ROH Rewind: ROH on HDnet Results, AAA Invasion, Live Events Info for Detroit and Toronto

Ring of Honor Wrestling World Champion Aries Aries resorted to an age-old heel tactic to open Monday’s ROH on HDNet broadcast, calling out local sports teams that have long-standing traditions of falling short of becoming champions.

But Aries’ efforts weren’t intended to only draw heat from the crowd, but to turn it into a wrestling analogy, saying ROH competitors like Roderick Strong, Kenny Omega, Colt Cabana and current nemesis Tyler Black have teetered on the brink of greatness but will never lay claim to championship gold.

When he called Black to the ring for a special edition of the Austin Aries Lucky Lottery, presumably the last with the announcement of the “Pick 6″ contender series, Aries had another trick up his sleeve for ROH’s rising star.

Black, drawing a name from Aries’ hat, pulled a blank piece of paper, which the world champion lit on fire, blowing the flame into Black’s face.

Tension between these two continues, and with a “Survival of the Fittest” title under his belt from this year’s tournament, Black has the right to challenge for the world title in the future.

ROH has done a spectacular job building the program between Black and Aries, drawing it out over several months from the initial build through Black’s legitimate neck injury and resulting surgery and now Black’s path for redemption.

Kevin Steen and El Generico d. The Super Smash Bros.

Making their ROH on HDNet debut, Player Uno and Player Dos of The Super Smash Bros. put on a solid opening match against one of the promotion’s top tag teams in “Mr. Wrestling” Kevin Steen and El Generico.

The debuting team put up a fight, getting in some offense in the fairly back-and-forth match before falling prey to the combination finisher of the  ROH veteran team.

As commentators Mike Hogewood and Dave Prazak pointed out during the match, ROH continues to develop the depth of its tag team division, which adds another layer to the growing promotion.

Chris Hero w/ Shane Hagadorn d. Bobby Dempsey

Chris Hero dominated this match-up between former stablemates, as he preventing Bobby Dempsey from amounting much of an offense.

The match was kept fairly short and could almost be classified as a glorified squash.

After the match, Hero’s current rival Eddie Kingston emerged from the back, telling Hero he’s done everything right, laying out challenger after challenger and that perhaps he should be more like him.

As Kingston headed to the back, Hero and manager Shane Hagadorn left the ring with Hero yelling that Kingston took his elbow pads.

Rasche Brown d. Sal Rinuaro

In a complete squash match that couldn’t have topped two minutes, the debuting “Skullkrusher” Rasche Brown, who has been featured in video promos for several weeks, took the pain to Sal Rinuaro.

His size makes Brown stand out, but he didn’t have an opportunity to show off much skill in this match.

Fans will need to see the big man face a serious opponent before being able to draw an accurate opinion of his skills and the role he may play in the company.

Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards w/ Hagadorn d. Bryan Danielson and Roderick Strong in a non-title contest

The broadcast’s main event came in the form of a nearly 20-minute tag team bout between “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson and Roderick Strong and ROH World Tag Team Champions “The American Wolves” Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards.

The fast-paced action packed match featured a great array of action, with one member of each team usually fighting on the outside while their partners duked it out inside the squared circle.

In the end, Strong tapped out to Edwards, while Richards prevented Danielson from making the save, allowing the tag champs to pick up a victory in the non-title contest.

Fans continued to show their appreciation to the departing Danielson with chants of “Thank you, Dragon” very early in the match.

It was kind of surprising to see Strong take the pin, as he’s the rising competitor in the company while Danielson has already headed for greener pastures, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles.

Quick Hits

-Prince Nana of The Embassy cut a promo with Joey Ryan and Ernie Osiris, answering the call of Grizzly Redwood’s challenge by agreeing to put Osiris’ beard up against that of “The Littlest Lumberjack” in a future match. The thought of Redwood potential losing his patented beard makes this match an intriguing idea.

-ROH on HDNet Executive Producer Jim Cornette made his television debut in a short, backstage promo similar to the speeches he’s delivered at live events. He put over the company, the television network and his own wrestling knowledge and background in a short promo.

-Next week, Danielson will make his final ROH on HDNet appearance in a match against Strong. This will mark the end of an era, as a company original performs for the television crowd for the final time before agreeing in principal to a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment. Fans of “The American Dragon” won’t want to miss their final opportunity to see him on HDNet.

Match Rundown:
Kevin Steen and El Generico d. The Super Smash Bros.
Chris Hero d. Bobby Dempsey
Rasche Brown d. Sal Rinuaro
Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards d. Bryan Danielson and Roderick Strong

AAA Invasion

ROH officials expanded upon last week’s announcement they were working with Asistencia Asesoría y Administración by announcing that the Mexican promotion would be sending a rivalry between Alex Kozlov and Rocky Romero to the United States.

The duo, who have been going back and forth in AAA, will make appearances inside the ROH ring on Dec. 18 in Manassas, Va., and the following night at Final Battle 2009 in New York City.

Both Kozlov, who made an appearance in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling’s World X Cup earlier this year, and Romero have appeared for ROH in the past, and their return should be something to get fans excited.

Upcoming Live Events

This weekend, ROH will invade the Detroit and Toronto areas with live events.

Matches scheduled for Friday’s show at the Rock Financial Showplace in Novi, Mich., include:

• Austin Aries defending the ROH World Championship against Davey Richards with Shane Hagadorn
• Kevin Steen and El Generico vs. The Young Bucks
• Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Kenny Omega
• Tyler Black vs. Claudio Castagnoli
• Roderick Strong vs. Chris Hero w/ Hagadorn
• Colt Cabana and Delirious vs. Kenny King and Rhett Titus

Jay and Mark Briscoe, Joey Ryan, The Super Smash Bros. and more are also scheduled to appear at the show, which was rescheduled from its original date of Dec. 4.

The next night, ROH returns to the Toronto area, as the company visits the International Centre in Mississauga, Ontario.

Matches scheduled for that card include:

• Austin Aries defending the world title against Kenny Omega
• Tyler Black vs. Roderick Strong
• Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. El Generico
• Kevin Steen vs. Chris Hero w/ Shane Hagadorn
• The Super Smash Bros. vs. Kenny King and Rhett Titus

The Briscoes, Colt Cabana, The Young Bucks, Joey Ryan, Claudio Castagnoli and Delirious are also scheduled to appear.

Tyler Black is ranked #43 in the inaugural edition of TWD 50! Get updates on the rest of “The 50″, the upcoming “TWD 20” for women’s wrestling, and all the other great content on The Wrestling Daily by joining the Facebook group and by following us on Twitter!