Jim Cornette introduces Tyler Black for his first interview on HDNet as champ. Davey eventually interrupts and says that Tyler has something he wants, saying “the hunt is on.”
Eddie Edwards vs. Kevin Steen started with a great pre-match promo with Steen telling Edwards that he realized the Wolves/Steenerico feud last year had to have been about the Wolves hating Generico too. Steen had Edwards in the crossface when Generico came out, distracting Steen long enough for Edwards get Steen with a small package. Edwards advances. Great match and great heat on Steen.
Davey Richards beat Kenny King with a arm bar. Another real good match.
Jerry Lynn beat Man Scout Jake Manning with a cradle piledriver. Durden interviews Lynn afterward with Lynn calling out Kenny King.
El Generico beat Steve Corino by forfeit. Corino came out wearing a suit, cutting a promo calling Generico AIDS since “cancer can be cured” and said he didn't care about him. Generico finally attacked Corino, and they brawled until backstage people separated and Corino high-tailed.
Brent Albright won a squash with a arm bar.
Colt Cabana beat Ricky Reyes with a Colt 45. More competitive than most of Colt's recent TV matches.
Briscoes Brothers beat the House of Truth (who were without Truth Martini).
Tyler Black defeated Rhett Titus in a non-title match. Kenny King and Austin Aries tried to interfere but Roderick Strong came out to stop them. Then, Roddy cut a promo saying he'll be Tyler's best friend and guardian angel for now, because if anyone is taking the belt from him it will be him.
Skullkrusher Rasche Brown defeats Rockstar James Brown with a burning hammer.
Roderick Strong defeats Joey Ryan with the Stronghold. Ryan was on offense for most of this match with Strong actually favoring his thigh.
DCFC squashed Caleb Conley and Pee Wee.
Before the match, Jim Cornette told Necro Butcher his suspension would be lifted if Necro could keep his matches in the ring, abiding the rules of professional wrestling. Necro Butcher beat Charlie Dreamer. Necro played conflicted about brawling on the floor and getting hardcore.
Delirious defeated Austin Aries by DQ. Austin apparently kicked Delirious in the throat, the ref threw up the X that brought out all the refs and the doctor. Austin then attacked Daizee Haze while Delirious was being checked. Kenny King propped Delirious throat-first on the guardrail for Austin to splash. Then, Jerry Lynn came out with a chair to run off King and Aries.
Eddie Edwards defeated Davey Richards with the half crab to become the inaugural Television Champion. Back and forth, trading their trademark stuff, Eddie working on Davey’s knee and ankle, Davey working on Eddie’s arm and shoulder. Davey took the belt and strapped it around Eddie's waist. Durden interviewed Eddie, who said that those who thought going for this belt would be the end of the Wolves were stupid. Eddie finished with saying, “the hunt will never end.”

Wow, I must hang my head in shame that I predicted wrong. Yes, an American Wolf won the tourney, but it wasn’t Davey. Now a big question is if making Eddie Edwards the first TV champion was the best move. Well, how better would it have been if Davey won the championship? Yes, Richards is awesome, but this title can mean a lot of things for a lot of upcoming, rising stars. Even though Eddie proclaimed that The Wolves are forever, the opening segment proved that Davey Richards is heading toward something not involving the ROH Tag Team championship, or tag team wrestling in general. When this tournament was announced, and Davey was added to the brackets, I thought that Davey would win, starting a build toward a champion vs. champion clash at “The Big Bang” between himself and Tyler Black. While it’s not taking that direct route, Black vs. Richards is bound to happen sooner than later. If that is the case, Eddie needs something to do except sit around and play second fiddle to Davey while Richards does the World title shot thing.

Eddie as the TV champion can open up new, fresh midcard to upper-midcard feuds between Eddie and people who haven’t had the opportunity to break free of that non-title feud rut that has plagued the company since 2006 after the unification of the Pure title and the World title. People like Delirious, Necro Butcher, Eddie Kingston, and even Jerry Lynn will have something to strive for when their feuds end against an opponent that the fans will believe everyone will have a chance of beating (seriously, how many of you think Davey is beatable at this point). I hate to be wrong, but I’m fine with being wrong this time.

