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Simon Watches ROH - 2012
Topic Started: Jul 10 2014, 01:36 AM (3,863 Views)
Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH VIDEO WIRE - 3/21/2012:

Clips air of Lethal/Ciampa and the post-match.

In the back, The Embassy Ltd. flees the building with the title.

In the back, Jay Lethal cuts a promo. He says Tomasso Ciampa stole what is rightfully his, and The Embassy has his belt and he is the REAL Television Champion. Roderick Strong now is in a three way and has a World Title shot, and if he wins, then at Showdown in the Sun, he gets a World Title shot and he again has a chance to become a double champion, and the third time IS the charm.

In the back, Truth cuts a promo with Michael Elgin. He says every road in Michael Elgin's life has led him to March 31st. He says that Davey says this is a gladiator's sport, but every gladiator is looking for a noble death, and he'll give him his wish because nothing he's ever faced will match up with what he'll bring. He talks about countering stuff and whatever. Truth says they claim God created all men equal, but they were wrong.

In the back, Eddie Edwards cuts a promo. He says for a year, he's fought Roderick Strong and Davey Richards over and over, and says his name is Die Hard for a reason, and he will not die. He says it's fitting then that Kevin Steen is after that, because he's the one who gave him that name when he broke his elbow. He'll gladly fight him for the World Title and beat him, and he can't wait to beat his ass.

Clips air of Future Shock in action.

In the back, Kyle O'Reilly cuts a promo. He says everyone asks him why he gave up on Future Shock and says Adam Cole turned his back on him. Adam Cole gave up on Future Shock first when he failed to win all of their matches. He teamed with Davey because it was a great opportunity, and this is Adam's fault for teaming with Eddie Edwards and shaking his hand right in front of him. He asks if Adam really thinks he won't hesitate to snap his arm and says he won't hesitate for a second to end his career, and he will not win. There'll be no denying who the backbone of Future Shock really was.
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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Davey Richards, Since 6/26/2011
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/23/2011
ROH World Television Champion: Jay Lethal, Since 10/1/2011

ROH Wrestling
March 24th, 2012
Baltimore, MD


In the ring, Cornette brings out Davey, Eddie, AND Strong for an interview. Close up shot. Jim's erect. Strong has Elgin and Truth with him. Davey Richards says this will be the toughest match of his life and he doesn't need to hype this match and says he doesn't like or trust these guys, but this is three of the best in the world. Davey says he used to trust Eddie until a few months ago and Eddie gets pissed. He says that's not right and he always faced him like a man and he's comparing him to a prick like Roddy. Strong says not to get pissed because he and his boyfriend had a bad break up, and he doesn't care about trust so long as he takes his title back from that MMA wannabe mother, because he can edit himself. Strong says if he doesn't win, Elgin will give him his title shot. Elgin objects but Jay Lethal comes out. He says he has nothing for respect for Davey and Eddie and says he beats this farthead Roddy and he still has a title shot before him after it got screwed up. Kevin Steen then comes out and asks if everyone is enjoying the parade of handshakers and compliments Davey's awful military style hat. He says he hopes Eddie wins so he can get his title shot, but either way, that title is coming his way and he'll find a way to get a title shot and once that happens, he'll be ROH Champion. And he will be everyone's personal never ending nightmare. He says to carry on with the circle of jerks now.

Match #1: WGTT vs. Caprice Coleman/Cedric Alexander
I liked this more than I expected. The kids are willing to take insane beatings, so Haas and Benjamin had some good hurtful offense in addition to the decent heeling. The Briscoes come out and Jay hits Haas with a chair to the head from the outside and Coleman covers for the upset.
**

Coming back, Haas is dead still. Shelton gets on the mic and promises genocide against every person named Briscoe. That is not genocide.

INSIDE ROH:
-They basically just go over the iPPV cards

Match #2: Adam Cole vs. Michael Elgin w/ Truth Martini [March Mayhem]
This is sliding scale great. They had the good power/speed story and actually stuck to it throughout, again showing how much better Cole is than O'Reilly. Some cool stuff and yeah. Strong comes out to interfere but when he gets on the apron, Cole moves and Strong accidentally hits Elgin in the face, and Cole gets a roll up for the upset.
***

Post-match, Strong attacks and Eddie runs out to save.
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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Davey Richards, Since 6/26/2011
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/23/2011
ROH World Television Champion: Jay Lethal, Since 10/1/2011

ROH Wrestling
March 24th, 2012
Baltimore, MD


In the ring, Cornette brings out Davey, Eddie, AND Strong for an interview. Close up shot. Jim's erect. Strong has Elgin and Truth with him. Davey Richards says this will be the toughest match of his life and he doesn't need to hype this match and says he doesn't like or trust these guys, but this is three of the best in the world. Davey says he used to trust Eddie until a few months ago and Eddie gets pissed. He says that's not right and he always faced him like a man and he's comparing him to a prick like Roddy. Strong says not to get pissed because he and his boyfriend had a bad break up, and he doesn't care about trust so long as he takes his title back from that MMA wannabe mother, because he can edit himself. Strong says if he doesn't win, Elgin will give him his title shot. Elgin objects but Jay Lethal comes out. He says he has nothing for respect for Davey and Eddie and says he beats this farthead Roddy and he still has a title shot before him after it got screwed up. Kevin Steen then comes out and asks if everyone is enjoying the parade of handshakers and compliments Davey's awful military style hat. He says he hopes Eddie wins so he can get his title shot, but either way, that title is coming his way and he'll find a way to get a title shot and once that happens, he'll be ROH Champion. And he will be everyone's personal never ending nightmare. He says to carry on with the circle of jerks now.

Match #1: WGTT vs. Caprice Coleman/Cedric Alexander
I liked this more than I expected. The kids are willing to take insane beatings, so Haas and Benjamin had some good hurtful offense in addition to the decent heeling. The Briscoes come out and Jay hits Haas with a chair to the head from the outside and Coleman covers for the upset.
**

Coming back, Haas is dead still. Shelton gets on the mic and promises genocide against every person named Briscoe. That is not genocide.

INSIDE ROH:
-They basically just go over the iPPV cards

Match #2: Adam Cole vs. Michael Elgin w/ Truth Martini [March Mayhem]
This is sliding scale great. They had the good power/speed story and actually stuck to it throughout, again showing how much better Cole is than O'Reilly. Some cool stuff and yeah. Strong comes out to interfere but when he gets on the apron, Cole moves and Strong accidentally hits Elgin in the face, and Cole gets a roll up for the upset.
***

Post-match, Strong attacks and Eddie runs out to save.
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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Davey Richards, Since 6/26/2011
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/23/2011
ROH World Television Champion: Jay Lethal, Since 10/1/2011

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ROH Showdown in the Sun Night One
March 30th, 2012
Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Match #1: The Briscoes vs. Shane Haste/Mikey Nicholls

This is basically just a seven minute Briscoes showcase, but whatevs, it's fine enough. Highspots are done and while the Australian team isn't super great or anything, they do have cool spots and that's enough for the Briscoes to deliver a fun showcase match.
**1/2

prior to the bout, Jim Cornette introduced Pearce, and discussed with him the controversial way Pearce beat Cole the previous night with a piledriver, which is illegal in ROH but not in the NWA; Cole then came out and said the only thing he learned from the match was that, if given another chance, he would beat Pearce; Pearce responded by saying he would face Cole then and there if he thought he could beat him; the two men agreed to the bout, with Cornette noting he couldn't make it a title match but he could make it a match

Match #2: Adam Cole vs. Adam Pearce
This is four and a half minutes and I don't really know why this happened. It's not like Cole gains anything from beating Pearce, since it's 2012 and nobody really gives a shit about him. In maycabe, you can brag that Cole beat the NWA Champion, but again, it's 2012. I feel like you can argue against most of Cornette's decisions by just saying what year it is and scoffing. Cole can't even get a CLEAN win here, so the entire point of this is negated. The ref stops Pearce from hitting the Piledriver since it's illegal and Cole drops him out with a bridge to win.
*3/4

Post-match, Pearce raises Cole's hand.

