ROH Steel City Clash Review

Ring of Honor makes it debut in the Steel City of Pittsburgh!!

ROH Steel City Clash

Elizabeth, Pennsylvania 3/20/09

Bonus

1.) Shiima Xion vs. Brandon Morino: *1/2

A fine little match here. I think ROH missed a big opportunity with Xion.

2.) Grizzly Redwood & Alex Payne vs. Tony Kozina & Brandon Day: *

This match just served the purpose of having Bison Smith come out & destroy everyone. The Embassy beat up the jobbers until Bryan Danielson makes the save.

Main Show

1.) Delirious (with Daizee Haze) vs. Sterling James Keenan: **1/4

SJK is now Cory Graves on NXT. Amazing to see how much he changed his look from his 2005 appearances. The match itself was decent.

2.) Kenny King & Rhett Titus vs. Erick Stevens & Matt Cross: **1/2

So here we're getting a little Resilience reunion with Stevens & Cross. Before the match starts, Austin Aries comes out and apologizes for not being there for Cross & Stevens more often when The Resilience was around. He then apologizes for overestimating there talent, saying he's found real talent in the form of Kenny King & Rhett Titus, who jump the faces from behind. Roderick Strong comes out & chases Aries off. As for the match, it was a decent tag, though I felt like it could have been better.

3.) Bryan Danielson vs. Mike Quackenbush: ***1/2

These two had a match during Death Before Dishonor weekend in 2007. While I don't think this one was as good, it was still a very good match, both in terms of wrestling & storytelling.

4.) Three-Way Match - Jerry Lynn vs. Brent Albright vs. Claudio Castagnoli: ***1/4

Lynn is playing the third wheel in this match, as Albright & Claudio are involved in a feud. This was a solid three way. Pretty good.

5.) Falls Count Anywhere - Necro Butcher & Tyler Black vs. The Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs & Brodie Lee): ***

This was an entertaining brawl. Certainly Necro was in his kind of match so you know it would be a good match. They brawled all over the building in a fun match.

6.) Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong: ****

These two have always had greta chemistry and they continue to do so here. Kenny King & Rhett Titus would end up costing Strong the win. Very fun match.

7.) KENTA & El Generico vs. Nigel McGuinness & Davey Richards (with Sara Del Rey & Shane Hagadorn): ***1/2

So KENTA is challenging for the World Title the next night while El Generico & Davey Richards will be in a World Tag Team Title Match, so that sets up this match. It wasn't as good as I though it would be. Davey & KENTA really stood out as the stars in this match, but I felt like it was missing something that would have made it truly great.

Overall: 7.5/10

While it seems average, this was very good for a debut show. ROH was able to accomplish it's goal of not having a single bad match, with the ones they had proving (for the most part) to be good to great. Danielson/Quackenbush, Aries/Strong & the Main Event are worth seeing.

ROH Stylin' & Profilin' Review

Ring of Honor returns to the St. Louis Area as Ric Flair makes his first appearance for the company!!

ROH Stylin' & Profilin'

Collinsville, Illinois 3/13/09

1.) Roderick Strong vs. Jay Briscoe: ****

This has got to be one of the best, if not the best, ROH opening match ever. They packed a half hour's worth of wrestling into ten minutes, making for an awesome match. Roderick Strong & Jay Briscoe have great chemistry.

2.) SHIMMER Title - Mschif (with Delirious & Jimmy Jacobs) vs. Daizee Haze: **1/2

Jimmy Jacobs & Delirious accompany their fellow Age of the Fall member to the ring. This was fairly good for a women's match. Then again these two are some of the best out there so they usually put on good stuff.

Afterwords Jacobs warns Haze to stay away from Delirious or get stabbed by the spike.

3.) Four Corner Survival - Claudio Castagnoli vs. Austin Aries vs. Kenny Omega vs. Silas Young: ***

The antics of Aries & Castagnoli are pretty funny at the start. The match itself was pretty decent. Everyone got to hit their stuff and look good.

Out next is RIC FLAIR, who comes out to promote Ring of Honor, saying that the next Shawn Michaels could be in the ROH locker room. This brings out ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness. Nigel makes fun of Flair but Flair strikes back with some classic Ric Flair comebacks.

4.) Six Man Tag - Chris Hero & The American Wolves (with Larry Sweeney & Shane Hagadorn) vs. Bobby Dempsey, Kevin Steen & El Generico: ****

Would you ever believe that Bobby Dempsey would be in a **** match??? Well, he was. This turned out to be a pretty awesome match. Obviously the caliber of the other five guys involved made this match great, but Dempsey had some good stuff in here as well.

