Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Ring of Honor made its long-awaited live streaming debut Saturday from the Manhattan Center, and I provided live coverage throughout the show.

Brian Streleckis is at the show and sent in a message earlier saying that Mike Hogewood is in the venue. He says that Necro Butcher is off the show and Jack Evans and Teddy Hart are questionable due to travel issues.

Dave Prazak and Eric Santamaria were introduced as tonight’s announcers and they came to ringside. Bobby Cruise then introduced the third member of the announce team, making his return to ROH, Larry Sweeney!

The quality of the video stream is good so far and the graphics are the same as on current DVDs. Unfortunately, something appears to be wrong with Sweeney’s microphone and his commentary is basically inaudible.

1) Claudio Castagnoli defeated Rhett Titus, Colt Cabana, and Kenny Omega in a four-way match. Some face-heel pairing early on. In one funny spot, Cabana gave Omega the stop sign (one of Omega’s trademarks), but Omega gave him an enziguri as usual. Eventually, Cabana got Titus in the Billy Goat’s Curse, but Claudio broke it up with a bicycle kick and hit Titus with a deadlift German suplex for the win just after the six minute mark. Claudio maintained the #1 spot in the Pick Six rankings by winning. Cool finish to a good action-packed opener that was too short to amount to much.

Tyler Black cut a backstage promo. It seemed pretty good, but the sound was mostly overwhelmed by the crowd noise in the ballroom.

The Embassy made their entrance and Prince Nana cut a promo saying that Necro wouldn’t be there. He called out Delirious and whoever his partner would be. Delirious came out with Daizee Haze, but no partner, and hit the ring to start the match on his own.

2) Bison Smith & Erick Stevens defeated Bobby Dempsey & Delirious. The heels beat down Delirious at the start until Pelle Primeau came out. He hit a few big spots, but then was dominated and Bison gave him a press slam to the floor. Dempsey then came out and also hit a few moves before the heels took control. Dempsey eventually got a hot tag and Delirious didn’t really do anything after that. At one point the heels hit a double-team backbreaker and Stevens appeared to injure his leg. After a false start, Bison gave Dempsey a powerbomb off the second rope for the win in a little over ten minutes. Decent match.

They introduced a clip from Glory By Honor, but it didn’t play.

3) Eddie Kingston defeated Chris Hero in a Fight Without Honor. Shane Hagadorn and Sara Del Rey accompanied Hero to the ring. Both men wore street clothes. Sweeney’s mic started working. They used a chain early on and Kingston started bleeding. Hero hit some nice variations on his signature moves using the chain. Sweeney’s mic went out again. Kingston made a comeback and hit the Northern Lights Bomb for a near fall. Hero hit a big rolling elbow for another one, then tore off Kingston’s shirt. Kingston returned the favor and hit some chops. Back to back elbows gave Hero another near fall. Hero and Hagadorn brought a section of the guard rail into the ring and set it up in the corner after a brief exchange. He placed Kingston on the top rope and stood on the barricade. They battled until Hero hit a piledriver/powerbomb onto the barricade for a big near fall. Kingston ducked the Death Blow and hit a big German suplex and lariat with the chain for a near fall. Sara Del Rey interfered and Hero hit a low blow and a rolling elbow with the golden elbow pad for another 2. Two spinning backfists by Kingston for two. Diminishing returns set in with the crowd reaction to the near falls. Kingston finally got the pad and hit a rolling elbow for the win in 15:08. Excellent brwal with a somewhat flat finish.

They showed clips of the previous matches between Steen & Generico and the Young Bucks.

