3/26 ROH in Phoenix, Ariz.: The Briscoes vs. The American Wolves for the ROH Tag Titles, Tyler Black faces Austin Aries and Roderick Strong in back-to-back matches, Jerry Lynn vs. Kenny King in a No DQ match

ROH house show
Phoenix, Ariz. at Phoenix College
Report by Dot Net reader Vince Rollins

This was ROH's first show out here in Phoenix. The city of Phoenix has always had kind of quiet crowds, and while it took a while for us to get warmed up tonight, we were on fire when the show took off.

1. Colt Cabana defeated Skullkrusher Rasche Brown, Joey Ryan, Shawn Daivari, Human Tornado, and Johnny Goodtime in a six-man mayhem match. The story of the match revolved around Colt Cabana trying to ambush Skullkrusher from behind then backing away as quickly as he got there. Colt was WAY over. Prince Nana hung out at ringside but didn't really get too involved. I couldn't see who Cabana beat to win the match (tall people in front of your short correspondent, go figure).

2. "The Kings of Wrestling" Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli defeated Scorpio Sky and Scott Lost. Hero is, and will always be for the rest of time, a huge heat magnet. His very existence causes people to boo him. Couple of really neat spots involving airplane spins with wrestlers on both Claudio's front and back. Claudio's lip got busted up a little and was visibly swollen. Sky and Lost kept it close, but Castagnoli won by pin (again, couldn't see who it was on).

3. Alex Koslov defeated Rocky Romero. The crowd kind of shat all over this one. Shame, because the two put on a solid match. First obligatory dive into the crowd happens here. Great action with Romero picking up steam at the end until his superplex is countered into a roll up for a three count at the end.

4. Necro Butcher by Bison Smith by an apparent DQ. Bison came out first and Prince Nana decided now would be the time to jaw jack with the crowd. He ripped on the sound guy and a lady in the first row before Necro came storming out with a chair. Before the bell rang, Necro and Bison brawled all over the place, with Bison even trying to dump Necro off the top off the bleachers. Necro was bleeding within a minute of coming out; that guy is a walking piece of scar tissue. The brawl nearly ended up back in the ring before Necro grabbed the ring bell and the Embassy stormed out and carried off Bison. The match never started so they called the match for Necro Butcher since Bison Smith left.

5. Kevin Steen defeated Kenny Omega by submission. Steen got on the stick and teased leaving the building before the match. Crowd cheered him to leave, so he decided to stay. Blew his nose in his hand before the handshake, and Kenny countered with a little "fromunda" cheese. They shake and Steen ups the ante by licking his hand. The two put on a really back and forth match with Steen working over Omega's arm hard. Might I point out that Steen draws some major heat and can work the crowd like Buh Buh Ray Dudley back in his prime ECW days. Fantastic heel. The crowd drowns him out with "Ole!" chants all match long. Lots of near falls and finishers; one of the most entertaining matches on the show. In the end, Steen took the win with what I believe was the Crippler Crossface. Hard to see, but I'm almost positive that's what it was.

(Intermission)

6. Steve Corino vs. El Generico. Generico got a fantastic reaction, and tons of "Ole!" chants the whole match long. The crowd has become far more rowdy at this point, with long stretches of time of Corino and the fans yelling it out. Todd Sinclair can't call any number without the crowd yelling "Twinkies" back after every count. Near the end, Kevin Steen comes out and begs Generico to come after him. Generico dispatches Corino and wins by pinfall and continues his staredown with Steen. Colt Cabana runs out and hypes up his match with Generico against Corino and Steen.

Jim Cornette comes out to the best reaction all night. He makes note of the very large international crowd in the gym and explains the circumstances leading up to Tyler Black's matches where he faces Austin Aries and Roderick Strong in consecutive bouts. He kept it short and simple.

7. Tyler Black defeated Austin Aries in a non-title match. Aries comes out with Tammy Sytch and grabbed the mic. He talks up how studly he is, and Black then came out. Aries will always be one of my favorite wrestlers solely on how explosive he is. His reactions are sharp, his offensive is fast and hard, and his interaction with the crowd is perfect. He fits his character so well. It's outrageous. Aries controls most of the match with Black taking to the skies more often than not. Black catches Aries with a surprise roll up for the quick pin. Aries is infuriated and proceeds to beat Black senseless until Roderick Strong comes out to save him.

8. Roderick Strong beat Tyler Black in a non-title match. My 79 year old uncle pointed out during the match, "These two are really well matched up together." Strong dominated with armbreaker after armbreaker after backbreaker after gutbuster, while Black continued to counter his way out and stay airborne. Black nearly tapped to the Strong Lock at one point, and rallied back, only to get caught in a Gibson Driver for the pin.

9. Jerry Lynn defeated Kenny King in a no DQ Match. The crowd was way behind Jerry Lynn. Of course, he came storming down to the ring with steel chair in hand. They put on a competent garbage match with a couple cool spots with the ladder posted up in the corner. Lynn showed color early on and took most of the damage. The finish came as Lynn tried to sunset flip King off the top rope through a table, but the table didn't break, it only fell over, so he picked him up and piledrove him through what was left.

10. The Briscoes defeated "The American Wolves" Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards to retain the ROH Tag Titles. I'll make it clear now, as far back as I was, I couldn't tell for the most part which Briscoe was which. Otherwise, absolute match of the night. Crowd got really fired up for the second half of the match in particular, staying on their feet and slamming the boards the entire time. Tons and tons of back and forth, with great teamwork by both teams, particularly the American Wolves.

Davey and Eddie have really good chemistry together. Davey runs the match with his stiff kicks and the Briscoes excel at being tough and dirty. Ending sequence lasts for what seems like 10 minutes of finisher after finisher. Reversals on Doomsday Devices by both teams lead to the nearest close falls, with Jay putting it away with a Jay Driller on Davey Richards, I believe. Match of the night. These guys can put on a show. I really thought at the end that the American Wolves might actually win the titles.

Great show. I'll be going to back on Saturday for the matinee show and I'm expecting even better things.