By Sean Radican, PWTorch Columnist

This is a free review for PWTorch.com readers. Normally, Sean Radican's reviews are only available exclusively to Torch VIP members. Sign up today for a Torch VIP membership and read reviews for virtually all ROH DVD releases!

Radican's ROH DVD review series
Bound By Hate
Markham, Canada
November 8, 2008

Star ratings and results

(1) Davey Richards beat Jerry Lynn. This was a really good match with both men constantly going for their finish. It only went around 9 minutes and left me wanting a lot more. Once again, the finishers are being protected so far under the new regime and Richards won clean with the alarm clock. (**1/2)

(2) Kenny King & Rhett Titus beat Brodie Lee & Delirious via countout. This was ok while it lasted. The fans were getting into it towards the end and really hated the finish, which saw Delirious get counted out when he chased Titus to the back. (*1/2)

(3) Roderick Strong & Erick Stevens beat Go Shiozaki & Eddie Edwards. I was surprised to see Strong and Stevens working together as a tag team so soon after their long feud, but this was a great mid-card tag match. Shiozaki & Edwards worked over Stevens for the bulk of the match. Once Stevens made the hot tag, the action was fantastic with a lot of false finishes that had the crowd going nuts. (***1/4)

(4) Austin Aries beat Jimmy Jacobs in a Dog Collar match. This was a really good match. Jacobs bled heavily after dominating the early stages of the match without the collar around his neck. The match dragged at times, but once it got going it was fantastic. Aries's brutal comeback on Jacobs was violent and befitting of this feud. The only thing I didn't like was Aries nailing Jacobs's head with an unprotected chairshot. (***3/4)

(5) Grizzley Redwood beat Alex Payne. McGuinness came into the booth once again during this match and was pretty funny on commentary. This was fine while it lasted, but it was just a short match after intermission to warm the fans back up that made the DVD. (1/2*)

(6) Bryan Danielson beat Kenny Omega and Tyler Black. This was an awesome match with the crowd at a fever pitch throughout. There was a great spot early that saw Danielson apply the cattle mutilation on both Black and Omega at the same time. This match served to build Danielson up for his match against McGuiness at the PPV taping later in the month, but Omega also showed a lot in this match and definitely earned what should be a full-time spot in the company. (****1/4)

(7) ROH World Hvt. Champion Nigel McGuinness beat The Necro Butcher via DQ. I don't think I've seen a DQ finish due to interference in an ROH World Title match in quite some time. I'm glad they did it on a show where the rest of the card has been so strong that DVD buying customers shouldn't feel ripped off. I would be more in favor for Necro to be attacked after the match, but hopefully finishes like this in big matches are the exception and not the rule. They did a good job of telling a solid story, despite Necro's leg injury. (***)

(8) ROH World Tag Team Champions Kevin Steen & El Generico beat The Briscoes. This was one of the safer matches I've seen between these two teams. They put together a really intense match that went a shade under 20 minutes, but that was just enough to make me want to see more. I thought the final minutes of the match were really good and Generico's counter to the springboard doomsday device to get the win was a good finish. I've seen these two teams put on better matches, but this certainly didn't disappoint. (***3/4)

Virtual time analysis

-Bobby Cruise announced there was now going to be a 20 count on the floor, which drew a few boos.

-Jerry Lynn got a nice pop for his entrance. Davey Richards refused to shake hands and the crowd booed.

(1) Davey Richards (w/Shane Hagadorn & Bobby Dempsey) vs. Jerry Lynn. Lynn and Richards did some nice chain wrestling during the early stages of the match. Richards sent Lynn crashing down to the mat with a stiff kick to the chest at one point. Richards taunted Lynn after the kick, which only served to fire up Lynn. Richards slapped Lynn across the face, but Lynn managed to send him to the outside and then followed up with a senton of the apron that popped the crowd. Lynn went for the cradle piledriver in the ring, but Richards blocked it. A short time later, Richards managed to catch Lynn with a knee to the mid-section as he came off the ropes to give him the upper hand. Richards continued to dominate Lynn and took him down the mat with a headscissors submission. He then set Lynn up upside-down in the corner and nailed him with a dropkick.

