Column of Honor: 04.03.10: The Big Bang iPPV Preview

Welcome to the Column. I’m glad to have gotten a few days away from the internetz (sorry internetz) but I’m back for another week and this is another important one for ROH.

=Wrestlemania Weekend Wrap-Up=

One week, five wrestling shows and one Hall of Fame later, the wrestling world at large has concluded its annual Wrestlemania weekend, leaving Phoenix, Arizona to the NFL Cardinals and The Ultimate Warrior. WWE’s Wrestlemania XXVI produced a title change and John Cena triumphant over the Batista, the man with the parallel in rise to fame fortune, ultimate revenge for the Hart Family over Mr. McMahon and possibly the last match for “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels, who did indeed lose his Career vs. Streak bout against The Undertaker in one of the more epic main events in all of Wrestlemania history. All told, the main event and top title matches saved what was up until then a slightly disappointing Wrestlemania considering all of the hype and great advertisement of the event.

(More on my thoughts and opinions about the show below in this column)

Meanwhile, Ring of Honor and Dragon Gate USA were the two other promotions scheduled to run shows during the weekend. Both companies did complete the shows as expected, with varying degrees of success in their outcomes.

You can read the results of Dragon Gate USA’s Friday, March 26th show here and the results of their March 27th Pay Per View taping here.

You can read the results of Ring of Honor’s Friday, March 26th show here and their Saturday, March 27th show here and here.

I will hold off on my own personal opinions about match or show quality until I can see them for myself, but here are a few notes and observations I had while catching up with the results and events of these shows:

-Ring of Honor’s attendance greatly exceeded that of Dragon Gate USA on both nights. There are varying reports about the exact numbers, but according to Bryan Alvarez of Figure 4 Weekly the range is from 900 to 1,200 fans for ROH’s first night compared to 250-400 for DGUSA’s Friday show; 1,200 for ROH during the Saturday show compared to between 400 and 500 for DGUSA on Saturday. If there is a winner in terms of attendance figures, it looks to be Ring of Honor, although DGUSA may not have fared so terribly at the gate considering their higher price point for their “A Ring” seats.

During past Wrestlemania weekends Ring of Honor has drawn crowds of 900 and above (peaking with nearly 1,800 tickets sold in Chicago during 2006), so these numbers fit well within their expected range. If anything, it looks like DGUSA may have taken a few hundred fans away from the Friday ROH show going head-to-head, but their numbers during the Friday show have to be considered a disappointment given all of the hype and pushing of the show against ROH and featuring both Dragon Gate wrestlers and lucha libre stars LA Park and El Hijo de Rey Misterio.

-The most well received matches for each company were tag team encounters, with the ROH World Tag Team Title Match between champions The Briscoes retaining over The American Wolves of Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards while DGUSA presented a six-man tag match on each night featuring Dragon Gate Japan talent. The Saturday match was given rave reviews and discussed on the level of previous DG six-mans that were presented in previous years on Ring of Honor shows. Meanwhile, it was the belief of many reporting from Phoenix that Davey Richards was once again involved in the spotlight match of Wrestlemania weekend for ROH. I expressed doubt in the last column that the tag match could live up to Richards’ effort last year against KENTA, but lo and behold it appears that it did exactly that.

Other highlights from the ROH weekend included Jerry Lynn fighting hard through two hardcore style matches, one against Kenny King and the other against Steve Corino. Lynn worked the “ECW” style and used weapons and brawling all around ringside. It worked—he won both matches and earned some very positive feedback for his efforts. Aries, Black and Strong all provided very solid matches against each other, culminating in a preview of their triple threat match at “The Big Bang” this weekend (more below). Meanwhile, DGUSA’s best efforts were those that highlighted the fast paced style of that promotion such as The Young Bucks vs. Quackenbush & Jigsaw on Saturday. Yamato and BxB Hulk also shined through as the top champions of the promotion.

-The Personal Gauntlet Challenge turned out to be carefully structured and worked with some overarching storyline psychology. On Friday, Tyler Black proved that his ROH World Title win against Austin Aries was no fluke as he pinned him with a rolling cradle. Aries would attack Black afterwards, thus setting the current champion to lose. Strong took advantage of the hurt Black, but Black would once again use a roll up to try to win—only Strong’s legs were tied up in the ropes. The match was restarted and Strong eventually used his Gibson Driver to win.

Saturday’s Gauntlet double feature continued the angle-heavy interaction between the champion and the two top contenders. The Aries-Strong match was halted as Strong threw Aries down off the top rope with a Super Gibson Driver. Unfortunately, Strong landed backwards out of the ring and threw a table. He sold his shoulder as being hurt and the dreaded “X” sign went up. He was carried away by ringside attendants. Then Aries began some antagonism directed at Tyler Black. He claimed Black was supposed to wrestle in a second match that night and he should come out and wrestle that match. Black and Aries then fought, with the title on the line, only for Strong to make a return appearance, fighting through injury. The match became a triple threat, which Black ultimately won to retain the title.

