Posted in: ROH Ring of Honor TV Results 10/29/11 By Romeo Oct 29, 2011 - 10:33:59 PM

RIng of Honor Wrestling 10/29/11
Davis Arena
Louisville, Kentucky

- The broadcast begins with a quick recap of last week’s main event of Jay Lethal vs. Mike Bennett for the ROH World TV Championship, which ended in a draw and Bennett’s refusal to go five more minutes.

- The show opens to Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuiness in the announce table, hyping tonight’s matches, especially The Briscoe Brothers vs. the All-Night Express in a rematch from two weeks ago to finally determine the #1 contender to the Tag titles at Final Battle. Also, I’m not sure if it’s just the copy of the show I’m watching, but the quality of the show seems to be a lot more hi-def. If they did just upgrade, I’m not sure how they did that while still taping in one location.

Before we get to the tag match, though, we have to go through our first match, which is Roderick Strong vs. Kyle O’Reilly. Oh boy. We go to a video promo with the two men.

- Kyle begins the video package by saying that he really knows the only reason why Strong took this match is because of his association with Davey Richards. Strong calls him a punk kid and calls O’Reilly one of Richards’s “boy cheerleaders.” Kyle says Strong doesn’t respect him and the rest of Team Richards. He says that training and fighting are Team Richards’s whole lives. Strong says he’s going to prove O’Reilly is a punk kid by beating him in under two minutes and calls Team Richards a joke because they don’t get laid, and that they only train to be losers. (Really?) Kyle says that Strong may or may not win the match, but if he tries to embarrass him and Team Richards, he’s not going to be in a match; he’s going to be in a fight. Strong ends the video package by saying that that is exactly what he is going to do.

Thoughts: I’ve never really appreciated the ROH “dueling promo” video packages until this one. Even though I still don’t like Strong’s mic skills or his character, it was just two guys talking smack about each other, no managers and allies complicating the setup, and it worked. If anything, the simplicity of this particular video finally made the promotion feel like it was pushing a legitimate combat sport, a la MMA or boxing. If the company can do more video packages like this, they’ll have an easier time selling matches and rivalries, plus it won’t come off sounding cheesy and… wrestling-y.

Match #1: Kyle O’Reilly vs. Roderick Strong (with Truth Martini)

- Truth Martini manages to wrangle a custom introduction for himself from Bobby Crews. Nigel McGuiness makes a clever play on Martini’s “life intervention” gimmick, calling him Strong’s life partner.

Interestingly, Strong shakes Kyle O’Reilly’s hand before the match begins. They begin with a lock-up in the center of the ring, and Martini makes his way to the announce table to guest commentate. Martini hypes up the Roderick Strong Invitational scheduled for Final Battle. Both men exchange holds as they jockey for control, but don’t get anywhere.

They try again and Strong takes control with a wristlock, but O’Reilly rolls out of it and counters everything into a heel hold. Strong counters that into a crossface but O’Reilly gets to the bottom rope. A lengthy running sequence begins and after running around, O’Reilly manages to hit a hip toss into a cross armbreaker, but Strong counters into a quick roll-up for two.

Strong ducks a roundhouse from O’Reilly, and after a moment of tension, get into a brief shoving battle. Another running sequence sees O’Reilly hit a dropkick. Strong retakes control, though, and sends O’Reilly to the corner. O’Reilly dodges and goes to run the ropes again, but this time ends with a barrage of kicks and chops, ending with a leg sweep to take Strong off his feet for two.

O’Reilly sends Strong off with an Irish whip and hits a running elbow smash to the face, followed by a northern lights suplex for two. Strong goes to the corner, takes a kick from O’Reilly and gets sent to the opposite corner. O’Reilly charges but walks into a flapjack to the top turnbuckle. Strong hits a full nelson backbreaker for two. Strong continues to dominate as the show goes to commercial.

