I attended the show at the National Guard Armory in Philly this past Sunday, it was my first ROH show live and I did not leave disappointed.

The building was pretty packed and hot for most of the night, and they were going absolutely nuts for the main event.

1. Davey Richards vs. Dingo (non-PPV match): Davey looked good here, he won a pretty short match with a Tombstone and then the kimura for the submission.

2. Sara Del Rey vs. Kylie Pierce (non-PPV match): This was less than a minute and what action happened was very, very bad. Del Rey blocked a tornado DDT then went for a soccer kick to the head and missed by A LOT, so she gave Pierce a weak kick and just covered her.

All the guys came out for the Four Corner Survival, then Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard did a stand-up to open the PPV. It was delayed for a few moments because Prazak's mic kept cutting off.

3. Four Corner Survival: Go Shiozaki vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. Delirious vs. Tyler Black: Short, but good. Delirious and Claudio did some great comedy stuff to start, Shiozaki looked good, and after it broke down Black pinned Delirious with a Phoenix Splash. A lot of the crowd was surprised, as most people were solidly behind Claudio. Black moves on to challenge for the ROH title in the main event.

4. Kevin Steen vs. Roderick Strong: Very good match, Steen wins with the Package Piledriver.

5. Jigsaw & Ruckus vs. Adam Pearce & BJ Whitmer (non-PPV match): Heels worked over Jigsaw FOREVER, and after Ruckus got the hot tag, Jigsaw rolled up Whitmer for the pin to get a title shot in Orlando Wrestlemania weekend.

After the match, there was a deal between Julius Smokes and Eddie Kingston, who was sitting at ringside. It was on the other side of the building from me so I didn't get a great look at it, but there was a pretty good reaction for Kingston.

Right after this, you heard a loud CRACK and there was Necro Butcher whacking a Briscoe with a shovel, leading to...

6. Briscoes vs. Necro & Joey Matthews (street fight): Lots of crazy stuff, including Necro taking a scary chair shot to the head. Mark had the side of his head busted open and was leaking blood. Lacey and Daizee Haze got involved and were brawling in and out of the ring. Finish came when Mark splashed Necro off the entranceway through a table on the concrete at the same time as Jay hit Matthews with a DVD through a table and the Jay driller for the pin. Entertaining, but tough to follow live.

~~INTERMISSION~~

7. BUSHWACKER LUKE vs. Shane Hagadorn (non-PPV): Yep, we actually saw this. Luke won with a top-rope assisted DDT, did the Bushwacker walk and licked peoples' foreheads.

After the break, it was time for the LARRY SWEENEY SHOW~! Larry came out and declared a hostile takeover of ROH, saying he was going to buy up wrestler's contracts, make them huge stars and then make a huge profit by selling the contracts to Vince. He brought out his first signees, the Hangmen 3. Adam Pearce accepted on behalf of the group, while BJ Whitmer looked like he wasn't convinced.

Erick Stevens walked out and said he was promised a match with Daniel Puder, but Sweeney said Puder wouldn't appear until ROH gave him more money. Stevens said he wanted a match, and Brent Albright attacked, leading to...

8. Albright vs. Stevens: Not too long, but a good, hard-hitting match. Sweeney distracted Stevens, allowing Albright to hit the Half Nelson Suplex and get the pin.

Post-match, BJ said he wasn't down with joining Sweet and Sour, Inc. Sweeney ripped up his contract, then Pearce and Hagadorn beat him down and gave him a spike piledriver onto the chair while Albright walked up the ramp.

9. Austin Aries vs. Bryan Danielson: First couple of minutes were marred by some annoying fans chanting just for the sake of chanting, which got a lot of heat from the rest of the crowd. Otherwise, this match was absolutely wonderful, with both guys putting on terrific performances. Danielson kicked out of a top-rope brainbuster, and they traded submissions and knees/elbows on the ground before Danielson laid in some hard elbows and locked in a Fujiwara armbar for the submission. After the match, Aries refused to shake Danielson's hand.

10. Nigel McGuinness (c) vs. Tyler Black (ROH World Championship): Started off slow, mostly Nigel interacting with the crowd and working over Tyler's arm. Crowd started off pretty so-so about Tyler, but that would change. They were brawling outside, then Tyler dumped Nigel into the crowd and went for a springboard dive over the guardrail, but missed. Match was stopped for like eight minutes, with Nigel telling the ref to stop the match and let him retain. Black eventually got into the ring, and he suddenly became Superman. He kicked out of EVERY MOVE EVER, including the Tower of London and every lariat Nigel could try, including the Jawbreaker, while also escaping the London Dungeon (a.k.a. The Arm Submission). Tyler missed the Phoenix Splash, and Nigel kicked out the Small Package Driver. Nigel finally hit Tyler with another Lariat of Doom and hooked in the London Dungeon for the submission.

Hell of a match. Maybe a few too many nearfalls, but they were trying to get Black over as a star and, if the crowd indicated anything, it worked. Nigel refused to shake hands and went to the back, then came back and cut a quick promo about how he was still champ and better than everyone. Tyler stayed in the ring as the crowd gave him a standing ovation and chanted "Tyler Black!", then he raised one fist in the air to salute the crowd.

Really good show, and it should be a hell of a pay per view as the average to bad stuff was all dark match fodder. Semi-main and main were both excellent.

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