Travicity
02-08-2011, 04:07 PM
Tyler Black's final weekend in ROH was upon us, and while there was no doubt that he would be losing the ROH World Title the following evening, he would first have to face "The Fallen" Angel Christopher Daniels. Daniels had returned to ROH months earlier, and laid out a unique challenge that regardless of whoever won the Death Before Dishonor VIII match between Tyler Black and Davey Richards, Daniels wanted to face both of them to prove that he was still the Best In The World.
Though the ROH World Title would not be on the line, Daniels would get the first part of his wish at this event, which was notable for a couple of other reasons. First, it was ROH's debut in Plymouth, but second and perhaps more importantly, it was Hunter Johnston's first show as ROH's head booker, as the former Delirious had taken the reins from Adam Pearce a couple of weeks before this event. The Delirious Era would see a major focus on building up young talent, and we immediately saw that emphasis here as the undercard featured several young wrestlers that ROH had signed late in the summer getting their first shot to show what they could do.
Fade To Black: 9/10/2010 in Plymouth, Massachusetts
The undercard started with Grizzly Redwood taking on Brutal Bob Evans, a seasoned veteran and trainer in the Boston area who would eventually find his niche as the trainer/manager of Mike Bennett. Bob is obviously seasoned and knows how to make everything he does mean something, but this was just a quick opener that Grizzly won with an O'Connor roll. We would then move on to Austin Aries facing Kyle O'Reilly, another youngster and a protege of Davey Richards who had recently been signed to an ROH contract. Aries was accompanied to the ring by Taeler Hendrix, a young lady we really badly need to see a lot more of, and he told O'Reilly before the match that he had better be ready if he planned to make his name at A Double's expense. Aries tried to play the veteran card by showing O'Reilly up early on, but O'Reilly came back and rocked Aries with some hard kicks. O'Reilly would continue to take the fight to Aries, but missed a diving headbutt and Aries hit an IED and brainbuster, but O'Reilly kicked out so Aries hit a kick to the head and got the Last Chancery to force O'Reilly to tap out. O'Reilly made a really strong debut, and got a standing ovation after the match.
We continued with the All Night Express defeating Matt Taven & Sid Reeves, and another change we saw right away under Delirious was that the ANX took on a much more serious persona, with Rhett Titus ditching the bowtie and the room key gimmick and the two of them started putting business before pleasure and focusing on winning matches and working toward a shot at the ROH World Tag Team Title. They pulled out a bunch of new, innovative double team moves and won with a Coronation/Razor's Edge combo. The final undercard match saw Roderick Strong, one night before challenging for the ROH World Title, defeat Mike Bennett in Bennett's first match in ROH. Bennett looked solid but didn't really do anything to blow me away right out of the gate. He's showed a lot more since this occasion, but was really just cannon fodder for Strong, who hit several high impact moves and then a Tyler Black superkick to pick up the win.
We now move on to the midcard, which opened up with Eddie Edwards successfully defending the TV Title against Erick Stevens. One of the things I liked about the new booking regime was that the TV Title immediately went from being a title that was defended maybe once a month to being defended on most shows. I've said many times how I felt about the 10 Minute Hunt, but Edwards finally got to be a fighting champion, and started the next stage of his reign by defending against Erick Stevens. Stevens was on his way out of the company and made a good steppingstone for Edwards in a hard fought match that had the crowd going right from the start. Stevens dominated much of the match until Edwards caught him in the Achilles Lock, but Stevens escaped and hit an overhead German Suplex and the Choo Choo, followed by a pop-up Diamond Cutter and a hard lariat, but that combo only got 2. Stevens then went for the Doctor Bomb, but Edwards countered to the Achilles Lock and Prince Nana jumped up on the apron to try and distract Edwards, but Eddie caught Stevens unawares with a backslide for the win. This was the best Erick Stevens match in forever, and I wish he would have been booked to look this good all along because I think he could have meant much more than he did in ROH.