Richards went for a DR driver, but Lynn blocked. A short time later, Lynn hit dropkick and went on the attack. Lynn hit a top rope hurricanrana and the crowd counted along with the ref, but Richards got his shoulder up. Lynn went for the cradle piledriver, but Richards countered it and they went to a series of pinning combinations, but neither man could get the pin. Richards caught Lynn with the alarm clock and then hit the alarm clock for the pin. (**1/2)

-Richards signaled that he wanted a shot at the title after the match. Lynn got a standing ovation once he recovered after Richards had left ringside.

-Rhett Titus and Kenny King came down to the ring together. The fans told Titus to shut up. Titus said they could chant all night long. Titus said King was sculptured just like him. Titus said he had found the one man who gets as much tail as he does. Titus said they had noticed someone had an open challenge. Titus said Brodie Lee & Delirious had an open challenge. Titus challenged Delirious to come down and he would make him go down just like Haize. Delirious ran down and chased Titus to start the match.

(2) Kenny King & Rhett Titus vs. Brodie Lee & Delirious. Delirious went after Titus, who was on the apron, which allowed King to nail him with a spinebuster. Lee tagged into the match as McGuinness came into the commentary booth. McGuinness bragged about holding the title for over a year. Prazak told McGuinness all he had to do later tonight was outwrestle the Necro Butcher. Lee beat on King for awhile and Titus tagged in. Lee gave him an overhead suplex right near Delirious, who ran in to attack Titus. Delirious blind-tagged himself into the match and went after Titus. Delirious continued to run wild on Titus until King nailed him with a clothesline from the apron. King then tagged into the match and began to work over Delirious.

With Delirious worn down, Titus tagged into the match and gyrated like Rick Rude as he worked him over, which was pretty funny. Leonard and Prazak mentioned that Titus & King were doing a good job of keeping Lee out of the equation. Delirious finally broke free and tagged in Lee, who ran wild and made funny noises. Lee nailed King with a spinning slam, but he kicked out at the last second. Once again, Delirious blind-tagged himself into the match and attacked Titus. King had his back turned to Delirious after dispatching Lee to the outside. Delirious nailed King with a Rock Bottom and followed up with the Shadows Over Hell, but Titus distracted him. Delirious ended up chasing Titus to the back and the ref counted him out, which drew some loud boos from the crowd. (*1/2)

-Grizzley Redwood cut a promo backstage. He said he was here to chop the competition down to size.

-Eddie Edwards & Go Shiozaki came down to the ring with Shane Hagadorn. Hagadorn got on the mic and said it didn't break his heart to tell the fans that Sweeney wasn't here. Hagadorn said he doesn't care for anything lately except for Edwards trying to break Stevens's arm on the previous night. Thankfully Strong's music interrupted Hagadorn's terrible promo and Stevens and Strong ran down to stop the match.

(3) Go Shiozaki & Eddie Edwards (w/Shane Hagadorn) vs. Roderick Strong & Erick Stevens. So Strong and Stevens are just together like that after feuding for so long? Strong & Stevens dominated the action early until Strong accidentally hit Stevens on purpose with an enzuguri. Prazak asked Leonard if Strong had done that on purpose. Things finally settled down after Shiozaki hit a divorce court shoulder breaker on Stevens. Edwards tagged in and targeted Steven's shoulder with a submission on the mat. The crowd tried to rally Stevens, who tried to fire back at Edwards, but he couldn't hold him up on his shoulder and Edwards took him right back down into an arm submission. Stevens nearly tagged out minutes later, but Edwards knocked Strong off the apron.