Match #3: The Young Bucks vs. The All Night Express [Tornado Rules]
Kevin Kelly claims the ANX are supporting Trayvon Martin by wearing white hoodies. This is too short at only eight minutes, and besides that, there's a real house show feel. I know the Bucks can be in great out of control brawls as PWG has shown, and ANX were at their best brawling with the Briscoes. There was a real issue here with guys getting caught standing and waiting for stuff. I can overlook it once or twice because this isn't the best roster, but it happened so frequently here. Also, even like 15 years after one of the worst PPV crowd ever for Hardcore Heaven 1997, the Ft. Lauderdale venue is STILL full of terrible fans who cheer almost nothing. It also ends super abruptly as Rhett gets a sloppy Gedo clutch for the win.
**

Post-match, they attack Rhett's knee with a chair.

The Embassy Ltd. comes out and RD gets the mic. He says ROH has filed legal motions to force them to return the ROH TV Title for the next match, but they went to Florida without the title before they received the injunction, and don't have it tonight. However, Ernesto Osiris is en route now to retrieve the title, and they promise to have Ciampa return the title to whoever the champion is tomorrow night. Jay Lethal comes out, and Nana and Evans get Ciampa to leave before an incident. Ciampa stays at ringside to watch.

Match #4: Jay Lethal [c] vs. Kyle O'Reilly [ROH World Television Championship]
Since there isn't even a belt here, it's super obvious Lethal is winning. Showcase match for 10 minutes and again a match is too short for it to become anything. Dead crowd also kind of hurts this one. I blame Jim Cornette and Adam Pearce. And Andy. They do things without a ton of reason of flow, and Lethal wins with the Lethal Injection.
**1/2

Match #5: WGTT vs. Caprice Coleman/Cedric Alexander

Another short showcase match that is handicapped by the time and a shitty crowd. WGTT are also back in minimal effort mode here and botched a good amount of stuff. In their defense, Coleman did too, so Cedric was the only 100% clean and crisp wrestler in this match. Shelton hits a Belly to Belly Superplex to win.
*3/4

Match #6: Lance Storm vs. Mike Bennett w/ Maria

Lance looked great here, but it's largely wasted on PRODIGY. Good matwork when he could, and all his highspots were pretty good. Lance even throws a better punch than Mike Bennett, which is the most damning statement in terms of strikes aside from saying Shawn Michaels chops better than someone or RVD throws a better forearm. Bennett does his thing on offense and blegh. Storm does manage to pull him through a great finishing run though, and while this match isn't great, Lance did what he could and it's the best Bennett match in a while. He hits a top rope Box Office Smash for two, and then the TKO for the win. Match should have ended on the B.O.S., since nobody cared for the TKO. Actually, the match should have ended with the Canadian Maple Leaf, but ROH is stupid. This is further proven by Mike Bennett being the one getting the rub from a Lance Storm here and not like Elgin or Cole or even an already established guy like Eddie or Strong or Steen.
**1/2

Post-match, Lance goes for a handshake, but PRODIGY hits another Box Office Smash. Because this has to continue, of course.

Match #7: Kevin Steen vs. El Generico [LA REVANCHA - Last Man Standing Match]
This rules and is probably ROH's MOTY. This doesn't have the highs of their Final Battle 2010 match emotionally or payoff wise, but it also doesn't have a lot of the dead time that had, so it's a better match overall. There's a ton of hate and they go completely insane. Tons and tons and tons of brutal and insane spots that are built to and because of the stip, they sell them all really well too. The end is kind of lackluster compared to the rest of the match in terms of the actual spot, but the story ruled. Steen has Generico on his knees holding a chair like Final Battle 2009, BUT JIMMY JACOBS RUNS OUT! He takes Steen's chair and hands it to Generico, BUT THEN STABS GENERICO WITH THE SPIKE! OH FUCK. Then Steen gives Jimmy the chair to hit Generico with and that's the end. Could have used a more impactful spot, but hey.
***3/4

Match #8: Davey Richards [c] vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Roderick Strong w/ Truth Martini [ROH World Championship - Three Way Dance]

This is absolutely a match. They hit hard and do things, and I am so over this entire round robin feud and their boring ass match style that stops being cool after the second or third match. At least this is largely the end of this thing being a focal point of the company, I believe. Strong eliminates Eddie with a roll up and then we get some Strong/Davey, and Davey wins with his latest fetish in the head kicking.
**

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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Davey Richards, Since 6/26/2011
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/23/2011
ROH World Television Champion: Jay Lethal, Since 10/1/2011

ROH Wrestling
March 31st, 2012
Baltimore, MD


It is announced that the March Mayhem finals will be next week. In April. The March Mayhem tournament will conclude in April. I don't have anything funny or mean to say about how bad Cornette's ROH is at these logical things, because I just need to state the facts and they do it for me.

Match #1: Kyle O'Reilly vs. Tommaso Ciampa w/ The Embassy Ltd. [March Mayhem]
Ciampa has the stolen TV Title. This is proof to me that Ciampa may actually be a good wrestler, because he has a match with Kyle O'Reilly that I liked. It's helped by being only seven minutes, but still, you can do a lot wrong with seven minutes. They work is as a strike fest between two different types of deplorable tough guys with the psychotic gym bully getting the best of the MMA gym training jerkoff. Ciampa hits a combo of knees to the head and the ref stops it. YEAH.
**1/2

In a pretape, Davey Richards talks. He says he's not Kyle's keeper and he can make his own mistakes and do what he wants to do. He says Kyle's acted out of loyalty to him and he respects that. He doesn't like him not shaking hands and it's not what he's about, but that's his decision.

Match #2: Davey Richards vs. Ryan McBride
Davey wins in 30 seconds with the ankle lock.
MURICAN WUFF

In the ring, Kevin Kelly brings out Kevin Steen. He asks why it seems like ROH will do everything they can to keep him from having an actual match on this program, and his only TV time is when he's talking to him. Kelly says he doesn't know and Steen yells that he's conducting the interview now. Kelly says he's injured so many people and he's reckless and he wouldn't stop after the bell. Steen asks if he shook hands after the matches, if he would get matches like Davey does. Steen says he's not going to be a hypocrite and try and be buddy-buddy with someone after he tries to break their neck. Steen says he's sick of this and asks why Davey won't come out here and face him, and says Davey has a lot of pride. He asks if someone is holding him back and wonders if he can't hear him. He asks if it's hard to hear when your head is up Cornette's asshole, and Davey comes out! Referees come out to stop the fight and Cornette says this is what he wants. Davey says Steen is a novelty act, fat ass, and he'll kick his ass any day any time. Cornette says this is what he wants and Davey says he wants it too. Steen says it sounds like Jim's boyfriend wants this too and Cornette says if he wanted to fight, he'd be fighting, and he wants him in the ring so he can screw the company over. STEEN SAYS THE ONLY ONE SCREWING THIS COMPANY OVER IS JIM CORNETTE. FUCK YEAH. Steen says Davey just broke some kid's ankle and asks why that hold is still legal and his isn't. Davey says to bring his Piledriver and he'll still break his ankle. Cornette says he makes the matches here and Steen has to earn a title shot in the ring and not on the mic. Steen says he can keep delaying it and asks where Davey's balls are, so he slaps Steen and they get pulled apart again.

