8th Anniversary Show
New York, NY
2/13/10
*ROH held a ten bell count in honor of the passing of Jack Brisco and Georgiann Makropoulos. Makropoulos was instrumental in getting Bruno Summation to appear at the company's first show in the venue.
*Roderick Strong pinned Brian Kendrick in a strong opener. Kendrick's chest was blood red from chops.
*The Kings of Wrestling defeated Harlem and Lance Bravado in an entertaining squash.
*In an "Unsanctioned Anything Rules" match, Necro Butcher and Eddie Kingston defeated Joey Ryan and Erick Stevens. Necro and Kingston had Gypsy Joe with them, which was completely lost on the crowd. There was some OK brawling here but the crowd never seemed to get into it, which was surprising since NYC crowds have always gone more for the violence than wrestling. The finish saw Necro, after using Mr. Socko, put a bag over Ryan's head and choke him out to get the win. The Embassy beat down Necro after.
*In another strong match, Davey Richards forced El Generico to tap out to a Kimura in the center. Really good back and forth wrestling here.
*ROH Tag Team champions The Briscoes defeated The Dark City Fight Club. Afterwards, the Kings of Wrestling hit the ring and jump the Briscoes, leading to a three way brawl. In the end, the Briscoes take out the others with stereo dives onto the floor. Crowd was really into the brawl.
*They announced a 5/8 return with TNA stars The Motor City Machineguns appearing, so it appears TNA has backed off on the restrictions of talent appearing on ROH house shows.
*Delirious won a solid four way over Steve Corino, Skullkrusher Rasche Brown and Kenny King, pinning King.
*Colt Cabana defeated Kevin Steen by DQ. This was more an angle than anything else. Steen tried to powder out but Corino, who is something of his mentor, tossed him back in and began cutting a promo on the mic, telling Steen to "do it for me" but El Generico came out and hit the ring to face off with his former partner. The ref through the match out once it got physical.
*Tyler Black defeated Austin Aries to win the ROH championship. Roderick Strong, Kenny King & Jim Cornette were judges at ringside. Lots of near falls here, which the crowd was into big time. At the end, King tried to interfere, but Strong got on the apron and laid him out. Black and Strong had words, so Strong ate a super kick. Jim Cornette got up and tried to reason with Black and got one for his troubles as well. Black then nailed a twisting move off the top and scored the pin. They did a big celebration in the ring and Strong issued a challenge for the title.

Well, it had to happen eventually. And by “it,” I mean Tyler Black becoming the ROH World champ. Before I talk about Black finally achieving his “destiny,” I have to reflect on Austin Aries’ reign. While I’ve been unable to see each and every defense (lack of funds and unreleased shows have seen to preventing that), I must say that the majority of the ones I’ve seen weren’t anything short of different. And that’s not a bad thing. ROH has had very few real cowardly champions who just make it out with the title by the skin of their teeth. Aries’ actions stood out, and made him the definite star of Ring of Honor after Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness’ exit. Now don’t think I’m saying all Austin did was pull a Joey Ryan, PWG champion. Aries also had some incredible clashes, including the four way on HDNet between himself, Kenny Omega, Roderick Strong, and Davey Richards. He also had a match that could’ve won the ROHbot Report Match of the Year between himself and Davey if it were released before the end of the voting period. Austin Aries’ second reign as ROH World champion will go down as a memorable one that went on, pretty much, as long as it should’ve. He went from June 2009 to February 2010, sprinkling hilarious to stunning moments, and enjoyable to classic matches in between. His reign capped off in a big way here as everyone is talking about the redemption Aries helped bring back to NYC through a thrilling contest. But now the focus is on Tyler.
After his win, Black-as you read-laid out Roderick Strong, Kenny King, and Jim Cornette. Why? Is Tyler Black reverting to the attitude that made him so rebellious in the Age of the Fall? Is Black going to turn on the fans like Nigel McGuinness before him due to the cries of many that have called him a choke artist? Or is he going to take the role as a champion that we haven’t seen since Samoa Joe? Samoa Joe was a champion who took on all challengers. ROH champion Samoa Joe wore that belt, fighting fan favorites and the reviled alike, with the same vigor, enthusiasm, and insatiable appetite for violence. Tyler Black could easily fall just like babyface Homicide with the fans-who just died on him after he won the belt. Or Black could regain the edge that his persona has been missing for quite a while. An edge that’ll give Black the attitude, pushing Tyler to go as close as possible to breaking the rules to make sure he doesn’t lose the title he worked so hard to attain. If done correctly, Black could become the all-star player that Jim Cornette proclaimed him to be on HDNet.
Black winning the championship isn’t the only compelling thing going on in Ring of Honor. And no, I’m not talking about the Gypsy Joe sighting (Youtube Gypsy Joe, and find out why he is so awesome). Like Final Battle less than two months ago, Kevin Steen and El Generico were a part of show stealing performances. First, El Generico fought Davey Richards in a match that those in attendance raved about after the show. There was a time in ROH where everyone tried to steal the show. A lot of times, that attitude brought down the quality of the entire show (making it seem like one big blur of northern light suplexes in the corner). Sometimes, that attitude helped propel the show to memorable heights (Manhattan Mayhem I). But everyone knows their place now, and tries to hold back a little for the main event. That’s a great and professional way to do things, but sometimes you can’t have anything short of a show stealer when you put in two very capable workers together, and let them go. That’s what happened with El Generico and Davey Richards. From the sounds of it, Davey/Generico could be worth the price of the DVD alone.
Generico returned after his loss to confront his old partner, Kevin Steen. Instead of acting like Steen, Generico played the person he’s been since he debuted. And that’s what makes this great. Generico has to snap at some point. If, and when it happens, it’s going to be one of those moments we’ll look back on for years to come. There are too many dynamic personalities involved in this multi-layered feud to produce a moment anything short of fantastic.
And how about ROH moving back to the Hammerstein Ballroom? More importantly, how about the Motor City Machine Guns making their ROH return after a near two-year absence? I could go on and on about TNA not giving the Guns the spotlight they deserve, but what would that have to do with them in ROH? While it’s a ways away, I can’t help but think who their opponents will be. With them going 1-1 with The Briscoes, this could be a good a time as any to give us the rubber match. If they were coming to Manassas the night before, I’d hope for a Guns/American Wolves match up to have a complete weekend of ROH Guns dream matches. But there’s a chance that Davey and Eddie won’t be a unit by May anyway.
Didn’t think I’d see a plastic bag suffocation again in ROH. It was a disturbing scene when Corino did it to Homicide in ’06. You know what, thinking about Ryan flopping around like a fish out of water is probably more disturbing than Homicide almost becoming the meaning of his name.

