ROH Boiling Point (2009) Review

ROH comes back to Edison where a Tag Team Grudge Match headlines

ROH Boiling Point

Edison, New Jersey 11/7/09

Bonus

1.) The Bravados & Kyle O'Reilly vs. Gino Giovanni, Tony Nees & Tommasa Ciampa: *1/2

This is another generic pre-show Six-Man Tag, except this one features future ROH stars in O'Reilly, The Bravados & Ciampa. Nice little match.

I still don't understand why ROH put some of the matches from the Double Feature II weekend on this DVD. Doesn't make sense, but whatever...

2.) Kenny King & Rhett Titus vs. Delirious & Necro Butcher (The Hunt Begins): **1/2

This was a decent tag team match. Nothing really special. The DQ finish kind of sucked though.

3.) Jimmy Rave vs. Brent Albright (Tag Title Classic): **1/4

Here we get another match that was decent, but nothing to write home about.

4.) Necro Butcher vs. Chris Hero (Tag Title Classic): **1/2

Ah....got some former CZW guys in this one. Another decent match. Necro gets DQ'ed for the second night in a row. Man with the way he was going you'd think Necro was feuding with Hero, King & Titus....but he's not....so why two straight nights of DQ finishes!?

Main Show

1.) Kenny Omega vs. Sonjay Dutt: ***

A fairly solid opener here. Fast paced, as you would expect.

2.) Necro Butcher & Mark Briscoe vs. Joey Ryan & Erick Stevens (with Prince Nana & Mr. Ernesto Osiris): **1/2

Not exactly sure why Mark Briscoe is teaming with their Necro Butcher here when Jay Briscoe is here. It was fine for what it was. Joey Ryan was wasted in The Embassy in my opinion. Claudio runs down and causes a DQ, and the Embassy beats down Mark & Necro, but that just serves as a vehicle for Jay Briscoe to come out & we get our next match...

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

This was fairly decent match, even though it was short.

4.) Kenny King vs. Tyler Black: DUD

Austin Aries & Rhett Titus comes out with Kenny King. Austin Aries says that Black will not take the title from him. The match goes for like a minute before Aries & Titus interfere, drawing a DQ. The trio beats up on Tyler Black until Colt Cabana & Grizzly Redwood make the save. Jim Cornette comes out and makes a Six Man Tag, though it took him awhile to get there.

5.) Six Man Tag - Tyler Black, Colt Cabana & Grizzly Redwood vs. Austin Aries, Kenny King & Rhett Titus: ***

This was a fine Six Man Tag. The ending with Cabana getting the win over Aries sets up a future title opportunity for Cabana.

6.) Bobby Dempsey vs. Tony Kozina: *1/2

Not sure why this was on the card. Fine for an after-intermission match. More of a squash for Dempsey.

7.) Delirious vs. Roderick Strong: ****

I think KENTA was supposed to be here (to face Strong I think...) but he was injured so instead we get this match. It actually turned out to be pretty good. A fun back and forth match. The finish was rather abrupt though, but the match was still good.

8.) Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Davey Richards & Chris Hero (with Shane Hagadorn, Eddie Edwards & Sara Del Rey): ***3/4

Eddie Edwards is still out with his injury. This was another great match, then again, given the guys in the ring, would you expect anything less. The majority of the match was good, but it got really fun down the stretch.

Overall: 6.75/10

People like to give this show a lot of slack for being bad. When you actually look at it, the show wasn't that bad. I mean the only reasons to buy this is for the two main events (which were very good) and, if you're a completist, the stuff from the Tag Title Classic II weekend. The rest of the matches on the actual Boiling Point show were about average. 

ROH Survival of the Fittest 2009 Review

Ring of Honor's annual tradition returns!

ROH Survival of the Fittest 2009

Indianapolis, Indiana 10/10/09

Bonus

1.) Bobby Dempsey, Kyle O'Reilly & Ricochet vs. Aaron Scott, Tommy Mercer & Shawn Schultz: *1/2

Much like the night before, another fine pre-show match...except this one was a Six-Man Tag.

Main Show

Jim Cornette comes out and cuts a promo similar to the one he cut the night before. He adds that because Delirious performed admirably in his effort to win the World Title the night before, he gets a free pass into Survival of the Fittest.

1.) The Young Bucks vs. House of Truth: **3/4

Both of these teams are coming off of losses the night before. It was a fine opening tag match. Both teams are entertaining.

