ROH on HDNet
Taped in Philadelphia, PA

[Q1] The opening video aired. Footage was shown of last week’s Davey Richards vs. El Generico main event, which erupted into a locker room clearing brawl. Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak welcomed us to the first Monday night show. They plugged Kevin Steen vs. Eddie Edwards with partners banned from ringside. Tonight’s main event is Nigel McGuinness vs. Tyler Black...

Twill’s Two Cents: It would have been nice to see a new intro or something different for the Monday night move (involvement from all of the top stars maybe). This is going to be the first ROH show for a lot of viewers but ROH is set to do things the way they usually do them.

1. Kevin Steen defeated Eddie Edwards (with Shane Hagadorn) in 10:14.. Steen ran down to the ring and attacked Edwards before he could be introduced. It took Edwards a couple minutes to remove his ring vest. Steen threw Edwards to the floor and was distracted by Hagadorn. He went after Hagadorn and Edwards attacked him from behind.

Edwards continued the onslaught on the floor. He ran Steen into the guardrail twice. Steen entered the ring at the count of 18 while the crowd chanted “Mr. Wrestling.” Eddie taunted Steen by kicking him in the head repeatedly. Steen hit a flipping jawbreaker from the ropes and followed with two cannonballs.

Eddie hit his running neckbreaker and a top rope codebreaker. He scored a nearfall. Steen countered an Irish whip with a pump handle neckbreaker for a two count. Hagadorn rolled a chair into the ring and distracted the referee. Steen picked up the chair and hit Edwards. He followed with the Swanton for the win...

Twill’s Two Cents: Steen is one of the top performers on a loaded ROH roster, but for people watching the show for the first time, it may have been better to tweak the format of the show to focus on all of the top stars. Nonetheless, fun opener from the always entertaining Steen and the ever improving Edwards.

[Q2] Nigel McGuinness and Tyler Black cut pre-taped promos on each other. Hogewood put over the tag team division in ROH. The Dark City Fight Club were interviewed by Kyle Durden backstage...

2. Sal Rinauro and Tony Kozina vs. Cheech and Cloudy ended in a no contest in 2:32. The Dark City Fight Club attacked both teams early and the match was thrown out. Kozina tried to buddy up with the Fight Club, but they hit him with their double team finisher...

Twill’s Two Cents: With all due respect to these teams, Hogewood just plugged the tag team division and when I think of ROH tag teams, these two teams are way down on the list and the DCFC are not one of the top teams either. They should have featured more prominent teams.

Durden interviewed Sonjay Dutt backstage. Dutt said he was bringing a new Sonjay Dutt back to ROH. He said HD Net was going to see the original Playa from the Himalaya...

Necro Butcher is up next... [C]

3. Necro Butcher defeated Sami Callahan in 4:40. Butcher threw Callahan to the floor, pulled up the mat, and hit the steel chair bodyslam. Butcher was struggling with an injured ankle, given to him by Jimmy Rave of the Embassy. Callahan scored one nearfall but Butcher hit a right cross. He grabbed the staple gun but couldn’t use it. He hit the Tiger Driver for the win...

[Q3] Colt Cabana, Brent Albright, and Grizzly Redwood came out to the ring. Cabana recruited Butcher to join his team in a four on four match against Prince Nana and the Embassy. Cabana needed someone crazy. Necro stapled Callahan. “A simple yes would have worked.” The four celebrated...

Twill’s Two Cents: Hog sounded like a fool when Butcher went to use the staple gun during the match. Prazak said it was illegal and Hogewood said the fans loved seeing it. Ugh. Decent, but forgettable (and typical) Butcher match. He is a guy people might recognize so I liked having him on this show and his involvement with Cabana.

Durden attempted to interview ROH Heavyweight Champion Austin Aries backstage. He was going to ask about tonight’s main event but Aries warned him about his line of questioning. Durden switched the question to focus on Aries himself. Aries said he has the “highest consistency of ‘it’” in the business. He called himself perhaps the greatest man to ever live and would show that to Roderick Strong next week...

Next week’s show will feature Aries vs. Strong and an interview with Jerry Lynn...

4. Tyler Black defeated Nigel McGuinness in 16:48. Code of honor (pre-match handshake) was adhered to. Slow pacing to start with both men feeling each other out. Nigel’s past injuries were chronicled by the announce team. The fans chanted for both Nigel and Tyler. The pace picked up with Tyler scoring a nearfall after a leg lariat.

Nigel retreated to the floor. Tyler hit the ropes and was ready to fly, but Nigel strolled out of the way. Tyler followed him to the floor and attacked him with knife edge chops. He slapped Nigel in the face. He rolled Nigel back into the ring and started working on the leg as opposed to one of his two injured arms.

[Q4] Nigel fought back and oddly enough, starting targeting Black’s arm as an offensive focus. Nigel rolled through and locked his legs around Tyler’s arm. He pulled back on the arm and Tyler refused to submit. Nigel’s offense continued and was calculating as usual. He set up the Tower of London but Black countered with an Irish whip and dropkick.

With Nigel retreating to the floor, Tyler hit a somersault plancha and followed with a moonsault off the barricade. Very impressive. Black hit the springboard closeline. He tried the God’s last gift (package piledriver) but Nigel countered with a small package for a two count. Tyler countered another TOL attempt for another nearfall.

The fans continued the counter chant for both men. Nigel’s comeback attempt always focused on Tyler’s arm. He tried the jawbreaker lariat but both men countered each other. Nigel ended up locking in the London Dungeon but Tyler got to the rope. Nigel attempted the TOL for a third time and couldn’t hit it, but the fourth time was the charm.

McGuinness was too worn out to go for the cover. He went for the arm again and Tyler pushed him off, allowing Nigel to attempt the jawbreaker one more time. Tyler countered and hit the God’s last gift for the win. After the match, Tyler held out his hand and Nigel shook it after a short pause. Hog said ROH had less talk and more action...

Twill’s Two Cents: If you enjoy Nigel’s style, and I love it, then you would have loved this match. Nigel was cerebral and calculating with his offense, focusing his attack on one body part and working his submissions. Tyler was a counter machine with high risk moves sprinkled in. Great main event and one that I hope the WWE fans watching stuck around to watch.

What did you think of the show? This was one of the better HDNet shows but I expected a little more for the first Monday night broadcast. Feel free to let me know what you thought by shooting an email to dotnetrich@gmail.com.

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