ROH 217 – Proving Ground 2009: Night 2 – 7th February 2009
ROH’s weekend in the Sunshine State continues, with more guys being given the chance to use the ‘Proving Ground’ concept to push themselves up the Ring Of Honor pecking order. As with last night, we have a number of talent making their debuts this evening – none more high profile than the man who challenges for the ROH World Title in his first ever appearance. Former WWF superstar D-Lo Brown gets an unlikely spot in the main event tonight, and it’s a match I’m sure lots of people will want to see, almost out of sheer curiosity. Elsewhere Bryan Danielson faces in El Generico, Davey Richards lines up against Kevin Steen, former Age Of The Fall members Tyler Black and Necro Butcher align to oppose Jimmy Jacobs and Delirious, plus lots more from the likes of Austin Aries, Bison Smith, Jerry Lynn, Dark City Fight Club, the Strong/Stevens/Albright triumvirate etc. We’ve moved to Orlando, FL for this show. Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard will call the action.
ROH VIDEO WIRE – See Proving Ground 2009: Night 1 (ROH 216) review for details
Kyle Durden is in the YRR locker room. Kenny King promises they’ll make short work of the debuting British Lions on the show tonight.
Shawn Osborne vs Jerry Lynn
‘Bad Seed’ Shawn Osborne made his debut last night in a so-so encounter with fellow Floridian indy worker Brad Attitude. Tonight he really gets to show what a rebellious, ‘bad seed’ he truly is by smoking an UNLIT CIGARETTE on the way to the ring. What a bad ass. My overall impression of him yesterday was that he had decent personality and a fun gimmick, but wrestled like a generic 80’s jobber. Maybe he’ll have better luck against a man that debuted in the 80’s in Jerry Lynn.
Apparently ‘bad seeds’ also comb their MASSIVE hair before the match, then do a stupid dance just moments into it. Lynn scores with a springboard crossbody but mostly opts to control Osborne using side headlocks. Guillotine leg drop in the ropes nailed, but Shawn hits back with a hotshot into the turnbuckles. Shoulders to the back, followed by a back suplex as the Bad Seed starts to make a focused attempt at beating the former ECW Champion. I like how, when Jerry looks to mount a comeback, Shawn simply clubs him on the back then hits a basic vertical suplex – keeping it nice and simple whilst mounting a targeted attack on Lynn’s back. Double underhook suplex scores for 2, but Osborne is starting to get frustrated now. He misses elbow drops and an axe handle (seriously, he wrestles like it’s 1988) but Lynn rallies to score with the Cradle Piledriver. It’s over at 08:51
Rating - ** - Better match for Osborne tonight, although largely because he was in there with a guy far more experienced and talented than Brad Attitude. Jerry bumped and sold hard to make Osborne look good. Much as I said last night, and during my intro on this review, I actually really like Osborne’s persona and character. I think it’s pretty fun…however, his wrestling style just doesn’t seem like it’s a fit in ROH. He makes Adam Pearce seem like Jeff Hardy. BUT, giving him credit, he worked the heel role well and certainly didn’t disgrace himself by any means.
Kenny King/Rhett Titus vs British Lions
I would imagine we’ll see the new team of Titus and King team together a lot more often in 2009. They sealed their alliance at the expense of Kenny Omega in the closing portion of ROH’s 2008 season. We haven’t seen too much of them as a unit since then, but they’re both young guys who Ring Of Honor have high hopes for in the future. Building them up as a tag team for now seems like a decent idea. The Lions are WWE developmental talent making their debut tonight, but have been in FIP for a while. They are Christopher Gray and Tommy Taylor
The Lions wrestle in tassels, which fly through the air as they hit stereo dropkicks and nip ups. Taylor grounds Rhett with a front facelock, holding him position for Gray to score with a slingshot grounded neckbreaker for 2. Headscissors/headlock takedown combo from Taylor to both opponents as the Brits continue to dominate the early exchanges. Finally Titus crotches Gray on the ropes, and in position for King to slide in and leap into a spinning enzi to the head. Kenny is mad over with the Floridian fans incidentally, getting noticeable pops every time he steps into the ring. Suplex into the mounted forearms, then a springboard legdrop nailed for 2. Rhettski gets a nearfall too after hitting a big dropkick to the neck. Capoeira kick from Kenny into a Titus dropkick…and Rhett takes advantage of the ref muscling Taylor back out of the ring to land repeated closed fist strikes to the face. Gray makes the hot tag to Tommy, who looks like a real powerhouse as he easily muscles his opponents into the air for body slams. Catapult crossbody combo gets a nearfall for the Lions. SHOTGUN DOUBLE KNEE from King to Gray but Taylor breaks the fall – and is roundly boo’d for doing so. He blocks the Sexy Suplex but gets lifted into a POWERBOMB BLOCKBUSTER! Titus and King win at 09:59
Rating - ** - Basic, inoffensive match, although I felt King and Titus were carrying more than their fair share. Not to run down my countrymen too much, but I’m not sure how ready the British Lions are for ROH competition. My favourite thing about this match was King and Rhett’s AWESOME double team finishing move. King continues to look like a star by the way. He sorted of came and went in the second half of 2008. I’d like to see ROH get him in for every show they possibly can from now on so he can continue to develop and establish himself in front of all the crowds on the ROH circuit.
