RING OF HONOR ON HDNET Vol. 1

Much like everything else from ROH, their TV show on HDNet was lavishly praised as soon as the first episode aired. HDNet isn’t available in my neck of the woods, so I was always forced to go without . . . until now. It’s ROH, so I’m sure it’ll be good, but will it be as good as advertised?

Austin Aries . . . probably isn’t ‘The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived’ but he’s pretty damn close to being so.

Kenny King . . . has gotten to be quite the good wrestler in the years since he was a standout on Tough Enough II.

Tyler Black . . . looks good at times, but if this is any indication of ROH’s next breakout star, then ROH is going to be in trouble.

JIMMY JACOBS vs. TYLER BLACK (taped 2/28/09)

It seems odd to use the phrase “good TV match” to describe an ROH main event, but that’s about what we get here. Black brings some nice flying spots, while Jacobs adds a bunch of smart touches to really come off like a dick. Black is ready to throw down as soon as the bell rings, but Jacobs just goes to the floor and starts throwing chairs into the ring. Black takes the bait and while he’s getting rid of the chairs, Jacobs attacks him. Jacobs plays possum on Black a bit later and catches him on the top and shoves him to the floor, and there’s another smart moment from Jacobs when he sees an opening from Black’s attempted quebrada and hits a spear.

The only thing lacking in the match is a certain level of real hate and intensity. This is supposed to be a grudge match, Black and Jacobs should be trying to kill each other, but it never comes off like that. The closest that it comes are Jacobs’ repeated stomps to Black’s midsection, but that’s a standard Jacobs spot, nothing really unique to this match or the direction they’re taking it. The other major negative is the way that the finish treats the End Time. Jacobs getting it on as a counter to God’s Last Gift is a nice touch, but Black lingers in it for far too long, including having his arm drop twice before coming back to life and escaping. You’d think that with how long ROH has marketed itself as an alternative to WWE that they’d know better than to use spots out of 1989 WWF Wrestling Challenge TV matches. Jacobs gets the End Time again, and Black, again, lingers a bit before he rolls through into a cradle for the win. Putting Black over is fine, he’s the heir apparent to the ROH throne and Jacobs was on his way out the door, but it’d have been nice to see the heir apparent go over in a more dominant manner in a grudge match. Although, I’d hazzard to guess that ROH did that somewhere else down the line on a DVD taping where everyone could potentially see it, rather than on TV where a much smaller percentage of the fanbase could see it.

BRYAN DANIELSON vs. AUSTIN ARIES (taped 2/28/09)

Although this is a better overall effort, it’s still far from the level that a Danielson/Aries match ought to be at, of course they’ve got time constraints for being on TV, although this probably smokes your average RAW match. The wrestling spots early on are a nice touch, although they’re really just done to be there, and they don’t really take the match anyplace with them, but it’s nice for them to show off how good they can be. The real good moment comes early on when Aries tries his usual head scissors escape only for Danielson to grab Aries around the waist and fall backwards to prevent the dropkick, Aries gets free a minute later and tries the punt, but Danielson sees him coming and rolls away. Aries eventually does hit both his spots a bit later, he rolls through a sunset flip and hits the dropkick and rolls through another one and punts Danielson.

As good as Danielson and Aries are, this match is also lacking in a specific department, that being the storytelling one. It’s great that they’re going back and fourth showing how well they know each other, but that’s about as far as they get to really telling a story. It’s not like there aren’t any openings, one of Aries’ first big breaks comes when he surprises Danielson with a kneebuster and sends him over the top rope and then hits a big dive. Instead of following up on the kneebuster and working over the leg, Aries ignores it. The only real purpose the spot had was letting Aries take over control, and a revenge spot later by Danielson when he sent Aries to the floor, faked him out on a dive, and then hit a jumping knee from the apron. There’s no real build to the finish other than Danielson trying periodically to tap out Aries with various armbars and Aries getting to the ropes, and Danielson surprising Aries with the Triangle choke and then smartly rolling him away from the ropes to ensure the tap out. There’s enough good wrestling here to make this better than the previous match, but considering the talent involved, it still comes off lacking. ***1/2

AUSTIN ARIES vs. KENNY OMEGA (taped 3/1/09)

