Official ROH Discussion Thread

[gadge]

TV taping results from Thursday and Friday nights... both from PWinsider who also have more in-depth reports

 

<-- click on 'spoiler' to show/hide the spoiler

 

Pre show notes: Ric Flair is in the house, his first ever appearance in the venue. ... HD Net has added a lot of lighting to improve the appearance of the crowd from the first set of tapings. ... The crowd is noticeably down a lot due to the necessity of running a Thursday as today and tomorrow were the only dates where both Ring of Honor and HD Net's production truck were available.

 

Ring Of Honor Episode 7

 

*Ric Flair was introduced as the new Ambassador for ROH. He brought out ROH champ Jerry Lynn and praised him. They talked about wrestling in 1985. Austin Aries came out and said he was the man and was the former champ and would prove tonight he was at the top of the ROH pecking order.

 

*Chris Hero defeated Kenny Omega with a loaded elbow pad.

 

*Necro Butcher defeated Brodie Lee.

 

*Erick Stevens defeated Sal Rinauro.

 

*Austin Aries defeated Roderick Strong.

 

Ring Of Honor Episode 8

 

*Prince Nana tried to interrupt a Colt Cabana in-ring promo but was run off.

 

*In a mixed tag, Daizee Haze and Delirious defeated SHIMMER champ MsChif and Jimmy Jacobs when Haze pinned MsChif with the Mindtrick.

 

*Nigel McGuinness cut a promo promising to come back and regain his title.

 

*The American Wolves defeated two enhancement performers. They did an in-ring promo promising to take out El Generico and Kevin Steen.

 

*Bryan Danielson fought Tyler Black to a double countout in a great match after Danielson hit a springboard dive onto Black in the first row and they didn't return for a 20 count.

 

Ring Of Honor Episode 9

 

*Claudio Castagnoli defeated Brent Albright after a distraction by Ernie Osyris and Prince Nana led to a lowblow. Claudio went for a chair but Colt Cabana ran him off.

 

*The Dark City Fight Club beat Grizzly Redwood and Alex Payne.

 

*Ric Flair announced the first ROH title bout on HD Net will be Jerry Lynn vs. Austin Aries vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black.

 

*Flair then cut an awesome promo putting over Philadelphia, mentioning ECW and spouting all the classic Flair-isms.

 

*Jay Briscoe beat Sami Callahan.

 

*ROH Tag Team champs Kevin Steen and El Generico defeated Rhett Titus and Kenny King. They were then attacked and laid out by The American Wolves.

 

 

Notes: They announced Ric Flair and KENTA will be appearing at the next set of tapings...A much better taping than the debut night I attended. They had a nice mix of storyline advancement and instead of random athletic matches, you had a feeling that they were heading somewhere.

 

Ring Of Honor Episode 10

 

*The American Wolves cut a promo promising to win the Tag Titles when they put Kevin Steen and El Generico through a table tonight. A table was in the ring. Steen and Generico hit the ring and the Wolves retreated, leaving Shane Hagadorn to be put through a table.

 

*Kenny Omega won a Three-Way over Kenny King and Jay Briscoe when he pinned King.

 

*The Dark City Fight Club beat Irish Airborne.

 

*Chris Hero beat Eddie Kingston by DQ when he refused to stop beating Hero in the corner.

 

*Necro Butcher & Delirious defeated Jimmy Jacobs & Brodie Lee.

 

Ring Of Honor Episode 11

 

*Roderick Strong defeated Rhett Titus.

 

*SHIMMER champ MsChif won a three way over Daizee Haze and Sara del Rey.

 

*Erick Stevens defeated Sami Callahan.

 

*The American Wolves defeated Kevin Steen & El Generico in a Tables Match to win the ROH Tag Team belts. Great match.

 

Ring Of Honor Episode 12

 

*Colt Cabana & Brent Albright beat Claudio Castagnoli & Ernie Osyris.

 

*Bobby Dempsey beat Sal Rinauro.

 

*In a great Match, Roh champ Jerry Lynn defeated Bryan Danielson, Tyler Black and Austin Aries when he nailed the cradle piledriver on Danielson.