INSIDE ROH:
-More WGTT/Briscoes recaps
-Jay Lethal says The Embassy's Ciampa is real proud about being undefeated for over a year, but he couldn't beat the REAL TV Champion and he's tired of the draws and repeating history. Then his title is stolen, and somehow, Ciampa thinks that saved his image and manhood, but all it did was piss him off and he's going to see him real soon.

Match #3: Eddie Edwards vs. Mike Bennett w/ Maria & Bob Evans [March Mayhem]
Well, Eddie tried. He basically works his match, but then it dies a slow death on a Bennett control segment that goes on forever. Eddie has an awesome comeback and does the best he can with a finishing run, but Bennett is incapable of compelling nearfalls because nothing he does is interesting or works on a level of believable nearfalls in the ROH style. Maria fakes an injury on the floor, and PRODIGY rolls up Eddie for the bullshit upset.
**

So next week it's Cole vs. Ciampa vs. Lethal vs. Bennett for the money.
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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Davey Richards, Since 6/26/2011
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/23/2011
ROH World Television Champion: Jay Lethal, Since 10/1/2011

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ROH Showdown in the Sun Night Two
March 31st, 2012
Ft. Lauderdale, FL


In the ring, Nigel and Kelly run down the show, but Jimmy Jacobs comes out and steals the mic! He is wrestling in some weird vest/warrior dress thing. Jimmy says he and Steve Corino were trying to do what's right and be good and the whole way through, Kevin Steen was trying to stop them. But when he hit Kevin Steen with the railroad spike and he froze, it wasn't because he was disgusted with himself, but because he was shocked at how good it felt. It was like he was celibate for years and finally had an orgasm. Kevin Steen was right, and sometimes evil wins. El Generico runs out for a match.

Match #1: El Generico vs. Jimmy Jacobs
This is only eight minutes and more of a normal match, because ROH is bullshit. Still, it's two great wrestlers, so there's a quality to this that can't really be shut down. They work a normal match and Jimmy brings the spike out. He stabs the top turnbuckle, but Generico pulls it out. Jimmy rolls him up with the tights when he gets it though, and that ends this super abruptly.
**1/2

They do slow motion replays and still haven't figured out how to do replays without the commentary from the original moment, so you get the hilarious slowed down and deep commentary with it. ROH is the bestworst.

Match #2: Tommaso Ciampa w/ The Embassy Ltd. vs. Cedric Alexander
Another too short match at only five minutes. Still, good stuff. Cedric looks great as a wrestler, but the layout does him no favors as he's mostly eaten up by the Dominant Male. Ciampa hits the repeated running knees in the corner and pins Cedric after that instead of even having to use his finisher.
**1/4

Ciampa keeps it up post-match. Coleman comes to save, and he gets hit with Project Ciampa.

included an in-ring segment with Mike Bennett, alongside Maria Kanellis, in which he made fun of Lance Storm, knowing he wasn't in the building, and said beating Storm was better than being world champion; Bennett then told Maria they were going to South Beach and celebrate him being better than the best; the two then made out in the ring before leaving ringside

This is where the iPPV feed was lost for about an hour in a large embarrassment for ROH, among many in Cornette's run in charge. Thankfully, the matches exist on the DVD version of the show.

Match #3: TJ Perkins vs. Fire Ant
Another sub ten minute match, but this was such a great sprinty spotfest that it was great in spite of that. As always when he gets a real singles opportunity against someone good, Fire Ant shines in a huge way and TJ is solid as usual. They announce the ROH/CHIKARA double shot for 4/28 in Chicago and say that's when the Briscoes/Team CHIKARA tag title match will happen. This is definitely a sliding scale low level great match, but I liked it just enough to put it there. TJ hits the Benadryller and then follows with a 450 Splash for the win.
***

Match #4: Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly

This is ALSO criminally short at only seven minutes. I sort of get the first three but this is a match that's gotten a lot of air time and focus from the company, so this feels pretty stupid and this is the short match that really angers the crowd. Kyle sort of works heel but not really because it's more him doing cool stuff with a stupid look on his face. Kyle rolls through a Crossbody and holds the tights to steal it.
**

Match #5: The Young Bucks vs. The All Night Express [Street Fight]

This one is better somewhat, but is still not what a Bucks/ANX street fight can be and the finish was AWFUL. They did some nice stuff and have cool spots with trash cans and chairs and things on the floor. Rhett's knee is not a focus AT ALL despite the angle last night, and Rhett doesn't really sell it at all. ANX hits a Powerbomb/Blockbuster combo through the table, but the other Buck pulls Rhett out and despite going through the table, the Buck is able to put an arm over King for the win. Really really horrible finish.
**1/2

Match #6: The Briscoes [c] vs. WGTT [ROH World Tag Team Championship]

WGTT sort of try harder here than last night, but it's undone by how long this goes and the shitty finish that forces this feud to continue even longer. It's still not great, but it's something. WGTT's control segment goes on too long because THIS IS THE FUCKING MATCH THAT NEEDS SIXTEEN GOD DAMNED MINUTES. The Briscoes come back sort of but WGTT refuse to adhere to the Briscoes' finishing run, and the problem with this match up is that neither team can reach a consensus on what they want this to be. Briscoes can and have worked WGTT's style throughout this, but Haas and Shelton are unwilling and/or don't care enough to go hard like the Briscoes do. Jay rolls up Haas to win.
**

Post-match, they beat up the Briscoes again and ram Jay dick-first into the post a lot.

Match #7: Kevin Steen vs. Eddie Edwards
This is only ten minutes because this show is infuriating. Still, really good ten minute match. They had some cool spots on the floor and showed promise of a future match that gets actual time, and then because it was so short, the finish was another really abrupt roll up finish. Steen blocks the Achilles Lock and pulls Eddie down into a cradle for the win.
**1/2

Jay Lethal and Roderick Strong come out for their match, and then Tommaso Ciampa comes out with the TV Title. He says he'll give Jay the title back after the match if he makes this match into a title match and wins. He says he'll even shake his hand and show "respect" if he does it and call him the better man. Lethal gets the mic and says he'll take the challenge just to see if he's a man of his word, and if he doesn't, he'll beat the heck out of him and take it back. Lethal says to take a seat and watch and think about his speech, and asks him to address him as the new Dominant Male when he does it.

Match #8: Jay Lethal [c] vs. Roderick Strong w/ Truth Martini [ROH World Television Championship]
This is another one of those matches that is definitely a professional wrestling match. The chop wars were pretty great, but otherwise, they kind of just went through the motions. Lethal is sent to the floor, and Ciampa throws him into the post. He rolls him back in, and Strong botches the End of Heartache to win the title.
**1/4

Match #9: Davey Richards [c] vs. Michael Elgin w/ Truth Martini [ROH World Championship]

This got five stars in the observer, so naturally from most indy/Japanese matches with that rating, it is not nearly that good. This was really flawed as it was just another Davey Richards match. It succeeded at an epic feeling at points because Elgin's power offense was a better contrast for Davey than Eddie and Strong having the same style and offense. Still though, because this was just go-go-go for 27 minutes and never really took the time to build any themes or flow and just was them doing stuff, Elgin's power didn't have the effect it could have had, and Davey doesn't look nearly as great as he could have if he gave Elgin a control segment and THEN overcame him at the end. They did things and there wasn't a ton of egregious stuff, and to Elgin's credit he did actually make attempts at selling the damage after an Ankle Lock and all his stuff looked amazing. Davey throws shitty looking head kicks at the end and one of them wins. Davey Richards is a horrible pro wrestler, and this is average in spite of his best efforts to be horrible.
**1/2
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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Davey Richards, Since 6/26/2011
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/23/2011
ROH World Television Champion: Roderick Strong, Since 3/31/2012

ROH Wrestling
April 7th, 2012
Bodymore, MD


TONIGHT: MARCH MAYHEM FINALS

Match #1: The Young Bucks vs. TJ Perkins/Shiloh Jonez
Ugh, another waste of TJ. Shiloh is very much just a dude, and the Bucks get a showcase, which is nice I suppose. TJ brings some awesome highspots and the Bucks hit their stuff a lot more cleanly than at the last iPPV weekend. Many Superkicks and they beat Jonez with More Bang For Your Buck.
**

ROH BORDER WARS: MAY 12TH ON IPPV FROM TORONTO

Match #2: Mike Mondo vs. Matt Taven
This is six minutes and super horrible. They get way too much time for jobbers and then halfway through, Mondo fakes an ankle injury. He uses it for a cheap shot, but then the match goes on another 2-3 minutes and it ends up meaning nothing so why even bother? They do big things and it's okay. Mondo wins with a shitty Butterfly Implant DDT. Mike Mondo is worse wrestler than Andy is a friend, but Taven is average enough.
*1/4

Instead of Inside ROH, Kelly introduces footage from a Border Wars press conference.

