Random Ring of Honor Matches #9

-Markham Street Fight: Jimmy Jacobs VS Delirious (Tag Title Classic 4/18/09)

-Delirious has finally left the Age of the Fall, after being saved by Daizee Haze. Delirious jumps Jacobs while he's cutting a promo backstage, and the ref calls for the opening bell while they fight in the crowd. Delirious is donning his red alternate mask and attire. Once they get in the ring, Delirious hits a flying clothesline and applies a choke. Back on the floor, Jacobs sends Delirious into the barricade and suplexes him. Delirious gets something in his hands, and Jacobs accidentally punches it before getting whacked across the face with it.

The pace is similar to a WWE street fight. Delirious hits a Panic Attack (running knee to the face while his opponent is seated), with Jacobs leaning against the barricade. Delirious gets a table, but ends up taking an unprotected chairshot to the head (which IIRC, they got fined for). Jacobs asks for, and receives, chairs from fans at ringside. Delrious gets a hold of a chair, and dives from the top to the outside, hitting Jacobs.

They go back into the ring which is now a sea of chairs, and Jacobs hits a chairshot to the back for one. Jacobs gives Delirious a vertical suplex through a seated chair for two. Jacobs goes up top, but Delirious throws a chair at his head, and hits a hurricarana from the top onto the chairs. Delirious misses the Shadows Over Hell (splash to the back of his standing opponent), and Jacobs locks in the End Time. Delirious fights out and locks in the Cobra Stretch (Crippler Crossface type move with a Cobra Clutch instead of the crossface).

Jacobs spears Delirious off the apron through the table. Daizee Haze comes out to check on Delirious, and Jacobs throws her into the ring and threatens to spike her. Delirious seems to be begging him not too, but then he suddenly sparys black mist into Jacobs' eyes. Haze spikes Jacobs, and Delirious hits a Cobra Clutch suplex. Delrious locks in the Cobra Stretch with the spike, and Jacobs taps. Match was missing intensity and hatred. Just completely tepid all around.

-Ring of Honor World Championship: Jerry Lynn [c] VS Colt Cabana (The Homecoming II 4/25/09)

-Lynn pulled the sword from the stone and knocked off Nigel McGuinness a couple weeks before this. Cabana just returned to RoH following his unsuccessful stint as Scotty Goldman in WWE.

Lynn gets a surprising amount of support in Chicago. Some comedy and lots of reversals for the first five minutes or so, with neither man gaining an advantage. Lynn locks in a hammerlock, but Cabana uses the old Bret Hart counter to send Lynn to the outside. Lynn sends Cabana outside, and when Lynn holds the ropes open for him, Cabana teases going through another side, and the crowd does the "boo...yay!" thing as he changes sides and makes up his mind. Cabana hits a Butt Bump and clothesline for two. Cabana starts taking over, but Lynn hits a sloppy inverted DDT for two.

Lynn uses the skullfucker on Cabana. Lynn hits a second rope legdrop for two. Lynn wins a forearm exchange, but Cabana avoids a charge, slugs Lynn down, and hits a quebrada for two. Cabana hits a neckbreaker for two. Cabana knocks Lynn outside, but misses when he slingshots himself out. Lynn hits a DDT on the apron for two. Lynn hits a piledriver for two.

Cabana locks in the Billy Goat's Curse, but Lynn makes it to the ropes. Cabana hits the Colt 45 (double underhook into a Shock Treatment) for two. Cabana hits the Pepsi Plunge (pedigree from the second rope) for two, but Lynn comes back with a reverse hurricarana and Cradile Piledriver to retain.

Match wasn't that good. Went from first gear to finishers with nothing in between.

-Ring of Honor World Championship: Jerry Lynn [c] VS Austin Aries VS Tyler Black (Manhattan Mayhem III 6/13/09)

-Black is cashing in his title shot that he had earned previously, and is coming off beating Lynn in a non-title match the previous night. Austin Aries comes out to Ric Flair's entrance music (Flair had been doing some work with RoH around this time) to piss off the fans. Aries announces that Flair will not be there to be the special ringside enforcer. Nigel McGuinness comes out (getting cheers because he's not the champion anymore), and says that he's said for weeks that he was going to be out here to make sure things go the way he wants them to, and it's going to be a lot easier now, as HE will be the special ringside enforcer.

