ROH Bluegrass Brawl
Davis Arena (Ohio Valley Wrestling Headquarters)
Louisville, KY
July 22, 2010
Prior to the show all the ROH wrestlers signed autographs for the fans in a very well-handled segment of the show that proved the company to be very fan-friendly.
The first two matches were of the OVW variety Beef Wellington (just re-signed with WWE by the way) defeated Paredyse. Nothing to gripe about. Nothing to write home about either.
OVW Southern Tag Team Champions The Elite (Ted McNaler and Adam Revolver) defeated Sucio and Shiloh. Matched ranged from amazing aerial attempts to a couple botched moves. Again, a passing grade for all four of these young men.
ROH matches began next.
Daizee Haze pinned Sara Del Rey. The ROH roster works stiff and the ladies are no exception.
Finish saw Haze use a powerbomb variation to get the win. Del Ray was accompanied to the ring by The Kings of Wrestling (Claudio Castagnoli and Chris Hero). They were sent to the back after Claudio was caught grabbing Haze’s leg. Nice little women’s bout.
Delirious defeated Mike Mondo (Mikey from the WWE’s Spirit Squad, now an OVC wrestler) via a splash. Delirious does a go wild when the bell rings gimmick and I’m pretty sure he was using it well before Festus did it in WWE. Mondo got a reaction, but it was mostly fans chanting Mikey or Spirit Squad.
Colt Cabana (formerly WWE’s Scotty Goldman) defeated Chris Hero (one-half of the ROH Tag Champions) with one of the most complicated roll-ups I’ve ever seen. Cabana knows how to work in a regular match, knows how to work a comedy match. This one had a lot of both. Cabana, being an OVW alum, had over half the crowd in his corner while some of the ROH faithful cheered Hero.
Roderick Strong and The House of Truth with Truth Martini downed Austin Aries, Rhett Titus, and Kenny King. Aries grabbed the mic before the match and dogged Kentucky wrestling fans. Funny thing was half the crowd cheered him for it as apparently a lot of those in attendance weren’t from the “Bluegrass State.” Good match. Not sure who was supposed to be the faces or heels, though.
Ring of Honor World Champion Tyler Black pinned Claudio Castagnoli (one-half of the ROH Tag Champions) cleanly in a non-title match. Why wasn’t the title on the line if the champ was going over cleanly? The best singles match I’ve seen in-person. Plenty of false finishes at the end. Fans started chanting “USA” when Castagnoli (an evil Switzerland native) had Black down, which in turn got a large segment of the crowd chanting “Switzerland” as a joke. Can’t say I’ve ever seen that at a wrestling match.
Jim Cornette came out before the main event to tell the fans that ROH planned on coming back based on the support of this card.
Main Event: Mark and Jay Briscoe defeated The American Wolves (Davey Richards and ROH T.V. Champion Eddie Edwards). The Briscoes won with a spike double-underhook piledriver. I was fortunate to see a Rock ‘N’ Roll Express vs. Midnight Express match in person and this ROH bout was every bit as good. I questioned why they were putting a tag match on last when their World Champion was competing, but I know now. Sometimes, four men that can flat out go trumps two that can.
End points…
Not sure on actual attendance, but there were maybe five empty seats in the whole building. I’ve been told that 400 was how many it seated.
I’d certainly chalk this up as a success, especially when the quality of the ring action is factored in. Appeared to me that they were using the OVW ring with the ROH mat and apron on it.
One funny part was watching regular OVW fans trying to start “southern style” babyface chants for the gray area ROH wrestlers. Another humorous part was watching heels like Chris Hero try to figure out how to work a southern crowd instead of the blood-thirsty ones up in the Northeast.
Was the first wrestling show I can remember where there were no chairs used. A little brawling outside the ring in the final two matches, but no weapons came into play.
And finally, there’s another negative thing that ECW gave wrestling other than garbage wrestling and ridiculous high spots, The smark fan that thinks they’re part of the show.
I understand a smart comment here and there, but after three hours, you wonder if said fan is gonna brag about his great chants to his X-Box when he gets back to his parent’s basement.
That said, I would highly suggest going to see ROH if they come anywhere near.
Report by KC
