ROH house show report
January 17, 2009
Edison, N.J.
Report by Eric Gall, PWTorch reader

The Inman Sports Club in Edison, New Jersey again hosted ROH's show. While it's a nice place, the insulation is terrible. In the summer, it's a sweatbox, and in the winter, it's almost as cold as it was outside.

(1) Brent Albright beat Rhett Titus. I actually missed this match. I wanted to see Albright wrestle, but wasn't too upset to find out Titus was his opponent. I still don't think his "Addicted to Love" gimmick is indicative of any real talent, but I reserve judgment until he shows whether or not he can make a name for himself outside of impersonating Rick Rude. One trend I've noticed in the three live shows I've seen since Gabe was fired was that the opening match is usually pretty skippable; not so in the Sapolsky era.

(2) Delirious beat Necro Butcher, Sean Denny, and Damien Wayne in a four-way match. I've never seen Denny and Wayne wrestler before, and I wasn't too impressed with them in this match. Necro's style was noticeably relaxed in contrast to what he's capable of, and this trend would continue to be seen with other wrestlers throughout the night. The match didn't really grab my attention. I may have been distracted by how cold it was inside.

(3) Jay Briscoe defeated Austin Aries and Jimmy Jacobs in a three-way match. I don't really pay attention to advertised card line-ups, but this one was apparently changed from the scheduled matches after promos from Aries, Briscoe, and Tyler Black. One thing notable about this exchange was the inclusion of ROH owner Cary Silkin as a storyline presence. Babyfaces have made it a habit to openly petition Silkin to book certain matches over the mic. I wouldn't think a match involving both Aries and a Briscoe would seem so middling, but it was. It seemed as though half the air had been deflated from their tires, so to speak. Maybe it has something to do with Aries' new heel turn, but this match underwhelmed me, considering the talent involved.

(4) Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards beat Erick Stevens & Roderick Strong in a Lumberjack strap match. The lumberjacks consisted mostly of guys I've never seen or heard of before and ROH students. The pre-match entrance of all the lumberjacks looked very indy and was the most striking moment of the night that made me think "This really isn't a ROH moment." This annoyed me enough to go to the lobby to watch the match, as it actually had heating. The match was okay for what it was.

(5) Bison Smith ran in on Grizzly Redwood and some guy
I've never seen before; I'm told his name is Chris Escobar. What's with all these new guys? A lot of them just don't look like ROH-caliber wrestlers, and judging from last night, don't wrestle like them either. The last thing the company needs is ten more Mitch Franklins. Smith ran in and did the monster heel thing. Some NOAH fans tell me that Bison is really good. I hope so, because he didn't impress me last night. I will see when he wrestles some actual matches.

(6) Jerry Lynn defeated Bryan Danielson. Good match with these two. This was the first match of the night that I would say met my expectations. Jerry and Dragon always deliver, but I wonder if this new "save it for the second half" philosophy is going to be productive for the company. I expect ROH to give me a quality show from top to bottom, not me having to wait until the second to last match for one.

(7) ROH champion Nigel McGuinness fought Tyler Black to a time-limit draw. The match stipulations were announced as having a 60-minute time limit. The match was called as a time limit draw, though it actually lasted a significantly lesser amount of time. Most other fans I spoke with thought it was about 9-12 minutes shy of 60. There was a big chunk of the match that was taken up by most of the big names on the roster getting involved. After all the run-ins, the crowd was on its feet. Both guys kept kicking out, and most fans desperately wanted Black to take the title. Nigel retained and denied a request for "five more minutes." This was a great match, and should only feed the hunger of the fans for wanting to see a Tyler Black title reign.

I noticed that the merch table was the sparsest I've ever seen it. I usually look for the latest volumes of Shimmer at ROH shows, and it's notable that both this show and Final Battle last month didn't carry them. Half the people who used to work the table are there, and there seems to be a "clearance sale" policy to the old DVDs.

I'm not happy with most of the new talent I saw on tonight's show, with one stand-out exception. The new program girl is so hot, she could probably cause retina damage. She should be used as a valet or an interview girl or manager, because she turns heads, unlike the rest of the new faces. This was the first of the three post-Gabe Sapolsky ROH shows I've seen where there was a clear change in the product. While I'm willing to see if ROH can find its way with this new approach, I clearly found this show to be one of the least appealing Ring of Honor shows I've attended.

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