ROH 237 – Final Countdown Tour: Chicago – 19th September 2009
So after reviewing the FCT Dayton show, I’m feeling as positive about ROH as I have done in a long time. Despite Dayton being the archetypal ‘B-show’ market, I thought last night was an excellent show, with the whole product given a fresh feel by the new in-house DVD’s. Being honest, I don’t think the card for this show is actually as good, but the main event of A-Double defending the World Title against the departing Bryan Danielson should be fantastic. We’ve also got a HDNet rematch with the Young Bucks taking on the Dark City Fight Club, Rave vs Necro in a Dog Collar Match and a huge match pitting the American Wolves against the Briscoes. Lets go to Chicago Ridge, IL to join Dave Prazak and Chris Hero.
ROH VIDEO WIRE – See Final Countdown Tour: Dayton (ROH 236) review for details
Once again, we start with a sweet hype video, including ‘last night…’ highlights which really add something to the vibe of these DVD’s…
Rhett Titus vs Petey Williams
Williams came desperately close to defeating the World Champion in Dayton last night, hitting the Canadian Destroyer only to see him fall out of the ring. He’ll want to vent some frustration by defeating his protégé, who himself will want some revenge after being left in a bloody mess by Petey’s partner Colt Cabana.
Rhett’s head is bandaged after he received 20 stitches following last night’s match. He appears to have stuck Mr Ass’ logo onto that bandaged though. He gets hung up in the ropes and takes a big dropkick right to the back of that damaged head. Slingshot lungblower nailed…but Titus rolls straight to the floor as Petey lines up the Destroyer. Great strength from the wounded Rhett as he catches Williams and scores with a Samoan drop. Violent stomp to the face gets 2 for Aries’ student. Williams hits a DDT, dropping Titus on his injured head once again. Jawbreaker, then a facebuster moments later, but still Rhett has enough in the tank to block the Destroyer. Petey dumps him face-first to the outside instead, then takes to the skies for a SLINGSHOT RANA TO THE FLOOR! Back inside Titus rallies for the SUPER SEX FACTOR and gets 2. But Petey hauls him down again with the Canadian Legsweep, then delivers an enzi kick right across the forehead. Titus is bleeding now, but still tries to climb and MISS a frog splash. Canadian Destroyer COUNTERED WITH AN INVERTED TOMBSTONE! Williams kicks out! Muff Driver escaped but Petey POWERBOMBS to escape the Sex Factor and hits the Canadian Destroyer. Win for Williams at 08:58
Rating - *** - Entertaining stuff, with Williams adding some touches of intelligence by working the busted up face and head of his opponent. Rhett is having such a good year, although it’s sliding under the radar thanks to the incredible years the likes of the Wolves are having. He’s gone from a clown act struggling to escape the ‘ROH student’ tag to a strong midcard hand and you have to applaud that.
SIDENOTE – Hardcam is terribly blurred again. That’s an issue that needs to be resolved as soon as possible. I’m enjoying Hero on commentary though. He doesn’t sound THAT interested, but his style is very similar to that of Steve Corino on the early ROH releases, and I really liked him
Alex Payne vs Rasche Brown vs Grizzly Redwood vs Kyle O’Reilly vs Silas Young vs Sal Rinauro
There’s a whole lot of jobber in this one. Silas and Sal have become serial enhancement talents on HDNet, Payne gets great reactions in Chicago so is always useful to book as a lovable loser – a spot usually owned by Grizzly Redwood everywhere else on the ROH circuit. It’s a main show debut for O’Reilly though. He’s a young, raw talent trained by Davey Richards. Even at this stage people were really touting him as a top prospect.
