ROH on HDNet Recap – 5/17/10

I was sad to not hear the Rhett Titus theme, but his antics made up for that. They did the Code of Honor before the match began, even though Titus grabbed his you-know-what and shook the Able hand of Christian (I had to use that joke, enter Tony Atlas laugh).

As I did last week, I will from this moment on write down my notes to you, the readers rather than give you “move for move”. I decided this because it gets too wordy, but I will let you know who controlled the match. Let me know how you think.

Notes on Josh Raymond and Christian Able: Their double team worked well to start when the attacked Titus. Raymond was able to ground Titus with a choke. Their teamwork is very original, with one of them delivering a powerbomb and landed on Titus. Raymond really impressed, as he showed awareness right after Titus would kick out of pinfall attempts. Able was “able” to get some offense as well, he hit a tremendous pump kick on Titus right after Titus got some momentum. Raymond once again showed promise, as he hit an impressive Shooting Star Crossbody when King was standing. Towards the end of the match, you can tell this team was starting to wear down as they were a bit sloppy near the end. The addressed Titus a lot in this contest. Overall, they did a pretty good job in their second-ever appearance on HDNet.

Notes on Rhett Titus and Kenny King: King was very strong in countering the opponents moves. When at one time Raymond tried to attack, King did a Double Knee stomp. Their teamwork was good as well, especially when they did an inverted atomic drop/lariat combination. Kenny King was fluent with one of his trademark moves, the vertical suplex into the press punches. They continued to impress in the middle of the match when they both connected on a Backbreaker/Blockbuster combo! Titus, even though he took a beating was able to endure the punishment. Titus hit a picture-perfect dropkick on Raymond when doing a counter. Overall, they were able to high-fly and counter well. I did not truly see a lot of other intangibles, which hurt their performance a bit.

Who was in control: It was tough to determine this. I think in all honestly the team of Raymond and Able had a bit more control to the pacing of this.

The Finish: Rhett Titus and Kenny King did another Blockbuster/Powerbomb combination. Titus pinned Able for the victory.

Winners by Pinfall: Rhett Titus and Kenny King
Grade: C+

The viewers then saw a highlight package of last week’s main event, which was the six-man battle royal to determine the final spot on the Pick Six Contenders Series. Austin Aries was victorious. You ever see movie previews in which they were better than the actual match? Well, this was one of those moments.

We then cut to the undisclosed location that is ROH Studios. Mike Hogewood said that Aries is ridiculous and disgusting. And he has video proof!!!! Seriously, Dave Prazak should feed the guy some Ritalin.

The viewers then saw the Aries/Delirious clips from weeks ago. The reason why Delirious was injured and had to relinquish his Pick Six spot was because A-Double took him out. Yes, Very disgusting. Speaking of “Very”…

On June 18 in Toronto, The “Very” European One Claudio Castagnoli and “That Young Knockout Kid” Chris Hero will put their ROH World Tag Team Titles on the line against Mark and Jay Briscoe. Speaking of Castagnoli…

Match #2: Andy Ridge vs. Claudio Castagnoli (w/Sara Del Ray, Chris Hero, and Shane Hagadorn)

Notes on Andy Ridge: He is not called “right leg” for anything. He was pretty good on his leg strikes. However, his offense did not amount to much. Castagnoli did not go down once from his attacks.

Notes on Claudio Castagnoli: His clotheslines was strong and stiff. His Military Press Slam was phenomenal. He followed that up with a perfect Dead Lift Gut Wretch Suplex. He was able to counter near the end and hit a “Very European” uppercut.

Who was in control: Obviously, it was Castagnoli

Finish: Claudio Castagnoli finished off Ridge with the UFO (Airplane Spin and at times with no-hands) and ended this squash with the pinfall. The UFO stands for Unidentified Flying Opponent.

Winner by Pinfall: Claudio Castagnoli
Grade: C-

The viewers then go to the back, where Jim Cornette talked about the Television Title Tournament Finals match between Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards. Cornette then transitioned us to the final six minutes of the April 26, 2010 encounter. Is it a match of the year candidate? For some, probably. For me, there are a lot of better matches. See my 4/26 ROH recap to read the recap. Eddie Edwards won the match and is the first-ever Ring of Honor Television Champion.

The viewers go backstage again where Kyle Durden was with Colt Cabana. Durden announced that Cabana would be Edwards’ first challenger for the ROH Television Championship. Cabana told Durden that he lost in the first round and chalked it up as a mental loss because he let Steve Corino get in his way. However, Cabana thanked Cornette because he got another opportunity at Edwards. Cabana said that The Wolves are a great tag team, but asked if Edwards was “made for TV”? Cabana then said he is wrestling’s version of “Man vs. Food” (Mr. V’s favorite show outside of wrestling). He said after his match with Edwards, he would be the ROH Television Champion.

