Hey! I’m FINALLY back for ROH on HDNet! I haven’t abandoned you guys, I promise! As a result of acting, an out of town wedding and a variety of factors, I have been out of commission for nearly a month. Apparently no one else at The Pulse gets HDNet. I feel so warm and fuzzy to know how valuable I am. If you didn’t miss me, too bad. At least my cat loves me.
Anyway, I’m back now and will be for the forseeable future, and look forward to a great night of action on HDNet tonight! We’ve got a great one-on-one main event with Christopher Daniels and Roderick Strong in non-title action, what should be an excellent match between Kevin Steen and El Generico’s handpicked opponent!
Reading is FUNdamental
Lots of plugs to make today, so let’s just dive into it!
*Ricardo Rochetti is always a phenomenal read, and he’s done a great job keeping me up to speed on the ROH on HDNet shows that I haven’t been able to see these last few weeks.
*Pulse Glazer checks in with his new daily Backlash format articles one of which recently featured yours truly. Today, he checks in with grades from TNA’s big PPV, Bound For Glory.
*Will Pruett is, as always, a pleasure to read, and his check-in regarding what it means to be a wrestling fan, is great reading.
*Versus makes its glorious return with the aforementioned Will Pruett facing off with the great Raffi Shamir.
*And FINALLY, Chris Morgado discusses the concept of wrestlers as actors as pertains to promo skill and the like. And given his credentials, I would wager he’s an infinitely better actor than I am.
Wow. Deep breath. That was a lot of links. Well, I’ve got to give you SOMETHING to read, don’t I? Gotta make up for that absence somehow. Now, on to the show! Here comes the rush!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmT5ylpk_LA
Man, that video makes me miss Jimmy Jacobs and, oddly enough, Sami Callihan. It’s a shame Sami didn’t really ever connect. Fun fact, I’m pretty sure I was at the show most of the match footage was taken from, in Chicago. Pretty sure it was End of an Age (6/27/09); great Tyler Black vs. KENTA match on that show. Anyway…
Your hosts, as always, are Dave Prazak and Mike Hogewood.
**Back from the title sequence, we briefly pimp tonight’s main event before going to Shane Hagadorn in the ring. Sure enough, he calls out Davey Richards, and here he comes. Yeah, this could end really badly. I agree with Hogewood that this is crazy. Davey comes out looking like a sociopath anyway. Would YOU want him mad at you? The crowd is clearly on Davey’s side and wow, from the profile, Hagadorn has really slimmed down. Hagadorn takes credit for every bit of success Davey had, since he, you know, handles his contracts, etc. The crowd just hates Hagadorn. I’m so glad he’s still around as a manager. He’s grown leaps and bounds. He accuses Davey of poisoning Eddie’s mind because Davey is “the alpha male.†He’s a little too short and white for that, but hey, why not. Hagadorn says that both of them will fail without him. He says he’s willing to forgive the wolves, but they need to do the right thing and let him do his job, or Davey is going to get his ass beat. Davey decides to do the right thing and make the first move, leading to the Kings of Wrestling running in for a 2-on-1 beat down, and we have our dream match. Eddie in for the save and draws a nice pop himself. Why ROH isn’t building to this for Final Battle instead of a weird six man, I have no idea. The Wolves fight off the Kings, and we have our official face turn.
**To the back with Christopher Daniels. Daniels says he underestimated Roderick Strong with regards to the depths Roddy was willing to sink to, and as a result, he’s lost twice. Right now for Daniels, it’s about payback. He declares when he does beat Roderick, he will earn his title shot. And that is the gospel according to the Fallen Angel.
**In case you weren’t aware, ROH is on Tour this fall! Like always. This Saturday night in Chicago, Christopher Daniels fights Davey Richards. And I can’t go due to a performance. That makes me a sad panda. But if you’re anywhere near Chicago, find a way to get there. It will be outstanding.
**Two weeks ago, the All Night Express took out Delirious with their wheelbarrow spiked piledriver. Austin Aries puts them over in the back. Aries says the charisma and entertainment is over. Now they’re going to be ruthless and violent. Love it. Let’s make all this happen. Kenny King says that Aries has turned sex machines into killing machines. It used to be about how many girls they could lay, but now it’s about how many guys they can lay out. Bravo.
The All-Night Express (Rhett Titus & Kenny King) vs. The Dark City Fight Club (Jon Davis & Kory Chavis)
The ANE’s interview says “serious business†but Rhett’s black fur vest says “entertainment value.†Matching tights are a good thing. The DCFC unfortunately just aren’t connecting with the Philly crowd. The people just don’t seem to care, which is sad, as they’re a passable power team. Aries consults with the ANE on the floor. King will start against Davis. Lockup, and Davis backs King into the corner. Clean break and another lockup that sees King grab a wristlock and ring the arm. Davis counters out nicely into a series of arm drags, but King puts a stop to it and grabs a side headlock. He gets whipped off into a big shoulder block. Chavis tags in and the DCFC take over with double teams leading into the running decapitation leg drop for 2.
