By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

RADICAN'S ROH DVD REVIEW SERIES
Death Before Dishonor VII: Night 2
Toronto, Canada
July 25, 2009
By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

Star ratings and analysis

(1) The Super Smash Bros. beat Kevin Steen & El Generico. Very good opener. Steen and Generico beat on Player Dos, which lead to a nice hot tag to Player Uno, who ran wild. The action broke down from there and both teams went at it at a hectic pace. The finish saw Player Dos nail Steen with the double knees off the top and Player Uno rolled him up for the win. (***1/4)

(2) Frankie the Mobster beat Bison Smith via DQ. They pulled off a couple of nice spots, but the match was boring given Smith's plodding heavyweight style. The DQ finish was really lame with Smith chopping the ref while Frankie was holding onto him in the corner. (1/2*)

(3) Davey Richards beat Jimmy Rave and D-Lo Brown and Necro Butcher and Jerry Lynn and Sonjay Dutt to win the Toronto Gauntlet. This was good for a Gauntlet match. Some of the elimination early on came rather quickly. I liked Necro's post match tantrum after he was counted out because Prince Nana was holding onto his leg. The Richards-Rave finale was very good with Richards looking like a machine in the ring. Richards won a future ROH World title shot by winning this match. (***)

(4) Claudio Castagnoli beat Brent Albright in a European Rules match. The crowd was totally dead for this match. The action was plodding, as the rules of the match dictated standing 10 counts and a yellow card for rule infractions. The finish was lame as well with Jimmy Rave running out to interfere in the fourth round, which allowed Castagnoli to win with a cheap rollup. The Embassy beat up Albright after the match until Cabana, Necro, and Redwood ran out to make the save. (*1/2)

(5) Tyler Black beat Tyson Dux. Dux replaced the injured McGuinness in this match. It was a surprisingly good match with good crowd heat. Dux had a good showing and seemed to be a step ahead of Black for most of the match, but Black managed to catch him with God's last gift after a kick to the head on the mat for the pin. (***)

(6) Colt Cabana beat Joey Ryan in a No DQ match. This was one of the funniest Cabana matches I've ever seen. It was just great. Cabana continually took weapons away from Ryan during the match and did things like set the timekeeper's table back up after Ryan had swept the ring bell and apron off of it. The finish saw Cabana put Prince Nana's crown and scarf on Ryan's head before nailing him with a chairshot for the win. This is must-see material for all wrestling fans in 2009. (***1/2)

(7) The Briscoes & Kenny Omega beat Austin Aries & Rhett Titus & Kenny King. Really good six man action here. The match started out as a traditional tag and build to an excellent middle and ending sequence. The crowd really ate up the confrontation between the Briscoes and Titus & King after Omega and Aries were wiped out. The finish saw Aries break the three count after nailing Omega with the brainbuster by lifting up his head. Omega then rolled up Aries for the win with the Briscoes brawling on the outside with King and Titus. (***3/4)

(8) Chris Hero beat Lance Storm. Very good match to close the show. Hero dominated Storm early on, but Storm made a nice comeback. Hero hit Storm with the first KO elbow at around the 10 minute mark of the match, but Storm kicked out and locked Hero in the half-crab moments later. The finish saw Hero nail Storm with 2 KO elbows with his loaded elbow pad for the pin. The crowd heat was awesome for this match. (***3/4)

Overall thoughts: (7.5) From a wrestling standpoint, this was a very good show, but in some ways it's a letdown there were no high-profile MOTYC's on it. "Death Before Dishonor" weekend is usually one of ROH's biggest weekends during the year, but neither show this year was a show of the year contender.

It's a shame that Austin Aries is being booked as a champion that avoids his challengers, as a match between Aries and Omega for the ROH World title was teased, but not delivered. The tag titles weren't defended on these shows either, but the larger picture is the feuds going on in ROH during this time just don't seem that important. There were no standout promos or angles here to build the show.

There are a lot of good matches on this show beginning with the Super Smash Bros. surprising victory over Steen & Generico in the opener. The Toronto Gauntlet was an entertaining match at times, but it’s a symptom of the problem ROH is having building challengers for Austin Aries. Davey Richards won the match, but none of the combatants in the match outside of Richards came across like they would be worthy of getting in the ring with Aries with the title on the line.

The last three matches were very strong. Colt Cabana and Joey Ryan delivered a really good No DQ match with a ton of hilarious comedy. I loved the finish with Cabana making fools out of Ryan and Prince Nana. This is a match worth going out of your way to see just for the comedy.

I wasn't thrilled with the setup for the six man tag featuring the Briscoes & Kenny Omega taking on Austin Aries & Kenny King & Rhett Titus, but the match itself was really good and featured a solid finish with Omega getting the pin on the arrogant Aries in the end.

Although the main event didn't reach four stars, it's a match well-worth checking out. Storm and Hero delivered a very good performance that had the crowd in Canada popping huge. The finish with Hero getting the win fell flat with the fans, but Storm's post-match speech brought them back to life. Storm delivered what in essence was a farewell speech to the fans and put over ROH huge.

I give this show a solid thumbs up. There's a lot of good wrestling on here and Storm's involvement made the show feel special in the end. If ROH can build more exciting feuds and get the ROH title picture back on track, it would make shows like this feel really special.

You can purchase Death Before Dishonor VII: N2 by visiting ROHWrestling.com

Contact Sean at PWTorchSean@gmail.com

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