ROH on HDNet Recap
April 5, 2010
The Arena, Philadelphia Pennsylvania
Commentators: Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak
Report by: Anthony J. Valvo of Wrestleview.com
**This show was produced before last week’s Big Bang PPV. So if you notice much outdated material, don’t blame this on me. I will tell you who to blame…HDNet for taking them off the air for two weeks because of that College Basketball Invitational (the teams that could not even make it to the NIT Tournament). Oh, by the way Virginia Commonwealth University defeated St. Louis University to earn their first CBI Tournament. Congrats on that, I guess. That is in case one of you were interested**.
Well, after an almost three week hiatus, it is time to bring real “honor” to professional wrestling. That is right! The most professional wrestling per hour and that is Ring of Honor on HDNet.
Kidd Russell’s “Rock Remix” takes us into the show. I really missed that song. Listen to it on YouTube, it is actually pretty good.
Tonight’s Main Event: Pick Six Contender’s Match: Jay Briscoe vs. Chris Hero. Briscoe’s spot in the Pick Six is on the line.
The first match was set to begin
Match #1: Bobby Shields (w/no theme music) vs. Steve Corino (w/Kevin Steen)
The referee in charge wanted to see the Code of Honor, and Corino reluctantly agreed. Corino then started to talk to Shields and would not let go of the hand. Corino tried to kick Shields, but Shields started the offense with some punches and armdrags. After Shields hit a dropkick on Corino, Corino left the ring to get a breather. Shields tried to slide out of the ring, but Corino escaped and rammed Shields to the ROH barricade. Corino then grabbed hold of Shields and whipped him to another ROH barricade. Corino then kicked Shields and pushed him back into the ring.
The wrestlers are both now back in the ring. Before Corino got to his opponent, he screamed “Keep cheering he won’t be getting up”. Corino positioned Shields and stomped on him a bit. Corino then moved Shields to the corner and raked Shields’ face with his arm. Corino then delivered some forearm blows, but Shields fought back for a few seconds with forearm shots on his own. Corino controlled the match once more by placing Shields at a ring corner and raking his face again.
Corino then whipped Shields into a corner. Corino then went full speed and delivered a hard chop across the chest. Corino whipped Shields to another corner, but this time Shields attempted to block some offense. Still, Corino got a chop on Shields. Corino then delivered a running knee to Shields’ head. Corino then set up and hit a reverse piledriver on Shields. Instead of covering the prone opponent, Corino stopped and saw Mike Tedesco’s Favorite ROH Wrestler Colt Cabana at the ring entrance. Shields too advantage of this and rolled up Corino for a two count. Shields then tried the crucifix pin attempt, but only got a two count again. Corino is at the corner and it met with a few punches by Shields. Shields attempted an arm twist, but Corino countered the hold with the STO. Corino then ran off the ropes to a seated Shields and the first match is completed…
Finish: Steve Corino served up the Sliding C Special (Sliding Lariat) and covered Bobby Shields for the three count.
Winner by pinfall: Steve Corino
Grade: C-
After the match, Corino grabbed hold of a microphone and yelled for Colt Cabana. He addressed the fact that Cabana wanted to be in his business. Corino then called Cabana out.
Cabana then ran to the ring and was about to strike Corino until Corino stopped him. Corino said he was not here looking for a fight, but to have a one-on-one talk. The crowd is chanting displeasures (aka they were swearing, but I don’t place that in my columns). Corino is tired of saying to Cabana that he should be careful of who he stood up for. Corino said to Cabana that this is his last warning. Colt grabbed Corino and as soon as Corino tried to punch him Cabana laid him out with some punches. Colt then positioned Corino to the corner and Cabana delivered the Butt-Butt on him. Corino escaped Cabana’s grasp and then Steen ran down the entrance way. Corino held Steen off, though Steen appeared to want some of Cabana.
Mike Hogewood announced to the viewers that this show was produced before The Big Bang PPV (which occurred two days before this ROH show was aired on HDNet). Dave Prazak (my new favorite professional wrestling announcer) said to see results and highlights go to: rohwrestling.com or buy the show On Demand at gofightlive.tv.
