Ring of Honor on Sinclair
July 28, 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 video highlighting what happened at “Best in the World: Hostage Crisis” in the Triple Threat Match for the Ring of Honor Television Title between Tommaso Ciampa, Jay Lethal & champion Roderick Strong in which Prince Nana cost Ciampa the match before the usual intro.
Kevin Kelly & Nigel McGuinness welcome us to the show, from the Du Burns Arena in Baltimore, MD. Kelly & McGuinness hype up tonight’s main event for the Ring of Honor Television Title between champion Roderick Strong & Adam Cole. We then go to the opening contest.
“The Man Beast” Rhino w/Truth Martini vs. Rocco Abruzzi
Abruzzi has some similarities to Tank Abbott in his look. Abruzzi extends his hand for the Code of Honor, but Rhino nails him with a kick to the gut, followed by a club to the back as the bell sounds. Rhino with another club to the back, then sends Abruzzi headfirst off the top turnbuckle. Rhino with a series of forearms to the back of Abruzzi, then sends him to the other corner with a corner whip. Rhino charges, but Abruzzi catches him with a back elbow. However, that incenses Rhino, who charges back in, nailing Abruzzi with a running shoulder to the gut. Rhino hooks Abruzzi and connects with a belly-to-belly suplex. The fans chant “Gore” as Rhino measures Abruzzi, waiting for him to get up.
Rhino then charges and drills Abruzzi with the Gore for the victory.
Winner: “The Man Beast” Rhino by pinfall (The Gore)
After the match, Rhino & Martini celeberate their victory when all of a sudden, Tomasso Ciampa comes out, with Prince Nana & R.D. Evans in each hand as Ciampa is grabbing them both by their shirts. Ciampa throws them into the ring and grabs a microphone.
Ciampa: “You must think I’m pretty stupid”. “That’s all I can think is you must think I’m stupid”. “I’m a lot more intellingent then you give me credit for”. “And right now, I have a lot of questions, but I don’t have any answers”. “And I’d like to have some answers cuz there’s Toronto, there’s New York City, there’s a Television Title, there’s……..”.
Truth Martini then gets a microphone.
Martini: “Gentlemen, gentlemen, now I always tell my House of Truth members the absolute truth, maybe you (referring to Nana & Evans) should start doing the same”. “Tell him about our secret, tell him about our deal”.
Martini & Rhino leave as Ciampa now has the mic again.
Ciampa: “What secret?” “What deal?” “What deal, lawyer man?” “What deal, Mr. Prince Nana?”
Martini leaves with a smile on his face as Evans gets a mic.
Evans: “Mr. Ciampa, please, hear me out”. “I am renowed for my honesty”. “You know if you can trust anyone, its me”. “And in the interest of full disclosure between attorney and client, I think its time you know the truth”. “It was all Nana, I told him, I knew it”.
Nana goes after Evans until Ciampa grabs a hold of Nana while Evans drops down to the outside.
Ciampa: “You listen to me, you listen close”.
Ciampa says something in his native Sicilian language, then lifts up Nana and drills him with an Air Raid Crash. Nana is out cold as referees attend to him while Ciampa has words with Evans as we go to commercial.
Commercial
Back from commercial as we see what happened before the commercial break with Prince Nana, R.D. Evans & Tommaso Ciampa. McGuinness makes mention that what Ciampa said in his native Sicilian language to Nana means in English “The Embassy is dead”. We then go to the next match.
“The Sicilian Psychopath” Tomasso Ciampa w/R.D. Evans vs. “Rock & Roll” Mike Sydal
As the bell sounds, Sydal rolls up Ciampa for a nearfall. Ciampa then drills Sydal with a clothesline. Ciampa goes to a mount position and proceeds to unload with right hands on Sydal. Ciampa lifts up Sydal and slams him into the turnbuckles. Ciampa throws Sydal into the corner, followed by a corner whip. Ciampa charges, but Sydal gets a boot up. Ciampa charges again, but this time he runs into a back elbow by Sydal. Ciampa charges in a 3rd time and this time when Sydal tries to spin out onto the apron, Ciampa sees it coming and grabs Sydal by the hair. Ciampa has Sydal dangling on the middle rope and proceeds to use his foot to drive Sydal into the mat. Ciampa locks in a seated surfboard, then goes to a chinlock as the crowd tries to will on Sydal. Sydal breaks free with a jawbreaker, then ducks under 2 Ciampa right hand attempts and nails Ciampa with a forearm. Both men exchange forearms until Ciampa nails Sydal with a spinning back elbow. Ciampa goes off the ropes, but Sydal does a Matrix-like move to avoid him. Ciampa charges, but Sydal pulls the top rope down and that sends Ciampa sailing over the ropes and onto the apron. Ciampa tries to go after Sydal, but Sydal nails him with an enziguri, knocking Ciampa down to the outside. Sydal heads up top and nails Ciampa with a moonsault on the outside. Sydal sends Ciampa headfirst off the apron, then sends him back into the ring. Sydal gets the crowd fired up as he goes to head back up top. Sydal goes for a crossbody, but Ciampa catches him in mid-air. Ciampa sets up Sydal for Project Ciampa, but Sydal squirms out and counters into a Sunset flip for a nearfall. Sydal with a kick to the gut, followed by a kick to the leg, but when he goes for a spinning back kick, Ciampa catches his foot. Ciampa drops Sydal into a split on the mat, then goes off the ropes and drills Sydal with the running Knockout Knee.
