Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
Colt Cabana vs Davey Richards
Great choice to start by kicking the show off with the hometown star. They follow the Code of Honor to start and we're off, with Cabana trying to confuse Richards with some of his British wrestling techniques but Richards was able to escape and Cabana barely dodges a hard kick. Cabana turns a Richards drop down into a modified O'Connor Roll for 2 and then gets a combination Indian Deathlock/Boston Crab, but Richards sits up out of the hold and turns it into a Thesz Press for 2. Cabana with a schoolboy for 2 and Richards tries to reverse to an anklelock, but Cabana rolls free and goes to the floor where Richards hits a baseball slide and the dive through the ropes, though he landed at ringside instead of the fifth row like usual. Richards takes Cabana down in the ring and tries for a LeBell Lock type move, but Cabana makes the ropes so Richards takes him down with a hammerlock and adds the half nelson, trying to stack Cabana to his shoulders but Cabana won't go over so Richards turns it into a bridging hammerlock. Cabana escapes so Richards takes him down with a side headlock and scissors the arm at the same time, which is a really nasty stretch. Richards keeps up the attack on the arm and Cabana again tries to escape, so Richards dropkicks him in the face and then hits a stiff kick to the back. Richards gets a hammerlock suplex and goes to the top, but comes off right into the raised boots of Cabana, who starts firing back with right jabs and the Bionic Elbow. Cabana with repeated double chops and goes for the Flying Apple, but Richards blocks so Cabana hits a Lionsault for 2 instead. Cabana goes up top and Richards nails him with a leaping enziguiri and then goes up, but Cabana picks him up with a fireman's carry and tries to drop Richards on the top rope, but seems to lose him and Richards hits in the ring. Cabana covers for 2 and then goes right back to the top and hits a moonsault for 2, then goes for the Colt 45, Richards escapes and rams Cabana's shoulder to the ringpost, then hits a missile dropkick and goes back to the top. Richards leaps almost the entire length of the ring with a diving headbutt for 2, then gets a cross armbreaker on Cabana. Cabana tries to roll Richards to his back but instead counters to the Billy Goat's Curse and Richards reverses that to a bridging O'Connor Roll for 2. Richards with another hard kick and a bridging German Suplex for 2, then hits a running forearm and running knee in the corner, and comes out with a swinging tornado DDT and a Falcon Arrow suplex into a cross armbreaker and Cabana taps.
Winner: Davey Richards
Excellent opener, a lot of action and their styles blended a lot better than you'd think they would. They follow the Code Of Honor again after the match in a nice display of sportsmanship.
Throughout the evening, we're going to see different choices for the top moment in ROH history, and the first of those was CM Punk's farewell back in 2005.
Four Corner Survival: Grizzly Redwood vs Mike Bennett vs Steve Corino vs Kyle O'Reilly
Corino and Bennett start us out, but Bennett tags out to Redwood before making contact. Corino shakes Redwood's hand and then takes him down with a shoulderblock, so Redwood tries a couple of shoulderblocks of his own and gets nowhere, so he stomps on Corino's foot and takes him down with a shoulderblock before tagging in O'Reilly, who appears to be sporting a new tattoo around his ribs. O'Reilly unloads with a series of kicks and a slap to the face, so Corino slaps him back and invites O'Reilly to give him some more kicks, so O'Reilly obliges and comes off the ropes and Corino powerslams him. Now Bennett tags himself in and goes after O'Reilly, hitting a dropkick and then making a blind tag to Redwood. O'Reilly boots Bennett to the floor and runs Redwood at Corino's boot, but Redwood changes directions and knocks Corino off the apron, so O'Reilly hits a running boot off the apron onto Bennett, and Redwood follows him with a dive of his own. Corino sets up for a dive of his own, but Bennett slides in and takes Corino out with a clothesline. Bennett with a slam that doesn't even get 1, so he takes Corino to the corner and hits some chops and then whips him hard into the opposite corner. Bennett rains down rights in the corner and then distracts the referee as Bob Evans drags Corino to the floor. Corino goes to nail him, but Bennett goes outside and nails Corino before he can get his hands on Bob. The video freezes for about a minute, and Grizzly Redwood is beating O'Reilly up when it comes back. Redwood unloads with chops and forearms, but O'Reilly hits the rolling butterfly suplexes for 2. O'Reilly goes up top but Bennett shoves him into the guardrail and I guess that counted as a tag because he comes in and goes after Redwood, who rolls to the other corner and tags Corino. Corino with a rolling elbow and a leg lariat, and he goes for the Magic Thumb, but settles for hitting a combo DDT/Flatliner on Bennett and Redwood. Bennett clotheslines Corino and Redwood hits a DDT on Bennett, O'Reilly goes for a German Suplex on Corino and Redwood sunset flips him into a German Suplex on Corino, and then Bennett hits a spinebuster on Redwood and they're all down. They get up and O'Reilly destroys everyone singlehandedly, then goes up top and hits a double missile dropkick on Corino and Redwood, but Evans grabs O'Reilly as Bennett gets an O'Connor Roll on Redwood and O'Reilly breaks with a stiff kick to Bennett's head. Redwood with an abdominal stretch on O'Reilly and Corino starts to go for the thumb on Redwood, but Bennett nails him and hits a Side Effect for the win.
