ROH on HDNet – Episode 075 – 27th September 2010
Last week we saw the end of Delirious as an active competitor in Ring Of Honor as the All Night Express used repeated Spike Piledrivers to inflict serious injuries. This week we concentrate on the new ROH World Champion as he teams with Josh Raymond and Christin Able to face Christopher Daniels and the Briscoes. Plus some squash matches no doubt. Hogewood and Prazak are in Philadelphia, PA
Kings Of Wrestling vs Super Smash Bros.
This is non-title of course, but the Kings shouldn’t be taking this one for granted. The Smash Bros. pushed the American Wolves to the limit last time we saw them, and will be looking for a similarly impressive performance tonight to help solidify their spots. The Kings themselves come into this in top form, fresh from beating Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team at Glory By Honor 9.
Player Dos is the smallest man in this match by some distance and immediately struggles to combat the size difference between he and Chris Hero. Uno comes in to help him and together they hit a double vertical suplex. Moonsault/fist drop combo gets 2…so in comes Claudio to level Uno with the Bicycle Kick. DEAD LIFT STALLING gutwrench suplex on him! He continues the impressive power display by actually MILITARY PRESSING Player Uno. The masked man hits back with a neckbreaker on Hero and gets the tag to Dos who goes crazy with offence on both Kings. He matrixes under the Bicycle Kick and is flipped by Uno into the STANDING SHIRANUI for 2. STALLING SUPERPLEX by Castagnoli, into a moonsault from Hero. Kings win at 06:34
Rating - *** - Much more of a squash match than Wolves/Smash Bros. but there was still enough to enjoy here – particularly in the form of Claudio Castagnoli’s ridiculous displays of power. It’s a shame the Smash Bros. have to be brought in all the way from Canada as they are really talented. ROH needs to book them more if at all possible.
In some HDNet exclusive footage Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin emphasise how much fun they had at Glory By Honor and promise they’ll be back in ROH to get some payback.
Daizee Haze vs Rachel Summerlyn
URGH! Is another one of these Women Of Honor squashes really necessary? Do Daizee and Sara really need these constant enhancement wins? It’s not like they’re building to anything.
Rachel uses her size to control Haze in the first 90 seconds. Hog can barely suppress his chauvinistic chortle as he tells everyone that Summerlyn ‘loves music’ and goes to college studying ‘movie make-up’. In the ring she gets 2 with a Golden Gate Swing. Some vintage Daizee Haze ugly chain-wrestling ensues, until Summerlyn lifts her into the Gory Bomb for 2. Heart Punch/German suplex combo gets the victory for Daizee Haze in 03:47
Rating - DUD - When the enhancement talent comes away looking better and more impressive than the winner then there’s something seriously wrong. Admittedly I’m a long-time critic of Daizee Haze in ROH, and I’ve seen her SHIMMER stuff so I know she’s a better worker than she often displays in ROH – but even so. With Delirious now out of ROH I’m really not sure what more there is for her to do as an onscreen talent. She’s a trainer at the school so I’m sure she won’t go away – but if this is going to be her role now I can’t say I’m looking forward to it.
Christopher Daniels calls Roderick Strong, as ROH World Champion with Truth Martini by his side, a dangerous force in Ring Of Honor and one he intends to quell immediately. In come the Briscoes, with Jay all sad that he’s lost his drinking buddy to the Book Of Truth.
More post-Glory By Honor footage next, with Kevin Steen ranting like a lunatic whilst holding up El Generico’s mask. Over the next 2 weeks we have a ‘Pick Your Poison’ series between the two on HDNet. Steen has selected Davey Richards to face El Generico next week, but no-one has heard from Generico to find out who Steen will be fighting.
Steve Corino vs Jobber
Much like a few week ago, Kevin Steen is out at ringside to do live commentary over the top of Hog and DP’s canned studio stuff which is hugely entertaining.
‘Hey nice purple trunks’ – Steen at jobber. Corino hits the Thumb In The Bum spot inside a minute. ‘Wait your turn pervert – Steen at Todd Sinclair. Jobber misses a missile dropkick and walks into a discus lariat from Corino. Eternal Dream wins it for Corino at 02:17.