At the beginning of the weekend it was difficult to figure out how this three-way feud would progress through what was ostensibly a Round Robin Challenge style series of matches. I liked what I read about these results, because it kept the tension building between all three men and adding some intrigue throughout the weekend. ROH also didn’t take the cheap way out and book the angles to outweigh the in-ring action or have dissatisfying finishes for these matches. Each match had a good amount of time and considerable in-ring action before moving on to the finishes that advanced the triangle feud. That’s good booking all-around.

The one caveat given how everything worked out would be in the last-minute add of the title match on Saturday—not that ROH added it mind you, but that they didn’t advertise a ROH World Title match in advance for the Saturday show. ROH could have very easily done so through their videowire or news releases. Black could have put up the title on the line against Roderick Strong on the second night of this Gauntlet challenge without any stipulations. Another option would have been to inform the fans that Black would agree to defend the title if Strong could defeat him on the Friday show (a condition that was fulfilled anyway). Furthermore, Black agreeing to put up the ROH World Title against Strong completes the earlier angle that Black promised Strong the first title shot once he became champion. Black would have lived up to his word, but Strong could still have felt cheated or manipulated (as he does now based on how situation played out in storyline) because he wasn’t wrestling at one-hundred percent health.

Even the angle with Strong’s injury and Austin Aries inserting himself into another title match would have worked with the advanced advertisement of a ROH World Title match. Aries would appear to be that much more of a slime ball with this backdoor scheme, arguing that Black promised to put the title on the line on that show and that he wouldn’t want to disappoint the fans or to prove himself not to be a fighting champion. No matter what, since ROH was intent on having a title defense on their shows, advertising either a definitive defense or the possibility of one would have only been a positive for their bottom-line, adding importance and likely more ticket sales to each show.

– it was good to see some angle progression as El Generico finally stood up to Kevin Steen, his former tag team partner and current tormenter. Generico spat in Steen’s face, proving he is gaining the desire for payback. This leads up to the tag team grudge match at The Big Bang this weekend and hopefully will open the door to a future one-on-one match between the two sometime soon.

-As expected, the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla contingent of Scorpio Sky and Scott Lost went winless during the weekend, going under against the established names in Ring of Honor. I’m very pleased to see these guys gaining some opportunities to wrestle for ROH, but I’d encourage ROH to get away from booking these guys to lose, especially Lost, considering there is a ton of potential to use him as an effective undercard heel. PWG regular Human Tornado made a surprise appearance for both nights, wrestling in the opening Six-Man Mayhem on Friday and against Shawn Daivari on Saturday. Tornado’s normal well-coiffed mane was shaved off. It was reported his appearances were “make-goods” on his part for his abrupt departure from the wrestling scene in early February (he had been booked for several ROH shows during that time period), but that there were no plans for a full-time return, which I find disappointing. Say it ain’t so Tornado!

-Chris Hero hurt his back during the match against Sky and Lost on Friday night. He missed the next night’s scheduled eight-man tag. No word on if he misses the title match tonight against The Briscoes, but I’d doubt it greatly with stakes so high both in a kayfabe and non-kayfabe sense.

-Tammy Sytch found her role on this weekend’s shows as Austin Aries personal “assistant”, thus bringing full circle the angle from 2008 when Sytch and The Age of the Fall were both recruiting him. Sytch’s attempt at persuasion involved several illicit activities which I can’t discuss here on a publicly read website. Aries rejected her efforts at the time and chose Lacey instead, but I guess you can’t resist temptation forever. The heart wants what the heart wants. Oh wait, I don’t think Aries was thinking with his heart. Never mind.

-As expected, Teddy Hart provided much of the controversy and chaos at the DGUSA events. Hart never fails to disappoint in that regard—he’s like a whirling dervish of crazy. On Friday’s DGUSA Brian Kendrick was the catalyst for a Paul London heel turn (which I think is absolutely the WRONG decision given how much of a draw he could be to the independent wrestling scene as a fan favorite) when he told his former tag partner sacrificing himself for the fans with suicidal moves wasn’t worth it. Then Teddy Hart came out and called London something that rhymes with wussy and essentially proved Kendrick’s point for him when he executed a moonsault and screwed up his shoulder. This man is not joking when he says he will die for the fans, or at least inflict massive trauma to his physical well being. The next night Hart cuts a promo about his injury, Kendrick and London attack him and Jack Evans runs out for the save.

