Dark Pegasus Video Review: Ring of Honor — The Homecoming II

Posted by J.D. Dunn on 11.02.2009

Just when you thought it was safe to buy a corsage... he's back.

Ring of Honor — The Homecoming II

by J.D. Dunn
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April 25, 2009

From Chicago, Ill.

Your hosts are Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard.

Chris Hero talks about being fated to cross paths with Tyler Black.

Opening Match: Rasche Brown vs. Egotistico Fantastico.
This is a battle of the two new standouts from the previous night. This is like Butch Reed vs. Battle Kat… although I think those two just missed each other in the WWF. Fantastico tries to hit quick and often, but Brown just shrugs him off. A Torture Rack fails to get the submission, so he just launches him onto the ropes. Ouch. Brown signals for a powerbomb, but Ego ranas him into a rollup for the upset win at 6:36. I like both guys, and hopefully we'll get a Skullcrushers vs. American Wolves or Dark City Fight Club match in the future. *1/4

Austin Aries & Rhett Titus vs. Alex Payne & Silas Young.
Can you have a serious comedy match? I only ask because most of this match centers on Aries and Titus working over Payne's Sugarfoot. No really. Impressively, Sugarfoot is still able to walk after the onslaught. The jobbers clean house, and Silas hits the Finlay Roll. Payne crucifixes Titus, but Aries kicks him right in the face! YEWOUCHH! Brainbuster, and that's all she wrote for Payne at 14:24. Just a rather odd mix of talent. Aries was just treading water until his title reign, so he didn't seem motivated outside of that nice punt to the face. Extra 1/4* for that. **

After the match, Young picks up Payne and nails him with a clothesline for his failure. Thus kicks off the epic "Silas is disappointed in his partners" storyline.

The Dark City Fight Club dares us to do something about it if we don't like their methods.

Three-Way: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Roderick Strong.
Strong is coming in bandaged up from his gusher the night before at A Cut Above. The heels team up against him pretty quickly after the bell. That becomes significant as the match grinds on. The crowd irritates Claudio with the "hey" chants. Of course, Jimmy eventually turns on Claudio and rolls him up, triggering the dissolution of their alliance. Neat spot where Claudio puts Roderick in the Half-Crab, but Jimmy jumps on him with the End Times to break it up. Claudio powers up but gets tossed. That leaves Jimmy alone with Roderick, and he's able to get the easy submission with the End Times at 8:00. It's supposed to be a "gutty" performance from Strong, but really it's just there to get Jimmy in the ring for… **1/2

Tyler Black comes out and finally explains what the Age of the Fall was all about – it was about self-empowerment. See, that's all I wanted. Black berates Jimmy for being such a narcissistic pussy.

The Dark City Fight Club vs. The Phoenix Twins.
The Phoenix twins actually dominate most of the match with their anorexic Sinead O'Connor offense. Dash's somersault plancha between Tweak's legs is pretty cool. The DCFC get sick of that and END Tweak with Total Elimination at 5:26. Spirited effort in the squash from the Twins. *3/4

Bryan Danielson vs. Jimmy Rave (w/Prince Nana).
Ah, it's like Jimmy never left. Except Nana is wearing jeans. What's up with that? He does work in his friendship with "Barack Alabama" to his prematch promo, though. This is the Danielson Show early, as he runs through most of his usual stuff. Things get more fun once Jimmy makes his comeback. Danielson fights out of the heel hook and hops on Jimmy's back with the elbows. Jimmy tries to reverse but winds up in the Triangle Choke. Danielson adds elbows, and Jimmy can't defend himself, so the ref stops it at 16:09. So Danielson *still* hasn't gotten Jimmy to submit. Seems like it could have been really good if they had opened up a bit more instead of trading their usual spots. Liked the closing stretch more than the match itself. **3/4

Tyler Black vs. Chris Hero (w/Shane Hagadorn).
That is a whole lotta hair. This is notable for Hero putting some extra Misawa on it. Of course, he always does the elbow with "Misawa's special elbowpad" (read: loaded elbowpad), but here, he busts out the superbomb too. Black seems a bit uninspired, just letting Hero work him over throughout most of the match. Hero is actually made to look smart here, avoiding one of Black's signature sequences. Black's comeback yields the Bucklebomb and superkick. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Foot on the ropes (with a helpful scream from Hagadorn, just in case the ref missed it). Hero hits the aforementioned superbomb for two and goes for his loaded elbowpad. NO! Black blocks and turns it into God's Last Gift at 13:44. Another one of those matches that got better was it wore on. Black did add much in the way of creativity, but Hero was on his game. Maybe with a few more matches under their belts, these two could have a good feud. **3/4

After the match, Jimmy Jacobs returns to stab Tyler in the face with his spike, thus ensuring yet another match between those two.