 

[close spoiler]

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[Emperorseb]

After watching the third ep of ROH on HD Fightnet it seems a new wrestling chant has arrived from Bryan Danielson supporters and it's probably the most original one to date

 

"Yourgonnagetyourf******headkickedin! *clapclap-clapclapclap-clapclap-clapclapclap* Yourgonnagetyourf******headkickedin!"

 

Blimey...

 

Also do you people think that this thread deserves to be in the UKFF Gold section now?

[cobystag]

...... What?

 

Also, I'm getting more concerned about ROH.

 

In a recent interview, Cary has pushed the notion of live PPV being the way forward. And also stressing that the 'old' ROH was too internet-crowd friendly orientated, and that he feels the 'new' ROH is more casual friendly while not excluding the old fanbase.

 

I don't think he has realized that crowd attendence is down recently, not just due to the economy. The first lot of TV tapings attracted 1000+ people, even with loads of comps been given out. I was at the 7th Anny Show at Hammerstein and outside of being taken back by how tiny the place actually is, the place was noticibly less packed than the previous show there only three months ago - Which was admittedly the biggest ROH crowd to date, but it was a fair way to fall.

 

And now with these two tapings, Thursdays attendence started at 400, but was 100 by the end of the night. It's been noted that a lot of fans left after Flair gave his first speech. And there were some casual fans still remaining during Danielson/Tyler who proceeded to chant "We want Flair" and "Your Not Flair". Suffice to say these people left after the second show ended.

 

Now I know there were already free tickets been given out on the ROH message board, but apparently there were a load of free comps given out around Philadelphia. Oregon Diner nearby to the Arena had a bunch of free GA tickets that my girlfriend and her friend gave out to people in line (This was Saturday tho, which had a higher attendence of 600).

 

If Cary truly feels he's getting the casual market while appeasing the 'net' fans.... Why did 300 people walk out after the biggest star had been out? Why were only 100 fans remaining, most likely the fans who had actually PAID to be there?

 

I'm glad Saturday was a better attended show, but it's almost a 50% fall from the amount of people who were only there a month earlier. Those casual fans with the kids clearly never came back. They probably never paid for tickets. And the casual fans at this set of tapings didn't even stick around to the end. Are they going to pay to come back?

 

ROH is pissing me off so bad right now. All their 'feuds' are people who have had matches with dusty finishes, and in the rematch, there'll be another dusty finish - See Albright/Castagnoli. And the hardcore fans, who travel and follow ROH.... They're seeing a lot of the same matches over and over. A lot of matches on shows now are rematches of encounters that happened in the past few months.

 

And with the live shows, TV tapings, and PPV tapings, everything's confusing and out of synch. Why go to a live show when a lot of the matches will be restrained affairs and you probably won't get to see anything special, especially if it's a Friday night show. Why go to a TV taping when it's a lot of short Velocity-esque matches that you may have already seen before, and seen better. It's good for the Philadelphia locals (My girlfriend is loving getting to see ROH every month right now), but it's not going to be shows worth travelling a long distance for. I guess PPV is going to be your big live shows, but why pay to see it at home when it happened three months ago and what you're seeing on TV is weeks ahead of the PPV?

 

You can blame the days. You can blame how close it was to the last TV tapings. You can definitely blame the fact that the ECW Arena is over-run with wrestling shows these days. But if I was ROH, I wouldn't be thinking about live PPV. I'd be building the TV tapings up. I'd be building the live house show gate and revenue up. I'm sure DVD sales have suffered since Gabe left because those hardcore fans who used to buy 30-40 DVD's all years, with the amount of 'B' shows been put it, it's a helluva lot easier to be stringent on what you put your money down for these days.

 

If they were to do live PPV, they'd have to do another 6 hours worth of TV tapings as I don't feel much of a card has been built with the first twelve hours. Sure you've got the Danielson/Black PPV pay-off match. Claudio/Albright for what must be the sixth time since January. Kingston/Hero will most likely be another. But what else?

 

I don't think the Flair association is helping gate revenue all that much for what he must surely cost. And Jerry Lynn as Champ? He just doesn't have any star power. And D'Lo Brown been added to the mix as a familiar face for the TV market? I thought they were after the 'casual' fans, and the casual fans definitely weren't watching 10 years ago when D'Lo actually mattered.

