1. Ricky Reyes has looked pretty good the couple of times he’s appeared on HDNet. I don’t know if they just can’t get him booked on a regular basis, but he is as good as some of the guys that get on the show pretty frequently. I’m not saying they should push the guy to the moon, but they could at least make him the 60th member of the Embassy.
2. I’m guessing the point of the opener was to have Generico look strong leading up to Final Battle, especially considering he hasn’t wrestled on TV much as of late. If that’s the case, I’m not sure how having Generico sell Reyes’ offense for a couple of minutes before finishing with the Yakuza Kick and Brainbuster accomplishes that. I mean, it wasn’t bad, but Generico should have looked stronger.
3. Nice dig from Hogewood and Prazak at the most recent incarnation of ECW. Was it too easy? Probably. But it had to be said.
4. I had really low expectations when Corino first returned to ROH, but I have to admit that he has surpassed them. His mic work has been gold, which I thought it would be, but I was dreading seeing him get in the ring, given how out-of-shape he looks. But in all honesty, while he hasn’t been putting on instant classics, he’s more than held his own. Tonight’s match with Jerry Lynn was no exception.
5. Then he put his thumb up Jerry Lynn’s ass (no, really) and lost all the goodwill he had gained from me.
6. The Tyler Black-Davey Richards interview package was AWESOME. Just good, UFC-style promos from both guys, with a good mix of being “real” and in character. Even Black, by being able to be himself instead of playing a character, came across pretty well. If the goal was to make me want to buy the iPPV, it worked.
7. As a longtime (well, since 2002) mark for AJ Styles, it warmed my heart to hear Black list him as one of his influences. Maybe if Black continues to work hard and reach for the stars, he too can sign on with a bigger promotion and eventually be booked as a second-rate impersonator of a former great . . . oh, sorry, this isn’t a TNA column.
8. My only complaint? Black talking about “tearing the house down” with Davey. I don’t like it when guys talk about match quality on TV. I think it affects the viewers’ ability to suspend their disbelief. We want to feel as though we are watching a real competition. A fighter’s goal should be to beat his opponent, not to go out and put on an entertaining match. You think Mike Tyson back in the day wanted to go out and have a 12-round, Rocky Balboa-style epic with his opponents? No. He wanted to knock guys out as quickly as he could.
9. Black vs. Aries was good (Black’s spotty selling of the leg aside), but these two seem to have far better matches against other guys than they do against each other. They’re still skilled enough that they have good enough matches together (Final Battle 2009’s one-hour atrocity aside), but they don’t seem to have the chemistry to really tear the house down.
10. Good show tonight. The first two matches were entertaining enough, the awesome Steen-Generico feud was adequately showcased, the Black-Richards interview package was amazing, and the main event, while not great, was certainly good. No dead spots. A definite thumbs up!
