ROH On HDNet Recap 6/7/10
EDIT: If you haven't seen the episode yet, check it out in it's entirety HERE
This week marks the return of ROH On HDNet goodness as World Champion Tyler Black battles old nemesis Austin Aries in a non-title match, plus ECW Originals Jerry Lynn and Steve Corino go at it, and El Generico is in action.
Pre-Show:
– We kick things off with a video package that ROH released on their website at the end of last week. It sums up the last few months of the World Title scene, from Tyler's win, to Roddy going off the deep end, to him saving Tyler, their war of words, and then their world title match in New York, and then Cornette saying that Davey, rather than Roddy will be getting the next title shot, and of course Strong's further complaints and his mini-feud with Austin Aries. Five minutes in total and a real nice way to showcase Roderick Strong and kill some time.
– Tonight's main event: Tyler Black vs Austin Aries (non-title)
– Cue opening titles!
– Match 1: El Generico vs. Ricky Reyes
Pre-Match Thoughts: Generico has the spring back in his step so I'd expect this to be a real showcase of his abilities. Ricky Reyes is a slightly larger gentleman and a veteran of ROH, so it could be a case of showing how Generico will deal with the much bigger Kevin Steen.
The Match: Reyes jumps Generico as he's posing for the fans but doesn't take full advantage of the head-start and ends up getting a face full o' leg lariat. Turns out Reyes looks a little smaller than I remember, so you may want to disregard my comment about him being a preview of Steen. Reyes retakes the advantage with a back elbow and then a nice back suplex. Body slam! Jumping knee drop and then some admonishment for the fans. Really nice butterfly suplex gets a near fall. Seated shoulder bar incapacitates Generico but he fights out. Reyes cuts the comeback short with a kick to the gut. He looks for a powerbomb but Generico rolls through into a sunset flip for a close pin. Reyes pops back up and hits a really nice spinning wheel kick. Reyes is looking good. They begin to trade forearms until Reyes rakes the eyes and then hits a stiff looking kick to the face. He runs the ropes but walks right into a huge Michinoku Driver! Yakuza in the corner misses and Reyes hits a leaping kick to the back and then a bridging backdrop driver for two. I'd have bought that as a finisher. Reyes charges and hits Generico in the corner, and then goes to do it again but Generico follows him out and CREAMS HIM with a Yakuza kick. Brainbuster!!! Slap the Porpoise.
Winner: El Generico via Pinfal (Brainbuster)
Post-Match Thoughts: If you want me to be honest, Ricky Reyes looked very, very good here and Generico was just so-so. He hit all his spots well, but there weren't many of them as he spent the entire match getting beaten down. He's always been an underdog, and Reyes is about the strongest jobber you'll find these days, so I guess it's acceptable for him to come from behind to win, but I'd like to see a really dominant El Generico victory before his match against Kevin Steen.
– We go to a video package highlighting Steen & Generico's time as a team, the betrayal, Colt Cabana's involvement, Generico's depression, the entry of Steve Corino, Steen getting creepy, Generico losing, Corino warning Cabana not to stand up for Generico, footage from the Big Bang, the return of intense Generico and Colt being his mouthpiece all leading up to the upcoming grudge match of the year. Nice little video, though they showed the Yakuza to Steen three times.
– Corino and Steen are backstage and Steve runs Cabana down for all his losses. Steen asks if Kyle Durden would like some gum, Kyle says sure, and Steen spits in his face! Glorious.
– Match 2 – Steve Corino vs. Jerry Lynn
Pre-Match Thoughts: Corino just has the presence of a great wrestler, and he really seems to have gotten gradually back into better shape since his re-debut six months ago. He and Lynn are both veterans of the land of Extreme so I expect great chemistry here.