Winner: Mike Bennett
Lots of action in this one. This is making for a pretty action packed undercard. O'Reilly looked like a monster in this one.
Our next Top 5 Moment is the main event of the first ROH show with Low Ki, Christopher Daniels, and Bryan Danielson going at it in a three way match.
Michael Elgin vs El Generico
They follow the Code Of Honor, but then Elgin suckerpunches Generico and works him over in the corner. They exchange blows in the middle of the ring with Generico coming out on top, so Elgin shoves him into the corner but misses a charge and Generico goes for a sunset flip, but Elgin blocks and yanks Generico back to his feet and pops him in the air, but Generico hits a dropkick in midair. Truth Martini grabs Generico's foot from the outside, allowing Elgin to nail him and hit the standing curb stomp. Elgin starts working Generico over with stomps and forearms and then hits repeated side backbreakers and a running senton for 2. Elgin takes Generico to the floor and tries to ram him into the ringpost, but Generico reverses and Elgin hits the post and then Generico tries for a tornado DDT on the floor, but Elgin blocks the move and runs completely across the ringside area and plows Generico into the barricade. Generico beats the count back in, so Elgin continues pounding on him. Generico tries to come back with some clotheslines, but can't take Elgin off his feet so he dodges a charge and Elgin tumbles to the floor. Generico follows him out with a dive, then sends him back in and hits a flying bodypress for 2. Elgin catches Generico with a back elbow and goes for a powerbomb, but Generico escapes and finally hits the tornado DDT for 2. Elgin hits Generico with a couple of hard forearms that make an audible WHAM and then hits a Here It Is Driver for 2. Elgin picks Generico up for a slam and drives him into the corner, then hits a Cyclone for 2. Elgin creams him with another hard forearm and hits a running charge in the corner, Generico tries a running Yakuza Kick in the corner but Elgin blocks him and hits a hard powerbomb type move for 2. Generico finally hits a Yakuza Kick but Elgin no-sells and rips his head off with a hard clothesline for 2. Elgin goes for another clothesline but Generico ducks and hits a half and half suplex for 2. Generico goes for the brainbuster but Elgin accidentally nails the referee and rams Generico into the corner. Truth Martini tries to nail Generico off the top rope but Generico moves and Martini lands on Elgin, but Elgin catches him and hoists him into a fireman's carry, then powerbombs Generico with Truth Martini still on his back. Generico suddenly rolls him up out of nowhere and gets the win.
Winner: El Generico
Crowd boos the Generico victory, and Elgin attacks him after the match. Generico fights back, but Roderick Strong runs in and nails Generico from behind with the ROH World Title belt, and then Elgin wipes Generico out and tosses him to the floor. Best match on the show so far, no doubt about it.
Roderick grabs the mic and tells Elgin he did a great job and sends him to the back because he's done for the night. He says that what we saw here was just a taste of what we're going to see later. Homicide doesn't deserve to be World Champion, but Strong was made to be a World Champion, and tonight is Homicide's chance to prove he's as tough as he thinks he is, but he promises that this pretty boy from Tampa is going to whup his ass and Homicide will realize that only the Strong survive. Homicide runs out to the ring, but Strong and Truth Martini head for the hills. He grabs the microphone and tells Strong that he's not waiting for later tonight, he wants to do this right now. Strong mulls it over, so Homicide hits a dive to the floor and wipes Strongh out, and the title is on the line right now!
