ROH Champion's Challenge
ROH Champions’ Challenge (8/27/2010)- Richmond, VA
TAG WARS 2010 BLOCK B FINALS: The All Night Express vs. Colt Cabana & El Generico- 5.75/10
BRAVADOS PROMO- lame, uncharismatic babyface promo
TAG WARS 2010 BLOCK C FINALS: The Bravado Brothers vs. The Dark City Fight Club- 4/10
KENNY KING & RHETT TITUS PROMO- In all fairness, this was really just Kenny King talking. The promo itself was alright… but it spoiled a match that hadn’t happened yet! That is an unforgivable production error on ROH’s part.
TAG WARS 2010 BLOCK A FINALS: The Briscoe Brothers vs. The Embassy (Necro Butcher & Prince Nana)- 4/10
Erick Stevens couldn’t make it to the show so they had Nana actually wrestle the match. I really don’t like this from a kayfabe POV. Why didn’t Nan just hire someone? Nana is the type of guy who would do anything to avoid getting into the ring with guys like the Briscoes. The story was what you would expect it to be, with Nana only wanting in when the Briscoes were down, and leaving Necro to do the work the rest of the time.
DAVEY RICHARDS vs. KEVIN STEEN- 8/10
An awesome match preceded by some awesome pre-match antics by Steen.
BOBBY DEMPSEY & CEDRIC ALEXANDER vs. CALEB KONLEY & “MANSCOUT” JAKE MANNING- 5/10
THE KINGS OF WRESTLING (w/Shane Hagadorn) vs. THE SET- No rating. Two good segments. The first was a VERY extended squash that made KoW both look dominant and look like assholes. The second was hype for KoW vs. the Briscoes. While I thought that Jay being allowed to sub himself into the match was stupid, there is a kayfabe precedent for it in ROH (at Fight Spirit). I didn’t like this being announced as a “no contest” rather than a DQ, though.
STEVE CORINO vs. JEFF EARLY- Squash. Great aftermath with Cabana, too. And good after-math with Roderick Strong.
Good little pre-match segment that let Tyler be a heel.
NON-TITLE MATCH: ROH World Champion Tyler Black vs. ROH TV Champion Eddie- 8.25/10
This main event definitely delivered. Awesome match. After the match Davey cut a promo putting Eddie over huge.
Bonus Matches:
KEVIN STEEN vs. EDDIE EDWARDS (w/Shane Hagadorn) (ROH on HDnet show 21)- 6.25/10
MARK BRISCOE vs. “SUGARFOOT” ALEX PAYNE (ROH on HDNet show 20)- squash
8 MAN ELIMINATION TAG TEAM MATCH: Brent Albright, Colt Cabana, Necro Butcher, Grizzly Redwwod vs. The Embassy (Jimmy Rave, “Dirty” Ernie Osiris, Claudio Castagnoli, & Prince Nana) (ROH on HDnet show 23- 6/10. Fun, but I thought they put Cabana over WAY too strong here.
This was a decent show from ROH, but it felt very small (due to most of the big names being in matches that were build up to the next night’s match). The Champion vs. Champion match definitely delivered, though, and Steen vs. Davey was awesome as well. One thing that really irks me is that the matches are listed out of order on the back of the jewel case. A good show, but not required watching in terms of match quality or storylines.
TAG WARS 2010 BLOCK B FINALS: The All Night Express vs. Colt Cabana & El Generico- 5.75/10
BRAVADOS PROMO- lame, uncharismatic babyface promo
TAG WARS 2010 BLOCK C FINALS: The Bravado Brothers vs. The Dark City Fight Club- 4/10
KENNY KING & RHETT TITUS PROMO- In all fairness, this was really just Kenny King talking. The promo itself was alright… but it spoiled a match that hadn’t happened yet! That is an unforgivable production error on ROH’s part.
TAG WARS 2010 BLOCK A FINALS: The Briscoe Brothers vs. The Embassy (Necro Butcher & Prince Nana)- 4/10
Erick Stevens couldn’t make it to the show so they had Nana actually wrestle the match. I really don’t like this from a kayfabe POV. Why didn’t Nan just hire someone? Nana is the type of guy who would do anything to avoid getting into the ring with guys like the Briscoes. The story was what you would expect it to be, with Nana only wanting in when the Briscoes were down, and leaving Necro to do the work the rest of the time.
DAVEY RICHARDS vs. KEVIN STEEN- 8/10
An awesome match preceded by some awesome pre-match antics by Steen.
BOBBY DEMPSEY & CEDRIC ALEXANDER vs. CALEB KONLEY & “MANSCOUT” JAKE MANNING- 5/10
THE KINGS OF WRESTLING (w/Shane Hagadorn) vs. THE SET- No rating. Two good segments. The first was a VERY extended squash that made KoW both look dominant and look like assholes. The second was hype for KoW vs. the Briscoes. While I thought that Jay being allowed to sub himself into the match was stupid, there is a kayfabe precedent for it in ROH (at Fight Spirit). I didn’t like this being announced as a “no contest” rather than a DQ, though.
STEVE CORINO vs. JEFF EARLY- Squash. Great aftermath with Cabana, too. And good after-math with Roderick Strong.
Good little pre-match segment that let Tyler be a heel.
NON-TITLE MATCH: ROH World Champion Tyler Black vs. ROH TV Champion Eddie- 8.25/10
This main event definitely delivered. Awesome match. After the match Davey cut a promo putting Eddie over huge.
Bonus Matches:
KEVIN STEEN vs. EDDIE EDWARDS (w/Shane Hagadorn) (ROH on HDnet show 21)- 6.25/10
MARK BRISCOE vs. “SUGARFOOT” ALEX PAYNE (ROH on HDNet show 20)- squash
8 MAN ELIMINATION TAG TEAM MATCH: Brent Albright, Colt Cabana, Necro Butcher, Grizzly Redwwod vs. The Embassy (Jimmy Rave, “Dirty” Ernie Osiris, Claudio Castagnoli, & Prince Nana) (ROH on HDnet show 23- 6/10. Fun, but I thought they put Cabana over WAY too strong here.
This was a decent show from ROH, but it felt very small (due to most of the big names being in matches that were build up to the next night’s match). The Champion vs. Champion match definitely delivered, though, and Steen vs. Davey was awesome as well. One thing that really irks me is that the matches are listed out of order on the back of the jewel case. A good show, but not required watching in terms of match quality or storylines.