The Ring of Honor ROHport 03.21.09

Posted by J.D. Dunn on 03.21.2009

ROH kicks off the TV era as the Age of the Fall explodes!

Ring of Honor TV
by J.D. Dunn

March 21, 2009

From Philadelphia, Pa.

Your hosts are Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak.

Apparently, they're making the Code of Honor the focal point again. I approve.

Jerry Lynn vs. Delirious.
Neat production stuff tells us who these guys are, weaknesses, signature moves, and turn-ons. Hogewood does not exactly endear himself to me as he's already relying on signature banalities. After a Delirious shoulderblock: That hurt Lynn! Another thing I like is that they're going back to some of the things they started with like Delirious going crazy at the bell, which is something that the crowd used to love but has receded into the background after he turned heel. Lynn gets his signature tilt-o-whirl headscissors and backbreaker. He hits a Gory Special, but Delirious comes back with a drop toehold in the corner and the PANIC ATTACK (called by Hogewood, so at least he's putting forth effort). Shadows Over Hell misses. The TKO is countered, and Delirious goes up. Lynn catches him, though, and hits a top rope huracanrana. TKO! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Lynn goes for a Cradle Piledriver, but Delirious rams him into the corner. Delirious misses a charge, though, and Lynn is able to hit the Cradle Piledriver at 5:44. Lynn looked solid again, and it was probably a good idea to lead off with him since he's probably got the most name cache of anyone in the company thanks to his ECW Title reign and tenure in WWE and TNA. **1/4

Kyle Durden gets a word with Tyler Black. Black wants some revenge on Jimmy Jacobs tonight because Jimmy lost the mission and double-crossed him.

Kenny King vs. Sami Callihan.
If Shelton Benjamin never existed, King would be on Smackdown right now. King displays his cockiness and athleticism in the first thirty seconds, so job well done there. King snaps Callihan's neck on the top rope á la Randy Savage. Back in, King hits the handstand kick and a vicious spinebuster. Callihan comes back with an atomic drop and a T-bone. DOWN COME THE STRAPS! Callihan hits a snap Stunner a seated clothesline for two. KOJI CLUTCH! King makes the ropes, though. Callihan misses a wild charge and takes a hard double-knee shot to the back (think Elijah Express only farther away from the corner). The Coronation finishes Callihan at 5:40. King has huge star potential if they can bring him along. He tends to rely on set pieces, though, instead of just letting the match unfold, and this match demonstrated that. Still not sure what to think about Callihan. He's definitely not a bad wrestler, but he doesn't wow me either -- kind of like Cody Rhodes. *3/4

Jimmy Jacobs, probably ROH's best promo guy, derides Black for deciding to fight for the masses. That's a bit of revisionist history as it was Jacobs who turned on Black for screwing up, not because Black had any kind of revelation.

Sidebar: the crowd is uncharacteristically dead. It could be that production toned down their sound. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn't have the atmosphere that makes a lot of ROH shows so great.

Brent Albright vs. Rhett Titus.
Titus is the most likely to break out with new viewers thanks to his gimmick and personality. Hopefully, they actually let Titus and King get over as a tag team. They have the potential to be the Miz and Morrison of ROH. This, on the other hand, starts out as a squash by Albright. He hits Splash Mountain on Titus, which is a bit of a mistake because Titus' finisher is so similar. Titus gets tossed, and Albright follows with a pescado. Titus rakes the eyes to come back and tosses Albright to the corner. Albright fights back, but Titus goes back to the eyes. More eye-rakery and a chinlock. Titus fights like a girl. I approve. Albright escapes the chinlock and hulks up. A leg lariat and clothesline put Titus down, and he runs right into a dropkick. Albright hits an Exploder and a uranage. That sets up the Half-Nelson Suplex to knock Titus silly. The Crowbar gets the submission at 6:29. **

Recap of the Jacobs/Black feud. Note the copious amount of blood right there on your TV show. No black and white. No pulling back to a long shot.

Jimmy Jacobs vs. Tyler Black.
Jimmy makes the mistake of trying to shove Black and gets knocked on his ass. Black hits a dropkick and sends Jimmy to the floor. They brawl on the floor, and Jimmy scurries off. Jimmy tosses in a few chairs and Pearl Harbors Black as he's trying to clear them away. Jimmy puts the boots to him, but Black catches him with an atomic drop. Jacobs headscissors him and drops an old-school elbow. Black clotheslines him and goes up, but Jimmy pops up and knocks Black to the floor. Jimmy sets Tyler in a chair, but the ref breaks up any further violence. Jimmy jumps Tyler on the way back in and puts the boots to him again. Jacobs hits a spear, but a second try is blocked. Jabs by Black, and he hits a press slam. Black hits a running forearm. SPRINGBOARD LARIAT BY BLACK! A standing SSP gets two. THE PHOENIX SPLASH… misses. Black rolls through but gets speared by Jacobs. Clubs to the back, but Black hits the Pélé. Jacobs takes it to the floor and hits a plancha. Back in again, Jacobs' senton finds the knees. God's Last Gift is countered to the END TIME! Black powers him to the corner and throws him off. A superkick misses, but Tyler gets a rollup for two. Jimmy jumps him with the END TIME again. Tyler fades and nearly gets choked out, but he rolls Jimmy over onto his shoulders to get the pin at 13:58. A lot more low-tech and low-energy than what you'd see on a DVD or PPV, but that's actually to its benefit on TV. Tyler looked strong and talented, like the future of the promotion should. Jimmy, on the other hand, didn't look bad at all in the loss, using treachery and intelligence to stay on top before losing in a somewhat flukish fashion. Good TV main event to kick off the TV era. ***

The 411: A good start for the promotion on TV. Not really representative of what ROH has been over the years, but more of a hybrid between ROH's in-ring action and the WWE B-shows. In fact, it felt a lot like the early episodes of Raw. Hopefully, they'll incorporate more angles since this is supposed to be the advertisement for ROH DVDs and PPV. Some things still need ironed out. Hogewood takes some getting used to. He sounds like someone spliced together Jim Ross and Rod Trongard's DNA. He's not bad, but he sound very old school. All in all, a successful first foray into TV for the promotion with some room for improvement.