ROH Final Countdown Tour
Sep. 25 Boston University
By Jon Bartolomei

The Young Bucks d. Cheech and Cloudy – Was a really good back and forth match and a great opener to get the crowd going. Bucks win with More Bang for Your Buck. ***1/2

Delirious d. Sonjay Dutt – Match was nothing special, but well worked. Focus was on the post match where Sonjay beat on Delirious than forcibly kissed Daizee Haze. She slapped him, and Sonjay put Daizee in the Camel Clutch before guys from the locker room came down to chase off Sonjay, followed by Delirious. Wouldn’t be surprised if they did something with this tomorrow.

Claudio Castagnoli d. Petey Williams, Chris Hero, & El Generico in a Four Corner Survival - Match was all action and the managers were great at ringside. There were KOW chants at the start of the match and Hero and Claudio did work together on occasion. Petey teased hitting Claudio a few times with the Canadian Destroyer but was never able to get it off. Claudio pinned Petey with the Ricola Bomb.

They then announced Bret Hart was coming out to greet the fans. (He did an autograph signing earlier but I didn’t know he was coming to the ring. He came out, and talked about all the great fans in the Boston area. He also said that some of the best wresters around were in the locker room tonight. He then went around and shook every fan’s hand that was in the front row (where I was).

Kevin Steen d. Eddie Edwards in an Anything Goes Match – Match actually took place mostly in the ring, with crowd brawling only at the start. They only used steel chairs but worked all theirs spots really well and made them count. Steen won with a Package Piledriver through 4 chairs. ***1/4

Roderick Strong d. Nigel McGuinness – Match was really good, but you could tell they were trying not to outshine the main event. Nigel worked Strong’s arm over early, then they went back and forth hitting their big moves. Strong won clean after back to back Gibson Drivers. I had it just under 4 stars. Nigel made a short speech afterword thanking all the fans and Roderick.

Austin Aries & Rhett Titus d. Colt Cabana & Kenny Omega – Good tag match that really showcased Titus, wouldn’t be surprised if he’s in for a big push shortly. Rhett pinned Cabana after Aries kicked Cabana in the head.

Davey Richards d. Bryan Danielson – Match was fantastic. Started with some chain wrestling, then Davey beat on Dragon for a long time before Dragon made an awesome comeback. Crowd was totally with Danielson and Davey was playing it off for everything it was worth, getting great heat. Crowd did the boo/yay stuff when they were exchanging shots. After a heavy user of elbows and submissions by Dragon, Davey sent him into the turnbuckle. Dragon was acting like his arm was fucked up and sold it really well. After dropkicking the arm and hitting the shooting star press, Davey won with the kimura on the arm after Dragon tapped. Crowd chanted "Match of the year" chant afterwards. I’d say ****1/2.

In the post match Davey got the mike saying it was a privilege “to wrestle in this great company with this great competitor.” Dragon than took the mike (fans chanted please don’t go) and said if he could make enough money and retire, he’d never leave. He said when he told ROH he got an offer from WWE, they told him to go and thanked him for all his service. He said he told them he was leaving it all in the ring during his final tour. He finished by saying that Davey Richards over this past year has been the true “best in the world” and thanked all the fans and told them to keep supporting Ring of Honor. They played the final countdown and he left the ring after posing in the corners.


Overall it was a really good show that peaked with a great main event. It was my first time in the front row and from where I was it was clear a lot of the fans were longtime ROH fans (in fact everybody I met said they had been to many shows). They did curtain off half the gym and the bleachers (there was only one side open) weren’t full. I heard they were selling tickets at the door for $5.00 (they were originally just doing that for people who had student IDs).

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- Place was virtually full, good crowd. Grizzly Redwood and Ray Kejimura wrestled in the dark matches, among others. Not sure about results.
 
- Young Bucks beat Cheech and Cloudy in a hell of an opener. Crowd loved it, and the match was fantastic.
 
- Delirious pinned Sonjay Dutt with a roll-up out of nowhere. Match was okay, but a lot of stalling by Dutt after the fast-paced opener brought the crowd down quite a bit. After the match, Dutt laid out Delirious, dragged Daizee Haze into the ring and kissed her, then gave her the camel clutch before the dark match guys came out to break it up. Got decent heat, but the crowd seemed more uncomfortable than angry.
 
- Claudio Castagnoli pinned Petey Williams in a four-way with Chris Hero and El Generico. Crowd was into everyone, match was very good. Dunno if they're teasing a reunion, but Claudio and Hero teamed up quite a bit. Crowd popped whenever Petey set up for the Destroyer, but he never got to use it. Claudio won with the Ricola Bomb.
 
- Bret Hart came out, thanked the fans, said he loved being back in Boston and had a lot of history there. Short but sweet. Crowd was very excited to see him.
 
- Kevin Steen beats Eddie Edwards in a "Boston Streetfight", which apparently means wrestle in areas on the floor where half the crowd can't see you. I kid. Match had some great brawling, and the finish saw Steen give his piledriver to Edwards onto a row of chairs. That looked like it sucked. Word was that Edwards was really hurting afterwards. Solid match. Intermission afterwards.
 
- Dark City Fight Club beat Bobby Dempsey and Sugarfoot Alex Payne. DCFC pounded the shit out of Payne, Dempsey got the hot tag, but eventually DCFC killed the Sugarfoot with their powerbomb/neckbreaker combo. Crowd popped for the move, but the match was only okay.
 
- Roderick Strong beat Nigel McGuiness in an excellent match. Nothing too fancy, just hard-hitting action. Crowd chanted "Same Old Shit" at Nigel when he hit his spots, but it was with affection. Strong beat him clean with a series of backbreakers and powerbombs, and Nigel cut a quick promo afterwards, thanking Strong, Danielson, everyone at ROH and the fans. Crowd loved it.
 
- Austin Aries and Rhett Titus beat Colt Cabana and Kenny Omega. Cabana had Titus in his reverse boston crab and Titus was tapping, but Aries distracted the ref and kicked Cabana in the balls, allowing Titus to get the pin. Match was great, with the crowd loving all of Cabana and Omega's wacky antics. Omega is a dead ringer for Eric Idle, by the way. Before the match, Aries cut a promo saying Boston is a B-town and didn't deserve a title match. Good stuff.
 
- Davey Richards submitted Bryan Danielson with his chickenwing-like move after a beeeautiful shooting star press. Great, great match. Crowd was super into both guys, and Richards has become an amazing heel. Richards had the heat on Danielson forever, working his right arm and antagonizing the crowd. There was a small pocket of support for Richards, but those who hated him, HATED him. Crowd ate up all the hope spots, and popped huge for Danielson's comeback. Other highlights included an insane pescado by Richards into the seats, a belly to belly by Danielson off the apron onto the floor, and another insane plancha into the seats, this time by Danielson. Almost certainly the best match I've ever seen live.
 
- Richards cut a promo after, putting over Danielson. Danielson cut his own goodbye promo, good stuff. Mostly put over Richards, thanked the fans. First and last match were great, rest of the show was solid.