Match by match for ROH “Insanity Unleashed” (3/14/09) from Indianapolis, IN!
-Wasn’t expecting much from “Spyder” Nate Webb vs. Flash Flannigan, since I really don’t know either guy. Consider me impressed! They have a pretty solid match with both guys showing tons of fantastic personality. Nothing comes off as too memorable in-ring wise, but I am definitely walking away wanting to see more of Nate Webb, and wondering why Flannigan hasn’t been a major heel anywhere big recently because I could see building an entire promotion around the guy.
-My initial reaction to learning that tags were necessary during the three-way dance between Bryan Danielson, Kenny Omega, and Claudio Castagnoli was a resounding “HUH?” This felt like a killing Clark Kent level rule change that just wasn’t going to work. But I have to admit, I pretty well liked this modification to the usual triple threat match. It made for a unique experience here, something different and fresh. Helps that the trio of guys doing battle are able to work the rule change to its fullest and get an interesting story out of the new limitations. All the way around this is really good and really works.
-Jay Briscoes vs. Chris Hero is perfectly fine, if not mostly unmemorable. Can’t really say much more about it, unfortunately, as it is one of those mid-card matches that is simply there.
-You know my love for Kenny King and Rhett Titus as a team, so naturally having the chance to see them fight Kevin Steen and El Generico for the tag belts is quite exciting. But the match itself, sadly to say, is a bit underwhelming. The four men have some fun early on, which is great, but things never really build to the level I was hoping for. Much of the contest feels stuck in the same gear, when it really should have excelled to a much higher notch by the ending. Not bad by any degree, but not what I was expecting based on the past performances of everybody involved.
-That Silas Young gets so much offense in on Bison Smith, as oppose to being completely crushed by the behemoth, makes their clash a pleasant surprise. Nothing to talk up here really, this isn’t a brilliant match or anything, but it is better than it probably had any intention of being.
-Something seemed a bit off between Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards, Roderick Strong, and Brent Albright. A lot of moves just seemed oh so slightly out of sync, which becomes a bit distracting. Other then the moments that Richards and Strong share in the ring, which are epic in intensity, the rest of the bout is okay at best and leaves me overall feeling more meh than motivated.
-Ah, Jimmy Jacobs vs. Delirious. Truthfully, this is an entertaining little brawl, with lots of strong interaction between the two. It isn’t the kind of match that steals the show or will be worth looking back on come the end of the year, but it is decently entertaining during the actual proceedings.
-Randomly thrown together tag team main event! Seriously though, I get the idea of having a couple of your main event stars pair-up and scuffle just for the sake of having a good finish to the night, but when the resulting match drags quite a bit, has zero story going on, and ends on an overall flat note, it leaves me feeling quite blah about the whole thing. At least the closing moments, after the encounter is concluded, do something to tease where the overall World Title scene is heading, but everything before that can easily be skipped without missing a thing.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Hindsight and Such...
I keep up on current news with most of the wrestling companies I follow. Especially Ring Of Honor. Especially because I attend a number of their live shows, so being up to date with what is going on is important. So of course I knew about Ric Flair coming into ROH long before watching his first show with the company, “Stylin’ & Profilin’” (3/13/09). And I know how his run with the company went, how it ended on bad terms, and how little it did to bring new fans to ROH. Thus watching that original appearance Flair made with ROH now, it all comes across as very...eh, whatever. It doesn’t help that Flair tries so hard to get his son a match with the ROH World Champion by working that suggestion into a promo and hoping that the eager audience will force the booking to occur (they didn’t).
I’ll move past the “Nature Boy” portion of the show and focus on the matches now. Seems more constructive. And if there’s one thing I’m all about, it’s constructivism. But hey, who isn’t all about abstract artistic movements founded in Russia during the 20th century?
-Now THAT is how you start a show! Jay Briscoe and Roderick Strong have easily one of the best singles matches I’ve seen so far in my 2009 viewing, certainly in ROH and possibly overall. They both show impressive technical prowess, both turn the intensity meter a little bit past ten, and both just steal this show before it has even really begun. Wow. The great surprise here is while Strong is somebody you expect such aptitude from, Jay Briscoe isn’t. Jay may never be known as a singles wrestler, but he proves here that he can be one of the absolute best. Amazing match, thumbs way up for it.
-Love how much MsChif vs. Daizee Haze feels like a “title” match. I know, I know, it IS a title match, but on paper it just doesn’t have that big bout sound to it. Great use of story and great chemistry between the two women, which is a nice surprise since while I adore MsChif, I don’t always think of Daizee Haze as being that great. But she is, and it shows here. Overall it is a really strong contest.
-Do Silas Young and Austin Aries get paid more to be in the same match whenever they’re booked on the same ROH show? At least Claudio Castagnoli and Kenny Omega are added to the mix, making for an at times exciting four-way attraction. Lots of good work from everybody involved.
-Honestly, I really didn’t enjoy the six-man pitting Kevin Steen, El Generico, and Bobby Dempsey against Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards, and Chris Hero. Anytime the American Wolves and Steen and Generico interacted, things were somewhat interesting, but most of the match just did not click with me. Dempsey really doesn’t belong in there. And Hero is good, but he feels a little odd man out when what we really want to see is the Wolves and Steen and Generico going after each other uninterrupted. Overall a meh match, unfortunately.