Lynn & Black double team Aries to start. Lynn tries a snap mare on Black, but Black lands right on his feet. Aries gets back in the ring when he thinks Black & Lynn are preoccupied, but Lynn rakes his back, and Black hits him with a dropkick to send Aries back outside. Aries tries to work Black over on the outside, but ends up getting sent into the barricade. Aries comes back, and goes to work on Black's leg. Aries locks in the World of Pain (modified figure 4) around the ringpost on Black, and Nigel has to physically break the hold. Aries does a Flair flip in one corner and thinks he's avoided a slam off the top when he rakes Lynn's eyes, but Lynn tossed him off anyway.

Aries almost has Lynn pinned by using the ropes, but the ref notices. Aries takes Lynn down with an STO, but takes waaaaaaaaay too much time setting up the powerdrive elbow, and misses. Aries blocks a big boot from Black with a dragon screw legwhip. Aries goes for a figure 4, but Black kicks him off, and Aries hits a suicide dive on Lynn instead. All three men end up on the top rope, and Lynn hits a double bulldog on both challengers, getting two counts on both as well.

Lynn hits Black with an Air Raid Crash for two. Aries locks Black in the Last Chancery, but Black makes it to the ropes. Lynn pitches Aries to the outside and hits the Cradile Piledriver on Black, but Black gets his foot on the bottom rope at two. Lynn hits a superplex on Aries. Lynn hits Aries with a TKO for two. Aries nails Lynn with a couple dropkicks to the face for two. Aries goes for a brainbuster on Lynn, but Black superkicks Aries (turning the move into a DDT), and Black hits Lynn with God's Last Gift for the pin, guaranteeing a new champion will be crowned.

Black hits Aries with an inverted suplex for two. Black catches Aries while he goes for a running dropkick, and hits an F-5 for two. Aries counters a Buckle Bomb with a hurricrana, which sends Black into the turnbuckles. Aries hits the brainbuster/450 combo, but Black gets his hand on the bottom rope. Aries goes back to work on Black's leg, and locks in a figure 4. Aries uses the ropes, and Nigel isn't sure whether to stop him. Aries uses the ropes a second time, and Nigel does stop it this time, allowing Black to reverse the hold.

Aries argues with Nigel, allowing Black to get a rollup for two. Black tries for the Buckle Bomb again, but his leg gives out, allowing Aries to hit a big kick to the head, followed by a brainbuster to become the first (and so far only) two-time RoH world champion. Really good match. Not an all-time classic, but it is worth a watch.

-Cage Match: Jimmy Jacobs VS Tyler Black (Violent Tendencies 6/26/09)

-Jacobs wears the blood-stained coat from the night the Age of the Fall formed. Jacobs jumps Black as Black enters the cage, but Black slams the door on Jacobs' head. Jacobs gets busted open right away. Jacobs uses a headscissors to send Black into the cage. Jacobs pounds away on Black's forehead, busting him open. Black comes back, and slams Jacobs into the cage. Black hits an F-5 for two.

Black hits an inverted suplex for two. Black goes for the Buckle Bomb, but Jacobs pulls a spike out of his boot, and stabs Black in the forehead. Jacobs spikes Black again and goes for a pin with a foot on Black's chest, but pulls away when the ref starts to count. Jacobs starts pulling both Black's and his own hair out. Jacobs continue to spike Black, but when he goes for a headscissors, Black hangs on, and tosses Jacobs into the cage.

Black hits the Buckle Bomb/superkick combo, but no cover. Black goes up to the top of the cage, but Jacobs cuts him off, and they both end up falling to the floor (this is pin or submission only). They don't stay outside for long. Black counters a hurricarana into a Buckle Bomb, but Jacobs ducks the superkick, and locks in the End Time. Jacobs hands onto the hold even after being mashed into the cage and taking a Northern Lights suplex. Black doesn't go out, and finally manages to break the hold.

Jacobs goes for a spear, but Black counters with the End Time. Jacobs rolls out for two, and hits a spear. Jacobs hits a hurricarana off the top rope, the Contra Code, and a superkick, but Black still kicks out at two. Jacobs stabs himself in the head with the spike out of frustration. Jacobs goes outside and retrieves a table from underneath the ring. Black grabs the spike, so Jacobs produces a second. They go back-and-forth spiking each other. Black hits the Buckle Bomb/superkick combo and God's Last Gift, but does not go for the cover.

Black sets Jacobs on the table, and hits a big splash off the top of the cage for the pin. After the pin, a whole host of men dressed in black and wearing something on their faces rush the ring, as Jacobs rants that the Age of the Fall is not done. The mystery men carry Jacobs out of the cage to the back.

This match...sucked. The pace was way too slow, the instensity of a long-simmering blood feud was not there, and anytime there's a cage match and the wrestlers go outside it, it's really, really stupid.

