Video Wire
Make sure you watch the March 4, 2009 and March 10, 2009 Video Wires before watching this show. It covers the entire goings on leading up to this show, and it’s totally free.
Indianapolis, IN
Bryan Danielson is backstage looking pensive, reflecting on his past injures, and his ongoing feud with Bison Smith. He promises that the Incredible Hulk part of his personality is going to come out.
MATCH #1: Nate Webb vs. Flash Flanagan
Flanagan has made a handful of appearances in ROH over the years, while Webb was around during the CZW feud. Larry Zbyszko is once again on commentary with Dave Prazak. The larger Flanagan takes an early advantage but Webb soon outmaneuvers him and hits a shoulder tackle for two. Webb then locks on a headlock. Flanagan comes back with his power but Webb consistently thwarts him with his speed, until Flanagan suplexes Webb into the turnbuckles. He stays in control and hits a big clothesline, but waits too long before going for a cover and Webb kicks out. A backpack chinbreaker gets two. Webb breaks a chinlock with a chinbreaker of his own and a clothesline, and both men are down. They get up and trade shots, and Webb hits the Arachnid Kick to get the win at 4:54. I’m actually a little surprised that made the DVD.
Rating: ½*
Kenny Omega is outside cutting a promo about his two opponents tonight: Claudio Castagnoli and Bryan Danielson. He’s trying to be quirky and funny and I just hate him.
MATCH #2: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Kenny Omega
Tags are necessary in this match, so only two men can be in the ring at one time. Well at least they won’t have to come up with convoluted ways to get one guy out of the ring. Claudio volunteers to start on the apron. ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness has once again joined the booth. Danielson and Omega start it off with some fast paced back and forth. Claudio gets frustrated with their antics, so they stop fighting and play to the crowd to further mock Claudio. The wrestling resumes and Danielson hits a nice dropkick and offers to tag Claudio in, but the Most Money Making Man wants no part of it. Danielson and Omega trade more holds and wrestle to a stalemate. Prazak gets confused about the rules, but it is in fact tag rules, and Claudio tags in at Omega’s expense. Danielson immediately goes to work on his former arch nemesis. Claudio backs Danielson into the corner, and Omega tags Danielson, so he can get a shot at the man he pinned at Final Battle 2008. Omega hits a few kicks but can’t keep Claudio down. Claudio comes back with a hot shot and knocks Danielson off the apron. He follows by flattening Omega with a bicycle kick. Claudio is firmly in control for the next couple of minutes. Omega fights back with a chinbreaker, and then Danielson tags himself in and goes after Claudio. All three men spill to the floor and Claudio gets the worst of it. Back in the ring Danielson and Omega sandwich Claudio with missile dropkicks, which is a pretty cool spot. Omega makes a blind tag on Danielson, and they start arguing. That gives Claudio a chance to recuperate, and Omega works in his stupid Stop Sign Enziguiri in just about the stupidest way possible. Claudio goes for the Riccola Bomb, but Omega pushes him towards the ropes, and they knock Danielson to the floor. Moments later Claudio hits the Pop-Up European Uppercut and then locks on some kind of new choke submission to get the win at 12:54. There was some fun stuff mixed in there, but Omega’s antics annoy me to no end, and I don’t see that changing. After the match Bison Smith runs down and attacks Danielson, and they have to be pulled apart by a bevy of officials and official jobbers.
Rating: **¼
Prazak is backstage with Jay Briscoe, who is about to go one-on-one with Sweet & Sour Inc.’s Chris Hero. Jay says he’s ready for whatever they put in front of him.
MATCH #3: Chris Hero vs. Jay Briscoe
Jay is of course, sans brother. They do some back and forth, both wrestling and striking, in the early going. Jay takes the first advantage and takes the fight to Hero on the floor. Some interference by Sweeney turns the tables in favor of Hero, who traps Jay under one of the ring mats and hits a senton. Back in the ring Hero stays in control, wearing Jay down. Jay makes the big comeback and unleashes a flurry of offense. A big clothesline gets two for the solo Briscoe. Hero comes back with some elbows and kicks, trying to knock Jay out. A sit-out powerbomb gets two for Hero. Jay fights back with a big spinebuster. He goes for the Jay Driller but Hero blocks it. Sweeney distracts Jay, and moments later Hero hits the Rolling Elbow and scores the pin at 11:25. That was a solid match between two pros, and nothing more.
