1. I’ve gotten on Hogwood and Prazak for their commentary snafus over the past couple of weeks, so I feel inclined to give credit where credit is due. Kudos for pointing out that, while the Briscoes normally use a springboard Doomsday Device to put away opponents, they used a normal, off-the-top one this time, due to Mark’s still-healing knee. And of course, kudos to the Briscoes for making that slight change to their offense.
2. Nice return to tag team action for the Briscoes. I was glad that ROH resisted the urge to have them return with little more than a glorified squash (as is often the case with returns from injuries), but opted for a good, quality, competitive match with King and Titus instead. ROH has been building King and Titus as a credible team, and it would have been a shame to bury them here. As it was, both teams came off this match better than they were before it – the Briscoes get an impressive win in their return, and Rhett & Titus kept up with two lynchpins of ROH’s tag team scene. The post-match brawl with the Briscoes, the American Wolves and Steen & Generico was also a good way to emphasize the importance of the tag titles.
3. My first impression of Eddie Kingston (in the ring, at least) was not a good one. His look would never be confused as “good,” between the belly and the patchy chest hair. And his spinning backfist to finish the match against Sal Rinauro was so bad that Awesome Kong was embarrassed for him. I hope he’s a hell of a brawler, or my expectations for his impending match with Chris Hero aren’t very high.
4. I liked the video package that at first looked like it was going to hype up Tyler Black for tonight’s main event, but turned into a short piece putting over Bryan Danielson as one of the best in the world. Danielson has been a Ring of Honor mainstay from the promotion’s genesis, and deserves as much praise on his way out the door as they can possibly heap upon him.
5. I didn’t enjoy McGuinness’ squash of Aaron Scott. Even as far as squashes go, it was quite dull. I do, however, enjoy the fact that McGuinness is still selling his recovering torn biceps by wrestling a more ground-based, submission-based style, as opposed to his usual lariat-heavy repertoire. It is little nuances like that that separate very-good-to-great workers from simply good ones. And again, in the spirit of giving credit where credit is due, props to the announce team for pointing it out.
6. I am curious to see what Jerry Lynn has left in the tank in this ROH run. He shouldn’t get any more title reigns (even the one he did get may have been one too many), but if he still has enough left, he can be a solid contributor to the roster. ROH will have to start building new upper-card guys sooner rather than later (more on this below), and Lynn has the credibility from his work with ECW, TNA, and (to a far FAR lesser extent) WWE to help the company do just that.
7. Why did the play-by-play announcer say that Tyler Black has tremendous agility “for his size”? At a listed 222 pounds, he is not exactly a super-heavyweight. But yes, he did show some pretty impressive offense tonight, including a pretty swank standing Shooting Star Press.
8. Usual solid TV main event by ROH. They told some nice stories, with the craftier Jerry Lynn using his savvy to keep up with the more spry and physically capable Tyler Black, pacing himself and waiting to unleash his heavier offense. They also continue the story of Black “taking his eye off the ball”, which ultimately cost him the match. Of course, if this story does not end with Black finally NOT taking his eye off the ball, it just makes him look like a doofus.
9. Tonight’s show wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t as good as the previous prime-time editions of ROH on HDNet. The opening match (probably the best of the night) and the main event were good, if not great, but the middle part of the show was REALLY lacking.
10. If I get the opportunity, I may go into more detail regarding my opinions on Danielson’s and McGuinness’ departures from ROH as we get closer to those fateful days, but here is my QnD on it: This is a classic win-win-lose situation. WWE wins, as not only does it get two high-quality talents, but it does so at the expense of a potential competitor. Danielson and McGuinness win, as they get the chance to attain financial security and the opportunity to apply their trade in front of a much larger audience. Sure, they will likely have to tone down their styles to fit their new employer, and they may or may not get a fair shot to get over (these are lengthy debates best left for another time), but they have probably considered those issues and have assumed the risk. ROH is the only loser here, as in one month, it will have to fill two gaping holes in its main event scene.
