411's ROH on HDNet Report 12.10.09: ROH World Title 4-Way (12.07.09)

Posted by Aaron Hubbard on 12.10.2009

Jim Cornette lays down the law, Aries faces three top challengers, and the Briscoes battle Steen & Generico in one of the best television shows of the year!

ROH has a really nice new intro video that includes Rasche Brown's Burning Hammer, Claudio Castagnoli's no hands airplane spin, and KENTA's double stomp from the top. Well, this is markout heavy already.

And there's another mark-out moment as we have a fan in a Jushin Thunder Liger mask in the front row. Wow, the whole roster is out. Jim Cornette"Pick 6 Contender's Series", which is a really simple and tangible way of keeping track of the top contenders for the ROH World Title. We get six singles matches between twelve wrestlers. The winners also get a $25,000 bonus from HDNet. Chris Hero is my favorite wrestler right now because he actually had a reaction to that.

First match is: Delirious vs. Kenny King. I like.

Other matches are: Colt Cabana vs. Claudio Castagnoli (cool), Roderick Strong vs. Davey Richards (AWESOME, and the fans start a "Thank you!" chant), Sonjay Dutt vs. Tyler Black (foregone conclusion but it has potential, and it's fresh), and Mark Briscoe vs. Jay Briscoe (Oh dear…well, THAT will be interesting). Needs more Chris Hero.

Austin Aries missed the memo on the meeting. King and Rhett Titus start clapping like schoolgirls in hilarious fashion. Aries says the E in James E. Cornette stands for "Ego", and that he's been trying to get the title off of Aries since he got here. But it won't happen, because Aries is smarter than him. Cornette buries the Lucky Lottery and says that ROH picks the contenders, not Aries. The contenders will earn their shots and Aries will earn his title by facing the top competition. Davey Richards is staring a hole at Aries which is a great visual. Aries takes offense to that and says he will face anyone in this ring. Cornette says Aries will defend his title against Kenny Omega…and Davey Richards…and Roderick Strong.

Okay, so a few words on that. 1) ROH rarely does long opening segments like this, 2) This set up no less than SEVEN matches, most of them awesome, and 3)This whole segment was utterly brilliant.

Oh, Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak are on commentary.

#1 Contender's Match: Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe
Mark and Steen start us out with some nice chain wrestling, which is more aggressive than the usual stuff you see. Steen cons Mark into going for a leapfrog and then hits a kick to the gut and a vicious chop to the chest. Mark leapfrogs over a back body drop attempt and hits a spinning wheel kick. Jay tags in and Generico is in as well. Generico gets a series of armdrags on Jay to stay in gain control. Jay telegraphs a back body drop and eats a kick, but connects with a hurracanrana and a back elbow. Mark tags in and hits a series of very aggressive corner thrusts and then gets two off a chop. Mark gets another two off a belly-to-belly suplex and tags back out to Jay. Huge double biel from the Briscoes on Generico, and Jay hits Steen with an elbow for good measure. Jay hits a scoop slam and a legdrop for two. Mark tags in and gets two of a vertical suplex and applies a camel clutch. Generico gets to his feet, lands on his feet when Mark tries a backdrop and he hits his own back suplex. Tag to Steen, Steen heads up top, SWANTON EATS KNEES! Oh, but Mark has just come back from knee surgery.

The Briscoes pummel Steen but Mark tries a scoop slam and his leg buckles, and Steen catches a kick and hits a dragon screw. He tags out to Generico and Generico targets the leg. Generico tags out and Steen hits the Knee DT. He sets up Mark in the corner and dropkicks the knee. Mark starts clubbing him, but Steen kicks the knee out from under him. Generico comes in and moonsaults onto the legs. Steen tags back in and Mark gets in a few shots, SIDE EXPLODER SUPLEX! Hot tag to Jay and he knocks Generico of the apron and hits a yakuza kick on Steen to send him to the floor. Generico eats some strikes and dropkick, and then Jay dropkicks Steen in the corner for two. Jay can't hit the sit-out gourdbuster but hits a death valley driver for two.

Jay tags in Mark and they go for the double football tackle, but Steen stays in the ropes, backdrops Jay to the floor, Mark tries a backdrop but his knee gives out, CODEBREAKER BY STEEN! Mark goes to the corner, and Steen gets the Cannonball! It only gets two, so Steen goes up top. Jay stops him and tries the DVD on the apron, but Steen lands in the ring. Jay hits a stunner on the ropes that puts him on the floor and Steen on all fours, and Generico uses Steen as a platform for a dive on Jay. Not contrived, just convenient. Pumphandle neckbreaker over the knee by Steen for two. That really needs a name. Generico wants the yakuza kick but runs into a boot by Mark, but he hits the Michinoku Driver for two.

Generico wants the Brainbuster but Mark lands on his feet and hits an enzugiri. Steen comes in and gets the Sharpshooter, but Jay hits a superkick. Generico hits a boot to Jay but runs into a Faarooq style spinebuster from Jay. Jay lifts up Generico, DOOMSDAY DEVICE! But Steen hits Jay with a superkick, and hits Mark with a press powerbomb for two, SHARPSHOOTER! Mark gets to the ropes and Steen wants the Package Piledriver, but Mark escapes and hits an ace crusher, and Jay connects with a lariat. JAY DRILLER! Mark covers, 1…2…3! That's it.
Winners: Jay & Mark Briscoe (via Jay Driller on Kevin Steen) ****

Steve Corino cuts a promo about coming back to ROH and TV, and holy crap, he ISN'T bleached blonde.