The viewers were shown a video package hyping up The Big Bang’s Main Event. The Main Event was Tyler Black defending the ROH World Championship against Austin Aries and Roderick Strong in a Triple Threat match. This was mainly clips and highlights of the war of words between these three men. We saw clips from the 8th Anniversary Show (the show in which Black won the ROH World Title off of Aries) and the aftermath surrounding it. Aries was upset and wanted that one rematch. Strong yelled at ROH President Cary Silken and demanded he got a title shot. ROH Executive Producer Jim Cornette yelled at Black about superkicking him. When Cornette announced The Big Bang main event weeks ago, Strong felt betrayed once again in which the end result was Strong shoving down Cornette. All in all, it was a great promo with the three best wrestlers ROH could have for this contest. Too bad HDNet pre-empted this show for some lame basketball tournament.
Onto the Next Match…
Match #2: The Set (J-Sin and Lance Lude w/no theme music) vs. The Dark City Fight Club (Kory Chavis and Jon Davis)
No Code of Honor here as the Dark City Fight Club stormed to the ring. Davis laid out Lude with one single punch while Chavis and J-Sin exchanged punches. Chavis cornered J-Sin and attacked him with a few blows. Chavis tagged Davis into the match and moved J-Sin to a corner. J-Sin fought off a combination move and delivered a foot to Chavis. J-Sin then punched Chavis a few times and followed it up with a corner splash on Davis. Lude was finally back on his feet and J-Sin lifted him wheelbarrow-style.
With J-Sin’s help, Lude speared Davis twice, but Davis almost immediately clotheslined J-Sin, which caused him to do a German Suplex on Lude. The Dark City Fight Club then brought J-Sin up on his feet. Chavis delivered a boot to J-Sin, and Davis got him with a quick kick. The Dark City Fight Club then did a Leg Sweep/Lariat Combination on J-Sin. Lude then got up and was met with this…
Finish: The Dark City Fight Club delivered Project Mayhem (Powerbomb/Cutter Combination) on Lance Lude. Jon Davis got the pin and….YES!!!! Mike Hogewood slapped his porpoise (but in a sad way, he was not too happy).
Winners by pinfall: The Dark City Fight Club
Grade: D
Mike Hogewood then gave us an update on the health of Jerry Lynn. But first, it is back-story time!
We have a video package that starred Jerry Lynn. Lynn said that he climbed the ladder at his age to become the oldest ROH World Champion when he beat Nigel McGuinness in April of 2009. We then saw a video of Ric Flair hyping up Jerry Lynn as “the man”. During that time, Austin Aries cut a promo of his own and later on he clubbed Lynn with the ROH Championship Belt! A little while later in the summer of 2009 (my estimate) Jerry Lynn lost the title to Austin Aries.
During a segment on HDNet, Lynn talked about family and pondered “semi-retirement”. However, Lynn said that no one “truly retires” from professional wrestling. Then we were shown some clips from Lynn’s feud with Kenny King. They showed us the Spike Piledriver delivered by King and Rhett Titus that took out Lynn (that was the last time he appeared on HDNet)! It ended when King, a few months ago told the viewers that “Lynn needed a little help in order to retire”. King called professional wrestling a “young man’s game”.
After the video package, Hogewood told the viewers that Lynn has been MIA on HDNet, however Prazak said that Lynn returned when ROH had their first show in Los Angeles and you can purchase their match on DVD at ROHWrestling.com. We then saw highlights of Lynn vs. King at Los Angeles. Lynn got the victory, but King took Lynn out at the end of the match. However, Lynn escaped a chair shot by King and hit his Cradle Piledriver on King to send the fans home happy.
Next Week: Former ROH World Champion Jerry Lynn returns to HDNet.
This was the time where I, Mr. V, was a bit excited. I heard The Embassy’s theme music and I am not ashamed to say I marked out for it.
Match #3: Pelle Primeau (w/no theme music) vs. Erick Stevens (w/Prince Nana and Mr. Ernesto Osiris)
Before the match began, Hogewood and Prazak reminded the viewers that Stevens’ rival, The Necro Butcher, was banned because of the events from a couple shows ago. In case you missed it, Necro laid out the poor ROH Time Keeper, Giuseppe di Lorento, with a punch.
