By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

RADICAN'S ROH DVD REVIEW SERIES
FROM THE ASHES
PHOENIX, AZ
TAPED MARCH 26, 2010

STAR RATINGS AND ANALYSIS

(1) Colt Cabana beat Johnny Goodtime and Rasche Brown and Joey Ryan and Shawn Daivari and Human Tornado in a Six Man Mayhem. Cabana wanted nothing to do with Brown, who tossed him around like a rag doll. Ryan and Daivari dragged Brown out of the ring and tossed him into the guardrail. Everyone ended up on the outside and Cabana nailed them with a springboard moonsault. Tornado and Goodtime then hit stereo flip dives to the floor for a big pop. Everyone hit big moves inside the ring and that left all the participants lying on the mat.

Brown set up for a dive and nailed everyone on the outside. Cabana ended up catching Goodtime with the Billy goat's curse submission for the win a short time later. This was a solid opening match. (**3/4)

(2) Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli beat Scott Lost & Scorpio Sky. Crowd was hot for Hero and Castagnoli. They dominated the early stages of the match while isolating Lost. Lost fired back and double teamed Castagnoli with Sky before tagging him into the match. Sky and Lost hit tandem dropkicks on Claudio at one point and the crowd applauded. Castagnoli fired back on Sky and ended up nailing him with the airplane spin/dropkick combination with Hero. Sky fired back with a knee strike on Hero and went for the tag, but Hero nailed Lost with an elbow to the head. Sky nailed Castagnoli with a head scissors takedown and tagged in Lost, who ran wild.

The action broke down and Sky hit a flip dive over the top to the outside onto Castagnoli. Castagnoli ended up catching Sky with a pop-up European moments later and he tagged in Hero. Lost nailed Hero and dropped an elbow from the top, but Hero kicked out at one. All four men ended up inside the ring. Castagnoli got Lost and Sky hung upside down on his shoulders for an airplane spin. The KOW then hit the KRS-1 on Lost for the win. This was a good tag match. (***1/4)

(3) Alex Koslov beat Rocky Romero. Romero took control early and Koslov bailed to the outside. Koslov gave Romero the stop sign. The crowd chanted for both men as they soaked in the applause. Romero sent Koslov to the outside and nailed him with a dive through the ropes. Koslov caught him moments later with a t-bone suplex over the guardrail and into the crowd. Koslov then went up top and nailed Romero with a dive into the crowd, which drew a big pop. The crowd started a "f--- WM." Koslov put on his hand and did his Russian dance while he kicked Romero, but Romero caught his foot and caught him with the arm bar. Koslov broke the hold with a powerbomb into the turnbuckles.

Romero fired back and nailed Koslov with a DDT. Romero went for a springboard moments later, but Koslov caught him with a superkick. Romero fired back with a kick moments later. Romero went for the flying arm bar off the top, but Koslov adjusted mid-air and landed on top of him for the pin. This was fantastic. (***1/2)

(4) Necro Butcher beat Bison Smith via countout. Necro came out with a chair and tossed it at Smith. They brawled at ringside and into the crowd. Nana held Necro for an unprotected chairshot to the head. Both men brawled up into the stands. Bison tried to throw Necro over the rail, but he couldn't get him over. Necro was busted open with a cut on his forehead. Nana got involved again, which allowed Smith to get the upper hand. Necro got a ring bell, but the rest of the Embassy came out and restrained Smith from getting back into the ring. Necro was awarded the match because Smith left the ring. The brawl was fine while it lasted. (NR)

(5) Kevin Steen beat Kenny Omega. Steen grounded Omega. Omega sent him to the outside and nailed Steen with a dropkick through the ropes. Omega went for a moonsault to the outside, but Steen cut him off and dumped him to the floor. Steen went after Omega's arm and dropped it over the top rope. Omega tried to fire back again, but Steen threw him shoulder-first into the ringpost. Omega tried to fire back, but Steen countered with a backbreaker.

