Travicity
03-17-2011, 05:03 PM
Ring Of Honor closed 2010 with possibly the strongest three night stretch of wrestling shows (counting HDNet on Monday) put on by any company, ever. They kicked it off with this show, which featured a TON of great wrestling and was mainly about two things: building a new generation of young talent, and the long-awaited match between the Kings Of Wrestling and the American Wolves for the ROH World Tag Team Title. The KOW and the Wolves had been kept apart for all of 2010, but finally hooked it up here, the night before Final Battle, and it amounted to one of the best matches in ROH or anywhere else the entire year.
Enough hype, let's get to the review...
Tag Title Classic II - 12/17/2010 in Plymouth, Massachusetts
The first several matches all featured the youngest members of the ROH roster, beginning with Adam Cole taking on Kenny King in a very competitive match. This was a well worked bout where King got over as a veteran and an overpowering monster while Cole took a beating, but hung in there and had several hope spots where he looked like he could have beaten King. In the end, King caught Cole on a bodypress attempt and hit the Royal Flush for the win. This was so well booked because both men came out of it looking good, and Cole didn't lose a thing by losing the match.
Next up, Mike Bennett got a huge win by defeating Colt Cabana, with Cabana outwrestlin Bennett early on until Brutal Bob Evans distracted Cabana, allowing Bennett to take control. Cabana came back and hit a lariat, bionic elbow and the Flying Apple before catching Bennett in the Billy Goat's Curse, but Evans grabbed Cabana from the outside and distracted him long enough for Bennett to roll Cabana up with a handful of tights and get the win. Bennett still hasn't proven to me that he's got the goods, but Cabana made him look real good here and this was a huge win for Bennett.
Andy "Right Leg" Ridge finished off his Trial Series by facing TV Champion Christopher Daniels in a non-title match, and he cut a really strong promo backstage before the match where he talked about his road here and the matches he had leading into this bout, and it turned out to be what I consider the best match he's ever had. Daniels controlled most of the match, and Ridge got in a bunch of hope spots but was coming from behind the entire time until hitting a hard kick to Daniels and then rallied with several near falls. Ridge hit his signature superkick, but Daniels rolled out to the floor to avoid taking the fall, then ducked a superkick and hit the Angel's Wings to pick up the hard-fought win. Daniels grabbed a mic after the match and put Ridge over big time, telling him not to be discouraged by the loss because he has the heart of a champion, and then shook his hand. To me, this was reminiscent of how hard he put Matt Sydal over in 2006, and I guess we'll see now if the rub will do as much for Ridge as it did for Sydal.
And now for something completely different, as the Briscoes took on Steve Corino & Kevin Steen in what started out as a straight up fight with both teams duking it out until Steen snapped Jay Briscoe over the top rope and then Corino hit him with a sliding lariat to take control. It settled into a regular tag match after that with Steen & Corino working Jay over until Steen got distracted by fans chanting Ole at him, allowing Jay to hit a Blockbuster and make the hot tag to Mark. Mark came in and cleared both Steen and Corino out to the floor and hit a dive, then went back in the ring where Steen hit Mark with a pop-up powerbomb and pumphandle neckbreaker, setting Corino up to hit Mark with a Snowplow for 2. Jay made the ave and hit a DVD on Corino, setting Mark up to hit a flying elbowdrop for 2. Steen tagged in and went at it with Mark until Corino low-blowed Mark, and Steen hit the Package Piledriver to pick up the win, and then got right up in the camera and said that it ends tomorrow and Generico is going to die. Jay Briscoe got a mic after the match and complained about the lowblow, but said it was okay because they were going to get their hands on the Kings Of Wrestling the following night and hyped the iPPV on Gofightlive.tv.
After intermission, we came back for a Four Corner Survival with El Generico, Ricky Reyes, Grizzly Redwood and Rhett Titus fighting it out for one win. This was really just everyone else killing time until Generico tagged in and killed everyone to put over how angry he was and how dark his persona had become going into the following night against Steen. Generico beat Grizzly Redwood with a brainbuster, and then Steve Corino came out and said that he couldn't control Steen anymore and begged Generico to just give up the mask and put the feud behind them once and for all. Generico teased that he would take the mask off, but changed his mind and went after Corino, who rolled out to the floor and told Generico that he can't help him anymore.