Rinauro somewhat meanly starts bullying Sugarfoot…who fires back with a bowling shoe ugly monkey flip. Young takes a cheapshot at Payne too as they have heat. Silas leaves the ring again when Alex starts mounting a comeback against him. O’Reilly in to level Payne with a jumping enzi kick. Bully Rinauro strikes again as he shoves Redwood off the top rope, then gets into an argument with Young over who gets to beat on the Littlest Lumberjack. Rasche beats on both of them, then gets waffled in the back of the head by Kyle. Everyone throws him out…BUT SKULLKRUSHER SKINS THE CAT! DOUBLE SUPLEX TO THE FLOOR ON PAYNE AND O’REILLY! He then moves to watch Rinauro hit an inadvertent tope suicida on those guys. Grizz tries to chop down the biggest tree in the match…AND GETS THROWN OVER THE TOP ONTO EVERYONE! THEN RASCHE PRESS SLAMS YOUNG AT THEM TOO! BLACK SUPERMAN DIVE TO THE FLOOR BY BROWN! Rasche is literally sending people crazy here. Redwood hits a 619 into a tornado DDT on Kyle but Young makes the save and backbreakers Grizz for 2. Sugarfoot gets to fight Silas again, dropping him with Diamond Dust (and getting audible boos – please tell me the Sugarfoot fetish is over!). Snap German suplex on Rinauro gets 2. Young and Payne spill to the floor again, leaving Sal alone with Rasche. BURNING HAMMER! Skullkrusher completes a 2-0 weekend at 08:02
Rating - ** - Immense performance from Rasche Brown this weekend. He was sensational against Erick Stevens at End Of An Age, entertaining against Silas Young yesterday…and utterly spectacular tonight. The middle portion of this match, with Brown unloading offence on everyone in the contest, nearly blew the roof off the Frontier Fieldhouse. Everyone else was just there…although I’m not sure how much of that was their average performances and how much of that was Rasche stealing the show.
Nigel McGuinness is brought to the ring next. He’s still injured so isn’t competing this weekend, but is also on his way out of ROH having signed a WWE contract like Danielson. He’s smiling, humble and full of jokes and smiles, clearly excited about his future elsewhere but thankful and grateful for his ROH tenure. He thanks everyone he can think of (including Gabe Sapolsky in all but name) in a surprisingly emotional little promo. Obviously we all know he didn’t end up in WWE, and I think there were already issues with his move at this stage as he doesn’t actually confirm where he’s going. Poignant little segment…
Josh Raymond/Christin Able vs Brent Albright/Bobby Dempsey
Not sure what Albright did to warrant getting stuck in a match with these three. Dempsey hasn’t been seen in ages, and really doesn’t have any discernible career direction in ROH now the momentum following his breakout at Caged Collision has died down. House Of Truth had a pretty decent match yesterday against the DCFC, and will want another strong performance to nail down some roster spots.
Able doesn’t want to fight Dempsey, so he tags Raymond who gets tossed around like a ragdoll. Hero points out that Bobby has actually dropped a little weight in recent months in the midst of delivering an in-character verbal burial of his former stablemate. In defence of Hero, he admits that he was once 285lbs. Five minutes in and this has been really tedious to sit through. Albright hits a flying crossbody on Christin for 2 as the babyface team continue to dominate the HoT. 61-Knee misses, and leaves him strung in the ropes for a dropkick from Raymond. House Of Truth isolate Albright, getting 2 with a double flatliner. Of course, the hot tag eventually comes and brings in Bobby to clobber both opponents. He slingshots (seriously) into a body avalanche on Able, then takes a crossbody block from Raymond and watches him bounce to the floor. NECK DROP DVD gets 2 on Josh before Able saves. Brent exploder suplexes him to the outside, but can’t hit a tope suicida as he finds himself tripped by Truth Martini…FATTY SENTON BY BOBBY INSTEAD! Brent slaps the Crowbar on Able, and this time it’s Raymond flying in to make a save. Northern lights bomb from Able, into the Sky Twister Press from Josh. Dempsey saves at 2 though. Albright pops Martini in the mouth then drags Raymond up for the HALF NELSON SUPLEX! Albright gets the win at 12:24
Rating - ** - Business picked up in the last five minutes or so but before that this one was really dull. Credit to Bobby Dempsey who looks like he’s stepped up his game from the last time we’ve seen him, but I wouldn’t say any of the four stood out here. Personally I don’t see the harm in giving the HoT a win in this one – and in a year when we’ve seen the Smash Bros. go over Steen and Generico, I’m not sure why they weren’t.
Jimmy Rave vs Necro Butcher – Dog Collar Match
A video package shows some recent interactions between these two, but they’re men who’ve been at odds with each other for much of the year. The Embassy have attacked Necro on HDNet, Rave has injured Necro with the Heel Hook, and by and large Jimmy has always managed to escape the clutches of the Butcher before falling to any substantial damage. Even last night in Dayton when Necro beat him all over the building, Prince Nana was still able to pull his Crown Jewel away before Necro could powerbomb him into some chairs. Will this stipulation ensure he can no longer run…but as a separate clip shows, he has experience in Dog Collar Matches, and even managed to win one against CM Punk at the first Manhattan Mayhem event in 2005.