We move on to a First Blood match pitting Kevin Steen & Steve Corino against Necro Butcher & Shawn Daivari of the Embassy. This was a weird pairing, but was really just set up to make Steen & Corino look strong going into the Double Chain Match the following night, but it was still pretty insane for a match that was just designed to set up another match. They totally tore up every part of the ringside area, with Corino ringing the timekeeper's bell on Daivari's groin, only to end up getting buried under the ringside mats by Necro, who then jumped up and down on top of Corino. Corino found his way out of the mats and into the ring where he did his abdominal stretch with the thumb up the bum on Daivari, which just happened to be legal in this match. Necro tried coming after Corino with a beer bottle, but Steen cut him off and choked him out with a chain, allowing Corino to break the beer bottle and then stab Necro in the head with it to draw first blood and earn the win. This was really short, but a nice preview of the brutality we'd see the next night and a hell of a brawl for what it was.
The Kings Of Wrestling made a rare defense of the ROH World Tag Team Title in the next match, defending against Colt Cabana & El Generico. This was very different from the kind of match Cabana & Generico would have the next night, being more of a straight wrestling match with some of their trademark comedy thrown in. Hero & Claudio are two of the best at playing off of Cabana's silliness, but this still turned into a typical KOW match where no matter how good their opponents are, they show why they're better with their chemistry and mastery of double teams. I spent years screaming for these two to reform the KOW after they were basically screwed into splitting up at the end of 2006, and this match was a perfect example of why, because they just work so well together that it's scary. Both men have turned into two of the best workers on the indies today, but they are at Midnight Express levels of perfect teamwork right now. Cabana and Generico had been teaming for much of 2010 as well, but had been more focused on fighting Steen & Corino than working their way into title contention, so this was a bit of a departure for them. As you might expect, Steen & Corino found their way to ringside to try and distract Cabana & Generico, and it paid off: Claudio hit a springing European Uppercut on Cabana, followed by a Giant Swing into a diving boot from Hero, and then finally the suplex/Deathblow/European Uppercut combo for the win. Great match, and I think this may have been the first time Claudio pinned Cabana in ROH. Cabana & Generico lost, but had a really good showing and I think that with the Steen/Corino feud behind them, I would totally buy into it if they got another shot at the KOW later this year.
We now come to the main event, as Christopher Daniels faces ROH World Champion Tyler Black in a non-title match. Tyler got his usual "you sold out," "future jobber," and "NXT" chants, as well as the new "you can't see us." After several minutes of this, Tyler grabbed a microphone and said that he's about to leave for WWE and doesn't need to deal with this and tries to leave, but Daniels cuts him off and sends him back to the ring. Black wound up in control of the match, hitting a uranage and doing You Can't See Me before getting Daniels in the STUF (crowd turned on that one big time), but Daniels made the ropes. They headed outside and Black tried hitting a powerbomb on the apron but Daniels backdropped Black into the ring and hit an STO for 2. Black escaped to the apron and tried a springboard forearm but slipped on his way in and came up short. He recovered and hit Peroxism for 2 then went up top, but Daniels nailed him and he fell to the floor where Daniels hit him with an Arabian moonsault. They went back inside where Black hit an F5 for 2 and then went for the springboard forearm again, but Daniels caught him coming in and countered right into a Koji Clutch in an awesome spot. Black escaped and Daniels went for the BME but Daniels dodged and hit a Pelle Kick, then hung Daniels up in the corner and hit a top rope double stomp and a Van Terminator for 2. Black hits the Buckle Bomb and a superkick, but that only gets 2 so he goes for the Phoenix Splash and Daniels dodges, but Black catches him with another superkick and goes for God's Last Gift, but Daniels blocks and counters to the Angel's Wings, but Black got his foot on the rope when Daniels covered. Daniels hit Last Rites and went for the cover again, but the 30 minute time limit expire as her went for the cover. The fans chant for five more minutes, so Daniels puts Black over for being a great champion and tells him to give the fans what they want and go five more minutes, but Black says no way and buries the fans, telling them they can't see him and tries to leave. Roderick Strong runs out and attacks Black but accidentally nails Daniels and Black heads for the hills. Daniels and Strong argue it out in the ring while Tyler says he's leaving and taking the belt with him, but Strong says that he'll be the champion after the following night. Daniels wishes Strong luck in bringing the title back to ROH, and says that he wants the first shot at Strong after he becomes champion.
