Ring of Honor on Sinclair
June 16, 2012
Report by: Jason Namako of Wrestleview.com
Hello everyone and welcome to this week’s ROH on Sinclair recap. If you all are ready, then let’s get on with the show!
We see what happened last week in the main event when Eddie Edwards defeated Davey Richards in Richards-Edwards IV, but thanks in part to Jimmy Jacobs.
We then go to post-match comments from Edwards, who says that since he felt Jacobs had a lot to do with the outcome of last week’s match, he has asked ROH officials to put it in the record books that the match was a no contest.
Kevin Kelly & Nigel McGuinness welcome us to the show, from the Du Burns Arena in Baltimore, MD before taking us to the opening match.
“The Prodigy” Mike Bennett w/”Brutal” Bob Evans & “The 1st Lady of Ring of Honor” Maria Kannelis vs. Adam Page
Page wants to adhere to the Code of Honor before the bell sounds, but Bennett slaps his hand away. Lock-up and Bennett backs Page into the corner. Bennett breaks, but then talks trash to Page, who in turn shoves Bennett. Bennett shoves him back, but then misses a right hand as Page nails him with a series of chops. Irish whip by Page and he catches Bennett coming in with another chop. Page with another Irish whip, but Bennett reverses it. Page goes for a crossbody, but Bennett catches him in mid-air. Bennett goes for a slam, but Page rolls off his back and sends Bennett into the ropes, followed by catching him coming in with an armdrag. Page with another armdrag, followed by a dropkick for a nearfall. Bennett comes back with a gut shot, but misses a right hand as Page nails him with another series of chops. Irish whip by Page, reversed by Bennett, but Bennett runs into a boot by Page in the corner. Page goes up to the middle rope and setups for a Tornado DDT, but Maria hops up on the apron and that distraction allows Bennett to break free and nail Page with a dropkick, sending Page off the turnbuckles, however Page’s leg gets caught up in the ropes.
Maria laughs at what she has caused as Bennett rolls out to the outside and nails Page with a series of right hands. Bennett brings Page down with him, then drives his arm into the apron. Bennett then sends Page back first into the barricade with a Russian leg sweep. Back in the ring, Bennett gains a nearfall, then locks in a chinlock with his knee driven into Page’s back. Page breaks free, then goes off the ropes, but Bennett catches him coming in with a back elbow for a nearfall. Bennett goes back to the chinlock as the crowd tries to will on Page. The crowd chants “You can’t wrestle” at Bennett and the chants are visibly getting to Maria on the outside. Page breaks free, then hits a chop, followed by an Irish whip. Page charges, but runs into a boot by Bennett. Bennett goes up to the middle rope and leaps off, but Page catches him in mid-air with a dropkick and both men are down.
Maria tries to will on her boyfriend as Nigel McGuinness mentions on commentary that someone told him that when Brutal Bob was born, his birth certificate was an apology letter from a condom factory. Great line. Back to the match, Bennett misses a clothesline and Page nails him with one of his own. Page hits a pair of clotheslines and is all fired up. Page with an inverted atomic drop, then goes off the ropes. Bennett misses another clothesline and Page catches him with an Owen Hart style spinning heel kick for a nearfall. Page with a chop, but Bennett fights back with a kick to the gut. Bennett goes off the ropes, but again misses a clothesline and that allows Page to hit a jawbreaker. Page goes off the ropes, but Bennett goes in with him on the blind side and then drills Page with a spear for a close nearfall. Maria complains to the referee about the cadence of his count as Bennett goes to lift up Page for the TKO, but Page breaks free and rolls up Bennett for a nearfall.
Page charges in, but Bennett catches him and this time hits the TKO for the victory.
Winner: “The Prodigy” Mike Bennett by pinfall (TKO)
After the match, Evans wants a piece of Page and he lifts him up for a backbreaker, but then just drops him nonchalantly. Bennett & Evans put the boots to young mister Page, then hold him up for Maria to slap the taste outta his mouth, but then Eddie Edwards runs in to make the save. Edwards clears the ring of Bennett & Evans, but then Bennett grabs a microphone on the outside.
Bennett: “Hey idiot, who the hell do you think you are?” “Sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong”. “Eddie, face it, you’re only out here because you couldn’t beat me”. Crowd chants for Edwards. “You couldn’t beat any former champion”. “Hell, you can’t even beat Brutal Bob”. “I have an idea, next week on TV, I’m gonna be here, Brutal Bob’s gonna be here, why don’t you take on Brutal Bob one-on-one?”
