12/8/2012 ROH TV Report

12/8/2012 ROH TV Report

Kevin Kelly introduces the show from the Rostraver Ice Garden from Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania. Kelly previews tonight’s main event of Kevin Steen defending the ROH Title against Mike Bennett. Kelly is joined on commentary by Caleb Seltzer.

The team of Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly come to the ring for the opening match followed by their opponents Lancelot and Harlem Bravado. Seltzer notes that O’Reilly has said that Fish is a real fighter while his old partner Davey Richards is a gym fighter. The teams shake hands to start but Fish and O’Reilly jump the Bravados and Harlem is thrown outside. Fish and O’Reilly double-team Lancelot with kicks and Irish Whip him into the corner. O’Reilly charges but takes a knee to the gut. Lancelot clotheslines Fish and then messes up an O’Connor roll and follows up with a German suplex. Harlem tags in and the Bravados do a double-elbow takedown followed by a double-elbowdrop. Lancelot tags in and takes forearms from O’Reilly but then hits him with an elbow. O’Reilly hits a jumping knee and Fish comes in and tilt-a-whirls Lancelot into a backbreaker across his knee while O’Reilly hits Lancelot with a dropkick. Fish snapmares Lancelot and then vaults in from the apron with a rolling senton. Fish follows up with a vertical suplex and tags in O’Reilly who hits a big knee to the gut on Harlem followed by a kneedrop. Fish tags in and kicks Lancelot while O’Reilly kicks Harlem. The referee holds back Harlem while Fish does a drop-down and O’Reilly hits a dropkick on Harlem. Fish lays in to Lancelot with kicks in the corner and tags in O’Reilly who continues with his own kicks including a big boot to the face. Lancelot starts fighting back with boots and elbows and makes the tag to Harlem. O’Reilly misses a clothesline on Lancelot who elbows Fish off the apron. Lancelot hits O’Reilly with a big boot to the face and then nails Fish with an enzuiguri. Both Fish and O’Reilly rolls outside and Harlem hits a moonsault of the second turnbuckle to the floor to take them down. Harlem rolls O’Reilly into the ring and goes to the top rope and hits O’Reilly with a blockbuster kicks out of a pin attempt and gets whipped to the Bravados’ corner.   Lancelot tags in and clotheslines O’Reilly in the corner and Harlem flips in from the apron and into an Ace Crusher. Fish tags in and kicks Lancelot in the head. Harlem fights off Fish and O’Reilly with elbows but they take over with kicks. Fish holds Harlem while O’Reilly hits him with a running kick. Harlem kicks out of a pin attempt but Fish and O’Reilly follow up with Total Elimination (leg sweep and leg lariat combination) for the pinfall and the win.

After a commercial break Kevin Steen, Jimmy Jacobs and Steve Corino are interviewed. Jacobs talks about Nigel McGuinness putting them in a three-way sudden death match with Jay and Mark Briscoe and Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander at Final Battle. Jacobs says the irony is that it hasn’t been a sudden death for Ring Of Honor and it has been slow as S.C.U.M. has gotten all the belts over the last few months. Corino calls McGuinness a stinking, tall washed-up limey. Corino asks if they didn’t think Jim Cornette was bad enough and if everything that had been done to S.C.U.M. over the past few years was enough. Corino says that McGuinness has put them in a three-way match but he failed to realize how smart they are. Corino says they didn’t get to the top by kissing babies and slapping hands. Corino says they are the World Tag Team Champions and Kevin Steen is the World Champion because of their brains and that they will find a way out because they always do. The camera scrolls down to Steen who says he knows McGuinness and knows that he thinks that by bringing in El Generico he has done something smart. Steen says that not only that but McGuinness is putting a ladder between them with Steen’s ROH World title high above the ring in the hopes that Generico will finally be able to do what no one has been able to do. Steen says that all McGuinness has done is ruin Generico’s career.

