ROH Pick Your Poison 4/23/2010

ROH 255 – Pick Your Poison – 23rd April 2010

ROH return to Dayton for the first time since the excellent Final Countdown Tour Dayton event last year. All eyes are on Chicago tomorrow night for the hotly anticipated Chicago Street Fight, so with that said, it is perhaps surprising that the line-up for this event looks solid. It’s called Pick Your Poison for a reason – with the combatants for tomorrow night’s main event getting to pick their opponents for the evening. To that end, Steen and Corino face a tough night with the Briscoes as their opponents. Meanwhile El Generico faces the increasingly unstable Roderick Strong. The main event sees Tyler Black defend his World Title against Kenny King – a man who has been in the Pick 6 Rankings for a long time without claiming a shot. There’s also the American Wolves facing the Dark City Fight Club, Chris Hero defending his Pick 6 Spot and more. We’re in Dayton, OH with Dave Prazak and Joe Dumbrowski – since the budget doesn’t stretch to having Kevin Kelly commentate on house shows yet.

Sami Callihan vs Metal Master
I’m not entirely sure why this match wasn’t clipped off the DVD or shoved onto the pre-show, but I suppose Sami and Metal (Chad Collyer in a ridiculous mask) enjoy a cult following from some segments of the ROH fanbase so there is probably a market for this. Personally I like Sami, but really don’t see what Chad Collyer, crazy gimmick or not, has to offer ROH in 2010.

Callihan, as ever, launches into really stiff strikes. Master shoves him out of the ring to land a tope suicida. Callihan lands a springboard clothesline which cuts Collyer’s celebrations short. More stiff strikes follow, leaving Metal on the canvas, presumably with little birdies flying round his head. Getting back to his feet, he soon finds himself taken out again with a cradle backbreaker from the New Horror. Sami to the top but he misses a flying headbutt, allowing Master to come from the same spot to land a crossbody. Callihan grabs his neck for a wild neckbreaker to put himself in charge again. Despite all the damage he’s sustained, Metal Master grabs the win with a toilet flush pin at 07:15

Rating – ** – Competitive, physical way to start the show. I still don’t really see why this was on the DVD since it was entirely meaningless, but I like Callihan, and Collyer has been in the game long enough to work matches like this with his eyes shut. Easy pay day for both men…

Erick Stevens/Shawn Daivari vs Necro Butcher/Rasche Brown
More action from the feud that will not die. The Embassy and Necro seemingly can’t let it go, and now the war is expending to include more and more people. Daivari, the newest member of The Embassy, teams up with Stevens tonight to face Necro and another man who has found himself tangled up in Nana’s business since he refused to join the stable – Skullkrusher Rasche Brown.

No need to waste time getting into the ring: all four men brawl around ringside instead. In the crowd Stevens takes it to Rasche with a chair, then rushes the ring to expose Necro’s leg to an assault from Daivari. Brown tries to help his partner and staggers into the Choo Choo from a charging Stevens. Having injured Necro, they toss him to the floor and start working on Brown, exposing some injured ribs and attacking them without mercy. Butcher fights back in to hit a back drop driver on Erick, followed by a cannonball senton off the apron. Plastic bag choking on Daivari next, before he dives off the guardrail for an ugly landing on top of Stevens who has crawled off into the crowd. Out there the Floridian goes after Necro’s knee again, smashing it with a steel chair to incapacitate him. In the ring Brown goes for the Rolling Spear only for Shawn to drive him ribs-first into the turnbuckles. Rolling Spear second time around wins it for Skullkrusher at 06:05

Rating – * – Some of the chaotic elements in this were fun, but it’s just such a tired formula by now. There is nothing that Necro Butcher and a combination of guys from The Embassy can do that I haven’t seen before. No disrespect to Stevens and Daivari, who are hard workers, but they’re not in the same league as guys like Jimmy Rave, Joey Ryan or even Bison Smith. They’re definitely not the guys to get a good match out of Necro and Skullkrusher. I genuinely believe the only reason for the longevity of this feud is that Adam Pearce has no clue what else to do else do with Necro Butcher or Prince Nana’s guys.

