So here we are with week 2 of Ring of Honor Wrestling on HDNet. The first show was a ton of fun and you can read twenty different thoughts from Bones Barkley and Pulse Glazer. Let’s go into the show.
The show starts off with a breif recap of the main event from last week with Tyler Black defeating Jimmy Jacob. Then we are treated to a brief talk from Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak. This segment should be cut. These guys really don’t look right together. Hogewood is old, and Dave is weird looking. They hype the main event of Jay Briscoe vs. Nigel McGuinness. Then we are underway…
Kevin Steen vs. Eddie Edwards with Larry Sweeney
As with the matches last week, these guys get brief 15 second promos hyping who they are and what they are about. The show does need more Sweeney, but Steen proves he can cut the short promo with the best of them. The matchs starts out as Steen’s greatest hits. The man they call Mr. Wrestling certainly is not what most fans are accustomed to from their wrestlers, but he shows he can go which will hopefully convert the doubters thrown off by his prominent posterior. Edwards regains control and goes through “how to be a heel 101.†They go back and forth and Steen continues to run through his impressive offense. Brief aside: Larry Sweeney may be the sweatiest man alive. Steen gets his package pile driver for the win. Eddie Edwards did not get nearly enough in during this match to make him seem like he was one half of the biggest threat to the tag belts, but Steen looked like an absolute force.
Winner: Kevin Steen
We go backstage to Kyle Durden with Nigel McGuinness. McGuinness puts himself over and puts down Jay Briscoe. This show is thus far almost identical in format to last week’s. Oh and Nigel will kill Jay Briscoe.
Daizee Haze vs. Sara Del Rey
This match is part 347 in a best of 801 match series. Daizee is currently down by 346 but she is hoping to make a strong comeback. Daizee should never talk…ever. Del Rey probably shouldn’t either, but Del Rey uses “Ride of the Valkyries†as her entrance. The estate of Richard Wagner is so gonna sue RoH. You would think that after wrestling each other 347 times, they would have some chemistry, but that is not the case. The Royal Butterfly (delayed double underhook suplex) for the victory to mercilessly put this puppy to bed and give Del Rey a 348-1 lead in their 801 match series.
Winner: Sara Del Rey
We go back to Kyle Durden again and he interviews the Bricoe Brothers. The Briscoe brothers speak unintelligibly about being good at wrestling or something. Sadly, this schtick should totally get over. They are not like anything on TV right now. They do say, “Man Up†about four times too.
We come back from commercials with Durden once again with Prince Nana. Nana brings the awesome and hypes the debut of Bison Smith.
Claudio Castagnoli vs. Alex†Sugarfoot†Payne
Claudio informs the fans, “Ich bin der Grossartige Schweizer.†That means he is the magnificent man from Switzerland. He is also very European. This is your squash match for the week. Sugarfoot actually gets a couple of surprise rollups and stuff, but otherwise Claudio just beats the poop out of him. Payne shows his share of resilience, but eventually succumbs to the hop up European into the Ricola Bomb.
Winner: Claudio Castagnoli
Now is as good a time as any to talk about Mike Hogewood. He does a decent enough job, but he absolutely buries Sugarfoot in this match and calls Claudio a Swede. He is a fine commentator, but I don’t know if he is the right fit for RoH.
Main Event: Nigel McGuinness vs. Jay Briscoe
Jay Briscoe is in his Apollo Creed trunks for this one and Nigel apparently only has one pair of wrestling trunks, or 1000 versions of the same pair. This match more than anything previously shown is the type of thing you can expect from an RoH show. It starts with the mat wrestling and builds from there into strikes and big moves sprinting toward the finish line. Nigel gets the big win with the Jawbreaker lariat. Still Jay Briscoe looked legit to the new fans.
Winner: Nigel McGuinness
We close with hype for next week featuring Brian Danielson vs. Austin Aries. If you follow RoH you know that is reason enough to tune in.
Big Andy Mac’s Big Andy Final Thought: I really have to ask myself, what is the purpose of this TV show? I honestly don’t know. They are showcasing the talent, but other than knowing that Nigel McGuinness is the world champ and Kevin Steen is one half of the tag champs, a fact we did not know until this week, I do not know who the big stars are. I only know that Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black are in a feud because I was told they are. The match they had gave me no indication. There have yet to be any storylines in earnest on any of the shows, especially tonight when Eddie Edwards and Kevin Steen could have put heat on their tag title feud. Instead, Steen basically squashed Edwards. As a new fan I have no reason to invest in any of these characters. This show embodies every unfounded criticism that people have had of Ring of Honor giving them edification that they need not watch a show with no characters or storylines. It is only week two, but this week was identical to last week with only names and faces changed. The wrestling was absolutely as good or better than what WWE and TNA put out, but love them or hate they try to give you a reason that wrestler A wants to beat up wrestler B. RoH did not insult my intelligence once, though. So that is good. Either way I will be back next week with another look at Ring of Honor Wrestlingon HDNet.
I’ll see you next time…
