Ring of Honor on Sinclair Results
January 28, 2012
Report by: Jason Namako of Wrestleview.com
Hello everyone, and welcome to this week’s Ring of Honor on Sinclair recap. If you all are ready, then let’s get on with the show!
Kevin Kelly & Nigel McGuinness welcome us to the show, from the du Burns Arena in Baltimore, MD.
We go to pre-match comments from Tommaso Ciampa & The Embassy before our opening match.
Barrister R.D. Evans interrupts Prince Nana before Nana has a chance to talk and says that in the new era of the Embassy, it is not about royalty, but it is about royalties. It is about what the investors want to see. They want to make sure that Tommaso Ciampa gets some real competition in Ring of Honor.
Ciampa says that he breathes off competition. TJ Perkins talks about being undefeated on television in 3 matches, but Ciampa reminds Perkins that he has been undefeated since his 1st day in Ring of Honor. It has been more than a year and he has not lost a match. He says that the Ring of Honor Television Title will come to the Embassy, where it belongs.
“The Sicilian Psychopath” Tommaso Ciampa w/The Embassy vs. TJ Perkins
Both men adhere to the Code of Honor to start things off, but Ciampa does not let go. Ciampa tries to nail Perkins with a right hand, but Perkins avoids it and hits Ciampa with a crossbody for a nearfall. Perkins avoids Ciampa’s charge in the corner, but misses a running boot attempt. Ciampa then charges again, but runs into a boot from Perkins. Ciampa goes out to the apron and Perkins then hits a springboard dropkick, sending Ciampa to the outside. Perkins brings Ciampa back in the ring and places Ciampa in the tree of woe, but Prince Nana distracts Perkins, and that allows Ciampa to nail Perkins with a clothesline for a nearfall.
Ciampa sends Perkins facefirst into the mat and then kicks him in the back. Ciampa goes out onto the apron and nails Perkins with a knee. Ciampa then chokes Perkins in the ropes. Ciampa hits another knee and Perkins goes into the ropes. Ciampa then hits a running knee and Perkins goes crashing to the outside. Ciampa follows out after him and gets Perkins up in a wheelbarrow, then slams him into the barricade. Back in the ring, Ciampa gains a nearfall, and then follows with a series of elbows to Perkins’s head. Perkins tries to fight back with a series of kicks to the leg, but Ciampa with a side headlock take down into a crossface. Perkins gets back up to his feet and he fights back with right hands, but Ciampa comes right back with a knee to the head. Perkins dares Ciampa to nail him again and blocks a knee for Ciampa, catching his leg and scoring with a dragon screw leg whip.
Perkins goes for a boot, but Ciampa blocks it, but then Perkins hits a dropkick, followed by a missile dropkick from the top. Perkins hits a series of right hands and kicks, followed by drilling Ciampa with his unique sit out power bomb for a nearfall. Perkins lifts up Ciampa for the Detonation Kick, but Ciampa rolls off the shoulders and sends Perkins to the corner. Perkins tries for a neckbreaker, but Ciampa blocks it. Ciampa drops the kneepad, and hits the series of running knees in the corner.
Ciampa then lifts up Perkins. and hits Project Ciampa for the victory.
Winner: “The Sicilian Psychopath” Tommaso Ciampa by pinfall (Project Ciampa)
-Commercial-
Back from commercial, we go to a video highlighting Grizzly Redwood.
Redwood mentions that he was born 3 months premature and weighed just more than a pound. He talks about all of the things he wasn’t supposed to do. Redwood says that he played baseball, football, and roller hockey in school. Redwood says he always loved wrestling and he knew what he wanted to do despite people telling him not to do it.
Redwood talks about his 1st day of training at wrestling school and some people didn’t want him there because he was too small. Redwood says that he is a winner everyday.
Grizzly Redwood vs. Devon Storm(formerly WCW’s Crowbar)
Before the match starts, Truth Martini leads Roderick Strong and Michael Elgin to the ring. Martini tells everyone to shut up. He says that life is full of choices and the choices you make determine your future. Martini then gives Devon Storm 2 choices. Choice Number One is to accept $500 to allow Michael Elgin to take his place in the match. Choice Number Two is to piss Michael Elgin off. Storm takes the money and leaves the ring. Martini tells Grizzly that after this match, he will wish that he died as a child. Redwood takes the mic and he says that he is not afraid of Elgin.
