ROH Fate of an Angel II Review

Christopher Daniels comes to Canada with hopes of finally achieving his dream!

ROH Fate of an Angel II

Mississauga, Ontario 11/13/10

1.) The House of Truth vs. Bobby Dempsey & Grizzly Redwood: **

Zack Gowen & Michael Elgin debuted for the HOT the previous night. This was actually a decent match. The babyface ROH wrestling academy graduates get the win, and Elgin disposes of Gowen after the match per Martini's request.

2.) Trial Series Match #4 – Andy “Right Leg” Ridge vs. Mark Briscoe: **1/4

Match #4 for Ridge & the Trial Series. This was another decent match. Ridge got beat up pretty bad as his chest looked messed up after battling Mark Briscoe.

3.) Women of Honor – Sara Del Rey vs. Jamilia Craft: *1/2

Much like the weekend of shows from October, this was another Women of Honor showcase. A decent affair. Del Rey looked strong.

4.) Winners Get A Future Tag Title Match – El Generico & Colt Cabana vs. The All Night Express: ***1/4

The winner of this match gets a future World Tag Team Title Shot. It was actually a fine match. Kevin Steen comes out and El Generico goes after him. As expected, this led to Cabana getting beat by ANX.

5.) Kyle O’Reilly & Adam Cole vs. The Bravado Brothers: ***

This match features two young teams going at it. A pretty good match. This would be the start of a series of matches these two teams would have over the next year.

6.) Grudge Match – Jay Briscoe vs. Homicide: ***1/2

This came about after Homicide apparently took offense to Jay Briscoe saving him from an ANX beat down at Allied Forces. These two also have a history that dates back to 2004 when it was The Rottweilers vs. The Briscoes as well as 2006 when The Briscoes were apart of Jim Cornette's crusade against Homicide. This was a very good match. Enjoyable to watch.

7.) ROH World Tag Team Titles – The Kings of Wrestling (with Shane Hagadorn) vs. Kevin Steen & Steen Corino: ***1/2

Steen brings out security to guard the entranceway to make sure El Generico doesn't interfere. For a match involving two heel teams, this was pretty good. Steen & Corino held their own against The Kings. Generico shows up through the crowd. This distracts Steen and allows The Kings to pick up the win & retain.

After the match Steen & Generico get into a long pull apart brawl. Cary Silken then announces (via Bobby Cruise) that Generico & Steen are not to be within 50 Feet of each other between now & Final Battle. He also announced that the match at Final Battle would a FIGHT WITHOUT HONOR!!

8.) ROH World Title Match – ROH World Champion Roderick Strong (with Truth Martini) vs. Christopher Daniels: ****

I don't recall these two having much of a singles history although they did wrestle tag matches against each other in 2006. This was a very good World Title Match. Although you knew Daniels probably wasn't winning the title, he & Strong managed to put on a really great match that proved to be a solid conclusion to the show.

Overall: 7.5/10

This show was definitely an improvement over the show from the night before in Dearborn. You had a great main event for the World Title, a major development in the Steen/Generico story, and several undercard matches that were good to very good, making for an enjoyable card overall.

ROH Survival of the Fittest 2010 Review

Ring of Honor brings its annual tradition to Dearborn, Michigan!

ROH Survival of the Fittest 2010

Dearborn, Michigan 11/12/10

1.) Survival of the Fittest Qualifying Match – Colt Cabana vs. Rhett Titus: **

Cabana points out a fan in the crowd dressed as Hulk Hogan. Funny. The match itself was....eh....ok I guess. It was doing fine until the ending where Titus used the ring bell.

2.) Survival of the Fittest Qualifying Match – Claudio Castagnoli vs. Grizzly Redwood: **

Even though everyone knew Grizzly wasn't winning here, the match itself proved to be decent. 

3.) Survival of the Fittest Qualifying Match – Kevin Steen vs. Kyle O’Reilly: **3/4

Steen & Corino clashed with O'Reilly & Cole at Allied Forces so this is an extension of that. It was actually pretty solid. Steen puts on an El Generico mask & wins with The Brainbuster.

After the match, Steve Corino talks to Steen about Final Battle and how they'll win the World Tag Team Titles the next night. Steen losses it when he goes after a fan who was wearing a Generico mask. Corino then calls out Adam Cole & we get our next qualifier!

4.) Survival of the Fittest Qualifying Match – Steve Corino vs. Adam Cole: **

Another match that was just ok. Cole gets a surprise win with a rollup on Corino. After the match El Generico comes out & brawls with Steen, who eventually puts Generico through a table via Michinoku Driver. Steen says Generico is going to die at Final Battle

5.) Survival of the Fittest Qualifying Match – Eddie Edwards vs. Chris Hero: **3/4

I thought this would be the best of the qualifiers....turns out I was right. These two put on a pretty solid little match. Eddie got injured on a dive, and that played a roll in the finish of this one.

6.) Survival of the Fittest Qualifying Match – El Generico vs. Kenny King: **

El Generico is still competing despite the beating he took from Steen a little earlier. Again, another match that was just ok. Didn't deliver, in my view.

