ROH On HDNet Recap 5/10/10
The number one contenders for the ROH Tag Team Titles at the next iPPV are decided, we have a new member of the Embassy, and a Pick 6 spot is up for grabs in a Battle Royal this week.
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– Pre-Show: This week’s show opens with a very serious Mike Hogwood and Dave Prazak recapping the injury of Delirious by Austin Aries. Hog goes as far as to say it’s the worst thing he’s ever seen in pro wrestling. While I don’t doubt he’s seen some depraved things in his untold decades of experience in pro wrestling, didn’t we see Jerry Lynn get his neck damn-near broken by Kenny King about six months ago? Now hitting women isn’t cool don’t get me wrong, but it’s not like Aries punched Daizee in the face or anything like that, so does this latest act from the Aries camp really trump their previous effort? I’ll let you decide.
Cue opening titles!
– Jim Cornette states that the winner of The Briscoes vs Dark City Fight Club will go on to face the Kings of Wrestling for the ROH Tag Team Titles at the next iPPV (Death Before Dishonor VIII) in Toronto. I wonder if Toronto will boo the Briscoes for their interference in the title match in New York… probably not, but I wouldn’t like to be Jay and Mark next time ROH is in The Big Apple.
– Match 1 – The Briscoes vs. The Dark City Fight Club
Pre-Match Thoughts: The Briscoes and DCFC have had two anticlimactic and dare I say, dull matches in the last year. They seem to just lack proper chemistry, so I don’t have high hopes for this one. I think it’s also pretty obvious who will win given an iPPV title shot is on the line.
The Match: As expected, this one begins with a brawl and after a nice little dropkick from Jay we’ve got all four men on the outside and Mark taking a vertical suplex on the floor. Not to worry though, as we all know Mark Briscoe > arena floors, and sure enough he’s right back up and hitting a corkscrew senton off the guard rail. Who says he’s a spot monkey? Prazak calls for this fight to become a wrestling match, and despite a chair flying across the ring for no apparent reason, Jay complies by hitting a superkick on Kory Chavis in the ring and following it with a clothesline. Trademark double shoulder tackle from the Briscoes gets a two after Davis breaks up the pin. Vertical suplex from Mark and another 2. Back in comes Jay for more clobberin’. Davis’ attempt to mug Jay on the outside doesn’t work out, but Mark takes exception to the attempt and flies off the apron only to be caught by Davis and flung into the guard rail, leaving Jay in the ring against both members of DCFC. Jay briefly evades the pair but soon falls victim to a tilt-a-whirl/cutter combo. Chavis and Davis work Jay over in their corner with punches, kicks and a vicious set of headbutts. Jay eats a nice tilt-a-whirl powerslam that requires a save from Mark to prevent a pin. Kory Chavis mounts a face-down Jay and begins to reign down fists… to his back. Weird. After more of the same Jay finally hits an STO into the turnbuckles, and tags Mark. White-Trash Kung Fu! Running crossbody takes down Davis and a rebound shoulder tackle and clothesline get rid of Chavis. Exploder suplex and another clothesline and we’re now all set for a Mark Briscoe “Please Don’t Die” moment. Moonsault to the outside takes out the Fight Club and Mark is still conscious. Hoorah. Things get hectic back in the ring as Davis hits a giant clothesline on Mark before getting hit with a yakuza kick and Death Valley Driver from Jay. Big spinebuster by Chavis, diving dropkick by Mark, Pounce by Davis. Madness. It looks like Mark is going down to Project Mayhem, but an awkward looking reversal sees him cradle Davis while Jay spears Chavis to allow an uninterrupted three count.
Winners: The Briscoes via Pinfall (Inside Cradle)
Post-Match Thoughts: Certainly better than their previous efforts together, this one was almost exciting in places. It didn’t drag on with little actually happening like the 8th Anniversary Show, but I think it’s also clear that this is never going to be a money feud for ROH like the Kings/Briscoes one has and continues to be. Still, one of the better non main-event matches you’ll see on TV.
– Next we get hype for our main event, a 6-man battle royal for the vacant Pick 6 slot.
– Kyle Durden is in the back with Aries and asks him if he’s proud of his actions last week. “Wouldn’t you be proud if you were me?” ‘Nuff said. He’s more concerned about the Battle Royal, claiming said match is one of his fortes, and he’s studied all the greats to devise a strategy to make him the three time ROH World Champion. Durden informs him there will be 6 men in the match, not 20, which simply makes Aries smile and remark on how much easier it will be.
– Prince Nana and Ernesto Osiris head to the ring and we cut away from their entrance to see Nana talking about the state of the Embassy. Erick Stevens states taking out Necro won’t even be a challenge for him, and he doesn’t give a damn if Necro’s kids go hungry. Highlights of the brawl the two had and Necro’s suspension, which of course pleased Nana… before Cornette brought him back just as quickly as he was gotten rid of. Will this story never end?
– Finally back in the ring and we have a typical Nana promo. Lots of comments about how the audience are classless and poor. He thanks Alan Greenspan before bringing out the newest member of the Embassy, going as far as calling him the best member the group has ever had (ouch to Jimmy Rave), Shawn Daivari. Anyone surprised? Out comes Daivari in a suit as Hogwood is “stunned, absolutely stunned” (I guess that answers my previous question). Shawn explains he is in the Embassy for personal, professional and financial reasons before running down Necro Butcher, claiming destroying Necro will destroy us, the fans. Feel free to destroy him, I’ll clap.
– Next week: Kevin Steen vs Roderick Strong in a Pick 6 match.
