Ring of Honor on Sinclair Results
December 31, 2011
Report by: Jason Namako of Wrestleview.com
Hello everyone, and welcome to this week’s Ring of Honor on Sinclair report, the first of 2012. I hope you all had a great New Year’s Eve celebration, wherever you may be, and if you all are ready, then let’s get on with the show!
This week’s episode is another “Best Of”, this time looking at the best from Ring of Honor World Champion Davey Richards and his fellow running buddies known as “Team Richards.
Kevin Kelly welcomes us to the show and takes us to our 1st match.
From the October 8th episode for the Ring of Honor World Title: “American Wolf” Davey Richards(c) vs. Roderick Strong w/Truth Martini
Pre-match introductions before the match gets underway. “Tale of the Tape” graphic is also shown. Code of Honor is not adhered to as both men exchange words as the bell sounds. Lock-up & Strong brings Richards to the ropes. Richards switches and makes a clean break. Richards goes for a kick and Strong evades. Both men feeling each other out as Strong locks on a wristlock. Richards counters and wrings out the arm. Wristlock applied by Richards. Strong counters with a drop toe hold and applies a hammerlock. Strong switches to a front facelock. Richards brings Strong to the ropes and as he goes for a clean break, Strong slaps Richards across the face. Crowd chants for the champion as Richards again with a wristlock. Strong cartwheels out into his own wristlock, but Richards does the same thing. Richards breaks the hands and goes for a dropkick, but Strong catches Richards’ legs and goes to turn him over for the Strong Hold. Richards spins out, but Strong cartwheels back to his feet. Side headlock takedown by Strong, headscissors applied by Richards, Strong kicks out of it. Strong misses a chop, and gets out of the way from a Richards’ kick and we have a stalemate. Crowd applauds for both men. Lock-up and Richards with a side headlock. Irish whip by Strong, Strong leapfrogs as Davey slides under the legs and grabs on to a waistlock. Strong brings him to the ropes and Richards with an O’Connor Roll for a nearfall. Richards holds on to Strong’s legs and locks in a seated surfboard. Richards spins Strong around into a pinning predicament that gets another nearfall. Strong, though, holds on and locks in a seated surfboard of his own. Strong spins Richards over into a roll-up that only gets a 2 count. Both men back up as Richards with an armdrag into an armbar. Strong back up to his feet as Richards again wrings out the arm. Hammerlock by Richards as Strong moves him over to the ropes to cause a break. Back elbow by Strong before the break could occur and then Strong with a hard chop. Another chop by Strong and then a knee to the gut. Forearm by Strong as he then goes off the ropes only to be met by a Richards’ dropkick. Richards goes for the ankle lock, but Strong counters and sends Richards through the ropes to the outside. Strong goes for a slingshot move but Richards gets out of the way, while Strong lands on his feet. Richards, back in the ring, charges and goes for a baseball slide, but this time Strong gets out of the way. Strong misses a chop and Richards kicks him square in the back. Another kick by Richards to the gut. 3rd kick by Richards to the chest. Strong tries to get away as Richards kicks him again in the chest. Strong comes back with a kick to the gut and sends Richards arm and ribs first into the barricade. Strong rolls in to break the referee’s 20 count and then Strong with a kick to Richards’ ribs. Both men exchange hard chops, with Strong getting the better of the exchange and sends Richards crashing to the floor. Irish whip by Strong, reversed by Richards and Strong goes hard into the barricade. Richards charges in and delivers a big boot right to the face of Strong. Richards is fired up as he brings Strong back into the ring. Strong rolls back onto the apron to try and get away from Richards, but Richards is right there with him. Strong comes back and hot shots Richards across the top rope. Strong begins stomping away at Richards in the corner. Strong goes up to the middle ropes and tries to bring Richards up with him, but Richards fights him off with forearms. Strong comes back with a right hand, but Richards nails him with an enziguri kick that sends Strong to the outside. Richards begins to head up top, but is distracted by Truth Martini for a split second and this allows Strong to jump back on the apron and deliver an enziguri kick of his own that sends Richards crashing to the mat and temporarily knocked out. Strong rolls back in and goes for a cover on the knocked out champion, but only gets a nearfall as we go to commercial.
