ROH on HDNet Recap
November 9, 2009
ECW Arena, Philadelphia
Commentators: Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak
Report by: Anthony J. Valvo of WrestleView.com
Sorry again about the tardiness. No excuses, I was just lazy. Sorry?
The music begins with the same stuff. This needs to change.
We immediately go to the ring where we hear a funky, generic theme song. It is time for Austin Aries to grace his presence in the ROH ring. He waited for some peasant to hold the ropes for him because, well, champions deserve that treatment. He goes on saying there are two types of people. There are champions like the Pittsburgh Steelers (Gold Star on Thursday for that Aries), Nigel McGuinness, and Bryan Danielson. And there are dynasties, like the New England Patriots, and the ONLY 2-time Ring of Honor champion Austin Aries! He then talks about the ?good, but not great? people like the Philadelphia Eagles (cheap heat there), Roderick Strong, Kenny Omega, and Colt ?Boom Boom? Cabana. He says those people will never be champions. Even Tyler Black! Black, in Aries? words, is good but will never be a champion. He talks about how Black wants to take a plan out of A Double’s book and hold his own lottery. So he wants Tyler Black to come to the ring and supervise (better yet) pick out the name of his next opponent out of his hat.
Enter Tyler Black. Aries tells him to hold back because he is not fighting anyone tonight, but he is allowed to partake in the lottery. Black then says he will pick a name out and show to all attending that this is a fraud. Tyler then picks a name out of the hat and looks puzzled. He then said there is no name on the paper. Right after that statement, Aires lighted the paper on FIRE and it got in Black’s eyes! The refs, Cabana, and Brent Albright immediately went to Black’s aid. Mike Hogewood is screaming like you would not believe. In a word, I think Hoge was trying to call A Double a lowlife.
Tonight, Danielson and Strong take on the American Wolves
But first, we witness another top five moment of Danielson’s. Danielson then talks about his match with Morishema that caused him to suffer from a detached retina. He wrestled for another fifteen to twenty minutes and then went to the doctor’s. He stated that they took the eye out of the socket and repaired it on the spot but they still went to the emergency room. That actually made me even cringe, and I never saw that match!
After the video package, we see Hogewood and Prazak. Hogewood is still disgusted, appalled, and anything in between on the attack of Tyler Black. Prazak just looks at him like he wanted to slap his porpoise and told Hogewood to focus because we have a great main event. I hope Prazak is right.
Finally, let’s begin the first contest.
Match #1: The Super Smash Bros. vs. Kevin Steen and El Generico
During the ring introductions, Hogewood says that he can beat anyone in Madden. Interesting, because I have a friend who is excellent in Madden and would be up for the challenge. Consider this a ?Mr. V open challenge, Hoge!?
The code of honor was in play here, and the match began.
Generico and Player Uno (he wore a mask) begin the contest. We got a tie-up and Uno starts this off with a headlock and a shoulder tackle. Generico comes back with a series of armdrags. Player Dos (he did not wear a mask) enters the ring for the first time and after some off the ropes counters Dos got Generico with a spinning head scissors takedown. Generico tags in Kevin Steen (one of Mr. V’s favorite wrestlers of 2009). Steen started this encounter with a HUGE chop and another one. Dos came back with punches and nailed Steen with a hurricanranna. Dos then tried to do a crossbody, but he landed on the waited hands and arms of Steen. Steen took him down with a backbreaker. Steen picked up and clubbed his back. Then he tagged in Generico. Generico punches Dos once and then we get a double back body drop! Steenerico then hurt Dos more with punches and chops. Steen tagged in again and applied a clutch submission on Dos while taunting Player Uno. Steen broke hold and took out Uno and then stomped on Dos. Steen attempted a cover and we got a two count.
Generico tags in and landed a punch. Off the rope Dos went and Generico brought him down with a drop toe hold and Steen caught him with the front flip legdrop. Steen covered for a two count. Steen clubbed Dos in the back again, but as the team of Steenerico was set to do another double team move, Dos came back with a Double Pele Kick on both members! Dos quickly tagged Uno in and hit a knee off the corner on Steen and took out Generico with a shoulder breaker. Steen got back up and nailed Uno with a kick to end all momentum, but failed to connect on the package piledriver. He was then dropped over the top rope by Uno thanks to a clothesline. While Uno worked on Generico with a few punches, Dos (move of the night moment) out of nowhere executed a beautiful suicide front flip dive off the top rope landing on Steen. Uno then hit what I thought was a reverse TKO and covered for a two count.
