Didn’t catch it? Watch it here before you read the recap
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Hot on the heels of being named the best wrestling TV show by the Wrestling Observer ROH On HDNet present The World’s Greatest Tag Team against The All-Night Express in an exciting main event. But that’s not all; Homicide and Jim Cornette exchange words, Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly tackle the Bravados, and we hear from MsChif, Christopher Daniels and Eddie Edwards. All this and much more this week in ROH On HDNet.
Yes, that’s right ladies and gentlemen, the Wrestling Observer have dished out their annual awards once again and have decided that the finest wrestling television show in the land is this very one that I’m proud to review for you each and every week, namely ROH On HDNet. So with that in mind let’s take a look at what I believe was a very strong show this week.
Opening Segment
R&R: A repeat of the vignette chronicalling the history between Jim Cornette and Homicide setting up their in-ring confrontation later in the episode. I liked it last week, I still like it this week. Ignore the “Next week” in the picture by the way.
Cole & O’Reilly/Bravados Vignette
R&R: Before the first match we get a video package interviewing Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly about the top four tag teams in ROH, putting them all over, but claiming The All-Night Express need to mature. I find it funny they didn’t mention their opponents tonight though. We then move to The Bravado Brothers… I’m deeply in hate with them right now, but in the sort of good, intentional way. They’re dressed up in sweater-vests and talking about their grandmother cooking them breakfast and just generally doing their best to make the entire world want to kick their teeth in. Good job by ROH turning an inexperienced duo lacking charisma into something the fans are in some way invested in. In their case the fans are invested in wanting to see them get hurt, but that’s the way traditional heels were, so bravo for that.
The Bravado Brothers vs. Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly
Recap: In either the third or fourth rematch between ROH’s newest tag teams the Bravados managed to pull off what many consider an upset by defeating The Golden Boys. Cole & O’Reilly appeared to have this match well in hand, with O’Reilly in particular dazzling the fans with his exciting strike-based move-set, but in the end it took only one mistake for the duo to lose the match. The Bravados tossed O’Reilly to the outside after he climbed the top rope to take him out of the match and then as Cole ran the ropes Harlem tripped him, allowing Lance to roll Cole up for a flash pin and the victory.
Review: People may not like how frequently these two teams have faced off against each other, but it’s led to some pretty solid chemistry and I feel the Bravados have transformed enough during the last few months and The Golden Boys’ chemistry has improved to the point this match felt fresh. Our senior editor will be waxing lyrical over how this was a terrible booking decision, but let’s remember a few things; Cole & O’Reilly were up until this point undefeated on HDNet, Delirious is doing his best to get his students over (and I’d say he’s somewhat succeeding), and the Bravados have begun to be booked as heels, so this somewhat underhanded win contributes to solidifying that role for them. The loss won’t hurt Cole & O’Reilly because it’s very clear from the reactions they get from the fans that these two are going to be stars. Kyle O’Reilly is going to be better than Davey Richards and it’s not going to take him all that long to get there. He’s a little bit smoother than his trainer and lacks that overly-intense attitude that just becomes annoying over time. He doesn’t yet have it in him to carry a 20-minute main event, but he’ll get there eventually. The fans were certainly giving him a huge reaction in this match after his big offensive flurry. On the other hand I’d only really describe Adam Cole as serviceable up to this point in his ROH career. He’s got the look, the charisma and is athletic enough to be a star, but his tenure with the company hasn’t wowed me from an in-ring standpoint yet. I’ve seen what he can do in other companies though, so I’m sure he’ll get there when he’s given the opportunity. He looked like the anti-BxB Hulk when he was over-selling his back as he crawled painfully slowly to make the hot tag. Meanwhile The Bravados may never get to the level they aspire to but they certainly have good chemistry, a nice little finishing sequence (that Adam Cole kicked out of) and they’re light-years ahead of where they were when we first saw them, so maybe Rhett Titus won’t be the only successful student of the ROH training academy. I thought this was a really good match and showed the stock there is in the youth of this roster.
MsChif Promo
R&R: After being shown what MsChif did to Daizee Haze last week we go to a promo with the lady herself (complete with a green tint on the screen). She talks about how she was sick and tired of hearing Haze and Sara Del Rey claim to be the best in the world and she’s back to prove that she’s better than both, claiming Death Rey would be next. Then she screamed. I guess she will be attempting to fill the role of a tweener between these two then. I’m not entirely sure that the way she took it to Daizee last week is befitting of that role, but hey, at least she’s back.
Homicide/Jim Cornette Stand-Off
R&R: I swear I could understand Homicide once. No longer. Cornette granted Homicide a shot at the world title on iPPV due to him being undefeated since his return (and that number one contender’s match against Daniels at Final Battle). Homicide wasn’t satisfied however, claiming he still doesn’t like Cornette despite Jim’s claims that he wanted to put their past behind them. It was kind of strange for Homicide to be hostile towards Cornette after being granted his title shot because surely he’s risking having it taken away again? Ah well, that’s ‘Cide for ya.
Homicide vs. Oryan Bishop
Recap: Homicide tuned up for his upcoming title match by defeating local talent Oryan Bishop thanks to the Ace Crusher. Despite a few flurries of offence from Bishop the result was never in doubt as Homicide rained down with right hands and even used a tornado DDT at one point.