-Commercial-
Back from commercial, Strong connects with a back suplex into a version of a Side Effect for another nearfall. Strong begins to get frustrated as Truth Martini thought that it was a 3 count. We see that during the commercial break, both men exchanged a flurry of forearm shots before Strong drilled Richards with a dropkick. Back to the action as Strong taunts the crowd and begins to show blatant disrespect for the champion, kicking at him and slapping him across the face. Strong begins to go off the ropes, but Richards catches him from behind and connects with a release German suplex. Both men back up to their feet as both men begin to exchange forearms once again. Richards shrugs off the forearm shot by Strong and nails him with 2 kicks to the chest. 3rd kick by Richards and Strong goes down. Strong goes headfirst off the buckles as Richards with an Irish whip, however Strong reverses and sends Richards to the corner. Strong charges, and as Richards tries to back drop over the ropes, Strong lands on his feet on the apron. Strong drops down to the outside and grabs ahold of Richards’ foot, but Richards kicks him away. Richards jumps over onto the apron and with a head of steam, punt kicks Strong right in the chest, sending Strong reeling. Strong tries to catch his breath as Richards with another head of steam, nails Strong with a tope dive out onto the floor, with both men crashing into the barricade. Both men back into the ring as Richards heads up top. Richards connects with a missile dropkick, but only gets a nearfall. Strong now in the corner as Richards goes to charge in. Strong catches him with a boot to the face. Strong tries to come out with a forearm, but Richards catches him and setups for an exploder suplex. Strong counters out with elbows and a forearm. Both men once again exchange forearm shots and then Richards unloads with the open hand palm strikes. Richards off the ropes connects with a big forearm. Richards then hits the exploder suplex that only gets a close 2 count. “This is Awesome” chants by the crowd as Richards sets up for a back suplex. Strong counters out with right hands that send Richards to the corner. Strong charges in, but Richards catches him with a boot to the face. Richards charges in, but Strong catches him with a snap powerslam for another nearfall.
Strong, once again frustrated, goes to charge in on Richards in the corner. Strong connects with a running clothesline and lifts Richards up for the half-nelson backbreaker, but Richards counters with a crucifix for a nearfall. Richards misses a roundhouse kick, and Strong with a rollup attempt. Richards rolls through, but Strong nails him with a superkick, but that only gets a close 2 count. Richards now out onto the apron, as Strong goes out with him. Both men exchange more forearm, then Richards with a kick to Strong’s back. Strong comes back though, and chops Richards right in the face. Richards is dazed, as Strong drills him with a back suplex on the apron, sending Richards crashing to the floor below. Strong fireman carry’s Richards back into the ring, and goes for a cover, but only gets another 2 count. Strong can’t believe it, and knees Richards in the gut. Strong off the ropes, but is met by a boot from Richards. Richards off the ropes, but Strong meets him with a knee to the gut. Strong off the ropes, and as Richards goes to charge in after him, nails him with a boot to the face. Enziguri kick by Strong that rocks Richards, but as Strong charges in, Richards throws him up and nails him with the Alarm Clock kick. Richards charges in, and block’s Strong’s kick. Strong with a rolling forearm, but Richards spins around and creams him with a discus clothesline. Both men are down as the referee begins his 10 count.
“Let’s go Davey” chants from the crowd trying to will the champion on. Both men back up at 9, and even while spaghetti-legged from all the exhaustion, begin to once again exchange forearm shots. Richards begins to get fired up and he drills Strong with a big forearm, sending him crashing to the mat. Both men then begin to exchange chops and kicks, with Richards gaining the advantage and bringing Strong to the corner. Richards then begin to drill Strong with kicks, but Strong spins him around and nails him with chops. Richards spins him back around and nails with 10 kicks, instead of 10 punches. Richards goes to the opposite corner to get a head of steam, but Strong charges in with him and drills Richards with an enziguri kick. Strong then lifts Richards and scores with the Death by Roderick, but only gets a close nearfall. “This is Awesome” chants by the crowd as Strong yells out in sheer frustration and anger. Strong lifts Richards back up and goes to setup for the End of Heartache, but Richards nails him with a knee to the face on the lift up. Richards reels to the corner as Strong charges in. Richards moves out of the way and goes off the ropes. Richards nails Strong with a running knee to the face in the corner. Richards places Strong on the turnbuckles, then delivers a hard chop. Richards goes up after Strong, as both men are on the top rope. Richards with a superplex, but floats over while still holding to Strong and scores with the Falcon Arrow, but only gets another nearfall. Richards holds on to the leg and locks in the ankle lock. Strong kicks Richards away to break the hold, and then nails Richards with a jumping knee to the face. Strong goes for another Death by Roderick, but Richards lands on his feet, grabs on to Strong’s leg, and locks back in the ankle lock. Strong tries to reach for the ropes, but Richards grapevines the leg. Truth Martini gets up on the apron to the distract the referee as Strong begins to tap. Richards goes to the outside and starts chasing after Martini. As Martini slides into the ring, Strong goes for a clothesline, but Richards ducks and connects with a handspring kick. Martini starts to go after Richards, but Richards is back up and Martini starts to beg off. Richards acts like he will shake Martini’s hand, but instead spin kicks him in the gut, and Irish whips Martini up and over the ropes, with Martini taking the Harley Race up and over bump to the outside.
