ROH Insanity Unleashed
Taped 3/14/09 in Indianapolis, IN

Bryan Danielson cut a promo about his various injuries. He said his opponents are not out to hurt him in the ring as everyone is out to try and prove they are the best wrestler in the world. However, he felt Bison Smith was trying to hurt him and he was not satisfied with his countout victory the night before. He said he was out to hurt Bison Smith...

Twill’s Two Cents: Solid promo to start the show. I like these ECW-like promos that take place at some random place in the locker room.

1. Spyder Nate Webb defeated Flash Flanagan in 4:40. Webb played the referee’s leg like a guitar. He tried to get a reaction but really did not succeed. Dave Prazak introduced the show and was once again joined by Larry Zbyszko. Larry put over Bobby Heenan as a big name in Indiana wrestling.

Webb scored a nearfall with an Oklahoma roll after a failed high cross body attempt. In a nasty spot, Flash hit a released German suplex onto Webb into the turnbuckle. Webb landed on his head. Flash impressively ran the ropes with a big boot and again with a closeline. Flash scored a nearfall with a running chinbreaker (almost a running Stunner). Webb hit the Arachnid kick out of nowhere for the win...

After the match, Flanagan complained in the ring and even went after the referee...

Twill’s Two Cents: Fun opener. Flanagan moves around very well for a big man and Webb is impressive as well. The fans didn’t really get into this match, but it was pretty good nonetheless.

Kenny Omega cut a promo in what looked like a barn. He said he thought his business with Claudio Castagnoli and Bryan Danielson was finished. He quoted Elton John in saying everything comes full circle and he said he would see them later tonight...

2. Claudio Castagnoli defeated Bryan Danielson and Kenny Omega in a three way match in 12:54. Nigel McGuinness joined the broadcast booth. Danielson and Omega started the match and Zbyszko said he never once wrestled in a three way. The match rules said two men wrestled and one remained on the apron until he was tagged.

Danielson and Omega pandered to the crowd, much to the dismay of all three members of the announce booth. Danielson hit armdrags about of a wristlock and Omega countered with an armdrag of his own out of an Irish whip. Impressive sequence. Prazak incorrectly stated the rules as he said a tag was not necessary for the third guy to enter. Nigel corrected him when Claudio tagged himself in.

Bryan applied a surfboard to Claudio but Claudio was able to grab the ropes. Kenny tagged in and worked over Claudio as well. He scored a nearfall at about six and a half minutes. Castagnoli gained the advantage by dropping Omega across the top rope. Bryan tagged himself in took down Claudio with a running knee. He followed with running forearms and knees.

Nigel and Prazak put over Dragon’s MMA influence. Omega hit a suicide dive onto both men, knocking them to the crowd. Back in the ring, the babyfaces hit simultaneous missile dropkicks. They worked together but argued too. Claudio hit the pop-up European uppercut. He locked in a submission and the referee quickly rang the bell...

After the match, Bison Smith attacked Bryan Danielson and the fight was broken up by referees and the wrestlers in the locker room. Back in the ring, Danielson helped Omega up and the crowd chanted for Kenny...

Twill’s Two Cents: I didn’t enjoy the match as much as I thought I would given the three wrestlers involved. I am all for having fun in the ring, but Danielson and Omega were having a little too much fun playing to the crowd. They should at least give the impression they are out there to win the match. The action was solid though.

Prazak interviewed Jay Briscoe backstage in the dark. Briscoe said Chris Hero could bring anyone he wanted with him, but he was going to get knocked out tonight...

3. Chris Hero (with Larry Sweeney and Shane Hagadorn) defeated Jay Briscoe in 11:25. Both men came to brawl for the first couple of minutes. Jay scored the first nearfall with a reverse leg lariat. Jay went to the floor but pulled Hero out with him and threw him into the guardrail. While Briscoe tried to get back into the ring, Sweeney grabbed his leg. Hero used the distraction and kicked Briscoe in the head.

Back on the floor, Hero hit a running senton with Briscoe wrapped in the floor mat. Hero enjoyed an extended advantage and Briscoe briefly came back, but Hero locked in various chinlocks. Briscoe hit a huge closeline for a two count. He tried to hit the Jay Driller but Hero fought out. Hero hit a sit down powerbomb for a two count.

Hero hit a series of elbows setting up for the rolling elbow. Sweeney loaded a turnbuckle with the green elbow pad. Sweeney distracted Briscoe from the corner and Hero hit the (legal) rolling elbow strike for the win. Briscoe received a nice hand on his way to the back...

Twill’s Two Cents: Decent match because I am a fan of Briscoe, but I just have not been able to get into Hero’s act. On top of that, Hero was in control for way too long and the match dragged as a result. Briscoe is money and it’s disappointing that he lost on consecutive nights.

