Edison 11/7/09 Results
1. Kenny Omega d. Sonjay Dutt - Omega wins with the Electric Chair German Suplex. Omega retains his position in the Pick 6. Omega bled from the nose and didn't sell Dutt's leg work.
2. Mark Briscoe & The Necro Butcher d. Joey Ryan & Erick Stevens - Claudio interfered here, and Jay Briscoe made the save, which has led to their match beginning next. (ROH's Twitter has this match as having no finish, so, it's either a no contest, or a DQ win for Briscoe/Butcher).
3. Claudio Castagnoli d. Jay Briscoe - Claudio wins after dropping Jay from the "no hands spin thing". Claudio moves into the #6 spot in the Pick 6. (ROH's Twitter has "Claudio cheated to win).
Tyler Black vs. Kenny King ends almost immediately when Austin Aries and Rhett Titus interfere. Colt Cabana and Grizzly Redwood make the save and Jim Cornette comes out and orders a 6 man tag now.
4. Colt Cabana, Tyler Black, & Grizzly Redwood d. Austin Aries, Rhett Titus & Kenny King - Colt gets the win forcing Aries to tap to the Billy Goat's Curse. Cabana challenges Aries for a title match in Chicago.
5. Bobby Dempsey d. Tony Kozina - Dempsey wins with the Death Valley Driver.
6. Roderick Strong d. Delirious - Strong wins with a small package
7. Kevin Steen & El Generico d. Chris Hero & Davey Richards - Steen forces Hero to tap to the Sharpshooter

Interesting results to say the least, but nothing Earth shattering. The main event was said to incredible, as I predicted. (Pats self on the back). No matter what combination (Eddie Edwards included), the former Sweet & Sour crew can’t help but have great matches with Steenerico. It’s a shame that Steen’s knee is in shambles as this could’ve led to the three-way Tag Team title feud between The American Wolves, Steenerico, and The Briscoes that I’ve been hoping for since Mark came back. But that might not happen anyway (more on that later). Colt Cabana has a ton of momentum going right now. He’s taken it to A-Double, pinning him or making him submit in a couple of tag matches. Cabana’s also be racking up wins on HDNet, and holds a great standing-at this point-in the Pick 6 title rankings. For the first time, I really wouldn’t be shocked if Cabana won a World title match. I know it’ll never happen, but they’ve built him up that well. If you’ve ever seen that episode of the Simpsons where Ralph Wiggum proclaims, “Go banana!” Just replace “banana” with “Cabana”, and you’ve got my feelings on C-Double. Another person I’m rooting for to breakthrough is Kenny Omega. I know I’ve harped on the guy for a long time, but I just want him to make a splash in the ROH World title scene. I can see him doing it wonderfully if given the chance. Hopefully the momentum starts rolling for Omega soon. Up next, we move to Novi, Michigan for last Friday’s show. ROH’s website has the Pick 6 line ups, so I decided to copy it to give us a good idea of where everyone stands before and after last weekend’s events.

　 Pick 6 Standings going into this weekend:
1. Roderick Strong
2. Tyler Black
3. Kenny Omega
4. Colt Cabana
5. Delirious
6. Claudio Castagnoli Novi, MI-11/13/09
1. Jay & Mark Briscoe defeated The House of Truth
2. (2) Tyler Black pinned (6) Claudio Castagnoli
3. Erick Stevens & Joey Ryan beat The Super Smash Bros.
4. (3) Kenny Omega pinned Katsuhiko Nakajima
5. Colt Cabana & Delirious defeated Kenny King & Rhett Titus
6. Chris Hero pinned (1) Roderick Strong to take his #1 spot in the “Pick 6”
7. Kevin Steen & El Generico defeated The Young Bucks
8. ROH World Title Match: Austin Aries defeated Davey Richards via referee stoppage to retain in an epic World Title Match that must be seen