Speaking of Lynn and Delirious, it seems that Lynn might have found a partner to help him in his fight against Kenny King, and through association, Rhett Titus and Austin Aries. I don’t know if Delirious will be off the shows for a while to pull a Ricky Steamboat a la Wrestlemania 3. I think the fans would pop hard for a Delirious return from injury to save Lynn in a month or so (time flies faster now than it did in the 80’s). But the focus of the feud should still be King and Lynn, which could prove to be the star-making feud King has needed since ROH on HDNet began.

Can’t wait to watch the Generico/Corino “match”. It sounds incredible just reading it (what doesn’t Corino do that’s incredible). Great to see Brent Albright back. A few matches between Albright and Edwards for the belt would be a nice sight since Brent never got that ROH World title feud with Nigel that was teased. But the weekend isn’t over for ROH and Philly. They already have something in store for the fans attending.

Signed for Saturday night when ROH and HDNet return to Philadelphia for another National Television taping is Pick 6 action. Roderick Strong is in the thick of the ROH title picture, but ranked sixth he sits very vulnerable. He can change that by defeating Kevin Steen on 3/6! It's Strong versus Steen on 3/6 in Philly!

With Steen feuding with El Generico and Colt Cabana, he has no reason to be taking up a Pick 6 spot. I know a lot of people have been asking why Strong would have to earn a title shot when Tyler Black promised him the first crack at the new ROH champion. Well, unlike other companies where wrestlers just make their matches without the consent of the show’s authority figures, ROH is proving that the power to grant matches and title shots sits in the palm of Jim Cornette’s hands, especially when it comes to the HDNet shows. Strong has been on a roll, and having him earn the title shot instead of it being handed to him is never a bad thing. You know what, I’ll go as far as to say that this win will propel Strong into a ROH World title match around the beginning of next month.

Petey Williams vs. Austin Aries has been added to Ring of Honor's March 19th event in Dearborn, MI.

Twinkies! Okay, I couldn’t resist. Petey Williams and A-Double have some history dating back to last summer. During Aries’ run as ROH World champion, Petey challenged Aries. It led to one of the most infamous moments in an ROH match: the Twinkies chant. The fans of NYC took more pride in ridiculing Todd “Twinkie” Sinclair than watching the match between Aries and Williams happening in front of them. While I’ll be the first to say it definitely wasn’t Aries’ strongest defense, or Petey’s best ROH match, it definitely didn’t deserve the ridicule it received for being a “horrible” match. Maybe it came across better on DVD than it did live. Hopefully this time it’ll be the match we always envisioned these two of having, in front of a more respectful crowd. And that’s not a diss to the NYC crowd. But you all know they can get a little self-involved at a wrestling show. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. And in the case of Aries/Petey at Glory By Honor VIII, they murdered that match.

Pick 6 action has been signed for Dearborn, Michigan on March 19th. After a great showing versus Tyler Black back at "Death Before Dishonor VII, Night Two", the impressive Tyson Dux returns to Ring of Honor action against "The Pretty Boy Pitbull" Kenny King!

This doesn’t make much sense to me. Yes, I know Dux wrestles in the area, and is very popular. But the guy isn’t even a full-time member of the roster. Why would he get a chance to earn a title shot when we don’t even know when he’ll be back next? Wait, why am I pondering on this? Like Dux really has a chance of beating Kenny King.

Tag Team action has been signed for ROH's return to suburban Detroit on March 19 in Dearborn! The House of Truth returns to action with a tough test as Josh Raymond and Christian Able will face El Generico and Colt Cabana!