Rating - * - Same as last time, I’m awarding a star for the hilarious Kevin Steen commentary which made me laugh on several occasions.
Corino wants to attack the poor kid with a fork so Colt Cabana and El Generico run down to help him. Steen and Corino flee through the crowd and live to fight another day…
Kyle Durden has the House Of Truth in the back. Martini talks more total nonsense, and makes me hate him even more. I don’t mind the gimmick, but the guy is almost Julius Smokes-level rubbish as a manager figure in ROH.
Roderick Strong/Josh Raymond/Christin Able vs Christopher Daniels/Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe
Remember a few weeks ago Daniels came out with a ring full of contenders and said he wanted matches with everyone? Well he has Davey Richards in Chicago in a few weeks, he took the former World Champion Tyler Black to a 30-Minute Draw in Plymouth and now he wants to earn himself another match with Roderick Strong, who beat him a few weeks ago on HDNet and is now in possession of the ROH Championship. Jay and Mark are also guys who used to be friends with Strong, so will want to beat some sense into him following his recent personality shift and alignment with the House Of Truth. Since this was taped before Glory By Honor the HOT entrance is cut to cover Strong not bringing the belt to ringside with him.
Raymond starts with Daniels and quickly learns that he’s nowhere near as popular as the Fallen Angel. He doesn’t look anywhere near as good a wrestler either and is resoundingly beaten up before Daniels tags out to Jay Briscoe. Able tags in with him and has much better luck until he attempts the Lawn Dart and finds it countered to a jumping kick to the face. Strong in with Mark next, with those two running through a really physical exchange of strikes. Daniels tags and engages in an equally physical little sequence with the new World Champion. House Of Truth start teaming up to isolate Daniels – with Raymond and Able getting 2 with a nice hanging neckbreaker/senton combo. But once again the Fallen Angel easily mows down Josh Raymond with a running STO and gets a tag. Now it’s the Briscoes working to cut the ring in half and put a beating on Josh. From the apron Strong and Able manage to distract Mark for long enough to allow Raymond to dive into a tag…and the tide turns again with the HOT working over Mark Briscoe. Mark drops Able with a running neckbreaker only for Roddy to chin both of his partners meaning he has nobody to tag to. Powerbomb/senton combo gets Raymond and Able a close nearfall at the 10 minute mark. At last Briscoe gets the hot tag to Chris Daniels who has no problem fighting off all three opponents. Fall From Grace gets 2 on Strong in the melee. Jay flatliners Able into Josh’s crotch, but Christin recovers to LAWN DART Mark into the turnbuckles. SHOOTING STAR SPEAR FROM RAYMOND TO JAY! Mark climbs to the top rope for a MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! In the ring Daniels sets up for Angel’s Wings only to be stopped by Truth Martini. DEATH BY RODERICK! Strong pins him using the tights at 14:44
Rating - *** - I’ve seen this one overrated in some quarters – personally I thought it was a solid free-TV main event and no more. I did like how they avoided the typical ‘heat segment' traditional format for this type of match and repeatedly switched the momentum back and forth. It meant that, even if they weren’t doing anything particularly groundbreaking, the match never felt boring or slow. I liked that Strong beat Daniels to win too. Since Daniels has come back to ROH the only guy that’s beaten him is Strong – so having the new World Champion as some sort of ‘kryptonite’ to the returning Fallen Angel is a fun little concept I’d like to see played up.
Tape Rating - *** - Much like last week the start and end of the show were the best bits, with two good matches to kick off and conclude the broadcast. The middle of the show, in terms of match content, was poor but with the post-Glory By Honor promo stuff there was enough to maintain my interest there too. ROH on HDNet continues to improve...
ROH on HDNet Episodes 71-75 – Top 5 Matches
5) Kings Of Wrestling vs Colt Cabana/El Generico (*** - Episode 072)
4) Kevin Steen vs Jerry Lynn (*** - Episode 071)
3) House Of Truth vs Christopher Daniels/Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe (*** - Episode 075)
2) Delirious vs Austin Aries (*** - Episode 074)
1) American Wolves vs Super Smash Bros. (**** - Episode 073)