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RADICAN'S ROH DVD REVIEW SERIES
DBD VII: NIGHT 1
BY SEAN RADICAN, TORCH COLUMNIST
JULY 24, 2009
TORONTO, CANADA
Star ratings and results
(1) Sonjay Dutt vs. El Generico went to a 15 minute time-limit draw. This was a very good opening match. The crowd was red hot for Generico. Dutt wasted a lot of time playing to the crowd and dancing around when he had the upper hand. I don't think they built up enough anticipation for a near-finish when the time limit expired, but otherwise this was very good. (***)
(2) The Briscoes beat The Super Smash Brothers. These two teams just didn't seem to click until the end of the match and things seemed to stall at times when The Super Smash Bros. were trying to set up certain spots. The match was fairly methodical at the outset as well and the crowd heat died down until the finish. (**1/2)
(3) D-Lo Brown beat Frankie The Mobster. This was just a squash. It was fine, but Frankie's gimmick is annoying to say the least. (1/4*)
(4) Jimmy Rave & Joey Ryan & Claudio Castagnoli & Bison Smith beat Colt Cabana & Brent Albright & Necro Butcher & Grizzly Redwood in an 8 Man Elimination match. The first two thirds of the match was very good with Rave and Redwood bleeding gushers and Smith bumping Redwood all around the ring in impressive fashion. The match slowed down for the final 10 minutes when it was down to Ryan & Castagnoli vs. Albright & Cabana. Overall, it was a fun match. (***)
(5) Kenny Omega beat Kenny King. The match got off to a slow start, but the last five minutes were good. There was a lot of interference on the outside from Titus and the crowd just wasn't into the slow-paced action. The fans didn't get into it until the end when things heated up. (**3/4)
(6) Lance Storm & Kevin Steen beat Chris Hero & Davey Richards. This was an awesome grudge tag match. The heat for the match was fantastic and storm looked awesome. Richards and Hero played their heel roles very well and I think during this time, Richards and Hero were two of the best performers in ROH and that includes Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness, who just left for WWE. The double sharpshooter spot was fantastic and the heart attack finish with Storm pinning Hero was fantastic. (****)
(7) ROH World Hvt. Champion Austin Aries beat Nigel McGuinness and Tyler Black and Jerry Lynn in a Four Corner Survival match. This was a very good match with non-stop action from bell to bell. The spot where McGuinness hit a double tower of London on Aries and Lynn after being superkicked by Black was awesome. The crowd was really into this as well, as there were a lot of very good nearfalls. Aries took the win in the end after outside interference from Kenny King. The cradle piledriver on McGuiness from Lynn looked really scary. (***3/4)
RADICAN'S SHOW ANALYSIS
The show starts right away with no promos or highlight packages. Bobby Cruise's levels are way too loud when he introduces the wrestlers and it's difficult to hear the entrance music over him and the crowd. The crowd is red hot for the start of Death Before Dishonor VII weekend. The picture quality is very good in this venue.
(1) Sonjay Dutt vs. El Generico. Dutt backed up Generico into the corner and gave a clean break, but then did the Jarrett strut, which Generico didn't appreciate. Generico then decided to try a strut of his own and Prazak asked if Jackie Fargo was in the ring. Dutt got the upper hand after nailing Generico with several arm drags and grabbed an arm bar as the crowd remained hot for the opener. Generico fired back with an arm drag of his own using the ropes for leverage and took Dutt down to the mat with an arm submission. Generico had the upper hand for a long period of time, but Dutt fired back and took him down with the déjà vu. Dutt wasted a lot of time dancing back and forth while standing over Generico, but still managed to nail him with an elbow drop.
Generico managed to duck a charge from Dutt, who spilled through the ropes to the floor. Generico then nailed Dutt with a flip dive over the top rope to the outside and the crowd erupted in applause. Dutt fired back with a DDT and hit a standing shooting star press on Generico for a nearfall. Dutt signaled for the finish and shook the ropes like Batista, which allowed Generico enough time to recover and roll out of the way of a springboard moonsault attempt. Generico went for the Yokuza kick in the corner and missed. Dutt then nailed him with a springboard hurricanrana for a nearfall.
