ROH on HDNet – Episode 066 – 19th July 2010

Next weekend ROH runs a really important triple shot of live events. There’s the Louisville debut on Thursday night, rolling into St Louis on Friday with Steen/Generico 2 and the next instalment in the Kings/Briscoes rivalry…before moving to Chicago on Saturday with a show highlighted by the big Black vs Steen World Title Match. Even if they’re not iPPV’s, the fact that they contain major matches, and develop the major feuds going on in ROH right now, it’s vital that ROH get the go-home right for them. Last week we saw Kevin Steen giving Tyler Black a seemingly unprovoked Package Piledriver, and this week we’ll see Mr Wrestling again – in the main event teaming with Steve Corino in an Anything Goes Match against Colt Cabana and El Generico. This is the start of a really big week for Ring Of Honor, lets kick it off with a bang. Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak are in Philadelphia.

Outside Steve Corino tells Kevin Steen that violent fights in this building are how he became a man. Steen, wrapping himself in rusty barbed wire like a lunatic, says things are going to get violent and crazy tonight. He wants revenge on El Generico for losing their Tag Titles, for carrying him throughout their partnership etc.

Up In Smoke vs The Set
It’s fair to say this is very much the dregs of the ROH tag division. Up In Smoke have had somewhat of a career renaissance in Ring Of Honor thus far this summer, and you have this earmarked as a morale boosting victory for them over the odd duo of J-Sinn and Lance Lude.

Prazak rightly points out that Cloudy is barely any bigger than the miniscule Lance Lude. They send up their lack of size with a Herculean test of strength. Cloudy seemingly has the power advantage (don’t type that too often) and takes Lude down for some early Up In Smoke tandem offence. Sinn folds Cheech into a neat modified STO, then an even neater overhead reverse suplex for 2. Combo spears from The Set, then J hoists Lude into a nice elevated splash for another nearfall. Sinn misses a second rope senton and it’s tags all round. Assisted swinging DDT from Cloudy to Sinn, but Lude manages to get both opponents out of the ring. ASSISTED HILO TO THE FLOOR! Kudos to The Set, they’ve hit some really entertaining double teams here. Partly Cloudy With A Chance Of Cheech on Sinn, followed by the Tidal Wave to give Up In Smoke victory at 05:10

Rating - ** - Some nice little double teams in there, and, as ever, Hog was absolutely hilarious in his brutal descriptions of The Set. This had no business going as long as it did, and the completely silent crowd isn’t the sort of ‘you’ve gotta see it live’ atmosphere ROH need to be projecting on their TV show. I think I had more fun watching this than people who don’t like these teams though…

Video package time, first with clips of the escalating Skullkrusher/Embassy feud, then a brief video hyping the Black/Steen match this weekend.

Sara Del Rey vs Jamilla Craft
Is it me or are there more Women Of Honor matches on the TV show at the moment? Can’t say I really care for them to be honest. That said, the recent Daizee/Jamilia match was comfortably the best female match on HDNet thus far so lets see how the masked newcomer gets on with the ‘Queen of Wrestling’.

KICK TO THE FACE BY SARA! Tiger suplex next for an instant nearfall. That was a horrific way of not following the Code Of Honor. Choke in the ropes, then kicks to the exposed chest as a graphic hypes Del Rey vs Kong for this weekend. Craft hits a gutsy inverted DDT although it barely gets a 1-count before Death Rey is up and viciously booting her down again. Piledriver for the win at 02:08

Rating - ** - Much more of an emphatic squash than Haze/Craft, but this made Sara look like a killer and therefore did a fine job promoting ROH’s top female athlete against the woman casual fans will recognise as one of the best in the world in Amazing Kong. They rematch this weekend in Chicago.

Kyle Durden is in the back with Roderick Strong and Truth Martini. More entirely boring, meaningless drivel from Truth and charisma-void waffle from Strong ensues. The point is to hype the main event next week which is Strong against Christopher Daniels which should be good.

After the commercials the Kings Of Wrestling tell the HDNet cameras that the Briscoes aren’t safe to work with after their recent actions such as attacking Sara Del Rey in New York and security guards two weeks ago. Since they are stars and have championship pull they officially announce that they will no longer appear on the same HDNet shows as Jay and Mark

Erick Stevens vs Rasche Brown
These guys had a super-underrated little match on a Chicago show last year (I think it was End Of An Age). What’s the betting that, with a storyline behind them and the HDNet cameras rolling they stink the place out here?

Rasche sprints to the ring, such is his desire to get some revenge on The Embassy tonight. He seems to be visibly potato-ing Stevens on the floor, and gets a huge pop for launching him for a rough ride into the guardrails. Rolling Spear misses though and Brown EATS barricade. Of course, Nana and Ernesto are quick to pounce and lay in some cheapshots now the Skullkrusher is incapacitated. STIFF forearm duel ends when Stevens rakes the eyes…but he hits the ropes and runs straight into a DISCUS LARIAT from Brown! Nana grabs the leg to prevent the Rolling Spear…Choo Choo instead. Stevens goes for a lariat…ROLLING SPEAR NAILED! Rasche sets up for a chokeslam only to be attacked by an invading Necro Butcher. That’s a disqualification at 03:28

Rating - ** - For three minutes that was all kinds of awesome. These guys have weirdly watchable chemistry when they work together. They’re both big, neither are particularly graceful but both clearly enjoy hitting very hard so watching them give each other a real pasting is fun. Shame about the lousy finish, but this is ROH on HDNet under Adam Pearce. I’m not sure Scrap Iron knows any other way to advance his feuds…

Rasche Brown is left fighting four guys by himself…until Dark City Fight Club come out and make a save. ‘What do they have to do with this?’ – Dave Prazak saying what we’re all thinking. Are DCFC faces now? When did that happen?

