wrestling / Video Reviews
Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Enter the reDRagon – Disc 2
Loading...
Chapter 4: Chasing the Titles
Ring of Honor Television
Providence, Rhode Island
August 3, 2013
reDRagon(c) (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) vs. Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero)
This was originally supposed to be a Proving Ground match, but RD requested that it be made into a title match.
Credit where credit is due. The first few minutes of the match were quite good, which took me completely off guard. The Hooligans worked as total faces. They each hit a dive. They still had all the momentum even after a commercial. They did their shtick. It got over with the crowd. RD *finally* got control of the match, as they cut off Rocky and then worked him over. Koslov made a solid hot tag. He did the shtick with the hat and the dancing kicks. The teams started going back and forth of course. This is where we’ll find out if this match is really good or average. Do they overdue it or not? After some solid action, Koslov saved Rocky from Chasing the Dragon, and Rocky caught Kyle with a backslide: 1…2…3!!!!
RD cut an amusing backstage promo after the lost.
What a genuinely pleasant surprise! RD showed so much more tag team psychology here, and it paid off big time with what was easily the best match so far on this set. This was also the best Forever Hooligans match that I’ve ever seen! I do not know what happened here, but everything came together better than could have been reasonably expected.
Match Rating: ***3/4
Manhattan Mayhem
New York City, New York
August 17, 2013
The American Wolves(c) (Davey Richards & Eddie “Eddie Edwards” Edwards) vs. reDRagon (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) [ROH World Tag Team Championship]
After their first two matches, I am in no way looking forward to this one.
The teams really took their time with this one. You could immediately tell that they were going to go for a long time. RD eventually played the numbers game on EEEE to cut him off, and they then worked him over. He did escape of course after a long beatdown, and Davey made a cold tag. The teams started going back and forth. No one seemed to care. This went on for such a long time. Fish put EEEE through a table. Davey made a wild comeback. The match picked up slightly here. In what was a very clever spot, Fish held Davey’s arm for KO to nail it with dropkick off the apron. That looked awesome. Kyle then hit a middle rope Divorce Court and applied an armbar. Davey kicked out of Chasing the Dragon but then submitted to Kyle’s cross armbreaker.
This match had two major things going against it: the crowd did not care about the existence of this match, and the match did nothing to draw them or the at-home audience in. It went way too long, and it just seemed like nothing of note happened until the final few (admittedly, very fun) minutes. Do not watch this match.
Match Rating: **
Chapter 5: Best Tag Team in the Universe
Charm City Challenge
Baltimore, Maryland
October 5, 2013
reDRagon(c) (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) vs. Michael Elgin & Jay Lethal [ROH World Tag Team Championship]
Kyle got a haircut. Modern tragedy. Lethal and Elgin got control after a few minutes. We saw Clownkara in the crowd.
RD finally got control after they conspired to hit Lethal with a chair. This went on for way too long and felt completely nondescript. Elgin made a cold tag. The match broke down. Lethal hit Kyle with the Injection, and Bobby had to make the save. Elgin got taken out on the floor, and Lethal ate Chasing the Dragon to keep the titles on RD.
This match was inoffensive and insignificant. The things that stood out most were the terrible commentating (Kevin Kelly and Caprice Coleman), and the laughable cutaways to Clownkara in the crowd.
Match Rating: **1/2
Pursuit – Night 2
Columbus, Ohio
November 16, 2013
reDRagon(c) (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) vs. C & C Wrestle Factory [ROH World Tag Team Championship]
Cedric immediately hit a tope con hello on the champs. C&C proceeded to dominate the champs for a while. The champs finally made it competitive by cutting off Caprice and then working him over. Caprice hit them with the goofy, double ‘rana, and Cedric then made a great hot tag. RD fought back, and the teams started going back and forth. Kyle had to save Fish after a devastating combination. More back and forth action. Caprice kept rolling away from Fish’s diving headbutt even after it seemed RD had the match finished. Cedric then saved him. Fish kicked Cedric’s head off, and RD then finished Caprice with Chasing the Dragon.
This was an energetic tag title match, and I think they did an effective job of making it seem possible that C&C could potentially win the titles here. Cedric looked absolutely phenomenal here in the ring and selling the defeat after the match. He is a fantastic tag wrestler.
Match Rating: ***1/4
Chapter 6: Third Reign of the Dragon
War of the Worlds
New York City, New York
May 17, 2014
The Young Bucks© vs. reDRagon (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) (w/ Tom Lawler) [ROH World Tag Team Championships]
Apparently, “Filthy” Tom Lawler is their training partner. The Bucks greeted him by kicking the ropes into his balls. Nick hit a beautiful corkscrew dive onto reDRagon. Matt went to the top rope, but Lawler shook the ropes to crotch Matt. reDRagon cut off Matt and worked him over. Matt escaped at one point, but Lawler had pulled Nick off the apron. Matt managed to escape again, and Nick made a hot tag. Fish came back on Nick and set him up for Kyle’s apron dropkick. Kyle went for it, but Nick caught him with a superkick! The Bucks caused Kyle to give Fish a tombstone and then drilled him a double superkick. The teams kept going back and forth. Fish nearly slipped on a super falcon arrow, but he managed not to kill himself or Matt, thankfully. Kyle reversed a buckle bomb attempt into a guillotine, but Nick saved him with a 450!!!! WTF! That got a nearfall. Nick wiped out Bobby with a Taker Suicida (he is in the Indie Taker). The Bucks went for More Bang for Your Buck. Kyle got his knees up on the 450 and reversed the moonsault into a cross armbreaker!!! Matt escaped but then ate Chasing the Dragon: 1…2…NO! Kyle then got the armbreaker with a hooked leg! Matt tapped out!
Original Review: Just based on what I have seen, ROH’s pacing for these PPVs is absolutely perfect. There is no reason to work a 20 minute match when you can tell the exact same story in 12 minutes and have the match be twice as good. This was my favorite ROH match since 2012.
New Review: This match started out hot, but then cooled down substantially before picking right back up down the stretch. The crowd didn’t really seem interested in watching either team to work over the other. They honestly probably could have just out the heat and do nothing but spots for 7 minutes. That would have made the match stand out even more.
Match Rating: ***3/4
Extras
We saw a series of backstage promos and Fish Tank segments. Overall, this was a very fun series of segments. Fish in particular stands out as a great talker.
Reclamation – Night 1
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
July 12, 2013
Kyle O’Reilly vs. Eddie “Eddie Edwards” Edwards
They battled for control for a while They did some strong sequences. Kyle got control with a middle rope Divorce Court, and he then worked over the now-injured left arm. EEEE fought back, and they traded forearms. EEEE won that battle and then hit a tope suicida. EEEE was building momentum, but Kyle got the cross armbreaker on the injured arm. Kyle reversed it into an Achilles Lock, but Kyle escaped. Regal-plex from Kyle. Kyle got the cross armbreaker again, but EEEE got to the ropes. EEEE hit a powerbomb and then transitioned into an Achilles Lock with stomps to the head. The referee stopped the match!
This match featured great action, a hot crowd, and was worked at a perfect clip. I wish ROH main events were worked in this fashion. Kudos to both men.
Match Rating: ***3/4
Watch free Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish matches!
Kyle O’Reilly vs. Davey Richards
Kyle O’Reilly vs. Sami Callihan
Bobby Fish vs. Roderick Strong
Kyle O’Reilly vs. Cedric Alexander
Kyle O’Reilly vs. Bobby Beverly