Rating: **¾
MATCH #4: ROH World Tag Team Title Match – Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Kenny King & Rhett Titus
Steen & Generico have been the champions since 9.19.08, and this is their sixth defense. King and Steen start the match, with Steen dominating early. Titus and Generico tag in and the crowd are all over Titus. They stall for a bit and play to the crowd. Titus rubs his balls on the back of Generico’s head, and the masked Luchador takes a much deserved powder. Back in the ring Generico takes control of his much less experienced opponent. Titus stumbles over to tag King, and Generico hits an armdrag and tags in Steen. The champions are in total control. Steen briefly uses the claw hold, and Prazak throws in a plug for Death Before Dishonor II Pt. 1. The challengers finally use some somewhat sneaky tactics to take advantage on Generico. After a brief period of control for the heels, Generico makes the hot tag to Steen, who throws King and Titus around. Steen goes to the top to jump on King, but Titus throws him down and Steen lands awkwardly on his injured knee. The heels work the injury briefly, and then Steen makes the hot tag to Generico. The masked Luchador is all over both of his opponents, wiping them out with a dive to the floor. Back in the ring Generico hits a Superfly Splash on King for two. Titus and King use some impressive double team moves to take over on Steen. That doesn’t last too long, as Steen comes back and drills Titus with the cannonball. Generico follows up with a corner-to-corner somersault dropkick. King breaks up the pin and tags himself in. He misses a charge at Generico in the corner, but is able to avoid the running Yakuza and hits a kick of his own. King puts Generico on the top rope and goes for a superplex, but settles for a jumping kick to the face. He hits the Coronation and Titus follows with the Frog Splash. Titus mistakenly covers, but the referee rightly won’t cover because he’s not legal. King and Titus try the powerbomb / blockbuster combo, but Steen breaks it up. Generico nails Titus with the running Yakuza kick, and Steen follows with the Package Piledriver. One El Generico brainbuster later and the champs retain the belts at 17:28. They could have lost a couple of minutes and the match would have been a bit tighter. Even so it was fairly enjoyable, and while King and Titus may not be quite There yet, they will be. After the match the American Wolves come down to attack Steen’s knee, and Jay Briscoe runs them off with a steel chair.
Rating: ***
Bound By Hate Trailer
Jimmy Jacobs takes on Austin Aries in a Dog Collar Match; Kevin Steen & El Generico defend the ROH World Tag Team Titles against The Briscoe Brothers; Nigel McGuinness defends the ROH World Title against Necro Butcher; and much more! Check out my review right here.
MATCH #5: Bison Smith vs. Silas Young
Bison lost a puzzling match to Bryan Danielson by countout last night. Young gets some token offense in but Bison mostly controls with his impressive power. The match spills to the floor and Bison throws Young into the guardrail. Back in the ring it’s all Bison, all the time. Young valiantly tries to fight back but to no avail. Finally he gets a little bit of offense in, but Bison won’t stay down, and levels him with a clothesline. He follows up with the Claw Slam. A huge powerbomb is enough for Bison to score the pin at 5:45. That was a solid squash match, and Young didn’t look too bad.
Rating: **
MATCH #6: The American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) vs. Roderick Strong & Brent Albright
Nobody wastes any time getting this fight underway. The Wolves take first advantage on Strong. That doesn’t last too long before Strong makes the comeback and tags Albright in. Albright goes to work on Edwards, and makes a quick tag to Strong. Edwards cuts off Strong and tags in Richards. That just fires up Strong, and they start throwing strikes at each other. Richards wins that battle and the Wolves take over, isolating Strong in their corner of the ring. Strong recovers after a few minutes and tags Albright, who is initially on fire but then gets distracted by Sweeney. The Wolves smell blood and attack Albright’s previously injured arm. The really work it over, and Richards makes sure to take a cheap shot on Strong when he can. Albright recovers and tags Strong, who is all fired up. He takes out both Wolves, sending Richards to the floor and scoring a two-count on Edwards. The match turns into a big brawl and the good guys take over once again. Edwards gets brutalized in just about every way imaginable, and luckily Richards is there to make the save. That allows the Wolves to take over on Strong and get another near-fall, but this time Albright breaks it up. The brawling continues and the referee gets distracted. Larry Sweeney tries to give Edwards a foreign object, but El Generico runs out and hits a running Yakuza kick! Strong follows up with the gutbuster and the Tiger Driver to score the pin at 13:21. That was a surprisingly enjoyable tag match, and I actually liked the finish.
