Mathieson's ROH Motor City Madness 2009 DVD review: Kevin Steen and El Generico vs. The American Wolves for the ROH Tag Titles, Nigel McGuinness vs. Jay Briscoe, Jerry Lynn vs. Tyler Black
Mar 29, 2009 - 11:25 AM |
Spoiler-Free Recommendation
Definitely buy this show if you want to see some quality wrestling. It's not a major newsworthy show, since it was basically the final hype show for Caged Collision, but there was some real great wrestling here. And, surprisingly, some pretty good comedy from unexpected sources. Only one match on the show was a clunker, and it was one of the two you could pretty much tell going in would be a clunker. The other really exceeded my expectations. Again, if you want to see some good wrestling, this show is a must buy. If you just want to see big storyline advancement, then this show could probably be skipped, but you'd be missing out on three fantastic matches..
ROH Motor City Madness 2009
January 30, 2009 in Detroit, Mich.
The show opened with Jay Briscoe wondering why everybody was saying he had no track record as a singles wrestler. He pointed out that he had been in ROH from the very beginning, when his brother Mark was still 17 and couldn't wrestle yet, meaning Jay had to wrestle singles matches for a whole year. He also pointed out that Mark gets hurt a lot, saying that he's had singles matches, and won lots of them, since 2002. He asked for a title shot, and said that after he won tonight, Nigel would have to man up and give him a title shot.
Joe's Judgment: Solid promo that addressed the gaps in logic in the "Can Jay Briscoe make it as a singles wrestler while Mark is out?" mini-storyline.
Rhett Titus made his entrance for the opening match. He did his usual gyrations and interactions with the fans, including throwing a streamer back into the crowd. Nice.
Bryan Danielson (seriously) came out next. He did his typical "Final Countdown" entrance. The crowd started chanting "Best in the World" at Danielson, and "You're gonna get your f------ head kicked in" at Titus. Danielson offered a handshake, and Titus acted like he was going to shake, but then pulled his hand back with an exaggerated grin to some boos.
1. Bryan Danielson defeated Rhett Titus in 12:50. Titus played to the crowd for a while at the start, gyrating and thrusting. The crowd took the opportunity to remind Rhett of his lack of sexual experience. Danielson started out with a leg hold and Titus reached the ropes. Titus then went into an armbar, and with Danielson's arm between Titus' legs pointing upward, ran his hands upward along Danielson's arm. Just picture it in your head. Danielson asked Paul Turner if Titus was allowed to do that. Turner said that he didn't see anything illegal.
The announcers pointed out that Titus was in outstanding physical condition, and that Bison Smith was as well. They recapped Bison's brief history in ROH. Without spoiling too much for anybody who doesn't like to read ROH spoilers for whatever reason, this seems like less of an odd topic of discussion given the events of the following night. Danielson locked in an armbar and stepped over Titus' arm, but as Lenny Leonard put it, "did not emulate the maneuverings of one Rhett Titus." Titus tried to go for Danielson's surfboard, leaned back twice, started pelvic thrusting the third time, fell off the surfboard, and got kicked in the sternum. Danielson kicked Titus in the thigh, and Turner warned Dragon about low blows. Nice touch of realism. Titus told him to keep it "above the belt, brother."
At 7:40, Danielson went for the surfboard, but changed it into a bodyscissors. Titus got to the ropes, and Danielson kneed him in the gut. Titus acted like it was a low blow, and Turner warned Danielson again. Titus applied a submission in the ropes, broke the hold at four, and reminded the referee that he has until five to a chorus of boos. He then proceeded to do the same thing again, and then go for a headlock. Danielson ran off the ropes and went for a backslide but Titus turned it into a neckbreaker. Nice counter. They traded several covers, none of them long enough for a count. Titus Irish whipped Danielson into the corner, where he ran up the ropes and flipped behind Titus. He went for a submission but Rhett escaped. Finally, Danielson started gyrating a la Titus. The crowd popped huge and Dave Prazak expressed his distaste.