2.) Qualifying Match - Kevin Steen vs. Colt Cabana: *1/4

Eh....this was....not that good. Decent comedy. Finish was.....eh....I don't know. The only things this accomplished was advancing Cabana & the Steen knee story.

3.) Qualifying Match - Rhett Titus vs. Roderick Strong: **1/2

It appeared as if Strong wasn't taking Titus too seriously. A fine qualifying match.

4.) Qualifying Match - Tyler Black vs. Kenny King: ***1/4

This would be the first in a series of matches these two would have. It was pretty good.

5.) Qualifying Match - Petey Williams vs. Claudio Castagnoli: ***

Another fine qualifying match. Good big man vs. little man story here. However, like the match before it, the winner was pretty much a given.

6.) Qualifying Match - Chris Hero vs. Kenny Omega: **3/4

I find this as the wild card qualifier as in it was the only one where it appeared as if the winner could have been either guy. It was good, but I was expecting a little more from this.

7.) Special Tag Team Challenge - Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Davey Richards & Austin Aries: ***1/2

Austin Aries comes out beforehand and basically says the match came about because of the injury Eddie Edwards suffered, as it was supposed to be Briscoes vs. The American Wolves. Davey Richards has a future title shot after winning the first Toronto Gauntlet during Death Before Dishonor VII weekend. Aries says he offered to be a replacement partner. Richards says he's coming for Aries but Austin reminds him to stay focused on tonight.

Though I felt like it could have been a little bit better, we still got a fine tag team encounter. It especially picked up at the end.

8.) Survival of the Fittest Finals - Colt Cabana vs. Roderick Strong vs. Tyler Black vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Chris Hero vs. Delirious: ****1/4

To me this comes off as one of the more star-studded Survival of the Fittest Finals ever. The success or failure of Survival of the Fittest each year depends on how the final match turns out. This year...it delivered. The Kings of Wrestling (though not yet reformed) did some good stuff early. The match only picked up from there, and the ending clash between Black and Strong was REALLY good. The ending killed it though, as it appeared that the ref screwed up the pinfall, with Strong clearly kicking out at two but the ref counted three.

Overall: 7.75/10

As far as Survival of the Fittest goes, this was pretty sold. The main event delivered as it should have. The Briscoes vs. Aries/Richards was good as well, and most of the qualifiers were good, save for some few glaring down spots and the overall predictability of the qualifiers. That in my opinion puts this a slight notch down from Clash of the Contenders from the night before, but regardless this is still a good show.

ROH Clash of the Contenders Review

Contenders......Clash!

ROH Clash of Contenders

Collinsville, Illinois 10/9/09

Bonus

1.) Grizzly Redwood vs. Tony Kozina: *1/2

Basic pre-show match. Fine for what it was.

Main Show

This is the first show after Bryan Danielson & Nigel McGuinness left.

Jim Cornette starts out the show. He basically cuts a promo putting over Ring of Honor and says the fans will get the quality wrestling that they paid for.

1.) Kevin Steen vs. Roderick Strong: ***1/4

This match had a lot of stiffness, as one would expect. Kevin Steen makes a good sympathetic babyface here since he is "out of it" because of losing Ladder War II.

2.) MsChif vs. Nicole Matthews: *3/4

A fair women's encounter here. Really more of a showcase for MsChif.

Austin Aries comes out for the Austin Aries Lucky Lottery. He pulls out the name of Daizee Haze. She comes out with Delirious, and Aries said he'd wrestle her now if Delirious wasn't there. Delirious cuts his usual incoherent promo and basically challenged Aries to a match. Cornette comes out and, in layman's terms, says Aries is full of s**t. He makes the match.

3.) Four Corner Survival - Claudio Castagnoli vs. Colt Cabana vs. Petey Williams vs. Ace Steel: ***

This was a fun little match. Usual comedy shtik from Colt. Nice to see Steel here. Claudio gets the win.

4.) Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. The House of Truth: ***1/4

A typical (entertaining) Brisoces match, though The House of Truth looked good in this one.

5.) Davey Richards vs. Kenny Omega: ****1/4

These two will both be getting future ROH World Title shots, hence the title of the show. This was a show-stealer. Really great work from both guys. Awesome match.

6.) Kenny King & Rhett Titus vs. The Young Bucks: **3/4

While not as good as the earlier tag team match, this was still a fairly decent match.

