Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Taped 4/10/09
Original Air Date 5/23/09
Report by Brian Streleckis & Steve Kriske

What Happened:

The show opened in the arena with a table set up inside the ring, followed by the entrance of the American Wolves and Shane Hagadorn. Davey Richards cut a promo about the Wolves’ attack on Kevin Steen & El Generico last week, including them putting Generico through a table. He said it would happen again, except this time Eddie Edwards and himself would be crowned the new ROH World Tag Team Champions. Steen & Generico then ran out, causing the Wolves to escape through the crowd. Hagadorn was left behind and grabbed by Steen. Steen said he and Generico aren’t the types to punish those that didn’t do anything to them, but then Generico reminded Steen how Hagadorn helped them kick in Steen’s knee. Therefore, Steen powerbombed Hagadorn through the table.

They went a graphic promoting the four-way for the World Title being two weeks away, then Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak appeared on screen to announce that next week, Steen & Generico would defend the tag titles against the American Wolves in a Tables Match. They then threw us to a video of Jerry Lynn talking about the upcoming World Title four-way, interspersed with clips of himself and the other three guys. Lynn talked about how he tries to stay in the best physical condition for his matches and study his opponents, and talked about what each of his three challengers have to offer. He said the night he won the title was the biggest night of his career, but it’s only going to get harder with young, hungry competition climbing the ladder to come after him.

1. Kenny Omega defeated Kenny King and Jay Briscoe (w/ Mark Briscoe) in a three-way match. King kicked Briscoe to the floor, then got Omega up into a torture rack position, but Omega slipped out and turned it into a sunset flip with a bridge for the pin in 9 1/2 minutes. Omega was bleeding a bit from the nose, while Briscoe was busted open hardway above his left eye.

They showed a graphic for tonight’s main event of Necro Butcher & Delirious vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Brodie Lee, then went to the next match.

2. The Dark City Fight Club defeated Irish Airborne (Jake & Dave Crist). The Crists got a little bit of offense in before Jake fell victim to the sit-out powerbomb/neckbreaker combo in just under 2 minutes.

Kyle Durden was backstage with Necro & Delirious. Necro briefly talked about his history with Jacobs (tripping over his words a bit) and how they’ve battled all over the country. He said Jacobs would always have the numbers advantage, but Tyler Black left him, and now so has Delirious. Delirious got some mic time, with coherent portions of it mentioning how he and Necro were once brainwashed, but now that’s all been washed away, and they’re now “clear clear clear-clear-clear.” After a few more incoherent words, Necro casually said he couldn’t agree more.

After the ad break, they cut to Durden backstage with Jacobs & Lee. Jacobs psychoanalyzed their opponents, saying Delirious is strong-willed but weak-minded, while Necro is tough as shoe leather and almost as smart, and both are lost without a leader, as if they’re running headfirst into a brick wall over and over again. Brodie remained silent in his sleeveless flannel shirt.

They promoted the World Title four-way again, then went to a video on Bryan Danielson. Danielson talked about how much training he does, including five hours a day at Xtreme Couture, to make sure he’s the most prepared. He said the key in a match like this would be to get the decision over one man, but neutralize the other two. He said it would be especially difficult since he specializes in submissions; not that he can’t win other ways, just that submissions are his forte. He said to hold the World Title is like no other feeling in the world, and that he wants to be the very first two-time ROH World Champion.

3. Chris Hero (w/ Sara Del Rey) defeated Eddie Kingston. Both men cut Smacktalk promos before their entrances, with Hero saying Kingston is beneath him and undeserving. Kingston kept pummeling Hero in the corner, ignoring ref Todd Sinclair’s 5-count, so Kingston was disqualified in about 5 1/2 minutes. The crowed heavily booed, Hero escaped to the outside, and Kingston punched Sinclair in the face to cheers.