The viewers then saw a promo of next week’s main event. It will be Colt Cabana vs. Eddie Edwards. The ROH TV Title is one the line!

The viewers then saw the same Black vs. Strong package from May 8th in New York. Again, nothing changed. Black won and is still your ROH World Champion.

Kyle Durden was now backstage with Roderick Strong. Apparently, Strong was still upset and barked at Cornette for a good bit. Strong was tired of being screwed by ROH management. Cornette told him to calm down. Strong asked why and he wished he could find someone that was honest. After a bit more arguing, Austin Aries entered the scene.

Aries told everyone to relax. Aries then focused his attention at Strong and said that he hated to see him like this. Aries told Strong to join him. Aries said honestly, Strong could lean on him as he was a tag champions with him before. Aries then said once Strong has a good chance at being mediocre again. Strong said it was tempting, but then slapped Aries across the face. Cornette had the look like all will break loose, and it did. Both Aries and Strong brawl for a minute until it was broken up. Strong then yelled “second best” and “I will show him (Aries).

The viewers now go on to a taped segment called “The Art of Wrestling by Colt Cabana”. Cabana’s guests this week were The Briscoes and the brothers would demonstrate “The Art of Beer Chugging”. Mark Briscoe asked why the can were taped and Colt replied with “legal issues”. Jay Briscoe then said first off the all need to lay some money down. The Briscoes each throw down a five dollar bill, while Cabana laid only a one dollar bill. The Briscoes berated him and called him cheap. Cabana said that he accidentally threw that down and then threw down a five dollar bill.

After the rules were laid out, all three began to chug. In a matter of a second, Cabana finished and started to celebrate. Mark pulled off the tape of Cabana’s beer can and it read “Frank’s Draft Root Beer”. Cabana was caught in a lie. Jay and Mark then grabbed all of Cabana’s money and then started to beat him with his own shoes! Cabana then said “see you next time”. Very funny segment there.

Next week, Eddie Edwards defends his ROH TV Title against Colt Cabana.

The viewers then saw clips of the confrontation that involved Roderick Strong and Austin Aries.

And now, the MAIN EVENT!!

Pick Six Contenders Series Match
Match #3: Kevin Steen vs. Roderick Strong

To my knowledge, both men are in the series anyway. So to my belief the winner earns a higher seed.

Before the match began, Austin Aries attacked Strong from behind with a shoe (really who uses a shoe?). Aries continued the attack with punches and then drilled Strong to the ROH Barricade a couple times. Aries then kicked Strong and then drilled his back to the ring post. All this because Strong slapped him? Note to self: Don’t upset Austin Aries.

After Strong entered the ring, Kevin Steen wanted the mic. Steen told Strong that the ref believed he was hurt. Steen said out of all the people that he respected outside of Steve Corino, it was Strong. Steen advised Strong to give up and fight another day. The ref asked Strong. Strong’s reply was “I’d rather die than quit”! No Code of Honor and the bell rang.

Notes on Kevin Steen: He started to attack at the corner, pretty basic yet effective blows. Steen then addressed Strong’s neck and choked him, which is pretty good heel stuff. The then clubbed his back, gave him a very hard chop, and ended it with a Side Russian Leg Sweep. Steen then hit a neckbreaker that was done well.

Notes on Roderick Strong: He took a HUGE beating, but I gave him credit for not quitting.

Steen then grabbed a mic for the second time. Steen told Strong to not let the fans inspire him. Steen said that he did not want to end Strong’s career. Steen told Strong to just give up. Strong’s reply? He spitted on Steen. The match continued…

Notes on Kevin Steen: He continued to administer a Grade A whooping. He cornered Strong and attacked his elbow and neck (which may set up a Crossface in the future here). He whipped Strong to the ROH barricade twice to apply damage to the back. He then used a chair and added more damage to the neck. Steen overall here was extremely technical and used an array of moves here. Once the action was back in the ring, Steen delivered a Codebreaker and then, after a brief flurry by Strong, Steen destroyed Strong with a DDT on the ropes. With Strong down, Steen hit a beautiful Swanton Bomb.

Notes on Roderick Strong: He continued to get beaten up pretty good, but at least he was able to deliver some punishment with chops and corner attacks.

Steen grabbed the mic for a third time in this match. This was my favorite part of this show to be honest…

Steen: Roddy, you are starting to piss me off. Bad Things will be happening soon. Give up!

(ref asks Strong if he will give up)

Strong: (singing) Ole…Ole Ole Ole…Ole…Ole.

