Ring of Honor TV Report
February 8, 2010
Taped Jan. 8 in Philadelphia, Pa.
Episode #46 - Third episode of Series 8
Report by Mike DeRosenroll, Torch ROH specialist

STRENGTHS

- This was by far the best "lead-in show" before a major live event or pay-per-view that ROH has done since they started running television on HDNet. The focus of the show was selling the ROH World Title match at the 8th Anniversary Show live event scheduled for this weekend in New York. They guaranteed a winner, and essentially guaranteed that Black will finally win the title this weekend by having him promise it. This needed to be done after ROH almost completely cut the legs out from Black with the time limit draw finish at the Final Battle pay-per-view in December.

- The show was fast-paced and entertaining throughout. It moved a couple of secondary story lines along and delivered a great main event tag match between the American Wolves and the Young Bucks.

WEAKNESSES

- My only complaint was that the in-ring confrontation between Aries and Black felt manufactured and forced, as if ROH felt that they had to have a confrontation because WWE always does before a pay-per-view. The hype would have been fine without this, just based on Aries and Black's promos and the other hype given to this weekend's show. If ROH was going to insist on doing the in-ring confrontation, it might have been better placed at the end of the show rather than the middle.

DETAILED RECAP

- The show opened with a video package recapping last week's show closing angle, in which Austin Aries interfered in the main event match between Tyler Black and Roderick Strong. Aries knocked heads with Strong, costing Strong the match and seemingly causing some tension between Black and Strong.

- In the ring, Jim Cornette introduced the show and called Tyler Black to come out to be interviewed. Black said that he did not see Austin Aries get involved in his match with Roderick Strong last week. Then he turned to his upcoming World Title match against Aries this weekend at the 8th Anniversary Show in New York, and promised to win the title. This major announcement got a lukewarm reception at best. Strong hit the ring to interrupt the promo. He reminded Black that he will be a judge in the title match this weekend, complained that Black did not beat him legitimately last week, and challenged Black to admit that he did not really beat Strong last week. Black admitted that he did not beat Strong last week, but added that Strong will never beat him when he is champion.

[Opening Theme]

- A clip aired of Kevin Steen backstage attack on "Sugarfoot" Alex Payne last week.

1 - STEVE CORINO & "MR. WRESTLING" KEVIN STEEN vs. BOBBY DEMPSEY & "SUGARFOOT" ALEX PAYNE

Dempsey and Payne got some early offence on Corino until Steen turned the tide by tripping Payne from the outside, pulling him out of the ring and whipping him into the guardrail. Corino and Steen then worked over Payne heel style for a few minutes. Payne got to his corner for a hot tag to Dempsey at 4:30. Dempsey got a spell of offence, then tagged Payne back in. Payne went to the top and Dempsey threw Payne onto Corino with a rocket launcher for a near fall. Corino quickly regained control after the near fall, then tagged in Steen, who hit a package pile driver before locking in a sharpshooter for the win.

WINNERS: Corino and Steen in 6:30. Very basic tag match, but Payne put over Corino and Steen strong.

- Backstage, Kyle Durden interviewed the American Wolves. He asked them about being the fans' pick to face the Young Bucks in the main event. Richards said of course the fans wanted to see them face the Young Bucks, because the American Wolves are the most dominant tag team in the world. Edwards said the fans must not like the Young Bucks as much as he thought to put them in the ring with two pissed off rabid wolves. He said the fans would only have themselves to blame when they leave the Young Bucks lying in the ring.

2 - THE DARK CITY FIGHT CLUB (KORY CHAVIS & JON DAVIS) vs. THE BRAVADO BROTHERS (first names not given)

Chavis and Davis attacked their opponents before they could be introduced. Davis beat down one guy in the ring while Chavis fought the other outside. Chavis then got back in the ring and they hit their Project Mayhem finisher.

WINNERS: Chavis and Davis in 1:30. Good, quick dominating squash to set up the ROH tag title match on Saturday.

- After the match, Kyle Durden came to the ring to interview Chavis and Davis. He asked how it felt that the fans picked the American Wolves to face the Young Bucks in the main event instead of them. Davis said that from now on, the Dark City Fight Club was not going to wait for the fight to come to them. Chavis told the Wolves, the Bucks, the Kings of Wrestling and the Briscoes to take notes because the Dark City Fight Club is coming for the belts and their heads.

- Mike Hogewood narrated a video package recapping last week's segment that revealed Joey Ryan and Erick Stevens of the Embassy were responsible for the backstage attack on Eddie Kingston a few months ago. Hogewood announced that next week, Ryan and Stevens will face Kingston and Necro Butcher in a tag team match.

- A pre-taped Prince Nana promo aired. He said that he came to the United States from Ghana to show the people in America how to live the right way. He said the Embassy's mission statement is money, power and respect. He listed some of the names who have been part of the Embassy in the past, and talked up the current roster consisting of Joey Ryan, Bison Smith and Erick Stevens. He said that they would send Necro Butcher back home to feed the family with the free cheese and whip that he gets from the American government. Solid entertaining promo. It did not do a lot to build up the Embassy's issue with Eddie Kingston and Necro Butcher, but it was worth reintroducing Nana to the audience and explaining what the Embassy is all about.