Prince Nana comes out without Rave, saying he was injured in Dayton yesterday, so he’ll replace him in the Dog Collar Match. Of course, it’s a trap, and Jimmy comes through the crowd to attack Necro from behind. He uses the chain to blood Necro up inside the first minute, only once he’s down and covered in the red stuff does he finally attach the dog collar to his own neck. Prince Nana threatens to take some cheapshots until Grizzly Redwood arrives at ringside to help out his friend and make sure it’s a one-on-one fight. And Redwood’s present inspires Butcher to slide between Rave’s legs and crotch him with the chain. He makes use of the chain moments later to drag Jimmy’s head into the ringpost repeatedly, then to drag him into the crowd for a fight out there. Looking like Jim Caviezel in Passion Of The Christ, he flings chair after chair in Jimmy’s direction to bloody him up too. Cue minutes of slightly deranged, aimless brawling around the arena until Prince Nana blasts Necro from behind with a steel chair. The trip around the Frontier Fieldhouse continues, this time with Jimmy in charge. That doesn’t last long though, as it’s Necro’s environment, and he soon recovers to rattle his skull against the back wall of the arena, leaving Jimmy’s blood smeared across it. Grizz helps him tear out a section of guardrail, bridging it between the apron and some functional railing…but they take so long that Rave is able to nail Necro with a chair. He lifts the Ernie Osiris spot from HDNet a couple of weeks ago to SOMERSAULT SENTON his ankle through the chair, then gets up to apply the HEEL HOOK! Greetings From Ghana blocked…and Butcher back body drops him over the ropes, onto that propped up guardrail section. Chair backbreaker blocked…STO ON BACK TO BACK CHAIRS BY RAVE! HEEL HOOK AGAIN! Butcher grabs the chain and starts whipping Rave with it to break the hold. TIGER DRIVER GETS 2! CAMEL CLUTCH…WITH CHAIN CHOKING! Rave taps at 18:11
Rating - *** - Not all of it was fun, but this was definitely the best Necro Butcher match this year. It had an ECW feel to it, in that some of the match didn’t seem particularly well planned or thought out – meaning we had an anarchic, chaotic and uncontrolled vibe to the violence in the crowd. I feel like casual viewers will have liked this more than someone like me who is a little burnt out on Necro, generic ROH ‘fight through the crowd’ matches etc. Once they got back to the ring I really enjoyed it.
Bret Hart is brought out for some face time next, and gets a rousing ovation. He takes time to thank Chicago fans for making that memorable match with Steve Austin so much more special. Just like his Markham appearance, he seems far less comfortable coming out and being hero worshipped than Flair did. Seeing Bret in ROH is still so surreal to me…
Dark City Fight Club vs Young Bucks
Two of the up and coming teams in the ROH tag team division in action here. You have the marauding power and intimidating tactics of the DCFC against the athleticism and wildfire double teaming of the Bucks. The Jacksons managed to snatch a win over DCFC on HDNet, so Chavis and Davis will be up for revenge.
Stereo kicks into a leapfrog dropkick from the Bucks stave off a jumpstart from DCFC. Nick sails to the floor with a SOMERSAULT DIVE then uses his speed to get the better of Davis as the bell rings. Stereo backflips/dropkicks on him, then the flipping neckbreaker/backbreaker combo on Chavis for 2. Finally Davis kills off the Bucks’ momentum with a big lariat from the outside on Nick. Jon’s power continues to ensure his team dominate the blond Jackson, whipping him with such force that he flies over the turnbuckles before crashing to the floor. Matt goes to help and gets hurled into the railings by Rainman. He then tags in to get 2 with a spinning Rydien bomb. ‘The DCFC on his tights…does that stand for Death Cab For Cutie?’ – Hero making me spit Pepsi Max all over my laptop. The heat segment on Nick lasts for several minutes before he gets the big tag to Matt. He spears Chavis and his joined by his brother for a standing moonsault/springboard splash combo. POOOOUUUUUUNCE by Davis to save his partner. RACK BOMB on Matt gets 2, as does the Greater Good double team cutter. The Bucks start throwing superkicks from every angle but can’t land More Bang For Your Buck. DARK CITY STREET CUTTER COUNTERED WITH A RANA! MATT PINS DAVIS AT 11:22
Rating - *** - Decent, if slightly uninspired formula stuff in the middle, but a hot start and finish made this a decent tag team encounter. I thought the HDNet match was slightly more energetic, but having extra time really allowed the teams to flesh out the power vs speed story. I loved the finish too, it reminded me of Matt Sydal countering the KRS-1 on the way to winning the Tag Titles from the Kings Of Wrestling with Chris Daniels a few years ago.
