-The quality of the box art is about the same since I last picked up a DVD, not bad but not great
-No more menu music is kind of strange
-Production quality is more or less the same, although the audio mix is worse than usual, with the commentary often sounding muffled
-The new play by play DVD commentator is good, he has a natural emotion when he calls a match and a decent voice
-Prazak seemingly gets worse every time I hear him, and basically sounds like he's given up at this point
-The crowd looks a bit down for Chicago, but not drastically
-“Skullkrusher” Rasche Brown VS Sami Callihan. This is kind of a typical Sami bringing the fight to a bigger opponent match. A good opener that doesn't try to do too much and gets the crowd warmed up for the show. I haven't seen Brown before and it was hard to get a read on him here. It was really the Sami show with Brown serving as the immobile object for Callihan to bounce around off of. I hope that Callihan gets the chance to work a real program for ROH some point down the line.
-Dark City Fight Club VS The Bravado Brothers. For a team I don't think I've ever seen have a particularly good match, I really like DCFC. They are intimidating dudes with nasty offense who always make me want to see more. That said every match I've seen them in has been a squash or just deflating, such as this one. This is my first time seeing the Bravado Brothers, and they are two of the pastiest whitebread babyfaces out there. And they look pretty terrible in this match. They inexplicably get a decent amount of offense in and this just never gels at all.
-Non Title: ROH World TV Champion Eddie Edwards VS Metal Master. I was hoping the novelty of Collyer returning to the Metal Master gimmick (which was actually my introduction to him many years back) would help cover up the fact that he's not a good pro wrestler. It didn't. The one thing I'll say about Eddie Edwards is he no longer has terrible whiteboy dreadlocks. Definitively the worst match of the show.
-The House of Truth VS Erick Stevens & Shawn Daivari. This was my first exposure to The House of Truth as a tag team, and my first time seeing Raymond since he got rid of his terrible whiteboy dreadlocks (running theme?). I used to really like him as Abercrombie, I thought it was cool how this pasty dude with shitty hipster tattoos named Josh Abercrombie actually had an amateur wrestling background and could go on the mat. It was a neat paradox. Now it seems like he's abandoned that though and is just going for a poor man's Chris Sabin. Which is more along the lines of what you'd expect when you see him now. I've heard good things about their team so I won't write them off based on this match, but I was expecting more than a bunch of convoluted double team spots from a trio with so much personality. That said this match wasn't bad, it was pretty decent overall, it just felt kind of heel VS heel so it didn't have a lot of direction. I like Stevens in the Embassy with his soccer jacket and somewhat metro look. He wasn't going anywhere as a face in ROH and this is a much more effective use for him. The finish here made absolutely no sense but the match was worth a watch.
-Pick 6 Series: (4) Davey Richards VS (1) Roderick Strong. My first exposure to the Pick 6 and I've got to say I like the concept and I like the execution. These two wrestle a somewhat lengthy match that is exactly what you'd imagine it would be. I mean that in a good and bad way. The bulk of it is paced deliberately and does a good job working up the crowd without getting into their high end offense. Towards the end things get a bit too cute and choreographed though and I would have rather they stuck to the more simple approach. Not surprisingly they beat the hell out of each other. It's been said countless times but Davey has to drop that out of control tope, or at least make sure security clears the area first. He landed right next to a kid in this one and he could have easily went feet first into his face. I'm sure there are other dive spots he can work that look reckless but don't invite lawsuits. Overall this was a good match, probably the 4th best on the show. If it sounds up your alley you'll enjoy it, if not then skip it because it won't change your opinion of either guy.
-Petey Williams VS Rhett Titus. I keep wanting Rhett Titus to be good so that the ROH school produces at least one halfway decent wrestler. Although in Bobby Dempsey's defense I don't think I've ever seen him wrestle longer than a 2 minute match. Unfortunately for Titus Petey Williams isn't the best opponent to show how much he's progressed. In fact he might be the worst possible opponent for that out of everyone on this show. But Titus did look a bit better than the last time I saw him, despite this being an awkward and completely forgettable match. Which is to say he only looked kind of green instead of completely green. If I were you I'd skip this one.
-Jay & Mark Briscoe VS Austin Aries and Kenny King. The story going into this is Aries and King have had tension lately, but Aries claims that is just perception and not reality. He says that the Briscoes, on the other hand, are perceived as being able to hold their liquor, but the reality is they got shit faced the night before and beat each other up. So the real tension, he says, is between the rednecks, and not A Double and K Triple (where does the third K come from?). Cute way to set up the match. This was very good, as the Briscoes and Aries have plenty of experience working together and all three bring it here. Pairing King and Titus up with Aries is one of the somewhat recent booking moves I really like. I always found King to be vanilla as all hell up until this run, but as Aries' protege he seems to have added a little fire and his swagger comes off a bit more believable. This match is a good example of "save it for the main event" booking style ROH tried to switch to since Gabe. I'd probably call it the second best match of the show and it got nowhere near the overkill levels the Briscoes get criticized for. It had a clever story that was executed well, a satisfying amount of action and a well timed and executed finish.
