So there’s no ROH On HDNet episode this week due to some sort of holiday you American folks call Labour Day, which means I’m out of a job for a week. Rather than accept forced redundancy, I figured I’d go ahead and put together a nice little preview for this Saturday night’s iPPV, Glory by Honor IX (which I’ll be providing live coverage of throughout the night, right here on PWPonderings.)
Matches
Erick Stevens & Necro Butcher vs. Grizzly Redwood & ???
I’m willing to bet ??? turns out to be Balls Mahoney to make his appearance way back at Supercard of Honor V mean anything. Given his performance at TNA’s Hardcore Justice I’m even less enthused about this than I was when he made said appearance, if that’s at all possible. Heck, Axel Rotten looked surprisingly solid, get him instead. I’m a big Erick Stevens fan, so I hope for his sake he doesn’t get embarrassed by a has-been hardcore legend. Working in my favour is the fact that ROH is billing this as the end of the feud between Grizzly and the Embassy. Grizz is the last one left from the terrible feud the Embassy has been embroiled in for the last two years, and the Embassy seem to be receiving a new push, so I’d hope that this ends with Stevens and Necro murdering Redwood and then moving on. Of course subtle shots towards Jimmy Rave have been dropped for a while now, so there’s a chance he’s ???, which would be pretty awesome.
Jay Briscoe vs. Kenny King
When I saw the twitter announcement that the All-Night Express had challenged the Briscoes I thought “Oh good, it’s a New York City event, time for another ANX/Briscoes tag match.” So I was pleasantly surprised to read that instead the four men will face off in a pair of singles matches. This looks to be the more interesting of the two as each man is the better wrestler on his team. Jay is actually a very competent technical wrestler when he wants to be, but also brings the aggression that gets the crowd on their feet. Meanwhile Kenny King is the best athlete on the card tonight (yeah, I know Shelton is wrestling tonight). These two had some good matches during a three-way rivalry with Kenny Omega last year on HDNet, so I expect this to be no different. I’d like to see Kenny take this, but I have a feeling it’ll go to Jay.
Mark Briscoe vs. Rhett Titus
I’m a big supporter of Titus, but let’s face it, this match should come before Jay vs King because these two just aren’t as good. Mark does have a nice array of suplexes and takedowns in his arsenal, and thankfully (for his sake) he can’t take as many risks from the top rope thanks to his many knee injuries, so I have more time for him now than I have in the past, but I still think he’s got too many spot-monkey tendencies and struggles when on his own. This match could go either way, with Titus getting a cheap pin, or Briscoe winning clean. Haven’t seen a Cut-Throat Driver in a while though, and don’t rule out Austin Aries’ intervention.
ROH World Television Title Match
Eddie Edwards vs. Shawn Daivari w/ Prince Nana
I have respect for Daivari, for everything he’s achieved in wrestling, for his life in general, but I have not been a fan of his work in ROH thus far. He’s being intentionally dull so as to not draw focus away from the babyface, and that’s smart, it’s the traditional way for a heel to work, and it’s why he was employed by the WWE for so many years, but it just doesn’t do it for me in an indie environment. For all of these reasons, I would have rather seen Stevens get the shot here and Daivari get his in Plymouth, but I understand that they feel the NYC crowd will pop for Balls & Grizzly, so he’s busy. As for this match? Well, Eddie Edwards has graduated from killing jobbers to taking on ROH’s mid-card talent, and that’s exactly where he needs to be. The Wolves are fully fledged faces at this point, just aggressive faces, so a win over a veteran like Daivari here will go a long way in putting him over as a legit upper-mid-card face.
Austin Aries vs. Christopher Daniels
Both of these guys are phenomenal in-ring performers with cocky attitudes and flamboyant dress-sense. They’re both veterans of ROH and have both found a lot of success in the wrestling business. Both claim to be the best in the world (though Aries has about 12 more ways of saying it than Daniels) and this may as well be a number 1 contenders match if we’re going to have a new champion. Aries has put Delirious out of action for the foreseeable future, and if Tyler’s leaving then he has no reason to stay away from the World Title anymore. Meanwhile, Daniels hopes to be coming off a non-title victory over the World Champion in Plymouth, and has beaten virtually all of the main event talent the company has to offer on his path to the top, with A-Double surely being the last man on his list. I’d go with the Fallen Angel in this one.
Double Chain Match
Colt Cabana & El Generico vs. Kevin Steen & Steve Corino
There will be blood, and lot’s of it. I’m not quite sure how well this match will work out as I’ve never seen two chains in play at once in a match, but I have no doubts they’ll make it work somehow. It’ll be interesting to see who Steen chains himself to as the fans will logically want to see him and Generico bound at the wrist, but Mr. Wrestling is a master of the mind games, and may well chain himself to Cabana just to get under the Generic Luchador’s skin. The dynamics created here make this a very interesting way to further the feud as they try their best to keep life in it until Final Battle 2010. Steerino have mostly dominated this feud, and if they do indeed decide to keep it going, I’d imagine that will continue, with Generico finally defeating Steen in a Fight Without Honor at Final Battle.