4) The Young Bucks defeated Kevin Steen & El Generico. Steen’s hair and beard have both grown out and he acted very serious as the announcers discussed his knee injury. After a good exchange between Generico and Matt Jackson, both tagged out and Steenerico took control shortly after that. Nick Jackson got a hot tag and hit a quick flurry of offense leading to the Bucks isolating Generico. Steen got a hot tag and hit some nice offense. Generico vaulted off Steen’s back for a huge dive. Steen hit a neckbreaker and sold his knee. The Jacksons hit some patented double-team moves. Generico got a hot tag and things got really hectic. Both Jacksons took some big bumps. Steen eventually hit a frog splash for a very close near fall. He later got Nick in a sloppy Sharpshooter and no-sold Matt’s attempt to break it up, but then his knee buckled. The Bucks hit some offense, but Steen still managed to kick out of More Bang For Your Buck. The Bucks hit a series of superkicks, then a dual one with Steen down on a knee for the win at 17:08. Very good match, but I hate that it seemed designed to get over Steen’s toughness more than the Bucks’ win.

Steen got on the mic for his big announcement, but was difficult to hear. He ripped into a heckler. He said that, for a variety of reasons, he’s not the same man he was when they came to ROH. I didn’t specifically hear him say that he’s leaving, but he said a bunch of thank yous that certainly give that impression. He and Generico shared a long hug as the crowd applauded, then he said “I just want to say, I hate your fucking guts” and kicked Generico in the nuts. He then grabbed a chair from ringside and nailed Generico with it as Generico sat on his knees with his hands at his sides. Colt Cabana came out and questioned Steen, and Steen kissed him and left.

The announcers said it was time for intermission and introduced a bonus “classic” match between CM Punk and Spanky from 2005. I didn’t expect to hear Gabe Sapolsky’s voice during this show, but he was announcing the match with Mark Nulty. Early on, the sound from the Manhattan Center was still audible and I believe Bobby Cruise said that Brian Kendrick will be on the next Manhattan show. Brian confirmed this and said that will be the 8th Anniversary Show on February 13th. No problems at all with the stream so far other than some audio glitches, most notably on Sweeney.

Apparently I spoke too soon as they showed the opening 30 seconds or so of a Roderick Strong promo, then it cut out. They showed the site logo as “I Wanna Be Sedated” by the Ramones played. I think the promo was meant to be shown right before the second half started and they just put it on too early. They kept showing the logo with intermittent video and/or audio from the venue in the background.

The second half opened with Prazak and Santamaria (but no Sweeney) at the table discussing the first half. They were joined for the first match by a local radio DJ named Peter Rosenberg. The third mic amazingly still wasn’t working. The complete Strong promo was never shown.

5) Kenny King defeated Roderick Strong. There was some nice back-and-forth technical work early on. King used his athleticism but was overwhelmed by Strong’s power and striking. He hit some chops on the outside, but King turned the tables by hitting a jumping move off the barricade. Roderick eventually fought back and hit some signature moves. They traded forearms and King hit a spinebuster for a two count. There was a series of quick counters and King got another 2. Strong nearly won with a back suplex onto the apron. They went back and forth and King hit the Royal Flush for a near fall. Strong hit a sloppy torture rack backbreaker for two, but then King reversed thew pin position and held the tights for the win to take the #4 spot in the Pick Six, one of the bigger wins of his career. Good match, but far from great and not as good as I was expecting.

6) Rocky Romero defeated Alex Koslov. Looks like Evans and Hart couldn’t make it. Romero cut a promo saying so and that it was good to be back in New York. There was a “We want Teddy” chant. Sweeney returned to his non-functioning microphone. Fast and furious action early on. Romero did a nice counter in the ropes and then hit a dive. Back in the ring, he controlled the match, but Koslov quickly went on the offensive. He did his ridiculous Russian dancing kicks, then cut off a Romero comeback and did his surfboard in the ropes. Romero came back with strikes and mocked Koslov’s dance before doing his own “azucar” dance and hitting a tornado DDT for two. Koslov suckered Romero into falling over the railing, then hit a top rope cross-body to the floor. Back in the ring, they each hit a big kick for two counts. Romero cut Koslov off on the top rope and hit his flying cross armbreaker. The bell suddenly rang, giving Romero the win in 11:20. Koslov didn’t appear to tap and referee Bryce Remsberg didn’t seem to call for the bell. Everyone seemed confused but the decision stood. The match was good, but the crowd didn’t do them any favors and the finish really hurt it.

