Before you read this review, you should definitely go Check This Out. It’s a series of videos called “The Grapefruit Chronicles,†put together by my good friend and former reviewing tag team partner Brad Garoon. They’re highly entertaining and creative, and he deserves more viewers for his hard work.
Chicago Ridge, IL – October 16, 2010
Dave Prazak and Kevin Kelly are on commentary and we’re treated to a cold open.
MATCH #1: Kyle O’Reilly & Adam Cole vs. The All Night Express
Rhett Titus and O’Reilly start the match. They go back and forth with some chain wrestling. O’Reilly gains control and unloads with some kicks. Titus runs for cover and makes the tag, and O’Reilly tags out as well. Cole and King go back and forth a bit, and King takes first control with an armbar. Cole fights back with a dropkick and an armdrag, going into an armbar of his own. O’Reilly tags in and he tries wearing King down with a headlock. King fights out of it with a suplex and Titus somehow becomes the legal man without making a tag (at least that I could see). The ANX isolates O’Reilly in the corner and wear him down. King hits a spinebuster for two and then tags Titus back in. After several minutes O’Reilly fights back with kicks and then a simultaneous Dragon Screw Leg Whip and makes the hot tag. Cole is on fire, and takes Titus out with a slingshot DDT to the apron on Titus. He drills King with an enziguiri from the floor, and O’Reilly follows up with a swinging DDT into a suplex, punctuated by a cross body off the top rope by Cole for two. That was cool. O’Reilly tags back in and they hit Titus with a double superkick and some more tandem offense for another near-fall. The referee loses control of the contest, and the ANX is able to regain control. Cole is dumped to the floor, and O’Reilly is left all alone. After some kicks to the face, Titus hits the Zack Attack to get the win at 11:01. Cole and O’Reilly were certainly impressive as a team and the ANX were their usual solid selves here. Good choice for an opener.
Rating: ***¼
MATCH #2: Trial Series Match #2 – Andy “Right Leg†Ridge vs. Ricky Reyes
Reyes does not look happy to be wrestling the rookie, and acts like a jerk in the early going. Ridge comes back with a cross body block for two. Reyes cuts him off and goes right back to work. Once again Ridge comes back, this time with a hard kick, sending Reyes to the floor. Ridge goes for a dive but Reyes cuts him off with a kick and then pulls him to the floor for a bodyslam. Back in the ring Reyes stomps away. Reyes hits a Butterfly Suplex for a two-count. Ridge tries to come back but Reyes hits a leg lariat to knock him back down. Reyes throws Ridge to the floor for no real reason, and then brings this borefest back in the ring. Ridge comes back with kicks for a two-count. He continues to press the offense and hits a weird looking slingshot chinbreaker for two. Reyes fights back with a hard clothesline and a sitout powerbomb but Ridge kicks out. He kicks Ridge right in the head and then lands a brainbuster but Ridge kicks out again! Ridge avoids another brainbuster and kicks Reyes in the back and then hits the Orton Backbreaker for two. He tries a rana but Reyes counters with a sick powerbomb, and then hits a twisting neckbreaker to end this cruel game at 8:50. Reyes is terrible and I don’t think that match helped Ridge look good at all.
Rating: *
Despite the objections of the crowd, Reyes cuts a promo knocking Ridge and his abilities. Ridge doesn’t take too kindly to that and kicks Reyes’s head off. Not literally of course.
Somewhere backstage Daizee Haze is talking about Lady JoJo. Tonight they will face off in a tag team match, and Haze has brought her top student, the masked Jamilia Craft.
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Outside the building Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly are reflecting on their debut weekend. O’Reilly admits he got knocked out and is fired up about it. Cole chimes in with some yelling of his own.
MATCH #3: Women of Honor – Daizee Haze & Jamilia Craft vs. Lady JoJo & Nevaeh
Some jackass fan throws water at Lady JoJo during her entrance for some reason. JoJo and Haze start the match, continuing their battle from last night in Dayton. The idiot in the crowd keeps distracting everyone so nobody is paying attention to the match early on. Even so, Haze and Craft take the fight to JoJo, working on her arm. Nevaeh distracts Craft from the apron, allowing JoJo to come back and kick her down. The tag is made and Nevaeh goes hits a Hennig Neck Snap and a sliding clothesline for two. Nevaeh and JoJo isolate Craft and tag in and out, taking turns working her over. After a few minutes Craft ducks a double clothesline and makes the lukewarm tag. Haze hits a missile dropkick on both JoJo and Nevaeh and then focuses on Nevaeh. She this a bridging Northern Lights suplex for a two-count and then rolls that into a cradle for another near-fall. She locks on an arm submission but JoJo breaks it up. The referee has lost control. Kevin Kelly notes that JoJo “looks like she’s got a bit of street fighter streak in her.†Why, because she’s black? Haze hits Nevaeh with a DDT for two. Heel miscommunication leads to Nevaeh knocking JoJo off the apron. Haze hits a Fisherman’s Suplex for two. Craft gets tagged in, but before leaving the ring Haze hits a Heart Punch and a Yakuza kick, and Craft adds a Stunner and a Spear but JoJo breaks up the cover. Haze throws JoJo to the floor and then wipes her out with a dive. Craft tries to pull Nevaeh up, but Nevaeh grabs her with an inside cradle to get the win at 8:56. That was a solid tag team match, and if they’re really going to make an effort with the Women of Honor, these are four that would be good to use.