“The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived” might be a bit of a stretch, but, if Aries performance over these last two matches is any indication, he’s definitely up there. Between his wrestling, his willingness to sell and stooge for someone so far below him on the totem pole, and his overall character, Aries may as well be wrestling a broomstick. Nothing against Omega, he’s not bad here or anything, but all he really needed to do here was show up and not screw up his stuff, the rest of the match is all Aries. There’s the great opening sequence where Aries wrestles circles around Omega and then arrogantly slaps him around, just because he can. He also uses dickish spots like the nerve hold and putting the bad mouth on Omega in the process, and the spot where grabbed Omega’s leg to stop him from perching himself on the top and then shoving him down to the floor. But, when Omega is on offense, Aries’ stooging is phenomenal, Aries’ reaction to the Oklahoma roll near fall is priceless and when he misses the charge into the corner, he hangs himself up in the ropes like Terry Funk. Aries is still smart enough to know that he’s one opening away from changing the course of the match, which is what happens when Omega gets him up for the electric chair and Aries grabs the eyes to get free. Aries’ dropkick in the corner looks good enough by itself to probably put Omega away, but the punt and brainbuster seal the deal. This, obviously, isn’t as good as the Danielson match, but it’s still another damn fine performance from A-Double, and I’m starting to wonder how much Tyler Black had to do with their 2/10 match being so good. ***1/4

BRYAN DANIELSON vs. TYLER BLACK (taped 3/1/09)

So *this* is the supposed classic twenty minute draw? It’s a decent match, but if this is a classic, then Aries/Omega is an epic. The match has its good points, most of which are from Danielson. He brings virtually all of the good work and makes the only real attempt at telling a viable story. It’s not entirely Tyler’s fault, he gets in far less offense than Danielson, but he’s not exactly outstanding in any other aspect of the match. Danielson appears to try to tap him out by working his leg and ankle over, but Tyler’s selling is all over the place. There are only one or two instances where he really sells it, and it’s typically just to explain why a certain spot doesn’t exactly go his way. He’s certainly not as animated as Aries with his selling, although that’s a bit expected with him being the babyface. There’s also next to no real drama to the home stretch before time runs out, but it doesn’t help that there wasn’t any sort of time cues until they were nineteen minutes in.

To their credit, they do a good job in making that last minute seem like it could have gone either way. Danielson gets Black in the Triangle choke and Tyler has enough gas left in the tank to pick up Danielson and buckle bomb him to break the hold, and time runs out while Tyler is recovering from the choke and Danielson from the bomb. If Tyler had an extra ten or so seconds before time ran out or if Danielson sunk the choke just a little tighter then it might not have been a draw. Again, this isn’t a bad match or anything, but it’s far from the classic that it was hyped as. Danielson controlling the bulk of the offense means that the viewer gets a good show, if nothing else, he kills some time early on by proving he can outwrestle Tyler and traps him in a bunch of great holds, and when Tyler’s attempts at the pele and the superkick both result in ankle locks, it shows how Danielson is intending to end the match. When he can’t tap him out, he switches gears and tries a German suplex with the bad leg trapped. Tyler only gets in one really nice sequence, he surprises Danielson with a head kick when Danielson is climbing to his feet and then plants him with an inverted brainbuster. Black thinks it’s enough to hit the Phoenix splash, but Danielson moves. Beyond that, Tyler has some good spots, the springboard lariat and his dive to the floor onto Danielson come to mind, as well as his flurry toward the end that leads to the missed Phoenix. So it’s not like this is a total Danielson carry job, but if this were scored on points it’d be a unanimous decision for Danielson. ***

AUSTIN ARIES vs. RODERICK STRONG (taped 4/9/09)

Aries gives you more reasons to love him, by making you hate him. He gets in Strong’s head early by outwrestling him and baits him into trying for his famous chops, only to dodge and avoid them time again, not only getting Strong riled up, but also the fans who want to hear the big echo. Aries gives Strong a false sense of security by letting Strong hit a couple of small chops to seemingly put Strong in control, but Aries takes the opening, pitches Strong to the floor and hits a big dive. Aries throws Strong into the guardrail to hurt his shoulder a bit and does a running knee to the head while he’s on the apron to be a dick. There’s also a great moment when Aries dodges the running boot, takes Strong down and seamless segues into the Last Chancery. And, of course, when Strong does finally mount himself a bit of a comeback, Aries is more than willing to bump like a pinball for him. In fact, that leads to the only real weak moment of the match, when Strong throws an enzuigiri and Aries does his usual oversell, but the strike was a glancing blow at best, it looked like it might have even missed, so it was a bit exposing. But, that’s easily counterbalanced with Aries flopping around like a fish when Strong hits his big chops and the big bump he takes when Strong hits the running kick.