Edwards: “Mike, did you really just challenge me to wrestle Brutal Bob?” The crowd does a “YES” chant. “I agree with everybody here”. “Next week, you get Bob outta his nursing home, feed him all his pills, have a nice early dinner”. “You come here next week and I will gladly beat his ass, Die Hard style”.
Evans is incensed while Bennett tries to calm him down as we go to commercial.
Commercial
Hype promo for Best in the World with Adam Cole
Cole: “You know, I feel honored that I’ve been nominated as one of the breakout stars of 2012 here in Ring of Honor”. “That’s not something that I take for granted and Kyle, that’s not something that you should take for granted either”. “Because in New York City, I’m coming out with a lot to prove”. “I’m coming to show you that I’m the better wrestler and I’m gonna do just that”. “Just like I beat your mentor in New York City last time, the same fate is coming to you”.
Back from commercial, Kelly & McGuinness talk about the main event of Best in the World and wonder if the Package Piledriver will not be banned in the match, but they are then interrupted by Steve Corino, as Corino, Jimmy Jacobs & the Ring of Honor World Champion Kevin Steen walk out to ringside.
Corino: “There’s nothing sadder than a company that doesn’t take care of their World Champion”. “Believe me, I should know”. “Its a gosh darn shame that Jim Cornette seems to ignore YOUR World Champion, Kevin Steen’s request”. “You see Jimmy, the championship is over Kevin Steen’s shoulders and you Jim are in our front pocket”. “So you need to take a second to listen to what YOUR World Champion has to say”.
Steen: “Ladies and gentlemen, Steve Corino!” “Jim, Steve is 100% correct, although I guess you have been listening a little bit because I’ve been asking to fight Davey Richards on TV for a while now and on the next Ring of Honor TV, its gonna be my handsome self & Jimmy Jacobs against Kyle O’Reilly & Davey Richards”. “Now, if you think that’s gonna somehow soften me up for New York City, well, just like in a lot of aspects of your life, you are wrong”.
“But what Steve was referring to earlier about that you need to listen to your World Champion is referring to this”. “You see, I’m still waiting for an answer about if the Package Piledriver is legal in New York City”. “But, now that I’ve been waiting, I’m a little upset, but I do you one better”. “Davey said, I heard him say this, that I believe the quote was, “Bring your piledriver, bring your boys, bring anything you want to New York City” “. “Didn’t he say that?” “I think he did, I remember it”. “Well, I wanna bring anything I want, because for the last 6 months, Jim Cornette, you’ve put me in Street Fights, No DQs, all kinds of dangerous matches, hoping somebody would take me out for good and every single time and both you guys (Jacobs & Corino) can attest, I came out on top, I walked out of the building”. “So here’s what I’m thinking”. “Anything I want?” “I want Anything Goes, one fall to a finish, No DQ for the Ring of Honor World Title in New York City”.
“And Jim, once I take Davey out for good, you are gonna realize that this isn’t about who’s the Best in the World, this is a Hostage Crisis, pal”.
Steen, Corino & Jacobs raise each other’s hands as we go to commercial.
Commercial
“The Baddest Tag Team on the Planet” #DemBoys The Briscoes (Jay & Mark) vs. Sam Shaw & QT Marshall
The Briscoes surprisingly adhere to the Code of Honor before the bell sounds. Mark & Marshall will start things off for their respective teams. Mark headbutts the top turnbuckle to fire himself up as the bell sounds. Lock-up and Marshall backs Mark into the corner. Marshall then with a knee to the gut as we see Truth Martini make his way over to the commentary table to join Kelly & McGuinness for this match. Marshall mocks the “Man Up” chant, but then Mark spins him around and hits a series of jabs to the gut & some headbutts. Irish whip by Mark, but Marshall goes up & over him. Marshall charges, but Mark catches him with a boot to the head. Tag into Jay as the Briscoes with a double Irish whip, followed by a double flying shoulder tackle. Jay knocks Shaw off the apron, then nails Marshall with an uppercut. Jay with a chop, then tags in Mark. Jay connects with an inverted DDT as Mark goes up to the middle rope, does a little dance on the ropes, then hits Marshall with a back senton splash. Mark knocks Shaw off the apron, then plays to the crowd. Mark with a stomp, then gains a 1 count on Marshall. Tag into Jay and the Briscoes hit a combination suplex/double stomp on Marshall for a nearfall. Irish whip by Jay, reversed by Marshall, but Jay sidesteps his back body drop attempt with a kick to the chest. Jay goes off the ropes, but Shaw nails him with a knee to the back and that allows Marshall to drill Jay with a lariat for a nearfall.
