What’s All The Hubbub: ROH Fade to Black, Disc I

We are in Plymouth, Massachusetts for this show. Now, normally I’d be against the whole “ROH doesn’t matter because nobody sees it” argument, since they regularly draw huge houses in New York, Chicago, Detroit, and a few other cities, but this is a SMALL crowd.

ROH TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP
EDDIE EDWARDS © VS. ERICK STEVENS w/PRINCE NANA & ERNIE OSIRIS
We are just outside Eddie’s hometown of Boston, so the crowd is very vocal in their support of him. They are also very vocal in their dislike of Stevens. You know, one thing I like about WWE is you are far more likely to hear a “Let’s go babyface” than a “Fuck you heel” chant. Stevens counters a springboard tornado DDT into a Samoan Drop and stretches Eddie out with a seated abdominal stretch. Eddie fights his way out of a waistlock and hits a pair of enzugiris, but Stevens avoids the backpack stunner and rams Eddie into the corner. He takes too long to set up the Choo Choo and Eddie takes him out with a flying knee. Stiff chops lead to a thumb to the eye, but Eddie makes his comeback and hits a suicide dive and a missile dropkick.

A flying codebreaker, Doi 555 and Shining Wizard almost put Erick away. Great series of moves by both sets up a press diamond cutter from Erick that gets 2. Eddie counters the Doctor Bomb right into the Achilles Lock, Nana provides a distraction but Edwards counters Ghanarhea into a backslide to retain the title. That was really rocking at the end, and the hot crowd really helped.
RESULT: Eddie Edwards via pinfall
RATING: ***

GRIZZLY REDWOOD VS. BRUTAL BOB EVANS
Bob Evans is about three times the size of Bob, but he still looks like a jobber compared to Grizzly. He’s a veteran who is well regarded as a trainer. A fan attacks Grizzly, but it looks like he was probably a plant as Evans immediately takes over with a backbreaker on the ring apron. Little to report for the heat segment, and Grizzly makes a comeback with ten punches in the corner and a second rope bulldog. Grizzly counters a powerslam into a roll-up for the victory. Wow, an extended squash for Grizzly Redwood. I’ve officially seen everything.
RESULT: Grizzly Redwood via pinfall
RATING: 1/2*

KYLE O’REILLEY VS. AUSTIN ARIES w/A HOT PIECE OF ASSTAYLOR
Aries cuts a promo actually calling her a hot piece of ass, which I just wrote as a joke. This can be really good. Aries dicks around with Kyle early, Signature spots like the elbow out of the corner and the headstand dropkick show up. Eventually, Kyle picks his spot and gets a series of kicks and just DRILLS him with a running kick to the chest. On the outside, he sends him to the guardrail and follows up with Aries own IED! Aries escapes a fireman’s carry and rakes the back, but gets drilled with a lariat and Kyle follows up with a Chavo Guerrero style tornado DDT! Aries avoids a big splash, and Aries hits his own IED, and the Brainbuster, which Kyle kicks out of! Wow. The Last Chancery forces him to tap out quickly, which kind of undoes the rest of the match; they really had a chance to have Kyle break out here, but it ended up being more like a fluke than anything meaningful. Crowd appreciates his effort though and he WILL be back.
RESULT: Austin Aries via submission
RATING: **3/4

FIRST BLOOD MATCH
NECRO BUTCHER & SHAWN DAIVARI w/PRINCE NANA & ERNIE OSIRIS VS. STEVE CORINO & KEVIN STEEN
Steen really deserves better than this. This match is, in a word, brawling.Corino actually does something entertaining by putting the ring bell on Daivari’s balls and hits it with a hammer. Great spot as Necro just buries Corino under the ring mats, which could have led to a heat segment but doesn’t. Steen and Necro fight over something, but I can’t tell what it is and the announcers just say “weapon”. Corino severely hurts the rating of this match by playing doctor again. Seriously, FUCK THAT SPOT. Corino avoids a beer bottle and Steen holds Necro with a chain. Corino breaks the bottle over the ring post and drives the cracked glass into Necro and that’s over. Pointless match and my least favorite spot this side of Danshoku Dino really killed any enjoyment I could have had out of it.
RESULT: Kevin Steen & Steve Corino via bloodletting
RATING: **

