ROH on HDNet taping
Philadelphia, Pa. at The Arena
Report courtesy of Brian Streleckis of PWChornicle.com.

Pre-Show

1. Shiima Xion defeated John Kermon (w/ Agent Sly Stetson).

2. Rayna Von Tash and Taeler defeated Roxie Cotton and Latasha (w/ Paul Dimension). For some reason, Austin Aries sat at ringside by the timekeeper’s table during this whole match. Then he went to the back again when it was over.

3. The All-Night Express (Kenny King and Rhett Titus w/ Austin Aries) defeated Lance and Harlem Bravado with their finisher. I expect this to make television given who’s involved. A little competitive, but there was no question who was winning this. Surprisingly, this was the last we’d see of Aries tonight, so a much lighter night for him than usual.

ROH Taping

1. Christopher Daniels defeated Bobby Shields with the Best Moonsault Ever. Total squash, and then Daniels cut virtually the same promo he did the previous night afterward.

2. Non-Title Match: El Generico defeated Tyler Black by DQ (though the decision wasn’t announced). This will be a television main event and it was really good. Back-and-forth with a good build and a hot crowd behind it.. Towards the end, Black gave Generico a top rope double stomp while Generico was in the Tree of Woe (a la Low Ki). Shortly after this, Generico answered this with a coast to coast dropkick.
Everyone seemed ready for a finish soon, and Generico was readying his Yakuza kick, but Kevin Steen ran out, tripped him from the outside, and pulled him crotch first into the ring post. As he got in the ring, Black gave him a superkick. Then, out of the crowd and right past me, Davey Richards snuck into the ring and clocked Black with the title belt. He gloated over Black a bit as Steen and Generico fought to the back. As usual, I would have preferred a clean finish, but this post-match stuff was good.

3. Sara Del Rey (w/ Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, Shane Hagadorn) defeated Jamilia Craft with a piledriver. Brief squash. Kyle Durden came in afterward to ask Del Rey about the match, and Del Rey stated she wants better competition than what she’s been getting.

4. Necro Butcher (w/ Prince Nana, Mr. Ernesto Osiris) won a squash with a chokeslam/shitty Tiger Driver combo onto a chair. Nana cut a brief promo about how he’s a caring man and is willing to forgive and forget (probably an extension of a backstage promo). Necro wrestled in usual attire, but he came to the ring sporting the Jimmy Rave robe, sunglasses, and a nice watch.

5. Eddie Edwards defeated Andy Ridge in a 10-Minute Hunt with the half crab. A little bit of offense from Right Leg, but it was all for naught.

Kyle Durden at ringside did an interview with the father of the Briscoes, seated in the front row. I think I remember seeing him on old ROH DVDs from the early days, so I’m not sure if it was really Poppa Briscoe, but he certainly talked like them. He’s of course proud of his boys and said they’ll become 7-time World Tag Team Champions in Toronto.

6. Jay and Mark Briscoe won a squash with the Jay Driller.

The Kings of Wrestling and Shane Hagadorn came out after the Briscoes had left, and Hero cut a promo on Poppa Briscoe. He insulted him strong enough to make him hop the rail and slap him, but then Hero knocked him out with an elbow. Jay and Mark chased the Kings away and tended to their father.

Jim Cornette came out for the next segment. Not sure if this was for TV or if he was just staying consistent for the story’s sake, be he acted concerned about what just happened and said the Kings of Wrestling would be fined for what they did. Then he introduced Roderick Strong, saying he requested some interview time. Strong complained about the outcomes of his two recent matches for the World Title, and he said he was tired of being lied to and screwed over. He then told Cornette that he only wanted one thing now, and that’s the truth.

Cue the television introduction of Truth Martini, who came to the ring carrying his “Book of Truth” and accompanied by the House of Truth (Josh Raymond and Christian Able). Long story short, Strong has joined the House of Truth, hiring the services of Martini as his “life intervention coach” because Truth has agreed with all of Strong’s grievances and issues. He cut a lengthy promo full of new age jargon (as Cornette may have put it) that might play better on TV than it did live. Steve and I have given Truth Martini a lot of shit for his over-the-top antics on DVD shows, but here he was a lot more subdued and dialed down. I’m initially down on this, but seeing it played it out here, I’ll give this new alliance some time.

