Ring Of Honor – The Best Of ROH on HDNet – Volume 2
For those that skipped by Volume 1 review – here’s the skinny. I’ve gone through channels that ROH and HDNet wouldn’t necessarily like to get my hands on complete episodes of the ROH weekly TV show. This was not my choice, but when ROHBrazil was forced to remove his popular Youtube service offering the HDNet episodes to those of us who otherwise had no access to the show…it meant I was effectively cut off from a significant portion of the ROH product. As a guy who has loyally followed this promotion since 2002, I wasn’t best pleased with that, and had to go out and secure myself some DVD’s of the episodes instead. I don’t feel guilty, but I DO want to show my support for ROH. So, even despite dropping serious cash to pick up complete sets of the HDNet series, I’m also putting my hands in my pockets again to purchase these official ‘Best Ofs’ ROH publish when they take ownership of the HDNet footage – a year after they air on the network. Obviously I’ve seen all the matches, so whilst I’m buying the DVD’s, I can’t say I’ve actually watched them. My reviews below will all be cut and pasted directly from my reviews of the individual episodes – therefore I’m not aware of any cuts or amendments made to the original broadcast footage. All matches are taped in The Arena in Philadelphia, PA. Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak call the action.
Chris Hero vs Jerry Lynn (Episode 013)
This is non-title, which is appropriate given that Hero didn’t earn his last title shot in Boston and defeat there definitely shouldn’t grant him another opportunity. However, on HDNet he’s put in some impressive performances, and will look to cash in on Lynn’s weariness after a series of gruelling recent championship bouts. As Nigel pondered earlier – how is Jerry dealing with the recent fan mutiny against him?
Jerry starts quickly with armdrags and a high crossbody, emphasising his apparent speed advantage over his opponent. He works lots of armbars in between speed moves, possibly to negate the elbow strike ability. Springboard dropkick sends Hero to the floor, with Hog pondering whether Jerry’s aggressive start proves he wants to end this quickly to negate the effects of any fatigue. Finally Chris starts responding with chokes and heel tactics, slowing the pace right down to a methodical stalking. Lynn botches a roll-up, then walks into an elbow smash for 2. There are a few more messy moments and half botches on the way to Lynn coming off the second rope with a bulldog. Del Rey distracts the referee as Jerry thinks about a Cradle Piledriver…but Hero misses the Flash Kick to the floor, and Jerry SCORES with a cannonball senton off the apron. REBOUND ELBOW SMASH FROM THE RAIL BY HERO! But he tries to follow with the Floor Mat Senton and MISSES. ROLLING ELBOW TO THE BACK OF THE HEAD! Jerry kicks out at 2. They fight on the turnbuckles until Lynn topples over the ringpost and to the floor. Hero attempts Cradle Piledriver theft, but Jerry counters with a Rolling Elbow. NECKBREAK ELBOW SMASH! LYNN KICKS OUT! Loaded Elbow is in play…but Jerry counters to a small package. He wins at 14:34
Rating - ** - Some of the stuff they were doing towards the end was really good, but the overall tedium and uncharacteristic sloppiness from both men caused me to bring the rating down. This wasn’t Lynn/Brodie bad, but certainly not of the calibre of recent HDNet main events. The Never Say Die match absolutely smoked this
Kenny King vs Kenny Omega (Episode 014)
Simply put, King wants revenge for Omega beating him clean in a triple threat back on Episode 010. That was Omega’s first HDNet victory, and he’ll be looking to string a few together and start climbing the ROH ranks.