　 I was skeptical about Aries and Davey fighting for the World title before Richards could be built up as a legitimate World title challenger. Davey, yes, is one of the very best wrestlers in ROH right now, but he’s the Tag Team champion. He’s a tag team wrestler. No one believed he was going to win the title any time soon. But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t expecting a great match. And they most certainly delivered from the reviews. Over forty minutes of action had the fans going crazy said those in attendance. I don’t know how much it did to help Richards’ standing in the fans’ eyes, but at least we have a good idea that when Richards' time does come (if it does, that is), the fans will be expecting him to deliver, and he won’t fail.
Before the main event could happen, the ROH message boards visitors were battling over what match was better: Omega vs. Nakajima and Steenerico vs. The Bucks. I can only imagine how good these two matches were, and I have a feeling that when this weekend’s shows are released, a lot of ROHbots will see Omega in a new light. I think his title match the next night will definitely prove my point.
-
Pick 6 Standings after Novi, MI:
1. Chris Hero
2. Roderick Strong
3. Tyler Black
4. Kenny Omega
5. Colt Cabana
6. Delirious

Mississauga, ON-11/14/09
1. The Young Bucks beat The Flatliners
2. FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL: (5) Colt Cabana beat (6) Delirious, Claudio Castagnoli, & Grizzly Redwood when he pinned Delirious
3. Rhett Titus & Kenny King beat The Super Smash Bros.
4. Katsuhiko Nakajima pinned El Generico
5. (2) Roderick Strong & (3) Tyler Black went to a time limit draw
6. Erick Stevens & Joey Ryan beat Jay & Mark Briscoe
7. Kevin Steen beat (1) Chris Hero to claim the #1 spot in the “Pick 6”
8. ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Austin Aries beat (4) Kenny Omega to retain the belt in another must see title match

　 Pick 6 Standings after Mississauga, ON:
1. Kevin Steen
2. Chris Hero
3. Roderick Strong
4. Tyler Black
5. Kenny Omega
6. Colt Cabana

Ring of Honor isn’t just trying to promote their future DVD release with a must-see main event. They’re just stating the truth that these two men really stepped it up. In the end, the feeling going around is Omega came off as the heir apparent to the World title instead of another certain individual. Omega might have finally had his breakthrough weekend. But ROH has to be careful. We’ve had so many people appear to be about to breakthrough and become that next go-to-guy, but it hasn’t always panned out because of later trigger pulling or lack of consistency. Claudio Castagnoli and Roderick Strong are great examples of this. Nigel McGuinness almost fell into that category. Tyler Black seems to be slipping in Castagnoli and Strong’s path. Funny that Black went to a time limit draw with one of the men I just compared his slipping ROH career with. I’m just hoping that something will change soon for Black. He has a title shot waiting in the wings, but nothing has been said about it since his Survival of the Fittest win. And Final Battle is less than a month away with only two shows before the event. If Black vs. Aries is going to happen at Final Battle, I guess it’ll be Money in the Bank style more so than a match with a solid to incredible build, like Homicide’s ROH World title win at Final Battle 2006. But that’s only an assumption that Aries vs. Black will happen in NYC.
Not much else to talk about outside of Steen making his knee worse over the weekend, Stevens gaining some momentum as The Embassy’s new monster, and Cabana actually going down the Pick 6 standings with a win, while only one person above him won Saturday. I like the idea of the Pick 6, but something just doesn’t make sense about the ranking system when a person can win, but go down the ladder. They should’ve made it simple and brought back the Top 5. I still don’t know why they got rid of that system.

　 In the last 36 hours, Tyler Black has been in contact with ROH officials, and now signed for Chicago on 12/5 he'll get what he wants. It's Black versus King, and everyone else is BARRED FROM RINGSIDE!

Well, I don’t know if the guys holding the books decided that doing Black/King II so soon after the original wasn’t the best idea or what, but at least they pushed it back a little build some anticipation for them topping themselves this time around. I don’t how much the “barred from ringside” stipulation will play into the match as one on one, Black beat King. I could understand if King won due to interference the first time they fought, but he didn’t. So what does Black gain with the stipulation outside of the knowledge that this match won’t turn into a tag match like last weekend? Maybe it’s all a ploy, and in the end, King will beat Black to prove that he doesn’t need anyone to win his battles for him, propelling King further up the card while Black continues to walk in that stagnate swamp that’s consumed his career over the past year. You don’t know how upsetting it is for me to write that previous statement about Black.