Stevens fired back again and nailed Shiozaki with a clothesline and finally tagged in Strong, who ran wild on Edwards. Shiozaki tried to run into the ring, but Strong took him down as well with a spinning leg lariat. Strong went for a half-nelson backbreaker, but Edwards countered it into a falcon arrow. Stevens dragged Shiozaki to the outside and slammed him into the ring barrier. Strong then hit a gutbuster on Edwards and Stevens nailed him with a lariat, but Shiozaki recovered and made the save. Strong and Shiozaki were exchanging chops, but Edwards caught Strong with a code breaker. Shiozaki then hit Strong with the Go Flasher, but Stevens made the save. The crowd erupted as Stevens and Shiozaki began exchanging chops in the middle of the ring. Stevens nailed Shiozaki with the Dr. bomb, but Shiozaki nailed him with a superkick. Strong then took out Shiozaki and applied the Stronghold on Edwards for the win. (***1/4)

-The crowd chanted for both men after the match. The crowd chanted for them to shake hands after the match. They looked at each other for awhile and shook hands. The crowd cheered loudly as they raised their hands in victory. I guess I was wrong about pairing them together like this because it got over big with the crowd.

-An ad aired for "Up For Grabs."

-I'm surprised at the lack of backstage packages and video packages on this release, which is filled with some big matches.

(4) Dog Collar match: Austin Aries vs. Jimmy Jacobs. Jacobs never had the dog collar placed around his neck at the beginning of the match, so he was able to use the chain to choke Aries and move freely around the ring and ringside area. Jacobs went up top, but Aries pushed him to the outside. Aries attempted to go to the outside and dragged the chain to the outside, which allowed Jacobs enough time to recover and nail him with a dropkick. Jacobs wrapped the chain around Aries's mouth and wrenched back. The ref continually tried to get Jacobs to put the collar around Jacobs's neck, but Jacobs shoved him away. Jacobs ended up using the chain to tie Aries to the ringpost. Jacobs taunted Aries and laid into him with a series of punches. Jacobs went and got a chair and nailed Aries right in the back with it.

Jacobs grabbed the mic and told Aries he was playing right into his game. Jacobs then cracked Aries with another chairshot to the back. The ref tried to free Aries, but Jacobs kicked him away. Jacobs asked Aries if it was worth it to him and nailed him with several chairshots to the back. Aries managed to free himself and kicked Jacobs low. Aries then nailed Jacobs with an unprotected chairshot to the head, which has no place in wrestling anymore. Aries wrapped the other end of the dog collar around his fist and nailed Jacobs with it several times. Jacobs bled heavily from his forehead as Aries nailed him with several punches much to the delight of the crowd. Aries continued to work Jacobs's cut with the chain. Prazak said this wasn't an "I Quit match, but Aries could make Jacobs quit here. The collar finally ended up around Jacobs's neck. Jacobs tried to run away through the crowd, but Aries pulled him back to ringside by the neck.

Jacobs dragged Aries backstage where Tyler Black attacked him. Jacobs was an absolute mess and covered in blood. Jacobs set up Aries, who ended up eating a superkick from Black. Jacobs told Black to leave and he obliged. Jacobs hit the Contra code and covered Aries, but he kicked out at the last second. Jacobs tried to hit Aries with a chair, but Aries swung the chain at him and knocked it out of his hands. Both men engaged in a tug of war over the chain. Aries ended up letting go and Jacobs fell into the guardrail on the outside. Aries then hit a dive through the ropes and the crowd exploded. Aries wrapped the chain around the top turnbuckle and rammed Jacobs's head into it several times as the crowd counted along. Aries went up top, but Jacobs pulled him down to the mat.

