From Joel Snider:

 

Just got back for the ROH show in Markham.  Here are the results and my thoughts.

 

Pre-Show

Stupified and Numero Uno &  beat Yellow Ninja and Ernie Osiris.  Good warm-up match.  I did not know who any of these guys were but all guys worked hard.

 

Main Show

Davey Richards beat Jerry Lynn with the DR Driver.  Richards came done with Bobby Dempsey and someone who was not Larry Sweeney.  Worst part of the show.  No Larry Sweeney.  At the beginning of the match, everyone was chanting for Bobby Dempsey, so he was sent to the back.  Lynn looked great.  He got a great reaction from the crowd.

 

Rhett Titus and Kenny King beat Delirious and Brody Lee by countout.  Finish saw Delirious and Lee chase Titus to the back with King still in the ring being the legal man.

 

Erick Stevens and Roderick Strong over Go Shiozaki and Eddie Edwards when Edwards tapped out to the Stronghold.  After the match, Stevens and Strong shook hands with the crowd chanting Strong and Stevens. For some reason, Erick Stevens had a red stripe in his hair.  Reminded me of the Red Rooster and that is not a good thing.

 

Austin Aries beat Jimmy Jacobs in the Dog Collar match by submission with the Last Chancery.  Before he applied the hold, he wrapped the chain around his knee and gave Jacobs about 5 knees.  Tyler Black came out to interfere during the match but Jacobs sent him back. Jacobs was bleeding like a pig and got a good ovation as he was helped to the back.

 

Intermission

 

Grizzly Redwood beat Alex "Sugarfoot" Payne.  This was about a 5 minute match and Redwood used one move during the entire match, a chop to the leg.  The match ended when Redwood bounced off the rope and chopped Payne in the leg. 

 

Bryan Danielson beat Tyler Black and Kenny Omega when Omega tapped out to the Cattle Mutilation.  Danielson was the most over on the show.  He was smiling throughout the whole match as everyone was chanting "Best in the World", "You're going to get your fucking head kicked in" and my favourite "We're not worthy."  2 standout spots in the match were when Danielson put the Cattle Mutilation on both guys at the same time and when Danielson was about to the do the bridge up spot into a backslide, when Black hit a moonsault mid move, got a two count and Danielson bridged up with both guys on top of him. Omega was bleeding hardway during the match and Danielson put him over after the match.

 

Nigel McGuiness and Necro Butcher had no finish as Brodie Lee and Delirious interfered.  El Generico and Kevin Steen saved Necro.  Necro came down to the match limping with his leg taped up.  Don't know if he was hurt or not.  Nigel came down with a black eye.  Nigel got on the mike and told Necro he would not kick him in the leg if Necro did not punch him in the face.  Of course, Nigel broke his word the first chance he got.  Very disappointed about the ending.  It has a TNA/ Vince Russo feel to it.  I understand having a count-out or dq in less important matches but not in title matches.  One thing that I think differentiates ROH for TNA or WWE, is that title matches and main events have clean finishes.  I hope this is not a regular occurrence.

 

Steen and Generico beat The Briscoes when Generico rolled up Mark (I think?) and the Briscoes missed the springboard Doomsday Device.  Good main event. Briscoes were acting more heelish than normal. 

 

Overall, the main difference between the shows before Gabe and after Gabe where the 2 non-finishes.  There was less weapon uses, and the early matches had less high spots.  I was disappointed with no Larry Sweeney, but seeing Danielson, Aries, Nigel, and Lynn work was awesome. 

 

ROH will be back in Markham in April 18th.  Looking forward to that show as well.

 

From Patric Laprade:

 

Hey Dave
 
Here's the Toronto results. The show ended a few minutes ago.
 
 
Pre-Show match
 
Super Smash Bros.    beat Dirty Osiris & Yellow Ninja
 
Main show
Davey Richards beat Jerry Lynn
 
Rhett Titus & Kenny King beat Delirious & Brodie Lee via a 20 outside count
 
Shane Hagadorn said that Larry Sweeney couldn't make it to the show due to a flight problem so he's going to replace him alongside Go Shiozaki and Eddie Edwards. Then he called Toronto Montreal which got him good heel reaction from the crowd!
 