Necro tries to put Nana through some chairs only for Stevens to clip his bad knee. POWERBOMB THROUGH BACK TO BACK CHAIRS by The Embassy. Horrifying landing for Necro there…

Chris Hero (3) vs Petey Williams – Pick 6 Series Match
After spending some time in the Pick 6, and having a title petition rejected last month – Chris Hero has now moved into a position to challenge for the ROH World Championship. His huge Tag Title victory at The Big Bang (achieved despite having a back injury) was considered the decisive factor in his getting to challenge Tyler Black tomorrow night. For tonight he defends his #3 spot in the Pick 6 against Williams.

The crowd is evenly split with duelling chants throughout a hotly contested opening two minutes. Hero goes for an elbow only for Petey to wisely sidestep and deliver a chop. They go back to the mat for more back and forth chain-wrestling exchanges – Williams largely controlling things and looking to keep Chris grounded and unable to land any elbow smashes. The pace quickens, and once again it’s Petey with the edge as he lands headscissors takedowns from a variety of positions. But to do that he has to let Hero off the mat – something Chris uses to his advantage with a powerslam then a sliding kick to the head for 2. He then tips the Canadian out of the ring and into the clutches of Shane Hagadorn who lays in a few cheap shots behind the referee’s back. Williams is out on his feet, propped up against the ropes as Hero peppers him with chops and elbows. Ligerbomb attempted…but Petey counters with a DDT which leaves both men on the mat as we cross 10 minutes. Flash Kick misses, allowing Williams to counter with a swinging neckbreaker for 2. Canadian Destroyer COUNTERED with a Saito suplex and a running elbow smash. Rolling Elbow misses and Chris goes to the floor, into range for Williams to hit the slingshot rana to the outside. Destroyer blocke again, this time with Hero muscling Petey up for the Ligerbomb. Williams battles back to his feet and hits the Canadian Legsweep for 2. ROLLING ELBOW from nowhere floors him though. CANADIAN DESTROYER NAILED! Hagadorn pulls the referee out of the ring meaning he doesn’t count the pinfall…and Williams is pissed. He wipes Shane out with a pescado, then gets BATTERED with an elbow to the back of the head by Hero. ROARING ELBOW! STRETCH PLUM! Hero takes the victory at 16:52

Rating – *** – Petey’s last two matches (the TV Title Match with Eddie Edwards and this one) have arguably been his best ROH matches ever, so it’s a bit odd that it was after these performances that he was phased out of Ring Of Honor. At times this was desperately slow, but the story they told – with Petey having to change his game and avoid the big strikes of Chris Hero – was a good one. I particularly liked the neat twist at the end of the match where, after having watched Petey evade Hero’s elbows all match all of a sudden it was Hero in the defensive ‘duck and cover’ role, continually having to escape the Canadian Destroyer.

Dark City Fight Club vs American Wolves
Recently the DCFC scored a bit of a shock win over the Wolves on HDNet. They’re a physically impressive, dominant team of course, but to date they’ve struggled to transmit their powerful performances against the lesser teams into wins when they get in with the ‘big fish’ of the ROH tag team pond (Briscoes, Young Bucks etc). They finally did that with the HDNet win over Richards and Edwards, compounding a miserable 2010 in tag team action for the Wolves. Can they get their win back and at last get some momentum going as a team for the first time since losing the belts.

Huge babyface reaction for the Wolves again. Say what you want about Adam Pearce’s run as booker, but he has taken Richards and Edwards from the midcard and turn them into legit draws for ROH. Davey starts and tries to use his strikes to dominate Davis…before Jon sends him flying out of the ring with a big shoulder tackle. Rainman and Edwards in next with Kory easily overpowering the TV Champion to put his team in charge. Richards in to work a Strykerlock on Chavis, but once again the power of DCFC gives them the advantage as Chavis hits a big suplex on Richards before bringing Davis back in. Edwards sensibly sweeps his legs, enabling Richards to blast him in the mouth with a missile dropkick. Unable to overpower DCFC, the Wolves start using their impressive and fluid teamwork to work Davis over…then as soon as they rest on their laurels and Davey tries to start using his kicks Davis totally manhandles him with a powerslam and gets the vital tag back to Chavis. Leg drop/backbreaker combo gets on a battle-weary Davey Richards. He tries kicking Kory and is thrown into the lights with a sit-out powerbomb. Credit to Richards as he keeps going, blasting both DCFC members with another volley of kicks before making the hot tag to Edwards…who dives out of the ring into a tope suicida on Davis. HUGE missile dropkick on Rainman next. Die Hard is blocked but he floors Davis with a superkick anyway. He gets a nearfall after flattening Chavis with a quebrada but hasn’t done enough damage to apply the Achilles Lock. TORNADO DDT ON THE FLOOR BY DAVEY! That kills Davis, then Richards hops onto the apron to dragon screw Chavis’ leg in the ropes. ACHILLES LOCK! Davis is up, and he throws Richards into the crowd. RACK BOMB BREAKS THE ACHILES LOCK! HART ATTACK LEG DROP gets 2! Richards returns from the front row to attack Davis again – this time with a Handspring Enzi – but then gets floored by Chavis. Edwards chins Kory…POOOUUUUUUUNCE FROM DAVIS! He and Eddie come up swinging…TOTAL ELIMINATION gets 2 on Edwards before Davey saves. DCFC set up for Project Mayhem but Davey SAVES WITH A GERMAN SUPLEX! DOUBLE ALARM CLOCK! ACHILLES LOCK ON DAVIS! He tries to fight…FLYING HEADBUTT BY RICHARDS! Davis down, and the Wolves win at 16:40