Kenny King brings Rhett Titus and 2x random skank to the ring with him. Skank #1 basically has her tits out, Skank #2 produces more gratuitous upskirt shots than you see in those unscrupulous celebrity trash mags in a month. Sweet Japanese armdrag from King to start proceedings, only for Omega to pop up into a gorgeous armdrag of his own. Inverted enziguri knocks King to the floor, but Omega misses a baseball slide and gets grabbed by Titus. King tries a somersault dive off the apron but only manages to hit Rhett…SOMERSAULT PLANCHA BY OMEGA! But Titus sweeps Omega’s leg from under him as he goes for another running start, leaving him open for King to start raking the eyes. He gets crotched in the corner, allowing King to wind up for a STANDING corkscrew enzi right to the back of the head. Frog Crossbody from Omega leaves both men down though. Leapfrog Bulldog nailed next to get Omega a 2-count. Stop Sign Enzi countered with King’s Capo Kick, then SHOTGUN KNEES for 2. Rhett gets involved again, ensuring Omega is in position to take another enzi kick to the face. He falls back into the ring and into the CORONATION! But Omega kicks out at 2. Coronation attempted a second time…but it’s countered into the same roll-up Omega used to beat him last time. This time King gets a shoulder up. STOP SIGN ENZI! Titus on the apron again, but this time King accidentally lays him out. REVERSE RANA ON KING! ELECTRIC CHAIR SUPLEX! Omega wins at 08:16
Rating - *** - Tremendously exciting and athletic match between two of ROH’s new breed talents starting to rise up the card. Lots of fast paced exchanges, intricate sequences, kicks, counters, dives and all the usual tricks you see in a modern day indy match. Both are extremely charismatic in their own way too, and given nearly 10 minutes to themselves, gave a great exhibition of what they’re capable of. This could’ve satisfactorily been a HDNet main event…
Roderick Strong vs KENTA (Episode 014)
There’s not necessarily a lot of backstory behind this one. All you’ll need to know is that they are going to chop, kick and beat the hell out of each other here. They had an awesome singles match back during KENTA’s 2006 run at the Throwdown event, and later in the year were part of a tag team MOTYC which helped relaunch the ROH product in the Boston market at Honor Reclaims Boston. KENTA, borrowed from Pro Wrestling NOAH for this set of tapings, will look to make a big splash on his HDNet bow for ROH.
Strong winds up for a big chop against the ropes, but KENTA ducks away to evade it. Same scenario reversed, and this time it’s Roddy ducking quickly to escape a big roundhouse kick attempt. CHOP NAILED! KICK NAILED! CHOP VS KICK DUEL! They strike to a stand-off, receiving a big ovation from the Philly crowd. KENTA takes a run up and delivers another big kick to his seated opponent, giving him a clear advantage for the first time. He hammers him in the corner with another succession of kicks. But Roderick tosses him away and tries to chop his way back into things. KENTA tries to no sell, so Roddy chops him even harder, stomps him into the canvas, then scoops the NOAH star up into the first backbreaker of the contest. Grounded bearhug briefly locked in, before delivering a resounding dropkick as KENTA escapes and tries to run the ropes. Flying clothesline from the top rope brings KENTA back into proceedings, only for Roderick to take him down again with the slingshot falcon arrow. Back suplex backbreaker nailed for 2. High octane kick combo from KENTA ends with a basement dropkick in the corner, into a Ligerbomb. Busaiku Knee scores but it’s too early and Strong is able to kick out at 2. Go 2 Sleep blocked and Strong comes out of the corner with a big superplex. To the apron where KENTA delivers a big kick to the spine…but he sprints at Roddy, into a CRADLE BACKBREAKER ON THE APRON! DEATH BY RODERICK! SICK KICK! That was close to a major victory for Strong. Gibson Driver COUNTERED TO GO 2 SLEEP! KENTA WINS! It’s all over in a hugely physical 12:15
Rating - **** - Everything a sub-15 minute main event should be on ROH’s TV show. It was unrelentingly quick, jaw-droppingly physical, exciting, and the decisive victory for KENTA immediately cements his place as a main event level talent. Getting NOAH to send him over for TV is a massive coup for ROH, and the originator of the Go 2 Sleep’s talent and mass of experience on TV and on major shows in Japan will be huge asset. This was also my favourite Roderick Strong match this year – even ahead of the A Cut Above World Title match.
