Ring of Honor Wrestling on HDnet
Taped in Philadelphia, PA

The opening video aired, and then highlights of last week's tag team Honor Rumble won by the Briscoes. Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak introduced the show, and took us down to the A Double L Double. Aries picked a guy who "has his share of fans" and possesses some of the "sweetest feet" in ROH... Sugarfoot Alex Payne!

1. Austin Aries defeated "Sugarfoot" Alex Payne in 4:30. Aries wore some sparkly trunks that looked like a stained glass window. A bit of chain wrestling to start. Sugarfoot got in a few armdrags, but Aries hit his headstand dropkick out of a headscissors and then held the advantage.

Sugarfoot got a surprise nearfall with a Russian legsweep, but Aries quickly regained control, hitting his elbow drop, then a brainbuster, then pulled Payne up at two to make him tap out to the Last Chancery. He held the hold until Bryan Danielson came out to make the save.

Danielson challenged Aries to put the title on the line against the best in the world. Aries said that even though he, not Danielson, was the best in the world, he would put the belt on the line againt him to shut up the fans... just not tonight.

Joe's Judgment: If you expected something different, you deserved to be disappointed. The match was about as lame as you'd expect. Danielson vs. Aries sounds awesome and I can't wait to see it on DVD.

Chris Hero talked about his match with KENTA. He said that he was a heavyweight, which is different from KENTA's junior heavyweight style, and his elbows were jsut as good as KENTA's kicks.

2. Bison Smith (w/ Prince Nana, Dirty Ernie Osiris) vs. Necro Butcher went to a double countout in 5:20. Straight up brawling for the first part of the match, with Necro having most of the offense. At 4:00, Necro hit his awkward sloppy flip dive to the outside and tossed Bison into the crowd. Both men grabbed chairs and hit each other's chairs. Necro dropped his, and Bison tried a chairshot but Necro caught it as the referee hit 20.

Necro and Bison brawled to the crowd and a bunch of wrestlers and referees came out to break it up. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a trash can hit Bison in the head. The crowd chanted "Let them fight" and Bison grabbed a chair and smashed it over Necro's head. Necro fought back briefly before both were led to the back.

Joe's Judgment: Basic match, which you'd expect from these two. The brawl had a couple nice moments, namely the chairshot and the trash can out of nowhere, but overall it was forgettable.

Colt Cabana cut a promo-type thing where he said that he felt restricted creatively in his last job, but he was glad he was a wrestler so that he didn't have to be a lemonade vendor on the north side of Chicago any more...

3. Tyler Black defeated Rhett Titus in 6:30. Typical athletic big man stuff early with Titus controlling most of it. Black tried his springboard lariat, but Titus dropkicked him to the floor.

Black got back in the ring and beat up on Titus. He went for the buckle bomb, but Titus blocked, and then blocked a second attempt. Titus got a very close nearfall, but got hit with a Pele kick and God's Last Gift for the pin. Jerry Lynn came out and congratulated Tyler as he was going up the ramp.

Joe's Judgment: Titus looked really good. I figured it would be a squash, but it wasn't and I enjoyed it quite a bit. No interest in the Black-Lynn storyline though, but that may change after the Lynn vs. Kenny King match next week.

The announcers hyped Lynn vs. King for next week, plus the "just announced" main event of Austin Aries defending the world title against Bryan Danielson...

4. KENTA defeated Chris Hero (w/ Sara Del Rey, Shane Hagadorn) in 16:20. Amateur style wrestling to start off, before KENTA began to kick Hero stiffly in the chest. KENTA tried a running forearm, but Hero got his boot up. KENTA tried again, but this time Hero got out of the way and KENTA hit the post. Hero worked over the midsection of KENTA.

The match went to ringside and KENTA whipped Hero towards the barricade, but Hero jumped up and balanced on the guardrail, then jumped down and smashed him with an elbow. Hero dropped KENTA on the ring apron, then brought him in the ring and taunted him a bit.

Hero covered, but pulled KENTA up at two. KENTA shortly thereafter got his second wind, taking over with a couple kicks and a top rope diving lariat. KENTA covered, but Hero got to the ropes. Hero cinched in a stretch plum and KENTA got to the ropes. Hero knocked him over with a couple more elbows, then went up top but KENTA caught him in a fireman's carry.

Hero slipped out and hit a sick elbow. He went for a couple more, but KENTA blocked. KENTA hit a Yakuza kick, followed by one from Hero, and then two more from KENTA and a hesitation dropkick. KENTA hit a fisherman buster and then top rope doublestomps, but Hero kicked out.

KENTA got two with a Busaiku knee and signaled for Go 2 Sleep. Hagadorn distracted the ref and Del Rey grabbed KENTA's leg, allowing Hero to hit a sick rolling elbow, then another, , then held him in neckbreaker position, let him go, and hit another elbow for an unbelievably close nearfall. KENTA got up and Hero hit another elbow for another really close nearfall. Hagadorn distracted the ref again, and Del Rey tossed Hero the loaded green elbow pad. Hero spun around for a rolling elbow, but Eddie Kingston came out and grabbed the elbow pad. KENTA scooped up Hero, hit Go 2 Sleep, and won the match.

Joe's Judgment: Great, great match. Worth going out of your way to see. Hero is on a roll, and KENTA is, well, KENTA. Hero threw about 50682 elbows during the match, but the ones he hit at the end were the sickest, which made them look more like legit finishers. Again, great match that's probably a top five ROH TV MOTY.

Anything you want to say about the show? Email me at jtmathieson88@gmail.com.

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