Jim Cornette opened the night with a promo. This set of tapings will feature a Pick Six contenders series. Each hour will have a one-on-one match with the winner receiving $2500 and becoming eligible for a title shot. Tonight's ROH World Championship match will be a four-way match with Austin Aries defending against Roderick Strong, Davey Richards, and Kenny Omega. Brian guessed that this promo and the last two matches taped will be the first HDNet episode.
1) Delirious defeated Kenny King with a crucifix. This was the first Pick Six match. Fun match.
2) Steve Corino lost to a would-be jobber by forfeit. Corino refused the match, so it was awarded to his opponent, who he then beat up.
3) Erick Stevens won a squash match
4) Tyler Black defeated Sonjay Dutt. Tyler won the first-hour main event and the second Pick Six contest with God's Last Gift.
5) Chris Hero defeated Kyle O'Reilly
6) Necro Butcher defeated Joey Ryan by disqualification. Ryan was caught throwing powder in Necro's face.
7) Colt Cabana defeated Claudio Castagnoli. Colt scored the win with a roll-up to wrap up the second hour and earn $2500 and contender status.
8) The Briscoes defeated El Generico & Kevin Steen. The match was for a tag title shot at Final Battle. Mark may have injured his knee. The Briscoes won when Jay hit a Jay Driller on Steen and Mark pinned him.
9) Austin Aries defeated Davey Richards, Roderick Strong, and Kenny Omega to retain the ROH World Championship. Very good, action packed title match. The end featured a long stretch with Richards and Strong alone in the ring. Strong eventually got the best of it and hit a big move on Richards, but Aries snuck in and stole the pin.

You know the routine by now-I’ll judge it when it airs. But that doesn’t take away the fact that I can’t pick apart what I see right now. That’s how you like it, right? First of all, the Pick Six series is intriguing, but I don’t know how to feel about it. While it’s a nice way to mix things up, and get people ready for a big title match, you know it’s a forgone conclusion that Aries will win. Like it was a forgone conclusion that he’d win the four-way. Like ROH itself, the HDNet shows could use a major shakeup. Will it happen with the Pick Six? Well, lets see who else made it in, and make me question what really is going on.

Dark Matches
* Grizzly Redwood over Robbie Marcel
* Eddie Kingston over Jay Sin
Show 1
* Joey Ryan over Necro Butcher in a no dq match. Ryan, Prince Nana & Ernie Osiris were working over Necro when Erik Stevens came in for the save. Stevens turned on Necro by cracking him with a chair allowing Ryan to score the pin.
* Colt Cabana over Tony Kozina
* Kevin Steen over Alex "Sugarfoot" Payne
* Pick 6 Challenge: Kenny Omega over Chris Hero (This was an excellent match)
Show 2
* Delirious over Sonjay Dutt in a submission match
* Pick 6 Challenge: Jay Briscoe over Mark Briscoe. Originally Jay & Mark Briscoe battled to a double count out. This led to Jim Cornette coming out and saying that the Briscoes could accept this result and forfeit the $2500 bonus or they could restart the match. The Briscoes chose to restart the match.
* Lance Bravado & Bobby Dempsey over Gino Giovanni & Tony Nees when Dempsey pinned Nees.
* Erik Stevens over Harlem Bravado
* Colt Cabana & Tyler Black over Kenny King & Austin Aries when Colt pinned King. Scary moment towards the end of the match as Colt gave King a back body drop but they were too close to the ropes. King's feet clipped the top rope and he hit hard on the back of his head/neck. They went right to the finish after that mishap.
Show 3
* Claudio Castagnoli over Eddie Kingston by submission
* Steve Corino over Andy Ridge
* El Generico over Rhett Titus
* Pick 6 Challenge: Roderick Strong over Davey Richards (This was an excellent match)
* Your top 6 contenders are Delirious, Tyler Black, Colt Cabana, Jay Briscoe, Kenny Omega & Roderick Strong. There was a large crowd here tonight as there must have been at least 100 to 150 people standing in addition to everyone who had a seat. My estimate would be in the 800 to 1000 range. The crowd was very loud and boisterous as well. There was a large percentage of kids at the show but that helped with the crowd reactions for each match.

