ROH on HDNET - Episode 1: A New Era.

Ring of Honor Proudly Presents...

ROH on HDNET

Episode 1: A New Era.

Welcome, cats and kittens, to yet another...hey, wait a second. This isn't the Cewsh Reviews that we've come to know and love over the years and read to our children right before they go to bed. Who is this new guy? Why is this a review of a tv show? WHAT'S GOING ON?!

Deep breath. Deeeeep breath. Okay? Okay. Good.

Now then, this is the first review of many to come that will head in an altogether different direction than normal. This review will center around Ring of Honor's weekly television program ROH on HDNET on a weekly (or close to it) basis. "But why ROH?" you may be asking. Well the simple fact is that once upon a time Ring of Honor was the toast of the wrestling world, and was on the tip of the tongue of every hardcore wrestling fan, but in recent years it has fallen into obscurity, so this is not only a weekly review, but an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the various changes since everyone stopped watching, and to answer the burning question "Is Ring of Honor worth watching again?" We hope to find some semblance of an answer here. Or, at the very least, endless opportunities to mock Gabe Sapolsky, who will hitherto be referred to simply as "The Tool". Also you may have noticed i'm calling it ROH on HDNET Episode 1. This is not the first episode, but rather the first episode we will be covering. Consider this as a new dawn for ROH, and everything starting from this review onwards will be treated as a new era entirely.

So let's jump right in and...wait, hold on. I'm forgetting something. AH YES, i'm forgetting about the portion of you who have no idea what Ring of Honor is or why you should care. Well fear not my young squires and squirettes, we have you covered too. In fact, let's get started with a little history...



Once Upon A Time In Philadelphia...

DDT: Once upon a time, there was a company called RF Videos owned by a very horny man named Rob Feinstein. Rob, in addition to being a very horny man, was also a shrewd businessman who sold the tapes, and later DVD(r’s) of all the promotions not named ‘WCW’ or ‘WWE’. It was a niche product, but one that kept him firmly in business. His cash crop was the tapes of perhaps the most polarizing promotion of all time, ECW.

When ECW went out of business, Rob was left without a recognizable name to con, err, entice customers into buying his other goods and services. So he came up with the idea of creating his own wrestling promotion! And he hired one of ECW booker Paul Heyman’s students, a fat, ugly, and at the time, genius of a Jew named Gabe Sapolsky, to book the promotion. Gabe Sapolsky will hence forth be known as ‘the Tool’.

The Tool, in a rare moment of genius, decided that just copying ECW wasn’t good enough, that in order to recapture that magic they needed something different, something new.

They needed Ring of Honor.

The genius was in the simplicity; ROH would get all the big/bigger names from the other independents that used RF Videos, including British and Mexican promotions, and basically hold supershows with these “big named” independent stars. There was also the “Code of Honor” which used to be a clear cut set of rules but devolved into shaking hands before and after every match and behaving in an “honorable” way, and was basically a way for heels to act heelishly while still having the competitive match that ROH claimed was its mission. It was Ring of Honor where Indy star Christopher Daniels helped develop the talent that would eventually shine brightly, including Samoa Joe, Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan for all you WWE-tards out there), Low Ki (Kaval for the same group), CM Punk, AJ Styles and a host of others, who would in turn help the next batch coming through.

In short, ROH became wildly popular among the ‘cool kids’ and moderately successful for being everything TNA ever pretended to be.

Yes, things were looking up for our awesome little promotion, kicking ass and taking names for three years, the last two of which featured Samoa Joe as the ‘new Taz’ in that he was perceived as a real-life bad-ass…but remember, Rob Feinstein was a very horny man. So horny, in fact, that it got him trouble with the Internet Police, better known as the FBI. You see, those damn feds don’t like it when people solicit sex from underage teenagers. What a bunch of privacy invading douchebags.

Yeah, Who Wouldn't Trust This Face?
Things went down hill in a jiffy for poor ROH. Feinstein left the company to try and save it, and unfortunately took RF Videos with him. TNA, who until recently allowed their contracted wrestlers to work for—let’s face it—an untelevised, northeastern-based wrestling promotion, pulled them off quicker than a hiccup, stripping ROH of almost all of their main event talent; only Joe, Punk, and Danielson, and later a returning Low Ki remained.

