[2009-10-12-ROH-HDNet] Chris Hero vs KENTA

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[soup23]

This feels like the best case scenario match for Jim Cornette's vision of Ring Of Honor. Stiff strikes, state of the art action harking back to the territory days with a faster space and more emphasis on big moves but still with a focus on counters and stiff strikes. Throw in some outside interference with Kingston coming out, SDR and Haggadorn doing some things, and a loaded elbow pad, and you have a 2009 studio match. I did appreciate that this match didn't stray too ridiculous besides the running corner front kick exchange. Each mistake resulted in a transition into the the other competitor taking advantage. Some of the kicks and elbow strikes here were just filthy and gave the match an intensity that it needed to rise above generic indy dream match affair. ****

[WingedEagle]

This started a bit slowly for me as it didn't seem like they were on the same page. Back and forth offense without any real transitions, and it seemed like Hero was just beginning to figure out what has become his current in-ring approach. Things picked up when KENTA forced the pace as Hero was great putting hit offense over. Some nice near falls down the stretch featuring some great trading of strikes that really turned up the heat. Would like to see current Hero vs. this KENTA. ***1/4