Ring of Honor TV Report
August 17, 2009
Taped June 19 in Philadelphia, Pa.
Report by Mike DeRosenroll, Torch ROH specialist

The show opened with highlights of the brawl that ended last week's show after the El Generico-Davey Richards match.

Mike Hogwood and Dave Prazak introduced the show. Hogwood welcomed those who may be watching the show for the first time after the move to Monday nights. Annoyingly, he called it "The Ring of Honor." They talked about last week's brawl and said that Kevin Steen and Eddie Edwards, the tag team partners of Generico and Richards, would face each other in tonight's opening match, but Generico and Richards would be banned from ringside. Hogwood and Prazak also hyped the main event between Tyler Black and Nigel McGuinness.

1 - EDDIE EDWARDS (w/Shane Hagadorn) vs. KEVIN STEEN

The two began brawling as soon as Steen hit the ring. Hogwood called it a continuation of what happened last week. Edwards took the advantage when Hagadorn distracted Steen. Edwards punished Steen on the outside and tried for a count-out win, but Steen just beat the twenty-count back into the ring. Steen made a comeback at 6:00. After some back-and-forth high spots, Hagadorn slid a chair into the ring and got on the apron to distract the referee. Steen beat Edwards to the chair and hit Edwards with an unprotected chair shot to the head while the referee was still distracted, then hit a Swanton bomb from the top rope for the pin. Prazak put over the devastation of the chair shot while Edwards sold it in the ring after the match.

WINNER: Steen in 10:00. Solid match, but the unprotected chair shot at the end was unnecessary and spoiled it for me. There was no good reason for Edwards to risk a concussion like that in an opening TV match. It would have been just as effective, and safer, if Edwards had put up his hands to protect himself or if Steen had delivered the chair shot to Edwards's back instead.

They cut to a video package hyping the main event. They showed a clip of McGuinness distracting Black two weeks ago to allow Austin Aries to knock out Black with the ROH World title belt. Then they ran some very good UFC-style interview clips of McGuinness and Black discussing their rivalry. McGuinness said that Tyler did not deserve his reputation as a future World Champion because he always takes his eyes off the ball in big matches. Hogwood told viewers that they were in for a treat with this main event.

Next, a video package aired building up the Young Bucks as contenders in the tag team division and featuring clips of their high-flying moves.

Backstage, Kyle Durden interviewed the Dark City Fight Club. Jon Davis had a cast on his arm. Durden asked what they were doing there when Davis did not have medical clearance to wrestle. Davis said they did not need medical clearance to beat somebody's ass.

2- CHEECH & CLOUDY vs. TONY KOZINA & SAL RINAURO

Kozina and Rinauro did a couple of comedy spots, then Cheech and Cloudy got in a couple of double team spots. At 2:30, the Dark City Fight Club hit the ring and knocked Cheech and Cloudy out of the ring. Rinauro ran off but Kozina stayed to fight. The Dark City Fight Club gave him their finisher and Prazak said he was looking forward to their return in a sanctioned match.

WINNER: No contest in 2:30 due to interference by the Dark City Fight Club.

Backstage, Durden interviewed Sonjay Dutt, who is back to using his original Playa from the Himalaya character. Dutt said he was from Bollywood, India, the most colorful place on earth, and he is going to bring that color and charisma to ROH.

Heading into the commercial break, Hogwood said the always unpredictable Necro Butcher was coming up next.

[commercial break]

A video package hyped next week's show, featuring a confrontation between D-Lo Brown and Jerry Lynn and a main event between Austin Aries and Roderick Strong.

3- SAMI CALLIHAN vs. THE NECRO BUTCHER

Necro came out with his ankle wrapped in electrical tape. Prazak noted that this was due to Jimmy Rave recently catching Necro with the heel hook submission. Necro took an early advantage but Callihan turned the tables at 3:00 by going after Necro's bad ankle. At five minutes, Necro made a comeback and went to the corner to get his staple gun. Prazak noted that stapling your opponent is illegal in wrestling. Hogwood pointed out that the fans really wanted to see it, to which Prazak replied "So what?" The referee stopped Necro from using the staple gun, but Necro finished off Callihan with a tiger driver for the win.

WINNER: Necro Butcher in 6:00. Good enhancement match for Necro. Callihan sold well, and the ankle injury created a sense that Necro was in some jeopardy while reinforcing Necro's issue with Jimmy Rave and the Embassy.

After the match, Colt Cabana led Brent Albright and Grizzly Redwood to the ring. Cabana cut a really good promo building up Necro. Cabana noted that he, Albright and Redwood needed a fourth man for an eight man elimination match against The Embassy. He asked Necro is he was hardcore and crazy enough to be on their team. Necro answered by grabbing his staple gun and stapling Callihan in the head. Cabana said a simple "yes" would have sufficed.

(The camera did not close in enough to show if the staple gun was really loaded. For Callihan's sake I hope it wasn't. If it was loaded, Callihan should be angry at ROH for taking a real stapling to the head and them not showing it.)

Backstage, Durden interviewed Austin Aries. After some interplay in which Aries put down Durden, Aries said everyone in ROH was taking their eyes of the prize by focusing on Black vs McGuinness and whether Jerry Lynn was going to retire. He said the most important thing in ROH is that he holds the World Championship.

Next, Hogwood hyped next week's main event between Aries and Roderick Strong as well as a scheduled appearance by former World Champion Jerry Lynn. Hogwood noted that there are a lot of questions about Lynn's future in wrestling.

4 - TYLER BLACK vs. NIGEL MCGUINNESS

The announcers pointed out that this match has huge implications for future title shots. After an early feeling out process, the pace picked up at 3:00 but McGuinness bailed out of the ring to slow things back down. Black chased McGuinness down outside the ring and took the advantage. He rolled McGuinness into the ring and started working on his leg. At 6:00, McGuinness turned the tables with a hammerlock divorce court and then started working over Black's arm. Prazak noted that working over the arm was setting the stage for McGuinness's London dungeon arm submission. McGuinness's mat wrestling while working over Black's arm was strong and innovative, and Black's selling was great. The crowd really got behind Black, urging him to make a comeback.

At 10:00, McGuinness set up Black for the Tower of London, but Black avoided it and dropkicked McGuinness out of the ring. Black followed this up with a 360 flip over the top rope to strike McGuinness on the floor, then a nice moonsault off the ringside barrier onto the prone McGuinness. Annoyingly, Hogwood called the moonsault a backflip. Back in the ring, McGuinness regained the advantage at 14:00 when Black missed another moonsault. McGuinness went back to working over Black's arm and locked in the London dungeon at 15:00, but Black got his foot to the ropes to force a break. McGuinness then hit the Tower of London on Black and tried for another London dungeon, but Black avoided it with a kick to McGuinness' head. Black then countered a jawbreaker lariat attempt by McGuinness into a small package driver for the win. The announcers pointed out that Black had now beaten both Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuinness, making him the leading contender for Austin Aries's World Championship.

WINNER: Tyler Black at 17:00. Excellent TV main event. McGuinness is a great heel and his matholds look like they hurt a lot. Black did a great job building up sympathy in the middle of the match, then showed his usual great athleticism during his big comeback. The finishing sequence, while good, was not as drawn out and dramatic as a typical ROH DVD main event, so overall this was not quite to the level of a DVD main event but still very good for free TV.

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