Column of Honor: 10.17.09: HDNet Taxi Cab Confessions Part Two

Posted by Ari Berenstein on 10.17.2009

More travels through ROH on HDNet, or "Television Land" as Bryan Danielson once called it. The Honor Rumble, The Young Bucks impress, Tyler Black's comeback begins, Bison vs. Butcher and oh yeah, KENTA vs. CHRIS HERO (so nice I had to write it twice).

Continuing onward:


Episode 27: 09.28.09

Titus gives his hotel key card to a girl who looks like the Octo-mom. It's King & Titus vs. Black & Lynn. This would be the "pass the torch" match, with Lynn partnering with Black to give him veteran wisdom and elevate his game.


Hogewood just said the word "vintage"…has he been bodysnatched by Michael Cole? Meanwhile Lynn is doing his ode to the 80's by dancing like Pee Wee Herman in Pee Wee's Big Adventure and Michael Jackson. Um, Lynn, stop before you hurt yourself, buddy. King gets into the act with a moonwalk—what is this, the ROH version of "So You Think You Can Dance?" because obviously they do, even though they can't.

Black tags in, and I am praying he doesn't break out the equivalent 90's dance moves for grunge. No, instead he and King uncharacteristically blow a spot, right after crisply going through a double leap frog sequence that was infinitely more complicated than what they messed up.

Oh man…Titus just "thrusted" himself into Lynn ala a ten punch count… that just crosses so many lines…I don't want to think about it, I don't want to ever see it again. Just, ugh, ugh, UGH.

Hogewood become my best friend when he says "that move does nothing but disgust people." True that Hog, true dat. AND HE DID IT AGAIN. I am seriously considering this match for Worst of the Year on principle alone. Tyler gets the hot tag and thankfully turns this match back on track. Highlight spot of the finish is simultaneous double dives from different parts of the ring from Lynn and Black. It looked impressive. Titus gets a cool super X-Factor from the top for a close two. Wacky miscommunication comes off as totally fake because King stuttered on the closeline, totally knew what was happening and did it anyway. Lynn with the cradle piledriver for three. Moving on.

It's good to see Nikki Roxx on an ROH show. She definitely has the talent and deserves to be spotlighted among the few women's matches that are actually booked these days in ROH. She just has a very bright personality in her "Roxx" persona and that helps to make her matches fun.

Del Rey has a half-corn row, half-long hair thing going on…it's a very unnerving hair style that's for sure. Prazak gets a deft reference to Nikki's hair growing back, a recall to her days as Hardcore Roxxi in TNA. Why am I spending so much time discussing female wrestlers' hair?

Some hard slaps from Del Rey set the tone early and it s good hard hitting back and forth throughout. Roxx gets to look good despite Del Rey eventually winning with The Royal Butterfly. She is top of the food chain as far as women in ROH go, but I wish there was an actual serious challenger to her character's spot on the cards at this point. Well, not if its Daizee Haze…again…

Sonjay Dutt beats up Alex Payne, but no one gets hit with a flank steak so I don't care. He calls out Delirious for next week and all I can think is that I hope it's better received than the last time. The whole deal with Daziee Haze also now makes sense because its mind games stemming from his first loss on HDNet, which was against Delirious.

Some good highlight pieces on Colt Cabana and Nigel McGuinness.

Main event is Albright vs. Castagnoli in a Steel Cage match to put their feud to bed. Luckily we know both men have done well in cage matches before—Castagnoli put forth a hell of an effort against Brodie Lee in CHIKARA last year while Albright was a major part of the Steel Cage Warfare bout against Sweet & Sour Incorporated at ROH Caged Collision earlier in the year. This is more of a brawling match and that suits Albright just fine—he has great snap to his punches and knows how to work the cage to inflict the violence on his opponent.

Those damned kids are back on the escalator AGAIN—this time they're chanting "Princess Nana". What do YOU know about females, eh little boys? Shut up you pigs!

