Review of Honor: Up for Grabs

Up for Grabs
June 6th, 2008 | Connecticut Expo Center in Hartford, Connecticut

Here is my first “Review of Honor” that isn’t of a show I attended live. Okay, so around this time the Briscoes had just captured the ROH World Tag Team Titles again. Mark would get injured and Jay defended the gold with Austin Aries. However, because he’s such a good brother, Jay relinquished the straps because he couldn’t defend them with Mark. That brings us here, to a tournament to determine the new Tag Team Champions.

Bracket A
Adam Pearce and Chris Hero w/ Sweet n’ Sour Inc. vs. Jigsaw and Ruckus
At ringside for the heels are Bobby Dempsey, Shane Hagadorn, heel Sara Del Rey and Larry Sweeney. Jigsaw, now unmasked, starts against Chris Hero. They have an extended exchange, highlighted by Jigsaw’s millions of arm drags. The match takes a different feel when Ruckus and Adam Pearce come in. “THIS IS WHERE THE POWER LIES” says Pearce, pointing to his hand. They do the “face has the pin but referee is distracted” spot. Its classic tag wrestling. They build towards a hot tag to Ruckus. The heels work some surprisingly crisp double teams during this time. Ruckus comes in and does his high flying stuff, since that’s really all he’s got. It is short lived though as he eats a roaring elbow to end things.

Winners: Adam Pearce and Chris Hero in 12:04
There were certainly better choices to open things. This wasn’t what I would call hot and it dragged a bit. Still, they used tag formula rather well and it was decent at best. **¼

After the match, Eddie Kingston is out to check on Ruckus since they are partners outside of ROH. He gets into a scrap with Jigsaw that Ruckus has to get in between.

Bracket A
Kevin Steen and El Generico vs. Go Shiozaki and ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness
Considering their booking over the past year or so, Kevin Steen and El Generico are the favorites here since they’ve come so close on numerous occasions. El Generico starts with Go Shiozaki and just gets mauled with chops. Steen gets tagged and wants Nigel, who beat him with the title on the line at Injustice a month or two earlier. He comes in and doesn’t give Steen a clean break before running to tag Go back in. Go and Steen exchange shoulder blocks with neither guy able to knock the other over until Steen finally dodges one and sends him out. He goes to dive but Nigel trips him up, only for Generico to front flip out onto him. Nigel continues to infuriate the fans and his opponents while they begin to work heat on Generico. Generico is so good in this role, showing bursts of fire at times. Steen gets the tag and comes in on fire, beating the hell out of Nigel. There are now only five minutes remaining in the time limit as Nigel hits the Tower of Doom. Go gets tagged and has a fun exchange with Steen. Nigel and Go bust out some double teams on Steen that are rather impressive considering they aren’t a real team. Generico makes the save on a pin before Steen and Go trade German suplexes and superkicks. Generico and Nigel now go at it and Generico hits the Blue Thunder Bomb. Steen is back in and Nigel tries the Tower of London again, only for Generico to hit the Yakuza kick. That’s followed with a swanton bomb and splash from Generico. Go makes the save and we have under a minute remaining. Generico takes out Go as Steen makes the World Champ tap out to the Sharpshooter.

Winners: Kevin Steen and El Generico in 19:22
Much better than the opener. The feud between Kevin Steen and Nigel McGuiness added so much here. Generico and Steen play their respective roles so well and Nigel was in perfect dick heel form here. Go was kind of just there but his actual work in the match was solid. ***½

Nigel McGuinness is pissed and attacks Kevin Steen after the match, focusing on his leg. Go Shiozaki stops this and helps the winners.

Bracket B
Delirious and Pelle Primeau vs. Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black
The Age of the Fall won the belts to close out 2007 but lost them within a month and want redemption. The other guys are definitely the underdogs. As expected, this opens with some action where everyone gets a bit of a chance to shine. It is fast paced as even when Delirious gets thrown outside, Pelle comes right in so we don’t miss a beat. Pelle has some green in hair so either he made that bad decision on his own or he did it for Delirious in a show of solidarity. Delirious gets a rather mild tag and works over the former Champions. Jacobs even accidentally spears Black. Pelle tags back in, which is a mistake as he takes the Buckle Bomb and God’s Last Gift, wrapping this thing up.