At the conference, ROH officials are there with Davey Richards to announce the show and say it's the next iPPV. Kelly didn't even bother putting in effort here, just throwing a black blazer over a black and white striped polo like a fucking goon. Cornette says Finlay and Rhino will be special guests. Kevin Steen comes in and takes over and asks if Jim will deny the fans the main event they want to see and it's Davey/Steen. Davey wants it and tells Jim to let him end this guy in Toronto or he'll give him the title back right now and go to Japan and tells Kevin to bring his Piledriver. Cornette asks if Davey swears he wants him and can take him, and Davey says he can take him out, SO CORNETTE BOOKS IT! Davey says he's going to bury him and Steen yells "WOOOOOOOOOOOOO AMERICAN WOLVES! FUCK YEAH!"

Match #3: Jay Lethal vs. Adam Cole vs. Tomasso Ciampa vs. Mike Bennett [MARCH MAYHEM FINALS - ELIMINATION MTCH]
The Embassy Ltd. and Bob and Maria are on the floor. Bennett largely stayed out of the way, so this was great. Ciampa vs. Lethal again got a lot of the focus, and I like that pairing, so that's fine. Cole shined when he got to be in as usual, and had a good crossbody dive off the top to the floor. Lethal eliminated PRODIGY with the Lethal Injection BUT CIAMPA IMMEDIATELY HIT A KNEE TREMBLER AND HE PINS LETHAL! Ciampa/Cole ruled again, and both are a lot better than they were in early 2010 when it happened last. Cole has a killer comeback, BUT CIAMPA CATCHES HIS TOPE SUICIDA AND HITS AN AIR RAID CRASH ON THE FLOOR! BUT COLE KICKS OUT BACK INSIDE! FUCK YEAH! WHAT IS HAPPENING?! Great finishing run, and when the ref is distracted by Jay Lethal coming back out to try and get Ciampa, Nana crotches Cole up top. Ciampa then hits Project Ciampa for the win.
***
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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Davey Richards, Since 6/26/2011
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/23/2011
ROH World Television Champion: Roderick Strong, Since 3/31/2012

ROH Wrestling
April 14th, 2012
Ft. Lauderdale, FL


Lance Storm vs. Mike Bennett airs.

In the back, Lance Storm cuts a promo. He says he underestimated Mike Bennet. Not in the ring, because he knew he would be good, but how much of an ignorant prick he can be. Lance says every match he has could be his last and he can't go out like that. He asked for that match for ROH, for the fans, and for Mike, but that's not how his career ends, so he's asking for one more match and this time for himself.

Highlights air of the three way ROH Title match.

INSIDE ROH:
-Clips air of the press conference again
-Jim Cornette says he hasn't been protecting Davey Richards, but he's been protecting Kevin Steen because Davey could break Steen in half because he's no kind of athlete or fighter. He says Kevin Steen has no chance of winning this match, and ROH is putting its faith and trust in Davey Richards. MISTAKE.
-Roderick Strong vs. Fit Finlay is announced
-The Briscoes vs. WGTT in a Fight Without Honor is made
-Truth Martini is bringing in Rhino to fight Eddie Edwards

El Generico vs. Kevin Steen airs last.
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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Davey Richards, Since 6/26/2011
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/23/2011
ROH World Television Champion: Roderick Strong, Since 3/31/2012

ROH Wrestling
April 21st, 2012
Ft. Lauderdale, FL


WGTT vs. The Briscoes airs.

In the back, WGTT cut a promo. Haas says they took their manhood and their money and all they have left is the Tag Titles, and then they'll take those and leave them broke and beat up on their stupid chicken farm.

Clips of both Fire/TJ and Steen/Edwards air.

In the back, Davey Richards cuts a promo. He says screw his jiu jitsu credentials and amateur wrestling credentials. Screw the title too, because this isn't about credentials or respect and it's about him kicking Kevin Steen's ass. He says he's not a wrestler or an athlete, he's just a fat kid in basketball shorts pretending. He knows he talks real good, but nothing will save him inside his ring. ROH is accidentally pulling a magnificent double turn with Steen being super likable and Davey being just a massive fucking asshole for the last six months.

In the back, Kevin Steen cuts a promo while Jimmy Jacobs walks around in the background. Steen says two dates in his career haunt him. 12/18/2010 when El Generico beat him at Final Battle and he was kicked out of ROH. The second is 7/25/2008 when he fought Nigel for the title in Toronto and came up short, but on May 12th, he gets the match he's wanted for a long time. Does he go with redemption for his loss to Nigel or payback for what ROH has done to him. Jimmy's shown him that redemption doesn't work in Jim Cornette's ROH, and payback feels so much better. May 12th, he leaves Toronto with the title, and then payback begins.

Lance/Bennett II is announced for Border Wars. FUCK YOU.

Roderick Strong vs. Jay Lethal ends the show.


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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Davey Richards, Since 6/26/2011
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/23/2011
ROH World Television Champion: Roderick Strong, Since 3/31/2012

ROH Wrestling
April 28th, 2012
Baltimore, MD

Match #1: The Briscoes vs. Caprice Coleman/Cedric Alexander

Only five or six minutes, but again very solid. Really good stuff from both sides as usual, and then to return the favor from about a month ago, WGTT come out and they take out Jay on the floor with another ringpost to the package spot. Mark is stuck alone and C&C get a cleaner win after a Frankensteiner off the top followed by a Flying Splash.
**1/2

TONIGHT: STRONG/COLE FOR THE TV TITLE!

In the back, Veda is with Truth Martini AND Prince Nana/RD Evans and asks about the agreement. Nana says they're in the money and RD says a contract has been transferred to The House of Truth and now Rhino belongs to them. Truth says he has purchased a mercenary to get everyone out of Roderick Strong and Michael Elgin's way. Rhino says he doesn't care about his opponent's name because it will be written on his toe tag. In Toronto, he has "Die Hard" Eddie Edwards, and he will die, but it will not be hard to do.

Match #2: Rhino w/ Truth Martini vs. Some Jobber
Rhino kills him in 30 seconds and wins with the Gore.
SAY HIS FUCKING NAME.

