411’s ROH on HDNet Report 6.10.09: Episode XII (6.06.09)

Brief Note: This recap provides play by play in a traditional manner. However, should you wish to skip the play by play and merely read the opinion part of the review, there is an Analysis after each recap. The word “Analysis” is in bold and the actual analysis in in italics, so it should be easy to find.

Prazak and Hogewood welcome us to the show, and remind us that we have NEW ROH World Tag Team Champions, The American Wolves. But now it’s time for the first ever World Title match on HDNet, as ROH Champion Jerry Lynn defends his title against Tyler Black, Austin Aries, and “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson.

Claudio Castagnoli & Ernie Osiris w/Prince Nana vs. Colt Cabana & Brent Albright
We get pre-match promos from both sides, and even Brent Albright manages to be entertaining. Putting him with Colt is a good idea. Claudio demands Ernie start out. The Code of Honor is not followed. Bright and Ernie start, but Ernie tries to tag out to Claudio. CC “encourages” him to fight Albright, but Brent shoves Ernie into his corner to try and force Claudio to tag in. CC goes to the floor instead. Biel by Albright, and he climbs to the second rope in the corner to taunt Castagnoli. That allows Osiris to hit some forearms to the back, which are no sold by Albright. He twists the arm and hits an elbow strike, and then tags to Cabana. They whip Ernie and hit double back body drop. Cabana struts, and puts on a headlock that Ernie quickly counters. He hits an atomic drop sans knee, dropping him on his butt on the mat, and then gets a headscissors pin for 2. Cabana wrings the arm into an arm wringer, and Ernie finally tags to CC. He gets a single leg trip and heel lock. In a bit of non-trivia, Claudio vs. Cabana was my first ROH match.

Colt kicks Claudio off, and they reverse the sequence with Cabana teasing a stomp to the groin before applying the heel lock. Castagnoli tries to roll him off, but Cabana cartwheels to his feet. They try throw (not Irish Whip) to the ropes, but they both reverse it. Claudio gets a sunset flip for two, and Cabana counters for a nearfall. He flip over to try and apply something, but CC kicks him off. Cabana comes back by splashing over Claudio and trapping his legs for a nearfall. He applies an arm wringer, but Ernie throws his shoe to break it up. That distracts Cabana long enough for Claudio to him a European Uppercut to the back. He hits an elbow drop and stomps before tagging to Ernie. Ernie goes outside to put his shoe on before going in, which is awesome. He punishes Colt with the forearm rub, effective due to lack of bathing. Cabana punches Ernie and fights out of the corner with bionic elbows. He takes a shot at Nana but misses, and Castagnoli hits a clothesline from the apron.

Ernie tags out, uppercut and kick by CC. He whips Cabana, but Colt leaps off buckle and hits a forearm. Cabana leapfrogs over Claudio, cartwheels and hits a back body drop. Hot tag to Albright, who hits Claudio with a clothesline, forearm and a punch. Castagnoli tries to bail, but Brent pulls him back up and hits a flurry of chops. He whips Claudio cross corner and hits a leaping heel kick. Knee lifts by Claudio, but when he goes off the ropes Albright hits a belly-belly suplex for two. Brent hits his own European Uppercut and Irish Whips CC, but Claudio stops and the ropes and tags Ernie. Osiris isn’t happy, but Brent biels him in and tags to Cabana. They whip Ernie to the corner, Flying Asshole by Cabana! He throw Ernie into a powerslam by Brent. Colt applies the Billy Goat’s Curse (Boston Crab except that Cabana faces the same direction as his opponent, allowing him to use more weight) for the submission at 4:40.

Analysis
Very solid opening tag team match. Cabana and Brent make a good odd couple that reminds me of Ernie and Bert from Sesame Street, but it worked. Claudio played the coward and Ernie was there to be eaten alive so that Claudio didn’t have to be pinned. His only offense of consequence was the shoe, but he plays his character so well that it works. **

Cabana keeps the hold on for a while after the match, but lets Ernie escape after suffocating him with the shoe. Kyle Durdan wants a moment of their time to ask how Brent feels after a little revenge, but gets hazed as Cabana keeps messing with him, and then Brent goes after him with the shoe. Um…babyface?

They hype the main event by showing parts of the video interviews from all four participants: Bryan Danielson, Tyler Black, Austin Aries, and The ROH World Champion Jerry Lynn.

Bobby Dempsey vs. Sal Rinauro
Sal is a former ROH Tag Team Champion but can’t even get an entrance. Bobby offers the handshake, but Sal doesn’t want it and shoves him. The bell rings and Dempsey shoves Sal to the corner. Sal dodges an attempted avalanche, but when he tries a Russian Legsweep, Bobby stays where he is and Sal goes rolling. Rinauro goes to the eyes and taunts the crowd, but is unable to Irish Whip the Big Man. Bobby whips Sal but telegraphs a back body drop and gets kicked in the face. Rinauro takes a little too much time showboating and Bobby catches him with an avalanche in the ropes. The Death Valley Driver finishes at :43! SLAP THE PORPOISE!

