Collinsville, IL
10/9/09
* Roderick Strong defeated Kevin Steen
* MsChif defeated Nicole Matthews
* Four Corner Survival Match: Claudio Castagnoli defeated Ace Steel, Colt Cabana and Petey Williams
* Jay and Mark Briscoe defeated The House of Truth
* Kenny Omega defeated Davey Richards
* Kenny King and Rhett Titus defeated The Young Bucks
* Tyler Black over Chris Hero
* Ring of Honor World Title Match: Austin Aries © defeated Delirious

From the sounds of it, this was a surprisingly great show. One match had ROHbots talking like it was the second coming, and that was Omega vs. Richards. I said last time that Omega vs. Richards is something I didn’t expect to see so soon, but gave me hope for the future because these two men have the greatest chance of becoming two of the most talked about wrestlers in Ring of Honor’s future. I’m happy they had a great match, and with Eddie on the shelf, having Omega go over to get his name back in the World title picture is not a bad idea, if that is why it happened here. Hero/Black II was said to be solid, but not spectacular. I’ll have to wait and see it for myself, because if it was anything close to what they did at The Homecoming II, it had to be one of the better matches of the weekend. But following Omega vs. Davey, no match on the same night could look as great as it could. When the show comes out on DVD, it’ll probably be better than those in attendance remember. The main event, which was a surprise, was also a surprisingly acclaimed contest. That’s not to say that these two can’t have great matches together, but you’d think with Delirious’ antics and Aries’ unique personality, we’d get something more comedic. Delirious, like Roderick Strong, can make you believe that he has a chance of winning the title no matter how many times he comes up short. I must say that Ring of Honor has been really stepping it up lately on their Friday nigh shows, and I can’t help but commend them for trying to give the so called “B” show attendees a night to remember. It’s been a long time since I’ve said that about continuous Friday night shows. So what about Saturday night, the return of Survival of the Fittest?

　 * Jim Cornette opens show. Delirious has bye into SotF Finale
* Tag Team Challenge Match: The Young Bucks of Nick & Matt Jackson over The House of Truth of Josh Raymond & Christian Able
* Survival of the Fittest Qualifying Match: Colt "Boom Boom" Cabana over Kevin Steen
* Survival of the Fittest Qualifying Match: Roderick Strong over Rhett "Addicted to Love" Titus
* Survival of the Fittest Qualifying Match: Tyler Black over "The Pretty Boy Pitbull" Kenny King
* Survival of the Fittest Qualifying Match: Claudio Castagnoli over Petey Williams
* Survival of the Fittest Qualifying Match: "That Young Knock Out Kid" Chris Hero over Kenny Omega
* Tag Team Dream Match: Jay & Mark Briscoe over ROH World Champion Austin Aries & ROH Co-Tag Team Champion Davey Richards when Jay pinned Davey after Doomsday Device; Aries walked out on Davey and they spent time during the match trying to one-up each other.
* Survival of the Fittest Match: Roderick Strong v. Tyler Black, "That Young Knockout Kid" Chris Hero, Delirious, Colt Cabana and Claudio Castagnoli
~elimination #1: Colt Cabana eliminated Claudio after a Hero elbow meant for Colt KO'ed Claudio
~elimination #2: Delirious eliminated Colt Cabana via roll up
~elimination #3: Roderick Strong eliminated Delirious after a running kick
~elimination #4: Tyler Black eliminated Chris Hero after superkick, turnbuckle bomb and God's Last Gift.
Final 2: Roderick Strong and Tyler Black. Black used 4 super kicks to finally keep Roddy down and win SotF 2009 and a future World Title shot.
Black cuts a promo that the future is now & it is time for his revolution to begin - Roddy tells him that he wants a re-match.

