Pro Wrestling Chronicle

The live webcast of the evnt is being shown on www.gofightlive.tv. Dave Prazak and Joe Dombrowski provide the play-by-play.

Cheech & Cloudy were introduced for the opening match, but El Generico was in the ring and called out Kevin Steen. Despite Steve Corino’s wishes, Steen agreed to have their match right away.

1) Kevin Steen defeated El Generico. Outstanding opener saw Steen get the dubious victory in about 18 minutes. Generico placed Steen on the top turnbuckle for a turnbuckle brainbuster, but Steen bit his hand and then pulled out a wrench from the ring post and hit Generico with it, then hit a fishermans buster off the ropes for the win.

They aired a video package with various ROH personalities predicting a winner for the main event.

2) The All Night Express (Rhett Titus & Kenny King) defeated Up in Smoke (Cheech & Cloudy). I missed the end of the match due to technical difficulties (mine, not theirs). What I saw was good. Result courtesy of the ROH forum.

During the tag match, the announcers mentioned that the Briscoes were having immigration difficulties, but were expected to get to the venue during the show.

3) Delirious defeated Austin Aries by disqualification. Titus & King were barred from ringside before the match started. Delirious wore his red and black gear and blew black mist in Aries’ face at the start. Titus & King came back out and interfered to prevent Delirious from hitting Shadows Over Hell and Aries was DQed after about 12 minutes of good action. Delirious got the better of them in the ensuing scuffle.

Another Kyle Durden video package aired to hype the main event, this time with fans predicting the title match winner.

4) Roderick Strong won the Second Annual Toronto Gauntlet
4a) Tyson Dux defeated Eddie Edwards. The stream failed during this match (their fault this time), so I missed the bulk of it. Dux reversed an Achilles Lock and won with a small package in 11 minutes.
4b) Shawn Daivari defeated Tyson Dux. Daivari immediately went after the leg that Edwards had damaged. Dux made a good effort but Daivari won in five minutes due to Prince Nana grabbing Dux’s leg on a suplex.
4c) Colt Cabana defeated Shawn Daivari. Cabana won very quickly with the Billy Goat’s Curse.
4d) Colt Cabana defeated Steve Corino. Cabana countered Corino’s sliding lariat with a crucifix pin in about five minutes.
4e) Roderick Strong defeated Colt Cabana. Strong went to the outside with an ankle injury; it wasn’t clear if this was meant to be “real” or if he was faking. As ref Todd Sinclair tended to him at ringside, Truth Martini hit Cabana with his Book of Truth and Strong immediately pinned him. The announcers questioned whether Strong knew that Martini interfered, but I don’t know why else he would think Cabana was suddenly knocked out.

The announcers were shown on camera and discussed the first half and mentioned that the Briscoes had still not arrived at the venue. They sent it to intermission, which featured more of the hype videos for the show.

They came back live during intermission (the house lights were still on) and Generico & Cabana and Steen & Corino brawled into the ring. It ended with Generico choking Steen with Bobby Cruise’s tie a la Daniel Bryan. The announcers marveled at the brutality and Dave Prazak shouted “He should be fired!”

They showed a couple more videos, then the rest of intermission was just a live hard camera shot of the venue with the GFL logo. It would have been nice to show a taped dark match or two as Brian Streleckis suggested during our preview of the show on BS With Honor.

Jim Cornette came out to open the second half. He discussed the history of pro wrestling in Toronto and thanked the fans. He kept it brief and hyped the second half.

5) Christopher Daniels defeated Kenny Omega. For those wondering, Daniels’ entrance attire was halfway between the Fallen Angel and “Your table is ready.” There were a lot of big moves and near falls late, but they didn’t over-do it. Daniels won cleanly with the Best Moonsault Ever to remain #2 in the Pick Six rankings. Very good match, maybe slightly below the opener for best of the night so far.

The announcers said that the Briscoes had still not arrived, and that something had to be done about the tag title match, which was scheduled to be next. The Kings of Wrestling made their entrance. Bobby Cruise announced that the Briscoes had not arrived. Dombrowski was made and said he felt sorry for the Briscoes. What about the viewers who paid (in part) to see this match? Claudio Castagnoli got on the mic and thanked Canada for not letting the Briscoes in. Hero cut a promo as well. As he was talking, the Briscoes stormed the ring and the match began under No Disqualification rules.

6) The Kings of Wrestling defeated the Briscoes to retain the ROH World Tag Team Championships. Excellent match. All four men bled, and Claudio was the only one who didn’t sport a full crimson mask. It was a really wild and intense brawl without being overly spotty. Jay was taken out of the match for a while due to the Kings tying him up to the ring post by the neck. Claudio went through a table in the corner late. Hero hit Jay with a loaded elbow but Jay kicked out of the pin. The Kings finally won with Hero hitting a dropkick with the loaded elbow pad on his foot as Claudio did a giant swing.

7) Tyler Black defeated Davey Richards to retain the ROH World Championship. Absolutely incredible match. Jim Cornette sat in on commentary and did an excellent job. The crowd was dominantly in favor of Richards. The match itself had too many highlights to list. They worked at a pace and intensity early on that seemed like they couldn’t possibly go long, but the match was 35 minutes with only one slow period in the middle as they recovered from a few big spots on the outside. During this period, Shane Hagadorn came out with a chair, but Richards sent him back to the locker room and then Black hit him with a superkick as he was holding the chair. Ultimately, Black won with the Buckle Bomb, superkick, and God’s Last Gift modified with a wrist clutch. The crowd chanted “match of the year” several times and was generally going crazy.

After the match, Richards was either selling really well or was legitimately shaken up. Adam Pearce and Eddie Edwards both assisted him. He took the microphone and got in Black’s face, and simply said “Now you’re a champ.” Black cut a short promo of his own to close the show.

Very good show overall.