Austin Aries new ROH champion, wins three-way match

Austin Aries won a three-way match against both defending champion Jerry Lynn and challenger Tyler Black to win the Ring of Honor title. The title won at Manhattan Mayhem III in New York is the second for Aries as he became the first two-time ROH Champion in company history.

Black had earlier pinned Lynn to eliminate the veteran champion's title reign but could not complete the victory in the three-way elimination bout. The top heel Aries defeated rising babyface Black with a brainbuster to claim the title. PWInsider.com noted in its writeup that Aries had won his first title over Samoa Joe with the same finisher.

Lynn's earlier booking as champion had been heavily criticized by longtime ROH fans who didn't appreciate (or want to appreciate) its significance. Ironically, the same longtime supporters have generally backed the title change to Aries despite (or because) of his being a swarmy heel character. ROH is really a different sort of promotion in that way.

Any hopes that Ring of Honor can pull out of its post-Saplosky malaise now rest on Aries' ability to draw in core fans who want to see him as champion and casual fans willing to back Tyler Black's efforts to beat him.

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