Jimmy Jacobs vs Delirious – Fight Without Honor (Episode 015)
This truly is the last stand of the Age Of The Fall. Having lost his Steel Cage war with Tyler Black in Detroit (the night before this episode aired), and on the same evening that this show was broadcast, was in Chicago being strung from the rafters and abandoned as the remnants of his revolution crumbled around him. ROH’s signature ‘grudge match’ is the Fight Without Honor, and tonight it comes to HDNet for the first time as the abandoned leader and reformed follower do battle one final time.
Angry red Delirious makes his return tonight and runs straight to the ring to get things going. Top rope Leaping Lariat scores inside the first 30 seconds, and as Jacobs tries to run, Delirious keeps running and scores with a tope suicida. Drop toehold into the barricades next, and of course, that’s just a set up for the GUARDRAIL PANIC ATTACK! Jimmy is busted open, and any suspicion that the Fight Without Honor concept might be made more family friendly for national TV goes straight out the door. He shakes off the blood loss to hit a diving clothesline off the guardrails. Delirious is sat in a chair for Jimmy to scale the ropes and hurl himself through his masked opponent and the chair. He tries the same thing on the floor…RUNNING PESCADO THROUGH A CHAIR MISSES! Jimmy took that bump flush on his ribs which looked horrifying. TOP ROPE chair shot to the outside by Delirious. Amazingly, Jacobs manages to summon up some reserves of energy and drop Delirious with the spear and cling on for End Time. He doesn’t quit though, so out comes the railroad spike. Stab attempt misses, and Delirious hits a COBRA CLUTCH SUPLEX! He thinks about Shadows Over Hell only for Jacobs to throw a chair into his face. He goes for a spear through the ropes…BUT MISSES AND EATS TABLE! SHADOWS OVER HELL THROUGH THAT SAME F*CKING TABLE ON THE FLOOR! That’s bat sh*t crazy…and is obviously enough for Delirious to win at 08:53
Rating - *** - Obviously in the ‘illustrious’ history of Fight Without Honor’s, this won’t be considered one of the best (although it’s definitely better than Maff/Whitmer vs Carnage Crew), it was certainly a great effort. Considering the time confines, considering they had to go a little easier on the violence for TV this was actually an amazing match. The near-silent crowd didn’t conjure up much of an atmosphere, which is a shame; and definitely didn’t contribute anything to making this match feel a lot more epic. But I wasn’t expecting much from this and thought that, with lots counting against them, they made the absolute best they possibly could. I’m going to miss Jacobs in ROH.
American Wolves vs Bryan Danielson/Tyler Black – ROH Tag Title Match (Episode 015)
It’s been mentioned a few times on the show, but if you missed it, this is a rematch from the critically acclaimed Tag Title Classic these two teams contested in the Toronto area (it’s on the Double Feature 2 DVD if you missed that as well). I have that down as ROH’s top match in 2009 thus far. Since their original rematch, scheduled for Edison, got cancelled after Black picked up a neck injury, it was hastily pushed back to be a HDNet main event. Dragon and Tyler, in the midst of their own competitive rivalry with neither man able to score a decisive victory over the other on HDNet, will have to put their differences aside if they are to dethrone the Wolves, who are on a dominant run as champions. That run includes Eddie Edwards making Danielson tap out to the Achilles Tendon Lock at Validation.