That's it for Fade To Black, but the show comes with a bonus disc loaded with Tyler Black's best matches, including his first title victory as he and Jimmy Jacobs beat the Briscoes for the ROH World Tag Team Title at Final Battle 2007, his last match with Bryan Danielson on ROH On HDNet from July of 2009, a three way against Danielson and Kenny Omega, his breakthrough match at the Take No Prisoners PPV when he challenged Nigel McGuinness for the ROH World Title and became an instant star with his showing in that match, more matches against Danielson and the Briscoes, the four way match at Death Before Dishonor 6 when he again came within an eyelash of beating McGuinness for the ROH World Title, and his tag title loss to Kevin Steen & El Generico at Driven 2008. There are some awesome matches in that compilation, and I'd say it's worth the price of the DVD by itself.
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Fade To Black was a setup show in a lot of ways, in that it was the starting point for new talents looking to make a name, it set up matches for Glory By Honor IX the next night, and set up some storylines for after GBH9 as well, but it still featured some excellent wrestling in its own right. The main event was awesome, as was the tag title match, Edwards vs Stevens, and Aries vs O'Reilly, and everything else was solid to really good. Throw in a slew of bonus matches from the Tyler Black compliation and you have a purchase that you just can't go wrong with. There is so much great wrestling packed into this DVD set that it's a steal at the price it's at. ROH has a pretty big video library by this point, and I think the bonus disc is a great way to use it to give the fans more for their money. I absolutely recommend you pick this one up.
Next time: Tyler Black bids adieu to ROH as he defends the ROH World Title against Roderick Strong at Glory By Honor IX!
Though the ROH World Title would not be on the line, Daniels would get the first part of his wish at this event, which was notable for a couple of other reasons. First, it was ROH's debut in Plymouth, but second and perhaps more importantly, it was Hunter Johnston's first show as ROH's head booker, as the former Delirious had taken the reins from Adam Pearce a couple of weeks before this event. The Delirious Era would see a major focus on building up young talent, and we immediately saw that emphasis here as the undercard featured several young wrestlers that ROH had signed late in the summer getting their first shot to show what they could do.
Fade To Black: 9/10/2010 in Plymouth, Massachusetts
The undercard started with Grizzly Redwood taking on Brutal Bob Evans, a seasoned veteran and trainer in the Boston area who would eventually find his niche as the trainer/manager of Mike Bennett. Bob is obviously seasoned and knows how to make everything he does mean something, but this was just a quick opener that Grizzly won with an O'Connor roll. We would then move on to Austin Aries facing Kyle O'Reilly, another youngster and a protege of Davey Richards who had recently been signed to an ROH contract. Aries was accompanied to the ring by Taeler Hendrix, a young lady we really badly need to see a lot more of, and he told O'Reilly before the match that he had better be ready if he planned to make his name at A Double's expense. Aries tried to play the veteran card by showing O'Reilly up early on, but O'Reilly came back and rocked Aries with some hard kicks. O'Reilly would continue to take the fight to Aries, but missed a diving headbutt and Aries hit an IED and brainbuster, but O'Reilly kicked out so Aries hit a kick to the head and got the Last Chancery to force O'Reilly to tap out. O'Reilly made a really strong debut, and got a standing ovation after the match.