The show returns to O’Reilly sending Strong to the corner, but gets a kick and an enzuigiri for his efforts and a near fall. Strong applies a rest hold and we see what happened during the break, where both men were battling on the outside. O’Reilly now gets to his feet while Strong still has the abdominal hold still locked in, and backs Strong into the corner twice to break free. At this point Truth Martini is no longer commentating for some reason, and is now the source of distraction. O’Reilly launches Strong with a huge German suplex.

Both men are down and the ref starts the KO count, but easily get to their feet after the count of four. O’Reilly manages to strike first, hitting Strong with another barrage of kicks and chops. Another quick running sequence sees O’Reilly hit a huracanrana. Strong rests on the corner, and O’Reilly charges, only to get sent to the apron. (We seem to see this spot every week.) O’Reilly hotshots Strong’s left arm and goes to the top rope to hit a missile dropkick for a near fall.

Strong gets to his feet and O’Reilly tries to go for a butterfly suplex, but Strong powers out and hoists O’Reilly up on his shoulders. O’Reilly gets out of the hold and runs the ropes, but ends up back on Strong’s shoulders. O’Reilly slips out and manages to hit the triple butterfly suplexes for another near fall. A “this is wrestling” chant breaks out.

O’Reilly goes to the top rope, but Strong in his infinite stamina quickly makes his way over to try to get him off… the top rope. Strong manages to pull O’Reilly down, and proceeds to chop him in the corner. Strong dominates with eventual elbows and forearms to the face, and hits a running forearm to O’Reilly still in the corner. Strong brings O’Reilly out of the corner to hit a swinging sitout powerbomb for only two.

Strong hoists O’Reilly up on his shoulders, but O’Reilly resists. Strong tries to go for a suplex, but O’Reilly counters with a quick knee strike to Strong’s head. Strong tries one more time but O’Reilly counters again. O’Reilly tries to go for the ropes but Strong follows him and hits a high kick to the head. Strong hits his double knee gutbuster for another near fall.

Strong locks in the Stronghold, but Kyle manages to make it to the bottom rope again. Strong goes for a double underhook, but O’Reilly slips out, only to eat a rolling elbow smash from Strong. Strong goes for a half nelson but O’Reilly counters into a crucifix pin for two. O’Reilly hits a running tilt-a-whirl DDT, transitioning into a guillotine choke on the ground. Strong tries to roll over, but O’Reilly manages to keep it locked in. Strong rolls to pin O’Reilly’s shoulders down, but O’Reilly kicks out at two.

Kevin Kelly makes a comparison between pro wrestling and MMA, saying that because this is wrestling, O’Reilly’s shoulders on the mat constituted a pinfall attempt. Strong hits a high knee to O’Reilly’s face as the crowd chants “this is awesome.” Strong takes control with elbow smashes, and ends the barrage with a Sick Kick to O’Reilly’s face for the pin and win.

Winner via pinfall: Roderick Strong in 9:49

After the match, Truth Martini takes the mic and tells O’Reilly that he has a message for Davey Richards, saying that Team Richards produces losers. O’Reilly puts his hands on Martini and Strong attacks him from behind, and Michael Elgin has suddenly appeared from out of nowhere, joining in on the attack. Elgin and Strong hit an Alabama Slam/lungblower double team attack. Tony Kozina runs in and attacks Strong, but Elgin lays him out as well. Davey Richards finally makes the save (took him long enough), and Super Davey dispatches both Elgin and Strong. Martini tries to attack Richards from behind, and Richards is distracted long enough for Elgin to take him down. Elgin and Strong stomp away, and Eddie Edwards finally comes down. Edwards’s save allows Super Davey enough time to recover, and they separate Elgin and Strong, beating them down in separate corners. Security drag Elgin and Strong away, isolating Martini in the ring with the Wolves, hitting a double team Alarm Clock. The segment finally ends with Elgin and Strong attacking security.