I like that Albright pulls Castagnoli off the cage wall into a German. Castagnoli is bloodied up pretty good. Albright with an EXPLODER OFF THE TOP OF THE CAGE! That was damned impressive!

Albright runs right into the low blow, which is legal in the cage match. Claudio goes for the chair stomp to the face but misses and Albright gives him a low blow in return! Return receipt with the chair stomp and that is it. A very good effort from both, ending the very long (too long) feud on a positive note.






Episode 28: 10.05.09

We get a breaking news crawler about the return of Jim Cornette to ROH, this show taped before Glory By Honor VIII but airing on television after it—one of those weird chronological wormhole hiccups in the ROH universe that has been happening less frequently since the end of Pay Per View but will still pop up from time to time.

Dutt vs. Delirious 2 is going far better with the fans in the opening moments, hotter crowd, more into the match up. Actually, now that I think about it, the extra crowd pop may be because this is the first match for the new set of tapings, as opposed to their first match which was in the middle of the lasts set. Dutt uses Haze to block Delirious top rope flip and goes after the mask in the ring. Dutt is playing the definite heel here which is also helping with the match, since their first encounter was basically played out as face-face.

Delirious with a HUGE risky flying crossbody to the outside which looks great but definitely caught D a bit on the guardrail. Delirious also throws in the Cobra Clutch suplex, which is usually a rarity these days. Dutt is getting more heat as the match goes on. He throws in a new innovation on the springboard dive by using the middle to jump back in and basically land with his feet on the ropes for "extra leverage". That's a spot he needs to hang onto and use more as a heel.

Shadows over Hell countered into an excellent Ace Crusher rolled right into the camel clutch using the tassels for extra choking leverage for the submission. Haze pushes Dutt off and he goes all "Bollywood Playa" on her, trying to make the moves, but Delirious pushes him away and he rolls out of the ring before anything can happen.

Hero murders Kyle Matthews as the fans chant "Hero", which is introduced and egged on by Kingston to motivate him to beat the crap out of the jobber. I bet Kyle Durden is glad his last name isn't "Matthews". This time, the spinning backfist looks brutal and is an effective finish. I want to see less squash matches on the HDNet shows overall, but Eddie can be in a squash match every week if it's as good as this one.

Promo from all the teams in the Honor Rumble. Man is this division STACKED. Best part is early on when Mark Briscoe says The Briscoes don't raise the bar, they are the bar. And after the show they will be AT the bar, for a very long time.

Promo with Chris Hero about Eddie Kingston and KENTA. Hero christens himself the "Arch Bishop of hard hitting". What about the Duke of Dorchester?

Joey Ryan vs. Roderick Strong—hopefully Ryan doesn't get fooled again. Oh but wait, this is where Nigel starts his business with Strong about how the fans will turn on him. The crowd pops for Nigel upon entrance, but I don't think that'll last when he speaks. Yup, there we go, boos. Nigel is so on point here with his promos that's it's a definite shame he was gone for WWE before fully exploiting this aspect of his character for the television shows and a feud with Strong,

Strong just lambastes Ryan with chops throughout the match, and that's a-okay with me. Really slick match and Strong continues his quality efforts. The finish is Nana pulling Strong off a cover, getting pushed into the crowd for his efforts but resulting in Ryan nailing a superkick as Strong comes back in, using the small package for three. Good upset win for Ryan to establish himself on the HDNet program and Strong can take the loss at this point without losing any momentum (as already seen with huge performances against Nigel McGuinness, in the four corner survival at Glory By Honor VIII and in this past weekend's events in Collinsville and Indianapolis). Strong gets the last words in with a sick kick on Ryan. He also cuts a damned good but short promo on Nigel.

Excellent interview with Aries as he announces the return of the A-Double L-Double for next week's show and lays into Kyle Durden some more—Aries is just so good with these interviews and comes across as such a heel. I'm loving it.

Speaking of loving it, we get a video feature on KENTA—damn straight. To say crowd "oh's" abound is an understatement.