In the ring, Kevin Kelly brings out Jim Cornette and then Kevin Steen & Jimmy Jacobs. Steen has the Canadian flag with him. Cornette asks if this is another cheap ploy for support, and Steen says he's not the one who does cheap pops because everyone likes him just time. Steen says he brought this for Jim. He figures he can bring his flag against the American Wolf, so then Cornette can feel like it's 1997 again! FUCK YEAH STEEN. Cornette says he asked him to come out here and Steen says he called Jim for a year to talk and he wasn't answering. Probably too busy fantasizing while watching Davey's matches. Steen asks where Davey is and if Jim is talking for him, and Davey Richards comes out and he takes the mic from Cornette. He says when he gets him in the ring and kicks his fast head off back over the border into the best country in the world, that won't be a joke. Steen says this isn't about flags, it's about them and the title. Steen says they used to be real close and then after he listened to Davey's personal problems, he told him about how bothered he was that ROH screwed him and asked for help getting his job back and he didn't do shit because he didn't want him around because Kevin Steen steals the show every time. Davey says Kevin's biggest problem is his own fat ass and he's holding himself down, not anybody else, and he's a hypocrite. Steen asks how many times Davey has threatened to quit and go back to Japan if things don't go his way while he then gets on the mic and talks about how much he loves ROH. Davey says he'll do this in public if that's what he wants and says everyone loves Kevin Steen and he sells tickets, but the reason they didn't book the match until he forced it is because he would destroy Kevin Steen and ROH would lose out on all that money. Davey wants to fight now but referees come to hold him back. Cornette says he's been protecting Steen from Davey because he knows he'll kill him and Kevin Steen as the ROH Champion would be the end of this company because he's an attention whore and a pig, but now he's got what he's asked for. Cornette says he doesn't want to be sued and makes them sign a release waiver freeing ROH from legal responsibility so they can kill each other. They both sign and Cornette says this is Steen's one and only shot, which about spoils the result. This had strong points and then once again, Cornette shows his total misunderstanding of his audience.

INSIDE ROH:
-Kelly announces that Briscoes/WGTT at Border Wars will be the last time these two teams fight for the Tag titles
-A video airs from Lance Storm. He says Bennett has the potential for greatness and disaster, and he can't leave well enough alone. He says laying him out after the match was a middle finger to the fans and the business, and that's not how you make an impact. Well shit, Lance. That's how you made an impact, even naming your fucking team the Impact Players when you did shit like that. You motherfucker, stop making me take that faggot's side.
-Lethal/Ciampa III is made for Border Wars
-Jay Lethal says he gets the shot in Toronto and says Ciampa took his title away from him, so he's going to take away Ciampa's undefeated streak.
-Eddie Edwards says Rhino is a scary guy but Rhino's never had a Die Hard experience. If he Gores him, he better hope it kills him, because he doesn't stay down unless he's dead.

Match #3: Roderick Strong [c] w/ Truth Martini vs. Adam Cole [ROH World Television Championship]
This isn't great because Roddy doesn't seem totally interested in trying here for some reason before the finishing run, but Cole did the best he could. Strong does his generic stompy and forearmy stuff without any kind of real focus, which I mean, at least drop the nickname if you're no longer doing constant Backbreakers. Elgin comes out to interfere and it lets Truth hit Cole with the Book of Truth, and Roddy then hits the Death by Roderick to win.
**1/4
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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Davey Richards, Since 6/26/2011
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/23/2011
ROH World Television Champion: Roderick Strong, Since 3/31/2012

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ROH Unity
April 28th, 2012
The Frontier Fieldhouse
Chicago Ridge, IL

Match #1: The All Night Express vs. Roderick Strong/Michael Elgin w/ Truth Martini

This is a bad match and is a waste of Elgin. Strong has stopped trying again full-time so he's not super into this, and ANX are back in their non-Briscoes feud form of being super fucking average and flawed all the time with flashes of greatness as an infuriating reminder of the potential they had that was never fully realized. Rhett's knee injury seems to have really fucked him over skill-wise as he moves much slower and sloppier. Rhett has his knee worked again and sells nothing. Strong hurts his own knee, and the ref misses Elgin's pin as a result. A little bit later, Elgin is beaten with the One Night Stand.
*3/4

Post-match, Strong and Elgin argue, but Truth calms it down.

Match #2: Mike Bennett w/ Maria vs. Mike Sydal
Overly long five minute squash. Sydal got like 10% of his brother's insane talent, unfortuantely. Bennett finally puts him down with the TKO.
3/4*

In the back, Veda interviews The Bravado Brothers and says they're finally back from Japan. They say nobody can forget these smiles and they're back from the dojo now. Grandma Bravado sent them postcards for three months and now they're back to show what they learned. Bravado bandwagon. Hop on.

Match #3: The Young Bucks vs. The Bravado Brothers
I like this a bunch. The Bravados do actually look a lot improved from their NOAH stay. They're still not great, but they no longer seem super green and are at least average. They throw some quality suplexes too, and that serves as a reference of their NOAH stay with Exploders and back drops and shit. It's also a quality way to tell the story that they've grown as wrestlers and the Bucks don't take them seriously at first. Good finishing run and the Bucks try their finish, but a Bravado holds back the one on the top, AND THE OTHER BLOCKS THE FINLAY ROLL INTO A CRUCIFIX PIN FOR THE UPSET! FUCK IT. SLIDING SCALE GREAT.
***

In the ring, Veda brings out CEO and Sinclair Broadcasting jerk off Joe Koff. He announces that Death Before Dishonor X will be in this building on September 15th on iPPV! YEAH! He says every title will be on the line then no matter who is champion, which brings out Kevin Steen and Jimmy Jacobs. Cabana is in a Colt Cabana t-shirt. Officials come out to stop an incident and Steen says he will be the champion and Joe bails. Steen calls out Whitmer and Generico for the tag match and says he doesn't want to wait. They come out, and it is on.

Match #4: Kevin Steen/Jimmy Jacobs vs. El Generico/BJ Whitmer [No Disqualification Match]
This is great, but you get the feeling it could be so much more. It feels very restrained from the four guys who had 2 of the 3 most violent ROH feuds of all time (CZW/ROH being the other), but still is amazing. Lots of really hateful punches on Jimmy and BJ's end and Steen and Generico have some amazing spots and moments. Corino on commentary starts to tease his turn as he gets kind of annoyed about not being booked anymore and ROH holding him at arms length since Jacobs turned. Some great little heel moments from Steen and Jacobs too. I hate to be a vampire, but some blood would have taken this to the next level and really sold how dangerous and evil Steen and Jacobs are together. BJ hits an Exploder off the top through a table on Jacobs to win.
***1/4

Match #5: Jay Lethal/Adam Cole/TJ Perkins vs. The Colony

Awesome match. They get fifteen minutes to build up and do a bunch of cool spots, and it's all a blast. The Colony are so well versed in trios match stuff and how to build it up from the ground and the timing of all their individual things and double teams that you can basically put them against any three good wrestlers and the match will probably be great. Cole and TJ fit in particularly well with their speed, and Lethal is the least of all six, but generally stays out of the way enough. Green Ant ends up cradling TJ after a nearfall exchange for the win.
***

In the back, Team Ambition cuts a promo. Davey says he's lost to Haas and Benjamin in the past, but he thinks this is going to be a different story with Kyle as his partner. Kyle says he's lost to them three times in the past, but he's cut the dead weight now and with Davey, he's going to win. Davey says not to call Adam dead weight, and Kyle blows him off and says the past is the past, and he is the future.

Match #6: Team Ambition vs. WGTT
This is horrible. It's not the jerk off festival that it could have been if it happened in 2011, thankfully. WGTT are super bland and uninspired and don't give even the faintest hint of a shit in ROH, but they at least don't waver from their heel roles and really manage to do that well. Unfortunately, they take the Cornette school of thought that heels should be boring and inspire no cheers, but it makes for horrible matches. And also, you have an indy audience and bad matches turn into people tuning out and not buying DVDs, iPPVs, or tickets. There is a balance to be found like Steen or The Embassy or so many others in ROH history, but try telling anything to these assholes. It degenerates into a kickout and movefest at the end, and Shelton does every strike EXCEPT for the punches he's good at. Davey still blows at throwing most of his strikes while working a style based around striking, so he's horrible. Kyle's kicks are at least good, but he has no concept of when to do things or what to do. Haas is super obvious putting his hands up so as to take no damage, so everything looks super fake. They slow it down after like 75% of the finishing run, and then Kyle gets back in, but the crowd is so dead by then and makes noise for nothing really. Shelton beats Kyle with Black Finisher after Kyle kept making mistakes due to his petulance. This is the worst major (as in, not a squash or TV showcase) match of the year.
*1/4

Post-match, Kyle is again a poor loser and walks off by himself while Davey is down.

