ROH on HDNet Recap
November 16, 2009
ECW Arena, Philadelphia
Commentators: Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak
Report by: Anthony Valvo of WrestleView.com
The show begins with a small tribute to Bryan Danielson’s excellence. This will be one of many reminders that his ?Final Countdown? tour ends tonight.
Enter the musical theme that needs a lot of work.
After the song, we are welcomes by our commentators for the evening. They discuss the tonight’s main event and share their thoughts about Bryan Danielson. We get into the action at this time.
Match #1: Chris Hero (w/Shane Hagadorn) vs. Delirious
As Delirious was getting ready to enter the ring, Sonjay Dutt attacked him from behind. After a few punches, Dutt whipped Delirious off the ring post and then does his bow thing. Shane Hagadorn makes himself useful and pushes Delirious into the ring. Finally, our match begins with no code of honor.
Chris Hero starts this match off by stomping an already grounded Delirious. Hero tries for the quick cover and gets a two count. Delirious is then dumped onto the floor. Hero then rolls him up inside the floor mat and Hero hits him with the senton. We go back into the ring and for another cover. Hero with a stomp and an elbow. Hero then chokes Delirious with the ropes and stomps him some more. Hero then picks up Delirious and slammed him down on the mat. Finally, Delirious comes back fighting with some chops. Sadly, Hero was quick to recover and hit Delirious with an elbow. Hero then nails Delirious with a chop on the corner and starts choking Delirious with some tassels that are on the top of Delirious? mask.
I then was distracting with one of those ?bottom line? scrolls and it states that Jim Cornette will establish a ranking system for Austin Aries? ROH World Title. That should be interesting.
Hero then gets Delirious up and hits him with an elbow and then once again does a senton in the center of the ring. Hero then held his opponent down with a chinlock, but Delirious quickly recovered and chopped him again. Hero recovered and with an elbow to the back of the head (ouch) and attempts a pin cover. Hero then pulled Delirious to the center and hits a couple of ground elbows. Hero then executed a low drop kick, moved Delirious so his head was outside the ring, and hit Delirious a boot to the side of the head. After Hero dominated the match about 95% at this time, Delirious finally got in some offense with a countered head scissors takedown. Hero stopped the momentum once again with a running elbow. Hero then lifted Delirious up and threw him down with a released atomic drop (I think it is called that) and tried to cover for the win.
Hero then slapped chopped once again and slapped Delirious in the face. Delirious then counters Hero’s offense with another head scissors takedown. Delirious then did a drop toe hold and then held onto Hero with the Cobra Clutch. Hero broke this hold by moving to the corner. Delirious went off on Hero, attacking him at the corner and then hit is running knee to the corner (known as Panic Attack). Delirious then tried to prepare for Shadows over Hell, but Hero moved out of the way and hit Delirious with a discuss elbow. Hero covered but did not get the three count. Hero then delivered a couple more elbows, but Delirious countered with a backslide for a two count. Once Hero got up, we got our?
Finish: Hero nailed Delirious with the Rip Cord Rolling Elbow and gets the pin fall victory.
Winner: Chris Hero
Grade: C. I was not impressed. I was more impressed with Dutt’s early attack honestly than seeing the moves in this contest. It was too repetitive. How many elbows did Hero use? Where was Eddie Kingston to be a possible distraction? I was just entirely confused with the flow and chemistry in this match. Hopefully these two can rebound next time.
After the match, Sonjay Dutt stands over Delirious? body and taunts him a bit. Hero leaves the ring with Shane Hagadorn (who looks like a doofus with a tassel wrapped on top of his head.
More Main Event Hype: Roderick Strong vs. Bryan Danielson
Bryan Danielson in a taped segment talks about his #2 moment in ROH, and that was a 60-minute draw in Gut Check 2006 against Colt Cabana. During the match, Bryan separated his should, but gutted out and was able to defend his ROH Title.
Coming up Next! The first beard vs. beard match on HDNet
Match #2: Necro Butcher and Grizzly Redwood vs. Joey Ryan and Prince Nana (w/Ernie Osiris)
The rules: If Necro and Redwood win the match, Osiris is shaved clean on his face. If Nana and Ryan win, then Redwood’s glorious beard meets his match.
Streamers all around for the Embassy by the way, a far cry from where they were with the toilet paper weeks ago. The ref told Necro to ditch the staple gun, so Necro gave it to a front row fan.