Omega fired back and hit the rocker dropper for a 2 count. Steen cut him off a short time later and nailed him through the ropes with a DDT time. Steen took some time setting up for the cannonball and Omega got out of the way. Omega went for croyt's wrath, but Steen got out of it and nailed him with a superkick. Steen followed up with a pump-handle neckbreaker for a 2 count. Steen went for the swanton, but Omega got his knees up. Omega hit 2 dragon suplexes and went for the pin, but Steen kicked out. Steen ended up nailing Omega with a low blow behind the ref's back. He then hit package piledriver, but Omega kicked out and the crowd went nuts. Steen then locked in the crossface for the submission win. This was a very good match. (***1/4)

(6) Steve Corino beat El Generico. Corino threw his jacket at Generico and jumped him at the bell. Generico fired back and sent Corino to the outside. He followed up with an Arabian moonsault onto Corino for a big pop from the crowd. Corino fired back a few moments later with an STO to regain the advantage. Corino taunted the fans as he used a foreign object to gouge Generico's eyes. Corino locked in an abdominal stretch and stuck his thumb up Generico's butt. Generico fired up and nailed Corino with a dropkick followed by a swinging DDT for a 2 count and the crowd came alive.

Corino cut Generico off and nailed him with a flatliner for a 2 count. Corino followed with a sliding lariat for another 2 count as the crowd rallied behind Generico. Generico fired up and nailed Corino with a half nelson for a 2 count. Generico hung Corino up on the top rope and hit him with a front flip dropkick, but Steen dragged the ref out of the ring. Steen jawed with Generico and Corino tripped him and pinned him using the ropes for leverage. Generico went after Corino after the match and shoved the ref over as well. Cabana came out and said they would kick Corino and Steen's asses at the "Big Bang" PPV. (***)

(7) Personal Challenge Gauntlet. (A) ROH World Hvt. Champion Tyler Black beat Austin Aries (w/Tammy Sytch) in a Non-title match. Black sent Aries to the outside right away and nailed him with a dive over the top rope. Aries cut off Black a short time later and sent him flying into the ring barrier. Aries followed up with the heat seeking missile and the crowd popped big. Aries sent Black to the outside and continued the assault. Black cut off Aries up top and hit a superplex and then an F5, but he was too weak to make the cover. Black missed a springboard, but landed on his feet and hit a SSP on Aries for a nearfall.

Aries fired back and hit a missile dropkick. He went for the IED, but Black got out of the way and hit a superkick moments later for a 2 count. Black went up top, but Sytch got on the apron. Black brushed her off and went for the phoenix splash, but Aries got out of the way. Aries hit a kick to Black's head, but Black went for a surprise rollup for the pin. The crowd booed as Aries attacked Black after the match and drove his arm into the ringpost. Strong came out and sent Aries packing. (***1/4)

(B) Roderick Strong beat ROH World Hvt. Champion Tyler Black in a Non-title match. Strong went right after Black's injured arm. The announcers talked about how Strong and Black no longer respected each other. Black fired back and hit a springboard clothesline. Black drove Strong shoulder first into the turnbuckles and hit the paroxysm a moment later. Strong fired back and hit a backbreaker for a 2 count. Both men ended up on the apron and Strong nailed Black with a backbreaker using the apron.

Black cut Strong off and nailed him with a CB4 driver. Strong fired right back and went for the Gibson, but Black rolled through and hit the buckle bomb and a superkick. The ref counted to three, but noticed Strong had his foot on the ropes. Black argued with the ref, which allowed Strong to nail him with a flying kick. Strong then finished Black off with the Gibson driver for the pin. (***)

(8) Jerry Lynn vs. Kenny King in a No DQ match. They went at it right away on the outside. Lynn hit a splash to the outside and the crowd chanted his name. King got a ladder from under the ring, but Lynn drop kicked it right into his mid-section. Lynn hip tossed King into the ring onto the ladder. Lynn went for a legdrop onto the ladder, but King got out of the way. King ducked a chairshot from Lynn moments later and kicked it into Lynn's face.

King went for a pin while Lynn was holding a chair, but Lynn weakly hit him in the head with it to break up the pin. Lynn went for a rollup, but King pushed him into a chair set up in-between the turnbuckles. Lynn came bleeding while King set up a table in the corner. King splashed Lynn against the ladder and got a 2 count. King went for a splash, but Lynn got out of the way. King flipped himself off the ladder. The ladder fell and Lynn drove King face-first into the ladder. King put Lynn's head in-between the rungs of the ladder and drove him into the turnbuckles.

King slid another table into the ring and hit Lynn with the side of the chair on his neck. Lynn shoved King into the barrier. King fired back with a DDT on a chair. King then nailed Lynn with the double knees and Lynn went flying through the table set up in the corner for a 2 count. Lynn went for a sunset bomb through the table, but it didn't break. Ouch! Lynn set the table up again and nailed King with the cradle piledriver for the pin. This was a good match, but they took awhile to set things up from time to time. (***1/4)

(9) ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes vs. The American Wolves. The Briscoes isolated Edwards early and worked him over near their own corner. Edwards fired back and tagged in Richards, who went to work on Mark. Richards went for a dive on Mark, but Jay cut him off with a spinebuster. Mark recovered and tagged in Jay. The Briscoes began to work over Richards after nailing him with a double team shoulder tackle. Edwards nailed Jay on the apron and Richards gave him a dragon screw over the middle rope.

