ECW Arena was packed, and it was a different kind of crowd than usual, with far more kids, families, and females than your typical ROH show. I counted at least 7 cameras, with a hard camera upstairs on the stage, 4 handhelds around the ring, a cameraman walking around taking crowd shots, and a "floating" camera attached to a crane that was able to get both wide angle shots and extreme close ups. The projection screens were showing angles from all of the cameras during the show.
All three shows followed the same format...three 5-minute matches (one "competitive" match, two with jobbers), followed by a 12-15 minute main event. No promos, and only one angle shot all night. This did not have the same feel as the usual ROH show, as it was very odd watching guys work short tv style matches. Watching Danielson and Aries work such a short match is like watching Merryl Streep and Robert DeNiro do a 30 second commericial.
Also, the new generic entrance music really hurts the product. Since nobody recognized the music, the crowd would patiently wait for each wrestler to come out of the curtain before they would pop. This hurt the atmosphere tremendously. It also didn't help that everyone's song was essentially the same metal guitar riff. The old songs helped give each guy more personality, and all of that is lost now. The only new song that seemed to work, was the classical song used for Claudio Castagnoli...probably because he was one of the few who didn't come out to the same generic metal song.
Show #1:
Jerry Lynn def. Delirious: Good back and forth match, but 5 minutes was way too short. Great reception for Lynn, both pre and post match.
Kenny King def. Sammi Callihan: Callihan has a very minor league look that screams "indy". I wouldn't have put him on tv. King looked great here.
Brent Albright def. Rhett "Addicted To Love" Titus: No Robert Palmer entrance for Titus, and it really hurts his character.
Tyler Black def. Jimmy Jacobs: Black looks better and better every time I see him. Post match, Brodie Lee killed Black. Only angle done on any of the three shows.
Show #2:
Kevin Steen def. Eddie Edwards (w/Larry Sweeney): They did as much as they could in 5 minutes. Good.
Sara Del Rey (w/Larry Sweeney) def. Daisy Haze: Sloppy, lots of missed spots. I wish ROH would drop the women. In fact, I wish WWE & TNA would drop the women, too.
Claudio Castagnoli def. Alex "Sugarfoot" Payne: Payne got waaay too much offense for what was a 5 minute squash. Castagnoli sold a good deal of the match.
Nigel McGuinness def. Jay Briscoe (w/Mark Briscoe): Very good, but way too short. McGuinness nearly fell out of the ring doing the rebound lariat, which was the finish.
Show #3
Erick Stevens def. Sterling James Keenen: Squash.
Dark City Fight Club def. Cheech & Cloudy: Very short squash. DCFC looked good.
Chris Hero (w/Larry Sweeney & Sara Del Rey) def. THE Necro Butcher: Off the charts heat, more than anything else on the show. They worked a simple brawl, but everything they did was super over. Crowd stood the entire match. I don't know how far you can go with Necro's limitations, but he is BEYOND OVER coming off "The Wrestler",and he got a huge "Where's your Oscar" chant after the match.
Bryan Danielson def. Austin Aries: Nothing exemplified the lame generic music more than Danielson not coming out to "Final Countdown". Imagine Flair coming out to generic metal. Good match, but again, too short to really show off the ROH style. Aries new heel look is a negative, with a bad porn mustache and purple tights. Danielson won with a triangle choke, and didn't do alot of his signature stuff, due to time contraints. This is why he wouldn't ever get over in the WWE, in my opinion.
Post match was simply awesome. Danielson cut a promo putting over the fans helping ROH finally get on TV. He also said he thought he'd never be on tv, because he has no tan, isn't "ripped, and isn't very smart or witty in his promos, but that he's simply "a wrestler". He mentioned CM Punk & Samoa Joe, and put over the current locker room as the best ROH has had yet (not quite, but hey, what is he supposed to say?). Then, he brought up the giant elephant in the room, the bad generic music. He asked the sound guy to play "Final Countdown" ONE MORE TIME, as all of the babyfaces joined him in the ring. The entire company sang along with the crowd, including the heels, who at this point had gathered on the ramp (including mega heels like Jacobs and McGuinness...the only person missing was Aries, but it's possible I couldn't see him). This was a great moment, and the most over thing on the entire show.