Rating: **½
Backstage the All Night Express gets fired up thinking about getting to challenge the Kings of Wrestling for the ROH World Tag Team Titles. King tells the Kings to stop ducking them.
MATCH #4: Homicide vs. Kevin Steen
Homicide gets a huge pop for his entrance. They immediately charge each other and start throwing fists. They go back and forth punching and kicking and biting each other. Homicide takes Steen down and tries a Sharpshooter, but Steen counters by biting his hand. They keep going back and forth with neither guy staying in control very long. The battle spills to the floor and Homicide teases the Tope Con Hilo but Steen avoids it. Homicide is frustrated and throws a few chairs in the ring and stalls some more. Steen finally goes to retrieve Homicide and whips him into the barricade. They tear up ringside some more, and when Steen has trouble getting one of the pieces of sheet metal into the ring, he slams it down and drops two elbows on it and then a snot rocket. Somewhere along the line Steen has been busted open. Homicide comes back over and they resume the fight, grabbing each other’s noses and biting more. What the hell is going on here? Back in the ring Steen goes for a cannonball but Homicide moves out of the way and goes for a Frog Splash but Steen gets his knees up. Now Steen goes up top and tries the Swanton but Homicide gets his knees up. Then they knock each other down with clotheslines. They get up and trade right hands. Homicide takes Steen down with a flying elbow and then tries a rana but Steen counters with a powerbomb for two. Homicide comes right back with a Hangman’s Neckbreaker for two. He goes up top for a Diving Headbutt (yelling out “Chris Benoit†as he heads up) but Steen moves out of the way and locks on a Crossface. I don’t care that guys do Benoit’s stuff, but I hate when they feel the need to call attention to it like Homicide and Steen just did. Anyway, Homicide reaches the ropes. Steen bites and licks Homicide, and then goes for the Pumphandle Neckbreaker. Homicide counters to an Ace Crusher and then hits the Lariat for a near-fall. He goes for the Cop Killa but Steen counters and this time hits the Pumphandle Neckbreaker but Homicide kicks out at two. Steen goes up top and Homicide joins him and bites him. Homicide then hits a Super Ace Crusher to get the pin at 14:55. That was an awkward match with a lot of biting and Steen weirdness that I’m not into. Homicide looked lazy.
Rating: **
The crowd chants “Welcome Back†as Homicide grabs the mic. He puts over ROH and some of the guys who are stars now like Davey Richards, Kenny King, and El Generico. At the mention of Generico’s name, Kevin Steen rushes back out in Generico’s mask and starts a pull-apart brawl. The Job Squad comes out and separates them.
MATCH #5: Mike Mondo vs. The Metal Master
These two have battled each other in Ohio Valley Wrestling, Kevin Kelly says. Shockingly they start with some chain wrestling. Master locks in the first submission and Mondo reaches the ropes. He locks on another submission, so Mondo comes back with his power advantage and tosses Master to the floor. Mondo tries a house show dive but Master moves out of the way and then hops back in the ring to hit a suicide dive of his own. Back in the ring Master misses a cross body block off the top rope and Mondo takes control. After a few minutes Master comes back with a backslide for two. They trade holds back and forth and Master wins that battle by hitting a modified DDT. Master hits a powerslam for two. Kelly tries to proclaim this match a hidden gem. Mondo hits a couple of rolling short arm clotheslines, and Master responds with rolling German Suplexes, and Mondo flips over on the third one. For some reason Mondo tries a rana (like that’s a move he does) and Master catches him with a sitout powerbomb for two. Master goes up top but Mondo takes him down with an armdrag and then hits a moonsault press for two. Back up on their feet a series of reversals ends with Master hitting a brainbuster for two. Master then locks on a Crossface and they pretty much do the exact same finish as the main event of WrestleMania XX to give Master the win at 7:18. This was a standard back from intermission match.