Claudio Castagnoli vs Colt Cabana
Colt’s feud with The Embassy continues here, this time with him facing the paid associate of Nana’s group in Double C. Castagnoli will be looking to rebound in a major way following his disappointing loss to Davey Richards in Dayton yesterday.
Another video package highlights Claudio shoving Cabana’s father over during a brawl at End Of An Age – fantastic addition of detail adding a whole new level of intensity and depth to this match. Hero is totally burying Colt on commentary too. And rather than follow the Code Of Honor Claudio slaps Colt with a glove. Unfortunately he doesn’t start the match as fantastically, falling victim to the combination of freaky chain wrestling and comedy schtick that Cabana uses to outfox his opponents. It breaks down to the crowd ‘HEY’-ing any offence Claudio lands, then ‘BOOM’-ing with each Cabana blow. Eventually Castagnoli is able to cut off Cabana’s goofy stuff by dropping him with the Les Artess Lift out of nowhere. Hey vs Boom strike duel ends with Colt scoring with the Flying Asshole. Colt 45 blocked, as is the Billy Goat’s Curse and Castagnoli hits the one arm bomb for 2. No hands Airplane Spin gets the (very) European another nearfall. He lands the Bicycle Kick as well, but unfortunately for him Cabana falls out of the ring. He drags him back for the Riccola Bomb but Colt lands so close to the ropes that he can grab them with ease. Low Blow…NO SOLD! COLT WAS WEARING A CUP! LOW BLOW ON CLAUDIO! Colt Eddie Guerrero’s himself a victory at 09:12
Rating - *** - Personally I had this down as a 2* match, but this looked like it was such a fun experience for the live crowd that I tacked on an extra star. I’m also enjoying the Lie, Cheat, Steal approach that Cabana is taking to scoring victories over The Embassy in recent matches. It’s a shame Castagnoli has gone 0-2 this weekend as he’s looked terrific both nights. After ending the feud with Albright at the most recent HDNet tapings, he looks like a man determined to move himself up the card and, judging from these performances, that’s something we should all look forward to.
Colt puts the Billy Goat’s Curse on Prince Nana for good measure…whilst Chris ‘Loaded Elbow’ Hero cracks me up on commentary by angrily ranting about Colt using a foreign object to win a match.
American Wolves vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe – ROH Tag Title Match
The brothers Briscoe come to Chicago (and to the same building where they defeated Chris Daniels and Matt Sydal for the same belts in 2007) looking for revenge on the Wolves for the six+ months Mark has spent on the self thanks to them, and to once again wear the coveted ROH Tag Titles, belts they’ve held more than any other team.