Winners: Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black 7:58
A relatively basic tag team match, though I feel like this was meant to be that. They booked it about as well as you could with Pelle Primeau being involved and the AOTF get to look rather dominant, which is nice. **¼

Delirious gets on the microphone and mumbles some stuff, and we can tell that he says Daizee Haze. She comes out and when he goes to speak, he is interrupted by Rhett Titus. This was becoming a recurring theme. He hits on Daizee, while dissing Delirious. Daizee declines his advances because she’s not a “trick” and walks off without ever responding to Delirious. THAT WENCH!

Bracket B
Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson vs. Davey Richards and Roderick Strong
Interesting note here is that Austin Aries and Roderick Strong were one of the best Tag Team Champions that ROH has ever seen. Aries starts with Davey and does his “escape the head scissors” thing. Despite primarily being singles guys, Aries and Danielson had teamed up a fair amount this year, while Davey had the belts with Rocky Romero, teaming with him mostly. Danielson and Aries do some double team moves that come off less impressive than they probably should have. A little while later, Davey baits Danielson into a backbreaker from Strong. Davey also delivers some stiff kicks at ringside and knocks a fan’s hat off. The No Remorse Corps work over Danielson for a while now. Roderick uses Bryan’s signature surfboard to massive heat which grows when Davey runs in with a low blow. Aries gets the hot tag and his hot run is second to only Kevin Steen so far tonight. He counters a powerbomb like he’s Billy Kidman and locks in the Last Chancery submission, complete with knee strikes. Roddy breaks it up with a mean backbreaker. Danielson comes up with a missile dropkick at the 15 minute mark. He and Aries light up Strong with stereo kicks. They go for the Cattle Mutilation with Aries’ knee strikes but it’s broken up. In a cool spot, Bryan goes to turn over for the Cattle Mutilation again but Davey catches him and puts on the Cloverleaf. Aries stops that and does a head seeking sunset flip that comes off awkwardly. With two minutes left, Roderick hits Bryan with a backbreaker and sick kick for two. He applies an interesting looking submission. Danielson fights out and ends up putting Strong in the triangle choke, which he submits to.

Winners: Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson in 19:23
Much like the earlier near time limit draw, the final seconds of this were exciting. All four guys are talented and it made for a good match. I do think that it would have been better if it were Davey Richard and Rocky Romero, due to the chemistry they have developed. Roderick is good but didn’t click as well with Davey. ***¼

Adam Pearce and Chris Hero w/ Sweet n Sour Inc. vs. Kevin Steen and El Generico
Chris Hero goes right after Kevin Steen’s knee at the bell. El Generico is also nursing a hurt shoulder here. Commentary starts discussing Matt Sydal/Evan Bourne, but I missed why exactly. The focus continues to be on Steen’s knee as the heels use nearly every old school tactic. The tag finally comes to Generico but the crowd isn’t as it into it as I expected. Ah, I guess they know it’s not the last hot tag as Generico ends up in a bad way with the shoulder work. He is near a tag but it’s not time for it yet so he just awkwardly avoids it. Well I was wrong again as there is no second tag. Instead, Sweet n Sour try to cheat with a briefcase but Generico sends Hero into it and rolls him up to advance.

Winners: Kevin Steen and El Generico in 8:13
Due to the injuries, having Sweet n Sour control this made absolute sense. Still, that doesn’t mean it makes for an interesting math. Their offense was mostly dull and it seemed like they were struggling to make it to the end of the match. Kudos to Steen and Generico though for selling the hell out of the leg and shoulder. **

Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson vs. Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black
Austin Aries rushes out once things starts and attacks Jimmy Jacobs. Bryan Danielson goes at it with Black inside. Jacobs gets a chair and uses it on Aries behind the official’s back. Aries kicks it into his head and uses it as the referee sees, causing the disqualification.

Winners via disqualification: Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black in 0:54
More of an angle than a match so there will be no rating here. NO RATING.

Alex Payne vs. Shane Hagadorn w/ Sweet n Sour Inc.
Of all of the ROH student graduates, Shane Hagadorn is my least favorite and I’m not too fond of Alex “Sugarfoot” Payne either. This is nothing to write home about. Hagadorn controls it throughout, making it worse than I’m sure it would have been if Payne was in control. There are some Sweet n Sour shenanigans, culminating with a big axe kick from Sara Del Rey. That allows Hagadorn to win with an STO. Ho hum.

