411’s Ring of Honor TV Report 10.08.11

411’s Ring of Honor TV Report 10.01.11

Welcome to Week 3 of the Ring of Honor television show recap. My name is Shawn S. Lealos and welcome to my world…

Champions:
World Champion: Davey Richards
Tag Team Champions: Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas
TV Champion: Jay Lethal

We start out with a recap of last week’s TV title match, where Jay Lethal beat El Generico for the belt.

Jim Cornette is in the ring and he brings out the Briscoe Brothers. This interview is in response to last week’s promo with Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team. Luckily, it is Jay Briscoe who does the talking. Mark should never, ever speak. FYI, I love how their theme music starts and, this week, you can actually hear it a little better. Nigel McGuinness: “Jack Daniels Violence.” Kevin Kelly mentions how they were raised on, and still work on, a chicken farm in Delaware.

Cornette mentions that last time he saw them, he fined them $5,000 for their attacks on Haas and Benjamin. Mark Briscoe: “That’s a lot of beer and bullets!” After that, Jay says that he don’t care about the money because you can’t take it with you but they want Haas and Benjamin and the tag team titles. He mentions they made those titles famous by holding them six times. He wants to know when they will get their shots.

Cornette said Haas and Benjamin want them to but ROH won’t reward their behavior (the chair attack at Best in the World) with title shots. Cornette came up with a compromise. Next week, the Briscoe Brothers and All Night Express fight for the No. 1 contendership to the tag team titles. Jay mentioned they own the All Night Express. They beat them in a Chicago Street Fight. They beat them in a First Blood Match in Detroit. They beat them in a PPV in Atlanta. He then calls the All Night Express “the Briscoe’s personal bitches.” Cornette gets mad at them for cussing.

Jay said if you want them, you better be ready to ‘Man Up.’

Focus On: “The Dominant Male” Tomasso Ciampa

This is another one of those video packages where you get to meet a wrestler. Ciampa is really an intense guy and says he will never lose. He is the only undefeated wrestler in ROH according to Jim Cornette (been in ROH for a year). I don’t think Ciampa is really good on the mic but he is similar to what you might find in a UFC promo. He just talks about training and beating people up. Unlike Mike Bennett last week, Ciampa has Prince Nana to talk for him. We do get to hear a lot from Ciampa but also get to hear Nana talk about how great he is. Cornette slightly introduces Nana in the promo to people who don’t know him, mentioning how he claims to be the son of an African King that no one has ever seen. Nana said he represents Ciampa for the money while Ciampa said Nana’s money provides him a world with no distractions. This was not great but it blew away the Bennett one from last week.

MATCH 1: “RIGHT LEG” ANDY RIDGE vs. “THE DOMINANT MALE” TOMASSO CIAMPA

Steve Corino is doing color commentary on this match because he is interested in Andy Ridge. Corino explains that he is an evil man and is trying to atone and wants to look into Andy Ridge to manage. Not sure why Corino is here and Nigel isn’t except to allow Corino to continue his storyline, which began on last week’s show. Ridge is known as “Right Leg” because of his hard right leg kicks.

Prince Nana comes out with Ciampa. Ciampa refused the Code of Honor and the match starts. Ciampa picks up Rige and drives him into the corner. He goes for a forearm but Ridge rolls out and hits a hard right kick. He hits three more kicks but Ciampa stops that with a BIG clothesline. Ridge is sent into the corner. He brings his knees up but Ciampa catches them, spins Ridge around, so his legs are draped over the middle rope, and hits a hard chop and a thunderous kick. Ciampa finishes that with a Sicilian suplex from out of the corner.

Ridge is down. Ciampa tries to suplex Ridge back into the ring but Ridge blocks it and brings Ciampa outside. Both men on the apron and Ciampa delivers some sick looking chops. Ridge back with three kicks but Ciampa with more chops. Ridge clotheslines Ciampa back into the ring. Ciampa flips back over and nails Ridge, taking him down. Ciampa heads outside, grabs Ridge by the legs and catapults him head first into the metal barriers between the ringside area and the audience. That was nasty.

Ciampa throws Ridge back in and gets two. Corino starts talking about how his evil ways cost him all his friends. He said he used to have one friend but that friend blames him for everything that happened to him. Kelly cuts him off there and says not to go down that road, referring to the mysterious friend as a disgruntled ex-ROH employee (that would be Kevin Steen).

