Ring of Honor Wrestling on HDnet
Taped in Philadelphia, Pa.

The show opened with the usual montage and then a recap of the Bryan Danielson & Tyler Black issues from the end of the show two weeks ago. Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak introduced us to the show and took us into our opening contest...

1. Brent Albright defeated Claudio Castagnoli in a Flag Match in 8:00. To win, the wrestler has to grab their country's flag from the entryway and have both feet inside the ring with the flag. Albright hit a German suplex and tried to go outside, but Claudio stopped him. The action moved to the floor and Albright charged at Claudio, who was against the barricade, but Claudio ducked and went up the entryway, kicked the American flag, and retrieved the Swiss flag. He suplexed Albright on the ramp for no apparent reason, then blocked Albright's path instead of going into the ring for no apparent reason. Albright jumped over the guardrail and suplexed Claudio.

Albright ran back and retrieved the American flag. He stopped Claudio from getting in the ring with the Swiss flag, and worked him over on the outside. Claudio grabbed the American flag and wiped his armpit and blew his nose on it. Several attempts to get in by each man were thwarted by the other, until Claudio went up to the top with the Swiss flag tucked in his pants. Albright grabbed it, and went up top, hit a crossbody with the American flag, and won the match. He celebrated as Hogewood verbally fellated him.

Joe's Judgment: Way too many gaps in logic, but if this had aired last week as it was supposed to, then it would have been a fun Fourth of July fluff match. As it was, it was kinda stupid, but I do see what they were trying to do.

Kyle Durden was backstage with Jay Briscoe and Roderick Strong. They bickered about which of them was better at various things, including Madden, horseshoes, drinking, and winning tag team titles. Durden said that their rubber match was tonight...

D-Lo Brown refused an interview...

2. D-Lo Brown defeated Alex Payne in 2:30. D-Lo no-sold all of Sugarfoot's punches. Sugarfoot hit a flipping top rope stunner, but D-Lo no-sold that and hit the Sky High powerbomb for the win.

Joe's Judgment: Squash. Payne got a little bit too much offense for my taste, but it was good enough.

Kyle Durden was backstage with Eddie Kingston, asking him why he hates Chris Hero so much. Kingston said that the one place he and Hero hadn't fought was in ROH, and Kingston wanted to come to ROH, but the reason he couldn't was because Hero was such a great politician. He swore to cripple Hero mentally and physically...

"The Art of Pro Wrestling" with Colt Cabana and Brent Albright aired. They plugged ROH merch, available at rohwrestling.com

Joe's Judgment: Awesome, awesome promo that I just can't do justice with transcription. Eddie Kingston is the best talker in North America, bar none. Apologies to Chris Jericho, Edge, and whoever else, but they're just not as good as Kingston in my book.

3. Jerry Lynn, Erick Stevens, and Kenny Omega defeated Austin Aries, Kenny King, and Rhett Titus in 11:40. Aries and Omega started the match, but Lynn tried to jump in after Aries taunted him. Aries got the better of Omega on the first exchange and tagged out to Titus, who tagged out to King after a brief flurry. A hotel room key fell out of Titus' trunks while he made the tag. After some quick tags, it ended up with Aries and Lynn in the ring. Aries wanted no part of Lynn, so he tagged out to King, and Lynn tagged out to Omega. King hit a nice spinebuster for a nearfall.

King tagged out to Titus, who dropped the double knees onto Omega and then gyrated. Omega told him to stop and hit him with an enzuigiri. Omega finally made the hot tag to Lynn, who hit a DDT on Titus for a nearfall. Titus got a nearfall with a spinebuster, and Lynn tagged in Stevens. Stevens went for the Choo Choo on King and Titus, but was stopped by Aries. Lynn jumped in and tried the Cradle Piledriver, but King and Titus stopped it, and then Omega hit them with a double facebuster, then a moonsault to the outside. Aries hit Lynn with the belt, but was unable to follow up, and Stevens hit Titus with the Choo Choo and then a lariat slam for the pin.

Joe's Judgment: Eh. A little too long with not enough really happening. Nice to see Stevens get the pinfall, as I'm a big fan of his, but honestly there was nothing memorable about this match whatsoever.

4. Roderick Strong defeated Jay Briscoe (w/ Mark Briscoe) in 14:00. Lots of back and forth action early in the match. The first cover was by Strong after a slingshot lariat, for a one count. Jay took control with a drop toehold into the turnbuckles, but Roderick regained it with several big boots. Roderick got a nearfall with a crucifix, then Jay got one of his own. Jay went up to the top, but Roddy kicked him down to the floor. Briscoe took control as the action went to the floor, then brought it back in the ring and got a nearfall with a crossbody.

Jay locked in a stretch plum (props to Prazak for knowing the name of the hold), but Strong fought out and got two with a hotshot and backbreaker. He went for the Boston Crab, but Jay countered into a nearfall. Strong kicked out and hit a gutbuster. Jay got him with a running boot and his brother Mark shouted for him to get up. They exchanged chops and Jay got another nearfall with a Death Valey Driver. Jay got another two after a clothesline and went back to the stretch plum. Roderick got out by turning it into a pin, and then locked in the Boston Crab. Jay tried to get to the ropes, but Strong turned the Boston Crab into the Stronghold and Jay tapped out.

Post match, Strong offered a handshake, but Jay turned it down and they started shoving. Mark broke it up...

Joe's Judgment: Solid match, but I could have done without the tension at the end. This was a nice little friendly rivalry, but it shouldn't be stretched out past this match. These two work well together, though, and I have enjoyed each of their three matches together.

Joe Mathieson can be reached via email at aik27joema@yahoo.com or followed on Twitter at twitter.com/jtmath. He is now off to his friend's house to watch UFC 100.

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