7.) Trial Series – Match #3 – Andy “Right Leg” Ridge vs. Homicide: **1/4

This is Trial Match #3 for Ridge. It was a decent match, though I feel like they're wasting Homicide here.

8.) Six Man Tag Team Match – Christopher Daniels and The Briscoe Brothers vs. ROH World Champion Roderick Strong & The House of Truth (with Truth Martini): ***3/4

Josh Raymond & Christian Able are no longer apart of ROH (one got injured & the other subsequently left, don't know which is which) so Strong & Martini are coming into this match with two new partners....Zack Gowen and a debuting Michael Elgin. Match of the Night here. Daniels looks good going into his World Title Match.

9.) 2010 Survival of the Fittest Finals – Rhett Titus vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Kevin Steen vs. Adam Cole vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Kenny King: ***1/2

I gotta say this was a very weird lineup for Survival of the Fittest. Steen gets eliminated quickly after El Generico attacked him pre-match. Adam Cole was out next, followed by Titus, Claudio, and finally, Kenny King, meaning Eddie Edwards was your winner. The match itself was decent, and you gotta give all the credit in the world to Edwards for fighting through his injury, but I was really disappointed with this one. Survival of the Fittest should be awesome and your Match of the Night. It wasn't. The booking didn't help either.

Overall: 6.5/10

As far as Survival of the Fittest goes, this was crap. Plain & Simple. The majority of the qualifiers sucked, and the finals was probably one of the most underwhelming finals in ROH History. The fact that it wasn't match of the night makes it worse. In a year filled with great shows, this is undoubtedly one of the dark spots.

ROH Richards vs. Daniels Review

Davey Richards & Christopher Daniels finally clash to find out who truly is The Best in the World!

ROH Richards vs. Daniels

Chicago Ridge, Illinois 10/16/10

1.) Kyle O’Reilly & Adam Cole vs. The All Night Express: ***1/4

A great way to open the show. Two bright young tag team getting the change to showcase their ability. Good stuff here.

2.) Trial Series Match #2 – Andy “Right Leg” Ridge vs. Ricky Reyes: *3/4

It's the second match in the Trial Series for Andy Ridge...but it's a Ricky Reyes match, so my interest level immediately drops. This reminds me of 2005-6 when Reyes would come out & beat up students from the ROH Wrestling School. Skippable.

3.) Women of Honor – Daizee Haze & Jamilia Craft vs. Lady Jojo & Nevaeh: *3/4

So this is essentially a rematch from the night before but with Tag Team Partners. Another decent women's exhibition.

4.) Homicide vs. Kevin Steen: ***1/4

Now THIS is an interesting matchup, especially since Steen is a heel. An entertaining match. Certainly fun to watch. It also included this:

After the match, Homicide cuts a promo mentioning El Generico, causing Steen to snap, which led to him needing to be brought under control by a group of people.

5.) Mike Mondo vs. The Metal Master: *3/4

Eh....I thought this would be a tad better, but it was what it was. Nothing overly interesting.

6.) Non-Title Elimination Tag Match – The Kings of Wrestling (with Shane Hagadorn) vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe: ***

I guess The Briscoes were frozen from challenging the Kings, and they're facing them here in an interesting elimination. A decent match, but far from their best work.

7.) I Quit Match with Kevin Steen in a Straightjacket at Ringside – Colt Cabana vs. Steve Corino: ***1/4

So before the match Steen was placed in a Straightjacket (how fitting). Now depending on who you ask the match was very good or just ok. I thought it was a good match for what it was. The violence and hatred was brought, and it was a nice conclusion to a portion of the overall feud.

8.) Six Months in the Making – Christopher Daniels vs. Davey Richards: ****1/2

This match has been building since The Big Bang! iPPV in April where Daniels made his return. It turned out to be an awesome match. Both guys brought their stuff and put on a classic match that I thought lived up to the hype.

Overall: 7.5/10

I feel like that this show (and this entire weekend in general) was very underrated. Obviously the Richards/Daniels match is the reason to get this show, but their is some good undercard stuff on here as well. I think ROH did a good with these shows, especially considering their NEW World Champion (Roderick Strong), World TV Champion (Eddie Edwards) & El Generico were all absent.

ROH Allied Forces Review

The night before their big clash in Chicago, Davey Richards & Christopher Daniels looks to dethrone The Kings of Wrestling!

I have to say (by the way) that I really like the DVD cover for this show.

ROH Allied Forces

Dayton, Ohio 10/15/10

1.) Mark Briscoe vs. Mike Mondo: **1/2

This was back when Mondo first started making ROH appearances, which included the "Giant Killer" moniker and that ridiculous sign he brought to the ring. A fine opener. Actually pretty fun to watch

2.) Women of Honor – Daizee Haze vs. Lady Jojo: *3/4

You may know Lady Jojo as Sojourner Bolt of TNA fame. A decent women's exhibition. Nothing overly good, but decent.

3.) Trial Series Match #1 – Andy “Right Leg” Ridge vs. Colt Cabana: **1/4

I like the concept of the trial series, but maybe they could have used it with someone who would actually amount to something in ROH other than a jobber who likes to kick people. Anyway, the match itself was fine. Cabana brought out his usual comedy stuff.