Ciampa with some vicious elbow strikes. Now, he has Ridge over and slams his head into the mat three times. He delivers some stiff blows and then gets a one count. Ciampa with a chin lock. Ridge fights back with more kicks. Ridge hits a running knee that shakes up Ciampa. Ridge with a flying cutter and gets a two count.

Tweet of the Week: You Should #watchROH because you’ve been deprived of real wrestling for far too long! @MissieBird – OK, then…

Ridge heads up to the second buckle. Ciampa grabs his leg and yanks him off, causing Ridge to hit his head on the way down. Ciampa starts laying in the boots. Ciampa with four running knee smashes into Ridge’s face. He follows up with the Project Ciampa (he lifted Ridge for a powerbomb, but dropped down on the way to the mat and raises his knees so Ridge lands on the small of his back over Ciampa’s knees). That gets the three count.

Winners: Tomasso Ciampa by pinfall in 4:43 (**)

The match was just a glorified squash. Ridge showed me nothing except a willingness to kick. However, Ciampa was great. This is one thing I always liked in ROH, a guy who just beats the living crap out of someone else. Ciampa has the MMA gimmick down pat and has some nice kicks and chops in his bag of tricks. I wouldn’t mind seeing him trade blows with Davey Richards at some point.

Nigel McGuinness is at ringside with fans again. Once again, he asks a ringside fan who will win in the main event tonight. Instead of answering, the guy yells “Bring back Kevin Steen!” Nigel calls the guy a wanker and they move on to the next segment.

Inside Ring of Honor: Last week I begged them to let Davey Richards and Roderick Strong just fight and not talk again. They didn’t listen. We start off with Strong who basically says he has always been a winner and was even the captain of his high school football team (little man syndrome?) He says the only thing better than getting laid is beating up Davey Richards. They then go to Davey, who talks about his grandparents who raised him. They are who he dedicated his career to. Basically, here is the deal. Davey came across as genuine and a really good guy, Strong came across as a little prick. That is what ROH wants people to believe and the segment worked in that regard. Richards delivered a strong promo, I do have to admit, because it came from the heart.

MATCH 2: WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – “AMERICAN WOLF” DAVEY RICHARDS VS RODERICK STRONG

Heh, when Roddy and Truth Martini walked out, my wife thought Truth was ODB for a second. I will never look at him the same again. There is a 60 minute time limit and there is not even half that time left in the show. They say if the match goes over, they will show the end next week. That would suck. I used to hate that about Mid South Wrestling back in the day when a match would cut off before the show ended. Of course, they also had “back up matches” in case the main event ended too early, which was fun.

Anyway…

Davey and Roddy lock up and circle. The two grapple for control and exchange armbars. Roddy gets a chinlock but Davey moves to the ropes. The clean break is broken up with a slap to Davey’s face. Davey with an armbar but Roddy flips through and locks in his own armbar. Davey flips through but Roddy catches him, goes for a bridge but Davey reverses through again. Roddy takes down Davey in a headlock but Davey with a headscissors to get out. Davey ducks a Roddy chop and then Roddy ducks a Davey kick.

Davey with a headlock but Roddy sends him into the ropes. Davey ducks through and wraps up Roddy for a two count. Davey with a modified surfboard. Roddy counters it into a stretch submission hold. The two are on their feet and Davey locks in an armbar. The camera guy switched to Truth during a nice move. Bad camera work. Davey elbows and chops his way out. Roddy launches himself into the ropes but Davey is too quick and runs across hitting him with a BIG dropkick. Davey goes for the ankle lock but Roddy kicks him outside the ring.

Roddy leaps over the top but Davey moves back into the ring. Davey sets up a baseball slide to the outside but Roddy moves out of the way. Roddy with a chop but Davey hits four hard kicks. Roddy fights back and sends Davey into the ring barricade. Roddy with a kick and a chop. Now the two exchange chops but Roddy gets the better, dropping Davey. Davey back up and throws Roddy into the barricade before charging in with a BIG BOOT. That was nasty.

