By Tony Donofrio, PWTorch specialist

-- 9/11 ROH "Glory by Honor IX" Internet PPV Hits & Misses

ROH PPV HITS

Kenny King vs. Jay Briscoe: A pretty quick match but a nice way to kick off the PPV. These two didn't set the world on fire, by any means, but it set the pace and lead perfectly into...

Rhett Titus vs. Mark Briscoe: This one wasn't much different from the opener. It was good for what it was and hopefully leads into a strengthened tag feud betwen the Brisoes and The All Night Express. Both teams should be able to put a nice string of matches together.

Announcement before double chain match: I liked the announcement to the live crowd that this could be a "bloody war" and to use view discretion at home. This was a great touch and, while it was also funny, set the tone for things to come.

El Generico/Colt Cabana vs. Kevin Steen/Steve Corino: This was simply brutal, nasty, and bloody...and I mean that in the most flattering of ways! The action was very physical, back and forth, and up to this point in the PPV, the best match of the night. Cabana getting the pin on Corino ensured the feud would continue. The post-match with Generico being unmasked and Steen using Corino's blood to spell out his nickname on the chair was very sweet icing on a tremendous cake. This has been a tremendous feud, quite possibly the feud of the year in all of pro wrestling, and I'm more than happy to see it continue.

Davey Richards sit down interview: This was really captivating to string out Davey's "decision" to the very end. And it wasn't the LeBron James ESPN Special type of dragging out. If anything, I'd have preferred that special to be more like this interview. Davey was very sincere and obviously the best part of this whole thing is that Richards is not leaving pro wrestling at the end of 2010.

Austin Aries vs. Christopher Daniels: From the pre-match interaction to the end of the match, this was very entertaining. As great as the crowd was most of the night, they were a little quiet for this match, which did kill some of its impact. All in all, though, a good match by two really good veterans; easily the best unadvertised (as far as ROH on HDNet build-up) match of the evening.

Kings of Wrestling vs. The World's Greatest Tag Team: Sure, ROH couldn't call them that, but they did use the acronym WGTT and these two teams didn't disappoint in what was the match of the night. With that said, I would have liked to have seen the match go longer and could have done without some of the silly post-match happenings. That aside, this match could lead to something really special. The crowd was hot throughout and both teams put on a heck of a show.

KOW vs. WGTT fall-out: A few things to come out of this that look like a positive. The announce crew referred to this as Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas's debut, leading me to believe that they're sticking around for a while. Secondly, even though the WGTT lost, they got the better of Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli after the match and posed with the ROH Tag Titles. Hopefully this will be the start of a great feud for the tag titles.

Tyler Black vs. Roderick Strong (ROH World Title): As was expected, the crowd ate up Black and he soaked it with his response in a perfect fashion. This match wasn't great, but it was really good. The "heat-seeking moment" of the match for me though was Black channeling John Cena with the "You can't see me" taunt and STF. Great stuff. I am looking forward to seeing how long Strong will hold the title with Davey Richards getting a shot in December on the next Internet PPV. Post-match, I liked Black flipping off Strong and the crowd as he headed for the door. Seeing Homicide re-debut immediately after Black's exit was a nice touch. It should be interesting to see where Strong goes to immediately from here with guys like Daniels, Richards, and now Homicide thrown into the mix.

ROH PPV MISSES

Balls Mahoney/Grizzly Redwood vs. Erick Stevens/Necro Butcher: Let me first say that this match wasn't bad, per se. It was about as good as it was going to be for these four guys thrown together for this match. However, it wasn't much better than any match you're going to see on most independent circuits, let alone an ROH PPV. Unfortunately, my critical reviews of the anything involved The Embassy continued on this night and would continue later on when we got...

Eddie Edwards vs. Shawn Daivari (ROH World TV Title): This match wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't awful, but definitely wasn't good enough to crack the "hit list" on this particular night. Edwards looked strong, while Daivari came out of this match looking weak via the booking. I guess that's not a bad thing, but at no point did I believe the TV Title was in jeopardy of switching hands.

ROH PPV ANALYSIS/OVERALL GRADE

Glory by Honor IX easily grades out at a solid "A." Six of the eight matches were hits, with two other moments garnering "hit status." The two "misses" weren't bad, but surely weren't good enough to be "hits." For anyone that has never seen an ROH PPV, you can't go wrong with eight matches (the majority of them being high quality) for $15. It's the best value in pro wrestling PPV, by far, and I don't see that changing any time soon.

As for the next few months, the ROH Title should be hotly contested for by Richards, Daniels, Homicide, and maybe even Austin Aries. Daniels has been on quite a roll lately and you have to wonder if he'll ever win the ROH World Title. Tyler Black leaving won't leave such a void now that Richards is sticking around and ROH recently re-signed Edwards, the Briscoes, and the KOW. We also have now seen the re-addition of Homicide and what looks like the addition of the WGTT. After months of tension, the ROH roster now looks to be as stable as it ever has been.

I'd love to see a bit more emphasis put on the World TV Title. I like Eddie Edwards and think this reign could propel him into main event status in due time. I'd like to see more 10-Minute Hunt matches and even a few defenses of the title on HDNet.

As for the tag title picture, the obvious feud that is on the table is the WGTT challenging the KOW for the titles. Another feud that looks ready to kick off should be the Briscoes and All Night Express. The best feud of the year right now involves the teams of Steen/Corino vs. El Generico/Cabana. This feud is so good and doesn't need a title for it to be that way. (I wish WWE and TNA would take note that it's possible to do so without a title involved.) I am thrilled to see this feud continue and, based on the end of their match on the PPV, the best could still be yet to come.

It should be three great months of ROH TV building to Final Battle 2010 in December. As I stated earlier, the status of the company seems to be more stable than it's ever been and that should only mean great things in the near and distant future.

Tony Donofrio is a Specialist for the Torch covering WWE PPVs monthly, the weekly ROH TV on HDNet, and contributes to the Torch Roundtable Reviews on a weekly basis. You can contact Tony at PWTorchTD@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TonyDonofrio..

[Torch art credit Marco D'Alfonso (c) PWTorch.com]

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