ROH 236 – Final Countdown Tour: Dayton – 18th September 2009
So…ROH’s first in-house DVD production. First impressions – lousy cover art. In fact, looking at the covers, they don’t start getting back to the decent levels we were at pre-production shift until Final Battle 2009. There’s new background music for the menus which is a relief (even if it sounds like the soundtrack to a softcore porno) and moving menu screens. The bonus features are also a lot more extensive with a dark match included (it’s the guy that trained Davey Richards, Tony Kozina, teaming with the guy Davey Richards trained, Kyle O’Reilly, to take on the Bravado Brothers. Look out for more from O’Reilly and the Bravados in a years time…), the return of the Video Wire, and the opportunity to watch the Wire immediately after the event too. So yeah, they look much worse, but once you pop the DVD in, first impressions are ok. We’ll see how they do with sound and VQ once the show starts rolling. Anyway, as we saw during ROH on HDNet this week, the official announcement has now been made – Bryan Danielson has signed a WWE contract and is now set to make his final ROH appearances. In truth you could sense something like this was on the cards from the way he’s been booked for most of the year, so it’s not overly surprising, and he signed his deal in August. The real shock came a couple of weeks later when it was announced that Nigel McGuinness had ALSO signed a WWE contract, so he was leaving too. The September shows (four house shows and two nights of HDNet tapings) were dubbed the ‘Final Countdown Tour’ in honour of Dragon, but would now serve as a double farewell to two former ROH Champions, culminating at Glory By Honor 8 in Manhattan. Dragon, having been pushed to the fringes for most of the year, returns from injury tonight, and is booked in four huge main events for the next four shows. He has Chris Hero here, one final match with Aries tomorrow, Davey Richards in Boston then he and Nigel finish up their ROH dates together with one final instalment in their epic rivalry. It’s sad to see them go, but after a mediocre year I’m looking forward to a month of HUGE shows and four more hotly anticipated Bryan Danielson main event matches. The rest of the card tonight looks good too, with Briscoes/Young Bucks jumping out as a potential showstealer. Lets get to Dayton, OH to join Dave Prazak. His new broadcast partner is Chris Hero, with Wrestling Round Table’s Eric Santamaria joining DP during Hero’s match.
ROH VIDEO WIRE (16/09/2009) – Joey Ryan and Prince Nana give Ernie Osiris a makeover.
- Chris Hero thinks the guard in ROH changed long ago, so isn’t interested in Danielson’s leaving party. Just as Dragon beat him in his ROH debut, he’ll beat Danielson in his ROH farewell.
- Colt Cabana rambles about wrestling, and his partnership with Petey Williams this weekend, being like Scrabble. A masked Adam Pearce sits in the background for no real reason.
- Austin Aries remembers his history with Bryan Danielson, before wishing him the best in his future endeavours.
- Tyler Black will miss the entire Final Countdown Tour having had neck surgery and been fireballed by Aries at TV tapings (that hasn’t aired yet). He does continue the storyline he’s got going on in HDNet land at the moment by promising to stop ‘dropping the ball’ when he gets back
- Bryan Danielson is pleased that his final World Title shot will be in Chicago, where he had some of his favourite title defences.
