10 Thoughts on ROH on HDNet 11.29.2010 feat. El Generico, Eddie Edwards, and Homicide vs. Necro Butcher

Reviews, Shows, TV Shows

First things first – Go check out Kyle Sparks’ review for the full blow-by-blow. We’re not allowed to fly together, you know. Because if something happened, who’d take care of you? Oh, yeah, someone else, who probably spares you the lame jokes.

Wait, what? Oh, yeah, thoughts. Yeah, I got ’em. Ten of them!

1. Strange, rambling promo by Homicide to open the show, conjuring up memories of the Ultimate Warrior! OK, it wasn’t that mind-boggling, but the rambling part is true. At least he took the time to focus on the big picture, and mention that this match is but part of his quest towards the title.

2. Once again, a fantastic promo by Corino to help build anticipation for the final Steen-Generico match. His line that Generico shouldn’t sacrifice himself for fans that don’t care about him reminded me of Foley’s ECW promos towards Tommy Dreamer back in the day (not nearly at the same level, but . . .). The ensuing “match” and beatdown had pretty good heat, too.

3. I agree with Kyle’s comment from last week about “Brutal” Bob Evans. At first, I thought his presence would really add something to Mike Bennett’s character, but the Mickey outfit looks too silly and gimmicky. I’ll reserve ultimate judgment, but the kid got enough build-up that he would have been better off debuting on his own, with Evans just being a part of his back story.

4. Speaking of Bennett, I was quite impressed by him on the microphone. He was very comfortable and had a good delivery. He’s probably better in that aspect than at least half of the ROH roster right now. If he’s good in the ring (he looked competent the only time he appeared on HDNet, but wasn’t allowed to do much), I’ll be more than willing to buy into his hype.

5. If Daizee Haze thinks she had del Rey beaten when time ran out last week, why wouldn’t she just challenge her to a one-on-one rematch at Final Battle, instead of saying she’s going to go find del Rey more competition? Just seems to make more sense. Hey, at least the New York folks get Amazing Kong out of it. And if the wrestling gods love me, del Rey’s partner will be Melissa Anderson.

6. Rhett Titus showed further development tonight in carrying Jon Davis to a watchable singles match. Titus clearly carried the action here, and bumped his ass off to make Davis look like a threat. And hey, who doesn’t love the ROH debut of the Zack Attack (Ryder’s finisher)?

7. Really good promo from Eddie Edwards to hype the tag title match in Plymouth, but why is he referring it to his and Davey’s last hunt? If they win the titles in Plymouth, wouldn’t there be more hunts in their future in the way of title defenses? And if the belts are on the line, isn’t this business as well as personal? Whatever. Promo was nice.

8. There was nothing wrong with the tag match, but if the purpose was to make Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly look strong, as I presume, the mission was not accomplished – other than their winning the match. The match was fine, if non-descript, but it wasn’t really a showcase for the victors, and really, beating Mike Sydal and Grizzly Redwood is nothing to brag on Twitter and Facebook about.

9. Between the losses the last couple of weeks and announcers’ mention of the Embassy’s recent struggles, it looks like ROH is teasing a break-up, or at least a phase-out, of the group. As I’ve said before, I do think the group’s run its course, but I hope this doesn’t lead to Erick Stevens getting lost in the shuffle. I like his work, even if slimming down was detrimental to his look, and think his match with Davey Richards next week could be really good.

10. I was ready to write off this week’s show when the main event got off to a really slow start, but Homicide and Necro picked up the pace towards the finish and the result was a solid, if unspectacular, brawl to end the show on a good note. The in-ring action this week was pretty blah, but the strong promo work from several guys was commendable.