While this is, obviously, another case of this being the Austin Aries show, Strong pulls his weight a bit too. It’s fun watching him get frustrated at Aries’ early antics. It seems for a bit that he’s just killing time until the end, but then he starts to zero in on Aries’ back for the Stronghold and his story starts coming together. Strong’s best spot comes when he catches a charging Aries and hits his gutbuster. It’s a bit sad to see Strong’s finishing hold get disrespected, as Aries was trapped in the Stronghold twice and Strong failed to tap him out. Strong tried for a third time when Aries found the counter and then he quickly punted him in the head and finished Strong with the brainbuster. It seems Strong is ranked high enough that it should have taken more to put him down, the 450 was right there and is usually Aries’ follow up to the brainbuster. But, then again, I haven’t closely followed ROH in a long time, so Strong’s stock may have very well dropped. ***

BRYAN DANIELSON vs. TYLER BLACK (taped 4/9/09)

The DCOR finish and the execution of it by Danielson and Black is great stuff. The twenty or so minutes before that is a lot like their previous match, which is disappointing because this had that match to potentially play off, but there’s only one time they do so, when Danielson locks in the Triangle choke and makes sure to sink it in tight enough so that this time Tyler can’t muscle him up and buckle bomb him. Beyond that, this is much the same match, with Danielson carrying the work by stretching out Tyler, mostly focusing on the leg, and Tyler not really doing a whole lot to further the story, even when there are moments that allow him to do so, such as Danielson avoiding the springboard lariat and Tyler landing on his feet.

The booking of their previous draw and the DCOR here is supposed to give the idea that Tyler can hang with Danielson, maybe the booking alone gives that impression, but the work from Tyler makes it pretty clear that he’s not able to. There’s really only one spot here that allows Tyler to get one over on Danielson, it’s fairly early on when Danielson drops to the mat to throw Tyler over with his legs, but Tyler stops short and drops a knee on Danielson’s face. Beyond that, most of Tyler’s work is him doing the same spots that he always seems to use, some of which are impressive to see from him, but they come across like he’s just doing what he can do, rather than genuinely trying to win the match the way Danielson seems to be doing by going back to his leg with different holds. Granted, there are few wrestlers who can measure up with Danielson, but I expected more out of the supposed ‘next big superstar’ in ROH.

KEVIN STEEN/EL GENERICO vs. KENNY KING/RHETT TITUS (taped 4/9/09)

As far as formula tag matches go, this isn’t anything special, although it’s not bad. They more or less stick to the formula, and while it means that they don’t do anything especially silly or stupid, they also don’t do anything outstanding. Both teams have their chances to look good and show off what they can do, which exposes the fact that King carries the workload for his team, while Rhett carries his weight by thrusting a bunch. The two big saving graces to the match are King’s willingness to fly as much as possible, and Generico booting people in the face as hard as he can. If King and Titus had another five minutes to do one or two sweet double teams on Generico or at least a little bit of cheating, then this might at least hit the ‘good’ range. The home stretch picks things up four or five notches, with both teams looking in position to win, but Steen and Generico having the right combo in the package piledriver/brainbuster. King and Titus are a fun team to watch, but it never felt like they really had a chance to win, and the point of working the match is supposed to be creating doubt as to the outcome, not an excuse to the have the champions in the ring so the American Wolves can jump them.

JAY BRISCOE vs. KENNY KING vs. KENNY OMEGA (taped 4/9/09)

Aside from the little bit of comedy early on and some of the spots from Omega and King, Omega’s double rana of King and Briscoe was especially cool, this was mostly forgettable. It doesn’t help that it’s the same three-way match that everyone seems to have, telling no real story by telling the same old story. Wrestlers A and B eliminate Wrestler C from the mix and try to settle match, but C intervenes and breaks up A’s pin, and then Wrestler B sits out while A and C duke it out until B intervenes and then it’s A’s time to sit out. Same old, same old. Yeah, the spots are nice, but that’s about it. Omega’s win from the flash cradle is a total fluke, which does tie into the Prazak mentioning that Omega has been fruitless in all of his previous HDNet matches, so one could claim that the story is Omega fighting from underneath, but there’s nothing in the match proper to hint that they’re going in that direction, but there’s nothing that hints they were going in any direction.

