Ring of Honor Recap
October 12, 2009
ECW Arena in Philadelphia, PA
Commentators: Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak
Report by: Anthony J. Valvo of WrestleView.com
Well, 29 years ago on October 12 was a special day to all of my students and readers. That would be Mr. V’s Birthday. We know that WWE offered us Nancy O?Dell and that Maria girl that could very well be the best diva performance in the past few months. So, the question remained:
What would Ring of Honor give Mr. V as a birthday present?
Let’s embark on our journey to honor?.
We open the show with highlights of the Eight Team Honor Rumble. In case you missed it, Mark Briscoe was the sole survivor and therefore the Briscoes won the rumble!
We then see Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak. They congratulate Mark and Jay for their valiant effort. Prazak then mentions that it is now time for the A Double L Double, better known as the Austin Aries Lucky Lottery. Last time, Grizzly Redwood had the opportunity of a lifetime and failed to win the ROH Title. Who will it be this time? Let’s go to Kyle Durden?.
Kyle Durden is in the ring and announces that it is time for the Lottery selection. Austin Aries enters in some sparkling ring attire that would make Chris Jericho jealous. Kyle treats the champion with some respect and holds the ropes for Aries. Aries mentions now there are only nineteen names left in the hat for that chance of a lifetime?.a shot at the ROH World Title. He picks a name out of the hat and Kyle rolls his eyes. Oh this can be good. Aries says that this guy has his share of fans and is known for having the sweetest feet in the business. Oh my?.it is ?Sugarfoot (get it, sweetest) Alex Payne!! See, when you get an award from Mr. V’s recap you get a title shot!
Match #1: Austin Aries (c) vs. ?Sugarfoot? Alex Payne for the ROH World Heavyweight Championship
Once we get the Code of Honor (again a handshake at the beginning of the match to the new ROH followers), we begin with a tie-up. Aries then takes Payne down and gives him a series of headlocks and hammerlocks. Payne counters by twisting Aries? arm once and then Aries uses his shoulder to tackle Payne. Payne rebounds quickly and then executes a couple of armdrags on the Champ. Aries then comes back and gives Payne a knee, takes him down and gives him a couple of low dropkicks.
Aries then nails Payne with a couple of chops. Then he takes him down again and fails to connect an elbow. Payne recovers and gives Aries a couple of shots, only for Aries to nail Payne with an elbow. However, Payne quickly gets up and hits a side Russian Leg Sweep and gets the first 2 count in the contest. Aries gets right up and counters Payne’s corner attack with a Shoulder Breaker! He then rams Payne’s shoulder to the ring post and hits his patented Brainbuster! Before the ref’s hand hits the mat for a third time, Aries lifts Payne up, much to the chagrin of Hogewood. Little did we know that the reason Aries did this was to execute the?..
Finish: Austin Aries makes Alex Payne submit to The Last Chancery
Winner: Austin Aries by submission
Grade: C-
(I thought that Aries totally dominated here, and that Payne, though pretty good a couple weeks back, is not in Aries? class. The maneuvers were done well by both, but I would prefer Aries to stop toying around and face better competition.
After the Match: Aries refuses to let go of the hold and then we hear a weird version of The Final Countdown. Enter The American Dragon!!!! Bryan Danielson makes the save and then gets on the microphone. He tells Aries that his drawing is a sham! He follows that up by saying if Aries wants the best, then let’s have a contest. Aries says that he is the best in the world and says he has the ROH Title to prove it. Aries is sick and tired of hearing that Danielson is the Best in the World. He then says that he will shut Danielson’s mouth…and as he enters the ring he leaves, stating?.but not tonight!
We now get a promo with Chris Hero, one of the men who are fighting in the main event. He admits that KENTA (the opponent tonight) is a performer but he is not a heavyweight. Hero, on the other hand, is a heavyweight and his stuff is on par with the best in the world. Hero says that his opponent is one-dimensional. KENTA’s kicks are better, but Hero has the elbows that will trump any of those kicks!
Mike Hogewood then shows us some highlights of the last time The Necro Butcher and Bison Smith were on TV. To sum it up, two men beat each other up and people had to break it up.
Match #2: Bison Smith (w/Prince Nana and Ernie Osiris) vs. The Necro Butcher
**During ring introductions, Necro was pounding his own head with a chair!**
No Honor Code here, as both men and punching and chopping each other to start this contest. Bison then corners Necro and pounds him a bit, then executes a clothesline. Bison then does a snap mare and a kick to the back, causing Necro to get out of the ring. Bison then throws Necro to one of the barricades pretty hard! He then chokes Necro with a chair and we are back in the ring.