Very interesting line up for the Pick 6. Lets look at the guys involved. First there’s Delirious, who is getting a push from the looks of it. Why? Well, I’ve got some info about that later. Roderick Strong, the proverbial bridesmaid. Strong is just one of those guys you wonder about, trying to understand why he never broke through after all the pushes. You wouldn’t think it has to do with his mic skills since ROH is built on wrestling, not your ability to talk. But the funny thing about that previous statement is the fact that a majority of top stars in ROH could cut a good to great to unforgettable promo on any given night. Samoa Joe, CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Nigel McGuinness, Christopher Daniels, even Low Ki. The only real exception to the rule was Homicide, especially when he had Julius Smokes making noises in the background. It just seems, even in a company where your wrestling is more important than your words, your ability to talk can make or break you. And as good as Strong’s been this year, I highly doubt he’ll finally catch the bouquet. Jay Briscoe is a tag team wrestler. I think that’s simple enough. I’m not discrediting Jay’s skills. I’m a huge fan of The Briscoes. And by “The Briscoes”, I mean both men together. Plus they earned a Tag title shot on the last set of tapings, so you know how well Jay will do here. Like Strong, Cabana has been having a career resurgence since being on HDNet. He’s been racking up victories, winning feuds, and just plain looking as good as he can look. Even though I don’t see him winning the World title unless ROH turns into ECW 2000 (The Tommy Dreamer Minutes), I won’t say he’ll lose here. They’ve been putting a lot of time in Cabana through in and out of the ring segments on HDNet, and it’d be a waste if nothing comes from that but a loss in a title shot opportunity. Kenny Omega is definitely the second biggest wildcard-right behind Delirious-in this match. Omega has history on HDNet with Aries, and a win here could be just what he needs to get the fans behind him even more than they already are. Plus, kids seem to love him, and a lot of kids turned out for the tapings. Hey, it worked well for that rapper marine guy. Of course that leaves Tyler Black, a.k.a., the “Next World champ.” Well, Black is really on the bubble right now. He earned a title shot by winning Survival of the Fittest last month. But I doubt that’ll be acknowledged, which makes me wonder if Black/Aries at Final Battle will happen like I thought it would. Since we don’t have a conclusion to the series yet, how are they going to promote a World title match for NYC next month involving Black when Black hasn’t earned his shot (on HDNet at least)? I’m really confused right now. But maybe that’s the way they want it. Confusion brings unpredictability. Or it could bring a headache.

One person not involved in any of this, but I’m pretty excited about is Erick Stevens. The guy is a bruiser, and a heel turn is long overdue. I hope this is his chance to finally make it to a position I thought he’d be in by now. If they let the shackles loose and allow Stevens and Necro to go full blast, it could make Stevens look like a monster instead of the big engine that could. And what about Corino? He’s back to just squash jobbers. I hope they find something to do with him, and fast. Corino is too talented to be wasted doing squash matches. I wouldn’t mind them trying to pull a Daniels with him, and following up on what Daniels couldn’t when he left for TNA. Corino, being the veteran and celebrated ROH alumni he is, expected to comeback to ROH and be given a hero’s welcome, including title shots. But that doesn’t happen, causing him to lash out and take matters into his own hands. Maybe even enlisting some backup. Sounds good, right?

Well, ROH isn’t done with the weekend. Tonight they head to Edison, NJ. Lets see what’s going to happen in the dirty north.

Tag Team Grudge Match: Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Davey Richards & Chris Hero with Shane Hagadorn
Survival of the Fittest 2009 Rematch: Tyler Black vs. Kenny King
Special Challenge Match #1: Roderick Strong vs. Delirious with Daizee Haze
Special Challenge Match #2: Kenny Omega vs. Sonjay Dutt
Singles Action: Jay Briscoe vs. Claudio Castagnoli
ROH World Champion Austin Aries & Rhett Titus will be in tag team action!
The Necro Butcher has accepted Prince Nana's challenge to face The Embassy's monster!