We move on to the sleeper hit of the night, as TJ Perkins took on Kyle O'Reilly. The crowd wasn't really into this one early on, but it was a great match that started out with them mat wrestling one another and hitting takedowns and reversals until O'Reilly opened up with the kicks and strikes on Perkins. TJ fired back with some kicks and submissions of his own, then the pace picked up when Perkins hit a double stomp to O'Reilly to get the advantage. They exchanged strikes and pin attempts and O'Reilly got Perkins in a triangle choke, but Perkins escapes and hit a Michinoku Driver for 2. Perkins got a California Cloverleaf, but O'Reilly escaped and caught Perkins with a knockout kick to the head and then went for a Magistral Cradle, but Perkins countered to a cradle of his own to get the three count. Great match, and both guys went out there looking for the win and it made for a great, back and forth match. I'd love to see them go at it again.
The next match was excellent as well, especially given that it was thrown together at the last minute. ROH World Champion Roderick Strong faced Sonjay Dutt in a non-title match, but was originally supposed to face the returning Kenny Omega before Omega got injured and couldn't make the shows. Sonjay Dutt was added on almost no notice, then proceeded to come in and work his ass of to blow away everything else he's ever done in ROH by far. This was the Sonjay Dutt I wanted to see during his 2009 run because he's way better than he's ever really gotten credit for, but instead of being allowed to cut loose the first time around, he got stuck in a stupid love triangle storyline with Delirious and his non-girlfriend Daizee Haze while doing jobs for nearly everyone else. Sonjay has this uncanny ability to move in ways most people can't, and he used that to outmaneuver Roderick early on until he went for a top rope move and Roderick yanked him off by the ankle. Strong worked Sonjay over for the next several minutes, but Sonjay reversed the Stronghold and started his comeback, hitting the pendulum kick and following right up with a springboard splash for 2, then hit a cutter and a standing Sliced Bread #2 for another two count. Sonjay missed the Hindu Press, and Strong capitalized by hitting a superkick for 2 and a uranage backbreaker for another 2, then went for the Gibson Driver but Sonjay countered to a sunset flip for 2, then got another couple of two counts off of a fancy pair of rollups before Roderick killed him with another superkick and a vertical suplex into a backbreaker for 3. This was just awesome, and in no way a warmup match for Roderick going into Final Battle.
Finally we move to the main event and the reason I made the drive up to Massachusetts from New Jersey that night, as the Kings Of Wrestling defended the ROH World Tag Team Title against the American Wolves in a first time ever matchup. These two teams had been very carefully (and wisely) kept apart all year, and even though they didn't tease the match for most of that time, it built an anticipation leading into easily one of the best matches period in the company all year. They did a feeling out process to start until Claudio and Eddie started opening up with the heavy kicks and European uppercuts. Eddie wound up in peril and got worked over for several minutes until Davey tagged in and cleaned house, hitting a missile dropkick on Claudio for 2. The Wolves hit a series of double teams and Davey went for a second missile dropkick, but Claudio caught his legs coming down and hit the big swing into a baseball slide from Hero. Hero tried to rub it in Eddie's face by catching Davey in the Achilles Lock, but Eddie came in and broke it up so Claudio tagged in and hit a deadlift German Suplex for 2 on Davey. Davey tried firing back on Claudio with some kicks but Claudio caught the foot and hit a leg whip into a single leg big swing and turned that right into a horse collar, one of Davey's own pet moves, but Davey toughed it out and made the hot tag to Eddie, who came in with a flying bodypress on Hero for 2, then followed that with a Codebreaker for 2 and then went right into the Achilles Lock. Claudio broke it up, so Eddie dumped both Kings to the floor and he and Davey hit stereo dives, then Eddie put Claudio on the apron and hit a top rope double stomp onto Claudio right on the apron. OUCH! They sent Hero back in the ring and Davey hit a spinkick, setting Hero up for a double stomp from the top rope, and then they hit a double knockout kick and Claudio broke the fall at 2. Eddie and Claudio went back to slugging it out and began trading Yakuza kicks, Claudio hit a pop-up European on Eddie and then laid out both Wolves with clotheslines. Davey went for the handspring enziguiri but Claudio caught him coming off and turned it right into the UFO and then went for the