MATT TAVEN & SID REEVES VS. KENNY KING & RHETT TITUS w/AUSTIN ARIES & TAYLORTHE HOT PIECE OF ASS
Reeves has stolen one of Finlay’s singlets. The Express predictably dominate the early going. Taven slips on the ropes, killing any chance for the crowd supporting him. A suplex and a hilo connect, and Reeves is a guy who looks to be all steak; his moves look like they work, but lack the flash that wrestlers really need to put into their moves. The ANE drill him with enzugiris and then Titus sends him into a flying roundhouse crescent kick from King. Titus runs into a Rydeen Bomb from Reeves and Taven makes his comeback with generic babyface offense before setting up a lionsault with a corkscrew neckbreaker. The ANE comes in with several flurries that look great except for being a little slow and on guys that nobody cares about. A Royal Flush and Outsider’s Edge put the jobbers down and the All Night Express continues to impress.
RESULT: Kenny King & Rhett Titus via pinfall
RATING: **1/2

RODERICK STRONG VS. MIKE BENNETT
Mike Bennett recently declared that he would be the ROH Champion by the end of 2011. We’ll see if he’s worth the hype and push. He certainly has the WWE build, we’ll see if he can be entertaining. Roddy kind of wrestles a typical Roderick Strong match here, and Bennett doesn’t really get a chance to really showcase his stuff. His selling is pretty good, but once he gets in control it’s, punches and chokes. That won’t endear him to many folks, so unless he’s able to generate some Jimmy Rave level hatred he’s going to have a hard time getting over. He does hit a nice backbreaker variation that is quite amusing considering his opponent, but the rest is your typical WWE offense. Roddy comes back with kick variants and a spinning uranage slam, and Bennett pulls the tights on a roll-up. The press gutbuster sets up a Tyler Black-style superkick to a kneeling Bennett, which is a nice touch. Bennett wasn’t bad or anything, but when Roderick Strong is more interesting than you (and I’m not talking about offense, but personality), you’re in trouble. He better be gold on the mic.
RESULT: Roderick Strong via pinfall
RATING: **1/4

ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
EL GENERICO & COLT CABANA VS. CHRIS HERO & CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI w/SHANE HAGADORN
This show needs to be saved at this point, but these four can do it if they feel like it. Cabana plays to the crowd and is already the most entertaining part of this show. Lots of light-hearted fun in the early going. Things eventually get serious when Hero works in his signature boot sequence that takes out both partners and the Kings start working over Generico. Hero works in his cravate with knees move and then deadlifts Generico for a mini-powerbomb, but when he goes up top Genrico boots him to the floor but gets tripped up when he tries a dive. Generico hits his tornado DDT and makes the taga, and Cabana barely manages to hit his quebrada on the Kings. He avoids the double boot and starts doing the Dusty Rhodes style beatdown. Hero hits a boot but runs into an ass attack. Things start to pick up but Steen and Corino show up to try and distract our heroes. Sunset flip/crossbody combo almost gets the duke, but Hero takes out Generico with a flying elbow and Claudio hits Cabana with the springboard uppercut. Cabana survives the big swing/flash kick combo, but the Death Blow and European Upperuct finishes him off. What, you couldn’t add a Riccola Bomb? Good match but the finish and the pointless cameo by Steen and Corino knocks a little off.
RESULT: Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli via pinfall
RATING: ***1/2

TYLER BLACK VS. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS
The crowd is, understandably, really against Black. The “NXT” chant is pretty clever though. Black channels the hate well, and we get a mix of the “edgy heel” Tyler that made him stand out in 2008 and the fantastic all-around performer that made him stand out in 2010. The result is that he finally looks like he IS as good as people were saying he could be. Daniels gets a great spot, countering a sprawl by just standing on Black’s head. Tyler keeps going to the floor like a good heel. He eventually gets fed up and grabs the mic, waits for the fans to shut up, and decides to walk out, but Daniels keeps that from happening and just starts beating him down, ramming him into the rails and the turnbuckles.

Black turns the tide by dropping him to the outside. He gets really snarky by standing on Daniels on the ropes to choke him and then backflip off of him. Black hits a SICKENING suplex on the floor. I mean that was just brutal. Daniels starts to fight back and gets dropped with a uranage, and then, in a great moment, Black says “You can’t see me!” and puts him in the STF-U! Oddly enough, it’s even looser than Cena’s version. They start fighting on the apron, but Daniels prevents a powerbomb from there and rushes inside with babyface offense. A blue thunder backbreaker and the running STO get a pair of nearfalls, but Black rolls through the uranage, hit his enzugiri, but he somewhat comically falls off the top rope when he tries the springboard clothesline. Black gets a Paroxysm for a nearfall, but Daniels gets a pair of big moves with a palm strike that sends him to the floor and the seated quebrada to the floor.