Unfortunately, from reading the reports it seems the greatest disappointment was the Jacobs / Evans/ Kendrick / London / Hart angles throughout the two DGUSA shows. Not to mention that DGUSA actually changed the scheduled Jacobs / Dreamer / Moxley thee-way match for the Saturday show without much of an explanation or logical reason aside from Hart’s injury supposed screwed up whatever was supposed to happen. So DGUSA took away from one of its more prominent angles and feuds to give us a mish-mosh tag match where the loser must leave the company, which Kendrick loses because he’s heading to TNA (thus ending the hopes of a long term tag reunion with London-so what was the point of the heel turn?). Yikes. It just reads like a mess with nothing really clicking in regards to the feuds and reasons. I’m hoping that it plays out better on video than how it reads from all of the reports.

-On the positive side, DGUSA’s interaction with comedian and producer Bob Saget went off incredibly well, with favorable results for the future of that promotion. DGUSA is the highlight promotion of the wrestling episode for Saget’s A&E series Strange Days. The angle will be that the eight wrestlers profiled on the show are attempting to make it to the big time of independent wrestling, which in this case will be represented by Dragon Gate. That favorable lens will help to push DGUSA’s product on the viewers of Saget’s show, and hopefully the PR will not only increase their name brand but lend itself to winning over some new fans. Luke Hawx wrestled in a losing effort to current DG Open the Dream Gate (essentially World) champion Yamato in dark-match on the Friday show.

Overall, it appears in the head-to-head battle between ROH and Dragon Gate USA that ROH came out ahead, both in terms of the overall show quality and in how well they drew with the fans in Phoenix. However, I imagine both companies came out of the weekend with their head held high given both performed amicably well for their current position on the independent wrestling scene. Ring of Honor obviously wanted to get away from the idea of a “Supercard” of matches for these shows and rather have them be a setup for their major internet Pay Per View this weekend. They managed to do so without sacrificing too much in the way of match quality or fan attendance and it paid off in producing two really good shows with matches that seemed to please the crowd and likely will be worth paying for on DVD. Meanwhile, Dragon Gate’s focus on their six-man matches and DG Japan talent will give them the advertising points they prefer for selling their DVDs and Pay Per View presentations.

Yet what was obvious entering the weekend and what remains is that WWE’s Wrestlemania XXVI was the wrestling show to watch. Just like last year, the remaining visual will be the one left behind by Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker in the middle of the ring. The fans will most remember the incredible performance they had as the sun set in the Phoenix desert.

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As of 04/03/10

ROH World Champion: Tyler Black (champion since 02/13/10, 1 successful defense )

–defeated Austin Aries on February 13th, 2010 in New York, NY to win the championship.

Next Defense: vs. Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong (Charlotte, NC on 04/03/10)

–Tyler Black defeated Austin Aries & Roderick Strong in a Triple Threat Match in Phoenix, AZ on 3/27/10

ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) (champions since 12/19/09, 3 successful defenses)

defeated The American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) on December 19th, 2009 in New York, NY to win the championship.

Next Defense: vs. Kings of Wrestling (Charlotte, NC on 04/03/10)

–Jay & Mark Briscoe defeated The Young Bucks in Philadelphia, PA on 1/9/10
–Jay & Mark Briscoe defeated The Dark City Fight Club in New York, NY on 2/13/10
–Jay & Mark Briscoe defeated The American Wolves in Phoenix, AZ on 3/26/10

Pick 6 Series
Rankings as of: 03/29/10
1. Roderick Strong
2. Kevin Steen
3. Chris Hero
4. Delirious
5. Kenny King
6. Austin Aries

The Pick 6 Series matches currently scheduled are as follows:

April 3rd-Charlotte, North Carolina
5) Kenny King vs. Davey Richards

ROH Videowire: March 20th, 2010

The Art of Wrestling with Colt Cabana

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=The Big Bang iPPV-April 3rd, 2010-Charlotte, NC=

Grady Cole Center/Memorial Stadium
7:00 pm belltime
310 N. Kings Drive
Charlotte, NC 28204

Credit: ThatWrestlingShow

This is the second internet Pay-Per-View for Ring of Honor through Go Fight Live and there are some modestly high hopes for how it will all turn out. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Cary Silkin confirmed there were 1,200 purchases of the first show, Final Battle 2009 back in December. He stated that the hope is that they will double that mark with this show—very lofty ambitions indeed. There definitely seems to be an audience available to ROH for purchasing these shows, but will it go above and beyond their established pool of fans and customers? This one is a huge test for them, as important as their first effort.

Kevin Kelly will make his ROH commentary debut alongside microphone stalwart Dave Prazak. ROH claims the audio problems will be cleared up on this second internet broadcast. We’ll see. Or hear, really. For $14.95 I expect that problem to have been dealt with and for as few hiccups on the feed as possible.

