Ring of Honor TV Report
December 14, 2009
Taped November 5 in Philadelphia, Pa.
Episode #38 - Second episode of Series Seven
Report by Mike DeRosenroll, Torch ROH specialist

Positives

- For the second straight week, ROH delivered a very strong entertaining show in the ring. The opening match between Delirious and Kenny King was solid, and the main event between Tyler Black and Sonjay Dutt was very good. Both matches featured novel combinations of wrestlers that we have not seen on TV yet and delivered well.

Negatives

- The hype for the Final Battle online pay-per-view this Saturday was not strong for a "lead-in show." Tyler Black’s promo, and the announcers during Black’s main event match, did at least talk about Black wanting to get his hands on Austin Aries, but there was no hard sell to push people to think that the Aries-Black main event match this weekend is a match they should go out of their way to see. Aries had a segment on the show with Jim Cornette and did not even mention the PPV this weekend, which is a stunning oversight, even if the show was taped last month.

- Steve Corino’s promo reintroducing himself was so rife with insider talk of ratings and making a major impact that it felt like I was watching WCW ten years ago.

Detailed Show Recap

- The show opened with a recap of last week’s main event, including Tyler Black's confrontation of Austin Aries after Aries retained his title, which was abruptly cut off when the show ended.

- Mike Hogewood hyped that Tyler Black would face Sonjay Dutt in a Pick 6 Contenders Series match later in the show.

1 – DELIRIOUS (w/Daizee Haze) vs. KENNY KING (w/Rhett Titus) -- Pick 6 Contender's Series match

During the ring entrances, a clip aired of Sonjay Dutt putting Daizee Haze in the camel clutch during a taped-for-DVD event in Boston last September. A graphic on the screen noted that the DVD of the event is available on ROHwrestling.com. Good integration of live event and TV storylines to help drive DVD sales.

Delirious got the better of King in the early going, first with mat wrestling and then with a series of arm drags, until King fled to the outside for a breather at 1:30. Delirious followed King outside, where Titus got involved on King’s behalf, but Haze caught Titus with a surprise clothesline to even the odds. Back in the ring, Delirious continued working over King until Titus caused a distraction by going after Haze. Delirious went back to the outside to chase Titus, allowing King to follow him out and turn the tide with a clothesline and a series of kicks and throws into the barrier on the outside.

King brought the action back into the ring at 4:00 and continued to work over Delirious heel-style. After teasing a couple of comebacks, Delirious finally made a comeback at 6:00 with an elbow-corkscrew combination. At 6:30, Delirious unleashed the Neverending Story elbow followed by a flying clothesline from the top rope for another near fall. King made a comeback at 7:30 by snapping the top rope into Delirious’ eyes and following up with a blockbuster for a near fall. King then followed up with some strikes, a running double knee strike and a pin attempt with his feet on the ropes, but Delirious kicked out. King argued with the referee over the count, giving Delirious an opening for a comeback. At 9:30, Delirious grounded King in the corner and landed the Panic Attack (running knee strike in the corner). Delirious tried to follow up with the Shadows Over Hell back splash from the top, but King countered with a leaping leg strike, followed by a Blue Thunder bomb for a near fall. King then tried to set up Delirious for the coronation, but Delirious countered it into a leverage pin.

WINNER: Delirious in 10:00. A solid opening match with good back-and-forth action well executed by two talented, athletic workers. A surprising result given King’s recent push, since the stipulation means Delirious will be in line for a future ROH World Title shot while King will not.

- Backstage, Kyle Durden interviewed Jim Cornette. Cornette began cutting a promo about the Pick 6 Contenders Series when World Champion Austin Aries interrupted. Aries said that he and Cornette got off on the wrong foot last week and proposed that he and Cornette work together rather than against each other. Cornette said that he would help Aries prove he is the greatest man who ever lived by making sure he defends the ROH World Title against the best competition he can find. Aries looked unhappy.

2 – STEVE CORINO vs. LANCE LEWD

Corino came to the ring in street clothes with Lewd already in the ring and cut a promo. Corino said ROH kicked him to the curb three years ago, but now Jim Cornette had turned to him because he needs ratings. He said Cornette told him to come to ROH and make a major impact. Corino then turned to Lewd and told him that there was no way he would make an impact with him, so he was going to give him “the greatest thrill in the entire world” - a win over Steve Corino. He told the referee to call a forfeit and stepped out of the ring onto the apron. The referee called the forfeit, and Lewd celebrated.

Corino got back in the ring and called it a "five-star match." He said no one had made him look better in 15 years in wrestling, and they "should do this around the circuit." He offered Lewd a handshake and, when Lewd took his hand, Corino attacked him and laid him out in seconds. Corino grabbed the mic again and yelled “Mr. Ratings is in the house."

WINNER: Lewd by forfeit. A novel but counterproductive way to do a squash match. Corino’s insider talk of ratings, a “five star match,” and so on is terribly out-of-sync with the rest of the show. Ironically, during the earlier Delirious-King match, Hogewood claimed ROH was different than other wrestling promotions because every match is meaningful, so ROH wrestlers compete hard all the time. If that were so, Corino would not have forfeited a match because, logically, there would be negative consequences to his competitive standing in the company. After three years out of ROH, you'd think Corino could not afford to lose on his comeback attempt, but he threw the match. It is as though a completely different booker booked this segment, perhaps one who came from late-'90s WCW in a time machine.

