ROH Death Before Dishonor VIII

Eight years and counting from Toronto. Let's get this shit going~!

Kevin Steen vs. El Generico, Grudge Match - 7

In a feud that's been building and building, Steen and Generico finally go at it at a major event in ROH history. Really enjoyed the intensity in the match -- especially Steen driving Generico into his knee, countering the tornado DDT. I love Generico's selling - particularly when he arches his back, winces and flops around like a fish out of water. I love this guy. Steen being the big asshole really fits his on-screen persona well and is believable, blowing snot in people's faces. Watching this match, I knew they were going to keep building and building this match up to a great climax like a roller-coaster slowly climbing up a hill. These two just know and work each other so well and it really shows in the ring. Great emotion and intensity.

Kenny King & Rhett Titus vs. Cheech and Cloudy - 4

I'm not too high (no pun intended, C&C) on the team of King/Titus... mainly Rhett. King seems competent in the ring and is pretty sound technically, but I can't get behind Rhett and I can't put my finger on why. I really liked the showcase of C&C in this match, especially when Cheech hit an Owen Hart-esque rope-assisted arm drag. C&C had some good offense, match was pretty good. That last one was a hard one to follow.

Austin Aries vs. Delirious - 3

Aries took green mist to the eyes pre-bell. This should prove to be interesting. Aries worked 'blinded' by the mist for about five minutes, at one time mistake the ref for Delirious. Had to know that was going to happen. Aries hit the rail in a failed heat-seeking missile that looked like it hurt like a sonofabitch. Liked Delirious' particularly insane performance after Aries tried to hit on Daisey, but the match didn't flow and seemed choppy.

Gauntlet Action - 4

I forgot Tyson Dux existed. So, is only going to be on the Canada shows? Match started with just seeing if Dux could beat Edwards. Some good wrestling in the match, but I felt like the match didn't click -- like both guys just went out and went through the motions. Again, the wrestling was good, which is probably what earned it a decent rating on my part (for the whole gauntlet), but I felt the only reason people cared about this match was because Dux is a Canadian. Divari came out next, who also seemed to be running the ropes and didn't show any real emotional at all. Zzzzzzz. Colt came out next to my dismay. The crowd really likes him and he's good at comedy wrestling, but I prefer Matt Classic. Gotta admit that Colt's good when he wrestles hardcore wrestling, though. Corino came out (highly recommend Colt vs. Corino Better Friends Stiffer Enemies 2) and wrangled with Colt for a bit. Corino's selling was pretty good. He's getting pretty old, so I can't imagine he had to sell too much as he was probably out of breath getting to the ring. Roderick came out and decimated Colt. He deserves better than this. Damn, that was a long match.

Kenny Omega vs. Christopher Daniels - 6

Some great chain wrestling to start followed by Daniels dominating Omega with some really smooth and methodical offense. Omega's selling was better here than I've seen him before. His selling made it seem like he was on the brink of exhaustion, which I thought he conveyed well. I thought Daniels' Arbian moonsault into a crossface and the STO into a Koji Klutch were really awesome and smooth. Great build to the match, starting out slow and dominating and building to a fun climax with believable nearfalls.

Briscoes vs. Kings of Wrestling - 8

Apparently the Kings of wrestling attacks the Brisco's father on HDNet, so there was heat going into this match adding the already intense Briscoes. I can't figure out how to spell "Briscoes" if you couldn't tell. My favorite part of this match was the brawling involved. Mark got juice early on and Claudio kept attacking the laceration with his elbow. Fuck yes. The crimson masks were coming out early and it only added to the intensity of the match. The intensity was brought to a new level when Hero wrapped a cord around Jay's throat around the ring post outside. Jay looked the like the victim of a hanging. Also, when you bring a fire extinguisher into a match, you take that shit to a whole other level. The table work in this match was also well-done. Great fucking match~!

Tyler Black vs. Davy Richards - 6

I'm preparing for a no-sell fest here. Cornette was putting over ROH saying the fans were allowed to express their opinions ("Let's go Tyler" or "Fuck you, Tyler"). HHH jokes were made, sports-entertainment was brought up, etc, etc. I think the fans are either burned out on Tyler or never liked him in the first place because Davy was being cheered for by 80% or greater of the audience. When I looked at my DVD player seeing that there was 45 minutes left at the start of the match, I couldn't help but roll my eyes in thinking that we're going to see another 'epic' Tyler Black match. There were some cool sequences and transitions in this match (such as a Yakuza kick into a rubix cube). Cornette's commentary was entertaining -- like the exact opposite of this Hogwood fellow. The match saw both guys hitting the same shit we've seen 100 times already, but the reckless abandon and crowd reaction was pretty awesome. Tyler's selling while in the cloverleaf was some of the best I've seen out of him in recent memory. Davy's counter to the Pele kick was awesome, as was Tyler's sell of the ankle lock. I think the most surprising aspect of this match was the selling by both guys -- actually really blew me away. People who watch this match will probably think this match was a lot better than I did, and while I did enjoy the mystery of who might win, I'm just so burned out on both of these guys, but I still think both of them are great performers.

Eight years and ROH continues to deliver with the annual Death Before Dishonor. I'd recommend this event -- a really fun watch.