Black starts hitting more of his usual offense (schoolboy into a kick, the F-5), and this time he tries the diving clothesline and gets caught in the Koji Clutch, and he adds another twist to it to keep Black from getting the ropes, but Tyler gets it anyway. Black avoids the BME but Daniels lands on his feet, but gets caught with the Pele Kick. An enzugiri sets up the Tree of Woe double stomp and the coast to coast dropkick, and the fans are rocking for both guys now. Black slaps Daniels before hitting the Buckle Bomb and Superkick, but the Fallen Angel survives that as well. Black lands on his feet when he misses the Phoenix Splash, but Daniels avoids God’s Last Gift and plants him with Angel’s Wings. Tyler gets his feet on the rope and rolls outside. Black just starts fighting from the ground and Daniels hits Last Rites just as the thirty-minute time limit expires.
RESULT: Time Limit Draw
RATING: ****

The crowd and Daniels demand five more minutes, and Daniels puts over Black and the crowd. Black pretty much says screw the fans and says Daniels will still be here for the ROH fans, but he will be making tons of money and entertaining the universe. Roddy shows up and accidentally hits Daniels with a clothesline. Black bails when Daniels and Roddy argue, and says he will be champion. Roddy says he will be champion, Daniels wishes him good luck but says he will be the first challenger.

BONUS MATCHES:

ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
TYLER BLACK & JIMMY JACOBS VS. JAY & MARK BRISCOE ©
FINAL BATTLE 2007
This is the result of The Age of the Fall attacking the Briscoes right after the Ladder War with Kevin Steen and El Generico. The Briscoes are understandably pissed and control the match for a good long while. Jacobs gets neutralized early when they do their signature double biel on the steel ramp. This allows Black to get over by just surviving the beating. Jimmy saves Black from the Springboard Doomsday Device and spears Jay, and Black dropkicks Mark into the rail. There is ZERO heat from the crowd. The Age of the Fall take over for a bit and the crowd finally comes to life when Mark gets the tag. Nice spot as Black knocks Mark down off a moonsault to set up the double team tree of woe dropkicks. Jay looks to go for his military press DVD but just dumps Jacobs to the floor instead.

Black hits the Paroxysm but springboards into Mark’s exploder which sets up the Redneck Boogie. Jay gets really sick with a Screwdriver and threatens a top rope Jay Driller before getting hit with a doomsday rana. Another double team sets up the End Time, but Mark saves with the slingshot double-stomp. Black saves Jimmy from the Cutthroat Driver and takes both Briscoes out, only for the brothers to take him out of the match with a Doomsday Device off the apron to the floor. Jacobs kicks out of the Cutthroat Driver, which is ridiculous. That should have been the finish, or they shouldn’t have done it. Tyler comes back from his epic bump to save Jacobs from being pinned off the Doomsday Device. He powerbombs Jay into the rails and saves Jay from a Super Cutthroat Driver, and that sets up a Super Contra Code/Powerbomb combo, and Black polishes Mark off with the Phoenix Splash.

It was a tale of two matches; the first half was the typical Briscoes stuff and typical Age of the Fall stuff. The second picked up the pace and delivered tons of great spots, but they overdid it a bit. It probably would have been better to end the match at the Cutthroat Driver and do the title change at a later date. You can’t throw out the ridiculous moves in your first match if you’re going to have rematches. If it takes nukes to win the first battle, you can’t buy the second battle being won with tanks, you know? Still a good indy sprint, and fun to watch if nothing else.
RESULT: Tyler Black and Jimmy Jacobs win the ROH Tag Team Titles via pinfall
RATING: ***1/2

TYLER BLACK VS. BRYAN DANIELSON
ROH ON HDNET, EPISODE 18
Danielson has a great spot where he looks to hit his signature dropkick out of a wristlock but just hits a slap instead. This shows the paradigm shift in the rivalry. At first, it was Black being an arrogant punk and Bryan teaching him respect. Now, Black has learned and earned respect, but Bryan hasn’t given it to him yet. Black asserts his physical dominance with a powerful shoulder tackle and a quick armdrag, but Bryan counters with his technique, countering the armdrag and contorting the arm. Bryan keeps throwing slaps and Black takes him down, and Bryan counters to the LeBell Lock and Black gets the ropes. Bryan is acting particularly grumpy here, which makes it fun.

