What’s All The Hubbub: ROH 8th Anniversary Show

So, Final Battle 2009 ended up being a bit of a rough show for Ring of Honor. Some things were done right. Kevin Steen turned on his partner El Generico in utterly grisly fashion, and when Colt Cabana tried to get an explanation, he kissed him. It was disturbing, but also intriguing. Jay and Mark Briscoe became six-time ROH Tag Team Champions, but had their celebration cut short by Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli, the reunited Kings of Wrestling.

But then, there was the main event. The Hour of Controversy. Austin Aries used any means necessary to defend his ROH World Championship against top challenger Tyler Black. For sixty minutes, he ran, cheated, wrestled and fought. He tried to get Black counted out. He tried to get himself counted out. He tried to get disqualified. But in the end, it was his toughness that won out. He kicked out of God’s Last Gift seconds before the time limit expired. By the skin of his teeth, Aries walked out a champion, despised by the ROH faithful for perhaps the most dishonorable title defense in company history.

Then you have Tyler Black. No longer the Chosen One. No longer the Franchise Player. No longer the Messiah of ROH. The bridesmaid. The choke artist. The failure. Everything was right. But he failed. And very few people are willing to believe in him anymore. Perhaps he is just another false Messiah.

Tonight, the Chosen One gets one last chance to prove himself. ROH has returned to the scene of the crime, celebrating eight years of existence with a rematch of the most polarizing match of those eight years. Aries is being forced to wrestle, and not run. There will be no excuses. No second guessing. And no second chances. If Tyler doesn’t win tonight, he’s done.

Will he rise to the occasion, or crumble under the pressure?

The Eighth Anniversary Show
February 13, 2010
Manhattan, New York

Tyler opens with a promo where he says that he’s done pointing the fingers at everyone else, and done relying on everyone else. Tonight, he is the ideal Tyler Black.

Pick Six Contender’s Match
Brian Kendrick vs. Roderick Strong
Brian Kendrick is making a one night only return to Ring of Honor and the fans love him. He is cautious to start with but then gets aggressive with leg kicks, only to get leveled with chops. Kendrick sells them like death and even lets Roddy have a nearfall off of them. Roddy fakes a backdrop and just falls to his knees in a backbreaker for 2. Regular backbreaker and a vertical suplex gets 2. Fallaway slam sends Kendrick to the floor. Kendrick starts running away from Roddy, but he follows him and beats him up as he goes into a fetal position. DROP TOEHOLD INTO THE RAIL! He sends Roddy into the rail and boots him in the face for good measure. Once Roddy gets in the ring he surprises him with a dropkick and puts on the camel clutch. He gets a bit heelish with crossfaces and raking the face. Roddy tries to fight out and Kendrick gets a neckbreaker. Kick to the face. CHOPS BY RODDY! Enzugiri by Kendrick! Jeez his chest looks AWFUL. Kendrick goes up top and another chop sends him down. Clothesline off the apron. He starts tossing Kendrick into the barriers but Kendrick gets another dropkick when he comes back in. Strong catches him with a dropkick of his own for 2. He hits a corner clothesline, runs into an elbow, but catches Kendrick with a cradle backbreaker, which Brian really puts over by putting his leg on the ropes. Males cheer Kendrick. Girls cheer Roddy. Now THAT’S weird. Roddy puts Kendrick up top, but Kendrick fights him off and hits a heel kick off the second rope for 2. Roddy runs into another elbow but hits an enzugiri this time. Kendrick counters the press gutbuster with a crucifix for 2. HUGE swinging DDT sets up a Frog Splash by Kendrick. He tries Sliced Bread but Roddy drops him on the top turnbuckle. Enzugiri to the back, press into a double knee backbreaker! SICK KICK! GIBSON DRIVER! That finishes it. Wow. Watching this match compared to your typical ROH match is like night and day. Kendrick was a total professional here. His selling made Roddy look like a world beater. Shame he couldn’t stick around, because this was a brilliant performance. Strong was also great here. Everything they did had a purpose and made sense.
Match Result: Roderick Strong via pinfall
Match Rating: ***3/4

The Bravado Brothers cut one of the most generic promos ever.

