Saturday, October 13, 2012

ROH Fade to Black

ROH "Fade To Black" Plymouth, MA 9/10/10

1. ROH World TV Title Match: Eddie Edwards vs. Erick Stevens - 4
2. Grizzly Redwood vs. “Brutal” Bob Evans - 2
3. Austin Aries vs. Kyle O'Reilly - 4
4. First Blood Tag Match: The Necro Butcher and Shawn Daivari vs. Kevin Steen and Steve Corino - 5
5. The All Night Express (Kenny King and Rhett Titus) vs. Matt Taven and Sid Reeves - 3
6. Roderick Strong vs. Mike Bennett -3
7. ROH World Tag Title Match: The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) vs. Colt Cabana and El Generico - 4
8. Non-Title Match: Tyler Black vs. Christopher Daniels - 6

Cool venue with a decent look.  Opener was fine, Stevens' personality showed, winking at the camera, calling back to his old "choo choo" persona, etc. but Edwards was unsurprisingly mechanical.  Maybe he's a cyborg.

Cyborg 4 starring Eddie Edwards

Grizzly and pasty Evans was nothing save for Redwood getting in a few shots on a tubby "fan" who was escorted from the building by his neck fat by Don West's identical brother.  Aries is fun and his eye candy valet I dug but Kyle wasn't working with much confidence yet and this just went through the motions.

Fat fan attacks! "You mad bro?"

Next was a fun NWA throwback wild brawl with everybody pummeling each other at ringside for our enjoyment.  Didn't go long enough to warrant a higher score but I had fun and the Corino busting a beer bottle and stabbing Necro in the head with a shard for the finish was glorious.

Taven really blew a springboard in a huge blunder.  Fine for a squash but could have used some psychology as there were no real game plans demonstrated just a string of offensive spots.  Reeves' look wouldn't win over any talent scouts (appeared as a guy from an Irish pub approximating Jack Swagger) but for his size moved well and came off better than Taven who looked desperate trying too hard with all the flashy aerial spots (grist for the YouTube highlight reel mill).

Concussions "R" Us

If Strong and Bennett were to lock it up today they could generate something of more substance.  Mike was sans Maria or much character to speak of.  I've always appreciated Roderick's work ethic and workmanlike performances and while this wasn't as forgettable as his match I just saw versus Jake Manning (from WrestleReunion VI) it failed to make much of an impression.

KoW bring the goodness and right off the bat Hero did this crazy rolling ankle pick that'd freak out the world if someone successfully pulled it off at a UFC show.  Generico is freakily consistent regardless of promotion.  I was expecting a show stealer but this felt more like a solid ROH on HDNet main event which isn't to say bad at all just not worth seeking out.  The match-ending combination of a stiff forearm to the back of the head by Hero followed by a cracking European uppercut from Claudio worked well.

You fucked up!

Main event is a 30-min. draw.  You know yourself enough as a wrestling fan to ascertain whether seeing Black and Daniels work a fiercely contested half-hour is something you'd want to see or not.  Most people I know would fall in the latter camp.  I'm an extremely open-minded wrestling fan who dare I say turns down absolutely no wrestling so gave this a watch in one sitting.  The "WWE sux!" undercurrent given Tyler's signing with the co. and him doing Cena etc. shtick felt erroneous.  It gave the live crowd a little more reason to care or participate so not without some merit.  I would have rather seen a more focused, deterministic strategy implemented by both men trying to systematically gain advantage(s) en route to securing a major win.  I actually think Daniels would have been a good fit in the WWE due to his ability to structure matches and build to the big spots.  That ship has sailed.  Maybe he can get some stunt work if they do a fourth Boogeyman film.  Some nicely timed and effective nearfalls and Black booked strong to survive Daniels' top shelf shit.  Black refusing to do 5 more min. was Heel 101 and nothing like fucking over your fans on the first night in a new town.

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