By Joe Mathieson

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

A graphic indicated that tonight's show is dedicated to Brad Mackie, the recently deceased lighting director for ROH on HDNet.

Joe's Judgment: He did his job well. R.I.P.

The show opened with a recap of the Necro Butcher/Jim Cornette interaction from a couple weeks ago.

The opening video aired and Joey Ryan cut a promo backstage. He said that Eddie Kingston pissed him off by trying to ruin his movie star good looks, and that by the end of the night, the only question would be "Who wants a mustache ride?"...

Eddie Kingston cut a promo, saying that his back is still messed up a bit, and that Ryan would find out that "payback... you know what it is."

1. Eddie Kingston defeated Joey Ryan (w/ Prince Nana, Mr. Ernesto Osiris) by DQ in 5:45. Kingston got a nearfall with a suplex within the first minute and Ryan answered with a corkscrew DDT type of move (similar to the Moonlight Drive) but Kingston kicked out at one.

Ryan controlled the action and Nana got involved, raking Kingston's eyes in the corner. They brawled around a bit and Ryan went for a superkick, but Kingston caught it and hit a lariat. Shawn Daivari ran out to cause the DQ, and put the boots to Kingston until Necro Butcher ran down with a trash can to make the save.

Jim Cornette came out on top of the ramp and said that he saw "two wrestlers, two weasels, and two guys who were ready to kick some ass." Cornette made a tag team match under Butcher's Rules.

2. Joey Ryan and Shawn Daivari (w/ Prince Nana, Mr. Ernesto Osiris) defeated Eddie Kingston and Necro Butcher in 3:10. Necro hit Daivari with the trash can a few times and then tried to strangle Ryan with a plastic bag. In the ring, Kingston hit a uranage as Necro airplane spun Ryan at ringside. Daivari kicked Kingston low and covered him for three. The entire Embassy beat down Kingston in the ring.

Rasche Brown appeared at the top of the ramp and Dave Prazak said that it was the biggest advantage the Embassy had ever had, while Mike Hogewood reminded him that Brown hadn't made a decision whether to accept the Embassy's contract offer. Brown came down to the ring and attacked the Embassy, as Prazak sounded upset on commentary.

Joe's Judgment: The match was bad with an incredibly weak finish. The post match was... well I'm not sure it was bad, but it wasn't particularly great either.

Steve Corino was backstage with Kyle Durden. Durden didn't know why Corino asked for interview time. Corino told him that ratings went up whenever he was on screen, and then addressed Colt Cabana. He said that only losers make excuses, and that Cabana shouldn't cross him and Kevin Steen... [C]

Highlights from Supercard of Honor V in New York City aired, with comments from Balls Mahoney, who put over ROH and said that "Florida" "wasn't even on the map". Highlights were also shown of Sara Del Rey vs. Amazing (formerly Awesome) Kong, and Christopher Daniels vs. Eddie Edwards, followed by Daniels putting over ROH and calling out Davey Richards, Delirious vs. Austin Aries, Kevin Steen vs. Colt Cabana in a 34th Street Deathmatch, the Briscoes beating down the Kings of Wrestling after their match, and Roderick Strong vs. Tyler Black for the ROH World Championship.

Joe's Judgment: I really liked that. Steen vs. Cabana looks absolutely sick from what they showed. By the way, the KOW faced the Motor City Machine Guns. I'm guessing TNA wouldn't let them mention them on TV. Great recap of the show and hopefully we'll get more of those after big shows.

The video of Austin Aries attacking Delirious aired yet again, followed by a recap of the Roderick Strong/Austin Aries angle from last week. Aries was backstage with Kyle Durden. Aries talked about his upcoming non-title match with Tyler Black, and that he didn't need the belt. He said no matter what happened with Black and Strong bitching and moaning at each other, he would still be the greatest man that ever lived, and after he beat Black next week, he'd control their emotions, and "that's real power"...

3. Eddie Edwards defeated Colt Cabana to retain the ROH World TV Championship in 11:40. Prazak and Hogewood both agreed that it was great that there was now a title that was "exclusive to HDNet".

Joe's Judgment: Edwards retained against Petey Williams in Mississauga, Ontario on March 21st, which I'm guessing was a one-time thing so they could legitimately call it a world title, and the belt will only be defended on TV from here on out.

Edwards and Cabana mat wrestled for a bit. Cabana missed a running attack in the corner and Edwards gained control of the match. He brought the action out to ringside and suplexed Colt on the mat. At 5:00, Edwards with up to the top rope, but Cabana knocked him down and superplexed him, but was unable to capitalize.

Edwards went for a top rope doublestomp, but Cabana got a boot up and sent Edwards to ringside. Edwards climbed up to the apron but Colt hit his elbow on the ringpost and beat Edwards down at ringside. Cabana high fived a little girl in the first row and threw Edwards back in the ring at fifteen.

Cabana got a nearfall with a "flying apple." He went for the Colt 45 but Edwards got out. Edwards tried a running forearm but Colt elbowed him. Eddie kicked him off the top rope and hit his backpack stunner for two. Edwards went up top for a dropkick, but Cabana caught him with a powerbomb and locked in the Billy Goat's Curse.

Steve Corino ran down and Colt broke the hold to go after him. Edwards rolled him up and I got serious deja vu, but Cabana kicked out and rolled Edwards up for two. Corino got back up in the apron, and Cabana forearmed him. Hagadorn rolled the belt in, and Edwards slammed Colt's knee onto it, and then put on the Achilles Lock, and Colt tapped out. Post match, Corino beat on Cabana and Kevin Steen came out and they celebrated.

Joe's Judgment: The TV Title isn't over yet, but give it time. Edwards is the right guy to have it on, because he's a really good tweener and his association with one of the most over guys in the company in Davey Richards will help too. The match was okay, but it was kinda weird to see Cabana come out being goofy, mat-wrestling Colt after seeing him and Steen kill each other with tacks, ladders, and the like in the SCOH highlights.

Overall, tonight's show wasn't bad. There was a lot of different stuff packed into one hour, which was good. The bad part was that a lot of it was Necro/Embassy stuff, which I just don't care about, and Kevin Steen, El Generico, and Davey Richards had a combined thirty seconds of screen time. I realize they can't all be on the show every week what with it being taped six to eight weeks at a time, but the show really does suffer when the most over guys are absent.

Anything to say about tonight's show, or the upcoming Death Before Dishonor VII iPPV? Email me at jtmathieson88@gmail.com.

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