Originally this was scheduled to be non-title but (more HDNet spoilers) as the Briscoes won the Tag Team Honor Rumble on HDNet, they earned themselves a shot, which they’ve decided to cash in. Mark goes for the Cut-Throat Driver on Eddie, but settles for dishing out urinages to both Wolves. Splash Mountain neckbreaker on Edwards gets 2. Richard tags, but doesn’t fare much better against the offensive onslaught of the challenging duo. Then Edwards gets into a slap fight with Mark, forcing the younger Briscoe to turn his back for long enough for Davey to give his team the advantage. They dominate for a couple of minutes before Mark ‘born technically dead’ Briscoe (Hero’s commentary is so weird) gets the tag to Jay, who picks up a 2 with a DVD. Back suplex pancake/missile dropkick combo from the Wolves put him on the back foot…and Davey tries the Texas Cloverleaf only to get his face punted by Mark. He goes for a camel clutch, which has the same result. Wolves aren’t smart apparently as Edwards tags, tries the same thing, and HE gets kicked in the head too. Switching approach, Richards delivers a backbreaker followed by a grounded bodyscissors facing Mark to ensure he doesn’t get kicked again. Kicks on Jay now…but Briscoe powers up for a spinebuster then the tag to Mark. Fisherman buster puts Eddie down for a nearfall, so he takes things to the ropes for a second rope Ace Crusher. Cut-Throat Driver countered with a back suplex. Davey in to floor Mark with the handspring enziguri. DRAGON SCREW IN THE ROPES from Edwards as Mark is distracted by his opponent. SUPER RANA by Edwards, sending Mark into the Davey Richards Cloverleaf. Jay saves, CAPTURE SUPLEX ON HIM! NO SOLD! MAFIA KICK! KNEE BY EDDIE! ACE CRUSHER FROM MARK! ALL FOUR DOWN! Edwards and Jay are first up, taking it in turns to kick each other in the jaw. Jay Driller escaped for the DOUBLE ALARM LOCK, then the Powerbomb Lungblower. ACHILLES TENDON LOCK! MARK SAVES! Superkick German blocked, meaning Eddie floors Richards with a superkick. JAY DRILLER ON EDDIE! RICHARDS BREAKS THE FALL! DOOMSDAY DEVICE! RICHARDS MISSILE DROPKICKS THE REFEREE! Amazing precision to hit that, and it means the Wolves are DQ’d at 18:08
Rating - **** - This one snuck into 4* territory thanks to a fantastic, totally exciting final five minutes. These two teams doubtlessly have far better matches in them (hopefully with much better finishes), but this was a hell of a starting point for the two teams. They’ll meet again for sure, and this certainly left me wanting more, so I’d consider it a success. I’d compare this to Steen-erico vs Wolves from Motor City Madness 2009 in that it was a strong effort, but one you know they should be able to top.
The Briscoes aren’t best pleased at their shot ending in such a manner, brawling with the champions after the bell and eventually leaving Edwards laid out on the entrance ramp.
Austin Aries vs Bryan Danielson – ROH World Title Match
Another top video package does more to sum this match up than anything I could do in this paragraph. Already a force thanks to his involvement with Generation Next, Aries broke out as a main event level talent when he and Danielson contested an epic final fall to crown the inaugural Survival Of The Fittest winner back in 2004. Later that year they’d contest a sensational near-80 minute, 2/3 Falls clinic that still ranks as one of the finest Ring Of Honor matches ever. An ROH rivalry for the ages had been born, and they’d go on to contest several battles in the future. Bryan went on ROH hiatus in 2005 after losing a title match to Aries during his first reign. And, having won the belt from James Gibson, Dragon made sure his first defence was against A-Double at Enter The Dragon. 2007 saw their memorable Best Of 3 Series to crown the ‘ace’ of Ring Of Honor, whilst 2008 brought a top notch ppv bout at Take No Prisoners, before the two formed a team and contested some classic tag matches against the likes of Age Of The Fall and Motor City Machine Guns. With Dragon now on his way out of ROH, and his final match set to be a concluding chapter in another of his classic ROH feuds with Nigel McGuinness, it’s only fitting that he also get to have one last match with Aries, and one last crack at the Ring Of Honor World Title that he held to such critical acclaim during 2005/6.