Headfirst goes Jay off the top turnbuckle as Marshall tags in Shaw. Shaw with a kick to the gut, followed by a right hand as he trash talks Jay. Shaw with a back suplex, followed by a kip-up and then Shaw taunts the crowd. Shaw gains a nearfall, then tags in Marshall as the crowd starts a “Man Up” chant to will on Jay. Marshall & Shaw then hit a combination suplex/dropkick on Jay for a 1 count. Marshall with a slam as Mark slaps on the turnbuckles to will on his brother. Marshall with a pair of elbow drops, but when he goes for a 3rd, he instead decides to step on Jay’s face. That incenses Jay, who gets up and nails Marshall with a chop. Marshall then comes back with a right hand, then tags in Shaw. However, Jay fights his way out of the corner with back elbows to Shaw and jabs to Marshall. Marshall misses a clothesline and Jay leaps over to make the tag to Mark.
Marshall misses another clothesline as Mark unloads with some Redneck Kung Fu to both Marshall & Shaw, knocking down Marshall with a double chop. Shaw fights back with a kick to the gut, followed by an Irish whip. However, Mark reverses it and then catches Shaw coming in with a throat thrust. Mark charges at Marshall and nails him with the Uncle Mule Kick, driving Marshall into the corner. Irish whip by Mark, reversed by Shaw, but as Shaw tries for a back body drop, Mark flips onto his feet. Shaw taunts the crowd, then charges at Mark, who ducks under a clothesline with a forward roll. Jay then comes in and goozles Shaw, connecting with a chokeslam. Mark heads up top and connects with the Froggy Bow, but Marshall breaks up the pin attempt. Jay sends Marshall over the ropes and to the outside, then calls for the Doomsday Device.
The Briscoes then hit the Doomsday Device on Shaw for the victory.
Winners: “The Baddest Tag Team on the Planet” #DemBoys The Briscoes by pinfall (Doomsday Device)
After the match, Truth Martini at the commentary table, grabs a microphone and interrupts the Briscoes’ music being played.
Martini: “Briscoe Brothers, up here”. “I refuse to be ignored”. “The challenge has already been made”. “Best in the World is right around the corner, the Briscoe Brothers versus MY Guardians of Truth”. “Will you or will you not accept the challenge?” “Are you two men or are you what you farm, a bunch of chickens?”
Jay Briscoe then grabs a microphone from ringside.
J. Briscoe: “Aw, hell no”. “Truth Martini, if you want us to accept your little challenge in New York City, we don’t give a damn who you bring out there, bring their ass to New York and we gonna whoop they ass, challenge accepted”.
Martini laughs in a maniacal way as we go backstage.
Veda Scott is backstage with Prince Nana & Barrister R.D. Evans of the Embassy Limited. Veda asks them about tonight’s main event and if they are in favor of Tommaso Ciampa challenging for the Television Title.
R.D. “We advised Mr. Ciampa to pursue another course than the TV Title, but he’s got a very, shall we say, rigid philosophy as to what he wants”.
Veda asks Nana if there is cooperation between Nana & Truth Martini. Nana starts to talk, but Evans cuts him off and shoos him away as we go to commercial.
Commercial
Inside Ring of Honor
The 1st topic is the Tag Team Title match at Best in the World between champions Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team & The All Night Express. We go to video highlighting what happened last week between those two teams.
The next topic is Finlay, who will face “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin at Best in the World. We go to comments from Finlay.
Finlay: “Got a lot of rumors about this guy, Mike Elgin”. “Unstoppable, unbeatable, unbreakable, whatever you say you are”. “Let me tell you something, here’s where it all stops, it stops when Fit Finlay gets in your face and we’re gonna find out who you are and what you’re made of.
The next topic is the Triple Threat match for the Ring of Honor TV Title between champion Roderick Strong, Jay Lethal & Tommaso Ciampa. We go to comments from Lethal.
Lethal: “Come on now, this is ridiculous”. “Everybody’s talking about conspiracy theory this with Nana, Truth, the managers.” “You mean you can’t look at Nana & Truth and tell these guys are crooked, are you guys serious?” “Am I crazy?” “Well I’ll tell ya what, at Best in the World, I’m not gonna be crazy because I’m not worried about managers, I’m worried about Roderick Strong & Tommaso Ciampa”. “And you know these 2 guys, they don’t like me very much, but they don’t like each other either”. “And I’m gonna use that to my advantage and become the new Television Champion at Best in the World”.