Kyle Durdan interviews Davey Richards. Davey says there are a little of people acting like a wrestler, portraying a wrestler, but Davey Richards IS a wrestler. Davey says all four men have had storybook years (and they have), but this is the year of the Wolf, and the hunt is on.

Oh, funny moment as Dave Prazak says that Cornette forgot about Chris Hero vs. Kenny Omega in the Pick 6 tournament. Ah that makes sense. How did I miss that he only announced five matches? Next week we'll see Black vs. Dutt and Delirious vs. King. Good, because those are the ones I'm least interested in and it's a good idea to double up.

On December 19, ROH reaches a new milestone, providing it's first live broadcast for Final Battle 2009, which you can watch on your computer for $14.95. Tyler Black faces Aries for the World Title, and The American Wolves vs. The Briscoes for the tag team title. I'm buying the show, are you?


ROH World Title Four Way Match: Austin Aries © vs. Kenny Omega vs. Davey Richards vs. Roderick Strong
Davey just turned babyface in ROH fan's minds by kicking away Aries hand when he offers an insincere handshake. Aries simultaneously pokes Omega and Strong in the eyes and punches Richards, and Davey hits a kick. Aries goes to the floor and Kenny gets a roll up for two, Aries pulls Kenny to the floor, Roddy gets a roll up on Davey for two, and then Strong hits a leaping heel kick on Davey for two. Aries sends Omega into the barricade. Strong and Richards trade chops as Aries keeps beating Kenny down outside. Strong gets two off of a snapmare. Davey hits a series of strikes and tries the handspring enzugiri but Aries hits his back from the floor. He pulls Davey outside and sends him into the barricade, and Strong dropkicks Aries into the barricade. Omega goes after Davey and gets suplexed on the floor for his troubles. Strong wants the backbreaker on the apron for Aries but Aries goes to the eyes and hits a neckbreaker through the ropes. He wants the heat seeking missile but Kenny connects with a Manami Toyota Dropkick.

Omega tries a suplex but Aries escapes, Omega tries the "STOP!" thing but Aries just slaps the taste out of his mouth. Omega hits an inverted atomic drop and then hits a dropkick to the knee and the leapfrog bulldog. Hey, I got it: THE BULLFROG! Strong and Richards battle on the floor and Kenny tries the Ocean Suplex but Aries avoids it only to get clotheslined to the floor. Kenny goes for a moonsault on Aries, but Davey connects with an enzugiri before that happens. Davey hits a kick and a backdrop suplex for two. Davey wins a striking war and Strong slams Aries on the floor. Too much going on. Davey runs into a boot by Kenny but catches a second one and pulls Omega down into a kick. Nice. Strong breaks it up and trades chops with Richards and wins, but Davey hits a jawbreaker and a scoop slam. Davey goes up top but Aries knock him down, comes in and hits a frog splash for two.

Aries his a snap sidewalk slam for two. He quickly hits the pendulum elbow but Omega breaks up the pin, so Austin throws him outside. Aries misses the IED on Strong and Roddy hits an enzugiri. Kenny comes in and he whips Strong to the corner, Davey comes in and Omega dodges and weaves and hits a rana that send Richards back out. Omega catches Strong's foot but takes an enzugiri, IED! Aries goes for the brainbuster but Davey breaks it up with a forearm, tries a lariat but Aries gets a backslide for two. Aries wants the Brainbuster but Richards hits a knee to the face and a spinning kick to the gut, and Aries hits a roaring elbow to send him to the floor. Aries wants the heat seeking missile but Davey stops it with a kick to the face. Roddy hits a plancha onto both men and Omega hits a hilo on all three men. Omega puts Aries inside but only gets two. Knees to Aries' face, Ocean Suplex attempt but Aries escapes, and Omega shoves him into the turnbuckle. Avalanche Ocean Suplex? Are you kidding me? Thankfully yes as Aries fights Omega off, but Richards comes in and FULL ROTATION GERMAN SUPERPLEX!

Running spinning kick by Davey, German Suplex, but Omega breaks it up. They trade strikes but Davey misses a roundhouse kick, INVERTED RANA BY OMEGA! He wants the Ocean Suplex but Aries pulls Richards down and sends him to the floor, Kenny grabs Aries, and never mind, it's not an Ocean Suplex, it's an electric chair released into a German Suplex. Awesome, but Strong breaks up the cover. Omega and Strong trade forearms, Strong wins and goes for the Press Gutbuster, Austin pulls Kenny down and sends him to the floor, turns around, PRESS GUTBUSTER TO ARIES! SICK KICK! Davey breaks it up. Roderick and Davey trade strikes but Omega hits a crossbody on both men. Kenny hits a spin kick on Strong, catches a kick from Davey, ducks the enzugiri and Davey CLOCKS Strong with it. Omega hits a heel kick to the back of Davey's head and the 2K1 Bomb on Roderick. Davey breaks up a pin and Omega hits the ropes, ALARM CLOCK! SICK KICK TO OMEGA! He's dead Jim.

Roddy and Davey look at each other, Davey lets Roddy hit him with an elbow and spits on Roderick, and it is ON. They trade strikes, Roddy hits an enzugiri, LARIAT BY DAVEY! 1…2…NO! Press gutbuster into the Texas Cloverleaf! SMALL PACKAGE! 1…2…NO! GIBSON DRIVER! 1…2…Aries with a kick to Strong's head! He pins Richards, 1…2…3!
Winner: Austin Aries (via pin-stealing) ****

Tyler Black is on the ramp waiting for Aries as the show closes.

AWESOME show tonight. I literally have no complaints. Amazing stuff.