Such is Aries’ fear of Dragon’s technical prowess that he dives straight to the floor when it looks like Danielson is about to capture him on the canvas. Vicious knucklelock exchange, but with Austin once again looking like coming up on the losing end he opts to crank up the pace and nail a couple of armdrags. But he then tries to go back to the mat and gets dropkicked in the mush as punishment. Danielson tries to go old school and bust out the Airplane Spin…a hold that Aries has seen before and knows to counter – done so on this occasion with a back rake. He tries to steal the Mexican surfboard, but is kicked away and put in the same hold by the challenger. Bryan starts working Aries’ arm and does so with some success so once again Austin rakes (this time the eyes) to escape. Back superplex attempted way too early, allowing the champ to knock Dragon to the floor and nail the Macho Man double axehandle smash. That’s the gateway to Austin’s first substantial period of offence, targeting his assault at the midsection, pausing only to lift the ‘I have till 5’ gimmick to generate some extra heat. On commentary Hero makes a great point in questioning what Danielson has done to earn this title shot. It’s a point that would have more credence were it not for him getting a totally unwarranted title shot at Jerry Lynn earlier this year. Dragon tries to mount a comeback only to take a big dropkick to the ribs to put him down again. Shinbreak Back Suplex countered though, allowing Danielson to hit a running enzi kick for 2. Aries thinks about the Heat Seeking Missile…but it’s a move Danielson has seen plenty of times and he reacts quickly to knee Aries in the head as he goes for it. IED ON THE APRON INSTEAD! Back inside Bryan manages to evade the Kick Of Death and get A-Double to the floor again. SPRINGBOARD CROWD DIVE GOES FOUR ROWS DEEP! He brings it back inside to lock in Cattle Mutilation…ARIES COUNTERS TO THE LAST CHANCERY! COUNTERED TO THE MMA ELBOWS! COUNTERED TO KNEES! ELBOWS! KNEES! ELBOWS! They’re totally even, and prove it by colliding mid-ring and collapsing in a heap. They struggle back up, with Dragon blocking the IED and finally getting to hit the back superplex for 2. KICK YOUR F’N HEAD IN STOMPS! TRIANGLE CHOKE! Aries makes the ropes…Danielson goes for the Regal Plex but gets dropped with the shinbreak suplex. IED NAILED! BRAINBUSTER! FOR 2! 450 SPLASH…IS COUNTERED TO THE TRIANGLE CHOKE AS HE LANDS! KICK OF DEATH! BRAINBUSTER BLOCKED! UNBREAKABLE SMALL PACKAGE GETS 2! KICK OF DEATH AGAIN! IED! AVALANCHE BRAINBUSTAAAAAAAH! LAST CHANCERY! Danielson is out in 24:47
Rating - **** - I have this one down as their best encounter since Enter The Dragon, and although my rating is the same, I thought this one was massively more exciting than any of their 2007/8 matches. It was disappointing they didn’t do more with Aries shutting Bryan’s offence down by working the midsection, but the frankly ridiculous amount of countering was so much fun. This felt, by and large, like a smartly worked match between two guys who LOOKED like they’d wrestled each other a bunch of times. It wasn’t guys phoning it in, hitting their spots for cheap pops then going home (which they could easily have done and still sent everyone away happy), they worked an intelligent match which I truly appreciated. A fitting way for these guys to close out their Ring Of Honor rivalry
SIDENOTE – For those that have seen The Wrestling Road Diaries, you’ll know that during that amazing 450 Splash/Triangle Choke counter spot, Bryan actually got took one straight in the balls (which frankly isn’t that surprising given the sheer physics of executing the move), and showed incredible composure to regain himself and finish the match under circumstances which, as I’m sure all the male readers will testify, can be very difficult to overcome quickly.
Aries breaks character to give a heartfelt thanks to Bryan, shakes his hand, then steps right back into character by popping him in the mouth. He walks out, giving Danielson his chance to recount some of his favourite Chicago memories, then thank the Chicago fans before he leaves.
Tape Rating - *** - The undercard wasn’t quite as strong as last night in Dayton, but this was still a hugely enjoyable show, and once again a giant step up from a lot of what we’ve seen thus far in 2009. There was a little more filler, and a couple of 3* matches which only just scraped into that category, but in Rave/Necro, Bucks/DCFC, Wolves/Briscoes and Aries/Dragon you had four really strong matches which I thoroughly enjoyed. I’m obviously going to recommend getting the entire Final Countdown Tour anyway since it’s Danielson and Nigel’s leaving parties, and I know if people are going to skip any of the FCT shows, it’s going to be these first two since after this you’ve got the acclaimed Danielson/Davey match in Boston then the finale at Glory By Honor 8. However, given the quality, depth, and variety of the wrestling on both shows this weekend compared to a number of others from this year, these two are really essential purchases in their own right. Skip at your peril…
Top 3 Matches
3) Necro Butcher vs Jimmy Rave (***)
2) American Wolves vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe (****)
1) Austin Aries vs Bryan Danielson (****)
Top 5 Final Countdown Tour Dayton/Chicago Weekend Matches
5) American Wolves vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe (**** - Chicago)
4) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Young Bucks (**** - Dayton)
3) Davey Richards vs Claudio Castagnoli (**** - Dayton)
2) Chris Hero vs Bryan Danielson (**** - Dayton)
1) Austin Aries vs Bryan Danielson (**** - Chicago)