By James Caldwell, PWTorch.com assistant editor

Ring of Honor TV Report
March 28, 2009 - Week 2 on HDNet
Taped 2/28 in Philadelphia, Pa.

After the opening video package, they went back to last week's debut show for Tyler Black defeating Tyler Black.

In-studio: Mike Hogewood was with Dave Prazak to hype tonight's main event featuring ROH champion Nigel McGuinness. Hogewood said Nigel has "a little bit of a mouth on him."

Promo: Holy goodness, Larry Sweeney in HD. Call your momma. Larry said Eddie Edwards is coming to take out Kevin Steen. Edwards came to the ring for the opening match, then a promo featuring Kevin "rocking side to side" Steen aired. Steen laid out the storyline that he's fighting for revenge after Edwards and Davey Richards took out his tag champ partner, El Generico.

1 -- KEVIN STEEN vs. EDDIE EDWARDS (w/Larry Sweeney)

"Gimme a clean break, Kev!" Heavy mic on the ref, who wanted a clean break out of the corner. Sonofagun, Kev, open that hand up and give me a clean break! Steen dominated early on as Prazak talked up Steen's offense. Crowd still very removed from the action with the tight camera shots inside the ring making the action seem like it's taking place inside a box. What I like about Hogewood is he's reacting as if he skipped the entire Attitude era where every conceivable highspot, dirty tactic, and hardcore move was pulled out that eventually de-sensitized the audience. Heel tries to get heat with an eye-rake that a de-sensitized fan would say, "It's just a freakin' eye rake," but Hogewood is reacting as if the guy pulled out a gun. 25 years ago, Hogewood's reaction to an eye-rake would have been in place. In 2009, it sounds out of place because we've seen everything possible to generate heat. Sweeney was hot under the collar trying to work Steen, who missed a top rope Swanton bomb at 7:00. Like I said before, ref was heavily mic'ed. After Steen kicked out of a pin, ref leaned down and audibly told him, "Comeback, Kev, comeback." Amazingly, Steen started his comeback and nailed the Package Piledriver a few moments later for the win.

WINNER: Steen in 8:00. Finish was given away before the finish, so that's something ROH has to be careful of with next week's upcoming TV tapings. Match was a good intro on the show, but Edwards simply doesn't stand out. I don't know what it is, but he has to find a way to stand out without trying to be something he's not. (*1/2)

Backstage: Kyle Durden brought in ROH champion Nigel McGuinness to introduce the champ to ROH TV. Nigel said he understands Durden has a job to do, but he does not need an introduction. Nigel said he is the Ring of Honor World champ, which makes him the guy to beat in this company. He told Jay Briscoe that he's no different than the past men who have fallen to him. He said if Jay doesn't bring 100 percent, he'll kill him. Geez, why the "I'll kill you" line in a promo? Can't back that up...well...unless he's bringing in Samoa Joe and his paper knife.

Promo: Daizee Haze said she is our woman of honor. Fire. Get burned. Cue up some Bob Marley music. Graphic labeled her the "Plucky Underdog" as she came to the ring. Sara Del Rey cut a promo with Sweeney before she came to the ring for the first women's match on ROH TV.

2 -- DAIZEE HAZE vs. SARA DEL REY

Ref Bryce the third man in the ring for this one. Good to see Bryce getting some TV time. Very methodical match as Sara dominated the smaller Haze in the early going. Haze made a brief comeback, but Rey finished her off with the Royal Butterfly double-underhook slam for the win.

WINNER: Sara in 6:00. Fine match to showcase women's wrestling on national TV. Not memorable, but good action while it was on the screen. (*1/4)

Backstage: Durdin brought in the Briscoes to talk about life and wrestling. Mark Briscoe's still out with an injury, but Jay is facing Nigel. Jay cut a promo and told Mark to flash his pearly whites to America in HD. Mark comically flashed his gap teeth, then Jay told McGuinness to man up tonight for their non-title match. Mark said his brother is the toughest s.o.b. in ROH. Man up, boy. That was a stand-out promo among the cookie-cutter promos through an hour and a half of ROH TV.

[Commercial Break]

Backstage: Durdin was with Prince Nana, who hyped Bison Smith and mis-pronounced Durdin's name. Funny. Durdin summed it up that he's out for vengeance.

Promo: Alex Payne said he'll prove he's the best wrestler to come out of the ROH training school. He has Claudio Castagnoli on the show. Claudio cut his pre-match promo in his foreign tongue, then he concluded, "I am very European."

3 -- ALEX "SUGARFOOT" PAYNE vs. CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI

Hogewood pointed out that Sugarfoot has the face of a 12-year-old. Prazak laughed at the honest comment as Claudio continued an offensive beating on Sugarfoot that led to a back-breaker for a two count. Prazak said Sugarfoot only has determination on his side against the bigger Claudio. In other words, delaying the eventual three count to take more of a beating. Claudio busted out the bicycle kick, which got a huge reaction out of Hogewood. After kicking out of about ten pin attempts, Sugarfoot tried a comeback with a top rope bulldog. Claudio had enough and tossed Sugarfoot high into the air for a pop-up European uppercut, followed by the Ricolah Bomb for the pin and the win.

WINNER: Claudio in 5:00. Good use of Sugarfoot as enhancement for Claudio, who has a stand-out personality that ROH can showcase on future TV episodes. (*)

In-ring: After a tale of the tape on Nigel vs. Jay, the main event introductions took place. Jay came out first while the announcers talked about him being an original from the first official ROH show. Nigel came out with the ROH Title belt around his posterior to draw heel heat from the audience.

4 -- ROH champion NIGEL McGUINNESS vs. JAY BRISCOE (w/Mark Briscoe) -- non-title match

Nigel quickly targeted Jay's left shoulder as the point of his attack. Hogewood didn't like Jay's chances to win the match based on Nigel's work. Crowd got behind Jay, who then focused his attack on Nigel's bad shoulder. Nigel tried to come back with the Tower of London out of the corner, but Briscoe stopped him with a boot to the face. Jay nailed a running Death Valley Driver, but Nigel kicked out before three. Nigel then crotched Jay up top and wanted the Tower, but Jay blocked. Great camerawork showing the battle up top leading to Jay nailing a leaping leg drop for a two count. Jay wanted the Jaydriller, but Nigel slipped out and nailed the jawbreaker lariat for the win. Post-match: They showed a few angles from Nigel's finishing move. Good use of the new HD cameras.

WINNER: Nigel McGuinness in 12:00. Excellent TV main event. Not a PPV or DVD-quality four-star, 20-minute match, but a great showcase of Nigel's ability on national TV. Good sample for the new audience to see what Nigel is about and what makes him stand out on the roster as the champion. (***)

Next week: ROH Original Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries in the main event.

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