The Kings of Wrestling w/Shane Hagadorn & Sara Del Ray vs. The Bravado Brothers
Handshakes and the Kings kick the Bravados. One gets taken down with a straight-jacket slam. They hit Claudio with a sunset flip/heel kick combination though. He can’t Russian Legsweep Claudio and Claudio just ignores his offense as he tags in Hero. Hart Attack Elbow sets up the Big Swing into a dropkick. European Uppercut sets up a catapult into the ropes. Del Ray gets a shot in and Hero hits a flash kick. Hero hits another flash kick in the ring. Elbows and the Bravado brother runs into an uppercut. Lance gets a dropkick and tags to Harlem, who hits a springboard European Uppercut. Claudio takes exception but gets hit with a rana. Enzugiri sets up a Russian Legsweep on Hero. Harlem hits a split-legged moonsault but Claudio deadlifts him into a German Suplex. Lance runs into a double big boot. Claudio launches Harlem into a KO Elbow. KRS-1! Good semi-squash. Lance was a bit annoying at first with his repeated elbow strikes but overall the Bravados worked well. The KOW still just destroyed them though.
Match Result: Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli via pinfall
Match Rating: **1/4

Erick Stevens & Joey Ryan w/Prince Nana & Ernesto Osiris vs.
Eddie Kingston & The Necro Butcher w/Gypsy Joe
Necro Butcher is wearing shoes, but only so he can hit the Embassy with them. Lots of brawling. Necro and Joey bleed. Kingston licks the cut on Joey’s head. Gross. Ryan gets 2 off a powerslam. Stevens does the Choo-Choo into a foot by Butcher. Mandible Claw with the sock! HA! Superkick by Ryan. Backfist by Eddie, Lariat by Stevens. Stevens axehandles the arm when Eddie tries the backfist again, Backdrop Driver by Kingston! Ryan hits Eddie with a neckbreaker and sends him outside with a crazy dive and then chokes out the Butcher with his belt! Stevens powerbombs Eddie on the table in a cool spot. Ryan is choking Necro but Gypsy Joe distracts him. Necro grabs a paper bag and suffocates him. Where was Stevens? Oh, there to try and powerbomb Joe before Eddie makes the save. Harmless and inconsequential.
Match Result: Necro Butcher & Eddie Kingston via referee stoppage
Match Rating: *1/2

Davey Richards w/Shane Hagadorn vs. El Generico w/Colt Cabana
Richards refuses the handshake to start. They wrestle for a bit and Davey starts clobbering his neck with forearms. Generico is very tentative. He catches a kick but Davey transitions to a cross armbreaker. Generico bails and he clearly doesn’t have his head on straight. Cabana psyches him up and Generico goes for his armdrag flurry. Richards blocks the spinning on once, so Generico gets up and does it in reverse! DIEZ PUNCHES and a chop. OLE! Davey calls for a time-out and offers a handshake but Generico isn’t having it. Heel kick gets 2. Davey catches a boot in the corner and pulls Generico into the Alarm Clock. He hits a backdrop suplex but plays to the crowd instead of capitalizing and Generico hits a few punches. Spin kick by Richards but Generico hits a slam. On the apron, Davey kicks the arm and then wrenches it, bring Generico onto the apron. He kicks Generico into the crowd. Back inside, he omoplatas Generico to set up the Rings of Saturn. Richards keeps working the arm but Generico hits clotheslines and a back body drop. Richards kicks to avoid a second one but gets suplexed to the outside and Generico hits a hilo. Crossbody gets 2. Counters lead to the Michinoku Driver for 2. He hesitates on the Yakuza and eats a boot, goes for the tornado DDT but Richards counters to a Fujiwara Armbar. Generico rolls through but can’t get the Brainbuster, FUJIWARA! And this time Davey rolls through with him! Generico gets the ropes but that has turned the tide. Richards lights him up with kicks, Generico hits him with chops, Richards takes him out with an elbow but senses the Yakuza coming and turns around to hit a capture suplex into the buckles! Lariat gets 2. Richards spits in his face, so Generico slaps him. KAWADA KICKS! Generico with a boot and then he counters the Alarm Clock with a dragon screw. YAKUZA! Half and half suplex (iffy choice with the arm), but Richards counters the Brainbuster to one of his own! He gets cocky trying the shooting star, Generico goes for the Buckle Buster, Richards fights him off with elbows to the arm, but he misses the SSP! Well, mostly. YAKUZA! Richards avoids the Buckle Buster again, but gets caught trying a back superplex and ends up in the tree of woe. COAST TO COAST! 1…2…NO! Richards avoids the Buckle Buster AGAIN, and then hits the German Superplex! A regular one gets 2. BUZZSAW KICK! 1…2…NO! KIMURA! ROLL-UP BY GENERICO! Just 2! CROSS ARMBREAKER! Generico taps! Davey offers the handshake after match but Generico slaps Richards. Davey respects that though and claps for him. Awesome match. Generico’s offense is based more on momentum than arm strength (except the Brainbuster) and Davey’s arrogance caused him to lose focus at times, so he was able to hold his own even with the arm injury. Generico brought the character psychology of an emotionally wounded man trying to get back into it, and Davey was Davey. Nearly a show stealer.
Match Result: Davey Richards via submission
Match Rating: ****1/4

