Ring of Honor Wrestling on HDnet
Taped in Philadelphia, PA

1. Chris Hero defeated Delirious. Before the match, Sonjay Dutt came out and attacked Delirious. After some forgettable action, Delirious locked in the Cobra Stretch and hit the Panic Attack. Delirious tried Shadows Over Hell, but Hero rolled out of the way and hit a rolling elbow for a nearfall, then after the kickout, Hero hit a ripcord elbow for the pin.

Joe's Judgment:Pretty good. Dutt's attack was well done. Maybe I just have a man-crush on Sonjay, but I can't wait for the inevitable Dutt-Delirious rematch.

Bryan Danielson's #2 moment in ROH is Danielson vs. Colt Cabana from Gut Check, in which he separated his shoulder six or seven minutes in, and went on to wrestle for an hour.

Paul Turner came to the ring carrying shaving utensils for the Beard vs. Beard match.

2. Necro Butcher and Grizzly Redwood defeated The Embassy (Joey Ryan and Prince Nana) (w/ "Dirty" Ernie Osiris) in 6:15. Redwood hit a huracanrana on Ryan to start things off, then tagged in Necro. Nana declined a tag. Osiris is not wrestling to defend his own beard because of an arm injury. The heels beat on Grizzly for several minutes.

Grizzly made the hot tag to Necro, who punched Ryan, but then ate a superkick. Nana and Ryan beat on Grizzly some more, then Ryan dove onto Necro at ringside. Grizzly made a comeback, running off Nana, then hitting a swinging DDT, and rolling up Ryan for the pin. Necro and Grizzly celebrated, and clipped Osiris' beard.

Bryan Danielson's favorite ROH match is Danielson vs. KENTA at Glory By Honor V Night 2. Danielson talked about how his girlfriend was in the crowd that night and how she had been there for his separated shoulder, and when KENTA got him in an armbar, he looked up and saw her crying. He talked about how great the atmosphere was when he tapped out KENTA to Cattle Mutilation... [C]

Footage of the Austin Aries-Tyler Black fireball incident from last week was shown, followed by hype for Aries vs. Colt Cabana in two weeks. Then came another showing of the Kenny King and Rhett Titus piledriver incident on Jerry Lynn, and hype for King vs. Brent Albright.

3. "Skullkrusher" Rasche Brown defeated Cameron Matthews in 1:00. Brown held up Matthews for a spinning brainbuster for a while, then dropped him. He followed that up with a shoulder block, then a Burning Hammer for the win.

Joe's Judgment: Rasche squashing jobbers is okay, but hopefully he actually starts to do something sometime.

4. Roderick Strong defeated Bryan Danielson in 23:45. Dave Prazak on commentary compared this match to Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko saying goodbye to ECW in the same building almost fifteen years ago. Strong hit a couple backbreakers and held a gutwrench into the corner, then chopped Dragon a couple times.

A great strike battle between the two ended with Danielson kicking Strong in the corner several times, then hitting a running dropkick in the corner. Danielson got the surfboard, but his left leg came loose so he just applied it with one leg. The crowd chanted for Danielson as Strong hit a series of backbreakers.

Danielson tried a missile dropkick, but Strong caught him into a powerbomb and then the Boston crab, which Danielson reversed into a pinning combination. Danielson threw Strong over the guardrail, then hit his springboard dive into the fifth row. Danielson brought the action back in the ring, then hit a missile dropkick and jumping knee.

Danielson tried Cattle Mutilation, but Roderick reversed into a pin. Danielson kicked out and stomped Strong's head in, then applied the Triangle choke. Strong tried to get out with a powerbomb, but Danielson held on. Another powerbomb was unsuccessful. Finally, Strong broke the hold with a powerbomb over his knee.

Strong hit an inverted gutbuster version of a backbreaker, which Danielson kicked out of. He got another nearfall with a gutbuster and another with a Gibson driver. They went up top for a superplex, and Danielson fought out with some elbows, so Strong hit a top rope gutbuster, then followed up with a running big boot for the pin.

After the match, Strong grabbed the mic and said that half the guys in the locker room wouldn't be who they were without Danielson, and that he loved him like a brother. The entire locker room came out and everybody chanted "Thank you Dragon", and the show closed with the image of Danielson in the ring and everybody standing around chanting.

Joe's Judgment: Wow. Just wow. Incredible match. I loved every minute of it. They built nicely to the conclusion and it delivered perfectly. This is simply a must-see match. Strong's post-match speech was short, to the point, and yet still very emotional and touching. The entire locker room coming out to thank Danielson was great. The first half of the show was mediocre, but they more than made up for it with the main event. This was probably the best episode to date. Thank you, Bryan Danielson.

If there's anything you want to say to me, regarding ROH, WWE, Bryan Danielson, or anything at all, email me at jtmathieson88@gmail.com.

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