They showed clips from last week’s Claudio Castagnoli-Brent Albright match ending with interference by Prince Nana & Ernie Osiris, then Colt Cabana saving Albright from Claudio’s planned post-match attack. They then cut Durden backstage with Albright, who went over the exact same events just recapped by the announcers. He then brought Cabana into the picture and thanked him for the save. Cabana briefly joked of how serious Albright is before saying how Nana & Osiris ruined his return, so he’s going to have Albright’s back then, now and in the future.

They showed a graphic for next week’s main event being the Tables Match for the World Tag Team Titles, then showed clips from last week and earlier tonight of the table-related actions between Steen & Generico and the American Wolves. They then went to tonight’s main event.

4. Necro Butcher & Delirious defeated Jimmy Jacobs & Brodie Lee. Necro spent the majority of the match on the floor after taking a double-suplex from Jacobs & Lee off the apron. When Necro got back into the ring, Jacobs introduced thumbtacks into the match, throwing them across the mat as the the barefoot Necro accidentally walked over them. Ultimately, as Jacobs was taken to the outside by Delirious, Necro through a handful of tacks into Brodie’s face and slammed hiim onto them. Delirious then hit Brodie with Shadows Over Hell into the tacks for the victory in a little over 10 minutes.

They hyped next week’s Tag Title main event one last time before closing the show.

Brian Says:

An okay show this week without a whole lot of excitement to it, but it acted as a breather and go-home show before the two bigger episodes to take place over the next two weeks. While talent lower on the card were showcased in the ring, they did a good job at hyping up next week’s Tag Title match, and an even better job at continuing to hype the World Title match. It’s all done simple enough while still driving home the main issue at stake – the respective championships. Danielson’s promo was like a promo before a UFC bout, going over his strategy and training regimen in a very casual manner, not at all like a typical wrestling promo.

Match-wise, the opener was my favorite match this week, despite Omega’s one-on-two huracanrana pissing over as much logic as the Canadian Destroyer (still got a hell of a reaction though). There was plenty of fun action to take in, and there was the minor storyline of Omega coming out of nowhere to overcome his more established opponents. I liked Hero and Kingston getting promo time before their match to add some meaning behind it, and their match was as heated as anyone familiar with their feud would expect it to be, but I hate this kind of finish. At the very least, it’s better for a heel to win in this manner than a babyface, and it can still lead to future matches, which is apparently the case based on what happened at the last live event in Edison, NJ. The DCFC dropping the bomb on Irish Airborne was more of the same; these types of matches are better live.

The main event? I thought it was okay. Necro Butcher (or “Naicro Butcher” TM Mike Hogewood) taking a powder while Delirious fights from behind is the type of story I think both Steve and myself can get behind. The finish was certainly fun without being too graphic (no blood, not a lot of tacks involved), plus Necro getting tricked into running over tacks while barefoot was one of my favorite moments from the famous ROH vs. CZW Cage of Death match in 2006.

I never thought Albright could be funnier than Cabana, but by repeating almost exactly what the announcers said seconds earlier about last week’s events, he unintentionally was.

Steve Says:

I’ll keep this brief since I’m 5 1/2 days late. I thought it was definitely one of the weaker shows so far. I do like that they keep tweaking the format, and it’s not at all stale or predictable. The opening was a good hype segment, although it seemed kind of weird that only after this did they announce that next week’s title match would be Tables Are Legal. The three-way match was also my favorite of the show, and a really nice spotlight for Omega. Hogewood calling the DCFC more experienced than Irish Airborne was inaccurate, and his claim that maybe they were over-confident being the cause for their lack of intensity was strange. I suppose it was a good cover, but also didn’t hold water since the Crists are among the more accomplished opponents they’ve wrestled. The promos for the world title match were good, and I assume we’ll get more of the same from Aries and Black next week. The last two matches were both pretty bland, but at least the main event provided a little something different with some big spots. Unfortunately, this will be my last taste of ROH on HDNet for the time being, because Time Warner has pulled the network even earlier than the previously-announced May 31st end date.