No Code of Honor here, Stevens just did the Embassy pose.
Both men tie-up to begin this contest, and Stevens shoved Primeau down quickly. Stevens then slapped Primeau (who was then announced as an ROH Student), but Primeau slapped Stevens back. The slap riled Stevens up a bit. Primeau then hit one dropkick (Stevens did not fall down), and Steven blocked Primeau’s second dropkick. Stevens tried to chop Primeau, but whiffed. Primeau went off the top rope and hit a wacky-looking spinning head scissors takedown. Stevens then left the ring to get a breather. Primeau attempted a slingshot move onto Stevens, but Stevens caught Primeau. Stevens then picked him up and launched him ribs first on the ring post!
The action was now moved back into the ring and Stevens continued the offense with a hard body slam. Stevens went off the ropes and dropped an elbow for good measure. Primeau then attacked Stevens with some punches while Stevens was walking around not paying attention. However, Primeau once again tried a risky maneuver and Stevens lifted him up and planted him down! Stevens then continued to taunt a bit more and then applied a Bear Hug on Primeau. Primeau tried to break the hold by smacking Stevens’ head, but Stevens kept hold of the Bear Hug. The hold was finally broken after Primeau hit a punch to the head.
Stevens attempted a suplex, but Primeau countered it nicely into a cutter. Primeau with a few punches, kicks, and some more offense until Stevens caught him. However, as Stevens set up the TKO it was countered into a DDT by Primeau. Primeau then went to the top rope and hit a Springboard Press and followed that up with a stomp and elbow drop. Primeau covered, but Stevens kicked out at two! Primeau then went up to the middle turnbuckle and attempted a move. But Stevens caught Primeau and delivered an Overhead Belly-to-Belly Suplex on Primeau. Primeau was at the corner and Stevens continued the assault with a Runaway Train Clothesline. Stevens followed it up with a lariat and finished the ROH Student off after that…
Finish: Erick Stevens took out Pelle Primeau with The Doctor Bomb and covered him for the three count.
Winner by pinfall: Erick Stevens
Grade: C
After the match, Stevens clotheslined Primeau once again. Prince Nana and Ernesto Osiris then continued to stomp away on Primeau. Nana then took out the referee and continued the punishment on Primeau until The Necro Butcher entered the scene with a chair in his hand. As soon as Necro went over the ROH barricade and entered the ring, the show went into commercial.
After the break, Mike Hogewood said HDNet apologized for the break-off and Prazak reminded us that Necro is still banned from ROH Television until further notice.
The viewers then saw a video package regarding the ROH Television Championship Tournament. The viewers saw highlights from the first round of the tournament. To keep the long story short, I compiled the results for the reader.
(1) Kevin Steen defeated (8) Rhett Titus via The Crossface on March 8, 2010
(2) Kenny King defeated (7) El Generico via The Royal Flush on March 8, 2010
(6) Eddie Edwards defeated (3) Colt Cabana via The Half-Crab Hold on March 15, 2010
(4) Davey Richards defeated (5) Delirious via The Kimura on March 15, 2010
Semi-Finals Time!!
Next Week (4/17) will be (1) Kevin Steen vs. (6) Eddie Edwards.
In Two Weeks (4/24), the match will be (2) Kenny King vs. (4) Davey Richards.
In this recappers opinion, they both should be solid matches. One must not miss this.
And now, as The Voice of ROH Bobby Cruise announced, YOUR MAIN EVENT!!!!
**For a Spot in the Pick Six Contenders Series and $2,500.00**
Match #4: Chris Hero (w/Shane Hagadorn, Claudio Castagnoli, and Sara Del Ray) vs. Jay Briscoe (w/Mark Briscoe)
This is for Jay Briscoe’s Pick Six spot. If Briscoe wins, he maintains his spot and gets more money to buy beer.
The Code of Honor was administered (Jay slapped Hero’s hand) and the match began.