The show opens with a budget WWE-style hype video which I love. ROH needs to do more to promote these $20 DVD releases as ppv-level products. The Briscoes start the show for real talking about their rematch with the Young Bucks. More HDNet spoilers as they mention their first match with the Bucks being ruined by the Dark City Fight Club…
Eddie Edwards vs Brent Albright
Interesting aside for both guys here, who have their own feuds going on. Edwards and the American Wolves have been at the top of the tag division for sometime, but have a tough September ahead of them, culminating in Ladder War 2 in New York. Brent has had his issues with Claudio Castagnoli and The Embassy for some time. If he can win here though, he’d get himself in line for a Tag Title shot should he choose to pursue it…
It’s a tentative opening, both guys clasping at wristlocks and seeming more intent on not making mistakes than dropping any serious bombs on their opponents. Three minutes in and it’s still totally even. Eddie slaps Albright, but that turns out to be a mistake as Brent sends him sprawling with an even bigger slap in return. Top rope crossbody from Albright gets 2. Edwards hits back by scaling the ropes for a FLYING CODEBREAKER which knocks his opponent all the way to the floor. Albright goes for a desperation Crowbar, but Edwards rolls through it to deliver a devastating punt to the chest. Hero does some good commentary work pointing out the history of these two in Sweet’n’Sour Inc. Brent hits the Rock Bottom out of nowhere to buy himself some time. Crowbar blocked again, but so is the Achilles Tendon Hold. Edwards counters away from the Half Nelson Suplex…goes for a springboard and gets caught in a spinebuster. Slightly ugly at the end there but I got what they were going for. Frankensteiner by Eddie gets 2…so Albright responds with an EXPLODER TO THE FLOOR! TOPE SUICIDA SCORES! He managed to wipe out both Edwards and Hagadorn there. Edwards lands the Backpack Stunner…then ROLLS IT to the Achilles Tendon Lock! COUNTERED to the Crowbar! Eddie escapes…HALF NELSON SUPLEX NAILED! FOR 2! CROWBAR! Hagadorn distract the ref, whilst Davey Richards does a run in. SUPERKICK GERMAN! Edwards wins at 14:43
Rating - *** - One of my favourite opening matches this year. The finish was pretty lazy, but I liked everything else. There’s real momentum behind Davey Richards as the next big thing in ROH right now, so maybe it’s going a little unnoticed, but Eddie Edwards is really starting to break out in his own right. The way he’s come from local talent/jobber guy to one of the centrepieces of the roster in the last 18 months has been really great to watch.
SIDENOTE – First impressions of the new production. The hardcam is horrendously out of focus, meaning we’re having to use the two mobile ringside cameras a lot more, which means the action can be a little disorientating at times. I’m not one of those guys who likes to watch wrestling without commentary, so adding the option to turn commentary off does nothing for me. I am, however, slightly concerned that the audio levels are really bad now. If you watch with commentary on the crowd noise is VERY distant. Hero didn’t sound like he was enjoying being a commentator all that much either. I like the new graphics a lot though, and find them a much-needed improvement on the old ones which haven’t changed much in the last couple of years.
Dark City Fight Club are concerned that people forgot who they were when they missed time thanks to Jon Davis’ wrist injury. They put the entire ROH tag division on notice…
Dark City Fight Club vs Josh Raymond/Christin Able
Apparently I was spelling Able’s name wrong the last time House Of Truth made an appearance at Violent Tendencies. I got emails! It’s the second appearance tonight for Raymond and Able, and tonight they have to contend with the intimidating force of the DCFC – who as we just saw, are intent on lighting a fire under the tag division, having been a little inconsistent since their return to action.
Entrances are cut which is an interesting choice to break the show up. Davis and Chavis tear through Martini’s disciples, forcing them both out of the ring for a peptalk from their leader. Davis effortlessly throws both Able and Raymond around, before Rainman comes in. Josh manages to kick him…but is punished for that by getting dropped on his face and hit with a backbreaker/leg drop combo for 2. Davis gets another nearfall with a big powerslam on Christin. Martini tries to distract Chavis, and succeeds by hanging him over the top rope and handing his team the advantage for the first time. Raymond throws Kory to the floor where Truth is ready to put the boots in again. Back inside and Able rakes his eyes, laying him out for a quebrada from Jugs (WSX reference) for 2. HoT get another nearfall with a reckless powerbomb/senton combo. Sky Twister from Raymond…but he flies straight into Chavis’ knees. Hot tag to Davis, who lays Josh out with a DEAD LIFT DOMINATOR for 2. POOOUUUUUUUUNCE on Able! Greater Good (powerbomb/cutter combo) gets 2 on Raymond, before Christin recovers to hit a pumphandle DVD. Josh goes to the top again…SHOOTING STAR CROSSBODY PRESS ON CHAVIS! Davis runs in to punt Able in the face, then catches Raymond for the DARK CITY STREET CUTTER! DCFC win at 11:52
Rating - *** - I’m not the biggest fans of this HoT combo. Nothing against them, I just they’re pretty average talents who are getting a look in ROH thanks to budget cuts and declining talent levels in the promotion rather than because they’ve earned it. However, once they started dropping bombs and trading shots with the DCFC, this got really interesting. Being honest, I didn’t expect much from this at all so it blew me away. Davis and Chavis got to look like killers, whilst Able and Raymond got in enough memorable offensive moves to get themselves over too.