The tag team Honor Rumble is eight teams with two starting out and one coming in every 90 seconds. A team isn't finished from the match until both members of a tag team are eliminated—which is definitely how I like tag team battle royals to be. Ernie Osiris and Jimmy Rave draw the number one slot and The Young Bucks draw number two. Double superkicks eliminate Ernie in a nice looking spot. DCFC draw three and demolish the Bucks in impressive fashion. King & Titus are in fourth, Stevens & Albright fifth, Steen & Generico sixth, The Briscoes seventh and The Wolves eighth.

I was impressed that The Bucks got to shine so much, eliminating DCFC and getting the best out of that team for the second time in a row. Nick eliminates himself by doing an awesome jumping dive to go after DCFC when they attack Matt. I liked that King & Titus weren't afraid to go after Jimmy Rave (well he went after them first, so it was retaliation). Of course, the match boils down to a three-way between The Wolves, The Briscoes and Steenerico since those are the top teams in the division and clearly the program ROH on HDNet was focusing on in the tag scene over the last few weeks. Richards pulls a little "Hart-Austin Royal Rumble 1997" action and then eliminates Steenerico. Jay is eliminated but Mark eliminates The Wolves and earns a future ROH World Tag Team title shot.

There was a clear delineation about which teams were feuding with which and of course the order of entry is an interesting look at the pecking order of the tag division as well. Ultimately this was a well-booked, well-paced bout with a lot to pay attention to but never really overwhelming you with too much at any one time. Fun, fun match, gets a standing ovation from me at home.

This episode just flew by—definite recommendation to check this one out. Although I do have one criticism now that I think back on it—previously on HDNet they had been building up Hero vs. Kingston and Ladder War 2, but they haven't mentioned any results from GBH 8 and for those matches. They should have followed up on it and mentioned what happened and how that plays into two of the storylines are a major part of the HDNet series.






Episode 29: 10.12.09

KENTA vs. Chris Hero has been receiving a ton of positive reviews after the show aired this week—let's see if it lives up to the billing.

The winner of the second A-Double L-Double is none other than "Sugarfoot" Alex Payne. Never has a man so deserving won the lottery except the millionaire ranch owner who won like $350 million at Powerball and then lost it all. Payne gets "worst in the world" chants, heh. Use your imagination for this match. Aries wins via submission with the Last Chancery. Danielson comes out to stop the madness and challenge Aries to a match, which will take place next week.

Hero with a hell of a build up to his match against KENTA, giving his opponent praise for devastating kicks but also calling him a bit too one dimensional (which isn't the whole truth, but given KENTA's propensity for strikes, there's enough of a point there to make Hero seem honest in his assessments). Hero says he fuses Heavyweight with Junior Heavyweight style (which I'd agree with) and he thinks that's the difference that makes him better than KENTA. Good stuff.

Necro Butcher and Bison Smith go head to head tonight—good booking then by ROH to lay out that angle from a few weeks back. The fight is exactly what you would expect out of these two and that is a compliment in this case, not an insult. Of course, we get a "let's not put anyone over" (also known as a "let's delay putting someone over") double count out finish. I do have to give it to them that they got there in a creative way—with a chair duel on the outside that results in both men just taking turns ramming the chair into each others' heads. That would be good for a party game; I'll have to try that at my next New Year's get together. Good post-match brawl that goes on for a while and gets over real well with a nice in-your-face garbage can shot that wallops Bison, a multiple pull-apart brawl and a chair shot to Necro's head among other insane things. Still, I really do wish that ROH knocked it off on these count outs and disqualification finishes, but maybe I'm nostalgic for the days in ROH when that was the rare exception and not an every-show occurrence.

Whose Mohawk would win in a fight—Bison Smith's or Erick Stevens'?

Every time Bison wrestles, I note but forget to mention in my column that he has the American and Japanese flags on his trunks, but NOT the Ghanan flag. Considering Nana is paying him the moolah, you'd think that would inspire some brand loyalty from Smith, but alas, no.