However, the distraction allows Strong to get back up and charge in at Richards, connecting with the Sick Kick, but Richards barely kicks out. Strong then locks in the Strong Hold, but Richards counters out back into the ankle lock. Strong kicks Richards off again, but Richards off the ropes, creams Strong with the running punt kick, the same move that won him the ROH World Title. Strong, though, gets back up to his feet, and spits in Richards’ face, and slaps him again. Richards, incensed, spin kicks him in the gut, and then in the face. Richards then delivers a buzzsaw-like kick, knocking Strong down. Richards goes for a cover, but Strong barely kicks out. Richards holds on to the leg of Strong, and once again applies the ankle lock. Richards grapevines the leg, and this time, Strong taps out.
Winner and still Ring of Honor World Champion: “American Wolf” Davey Richards by submission (Ankle Lock)
-Commercial-
Back from commercial, we go to the “Inside Ring of Honor” video from October 8th where both Roderick Strong & Davey Richards discuss how much the Ring of Honor World Title means to them.
-Commercial-
Back from commercial, we go to our next match featuring the star pupil of Davey Richards, Kyle O’Reilly.
From the October 29th episode, Roderick Strong w/Truth Martini vs. Kyle O’Reilly
Before the match gets underway, Truth Martini hands ring announcer Bobby Cruise a card, stating the “proper” way to introduce Martini. “Tale of the Tape” graphic is shown as the Code of Honor is adhered to as the bell sounds. Truth Martini joins Kevin Kelly & Nigel McGuinness on commentary as O’Reilly and Strong lock up to kick-start this match.
Strong with a waistlock, but O’Reilly counters into a wristlock. Strong drop toe holds him down to the mat and gets a 1 count. Strong then locks in a front chancery, but O’Reilly breaks free and we have a stalemate. Strong with a wristlock of his own now, but O’Reilly counters out and single legs him down to the mat, locking in a toe hold. O’Reilly has his knee pressed against the knee of Strong while the toe hold is still applied. Strong breaks free using his boot while grabbing on to O’Reilly’s arm, and then reverses into a LeBell Lock. O’Reilly gets to the ropes, and Strong has to break. Lock-up and Strong with a side headlock. Irish whip by O’Reilly and Strong knocks him down with a shoulder tackle. Strong goes off the ropes, O’Reilly with a leapfrog, and Strong cartwheels out of O’Reilly’s attempt at a reverse monkey flip. Strong goes off the ropes again, but O’Reilly catches him and takes him down with a hiptoss that goes right into a cross armbreaker. Strong saw it coming, and pins O’Reilly’s shoulders down for a nearfall to counter out. O’Reilly blocks Strong’s chop, Strong ducks O’Reilly’s roundhouse, and we have another stalemate. Crowd in Louisville applauds both men’s efforts as Strong with a shove, O’Reilly shoves back, and then both men exchange slaps. Strong again with a side headlock as O’Reilly Irish whips him. O’Reilly catches Strong coming off the ropes with a dropkick. Strong comes back with a gut shot, and then delivers one of his patented knife edge chops. Forearm shot by Strong as O’Reilly goes to the corner. Irish whip by Strong, but O’Reilly goes up and over and goes off the ropes. O’Reilly ducks under Strong’s boot attempt and nails him a flurry of strikes, ending in a leg sweep takedown. Forearm to the face on O’Reilly’s cover, but Strong kicks out at 2. Irish whip by O’Reilly, and he connects with a back elbow, and then delivers a bridging Northern Lights Suplex for another nearfall. Strong retreats to the corner, but O’Reilly nails him with a kick. Irish whip by O’Reilly sends Strong to the corner. O’Reilly charges in, but Strong catches him with a boot. O’Reilly charges in again, but Strong hotshots him across the top turnbuckle, and then scores with a half-nelson backbreaker for a nearfall. Strong with a stomp and an elbow to the top of O’Reilly’s head as we go to commercial.
