THE TWO SHEDS REVIEW by Julian Radbourne
E-mail: juli316uk@yahoo.co.uk
Website: http://twoshedsreview.blogspot.com
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Ring of Honor is on the agenda once again as we go back to last October and Chicago Ridge for a match six months in the making, Richards vs. Daniels.
The show began with tag team action as the All Night Express went up against Kyle O’Reilly and Adam Cole.
It was the usual quick show opener, the up and comers taking on the established duo, and it was pretty enjoyable.
Cole and O’Reilly put in some impressive work here, with the Davey Richards-trained O’Reilly looking pretty good. But once again Kenny King and Rhett Titus were just that much better, with Titus taking the pin after an un-named finisher which involved a knee to the temple.
Then it was on to the second match in the Trial Series with Andy “Right Leg” Ridge facing Ricky Reyes, basically a rookie against veterans series.
Having apparently put on a good display against Colt Cabana Ridge did a good job against Reyes. He looked a little rough around the edges but he gave a good account of himself.
But his efforts just wasn’t good enough against a veteran like Reyes, who countered Ridge’s hurricanrana attempt with a power bomb before getting the pin after a spinning neck breaker.
Ridge then found himself on the end of a few harsh words from Reyes before the youngster took him down with a super kick.
The women of Shimmer were up next as Lady JoJo and Nevaeh faced Daizee Haze and Jamilia Craft.
No Knockout Divas here. These two teams put on some great sequences, showing that there’s some pretty tough girls in the Women of Honor division, with Haze once again the best of the lot.
The bad girls came out on top here. While Haze was dealing with JoJo on the outside of the ring Nevaeh was playing possum between the ropes, taking the masked Craft down with a small package for the pin.
One of the matches I was really looking forward to was next as Kevin Steen faced the returning Homicide.
Part wrestling match and mainly brawl, this was a fine match for both men. Early on they let their anger get to them and pulled out classic moves such as the double nose poke of doom, and the sight of Steen elbow dropping one of the ringside signs when it wouldn’t go into the ring for him was classic.
But they were just a couple of the great moments, and once again Steen was perfect as the crazy heel before he fell to Homicide’s top rope ace crusher.
Needless to say that wasn’t the end of things. As Homicide was cutting a post-match promo Steen attacked again when Homicide made mention of El Generico, with the two of them having to be pulled apart.
Speaking of masked men, the Metal Master was up next, taking on Mike Mondo.
This was one of those quick show opener type matches. It wasn’t long, but it was long enough for both men to give a good account of themselves, with the Master getting the submission win when Mondo tapped out to a cross face.
It was back to tag team action for the next match as the Briscoes went up against Tag Team Champions the Kings of Wrestling in a non-title elimination match.
This was a great continuation of their long standing rivalry. Both teams displayed their great chemistry, with hero’s loaded elbow pad once again coming into play.
While the referee was otherwise distracted Shane Hagadorn handed the offending item to Chris Hero before the Briscoes put him into position for their version of the doomsday device. But as Mark flew off the top Hero connected with the elbow, and Mark was eliminated moments later.
Hero and Claudio Castagnoli then doubled up on Jay to good effect for a while before Double C fell to the Jay driller.
Hero went down seconds later. Once again wearing the loaded elbow pad he went for Jay, who countered with a backslide for the impressive comeback win.
Kevin Steen then made his second appearance of the evening, in a straightjacket at ringside, as his buddy Steve Corino faced Colt Cabana in an I Quit match.
Just when you thought that this feud couldn’t get any better, it did. It was another perfect piece of storytelling.
The big turning point came when Corino introduced a broken beer bottle into the mix. It ended up in the hands of Cabana though, who gouged it deep into Corino’s left arm.
Not even the release of Steen from the straightjacket could put Cabana down. The two bad guys doubled up to good effect until a group of wrestlers and referees appeared to finally restrain Steen.
The end came shortly afterwards. Once again Cabana used a weapon that Corino had brought into the equation, a table. After trapping him in Steen’s old straightjacket Cabana power bombed him through the table, before taking a piece of the wreckage and digging it into Corino’s skull. It wasn’t long before Corino was saying those magic words, ending a dramatic encounter and bringing an end to their long rivalry.
The main event, a match some six months in the making, saw Christopher Daniels going up against Davey Richards.
I’ve used the phrase great storytelling a lot recently, and it’s a phrase I can certainly use for this match.
For what seemed like an eternity these two pulled out all the stops, which made for an unbelievable match.
They pulled out all the big moves, both submission and impact, and they still couldn’t put each other away. We saw the lot, and it was awesome.
In the end the day belonged to the American Wolf, who finally got the submission win with what looked like part inverted figure four, part ankle lock.
Afterwards both men took to the microphone and paid their respects to each other before they received a well deserved standing ovation.
Bonus features on this disc include the usual Video Wire, as well as various wrestlers talking about the Survival of the Fittest 2010 event.
In conclusion – well, Ring of Honor have done it again.
This DVD may not have been jam packed with the usual big hitters but it was still a hell of a show, with tremendous performances from top to bottom, topped off perfectly by the classic encounter between Davey Richards and Christopher Daniels.
So in all ROH Richards vs. Daniels gets the big thumbs up from me as another great addition to the Ring of Honor library.
With thanks to the powers that be for supplying a copy of this release. ROH Richards vs. Daniels is available to buy online at www.rohwrestling.com.
