By Sean Radican, PWTorch columnist

Radican's ROH on HDNet review series
Episode 2
Philadelphia, Pa.
Originally aired on March 28, 2009

Virtual time analysis

-The show opened with a recap of the Jacobs-Black main event from last week and then teased the main event this week between Nigel McGuinness and Jay Briscoe. Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak then introduced discussed the main event from the studio.

-They went to a smacktalk box with Larry Sweeney and Eddie Edwards. Can anyone out there guess who did all of the talking? Sweeney bragged about taking out Kevin Steen's partner El Generico. Steen then introduced himself as one half of the ROH tag champs. Steen said he was out for revenge tonight.

The music all sounds the same for the most part for ring entrances and it is difficult to hear what the wrestlers are saying as they come down the aisle.

(1)Eddie Edwards (w/Larry Sweeney) vs. Kevin Steen. The ref could easily be heard calling for a clean break from Steen during the early ages of the match. Steen certainly wasn't going after Edwards like he wanted revenge during the early stages of the match. Steen targeted Edwards's neck, but he eventually mounted a comeback and the cameras focused on Sweeney jawing with some fans. Edwards choked Steen with his boot in the corner as the ref could be heard telling him to break it. The crowd finally woke up and started a "Mr. Wrestling" chant for Steen. Edwards's entire offense was based around headlocks and chokes in the corner. Steen tried to fire back, but Edwards cut him off with a dropkick much to the delight of Sweeney on the outside.

Steen kicked the second rope into Edwards's crotch and began his comeback with an overhead belly to belly suplex. Hogewood went nuts as Steen nailed Edwards with a cannonball in the corner for a 2 count. Steen went for a swanton, but Edwards got his knees up. Edwards then hit a backpack chinbreaker for a 2 count. Steen caught Edwards with a big powerbomb moments later and then hit the package piledriver for the pin. (*1/2)

RADICAN'S ANALYSIS: Wow, given what I would expect from these two in a singles match this was a letdown. Prazak and the fans in attendance sounded nearly comatose during the match. Sweeney was great at ringside.

-Kyle Durden was backstage with Nigel McGuinness. Durden asked McGuinness how he felt about being on this stage. McGuinness said he didn't need an introduction because he is the man to beat in ROH. McGuinness said Jay Briscoe was a hillbilly that liked to take cheap shots to get the job done. McGuinness said he was going to kill Jay. Well there's a promise Nigel can't deliver on. I wonder who produced that promo.

-Daizee Haze said something about being a small package with a big fire in her smacktalk box. I'm digging her music. Sara Del Rey was then given her chance to talk in the smacktalk box with Larry Sweeney. She said everyone would see why they call her Death Rey. I think I've seen these two women face off more times than I care to remember in the past. Del Rey's music sounded like the Superman theme.

(2) Sara Del Rey (w/Larry Sweeney) vs. Daizee Haze. Del Rey took control during the early stages of the match and hit a sitdown splash off the second rope. Haze fired back and took Del Rey down with a headscissors. Haze then botched a dive off the top and Del Rey took control of the action once again. The announcers talked up Haze as a plucky underdog. I'm digging Del Rey's new ring attire. She looks fantastic. Del Rey continued to stalk Haze and eventually ended up pummeling her with boots in the corner. Del Rey then locked in a fantastic looking torture rack submission.

Haze fired back with a heart punch. Both women battled for position in the middle of the ring. Del Rey lifted Haze up on the gory special and then kicked her halfway across the ring into the turnbuckles. That was cool. Del Rey missed a charge to the corner and Haze followed up with a DDT for a 2 count. Del Rey caught Haze with a kick and then locked her in the royal butterfly and then suplexed her for the pin. (*3/4)

RADICAN'S ANALYSIS: This was short, but good. Del Rey kicking Haze halfway across the ring was a great spot. Del Rey looked great here in her new outfit. Haze is in desperate need of a gimmick overhaul. Del Rey said she was the best ever as she walked to the back.

-Kyle Durden was backstage with the Briscoes. He introduced them as the 5 time ROH tag champs. Durden mentioned Mark was out with an injury. Jay then cut a great promo and told Mark to smile. Mark displayed his gap-toothed smile. Jay said they were at the top of the list of best tag teams. Jay told Nigel to man up. This was all kinds of awesome. They plugged the Castagnoli-Payne match coming up next.

-Durden came back from commercial with Prince Nana. Yes!!! Nana called Durden a peasant and said he was back in this stinking company. Nana said he had Bison Smith coming into ROH to get revenge on the company. I love Nana, he's awesome.

-Alex Payne mentioned he was from the ROH Wrestling Academy in his smacktalk segment. Castagnoli cut a lame promo saying he is very European. He then came out to some great classical music.

