8/16 Mathieson's ROH on HDNet Live Coverage: Roderick Strong vs. Davey Richards with a future title shot on the line, El Generico vs. Erick Stevens, Jerry Lynn vs. Rhett Titus, and the House of Truth in action

By Joe Mathieson

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

A video hyped tonight's main event and briefly recapped the recent history of the two men involved.

1. Jerry Lynn defeated Rhett Titus (w/Austin Aries) in 7:30. This match got started right after the opening video with Titus jumping Lynn before the bell. They brawled on the floor for a bit and came back in the ring. Titus controlled the match until Lynn hit an inverted DDT at 2:50.

Lynn continued to maintain the advantage until Aries grabbed his foot and Titus capitalized with the Muff Driver. Lynn got two with a rollup a bit later but Titus came back and got two with a weird-looking elbow drop. At 6:45, Lynn countered the Super Sex Factor into a swinging DDT for two.

Aries got up on the apron and Titus poked him in the eyes, then went for some sort of a crucifix powerbomb type of thing. Lynn countered into a sunset flip for the three count. As Lynn walked up the entranceway, Kenny King hit him from behind and he, Titus, and Aries beat down Lynn until Delirious made the save.

Joe's Judgment: That was absolutely awful. No heat, the crowd was dead, and Prazak and Hogewood were robotic on commentary. Plus there were several botches and it nearly put me to sleep. So, not a good way to start off tonight's show.

Kyle Durden was backstage with Kevin Steen and Steve Corino. He mentioned that last week they used a chain, which seemingly came out of nowhere. Corino said it didn't come out of nowhere, that the chain was symbolic and representative of them. Steen said the chain was a lot like El Generico because it was heavy and annoying, but it had become his new best friend. He said that Generico and Cabana would meet his new best friend soon...

2. El Generico defeated Erick Stevens by DQ in 5:45. Stevens dominated for about a minute but Generico came back with his usual offense. Stevens hit a Samoan drop for two and worked a waistlock, then got two with a powerslam.

Generico hit some forearms and at 4:00 a Blue Thunder powerbomb. Stevens hit some Necro Butcher-esque chops and forearms in the corner and called for the Choo Choo but Generico hit a Yakuza and hung Stevens up in the Tree of Woe. He signaled for his flipping version of the Van Terminator when Steen and Corino ran out and beat on him with a chain until Colt Cabana made the save.

Joe's Judgment: This would have meant so much more if Stevens wasn't a glorified jobber. The run in DQs are getting old really fast by the way.

Kyle Durden interviewed Davey Richards backstage. Davey said that while his match with Tyler Black at Death Before Dishonor VIII was the fight of his life, he still lost, and he wanted the belt. Truth Martini showed up and said that Roderick Strong had Tyler's number and that there was a conspiracy against him. Shane Hagadorn said that if Truth tried anything, he'd shove his book down his throat. Davey told Hagadorn that he wouldn't be accompanying him to his match tonight, and told Truth to ask Roddy about him because he had a short fuse and he wouldn't hesitate to kick Truth's ass. [C]

A video recapped the Steen/Corino vs. Generico/Cabana feud and announced a double chain match for Glory By Honor IX.

Joe's Judgment: Totally called it.

Hogewood and Prazak hyped the dream tag match for GBH with the Kings of Wrestling facing Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin and introduced a Kings video. The KOW talked about how they were big and athletic and knew each other inside out. They put over Haas and Benjamin's wrestling ability but said that at GBH we would see who the best tag team in the world was.

3. The House of Truth (Josh Raymond and Christin Able w/Truth Martini) defeated Mike Sydal and Aiden Chambers in 1:40. Sydal is the brother of former ROH and current WWE wrestler Evan Bourne, aka Matt Sydal. Bobby Cruise read a long introduction for Truth. Sydal hit a double crossbody but that was about all the offense the babyfaces got as the HOT won with their double-team finisher.

Davey Richards and Roderick Strong made their entrances. Strong was accompanied by Truth Martini, which I guess means he walked back through the curtain and then immediately walked back out. Davey grabbed the mic and said that since Hagadorn wasn't out, Strong should send "Fabio the hairdresser" to the back so they could "do this NRC style". Strong did send Martini to the back.

4. Roderick Strong defeated Davey Richards in 19:39. Strong went with a headlock and Davey backed him into the ropes and slapped him at 2:00. Dave Prazak went over their history in the No Remorse Corps. They exchanged holds and reversals for another couple minutes and Davey hit a leg lariat and sent Strong out to the floor at 5:00. Richards hit a running kick on the apron to Strong on the floor.

Richards continued with some stiff kicks on the floor before rolling Strong back in the ring. They exchanged forearms and Strong got the better of it, sending Richards to the floor where he chopped him a few times. Strong applied a reverse bearhug in the ring but Davey fought out.

At 8:15, Richards hit a diving headbutt and only got two. They went back to the floor and Strong hit a dropkick through the ropes and a backbreaker on the guardrail. At 11:00, Davey hit a bunch of slaps and then a handspring enzuigiri. Strong met Davey coming in for a running forearm with a big boot. Davey hit a missile dropkick for two.

Strong reversed a suplex and hit a gutbuster for two at 12:50. They fought on the apron and Davey hit some kind of an arm variation of a dragon screw and went to a Fujiwara armbar. Strong went for a powerbomb but Davey countered right back into the armbar.

Davey signaled for the shooting star press at 15:00 but Strong kicked him while he was on the top rope and then connected with a backbreaker onto the top turnbuckle. Strong went for the Stronghold but instead slingshotted Davey into the turnbuckle. The fans chanted for Davey as he hit a sunset flip powerbomb off the top.

Davey hit a sick running kick and a bridging German for two followed by a release German and a pin into another armbar. Strong got to the ropes and locked in the Stronghold. Davey reversed into a pin and Strong kicked out at two. Davey went for a lariat but Strong ducked and Davey hit Todd Sinclair. The crowd went crazy and chanted "Thank you Davey". Nice.

Shane Hagadorn walked out and held Strong for Davey. Davey pushed Strong aside and shoved Hagadorn off the apron. They argued and Davey turned around into a running boot from Strong, who covered for the pin. Strong celebrated with Truth Martini to close the show.

A video hyped next week's main event of The Embassy vs. Rasche Brown, the Dark City Fight Club, and Grizzly Redwood...

Joe's Judgment: Good match that would have been better if Strong had showed even the slightest interest in selling his arm. I mean, Davey kept going back to it and Strong never showed any effects except when Davey was physically attacking it. The finish was a bit weak, although I was expecting a time limit draw so I guess it's not a big change. Overall I'd probably put this behind their Chicago match and one they had in PWG in April, but ahead of their HDNet match earlier this year on a list of best Strong vs. Richards matches from this year.