In case you are new to this, this Ole chant is the battle cry of Kevin Steen’s arch rival El Generico. The song put Steen in a state or destruction (kind of like a computer starting to fry). The match continued…

Notes on Kevin Steen: After Strong’s Ole song, Steen just got kicks and attempted his Package Piledriver, but failed in the end.

Notes on Roderick Strong: You know what, on paper he did not do much. But honestly, he really persevered and did well for himself in the end.

Who was in control: Obviously, it was Kevin Steen.

Finish: As soon as Kevin Steen set up the Package Piledriver, Roderick Strong countered the move into a Jackknife Pin. The referee counted three and Strong won this one!

Winner by Pinfall: Roderick Strong
Grade: B-

After the match, Kevin Steen applied the Crossface on Roderick Strong. Tyler Black managed to save Strong from anymore punishment. Steve Corino entered the scene and tried his best to calm Steen down. Once Strong got up, he yelled at Black. Black left the ring and the camera cut off with Strong being the only in the ring.

Quick Results
Rhett Titus and Kenny King defeated Christian Able and Josh Raymond
Claudio Castagnoli defeated Andy Ridge
Roderick Strong defeated Kevin Steen

I guess PETA must have called HDNet recently because Mike Hogewood once again did NOT Slap The Porpoise.

Overall Thoughts:

-Segments-

Any video package: It all occurred in the past and it got too repetitive. The viewers knew Delirious was hurt weeks ago, we don’t need to see it again.

Tyler Black and Roderick Strong clips were ok at the beginning, but not throughout the show.

Nice to see a recap of the Battle Royal from last week. I was not a fan of this match and was glad to see this cut down to about ninety seconds.

The Davey Richards vs. Eddie Edwards clip was pretty good as well, even though it did not tell all the story of this match.

Durden w/Cabana – Very good here. Cabana is right, he is made for TV. He has the best charisma on the ROH roster by far! I think Cabana’s potential for 2010 is still there and hope soon he will win that TV Title.

Durden w/Strong, Cornette, and Aries – Another excellent segment. Strong was upset and wanted answers from Cornette. Aries, the best heel character in ROH, wanted to try and make peace with Strong and it failed. Now we have another feud that is starting to brew up nicely for Roderick Strong. Strong is getting pushed to the moon right now and currently it seems like everything is evolving around his quest. Once Strong wins the ROH World Title (sooner than later in my prediction), it will be very sweet.

“The Art of Wrestling” – By far the best one out of the three. This was the Briscoes best non-wrestling role since they started the HDNet program and it was entertaining from start to finish.

-Matches-

Titus/King vs. Raymond/Able – The opening was pretty strong by both teams, however the lack of “legal” tags damaged the grade a bit. There were a ton of planned spots, but King and Titus hit all of them well. Surprising effort by Josh Raymond, as he was clearly the better man on his tag team. Overall, the match was fun. But it lacked a story and that was why it was a B- at best.

Castagnoli vs. Ridge – Ridge showed a couple of good moves, but that was it on his part. Castagnoli controlled Ridge with his immense power. Castagnoli may be the most powerful man in ROH right now, and he showed it particularly with his Military Press Slam.

Strong vs. Steen – I liked the pre-match attack. Aries felt insulted and he took it out on Strong. I am a fan of Steen the more I watch him, he was excellent both in the ring and on the mic. Steen’s in-ring work was fantastic and I did not notice one bad spot on his end. Though Steen showcased everything, Strong was able to save one last bit of energy to get the quick pin. I was not complaining here, Strong took a beating yet hung on to win. A strong effort by both wrestlers.

After a few weeks of mediocre shows at best, ROH produced a pretty good card and blended it in with some better segments. I would have hoped for a longer match or one more here, but with a card that featured Titus, King, Castagnoli, Strong, and Steen in the ring I was very entertained and happy to write that this was their best show in weeks.

Overall Grade: B

-Mr. V’s Pick Three for the Night-

Wrestler of the Night: Kevin Steen

Yes, I know he lost this match but I don’t care. He demonstrated every tactic and was well-rounded in his attacks. He did not botch anything, and from one person that has watched every wrestling show this week that says something. If I recapped all the shows like this, Steen would be my Wrestler of the Night for the Week.

Disappointment of the Night: The “Weeks Ago” moments

I for one grow tired of seeing the same thing over and over again. Instead of showing up Black’s title defense or Delirious’ injury, ROH could have produced another match to help someone go over.

Surprise of the Night: Josh Raymond

I did not expect a whole lot from him, but he demonstrated great agility and balance. He kind of looked like a poor man’s John Morrison out there. Though he did not earn the victory, I really thought he showed great poise in the ring. Now, if he can only demonstrate some ground work.

Thanks for reading my latest ROH Recap. See you next week.

E-mail: mistervwv@hotmail.com

Facebook: Anthony J. Valvo (Pittsburgh, PA)

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