By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

Radican's ROH DVD review series
Eliminating the Competition
Danbury, Conn.
February 27, 2009

Star ratings and results

(1) Bobby Fish beat Papadon. This was an average opening match that was just too methodical for the crowd to get into it. Fish has some nice offense, but other than landing a few nice maneuvers, this wasn't very exciting. (*1/4)

(2) Kenny King & Rhett Titus beat Erick Stevens & Bobby Dempsey. The match dragged at times, but the finish was strong and the crowd was into Dempsey running wild down the stretch. King pulled off the surprise win by pinning Stevens with his feet on the ropes. (*3/4)

(3) Brent Albright vs. Claudio Castagnoli went to a draw. This was a good match, but neither man really went to their strengths very often and had a basic match that only heated up towards the end. I thought the simultaneous submission/pin finish was clever and I'm looking forward to seeing more of this feud. (**1/2)

(4) Jay Briscoe & Kevin Steen beat Eddie Edwards & Chris Hero. This was a solid tag match. It was slow during certain parts, but really heated up at the midway mark. Most of the match featured Steen & Briscoe on the verge of not being able to work together, but in the end they managed to get the job done by hitting the doomsday device on Hero. (***1/4)

(5) Bryan Danielson beat Delirious. This was a good match. Danielson had the advantage early on, but Jacobs interfered, which gave Delirious the upper hand. The last five minutes of the match were really good and the crowd was into this. Danielson got the win with the small package out of nowhere. (***1/4)

(6) Austin Aries beat Sami Callihan. Callihan got a ton of offense in this encounter for someone who is just getting into the company and isn't an established star on the independent scene. The match itself was solid, but the crowd never bought into Callihan. Aries took the win in the end with a brainbuster. (**1/4)

(7) The Necro Butcher beat Brodie Lee in an Anything Goes match. This was a pretty good brawl while it lasted with lots of plunder being used by both men. I didn't care for the unprotected head shot on Lee at the end, but other than that, this was a solid match. (**3/4)

(8) ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness beat Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black and Jerry Lynn in a Four Way Elimination match. This was a solid match, but it was never very exciting and the crowd heat just wasn't there for much of the action. The bulk of the match played off Jacobs avoided Black and McGuinness avoiding Lynn when they weren't at a disadvantage. The pace of the match was slow compared to most ROH main events. (***1/4)

Virtual time analysis

-Nigel McGuinness cut a promo backstage to start the show. He said he was smiling because he was still the ROH champion. Nigel said ROH had run out of challengers, so tonight they were throwing a bunch of challengers at him at the same time. McGuinness said nobody could take the belt from him. Solid promo.

(1) Papadon vs. Bobby Fish. Prazak and Leonard talked about the upcoming HDNet tapings the following night while Fish and Papadon engaged in some chain wrestling. Fish hit a nice dropkick moments later and followed up with a suplex for a 2 count. Papadon begged off in the corner, but ended up shoving Fish head-first into the turnbuckles. Fish didn't stay down for long as he caught Papadon with a superkick to regain the advantage. Fish then began laying into Papadon with a series of kicks and tried to go up top, but Papadon tossed him to the mat. Fish fired back quickly once again, but Papadon poked him in the eye. Papadon methodically worked over Fish. The crowd tried to rally behind Fish, but he couldn't turn the corner and Papadon took him down with a headlock.

Fish got out of the way of a diving headbutt attempt from Papadon and both men were down on the mat. Fish caught Papadon with a standing hurricanrana and went for a suplex, but ended up favoring his back. Fish caught Papadon with a falcon arrow for a 2 count moments later. Fish missed a moonsault, but ended up landing on his feet. Papadon charged at Fish, who caught him with a flying knee strike for the pin. (*1/4)

(2) Rhett Titus & Kenny King vs. Erick Stevens & Bobby Dempsey. Stevens worked over King during the early stages of the match before tagging in Dempsey. King immediately cut him off and kicked him in the rear end and laughed. That was funny. Dempsey fired back on King with a series of elbows before tagging Stevens back into the match. King drove Stevens into his own corner and tagged in Titus, who nailed Stevens with a big forearm. Stevens fired back with a huge chop and tagged Dempsey in once again. Titus quickly cut Dempsey off and gyrated for the ladies in the crowd, but Dempsey caught him with an atomic drop and some elbows to the head. Titus went back to his own corner and tagged in King.