4.) Kevin Steen & Steve Corino vs. Kyle O’Reilly & Adam Cole: ***1/2

Steen comes out wearing the mask he took from El Generico at Glory By Honor IX as well as an "Elect Kevin Steen" sign that looked pretty cool. O'Reilly and Cole have of course become known to wrestling fans before this (Both have wrestled in Evolve while Cole wrestled mostly in CZW and O'Reilly mostly in DGUSA's Mid-West shows). This was actually a very good match. You could definitely tell that Cole & O'Reilly are going to be future stars in this one. 

5.) Ricky Reyes vs. The Metal Master: *1/4

Eh....I really don't care for either guy (I actually care for Metal Master a little more than Reyes). This was just there. Nothing really interesting. They do this thing where a fan was antagonizing Reyes and jumped the guardrail but security took him down. I think this was for a show on TruTV (Not really....actuality). Whatever...

6.) Grudge Match – Jay Briscoe vs. Rhett Titus: ***1/2

So this is a spin-off from the singles matches The Bricoes & ANX had at Glory By Honor IX where Titus attacked Jay after his match. This was actually fairly good. Jay looked good as usual and Titus looks to have improved significantly over the course of 2010.

7.) Rottweiler vs. Pit Bull – Homicide vs. Kenny King: ***

This is Homicide first house show back as a regular and he's being put up against one of ROH's rising stars. A good match, but nothing great. 

After the match, Titus comes out & ANX beats down Homicide until Jay Briscoe comes out for the save. However, Jay & Homicide get into a verbal argument afterwords and need to be separated.

8.) ROH World Tag Team Titles – The Kings of Wrestling (with Shane Hagadorn) vs. Davey Richards & Christopher Daniels: ****

So this is the classic "foes teaming up in a Tag Team Title Match" story. I actually enjoy this kind of story a lot more than some others probably do, even though you know in this case the team of foes isn't going to win. Still, this match was very good. Daniels & Richards meshed well together as a team.

Overall: 7.5/10

This show surprised me. It actually turned out to be pretty good. Of course you have the main event, which was pretty good, but you had a fair amount of undercard matches that were very appealing as well. The DVD also comes with a Bonus DVD of the Joe-Punk Trilogy, which was a nice incentive (although since they recently released a Joe/Punk DVD set that includes the matches PLUS their shoot interview, not sure if it would be that much of an incentive). My rating for those matches are below.

Special Bonus – Joe vs. Punk Trilogy

World Title Classic (Dayton, Ohio 6/12/04) – ROH World Title – Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk: ****1/2

Joe vs. Punk II (Chicago Ridge, Illinois 10/16/04) – ROH World Title – Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk: *****

All-Star Extravaganza 2 (Elizabeth, New Jersey 12/04/04) – ROH World Title – Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk: ****3/4

ROH Glory By Honor IX Review

Tyler Black comes to NYC for the final time as a part of ROH, but before he goes, he defends the World Title against a familiar foe...

ROH Glory By Honor IX

New York, New York 9/11/10

1.) Jay Briscoe vs. Kenny King: ***

The Briscoes and the All Night Express are split into singles matches tonight. This was a very solid opener. Good stuff from probably the better halves of each team.

Rhett Titus comes out after the match and attacks Jay, but Mark comes down for the save which leads to the next match!

2.) Mark Briscoe vs. Rhett Titus: **1/2

Not as good as the match before it, but still fairly decent. 

3.) Ballz Mahoney & Grizzly Redwood vs. Erick Stevens & The Necro Butcher: *3/4

This match came about after Ballz Mahoney saved Grizzly Redwood from an Embassy beat down at Supercard of Honor V. Honestly, this is just there. Skippable.

4.) Double Chain Match – Kevin Steen & Steen Corino vs. El Generico & Colt Cabana: ****

The Steen/Generico feud continues in this match. This was actually pretty good. Both teams brought the violence & the hatred. Corino's son coming out & freeing Steen from his chain definitely added a unique twist to this one. 

After the match, they continue to go after each other. El Generico looks to set Steen up for his signature Turnbuckle Brainbuster, but Steen PULLS OFF HIS MASK!! Generico quickly covers his face as Cabana rushes him to the back with a towel covering his unmasked head. Steen then uses the mask & blood from Corino (who had been busted open during the match) to recreate Steen's disturbing T-Shirt, which features Generico's severed head on a Steel Chair with the words "Mr. Wrestling" on it.

5.) World TV Title – Eddie Edwards vs. Shawn Daivari (with Prince Nana): **3/4

Nothing overly exciting, but a fairly decent TV Title Match. Good showcase for Edwards.

6.) Battle of the Best – Austin Aries vs. Christopher Daniels: ***1/2

Now I believe this show (or the next HDNet Tapings) would be the last show for Aries. These two had a pair of encounters in 2006 but this is the first time they've met one-on-one since. This was a very good match. Excellent wrestling from both guys, as one would expect.

7.) Non-Title Special Dream Tag Team Match – The Kings of Wrestling (with Shane Hagadorn) vs. Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas: ****

The World Tag Team Titles are not on the line in this dream match. It's certainly interesting to look back on this and see how excited everyone was for WGTT and now they're pretty much despised and criticized for being boring. Anyway, this was a very good exhibition. Awesome stuff from both teams. The Kings picking up a dirty win points to a future match between the teams.

