Ring of Honor "Ninth Anniversary" Internet PPV
"Perspective of the Common Fan" alt. perspective report
February 26, 2011
Chicago, Ill.
Report by Jimmy Eaton, PWTorch specialist

The show opens with a nice video package hyping each match of the show and the importance of the titles. I'm very pleased already with the emphasis on the titles that will defended.

Colt Cabana makes his way to the ring to open the show. Nice pop, you'd think this was his hometown. Oh wait, it is. I'll go with Davey Richards winning this opening contest.

1 -- Colt Cabana vs. Davey Richards

I see a lot of mat wrestling in this match. No complaints here. Amusing mix of styles with Davey's intense style and Cabana's looser, comedic style. Both are very technical to start the match with a lot of takedowns and an early two count in a roll-up from Cabana. Davey lures Cabana to the outside and hits a missile dropkick through the ropes. He follows with a scary-looking suicide dive, getting a pop from the crowd.

Davey goes to work on Cabana's arm and takes control. Really nice exchange of ground-based moves before they get back to their feet and Davey works Cabana into the corner, still pounding on the arm. A few moments later they go at it again with Davey getting in a modified cross-armbar followed by a snapmare takeover with a kick to the back. More work on the arm from Davey before hitting a back-suplex.

Richards heads to the top rope and eats Cabana's boots. Both men are down. Cabana gets to his feet first and hits a couple of "Boom Boom" punches before getting surprised with a kick from Davey. Davey though ends up eating an atomic elbow from Cabana for his trouble. They exchange blows before Cabana hits successive double chops followed by a moonsault off the second rope for two. Cabana gets to the tope rope but Davey meets him there. The crowd starts with the "Davey Richards, Colt Cabana" chants here. Cabana then hits a nasty drop on Davey across the top rope. He hits another moonsault for a nearfall.

The action really picks up here with Cabana going for the Colt 45, but Davey gets out of trouble and eventually gets to the top rope and hits a missile dropkick for two. Cabana rolls him up into the reverse Boston Crab, but Davey counts with a pinfall roll-up for two. Davey attempts a cross-armbar but Cabana breaks out, then eats a German suplex for two before they exchange more holds. This is followed by a nice sequence with Davey hitting a falcon arrow into another cross-armbar for the tap-out victory. After the match the two exchange a handshake.

WINNER: Davey Richards via submission at about 11:00. Great opening bout. (***1/4)

Next is a "Top 5 Moments in ROH History" with C.M. Punk's farewell in Chicago at Number 5.

2 -- Steve Corino vs. Kyle O’ Reilly vs. Grizzly Redwood vs. “The Prodigy” Mike Bennett (w/Brutal Bob) -- Four Corner Survival

My early choice to win in Mike Bennett. O'Reilly and Grizzly are already in the ring for his match-up with Steve Corino and Mike Bennett making their entrances.

Corino and Bennett start the match, but Bennett tags in Grizzly immediately. They exchange Irish whips with Corino getting the upper hand. They lock-up and after a clothesline from Corino, Grizzly tags in Kyle O'Reilly. They jaw at each other and Corino ends up eating a slap from O'Reilly before taking a powerslam from Corino. Bennett makes a blind tag to take on O'Reilly. Bennett and O'Reilly lock up before Bennett gets tossed to the floor. Grizzly comes in and hits O'Reilly from behind, but O'Reilly recovers and throws him into Corino in the opposite corner. O'Reilly then hits a nice missile dropkick to Bennett on the outside followed by Grizzly, who hits a suicide dive onto O'Reilly. They tease Corino taking flight but Bennett hits him with a clothesline.

They brawl to the outside and Brutal Bob tries to get involved but Corino ends up getting back inside the ring where O'Reilly makes the tag. He eats a clothesline, though, from Bennett, but Grizzly also makes the blind take in to take on O'Reilly. O'Reilly hits a great-looking triple butterfly suplex on Grizzly but only gets two. He heads to the top rope but Bennett knocks him off to the outside. Grizzly makes the tag leading to blows being exchanged from Corino and Bennett. Corino hits a dropkick and plays to the crowd, which is really hot so far tonight. Corino hits a double-DDT on Grizzly and O'Reilly. On the other side of the ring, Grizzly hits a spinning DDT off the top rope. Everyone is in the ring at this point. Shortly after, Bennett hits a solid spinebuster on O'Reilly.