Edited April 11, 2009 by cobystag

[Space Flying Tiger Drop]

After watching the third ep of ROH on HD Fightnet it seems a new wrestling chant has arrived from Bryan Danielson supporters and it's probably the most original one to date

 

"Yourgonnagetyourf******headkickedin! *clapclap-clapclapclap-clapclap-clapclapclap* Yourgonnagetyourf******headkickedin!"

 

Blimey...

 

Also do you people think that this thread deserves to be in the UKFF Gold section now?

 

1. It's hardly a new chant for Danielson, they've been chanting it since he returned in 05.

2. Are you aware of the sport named football?

[Space Flying Tiger Drop]

Cobystag, how many would you say were at 7th anni?

 

100 people in the ECW arena is going to look AWFUL on tv, like really bad. It didn't look that full to be honest at the original tapings, and there was actually 1000 people in the place. ROH is really strange at the moment. Even thinking about live PPV's is mental right now. They'd maybe get what, 500 people ordering them? They need to sort the booking out fast. I can see why they'd use people like D'Lo etc but the title on Lynn is a bad choice. If they continue this way, the hardcore fans are all going to dissapear (ya know the ones that actually buy dvds and come to shows) and your gonna be left with Cary's dream casual fan, which will mean there's about 50 people in the Arena for tv tapings. I dread to think how shitty the HDNet viewing figures are.

[Emperorseb]

After watching the third ep of ROH on HD Fightnet it seems a new wrestling chant has arrived from Bryan Danielson supporters and it's probably the most original one to date

 

"Yourgonnagetyourf******headkickedin! *clapclap-clapclapclap-clapclap-clapclapclap* Yourgonnagetyourf******headkickedin!"

 

Blimey...

 

Also do you people think that this thread deserves to be in the UKFF Gold section now?

 

1. It's hardly a new chant for Danielson, they've been chanting it since he returned in 05.

2. Are you aware of the sport named football?

And your point is...

[Space Flying Tiger Drop]

That it's a football chant perhaps?

[cobystag]

Cobystag, how many would you say were at 7th anni?

 

100 people in the ECW arena is going to look AWFUL on tv, like really bad. It didn't look that full to be honest at the original tapings, and there was actually 1000 people in the place. ROH is really strange at the moment. Even thinking about live PPV's is mental right now. They'd maybe get what, 500 people ordering them? They need to sort the booking out fast. I can see why they'd use people like D'Lo etc but the title on Lynn is a bad choice. If they continue this way, the hardcore fans are all going to dissapear (ya know the ones that actually buy dvds and come to shows) and your gonna be left with Cary's dream casual fan, which will mean there's about 50 people in the Arena for tv tapings. I dread to think how shitty the HDNet viewing figures are.

 

I don't really know. I think Final Battle 2008 had 2600 (or was it 2800?), if so, then I'd say 7th Anny barely scraped 2000. They were removing rows of chairs from the floor, and the second balcony looked pretty sparse.

 

I think 500 people ordering PPV's is incredibly generous seen as not a lot of people get all the networks that offer them.

 

And how shitty the HDnet viewing figures are? Again, not a lot of people get HDnet and certain networks have taken HDNet off their schedules completely recently.

 

I do really think this year and the choices made are going to be key to ROH's survival. Because if this trend continues, I can't see ROH lasting to next year.

 

Fucks sake, Cary was thinking of closing ROH around GBH 7 time (Incidentally a show where I was at, the place was PACKED, and I got to briefly talk to a less than sober Mr Silken at the end of the show who showed no signs of what was really going on at that time) back when Gabe was still in charge and had the loyal support of the 'internet'. Now everybody seems so disenfranchised and apathetic with ROH.... And it's a shame, cos I kinda feel like this myself when I see things like this being done, but I just finished watching Motor City Madness 2009 and enjoyed it top to bottom. Not the best ROH show ever, but a fun and enjoyable way to pass two and a half hours.

[Dearly Devoted Dexter]

Also, I'm getting more concerned about ROH.

 

In a recent interview, Cary has pushed the notion of live PPV being the way forward. And also stressing that the 'old' ROH was too internet-crowd friendly orientated, and that he feels the 'new' ROH is more casual friendly while not excluding the old fanbase.

