September 25th, 2009 in Boston


Opening Match: Matt and Nick Jackson vs. Cheech and Cloudy
Cloudy lands a hurricanrana off a test of strength and follows with a dropkick on Matt. Cheech uses the ropes to snap off a headscissors on Nick, who responds with a flying hurricanrana. Up In Smoke take over with a russian legsweep on Nick. Matt blind tags in and the Young Bucks catch Cloudy with stereo dropkicks. They work over Cloudy until he lands a missile dropkick and makes the tag. Cheech locks in a sharpshooter on Matt and mocks the Young Bucks by doing their pose. Matt is now isolated until he hits Cloudy with an ace crusher and tags out. Nick connects with a series of dropkicks along with a slingshot facebuster on Cloudy. Matt adds a flying elbow drop. Nick lands a moonsault off the apron onto Cheech and then follows with another dive to the floor. Back in, Cloudy tornado DDTs Nick. Matt connects with a superkick on Cheech. More Bang for Your Buck is blocked and Cheech gets a close rollup on Matt. Up In Smoke hit Partly Cloudy with a Chance of Cheech on Matt. Nick catches Cheech with a flying knee and the Young Bucks hit More Bang for Your Buck for the win at 12:11. Up In Smoke only competed in squash matches on the television show, so I’m glad they were allowed to showcase their offense here. Both teams meshed well and put on an energetic tag team match that got the crowd into the show. There’s really not much more you can ask for. ***

Match #2: Sonjay Dutt vs. Delirious
These two have quite the feud going. Dutt makes some sexual gestures towards Daizee Haze at ringside. Dutt sends Delirious to the floor and doesn’t allow him to get back in the ring. Delirious goes under the ring and sneaks up behind Dutt. The same situation occurs and Dutt is fooled again. Delirious lands a flying clothesline but Dutt uses Haze to get a cheap shot in. Dutt takes control until Delirious hits a back suplex along with a swinging neckbreaker. Dutt misses a slingshot leg drop but is able to hit a spinebuster. He follows with a lionsault but Delirious catches him coming off the top. Delirious hits the Panic Attack but Dutt gets knees up to block Shadows Over Hell. He hits sliced bread. Delirious counters a cobra clutch into a cobra stretch. Delirious catches Dutt with a rollup for the victory at 11:05. They worked hard and managed to fill their eleven minutes with enough decent action. The problem was that no one really cared and the crowd was totally disconnected. I can’t say that I blame them. **

Dutt attacks Delirious after the match. He grabs Haze and kisses her. Haze slaps Dutt, so he throws her down and synchs in a camel clutch. Delirious runs into the ring to make the save.

Match #3: Chris Hero vs. Petey Williams vs. Claudio Castagnoli vs. El Generico
Hero and Claudio let the faces battle it out in the ring. Generico lands a dive to the floor onto Claudio. Hero jumps Petey in the ring but falls victim to a flying crossbody from Generico. Hero and Claudio start working together, even doing one of their old double team moves. Generico catches Hero with a leg lariat but walks into a boot from Claudio. Petey comes into the ring with a slingshot lungblower on Claudio and then bulldogs him onto Hero. Claudio saves Hero from the Canadian Destroyer. Generico takes Claudio to the outside with a flying hurricanrana. Petey follows out with another hurricanrana on Claudio. Generico hits Hero with a blue thunder bomb but walks into an elbow. Claudio throws Generico up into a roaring elbow from Hero. He throws Hero to the floor but falls victim to a DDT from Petey. Generico connects with a corner yakuza kick on Claudio. He sends Hero to the outside but gets booted to the floor as well. Claudio hits the Ricola Bomb on Petey for the win at 9:37. This was a fun four corner survival that showcased everyone nicely. The main draw of the match was to see how Hero and Claudio would interact. It was a nice touch to have them bring back some of their old double team moves. The crowd was really behind Petey and even he brought his best effort here. **¾

Bret Hart makes his way to the ring. He puts over the wrestlers in the back and talks about his history in Boston.