I’m not going to lie; I don’t like this card much. It just looks like a placeholder show that is just happening. Nothing that will change the current course, or add some excitement to that course. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be a good show. Look at the matches. The main event’s four men have been involved in some thrilling tag team contests over the year. While I did say I wanted ROH to keep Steenerico and The Wolves apart in any way, shape, or form, I still can’t help but get a little giddy over how good this match could turn out. Kenny King and Tyler Black had one of the most talked about matches over the Survival of the Fittest weekend. Ring of Honor has gained a habit of giving us rematches of shockingly good matches very quickly after the original. It’s not something I necessarily like, but similar to the Steenerico/Wolves situation, I can’t help but get excited about a possible great match. I would love to see Omega and Dutt kick off the show. They have very similar styles that mix comedy with high flying. If Dutt can get maniacal during, it would definitely have a good chance of being one of the best matches over the weekend. I don’t know about The Embassy’s new monster. It could be a joke for all we know. Remember The Weapon of Masked Destruction?

The month of November for ROH World Champion Austin Aries might just be the toughest of his second championship reign. In Indianapolis on October 10th, he basically walked out on Davey Richards after ‘negotiating' his way into the match with Richards against The Briscoe Brothers. Aries, who knew going in that Richards held a shot at the ROH title, still elected to ‘throw him to the wolves', and that move may prove fatal. In suburban Detroit on November 13th, Davey Richards has exercised his right for an ROH World Title Match. It will be Richards versus Aries in the "D"! Can Richards become a double champion in Ring of Honor? Or will Aries once more find a way to prove that he's the "greatest man who ever lived"? Get your tickets now and find out!

I really don’t know what to think about this one. Over the past year, I’ve been singing the praises of Davey Richards, saying how far he’s progressed as an all-around performer since his return from Japan. I don’t want to say I was one of the first people on the D.R. bandwagon in 2008, but…well, I guess I will say I was one of the first to verbally, and in written word, proclaim that Davey is going to be a big star in ROH before the end of 2009. I never thought he’d form one of the best tag teams in ROH history with Eddie Edwards (who I didn’t see that much in outside of being a solid hand), opening a lot of eyes to his talent while getting them on the same train Tyler Black was on this time last year. I think that’s why this match is happening. If Black isn’t the man to unseat Aries, why not see if Davey taking the champ to the limit will get the people believing in him like they believed in Black last year. But that’s where my problem lies. Davey is already being called the heir apparent at the top of the Ring of Honor mountain that Bryan Danielson stood on. So why give away the monumental clash that could easily headline one of ROH’s bigger shows on a B-show? Unless there’s a title change, I don’t know how much this match will help. Davey is already red-hot. Aries has had a solid run thus far, and doesn’t need to go over a guy like Davey. If it’s a draw, then nothing changes outside of losing a potential huge match that could do big business if built up properly. While it wouldn’t be the first meeting between the two, since it’s been such a long time, it’ll be fresh and new, and actually mean something instead of being a match that is just happening to fill cards.

According to rohwrestling.com, Katsuhiko Nakajima will take the place of KENTA in his originally scheduled matches. That means that he will face Kenny Omega on Friday night November 13th in Novi, Michigan and then on Saturday November 14th, in Mississauga, Ontario, he will face former World Tag Team Champion El Generico.

For those who don’t know, KENTA suffered a knee injury (obliterated his ACL) during the “Autumn Navigation” tournament in Japan. As you can see from what happened during the last two nights, a lot of things were shuffled due to this injury. Well, the only change in the two matches above is the import. I was thoroughly entertained by Nakajima last year, especially his match against Bryan Danielson at Glory By Honor VII. Like KENTA would have, I don’t doubt Nakajima will go 2-0 before the end of the weekend. Even though Omega is getting a shot the next night, it was a time that the next ROH World title challenger would lose the night before to add an air of unpredictability of a title change that’s been engrained into all of us wrestling fans. You know the theory that the people involved in main event title matches on pay-per-views will win if they are a loser, or beaten down the show before. Might as well play on that belief, right? As for Generico…well, he’ll just lose. He’ll have a good to outstanding match with Nakajima, but we all know Generico is treading water right now. Why have your import lose to someone who isn’t doing much right now?