-Dark City Fight Club cut a solid promo. They are interesting together because Chavis has a better voice and better facials, but the way he delivers his lines comes off a bit forced. Davis doesn't sound anywhere near as intimidating, but delivers a much more natural promo. So neither are great but they compliment each other well.
-ROH World Title Match: Tyler Black VS Chris Hero. There are two things Tyler Black's good at. A) Fighting back against all odds. B) Ragdoll bumping and selling. This was evident in the match of his career against Nigel for the title back in 2008, and Chris Hero follows that same basic template here. Which isn't to say this match is anywhere near as good, but it's still better than your average Tyler Black match. Hero is great at working intricate counters and cut offs with his elbows while still making them feel organic. If anything this feels like an extended squash at times but I think the match actually benefits from that. My one complaint about "That Young Knockout Kid" incarnation of Chris Hero is that he throws so many brutal looking elbows and forearms without getting the win that at some point it makes him look kind of bad. He should try to dial back the amount of knockout caliber strikes a bit. Otherwise though this was good stuff.
-Come-As-You-Are Street Fight: Kevin Steen & Steve Corino VS Colt Cabana & El Generico. I thought it kind of strange that for a feud with a bunch of good promos ROH has put up for free on their site, that when you pay $20 you don't get any promos or a feud recap video before the match. The story is kind of self evident- Steen and Generico were partners, Steen turned on Generico, Corino and Steen are now a team and Cabana came to Generico's aid. It's simple enough, and the commentator explains it well, but you have three really good promos involved in this feud. Why not have them do some backstage spots before the match? There was even a post match promo that was up on the ROH site that wasn't included on the DVD.
Oh well, what we get is just the match, and the match is completely awesome. I don't watch that much current wrestling these days, so to call this my match of the year isn't saying a ton. But this was the most I've enjoyed a current match in quite a while. There's a lot to like here, but my favorite part of it is Steve Corino. Here's a guy who never had a good build for wrestling but always had a great mind, and turned himself into one of the best brawlers of his generation to compensate. But because of his poor build, late in his career with injuries mounting he got really out of shape and nearly retired. Then he came back to ROH healthy, in good shape for his standards, and paired with Steen to give him new life. They are such a glorious duo of fat scuzzy dickheads. And now he gets the chance to be a part of a feud like this, that completely plays to Corino's strengths, it just makes me really happy to see. You could tell he still had something left to give, and man does he ever give it here.
Steve comes out for this Come As You Are street fight wearing an all white suit. I think that tells you all you need to know right there. But he also gets plenty of opportunities to come off like a dangerous psychopath. I think Generico's best quality is his selling and body language, and this match gives him the perfect opportunity to showcase that. Steen just loves big offense and big bumps, so these matches are right up his alley. And Cabana, despite being known as a comedy wrestler, I've always felt does his best work in brawls. He has really underrated punches, great elbows, great facials and in recent years has apparently become a pretty good bleeder. All the elements come together in this one. It's not a big nearfall heavy street fight like the Briscoes VS Steen/Generico, and it doesn't have the crowd eating out of the palm of their hand like the ROH VS CZW feud. But for ROH in 2010, this is flat out great, and well worth the price of the DVD alone.
Overall this was a solid show but it didn't give me the impression that I've been missing out on much for the past year and a half. I'm definitely interested to check out more of Steen/Corino VS Generico/Cabana, but at the same time I can't help but feel like this was the pinnacle of what these four can do in a blood feud. As for the more old school booking style that ROH was supposedly try to switch to, it has strengths and weaknesses in how they've executed it. The booking is much more predictable, which I don't know is old school as much as it is lazy. Most of the finishes were easy to call or lacking in logic. On the other hand they have slightly dialed back the overkill and long matches that plagued Gabe's worst shows, which is good. There are some old school touches I enjoy like the TV title and the Pick 6. But in reality this is still a workrate based federation where the fans react as much for a match like Richards/Strong as they do for anything. And I'm still waiting for the shift in focus to characters and storylines, as this event in no way felt anymore colorful or imaginative than the old ROH. All said this is kind of "meet the new boss, same as the old boss." This boils down to a one match show with a decent undercard, and that one match is well worth the purchase, so if you sound interested you probably won't be disappointed.
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