No Code of Honor here as Redwood and Ryan start. Ryan begins with a club to the back of Redwood. Redwood came back with a flying head scissors takedown. Redwood then executed a couple of nice armdrags and delivered a boot. Necro at this time is chasing Nana, which Nana left the ring and ran away. Necro now is tagged in and face-raked Ryan. To the corner we went and Necro chopped him a couple times and then ripped some of Ryan’s chest hair (ok??). Necro then did a back body drop on Ryan. Redwood is tagged back in and he punched away and then delivered a very nice springboard ax punch. Redwood continued to punch Ryan a bit, but then got sidetracked and wanted a piece of the Prince. Nana escapes once again. Redwood punched out Osiris and now those two are chasing each other. Redwood is back in the ring and Ryan nailed him with a powerslam for a cover of two.
Prince Nana is finally in the match and clubbed and chopped Redwood. He tagged Ryan back in and he punched the lumberjack around a bit. Redwood came back with punches, but Ryan got the upper hand when he nailed Redwood with a very nice dropkick. Nana was tagged in after that and hit Redwood with a kick, snap mare, and then tagged Ryan in again. Ryan booted Redwood and tagged in Nana again. Nana grabbed Redwood by the beard and took him down. Nana then tried to go high-risk, but Necro was shaking the ropes and caused Nana to fall knee first. Necro and Ryan tagged in and Necro just completely punched out the entire Embassy. Necro then nailed Ryan with a hard punch for a cover of two. Ryan, out of nowhere, hit the superkick on Necro. Redwood wants some of Nana and Ryan clubbed him in the back. Joey Ryan then went off the ropes and hit Necro with a mid rope suicide dive, taking out Necro. Redwood is in the ring now with some ax punches for all Embassy members. Redwood then takes the suspenders off, but Ryan rolled him up for a cover. However, we get our surprise of the night?
Finish: Grizzly Redwood off the top rope hit a perfect Tornado DDT and covered Joey Ryan for the victory!! Redwood’s beard is safe!!
Winners: Grizzly Redwood and The Necro Butcher
Grade: C+. This match actually had a nice story. At least they built this up for a bit with The Embassy bullying Grizzly for months. If this ended the feud, then kudos to Ring of Honor for putting Redwood over here. Other than Prince Nana, the wrestling was actually pretty good considering this is clearly out of Necro’s element. The moves were done well and the finish was great. Overall, a solid performance in this contest.
After the match, Osiris tried to run away, but Necro chased him back in the ring with a staple gun. Redwood then applied the sleeper hold on Osiris and let the shaving begin! Redwood and Necro cut Dirty Ernie’s beard off with scissors. Redwood even got cut Ernie’s hair as well. All Nana and Ryan could do is watch.
We cut to a clip in which the crowd is chanting ?We will miss you? to Bryan Danielson.
Bryan Danielson then discussed his greatest moment in Ring of Honor. It was against KENTA at Glory by Honor V: Night Two. Danielson remembered how KENTA was kicking the crap out of him and almost beat him with the armbar. However, Danielson fought back and won the match via Cattle Mutilation.
We go back to last week where we were reminded that Austin Aries did a despicable act! He lit a piece of paper in front of Tyler Black’s eyes. Colt Cabana and other came in for the save, which takes us to this:
In two weeks on HDNet: Colt Cabana vs. Austin Aries
Last month flashback time! Remember when Kenny King and Rhett Titus took Jerry Lynn out with a spike piledriver? Well, Brent Albright remembered! Next week, Albright will take on King one-on-one.
We then had a taped Kenny King interview. King thinks the locker room is jealous of his ability to be the best. He then told us there is only one King?and we are looking at him.
Finally, back to some action. Uh-oh it is the Skullkrusher!
Match #3: ?Skullkrusher? Rasche Brown vs. Cameron Matthews
We did get a Code of Honor shake here because Brown is a generous man. The bell rang and Brown started punching! He sent Matthews to the corner and chopped him. Brown then hit the move of the night, the spinning delayed suplex! After a failed cover, Matthews started punching away. Of course, Brown no sold that. Brown runs him over with a BIG shoulder tackle. Finally, Mike Hogewood slapped his porpoise?
Finish: Torture Rack into The Burning Hammer by Brown. This squash is complete.
Winner: ?Skullkrusher? Rasche Brown
Grade: D+. These are how squash matches should be. Among all the squash matches this teacher has seen this here, Brown just looks the part. He is way more intimidating than ECW’s Kozlov and Vance Archer. Too quick of a match, but it accomplished a lot. Well done, Skullkrusher.