The finals of the TV Title tournament will take place on March 5th at the ECW Arena, featuring Kenny King, Eddie Edwards, Kevin Steen, and Davey Richards. [Credit: Pwinsider.com]

Old man winter (a.k.a. Abe Simpson) hit Philadelphia hard during the last set of TV tapings, and with the HDNet production trucks unavailable to stay around for a rescheduling or later taping, ROH decided to finish off the tournament a month after the first round matches concluded. The four men making it to the semis were definitely my favorites to win, with them going over El Generico, Colt Cabana, Rhett Titus, and Delirious respectively. With Generico out of the tournament, the possibility of Steenerico clashing for the first time in an ROH ring is put on hold for a while (Big Bang, maybe). My initial pick of Kenny King will have his hands full in the semi-finals as he’ll have to take on the man I’m banking on winning the whole shebang in the form of Davey Richards. I’m saying it right now: whoever wins this match will win the tournament. If I’m wrong…well, I’ll be wrong, and hold my head in shame. The finals could be just as interesting as King vs. Richards if Davey and Eddie win their respective matches. The American Wolves explode!

Chris Hero and The American Wolves vs. ROH World Champion Tyler Black and ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes has been announced as the main event for the March 19 show in Detroit, MI.

Incredible main event on multiple levels by just looking at the quality of talent, but there’s more. First off, it plays into the current feuds including The Briscoes vs. Kings of Wrestling, as well as brings another confrontation between the current champs and the former ones. There’s a chance that Davey Richards could be the TV champ by March 19th, giving us our first clash between both singles champions in Ring of Honor. After the announcement of this match, a lot of ROHbots went crazy over the chance that Hero could be in line for an ROH World title shot since he is still in the Pick 6 standing, and could beat the champ here. While I highly doubt Hero will be involved in a ROH World title feud like what he had with Nigel during McGuinness’ first months as champion, this match could prove great for ROH’s return to Ontario the next night. If Hero wins for his team via a fall on Black, it would easily set up a main event for Saturday night’s show. ROH has become accustomed to lining up main events in advance to make sure fans of the area have a good reason to go to the show. And if that main event involved the World title, it usually was just the champ defending the title against a random challenger. That guy might have not won a match the night before, or even a show before. But since he was named the next in line beforehand, he still got a chance at the belt.
Look at Manhattan Mayhem III weekend. The main event was announced weeks prior to the show (Lynn vs. Aries), but the night before, both men lost (Aries to Strong and Lynn to Black). Roderick got nothing for beating the #1 Contender, and Black only snuck his way into the main event because he had a title shot that could be cashed in at any time. Poor Strong got shutout, and his win over the #1 contender meant nothing when it should’ve meant everything. The importance of winning the first night of a double shot weekend that could produce a big chance for someone the next night hasn’t been emphasized as strongly as it was in the past (like the aforementioned Hero/Nigel feud that was started by Glory By Honor VI: Night 1, which lead to GBH VI: Night 2 match and the beginning of a short feud). That’s not to say they should completely change the course of their shows to add that level of unpredictability (they have to control some of their show). But wins and losses having immediate ramifications for the title picture could mean the difference between a fresh World title scene, or a stale one.

