Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Taped 2/28/09, Original Air Date 3/28/09
Report by Steve Kriske & Brian Streleckis

What Happened:

A brief “Previously on Ring of Honor” noted that Tyler Black defeated Jimmy Jacobs in last week’s main event. Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak introduced the show from the studio and hyped the main event between Nigel McGuinness and Jay Briscoe.

1) Kevin Steen defeated Eddie Edwards. Larry Sweeney accompanied Edwards to the ring and did most of the talking during his “Smack Talk” promo. Steen pinned Edwards following a Package Piledriver at about 8 minutes.

Kyle Durden interviewed McGuinness backstage. Nigel sarcastically commented on Durden’s awkward introduction and cut a promo on Briscoe.

2) Sara Del Rey defeated Daizee Haze. Del Rey (w/ Sweeney) won in 5+ minutes with the Royal Butterfly Slam.

Durden interviewed both Briscoes and noted that Mark is out of action due to being injured by the American Wolves. They noted their tag team credentials and Jay said he would earn a World Title shot by beating McGuinness.

Promos aired for ROHWrestling.com and HDNet shows.

Durden interviewed Prince Nana, who was wearing his crown and complaining that he was wrongfully kicked out of recent ROH events. He then hyped the impending arrival of Bison Smith.

3) Claudio Castagnoli defeated Alex “Sugarfoot” Payne. Claudio hit the Very European Uppercut and the Ricola Bomb to score the 1-2-3 in almost 7 minutes.

The Tale of the Tape set the stage for the main event.

4) Nigel McGuinness defeated Jay Briscoe (non-title match). McGuinness used the Jawbreaker Lariat to win the main event in 12 minutes.

The promo for next week’s show highlighted the Bryan Danielson – Austin Aries main event.

Steve Says:

Another solid if unspectacular outing. The opener was good and felt more like a traditional ROH match than any of last week’s undercard matches. The women’s match definitely wasn’t their best outing, but it was a good illustration of a higher level of athleticism than viewers will see in WWE or TNA women’s matches. Having Larry Sweeney in two matches in a row was a little odd. Claudio’s match was a little too long and competitive, but they did a good job of trying to explain that away by saying that he was essentially toying with Sugarfoot. The main event wasn’t as good as last week’s, largely due to the lack of heat or storyline importance. The Jawbreaker Lariat was fairly awkward, so I can only imagine what viewers who’ve never seen one before thought of it.

In terms of production, I think what we saw last week is what we get for the first six weeks, because the shows have been fully produced and there’s no chance to implement feedback until the second set of tapings. Kyle Durden had his sleeves rolled up again. Ugh. I think I figured something out in regard to the sound – It seemed like impact on the mat was loud last week even though all the other in-arena audio was too quiet, and I think it’s because they have microphones under the ring to emphasize this. I say this because I noticed that non-mat impact sounds in the ring were also very quiet. This was especially noticeable in the main event when there were a lot of strikes. Of course, this is a problem, because, say what you will about how smart it is in the big picture, but the use of stiff strikes is another thing that sets ROH apart, but is being de-emphasized here.

Brian Says:

I’m a little torn between this week’s show and last week’s debut. I thought the wrestling action in general was better last week, but this week’s show had a much more diverse set of characters with Nigel, Claudio, the Briscoes, and Sweeney. Nice to see Sweeney highlighted prominently during his clients’ matches, complete with his ringside banter getting picked up at ringside. Steen-Edwards made for a solid opener. I agree with Steve’s thoughts on Del Rey-Haze. I thought it was the best women’s match I’ve seen on TV in a long time, and yet these two can do even better. Thought it was weird how Daizee looked like she could have kicked out after the Royal Butterfly were it not for Sara’s pin; I’ve always seen it as a move that puts down opponents for good. I would have preferred that Sugarfoot not get as many nearfalls on Claudio (I don’t think even viewers new to ROH buy Sugarfoot as a viable competitor) but Claudio still looked strong and impressive. Can’t wait for the eventual confrontation with Bas Rutten, perhaps during an HDNet media event. While the Nigel-Jay match didn’t hold much importance, and the pre-match promos by Nigel (saying he would kill Jay over and over) and Jay (plugging his tag team before being reminded that he had a singles match tonight) could have been better, they established their personalities, and I thought they had a very good match (awkward jawbreaker lariat aside) with the fans audibly rooting for both. Forgot about Nigel having his right arm taped up so much, a precursor to his current injuries.

Not much to add on the production values this time, as I don’t think we’ll see that big a change until maybe Episode #7. I did think Hogewood was worse this week, with Prazak carrying more of the announcing. Not sure if it was a joke or an honest mistake, but I did notice Hogewood calling Claudio a “swede.” Show overall left a bigger impression (on me at least) due to the highlighted personalities.