What’s All The Hubbub: ROH Aries vs. Richards

Aries vs. Richards
Novi, Michigan
November 13, 2009

The Briscoe Brothers vs. The House of Truth
If you didn’t read my review of Clash, all you have to know about this match is that Josh Raymond is in this match and likes to celebrate. Great spot as Able sends Jay into Josh’s boots while he’s seesawing on the middle rope, but tries it again and Jay sends Able into Josh’s boots before punching Josh to the floor. Martini trips up Jay and Able takes control with a slingshot DDT. Ha. Last time I said that Jay should make the save after Able powerbombed Raymond onto Mark. This time Mark DID make the save when they hit it on Jay. They hit a Death Sentence with a Lionsault this time. Raymond celebrates winning a strike exchange and gets planted with a Ron Simmons Spinebuster from Jay. Jay hits the reverse STO into the corner on Able and tags out to Mark. Uranage suplex to Able. Super Ace Crusher to Raymond. Able almost gets a roll-up and Truth saves him from the Cutthroat Driver, but HOT has to save Truth from the Doomsday Device. Jay sends Able into Truth and they take out Able with the Doomsday Device for the victory. Like a condensed version of the Clash match, with several recycled spots. Still a good effort.
Match Result: The Briscoe Brothers via pinfall
Match Rating: **3/4

Prince Nana says we need to show more respect to the most elite stable in wrestling. Oh please. Even Immortal is better than the Embassy! He also calls Claudio Castagnoli our savior. Wait, I thought Tyler Black was Jesus?

Pick Six Contender’s Match
Claudio Castagnoli w/Prince Nana & Ernesto Osiris vs. Tyler Black
CC slaps Black with the glove, so Tyler takes exception. They wrestle a bit and Tyler puts Claudio’s glove down his tights. The early going is aggressive but nondescript. Black reverses a stall suplex and hits one of his own. Claudio hits a dragon screw leg whip but doesn’t follow through on it. Tyler hits a dropkick and a tope con hilo. They trade chops and Claudio chops the post, but Tyler decides to try a moonsault instead of, you know, working the hand. Claudio avoids it, but then misses his own crossbody and Black is back in control. Claudio hits a walking crab elbow and swings Black into the rail. That spot used to be cool before people did it every night. Claudio steals Tyler’s dickish stalling stomp. He tries to backdrop Black to the floor but Tyler lands on his feet and trips him up. Nana prevents him from trying the springboard clothesline and Claudio takes control. Big gutwrench suplex. He looks to go for the pop-up European Uppercut but Black lands on his shoulder and backflips back to the mat before hitting the Pele Kick. Okay, THAT was cool. He hits the enzugiri from the apron, kicks Nana away and hits the springboard clothesline. He superkicks Osiris, CC hits the bicycle kick and tries the UFO (no hands airplane spin) but Tyler turns it into a roll-up. Not even average until the last minute, which was pretty good. It was like two virgins on prom night; they had some idea of what to do, moved around a lot, and had an energetic finish, but there was no chemistry, no flow or build-up. Ultimately, you’re dissatisfied, wonder what all the hype was about, and hope the next time is better.
Match Result: Tyler Black via pinfall
Match Rating: **1/2

Erick Stevens & Joey Ryan w/Prince Nana & Ernesto Osiris vs. The Super Smash Brothers
The Embassy Pearl Harbor the Smash Bros. I know, shocking. More shocking is that the SSB start dominating the match, and they hit a double drop toehold on Stevens that sends him crashing into Ryan’s groin. Nana throws a fit and they charge, but Ryan hits Player Dos with a spear. The Embassy take over….and….SNORE….sorry this match SUCKS. Horribly boring heat segment. The Players tries to save it with, with Dos hitting flying double knees and both of them hitting a neckbreaker/sidewalk slam combination. Stevens hits a lariat for an abrupt finish. Entertaining when the SSB were on offense. Boring when the Embassy was on offense. Guess who was part of the regular roster?
Match Result: Erick Stevens & Joey Ryan via pinfall
Match Rating: **

