RADICAN'S ROH THE BIG BANG PPV BLOG 4/3: Coverage of Black vs. Aries vs. Strong ROH Title match

Torch columnist Sean Radican is Tweeting on tonight's ROH PPV. We'll post his "blog" throughout the night with ongoing thoughts on the PPV.

-- Kevin Kelly and Dave Prazak introduce the show mid-ring. They preview the big matches on the card. The crowd seems to be red hot.

(1) NWA National champion Phill Shatter vs. Zack Salvation

Salvation has controlled the action so far with some classic "ground and pound." Shatter hits a series of power moves on Salvation, but he can't keep him down for the pin. Shatter fends off a couple of submission attempts and gets the win with a big slam. (*1/2)

(2) Pick Six match: (5) Kenny King vs. Davey Richards

Richards gets a huge pop coming out. Richards is in control and the crowd is fired up after Richards nailed King with a big kick on the outside. Titus ended up tripping up Richards from the outside, which turned the tide in favor of King. Richards fired back, but King caught him by surprise with the double knees in the corner. Richards fired back and nailed King with a diving headbutt. Both men exchanged some stiff blows before Richards nailed King with the alarm clock. Richards has gotten a couple of nearfalls, but King is refusing to stay down. King finally fired back with a spinebuster for a nearfall. Richards went up top moments later and went for a sunset bomb, but King held on. Richards then nailed King with a German superplex. Wow! King will not stay down.

Richards applied the cloverleaf again, but King got the ropes. Richards fended off Titus and went for a dive, but King cut him off and nailed him with a springboard blockbuster. Wow, this is fantastic. Richards countered a powerbomb attempt and grabbed am ankle lock, but King escaped. They exchanged pinning combinations as the crowd roared. oth men exchanged strikes in the center of the ring. Richards blocked the coronation and eventually applied the cloverleaf for the win. That was a fantastic outing for both men. (***3/4)

King refused to shake hands after the match. Prazak interviewed Richards after the match. Richards said he was on the hunt for Tyler Black.

-- Holy crap. It's Christopher Daniels! Daniels told Richards he had a problem with what he had said. Daniels said he had fought 17 years to make his name synonymous with the best in in the world. He said he was back in ROH to prove that. Daniels challenged Richards to a match. That was a great promo from Daniels and the crowd went nuts for his surprise appearance.

(3) Erick Stevens vs. The Necro Butcher

Stevens jumped Necro as he entered the ring. Necro fired back and they brawled on the outside. Necro ran wild on the Embassy at ringside with some plunder and the crowd went insane. Stevens got the upper hand on the outside thanks to tons of interference and slammed Necro into the guardrail. Nana held Necro in the corner, but Stevens ended up hitting him instead of Necro. Necro then won with a rollup. Lame finish. (**)

Stevens and Osiris attacked Necro after the match, but Necro got a chair and they ran away.

(4) Rhett Titus vs. Cassandro El Exotico

Cassandro looks like Richard Simmons. We've lost the announcers on audio. Cassandro teased molesting Titus, who fired back with great anger before tossing Cassandro back inside the ring. Cassandro caught Titus with a stunner, but Titus immediately cut him off. The fans love Cassandro. The site of Cassandro's backside cut off Titus. Cassandro ran wild and nailed him with a senton. Cassandro then hit a big flip dive to the outside and the crowd went bananas. Cassandro appeared to have hurt his leg, but managed to get the rollup for the pin. This was a fun match. (**1/2)

(5) Steve Corino & Kevin Steen vs. Colt Cabana & El Generico

The crowd is going nuts for Generico as both teams face off prior to the bell. Generico nailed Corino with a flip dive to the outside. Cabana held Steen for Generico, but Corino tripped him from the outside. Cabana missed a moonsault attempt onto Steen and Corino to give the heels the advantage. The audio came back on for the start of this match. Steen continued to try to bait Generico, but he refused to go after him. Cabana finally made the hot tag and Generico ran wild on Corino. Generico was about to go at it with Steen again, but Corino attacked him from behind and tossed him to the outside. Steen then powebomed him into the edge of the apron. Cabana ran to Generico's defense and was about to finish Corino, but Steen nailed him with a chairshot for the DQ. This was good while it lasted. (**)

Steen busted open Cabana with a DDT onto the chair and Cabana bled heavily. Generico crawled back into the ring and tossed Corino out. Steen slapped Generico across the face and Generico finally attacked him to a big pop. Several people came out from the back, but Generico nailed Steen with a flip dive to the outside. Generico went for the super brainbuster, but Corino saved Steen. Generico then started nailing everyone with brainbusters. Redwood ended up taking the super as Generico pointed at Steen, who looked very worried. Cabana said Generico is back and the crowd popped huge. Cabana challenged Corino and Steen to a Chicago Street Fight on April 24. This was an incredible post-match sequence.

[Intermission time.]

-- Jim Cornette, Bobby Eaton, and Tommy Young are out with Kevin Kelly for an interview segment during intermission. Daniels signed for May 7 and May 8 events according to Cornette. Cornette then cut an awesome promo putting over ROH to close the segment. Kevin Kelly has been really good so far.

(6) ROH tag champs The Briscoes vs. The Kings of Wrestling

Prazak announced that Cassandro broke his leg during his match against Titus. The Briscoes continued to own Hero in the ring. Hero bit Jay's hand and tagged in Castagnoli, but Jay cut him off with a backdrop. Castagnoli blind tagged Hero in and he nailed Jay with a running boot. Mark got the hot tag and ran wild on Castagnoli. He then sent Hero to the floor. Jay followed up with a big dive to the outside on Hero. Mark went for a dive to the outside, but Claudio cut him off and Hero nailed him with an elbow for a two count.