Everyone is exchanging blows with O'Reilly getting the upper hand, hitting a kick on Bennett before heading to the top rope. He his a double missile dropkick before Bennett recovers, rolling up Grizzly with Bob's help for two as O'Reilly hits him with another kick. A bit of a sloppy exchange with all four men as Corino attempts an abdominal stretch before getting hit by Bennett with a modified Rock Bottom/side suplex for the win.

WINNER: "The Prodigy" Mike Bennett via pinfall in about 12 minutes. Not bad, just a bit sloppy at times. (**1/4)

"Top Moment Number 4" is when the "Era of Honor" began with Low Ki taking on Brian Danielson and Christopher Daniels on ROH's first-ever show.

3 -- Michael Elgin (w/Truth Martini) vs. El Generico

I'm going with Michael Elgin to get a bit of an upset win here. Elgin pounds on Generico and mocks the "Ole'" chants from the crowd. They exchange chops. Generico hits the ten punches on Elgin in the corner followed by a dropkick to send him to the outside. He attempts a dive, but Truth grabs his leg. Elgin comes back in and gets in control hitting multiple back-breakers on Generico. Three to be exact, following by a sentan splash for a two count.

They work their way to the outside with a cool exchange where Elgin reverses a DDT attempt off the barricade by Generico, then slams him in into the guardrail on the other side of the ring. Fun sequence. They work their way back inside with Elgin showing off his power moves. Generico attempts to recover with some clotheslines but Elgin hits an elbow before being lured to the outside and over the ropes by Generico. Generico then gets a nice pop for a swanton dive over the top rope onto Elgin.

Elgin gets back in control but then gets hit with a spinning DDT off the top by Generico. Elgin recovers, though, and hits a nice modified spinning side slam but only for two. Elgin and Generico exchange slaps before Elgin hits him with a stiff forearm, sending Generico to the corner. They exchange blows again but Generico counters with a Yakuza kick, which Elgin catches and blocks. He hits a cool-looking wrist-clutch Michinoku driver for two. Eventually Generico connects with the kick but Elgin recovers quickly and hits a clothesline that sends Generico into a back flip. He hits some very stiff-looking forearms to the back before they lockup again. The ref gets knocked out and Truth attempts to interfere but misses off the top rope. Elgin catches him on his shoulders, though, and STILL hits a powerbomb on Generico. Awesome-looking sequence because Truth was still on his shoulders. The ref was still recovering, though, and Generico suddenly rolls him up for three.

After the match, Elgin and Truth beat down Generico before Roderick Strong comes down to help. Once Generico is cleared they dismiss Elgin from the ring and Strong talks about how he's going to kick the crap out of Homicide. He said, "Only the Strong survive." Not a shabby catch phrase really. The crowd wants Strong to shut up, to put it in nicer terms. Homicide though runs to the ring, watching to start their match right now.

WINNER: Generico by roll-up in about 10 minutes. Not a bad showing for Elgin, but Generico carried the match. (**1/2)

Surprisingly, the World Title match is starting next. Interesting choice. I'm going with Strong though to retain.

4 -- ROH champion Roderick Strong vs. Homicide -- ROH World Title match -- No Holds Barred Barrio Street Fight

Homicide hits a flip to the outside of the ring on Strong but Strong regains control as they brawl through the crowd. They continue to brawl and Homicide eventually gets the upper hand, throwing Strong headfirst into a chair. At one point he even threatened the ref, Todd Sinclair with a chair. Poor guy. He played it off very well, jumping out of the ring. Homicide went back to work on Strong and they brawl to the outside again. Strong hits a nasty torture rack drop on Homicide on the edge of the ring. He throws him into the barricade as they keep brawling past the announcer's table.