Match #7: The Briscoes [c] vs. Jigsaw/Hallowicked [ROH World Tag Team Championship]
This is great again. They isolate Jigsaw and get mean and nasty and it's awesome. They slowly manage to get the crowd back involved after that horrible last match although it's still not what they could be and it holds the match back from being as good as the one in Philly. CHIKARA guys get a fun control piece too after Mark takes a table bump. People come out around the ring now and nearfalls happen, but Mark gets the win with the Froggy Bow.
***
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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Davey Richards, Since 6/26/2011
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/23/2011
ROH World Television Champion: Roderick Strong, Since 3/31/2012

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ROH Rising Above 2012
April 29th, 2012
Dayton, OH


ROH moves from the fairgrounds building in Dayton to the Hara Arena for this. You may remember the Hara Arena as being an incredibly hot and always sold out venue for ECW's Heatwave shows in 1998 and 1999 and being a solid venue for them all around. It's in that unfortunate middle period between an indy venue and too small to be a WWE venue that has been neglected since 2001 for the most part. Jim Cornette yet again vastly overestimates the drawing power of his ROH as the building is nearly empty and they probably wouldn't even have sold out their usual Dayton venue for this show. Of course, given that there's only one match people actually want to see (the main event, which is also a super foregone conclusion with Davey/Steen approaching) and the second top match is a match involving a team people HATE in a bad way, this was never going to be a card that drew a lot of sales or interest. Which makes it even more baffling as to why Cornette thought this would work.

Match #1: The All Night Express vs. Chris Silvio/Mohammad Ali Vaez
As we have learned from his use as a job guy on TV, Silvio is TERRIBLE. Mohammad is a terrible stereotype evil sand person. This is a bad match, and goes on like ten minutes, and it just makes ANX look even worse than they already have in 2012 for taking for-fucking-ever to put away two jobbers who bring nothing to this. They finally end it with the One Night Stand on Silvio.
3/4*

In the back, ANX cuts a promo. Rhett says they won a Proving Ground match all the way back in December against WGTT. He says he knows the Briscoes won the titles right after that, but they should be getting their shot tonight and not WGTT. King says they should have had a shot the moment Rhett was healthy or the moment they beat WGTT AGAIN in New York City two months ago. This is a really good point. King says it's almost like The Briscoes are ducking them and after the last year, the Briscoes should already know what they're about.

Match #2: Michael Elgin w/ Truth Martini vs. Samson Walker
Horrible. Samson again shows up and gets way too much offense. Elgin is a star after his SITS reception after the Davey Richards match, so naturally, ROH follows up by having him fight the jobberiest looking jobber that ever did a job and giving him 60-70% of the offense. No wonder this match fucking blew outside of Elgin's spots. Elgin wins with a Crossface.
*1/4

Match #3: Kevin Steen w/ Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer

This was only nine minutes, because ROH is trying everything to cost Steen his rightful spot as WOTY, I guess. Good brawling and striking from both guys and they got to do some big moves even if they didn't have enough time to really build anything beyond just a nice little match. Jimmy causes a distraction so Steen can get a low blow, and he hits Whitmer with the F5 for the win.
**3/4

Match #4: El Generico vs. Kyle O'Reilly

This is Generico's last ROH match apart from his one-off final match later in 2012, because ROH is stupid. Anyways, they get 14-15 minutes before booking interrupts this. Generico does the best he can and manages to guide Kyle to a good match before the abrupt ending. Generico is working a lot more slowly in 2012 to try and get signed (before his unfortunate injury in 2013 leading to him sending his protege in his place). Kyle does low level heeling and whatever. Generico comes back, but Steen and Jacobs come out. Generico goes after them and Steen also attacks Kyle, so it's a no contest.
**3/4

Steen hits Kyle with a chair to the leg and put on an Ankle Lock. Davey Richards comes out to save, but Jacobs then clips him in the leg with the chair. Steen then hits Davey with the F5 on the chair. Kyle is hurt worse, and Davey basically no-sells it to check on him, along with BJ and Generico.

Match #5: TJ Perkins vs. Mike Mondo
TJ is a miracle worker and delivers the best Mondo match I've ever seen. He managed to work over TJ's arm without looking as much like a goof as usual. TJ doesn't sell the arm really well but then that's not really his deal and Mondo didn't work it too much. TJ does cool things and wins with the 450 Splash.
**1/4

Before Strong/Lethal, Strong gets on the mic. He says today is Jay Lethal's birthday, but unfortunately he has to spend it in Ohio. He then sings the birthday song to him mockingly, and Lethal punches him.

Match #6: Jay Lethal vs. Roderick Strong w/ Truth Martini [Best Two of Three Falls]
Lethal beats on him, but Truth causes a quick distraction and Strong schoolboys him with the tights to go 1-0 in like thirty seconds. They have a professional wrestling match again. Very uninspired stuff by two guys who were once looked at like the future of ROH in 2005 and are now totally fine putting on these routine boring matches. Lethal eventually counters the Death by Roderick into a crucifix takedown and pin to even it up after tenish minutes. Strong does generic heel work, but it's at least something in the way of flow. Lethal comes back and they have a good finishing run. Really cool spot as Strong hits a Northern Sick Kick to block the Lethal Injection. Lethal tries it again a little later on and that gets him the win. If they just did the second fall, this might have been great. I would be happy never seeing this again.
**1/2

Match #7: The Briscoes [c] vs. WGTT [ROH World Tag Team Championship]

Fuck this match so much. This is the fifth time it has happened and we're coming up on the sixth. This is the shortest one of them at only 12 minutes, but that just means there's less of it, not that it's any better put together or paced or that there's less wasted time. All time WGTT wrestle in ROH at this point is wasted time. They put forth the usual dull and uninspired work here and not even decent heeling and punches is enough to save it. ANX comes out to watch, and the Briscoes come back. Haas attacks ANX on the floor, but they fight back, and Shelton is alone. Jay hits him with a DVD, and Mark follows with the Froggy Bow to win.
*3/4

Post-match, King and Titus get in the ring. King says that's finally settled and he's pretty sure that makes them the #1 Contenders and says they can do this whenever DEM BOYS are ready. Jay says they're barely sweating and says to do it right now. Referees come out to stop it from happening though. Okay then.

