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411’s ROH on HDNet Report 02.04.10: Black vs. Strong (02.01.10)
Recap of last week’s shenanigans with Austin Aries, Jim Cornette and Tyler Black. They have a title match in New York, Tyler picked Roderick Strong and Austin picked Kenny King, Corny picked himself.
Cornette says that tonight Tyler Black and Roderick Strong have asked for time to face each other in the ring with pride on the line, and that’s tonight on Ring of Honor. Cue the open.
Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak are once again your commentators.
Rhett Titus vs. Delirious w/Daizee Haze
Wow, the masked lizard man who speaks in tongues and Hugh Hefner’s favorite wrestler. I have a bad feeling about this. Delirious noms on a streamer before Titus sticks his hand down his crotch before the handshake. The bell rings and Delirious loses his mind and corners Titus, but lets him go. They circle and Rhett grabs a headlock and hits a shoulder tackle when he gets thrown off. Deli responds by tripping him schoolyard style, twice. He hits a hip-block takeover and Titus goes outside. Daizee has a plan and lures Titus towards Deli, who comes out and spooks Rhett. Back inside Delirious hits an inverted atomic drop, a fireman’s carry slam and a trio of sentons to the back for two. Deli goes for an O’Connor Roll but Rhett bends over….um, leans…um, counters by ducking and Deli goes throat first into the top rope. Titus starts beating pounding attacking Delirious and then smothers and chokes the man in the black mask. I mean, uh…oh, I give up.
“Hepa-Titus” chants start as Rhett keeps kicking Delirious. Hotshot by Titus and his dropkick gets two. Seated abdominal stretch now that looks disturbingly like spooning. Rhett stops that and hits a knee drop, but Deli comes back with an armdrag. He gets the drop toehold and tries the Cobra Stretch but Titus escapes with elbows only to whiff on a dropkick. Lizard-Face hits a clothesline, back elbow and a leg lariat. Titus counters a suplex attempt by driving Deli into the corner and thrusting into him. With his shoulder, of course. He runs into a boot to the face and Deli dropkicks him in the back of the head. Delirious goes for the Panic Attack but Titus moves, goes for the Sexy Suplex but takes a German Suplex for his troubles. He kicks out at two and eats a clothesline, but comes back with the spinning knee to the gut, a kick to the face and a leapfrog Rocker Dropper for two. Rhett tries an inverted suplex but Deli counters to a schoolboy for two. Rhett misses a dropkick in the corner and the Panic Attack connects, but Deli takes too long going up top and Titus connects with the Super Sex Factor! Delirious kicks out at two and avoids a crucifix driver, Bizarro Driver for three? Um…Chemical Imbalance II, please? Legend Thriller will not be pleased.
Winner: Delirious (via Bizarro Driver) **1/2
Prazak and The Hog plug the eighth anniversary show, and Roderick Strong cuts a promo saying he’s going to play it down the middle and give the match to the better man. He will beat Tyler tonight and get the title shot he deserves. I’m digging this new Strong. He finally figured out how to bring his in-ring intensity into his promos.
We get a look back at Kevin Steen turning on El Generico, and Kyle Durdan is in the back with Steve Corino, who cuts him off and says Steen always had the tools to be ROH World Champion, but he was carrying around dead weight, and he did the right thing by taking out Generico. Durdan says the opinion of the locker room is that Steen’s actions were despicable. Corino wants names and brings up Generico and Colt Cabana. Alex Payne walks by and Steve asks him for his thoughts. Payne says Steen is sick and asks Corino if he would turn on his best friend, and says Steen should be ashamed. But Steen is right behind Payne and assaults him asking if he should be ashamed of that. Misters Wrestling walk off and Bobby Dempsey comes in to check on Alex. Fun times all around.
Sonjay Dutt vs. Colt Cabana
Lots of European chain wrestling from Colt early that I’ve given up trying to call. This somehow ends with Cabana grabbing referee Paul Turner in a waistlock. He trips up Sonjay from behind the ref, leapfrogs over him and gets a modified aligator clutch for two. But…but nobody kicks out of the aligator clutch! Que paso and Colt trips Sonjay up. “I didn’t see that last match asshole!” a guy from the crowd who has a fair point but no tact. Dutt comes back with a knee and a series of jabs, and Colt shoves him and Sonjay goes outside. He pulls Colt outside and does a lot of jabs. Back inside and more jabs. Cabana turns it around and hits a bionic elbow, but the ref pushes him away, and Sonjay steps off of Turner and hits an enzugiri. Sonjay runs around like an idiot and covers him for two.
Dutt slams Colt’s head into the turnbuckle, more jabs from Sonjay and another turnbuckle smash. A chinlock! Glorious! What a wonderful move! Colt fights out with elbows and Sonjay hits a dropkick to the leg and then lightly rolls over Cabana in what doesn’t even deserve to be called a senton, and he eats knees trying a quebrada. Colt comes back with Dusty Rhodes offense and mocks Dutt’s bow before hitting a two handed chop. Sonjay slinks out of the Colt .45 and goes for the Asai DDT but Colt counters to a military press gutbuster. Shades of Dean Malenko! Cabana gets two and connects with the Flying Asshole, tries to pull Dutt out of the corner but Sonjay snaps off the hurracanrana. Oops, wrong promotion. He hits the hurracanrana, but the guys in the truck decide to show us a replay of the butt-butt. Who made that call?