Ciampa lifts up Sydal and connects with Project Ciampa for the victory.
Winner: “The Sicilian Psychopath” Tomasso Ciampa by pinfall (Project Ciampa)
Ciampa repeats what he said to Nana to the camera, then eyeballs Evans and stalks him to the back as we go to commercial.
Commercial
Back from commercial, Kevin Kelly is in the ring and he brings out the new Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions, The All Night Express.
Kevin Kelly brings up what Charlie Haas said last week and asks Kenny King how does the All Night Express respond.
King: “Demands of Charlie Haas?” “Let me tell you something, Kevin Kelly, the only thing that makes demands are champions”. “Champions make demands”. “Cowards do not make demands”. “And what we’ve seen from Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin over the last couple of months, they’re a bunch of cowards”. “Look at what they did to the Briscoes in Toronto, look at what they did to us in Richmond, hell, look at what they tried to do at “Best in the World, they didn’t try to beat us, they tried to hurt, they tried to maim, they tried to kill Rhett Titus”. “But, let me tell y’all suckas something you don’t know about Rhett Titus”. “Rhett Titus is a tank, Rhett Titus is a beast and they’re ain’t nobody in that locker room that I would go to war with other than my dog, Rhett Titus”.
Titus: “That’s right, dog”. “World’s Greatest wanna call it a fluke?” “Well, it might have been a fluke if it happened one time, we might have gotten lucky if it happened two times, but if we beat you three times, that means we officially own your asses”. “And in case you don’t know, or in case you’re too slow, Baltimore, you’re looking at the brand new Ring of Honor World Tag Team Champions”. “Our celebration got cut in New York City, but don’t worry, because we are bringing the party to Baltimore all….night…..long!”
ANX pose on the ropes with the belts until they are interrupted by the familar music of Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team.
Shelton Benjamin grabs the mic away from Kevin Kelly and says “You can take a seat”.
Benjamin: “Are you done?” “Are you done with your little feel-good moment?” “So, you finally did it, huh?” “The All Night Express finally won the big one, but can you two really look at yourselves in the mirror…” Benjamin gets interrupted by the fans chanting something and says “Wrong company, jackasses”. “Now, as I was saying, can you two really look at yourselves in the mirror and call yourself champions?” “I’ll tell ya what, you had your little feel-good moment, but its time for you to face reality”. “What you did at Best in the World can’t go down as a win, how can you look at yourself, how can you wake up in the morning and call yourself champions?” “So, what you guys should do is either name a date and a place for us to regain our World Tag Team Championships, or you can do the smart thing, the intellingent thing and you can just hand those titles back over to us right now”.
ANX huddle up about what they should do and then King gets back on the mic.
King: “See Shelton, the thing about me is, I’ve always been a lot better looking than I am smart”. “So, you gave us 2 very easy options, we could hand the belts over to you guys right now, or we could give you an opportunity to take these belts back, well, that’s a pretty easy choice to me because if you give the All Night Express a chance to run or fight, we will jump in yo ass all night”. “And as a matter of fact, I don’t know how Rhett feels, but we got about 10 extra minutes, so if you’re feeling froggy, we will bust yo ass right now”.
ANX draw a line in the sand and put down the titles in front of WGTT, daring them to fight.
Benjamin: “Whoa, whoa, whoa, there ain’t gonna be no match tonight because those titles aren’t on the line, it ain’t sanctioned. “If you’re feeling froggy, you can jump when those belts are on the line”.
Benjamin & Haas start to leave as Titus says that now we got rid of the “World’s Oldest”, but then Haas comes back in and spears Titus. King goes after Haas and knocks him down with a cartwheel kick, but Benjamin comes back in with a steel chair. When King turns around, Benjamin drills him right between the eyes with the steel chair. Titus starts to go after Benjamin, but Benjamin nails Titus in the ribs with the chair. Benjamin with stomps to King & Titus until numerous security & referees come in to break it up. Benjamin, though, has snapped, as he starts attacking the security & referees. Benjamin throws 2 members of security to the outside, then hits a 3rd and 4th each with Paydirt. Benjamin throws a 5th security member to the outside, then shoves down referee Todd Sinclair. Benjamin trash talks Titus, then stomps away at him. Benjamin has the steel chair and is gonna go after Titus’s previously injured leg, but Haas stops him. Haas & Benjamin finally leave as we go to commercial.
