Credit: Justin McClelland & F4WOnline.com
1. Metal Master defeated Sami Callahan in about 10 minutes. Metal Master got a light "super shredder" chant when he came out because of his outfit. Basic okay match that went about 10 minutes. Ending looked botched as Sami looked to be supposed to pick MM up in a wheelbarrow suplex maneuver and dropped him. They recovered with some roll throughs that ended when MM put Callahan in a camel clutch position and rolled forward to get the pin.
2. Necro Butcher and Skullcrusher Rasche Brown beat The Embassy of Erick Stevens and Shawn Daivari.Started in typical Necro fashion with a brawl into the crowd and Necro did a suicide dive into the crowd off the railing later. Brown speared Daivari for the pin. After the match Stevens powerbombed Butcher onto the back of two set-up chairs (so his back bounced off the edge part) in a very very sick and painful looking spot. OUCH!
3. Chris Hero beat Petey Williams in about 20 minutes. Another very solid outing. Hero was probably the second most over guy on the show, behind Richards. People either love or hate him. He and Williams went back and forth with Williams constantly teasing the Canadian Destroyer and Hero repeatedly hitting the Roaring Elbow. In the end, Williams hit the destroyer but Shane Hagadorn, Hero’s second, pulled the ref out. When Williams went after Hagadorn, Hero hit him with a roaring elbow from behind then used a dragon sleeper for the tap out.
4. The American Wolves defeated the Dark City Fight Club when Eddie Edwards made one of the DCFC submit. My absolute favorite match of the night. Davey Richards was super over with the crowd, and got some of the biggest chants of the night. People kept shouting next world champ. Match started slow because I don’t think anyone thought DCFC would win. DCFC to their credit worked through it and really put a beating on the faces. Its odd that the Wolves are faces at this point but still have Shane Hagadorn as a second, when he also seconds the clearly heel Chris Hero. Richards got tossed into the crowd at one point. In the end, Edwards put one of DCFC (they really need names on their tights) in a half crab and then Richards came off the top with a flying headbutt to force the submission. Match was about 25 minutes.
Intermission
Continued on page two …
5.) The House of Truth defeated Austin Aries and Rhett Titus in a big upset. This was my least favorite match of the night. It went way too long at about 20 minutes and was so very boring for about 18 of those. Match started as a comedy encounter between two heel factions including a funny bit where Titus and Christian Able simultaneously accused the other of pulling his hair. But then it tried to be a serious match with a long beatdown of Titus and another heat segment on Aries, who the crowd saw as way above the other three. Anyway, a wacky miscommunication spot led to Aries accidentally giving his own partner a brain buster, then Truth got the pin with a superkick like move.
6. Roderick Strong defeated El Generico – a lot of people liked this match best, but I’m sticking with the Wolves/DCFC. Match was still very very good and built well with both guys hitting some great moves. Strong in particular really shown with his increasingly great backbreaker variations. Strong won in a little over 20 minutes with a gut buster and running kick. El Generico tried to shake Strong’s hand, but Strong hesitated. Then Steen and Corino ran out and Strong left Generico to the wolves, which seemed like something of a heel turn tease.
Steen and Corino batted Generico around until the Briscoes made the save.
7. Kevin Steen and Steve Corino beat The Briscoes – the gimmick was Steen had picked Generico’s opponent and Generico picked Steen and Corino’s, BTW. Match started with a big brawl in the crowd, that included Jay Briscoe and Steve Corino throwing chairs off each other’s heads, which suggest they weren’t in on the "no head shot" pact Tyler Black mentioned in an interview a couple weeks ago. Match then went into the ring where the heels worked over Mark Briscoes knee for a while. Brisoces fought back and went for the springboard doomsday but Steen pulled off the one going for the clothesline (Jay?) and Corino slipped behind Mark and got a rollup with a tight pull for the pin.
8. ROH Champion Tyler Black defeated Kenny King in about 25 minutes. Match was something of a let down after the other great matches. The two guys worked hard but the crowd just wasn’t into it and the match seemed to drag. I think people were burn out. And maybe Black just isn’t over as champion. Match was a good back and forth affair, based strictly on the moves. Black won when King went to the top but Black did a pop up superplex, then rolled with it into a cradle brain buster then hit a superkick while King was on his knees.
Overall a very good show with 5 three star or better matches.