They get back to the ring and keep exchanging blows with Strong using a chair for leverage on Homicide's throat. The crowd rallies for Homicide as they keep going at it with Strong later hitting the three-amigos on Homicide. He yells out to the crowd, mocking Homicide. Each corner now has chairs setup in them after Strong placed another one in the corner. The crowd starts chanting, "He's a gringo!" Funny.

Homicide throws Strong into all four chairs headfirst. (I'm not sure how I feel about that. They looked un-protected, but it wasn't like they were coming down full force from Homicide. Still, it didn't look great, and in today's time, it's not the smartest idea.) Homicide then hits a perfect-plex for two. Strong, though, gets the upper hand and heads to the outside to get a table.

He sets the chair up in the corner and Homicide recovers, hitting a DDT on Strong through the table, but he only gets a two count on the cover. He sets up Strong on the top rope but Truth interferes. He attempts the Cop Killa but Michael Elgin intervenes, getting tossed over the top rope for his troubles. Strong then eats an ace-crusher off the top rope but Truth breaks up the pin. Truth begs Homicide to not touch him but then hits him with a low blow. Homicide recovers and hits an ace-crusher on Truth, but Strong hits him with a kick followed by a nasty looking suplex into a backbreaker across the knees for the three count and the win.

WINNER: Roderick Strong via pinfall in just under 15 minutes. I was surprised at the placement and the time this match was given. But, it wasn't a bad brawl by any means. I thought Homicide looked strong in defeat, yet Strong isn't booked to be a very strong champion at this point. (**3/4)

After the match Homicide sold frustration after losing. He threw down the table and chair in the center of the ring before playing to the crowd. They then threw the show to intermission, selling videos to be played throughout. It looks like there is no real Top 5, just a lot of really cool moments. A nice package featured Danielson vs. McGuiness from 2005 for the Unified ROH Title and Joe vs. Kobashi.

Still at intermission, Jim Cornette is in the ring talking about the WrestleMania weekend shows. The next Internet PPVs will be entitled "ROH Takes Center Stage." The dates will be Friday and Saturday, April 1 and 2. The ROH Tag Champions from tonight are taking on the winner of the main event tonight, as well as the ROH Champion taking on Christopher Daniels on the Friday Internet PPV. I wonder what my fiance will think of me watching three PPVs in a row. I'm sure I'll at least get two of the three.

Back from intermission, it's the Women of Honor match. Sara Del Ray enters first, followed by MsChif.

5 -- Sara Del Rey vs. MsChif

I'll go with Del Ray winning here. They tie up and Del Ray gets the upper had before MsChif counters with a series of chops and a roll-up for two. Del Ray attempts some big boots and then gets her up in a Gory Special but MsChif escapes and hits a Northern Lights suplex for two. Del Ray counters with a nasty powerbomb but only for two. Nice action so far.

They tie up again and exchange holds as Del Ray gets "Queen of Wrestling" chants. Del Rays shortly after gets the win after a wrist clutch back suplex for the three count. She taunts MsChif after the match and spits on MsChif, who counters with some green mist of her own. Shorter then I expected, but not bad.

WINNER: Sara Del Ray via pinfall in about five minutes. Short, but more wrestling there than the average match length on a typical week of WWE or TNA programming. (*)

6 -- Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli w/Shane Hagadorn) vs. All Night Express (Kenny King & Rhett Titus -- ROH Tag Title match

This should be a good one. I smell a possible upset, but I think the KOW will retain the gold. Hero and Rhett Titus start the match. They exchange shoulder blocks early on with Titus getting hip-tossed but recovering, hitting a high knee strike for a one count. Hero tags in Claudio to a big reaction of "Heyyy!" and King comes in for the ANX. King reverses a chicken wing into a nice Japanese arm drag before nipping up and getting the tag to Titus for a double team move. The action is really picking up after Hero tags in again and I'm already losing it. Cool stuff happens and Hero eventually goes to the outside before Claudio misses a bicycle kick attempt on King.

