Welcome back to another Monday night for ROH on HDNet! We had last week off for Labor Day (BOO!) and this week I am absolutely sick as a dog. So this ought to be quite entertaining. Hopefully I can stay conscious and not vomit during the course of the show because I’d really hate to miss anything. Now that we’re set with that mild downer of an intro, here come the plugs!
For Your Reading Pleasure:
*As always, Ricardo Rochetti does his typically phenomenal job of encapsulating my thoughts and opinions on all things ROH.
*Mark Allen checks in with his usual excellent recap of the past week in WWE.
*Will Pruett discusses the poor use of talent by TNA Wrestling and the general overbooking that tends to plague the promotion.
*Finally, Raffi Shamir looks on the bright side of life and professional wrestling!
There now. That was fun, wasn’t it? Now, let’s get down to it! HERE COMES THE RUSH!
**We open with an interview with…Grizzly Redwood? But the segment is immediately saved by AUSTIN ARIES! With a t-shirt that says “make awkward sexual advances, not war.” Love it. Aries realizes that Grizzly is the only professional lumberjack in Ring of Honor, and tries to convince Grizzly to lay the boots to Delirious if he gets thrown out of the ring. Since Grizzly’s a straight-up guy, he abides by the Lumberjack Code, and naturally gets jumped from behind. Aries promises that Delirious will pay for the choices he’s made, and that Daizee Haze will pay as well.
We cut to the opening sequence, and your Hosts are, as always, Dave Prazak and Mike Hogewood.
**From there, we go right to the ring, where Rhett Titus is on his way to the ring, to go one-on-one with “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels!
**”Addicted to Love” Rhett Titus (w/ Austin Aries) vs. “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels
The crowd naturally greets Rhett with chants of “Hepatitis.” Ah, Philly, you won’t ever change. The crowd is naturally way behind Daniels. Lockup to start, and Titus gets backed into the corner. Clean break by Daniels. Another lockup and Daniels grabs a side headlock and wrenches in. Titus shoots him off and a leapfrog, but Titus finds himself back in the headlock. Titus shoots Daniels into the corner, but is backdropped out, hits a right hand, and Titus actually comes out on top of a wrestling sequence. Color me shocked, as Daniels looks a little disgusted. Titus grabs the side headlock, and Daniels shoots him off, with a leapfrog of his own, ducks a clothesline and knocks down Titus with the shoulder block. Titus tries to drop down, but Daniels stomps him face first into the canvas and adds some jabs for good measure. Whip in, and Daniels just decks him with a leg lariat. Running forearm in the corner, and a whip across reversed by Titus, but Daniels gets a boot up on the charge. He goes up top, but Titus hits a gorgeous dropkick to knock Daniels to the floor where Aries is waiting and simply tosses him back in where Titus gets 2. Kneedrop gets 2. Titus grabs a choke and catapaults Daniels into the bottom rope and hammers away. Daniels lands some blows to the midsection, but walks into a spinning neckbreaker for 2. Daniels gets sent into a corner face first and clotheslined for 2, and Titus grabs the rear chinlock. Daniels elbows out but gets clubbered to stop the momentum. Series of reversals leads to Daniels hitting the running STO to recover. Whip in by Daniels and he gets a back body drop and a spinwheel kick. Superkick and Titus blocks a vertical suplex, then fights out of the Angel’s Wings. Daniels gets an iffy hurricanrana and locks in the Koji Clutch and Titus taps! But in some iffy production, Todd Sinclair wasn’t clearly around. Aries runs distraction, Titus hits a Sky High for 2, but Daniels reverses Splash Mountain, sending Titus into Aries. Daniels hits a uranage slam WITH AUTHORITY and the Best Moonsault Ever for the 3 count. Daniels motions for the belt, post-match.
Christopher Daniels def. “Addicted To Love” Rhett Titus via Best Moonsault Ever in 7:37.
This was a solid opener, and I always love seeing Christopher Daniels. Rhett continues to be a pretty damn good hand, silly gimmick aside, and hopefully he and Kenny will see some Tag Team elevation sooner than later. **
**We pimp the upcoming interview with Davey Richards that aired at Glory by Honor IX, and then head right back to the ring!
**The House of Truth (w/ Truth Martini) vs. Ricky Reyes & Aiden Chambers
Chambers offers a hand but Raymond isn’t interested. A couple hammers to the back and the HoT celebrates, but Raymond runs into a spinwheel kick for 2. Quick double team sees a quebrada/wheelbarrow suplex get 2. Able in now and snap mares and stomps Chambers. I never thought I’d say this in a wrestling column, but Able needs new fishnets. A slightly contrived series of dropdowns leads to Able colliding with Raymond and Reyes gets tagged in and cleans house on the HoT. Low bulldog on Raymond, but a vertical suplex is countered, but Reyes hits an enzugiri and a falcon arrow for 2. Philly chants for the House of Truth. Raymond holds on off a whip, and sends Chambers into the post, and Chambers eats the HoT’s wheelbarrow/super rocker dropper finisher (as yet unnamed) for the 3 count.