The match began with a tie-up. Both Hero and Jay (I will use Jay Briscoe’s first name here because his brother is at his side for this match. I usually use last names only, but this is the exemption). Hero then applied a chinlock, but Jay took advantage with a side headlock. Hero rolls over and covered Jay, but Jay kicked out at one. Hero then applied the reverse chinlock. Jay then got up and took Hero down from his leg and applied a reverse chinlock. Hero responded by breaking the hold and executed a leg scissors submission hold. Jay regained momentum when he once again applied a reverse chinlock. Hero broke the hold when he placed his foot on the rope.
Hero then teased a Greco-Roman Knucklelock and when Jay took the bait, Hero applied a knucklelock on the Pick Six Contender. Jay reversed the hold with a punch and another headlock. Hero then broke the hold and now both men exchanged words. Then this match became a test of power when Jay attempted to bring down Hero with some shoulder tackles. No one could bring them down. Jay went off the ropes and Hero delivered a knee strike. However, when Hero went off the ropes Jay met him with the running shoulder tackle. Jay picked Hero back up on his feet and delivered punches and chops. Jay continued the offense with a foot to the stomach of “That Young Knockout Kid”. Jay brought Hero back up again and hit him with a chop and applied the headlock. Hero was then almost whipped to the ropes, but he grabbed hold of Jay and hit his first of many elbow strikes. Hero went off the ropes to administer more offense, but was met with a hurricanranna by Jay.
Jay then delivered some forearm strikes and stomps onto Hero’s chest. Jay whipped Hero to the corner and hit him with a clothesline. However, as soon as Hero was seated he managed to escape from further damage. Claudio Castagnoli and Sara Del Ray (in Pittsburgh colors I may add) were outside the ring giving Hero some advice. Jay then chased them off and the match was back in the ring. Hero attempted to kick Jay, but Jay caught it and hit some more forearms strikes. Jay whipped Hero to the corner. Jay thought he hit the back body drop on Hero, but it was Hero that flipped Jay over. However, the momentum was short lived and Jay regained the advantage with a dropkick to a seated Hero. Jay covered Hero, but Hero kicked out at two.
Jay then got Hero back up and attempted to hit a Vertical Suplex. However, Shane Hagadorn grabbed hold of Jay’s foot. As Jay stood there arguing at Hero’s manager, Hero dumped his opponent over the top rope. Castagnoli then drilled Jay to the ROH barricade and Del Ray hit Jay with some leg strikes. Mark Briscoe chased both of them off (Castagnoli taunted along the way) and came to the aide of his brother. Jay was approaching the ring but right before he got to the ring Hero hit a running dropkick from the apron of the ring. The kick caused Jay to stay outside of the ring. Hero moved Jay back into the ring and the match continued.
Hero then placed his foot on the head of Jay. Hero then delivered a couple chops and hit Jay with the elbow. Hero then hit Jay with another elbow to the chest and covered Jay. After a count of two, Jay got back up on his feet and punched away on Hero. But Hero countered that with another elbow. Hero attempted the whip to the ropes, but Jay pulled on his hair and executed a crisp Back Suplex. Both men are now down at this time. Hero got up on his feet first, but Jay was the first to administer some offense thanks in part to a chop and some punches. Jay went off the ropes and hit a nice heel kick on Hero. Jay then hit Hero with more running strikes, until Hero stopped him on his tracks. Both men ran off the ropes, but it was Hero who stopped and kicked Jay. Hero went off the ropes again but was met with a boot by Jay. Jay covered Hero, but Hero kicked out at two. Jay then set up Hero on his shoulders, but Hero blocked the attack with elbow strikes. Hero then drilled Jay’s head off a turnbuckle and administered the Cradle Leg Suplex. Jay is now at the corner and Hero hit the Leaping Elbow, but when Hero tried another move Jay hit him with the Death Valley Driver! Jay covered Hero, but Hero go his shoulder up after a two count.