Ricola Bomb, but Davey countered to a sunset flip for 2. Davey went for the anklelock on Claudio, but Hero kicked him in the head and then the Kings hit Royal Power & Glory for 2. Hero with a leaping elbow the corner and then a big boot on Davey for 2, followed by a rolling elbow and a Regalplex for another 2, but Davey catches him out of nowhere with a discus lariat and tags out to Eddie. Eddie with a leaping enziguiri and tiger suplex on Hero, then a pair of superkicks and a high angle back suplex on Hero for 2. Hero came back and laid both Wolves out with rolling albows and then the KOW hit the waterslide elbow/European combo on Eddie for 2, but the Wolves come back with the pop up Alarm Clock and superkick/German combo on Hero for 2. Eddie follows that up with a top rope lungblower and then a powerbomb on Hero for 2, then goes back into the Achilles Lock but Hero makes the ropes. Claudio lays Davey out on the floor as Hero kills Eddie with a roaring Yakuza Kick for 2, then a deathblow for 2. Eddie catches Hero with a small package for 2 and then a schoolboy rollup for 2, but Hero knocks Eddie out with three rolling elbows in a row and finally gets the three count.
One of the best matches of the year, no doubt about it, and easily on par with the Kings-Briscoes matches at Big Bang and Death Before Dishonor VIII. Match gets a huge standing ovation at the end, then gave Eddie and Davey a "thank you Wolves" chant, to which Davey responded with a nice promo thanking the fans for being part of the American Wolves (since this was billed as their last time teaming together) and putting Eddie over.
* * *
I loved this show, absolutely worth the 10 hour round trip to attend it and certainly worth your money for buying the DVD. I can't recommend the main event strongly enough, and the undercard was very strong as well, and did a good job of taking the established ROH stars and using them to give the young guys a rub and make them look competitive. In no way was this show a formality or a lesser effort leading into Final Battle the next night, the hype for Final Battle was kept to a minimum, the focus was kept on the matches that night, and everyone came into this show with their working boots on and it made for a great event top to bottom.
I'll be back soon with my review of Final Battle 2010, featuring Davey Richards getting his long awaited shot at the ROH World Title as he faces Roderick Strong, and also the culmination of the Kevin Steen-El Generico blood feud!
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Enough hype, let's get to the review...
Tag Title Classic II - 12/17/2010 in Plymouth, Massachusetts
The first several matches all featured the youngest members of the ROH roster, beginning with Adam Cole taking on Kenny King in a very competitive match. This was a well worked bout where King got over as a veteran and an overpowering monster while Cole took a beating, but hung in there and had several hope spots where he looked like he could have beaten King. In the end, King caught Cole on a bodypress attempt and hit the Royal Flush for the win. This was so well booked because both men came out of it looking good, and Cole didn't lose a thing by losing the match.
Next up, Mike Bennett got a huge win by defeating Colt Cabana, with Cabana outwrestlin Bennett early on until Brutal Bob Evans distracted Cabana, allowing Bennett to take control. Cabana came back and hit a lariat, bionic elbow and the Flying Apple before catching Bennett in the Billy Goat's Curse, but Evans grabbed Cabana from the outside and distracted him long enough for Bennett to roll Cabana up with a handful of tights and get the win. Bennett still hasn't proven to me that he's got the goods, but Cabana made him look real good here and this was a huge win for Bennett.
Andy "Right Leg" Ridge finished off his Trial Series by facing TV Champion Christopher Daniels in a non-title match, and he cut a really strong promo backstage before the match where he talked about his road here and the matches he had leading into this bout, and it turned out to be what I consider the best match he's ever had. Daniels controlled most of the match, and Ridge got in a bunch of hope spots but was coming from behind the entire time until hitting a hard kick to Daniels and then rallied with several near falls. Ridge hit his signature superkick, but Daniels rolled out to the floor to avoid taking the fall, then ducked a superkick and hit the Angel's Wings to pick up the hard-fought win. Daniels grabbed a mic after the match and put Ridge over big time, telling him not to be discouraged by the loss because he has the heart of a champion, and then shook his hand. To me, this was reminiscent of how hard he put Matt Sydal over in 2006, and I guess we'll see now if the rub will do as much for Ridge as it did for Sydal.
