Ring of Honor on HDNet 08/24/2009

Welcome back ROH readers. We have a great show to get to so lets get to it. We opened up with a video package of how we got to our reigning ROH World champ Austin Aries. We also get the word that Jerry Lynn has a significant message for the ROH fan base.

Great tag team match up as we have Steenerico against Tony Kozina and “The New Horror” Sami Calahan. A decent opening bout against a tandem with the experience of Kozina and ability of Calahan against a veteran team here in ROH of “Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen and “The Generic Luchadore” El Generico. Fast paced as both teams really bring it to the table. Sam Calahan hopefully will have time to shine here in Ring of Honor as he’s just in 5th gear the entire match. Great ring work by Kevin Steen as always. Kozina just seems a step behind the youngsters in the ring, but don’t let that fool you as he does get his shots in and really rocks the favorites in this match. But it would be the package piledriver/brain buster combo that puts Steenerico in the winners line. Great match that I would have to say sets the tone for the rest of the show. I hope that Steen and Generico get another chance to be ROH tag team champions as they just have the heart of a Canadian Mountee….well maybe a Hispanic mountee also if there were such things.

Roderick Strong interview coming up. Roderick points out what he brings to the table and boasts of the list of opponents he’s beaten to prove to “A Double” that he is more than worthy of being in the ring with the ROH world champion and I do hope he can prove that in the main event. These former partners and ROH tag champions really know each other inside and out so it’s a no brainer that their match will be a great showcase of what Ring of Honor is all about.

D’Lo Brown against John Kerman. Congrats to D’Lo for another miracle brought to the D’Lo nation in the form of a 7 pound beautiful baby girl recently. Kerman looks good in this match, for all the offense he’s able to get in, and I’m sure that we will see John Kerman back on the ROH TV show. But for what it’s worth, D’Lo is a world renown athlete and there isn’t much Kerman can bring to the table that D’Lo hasn’t seen before. D’Lo, a favorite of mine from his time in Japan and even his WWE 90s run, despite some naysayer’s I feel has added to the ROH product and with a slow burn perhaps will find his way into the ROH title picture. He has many tools that he has yet to show to the American audience, as proven by his matches in Japan. I have often heard him say that in Japan he breaks out moves because of the competition there, but I am sure that in ROH he will find the same heart and skill that will force him to break it out when he mixes it up with the higher competitors. Top rope Sky High Rydeen bomb gets D’Lo Brown the win. Great post match segment with Durden as D’Lo, not only irritated about never being interviewed until now, but that he is asked about Jerry Lynn. For a guy who “can’t talk” he certainly gets his point across in top fashion.

Top segment from The Embassy as we have Prince Nana, Double C, and Jimmy Rave really show what they feel about the Colt Cabana faction. I don’t have the highest hopes for this match in the future, but these clusters of action have always been entertaining and I’m willing to give it a shot.

Next up is Nigel being who he is as he speaks about Black beating him last week, vowing that it will never happen again. Nigel’s speaking ability is second to none in ROH and I do hope that ROH does everything they can to keep this man if the fed comes knocking.

Tyler Black, who had a recent interview on Figure 4 Daily with Bryan Alvarez, is in the ring as they cut off Nigel and Black has something to say. He speaks on Jerry Lynn possibly retiring and how he feels that he is a future ROH champion. Here comes Jerry Lynn to address the crowd and the fans are awaiting what he has to say. He comments on D’Lo wanting him to “shrivel up and die” while also letting everyone know he’s only 45, not 65 or even 84, sorry had to bring it up. I also want to point out that the current Jerry Lynn shirt isn’t that bad in my opinion for the pure reason that I could wear it in public and no one would have any negative thoughts on it, though I will say I’ve always gotten positive remarks about my No Remorse Corp shirt.

The main event is up as we have Roderick Strong against his former partner ROH World Champion Austin Aries. Furry jacket is damn awesome as he’s definitely channeling Michael Hayes, as well as having pink furry calf warmers that really do the trick. With Danielson gone, Roderick Strong has a unique chance to really up his game and place himself in the upper echelon of ROH, especially while the ROH faithful have accepted him back into their good graces.

These two are at it fast and furious as both are bringing their A game in this HDNet main event. These two have always meshed well and perhaps an iron man or two out of three falls match could help bring Strong up to that level that most feel he could be at. Despite being the heel, Aries still works a very similar style as to what he is known for. He doesn’t even take the short cuts, he just works his style thrown in with glaring showcases of arrogance a la Shawn Michaels circa 1992. While Roderick Strong has been pushed as the power man, the enforcer even when he was in Generation Next, Aries looks to be equal if not more thick muscular wise than Strong. Perhaps a little bit more work on his physique could give Roderick a more defining look, but that is just picking hairs as both men are in great conditioning and obviously could have matches that go the distance.

What we have is a pair of competitors that if booked correctly could bring back those must see matches for ROH DVDs. Bring in either Davey Richards or Chris Hero and you have a top tier of wrestlers that could reinvigorate the ROH fan base again in droves. With the influx of NOAH special show casings, and a larger working relationship with PWG we could see ROH bring back some of that spark that has seemingly been missing for a tad amount of time. Roderick and Aries could be that feud that brings back the old guard of fans as long as they are pushed correctly and not blown up too quickly. Aries gets the win with his feet on the ropes and we definitely must have a continuation of this budding feud. Great way to end the show and a great main event that should bring in any ROH fan into the product.

Thank you for reading and thank you for supporting PWP. Look for some special things coming including exclusive interviews and some live reporting done.