The House of Truth (Christian Able & Josh Raymond) def. Ricky Reyes & Aiden Chambers via Wheelbarrow/Rocker Dropper Combination in 2:49.
I love the HoT, but this was just ugly. They really aren’t big enough names yet to be winning squash matches, so it just seems awkward and forced. On the other hand, both teams seemed crisp, and I suppose that’s all you can ask for. *1/2.
**Coming up next, Jim Cornette’s interview with Davey Richards that aired at Glory By Honor IX. And now, a promo for the replay of Glory By Honor IX. If you haven’t seen it, it’s definitely worth the $15, available at GoFightLive.tv.
**From the Pink Studio, we cut to the pre-taped interview with Davey Richards from Glory By Honor IX. It was a great interview, and something that I definitely enjoyed watching. The basic end result of it is that, contrary to previous reports, at the end of the year, Davey Richards isn’t going anywhere. He needs to be a World Champion, and won’t leave until he achieves that.
**The American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) vs. The Super Smash Brothers (Player Uno & Player Dos)
Oh yeah. Give this 15-20 minutes and I’m a happy guy. The SSB haven’t been seen much on HDNet, and I hope this means we’ll see more of them, because they’re a great team. The SSB don’t get an entrance. That can’t be good. Player Uno plays with a roll of streamers as the Wolves pose. The Wolves are CRAZY over, naturally. Davey and Uno start. Davey grabs a headlock to start, and Uno shoots him off and a shoulder block goes nowhere for either man, until Davey finally goes down. Criss-crossing ends with Uno hitting a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Richards, and the SSB hit a diving plancha and a tope con hilo on the Wolves. Dos rolls Richards in for 1, and tags in Uno. Sidewalk slam, springboard reverse DDT combo gets 2. Davey starts throwing bombs and takes out both men, but gets shoulder blocked in the midsection by Uno, who misses a blind charge, and Richards just kicks Dos’s face off. Uno knocks Edwards off the apron, but turns around into a missile dropkick allowing Edwards to tag in and hit a clothesline for 2. Chinbreaker and Dos tags in, and a double chop and a moonsault/fistdrop combo gets 2. Uno tags in again, and Edwards just decks him with a couple kicks and tags in Richards. Uno boots Richards off a charge, but gets a boot to the midsection and a top rope double stomp from Edwards for his trouble for 2.
Edwards continues to work over Uno in the corner and hits a great snap suplex for 2. Richards in again and stomps away. Rolled through russian legsweep into a…submission of…some sort…but Richards breaks and picks up Uno who fires of a couple of forearms. I know Uno is bigger, but I don’t think he wants to trade strikes with Davey Richards. Running forearm and the running clothesline gets countered into a snap downward spiral. Edwards comes in to prevent the tag, but he gets countered and the tag is made. Dos hits a crossbody on Edwards, but meets a boot from Richards. Dos cleans house on the Wolves and hits a swinging DDT for 2 on Richards. Richards rolls through an arm drag but misses a charge and takes a release dragon suplex for 2. Edwards in to save and takes over, but Uno pulls down the top rope and hits a moonsault off the apron to keep Edwards down. Back in the ring, Richards goes for the handspring enzugiri but gets met with a delayed german suplex and eats a gory special/rolling ace crusher combo for 2 as Edwards saves. Edwards hits a flying knee to Uno to send him outside and tags in officiallly, hitting a running forearm and a fireman’s carry into a facebuster and a shining wizard for 2. Wow, this is going too fast to type when I’m healthy…
Dos goes for a hurricanrana but is caught, and Edwards goes for the Achilles Lock but it’s countered. The two trade big boots, but Dos eats the Alarm Clock and the superkick/german suplex combo for 2. The Wolves get Uno out onto the floor, but he distracts Richards long enough for Dos to hit a reverse hurricanrana on him to take him out, and Edwards eats a half nelson suplex by Uno for 2. Dos goes up top but misses the frog splash. He superkicks Richards but gets decked with a lariat, and the powerbomb/lungblower for 2, and Edwards cinches in the Achilles Lock for the tap out.
The American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards (W) def. The Super Smash Brothers (Player Uno & Player Dos (L)) via Achilles Lock in 10:26.
Good grief, I could barely keep up with that match. As I said, I don’t know if I could keep up with it healthy, much less sick. As it is, GREAT showing for the Super Smash Brothers against the former ROH World Tag Champions, they looked like they really belonged and endeared themselves even more to the ROH crowd. Unfortunately there were some selling issues and an overall disjointed feel that kept it from REALLY getting to that next level. ***1/4.