But just when the company was about to die, a man named Cary Silken emerged, bought the company, and said, “You know, we could just make and sell our own DVD’s.” And so the ROH video store was born. Then Cary instructed the Tool to give people a reason to buy the DVD’s.

The Tool gave us the Samoa Joe/CM Punk trilogy, which essentially means he said, ‘you guys are wrestling, figure out the rest for yourselves while I masturbate to the sound of how awesome I am. God I’m such a revolutionary genius’.

Tool.
It was all up-up-up from here: upstart Generation Next stable and subsequent rise of Austin Aries and Roderick Strong; Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer going from strangers to brothers of different mothers to two guys trying to fucking kill each other; Joe getting in a few more classics before dropping the belt in unexpected and dramatic fashion to said Austin Aries; TNA allowing their stars to return to ROH; the Summer of Punk, where CM Punk gave a defining performance in being a heel, coinciding with the Rise and Redemption of James Gibson, where the former Jamie Noble gave us a defining performance in how to be a babyface; the title reign of Bryan Danielson that made him famous; the CZW feud/Homicide finally winning the big one; guest appearances by legit big name Japanese stars like KENTA, Marufuji, Jushin Lyger and Kenta fucking Kobashi!!!!

You Just Grew Three Chest Hairs From Looking At This Picture.
GOD was ROH awesome from mid-2004 to the end of 2006.

And theeeen the Tool got two, absolutely brilliant ideas. So brilliant that they almost finished what Feinstein’s horniness started.




The Inevitable Decline.

Cewsh: And that's where I come in.

After reaching incredible heights for an independent wrestling promotion, ROH and The Tool specifically, felt they could do no wrong. They pulled the trigger on an epic year long storyline the culminated in Homicide finally winning the ROH World Heavyweight Championship in one of the most emotional and satisfying moments in wrestling this decade.

Two months later he lost that title in stunning anticlimactic fashion to a Japanese wrestler on loan from Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan named Takeshi Morishima. And so the downfall began.

That Frightened Asian Man Is Playing The Part Of ROH.
You may wonder why having a Japanese wrestler as champion after featuring great Japanese wrestler in the past was so wrong. The answer is that Takeshi Morishima was a midcarder in Japan, and almost totally unknown to ROH's fanbase, instantly alienating a number of people from the product that had so long been built around popular and respected champions. From there mistake after mistake began to pile up. 2 months after Morishima began his reign, ROH announced that they had triumphantly gotten a PPV deal and would now go national. This announcement was the last straw for TNA (who as DDT said, were already holding them on thin ice). They took away all of their contracted performers, and the way was blocked from then on for ROH to see Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, Homicide, AJ Styles, and others. ROH's entire main event evaporated in one night, leaving a no name champion to carry the load. He couldn't.

To try to save things after this debacle and after the PPV deal went south with atrocious buy numbers (one PPV sold exactly 15 buys in Canada, for example), they chose a new champion to make credible and to give a huge title reign to, just like Joe and Danielson. Unfortunately Nigel McGuiness was not Samoa Joe or Bryan Danielson, and his endless title reign only served to drive more people away from the product. But even with all of this going on, the Tool had an ace in the hole. He had a Plan. He would make a star bigger than any other star he had made. He would turn ROH into a mobile platform to push one man and one man only above all others. That man's name is Tyler Black. And his push was a death sentence for The Tool, though he didn't know it.

And so The Tool launched the Stable Wars, putting everyone on the roster into a hastily assembled and terribly named stable of three or four, and pushing Tyler Black and Jimmy Jacobs first and foremost as the Age of the Fall. Their violent, and often cheesey, antics as an anarchist group became the center of every show, overshadowing the revolving door at champion that had begun. Finally, after an eternity of pushing him and burying each and every single member of the ROH roster on his way to the top, Tyler Black finally claimed the ROH title on February 12th, 2010. By November he was gone to WWE, and the Tool never even got to see any of it, as he was long since fired due do disagreements with Cary Silkin on how to run the company. Theoretically, Cary wanted it run well, while the Tool wanted to sacrifice it all on the alter of a 2nd rate CM Punk because he chased some kids away from the building once. Seriously.