We continued with the All Night Express defeating Matt Taven & Sid Reeves, and another change we saw right away under Delirious was that the ANX took on a much more serious persona, with Rhett Titus ditching the bowtie and the room key gimmick and the two of them started putting business before pleasure and focusing on winning matches and working toward a shot at the ROH World Tag Team Title. They pulled out a bunch of new, innovative double team moves and won with a Coronation/Razor's Edge combo. The final undercard match saw Roderick Strong, one night before challenging for the ROH World Title, defeat Mike Bennett in Bennett's first match in ROH. Bennett looked solid but didn't really do anything to blow me away right out of the gate. He's showed a lot more since this occasion, but was really just cannon fodder for Strong, who hit several high impact moves and then a Tyler Black superkick to pick up the win.
We now move on to the midcard, which opened up with Eddie Edwards successfully defending the TV Title against Erick Stevens. One of the things I liked about the new booking regime was that the TV Title immediately went from being a title that was defended maybe once a month to being defended on most shows. I've said many times how I felt about the 10 Minute Hunt, but Edwards finally got to be a fighting champion, and started the next stage of his reign by defending against Erick Stevens. Stevens was on his way out of the company and made a good steppingstone for Edwards in a hard fought match that had the crowd going right from the start. Stevens dominated much of the match until Edwards caught him in the Achilles Lock, but Stevens escaped and hit an overhead German Suplex and the Choo Choo, followed by a pop-up Diamond Cutter and a hard lariat, but that combo only got 2. Stevens then went for the Doctor Bomb, but Edwards countered to the Achilles Lock and Prince Nana jumped up on the apron to try and distract Edwards, but Eddie caught Stevens unawares with a backslide for the win. This was the best Erick Stevens match in forever, and I wish he would have been booked to look this good all along because I think he could have meant much more than he did in ROH.
We move on to a First Blood match pitting Kevin Steen & Steve Corino against Necro Butcher & Shawn Daivari of the Embassy. This was a weird pairing, but was really just set up to make Steen & Corino look strong going into the Double Chain Match the following night, but it was still pretty insane for a match that was just designed to set up another match. They totally tore up every part of the ringside area, with Corino ringing the timekeeper's bell on Daivari's groin, only to end up getting buried under the ringside mats by Necro, who then jumped up and down on top of Corino. Corino found his way out of the mats and into the ring where he did his abdominal stretch with the thumb up the bum on Daivari, which just happened to be legal in this match. Necro tried coming after Corino with a beer bottle, but Steen cut him off and choked him out with a chain, allowing Corino to break the beer bottle and then stab Necro in the head with it to draw first blood and earn the win. This was really short, but a nice preview of the brutality we'd see the next night and a hell of a brawl for what it was.
The Kings Of Wrestling made a rare defense of the ROH World Tag Team Title in the next match, defending against Colt Cabana & El Generico. This was very different from the kind of match Cabana & Generico would have the next night, being more of a straight wrestling match with some of their trademark comedy thrown in. Hero & Claudio are two of the best at playing off of Cabana's silliness, but this still turned into a typical KOW match where no matter how good their opponents are, they show why they're better with their chemistry and mastery of double teams. I spent years screaming for these two to reform the KOW after they were basically screwed into splitting up at the end of 2006, and this match was a perfect example of why, because they just work so well together that it's scary. Both men have turned into two of the best workers on the indies today, but they are at Midnight Express levels of perfect teamwork right now. Cabana and Generico had been teaming for much of 2010 as well, but had been more focused on fighting Steen & Corino than working their way into title contention, so this was a bit of a departure for them. As you might expect, Steen & Corino found their way to ringside to try and distract Cabana & Generico, and it paid off: Claudio hit a springing European Uppercut on Cabana, followed by a Giant Swing into a diving boot from Hero, and then finally the suplex/Deathblow/European Uppercut combo for the win. Great match, and I think this may have been the first time Claudio pinned Cabana in ROH. Cabana & Generico lost, but had a really good showing and I think that with the Steen/Corino feud behind them, I would totally buy into it if they got another shot at the KOW later this year.
