By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

RADICAN'S ROH DVD REVIEW SERIES
Final Countdown Tour: Chicago
Chicago Ridge, Ill.
Sept. 19, 2009
By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

Star ratings and analysis

(1) Petey Williams beat Rhett Titus. This was unspectacular. The match was built around Williams trying to hit the Canadian destroyer, which Titus was able to counter several times until Williams hit it for the pin in the end. (*3/4)

(2) Rasche Brown beat Sal Rinauro and Alex Payne and Silas Young and Grizzley Redwood and Kyle O'Reilly in a Six Man Mayhem match. This was a good match that had the crowd on their feet. Brown hit some really impressive power maneuvers to clear the ring of the other participants in the ring followed by a flip dive over the top to wipe out everyone. Brown ended up pinning Rinauro after hitting a variation of the spicy drop. (***)

(3) Bobby Dempsey & Brent Albright beat the House of Truth. There was lots of interference from the outside from Truth Martini to help the HOT maintain the advantage. This match just dragged and never clicked. The crowd wasn't into it either. Albright pinned Raymond after a half-nelson suplex. HOT has some potential and I was surprised they didn't go over here. (*)

(4) Necro Butcher beat Jimmy Rave (w/Prince Nana) in a Dog Collar match. Rave jumped Necro from behind to kick things off after Nana had cut a promo saying he was taking Rave's place in the match. Both guys bled heavily and brawled all over the building. Nana constantly interfered, but Grizzley Redwood came out to even the odds on the outside. In the end, Necro won with a submission using the chain for leverage. (***1/4)

(5) The Young Bucks beat The Dark City Fight Club. The match started off hot with the Young Bucks running wild. The DCFC eventually isolated Nick Jackson and got the heat on him. Once Matt got the hot tag, the action really heated up. The finish was really good, as Nick countered DCFC's finish into a frankensteiner on Davis for the pin. (*** ¼)

(6) Colt Cabana beat Claudio Castagnoli (w/Prince Nana). This was a fantastic match. The crowd heat was awesome with the crowd trying to get under Castagnoli's skin the entire match while at the same time cheering Cabana on. Castagnoli hit Cabana with the Ricola bomb at one point, but he got the ropes. Castagnoli then went for a low blow, but Cabana was wearing a cup. Cabana then threw his cup at the ref and kicked Castagnoli low before rolling him up for the pin. (***1/2)

(7) The Briscoes beat ROH World Tag Team Champions The American Wolves via DQ. This was a really good match. The Briscoes ran wild on the Wolves early, but Jay eventually got isolated. Mark got the hot tag and ran wild and the match broke down. The Briscoes got several believable nearfalls with Richards constantly saving Edwards. The finish saw Richards nail the ref with a dropkick off the top to break up a pin after Edwards had taken the doomsday device. (***3/4)

(8) ROH World Champion Austin Aries beat Bryan Danielson. This was an excellent mach. They started out slowly, but once the action heated up, the crowd really got into it. Both men seemed to have a counter for everything they threw at each other. At one point, Danielson countered Aries's 450 splash into a triangle. The finish saw Aries nail Danielson with a super brainbuster before Danielson passed out to the last chancery. (****)

Quote book

"One trick pony hit his move. It's over. –Chris Hero after Petey Williams hit the Canadian destroyer on Rhett Titus.

"But what has he done to earn this title match?" – Chris Hero on Bryan Danielson facing Austin Aries for the ROH World Title the night after Hero beat him.

Overall thoughts: (7.5) This was a very good show. Once again the hard camera was out of focus, which is something ROH needs to fix. The show only had two skippable matches and was bolstered by two strong matches to end the show.

The surprise of the show was the Cabana-Castagnoli match, which was just a lot of fun. The crowd heat for this match was amazing and it was just plain fun watching the crowd do their best to get under Castagnoli's skin. The finish was really well-executed as well.

The Six Man Mayhem and Young Bucks-DCFC were the highlights of the undercard. I really enjoyed the Six Man Mayhem and Rasche Brown had a good showing for himself in that environment. The other wrestlers deserve credit for selling for him and making him look like a monster.

The Young Bucks-DCFC match was also fun, although it wasn't a show-stealer. This match delivered another clever finish with Nick Jackson countering DCFC's finisher into a win for the Bucks.

The semi-main and main event matches were both excellent. The Wolves-Briscoes match featured some really good tag team wrestling, which has become a staple of ROH in 2009. The DQ finish fell flat, but it gave a legitimate reason for the Briscoes to get another shot at the Wolves down the line.

The main event was bolstered by a really good video package leading into it. Danielson and Aries put together another 4 star match. It wasn't the best match they've ever had, but they really got the crowd into the match down the stretch. Danielson's counter of the 450 into a triangle was simply fantastic. Danielson's farewell speech to Chicago made for a memorable moment as well.

I continue to enjoy the effort ROH is putting into making these DVDs seem special. The new graphics, transitions between segments, and commentary options are a welcome addition to the mix. The Final Countdown Tour DVDs are really standing out as some of ROH's most enjoyable releases of the year outside of the issues with the hard camera. I give this release a solid recommendation.

You can purchase Final Countdown Tour: Chicago by visiting ROHWrestling.com

Contact Sean at PWTorchSean@gmail.com

We suggest these recent related articles...

RADICAN'S Beyond Wrestling "Greatest Rivals Round Robin" review 9/26 - incredible show of the year contender, Busick-Edwards top-flight MOTYC, more!

RADICAN'S "The Pull List" (Vol. 5) "Young Bucks Too Sweet Journey" doc review, The Flash season 1 Blu-Ray, Top Ten MOTYC for 2015

RADICAN'S "THE PULL LIST" (Vol. 4) - step by step guide to social media and conduct, "Madden NFL 16" review, "Furious 7" Blu-ray w/The Rock & Ronda Rousey, more!