5.) Kenny King & Rhett Titus vs. Irish Airborne: **1/4

Nothing much to this one really. Just a match to build up King & Titus.

6.) Bryan Danielson vs. Bison Smith: **1/2

This was a decent match, though it felt weird ending by Count-Out especially since was building off the attack by Bison on Danielson at the last PPV. Though since it was a set up for bigger things in regards to the feud, I'm willing to let it slide.

7.) Tyler Black & Jerry Lynn vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Delirious: ***

The match itself was decent. Nothing out of the ordinary, pretty much what you would expect. But the events after the match are what's important here.

Jacobs once again blames Delirious for another loss (this time being this one). He pulls out his spike with the intention of showing Delirious tough love, but Daizee Haze comes out. Jacobs spikes Haze!! This causes Delirious to snap and lay out Jacobs with several Panic Attacks in the Corner!! After all this, Haze & Delirious embrace in a heartwarming moment. 

8.) ROH World Title - Nigel McGuinness vs. Brent Albright: ***

Ric Flair is at ringside to observe the title match. Claudio would eventually run down to cause a DQ, but Flair saves Albright from a Nigel/Claudio beat down. The finish (to the match) was stupid. They could have just had Claudio cost Albright the match, then do the beat down. The match itself was decent, but a little long. They could have taken some lessons from the opener and done a shorter match with more action involved.

Overall: 7.75/10

The first half of this show is really good, with two **** matches. The second have left a little to be desired as the World Title match was a disappointment. However, the appearance by Ric Flair and a major turning point in the Delirious/Daizee Haze/Age of the Fall storyline more than make up for it, leading to a pretty solid show.

Evolve 5: Danielson vs. Sawa Review

Bryan Danielson makes his last appearance for Evolve as he takes on Munenori Sawa!!

Evolve 5: Danielson vs. Sawa

Rahway, New Jersey 9/11/10

1.) Chuck Taylor vs. Mike Quackenbush: ***1/4

So apparently Taylor complained that he wasn't in the main event, so he got pushed down from the Semi-Main Event to the opening match. This actually turned out to be pretty great. A very technically sound match. It is odd that they would build up Taylor's undefeated record only to lose to Quack in the opening match, but again the match was still good.

2.) Up In Smoke vs. Aeroform: **3/4

These two met in tag action back at Evolve 2. This was a step up from that match. Things just seemed to come off better. Up In Smoke uses some less-than-noble tactics to win.

Afterwords they are questioned in regards to their tactics, but they say wins are wins.

3.) Jimmy Jacobs vs. Adam Cole: ***1/4

This one is build around the old "young up & comer vs. the veteran" story, and they did it pretty well. Both these guys seem to have good chemistry with one another.

After the match Jacobs says he just did something Johnny Gargano couldn't do...beat Adam Cole. Jacobs says he is now the guy to beat in Evolve.

4.) Sami Callihan vs. Drake Younger: ***

Rahway saw a bloody fight in this one. I'm not sure about Younger. One thing I will say...since 2010 he has definitely gotten better. Want proof?...see his PWG work.

Younger says after the match that he's shooting to become the Wins Leader in Evolve.

5.) Brad Allen vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Gran Akuma vs. Jon Moxley vs. Frightmare vs. Rich Swann: ***1/4

This was a very fun six man match. Very entertaining throughout.

After winning the match, Gargano says he is back on the winning track in Evolve and calls himself the baddest man on the planet. This brings out Homicide who flips off Gargano and tells him to get his ass out of his ring. He does, but Jon Moxley comes out. Homicide calls him one of the hottest guys in wrestling and tells Moxley he'll be keeping an eye on him. Moxley agrees with this. Homicide then says he plans to take over Evolve.

6.) WSU Word Title – Mercedes Martinez vs. Amazing Kong: **

I thought going into it that this would be good. It was going ok until Kong got DQ'ed for attacking the ref. Both Kong & Martinez brawl to the back.

7.) Kyle O’Reilly vs. Ricochet: ***1/2

These two put on a very solid match. Very entertaining stuff. It's nice to see the work of guys like O'Reilly, Ricochet, Cole, etc. before they broke out in there respective promotions. 