7.) Tyler Black vs. Chris Hero: ***1/2

The crowd didn't seem as into it as one would expect, but it was still a pretty good match. The heel vs. face dynamic was played out pretty well here.

8.) ROH World Title - Austin Aries Lucky Lottery - Austin Aries vs. Delirious (with Daizee Haze): ***3/4

This was another one of those matches where you knew the challenger wasn't going to win the belt, but that didn't stop them from putting on a good match. The first part was good, but after Daizee Haze was laid out by a Heat Seeking Missile from Aries, the match really got going.

Overall: 8.0/10

It was important for ROH to establish some good things and put on good shows following the departure of their two biggest stars. They certainly did a good job. Tyler Black returned to action, the World Title Match delivered, and two of the newest title contenders, Richards & Omega, put on the match of the night. The rest of the undercard was very solid as well. Good show from ROH.

ROH Glory By Honor VIII: The Final Countdown Review

One Last Time...

ROH Glory By Honor VIII: The Final Countdown

New York City, New York 9/26/11

1.) Rhett Titus vs. Colt Cabana: **1/2

These two have been going at it the last few shows as Colt pinned Titus and vice versa on the Dayton & Boston legs (respectively) of the Final Countdown Tour. It was a decent opener. Little bit of comedy to get the fans into it.

2.) Dark City Fight Club vs. Cheech & Cloudy: **1/2

The outcome may have been somewhat academic, but the match itself was fine. Nice big guys vs. little guys tag team match.

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

These two had a match back at Final Battle 2008. They were actually able to improve on that match. Really nice work from both guys.

Bret Hart comes out for a promo. He talks about some big career moments for him that happened in NYC.

4.) Four Corner Survival - Delirious vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Grizzly Redwood vs. Roderick Strong: ***1/2

This is a match featuring two guys in an undercard feud (Delirious & Dutt) and two guys who have nothing else to do (Grizzly & Strong). This was actually a very entertaining Four-Corner Survival. It's fun to watch Roderick Strong just throw people around like rag dolls. 

5.) Ladder War II - ROH World Tag Team Titles - The American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) vs. Kevin Steel & El Generico: ****1/4

You have to give all the credit in the world to Eddie Edwards for even going through with this match after the injury he sustained the night before. That alone added to the story of this match. Another big item was the fact that Steen & Generico displayed their willingness to kill themselves for the World Tag Team Titles. The match was great despite the Eddie Edwards injury, but at the same time the injury hurt the match. Because of that it is probably the worst of the Four Ladder Wars (not saying the match was bad at all). I can only image how much better it could had been had Edwards not been injured.

6.) Grudge Match - Chris Hero vs. Eddie Kingston: ***1/4

These two have feuded all over the indies in almost every promotion they've been in. It was a nice grudge match. Disappointed that it really just served as a breather after the Ladder War.

Austin Aries comes out next to draw a name for the "Austin Aries Lucky Lottery" (or A Double L Double). He draws Bret Hart, but of course, Hart doesn't wrestle anymore. Petey Williams comes out instead to answer the call.

7.) ROH World Title Match - Austin Aries vs. Petey Williams: ***1/2

Despite the cheap win for Austin Aries via Count-Out, the match itself was still fairly good. This, for me, is the highlight for Petey during this particular ROH tenure.

Jim Cornette, in a surprise, makes his return to ROH. He sets the record straight regarding his recent release from TNA. Cornette says he's doesn't want to be involved in the shenanigans, and has come back to be involved in making stars. He announced that he is now the Executive Producer of ROH on HD Net. Austin Aries then interrupts, and says the only reason Cornette is here is that he rubs everyone else the wrong way. Aries goes on to say a few other funny things before Cornette interrupts by saying he will defend his title against the best ROH has to offer. Aries retorts by threatening to make Cornette the first Triple Crown Winner, as in the first guy to be fired from WWE, TNA & ROH. 

8.) Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson): ***3/4

The Young Bucks looked really good in this one. I feel like they improved on the match they have in Dayton the week before. Solid Match.

9.) Main Event - Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness: ****1/2

Of course, everyone knows the history between these two, and it's only fitting that their last respective matches in ROH are against one another. This was a really good match, though I think the emotion behind it (with it being their last match) definitely rose the bar as far as the overall match is concerned.

