Ring of Honor Wrestling on HDnet
Taped in Philadelphia, PA

The show opened with the usual intro, and then Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak announced that Bryan Danielson had signed with WWE. Not sure how I feel about them acknowledging it on the TV show. I guess it can't be a bad thing.

1. The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) defeated the Dark City Fight Club (Jon Davis and Kory Chavis) in 7:15. The Bucks controlled the early going, until Chavis wiped them both out with a stiff clothesline. Chavis and Davis worked over Matt Jackson with their trademark stiff offense. Matt tried to make the tag, but Davis knocked Nick to the floor. He finally made the hot tag after a neckbreaker, and Nick took over.

The Bucks got a nearfall with a springboard splash/standing moonsault combination, but Davis speared Matt and Hogewood marked out. DCFC hit a strange doubleteam wheelbarrow neckbreaker for a nearfall, but Matt broke up the cover. The Bucks went for More Bang For Your Buck, but it was blocked. Matt didn't seem to mind, dropkicking Davis to the floor, allowing Nick to get the pin with a sunset flip.

Joe's Judgment: Really fun match. The Bucks are a lot of fun to watch, and DCFC are stiff as hell, which is fun to watch. ROH's tag division is awesome. By the way, the crowd is alive tonight and it's giving the show a much better feel than it's had in recent weeks.

A Briscoes promo aired intermixed with highlights of Steen and Generico...

Prince Nana came out and cut a basic Embassy promo where he called everybody fat pigs and said that Bison Smith will kill Sal Rinauro...

2. Bison Smith defeated Sal Rinauro in 2:15. Bison covered Sal after a claw slam, but let him up at two and beat him up some more, including a dive over the barricade onto Rinauro in a chair. He brought Sal back in the ring and pinned him by covering him with a boot.

Joe's Judgment: Bison looked like a monster here. Nothing else really to say. Oh, and Sal is an awesome jobber. By the way, he rolled under the ring after the match.

Nana said that he's got Bison Smith, and when he doesn't come through, he calls on his Hired Magnum.

3. Colt Cabana defeated Joey Ryan in 6:40. Brief comedy spots early, followed by Ryan working on Colt's arm. Colt made a brief comeback with a quebrada, but Ryan went right back to the arm. Colt hit a few punches and then the Flying "Apple", but Ryan came right back and got a nearfall with a superkick.

Ryan set up Cabana on the top rope and asked who wanted a mustache ride. He went for the Mustache Ride, but Colt blocked, and locked in the Billy Goat's Curse. Ryan tapped after about five seconds. Post match, Sal Rinauro rolled back into the ring and Colt punched him.

Joe's Judgment: Solid match that could have been better with another five or so minutes. Ryan is awesome and I really like him in the Embassy, which I didn't when I first heard that's what ROH was doing with him. Cabana was great as usual.

[C] After the break, Nigel McGuinness cut a promo from the front row. He asked who was to blame for him getting hurt and becoming a physical wreck, and blamed both the fans and the other wrestlers. He made fun of the guy sitting next to him. He got back in the ring and said that he's going to beat up the next guy he wrestles, that if they hurt him, he was going to hurt them more.

Austin Aries cut a backstage promo hyping the "A-Double L-Double, Austin Aries' Lucky Lottery". He said that he was putting twenty "elite" names into a hat, and drawing one person to face him in a title match. He said that people were sending him requests to use their hats personally, and then put on first a white hat that came from England, and then a Big Bird knitted hat, even though he said he was more of a fan of Snuffleupagus. He said that he would pull a name out of one of those two hats, and told us to tune in next week.

Joe's Judgment: The word "Snuffleupagus" always makes me laugh.

4. Kevin Steen and El Generico vs. Mark and Jay Briscoe went to a no contest in Generico and Mark started things off with fast paced flippy action, then tagged in Jay and Steen. Jay slapped Steen, who snot rocketed him. Generico tagged in and was double teamed by both Briscoes, including a double team shoulder block that Hogewood (who I saw interviewing Riley Skinner after the Wake Forest-Stanford game in a sort of mark out moment) loved.

Generico went on the offense and chopped Jay a bit in the corner. He went for the Yakuza, but Jay elbowed him and dropped him into the turnbuckle. Mark tagged in and went to work with karate thrusts, and then a flipping sort of spinebuster. Generico dove onto Jay at ringside, and Mark dove onto Steen. Generico and Mark went back in the ring and exchanged forearms. Generico got a nearfall with a Michinoku Driver.

He went for the Yakuza again, but ran into a superkick from Mark. Both men made hot tags to Steen and Jay. Jay came out on top and facewashed Steen in the corner, then turned around just in time for a Yakuza from Generico. Mark hit another superkick, but Steen powerbombed him. Steen went for the Steenton on Jay, but Jay got his knees up.

Generico tagged in and hit another Yakuza as Jay hit a Death Valley Driver on Steen on the ring apron. The Briscoes went for a Doomsday Device on Generico, but Steen grabbed Mark's leg. Generico rolled up Jay for a nearfall, then Steen hit a cannonball in the corner followed by a coast to coast front flip dropkick from Generico.

Just then, the American Wolves, sporting new tights, made the run-in. They were run off by both face teams. Steen grabbed the mic, and announced that by virtue of their win over the Wolves in Chicago, they were allowed to pick the stipulation for a future title match against the Wolves, and they picked New York City on September 26th (which drew some boos until Steen reminded them that they could just drive there) as the site for Ladder War 2. The crowd went crazy and Steen and Generico stood in the ring to close the show.

Joe's Judgment: Good match that got crazy by the end. I love that even though both teams are babyfaces, they still hate each other. Ladder War 2 will be insane. I wish I was going, but I'm not, and tickets are sold out. The last set of tapings were reportedly really good, and it's showing already, as tonight's show was the best in a while. Congratulations to Juan Martin del Potro, I'm off to watch my Patriots, and I'll see you next week.

If you have any questions, comments, or anything to say about this review, you can reach Joe Mathieson by email at jtmathieson88@gmail.com.

RECOMMEND THIS ARTICLE: