Ring of Honor TV Report
April 19, 2010
Taped Mar. 5 in Philadelphia, Pa.
Episode #54 - Fifth episode of Series 9
Report by Mike DeRosenroll, Torch ROH specialist

STRENGTHS

- Another week, another great main event match from ROH. This week, it was Kenny King vs. Davey Richards in the second semi-final of the TV Title tournament. Richards is simply one of the best in-ring workers in all of wrestling today, and is being positioned to feud with Tyler Black over the ROH World Title. King is very good too and the wrestlers worked very well together.

- The storylines between ROH’s television, pay-per-views, and taped-for-DVD live events are finally well integrated. It has taken ROH over a year to get their act together on this, but they are finally there and deserve credit. This week’s show hyped this week’s live events in Dayton and Chicago, particularly the Chicago Street Fight between the team of Colt Cabana and El Generico and the team of Steve Corino and Kevin Steen. The hype tied together events at the recent "Big Bang" Internet pay-per-view and TV exclusive content, and featured a great promo from Colt Cabana taped at The Big Bang but which aired for the first time on tonight’s show.

WEAKNESSES

- Both of this week’s undercard matches were semi-squash matches between established top-tier talents who were obviously going to win (Colt Cabana and the Briscoes) and enhancement talents (Ricky Reyes and Christian Able & Josh Raymond). I am all for short squash matches to build up wrestlers, but both of this week’s undercard matches overstayed their welcome and became boring. Although they tried to give the enhancement talents a little bit of offense to create jeopardy, the context made it clear that the top-tier wrestlers were not in any jeopardy. Both matches would have been better either being shorter to give the top-tier talents a quick dominant win or, if objective was to build the credibility of the enhancement talents, then they should have gotten a lot more offense to create some real jeopardy.

DETAILED RECAP

- The show opened with a recap of last week’s show focusing on Davey Richards challenging Tyler Black for the ROH World Title, Jerry Lynn making his return and vowing revenge on Kenny King and Rhett Titus for deliberately injuring him months ago, El Generico snapping after being provoked by Steve Corino and beating up Corino, King confronting Eddie Edwards backstage, and Edwards defeating Kevin Steen in the first semi-final of the TV Title tournament because Generico distracted Steen.

- Mike Hogewood hyped that tonight’s main event would be King vs Richards in the second TV Title tournament semi-final.

[Opening Credits]

1 – COLT “BOOM BOOM” CABANA vs RICKY REYES

Dave Prazak mentioned that this was Reyes’s first HD Net appearance but that Reyes is a ROH veteran and formerly half of the ROH Tag Team champions with Rocky Romero, during which time he and Romero had battles with Cabana. Nice acknowledgment of the past by Prazak, done in a way to make Reyes seem like a credible threat to Cabana.

Cabana took the early advantage with some of his signature strike combinations. Reyes rolled outside for a breather at 1:00. After a short fight outside, Cabana took the match back inside and displayed some nice mat wrestling leading to some near falls. Reyes turned the tide at 2:00 when Cabana charged him and Reyes caught him with an elbow. Reyes then got a short spell of offence with some strikes and eye gouges before going to a neck stretch. Cabana countered with an arm drag, then went back on offence with a palm strike and his signature elbow combination. Cabana tried for his Colt 45 finisher at 3:30, but Reyes countered it with a side suplex. Reyes tried to follow up with a charge, but Cabana stopped him cold with an elbow and this time managed to hit the Colt 45 for the pin.

WINNER: Cabana in 4:30. A short bland match which really only served as an excuse for the announcers to talk about Cabana’s Chicago Street Fight with El Generico against Steve Corino and Kevin Steen this weekend at the ROH live event in Chicago.

- After the match, the announcers further hyped the Chicago Street Fight this weekend, then introduced to a video package to show what led to the Chicago Street Fight.

