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My wife and I drove an hour and forty minutes from little Leamington, Ontario to Dearbon, Michigan to watch ROH Survival of the Fittest 2010. This was our first ROH event since Tag Wars 2008.
When we got to the event I instantly noticed a big difference in the venue change. The last event was at the Michigan State Fairgrounds. This was in a theatre that was holding the Detroit Symphony Orchestra on one side and the other was pro wrestling. I laughed at the demographics on the orchestra side, filled with people in their late 50s and on compared to the ROH crowd of twenty year olds and kids.
I pre ordered 2 General Admission seats at the $10 price. The place was almost sold out with at least 600 people there. The crowd was hot and the action started promptly at 8pm.
The show opened with the crowd standing and cheering. In the opener, Colt Cabana faced off with Rhett Titus in the first SOTF qualifier. This was just a comedy match with the crowd joking with Cabana and having a good time. One thing that must be said is the Cabana needs to tighten up his punches. Titus won the match by putting the ring bell in the corner and using a drop toe hold on Cabana. His elbow clearly hit the bell but he sold it as his head. Titus advances to the finals
Next match pitted Claudio Castagnoli defeating Grizzly Redwood to advance in the SOTF final match. This match was almost a squash with Redwood getting little offence in.
After this was another SOTF finals qualifier as Kevin Steen beats Kyle O'Riley to advance. This match was stiff as they come. Steen threw O'Riley around like a rag doll but he also gave Kyle enough offence to make him look like a contender. After the match, Steen went nuts and went after the fans and was gonna smash O'Riley with a chair but Corino told him that he is going too far. Steen then attacked O'Riley which lead to El Generico coming out and fighting Steen. Steen and Corino get the best of Generico and STEEN HITS A DEATH VALLEY DRIVER FROM THE APRON THROUGH A TABLE ON THE FLOOR!!!!! Unbelievable!!!!
Adam Cole upsets Steve Corino and advances to the SOTF finals. Good match but crowd wasn't into Cole too much.
The match before intermission had ROH TV Champ Eddie Edwards make ROH Tag Champ Chris Hero tap to advance to the SOTF finals. The match was great and went back and forth. No one knew who would win. This match wasn't MOTY quality but it was worth the money I paid.
Intermission with ROH announcing they are returning to Dearborn on April 29th. Tickets were on sale at the merchandise counter for that event. They also announced that due to Steen going nuts, he was handcuffed backstage and the cuffs will be kept on him till the SOTF finals match
After intermission, the final SOTF match took place as Kenny King defeats El Generico to advance to the finals. Generico came out to the ring with his ribs tapped. King worked the whole match on the ribs and won. Generico got a round of applause after the match.
Homicide beat Andy Righe in the 3rd trial series. Andy looked good but Homicide beat him up pretty bad
The 1st of 2 main events happened as Christopher Daniels and The Briscoes beat Roderick Strong, Zach Gowen and Michael Elgin in a 6 man tag. Gowen and Elgin were subs for Josh Raymond and another guy. Elgin was pushed to the moon in this match. He looked like a million dollars as an unbeatable force. All three babyfaces sold for Elgin and made him a star. This was a great match with Daniels pinning Gowen for the win.
In the main event, Eddie Edwards defeated Kenny King to win the SOTF tourney and a shot at the ROH champ in the future. The story was that Edwards during the match, had to go to the back because of a "shoulder injury". The crowd booed this and called Edwards lots of names. A few minutes after Edwards went to the back, he returned and helped King pin Castagnoli. Edwards then made King tap. This match could of gone either way. I wish King would of won. He is a star.
Order of Elimination:
*Steen eliminated by Claudio Castignoli after Generico attacked Steen, Steen was eliminated within 15 seconds of the match.
*Adam Cole was eliminated by Rhett Titus.
*Rhett Titus was eliminated by I think Eddie Edwards.
*Claudio Castagnoli was eliminated by Kenny King.
*Eddie Edwards eliminated Kenny King to win SOTF and the huge trophy.
All in all a great event. This was not as good as Tag Wars 08 but that had MCMG against Age of the Fall, and Ibushi and Kenta teaming against The Briscoes, but you had a lot of outside talent on that..
ROH always put on a great show. Hope they grow from here and continue with success.
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