Thoughts: What started out as a promising first match ended up as a clusterfuck of a segment. First, while I did predict that Strong had to beat Kyle who is what I assume is a junior member of Team Richards, Strong didn’t have to exhaust his entire moveset to do that. I get that Team Richards are a bunch of hardasses who take their training seriously, but if Strong is to still be a legitimate contender to the ROH World title, then he should only be equal to Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards. Meanwhile, Kyle O’Reilly shows potential, but it’s also clear that he is a student of the American Wolves game. I honestly hope to God that Future Shock isn’t Wolves Lite. The match gets 2.5 out of 5 stars.

As for the post-match segment, man, is Team Richards really deficient with psychology or what? If they were all going to come out, why come out one at a time? I thought the Wolves hated the House of Truth? You’d think all of them would run down together to help, but no, they all make the save one at a time, watching the previous one get beat up before going out there. With friends like those, who needs enemies?

- After the break, Jim Cornette is now at ringside, surveying the chaos. Cornette fines Strong, Elgin, and Martini $2,500 each for the chaos. Cornette is then interrupted by some loud fans chanting for Kevin Steen. He then addresses those plants, saying that while the fans may want Kevin Steen, when he is present the fans don’t have to deal with him, he does. Cornette basically says that Steen is a liability and that ROH will not do business with him, and if Steen doesn’t like that, Cornette says that Steen can sue him.

Thoughts: Well… that was an awkward segue. It’s now clear that the company is building up towards Steen’s eventual return, but that was a sudden transition from literally a member of the crew who suffered an injury at the hands of Elgin and Strong. Steen fans, you dicks.

- We go to an Inside ROH video. First, Kevin Kelly says that there are two potential challengers for the ROH World Championship: Eddie Edwards and Jay Lethal. Lethal says it’s an honor to be in the running, but calls Final Battle the biggest ROH event of the year. (I thought it was Glory By Honor?) Lethal runs down his accomplishments in his short stint so far, putting over the ROH workers in the process. Lethal says that he came back to ROH to prove that he’s the best in the world, and references Ric Flair by saying to be the best, you gotta beat the best. He puts over Davey Richards, calling him the best right now, but says that even an American Wolf can go down with a Lethal Injection.

Edwards begins by putting over the Final Battle event. He says that he has to train and prepare like he never has before. He says that New York is special to him because he has accomplished a lot there, including beating Roderick Strong for the title. He promises that he’ll show everybody why he’s called Die Hard.

Thoughts: Solid promo from Jay Lethal. Edwards’s promo was nothing special, and good call by not giving him that much time to talk, compared to Lethal. I thought Eddie won the #1 contender’s match a few weeks back, however. Even though Eddie seems to be the company favorite to face Davey, Lethal carries himself a lot better.

- A new tag team, Cedric Alexander and Caprice Coleman, is challenging the current tag champs Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin to a Proving Ground match, which is basically a match against the champs for a title shot. WGTT get in a quick word, saying that their opponents being unknown make it a bit dangerous, and that the ROH fans won’t know how to react to them, but they plan to win anyway. The challengers also get in a quick word, with Caprice Coleman doing the talking, but I could hardly understand what he was trying to say. It did involve the usual, though.

Thoughts: Didn’t seem like much, and the challengers’ weak interview did not sell me to them. Unless their in-ring work is really something that needs to be seen, I can’t help but predict that after this match, they’ll be hanging around the lower rungs of the ROH tag division… assuming they’ll be kept around. The Inside ROH segment was kept relatively short and sweet this time around as well. Hopefully it’ll stay this way in the next episodes.

- BAH GAWD WE’RE GETTING THREE MATCHES TONIGHT! We return to the booth joined this time by Steve Corino. Corino begins by apologizing for Kevin Steen, but Kevin Kelly wants none of it and proceeds to get to the next match.