Generico got back up and used his head to hit Uno. Generico attempted a cover but got a two count. He then set up Uno for the Ole Kick, but was countered. Steen then punched Uno, but the Super Smash Brothers have the advantage and dumped Steen over the ropes once again. However, Steen saved Generico by knocking Dos out and connected on a punch to Uno. Generico with a chop and then hit a Swinging DDT. Steen then hit the superkick and then did an overhead suplex on Dos. He then nailed Uno and Generico finally hit the Ole Kick! After that, we got out first?
Finish: The combination finish of The Package Piledrive (Steen) and The Spike Brainbuster (Generico). Generico won by pinning one of the Super Smash Brothers.
Winner: Kevin Steen and El Generico by Pin
Grade: B. The contest was smooth, with a lot of transitions to start. Sure, Steen and Generico controlled the match here but I thought the Smash Bros. debut on HDNet was a success. I was real impressed with the overall contest and wish to see more of these four later.
After the match, Hoge said this catchphrase in Spanish! Both teams shook hands afterwards.
Kyle Durden is backstage with Joey Ryan, Prince Nana, and Ernie Osiris. Durden tried to ask Osiris a question regarding an ?injury?, but Nana cut him off. Nana called out Grizzly Redwood and mentioned that Redwood is upset just because a piece of his beard was cut off. So instead of Redwood challenging Ernie, I guess Joey Ryan will wrestle him. From the looks of it, we might have a beard vs. beard match next week or so because Ernie’s beard is on the line.
Match #2: Bobby Dempsey vs. Chris Hero (w/Shane Hagadorn)
Hero is going crazy, elbowing the turnbuckle. No code of honor here, as Dempsey shoved Hero.
We had a face off to start! Hero finally ended this with a knee to Dempsey’s gut and a head lock. Hero and Dempsey slapped each other a couple times and then Hero booted Dempsey twice. However, Dempsy no sold it. After a couple more shots by Hero, Dempsey got back and did a sloppy back body drop. Dempsey then headbutted Hero and delivered an elbow. A pin attempt by Dempsey, but only a two count for his troubles. Hero escaped a clutch hold by Dempsey and goes outside. Dempsey turned his back on Hero to look at Hagadorn and Hero connected with a spinning elbow! Hero then did a couple back splashes and only got a two count by the referee.
Shane slapped Dempsey behind the ref’s back. When Hero focused back on the action he nailed Dempsey with three low dropkicks. Hero then got Dempsey to a corner and hit a big time elbow and Dempsey is down. Dempsey then ?hulked-up? and got a few shots in on Hero. Dempsey then got an elbow and shoulder tackles on Hero. Hero is now on the corner. Dempsey then turned his back on Hero again to nail Hagadorn with a punch (thank god). Dempsey focused on Hero and missed on a cannonball to the corner. After an elbow by Hero we got our second?
Finish: The Death Blow (elbow to the back of the head) finally took out Dempsey and Hero gets the three count.
Winner: Chris Hero by Pin.
Grade: C-. I thought it was decent for what it was. I thought Hero was not bad, but relied too much on the elbow and not enough on anything else. I know that the elbow is Hero’s thing, but mix it up a little bit. Dempsey I can?t get into. I don?t know if it is a ROH thing, but Dempsey needs to lose some weight and get in better shape. His work was pretty sloppy for what I saw at least. Also, Shane Hagadorn is NO Larry Sweeney. I mark out every time Shane gets laid out because I just can?t stand the guy.
After the match, Eddie Kingston interrupted Hero’s celebration and said that Hero did a great job. Maybe Eddie was wrong about Hero. Eddie then said that he may want to be like Hero and then walks off. If it was a psych-out, then it worked for Hero, and he snapped demanding for his lucky green elbow pad (which Kingston took away a couple shows ago when Hero took on KENTA).
We then got a segment where Jim Cornette is on the screen. If we were surpised that Cornette is in ROH we should not be. Cornette said that he loves the ?wrestling? business and that he speaks his mind. He will tell us like it is when he is on ROH TV. His goal is to put ROH on that next level. He went on stating that the sky is the limit for ROH. A pretty good, but quick, little bit by Jim. I think he will do well for that company.
Now, we get to a delicious squash match?
Match #3: Sal Rinauro vs. ?Skull Krusher? Rasche Brown
No bones about it, Brown is a real big dude compared to Rinauro. By the way, Brown to ROH I think is a pretty good move for both of them. Brown screamed at some little kids (which I do every now and then) while he was making his way to the ring. After the Code of Conduct, the slaughter begins.
Brown got in a knee to the gut and at the corner delivered an overhead chop on Rinauro! Brown missed and elbow, but regained control and rammed Sal hard into a corner. Then Brown executed a beautiful Military Press/Airplane Spin combination slam (Rinauro spinning ever so harsh on the mat). And then the?
Finish: Rasche Brown picks up Rinauro and set up the Torture Rack into The Burning Hammer (and inverted Death Valley Driver) for the victory.