At 10:30, Danielson caught Titus with another knee strike to the midsection. Titus again acted like it caught him below the belt, but Turner was having none of it. Rhett begged him for the call, and Danielson kicked him in the back. Rhett fell forward and hit Turner below the belt. Danielson apologised to Turner as Titus collected himself on the floor. Danielson hit a suicide dive out to the floor and then a missile dropkick onto the floor. Danielson went for a running something or other in the corner and ran into a boot from Titus. Titus hit a Rocker Dropper for a nearfall, then went for the Rude Awakening, but Danielson countered into his trademark elbow strikes, and finally Cattle Mutilation for the submission victory.
Joe's Judgment: Really fun match. Titus looked like a star by hanging in there with Danielson. He definitey has "it" and I can't wait for him to become a true star. Comparisons to Stevie Richards are not unfounded. Nice to see Danielson having fun in an ROH ring. From what I've seen of him in other promotions (PWG mainly), he has a good sense of humor and could be a great comedy character if he wasn't such a fantastic wrestler. The crowd looks really hot tonight, but maybe it's just for Danielson.
Austin Aries entered. His new music is perfect for his new character...
And speaking of music, out comes Silas Young to "Don't Stop Believing." Aries grabs the mic and tells the production team to turn the music off. Aries says that it's not about the fans clapping their hands and banging on the guardrails. This, of course, prompts the fans to clap their hands and bang on the guardrails. Aries says that it's also not about them throwing $20 bills in the ring. The crowd tells Aries to shut the f--- up and Aries tells them to watch their language, since there were children there. Aries said that he and Silas had started at about the same time in the business, and he couldn't help but notice the difference between where they were both at in their careers. He said that it was because Silas picked a song that the people could clap to, because Silas gave a damn about the fans. Aries said that the fans didn't give a damn about Silas. He said that Silas had a good business as a personal trainer, he just got married and had a newborn baby. He asked why Silas was there in Detroit working the second match of the night and trying to make a name for himself in ROH. He said that none of the people in the crowd would take care of Silas' family or give them money if he got hurt tonight. Aries said that he would take very good care of Silas' wife and his baby. Silas punched Aries and the match started.
Joe's Judgment: Great job by Aries. He is absolutely gold in his new character. This promo was especially good because he captured a bit of the truth about Silas in it. Most ROH fans have no idea who he is beyond his entrance music. This wasn't a five-star promo, but it was solid and followed the classic rule about taking something grounded in truth and exaggerating it.
2. Austin Aries defeated Silas Young in 6:10. Silas dominated the early moments of the match before going for a dropkick and missing. Aries asked the crowd if they wanted him to kick Silas in the back, then missed intentionally, telling the crowd that he doesn't give a damn what they think. Silas hit a really nice-looking Northern Lights suplex and yelled at Aries about talking about people's families. Silas got a nearfall and then hit a Samoan drop and tried to go for the headstand into a moonsault, but Aries slid outside the ring and tripped him up.
At 3:30, Aries went for a cover after a slingshot into the bottom rope while Silas was lying under said bottom rope. Isn't it an automatic break if the wrestler is in the ropes? The fans chanted for Aries and he told them to shut up. He asked the fans if they wanted to see the powerdrive elbow. They said they didn't, so of course Aries hit it. He went for a cover, doing pushups on Silas' chest. Prazak called it multitasking. Aries went for the brainbuster but Silas blocked it. Some good, quick, back and forth action followed, capped off by a crossbody off the ropes by Silas. Silas blocked a second brainbuster attempt, tried a Celtic Cross, and Aries blocked that.
About two minutes later, Silas hit the Celtic Cross and went for the headstand moonsault, but Aries got his knees up. The move still looked cool. Aries hit the brainbuster and then got the submission victory via the Last Chancery.
Joe's Judgment: I do like how they're matching up their superstars with guys who they wouldn't usually face. That said, Young didn't look nearly as strong here as Titus did, which is understandable considering that Young doesn't have nearly as much natural charisma as Titus. He was still looking very crisp in the opening couple of minutes especially. Aries was great, of course.
