Ring of Honor TV Report
November 8, 2010
Taped in Philadelphia, Pa.
Report by James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

Previously on ROH TV: Kevin Steen cackled like a maniac inside a steel cage while standing on El Generico's throat. Eventually, Cabana was locked inside the cage alone with Steen and Steve Corino and forced to submit. And Generico is about to snap as they build to the Steen vs. Generico blow-off match in December.

Main event tonight: ROH tag champions Kings of Wrestling vs. Dark City Fight Club.

In-ring: Bobby Cruise, the less delusional Michael Cole "voice of ROH," introduced a TV Title match to start the in-ring proceedings tonight. Out first was Necro Butcher with the Embassy challenging for the title. TV champion Eddie Edwards then came out to defend. Cruise handled the formal ring intros before the opening bell.

1 -- ROH TV champion EDDIE EDWARDS vs. NECRO BUTCHER (w/Embassy) -- ROH TV Title match

Edwards was clearly the proverbial "fan favorite" here. ROH introduced a clock in the upper corner of the screen indicating the start of a 15-minute time limit for the match. Nice touch. Necro landed an early chop to the chest and celebrated victory. They locked up and Edwards landed a chop of his own. Necro immediately left the ring and tried to get a chair, but the referee refused the chair's admittance into the match.

Eventually, Necro successfully moved to the match to the floor where he was able to bodyslam Eddie onto the chair while the referee was preoccupied. Good sympathy on Edwards as he re-entered the ring selling the back. Necro picked up where he left off with stomps and kicks and an eye gouge wearing down Edward. The men began trading forearm strikes at a slow pace, then the pace picked up and Eddie made a fiery babyface comeback before clotheslining Necro over the top rope to the floor. Eddie followed with a big suicide dive that popped the crowd after firing them up with the flurry of forearms.

In another nice touch, the countdown clock flashed at 10:00 while Edwards scored a nearfall back in the ring. Necro then grabbed the official, which created an interruption for Necro to regain control with a clothesline resulting in a nearfall. Necro then landed his signature combination of chops and strikes in the corner, followed by a big fist to the face in the opposite corner. Eddie then came back with a chinbreak off the second corner before slapping in an Achilles Lock. Embassy tried to run interference, so Edwards chased Nana, then Osiris. Necro was then fully recovered to his feet and wanted a Tiger Driver, but Eddie countered into a small package for the three count and the win.

WINNER: Edwards in 7:00 to retain the TV Title as Edwards thwarts the Embassy for the third time. A very enjoyable, well-executed match continuing to elevate Edwards as one of the top babyfaces in the promotion. Necro's upgraded look is an improvement visually and he worked well as a heel in this match. (**)

[Commercial Break]

Backstage: ROH tag champions Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli were standing by with Shane Hagadorn and Sara Del Rey. Claudio just stared straight ahead into the camera with a Starbucks in hand. Hero was asked about not defending the tag titles as of late. Claudio kept staring. Hero said the Briscoes are three strikes and they're out. Haas and Benjamin have had one ROH match and they lost. He said when he looks up and down the roster, he sees court jesters and cross dressers. Hero said no one is deserving a title shot. Claudio kept staring, then told Dark City Fight Club if they beat them in a non-title match tonight, they'll get a title shot.

2 -- ADAM COLE & KYLE O'REILLY vs. BRAVADO BROTHERS (LANCE & HARLEM BRAVADO)

The action broke down at 4:00 with bodies starting to fly in and out of the ring. Cole then hit a suicide dive on Lance on the floor. In the ring, O'Reilly hit sort of a running Tornado DDT into a guillotine choke for the pin and the win. After a replay of the high points of the match, all four men shook hands in the ring before O'Reilly and Cole walked out with a tag team victory.

WINNERS: Cole & O'Reilly via submission in 5:00. The issue these four undersized men have to overcome in their careers is they don't look tough or look like they can win a fight. At least on the surface. That makes it important to show outside-the-ring pieces on Coley and O'Reilly, who ROH is trying to get over as future stars, showing them training or doing "tough things" preparing for action. (*)

Previously on ROH: Lots of shenanigans in the Roderick Strong vs. Christopher Daniels non-title match leading to their ROH Title match this Saturday in the Toronto area.

