No pre-show notes this week, instead we’ll go straight to the Poll of Honor, provided, as always, by WNW reader The Guy:

Do you think Hulk Hogan going to TNA will have any effect on ROH?

Well, I look forward to your responses and rationalizations on the board this week, now it’s onto the action.

We get an update about Jerry Lynn who was injured on last week’s show at the hands of Kenny King and Rhett Titus.  Well, not so much an update, as it’s just footage replayed from last week.

Austin Aries’ music hits and he’s on his way out to the ring with Kenny King in tow.  Aries says that last week, the people were treated to a main event of truly epic proportions when he took on Bryan Danielson.  Aries says that Dragon calls himself the best wrestler in the world, but you’re only the best until someone comes along and beats you, and that’s exactly what A Double did to Dragon last week.  Aries says that it doesn’t exactly make him the best wrestler in the world, it just solidifies his position as the greatest man who ever lived.  Aries says that last week King also did something amazing.  Aries says that even he had to applaud King when he took an un-retireable man, and retired him.  King takes the mic and says that no one sees Jerry Lynn anywhere, because the last time he was in the ring, he put Lynn down like Old Yeller.  King says if people are looking for Lynn, try the hospital because he may still be there.  King says since he retired Lynn, everyone wants to be Kenny King, but there’s only one King.  Tyler Black’s music hits and he’s out on the entrance ramp with a mic.  Tyler says everyone may turn to look at King, but they look at him with disgust because of what he did to Jerry Lynn.  Tyler says tonight he’s going to steal a page out of Aries’ book and have lottery tonight.  He’s going to have a “who wants to kick Kenny King’s ass” lottery.  Black says he got the names of everyone in the back that wants to beat King, and we’re going to find out who King is going to have to fight tonight.  Black pulls Eddie Kingston’s name out of the hat, and apparently King has found an opponent for tonight.

We go to Hog and Prazak who are quick to discuss the main event.  They move on quickly though and introduce the new Executive Producer for ROH on HDNet, Jim Cornette.  Hog says he can’t wait to see what Cornette has in store for ROH, and you can add me to that list, too Hog.

Match #1: Sonjay Dutt vs. Delirious vs. Joey Ryan vs. Necro Butcher

Ryan attacks Necro as soon as he tries to get into the ring, but Necro isn’t having is and he chases Ryan around the ring.  Sonjay and Delirious square off in the ring with Sonjay getting the upper hand with a shoulder block.  Delirious fights back with a leg lariat while Ryan and Necro continue to fight on the floor.  Ryan gets a hold of Delirious and Sonjay charges.  Delirious moves out of the way and Ryan eats a right hand that sends him down to the floor.  Delirious sends Dutt to the outside, goes up to the top turnbuckle and hits a big somersaulting flip to the floor on top of both Ryan and Dutt.  Delirious sends Sonjay back into the ring, but he gets hung up on the top rope when he tries to follow.  Necro pulls Ryan’s feet out from under him by yanking on the ringside mats.  Necro climbs up on the apron, but Ryan grabs his feet and Sonjay executes a sunset flip powerbomb all the way to the floor.  Sonjay tosses Delirious back into the ring and tries to go to work but he gets caught by a reverse Manhattan drop.  Ryan attacks Delirious from behind and he and Dutt continue their double team strategy.  Dutt and Ryan pound on Delirious in the corner, choking away at him with their boots.  Delirious is able to fight back, but it doesn’t last long as Ryan hits a beautiful dropkick.  Ryan charges Delirious with a running forearm in the corner, but as soon as he hits the move, Sonjay rolls him up.  Sonjay only gets two, but it’s obvious that they’re working relationship in this match is over.  Ryan tries to catch Dutt with a roll up of his own, and when Dutt kicks out, they surprisingly work together until Necro makes his way back into the match.  Necro cleans house on Dutt and Ryan, hitting Ryan with a big right hand and a tiger driver, but Dutt is in to break it up.  Dutt hits a big leg drop on Necro before following it up with a springboard dropkick that sends Ryan to the outside.  Dutt goes up to the top rope but when he goes for the diving splash, Necro gets his knees up.  Delirious hits a panic attack on Dutt and Necro hits a somersaulting dive to the outside on top of Ryan.  Delirious goes up top and hits shadows over Hell on Dutt.  Delirious pins Dutt and this one is over.