Back at the commentary table Kelly and Seltzer are joined by McGuinness who says it has been clear from day one that Corino didn’t like him but says that he didn’t become the ROH match-maker to make friends. McGuinness says that he is here to make ROH better. McGuinness notes that S.C.U.M. have treated themselves as outsiders so that is how he will treat them. McGuinness says he had every reason to sign Steen vs. Generico as he is here to put honor back in Ring Of Honor and that this is what the fans wanted. McGuinness says that Generico is the last person to beat Steen and this could be a match of the year. A highlight video of the history of Steen and Generico in ROH is shown. This includes their ROH World Tag Team Title win over Tyler Black and Jimmy Jacobs, Steen turning on Generico at Final Battle 2009, a match with Steen and Corino vs Generico and Colt Cabana and their match from Final Battle 2010. Footage is also shown of Steen’s return to ROH in 2011 with Steen giving Generico a package piledriver through a ringside table followed by their La Revancha match with Jacobs turning on Generico and then Steen opening the package with Generico’s mask at Glory By Honor XI.

After a commercial break “Psychedelic Superstar: Chris Silvio comes to the ring followed by his opponent Jay Lethal who takes the microphone and says that apparently he has become the new whipping boy in ROH. Lethal says that when his parents got spat on he gave ROH exactly what they asked for in some killer instinct. Lethal says that now he is getting fined and getting chewed out and pulled into the office and at Final Battle he has to watch Generico get the title match he deserves. Lethal says he has to wrestle Rhino in a match in which he has nothing to gain and asks why he should wrestle him. Lethal says he will wrestle Rhino but also promises that he will fight the world champion at Final Battle. Lethal promises that whether Steen or Generico wins he will fight the World Champion and there is nothing anybody can do about it including Nigel McGuinness. Lethal then attacks Silvio and they trade punches. Silvio kicks Lethal and gets whipped into the ropes and comes back with another kick to Lethal. Silvio takes a hiptoss followed by lethal cartwheeling into a dropkick. Lethal clotheslines Silvio over the top rope and follows outside where they trade punches. Lethal throws Silvio into the ringside barrier. Silvio rolls Lethal inside but Lethal gets to the second rope and jumps at Silvio with a dropkick. Lethal hits a tope suicida onto Silvio. Lethal then flips Silvio into the ring barricade twice in a row. Lethal follows up with punches and rolls Silvio inside for a pin attempt. Lethal gives Silvio a belly-to-back suplex and Silvio kicks out again. They criss-cross and Silvio attempts to throw Lethal outside. Lethal lands on the apron and is trying to come back inside when Silvio hits a swinging neckbreaker. Silvio attacks Lethal with punches and kicks including a running kick. Silvio starts choking Lethal with tape and then nails him with crossface forearms. Silvio drops an elbow and Lethal kicks out of a pin attempt. Lethal fights back as they exchange punches. Silvio attempts to Irish Whip Lethal but gets reversed and Lethal takes him down with punches followed by a Lethal Combination. Lethal then passes on the pin attempt and hits Silvio with a superkick followed by a cradle DDT for the pinfall and the victory.

On “Inside Ring Of Honor” Kelly previews Final Battle 2012 on December 16 at 2:00 p.m. from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York or on IPPV. Kelly says that there is still a lot of guesswork involved in the American Wolves reunion. Kelly reviews the attack on Davey Richards by Fish and O’Reilly and says that Richards asked for Edwards as his partner. Kelly says that Edwards is in Japan until the day before Final Battle and was notified by e-mail but has not responded and that Fish and O’Reilly think they know why. Fish and O’Reilly are interviewed and Fish says that he spent a month in Japan with Edwards and that while Edwards does not like O’Reilly much the Wolves are done. O’Reilly says there will not be an American Wolves reunion and that it will be a funeral with the rise of a new great tag team in Fish and O’Reilly. Richards is interviewed and says that O’Reilly fooled him and that he thought O’Reilly was a wolf and had fight in him but he was a sheep in wolf’s clothing. Richards says that O’Reilly found another sheep in Bobby Fish but that he is not looking for a sheep, he is looking for a wolf. Richards says that he is looking for a brother and is looking for the most destructive tag team ever in Ring Of Honor. Richards says that Fish doesn’t think Edwards will show up but whether it is Richards and Edwards or Richards alone he will be leaving Final Battle with the sheeps’ heads in a basket.