Match #2: Alex Silva vs. “The Dominant Male” Tommaso Ciampa (with Prince Nana and Mr. Ernesto Osiris)

- Silva tries to go for a handshake, but Ciampa just spits on his hand. Ciampa attacks Silva with a dropkick before the bell rings. Ciampa with brutal elbows and stomps on the corner. Ciampa pulls down his knee brace, going for the running knee, but Silva has already slid out to the floor and drags Ciampa out. Silva attacks Ciampa at ringside, but Ciampa rams Silva back first into the barricade.

Ciampa with a huge chop to Silva’s chest on the barricade, following up with a snap suplex on the floor. Ciampa rolls Silva back into the ring and pins him for two. Ciampa with more stiff strikes, following up with a chinlock. Silva gets to his feet and tries to power out of the hold, but Ciampa stops it with a huge knee to the gut. Silva with the Irish whip and bends for the back drop, but Ciampa kicks him, only for Silva to strike back with an enzuigiri.

Silva runs and tries to go for a roll-up but it doesn’t connect. Ciampa hits a dropkick to Silva’s knees, and hits another kick to the face, as well as a knee drop. Silva in the corner, and Ciampa tries to go for a stinger splash, but Silva evades and hits a clothesline for two. Silva on the apron, tries to go for a springboard ghetto stomp, but Ciampa rolls away. At this point, Kevin Steen is pontificating on commentary about his guilt for giving ROH its Kevin Steen problems.

Silva tries to go for a clothesline again but Ciampa counters and hits a huge neckbreaker. Ciampa drags Silva to the corner, and finally manages to hit his running knee a staggering four times. Ciampa hits the Project Ciampa for the pin and win.

Winner by pinfall: Tommaso Ciampa in 3:50

Thoughts: That was definitely a fun, hard-hitting match. Tommaso Ciampa is starting to become one of my favorite ROH wrestlers, partly because of his stiff WWE-like style. I’d like to see him get into the TV title picture soon and possibly have some fun matches with Jay Lethal. Meanwhile, Steve Corino started to be a little like Michael Cole, deviating from the match to talk about Kevin Steen. At least he apologized for going off-topic, though. Overall, fun squash that could’ve benefitted from a couple of extra minutes, but it was mainly a showcase for Ciampa. Expect him to be in FCW or maybe even TNA within two years. 2.25 out of 5 stars.

- We return from commercial straight to the tag match.

Main Event: The Briscoe Brothers vs. The All-Night Express

- These two teams hate each other so much that they never even bothered for Bobby Crews to finish the ring introductions. A brawl quickly begins, and Mark and Rhett spill out on ringside while Jay and Kenny remain in the ring. Kenny hits a high kick on Jay and sends him running to the ropes, and Jay walks into an over the top rope spear from Rhett on the apron. ANX hits a leg drop/double axe handle combination on Jay on the mat.

Kenny, who is apparently the legal man (the opening brawl didn’t make anything clear), brings Jay to their corner and tags Rhett in. ANX do an assisted running kick to the gut. Rhett works Jay over on the corner and sends him over to the opposite, only to eat a big boot on the charge. Jay hits a reverse STO to the middle turnbuckle and quickly tags in Mark.

Mark continues to control, and goes for a suplex but Rhett reverses into a rear waist lock. Rhett sends Mark to their corner and tags in Kenny, hitting another double team move in the process for two. Kenny hits a snap suplex transitioning to some ground and pound for a one count. Rhett is tagged back in, and delivers a kick to a seated Mark. Kenny is tagged in again and ANX hit an atomic drop and running clothesline combo for two.

Rhett is tagged in once more and ANX continue to work over Mark. Another tag back to Kenny and ANX hits a double suplex. Kenny sends Mark to the ropes, and Jay makes a blind tag from behind as Mark counters Kenny with a kneeling jawbreaker and Jay hits him with a huge clothesline. Jay works Kenny over in the corner as the show goes to commercial.