Analysis
Um…SQUASH! Rinauro didn’t look incompetent, just cocky and WAY outweighed. 1/2*

Ric Flair is interviewed about the title match. He comes up with an interesting point of view where he says that because Jerry is the champ, he needs to know he is the best. The pressure is on the challengers, not on Jerry. I guess I can sort of see where’s he’s coming from. Ric says what separates ROH from other promotions is that it’s built on youth, has a vision, and is not out to make a name for itself at the expense of other promotions. Yeah, tell that to the ROHBots and WWElitists. On the topic of being a Hall of Famer and what he has to offer as such, Flair rants a bit about how great he is. The gist is that he’s the measuring stick and everyone wants to be Ric Flair. I’m not sure if the arrogance in this interview was “Ric Flair” or “Richard Fleihr”, but either way it was a little annoying.

Super special in-ring introductions for the main event. Aries gets “Austin Asshole” chants. Black gets a good pop, and Danielson gets about an equal pop, but also gets a “Best in the World” Chant. Lynn sadly gets a mixed reaction, mostly boos. Pricks.

ROH World Championship Match: Jerry Lynn © vs. Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries vs. Tyler Black
Handshakes without incident, even from Aries, which surprised me a bit. Danielson gets the “You’re gonna get your fuckin’ head kicked” and “Fuck ‘em up Dragon” chants, so I guess he’s the true favorite. The bell rings and they all close in, tentative to lock up. Aries starts talking trash, and shoves Tyler out of the way. Dragon takes exception and Lynn just watches as Aries and Dragon engage in a shoving match, but Aries cheapshots him with an elbow. Aries pays for it as Dragon and Black pummel him, but when he gets whipped to the rope, he casually walks outside. He runs around with his arms up like an idiot, but Lynn takes him out with the hilo off the apron. Lynn slams Aries into the guardrail as Dragon puts Black in a headlock. Black shoves him off but eats a shoulder tackle, but sprawls and hits a dropkick that sends Dragon outside. Lynn punches Aries some more and comes into the ring. Lynn and Black repeat the sequence, but Lynn is smart enough to stay in the ropes. Black lands on his feet though, and tries a military press. Lynn counters with an O’Connor Roll for the first nearfall. Aries is on the apron but Lynn takes him out with a forearm before catching Black with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors. Lynn tries a cover but Black is in the ropes. Dragon comes in and puts the champ in an Indian Deathlock.

Tyler and Aries brawl in the walkway as Dragon changes the deathlock a bit by standing up and then bridging for more pressure. Dragon rolls it over into the most painful variant, but Lynn gets the ropes. Dragon hits an uppercut and whips Lynn cross corner, but runs into an elbow. Lynn follows that up with a hurricane rana but Aries attacks him with the DEVASTATING back and chest rakes! Lynn returns the favor as Black pummels Dragon on the apron. Tyler puts Dragon in the ring and hits some punches, while Aries reverses an Irish Whip on Lynn and sends him into the barricade. Dragon makes a comeback with a European Uppercut, whips Black and hits a knee to the gut and follows up with a stiff kick to the back. Dragon puts Black in the Mexican Surfboard as Aries throws Lynn back in, but Aries breaks that up with a forearm drop. Aries tries to put Dragon in a surfboard, but Bryan powers out before he get the hold on. Lynn gets two off a small package on Dragon but eats an Uppercut. Tyler stomps at Aries in the corner but nearly gets pinned off of a schoolboy from Dragon. Dragon hits a snapmare and applies a chinlock, which is quickly joined by Aries and Lynn for a triple chinlock. Orton just found his next porn tape.

Black breaks that up with a super jawbreaker, but Lynn puts him in a figure-four. Aries than shows how awesome he is by turning the hold over and humbling Lynn with a camel clutch (and Prazak does say “humbling”). Dragon breaks that up with a kick to Aries’ chest, but fails to get a pin on either Lynn or Black. He drops Tyler with another uppercut, but Tyler kicks him off to prevent another deathlock/figure four, and Aries pulls Dragon out to the floor and into the rail. Aries goes into the ring to avoid a pescado from Black, who lands on the apron, but when he tries a springboard move Aries knocks him off and into Dragon. Lynn gets a kick and a forearm, whips Aries cross-corner, but when he charges Aries tosses him up and Lynn crotches himself on the top rope. Aries swears it was an accident but hits a neckbreaker through the ropes to bring Lynn back in the ring. Aries only gets two off that. He snapmares Lynn and tries to apply an inverted figure-four, but stops to hit Tyler off the apron. Another pinfall (off of nothing) gets two for Aries, and he then has to forearm Dragon off the apron. He whips Lynn to the corner and hits a corner spear for two more. He kicks Tyler out again and hits an STO on Lynn and then…hits the ropes repeatedly.

