By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

RADICAN’S ROH DVD REVIEW SERIES
TYLER BLACK: GOD’S LAST GIFT
BY SEAN RADICAN, TORCH COLUMNIST

ROH is usually timely when putting out match compilations of wrestlers that have moved on from Ring of Honor to WWE and with the release of “Tyler Black: God’s Last Gift,” fans of Seth Rollins can get a good overview of the early part of his ROH career wrestling as Tyler Blaack.

This release is nicely put together. It not only includes complete matches, but it also includes highlight packages and highlights of important matches to give fans new to Tyler Black a more complete picture of the early stages of his career in ROH.

This release begins with the debut of Tyler Black and Age of the Fall at the Man Up PPV in 2007. ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky did a lengthy viral campaign to build to the debut of Age of the Fall, which also included Jimmy Jacobs, Necro Butcher, and Lacey. The counter-culture group made an immediate impact attacking the Briscoes after they had just blown off their feud with Kevin Steen & El Generico in a brutal Ladder War.

The group made a lot of waves and it wasn’t long before they became ROH World Tag Team Champions after defeating the Briscoes at “Final Battle 2007.” Highlights of that match are shown and the DVD nicely showcases the hot matches the Jimmy Jacobs & Tyler Black had while feuding with The Briscoes, including their match at “Supercard of Honor III” in 2008 during WrestleMania weekend. The finish of the match, which features an insane counter from Jacobs out of the doomsday device into the end time on Mark, was an awesome moment that I remember to this day even though it has been five years since that match took place. It was also fun to see the heat the Age of the Fall act got while feuding with the Briscoes.

Shortly after winning the ROH Tag Titles, Tyler Black began to generate a lot of buzz for the company. If you have seen Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson in ROH) on WWE TV, you will get a look at them wrestling in a vastly different environment on this release. Black generated momentum after having an excellent singles match with Bryan Danielson at “Breakout” in 2008. At this time, Danielson was a decorated veteran in ROH playing a very different role than he currently does on WWE television. Danielson was fiery in the ring and a great technical wrestler, but he has really come out of his shell on WWE television over the last couple of years and has become a completely different performer.

Black on the other hand, hasn’t had many long-form singles matches, but has shown flashes of the potential he showed in ROH as a member of the shield. Black’s biggest strength as a performer was engaging the crowd was his high-flying and technical ability in the ring. During his time in ROH, he was also very good at selling and making his opponents look good, which he has carried over into WWE where in many of the tag matches, he takes a sustained beating.

This release features one of my favorite matches of all-time and a match that Nigel McGuinness pointed to in “The Last of McGuinness” documentary as an example of the art of pro wrestling. When Black faced McGuinness at the “Take No Prisoners” PPV in 2008, it put Black on the map as a sure-fire star in ROH. Black took a beating from McGuiness throughout the match and they took the crowd on a rollercoaster ride. If you’ve never seen this match before and want to see the potential that Black has as a singles wrestler in WWE at some point in the future, get this DVD and watch this match. Listen to the crowd react and get behind Black, who began his transformation from a heel to a face during this match.

The DVD nicely showcases the feuds Black had with McGuinness and Danielson in 2008. It also showcases parts of Age of the Fall’s feud with Danielson & Aries and Steen & Generico. The matches that are included that highlight these feuds are all really good matches. One match that gets overlooked is the Four-Way match for the ROH World Title, which featured ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness defending against Black, Danielson, and Castagnoli in a Four-Way Elimination match from Death Before Dishonor VI in front of a red hot crowd in New York. The match comes down to McGuinness and Black in the end and they have a fantastic final sprint to the end leading up to McGuinness obliterating Black with a clothesline to retain the title.

Fans wanted to see Black capture the ROH World Title, but once ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky was fired in October of 2008 with Adam Pearce taking over as booker, Black’s momentum sputtered for a long period of time. He wrestled Aries in a #1 Contender’s match at “Final Battle 2008” and lost. The match was good, but the result with Aries winning fell flat with an odd post-match beat down from Jacobs and Aries that began the split of the Age of the Fall.

The last handful of matches on the DVD are good, but they are a reminder of a period where ROH had a difficult transition into the HD Net era and a number of changes in terms of the way the promotion was booked frustrated a lot of longtime ROH fans.

This is a really good DVD to add to your collection if you want to see Tyler Black’s ascension up the card during the early stages of his career in ROH. If you’ve enjoyed his work in WWE in the Shield as Seth Rollins, this is a great introduction to what he can do in the ring. The DVD does a good job of highlighting his work in Age of the Fall and his breakout matches as a singles wrestler and there are several excellent matches on this DVD to enjoy.

You can purchase Tyler Black: God’s Last Gift at ROHWrestling.com

Please click HERE and click “like” to join the Radican’s Wrestling Community Facebook fan page.

Follow Sean on Twitter at Twitter.com/SeanRadican

Contact Sean at PWTorchSean@gmail.com

We suggest these recent related articles...

RADICAN'S Beyond Wrestling "Greatest Rivals Round Robin" review 9/26 - incredible show of the year contender, Busick-Edwards top-flight MOTYC, more!

RADICAN'S "The Pull List" (Vol. 5) "Young Bucks Too Sweet Journey" doc review, The Flash season 1 Blu-Ray, Top Ten MOTYC for 2015

RADICAN'S ROH "All-Star Extravaganza VII" PPV BLOG 9/18: Booking issues dampen excellent in-ring action