Grizzly Redwood vs. “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin w/Roderick Strong & Truth Martini
Redwood fires away with forearms, but Elgin pushes him down. Elgin nails him with a shoulder tackle and then sends Redwood into the corner. Elgin with a club across the chest, followed by a kick. Elgin then with a slam, followed by an elbow drop for a nearfall. Elgin tries to ram Redwood into the turnbuckles, but Redwood escapes. Redwood jumps on Elgin’s back with a sleeper, but Elgin escapes. Redwood tries for it again, but Elgin snapmares him over. Redwood sidesteps Elgin, and Elgin goes to the outside. Redwood tries for a suicide dive, but Elgin catches Redwood in mid-air and then slams Redwood into the barricade. Back in the ring, Elgin gains a nearfall. Redwood tries to fight back with forearms but they have no effect on Elgin, and Elgin nails him with a forearm of his own. Elgin then with a boot to the chest and heads up top. Elgin goes for a corkscrew senton, but Redwood moves out of the way. Redwood hits a rana that sends Elgin into the corner, followed by an enzuigiri. Redwood tries for the cannonball in the corner, but Elgin catches him. Elgin goes for a powerbomb, but Redwood counters that with a facebuster. Redwood then scores with a tornado DDT.
Redwood goes for another rana, but Elgin blocks it and drills Redwood with a buckle bomb, followed by the 360* Powerbomb for the victory.
Winner: “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin by pinfall (360* Powerbomb)
-Commercial-
Back from commercial, we go to video from the Kevin Steen/Steve Corino match from Final Battle.
Kevin Steen says that at one point everyone feels like they are in a cage, and that is how he has felt for the last year. Next week, he will be back on Ring of Honor television on the show that the company loves so much, especially Jim Cornette. Steen says that something is lacking from the show and it is not missing ass kissers, puppets, and dedicated athletes who show sportsmanship that Cornette likes. What it is lacking is unpredictability, chaos, and fear. That will be back thanks to him.
Steen says that Cornette hates him because they are a lot alike. While he might not be 100 years old like Cornette, Cornette always said what he wanted and did what he wanted without caring who he pissed off. Since then, Cornette has gotten softer in his old age. Steen says that he will not get soft. Steen says that he will beat Cornette’s “boytoy” champion Davey Richards in 2012 to become the World Champion and call all the shots. It is 7 days until everything changes.
We then go to comments from Jim Cornette and he says that he said what could happen if Kevin Steen returned to Ring of Honor. Everyone said that Cornette was out of touch and he was saying that the sky was falling. Cornette says that the sky fell on 3 people at Final Battle. Steve Corino, Jimmy Jacobs, and El Generico were all injured by Kevin Steen. Cornette wonders what will happen if Steen did that in 1 night. Cornette says that Steen is a bi-polar egomaniac and a sociopath.
Cornette admits that Steen has a lot of fans and he doesn’t know why but Cornette points out that he is a business man. He doesn’t want to do things at the expense of others health and welfare. Cornette says that he will have a message for Steen next week that he will probably not like.
-Commercial-
Back from commercial, we go to this week’s “Inside Ring of Honor”.
We start things off by going over the problems between Eddie Edwards and Kyle O’Reilly.
Edwards says that him and O’Reilly were never best friends, but they never had any problems. Edwards says that the problems started when he won the World Title because O’Reilly resented the fact that Edwards won before Richards. O’Reilly says that he did not have a problem with Edwards winning the World Title before Richards because that is life. His problem was with the way that Edwards acted after he won the title. Edwards says that the problems grew because Edwards demanded a match against Richards and O’Reilly would never look at him in the locker room. O’Reilly says that Edwards put Richards in an awkward position so Richards had to beat a guy who was like a brother to him. Edwards says that he had to get out of Richards’s shadow and this was the way to prove it. O’Reilly says that being in Richards’s shadow isn’t a bad thing because Edwards got to the top because he was in Richards’s shadow. Edwards says that after he lost the title to Richards, things blew up with O’Reilly. Edwards knew that he had to do something different so he set up a training camp with Dan Severn. It showed him who O’Reilly really was. O’Reilly mentions that Edwards knew that Richards was going to train with Severn but Edwards went to Severn behind their backs and it showed where Edwards’s loyalty was. Edwards says that O’Reilly was waiting at the airport when Richards got back from Japan to tell him to try to score points with Richards. O’Reilly says that he wanted to tell Richards that his friend went behind their back and he is loyal to the guy who made him. Edwards mentions how O’Reilly is all about loyalty and respect, but where is the loyalty to his tag team partner Adam Cole? O’Reilly says that he is trying to be a good friend. Edwards says that O’Reilly is jealous that he wasn’t in the American Wolves and he is using his man-crush over Richards to get between Richards and Edwards. O’Reilly says that he doesn’t care what anyone else thinks but Richards.
