1. It’s hard to buy Hogewood and Prazak selling Erick Stevens as a powerhouse, even among ROH’s smaller wrestlers, when he has dropped so much weight. I still dig his work in the ring, but I think slimming down has made him look pretty generic.
2. Not a particularly good opener from ROH tonight, as it’s once again been confirmed that the Dark City Fight Club usually needs to be in there with a “better” tag team in order to have a decent match (and Stevens & Necro, as a unit, are NOT it). The DCFC have really managed to get over, though. I think this was the best reaction I’ve heard them get on HDNet.
3. Really strong promo from Aries tonight, as he went away from his usual comedic style and showed a more intense side of himself, which was consistent with his demeanor later in the show.
4. I assumed that this show was intended to occur in a post-Glory By Honor universe (yes, I know it was taped before. I am familiar with ROH’s taping schedule), so I wonder if Corino’s run-in after Cabana’s match means that the feud is going to carry through the end of the year. I’ve loved the work of the four men involved, but just don’t see what’s left for them to do to each other.
5. With Homicide returning and Davey Richards staying, ROH’s top-level babyface situation, which seemed to be pretty tenuous just a couple of weeks ago, now appears to be on solid ground. With Roderick Strong having won the ROH World Title, the timing couldn’t be better. I know there had been some speculation of this being a relatively short title reign, but now I think they should run with it for a while – especially with Strong’s “new” character still having room to grow.
6. Wow, Charlie Haas is looking JACKED these days. I don’t know what his and Benjamin’s plans are for the future, but I’m sure I’m not alone in being OK with seeing them become ROH regulars (though I think there could be some upside to a Team Angle reunion, if booked properly).
7. My point from last week about the House of Truth was illustrated when next week’s main event was announced, as it’s difficult to perceive the House of Truth as being on the same level of the four other men in the match (Strong, Daniels, and the Briscoes). I expect the match to be good and the House of Truth to carry its weight, but nothing ROH has done so far on HDNet would lead me to believe Strong’s team isn’t at a huge disadvantage. Maybe this is where they turn the corner.
8. The main event cage match was another good, but not great, match in the Aries vs. Delirious series. I do have to give them extra credit for the creative finish, however. The Cobra Stretch on top of the cage looked pretty damn cool.
9. I liked the post-main event beatdown by the All-Night Express, as it served two purposes. In “real life”, it gets Delirious off screen (at least for a while) and allows him to transition into the booking role. In storylines, it allowed King and Titus to show a more vicious side, which serves them well considering that ROH seems to be getting behind them as a tag team.
10. Not a particularly good show tonight, with a decent main event and mostly forgettable everything else. On the positive side, it looks like ROH is wrapping up some current storylines and transitioning nicely into new ones, highlighted by a relatively fresh World Title scene. I can get behind that.