Colt leapfrogs over Sonjay when he charges but Dutt hits the seesaw kick, and his slingshot legdrop that really has to be seen to get an accurate picture of it. Not that it’s unbelievable or anything, there’s just a lot of complicated positioning involved. Sonjay hits a splash for two, goes for the Camel Clutch, Colt counters to the Billy Goat’s Curse but Dutt kicks him off and gets a schoolboy for two. Sonjay hits another rana but Cabana hits another butt-butt and hits the Colt .45 to end this.
Winner: Colt Cabana (via Colt .45) *1/2
Tyler black says he’s fighting Roderick to prove that he’s straight up with him and will give him title shot, and to prove that he can beat him. So I guess we can call this main event a good faith match.
We see The Briscoes defeating The American Wolves at Final Battle for the Tag Titles, and then being attacked by The Kings of Wrestling. Sara Del Ray introduces them for an interview. Chris Hero briefly explains their history but says they are more mature and better than ever. Claudio Castagnoli says they have a purpose, and that is the Tag Team Titles.
Durdan is in the ring with Shane Hagadorn and Prince Nana. They put over the Kings of Wrestling and Nana says the connection between them is the money and the power. Eddie Kingston comes out and violently interrogates them, demanding that they admit that the Kings of Wrestling attacked him and where they are, but Nana says it was these guys and The Embassy of Erick Stevens, Joey Ryan and Ernesto Osiris come down and put the boots to him before Necro Butcher makes the save with a traffic cone.
Next week The American Wolves have a rematch with The Young Bucks and they kindly show us highlights of their first match on HD Net.
Pick Six Contender’s Match: Tyler Black vs. Roderick Strong
Both guys have placements, but I don’t think Tyler can get knocked off of the list if Strong beats him. Hmm…interesting flaw there. They both go for submission holds early but can’t get anything, Black lands on his feet off a snapmare and Strong lands on his feet off a monkey flip. They do a leapfrog sequence and Black lands on his feet when Roddy avoids a dropkick, goes for God’s Last Gift but Strong avoids it and goes for the Stronghold but Tyler avoids that and we get a stalemate. And now Austin Aries comes down to ringside with popcorn and wine, bringing the match to a dead halt. He tells them to get it on and they do, trading chops before Strong hits a heel kick for two. They trade forearms and Roddy adds some chops and wins the exchange, but Black fights back with chops of his own and stomps a mudhole into Strong for good measure.
Black avoids a slingshot falcon arrow and gets tossed out to the floor. Aries throws popcorn on him, and SUPERKICK TO ARIES! Shades of Wrestlemania XII and the crowd loves it. Strong takes exception to Tyler not paying attention and brings him in with authority, butterflying his arms and dragging him across the second rope before flipping him into a backbreaker for two. Another backbreaker gets two and Strong kicks at Black’s back and pulls his hair. Roderick stays on the back with a stomp and applies a camel clutch, and then jumps on the back when Tyler gets the ropes. He puts him in a bow-and-arrow hold in the ropes and then just stomps on his face repeatedly. Black goes to the apron and hits a series of shoulder thrusts to the gut, tries a sunset flip but Roddy moves and Tyler basically gives himself a backbreaker. Strong gets two, grabs a chinlock and drives his knee into Black’s spine. Awesome!
Tyler hits a jawbreaker and stars making a comeback but Roderick connects with a powerslam for two. Black throws punches and Roddy throws chops until Tyler hits the spinning enzugiri. Black hits a back elbow, telegraphs a back body drop but connects with a hurracanrana and Strong goes to the floor. Tyler hits the ropes but Roddy sees him coming, Black baseball slides to the floor and takes some chops. Tyler counters an Irish Whip with an elbow and hits the quebrada off the guardrail. Back inside Strong avoids the springboard clothesline and a charge in the corner, but Black hits a back elbow and then hits a quebrada Paroxysm! That was awesome but it only gets two. Strong punches out of an F-5 and hits a knee to the gut and an incredible blue thunder bomb into a falling clothesline for two! Similar to Matt Hardy’s old Ricochet move there.
Strong hits a backdrop suplex into a backbreaker for two, and continues the flurry of offense, hitting a corner clothesline and a knee to the chest. Black knocks Roddy back down but Strong hits an enzugiri, and then a huge superplex for two. Tyler counters the Stronghold with a rollup for two and hits a kick to Strong’s head. Strong hits a corner clothesline but Tyler follows him to the other corner and hits a forearm, fires himself up and they hit forearms on each other, but Black gets him up and hits the F-5 for two! Tyler slips going for the quebrada that he would have presumably missed anyway to set up the standing shooting star.
Roddy pins for two and Tyler drives Roddy to the corner and sets up for a backdrop superplex, but Strong fights it off. Black slingshots to the apron and hits an enzugiri, and steals Low Ki’s tree of woe double stomp. BUCKLE BOMB gets two and Austin Aries runs out again. Black avoids the press gutbuster and shoves Roddy into Aries, superkick gets three!
Winner: Tyler Black (via Superkick) ***1/2
Aries is in the ring and goes after Tyler, but CHOPS from Roderick, who shed blood at some point, and a dropkick. Aries bails before Black can do anything. Black and Roddy stare each other down.