Match #8: Davey Richards [c] vs. Adam Cole [ROH World Championship]
This is the best Davey Richards title defense of the entire reign and his best singles match period in probably a year plus. He comes in with hurt ribs from the F5 and actually sells them. He goes wild on Cole immediately after Cole tries one thing on the ribs, and controls Cole. They do a great job of escalating the match at only 20ish minutes, it's for once the perfect length for this kind of a match. They also to that thing where they have different strategies and actually stick to them. Cole uses the rib stuff to try and distract Davey, but then his big moves fail, so he goes back to the ribs, but it's kind of too late. On the other hand, Davey tries to use a lot more kicks and for the first time in a while, his kicks were actually great like they used to be at his peak. He does his Ankle Lock stuff AND COLE SELLS THE ANKLE DAMAGE. WHAT A NOVEL FUCKING CONCEPT. Cole's speed is taken away by that and while he still does Superkickery, he does it with his good leg, so it didn't upset me too much. Also, the leg being hurt made him a sitting duck for Davey to tee off on with head kicks. Davey then broke out the Indian Deathlock Ankle Lock that hasn't been seen in a while either, and Cole taps out. After ten to eleven months of horrible and routine Davey Epic Match style title defenses, it's a shame that his last title defense shows what this reign could have been.
***1/4

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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Davey Richards, Since 6/26/2011
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/23/2011
ROH World Television Champion: Roderick Strong, Since 3/31/2012

ROH Wrestling
May 5th, 2012
Baltimore, MD

Match #1: Tommaso Ciampa w/ The Embassy Ltd. vs. Matt Taven

Taven does alright as a generic babyface and Ciampa gets a nice showcase. Jay Lethal comes out to watch from the stage. Taven never really deserved his push in 2013 and 2014 so far, but he would have been an acceptable X Division lower card guy like a Sonjay Dutt or Shark Boy, because he does bump well and makes Ciampa at least look great. Ciampa hits a bunch of his nasty corner knees, now in a Tree of Woe position, and then hits Project Ciampa to win.
**

In the back, Veda is with the Briscoes. Jay says God willing they make it across the border, they're gonna whip that ass in Toronto. Mark says Haas and Benjamin are like when he takes a dump and he keeps wiping and wiping but he can never get it all off, but in Canada, he was gonna wipe his ass real good once and for all. Jay says to hell with taking a shit, he's been icing his balls for a month, and he's done icing his fucking balls.

Match #2: TJ Perkins vs. Mike Mondo
Another good piece of work from TJ. He guides Mondo through some spots and Nigel talks about a TJ/Young Bucks confrontation backstage recently. They come out to distract TJ and as he comes back inside, Mondo kicks him and hits a Hanging Butterfly DDT to win.
**

It's a 3 on 1, but then The All Night Express runs out to save.

INSIDE ROH:
-WGTT cut a promo. Haas says The Briscoes started this by jumping them and then it turns out, Jay Briscoe lost his balls. Clever. Shelton says the only thing left is the Tag Team Titles, and they don't need or want honor, they just want the belts.
-The Briscoes says they're damn right they started it and they beat the piss out of them. Jay says they tried to take the line by trying to take out his shit. It's gonna be a Fight Without Honor and that's good, because they done ran the fuck out of honor, and they was gonna whoop that ass.
-Strong/Finlay is made into a TV Title match
-Michael Elgin vs. Adam Cole is made

Steve Corino joins commentary for the main event.

Match #3: Kevin Steen w/ Jimmy Jacobs vs. Kyle O'Reilly
This is basically just a Steen showcase, so that's for the best. Kyle does a few things, but it's largely about Steen looking like an unstoppable monster, and they do that pretty well. Steen wins with the F5.
**1/4

They attack Kyle with the tennis racket, AND STEEN PUTS ON THE ANKLE LOCK! Davey Richards runs out to save and he puts Steen in it but Jacobs gets a low blow. Steen hits Davey with the racket a bunch until referees run out. Steen leaves with Jacobs and Corino asks where Jim Cornette is to stop any of this. Davey eventually gets off the mat, and he takes the mic. He says the wolf is back, and he's going to bury Steen in Canada.
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I do not have the next episode.

5/12/12 - featured Veda Scott conducting a backstage interview with ROH World Champion Davey Richards regarding his Proving Ground contest against Rhino, with Richards praising Michael Elgin and questioning why Truth Martini would spend so much money to bring in a hired gun when he already had Elgin in his camp; included a segment of "Inside ROH" in which Kevin Kelly announced Mike Bennett would face Eddie Edwards the next week, with comments then airing from both men about their previous match six weeks earlier; Kelly also announced Kenny King & Rhett Titus would face Matt & Nick Jackson the following week as well, with the Jacksons and King & Titus commenting about trading wins at Showdown in the Sun and this being the rubber match; Kelly then said Best in the World 2012 details would be announced the following week; featured Scott conducting a backstage interview with Rhino & Martini regarding the upcoming match with Richards:

Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin defeated Body Snatcher & Black Ice at 5:54 when Snatcher submitted to the Haas of Pain after Benjamin hit a superkick to the back of Snatcher's leg; prior to the bout, Haas & Benjamin refused to shake their opponents' hands

Fire Ant, Soldier Ant, & Green Ant defeated Los Ice Creams & Ophidian at 4:37 when Fire Ant pinned Ophidian with the Ant Hill; Ultra Mantis Black joined the commentary team for the contest

Jay Lethal pinned Ricky Reyes with the Lethal Injection at 3:41; prior to the bout, Reyes opted not to shake Lethal's hand, attacking him instead

ROH World Champion Davey Richards pinned Rhino (w/ Truth Martini & ROH TV Champion Roderick Strong) in a Proving Ground match with a sunset flip at around the 14-minute mark as Rhino attempted the Gore; Rhino refused to shake Richards' hand before the match; after the contest, Strong, Rhino, and Martini attacked Richards before Jay Lethal ran out to make the save, clearing both Rhino and Strong from the ring
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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Davey Richards, Since 6/26/2011
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/23/2011
ROH World Television Champion: Roderick Strong, Since 3/31/2012

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ROH BORDER WARS
MAY 12TH, 2012
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA


Match #1: Eddie Edwards vs. Rhino w/ Truth Martini

This could have been a bunch better IF IT HAD MORE TIME. THE FUCK, JIM? STOP KILLING THE UNDERCARD. Anyways, Rhino is slower and less insanely aggressive and older, but he still has spurts of quality, so he's worth a roster spot. He'd be best served in a tag team though. He works the ribs and Eddie doesn't sell much, but then the match is over too quickly for it to make much of a difference anyways. Truth almost accidentally hits Rhino with the book, but stops. Eddie rolls him up though and gets the win.
**1/2

Post-match, Rhino tries to kill Truth, but he gives Rhino a wad of cash to buy his life back and Rhino leaves with him.

Match #2: The All Night Express/TJ Perkins vs. The Young Bucks/Mike Mondo
Not the best match since Mondo botches like a third of his attempts to do highspots and dives to get over with the crowd, but The Bucks, King, and TJ pulled together a pretty good spotfest and on the sliding scale, it's great. Rhett is pretty out of shape compared to his 2010-11 form. The obvious stomach flab doesn't bother me at all, but he gets winded pretty easily and has trouble moving around like he used to. Still, the Bucks guided him through finishing run stuff, and it worked out well. ANX hits a Buck with the One Night Stand, and TJ follows with the 450 Splash to win.
***

Match #3: Jay Lethal vs. Tommaso Ciampa w/ The Embassy Ltd.

They get into a brawl on the floor before the bell, and Lethal catapults Ciampa over and face-first onto the ramp/stage. They had a straight ahead slugfest and it totally ruled. These matches work best when everything is awesome and stiff and tight and this was the best Jay has looked since he came back and probably the most effort he's put out. Ciampa was brutal with all his knees and just as aggressive. Some great nearfalls, and Ciampa kicks out of the Lethal Injection and Flying Elbow, so Lethal hits ten backbreakers in a row before then hitting the Flatliner to complete the Lethal Injection, AND FINALLY PINS CIAMPA! THE STREAK IS OVER! This was only like 11 minutes, but it felt a lot longer, so good work by them and again, bad work with the timing by Jim.
***

Post-match, Ciampa has a breakdown and storms off.