Afterwords, WGTT beats down Shane Hagadorn in a fun little bit. They grab the World Tag Team Titles (foreshadowing obviously).

8.) ROH World Title No-Disqualification Match with Terry Funk as Special Ringside Enforcer – Tyler Black vs. Roderick Strong (with Truth Martini): ****

Terry Funk is the Special Ringside Enforcer here for some reason (seems very Cornette-ish). Anyway, the match itself was a good one. Not as good as some of the encounters they had in 2009 and perhaps on the same level as their Supercard of Honor V Match. Martini, Funk, and I believe Raymond & Able all got involved at one point or another.

After the match, it looks like Tyler's going to shake hands with Roderick, but flips him & the fans off instead as he leaves. Strong & Martini continue to celebrate until the lights go out & a familiar tune plays. IT'S HOMICIDE!! He comes out & confronts Roderick Strong to end the show.

Overall: 8.25/10

After going back & watching it, this show was actually pretty solid. You did have three **** matches on here. However, they were just really good, and didn't reach the "Must See" level. The Double Chain Match provided a big moment in the storyline and the rest of the undercard was good overall. A solid iPPV from ROH.

ROH Ring of Hardcore Review

In this DVD compilation, the H in ROH stands for something other than Honor.

ROH Ring of Hardcore

Disk 1

Honor Invades Boston (8/24/02) - Boston Massacre Match - Da Hit Squad vs. The Carnage Crew: *1/2

War of the Wire (11/29/03) - Barbed Wire Match - Homicide vs. Steve Corino: ****1/4

At Our Best (3/13/04) - ROH World Title - Steel Cage - Samoa Joe vs. Jay Briscoe: ****1/2

At Our Best (3/13/04) - Scramble Cage II - The Carnage Crew vs. Special K: *1/2

Death Before Dishonor II Part 2 (7/24/04) - Chicago Street Fight - CM Punk & Ace Steel vs. Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer: ****1/4

Weekend of Thunder: Night 1 (11/5/04) - Boston Street Fight - BJ Whitmer & Dan Maff vs. The Carnage Crew: *

Final Battle 2004 (12/26/04) - Fight Without Honor - The Carnage Crew vs. Dan Maff & BJ Whitmer: **3/4

Better Than Our Best (4/1/06) - Chicago Street Fight - Homicide vs. Colt Cabana: ****

Death Before Dishonor IV (7/15/06) - Cage of Death - Team ROH vs. Team CZW: ****1/2

Disk 2

War of the Wire II (7/28/06) - Barbed Wire Match - BJ Whitmer vs. The Necro Butcher: ****1/4

The Chicago Spectacular: Night 2 (12/9/06) - Steel Cage - Homicide vs. Adam Pearce: ***1/2

Battle of the Icons (1/27/07) - Last Man Standing - BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs: ***1/2

Death Before Dishonor V Night 2 (8/11/07) - Philadelphia Street Fight - The No Remorse Corps. & Matt Sydal vs. The Resilience & Delirious: ****1/2

Man Up! (9/15/07) - ROH World Tag Team Titles - Ladder War - The Briscoes vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico: ****3/4

Take No Prisoners 2008 (3/16/08) - Street Fight - The Briscoes vs. Necro Butcher & Joey Matthews: ***1/2

Take No Prisoners 2009 (4/4/09) - No DQ Match/Fight Without Honor - The Necro Butcher vs. Jimmy Jacobs:***

From The Ashes (3/26/10) - No DQ Match - Kenny King vs. Jerry Lynn: ***1/4

ROH on HDNET - Episode 80 - Steel Cage - Kevin Steen & Steve Corino vs. El Generico & Colt Cabana: ***3/4

Death Before Dishonor IX - (9/17/11) - Ladder War III - The Briscoes vs. The All Night Express: ****1/2

Overall: 9.0/10

While the first disk does have some garbage matches that are skippable, the rest of the compilation is very solid. The big this DVD has going for it is that it has a lot of big time match-ups that are on Out-Of-Print Shows. There are a total of nine ****+ matches so that makes it a must buy. Plus, you've got both Barbed Wire Matches, The Cage of Death, Two Ladder Wars, and plenty of Street Fights & Cage Matches, so what's not to like?

ROH Salvation Review

ROH World Champion Tyler Black comes to Chicago to face possibly his toughest challenge to date!

ROH Salvation

Chicago Ridge, Illinois 7/24/10

 

1.) Tag Wars 2010 Opening Round Match – “Skullkrusher” Rasche Brown & Grizzly Redwood vs. Erick Stevens & Necro Butcher (with Prince Nana): *3/4

This is the first match of Tag Wars 2010, and it was......rather disappointing. While there was more crowd head for The Embassy here than usual, the match just wasn't that good.

 

2.) Women of Honor – Sara Del Rey vs. Amazing Kong: **1/2

These two met at Supercard of Honor V, and honestly, it felt like a bit of a step down. It was still fairly decent, but shorter than their earlier encounter.