Commercial
“Inside Ring of Honor”
The 1st topic is the main event announced for the “Boiling Point” Internet PPV as Ring of Honor World Champion Kevin Steen will defend against CHIKARA Grand Champion Eddie Kingston.
We see video of Kingston’s previous run in ROH back in 2009 against Chris Hero, footage from CHIKARA, his altercation with Kevin Steen back at the 10th Anniversary Internet PPV in March and their match for Kingston’s Grand Championship during the ROH/CHIKARA doubleheader in April.
Kevin Kelly says that Kingston was banned from ROH in 2010 because of actions similar to those that Kevin Steen is doing currently.
Jim Cornette says that Kingston is a brawler from the streets and will get one chance at redemption and to win the Ring of Honor World Title.
The final topic is what happened last week on ROH TV after the match as Maria & Brutal Bob attacked Adam Cole after Cole & Eddie Edwards’s match against Brutal Bob & “The Prodigy” Mike Bennett.
This saw the return of the “Queen of Wrestling” Sara Del Rey to Ring of Honor where she attacked Maria and had Maria running for the hills.
It has been announced that at “Boiling Point”, it will be Edwards & Del Rey vs. Bennett & Maria in a Mixed Tag Team Match.
We go to comments from all 4.
Edwards: “Time and time again, I have had problems with Mike Bennett & his group”. “I don’t have a problem beating up Brutal Bob, or beating up The Prodigy, but the thing is, I can’t lay a hand on Maria”. “So, I went out and I found somebody who can”. “The original, the true 1st Lady of Ring of Honor, Sara Del Rey”.
Del Rey: “Maria, you are so disgusting”. “Let me just tell you, you prance around, worrying about your hair and your nails”. “Well, a REAL woman, a real woman would break you in half”. “And in Providence, Rhode Island, I’ll be that woman”.
Maria: “Sara Del Rey, she calls herself the 1st lady, I’M A LADY!” “Queen of Wrestling?” “More like drag queen, did you see what she did to me?” “Did you?”
Bennett: “You know, its bad enough next week on TV, I have to face Lance Storm, now Eddie Edwards becomes a problem”. “You know Eddie, you say you will never hit a woman, but I have no problem if Sara Del Rey puts her hands on the 1st lady”.
Maria: “She better not put her hands on me, you know what will happen”. “Actually, you know what will not happen”.
Maria turns away from Bennett to close the promo.
Commercial
Back from commercial, we go to video highlighting the 4-way Proving Ground from Charleston in June where Adam Cole pinned Roderick Strong to earn a shot at the Ring of Honor Television Title before the main event.
Main Event for the Ring of Honor Television Title: Roderick Strong (c) w/Truth Martini vs. Adam Cole
Both men adhere to the Code of Honor before the bell sounds. Then, Martini wants to adhere to it as well. Cole obliges, but it was a trap as Strong nails Cole with a dropkick as the bell sounds. Strong throws Cole through the ropes and to the outside, then goes out after him. Strong with a chop, then sends Cole into the barricade. Strong with another chop, followed by a knee to the gut. Strong lifts up Cole in a torture rack position and then drops him back first across the apron. Strong says to the camera “Nobody f***s with my belt”, then has words with the referee.
Back in the ring, Strong gains a nearfall. Strong with a kick to the chest, a club to the back and another kick to the chest. In the corner, Strong with a shoulder to the gut, followed by a hard chop that knocks Cole down. Strong talks trash to Cole, then unloads with a series of stomps to the chest. Then, while Strong is with the referee, this allows Martini to get involved as he chokes Cole. Cole tries to fight back, but Strong with a right hand. Cole with a forearm, but Strong with a chop. Cole with another forearm, but Strong with another chop. Cole with another forearm, then blocks Strong’s chop and nails Strong with a boot to the face. Cole charges, but Strong catches him and then hotshots him chest first across the top rope. Strong with a uranagi backbreaker for a nearfall. Strong with a kick to the chest, then pulls at Cole’s face before hitting a club to the chest. Cole fights back with gut shots, but Strong comes back with another chop. Strong with a stomp, then throws Cole through the ropes and to the outside yet again. Strong goes out after Cole again and goes to whip him again to the barricade, but Cole reverses and this time its Strong who is sent into the barricade. Strong then comes back with a boot to the face. Strong lifts up Cole in a Fireman’s Carry position and proceeds to throw him side first into the ringpost.
