BRM Reviews ROH Validation (fun)

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Big Red Machine
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BRM Reviews ROH Validation (fun)

Post by Big Red Machine » May 9th, '22, 17:09

ROH Validation (5/9/2009)- Edison, NJ

Hello everyone, and welcome back to BRM’s Monthly “This Day in Wrestling History” Review Series! Last month I went with a show that for many of today’s fans symbolizes the innocence of their childhood. As someone who was not watching wrestling in that period and thus doesn’t have any sense of nostalgia for it, I found the show so painful to sit through that for this month I have decided to go back for an era for which I have that same kind of nostalgia; my independent wrestling “childhood,” if you will. Hopefully the decision to watch this show will be validated by some good matches, because this month we’re going back to May of 2009 to watch ROH Validation.

VIDEO WIRES- There were some decent promos on here (and some excellent ones from Grizzly Redwood and Kevin Steen, and also by Tyler Black relative t what you’d expect from him 2009), but between the changes to the card that had to be made due to injury and how any of the matches being build up were actually on the Boston show the night before, I’m shocked they put this on the show at all instead of just taking the one or two relevant promos (Jay Briscoe’s and maybe Joey Ryan’s) and sticking them at the beginning of the DVD.

MAIN SHOW:
EMBASSY PROMO- good promos by everyone who got to speak (Jimmy Rave, Claudio, Joey Ryan, and Prince Nana)

EDDIE KINGSTON PROMO- good

EDDIE KINGSTON vs. RICKY REYES- 6.5/10
Kingston wins a solid opening slugfest cleanly.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- good
Chris Hero came out to taunt Eddie Kingston after the match.

BRENT ALBRIGHT & ERICK STEVENS vs. SUPER SMASH BROTHERS- 6.5/10
Fine tag team babyface vs. babyface stuff. Albright & Stevens were bigger and stronger, and thus won. SSB got “PLEASE COME BACK!” chants.

JAY BRISCOE PROMO- fine build for his world title shot. Given the fact that they did this, I don’t understand why they had the video wires on this DVD at all.

SONJAY DUTT vs. CHRIS HERO (w/Shane Hagadorn)- 7/10
This was a good action match, and was the sort of match Sonjay needed to remind people that if you give him time, he can do more than just the comedy and X-Division sprints he had been reduced to over the past few years in TNA. Hero winning with the loaded elbow pad on his boot and not hiding it afterwards bugged me.

NECRO BUTCHER & DELIRIOUS vs. THE EMBASSY (Claudio Castagnoli & Jimmy Rave) (w/Prince Nana & Ernie Osiris)- 6.5/10
Ah, throwing toilet paper at Jimmy Rave. Possibly ROH’s best tradition.
They did their stuff, with Necro showing off his wrestling ability against Claudio, but brawling when he got his hands on Jimmy. Paul Turner didn’t see the chair shot, but he pretty clearly turned around and saw Rave holding the chair right afterwards, and then just went to distract himself again instead of taking the chair away. The babyfaces win via roll-up.

COLT CABANA PROMO- bad
This was not Cabana’s best work. The idea was that he was mocking Joey Ryan’s previous promo that this match would be the beginning of a big run in ROH and “a night everyone’s kids would remember,” but he went too far with it.

BRYAN DANIELSON & KEVIN STEEN PROMO- fine build for the tag title match

RHETT TITUS & KENNY KING vs. GRIZZLY REDWOD & ALEX PAYNE- 6/10
This was a very good seven and a half minutes. In hindsight, you might think it’s ridiculous that Grizz and Sugarfoot lasted so long against Rhett and Kenny, but given where everyone was on the card at this point, it really wasn’t. Rhett and Kenny got the clean win, as they should have, given their potential comparted to Grizz just being a fun character and Sugarfoot being competent but bland.

COLT CABANA vs. JOEY RYAN (w/Prince Nana & Ernie Osiris)- 6/10
They told a decent story about Colt’s midsection getting worked over, and about the Embassy interfering. I really do despise the spot where the referee kicks someone’s hands off the ropes, but the comedy spot they used it to set up here was hilarious. The rest of the comedy in the match was good, but between it and Joey losing here, it pretty much killed off any chance he had of being the serious character it seemed like they wanted him to be.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- whatever
On his own, Ernie Osiris tried to attack Colt after the match but got taken out with a Gutbuster. I’m not really sure why they did this, as Colt had just beaten the heel cleanly with the Billy Goat’s Curse.

ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The American Wolves(c) (w/Shane Hagadorn) vs. Bryan Danielson & Kevin Steen- 8.5/10
The babyfaces jumped the bell on the heels, and they brawled on the outside for quite a while before the bell. Just as the bell rung, Steen wound up getting backdropped out of the ring and through a table, so he was out for the beginning of the match, essentially taking the “babyface in peril” situation to the extreme, where there wasn’t even anyone to tag. Dragon’s knee got worked over, but eventually Steen was able to receive a hot tag. He ran wild until he got cut off for a double-heat, and eventually we got another hot tag and an excellent series of nearfalls to close things out. The way the Wolves picked the babyfaces apart made them look extremely dangerous, and making Bryan Danielson tap out was a big moment for Eddie Edwards that really doesn’t get talked about enough as the company giving him a big vote of confidence. Nigel McGuinness joined the commentary team for this match and put Eddie over big for this.

ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Jerry Lynn(c) vs. Jay Briscoe (w/Mark Briscoe)- 7.75/10
The fans, who had been into everything on the show so far, were NOT pleased that Jerry Lynn was the ROH World Champion, booing him and chanting “WE WANT NIGEL!”
These two had a great, back-and-forth, nice, clean world title match. I don’t think anyone thought the title would change hands, but it was a fun PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING main event.
After the match, Jerry Lynn put the Briscoes over big, and dealt with some hecklers.

AMERICAN WOLVES PROMO- great!


This was a fun little show from ROH, with solid wrestling up and down the card, and a great double-main event.. A solid B-show (and that’s with quite a few injuries killing some big matches on the card). I’m glad I finally got around to watching it, so MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Next month… something else. I haven’t made up my mind yet, so no teaser.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

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