Here we are, over five years removed from the original incarnation of Survival of the Fittest, and for the first time since then, Tyler Black looks like the first guy to use his Survival of the Fittest win to become the ROH World champion. Chris Hero came close, but Tyler…it’s been building for over a year. If Black gets his shot at Final Battle, it’ll be nearly two years since that first night the fans realized what Tyler could bring to the table as a main event star. The argument can be made that he should’ve won the title months, if not a year ago. The argument can be made that at last year’s Final Battle, ROH should’ve pulled the trigger in the red-hot Hammerstein ballroom, in front of a raucous crowd, Tyler Black-loving crowd after building up to that moment. But another argument can be made that Tyler Black just wasn’t ready at those times. If Tyler Black gets his latest shot at Final Battle 2009, ROH has a little over two months to get the fans back on Tyler’s side, and get them to have that fire for Black like they did a year ago when the chants of, “Next World champ,” weren’t just the thing to say when Black hit the ring. Like I said two weeks ago, Ring of Honor has to chance to use Survival of the Fittest 2009 to make a World champion caliber star for the first time.
Then there’s the guy who fell short. Roderick Strong helped give Tyler Black one of those moments before Black won. From everyone who attended the event, they said Strong and Black tore the roof off, giving the fans the best final moments in Survival of the Fittest history. Strong did his part in getting Black ready (like Aries did for him when Roderick won in 2005), and Black did his part by showcasing the skills that will make him one of the most exciting World champions in ROH…if Black does become the World champion. Once again, I’m hoping for nothing but the best for Ring of Honor if this is the true course being used to make Tyler Black the man we proclaimed he’d be a year ago, “Next World champ!”

　 The GHC Junior Heavyweight Champ is involved in 2 of the 6 TV main events to be filmed on November 5th and 6th when ROH and HDNet roll back through Philadelphia! On night one, KENTA will once more tangle with Tyler Black in a battle of two of the very best in ROH. On night two, it will be tag team action as Austin Aries and Kenny King will face off with Tyler Black and the man he chose to team with, KENTA!

　 Very interesting set of matches. KENTA is one of those special imports that no matter how many times he shows up and wrestles; the fans want to see him perform at his highest caliber. I’m not going to say that he can’t have a bad match, but I haven’t seen one from KENTA. Then there’s Tyler Black, who, as I said earlier, needs every piece of momentum to get him ready for Aries and his future World title shot. But no matter how good the match will be, it’s kind of a catch-22. KENTA doesn’t need the win, but shouldn’t lose because of his special attraction status, and Black shouldn’t lose because he shouldn’t be while getting ready for Aries. So that only leaves the option of a draw. But that doesn’t mean that’s going to happen. Maybe ROH will actually have Black go over. I don’t think a win outside of one over Aries could get the fans behind Black again like a win against KENTA.
This makes for a nice transition into the next main event, where Black and Aries will be in the ring for the first time since Black’s SotF win. I assume that when the match is over (King taking the fall would be the obvious ending), Black will stake his claim at Aries’ title, building to ROH’s return to NYC at the end of the year. I must say that if Black does win the title at Final Battle 2009, ROH could have one of the better builds to a World title change in its history. And that should start on November 6th.

　 Another ROH on HDNet Television main event has been signed! Taking place on November 5th, "That Young Knockout Kid" Chris Hero has signed to face Colt “Boom Boom Cabana!

　 For those who don’t know, Hero and Cabana have a lot of history outside of Ring of Honor, dating back to the height of IWA: Mid-South’s productive period. I like Hero. I like Cabana. I like their previous contests. And I think it will be a worthy main event for TV. And if I could add a little intrigue to this one-who will win the battle of the elbows. You know Cabana has a mighty fine bionic elbow, if you weeeeeeel!

　 In Edison, NJ on November 7th, KENTA will oppose Roderick Strong!

　 While they’ve had some matches years before their HDNet main event from a couple of months ago, the latter match is the one remembered more. Not because it was better, but because it was their most recent contest. That’s not to say that it wasn’t a good match. Actually, it was a disappointing match for yours truly, not because of the action, but due to the lack of time it was given. Seriously, it was one of those matches that you knew would be one of the best matches of the year, but it wasn’t because of the shortchanging of time. I can easily say that they’ll make up for it in Edison, but I don’t know. The thing that has hampered some matches over the past year are guys holding back to avoid stealing the thunder from the rest of the show. That’s smart booking, but it can deny us a classic. No matter its place on the card, let these two go. Let them do what they do best, and steal the show.

Just signed for November 7th in Edison is a huge tag team match as Kevin Steen and El Generico will look to avenge their Ladder War loss at ‘Glory By Honor VIII' when they take on ROH World Tag Team Champion Davey Richards and his chosen partner, "That Young Knockout Kid" Chris Hero!

Even though this isn’t Steenerico vs. The American Wolves, Kevin Steen and El Generico are still a little too close to The Wolves after their Ladder War 2 loss. I was hoping that when the match was over in NYC that they’d distance the two teams for a while. But it could lead to something that I’ll talk about later.

