Then a problem struck.
Toronto had been going through a near six-week garbage strike that was stanking up the streets in the middle of a nasty summer. And what was worse? Ted Reeve Arena, home of DBDH VII, was a collection site.
Leading up to the show, we were all just praying that the strike would end, and we wouldn't have to sit and watch a night of wrestling with gas masks strapped to our faces.
Welp, the strike wasn't resolved... but somehow, someway... there was no smell. And I mean no smell. It's as if everybody had been throwing out unused paper towels or something, because it didn't even stink a little (er... in comparison to a normal wrestling show).
Lucky us! Not only that, but I got my belt signed by Bret Hart and Ric Flair. It was an awesome weekend, to say the least.
MATCH OF THE WEEKEND
CHRIS HERO VS. LANCE STORM
There was some amazing wrestling over those two days, but this one without a doubt had the most emotion. Hero going over clean with a devastating elbow was perfect, and everyone was so pissed that they started throwing garbage in the ring. (er, like beer cups, not garbage strike garbage (although that garbage did get involved in the Cabana/Ryan match)). That kind of heat is rare these days, especially for a guy like Hero who is pretty over with the ROH fans. This is also a testament to how popular Lance Storm is with the Canadian fans, and how well he performed.
A fantastic ending to an exhaustingly exciting weekend of shows.
HIGHLIGHTS
NIGHT ONE
- The dueling "OLE!" and "SONJAY!" chants for Generico/Dutt, which went to a crisp, very exciting 15-minute draw.
- How surprisingly over D-Lo was, and how absolutely hated Frankie the Mobster was.
- Grizzly Redwood getting beat to all hell and bloodied by Bison Smith (not to mention the rest of a sprawling 8-Man Eliminaton Brawl).
- Nigel is knocked silly with a Cradle Piledriver, and then Aries slips on the turnbuckle and turns his 450 into about a 370 or so (my math ain't so good, h'yuk)
NIGHT TWO
- Smash Bros going over Steenerico in a fun upset.
- Bison Smith doing his superman-crowd-barrier dive, crushing Frankie the Mobster.
- Toronto Gauntlet was really well done, thought the booking was perfect (such a dink thing to say, but it was really great).
- Necro Butcher absolutely CLOBBERING time keeper Giuseppe di Lorento with a sick chairshot, bending it over his effing head.
- People hating the fuck out of the European Rules match (felt bad for those guys, but... the match was silly).
- Bobby Cruise making fun of these guys.
- Joey Ryan vs. Colt Cabana in the best comedy match I've seen live, which included the first-ever Todd Sinclair chant, as far as I can remember.
- Omega pinning Aries in a great six man.
- Storm/Hero closing the weekend right.
And lastly, the full card:
NIGHT ONE
OPENING MATCH
El Generico vs. Sonjay Dutt
TAG TEAM MATCH
The Briscoes vs. The Super Smash Brothers
SINGLES MATCH
D-Lo Brown vs. Frankie The Mobster
8-MAN ELIMINATION MATCH
Necro Butcher, Brent Albright, Colt Cabana & Grizzly Redwoow vs. Jimmy Rave, Joey Ryan, Claudio Castagnoli & Bison Smith
GRUDGE MATCH
Kenny King vs. Kenny Omega
TAG TEAM MATCH
Lance Storm & Kevin Steen vs. Chris Hero & Davey Richards
MAIN EVENT ROH TITLE FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL
Austin Aries vs. Tyler Black vs. Jerry Lynn vs. Nigel McGuinness
NIGHT TWO
OPENING MATCH
Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. The Super Smash Brothers
SINGLES MATCH
Bison Smith vs. Frankie The Mobster
TORONTO GAUNTLET
D-Lo Brown vs. Jerry Lynn vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Jimmy Rave vs. Necro Butcher vs. Davey Richards
EUROPEAN RULES MATCH
Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brent Albright
SINGLES MATCH
Tyler Black vs. Tyson Dux (Replacing the injured Nigel McGuinness)
NO DISQUALIFICATION MATCH
Joey Ryan vs. Colt Cabana
SIX MAN TAG TEAM MATCH
Kenny Omega & The Briscoes vs. Austin Aries, Rhett Titus & Kenny King
MAIN EVENT
Chris Hero vs. Lance Storm
No comments:
Post a Comment