Ring of Honor show report
August 28, 2010
Charlotte, N.C.
Report by Larry Goodman, PWTorch reader

Ring of Honor ran the Metrolina Expo Center in Charlotte last night, drawing 450 fans.

If the in-ring product was the deciding factor in such things, ROH would be doing far better at the gate than that. It was an excellent show - well-paced, clever, entertaining, and the in-ring execution was top-notch. The crowd was rocking all night long.

The presentation was basic but totally professional. The crucial things like lighting and sound were done right. I think it was a different hall than the one NWA Charlotte used at Metrolina last year. The show started right on time and ran just a little over three hours.

Jim Cornette was pumping his first as they played "Locomotive Breath" to start the show.

(1) El Generico beat Erick Stevens (w/Prince Nana) at 8:22. The crowd was blazing hot and Generico was over like crazy. Stevens is in great shape, but there was something different about him with the extra weight. Now, he looks like a bulked-up Ben Stiller. Generico did all his signature spots and won it with the brainbuster.

(2) Steve Corino beat Bobby Dempsey in 10:00. The match got over on the strength of Corino’s comedy. He was hilarious, so the match was fine even though the crowd never gave Dempsey a ghost of a chance. After Dempsey bumped ref Paul Turner, Corino went for the chain. Dempsey blocked it, but Corino kicked him low and pinned him with a lariat.

(3) Necro Butcher (w/Prince Nana) beat Grizzly Redwood at 7:24. Freak show match. The people were into seeing Butcher destroy Redwood and he did. When Redwood delivered on a slingshot sunset powerbomb to the floor, it looked like he might have a chance. Butcher, however, shut the door with an uppercut to the chops and the Tiger Driver.

(4) ROH TV champion Eddie Edwards pinned Colt Cabana in a non-title match at 11:43. The crowd was split, but it was clear that they loved both of them. Very entertaining. The finish saw Cabana go for the Butt Butt, but Edwards countered with a picture perfect O’Connor Roll. Post-match, they shook hands, which got a great pop. Edwards pointed at the emblem on the mat and said “here” and got a strong “ROH” chant in response.

(5) Bravado Brothers & Cedric Alexander beat Caleb Konley & Man Scout & Marker Dillinger. The crowd was mellow coming off the intermission, but really picked up toward the finish. One of the Bravado Brothers pinned Konley after a combo German Suplex.

(6) Pick 6 Challenge match: (1) Roderick Strong beat (3) Kevin Steen (w/Steve Corino) in 15:00. The crowd sensed a juicy story unfolding and settled in for the ride. It was easy for Strong to come across as a pure babyface without Truth Martini. Steen was nothing but dirty, filthy pond scum. It was great. Corino distracted Strong, allowing Steen to go for the chain. Cabana stopped Steen from using it and brawled with Corino. Steen kicked Strong low and was again poised to use the chain, when Generico blew past him with a hilo dive onto Corino. Strong hit the double knee gutbuster on a flustered Steen and pinned him with a superkick.

(7) ROH tag team champions Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli w/Shane Hagadorn) beat Briscoe Brothers and All Night Express (Rhett Titus & Kenny King) and Dark City Fight Club (Kory Chavis & Jon Davis) in Tag Team Wars to retain the titles in a total time of 28:28.

The crowd was hot to see Briscoes kick ass. The story was Kings's craftiness in using the rules to their advantage. The first fall was four corners survival. The Kings tagged in both Briscoes to force them a face off, but their strategy backfired when both of them were tagged in and the other teams ran away. It ended with Titus pinning Davis after an All-Night Express combo move to eliminate DCFC at 18:31. The second fall was Texas Tornado rules. Jay bled like crazy - a crimson mask worthy of a Hollywood horror flick. Meanwhile, the other teams took turns beating on Mark. The Kings were working on Mark with double team moves, but he kicked out of everything they could throw at him. It was slightly miraculous. The cooperation between Kings and All Night Express disintegrated. Briscoes destroyed all four of them, then Jay pinned Titus after the Doomsday Device. However, Hero immediately clocked Jay with the rolling elbow to win the match. The crowd felt robbed by the finish, just like it was supposed to happen. Afterward, the fans chanted, "That was awesome," (it was) and "Thank you, Briscoes."

-- Setting up the main event, Jim Cornette did mic work designed to get more heat on Black for refusing to do a title match. It worked. He said the match was signed as non-title before Black’s extracurricular activities came to light and called Richards-Black from Toronto the best match he had seen since Flair-Steamboat in '89. Black said he was feeling frisky, but it was a swerve. Black said he was leaving this shithole and taking the belt with him. Black’s heel stuff was well played out.

(8) Davey Richards beat ROH World champion Tyler Black via submission in a non-title match at 26:39. This was a war of attrition and it was the match the ROH fans expect. Incredible effort and athleticism. They could have done half as much and sold it twice as long. Any other crowd in this area of the country would have been thrilled with much less. The fans were virtually 100 percent behind Richards and all kinds of anti-WWE crap was directed at Black. One sign read: “Tyler the NXT jobber.” Black scraped his side and was bleeding a bit. Once that got cranking, both were going a mile a minute. Richards seems to only have the one gear. At one point, they got into a furious exchange of strikes, Black hit a reverse huracanrana, and Richards came right back with a brainbuster, and the place exploded. Richards repeatedly popped up on Black’s big moves. Richards was using leg submissions, but Black showed no effect from them. Black kicked out of the DR Driver and his own finisher before tapping out to the Cloverleaf.

After the match, Richards said Black could tell his new co-workers that if they wanted real competition they should come down when ROH returns to Charlotte.

NOTES: ROH announced a return date at Metrolina Expo for January 15, 2011. Many people were commenting on their way out that they would be back in January. In attendance were NWA Executive Director Bob Trobich and Kirby Mack.

[Torch art credit Marco D'Alfonso (c) PWTorch.com]

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