ROH on HDNet Recap
November 23, 2009
ECW Arena, Philadelphia
Commentators: Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak
Report by: Anthony J. Valvo of WrestleView.com
The show starts off with Mike Hogewood running down how Bryan Danielson was the cornerstone for Ring of Honor for seven years. Last week, Bryan Danielson said good bye to Ring of Honor and Hello to World Wrestling Entertainment.
We get that show theme in which needs serious editing.
Mike Hogewood welcomes us to HDNet and last week was a tough one as we said good-bye to Bryan Danielson. However, the show must go on. Dave Prazak says that it is time to talk about the present as this week’s main even was an ROH Tag Title Match. The American Wolves defend the titles against The Young Bucks.
Now, it is time for our first match?
Match #1: Kenny King (w/Rhett Titus) vs. Brent Albright
Hogewood still can not get over how King and Titus injured Jerry Lynn. After the code of honor, the match begins.
Both men exchanged holds, and the King took him down. King worked the arm a bit until Albright counted with a couple of submission holds. King then took Albright down with a Japanese armdrag and started to dance. Albright no sold this maneuver and hit King with a dropkick. Albright started doing a little dancing as well. Brent then delivered some chops and got King down with a great looking top rope crossbody. Albright then leaves the ring and wanted a piece of Rhett Titus, but Titus was a decoy as King clotheslined Albright outside the ring. King then put a chinlock on Albright. After the hold was broken, King then hit the spinning enzugiri. Brent fought back after the kick and King then poked him in the eye. King then did a double knee push onto Brent’s back, which led him to land on the corner.
King tried to go with the Coronation, but failed to do so. Brent countered the finisher with an Ura-nage. Albright came back firing with clotheslines, elbows, and kicks. Brent then power slammed King to the canvas, then King with another poke to the eye to make the match even once again. However, the poke did not do much damage as Albright destroyed King with an Exploder Suplex in which King landed outside the ring! Albright then did a dive off the middle of the ropes. Titus tried to get into the action, but Albright whipped Titus to the barricade! We go back into the ring and King attempted a crossbody. However Albright caught him and was about to deliver a bodyslam. Luckily for King, Titus aided the?
Finish: As Brent went for a slam, Rhett Titus grabbed his legs, which led to Kenny King landing on Brent Albright for the pin victory!
Winner: Kenny King
Grade: C+. I thought it was average at best. Both men did a good job in the ring, but the story was lacking at times and the awareness by both men struggled at times. I think the ?after the match? story was more in-depth than this.
After the match, Albright wanted a piece of Titus. Titus escaped just barely and Austin Aries came to the ring grabbing Albright’s leg. Titus brought in a chair and clobbered Albright in the back! King and Titus were about to set up the spike piledriver (which injured Jerry Lynn), but Colt Cabana came out for the save. I smell a bit of a rivalry here.
Still to come?Young Bucks vs. American Wolves.
We then hear from the Bucks. Nick Jackson says it meant a lot and called the ROH Tag Titles very prestigious (I do agree on that). Matt Jackson said they are ready to take down the Wolves.
Looks like Sal Rinauro is in the ring?this does not look good for him.
Match #2: Sal Rinauro (already in ring) vs. D?Lo Brown
Hogewood mentioned that Rinauro is getting help because he is afraid to be in the ring. We get the cold of honor and the match begins.
Rinauro tired to whip Brown, but Brown was not buying that. He delivered a chop to the chest and Rinauro is down. Brown then nailed Rinauro with a clothesline and dumped Sal out of the ring. As Sal was about to get back in the ring, Brown caught him and delivered an inverted DDT! Brown then leaves the ring and starts to ?tweet? on his Twitter account (Mr. V still does not have one of those). Rinauro is back up and delivered three punches, and then Brown was done playing?
Finish: D?Lo Brown struggled to pick Sal Rinauro up on his back, but was able to hit Sal with Sky High for the pin victory!
Winner: D?Lo Brown
Grade: D. I hate to say this, but I was not impressed. D?Lo could have been completely dominant, but almost messed up on his finisher. I feel bad for Rinauro. He was in fact a former ROH Tag Champion and he now is playing a pretty bad version of Santino Marella (yes, I compared this to a WWE gimmick).
Kyle Durden is now backstage (welcome back) and he talked about the rumors that Nigel McGuinness is leaving Ring of Honor. When Nigel spotted Durden, Durden says that he was always a huge fan of Nigel’s and wears his hair like his. Kyle asked how Nigel was feeling. Nigel just lowered his glasses, smirked, and then walked away.
Nigel McGuinness is now making his way to the ring for his last appearance on HDNet. If you watched this, he has this ?I am celebrating my last day of school? look. He got back in character and asked himself how he could sum up six years of his life in three minutes?but he can?t do that. He told the fans thank you, and then he wanted to bring one more person to the ring to thank him personally. Nigel said without this guy, he would not be in this situation today. Nigel then leaves the ring and went back behind the entrance way.