Still A Tool.
So with all looking bleak, and fans and relevance leaving in droves, Cary tried first Adam Pearce as booker, but he just made things solid but boring, exactly what they didn't need. Now Delirious has taken over, and god help him if he can't save this ship. He has a tough job ahead of him, because there's almost nothing of value left to the promotion now.

Wait, did I say almost?



A Glimmer Of Hope.

DDT: Oh, yes you did, mon capi’tan!

In January of 2009, ROH announced something that was, in some ways, even more ambitious than the PPV deal, and to critics of ROH, even more disastrous. The announced they had reached a deal with HDnet to run a weekly, one hour television program.

It…it…it was the both the best and the most consistent wrestling show that I have ever seen in my now 12 years as a fan.

I’m serious, there is almost nothing wrong with this show; production values, microphones that actually allowed you to hear the wrestlers, lighting that emphasized the ring without hiding the crowd, good camera angles, a nice set, it was gorgeous. It was also very understated, so that when ROH went on the road with different sets, slightly bigger crowds, and sold them on DVDs, it made those “Supershows” seem like actual “Supershows”.

One of the few concessions that HDNet demanded from ROH was that they get someone named Mike Hogewood to do the play-by-play for the show, rather than company mainstay, the very talented Lenny Leonard. Mike was an experienced sports analyst who hosted several American football shows, but he knew next to nothing about pro wrestling and I doubt had an opinion on it one way or the other.

He turned out to be perhaps the best play-by-play commentator in wrestling today; coming across as an informed and intelligent version of Don West; genuinely new to the product, finding it genuinely exciting, and that excitement was contagious, even through a television screen.

Even better, as his partner he had the other half of ROH’s commentating team, Dave Prazak to be his partner. Prazak had made his reputation as a terrible, generic commentator that dragged Lenny Leonard down to his level. But during Nigel’s title reign, he slowly but surely took the role of the heel-friendly color commentator. He emerged from that transformation as a giant douche who excused everything the heels did to the point of denying they cheated to begin with, taking advantage of his superior knowledge of wrestling on Hodgewood all the time, and dressing down the faces without ever burying them. In short, he became awesome.

The Best Announce Team In Professional Wrestling.
Okay, so the staging is good, the commentators are better, what about the wrestling? How can a promotion that had built its reputation on matches that lasted the better part of an hour do several matches in only one?

As it turns out, time limits were just what ROH needed. It took a while to get used to, especially fans that were used to 30 minutes epics where every finish was kicked out twice, but solid, ten minute matches that only needed one finisher really hit the spot.

Oh, did I mention they built up matches on the card? They always let you knew what the main event was a week in advance, unless there was a major match with potential company changing consequences on the horizon, in which case they built it up for several weeks.

The only downside to the shows is that they are taped in bulk rather than live, but given the size and nature of the company, that ‘downside’ is probably for the best in the long run, and certainly far more feasible than live shows.

These shows were awesome. In a company where stars are made, leave for greener pastures, come back stale, becoming awesome again, and leave again, this show has remained the one consistent bright spot in ROH.

Now, for the sake of our own personal amusement, Cewsh and I decided to start our review of ROH on HDnet not with the most recent episode, but with the episode that aired on 10.18.2010. Why? Because it was a fantastic episode? Because it had great matches? Because it a shining example of the excellence of this show?

Honestly, it's the last appearance of Tyler Black, and we wouldn't be us if we didn't laugh at him and tell him to not let the door hit him in the ass on the way out. Actually, that's a lie; we totally WOULD tell him to let the door hit him on the way out. Bitch.

Especially This Door.


The New Era Begins.

DDT: We open with a video of Tyler Black, one of the bigger guys on the roster, winning the title with a Phoenix Splash. God, not 10 seconds in and this fucker already makes me want to slit my wrists. Cary hugs his new, greasy-haired babyface champion, while I admire said babyface's wardrobe of trunks with the design of a man blowing his brains out.

Anyway, que to August-ish, where Tyler has announced his intentions to leave ROH for WWE...with the ROH World title around his waste. God, where have I heard THAT before, Cewsh? Ooh! Ooh! I know this one!