Bison then hits another clothesline, but Necro gets up and uses a combination of chops and punches. To the corner and Necro hits a boot to Bison’s neck. After an eye rake, Necro continues the momentum by hitting more punches and then gives Bison a headbutt. He attempts (and fails) to body slam the 350+lb. Bison, and Bison comes back with a club to the back/body slam combo. Bison then works on Necro’s back, hitting punch after punch at the back of The Necro Butcher. After a chop and a punch by Bison, Necro delivers a closed fist right to Bison’s head!!
It looks like we are out of the ring now, as Necro hits a sloppy cannonball on Bison. Necro then gets him up and throws Bison over the barricade. This is getting good now. Now Bison and Necro both have chairs and we have some chair fencing (gosh I miss my college days). One’s chair went tumbling down (I think it was Necro’s) and now they are both holding onto one chair. As they struggle for control of the weapon, the ref counted to 20 and the match has reached its???
Finish: The referee counts to twenty, thus ending this in a Double Countdown
Winner: No one via the count out
Grade: C-
(If one likes a moderate length brawl, this show was for you! If it was a hardcore themed match, it would be better. The match lacked chemistry, but it was a garbage match it would have probably been better. Speaking of better, what till I get to the ?after the match?.)
After the Match: Bison Smith and Necro Butcher still continue to brawl and other wrestlers attempt to break them up! The best part was when it was about to settle Necro then slams a garbage can right to the dome of Bison! After a chair shot on Bison, Bison then starts punching away at Necro and NAILS NECRO WITH THE CHAIR!! This seriously should have been hardcore. After some more brawls, it is broken up and Necro celebrates his time limit draw.
Coming up?.Rhett Titus vs. Tyler Black. And we get more of Rhett! Awesome!!
Next Week: Colt Cabana vs. Claudio Castagnoli. A Must See for any pro wrestling fan! You will see why Mr. V has been praising Claudio’s work! And Colt Cabana is pretty good too.
We then get a Colt Cabana promo and he talks about his previous job. He felt restricted with his previous line of employment. He had a lot, but Colt wanted to do more. Though he made a lot of friends and toured all around the country, something was missing. That was the life of his before coming back to ROH, where in his old job he was a?lemonade vendor on the North Beach section of Chicago. Now, he is just glad to be back in ROH. To those with no sense of humor, he worked earlier this year in the WWE as ?Scotty Goldman?. It could have worked, Vince!
Let’s get back to the action, shall we.
Match #3: Rhett Titus vs. Tyler Black
Before the match began in case you were wondering, Rhett Titus did get a kiss from somebody’s girlfriend at ringside. The boyfriend’s effort for his girl to resist was futile. Rhett though the girl was a good ?cheek-kisser? and presents her with the ?hotel key?. Best Comedy Moment of the Night. Rhett has an awesome gimmick going for him!
Tyler Black was welcomed with a few streamers thrown towards the ring.
After the Code of Honor, the match begins. Titus immediately punches Black and then continues with some more punches and elbows. Rhett then has Black up for the suplex and then starts to ?thrust?. After a lot of whips to the ropes and counters, Tyler Black generates offense with a sloppy crossbody on Titus. Black then scoops Titus up and slams him on the mat. Then Black does a double stomp to the throat of Titus. For those efforts, Black only gets count of 2 by the referee.
Titus then nails Black with a punch. Titus them dumps Black over the top rope and does some more thrusting. But Tyler Black landed easy and with Rhett’s back to Tyler, Blakc takes Rhett’s legs out from him. **Move of the Match Time** As Tyler sets up to do a springboard move, Titus lands a beautiful dropkick while Black was in mid-air!
We now have action outside the ring. Titus hits Black with some ax punches and grapples Black out of the ring. He then rams Black’s back on the barricade and then both men are back in the ring. After Rhett gets a 2 count, Black comes back to life and starts punching Titus. Black then hits a corner splash and Titus whips Black to the corner and hits a lariat. Titus tries to win by pinning Black, but he only gets a two count. Titus then snap mares Black down and applies a chinlock. After a few seconds, Black break the hold by having a foot on the ropes. Then Titus tries to nail Black with the neckbreaker, but before he hits a wrestling move he has to thrust for the ladies in attendance.
Black notices the thrusting and nails Titus with a clothesline and a back suplex. Black is back on his feet and missed a moonsault but does connect with a springboard lariat for a 2 count! Black tries to deliver the buckle bomb, but Titus did not want any of that. After some struggles, Rhett was able to get the boot to Tyler head. However Black no sold it and tried a backslide pin on Titus but only got a 2 count.