-Commercial-
Back from commercial, as O’Reilly Irish whips Strong to the corner. O’Reilly charges in, but Strong catches him with a boot to the face, followed by an enziguri kick for a nearfall. Strong locks in a reverse bearhug, as we see that during the commercial break, Strong delivered some more of his patented hard chops to O’Reilly on the outside before bringing him back to the ring. Back to live action, the Louisville crowd chants for O’Reilly as he gets back up to his feet. O’Reilly tries to drive Strong into the buckles to break the grip, but Strong holds on. O’Reilly does it a 2nd time, and finally breaks Strong’s grip. O’Reilly ducks Strong’s clothesline attempt, and as Strong charges at him, O’Reilly catches Strong and connects with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Both men are down as the referee begins his 10 count. Both get back up at 5 as O’Reilly connects with a succession of strikes. Strong tries for a chop, but O’Reilly ducks and nails him with another succession of strikes. Irish whip by O’Reilly, reversed by Strong, but O’Reilly slides under Strong’s legs as Strong was going for a clothesline and as Strong goes off the ropes, O’Reilly catches him with a rana.
Strong now in the corner, as O’Reilly prepares to charge. O’Reilly charges, but Strong back body drops over the ropes, however O’Reilly lands on his feet on the apron. Strong nails him with a forearm, but O’Reilly grabs his arm and whips it down across the top rope. O’Reilly heads up top and connects with a missile dropkick for a close nearfall. O’Reilly, fired up, underhooks Strong and setups for the Three Butterflies, but Strong counters and lifts up O’Reilly for the Death by Roderick, but O’Reilly counters that with elbows. O’Reilly goes off the ropes, and Strong lifts him up a 2nd time. O’Reilly slides off the back, underhooks Strong and this time hits the Three Butterflies(Combo of 2 Double-Underhook Suplexes & a Double Arm DDT). O’Reilly covers, but Strong just gets the shoulder up before the 3 count. “This is Awesome” chants by the crowd, as O’Reilly heads back up top. Strong charges in to stop him and knocks him off the top rope. Strong has O’Reilly in the corner now, and just unloads on him with a flurry of forearms and hard chops. Strong, after hitting an onslaught of forearms to O’Reilly, gets a head of steam and drills O’Reilly with a running forearm. Strong brings O’Reilly out of the corner, and connects with a belly-to-back sitout powerbomb for a nearfall.
Strong tries to lift up O’Reilly a 3rd time, but O’Reilly blocks it. Strong kicks him in the gut and front facelocks him, setting up for the End of Heartache, but O’Reilly knees him in the face on the way up. Strong tries for it a 2nd time, but O’Reilly knees him again. O’Reilly tries to go off the ropes, but Strong charges at him and nails him with a knee to the gut, followed by another enziguri kick. Strong lifts O’Reilly up again and this time connects with the Death by Roderick for a very close nearfall. Strong gets right up after the pin attempt, and locks O’Reilly in the Strong Hold(Boston Crab). O’Reilly, though, is able to reach the ropes to break the Strong Hold. Strong brings O’Reilly to his feet, and underhooks him, setting him up for the Gibson Driver(Sit-Out Tiger Bomb), but as O’Reilly counters it, Strong drills with a rolling forearm. Strong tries for another half-nelson backbreaker, but O’Reilly counters it and crucifixes Strong for another close nearfall. Strong misses a clothesline attempt, as O’Reilly goes off the ropes and connects with a tilt-a-whirl into a DDT that goes right into O’Reilly’s patented guillotine choke.