Jacobs wrapped the chain around Aries's neck. Aries tried to fight back, but Jacobs locked in the end time, but the crowd didn't seem to buy it as the finish. Aries made his way to his feet and tossed Jacobs into the turnbuckles. Aries hit a big dropkick in the corner as Jacobs was pulling the chain towards him, which gave Aries extra momentum. Aries wrapped the chain around his knee and drove it into Jacobs's head several times. Aries then wrapped the chain around Jacobs's throat and applied the last chancery for the submission. (***3/4)

-Aries looked possessed as he walked to the back covered in Jacobs's blood. Aries said the war wasn't over as he walked to the back. They showed a close-up of Jacobs in the ring dripping blood from his forehead.

-A highlight package chronicling the Briscoes-Steen & Generico feud aired.

(5) Alex Payne vs. Grizzley Redwood. McGuinness came into the booth and said he was scouting the up and coming talent in ROH. Redwood delivered some leg chops to Payne. Prazak said Redwood had "unconventional" offense. Payne fired back and nailed Redwood with a slam. McGuinness asked Leonard if he thought Redwood deserved a title shot. Prazak said McGuinness would have to alter his jawbreaker lariat because Redwood is so small. Redwood hit a double axe handle to Payne's thigh. Redwood then hit a series of blows on Payne before covering him for a nearfall. Redwood then hit a running double axe handle to Payne's chest for the pin. (1/2*)

-An ad for "Respect Is Earned II" aired.

(6) Three Way match: Tyler Black vs. Kenny Omega vs. Bryan Danielson. ROH desperately needs some new faces at the top of the card and on this night, Kenny Omega proved he might be the solution to that problem. Paired up with Danielson and Black in a Three-Way match, Omega looked really impressive, but it was mostly Danielson's time to shine as the match was designed to build him up for his upcoming match against ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness.

The early stages of the match featured some great exchanges, which included Danielson applying a double cattle mutilation on Black and Omega, which drew a "holy s---" chant from the crowd. I have to say that the fans in Markham were red hot for this match right from the start. Another great spot saw Black hit a springboard moonsault on Danielson and Omega, who were doing a bridge up spot. Danielson then managed to bridge up from underneath Black and Omega to avoid being pinned. The final minutes of the match were really good, as Omega caught Black with a release German off the top ropes as he was setting up Danielson for the phoenix splash.

Black and Danielson once again showed fantastic chemistry in the ring and played off some of their previous matches. The finish was brutal, as Danielson busted open Omega with a roaring elbow before finishing him off with the cattle mutilation. (****1/4)

-Austin Aries cut a promo backstage on Jacobs. He said tonight he was wearing Jacobs's blood as war paint. Aries said in Chicago everything would come to a head. He said that Jacobs knew who the better man was. Aries then said everyone would find out in Chicago that he was the better man. Good promo.

-An ROHWrestling.com ad aired.

-Necro came out to a pretty good pop for his title shot against McGuinness. Nigel came out to a mixed reaction. Bobby Cruise did the formal introductions. Necro got a mixed reaction from the crowd upon his introduction, as did McGuinness.

McGuinness got on the mic prior to the match and said Necro had suffered a leg injury on the previous show. McGuinness put over Necro, but then said he was going to need his leg to push the broom when he became a janitor. McGuinness said he got a shiner beating up 15 or 16 Canadians. McGuinness promised not to kick Necro's leg if he wouldn't punch his face. McGuinness said he wanted to have a "wrestling" match. McGuinness offered to follow the Code of Honor, but Necro wanted none of it.

(7) ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness vs. The Necro Butcher. McGuinness took Necro down and backed away to tell the crowd he was the best wrestler in the world. Necro fired back on McGuinness and sent him to the mat by sweeping his legs. Necro then backed off and signaled to McGuinness that he could wrestle as well. McGuinness grabbed the ref and told him he had punched him in the eye. Necro came over to attack Nigel, who kicked him in the knee. Well McGuinness certainly didn't keep his promise for long. The action spilled outside and Necro choked him with the apron from the timekeeper's table. Prazak said Necro wasn't the type of man that was suitable to hold the ROH World Title. McGuinness fired back a short time later and took Necro down to the mat and began working on his injured leg. After several minutes, Necro fired back and sent Nigel to the floor with a headbutt.

