ROH Reverse The Curse
ROH Reverse The Curse (12/5/2009)- Chicago IL
COLT CABANA PROMO- good, in a weird way. Cabana stumbled a lot and seemed to have no real direction with his promo, but you really felt like you were inside his head and it did a great job of getting you to feel what Cabana seemed to be feeling going into this big match.
Cabana sets the tone for the match as â€"this is a wrestling match where we need to make sure that no one interferes†rather than a crazy grudge match.
JIM CORNETTE TALKS TO THE CROWD- standard stuff if you’ve ever seen babyface authority figure Cornette talk to a live crowd. He puts over the city, the promotion and the main event, all while coming across as very genuine.
FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL MATCH: Sami Calihan vs. Shane Hollister vs. â€"SkullKrusher†Rasche Brown vs. Joey Ryan (w/the Embassy)- 6/10
Some good action. A fine opener.
KEVIN STEEN PROMO- very good, in a similar way to Cabana’s.
PICK 6 SERIES MATCH: Kevin Steen(1) vs. Claudio Castagnoli (w/the Embassy)- 5.75/10
The match was very short, but just about every single thing they did revolved around the story of Steen’s knee. The shortness of this match also helped to set up the swerve for Final Battle, as everyone assumed there was no way Steen would have such a short match here, especially against a guy like Claudio, unless his knee really was completely f*cked and the major surgery/retirement rumors were true (and Steen’s quick little promo thanking the Chicago crowd helped stir the retirement rumors as well). I also always appreciate it a when a guy taps to a hold that isn’t someone’s finisher. It functions as a nice reminder that all holds are dangerous and matches rally can end at any time.
THE YOUNG BUCKS vs. THE HOUSE OF TRUTH (w/Truth Martini)- 6.5/10
A good tag team match with a very good finish.
PICK 6 SERIES MATCH: Roderick Strong(3) vs. Kenny Omega(5)- 7.75/10
Surprisingly it was Omega who played the subtle heel here and Roddy was the one who spent the whole match getting his ass kicked.
NECRO BUTCHER vs. ERICK STEVENS (w/the Embassy)- 6/10
This was better than I expected it to be. They actually told a bit of a story with Stevens working over Necro’s back. Stevens got DQed for hitting Necro with a chair (not as pointless as it sounds because they set it up so that Nana and Ernesto failed to contain the referee for long enough and he turned around just in time to catch Stevens in the act). Necro no-sold the chair because he’s Necro and they had a big pull-apart. I assume this will lead to some sort of No DQs match.
PICK 6 SERIES MATCH: Tyler Black(4) vs. Kenny King- 8/10
Well… that was one hell of a finishing sequence! Aside from Kenny’s lack of selling his ankle, this was an awesome match.
DARK CITY FIGHT CLUB PROMO- Chavis was decent. Davis was eh.
THE BRISCOES vs. DARK CITY FIGHT CLUB- 6.75/10
Very underwhelming. DCFC were unhappy about losing to a sunset flip again (they had recently lost to the young bucks the same way) so they beat Mark up until Jay grabbed a chair to chase them off.
STEEL CAGE MATCH FOR THE ROH WORLD TITLE IN WHICH IF CABANA LOSES, HE WON’T BE ALLOWED TO CHALLENGE FOR THE ROH WORLD TITLE IN CHICAGO EVER AGAIN: Austin Aries(c) vs. Colt Cabana- 8.25/10
To understand this match you have to realize that this was not some big steel cage grudge match. This was a world title match taking place inside of a steel cage because that happened to be the best way to keep King and Titus from interfering. They did an awesome job telling their story, and Cabana in particular was just plain ON tonight. His timing, his facials, his fire, his everything.
The one misstep with this match is the very controversial finish (props to them on the execution, though, which was flawless), which is really only a problem because it seems like the sort of thing that absolutely demands follow-up and we never got any. Cabana was in the company for another year and a half and somehow never got another world title shot. In hindsight, Cabana would have made a perfect opponent for Tyler Black to defend the title against early in his reign.
COLT CABANA POST-MATCH PROMO & SEGMENT WITH JIM CORNETTE- it was good, but it ultimately becomes a waste of time because it was never followed up on.
AUSTIN ARIES PROMO- very good
BONUS MATCH: Bobby Dempsey & Alex â€"Sugarfoot†Payne vs. Grizzly Redwood & Pelle Primeau- 3.5/10
Yes, really. Apparently Pelle Primeau decided to come out of retirement to randomly wrestle this pre-show match. The match was really more in the 3.25 range, but HOLY CRAP that finish looked amazing.