8.) The Main Event – Bryan Danielson vs. Munenori Sawa: ****1/4

This is Bryan Danielson's last match in Evolve. We got a very technical battle with lots of hard hitting strikes. Very good wrestling, as it shows why Danielson is one of the best.

They shake hands after the match. Danielson talks about how Evolve was his brainchild (he came up with the name). He thanks the fans for coming out & supporting him, and jokes about not playing the Final Countdown (in a funny way) before having it eventually play.

Overall: 8.25/10

This was another very good show from Evolve. I feel like this is a step up from Evolve 2 because on this show. every match seemed to be at least good with only one match that was a little below par (and that was a women's match). Everything is very enjoyable and easy to get invested in.

Evolve 2: Hero vs. Hidaka Review

Chris Hero & Ikuto Hidaka Main Event Evolve's Second Show!!

Evolve 2: Hero vs. Hidaka

Rahway, New Jersey 3/13/10

1.) Brad Allen vs. Chris Dickinson: **1/4

So Brad Allen is being built up as a big player in Evolve but is being looked down upon by veteran wrestlers like Chris Hero. Thus, Allen is trying to work his way up the ranks. Isn't Dickinson a student of Davey Richards? Anyway, the match was an ok opener. Allen makes it clear post-match that he's coming for Chris Hero.

2.) Gran Akuma vs. Brodie Lee: **

Eh...this match was short, but established Akuma as a threat, which is funny because you think they would establish Brodie Lee as a threat instead of losing to Akuma in 3 Minutes. Nothing the match was bad (it was good...for a 3 Minute Match) or that Gran Akuma sucks (he doesn't), I'm just pointing out a mismatch (in my opinion).

3.) Aeroform vs. Up In Smoke: **1/4

This was a fun little tag team match. I like Up In Smoke, but I'm not totally sold on Aeroform yet.

4.) Kenn Doane vs. Caleb Konley: *3/4

So this is Kenn Doane aka "Kenny" from the Spirit Squad. Why is he even here? Eh, this is skippable. 

Doane gets interviewed afterwords. I don't care...

5.) Kyle O’Reilly vs. Hallowicked: ***

TJ Perkins was originally scheduled to face O'Reilly but since Perkins is injured, Hallowicked is taking his place, pulling double duty in the process. This was a pretty decent match. Nothing overly exciting, but nonetheless solid.

6.) Ricochet vs. Chuck Taylor: ***1/2

So these two have had a history of great matches against each other and have wrestled each other numerous times. It definitely showed in this match, as it was pretty good. Not much else to say.

After the match, Chuck Taylor says he's going to keep his winning streak going.

7.) Claudio Castagnoli vs. Bobby Fish: ***1/2

Here we got another fine match. Never realized how good Bobby Fish really is. Now I appreciate him more. 

Afterwords Chuck Taylor challenges Claudio to a match at Evolve 3. Claudio accepts. 

Chris Dickinson comes out and apologizes to the ref for his action in the opening match (he got int the refs face). Some guys are in the crowd taunting Dickinson and Tony Kozina has to come out and restrain Dickinson. Don't know who these guys are that taunted Dickinson so I don't care.

8.) WSU World Title – Mercedes Martinez vs. Sumie Sakai: **

Not much here. Typical Indy Women's Match.

Martinez post-match asks for more competition.

9.) Jimmy Jacobs vs. Johnny Gargano: ***

This match was really enjoyable. It was short but it was a lot of fun.

10.) Four-Way Elimination Match – Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw vs. The Colony vs. The Osirian Portal vs. Hallowicked & Frightmare: ***3/4

I was really excited about this match going into it (why wouldn't you be? It's a match with CHIKARA wrestlers). They did not disappoint. This was really fun. Exactly the kind of fast-paced action you would expect from these guys. Great Match

11.) Chris Hero vs. Ikuto Hidaka: ****

Claudio accompanies Hero while Brad Allen accompanies Hidaka. This was a great match and proved to be a quality main-event.

Overall: 8.0/10

This was my first taste of Evolve, and I gotta say I enjoyed what I saw. Though the first part of the card was a little lackluster (not saying certain matches were bad), everything from the O'Reilly match on was good to great, and really made for an enjoyable show. 

ROH Caged Collision Review

The Good Guys FINALLY get Sweet 'n' Sour Inc. in Steel Cage Warfare!!

ROH Caged Collision

Chicago Ridge, Illinois 1/31/09

Bonus

Rhett Titus vs. Grizzly Redwood: *1/2

Not much to this one. Pretty much what you would expect from a pre-show match.