In the locker room Claudio Castagnoli thinks Tyler Black bailed on their scheduled match tonight, not through injury, but through fear. Instead he faces Richards tonight – and since Davey is both tag champion and #1 contender for the World Title, he has two things he wants to take in their match…
Grizzly Redwood vs Jimmy Rave
These two are no strangers with one another…and Grizz has been a thorn in the side of The Embassy for a number of months now. He’ll want to upset the odds and score an unlikely victory over the Crown Jewel here tonight…whilst Rave will want to put him out of his group’s business permanently.
Amusingly Redwood stands on the floor throwing toilet paper at Nana and Rave like the rest of the fans. Jimmy comes out carrying a chain ahead of his Dog Collar Match with Necro Butcher tomorrow. Hero calls Grizzly Necro’s ‘mini me’. BIG HIPTOSS SENDS REDWOOD TO THE FLOOR! And Rave gives chase, viciously hurling Redwood into the guardrails. Back inside, and he no sells some clobbering from the lumberjack to hit a spear for 2. Prazak spoils the NEXT F*CKING EPISODE of HDNet by announcing Redwood as the first winner of the A-Double L-Double as Jimmy continues to beat on him. Ghana-rea countered with a small package….so Rave punches Grizz in the gut with the big chain be brought to the ring. DQ victory for Redwood at 03:54
Rating - * - I’d go ** on this since it was short, inoffensive and progressed necessary stories, but then Prazak started spoiling HDNet and annoyed me, so I deducted one.
He looks set to throttle Redwood, but here comes Necro Butcher to make a save, ploughing through Jimmy with a cannonball senton. He body slams Rave into the crowd then starts laying out the referees and ROH officials who try to stop him. They have a wild brawl through the crowd, with Hero suggesting Rave find a car to run Necro over. Sadly he stopped short of making any Rikishi references. Eventually Prince Nana manages to grab his man and pull him to the locker room before Necro can do any real damage ahead of their clash in Chicago tomorrow.
Claudio Castagnoli vs Davey Richards
As we’ve already seen, it was originally scheduled to be Claudio against Tyler Black, but this isn’t a bad replacement at all. Since he won the Toronto Gauntlet, Richards is now #1 Contender to the World Title, as well as a Tag Champion, putting two big targets on his back.
The crowd is split 50/50 between these two as they’re both usually heels…and eventually unify in an anti-Shane Hagadorn chant. Hero picks associate Richards to win over former partner Double C. Bridging kick from Richards marks the first significant strike of the contest…but Claudio doesn’t seem too bothered by it. Castagnoli uses a knucklelock and his strength advantage to power Davey down. He then falls victim to Davey’s obvious speed advantages as he comes up into a hurricanrana which drives the European all the way to the outside. Stryker Lock, floated into the MutaLock…but once again Castagnoli’s strength and size comes into play as he glides to the ropes with relative ease. Bicycle Kick puts Richards on the canvas, allowing Claudio to set him up for a diving uppercut to the back. And it’s the back that Double C continues to target, drilling it into the guardrails then coming back in to deliver the Les Artess Lift. Claudio strays away from that methodical attack though, and gets caught going for something on the top rope. Superplex scores for the Tag Champion…but of course, with his damaged back that does as much damage to him as it does to his opponent. Springboard European blocked. TOPE CON HILO BY RICHARDS! He nearly kills one of the 8 women in the crowd! HANDSPRING ENZI gets Castagnoli down for 2. Claudio rattles off a shot to the spine, and muscles Davey into a ONE ARM POWERBOMB! Handspring Enzi again…CAUGHT! NO HANDS SPINNING TORTURE WRACK BY CASTAGNOLI! But Davey gets up and drives his shoulder into the ringpost. MISSILE DROPKICK ON THE ARM! DEAD LIFT GERMAN BY CLAUDIO…COUNTERED TO THE KIMURA! Not so easy for Castagnoli to get to the ropes this time. Richards kicks at Claudio’s arm then takes it upstairs again to hit a frankensteiner. German suplex, then the Kimura again, but still Claudio finds a rope. POP UP EUROPEAN GETS 2! RICCOLA BOMB…COUNTERED TO A CODE RED! DAVEY WINS! It’s over in 15:57
Rating - **** - On commentary Chris Hero called these two the ‘future of Ring Of Honor’ and he is absolutely right. With Nigel and Dragon both leaving at the same time, it opens up not one but two main even level slots. These two were given the chance to stake their claim here, and they emphatically delivered. The selling wasn’t perfect, but in 15 minutes, two guys who have been loitering in ROH’s midcard for the last three plus years proved their credentials and overwhelmingly demonstrated that they have the desire and the ability to start filling the void at the top of the card. It was particularly good to see Castagnoli shine. I’m a fan of his, but he’s spent most of this year in the seemingly never ending feud with Brent Albright. Hopefully with that feud ended at the last HDNet tapings, he’ll get more chances to deliver great matches like this.