After a series of reversals, Dutt hit a standing sliced bread #2 on Generico for a nearfall that left both men down on the mat. Cruise announced there was 1 minute left in the match. Dutt peppered Generico with punches in the corner. Generico fired back and nailed Dutt with the Yokuza kick in the corner. Generico set up Dutt for the brainbuster on the top rope, but Dutt countered and the time limit expired. (***)
Dutt got on the mic and asked who wanted 5 more minutes. Dutt said he didn't and bailed to the back.
(2) The Briscoes vs. The Super Smash Bros. Player Uno doesn't wear his mask anymore apparently. Prazak said Leonard should call Player Dos by a different name since he no longer wears a mask and made a reference to Dos's previous gimmick without a mask when he went by the moniker Stupified. This was also Mark's first action back with Jay as a tag team since recovering from his knee injury. The crowd seemed to be split in their support as a dueling "man up" vs. "one up" chant started. Mark worked over Uno with several forearm shots, but Uno caught his leg, swung it to the ref, and too down Mark with an ace cutter. Prazak said the ref was part of the Super Smash Bros. Player Uno tagged in at the same time as Jay, who caught him with a big spinebuster for a 2 count.
Mark took down Dos and applied a headscissors submission, but Dos got the ropes. The Briscoes continued to tag in and out of the ring. At one point they nailed Dos with a huge double team biel. Dos avoided a double team attempt, sprung up to his feet, and kicked both of the Briscoes in the head before tagging in Uno, who ran wild. The action broke down after Uno took out Mark with a dive to the outside and Dos nailed Jay with a big splash off the top rope. Mark and Uno went at it on the top turnbuckle. Mark managed to nail Uno with an ace crusher off the top, but Dos broke it up.
The Briscoes set up Uno for the springboard doomsday device, but Dos superkicked Mark off the apron to the floor. The Super Smash Bros. then hit a double team lung blower on Jay for a nearfall. Dos went for a springboard dive, but Jay nailed him with a clothesline. Mark then took out Uno with a running knee. The Briscoes then finished off player Dos with a traditional doomsday device for the pin. (**1/2)
The crowd chanted "press continue" after the match. The Super Smash Bros. then exchanged handshakes with the Briscoes to a nice ovation.
-An ad for ROHWrestling.com aired.
(3) D-Lo Brown vs. Frankie The Mobster. Frankie is a big jacked up guy that wears contact lenses to make his eyes look crazy. Mobster pranced around the ring like a dolt and clapped his hands when D-Lo posed on the turnbuckles for the fans. Brown turned his back on Frankie, who attacked him from behind in the corner. Brown fired back and nailed Frankie with several chops in the corner. Frankie fired back a short time later and sent Brown shoulder-first through the ropes and into the ringpost. Brown tried to fire back, but Frankie caught him with a big boot. Frankie grabbed a chinlock on the mat, Brown tried to fire back once again and managed to nail Frankie with a sloppy shining wizard. Brown followed up with a series of clotheslines and a back body drop. Brown blocked a chokeslam attempt form Frankie and hit the sky high for the pin. (1/4*)
Brown cut a promo after the match. The crowd seems to be into him and even chanted his name. Brown said he would come back to Toronto anytime. Brown said the fans could come celebrate with him at Champions after the show.
Prince Nana came out with the Embassy and cut a promo on the crowd. He said the trash the crowd was throwing in the ring now reminds him of that fat slob Colt Cabana. Nana put over his team. Cabana's music interrupted him and the match was on! Necro and Grizzly tried to fire each other up prior to the match by exchanged chops while Joey Ryan and the Embassy watched on the outside with a look of amusement on their faces.