PPV

1.) Three-Way Match - Kenny King vs. Alex Payne vs. Silas Young: *3/4

This three way really did nothing for me. Not very interesting.

2.) Claudio Castagnoli vs. Kevin Steen: **1/2

Steen makes fun of Claudio's old "Heeeeey" Chant as the match gets underway. It was a decent match. Larry Sweeney comes out during the match but El Generico runs him off.

3.) Age of the Fall (Brodie Lee & Delirious with Jimmy Jacobs) vs. Necro Butcher & Jerry Lynn: ***

This was a pretty good contest. I feel like without Jerry Lynn the match would have been just ok.

After the match, Jimmy Jacobs threatens to beat up Delirious after another defeat. This brings out Daizee Haze, but Jacobs shoves her. She pulls out the spike but Jacobs says she doesn't have it in her. She charges but Jacobs moves and she strikes Delirious by accident, causing her to freak out.

4.) #1 Contender's Match - Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black vs. Austin Aries vs. Jimmy Jacobs: ***3/4

This was originally supposed to be Danielson/Black vs. Aries/Jacobs, but Danielson says its sounds stupid that a tag match where the guys involved aren't going to get along will decide the #2 Contender for a singles title, so the match is changed into a four-way (much better idea). Match turned out to be pretty great. Bison Smith gets involved and costs Danielson the match. Black wins and get another title shot.

5.) ROH World Title - Nigel McGuinness vs. El Generico: ***1/2

El Generico is getting his third one-on-one title shot against Nigel McGuinness. I gotta say while this was not as good as their first match in Cleveland, it was definitely a step up from their second match in Philly.

After the match Black blocks McGuinness on his way out saying he can get his title shot anytime he wants. Jimmy Jacobs & Austin Aries then attack Black from behind & beat him up until Jerry Lynn makes the save. Nigel sneaks away during the chaos.

6.) Steel Cage Warfare - Brent Albright, Roderick Strong, Ace Steel, Erick Stevens & Jay Briscoe vs. The American Wolves, Tank Toland, Adam Pearce & Bobby Dempsey (with Larry Sweeney): ***1/2

I gotta say this was probably the most underwhelming of all the Steel Cage Warfares, but the story to this match (Sweet 'n' Sour Inc. finally get what's coming), to me, felt like it took precedent over the actual match. It was still fairly decent though. Jay was attacked by Sweet 'n' Sour as he made his way down, but came back later on to do a dive off the top of the cage. The rushed intervals and the fact that it was one fall to a finished (ala Lethal Lockdown) as opposed to the elimination style took away from it a bit. Still an enjoyable Cage Match though.

After the match Larry Sweeney berates Bobby Dempsey for the loss, but Bobby finally MANS UP and slaps Sweeney. The victorious face team, and Bobby Dempsey then all take turns beating up Larry Sweeney.

Overall: 7.25/10

While this probably ROH's worst regular (not internet) PPV, it's still not a terrible show either. Skip the opening match and everything is decent to good. This was more about the conclusion to the Sweet 'n' Sour Inc./Bobby Dempsey story anyway. If you are also into Steel Cage matches, then I'd pick this up.

ROH Full Circle Review

Ring of Honor heads to Manassas, Virginia to kick off 2009!

ROH Full Circle

Manassas, Virginia 1/16/09

1.) Brent Albright & Erick Stevens vs. Damien Wayne & Chris Escobar: **

This was ok, but it was nothing more than an extended squash for Albright & Stevens.

2.) Rhett Titus vs. Sean Denny: *1/2

The match goes on for just over 6 minutes until Bison Smith makes his ROH Debut and kills both guys. This match really had no purpose other than Smith's debut.

3.) Necro Butcher vs. Delirious (with Jimmy Jacobs): **3/4

Here we got a fun little match, pretty much what you would expect from these two. Delirious was going to use the Spike but Daizee Haze comes out and convinces Delirious to give it to her, which ends up costing Delirious the match.

Afterwords Jimmy Jacobs berates Delirious once again for being distracted by a woman.

4.) The American Wolves (with Larry Sweeney) vs. Roderick Strong & Jay Briscoe: ***

Although it could have been a little better, given the guys involved, they were able to put on a solid tag team match. Really can't go wrong with these four.