Kenny Omega will return to Ring of Honor after spending some time touring Japan. His return will be at the March 20 event in Mississauga, ON, where he will face Davey Richards.

As you all know, both men are definite standouts, and possible World title contenders in the near future. Omega’s commitments to Japan haven’t afforded him the opportunity to really get some momentum started in Ring of Honor since last summer. While I doubt he’ll beat Davey here, he could start strong with a great match against one of the top stars on the indy scene, making 2010 his year in ROH.

Ring of Honor is proud to announce that Roderick Strong has signed a contract renewal. "Roderick has grown into one of the foundations of Ring of Honor over the years." said ROH Vice-President Sydney Eick. "We are very happy that he has elected to resign with ROH, and look forward to seeing just how far Strong can go in 2010 and beyond."

I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again-Roderick Strong’s career has had a resurgence in the past year. I don’t know what it is, but he just seems better than ever. Maybe that’s because he is better than he’s ever been in the ring. Strong has always had the uncanny ability to make you believe he can win in matches you know he doesn’t have a chance of picking up the victory. He can suck you into any match if given the time. We’ve already seen the fulfillment of Tyler Black finally winning the ROH World title. Who knows, maybe 2010 is the year of title aspirations becoming reality.

Ring of Honor is happy to announce that two more talents have signed contracts to continuing competing here in ROH: "Addicted to Love" Rhett Titus and "Skullkrusher" Rasche Brown.

Honestly, who didn’t think Titus would sign a contract. The guy is just getting started in the grand scheme of things (“things” known as his barely three year career), and time to grow in Ring of Honor will only do well for “Addicted to Love”. As for Brown, it still shocks me WWE hasn’t tried to scoop him up. He’s big. He’s got tons of charisma. And most importantly, Brown looks like he could kill you if you bumped into him on a bad night near an alley. Hey, WWE’s loss is ROH’s gain (I hope).

In regards to the Motor City Machine Guns working for ROH on May 8th, TNA is allowing their talent to appear again for ROH as long as the footage is not used on HDNet or any potential PPV broadcast. There is no real working relationship; just that ROH can book TNA talent through the company like any other independent company. [Credit: Pwinsider.com]

The struggling partnership between TNA and ROH carries on to this day. One minute, TNA has no problem with ROH using their guys for live events. Next minute, ROH better keep their hands away from the TNA cookie jar of underutilized talent. Like everything about TNA, it’s schizoid thinking. But I could care less if it means will see more of the Guns in ROH (maybe for the May 7th event in Manassas). Generation Me (The Young Bucks) might stop by in the near future. What about Samoa Joe? I still say that Joe never looked happier than when he was competing in an ROH ring. Unfortunately, I know I’ll be writing in a few months that TNA has changed its mind, and doesn’t want any of their wrestlers participating in non-TNA events.

Management for Dragon Gate USA has decided to not pursue legal action against Davey Richards. Richards was already under a contract to ROH, and the company feels that they will be fighting an impossible battle and wasting financial resources. Last weekend there were many in the company that were adamant that there would be legal action, but the issue is now considered dead.

For those who don’t know, Davey quickly became a big part of the ongoing feud between Gabe Sapolsky and his former baby, Ring of Honor. When Davey resigned with Ring of Honor a few weeks ago, he opted to resign from Dragon Gate USA and EVOLVE. In EVOLVE and DG USA, Davey was looked upon as a pillar for the fledging companies, especially in EVOLVE. But Dragon Gate also had huge problems with Davey removing himself from their company because they had him booked for the Wrestlemania weekend events that would cause Davey to miss ROH’s shows on the same dates. As you read, unfortunately for DG USA, they only had a verbal contract with Richards, and ROH had all the legal right to pull one of their contracted wrestlers from a show as they saw fit. In my 11/21 ROHbot Report. I wrote on the possibility of us indy fans being on the road toward an all out war between the aforementioned companies; with Davey and any other company hopping wrestlers being in the center of it all. Like the business model of most expanding wrestling companies, ROH could become the big fish in the pond; signing wrestlers they see could be an asset to their shows while taking away from Dragon Gate or EVOLVE shows. I doubt Ring of Honor would be as ruthless as WWE or WCW, but all is fair in love, war, and pro wrestling.