- A pre-taped Sonjay Dutt promo aired. It was a mix of clips from a sit-down interview interspersed with action clips. Dutt said he put Daizee Haze in the camel clutch because Delirious and Haze are between him and the ROH World Title. He said he came to ROH to show the wrestling world that he is the best, and he would do that by earning a title shot in the Pick 6 and becoming ROH World Champion. Solid promo from Dutt, who portrays a good sleazy heel persona.

[Commercial Break]

- Hogewood hyped the Briscoes-American Wolves match coming up this weekend at Final Battle on online pay-per-view.

- A pre-taped UFC-style promo aired for the Briscoes-American Wolves match at Final Battle, with clips of both teams talking interspersed with action clips. Eddie Edwards said the Briscoes were the best team in ROH until the American Wolves came along. The Briscoes said they and the Wolves have similar styles, but the Wolves like to fight dirty. Davey Richards the Wolves need to prove that they are the most dominant wrestlers in the world. Okay segment, but the tone was a bit laid back considering the Wolves injured Mark Briscoe’s knee and caused him to miss several months of action in a storyline earlier this year.

3 – ERICK STEVENS vs. ROBBIE MARCEL

Marcel tried to get behind Stevens with a baseball slide through Stevens’ legs, but Stevens caught him and punished him with a series of strikes. At 1:00, Marcel got to the corner and tried for a crossbody off the second rope, but Stevens caught him in midair and countered with a German suplex. Stevens waited in the corner while Marcel struggled to him feet, then landed the choo-choo running splash in the corner followed by a running clothesline that Marcel sold like a cannon shot. Stevens then easily hit the Doctor Bomb for the win.

WINNER: Stevens in 1:30. Another good squash win for Stevens. The much smaller Marcel sold very nicely for him. Stevens has now had several dominating squash wins in the past few months to establish his big moves, and would seem to be due to be put into a feud with a name heel.

- Backstage, Durden interviewed Tyler Black. Black said that this match is a stepping stone to him getting his hands on Austin Aries and take the ROH World Title from him. Decent promo by Black.

4 – TYLER BLACK vs. SONJAY DUTT -- Pick 6 Contender's Series match

Dutt started the match with a cheap shot when Black was offering a handshake. It does not make sense that ROH referees always call for the opening bell when this happens. This stupid way of starting the match is so common now that it does not even draw any heat of the heels and the announcers did not even remark on it. Black made a comeback at 0:30. Dutt bailed to the outside but Black gave chase, beat Dutt all around the ring, then brought the action back inside to continue the beat down. Black focused his offence on Dutt’s neck to soften him up for his God’s Last Gift finisher. Black did a nice job of interacting with the crowd to get them cheering him on as he worked over Dutt.

At 4:30, Black went to the top rope, but Dutt was not beaten down enough and climbed up after Black, lifted Black in a fireman’s carry and dropped him stomach first on the top turn buckle. Black sold the move as having knocked the wind out of him, allowing Dutt slow the pace down, play heel to the crowd and start methodically working over Black heel-style. Dutt displayed some nice tight mat holds that I have not seen from him before. Both wrestlers did a nice job building sympathy for Black to get the crowd behind Black’s eventual comeback. At 9:30, Dutt had Black on the mat with a body scissors, but Black fought to his feet with Dutt still on his back, ran backwards into the corner then dropped to his back to dislodge Dutt. Both men got to their feet and Dutt charged Black, but Black launched him into a very high back drop at 10:00. Black then threw Dutt to the outside and quickly came over the top rope with a flip dive onto Dutt on the floor at 10:30.

Back in the ring, Black showed impressive strength by getting Dutt up for a military press at 11:30. Black followed this up with a springboard moonsault for a near fall. Dutt mounted a comeback at 12:00 by dodging when Black charged him in the corner, snapping Black’s throat across the top rope, then landing an impressive springboard dive off the top for a near fall. After struggling back to his feet, Black countered an attempted standing sliced bread by Dutt, leading to a nice exchange of holds and counterholds that culminated in Dutt finally hitting the standing sliced bread for a near fall at 13:00. Dutt went to the top to try to finish Black, but Black rolled out of the way of Dutt’s subsequent 450 splash attempt. This allowed Black to hit a Death Valley driver and go to the top himself, but this time Dutt rolled out of the way of Black’s Phoenix splash attempt. Dutt landed a head scissors when Black got to his feet, then the two exchanged leg strikes in the middle of the ring. Black came out ahead in the strike exchange and threw Dutt into the corner with a buckle bomb, but was too worn out to go for the cover.

The crowd enthusiastically cheered Black as both men struggled to their feet at 15:00. They again exchanged strikes in the middle of the ring until Black knocked Dutt off his feet with a running kick at 15:30. As Black moved in for a pin attempt, Dutt caught him with a small package attempt, but Black rolled through and lifted Dutt up into a God’s Last Gift small package driver for the win.

WINNER: Black in 16:00. Very good match overall with a high dose of top-of-the-line athleticism. Black’s early spell of offense tied in nicely into the finish, and Dutt’s spell of dominance in the middle of the match built up a lot of heat for the finishing sequence. The outcome was no surprise given that Black is facing Austin Aries in the PPV main event this Saturday, but Dutt looked competitive and showed fighting spirit in the losing effort, which establishes Dutt as a legitimate threat to a top babyface like Black.

- After the match, Black looked into the camera and said “Austin Aries, I’m coming for you.” Hogewood said this might finally be Black's time. A graphic aired on the screen reminding viewers that Black will face Aries this Saturday at Final Battle.

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