King eventually hits a hip-toss to the outside on Hero and then jumps out with a flip splash variation. They battle back to the ring with Claudio soon after hitting a cool-looking (but possibly botched) pop-up European uppercut on Titus on the outside on the apron. Hero tags back in and keeps working on Titus. King is cheering him on, wanting the tag. Claudio tags back in and puts the boots to Titus. He locks in an armbar before Hero tags back in. Quick tags here as they mat wrestle Titus down to the mat.

Hero gets a cheap shot on King and Titus tries to recover with a top rope move but Hero escapes and hits a rolling elbow for two. Another tag to Claudio as they pummel Titus on the top rope in their corner. The crowd is incredible heavy into these "Heyyy!" chants. Titus reverses the top rope attempt and drops Claudio face-first on the turnbuckle. He finally makes the tag to King, who comes in on fire exchanging blows with Hero, hitting a beautiful German suplex but eventually he eats a nasty boot from Hero. Claudio tags back in and drills him with a high knee for two.

He follows with a stiff clothesline for a two count. He then heads to the top rope but King meets him there. He climbs to the top as they exchange blows. Claudio attempts a chokeslam from the top but King escapes before Titus comes up and hits the Sex Factor off the top for two. King then hits a Royal Flush for two after Hero breaks up the pin. Hero is sent to the outside as ANX double-team Claudio with kicks and a suplex. King heads to the top and hits a great looking shooting star press but Hero makes the save for a very near fall. Great match here in the making. Hero hits an elbow that looks like a gun shot off and soon after all men are down.

Soon after, King intercepts the golden elbow attempt by Hero but Shane Hagadorn distracts the ref just enough to allow Hero to recover, hit the elbow while King had Claudio up for a slam that allowed the KOW to get the three count and the win. Great match and a great showing for the ANX.

WINNERS: Kings of Wrestling in about 18 minutes. Awesome match that gives tag wrestling a good name. (***3/4)

The announcers, especially Kevin Kelly put over the ANX as a threat to the gold in 2011. On that note, the commentary is much better than I remember the last ROH show being. Especially with Kelly. Prazak is always okay for me, not bad at all. Their chemistry seems better tonight.

7 -- ROH TV champion Christopher Daniels vs. Eddie Edwards -- 2/3 Falls with a 30-Minute Time Limit

Edwards makes his way to the ring first in the TV Title bout. Daniels then comes out to a pretty big reaction. They stare each other down and lock up. The audio cut out for a moment on commentary, which was funny because I didn't notice. It's been a solid night, though, production-wise for ROH on GoFightLive. Much better than usual.

Edwards takes Daniels down for a quick nearfall after an armbar. They grapple a bit more and both make their way to their feet to some applause from the crowd. They shake hands as the crowd cheer on both men, ROH style. Daniels gets a headlock and takes down Edwards, but Edwards forces him into the corner. Edwards hits an arm drag and they continue to wrestle on the mat and exchange holds. Edwards is in control.

Edward regains control. More mat wrestling leads to Edwards getting back to his feet and hitting two nasty, loud chops to Daniels. Edwards back in control now with a chinlock. Daniels gets back to his feet but Edwards hits a series of kicks to stay in control. He follows up with some more chops into the corner on Daniels.

More tie-ups that eventually lead to Daniels recovering and hitting a perfect back suplex after Edwards took it to him with some chops. Daniels still control hitting a reverse DDT for two. He starts to put the boots to Edwards now, followed by forearms to the back of the neck. He goes for the pin but only gets two. Daniels goes for the submission, locking in a modified guillotine but Edwards falls back into a pinfall for two. Daniels recovers with a Russian legsweep for two. Excellent, excellent wrestling so far.

Edwards fights back with more chops that rival those of Roderick Strong. Edwards, though, is tossed to the outside. Daniels follows and throws more chops and right hands of his own. They work their way to the inside of the ring again and exchange more right hands, Daniels soon after takes Edwards to the top rope but Edwards blocks his attempt and straddles him on the top rope. He then hits a huracanrana off the top rope on Daniels. Both men are down and the crowd starts to heat up a bit. More chops from Edwards.