McGuinness grabbed the ROH World Title, but the ref took it from him. When the ref put the belt back on the timekeeper's table, McGuinness kicked Necro low and covered him for a 2 count. Prazak said Necro had initiated the dirty play displayed by McGuinness by going after his eye first (not true). The action spilled back to the outside where Necro sent McGuinness into the ring barrier. Necro tried to lift McGuinness and drop him on a pair of chairs set up on the outside, but his knee gave out. McGuinness then grabbed the ring built and nailed Necro's leg with it on the outside. The ref's count reached 18 before he finally made it back inside to avoid being counted out. McGuinness went to the outside and got a chair, but the ref took it away from him. McGuinness then quickly positioned Necro on the apron with the ref turned around and gave him a tower of London to the outside on the chairs that Necro had set up earlier.

McGuinness ended up applying the ankle lock on Necro, but he got the ropes. Necro got a nearfall with a small package, but McGuinness obliterated him with a clothesline for a 2 count at around the 12 minute mark of the match. Necro hit a headbutt on McGuinness, so he used the momentum to go for the jawbreaker lariat. Necro then hit the tiger driver, but McGuinness kicked out. The Age of the Fall of Delirious and Brodie Lee then ran out and attacked Necro for the DQ. (***)

-Lee and Delirious continued their attack after the match, but Steen & Generico's music played and they ran down to make the save to a big ovation from the crowd. Steen got on the mic and said he had been through many battles with Necro, but he's learned to respect him. Steen then said he and Generico wouldn't let the AOTF attack someone they respect in their own country. The crowd chanted for Necro as he was helped to the back. The Briscoes music then played as he was about to cut a promo on them.

(8) ROH World Tag Team Champions Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. The Briscoes. Generico and Mark shoved each other before locking up and the crowd was hot early on. Generico took down Mark with an arm drag and played to the crowd, which allowed Jay to tag in and level him with a flying boot. Steen ended up getting the upper hand on Jay and called Steen into the ring to hit the backpack senton on Mark. Mark taunted Steen, so Steen took Jay and tossed him into Mark, who went flying off the apron. Generico ended up nailing Mark with a dive off of Steen after he tripped him. The action broke down moments later as Mark sent Generico to the floor and pummeled Generico with a series of punches. Jay and Mark continued to isolate Generico and tagged in and out of the ring to work him over. The Briscoes continued to punish Generico as the crowd rallied behind him. Mark took Generico down and applied a headscissors.

Generico finally managed to outfox both Briscoes, but Mark pulled Steen off the apron at the last second and Generico was unable to tag out of the match. At the 10 minute Mark, Generico hit a headscissors off the top on Jay and tagged in Steen, who ran wild on the Briscoes much to the delight of the crowd. Steen went up top and nailed Mark with a moonsault, but Jay broke it up. Generico and Jay ended up on the floor as Steen went at it with Mark inside the ring. Steen hit a pump-handle neckbreaker on Mark for a 2 count. Generico tagged into the match and slowly climbed up the ropes, but ended up eating a dropkick from Mark as he came off the top. Jay then spit at Steen and nailed Generico with a military press into a DVD. Steen ran in and tried to hit a senton on Jay, but he moved and Steen nailed Generico. Jay then grabbed a stretch plumb on Generico. Steen tried to run into the ring, but Jay nailed him with a superkick. He then hit a big clothesline on Generico for a 2 count.

Jay went up top, but Generico managed to get out of the way of a leg drop. Steen then went for the Swanton on Jay, but he got his knees up. Jay went for the Jay-driller, but Steen countered it and applied the sharp-shooter. Mark ran in and nailed Steen several times, but he refused to break the hold and spit right in Mark's face. Generico ran in and nailed Mark with a big boot in the corner, but Jay held on. Mark then jumped over Generico and hit Steen with a springboard kick to break up the submission.