Winner: Delirious by pinfall

Well, this was a pretty damn good match with just a couple of missteps here and there.  First off, since the only real feud going into this match was Delirious vs. Sonjay, why exactly were Joey Ryan and the Necro Butcher even a part of this match?  I mean, I popped for Necro’s crazy bump to the outside during that sunset flip powerbomb, but other than that and his punch/tiger driver to Ryan he was kind of just laying on the floor for most of the show.  Also, I just want to go ahead and say this here, FIND JOEY RYAN SOMETHING TO DO!  The man is far too talented to be relegated to matches like this.  I mean, his last match on HDNet was a super quick win over Roderick Strong, which I was really hoping would lead to some sort of a push, but seeing where he falls this week, I guess that was just wishful thinking.  Sonjay and Delirious were pretty good here.  I definitely enjoy Sonjay more when he isn’t ripping off every major wrestler’s shtick (Flair’s strut, etc.).  Dutt is definitely a talented performer in the ring, I’d just like to see him work on his gimmick a little bit more; he’s a playa, but he also holds his hands together in prayer, and he rips off other wrestlers taunts, it’s not so much a gimmick as it is three or four half gimmicks all mashed together.  Delirious has been more fun to watch lately, and thank goodness for no Daizee Haze this week.  Kudos to Delirious for his crazy dive to the outside on top of Ryan and Dutt.  I’d have to say that this is definitely on the short list of best openers for ROH on HDNet yet.  A-.

Skullkrusher Rasche Brown, a man who’s been doing the ROH pre-show thing for a little while, looks to be the newest addition to ROH’s roster.  He actually gets a little bit of interview time in the back.  Brown is standing next to a big truck and he says that what people don’t know about him, is that he cares about nothing, he hates everything, and there’s nothing better in life than to hurt a man and watch him squeal.  Before we leave, Brown makes sure to let us know that the pain is coming.

Kyle Durden is standing backstage with Eddie Kingston, the man who was chosen earlier tonight to take on Kenny King.  Durden introduces Kingston and Kingston says that he should be happy being in the main event but he’s not.  Kingston says that anyone who’s been watching the program knows that he wants Chris Hero.  Kingston says that King is going to be an unfortunate victim of how King feels about Hero.  Before the segment is over, Eddie says that King is going to pay for what he did to a man that Kingston considers a legend.

We get an interview with the man who’s leaving in a few weeks (well, in reality he’s already been gone a couple of weeks) Bryan Danielson.  Dragon talks about the history that he has with Aries.  Dragon talks about the 70-minute match that he had with Aries at Testing the Limit ’04.  Dragon says it was so much fun to be able to go out and do whatever they wanted to for as long as they wanted.