-Ring of Honor World Championship 4 Corner Survival: Austin Aries [c] VS Nigel McGuinness VS Jerry Lynn VS Tyler Black (Death Before Dishonor VII Night 1 7/24/09)

-Aries gets on the mic and gains some heat for ripping off Bret Hart's catchphrase, then says because he can lose the title without getting pinned, he has seeked legal counsel, and is wrestling this match under protest.

Aries & Black start, and they immediately spill outside, with Black pounding on Aries. Lynn & McGuinness go at it in the ring while Black & Aries continue to fight outside. Lynn hits a tornado DDT on McGuinness, but turns right into a springboard clothesline from Black. Aries counters a Black Buckle Bomb into a sunset flip, but Black rolls out and dropkicks Aries in the face for two. Black goes outside, and Lynn catches Aries with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker.

Lynn hits a slingshot crossbody on Aries for two. McGuinness sends Black into the guardrail as Aries hits Lynn with a shinbreaker/belly-to-back suplex combo, then a corner dropkick for two. Aries gets the Last Chancery on Lynn, and McGuinness breaks the hold by punching Aries right in the dick. Nigel locks Lynn in the London Dungeon, but has to break the hold when Aries gets in the ring. Nigel gets the hold again, but has to stop to pitch Black out of the ring, and Nigel sends Black right onto Aries.

Aries stops Nigel from hitting the Tower of London on Lynn, so Nigel goes for a double Tower of London. Black superkicks Nigel, who hits the move as he falls down. Black gets two counts on all three opponents. Black throws Aries outside, and wipes him out with a dive. Black hits Lynn with an F-5 for two. Black counters a Tower of London into an inverted suplex on Nigel for two. Black hits the Buckle Bomb on Lynn for two. Black gets a schoolboy on Aries for two.

Nigel locks Black in the London Dungeon, and when Aries breaks the hold, Nigel puts Aries in it. Lynn breaks that attempt, and Nigel responds by hitting Lynn with the Tower of London through the timekeeper's table. Aries hits a suicide dive on Nigel, and holds both he and Lynn up for a flipping dive from Black. Aries whacks Black in the head with the title belt for two.

Aries ducks a Jawbreaker from Nigel that hits Black, and has to fight off Lynn to make the save when Nigel covers Black. Aries tries to lock the Last Chancery on Nigel, but Lynn catches him with the Cradle Piledriver for two, as Nigel makes the save. Lynn hits the move on Nigel, but Black superkicks Lynn out of the ring. Black goes up for the Phoenix Splash, but Aries' stablemate Kenny King rushes out to shove Black down, allowing Aries to hit a 450 into a double legdrop on Nigel to retain.

Pretty good match with quite a few interesting spots and counters.

-Ring of Honor World Championship Cage Match: Austin Aries [c] VS Colt Cabana (Reverse the Curse 12/5/09)

-This is Cabana's last title shot in Chicago. Aries tries to climb out right away, but Cabana shakes the ropes, sending Aries down. Cabana hits a flying ass for two. Cabana gets a rolling cradle, then an airplane spin. Aries goes to work on Cabana's knee. Aries locks in a ropes-assisted figure 4. After several attempts, Cabana manages to reverse the hold, causing Aries to break.

Aries locks Cabana in the Tree of Woe, and kicks at the injured leg. Aries signals for the figure 4 again, but Cabana kicks Aries off, sending him into the cage. Cabana hits a quebrada for two. Cabana hits a gut buster for two. Aries hits a shin breaker/belly-to-back suplex combo, sending Cabana into the cage. Aries rakes Cabana's face across the mesh of the cage, busting Cabana open. Aries hits a series of running dropkicks for two.

Aries hits a brainbuster for two. Aries locks in the Last Chancery, but Cabana will not submit. Man, the crowd is not really reacting to ANYTHING here. Aries blocks a Cabana escape attempt, and hits a sunset flip into a powerbomb off the top for two. Cabana ducks a kick and locks in the Billy Goat's Curse, FINALLY waking up the crowd.

They both try to crawl out the door, and when it looks like Cabana may win, Aries slams the door on his head. Cabana stops an Aries escape attempt and gets him in fireman's carry position while standing on the top rope, and Cabana simply drops down, dumping Aries chest-first onto the top turnbuckle. Cabana repeatedly rams Aries into the cage, busting Aries open.

Cabana sits Aries between the ropes and the cage, and delivers a flying ass, breaking the cage wall open and Aries falls out, retaining the title. This match was boring as hell. I don't know if the crowd wasn't mic'd properly or what, but they seemed silent at times, which is really strange with a really popular babyface challenging for a world title in his hometown. The ring work was nothing special either.