Philadelphia clothing store Jinxed sent out the following announcement, regarding Delirious and his venture into the world of art…Masked independent wrestling sensation Delirious has joined the art world. He has submitted a piece in the acclaimed Jinxed Heart Show this Saturday in Philadelphia. For more info and directions visit: www.JinxedPhiladelphia.com. Here is a look at the one-of-a-kind heart created by Delirious for this special show. It will be available for purchase on Saturday:

Tell me that isn’t five kinds of awesome. Seriously, that would’ve been a sweet Valentine’s Day gift for some lucky lady. Okay, maybe only if she is a ROHbot, and/or loves Invader Zim.

Former WWE announcer Kevin Kelly has been visiting at the last few sets of ROH TV tapings. There are rumors that he may be coming to work for the company, but some ROH sources recently denied that. [Credit: Pwinsider.com]

For those who only remember Kelly as the guy The Rock called “Hermie” on a weekly basis, you’d be pleasantly surprised to know how much insight this man has about the business (as heard on Club WWI), and how much he could help a fledging company really get a grip on the demographics WWE so easily pulls in with TV. That’s not to say ROH is going to get as big as WWE, but a man who has been around Vince, and knows how a multi-million dollar company works can’t do anything but help a company that would hope to one day be in a position where they’re talked about in the same sentence as ECW was during the Monday night wars.

Huge news broke as Ring of Honor, in association with HDNet International Sales and Big Media LLC, has secured a deal to provide the best pound for pound wrestling in the world to the people of Italy via Dahlia TV! This is a huge step forward for ROH, and will hopefully be the first of many! For more information on DahliaTV, check out http://www.dahliatv.it and stay tuned to ROH Wrestling.com for more information including the official premiere date. Thank you to everyone that made this deal possible!

More international markets to promote your company means more international revenue. You know what that means? Step 1-TV in International Markets. Step 2-????. Step 3-Profit! That model never fails. I think this will be the perfect leeway for finding out what was Right and Wrong about this week’s edition of ROH on HDNet.

ROH on HDNet 2/15/10 Quick Results:
Necro Butcher & Eddie Kingston defeated Erick Stevens & Joey Ryan via count-out
Skullkrusher Rasche Brown defeated Christian Marino
Up In Smoke defeated Sonjay Dutt & Andy Ridge
Kevin Steen defeated Delirious

Right:
Necro & Kingston vs. The Embassy: I’ll be the first to admit that this whole thing looks like a rehash of what we saw over the summer involving The Embassy, Colt Cabana, Necro, and Cabana’s crew. The one thing that is occurring here that I hoped would happen during the summer: an elevation of someone beyond their current position. And no, I’m not referring to Grizzly Redwood, who-lets be honest- is nothing more than a WWF 1980’s gimmick. Erick Stevens was the first face shown on this week’s episode, and cut a mighty fine promo to set up the opening contest. The match was what you’d expect from the names involved, with a splash of a nice story being made from Kingston’s fall into the guardrails, which possibly cracked Eddie’s ribs. In the end, Nana proved himself a smart manager by pulling his troops from the fire before they could be beaten with a chair. The thing that stood out was Stevens wanting to return to the fight, but Nana holding Stevens back. For the first time in a while, Stevens looks like a threat, and is coming off as the perfect foil for Necro Butcher. Can Stevens do what Jimmy Rave, Bison Smith, and even Nana himself couldn’t? I want to tune in to find out.
SLAP THE PORPOISE (Rasche Brown vs. Marino, a.k.a. Dead Jobber Walking): Right now, Brown is being proclaimed as one of the hottest free agents in ROH, with people like Shane Hagadorn and Prince Nana scouting him. That story was in full effect tonight when Hagadorn watched Brown mutilate Christian Marino in a small amount of time. While Brown needs to do more to prove he’s more than just a jobber killer, ROH seems to be on track for Brown to either join The Embassy (helping Stevens when he can’t get the job done), Hagadorn’s crew (If Davey does break away), or just fight whoever he wants. Brown is a huge guy with tons of charisma, and could play a babyface or a heel with ease. Right now, he looks as impressive as you can get (that palm strike to the chest is so cool). The question is if he’ll be in the Wrong column if it doesn’t work out like they plan for the big man.
We Don’t Like Old People:Jim Cornette decided to greet us halfway through the show to talk about Ring of Honor’s reputation for the most athletic pro wrestling you’ll see on TV. He was also here to promote ROH’s debut in Phoenix during Wrestlemania weekend, the Big Bang pay-per-view in Charlotte, and ROH’s next TV tapings that’ll be headlined by the TV title tournament. I’ve always been hard on Ring of Honor’s marketing and promotion of future shows, and this is exactly what’s needed to be done with their television time. It’s great to know when a pay-per-view is coming up instead of finding out through a message board (right, TNA).
Kevin Steen vs. Delirious: Kevin Steen is hitting all cylinders right now in his current standing as a man who is finally happy with himself, thanks to Steve Corino. With that acceptance of himself came a new way Steen wrestles. Or should I say he’s reverted to his old ways. Kevin Steen showed that here by upping his jawing with the crowd, his trickery of the cat & mouse game, and his dissection of a body part for his own amusement. Then there was Delirious, who, bless him, put up a great fight, and showed great heart, but just looked inferior to “Mr. Wrestling”. Steen winning was definitely the right thing to do right now (as if that isn’t obvious), and his inevitable confrontation with Generico or Cabana on HDNet should be incredible.