ROH on HDNet Executive Producer Jim Cornette has made it known he was pushing hard in the Charlotte area to make this one a success. They have reached out to television and radio affiliates including the Latino markets. They are billing this show as “Pro Wrestling explodes into the 21st century”—which is quite frankly a fairly ludicrous tagline considering Ring of Honor has existed only in the twenty-first century. Not to mention when Gabe Sapolsky was the booker the show content was far more post-modern and cutting edge in storylines and action. Now there are times when ROH just screams 1980’s NWA (this isn’t always a bad thing, but lets’ face it, the 1980’s were in the 20th century) and there is more of a focus on making feuds logical and meaningful while building up to major matches over several months at a time.

Regardless, ROH has booked a relatively stacked showcase featuring its top talent, as well as bringing in some independent lucha libre wrestlers from Mexico to showcase their talent and hopefully appeal to a different audience besides the hardcore ROH fans. It’s a new city, a new venue and a new chance to impress.

Let’s take a look at the card as announced so far, and as a special treat, I’ve swiped Daniel Wilcox’s idea from back in the day and I am including simulations for the top four matches direct from WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010!

There will be a special Meet & Greet autograph session prior to the show with Bobby Eaton, Jim Cornette, Dutch Mantell, & former NWA senior official Tommy Young.

Nothing wrong with a little M&G for the fans and this list of talent shouldn’t be that much of a surprise given Cornette’s past ties with them. Also expect some sort of half-time show with Jim Cornette and some of these wrestlers to fill event time.

ROH World Title Match – Triple Threat Rules–Tyler Black defends vs. Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong

This is an elimination rules match, so the only way to win is to eliminate both of your opponents and be the last man standing. Tyler Black and Austin Aries both have triple threat elimination rules experience, especially against each other. Aries won the ROH World Title back at Manhattan Mayhem III during such a match. Black eliminated Lynn in that match and Aries later pinned Black to win. Black will want to avoid such history repeating itself here. It’s a dangerous environment for Black. He needs to keep his head on a swivel as this time he will be the target all throughout the match, with both men after his title having ample reason to desire his elimination first and foremost. This will only be his second title defense of a reign that began in mid February. He needs to win here clearly and decisively in order to firmly put his mark on the ROH World Title division.

Aries will look to continue to play Strong and Black against each other, no doubt harping on Strong’s jealousy towards the current ROH World Champion. Strong was promised the first title match against Black and technically that has happened. However Strong harbors huge resentment against Black and now Jim Cornette and ROH for what he perceives and being held back from his rightful goal of winning the biggest prize in ROH. Meanwhile, Aries has never stopped claiming his right to a rematch and he is extremely confident he will become ROH’s first and only three-time ROH World Champion. If he sticks to his game plan of divide-and-conquer, that desired goal could very well become reality.

SDvR 2010 Simulation: No elimination rules in the game for a triple threat style match, so this is simply one pin to win. Aries has his Skittles outfit, while Strong and Black have their expected black tights. Black goes right for Strong with a boot, but an Irish whip is cut off by Strong with a kick to the gut. Aries just looks on as both men beat each other down, until Black sends Strong over the ropes. Strong dodges a strike from the champion, but Aries catches him on the move with a chop. Aries kicks Strong down to the floor and then lucha arm drags Black over his back.

Strong was going to come back into the ring…but he changes his mind! He drops down and lets Aries and Black fight it out. Black gets an arm drag takeover on Aries, then he bails as Strong comes back in, which allows Strong to chop Aries down! Elbow drop by Strong and another chop. Aries responds in kind. Black with a back elbow and punch to the face and the first joining of forces is Aries AND Black with a double gut buster to Strong. Atomic drop by Black and a chop to Aries. Black snapmares A-Double down, but then whips Strong to the canvas. Irish whip by Black on Aries is pulled back into a hurricanrana!

Black hops over the ropes and flies back in on a prone Aries with a springboard elbow drop! Strong rolls Black over into a camel clutch. Aries stops it but both Black and Strong are back on the attack against him. Aries pulls Strong down and Black puts the boots to him. Aries peels him off and we’re at a three-way stalemate. It doesn’t last long as Strong pulls Tyler into an overhead belly-to-belly! Now it’s Black and Strong who do the double gutbuster to Aries. Strong with an elbow drop and cover, but Black breaks it up.

Sick kick to Aries from strong, kick to the back, but Black in with a flying springboard closeline on Strong! Crowd is chanting for Black! (Sidenote: how cool is that!) Strong and Black fight on the outside, with Black throwing Strong repeatedly headfirst into the ring steps. Black throws Strong onto the ring barricade and Aries gets the same treatment from Strong! Now Aries with the ring steps into Black’s head! Strong and Aries go at it and now ARIES gets his head thwon repeatedly into the steel steps. Very cute sequence there.

