ROH on HDNet
Philadelphia, PA
May 9, 2009

Your hosts are Dave Prazak and Mike Hogewood.

Tonight in the main event, Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black II!

Nigel McGuinness makes an appearance and gets a considerable amount of respect shown from the crowd. He says being world champion is a lot like shagging a porn star: everybody is jealous, you’re really proud, but you don’t quite know how long you can last. Brilliant. He’s taking some time off to heal, but he will return and will make history to become the first-ever two-time ROH world champion.

In the back, Kyle Durden stands in the midst of a friendly debate between Tyler Black and Bryan Danielson as they put each other over.

• Jimmy Jacobs & MsChif vs. Delirious & Daizee Haze
  

This is our first look on HDNet at the SHIMMER champion MsChif. Delirious goes nuts on Jacobs at the bell because that’s his thing. MsChif and Haze do some basic headlock/armlock exchanges. With MsChif in the headlock, she backs Haze into her corner for a tag to Jacobs. Jacobs stands in between Haze and Delirious so he can get him some, but Haze slides underneath his legs off a charge and tags Delirious. He tosses Jacobs in the corner for a Panic Attack, but misses and settles for the Cobra Stretch. Now we have Jacobs backing Delirious into the AOTF corner. MsChif helps out with an escape from the cobra clutch and hotshots Delirious. MsChif briefly tags in and delivers some double stomps in the corner on Delirious. Back to Jacobs, he runs into a headbutt in the corner and gets nailed with a flying lariat. Hot tag to Daizee, she wipes out Jimmy with a missile dropkick and delivers a swinging neckbreaker to MsChif. Senton gets two. Jacobs breaks up the pin and grabs Daizee, but Delirious saves and hits Jacobs with a suicide dive on the floor! In the ring, Daizee hits the Heart Punch and the MIND TRIP for the upset 1-2-3. (5:21) Unless Daizee is going to win the SHIMMER belt soon, I’m not sure why they made MsChif look so weak since she’s the champ. Odd booking there. *½

• The American Wolves (w/Shane Hagadorn) vs. Orange Cassidy and Leslie Butterscotch
  

American Wolves = British Bulldogs. Davey Richards is obviously Dynamite Kid all the way down to his haircut while Eddie Edwards is Davey Boy Smith circa 1982 when he was a much smaller man. By the way, Hogewood prefers caramel. Butterscotch gets tossed as the American Wolves demolish Cassidy with kicks and chops. Edwards hits a Running Powerslam to set up a Flying Headbutt for Richards. Butterscotch runs in and breaks the tag. Big mistake. He gets a legit tag, so the American Wolves destroy him as Edwards hoists Butterscotch up in the air into a kick from Richards. I believe that move is called the Alarm Clock. Superkick into a German suplex gets the 1-2-3. (3:49) Not sure I like the team name since it is such an obvious ripoff, but otherwise this tag team rules. The American Wolves are coming for Steenerico and the tag belts. Once again, a US vs. CA-NA-DA feud! On their way out, Richards STEPS ON a downed Cassidy like he wasn’t even there. Now this is how you pull off a squash. **

Kyle Durden gets a word with the honorary ROH ambassador Ric Flair. He says nothing of note besides putting over the talent. Ric and Kyle share a woo.

COLT CABANA makes his ROH on HDNet debut. Prince Nana interrupts his moment ending with the newest member of the Embassy in “Dirty” Ernie Osiris getting punched in the face while Nana scurries away.

• Bryan Danielson vs. Tyler Black – #1 Contender’s Match to the ROH world title
  

Two weeks ago, these two went to a 20-minute time limit draw and now they look to pick up where they left off to decide a winner AND #1 contender to the ROH world title. Also it should be noted that Tyler Black has never beaten Bryan Danielson in a one-on-one match. Danielson is in COMPLETE control of the match for the first ten minutes with leg submissions. He can’t pull back on the Surfboard, so he jumps down on Black’s knees. The tide turns momentarily when Danielson misses a pescado and gets nailed with a somersault plancha. Uhh, what happened to all the leg work? Back inside, Danielson avoids the Springboard Clothesline. Black hits a reverse neckbreaker. He misses the running boot in the corner and enziguri kicks Danielson in the back of the head to nail that Springboard Clothesline after all for two. Quebrada misses, but the standing SSP does not for another nearfall. Danielson stops the Buckle Bomb and catches Black in a rolling Boston crab! Black makes the ropes and gets hit with the Missile Dropkick which leads into a nip-up! Running knee strike gets two for Danielson. Danielson wins a uppercut battle and hits a basement dropkick in the corner. Rollup sequence follows into them rolling around the ring. Rolling elbow connects, but so does an enziguri from Black. Both men are down! Black catches a kick from Danielson and lifts him up into an F5. Buckle Bomb is countered into the TRIANGLE CHOKE! Black refuses to quit! He picks Danielson up to try and break the hold with a Buckle Bomb which worked the last time they faced, but this time Danielson flips him back over into the middle of the ring! Oh, but Black manages to reach the ropes. Danielson wants the Back Superplex, but Black slips out and finally hits that Buckle Bomb. Cover, 1-2-NO! Black heads up top for the PHOENIX SPLASH at the 20-minute mark, but Danielson shoves him off into the crowd and follows him out there with a SPRINGBOARD PLANCHA! They do a rather dramatic crawl to the ring. All the same, it’s not enough as both guys keep on pulling each other down so neither man can win to lead into a double-countout. (21:24) Either this sets up a THIRD match or Jerry Lynn takes on both guys in a triple-threat. Honestly, I’m hoping for the triple-threat. The leg psychology was WAY off here thanks to almost no-selling from Black after TEN minutes of having his leg bent in ways it shouldn’t go. That bothered me a bit. ***¼

Next week, Brent Albright gets a rematch with Claudio Castagnoli!

Final Thoughts: They seem to be building some stories now without a lot of talking and instead making the stories with more wrestling with the Danielson/Black rivalry and the American Wolves calling out the tag champs after destroying Orange Butterscotch. What was talking on the show was important like Nigel’s promo for example. Well, except for maybe Ric Flair. Other than having his face on their show and giving ROH his so-called support, I wonder what he’s actually going to be doing with them or if that is all he will be doing with them. Anyways, another great hour of the best wrestling on TV.