He knocks Dragon off the apron again, but Lynn finally makes a comeback with forearms and knocks him down with a pair of shoulder blocks. Aries sidesteps a third one and the Champ tumbles outside. Aries goes for the heat seeking missile, but Dragon trips him up from the outside. Aries knocks him back down with a shoulder to the gut and decides to hit the HSM on him, but then Lynn trips him up. Aries tries the shoulder to Lynn, but Lynn moves and hits a legdrop that snaps Aries throat off the middle rope. Black takes him out with the springboard clothesline. Tyler rallies and hits the corner forearm, and throws him into the TKO from Lynn, which sets up Dragon’s charging knee to the face. Lynn and Black break up a pin attempt, but eat uppercuts afterwards. Lynn reverses a cross-corner whip but Dragon flips out of the turnbuckles into a waistlock from Black. Dragon reverses to his own waistlock, and Lynn hits the sunset flip that forces Dragon to German Suplex Black, but only gets two.

Lynn hits a series of forearms but Dragon reverses an Irish Whip, and then counters a rolling schoolboy, which triggers a series of nearfalls. Lynn gets a jackknife for a few more nearfalls, and Dragon tries to bridge up but Tyler hits them both with a lionsault mid-bridge! Awesome! He only gets two, and Dragon bridges up AGAIN, only for Tyler to kick him in the face! A schoolboy on Lynn gets two and Black kicks him in the face. Tyler sets up for a powerbomb/piledriver, but Aries breaks it up with a running back rake and a clothesline. Aries hits a shinbreaker on Lynn before dropping him with a suplex, and eats a flurry of kicks from Dragon. He catches one and hits the shinbreaker/suplex combo on Dragon, but Black unloads with punches and a chop. Aries ducks a clothesline from Black and takes out Lynn with the Heat Seeking Missile! Black hits them both with a tope con hilo. Aries dumps Black into the crowd, but Dragon baseball slides him into the crowd. He manages to move out of the way when Dragon hits a springboard plancha, and only Black gets hit. Aries is the only man inside, so he tries to win the title on a count-out. This plays off of the double count-out that Black and Dragon had earlier, but it’s kind of lame. Lynn saves his title by getting into the ring at the last possible second.

Lynn counters the Brainbuster with a backslide for two. Aries whips him to the corner, but Lynn manages to turn it into a sunset flip, but Aries hits the dropkick! Aries hits the corner dropkick and Brainbuster, but Lynn gets his foot on the rope. Black suplexes Danielson on the floor and Aries misses the 450° Splash on Lynn! Tyler picks up Austin and powerbombs him into Lynn in the corner! SUPERKICK! 1…2…Lynn saves Aries and the title! Black sets up both men so he can hit the Phoenix Splash, but Danielson is up and he hits the backdrop superplex, landing on Aries and Lynn! The crowd chants “This is Awesome!” as all four men recover, and Dragon kicks Tyler’s head in! TRIANGLE CHOKE! Lynn tries to break it up but almost gets pinned with a schoolboy, LAST CHANCERY! It’s a submission race, but Black finishes it by powerbomb Dragon onto Lynn and Aries!

An “ROH” chant picks up as all four men get up. Dragon and Lynn trade forearms and so do Aries and Black. Black and Lynn go down, and Dragon takes out Aries with a leaping kick to the face. He tries a German on Black, but Tyler escapes and hits the Pelé! GOD’S LAST GIFT! 1…2…LYNN SAVES HIS TITLE! The crowd pisses me off with a “Fuck you Lynn!” chant. Lynn and Black trade counters and end up in the corner, and Aries takes them both out with a dropkick. Black tries the Brainbuster on Lynn a second time, but Lynn counters with a knee, and Danielson hits a Tiger Suplex for 2! Dragon goes for Cattle Mutilation, but Lynn catches him when he rolls forward and drills him with the Cradle Piledriver for the pin at 21:39!

Analysis
Well, after they hyped this match for a month, it had to deliver. It delivered in spades. There were a few minutes when Aries was working over Lynn that were a little tedious, but the match was nonstop hard hitting action for the rest of it. A lot of the spots that they did in this match could have come off contrived, but all four men worked it out very well, and they all came off without a hitch. There were a few things I have never seen before, so the match gets points for innovation. Danielson getting pinned is the right result, because he is perma-over. ROH had an awesome main event last week, but this one topped it. This is your TV MOTY so far. ****1/4

After the match, Lynn receives a mixed reaction, and seems to be hurt by it, but he also has a nasty bruise on his left arm. Aries is seething and he tries to grab the belt, but Lynn pulls it away. Austin bails. Tyler shakes Lynn’s hand but indicates that he was just that close. Danielson tries to recover from the Piledriver, and Lynn tries to help him up. Danielson doesn’t want help, but he does extend his hand for the handshake afterward.

Well, this whole show was based around the success of the main event, and the main event succeeded with flying colors. It’s basically a one-match show, but that one match was hyped for a month and lived up to it. Definately go out of your way to the catch this. Here, I’ll make it easy.