Dark Pegasus Video Review: Ring of Honor — Stylin' and Profilin'

Posted by J.D. Dunn on 05.26.2009

What's causin' all this?

Ring of Honor — Stylin' and Profilin'

by J.D. Dunn
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March 13, 2009

From Collinsville, Ill.

Your hosts are Dave Prazak and Larry Zbyszko. Whoa.

Opening Match: Roderick Strong vs. Jay Briscoe.
No reason for this other than to have a good match. Works for me. Too fast to recap, but this is a mighty fine babyface match. Great choice for an opener too. Jay makes the mistake of trying to chop it out with Roderick. That… does not go well. See, THIS is a great use of Roderick. Having him be the weak link of a bland babyface trio doesn't work. Jay tries to take it to the mat, but Roderick decides he's missed the chops and goes right back to them. Ho-lee shit. I'd be happy if Roderick just wrestled squash matches and did nothing but chops and backbreakers. Jay strikes his way back in with a flying kick and lariat for two. Roderick catches him with a gutbuster for two, and they reverse waistlocks until Roderick can roll Jay up for the flash pin at 10:41. One of the best openers in recent memory for any company, and thirty minutes of action packed into ten. Great stuff. ****

SHIMMER Title: MsChif (w/Delirious & Jimmy Jacobs) vs. Daizee Haze.
Larry is highly impressed with Daizee. I like Larry's commentary. Nothing against Lenny Leonard, but it's nice to have something different. Daizee dominates with good wrestling, but Jimmy sneaks in and yanks her down behind the ref's back. Just good wrestling here. Lots of stretches. Not sure MsChif is really comfortable with being a heel. She doesn't seem dirty enough. Daizee hits the heart punch, but Jimmy trips her up to cut off the Yakuza. That sets up the Gateway to Annihilation. Daizee reverses the Gory Special to the Code Green, but Jimmy yanks MsChif to safety. The AotF gather for a pow wow, so Daizee flies out on top of them. Back in, MsChif rolls through the Mind Trip and hits the Desecrator at 11:26. **1/2

After the match, Jimmy warns Daizee to stay away from Delirious or else she'll risk a face stabbin'… and Proctor & Gamble ain't got no cure for face stabbin'. Delirious objects, but MsChif is able to calm him down.

Four-Corner Survival: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Austin Aries vs. Kenny Omega vs. Silas Young.
Both Austin and Claudio are pissed that the fans are cheering for them, which is pretty funny. They start out against each other and then refuse to wrestle each other out of disdain for the audience. Silas and Kenny finally just toss them and start the actual wrestling match. Great spot as Omega hits his legline bulldog on Aries, causing him to headbutt Claudio in the groin. Claudio falls for the stop-sign enzuigiri, but Aries doesn't, and that goes bad for Omega. Omega hesitates on a dive to the floor, so Aries catches him and powerbombs him on the other two. Cool. Larry points out that no one is just going to stand there and wait to be attacked. I guess he doesn't watch a lot of lucha. Aries nails Omega with the IED, punts him and finishes with the Brainbuster at 14:03. Kick-ass little match. It threatened to run off the rails near the end with everyone just hitting moves in succession, but Aries and Claudio kept it in line with their cocky personae. ***1/4

Ric Flair comes out to put over the promotion. He says he's seen it all, and the next Shawn Michaels could be in the locker room because they're that good. Well, that's a stretch. Nigel McGuinness interrupts and makes fun of Flair and his family. Flair threatens to sick Reid Flair on him and reminds all the ladies that he's single again. Ha ha! That's fantastic.

Six-Man Tag: Chris Hero & The American Wolves (w/Larry Sweeney & Shane Hagadorn) vs. Bobby Dempsey, Kevin Steen & El Generico.
Nice to see Hero has dropped the Mike Knox beard and gone with the Big Sky look. Great spot early as Generico and Richards do a fast sequence, and Richards hits a spinning wheel kick to knock Generico out of the air as he tries a leapfrog. Little, unexpected things like that make a match better. Bobby Dempsey tags in to a huge pop and finally goes face-to-face with his tormentor, Chris Hero. Larry doubts whether Bobby has what it takes to make it in wrestling. Hero slaps him around, but Bobby slaps him right back and nails him with elbows. Bobby gets in trouble but tags out. Steen plays face-in-peril as the heels work his knee. Generico gets the hot tag. Double springboard somersault plancha! Double springboard tornado DDT on Davey! ONE, TWO, THR-NO! I love that Generico just got done doing two amazing moves, but Larry busts on him for not locking the hands on a cradle. That's like Gorilla Monsoon's "gotta wrap the toe around on an abdominal stretch" complaint. Dempsey tags in and no-sells Hero's boot to the face. AVALANCHE! Ha ha! So after years of taking abuse, Bobby is Vader?!!! Bobby and Steen hit cannonballs on the Wolves, and Generico adds a Yakuza to Hero! Bobby hits Hero with the DVD, but the Wolves make the save. Utter chaos until Eddie puts Steen in the Sharpshooter. Steen has to tap out at 16:23. Well, this match was awesome. A lot of fans like the opener, but this was every bit as good and had the added bonus of Bobby Dempsey finally getting some revenge on Hero. ****

Nigel says you have to earn title shots in ROH (unless you're D-Lo Brown). He says it's not over.