(4) 8 Man Elimination match: The Embassy (Jimmy Rave & Claudio Castagnoli & Joey Ryan & Bison Smith w/Prince Nana) vs. The Necro Butcher & Brent Albright & Colt Cabana & Grizzly Redwood. Albright got the upper hand on Ryan early on and tossed him back into his own corner where he hugged Rave's leg before tagging him into the match. Rave decided he didn't want anything to do with Albright and eventually tagged in Smith. Necro then tagged into the match and Redwood wanted to tag in, but Necro decided to go at it with Smith. Smith quickly got the upper hand on Necro and tossed him into the corner of the Embassy. Castagnoli tagged in and continued the beat down on Necro, but Necro cut him off and took him down with a headscissors that popped the crowd. I didn't expect to see that from Necro.
Redwood badly wanted to tag in, but Cabana got the tag instead and took down Rave in a pinning combination for a nearfall. Cabana took down Rave several times and the crowd ate it up. Redwood begged for the tag and Cabana finally relented and let tag in. Redwood knocked Smith off of the apron and the crowd popped big. Smith tagged into the match and charged at Redwood, who chopped him several times. Smith finally just picked up Redwood and tossed him with ease over the top to the outside, which was pretty funny. Smith tossed Redwood into the guardrail and he came up bleeding. Smith then nailed him with a chairshot to the back that the ref didn't see before tossing him back into the ring.
Smith continued his assault on Redwood and tossed him into the turnbuckles and Leonard shrieked like a little girl at the impact. Smith then targeted Redwood's head and dug in at the cut. All of the members of the Embassy choked Redwood in the corner and Cabana ran in to break it up before the ref dragged him away. Redwood finally managed to get away from Smith, but the Embassy ran over to the apron and dragged everyone to the outside. Redwood went for a bodyslam on Smith, who countered him and nailed him with a powerbomb. Smith then nailed Redwood with the Styles clash for the first elimination of the match.
Smith tried to press slam Redwood to the outside, which allowed Cabana to run into the ring and roll him up for another elimination. Castagnoli ran in and nailed Cabana from behind while everyone else brawled on the outside. The action broke down and Albright tossed Castagnoli to the outside and nailed him with a dive through the ropes. Necro then went up top, but Rave nailed him from behind with a chairshot to the back. Necro no-sold it and punched the chair into Rave's face. Rave came up bleeding and screamed in pain as Necro attacked his cut. Necro went after Castagnoli and Ryan on the apron, which allowed Rave to roll him up from behind with a handful of his shorts for the eliminations. Necro wasn't done with Rave, as he tossed him to the outside and then threw him over the guardrail into the crowd.
In the meantime, Ryan and Cabana went on it in the entranceway. The ref ended up counting out Rave for the elimination leaving the team of Cabana & Albright to go at it against Ryan & Castagnoli. Albright went up top, but Castagnoli leapt up on the top rope and nailed him with a kick that sent Albright crashing to the outside. Wow! That was impressive. Castagnoli and Ryan cut off Albright and took turns working him over for a long period of time. Cabana tried to run into the ring, which allowed Ryan to attack Albright without tagging into the match. Albright finally managed to tag out, but the ref was distracted and forced Cabana to go back to the apron. Albright finally tagged out and Cabana ran wild on Castagnoli and Ryan. Ryan and Castagnoli ended up hitting stereo superkicks on Cabana moments later, but Albright broke up the pin. Albright tagged back into the match and eventually caught Castagnoli with the crowbar, but he got to the ropes. Castagnoli fired back with a diving European off the second rope for a 2 count. Albright managed to sidestep a bicycle kick from Castagnoli and nailed him with the half-nelson suplex for the elimination. Ryan ran right into the ring and nailed Albright with a superkick and got the pin to leave the match with only Ryan and Cabana left standing.
Ryan slipped out of a Colt .45 attempt. Cabana missed a flying a----- attempt in the corner. Nana then tripped Cabana from the outside. Ryan ended up nailing Cabana with a shoe while the ref was tied up with Nana on the outside for the final elimination. (***)
The crowd booed the finish as Ryan, Nana, and Castagnoli fled to the back.
-An ad for the ROH Wrestling School aired.