Kyle Durden was backstage with Claudio Castagnoli.. Durden said that Claudio had started out 2009 with a bang by challenging Kevin Steen and Brent Albright. Claudio asked Durden's opinion of Albright. Durden said that Albright was kind of intimidating. Claudio said that Durden found him intimidating because Albright was a typical high school bully who started playing football, then settled down, got a family, and joined ROH. He said that he was wrestling all over the world, and that he was the most successful wrestler in ROH and that Albright wasn't intimidating to him. He said he would take care of Albright the European way. For whatever reason he didn't say he was "very European.."
3. Brodie Lee (w/ Jimmy Jacobs) vs. Necro Butcher ended in a double countout in 5:30. Brodie came out to the Age of the Fall theme. The two exchanged punches and the occasional other strike (headbutts, chops, kicks). At 2:00, Necro tossed Brodie to ringside and hit his trademark flipping senton off the apron. He ripped the barricade off the guardrail. Necro hit Brodie with a chair and pulled up the mats. He tried to do some sort of a powerbomb or piledriver, but Brodie backdropped him onto the floor. The action went over the guardrail into Section C (I know because Necro hit Brodie with the sign that said Section C).
They threw chairs at each other that collided in midair. They exchanged chairshots and the bell was rung for the countout. Jacobs joined the brawl as well. They fought over to Section A and a fan asked Necro to hit Brodie with the Section A sign. Brodie climbed toward the guardrail and as he was standing against it, Necro threw about seven chairs at Brodie. Necro set Brodie up on a table and hit him with a chair, then laid it on his back. He climbed the ropes, but Jacobs hit him with a low blow. Delirious ran out and the AOTF basically just beat up Necro. Brodie threw him backstage.
Joe's Judgment: Lame brawl. Absolutely nothing memorable. The table spot would've been cool, but they didn't do it. My care level for the Delirious/Brodie vs. Lynn/Necro match on PPV is hovering around zero right now.
Back in the ring, Todd Sinclair looked like he was hurt. He went to the back. Jacobs grabbed the mic and called out Roderick Strong and Erick Stevens. Strong's music hit and they came down to the ring.
4. Roderick Strong and Erick Stevens defeated The Age of the Fall (Jimmy Jacobs and Delirious) in 13:20. Delirious ran away from Strong for the first minute and a half or so. Strong hit a few leaping kicks and the announcers noted that he had slimmed down a bit. Stevens tagged in, hit a backbreaker, and tagged Strong back in.
Jacobs tagged in at 4:30 and chopped Stevens across the chest three times, to little effect. Stevens then chopped him once and Jacobs fell over. The action broke down briefly and then came right back into order. Delirious picked up Stevens, but couldn't hold him, and Stevens got a nearfall just from falling on him.
At 10:00, Jacobs went off the ropes, but Stevens caught him, hit a powerslam, and made the hot tag to Strong. Strong dropped Jacobs across Delirious' knee. Strong got Jacobs up in a fireman's carry, and Stevens ran off the ropes but was tripped up by Jacobs. Delirious hit a cobra clutch suplex for a nearfall. Strong then clotheslined Delirious but ran into a spear from Jacobs for a nearfall. Jacobs locked in the End Time out of the pin position.. Strong stood up and managed to tag in Stevens, who hit the Choo Choo in the corner followed by a Samoan Drop for a nearfall. He went for the Doctor Bomb, but Jacobs scooted through his legs, leaving Stevens in position for Shadows Over Hell from Delirious for a really good nearfall. Jacobs went up to the top rope, but was kicked by Strong. Delirious ran at him, but Stevens got him up in a powerbomb position and Strong hit a running big boot on Delirious into a powerbomb from Stevens for the pinfall victory.