Aries throws Black into the ring and Strong does the same to Aries. Both whiff on axehandles to Black, who powers out and back elbows Aries, Strong with a knee buster to Aries (irony!) Irish whip pulled back into another belly-to-belly by Strong on Black. Strong with a Gibson Driver on Aries but Black stops the in count! Three way strike fest and then Aries whips Black to the corner…IED by STRONG (!) Aries tries to pin with the feet on the ropes but Strong breaks it up! Strong and Aries attempt a double team but DOUBLE CLOSELINE by Black! Black Head Stomp onto Strong and again! Aries rushes in and gets hip tossed, then Strong dropkicks the champion and works the leg with some stomps. Aries with a rolling senton that misses, but the monkey flip works. Strong with a pull-back into a side kick.

Strong kips up and it’s on now! Aries blocks a Black boot with a belly-to-belly. Strong with an arm wrench and kick, but gets thrown to the buckle. Aries rakes Black’s eyes, but Strong with a running crucifix that is a ropebreak. Strong chops Aries down. Strong with a cover for two! Aries rakes the back of Strong and is met with a dropkick and some stomps to the leg. Gibson Driver to Aries again is stopped by Black.

Black closelines Strong and gets the Dragon sleeper submission, broken up by Aries, who hip tosses Black. Strong punches him down and eggs someone to get up! Strong cover on Aries is blocked. Aries cover is blocked. Strong with a float over neckbreaker on Black, who comes right back with a chop! Aries and Black beat him down with kicks and stomps. Strong with the Gibson on Black, but now Aries stops him!

Strong holds Black for some chops by Aries, and then both sweep the leg and lift him up and over! Strong with a top rope splash on Black!, Black pushes both men away but is swept down again. Gibson Driver on Aries is barely stopped by Black this time! Aries X-Factors Strong down. Aries with a brainbuster on Black! Strong stops the pin attempt. Some more three-way scuffling until Aries and Black hit the double DDT on Strong. A brainbuster on Strong is stopped again by Black! Black with a top rope elbow drop on Aries for a close two!

F-5 on Aries Full nelson by Strong which Black fights out of! Aries with a teardrop suplex on Black! Strong was climbing to the top and couldn’t stop the count! 1, 2…3! NEW CHAMPION!

This was a long match without any one person really gaining the advantage. Everyone worked with someone else at one point or another. Strong and Aries were a bit foolish to attempt to win with one man easily able to stop the count, so hopefully they won’t try the same in real life. Ultimately Aries lucked out with the right move at the right moment and won the match—he’ll definitely need to have that happen tonight in order to win the title

Predicted Winner: Austin Aries
Match Length: ~25 minutes
Star Rating: ****

ROH World Tag Team Title Match–Jay & Mark Briscoe defend vs. The Kings of Wrestling with Shane Hagadorn

This title match has been building ever since The Briscoes won the straps at Final Battle 2009. The Kings of Wrestling reformed at the expense of Jay & Mark’s victory celebration, reigniting a feud that began in late 2006 when both teams split their only fights against each other. Those two matches were both very good, with the Final Battle 2006 match in particular memorable as an incredible old-school tag match, plus there was the introduction of Larry Sweeney as Hero’s agent and the supposed farewell of Claudio to WWE-that-wasn’t. Since they reformed, Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli have looked amazing in the ring together—better than before if you can imagine that. They have combined to create some incredibly passionate and cogent promos proclaiming their dominance in the tag team division. This should be a hell of a match with a title change very likely. It would make plenty of sense given how the feud between the two has gone so far. The Kings are red-hot right now and can make the most of a tag title run through much of the year, while the future of The Briscoes is still uncertain past their current contract with ROH that runs through the end of April.

SDvR 2010 Simulation: Claudio and Hero wear matching red while Jay and Mark have black trunks. I should note that Hero is my most powerful CAW right now (having used him a bunch he’s at 99 OVR), so this may end up being a bit of an overmatch.

Hero and Jay start us off, with Hero running at Jay with a monkey flip. Jay comes back with some punches and a gutbuster, but misses a senton. He gets back into it with a boot, and keeps pressing with strikes, into a back suplex. Hero blocks a punch into a whipping toss to the mat, then a sweep and a springboard lionsault!

Hero goes for the KO spinning punch, but Jay ducks and hits an atomic drop! OLD SCHOOL COOL. A forearm to the head and one to the back but Hero returns fire with a chop. Jay Irish whips him to the far corner, but Hero reverses and continues to lay in the chops. Hero with a cobra sleeper stopped by Mark. Jay with a running side kick and tag to Mark.

