ROH: Driven (2nd PPV)

1) No Remorse Corps (Davey Richards/ Roderick Strong/ Rocky Romero) v. Delirious/ Erik Stevens/ Jason Cross- 5

Man, this was completely action packed like one of those Saturday night Marathons on TBS promises to be but never is. Dives, powermoves, huge spots, one after another, like a hurricane of men in tights throwing each other blew right through my living room. I like the Corps, Richards and Strong look to be born and bred for Japanese action and Romero grew on me last month with his great match against Marufuji. Stevens also looks to have potential, he traded chops with Strong and had some awesome power moves. This was a perfect way to start a show.

2) Claudio Castagnoli v. Matt Sydal- 5

Sydal has loads of athletic ability and Claudio has loads of Rogaine he needs to try. This was also a fun match and had a great ending with a hurricanrana flipped into a sunset flip. Sydal is learning when to turn it up and when to turn it off. He constantly goes balls out on every sell and you have to learn to pace yourself. He reminds me of a young AJ Styles except AJ works a lot more snug. There was a lot of arial acrobatics in this match but they left out all the near falls that RoH tends to over due. Good match.

3) BJ Whitmer v. Noamichi Marufuji- 4

If anyone can bring Marufuji down to a 4, it's Whitmer. The Budweiser logo on the tights isn't appealing to anyone. The match seemed to be in a lower gear than the rest of the show, and I don't think either man was really putting all they had in there. BJ's forearms have potential, but his face had nothing on it the whole match. Marufuji's superkick is enough to bring Chris Adams from the grave and bow at the Japanese sensation's feet. A clean finish with Marufuji's sliced bread signature move was the right call for a midcard bout like this.

4) Pelle Primeau v. Brent Albright- 2

This was a fun squash. Primeau looks like a crack addict. His pasty white body made me feel tan. Albright's suplexes were on target and this was a brutal beatdown that did what it was supposed to.

5) The Briscoes v. El Generico/ Kevin Steen- 6

This was a good example of what tag wrestling has evolved into. We didn't see any splitting the ring in half, or close tags, or working over a bodypart, but we did see was back and forth action with both teams demonstrating they can work as a team. It's innovative, highly painful double teams that are the back bone of tag wrestling in our current day and age and I applaud it. Mark has a decent dropkick, but I'm not convinced either of them are good punchers. Steen looks like his exercise bike has long been in the dark corner of his basement. The outside stuff was brutal as all hell: Generico's hiptoss bump was one of the most scintillating I've seen in a long, long time. And he took it like a straight man too! I think Jay Briscoe, also took a nasty lump by spilling into the front section of Philly fans and just splayed himself all over some chairs. We had a great finish and it felt like a war. Steen did a decent job of setting up for the next match and I'm stoked to see it.

6) Takeshi Morishima v. Jimmy Rave- 1

This was as unimpressive as a Side Salad at McDonalds. Rave taking Morishima down with a pansy ass spear? That's what you're subjecting your World champ too? Pitiful. I don't even recall the gist of this match because it was so short and unmemorable. Next.

7) Bryan Danielson v. Nigel McGuinness- 9

This was the much talked about bout that had early MOTY written all over it. Clearly, these two are much better opponents for each other than either of them are for Morishima. This was everything I thought it would be and more. Danielson has stepped his game up to top level since coming back from his injury. His facials are among the best in the business now. I can tell exactly what is going on in a match just by watching his expressions. Nigel knows his routine quite well now and has narrowed it down to the basics and it works, wonders.
These guys have great chemistry and the MMA stuff was really fun and scientific and they didn't lose the crowd. They both put on holds that had me happy I don't wear tights and McGuiness seemed to excel with the submission holds. Danielson's top rope back superplex is the stuff dreams are made of and Nigel's running uppercut on the outside was knockout quality. The ending sequences, starting with the chops, the slaps and then the headbutts, then Danielson's transitioning to finisher to finisher was absolutely amazing and my jaw dropped to the floor like that Tom when he sees that giant white pit bull and Jerry snickering like a son of a bitch in the palm of his hand. This absolutely lived up to the hype and I can't wait to see the next match these two have.