Tyler Black has the fans behind him in a match against the very dislikable Rhett Titus. This is a really good spotlight for both men and this show is on a tremendous roll. God's Last Gift for three in a very competitive and attention-holding match.

I have to say I am NOT liking this whole angle where Lynn is "teaching" Black life lessons about professional wrestling, especially how Hogewood describes this in his commentary. I know it's supposed to make it seem like Black is making a turn-around thanks to Lynn's tutelage, but in reality to me it makes Black look far weaker than before that he can't do it himself. Let Black find his way back on his own, without the "mentor" BS.

KENTA vs. Chris Hero: I like the "Knock ‘Em Out, Hero, Knock "Em Out (CLAP CLAP)" chants –if Hero turns face that would be an excellent chant to use to get behind and support him.

There are just some awe-inspiring, staggering strikes on both sides here, enough to make me grimace in sympathy pain several times throughout the match. I love KENTA's reversal into the STF he's been using when someone tries to kick him, just a vicious twist on the ankle to ground the opponent and smoothly transitioning into the STF. Hero also has some style in his elbow combinations—he's been using a left elbow, bionic elbow, right elbow combo that is natural and makes sense.

The match itself is incredible and it's hard for me to break it down into the detail it deserves, However I do have to make mention of the AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME turnbuckle Yakuza kick exchange in the middle of the match which ends with one of KENTA's flying corner dropkicks—one of the best of his I've seen yet. You better believe the crowd is pumped after that sequence.

Hero gets a hell of a two-count off of a hangman's elbow, on-point to the back of the head. Honestly that could have been the finish and no one would have complained one bit. The real finish is Hagadorn jumping up for the referee distraction, Hero getting the loaded elbow pad from Sara Del Rey, but Kingston jumps on the and slips right in during Hero's rotation to steal the pad away from Hero. Hero turns around into a high kick from KENTA and the Go 2 Sleep and that is alls she wrote.

The finish was a bit easy to call once Kingston got out there, but no bones about it: this was one of the best matches in the history of ROH on HDNet and easily a strong Match of the Year Candidate.






Conclusions (The Net Gain from a Marathon Run):

I can definitely observe the progression of the show after watching nearly three months worth of HDNet shows in the span of a week and catching up with current continuity. There are some major positives—including an excellent focus on the tag division and a main event that nine times out of ten delivers the epic style match ROH fans have come to know and love. Wrestlers like Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Chris Hero, The Wolves, The Briscoes, The Bucks, King & Titus and Colt Cabana are naturals for television and have elevated themselves thanks to their presence and hard work on these shows. The presence of KENTA as the special international guest star is a tremendous help to the show. Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak have found their groove and work well together, and Hogewood has found an understanding about ROH and its wrestlers. He still has some odd quirks about him, but his enthusiasm in his play-by-play makes up for that in spades.

However, aside from episodes 28 and 29, the show is still not what it should have been all along: a one-hour version of ROH you'd find on the DVD product, meaning the high-octane style of matches combined with the advantages that an HDNet channel can provide a growing company like ROH. Now, those last two episodes are getting there, and maybe it signals a turning point in the set up of the show, but I can't be certain of that.

The major problem when it comes to presenting ROH as the best wrestling show from beginning to end is the squash matches. ROH needs to program its show more like they did for episodes 28 and 29—with solid mid-card matches (well, aside from Aries vs. Payne) and a definite main event booked for each episode. They really need to begin to reduce squash matches, limit them to only one per three show block, unless it is to introduce a new wrestler.

Don't get me wrong, there have been plenty of positives. There are some monumental improvements in the audio; specifically the crowd which was a huge complaint by many at the beginning of the show's run in March. You can hear the crowd pops clearly, and it adds so much when the fans get into the matches like they did for Dutt vs. Delirious and Hero vs. KENTA from episode 29.