Mark finally tagged in Jay, who ran wild. Hero tagged in Castagnoli, who nailed Jay with the pop up European for a nearfall. This is great. Jay caught Claudio with a spinebuster and Mark nailed Claudio with a chop off the top after getting the tag, Castagnoli caught Mark with a springboard European and tagged in Hero, who caught Mark with two rolling elbows for a nearfall. Mark caught Hero with a big strike up top and slammed him to the may and the crowd came unglued. Hero fired back moments later with the Liger bomb for another nearfall.

The action broke down as Jay ran into the ring and dropkicked Claudio, who had Mark in the airplane spin. Castagnoli tagged in and hit the UFO on Mark for a nearfall. Great spot. Castagnoli nailed Jay with a gutwrench superplex. Mark then caught Hero with ace crusher off the top, but Mark wasn't legal. This is insane! Hero nailed Mark and Jay with elbows. Jay nailed Hero right out of the ring with a superkick. The crowd chanted doomsday. Mark came off the top, but Claudio countered it into a poweslam. Hero and Claudio hit KRS 1 on Mark, but he kicked out. Oh my!

Jay tagged in after Hero and CC ran into each other. Jay nailed Claudio with the Jay-Driller, but Hero made the save Hagadorn interfered behind the ref's back. Hero slipped on the elbow pad behind the ref's back and nailed Jay with an elbow strike for the pin. My goodness that was awesome. (****1/2)

(7) ROH champion Tyler Black vs. Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong

Cornette is in on commentary for the match. Aries got on the mic. He said the best part of all of this is when he talks. He ran down Tommy Young. Aries said he felt disrespected. He said he respected Strong and Black, but they don't respect each other. Aries said Black told him Strong would never be a champion. Aries said he would wait outside and let them settle their quarrel. Great stuff. Aries pulled Black off the apron, but Black nailed him with a springboard clothesline moments later. Black and Strong went at it again trading strikes.

Aries ran into the ring again and took out both of his opponents. They did some nice three way spots before Aries and Strong ended up on the floor. Black then hit a SSP press to the outside to wipe out both men and the crowd went nuts. Black and Aries went at it inside the ring Strong tried to come in, but Black dropkicked him into the barricade. The action heated up, as Strong suplexed Aries on the outside. Strong then tossed him back-first onto the apron. Strong then dropped Black over the guardrail before going back inside the ring to work over Aries. Strong continued to dominate Aries, but Black caught him with a punch from behind. Strong threw Black to the outside, but Aries caught Strong with the Stronghold. Strong caught Aries with the Stronghold, but Black ran in and applied a sleeper. That was a nice spot.

Strong continued to dominate the action, as he kicked Aries on the outside and then nailed Black with a backbreaker on the apron. Aries then caught Strong with a DVD on the apron. He went for the heat seeking missile, but Black and Strong got out of the way and the crowd went nuts. Strong and Black squared off in the ring and the crowd came alive. Strong sent Black to the mat and dropkicked Aries into the guardrail. Strong got a nearfall on Black with a backbreaker. Black blocked a Gibson driver and Aries came back into the ring only to get tossed out by Black. Black then hit the F5 on Strong for a nearfall. Aries countered the tower of doom spot. Black caught him with a kick and went for a springboard, but Strong caught him with a backbreaker and all three men were down at the 19 minute mark.

Strong got up first and ran wild. He nailed Black with a backbreaker for a nearfall. He then hit one on Aries for another nearfall. The audio cut out completely for a second. Aries took Black down and went for the 450, but Black got his knees up. Strong caught Aries with a running boot for a nearfall. Black then got the Stronghold on Aries, but Black broke it up. Strong hit the Gibson driver on Black, but Aries broke it up. Aries got the last chancery on Strong, but Black caught him and nailed him with the buckle bomb. Black hit Strong with a super kick and he spit in his face. Black nailed him with another superkick for a nearfall. Aries finally finished off Strong with 2 brainbusters for the first elimination at the 25 minute mark.

Aries nailed Black right away with a dive through the ropes and the crowd went nuts. The crowd went nuts as Aries and Black exchanged blows in the center of the ring. Black caught Aries with a kick in the corner. Black nailed Aries with a superplex right into God's last gift for a good nearfall. The crowd went nuts again. Black superkicked the crap out of Aries, but he got his foot on his ropes. King came down to the ring and distracted Black. Black kicked Aries into King. He then nailed Aries with 2 more superkicks and God's last gift for the pin. That was awesome. ****1/4

King attacked Black after the match. Aries then joined in on the attack, but Strong made the save. Strong and Black then looked at each other. Black offered a handshake, but Strong refused and walked to the back.

(8) Blue Demon Jr. & Magno vs. Misterioso & Super Parka

Parka is dancing in the ring. Magno took him down and he appeared to be hurt in a bad way. Demon tagged back in while Misterioso checked on Parka. There's been a lot of stalling in between the lucha exchanges. arka sent Magno to the floor and nailed him with a dive through the ropes. Misterioso grabbed a chair and nailed Demon with it, so I guess that's okay. Misterioso and Park both grabbed chairs and nailed Magno low with them. This is bad. Demon took off Misterioso's mask. The announcers said this was embarrassing. Wow, this is hard to watch.

Demon went after Parka's mask, but Misterioso stopped him. The announcers are trying to cover for how bad this is. Misterioso nailed Magno with a punch and went up top and nailed him with a senton, but Demon broke it up. Demon and Magno hit double dives to the outside onto Parka and Misterioso. That was pretty cool. Magno mercifully ended the match with a corkscrew springboard onto Misterioso for the pin. Man, that was bad. (-**)

-- Prazak and Kelly recapped the show and signed off. If you cut out the main event. This was an amazing show, but they played it off like it was more of a bonus.

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