Black then tries some more punches, and then Titus pokes him in the eye. Rhett then hits what I thought an inverted back slam (I probably made this up) for a 2 count!! Titus then tried to hit the Muff Driver (kind of like The Razor’s Edge for Scott Hall fans), but Tyler Black escapes and hits the Pele Kick!! And while Titus still a little shaky, Tyler Black concludes with his finisher??
Finish: Tyler Black hits God’s Last Gift (small package driver) and get the 3 count
Winner: Tyler Black by pin
Grade: C+
(This match was pretty solid, but there were a lack of wrestling holds that I think are somewhat crucial to a good wrestling match. I did not see much in that department so the grade was lower. There was not much chemistry in the ring and for Tyler Black being labeled by the fans as the ?Next World Champ?, he really let me down. Titus did wrestle all around him in this one, see for yourself. As Prazak said ?Titus should have no shame in that loss?. I agree, as Titus really did his share tonight.)
After the Match: Tyler Black smiles at the prone Titus. As he walked up the ramp, Jerry Lynn is being him showing his happiness with Black’s victory.
Next Week along with Cabana vs. Castagnoli, we are going to have Kenny King vs. Jerry Lynn.
And the Main Event: For the ROH World Heavyweight Title it will be Austin Aries vs. Bryan Danielson! Well, maybe I should not be too excited. I do know that Bryan signed with the WWE before this match took place, but it should be a barnburner! A Match of the Year candidate hopefully!
Speaking of Main Events?.IT?S TIME!
Match #4: Chris Hero (w/Shane Hagadorn and Sara Del Ray) vs. KENTA
KENTA was welcomes with many streamers that he can use for his next birthday party, he must have a huge collection of them.
We get NO Code of Honor here and the match begins! We start off with a Greco-Roman knuckle lock, but no ones gets the advantage and it is broken. We try this move again, and KENTA get it locked in. However Hero had other plans and was able to break out and get a front chancery in for a short time. Hero then nails KENTA with a chop and KENTA comes storming back with punches and leg strikes! Hero recovers and delivers one of many elbows in this match. KENTA comes charging with running knees in retaliation.
KENTA then kicks Hero in the back of the head, hits a scoop slam and knocks the wind out of Hero with a Victim Kick. KENTA then follows this up with elbow drops and a Body Scissors submission hold. Hero is able to break this by grabbing the ropes.
Hero is placed at the corner and KENTA drills his shoulder across the stomach of Hero. Hero finally maintains composure and hits KENTA with a boot to the head! After ramming KENTA’s shoulder to the post, Hero nails him with some elbows and tried to win by pin.
Hero then nails KENTA with a running kick and then hits a back senton for a count of 2 from the referee. Hero then gets KENTA up and hits him with a chop. Now we are out of the ring and KENTA recovers enough to get Hero with some shots and kicks to Hero’s body. KENTA tries to whip Hero to the barricade, but Hero stops on a dime (like any good superhero does) and NAILS KENTA with another elbow. Hero breaks the outside count by the referee on duty and then rams KENTA’s back on the edge of the ring. The action goes back into the ring and Hero tries to pin KENTA, but only gets a 2 count.
Hero then uses a submission hold to wear down his opponent. After some more basic hold, the crowd starts chanting that they want Eddie Kingston. Hero wants none of that and then boots KENTA in the head and follows it up with some more elbows. Hero then executes a body slam and again only gets a 2 count. After a couple more elbows, Hero then works KENTA’s neck more and applies The Dragon Sleeper! KENTA uses the ropes to break the hold.
After that, KENTA must have had a second wind because he was punching and kicking Hero once more. He tried to win by pinfall, but only got a 2 count. KENTA then hit a diving clothesline and still only got a 2 from the referee. Then KENTA applied the STF on Hero. Hero looked pretty desperate here and was able to get his hand on the bottom rope with the help from Sara Del Ray. Hero then gets up and uses his elbow again. After another elbow, he used what I think is called the Cravate Suplex (and nicely done) for a 2 count by the ref. Hero then tries his hands at another potential submission hold on KENTA, but KENTA reaches the ropes and the hold was broken.
Hero then uses his elbows everywhere (middle of the ring and at the corner), but KENTA recovers and tries to hit the Go 2 Sleep, but Hero broke the move by using his darn elbow. Just when Hero was ready for some more offense, KENTA hits Hero with a discuss clothesline. KENTA continues the offense by landing a springboard dropkick and then a boot. Hero quickly gains ground with a running book, only for KENTA to go complete ape-crap and nails Hero with THREE RUNNING BOOTS IN A ROW at the corner!! KENTA then follows this up with a Fisherman’s Buster and a Double stomp off the top corner?but did not win because the referee still can only count to 2!!