 

3.) Tag Wars 2010 Opening Round Match – Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. The House of Truth (with Truth Martini): ***1/2

This was definitely a step up from the earlier Tag Wars Match. It also gave the HOT a chance to showcase their stuff against The Briscoes. Pretty solid match.

 

4.) Pick 6 Contenders Series – (1) Roderick Strong (with Truth Martini) vs. Austin Aries: ***1/2

A pretty good match in this one. While not the best of their encounters, you can definitely see the chemistry these two have after years of teaming together and wrestling against each other. 

After the match, Aries gives Strong credit for beating him all by himself. He continues by saying he brought the best out of him in this match, and can bring even more out of him as his manager. Strong leaves before he can finish, presumably rejecting his offer. Aries then goes to talk about Delirious and introduces his men, The All Night Express, who will face Delirious & Jerry Lynn next.

 

5.) Tag Wars 2010 Opening Round Match – The All Night Express vs. Jerry Lynn & Delirious: ***

 

While not overly good, it was still a fine tag team encounter. The right team won. Also, Aries came out wearing Daizee Haze's tights for some reason....weirdo.

Delirious goes nuts on Aries after the match and Lynn chases them off.

6.) Tag Wars 2010 Opening Round Match – The American Wolves vs. Colt Cabana & El Generico: ***3/4

This turned out to be surprisingly very good. I've given Cabana slack for not delivering great matches against certain high caliber opponents, but he & El Generico do pretty great here agains the former World Tag Team Champions.

After the match, Shane Hagadorn comes out to check on his team but Richards, wanting nothing to do with him, lays him out.

 

7.) Non-Title Match – The Kings of Wrestling (with Shane Hagadorn) vs. Generation Me: ****

The World Tag Team Titles are not on the line in this one. The match was actually pretty good, just as good as the match Generation Me had with The Wolves the night before. I gotta say that The Young Bucks are DEFINITELY better as heels, and should remain as such.

 

8.) ROH World Title – Tyler Black vs. Kevin Steen: ****1/4

This is Steen first World Title Shot in quite some time, and his first since his heel turn. We got to see a pretty great World Title Match. These guys gave it their all and told a pretty good story. Oh...and did I mention there was a fair deal of blood spelt?

 

Overall: 8.5/10

I have a feeling this is a very under-rated show. It was actually pretty great. The Special Attraction Tag Match with the Kings & Gen. Me and the World Title Match are worth checking out. While the first match is skippable and the women's match under-delivered slightly, the rest of the undercard was very solid. One of the better Ring of Honor house shows of 2010.

ROH Hate: Chapter II Review

Ring of Honor returns to Collinsville with a very interesting show for the St. Louis fans!

ROH Hate: Chapter II

Collinsville, Illinois 7/23/10

1.) The Bravado Brothers vs. The House of Truth: **1/4

A fairly decent opener. Good way to start the show.

2.) Grizzly Redwood vs. Erick Stevens (with Prince Nana): **

This is a rematch from Supercard of Honor V. The action was pretty good, I'd say on par with their previous match, however, Necro Butcher, who is now a member of The Embassy, came out to cause a DQ. This brings out Rasche Brown an we get....

3.) Necro Butcher vs. “Skullkrusher” Rasche Brown: DUD

....well according to the DVD we were going to, or supposed to, get this match, but it never took place as Necro & Brown brawled in the ring for a bit then continued brawling to the back.

4.) Pick 6 Contenders Series – (1) Roderick Strong (with Truth Martini) vs. Colt Cabana: **3/4

These two were the last two guys in the Toronto Gauntlet at Death Before Dishonor VIII, which was won by Strong. I have to say, when Cabana has these matches against guys like Strong & Chris Hero, you think it's going to be great, but while it proves to be good, it's never great. Anyway, Strong wins after Truth Martini hits Cabana with The Book of Truth.

5.) Must See Tag Team Match – The American Wolves vs. Generation Me: ****

The Young Bucks show up as Max & Jeremy Buck aka Generation Me, their TNA personas. This was pretty awesome. Both teams looked great and you can definitely feel the sense that the Wolves are pretty much faces at this point.

6.) Six Man Tag Team Match – ROH World Champion Tyler Black, Jerry Lynn & Delirious (with Daizee Haze) vs. Austin Aries, Kenny King, and Rhett Titus: ***1/4

So their's a lot of history between the guys in this match, but I'll forgo explaining it because it'll take forever. Delirious was once again in his "Red Poison" attire. A fine Six-Man Tag. Told a fine story. 

After the match, Aries kidnaps Daizee Haze. ANX distracts the faces which allows Aries to get away. Delirious & Jerry Lynn eventually chase ANX to the back. This leaves Tyler Black alone in the ring, and he is attacked by Kevin Steen. El Generico soon comes out and we get our Death Before Dishonor VIII rematch underway.

7.) Grudge Rematch – Kevin Steen vs. El Generico: ***3/4

While the match ended in DQ, and it was not as good as their first match, it was still pretty good.

After the match, Colt Cabana comes out, but Steen lays out both Cabana and the referee. Generico breaks this up and the two eventually brawl into the crowd. This leads to Generico putting Kevin Steen through a table via a slash from off the top of one of the camera scaffolds.

