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Because there's so much material here, I'm going to break this review up into two parts, one for each disc. The first disc actually covers most of his ROH run, and includes many of the formative matches that led to him becoming the top star in the company.
Davey Richards vs Jimmy Rave (6/3/2006 - Destiny): This was Davey's debut match, which was actually delayed for three months due to a leg injury Davey suffered just prior to his planned March debut. He finally made it to ROH here and largely made his initial splash by beating Jimmy Rave probably three or four times. Rave was an established star who had main evented several shows, and was a good person to use to give Davey a rub on his way in the door. This was more competitive than I remember it being when I saw it live, as they went about 20 minutes in a pretty even, back and forth encounter. Davey got to showcase what he could do, but this was no squash by any stretch and I think that actually worked better to get Davey over than having him just go out there and guzzle Rave. Davey hit the DR Driver to score the win and kick off what would become an extremely successful ROH career.
Davey Richards vs Jack Evans (9/16/2006 - Glory By Honor V Night Two): This match opened a huge night for Ring of Honor that was not only their debut in the Manhattan Center, but also featured the first ever defense of the GHC Title in North America as well as Bryan Danielson defending the ROH World Title against KENTA in what I still consider the best match in ROH history. This was short but intense and mostly saw Davey destroy Evans, who got in a bit of offense and high flying stuff, but in the end tapped out to the Horse Collar after Davey got his knees up when Evans tried the 630 splash. This match also featured what appeared to be an unplanned table spot where Evans went over the top rope and clipped the side of the timekeeper's table, but nobody sold it like it was supposed to happen and they just continued the match even though Evans did appear to ding up his ribs a bit taking the fall.
Davey Richards vs Naomichi Marufuji (12/30/2007 - Final Battle 2007): Now we flash forward about 15 months to this match and skip a lot of really important stuff in Davey's ROH career, including him turning heel and forming the No Remorse Corps with Roderick Strong. I would have thought that given their recent history, they would have wanted more of that history on the DVD to provide context for current events, but there is almost no mention of the group ever existing on this set. As for the match, I forgot it even happened and am actually confused by that given that these are two of my favorite wrestlers of the last decade, but there was so much going on that weekend between Final Battle and the PPV taping the night before that I can kind of understand how it would have fallen through the cracks. This was solid, and featured the ROH debut of Davey's insane dive into the third row, but mostly felt like it was just getting going when Marufuji hit Sliced Bread #2 and got the win. I would love to see these two get 30-40 minutes, but that's probably not likely to happen anytime soon.
Ultimate Endurance (1/26/2008 - Without Remorse): This was the final fall of an Ultimate Endurance match for the ROH World Tag Team Title and had some pretty weird booking before we even join the match in progress. Age Of The Fall had just beaten the Briscoes for the title at Final Battle 2007, but were the first team eliminated here in what was I think only their first or second title defense, and then the Hangmen Three were the second team, leaving only Davey and Rocky Romero of the No Remorse Corps against Bryan Danielson & Austin Aries, who spent much of 2008 teaming after years of fighting each other. This was actually a really good, back and forth war that ended with another surprise finish when Richards pinned Aries clean after countering the brainbuster to a rollup. This came out of nowhere since Davey & Romero weren't even teaming regularly, but was an excellent match and Davey's first title win in ROH, and they went on to have a solid 4-5 month title reign.
Davey Richards vs Kota Ibushi (4/11/2008 - Bedlam In Beantown): This was a special attraction match to feature Ibushi, whom ROH officials had been trying to bring in for a while before finally getting ahold of him for a two week tour. Ibushi was an interesting case because a lot of ROH fans got used to Japanese wrestlers coming in and having great matches before invariably beating the ROH wrestler, but Ibushi was a different story and was presented more like a guy who did some impressive stuff in the ring, but was still a plucky young underdog. Davey was in full on Cobra Kai mode here as this badass jerk who liked smacking around the skinny young kid just because he could, and just beat the crap out of Ibushi for most of the match. Ibushi responded with some pretty impressive feats of athleticism and high flying, then the match broke down into the two of them going toe to toe in the middle of the ring, with Ibushi holding his own pretty well until Davey trapped him in the Kimura Lock and forced him to tap out.
Davey Richards vs KENTA (4/3/2009 - Supercard Of Honor IV): Now we jump forward almost a full year and skip the end of the NRC, Davey joining Sweet & Sour Inc, and then that group dissolving as Davey and Eddie Edwards formed the American Wolves. The Wolves hadn't quite hit their stride as a team yet, and Davey was still seen as the star of the team and the surefire breakout singles star. This match was for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Title and I remember not liking it at the time even though it got rave reviews from everyone who saw it, but after watching it again now, I really wonder what I missed before because this match is awesome. The last ten minutes or so is just this brutal war of attrition where Davey and KENTA beat each other into oblivion, going toe to toe in the ring before breaking out the big guns. KENTA gave Davey a Falcon Arrow suplex to the floor, but Davey beat the count and got back in the ring and caught KENTA in the Texas Cloverleaf, KENTA got out so Davey hit the DR Driver, but KENTA still kept coming. KENTA started the comeback and just started destroying Davey with high impact kicks and suplexes, but Davey kept coming and even managed to block the Go To Sleep twice before KENTA finally countered the handspring enziguiri by catching Davey in a fireman's carry and hitting the Go To Sleep to put Davey away. One of the most endearing things about Davey as a wrestler is how his matches see him taking all kinds of punishment, but he refuses to lose and keeps coming and can still beat you even when it seems like he's done. Because of this, even when he loses he usually comes out more over than when he went in, and this is one of those cases. Awesome, awesome match that you need to see.