Bison Smith vs John Kermon
You know you’re a total jobber when your entrance is completely cut from an ROH B-show release. Kermon, much like Sal Rinauro yesterday, is clearly nothing more than cannon fodder for Bison and his sensational fur coat.
‘Kill the jobber’ – Florida. Bison has really struck a chord with the Floridian crowd this weekend. He press slams poor Kermon into the turnbuckles and hauls him into the CLAW SLAM! It’s over in 36 seconds.
Rating – N/A – Another squash, with this one being too short to even bother rating. Like I said last night, in NOAH where Bison doesn’t seem quite such a massive guy he’s never really impressed me. But this is ROH, the majority of the roster is TINY compared to him. Even workrate promotions like ROH need a standout “power guy” on their roster – Bison is clearly going to get the opportunity to fill that void.
Brad Attitude tells Kyle Durden that he thinks Aries has turned his back on the fans, and is going to fight to defend their honour tonight. Thanks for that mate…
Davey Richards vs Kevin Steen
We know the Tag Champions and the American Wolves have some on-going issues. The Wolves attacked Steen and Generico at Final Battle, but came up short in their title clash with the champs at the last Detroit show. If they want to work their way back into title contention then Richards will need to be looking at winning matches like this.
An intense war of words before the bell rings makes a clear statement that these guys don’t like each other. Davey bridges into a kick, but gets a little too cocky after hitting it and takes a HUGE slap. Steen hits a shoulder tackle with such force that Richards decides he wants to leave, even heading back through the curtain for a few seconds. He comes back only to take a somersault leg drop to the back of the head, hit with such force that Davey dives into the crowd to escape further punishment. He spits in Steen’s face, leading Mr Wrestling into Larry Sweeney’s location at ringside. Sweeney’s distraction allows Davey to land a jumping knee strike to the back. Davey knows that Steen has had some knee problems recently, and immediately looks to target that. Given that Mark Briscoe is currently on the shelf with a knee injury sustained at the hands of the Wolves, you’d suggest that Richards is easily capable of doing some real damage here. Strykerlock applied, then he teases a Figure 4. Unfortunately the fans seem like they’d enjoy that hold…so Davey refuses to execute it and dragon screws him instead. Diving headbutt misses, and Steen somehow gets his large body mass into the air for a missile dropkick, then the cannonball in the corner for 2. He looks for the Package Piledriver but the knee now gives away again. He tries the Sharpshooter instead, and can’t lock that in either. AWESOME sell job there. Richards rolls him into a half crab. SNOT ROCKET DUEL! NECK DROP GERMAN from Davey for 2. Mr Wrestling fires back with the pumphandle cradlebreaker, then crumples in a heap again as he drops Richards over his own bad knee. Steen-ton Bomb gets the knees and Davey turns him into a TEXAS CLOVERLEAF! Countered to a small package! Steen wins at 12:18
Rating - *** - Good match, but the finish ticked me off a little. I don’t understand why it was ok to put Steen over Richards clean here in a singles match where he NEEDED a victory over Steen to ensure his team continue to look like credible title challengers, but we got a shady finish to the tag title match when, in a major main event, I’m pretty sure an impressive performance and a great match would retained the Wolves heat far more easily than a botched run-in. Luckily these guys are strong wrestlers, and extremely impressive performers. They haven’t been feuding for too long but they did well here to establish a clear level of hatred for each other. As Edwards is a little bland in the personality department, and Generico is somewhat tied down by his niche gimmick, it’s really up to these guys to carry the emotion of this feud. They did that very well here – I’d happily have seen it go longer.