I haven’t gotten around to ordering the Ring of Honor shows The House of Truth competed on, but I’ve heard nothing but good things regarding their stuff with The Briscoes and The Young Bucks. It’s crazy to think that I don’t know what will happen here. With Generico and Cabana getting ready for their eventual tag encounter with Kevin Steen and Steve Corino (Big Bang, maybe?), they need to rack up some dominant wins as a team. But then there’s the story of El Generico’s mental status, which has been costing him matches. This could easily come into play here. And then there’s the third possibility that Generico could finally get his head in the game. Or Generico could just snap and run wild over everyone to get to Steen. A lot of different paths to take, and I don’t have a solid idea what will happen.

Kenny Omega returns to ROH for the first time since "Final Battle 2009" when we return to Michigan & Canada on March 19th & 20th! On tap in Dearborn, Omega will go toe-to-toe with Roderick Strong over Strong's "Pick 6" spot and in Mississauga, Kenny will face Davey Richards in a rematch of their epic clash from last October.

I touched on Omega vs. Richards last time, and still feel this could be an early Match of the Year candidate. Both men have all the tools to be future ROH main eventers, and Richards is being groomed to be ROH’s new golden boy. But to have Omega lose in his home country is never a good thing. I’m calling a time limit draw of epic proportions. As for Omega vs. Strong, Roderick losing here wouldn’t make much sense. The man is in the thick of things, and having Omega defeat him-thus hurting his Pick 6 standing-wouldn’t do Strong any favors. Omega’s return weekend might not be golden with wins, but I guarantee a lot of people will be talking about the quality of wrestling this guy is churning out.

Signed for March 20th in Ontario is Eddie Edwards versus Petey Williams!

I don’t know what it is, but Eddie and Petey remind me of each other. Not in looks, just the way I see them in the ring. Both are solid hands who would fit well in any company. But both seem to be missing that certain something to put them over the top. Eddie found that in his partnering with Davey Richards. And Petey found it in the Canadian Destroyer. Looking at it, both successes have become handicaps for Eddie and Petey as Edwards isn’t as highly regarded as his partner even though he can go from bell to bell as well as Davey; and Petey is really only known for his finisher. This match might be a great opportunity for both men to open up some eyes who see Edwards and Petey as I do.

Tag Team action has been signed for March 20 in suburban Toronto as the six-time ROH World Tag Team Champions, Mark and Jay Briscoe, will take on Players Uno and Dos – The Super Smash Brothers!

While The SSB have a win over a big name team in ROH like The House of Truth, I highly doubt Uno and Dos will have the same chance of walking out with a win. As good as they are, Uno and Dos are just fodder for The Briscoes, especially if they lose the night before in that huge six man tag involving themselves and Tyler Black vs. The American Wolves and Chris Hero. Should be a great match, though.

Colt Cabana will meet Steve Corino one-on-one in Mississauga on March 20!

When you have tag team feuds, you can have a number of one on one contests to build up the big tag team clash. This is a perfect example of that. The question is if this will be more comedic than serious. You know Cabana likes to bring his degree in ring antics with him every time the bell rings. And don’t count Corino’s tendency to turn into a comedian during a match. Probably a more important question is if this will actually be a match. Cabana vs. Steen at the 8th Anniversary show was more of a storyline than a match. Yes, they brawled and fought, but it was about the circumstances that brought them to this point more than about whom was/is better in the ring.
While it worked in NYC, it’s something ROH can’t do with this feud all the time. Cabana will probably be slapped into seriousness, leading to a nice match. It might have some interference, causing Generico to face his old partner. And it could be the moment that Generico finally breaks free of the compassion he has for his former teammate. Or maybe not in regards to Generico. I love not being able to predict things. It makes everything so…unpredictable. Curse you thesaurus.com!

Signed for March 26th it will be Rocky Romero versus Alex Koslov in a rematch from Final Battle!

I’m a big fan of both men, and their match at Final Battle was really kicking until the problematic conclusion that saw Romero lock in the Diablo Arm Bar, winning the match via a submission. The problem? Koslov never tapped. Everyone was confused as the referee went with the timekeeper’s error, giving the win to a disgusted Romero. Koslov stormed off, and the fans began to turn on the show in full at that point. I don’t think history will repeat itself in terms of the ending. What will repeat itself is a memorable showcase between two men I would love to see in ROH full-time.