5.) Jerry Lynn vs. Austin Aries: ***1/4

I think Aries using "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived" by Weezer was great. Totally appropriate. I'm also a huge fan of his "Greatest Man That Ever Lived" character, and it's cool to see the first show with him as that character. The match itself was fine.

6.) Bryan Danielson vs. Jimmy Jacobs: ***3/4

These two met in late 2007 in a match that saw Jacobs make Danielson submit to the End Time. They had a great match here as well, with Jacobs proving the first win wasn't a fluke by winning again against American Dragon.

7.) Non-Title: Nigel McGuinness vs. Tyler Black: ****

Since Black lost to Aries in a #1 Contender's Match at Final Battle 2008, this one is Non-Title. It was a really great main event. Not necessarily on the level of their Take No Prisoners match, but still a great contest. Tyler Black picks up the win, and cements his spot as a future contender

Overall: 7.0/10

Honestly, the two main event matches saved this show from being sub-par. Regardless of that fact, the show was still fairly decent. The two main events are more than enough reason to see this show. While it's not a must see, it was definitely a good start to 2009 for ROH.

ROH Final Battle 2008 Review

Ring of Honor looks to close out 2008 with a bang!!

*This was downloaded off of the old rohvideos.com website*

ROH Final Battle 2008

New York, New York 12/27/08

1.) Claudio Castagnoli vs. Kenny Omega: **1/2

This was a very solid opening match and the upset result was a nice way to start the show.

2.) Four Corner Survival - Chris Hero (with Larry Sweeney & Sara Del Rey) vs. Necro Butcher vs. Jerry Lynn vs. Rhett Titus: ***

These four are here pretty much because they have nothing else better to do, but the match itself was actually pretty good. The Four Corner Survival entertains, as expected.

Jimmy Jacobs comes out afterwords and accuses Necro of selling out & getting soft. Since he's already out there, we get...

3.) ROH World Tag Team Titles - Kevin Steen & El Generico (with Daizee Haze) vs. The Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs & Delirious): ***

Definitely a step up from their match in Dayton. Daizee Haze comes out to ringside, which distracts Delirious, again leading to Steenerico picking up the win.

Jacobs berates Delirious after the loss.

4.) Six-Man Street Fight - Brent Albright, Roderick Strong & Erick Stevens vs. Go Shiozaki & The American Wolves (with Larry Sweeney): ***1/2

This turned out to be a pretty good Street Fight. Lots of fun spots and hard hits. Definitely got better as the match progressed.

5.) The Briscoe Bros. vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima: ***1/2

The Briscoes won the right to face these two at the recent St. Louis show. It was pretty good. Nakajima seemed to carry the load for his team, but it still lead to a good match.

After the match, The American Wolves hit the ring. They chain Jay Briscoe to the bottom rope and attack Mark Briscoe's already injured knee with a chair. Steen & Generico come out to make the save, with Albright, Stevens & Strong also running down. Albright tells ROH Owner Cary Silkin that this is going to keep happening unless Sweet 'n' Sour Inc. was stopped, and calls for a Steel Cage Warfare Match. Cary agrees.

6.) #1 Contender's Match - Austin Aries vs. Tyler Black: ****

Although this was roughly the same as their St. Louis match (Wrestling Wise) this had more of a big match feel since it was a #1 Contender's Match. Aries seemed to be getting more & more frustrated as the match progressed. Jimmy Jacobs comes down to ringside towards the end of the match as Aries picks up the win.

Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black then have the classic Anakin/Obi Wan Chosen One shtick from Episode III. He beats down Black until Aries comes down for the apparent save. Instead, Aries attacks Black and joins his yearlong rival Jimmy Jacobs in the beat down.

7.) ROH World Title - Nigel McGuinness vs. Naomichi Marufuji: ***3/4

This was another very good World Title Match. You always know when Marufuji shows up in ROH, he will always put on a good match, but he wasn't going to win the title tonight.

8.) Fight Without Honor - Takeshi Morishima vs. Bryan Danielson: ****1/2

Here it is. The conclusion to rivalry that's been going on since Mid-2007. These two fought in a brutal Fight Without Honor, probably one of the best out there. Just absolutely vicious & brutal stuff in this one. It's a must see.

Overall: 9.25/10

When your thinking about which Final Battle's were the best, this one is definitely up there. Pretty much every match on here delivers as expected, leading to a great show. It was also good to see a lot of storyline progressions on this show, definitely setting things up for the future. The last three matches are must see in my opinion, and everything else just adds to it.