- A video package consisting of slow motion action and still shots aired of the Cabana & Generico vs. Corino & Steen tag match at the "Big Bang." The highlights deliberately teased a lot of the big spots but did not show them, to make you buy the replay to see Generico get his revenge on Steen.

- In the locker room after the "Big Bang," Corino and Steen cut a promo on Generico and Cabana. Corino said he warned Cabana three times, but Cabana had made it personal. Steen said he did not want to fight Generico because he did not want to be responsible for killing him. He said that Generico may have shown some guts, but soon everyone will see his guts when Steen rips them out of Generico’s body. This promo started strong with Corino’s intense delivery, but lost steam with Steen’s over the top threats against Generico. As Scott Hall said in his Torch Talk, threatening to kill your opponent takes the fans out of the moment because the fans know it’s not going to happen, so it reminds them that wrestling is not real.

- In another locker room after the "Big Bang," Cabana cut a promo with Generico at his side. Cabana was still bloodied from the match at The Big Bang and said he did not mind sacrificing blood in the name of friendship. He said Generico tasted redemption when he booted Steen upside the head, and Generico liked it. He said Generico is coming for Steen, and it’s time for a war. Excellent, intense promo from Cabana supported by great body language from Generico. Great hype for this weekend’s live event in Chicago.

- In the studio, the announcers said that Tyler Black will be defending the ROH World Title at this weekend’s live events in Dayton and Chicago, then introduced once again to highlights of Davey Richards calling out Tyler Black last week.

- Backstage, Kyle Durden interviewed Black. Black said he is figuring out that holding on the World title is harder than winning it. He said he is not overlooking any challengers, but there is only one champion and that is him.

- A video aired hyping the "Big Bang" replay. It focused on the three-way World Title match between Black, Austin Aries and Roderick Strong.

- Hogewood hyped tonight’s main event, a TV Title tournament semi-final match between Kenny King and Davey Richards. He also hyped a promo from Austin Aries coming up later on the show.

[Commercial Break]

- Highlights aired of Davey Richards’s first round TV Title tournament victory over Delirious and King’s first round victory of El Generico.

- Backstage, Kyle Durden interviewed Kenny King. King began cutting a promo on Davey Richards when Richards walked onto the set, got in King’s face and invited King to continue. King did not back down and continued cutting his promo to Richards’s face. Richards told King that he does not have a million catch phrases like King, but Richards said he was going to dominate King in the ring. Good segment.

- In the studio, Hogewood hyped the upcoming main event between King and Richards. Prazak hyped the replay of the "Big Bang" on gofightlive by talking about the tag title match that got “Match of the Year” chants from the live fans and resulted in the Kings of Wrestling capturing the titles from the Briscoes.

- Footage aired of the Briscoes backstage after losing the tag titles at The Big Bang. Jay was sitting stunned and silent while Mark tried to console him by talking about getting a rematch. Mark then turned to the camera, called the Kings of Wrestling chickens and demanded a rematch.

2 – THE BRISCOES (JAY & MARK) vs. CHRISTIAN ABLE & JOSH RAYMOND

Hogewood mentioned that the Briscoes are starting back at the bottom to earn a rematch with the Kings of Wrestling, though he complained that Chris Hero used his loaded elbow pad to win the tag title for the Kings of Wrestling from the Briscoes. The Briscoes dominated Raymond early with some of their signature offence and quick tags. Able tagged in at 1:00 and tried for a double clothesline from the top rope, but the Briscoes ducked and continued their dominance. Raymond turned the tide of the match at 2:00 by booting Mark in the head from the apron after Able pushed Mark into the ropes. Able and Raymond worked over Mark heel-style with some chokes and cocky offensive moves, gradually building to a couple of nice double team moves for a near fall at 3:30. At 4:00, Mark countered a double clothesline attempt by ducking, elbowing Able, then suplexing Raymond. Mark then reached Jay for the hot tag.

