Randy Talks Wrestling - Glory By Honor IX Review

Before I continue I would like to state that I was not able to see all of this event because of a poor stream (yes, I streamed it for free). But from what I did see I was impressed and disappointed in equal measures. 

First off I want to discuss the poor parts of the show. The Necro Butcher/Stevens vs Ballz/Redwood match was absolutely pointless. The one highlight of the match was when Grizzly Redwood went crazy taking out anyone who came into his path. He reminded me of a young Spike Dudley. The only difference is that he seems quicker and more polished than the 'Little Dudley'. I missed the opening two single matches which involved both Briscoe Brothers, but from what I have heard I didn't miss much, which is a shame. 

As for the rest of the card? All I can say is that I was very impressed. Eddie Edwards beat Daivari to retain his TV Title. It was a match that shown me just how good Daivari can be when he is in the ring with a great talent. Is that a compliment to Daivari or Edwards? Make up your own mind. Chris Daniels defeated Austin Aries after an Angel Wings off the top rope. Yes it sounds just as good as it looked. The match was excellent and it was a shame it only went for 13 odd minutes. Since his return to ROH, Daniels seems to have a new lease of life and this match proved that he and Aries are still two of the best around. This match blew anything they did together in TNA out of the water. With near falls, BME's, 450's and great chain wrestling, it NEARLY stole the show. That honour went to a 'Dream Tag Team Match' which I will talk about a little later.

In the first of a 'Triple Main Event', Colt Cabana and El Generico defeated Kevin Steen and Steve Corino in a Double Chain Match. Being brought up on a WWF/WWE product, I haven't seen that many Chain Matches, and ones that I have were poor. But this match was very good. They were able to do innovative moves and simple moves without the chains never really restricting them. In a great image Steen and Corino both got cut loose from their chains and then tied up Cabana in a crucifix style pose in the middle of the ring before, of course, Generico made the save. Cabana eventually made Corino tap with the excellent looking Billy Goat's Curse. After the match, Steen unmasked El Generico, put the mask on a chair, and wrote Mr Wrestling in Corino's blood on the back rest. Steen is nuts. My only criticism is that there was too much blood. Yes the match needed it, but none of them needed to blade as bad as they did. 

In the main event, but not, the match of the night. Roderick Strong finally won the big one and beat the WWE bound Tyler Black. In a match of slow counts, Hulk Hogan impressions, stumbling and rambling - all by Terry Funk, and an awful overbooked finish, Tyler Black wrestled, what could be, his last match for ROH. In the main talking points, Tyler Black told the crowd and Strong that they 'couldn't see him' in typical Cena style and flipped them all off at the end. While Homicide made his return to ROH and confronted Strong when he was celebrating in the ring as the show closed. What lies in store for the new champ over the coming months? In my opinion a combination of Homicide, Daniels and Davey Richards. All matches should turn out better than Blacks final match in ROH, which was no fault of his.

In the co - main event and match of the night, The Kings of Wrestling defeated the newcomers Shelton Benjamen and Charlie Haas, It was easily one of the greatest tag match of the last five years. Shelton proved why he is easily one of the best athletes in the whole of Pro Wrestling. With awesome chain wrestling, near falls and such crisp speed, he could be on his way to not only ROH Tag Team Title gold, but ROH World Championship gold as well. Haas also shown that the WWE kept him on a leash during his stay there, as he put in one of his best performances ever. The match ended when Chris Hero used the 'loaded' elbow pad on the back of Haas's head.

Overall I am giving the PPV an 8 out of 10 and with the feuds and potential matches going into the next supershow, I believe I could be giving the next show a higher score than this one.

8/10

Match of the Night - The Kings of Wrestling (Claudio Castagnoli and Chris Hero) defeated Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin)

Worst Match of the Night - Erick Stevens & Necro Butcher defeated Grizzly Redwood & Ballz Mahoney

ROH Glory By Honor IX: The Recap

Last night saw the end of Tyler Blacks Ring Of Honor title reign and also a tag team match to rival all of Beer Money and Motor City Machine Guns series of matches these past few months, of course I must be talking about Glory By Honor IX ROH's latest super card offering.