Signed for Chicago on December 5th is a singles match that is sure to have a huge impact on the Pick 6. Roderick Strong's 2009 has arguably been better than anyone on the ROH roster. Kenny Omega's rise to fame has come quick and has no sign of slowing down. What will happen when these to men face off in Chicago with rankings at stake?

Looking at it now, Strong has become that veteran. You know the one that is as good as you can get, but will never win the big one. So he’s used to have great matches with the young guys in hopes of getting them as over as he was one time. But unlike a lot of the veterans I’m referring to, Strong is very young. He’s only 26. Man, guy looks like he’s been around forever. Anyway, Strong vs. Omega should be as good as any Roderick Strong match is with someone who can almost keep up with him. And Omega shouldn’t have a problem keeping up with Strong at all. Who knows, Final Battle 2009 might be headlined by Kenny Omega instead of Tyler Black for the World title. Or maybe not.

If you're a fan of in-your-face intensity and smash-mouth wrestling, then we have a match for you! Tag Team action has just been signed for ROH's big return to Chicago on December 5th as Mark and Jay, The Briscoe Brothers, will take on a team that has run roughshod over nearly every team they've faced in their young ROH careers - Jon Davis and Kory Chavis – The Dark City Fight Club!

　 Man, give away all the tag team dream matches before anyone has a belt why don’t ya! I talked about hoping to see this match when one of these teams had something to lose, not in just some random match. But I don’t want to be angry about giving away a perfectly good dream match without much build so soon, especially when it’s happening in Chicago. They’ll turn a good match into a great one. If there’s a chance that the DCFC could get one step closer to becoming the dominate team in the division I think they’ll be, what better place to get them ready for that position than in molten hot Chicago over a team that used to be molten hot?

　 Signed for Chicago Ridge on December 5th is "Pick 6" Competition. Kevin Steen claimed the Number One ranking by shocking Chris Hero in suburban Toronto last weekend. Claudio Castagnoli was defeated by Tyler Black, but didn't get bumped from the Pick 6 until Chris Hero defeated Roderick Strong and shifted the order down. Castagnoli knows that the only way into title contention is through the Pick 6 and the only way back into the Pick 6 is through Steen.

Makes sense. You want to be at the top of the #1 contender pack, so you go after the person currently there. I don’t know how good this match could be if Steen’s knee is any worse than it has been. If everything goes well, then it should make for another good match on an already stacked card.

ROH, in conjunction with officials at AAA, is happy to announce that one of the hottest rivalries in Mexico is coming to Ring of Honor! Coming to Manassas, VA on 12/18 and to New York City for Final Battle 2009 on 12/19 are the impressive Alex Koslov and, making his return to ROH, Rocky Romero! Koslov and Romero have gone back and forth at each other for some time in AAA, and now they're bringing that intensity to ROH!

　 Okay, this show is becoming mighty tempting for yours truly to make the drive up north. I wrote in the last Report about how much I hope Alex Koslov would come back and deliver like he did in Houston. I didn’t know my wishes would come true so fast, let alone in time for the company’s return to Manassas. Then there’s Romero. I like the guy. He’s a good wrestler just oozing charisma. I thought he’d do better in ROH after he broke up with Roderick Strong and Davey Richards, but Mexico, I guess, was more enticing than making it in ROH. Hey, money talks, and I can’t hate on a guy trying to make more somewhere else. I would love for him and Koslov to stay around longer than just two shows. I guess two shows are better than none. But who should they face on the night they’re not facing each other? It’s hard to say about Koslov, but I’d love to see something between him and Omega or Cabana on one of the nights. All three men can do the comedy stuff before changing the whole tempo of the contest. Could make for a great opener. As for Rocky, I know one of his matches has to be with one of his former No Remorse Corps running buddies. Davey is busy on Saturday, so if that match has to happen, it’ll be on Friday. If not, then Rocky and Strong would be a great match for NYC if Koslov and Romero happens the night before. I’m probably thinking too much since Rocky and Koslov will probably only be involved in matches with each other instead of some epic dream matches. I got a feeling that we’ll see an AAA influenced tag match before the end of the weekend. I wonder why?