Strong tries to roll through the hold, but O’Reilly keeps the hold locked on. Strong forces O’Reilly’s shoulders to the mat for a nearfall, leaving O’Reilly no choice but to release the hold. Both men back up to their feet, as Strong nails O’Reilly with a tiger knee, knocking O’Reilly’s mouth guard out. Strong then hits a succession of forearms and as O’Reilly is dazed on his feet, Strong goes off the ropes and connects with the Sick Kick for the victory.
Winner: Roderick Strong by pinfall (Sick Kick)
After the match, Truth Martini gets on the mic and says to O’Reilly to send a message to Davey Richards that Team Richards is nothing but losers. O’Reilly goes after Martini, but Strong nails him from behind. Michael Elgin comes in, and The House of Truth begin to beat down O’Reilly. Another Team Richards member Tony Kozina comes in, but he gets taken out as well. HOT goes back to O’Reilly as Davey Richards hits the ring. Richards starts to fight off Strong & Elgin, but Truth Martini nails him from behind. However, that didn’t faze Richards as he goes after Martini. The distraction though allows Strong to nail Richards from behind and HOT begins to beat down Richards. Eddie Edwards hits the ring and finally clear Strong & Elgin from the ring. Martini tries to get involved again, but The American Wolves hit an assisted Alarm Clock kick to Martini, clearing him from the ring. Officials and security try to stop Strong & Elgin from going back to the ring, as Elgin shoves one of them down, who begins to favor his leg as we go to commercial.
-Commercial-
Back from commercial, we go to our main event.
Main Event from the November 12th episode in a Tag Team Grudge Match: The American Wolves(Ring of Honor World Champion “American Wolf” Davey Richards & “Die Hard” Eddie Edwards) vs. The House of Truth(Roderick Strong & “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin) w/Truth Martini
Strong and Elgin forego the Code of Honor and attack The American Wolves. Elgin and Strong lay the double team in on Edwards. Edwards however, sends Strong to the outside. Richards with a hard kick to Strong from the apron. Strong is sent back into the ring and Edwards hits a belly-to-back sitout gourdbuster and then Richards connects with a missile dropkick for a nearfall. Elgin is tagged in but American Wolves lay in on him with double chops and then a double back elbow. Richards with a succession of right hands and kicks, followed by a boot to the head. Richards with a kick to the chest and then Edwards tags in and drills Elgin with a chop. Elgin fires back and chops Edwards in the corner. Edwards chops him right back but Strong tags in and he nails Edwards with a kick. Strong locks in a rear chinlock and kicks away at Edwards. Strong unloads with right hands and chops to Edwards before tagging Elgin back in. Elgin with a hard forearm to the chest, then goes for a suplex, but Edwards drops down to his knees to block it. Richards tags in and he nails Elgin with a kick. Richards with a flurry of kicks to the chest while Elgin is against the ropes. Richards tries for a handspring roundhouse kick but Elgin catches Richards and hits Shock Treatment for a nearfall. Strong tags in and he unloads with forearms to the back, followed by a hard chop but they only angers Richards. Richards comes back with forearms but Strong hits a dropkick for a nearfall. Strong with a succession of kicks and forearm, then tags Elgin back in. Elgin with a hard kick to the chest, followed by a knife edge chop. Richards fights back with a forearm but Elgin fires right back with a forearm of his own for a nearfall. Elgin hits another forearm that knocks Richards down to the mat for another nearfall. Strong tags back in but Edwards makes a blind tag. Elgin and Strong go out to the apron and then Richards and Edwards with running kicks to the back that send Elgin & Strong to the outside, followed by stereo tope dives by the American Wolves onto Elgin & Strong on the outside.
Edwards brings Strong back into the ring and hits a running kick to the back for a nearfall. Edwards hits a chop but Strong comes right back with forearms. Edwards Irish whips Strong to the corner, but as he charges, he runs into a boot from Strong. However, Edwards comes right back with an enzuigiri kick and the Chin Checker for a nearfall. Edwards locks in the Achilles’ Lock, but Strong is able to reach the ropes, forcing Edwards to break the hold. Strong goes to the apron as Edwards tries to suplex him back into the ring but Strong brings Edwards out onto the apron. Elgin tries to attack, but Edwards nails him to prevent it. However, this allows Strong to hit a brutal back suplex on the apron, sending Edwards crashing to the outside as we go to commercial.