There wasn't much of a flow to the match as Titus and Stevens took turns taking double team maneuvers from Dempsey and Stevens. Titus finally nailed Stevens with the rocker dropper to give his team the upper hand. King aggressively attacked Stevens in the corner and choked him with his boot. Titus tagged in and nailed Stevens with a nice standing dropkick. Stevens thwarted a double team attempt from King & Titus with a Samoan drop/DDT combo and tagged in Dempsey, who ran wild. The match came to grinding halt with Dempsey on offense, but he finally put a couple of power moves together and tagged in Stevens. Stevens went for the choo choo on Titus, but King ran into the ring and nailed him with a running knee strike.

Prazak was hilarious on commentary saying that King & Titus's double team maneuvers were "so awesome," as they worked together to pummel Stevens. Titus accidentally hit King in the corner and Stevens nailed them both with the choo choo. Dempsey then hit the cannonball on King and Titus in the corner and the crowd cheered. Stevens went for the Dr. bomb, but King countered and pinned Stevens with his feet on the ropes for the pin. (*3/4)

-Black said his goal tonight wasn't to win the ROH World title, but instead he wanted to obliterate Jimmy Jacobs.

-Highlights from the Albright-Castagnoli match at Motor City Madness 2009 aired. They showed the lame finish where Albright got DQ'd for not breaking the crowbar when Castagnoli had his foot on the ropes.

(3) Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brent Albright. Albright took Castagnoli down to the mat during the early stages of the match and used his legs to snap Castagnoli's arm against the mat. Albright used a monkey flip to send Castagnoli to the outside and nailed him with a big chop on the outside. Castagnoli managed to catch Albright with a dropkick as he stepped back through the ropes and went for a monkey flip of his own, but Albright stomped him across the eyes and followed up with an exploder suplex. Albright then bounced off the ropes, but Castagnoli caught him and dropped him neck-first across the top rope to gain the upper hand. Castagnoli hit an impressive looking gut-wrench suplex at one point and covered Albright for a 2 count. Albright caught Castagnoli with a backslide for a 2 count, but Castagnoli got right back to his feet and nailed him with a big clothesline for a 2 count.

The action spilled to the outside. Albright went for a belly to belly suplex, but Castagnoli countered and tossed him into the guardrail. Albright tried to fire back with a series of chops, but Castagnoli caught him with a boot to the face. Albright eventually countered a suplex attempt by Castagnoli into a neck breaker for a 2 count, but Albright was slow to capitalize and Castagnoli landed a series of strikes in the corner and slapped Albright across the face several times. Albright fired back a short time later and slapped Castagnoli across the face several times before sending him to the mat with a dropkick. Albright hit the air raid crash and the crowd applauded, but he did not go for the pin. Castagnoli managed to dodge a flying body press from Albright and nailed him with a bicycle kick to the back of the head for a 2 count.

Castagnoli set Albright up for the Ricola bomb, but Albright drove him into the corner. Albright went for the half-nelson, but Castagnoli blocked it and hit the modified Angle slam for a 2 count after poking Albright right in his eye. Castagnoli went for a diving European uppercut, but Albright caught him with the crowbar. Castagnoli rolled through, but Albright nailed him with a German and locked in the crowbar again. Castagnoli tried to get to the ropes, so Albright locked in the cross face. Castagnoli rolled on top of Albright and appeared to tap out. The ref counted to three and told the ring announcer that there had been a simultaneous tap out/pinfall, so the match was ruled a draw. (**1/2)

-Albright got on the mic and said he didn't come here for a draw. Albright asked for 5 more minutes. Castagnoli teased going into the ring before flipping Albright off. Albright then turned around and Castagnoli tried to jump him, but Albright got the upper hand quickly, so Castagnoli bailed to the back.

-Footage of The American Wolves attacking the Briscoes at Final Battle 2008 aired. Steen & Generico ended up making the save in the end.

(4) Chris Hero & Eddie Edwards (w/Sara Del Rey, Shane Hagadorn) vs. Kevin Steen & Jay Briscoe. Both teams went at it right away and brawled on the outside as the announcers explained why Steen and Briscoe were teaming together. Briscoe & Steen teamed together to toss Edwards through one of the barricades at ringside. The action finally got underway in the ring with Jay working over Edwards before tagging in Steen. Briscoe and Steen continued to work together well, as they performed the usual signature maneuvers of their respective tag teams. Edwards finally cut Briscoe off and tagged in Hero, who went right to work on him. Prazak talked about Misawa teaching Hero how to properly throw an elbow in Japan. Hero took Jay to the outside and double teamed him with Edwards with the ref distracted.