The Briscoes cut a Briscoes promo on The Dark City Fight Club.

ROH World Tag Team Championship
The Dark City Fight Club vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe ©
Lots of basic striking in this one. Dropkick by Jay gets 2. Chavis hits a sit-out powerslam. Jay hits a boot on Davis and tags out to Mark who gets caught with a spinebuster and Davis follows with punches. Clothesline by Chavis. Punches. Mark ducks a clothesline from Davis and hits a superkick, Jay comes in and knocks Davis down before doing the Cactus Clothesline on Davis. Mark takes out Chavis with a dive. Lots of brawling. Jay STO’s Davis into the turnbuckle but he’s not legal. Davis catches him with a tilt-a-whirl slam and DCFC hit Jay with a Total Elimination variant. Mark saves Jay from a double team and hits the Exploder on Chavis. Strike exchange and Davis drops Jay across his knee. Jay counters the torture rack and the Briscoes hit the Spike Jaydriller to put Davis away. The epitome of nondescript.
Match Result: Jay & Mark Briscoe via pinfall
Match Rating: **

The Kings of Wrestling come down with Sara Del Ray and Shane Hagadorn and we get a huge brawl between the three teams, with a cameo by the Bravado Brothers. The Briscoes clear the ring and hit hilos on everyone. The Kings save Del Ray from the Doomsday Device.

Pick Six Contender’s Match
Delirious w/Daizee Haze vs. Kenny King vs. Steve Corino vs. Rasche Brown
Deli chases Corino to start and King tries to wrestle the brick wall. He flips through a big hip toss but Rasche slams him to the mat and hits a handspring splash. Cool. This turns into a makeshift tag match with Corino and King double teaming Deli and keeping Rasche out of the ring. Very little of note happens. Corino prevents King from getting the pin of a clothesline. Deli sneaks outside and Rasche takes out the baddies with a double clothesline. Jabs for the heels but Deli grabs a sleeper. Rasche swings Delirious into King and Corino. Deli dives onto them. SO DOES RASCHE! Corion rakes his way out of the Burning Hammer, King takes out Rasche with a kick, Corino turns on King with a flatliner for 2. King tries the double knees on Corino but gets cut in half with a spear by Rasche. Clothesline by Corino takes out Rasche but Deli pins King after Shadows Over Hell. Not terrible or anything, but very average.
Match Result: Delirious via pinfall.
Match Rating: **1/4

Kevin Steen enters for his match like a zombie. Colt Cabana comes out and apologizes for not being a good friend and hurting his feelings. Both guys pull this off very well but the crowd doesn’t care.

Kevin Steen vs. Colt Cabana
Steen cheapshots Cabana and the match starts. Lots of brawling. They both chew on the same gum piece. Ewwww! Powerbomb by Steen. He takes the gum out of Cabana’s mouth and back into it. Double ewwww!! More brawling. Steen avoids the Flying Asshole and hits the Cannonball. Swanton eats knees. MANY punches. Flying Asshole and a clothesline to the outside. Steen seems to have hurt his knee. Colt kind of fumbles telling Kevin to get in the ring, but Corino comes out and starts coaching him. He throws him in the ring and keeps telling him to “do it for me.” Cabana takes out Corino and tells Kevin to be a man and stop being a bitch. Steen is great, looking on the verge of tears. El Generico is out and we get a stand-off, but Corino breaks things up. Corino tells Steen he’ll take him out himself but Generico stops him and goes to hit him with the chair but Steen gets in the way. Steen still looks upset as Generico can’t hit him, but he finally snaps and puts him in the Crossface. Cabana makes the save. Corino is elated as he tells Steen this is how you do it. Cabana starts berating Generico for not taking Steen out. Glorified angle advancement, but it was good. Brilliant acting from everyone involved.
Match Result: Colt Cabana via disqualification
Match Rating: N/A