Kenny Omega had a great showing in St. Louis and Indianapolis, and even though he ended with a split, his victory over Davey Richards is one of the biggest in his career, and he's looking to build off of that momentum in Edison on 11/7. Omega has signed to face Sonjay Dutt.

Like Tyler Black, Kenny Omega is on the road to something big, and his win over Davey Richards the past weekend is proof of that. Now Omega has the chance to continue that momentum against Sonjay, who is one of those guys who just has entertaining contests with everyone this side of an old ball & chain gimmick. Dutt can bring out the comedy, and so can Omega. So this one could go from a serious athletic contest to comedy hour, or vice versa. Unlike Black, I could see Omega losing here. I know it wouldn’t be smart to have Omega lose right after beating Davey, but with the even-Steven booking that’s been going around lately, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Omega lose.

Tyler Black returned to active competition in a big way over last weekend, securing victory in St. Louis over Chris Hero in a hard fought contest. But in Indianapolis he took it to an entirely different level by winning Survival of the Fittest 2009. The main event final, lasting over 40 minutes, was a brilliant showcase for all 6 men involved, but the two men left at the end shined brightest. Roderick Strong and Black went back-and-forth, with Black finally falling Strong with a series of superkicks. The rematch is signed for suburban Toronto! It'll be Roderick Strong versus Tyler Black on November 14th!

One thing I commend ROH for is knowing what works and who have chemistry, and using it to get the fans talking. But lately, they’ve been having matches with people with chemistry so close together that it kind of ruins the anticipation for a rematch. We saw it with Tyler Black and Bryan Danielson. I can even throw Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brent Albright in that category. That’s not to say that I don’t want to see rematches of great matches. I just want them spaced out a little better. Having Strong take on Black on November 14th is a nice distance between last weekend and then. By then, the heat from SotF would have died down, and a new sense of anticipation for the rematch will have taken over. Just make sure when this one is done, we give these guys a little distance. If Black does win the belt, this could be a nice beginning to a classic series of matches in 2010.

Kevin Steen sustained a knee injury in Indianapolis and is scheduled to see doctors this week. It is unknown at this point if Steen will miss any time.

It’s weird that Eddie Edwards’ injury came during the course of his match with Kevin Steen the night before Glory By Honor VIII, and now Steen is down. Now don’t think I’m alluding to something, it’s just a weird coincidence to me. Steen’s had some knee troubles over the past year, and I don’t if it’s the same thing coming back to haunt “Mr. Wrestling”. Seemingly it’s not too bad because he’ll be wrestling in just a couple of weeks. Hopefully he’ll take it east and, possibly, follow through on the rumored heel turn. Rumored heel turn got your eyes shifting, didn’t it? Right now, take the rumor for what it is. If it turns out t be true, sorry I spoiled if for you.

　 ROH World Tag Team Champion Eddie Edwards is a soldier. Two days after successful surgery to put a steel plate and screws into his broken arm, he was in physical therapy. In fact, doctors declined to put his arm into a hard cast, allowing Edwards to move the still-broken arm much sooner. The initial prognosis was recovery in 6-to-12 weeks, but as it looks now, Edwards should be ready for action much closer to the 6 week mark. ROH officials are closely monitoring this as it relates to the World Tag Team Title situation. Initial reports are that no changes will be made should Edwards remain on path to return sooner than later.

No, Eddie Edwards is an absolute beast. I will be the first to say that when Eddie entered Ring of Honor, I didn’t know what to think of him. He came off as a solid, yet unspectacular wrestler who could give a good match, but you wouldn’t remember him after the evening ended. Then he started to team with Davey Richards, and everything just clicked, and I finally understood why he was getting such a sustained push with wrestlers higher on the card than him after such a short period of time. He’s been nothing short of spectacular over the past year, and I was horribly upset when he got injured; not only because his injury could jeopardize the highly anticipated Ladder War 2 happening 24 hours later, but I didn’t want his momentum of excellent performances and title defenses end sooner than it should. Even though I am shocked they kept the belts on The Wolves when the diagnosis was unknown, it’s good that they did with the amount of time Eddie is suppose to miss. Like anyone coming back from an injury, I hope for a speedy recovery, but not a rushed one. Once again, Eddie Edwards is a beast.

Well, it looks like that time again. Lets see what happened this past week on ROH TV.