Jay cut Edwards and tagged in Steen, who ran wild on Edwards. Hero ran into the ring and eventually the 2 on 1 attack became too much for Steen to overcome. Hero eventually began picking apart Steen's leg with kicks and strikes on the mat. Steen nearly managed to tag out, but Edwards pulled Briscoe off the apron. Hero locked in a nasty looking half crab and Steen screamed in pain. Edwards tagged in and continued the attack on Steen's leg. Steen managed to nail Edwards with a powerbomb and the crowd began to cheer for the hot tag, which Steen finally made to Briscoe. Briscoe ran into the ring and went to town on Hero and the crowd ate it up. Edwards tried to run into the ring, but Briscoe slammed him onto Hero for a 2 count. Briscoe tried to hit the Jay-driller on Hero, but Hero dropped to the ground to block it.

Hero caught Jay with a sick kick and followed up with a roaring elbow to the back of his head, but Briscoe kicked out. Edwards and Hero took turns nailing Jay with strikes in the center of the ring. They tried to hit Jay with the doomsday device, but Jay rolled up Hero for a 2 count. Hero and Jay ended up on the outside where Hero held Jay. Edwards went for a dive, but ended up hitting Hero when Briscoe got out of the way. Steen then hit a flip dive to the outside to wipe out Hero and Edwards. Briscoe nailed Hero with a superkick and wanted Steen to do the superkick, but he said he couldn't do it because of his knee. Mark came down and argued with Steen. Hero nailed Jay with a suplex and put on his loaded pad, but Jay countered. Jay got Hero up again and Steen climbed the top rope and nailed the doomsday device for the pin. (***1/4)

After the match, SNS Inc. jumped Steen and Jay, but Mark came into the ring with a chair and they bailed.

-Durden interview Sami Callihan backstage. Callihan said this was the best time to be in ROH. Callihan said he had to prove that he's not just another outcast. Callihan spit on Durden to end the interview, but he didn't sell it.

-An ad for "Ring of Homicide 2" aired.

(5) Delirious (w/Jimmy Jacobs) vs. Bryan Danielson. The announcers that Delirious already held a singles victory over Danielson. Danielson took Delirious down to the mat, but Delirious managed to reverse the hold. Danielson quickly countered and took Delirious down with an arm submission. Delirious ended up bailing to the outside where Jacobs consoled him. Delirious got back into the ring, but Danielson took him right back to the mat and caught him with an arm bar, but Delirious managed to hold his hands together before getting the ropes. Danielson eventually got Delirious in the surfboard and the crowd popped. Delirious escaped and bailed to the outside where he got more consoling from Jacobs. Danielson gave chase and was distracted by Jacobs, which allowed Delirious to nail him with a dropkick.

Delirious slammed Danielson to the mat and nailed him with a series of running sentons for a 2 count. Delirious methodically worked over Danielson in the ring. The crowd tried to rally Danielson, but Delirious kicked him face-first into the top turnbuckle. Danielson got a nearfall with a rollup out of nowhere, but Delirious took him right back down with a knee to the gut. Danielson eventually cut Delirious off and ran wild. Danielson locked in the cross arm breaker again, but Delirious got the ropes. Delirious cut Danielson off and hit him with a slam for a 2 count. Danielson fired back a short time later and sent Delirious to the floor. Danielson nailed Jacobs with a dropkick through the ropes. He then nailed Delirious with a big dive to the outside as the crowd roared.

Danielson continued his attack with a missile dropkick and a running knee strike for a 2 count. Danielson nailed Delirious in the corner with a series of forearms and strikes and went for a charge in the corner, but Delirious fired back with and nailed Danielson with 2 panic attacks. Delirious went for the cover, but Danielson's arm was under the ropes. Jacobs yelled at Delirious to hit the shadows over hell, but Danielson got out of the way and nailed him with a running knee strike. Danielson followed up with the cattle mutilation, but Delirious countered and locked Danielson in the cobra stretch. Delirious tried to nailed Danielson with the cobra clutch suplex, but Danielson slipped out and caught Delirious with a small package for the pin. (***1/4)

After the match, Jacobs ran into the ring and yelled at Delirious. Delirious shoved Jacobs down to the mat and they continued to argue. Jacobs ended up forgiving Delirious and gave him a big hug.

-Jimmy Jacobs cut a promo backstage. He said tonight was his third shot at the ROH World Title. Jacobs said tonight he had to go through 3 other guys. Jacobs said the one thing that stays the same in this world is change. Jacobs said tonight he would take the ROH World Title for the Age of the Fall. Jacobs said nobody in the match could stop him because he wanted the title for the greater good and not for his ego. He said he would go on HD Net as ROH's new leader and all of America would listen to what he had to say. Good promo.