-Bret Hart was introduced to the crowd and got a huge pop! He came out to his WWF entrance theme. The crowd broke out into a "thank you Bret" chant. Hart said he appreciated being a part of this show. Hart said ROH provided wrestling to fans that was similar to what he grew up watching. Hart then went around ringside and shook hands with the crowd.
(5) Kenny King (w/Rhett Titus) vs. Kenny Omega. King jumped Omega from behind while he was posing in the ring during his entrance. Omega fired back and sent King to the outside. Omega went for a dive, but King got out of the way. Moments later, Omega back dropped King over the top to the outside and he landed on Titus. Omega then dropkicked both men through the ropes before tossing King back into the ring. Omega went to bounce off the ropes, but Titus grabbed his leg, which gave King the upper hand again. Moments later, Omega mounted a comeback on King and got a 2 count with a modified bulldog, but King raked his eyes and nailed him with a spinebuster for a 2 count.
King grabbed a chinlock as the match crawled to a snails pace. The crowd tried to rally Omega, who got to his feet, but King sent back down to the mat with a big punch. Omega blocked a suplex attempt from King and nicely turned it into a DDT that left both men down on the mat. Omega fired up upon getting to his feet and nailed King with a crossbody off the top. Omega went up top and Titus tried to interfere, but Omega kicked him away. Omega then came off the top, but King caught him with a spinning kick. King then hit the running double knees on Omega for a nearfall.
Omega fired back a short time later and hit the stop sign enzuguri. After a series of counters, Omega nailed King with a tiger suplex. The crowd chanted for Omega as he stalked King while he got to his feet. Titus grabbed Omega's foot again, but Omega shook him off. King managed to nail Omega with a cartwheel kick and a modified T.K.O., but Omega kicked out, despite Titus holding his legs from the outside. Omega escaped the coronation and nailed King with a superkick. Omega followed up with a reverse hurricanrana and then nailed King with his sub zero finisher for the pin. (**3/4)
Omega cut a promo after the match. He said this was the first time he's ever said anything in ROH. That speaks volumes. Omega talked about Austin Aries and his cheap tactics. Omega said he had no political power, but the people could be his voice to tell ROH to put him in a match against Aries. Omega then challenged Aries to a match on the next show. This was a good promo and the fans got behind him nicely.
-Crowd is hot for Chris Hero & Davey Richards making their entrance for their match against Lance Storm & Kevin Steen. Hero looks much better with more bulk on his frame and traditional wrestling trunks. Lance Storm & Kevin Steen came out to a big ovation to Storm's ECW entrance theme. The crowd chanted "welcome back" at Storm once he got into the ring. Both teams did a lot of shoving back and forth prior to the bell ringing.
(6) Chris Hero & Davey Richards (w/Shane Hagadorn) vs. Lance Storm & Kevin Steen. Steen took down Hero and tagged in Storm, but Hero escaped and tagged in Richards. Storm appeared to be in excellent physical condition as he locked up with Richards. The crowd popped big after Storm won an exchange on the mat against Richards. The pace picked up as Storm sent Richards flying out of the ring with a dropkick. Hero tried to run into the ring, but Storm sent him crashing to the outside with another dropkick. Steen then took out Hero and Steen with a flip dive over the top and the crowd popped huge. Storm blocked a kick attempt from Richards moments later and sent him crashing to the mat with a dragon screw. Hero then nailed Storm with an elbow from the floor and Richards covered him for a 2 count.
With Storm at a disadvantage, Hero gladly tagged into the ring and began to pick Storm apart with punches and kicks. Richards tagged in and hit a snap suplex and followed up with a diving headbutt for a 2 count. Storm eventually thwarted a double team attempt from Hero and Richards and tagged in Steen, who ran wild on Richards. Richards charged at Steen, but Steen sent him into the turnbuckles with an overhead belly to belly suplex. Steen followed up with a cannonball in the corner for a nearfall. Steen went for the package piledriver, but Hero broke it up. Steen pitched Hero to the floor and attempted to apply the sharpshooter on Richards, but he got the ropes. Hero blind-tagged himself into the ring and nailed Steen with a roaring elbow from behind for a nearfall.