On November 14th, The Flatliners, Asylum and Burns, will debut against The Young Bucks.

I’m not going to pretend I’m up on everyone. I don’t know much about The Flatliners. I’ll try to get some info on them before this show; if not for you, for my own knowledge. What I do know is these guys don’t have a chance. The Young Bucks have become the team every indy company wants. And a major push in ROH could give Ring of Honor a better footing in the battle to keep The Bucks. But they have a lot of work if they want The Bucks to make Ring of Honor their priority, especially with the top slots The Bucks received in Dragon Gate USA immediately. But that’s not the only competition going on between the two companies, if you want to call it that.

Speaking of tag teams, The Super Smash Brothers have made a great impression on the ROH Faithful as well as officials. They look to continue that trend on November 14th in Mississauga, ON as they have signed to face "The Pretty Boy Pitbull" Kenny King and "Addicted to Love" Rhett Titus! Can the SSB pick up some steam with a big win over Aries' stablemates?

I like the Super Smash Brothers, but I feel there’s no point of bringing them in if they’re going to be nothing more than this ROH generation’s Irish Airborne. You know, two guys who make a fun, entertaining team, but end up always getting beaten. Yep, as good as the SSB are, they’ll be nothing more than a jobber team in ROH with such a loaded tag team division. They can use the ROH students for that role. Oh, who knows? Maybe this time next year, I’ll be comparing them to another team that once started off as nothing more than jobbers. Who, you ask? Why, Kevin Steen and El Generico of course.

Austin Aries vs. Kenny Omega has been announced for ROH's 11/14 show in Mississauga, Ontario.

As I said earlier, I highly doubt Davey will win the belt on the 13th. Instead, he’ll either take Aries to the limit, losing or going to a draw with him. What that’ll do for either man is a mystery to me. But one thing that makes sense is this match. On HDNet, it seemed that a match between these two was being built up. But with Omega’s overseas trips, it seemed to have all but vanished. But their history isn’t forgotten, giving an easy reason to put Omega in a title match in front of his home country fans. Unlike the night before, this match can be a star maker. That’s not to say that Aries vs. Davey won’t help Davey. But as I said, Davey is red-hot right now. Omega, not so much. He’s popular, but needs that one thing to put him over the top. Black had it with his match against Nigel “Desmond Wolfe” McGuinness last year. Even Aries himself had one back in the 2004 Survival of the Fittest. I did some armchair booking in a previous ROHbot Report that included the World title being held up, leading to a tournament that would help a lot of people get that extra push needed to find out who deserves to run with the ball after Danielson and McGuinness’ exits. Omega was one of those people because I really like him. He’s got all the tools, in the ring and on the mic. If you need proof of his microphone skills, check out Youtube. Hopefully his match with Aries will show us that he’s as ready as I think he is to breakthrough.

By all accounts, Delirious is having the tour of his life over in Pro Wrestling NOAH. After defeating KENTA earlier in the tour, Delirious was once more victorious, this time over Ricky Marvin. With the considerable momentum he is picking up in Japan, ROH officials are excited to see what Delirious is able to bring to the table once back in ROH.