-Aries got on the mic before the match and told the fans they should thank him for being here tonight. Aries said it took him just being in the building to make this event a "B" show. Aries continued and insulted Callihan's mother. Aries finished by saying he's the greatest man who ever lived.

(6) Austin Aries vs. Sami Callihan. Callihan took Aries down and grabbed an arm submission. Aries countered and spun around Callihan several times before backing off. Aries mocked Callihan and held the ropes open for him to leave the ring, but Callihan slapped him right in the face. Aries told Callihan to get down and he did. Aries got on top of Callihan, who countered him right away and stayed on top of him until Aries got the ropes. Aries and Callihan shoved each other back and fourth, as Prazak talked about Ric Flair coming into the company. Callihan took Aries down again and grabbed a face lock. Aries tried to roll into an escape and eventually ended up on the outside. Callihan chased him around the ring and back inside, but Aries kicked him in the gut as he slid through the ropes. Callihan cut him off moments later with a dropkick and Aries rolled out of the ring to the floor.

Aries and Callihan battled for position on the apron. Callihan ended up getting sent to the floor and Aries followed up with a big double axe handle off the apron. Prazak said Callihan had dropped a ton of weight and put on muscle in the past year. Aries continued to control the match inside the ring, as he tied up Callihan in a nasty submission.

Aries set up Callihan on the mat and nailed him with the power elbow for a 2 count, as Prazak and Leonard talked about the upcoming HD Net tapings. Aries locked Callihan with a fish hook submission, but the ref made him break the hold. Aries went to drop a leg on Callihan on the ropes, but he got out of the way and nailed Aries with the modified stunner. Callihan was slow to capitalize and never covered Aries. Both men traded blows in the middle of the ring and Callihan finally slammed Aries to the mat for a 2 count. Aries tried to come off the top, but Callihan caught him with an atomic drop and nailed him with a suplex for a nearfall.

Callihan went for another suplex, but Aries got the ropes and then thumbed Callihan right in the throat. Aries charged at Callihan, but he got out of the way and nailed him with a northern lariat and hit another snap suplex, but Aries got the ropes. Aries nailed Callihan with a rolling elbow. He followed up with a big dropkick on Callihan in the corner and then a kick to the head. Aries followed up with the brainbuster and pinned Callihan for the win. (**1/4)

-Jerry Lynn cut a promo and said Nigel was smart for having to defend the title against 3 opponents. He then began screaming and said he couldn't wait to get through 2 other people to get to Nigel. I think the subtle promos Lynn does are better than when he starts screaming.

(7) Anything Goes match: Brodie Lee vs. The Necro Butcher. In a hilarious moment prior to the match, Necro stopped before a fan loudly chanting his name. The fan told Necro to go get Lee and Necro tapped him on the shoulder before charging into the ring to do battle with lee. The match quickly spilled outside and the crowd was hot after Necro hit a senton off the apron to the floor on Lee. Necro followed up a short time later by taking off a section of the barricade and nailing Lee with it. Necro then began tossing plunder in the ring before taking the tablecloth off the announcers table and choking Lee with it. Necro set up the ROH sign that had fallen off the barricade in the corner and attempted to hit Lee with it, but it folded up. Necro still hit Lee with it and it looked bad, so the crowd booed.

Necro redeemed himself by putting the ROH sign on top of the barricade in the other corner before tossing Lee into it. Lee fired back and ended up German suplexing Necro into the barricade in the corner. Prazak said Lee is a tougher man than Necro. I'm not buying that. Lee and Necro ended up sitting on two steel chairs and teased an old fashion bar brawl, but Lee just stood up and kicked Necro out of his chair to the mat. Lee went up top, but Necro cut him off and tossed him to the mat. The crowd began chanting "punch, chop," as Necro punched and chopped Lee in the corner. Necro went for a senton on Lee, who was draped over the barricade, but Lee rolled out of the way and Necro crashed and burned. Both men got to their knees and began exchanging blows. Necro and Lee then stood up and exchanged blows. Necro hit a big right hand and went for the tiger driver, but Jacobs ran into the ring.

Delirious was about to get into the ring, but Daizee Haze confronted him. Delirious ended up shoving Haze to the mat, but when he got into the ring, Jacobs accidentally speared him when Necro got out of the way. Necro then nailed Lee with a big unprotected chairshot to the head for the pin. (**3/4)

After the match, Lee got a small ovation once he rolled out of the ring.