 

I don't think he has realized that crowd attendence is down recently, not just due to the economy. The first lot of TV tapings attracted 1000+ people, even with loads of comps been given out. I was at the 7th Anny Show at Hammerstein and outside of being taken back by how tiny the place actually is, the place was noticibly less packed than the previous show there only three months ago - Which was admittedly the biggest ROH crowd to date, but it was a fair way to fall.

 

And now with these two tapings, Thursdays attendence started at 400, but was 100 by the end of the night. It's been noted that a lot of fans left after Flair gave his first speech. And there were some casual fans still remaining during Danielson/Tyler who proceeded to chant "We want Flair" and "Your Not Flair". Suffice to say these people left after the second show ended.

 

Now I know there were already free tickets been given out on the ROH message board, but apparently there were a load of free comps given out around Philadelphia. Oregon Diner nearby to the Arena had a bunch of free GA tickets that my girlfriend and her friend gave out to people in line (This was Saturday tho, which had a higher attendence of 600).

 

If Cary truly feels he's getting the casual market while appeasing the 'net' fans.... Why did 300 people walk out after the biggest star had been out? Why were only 100 fans remaining, most likely the fans who had actually PAID to be there?

 

I'm glad Saturday was a better attended show, but it's almost a 50% fall from the amount of people who were only there a month earlier. Those casual fans with the kids clearly never came back. They probably never paid for tickets. And the casual fans at this set of tapings didn't even stick around to the end. Are they going to pay to come back?

 

ROH is pissing me off so bad right now. All their 'feuds' are people who have had matches with dusty finishes, and in the rematch, there'll be another dusty finish - See Albright/Castagnoli. And the hardcore fans, who travel and follow ROH.... They're seeing a lot of the same matches over and over. A lot of matches on shows now are rematches of encounters that happened in the past few months.

 

And with the live shows, TV tapings, and PPV tapings, everything's confusing and out of synch. Why go to a live show when a lot of the matches will be restrained affairs and you probably won't get to see anything special, especially if it's a Friday night show. Why go to a TV taping when it's a lot of short Velocity-esque matches that you may have already seen before, and seen better. It's good for the Philadelphia locals (My girlfriend is loving getting to see ROH every month right now), but it's not going to be shows worth travelling a long distance for. I guess PPV is going to be your big live shows, but why pay to see it at home when it happened three months ago and what you're seeing on TV is weeks ahead of the PPV?

 

You can blame the days. You can blame how close it was to the last TV tapings. You can definitely blame the fact that the ECW Arena is over-run with wrestling shows these days. But if I was ROH, I wouldn't be thinking about live PPV. I'd be building the TV tapings up. I'd be building the live house show gate and revenue up. I'm sure DVD sales have suffered since Gabe left because those hardcore fans who used to buy 30-40 DVD's all years, with the amount of 'B' shows been put it, it's a helluva lot easier to be stringent on what you put your money down for these days.

 

If they were to do live PPV, they'd have to do another 6 hours worth of TV tapings as I don't feel much of a card has been built with the first twelve hours. Sure you've got the Danielson/Black PPV pay-off match. Claudio/Albright for what must be the sixth time since January. Kingston/Hero will most likely be another. But what else?

 

I don't think the Flair association is helping gate revenue all that much for what he must surely cost. And Jerry Lynn as Champ? He just doesn't have any star power. And D'Lo Brown been added to the mix as a familiar face for the TV market? I thought they were after the 'casual' fans, and the casual fans definitely weren't watching 10 years ago when D'Lo actually mattered.

 

I've been saying ROH is in trouble for a few months now, I'm legitmatly glad someone else has posted something in the same vein. Creatively ROH is dying at the moment, a fact that no amount of talk about PPV's and TV can conceal.

 

Cary reminds me of a Bolton or Portsmouth fan who says "it's time for us to go to the next level", not realising that the level they are currently at is in fact as good as it gets. If ROH breaks even or turns a modest profit, than that's as good as it gets. There is no "next level". TNA had to spend millions for at least five years in order to make a modest dent in the "casual" wrestling conciousness. And the only reason they were able to acheive that was because they had Panda Energy to write off the losses they made each year.

 

Ring of Honor issued the following exclusive statement to PWInsider.com this afternoon in response to requests for comment on recent statements made by ROH talent Larry Sweeney and Dragon Gate's CIMA:

 

We would like to comment on several topics that have been addressed by outside sources over the past week in regards to Ring of Honor. This will be our only public comment in regards to these issues.

 

First, Alex Whybrow's (Larry Sweeney) claim that he is owed money from ROH. Mr. Whybrow is under contract with Ring of Honor. His contract clearly states that he is paid "X" amount of dollars when he appears for Ring of Honor. Mr. Whybrow has been paid in full for all dates in which he has performed in front of Ring of Honor fans. Any claims in regards to payment for dates in which he has been unable to perform is not in accordance with his ROH contract. Everybody at Ring of Honor would like to wish Alex the best of luck in dealing with his current issues.

 

Secondly, CIMA from the Dragon Gate promotion in Japan has made claims that Ring of Honor owes Dragon Gate money from our Sept. 2008 show stating "Some of the ROH wrestlers' airfare and their guarantees were supposed be shared between two companies, but the promise had never been kept." This statement is false. All Ring of Honor talent was paid in full for these events along with their airfare. CIMA and the Dragon Gate promotion are very well aware of what agreements they did not live up to in regards to the ROH/Dragon Gate show and why we choose to no longer do business with them.

 

A few weeks ago I was going to write a piece entitled "Decline and Fall of ROH". Now it would have to be entitled "The Strange Death of ROH". Is it any coincidence the two above incidents have happened NOW? Since 2005 ROH has worked with Dragon Gate very successfully, only for said relationship to suddenly fall apart after the regime change? Similarly the Sweeney situation (and incidentally whichever wanker posted the thread entitled "apparently he's a bit mental" - grow up you stupid bastard) - surely this is something that could have been settled behind the scenes to the benefit of both parties? Instead, a public slanging match and ROH loses one of the few bright spots of the past 16 months or so.

 

Everyone's known for a good 12 months that Dragon and McGuinness' contract's were up in May. but nothing was done in terms of building up potential main event replacements, and now suddenly everyone's in a flap. Jerry Lynn is an acceptable short term champion, but he has no business holding the belt longer than a couple of months. It seemed like Tyler was being groomed for a run with the title - all of a sudden that's come to a grinding halt. After chasing the tag belts for the best of two years, no-one could be bothered to write a decent program for Steen and Generico once they actually won the belts. Davey Richards has looked like a main event guy for well over ayear, and he finds himself stuck in waste of time tag team with Eddie Edwards. Everyone was looking forward to seeing Paul London back in ROH - no-one seems to know why that hasn't happened. No-one particularly wanted Jimmy Rave, but got him anyway as part of a stale Embassy re-tread. It's well known that Flair's appearances cost an arm and leg - surely the last thing a company that's struggling financially needs?

 

I haven't seen the tv show yet (a copy of the first three eps is winging its way to me as we speak), but the news about the attendance, coupled with HDNet being dropped from Time Warners' cable service doesn't bode well. The last thing ROH need is for their product to come across as bush league.

 

Expanding your fan base is somewhat of tightrope. I think in one of his numerous shoots Raven made the point that just becuase your core fan base is extremely loyal doesn't mean you can shit on them. A lot of the self flagellation on the ROH board - "We have to accept change" - seems to betoken fans who, despite their slavish, often uncritical devotion, aren't happy with what they're seeing.

 

Cobystag brings up the point of how long ROH can survive if things continue as they have been. Privately I made an estimate of a 2011 a couple of months ago. But it could well be sooner.

 

A hideously depressing post to write, as someone who's followed ROH since 2002. Is there a way out of the mire? In theory yes - as a historian I've had it beaten into me over the years that nothing is inevitable. That said, in order for things to turn around something drastic needs to change behind the scenes in terms of booking. The question is, who would/ could take the book that could turn it around? I can't think of anyone off the top of my head. Dark days indeed

[James E Dangerously]

Am I the only one that sees simelaritys with ROH and ECW. Both niche companies operating to passionate and loyal fans. Both have a defining style, both utilising young, unknown talent, both utilising workers from other countires as they have links with foregion promotions. Both have major feuds that were keystones of the promotion (Punk/Joe, Dragon/Nigel, Dreamer/Raven)

 

Both relied on PPV for the next step and dreamed of a national TV deal. Both promotions bastardised there product to appear more mainstream and get a TV deal. Both had there top talent poached by bigger promotions. If they do go bust in 2011 that would be spooky.

[RancidPunx]

I commend them.

 

At least they are trying to progress.

[Emperorseb]

I also commend them for welcoming back Colt Cabanna and Jimmy Rave after they pretty much walked out on ROH for next to nothing.

[Dearly Devoted Dexter]

Am I the only one that sees simelaritys with ROH and ECW

 

No - see my posts passim.

 

Driven 2008 - 19/9/08

 

Another one of ROH

Edited April 15, 2009 by Dearly Devoted Dexter

[gadge]

Blimey DDD, where to start?

 

You're absolutely right about there not being a next level for ROH, not really... PWinsider recently kinda implied that HDNet are paying for the TV production and the fees for Flair's appearances, at which point I'd say that's great if it's true. Using Flair to increase live gates then using your great wrestling to keep the fans is fine - if the booking is good enough, which is certainly questionable.

 

I agree that the public slanging match with Sweeney has made the company and Sweeney himself both look pretty bad... on the other hand, I've become fed up of Sweeney, as the booking of S 'n' S Inc. has been one dimensional and never gone anywhere. Hero just seems to be getting worse with every revision of his act, and certainly isn't a centerpiece. I'd rather Sweeney was just managing one really good heel OR the team of Davey and Eddie Edwards rather than a faction... the faction thing wasn't cool with the Resilience, NRC and co. and S 'n' S haven't revived it.

 

The TV show is being posted on youtube. Having seen the first 2 episodes, the whole thing appears to be wrestling in a vacuum as the crowd are mic-ed up horribly. In the mean time, you can hear audio cues from the ref to the wrestlers. Hopefully the second set of tapings (ep7 onwards) will be better, but then attendance was reportedly way down on the first set of tapings.

 

Regarding the ROH title.. I think Gabe's DVD where he goes over all his planned booking when he was fired, which gives away that he was going to put the title on Tyler, kinda led to them not going that route. In a recent blog, Gabe claims Cary came to him with the idea of making Lynn champion, and that maybe he should have seen what happened coming after that. I'm actually all for Lynn having a short title run, as only having long runs makes things too predictable. Much like the 2005 Aries to Punk to Gibson to Danielson period (remember how hot ROH was then???) I hope the title goes Nigel to Lynn to Danielson to Tyler this year.

 

Finally, regarding Driven 2008... I would say I liked the show more than you did, but your review hits many valid points. I have contemplated reviewing the Homicide return weekend shows, but really wasn't that motivated in the end. They are interesting as the final shows of Gabe's booking, but the first ones where the DVDs were produced without his involvement. I would like to say I'm looking forward to the first shows booked by the committee, but "The French Connection" has been waiting for over 2 weeks and counting...

[gadge]

So, with ROH in the news in seemingly more and more negative ways on t'internet, I decided this morning to sit down and watch the first of the Adam Pearce/committee booked shows, and... well...

 

The French Connection - Montreal, Quebec, Canada - 7/11/08

 

We start with Kyle Durden, who I knew was the interviewer from recent newswires, as a comically bad interviewer. O-kay. Then, Bobby Cruise starts the show with a random announcement that all ROH matches will now have a 20 count on the floor.

 

Eddie Edwards vs Erick Stevens then starts the in-ring action. Bog standard match, Edwards gets some heat in watchable but not exactly exciting manner, Stevens comes back and wins with the gutwrench powerbomb. The most noticeable thing about everything is that Dave Prazak is now doing heel commentary, getting on Stevens' case for a red streak in his hair ("Terry Taylor comes to ROH!").

 

Jay and Mark Briscoe vs Kenny Omega and Kenny King follows that with some storytelling. Yes, really. The two Kennys immediately have problems, with King showing Omega disdain from the ring entrances onwards. Both the up and comers have some pretty good exchanges with the Briscoes early on, then Omega gets isolated, and when he gets in a position to tag out, King drops of the apron and wanders to the aisleway, where Rhett Titus comes out to join him. Omega can't survive for long and gets pinned with the springboard doomsday device. Titus and King leave, and Omega leaves with the Briscoes. So, we get the beginning of a new team in King and Titus, and the Briscoes put over Omega's toughness on the way out. What is this, forward thinking on the undercard?