Match #2: D-Lo Brown vs. Brent Albright

Before the match, we get some of D-Lo’s thoughts on the whole Jerry Lynn situation.  D-Lo says that he’ll give his thoughts on his Twitter account, and you’ll know exactly what he thinks about Jerry Lynn.  Both men follow the code of honor at the beginning of the match, but D-Lo uses it to try and surprise Albright with a clothesline.  Albright ducks and catches D-Lo with a backslide into a pin, but it’s only good for two.  Albright tries for a couple more quick pins, but he can’t keep D-Lo down for more than two.  Brown rolls to the outside toward the entrance ramp, but Albright follows him out and slams him into one of the ringside barricades.  Albright tries to throw Brown into another barricade, but Brown reverses and sends Albright in instead.  Brown slams Albright’s head into one of the barricades, and he gets in the referee’s face, telling Todd Sinclair not to tell him what to do.  Brown hits a big suplex on the outside before tossing Albright back into the ring.  Albright and Brown trade blows in the middle of the ring with D-Lo getting the advantage with an eye poke.  Albright surprises D-Lo with another quick roll up, but D-Lo pops out and hits a big shining wizard to retaliate.  D-Lo throws Albright out to the floor.  D-Lo tries to hit Albright with a big cross body, but Albright moves out of the way and Brown connects with the barricade.  Albright hits a big exploder suplex on the floor and makes his way back into the ring.  D-Lo makes his way back to his feet and he’s immediately blindsided by Albright who connects with a big suicide dive through the ropes.  Brown and Albright trade blows on the floor and Brown takes Albright down with a snap mare.  Brown goes to the top turnbuckle and leaps all the way out to the floor on top of Albright with a big cross body block.  Brown sends Albright back into the ring at the count of 13 and he stalks Albright, teasing a big clothesline.  D-Lo goes for the clothesline, but Albright connects with a rock bottom (which is incorrectly called a uranage by Prazak) and starts to get himself fired up.  Albright takes D-Lo down with a flurry of offensive strikes, ducks a clothesline from Brown and hits a big powerslam that’s good enough to keep D-Lo down for two.  Albright charges D-Lo in the corner but Brown gets his knees up.  D-Lo hits a beautiful second rope moonsault but it’s only good for a near fall.  Albright surprises D-Lo with a DDT out of nowhere and he goes up to the top turnbuckle.  Albright leaps off with a cross body but Brown is able to roll through into a pin, Albright kicks out at two.  Brown hits a big time clothesline on Albright and he connects with a big powerbomb, but Albright turns the pin attempt into the crowbar.  D-Lo tries to fight out but Albright will not let go of the hold.  Albright cranks back on Brown’s arm and D-Lo is forced to tap out.

Winner: Brent Albright by submission

Well, this was a hell of a lot better than I thought it would be.  I think Albright is at his best against opponents of his own size, but since so much of the ROH roster is smaller guys, it rarely happens.  I’ve always thought that Albright would do well in WWE (and I’m honestly surprised he didn’t make a bigger splash in his first WWE run).  D-Lo has been very impressive since his debut in ROH earlier this year and it’s a shame that we won’t get to see a rematch here with D-Lo joining TNA as a road agent.  I have to say that I love the “ROH-style” of small guys having incredibly athletic matches, but sometimes it’s just fun to watch two huge guys wail on each other, and that is exactly what this match was.  I have to give respect to both Albright and Brown for taking huge suplexes on the outside of the ring.  This was just a lot of hard-hitting fun, and it just makes me wish that D-Lo hadn’t left so we could’ve been treated to a couple more return matches.  B.

Kyle Durden is standing backstage along with Colt Cabana.  Durden asks Cabana how it feels to be in the main event next week against Nigel McGuinness.  Cabana says it’s fantastic, and with great responsibility comes great actions.  Cabana says he’s going to make a stand, a stance, a stain, and a little bit of everything.  Cabana tells Nigel to get ready before closing with, “Spiderman, I’m ready”.