Cewsh: How about CM Fucking Punk My Junk. Or whichever parts of that comprise his actual name. A few years back CM Punk finally won the ROH World Heavyweight Championship and did the EXACT SAME FUCKING THING, signing his WWE developmental contract on top of the ROH belt and proclaiming that he was going to take it with him as a gift for Vince McMahon. It was a great storyline, maybe ROH's best, so recreating it almost point for point here is like restarting the NWO and calling it the New World Organization, starring Shark Boy.


DDT: HATE TYLER BLACK. Anyway, we go on to highlights from Glory By Honor, where we see still images of Tyler losing the ROH title to ROH loyalist Roderick Strong; more on that during a later episode. Tyler flips off the crowd, cementing his heel turn, and we go to the awesome ROH opening.

I really can't stress just how much I love this opening. Everything has a red tint to it, the music is fairly generic rock music, but it serves it's purpose of getting you pumped up for the show without becoming obnoxious ala Nickleback. Oh yeah, it's also clips upon clips of ass-beatings. It lets you know in non-negotiable terms that you're watching a fucking wrestling show, damnit!!


Cewsh: He's dead on with that. The video gets you hyped and is the picture of simplicity. Then we get face to face with ROH's two announcers, Dave Prazak and Mike Hodgewood. Hodgy was already talked up by DDT, but let me reiterate that for a newcomer to wrestling he comes off as sincere, fascinated and incredibly...well...credible. Then there's Dave Prazak who had a bad rap for a long time as perhaps the dullest face announcer in wrestling. I have a ton of fondness for him personally as he's the man responsible for that sweet, sweet Shimmer action I enjoy so much, but he didn't hit his stride in ROH as an announcer until he finally turned heel and became what Michael Cole jerks off in a mirror fantasizing about. He applauds the heels like they saved his cat from a tree, he degrades the faces while putting them over for being great performers, he ignores the cheating and calls foul on babyface misdeeds. He's Jesse Ventura with the announcing style of Tony Schivone (during the good times) and the combination between he and Hodgewood is unprecedented.

To call them the best announcing team in wrestling to imply that they have competition that could be reasonably compared to them. Which is absolutely not the case.


DDT: Then when things can't get any more awesome we go to our President, Mr. JIM CORNETTE in the ring. Fuck yes! That is Mr. James E. Cornette, Executive Producer of ROH thank you very much!

Jim Cornette: Somehow Still Alive And Not In Jail.
Anyway, Jimmy welcomes us to south Philly, hyping what an awesome show ROH has for us! But before we can get to that, he tells us how before the show, Davey Richards was running his mouth during an interview, and Tyler took exception to being called out. We cut to a video in the back, where Davey Richards essentially mocks Tyler's choice in employers while at the same time asking for one more match against Black.

Black comes out stage right and throws a hissy fit, shoving Davey Richards and screaming at him to 'say it to my face!' Nice comeback there, champ. He must have run out of quips from the CM Punk handbook. Jimmy has agreed to give both guys some talking time before the rest of the show, and introduces them, first Davey Richards, then Tyler Black.

I will now rant about Davey Richards' music.

"My Music?"
To be blunt, I hate, hate, hate, HATE Davey Richards' theme music. Like, even more than Tyler Black's, which is that sucky emo bullshit where a bunch of idiots who couldn't carry a tune if it had handles scream into a microphone. It's a cheap recording of a wolf's howl (Davey is part of a tag team called the American Wolves) and then a cheap rendition of 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner'. Cewsh thinks my rage is hilarious; I think he's a dick.


Cewsh: He's beyond adorable, I assure you all.

So Davey essentially wants another match after they tore the house down at Glory By Honor in a match that Tyler just barely managed to win. Tyler has no interest in working tonight and tells him so, but after about 8 seconds of convincing, he's all of a sudden FIRED UP to fight Davey. Davey wants the match tonight, knowing full well that it is Tyler's last night in the company, and Tyler hems and haws before finally agreeing.

Jim Cornette, beside himself with excitement about his new main event, proclaims that there shall be no other matches on this show. Just enough videos to give Tyler time to get ready and then an entire show devoted to Tyler Black vs. Davey Richards. Which is like making an entire show just about Joey from Friends.

Wait...