The Kings of Wrestling vs. Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin
This one should be really interesting. With the titles not on the line and Haas & Benjamin having no employers to kick up a fuss it means we can have a definitive finish. I would hope the Kings are booked to go over, but it isn’t impossible to imagine it going to the duo formerly known as the World’s Greatest Tag Team. In theory the Kings will have the size while Haas & Benjamin will have the speed (though the Kings have proven they can go toe to toe with the fastest teams going), and in terms of technical ability I believe it’s a stalemate. I’m sure if you ask Haas & Benjamin they’ll tell you there’s no way they lose a technical battle (and from what Paul London said about them in a shoot interview it seems they are a little over-sure of themselves due to their amateur backgrounds), but Hero and Claudio have traveled the globe and learned from the best, so I think they’ll have counters for anything WGTT can bust out. Colt Cabana made a comment to the effect of Haas & Benjamin not being able to match the pace that the Kings wrestle at, and I’m inclined to agree. Anyone worth their salt knows that while the Kings talk a big game, they can back it up huge, and their work-rate is second to none. I hope for Haas & Benjamin’s sake they spend some time putting things together and bring their A-Game, because there’s a good chance they’ll get embarrassed here. You’d better believe the Kings are coming for that WWE-owned nickname.
No Disqualification ROH World Title Match
Tyler Black vs. Roderick Strong
And here it is, the main event. All the marbles. Every ROH fan, casual or hardcore, will want to see what goes down here. We all know Tyler won’t take the belt to the WWE, but it’s how that doesn’t happen that is key. Will Roddy beat him and keep the belt where it belongs and call himself ROH’s savior? Will Terry Funk and/or Jim Cornette convince Tyler to do the right thing and vacate the belt if he wins? Will a certain New York native make his long-awaited return and do either of those things himself? A vacated belt means a tournament, and those tend to go down very well with the ROH faithful. Heck, is it impossible that we get another Survival of the Fittest in the coming months, but with the vacant ROH World Title on the line? Could they drag it out to Final Battle and crown a new champion on iPPV? I think it’s unlikely, and that before the end of the broadcast this Saturday we will have a World Champion, because it makes more sense to have a title change happen at an event a higher number of people are going to pay for.
All of this, and not a word about the match itself! Tyler and Roddy have had a rivalry that dates back to last year when Tyler defeated Strong in the finals of Survival of the Fittest in a dubious fashion. A rematch was granted and it went to a 20-minute time limit draw. A second rematch took place the night before Final Battle and this time Roderick got the W. Then came all the drama with Roddy acting as a judge at the 8th Anniversary Show in exchange for the first shot at the title if Tyler won. Well, Tyler won, but Roddy didn’t get his one on one match. Instead we got a triple threat in which Roddy was the first man eliminated (but not by Tyler). Along the way the two men exchanged losses during a Phoenix double-shot. Roddy’s match was finally granted and it took three ref-bumps for Tyler to get the win, enraging Roddy further and leading to him appointing Truth Martini as his life-coach. Rather than complain further about management screwing him over, Strong set about earning his rematch via the Toronto Gauntlet and then a win over Davey Richards on HDNet.
Jerome Cusson is calling this a heel vs heel match, and in theory that’s correct, but don’t for a minute think that Roddy isn’t going to receive deafening cheers from a New York crowd that hates Tyler Black (expect to hear sell-out chants). I’m sure Martini will try to get involved somehow, but Funk will punch him out and end up counting the pin, but I can’t see Roddy acting as a convincing heel in this match, even if he does from here on out.
There are a lot of factors at work here, and lots to think about, so it’s quite difficult to predict exactly how this will play out. I’m still rooting for Tyler turning around and announcing the signing was a lie and this was all just to prove the fans are fickle, and act as a rebirth of the Age of the Fall with him, Steen and Corino (please come back Jimmy!), but I accept this is a long-shot. I think the referee will go down, Martini will try to interfere and get punched by Funk, Homicide will run in, attack Tyler, and Roddy will get the pin, leading to an ongoing feud with Roddy, Homicide, Daniels, Aries and Davey Richards, all battling for the belt.
Overall iPPV Thoughts
In my opinion ROH are putting forth a very strong card, one that on paper looks t0 be the best New York show since Glory by Honor VIII one year ago, which coincidentally also featured a departing wrestler in the main event. Final Battle 09, 8th Anniversary Show and Supercard of Honor V have all boasted some great matches, but also featured some duds, particularly the Final Battle main event and the multiple dirty finishes at Supercard V. GBH9 has a legit dream tag team match, another bloody chapter in the feud of the year, and guarantees either a new champion or one hell of a controversial angle. Throw in Aries vs. Daniels which could main event any other show, the Briscoes/ANX challenge matches, a promised end to the Grizzly/Embassy feud, and then a TV Title match to boot, and I’d say we have a hell of a show on our hands.