Young Bucks vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe
The Jacksons made their house show debuts at the Contention/Manhattan Mayhem 3 weekend some great matches. They’ve been equally impressive on HDNet, as recently as this past Monday night managing to upset the Dark City Fight Club. This is a much sterner test, as they get the chance to lock up with multiple time former ROH Tag Champions the Briscoes in what many indy wrestling fans would consider to be a dream match. It’s also technically a rematch as they shared a no contest on HDNet when DCFC interfered…although, again, that’s a spoiler since it hasn’t aired yet.
Mark and Nick start, and they surprise Chris Hero with how grounded the opening exchanges are. Quick tags from the Jacksons, culminating in stereo backflips/dropkicks to either side of Mark’s face. Tag to Jay, who amusingly puts his foot through Matt’s head for 2. Again it’s quick tags and double teams that give the Bucks an advantage though, with Briscoe going down for 2 after a backbreaker into a swinging neckbreaker. Matt holds Mark down for a slingshot leg drop from Nick…but the Bucks go for one double team too many which sees Matt plummeting out of the ring, handing the advantage to the Briscoes. They isolate Nick, Mark whipping him into the turnbuckles with such force that he ends up crashing to the floor. Matt saves his brother from the splash mountain neckbreaker and capitalises on the hot tag with a big missile dropkick. RUNNING MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR BY NICK! But Matt tries to follow suit only to be caught and drilled into the canvas with a spinebuster. Double football tackle puts him down for 2, as does the Briscoe Biel. Finally Matt hits a standing Shiranui on Mark, then a neckbreaker on Jay to make the tag to Nick. ROLLING MOONSAULT OFF THE APRON! SLINGSHOT FACEBUSTER BACK IN! More Bang For Your Buck countered by Jay who drops Matt with a DVD. He facewashes him, but turns his back and runs into a climbing knee from Nick. Redneck Karate from Mark floors Nick and leaves all four down. Nick first up with a tope suicida, and Matt nearly wins it with a tumbling Ace Crusher. MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK GETS KNEES! DOOMSDAY DEVICE ON MATT! Briscoes win it in 18:03
Rating - **** - They’ve got better matches in them (well, that depends on your perpective, they have spottier, more exciting matches in them) but I really enjoyed the story-telling aspect of this. You had the Bucks being able to out-double team and out-high fly the Briscoes…meaning Jay and Mark had to use the power, brawling and ground and pound stuff they’ve worked into their game over the past year instead. We got long periods of marauding dominance from the Briscoes, the Bucks landing a few exciting double team hope spots, then getting squashed back down again…and it happened several times throughout the match giving a real emotional ride to the crowd. I’ve not heard too much praise for this, but I was really impressed. I’m glad to see ROH getting behind the Young Bucks. Their match with CIMA and Susumu Yokosuka at the first Dragon Gate USA show was one of my favourite matches anywhere in 2009 and they deserve to be put in their in main event level tag bouts with the top teams in ROH too.
Rasche Brown vs Silas Young
On recent HDNet shows we’ve seen Young show more of his angry heel persona. It’s not gotten him any wins but he’s certainly been more aggressive. And he’ll need all that aggression if he is to stop the Skullkrusher, who was shockingly good in his last ROH appearances in June. People should check out his improbably good match with Erick Stevens from the last Chicago Ridge show.
JIP which I’m fine with since this is nothing but an enhancement match. Young goes for a sunset flip from the second rope, only to be dragged up by the throat and thrown into the corner. Silas isn’t a small guy but Rasche press slams him with total ease. Young tries to dropkick out the knees…but he doesn’t stay down. So he tries a sleeper but it has no effect either. SOMERSAULT SPEAR BY RASCHE! BURNING HAMMER! Skullkrusher wins at 03:08…
Rating - ** - Effective squash as Rasche continues to surprise me with his performances. That somersault spear was really wild.