Jay got right back up and took at shot at Hero’s back. Hero responded with a Discuss Elbow to the head. Hero then delivered another Discuss Elbow. However when Hero tried another move a dizzy Jay Briscoe hit the Spinebuster on Hero. Both men were down and the referee started a count. Both men got up to a different corner at around the same time. Jay charged Hero, but was met with a boot. Hero did connect with a Leaping Elbow on Jay, but Jay no-sold the move and does a running clothesline. Hero then charged Jay and Jay hit him with the elbow. Jay then executed the STO with Hero’s head landing on the second turnbuckle. Hero was out of the ring at this time. Castagnoli once again came to the aid of Hero and Jay noticed this. Jay then went off the ropes and did a Leaping Suicide Flip Dive and landed perfectly on both members of the Kings of Wrestling (Hero and Castagnoli). Hero was pushed back into the ring and Jay went to the top rope. Jay connected with at High Crossbody and pinned Hero immediately, but Hero kicked out at two!
Jay then connected with some elbows, but Hero connected with a more powerful elbow strike. Hero then gave Jay the boot. Jay tried to generate some offense here, but Hero landed TWO Rolling Elbows. Still, that was not enough to get Jay down and Jay hit the Superkick on Hero! Jay covered Hero, but Hero just barely kicked out at two! Jay set up the Jay Driller but it was blocked by Hero. Jay then attempted the roll-up pin, but Hero held Jay down and Jay escaped at two! Jay was back up and punched away on Hero. Both went off the ropes, but Hero hit him with the Flash Elbow! Hero covered Jay, but Jay managed to kick out at two. Hero attempted the Death Blow, but Jay rolled him up and Hero kicked out at two. Hero then was able to manage another Hard Elbow that knocked Jay down. Hero covered, but still Jay kicked out at two. Del Ray went up on the apron and yelled at the referee. Castagnoli was in the ring and it looked like The Kings of Wrestling were about to do a Kings Reign Supreme Finisher, but Mark managed to chase Castagnoli out of the ring. The referee saw Mark and told him to leave the ring. Mark and Castagnoli were running to the backstage area. Jay was lying on the ropes when finally a victor was announced…
Finish: Chris Hero delivered his first Death Blow (Elbow to the neck). Hero did once more Death Blow after that and scored the pinfall victory. Mr. Cuban, give Hero $2,500! Ring of Honor will place Hero in the Pick Six Contender’s Series.
Winner by Pinfall: Chris Hero
Grade: B (but leaned to a B-)
After the match, Shane Hagadorn and Chris Hero were celebrating a bit too much. Mark Briscoe grabbed hold of a chair to chase those two out of the ring.
Remember, next week’s Main Event will be Kevin Steen vs. Eddie Edwards in the Semifinals of the ROH TV Title Tournament.
Quick Results
Steve Corino defeated Bobby Shields via Sliding C Special
Dark City Fight Club (Jon Davis and Kory Chavis) defeated The Set (J-Sinn and Lance Lude) via Project Mayhem
Erick Stevens defeated Pelle Primeau via The Doctor Bomb
Chris Hero defeated Jay Briscoe via series of Death Blows to earn a spot in the Pick Six Contenders’ Series.
The Mike Hogewood “Slap The Porpoise” Move of the Night: Dark City Fight Club’s Project Mayhem on Lance Lude. It’s been three weeks coming, but so great to catch it.
Overall Thoughts
Well, honestly I don’t know how to take this episode. There was some build up for The Big Bang, but it happened already (I promise a review soon, I have been really busy). We know who won, who lost, etc. I will try my best to “pretend” that the PPV did not happen so let’s start there.
The storylines/build up for upcoming events
1) The Big Bang Main Event hype – Mainly this was previous clips from past HDNet broadcasts, the 8th Anniversary Show, and matches from earlier this year. I thought the production team did a good job building this up. It made the average viewer (like myself) want to purchase this PPV on the Internet for this along other matches on that card. The timing of this was really not that great, but you can’t be perfect.
2) The Return of Jerry Lynn – In case you do not know, Jerry Lynn was “taken out” in late 2009 by Kenny King and Rhett Titus. The story was that King was helping Lynn into full-time retirement, and it worked well. I liked the story they gave Lynn. This makes their reignited feud more interesting and I can’t wait to see where Lynn will be placed on next week’s HDNet show. Overall, a nice little promo package building up one of their top superstars.
