ROH Glory By Honor VIII: The Final Countdown
ROH Glory By Honor VIII: The Final Countdown (9/26/2009)- New York, NY
RHETT TITUS vs. COLT CABANA- 5.25/10
Fun opener.
DARK CITY FIGHT CLUB vs. CHEECH & CLOUDY- 6/10
KEVIN STEEN (& EL GENERICO) PROMO- great
KENNY OMEGA vs. CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI (w/the Embassy)- 7.25/10
EDDIE EDWARDS PROMO- very good.
BRET HART APPEARANCE- great. Bret talked for a bit then put ROH over. The fans popped for every name that Bret dropped, and you could tell that Bret himself was genuinely touched by the reaction that the mention of Owen got.
FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL MATCH: Sonjay Dutt vs. Roderick Strong vs. Grizzly Redwood vs. Delirious (w/Daizee Haze)- 7.5/10
This was the first time I have ever seen Delirious not go nuts at the opening bell. Lots of high-impact stuff here. Great match, if a bit spotty.
LADDER WAR FOR THE ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES: The American Wolves(c) (w/Shane Hagadorn) vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico- 8.75/10
One of those matches where you can really feel the hate. A very, very violent match with tons of weapon spots. Exactly what you want from the blow-off to a nine-month-long feud. Davey doing the Kawada kicks with a chain wrapped around his foot was awesome. An amazing match made even more amazing by the fact that Eddie Edwards wrestled it with a broken elbow, which would both start Eddie’s rise to singles stardom and forever earn him the respect of the ROH fans.
EDDIE KINGSTON vs. CHRIS HERO (w/Shane Hagadorn)- 7/10
A very intense match. I'm really not a big fan of the finish here, though, because it feels like it is going backwards in the story. Over the summer Kingston had stolen Hero's never-proven-to-loaded elbow pad so he that Hero couldn’t use it… but Hero just gets another one?
AUSTIN ARIES LUCKY LOTTERY- Aries pulls a name out of his hat to determine who will challenge for the ROH World Title tonight… and it's Bret Hart. Aside from being old, broken-down, and retired, Bret has also apparently left the building already, but Petey Williams comes out to defend Bret’s honor. Petey gives us some lame dialogue ("you’re going to play the coward card, Austin? Well the only coward I see here is you!"), and is completely out-shined on the mic by Aries, ("you weren’t one of the thirty names in this hat. You were about thirty-sixth on my list… which is about five hundred spots higher than you were in the PWI 500.") Anyway, this segment results in…
ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Austin Aries(c) vs. Petey Williams- 8/10
This match was the birth of the "TWINKIES!" chant which would plague ROH New York shows for the next few years. Unfortunately, the crowd was more into shouting "TWINKIES!" than they were into this awesome match.
EDDIE KINGSTON & JULIUS SMOKES BACKSTAGE- I have no idea why Smokes showed up here. He went to talk to Eddie about something privately, but it never led to anything.
JIM CORNETTE RETURNS TO ROH- this was HUGE news at the time, but if you are watching it now, it is the standard Cornette rant against WWE & TNA. Then Aries comes out and they have a nice little segment setting up an antagonistic relationship between these two.
THE BRISCOE BROTHERS vs. THE YOUNG BUCKS-8/10
BRYAN DANIELSON vs. NIGEL MCGUINNESS- 9.25/10
Just plain awesome wrestling, and callbacks to some of the famous spots from their other matches. A fitting final match in ROH for these two legends.
FAREWELL SPEECHES FROM NIGEL & DRAGON- must-see for any longtime ROH fan.
Overall, a fantastic show from ROH. A must-have for any wrestling fan.
Bonus match from ROH Weekend of Champions: Night 2:
TITLE vs. TITLE MATCH (under Pure Rules): ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson vs. ROH Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness- 9.25/10.
AMAZING match. Sorry about the spoiler, but this might well be the BEST DUSTY FINISH EVER!
RHETT TITUS vs. COLT CABANA- 5.25/10
Fun opener.
DARK CITY FIGHT CLUB vs. CHEECH & CLOUDY- 6/10
KEVIN STEEN (& EL GENERICO) PROMO- great
KENNY OMEGA vs. CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI (w/the Embassy)- 7.25/10
EDDIE EDWARDS PROMO- very good.
BRET HART APPEARANCE- great. Bret talked for a bit then put ROH over. The fans popped for every name that Bret dropped, and you could tell that Bret himself was genuinely touched by the reaction that the mention of Owen got.
FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL MATCH: Sonjay Dutt vs. Roderick Strong vs. Grizzly Redwood vs. Delirious (w/Daizee Haze)- 7.5/10
This was the first time I have ever seen Delirious not go nuts at the opening bell. Lots of high-impact stuff here. Great match, if a bit spotty.
LADDER WAR FOR THE ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES: The American Wolves(c) (w/Shane Hagadorn) vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico- 8.75/10
One of those matches where you can really feel the hate. A very, very violent match with tons of weapon spots. Exactly what you want from the blow-off to a nine-month-long feud. Davey doing the Kawada kicks with a chain wrapped around his foot was awesome. An amazing match made even more amazing by the fact that Eddie Edwards wrestled it with a broken elbow, which would both start Eddie’s rise to singles stardom and forever earn him the respect of the ROH fans.
EDDIE KINGSTON vs. CHRIS HERO (w/Shane Hagadorn)- 7/10
A very intense match. I'm really not a big fan of the finish here, though, because it feels like it is going backwards in the story. Over the summer Kingston had stolen Hero's never-proven-to-loaded elbow pad so he that Hero couldn’t use it… but Hero just gets another one?
AUSTIN ARIES LUCKY LOTTERY- Aries pulls a name out of his hat to determine who will challenge for the ROH World Title tonight… and it's Bret Hart. Aside from being old, broken-down, and retired, Bret has also apparently left the building already, but Petey Williams comes out to defend Bret’s honor. Petey gives us some lame dialogue ("you’re going to play the coward card, Austin? Well the only coward I see here is you!"), and is completely out-shined on the mic by Aries, ("you weren’t one of the thirty names in this hat. You were about thirty-sixth on my list… which is about five hundred spots higher than you were in the PWI 500.") Anyway, this segment results in…
ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Austin Aries(c) vs. Petey Williams- 8/10
This match was the birth of the "TWINKIES!" chant which would plague ROH New York shows for the next few years. Unfortunately, the crowd was more into shouting "TWINKIES!" than they were into this awesome match.
EDDIE KINGSTON & JULIUS SMOKES BACKSTAGE- I have no idea why Smokes showed up here. He went to talk to Eddie about something privately, but it never led to anything.
JIM CORNETTE RETURNS TO ROH- this was HUGE news at the time, but if you are watching it now, it is the standard Cornette rant against WWE & TNA. Then Aries comes out and they have a nice little segment setting up an antagonistic relationship between these two.
THE BRISCOE BROTHERS vs. THE YOUNG BUCKS-8/10
BRYAN DANIELSON vs. NIGEL MCGUINNESS- 9.25/10
Just plain awesome wrestling, and callbacks to some of the famous spots from their other matches. A fitting final match in ROH for these two legends.
FAREWELL SPEECHES FROM NIGEL & DRAGON- must-see for any longtime ROH fan.
Overall, a fantastic show from ROH. A must-have for any wrestling fan.
Bonus match from ROH Weekend of Champions: Night 2:
TITLE vs. TITLE MATCH (under Pure Rules): ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson vs. ROH Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness- 9.25/10.
AMAZING match. Sorry about the spoiler, but this might well be the BEST DUSTY FINISH EVER!