Ring of Honor once again makes its presence known on HDNet. The first set of tapings are done and these tapings promise the HDNet debut of Ric Flair. Is it worth it? Read on and find out…

The show starts with Bobby Cruise in the ring and introduces the Nature Boy himself. Space Mountain, Ol’ Ironsides, you know the drill. Ric Flair talks about how he is not going to retire from wrestling because Ring of Honor called him (implied with the appropriate dollar amount) and it was a match made in Ric Flair’s bank account. He puts over Jerry Lynn who makes his RoH on HDNet debut as RoH champion. Jerry Lynn talks…………………..Sorry I dozed off. I think he talked about wrestling Ric Flair. A Double comes out and brings some excitement to the segment. He says he is coming after the belt and hypes the main event. On paper this is exactly the type of segment to start a storyline driven wrestling program, but it was kind of dull. I give them props for the slight shift in format, though.

Chris Hero w/ Shane Hagadorn and Sara del Rey vs. Kenny Omega

Chris Hero has been featured a lot on RoH on HDNet, Kenny Omega had a pretty damn fine match with Austin Aries. These are two of the guys that should be focal points for the TV show. Hero has more character than almost anyone on the roster, and Omega has the type of high impact moves that get people talking. Their match is simple, but fun and effective. Hero uses his loaded elbow to get the win. It solidifies Hero as a heel and Omega as a guy who can beat anyone, mission accomplished.

Winner: Chris Hero via pinfall

Oh, goodness, Roderick Strong is talking. It actually isn’t too bad, except for the fact Strong says Aries respects no one, when Aries just said that he respected Ric Flair. He’s learning though.

Brodie Lee with Jimmy Jacobs vs. The Necro Butcher

Brodie Lee talking is not so good. Necro Butcher talking is unintentionally awesome. In an awesome start, Necro throws a chair at Brodie Lee and catches it off the ricochet. That was freaking cool. The rest of the match is less cool, but still pretty Brawltacular. My Hogewood insult of the week: it is neh-kro, not nay-kro. Either way, Necro Butcher is able to steel the win after some miscommunication between Jacobs and Lee.

Winner: The Necro Butcher via pinfall;

We get another buzzwords segment on Erick Stevens: Powerful, aggressive, intense, unstoppable, a runaway train. Still silly.

We get a hype video for Austin Aries where they mistakenly call him Double A. He is A Double afterall. RoH really needs to work out all of these kinks.

Now RoH is a wrestling show, it has an earlier tonight graphic and border. That is all they need. They are one of the big boys. Because, major players in wrestling tell you what you just saw.

Sal Rinauro vs. Erick Stevens

I am guessing that Mr. Rinauro will not be saved by the Sal tonight. Erick Stevens eats him alive hits all of his big moves and gets the win, and we get a “Slap the porpoise.” Stevens is another guy that can draw in fans of WWE, since he has a WWE style look.

Winner: Erick Stevens via pinfall

We get a few highlights from Bryan Danielson and Tyler Black, who really had an awesome match last week. It means there is a rematch for the number one contendership. They also hype Nigel McGuinness returning to HDNet after losing his belt. This is the first time they have actually hyped the next show before the main event. Good job.

Main Event: Austin Aries vs. Roderick Strong

I like that they do play up the history between these guys and pretty much everyone else on the roster. Pro Wrestling has a notoriously short memory unless Tito Santana and Rick Martel were concerned. It is nice to acknowledge the history. These two also wrestle like they know each other, which is nice. This is a good showcase for new fans, but they do enough to nod to the die hards to make it fun for everyone. Yay. The to make it fun for everyone but Aries, Roderick Strong chops him in the freaking face! These guys have an awesome match and work classic and new spots in at every turn. Aries gets the win after a kick to the head and a sick brainbuster. This has to be one of the best matches RoH has put on TV.

Winner: Austin Aries via pinfall

The show ends with a little bit more hype for next week and interviews from Bryan Danielson and Tyler Black. More hype added to the show is always good.

Big Andy Mac’s Big Andy Final Thoughts: This was one of the better outings for RoH on HDNet, but they still have a ways to go. Hogewood keeps getting better on commentary, but he and Prazak still have no repoire or chemistry together. I may be starting to blame Prazak for this. They need to start shilling their other creative outlets (Live shows, DVDs etc) more for this show to truly do everything that it can. When they have shows upcoming in HDNet markets the TV show needs to have a portion devoted to selling the show. Still they are moving in the right direction.

I’ll see you next time.