Mark and Hero have a trade off, which Hero wins and toss him down. Hero gestures but Mark kicks him in the guy and Hero returns it. Hero with another chop and then brings him down into a cross face. Mark gets the ropes but Hero refuses to break, so Mark has to negotiate out of it. Mark with a running jumping kick and then a camel clutch. Hero reaches the ropes and Mark blisters him with a chop and karate thrust. Hero again goes for a KO punch, but Mark reverses and grapples, which Hero elbows out of.

Hero makes the tag to Claudio, who gets kicked in the thigh and the head for his troubles. ACE CRUSHER out of nowhere by Mark! Pin attempt for barely a one-count. Mark chops but Claudio eggs him on and slips outside. So instead, Mark blasts Hero down to the floor with a closeline! But he pays for that as both Claudio AND Hero come into the ring to beat him down until the ref separates Hero and forces him back to the apron. Punch exchange blocked and Mark gets the crucifix pin! Hero holds Mark and Claudio lays into him with a chop, stomping him down. Claudio arm drags him down and then hits a forearm to the back. Irish whip and drop toe hold, then some more punches and kicks. Sit out sidewalks slam by Claudio!

Wait, here comes Eddie Kingston out to watch the match! Mark gets another crucifix. Another three kick volley by Mark sends Claudio down. Big kick by Mark and he clutches his stomach. He wants to make a tag but Claudio cuts him off and gets a GERMAN! In the ropes though. Tag and Hero in with a double backdrop superplex from the top. Hero pushes the ref down and stomps on Mark. Hero sets up the STF submission! Claudio tries to stop Jay but he breaks it up. Mark with a face buster and gets the tag!

Hero holds Jay’s arm and pushes him away, then a chop, but Jay with a back elbow and dropkick! Hero KO ELBOWS Mark OFF THE APRON. Jay fires back at Hero! Hero with a knee to the gut, Jay with a forearm and a Tiger Suplex, but it’s in the ropes. Arm whip by Jay on Hero, one by Hero. Hero tags out to Claudio, who axehandles him down. A closeline and two more axehandles and now Jay is hurt. Boot to the stomach and a whip back to the turnbuckle. Claudio just stares at him, then a tag and Claudio goes up for a RANA INTO A POWERBOMB COMBO! Hero with a pump handle powerslam, cover, but Kingston distracts the ref and the pin is stopped. Claudio drops down to take care of Eddie but Eddie brushes him off. Now Jay with a Michinoku Driver! Kingston pulls Claudio off the ropes but Hero kicks out at two!

Neckbreaker into a forearm smash brings Jay down, followed by a stump puller pin attempt, Eddie Kingston again distracts the reg. Hero with a KO ELBOW! Jay is back up! Elbow drop, senton, boot! Jay is really hurting, but puts Hero into a stretch, Hero reverses out of it. Jay brings him down with an amateur wrestling slam. Hero reverses, but Jay with the surprise pin and Claudio runs in to stop it! Back elbow by Jay and a tag and Mark throws Hero’s back into Jay’s knees! Hero gives Jay a running arm drag and then Mark a KO elbow! Kingston is detracting Claudio on the outside. Running KO elbow, spinning punch gets Jay on the apron. Hero stops a charge and then gets Mark with a lucha arm drag sequenced, stomping him down.

Hero with the abdominal stretch, stopped by Jay. Claudio in now and he gets back suplexed. Mark tags in Jay and they trade blows, with Claudio getting the better with two Europeans. Then a Polish Hammer! Big Press Slam by Claudio as Hero clears out Mark to the floor. Ricolla Bomb and that is THREE!

Some fantastic brawling between the two teams, although It got a little overdone at the end. The Kingston run in was a bit of a surprise and kept things interesting (and saved The Briscoes at least twice). Hero’s KO elbows are awesome whether live or in video game format.

Predicted Winners: Kings of Wrestling
Match Length: ~15 minutes
Star Rating: ***3/4

Pick 6 Series Match-(5) Kenny King vs. Davey Richards

Richards wants in the Pick 6 in order to make a run towards Tyler Black and what he feels is his inevitable destiny of being ROH World Champion. Kenny King meanwhile is in the Pick 6 both for the sake of helping Austin Aries remain in title contention but also for himself. King feels it’s about time that he start making the moves necessary in order to challenge for the ROH World Title. In this case it would mean a win against a top talent like Richards to cement his spot in the Pick 6 (which would actually be his second defense of the position in two weeks). ROH is working a bit of a losing streak for Richards in the tag division, but King is 1-1 coming off last weekend in Phoenix and could use the win as well. Expect some real good action here as King and Richards have plenty of wrestling experience against each other thanks to a whole slew of title matches in FIP throughout the past two years.

