CMCoke42381
Occasional Pre-Show
Note: This is copied, not originally wrote by me.
Overall, an excellent, 4-hour plus marathon show that reaffirmed my interest in ROH.
Show started with the crowd going nuts for Homicide, who was hanging out by the production area. Huge "F*ck TNA" change, and Cide indulged the crowd by doing some air humping moves. You stay classy, San Diego.
1. Colt Cabana vs. Rhett TItus - Solid opening match. Mostly comedy spots, with Rhett grabbing his crotch and then going to shake Colt's hand at the beginning of the match. Cabana then grabbed a towel and wiped down Rhett's hand. Probably around 6-8 minute mark. Crowd was eating everything up.
2. Dark City Fight Club vs. Cheech & Cloudy - I thought going in this was going to be an extended squash but turned out to be a highly entertaining, competitive match with Cheech & Cloudy getting in some really nice, innovative high spots, which was outdone by DCFC's amazingly over bone crushing offense. Great showing from both teams. Crowd ate this whole match up once again.
Prince Nana comes out with a clean shaven Ernie Osiris to introduce the best European wrestler in the history of ROH, which leads to
3. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Kenny Omega - Light years better than their Final Battle 2008 match. Omega has grown leaps and bounds as a performer since coming into ROH. At one point, Claudio was spinning Omega around on his back in a torture rack like position with NO HANDS. Crowd was going nuts for it. A good number of false finishes for Kenny, but he fell to Claudio's cheap low blow and European uppercut. Another really good match.
Bret Hart comes out and cuts a promo putting over the company and NYC fans in general. Hard to hear at times, audio was pretty cruddy and the effect was that he sounded like the teacher from Peanuts. Also, some fans wouldn't be quiet while he was speaking, which was annoying. Anyways, the Hitman seemed genuinely happy to be there.
4CS: Sonjay Dutt vs. Roderick Strong vs. Grizzly Redwood vs. Delirious - A pretty random assortment of guys, and once again, this match exceeded my expectations by leaps and bounds. This has to be the best Grizzly Redwood match of all time - okay, that might not be saying much but all kidding aside, this was a really, really good match. Everyone got some offense in and there was a lot of near falls for a 4CS. Roderick Strong is so over right now it's ridiculous. Great midcard match.
Ladder War 2: American Wolves vs. Kevin Steene & El Generico - Okay, so lets get this out there - this was not as good as Ladder War 1. But considering the status of one Eddie Edwards, who by the way was getting a ton of chants and support from the crowd, this was as good a match as they could possibly have pulled out given the circumstances. Some awkward pacing problems in the match during the begining and middle parts, with one team controlling the ring and not going up to grab the belts. But the match picked up big time near the end, with El Generico flipping over the top of the ladder and powerbombing Richards through a table, then Edwards flipping Generico through a table, and one of the craziest spots I've ever seen in my life, Steene falling off the ladder to the outside through both a table and a ladder. Eddie Edwards was by far the most over person in the match as he damn well should be.
Intermission - at this point, the match is already a must buy DVD. It should be noted that for the rest of the night, with the exception of the main event, the crowd was less into the action - having the old burnout problem that can happen when you have a 4 hour plus card.
Chris Hero vs. Eddie Kingston - Match told a great story. Friend remarked it was "WWE style" in that it didn't feature a lot of crazy high spots, but was built around great intensity and character development. You could feel the hatred these two men had for each other. Finish came when Kingston pulled out Hero's elbow pad from a bag he had at ringside, decked an interfering Shane Hagadorn, ref was distracted, them Hero pulls out an elbow pad from somewhere and completely crushes Kingston. Crowd was a bit dead in spots, but overall, came around in the end. Probably around 15 minutes. Kingston flips out when walking to the back, and starts throwing chairs, tables, etc., even almost getting into it with a fan who was offering support. Kingston is great in his role.
Aries comes out for lucky lottery and draws Bret Hart, who is no longer in the building. Petey Willaims comes out and defends the honor of Canada and ROH in general and challenges Aries to a world title match. Aries pretends to think about it, decks Petey, and demands that Todd Sinclair ring the bell.
Then a funny thing happened - About 5-10 minutes into a perfectly acceptable match, the crowd starts chanting "twinkie" every time Sinclair beings to count. It gets to the point that the crowd is anticipating Sinclair counting more then following the flow of the match. I must say, this was the most bizarre thing I've ever witnessed at a wrestling show. Aries and Williams go to the outside, Sinclair counts one, crowd goes "twinkie." Sinclair counts two, crowd goes "twinkie" and on and one for the rest of the 15 minute match. It was insane - they even got a "creamy filling" chant going. And the crazy part was, it was a pretty good match with Petey hitting an insane top rope Canadian Destroyer to boot. I don't want to get into a whole rant about the thing, but the crowd was more into amusing itself then following the world title match. Maybe it's because Petey isn't over with the New York crowd and shouldn't have been so high up on the crowd, maybe it was because the crowd was so burned out and wanted to amuse itself. Whatever it was, it was pretty darn weird. Aries acknowledges the crowd by grabbing the mic afterwards and tells the audience they could shove a twinkie up you know where.