Colt Cabana/Petey Williams vs Austin Aries/Rhett Titus
Williams got into an altercation with the All Night Express at his last ROH appearance in Chicago, and the night before that he actually landed the Canadian Destroyer on the World Champion. Now he gets another crack at Team Aries, picking Colt Cabana as his tag partner.
Titus starts with Cabana and, to give him due credit, he doesn’t look MILES out of his depth trying to go hold for hold with him. Cabana does some Scott Steiner spots to impress his new partner and they continue to have fun at Rhett’s expense, causing him to flee and seek solace in the arms of the World Champion. Aries tags in to try and teach Petey a lesson…only to get hung in the ropes and dropkicked for 2. Colt in…but he falls victim to illicit double teaming and quickly ends up on the back foot. He absorbs a couple of minutes of damage but finally gets the tag to Williams after busting Titus WIDE open with an elbow. Double cutter gets 2 on A-Double. The bloody Titus gets involved again (as the crowd rather cruelly chant ‘hepatitus’)…but nearly eats the Canadian Destroyer. ROLLING shinbreakers into the back suplex by Aries saves his partner, and by working the leg hopes to neutralise the threat of the rolling piledriver. Knee-DT from Titus, still pouring blood, gets him a 2 as Hero leaves commentary ahead of the main event. Aries back with a Figure 4, showing off what he picked up from Ric Flair when he was part of ROH earlier in the year. Rhett then tries the same thing and nearly gets small packaged. Williams back body drops him all the way to the floor, then manages to sidestep Aries, forcing him to hit his own partner with the Heat Seeking Missile. MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR by Colt…who nearly killed himself doing that! Titus saves his mentor from the Colt 45, and drops him with Kenny Omega’s leapfrog bulldog spot. Last Chancery applied but Petey saves. Thrust Is A Must-icanrana blocked by Cabana, as Williams drops the champ with the Canadian legswep. SLINGSHOT HEADSCISSORS TO TITUS ON THE OUTSIDE! Aries drops Colt with the Brainbuster, only to turn around into the SHARPSHOOTER by Petey! HE PINS COLT ANYWAY! FOR 2! Kryptonite Neckbreaker from Cabana to Titus, then Austin hammers him again with the IED. CANADIAN DESTROYER SCORES! ARIES FALLS OUT OF THE RING! Rhett blocks the Destroyer. INVERTED COLT 45 INSTEAD! Colt and Petey score the win at 17:49
Rating - *** - After spending a year watching predictable, throwaway, copy and paste midcard matches, I was delighted to see these four men get a decent time allowance, and they produced a good match. I don’t think it was quite as clean, or as well told as Briscoes/Bucks earlier, but that’s not surprising considering neither is an established tag team. What we did get was a nice mix of comedy, good wrestling, a hot crowd, a courageous performance from Titus after sustaining that nasty cut relatively early on, and nice continuation from Violent Tendencies, when again Petey was able to hit the Destroyer on Aries but couldn’t follow up with a win. I’m enjoying Aries as champion right now. His promo work is golden, and the amount of non-title losses he’s taken recently actually makes sense, as it presents him as a vulnerable champion (i.e. the belt could change hands at any time) and is making new believable challengers out of the likes of Omega in Canada, Petey and Colt tonight etc.
Ahead of the main event we get another sweet video package, showing Hero training for his match with Danielson by going to a boxing camp…adding major punching ability to his knockout threat against the multi-martial art trained former World Champion.
Bryan Danielson vs Chris Hero
With the news that he’s on his way out of ROH, bookers were quick to sign four huge main event matches for him, giving him maximum opportunity to leave the promotion he helped build from 2002 in a flurry of star ratings and star-making performances. Hero comes in on a high after beating Lance Storm clean at Death Before Dishonor 7. Can he follow that by defeating the departing soon to be ‘Superstar’ in what promises to be a great match.