-An ad for "The French Connection" aired.

(8) Four Way Elimination match: ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness vs. Jerry Lynn vs. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Tyler Black. Black and Jacobs started things off, but Jacobs tagged in Nigel before touching Black. Black then went and tagged Lynn into the contest. McGuinness decided he didn't want to touch Lynn, so he tagged in Jacobs. Prazak buried all of the challengers in the match by saying none of them could beat Nigel. Jacobs shoved Black, which counted as a tag, so we finally saw Black and Lynn lock up in the center of the ring. Black took Lynn down with a dropkick and McGuinness quickly tagged himself in and pummeled Lynn. Lynn fired back and McGuinness quickly rolled out of the ring and eventually tagged Jacobs into the ring. Jacobs and McGuinness continued to avoid any competitive action by tagging out of the match.

Black and Lynn went at it and had a great exchange, but McGuiness pulled the ropes down on Lynn and he went crashing to the outside. McGuinness went to work on Lynn's shoulder, but Lynn fired back and nailed him with a tornado DDT. McGuinness went for a leapfrog, but Lynn countered it into a powerbomb for a 2 count. Lynn went for the cradle piledriver, but Nigel countered. McGuinness went for the jawbreaker lariat, but Lynn nailed him with a lariat of his own. Lynn tried to suplex Lynn back into the ring off the apron, but Jacobs grabbed his feet and McGuinness landed on top of him for the pin. Lynn got up and nailed McGuinness with the air raid crash. He then followed up with a dive to the outside onto Jacobs. Black ended up nailing McGuinness with a frog splash, but Nigel kicked out. Black hit god's last gift on McGuinness, but Jacobs ran into the ring and broke up the pin.

Prazak said that Jacobs was more concerned with Black than winning the ROH World Title. Jacobs picked apart Black for several minutes before tagging McGuinness in. Nigel immediately went to work on Black's arm. Jacobs tagged back into the match and nailed Black with a senton. Black fired up and tackled Jacobs. Black got to his feet and continued to fire away at Jacobs with punches. McGuinness ran into the ring, but Black nailed him with a backdrop. Black nailed Jacobs with the paroxysm, but Jacobs kicked out. McGuinness dumped Jacobs to the floor as he was on top of Black near the apron. McGuinness went for the jawbreaker lariat, but Black countered and nailed McGuinness with the buckle bomb. Jacobs ran in and nailed Black with a spear, but he kicked out at the last second. The crowd just isn't into this match so far.

Jacobs and Black exchanged blows in the middle of the ring. Jacobs crawled to the apron and Black went for a suplex, but McGuinness held his leg. Jacobs landed on top of Black and McGuinness held his legs down, but the ref saw it and stopped the count. McGuinness and Jacobs began arguing. Black went for a rollup, but Jacobs pushed him off and McGuinness caught him with a tower of London off the ropes to the floor. Jacobs then followed up with a dive to the floor that wiped out Nigel. Jacobs tossed Nigel back inside the ring and locked in the end time. The ref ignored them and continued to administer the 20 count on Black. Black was about to make it back into the ring, but Jacobs nailed him with a dropkick and Black got counted out. Jacobs nailed McGuinness with a chinbreaker, but McGuinness bounced off the ropes and hit the jawbreaker lariat for the pin. (***1/4)

After the match, Black jumped Jacobs, but Delirious made the save. Lynn then ran into the ring and Delirious and Jacobs bailed.

Overall thoughts: (5.5) This was an average show. A lot of the matches on the show were average and there's really nothing going out of your way to see here unless you can pick this up on sale at some point and simply want to see a few solid matches.

The crowd didn't help, as they were dead for most of the night and the show seemed just to be there to build towards the first set of HDNet tapings the next night, which the announcers talked about constantly even though this show was taped for DVD.

The Briscoe & Steen vs. Hero & Edwards and Delirious-Danielson matches were the highlights of the undercard. These matches were both entertaining and bolstered the mid-card. The main event was solid as well, but it wasn't up to the usual standards of an ROH main event and the heat just wasn't there. The guys in the ring told an interesting story with McGuinness avoiding Lynn and Jacobs avoiding Black any time they weren't at a disadvantage. The pace of the match was very slow and the finish featured two eliminations that came within a minute of each other.

I would recommend passing on this DVD in favor of picking up "Proving Ground 2009: Night 1" from earlier in the month of February.

You can purchase "Eliminating the Competition" by clicking .

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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