Pick Six Contender’s Series
Kenny Omega vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima
Ah, now this should pick things up. Omega wins a shoulder tackle exchange because he’s bigger and Nakajima just boots him in the head. Omega leapfrogs, Nakajima kicks. Omega tries to slap Nakajima. Oh that’s smart. Nakajima hits a dragon screw and another stiff kick and a German Suplex for a nearfall. God bless Nakajima. He starts whipping Kenny into the barriers and the fans love that. Omega avoids a suplex on the ramp, so Nakajima DDTs him on the ramp instead. And now a baseball slide when Omega is crawling in the ring. Nakajima is such a dick. He starts going after the legs and ties up Omega in a modified leglock. Omega finally gets some offense in with a rana, a dropkick to the knee and the Bullfrog. That doesn’t last long as Nakajima awkwardly counters the Frog Crossbody with a kick and just goes to town with kicks before hitting a missile dropkick. Omega blocks the backdrop driver a few times, but lands on his injured leg, so Nakajima hits a dragon screw and applies the figure four. He keeps kicking the legs but Omega finally hits a uranage to get back into it. He counters the Triangle Kick by shoving Nakajima to the floor and hits the Bermuda Triangle. Blue Destiny gets 2, Nakajima avoids a Dragon Suplex, lands on his feet off a German Suplex and gets a series of kicks to set up the Triangle Kick. Kenny tries to avoid another kick but Nakajima waits for him and then kicks. BRAINBUSTER! ONLY 2! Omega ducks the Death Roll, hits a heel kick, INVERTED RANA! ONLY 2! Nakajima slaps Omega when he tries the Stop Sign but gets blasted with the Hadouken! DRAGON SUPLEX! No sold? Boo. ANOTHER DRAGON! But Nakajima kicks out at 1. Bah. The match was so good too. Nakajima counters Croyt’s Wrath with a roll-up for 2, GANNOSUKE CLUTCH! Only 2, and Nakajima hits FOUR SUPERKICKS! Things start to get a bit sloppy, Croyt’s Wrath again gets countered, this time into a hurracanrana, Nakajima tries the Death Roll and Omega attempts to counter it, fails and settles for another Dragon Suplex. Croyt’s Wrath gets the 3, but Omega’s shoulders were on the mat too. This was awesome for about 85% of it, but the last 15% really hurt it.
Match Result: Kenny Omega via pinfall
Match Rating: ***1/2

Post match Nakajima attacks Omega, demands a rematch and they shake hands. Odd, but I guess its a cultural thing.

Delirious and Colt Cabana cut a promo where Deli says “coochie” about a dozen times. Wow. Anyway, he basically calls Kenny King and Rhett Titus pussies.

Colt Cabana & Delirious vs. Rhett Titus & Kenny King
I’m sure this will be a very serious match. What do ya know, I’m wrong. Cabana and Delirious play merry go round with Delirious hitting clotheslines. Deli goes under the ring to spook them into getting hit with a bionic elbow. Titus tries to lure Cabana into a clothesline from King but Colt knows it’s coming and King just SPLATS. “Team Ha Ha Ba Ba” as Hero dubs them are just humiliating these poor saps. Things start to become a typical tag match once Titus and King take over. King does most of the heavy lifting in the ring, although Titus does bust out a flying knee. Where Rhett really shines though is when he pulls Cabana off the apron a SPLIT second before Delirious made the tag. Perfect timing on that. Cabana tags in, and things get bizarre as Cabana whips Titus into King in the corner so they are facing each other, then does the shoulder thrusts so they are basically humping each other. OH-kay. Cabana whiffs a moonsault but his reaction makes it more entertaining than actually hitting it. I think Cabana is the only wrestler who can botch something and be cheered for it. Cabana tries the Flying Asshole but King takes him out with a spinning kick. Delirious saves Cabana from the spike piledriver and the faces hit a simultaneous Panic Attack/Flying Asshole. Shadows Over Hell sets up the Billy Goat’s Curse, and King taps out. Kind of odd that Titus didn’t take the fall here. Classic tag formula with goofy comedy mixed in made for an entertaining match.
Match Result: Colt Cabana & Delirious via submission
Match Rating: **1/2

Pick Six Contender’s Match
Chris Hero w/Shane Hagadorn vs. Roderick Strong
I’m not positive, but I think we may see some stiff strikes in this one. Hero has a great disingenuous expression when he follows the Code of Honor. They mat wrestle and fight over a Greco-Roman Knucklelock until Hero hits some knees to the guts. They collide on a shoulder tackle and Roddy hits a chop that sends Hero crawling outside. Strong stays in control by slamming Hero into the barricade and hitting chops until Hagadorn distracts him, which allows Hero to dropkick him through the ropes and hit a stiff elbow to get back into it. Roddy hits another chop and Hero boots him down. He starts to go after Roddy’s hand with submission holds, which is a good strategy. Roddy responds to that by hitting a dropkick and a backbreaker. Doubt that’ll be the last one of the match. ROLLING ELBOW in the corner by Hero! Now he goes after the legs with a dragon screw. Brilliant. Hero tries a senton but eats knees, and that hurts both men. Roddy comes back with an enzugiri, a falcon arrow and a pumphandle backbreaker, but that hurts his knee. Hero comes back with rolling elbows, cradle backbreaker hurts Roddy’s knee again! Hero survives the Press Gutbuster, and comes back with a Rolling Elbow, the Liger Bomb and the Ripcord Elbow all for the close nearfalls. Roddy comes back with an enzugiri to the back and the Press Backbreaker! ONLY 2! Roddy takes out Hagadorn with a baseball slide and Hero hits a pair of elbows with the Golden Elbow Pad in order to steal a victory. Good match with Hero strategically attacking key body parts to neutralize Strongs offense so he could go for a knockout elbow. Add in Strong’s sick backbreakers and Hero’s elbows and you’ve got a fantastic midcard match.
Match Result: Chris Hero via pinfall
Match Rating: ***1/2