It was announced yesterday that Rocky Romero and Alex Koslov would be returning to Ring of Honor on December 18th & 19th. The company announced today that Jack Evans and Teddy Hart will also be returning to the company to work the December dates.

　 Oh, because Jack and Teddy are coming. It’s amazing how two men who have a history of being flaky could come together to form such an exciting team. For those who don’t know, Jack Evans pretty much is the reason the whole Faction Wars concept from 2007 died a slow and painful death. With him doing more shows in Mexico than Ring of Honor, his formation of the future Vulture Squad was lackluster at best, leading to more of a two faction battle while Jack’s group trying to play catch up. Then there was that time he just no-showed, ending his time in Ring of Honor. Or so we thought. But what’s a permanent exile in wrestling?
Then there’s Teddy. Oh man, there’s Teddy. I think everyone knows about Teddy. And if you don’t, well…I can’t leave you in the dark. Teddy Hart participated in ROH’s first Steel Cage Tag Scramble match back at “Main Event Spectacles” in 2003. There, Teddy decided-after taking a pretty bad beating and doing some moves the other wrestlers weren’t expecting-to do a few back flips off the top of the cage. Why? Because he wanted to salute the fans while taking away the spotlight from the winning Backseat Boys. Oh yeah, then Teddy vomited. What occurred next is a part of ROH lore. When Teddy got to the back, he found his bags and materials outside of the locker room. CM Punk decided to standup and say he was the one responsible for it, leading to an altercation that involved Teddy getting physically thrown out of the locker room by a number of ROH wrestlers. An infamous picture of CM Punk wearing Teddy’s huge fur coat is somewhere on the internet. If I find it, I’ll post it on the WWI message board. It’s just that classic. Teddy came back for one more event in 2004, but hasn’t been seen since in ROH. I don’t know what Teddy will show up Final Battle weekend. The entertaining, highly enjoyable to watch Teddy seen on WSX. Or the crazy diving, vomiting Teddy we ROHbots saw over six years ago. I just know that if you’re in the ring with him, watch yourself.

　 Tyler Black has been granted a shot at the ROH World Championship when Ring of Honor returns to New York City for Final Battle 2009! Black hasn't taken a direct loss in ROH competition since June, and having won the 2009 edition of "Survival of the Fittest", he looks to claim the title that many have said he should already have.

Okay, so here it is. I didn’t know if it would happen (as you’ve read thus far), but now it’s official. So where do I stand? I’ve been thinking since the Survival of the Fittest that this match would happen at Final Battle, and Black would win. But what if they want to pull a fast one on us. Maybe they’ll think that putting the belt on Black at the event everyone is expecting him to win at wouldn’t be the best surprise for the fans. Or maybe I’m thinking backwards. Never hurt Wrestlemania. Well, it did this year, but you get the point. The only problem I have is the reception. I haven’t had the chance to watch the entire event, but I did watch Manhattan Mayhem III’s main event. In the main event, Aries, Black, and Lynn squared off for the ROH World title. The shocking thing was the introductions. During them, the only man not getting booed was the soon-to-be World champion, Aries. Black, the man those NYC fans were clamoring for to win the ROH World title lest than a year earlier, was one of the least popular people in the building. And that’s even after Aries made a 9/11 joke. I wonder if Black had won, would he have been booed out of the building. I don’t know how much different it’ll be for Black this time around. I think for the first time since Takeshi Morishima’s shocking win, if we do see a title change in NYC, I don’t think we’ll be hearing cheers. Sometimes pulling the trigger too late is worse than pulling it too early. But as I said, maybe a title change won’t happen after all.

After a terrible knee injury and a year-long rehabilitation, ROH officials are happy to announce that The Human Tornado is RETURNING TO ROH! The charismatic Californian has signed to appear when ROH debuts in Los Angeles on January 29th!

　 Party time. Get the music. Get my pick. Get my lime green suit, it’s on. Now if only I could learn how to split and dunk a ball on a wrestler’s head before using a hurricarana fro, the hoop, I’d match the absolute pimpness of Human Tornado.