Davey tries to get Roddy back in the ring but Roddy drops Davey’s neck along the top rope. Back in the ring, Roddy lays in a good six or seven stomps to Davey in the corner. Roddy heads up the corner buckle and pulls Davey up as well. Davey with an enziguri before Roddy can do anything. Roddy falls outside to the floor. Davey heads up to the top buckle but Roddy leaps up and hits a big kick to the head to drop him. Davey looks like he was knocked out. Roddy rolls back in for the pin attempt but only gets two.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Roddy with an inverted Rock Bottom and gets a two count. Roddy is slapping Davey, taunting him. Davey gets pissed and hits a belly to back suplex, dropping Roddy onto his head. Both men are back up and trade punches, kicks and chops. Finally, Davey delivers a big kick to Roddy’s head that takes down Strong. Roddy up first and whips Davey into the buckle. He charges but Davey blocks it, sending Roddy over and out of the ring. Roddy grabs for Davey’s foot but gets a kick to the face. Davey goes for a running punt along the ring apron but it looks like he misses (Kelly said it was a hit). Davey next hits a running suicide dive outside the ring onto Roddy.

Soon, both men make it back in the ring. Davey heads up top and hits a huge missile dropkick for two. Both men are tired and staggering. Davey charges for a clothesline but meets a Roddy boot. Roddy moves in but Davey tries a gutwrench. Roddy blocks it and the two start trading punches again. Richards just beats the living crap out of Roddy and then hits him with a release back suplex. He gets two. Davey picks Roddy up but Roddy counters and hits a powerslam for the two count. Roddy is getting frustrated.

Both men are up. Roddy charges in with a clothesline but Davey counters and rolls through with a crucifix for two. Davey goes for a kick but Roddy ducks it, leg sweeps Davey and hits a superkick of his own for two. Both men move to the outside of the ring ropes. They trade blows and then Roddy hits a knockout punch. Davey’s eyes roll back and he starts to drop but Roddy picks him up like he is going for an atomic drop but drops to the floor slamming the small of Richards’ back onto the ring apron. NICE. Roddy rolls Richards back into the ring and gets a two count.

Roddy sends Davey into the ropes and charges with a knee smash. Roddy throws himself into the ropes, Richards quickly follows but Roddy sees it, spins around, kicks him and hits a HUGE enziguiri. Roddy charges but Davey catches him mid air and hits the Alarm Clock. Both men trade blows and then Davey with a spinning lariat. Both men are down once again.

They get back up. Davey with a punch. Roddy with a punch. Davey with a forearm. Roddy with a chop. Davey with a kick. Roddy with a chop. Davey with a kick. Roddy chop., Davey kick. Davey with rapid fire kicks and then Roddy with rapid fire chops. Back to Davey with 10 hard kicks. Davey walks to the opposite corner but Roddy immediately charges with a blasting enziguiri. Roddy hits a gutbuster and gets two. The Crowd: “This is Awesome.”

Roddy gets Davey up and sets up for a suplex. Davey is on his way up and drives a knee into Roddy’s head to stop the suplex.Very nice counter! Roddy charges but misses Davey and Davey with a running knee to the head. Both move to the top buckle and Davey hits a suplerplex, doesn’t let go and follows up immediately with a Falcon Arrow for two. Davey rolls through without a break and locks in the ankle lock. Roddy reverses out and gets to his feet and hits another jumping knee. Roddy tries another gutbuster but Davey rolls through and locks in the ankle lock again.

Truth Martini up on the apron to distract Davey. Davey breaks the hold and goes after Martini. Martini slides into the run and Davey heads back in, ducks a Roddy clothesline and hits a hand spring enziguiri to Strong. Davey whips Martini across the ring so hard that Martini flies over the turnbuckle and onto the floor. However, Roddy hits the SICK KICK after that! It only gets a two count. Roddy locks in the Strong Hold but Davey counters out and locks in the ankle again. Roddy reverses out. Davey with a hard kick to Roddy’s face. Roddy no sells it, stands up and spits in Davey’s face. Roddy then slaps Davey in the face. Davey responds with a kick to the gut and a kick to the head. He gets two and then immediately rolls Strong over for the ankle lock again, this time getting the tap out.

After the match, Davey looks into the camera and says “Welcome to Ring of Honor.”

Winner: Davey Richards by submission in 22:82 (****)

Now, that is what fans need to see if they want to know what Ring of Honor matches are all about. Anyone who discounts that match is just being antagonistic. That was a solid four-star match. Now imagine what a ROH five-star match must be like.

So far there have been three shows and every title has been defended, introducing new viewers to all the champions. We also have started a feud between the Briscoes and WGTT, began the Steve Corino redemption storyline as well as allowed Kevin Steen to have his name mentioned. I was worried that one hour wouldn’t be enough time for storylines but they have implemented them while keeping the action strong with at least one great match every week. So far, so good.