 

Necro Butcher vs Brodie Lee is also a fresh match, and in two big guys brawling provides something different to the ROH norm. That's good. Unfortunately, Brodie appears to be a one dimensional lug. Even worse, there's no proper finish as Necro fires up after taking something of a dull beating, and Jacobs and Black run in for a 3-on-1 beating, giving Necro a DQ win. Yawn.

 

Jerry Lynn vs Delirious has good and bad points. Lets start with the good: Lynn gets a nice response on the way out, and this version of Delirious plays out the lost soul gimmick quite well. Jimmy Jacobs accompanying Delirious gets most of the heat though, and when he gets thrown out early on to a nice pop, the actual wrestling, while acceptable, gets muted reactions. That is until the finish, when Lynn hits the cradle piledriver, the crowd marks out and counts along on the resulting three count.

 

At this point I'd again like to address the commentary. Lenny Leonard and Heel Prazak are joined by Nigel McGuinness for Necro/Brodie and Lynn/Delirious, as Necro is facing Nigel the next night and Lynn, obviously, is on the title trail. Prazak siding with Nigel and the two of them constantly bantering with Leonard completely distracts from the wrestling, which was alright in the sense the matches themselves weren't great. It doesn't fit ROH though - heel Prazak working with Leonard can be fine, as FIP DVDs show, but it just feels forced into ROH here. Nigel on commentary is a lot like Nigel in recent title matches, not giving anyone any opportunity to score points on him, so after awhile it becoems uninteresting.

 

The second half, even though there were no half time interviews, begins with Davey Richards vs Roderick Strong. Not bad but definitely not up to the standard of their match on the Japan tour a couple of months prior, and in front of a North American audience, working a "lets see who the better wrestler is" match makes even less sense. Another bad finish from the new bookers, as Edwards nails Strong with a kick and he turns into a DR Driver for three. Not a good DR Driver either, it looked like a lame double underhook slam. S 'n' S Inc continue to drag the late-08 shows down for me, and Sweeney isn't even there.

 

Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black vs Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries is match of the night for me. Solid action, and better storytelling as Jacobs spends the whole match trying to avoid Aries ahead of the first of a best of 3 series the next night. Jacobs' ways of messing with Aries are varied and keep the crowd interested. Danielson and Tyler naturally have good exchanges, and Aries/Tyler is fine too. There's a big pop when Aries finally nails the always fantastic heat seeking missile on Jacobs on the floor for first contact. Jacobs still manages to avoid continued damage from Aries... until the very end when the hot closing sequence ends with Aries hitting the kick to the head, brainbuster and Last Chancery on Jacobs for the tap out win. The only match on the show I'd consider showing someone as an example of why ROH can be really good and worth following like I have since 2002. Jacobs shouts at Black afterwards for allowing Aries to get to him...

 

The main event is a battle of the champions in a four way elimination match: World Champion Nigel McGuinness puts his belt on the line vs Tag Champion Kevin Steen vs Tag Champion El Generico vs FIP Champ Go Shiosaki. Steen and Generico get the biggest reactions of anyone on the show in their home area. The four way segment is promising, with Steenerico working together, Nigel trying to avoid getting involved yet being pushed into the ring more than he would like. The first elimination, as Generico falls to the Go Flasher, deflates the entire crowd and kills the rest of the match. Nigel convinces Go to work with him, and neither one of them turn on each other, so they beat down Steen in dull fashion until a Steen comeback gets an unconvincing Sharpshooter submission from Go. Then Steen and Nigel look tired in the end of the match, the only interest coming when a ref bump (lame) lets Generico run in to stop Nigel using the belt as a weapon, and hit the Yakuza kick on Nigel, who still kicks out from the following package piledriver. One jawbreaker lariat (in a match largely lariat free, probably as Nigel's arms were already well on the way to being in tatters) later and Nigel retains.

 

Dull show for the most part, below Driven 2008, GBH VII and the Homicide weekend that culminated Gabe's booking run for me.