Due to a scheduling issue, the Ring of Honor event originally scheduled for February 12th in Boston, MA has been moved to April 9th. All tickets originally purchased for the February date will be honored in April. We apologize to everybody in the Boston area for the inconvenience.

　 Just a heads up for you Bean town ROHbots out there who don’t know about this. Don’t say I never helped you out.

The injury bug bit over last weekend as Kevin Steen (knee), El Generico (hamstring), Kenny Omega (back), Austin Aries (back), and Katsuhiko Nakajima (ankle) all came out of Detroit and Toronto banged up. ROH Officials are waiting to hear if any of the men are going to miss time.

　 Outside of Steen, I haven’t heard anything truly serious about these injuries. Steen is supposed to be seeing a slew of doctors, and might have to finally have surgery to repair that knee, which could put him out for some time. But I guess that’s not happening before the end of the year since he’s wrestling in Chicago in a couple of weeks. As for Generico, I know his match with Nakajima was said to be good, but both men were visibly hurt by the end of it. It’s amazing to see the pairings, and how they came out of the their matches. ROH has always been about as close to real as you can get in pro-wrestling in the States, and sometimes, that comes back to haunt them. Hopefully everything will work out positively for everyone.

　 Eddie Edwards is reportedly on schedule with his rehab from elbow surgery. He was at the ROH on HDNet tapings, shooting promos. [Credit: Pwinsider.com]

　 Glad to hear Eddie is on the track back to being one-half of the best tag team going today. I know he’s scheduled for a NOAH tour this weekend, so here’s hoping everything goes well for him and he can come back to the States feeling better than ever.

　 Becky Bayless, who has worked for both ROH and SHIMMER, also had a tryout at last night's Smackdown/ECW tapings.

　 It’s a bouncy baby Becky sighting (credit Allison Danger). Becky is one of those girls that I’d never imagine being a part of the WWE landscape. She doesn’t look like the typical diva, and isn’t the best wrestler from the last time I saw her in action. But I still can’t help but like her bubbly personality that shines through her interview segments. She’s like the girl on the go, trying to become something big in the news world, but isn’t the brightest one out there. I’m talking about the character, not the real woman. I guess I am…

According to Pwinsider.com, Mark and Jay Briscoe had an informal tryout at last night's WWE Smackdown/ECW tapings in Philadelphia. Both men are under contract to ROH, but were given permission to do the tryout as when WWE extended the invitation.

Okay, now some things are making sense. You know, like the matches they’ve been, or will be having, with some of ROH’s new teams without much reason. I’ve always wondered when this day would come. When the announcement of Danielson leaving came up, I noted that the only connection left to the ROH that started in that little gym in Philly to the ROH we see on TV is The Briscoes. As much as I’d hate to see them go, I can’t help but say that maybe it is time to move on. The Briscoes are bona-fide ROH legends, but they’ve done it all as a tag team in Ring of Honor. They’ve won the belts five times, headlined events on multiple occasions, and became considerably the best tag team in the world all under a Ring of Honor banner. Like so many others before them, why not move on and showcase those abilities to a larger audience? But maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. It was only a tryout. I think Low Ki had about three before they even thought about signing him. It took over a year before they signed Danielson after he beat Lance Cade in a dark match. Either way, I have a feeling by this time next year, The Briscoes won’t be “The Briscoes” any longer. If the WWE writing brass is smart as I think they are (they make me question it sometimes), they’ll change the names, but keep the attitude-which shouldn’t change the style much sense they’ve slowed down quite a bit in recent years. They are hard-hitting, street smart, Delaware rednecks. Not the second coming of The Godwinns. And no, the Southern Hostility days don’t count.

According to Pwinsider.com, former NWA and WCW promoter Gary Juster was at the Ring of Honor event in Edison, New Jersey Saturday night. Reportedly, Juster was there to "explore his options" and may work with the company down the line. Juster has promoted lucha events in Georgia, and worked as legal counsel and a promoter in the NWA and in WCW.