- Hogewood and Prazak hyped the upcoming main event between the American Wolves and the Young Bucks.

- Back in the ring, Kyle Durden interviewed Austin Aries and Kenny King. Aries complained that Tyler Black got interviewed earlier by Jim Cornette while he got stuck with Durden. He grabbed the mic from Durden and complained that Black ruined his shirt last week, which he said was worth more than most of the fans make in a week. King told Aries not worry about what happened last week because he is still the man. Aries agreed with King, and said Black and Roderick Strong's actions last week reeked of desperation. He said Strong was desperate to show that he is not a perennial second fiddle, but the man who is going to redefine second place is Tyler Black after he once again loses to Aries at the 8th Anniversary show this weekend. He said the fans may not have liked his strategy back at Final Battle, but he wrestles to keep the belt and not please the fans. Very good heel promo from Aries, nicely supported by King's fawning body language and Durden's facial expressions.

At this point, Aries began talking about how women like the size of his package more than "God's Last Gift". Black ran to ringside to try to get his hands on Aries, but the locker room emptied and kept them apart. This part felt forced just to get the shot of Black being held back trying to get at Aries.

[Commercial Break]

- Hogewood recapped the Aries-Black angle from before the commercial and hyped their World Title match coming up this weekend at the 8th Anniversary Show in New York.

3 - THE AMERICAN WOLVES (EDDIE EDWARDS & DAVEY RICHARDS w/Shane Hagadorn) vs. THE YOUNG BUCKS (MATT JACKSON & NICK JACKSON)

After the ring entrances but before the match began, the Briscoe Brothers's music played and the tag champs came out to the entrance ramp. Jay Briscoe said "What do you say we up the ante a little bit? Whoever wins this match gets a title shot."

Richards started out against Matt. Richards got an early advantage with his mat wrestling, but Matt eventually wrestled his way free and dropkicked Richards out of the ring. Richards stalled outside the ring for a while before re-entering and tagging out to Edwards at 3:30, while Matt tagged in Nick. The Bucks dominated with some nice high-flying offence for a while longer until Richards managed to force Matt into the corner, where Edwards hit Matt with with a running boot at 5:30. Matt quickly got to his corner to tag out to Nick and Nick took control until Richards made a blind tag and floored Nick unaware with a running knee at 7:00. The Wolves worked over Nick heel style for a short time, using some of their trademark hard strikes as well as the old heel standby of having the legal man distract the referee while the heel on the outside illegally attacks the legal babyface. Nick managed to counter a handspring elbow attempt by Richards at 8:30 with a dropkick and tag out to Matt. After a short flurry of offence from Matt, the Wolves overwhelmed him two-on-one and went back to cutting the ring in half and working him over heel style. The Bucks teased a hot tag at 12:00 when Matt reversed an Edwards suplex attempt and started crawling to his corner, but Richards came up behind Nick and pulled him off the apron to prevent the tag.

At 13:00, fed up with the Wolves' constant outside interference and double-teaming, Nick hit a beautiful springboard facebuster on Richards, followed by a moonsault from the apron to Edwards the floor. This allowed Matt to get to the corner for the hot tag to Nick. Nick then had a great spell of high-flying offence. Edwards tried to interfere after he recovered from the moonsault on the floor, but by then Matt had recovered enough to intervene and knock Edwards back out of the ring. The Bucks then hit a beautiful double team moonsault-springboard splash combination for a near fall on Richards at 14:30. This kicked off a lengthy fast-paced finishing sequence in which the two teams exchanged the advantage back and forth, hitting numerous double teams and other big moves. The Bucks missed their More Bang For Your Buck finisher at 18:00, allowing Richards to hit an impressive German superplex on a stunned Matt. The Wolves followed this with a double team powerbomb lung blower for a near fall that really fooled the crowd. Edwards then locked a half crab submission in on Matt while Richards cinched in a cloverleaf submission on Nick. The two Wolves having the two Bucks in submission holds recalled the finish of the Wolves-Bucks TV match a few months ago, won by the Wolves, but this time both Bucks managed to reverse the submission holds into roll-ups at 19:00. Richards and Matt began exchanging strikes in mid-ring. Edwards tried to interfere again and the Wolves' constant cheating finally backfired when Matt dodged Edwards' running kick, causing Edwards to hit Richards by mistake. The Bucks finally hit More Bang For Your Buck on Richards at 20:00, but Edwards broke up the pin attempt. Nick took Edwards out of the picture by knocking over the top rope to the outside, then diving over the top rope onto Edwards, allowing Matt to finish off Richards with a leverage pin.

WINNERS: The Young Bucks in 21:00. An excellent match. I put it at three-and-three-quarter stars. It was not quite up to the level of the last TV match between these two teams, but still a great match far above what you usually get on free TV.

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on this show for an "ROH TV Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. To contribute your thoughts on ROH, email to pwtorch@gmail.com using our feedback form.

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