Hero applied Strom's signature single-leg crab on Steen, but Storm broke it up. Richards and Hero began tagging in and out of the ring to work over Steen, who was still dazed from Hero's elbow attack from behind. At one point, Hero nailed Steen with a roaring elbow and Richards followed it up with a German suplex for a nearfall. Steen finally managed to catch Richards with a DDT, but Richards grabbed him with a headlock. Hero went after Storm on the apron and Steen nailed him with the code breaker. Steen then tagged in Storm, who took down Hero with a big leg lariat for a 2 count.
The action broke down with all four men going at it in the ring. Hero forearmed Storm off the top rope and he crashed and burned to the floor. Hero then nailed Storm with a kick through the ropes. Richards came off the top, but Steen caught him with the sharpshooter. Hero nailed Steen with several blows, but Steen wouldn't let go of the sharpshooter. Storm then came flying off the ropes and took Hero down and put him in the sharpshooter. Richards and Hero eventually managed to reach the ropes and the fans were deflated. Storm managed to counter Hero and applied the maple leaf submission. Hagadorn threw his loaded elbow pad to Hero. Richards managed to run in to make the save. Hero put on his loaded elbow pad, but accidentally nailed Richards with it. Steen & Storm then hit the heart attack on Hero for the pin. That was awesome! (****)
-An ad for "Steel City Clash" aired.
-Aries got on the mic prior to the main event. There was way too much echo when he spoke. Aries said he was the greatest man that ever lived and the ROH World Hvt. Champion. He said he's the greatest man there is, the greatest man that ever was, and the greatest man there ever will be and the crowd booed. Aries said he was disgusted to be put in a Four Corner Survival match tonight. Aries said he was making three title defenses tonight, but he would make history like only A Double can. Aries said he had made the decision to wrestle the match under protest and if anything screwy happened, he would have the legal right to protest the match. He said if the people didn't like it, they could go outside, grab a bag of trash, and go home. That line made me laugh.
(7) Four Corner Survival match: ROH World Hvt. Champion Austin Aries vs. Tyler Black vs. Jerry Lynn vs. Nigel McGuinness. The bell rang after Aries shoved Black into McGuinness after Black asked for a handshake. Black and Aries went at it on the outside during the early going while McGuinness and Lynn went at it in the ring. Lynn hit a DDT on McGuinness, who looked pretty dazed after the move landed. McGuiness dragged Black to the outside, which left Lynn and Aries to go at it inside the ring. Aries set up Lynn in the corner and nailed him with his signature high-end dropkick. Aries then applied the last chancery on Lynn, but McGuinness broke it up. Aries went for the jawbreaker on McGuinness, but Nigel knocked him right back through the ropes. Aries ended up hung upside down in the ropes, so McGuinness wound up and punted him into the guardrail.
McGuinness and Lynn went at it one on one inside the ring. McGuinness went right after Lynn's arm and applied the London dungeon. Aries ran in, so Nigel let go of the whole and pitched Aries on top of Black on the outside. McGuinness hit the hammerlock divorce court on Lynn while singing "O, Canada." Aries tried to run in again, but McGuinness pitched him right back to the floor. Aries ran in again, but McGuinness got his boot up. Nigel tried to hit the tower of London on Lynn, but Aries broke it up. McGuinness then went for a double tower of London on Aries and Lynn. Black nailed him with a superkick, which allowed Nigel to hit the double tower of London, but Black covered him for a 2 count. Black tried for covers on Lynn and Aries as well, but they also kicked out. That was a cool spot.
McGuinness went for the jawbreaker, but Aries broke it up. Aries tried to roll up McGuinness, but Black pitched him to the floor and nailed him with a springboard dive to the outside. Black went up top moments later, but Nigel cut him off. Black countered a tower of London attempt and nailed Nigel with the paroxysm for a 2 count. Black cut off Lynn as he charged at him and nailed him with the buckle bomb. Black didn't follow up with the super kick and covered Lynn instead and he kicked out. Nigel recovered and hit a hammerlock divorce court on Black and applied the London dungeon, but Aries broke it up. Nigel went right after Aries and applied the London dungeon on him, but McGuinness had to let go because Lynn was about to come off the top rope. Nigel cut Lynn off up top, went onto the apron, and nailed Lynn with a tower of London through a table at ringside and the crowd erupted.