I’m guessing this is the Jim Cornette influence working. I don’t know much about Juster, or what he did for WCW. What I do know is this guy pulled out all the stops to secure some pretty big names for his lucha shows. I don’t know if his connects helped in securing the AAA deal for ROH, or if he might be getting ready to help with a side project we don’t know about. We’ll just wait and see if it means anything, or just some random news bit that is just wasted my time on. Oh, and speaking of side projects…

EVOLVE Wrestling will make their debut on January 16th, 2010 in Rahway, New Jersey at the Rec Center. More information is available at evolvewrestling.com.

　 I wouldn’t even be writing about this new promotion if it weren’t for the person running the thing. And that person is none other than ROH’s former head booker, Gabe Sapolsky. Wait, isn’t Gabe the VP of Dragon Gate USA? Doesn’t he have enough on his plate right now? Honestly, all of those questions don’t mean much to me, or this column. The thing that makes me worry is the man that has become the early face of EVOLVE, none other than Davey Richards. Once again, I can’t hate on Davey for trying to make some money and more notoriety as one of the best on the indy circuit. My worry is obligations. Like I stated about Davey picking Dragon Gate over ROH during the Wrestlemania weekend shows, I don’ know how Davey working with EVOLVE will conflict with his ROH schedule. And if the schedules do conflict, what show will Davey pick to wrestle on? That’s the problem. I know as a consumer of wrestling merchandise, certain wrestlers can change my mind on my next buy. If certain people are coming to an event near me, I’ll be putting out that money to see them. Same thing goes for DVDs and matches on those DVDs. It’s certain people I know will give me my moneys worth, and Davey is one of those guys. I don’t know how many fans look at Davey the same way I do, but I know that he’s a major factor in me getting DVDs right now for ROH.
But that’s not all. Rumor has it that Tyler Black will also be a part of this new company. Now the same argument can be made for Black as for Davey in regard of purchasing shows because of matches involving Tyler. But with Davey and Black being involved in two different companies that have no alliance with ROH, you have to wonder how much the bookers will get behind either man in terms of the World title push. Conflicting schedules aside, to put the belt on someone who could feel at any moment that one up and coming company is a better place for them could change the whole landscape and planning ROH is setting in place for its roster. Could you imagine if Davey is pushed to the moon between now and Wrestlemania weekend, only not to comeback and become the man in ROH. What if Tyler Black never wins the ROH World title because they have a feeling that before long, Black might have found greener pastures to go to? But that’s a lot of ifs, especially referring to one company that is only doing a few shows a year, and one that hasn’t even had its first show.
I don’t know how much money EVOLVE or Dragon Gate will take from Ring of Honor. I don’t know how many wrestlers these two companies will take from ROH, or at least hurt a couple of cards with their absences. Honestly, ROH has been considered the number three promotion for a long time in the U.S. But unlike the original ECW, I don’t think ROH will die before another company gives them a real run for their money to keep that spot. As much as everyone is talking about the, seemingly, upcoming war between WWE and TNA, the real battle-the most impressive battle-might happen between three companies not on a national level. ROH has the history. Dragon Gate has the highflying action that can’t be compared to anything in all of the U.S. And EVOLVE seems to have the same rules, building blocks, and organization of the company that Gabe helped make famous in the first place. No matter what happens, good or bad for any of the companies, I just know we are in for some marvelous action in the next year.
But we don’t have to wait until next year for some great wrestling in ROH. Lets see what was “Right” and “Wrong” with this week’s episode of ROH on HDNet.

ROH on HDNet 11.16.09 Quick Results:
Chris Hero defeated Delirious
Necro Butcher & Grizzly Redwood defeated Prince Nana & Joey Ryan in a Beard vs. Beard match, ending with Ernie Osiris getting shaved
“Skullkrusher” Rasche Brown defeated Cameron Matthews
Roderick Strong defeated Bryan Danielson

