1. I always hate it when babyfaces are made out to be complete dolts. Regardless of what Dark Helmet taught us, why must evil prevail because good is dumb? That’s why I liked it when Tyler Black showed an edge by saying that, had he noticed Aries hopping on the apron last week, he may have acted differently . . . or he may not have.
2. The exchange between Black and Roderick Strong was pretty painful. I initially thought Roderick was so bad that it made Tyler look good, but they were both equally shaky. And the only guy in the ring who can talk (Cornette) understandably stayed out of it.
3. Steve Corino looks even worse physically than I thought he would. A singlet would probably be a much better idea than regular trunks for him. Again, I hope he is in ROH to mostly manage Kevin Steen, and maybe wrestle the occasional tag match with him (but not too often, as it wouldn’t make too much sense to break Steen out of a tag team only to put him in another one).
4. Corino and Steen’s match against Dempsey and Payne was little more than an extended squash, but an entertaining one, thanks mostly to Payne. I was worried when he blew a couple of spots to start, but he got some good “hope” offense in and sold the beating he received like a complete champ. Now that was some fine jobber work.
5. Amazing promo by the Wolves to hype their match with the Young Bucks. No one uses the popularity of MMA to build their character like the Wolves do. Their aura, their intensity, and their focus on kicking a**, not because of some contrived storyline, but because it’s their job and they love to do it (you know, like real fighters) . . . it works perfectly.
6. The Dark City Fight Club’s promo, on the hand, wasn’t nearly as good. Just generic angry yelling into the microphone. They’re a good piece of the puzzle in the ROH tag team scene as the “powerhouse team”, and better teams can look good by beating them if they continue to be booked as a threat, but I have no interest in seeing them hold the tag titles.
7. Aries pointed out something I noticed during the opening segment: it almost seemed like Cornette was coaching Black – trying to get him to stay focused on this weekend’s title match. This is a subtle way to add some intrigue to the match. Why wouldn’t Cornette, as the show’s Executive Producer (and therefore motivated by ratings and, ultimately, the bottom line), want the belt around the waist of the fan favorite?
8. I liked the tease of the same finish as the previous match between the Wolves and the Bucks, only to see the Bucks counter out of it this time. One of my favorite bits of storytelling in wrestling is when wrestlers demonstrate evolution by countering out of something they’ve fallen for in the past, or learning to prevent a counter to a move that’s been countered in the past (See Stone Cold’s use to the Million Dollar Dream, from Hart to Rock to Angle).
9. The tease to a Wolves breakup may have begun tonight, as Richards and Edwards seemed displeased with each other post-match (Hogewood teased it as well). With the Briscoes busy with the Kings of Wrestling, it may be as good a time as any to at least test the waters. I wouldn’t go as far as to predict a Richards vs. Edwards final to the TV Tite tournament, but I do think one of the two will win it.
10. Solid show overall this week. The main event wasn’t going to be as good as the last time these two teams fought on HDNet (which was awesome), but it was still a damn good match. The main event to this weekend’s big show received the proper amount of hype. The tag title division was once again put over as something important, and a couple of storylines were advanced. Most importantly, none of this was accomplished in a way that made me want to throw a brick through my TV screen (a feeling I get occasionally while watching WWE or TNA – mostly TNA).
