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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Kings of Wrestling – Kings Reign Supreme – Disc 2

February 4, 2015 | Posted by TJ Hawke
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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Kings of Wrestling – Kings Reign Supreme – Disc 2  

 

Allied Forces
Dayton, Ohio
October 15, 2010

Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli)(c) (w/ Shane Hagadorn) vs. Christopher Daniels & Davey Richards

This took place the night before the Daniels/Davey match that was six months or so in the making. It wasn’t really built up for six months. It was just teased in April, 2010 and then happened in October, 2010.

The teams traded control early. Davey and Daniels tried to do the Poetry in Motion spot. Daniels somewhat botched the Jeff Hardy portion of that spot. Hagadorn helped the Kings cut off Davey. They then worked Davey over for a long time. He did eventually escape, and Daniels made a rather pedestrian hot tag. Did he forget how to make one? Daniels was falling victim to the numbers, but he lasted long enough to give Davey a chance to recover. I thought I was going to get the insane Davey dive into the crowd, but it was just a regular tope suicida. Davey and Claudio did a very good sequence together. These two just had tremendous chemistry at this time. The teams started going back and forth. For some reason, I felt like this match deserved something more creative than this very tired closing stretch formula. Davey and Daniels accidentally crashed into each other just as it looked like they had the match won. Daniels then was finished with the KRS-1.

For such a long match, ***1/4 may seem like something of a backhanded compliment. I genuinely enjoyed this match for the duration, but I found little of the match to be above average. The lone exception was the sequence between Claudio and Davey.

Match Rating: ***1/4

 

ROH on HDNet #79
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli)(c) (w/ Shane Hagadorn & Sara Del Rey) vs. The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe)

MIKE FUCKING HOGWOOD~! I believe this was the Briscoes’ “last chance” title match for as long as the Kings were champion. I think this match ends on a low blow. So, get excited.

The Briscoes had a lot of success early on. They each hit a dive. Paul Turner threw out Death Rey after she got caught interfering. Mark was cut off and getting worked over. This went on a very long time. Mark avoided an rolling elbow and finally tagged out to Jay. Jay ran wild for a bit. Mark got hung up in the ropes, and Hagadorn then kicked Jay in the balls. After a few moments to recover, Claudio just simply pinned Jay: 1…2…3?

Papa Briscoe jumped into the ring after the match to destroy Hagadorn.

This match had so much working against it. It was a tired matchup in front of the typically weak ROH on HDNet crowd with an absolutely awful finish to set up a match at Final Battle that only Bryan Alvarez and Jim Cornette would be excited about.

Match Rating: **1/4

 

Tag Title Classic
Plymouth, Massachusetts
December 17, 2010

The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli)(c) (w/ Shane Hagadorn & Sara Del Rey) vs. The American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie “Eddie Edwards” Edwards)

I remember this match being very long.

They started out at a methodical pace. After the Wolves had a decent amount of success early on, the Kings cut off EEEE and worked him over. EEEE eventually made his own comeback and then tagged out. The state of Davey’s hair at this point by the way. What on Earth was he thinking. The teams appeared to be starting the back and forth sequence, but the Kings actually managed to cut off Davey. Second heat segment time. Davey tagged out in a rather anti-climatic manner after a long time being worked over. The teams started going back and forth. Stereo dives from the Wolves. The Wolves seemed to have the victory in their grasp. The Kings fought back though. Claudio and Davey went at. It was great as usual. Hero and Davey then went at it. The match just kept going and going and going. And going. This is an absurdly long match. I genuinely can’t get over it, and I knew it was going to be too long! After a million elbows, Hero finally pinned EEEE.

The Kings went to give Davey the KRS-1 after the match, but EEEE made the save.

2010-2011 Ring of Honor featured a ton of overly-long main events, and this was one of the most annoying of them all. It was just a complete miscalculation from everyone involved. After the first ten minutes, there was very little redeeming about this match.

Match Rating: *

 

Final Battle
New York City, New York
December 18, 2010

The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) & Shane Hagadorn vs. The Briscoes (Jay, Mark, & Papa Briscoe)

Papa called Hagadorn into the ring to start the match. Hagadorn did not oblige. After a few minutes of action, Papa managed to tag in when Hagadorn was in there. He briefly put the boots to him until Claudio tagged in. Papa managed to take Claudio down with a headscissors. Death Rey pulled Papa to the floor. Papa sexually assaulted her. The referee kicked her out. Seems fair. Mark then got cut off and worked over. Jay made the hot tag eventually. The teams went back and forth. Papa and Hagadorn ended up in the ring, but the other teams prevented any interaction. Hagadorn kicked Jay in the balls, and Papa finally got his hands on him. The Briscoes hit stereo hilos. Papa called for a dive. Hagadorn blocked it. Hero caught Papa with a rolling elbow. Jay saved his dad from the KRS-1. Papa gave Claudio a stunner. Papa and Jay then finished Hagadorn with the Doomsday Device!

This started out well, got flat, and then picked up big time down the stretch. They probably could have come up with something better for the Kings to do though on the biggest show of the year though.

Match Rating: ***1/2

Watch this match here.