Overall, the shows were formulaic and predictable, all following the same pattern. It's weird seeing such short matches in ROH. That, combined with the generic music, made this not have the feel of an ROH show, and i'm not sure the distinctive ROH style will translate to new fans on TV.
Joe Lanza
By Chris Wilcox:
Hi Dave,
I just got back from the ROH TV tapings and thought I'd send a quick report.
a) Bobby Dempsey and Andy Ridge defeated Bobby Shields and Ernie Osiris after Dempsey pinned Shields following a Death Valley Driver
b) John Kernon (?) defeated Al Cole (?) after a double underhook into a DDT.
c) Grizzly Redwood defeated Corey Havok after a top rope chop.
Typical student matches...most of the students looked decent. Dempsey looks like he's wrestling with a lot more confidence since the split from Sweet and Sour, and Grizzly Redwood is a lot better working under that gimmick than he did as bland undercard wrestler Mitch Franklin.
Episode 1:
1) Jerry Lynn defeated Delirious with the cradle piledriver in a decent opener. Jerry Lynn still wrestles like Jerry Lynn, for better or worse.
2) Kenny King defeated Sami Callahan with a similar double underhook into a DDT seen in the pre-show. King looked good.
3) Brent Albright defeated Rhett Titus with the crowbar in a good squash style match.
4) Tyler Black defeated Jimmy Jacobs after bridging out of the guillotine choke. Afterwards, Brodie Lee ran in and laid out Black with the high kick.
Episode 2:
5) Kevin Steen defeated Eddie Edwards (w/ Larry Sweeney) with the package piledriver in a short, competitive match.
6) Sara Del Ray (w/ Larry Sweeney) defeated Daizee Haze after the Royal Butterfly. Not their best match, a few things here were botched.
7) Claudio Castagnoli defeated Alex Payne with the Ricola Bomb. Payne showed great fire, but Claudio has no charisma as a heel. He's technically proficient, but just seems to be missing something.
8) Nigel McGuinness defeated Jay Briscoe (w/ Mark Briscoe) with the rebound lariat. This match felt a little disjointed as well.
Episode 3:
9) Erick Stevens defeated Sterling James Keenan with the Doctor Bomb. A competitive squash, perhaps too competitive, as Stevens is a guy who, due to his size, should be put over as a monster in these matches, but Keenan got a lot of offense, particularly since he has not worked in ROH much.
10) The Dark City Fight Club (Kory Chavis and Jon Davis) defeaed Up in Smoke (Cheech and Cloudy) after a combination double hiptoss into a power bomb/neckbreaker combination. This was wrestled like an old TBS squash match, with Dark City Fight Club looking impressive in dominating their smaller opponents.
11) Chris Hero (w/ Larry Sweeney and Sara Del Ray) defeated the Necro Butcher after a rolling elbow with the loaded elbow pad. Hero looked like the bastard love child of John Tatum and Rip Rogers, although his new ring gear makes him look like a job guy. Still a great wrestler, but the gear needs to go. This was the first match where the crowd really came alive.
12) Bryan Danielson defeated Austin Aries with a triangle choke in a good match. I like Aries' new style, he appears to get the idea of how to wrestle heel more than most in this promotion have over the years. After the match, Danielson did a really good promo thanking the fans for coming to the show, talking about having been here since day one, talking about all of the great wrestlers who have been in the promotion, and then playing Final Countdown one last time with all of the babyfaces in the ring with him. Nice ending.