Rating – **** – These two matches with the American Wolves have saved DCFC’s ROH careers. They’ve missed some bookings, and looked like possibly being phased out of ROH. But they have gone back to what made them such an impressive proposition when they debuted at Proving Ground 2009 weekend and put on two real show stoppers with Richards and Edwards. When they dominate matches using big power moves (rather than slow, monotonous, plodding ‘brawling’) they are totally unique and provide a fun alternative to a lot of the other ‘high spot’ orientated teams on the Ring Of Honor roster. They were going the way of Brent Albright, Sonjay Dutt and Jimmy Rave and looking like losing their spot…but if they can put on more matches like this they’ll be going nowhere. I’ve deliberately chosen to spend much of this paragraph talking about DCFC because I don’t really have anymore superlatives with which to describe the Wolves. They were the best thing about ROH in 2009, and with Davey now fully committed to ROH, Pearce has wasted little time pushing the Wolves back to the forefront of Ring Of Honor’s product for 2010 too.

Josh Raymond/Christin Able vs Austin Aries/Rhett Titus
HoT’s stock is rising in ROH. This week they made their HDNet debut in an impressive but losing effort against the Briscoes. Now they return to Dayton with a real opportunity to make a major impact by defeating Rhett Titus and the former ROH Champion Austin Aries. Although they have been working together for some time, and although A-Double is a former ROH Tag Champion, Raymond and Able have the edge as far as experience as a team goes and a win here would be a major accomplishment for them. In the Newswire coming into this event Aries got into a huge argument with Kenny King about his loss at The Big Bang, demonstrating that Austin is in a minor slump after losing the World Championship. Can he hold it together and lead his other protégé to victory here?

Rhett’s excitement at wearing an almost matching black furry vest to Austin Aries really makes me laugh. House Of Truth try to cheap shot Aries and Titus to start, but that’s nothing A-Double and Rhett haven’t tried themselves so they see it coming. They then try to jump HoT in return, but find that blocked too. Aries starts with Able, working a methodical pace which suits him down to the ground.  Rhett and Josh in next, quickly joined by Truth Martini for a big argument as to who pulled who’s hair. Martini ends up tripping Titus from the outside to give his team the advantage. Raymond and Able attack Rhett’s leg…until Aries pulls a Truth Martini and trips Josh Raymond from the floor. Titus hits a couple of big knee strikes which take Raymond down for a nearfall. DOUBLE SEXY SUPLEX from A-Double and Rhettski. Once again Truth gets involved, distracting Titus and enabling Raymond to deliver a flying kick to the face. Double dropkick combo bashes Titus’ skull as he hangs in the ropes and now it’s House Of Truth in total control. Titus does inevitably get a hot tag, bringing Aries in to take it to both opponents. He then orders Rhett to hold Raymond over his knees to recreate an old Aries/Strong spot – hitting a slingshot twisting elbow drop as Titus holds the opponent prone. Team Aries isolate Raymond from his partner for a time, but a miscommunication allows Josh to get the tag to Able. Christin gets a 2-count with a slingshot DDT on Aries. Raymond to the top rope for the SPIRAL TAP! Aries saves with the Kick Of Death on Able…who then blocks the IED. Truth Martini inexplicably comes in for a Bronco Buster on Titus but misses. IED connects with Christin’s face this time…but more miscommunication leads to Aries accidentally hitting the BRAINBUSTER on his own partner! DOUBLE STOMP FACECRUSHER ON TITUS! House Of Truth score a huge win at 18:19

