Background: In an effort to establish some type of title ranking system, ROH instituted the Pick 6 Challenge where up to six wrestlers who win special sanctioned Pick 6 matches are placed in line for a future World title shot.
ROH on HDNet
Philadelphia, PA
November 6, 2009
Roderick Strong vs. Davey Richards
Both men jockeyed for a real advantage. Strong was aware of Davey’s counter kick out of the arm bar. Reversals of holds galore here, but nothing kept the other down. The leg lariat from Strong did knock Davey off his feet after Richards pushed him off the ropes. Davey escaped to the floor, going chop for chop with an in-chase Strong. Strong won the battle, attempting to whip Davey into the barricades afterwards. Davey reversed it, sending Strong into the steel. Davey followed up by using a running big boot that forced Strong to sit with the fans. Davey lost his advantage when the action returned to the ring after Strong chopped him to the outside again. Davey caught Strong’s incoming baseball slide, DDT’ing Strong on the thinly padded concrete. Strong somehow made it back in before the twenty count. Davey didn’t let up by kicking Strong in the chest to set up for something off the top rope. Strong stopped Davey with an enzuguri. Superplex by Strong hurt both men. Davey and Strong pulled themselves up in opposite corners. Richards and Roderick both were thinking big boots, leading to a strike war in the ring’s middle. Davey won with the spinning back kick. Strong avoided Davey’s flying forearm, using a falcon arrow to get a near fall. Richards tried to get a running start off the back kick when Strong picked him up, but Strong stopped that with a dropkick. Davey blocked the gut-buster, kicking Strong until he was stuck against the ropes. Roderick reversed an Irish whip, only for Richards to use Strong’s counter to execute that handspring elbow.
Stuck in the corner after kicking out of Davey’s pin, Strong tried to catch the incoming Richards with another enzuguri. Davey was ready, ducking then kicking Roderick in the face. Missile dropkick from Richards only gets him a two count. Davey was on the hunt as he grabbed Strong. Strong got behind Richards, leading to a series of near fall exchanges. Davey and Strong tried to throw bombs in hopes of dropping the other, but both ended up downing themselves after double clotheslines. Struggling to their feet, forearms started to be thrown. Davey used the ropes to keep himself vertical after Strong converted those forearms to chops. Kawada kicks from Richards stunned Strong. Richards took a few more chops after yelling at Strong to bring it. Davey’s response-kicking Strong on the head. German suplex by Davey only gets him a two count, so Davey floated over into the Texas cloverleaf. Strong made it to the ropes to save himself in an amazing show of heart. Davey found Strong on the apron, so Davey decided he wanted to use the DR Driver from Strong’s new position. Strong stopped that from happening with another enzuguri. Strong hoisted up Davey, using a backbreaker via the side of the ring. The half nelson backbreaker by Strong in the ring couldn’t finish off Davey. Richards stopped the gut-buster/yakuza kick combo by catching the kick, then head and arm suplexing Roderick. Davey hit the ropes, only to run into the yakuza kick. Strong jumped on top of Davey, but couldn’t hold him down for those precious three seconds. Richards turned Strong’s Gibson Driver into a roll up. Strong kicked out, running into the Alarm Clock. Once again, Davey got hit with an enzuguri after missing the elbow. Strong used the gut-buster to set up the Gibson Driver to earn his spot in the Pick 6.
Winner: Roderick Strong (16:09)
Is It A Classic: These two had absolutely fantastic chemeisty that would only get better with time. While it doesn’t rank near their best encounters, for a TV main event this was exceptional.
