I was at the ROH show in Edison, NJ last night, and while it was an okay show, it was nothing really to write home about. It was a typically strange NJ crowd, in that part of the crowd (last night, it was the section around the entranceway) was really alive and into the show, and the rest kind of sat on their hands or jeered whatever was going on. It was also incredibly hot in there, which made it hard to really get into the matches. Couldn't get a good gauge on the crowd size, but there were several open seats in my section in the first three or four rows, which isn't a good sign.

Results:

-Eddie Kingston defeated Ricky Reyes with the spinning back fist. Crowd was really into Kingston (who I don't get), but couldn't care less about Reyes. Reyes did beat him up pretty good with some stiff kicks and forearms, but this was a pretty standard opener.

-Brent Albright & Erick Stevens defeated the Super Smash Brothers. The Smash Bros got a good pop from the crowd and some token offense, but this was pretty much all Stevens and Albright. Albright picked up the win with the half nelson suplex.

-Chris Hero defeated Sonjay Dutt. Dutt popped the crowd and had some nice high flying offense, but Hero picked up the win with a big boot with the loaded elbow pad on his foot for the win. Hero still wins regularly, but seems like he's going nowhere fast.

-Delirious & Necro Butcher defeated Jimmy Rave & Claudio Castagnoli. Rave spent most of the match hiding out on the apron, but did come in long enough to get rolled up and pinned by Delirious. Nana was hilarious as always here, calling everyone in the crowd swine flu pigs, with Osiris going around panhandling even as the match was going on. Nana is such an entertaining guy and you didn't realize until he came back just what we were missing without him these last few years.

-Rhett Titus & Kenny King defeated Grizzly Redwood & Alex Payne. Part of the crowd started the "you're a virgin" chant, and then another part started a "he gets p----" chant, with Redwood acting like they meant him, which was pretty funny. Standard "coming back from intermission" match that ended when they hit the blockbuster/powerbomb combo for the win.

-Colt Cabana defeated Joey Ryan. This was my first chance seeing Joey Ryan wrestle in person and I thought he was very entertaining, he does this sleazy gimmick with the chest hair and the tacky Hawaiian pattern tights and the sunglasses, complete with the "Who wants a mustache ride?" entrance music intro. Fun comedy match with Cabana acting grossed out to get too close to Joey Ryan because he didn't know where he's been. Ryan is a member of the Embassy, so Prince Nana and Ernie Osiris were at ringside for this one as well. Cabana picked up the win with an inverted Boston Crab.

-The American Wolves defeated Bryan Danielson & Kevin Steen to retain the ROH World Tag Team Title. This was a good match, though nowhere near as good (or as long) as the match in Canada from a few weeks ago. Edwards and especially Richards were far and away the best thing on the card, as usual of late. They've really got a good thing going with these two, and I'm consistently amazed at how a team that seemed thrown together has really developed into the top act in the company. At this point they seem more main event than Jerry Lynn or Tyler Black. They spent most of the match working over Danielson's leg until Edwards made Danielson tap out to a half crab, which really surprised me, but then again they've been doing well at getting away from the perception that Edwards is the "B" member of the team. Steen got in Richards' face after the match, so it looks like we're going to see more of Steen battling the Wolves.

-Jerry Lynn defeated Jay Briscoe to retain the ROH World Title. I have a feeling this match will come off better on DVD than it did live, and this is no fault of the company's, but it was so hot in the building by the end of this show it was hard to really get into anything. Both men brought it, but Lynn gets nowhere near the reaction as champion that Nigel did, and there was even a small part of the crowd doing a "We want Nigel" chant. I don't think anyone expected to see Briscoe get the title, because I think he and Roderick Strong are the two guys with the most failed attempts to win it, but Briscoe's a marquee name in ROH that can be counted on to deliver in any spot you put him in, and I thought he frankly had a better showing than Lynn. Each man kicked out of the other's finisher until Lynn hit a Tombstone version of the Cradle Piledriver for the win. After the match, Lynn got on the mic and put over the Briscoes as guys he's known since they broke into the business and is proud of how far they've both come, and then he called out a few smartass fans in the crowd who were running him down.

Overall, I think the heat in the building dragged it down, but this was an unspectacular show. Sonjay, Kingston, and Joey Ryan brought something different, but beyond that, and the Wolves bringing their usual A-game, this wasn't the greatest ROH show I've been to lately. It wasn't bad per se, and there were a couple of asterisks with the Jersey All Pro show running across town as well as the glut of injuries that decimated the planned lineups for this weekend's events. ROH isn't returning to Edison until November.