8.) Six Person Tag Team Match – The Kings of Wrestling & Sara Del Rey (with Shane Hagadorn) vs. The Briscoe Brothers & Amazing Kong: ***1/2

So this is an inter-gender tag team contest with Kong & Del Rey in their teaming with their respective sides. While not blow away, this is still pretty good. Both women actually got some shots in on the men which was pretty cool. Kong was especially over with the fans.

Overall: 7.75/10

While the first half of the card was pretty lackluster, everything from The American Wolves/Generation Me match on is pretty solid, and well worth the price of the DVD.

ROH Death Before Dishonor VIII & Buffalo Stampede II Review

Ring of Honor makes a stop in Buffalo before heading to Toronto for one of their biggest iPPV's ever!!

ROH Buffalo Stampede II

Buffalo, New York 6/18/10

1.) Delirious vs. Ernesto Osiris: **

Eh....not much to this one. Basically an entertaining squash for Delirious

2.) Ten Minute Hunt - ROH World TV Champion Eddie Edwards vs. Tyson Duxx: **1/2

If Duxx can beat Edwards or last the Time Limit, he gets a TV Title Shot. A fine match.

3.) Colt Cabana vs. Shawn Daivari: **1/4

Daivari had a lot of potential in ROH but much like Ex-TNA talents Sonjay Dutt & Petey Williams, he didn't seem to get any direction once they came in. This was your typical Cabana match. 

4.) Roderick Strong vs. Pee Wee: **3/4

Davey Richards was going to face Strong, but couldn't make it due to travel issues, so Pee Wee, who is a local talent, is taking his place. Odd choice of replacement. The match wasn't bad, but I'm sure they could have gotten a better opponent for Strong.

5.) Kings of Wresting vs. Up in Smoke: ***3/4

This match proves that the Kings of Wrestling can have awesome matches with anyone. Nothing against Up in Smoke at all, but facing the Kings definitely upped their game. Great Match.

6.) Kenny Omega vs. Austin Aries: ***1/4

Here we got a pretty good match, but from these two, you know it could have been better.

7.) All Night Express vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe: ***

Another good tag team match, but like this previous match, this could have been better.

8.) Tyler Black vs. Steve Corino: ***

Corino main-evented the first Buffalo Stampede. This could have been a World Title Match, but that would make no sense since Black/Richards is the marquee matchup of the weekend. Fine for what it was, nothing special.

Overall: 6.25/10

I have a feeling if Richards hadn't had travel troubles and actually had his match with Strong, it could have elevated the card. Otherwise, a pretty average card. Nothing terrible, but nothing outstanding other than the match with the Kings.

ROH Death Before Dishonor VIII

Toronto, Ontario 6/19/10

1.) Grudge Match - Six Months in the Making - Kevin Steen vs. El Generico: ****

Tag Team Action was supposed to start the show off, but El Generico comes out and demands that his match with Kevin Steen right now. Steve Corino says that's not gonna happen, but Steen wants it to, and we get the match! This was pretty awesome. One of the best openers in ROH history. Great stuff here.

2.) Tag Team Attraction - The All Night Express vs. Up In Smoke: ***

Now we get the match that was supposed to open the show. It was pretty good. Nice to see ANX go over here.

After the match, ANX introduces their man, Austin Aries, who says that he's going to end things with Delirious tonight.

3.) Grudge Match - Delirious vs. Austin Aries: **3/4

Delirious is wearing his Red Poison attire. This was fairly decent. The match ended in DQ, but it advanced the story, so I'm fine with that.

After the match, Rhett Titus gets pants and does a little dance before Delirious lays him out.

4.) 2nd Annual Toronto Guantlet - Eddie Edwards vs. Colt Cabana vs. Roderick Strong vs. Shawn Daivari vs. Steve Corino vs. Tyson Duxx: ***1/4

So it went down like this....Duxx eliminated Edwards, Daivari eliminated Duxx, Cabana eliminated Daivari & Steve Corino, and finally Roderick Strong beat Cabana to win the Toronto Gauntlet and a future World Title shot. Overall, it was a fine match. Nothing overly great, but acceptable.

During intermission, Generico & Cabana got into a brawl with Steen & Corino. The segment ends with Generico choking Steen with Bobby Cruise's neck-tie (obviously a reference to the recent Daniel Bryan incident in WWE).

5.) Pick 6 Challenge Match - Christopher Daniels (2) vs. Kenny Omega: ****

This is a first time matchup. A very good contest. Daniels & Omega put on a great show for the fans in Toronto.

6.) ROH World Tag Team Titles - No Disqualification - The Kings of Wrestling (with Shane Hagadorn) vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe: ****1/2

The Kings come out but the Briscoes aren't their due to "immigration issues". The Kings make fun of that fact until The Briscoes come through the crowd and get the match started! This was pretty great. Both teams put on a really hard hitting fight. Blood was spilt, and the match looked brutal to watch. 

7.) ROH World Title - Tyler Black vs. Davey Richards: ****3/4

Now I can go on forever, but honestly, was hasn't been said about this match??? This was great, fantastic, all kinds of awesome!!! You need to see this if you have yet to do so.