Black is able to physically control the match, but when he lets his temper get ahead of him Bryan is able to take advantage. Black tries a slap and Bryan counters into a cross armbreaker. This is just great grizzled veteran vs. young prodigy stuff. They get into a shoving match, Bryan throws an elbow and Black once again uses power to slam him and agility to hit a quebrada. Danielson finally gets pissed and hits a flurry of slaps and vicious strikes. He finds his focus by attacking the neck, working him over with simple holds and headbutts, and adding kicks to the back just for insult. Bryan applies the stretch plum surfboard just because he can. I love when he does that; it’s such a dickish hold.

They do some great stuff with a sleeper hold. They trade holds, Bryan holds on after a backdrop suplex, Black hits a chinbreaker but Bryan just applies it again right away, and Black finally counters by suplexing Danielson to the floor. Danielson blocks a dive with a forearm strike but Black counters the missile dropkick with his own. Tyler works in his babyface flurry and gets a hot nearfall off the springboard clothesline. Black finally gets some redemption with some slaps of his own, but it costs him as he takes too much time setting up a superkick and Bryan grabs an ankle lock, but Black rolls him to the floor and takes him out with a dive.

Bryan hits a suck forearm and a German Suplex with a roll for a very close nearfall. Dragon goes for one of higher risk moves, the backdrop superplex and gets knocked off, but he takes Black out with a flying kick and then hits a Frankensteiner into the Triangle Choke, which pays off all the neck work. Black counters to the Buckle Bomb and the the Superkick, but Bryan survives that. Bryan comes back in a big way by tossing Black to the crowd when he tries the Phoenix Splash and he follows up with the plancha con hilo! They tease a count-out to play off the result of the last singles match, and Danielson is surprisingly content to win off a count-out, which is a great character moment. Black survives another flurry of strikes but gets caught in a sleeper, Bryan hits an awesome reverse headlock takeover into a Crossface, but Black gets the ropes.

Bryan goes to the MMA elbows but Black hits the Pele Kick. Bryan hits his own flying kick, Black hits a German Suplex but Bryan shoves it off (which is fine as he’s dominated the match), and runs into another Superkick. Bryan looks to start a fight again but offers the handshake. A third Superkick sets up God’s Last Gift and Black cleanly and decisively beats the Best in the World. This had a phenomenal story, perfect characterization, terrific psychology and great action. Probably the best “Pass the Torch” match since Misawa vs. Tsuruta. I originally rated this the full five, and watching it again without having to switch videos on Youtube just reminds me of how great it is, so I’m pushing it back up.
RESULT: Tyler Black via pinfall
RATING: *****

TYLER BLACK VS. KENNY OMEGA VS. BRYAN DANIELSON
BOUND BY HATE
GREAT OPENING to this match as he offers Omega a free wristlock. He starts schooling the young uns, culminating in DOUBLE CATTLE MUTILATION! Omega and Black team up to suplex Bryan, but that doesn’t last long. Bryan works in the surfboard stomp on Omega and goes to the Indian Deathlock, but Black makes the save. Jeez, these kids can’t get anything going on Bryan. Omega brings more awesome by catching Bryan with an enzugiri and taking them both out with a tope con hilo. Black stops his momentum with an inverted atomic drop and a stomp to the gut, and Bryan takes him out with kicks. Dragon starts abusing Omega’s arms, and then just slaps him. Tyler hits a backdrop suplex on Danielson and takes his shots at Omega.

It’s pretty clear that both guys are trying to target Omega as he’s the wink link. That just makes it more impressive when Omega makes his comeback with Polish Hammers and the leapfrog bulldog…only to get dropkicked by Danielson. Bryan sends Black outside and Omega tries the STOP enzugiri again, only to taste the Danielson Special. Great spot as they fight over a bridge and Black hits a quebrada on both, and Bryan STILL bridges out. Black hits a Bucklebomb and a big boot on Bryan but can’t get the win. They trade counters and Danielson survives a Superkick as well. Omega picks his spot with a German Superplex to prevent the Phoenix Splash, tries to fight Danielson off but Bryan bloodies him up with MMA Elbows and makes him tap to Cattle Mutilation. Not sure what this is doing on the Tyler Black DVD, but it’s one hell of an entertaining match.
RESULT: Bryan Danielson defeats Kenny Omega via submission
RATING: ***3/4

The 411: The main show isn't exactly a classic, as everything but the opener is either boring or marred in some way. There are three good matches, but it's easy to see why they packaged this show with Tyler Black's best matches. And those matches boost the rating of the set from mediocre to awesome! If you have been more selective in your ROH purchases (such as me), this is a great set to buy.
Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]