Rating: *¾
MATCH #6: Non-Title Elimination Tag Match – The Kings of Wrestling (with Shane Hagadorn) vs. Jay and Mark Briscoe
The Briscoes charge the ring and the fight is on. They throw the Kings to the floor and take the battle right to them. Mark is paired off with Chris Hero while Jay works on Claudio Castagnoli. Hero gets wiped out so the Briscoes take Castagnoli back in the ring to double-team him. Castagnoli fights back with some knees to Mark’s gut and backs him into the corner. Hero tags in and now the Kings are in control. Mark fights back with a springboard forearm off the second rope and makes the tag. Jay blasts Hero with a dropkick for two. Hero fights back with a rolling elbow and Castagnoli tags in. Neither team has been able to hold a sustained advantage. The Briscoes start gaining some momentum so the Kings try to take a powder, but the brothers wipe them out with simultaneous dives. Back in the ring the Briscoe briefly control, but the Kings fight right back. The Kings hit the Giant Swing/Dropkick combination for two. Hero takes Jay down with a cravat. Castagnoli tags back in and they hit a double big boot, and Castagnoli follows up with the big legdrop for two. Jay makes the comeback and tags Mark for some Redneck Kung Fu. Mark hits Hero with a moonsault off the top rope for two. Castagnoli gets knocked to the floor and Hagadorn hands him the lucky elbow pad. Meanwhile the Briscoes hit Hero with the Sidewinder for two. Hagadorn distracts the referee and Castagnoli gives the elbow pad to Hero. The Briscoes get Hero up for the Doomsday Device but Hero drops Mark with an elbow to the face. That’s pretty cool. It’s also enough to eliminate Mark at 10:33.
The Kings immediately use their man advantage to wear Jay down. Hero hits a sit-out powerbomb and Castagnoli covers for two. Jay tries fighting back but Castagnoli launches him into an elbow by Hero but Jay kicks out at two. The Kings go for more double-teaming but Jay counters and uses Hero as a weapon against Castagnoli. Jay and Castagnoli trade forearms in the center of the ring and Jay wins that battle with a Jay Driller to eliminate Castagnoli at 13:31. Hero goes for the rolling elbow but Jay catches him in a backslide to get the pin and win the match at 13:51. These two teams will probably always have at least decent matches, but something about this one just didn’t work as well as some of the others. They didn’t really establish a rhythm, and the stipulation didn’t add anything to the feud.
Rating: **½
Backstage Colt Cabana is leading the charge to get Kevin Steen in the straightjacket before the next match. The Job Squad is having trouble with the angry and bloody Steen. Why does Steen drop so many GD bombs?
MATCH #7: I Quit Match (with Kevin Steen in a straightjacket at ringside) – Steve Corino vs. Colt Cabana
Cabana opens the match with a series of jabs and a quebrada. He locks on a Cross Armbreaker but Corino escapes and slips to the floor. Corino starts fiddling with Steen’s straightjacket so Cabana joins him on the floor. That turns out to be a bad idea, as Corino takes control. Steen gets in a fan’s face, and then kisses him right on the mouth. Back in the ring Corino locks on a Figure-Four Leglock but Cabana won’t quit. Cabana turns it over and Corino breaks out of it, so Cabana tries the Billy Goat’s Curse. Corino once again rolls to the floor and fiddles with the straightjacket some more. Cabana comes up from behind for a punch but Corino ducks and Steen gets cracked in the mouth. Corino tries to retaliate but Cabana ducks and Steen takes another punch to the face. That’s cute. Back in the ring Cabana goes for the Billy Goat’s Curse but can’t get it, so instead he locks on Cattle Mutilation. Corino gets out of that and tries a Cobra Clutch, and then levels Cabana with a lariat. He takes off his wrist tape and chokes Cabana with it. Now he goes outside the ring for a beer bottle and breaks it. Cabana blocks the attack and jabs the broken glass in Corino’s arm, bloodying it up. Corino fights back and locks on a seated Cobra Clutch. Cabana escapes that and takes an opportunity to baseball slide Steen in the face for fun, and then locks on the Billy Goat’s Curse. Steen gets in the ring but can’t do much since he has no arms. Cabana goes for the Flying Apple but Corino recovers and wallops him with a lariat. Corino undoes the straightjacket and now Steen is free. The two diabolical villains work Cabana over, beating him mercilessly in front of his hometown fans. Kevin Kelly would do well to stop bringing up Ric Flair versus Terry Funk and just call the damn match in front of him. ROH tends to have this obsession with things being “shades of†another thing and it’s really annoying. Steen threatens to kill Cabana with a chair, so the Job Squad comes out and breaks it up. Cabana fights back with a chair and then traps Corino in the straightjacket. He nails Corino in the head with a chair, and then powerbombs him through a table. He then grabs a piece of the table and digs it into Corino’s eye. Corino finally quits at 16:58. I’ve never really been invested in this feud, and these aren’t even the interesting guys in the feud, so I had no emotional connection to this match. I don’t mind the overbooking I just don’t care about the match.