Nigel McGuinness comes out to sow the seeds of doubt in the fragile alliance between the challengers. I’m loving Nigel’s twisted mind games persona he’s running with on HDNet. Tyler and Edwards start off and it’s pretty even. Tags all round…and Danielson quickly lands a dropkick on Davey, causing him to leave the ring and throw a tantrum. Black in again, impressively getting the best of both Wolves in turn and giving his team the first significant advantage. Edwards cheerfully blocks a kick from Dragon, only to take a knee to the jaw then a stiff kick to the torso. Richards evades Black’s face stomp once, but cockily celebrates and gets knocked back down and into the stomp second time of asking. He blocks Bryan’s Mexican surfboard only for Dragon to grab get all vicious and yank back on his mouth and jaw instead. Tyler softens Eddie up with a few chops and this time Danielson is able to hoist an opponent into the Mexican surfboard. He lines up an elbow suicida only for Edwards to sweep the legs from under him. Same thing happens to Eddie though, and Black lines up both champions, right in the path of a TOPE SUCIDA from Dragon. Mid-air dropkick from Davey to block a missile dropkick attempt from Danielson. That athletic move turns the tide of the match in the Wolves’ favour and they start to isolate American Dragon. Danielson does the Sayama flip, but as he tries to get a running start on the proceeding elbow strike, Richards leans in and kicks him in the head. Hot tag to Tyler who SCORES with a running somersault plancha. Quebrada into the Black Star Press gets 2 on Davey. Edwards saves with that back suplex buster move, and it leaves Tyler in prime position for a missile dropkick on Richards. DOUBLE ALARM CLOCK, then the powerbomb lungblower combo get 2 on Tyler. Richards tries to pepper Dragon with kicks too, only for Black to pop up into a Pele Kick to save his partner. Triangle Choke on Eddie, as Black hits the BUCKLE BOMB/SUPERKICK COMBO on Davey. But he lands with a foot on the ropes so isn’t done yet. KICK YOUR F’N HEAD IN STOMPS! But Dragon inadvertently knocks Black off the apron as he lines up the Phoenix Splash. Edwards capitalises on their ensuing argument to sneak a win at 18:27
Rating - *** - Really solid, but it never felt exciting, and seemed to be stuck in quite a dull second gear for the majority of the near 20 minutes of TV time it was given. It was never going to be patch on the 45-minute draw in Canada but I had high hopes and I’m not sure this quite hit them. Don’t get me wrong, the work is good and with four wrestlers of this calibre, it’s hardly going to be a bad match. Definitely could have been better though…
Austin Aries/Kenny King/Rhett Titus vs Jerry Lynn/Erick Stevens/Kenny Omega (Episode 016)
The entrances are edited out meaning Prazak and Hog can put over Aries as the current World Champ even though Lynn still had the belt when this was taped. I like the booking of this match as it brings together lots of sub-plots. Aries and Lynn obviously have issues over the World Title with A-Double assaulting Jerry a couple of weeks ago, then taking the belt from him in Manhattan. Meanwhile Omega will want to avenge a defeat he suffered to Aries on Episode 004. And whilst he wants that, King will want the same thing on Omega who holds a couple of pinfall victories over him. I believe Stevens holds a HDNet victory over Rhettski, and of course, he has history of Aries going back to 2007 and The Resilience – a stable they were both a part of.
Aries only agrees to start the match if Lynn doesn’t. In the end it’s Omega who locks up with him as the match begins. Not long before the new ROH Champion declines further participation and tags Titus in. Omega floors him with a high spinning heel kick and Rhettski immediately retreats and makes the tag to King. It turns out that King’s main aim is to prance around and distract everyone else whilst Aries and Titus start illegally double teaming Omega in the corner. Stevens tags and mows King down with a big shoulder tackle before bringing Jerry in for the first time. Aries trips him from the floor and as Lynn is now down, A-Double agrees to get in there with the former champ for the first time. But as soon as Jerry looks to make a comeback, Austin tags straight back out. Omega goes for a big dive to the floor onto to be guillotined on the ropes by the World Champion, right into the path of a running knee from Titus. King tags and gets 2 with a forceful spinebuster. Stop Sign Enzi on Rhett, only for Aries to knock both his partners off the apron leaving no-one for Omega to tag to. The hot tag to Jerry finally does come…and the now dethroned champion finds himself having to fight through King and Titus just to get near A-Double. Erick looks for the Choo Choo on them, only to be cut off by Aries who then hammers him with the IED. Cradle Piledriver blocked…so OMEGA LEAPS OFF LYNN into the leapfrog bulldog. BERMUDA TRIANGLE MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! But as Lynn looks to capitalise Aries sneaks up behind him and waffles him with the title belt. Finally Stevens picks up the victory at 12:04 with the lifting lariat on Titus
Rating - *** - I liked the constant action, and absolutely LOVED HDNet trying to keep up with current events by editing the show to portray Aries as champion. The Aries/Jerry exchanges, whilst brief, showed lots of promise. King and Omega looked full of talent during their brief cameos too. In my opinion, the only guy who really didn’t shine all that much here was the guy who ended up winning – Erick Stevens. He seems an odd choice to push at the expense of guys like Omega and King, but at least leaving him standing on the apron for most of this disguised his weaknesses and made him look like a manster whenever he did get in.