DDT: This segment was actually really good; Davey tried to goad Tyler by appealing to his sense of competition, but Tyler would have none of it, citing some awesome (and no doubt Cornette-fed) lines about how, in three years' time if Davey was still walking he'd be competing in high school gyms while Black was rolling in cash. Davey just smirked in disgust and offered to pay Tyler whatever he wanted so that Black would stop being a little bitch. They get in a scuffle, where Black screams that he already made his deal, so he'd wrestle Davey for free.

Cornette's jaw hits the floor and demands to know if Tyler's serious. When he gets a yes, you can practically hear him skipping in his head at the prospect of this match, proving how awesome Cornette is. But it is Hogewood that makes this segment:

Hodgewood: "Wow; this could be the biggest match we have EVER had, here on HDnet."

Now, why would that line help sell this match? I mean, isn't it a fairly over-used line (Thanks, Michael Cole!)? The answer is that Hogewood has never used it before; ever. Not during the debut of Japanese star KENTA, not during the various World and Tag title matches, feud enders, cage fights, or even the TV title tournament; not once did Hogewood declare at any other time that 'this would be the biggest match we've ever had'.

Hogewood is awesome.


Cewsh: And handsome. Rawr.



A Tale Of Two Warriors.

DDT: We get a promo for ROH's Survival of the Fittest 'tournament' (for lack of a better word) and their Toronto show where new champion Roderick Strong would make his first title defense against Christopher Daniels!

Note From Future Cewsh: Daniels doesn't win, don't get your hopes up.

We cut back to Hog and Prazak, who just chuckle and say that, while they had a great show for us, it was all pretty much out the window, and just toss their format sheets over their shoulder. Hog informs us that the production crew managed to scrunge up something, and we cut to...the video package of Black vs. Richards from Glory by Honor.

To be honest, I like the thought of playing this older package; it stresses that ROH had no idea about this impromptu match, and they just gathered up any relevant data they might've had. The problem is that it's Davey Richards and Tyler Black hyping up their own fight. It's like listening to Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie talk about their opposing fashion tips.

Actually, looking at it again, Davey Richard's portions aren't that bad...in fact, they're pretty good...


Cewsh: While this may have played before, it still served a very important and unforeseen purpose. It made me care about Davey Richards.

The premise of the video is to sit each man down in front of a camera and have him tell his story and what wrestling means to him. When Tyler Black tells his story, it sounds like this, "Well, me and my buddies liked wrestling so I became a wrestlers, and one time I stubbed my toe, and that was hard and stuff, but I walked it off, and then I came to ROH, and that was fun, and here I am!" All delivered in such a dull monotone that even though it was a short video, I started checking my nonexistant watch.

However then Davey Richards started talking, and in doing so invited us into a little place I like to call Davey Land. Inside Davey Land is soul crushing sadness and depression. Don't even ask about the rides. Davey tells us about how his parents were disappointed in him and then everybody he's ever met and their dog died a terrible death, and he does it so matter of factly that its clear that this stuff isn't even weird to him. So his road to the top in ROH was plagued by strife and obstacles and his stoic way of presenting it really, I have to admit, won me over. Tyler Black came off like a guy at a job interview here, and Davey Richards came off like a star reaching through the screen and forcing you to care about him.

Its called charisma. And I never thought i'd accuse Davey of having any.


DDT: To put the nail in the coffin, when asked what makes the other guy a threat....

Davey Richards:  [The most dangerous thing] about Tyler is his heart. You can break someone's leg, someone's arm, I mean in a jiu-jutsu tournament last month I broke a guy's arm; breaking someone's arm isn't hard. But if they still have their heart, if they still want to win, they'll find a way to win. And Tyler has never had his heart broken.

Tyler Black: .....Davey Richards is an interesting person.

Yep, Davey puts Tyler over as a guy who you can't keep down, a guy who will find a way to win even if you break all four of his limbs. Tyler, on the other hand, labels Davey Richards, an intense, legit-scary, kayfabe killer of a man, as an 'interesting person'.

Do you begin to see why Cewsh and I want this fucker gone?

Anyway, up next is....holy shit, the Briscoe Brothers! WE GET A BRISCOES PROMO!!! HURRAY!!!!


Cewsh: For those who are unaware, these are the Briscoe Brothers.