The Wolves went to work on Jay's leg. Jay fired back and tagged in Mark, who ran wild. Mark went for a springboard to the outside, but Edwards got out of the way. The Wolves then hit a superkick/German combo on Jay into the crowd that drew a big pop. Mark recovered and wiped out Richards and Edwards with a dive to the outside, but the numbers game caught up to him moments later as the Wolves took control.

Mark hit a suplex on Edwards, but Jay was still down on the outside and he couldn't tag out. Jay ran into the ring several minutes later and took out Edwards and Richards before going back to the apron to get the hot tag. Jay went at it alone with Mark on the outside and gave Edwards an STO right into Richard's crotch. Richards cut Jay off and tagged in Edwards, who took Jay down with a running knee strike. Mark blind tagged himself into the match and took Edwards down with a clothesline. Edwards cut Mark off and Richards tagged in and nailed Mark with a German with a bridge for a 2 count.

Richards hit a superplex on Mark, but he no-sold it. Mark hit a suplex on Richards and he got right up, but ate a superkick. Jay and Edwards went at it and hit stereo superkicks on each other, but Jay took him down with a running kick and all four men were down and the crowd went nuts.

Jay and Richards traded superkicks. Mark ran in and hit a double superkick on Richards. Briscoes went for the doomsday device on Richards, but Edwards broke it up. Richards and Edwards hit the superkick/German combo on Jay for a good nearfall and the crowd popped. Richards then wiped out Mark with an insane flip dive through the ropes. Edwards hit a hurricanrana off the top on Jay. Edwards then applied the Achilles lock on Jay while Richards held off Mark, but he got the ropes. The crowd got to their feet as all four men went at it.

Jay hit the Jay-driller on Edwards, but he kicked out at the last second and the crowd exploded again. The Briscoes finally finished off Edwards with the doomsday device for the pin! What a match! (****1/2)

Overall thoughts: (8.5) This was a fantastic show with a lot of good wrestling up and down the card. The only thing the show needed to boost it up into that "you've just got to see this" category was a four star plus match, which the main event delivered.

There wasn't a single weakness on the undercard that I can think of. Everything seemed to just click, although nothing over delivered to the point where this could be considered a "show of the year" candidate. From what I've seen, it's certainly one of the best shows from WrestleMania Weekend.

The highlight of the undercard was the Romero-Koslov match. They both had so much charisma here and they set the crowd on fire with some of their early exchanges. I loved when Koslov held up the stop sign to Romero, which led to both men soaking in the applause from the hot crowd in Phoenix. The finish also played nicely off their previous match at "Final Battle 2009."

The developments in the feud between Generico & Cabana and Corino & Steen also took center stage tonight. I really liked this entire segment of the show when Generico finally snapped after Steen took away what looked to be a certain victory for him against Corino.

The Personal Challenge Gauntlet was what it was in terms of storyline development. ROH seemed to be just delaying things until the Triple Threat match at the "Big Bang" iPPV with Black defending against Aries and Strong. Both matches in the gauntlet were good, but I didn't see the point and that took away some of my enjoyment. With a show this big, ROH should have built two huge ROH World Hvt. Title defenses for champion Tyler Black. Strong getting the pin on Black didn't seem to mean much after Aries had already softened him up with a post-match attack.

The main event was simply awesome. The Wolves were the dominant team for most of the match and did a good job of playing the numbers game against the Briscoes. It always seemed like Jay or Mark was out of action for a long period of time. The match was red hot down the stretch with a lot of "fighting spirit" spots and some awesome exchanges. This is a match well-worth going out of your way to see.

I highly recommend a purchase of this release. It's really good. There have been some crowd audio issues on some of the recent releases I've watched, but that issue seemed to be fixed here, although you can turn the commentary off on those other DVDs to hear the crowd. I'm not a big fan of the new commentating team of Dave Prazak and Joe Dombrowski, but they weren't as annoying as usual on this night. This release was also bolstered by a series of backstage segments, which was a welcome change from some of ROH's recent offerings that had almost no promos or highlight packages.

You can Purchase "From the Ashes" at ROH'S ONLINE STORE

Contact Sean at PWTorchSean@gmail.com

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