The Embassy vs. Butcher – Well, this feud continued at The Big Bang and this portion may have lost its luster. However, I liked this story as well. Sure, Necro Butcher was banned from the Arena for taking out poor Giuseppe di Lorento with a pretty hard-looking punch. I liked how Necro did not care what would happen, as he entered the ring with a chair in two. Also, give credit to the production once again for immediately cutting to their break right after Necro entered the ring. I thought it added a bit more to Necro’s suspension, but that may just be me.
ROH TV Title Tournament Recap – The only complaint here was that it took a long time. I was impressed with how the winners were announced for those who did not see previous episodes. Still, with the tournament over a while ago it does lose its punch. And now that it going to drag another few weeks, I am just confused about the whole deal. But these semifinal matchups should be pretty good.
The matches on the card.
1) Steve Corino vs. Bobby Shields – I was not really impressed with this match. I don’t really think this told a story and it made Corino a bit weak because he lost control of the match at times. Shields was really off his mark on a few of his moves and his selling was off at times. Corino did his best to make this match watchable. However I was more impressed with the story involving Cabana than I was with the match here.
2) Dark City Fight Club vs. The Set – I don’t say this in a mean way, but I can’t stand The Set. They don’t interest me one bit. Seeing Kory Chavis and Jon Davis dominate 90% of this contest made me happy. I do give credit to Lance Lude for taking the Project Mayhem finisher. Overall, it shows the strength of the Dark City Fight Club and I look forward to the future of this tag team. They are a real dark horse in ROH.
3) Erick Stevens vs. Pelle Primeau – This match again I was not feeling. Stevens is supposed to be this dominant brute force, so he should be booked to annihilate this ROH Student. Primeau was pretty impressive against Stevens, but he showed his inexperience at times. Stevens showed his power pretty well, but there was something missing in his gimmick. I just hope the next time I see Stevens he will be more dominant.
4) Hero vs. Jay Briscoe – It was a nice, solid back and forth matchup between these two rivals for a spot in that “Pick Six”. However, the no-selling drove me crazy. It was spotty near the end of the contest, though it did not ruin it for me. I enjoyed the brawling and technical work in the first few minutes. The conclusion was pretty solid as well with Hero delivering two Death Blows to Jay Briscoe. Overall, this match was not bad. It really had its moments, but when wrestlers no-sell the others’ offense, it hurts the story inside the ring.
In conclusion, the show was average. The segments were good, but when the PPV already occurred it made the show outdated. The matches were below-average for a Ring of Honor show, as I was expecting a bit more than three squash matches. It had good moments, but by far nothing worth noting when discussing this with your wrestling fans.
Overall Grade: C
-Mr. V’s Pick Three of the Night-
Wrestler of the Night: Chris Hero
Hero was very crisp with his elbow shots and his character was brilliant. Sure, he may have gotten a little help from his entourage of Sara Del Ray, Claudio Castagnoli, and Shane Hagadorn however when he had the opportunity to finish he did in a big way. That and $2,500 helps out and a possible ROH Championship opportunity to go along with their newly won ROH Tag Team Titles.
Disappointment of the Night: Booking
Seriously there were three matches in which featured no-names and not ROH established talents. I am not completely upset about the booking, but disappointed that they did not present a good show after a two week layoff due to these basketball tournaments.
Surprise of the Night: Pelle Primeau
Coming into this contest, I thought Stevens would beat him in ninety seconds or less. However, I was surprised with how Primeau sold Stevens offense and his ability to take the bumps (i.e. when he was thrown onto the ring post). Primeau had some flashy offensive moments, which may give him a couple more matches in the near future on HDNet. I won’t mind seeing him wrestle again.
Thanks for reading my latest ROH Recap. I am sorry for the delay (no one had an link to the show and I do not have HDNet here in Pittsburgh) and I will be back next week with a NEW ROH on HDNet Recap.
E-mail: mistervwv@hotmail.com
Facebook: Anthony J. Valvo (Pittsburgh, PA)
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