On March 26 and 27 in Phoenix, Roderick Strong and Tyler Black look to prove a point. On March 26th, World Champion Tyler Black will attempt to beat Roderick Strong and Austin Aries back-to-back in the same night, while on March 27; Strong tries his hand at Black and Aries. Aries, unexpectedly, signed on as the third man in the fold.

Ring of Honor is really trying to tie its live events matches into its HDNet storylines, and it works here. Strong knows he can beat Tyler Black, and he deserves a shot at the title before Austin Aries. Well, Roderick has two nights to prove that. Black knows he can beat Austin Aries on any given night when Aries can’t run or cheat his way to a victory, and his win over Roderick on HDNet wasn’t because of Aries’ interference. The champion has two nights to prove that. I love the possibility of four incredible matches over the course of the weekend.
My only query is how Strong/Black 2 in Phoenix will be different from Strong/Black 1. Wrestling two back-to-back nights in the same building means the fans that saw the first match will probably see the second. Like the days of the territories, Black and Strong will have to either work a match that involves the old learned spots moments, or an entirely different match. Or they could use a mixture of the both. Either way, Phoenix will be a showcase of the unique talents of three men to produce a series of matches that will have the indy world talking about ROH doing it during Wrestlemania weekend one more time.

Romero won't be done in Phoenix when his match with Koslov is over. He has signed for singles action on day two in Phoenix on March 27th. "Mr. Azucar" Rocky Romero will oppose Kenny Omega!

Holy smokes, ROHbot nation! Seriously, this kind of match takes me back to the days when ROH would put together two of most athletically gifted wrestlers in the world today to just showcase how strong the undercard was. Oh…um, yeah. I think I just had a senior moment.

On March 27th in Phoenix, Cabana's set up another healthy dose of competition as he and El Generico will oppose the American Wolves!

With the proclamation that The Wolves will never die (didn’t Ric Flair say that about The Horsemen), you know they’ll be gunning for tag wins, especially in one of ROH’s biggest shows of the year. Generico-as I wrote earlier-isn’t in the right frame of mind to be winning matches. But Generico is ready to fight-as proven at the TV tapings. Maybe this is the weekend Generico finally pulls it together and becomes a man on his own (even with Cabana as his partner, if that makes any sense). But most likely, The Wolves will murder him. Lot of death in this ROHbot Report.

Ring of Honor Wrestling's debut event in Charlotte, N.C., "THE BIG BANG!", is gaining interest daily among pro wrestling fans around the world, and now the official announcement of the main event of the evening has been made by ROH on HDNet Executive Producer Jim Cornette--new ROH World Champion Tyler Black will defend his title for the first time against BOTH ex-champion Austin Aries and top contender Roderick Strong in a Triple Threat Match!

Even though I wanted a champion versus champion contest between Black and the TV champion (as I mentioned earlier). But the problem with my want is Black is just getting started as ROH World champion, and for him to fight the TV champion with very little build up (due to the postponement of the TV title tournament because of inclement weather), it can wait for a later date (and maybe a different set of champion). The match itself should be incredible from an in-ring perspective. Three of the very best in ROH right now, fighting for a championship. But the one thing that makes this different from any three way ROH World title match in the past is the rules of a triple threat match. With no eliminations, this can become a sprint for someone to win. And with Aries being the scumbag that he is, you know he’ll be slipping and sliding to break up pins while trying to steal one. Outside of Black vs. Davey, I really can’t think of a better main event for pay-per-view that would showcase the athleticism Ring of Honor is built on.

ROH issued this statement today inviting Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen to their WrestleMania weekend shows. This is in response to Guillen's recent tweets that he couldn't find WrestleMania 26 tickets and that they were too expensive.