And now for something completely different, as the Briscoes took on Steve Corino & Kevin Steen in what started out as a straight up fight with both teams duking it out until Steen snapped Jay Briscoe over the top rope and then Corino hit him with a sliding lariat to take control. It settled into a regular tag match after that with Steen & Corino working Jay over until Steen got distracted by fans chanting Ole at him, allowing Jay to hit a Blockbuster and make the hot tag to Mark. Mark came in and cleared both Steen and Corino out to the floor and hit a dive, then went back in the ring where Steen hit Mark with a pop-up powerbomb and pumphandle neckbreaker, setting Corino up to hit Mark with a Snowplow for 2. Jay made the ave and hit a DVD on Corino, setting Mark up to hit a flying elbowdrop for 2. Steen tagged in and went at it with Mark until Corino low-blowed Mark, and Steen hit the Package Piledriver to pick up the win, and then got right up in the camera and said that it ends tomorrow and Generico is going to die. Jay Briscoe got a mic after the match and complained about the lowblow, but said it was okay because they were going to get their hands on the Kings Of Wrestling the following night and hyped the iPPV on Gofightlive.tv.
After intermission, we came back for a Four Corner Survival with El Generico, Ricky Reyes, Grizzly Redwood and Rhett Titus fighting it out for one win. This was really just everyone else killing time until Generico tagged in and killed everyone to put over how angry he was and how dark his persona had become going into the following night against Steen. Generico beat Grizzly Redwood with a brainbuster, and then Steve Corino came out and said that he couldn't control Steen anymore and begged Generico to just give up the mask and put the feud behind them once and for all. Generico teased that he would take the mask off, but changed his mind and went after Corino, who rolled out to the floor and told Generico that he can't help him anymore.
We move on to the sleeper hit of the night, as TJ Perkins took on Kyle O'Reilly. The crowd wasn't really into this one early on, but it was a great match that started out with them mat wrestling one another and hitting takedowns and reversals until O'Reilly opened up with the kicks and strikes on Perkins. TJ fired back with some kicks and submissions of his own, then the pace picked up when Perkins hit a double stomp to O'Reilly to get the advantage. They exchanged strikes and pin attempts and O'Reilly got Perkins in a triangle choke, but Perkins escapes and hit a Michinoku Driver for 2. Perkins got a California Cloverleaf, but O'Reilly escaped and caught Perkins with a knockout kick to the head and then went for a Magistral Cradle, but Perkins countered to a cradle of his own to get the three count. Great match, and both guys went out there looking for the win and it made for a great, back and forth match. I'd love to see them go at it again.
The next match was excellent as well, especially given that it was thrown together at the last minute. ROH World Champion Roderick Strong faced Sonjay Dutt in a non-title match, but was originally supposed to face the returning Kenny Omega before Omega got injured and couldn't make the shows. Sonjay Dutt was added on almost no notice, then proceeded to come in and work his ass of to blow away everything else he's ever done in ROH by far. This was the Sonjay Dutt I wanted to see during his 2009 run because he's way better than he's ever really gotten credit for, but instead of being allowed to cut loose the first time around, he got stuck in a stupid love triangle storyline with Delirious and his non-girlfriend Daizee Haze while doing jobs for nearly everyone else. Sonjay has this uncanny ability to move in ways most people can't, and he used that to outmaneuver Roderick early on until he went for a top rope move and Roderick yanked him off by the ankle. Strong worked Sonjay over for the next several minutes, but Sonjay reversed the Stronghold and started his comeback, hitting the pendulum kick and following right up with a springboard splash for 2, then hit a cutter and a standing Sliced Bread #2 for another two count. Sonjay missed the Hindu Press, and Strong capitalized by hitting a superkick for 2 and a uranage backbreaker for another 2, then went for the Gibson Driver but Sonjay countered to a sunset flip for 2, then got another couple of two counts off of a fancy pair of rollups before Roderick killed him with another superkick and a vertical suplex into a backbreaker for 3. This was just awesome, and in no way a warmup match for Roderick going into Final Battle.