The night kicked off with a decent opener when Kerry King beat Jay Briscoe, this was followed by a brawl with the participants in the next match which was Mark Briscoe vs Rhett Titus. In the second match there was some pretty good spots but nothing to really gel the match together plus with both matches being finished around twenty minutes into the show they never really had time to develop which was a bit of a waste.

The next match was Balls Mahoney and Grizzly Redwood... "Grizzly Balls" as they were referred to, facing off against Necro Butcher and Erik Stevens. To be honest I thought this mtach was a waste of time, I know they were in New Yok but did they really need to employ Balls for the night? The time spent on this match could have really helped the main event (more on that late)or the first two matches. At this point in the show I was not that impressed of this ROH PPV (which was my first proper taste of the ROH product).

The next match was El Generico and Colt Cabana vs Kevin Steen and Steve Corino in a chain match, the match was decent and had some good high spots. I was not a fan of getting Corinos son to play a role in the match but with the quality of the match specifically Steen and Generico's part in it I could hardly complain. There is one flaw in logic, the match was billed as a feud ending bout but the removal of Genericos mask and Steen writing "Mr Wrestling" in Corinos blood on a chair with Generico's mask placed on it (yes like the T-shirt) made sure the feud would continue. Hopefully it will end in a one on one match at Final Battle between Steen and Generico. I have to say though if I had seen most of the feud throughout the year maybe I would have been more impressed.

In the next segment a video aired where Davey Richards said he had signed on with ROH and will receive a title match at Final Battle. Good decision I look forward to that main event. Eddie Edwards beat Daivari in a passable match which seemed to be there just to fill time.

The next match was between Daniels and Aries. Aries cut a promo about wanting to steal the show and with a 'builder of this house' The Fallen Angel. This match was very impressive and very physical, a lot of the failings of the night so far were put out of memory during this match. It was back and fourth with some very good wrestling and some breathtaking high spots. One thing I have to say is that Aries 450 is move impact-full than Justin Gabriel's, though I still think Gabriel's is the better one due to the awesome selling of the move. Yet the Angel Wings off of the turnbuckle capped off the first great match of the night. Just a shame the crowd went flat during it.

Kings Of Wrestling vs Haas and Benjamin was the match of the night, it was incredible even though it should have been longer, this match as stated before can rival the Motor City/Beer Money matches and that is really saying something. The four men in that ring proved that ROH is the best place to be for Tag Team wrestling in the US today. Combined with the recent efforts of TNA you could claim that Tag Team wrestling is the most exciting to watch period at this time. Kings Of Wrestling won with Hero's loaded elbow pad, which leaves a re-match possibility, a match which I hope The Worlds Greatest Tag Team come back for. The after match stuff was just silly and not needed.

The main event was a decent effort which surprisingly wasn't that badly harmed by the involvement of Terry Funk as outside enforcer/guest referee. However I want to pick out 3 faults with this match...

1. The outside interference made it seem like an over booked TNA fest.
2. The match could have done with being quite a bit longer and finally
3. Call me old fashioned but the big shots both men were taking at the end and not selling seemed ridiculous.

I understand you need and want a quick paced match to headline your card and play to the strengths of your company but when did a buckle bomb seem as weak as a slap? It did the one crime which hadn't been broken all night for me and that was breaking my suspension of disbelief. The shots which both participants were landing on each other had zero effect so when Strong got the pin I almost felt like "Well all those shots didn't have an effect, why would that move"? But don't get me wrong the positives out weigh the negatives Roderick Strong had a great match and is now the Champion, Tyler Black did an awesome job being a heel, and the match was fast paced and exciting for the most part. Homicides return after the match was a great inclusion to the event and something ROH needed after the exit of Tyler Black.

The coming weeks are going to be of great interest to me as there are now four contenders for the ROH title that will make a great main event to Final Battle whichever way it goes. Chris Daniels, Roderick Strong, Davey Richards and Homicide are all great wrestlers and all have the potential to have a good Title run with the company which will make for some great viewing over the next few weeks.

Event Rating: 7/10

A 7/10 may not seem that great but when comparing to all other PPV's this year I would nominate it for show of the year which doesn't say much for the competition.