SDvR 2010 Simulation: I’ve got Davey wearing his orange Wolves tights and King with his purple and gold combination. King has a pretty swank entrance, decked out in a suit and gold chain with fireworks shooting out and him climbing up the turnbuckle and crossing his arms. The match begins as Richards shoots King off with an Irish whip, but King stops his momentum. Richards throws King over the ropes but King avoids a strike and ducks off the apron when Richards charges at him. A bit of a standoff with King on the outside ends when King sneaks up behind Richards and launches a beautiful springboard dropkick from the apron, knocking Richards down. Whip to the corner and King tosses him down, plants him with a flying dropkick from the top. An elbow drop follows, and a spinning heel kick. Richards punches, kicks and chops his way back, knocking King down.

Richards with and arm wrench, and again, looking eventually to get that kimura lock going. King counters back with a spinning Shane-O-Mac combination of punches. King is shucking and jiving and loving it! Elbow drops and chops follow, but Richards closelines him down, and throws in a few more chops. Dropkick to the body and a snapmare, right hand punches and a back elbow, but a kick is blocked and turned into a dragon screw by King. Richards pushes him off and punches him over the top rope!

Richards is NOT on the attack, instead taunting King once again. He better be careful not to be attacked like last time. King back in and Richards presses on, blasting him with a lung blower! CLOSE two-count and Richards now with the DR Driver! King pushes away from the pin, forcing Richards to counter with a thrust kick, but King puts him in a headlock and rakes the eyes. Richards no sells it with a high knee and King is hurt. Richards blocks an Irish whip and hits another high knee flush to the face. One, two…kick out !. King flips and flies over Richards and rakes the eyes again, chopping Richards down, but Richards regains control with another closeline and a MASSIVE RELEASE GEERMAN SUPLEX. Richards pulls King to the center of the ring and again a close two count.

Richards with another arm wrench and King is clutching, it. Richards with a full nelson but King reaches the topes and breaks free. King runs at Davey, but it’s countered into a hip toss. Alarm clock is countered with elbows, two flips from Kenny, a chop and again King is stuffed with a closeline. LUNG BLOWER again and Davey pulls him in to the center of the ring for the three count.

The finish was repetitive of an earlier moment in the match and the arm work didn’t lead to the submission, but there was some nice stuff thrown in-between. I’d expect the real match to at least have a few applications or teases of the kimura, but since Davey isn’t equipped with that as a finish, it didn’t work out well here.

Predicted Winner: Davey Richards
Match Length: ~7 minutes
Star Rating: **3/4

Grudge Tag Team Match-Kevin Steen & Steve Corino vs. El Generico & Colt Cabana

Previous matches involving these four have been angle-heavy but I’d expect now for more action, violence and bloodshed given the promos and the focus of his match in advertisement for the iPPV the past week. The time for talking is over and the positions of all four men are clear and pretty much intractable. Corino and Steen are going to look to hurt Generico and Cabana in order for Steen to exorcize the ghost from his system that is his former tag partner. Meanwhile, Generi-Colt is going to look to hurt Corino and Steen because of the pain Generico felt after Steen betrayed him. The key is will Generico be able to hit Steen? We know he has no problem doing so to Corino. We know he will spit at Steen. Now, the emotional moment will prove to be if he can finally cause physical pain and suffering to Steen in the ring through fists and boots. I suspect fans will find out the answer the same time as all four men in the match—as it happens on the show.

SDvR 2010 Simulation: I just downloaded a Corino CAW, so he’s at the lowest level possible, so don’t get your hopes up about him. This is a straight-up tag match, DQs are on. Colt is wearing polka dots by the way. Generico goes running right up to Corino, stares at him and punches him (!), then gets a backslide which Steen breaks up at one. Kick is reversed by Corino into a throw down, but Generico pushes off to a standing position. Revolution DDT by Generico! Corino is right back up, but Generico gets a side kick and knocks him down. Corino block a punch and comes back with one of his own, then a chop and another. Kick is reversed into a dragon screw and lateral press for one. Generico Irish whips Corino and gets the OLE BOOT! He drags Corino to the center of the ring, pin but a kick out before one! Corino with a side kick, but Generico stops him from tagging, dodges another sidekick and hits him from behind. Corino finally makes a tag and it’s Generico vs. Steen one-on-one! Both men throwdown, land punches, and Generico gets the advantage, he dumps Steen and then Corino to the outside!