Conversely, the Philadelphia crowd (and perhaps the ROH fans in a larger sense) can hurt just as much as they can help a match. When they are deadly silent, it carries across to the viewer at home and it KILLS the product. ROH fans can act spoiled…and Philly fans have long been some of the toughest to please. However, I can't blame them for their reaction to some matches, specifically the squashes in the middle of the show, where everything is just so obvious and not interesting that a live crowd can't help but be apathetic. A good example of this would be the Erick Stevens' matches. Nothing against Stevens, but they were pointless and almost detrimental to pushing him. It was obvious Stevens would be winning, so when the match drags on or a jobber gets offense on him, it just takes away from him (or for anyone who is so clearly above on the pecking order wrestling a match such as this). When you have guys who are starting to get "go away" heat from the Philly crowd like Alex Payne, the best bet is to keep them away from the ring and find something else for them to do. It worked for Kyle Durden, who is superb as the backstage interviewer.

I think the video packages done by HDNet have really got "it" and are helping to push the programs further. There are plenty of logical recaps, interview segments and highlight features that not only get over the feuds they are pushing, but also serve as the right kind of breather in between matches. This is the kind of stuff ROH should have been throwing into their PPVs as a break between their matches, but at least they have them now. Of course there is a matter of timing these things that could be improved upon—for instance, the Colt Cabana personality package would have been great when he first returned to ROH on HDNet (a hell of a lot better than what they actually did to introduce him—if you remember he got like a ten second run in and a rushed introduction by Prazak). Overall though, these are a huge strong suit of the HDNet show.

ROH has built the core of the show (excepting Danielson and McGuinness, who are bowing out, and Lynn who was injured and is a question mark to return) around younger wrestlers who it seems are a solid bet to stick around for the long haul. The tag team division has been highlighted exceedingly well—so well, that the eight team Honor Rumble featured seven regular teams (Rave and Osiris the other) and where it was possible any of them could have won and it would have been believable. While at first the road was rough to have these guys over on a regular basis for the show, the show has been around long enough that these names are now a constant presence. Their familiarity and repeated appearance provides comfort and attachment to the viewers at home.

However, at the end of it all, there is still a "one hand clapping /sound of a tree falling in a forest" feeling to these shows. The HDNet folks have done a fine job of spreading the word through Facebook and Twitter updates, but therein is the problem itself. There are plenty of people like myself who just do not have access to HDNet or will not for whatever reason decide to buy into a cable / satellite package that includes the channel. Actual viewership of the channel and ROH's show is very limited in the overall perspective and that doesn't look like it's going to change anytime soon. Until then, for my own experience and likely countless others, it's going to be incumbent upon myself, my memory and my desire to actually click on the YouTube channel THREE days after the actual show has been first run. Judging from this recent experience, it's a crapshoot if even this ardent ROH fan can do that.

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Honor Bound Links


I invite everyone to check out some of my other writing, available at Associated Content. Click and read any and all of the following articles that I wrote this week:

NCIS Season 7 Episode 4--"Good Cop, Bad Cop": Ziva David Holds the Key to Discovering the Truth About a Dead Marine, as Well as Her Entry Back on Team Gibbs

Tweeting People is Easy on Twitter.Com: Bandwagon Jumping onto Twitter Nation Doesn't Prove to Be that Difficult After All


In addition, I have caved in and joined TwitterNation. You can follow me at: http://twitter.com/AriBerenstein.


Elsewhere on 411:

Mr. Forditude himself, Kevin Ford has a very special Cibernetico editon of Contemplating CHIKARA.

411 Buy or Sell covers CHIKARA and Tyler Black among other ROH issues.

Aaron Hubbard gives you his report of this week's ROH on HDNet with the must-see Chris Hero vs. KENTA match.

Jasper Gerretsen had me at "Ballad of Lacey" as he covers one of my favorite ROH angles in this week's That Was Then, Is This Too?.


That will just about cover it for this week's Column. Next time, I may just finally cover the rest of the DVDs I watched over the summer, plus a word or two about Tyler Black's Survival of the Fittest title win. Until then,

BROOKLYN!
--Ari--