Bobby Cruise goes to announce the next NYC ROH date when some old schools sounding rock music hits, everyone scratches their head wondering who is coming out, and lo and behold its Jim Cornette who goes on and cuts a venom-laced promo on the current state of wrestling, running down TNA, Vince Russo, Hornswoggle and the concept of sports entertainment. He says that Nigel and Dragon leaving is like when Joe and Daniels left - the rest of the roster stepped up and now it's time for guys like Tyler Black to fill the role created by their departures. Cornette is so great and is so passionate about wrestling that I can't describe it. He then announces that as of the afternoon, he has accepted the position of Executive Producer of the HDNet show. I'm just glad a great wrestling mind like Cornette is back with the company. Aries comes out to run down JC and the segment starts to drag a little. Bottom line, these two are not going to be friends.
Young Bucks vs. Briscoes - Crowd starts to come back alive. Briscoes dominate most of the match then the Young Bucks mount their comeback with some sick high flying stuff. These guys are eerily similar to the early Hardys when they were with Doc Hendrix, it's scary. Really really solid tag team match, both teams shake hands after the match.
Main event time, place is flooded with streamers. Nigel and Danielson put on another 30+ minute classic, Dragon survives a lariat and at least 3 Tower of Londons. NIgel passes out after 30 elbow strikes and getting put in the triangle choke. Locker room empties, Nigel with a short speech, then Dragon follows up by thanking Cary, the ROH fans, the best ref he's ever worked with (Todd Sinclair - in a funny moment, the crowd chanted his name to show their appreciation and for giving him such a rough night). Dragon says whatever you do, wherever he and Nigel wind up, support ROH. He said he's had some great battles with the wrestlers around the ring. Someone then screams "Yeah, you punched them in the ear!" Dragon responds, "Well, you know, where I'm going, they might not let me punch people in the ear." Someone then responds, "Punch John Cena in the ear!" Dragon and the crowd cracks up and says he'll do his best. A chant of "He's going to get his f*cking head kicked in." Dragon retorts, "Not if I can't see him!" Corny joke, but funny nonetheless to lighten the mood. Sound guy plays FInal Countdown as the wrestlers leave ringside and Nigel shakes Dragon's hand.
What a great night. ROH did a fantastic job paying homage to Dragon and Nigel, but at the same time, setting themselves up for the future, with Cornette's fantastic promo and some great matches on the undercard. A must buy DVD. I must sleep. Good night.
Overall, an excellent, 4-hour plus marathon show that reaffirmed my interest in ROH.
Show started with the crowd going nuts for Homicide, who was hanging out by the production area. Huge "F*ck TNA" change, and Cide indulged the crowd by doing some air humping moves. You stay classy, San Diego.
1. Colt Cabana vs. Rhett TItus - Solid opening match. Mostly comedy spots, with Rhett grabbing his crotch and then going to shake Colt's hand at the beginning of the match. Cabana then grabbed a towel and wiped down Rhett's hand. Probably around 6-8 minute mark. Crowd was eating everything up.
2. Dark City Fight Club vs. Cheech & Cloudy - I thought going in this was going to be an extended squash but turned out to be a highly entertaining, competitive match with Cheech & Cloudy getting in some really nice, innovative high spots, which was outdone by DCFC's amazingly over bone crushing offense. Great showing from both teams. Crowd ate this whole match up once again.
Prince Nana comes out with a clean shaven Ernie Osiris to introduce the best European wrestler in the history of ROH, which leads to
3. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Kenny Omega - Light years better than their Final Battle 2008 match. Omega has grown leaps and bounds as a performer since coming into ROH. At one point, Claudio was spinning Omega around on his back in a torture rack like position with NO HANDS. Crowd was going nuts for it. A good number of false finishes for Kenny, but he fell to Claudio's cheap low blow and European uppercut. Another really good match.
Bret Hart comes out and cuts a promo putting over the company and NYC fans in general. Hard to hear at times, audio was pretty cruddy and the effect was that he sounded like the teacher from Peanuts. Also, some fans wouldn't be quiet while he was speaking, which was annoying. Anyways, the Hitman seemed genuinely happy to be there.
4CS: Sonjay Dutt vs. Roderick Strong vs. Grizzly Redwood vs. Delirious - A pretty random assortment of guys, and once again, this match exceeded my expectations by leaps and bounds. This has to be the best Grizzly Redwood match of all time - okay, that might not be saying much but all kidding aside, this was a really, really good match. Everyone got some offense in and there was a lot of near falls for a 4CS. Roderick Strong is so over right now it's ridiculous. Great midcard match.