Wrong:
Up In Smoke vs. Dutt & Ridge: I really didn’t know what to expect when Dutt came out partnered by Andy “Right Leg” Ridge. Seemingly, Dutt is trying to salvage his ROH tenure by making stars instead of becoming a top of the card contender in Ring of Honor. And just as mismatched as Dutt and Ridge were, their horrible showing against perennial jobbers Cheech & Cloudy did neither man any favors. I’m not saying that they were sloppy. I understand that they were trying to show that Ridge and Dutt lacked communication compared to Up In Smoke, but they didn’t have to look like bumbling idiots to get that over. I honestly don’t know how this will conclude (if it does have a conclusion), but I’m not looking forward to it in any way. As for Cheech & Cloudy-great win, but I know it won’t be one of many, which is pretty sad.

Overall: This was definitely one of those middle of the road shows. Outside of the Wrong tag match, nothing was offensive toward the human psyche, unlike an edition of TNA Impact. I’m glad Stevens is finally getting a stage to shine on in Ring of Honor that doesn’t involve him fighting over a title not associated with ROH. Kevin Steen and Steve Corino were golden before this whole thing with Generico began, but now it’s even greater (is that possible). You know some big moments between Corino, Steen, Generico, and Colt Cabana is going to happen on HDNet. As I said, nothing was horribly wrong about this show, but nothing to go out of way to see if you happened to miss it.

Before I close out, I can’t help but comment on WWE’s new show, NXT. The reason I would even mention a WWE show in The ROHbot Report is for the simple fact that the first season of this Tough Enough/The Ultimate Fighter influenced show will give loyal WWE fans their first glimpse of Daniel “Bryan ‘American Dragon’ Danielson” Bryan (say that three times fast). Like The Ultimate Fighter show, the WWE Superstar hopefuls will be mentored/trained by current WWE wrestlers (yeah, I said it, Vince). Well, the IWC and ROHbots alike (are all IWC members ROHbots, or are all ROHbots IWC members) went crazy when The Miz was announced as Bryan’s mentor/trainer. Well, being the ROHbot that I am, I’m not upset about it in the least.
Yep, you read that right. You see, I’m not the biggest Miz fan (the only thing I’ve seen him do impressive is that promo where he imitated JBL and had a verbal sparring match with MVP), but I know that WWE management thinks highly of The Miz. The man is a double champion for goodness sake. How many double champions can you think of in recent WWE history not named Triple H, Shawn Michaels, John Cena, or Batista? WWE sees something big in The Miz, and anyone they pair him with seems to be in good standing with the WWE brass as well. Danielson’s association with Miz could prove to be incredible for Danielson’s WWE career. Bryan could adapt to the Miz’s style of heelness, and unleash the greatness of evil Danielson that we saw in 2006. Or he could prove he’s technically superior compared to his mentor, outclassing Miz during the show; which would lead to The Miz trying to break Danielson down during and after the season. By the end of the season, we could already have a tailor-made feud ready to go. As much complaining and moaning everyone has done about it (except for the majority of the readers and writers of WWI who are too smart to think of just one side of the coin), I see nothing but great things for Daniel Bryan on NXT. Maybe I’m a dreamer who doesn’t know any better. I guess we’ll find out very soon.

Till Then.