Jimmy Jacobs/Delirious vs Tyler Black/Necro Butcher
Unique situation here with Necro and Tyler reuniting to oppose the stable the both helped to form at Man Up in September 2007. Necro and Delirious have been trading wins recently, and we all know that there are some major scores to be settled between Tyler and Jacobs.
Jacobs makes like Davey Richards and runs into the crowd to escape Black and Necro as they storm the ring ready for a fight. Prazak and Leonard point out the HDNet cameras circling the ring sampling some ROH action and testing some equipment ahead of the first TV tapings at the end of the month. First chance he gets Tyler hauls Jacobs down and lays into him with a flurry of right hands as Necro does the same to Delirious in the opposing corner. Stomp/backbreaker combo on Jimmy, but Delirious drags him to safety as Butcher and Black threaten to nail further double teams. SOMERSAULT PLANCHA TO THE FLOOR by Tyler! Necro climbs…but is dumped to the floor by Delirious. The masked man then guillotines Tyler over the top rope, softening him up for Jacobs to take control of the contest. Back/chest rake nailed as AOTF cut the ring in half and keep Black well away from Necro’s tagging radius. Delirious works an Anaconda Vice but Tyler powers up to deliver a suplex. Jimmy is swift to dive into the ring and stop him making the vital tag. At last Black lands an enziguri and makes the hot tag to Necro…but it’s not seen by the referee. Tyler is dragged back into proceedings and takes a hell of a stomping from Age Of The Fall. Neckbreaker over the knee by Delirious, followed by a standard neckbreaker by Jimmy for 2. Tyler back flips in Jacobs’ path and scores with a powerslam which this time does facilitate the hot tag to Necro. He takes the lizard man into the corner for the Necro-canrana. Springboard clothesline from Black to Jacobs, but Jimmy fires back with a SPEAR THROUGH THE ROPES TO THE GUARDRAIL! NECRO LEG DROPS DELIRIOUS THROUGH A TABLE! Both teams barely make it back into the ring before we get a double count-out. Necro chokeslams Delirious, and rolls it into the Tiger Driver…but Jimmy breaks the pin. He and Necro fight on the apron. SNAP SUPLEX OFF THE APRON TO THE FLOOR! Necro’s leg rattled into the railings with sickening force there. In the ring Black grabs Delirious for the BUCKLE BOMB! He lines up the Superkick, which is being built as his new finisher, only for Jacobs to waffle him from behind with a chair. That’s apparently a DQ at 16:12.
Rating - *** - Solid match which I enjoyed thoroughly, with four guys who know each other well and have deeply interwoven back stories. Unfortunately it was all building to what is fast becoming the staple of the Adam Pearce booking regime – an absolutely garbage finish. How is a piddly little chair shot to the back more of a DQ-worthy offence than Necro putting Delirious through a f*cking table? Given how much practice Pearce is getting at booking lousy finishes thus far this year, you’d think he’d at least be able to get them right. I HATE being the guy who constantly moans about crap finishes. I really do. But it’s getting to the point where something stupid is happening MULTIPLE times on almost every show.
Necro saves his partner from more abuse with a steel chair of his own and leaves fans demanding a ‘Best Supporting Actor’ Oscar nomination for his assault on Mickey Rourke.
INTERMISSION – Kyle Durden interviews D-Lo Brown, who is at his head shaking best. He cuts a decent promo to hype the main
Austin Aries vs Brad Attitude
Brad is 1-0 in Ring Of Honor competition after picking up a victory over Shawn Osborne in Coral Springs the previous evening. And he added extra spice to this match tonight earlier when he promised to defend the honour of ROH fans – a group of people Aries has made it clear he despises.