We have more build-up for tonight’s main event. They show many highlights during the six month HDNet run for Danielson, all good memories. However, he did not win much of them. That disturbed me a bit.
Now, Bryan Danielson’s last match in ROH is about to begin!
Match #4: Roderick Strong vs. ?American Dragon? Bryan Danielson
Of course, Danielson is showered with many streamers. The crowd thanks Bryan for his work the past seven years. One could even see the emotions running in Bryan’s face; he looked really touched by this. We get the Code of Honor and the match begins.
We started the match up with a tie-up. Strong applied a waist lock, but Bryan takes him down with the head scissors. The hold was broken. Then both challenged each other to a Greco-Roman knucklelock in which Strong took an earlier advantage. Strong tried to put his body on top of Bryan (weird moment there) to add more leverage, but Bryan did not budge. The hold is broken and Strong was able to hit a dropkick. Strong then applied a headlock, and then applied a side headlock on the mat. Bryan rolls over and actually was able to cover Strong for a two count. Both men are us and Strong puts Bryan down with the shoulder tackle. Bryan then did a front roll up move and kicked Strong’s chest hard! Bryan then held the arm and locked it in. Strong tired to break it up a couple times, but failed to do so. He finally was able to get the upper hand by using the backbreaker on Bryan and got a cover for two. Strong then hit Bryan with another backbreaker and kept the action on the mat with a waistlock. Bryan got back up and moved to the corner of the ring. However, it was Strong was dished out the chops (three of them). Strong then taunted a little bit and came back with a chop and some stomps off the corner.
Strong then held Bryan down with this innovated back stretch and laid him down for a cover. Strong continued to stomp on the back of Bryan. Bryan came back with some punches, but Strong sent him down on the mat once again with a leg lariat! Strong now has Bryan in a full nelson, but this time his legs are locking in Bryan’s arms. Bryan then got momentum into a back stretch, but Strong was close enough to get a hold of the ropes. Strong gets back up and clobbered Bryan with a chop! Then Strong with a punch and another chop. Bryan is starting to ?Hulk? up. Strong then quickly hit him across the chest with two more chops. Bryan then snapped and started punching away on Strong. Then he used some knee strikes into a victim kick across the back of Strong. Bryan then attacked Strong at the corner with a couple kicks and knees. He then hit Strong with a low running dropkick. Wow, they closed in on Danielson and his chest is as pink as a rare steak right now.
Strong was able to get in a punch, but Bryan still carried this momentum on with a clothesline, followed by The Mexican Surfboard. Strong was able to break the hold and Bryan got a cover down but only received a two count. Strong gets right back up and kicked Bryan Enzugiri-style and turned this into an Ura-Nage Backbreaker! Strong attempts the pin but does not get the win. Strong whipped Bryan into the corner and Strong nearly killed Bryan with a Pumphandle Backbreaker! Strong goes for another cover and still can?t get the win. Strong sets up a back drop, but Bryan kicked him across the chest and delivered a running forearm. As soon as Bryan was in the air for a missile dropkick, Strong caught him and set up the Boston Crab. After Bryan rolled up Strong again, the match continued.
Strong tied to do a crucifix pin, but Bryan countered this into a hurricanranna and then held in the Triangle Choke on Strong! Strong was struggling, but got a hand on the ropes and rolled out of the ring. Bryan tried to do a suicide dive but he met Strong’s elbow instead. Bryan then attempted and got in a kick and a baseball slide to Strong. Strong landed over the barricade and into the top row. Bryan sensed the perfect opportunity to then soar with the Springboard Splash into the crowd! After a 7 (out of 20) count by the official, the match was back in the ring.
Bryan delivered a missile dropkick and a flying knee strike! He attempted Cattle Multilation, but Strong rolled him up for a two count. Bryan came back quickly and hit a shoulder tackle. Strong then applied the Boston Crab out of nowhere, but Bryan countered this by the triangle choke once again! Strong now looked desperate to break the hold that he even had Bryan up in the air and delivered a powerbomb! Still, Bryan did not break. After about thirty seconds, Strong broke the hold with yet another backbreaker.
