411’s ROH TV Report 2.08.14

Ring of Honor TV
Date: 2/8/2014
From: Pittsburgh, PA

Opening Contest: Adrenaline Rush (ACH & TaDarius Thomas) vs. the Decade (BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs)
Jacobs tells his opponents that they don’t deserve a handshake. Thomas and Jacobs kick off the match Thomas cartwheels out of a head scissors attempt and delivers a side kick. ACH gets tagged in but Jacobs bails to his corner to tag in Whitmer. BJ works over ACH with right hands and chops in the corner. ACH kicks Whitmer from the apron and attempted a bulldog to no avail. Jacobs gets tagged in and continues to work over ACH with a double axe handle from the middle rope. ACH takes Jimmy out with a slingshot cross body on the floor and heads to the top rope but Jacobs avoids him. BJ sends Jacobs into ACH to hit a spear as we go to commercial.

ACH continues to be worked over by the Decade but fights out of cover attempts. ACH sends Jimmy face first into the middle turnbuckle and tags in Thomas. TD cleans house with kicks and strikes. TD knocks Jimmy off the apron with a kick and hits a somersault dive through the middle rope to take the Decade out on the floor! ACH is up in the ring and gets cut off by Whitmer. BJ holds TD so Jacobs can hit a middle rope leg drop, which gets a two count. TD hits a half nelson suplex on Jimmy and both men tag out.

ACH with chops to BJ and a dropkick. ACH delivers a double kick from the floor and hits a swinging STO for a near win. Jacobs charges and spears TD off the apron to the floor and both men crash to the floor! ACH nearly pins Whitmer with a hurricanrana and a roll up! Whitmer stops him with a big boot. The Decade hit the All Seeing Eye on ACH to win the match.

Your Winners: The Decade @9:22
A fine opener to the show as it was nice to see Thomas and ACH get some offense in. However, the team isn’t believable to beat any of the top teams in the company. I can’t recall a match they’ve won up to this point that would make them equals to the top teams. I didn’t enjoy TD’s offense as it seemed like he was hesitant or just plain slow on some of the kicks. A couple of good spots here and the fans really enjoy ACH. He might need to get a bigger role in ROH soon. Oh, and Steve Corino’s hate for BJ Whitmer is hilarious. **

A video highlighting the Top Prospect Tournament is aired. We see how Hanson and Raymond Rowe advanced in the tournament.

Second Contest: Hanson vs. Raymond Rowe – 2014 Top Prospect Tournament Finals
The winner of this match gets a ROH Television Championship match in the future. Hanson with a knee lift right after the handshake. Rowe clotheslines Hanson to the floor and continues to work over the big man with a few chops. Hanson cuts Rowe off on a suicide dive attempt with a kick to the face. Michael Elgin is looking on from ringside. Hanson drops Rowe across the top turnbuckle but Raymond hits a running double knee strike to send Hanson to the corner. Rowe nearly wins after a German suplex. Hanson hits a spinning power slam for a two count of his own.

Rowe drives Hanson down with a spine buster but no luck on getting a three count. Hanson delivers several back elbow strikes in the corner. Rowe avoids a bronco buster and hits a side suplex. Hanson does the same, but they are no selling the move. Rowe hits a second one to hurt Hanson. Rowe struggles to his feet after a clothesline but counters a spin kick with a slam for a near win! Hanson counters the Death Rowe and hits the spin kick to win the match.

After the match, Elgin claps for both men and Hanson shakes Rowe’s hand.

Your Winner and the 2014 Top Prospect: Hanson @5:45
Another decent match between these two. I really like Rowe and think he should show up on ROH shows more often. I’m curious to see how well Hanson fares in the company. Quite a few promising prospects during this tournament, actually. **

Next week on ROH, The Briscoe Brothers team up to take on ROH World Champion Adam Cole & Matt Hardy and the team of Michael Elgin & Chris Hero in a three way elimination tag team match.

The hoopla hotties are with Taven, though Taven doesn’t want to be associated with them at all. He came to the ring alone. Truth Martini comes down to the ring to talk to Taven. He hasn’t talked to anyone from ROH since Final Battle. He could read Taven like a book since the beginning. He provided everything for Taven. Once Taven lost the title, he killed the lifestyle they once had. Martini tells the ladies to leave the ring because they are worthless now. From this point forward… the hoopla is DEAD! Taven tells Martini it’s his time to talk and thanks Martini for his help. He says he outgrew Martini. Everyone let him down at Final Battle and tells Martini to leave as well. So, I’d take this as a babyface turn for Taven.

Veda Scott is promoting the streak that RD Evans has when the Romantic Touch touches her with a rose. Michael Elgin enters and hypes up the main event next week. He tells Chris Hero to stay out of his way.

Main Event: ROH Television Champion Tommaso Ciampa vs. Jay Lethal vs. Matt Taven
They don’t wait for the bell as all three men start trading right hands and kicks. Ciampa nails Taven with a clothesline and all three men are on the canvas. Ciampa knee lifts Taven from the apron. Taven springboards off the middle rope to kick Ciampa off the apron. Lethal with a springboard dropkick to knock Taven off the apron to the floor. Lethal hits a suicide dive on both men on opposite sides of the ring! Okay, he did the move a bunch of times. We go to commercial with Lethal playing to the crowd.

Ciampa is tossing both men into the railing and rips the padding off the concrete floor. Lethal prevents a suplex on Taven from happening. Ciampa power slams Lethal into the railing and Ciampa suplexs Taven on the floor, but clearly on the padding. Martini is back on commentary. Ciampa dropkicks Lethal on a handspring attempt. Ciampa nails Lethal with a running knee strike in the corner a couple of times. Taven drops Ciampa with a kick and a delayed vertical suplex. Ciampa blocks a moonsault with his knees. Taven counters Project Ciampa with an Angel’s Wings for a near fall!

Taven is met with kicks from both opponents but drops Ciampa with a spinning big boot. Lethal gets caught on a handspring and Ciampa hits a clothesline. Ciampa drives Taven down with an inverted death valley driver for a near fall. Lethal drives Ciampa down with an STO and locks in the Koji Clutch but Ciampa reaches the bottom rope. Lethal Injection on Ciampa but Taven hits the frog splash on Lethal for a near win! Martini tosses the book of truth to Taven, but Taven tosses the book to the floor. Lethal dropkicks Taven into Martini. Taven is met with a superkick. Lethal has an inside cradle on Ciampa but there isn’t a referee. Ciampa nearly wins after a knee shot. Lethal gets out of the Project Ciampa.

Martini trips Taven as he enters the ring and Ciampa hits the Project Ciampa on Taven to win the match.

Your Winner: Tommaso Ciampa @10:12
A decent main event this week. A few good spots and the finish clearly sets up a feud between Taven and Martini. I’d imagine Martini will get a new guy to mentor, perhaps a Top Prospect guy (Rowe?). The win should have been clean, in my opinion. Ciampa is coming across like a beast to me and is going through guys with no problem. Looks like a future Ciampa/Lethal match could be in the works too, which I’m perfectly fine with. **1/2

After the match, all three men shake hands. Lethal makes it clear that he almost beat Ciampa for the belt.

Final Thoughts:
Three decent matches to make up the show this week. That’s the thing about ROH that I like. For the most part, every episode is wrestling heavy with little talk. You can’t go wrong with that. Next week the show has the huge three way tag team elimination match involving six of the top ROH wrestlers. That should be all sorts of fun.

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See you next week!