Hero is getting up now, but KENTA nails him with more chops and kicks. Then KENTA hits his Busaiku (sp.) Knee and only gets another 2 count. He is now setting up for the Go 2 Sleep once more, but this is where having a manager comes in handy. Sara and Shane are both causing distractions. Shane is on the apron yelling at the ref while Sara Del Ray distracts KENTA enough for KENTA to shove Sara down on the floor. Hero has enough time to recover and nail KENTA with a ROLLING elbow to the back of the head. STILL, we only get a 2 count, as KENTA was able to barely get a shoulder up.
Shane is back on the apron yelling at the ref while Sarah gives Chris Hero his ?Lucky? or ?Loaded? Green Elbow Pad. Eddie Kingston then makes an appearance and while Hero was getting ready to use the Pad, Eddie takes the pad right off of Hero. And while Hero was looking at Kingston we finally get out 3 count!!
Finish: KENTA with a couple kicks and is ?money? with his Go 2 Sleep, scoring the pin fall win in this Main Event!
Winner: KENTA by pin
Grade: B
(There are matches in which I don?t mind interference if it tells more of a story. While Hero was ?done? with Eddie, Eddie was ?not done? with Hero. I liked the ending to this. Now the match part I was pretty good with. I did not like how the guys were not selling out there, but what I did like was how no one really got a true advantage thoughout the contest. The problem was not the start and finish of the match, but the middle. It seemed like dead air at points to me. Other than that it was a pretty soild main event. If we had some ‘selling?, then it probably would be a match worthy of The Honor Roll. But it will have to be Honorable Mention, unless it was a bad week of wrestling.)
No Mike Hogewood ?Slap The Porpoise? Move of the Night.
Quick Results:
Austin Aries def. Alex Payne by submission
Bison Smith and Necro Butcher went to a Double Countout Draw
Tyler Black def. Rhett Titus by pin
KENTA def. Chris Hero
Mr. V’s Final Thoughts
I know I have only done the ROH recaps three times, but this one was not their best show. There were some high spots in the matches on the card, but as you could see in the grade book, I was overall not impressed. If I go on with the final thoughts, then I will be repeating myself. So I will leave it at that.
The segments that did not involve wrestling were ok. Aries is pretty good on the mic and delivered in the ring as well. To be a champion, I think you have to be good on the mic as well as in the ring. Austin Aries can do that. Tyler Black? Not so much right now. Colt Cabana had a nice little promo. I am glad he did not say ?I used to work in WWE? like what some TNA guys do with their humor. Mainly that was it from the segments.
For commentary (because I do those as well) I will say this: Prazak needs to be a tweener once again! The heel stuff is not working for him in my view as a listener. He comes off as a whiner, not a know-it-all. Plus, he is not analyzing, but just complaining about things that should not be done by the face wrestlers. I thought Prazak was the third-best commentator during the first half of the year. Now, I would have to say that Todd Grisham of Friday Night Smackdown is #3 (with the top 2 being JR and Striker). Hogewood was average, which is good given the fact that he was struggling this month.
Overall Grade: C+
Mr. V’s Pick Three of the Week
Wrestler of the Night: KENTA. I thought he did a great job, he executed his matches well and proved once again that he is a great pound-for-pound wrestler. I just wished that there was more selling on his part (i.e. receiving a running boot by Hero should knock one out for a bit, not do three running kicks in a row). Still given what I got this week from ROH, KENTA did stand out as the Wrestler of the Night.
Disappointment of the Night: Bison Smith. I think the guy is a beast. However, he really showed me nothing when it came down to his match with Necro Butcher. For his second match on HDNet, I think he could have been booked a little better in this match. If this was a weapons match, I think I would not be complaining as much or as critical.
Surprise of the Night: Rhett Titus. Though he did lose his match to Tyler Black, he was clearly the better wrestler tonight. Titus has come a long way and I would love to see him win the tag belts with Kenny King. Rhett has able to hit moves tonight that only a few can accomplish. For that, he deserves more than phone numbers from the ladies, but he deserves a push to something more than mid-card.
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.
Coming Soon:
– Predictions From The Faculty (Bound for Glory Edition)
– Mr. V #38
– More articles on my Examiner Page.
Thanks for reading this recap. See you next week.
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