The final topic is next week’s TV main event as ROH Champion Kevin Steen & Jimmy Jacobs face Team Ambition of former ROH champ Davey Richards & Kyle O’Reilly on the eve of Best in the World, where Richards will face Steen for the ROH World Title. We go to comments from Richards, who is with O’Reilly.
Richards: “You know, a lot of people think I’m thinking about redemption right now, that Davey Richards has a lot to redeem himself for after losing the belt in Toronto”. “See, I’m thinking about revenge”. “See Kevin Steen, you beat me, I’m not gonna whine about it, but I want revenge”. “You see, I want you to feel the exact same way I felt when you lose everything”.
“Now you (looking at O’Reilly), yeah you, you need to think about redemption”. “All these people that believed in you, me being one of them, cuz you’ve become a whiner, Kyle”. “Hey, look at me when I’m talking to you”. “All you do is whine about this over and over again”. “So I’ll tell ya what, this stops now, k, whining stops, talking stops, we act, we get in the ring with Kevin Steen & Jimmy Jacobs, we make them pay with action”. “You with me?”
O’Reilly: “Yeah”.
Commercial
Hype promo for Best in the World with the All Night Express
Kevin Kelly talks about how ANX made a statement to WGTT last week.
K. King: “Statement?” “What are you, dumb, deaf, or blind, Kevin Kelly?” “After what we did to the “Worst Geriatric Tag Team” last week, the All Night Express don’t make statements, we make tombstones & eulogies”.
R. Titus: “Last week, we proved to the world that we can pin your shoulders to the mat”. “Come New York City, they’ll be a referee to do that counting and you’re looking at the next Ring of Honor World Tag Team Champions”.
Back from commercial, we see video features for both Roderick Strong & Tommaso Ciampa before we go backstage where Veda Scott is with Roderick Strong & Truth Martini as Roderick is very upset.
Strong: “Truth, what is this crap?” “What is this bull****?” “I was told I didn’t have to wrestle him(Ciampa) at all and now, Tommaso Ciampa got put into the 3-way?” “And then tonight, one-on-one?”
Martini: “Roddy, not in public.”
Strong: “Not in public?” “You told me that this was taken care of and now look at the situation I’m in”. “You don’t think I had enough to handle with Jay Lethal?” “And now, Tommaso Ciampa?” “You see how crazy he is?”
Martini says “One second”, then goes to whisper in Strong’s ear.
Martini: “The ix fay is in”.
Martini quickly ends the interview with Veda Scott and brings Strong away as we go to the ring for our main event.
Main Event
Ring of Honor Television Title
Roderick Strong w/Truth Martini (c) vs. “The Sicilian Psychopath” Tommaso Ciampa w/The Embassy Limited
Strong & Ciampa do not adhere to the Code of Honor as the bell sounds, but Martini, along with Nana & R.D. Evans, do adhere to the Code of Honor. Lock-up and Ciampa backs Strong into the corner, followed by a back elbow. Ciampa unloads with a series of right hands & stomps to Strong, followed by choking him in the corner. Ciampa says “You have something I want, did you think I was playing games?” to Strong as he sends Strong headfirst off the top turnbuckle. Ciampa with an overhand chop, then has a sick look on his face. Irish whip by Ciampa, but Strong goes up & over Ciampa, then nails him with a dropkick. Strong with a pair of chops, followed by a knee to the gut. Strong with another chop, followed by a back suplex for a 1 count. Strong with a stomp, but then Ciampa fights back with a series of gut shots. Ciampa with a stomp, but Strong comes back with another chop. Strong with another chop, followed by an Irish whip, but Ciampa reverses it, however Strong holds onto the ropes. Ciampa charges, but Strong catches him with a knee to the gut. Ciampa charges again, but this time when Strong tries to get his boot up, Ciampa catches it, then spins it to where Strong is caught up in the ropes. Ciampa then goes off the ropes and drills Strong with a lariat for a nearfall. Ciampa with a right hand, followed by a gut shot to Strong as we go to commercial.
Commercial
Back from commercial as Strong has regained the advantage on Ciampa. Strong goes back after Ciampa, but Ciampa, who was on his knees, catches Strong coming with a front dropkick to the knees of Strong from his own knees. Ciampa then with a leaping knee drop to the back of Strong’s head for a nearfall. Strong goes to the corner, but Ciampa goes after him and brings Strong out to the center of the ring the hard way. Ciampa goes to the outside and nails Strong with a right hand. Ciampa walks around the ringside area and nails Strong multiple times with right hands as the Embassy Limited & Truth Martini look on. Back in the ring, Ciampa with a stomp, followed by a facewash to Strong in the corner. Ciampa drops down the kneepad and goes off the ropes, looking for the running knee, but Strong moves out of the way.