Match #4: Anything Goes: Eddie Edwards vs. Kevin Steen
They start brawling from a section of the crowd and up the bleachers. Edwards doesn’t even have his ring gear on. Steen backdrops him over the barricade and throws him into the barricade back at ringside. Edwards finally reverses an irish whip and sends Steen into the barricade. He continues the attack by utilizing the ring bell and a chair. Edwards goes for a dive but Steen blocks it with a chair shot. Edwards appears to have hurt his elbow on that spot…actually he broke it. In the ring, Steen starts working over Edwards’ right leg with chair shots. Edwards superkicks a chair into Steen’s face. Steen blocks another chair shot but falls victim to a low blow. He fights out of a sharpshooter and catches Edwards with a powerbomb. Steen synchs in a sharpshooter but breaks it to take care of Shane Hagadorn. Steen package piledrives Hagadorn onto Edwards for a two count. He gets a ladder from under the ring and props it up in the corner. Davey Richards comes out and takes the ladder away. This distraction allows Edwards to lay out Steen with a chair shot for a nearfall. Edwards throws numerous chairs into the ring and connects with another chair shot. Four chairs are propped up. Steen low blows Edwards and hits a package piledriver onto the chairs for the victory at 14:02. They still managed to put on a decent brawl despite one of the competitors breaking his elbow. That’s pretty impressive. The injury obviously kept them for going through with some spots. However, they focused on showcasing the hatred between them and Edwards was a trooper throughout the match. He’s not crazy enough to wrestle in a Ladder War…is he? **½

Match #5: Jon Davis and Kory Chavis vs. Alex Payne and Bobby Dempsey
The Dark City Fight Club attack before the bell. Payne connects with a dropkick on Davis, but it only angers him. He follows with an enzuigiri on Chavis to much the same effect. Chavis lays out Payne with a clothesline and the DCFC hit a backbreaker-leg drop combination. Payne blocks a charge and almost hurricanranas Chavis into the turnbuckles. Dempsey tags in and hits an overhead suplex on Chavis. He follows with a cannonball in the corner on Davis. Davis pounces Dempsey, knocking Payne off the top rope in the process. The DCFC hit the Greater Good on Payne for the win at 6:42. ROH needs to figure out what they want to do with Dempsey. Sometimes he’s a monster while other times he’s a jobber. I guess it just depends who he’s teaming with. This was fine for what it was. *

Match #6: Nigel McGuinness vs. Roderick Strong
They trade control of a wristlock. Strong ducks a lariat and hits a leg lariat. He follows with some chops and a backbreaker. Nigel comes back with a nasty forearm and goes to work on Strong’s left shoulder. Funny spot as Nigel puts a Red Sox hat on Strong and then applies a headlock. Nigel connects with his headstand kick and the crowd chants “same old shit” at him. Come on guys, it’s his farewell tour too! Strong comes back with a dropkick along with a pumphandle backbreaker. Nigel hits his kick-clothesline combination in the corner. Strong escapes a Tower of London and hits a falcon arrow. He follows with the Stronghold but Nigel makes the ropes. Nigel throws Strong shoulder-first into the barricade and adds a lariat. He locks in the London Dungeon but Strong makes the ropes. Nigel uses the ropes to hit a Tower of London. He applies another London Dungeon and tries a pin attempt to no avail. Strong counters a jawbreaker lariat with a Stronghold in the ropes. Nigel blocks a dive but is dropped back-first onto the apron. Nigel hits a sloppy sunset bomb and goes back to the London Dungeon. Strong turns it into a pin attempt and hits a gutbuster along with a yakuza kick. Strong follows with two Gibson Drivers for the victory at 16:46. This wasn’t their best match together, but it was technically sound and hard hitting. I found it odd that the crowd chanted “same old shit” during the match and then “thank you Nigel” after the match. Go figure. Strong came out of this looking really good with the big win. Some might tag this as a disappointment…I point those people to their Driven 2008 match. ***¼