Kenny King & Rhett Titus vs. The Irish Airborne.
King Titus' ritual of grabbing their nutsacks in lieu of a handshake is disturbing… appropriate for their characters, but disturbing. King: I'm black, and I shop at the Red House. Titus: I'm white, and I shop at the Red House. King & Titus run through their individual stuff before the Crists come back with their wacky tandem maneuvers. Have we ever gotten a feud between the Airborne and the Young Bucks? I know they're from different areas. Jake gets caught on Titus' shoulders, and King comes off the top with the Doomsday Blockbuster at 8:36. Just a routine squash to build the team. **

Bryan Danielson vs. Bison Smith.
Isn't this basically the same feud that Danielson just got out of, only with Smith subbing for Morishima? I guess, it is. Prazak just said so. Danielson goes the Spider-Man route by avoiding Smith and making fun of him so he'll lose his cool. In the booth, Nigel ribs Zbyszko for the Shea Stadium match, thus ending Zbyszko's streak of not talking about it at one hour and 45 minutes. Smith finally catches up with him and spikes him down. Danielson busts out the springboard plancha into the crowd, but Bison shrugs it off and hits a top over the barricade. Danielson slips out of a powerbomb on the floor and boots Bison in the chest. Danielson ducks into the ring before the 20-count to pick up a cheap win at 12:42. This felt like just what it was – a primer to set up bigger, bloodier matches down the road. I loved the feud with Morishima, so if this follows that template, I'll be fine with it. **1/2

Tyler Black & Jerry Lynn vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Delirious.
Larry (probably) inadvertently advances a storyline while putting Lynn over by saying he used to wrestle with Lynn back in the AWA. Great thing about Larry on commentary, Prazak has to explain all the feuds to him and, thus, to the audience. Larry segues back to Bruno. Man, once you uncork him… Average tag match until Jimmy and Delirious decide to introduce chairs. It backfires once, and they nail each other. Oops. Never one to give up, Jimmy grabs the chair again and charges Tyler, but Tyler ducks out of the way. Jimmy nails Delirious! Lynn takes Jimmy out, and Tyler gets the pin at 15:31. These guys have wrestled each other in so many combinations over the past few weeks, I think they've run out of material. It was serviceable, but again, just here to set up… **1/2

Jimmy, of course, blames Delirious for the loss. He pulls out his spike to perform a little tough love, but Daizee Haze runs in and spins him around. Jimmy stabs her in the face! Jimmy turns back to Delirious, but Delirious fights him off and steals the spike. Panic Attack! Panic Attack! Panic Attack! Aaaaannnnd… Panic Attack! A bloody Daizee Haze stands up and sees Delirious has turned. They embrace! Awhhh. Well, it's not exactly Macho Man and Liz, but I'll take it.

Great moment as a bloody Jacobs recovers and some guy screams, "Your revolution is a failure." See, don't compliment on his bladejob or selling. That's not a real compliment. Play along. That's the ultimate compliment.

ROH World Title: Nigel McGuinness vs. Brent Albright.
Ric Flair is at ringside to observe. Thankfully, Albright got new music in the overhaul. I loved that song when it came out, and I thought it made good entrance music, but I eventually got sick of it. Albright continues the more mat-based approach that he's been using recently. It works for a while, but Nigel zeroes in on Albright's shoulder. Nice spot as Nigel stops working the arm and goes up, but he starts talking to Flair at ringside and gets caught. Ha ha! Situational irony. Nigel, though, rakes the eyes and hits a crossbody just to show he's smarter than Flair. Nigel gets caught up talking to Flair again, so Albright slings him into the barricade. Back in, Nigel goes for the Jawbreaker Lariat, but Albright counters to the Crowbar. Nigel makes the ropes, forcing Brent to release at 4.9, lest he be disqualified again. To the floor, Nigel puts Albright through a table with the Tower of London! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Crowbar again! Nigel rolls back… into the Crowbar again! Finally, Claudio Castagnoli jumps in and attacks Albright for the DQ at 22:10. Horrible, horrible finish. I could deal with Claudio costing Albright the match, but to break it up with a non-finish doesn't accomplish much other than build to an eventual Albright title rematch that no one is clamoring for. The wrestling was really pretty good, but Albright needs a personality transplant, stat! ***

After the match, Claudio and Nigel put the boots to Albright, but Flair hops in to make the save.

In the back, Steen refuses to give Edwards the credit for hurting his knee. He also promises that they will NEVER lose the tag strap.

The 411: Started out tremendously, but then just petered out with a string of set-up matches. Everything past the King Titus match was to set up a future match. While that's all well and good (and necessary), that doesn't mean the show should be held to a lower standard of good wrestling. That being said, the opener and six-man tag are enough to recommend the show, and besides, it's got Flair's debut!

Thumbs up.

Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]