– We’re back with Kyle Durden who is now talking to Eddie Kingston. As Kingston promos go, this was was quite laid back and simplistic. He puts the ROH title over as the most important in wrestling and says he’s coming for whoever the champion may be.
– Another Art of Pro Wrestling with Colt Cabana and his guest this week is Bobby Cruise. This week is talking, and Colt cuts Bobby off every time he opens his mouth until he storms off. Short and sweet. Didn’t kill the joke by dragging it out, but still a little pointless. Colt is at his funniest in the ring, and I haven’t seen his stand-up, but these little videos don’t really do it for me.
– Highlights of Eddie Edwards’ path to the ROH TV Title now. Not really much to say, I gave my take on Edwards as champion last week, and as nicely edited as the highlights were, it’s the same stuff we’ve seen for weeks now. I will say that ROH have done a great job with the Steen/Generico feud by managing to intertwine it with other stories, such as Edwards’ rise to championship glory.
– Main Event – Pick 6 Battle Royal
Austin Aries vs Eddie Kingston vs Jerry Lynn vs Joey Ryan vs Rasche Brown vs Rhett Titus
Pre-Match Thoughts: Aries & Titus both being in the match surely gives A-Double the advantage, but with the tensions emerging between Aries, King & Titus lately, we’ll have to wait and see. Don’t count out the Skullkrusher though, this kind of match works in his favour. Oh no wait, Jerry Lynn is going to win, The Hog has spoken.
The Match: Everybody got their own full-length entrance and we’re fast running out of time. Kingston goes straight for Joey but he ducks out under the bottom rope and we’re away. Titus and Aries double team Lynn while Joey and Rasche form a reluctant alliance against Kingston. Change places! Everybody works their way around the ring to attack each other with no clear advantages, and nothing really worth commenting on. Aries is hugging the bottom rope. Rasche goes after Aries & Titus and cracks their heads together. He and Lynn then almost eliminate A-Double, but Titus saves his mentor. Rasche kindly decks him for his troubles. Titus is placed almost directly onto the apron by Rasche so he safely rolls back in. Kingston hits the Cactus Jack clothesline on Joey. Kingston & Ryan are eliminated. Eddie doesn’t mind though and he happily brawls with Joey to the back. Lynn tattoos Titus with punches, takes down Aries, and then trips Titus so that his head falls south of Aries’ belt-line. Can’t beat the classic miscommunication spots. Lynn and Titus crash into each other and Aries and Rasche are left standing. Huge shoulder block puts Aries down and then Rasche no-sells a chop. A-Double bails and Titus gets laid out with a palm thrust. Rasche holds Lynn in fall-away slam position and knocks Titus and Aries down with big boots before hitting a running powerslam. Brown goes from corner to corner hitting strikes. Lynn finally takes him down with a tornado DDT. Rasche nearly eliminates Lynn but Aries and Titus reverse his fate and Rasche Brown is eliminated. Back in comes the Skullkrusher and he lays everybody out. Military Press on Aries before dropping him onto Titus and then finally walking out. Lynn hits a neckbreaker and DDT simultaneously on Aries and Titus and then tosses Aries through the middle ropes. He tries to skin the cat (or kitten, if you will) but gets dropkicked in the face and to the outside. Titus gets Lynn up for a powerbomb but Lynn hits a hurricanrana to throw him over the top rope and to the floor. Titus is eliminated. Rhettski holds Lynn’s foot to keep him on the apron and he winds unable to evade the running I.E.D. dropkick for the final elimination. Jerry Lynn is eliminated.
Winner: Austin Aries (Now ranked 6th in the Pick 6)
Post-Match Thoughts: Dull. Very dull. After the first match, the Nana segment, all the pre-taped stuff, and the six entrances there were less than ten minutes left to have the match. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing given what they did with their limited time, but I don’t like it when you know a main event match is going to be very short before it even begins. I’m not convinced that any over-the-top-rope match other than the Royal Rumble has been any good in recent memory, and this just serves as further proof. Rasche Brown was probably the highlight of the match, and he continues to impress me with his legitimate potential to be a main event level talent in the company. The man is over, and he can produce the “ooohs” and “ahhhs” from the crowd thanks to being so much more powerful than everyone who isn’t presently holding tag team gold. Aries is now in the Pick 6, though given how much the spots change about, that doesn’t actually mean a great deal, beyond giving him something to be cocky about.
Did you know Delirious was injured by Austin Aries last week? Just in case you didn’t, we get yet another look at last week’s events for no reason whatsoever to close the show.
Overall: This week’s show didn’t feel full-length, and I don’t mean that in the “time flies when you’re having fun” sense, but rather “Is that it?” The opening match was decent enough without setting the world on fire, but then we got the usual bombardment of endless vignettes, interviews and highlight packages, without so much as a squash match to break them up. This would have all been fine if the main event had been good, but I have to say it simply was not. It was short, and dull, and seemingly led to nothing more than Aries gloating that he’s a new contender for the ROH World Title just one week after claiming he wasn’t really interested in it anymore.
They furthered some storyline progression, particularly the Kings/Brisoces saga by setting up a rematch for the next iPPV, but I’d say a good third or more of the broadcast was spent recapping last week’s show. Daivari joining the Embassy was a surprise to only to the man sitting in the commentary booth, and I wonder if anyone out there is enjoying the Necro vs Embassy war. I’m certainly not, but I can’t honestly suggest anything better to do with either of them. OK that’s not true, I could, but for now, that’s ROH for this week, and hopefully a much better effort next week.