(3) Claudio Castagnoli vs. Alex Payne. I'm stunned Sweeney isn't in the corner of one of these guys. Hogewood said Payne looked like he was 12. That was great. Castagnoli hit a European uppercut on Payne early on in the match. Payne fired back and went for a headscissors takedown successfully. Payne then rolled up Castagnoli for a 2 count. Payne went for a dropkick, but Castagnoli swatted him down like a fly. Castagnoli beat on Payne for what seemed like forever. Payne finally made a comeback and got another rollup for a nearfall, but Castagnoli immediately killed him with a bicycle kick for a 2 count. Payne tried to fire back, but Castagnoli nailed him with a European uppercut and slammed him down to the mat for another 2 count. Prazak said Payne should just stay down.

Why can't I hear the ref in this match? Payne tried to fire back again, but Castagnoli nailed him with another European uppercut. Payne hit dropkick and a running knee in the corner. Payne then hit a bulldog off the top rope and a big clothesline, but Castagnoli kicked out. Castagnoli caught Payne with the pop-up European and then nailed him with the Ricola Bomb for the pin. (*)

RADICAN'S ANALYSIS: This should have been much shorter than it was. Castagnoli should have hit all of his signature spots and then followed with the Ricola Bomb. The crowd was totally dead for this match and Castagnoli's "Very European" tagline isn't very exciting to listen to as a viewer at home.

-They went right to the main event with Jay Briscoe making his entrance first. The 1…2…3 facts are heard to read. The font is way too small and I guess you need a television like Wade Keller's to read them without destroying your eyes. Prazak mentioned that McGuinness had surpassed the length of Samoa Joe's ROH World Title reign.

(4) ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness vs. Jay Briscoe (w/Mark Briscoe) (non-title). McGuinness targeted Jay's arm early and applied a nice bridging arm submission on the match. Hogewood went nuts once Jay escaped and took McGuinness down to the mat. McGuinness ended up in a headlock and tried to escape by slamming Jay to the mat, but he held on. Jay continued to hold onto the headlock as McGuinness tried to escape. Jay continued to dominate the action until McGuinness countered him and slammed his arm shoulder-first into the mat. McGuinness then sent Jay off the ropes, but ended up getting caught with a nice dropkick. Nigel immediately fired back and went targeted Jay's shoulder again. McGuinness continued his assault on Jay's arm, but not before taking a moment to jaw with the fans at ringside. The crowd woke up and started a "man up" chant. Jay tried to fire back, but McGuinness nailed him with a hammerlock divorce court to regain the upper hand.

Prazak wondered who would take the belt from McGuinness, but said if Jay could beat him here he would be in line for a future title shot. McGuinness set up Jay for another high-impact maneuver that would target his shoulder and paused before slamming him shoulder-first into the mat once again. McGuinness then grabbed an arm submission on the mat, but Jay escaped. The crowd tried to rally behind Jay once again and he finally began a comeback with a running boot to McGuinness's face. Jay followed up with a big spinebuster and covered McGuinness for a 2 count. Jay went for a charge to the corner and missed, which allowed McGuinness to hit his kick to the back/clothesline combination for a 2 count. Jay managed to avoid the tower of London and nailed McGuinness with a kick. Jay then hit the DVD for a 2 count and Hogewood went nuts. Jay then went up top, but Nigel cut him off and went for the tower of London again, but Jay held on to him. Both men battled up top and Jay sent McGuinness crashing to the mat. McGuinness tried to roll out of the way, but Jay nailed him with a big leg drop all the way across the ring. Jay went for the Jay-driller, but McGuinness blocked it and eventually hit the jawbreaker lariat for the pin. (***1/4)

RADICAN'S ANALYSIS: This was a really good television main event. I don't think the match did a good job of showcasing what both men are all about in the ring and from a personality standpoint. The crowd was livelier than during the previous matches, but they should be going nuts and booing McGuinness here, but instead this was mostly a straight up match that didn't showcase McGuinness's heel character the way it should have.

-An ad hyping Bryan Danielson vs. Austin Aries for next week aired to close the show.

Quick thoughts: (5.5) This was a totally forgettable show for the most part leading up the main event. These shows should be driving people to buy DVDs, PPVs, and attend live events, but outside of the main event, I didn't see anything that would get me excited as a casual fan to open up my wallet and give money to this company. Once again, the crowd was dead and a lot of the promos on the undercard left a lot to be desired. I can't believe McGuinness said he was going to kill Jay in the main event. That just shouldn't be said in wrestling in that context. If Nigel is going to say that, he should have wrestled like he intended to annihilate Jay during the match instead of the technical style attack he displayed. The only two things that stood out on this show were Del Rey kicking Haze halfway across the ring, the Briscoes promo, and the main event match.

I'm hoping the things that make this company so special are displayed soon on television. I'm not expecting the company to give away four star matches for free on HDNet, but the undercard should be a lot more exciting and the personalities of dynamic characters like McGuinness should be showcased more appropriately. Mild thumbs up.

Sean Radican and co-host Derek Burgan record ROH themed audios on the Radican Audio Showcase on most weekends that are made available exclusively to Torch VIP members. Sean also reviews nearly every ROH release for Torch VIP members. You can contact Sean at PWTorchSean@Gmail.com.

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