ROH UK Mini DVD Review (Both Nights)

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So out of boredom I’ve decided to write a short review on the two new UK show releases from Ring of Honor. First up is the Liverpool show known as Unified due to the main event which I will get onto in a moment. Matt Sydal vs. Colt Cabana vs. Jonny Storm vs. Spud So yeah spot the odd one out here, or if you are stupid I’m referring to Spud. Now I’m not one of these Spud haters but he just didn’t really fit this match which was all in all a top quality match with the ending keeping Cabana looking strong for later in the night as Sydal got the pin out of nowhere before Cabana could make a save. Davey Richards vs. Jimmy Rave Davey Richards is the current Indy darling and is being rammed so far down our throats that it’s unbelievable. However Davey has the immense talent that many people pushed in the same way don’t and he showcased it here against Rave. After Davey had beaten Rave twice he wanted to pull out all the stops for revenge but not even a top rope Ghanarea could stop Davey from eventually spiking Rave so hard on his head for the win. BJ Whitmer vs. Claudio Castagnoli Now I’m a big Whitmer hater and Claudio lover but just couldn’t get into this match as it seemed slow and poor to be honest, I blame this on Whitmer because Claudio can do no wrong lol. Anyways, long story short, they were saying on commentary Whitmer was putting his feuds to rest here and it was over but he won with a cheap rollup thing and got beaten down and brawled to the back after the match, great way to end it ey? This led to Hero coming down which nicely lead into Colt Cabana vs. Chris Hero Two of my faves here in a good match which albeit short was well worked and now it explained why Cabana had to be kept strong in the early going. Solid contest with Colt seemingly pulling the win out of nowhere to anger Hero. Team UK (Doug Williams and Jody Fleisch) vs. Team NOAH (Go Shiosaki and SUWA) This match mostly involved Jody playing the face in peril and having to be bailed out by Williams. Jody got beaten from pillar to post but then Williams saved the day and Team UK won. For the four people in this it could have been done a lot better as it seemed to drag in parts. Afterwards SUWA turned on Go but ended up being laid out by all the men before falling over on the ramp to a “You fell over” chant from the abundance of rowdy kids that were ruining any atmosphere at the show. Robbie Brookside vs. Chad Collyer – FWA Title I couldn’t bear to watch much of this match, I’m not a huge Brookside fan and same goes for Collyer. Best part of the match was hearing Prazak on commentary saying that Collyer was done with ROH apart from the UK shows. YAY! For that, BOO! For the match Aries and Strong vs. Briscoe Brothers – ROH Tag Titles Got to say that I feel this was the best match between the two sides as it was so exciting despite a slow early build-up and also props to Aries for not showing the effects of crushing his ribs on a reverse rana as he hit a perfect 450 at the end. Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness – ROH World and Pure Title Unification Well, brutal is one way to describe this match, Nigel was an absolute mess by the end after being forced to repeatedly headbutt the ring post then receiving possibly the most realistic and stiff MMA elbows that I have seen Danielson hit. Crowd felt the need to shout “bull****” after the match but no one really expected Nigel taking the world title surely. Overall thoughts – A solid show which is buyable even if just for the two matches at the end. Only real downside is Brookside vs. Collyer in my opinion. Now for the second of the two shows known as Anarchy in the UK and taking place at Broxbourne. Now as I was live in Broxbourne for this one when it happened I might be looking through slightly rose tinted glasses. I came away thinking it was a great show and overall it seems to translate the same way onto the DVD. Show opens with Aries basically saying after crushing his ribs in Liverpool he won’t be wrestling, Danielson comes out and ends up finding out he will be fighting Strong in our main event and also takes a couple of cane shots from SUWA. BJ Whitmer vs. Go Shiosaki Remember I said earlier I am a Whitmer hater, well all except for this match as it was one of the best I’ve seen out of BJ as he and Go really had a brutal match which was made even better by Go being the one taking the win, but if Go is fighting Whitmer and SUWA fighting someone else later, what was any logic in having SUWA turn on Go, strange. Jonny Storm vs. Jody Fleisch vs. Spud Average spot fest here although there is a point where Spud gets power bombed into a guardrail which made a sickening thud, Jody Fleisch botches a couple of things which doesn’t really surprise me these days, good to see Jonny win as he was clearly the best in the match, would of preferred Pac or someone to be in the match or Ashley Reed. Next up the previous matches competitors are beaten down by Hero, Claudio and Collyer leading into a run in and the next match. Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli and Chad Collyer vs. Colt Cabana, Nigel McGuinness and Robbie Brookside Better idea here would have been just the Kings of Wrestling against Cabana and Nigel as Brookside and Collyer stunk up the match in my opinion. Much of the match was Brookside being worked over before the Brits and Cabana got the inevitable win. Considering 4 of the 6 wrestlers in the match I love I didn’t really like it that much live or on DVD. Then we had Danielson come and call out SUWA for a title match right now after what happened earlier. Bryan Danielson vs. SUWA – ROH World Title Stiff and brutal exchange here with Danielson obviously not supposed to do too much before fighting Roddy later in the night. Although that plan went out of the window when a shot with a non foldable chair gave Danielson a huge head wound that certainly was being busted open “The hard way” Anyways, Danielson won with some sort of cradle and got the hell out of there quickly. Doug Williams vs. Jimmy Rave I enjoyed being one of the many that threw toilet paper at Jimmy during the entrance but as for the match itself, live it came off quite good to me although now onto DVD it comes off as very slow in parts and rather boring to be honest. Matt Sydal and Davey Richards vs. The Briscoe Brothers This was my match of the night live and also on the DVD is came across just as good, rather a slow early build up like the tag title match the previous night. IT eventually exploded and the last ten minutes or so where action packed with some sick moves before The Briscoes got the win and left ¾ of the place disappointed as they were cheering for Sydal and Richards, including me. Bryan Danielson vs. Roderick Strong - ROH World Title This was much more brutal than encounters between the two in the past and some of the shots were so stiff especially when there live that they made me wince. Lots of big spots like Death by Roderick from the second rope and near tap outs on the Stronghold and Cattle Mutilation respectively. Every time a submission was on Roderick the entire crowd showed who we wanted to win with please don’t tap chants. The only thing that marred this on the DVD is the MMA elbows from Danielson once the two were on the ground; on the DVD it is clearly looking like Danielson just slapping his hand down and hardly even grazing Roderick. Then in the end Roddy is already out of it when the Cattle Mutilation is on, we all prayed it wasn’t over but once it was the Final Countdown played and the whole place cheered both men’s efforts. Overall Thoughts – Came across just as good on the DVD as it did live with the last two matches rivalling the final two matches on last nights card and I’d call this show better if it weren’t for the circumstances surrounding the main event last night. I definately would be interested in going to Broxbourne again when ROH returns in early March. I'd recommend the DVD's to any wrestling fan