Nigel then stated without this guy, he would not be where he was today. That man is?Nigel McGuinness!! It is Nigel who believed, who refused to quit regardless of injuries, and won the ROH Title! Nigel went on thanking himself and if the fans disagreed, they can kiss his beautiful British @$$. He then walked out of the ring, declaring that he was leaving the building. Nigel then said he was leaving on a jet plane (to Orlando) and he doesn?t know when he will be back again! Nigel then was seen walking out of the arena and walking outside in the rainy weather. Yes, Thank You Nigel.
The American Wolves are backstage with Kyle Durden now. Durden mentioned to the Wolves that The Young Bucks beat the Dark City Fight Club and almost beat the Briscoes. Davey Richards stopped him and mentioned that The Wolves crippled the Briscoes. Richards said the only tag team that is impressive are the Wolves. Eddie Edwards then asked if we feel anything? Well, the answer is that since Nigel and Danielson are gone, that means it is time for the Wolves to shine! They both mock the Bucks and mentioned that ?The Hunt? will claim two more victims tonight.
Back to the action?
Match #3: Brandon Day and John Kermon (in the ring) vs. The Super Smash Bros
After the code of honor, Day and Kermon start attacking the Smash Bros. Player Dos is the one that got the back elbows by the bad guys. Player Uno came in and delivered a neckbreaker. However, Uno is out of the ring and the team of Day/Kermon attack Player Dos some more. After some more moves, Dos finally came back and hit the double Pele kick on both guys! Player Uno is back in with the hot tag and dropkicked Day. Uno then hit a backbreaker on Kermon. Kermon after being outside from the previous maneuver started to punch on Uno. Kermon tried to do a sunset flip, but Uno caught this and tried to set up the powerbomb. Day would not let this happen, as he held Kermon hands to avoid the punishment. Player Dos then caught this and does a Suicide Dive off the top and landed on Day. But while that was happening, we got our?
Finish: From what I saw, Player Uno bridge pinned Kermon for the three count. It is all over!
Winner: Super Smash Bros.
Grade: C-. Only Player Dos impressed me in this contest. Everyone else struggled to his their spots and it was completely visible. Also, I was a bit disappointed that the camera crew did not show more emphasis as to how Player Uno got the victory. All we saw was the pin. Overall, I thought this was a disappointing effort almost everyone involved. Player Dos saved this match from potentially being one of those ?Worst Matches?.
We then cut to Jim Cornette who is now the Executive Producer for ROH on HDNet. Cornette will make his debut in two week with some announcements and changes. Austin Aries may have a problem with Cornette because of his antics as Champion. So, Cornette goes on saying that HDNet is the future of the business and that he needs the ROH roster to help out?or get out! In two weeks, it will be a new day for ROH! Anything can and will happen! I tried to get all of this, but Jim Cornette does talk a bit fast when he is fuming (and that is a good thing).
Mike Hogewood reminds us that Jim Cornette will debut in a couple weeks.
And now…time for our MAIN EVENT!!
Match #4: The Young Bucks vs. The American Wolves (w/Shane Hagadorn) for the ROH Tag Team Championship
Before the match, Davey Richards of the American Wolves kicks a staff member from Ring of Honor. We also did NOT get a Code of Honor, as the Wolves declined.
Richards starts the match off with a side headlock on Nick Jackson. Nick came back with a couple of armdrags into an armbar. Nick then tagged Matt Jackson and they both double team on the arm of Richards. The Young Bucks then did a double hip toss and then delivered a set of dropkicks to a sitting down Richards to the sides of the head! Eddie Edwards tried to make the save, but Nick gets a dropkick in which sent Edwards out of the ring. The Young Bucks then both do a springboard dive off the top rope and landed on the Wolves at the same time! This puts Richards on tilt a bit, and he came back holding his Title.
Richards then took Matt down with a snap mare. Edwards comes in and boots Matt a bit. Richards is back in and then dumped Matt outside and Edwards slammed Matt onto the floor! After a headbutt, Edwards is back in the action and hold Matt down. Richards comes back in with the blind tag and scopes the action until he delivered a kick Matt across the chest. Richards then set Matt up onto the Tree of Woe. Richards then runs at him, but stops got in a low-blow! The Wolves then continue their work by hitting Matt with a Wishbone snap. After a failed suplex, Edwards held Matt down to tag back in Richards. Richards got in a couple of leg strikes and executed a beautiful bridge suplex. He then locked in the leg of Matt, but Matt grabbed a hold of the ropes and the hold was broken.