-It is crazy how great a team Kenny King and Rhett Titus have become. The connection they have is amazing, and a real treat to watch. Their bout here with Irish Airborne, who I like a lot as well, is highly enjoyable, even if it is clearly designed to make King and Titus look good. Truth is, the Irish Airborne also come out looking like gold, which is no small feat for what could have amounted to a squash match.
-We’ve seen the American Dragon vs. The Monster storyline before, in the classic Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima series back in 2007. It is only natural to think back to those matches while watching Danielson battle Bison Smith today. While Danielson vs. Smith is pretty good here, it is not Danielson vs. Morishima good by a long shot. Much of the first half of the bout drags, with Smith keeping it at a slow pace as he is in control. Things then build up, some really exciting moments occur, and then, unfortunately, we get the finish. To say the match ends just when it was getting good is an understatement. As a first battle in a potential series, it works, and the ending makes sense, but it is still a bit underwhelming that just as it is really heating up, things abruptly conclude.
-All I want to say about Tyler Black and Jerry Lynn vs. Jimmy Jacobs and Delirious is that there is finally some major storyline progress at the end of the bout, and finally we seem to have seen the last of the Jacobs and Delirious against random combination of Black, Lynn, Necro Butcher, and Bryan Danielson matches. Not that they were bad, they were just left in the frying pan way too long (I could have just said “overdone,” but the frying pan line seemed more fun).
-Second time we’ve seen Nigel McGuinness and Brent Albright grapple recently, and once again both men shine. The chemistry shared between these two is phenomenal. I love the work both men do here, and how the story escalates until you just cannot wait to see how it will end. Unfortunately, the ending does come off as somewhat anti-climatic, but everything up to that point deserves the highest of praise. I wonder if a third, decisive meeting between the two is waiting in my DVD watching future.
I’ll move past the “Nature Boy” portion of the show and focus on the matches now. Seems more constructive. And if there’s one thing I’m all about, it’s constructivism. But hey, who isn’t all about abstract artistic movements founded in Russia during the 20th century?
-Now THAT is how you start a show! Jay Briscoe and Roderick Strong have easily one of the best singles matches I’ve seen so far in my 2009 viewing, certainly in ROH and possibly overall. They both show impressive technical prowess, both turn the intensity meter a little bit past ten, and both just steal this show before it has even really begun. Wow. The great surprise here is while Strong is somebody you expect such aptitude from, Jay Briscoe isn’t. Jay may never be known as a singles wrestler, but he proves here that he can be one of the absolute best. Amazing match, thumbs way up for it.
-Love how much MsChif vs. Daizee Haze feels like a “title” match. I know, I know, it IS a title match, but on paper it just doesn’t have that big bout sound to it. Great use of story and great chemistry between the two women, which is a nice surprise since while I adore MsChif, I don’t always think of Daizee Haze as being that great. But she is, and it shows here. Overall it is a really strong contest.
-Do Silas Young and Austin Aries get paid more to be in the same match whenever they’re booked on the same ROH show? At least Claudio Castagnoli and Kenny Omega are added to the mix, making for an at times exciting four-way attraction. Lots of good work from everybody involved.
-Honestly, I really didn’t enjoy the six-man pitting Kevin Steen, El Generico, and Bobby Dempsey against Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards, and Chris Hero. Anytime the American Wolves and Steen and Generico interacted, things were somewhat interesting, but most of the match just did not click with me. Dempsey really doesn’t belong in there. And Hero is good, but he feels a little odd man out when what we really want to see is the Wolves and Steen and Generico going after each other uninterrupted. Overall a meh match, unfortunately.
-It is crazy how great a team Kenny King and Rhett Titus have become. The connection they have is amazing, and a real treat to watch. Their bout here with Irish Airborne, who I like a lot as well, is highly enjoyable, even if it is clearly designed to make King and Titus look good. Truth is, the Irish Airborne also come out looking like gold, which is no small feat for what could have amounted to a squash match.
-We’ve seen the American Dragon vs. The Monster storyline before, in the classic Bryan Danielson vs. Takeshi Morishima series back in 2007. It is only natural to think back to those matches while watching Danielson battle Bison Smith today. While Danielson vs. Smith is pretty good here, it is not Danielson vs. Morishima good by a long shot. Much of the first half of the bout drags, with Smith keeping it at a slow pace as he is in control. Things then build up, some really exciting moments occur, and then, unfortunately, we get the finish. To say the match ends just when it was getting good is an understatement. As a first battle in a potential series, it works, and the ending makes sense, but it is still a bit underwhelming that just as it is really heating up, things abruptly conclude.
-All I want to say about Tyler Black and Jerry Lynn vs. Jimmy Jacobs and Delirious is that there is finally some major storyline progress at the end of the bout, and finally we seem to have seen the last of the Jacobs and Delirious against random combination of Black, Lynn, Necro Butcher, and Bryan Danielson matches. Not that they were bad, they were just left in the frying pan way too long (I could have just said “overdone,” but the frying pan line seemed more fun).
-Second time we’ve seen Nigel McGuinness and Brent Albright grapple recently, and once again both men shine. The chemistry shared between these two is phenomenal. I love the work both men do here, and how the story escalates until you just cannot wait to see how it will end. Unfortunately, the ending does come off as somewhat anti-climatic, but everything up to that point deserves the highest of praise. I wonder if a third, decisive meeting between the two is waiting in my DVD watching future.
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