Both men are back up and we get back and forth chops. Bryan then broke the sequence with some knee strikes, but Strong reversed the momentum and hit his second Ura-Nage Backbreaker! Strong then got him back up and nailed him with a double-knee backbreaker and was only able to get a two count by the referee. Strong then set up Bryan for the superplex, but Bryan escaped and kicked Strong to the back. Bryan then has the advantage and delivered a perfect belly-to-back suplex off the top turnbuckle! He then sets up for and sank in CATTLE MUTILATION!! Suprisingly, Strong was able to break this and he got in a gutbuster. He then hit Bryan with the Gibson Driver for a cover of two.
We are back to the top of the turnbuckle and both men look spent. Strong could not do the super backbreaker, as Bryan was punching away at him. But finally, The Dragon (sadly) had to be slayed on HDNet?
Finish: Roderick Strong with a hard kick at the top of the buckle and hit a Super Top Rope Gutbuster and a Running Boot! The pin count reached three. The Countdown is at zero.
Winner: Roderick Strong
Grade: A-. Love the chemistry these two wrestlers had. They really did bring in the typical ?A? game. Though I have seen better in regards to Danielson, I thought this was Roderick Strong’s best performance on HDNet. He really nailed his spots and his moves were done cleanly. Don?t get me wrong, Danielson was great in this match. However, one must see his matches with Tyler Black and that 4 Corner Surival Title Match earlier to see the best in ?The Dragon?. Overall, I was real impressed with the main event. The only thing I would have changed was that Danielson get put over, which somewhat upset me a bit. I mean, Nigel loses and now Bryan? Where is the loyalty? Well, I guess it is something minor, but good luck to Bryan in his new endeavor with the WWE. I am sure Hunter, Dave, or Mike will enjoy the recaps when he is on the card.
After the match, Roderick told Bryan thank you and if it was not for ?The Dragon?, half the roster would not even be there. The locker room circled around the ring after that while the crowd chanted ?Thank You Dragon? once more. The show ends with Bryan Danielson holding the mic (I really wish I knew what he said).
Quick Results:
Chris Hero def. Delirious.
Necro Butcher and Grizzly Redwood def. Prince Nana and Joey Ryan in a Beard vs. Beard match. Osiris was shaved.
?Skullkrusher? Rasche Brown def. Cameron Matthews.
Roderick Strong def. Bryan Danielson.
Brown’s Burning Hammer on Matthews Slapped Hogewood’s Porpoise
Overall Thoughts
From top to bottom, I could not complain about this. The main focus was the departure of Bryan Danielson, and they did a great job building this up for the past few months.
This was really wrestling heavy tonight. Heck, we did not even see Kyle Durden get teased by a heel wrestler. What we saw was a decent (but disappointing) opening bout. ROH ended to a pretty long feud involving Redwood, Necro, and The Embassy in a very original matter. We also got a good squash out of this. The main event told a great story and showed off Danielson’s skills in only under twenty minutes, but still the emotion was truly there and it was a good, raw way of treating a wrestler with the highest respect.
So, did I enjoy the show? Yes, I did! Is it worth a point or two in the power rankings? It is possible. ECW was not that great and Raw was pretty good. I will have to figure all that out after watching the other three shows before week’s end. Good Night Everyone!!
Overall Grade: B- (There were no promos other than taped ones which is why the grade is slightly lower).
Mister V’s Pick Three of the Week
Wrestler of the Night – Roderick Strong
I know I did not want him to come out on top, but I am glad it was someone like Strong. He went toe-to-toe with one of the best wrestlers in the world and he came out on top. I think he is going to go places and by beating Danielson, perhaps Roderick may be one of the top three contenders for Aries? ROH Title.
Disappointment of the Night – Chris Hero
Look, I know the ?elbow? thing is what he does. However, too much of a good thing is not really a good thing, am I right? I blame this one solely on booking. Let Hero be more creative in the ring (if he can at least).
Surprise of the Night – Grizzly Redwood
In the WWE or TNA, he would not even be acknowledged. But look at this guy and tell me he is not entertaining in the ring. Plus, the gimmick fits this guy to a science. Now the reason he was on here was because of the finish to his match. Without reading the spoilers, how many of you thought that Redwood would be the pin fall and not Necro? That Tornado DDT was just fantastic to watch and kudos to Joey Ryan for taking the bump. Remember, it takes two to tango.
Well, I hope that you enjoyed my recap this week. If you want me to continue the recaps or want to talk wrestling, please send me a line at mistervwv@hotmail.com. I bid you good night and I hope you have a nice weekend.
Thanks for reading this recap. See you next week.
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