Kevin Steen/Steve Corino vs Colt Cabana/El Generico – Anything Goes Match
You know what bothers me about the hype video for this match? It’s really well put together, but it completely ignores the incredible Street Fight at Bitter Friends Stiffer Enemies 2, which to my mind is the highlight of this feud so far. I appreciate that was a house show rather than an iPPV or TV, but that match was so good it’s a real shame to see it consigned to the footnotes of this feud. Anyway, we know the history here. By this point everyone hates everyone, everyone has lost a lot of blood and will most likely spill a lot more before this feud is settled.

Steen and Corino come out first and occupy the ring brandishing chairs – refusing to let their opponents get in with them. Eventually Colt and Generico fight their way in and start brawling with their enemies. Generico clearly wants at Steen but Corino sidetracks him. Rope run armwrench on him…INTO THE SOMERSAULT SENTON TO THE FLOOR ON STEEN! Mr Wrestling then takes a really brutal whip into the guardrails which legit seems to rattle his skull momentarily. Steen terrifies some little kids by tearing up a section of rail right in front of them and slamming Colt on it. More frightened kids seconds later as Generico launches Corino into the crowd. All four men start brawling around The Arena, and Hog is clearly enjoying his first commentary experience of an ROH ‘grudge match’. Steen grabs a guys walking cane and batters Colt with it…then SNAPS IT! That has to be a plant?? FISHERMAN BUSTER ON THE CONCRETE! That’s how he beat Generico at Death Before Dishonor, but since we’re in the crowd the fight continues. Generico is alone with Steen and Corino right now as the blood-thirsty Philly fans scream for tables. Cabana looks for the quebrada but nobody’s home and he sails into stereo kicks from his opponents. Tables are now brought into play, set up in two corners of the ring. At 10 minutes it’s Steen and Corino well on top…but Generico manages to topple Kevin out of the ring. EXPLOIDA THROUGH A TABLE ON CORINO! NECK DROP HALF NELSON SUPLEX FOR 2! Steen throws a chair into the masked man’s face to halt his momentum. HALF NELSON SUPLEX THROUGH TWO CHAIRS FOR STEEN! CORINO SAVES! YAKUZA KICK ON HIM! CHAIR ASSISTED FLYING ASSHOLE! Steen returns with a powerbomb on Generico! CRADLEBREAKER THROUGH A CHAIR! FOR 2! With the babyfaces down, Steen and Corino start arranging furniture again – with Kevin putting a table on the top rope as Steve brings in a guardrail segment. They prop that up using chairs to form a platform in the middle of the ring…CORINO SUPERPLEXES GENERICO THROUGH THE F*CKING BARRICADE! Colt breaks the fall! He then spinebusters Steen through another chair. Chairshots on Corino…HE NO SELLS! More chairshots and the King Of Old School goes down. Cabana and Corino start fighting on that table positioned over the top rope. CORINO WITH A NORTHERN LIGHTS BOMB THROUGH A TABLE IN THE RING! He pins Cabana at 17:14 with Steen and Generico still fighting on the floor.

Rating - **** - That is as hardcore as ROH on HDNet has gotten in it’s 66 episode run thus far. Sure there was no bloodshed but there were weapons galore and some of those bumps were absolutely sickening. Naturally this was a little toned down from the Chicago match, but it was a worthy successor and once again spotlighted four men pushing their bodies to the absolute limits to entertain the fans. That guardrail spot in the middle of the match took an AGE to set up, but the pay-off watching chairs and twisted metal fly everywhere as Generico’s flailing body crashed through it was unreal. And that sums up the whole match really. Everything felt more forced, and there was lots more dead time as they set up the next ‘stunt’ and ultimate that’s what stops it getting into MOTYC territory. Still a great match though, probably a Top 3 for ROH on HDNet this year.

Steen and Generico have brawled all the way to the parking lot and the end of the match hasn’t stopped them. STEEN POWERBOMBS GENERICO ON A CAR! Tyler Black attacks Kevin Steen and gets some shots in as we go off air.

Rating - *** - Sure most of the undercard match content was mediocre – but the main event was absolute must-see and one of the best free-tv matches all year. If you were a casual viewer flicking through the channels you would have stopped and been hooked in by those four men absolutely killing themselves in that main event and that’s the whole aim of this HDNet enterprise – to grow and get new fans. To be fair, the rest of the show isn’t bad. None of the matches are awful, and there’s some significant storyline advancement with the Kings refusing to work the Briscoes on TV, Sara getting to kill a b*tch dead before she faces Kong this weekend, Rasche Brown and The Embassy colliding again and the announcement of next week’s Daniels/Strong main event.
 

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