The Young Bucks vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico
Dave Prazak explains why the Bucks wear boot tassels and Kevin Steen does not while Steen and Nick fight over a headlock. Steen hits a couple of shoulder tackles because he’s bigger than Nick, and then sentons him when Nick sprawls. Nice. Nick hits a flippy armdrag on Generico and tags out to Matt so he and Generico can do more flippy lucha stuff. Generico survives a few flying attacks to his arm and tags in Steen, who goes to work on Nick’s ribs, even biting them. The Bucks survive that and hit Generico with a double hip toss into a double dropkick. Generico hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and tags out to Steen. Lunglower to Matt, belly-to-belly on Nick, CANNONBALL to Matt, ELEVATED DDT to Nick! He IS a house of fire. Generico adds an Arabian Press on Nick for good measure, but Matt survives a catatonic into a schwein by Steen. Steenerico hits the drop toehold/flipping legdrop combo and Steen starts telling Generico the difference between the C4 vertebrae and the C6 vertebrae. Steen takes a while to get Generico to put his boot up and Matt slams Steen into Generico’s boot. Steen fights off the Bucks and NOW the spot works. Steen mocks Matt trying to make a tag until Matt plants him with an Asai DDT. Hot tag to Nick who hits a trio of clotheslines on Generico and dropkicks Steen to the floor. BAAACK body drop. Matt takes out Steen with a somorsault dive. Nick hits Generico with a springboard crossbody for 2. Assisted dropkick gets 2, and Matt is tagged back in. Enzugiri by Matt. Big boot by Generico. SUPERKICK by Matt! MICHINOKU DRIVER by Generico! Only 2. Great sequence. Steen is back in, Matt kicks away the Sharpshooter so Steen hits the Stone Cold Stunner and the pumphandle neckbreaker over the knee for 2. Uh, yeah, the Sharpshooter would have sucked less. Everyone’s in, YAKUZA KICK TO NICK! SUPERKICK TO GENERICO! Powerbomb on Matt sets up the Sharpshooter! SUPERKICK TO THE BACK OF THE HEAD BY NICK! DAMN! Nick hits the slingshot facebuster on Generico, tries the moonsault to Steen on the floor, but Steen just POWERBOMBS HIM ON THE APRON! EXPLODER INTO THE CORNER BY GENERICO ON MATT! HALF AND HALF SUPLEX! SWANTON! 1…2…NO! Wow, this match rules. Steenerico is lost, they try the Assembly Line but Matt fights them off and Generico ends up booting Steen in the corner! Generico wins a forearm exchange with Nick, who comes back with a spinning back elbow, spinning roundhouse kick and Matt adds the wheelbarrow facebuster, but Generico kicks out! SPEAR by Matt sets up the moonsault and springboard splash combo, but Steen makes the save! DOUBLE SUPERKICK TO STEEN! They try for More Bang for Your Buck, YAKUZA TO NICK WHO’S UP TOP! SHARPSHOOTER ON MATT, TURNBUCKLE BRAINBUSTAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! That allows Generico to pin Nick. EPIC babyface tag match. Sure, lots of spots, but the crescendo worked perfectly and there were plenty of communication issues between Steen and Generico that really built to Steen turning on Generico, so you’ve got a bit of storytelling as well. Everything was great, but those last ten minutes or so were outstanding.
Match Result: El Generico & Kevin Steen via pinfall
Match Rating: ****1/2

Austin Aries takes the mic before the match and gets a great dig at a fan who tells him to “shut the fuck up” before he even says anything. He says a lot has been written about both of them. They say Aries is just scrapping by, doing enough to keep his title. They say Davey Richards is the best wrestler going today. Aries says the time for talk is over, and it’s down to one stiff-kicking prick against one straight-shooting asshole. Davey fires up the crowd big time, the Code of Honor is followed and HERE…WE….GO!