Generico taunts and runs at Steen, who pulls down the ropes and Generico falls to the outside. Steen furthers the damage with an Asai moonsault. Steen pops him a couple times into the steps and then runs into the ring to avoid a count-out. Corino blocks Generico’s path back in and hits an arm drag hip-toss! Steen on the other side knocks Cabana off the ring and celebrates, but Generico makes it back in and he doesn’t seem to notice him! Generico with a back rake and then a punch to the back, elbow drop! And a forearm. Steen reverses a whip but Generico runs and gets the arm drag. He tags in Cabana, who flips Steen over, gets an elbow drop and a sleeper from behind! Steen elbows free, but Cabana maintains control. Big overhand chops from Cabana while cornered on the turnbuckle! A downward spiral from Cabana, cover and Steen kicks out at one. Steen gets a judo flip and begs Cabana on. Irish whip by Steen reversed, a run at Cabana is dodged and Cabana gets a European uppercut. Cabana then punches him from the mount position. Steen head butts him off. Steen reverses a kick into a closeline and winds up his arms. Cabana fights back, but Steen slaps him and gets a uranage backbreaker! Irish whip and tag to Corino, and Corino gets a Demolition Decapitation forearm!

Cabana reverses on Corino and axehandles him down! Boot and up against the ropes, Cabana gets the bossman thigh choke on the ropes. BIG CHOP! Reversal, Irish whip to the corner and tag to Generico. And now THEY get the Demolition Decapitation! Generico tags back to Cabana, Corino boots and Irish whip, closeline / bulldog combo and a shining wizard by Corino! Cabana reverses, but Steen grabs him from behind. Corino chokes him down. Corino with a flying knee, blocks Cabana with another closeline, but is selling the stomach. Cabana blocks a boot and a chop exchange occurs, where Generico is kicked off the ropes in the process. Corino tags to Steen, but Cabana trips him, clubs him down. Steen blocks and transitions into a belly-to-belly. Hot tag to Corino, who knocks off Generico, but Cabana reverses out of the hot tag and gets the Lungblower! Cover, one, two, Steen in at the last second to break it up! Arm wrench and Colt 45! Generico cuts off Steen, Cabana pulls Corino to the middle, 1,2…3!

This was a very active and heated tag match, with a clear heat section for the heels. I’m surprised Corino hung in there for so long considering his OVR was a 39, but it shows why he is The King of Old School. Cabana over Corino also protects the main Steen vs. Generico feud and keeps that going for future (simulated) matches.

Predicted Winners: Generi-COLT!
Match Length: ~10 minutes
Star Rating: ***1/4

Lucha Super Estrella-Blue Demon, Jr. & Misterioso vs. Super Parka & Solar

The consensus from anyone commenting on websites and message boards is that this match is going to be bad—like, really horribly hideously bad. Lucha Libre is a bit of a weak spot in my wrestling knowledge base, so I’ll take those words for what they’re worth and won’t get my hopes up for this one, especially after watching Blue Demon’s two efforts with ROH last year during Supercard of Honor IV and Take No Prisoners 2009. The two lucha contests were booked to appeal to the Mexican / Latin demographic in Charlotte, so the real measure of the match won’t necessarily be its quality as a “match of the year” or even just as an average undercard bout, but rather, how it works to attract that audience in purchasing tickets for the show and being hooked enough by the rest of the show so that they become longer-term fans of the ROH product. That net effect won’t be known until show time and far afterwards.

Lucha Estrella-Cassandro el Exotico vs. Magno

I have been advertised that Cassandro is real damned good in the ring once you get past his gimmick and I do know that Magno is a pretty competent luchador from seeing his past appearances for ROH and CHIKARA. Therefore this should be the more promising of the two lucha attractions on the show, although I honestly can’t say I’d want to see this match above and beyond say, Joey Ryan, Eddie Edwards, Rasche Brown, Eddie Kingston or any number of other ROH regulars at this point.

Butcher’s Rules-Necro Butcher vs. Erick Stevens with Prince Nana

Necro promised he would be out for blood in a videowire promo, so hopefully we’ll see more of the hardcore Butcher as opposed to the Neutered Butcher demonstrated moreso than not these days in an ROH ring. Maybe the Southern Accents will bring the West Virginian hardcore redneck out of him.

I’ve been going back and forth about whether or not to purchase this show or wait for the DVD, but ultimately I’ll be plunking down my cash to see it live and in living color through the internet. The last round of strong promos from the ROH Videowire and the teaser promos made available through Facebook and Twitter finally convinced me. I can strongly recommend the show based on the strength of the ROH side of the equation—with the two main event title matches and the two major undercard attractions in Steen & Corino vs. Generi-Colt and Richards vs. King. Go check out Go Fight Live for more details on how to order. Results and reaction next week in the Column.

Finally, as a bit of a P.S. about things involving Big Bangs (and I don’t meant Sunny and Aries in the locker room baths, WOOOOAH!), check out this fun little bit of science about the recent breakthrough of the Hadron Collider!

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Much more to come in PART TWO of this week’s column including Fave Five and a post-post-POST mortem on the Final Battle 2009 show.