ROH Death Before Dishonor VII: Night 2
ROH Death Before Dishonor VII: Night 2 (7/25/2009)- Toronto, ON
In order to understand parts of this show, you need to understand the circumstances surrounding it. Toronto was in the middle of a strike by the garbage men, so there were a bunch of places set up around the city where citizens could go throw their garbage. One of these was the parking lot of the arena where this show was held
D’LO BROWN PROMO- Not very good. He had the in-ring mannerisms down, but D’Lo just could not pull off an intimidating heel on the mic
KEVIN STEEN & EL GENERICO vs. THE SUPER SMASH BROTHERS- 7/10
HILARIOUS bit of pre-match comedy here with the two teams getting in each other’s faces, but not being able to decide which member of each team should pair off with which member of the other team. Anyway, this was a great opener.
FRANKIE THE MOBSTER vs. BISON SMITH (w/Prince Nana)- -1/10 (yes, negative 1)
This was just weird. Sinclair just kind of decided to give up officiating the match and let them be on the outside forever and let Bison use a chair. Then they got back into the ring and Frankie was hiding behind Sinclair, so the fans chanted for Bison to hit Sinclair, so he did, causing a DQ. The most awkward kind of heel vs. heel match, with not much sense.
CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI PROMO- lame and goofy, but in a good way
TORONTO GAUNTLET, IN WHICH THE WINNER WILL WIN A FUTURE SHOT AT THE ROH WORLD TITLE: D’Lo Brown vs. Jerry Lynn vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Jimmy Rave (w/Prince Nana) vs. Necro Butcher vs. Davey Richards (w/Shane Hagadorn)- 7.5/10
Necro’s elimination was poorly executed, as over half oh his body was in the ring when he was counted out. Great stuff between the final two.
RIC FLAIR APPEARANCE- much better than the usual stump speech Flair had been giving everywhere else.
EUROPEAN RULES MATCH: Brent Albright vs. Claudio Castagnoli (w/Prince Nana)- 5/10
The gimmick really fell flat. It felt like it was interrupting an otherwise decent match.
BRENT ALBRIGHT PROMO- good
TYLER BLACK vs. TYSON DUX- 6.5/10
NO DISQAULIFICATION MATCH: Colt Cabana vs. Joey Ryan (w/Prince Nana)- no rating. GREAT comedy match. Lots of fun stuff in here… and the people even chanted for Todd Sinclair.
AUSTIN ARIES & KENNY OMEGA SEGMENT- decent, and it transitioned well into…
AUSTIN ARIES, KENNY KING, & RHETT TITUS vs. KENNY OMEGA & THE BRISCOE BROTHERS- 7/10
LANCE STORM vs. CHRIS HERO (w/Shane Hagadorn)- 8/10
An awesome technical match. A great cap-off to Lance’s career (of course, he has since returned to the ring, but at the time, it seemed fitting). Lance gave a nice little retirement speech after the match.
Overall, a very good show from ROH.
In order to understand parts of this show, you need to understand the circumstances surrounding it. Toronto was in the middle of a strike by the garbage men, so there were a bunch of places set up around the city where citizens could go throw their garbage. One of these was the parking lot of the arena where this show was held
D’LO BROWN PROMO- Not very good. He had the in-ring mannerisms down, but D’Lo just could not pull off an intimidating heel on the mic
KEVIN STEEN & EL GENERICO vs. THE SUPER SMASH BROTHERS- 7/10
HILARIOUS bit of pre-match comedy here with the two teams getting in each other’s faces, but not being able to decide which member of each team should pair off with which member of the other team. Anyway, this was a great opener.
FRANKIE THE MOBSTER vs. BISON SMITH (w/Prince Nana)- -1/10 (yes, negative 1)
This was just weird. Sinclair just kind of decided to give up officiating the match and let them be on the outside forever and let Bison use a chair. Then they got back into the ring and Frankie was hiding behind Sinclair, so the fans chanted for Bison to hit Sinclair, so he did, causing a DQ. The most awkward kind of heel vs. heel match, with not much sense.
CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI PROMO- lame and goofy, but in a good way
TORONTO GAUNTLET, IN WHICH THE WINNER WILL WIN A FUTURE SHOT AT THE ROH WORLD TITLE: D’Lo Brown vs. Jerry Lynn vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Jimmy Rave (w/Prince Nana) vs. Necro Butcher vs. Davey Richards (w/Shane Hagadorn)- 7.5/10
Necro’s elimination was poorly executed, as over half oh his body was in the ring when he was counted out. Great stuff between the final two.
RIC FLAIR APPEARANCE- much better than the usual stump speech Flair had been giving everywhere else.
EUROPEAN RULES MATCH: Brent Albright vs. Claudio Castagnoli (w/Prince Nana)- 5/10
The gimmick really fell flat. It felt like it was interrupting an otherwise decent match.
BRENT ALBRIGHT PROMO- good
TYLER BLACK vs. TYSON DUX- 6.5/10
NO DISQAULIFICATION MATCH: Colt Cabana vs. Joey Ryan (w/Prince Nana)- no rating. GREAT comedy match. Lots of fun stuff in here… and the people even chanted for Todd Sinclair.
AUSTIN ARIES & KENNY OMEGA SEGMENT- decent, and it transitioned well into…
AUSTIN ARIES, KENNY KING, & RHETT TITUS vs. KENNY OMEGA & THE BRISCOE BROTHERS- 7/10
LANCE STORM vs. CHRIS HERO (w/Shane Hagadorn)- 8/10
An awesome technical match. A great cap-off to Lance’s career (of course, he has since returned to the ring, but at the time, it seemed fitting). Lance gave a nice little retirement speech after the match.
Overall, a very good show from ROH.