Bonus Match: Rhett Titus vs. Grizzley Redwood.
Lots of shenanigans here with Grizzley using all of his lumberjack-based offense double ax-handle, chop, using his hand as a saw. Yes, using his hand as a saw. Titus tries the same trick, but Redwood grabs his hand and forces him to cut his own penis off. You know, if his hand actually *were* a saw. Instead, it's just Titus masturbating. Wrong PPV channel, guys. Titus dominates but gets cocky, and Grizzley is able to reverse two handfuls of beard to a wheelbarrow rollup for the upset win at 4:52. About as good as you can get for a match where someone tries to saw off another person's head with the side of their hand. *
Opening Match, Three-Way Match: Kenny King vs. Alex Payne vs. Silas Young.
King attacks both guys during the handshakes, thus earning himself a two-on-one asskicking. Eventually, King gets tossed and decides to stay on the outside and pick his spot. Mucho nearfalls after that. Prazak's open disdain for Sugarfoot is pretty funny after a while. King gets the Macho Man slingshot clothesline, but Silas crotches him on a springboard attempt. That allows Payne to recover and huracanrana Silas for the win at 7:12. I really don't get what they're thinking in pairing up King and Titus (nice Shakespearean gimmick if they want to go that way, btw) and then putting guys like Redwood and Sugarfoot over them. That would be like jobbing AJ Styles to Shark Boy. The match was just a bunch of rollups and covers really. *3/4
Kevin Steen vs. Claudio Castagnoli.
Claudio pouts because Steen makes fun of his old catchphrase erm, buzzword. The crowd is hot for this one and mostly all over Claudio. Claudio works the back and slaps on the Sharpshooter to mock Steen. Steen makes the ropes and blocks a charge. That sets up a springboard DDT and the cradle neckbreaker. Claudio gets his knees up to block the swanton. Apomari Waterslide gets two. Steen fights back and goes for the Sharpshooter, but Larry Sweeney runs down. El Generico chases Sweeney off, but the distraction allows Claudio to low blow Steen and hit the Ricolabomb for the win at 9:05. Nicely paced, and the crowd heat only added to it. **1/2
Recap of Delirious going nuts and joining the Age of the Fall.
Elsewhere, Nigel McGuinness nails Alex Payne in retaliation for his interference last time on PPV. He also runs down his potential challengers.
Necro Butcher & Jerry Lynn vs. Brodie Lee & Delirious (w/Jimmy Jacobs).
This is all brawl early on, as you'd probably expect with Brodie Lee and Necro Butcher. Lynn adds some actual wrestling and winds up as the face-in-peril. He comes back against Delirious and gets the hot tag to Necro. Necro hits the Necrocanrana but tags Lynn back in. Not a big strategy person, is he? Lynn hits a crossbody but runs into the Big Boss Slam. Necro takes Brodie to the outside and puts him through a table with a legdrop. That allows Lynn to finish Delirious with the Cradle Piledriver at 11:37. **3/4
Jimmy is upset with Delirious, so he takes off his chain and threatens to beat the weakness out of him. That brings out Daizee Haze to make the save. Jimmy pushes her down, so she pulls out the spike from her boot. Jimmy doesn't think she has the guts to hit him, so she charges. He ducks out of the way, and Delirious winds up taking the spike. Daizee freaks out awesomely. Seriously, Daizee is a good performer outside of the ring too. Jacobs blames her as Delirious writhes around in pain.
Bryan Danielson & Tyler Black vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Austin Aries.
Bryan Danielson says no one trusts anyone else and it's stupid to do a tag team match to get a singles title shot anyway. **Ahem** He turns it into a four-way.
#1 Contenders Match: Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black vs. Austin Aries vs. Jimmy Jacobs. Nigel McGuinness stops by the announce booth to watch the match. The irony of changing the match at the last second is that most ROH four-ways wind up as tag team matches anyway. This one is mostly Danielson versus Aries and Jacobs for the early going. Funny moment as Aries is hesitant to take a tag from Jacobs, so Jacobs chops him in the chest to tag and then, minutes later, Aries wants to tag out, but Jacobs bails on him. They work in the multiple dives spot to the outside ending with Danielson hitting the springboard plancha into the crowd. Sweeeet. Suddenly, Bison Smith shows up and jumps Danielson from behind. POWERBOMB ON THE FLOOR! If Danielson winds up in Cleveland with amnesia, I'll be very disappointed. Bison walks out, leaving the other three to battle it out. Tyler goes for a powerbomb, but Jimmy leaps on him with the End Time. Aries reverses the powerbomb to a sunset flip, and Jacobs adds a spear to Black. Both guys on top. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Aries and Jacobs get into it with each other, allowing Tyler to come back. He avoids a Jacobs spear, and Jimmy takes out Austin. Black schoolboys Jacobs for the win and the title shot at 19:55. Black's win was a foregone conclusion, and having Bison Smith interfere was a clever way to get him out of the way while simultaneously legitimizing Smith's ROH run (and, by proxy, Prince Nana's return). ***1/2
Missed opportunity as they just cut away from an unconscious Danielson to go to the next set up. Too TNAish.