Kelly notes that while Richards says that Edwards’ honor is unquestioned, the Briscoes and Caprice Coleman and Cedris Alexander say the same things about each other but cannot promise that the three-team tag title match at Final Battle won’t break down into a dog-fight. Kelly says that due to the sudden death rules if Jacobs and Corino beat anyone they keep the tag titles and if either of the other teams beats the Briscoes they win the titles. Coleman and Alexander are interviewed and Alexander says that the Briscoes go around saying they’re seven-time champions but the “C and C Wrestle Factory” are on a roll right now. Coleman says that maybe they haven’t been paying attention to what’s going on and that a couple weeks ago they beat Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team, the same team that put the Briscoes in the hospital for a couple of weeks. Coleman sings “The train is coming, the conducter’s us, so get on board.” The Briscoes are interviewed and Jay says that Coleman and Alexander are on a roll right now and are hot stuff. Jay says that Coleman is singing but that pretty soon he will be singing a different tune. Mark starts singing “Caprice and Cedric, Corino and Jimmy, them boys are gonna put a bullet in your hind parts.” Jay says that what they are saying is that Coleman and Alexander just beat Haas and Benjamin so hats off to them but they just beat former WWF tag team champions The Headbangers. Jay promises that they might think they’re hot stuff but the Briscoes are walking out of there as ROH tag team champions and Mark hums to end the interview. Kelly then previews the rest of the card and previews that next week on ROH t.v. Jay Briscoe will wrestle Steve Corino.

After a commercial break Steve Corino joins Kelly and Seltzer on commentary and Corino refers to Seltzer as Kelly’s Special Olympics son. Mike Bennett comes to the ring with Brutal Bob Evans but without Maria Kannellis. ROH World Champion Kevin Steen then comes to the ring accompanied by Jimmy Jacobs. Steen is wearing the pink “I’m A Lady” shirt that Maria usually wears and Kelly says that Maria is not there because Bennett did not want her within five miles of S.C.U.M. Steen charges Bennett with a clothesline in the corner to start and follows up with another one followed by a cannonball in the corner. Steen clotheslines Bennett over the top rope and then throws him into the ring barricade twice outside. Jacobs taunts Bennett who is crawling on the floor and Steen runs him into the barricade again. Steen takes Bennett up the entranceway running him into the barricade again and then rolls him into the ring. Brutal Bob holds Steen’s boot as he enters the ring allowing Bennett to hit him with a spinebuster. Bennett starts hitting Steen with punches to the head and then chokes him on the ring ropes. Steen fights back with punches but gets Irish Whipped to the corner where Bennett follows up with a clothesline. Bennett throws Steen to the floor and follows outside and whips Steen into the ring barricade. Bennett is taunting Steen as the match goes to commercials. On return, Steen hits Bennett with an elbow but Bennett hits a dropkick. Kelly notes on commentary that he will have a new permanent color commentator starting at Final Battle. Bennett Irish Whips Steen and attempts to charge him but Steen gets out of the way and Bennett is upside down in the corner. Steen follows up with a cannonball and both men are on the mat. They get to their feet and trade punches and elbows. Steen chops Bennett but gets whipped to the corner. Steen backdrops Bennett to the apron and then delivers a draping DDT for a pin attempt. Steen goes a springboard moonsault but Bennett gets out of the way and then hits a speer. Bennett sits Steen on the top rope in a superplex position but Steen bites him and knocks him to the mat. Steen hits a swanton for a pin attempt. Steen takes up Bennett for an F5 but Evans holds Steen’s foot. Steen throws Bennett outside onto Evans and then comes outside and powerbombs Bennett on the ring apron. Steen rolls Bennett inside and hits a package piledriver to win the match. Jacobs and Corino comes into the ring to celebrate. Steen takes the ring and lists off all of the people who could not beat him including Eddie Edwards, Davey Richards, Roderick Strong, Mike Mondo, Rhino, and Michael Elgin. Steen says he keeps hearing Jay Lethal complaining that he will never get another title shot but Steen says that is Lethal’s idiot mother’s fault. Lethal comes to ringside and tries to get at Steen but the officials hold him back as the show ends.

The show was mostly good this week. The Bravados vs Fish and O’Reilly match had quite a few messy spots. I do like O’Reilly and Fish as an act but wish their debut match as a team had gone better. That being said, Chris Silvio needs to be on the roster full-time and is a great untapped talent. Bennett did a really good job against Steen as well. The Generico vs Steen video was also well-done.

Dave Musgrave

Oshawa, Ontario