Roderick Strong & Erick Stevens beat Go Shiozaki & Eddie Edwards in a very good match that made people chant R-O-H for the first time of the evening.
Austin Aries beat Jimmy Jacobs in a bloody dog collar match.
 
Wrestling Redwood beat Alex "Sugarfoot" Payne
 
Bryan Danielson beat Tyler Black and Winnipeg's Kenny Omega in a three-way match. This was a fast pace match with a lot of action with  Danielson showing the Toronto crowd some wrestling moves they've probably never seen before.
 
Nigel McGuiness showed up with a black eye and Necro with a bad leg. Nigel said that he got the black eye beating up 15 Canadians last night in Montreal. He offers Necro to not hit his leg if in return he doesn't hit his face, to which Necro decline.
Necro Butcher beat ROH World champion Nigel McGuiness via DQ when Age of the Falls' Delirious and Brodie Lee attacked Butcher.
 
Kevin Steen and El Generico came to Necro's rescue with Steen telling his fellow Canadian fans that they do respect the Necro.
 
ROH World champions and Montreal's Kevin Steen & El Generico beat The Briscoes.
 
The best two matches of the evening being Danielson vs Black vs Omega and Steen & Generico vs Briscoes.
 
Pat Laprade

 

From Jason McNeil:

 

Hey Dave,
   I just got back from the ROH show in Markham Ontario and I thought I'd let you now how it went.
 
A very exciting show, I don't think Adam Peirce's booking is straying too far from Sapolski's.  Besides a few minor things like match order I wouldn't change much about this show. 
  The venue was the Livestock arena at the Markham Fairgrounds, a slightly smaller setting than the hockey arena they were at last time in Toronto.  The audio was noticeably worse this time, and I couldn't make out the names of the wrestlers in the opening contest that happened before the house lights went off and the show started.  It was a decent match, probably some local talent, one of their names were "Yellow Ninja".
They also announced at the beginning of the show, that as of last night in Montreal, all ROH matches have a 20 count on the floor, this of course got booed.
1. Davey Richards vs. Jerry Lynn
Winner: Davey Richards
Good opening match, although it would have worked further up on the card as well.
No Larry Sweeney tonight, just Shane Hagadorn
2. Kenny King and Rhett Titus vs. Delirious and Brodie Lee (Age Of The Fall)
W: Kenny King and Rhett Titus by countout
3. Go Shiozaki and Eddie Edwards (Sweet and Sour Inc.) vs. Roderick Strong and Eric Stevens
W: Roderick Strong and Eric Stevens
4. Dog Collar match:  Austen Aries vs. Jimmy Jacobs
W: Aries by submission
Slow to start but then picked up.  Jacobs bladed after taking a hard chair shot and it was a bloody match after that. Jacobs tapped to a 'last chancery' with with chain wrapped around him.
5. Alex Payne vs. Grizzly Edwards
W: Grizzly
He's a lumberjack and I'm pretty sure it was Mitch Franklin dreaaed up.  I'm not sure however if this was supposed to be a comedy or what it was.  Payne had his leg welted up with some axehandles though.
6. Brian Danielson vs. Tyler Black vs. Kenny Omega
W: Danielson
Omega had his mouth busted open at the beginning, and then was busted open above his eye during the finish when Danielson went for the elbow but punches Omega in the eye instead.
7. ROH World Championship:  Necro Butcher vs. Nigel McGiuness
W: No contest
Necro came in with an injured leg and he had it taped up with A LOT of tape.  At the end, Delirious and Brodie Lee came to the ring and started beating on Necro, and the ref called for the bell.  Pretty lame finish.
8.  ROH World Tag Team Championship:  Jay and Mark Briscoe vs. El Generico and Kevin Steen
W: Steen and Generico
It's hard for these two teams to top some of the matches they've had in the past, but this one is really good as well. The crowd was pretty split here as well until there end when they cheered for the Canadian more.
They announced they would be back in Markham on April 18, 2009.
 
From Dave Musgrave:

 

.hmmessage P { margin:0px; padding:0px } body.hmmessage { font-size: 10pt; font-family:Verdana } Hi Dave and Bryan
 
I just got back from the show in Markham. It was not the top ROH show I have ever been to but was worthwhile. There did seem to be some changes with the new booking crew as for the most part the heel work was quite pronounced throughout the night. Almost every match had a clear heel with fan taunting aplenty. There were still quite a few chops throughout the night but certainly not every match.
 