Review: I’ve seen a lot of jobbers over the years and Oryan Bishop is among the worst. He didn’t even raise his hands when Homicide came flying at him with both fists to start the match, he wears kickpads despite having no kicking in his arsenal, he looks like a fat version of Rhyno, he kicked out of the Ace Crusher just after three, and then no-sold the move completely by standing up and walking out of the ring on his own power. My friend, you are here to make Homicide look like a beast before he takes on Roderick Strong for the world title, not to try and get yourself over. He was given too much offence and he wasn’t even impressive when he was controlling the match. Still, Homicide never looked hurt and was smiling towards the end, easily countering out of Bishop’s moves and nailing the Ace Crusher for the W. Dave Prazak talked about how Homicide could do it all during this match and while I agree he’s more diverse than he seems at a glance, I resent the idea that he’s still capable of lucha libre. A tope con hilo does not a luchadore make.
Haas & Benjamin/King & Titus Vignette
R&R: We see the same interview of WGTT talking about the difference between wrestling and entertainment and plenty of footage of their matches in ROH thus far, and then an interview with King & Titus. Rhett puts them over but claims they’ve never faced anyone like the ANX because they’re athletic and they’re hungry. King addresses the comparisons between himself and Shelton, claiming he’s his own man. I’m glad he acknowledged those comparisons and I’m glad he said he’s Kenny King because I think those comparisons are a little stupid. They’re both incredible athletes capable of jumping from the mat straight to the top rope, but King has more charisma and cuts a better promo. I’m not going to say he’s a better wrestler, because he’s not, but I think he can hang with him athletically and he’s got the additional tools that prevented Shelton from being the star the IWC wanted him to be in the WWE.
Christopher Daniels Vignette
R&R: Daniels talks about being in the shape of his life and how he has a mental edge over everyone on the roster due to being in more big money matches and pressure situations than the entire locker room combined. Shelton Benjamin and Homicide could probably give him a run for his money, but I see his point. This was to build his TV Title match against Eddie Edwards next week, and it served that purpose decently.
Eddie Edwards Interview
R&R: Speaking of Eddie, here he is now with Kyle Durden. He acknowledges Daniels’ accomplishments but points out he’s never held a singles title. Mike Bennett enters and laughs at Edwards, stating he wants the title and that he’ll be watching Eddie. It’s going to suck for Edwards if he has to put Bennett over into the main event as he’s been groomed for that spot himself for over a year now.
The World’s Greatest Tag Team vs. The All-Night Express
Recap: In a thrilling tag team main event the veteran Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin defeated the number one contenders to the ROH World Tag Team Titles with an unlikely assist from the champions. Early on in the contest King & Benjamin reached somewhat of a stalemate as they tried to outwrestle and out-quick each other, somewhat reflective of the theme of the entire match as neither team could sustain a lengthy advantage over the other. As things begun to break down Haas tried to lock in the Haas of Pain on Titus only for King to take him out with a springboard clothesline. With Shelton down on the outside things looked promising for the ANX but that’s when Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli chose to strike, attacking Kenny King on the outside and leaving Titus alone with the World’s Greatest Tag Team. One leapfrog double axe handle and a german suplex later and the match was over. Perhaps the Kings fear the Express more than they let on.
Review: This match should never have been booked. There was obviously no way Haas & Benjamin were going to lose, and the ANX are having a difficult enough time being taken seriously as title contenders as it is, so for them to lose before their big title match was down right foolish. After the 9th Anniversary show you can feed anyone you want to WGTT but I’d go as far as to say this was unfair on King & Titus. Not only was this match wrong from a momentum-killing standpoint but it also forced the Express back into the role of de facto heels as they couldn’t hope to compete with the pops Haas and Benjamin get (particularly in Louisville). If ROH are trying to move King and Titus into face territory beyond their title match then they did them a disservice here. Yes, that’s the perfect way to describe this: ROH failed Kenny King and Rhett Titus in their hour of need. They did the best thing they could and that’s wrestle as hard as they could and not do anything to give the fans reason to boo them. Hero & Claudio taking out King at the end of the match wasn’t quite good enough to protect the ANX in my opinion, but at least it was something as I expected the match to end clean. If you ignore the booking this was a really good match and I look forward to these two teams stepping into the ring with each other again in the future and the inevitable singles match between Kenny King and Shelton Benjamin.
Overall Thoughts
This was a good week for the Wrestling Observer to name this the best weekly wrestling show on television as ROH, because this was a really good episode. The thing that sets ROH On HDNet apart from the others is time management; they fit so much into 50 minutes. If you look at everything that was addressed in this episode it’s pretty impressive. There was the main event scene with Homicide receiving his world title shot, winning a match and addressing his sub-plot with Jim Cornette. In the tag team scene we had two of the top teams clashing in a great match, the champions furthering their rivalry with the number one contenders, and a plethora of vignettes with all the teams putting each other over. In the mid-card we got some build for the upcoming TV Title match with Daniels and Edwards getting time to speak. The building of Mike Bennett continued, as did his feud with both Daniels and Edwards. On the undercard we had two up and coming teams facing off and continuing their mini-rivalry as well as getting some time to speak. In the women’s division we saw the continuation of a major angle, MsChif got to cut a promo and it was confirmed we have a third major player in said division. Main event, tag team, mid-card, undercard, women’s. All five areas of the product addressed in a meaningful way in a single episode. How many two-hour episodes of Raw or Impact fail to do that? Oh, and ROH put on better wrestling matches too, which can be fairly important in the wrestling industry.
Random Observations
– The Bravados’ theme music could not suit them any less.
– Charlie Haas looks like he should be the star of some kind of cop drama series when he’s in regular clothes. Remember Third Watch? That kind of thing.
– In an otherwise solid night of commentary by Mike Hogwood, he called Haas’ finisher the House of Pain. He redeemed this by pointing out King & Benjamin had promising college football careers.
That’ll do it for this week everybody. I’ll see you next week for Eddie Edwards vs Christopher Daniels for the ROH World Television Title. I’m pretty sure we all know the result of that match but with any luck it’ll be a hell of a journey in spite of knowing the final destination.