Aries clearly isn’t in the most serious of moods this evening, sarcastically following the Code Of Honor on multiple occasions, then working circles around Brad on the mat before taking a sit down in the corner. Headscissors escape dropkick scores, and A-Double is having such an easy time of it he encourages Attitude to walk out. Brad takes it in good spirit, and mocks his opponent in return by holding his hands out of the reach of the former (and much shorter) World Champion. Effortless press slam follows from the newcomer, only for him to take too long to climb the turnbuckles and get tossed into the guardrails. HEAT SEEKING MISSILE almost collapses the guardrails across the legs of the hapless front row. Vulcan Neck Pinch, then the STO/Power Drive Elbow combo. Brad floors him with a clothesline then a running neckbreaker. Slingshot into the springboard senton bomb gets 2, and he keeps the offence coming with a northern lariat. But he tries to climb the ropes and gets caught for a second time. Hanging neckbreaker out of the ropes get 2 for A-Starr. Last Chancery briefly applied but Attitude is basically in the ropes. RUNNING BACK RAKE SCORES! The IED doesn’t though, and this time Brad does manage to get to the top rope and nail a corkscrew crossbody for 2. IED scores second time of asking. BRAINBUSTER! Attitude is out at 11:36
Rating - *** - This one scrapes into 3* territory on the back of another terrific heel performance from Austin Aries. Whilst his in-ring act may have been toned down, this gimmick makes him so watchable in the ring, so you hardly even notice he’s not charging around the ring at 100mph. This was a fun little bout pitting him at his super-arrogant best against a young blue chipper, who initially struggled, but looked better and better as the match went on. You never felt Aries was in any real danger of losing of course, but he definitely treated Attitude with respect and make him look really good out there. For the it’s position on the card this was really good.
Dark City Fight Club/Francisco Ciatso vs Roderick Strong/Brent Albright/Erick Stevens
The DCFC looked really good in a losing effort against the ROH Tag Champions last night and are well deserving of a second chance to earn themselves more Ring Of Honor bookings. It will be a different challenge for them tonight though, as their opponents are three men as big and tough as they are, with a mass of momentum behind them after victory in Steel Cage Warfare. Albright, in particular, will be fired up tonight after he was cheated out of a victory in a non-title bout against McGuinness yesterday. DCFC’s partner is Francisco Ciatso, who I know nothing about other than his name is spelt wrong if he’s supposed to be Italian. He’s dressed like Johnny Stamboli. Remember him?
Chavis starts with Strong and gets chopped back into the Floridian’s corner. Ciatso in for the first time. He looks like a combination of Kevin Steen and Santino. Albright tags in with him and wipes out one of the HDNet cameras. Cue some comedy references to Lenny being replaced for the HDNet series by the announce team. Roderick actually cuts Davis’ chest open by delivering such ferocious chops. Steen-tino gets another tag and really lays into some forearm smashes with the former FIP Champion. Ciatso and Rainman sent to the outside for a RUNNING CORKSCREW DIVE by Strong. POOOUUUNCE THROUGH THE GUARDRAILS by Davis. Now cue Monty Brown references from the announce team who are producing some comedy gold in this one. Chavis distracts the ref whilst Ciatso and Davis choke Strong in their corner. Frequent tags from the trio of new faces, keeping themselves fresh whilst they isolate Roderick from his partners. Strong gets the hot tag to Stevens. Albright in too to hit exploder suplexes on both Ciatso and Davis. Choo Choo nailed, then a swinging backbreaker. Stevens gets 2 with a second rope football tackle. Albright throws Francisco into a clubbing lariat from Stevens. Erick takes a powerbomb/neckbreaker combo from the DCFC. 61-Knee on Ciatso, then the half nelson backbreaker from Strong. He blocks the Doctor Bomb, so is lifted into an ELEVATED SICK KICK FOR 2! DEATH BY RODERICK! SICK KICK! STRONGHOLD! Ciatso has to tap, giving the Strong/Albright/Stevens team the victory in 13:46
Rating - *** - On a pretty consistent show, this match has to be considered one of the highlights. This was nothing more than six big guys clubbing the sh*t out of each other for nearly fifteen minutes, with some fun spots and moments of comedy thrown in too. Dark City Fight Club have surely earned themselves future bookings with two terrific showings this weekend. Their uncompromising physicality would be a real addition to ROH’s already critically acclaimed tag team division. The fact that four of this lot were still brawling even after the match had ended showed you just how much intensity DCFC were able to inject into what was seemingly nothing more than throwaway filler.
Chavis and Davis are rewarded for a great weekend with ‘please come back’ and ‘DCFC’ chants. They walk out as arguably the biggest success of the entire ‘Proving Ground’ weekend.
El Generico vs Bryan Danielson
No real storyline behind this one. They’re both talented and popular workers, so you’d assume they’re being thrown in the ring together since it’s a big first-time match for ROH to throw out there. In fairness, you’d assume both would like to get in line for more World Title opportunities, so securing big wins in high profile matches such as this is a must.