-Commercial-
Back from commercial, Elgin hits a delayed vertical suplex on Edwards for a nearfall. We see highlights from the commercial break when Strong hit a backbreaker on Edwards. Back to live action, Elgin connects with a powerslam for another nearfall. Strong tags in and connects with a forearm and then knocks Richards off the apron. Strong and Elgin go for a double back suplex but Edwards lands on his feet hits a double facebuster on both Strong & Elgin. Richards tags in and hits a double dropkick, followed by a flurry of kicks to Elgin but Elgin blocks the kick and Elgin comes back with a forearm. Richards rolls him up, then also hits a Northern Lights suplex on Strong while getting the rollup on Elgin. Elgin comes back and goes for a German suplex but Richards lands on his feet. Richards locks in an ankle lock on Elgin, but Elgin is able to escape. Edwards now in and the Wolves hit an enziguri/German Suplex combination for a nearfall. Wolves both go up top and Richards misses a splash but is able to land on his feet. Edwards is sent to the floor by Elgin and Elgin hits a sideslam on Richards for a nearfall. Elgin scores with a delayed vertical sideslam and Strong hits a chop while Elgin had Richards in the air.
Strong goes after Edwards on the outside, but Edwards sends Strong into the barricades. Elgin hits a running forearm into the corner on Richards. Edwards comes back with a running forearm of his own on Elgin in the corner. Strong now in, hits a running forearm to Edwards in the corner. Richards then hits a running knee to Strong in the corner after Strong goes for and misses a 2nd running forearm into the corner on Edwards. Elgin lifts Edwards on his shoulders and then also lifts up Richards. Elgin connects with a Samoan drop and fallaway slam to Edwards and Richards respectively and all 4 men are down.
Richards and Strong get back up and begin to exchange forearms while Edwards and Elgin begin to do the same. Then it turns into dueling open-hand slap exchanges between the 4. Richards hits a boot to Strong that sends him to the outside. Edwards connects with a superkick but Elgin comes right back with a forearm and a backfist. Richards then nails Elgin with the Alarm Clock kick and then the Wolves go back up top. Both Wolves hit a succession of top rope double stomps and go for a cover, but Strong breaks it up. Richards with open-hand slaps and then a back heel kick to Elgin. Richards with a roundhouse kick but Elgin stays on his feet and then spits at Richards. Edwards responds with a superkick to the side of Elgin’s head for a nearfall. Richards locks back in the ankle lock on Elgin, but Elgin rolls through it to escape. Elgin with a knee to the gut of Richards and Elgin then hits a sitout power bomb for a nearfall.
Truth Martini then pulls referee Todd Sinclair out of the ring for no apparent reason. Elgin sets up and hits the 360* Powerbomb on Richards, but the cameramen were focused on Martini and the referee. Edwards comes in from behind and locks Elgin in with a Dragon Sleeper while covering Elgin’s mouth to affect his breathing with Richards still out from the 360* Powerbomb. All the while, Truth Martini still has the referee distracted. Richards rolls over onto Elgin and gets the win thanks to Edwards.
Winners: The American Wolves by pinfall
Kevin Kelly informs us that on the next 2 weeks of Ring of Honor on Sinclair TV, we will be seeing footage from back in December when Ring of Honor ran shows in Greensboro, NC & Spartanburg, SC as we go to credits.
My Thoughts
No real thoughts this week, seeing that this was another “Best Of” show. Only thing I will say is that I am highly intrigued by what footage Ring of Honor decides to place on the next 2 shows, because the Carolinas shows had on paper, some very good stuff on it. So it will be interesting to see what will be covered over the course of the next 2 weeks.
But other than that, since this was a “Best Of” show, and I have already provided thoughts on the 3 matches showcased, I will leave you with a plug for my show on the Wrestleview Radio Network, covering all things Indy Wrestling with myself and “The Man of Many Nicknames” Nicholas Gray, each and every Thursday. If you are a fan of Indy Wrestling, or would like to learn new things about the US Indy Scene, become a VIP for $4.99 a month, and check out the show. For more information on how to become a VIP, go to vip.wrestleview.com.
See ya next week for more Ring-Of-Honor!