Jay laid some strikes into Able, then lifted Able into a fireman’s carry, but Able escaped by gouging Jay’s eyes. Able then hit a back suplex, and tagged out to Raymond. Raymond landed a springboard moonsault, with Able holding Jay in place, for near fall at 5:00. Raymond then tried a corkscrew splash, but Jay got his knees up on the move. Able entered the fray illegally and tried for some kind of move off the top rope, but Mark cut him off with a forearm to the head, then landed and ace crusher on Able. Raymond tried for a springboard move off the ropes, but Jay caught him on his shoulders. Mark then went to the top and the Briscoes landed the Doomsday Device, enabling Jay to pin Raymond.

WINNERS: Briscoes in 6:00. Just an okay match. It dragged on too long and Able and Raymond got too much offense for the Briscoes to look dominant, but Able and Raymond didn’t get enough to look like they were really a threat to the Briscoes.

- Back in the studio, the announcers introduced a pre-taped Austin Aries promo. Aries cut a promo in an empty arena. As he talked, clips aired to illustrate things he was talking about. Aries talked of how, when he first came to ROH, he was too preoccupied with pleasing the fans. He said that he proved he was a level above everyone else by defeating the likes of Nigel McGuinness, Bryan Danielson and Jerry Lynn to become the first and only two-time ROH World Champion. He said he was an equal opportunity champion by picking challengers out of a hat, but Jim Cornette ruined it because he was jealous. Aries claimed that Cornette stacked the deck against him by giving Tyler Black so many title shots and Black “finally sank one” after “about 647 half-court heaves.”

This was a good heel promo from Aries putting his heelish spin how he avoided strong challengers during much of his title reign through the Austin Aries Lucky Lottery and ducked Black until finally losing the title to him.

3 – KENNY KING vs. DAVEY RICHARDS (w/Shane Hagadorn) -- ROH TV Title Tournament Semi-final match

The first couple of minutes featured some nice mat work by both wrestlers. At 2:00, Richards landed a few kicks to King’s leg and scored a nice MMA-style takedown. Richards began working over King’s leg on the mat and drew applause from the crowd DR for his great mat work. King bailed out of the ring at 4:00. Richards tried for a missile dive through the ropes but King caught him in the head with a leaping kick. King then went on offence in the ring focusing on Richards’s abdomen with shoulder blocks, strikes and mat holds. Richards teased a few comebacks during King’s beat down and finally made his comeback when King arrogantly slapped him, inducing Richards to hulk up and start striking King back harder. Richards backed King up against ropes with a series of kicks at 7:30, continued his strike-based flurry, then locked in a cross arm breaker at 8:30. After King made it to the ropes, Richards tried to set him up for a swinging DDT from second rope only to have KK reverse it and suplex Richards into the turnbuckles, drawing a gasp from crowd.

King pressed his advantage by trying to set Richards up for a move off ropes, but Richards escaped with some elbows to head and countered with a Kimura into Fujiwara arm bar. King escaped it momentarily, but Richards kept his grip and quickly reapplied the hold with a bridge for additional leverage. King looked like he might tap, but instead reached the ropes at 11:00. Richards then tried for an avalanche on King in the corner, but King got out of way. Richards was stunned from charging into the turnbuckles and King managed to go back on offense. His flurry culminated in a spectacular springboard neckbreaker for a nearfall at 12:00. King then tried to set Richards up for a Super Royal Flush from the top, but Richards countered into a headscissors. Richards got a burst of energy, landed a hard-hitting series of moves, then went back to the cross armbreaker when he had King down. King countered the armbreaker into a roll-up and almost won by pulling Richards’s tights, but Richards kicked out a reapplied the cross armbreaker. This time, King could not escape, and he tapped out clean.

WINNER: Richards in 13:30. Outstanding main event featuring a dramatic story and state-of-the-art athleticism. King played the heel perfectly, making Richards look like a million bucks since Richards is being built up to challenge Black. King himself looked credible, though, for staying with Richards.

- After the match, the announcers hyped the Richards will face his American Wolves tag team partner in the final of the TV Title tournament next week.

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