Davey Richards says that it is a lose-lose situation with him. He has 2 friends and family members who are in a war and both men feel that they are justified. Richards says that they fight like brothers. Richards says that he is going to have to trust the person who has his back until the end, and that is O’Reilly.
Kevin Kelly mentions that next week, we will have a Television Title Match between Jay Lethal and Mike Bennett with No Time Limit, and then go to comments from Mike Bennett, with his girlfriend Maria at his side.
Bennett says that he hopes that Jay Lethal doesn’t think that he is going to tuck his tail between his legs and go away. Bennett says that he had the Television Title won, but Lethal jumped him from behind to get the victory. Not only did he beat the former champ, but he was about to beat the current champ, but Lethal used an illegal move to win. Bennett says that there is NO time limit next week and now there is no crooked Todd Sinclair. There is nothing that will keep Bennett now from getting what is his.
Finally, we go to a video from Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team.
Shelton Benjamin says that they went to the Ring of Honor officials and after all of the crap they took in New York and the crap they took from the New York fans, they deserve a rematch. Shelton talks about all of the prestige they brought to the tag team division, and Charlie Haas says that all the officials cared about was where was the check for the fine that they issued against Charlie and Shelton and you have to wrestle the Bravados. They want to know what happened to rematch clauses. Charlie says that it is BS that they have to start from the bottom. They will have something to say about it next week.
Kevin Kelly finishes things out by announcing that the 1st match announced for the 10th Anniversary iPPV on March 4th will be a Tag Team Title match, as champions The Briscoes take on The Young Bucks, who earned their title shot at Final Battle.
-Commercial-
Main Event: Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander vs. Team Ambition (Ring of Honor World Champion “American Wolf” Davey Richards & Kyle O’Reilly)
Alexander and Richards start things off for their respective teams. Lock-up and Alexander goes after the arm. Richards reverses, but Alexander comes back with a dropkick but misses a standing moonsault as Richards moves out of the way. O’Reilly and Coleman then tag in. Lock-up and Coleman with a side headlock, followed by a shoulder tackle off an Irish whip. O’Reilly then comes back with a kick to Coleman for a nearfall. O’Reilly with a kick to the back, then sends Coleman into the corner. Richards tags back in and kicks Coleman in the chest for a nearfall. O’Reilly then tags back in, but Coleman fires back with a double dropkick. Coleman Irish whips Richards to the corner, then connects with a spinning kick into the corner. Coleman then hits a split-legged moonsault onto O’Reilly on the outside. Richards nails Alexander with a running boot, then he tries for a running kick on Coleman, but Coleman moves out of the way and takes Richards down with a leg sweep. Richards goes to the outside, and then Alexander hits a plancha onto Richards and O’Reilly. Back in the ring, Alexander tags in and Coleman & Alexander hit a combination suplex/slingshot senton for a nearfall. Coleman then tags back in and they do the same combo for another nearfall. O’Reilly and Coleman then go back and forth, exchanging forearms. O’Reilly drills Coleman with a leaping knee, followed by Richards with a kick to the chest after he blind tags in for a nearfall as we go to commercial.
-Commercial-
Back from commercial, as O’Reilly sends Coleman into Richards’ boot and Richards tags back in. Coleman and Richards exchange chops, and then O’Reilly tags back in. Coleman comes back with a kick to O’Reilly and then sends Richards into O’Reilly. Coleman with nails O’Reilly with a dropkick, but O’Reilly comes right back and kicks Alexander to the outside to prevent the tag by Coleman. O’Reilly then misses a kick and Coleman hits a kick of his own and makes the tag to Alexander.