7. Up In Smoke (Cheech and Cloudy) defeated the Set (J-Sinn and Lance Lude) with the Tidal Wave (a version of the Quebecers’ old finisher). Decent match with a good amount of time to it.

8. Rasche Brown defeated Erick Stevens (w/ Prince Nana, Mr. Ernesto Osiris) by DQ. Decent match with a lot of big man exchanges, but then Necro Butcher ran in to end it. Necro and Stevens had the upper hand until the Dark City Fight Club ran in for the save. So those two have turned babyface and have aligned themselves with Skullkrusher. Maybe the best new alliance made all weekend.

Intermission.

9. The House of Truth (Josh Raymond and Christian Able w/ Truth Martini) defeated Ricky Reyes and Jason Chambers with their wheelbarrow bulldog finisher. Semi-squash with Reyes getting some kicks in, but just kind of a showcase for the established team. No over-the-top bullshit from Truth Martini as I’m used to from him.

10. Jay and Mark Briscoe defeated the Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli w/Shane Hagadorn) in a non-title Gauntlet Match when they gave Castagnoli the Doomsday Device. Hagadorn introduced this Gauntlet Match by saying he’s chosen three strong and powerful teams to test the skills of Hero and Claudio. Of course, they were all jobber teams. The first team was two guys I didn’t recognize who got a little bit of offense, but they fell to a series of doubleteam moves ending with one of Hero’s elbows.

The second team had guys I recognized from last night, Adam Cole and Nick Westgate. Again, a little bit of offense, but they were beaten quicker than the first team was when the Kings gave Westgate the KRS-1. The third team was a pair of ninjas, but as Hero and Claudio turned their backs to them while laughing, the ninjas unmasked and revealed themselves as the Briscoes. They caught the Kings by surprise and made pretty quick work of them because of it. Fun segment, and then Jay said they don’t care about the tag titles anymore because “this shit just got personal.”

11. The Dark City Fight Club (Kory Chavis and Jon Davis) defeated the American Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards w/ Shane Hagadorn) by DQ. Good match, with the Wolves hitting stereo suicide dives at one point and just looking awesome in general. It was a shame to see it end with Necro and Stevens running in to attack the DCFC. Rasche Brown ran in for the save, returning the favor, and they brawled around the ring as other guys tried to break it up and failed. The babyfaces tried cutting a promo on them from the ring, but then the Embassy came in and brawled with them some more.

The last two matches will main event two episodes.

12. Kevin Steen and Steve Corino defeated El Generico and Colt Cabana in an Anything Goes Match when Corino gave Cabana what looked like a Northern Lights Bomb off the top onto a table. It started with lots of brawling at ringside and into the crowd, then they took it into the ring with tables and chairs in tow. Some big moves, some of which were blocked from my view by a table set up in the corner. Plenty of weaponry used, albeit fairly safely (Corino put his hand up as Cabana hit him with a chair), and there wasn’t any blood either.

Again, the tables wouldn’t give all that much, but at least the one used at the end gave in at the legs. Another big move saw Corino superplex Generico onto a spare guard rail from under the ring set up on four chairs, but Cabana broke that up. Steen and Generico fought to the back toward the end as Cabana and Corino were fighting on the top. This was a hell of a match honestly, and the crowd loved it. Tough act for the last match to follow.

13. Roderick Strong (w/ Truth Martini) defeated Christopher Daniels with the flying Yakuza kick. I think this match stemmed from the tag match Daniels and Strong had against the Wolves last night, as Strong had some words for Daniels after he took the loss in that match and had some words for him before this match as well. It took a while for the fans to get into it, but it was really quite good as expected. All Truth Martini did was distract Daniels a little outside by reading from his Book of Truth to him, then a little later he hit him with the book behind the ref’s back after Strong Tully’d Daniels into the ropes. This led into the finish. Good stuff all around.

-ROH returns to Philadelphia to tape more episodes on July 16th and 17th.

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