ROH on HDNet
Taped in Philadelphia, PA

[Q1] The opening video aired. Footage was shown of the three men and one woman that achieved victory last week. Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak welcomed us to the show. Hogewood mentioned that Jerry Lynn became the ROH Champion after defeating Nigel McGuinness...

Twill’s Two Cents: Having Nigel lose the strap one week after they made a huge deal out of him last week was not the best timing.

1. Erick Stevens defeated Sterling James Keenan in 6:52. Stevens was in control early before Keenan hit a cheap shot to gain the advantage. He scored a nearfall with a Spicoli Driver into a back breaker combination. After some back and forth knife edge chops, Keenan hit a STO for a two count.

Stevens came back with an overhead belly to belly suplex. He scored a nearfall with a shoulder block from the second rope. Keenan immediately countered with an implant DDT. Stevens signaled for the Dr. Bomb, but Keenan poked him in the eye. Stevens was able to hit the Dr. Bomb (gutwrench powerbomb) for the win...

Twill’s Two Cents: Very physical opening bout with abrupt changes in offensive advantages. Not a bad match by any means, but definitely not the best match to open the show with.

Kyle Durden interviewed Bryan Danielson backstage. The American Dragon listed all of the countries he has main evented in, including the very first ROH show. He said he would show the world why people call him the best wrestler in the world. He said he would prove it tonight...

[Q2] 2. The Dark City Fight Club defeated Cheech and Cloudy in 2:26. Chavous and Davis threw Cheech outside of the ring immediately and worked on Cloudy. Cloudy was able to turn the tides with a Hurricarana. Cheech tagged in and hit a high cross body. The Fight Club came back quickly and hit the double team powerbomb/neckbreaker combination for the win...

Twill’s Two Cents: This was basically a tag team squash match, which is a shame since it was the first tag match they have had on this TV show. The Fight Club looked pretty good in victory.

Durden interviewed Austin Aries backstage and asked why he turned on the fans. Aries said he did not care about the fans. He said he was not just the greatest wrestler in the world, but he was the greatest man in the world...

A graphic aired for Danielson vs. Aries... [C]

3. Chris Hero (with Larry Sweeney and Sarah Del Rey) defeated Necro Butcher in 8:19. A “Let’s go Butcher, let’s go Hero” chant broke out. Butcher stood by and voluntarily took two boots to the head. He then made a funny face and knocked Hero down with one punch. In case you are wondering, yes, the Necro Butcher wrestled Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler.

Hogewood talked about Hero’s loaded elbow pad, but Prazak acted like a heel for the first time by saying nothing has ever been proven. Hero gained the advantage with help from Sweeney and Del Rey. He beat on Butcher on the floor.

[Q3] The next crowd chant was “Let’s go Hero, fuck you Hero.” Nice. Hero hit a series of elbow strikes to the head and even scored a nearfall. Butcher took over with a backdrop and a bulldog. Hero hit two more elbows and a Blockbuster for a two count.

A kick from Hero sent Necro to the floor. He struggled to his feet and grabbed a chair out of the crowd. He hit a bodyslam with the chair on Hero’s back as he did so. Sweeney distracted the referee, allowing Del Rey to throw a loaded elbow pad to Hero. He put it on, hit a shot to Butcher’s face, and scored the win...

Twill’s Two Cents: That was decent at best. The match just never picked up and the loaded elbow pad for painfully obvious since it was bright green and the rest of Hero’s attire was black. I am glad we are getting the main event we are getting tonight.

After the match, as Butcher recovered in the ring, the fans chanted, “Where’s your Oscar?” at him...

The tale of the tape for Danielson vs. Aries was shown...

4. Bryan Danielson defeated Austin Aries in 14:29. Before the match began, the referee waited for the handshake, but Aries left the ring in protest of the cheers for Danielson. He returned to the ring and slapped Bryan’s hand before the referee rang the bell. Early on, Austin hit two very impressive deep arm drags.

[Q4] The crowd cheered as both men exchanged counters during a chain wrestling sequence. Bryan back leg tripped Austin and worked on the lower back. Austin rolled out of a sunset flip and hit a low dropkick to Danielson’s face. Bryan hit an arm drag but held onto it to lock in an arm breaker. Prazak said Danielson has been training at Extreme Couture.

Aries backdropped Danielson out of the ring and hit a suicide dive through the ropes onto him. He rolled him back in and scored a two count. Danielson came back with a series of kicks and boots. An impressive Irish whip sequence saw Bryan hit a huge closeline. He then hit a butterfly suplex and applied another arm breaker.

Bryan threw Aries to the floor. He was going to baseball slide into him, but Austin moved. Bryan hit a running knee instead. Back in the ring, Danielson went for Cattle Mutilation but Austin rolled into a nearfall. Danielson tried a released German suplex, but Aries landed on his feet and kicked Danielson in the face.

As both men recovered, Austin hit a running dropkick in the corner for a two count. He went for a brain buster twice but Bryan countered out. Bryan locked in the triangle choke and Aries rolled around a few times, but Danielson held onto it. Aries tapped out...

Twill’s Two Cents: That was by far the best match on ROH TV thus far and people can see why both of these men are so good, especially facing each other. Prazak mentioned during the match that Nigel was the ROH Champion, so I guess they do not post produce commentary. Nonetheless, this match saved the show and was a fantastic main event.

As always, feel free to send your show thoughts to dotnetrich@gmail.com.

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