Rating: **¼
MATCH #8: Main Event – Six Months in the Making – Christopher Daniels vs. Davey Richards
They start cautiously with some back and forth, just feeling each other out. I think they’re going to be here for a while. Richards goes after the arm and Daniels snap mares his way out of it so Richards takes a powder. Back in the ring Daniels goes after the arm now. Richards comes back and lands a hard leg lariat to the face and then also goes after the arm. Daniels comes back with a headlock. Neither man can gain a clear advantage early on. Daniels hits his own leg lariat for a one-count. Richards backdrops Daniels to the floor and hits a running kick from the apron. He goes up top but doesn’t perform a dive, instead whipping Daniels into the barricade and then kicking his head off. Back in the ring Richards goes to work on the leg. Richards even uses a Texas Cloverleaf / Tequila Sunrise combination and Daniels has to reach the ropes. Daniels comes back and backdrops Richards to the floor. He goes for a dropkick but Richards avoids it and Daniels lands with a splat. Richards tries a dive but Daniels catches him with a palm strike and both men are down. Daniels recovers first and hits the Arabian Press. He throws Richards back in the ring and hits a high cross body off the top rope for two. Daniels continues to maintain control, working on the back. Richards catches a charging Daniels with a solid kick to the head. He takes control now, hitting a running forearm strike in the corner and a snap suplex. He goes up top and hits a diving headbutt from a long ways away for a two-count. He sets Daniels on the top rope and after a bit of a struggle hits a superplex for two. Richards transitions that right into an Ankle Lock. Daniels has to reach the ropes.
They rise to their feet and trade a series of vicious strikes. Richards hits the Alarm Clock and Daniels comes right back with a Blue Thunder Bomb. Daniels hits the STO and locks on the Koji Clutch. Richards counters that to an Ankle Lock, and Daniels counters with one of his own, so Richards rolls through to send Daniels to the floor. This time Richards hits the insane dive to the floor and both men are down. Back in the ring they trade shots again and Richards hits the stupid handspring enziguiri for two. Richards sets Daniels up for a super belly-to-back suplex, but winds up hitting a running German Suplex instead. He goes up top for the Shooting Star Press but Daniels moves and slips onto the Koji Clutch! Richards reaches the ropes. They take the fight to the apron and Daniels hits a Death Valley Driver! Both men are down on the floor now. Richards barely makes it back in the ring before the count of 20. Daniels unloads with a series of strikes that sends Richards to the floor, but of course Richards is a manly man so he shrugs it off and gets back in the ring. Richards hits a series of his own strikes, but Daniels cuts him off and hits the Angel’s Wings for two. Daniels hits the uranage slam and goes for the BME but Richards stands up and catches him in the Ankle Lock, which Daniels counters to a victory roll for two. Richards hits a boot to the gut and a big lariat for two. He hits a series of kicks for another two-count. He hits the DR Driver but Daniels kicks out again! Richards locks on the Ankle Lock again and this time Daniels cannot escape or reach the ropes and he taps out at 28:39. I’m generally more into big time matches that are part of a feud rather than just “I’m Better!†“No I’m Better!†but this was a really good main event that really didn’t feel as long as it was.
Rating: ****
Of course, being ROH, someone just has to get on the microphone and talk about what a big deal that last match was. This time it’s Daniels, and he even cries. He puts over Richards, the fans, etc. Richards gets his two cents in as the circle jerk continues. I can’t listen to this stuff anymore, please stop including it on the DVDs. I know the crowd likes to see guys jerk each other off after a “five star match†or a “match of the year†but it’s just getting tiresome.
As if what just happened wasn’t enough, I have to listen to another Davey Richards promo, in which he demonstrates that he does not know what the word Irony means. Kyle O’Reilly stands in the background looking goofy.
Elsewhere Shane Hagadorn is reflecting on tonight’s match against the Briscoes. He calls them lucky and reminds them that they get no more title shots.
~BONUS~
– VIdeo Wire 11-8-10
– On Survival of the Fittest 2010:
o Claudio Castagnoli
o Adam Cole
o Kyle O’Reilly
o Kevin Steen
o Eddie Edwards
o Chris Hero
The Pulse: The show is called “Richards vs. Daniels†and that match certainly delivers (and most ROH fans will probably like it even more than I did). Other than that the opener is pretty good and it’s great to see guys like Cole and O’Reilly getting a chance to shine. The middle of the show drags quite a bit, but if you like Homicide, his match might be your cup of tea. You can purchase the DVD Right Here.