Joe's Judgment: Solid tag team matchup that made Stevens and Strong look, well, strong going into their huge Steel Cage Warfare match the next night. Some innovative spots, especially the finish and the Shadows Over Hell spot. This wasn't a classic or a must-see match, but I was never bored.
Post-match, Delirious gave Jacobs a back-rub, and Jacobs acted like he was going to give him a handshake or something, and slapped him instead. Not a "I hate you and have no respect for you" slap, more of a "You really need to stop losing because it's starting to piss me off" slap. They went backstage together, though.
A plug for The Tokyo Summit aired. This show featured Nigel McGuinness vs. Jimmy Jacobs for the ROH World Title, which sounds like a heel vs. heel match, but Nigel is hugely popular in Japan, and played a face in that match...
5. Claudio Castagnoli defeated Brent Albright by DQ in 13:40. Pretty good chain wrestling to start. Albright worked over Claudio's arm, which Leonard noted was probably to set up for the Crowbar. Lots of armdrags and armbars from Albright. Albright took a nice-looking bump at 4:30 when Claudio pushed him off of the top rope and he landed hard on the apron. Larry Sweeney, Sara Del Rey (who Leonard and Prazak said might be on the SNS team the next night), and Bobby Dempsey appeared at the top of the ramp. The announcers noted that neither side had announced who would be on their team at Caged Collision.
At 8:30, Albright went for a crossbody, but Castagnoli ducked it and Albright went to the floor in another good bump. For some reason these simple bumps look better when Albright takes them. Speaking of bumps, Claudio DDT'd Albright on the apron at 9:00. Albright got back in the ring at eighteen for a slam from Claudio. Claudio hit a couple European uppercuts and some right hands before Albright hit a powerslam. Albright hit a few chops and a clothesline, followed by a backdrop and an Irish whip into the corner into an overhead release belly-to-belly suplex followed by a backbreaker. Sweeney did not look happy.
Albright went for a running strike in the corner but Claudio hit the bicycle kick and went for the Giant Swing, then changed his mind and slingshotted Albright into the turnbuckles. Albright landed on the second and hit a clothesline off the turnbuckle. He asked the crowd if they wanted the Swing and they responded favorably. Albright blew his nose on Claudio and then hit the Swing. He went for the half nelson suplex, but saw Sweeney on the apron. Claudio tried the pop-up European uppercut, but Albright countered it into the Crowbar. Claudio got his feet on the ropes, and tapped out just as the bell rang for the DQ on Albright.
Joe's Judgment: Good match that lost a bit of steam as it went on. Albright is hit or miss, but when he hits, it can be really good (see his match with Adam Pearce at Death Before Dishonor VI). This match exceeded my expectations, although they weren't very high to begin with. The finish was kinda lame, and I don't really want to see Albright-Castagnoli II despite the quality of this match.
Backstage, Jimmy Jacobs cut a promo. He said he was frustrated about how first Necro, then Tyler Black, and now Delirious were letting him down. He said that it was happening even when Daizee Haze wasn't at ringside. He called her a meddlesome little harlot. Seriously. Those were his exact words. Daizee confronted him and Jacobs grabbed her hair and said that she'd better get his message. Daizee pulled out the railroad spike and said that she got his message and that she was on a mission and that she wasn't scared of Jimmy.
Joe's Judgment: That was bad. Jimmy needs to stop talking like it's 1750, and Daizee just can't cut a promo at all.
Tyler Black came out to his new music. It's death metal, and it's pretty terrible. Death metal just does not work as entrance music.
Just as I typed that, Jerry Lynn comes out to more death metal. Gah.
6. Tyler Black fought Jerry Lynn to a 20-minute time limit draw. The crowd was split between Tyler and Jerry. Early on, Tyler put Lynn in headscissors, but Lynn did the headstand escape and locked in a side headlock. They continued to trade side headlocks on each other for much of the first several minutes. The first impact maneuver came at the five minute mark, when Lynn hit a vertical suplex... and then went back to the side headlock. He hit a standing hurricanrana... and went back to the side headlock. A fan shouted "Let's see a headlock" at Tyler after he hit a dropkick. Funny.
