Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Brian and John are representing the Chron in Philadelphia and will be calling and texting in results throughout the show. Also be on the look-out for a rapid-fire post-show audio.

They announced the next Philadelphia show for September 20. Only one side of the bleachers is open.

Pre-show

1) Shane Hagadorn & Mitch Franklin defeated the Osirian Portal. Hagadorn pinned Amasis with an STO. Decent match and a fun ROH debut for the Chikara duo, who were over with the local crowd and got a lot of offense in. The crowd chanted “Please come back” after the match.

2) Rhett Titus defeated Ernie Osiris to win the Top of the Class Trophy. Titus’s offense was solid but his selling was weak. The crowd was generally quiet but liked the finish, which saw Titus win with a crucifix powerbomb.

Main Show

(Notes: Star ratings are by John. It wasn’t announced whether matches 2 & 3 will be part of the PPV or not, but 3 seems likely.)

1) Kevin Steen & El Generico defeated Ruckus & Jigsaw. The PPV opener was hot with fast but well-paced action. Steen was extremely over and was really funny. Steenerico used a Steenton Bomb and a splash by Generico for the win. ***1/2

2) Claudio Castagnoli defeated Davey Richards It was a back-and-forth match with Richards hitting a crazy dive early on and the crowd was into the fast pace. It settled in with Richards working over Claudio’s arm. The finish was a little abrupt with Claudio finishing him with a giant swing and a big European uppercut. John rates it ***.

3) Brent Albright, Delirious, & Pelle Primeau defeated Chris Hero, Adam Pearce, & Eddie Edwards of Sweet & Sour Inc. John calls it “classic Freebird heel stuff” with a long beat-down on Delirious. The crowd was begging for a hot tag to Albright, which he eventually received. He cleaned house and did some no-selling, and scored the win with knees from the double underhook on Edwards. **3/4

After the match, Adam Pearce revealed what was in his briefcase as promised by Larry Sweeney. It was Pearce’s NWA Championship belt, which he used to lay out Albright.

4) Fight Without Honor: Roderick Strong defeated Erick Stevens They worked stiff as hell and it was extremely violent. Chairs and a ladder came into play and Strong bled a lot early on. He made a comeback and hit a backbreaker through a chair. Stevens had some good hope spots and eventually hit a TKO off the apron onto the ladder. They had a big chop battle, the Strong hit a chair shot on Stevens. Strong won the match and the feud (in ROH, at least) by slamming Stevens off the ladder and through a table. Very dangerous, but a great hardcore match that will play well on DVD.

After the match, both men were selling heavily and ROH officials checked on Stevens. Meanwhile, Larry Sweeney came to the ring and handed Strong a business card. Sweeney said that despite Strong being the leader of the No Remorse Corps, he wanted him to sign with Sweet & Sour Inc. Strong threw the card back at him and declined. Then, fellow NRC member Davey Richards came to the ring and told Roderick that he thinks they should join Sweeney. Strong declined again, and as he was exiting the ring, Richards kicked the rope into his crotch and attacked him. Richards removed his NRC t-shirt to reveal a S&S shirt on underneath.

Intermission

Delirious cut a promo, then Daizee Haze came out, followed by Rhett Titus, who was dressed up and acted polite. Daizee agrees to go on a date with both guys.

5) ROH World Championship: Nigel McGuinness defeated Go Shiozakito retain. They worked a slow pace at th start. Nigel hit Go with a lot of slaps and used a lot of submission holds. He mocked Bryan Danielson twice. Nigel had a long period of sustained offense to build heat, which held the crowd’s interest. There were a lot of lariats and pin attempts. Nigel eventually got the win with a Jawbreaker Lariat followed by the London Dungeon. Solid match.

After the match, Bryan Danielson came out and said he wants a title shot at the next PPV, but Nigel didn’t answer.

6) ROH World Tag Team Championships: Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black of the Age of the Fall defeated Bryan Danielson & Austin Aries to retain. They teased a No Contest early on in the PPV headliner (last night, AOTF won by DQ in about a minute in the semi-finals of the tag title tournament), but it was re-started. It was a basic formulaic tag match, driven by their storyline. After a beat-down on Danielson, Aries got the hot tag and there were a lot of big moves. Aries and Jacobs fought to the back. Danielson and Black wrestled 5-7 more minutes, during which the crowd was split and very heated. Black hit Danielson with the Phoenix Splash for the win. John says “Tyler is the next big thing.”

McGuinness cut a promo from the entrance ramp proclaiming that Danielson won’t get a world title shot until he can beat Black. This was presumably the end of the PPV.

7) Jigsaw defeated Eddie Kingston. The crowd was pretty much burned out. It was a well-done strong style brawl with both guys being over. Jigsaw finished it with three superkicks and a double stomp. Ruckus stayed aligned with the Vulture Squad.

8 ) Falls Count Anywhere: Necro Butcher defeated Jay Briscoe. They fought all over the building, including a lot in the bleacher section near Brian and John (and Necro even ran into John at one point). When they eventually got back to the ring, the crowd actually booed. Both guys were bleeding a lot. Jay hit a Death Valley Driver off the apron onto the floor. Jacobs & Black interfered, but were fought off by Mark Briscoe whose arm was still in a cast. Mark even hit a tope onto both of them, and it was 1-on-1 after that. Jay gave Necro another DVD, this time on a guardrail laid out in the ring, but Necro kicked out of the pin, fought back, and gave Jay a Tiger Driver onto it to score the win.

After the show, John and Brian recorded a 20-minute audio re-cap of the show, which will be posted shortly.