Match #7: Austin Aries and Rhett Titus vs. Colt Cabana and Kenny Omega
Titus goes right after Cabana, apparently still upset after what happened in Dayton. Cabana tricks Titus into doing a split. Omega hurricanranas Titus and the faces force the heels into an uncomfortable position. I’ll give them credit, most of his opening stuff is actually funny. Aries stops a dive from Omega and the heels start working him over. Omega catches Aries with a gamenguiri and makes the hot tag. Aries blocks the flying asshole but misses his corner dropkick. Omega lands a flying crossbody on Aries but can’t hit Croyt’s Wrath. Omega catches Titus coming off the top and the faces send him to the floor with dropkicks. The heels stop Cabana from doing a moonsault but can’t stop a dive from Omega. In the ring, Omega hits his leaping facebuster on Titus. Aries stops Croyt’s Wrath again and hits a back suplex. He connects with his corner dropkick on Omega and locks in the Last Chancery. Cabana breaks the hold. Omega escapes a brainbuster and hits Croyt’s Wrath but Titus breaks up the pin attempt. Cabana catches Titus with some shots along with the flying asshole. He synchs in the Billygoat’s Curse but Aries breaks it up by delivering a low blow. Aries kicks Cabana in the head and Titus covers for the win at 13:26. This featured some decent action but we saw almost the same exact match two shows ago, with Petey Williams replacing Omega. It’s apparent that Omega and Cabana are future challengers for the title, so I feel like either one would have benefited from pinning Aries here. It’s clear that Pearce isn’t a fan of booking title matches the night before a big show, but this just seemed like a quick way to get all four men on the card. **½

Match #8: Bryan Danielson vs. Davey Richards
Danielson gets a quick rollup and Richards retreats to the outside. Richards tries to sneak in a kick but Danielson blocks it. They trade control on the mat and are nicely building the intensity. Richards connects with some kicks and hits a divorce court from the top rope. He starts working over Danielson’s left arm and attacks it with a diving headbutt. Richards is really getting into it with the crowd. Danielson hits a back suplex along with a dropkick. He finds success on a corner charge and hits a northern lights suplex. Richards comes back with his handspring kick but falls victim to a missile dropkick. Richards snaps off a top rope hurricanrana. Danielson catches him on a kick attempt and synchs in an ankle lock. Richards tries another handspring kick but Danielson counters into another ankle lock. He turns it into a german suplex but then Richards counters into a kimura. Danielson reverses into a triangle choke but Richards counters into a texas cloverleaf. They trade forearms and Richards dropkicks Danielson to the floor. He follows out with a dive. Back in, they trade strikes and Richards hits a german suplex. He goes back to the kimura but Danielson makes the ropes. They battle on the apron and Danielson belly-to-back suplexes Richards to the floor. Danielson baseball slides Richards into the front row and follows out with a springboard dive. In the ring, they trade kicks and slaps. Danielson connects with a flying kick and locks in Cattle Mutilation. He transitions into MMA elbows but Richards counters with kicks to the head. Richards hits the Alarm Clock followed by a big lariat and the DR Driver for a two count. Danielson catches Richards up top with a superplex. He starts stomping Richards’ head in and synchs in a triangle choke. Danielson goes back to Cattle Mutilation and transitions into MMA elbows. Richards flips out of a tiger suplex and lands a missile dropkick along with a shooting star press. Danielson kicks out of a pin attempt but Richards transitions into the kimura for the victory at 36:06. What else did you expect out of these two? I say this a lot, but it’s always fun watching Danielson get intense. They took the intensity to another level after the opening mat work and then to a higher level after the dives to the outside. This match had a little bit of everything and it didn’t feel like thirty-six minutes at all. Danielson’s matches on his farewell tour have been gradually getting better, but he might have a hard time topping this match on the next show. This is just one of those matches that makes me love professional wrestling. Some people are really hyping this as a match of the year contender. While I don’t think this match quite reached that level, take nothing away from either man…they left it all out there. ****¼

Richards gets on the microphone and says it was a privilege to wrestle with Danielson tonight. He says that ROH is where true wrestling lives. He shakes Danielson’s hand and goes to the back. Danielson says that if he could make enough money to retire, he would never leave. Someone in the audience yells “WWE sucks” and Danielson replies with “I think it’s great” with a dumb smile. I’m going to miss that guy. He says that Richards is a better wrestler than he is. He thanks the fans to close the show.

Overall: Final Countdown Tour: Boston is an ordinary show brought up a couple notches due to the main event. Richards and Danielson have a tremendous match that I’m glad happened before Danielson left. The rest of the card is fairly enjoyable with a fun opener and a solid outing between Strong and Nigel. I’ll give this show a recommendation, mostly for the main event. It’s not a fantastic event by any means (and that is what I’m looking for from this set of shows), but people will be talking about Danielson/Richards.