Daniels is back-dropped to the apron and lands on his feet but Edwards trips him, hits a running kick, then hits a double stomp to the outside on the apron. They're both down before Edwards throws him into the barricade and hits a kick to toss Daniels into the front row. He then goes back to the ring, gets to the top rope, and jumps on Daniels in the front row for a huge pop from the crowd. Daniels crawls over the barricade to the ring with Edwards close behind. He hits a missile drop kick on Daniels followed by a knee in the corner and a Tiger suplex for two.

Edwards sets Daniels up in the tree of woe and hits a hesitation dropkick. He then gets out of the ring, goes to the entrance way, and runs all the way back to the ring and hits a baseball slide to the inside of the ring. Awesome move. Daniels recovers though and throws Edwards into the turnbuckle and slams him to the mat for two.

Daniels tries again to cover but only for two. They exchange blows where Edwards reverses the STO and hits a kick, followed by a flip on Daniels into the corner. He hits another move that I didn't catch the name of and covers for only two. Edwards is having an incredible match. They exchange chops mid-ring now. Edwards rolls Daniels up into a one-legged Boston crab but then Daniels reverses it into the Koji Clutch, which is then reversed again, then again. They basically switched moves. Fun sequence. No tap out initially, Daniels rolls up Edwards for only two. Daniels then tries another rollup and is successful for the three count.

First Fall: Daniels (1-0) at the 23-minute mark, give or take.

Edwards quickly recovers with a lariat and after more exchanges, Daniels hits a move where Edwards lands spine-first on the apron. Daniels rolls back in and the ref starts the 20 count. Edwards rolls in at the 19 count and eats a jumping piledriver for only two. Daniels sets up for the Angels Wings and Edwards follows with multiple chops. Daniels hits the STO to the corner. Ouch. Daniels then moves to the top rope and tries to drive the knee into Edwards but he reverses it into the Achilles lock and Daniels has to tap out.

Second Fall: Edwards (1-1) at the 27-minute mark.

They exchange kicks and both men are down early on. Edwards rolls Daniels into the STF and Daniels attempts to crawl to the ropes. He breaks out of the move but Edwards hits a flipping power bomb of sorts for only a two count. Edwards works Daniels into the corner and hits a super huracanrana but only gets two. The back of Daniels's head is busted open. More kicks from Edwards and after an armdrag from Edwards to the outside, both men fly into the guardrail with less than a minute left in the match. The 20 count starts. Daniels is really busted open. Edwards rolls in but during the 20 count, the 30-minute time limit expires.

WINNER: Draw after the 30-minute time limit expired. A fantastic match and I think the tag match will have a hard time topping it. The last 30 minutes of this PPV was some of the best I've seen with wrestling-driven storytelling, as well as selling the importance of a title and also the competitive nature of the guys involved. (****1/4)

The crowd chants for five more minutes. They're selling an injury to Daniels, but with the cut to the back of his head, I wouldn't be shocked if it's a shoot. Daniels is escorted to the back, still selling the effects of the head blow.

8 -- Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. World's Greatest Tag Team (Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas) -- first-time-ever dream tag match

My quick prediction is WGTT. The Briscoes come out first followed by the WGTT. They shake hands and Shelton starts off with Jay Briscoe. They start with a lot of mat wrestling and headlocks with Jay being forced into the corner. Tempers start to flare a bit. Soon after, Mark gets the tag in. He hits a sunset flip for two and they exchange two counts before breaking up and getting a hand from the crowd. Charlie Haas tags in.

Mark and Haas exchange chops and lock up. Mark hits a knee and tags in Jay. They hit a strong double shoulder block and retain control in the match. Jay beats on Haas in the corner but Haas counters with a dropkick. Benjamin gets the take in and hits a great roll-up on Jay for two. Jay counters into a roll-up of his own for two.

Shelton ends up hitting a kick on Jay for two and Haas gets the tag back in. They hit a double-team move with Shelton hitting a powerbomb on the knee of Haas. Ouch. More chops from Haas but Jay recovers and gets to Mark for the tag and he takes control of Haas. They stay in control and Jay gets a blind tag to take out Haas. Both Briscoes take out Benjamin and knock him to the floor. Jay continues to work on Haas in the corner.