ROH World Championship Match
Austin Aries © vs. Davey Richards w/Shane Hagadorn
Davey backs Aries into the corner, so Aries does it to him and backs off more cockily. Richards wins a brief mat wrestling exchange and starts to go after the arm. This leads to a chain wrestling sequence where Aries blocks a patented kick to the arm. Richards counters an armdrag into a headscissors and then avoids the headstand dropkick. A slap exchange leads to an attempted surfboard by Davey but Aries bites his foot to escape. Strikes from both men, Aries avoids the handspring enzugiri and does a victory celebration. He follows that up with a handspring elbow and MORE celebrating. Aries rakes Davey’s eyes across the rope. Davey responds with punches to the gut, snapmares Aries and kicks the back. Aries responds with one of his own, which Davey laughs off before hitting another one. Aries looks to respond in kind once more but hits a mule kick reminiscent of KENTA’s afterthought kick. Davey responds with several kicks and wheel kicks Aries right out of the air. They start brawling outside the ring and Davey kicks Aries over the rail. Backdrop suplex gets 2. Aries knocks Davey to the floor when he goes up top and then hits a double axehandle to the floor. Awkward moment as it it looks like Davey forgot to backdrop Aries over the rail. Aries starts to take over with a slingshot axehandle to Davey on the apron. A back elbow sets up the powerdrive elbow for 2, which sets up the stump puller! Aries cuts off a comeback with a slam and a hilo. Lots of strikes sets up an STO but Davey avoids the pendulum elbow before Aries even has a chance to do the theatrics, so Aries uses a sick inverted half nelson to punish him. Davey escapes with headbutts, and Aries tries to trade kicks. Bad idea. He switches to a seated cobra twist instead. Davey avoids the pendulum elbow again and they start slugging it out until Aries runs into a roundhouse kick. Aries survives the diving headbutt, so Davey grabs a cross armbreaker. Aries escapes and sets up the IED, Davey counters with a foreram but Aries avoids a boot and goes after the legs. Davey counters the shinbreaker suplex into a roll-up for 2 and gets the handspring enzugiri. His leg gives out and Aries catches him with the shinbreaker suplex, but Davey kicks him when he tries the IED again. They fight to get a big move off the top for a bit, Aries gets it with a Super DDT for 2, LAST CHANCERY! Davey avoids a Brainbuster but gets elbows to the head for his trouble, they fight over an O’Connor Roll and Richards puts Aries in a Tombstone position before falling into a powerslam. Davey goes up top, headbutts Aries when he tries to block him, but takes too long and misses a Shooting Star Press. Davey grabs his knee so Aries dropkicks it and applies a half crab. A trio of shinbreakers sets up a suplex to the floor, HEAT SEEKING MISSILE! Aries sets up Davey’s leg in the corner of the guardrails, IED TO THE LEG! SICK! Davey makes it back into the ring so Aries rolls into the half crab again. Aries tries to knock him out with elbows, tries the Brainbuster but settles for a gourdbuster that hurts Davey’s knee, and he counters the Alarm Clock. PENDULUM ELBOW TO THE LEG! FIGURE-FOUR! That was nice. Davey fights out and Aries tries to slam the legs into the post, but Davey pulls Aries headfirst into the post! Aries snaps Davey’s throat off the top rope, but Davey ducks a charging Aries and sends him to the floor, then just SOARS into him with a tope con hilo! AWESOME! Richards hits a missile dropkick, more kicks, sets Aries up top and pulls him down into the Alarm Clock! Only 2! Crowd LOVES Davey. German Suplex connects, Davey catches the kick to the head and hits an enzugiri, corner forearms, BACK RAKE by Aries, SPINNING SUPERKICK! YAKUZA IN THE CORNER! JUST 2! Aries drives Davey into the corner to avoid the DR Driver, sends him to the floor, sets up for the axehandle but that sets him up for the GERMAN SUPERPLEX! RUNNING SPIN KICK TO THE GUT! GERMAN! ONLY 2! TEXAS CLOVERLEAF! He tries the DR Driver but just awkwardly drops Aries, Aries attacks the knee again, ALARM CLOCK! LARIAT! DR DRIVER! CLOSEST OF 2 COUNTS! Aries tries to escape, they trade strikes on the apron, APRON BRAINBUSTER! SICK! Aries dumps Davey in the crowd but he JUST beats the 20 count! KNEES TO THE HEAD! KAWADA KICKS BY DAVEY! KNEES! KICKS! KNEES! Brainbuster attempt but CLOVERLEAF! INSIDE CRADLE GETS 2! Huge strike exchange culminates in a flying lariat from Aries but that only gets 2. Aries starts slapping Richards but Davey keeps telling him to bring it, so he does with the CRUCIFIX DRIVER! KICK TO THE HEAD! IED! ONLY 2! BRAINBUSTER! ONLY 2! LAST CHANCERY! KNEES! BRAINBUSTER! KNEES! Davey is GONE as Aries goes back to the Last Chancery and Todd Sinclair calls for the bell. There’s some awkward spots and Davey does kind of shrug off the leg work late in the match, but this was awesome stuff. Aries tried to wrestle the way he does every night, but Richards was so good and so tough that Aries had to dig down deep, and stop jacking around to beat him. Aries final assault to put Davey away is really something special. The combination of knockdown, drag-out and technical showcase was stellar. Not perfect, but damn close.
Match Result: Austin Aries via referee stoppage
Match Rating: ****3/4