Overall, I liked the flow of the tapings; two squashes, one semi-competitive match, and a good 15 minute main event. The second TV show will probably feel a bit flat without some good editing, with the first and third shows being particularly good. However, the crowd was dead for much of the show, not even popping for the Briscoe match much, and didn't come alive until the end with Hero and Necro, with the final match also having good heat. I don't think the TV shows will necessarily placate the ROH diehards, but they were good shows, and the squash format will work for these shows.
by Stuart Carapola @ 7:43 PM on 2/28/2009
-They have really nice camera and lighting setups, it looks really professional.
Episode 1
-Jerry Lynn defeated Delirious in a good, back and forth opener. Jerry's really over with the crowd as you might expect. They messed up a sunset flip spot pretty badly, but pulled it together and Lynn put Delirious away with a cradle piledriver.
-Kenny King defeated Sami Callahan. This was almost all Kenny King, though Callahan did get in some nice moves. Callahan's intense, but I still don't like his look. King put him away with an inverted fireman's carry into a DDT.
-Brent Albright defeated Rhett Titus by submission. Rhett got some nice offense in, and I think he's really benefited from not having the "ROH school student" label. I think he's got a good future barring injury. Albright came back strong and tapped Titus to the Crowbar.
-Tyler Black defeated Jimmy Jacobs in the main event. This is their first singles match in ROH. Jimmy took control early, but Tyler came back with a spinkick over the top rope. Tyler started working Jimmy over in the corner, but Jimmy used the tights to yank Tyler into the turnbuckle and regain control. Tyler went up to the top, but Jimmy pushed him off and to the floor, then followed up with a running elbowdrop off the apron. Tyler came back with a press slam, but missed a Phoenix Splash and Jimmy came back with a spear. Tyler got the knees up on a senton and went for God's Last Gift, but Jimmy countered into the End Time, but Tyler rolled through into a bridge for the win. Brodie Lee attacked Tyler after the match and he and Jimmy double teamed Tyler and left him laying.
Episode 2:
-Kevin Steen defeated Eddie Edwards. Steen took control early and did the snot blowing spot, but Edwards came back with some nicks kicks and locked Steen into a rear chinlock, then went to work on him in the corner and choked him on the ropes. Sweeney interfered behind the referee's back. Steen mounted a comeback by dropping Edwards groin-first on the top rope and nailing a cannonball in the corner for 2. Steen tried a swanton, but Edwards got the knees up. Steen turned it around with a superkick and enziguiri, followed by the package piledriver for the win.
-Sara Del Rey defeated Daizee Haze. Sara used her size to overpower Daizee to start slamming her off the top and hitting a vertical splash. Daizee came back with a flying headscissors, but botched a crossbody, which Sara saved with a blockbuster suplex and a backbreaker. Sara got Daizee in a torture rack, but Daizee escaped and hit a heart punch and a yakuza kick for 2. Sara missed a corner charge and Daizee hit...something, but Sara hit a rolling kick and the Butterfly Powerslam for the win.
-Claudio Castagnoli defeated Alex "Sugarfoot" Payne. Payne outmaneuvered Claudio to start until Claudio caught him in midair and turned it into a windmill slam. Claudio hit a gutwrench slam and a big bicycle kick for 2, and then followed up with a stiff European uppercut and a big power lift. Payne made a comeback with some token 80s enhancement dropkicks and a bulldog, but Claudio killed him with a pop-up 2uropean uppercut and the Ricola Bomb for the win.
-ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness defeated Jay Briscoe in a non-title match. Nigel worked the arm to start, then they did the headlock/legscissors/escape spot 3 or 4 times before Jay wound up with the headlock. Jay worked the headlock for a minute or two until Nigel escaped and hoit a hammerlock STO. Jay came back with a nice dropkick, but Nigel went back to the arm and hit a hammerlock DDT and a nice hammerlock over-the-shoulder throw. Nigel locked Jay in a cobra clutch, but Jay escaped, ducked a short clothesline, and hit a big boot to turn the tide. Jay with a corner clothesline and a big spinebuster for 2, but Nigel trapped him in the corner and hit the kick to the back/forearm combo. Nigel went for the Tower of London, but Jay escaped and hit a Death Valley Driver for 2. Jay went up top slowly and Nigel nailed him and went for a superplex, but Jay knocked him off the top and hit a top rope legdrop for a close 2. Jay went for the Jay Driller but Nigel escaped and hit the Jawbreaker Lariat for the win.
Episode 3:
-Erick Stevens defeated Sterling James Keenan. Stevens hit a couple of power moves to start but Keenan came back with some standard kick-punch stuff and a belly-to-back suplex for 2. Keenan ducked a clothesline and hit a nice STO for 2 then went to a kneeling surfboard. Stevens escaped and hit a nice overhead belly-to-belly and a second rope shoulderblock for 2. Keenan came back with an implant DDT but Stevens caught him in a pop-up powerslam and then followed that up with a big German suplex, a stiff clothesline, and a Doctorbomb for the win.
-The Dark City Fight Club defeated Cheech and Cloudy. The DFDC totally destroyed Cloudy to start. Cheech tagged in and Cheech and Cloudy hit some sweet double team moves including a dropkick to the back/619 combo, but the DCFC cut them off in short order and polished Cheech off with an assisted powerbomb for the win. Cheech and Cloudy looked way better than the DCFC here.
-Chris Hero defeated Necro Butcher. Hero is sporting new short tights, which don't look good on him. The crowd is crazy into Necro though Hero has a lot of crowd support too. Hero tried several yakuza kicks to start, but Necro no sold and started pounding on Hero. Larry Sweeney distracted Necro and Hero hit a roaring elbow to the back then threw Necro to the floor where Sweeney and Sara Del Rey attacked him behind the referee's back. Back in the ring, Hero trapped him in a cravate, but Necro escaped and started beating Hero down in the corner. Necro with a bulldog for 2, but Hero came back with a couple of nice strikes and a blockbuster for 2. Out on the floor Necro hit Hero with a chair, then pulled up the mats and gave Hero a chair slam on the concrete. Sweeney distracted Necro, allowing Hero to slip on the loaded elbow pad and knock Necro out with it for the win. Match of the night so far. Necro threatened to hit Turner with the chair after the match, but Turner ran off.
-Bryan Danielson defeated Austin Aries. The fans sung the Final Countdown before the match, I guess in protest over Danielson's much lamer new music. The crowd is crazy into Danielson. They spent the first couple of minutes feeling one another out with a nice series of holds and reversals. Aries finally took the advantage by rolling through a sunset flip and hitting a dropkick to Danielson's face. Aries hit his leaping elbow for two and put Danielson in a stump puller, then tossed Danielson over the top to the floor and hit the missile dive to the floor. Back in the ring, Aries caught Danielson in the illegal fishhook, but Danielson moved out of the way of the corner dropkick and started making a comeback with a series of European uppercuts. Danielson with the butterfly suplex into a cross armbreaker, but Aries made the ropes. Now Danielson sent Aries to the floor and faked Aries out on the dive, but nailed him with a running elbow off the apron instead. They went toe to toe back in the ring, Aries got the advantage and hit the corner dropkick and got Danielson in the Last Chancery, but Danielson reversed to a triangle choke and Aries tapped.
Bryan Danielson gave a postshow speech saying he was never supposed to make it to TV and then gave several reasons why (causing a "best in the world" chant), then says he's suffered a lot of injuries and doesn't know how much longer he can do this, but he's had a lot of friends come and go, but he says today they have one of the best locker rooms in ROH history, but the people who have supported ROH for seven years made this company and thanks them for making it possible to have this first television taping. He said there was just one thing missing, and had the sound guy play the Final Countdown as the ring filled up with wrestlers to close the show.
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