6/14 Mathieson's ROH on HDNet Live Coverage: Colt Cabana vs. Steve Corino, Christopher Daniels debuts on ROH TV, the contract signing for Davey Richards vs. Tyler Black, and the Briscoes in action

By Joe Mathieson

Ring of Honor Wrestling on HDNet
Taped in Philadelphia, Pa.

The opening video played and Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak ran down the main event and the contract signing.

1. Christopher Daniels defeated Bobby Shields in 2:20. Daniels came out to what sounded like a remixed version of Disposable Teens. Hogewood and Prazak talked about how Daniels was back in ROH and was coming after the ROH World Title. Daniels got some "Fallen Angel" and "Welcome back" chants. He dominated the match and won with the BME.

Post match, Daniels cut a promo saying he called out Davey Richards because he took issue with Richards calling himself the best in the world, but that wasn't a singular challenge. He said that the best wrestlers in the world were in ROH, and he came back not to prove anything, but to teach everyone, whether it was Delirious or Tyler Black. He said that when you talk about the best in the world, you're talking about Christopher Daniels, and that's the Gospel according to the Fallen Angel.

Joe's Judgment: Good to see Daniels back in ROH. He's clearly still got it in the ring, and on the mic. Looking forward to the inevitable Richards vs. Daniels match.

Steve Corino was backstage with Kyle Durden. Durden asked him about Colt Cabana, and Corino said he was on his list of people he doesn't like. The list included a coat checker, Keanu Reeves, and J.D. Drew. At the bottom was Colt Cabana. Corino said he had told Cabana to stay away, but he didn't, and now he was back on the list for good.

Corino said someone else was on the list, and the camera panned over to Kevin Steen as he said "El Generico". Steen cut a promo on Generico saying that he stood by everything he had said or done in the last six months, and Generico would need his free healthcare for the doctors to reattach his spine.

A Steen/Generico hype video aired...

Joe's Judgment: How good are Steen and Corino right now? The answer is "unbelievably". If you'd told me when I heard Corino was coming back to ROH last October that eight months later he'd be in the hottest angle of the year, I wouldn't have believed you. Yet he is. And Steen is amazing as well. Feud of the year anyone?

Hogewood and Prazak ran down the top three matches for Death Before Dishonor, then went to ringside with Kyle Durden, who interviewed Mike Briscoe, father of the Briscoe brothers. Mike said that being there was part of his Father's Day present, but the other part was watching his boys "kick the King of Wrestling's ass" in Toronto.

2. The Briscoes defeated Sid Reeves and Bob Evans in 2:15. Mark hit a huracanrana on Evans, who is a pretty big guy. The Briscoes dominated for a minute or so, then Jay hit a Jaydriller on Reeves as Mark dove onto Evans on the floor.

After the match, Durden asked some fans who they were picking for the World Title match. Suddenly Chris Hero appeared with Claudio Castagnoli and a mic and cut a promo in front of Mike Briscoe. He said that the Briscoes were upstanding guys who made a couple of mistakes: stepping in the ring with the KOW at The Big Bang, and thinking they had any chance in Toronto, but it was Mike who made the biggest mistake of all: "not using a damn condom... twice."

Mike jumped the guardrail, shrugged off a security guard and slapped Hero. Hero caught him with an elbow and the Briscoes ran down and swore a lot. [C]

Joe's Judgment: Good angle, if a bit predictable once Mike Briscoe was shown the first time. Hero was great, which is the norm.

Various wrestlers offered their predictions for Black vs. Richards. Grizzly Redwood picked Black. Erick Stevens picked Richards. Jim Cornette said he had to be impartial. Kevin Steen said El Generico was going to die. Rhett Titus picked Austin Aries. Eddie Edwards asked Durden if he was serious. Austin Aries predicted there would be a winner who wasn't as good as he was.

Joe's Judgment: Funny stuff. Durden is good comic relief and this was a nice quick way to both get over the world title match and give tiny tastes of some characters.

3. Steve Corino defeated Colt Cabana by DQ in 6:45. They brawled in the aisleway before the match started. Corino set up a table in the first minute or so. They brawled all over at ringside and Corino went for something on a table, but Cabana threw him into the crowd.

Corino got two with an STO back in the ring, and they ended up slugging it out. Cabana got two with an elbow, but Corino hit a lariat and then a sliding lariat for two. Cabana hit a baseball slide sending Corino into the barricade. He brought a table over and Corino went for a chair. Cabana blocked and placed Corino's head in the chair.

Colt grabbed another chair at the other end of the tabe and referee Paul Turner kept telling him not to use it. Eventually Cabana threw Turner into the guardrail and he called for the bell. Cabana took no notice and slid the chair down the table, smashing the chair on Corino's head.

Colt set a table up vertically in the corner of the ring and tried to put Corino through it, but Corino's son ran down and distracted the referee. Steen came out and superkicked Cabana, then speared him through the table.

New El Generico music hit and he came out to make the save. He hit a Yakuza kick on Steen and set him up on a table at ringside. Before he could splash him through the table, however, Corino pulled him off and they left.

Joe's Judgment: There are few people who can sell hatred like Corino. The match was pretty good, and the post-match really made me want to see more from these four. Strong build for DBD.

Kyle Durden was backstage with Roderick Strong. Strong said that no matter what happens, he knew what would take place: either Black or Richards would get screwed over by the other guy, the referees, or the ROH officials. He said that that's what happens in ROH, and that no matter what happened, he knew how it would happened.

Joe's Judgment: The slow build to the Strong heel turn looks to be almost complete. His word choice here was awkward, but he got his point across.

Jim Cornette was seated at a table with three chairs. Davey Richards entered with Eddie Edwards and Shane Hagadorn, followed by Tyler Black. Cornette asked Richards to sign and make a statement. He signed, and said that after Saturday, everyone would see that he really was the best in the world. Black signed and said that he had proof he was the best, and gestured at the world title belt, and that he would have eyes in the back of his head for Hagadorn and Edwards.

Richards said that he'd prove he was the best, and after he beat Tyler, there would be no doubt. He told Hagadorn and Edwards to stay in the back, and just as he finished, Christopher Daniels' music hit and he came out. He said that if this was "ordinary wrestling", he'd challenge the winner of the match, but since it was ROH, he'd challenge both the winner and the loser.

Daniels said that both men had something he wanted: Richards had the fan support to back up his claims of being the best in the world, and Black had the tangible evidence. He wished both men luck and said that no matter what happened, it was just a prologue for the future matches where he'd teach both of them and all the fans that he was the best in the world, and that was the Gospel According to the Fallen Angel.

A DBD hype video closed the show...

Joe's Judgment: Very different from your typical contract signing. Both men were fairly strong on the mic, and it made me want to see Richards vs. Black. Daniels' involvement was unexpected and it did a good job of setting up two future matches. Richards vs. Daniels has to be the match I'm looking forward to most of any unannounced potential future ROH match.

Overall, tonight's show was very strong, and focused squarely where it needed to, on the three big matches. The build to each was strong, and this was one of the best top to bottom ROH shows in recent memory. I highly recommend watching this when it's posted on YouTube if you didn't watch it tonight.

Any questions, comments, or concerns? Email Joe at jtmathieson88@gmail.com.