ROH Battle for Supremacy Review

It's ROH vs. NWA as Nigel McGuinness & Adam Pearce fight for all the marbles!!

ROH Battle for Supremacy

Dayton, Ohio 6/27/08

1.) Tank Toland & Shane Hagadorn (with Sweet 'n' Sour Inc.) vs. Silas Young & Mitch Franklin: *1/2

It was originally scheduled to be Hagadorn teaming with Bobby Dempsey, but Sweeney says Bobby's too fat so he calls out Tank Toland to be in the match instead. Not much to this one, just a squash for Sweet 'n' Sour Inc.

2.) Delirious vs. Tyler Black (with Allison Wonderland): **1/2

This was a fine match. Daizee Haze came out during the match, but gets knocked out by Allison Wonderland's (presumably) loaded purse, bring out Rhett Titus who takes her to the back. This distracts Delirious, allowing Black to get the win. It was a good match, but mainly served the purpose of continuing the Delirious/Daizee Haze/Rhett Titus Angle.

3.) Claudio Castagnoli vs. Jay Briscoe vs. Brent Albright: **3/4

Going into this I was really intrigued, especially with the clash of styles. It was a good match, but I feel like it could have been better.

4.) Bryan Danielson vs. Erick Stevens: ***1/2

I believe this is the first time these two faced each other in ROH. It was a good match....an interesting flow to it. I guess I can say it was an excellently wrestled match? The crowd seemed weird to me though. It felt like Stevens came off as a heel even though both guys were faces.

5.) Relaxed Rules - Necro Butcher vs. Austin Aries: Good Segment

This was a fun brawl, but it was more of a storyline advancement as Aries is trying to get through to Necro about being used by Jimmy Jacobs. It was fun stuff.

6.) Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. The Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs & Joey Matthews with Allison Wonderland): **3/4

Here we get Steenerico going against The Age of the Fall combination of Jacobs & Matthews.  Nothing much to this one, just a formula tag team match.

7.) Chris Hero (with Larry Sweeney & Sara Del Ray) vs. Roderick Strong: ***1/4

After Strong refused to join Larry Sweeney and Sweet 'n' Sour Inc., they have made Strong public enemy #1. It was a good match. Dragged a little in parts (mainly due to length) but still good.

8.) NWA World Heavyweight Title vs. ROH World Title - Adam Pearce (with Larry Sweeney) vs. Nigel McGuinness: **1/2

It seems like ROH built this match as being a huge deal, but the match just didn't deliver. Firstly, the match went too long. Secondly, Nigel was forced to go babyface here, which for his character at the time just didn't work. Thirdly, the match as a whole just felt flat. There was stalling, interference, and old school NWA finish as Nigel initially wins, but the decision is reversed as Nigel gets DQ'ed for tossing Pearce over the top rope (which is a stupid rule. No wonder why the NWA is dying).

Afterwords, chaos ensues, as Brent Albright comes down to brawl with Sweet 'n' Sour Inc. This brings out Kevin Steen, El Generico, Jay Briscoe, Claudio Castagnoli, The Age of the Fall, and a returning Mark Briscoe. People do dives to the floor & everyone brawls. Kevin Steen closes the show by cutting a promo, saying he promises to have gold around his waist when ROH returns to Dayton.

Overall: 6.25/10

When I initially got this, I was expecting a good show. The card looked decent enough, and we did get some good matches (Danielson/Stevens, Strong/Hero) but it under-delivered overall. I think part of it may have been time, as the main event went WAY too long and other matches (such as the three way) could have gone longer. The weird booking in the main event didn't help matters either, but the storyline advanced & the ending brawl did make up for it a little bit.