4. Kevin Steen and El Generico defeated Kenny King and Rhett Titus to retain the ROH World Tag Team Championships in 17:28. Steen outwrestled King early and both partners tagged in. Generico and Titus played to the crowd. There has been a lot of this shit tonight. Titus and Generico reversed wristlocks.

Generico and Titus exchanged knife-edge chops in the corner. King and Steen tagged in. Steen scored a nearfall after a back suplex. Titus tagged in and ran into a powerslam from Steen. With Generico on the floor, King grabbed him, threw him into the guardrail before rolling him back into the ring. Titus scored a nearfall.

King and Titus hit a series of tandem moves although the finishing product looked awkward with a Titus closeline. Steen tagged in and took out both men, including a kick to Titus’s face. He hit a powerbomb and scored a nearfall. He went to the top for a Swanton but was pushed to the floor by Titus. The heels worked on Steen’s already injured knee.

Steen struggled to make the tag but once he did, Generico hit a somersault plancha over the top onto both opponents. He almost won the match after a splash on King in the ring. King almost stole the titles with a Blockbuster while Steen had a Sharpshooter locked in on Titus. King and Titus hit the Coronation/frog splash combination, but the wrong man covered. Steen and Generico then hit the package piledriver/brainbuster combination for the win...

The American Wolves hit the ring and attacked Steen and his knee. Jay Briscoe ran them off with a chair and stood tall in the ring...

Twill’s Two Cents: The first eleven minutes were slow with too much pandering to the crowd. I am all for building toward a big finish, but that can be done with actual wrestling and not a bunch of stalling. The last six minutes though were very entertaining and fun to watch. The tag division in ROH is awesome. I love Steen and Generico and the crowd does too.

5. Bison Smith defeated Silas Young in 5:44. The fans directed “We want Dragon” chants at Smith. Young tried to use his speed, but Bison caught him and hit the tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. He threw him to the floor and whipped Silas into the guardrail. Bison methodically beat down Silas with powerful shots.

Silas hit two closelines, a jawbreaker, and a bulldog, but Bison jumped up and hit a huge closeline. He locked in the Claw and hit a slam out of it. He followed up with a powerbomb for the relatively easy victory...

Twill’s Two Cents: Forgettable match. Bison was in control for the duration of the bout and was slow and plodding with his offense. Truthfully, I was thinking we were going to see Danielson out, but there was no sign of him.

6. Roderick Strong and Brent Albright defeated The American Wolves (with Larry Sweeney) in 13:27. The Wolves attacked Strong and Albright as they entered the ring. Richards and Strong began the match. Edwards entered and they double-teamed Strong for quite a long time. Strong fought back though and hit a belly to back suplex.

Albright tagged in and as the power guy of the match, utilized said power on Edwards before tagging Strong back in. Davey tagged in and the heels worked together to take down Strong. Edwards scored the first nearfall with a running powerslam. Strong and Richards exchanged kicks before Strong hit a dropkick. Albright tagged in and scored a nearfall with a snap powerslam.

Sweeney jumped up on the apron and Albright grabbed him. Edwards hit the double stomp on Albright’s arm, derailing his offense momentum. The Wolves utilized multiple tags and continued their focus on Albright’s arm. Both members of the heel team applied submission holds to Albright’s arm. Richards tagged in, hit Strong with a running boot, and locked in another armbar.

Richards hit a diving headbutt to Albright’s arm and legal man Eddie Edwards scored a nearfall. Albright fought back and back dropped Richards into Edwards. Strong received the hot tag and hit moves on both men. He scored a nearfall after a slingshot falcon arrow. Richards came in and the referee allowed a lot of double-teaming. Edwards hit a lionsault for a two count.

Albright, amidst the chaos, hit the 61-knee and Strong scored a two count. Albright hit the exploder suplex and Strong followed with a huge boot for a two count. Strong and Richards exchanged shots in the center of the ring. Albright broke up the German suplex double-team pin. All four men were down and the fans got loud.

Albright closelined Richards to the floor. Strong and Edwards remained in the ring. Strong hit the half nelson backbreaker but the referee was not there to count. Sweeney gave Edwards some brass knuckles, but El Generico hit the ring, kicked Edwards, and Strong hit a double underhook powerbomb for the win...

Twill’s Two Cents: Awesome match and by far the best match of the night thus far. I liken Davey Richards and Roderick Strong to someone like Jay Briscoe as three men that could be viable challengers for the ROH World Title. The roster is so loaded with talent though that it allows the tag team division to flourish as well. This show needed this match.

7. Jimmy Jacobs defeated Delirious in a no disqualification match in 15:26. Before the match, Jacobs took the mic and said just like Daizee Haze tried to come between them, ROH was trying to come between them too. He said he forgave Delirious and they had a special friendship. He approached him and hit him in the face with the microphone. The referee rang the opening bell.