Just like so many other matches that involve various props being involved (tables in this case), this isn’t a great match, but it’s got enough smart work to it to make it a good match. The really great thing about the match is the way both teams treat the tables. They’re not just an afterthought like so many prop-laden brawls, whenever one of the champs or one of the Wolves takes a trip through the table, it instantly changes the complexion of things. After their short brawl to start, the champions get an early advantage, but as soon as Eddie gives Generico a suplex onto the table, and then Davey drives Steen’s bad knee through the table, the American Wolves are in firm control. It’s the same thing much later when the heels get a taste of their own medicine, Steen’s powerbomb almost puts Davey away, and Generico’s big splash to the floor that drives Eddie through puts him out of the match until almost the end. Eddie’s table bump necessitates the Shane Hagadorn run in to save Davey from having to tap to Steen’s sharpshooter. The finish certainly qualifies as being smart as well, with the Wolves’ Doomsday Ace Crusher through the table having been already established when they used it on Generico after the King/Titus match, so it makes perfect sense for them to use it again, and with Steen already having been dispatched, it leads the Wolves to the titles.

It’s not just their use of the tables that makes this a smart match though, their intensity is surely welcome. Steen and Generico were mostly known as a comedy team, so it was especially nice to see them drop that in favor of simply wanting to whip some Wolf ass. The Texas Tornado aspect of the match negated the need for a hot tag, a hallmark of most great tag matches, but they found a way to work one in anyway. After Generico was taken out by the German into the table Steen was completely in a two-on-one situation, and after it just seemed like he was starting to make a little headway in the form of knocking both Wolves back with punches, Generico sprang back to life and hits both Wolves with a flying body press and then gets a near fall on Edwards with a Michinoku Driver. There may not have been an actual tag, but it was, for all intents and purposes, a hot tag. In fact, the only thing that the match was really missing that might have made a difference was seeing the Wolves focus more extensively on Steen’s knee after the table spot and try to make him tap out, the fans sure ate it up when Davey seemed like he was going to be forced to tap to the sharpshooter, so with Steen’s knee already being busted up, it’d have probably gotten some nice heat, and it would have allowed Edwards and Richards to add some more wrestling to the mix rather than brawling. But, then again, this isn’t the sort of match that you go into looking for good wrestling. ***1/4

Like the Biscoe/Omega/King match, this is worked in the usual cookie cutter format, only now with the addition of Wrestler D, there’s another reason for Wrestler C to be out of the mix while A and B work a segment. The work itself is fine, which is to be expected with Danielson, Aries, Lynn, and even Black to an extent (although I haven’t been terribly impressed with him thus far), but there’s nothing as far as a real story to make the match feel like something more than just another four-way match, even with the title implications. Aries was only one to really add personality to the mix. He was the snake trying to get the win any way he could. He takes out Lynn with his big dive and rolls back into the ring just in time to see Danielson diving onto Black on the floor, the same way he did in their singles match. Aries is more than happy to take the win via count out, and his anxiousness and excitement as the ref gets closer to twenty is probably the highlight of the match as far as anyone showing real personality. He also breaks up Danielson’s surfboard and tries to use it on Danielson himself, which really gets the crowd going.

Matches like this also require timing and creativity, which are two areas that this isn’t lacking in. Aside from one spot early on when Aries climbs on the apron too early and has to wait for Lynn to knock him off, their timing is perfect. The spots are also creative at times, the four way chinlock is practically mandatory in these types of matches, and the bumps from Aries, Lynn, and Danielson when Black jawbreaks his way out are funny. There’s also the dual submission spot, which was genius at first, but got overused quickly in these settings. In this case the Last Chancery on Lynn and Triangle choke on Black. It used to be fun to watch the wrestlers sweat and see who would break their hold first. The way that this match gets out of using them to finish the match is original, but it totally craps on Danielson’s choke. Tyler lingers in the hold longer than ever and picks up Danielson and powerbombs him onto Lynn and Aries to break the Chancery. They get points for creativity, but it ignores the fact that Danielson had the choke on first and that he’d rung Tyler’s bell by kicking him in the head several times before doing so. So, if anything, it should be Lynn finding a way to break the choke, not the other way around. The road to the finish sees several trademark spots slightly altered to accommodate for the extra bodies, Black’s buckle bomb to Aries doubles as an avalanche to Lynn, Danielson’s super backdrop to Black puts them both on top of Lynn and Aries, and the finish sees Danielson attempt to give Aries the Cattle Mutilation and wind up putting himself right into a cradle piledriver to give Lynn the pin. I guess, realistically, this was as good as could be expected, considering the general lack of story and the fact that it was laid out the same as most other matches of its kind. ***

Conclusion: No two ways about it, this is a damn good DVD. But, the bulk of that is because of Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson. If you’re looking for some good wrestling, then this is an easy recommendation, but if this indicative of ROH’s HDNet product, then that’s something else entirely.