Rating: ***¼
Wrestling At the Gateway Trailer
Jerry Lynn & Bryan Danielson take on Nigel McGuinness & Claudio Castagnoli in the main event; Tyler Black battles Austin Aries; a Tag Team Gauntlet Match; and much more! Check out my review right here.
MATCH #7: No DQ Match – Jimmy Jacobs vs. Delirious
Jacobs tries to calm Delirious down before the match, saying that he isn’t mad at Delirious for attacking him last night, he forgives him. He feigns sincerity, and then hits Delirious directly in the head with the microphone to start the match. Delirious no-sells the early offense and throws Jacobs around. Conspicuous by her absence is Daizee Haze. Jacobs rolls to the floor to avoid the offensive onslaught by Delirious. Of course Delirious joins him on the floor and they take turns throwing each other around. Jacobs takes the match into the crowd. They fight all over the building, and Jacobs hits a suplex on the concrete floor. Delirious tries a Panic Attack against the barricade but Jacobs avoids it. Jacobs then throws two chairs into the ring and brings Delirious back in. Delirious is bleeding, and Jacobs attacks it viciously. Jacobs beats Delirious down for several minutes, and tries a chair-assisted Contra Code, but Delirious reverses it and throws Jacobs’s face into one chair. Then Delirious hits a brainbuster onto the other chair for a two-count. Jacobs avoids a chair shot with a low blow. He goes up for a chair-assisted senton, but Delirious moves the chair and gets his knees up. Delirious then hits the Cobra Clutch Suplex and then three Panic Attacks. He chooses not to take the pinfall and instead goes to the floor to grab a table. He sets it up in the ring and puts a chair on the table, and then Jacobs in preparation for Shadows over Hell. Jacobs is able to recover and launches the chair at Delirious’s face. He climbs up top and hits a DDT through the table, which leads perfectly into the End Time and Delirious is out at 15:24. I liked that more on tape than I remember liking it in person. And to people who wondered why Jacobs went over so clean – if Delirious won this match, he would have his revenge and the feud would be over. What are you, stupid? They were able to work a convincing no-DQ match with really just one big spot at the end, and a lot of guys can’t do that.
Rating: ***½
MATCH #8: Nigel McGuinness & Austin Aries vs. Jerry Lynn & Tyler Black
The crowd is all over Aries. (6:27)Black and Aries start the match. They take it to the mat and feel each other out in the early going. The two of them have wrestled numerous times, so maybe someone will bring out something new to surprise the other guy? The bad guys use some questionable tactics to abuse the good guys on the arena floor. Poor Jerry Lynn wasn’t expecting to get attacked when he was standing on the ring apron like that. Nigel hits Lynn with the Tower of London to the floor, and Aries slams Black’s head into the ring post. Back in the ring it’s all Aries and Nigel. Black uses his agility to avoid a lariat and makes the hot tag to Lynn. The veteran is all over the champion, managing to stay one step ahead. Nigel makes the tag and Lynn maintains his momentum on Aries. Black gets tagged in and he takes his shots on Aries. Lynn comes back in and tries that legdrop he always does on Aries, but Nigel thwarts him. Back in the ring they attack Lynn’s arm. After several minutes Lynn makes the hot tag to Black, but Nigel comes in illegally and throws him to the floor. Lynn then throws Nigel to the floor, and Aries throws Lynn to the floor. Then Lynn gets to hit that stupid legdrop, and everyone is on the floor. The match continues to be chaos in and out of the ring. Black and Aries are the legal men. Nigel hits Black in the head with the title belt, but he kicks out at two! Aries hits the running dropkick on Black, and Nigel follows up with the Tower of London and Lynn breaks it up. Nigel tries to leapfrog Lynn but gets powerbombed. Duh. Lynn avoids the Jawbreaker and hits a clothesline of his own. Aries and Black clothesline each other to the floor. Lynn ducks another Jawbreaker and hits the Cradle Piledriver to get the clean pin at 15:42. That was pretty much nonstop action and lots of hard work from everyone involved.
Rating: ***¾
The Pulse:
There’s nothing mind-blowing on this DVD, but the last three matches are all really fun, and the Tag Title match and Jay vs. Hero match from the first half are solid. This sets Lynn up for another shot at Nigel, and I don’t really like that because I feel like they’ve already proven that Lynn can beat him, when the more dramatic story would be to have Lynn going into a title match with doubts. But just as a stand alone show, this one is a breeze.