**Now we get a video package detailing the Delirious/Austin Aries feud. Fun fact: According to some of the sheets, the original plan for Glory By Honor IX was Aries vs. Delirious, with Daniels making the ROH World Title match a 3 way, but with Delirious taking over the book, the change was made. Hey, I liked it just fine that way, so why not.
**Austin Aries vs. Delirious – Lumberjack Match
According to the write-ups for this TV taping, the lumberjacks are: Sid Reeves, Necro Butcher, Erick Stevens, Mr. Ernesto Osiris, Bobby Shields, John Kermon, Alex Anthony, Shawn Daivari, the Dark City Fight Club, Rasche Brown, Grizzly Redwood, The Bravado Brothers, Bobby Dempsey and Andy Ridge. The list seems incomplete because I see Slyk Wagner Brown out there too.
Aries out first, and tonight, it’s RED POISON DELIRIOUS. No Daizee Haze either. Delirious clearly means business. Delirious goes for the choke off the bell, but Aries takes control and hammers away but Delirious no sells and goes for the choke again. Aries continues to hammer away, but Delirious fights back with a series of knife-edge chops. Aries fires back with a couple of strikes and Delirious drives Aries into a corner a chops away. Delirious goes off the ropes but gets a knee to the midsection. Aries follows up with a kick and pounds away on Delirious. Delirious counters the brainbuster and Aries avoids the cobra stretch, but walks into a choke bomb. Aries rolls out to the floor on a heel side of the ring, and the heels take Bobby Cruise’s chair and massage Aries to make sure he’s okay. Brilliant. Delirious with a couple of knees to the midsection, but Aries goes to the eyes and backs Delirious into the corner and tosses him out. Onto the babyface side. This seems to fly in the face of the stipulations a bit. Delirious throws Aries out onto the heel side and dropkicks him to the floor. Aries rolls back in and Delirious hits a couple of headbutts, but Aries SCORES with the backrake, and follows it up with the shinbreaker/back suplex combination. Aries hits a bottom rope springboard knee and a scoop slam for 2. Diving european uppercut to the back gets 2. Figure four stump puller by Aries, but Delirious escapes and bites the leg until Aries breaks it up with a shot to the back and a running kick. Delirious ducks a clothesline and a schoolboy roll-up for 2. Delirious goes for the backslide, and they fight over the move until Aries sends Delirious over the top rope to the apron and snaps Delirious’ throat off the top rope and hits the Heat Seeking Missile onto Delirious and the face lumberjacks.
Back in now, Aries with some open handed strikes to Delirious in the corner, but charges into a drop toe hold into the middle buckle. Delirious goes for the Panic Attack, but Aries follows him in with the I.E.D. Aries goes for a suplex, but Delirious counters it into a neckbreaker. Delirious laying in the forearms and a chop, and a back body drop as the Lizard Man is building momentum. Fireman’s carry, and Delirious drops him and hits the running senton. And then hits 2 more of them for good measure. Delirious with a low downward spiral for 2. Delirious goes for mounted punches in the corner, but Aries tosses him to the outside. Grizzly Redwood tosses Delirious back in as Aries is about to fly, so Aries simply changes flight paths and lands on a headbutt to the midsection. Another headbutt and both men are down. Delirious up first and misses the Panic Attack. Grizzly throws Aries back in the ring into a cobra clutch suplex. Panic Attack connects, and Delirious goes up for Shadows Over Hell, but Aries rolls out to the heels, so Delirious simply dives onto ALL the heels, naturally.
Of course, as with most lumberjack matches, all the lumberjacks wind up brawling with each other, Delirious rolls back in, only for Rhett Titus to come in with a kneedrop off the top onto Delirious. Aries hits a lifting inverted neckbreaker for the 3 count!
Austin Aries def. Delirious via lifting neckbreaker in 11:10.
I’m not really sure how to feel about this. These two seem to have okay chemistry, but not spectacular, and this match was solid, but at the same time, it felt like it kind of meandered. The lumberjack stipulation was utterly unnecessary if it was going to wind up with interference at the end anyway, but I suppose they needed some way to keep it going until they could blow it off next week. **3/4
**Next week, Aries vs. Delirious in a cage match! Win. Although, I’ve seen enough live shows. If that’s a 15 foot cage, I’m the size of The Undertaker.
Let’s add up the numbers. If my math is right, on a 50+ minute show, there was 32:03 of wrestling. There was a great tag match that could be the Super Smash Brothers’ coming out party, a solid Lumberjack Match, and a nice Christopher Daniels outing as well. Solid show. Overall, probably in the B range somewhere.
As always, thanks for reading, never hesitate to hit me up with any comments questions or anything else and I hope to see everyone next week!