Jay Briscoe vs Roderick Strong (Episode 016)
These two are good friends away from the ring, but with Mark still on the shelf, the main highlights of Jay’s year thus far as a singles worker have been his two entertaining bouts with Roderick. Strong used a roll-up to snatch a victory at Stylin’ & Profilin’, whilst Briscoe did similar at Tag Title Classic to make it 1-1 between them in ’09. They’re still friends, but are both dying to win the rubber match, especially now it’s being broadcast on national TV.
Mark Briscoe is at ringside with his brother again. Anyone who thought the Briscoes were going stale at the tail end of 2008 must surely be eating those words now. Going half a year without one of Ring Of Honor’s most marketable duos has been tough. This is Roddy’s third HDNet main event, although he’s thus far 0-2 with losses to Aries and KENTA on his resume. Basic mat wrestling to start us, which suits Jay as it means Strong can’t deliver any chops. Briscoe looks to have a slight speed advantage over his friend, so Roddy drives him into a contained space (the corner) so he can pepper him with big forearm smashes. Credit to Briscoe though, he can hang in that department too, actually out-chopping Strong before felling him with a sliding kick to the head. Flatliner to the turnbuckles gets Briscoe his first nearfall. Finally Strong drops his friend with the slingshot Falcon Arrow to buy himself some recovery time. It’s soon even again as Jay runs through Roderick with a spinebuster. He moves aside as Strong tries to dive at him from the apron, running into a mafia kick on the floor. Stretch Plum applied briefly but Roddy knees his way free. Urinage backbreaker gets 2 for the former ROH Tag and FIP Heavyweight champion. Jay nearly steals a win with the Stronghold counter roll up. Death By Roderick hit, but Briscoe counters the Sick Kick with a boot of his own and both men collapse in a heap. SNAP DVD out of nothing gets Jay a 2. Death By Roderick again…GIBSON DRIVER FOR 2! STRONGHOLD! Briscoe has to tap out, giving Roderick his first HDNet victory at 12:03
Rating - *** - To put this one in perspective, I thought it was better than Collinsville but not quite as good as Markham. I really liked the general theme of them being ridiculously evenly matched and they played it out with great persistence. Unfortunately after a while the ‘even’ nature of the match sort of resembled ‘one guy hits a spot…other guy hits a spot…first guy hits a spot’ no sell, indy-riffic match that ultimately doesn’t mean all that much. Throughout this trilogy of matches I’ve really felt like these two have an absolute classic in them but they’re still yet to hit standards quite that high.
Tyler Black vs Bryan Danielson (Episode 018)
HDNet and ROH have put a lot of effort into hyping up the third match in this superb trilogy. Match one saw them go to a memorable time limit draw. The rematch went to a double count-out, although Danielson had to grab Tyler at the last possible gasp before Black re-entered the ring to claim his first win over Bryan. Since then they collided again in the World Title match on Episode 012, and even teamed up in an unsuccessful Tag Title challenge against the American Wolves. After that defeat Dragon dissolved their partnership by slapping Tyler in the face. Will we see a decisive winner here?
