ROH on HDNet
Taped in Philadelphia, Pa.

[Q1] The HDNet guy announced that we're watching a special presentation of Ring of Honor on HDNet... The opening video aired...

Powell's POV: If this is a weekly show, then what's so special about this presentation?

Highlights aired from the June 6 show and the Austin Aries and Jerry Lynn drama. Nigel McGuinness was shown telling Lynn that he knows what it's like to win the belt and have the fans turn against him. Plus, highlights aired of Tyler Black pinning Lynn on June 13, which was followed by Aries winning the belt in the same match...

Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak introduced the show from inside the studio and hyped the main event...

1. Kevin Steen and El Generico beat Sami Callihan and Tony Kozina in 5:50. Prazak spoke about the ROH tag team division and mentioned The Young Bucks as one of the newer teams. At 4:00, Steen picked up Kozina and powerbomed him onto the back of Callihan. Later, Steen picked up both of his opponents and hit a double back drop. He followed up with a package piledriver on Kozina, then Gerico hit a brainbuster on Kozina for the win...

Powell's POV: Good action. It was more than a squash, but I never felt like Steen and Generico were at risk of losing.

Backstage, Kyle Durden interviewed Roderick Strong about the main event. Durden said Aries told him that he might add Strong to the title contender list if he could beat him in the main event. Strong ran through a list of people he's defeated and said he'd prove himself worthy...

2. D-Lo Brown defeated John Kermit in 2:55. Hogewood said Brown was the favorite, but Kermit had an upset on his mind.

[Q2] D-Lo controlled the early action and played the heel by disrespecting his opponent. He finished him off with the Sky High. After the match, Durden entered the ring and asked Brown about his past comments regarding Jerry Lynn. Brown said he hopes Brown retires, rides off into the sunset, or just shrivel up and die...

Powell's POV: Funny line.

An Embassy "paid message" from The Embassy aired. Prince Nana cut a promo, and Claudio Castagnoli and Jimmy Rave also chimed in... [C]

An ad aired for the ROH website...

Powell's POV: Totally ineffective advertising. Why not spotlight one particular DVD every few weeks rather than just airing generic ads for the website?

Backstage, Durden interviewed Nigel McGuinness, who said he took the eye off the ball when he lost to Tyler Black last week. He said it would never happen again...

Tyler Black's music interrupted the Nigel promo and he went to the ring for a promo. Black mentioned Jerry Lynn's career and the retirement rumors. Lynn came out and said that he hates to interrupt, but he wanted to address the D-Lo promo. He said he figures he's doing good at age 46 and most people thought he'd be dead by now.

"At the ripe old age of 45 years-old, I came to Ring of Honor and it was exactly the shot in the arm my career needed," he said. Lynn spoke about how difficult it is to say goodbye to his daughter when he leaves and then telling her he can't play with her because he's too injured when he gets home. He admitted he's thinking about slowing down a bit, but said no one truly retires from pro wrestling.

Lynn recalled Black eliminating him from the match in which he lost the ROH Title. He said the next time they face will be one of the biggest nights of his career. Lynn and Black shook hands to end the segment...

Powell's POV: Nice mic work from Lynn. A good story that fans can relate to. It's refreshing to see someone in pro wrestling admit their age and turn that into a storyline.

[Q3] Next week's main event features The Embassy vs. Colt Cabana, Necro Butcher, Grizzly Redwood, and Brent Albright in an eight-man elimination tag match, plus Sonjay Dutt vs. Delirious...

3. Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong in a non-title match. Both wrestlers fought in and outside the ring during the opening minutes of the match. At the 7:00 mark, Hogewood pointed out that neither wrestler had been able to score a two count. Of course, that happened a few seconds later when Aries scored a throwaway near fall on Strong.

A solid "Let's go Roddy" chant broke out. Strong came back and got a two-count on Aries. Hogewood mistakenly said it was the first two-count in the match. Another "Roddy" chant broke out for Strong. The back and forth action continued with neither man remaining on offense for long.

[Q4] Aries went up top and leapt toward Strong, who caught him and hit a great Urinage backbreaker for a good near fall. Aries came back just moments later and applied the Last Chancery, but Strong reached the ropes. Strong came back with a slingshot suplex for another good near fall.

Strong hit a gutbuster and followed up with a knee to Aries's head, but Austin grabbed the ropes to break up the pin. The fans chanted, "This is awesome." Strong hit a backbreaker and then went for a Boston crab, but Aries slipped out and rolled up Strong for the pin while putting his feet on the ropes for leverage...

The announcers hyped Black vs. Lynn as the main event two weeks from now, and then hyped the eight-man elimination match for next week...

Powell's POV: A very good match. No surprise there, though. I'm still scratching my head over what the purpose of this show is. Yes, it gets the ROH name out there and gives the wrestlers a platform, but a good wrestling show serves as an infomercial for house shows, pay-per-views, or DVDs. ROH just plays the same generic ad for their website every week. How effective is that? There just not getting as much as they should out of this hour of television.

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