Edwards is back in the ring and delivered a chop across the chest of Matt Jackson. The Wolves then choke Matt at the corner of the ring and Richards concluded the attack by hitting a perfectly stiff back suplex. Edwards is back in and kneed Matt’s head. However, The Wolves had a miscommunication. Matt ducked out of the Alarm Clock and Richards accidently kicked Edwards. Richards and Nick Jackson fight off, but Richards? leg strikers were too much However Nick does in fact take Richards out and makes the hot tag! Nick did a perfect springboard facebuster on Edwards and then hit a moonsault on Richards! Nick got back into the ring and delivered a crossbody on Edwards and then nailed him with a DDT! Nick then got away from an enzugiri and Richards again hit Edwards with an inadvertent kick. Richards escaped a moment as Matt speared Edwards! The Young Bucks continue their momentum by using a combination move (I called it a combo of a Standing Shooting Star Press/Springboard Splash). Matt then set up Rolling Thunder on Edwards and the Bucks almost went for their finisher, but Davey broke it up.
Richards got in a running forearm on one of the Bucks. Edwards administered the Codebreaker and Richards executed a great looking Tombstone Piledriver! The Wolves tried to set up the Doomsday Device, but Matt countered with a reverse hurricanranna on Edwards. Nick came back in the ring and nailed Richards with a top rope hurricanranna.. Nick then hit some knee strikes and then dived on Richards! The Young Bucks then set up Eddie Edwards for (the best finisher in the business right now) More Bang For Your Buck!! Davey just broke up the pinfall! Davey and Nick start fighting off back and forth. Davey ended this by using the handspring enzugiri on Nick! Matt then got a boot by Davey and then we finally got the Alarm Clock! The Wolves then nailed Matt hard with a Powerbomb/Backbreaker combo, but Nick broke up the pin. Eddie Edwards then set up a half-crab on Matt while Davey hammed Nick with the R Driver! Finally, we had to end it?
Finish: Matt Jackson had to tap out to Eddie’s Half-Crab Submission Hold!!
Winners and STILL ROH Tag Team Champs: The American Wolves
Grade: A. This might be the best tag match I have seen in 2009. Sure, the match was real spotty towards the end as I can?t disagree with that. However, this was unlike anything I have seen since the early Hardys/Edge & Christian feud almost ten years ago! The American Wolves were very good and I am now 100% on the Davey Richards bandwagon. He is ROH’s answer to a Randy Orton character. The Young Bucks? This is a team that you will be seeing on a grander stage sooner than later. Sure, they are ?acrobatty?. But the chemistry was perfect and it made for an all-around great contest between two of the best tag teams in ALL of professional wrestling.
After the match, Davey stood at the entrance way smiling a little bit. I don?t know what it totally meant, but it had to do with either ?whew, we won? or ?The Young Bucks are pretty impressive?. If you watch the match, you can decide on that.
Quick Results
Kenny King def. Brent Albright via pin.
D?Lo Brown def. Sal Rinauro via pin.
The Super Smash Bros. def. Brandon Day and John Kermon via pin.
The American Wolves def. The Young Bucks via submission to retain the ROH Tag Championship.
Overall Thoughts
This show was average at best, until the main event too place. Wow! What a fantastic main event and Gold Stars awarded to all involved in the contest. I may make this a match of the year choice in my year-end awards, I am not sure on that though.
As for the rest of the card, it was ok. King and Albright had a good program which ended into a potentially good feud for all involved. Kenny King can really go and I would not be surprised if he goes higher on the card. He reminds me more and more like Shelton Benjamin each time he enters the ring.
Nigel McGuinness? last ROH promo was excellent! I loved how he gave all the credit to himself and no one could change that. It was a good way to leave the building!
So, what would my overall grade be?
Overall Grade: B-.
I wish I could make it higher, but outside of Nigel, The Wolves, and The Bucks, I was not really impressed with anything else.
On a side note, I enjoyed the commentary of Dave Prazak. Prazak had to play both play-by-play AND color commentator. Hogewood was terrible! Mike Adamle had better weeks than Hoge this week.
-Mister V’s Pick Three-
Wrestler of the Night: (tie) Davey Richards and Nick Jackson
I chose Richards because not only was he great in the ring, but I think the guy can cut a great promo as well. Richards was very stiff in the ring tonight, but overall he was near perfect in his execution.
Nick Jackson was spotty, but wow was he impressive tonight with the flips, twists, and turns. Along with Matt, these Young Bucks are the tag team of the future! I am sure they are only in their early 20s, which benefits them as much as their teamwork tactics.
Disappointment of the Night: D?Lo Brown
I was just not a fan of his work tonight. It was sloppy and he only had to do a few moves out there. I know D?Lo is better than this and I hope he wrestles one more match on HDNet before he focuses more on TNA.
Surprise of the Night: The Young Bucks
Yeah, I am going there again! I did not expect The Bucks to go toe-to-toe with The Wolves like this. I was pleasantly surprised of how great this match was involving all parties! To anyone that is not into ROH, just please check out The Young Bucks. David Stephens made them the ?Tag Team of the Half Year?, and I have a hard time disagreeing with him on that one.
Well, I hope that you enjoyed my recap this week. If you want me to continue the recaps or want to talk wrestling, please send me a line at mistervwv@hotmail.com. I bid you good night and I hope you have a nice weekend.
Thanks for reading this recap. See you next week.
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