No handshake to indicate the heat between them at this stage of their relationship. Danielson wastes no time in slapping Black in the face once again, trying to get into his head in the opening minute. A second slap follows moments later. Finally Tyler mounts some offence, able to land a couple of armdrags. Prazak irritates the hell out of me by promoting their New Horizons match as their ‘first’ singles match. Their match at the ‘Breakout’ event was, and it was a superb clash in it’s own right. LeBell Lock applied (before Dragon used it as his WWE finisher) and drives Tyler into the ropes. Black tries to slap Dragon…and gets DRAGGED INTO AN ARMBREAKER! Fine example of why many call Bryan the ‘best in the world’ right there. Tempers start to flare, but it means that Black finally gets to use his agility, hitting the Lionsault on Danielson for 2. Super aggressive kicks and uppercuts from Dragon leave him flat on the canvas again though. Aware that he’s had neck injuries recently, Danielson starts to attack that body part. Sleeper Hold into a neck crank with added elbows to it and a rear choke – a succession of savage holds from the former World Champion to pick apart Black’s neck. Sleeper again, and Bryan holds on even when Tyler hoists him up into a back suplex. Tyler shows impressive resilience to lift Dragon up again and back drop him over the ropes to the floor.
He thinks about a dive, only to get whacked in the face. Missile dropkick from Dragon is BLOCKED! Springboard Lariat nailed for 2! Payback for Tyler as he starts slapping Dragon before powering him up for the F-5. No pinfall to follow though as he stays down favouring his neck. Superkick countered to an Anklelock…only for Black to shove him to the floor for a SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! Both men take a while to recover after that. GERMAN SUPLEX drops Tyler on his neck again and gets a crazily close nearfall. I’m talking Joe/Daniels Glory By Honor 2 close. SUPER RANA TO TRIANGLE CHOKE! BEST SUBMISSION SPOT EVER! COUNTERED TO THE BUCKLE BOMB! SUPERKICK SCORES! But Danielson is able to crawl to the ropes, wasting valuable seconds before Tyler is able to cover. Tyler thinks about the Phoenix Splash…AND GETS SHOVED THREE ROWS DEEP INTO THE CROWD! SPRINGBOARD SUICIDE DIVE INTO THE CROWD BY DRAGON! Seriously, people in the crowed were getting murderised there! Unlike their second HDNet clash, Dragon is quick to get back to the ring…with Tyler only just beating the 20-count. Danielson batters Tyler with kicks…then goes to the Sleeper again. INTO A CROSSFACE! MMA ELBOWS TO THE NECK! PELE KICK FROM BLACK! RUNNING ENZI BY DRAGON! HEAD DROP GERMAN FROM TYLER…NO SOLD! SUPERKICK! SUPERKICK AGAIN! GOD’S LAST GIFT NAILED! BLACK WINS! BLACK WINS! BLACK WINS! Biggest win of his ROH career at 21:26.
Rating - ****1/2 - As good as anything Ring Of Honor has done all year. They combined some sensational, cutting edge, exciting wrestling with an unbelievable story that was good enough to send the traditionally sullen Philly HDNet crowd absolutely crazy. I loved the references to their previous matches, with Dragon starting all cocky just like he did at Breakout, taking the Buckle Bomb spot from New Horizons, the count-out sequence from the second HDNet match, and wrapping it all up with the amazing moment when Tyler was finally able to beat Bryan Danielson in a singles match. By the end of August it would be announced that Dragon had signed a WWE deal, so putting Tyler over here stands as one of his final acts as an ROH wrestler. The reprisal of the Black/Dragon series has given him the opportunity to make a total star out of Tyler on HDNet. I’m being deadly serious when I say their series of singles matches in the last two years has been as good as any rivalry ROH has produced. My personal favourite HDNet match to date. You NEED to buy Best Of HDNet Volume 2 for this...
Chris Hero/Davey Richards/Eddie Edwards vs KENTA/Kevin Steen/El Generico (Episode 017)
This bout received lots of praise back when it aired so I’ve been looking forward to checking it out. Lots of pride on the line too considering the history between Steen-erico and the Wolves…and the heat between KENTA and Davey thrown in too.