Ciampa charges, but Strong catches him with a back elbow. Strong then unloads with a series of chops & forearms to Ciampa. Irish whip by Strong and he catches Ciampa coming in with a dropkick. Ciampa misses a right hand and Strong connects with an atomic drop. Strong then charges and connects with a running forearm in the corner. Strong then with a gourdbuster, sending Ciampa stomach first across the top rope for a nearfall. Strong lifts up Ciampa for the Death by Roderick, but Ciampa breaks free with elbows. Ciampa goes off the ropes, but Strong catches him with a knee to the gut. Strong with a belly-to-back into a Side Effect of sorts for another nearfall. Strong goes for the Strong Hold, but Ciampa kicks him off. Strong charges, but Ciampa catches him with a back elbow. Strong with a pair of chops. but then Ciampa blocks a chop and nails Strong with a throat thrust. Ciampa with an Air Raid Crash for a close nearfall. Irish whip by Ciampa, but Strong puts on the brakes and nails Ciampa coming in with a kick. Strong leaps to the middle turnbuckle, but Ciampa nails him across the back. Ciampa lifts Strong up from the ropes and hits a reverse Electric Chair for a nearfall, but then before the referee can make a 3 count, Ciampa lifts up Strong in a wheelbarrow and hits a wheelbarrow suplex with a bridge for another close nearfall. Ciampa charges, looking for the Knockout Knee, but Strong drills him coming in with a leaping knee to the head. Strong goes for something, but Nana gets into the ring as R.D. Evans has the referee distracted. Nana tries to go after Strong, but Strong sees it coming. Nana tries to plead with Strong, but to no avail as Strong nails Nana with a right hand. However, that distraction allows Ciampa to come in and nail Strong with a kick to the gut.
Ciampa lifts up Strong and hits Project Ciampa, but as the referee makes the count, Nana comes back in and attacks Strong, leading to the referee calling the bell.
Winner and STILL Ring of Honor Television Champion: Roderick Strong by disqualification (Interference by Prince Nana)
After the match, Nana puts the boots to Strong before the referee has to pull him off. The Embassy come into the ring as R.D. Evans has a worried look on his face. Martini, who has done nothing but stand there at ringside, has a devious smile on his face. Martini & Strong leave while Ciampa is angry at Nana. Ciampa & Nana argue before Ciampa leaves without the Embassy, very upset. The Embassy are left without their “crown jewel” while there is a sense of collusion in the air between the Embassy & Truth Martini as we go to credits.
My Thoughts
I thought this was a solid show from a hype standpoint for Best in the World, but the matches left something to be desired.
Opener with Bennett & Page was fine, but I felt Page got in too much offense on Bennett, considering Bennett is an ROH regular and this was Page’s debut. Post-match stuff with Edwards was well done to set up the Edwards-Brutal Bob match next week and once again, Maria showed more comfortability as a heel. Decent opening segment.
Steen’s interview to state he wants an Anything Goes match with Davey Richards at Best in the World was the normal good promo from Steen. Steen is one of the best talkers in the company and it also helps when you have an underrated talker & performer in Steve Corino beside you. Good stuff from both.
Briscoes vs. Marshall & Shaw was solid, but like the opener, felt Marshall & Shaw got a little too much offense in. Its fine to have these competitive matches with regulars against new talent, but unless the new talent are gonna be regulars going forward, then to me its not needed.
Inside ROH was the normal good segment that it has been week in and week out and one thing of note, I did like the stuff with Richards & O’Reilly as to me, it planted a seed of O’Reilly, the student, turning on his teacher, Richards, and costing him the title at Best in the World.
Main event with Strong & Ciampa was solid and the storyline behind it of the Embassy & The House of Truth managers working together is very intriguing. It seems like they want to turn both Elgin & Ciampa babyface out of this and if done right, then you have 2 walking tall babyfaces that can go against Steen, should they want to keep Steen as a heel that the fans cheer. Good effort by Ciampa & Strong in the match and I really like the directions they can go with the supposed collusion between Truth Martini & Prince Nana.
My Grade: C
Line-up for “Best in the World 2012: Hostage Crisis” on 6/24:
You can order this Sunday’s ROH Internet PPV at ROHWrestling.com
I will be doing a detailed recap of the Best in the World Internet PPV that will go up after the show goes off the air.
Also, there is tentatively scheduled to be a “podcast-only” afterwards for WrestleView VIPs.
So with that, I will see you all next week for more Ring-Of-Honor.