[Commercial Break]

The Prodigy: Coming Soon to ROH.

In-ring: Christopher Daniels's music hit to bring out the #1 contender to the ROH Title. Daniels, in street clothes, played to the crowd before joining Kyle Durden for an in-ring promo. Daniels said ROH champ Roderick Strong is a liar. The lie he is trying to perpetrate is that he is a dominant World champion. Daniels said he exposed Strong last week when he pinned him in the ring. Daniels said gospel trumps truth in this ring.

Suddenly, the LAX theme music hit and Homicide interrupted. Daniels was a bit perturbed by Homicide's interruption. Homicide said he's happy to be back in ROH, but he's thinking about where his title shot is. He said Daniels has a title shot, Davey Richards has a title shot, and he doesn't. It's because of Jim Cornette. Homicide said they had an issue four years ago and he still doesn't like him. Homicide told Daniels it's not about him or Davey, but about business. Daniels nodded his head in acknowledgement before Homicide left the ring.

Main event to come: KOW vs. DCFC.

[Commercial Break]

Replay: They aired clips from the Kings of Wrestling vs. Haas and Benjamin from the Glory by Honor IX Internet PPV when Haas and Benjamin made their ROH debut.

In-ring: Dark City Fight Club came out first for the TV main event. Hero and Claudio then came out looking like champs in their Ribera jackets from Japan. Non-title main event up next.

3 -- ROH tag champions KINGS OF WRESTLING (CHRIS HERO & CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI) vs. DARK CITY FIGHT CLUB (KORY CHAVIS & JON DAVIS) -- non-title match

DCFC dominated early on, including Chavis using Hero's facial hair against him. Chavis fought out of the heel corner with rights for Hero, rights for Claudio, and rights again for Hero. Hero then came back with a standing boot and Claudio followed with a European uppercut. KOW in control. Davis was looking for a hot tag a few minutes later, but Hero knocked him off the ring apron to continue isolating Chavis. Claudio then followed up with the Big Swing and Hero waited for a fourth or fifth rotation to nail a big dropkick to the head. Next was a springboard European uppercut and sit-out powerbomb combination from the tag champs for a nearfall.

After Claudio missed with a corner tag, Chavis made the hot tag to Davis, who went to work on Claudio and landed a running knee for a nearfall. Davis and Claudio then traded bombs center-ring before Davis landed an impressive tilt-o-whirl powerslam for a nearfall when Hero interrupted. The action broke down, then DCFC casually moved out of the way of Hero attempting a springboard moonsault. That was great. Claudio suddenly nailed Davis with a toss-up European uppercut and tagged in Hero for another tag team combination.

The action broke down again with all four men became involved. Davis then hit the Pounce on Hero for a two count. The referee lost control of the match and in the background, the tag champs hit another striking combination on Davis. Hero made the cover, the ref came around, and Hero scored a three count for the win. That eliminates DCFC from the tag title picture. Cue up the KOW's celebration to close out this week's show.

WINNERS: KOW in 12:00. Solid tag main event. Hero and Claudio work so well together, but the match broke down into one of those "independent wrestling" Texas Tornado tag matches where everyone is allowed to be in the ring after the final hot tag with the referee just standing in the corner until he conveniently needs to be diverted. (**1/2)

Next week: Briscoes are itching for the KOW, but they face Austin Aries and Rhett Titus. Also, Steen has an offer for Generico to end their war in "one final battle."

FINAL THOUGHTS: Good show. Solid wrestling, fundamentally-sound booking, some strong character development, especially for Eddie Edwards, and Homicide and Daniels gave the show a boost in the star power department. ROH hit a solid single with the final sales pitch for the ROH Title match on Saturday with Daniels's pre-title match promo a bit of an afterthought on the show. Granted, they're not selling an Internet PPV on Saturday, but there wasn't a sense of urgency behind the match hype since this show was taped in advance of this week's big ROH shows.

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