They aired video highlights of the American Wolves injuring Mark Briscoe’s knee.

7) The Briscoes defeated The American Wolves to win the ROH World Tag Team Championships. After the entrances, Bobby Cruise introduced both teams in the ring. There was a feeling-out period at the start. The Briscoes went on offense first and used submission holds, but Davey Richards managed to tag out before any real damage was done. The teams traded cheap shots to the partners on the apron and the Briscoes hit a couple moves before the Wolves regrouped. The Briscoes went on offense on Eddie Edwards until Richards got a hold of Mark Briscoe and gave him a dragon screw leg whip into the ropes, at which point they went to work on Mark’s knee, but he soon got a hot tag to Jay. He hit a spinebuster on Edwards to re-injure his elbow, perhaps legitimately. Edwards revealed that he was playing possum and the Wolves hit their superkick/German suplex combo for a two count. Edwards showboated as Richards worked over Jay on the outside. Richards tagged in and hit some explosive offense as they isolated Jay. Mark got a hot tag at 14:00 and did his kung-fu routine, then hit a nice dive on both Wolves. Things got hot and heay as Jay recovered and the Briscoes scored a couple near falls. Edwards hit a nice counter from the apron and tagged in, hitting a piggy back stunner for two. Edwards hit a beautiful top rope huracanrana and Richards hit a kick for a near fall. They put on their submission finishers, but the Briscoes countered with small packages. The Wolves hit some big double team moves and Edwards got the achilles lock again, but Jay got to the ropes. They went back and forth and all four men were down at 21:20. Edwards kicked out of a Jay Driller a minute later. He then fell victim to a Doomsday Device to earn the Briscoes their sixth tag title reign at the 22:50 mark. Excellent match.

Claudio Castagnoli came to the ring and talked to the Briscoes as Chris Hero snuck up behind them. Hero hit Jay with an elbow to the back of the head and then they hit their double-team finisher on Mark. The crowd chanted “Kings of Wrestling” as they left. The Briscoes angrily left with the belts.

The lights went out, and when they came back on, Jack Evans, Teddy Hart, and Julius Smokes were in the ring. Hart looks HUGE compared to when we last saw him in ROH. Evans said they missed their match, but he wants a match now with Hart. Hart talked briefly and the match started, but there was no bell or ref. Neither guy had gear on, just pants and sneakers. Evans hit some high-flying moves including a space flying tiger drop. Hart hit some sick power moves. Smokes took on impromptu referee duty. There were some big kick-outs and it was basically just a crazy spotfest. Evans won with the 630 splash in maybe 5-6 minutes. Evans got on the mic again and said that Hart is a huge asshole, but a great wrestler. They seemed to agree to a rematch on a later show, and both put over the fans. Nice moment to make up for the apparent no-shows and to give a bit of a break between the two title matches.

8 ) ROH World Championship: Austin Aries vs. Tyler Black went to a one-hour draw. After the in-ring intros, Aries cut a promo and ripped on the previous “exhibition”. He took advantage of the live PPV by saying hello to some friends, his mom, and Black’s mom, who he said should turn the show off and not see what he’s going to do to her son. Good heat from the crowd.

Black came out hot and controlled the early part of the match. Aries stalled some, but also hit moves here and there to keep Black at bay. In three separate trips to the floor, Black hit a suplex, a moonsault off the guard rail, and a hard Irish whip into the barricade. Getting back into the ring, Aries hit a neckbreaker through the ropes to take control at 9 1/2 minutes. He focused on Black’s leg. Black countered the Power Drive Elbow and hit a neckbreaker of his own. As he made his comeback, the announcers noted that the crowd was split. Black hit a big dive to the floor. Aries got a streamer stuck to him and it got wrapped around both guys as they battled in the ring, which looked cool.