Accompanied, As Always, By The Sound Of Banjos. For those of you now wondering why in the hell we're talking about the two ugliest men in the world, the answer is because they have been one of the best tag teams in said world for nearly a decade now. Their ringwork is great, and instead of learning how to cut promos that made sense or made a point, they instead stuck to what they were comfortable with. And so it is here, as Jay Briscoe proceeds to shout at the camera like it just keyed his car, while Mark stands there looking like he's not sure what time zone he's in and grins with his huge gap or missing teeth. Dude is like a walking PSA for what happens if you're unattractive to begin with and then go ahead and jump off of balconies for a living.

The gist of the yelling and grinning is that they've had enough of the Kings of Wrestling's bullshit (that would be Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli). They want a chance to finally get redemption and get those tag title belts back and they want them RIGHT FUCKING NOW. And shit dude, would you say no to those faces?


DDT: God I love the Briscoes. More on their feud with the Kings of Wrestling next time, as this promo was essentially just hyping up the main event of the next show, KOW defending against the Briscoes in the Briscoes last shot. For now, know that loaded elbow pads were used, women were spiked on their heads, and family members were elbowed in the face, to which the responses were less like 'We respect you' and more like 'See, now we are morally obligated to fucking kill you'.



The Main Event.

DDT: Anyway, we get a re-cap of what went down earlier tonight, and now we're ready for a first, last, and only match of the evening; Davey Richards vs. Tyler Black in what will be Tyler Black's last ROH appearance, hopefully forever.

So we go to the entrances and...and.....GAHREGGAREGARGAERGARGARGA!!!!!!!!


Cewsh: Okay, it is necessary at this point to remind you all that despite our love-hate relationship with Davey and our hate-hate relationship with Tyler, their match at Glory By Honor was actually really fucking good. It is the highest score I have awarded to any independent match since I have been reviewing stuffs, and considering who was involved and my inherent bias, I suggest you take my work for it if I tell you they did good.

The match gets started and the two immediately fall into the rolls they're comfortable with. Tyler is comfortable doing flips and not selling, and Davey is comfortable with the gimmick he has created for himself. Essentially Davey has become a guy who is such a fighter, and has so much determination, and is so half brain dead that he will not give up. Ever. You can knock him out or cut his head off, and his body will keep coming after you because he has nothing to lose and is too dumb and stubborn to know when to quit. So as Tyler drops bomb after bomb on him he just keeps coming back, flustering Black again and again, causing Tyler to take more and more riskier risks. This is like Rocky and Apollo Creed if Apollo used moonsaults instead of punches, and it is fucking intense as the crowd goes nuts for Davey to take Tyler out.

This Was Immediately After Someone Yelled "Kick That Dick In The Face!"

DDT: There are certain wrestlers who despite their talents, just have no chemistry with each other. By that I mean that for whatever reason they just can't seem to have a good match with each other. Christopher Daniels and Bryan Danielson rings a bell, as does Sara Del Ray and Daizee Hayes. Then there are wrestlers who, no matter how much they may (or may not) suck, no matter how the entire wrestling world may despise them for their lack of wrestling talent(or universally praised for it)...when paired together, magic happens.

Steve Austin and the Rock; Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler, Misawa and Kawada....and now I must grudgingly add Tyler Black and Davey Richards to that list. For over 30 minutes, these two beat the living man piss out of each other, and I was enjoying it thoroughly, and not the sick, "Hehe, that fucker I hate is getting dropped on his head" kind of enjoy that I do with Kenny Omega.

Okay, yeah that was a little disturbing, but come on.

Anyway, I was totally engrossed in the story they were telling; Tyler Black is the dirty sell-out who is trying to sneak away without having to face the first man who ever truly took exception to and tested his 'Golden Boy' status. Davey Richards is the hero of ROH who is trying to prove that he is indeed better than Black before Black goes off into the sunset; Davey needs this win or he'll never be able to call himself the Man in ROH, no matter how many times or how long he held the World championship.
I've come to more or less expect the latter, as Davey has proven that he is a ridiculously awesome babyface and should never, EVER be a heel ever again on account of him trying too hard, but I'm honestly shocked about being sold on the Tyler Black sell out deal. Normally when tiny promotions go that route it just seems petty, but it was helped by several things.