Main Event: Kenny King vs. Eddie Kingston

King looks a bit reluctant to start things out, trying to use his quickness to stay away from Kingston.  King leaps frogs Kingston and ducks out to the floor to catch his breath.  The two men lock up and Kingston backs Kin up into the corner and breaks clean.  King ducks a lock up attempt and Kingston looks to be getting a little frustrated.  Kingston backs King up into the corner, but when he tries to break clean, King catches him with a right hand to the face.  King laughs at Kingston and bails out to the floor, but Kingston is quick to follow this time and he launches King into the ringside barricade, twice.  Kingston beats on King around ringside for a bit before throwing him into yet another barricade.  The fans chant, “one more time” and Kingston is more than happy to oblige.  Kingston rolls King back into the ring and stalks him for a bit before hitting a big exploder suplex.  Kingston beats on King for a bit in the corner, chopping away at King’s chest.  King turns it around on Kingston though and hits a chop of his own.  This only serves to make Kingston mad, and he chops King with so much force King ends up on the mat.  Kingston hits a fisherman suplex and he tries for the pin but King is able to kick out.  Kingston kicks away at King’s head, but when he goes to pick him up King tries to fight back.  Kingston chops away at King and King begs off, but when Kingston charges, King pulls down on the top rope and Eddie Kingston sails out to the floor.  King pounds on Kingston on the floor, slamming his head into the barricade and choking him with his boot.  King throws Kingston into the barricade and repeatedly slams his head into the barricade before tossing Kingston back into the ring.  King connects with a suplex and he floats over right into a mount position, rocking Kingston with some huge forearms.  King locks in a rear chin lock and rips away at Kingston’s nose, but Kingston is able to fight his way out with a series of elbows.  Kingston bounces off the rope but he’s immediately caught with a spinebuster from King.  King slaps Kingston across the face but that only fires Kingston up.  Kingston slaps back, but King puts him down with a duo of shoulder blocks.  King tries to send Kingston across the rope, but Kingston holds on and executes a beautiful uranage.  Kingston knocks King down with a couple of chops before launching King with another overhead suplex.  Kingston hits a nasty lariat and he tries for the pin but King kicks out at two.  Kingston goes for the spinning back fist, but King pulls referee Paul Turner in the way and Kingston is forced to stop himself.  King picks Kingston up and hits royal flush, but again it’s only good for a near fall.  King catches Kingston with an enzugiri before snapping his neck across the top rope.  King goes for a springboard move, but Kingston catches him and hits a big overhead suplex.  Kingston goes for the pin but King is able to grab the rope and stop the count.  Kingston hits the backdrop driver and Chris Hero makes his way down the ring and up to the apron.  Kingston is distracted as he stares down Hero and he quickly falls victim to the shotgun double knees to the back from King.  King follows it up with the coronation, and pins Kingston for the win.

Winner: Kenny King by pinfall

I’ve been saying, pretty much every single match that Eddie Kingston has had, that he needs to be given more credible opponents.  Now that he’s had a credible opponent, I can see a little bit more why people can get behind Kingston.  With that said, I still don’t see him becoming anything more than a one-note kind of guy in ROH.  This is the second time that Kingston’s cut a promo talking about how the guy he’s going to be wrestling tonight is going to have to deal with being a Chris Hero stand-in.  I realize that Kingston has a ton of history with Chris Hero, but the problem is that most of this feud has been built in other promotions and to the more casual fan, they’ve got to be wondering why this guy has such a huge problem with Chris Hero.  All that aside, the one thing that made me happiest about this match was seeing Kenny King in the main event.  King belongs in the ROH main event scene, and in the wake of Nigel and Dragon leaving, King is ready to finally break onto the main event scene in ROH.  These two definitely were able to put on a serviceable match, but Kingston really needs a more diverse offense if he’s going to stick around for any length of time.  Chops and suplexes aren’t a move-set unto themselves.  Necro has been able to build a huge fan base using only big right hands and the occasional tiger suplex, but he’s got a ton more charisma, and he’s not quite as whiny as Kingston.  King needs to move on toward bigger and better things soon.  Kingston needs to hurry up and finish this feud with Chris Hero so he can become something more than just a one-dimensional brawler.  B-.