Hey, any good publicity is good publicity. I just don’t understand how a manager of a major league baseball team can’t afford tickets to Wrestlemania. I haven’t heard much since this request from Ring of Honor, and I highly doubt something will come to fruition. If it does work out, in that Ozzie attends, ROH better get him involved in something outside of being a guest. Just tell Ozzie that Mark Cuban took an RKO, and the least he can do is be elbowed by Chris Hero.

Meet the stars of Ring of Honor at the exclusive "Honor Experience" on Friday, March 26th from 7:00-8:00 PM at Phoenix College (North Gym). Highlighting the Honor Experience as our special guest on Friday night is Tammy "Sunny" Sytch! No stranger to ROH, the original diva comes to Phoenix and now you can meet her for FREE! Tammy will also have memorabilia available for purchase at the event. Complete your Arizona wrestling experience by taking in the best pound-for-pound professional wrestling on the planet - now complete, with the "Honor Experience"!

Tammy Sytch came to ROH back in 2007-2008 to start a feud with Lacey-which went nowhere. She also wanted to Diva-tize the ROH women, which also went nowhere. Having her be a guest to sign autographs and maybe cut a promo during the show is the best thing to do with someone like her, especially with the lack of a women’s division, and Sytch’s lack of love for women’s wrestling. I just wonder how many guys my age will be bringing Sunny bikini pictures/posters for her to sign.

ROH is also proud to announce the signing of veteran wrestling announcer Kevin Kelly to be the voice of Ring of Honor internet Pay-Per-View events beginning with "THE BIG BANG!". Kelly has literally thousands of hours of play-by-play under his belt for the WWE and regional wrestling promotions, and his experience will enhance the broadcast for those around the world unable to make it to Charlotte in person for this landmark event.

I like this a lot. For those who don’t remember Kelly doing commentary in WWE(F), he is as knowledgeable as they come, and has a unique style and voice that would be perfect for ROH. Learning under Vince as an announcer means you know how to tell a story with your announcing to not only promote the match, but what led up to the match, and the implications it could cause. The only thing I hope is we don’t get heel Kevin Kelly, who was pretty over the top. If he’s the Kelly I remember from all those years back, I say ROH has made a great addition to the announce booth for their pay-per-views. Hopefully we won’t have the audio issues that plagued the commentators last time.