The babyfaces make their way to the ring and all of them HATE Davey Richards. They almost have to fight through each other to get at him. Steen gets to start with him, and they do nothing more than lay waste to each other with a barrage of strikes. KENTA and Hero next, and they’re apparently renewing a rivalry forged in their time with NOAH. Their initial exchanges are totally even, until KENTA boots him squarely in the chest for a 2-count. Richards in, and after Edwards distracts the Japanese star, Davey pounces and beats him down into the corner. Eddie tries to kick him…AND GETS SLAPPED IN THE FACE! Generico tagged and he goes bat sh*t crazy on Richards in the corner, nearly knocking him out with an endless flurry of right hands. Kevin Steen goes on a snot rocket rampage and ends up coating Hero, Edwards, Richards and even Shane Hagadorn on the outside. BLINDSIDE ROLLING ELBOW from Hero puts an end to the mucous onslaught and leaves Mr Wrestling flat out on the mat. Steen is the face in peril for the next few minutes, with all of the artists formerly known as Sweet’n’Sour Inc getting a turn at treating him like a punching bag. In an amazing shunning of wrestling convention, Steen dives to the floor, runs around the ring there before rolling in and getting the hot tag to KENTA who immediately starts beating up both Tag Champions by himself. Ligerbomb gets 2 on Edwards. Generico goes upstairs for a SOMERSAULT PLANCHA TO THE FLOOR! BUSAIKU KNEE for another close nearfall on Eddie. Go 2 Sleep COUNTERED TO A RANA! Hero tags and nearly breaks KENTA’s jaw with the Flash Kick. Hero’s Ligerbomb variant gets the same result as KENTA’s did moments earlier. Generico comes in with a flying crossbody, but goes down afterwards clutching his troublesome knee. ROLLING ELBOW NAILED! Steen makes the save with a Codebreaker for 2 then floors Davey with a superkick. FLYING HEADSCISSORS from Generico to Hero. TOPE CON HILO BY RICHARDS! HE’S IN ABOUT ROW FIVE!! KENTA drops Edwards with a lariat and suddenly all six men are down. El Generico’s knee is so bad that he can’t even get on the apron. RICHARDS AND KENTA TRADE STRIKES! KENTA wins and lands a tiger suplex for 2. Finishers blocked…YAKUZA KICK out of nowhere by Generico for 2. Davey tries to kick the leg only to be swept into a Michinoku Driver. STEEN-TON BOMB! DOUBLE STOMP BY KENTA! Hero and Edwards dive in to make a last gasp save. YAKUZA KICK ON BOTH WOLVES! Generico thinks about a brainbuster only for Richards to MISSILE DROPKICK THE KNEE! CLOVERLEAF APPLIED! Generico has no choice but to tap at 20:30
Rating - **** - It couldn’t touch the quality of the Fourway World Title match, but this has to be considered one of the best bouts on HDNet so far. I’ll admit the first few minutes were pretty slow, but from the heat segment on Kevin Steen forwards this was solid gold. Generico’s selling of the knee was genius. KENTA and Richards brought some amazing intensity too (I wonder if Pearce was planning a HDNet rematch of their epic Supercard Of Honor slugout). I think this is on the Best Of HDNet Volume 2 DVD and it’s well worth picking up.
Tape Rating - *** - I don’t think this is as much of an essential purchase as Volume 1. There you had two amazing Danielson/Black matches, the Tag Title Tables Match, the epic Fourway World Title match, Aries/Dragon in a classic and lots of other solid 3* bouts. The general standard isn’t as high this time around, with only three matches breaking the 4* barrier, and a few disappointing encounters too (I include Lynn/Hero, Briscoe/Strong and Wolves vs Dragon/Tyler in that category). But, considering this was only released at $15, it’s still amazing value for money and well worth a pick up. The Danielson vs Black match on this volume is every bit as good as their Breakout and New Horizons classics from ’08. KENTA and Roddy is an absolute war, whilst the 6-man KENTA was involved in was awesome too.
Top 3 Matches
3) KENTA vs Roderick Strong (**** - Episode 014)
2) Chris Hero/American Wolves vs KENTA/Kevin Steen/El Generico (**** - Episode 017)
1) Tyler Black vs Bryan Danielson (****1/2 - Episode 018)