Daivari’s first promo was talked about how he was no longer Shawn Daivari the Middle Eastern stereotype, but Shawn Daivari the Professional Wrestler, and tonight, Shawn Daivari the Man. He expressed his disgust with modern America and us modern Americans. He said he’d let us know why he was in ROH soon, which led to him being introduced into the Embassy. He said he’s decided to support the Embassy financially, something about meeting with Erick Stevens and attending to him, and that he’d help the Embassy bring down Necro because we all cheer him.

Speaking of Necro, I have the same questions Steve had above. He did all of his usual weapons spots, including the backbreaker across two chairs mid-ring. Perhaps some segment backstage we’ll see on TV later. Poor Robby Wolf appeared to be bleeding from the cheek.

In other pre-show news, Bob Evans (no relation the restaurant chain nor the movie producer) and Antonio Thomas (formerly of the Heartbreakers in OVW and the Heart Throbs in WWE) were accompanied by a fat manager with a croquet mallet.

Titus & King vs. House of Truth was a very fun and competitive match. Can’t tell you which team would be the babyfaces, but the crowd ate it up. Titus & King win with their finisher (Hep-C Plunge?).

Strong vs. Steen will be a TV main event. After Aries beat the crap out of Strong before he could enter the ring, Strong was selling big time and Steen gave him the chance to forfeit the match. Strong turned this down and opted to wrestle and was on defense nearly the whole time. Steen spoke on the mic a couple more times to give Strong a chance to quit (impromptu I Quit rules), and on the last time Strong responded by singing “Ole!” This got in Steen’s head, and led into Strong reversing the Package Piledriver into a jack-knife pin for the victory and Steen’s #1 spot in the Pick 6. Great story-based match. Steen had just finished stretching Strong in the crossface when Black ran out to help. Strong didn’t seem happy to see him.

Briscoes-DCFC was very good and ended with one of the Briscoes reversing Project Mayhem into a small package (shades of a DCFC-Young Bucks finish in September).

Edwards-Cabana was one of Cabana’s best matches since he returned. Straight up competition, crowd was hot and split for both guys, and I can’t recall any comedy. After Corino got the attention of Colt and the ref, Edwards gave Colt a shinbreaker onto the title belt and applied the Achillies Lock to win it.

Lynn vs. Corino (which naturally drew some ECW chants) was fine stuff. Corino now wears long tights. Finish was hectic, as Cabana first came out to deal with Corino, Steen quicky followed to stop him, all four guys took to the floor, and King ran out to fight with Lynn and cause the DQ. Big crowd reaction for El Generico coming out to save Cabana from Corino & Steen, though Generico and Steen never touched because Corino prevented it. Corino fought with Generico on the ramp and kept him from stopping Steen giving Colt a Package Piledriver. He did chase him off before Steen could whack Colt with a chair.

Main event was very good as expected. Black, Strong, and Aries was along the lines of Strong wanting to beat up Aries before Black could, and the two babyfaces coming to blows because of it, ending with Black doing his dive onto Strong and Aries at ringside. Nice lead-in to their upcoming matches in Phoenix and Charlotte. The Delirious cameo out of nowhere in the end was cool in that I wasn’t expecting it and gave Delirious a role while injured, and he and Black briefly stared each other down. Add him to the list of guys (Aries, Strong, Richards, Lynn somewhat) gunning for the champ.

The main event was definitely the match of the night. Both guys going back and forth, with Richards accidentally kicking the ring post late in the match, eventually leading to the finish.

New World Champion Tyler Black talked with Jim Cornette to open the tapings proper, discussing Roderick Strong’s behavior. Richards interrupted the interview to tell Black that he has him in his sights. Lynn did the same thing at the end of his post-match promo.

Delirious seemed to suffer a legitimate throat injury following a spot where Aries countered Shadows Over Hell with a kick. The ref called out the other refs and (I presume) the attending doctor when he noticed something was wrong. They seemed to improvise things when Aries attacked Daizee from behind, then the bell rang, then they did a spot where Kenny King (also at ringside) laid Delirious throat-first across the guardrail and Aries came off the top onto him. Not sure how that all came about. In other injury news, Strong had his hamstring taped up and seemed to be hurting following his match with Ryan (which Strong won after overcoming ringside interference with the Strong Hold).

Corino’s promo on Generico was about him being a legend, while Generico is nothing. He even changed his mind about calling Generico a cancer because cancer is curable, so he called him full blown AIDS. When Generico started beating up Corino after Corino forfeited the match and kept insulting him, it received a very good crowd reaction.

After Black vs. Titus and all of the shenanigans leading to the finish (a superkick and God’s Last Gift), Strong told Black that he’d be his guardian angel, making sure no one touched him before he did. Black asked what his deal was and to stop acting like a bitch, so they commenced in a brawl.

Albright looked lean and seemed a lot more serious, no longer According to Jim.

Cornette’s speech to Necro, where he talked about him previously suspending Necro from television and his desire to see him get it done in the ring and not in the parking lot and elsewhere, reminded me of a smarter, more mature version of recent speeches given by Hulk Hogan to Abyss.

Also, announced on their message board well after we recorded, tonight’s tapings will have Strong defending his #5 spot against Joey Ryan, and Delirious defending his #3 spot against Austin Aries.

THANK YOU,
ALAN
ALAN