A great show from ROH. Very underrated.
COLT CABANA PROMO- good, in a weird way. Cabana stumbled a lot and seemed to have no real direction with his promo, but you really felt like you were inside his head and it did a great job of getting you to feel what Cabana seemed to be feeling going into this big match.
Cabana sets the tone for the match as â€"this is a wrestling match where we need to make sure that no one interferes†rather than a crazy grudge match.
JIM CORNETTE TALKS TO THE CROWD- standard stuff if you’ve ever seen babyface authority figure Cornette talk to a live crowd. He puts over the city, the promotion and the main event, all while coming across as very genuine.
FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL MATCH: Sami Calihan vs. Shane Hollister vs. â€"SkullKrusher†Rasche Brown vs. Joey Ryan (w/the Embassy)- 6/10
Some good action. A fine opener.
KEVIN STEEN PROMO- very good, in a similar way to Cabana’s.
PICK 6 SERIES MATCH: Kevin Steen(1) vs. Claudio Castagnoli (w/the Embassy)- 5.75/10
The match was very short, but just about every single thing they did revolved around the story of Steen’s knee. The shortness of this match also helped to set up the swerve for Final Battle, as everyone assumed there was no way Steen would have such a short match here, especially against a guy like Claudio, unless his knee really was completely f*cked and the major surgery/retirement rumors were true (and Steen’s quick little promo thanking the Chicago crowd helped stir the retirement rumors as well). I also always appreciate it a when a guy taps to a hold that isn’t someone’s finisher. It functions as a nice reminder that all holds are dangerous and matches rally can end at any time.
THE YOUNG BUCKS vs. THE HOUSE OF TRUTH (w/Truth Martini)- 6.5/10
A good tag team match with a very good finish.
PICK 6 SERIES MATCH: Roderick Strong(3) vs. Kenny Omega(5)- 7.75/10
Surprisingly it was Omega who played the subtle heel here and Roddy was the one who spent the whole match getting his ass kicked.
NECRO BUTCHER vs. ERICK STEVENS (w/the Embassy)- 6/10
This was better than I expected it to be. They actually told a bit of a story with Stevens working over Necro’s back. Stevens got DQed for hitting Necro with a chair (not as pointless as it sounds because they set it up so that Nana and Ernesto failed to contain the referee for long enough and he turned around just in time to catch Stevens in the act). Necro no-sold the chair because he’s Necro and they had a big pull-apart. I assume this will lead to some sort of No DQs match.
PICK 6 SERIES MATCH: Tyler Black(4) vs. Kenny King- 8/10
Well… that was one hell of a finishing sequence! Aside from Kenny’s lack of selling his ankle, this was an awesome match.
DARK CITY FIGHT CLUB PROMO- Chavis was decent. Davis was eh.
THE BRISCOES vs. DARK CITY FIGHT CLUB- 6.75/10
Very underwhelming. DCFC were unhappy about losing to a sunset flip again (they had recently lost to the young bucks the same way) so they beat Mark up until Jay grabbed a chair to chase them off.
STEEL CAGE MATCH FOR THE ROH WORLD TITLE IN WHICH IF CABANA LOSES, HE WON’T BE ALLOWED TO CHALLENGE FOR THE ROH WORLD TITLE IN CHICAGO EVER AGAIN: Austin Aries(c) vs. Colt Cabana- 8.25/10
To understand this match you have to realize that this was not some big steel cage grudge match. This was a world title match taking place inside of a steel cage because that happened to be the best way to keep King and Titus from interfering. They did an awesome job telling their story, and Cabana in particular was just plain ON tonight. His timing, his facials, his fire, his everything.
The one misstep with this match is the very controversial finish (props to them on the execution, though, which was flawless), which is really only a problem because it seems like the sort of thing that absolutely demands follow-up and we never got any. Cabana was in the company for another year and a half and somehow never got another world title shot. In hindsight, Cabana would have made a perfect opponent for Tyler Black to defend the title against early in his reign.
COLT CABANA POST-MATCH PROMO & SEGMENT WITH JIM CORNETTE- it was good, but it ultimately becomes a waste of time because it was never followed up on.
AUSTIN ARIES PROMO- very good
BONUS MATCH: Bobby Dempsey & Alex â€"Sugarfoot†Payne vs. Grizzly Redwood & Pelle Primeau- 3.5/10
Yes, really. Apparently Pelle Primeau decided to come out of retirement to randomly wrestle this pre-show match. The match was really more in the 3.25 range, but HOLY CRAP that finish looked amazing.
A great show from ROH. Very underrated.