Finally we move to the main event and the reason I made the drive up to Massachusetts from New Jersey that night, as the Kings Of Wrestling defended the ROH World Tag Team Title against the American Wolves in a first time ever matchup. These two teams had been very carefully (and wisely) kept apart all year, and even though they didn't tease the match for most of that time, it built an anticipation leading into easily one of the best matches period in the company all year. They did a feeling out process to start until Claudio and Eddie started opening up with the heavy kicks and European uppercuts. Eddie wound up in peril and got worked over for several minutes until Davey tagged in and cleaned house, hitting a missile dropkick on Claudio for 2. The Wolves hit a series of double teams and Davey went for a second missile dropkick, but Claudio caught his legs coming down and hit the big swing into a baseball slide from Hero. Hero tried to rub it in Eddie's face by catching Davey in the Achilles Lock, but Eddie came in and broke it up so Claudio tagged in and hit a deadlift German Suplex for 2 on Davey. Davey tried firing back on Claudio with some kicks but Claudio caught the foot and hit a leg whip into a single leg big swing and turned that right into a horse collar, one of Davey's own pet moves, but Davey toughed it out and made the hot tag to Eddie, who came in with a flying bodypress on Hero for 2, then followed that with a Codebreaker for 2 and then went right into the Achilles Lock. Claudio broke it up, so Eddie dumped both Kings to the floor and he and Davey hit stereo dives, then Eddie put Claudio on the apron and hit a top rope double stomp onto Claudio right on the apron. OUCH! They sent Hero back in the ring and Davey hit a spinkick, setting Hero up for a double stomp from the top rope, and then they hit a double knockout kick and Claudio broke the fall at 2. Eddie and Claudio went back to slugging it out and began trading Yakuza kicks, Claudio hit a pop-up European on Eddie and then laid out both Wolves with clotheslines. Davey went for the handspring enziguiri but Claudio caught him coming off and turned it right into the UFO and then went for the Ricola Bomb, but Davey countered to a sunset flip for 2. Davey went for the anklelock on Claudio, but Hero kicked him in the head and then the Kings hit Royal Power & Glory for 2. Hero with a leaping elbow the corner and then a big boot on Davey for 2, followed by a rolling elbow and a Regalplex for another 2, but Davey catches him out of nowhere with a discus lariat and tags out to Eddie. Eddie with a leaping enziguiri and tiger suplex on Hero, then a pair of superkicks and a high angle back suplex on Hero for 2. Hero came back and laid both Wolves out with rolling albows and then the KOW hit the waterslide elbow/European combo on Eddie for 2, but the Wolves come back with the pop up Alarm Clock and superkick/German combo on Hero for 2. Eddie follows that up with a top rope lungblower and then a powerbomb on Hero for 2, then goes back into the Achilles Lock but Hero makes the ropes. Claudio lays Davey out on the floor as Hero kills Eddie with a roaring Yakuza Kick for 2, then a deathblow for 2. Eddie catches Hero with a small package for 2 and then a schoolboy rollup for 2, but Hero knocks Eddie out with three rolling elbows in a row and finally gets the three count.
One of the best matches of the year, no doubt about it, and easily on par with the Kings-Briscoes matches at Big Bang and Death Before Dishonor VIII. Match gets a huge standing ovation at the end, then gave Eddie and Davey a "thank you Wolves" chant, to which Davey responded with a nice promo thanking the fans for being part of the American Wolves (since this was billed as their last time teaming together) and putting Eddie over.
* * *
I loved this show, absolutely worth the 10 hour round trip to attend it and certainly worth your money for buying the DVD. I can't recommend the main event strongly enough, and the undercard was very strong as well, and did a good job of taking the established ROH stars and using them to give the young guys a rub and make them look competitive. In no way was this show a formality or a lesser effort leading into Final Battle the next night, the hype for Final Battle was kept to a minimum, the focus was kept on the matches that night, and everyone came into this show with their working boots on and it made for a great event top to bottom.
I'll be back soon with my review of Final Battle 2010, featuring Davey Richards getting his long awaited shot at the ROH World Title as he faces Roderick Strong, and also the culmination of the Kevin Steen-El Generico blood feud!
PWI