ROH TV taping onsite report: ROH's attempt to add sex appeal gets a bad review, Triple H's $250,000 fines from WWE TV apparently mocked, much smoother taping process

Dot Net reader Justin Madden attended the Ring of Honor tapings in Louisville, Ky. on Saturday and sent the following notes.

First off, I was at the first taping in Chicago, this show went much smoother. No long delays between the matches, no light or sound issues, and they only had to re tape one spot. The venue was packed, and the crowd was hot. They announced that the next ROH taping will be back at the Davis arena on Nov. 5th. I think they may like how well their show looks in that venue.

Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuiness were on commentary the whole night. They now have their own little "stage" setup where their announce table is. It's kind of like the one Taz and Tenay have in TNA because it's off a ways from the ring. Truth Martini was on commentary for the Michael Elgin squash match, and Steve Corino was on commentary for one match on the second show.

They had five flat screen video monitors near where the wrestlers entered and exited the ring, and you could obviously see the show on those screens. The lighting, of the ring, and the overall video quality of the show on those video screen looks infinitely better than the footage taped in Chicago. Hopefully that translates well to SBG networks.

The Briscoes are more over than anyone on their roster, and All Night Express isn't over at all. It's odd because The Briscoes are portrayed as the heels but the crowd erupts for them when their music hits. ANX cut a promo, but they need more work for sure.

One thing that really bothered me and lots of people around me is that they used a mid to late 30's over-tannned big breasted, scantily clad woman as their lead in or lead out from commercials. She would stand near the rail and pose, and they would have ROH fans go crazy and scream behind her. Don't get me wrong, I love beautiful women, and everyone knows ROH is a sausage fest, but doing something so '90s isn't going to attract any new fans.

Final Battle was hyped heavily at the tapings. The matches appear to be Edwards vs. Richards, The Briscoes challenging Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas, and a Mike Bennet vs. Jay Lethal rematch because they fought to a draw at the taping.

In a few spots, the crowd seemed conflicted on who to cheer for, especially during The Bravados vs. The Young Bucks. Both teams are "heels" but by the end of the match the crowd was sympathetic for the Bravados and was cheering them.

The World's Greatest Tag Team (Haas and Benjamin) seemed to be acting out of character. They were ruthless in their beat down of Coleman and Alexander, and did things like pull down the top rope, and trip guys from behind as they ran the ropes. We will have to see how it appears on TV, and what the announcers have to say about it.

The House of Truth members Martini, Elgin, and Strong were fined $2,500 for a post match beat down on Kyle O'Reilly which "injured" a security guard. Cornette appeared to be acknowledging the 250,000 fine HHH gave Miz and Truth because he paused and looked at the crowd a bit before he said it.

Lastly, Cary Silkin was at the door and shook every person's hand on the way out the door. I know that won't be shown on TV, but this day and age it says a lot about a company willing to tank each and every person for coming out.