Thanks to regular reader,contributer, and all around good guy Kyle Sparks for sending this along.
Pre-match, Toland returns, introduced by Sweet & Sour Inc., he runs down Bobby Dempsey and takes his place in the tag match.
(1) Shane Hagadorn/Tank Toland def. Silas Young/Mitch Franklin via one handed press slam.
Toland pins Franklin @ 6:48. *1/2
Post-match, Albright runs in to try to get a little revenge on SnS Inc., swearing he’ll get his hands on Sweeney by the end of the night.
(2) Tyler Black (w/ Allison Wonderland) def. Delirious via Small Package Driver
Delirious controlled the vast majority of the match, oddly enough. Lots of typical Delirious antics. They tried to further the Titus/Delirious/Haze angle as well. Humorous moment saw Delirious call out “Evan Bourne” and proceed to hit the Here It Is Driver on Black.
Black pins Delirious @ 10:23. **
(3) Claudio Castagnoli def. Jay Briscoe & Brent Albright via rebound european uppercut.
Albright hit the half nelson suplex on Jay, only to get knocked out of the ring by Claudio who hits a rebound european for the win.
Claudio pins Briscoe @ 8:14 *3/4 to **
Post-match, SnS Inc. run in to beat down Albright. That ends badly, with Shane Hagadorn eating a half-nelson suplex.
(4) Erick Stevens def. Bryan Danielson via Doctor Bomb.
Excellent match, match of the night contender. Danielson destroyed Stevens’ knee, so Stevens had to resort to power, and he did it exceptionally well, and pulled off the upset. Several believable nearfalls with leglocks and a single leg crab.
Stevens pins Danielson @ 18:11 ***1/2
(5) Necro Butcher def. Austin Aries via chairshot.
This was less a match than a story. After a little bit of elementary brawling, Necro goes through a table at 3:39, prompting Aries to get on the mic and question why Necro is following Jimmy Jacobs. Aries said he wasn’t going to waste his energy on anybody else but Jacobs, said he had no problems with Necro and he wouldn’t fight him. Necro then proceeded to beat down Aries for the next five minutes with punches and kicks as Aries would periodically goad him on and reiterate he wouldn’t fight back. Finally Necro resorted to a chairshot to the skull for the pinfall.
Necro pins Aries @ 8:40 *1/2 as just a match, ***1/2 as a whole.
(6) Kevin Steen/El Generico def. Jimmy Jacobs/Joey Matthews via yakuza kick.
Solid formula tag match here, with Generico playing face-in-peril. Jacobs locks the End Time in on Steen, only to fall victim to a yakuza kick from El Generico for the fall.
Steen pins Jacobs @ 10:45 ***
(7) Chris Hero def. Roderick Strong via knockout forearm
VERY hard hitting matchup between these two, as I’m glad I finally got to see it (it was promised to the first Motor City Madness show in Detroit). Hero went for the KO several times, but eventually found himself in the Strong Hold, Sweeney runs interference to break the hold, Del Ray runs interference to get Strong’s attention, leading to a few Hero strikes and the big KO forearm for the fall.
Hero pins Strong @ 21:18 ***3/4
(8) Adam Pearce (NWA Champion) def. Nigel McGuinness (ROH Champion) via Over-the-Top Rope Disqualification
Lots and lots of stalling here. Once it got going, it still frankly wasn’t spectacular. At 20:38, Sweeney gets kicked out from ringside after attempting the Warrior/Rude WrestleMania V interference, hooking the leg on the ring-in suplex. Under a minute later, Nigel hits the Jawbreaker Lariat for the seeming win and NWA World Title. However, the celebration is cut short when NWA Board Member , seated ringside, declares that Nigel threw Pearce over the top rope during the course of the match. Therefore, Nigel, by the NWA rules is disqualified and Adam Pearce is given the win, and to no one’s shock, no titles change hands.
Pearce over McGuinness by DQ @ 21:28 **3/4
Post-match, all hell breaks loose. Pearce immediately gets on the mic to gloat about how no one in Ring of Honor can take the title from him. This of course brings out Brent Albright to clean house, before Chris Hero comes in to turn the tide. A heel beatdown commences until Jay Briscoe and Claudio Castagnoli come down for the save. As Claudio, Nigel, Pearce and all the rest of Sweet & Sour Inc. leave, with Jay in the ring alone, the Age of the Fall (Jacobs, Matthews & Black) come in for the attack. Steen and Generico come in to even those odds, and that brings out Necro Butcher to turn the odds back in favor of the heels. This cues the surprise return of Mark Briscoe to a huge pop. We then hit the train wreck spot with dives from everyone, including Necro Butcher. Once the Age of the Fall is run off, we see a face-off between Steen & Generico and the Briscoes, interestingly leading to a brawl between the four to close things out.
Overall, not one of their more memorable shows. Some interesting segments, and some things got moved along, but missable, all told.