Overall: 9.75/10

This was probably the greatest show ROH has ever put on, in my opinion. You have FOUR MATCHES that went over ****+, with one of those being Match of the Year for ROH. Just a great card overall, with the other matches being just icing on the cake. This is worth getting. If you don't own this show already....GET IT NOW!! It is awesome. Despite the fact that it's a little lackluster, the Buffalo show is just a bonus to an excellent show.

ROH Supercard of Honor V Review

Ring of Honor's annual Supercard comes to New York City for the first time ever!

ROH Supercard of Honor V

New York City, New York 5/8/10

1.) Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Kenny King & Rhett Titus: ***

This was a very energetic opener featuring two great tag teams. Good way to start the show.

King & Titus argue after the match but eventually cooler heads prevail and they head to the back together.

2.) Erick Stevens vs. Grizzly Redwood: **

Redwood has been targeted by the Embassy for some time now. I actually though this would be like the matches Redwood had with Jimmy Rave in 2009 where Rave would beat Redwood in a few short minutes. This one was a little different, and actually turned out to be good. 

After the match, the Embassy goes to finish off Redwood for good but BALLS MAHONEY of all people comes out for the save!

3.) SHIMMER Match - Sara Del Rey vs. Amazing Kong: ***

Kong is coming off being let go by TNA. Why they chose Bubble the Love Sponge over her I have no idea. They loss is everyone else's gain. This was pretty good. These two are some of the best women's wrestlers out there.

Daniels cuts a promo before his match, talking about his return to ROH, Davey Richards, and other things. Pretty solid.

4.) Non-Title Match - Eddie Edwards vs. Christopher Daniels: ***3/4

The TV Title is not on the line here. A very good match. This would be the first of a series of matches that Daniels & Edwards would have. 

Daniels puts over Eddie afterwords, saying he is one of the elite because he is a champion. He once again mentions Davey Richards, saying if he want's to be the best, he has to go through the Fallen Angel.

5.) Grudge Match - Austin Aries vs. Delirious: Good Feud Advancement

Aries comes out for the match.....but isn't dressed to compete. He announces that he now has a manager's license and wants Delirious & Daizee Haze to come out so he can "apologize" for his previous actions (injuring the throat of Delirious on the guardrail on HD Net). Aries offers some things to the duo (and we get some pretty funny chants) but Delirious will have none of it & attacks Aries. A match actually starts but ends in a DQ pretty quickly. Essentially a glorified beat down to advance the story. King & Titus eventually come down and things cool down.

6.) 34th Street Last Man Standing Death Match - Kevin Steen vs. Colt Cabana: ***1/2

El Generico isn't scheduled to be here so we're getting a Steen/Cabana match here. A pretty good hardcore match. Very brutal stuff. The involvement of Steve Corino and his son Colby just shows how far Steen & Corino are willing to go.

7.) ROH World Tag Team Titles - Kings of Wresting vs. Motor City Machine Guns: ****

The Kings come out to "We Are The Champions" by Queen which was used during their first World Tag Team Title run in 2006. I gotta say, despite the DQ finish with the Briscoes, this was still a VERY good match. The Machine Guns looked very good here and proved to be a great matchup for the Kings. Now as I mentioned above, the DQ finish did hurt it, but apparently ROH was in a hard place with TNA not wanting their talent to lose on a ROH house show. During the DQ causing beat down, the Briscoes get their hands on Sara Del Rey and Jay gives her the Jay Driller.

8.) ROH World Title - Tyler Black vs. Roderick Strong: ****1/4

These two had a series of great matches at the end of 2009. Strong slowly became involved in the Aries/Black feud, and eventually got this title match, slowly turning heel in the process. This was a very good World Title Match. Once again, Strong & Black show off their great chemistry by putting on excellent matches. The matches ends in a cradle roll up which was supposed to be a Super God's Last Gift I suppose. I will say the constant kick-outs and lack of selling by Black did bother me slightly. Roderick slaps Tyler after the match leading to a pull-apart brawl. 

Overall: 8.75/10

Oddly enough this show had a lot of current (and former) TNA talent featured. The two main events are more than enough to convince you to see this (despite the finish/selling issues respectively). Only one match was below three stars, and all those that were three stars or better were good to great. It's been interesting to see how Ring of Honor handles the Post-Gabe Supercard of Honor's since they have  (especially V & VI) lacked the outside talent that the show initially thrived on. So far they have generally been good to great, this one included.

ROH Civil Warfare Review

Ring of Honor returns to Manassas, Virginia for another exciting night of wrestling action!

ROH Civil Warfare

Manassas, Virginia 5/7/10

Bonus

1.) Kings of Wresting (with Shane Hagadorn & Sara Del Rey) vs. The Set: **1/4

The KOW are just coming off winning the World Tag Team Titles at The Big Bang! iPPV in Charlotte.  They are in singles matches on the main show, and I guess they wanted a tag match so they got this on the pre-show. A fine little match here. Obvious that the Kings were going to go over here.

Main Show

1.) Ten Minute Hunt - ROH World TV Champion Eddie Edwards vs. Bobby Dempsey: **

Hm....well this is certainly interesting. These two have a bit of history with Sweet 'n' Sour and Dempsey's subsequent breakaway. Essentially this is the same concept as the Proving Ground Match ROH actually uses except it's only 10 Minutes. It was ok, nothing special. Odd way to start the show.