After the match, the whole locker room comes out & the crowd chants "Thank You Both". Nigel makes a joke about not remembering what he was going to say because Dragon beat him senseless at the end, but he puts over ROH. Danielson picks up from there and puts over the rest of the roster...end Senior Referee Todd Sinclair. There was a funny John Cena related moment in here as well. Danielson leaves with "The Final Countdown" Playing but Danielson comes back out & requests that the fans chant "ROH" instead, which they do.

Overall: 9.25/10

This is probably one of the best Glory By Honor's ever, and probably gets my vote for ROH's Best Show of 2009. The Danielson/McGuinness match is awesome, The Ladder War was Great, and pretty much the rest of the undercard is filled with great contest. Definitely go check this out if you can find it.

ROH The Final Countdown Tour: Boston Review

The Dragon vs. The Wolf

ROH The Final Countdown Tour: Boston

Boston, Massachusetts 9/25/09

1.) The Young Bucks vs. Up In Smoke (Cheech & Cloudly): ***

Very solid opener from two great young tag teams.

2.) Sonjay Dutt vs. Delirious (with Daizee Haze): **1/2

This was set up after Dutt apparently abused Haze on a recent episode of ROH on HD Net. It was fine match. Enjoyable.

After the match Dutt forces himself on Haze. She slaps him, leading to Dutt putting her in the Camel Clutch.

3.) Four Corner Survival - Chris Hero vs. Petey Williams vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. El Generico: ***

Here we have a very interesting array of opponents. It was a fun match. Nothing overly good, but nice all-out action for a match that went just under 10 Minutes.

Bret Hart does a promo (either taped or live can't remember) thanking the fans & putting over ROH (the usual stuff).

4.) Anything Goes Match - Eddie Edwards vs. Kevin Steen: ***1/4

This was not as good as the Anything Goes Match Steen had with Davey Richards at the last Boston show, but it was still good. Of course Edwards would receive his infamous Elbow Injury here that would force him to wear a cast for Ladder War II. The ending spot was great, and the match as a whole gave fans a taste of what to look for in Ladder War II

5.) Dark City Fight Club vs. Alex Payne & Bobby Dempsey: *3/4

Somewhat of an extended squash for DCFC. Next...

6.) Nigel McGuinness vs. Roderick Strong: ***1/2

I think the opponents were supposed to be different for this weekend of shows but with the announcement that Nigel was leaving for bigger & better things as well, they had to switch things around, and we got this match. Pretty solid work. Nigel cuts the typical "guy leaving" promo afterwords.

7.) ROH World Champion Austin Aries & Rhett Titus vs. Colt Cabana & Kenny Omega: ***

So this is pretty much the same match as the one the weekend before in Dayton except we get Kenny Omega instead of Petey Williams and the heels ended up winning. It was fine for what it was.

8.) Main Event - Bryan Danielson vs. Davey Richards: ****1/2

Davey has been built up over the last year at this point (especially if what Gabe had originally planned before he left was true) as "the guy" to kind of take Danielson's place (air-apparent if you will). Just great work from both of these guys. Awesome Match.

Richards thanks Danielson for the match and for helping him out with his career afterwords. Danielson then cuts a classy promo, putting over Richards.

Overall: 8.0/10

This was another great Boston show from ROH. Danielson/Richards makes this a very good buy, and the rest of the card isn't to shabby either, with only one match you could really skip (and it was an entertaining squash). Very good show overall.

ROH The Final Countdown Tour: Dayton Review

The American Dragon faces That Young Knockout Kid in his final stop in Dayton

*This show is available for free (ringside members) on rohwrestling.com*

Just a quick note, but apparently this is the first DVD produced in house by ROH. This is also the first show without Lenny Leonard (he started commentating in '05 or '06).

ROH The Final Countdown Tour: Dayton

Dayton, Ohio 9/18/09

1.) Eddie Edwards vs. Brent Albright: **3/4

There was a lot of nice technical stuff in here. A good wrestling match. Davey interferes when the ref is distracted to help his partner Edwards get the win.

2.) The Dark City Fight Club vs. The House of Truth: **3/4

The DCFC were faces here by default I guess (since the HOT are heels). This was fine for what it was. Good tag team action.

3.) Jimmy Rave vs. Grizzly Redwood: *

This match goes for 3 Minutes before Rave uses a chain to get DQ'ed. Necro Butcher comes out and he & Rave brawl for a few minutes.