Mark gets another tag as they keep pounding on Haas. They exchange boots to the corner, and hard Irish whip him to the other corner. Mark goes for the cover and gets a two count. Benjamin tries to help, but the Briscoes take Haas to the outside and powerbomb him on the guardrail. Ouch again. Mark continues to work on Haas back inside the ring and the tag to Jay is made again.

Jay puts the boots to Haas and tries for a back suplex but Haas reverses it into a German suplex. Both men are down and the crowd gets behind Haas. He finally gets the take to Benjamin, who goes to work on Mark. He hits an atomic drop followed by an up-ending clothesline. He follows that with a Samoan Drop and then a Stinger splash/Suplex combo but only gets two. Great exchange. Mark though gives him a thumb to the eye and reverses a back body drop into a superkick. Jay makes the blind tag to hit a clothesline but only gets two.

Jay goes for a Death Valley Driver, but Shelton reverses it with a kick to the side of the head and goes for the pin but Mark dives in to break it up. Haas comes in and hits a back suplex on Mark and sets him up for a double team maneuver but Jay hits a missile dropkick on Shelton and then a superkick on Haas to give the Briscoes control again.

They toss Shelton to the floor and set up Haas with a DVD, which connects, but as Mark goes to the top, Shelton counters, jumping to the top rope from the mat and hits a super hip toss. Shelton and Mark then square off. They exchange right hands and Shelton hits a nasty looking superkick. Wow, some of the kicks tonight have sounded fantastic. Jay is on the outside and tosses Shelton to the crowd. Haas follows, leaving Mark in the ring by himself. Oh snap, it's about to get crazy in Chicago.

Mark hits a great front flip splash onto all three men from the top rope to the crowd, springboard style. The crowd pops big for this. They all make their way back to the ring. The match has had a lot of emphasis from Kevin Kelly about the winner meeting in Atlanta on the first of April for a tag title shot.

Once in the ring, the Briscoes hit a big top rope double team move (Splash and elbow drop I believe), but Haas breaks up the pinfall. They setup Haas for the doomsday device. Haas reverses and also reverses the Jay Driller and Shelton comes back in to help Haas setup their own doomsday device, which was successful with a flipping neckbreaker from Benjamin, which leads to a three count.

WINNERS: World's Greatest Tag Team in about 22 minutes via pinfall. Awesome tag team match. (****)

Afterwards, they play to the crowd wanting a handshake from the Briscoes. They get it and the crowd goes home happy. I think. But, either way, a great way to end the show with the Code of Honor and a final hype for the Atlanta shows in April.

Final Thoughts: I'll have more overall thoughts in the Roundtable Review of this PPV, but I thought this was a very strong show leading into the WrestleMania weekend shows, which is now titled "ROH Takes Center Stage." The first half was a bit slow after the opening bout, but after the Women of Honor match, the show really kicked off with two great tag matches and an incredible 30-minute TV Title match. Check this out for the second half, if anything. Thanks for following along with me on Twitter Saturday night - @TheCommonFan. Until next time, this has been your perspective, from a common fan.

What did you readers think? Feel free to email me at potcfpodcast@gmail.com, via Twitter @TheCommonFan, or at www.facebook.com/thecommonfan with your thoughts and feedback. Also feel free to tune in to my Perspectives of the Common Fan podcast over at www.blogtalkradio.com/potcf, also available on iTunes (search show title). Be sure to tune in this Sunday night at 11:00 p.m. EST/10:00 p.m. CST for our biggest guest yet, as Diamond Dallas Page will be joining us! Be sure to spread the word and many thanks as always to those who check out the show.

Jimmy hails from Kissimmee, Fla., now residing in Brentwood, Tenn., just south of Nashville. Despite unfounded reports of sneaking around TNA's Corporate office, he's flatly denied any involvement with "Immortal," "They," "Them," or "It."

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

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