Both men fought to the floor quickly and remained there for the opening minutes of the bout. Jacobs hit a double axe handle from the guardrail onto Delirious. They fought to the back. Jacobs hit a suplex on the floor. They fought their way back toward the ring. They were talking about The Age of the Fall and what people believe in. Zbyszko said, “Look at the economy; how many people still believe in Democrats?” Nice, and true.

They finally made their way back into the ring. Jacobs opened up the same cut Delirious had the night before. He then slammed his face into one of the chairs lying in the ring. Jacobs kept pounding on the cut and even pulled the mask back to bite it. Jacobs scored a two count after a drop toehold into the chair.

Jacobs wedged the chair in the corner. He Irish whipped Delirious towards the chair but Delirious put on the brakes. Jacobs placed Delirious next to the corner, put a chair on top of him, and repeatedly stomped the chair. Delirious finally Irish whipped Jacobs into the wedged chair and followed with the fisherman’s buster into the other chair for a two count.

Delirious ran at Jacobs with a chair but Jacobs kicked him in the balls. Jacobs placed the chair on top of Delirious again and tried a senton. Delirious moved the chair and put up his knees. He hit a cobra clutch suplex and hit a series of panic attacks. He could have pinned him but he was not ready for the match to end yet. He went underneath the ring and grabbed a table.

He threw the table and another chair inside of the ring. He set up the table and placed the chair on top of it. He picked up Jacobs and placed him face down on the table. Jacobs rose to his feet and threw the chair at Delirious. Jacobs hit the guillotine choke through the table and held onto it for the win...

Twill’s Two Cents: I really enjoyed the match. A no disqualification match does not have to mean the senseless use of multiple weapons. The chairs and tables were used well, both men worked their asses off, and they took some pretty sick bumps. I like a match like this right before the main event and as I’ve said many times, I really enjoy Jimmy Jacobs.

After the match, Daizee Haze came to the ring and helped Delirious to the back...

8. Tyler Black and Jerry Lynn defeated Nigel McGuinness and Austin Aries in 15:42. Black and Aries started the match. Black attempted a dropkick and backflpped to land on his feet because Austin held onto the ropes. Nigel attacked Black from behind and Aries did the same to Lynn. All four men fought on the floor.

Nigel hit Lynn with the Tower of London to the floor and within the first three minutes, the heels had a huge advantage. Aries and McGuinness used frequent tags to work on Black. Lynn made his way back onto the apron. Nigel crotched Tyler on the ropes and tried a springboard lariat, but Tyler ducked and Lynn nailed him. Lynn tagged in and hit a delayed dropkick on Aries for a nearfall.

Lynn and Black now utilized solid tag team strategy with Aries as their target. Zbyszko called it “Four Horsemen 101.” Nigel took matters into his own hands by pulling Lynn to the floor and throwing him into the guardrail. He rolled him back into the ring. Zbyszko said a wrestler matured at the age of 40. “I was 47 years old when I beat the shit out of Scott Hall in WCW.” Nice.

Aries and Lynn were in the ring together and when it looked like Lynn was going to make the tag, Nigel came in, knocked Tyler off of the apron, and pulled Lynn back to his own corner. Very nice. The champ tagged in and stretched Lynn out before tagging Austin back in. Black tagged in and hit a nice springboard lariat for a nearfall.

Nigel threw Black to the floor. Lynn threw Nigel to the floor and was able to entice Aries out there too. With all four men on the floor, Lynn hit a tornado DDT onto Nigel. Black whipped Aries into the guardrail. Black rolled Austin back into the ring at the count of 19 and scored a nearfall. Jerry hit the cradle piledriver but Nigel broke up the pinfall.

With the referee distracted with Lynn, Nigel hit Black with the belt. Austin covered him but Tyler kicked out at two. Nigel tagged in and set up the Tower of London. Aries hit the running dropkick and Nigel hit the TOI in succession. Lynn broke up the pin though. The action picked up and Lynn scored a nearfall with a sit down powerbomb. Jerry Lynn countered two jawbreaker lariats and hit the cradle piledriver for the win...

Aries helped Nigel out of the ring and as they retreated to the back, Black and Lynn celebrated in the ring...

Twill’s Two Cents: Hot main event that started fast and never really slowed down. Watching Lynn, Aries, and McGuinness engage in the intricacies of tag team wrestling is really a pleasure as someone who looks for little things like those. Austin really bumped a lot for the second straight night as he really made Lynn and especially Black look great. All four guys really deserve a lot of credit for ending the show on a positive note.

Rich’s Final Reaction: Danielson’s match and much of the tag title match were surprisingly disappointing, but the last three matches saved the show. The tag match with Albright and Strong vs. the Wolves was the best match on the show and would have been the best match on a very good show. This show was above average but not one of ROH’s better overall events.

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