ROH World Tag Titles, 2/3 Falls: The American Wolves (w/Shane Hagadorn) vs. Kevin Steen & Jay Briscoe.
First Fall: The Wolves come through the crowd to attack the patchwork team of Steeniscoe. Hot start early as all four guys brawl around the ring. The challengers take over off the brawl and smack a hapless Eddie Edwards around for a bit. Steen rolls up Edwards, but Richards blind tags his partner and nails an unsuspecting Steen to take over. Jay gets sick of the double-teaming and clotheslines Edwards over the top. Steen is able to catch Richards and powerbomb him into the Sharpshooter. Edwards breaks it up but winds up in the Sharpshooter instead. Edwards has to tap at 10:55.

Second Fall: Richards takes a walk, so Steen tracks him down and tries to rip his jaw off. Back in, Steen tries to block a charge and gets Dragon Screwed on the middle rope. Steen plays face-in-peril as they work over his knee. He catches Richards with a superkick (::grouse::) and gets the hot tag. Jay cleans house before trading Yakuza Kicks with Eddie Edwards. Edwards wins that with a lightning legline. The Wolves manage to toss Briscoe again and isolate Steen. Steen is forced to tap to the Texas Cloverleaf at 19:10.

Third Fall: Edwards quickly goes after Jay's leg in between falls while they've got him isolated. Steen recovers and hits a somersault plancha (hey, he's "Mr. Wrestling" not "Mr. Psychology). That sets up the swanton and frogsplash for two. Cool spot as Steen puts Edwards in the Sharpshooter and Richards puts Briscoe in the Cloverleaf for a high-stakes staredown. Steen blinks first and drops the Sharpshooter in favor of giving Richards the packaged piledriver. Edwards saves at the last second and give Steen a low blow. That triggers a big brawl between all four guys, and Steen accidentally kicks Briscoe low. Oops. The Wolves hit the thrust kick/German Suplex combo, but it only gets two. The Wolves have had enough and finish Briscoe moments later with the Doomsday Crusher at 24:34. Steen's unwillingness to sell the knee except when it was convenient is a bit of a blight on the match, especially when he's made a career out of selling the knee the last few years. Oh well, I guess he *is* filling in for Mark Briscoe, so maybe he's just making Jay feel more comfortable with the no-selling. Outside of that, this was a kickass match, as per usual with the Wolves. ****

After the match, the uneasy coalition of Steeniscoe dissolves as Jay blames Steen for kicking him "in the damn balls." Shoving ensues, and Jay slaps Steen in the face.

ROH World Title: Jerry Lynn vs. Colt Cabana.
After that tag match, this almost feels like one of those dark matches they have after the TV taping. Both guys are babyfaces, so this is one of those "hey, let's just go out and have fun… until things get testy" matches. Wackiness to start with the fun and the games and the HOI-van. Colt accidentally runs Lynn to the floor, though, and apologetically helps him back in. Lynn does the same thing moments later, but Colt is less forgiving. A normal match ensues, but it's still kind of blah. Lynn hits the Skullfucker, drawing a little heel heat. He counters the Colt .45 to a schwein for two. Colt comes back with the Billy Goat's Curse, but Lynn makes the ropes. COLT .45! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Lynn kicks out of the Colt .45? Colt with the Coke Classic Plunge! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Well, now we're just getting ridiculous. Lynn snaps off a rana and hits the Cradle Piledriver at 17:21. It started getting really silly near the end with Lynn kicking out of big moves. Jerry Lynn resourcefully avoiding big moves = good. Jerry Lynn kicking out of big moves like Hulk Hogan = bad. The fan interest – thanks to Cabana – kept it interesting, though. It was mildly diverting, but it would have been better off coming before the big tag match. Then, you wouldn't get the big "homecoming" moment for Cabana, though. **3/4

After the match, Colt puts over Lynn and the new talent that's come through since he's been gone.

The 411: The Wolves title defense puts this one over the top into the recommended category. The rest of the matches are good time-wasters – nothing offensive, but nothing must-see either. With the defections of singles stars Danielson and McGuinness, ROH could really do a lot worse than making the American Wolves the focal point of their promotion.

Mild thumbs up.

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]