The Match: Corino has switched from trunks to tights and they seem to be hiding his gut quite well. The pair shake hands but neither will let go and they come to blows right away. Both try and fail to lock in an early sleeper hold, with Corino lifting Lynn up for a back suplex but Jerry reversing it into a crossbody for a quick pin attempt. Strikes from Corino, but Lynn retakes the advantage with the Booker T style corner roll-up (which I'm pretty sure is named after a legend but which one eludes me right now). Stiff punch from Corino. He backs Lynn into the corner and then asks the crowd “who's the man?”. This often proves to be a mistake and does this time as well as Jerry hits a running bulldog. Corino wants a time-out on the outside. He avoids a baseball slide but gets a right hand and is thrown into the guard rail instead. Inverted DDT by Lynn on the inside. Springboard dropkick knocks Corino off the apron once again. Cannonball from the apron! Bit of a brawl on the outside with Corino eventually coming out on top… for a few moments. Lynn regains the advantage and introduces Corino's shoulder to the ring post. Hotshot onto the ring apron from Corino. Finally back in the ring now. Corino appears to use some sort of minor weapon but we don't see what it is. Abdominal stretch by Corino. Thumb up the ass?!? Ok… He goes for it again but Lynn counters and sticks his thumb in his mouth. Lovely. Punch. Elbow. Jumping forearm. Lynn whips Corino to the corner, does a forward roll and then… pokes him in the eye. Strange moves from both men. Both up top now. Frankensteiner by Lynn! Looking for the Cradle Piledriver but it's countered. Old School Expulsion! They see-saw back and forth looking for the Beach Break and Cradle Piledriver respectively before Lynn rolls Corino into a sunset flip. Corino rolls all the way through and hits a short version of the Sliding-C lariat. Colt Cabana runs in to try and interfere but Kevin Steen attacks him from behind. Corino and Lynn brawl with them and we have a no contest.
Result: No Contest.
Post-Match Thoughts: This was a decent enough match before the ending. I don't approve of Colt trying to interfere in the match as I believe faces should only do run-ins to even the odds when a heel is cheating. Could have done without the thumb to the ass stuff, but besides that these two proved that being a veteran isn't just about wrestling for a long time, they both have great instincts.
– Kenny King runs in and attacks Jerry Lynn, brawling with him out of the arena, and thus leaving Cabana alone in the ring with Steerino. Ole! Ole! Ole! Here comes Generico! He quickly deals with Corino and then faces off with Steen. Awkward delay as they wait for Corino to recover and pull Generico out of the ring. Those two brawl on the outside as Cabana punches referee Paul Turner for getting in his way but then gets drilled with a Package Piledriver. Steen's got a chair but Generico chases him away before he can use it.
– After commercial we get a recap of the brawl segment from moments ago.
– Hype for Steen vs Generico and Davey vs Tyler.
– The awesome video package featuring Davey and Tyler talking about their past, each other and the ROH World Title. This is a great video and I hope everyone's seen it. Whenever Davey talks honestly about his life my love for him grows stronger… though I question his comment that he doesn't have as much natural talent as Claudio or Roddy. Sure, Castagnoli has one of the best bodies in wrestling, but I think Davey is just as athletic if not more so than Roderick Strong.
– Main Event – Austin Aries vs Tyler Black (Non-Title Match)
Pre-Match Thoughts: It's Aries and Tyler, it's going to be good. I've lost count of how many matches these two have had, but they've always worked very well together and I expect this to be no different. Tyler needs to look strong heading into his match with Davey, and he's the champ, so I'd expect him to go over, but don't overlook outside interference from any of their many enemies/allies.
