Dark Pegasus Video Review: Ring of Honor — A Cut Above

Posted by J.D. Dunn on 11.01.2009

Perennial bridesmaid Roderick Strong challenges Jerry Lynn for the title, and Davey Richards tries to quell Tyler Black's momentum.

Ring of Honor — A Cut Above

by J.D. Dunn
Twitter.com/jddunn411
Brightkite.com/jddunn411
Facebook.com/jddunn411

This show features one of the coolest covers in ROH history with Roderick Strong pulling a Steve Austin and gushing blood while holding Jerry Lynn in the Stronghold.

The videowire is highlighted by Colt Cabana talking about taking a girl named "Jenny Lynn" to his prom, and now he's come full circle.

Brother, Brother, Why I Gotta Be a Brother? interrupts Alex Payne's interview time, and Austin Aries tells King & Titus to look out for themselves because no one else will. Has he been reading Ayn Rand?

April 24, 2009

From Dayton, Ohio

Your hosts are Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard.

Roderick Strong says he's 0-10 in ROH Title matches. Huh. I didn't even think he had that many.

Opening Match: Bryan Danielson vs. Eddie Edwards (w/Shane Hagadorn).
Good to see Eddie getting a chance to shine since he's usually in Davey's shadow. Really cool sequence early on as they each seek to connect with a soccer kick, but neither guy can get it. Just a wonderful series of avoidances there. Danielson eventually outsmarts him. Edwards gets frustrated and slaps him. Danielson goes nuts on him with kicks, knocking some of the cockiness out of him. Danielson takes over with chops and a SICK running forearm in the corner. That was Misawa-esque… only Misawa didn't jump. CATTLE MUTILATION but Edwards makes the ropes. Danielson gets distracted, though, and Edwards is able to Dragon Screw his knee on the ropes. Cool sequence as Edwards hits the backpack chinbreaker into a half-crab to work the knee. They go into a series of nearfalls, and Danielson is able to reverse a small package to his own at 15:01. I was hoping for Edwards to get more offense down the stretch, and then the match would have been something *really* special. As it is, it's just a damn fine opener. ***1/2

Four-Corner Survival: Silas Young vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Matt Cross vs. Rasche Brown.
Rasche looks like Tony Atlas and Bad News Brown had a kid. Hilarious moment as Claudio refuses to shake Matt Cross's hand until Rasche gets all ANGRY BLACK MAN on him. Brown and Claudio nearly go at it, but the other two toss them and do the fake dive thing. Brown and Castagnoli decide they'd have better luck if they team up. Brown gets a nice delayed suplex, but the heel doubleteam backfires. If you didn't see that coming after Claudio's thirty-second wind-up, you have no business watching wrestling. Scary moment as Cross tries to springboard off the top rope, bounce off Claudio's back as he's being held up in the Fireman's Carry, and dive onto Brown on the outside of the ring. Yeah, there's a reason no one's tried that before. Fortunately, no one gets paralyzed. Claudio slips out of the Fireman's Carry and grabs the Swiss Sleeper Hold at 16:02. Entertaining in a perverse way. Cross has no sense of danger or physics (kind of like how the WWE sells Jeff Hardy). Brown looks like he could be a star, and I have no idea why it's taken this long for him to get a look. I know he didn't fit the "ROH style" under Gabe, but the man has personality to burn. **3/4

After the match, Silas slaps Matt in the face, presumably for screwing up his Fireman's Carry with that springboard.

Jimmy Rave (w/The Embassy) vs. Grizzly Redwood.
The Grizz chops Rave down to size, and DOWN COME THE STRAPS! Ernie Osiris distracts him with the shoe, though, and Rave finishes with Ghanarhea at 0:38. An appropriate amount of time for this match. 1/4*

After the match, Ernie Osiris steals Redwood's shoes, and they bury him in the Ghana flag.

Austin Aries & Rhett Titus vs. The Phoenix Twins.
Aries compares the Phoenixes to the Mulkeys. I don't know which one is Tweak and which one is Dash. Leonard comes up with a great way for telling them apart – Tweak is always the one who starts. The Phoenixes hit a bunch of doubleteam maneuvers. But how can you tell them apart?!!! Aries cuts off… Dash? in the middle of a dive, and the heels take over from there. Titus hits the Muff Driver (Razor's Edge), and Aries finishes with the Brainbuster at 10:42. The Twins are kind ofl like the Irish Airborne – some impressive moves, but ultimately not enough personality to compete with the regulars. **1/4