At 8:00, Tyler hung Lynn up in a tree of woe and hit a nice-looking dropkick. He put Lynn in a modifid octopus stretch. Lynn broke free and went to a hammerlock. Tyler went for a superkick after tossing Lynn off the top rope, but Lynn ducked.
A couple minutes later, Lynn said that he was going to turn it up a notch. Tyler climbed to the top but Jerry hit him and then hit a very crisp top-rope hurricanrana.. The crowd started dueling "Let's go Tyler" and "Let's got Jerry" chants. Tyler went for a dropkick, but Lynn caught himself in the ropes, and Tyler did a flip instead and landed on his feet. Lynn backdropped him onto the apron, Tyler went for a shoulder block through the ropes, but Jerry hit a guillotine legdrop on him in a really nice spot.
The action spilled out onto the floor, and Tyler went for a moonsault off the barricade, but Jerry got out of the way. Both men got back in the ring at nineteen, much to the dismay of Prazak on commentary. Lynn went for the Cradle Piledriver, Tyler counted into a jacknife pin, Lynn bridged up and went for a backslide, and Tyler kicked out. Tyler got a nearfall with a rollup, Lynn kicked out, and Tyler kicked him in the head. Tyler went for a Lionsault, but Lynn rolled out of the way. Tyler hit a standing Shooting Star Press for a nearfall. The crowd started a "this is awesome" chant. Black tried the powerbomb in the corner, but Lynn rolled him up for a nearfall. They traded a couple rollups before Black hit the Paroxysm for another nearfall.
Tyler got to his feet first and started stomping around in the corner. Prazak commented that he was wasting time. Lynn proved Prazak right by blocking Black's attempted running lariat in the corner. He backdropped him to the apron where Tyler hit an enzuigiri over the rope and then a particularly nice leaping springboard lariat for yet another nearfall. Lynn got a nearfall with a rollup, but immediately after kicking out, Black hit a Pélé kick, but Lynn stayed on his feet and managed to hit the Air Raid Crash for a nearfall of his own.
Lynn went for the Cradle Piledriver, but Tyler rammed him into the corner. He went for a Tornado DDT but Lynn blocked and went for a crossbody. Tyler caught him on his shoulders and dropped him onto the onto the mat face-first. Tyler superkicked him and covered him, but Lynn got his foot on the bottom rope. The crowd changed "This is wrestling." The ring announcer let us know that we were inside one minute to go. Tyler went for the Phoenix Splash, but Lynn kicked him and hit a DDT with Tyler's legs on the top rope. This time Tyler got his leg across the bottom rope. Lynn went for another cover but the time limit expired. The crowd wanted five more minutes but were denied. A brief "bullshit" chant broke out, but quickly turned into an "ROH" chant, and then a "thank you both" chant.
Joe's Judgment: Absolutely fantastic match. Tyler reminded us why he was the hottest wrestler of 2008, and Lynn showed that he can still wrestle like it's 1998. I still don't want either of them to win the title, but this made me more open to a token Lynn title reign to get the belt onto somebody like Davey Richards or Austin Aries.
Jay Briscoe and Nigel McGuinness made their entrances. Nigel's bicep is taped a bit...
7. Nigel McGuinness defeated Jay Briscoe in a non-title match in 15:50. Nigel held onto a wristlock in the early going. After about two minutes, Briscoe got the the ropes, Nigel broke the hold, and the two started exchanging strikes. The announcers said that if it was a striking match, then Briscoe would have the advantage, and Nigel should try and keep the match a technical wrestling match. The match went onto the floor and Briscoe Irish whipped Nigel into the barricades twice. They briefly went back in the ring but Nigel wanted a timeout so he went back to the floor. Jay came out and started to chase him. Nigel threw the timekeeper's table into Jay's path and Jay ran into it and it collapsed.