The Match: Sparkly new jacket for A-Double. Big reaction for Tyler, which is nice to hear. They battle for position early and Tyler gets the better of it as Aries heads to the outside. The kids do not like A-Double. Aries takes the advantage with strikes and hits some big chops in the corner. Running elbow in the corner, snapmare, kick to the back. Nice sequence. Tyler fires back and hits some chops of his own before stomping a mudhole in Aries and… you know the rest. Snapmare by Tyler, and a kick to the back of his own. Body slam! Signature jumping stomp to the face/neck. Black hypes himself up in the corner but Aries slides outside and drags Tyler out with him. Tyler reverses a throw to the guard rail and then hotshots Aries onto the ring frame. Moonsault off the guard rail!!! Back inside now and Tyler springboards over Aries, runs the ropes and hits a spinning wheel kick. A pair of elbows and a clothesline by the champ. Tyler looks for the springboard moonsault but Aries rolls out the way. Tyler saw it coming though and lands on his feet. He gathers himself and looks for a shooting star splash but A-Double moves again and Tyler crashes down to the canvas. Hangman's neckbreaker over the middle rope by Aries and then a running knee strike as Tyler hangs out of the ring. Macho Man diving axe handle! He throws Tyler back in and hits a tope atomico over the rope. Tyler tries to fight back but gets a running knee strike to the gut. Aries works Tyler over in the corner before posing for the fans. Tyler tries to fight back but gets kicked right in the face and goes down. Aries is working the leg now. Tyler peppers him with forearms and then looks for a dropsault but Aries hangs back. Tyler half-sells the leg damage after landing on his feet but then hoists Aries up for the F-5 (please call it the F-8, it would fit your gimmick.) A-Double slips off his shoulders and chop blocks him down. Shinbreaker. He looks for the back suplex but Tyler turns and tries a sunset flip. Aries wobbles a little but then intentionally rolls backwards and straight into a big dropkick to the face of Tyler. I kind of miss his headscissors escape into a dropkick. Figure Four! Wooo!!! Tyler eventually gets to the ropes but he's hurting. Aries tries what I assume was going to be a Brainbuster from the apron into the ring but Tyler fights out. They get into a stupid Randy Orton vs Shelton Benjamin fisticuff session before Tyler introduces Aries to the turnbuckles four times and then finishes it with the apron enzuigiri. Springboard Clothesline! He whips Aries from one corner to the other twice. A third whip ends in Aries using the old Ric Flair roll to the apron. He runs to the corner and climbs up but Tyler interrupts him and tries to throw him off. Rake to the eyes! He leaps off and hits a crossbody but Black rolls through and scoops Aries off the canvas with ease before tossing him up across his shoulders and hitting a massive F-8 (I don't care if nobody else calls it that, I am from now on.) God's Last Gift? No! Brainbuster! Tyler kicks out! Aries mocks Tyler's corner taunt and goes for the I.E.D. but gets his teeth kicked down his throat in mid-air. Aries gets the ropes to break the pin. Tyler goes for the Phoenix Splash but Aries crotches him. I.E.D. to the knee as Tyler hangs upside down! Shinbreaker. Aries goes for the Figure Four again but Tyler cradles him for the pin!
Winner: Tyler Black via Pinfall (Inside Cradle)
Post-Match Thoughts: Really good match. These two have faced off so many times and yet it never feels rehashed or repeated, at least not to me. Both men looked pretty strong and demonstrated how well they knew each other, countering key moves. The leg work came pretty late in the match, but it all worked out well in the end and the finish was clever.
– Aries decks Tyler after the match and calls out Kenny King. They set up a spike piledriver but Jerry Lynn sprints down to attack King. Roderick Strong hits the ring now and is taking it to Aries. Tyler shoves him out of the way and goes after Aries. Roddy nails Tyler in the face and then attacks Aries himself. Kick to the face from Tyler knocks him clean out of the ring. Aries charges but Tyler moves and he goes flying as well. Tyler runs the ropes and hits a flip dive over the top rope on both men!!! He celebrates back in the ring with the World Title as we cut to a camera shot of Delirious lurking in the crowd! And that's your show for this week!
– Overall: This was the best episode of ROH in recent memory with three solid matches, nice storyline advancement and some of the better video packages the company have produced to fill out the rest of the show. The main event was as good as any other match you'll see on television this week and the Generico/Reyes match was a lot better than I expected for an opener. I haven't seen Lynn and Corino's No DQ match from Phoenix but I hear good things, and their match tonight was solid enough to make me believe it. Delirious' return didn't get much reaction from the live crowd, but they weren't to know he was “injured”.
The build for the top two PPV matches continued well and I eagerly await the encounter between Davey and Tyler and of course Steen and Generico finally getting their hands on each other. My only concern is that the most recent tapings seemed to contain a lot of hype for the PPV and there's no way they can fit all of it in next week, but we'll see what happens next Monday.
That'll do it from me for another week everybody.