　 Right:
Chris Hero vs. Delirious: A very solid contest between these two that not only showed the heart of Delirious, but also gave us a reason to care about the continuing Sonjay Dutt/Delirious feud. Before Delirious could come down the ramp, Dutt jumped him from behind. Hero took advantage of this, but still got a fight from the masked man before knocking him out. Like Colt Cabana, Hero winning some hard-fought fights instead of just losing in main events is better right now, especially if Aries drops the belt to someone like Tyler Black soon. Good opener that, as I said, gave Hero a much-needed win while adding fuel to the slow simmering fire of Delirious vs. Dutt.
SLAP THE PORPOISE (“Skullkrusher” Rasche Brown vs. Cameron Matthews): Brown is a big man. A big scary man. A big scary man who laughs maniacally. And you know what that means? We need him to take a trip through “Jobber City” to crush some generic names. And that’s exactly what he did. Nothing too impressive, but enough to make us think that he could be a force down the road. He’s got the strength, looks like he could actually crush your skull, and has a ton of charisma. I have hopes for him, but it’ll take more than crushing jobbers to prove my hope correct. But for now, he looks like a future force in the making.
Adding Intelligence to Injury: You can always reprimand a company for using a real life injury to make a guy look stronger than he did beforehand. But you can’t say it isn’t effective. And it’s working wonders for Kenny King after that spike piledriver on Jerry Lynn. He’s been featured in a slew of promos, making him out to be the next big thing in ROH. Well, in his own mind at least. If King can follow up with some impressive wins and matches between now and Jerry Lynn’s return-if there is one-King could become as high on the card as he’s proclaiming himself to be. Like Rasche, we’ll have to wait and see how it pans out.
Roderick Strong vs. Bryan Danielson: To quote our fine leader, James Guttman, this episode of ROH on HDNet should’ve been titled, “Exit The Dragon,” because this whole show was about this one moment in ROH history where one of its legends bids farewell to the company that he helped build. After watching Danielson talk about his favorite moments in Ring of Honor for the past few weeks, I couldn’t help but think back to my own personal favorite Danielson moments. And I must say that his final match on ROH TV might make it on that list. Their match was easily one of the best contests I’ve seen on ROH TV, and that’s saying something. As I tried to do play-by-play of the match, I couldn’t help but lose focus and get drawn into this incredible contest. It’s been many times that I’ve had a hard time trying to figure out the words to describe how good a match is, and this is one of those occasions. It’s easy to say that this match is worth seeing on historical value alone. But the historical nature of this match only adds to its greatness. If you don’t get what I’m saying, here’s a simple command: see this match.

　 Wrong:
Beard vs. Beard: While there was nothing inherently wrong about this match, I can’t say there was something right about it, either. Well, I can say there was something right, but Nana was only in the ring for a couple of moments. The problem with this match was nothing felt important. It was a time when matches involving hair and beards as a part of the stipulation cultivated great emotion from the fans because they knew those locks were important to the individuals involved. For Redwood, it works. He’s a lumberjack. He has to have a huge beard. It just comes with the territory. But Ernie, it really didn’t matter if he was bearded or not. He’s just dirty. He doesn’t shave because he can’t. He doesn’t take pride in his beard. His beard doesn’t mean anything to him. So how did him getting his beard shaved hurt him, or The Embassy for that matter? Now if this were a match with Necro’s beard and Nana’s dreads on the line, then we’d have a reason to care who suffered the fate of the clippers. Necro and Redwood were united as bearded brothers, while Nana is a man of great power, and his loss of hair would be nothing but disrespectful. What we saw here was just a waste of time.

　 Overall: With only one wrong, I can’t help but feel ROH delivered another hour of great action. In reality, this show was about one thing, and one man. Everything was being held back to make sure we’d have the chance to watch one of the very best going today do what he does better than most. For a HDNet going away party, I must say that Bryan Danielson couldn’t have had a better match with the man who he has had classics with over the past four years. And Roderick picking up the victory was a nice showing of class by Danielson to make sure that the guys still in ROH get the proper rub from a man who I know will forever remembered as the man who took Ring of Honor to the next level. Even if this show were all crap outside of the main event, I’d tell you to wade through the crap and watch the main event. Every ROHbot deserves to see this one.

　 Well, that’s all for this week. Here’s a wish to all of you for a peaceful and thankful upcoming week. And if you want to buy something for yours truly on Black Friday, just hit me up on the WWI message boards.

　 Till Then.