ROH World Title: Nigel McGuinness vs. El Generico
Nigel nails Generico while he's examining the title belt. He posts Generico, gives him the Tower of London on the floor and leaves him to die. Kevin Steen runs down to encourage Generico to get back in the ring. Generico fights back, but Nigel curbstomps him into the barricade. The challenger makes it back in but winds up in the London Dungeon. Generico makes the ropes. McGuinness keeps working the shoulder, but Generico puts together a nice string of offense with the huracanrana and a springboard moonsault that nearly went horribly awry. Generico blocks the crotched lariat, but Nigel avoids the Yakuza Kick in the corner. TOWER OF LONDON ON THE APRON! Nigel is willing to take the countout victory, but Generico dives through the ropes to make it back in at 19. LARIA-NO! BRAINBUSTER! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Nigel kicks out. YAKUZA! Generico sets up for the Turnbuckle Brainbuster, but Nigel knocks him off with the lariat. That sets up the London Dungeon. Reversed to a rollup! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! LARIAT! Nigel goes back to the London Dungeon, and Generico has to tap at 17:00. No one thought that Generico had a chance going in, so they had a mountain of work to do to get the fans to believe in him. Generico is a tremendous wrestler when fighting from underneath, though, and once he finally got that Yakuza kick after three tries, the fans were biting. ***3/4
Tyler Black blocks Nigel's path out and says he's the number one contender and he can use the shot anytime he wants. Before he can cash in his money in the bank shot, Jimmy Jacobs and Austin Aries jump him from behind and lay him out. Jerry Lynn makes the save, but Nigel escapes before he has to defend the title again.
Steel Cage Warfare: Brent Albright, Roderick Strong, Ace Steel, Erick Stevens & Jay Briscoe vs. Adam Pearce, Davey Richards, Tank Toland, Eddie Edwards & Bobby Dempsey (w/Larry Sweeney).
Basically a one-ring Wargames, if you've never seen one before. Roderick and Davey start, which is a great idea. Roderick dominates as per the Wargames formula. Tank Toland returns to become the second guy for Sweet 'n' Sour. He jumps Roddy and does the jumping jack stomps. Ace Steel evens things up. Eddie Edwards comes down, but he decides to grab a chair and sit still. The intervals are WAY too close to develop a good story. See also Royal Rumble 1995. Jay Briscoe is next, but Sara Del Rey jumps him from behind. That distraction allows Eddie to nail Jay from behind and attack his knee. Now, Eddie gets in. Bobby Dempsey is in next, and he's not exactly effective. He takes orders well, though. Erick Stevens hops in and cleans house on the heels. Adam Pearce returns for Sweet 'n' Sour. Brent Albright is the last man in. Roderick grabs the chair and goes to town on the heels. The faces toss the heels to the floor and lock themselves in with Pearce and Dempsey. Bobby cowers in the corner while Pearce takes a shitkicking. The brawl spills to the floor, and Jay Briscoe returns! He goes after Bobby, who is the only one left in the ring. Big boos for that. The other wrestlers are conveniently brawling in one spot, so Jay climbs up and flies on top of them. Back in, that leaves Adam alone with the faces. Everyone hits everything they got on Pearce, and Albright pins him after the Half-Nelson Suplex at 17:26. The one-minute intervals rushed this match way more than it needed to be, but it did have a number of compelling storylines going in it, and I think it got a bad rap earlier this year. ***1/2
After the match, Sweeney is disgusted by Bobby's failure to help, so he abuses him. Bobby has finally had enough and slaps him! WOO HOO! Everyone takes turns tossing Sweeney into the cage. Bobby with the cannonball and the DVD on Sweeney to get some righteous revenge.
The 411: Disappointing to some, but the last half of the show (the important part) had a series of good matches. Nothing blowaway, but I was never bored. One thing I did notice was a big bump up in the video packages. They actually recounted the stories that built to the matches. Good wrestling, big blowoff with Bobby's official face turn, and the setup to a big Tyler vs. Nigel match that unfortunately was derailed by injury make for a solid-if-unspectacular show.
