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By Sean Radican, PWTorch columnist

Updated Sunday, January 27, 2008

-ROH ran a DVD taping last night in Chicago Ridge, Ill that is getting a lot of positive buzz. By all accounts, ROH put together 2 strong back to back tapings, as the show in Dayton, Ohio was also said to have been very good by most who in attendance.

The first big news item coming out of the weekend is that former WWE wrestler Joey Matthews made his debut in ROH as a member of the Age of the Fall in Dayton, Ohio on Jan. 25. Matthews was said to have carried himself well in Dayton and Chicago. The Age of the Fall also put out an open offer for Austin Aries to join them, but no answer was given by Aries in Dayton or Chicago. Matthews wrestled Mark Briscoe in Chicago and came up on the losing end.

In other news, Davey Richards & Rocky Romero captured the ROH World Tag Team Titles in an Ultimate Endurance match. The Age of the Fall were eliminated in the first fall after Richards pinned Black with a rolling cradle. Richards & Romero squared off against Bryan Danielson & Austin Aries. Richards ended up pinning Aries with a pinning combination to win the match. This was said to have been the match of the night.

Finally, ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness defeated Roderick Strong in front of a hot crowd that was split down the middle for the entire match when McGuinness hit Strong with the jawbreaker lariat for the second time.

RADICAN'S ANALYSIS

By all accounts ROH ran two successful shows in front of two hot crowds in Dayton and Chicago. The shows were given a "newsworthy" feel with the addition of Joey Matthews to both cards. I'm intrigued to hear Matthews's promo from Dayton where he reportedly talked about his past demons and his time in the WWE. Mattews's story is one that got pushed to the backburner in the wake of the Benoit family tragedy and hopefully he has cleaned himself up. WWE's treatment of him after his face was shattered by a ladder shot during a PPV in December of 2006 was almost criminal.

Although the Dayton show was said to have been solid all-around, the match getting a lot of buzz is the Tyler Black vs. Bryan Danielson contest. Some people who attended the show are calling it one of the best matches they've seen in ROH. This match will definitely guarantee ROH some extra DVD sales for the Dayton show based on the buzz from this match alone.

Nigel McGuinness retained his title in Dayton against Chris Hero in a Steel Cage and in Chicago against Roderick Strong. Both matches were said to have been good with the McGuinness-Strong match getting the most buzz in terms of how it delivered in the ring, although the Hero match was said to have been quite good from an entertainment perspective.

I was surprised to see the Age of the Fall drop the ROH World Tag Team Titles so quickly after winning them at "Final Battle 2007." The Age of the Fall didn't even make it to the final fall of the Ultimate Endurance match, as they were eliminated first. Romero & Richards are certainly capable of having a great reign as ROH World Tag Team champions and I'm excited to see what ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky has planned for the tag division after the Briscoes were so dominant in 2007.

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