By Wes Comer, PWTorch specialist

ROH "Richards vs. Daniels" DVD review
October 16, 2010
Chicago, Ill.

Quick results

(1) All Night Express (Kenny King & Rhett Titus) beat Adam Cole & Kyle O'Reilly. Good opener and all four men looked impressive.

(2) Trial Series Match #2: Ricky Reyes beat Andy “Right Leg” Ridge.

(3) Lady Jojo & Nevaeh beat Daizee Haze & Jamilla Craft.

(4) Homicide beat Kevin Steen in a wild match that featured biting, spiting, and, to quote Dave Prazak on commentary, “nostril wars.”

(5) The Metal Master beat “Mad” Mike Mondo.

(6) Jay & Mark Briscoe beat the Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli) in a non-title elimination match. Good match that was hurt by a weird and awkward finish.

(7) Colt Cabana beat Steve Corino in an I Quit match. Brutal match that featured broken beer bottles, chairs, and tables. Plenty of blood, too, in this blow-off match.

(8) Main Event: Davey Richards beat Christopher Daniels in an amazing match that must be seen.

What I liked about the show

The opener was very strong and got the show off to a good start. This was an opportunity to showcase Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly in one of ROH's biggest markets and they delivered. This was the match they deserved that they did not get against Steen and Corino, and it took a young team like the All Night Express to give it to them. These four mix well together and this could be a top-level feud in a year with the right progression.

To go along with the opening match, Cole and O'Reilly both cut a great post-match promo, selling their disappointment with losing the match, but also showing determination to only get better from here. Cole in particular stood out for correctly pointing out that even the great Ring of Honor names at one point went through difficult times and were not stars overnight. I have high hopes for both of them in Ring of Honor.

Homicide and Kevin Steen had a good pull-apart brawl; it seems that Ring of Honor is building up Homicide to not get along with anyone, as he got into a fight with Jay Briscoe at the previous show. Pushing him as an outlaw that doesn't get along with any of the wrestlers or management I think is a smart way to go. Homicide has always had an unpredictable edge to his character where fans are never quite sure what he will do or say next.

The main event was outstanding between Davey Richards and Christopher Daniels. Ring of Honor built this up as “six months in the making” and it had an epic, big-fight feel. This is what the Ring of Honor style is all about - technical wrestling, strong submission work, stiff strikes, and one insane dive by Richards into the crowd. These two wrestlers went almost 30 minutes and the time flew by. It's worth the price of the DVD by itself.

What I didn't like about the show:

Ricky Reyes. At the risk of sounding like a broken record from my previous review in this series, I can't help but think that there are other wrestlers that could have easily occupied his spot against Andy Ridge. I think he carries too much of a stigma of an enhancement talent to be taken seriously at this point. This was a better match than the one he had at "Allied Forces," but that's not really saying much.

I thought the finish of the Briscoes-Kings of Wrestling match was awkward and took away from a pretty good match. I felt that Chris Hero could have easily turned around and broken up the final pin when Jay hit his finisher on Claudio. Instead, he stood there with his back turned to the ring and the commentators didn't really acknowledge it, which made it look worse.

ROH Power Rankings (as of 10/16 DVD)

My grades and where wrestlers are ranked are judged by a combination of match quality, how important the wrestler or match meant to the show or overall direction of the company, and the overall talent of the wrestler. Recent body of work is taken into account as well, for example a World champion that doesn't wrestle on one show may drop in the rankings, but won't be taken out completely.

(1) Davey Richards: I'm moving him up to the top spot by virtue of another top-notch performance in the main event. Richards's intensity is unmatched by anyone on the roster and no matter where he is on the card, he always gives it his all. One of the many highlights of the main event was Richards catching Daniels during the Best Moonsault Ever and going right into the anklelock. The finish of the match was appropriate to set up Davey's title shot at Final Battle. Grade: A. Previous spot #2.

(2) Roderick Strong: I won't send Roderick tumbling down the rankings, as he still has momentum being the new Ring of Honor champion, but being inactive on this show coupled with Richards's superb performance, I had to take him down one spot. N/A (wrestling in Japan). Previous spot #1

(3) Christopher Daniels: Daniels was on his game in the main event. I think this match benefited from being back and forth throughout, and Daniels was game for Richards's strikes by giving him strikes and counters of his own. I believe Daniels is putting on the best in-ring work of his career right now, and even in the loss, he still benefited going into a World Title shot against Roderick Strong. Grade: A. Previous spot #5.