We now come to the main event, as Christopher Daniels faces ROH World Champion Tyler Black in a non-title match. Tyler got his usual "you sold out," "future jobber," and "NXT" chants, as well as the new "you can't see us." After several minutes of this, Tyler grabbed a microphone and said that he's about to leave for WWE and doesn't need to deal with this and tries to leave, but Daniels cuts him off and sends him back to the ring. Black wound up in control of the match, hitting a uranage and doing You Can't See Me before getting Daniels in the STUF (crowd turned on that one big time), but Daniels made the ropes. They headed outside and Black tried hitting a powerbomb on the apron but Daniels backdropped Black into the ring and hit an STO for 2. Black escaped to the apron and tried a springboard forearm but slipped on his way in and came up short. He recovered and hit Peroxism for 2 then went up top, but Daniels nailed him and he fell to the floor where Daniels hit him with an Arabian moonsault. They went back inside where Black hit an F5 for 2 and then went for the springboard forearm again, but Daniels caught him coming in and countered right into a Koji Clutch in an awesome spot. Black escaped and Daniels went for the BME but Daniels dodged and hit a Pelle Kick, then hung Daniels up in the corner and hit a top rope double stomp and a Van Terminator for 2. Black hits the Buckle Bomb and a superkick, but that only gets 2 so he goes for the Phoenix Splash and Daniels dodges, but Black catches him with another superkick and goes for God's Last Gift, but Daniels blocks and counters to the Angel's Wings, but Black got his foot on the rope when Daniels covered. Daniels hit Last Rites and went for the cover again, but the 30 minute time limit expire as her went for the cover. The fans chant for five more minutes, so Daniels puts Black over for being a great champion and tells him to give the fans what they want and go five more minutes, but Black says no way and buries the fans, telling them they can't see him and tries to leave. Roderick Strong runs out and attacks Black but accidentally nails Daniels and Black heads for the hills. Daniels and Strong argue it out in the ring while Tyler says he's leaving and taking the belt with him, but Strong says that he'll be the champion after the following night. Daniels wishes Strong luck in bringing the title back to ROH, and says that he wants the first shot at Strong after he becomes champion.
That's it for Fade To Black, but the show comes with a bonus disc loaded with Tyler Black's best matches, including his first title victory as he and Jimmy Jacobs beat the Briscoes for the ROH World Tag Team Title at Final Battle 2007, his last match with Bryan Danielson on ROH On HDNet from July of 2009, a three way against Danielson and Kenny Omega, his breakthrough match at the Take No Prisoners PPV when he challenged Nigel McGuinness for the ROH World Title and became an instant star with his showing in that match, more matches against Danielson and the Briscoes, the four way match at Death Before Dishonor 6 when he again came within an eyelash of beating McGuinness for the ROH World Title, and his tag title loss to Kevin Steen & El Generico at Driven 2008. There are some awesome matches in that compilation, and I'd say it's worth the price of the DVD by itself.
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Fade To Black was a setup show in a lot of ways, in that it was the starting point for new talents looking to make a name, it set up matches for Glory By Honor IX the next night, and set up some storylines for after GBH9 as well, but it still featured some excellent wrestling in its own right. The main event was awesome, as was the tag title match, Edwards vs Stevens, and Aries vs O'Reilly, and everything else was solid to really good. Throw in a slew of bonus matches from the Tyler Black compliation and you have a purchase that you just can't go wrong with. There is so much great wrestling packed into this DVD set that it's a steal at the price it's at. ROH has a pretty big video library by this point, and I think the bonus disc is a great way to use it to give the fans more for their money. I absolutely recommend you pick this one up.
Next time: Tyler Black bids adieu to ROH as he defends the ROH World Title against Roderick Strong at Glory By Honor IX!