The main event has the special rule that if we don’t get a conclusive finish, three judges will decide the winner. The judges are Kenny King for Austin Aries, Roderick Strong for Tyler Black, and Jim Cornette for himself. Split crowd. Aries asks if they have a brief minute since it isn’t snowing. He says last time he wrestled the match that kept the title around his waist, and the fans didn’t like it very much. Now he has to wrestle the way they want him to wrestle, but they aren’t going to like it because he’s still going to win. Cornette takes the mic and says the only way to guarantee you walk out with the title is to beat the other man, so he suggests they start early and fight hard.

ROH World Championship Match
Austin Aries © vs. Tyler Black
Aries cheapshots Black to start. Aries counters the F5 with a back rake and Black decks him. Roddy keeps Aries from running, Black pulls him back inside and hits a dropkick. Black hits his enzugiri and springboard clothesline early but only gets 1. Aries doesn’t capitalize on a snapmare so Black hits one of his own and kicks him in the back. Black counters a chop with a flurry of chops and stomps a mudhole in him. Aries tries the springboard back elbow but Black catches him and hits an impressive backdrop suplex for 2. Aries avoids the stalling stomp and snaps Black’s throat off the top. Hilo connects but he misses the powerdrive elbow and Black catches him with a slingshot wheel kick for 2. Aries keeps trying roll-ups but Black counters them, Black shoves away the Head Kick and gets the schoolboy into a kick to the head. Aries kicks out of an O’Connor Roll and Black goes into the ring post with his shoulder. Bombs Away by Aries. The champ assaults him on the apron. He targets the back with knees and gets a prawn hold for 2, Black rolls through but Aries hits a few knees. Aries puts Black in the Boston Crab to taunt Strong. Rude Awakening gets 2. Missile dropkick gets 2 as Black puts his foot on the rope, so Aries hits a springboard senton to the knee. Clever. Stump Puller pin gets 2. NERVEHOLD! Clothesline to the floor. Aries tries to hit the Brainbuster on the apron but settles for an elevated neckbreaker in the ring. Only 2, so Aries goes up top and gets dropkicked. SUPERPLEX! F5! Only 2 for Black. Black starts taking control and knocks Aries to the floor. HUGE DIVE INTO THE CROWD! Aries counters the Buckle Bomb with a backdrop to the floor and then hits a DVD on the apron. Great moment for Aries as he initially wants a count-out win, but looks at the judges and decides to try the Heat Seeking Missile at the last second and collides into the barricade! Aries grabs the ropes to avoid the Buckle Bomb, so Black busts out the RUBIX CUBE! 1…2…NO! PHOENIX SPLASH MISSES! Aries and Black trade strikes and Aries hits the IED almost out of nowhere. ROLLING BRAINBUSTERS! 1…2…NO! 450 EATS KNEES! 1…2…NO! They start trading slaps, ROARING ELBOW BY ARIES! PELE BY BLACK! KICK TO THE HEAD! BRAINBUST…NO, GOD’S LAST GIFT! 1…2…NO! Kenny King tries to stop him from hitting the Phoenix Splash, but Roddy takes him out with an enzugiri that crotches Black up top. SUPERKICK TO STRONG! Cornette gets on Tyler’s case, SUPERKICK TO CORNY! Aries tries the O’Connor Roll but Tyler holds on the ropes, SUPERKICK! BUCKLEBOMB! TWO SUPERKICKS! PHOENIX SPLASH! 1…2…3! TYLER BLACK WINS! Bloody brilliant match. Perfectly structured. Near flawless execution. The judges stip seemed to be designed for a cop-out, but Black superkicking Roddy AND Corny really gave him the kind of edge he needs to be the top guy in ROH. Reminded me a lot of Flair-Sting at the 1990 Great American Bash. Everything just WORKED.
Match Result: Tyler Black via pinfall
Match Rating: ****1/2

Big celebration as per usual. Roderick Strong says Black got one free shot, but he wants the title shot and Black nods.

The 411: The main event is the reason to buy this show. The match delivers both the ideal in-ring action and the ideal winner. El Generico and Davey Richards also had a tremendous match, as did Roderick Strong and Brian Kendrick. However, almost everything else is pretty forgettable. Easy to recommend based on the strength of those three matches and the historic title change, but you might want to skip the rest of the card.

Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]