I’m excited to see as well. Delirious entered NOAH’s annual “Autumn Navigation” tourney, representing ROH. A lot of people thought he’d be nothing more than a comedy break for his opponents by mixing his wild antics with some strong style action. Instead, Delirious has become a force in the tourney. The reports of his success in the tournament tell a different story. Delirious actually made it to the semis, falling to the legendary Jushin Liger. As good as this is, will it matter? While Delirious’ outstanding showing in Japan might be wonderful for us ROHbots who understand how monumental his performances were, there’s those TV taping fans that could care less. They only know about what they see in Philly. ROH did a good job by having Delirious go over Kenny King, who is becoming one of the breakout stars on HDNet, earning his way into Pick Six. That’s a good sign that they know Delirious can be more than just a comedy gimmick or midcard lackey. But we’ve seen the start-stop pushes of Delirious for years now, and none have panned out. Maybe this is his chance. Once again, don’t you see the familiar hope of someone shaking up the ROH landscape? Funny to think that Aries did that in 2004, and now he could be responsible for doing the same five years later. Will Delirious be the recipient of the change? Only time, and bwaaa, bwaaa will tell.

After weeks of talks, Alex Koslov has elected to remain in Mexico. ROH Officials are optimistic that Koslov will appear in ROH in 2010.

I’m a fan of Koslov. Like another TNA alumni they dropped the ball on (there’s so many, but I’ll just tell you I’m referring to Sonjay), Koslov is a talented wrestler who can mix up his matches in hilarious ways while keeping the tone very serious. His showing in Houston during Wrestlemania weekend was only a glimpse of how he’s been tearing up Mexico. I can only hope that the next time Koslov comes in, it’s for a lot more than two shows.

ROH officials have had increased talks over the last 72 hours with AAA officials. More on this as it becomes available.

I don’t know if this will be important for Supercard of Honor, or ROH’s return to California in January. With the talk of Alex Koslov coming back, and this, I’m getting excited for some good news. Just don’t subject us to any five minute Blue Demon Jr. matches this time around.

Ring of Honor will debut in Phoenix, AZ on Friday, March 26th with an 8:00 PM belltime and Saturday, March 27th for a special matinee show with a 2:00 PM start. Both events will take place at the Phoenix College (North Gym), 1202 W. Thomas Road, Phoenix, AZ 85013.

These are the Wrestlemania weekend shows we’ve all come to love and enjoy, especially Supercard of Honor. While last year’s was good, it didn’t live up to the standard set by its predecessors. A lot of people, including myself, blame it on the lack of Dragon Gate action that became synonymous with the event. What makes this very interesting is the fact Dragon Gate USA has decided to piggyback on Wrestlemania this year as well. And on Friday, the two companies will be in direct competition with the same belltime. I don’t blame Dragon Gate for seeing a chance to spread their wings in front of some wrestling crazed tourists. I don’t blame them for stepping in ROH’s way of making as much money as they normally would without the indy competition. Both companies had to act fast as reports were coming in the Vince McMahon is preparing to get any wrestling event blocked in the area during his Wrestlemania weekend. By announcing now, neither ROH nor DG will be stuck in the dark.
Okay, so this really isn’t competition. It’s just two companies getting their names out there early for themselves and the fans. They just happened to pick the same time to do a show on Friday, like most wrestling events. Wrong. Dragon Gate USA VP, and former ROH head booker, Gabe Sapolsky spoke out recently, stating that Dragon Gate would have something ROH wouldn’t-the Dragon Gate Six-Man tag. You know, the same tag matches that became as important as the ROH Wrestlemania shows themselves. Something myself and many other ROHbots felt would take away from Supercard of Honor IV, and future Wrestlemania ROH shows is coming back…in another company. I know you’re thinking that having the Dragon Gate Six-Man on the same weekend it became connected with isn’t really a shot at ROH. It’s just to aware the fans that the thing they loved the most from ROH’s Wrestlemania weekend shows is going to be somewhere else in a close distance. Just a fact, not a slap in the face. Okay, how about Dragon Gate’s announcement of who is coming to Phoenix to wrestle for them. Ready? Davey Richards. Now we all know ROH and DG have somewhat intermingling rosters (Danielson when he was around, Davey, The Bucks), but DG went one step further by booking Davey for both nights. That’s right, Davey Richards, currently the ROH Tag Team champion, and if it went any way like I thought it would, headliner of Supercard of Honor V (Davey/KENTA II anyone?), will be doing his Dragon Gate thing instead competing on a one of the biggest weekends of the ROH calendar. I don’t know all the details, but I’m assuming Dragon Gate put up something that would make Davey say, “DG over ROH.” Money, main events, a title win over Doi? All I know that DG USA severely hurt Ring of Honor by making sure Davey can’t wrestle for them on their all-star weekend. Come March, we will get a good idea if ROH has some major competition on its hands.