Steen ended up tagging in Generico who went for a brainbuster on Mark on the top turnbuckle. Jay broke it and the Briscoes went for the springboard doomsday device on Generico, but Generico managed to roll up Jay as Mark came off the top for the pin at around the 16 minute mark. (***3/4)

-Jay was furious after the match and shoved Steen and Generico. Several people came out from the back and separated both teams. The Briscoes walked to the back and looked really upset about losing the match. Mark flipped off the crowd as he went through the curtain.

-Kyle Durden was outside. He ran into Ernie Osiris, who said he needed money to get home because he had lost his match earlier that night. In the background, Richards, Edwards and Shiozaki jumped Stevens, but Strong ran in and ran them off with a chair. Stevens came up bleeding from the nose.

-Jimmy Jacobs was shown backstage still covered in blood. He said he tapped out to save himself for their upcoming match in Chicago. Jacobs said Aries had set the standard tonight. He said round three was going to be really scary.

Overall thoughts: (7.5) This was a really good show, but once again as with the previous show, some of the booking decisions took things down a notch. My first problem with the show was Davey Richards going over Jerry Lynn clean in a match that went less than 10 minutes. It made Lynn, who is currently feuding for the ROH World Title right now, look really weak. The match was really good too and it was a total letdown that it wasn't give more time to develop.

What's up with Stevens & Strong? All the sudden they're teaming and I'm supposed to accept it? I wish there was a logical explanation for their pairing, but none was offered on this show. That complaint aside, they make a fantastic team and had a great mid-card tag match with Shiozaki & Stevens.

My last complaint revolves around the McGuinness-Necro ROH World Title match. I felt ripped off watching it go to a DQ finish, especially when the DQ was caused by the AOTF members who have nothing to do with the title picture. The run-ins should come after the matches almost all of the time. People buy these DVDs to see incredible matches with clean finishes. They can see cheap DQ finishes and run-ins watching WWE and TNA for free on television.

I won't even get started on the Lee & Delirious-Titus & King match ending with a countout. It was very lame. Lee is way too green to be spending that much time in the ring. He needs to be protected better. I can't see ROH's paying customers adjusting to this style of booking if it continues for very long. The new creative regime has to let the wrestlers tell the story in the ring and deliver great matches with clean finishes. The last change ROH needed was a Russo-esque flavor to some of the matches on this release.

There are a lot of things I like about the pacing of the first two shows under the new regime. The shows flow a lot better. I think going over three hours is just way too much and this show went by at a good pace that was easy to take in. I didn't feel overwhelmed by the action, which is a good thing.

There were a number of really great matches on this show. The Danielson vs. Black vs. Omega match stole the show. These three just tore it up in the ring and Danielson and Omega both were given a chance to shine. The Aries-Jacobs Dog Collar match was brutal and Jacobs bled a ton of blading. Both men were also given the chance to cut solid post-match promos to build their match on the upcoming PPV taping in Chicago.

The main event was really good and certainly was worthy of its slot on the show. I was just expecting more heat in a match between Steen & Generico and The Briscoes after they had been kept apart for such a long period of time. That being said the heat was good, but not great. These two teams managed to put together another very good match, but it wasn't on the level of some of their matches from 2007.

Overall, I give this show a solid thumbs up. The action was fantastic up and down the card. Once the booking regime finds their way, I can see ROH easily getting back on track. I think the company needs to make some cuts on the roster and insert more charismatic people on the mid-card, but the creative end of things needs to get on track first. Recommended.

You can purchase "Bound By Hate" by clickinghere

Sean Radican and co-host Derek Burgan record ROH themed audios on the Radican Audio Showcase on most weekends that are made available exclusively to Torch VIP members. Sean also reviews nearly every ROH release for Torch VIP members. You can contact Sean at PWTorchSean@Gmail.com.

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