ROH on HDNet 09.21.09 QUICK RESULTS:
Austin Aries defeated Alex Payne
Necro Butcher vs. Bison Smith went to a double count-out
Tyler Blackdefeated Rhett Titus
KENTA defeated Chris Hero

Right:
A-Double, L-Double: ROH World champion Austin Aries kicked off the show with the second Austin Aries Lucky Lottery on HDNet to give someone a chance to face the champ. This week, Alex “Sugarfoot” Payne became that lucky winner, leading to a sugary squash for poor little Payne. That’s not to say Payne didn’t get any offense in. One of the things I hated about Payne’s last HDNet match was the amount of offense he got in just to add heat to a match that didn’t need it. Payne got the boos from the Philly fans after a couple of moves without making Aries look like a comeback wimp, a la Sonjay Dutt two weeks ago. Not only was it a nice way to keep Aries in the fans’ mind without putting him in a long term feud, but it also set up for a real World title worthy contest between himself and Bryan Danielson next week. So the A-Double, L-Double gave us a couple of padded World title defenses for Aries before getting us ready for a probable World title classic.
Tyler Black vs. Rhett Titus: The running story for Black is he hasn’t been able to keep his focus in big time matches because of lack of experience. With Jerry Lynn mentoring him, Black should be able to not only keep his focus during big time matches, he should also be able to handle everyone else. Titus would be “everyone else” here. Titus had a nice showing here, but the real story was Black’s dominance. And that’s exactly what Tyler Black needs to be right now. Tyler had a great series with Bryan Danielson. He’s beaten a few guys between those. He’s hung with some of the very best. But he hasn’t been dominating. Black needs to show the fans that he’s ready to become the man in Ring of Honor. This match felt like the first step toward that.
KENTA vs. Chris Hero: I think everyone knew that this one would be a highlight when it was announced. I’m not going to lie that when the match was announced, I was excited, but thought this might not live up to the hype. I don’t know why, I just didn’t know if it would. Well, thankfully I was wrong. The fans were buzzing before the first bell sounded, and it helped one of the hardest hitting matches this side of the Pacific hotter than magma before it was over. Seriously, I don’t think in the history of ROH on HDNet has the crowd been hotter during a match. And it was a good reason for it. My mouth dropped open several times throughout the course of KENTA kicking Hero’s chest in, Hero almost dislocating KENTA’s jaw with Rolling Elbows, and the emergence of fighting spirit. The finale was somewhat hampered by Eddie Kingston’s interference, but it didn’t take away from an incredible contest. Actually, the interference helped keep the Hero/Kingston feud alive while giving Hero the excuse that he didn’t lose to KENTA legit. Overall, ROH has been known to put on the best main events on free TV, and this one just adds to an incredible list.

　 Wrong:
Bison Smith vs. Necro Butcher: This big man brawl wasn’t bad by any means. Actually, it was a nice change of pace in ROH. The only problem I had was the lack of honoring of the rules by the referee. Just moments into the match, Smith used a chair to choke Necro in plain view of the referee. No disqualification came from the usage, not even a warning. Several minutes later, the two got into a chair duel on the floor. And the match ended, not due to the blatant disregard of the rules, but because of a count-out. The pull a part brawl was good, but if you’re going to have two men break the rules without any repercussion, just make it a No DQ match in the beginning. I wouldn’t be ragging on this if we weren’t watching Ring of Honor, where enforcing and upholding the rules is a big part of the image Ring of Honor has.

Overall: This was a wonderful show, probably the best in a month. The main event was nothing short of a Match of the Year candidate, and I demand anyone reading see this match when you have the chance. Black’s resurgence to the top and Austin Aries’ constant greatness on the microphone is a highlight for any show as well. The only thing I didn’t like about the show didn’t involve the wrestlers themselves, but where ROH wants to go with its product. Is it one of those companies that bends the rules for certain wrestlers so they can get their stuff in? Or is it the company that makes the wrestlers work harder to make the situation and matches believable as possible? All in all, very enjoyable week, and I hope you get a chance to see it sooner than later.

　 You feel good right now, don’t you? Well, if you do, make sure you use that happy energy to stop by and join The ROHbot Report group on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=135858249616). I’m hoping to bring some exclusive news through the group that only those privileged enough to be a part of it will know about first. And before I close out, I’d like to say my prayers are with the families of Harley Race and Capt. Lou Albano. God bless.

　 Till Then.