Martini does a victory lap around the ring as Strong goes back into the ring while the referee will start his 20 count. Strong then goes back out after Cole and nails him with a chop. Strong with another chop, followed by a forearm. Strong then places Cole across the apron and hits a suplex on the outside. Strong sends Cole back into the ring and gains another nearfall. Strong locks Cole in a chinlock while the crowd tries to will on Cole as we go to commercial.
Commercial
Back from commercial as Cole & Strong exchange forearms & chops. Cole gains the advantage with a series of forearms, but Strong comes right back with a dropkick to the leg of Cole, knocking him down. Strong lifts up Cole for something, but Cole counters with a crucfix for a nearfall. Strong charges, but Cole catches him and hooks Strong in a backslide for another nearfall. Cole goes for a suplex, but his back gives out on him from all the damage done by Strong. This allows Strong to take advantage and lock Cole in the Strong Hold in the center of the ring, with his knee driven into the small of Cole’s back. Cole tries to crawl and reach the ropes, but Strong pulls him back to the center, switching to a Texas Cloverleaf. Somehow, Cole is able to crawl his way over and this time reach the ropes to force Strong to break the hold. Strong goes for a back suplex, but Cole breaks free. Cole tries to go off the ropes, but Strong pulls him back in by the tights and waistlocks Cole. Cole breaks free with a back elbow, then drills Strong with an enziguri and both men are down.
Strong charges in, but Cole nails him with a forearm. Cole then unloads with a plethora of forearms to the head of Strong and Cole is all fired up. Irish whip by Cole, but Strong sidesteps his back drop attempt with a kick to the chest. Cole charges in, but Strong nails him with a chop. Cole charges in again and this time nails Strong with a clothesline that sends Strong over the ropes and to the outside. Cole then gets a head of steam and takes out Strong with a tope dive. Cole sends Strong back into the ring and heads up top. Cole connects with a crossbody on Strong for a nearfall. Strong is in the corner as Cole charges in, but Strong gets his boots up. Strong with a chop, followed by a corner whip. Strong charges and connects with a running knee in the corner, then goes off the ropes, but Cole catches him with a dropkick to his leg. Cole now goes off the ropes and connects with a Shining Wizard for another nearfall. Martini tries to will on Strong as Cole has a look of determination on his face. Cole waistlocks Strong, trying for the Florida Key, but Strong single legs him down. Cole kicks Strong off into the corner, then charges, but Strong greets him with a back elbow. Cole charges in again, but Strong catches and places him on the top turnbuckle with Cole facing the crowd. Cole tries to fight Strong off, but Strong drills him with an enziguri to the back of the head. Strong goes up with Cole and creams him with a backbreaker across the top turnbuckle for a close nearfall. Strong goes for the End of Heartache, but Cole counters out with a knee to the head. Cole goes off the ropes, but Strong comes in on the blind side and hits Cole with a knee to the gut. Strong lifts up Cole and hits the Death by Roderick for another close nearfall.
Strong & Martini can’t believe it as Strong setups Cole for the Gibson Driver, but Cole counters it with a rana. Strong charges in, but Cole pulls down the top rope, sending Strong over the ropes, but Strong holds on and stays on the apron. Cole with a kick to the gut, then drills Strong with a slingshot DDT on the apron. Back in the ring, Cole gains a close nearfall and now he can’t believe it. Martini hops up on the apron now and tries to hit Cole with the Book of Truth, however Cole ducks and grabs a hold of Martini. Cole then throws Martini over the ropes and to the outside. However, that distraction allows Strong to drill Cole with a roaring forearm. Strong goes for the End of Heartache again, but before he can plant his knees into the back of Cole, Cole lands on his feet and tries to hook Strong in the Figure Four, but Strong counters it with an inside cradle for a nearfall. Cole then drills Strong with a superkick, followed by connecting with the brainbuster across the knee for a close nearfall. Cole this time is able to lock Strong in the Figure Four as we see Michael Elgin make his way to ringside. Martini wants Elgin to help out Strong as Strong is able to make it to the ropes. Elgin is having 2nd thoughts about getting involved while Strong shoos him away. however that distraction allows Cole to hook Strong in an inside cradle for a nearfall. Strong drills Cole with another roaring forearm, but Cole comes back with a boot to the face. Strong then goes for another roaring forearm, but before he can do so, Cole drills him with a superkick.
Cole then connects with the Florida Key on Strong to win the title.
Winner and NEW Ring of Honor Television Champion: Adam Cole by pinfall (Florida Key)
Adam Cole celebrates his title win while there are continued problems within the House of Truth as we go to credits.
This week on the Independent Roundtable:
Plus the news of the week and much more!
If you would like to send in questions on any of the topics discussed this week on the Roundtable, shoot us an e-mail at roundtable@wrestleview.com.
So with that, I will see you all next week for more Ring-Of-Honor!