. The fans want five more minutes, but it ain't happening. Lynn held his own, physically speaking, with Black. They did an excellent job of building a babyface match without either man actually having to play heel. It might have been better to go that way, but the fans weren't divided by the end, they were rooting for both guys. Interesting to see. ***3/4
Non-Title: Nigel McGuinness vs. Jay Briscoe.
Nigel is coming in with his shoulder taped up, so he uses his cunning wiles to outwit Briscoe. He tricks Jay into chasing him around the ring and then pulls the timekeeper's table into him. That leads to a bunch of stretches and submissions. Jay comes back with a flying yakuza kick, but they knock heads. That leads to a missed lariat by Nigel, but Jay ducks and hits the JAYDRILLER! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Nigel snaps the ropes into Jay's eye when he moves in, and that sets up the lariat at 15:52. The match told a good story with Nigel being smart and treacherous and Jay just being a Briscoe. A bit one-sided compared to most of Nigel's matches, but then Jay is not really a contender. **3/4
ROH World Tag Team Titles: Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. The American Wolves (w/Sweet 'n' Sour Inc.).
I want to see the American Wolves versus the Havana Pitbulls. We see no indication of the viciousness of the lupus americanus early, especially since Steen uses all his dirty tactics to frustrate them. Davey even kisses Generico's feet before suckering him to the floor where Edwards knees him right into the boards. The Wolves isolate Generico, including a sick spinkick to the gut that Generico sells like he's been yanked by a harness. Generico uses the POWER OF THE CHANT to come back. Steen gets the hot tag and gives Edwards a SICK powerbomb on the apron. The moonsault misses Richards, but Steen puts Edwards in the Sharpshooter. Generico tries to keep Richards from making the save, but he wriggles free. Richards can't polish off Steen, so the champs hit the Swanton/splash on Edwards. Richards makes the save, though. The Wolves hit the Orient Express on Steen, but Generico makes the save. I HATE when the ref allows two guys to cover. Sweeney tries to get involved with his boot, but Brent Albright chases him away. The Wolves grab the boot, but it backfires when Richards nails Edwards. Steen covers and gets the win at 19:28. Good, ol'-fashioned tag goodness. Plus, it left the door open for the Wolves' eventual win. ***1/2
Jerry Lynn asks for a rematch with Tyler Black with the stipulation that there be no time limit.
The 411: Not a blowaway show by any stretch, but it was solid. Lynn and Black were the standouts here as they both proved worthy of being the next World Champion. Of course, it wound up being Lynn and not Black, which I say actually *helps* Black as we'll see over the next few shows.
I was at this show, I thought the Briscoe vs. Nigel match sucked badly, not even ** quality which is brutal for ROH standards. Nigel was game but the Briscoes just can't wrestle without gimmicks, they're just gymnastics and flippy floppy crap offense. The Ladder War is about the only work of theirs I've ever enjoyed and mostly because it's Steen and Generic's crowning moment. For some reason they still get huge reactions despite not being particularly talented or really all that charismatic (they are over with the ROH crowd who expect less and less nowadays but they'd be like the Bashams in WWE with their interview non ability), and I fear they may be one of the more attractive ROH prospects to WWE based on their sort of pseudo RVDish movesets.
Tyler Black vs. Jerry Lynn was awesome up until the screwjob draw, these 20 minute draws are stupid crowdkillers and they need to fire that idiot Adam Pearce before he kills all the towns with them. This was the real main event of the show to everybody there, it should've had an ending. I'm not going to another ROH show if they pull this crap next month.
And the run in in the pre show match made me WTF too. Building was really really empty, they had hundreds of tickets left when I came in and my friend got a third row seat no problem. Compare that to 2005 when they debuted there and the place was packed, now it's just the die hards. The booking is killing the towns and eventually the promotion, ROH now reminds me way too much of ECW in 2000.
Posted By: Jared B (Guest) on May 20, 2009 at 08:24 AM
The booking is killing the towns and eventually the promotion, ROH now reminds me way too much of ECW in 2000.
Posted By: Jared B (Guest) on May 20, 2009 at 08:24 AM
Am I the only one that liked ECW in 2000?
I thought ECW in 2000 had some good stuff, it's just TNN really put a cramp in Heyman's booking style for the ECW on TNN shows but there was still some good stuff like:
The Sininster Minister weekly promos.
Tajiri Vs. Super Crazy Vs. Little Guido 3 Way Dance.
Kid Kash's TV Title win from Rhino.
Joel Gertner's opening confrontations with Cyrus.
Steve Corino bleeding like a bad ass in matches with Tajiri and Jerry Lynn.
Taz returning to ECW to defeat Mike Awesome for the ECW Title after Awesome had just appeared on WCW Monday Nitro.
Posted By: Mike (Guest) on May 21, 2009 at 01:52 AM
I didn't follow ECW until they got on TNN, so I have fond memories of it. Jared may still have a point about ROH and its town killing, I dunno. Does the "send the fans home happy" thing not work in the indies?
Posted By: BradCurran (Guest) on May 21, 2009 at 03:36 PM
the american wolves is the worst tag team name ever. maybe its just because i associate wolves with the mohegan sun.
Posted By: cihrs (Guest) on May 23, 2009 at 03:54 PM