Winner: ?Skull Krusher Rasche Brown by pin.
Grade: D. I thought this was a great way to make an impact. I officially feel bad for Sal Rinauro. This guy is taking a beating match after match. I would like to see him win one time just to see the reaction. Rasche Brown’s debut in ROH was a success. He clearly showed his power and stated that ?Pain is Coming?. Mission Accomplished as he looked impressive in this brief contest.
Next Week: Bryan Danielson’s Final Countdown Tour on HDNet will conclude as he takes on Roderick Strong in Danielson’s last match on television for Ring of Honor. Don?t Miss it.
Now, speaking of the American Dragon?
Match #4 (Main Event): The American Wolves (Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards) with Hagadork vs. Bryan Danielson and Roderick Strong
The fans chanted ?Thank You Dragon? before the match began. Streamers were flying everywhere for Danielson as well. No Code of Honor here again, as Davey refused to shake hands.
Eddie Edwards and Bryan Danielson begin the contest. Davey Richards immediately wanted in and got the tag. We start up with a tie-up and Danielson held Richards for a moment until Richards applied the hammerlock. Dainelson broke free with a fireman’s carry into a knuckle lock. Richards followed suit after this but then Danielson countered with a Northern Lights Suplex into a knucklelock. Davey gets out of this and exited the ring.
We get a tie-up once Richards got back into the ring and Davey took advantage by giving Danielson a headlock and shoulder tackle. Danielson got in a sunset flip, but Richards was back up and almost got a boot to Danielson. After that, we had a wide variety of ground hold and locks. Once they got up, Richards shoved Danielson and immediately tagged in Edwards. Danielson then tagged in Roderick Strong. Edwards and Strong begin this portion of the story with a tie-up. Edwards got in a couple of arm twists, and then Strong applied a wrist lock. Strong then held the toes of Edwards and got in an arm drag. Then Strong tried to roll up Edwards, but only got a two count. Edwards then got in a knee to the gut. However, Edwards did not add anything else as Strong dropkicked Edwards. The tag by Strong to Danielson is on. Strong and Danielson successfully delivered a double suplex and Danielson followed it up with a European Uppercut. Danielson then hit rapid knees to the chest on the corner on Edwards. But as Bryan set up a running boot, Richards pushed Edwards out of the way and kicked Danielson hard. Edwards run to Strong’s corner and took him out.
Edward then connected with a double-knee buster on Danielson and Richards connected with a Tornado DDT onto the floor, destroying (for the short term) Strong. Eddie pinned Danielson, but only got a two count. Richards is tagged in and got some pretty hard body shots on Danielson. Richards then dumped Danielson out of the ring and Edwards whipped Danielson onto the barricade wall. Edwards followed this up with a running boot, then rolls Danielson back in the ring. Richards attempted the lateral press cover and get a two count. Edwards is in the ring and attacked Danielson from the corner. Danielson came back and hit a European Uppercut on Edwards. Danielson looked for Strong to make the tag and failed to do so (because Roderick is still smarted by the Tornado DDT). Edwards tagged in Richards and he knocked Danielson out with a back suplex. Strong finally got up and stared down Richards. Richards then SPIT on the face of Strong. Edwards is tagged in and does some kicks from the corner. After Danielson came back with a chinlock, Edwards hit him with a big clothesline. Richards is tagged in and get a two count. Richard then applies a couple sets of submissions with the legs locking the arm and locked the arms on Bryan’s legs. We still got a break from this and a tag to Edwards was made.
Danielson got up and tried to do a move off the ropes, but Davey kicked him in the back and Edwards got to tag Richards back in. Richards started off with some leg strikes, but Danielson came back with leg strikes of his own. Danielson finally got the upper hand by using a great dropkick to the back of Richards? head. Strong is tagged in and he attacked Richards with some forearm shots. Strong continued to counter Richards? offense and hit a dropkick sending down the wolf. Eddie came in and was met with a power slam! Strong then set Richards up on some more offense and tried to pin, but only got a two count. Richards comes back with a nice spin kick, but Strong hit one of those terrific backbreakers and tried once again to pin his opponent. Richards countered this momentum and used the head to butt Strong and tagged in Edwards. Edwards took out Danielson The Wolves double team Strong with a kick/splash combo. Edwards then hit an overhead facebuster and Richards hit the missile dropkick on Strong, but only mustered a two count. Danielson broke the pin count and then tried to set up Cattle Mutilation, but Richards broke that up and then the Wolves applied their submission holds! Richards applied the Texas Cloverleaf on one, while Edwards applied the Half-Crab on the other. No tap outs here as Strong grabbed hold of the ropes. During that phase, Richards whipped Danielson hard into the barricade once again!