Having seen his boxing training regimen ahead of the match, Danielson sensibly takes it straight to the mat and tries to neutralise the striking ability of his opponent. It’s not like Hero is a slouch in that area, but even he finds himself fleeing to the ropes when Dragon starts picking apart his arm and wrist. Dragon looks for the Crossface Chickenwing, but again Hero gets to the ropes…this time not offering a clean break and opting instead to blast Bryan with an elbow smash. That staggers him, but it’s not like Danielson can’t throw an elbow either…he fires back, then goes to the mat again for the Mexican knee stomp. MOUNTED ELBOWS from Danielson, and Hero is left groggy on the mat. ROLLING ELBOW off the apron sends Bryan out of the ring through. The floor is a great place for Hero to continue his assault, first by booting him in the face then by nailing the Floor Mat Senton. Back in the ring, he goes for Cattle Mutilation…but as a veteran user of the hold Dragon escapes easily. He’s quickly put down again by the Flash Kick though. Elbow smashes from Hero….DRAGON ULTIMATE WARRIOR’S UP!
He knocks Chris out of the ring then flies off the apron with a big knee smash. Judo DDT, then the diving headbutt for 2. Great resilience from Hero though, hitting more elbows then a flipping neckbreaker out of the corner. ROLLING ELBOW! But Danielson falls out of the ring meaning Chris can’t pin him immediately. He goes outside, looking for a rebound elbow off the railings only for Bryan to shove him into the crowd! SPRINGBOARD SUICIDE DIVE INTO THE FRONT ROW! Cattle Mutilation blocked…MMA ELBOWS INSTEAD! AND THEN CATTLE MUTILATION! Hero eventually makes the ropes, but he doesn’t look like he’s got much left. He tries a running elbow, but EATS a jumping enzi. Kick Your Head in stomps blocked. ROLLING DEATH ELBOW GETS 2! He thinks about a Ligerbomb…COUNTERED TO KICK YOUR F’N HEAD IN FACE STOMPS! TRIANGLE CHOKE! WITH MMA ELBOWS! HERO ESCAPES WITH THE LIGERBOMB! EPIC STRIKE DUEL! ROLLING ELBOW…COUNTERED WITH THE ROARING ELBOW! ROLLING ELBOW NO SOLD! DEATH BLOW HANGMAN’S ELBOW! Hero scores a huge victory at 24:09.
Rating - **** - I sort of feel like this match may have disappointed people. Having watched Dragon and Cabana’s excellent ‘Wrestling Road Diaries’ film, I definitely get the feeling Danielson thought this was going to be better. Hell, even I am slightly disappointed they didn’t pull out an MOTYC. However, don’t let any disappointment fool you into thinking this wasn’t a GREAT match. These two beat the living piss out of each other in an unbelievably hard hitting bout. In victory Hero is legitimised as a future main event man for Ring Of Honor, and just as he did against Lance Storm in Toronto, he looked completely at home delivering in a big match. My main disappointment is that they sort of abandoned any major story-telling ambitions in favour if a Joe vs Ki style stiff-fest. That’s not a bad thing, I LOVE Joe vs Ki. I just felt that, particularly in nearly 25 minutes, they could’ve added a little more plot to go with all the big strikes.
Tape Rating - **** - Best show in Dayton for years…and easily one of the best shows of 2009. I don’t know why a change in DVD production should make that much difference to the whole quality of a live event…but after the high volume of lacklustre shows we’ve seen this year, this one felt like ROH exploding out of it’s mini-off season. It felt like the talent, knowing that spots and upward progression are all up for grabs with Dragon and McGuinness on the way out, all came to the ring tonight looking to step up their game, and leave the comfort zones within which they’ve operated for most of the year. I include the booking side of things in that too. In terms of the actual new DVD’s, I saw Ryan Dunn/Ari Berenstein at 411Mania describe this as a ‘mixed bag’ and that’s a pretty apt description. The cover is awful, the hardcam is inexcusably blurred and the sound levels could use some work. BUT, the new graphics were great, new video packages and backstage features made this feel a lot more like a ppv-type show with serious effort behind it, rather than another throwaway B-show which quickly becomes forgotten and covered in dust on an ROH collectors shelf. Prazak and Hero were good on commentary, although I could have done without Santamaria boring me during the main event – he knows his ROH history but his voice and vocal tone is so unsuited for commentary. In terms of match quality, this was fantastic, with three superb 4* bouts, and everything else reaching a really good 3* rating bar the two brief squash matches. Davey/Claudio was a real coming out party for those two, whilst Briscoes/Bucks was worth seeing, if only because it was a great example of how both teams are so good they can work within themselves and still pull off a classic. Buy this one now…
Top 3 Matches
3) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Young Bucks (****)
2) Davey Richards vs Claudio Castagnoli (****)
1) Chris Hero vs Bryan Danielson (****)