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RADICAN: Richards vs. Danielson delivered epic MOTYC at ROH's "Final Countdown" tour stop in Boston Sep 26, 2009 - 1:35:11 PM
Last night in Boston, Davey Richards and Bryan Danielson delivered an epic high-end Match of the Year candidate with a lengthy 38 minute match that had the crowd standing and cheering for the last 15-20 minutes of the match. The thing about the match that was so great was Davey Richards's work as a heel in Danielson's second to last appearance in ROH on the "Final Countdown Tour."
The match started slowly with some chain wrestling on the mat. Neither man was able to get the upper hand, as kicks and strikes were countered or blocked. Then Richards took over and began working on Danielson's arm. He glared at the crowd in defiance as they cheered on Danielson to make a comeback. The heat was good at the beginning of the match, but Richards managed to get nearly the entire crowd to hate him quickly.
Richards and Danielson face off in the middle of the ring prior to their match
Danielson finally made a comeback at the midway point of the match and had great fire as a babyface and the crowd erupted as he nearly finished Richards with elbow strikes and his signature cattle mutilation submission, but Richards refused to tap out. Richards managed to mount a comeback that saw him continue to work over Danielson's arm.
Just when it seemed the match was destined to settle in at the four star level, Richards and Danielson turned up the heat and the match became epic, as neither man would go down. At one point, both men began exchanging strikes from their knees and then rose to their feet and continued to exchange blows as the crowd totally exploded. A short time later, Richards hit a huge dive through the ropes to the outside to take out Danielson and he ended up a good 3-4 rows into the crowd.
Danielson then fired back and hit a big springboard splash and the crowd exploded again. The final minutes of the match were excellent. It looked like Danielson was going to win with elbow strikes. He nailed Richards with 35 elbows as the crowd counted along, but Richards wouldn't submit. Danielson then turned Richards over and pinned him, but Richards kicked out at the last second.
Richards and Danielson battle on the top rope towards the end of the match
The finish saw Richards throw Danielson through the turnbuckles shoulder-first into the ringpost. Danielson sold the heck out of his shoulder and screamed in pain. He even asked the ref to help him reset his arm, but Richards took advantage of the situation and nailed Danielson's injured arm with a missile dropkick. Davey then went up top and hit Danielson with a shooting-star press.
Richards then applied the Kimura once again on Danielson. The crowd badly wanted to see Danielson win, but after a long struggle, he tapped out after 38 minutes of action. I thought Danielson should have gone over here. It's what the fans wanted to see and he's lost a ton of matches in ROH this year, but the crowd quickly recovered and gave Danielson and Richards a standing ovation and chanted "Thank you," "ROH, ROH," and finally "Match of the year."
After the match, Richards broke character and put over Danielson and talked about their history together in the business. Danielson then took the mic and put over Richards as ROH's best wrestler this year and said he's had the better matches than he has in the ring in 2009. Danielson quickly added that he was a close second. The show closed with Danielson's "Final Countdown" theme playing and Danielson posed before leaving.
The show itself was one of the best shows I've seen in Boston, but the main event really made this DVD a must-buy for wrestling fans when ROH gets around to releasing it. I rated the match at ***** and I'm sure a lot of people will place this high on their MOTY lists when 2009 is over.
Contact Sean at PWTorchSean@gmail.com.
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