It’s been a busy week for yours truly, so I didn’t have a chance to watch or review this week’s edition of ROH on HDNet, so no Right or Wrong for you. I promise I’ll make it up to you next time. But it did me some time to reflect on a couple of things. Well, actually just one thing: Tyler Black’s title win. Yes, I know it happened nearly a month ago, but Ring of Honor hasn’t done any shows since. What I was reflecting on was what the ROHbot nation has been saying about Black’s win coming a little too late. A lot of people exclaimed that ROH dropped the ball on when Black’s title victory should’ve happened. ROHbots everywhere felt the heat during Tyler’s chase to the championship had weakened significantly due to Black’s constant losses in World title matches (hey, I was right there with you guys about that). And while all of those statements have some proof to them, the kicker was people proclaiming that the boat had been missed on Tyler Black as the next big star in ROH because he didn’t win it sooner than the 8th Anniversary Show; voicing their opinions that not winning the title hurt the believability that Black is the heir apparent to the top of the mountain in Ring of Honor. It’s one thing to say that you don’t see what’s the big deal about Tyler Black, citing his charisma or in-ring talents as the reason for your doubting of his potential. But to say a title win can start or stop someone’s rise to the top is totally outrageous. When did winning the title mean you’re automatically the next big thing in Ring of Honor, or anywhere for that matter? And when did winning the title at a specific time make or break someone’s career?
Looking at the thirteen ROH World champions, can you name how many men were made by the title? That’s the thing: the title doesn’t make the man, the man makes the title. Lets go back to the first ROH champion (before it was a World title), Low Ki. The man was an indy superstar, and when he won the ROH belt, it gave credibility, not to him, but the title and the company the championship represented. Xavier beat Low Ki to win the belt only two months after Low Ki’s victory. In the end, Xavier’s win didn’t help him in the eyes of the fans, and no one believed in him as someone who should be carrying the main belt for a company, especially a budding one like ROH. And that’s when it happened: his reign further deteriorated him in the eyes of everyone. Xavier was the first heel champion in Ring of Honor, but he never gave the performances that of a champion. He snaked his way through title defense after title defense until people were begging someone to beat him. Now the argument can be made that with Samoa Joe’s defeat of Xavier for the belt worked out perfectly because the fans felt some retribution with Xavier finally losing, and were behind Joe at the start of his reign. But when you look back, Joe wasn’t being called ROH’s next big thing just because he won the belt at the perfect time. Samoa Joe was as an afterthought on some shows during his reign’s infancy. It was up to Samoa Joe and ROH to build Joe up, thus making Joe the man, and the person everyone considered the top star in Ring of Honor. They couldn’t just rely on his title win to get him there. That’s why Joe went on a 21-month streak of great matches and title defenses, making the ROH title a world championship in the process.
Austin Aries upset Samoa Joe, and did just like Joe, not sitting on the laurels of the championship, but making the title become synonymous with his name through incredible matches around the world. Bryan “Daniel Bryan” Danielson took it to a whole new level after downing James “Jamie Noble” Gibson. While the win helped Danielson confirm his legendary status as of ROH’s best, it was his incredible reign against a great variety of opponents across the planet that had everyone proclaiming that Danielson was/is “The Best Wrestler in the World.” While Takeshi Morishima’s World title win wasn’t as memorable as Joe’s or Danielson’s, he used his reign as ROH World champion to prove his worth to NOAH in Japan, gaining him a GHC Heavyweight championship win over the late, great Mitsuharu Misawa.
Tyler Black is facing a backlash from fans similar to that of the second longest reigning ROH World champion-Nigel McGuinness. Like Black, the fans felt Nigel didn’t win the championship when they thought he would, and blamed Ring of Honor for Nigel losing a ton of heat in his chase of Morishima and the title. Once again, what made Nigel: the title win, or the title reign? Nigel’s historic run as ROH World champion caused the fans to look at McGuinness in a new light, and respect him as one of the very best in the world today. WWE and TNA definitely took notice during his reign, with both companies giving him offers when Nigel dropped the championship.
Aries used his second reign to establish himself as the number one star in Ring of Honor when Nigel and Danielson moved on to bigger things. The win didn’t do it, Aries’ reign did. If you haven’t seen the pattern yet, let me spell it out: the title win doesn’t make the man, the reign makes the man. Yes, having a title win happen at the perfect time can always help jumpstart a person’s rise to the very top. but it’s the reign that follows that everyone credits as making the wrestler a main event star worthy of being called a World champion for the present, and the future. Looking at all the World title reigns in recent wrestling history-WWE and TNA included-proves my previous statement as fact. John Cena’s reign during 2006-2007 made him the definite star in WWE, not his title win at Wrestlemania 21. TNA is trying it with AJ Styles right now by giving him a memorable reign full of matches and Ric Flair association. On the opposite end of the spectrum sit Rey Mysterio’s failure of a World title reign in WWE, and Abyss’ horrible run as NWA champion in TNA. If you want to compare a poorly executed title run and a great one with the same person, look no further than Samoa Joe. For as great as his World title reign was in ROH-thus establishing him as an ROH legend-Samoa Joe as TNA World champion made him look like a chump, and someone the fans were wrong about labeling as a man who could make TNA wrestling a household name.
ROH has proven time and time again that when it comes to the ROH World title, the title win, no matter when or where it happens, is never as important as the reign that follows. What we see right now in regards to Tyler Black’s possibility of becoming the definitive star in Ring of Honor doesn’t live or die on what happened at the 8th Anniversary Show, or before. What matters is how his reign is handled from this moment until the time he loses the championship.

Hope all of you have a great weekend, and thanks for reading.

Till Then.