Big chop by Chavis, and swings at Titus as well. King reverses a whip and charges but gets backdropped to the apron and punched to the guardrail. Titus adds the cheap shot allowing King to slide in and take over. Titus tags in and a double team bodyslam coupled with a springboard legdrop/splash combo by the ANE gets 2. Titus rakes the eyes across the rope and distracts referee Todd Sinclair allowing a choke by King. King tags back in and hits their double-team charging clothesline for 2.
Titus tags in again and hits his gyrating suplex for 2, broken up by Davis. Titus grabs a chinlock, but Chavis elbows out, and ping pongs back and forth throwing haymakers at both of the ANE. Off an official distraction, Chavis gets pulled to the floor by King, and the ANE runs him into the apron and hits a nice double enzugiri for 2. King tags in, saying “Game over.†King’s spinwheel kick gets caught and turned into a blue thunder bomb by Chavis in a nice spot, drawing a DCFC chant. Davis tags in, as does Titus, and Davis is a HOUSE OF FIRE. Back body drop and a clothesline that sends Titus to the floor. King takes back over, but eventually gets caught in a running powerslam. Titus is back in now (the legal man), and gets caught in a nice spinebuster and Davis takes out the ANE for 2. DCFC with a double team tilt-a-whirl into an ace crusher for 2. Titus tags in King and they hit a slingshot blockbuster combo for 2, broken up by Chavis. King hits a nice handstand enzugiri to take out Chavis, and Davis misses a corner charge but gets hit with double knees by King who turns into a high angle spinebuster by Chavis. Chavis gets dropkicked by Titus, who in turn gets POUNCED by Davis (period), but King rolls up Davis for the 3 count!
The All Night Express (Kenny King (W) & Rhett Titus) def. The Dark City Fight Club (Jon Davis (L) & Kory Chavis) in 8:42 via schoolboy roll up.
This took a little while to get going, but it was a surprisingly good tag match that I wasn’t really expecting to be that good going in. The DCFC did their thing with the the power game, and King and Titus sold everything quite well. Kind of a shame that ROH doens’t seem to have anything for the DCFC, because they’re a pretty solid power team, as I say. (**1/4)
**In the back, Roderick Strong and Truth Martini. Martini discusses what a shame it is that leaders lie to people. What really happened at Roswell? Who shot JFK? With the light of the Truth, Roderick shall overcome. Essentially, Roderick will prove once and for all that he’s the better man tonight.
**When we come back, we show Truth helping Roderick and the House of Truth defeat Christopher Daniels and the Briscoes 2 weeks ago.
**Back to the ring where Kevin Steen enters first. God, I love his music so much. Just because I’m in such a generous mood:
**Generico and Cabana are out next to reveal Steen’s opponent. Colt says that Cornette said they couldn’t choose themselves, or they would have. In a great twist of fate, Colt and Generico choose…Steve Corino. Colt and Generico sit ringside to watch and offer commentary on the house mic.
**Steen gets on another mic and knocks out the official. Steen intimates that ROH has been trying to censor them from the get-go, despite it being their greatest platform for exposure. Steen says there is no way he will ever fight Steve Corino. Corino says no one should care that “the golden boy†is leaving, because Steen and Corino are the ones that draw the money. Steen at this point quits Ring of Honor, and the two men walk out through the crowd! I gotta say, I didn’t see that coming.
**That slightly rattling—though very well executed—segment takes us into another commercial to pimp this weekend’s ROH shows in Dayton and Chicago. If you haven’t bought your tickets, Chicago will be great, and Dayton won’t have a bad little show either.
**Back from the HDNet “commercials,†we recap what just happened a minute or two ago. Back to the pink studio, Hogewood is OUTRAGED. Meanwhile, Prazak says that it’s a huge loss to ROH. Now, a video package detailing Roderick Strong’s build and title win at Glory By Honor IX. We come back to Roderick in the ring. I guess that’s how we’ll get over him not coming out with the belt. Why not. However your taping schedule is making your World Champ look bad by not allowing him to have an actual entrance. Maybe it’s just me that’s bugged by that.