ROH World Title Match/Barrio Streetfight: Roderick Strong vs Homicide
They brawl into the crowd and Homicide gets the advantage, ramming Strong into a chair and then chasing him into the entranceway. They exchange blows in the aisle and Homicide chases Strong back to ringside with a chair and rams it into Strong's ribs. Strong tries to escape into the ring but Homicide goes after him and hits the 10 punch count in the corner, then bites him on the ear. Homicide sets the chair up in the middle of the ring and bulldogs Strong into it, then threatens the referee with the chair. Strong kicks Homicide in the midsection and fires some forearms, but Homicide pokes him in the eyes and tosses him to the floor. Homicide goes out after him and rams him into the guardrail, then picks Strong up in a fireman's carry and dumps him on top of the barricade. Strong rams Homicide into the apron, picks him up in a Torture Rack, and dumps Homicide back first on the apron. Strong rams Homicide into the barricade again and then rolls him into the ring and whips him hard into the corner. Strong lays Homicide in the corner and stands on his face, then sets up a chair in the far corner and goes after Homicide and they end up exchanging blows until Strong dropkicks him in the ribs. Strong gets a second chair and nails Homicide with it, then sets it up in the corner in front of the first one and then takes a third chair and sets it up in the other corner. The crowd chants for one more chair so Strong has Truth Martini hand him one, then he tosses it to the floor just to piss off the crowd. Strong with a snap suplex in the middle of the ring and then gives him the Three Amigos and covers for 2. Homicide gets an overhead belly to belly out of nowhere and Strong gets to his feet and charges him, but Homicide moves and Strong crashes hard into one of the chairs, then Homicide rams him headfirst into another one and then a third. He knocked that last chair free, so Homicide set it back up and rammed Strong into it again and finally hit a bridging T-Bone Suplex for 2. Strong tries to whip Homicide into one of the chairs and Homicide puts on the brakes, but Strong hits a running knee and covers for 2. Strong gets a table and slides it into the ring and sets it up in the corner as Truth Martini tells Homicide he got the streetfight he wanted. Strong goes for a Gibson Driver into the table, but Homicide slips out and hits a tornado DDT through the talbe for a close 2. Homicide sits Strong up top and goes for a top rope Ace Crusher, but Truth Martini runs in and grabs him so Homicide nails him and goes for the Cop Killa, Michael Elgin runs in and Homicide promptly tosses him and then hits the top rope Ace Crusher and running lariat and goes for the cover, but Truth Martini breaks the cover. Homicide grabs Truth Martini, who begs for mercy and then lowblows Homicide and starts mocking him. Truth Martini picks him up and sets for an Ace Crusher, but Homicide spins out and hits an Ace Crusher on Truth Martini. All this distraction gave Strong enough time to recover, hit the Sick Kick, and finish with a vertical suplex into a backbreaker for the win.
Winner: Roderick Strong
I'm not sure I liked Strong getting rammed headfirst into those chairs so many times, but awesome streetfight and Strong gets another big win as champion. Elgin helps both Strong and Truth Martini back to the locker room as Homicide gets back to his feet. Homicide takes his t-shirt off and lays it in the middle of the ring, then flips out and slams the table in the middle of the ring, picks up a chair, and cracks the table with it.
Since this was supposed to be the main event, Kevin Kelly informs us that the Briscoes vs Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin will now close the show.
INTERMISSION
We see some videos during intermission, including a look at all of the Top 5 Moments in ROH History (as chosen by someone with different taste than me) and some of the hype videos they ran on TV and HDNet.
We come back from intermission, and Kevin Kelly is in the ring with Jim Cornette and says that there's been a lot of talk about what's next for ROH. Cornette puts the crowd over for selling the place out and also thanks the internet crowd for showing up and seeing the best wrestling product in the world. He announces that the next time ROH will be on iPPV will be the Wrestlemania weekend events on April 1st and 2nd, and Cornette says that the winner of tonight's World Tag Team Title Match will defend against the winner of Haas & Benjamin vs the Briscoes at one of the shows, and whoever the ROH World Champion is will defend against Christopher Daniels at the other.
MsChif vs Sara Del Rey
They duke it out to start and exchange pinning combinations with neither girl getting an advantage. MsChif hits a standing moonsault for 2, but Sara gets a savate kick and a series of running boots to the chest. Sara gets MsChif up in the Gory Special and bridges way forward, but MsChif rolls out of the hold and hits a Northern Lights Suplex for 2. Del Rey bridges out of the move and almost breaks MsChif in half with a powerbomb and covers for 2. MsChif kicks over her own head and gets a Rocker Dropper type move for 2. Sara whips MsChif to the corner and follows in with a rolling somersault kick, but MsChif rolls her up out of nowhere for 2. Sara gets a wrist clutch Angle Slam for the win.