Rating – *** – This went on far too long for a heel vs heel match, became increasingly sloppy as they went along, and after all the excitement of Wolves/DCFC, the crowd was very quiet. However, the comedy moments were legitimately funny, some of the work was good and the decision to put House Of Truth over was a brave but correct booking decision. After arguing with King in the Video Wire, having Aries inadvertently cause his other student to lose their match was a really clever idea, gives HoT the rub and adds genuine interest in seeing where a post-ROH Title A-Double goes next…

Truth and his men celebrate as Aries berates Rhett for their loss. He walks out on Titus to resounding boos from the Dayton crowd…

Roderick Strong vs El Generico
This is the first ‘Pick Your Poison’ match of the evening. Essentially, in exchange for agreeing to be booked in the Street Fight tomorrow, Corino and Steen wanted to book Generico’s opponent tonight. Jim Cornette agreed to the stipulation where both teams get to pick opponents for the other. Colt Cabana isn’t on this show, but Steen and Corino have sensibly chosen Strong as Generico’s opponent. I say wisely because the ‘enforcer’ position, doing damage to an opponent ahead of a big match, was the role Roddy played for Generation Next, frequently softening up opponents for Austin Aries during his first reign as ROH Champion. Tonight his job is to soften up El Generico, with plenty at stake for him too since he needs wins to get back into the hunt for Tyler Black and the World Title.

Generico appears to have new theme music, much loser to the Bouncing Souls song he used to have which adds so much energy to his entrance. The start to the match is fairly slow with Generico clearly trying to avoid getting into Strong’s range for any chops or backbreakers. The luchador seems very on his game, and at the 4 minute mark has successfully avoided all of Roderick’s trademark offence. But he gets sloppy, delivers a chop to Strong then turns around to celebrate. HUGE CHOP by Strong! He capitalises on his opponent’s mistake and delivers a painful flurry of chops, then a brainbuster-like suplex for 2. Camel clutch applied next as he looks to start doing damage to Generico’s back. Argentine backbreaker gets another nearfall, then Roddy goes back to the simple stuff by pinning him in the corner and delivering repeated shoulder blocks to the small of the back. He is being super aggressive here, but maintains his cool and as Generico looks to rattle off his trademark combo of armdrags Strong is able to counter the lucha variant to hit a big powerslam and plant him on that bad back again. The match spills out of the ring which doesn’t look to be in Generico’s favour as Roderick scoops him up for a GUARDRAIL BACKBREAKER! That’s not enough to win the match but El Generico is really suffering. Strong drags him back into the ring and starts wearing him down with abdominal stretches and bodyscissors’. Even when Generico is able to fight back to a vertical base Strong quickly floors him again with a horrifically violent dropkick. Back comes Generico again, somehow absorbing the chops this time to send Roddy outside and hit a RUNNING SWANTON UP THE AISLE! Flying crossbody back inside gets 2, as does the Blue Thunder Driver. Rope run tornado DDT COUNTERED TO DEATH BY RODERICK! SICK KICK…COUNTERED WITH THE MICHINOKU DRIVER! Both men down and struggling back to their feet. Yakuza Kick blocked and Roderick rolls Generico into a cradle backbreaker, going to the injury to halt the masked man’s momentum. STRONGHOLD! He makes the ropes but walks straight into a pop-up gutbuster. YAKUZA KICK! BRAINBUSTER…COUNTERED TO DEATH BY F*CKING RODERICK FOR 2! That was crazy! Generico hits another Yakuza Kick then scales the ropes…SOMERSAULT VAN TERMINATOR NAILED! He thinks about the Turnbuckle Brainbuster but Roddy tosses him away. FLYING SICK KICK GETS 2! GIBSON DRIVER! SICK KICK AGAIN! Strong wins at 18:52

Rating – **** – Exciting match, made even better by a red hot Dayton crowd. It told the story you’d expect it to – Strong destroying the back, Generico defying the odds to hit some crazy spots. But, what made it special was Strong’s performance, and more specifically, his aggression. His chops were horrific, his elbows were brutal and the way he tossed Generico around like a child was frightening. Everyone knows how much of a fan I’ve been of Strong since September 2009 when the established main event talent left. The way he’s stepped up his game has been impressive, the way he’s exploded back into the main event picture has been enjoyable, and his consistent reliability when it comes to delivering great matches on every show is such an asset to Ring Of Honor at a time when their roster is potentially as thin as it’s been in years (even with Daniels back). He needed the win after taking the first elimination at The Big Bang, he still has a singles date with Tyler Black at some point in the future, and needed an emphatic victory to undermine his continued threat to the World Championship. El Generico is as popular and sympathetic a babyface as ROH has ever had, and his weekend is all about tomorrow night’s main event. Can he come back from this defeat and the injuries he’s suffered to fight Kevin Steen and Steve Corino in Chicago?