Non-Title Match – ROH World Champion Roderick Strong (w/ Truth Martini) vs. “The Fallen Angel†Christopher Daniels
Staredown to start, and a lockup. Strong grabs a headlock and gets countered, but then backs Daniels into the corner off a lockup and hits a chop. Daniels responds, and Roderick fires back with more of his own. A striking match definitely favors Roddy, but Daniels breaks it up with a knee and sends Strong into the opposite corner and then they hit a third where Strong lays in some chops. Daniels breaks it up with a snap mare and a choke. The hold gets broken and Strong sends Daniels back into a corner with more chops and whips him across, before getting backdropped to the floor. Daniels scores with a tope suicida to the floor and sends Strong into the guardrail. Strong fires back with more chops and pounds away on Daniels on the floor, but Daniels counters and pounds away himself with forearms, before breaking the count. Strong meanwhile is able to recover with a boot to the midsection and the two are just exchanging forearms on the floor. Daniels pitches Strong in, drops a knee and runs Strong into all four corners, sending down Strong, allowing Daniels to add a kick to the back. Strong goes to the trunks to send Daniels to the apron and the two exchange forearms and Strong blocks a turnbuckle ram and counters with an enzugiri. Daniels sends Roderick into the ringpost back first and we have a bit of a break.
Strong follows Daniels outside and adds a kneelift, as well as a back-first ram into the ring apron. Strong lays the chops in on the floor again by the timekeeper’s table, which he uses as well. Strong just pounds away with punches to Daniels, dropping him again as Referee Paul Turner’s count hits 14. Strong rolls in Daniels for 2, but grabs a reverse bearhug. Daniels almost elbows his way out but gets met with a traditional backbreaker for 2. Strong grabs a bodyscissors as Truth reads excerpts from The Book of Truth (available soon, I hope!) to Roddy (or possibly Daniels). Daniels counters a backbreaker into a headscissors for 2, but Strong backs him into a corner and fires off another chop. Back to the center, Strong adds a vertical suplex for 2. Strong grabs a seated abdominal stretch, honestly not applied very well. Daniels slides out and Strong breaks to jaw with the crowd.
Strong backs Daniels in again and lays in with a couple more chops. Daniels fires back periodically and starts building a comeback, stopped with a schoolboy for 1 which Daniels reverses for another 1 count, but Strong is able to catch the Strong Hold! Daniels gets to the ropes, and Strong holds on as long as he can to do a little extra damage. Strong picks Daniels up and seats him up top, looking for the turnbuckle backbreaker. Daniels elbows out, and goes for a cross body but rolls through and gets a series of knockdowns culminating in his Running STO and a series of mounted punches as the crowd is back in. Daniels sends Strong in for a Blue Thunder Bomb for 2, and signals for the Angel’s Wings. Strong counters with a backdrop, but runs into a boot in the corner. Strong however catches a dive into the uranage backbreaker, and the fireman’s carry into the gutbuster for a long 2. Strong hits his running enzugiri in the corner and now is able to hit a second rope side-slam for 2.
Daniels counters the Gibson Driver, and hits a moonsault into an inverted DDT. And frankly, does it far better than that one guy in TNA. Daniels charges, but Strong catches him in a hip toss, and both men fall to the floor. Roddy appears to be having trouble getting up, but here comes The House of Truth! Truth goes up top with the book, but gets crotched on the top rope, and Daniels sends Truth flying. Man, Truth bumps like a champ. Daniels has the book, but turns into the Sick Kick! Paul Turner counts, but sees the book! Turner asks the crowd if Strong used the book, and the distraction is enough to allow Daniels to recover! Daniels catches Strong with the uranage slam and the Best Moonsault Ever for the pinfall!
Christopher Daniels def. ROH World Champion Roderick Strong via B.M.E. In 14:18.
Iffy ending to what was an excellent match between two top guys. It sets Daniels up as a major World Title contender—as though he wasn’t already—and there was enough controversy and oddness in the booking that it keeps Roderick looking fairly good in the booking. I don’t really like the champion jobbing in his first singles appearance since winning the belt, but ultimately, they were booked into a bit of a corner because putting Roderick over clean would kill any momentum to see a PPV match between the two. As it was, great free TV main event. (***1/2)
**Daniels celebrates with the crowd as we fade out to our next week promo.
**Next week, Tyler Black’s final appearance on ROH on HDNet. It’ll be Tyler Black vs. Davey Richards. Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes! I’ve never been so excited for a Monday.
Let’s add up the numbers. On a 50+ minute show, there was 23 minutes of wrestling. That 2 matches went for 23 minutes, I’m pretty on board with. I’m disappointed with the outcome of the Kevin Steen segment in that there wasn’t a match, but the interview portion was handled tremendously well, and I’m definitely intrigued to see where it goes next. In all, it was 2 good free TV matches, a GREAT one coming next week, and a good segment that’s building towards a match I desperately want to see at Final Battle. Hard to complain. Overall, I’d give this one a solid B/B- or so.
As always, thanks for reading, thanks for putting up with my issues, I’m glad some of you–hopefully most of you–are back. Never hesitate to hit me up with any comments questions or anything else and I hope to see everyone next week!