Aries and Black were left alone in the ring, but Aries ran right past Black and hit the heat seeking missile on McGuinness on the floor. Black then hit a backwards flip dive over the top to the floor to take out Lynn and McGuinness with Aries managing to get out of the way. Aries grabbed the ROH World Title on the outside and nailed the back of Black's head with it behind the ref's back, but Black kicked out. Aries couldn't believe it and looked very upset. Nigel ran in and went for a jawbreaker on Aries, but he ducked, so Nigel hit Black instead. Lynn held onto Aries's boot so he couldn't break up the pin, but he broke away at the last moment and made the save.
Moments later, Aries laid into Nigel with a series of knee strikes, but Lynn lifted him up from behind and nailed him with the cradle piledriver. McGuinness managed to crawl over and break up the pin at the last second. Lynn ducked a lariat from McGuinness and nailed him with a cradle piledriver. That looked brutal, as Nigel's head slipped out and landed flush on the mat. Black went up top for the phoenix splash, but Kenny King ran down and knocked him to the floor. Aries then came off the top with a 450 leg drop onto McGuinness for the pin. (***3/4)
After the match, Lynn and Black looked on in concern as McGuinness tried to regain his bearings. The ref and a staff member eventually helped McGuinness to the back, as he appeared to be very dizzy. 2009 has been a rough year for McGuinness.
Overall score (7.0): From a wrestling standpoint, this was a really good show from top to bottom with several very good matches. The show had its fill of average matches as well, but nothing stood out as being bad or boring.
The highlights of the undercard were Dutt-Generico and the 8 Man Elimination Tag match. The Dutt-Generico match was very satisfying to watch unfold and the crowd was red hot for their match. The 8 Man Tag match was also very good for a long time, but slowed down towards the end. The match was still good, but it was on track to be excellent before going to a sluggish conclusion.
The semi-main event featuring Lance Storm returning to the ring from retirement to team with Kevin Steen against Chris Hero and Davey Richards was the best match on the show and is well-worth going out of your way to see. Storm looked excellent in the match and the crowd was red hot from start to finish for his match. The match did a good job of telling the story of Hero staying away from Storm until he could face him in the ring while Storm hurting. There were also a number of great spots in the match playing on Bret Hart's history in Toronto and the crowd ate that up. The heart attack finish on Hero was fantastic as well.
The main event was very good and is another match on this card worth checking out. Aries cut a good promo prior to the match, but once again managed to sneak away with his title thanks to outside interference. McGuinness looked really good during the course of this match, but ended up taking a very scary cradle piledriver from Lynn and had to be helped to the back after being pinned by Aries.
The factors preventing the show from getting a higher rating are the production values and lack of character development on the show. The sound quality was poor for the ring mic, entrance music, and ring announcer. It sounded terrible and it’s a problem that should be addressed by ROH for their DVD releases. The actual picture looked fantastic, but ROH needs to address those problems, which have been a hindrance for them for many years.
There's also no excuse for the lack of backstage segments and promos. Nobody on this show got over. There were no highlight packages to set up the big matches on the card and not a single wrestler cut a backstage promo to set up a match on the card. "Death Before Dishonor" weekend is traditionally one of ROH's biggest shows of the year, so it was especially disappointing to see that no TLC was put into this release.
The show gets a thumbs up for the great action on the card and the two excellent concluding matches, but ROH needs to do better than this to survive in a shrinking DVD market.
You can purchase "DBD VII: Night 1" by clicking here.
Sean Radican and co-host Derek Burgan record ROH themed audios on the Radican Audio Showcase on most weekends that are made available exclusively to Torch VIP members. Sean also reviews nearly every ROH DVD release for Torch VIP members. Contact Sean at PWTorchSean@gmail.com Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.
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