One was Black himself; he came in as an anti-establishment guy with Age of the Fall, became a babyface anti-establishment guy by citing the evils of capitalism and marketing, and then the first chance he got signed on with the biggest wrestling corporation in the world; if that's not a sell out, at least in kayfabe land, I don't know what is.

Another is that almost every time, even at the very end of the aforementioned Punk episode, when someone is leaving ROH for WWE or TNA, there's usually a fair well tour, streamers, appreciation clips, and 'we will miss you' chants drowning out the arena. This is the first time people seemed legit upset at a guy FOR leaving, as opposed to just being upset that he WAS leaving.

Finally, its the Hog himself, sprouting off nonsensical drivel such as 'team loyalty' and 'sticking with the brand that made you' with such quite conviction that you are actually fairly convinced at his reasoning. He finishes off this good ole' one-two with a straight left:

Mike Hodgewood: Since [signing with WWE] Tyler Black has changed, and I don't necessarily think it's for the better.

Legit concern for Black's development as a human being, and not because he screwed the company. Hogewood is awesome.

Don't let this love crush on Hog fool you; Dave Prazak was no dead weight, as the exchange of the night told.

Dave Prazak: "His name is still Tyler Black this night!" Mike Hogewood: "You got a point; no telling what his name will be next time we see him." Dave Prazak: "Who knows; maybe Blacky McTylerson."

Personally, I think Blacky McTylerson would be a bit more dignified than his name right now...what was it again, C-man?


Cewsh: Seth Rollins.

SETH ROLLINS.

What a fitting punishment it is to have someone who did everything possible to be just like other wrestlers who came before him to be saddled with a name that will make him completely incapable of being remembered in any way. Take that Blacky McTylerson!

But I don't want to make it seem like Tyler is the one to talk about, because he isn't. He did his bit, and the crowd was rabid against him, but I can not reiterate enough how much of a star and a badass Davey Richards is here. He refuses to quit, refuses to lose, refuses to give any ground, and finally, FINALLY, after having a wrecking ball fall on his head and no selling a bazooka, he wins the match and defeats the Age of Tyler once and for all. The crowd goes banana for him and he could not possibly be more of a hero in their eyes. And just when he couldn't possibly be any more babyface, he grabs the microphone to do the usual ROH thing of giving respect to Tyler as he leaves for WWE.

Wait, did I say respect?

In REALITY, Davey grabs the microphone, basically calls Tyler a pussy, and tells him that if he or any of his new friends ever want to try a REAL wrestler, they can come down to Ring of Honor and try Davey. BITCH. The show fades to black as Tyler stands there looking like someone kicked his puppy and Davey walks to the back among crazy cheers and love from the crowd.

P'Zoned.
What. A. PIMP.


DDT: I haven't laughed so hard at a merking in all my life.

The Conclusions.

DDT: So the end result of the 10.18 episode of ROH on HDnet?

In a word; awesome. In several words, really, really, REALLY awesome. With only one hour, one match, and recycled video packages, ROH did what WWE and TNA are rarely able to do without it falling right in their lap; establish a new 'top guy' in a dominant, no nonsense, 'this is THE guy' fashion. This was the Davey Richards show, and he is the new face of this company, which has no place for copycats with lisps.


Cewsh: Love live the Ring That Contains Honor. They have their first over top face since Bryan Danielson, and the best tv show in wrestling. So can they grab the attention of a wrestling fanbase that has become ambivalent towards them in recent years? Only time will tell. But if they keep putting on shows like this, i'll be proud to keep bringing them to you, and give them that second chance that everyone (including Davey Richards) truly deserves.




Well that'll do it for us this week, boys and girls. Now remember, this is the launch of a whole new idea, so some things have changed and some ideas have been tried and it is up to you, the loyal reader, to let us know what you liked and what you didn't. These reviews are shaped by you just as much as by us, and its your word that counts most. In the meanwhile, coming up later this week Ms. Cewsh and I will tackle WWE Survivor Series 2010 (anticipation only makes the heart grow fonder) and then we're off to TNA next week for some good ol' fashioned Resolved Conflicts. So until then, keep reading, and remember to always be good to one another!