The undercard (pre-intermission) was filled with straightforward matches up until the Dog Collar Match.
After the intermission there was a brief match prior to going into what could be seen as the three main matches.
 
The three-way match with Bryan Danielson, Kenny Omega and Tyler Black was the best match of the night in my opinion. The three guys had good chemistry, Danielson was a clear fan favorite, Black was a clear heel and Omega was mostly a babyface (certainly by the end of the match). Danielson's crowd interaction and manipulation was top-notch as always. The match had three of the most innovative spots I've seen in a while. First, Danielson had both opponents on the mat face-down and side-by-side and used each guy's outside arms to put both in the Cattle Mutilation at the same time. Second, Danielson did a sit-out Tiger Suplex into an armbar (I think this was on Omega). Third, Omega and Danielson were doing the double-bridge-up Flair-Steamboat-style, with Danielson on bottom but before they could complete it Black did a LionSault onto them. They all stayed in that position while the ref counted but then Danielson still bridged up with Black on top of Omega. Awesomeness.
 
The Nigel McGuinness v. Necro Butcher match was pretty good but the ending was bad with Necro winning by disqualification when Delirious and Brodie Lee of Age Of The Fall interfered against Necro. Necro's leg had apparently been injured last night and was taped up to the point of looking like a cast. Of course Nigel worked it, including a horse-collar that looked painful. The finish was ok in terms of leaving open the option for a rematch but there sure could have been a finish as well. The worst part was that Kevin Steen and El Generico came out to help Necro. This really took away from their opportunity to get a big pop during their ring entrance as champions in Canada. This really took the edge off the early part of their match with the Briscoes but the match ended up being fine, with lots of great exchanges toward the end.
 
All in all I would say that there are some changes with the new booking committee but not to the point that anyone will be driven away (or at least should be driven away). It still felt like an ROH show and honestly if I didn't know about the internal changes they wouldn't have stood out to the point that I'd be scratching my head.
 
Results:
Pre-show- Stupefied and Player Uno (Super Smash Bros) beat Ernie Osiris and Nija Yellow. SSB got a good reaction, which showed the crowd was fairly knowledgeable/.
 
1) Davey Richards beat Jerry Lynn. Richards' work was solid and his heel work with the crowd was great. I was surprised that Lynn didn't win but Richards seems to be getting a big push.
 
2) Kenny King and Rhett Titus beat Delirious and Brodie Lee by countout, establishing that now that there is a 20-count it can actually be used as a finish. King and Titus compliment each other well as an act and teaming up should advance their careers. Titus has come a long way. This was two heel teams against each other but Delirious and Brodie wrestled more as faces.
 
3) Erick Stevens and Roderick Strong beat Eddie Edwards and Go Shiozaki. No Larry Sweeney tonight which disappointed the crowd. On the plus side, Bobby Dempsey has his own t-shirt now. Shiozaki has Hiroshi Hase-like longer hair now. Good match, showcasing that ROH probably has the top tag division now. Stevens and Strong shook hands afterward. Stevens has a red mohawk-like stripe across his grown-in hair now.
 
4) Austin Aries beat Jimmy Jacobs in a dog collar match. Pretty bloody match that the fans seemed to get into. Lots of old-school stuff like Jacobs not putting the dog collar on initially. New-school stuff as well such as Jacobs wrapping up Aries around the corner with the chain. One fan behind me yelled at Jacobs "You cut yourself so you can feel".
 
Intermission
 
5) Grizzly Redwood (Mitch Franklin) beat Alex Payne. I went to the concession stand for this but did get to see Davey Richards laughing a lot at Grizzly.
 
6) Danielson beat Omega and Black.
 
7) Necro Butcher beat Nigel McGuinness in the World Title match by DQ (it might have been called a no-contest, not totally sure, but a non-finish).
 
8) Kevin Steen and El Generico beat The Briscoes to retain the tag titles. Face team v. Face team here with the Briscoes working somewhat as heels with American Flag trunks. Cool spot where Steen had Jay (I believe) in the Sharpshooter and Mark (I believe) kept giving him running kicks to the face, with Steen keeping the hold on and spitting at the kicking Briscoe each time.
 

Dave Musgrave
Whitby, Ontario