Alexander connects with a springboard double dropkick and then he nails O’Reilly with a chop. Alexander fires away with forearms, but O’Reilly comes back with a kick of his own. Alexander then nails O’Reilly with a leaping enzuigiri, followed by a running kick into the corner and finally hits a facebuster for a nearfall. Alexander places O’Reilly on the top turnbuckle while Richards comes in and nails Coleman with a baseball slide dropkick. Richards lifts up Alexander on his shoulders, but Alexander counters with a reverse rana. Coleman & Alexander then hit their tag finisher, the Overtime(combination leaping rana by Coleman, Frog Splash by Alexander) for a close nearfall. Coleman sends Richards out to the outside, then Coleman gets O’Reilly on his shoulders and Alexander drills him with a kick to the head, followed by Coleman connecting with a Death Valley Driver onto Alexander’s knees for another nearfall. Richards comes back in and hits the Alarm Clock kick to Alexander. Coleman then nails Richards with a leaping knee to the head. O’Reilly nails Coleman with a super kick. O’Reilly and Alexander then drill each other with clotheslines, but no one goes down. O’Reilly goes for a discus forearm, but Alexander ducks and goes for a kick, but O’Reilly catches his foot and Richards nails Alexander with a kick to the head, followed by O’Reilly drilling him with a Regalplex for a nearfall. Richards sends Coleman to the outside and then Team Ambition hits a kick/discus clothesline combination out of a vertical suplex position for another nearfall. O’Reilly then locks in the guillotine choke while Richards hits the running kick on the apron to Coleman.
Richards then heads up top and hits a top rope double stomp while O’Reilly holds on to the guillotine choke and Alexander has no choice but to tapout.
Winners: Team Ambition by submission (Gullliotine Choke)
After the match, Team Ambition celebrate but Eddie Edwards comes out to ringside to “applaud” their win as we go to credits.
My Thoughts
I thought this was a pretty good episode of Ring of Honor this week, as it did a superb in highlighting the young prospects of the company.
The opening match of Ciampa and Perkins was solid, as it gave Ciampa more of a challenge with the veteran in Perkins. Loved Ciampa’s intensity, and in a way, his style is kind of like Sheamus, in that once he gets going, there is no stopping him. Good effort by both, and Ciampa continues to impress in both is in-ring capabilities and his mannerisms.
Although I am not the biggest fan of his, I really liked the video package done on Grizzly Redwood, as it paints him as the lovable loser of Ring of Honor. Liked how Truth Martini was made to look like a real scuzzball with sikking Michael Elgin on Redwood and paying Devon Storm off. The match, while a squash for Elgin, told a great story as Redwood showed a lot of heart and they worked in a nice hope spot towards the end with the Tornado DDT. Really well told story in what was basically a squash.
Once again, Kevin Steen delivers on the mic as I really like this anti-hero thing they are doing with him. Haas & Benjamin cut another decent promo this week and Bennett, while a little off his game on the mic work, did a good job building up his TV Title match next week with Jay Lethal.
The video package with Eddie Edwards, Kyle O’Reilly, and Davey Richards was actually pretty well done in terms of telling both sides of the story and to me at least, almost teasing the fact that O’Reilly is the real catalyst behind the breakup of the American Wolves, and painted an interesting foreshadowing for what may be to come down the line.
The main event was shockingly really well done. You wouldn’t think that a Richards/O’Reilly vs. Coleman/Alexander would be any good, when in fact, it was. Coleman & Alexander threw out some really cool double teams and had IMO, their best match as a team so far in Ring of Honor. Richards and O’Reilly worked well together as a team, and really toned down the “no-sell” aspects that casual fans have come to see of them. While it was still very spotty, it didn’t go ridiculous like in past Richards and O’Reilly matches. Very good main event, and it may be something that can be considered for the Match of the Year Project even.
Overall, a good show this week, and Ring of Honor did a great job in showcasing their young prospects that will be focal points for the company in the future.
My Grade: B
Well, that will do it for me this week. I want to thank you all for reading and I will be back next week, but remember….
If you are a non-VIP, every Thursday, myself and Nicholas “OneManX” Gray bring you The Wrestleview Independent Roundtable, looking at the world of Indy wrestling, whether it be from Ring of Honor, FCW, SHIMMER, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, CHIKARA, CZW, Dragon Gate USA, EVOLVE, and many more independents from around the world with weekly recaps of the ROH & FCW TV shows and DVD reviews. For more visit vip.wrestleview.com.
See ya next week for more Ring-of-Honor!