Nigel threw Jay into the ring post and went back inside the ring. He hit the headstand on the turnbuckles into a mule kick thing. Nigel threw Briscoe out to the floor again, set him up in a chair and started choking him before hitting a low blow. Nigel went back in the ring and taunted Briscoe. Briscoe got back in the ring before the 20 count and ate a stiff forearm from Nigel. Nigel no-sold a chop and kick from Briscoe and started working over his arm.
He used a modified abdominal stretch that looked legitimately painful. Nigel went for a lariat but Jay ducked and hit the Ace Crusher. Nigel went right back on offense, though. He hit what looked like a sort of Dragon Screw on Jay's arm. The two had an exchange of several slaps, throughout which a "Man up" chant grew stronger and stronger. Jay reversed an Irish whip from McGuinness, sending Nigel into the corner, where he tried the headstand mule kick again, but Jay pulled him down and hit a legsweep that sent Nigel's face into the turnbuckle.
At 11:00, Jay hit a big boot and went to the top, but Nigel knocked him off and tried the Tower of London. Jay got down and countered an attempted lariat into a Death Valley Driver for the first nearfall of the match. Nigel tried for a running lariat in the corner, but ran into a big boot and then a Blockbuster, but was unable to hit the Jaydriller. Nigel hit a lariat for another nearfall and tried the Tower of London, but Jay pushed him off the ropes and hit a top rope leg drop for a nearfall. He went for the Jaydriller, but Nigel countered into an attempted Jawbreaker. Jay ducked and hit the Jaydriller. Nigel got his foot across the bottom rope, sparking a chant of "That was three." He made sure the referee was aware that he was not pinned. Jay shoved the ref away, and Nigel snapped the rope back in his face.. Jay hit Nigel with an elbow, and Nigel rebounded off the ropes, and hit the Jawbreaker for the pin.
Joe's Judgment: Good match. A tick below the Black/Lynn match, but I wouldn't have minded seeing Jay go over here to give him some legitimacy as a singles wrestler and to build up the possibility of Generico winning the belt the next night (a quick Generico-Jay feud could be money), but I can live with the finish especially since it was established that Jay could have won had he pulled Nigel to the center of the ring.
8. Kevin Steen and El Generico defeated The American Wolves (Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards) (w/ Larry Sweeney, Shane Hagadorn) to retain the ROH World Tag Team Titles in 20:00. Lots of streamers for this one. Not a Danielson main event level of streamers, but still a lot. Steen and Richards started off the match. Prazak said that he was high on the Wolves. He's definitely not the only one. Early on they did the thing where the one guy runs off the ropes and tries a shoulder block and the other guy no-sells it.
Generico tagged in and sent Richards to the floor. Steen and Generico hit a double arm drag on Edwards followed by a senton from Steen. Edwards went down the floor, came back in, had a quick exchange with Generico, then got hit with a hurricanrana. Generico knocked Edwards to the floor, acted like he was going to do a plancha or something, but did some really acrobatic stuff and landed on one knee in the center of the ring. Edwards tagged in Richards and Steen hit a backdrop on him. Edwards tagged in, had a brief flurry of offense, and was backdropped by Steen as well. Steen hit a front flip leg drop and went for a cover, but Todd Sinclair was preoccupied with Richards.
At 7:30, Generico tagged in and hit a chop and a standing moonsault. Steen tagged in and hit a back senton, taunted Richards, who yelled at him and the ref, and finally tagged in Generico. Generico hit several quick armdrags and Davey tried to call time. He kissed Generico (who had no idea what was going on)'s feet, then spit in his face and went to the floor. Generico chased him but got kneed in the back by Edwards and his head hit the barricade. Davey rolled Generico back into the ring, hit a snap suplex and tagged in Edwards. Edwards worked over Generico in the corner, and basically just kept Generico away from Steen. He tagged in Richards who continued to do the same thing.