2.) Jay Briscoe vs. Claudio Castagnoli (with Shane Hagadorn & Sara Del Rey): **1/2

These two had a match back at Boiling Point. Much like that match, this one let me down a little bit. It was decent, but it could have been better.

If I remember correctly Chris Hero attacked Jay after the match, which led to Mark coming out and getting our next match going.

3.) Mark Briscoe vs. Chris Hero (with Shane Hagadorn & Sara Del Rey): **3/4

This was slightly above the previous match, but still pretty average.

4.) Pick 6 Series - Roderick Strong (1) vs. Erick Stevens: ***

Watching this makes me feel really bad for Erick Stevens. Two years prior he had a killer Fight Without Honor with Roderick Strong, which was one of ROH's top feuds at the time. Then he joined the Embassy and slowly fell into irrelevancy. A fairly decent match here.

5.) Pick 6 Series - Kenny King (5) vs. Colt Cabana: **1/2

The second Pick 6 Series of the night. This was another match that was pretty decent, but didn't reach the level of good I hoped it would. It was another sudden finish as well, which is apparently a big theme on this show.

6.) Pick 6 Series - Kevin Steen (2) vs. Christopher Daniels: ***

This is the first match Daniels has had since his return to ROH after a three year absence. I also think this was a first-time matchup in ROH. For what it was it was good. Steen attempted to use a chair but was stopped by Colt Cabana, which led to Daniels getting a win and jumping into the Pick 6 right out of the gate!

7.) ROH World Champion Tyler Black & Delirious (with Daizee Haze) vs. Austin Aries & Rhett Titus: ***1/2

Here we have a grudge tag team match of sorts. It was pretty good. An entertaining match with entertaining guys.

Overall: 6.0/10

I should note that there are a couple of bonus matches from HDNet on here from some of the earlier episodes so go see those if you get this. By the way it's clear why they included those HD Net matches. This show was very lackluster. While nothing outside the opener (which was a Bobby Dempsey match) went lower than **1/2, but the highest rated match was only ***1/2. Nothing on here wasn't necessarily bad, but nothing was overly good outside the main event. 

ROH Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies 2 Review

Ring of Honor returns to Chicago with bitter rivals finally coming to a head in a violent way.

ROH Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies 2

Chicago Ridge, Illinois 4/24/10

1.) Rasche Brown vs. Sami Callihan: **

This was a decent opener. Rasche Brown looks good in the victory.

2.) Dark City Fight Club (Jon Davis & Kory Chavis) vs. The Bravado Brothers: **1/4

Much like the match before it, this was a vehicle to put over someone, or in this case, a team. The Bravados get destroyed both during and after the match.

3.) ROH World TV Champion Eddie Edwards vs. Metal Master: ***

Here we got a match that actually turned out to be pretty technically sound. Both guys hit their stuff and looked good.

4.) The House of Truth (Josh Raymond & Christian Able with Truth Martini) vs. Erick Stevens & Shawn Daivari (with Prince Nana): **

I knew going into it that this would be an awkward match, and it was. Sometimes the heel/heel dynamic just doesn't work sometimes and this is one of those cases. Martini & Nana were their usual selves though, which was good. Martini even busted out a headscissors!

5.) Pick 6 Series - Davey Richards (4) vs. Roderick Strong (1): ****

Both guys, oddly enough, are in the middle of their own face/heel turns. This match was actually pretty awesome. Non-stop action that basically defines what ROH is all about. The match ends in a time limit draw, but Roderick declines going 5 More Minutes to preserve himself for his upcoming World Title Match.

6.) Rhett Titus vs. Petey Williams: **3/4

These two have a little bit of history as they met in a few tag team matches and I believe they had a match in Chicago the previous year that saw Titus get busted open. This was good for what it was, though at times it seemed sloppy.

7.) Austin Aries & Kenny King vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe: ***1/4

This was a fun wrestling match with some good heel comedy from Aries & King. Very entertaining.

King & Aries nearly come to blows after the match but Titus comes out and things cool down.

8.) ROH World Title - Tyler Black vs. Chris Hero (with Shane Hagadorn): ****1/4

These two put on a VERY good World Title Match. Lots of hard-hitting action throughout. Great stuff.

9.) "Come-As-You-Are" Chicago Street Fight - Colt Cabana & El Generico vs. Kevin Steen & Steve Corino: ****3/4

Remember when Mick Foley talked about the "Ring of Hardcore" oh so many years ago....this is the kind of match he probably had in mind. It's one thing to have a Street Fight, but when you add in the story and the pure hatred that had been building between these four, it just pushed the level of this thing WAY up. Very good match that perfectly fits in with the storyline. Cabana & Generico pick up the win, but their war with Steen & Corino is far from over.

Overall: 9.0/10

I ticked my final overall rating down slightly, only due to the fact that outside of the three ****+ matches, the rest of the card was rather average. But don't let that discourage you, this is still an awesome show. Richards/Strong, The ROH World Title Match & The Main Event are all worth going out of your way to see. While the undercard is rather average, there is still good stuff on it like the Edwards Match and the Briscoes Tag Match.