Is this a battle of the most popular entrance themes in ROH? Generico selling Dragon’s streamers, thanking the fans for their ‘best in the world’ chants then asking Todd Sinclair for a translation on the ‘get your head kicked in’ chant is just SO funny. He gives Dragon a big hug instead of a handshake, drawing huge ‘hug him back’ chants, then ‘say you’re sorry’ when he refuses. Danielson apologises in Spanish, then gives him a hug which Generico sells like a three year old meeting Mickey Mouse at the Magic Kingdom. I’d be happy if they just went to the back now. Generico escapes an early wristlock with repeated somersaults, making himself extremely dizzy in the process. He tries his own wristlock and can only watch in awe as Dragon bridges into a dropkick which rockets him backwards across the ring. Bridging deathlocks follow that. Incredibly Dragon is able to hold that bridge even with Generico piling all his weight on top of him. The Generic Luchador gets some boos when he grabs a rope before Danielson is able to apply the Mexican Surfboard. Getting angrier, he reels off a few forearms, then gets FLOORED by a single European uppercut from the former World Champion. Generico with armdrags, but he tries to steal the Mexican Surfboard and gets viciously kicked away. Dragon gets in the surfboard position again, then laughs as Generico hilariously tries to kick him away as he’d done moments earlier. More fun and games making Todd count multiple one counts…then out of nowhere Dragon goes serious with the cross armbreaker. STANDING CHICKENWING PIN gets 2. Generico mounts goes for the mounted Spanish 10-punch in the corner, but is pushed away at Spanish for 8. Danielson slaps him in the face, then STOMPS the wrist into the canvas. Double springboard crossbody by the Mexican, looking to increase the pace since the methodical slow stuff is seeing him take a real beating. TOPE ATOMICO TO THE FLOOR! And Generico re-enters with the flying body splash for 2. He lands on his feet as Danielson goes for a German, only for Bryan to grab him for a second time and dump him on his neck with the German suplex. Hurricanrana countered to a breathtaking series of nearfalls. It ends when Danielson puts his opponent into the Triangle Choke. Generico turns that into a pinfall for 2. YAKUZA IN THE CORNER! THEN A SECOND! Danielson blocks the turnbuckle Brainbustah and drops him with the back superplex. MMA ELBOWS! CATTLE MUTILATION! Generico gets some time to recover as Bison Smith appears at ringside to distract Danielson. TOPE SUICIDA ON BISON! TOP ROPE YAKUZA KICK BY EL GENERICO! TURNBUCKLE BRAINBUSTAAAAAAAAAAAAH! GENERICO WINS! 20:38 is the time
Rating - **** - I’m getting a bit sick of moaning about finishes. Adam Pearce is new to the job, and perhaps he genuinely doesn’t, at this stage in his booking career, have the belief in himself to progress a storyline without a dirty finish. Instead, lets focus on how fantastic that match was. It was fantastic in a way which made it unique to ROH shows in that it was packed with humour and fun. ROH gets heat, particularly from the growing PWG fanbase, for taking itself way too seriously. Sometimes that criticism is fair. But here tonight these two athletes produced a light-hearted, FUN bout that was a real treat to watch. It’s so rare on an independent show to see a crowd completely unified in their support and respect for both athletes in the ring. Hearing such an outpouring of affection from the Orlando crowd towards both wrestlers was rewarding too. Unless D-Lo pulls out the match of his career this will comfortably clinch match of the weekend honours, almost entirely based on the fact that you just don’t see this kind of match in Ring Of Honor often enough. PWG have been doing this for years…
Bison gives Dragon a Jacknife Powerbomb before jobbers (including what appears to be Liverpool’s mediocre striker David Ngog – football joke there) empty to pull him away.
Nigel McGuinness vs D-Lo Brown – ROH World Title Match
There’s a real chance I’m going to say some slightly harsh things about D-Lo during this (and lets face it, D-Lo Brown getting an ROH Title shot is ridiculous), so I’m going to preface this by saying that he is, genuinely, the nicest wrestler I’ve ever met. My friend and I met him at Universal Uproar (a big supershow over here in the UK which featured Kenta Kobashi, Jun Akiyama and Go Shiozaki in the main event) in November of 2005 and he was really cool (to the extent that he apologised for not doing his stupid, needless amount of pointing leg drop since we said we were huge marks for it). To the match at hand, and Brown is getting this title shot ‘in recognition of his international achievements’. I’m not sure how being a perennial midcard act the world over becomes a quantifiable achievement but I’ll roll with it. Bringing D-Lo in and putting him in the main event screams of TNA to me…BUT, he’s blessed with a certain amount of charisma, and I’ve seen enough of his work in AJPW since leaving the WWE to know that, if he’s on tonight, this won’t suck.