Dayton gives that match a standing ovation and a ‘thank you both’ chant…before Corino and Steen barrel into the ring to compound Generico’s misery by attacking him. Without Cabana in the building to help they want to beat him so badly he can’t make it to Chicago…but the Briscoes come out to save

Kevin Steen/Steve Corino vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe
This would be the second ‘Pick Your Poison’ encounter. It makes perfect sense that Generico would choose the Briscoes to face Steen and Corino here. They are arguably the best team in ROH history, the most prolific ROH Tag Champions of all time – and after the epic Steen-erico/Briscoes feud of 2007, he knows how effective they can be at beating up Kevin Steen. Much as with Roderick Strong, the Briscoes also badly need a win here to rebound from their disappointing loss at The Big Bang on internet pay-per-view.

The match starts with all four guys fist fighting around ringside. Mark and Corino spill into the crowd, with Steen quickly following to beat on Jay with a shoe stolen from a nearby fan. He then hilariously throws the same shoe way off into the distance, leaving the guy standing in one sock looking sad. On the other side of the building Mark no sells a chair shot from Corino to redneck karate his ass. The Briscoes set up a pile of chairs…then grab Steen for a BRISCOE BIEL THROUGH THE STACK! He literally has to pick bits of broken chair out of his body as the Briscoes take Corino to the ring where they are safe to enjoy the numbers advantage. That lasts for several minutes until Kevin makes it back to ringside and powerbombs Mark into the apron. Now it’s the heel team in charge, emphasising their evil ways by attacking the knee which caused Mark to sit out the first half of 2009 through injury. Corino smashes it against the ringpost leaving him barely able to stand. Steen then sits down on top of him, making him carry all his body weight as he desperately struggles towards his corner and the outstretched arm of brother Jay. He then adds some illicit additional leverage to a Figure 4 from Corino. Finally Mark escapes and drops Steve with a wild enziguri kick then at last gets the hot tag to Jay. He trades shots with Steen then lays him out with a spinebuster for 2. Thanks to some Corino intervention Mr Wrestling gets a nearfall right back with the pumphandle cradlebreaker. Enziguri into the Colby Shock for another 2. Then Steve grabs Jay’s tights for a cheap win at 17:43

Rating – *** – The brawl segment at the start of the match was really fun, as was the great heel work during the babyface in peril section…but a weak final third really let this one down. Horrible finish which really deflated everyone really compounded that, but honestly I felt they’d lost their way even before that. You’d have to say that after the Pick Your Poison matches tonight it’s advantage Steen and Corino going into the Chicago Street Fight tomorrow.

In the locker room Kenny King says he’s been training hard and will do whatever it takes to go home with the ROH World Championship tonight.

Tyler Black vs Kenny King – ROH World Title Match
King has been in the Pick 6 rankings for some time, but thus far has always held off challenging for the belt since it was his mentor Austin Aries in possession of it. As much as it sucks for his friend that Black is now champion, it opens a window of opportunity for him as he cashes in that Pick 6 spot for a shot at the gold this evening. It’s a big weekend for Tyler, who has back to back defences to negotiate. His ROH career is notoriously littered with occasions when he ‘choked’ in the big match. Now he’s champion every match is a big one – and as hard as he fought to become ROH Champion, things now get even harder for him to stay at the top.