Winner: Shane Hagadorn in 5:46
Typically dull stuff from typically dull performers. ROH would throw these matches coming out of intermission and they don’t ever really do much. ¾*

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Eddie Edwards w/ Sweet n Sour Inc.
Larry Sweeney complains about his team getting “screwed” in the tournament and hypes up his “can’t miss” prospect, Eddie Edwards. Claudio comes out firing but ends up in trouble as Edwards kicks him around. Edwards would go on to win every title in ROH, but he wasn’t quite there yet. I believe I’ve seen Sweet n Sour get in cheap shots in every single match they’ve had so far. A string of hard kicks from Edwards isn’t enough to keep Claudio down and he comes back with European uppercuts. He goes for the Ricola Bomb but Edwards counters and hits a headbutt before getting two on a backpack stunner. Edwards then hits a knee strike and springboard moonsault for another near fall. This has picked up in the final few minutes. Time for the big swing but it isn’t enough either. They avoid some of each other’s signature moves until Claudio scores with the popup uppercut to get the 1-2-3.

Winner: Claudio Castagnoli in 9:51
Had this been done when Eddie Edwards had a more prominent role in ROH about two years later, it could have been something special. Instead, it was kind of just there and only got good near the end. **¾

Brent Albright vs. Erick Stevens vs. Necro Butcher
This should certainly be hard hitting. Erick Stevens no longer has his Mohawk, so he looks like a beefed up Ben Stiller. As usual with a Necro match, things spill outside and Necro tries to use the ring bell but it stopped and thrown into the guardrail. He comes back and decides to use that guardrail. Not content with fighting at ringside, things go into the crowd where Necro just levels Stevens with a right hand. He covers but it’s not Falls Count Anywhere rules. I honestly don’t even know where the referee is as they start using chairs in the crowd. Necro does his trademark chair slam on the outside. The three guys make it to the ring where Albright nails a backbreaker and then puts Stevens in an interesting looking arm submission. This leads to Necro and Albright just trading shots and Albright gets sent outside. Stevens then hits Necro with a Doctor Bomb that ends things.

Winner: Erick Stevens in 11:35
That was a fun brawl as all three guys beat the stuffing out of each other. I’ve seen better from all of them though and the ending felt very anti-climactic. ***

Sweet n Sour shows up to try and attack Brent Albright, but he just fights them off and powerbombs Chris Hero. He goes after Larry Sweeney only for Adam Pearce to save him. They end up holding him so Sweeney can whip him but he breaks free and runs them off. Brent Albright looking STRONG.

ROH World Tag Team Championship Tournament Finals
Kevin Steen and El Generico vs. Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black
Thanks to some early smack talk, this starts with a brawl. Commentary does a good job in reminding everyone that Steen and Generico have had a tougher road to the finals. The brawl moves outside where the heels take control due to the injuries of our faces. Steen powerbombs Black on the apron to turn the tide some. Generico ends up taking a big shot, which causes some referees and others wrestlers to check on him. This allows the Age of the Fall to concentrate on Steen. Steen is selling the leg work like he’s Mr. Perfect at SummerSlam 1991. Flips and all. They pick him apart, though he does score some flash near falls. His swanton bomb is stopped by knees from Black but he still ends up fighting both until they go after the knee again. They go for a big double team move but Steen breaks free and scores two on a small package. His package piledriver attempt fails due to his knee but he kicks out of God’s Last Gift, which the crowd pops big for. As they try another double team, Generico runs out with his shoulder taped up. He hits some Yakuza kicks and a big moonsault to the outside as the crowd is red hot. Steen hits the Package Piledriver, which is supposed to go into the Brainbuster, but Tyler Black interrupts by rolling up Generico to win the straps.

Winners and New ROH World Tag Team Champions: Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black in 16:51
Really good storytelling here. The fans desperately wanted to see Steen and Generico win the belts that they’ve fought for almost a year for. The air gets let out of the building at the end result, showing that they did their job. The Generico run in was timed perfectly and the cheap rollup was expertly done. ***¼

The fans pelt the ring with a bunch of garbage as Jimmy Jacobs cuts a post-match promo.

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

Not the greatest ROH show that I own. The issue with a one night tag team tournament is that most tag matches follow the same formula so it gets repetitive. There was some variation here, especially in the main event, but not enough for my taste. There are some good matches, but none that stand out, making this a middle of the pack ROH event.