The first day of tickets sales for the Wrestlemania 26 weekend events went very well, and ROH was extremely happy with them. Word is that the first rows sold out almost immediately. Credit: Pwinsider.com

That’s some good news for Ring of Honor. As I just said, ROH could have some real competition come March, especially if disenfranchised ROHbots deprived on Dragon Gate style action realize that the only way to get it is by going to the DG USA show a few miles away. But then there’s the ROHbots who are loyal, and know that the Wrestlemania weekend shows always deliver. A big moment, or great match(es) will happen in Phoenix not under a WWE. Hopefully the trend continues. Oh, and the Dragon Gate tickets don’t go on sale until next week, so that might have something to do with ROH Phoenix tickets doing well, too.

According to Pwinsider.com, Ring of Honor was given a special award in The Village Voice's Best of NYC issue. The award? Best Place to Watch Straight Men Get All Homoerotic. Read on for the caption from The Voice… "The legions of black-T-shirt-, black-jeans-clad wrestling fans in this world might take offense to what we're about to say, but here goes: Wrestling is gay. That's not an epithet (like we'd ever . . . ). It just is, literally, gay. When a man in ball-outlining shiny undies wraps his crotch around another man's head, flexes his muscles, and grunts, the activity has more to do with porn than sports. It's hard to believe how straight the audience can be, but there you have it. World Wrestling Entertainment is that giant conglomerate you probably caught on TV at one time or another, but for even better theatrics in a more up-close-and-personal setting, try to scout out one of Ring of Honor's New York dates. Usually playing the intimate Manhattan Center, this indie league hosts a variety of highly toned men basically taking part in stage combat—or auditioning for a Michael Lucas film, we're not sure. If the gay community ever catches wind, wrestling is going to be as popular with the homos as the WNBA. "

I’m actually trying very hard not to crack up while typing this. Did you just read that description? Okay, okay, let me collect myself. To summarize a quote from Allison Danger and Daizee Haze, “If there weren’t any women in wrestling, it would be totally gay.” I’ll be the first to admit that wrestling in general has a lot of homoeroticism. I think South Park pointed that out very well when the wrestling coach tried to show some hick rednecks Greco-Roman wrestling, and they thought it was gay porn. As disturbing as it is to think that something you enjoy is pretty gay (unless you’re gay, then there’s nothing disturbing about it), it’s nice that a wrestling company on a smaller scale, especially compared to the easy to point at WWE, gets such a “prestigious” honor. I will actually take a little credit for this, as I think some of the judges read The ROHbot Report, tuned in, and saw Austin Aries’ tights. Or Joey Ryan. Or Bobby Dempsey (that’s the only person I could think of looking like something from outer space in that old silver sweat suit he used to wear). I’m just waiting for The Ultimate Warrior to knock on my front door and tell me, “Queering don’t make the world work.”

Yours truly had a very busy week, and I wasn’t able to watch this week’s episode of ROH on HDNet, so no Right and Wrong this time around. Don’t worry, I won’t let you down next week. Make sure you keep checking the ROHbot Report Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=135858249616). I’m trying to get something special for all of you ROHbots. Just have to make sure the other end comes through. So keep your eyes peeled in the coming weeks.

Till Then.

Oh, and if you have XBox Live, and Smackdown vs. Raw 2010, check out my story “Medicate”. Also, or very own James Guttman and RD Lee also have some stories up. Just search for their names, “Insanity”, what-have-you. You won’t believe the crazy stuff that comes from our minds to entertain you.