Well after a week of pre-emption we have another installment of Ring of Honor Wrestling on HDNet. Tonight’s show has the old standard known as a Flag Match plus much more. Read on to find out how tonight’s show turns out…
The show starts with a rehash of the main event from two weeks ago and the miscommunication between Tyler Black and Bryan Danielson that cost them the RoH tag team titles held by the American Wolves.
Flag Match: Claudio Castagnoli (SUI) vs. Brent Albright (USA)
The rules for this one are a little different. The winner is the first one to get to the entry way, retrieve their respective flag and bring BOTH FEET back into the ring…odd. I guess sometimes it is too cheap for an indy fed to get two flag poles. The match does take long to get to the floor and Claudio is the first one to pull down the Swiss cross. This match kind of bugs me because more so than most flag matches this is extra disrespectful since they are both fighting while holding the symbol of their respective countries. I don’t know much about Swiss flag etiquette, but I do know that the Stars and Stripes is not supposed to touch the ground. It does here…ugh. Claudio makes it into the ring first, but Albright stole the Swiss flag, hit Claudio with a cross body while holding Old Glory for the win. This was a stupid, stupid, stupid, match. Technically it was sound and the competition was good, but what a dumb freaking premise.
Winner: Brent Albright via ring entry
We go to the back and Kyle Durden is with Roderick Strong and Jay Briscoe who argue about who is better as their match tonight is the third singles match they have had recently, and they are tied up at one apiece. That was actually a solid bit.
Dlo Brown vs. Alex “Sugarfoot†Payne
Sugarfoot actually gets entrance music. We get a quick spot in the back with Dlo refusing to cut a promo. Why did they show it then? If you guessed extended squash for this match… You’re not mentally challenged in anyway. Congrats. Dlo wins with a powerbomb. And we get a “slap the porpoise.†There is a sick part of me that wants to see Mike Hogewood call an “American Dolphins†match.
Winner: Dlo Brown via pinfall
Durden is backstage with Edding Kingston and asks him why he hates Chris Hero. Not surprisingly, Eddie Kingston cuts an awesome promo about why he hates Hero. It’s mostly for holding him down.
We get a graphic for Austin Aries, Rhett Titus and Kenny King vs. Jerry Lynn, Erick Stevens, and Kenny Omega
We get an installment of “The Art of Professional Wrestling with Colt Cabana.†Colt is there again with Brent Albright who has his lapel mic taped to his chest. They use this segment to shill some RoH merchandise. It’s great that Colt gets some time to talk.
We then get an ad for the shows next week in Toronto with Bret Hart on Friday and Ric Flair on Saturday. They should be fun.
Even more highlights of the tag title match from two weeks ago.
We also get new footage of Aries winning the title again.
Six Man Tag Match: Austin Aries, Rhett Titus and Kenny King vs. Jerry Lynn, Erick Stevens, and Kenny Omega
No ring entrances for this one. They start by running through the pairings just like every other multi man tag match ever in history ever. The heel team cheats continuously. The babyfaces try so very hard to get an advantage, but are very dumb. Welcome to Memphis, ladies and germs. Aries does a good job of showing fear of Lynn. Either it is because he doesn’t want to lose the belt back to him if you accept that he is champion, though he wasn’t when this match took place… Or he doesn’t want to give too much away because he doesn’t want to be scouted because he hasn’t won the belt yet. As I said, this is a Memphis match with new school moves and spots. It is fun, but not much more than that. Aries clobbers Jerry Lynn with the belt, but somehow that allows Erick Stevens to hit the Choo Choo and the elevated clothesline on Rhett Titus for the win. It was a fun match with an odd finish.
Winners: Erick Stevens, Jerry Lynn, and Kenny Omega via pinfall
For some reason we get highlights of the American Wolves winning the tag belts from several weeks back. It hypes KENTA, Steen and Generico vs. The American Wolves and Chris Hero.
Main Event: Roderick Strong vs. Jay Briscoe with Mark Briscoe
These guys had a kickass opener at Stylin’ and Profilin’. You can follow the link to read my review. This match starts out extremely slowly. The pace picks up pretty well, though. They tell a story of even wrestlers, and given their history, that is in no way a stretch. Roddy is well on his way to establishing himself as one of the best hands going. If he could learn to work the mic he could go on to be a decent star. The fans are absolutely dead for this match, which is really hurting it. A hot crowd supporting what is happening would give this match that something extra. Roderick eventually gets the win with the Strong Hold. This match was really hurt by the DEAD crowd, but it was still pretty damn good.
Winner: Roderick Strong via submission
We close the show with Nigel McGuinness cutting a promo about the promo he is going to cut next week… OK
Big Andy Mac’s Big Andy Final Thoughts: This show was just really kind of there. The matches were ok, but nothing was moved forward at all. It almost seemed like it was an RoH DVD.
I’ll see you next time…