Chris Hero vs. Colt Cabana.
Colt wants a catch-as-catch-can match. In Colt's language, that means comedy match. Lots of wacky reversals make Hero look foolish. He finally gets fed up and hits Colt with the Roaring Elbow. Hero's offense follows, which, when you think about it, is just as ridiculous as Colt's. Back in, Colt hulks up and roars back. He catches Hero and rolls him up into the Billy Goat's Curse for the submission at 12:03. These two have great chemistry because Hero is super serial and Colt is the silly pie-in-the-face guy. **3/4

Jimmy Jacobs vs. Egotistico Fantastico.
Jacobs still has an eyepatch thanks to Delirious. Ego is from "Mexico City, Illinois" and he is the flippiest of flippy guys. I mean that in a good way. He tosses Jacobs out into the crowd and then FLIES over the barricade into him. He really is fantastico. Jacobs catches him coming back in the ring, though, and RIPS OFF HIS HORN! But he poops from there! Jimmy goes up but gets rana'd. Cool Ocean Cyclone from Fantastico gets two. Jacobs fights Ego off and hits a senton, but his spear is sunset flipped. Ego goes up for a moonsault, but it only finds Jimmy's knees. That sets up the End Time at 8:10. Fantastico looked like a good luchadore. Not much to say other than that as Jimmy is aimless at this point. **1/4

Davey Richards (w/Shane Hagadorn) vs. Tyler Black.
Richards is super dickish here, and that's fine by me. He gives Tyler NO RESPECT. Black chops him, but Richards no-sells and hits a spin kick that knocks Tyler on his ass. Davey zeroes in on Tyler's shoulder while jawing with the crowd. Black tosses him over the top like it's a battle royal and hits the somersault plancha. Back in, Black gets two off the SSSP, but Davey comes back with kicks. Black gets backdropped to the apron but hits an enzuigiri. Davey rides him down in a complicated armbar to counter the springboard clothesline. ALARM CLOCK! A clothesline plants Black on the crown of his head like Don Beebe, and Davey gets a close two off a German Suplex. Awesome sequence sees Richards bound up to counter the Phoenix Splash with a German Superplex, but Black hangs on, sending Davey backwards to the mat. The Phoenix Splash misses anyway, and Davey hits a spin kick. Tyler superkicks him right back, ducks another kick, and hits a second superkick. BUCKLEBOMB! Black is about to finish him with another superkick, but Richards rolls him up with a handful of tights to pick up the (mild) upset win at 15:03. This was an example of the Anointed One facing the guy who probably should be the Anointed One. Davey is kind of boxed in by being in a tag team and having a good heel as the champion. The closing sequence really pushed this match close to must-see territory. ***3/4

The Dark City Fight Club vs. Kevin Steen & Jay Briscoe.
The DCFC are slow to start, but Chavis uses a distraction to catch Jay with a side slam. Jay plays face-in-peril. Doom 2.0 certainly does have a legit-looking offense. Steen gets the hot tag, but he and Jay have some problems working as a team as Chavis shoves Steen into Jay to counter the Doomsday Device. Steen makes the blind tag and breaks off a doubleteam with a schoolboy rollup to give the faces the win at 9:36. I'd say this result is counterproductive, but with the DCFC being shelved soon after, it worked out okay. I really want to see the heel-vs.-heel matchup between the Fight Club and American Wolves, though. **1/2

ROH World Title: Jerry Lynn vs. Roderick Strong.
This is Roderick's 11th shot at the title, and something tells me it's not going to go any differently than the first ten. The match starts innocuously enough for the first ten minutes – the usual meaningless reversals and Roderick working the back. Then, Roderick jumps off the apron, but Lynn darts out of the way, sending Roderick face-first into the barricade. Immediately, Roderick starts pouring blood over everything. Lynn puts him in the Boston Crab to really give us a good look. Roderick escapes, so Lynn DDTs him on the floor! Back in, Lynn gets two off the Schwein. Roderick finally gets his wits about him and hits a superplex for two. BOSTON CRAB! Lynn makes the ropes. Uranage backbreaker! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Backbeaker on the apron! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Half-Nelson backbreaker! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! That sets up the Boston Crab! The fans think this is it, but Lynn makes the ropes. Roderick gets one last burst with the Yakuza before collapsing. Lynn hits the TKO and Cradle Piledriver. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Another Cradle Piledriver finishes at 18:21. I'll say this for Roderick: he's one of the best challengers for the title in ROH history. That bladejob was sick, and Roderick had everyone believing that he might, just possibly, pull it off. ***3/4

The 411: Pretty good for a "B-Show" (Prazak's words). Definitely check out the Wolves' matches and the main event. We're starting to see both members of the Wolves stand out in the ring at this point.

Thumbs up.

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]