They fought on the top rope and Aries hit a flying DDT to set up the Last Chancery, which Tyler escaped. He cut off Aries’ attempt at an Impact Explosion Dropkick and hit an IED of his own, then a Paroxysm before locking in the Last Chancery. Aries managed to break it 24 minutes in. Black went to the top rope, but Aries shoved him to the floor and hit the Heat Seeking Missile. Black countered an attempted brainbuster and threw Aries into the corner with a Japanese armdrag. He when for the Phoenix Splash, but Aries avoided it and hit some big moves on Black’s leg, then locked in the Figure 4. Black reversed it and Aries reached the ropes around the 28 minute mark.

Aries went to the top rope, and Black kicked him off and he fell through the timekeeper’s table, at which point things took a turn for the worse. Aries sold an injury to his right shoulder which appeared to be legitimate, but like Edwards in the previous match, it turned out that he was playing possum, but only after several minutes of stalling and avoiding Black. He eventually hit a Death Valley Driver on the apron. For the rest of the match, there was a lot of stalling and attempts to get counted out by Aries, and the crowd hated it. At various times, the crowd chanted “We want wrestling”, “This is bullshit”, and “Don’t come back” when they fought to the back.

Black dragged Aries back out and hit an F5 on the ramp. As referee Todd Sinclair’s count approached 20, it became apparent that Black couldn’t get Aries back into the ring, so he ran in at 19 and told Sinclair to not count Aries out. He brought Aries, now bleeding, back to the ring and applied the End Time, which Aries flipped forward to reverse for a near fall. Aries tried to leave by going into the crowd, but Black pulled him off the rail and hit a Buckle Bomb-style throw into the corner of the barricade. He then hit a superkick and rolled Aries into the ring for a near fall.

Black missed the Phoenix Splash and Aries attempted to leave again, but Black caught him and tried to bring him back in a fireman’s carry, but Aries slipped off and gave him a brainbuster on the ramp. A bloodied Black got back to the ring on 19. Aries applied the Last Chancery, then used chokes in the corner and a low blow to try to get disqualified. He and Sinclair argued as the clock passed 51 minutes. He exposed a turnbuckle and drove Black into it twice, then hit the 450 splash, but Black reached the rope. Aries put Black in the Last Chancery, but Black escaped with elbow strikes. Aries used the belt as a weapon and argued with Sinclair more when he wouldn’t DQ him. Black schoolboyed him for two and kicked him in the head when he kicked out. Both men were down.

Both wrestlers got up to their knees and traded slaps to the face and forearm strikes. The sound went down to about 1/10 its previous volume, except for, amazingly, Sweeney, who now sounded normal. They got up and kept trading strikes. Black reversed a brainbuster attempt and got Aries in Cattle Mutilation. He also hit the Danielson elbows. Aries got to the ropes to break the hold and hit a brainbuster for a near fall at 58:20. The announcers’ audio came back, but the general venue mics didn’t. With the clock running out, they had a huge slugfest which culminated in Black hitting God’s Last Gift and Aries improbably kicking out with a few seconds left. Overall, I think it was a great match and I appreciate the attempt to do something different, but the stalling was unlikely to get over in the way it was supposed to and it really hurt the match. Also, obviously, the decision to not put the title on Black is baffling.

After the match, they kept fighting as refs tried to break them up. Aries knocked Paul Turner out with an elbow. Black hit a superkick and a belt shot. Then, the spotlight shined on the crowd as the Briscoes and the Kings of Wrestling fought through the crowd and into the ring. The Briscoes ran the Kings off and the show ended with the three babyfaces in the ring.

Ultimately, it was an excellent show with two great title matches. Most importantly, they did some big creative angles which have been severely lacking during the Pearce regime. The undercard matches were all solid. The sound glitches, particularly Sweeney being more or less MIA, were annoying, but the video quality and consistency were better than I expected. In any event, it’s hard to say that a four-hour live show for $15 isn’t a great value.