Ladder War 2: American Wolves vs. Kevin Steene & El Generico - Okay, so lets get this out there - this was not as good as Ladder War 1. But considering the status of one Eddie Edwards, who by the way was getting a ton of chants and support from the crowd, this was as good a match as they could possibly have pulled out given the circumstances. Some awkward pacing problems in the match during the begining and middle parts, with one team controlling the ring and not going up to grab the belts. But the match picked up big time near the end, with El Generico flipping over the top of the ladder and powerbombing Richards through a table, then Edwards flipping Generico through a table, and one of the craziest spots I've ever seen in my life, Steene falling off the ladder to the outside through both a table and a ladder. Eddie Edwards was by far the most over person in the match as he damn well should be.
Intermission - at this point, the match is already a must buy DVD. It should be noted that for the rest of the night, with the exception of the main event, the crowd was less into the action - having the old burnout problem that can happen when you have a 4 hour plus card.
Chris Hero vs. Eddie Kingston - Match told a great story. Friend remarked it was "WWE style" in that it didn't feature a lot of crazy high spots, but was built around great intensity and character development. You could feel the hatred these two men had for each other. Finish came when Kingston pulled out Hero's elbow pad from a bag he had at ringside, decked an interfering Shane Hagadorn, ref was distracted, them Hero pulls out an elbow pad from somewhere and completely crushes Kingston. Crowd was a bit dead in spots, but overall, came around in the end. Probably around 15 minutes. Kingston flips out when walking to the back, and starts throwing chairs, tables, etc., even almost getting into it with a fan who was offering support. Kingston is great in his role.
Aries comes out for lucky lottery and draws Bret Hart, who is no longer in the building. Petey Willaims comes out and defends the honor of Canada and ROH in general and challenges Aries to a world title match. Aries pretends to think about it, decks Petey, and demands that Todd Sinclair ring the bell.
Then a funny thing happened - About 5-10 minutes into a perfectly acceptable match, the crowd starts chanting "twinkie" every time Sinclair beings to count. It gets to the point that the crowd is anticipating Sinclair counting more then following the flow of the match. I must say, this was the most bizarre thing I've ever witnessed at a wrestling show. Aries and Williams go to the outside, Sinclair counts one, crowd goes "twinkie." Sinclair counts two, crowd goes "twinkie" and on and one for the rest of the 15 minute match. It was insane - they even got a "creamy filling" chant going. And the crazy part was, it was a pretty good match with Petey hitting an insane top rope Canadian Destroyer to boot. I don't want to get into a whole rant about the thing, but the crowd was more into amusing itself then following the world title match. Maybe it's because Petey isn't over with the New York crowd and shouldn't have been so high up on the crowd, maybe it was because the crowd was so burned out and wanted to amuse itself. Whatever it was, it was pretty darn weird. Aries acknowledges the crowd by grabbing the mic afterwards and tells the audience they could shove a twinkie up you know where.
Bobby Cruise goes to announce the next NYC ROH date when some old schools sounding rock music hits, everyone scratches their head wondering who is coming out, and lo and behold its Jim Cornette who goes on and cuts a venom-laced promo on the current state of wrestling, running down TNA, Vince Russo, Hornswoggle and the concept of sports entertainment. He says that Nigel and Dragon leaving is like when Joe and Daniels left - the rest of the roster stepped up and now it's time for guys like Tyler Black to fill the role created by their departures. Cornette is so great and is so passionate about wrestling that I can't describe it. He then announces that as of the afternoon, he has accepted the position of Executive Producer of the HDNet show. I'm just glad a great wrestling mind like Cornette is back with the company. Aries comes out to run down JC and the segment starts to drag a little. Bottom line, these two are not going to be friends.
Young Bucks vs. Briscoes - Crowd starts to come back alive. Briscoes dominate most of the match then the Young Bucks mount their comeback with some sick high flying stuff. These guys are eerily similar to the early Hardys when they were with Doc Hendrix, it's scary. Really really solid tag team match, both teams shake hands after the match.
Main event time, place is flooded with streamers. Nigel and Danielson put on another 30+ minute classic, Dragon survives a lariat and at least 3 Tower of Londons. NIgel passes out after 30 elbow strikes and getting put in the triangle choke. Locker room empties, Nigel with a short speech, then Dragon follows up by thanking Cary, the ROH fans, the best ref he's ever worked with (Todd Sinclair - in a funny moment, the crowd chanted his name to show their appreciation and for giving him such a rough night). Dragon says whatever you do, wherever he and Nigel wind up, support ROH. He said he's had some great battles with the wrestlers around the ring. Someone then screams "Yeah, you punched them in the ear!" Dragon responds, "Well, you know, where I'm going, they might not let me punch people in the ear." Someone then responds, "Punch John Cena in the ear!" Dragon and the crowd cracks up and says he'll do his best. A chant of "He's going to get his f*cking head kicked in." Dragon retorts, "Not if I can't see him!" Corny joke, but funny nonetheless to lighten the mood. Sound guy plays FInal Countdown as the wrestlers leave ringside and Nigel shakes Dragon's hand.
What a great night. ROH did a fantastic job paying homage to Dragon and Nigel, but at the same time, setting themselves up for the future, with Cornette's fantastic promo and some great matches on the undercard. A must buy DVD. I must sleep. Good night.