Report Card

In Ring Action: This week has fewer matches than most normal shows, but the action in those matches more than made up for the lack of a weekly squash.  The King/Kingston match was probably the weakest (which is surprising, because I think this is the first time that I’ve rated the main event the lowest of the week), but it was still a good match.  King performed admirably, but it just seemed like every time the match was starting to get really good, Kingston would be in to slow it down again with one of his overhead suplexes.  The D-Lo Brown/Brent Albright match made me remember that Brent Albright can be somewhat entertaining when he’s not being relegated to squash matches and a somewhat lackluster feud with Castagnoli.  The opening four-way was surprisingly the match of the night, and that’s even a little more surprising considering the recent string of great main events.  I think this was one of the most solid wrestling shows that ROH has put together since the show on HDNet started.  I still do have to say though, find something worthwhile for Joey Ryan, please. B+

Out of Ring Action: Kingston was definitely the weakest link in this category too.  He just sounds like a broken record talking endlessly about his feud with Chris Hero, and how even though they’ve already had a match, Kingston still needs to get his hands on Hero.  This is just one of the most boring feuds that ROH has put forth in recent memory; Kingston constantly talking about wanting to have a match with Hero, and Hero constantly talking about how Kingston isn’t good enough to have a match with him.  The only difference between the two is that Chris Hero cuts some crazy good promos, and he talks about subjects other than Eddie Kingston (what a novel idea).  I know some of you out there probably just think that I have my mind made up about Kingston and nothing’s going to change that, and maybe you’re right.  I’m just saying that I won’t have a chance to truly decide how I feel about Kingston until he’s moved away from this (what seems to be pointless) Chris Hero feud.  The promo with Colt Cabana was entertaining, and even though I don’t think he’s quite back in his stride just yet, I think he’s still cutting some of the most entertaining promos in professional wrestling today.  The Dragon segment was a little weird, since it didn’t really further anything and it was mostly just him talking about how much fun he’s had in ROH, but I think I’m OK with that.  The man has devoted almost 8 years of his life to ROH, and if anyone ever deserved promo time just to shoot the shit, it’s Dragon.  It was nice to hear him talk about one of his favorite matches from his career, and I hope that we get more little promo pieces from him in his final few weeks on HDNet.  The in ring segment to start the show was pretty entertaining, and I’m looking forward to the eventual Kenny King/Jerry Lynn match upon Lynn’s return.  Finally, the Skullkrusher promo was a bit interesting.  Rasche Brown reminds me of a really old-school psycho heel, just in the way that he talks and bugs his eyes out.  I don’t know if I like it yet, or if I just think it’s goofy, but I guess I’ll get a chance to decide for myself when he makes his HDNet debut in two weeks.  B+

Overall: This was a very strong episode of ROH on HDNet (this show is in dire need of a name change), and even though it was one of the more top-to-bottom solid wrestling shows, there were really no storylines furthered outside of Dutt/Delirious and Kingston/Hero.  If you’re looking for a fix of good wrestling this week, then of course you know that this is the place to turn.  But if you were looking for a little more of a story driven episode tonight, you’re out of luck.  I’d have to say though, that this one is worth going out of your way to catch.  B+.

Well, another week, come and gone.  I’m looking forward to the next couple of weeks of ROH programming.  Nigel McGuinness vs. Colt Cabana next week should be an interesting match to say the least, and Dragon/Strong vs. The American Wolves in two weeks should be a blow-away match.  Alright guys, you know the drill.  Same bat time, same bat channel.  Until next week…

YOU MESS WITH ANOTHER MAN’S WOMAN, YOU AT LEAST GOTTA LOOK HIM IN THE EYE!

Non Wrestling Related Media O’ the Week

OK, so I’m double cheating a little bit here because not only have I used this before, but this time around it’s just a little bit wrestling related too.  Whatever, it’s my blog and I’ll do what I want.  It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is one of the most consistently funny shows on television right now, so if you haven’t watched it, go watch it.  For even more incentive, this past week’s episode featured the gang trying to put on a wrestling show “for the troops” and it even featured Roddy Piper.  So seriously, go watch it.

Tags: Austin Aries, Brent Albright, Bryan Danielson, Colt Cabana, D-Lo Brown, Dave Prazak, Delirious, Eddie Kingston, Joey Ryan, Kenny King, Kyle Durden, Mike Hogewood, Necro Butcher, Sonjay Dutt