 

Anniversary Show
Chicago Ridge, Illinois
February 26, 2011

The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli)(c) (w/ Shane Hagadorn & Sara Del Rey) vs. The All Night Express (Kenny King & Rhett Titus)[ROH World Tag Team Championships]

ANX had the early advantage. KK hip-tossing Titus for an assisted plancha got a pop out of me. The Kings fought back quickly enough and cut off Rhett. Titus eventually escaped, and King made a hot that suggests he should be the hot tag in a tag team before anything else in wrestling. The Kings fought back, and the teams went back and forth. Kenny busted out a shooting star press, and Hero had to save Claudio. King intercepted Hagadorn’s attempt to toss Hero the loaded elbow pad. Claudio and King then seemingly botched the UFO. It was really awkward. Hero hit King with the loaded elbow anyway: 1…2…3

Wow, time has not been overly kind to this one. I remember this one over-delivering at the time, but it came across very flat the majority of the match this time. King busted out some cool stuff, but this was very disappointing to re-watch.

Match Rating: **3/4

 

Honor Takes Center Stage – Chapter 1
Atlanta, Georgia
April 1, 2011

We saw footage of the King’s tag title run coming to an end as they dropped the belts to Haas and Benjamin. It seemed like a sensible decision at the time. WGTT turned out to be a disaster of course.

 

Honor Takes Center Stage – Chapter 2
Atlanta, Georgia
April 2, 2011

The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) (w/ Shane Hagadorn) vs. Future Shock (Kyle O’Reilly & Adam Cole)

The Kings were pissed off and working with purpose right away. They cut off Kyle early on and worked him over. Kyle eventually escaped, and Cole made a great hot tag. Adam Cole as a babyface tag guy > Adam Cole heel singles. Just as FS had all the momentum, Hero caught each of them with a rolling elbow. Cole wiped out Hero with a tope suicida while Kyle had Claudio in the guillotine! CLAUDIO REVERSED IT INTO SWISS DEATH! Kyle then ate a big double strike from the Kings: 1…2…3

This match did everything right that the Kings/Wolves match did wrong four months earlier. They packed in a ton of exciting action and worked the right amount of time. I only wished this kicked off an era in ROH where they realized you didn’t need to go over twenty minutes to have a great match.

Match Rating: ***3/4

 

Revolution: USA
Dearborn, Michigan
May 6, 2011

The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) (w/ Shane Hagadorn & Sara Del Rey) vs. The American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie “Eddie Edwards” Edwards)

Blah, I do not want to watch this one. EEEE was the ROH World Champion at the time of this match, and Hero was challenging him for the title the night after this show.

EEEE got cut off early and then worked over. Davey made a flat hot tag. The Kings slowed Davey’s roll and then worked him over. Davey and Claudio did an okay sequence for them. Davey finally tagged out. EEEE busted out the Asai Moonsault. Hero and EEEE went at it a lot. They did not display anything that would make me want to watch a singles match between the two. As the Kings looked to be getting control, Davey recovered and the Wolves came back. This match is no good, but it’s not as obnoxiously bad as their first match. The Wolves got stereo submissions. Okay, the match is on the verge of being obnoxious. Claudio saved Hero by having Davey accidentally hit EEEE. Hero then finished EEEE with the Death Blow.

This match did not make me hate professional wrestling the way their first match did, but this was also no good. While it’s physically impressive to work such a long match, it does not necessarily make for good entertainment. Other than the length of the match, this was completely inoffensive at least.

Match Rating: **

 

ROH on SBG #1
Baltimore, Marland

Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team (Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas)(c) vs. The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) (w/ Shane Hagadorn & Sara Del Rey) [ROH World Tag Team Championships]

This was the main event of the very first Ring of Honor television episode as a part of the Sinclair Broadcast Group.

For some inexplicable reason, we saw a ROH ad that aired before the match started. The match started out without much excitement. Shelton got cut off after a bit and then worked over. This went on longer than I expected. They went through a commercial break. Haas finally made a hot tag. The teams went back and forth at a brisk pace, but the match felt rather unspectacular. WGTT eventually finished Hero with the Hart Attack variation.

This was perfectly fine. It was a bit of anti-climatic way for the Kings of Wrestling to end their time in ROH, but it was acceptable all things considered. If we only knew WGTT would become the worst champions in ROH history. Yes, even worse than Xavier.

Match Rating: **3/4

 

Watch free matches involving the Kings of Wrestling:

The Kings of Wrestling vs. The Young Bucks

The Kings of Wrestling & Shane Hagadorn vs. The Briscoes

Chris Hero vs. CM Punk

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Sara Del Rey

Chris Hero vs. El Generico

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Kevin Steen

Chris Hero vs. Chris Masters

Cesaro vs. Jack Swagger

Chris Hero vs. Bobby Fish

Antonio Cesaro vs. Tyson Kidd

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Colt Cabana

Chris Hero vs. Hallowicked

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Shadow Phoenix

Chris Hero vs. Reed Bentley (Tap Out or Knock Out)

8.0
The final score: review Very Good
The 411
The Kings of Wrestling reformed during a very interesting period of time in Ring of Honor's history. 2010 was a comeback year for the company after 2009 saw a huge drop in interest. 2010 had the infamous Steen vs. Generico feud, Davey and Tyler firmly being established as the company's biggest singles starts, and the Kings carrying the tag division. While the Kings were working hard and usually performing well every time, it's pretty easy to see in retrospect that ROH did not take full advantage of their talents. The Briscoes feud was such a mixed bag, and the company almost definitely would have been better off dropping it after Death Before Dishonor 2010 while the audience still craved more. Getting stuck in a goofy match with their Dad was certainly beneath them. Maybe ROH just didn't have the tag team depth to fully take advantage of the Kings' talent, but re-watching this set really reinforced what I already suspect: The Kings of Wrestling were a great team in their second run that deserved a better tag team division and better booking.
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