THE TWO SHEDS REVIEW by Julian Radbourne – now in it’s 10th year!
E-mail: juli316uk@yahoo.co.uk
Website: www.twoshedsreview.com
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Ring of Honor is on the agenda again as we take a look at the DVD release of their March 26th, 2010 show From The Ashes, headlined by the Briscoe Brothers defending their Tag-Team titles against former Champions the American Wolves. There’s also an appearance from a former WWE Diva!
The show began with six man mayhem, featuring Shawn Daivari, Joey Ryan, Johnny Goodtime, Rasche Brown, the Human Tornado and Colt Cabana.
Fast-paced action was the order of the day in this usual ROH-style opener. There were great performances all round, and it was great to see Cabana break out the comedy moments, something we haven’t seen since he got involved in the Kevin Steen/El Generico situation.
There was also the usual mass brawl, with all six men either flying through or over the top rope, before Cabana got the win after Goodtime tapped out to the billy goat’s curse.
Then it was on to tag-team action as Scott Lost and Scorpio Sky faced the newly-reformed Kings of Wrestling, Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli.
This is the first time I’ve seen Hero and Castagnoli together as a team since their CZW days, and it looks like they’ve just taken up where they left off a few years ago.
This was more or less a warm-up match for the Kings as they awaited their upcoming shot at the titles, while west coast regulars Lost and Sky were looking to gain a permanent spot on the roster.
This made for a very enjoyable match, with the Kings underestimating their opponents, before Hero pinned Lost after they took him down with the KRS-1. Good stuff.
The first singles match of the show saw Alex Koslov facing Rocky Romero.
The lucha libre style was all over this one, but then again that was to be expected considering these guys ply their trade in AAA.
This may have been relatively short but it was still highly entertaining, with tons of fast-paced action and great moves, and a very good ending with Koslov pinning Romero after countering his hurricanrana.
Next up, Bison Smith faced Necro Butcher.
Now this actually wasn’t a match. Smith and the Butcher spend most of their time brawling around the arena and hitting each other with anything that wasn’t nailed down.
It basically sucked, and was another example of how the Necro Butcher wasn’t that good, and in the end the match that wasn’t a match was awarded to Necro when Bison’s fellow Embassy buddies stopped him from doing more damage.
Thankfully normal service resumed with Kevin Steen took on Kenny Omega.
This all-Canadian affair proved to be a very entertaining battle. Omega was looking to capitalise on the great momentum he achieved in his previous match with Davey Richards, and her certainly put in another worthy performance.
Steen, for his part, is really growing into the role of the hated heel after his split from El Generico. He’s still pulling off the same moves, but doing so with the aggression turned all the way up to eleven.
In the end Steen’s heinous tactics proved too much for Omega. After failing to take his man out after a low kick and the package pile driver, Steen finally secured the win when Omega tapped out to the cross face, ending another good match.
Then it was on to the big grudge match as Steen’s buddy Steve Corino went up against El Generico.
This was a really enjoyable match, and what made it special was Corino’s performance. His psychology was spot on, and the way he used a foreign object reminded me of Jerry Lawler in his prime. This guy really is a master of what he does.
This was a great way of continuing the feud. The masked one looked like he was going to get the pin until Steen arrived on the scene and pulled the referee out of the ring as he was making the count.
Steen’s distraction continued as Generico was about to put his man away, with the King of Old School scooping up Generico and pinning him with his feet on the ropes.
Needless to say that the Generic Luchadore was none too pleased, and it took his buddy Colt Cabana to calm him down before they set up their big tag-team match. The perfect way of setting up the big event.
It was then on to the Personal Gauntlet Challenge, featuring ROH Champion Tyler Black, Austin Aries and Roderick Strong.
It was Black against Aries first, and Aries was accompanied to the ring by none other than Sunny herself, Tammy Sytch. Once again they put on a great back and forth affair. A-double, despite his awful wrestling attire, is still one hell of a performer.
Not even Tammy’s distraction as she offered Black a little mature action could stop him from getting the win with a roll-up. Aries continued his attack after the bell, doing further damage to Black’s left arm.
Ironically Black was saved by Strong, his next opponent. Strong quickly sent Aries packing before turning his attention to the champion.
This was just as good as the first part of this gauntlet. Strong look as solid as ever, one of those guys who can have a good match with anyone.
Black thought he had the win in this one when the referee made the three count. But then the official noticed that Strong’s foot was on the ropes. Seconds later Strong took Black down with the Gibson driver for the three count, ending a very good series between the champion and his two main contenders.
The penultimate match saw the ever-reliable Jerry Lynn taking on rising star Kenny King in a no disqualification match.
Once again Lynn defied the years and put on a tremendous hardcore encounter with King. The toys came into play early on as Lynn brought a chair out with him, but it wasn’t long before tables and ladders came into the equation, with Lynn bleeding for his art.
Despite being put through a table in the corner Lynn was able to come back strongly, and despite the table not breaking when he tried to power bomb King from the corner it soon broke when he took him down with his trademark cradle pile driver, ending another awesome performance from the wily old veteran.
The main event saw Jay and Mark Briscoe defending their ROH Tag-Team titles against former champion the American Wolves, Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards.
These two teams have had quite the storied rivalry over the past couple of years, and this was another fine example of the work they put in together.
This was tag-team wrestling at it’s finest, over twenty minutes of hard hitting back and forth action. The chemistry these had was incredible, and I really can’t speak too highly about the performances of all four men in this match. It was simply awesome.
In the end it was the Briscoes who took the win, with Jay pinning Edwards after the brothers took him down with their version of the doomsday device. You know, these two may not be the most exposed teams in wrestling at the moment, but they’re certainly two of the best.
Bonus features come in the form of two editions of the ROH Video Wire, so, sadly, no bonus match here.
In conclusion – take out the once again poor Necro Butcher performance and you’ve got another great ROH release. There really are some tremendous performances here, with the Briscoes/Wolves match the highlight of the show for me.
So once again I’m happily able to recommend another Ring of Honor DVD release.
With thanks to the powers-that-be for supplying a copy of this release. ROH From The Ashes can be purchased online at www.rohwrestling.com.
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