Disappointingly, there is minimal head shaking from Brown on his way to the ring. Nigel cuts a hilarious promo before the match calling his opponent Savio Vega. D-Lo tries to retort and breaks the microphone - luckily the fans are in a good mood so take it in good spirits. Incredibly, Brown carves out a really good promo that gets people really fired up. Nigel runs to the floor but is pursued, and takes a big boot to the jaw. He tries to walk out with the belt…then NAILS D-Lo with it when Brown looks for a tope suicida. Jawbreaker Lariat countered to an Ace Crusher to make things even again. DDT ON THE FLOOR by the World Champion as Prazak uses Bryan Danielson’s Lance Storm match as an example of why this match is NOT a total farce. McGuinness boots the timekeeping table at D-Lo, and the challenger just barely beats the count. Back senton then a grounded lariat from Brown (who has packed on a fair bit of weight since his WWE tenure in case you haven’t seen him), but he climbs the ropes looking for the Lo Down far too early. Tower Of London out of the corner is his punishment. Jawbreaker Lariat COUNTERED TO THE SKY HIGH FOR 2! McLariat from nowhere gets the champ a nearfall too. D-Lo blocks a second Tower Of London attempt…SECOND ROPE SKY HIGH! TWO AGAIN! They fight on the apron…SICK DDT BY D-LO! McGuinness’ landing on that was pretty scary. LO DOWN TO THE BACK! Still not enough to defeat the World Champion. JAWBREAKER LARIATOOOO! That’s not enough to keep ‘the Brown’ down for a three count. They trade forearms, until Nigel falls and inadvertently low blows the challenger. JAWBREAKER AGAIN! McGuinness retains the World Title at 13:56
Rating - *** - Sensibly this wasn’t booked to go long (see, I can praise Pearce), so what we got was a really enjoyable, throwaway novelty defence for McGuinness. I’d much rather have seen this than another pointless Erick Stevens World Title match for instance. Credit to D-Lo, who has drastically altered his style from his days competing on national television, he isn’t the best worker the world will ever see, but he didn’t look like a mug out there. He has noticeably spent lots of time in Japan as his strikes are really solid. Is there a spot for him on the roster in the long term? Probably not (which is why I’m slightly concerned that he’s booked for future shows), but this was a total change of pace from the sort of things we’ve become used to seeing out of Nigel McGuinness title matches, and the variety was definitely appreciated.
Nigel looks set to go on another rant post-match but is laid out by D-Lo…
Tape Rating - *** - I’ve not heard much of anything about the Proving Ground 2009 weekend. Neither are essential purchases, neither has any matches that resoundingly fall into the ‘must see’ bracket. There are a number of skippable jobber matches both nights, there are still a number of problem with poor booking decisions (in my opinion). But, for what was essentially a weekend of throwaway shows, in markets where the ticket sales were so bad there are no plans to go back, we got two surprisingly good nights of wrestling. In terms of physical, hard-hitting, traditional ROH style wrestling, last night was probably better thanks to the Nigel/Albright and Tyler/Davey main event combo. However, top to bottom this was a great night of pro-wrestling, capped off with two tremendously entertaining and unique bouts in Generico/Danielson and Nigel/D-Lo. If you’re a selective ROH purchaser with a limited budget and you only look to buy the ‘big shows’, you don’t need this weekend. But if your budget can stretch to it, I’d suggest picking both of them up. They’re a great example of why ROH completists LOVE being ROH completists.
Top 3 Matches
3) Nigel McGuinness vs D-Lo Brown (***)
2) Roderick Strong/Brent Albright/Erick Stevens vs Dark City Fight Club/Francisco Ciatso (***)
1) El Generico vs Bryan Danielson (****)
Top 5 Proving Ground 2009 Weekend Matches
5) Nigel McGuinness vs D-Lo Brown (*** - Night 2)
4) Roderick Strong/Brent Albright/Erick Stevens vs Dark City Fight Club/F. Ciatso (*** - Night 2)
3) Nigel McGuinness vs Brent Albright (**** - Night 1)
2) Tyler Black vs Davey Richards (**** - Night 1)
1) El Generico vs Bryan Danielson (**** - Night 2)