Winner: Sara Del Rey
This was good, but much shorter than I expected it to be, and I didn't think MsChif would go down so easily. Sara puts the mouth on MsChif after the match and spits at her, so MsChif spits the green mist in Sara's face. Sara goes down and rolls to the floor.
ROH World Tag Team Title Match: Kings Of Wrestling vs All Night Express
Titus and Hero start the match and do a feeling out process, Titus tries a shoulderblock but Hero doesn't move. Hero tries one and Titus doesn't move. Hero kills Titus with a chops and then picks a single leg and goes to the ankle, Titus reverses to an abdominal stretch but Hero hiptosses out and Titus hits him with a high knee for 2. Hero backs off and tags Claudio, so Titus tags in Kenny King. Claudio slaps King in the face so King fires some rights at him. Claudio with a pair of knees to the ribs and goes to a hammerlock, but King slips out and hits a series of armdrags and atomic drops Claudio into a flying shoulder tackle by Titus, who covers for 2, so I guess he tagged in. Claudio lays in some chops so Titus chops him back and Claudio tags Hero, but Titus slams him and he and King hit a double team for 2. King back in and nails Hero, and Claudio got a blind tag and tried to sneak in, but the ANX pepper him with a chain of double team moves and then Titus hits a leapfrog bulldog on Hero. KOW go to the floor so King hiptosses Titus over the top onto the champions and then King hits a dive of his own. Titus rolls Claudio back in and covers for 2, but Claudio backdrops Titus to the apron and Titus hits a big boot to Hero, but charges Claudio and then Claudio pops him up into a European Uppercut and Titus falls all the way to the floor. Hero rolls Titus back in and Claudio covers for 2, then yells at the crowd for going HEY! Hero tags in and Claudio whips Titus into a running Yakuza kick, then goes to an armbar. Titus with a hammerlock backbreaker for 2 (that was pretty innovative), then Claudio comes in and just punches Titus in the face before flipping on the crowd for going HEY again. Claudio goes to an armbar then then Hero tags in and they hit a European uppercut and rolling elbow to the back of the head in rapid succession on Titus for 2. Claudio with a running European uppercut for 2, then they get the suplex/running elbow combo that's won them a bunch of matches, but it only gets 2 so Hero just starts kicking Titus in the head instead and then cheapshots King off the apron. Titus nails Hero and puts him up top, but Hero shoves him off and comes off the top rope with a knee to the back of the head and a rolling elbow for 2. Hero with a senton for 2 and then Claudio tags in and puts Titus up top, but Titus blocks the superplex and slips out, dumping Claudio on the top turnbuckle, and makes the hot tag to King. King comes in and cleans house, ripping Hero's head off with a leg lariat and catching the roaring Yakuza kick and turning it into a cradle suplex for 2. Hero counters a spinning boot and hits the roaring Yakuza on the second try, then tags Claudio in. Claudio hits a running European uppercut in the corner and a running kneestrike to the face for 2 then goozles King, but King fights his way out so Claudio just kills him with a clothesline instead. Claudio goes up top but King nails him and goes up as well and Claudio tries to chokeslam King off, but King turns it into a backflip and lands on his feet and hits a big leaping enziguiri, and Titus runs up for a top rope Sex Factor and King covers for 2. King hits the Royal Flush but Hero breaks the cover at 2. Titus tosses Hero to the floor as King kicks Claudio in the head, and Titus suplexes Claudio and King hits a Shooting Star Press and Hero again breaks the cover at the last possible second. All four men are in the ring now and they all lay each other out, and the crowd erupts in applause as all four men are down. Shane Hagadorn tries to toss the loaded elbow pad to Hero but King catches it and tries to nail Hero with it, but Hero escapes and Claudio goes for the UFO. King slips out, but by this time Hero got the elbow pad and nails King with a rolling elbow and Claudio covers for the win.
Winners: Kings Of Wrestling
Excellent match, and Titus & King showed beyond a shadow of a doubt that they can hang at the top of the mix. They get a huge pop from the crowd as they leave after the match, and Kevin Kelly puts over how far they've come in the last year.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