(4) Kevin Steen: This was a good show for Kevin Steen fans. Steen was crazy, deranged, and psychotic and he kept fans's attention no matter what he did. Everything from the consistent biting of Homicide, to kissing a fan on the lips, to being placed in the straightjacket was riveting. It's a testament to Steen that even in a straightjacket, the crowd was on edge and never was completely comfortable with him walking around ringside. Grade: A-. Previous spot #7.

(5) Jay Briscoe: Beating the top tag team singlehandedly constitutes a move up in the Power Rankings. The Jay Driller is one of the classic Ring of Honor finishers and always nice to see it lead directly to a pinfall, even if the match finish was clunky. Grade: B+. Previous spot #8.

(6) Claudio Castagnoli: The Chicago crowd annoyed Claudio greatly per their custom of serenading him with “Hey!” chants. As usual, Claudio did a great job playing up how frustrated and irritated he was with the crowd. Claudio is not the talker that Hero is, but he is capable of working well with a wide variety of opponents especially smaller wrestlers. Grade: B. Previous spot #4.

(7) Chris Hero: Hero was over with the Chicago crowd and I have always wondered if Ring of Honor fans would get behind him in a serious main event singles push after the tag title run plays out. His use of the loaded elbow pad to eliminate Mark Briscoe during an attempted Doomsday Device was clever. Grade: B-. Previous spot #3.

(8) El Generico: He still felt like a big part of this show even though he did not appear at all. Kevin Steen brought his mask out to ringside and wore it, and the announcers constantly talked about their huge match at Final Battle. Ring of Honor did a great job building up this storyline over the course of a year. Grade: N/A (did not wrestle). Previous spot #6.

(9) Homicide: No change from the last show. He had a decent match with Kevin Steen, and he had another inspired pull-apart brawl that had the locker room out to break it up. I like Homicide in this role of an outlaw that doesn't want to make any friends and does not care about anyone in Ring of Honor. I'm still looking for an above-average match to move him up. Grade: C+. No change from last show.

(10) Colt Cabana: Colt scored a big win in the blow-off match vs. Corino that was a portion of the Generico vs. Kevin Steen storyline in front of the hometown crowd. Cabana played his part in the storyline well as the only true friend that would stick up for El Generico and was willing to take the violence as far as it needed to go in the name of friendship. Cabana doesn't get enough credit for the versatility he provides to Ring of Honor. He wrestles a great European style, is hilarious in comedy matches, and has proven in the past during his feud with Homicide that he can hold his own in more brutal hardcore matches. Grade: B. Previous spot #11.

(11) Steve Corino: The type of violence on display in the I Quit match with Cabana is ultimately what Corino does best and where he made his reputation. Corino was willing to take an insane amount of punishment that was uncomfortable to watch at times. I could have lived without seeing Cabana dig a broken beer bottle into his arm. Corino also did an awesome job with his role in the Steen-Generico storyline as the deranged mentor pulling the strings who ultimately loses control of the one he is trying to manipulate. Grade: B. Previous spot #12.

(12) Mark Briscoe: He didn't really stand out in a positive or negative way on this show. He did manage to bust out the Redneck Kung Fu, which is always good for a laugh, but otherwise nothing of note. Grade: C. Previous spot #10

(13) Kenny King: King had a good backstage promo hyping the All Night Express and expressing their plans for a future tag title shot. It's refreshing to see a heel tag team not back down from calling out another heel tag team. I enjoyed King referring to Hero and Claudio as “The Queens of Wrestling” and King was also solid against Cole and O'Reilly. Grade: B-. Previous spot #14

(14) Adam Cole: He looked the best in the tag team opener. Cole provides a nice aerial compliment to O'Reilly's kicks and strikes. I liked his promo after the match not ignoring the fact that his team lost but also expressing that he will only get better from here. Grade: B-. Not rated in previous ranking.

(15) Kyle O'Reilly: He cut a good promo with Cole after the loss expressing disappointment that he was the one that got knocked out in the loss. I also appreciate the small touch of having Davey Richards at ringside after the match, and O'Reilly seconding Richards to the ring in the main event. O'Reilly also led some good double team offense on the All Night Express. Grade: B-. Not rated in previous ranking.

Dropped out: Eddie Edwards and Rhett Titus

Overall Thoughts

This was a good show from Ring of Honor. Stellar, must see main event, a brutal I Quit match, and an above-average Briscoes vs. Kings of Wrestling match makes this an easy recommendation to purchase. The undercard, although not great, was not blatantly offensive either. Make it a point to see the main event, as it belongs in the conversation of match of the year candidates from Ring of Honor in 2010. Thumbs up.

I will be back again later this week for a review and Power Rankings of "Survival of the Fittest 2010."

FYI: Richards vs. Daniels is available in the Ring of Honor store at www.rohwrestling.com.

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

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