Lots of boos for Tyler Black tonight. He gets the better of Kenny in the opening couple of minutes, forcing the challenger to take a powder on the floor and reconsider his strategy. As athletic as King is, he’s not quicker than Tyler, so when he comes back in and tries to increase the pace he soon finds himself dumped to the mat and trapped in Black’s holds once again. Needing a foothold in the match Kenny goes after the arm with a series of armdrags and knee strikes. No real success with that but it evens things up a little, and when King is able to block that viper-like kick Black delivers from the canvas in most matches both men pop up looking and fresh and ready to go at it again. A slower pace seems to suit King as it allows him to methodically stalk Tyler, pummelling him with physical strikes and body shots. He successfully lands a back flip, but takes too much time celebrating it and eats a dropkick to the face as a result. God’s Last Gift attempted…only for King to come close to snatching a huge upset when he counters with a small package for 2. To the floor where King delivers a body slam then hits a springboard leg drop from the guardrail. He repeatedly smashes the back of Tyler’s head against the barricades, looking to re-injure the neck Black had problems with in late 2009. Tyler tries a quebrada which ends up being a horrible mistake as he soars into King’s knees, injuring his ribs in the process. Kenny capitalises immediately with a bodyscissors, and shows some great psychology by pulling on the chin to make sure he’s still going after the neck he hurt earlier too. Black crotches King on the ropes…so King SLAPS HIM IN THE MOUTH!

Superkick sends Kenny tumbling out of the ring, but he’s not injured enough and springs back to the apron to deliver an enzi kick as Black looks for an elbow suicida. Springboard move attempted by King and this time it’s Tyler’s turn to counter – with a dropkick to the chest. He’s slow to recover, and when Kenny tries to get the knees up on another quebrada attempt, Tyler sees it coming, lands on his feet, pushes the knees away then hits the BLACK STAR PRESS! Peroxism countered…King’s rope jump guillotine blocked. BLACK POWERSLAMS HIM OVER THE TOP ROPE! SOMERSAULT PLANCHA TO THE FLOOR! Black readies himself in the corner…and runs straight into the SHOTGUN KNEES for 2! Coronation blocked so King delivers the capoeira kick and a spinebuster instead. Both men are tiring, and wearily trade elbow strikes before Black musters up some reserves to jump into the Pele kick. GOD’S LAST GIFT! KING KICKS OUT! Tyler takes too long setting up for the Phoenix Splash and is caught on the top rope with a flying enzi kick. Springboard lariat…COUNTERED TO THE ROYAL FLUSH…COUNTERED TO A DDT BY TYLER! The champion positions Kenny in a tree of woe…TREE OF WOE DOUBLE STOMP NAILED! Peroxism scores too but its still not enough to put King away. Phoenix Splash misses. SHOTGUN KNEES COUNTERED TO THE BUCKLE BOMB! SUPERKICK BLOCKED! CORKSCREW ENZI BY KING! LARIATOOOOO! Springboard blockbuster gets the challenger a nearfall…CORONATION! FOR 2! He’s won a few matches with the avalanche Royal Flush recently and appears to set up for that again. Tyler blocks that…ROPE RUN SUPERPLEX! ROLLED INTO GOD’S LAST GIFT! KENNY KICKS OUT AGAIN! But King has nothing left…SUPERKICK! Tyler retains at 25:36

Rating – **** – They started slowly, but this kept getting better and better. Some of the counter wrestling these guys were busting out was unreal, and by the end it had built up into a total showstealer. Kenny looked very uncertain at main event level early on, but given a generous 25+ minute time allowance, he just grew into this match, maturing into the legitimate future main event star we’ve all had him pegged as for some time. I’m not sure people were expecting much from this. It was a tough spot in that everybody knew Black wasn’t losing here…and wasn’t even the biggest ROH Title Match of the weekend. The crowd seemed desperate to sh*t on both of them by booing them heavily too – to that end the pretty mediocre first 5 minutes really didn’t help. Undeterred, these guys put on a bit of a hidden classic here. After the great matches with Davey Richards and Jerry Lynn, Kenny King continued his breakout 2010 with a sterling effort, whilst Tyler Black proved he could do what all the great ROH Champions of the past (I’m talking Joe, Danielson, Punk, Nigel, Morishima etc) have done – elevate midcard guys and turn ‘run of the mill’ B-show title defences into GREAT matches that shift DVD’s. Ton of credit to both for this excellent main event.

Tape Rating – *** – For the second time in a row ROH rolls to Dayton and puts on a really underrated little show. The start wasn’t the best but everything from Hero/Petey onwards was really fun to watch. Nothing reached MOTYC (or even must-see) levels of greatness, but there are plenty of solid matches and in Wolves/DCFC, Strong/Generico and Black/King there are three strong 4*-level matches that I think the completists will really dig.

Top 3 Matches
3) Roderick Strong vs El Generico (****)
2) American Wolves vs Dark City Fight Club (****)
1) Tyler Black vs Kenny King (****)