Davey Richards vs Kevin Steen (5/8/2009 - Never Say Die): The American Wolves largely made their names feuding with Kevin Steen & El Generico, beating them for the ROH World Tag Team Title and then feuding with them in increasingly violent matches leading into Ladder War 2 in New York City. This match took place roughly midway through the feud and was more of a hardcore brawl that you typically see in a Davey Richards match, though Steen couldn't ever seem to come to Boston without winding up in some kind of bloody streetfight type match. A lot of foreign objects found their way into this match, starting with Davey busting Steen open by wrapping a chain around his boot and repeatedly kicking Steen in the face, then Steen fought back and piled a bunch of chairs on top of Davey before coming off the top rope and squashing Davey under them with a splash. A ladder found its way into the match, being set up at ringside so Davey and Steen could fight on top of it, leading to Steen falling off the ladder and crashing through two stacked tables nearby. Davey got Steen back into the ring but only got a two count, so he put a table between the ring apron and the guardrail and tried to throw Steen through it, but Steen blocked and gave Davey a Package Piledriver off the apron and through the table, then rolled Davey back in to get the win. This was absolutely brutal, but then Eddie Edwards ran out and attacked Steen to set up their own streetfight when ROH returned to Boston that September.
Incidentally, this feud had some pretty far-reaching ramifications because it was the loss to the American Wolves in Ladder War 2 that became Kevin Steen's storyline decision to turn on El Generico and lay him out at Final Battle 2009. This set up what became ROH's most heated and emotional feud of 2010, which culminated in Steen and Generico main eventing Final Battle 2010 in an incredibly violent Fight Without Honor that banished Kevin Steen from the company forever (until now). That Ladder War also turned Eddie Edwards into one of the biggest babyfaces in the company in New York City, since he participated in Ladder War 2 after breaking his elbow against Steen the night before. He rode that momentum to eventually winning the ROH World Title in New York and also main eventing the first iPPV of the Sinclair Era against Davey there as well.
Davey Richards & Chris Hero vs Kevin Steen & Lance Storm (7/24/2009 - Death Before Dishonor 7 Night One): Though the Wolves/Steen & Generico feud was in full effect here, this was more about setting up Hero vs Storm on Night Two. That feud stemmed from Hero attacking Storm the prior year, drawing Storm out of retirement to avenge his honor. Storm was still in great shape besides not wrestling a full time schedule for years, and was in there as much as anyone in the match, playing the babyface-in-peril for several minutes and then doing the babyface, house of fire comeback at the end. Steen & Storm gave Davey and Hero stereo Sharpshooters, then hit the Hart Attack on Hero for the win. Solid match to put the Canadians over strong in front of their countrymen.
Davey Richards vs Claudio Castagnoli (9/18/2009 - Final Countdown Tour: Dayton): I'm not really sure why this was here other than it just being a fantastic match. There was no backstory, both men were heels, and there really didn't seem to be much of a reason to put this on here beyond it just being really good, which it was. Davey counters the Ricola Bomb to a Code Red to get the win, and unfortunately I don't have much more to say about it than that.
Davey Richards vs Bryan Danielson (9/25/2009 - Final Countdown Tour: Boston): THIS match, on the other hand, I have plenty to say about. This was beyond excellent and was my personal vote for ROH's Match of the Year for 2009. I made the ten hour round trip to Boston specifically to see this one because, even though both had been around ROH for a long time and had faced off before in tag matches, this was the first and only singles match between the two in ROH and I was not going to miss it. It was totally worth the drive, both because of what an excellent match it was as well as for the story it told, which was that of the hungry young lion looking to take the spot of the grizzled veteran who was reaching the end of his own story. It was a true "passing the torch" match where a super aggressive Davey physically punished Danielson, viciously attacking his arm and trying to break him mentally and physically while cockily mocking the fans in attendance who were cheering Danielson. Danielson didn't make it easy for him and gave Davey the fight of his life, but Davey did too much damage to the arm for any of Danielson's submissions to be effective, and Davey was able to use his patented Kimura Lock to tap Danielson out clean in the middle of the ring after over a half hour of action. This match was so good that I can't do it justice, and it wasn't included on this DVD, but Danielson cut a great promo afterward putting over what a hard working warrior Davey is and endorsing him as the man who will lead ROH forward in the future, a prophecy that certainly came true.
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Lots of great stuff on here, and the KENTA and Danielson matches are must see, while the Steen match is super violent and well worth watching as well. I'll be back probably later this week with a look at Disc 2, but for more information on ordering this DVD set, head on over to ROH's website.
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