Edwards then delivered a knee to the head of Strong. Strong then came back with a couple boots. Danielson gets up and then hit a corner splash out of nowhere and Strong kicked Edwards’s teeth in. Then the good guys set up and dished out the Hart Attack Clothesline on Edwards. Strong tried to pin but only got a two count. So Strong then held Edwards down with The Boston Crab submission hold. Richards is trying to break this hold by kicking Strong, but Strong no sold the attack. Danielson then grabbed a hold of Richards and applied the sleeper hold! Strong rolled up Edwards for a two count and then delivered a knee. Richards by now broke the sleeper hold and Wolves came back with some double team offense. Danielson came in with a save and hit a running knee on Richards. Edwards booted Danielson and then Strong booted Edwards! Great stuff there!
Danielson and Richards get up and start punching each other back and forth. Richards ended this sequence with a clothesline. Now Edwards and Strong do the some punching sequence, and Edwards ended it with a throat punch. The Wolves? Doomsday Device failed as Danielson hit Edwards with a missile dropkick! Richards was out of the ring at the time and Danielson then delivered a Beautiful Torpedo Dive through the middle of the ropes! Strong delivered a backbreaker on Edwards for a two count. Strong then hit a gut buster and tried to do something else, but Edwards countered with a superkick! Strong quickly recovered and got in a big boot on Edwards and almost won the match, but Edwards’s foot was on the ropes.
Outside of the ring, Richards laid Danielson out with the ring bell. Richards then grabbed one of his titles and tried to clock Strong with it, but the ref blocked that from happening. While the ref returned the belt back outside the ring, Richards forearmed the midsection of Strong. The Wolves then destroyed Strong with a power bomb/lung lore combination but only got a two count. Finally after a fifteen plus minute match, we got out final finish of the night.
Finish: Roderick Strong submitted to the Half Crab Hold by Eddie Edwards. Bryan Danielson tried to break it, but Davey Richards held him outside the ring.
Winners: The American Wolves by Submission.
Grade: B. I really lowered the grade because it just seemed really fake to me. I always believed in wrestlers selling some of the attacks of others, but I saw none of that here. Don?t get me wrong, I thought it was an overall solid performance. But it just did not look believable. The finish was pretty weak here as well. I mean Strong kicks out of this powerbomb/lung lore combo and STILL kicks out? Then taps to a Half-Crab? It just confused me. Danielson deserved a bit better here. However the wrestler that really stood out was Davey Richards. He is quickly emerging as a great young wrestling star and ROH better treat this guy well (though I hear he is going to be a headline for a Gabe Sapolsky promotion).
We close the show with The Wolves celebrating with Shane Hagadorn.
Quick Results
Kevin Steen and El Generico pinned The Super Smash Brothers
Chris Hero pinned Bobby Dempsey
Rasche Brown pinned Sal Rinauro
The American Wolves defeated Roderick Strong and Bryan Danielson by submission.
Overall Thoughts
I thought it was a pretty decent show, but not one of their best showings.
There were only a couple of segments that did not involve wrestling. The Austin Aries segment was great! I think ROH is trying to book a storyline involving Black and Aries. Well, Aries is a great heel that can both wrestle AND work the mic. Black can work well, but his mic skills are pretty bad. The way they ended this was pretty soild. It prolongs the feud. I am sure pretty soon we will see Black wrestle Aries, but I don?t see that title leaving Aries’s grasp anytime soon.
As for The Embassy’s latest venture on shaving Grizzly Redwood, don?t do it. The beard is ?the? gimmick for Redwood. Without it, Redwood might as well be nothing. That backstage segment though did nothing for me.
Now you got my takes on each of the matches on this card. Just look at the Grades for each contest. With this being long I won?t go much into detail.
Overall Grade for the Show: B- leaning towards a C+
—Mr. V’s Pick Three of the Week—
Wrestler of the Night – Davey Richards
This guy kicks with the best of them and looked like he could kill somebody. I thought his performance at this main event was fantastic (and I am even including Danielson on this one). He played his character very well here. He is the heel and he used many heel tactics to turn the result in his team’s favor. The future is really bright for Davey and I look forward to more matches with him (even though his tag team partner is recovering from a serious injury).
Disappointment of the Night – Bobby Dempsey
Look, all the guys were pretty good this week. But Bobby Dempsey did not belong on this card tonight. Hero had a good performance, but Dempsey was too sloppy in the right that night. Here is hoping for better next time we see this underdog.
Surprise of the Night – ?Skull Krusher? Rasche Brown
Now THAT is how you make an impact! I thought his promos were cheesy, but I looked into his indie work and I was impressed. This squash match with Sal Rinauro showed the best in Brown’s power. With some losses there are gains. I am not saying that Brown is going to be the next Bryan or Nigel, but if they use him right he could very well replace the other ROH loss with the same last name in D?Lo Brown.
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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