4.) Claudio Castagnoli vs. Davey Richards: ****

So Tyler Black was supposed to be here facing Davey but Black had to take time off due to injury (I believe) so Claudio takes his place here. Davey is sort of the default babyface here. This was very good. Both guys did a great job.

5.) The Briscoes vs. The Young Bucks: ***1/2

This was a very good tag team match. What you would expect from these guys.

6.) Rasche Brown vs. Silas Young: N/A (Didn’t See)

The match wasn't available for some reason. From what I read it's just Rasche squashing Young so I guess you're not really missing much.

7.) Colt Cabana & Petey Williams vs. Austin Aries & Rhett Titus: ***

Petey is one of those guys ROH scored from TNA that they had for like a year and did nothing with them (see Sonjay Dutt). This was fine for what it was. 

8.) Bryan Danielson vs. Chris Hero: ****1/4

This was a very good match. When you look at the match Hero had with Danielson two years prior at Undeniable you can just see how much Hero has improved. Hero pins Danielson after the Death Blow Elbow to win. 

Overall: 8.0/10

The show itself was pretty good. The Main Event and the Davey Richards match are worth checking out. Aside from the two quick matches everything else was pretty solid.

ROH Manhattan Mayhem III Review

Mayhem once again takes Manhattan.....again

ROH Manhattan Mayhem III

New York City, New York 6/13/09

Austin Aries starts the show off with a promo, making an interesting reference to 9/11, but then actually  goes on to reference something else. Oh, that clever Austin Aries. He then introduces his boys, Kenny King & Rhett Titus, for the opener.

1.) Rhett Titus & Kenny King vs. The Young Bucks: ***1/4

This was a fine opener for the show. Both teams looked good.

2.) Jimmy Rave (with Prince Nana & Ernie Osiris) vs. Necro Butcher: **1/2

Short match. Nothing spectacular. Afterwords, Rave beats up Necro until Colt Cabana makes the save.

Ric Flair comes out and cuts a promo to put over ROH (pretty much like all the other ones he's cut).

3.) Roderick Strong vs. Sonjay Dutt: ***1/2

This was surprisingly very good. Then again, it is Roderick Strong...

4.) First Blood Match - Jimmy Jacobs vs. Tyler Black: *1/2

Jacobs jumps Tyler before he even gets in the ring and they brawl for a bit. He stabs Black with a screwdriver, busting him open. The match then officially gets started and ends in seconds.

After the match, Black fights back on Jacobs & then cuts a promo. He's pissed and decides to cash in his title shot tonight!!

5.) Four Corner Survival - Bryan Danielson vs. Colt Cabana vs. D-Lo Brown vs. Claudio Castagnoli: **1/2

Surprisingly the Four Corner Survival the night before at Contention was better than this one. Nothing wrong with the match length, but the match itself felt rather tame.

6.) ROH World Tag Team Titles - Submission Match - The American Wolves (with Shane Hagadorn) vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico: ****1/4

ROH doesn't seem to have submission matches very often, if ever at all. It was actually very good. Another classic chapter in The Wolves/Steenerico saga.

7.) Jay Briscoe (with Mark Briscoe) vs. Guido Maritato: **

Guido, of course is a veteran of WWE (Nunzio) and the original ECW. It was fine for what it was. Nice to see Guido actually...

8.) ROH World Title - Three Way Elimination - Jerry Lynn vs. Tyler Black vs. Austin Aries: ****

So apparently Ric Flair was supposed to be the enforcer in this match but left the show after his promo. Something to do with seeing TV Cameras from HD Net & him going back to WWE...I don't know. Anyway, Nigel takes his place as enforcer. The match was actually very good. Lynn goes out first via Tyler Black, in a shocking twist. He & Aries go back & forth for a little bit, but eventually Aries gets the win, becoming the first Two-Time ROH World Champion. He celebrates with King & Titus. This was weird in the sense that while Lynn going out first was shocking, it made him feel like an afterthought in the end. Of course the final skirmish between Aries & Black was just setting up for things to come.

Overall: 8.25/10

While this was probably the worst of the four Manhattan Mayhem shows, it was still pretty great. Even with the last minute changes the World Title Match was great. The Wolves match was excellent. The Roderick Strong & Young Bucks matches we're pretty good as well. The other matches were decent filler. It did leave a mark of unpredictability when all was said & done, adding to the aura of the Manhattan Mayhem show.