Back from commercial and the Briscoes still in control, hitting a stereo flying shoulder block on Kenny. Mark is the legal man again and we go to what happened during the break, seeing Kenny try to go for a pin but eating a huge boot from Jay. Kenny in the present ducks a swing from Mark and hits an atomic drop and a roundhouse to the back of the head. Both men are down and Rhett is looking for the hot tag, but Jay attacks Rhett as Mark gets to his feet and drags Kenny away from their corner.

Jay is tagged in and continues to dominate. Nigel McGuiness takes the time to make a comment on Jay’s virility. (#Pause) Jay works Kenny over in their corner and tags Mark back in. Mark gets in a sleeper hold, but Kenny gets to his feet and powers out of the submission. Kenny runs to the ropes and hits a backslide pin for one. Mark continues to dominate on offense and backs up into their corner to tag in Jay. The Briscoes hit a powerbomb and neckbreaker combo, and Rhett breaks up the resulting pin, causing Mark to send Rhett out of the ring.

Jay sets up the double underhook to try and hit the Jay-Driller, but Kenny counters with a backdrop. Kenny ducks a clothesline from Jay to finally tag Rhett in. Rhett is a house of fire, nailing Jay with a boot and a clothesline to take him down. Rhett has both Briscoes in one corner and hits a quick splash on the both of them. Rhett sends Mark out of the ring and hits a dropkick to Jay in the corner. Kenny hits a running double knee, and Rhett hits another dropkick. Rhett goes for the cover but Mark breaks it up for two.

Kenny trying to go for the spinning side slam, but Jay slips out and tries for the Jay-Driller again. Jay couldn’t lift him and tries to club him instead. Rhett is on the top rope, but Mark is grabbing his legs from the apron, preventing him from jumping in. Jay runs to the ropes but walks into a forearm from Kenny. Kenny runs to the ropes but walks into a spinebuster from Jay. Jay goes to attack Rhett on the top rope. Jay attempts to do something on the top rope, but Rhett counters with an alley-oop, causing Jay to snake eyes on the top turnbuckle.

Rhett is all alone, but Mark attacks him with a running dropkick. Mark puts Rhett back on the top rope and hits a springboard cutter on Rhett. Kenny gets back in with a springboard flipping neckbreaker on Mark. Jay gets back in and hits a spike DDT, and all four men are down on the mat.

Rhett gets back on his feet and lifts Mark into the powerbomb position, setting up for a Doomsday device, but Jay attacks Kenny who was going up to the top rope, sending him crashing to the floor. The Briscoes fake the Doomsday device, allowing Mark to hit a huracanrana for the assisted pin and the win.

Winner, by pinfall: The Briscoe Brothers in 11:34

Thoughts: You can always count on these four guys to give you a fun match and this was a solid TV match, but I can’t help but feel something went wrong. The last tags I clearly recall seeing were to Kenny and Jay, making them the legal men, but the people involved in the pin were Mark and Rhett. I personally think that ROH is professional enough to not make this bush-league error, and that the resulting controversy from the illegal finish will be used to continue the side feud between the Briscoes and ANX, because we’re still a month and a half away from Final Battle. If this isn’t addressed next week, I’ll be disappointed. 3 stars out of 5.

- The announcers remind us of the Proving Ground match between WGTT and Cedric Alexander and Caprice Coleman, and with the Briscoes’ victory, we end the show.

Overall Thoughts: Finally. This is the kind of show I’ve been waiting for, and it finally came around the time I was predicting it would. There was finally less emphasis on the video elements, allowing for three matches on this card. It doesn’t matter which storylines are given screen time to develop, seeing as ROH doesn’t conform to the major league type of PPV schedule, as long as this remains the setup from here on out. As for what happened tonight, aside from the House of Truth/Team Richards nonsense, everything was a lot of fun and a couple of new things (i.e. Kevin Steen, the new tag team) were beginning to develop. Giving it the same grade as last week’s, but don’t let that fool you; it’s actually higher than a B+ but not quite at A- yet. Let’s hope ROH continues to build up their momentum with this. B+