At 10:00, Richards locked in a crossface on Generico, followed by an elbow to the back, and a kick to the midsection. Richard tossed Generico to ringside where Edwards drove him into the barricade a few times before tossing him in the ring where Richards got a nearfall. Generico looked like he was about to make the hot tag, but Davey connected with the Alarm Clock, Edwards with an Oklahoma Stampede, and finally a diving headbutt by Richards for just a one count. At ringside Edwards somehow ran into the wall (I think Generico got out of the way of him charging but I don't think that particular camera was on at that point), Generico got back in the ring, and made the hot tag to Steen.
Steen got a somersault senton on both Richards and Edwards at ringside, then threw Richards into two barricades and then powerbombed Edwards on the apron. INSANE bump. He tossed Richards into the ring and hit the cannonball in the corner for two. He went for the moonsault off the top rope but Davey got out of the way and tagged in Edwards. Steen got the sharpshooter on Edwards and Davey punched Steen in the head, but Steen didn't release the hold. He punched him again, but Steen still didn't release the hold.
Steen spat in Davey's face, and Davey tried to hit Steen again, but this time Generico held him back. Davey fought to break free of the hold as Edwards looked like he was about to tap. Finally Davey broke free and headbutted Steen to break the hold. Edwards hit a leaping kick on Steen and tagged in Richards. Richards and Steen exchanged strikes briefly, then Steen went for the Package Piledriver, but Davey countered into a backslide for a nearfall. Steen kicked out and Richards hit an enzuigiri, followed by a Richards/Edwards enzuigiri/running forearm combination. Davey went to the top and ht a missile dropkick, but Steen kicked out at two. The Wolves tried a double-team suplex, but couldn't get Steen up. He superkicked Richards, and Generico got back in the ring and hit the running Yakuza kick on Edwards.
Steen hit a pump handle neckbreaker and then both Steen and Generico hit aerial moves (big splash from Generico, Swanton from Steen, no that is not backwards). Steen covered Edwards but Davey broke it up out of nowhere at 2.9. The Wolves hit a combination superkick/German suplex pin, with Edwards holding Steen's feet down on the cover. This time, Generico broke it up out of nowhere. Edwards grabbed a chair and chased Generico briefly. The referee told him to put it down and Sweeney came in and was about to hit Steen with his boot but Brent Albright came out and chased him to the back. Richards grabbed the boot and Edwards held Steen back. Steen ducked and Richards accidentally hit Edwards with the boot. Generico pulled Richards out of the ring and Steen covered Edwards for the pin.
Post match, the Wolves tried to beat down first Steen and then Generico, but Steen ran them off with a chair. Steen grabbed the mic and said that it took them too long to win the belts, and they weren't giving them up anytime soon. He said to play their music so that the Wolves could exit to "a real winner's theme song." He got up into the camera and said essentially the same thing, only he added that it didn't matter if Larry Sweeney's Midget Nation wanted the belts, because Steen and Generico were here to stay.
Joe's Judgment: Match of the night. And considering how good the Black/Lynn and Briscoe-Nigel matches were, that's saying a lot. Right now, Steenerico vs. the Wolves would maybe get my vote for best feud in all of wrestling. Hands down best tag team feud.
Jerry Lynn said that he had to hand it to Tyler Black. He said that in twenty minutes, they beat the crap out of each other. He said that in Tyler's last two matches, he couldn't finish due to a time limit, so why even have a time limit? He said he was just throwing it out there.
Final Thoughts: The top three matches were well worth the price of the DVD. Some of the finishes were a little bit screwy, but they delivered a clean finish in the main event to send the fans home happy. This was the first match in the Steenerico/Wolves feud, and the ones that have taken place since then have all surpassed it, so if you need one reason to watch ROH right now, make it that feud. Word is that they'll be main eventing the TV show in a "Tables Are Legal" match sometime around late May or early June. That will be a lot of fun.
Overall this show was really good. I don't know that it got me excited for Caged Collision all that much, but if you needed to be made excited for Caged Collision, then you probably wouldn't buy this show. I can't say it enough, the top three matches on this show were all great and I recommend this show to anyone who wants to watch good wrestling.
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