Match #4: Lance Storm vs. Mike Bennett w/ Bob Evans
This means the great match streak stops at two. Lance again tries his best and this is only 12 minutes and not 16, so it's better than SITS. Lance again has weirdly good strikes with top elbows and European Uppercuts and bumps and sells to try and carry PRODIGY. Lance basically cuts off Mike's control segment early to go into a comeback since Mike having to actually, you know, be a pro wrestler is the death of all his matches. Maybe there's a sign there or something, I don't know. Stuff happens and Lance hits the Superkick to win.
**1/2

Match #5: Adam Cole vs. Michael Elgin w/ Truth Martini

Another great one. They only have 13 or 14 minutes here, so they can't get into any time killing like the first half of their recent title switch. However, like that one, this does start a little slow and then gets fucking awesome in the second half. They hit each other hard and do cool stuff. There's not a lot of substance here, but it was well done cool stuff that all looked good. Cole's Northern Superkick is such an awesome move. Elgin eventually hits the Buckle Bomb and then Spiral Bomb to win.
***

Post-match, Truth brags about that and sends Elgin to the back. He says he's going to feel even better after Strong wins his match next, AND ADAM COLE IS UP AND SUPERKICKS TRUTH! FUCK YEAH! Elgin runs back out as Cole bails out. Elgin carries Truth away to the back, so Roddy is all alone next.

Match #6: Roderick Strong [c] vs. Fit Finlay [ROH World Television Championship]
Finlay's ROH run is criticized a lot because Matwork Finlay showed up to ROH, and not the violent wrecking machine of a man that fought Sami Callihan in 2011 and 2012 or went to Japan to fight Tajiri in 2012. Nigel says this has no time limit. This was better than I remembered now that my expectations weren't so much geared towards another Sami/Fit match. They did cool mat stuff with Finlay keeping Roddy on edge by taking him down every time he tried to start a chopping match. This led to Strong expecting it one time and Finlay punching him right in the face. Strong worked on the ribs and Finlay sold well. The end is super abrupt and unsatisfying though, as Strong hits Death by Roderick and the sick Kick, and it's kind of just over without any real comeback from Finlay.
**3/4

A hype video airs for Briscoes/WGTT.

Match #7: The Briscoes [c] vs. WGTT [ROH World Tag Team Championship - Fight Without Honor]
This sucked again. This is one of Cornette's shining horrible moments. The crowd has rejected WGTT for a solid year now and their matches have been consistently the worst part of ROH shows for a year and a half. They put in no effort and barely try and the crowd LOVES The Briscoes. Outside of Steen, they are the most over faces and biggest draws ROH has. So naturally, Cornette whips his dick out and pisses on everyone and has them not only lose the titles BACK to WGTT, but to lose them with an ether rag finish. They half assedly do stuff and the stip equates to one sort of table bump and a few chair shots. Haas knocks out Mark with an ether rag to win the titles back. One of the biggest "fuck you"'s by a booker to the fans in recent memory.
*1/2

Hype video for the main event.

Steve Corino comes out to commentary and says they've asked him to be here for this. Steve's mic doesn't work for the entire match, but they keep talking to him and nodding and conversing despite that nobody can hear him.

Match #8: Davey Richards [c] vs. Kevin Steen w/ Jimmy Jacobs [ROH World Championship]
Steen gets the best out of Davey like usual. He makes it a brawl early on, so Davey can't do his kind of match. The crowd is also super hot, so that helps. Davey has some awesome big stuff and they treated in kind of a Michaels/Mankind Mind Games type way where he has to both do crazy shit AND take out a body part to survive. He goes after the knee on top of huge shit like an Exploder on the apron. Of course, he couldn't consistently target the knee because Steen set the tempo so Davey was reacting for once instead of setting the pace. In a cool trick, Davey pulls out the DR Driver now that the Piledriver is legal in general. They do stuff and Steen sends Davey into an accidentally exposed buckle and hits a Sleeper suplex and then Package Piledriver to win the title. THE REIGN OF TERROR IS OVER.
***

Post-match, Steen and Jacobs celebrate with the title. Steve Corino gets in the ring with them AND HE FUCKING HUGS CORINO AND JACOBS. YEAH! Feel good show of the year.
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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Kevin Steen, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Tag Team Champions: WGTT, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Television Champion: Roderick Strong, Since 3/31/2012

ROH Wrestling
May 19th, 2012
Baltimore, MD

Match #1: Eddie Edwards vs. Mike Bennett w/ Maria & Brutal Bob

Bennett is still the worst and as Eddie tries to work a real match instead of covering for PORDIGY for the entire thing, Bennett is totally exposed for still looking like a fucking rookie in terms of how he moves and does stuff. It's either very awkward or super obviously practiced. They try a big finishing run and it comes off pretty horribly. Eddie rolls through the schoolboy attempt and gets a cradle to win.
*3/4

Bennett attacks post-match and Bob Evans joins in the attack too. Maria slaps him, and I guess this is a feud now. Not sure why they're demoting Eddie.

BEST IN THE WORLD 2012: JUNE 24TH ON IPPV!

Grizzly Redwood vs. Kamel Dickinson is up next, but The House of Truth comes out to stop a match between two jobbers. Truth gets on the mic and challenges them to fight Elgin in a handicap match.

Match #2: Michael Elgin w/ The House of Truth vs. Grizzly Redwood/Kamel Dickinson
Good squash for Elgin again. Elgin kills Kamel with the Spiral Bomb and then destroys Grizzly. Redwood then gets beaten up, but Jay Lethal runs down and gets on the apron! The referee allows him to replace Kamel for some reason that makes no sense, so Elgin unfairly has toPost-m fight three guys. Elgin handles it, but then Strong attacks Jay for the DQ.
*1/2

Post-match, Lethal hits Strong with the Lethal Injection while he and Elgin argue. Lethal then rolls out before Elgin can get him.

INSIDE ROH:
-Clips are shown of the Bucks/ANX feud
-Outside of the commercial, Kelly formally announces BITW for 6/24 and promises title matches to come after next week's recap of Border Wars
-The show will be back in New York City at the HammerSTEEN Ballroom

Match #3: The Young Bucks vs. The All Night Express [Elimination Match]
This happens again, as the ANX kind of hold the Bucks back by being awkward and slow and Rhett lacking any kind of real energy. This also has basically no heat from the crowd, again dead from like 4 hours of TV tapings. The Bucks eliminate King first with a Double Superkick, because people in ROH are weaker than in PWG. They work on Rhett's leg and he doesn't sell it and has terrible fire on his comebacks and he rolls up Matt in a Gedo Clutch to even it up. King comes back out to thwart Matt's interference and Rhett hits a Bloody Sunday to win. At least this is finally over?
*3/4
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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Kevin Steen, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Tag Team Champions: WGTT, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Television Champion: Roderick Strong, Since 3/31/2012

ROH Wrestling
May 26th, 2012
Toronto, Ontario, Canadia


A recap of the Border Wars undercard in general airs, heading into Steen/Davey.

Davey Richards vs. Kevin Steen airs in full.

In the back, Kevin Kelly tries to get interviews. Like a good little stooge, he tries to get one with Jim's boy first, but trainers kick him out of the room, so he goes to Steen, who is fine and not hurt. Steen asks if Davey is okay and says he's so concerned. He says what happened was that he beat Davey and now he's the champion. He says this nice set up with the ROH logo and a cage and Kevin Kelly and his tie is all an illusion. He's a little ugly and a little fat and gritty BUT IT'S REAL. This belt is his now and this belt MATTERS again. He's taking this company hostage now and he's going to love every second of it. Welcome BACK to Ring of Honor. Steen does this while eating cake btw.
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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Kevin Steen, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Tag Team Champions: WGTT, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Television Champion: Roderick Strong, Since 3/31/2012

ROH Wrestling
June 2nd, 2012
Baltimore, MD

Match #1: Adam Cole vs. Mike Mondo

Every time I don't hate a Mike Mondo match, I get sad. Kyle O'Reilly comes to do commentary and says he's scouting Cole. He also says if Davey gets another shot at Steen, he'll win back the title because Steen was winded at the end though. Kyle keeps complaining that Cole is a bad wrestler because he has no ground game or jiu jitsu training. THE MOTHER OF ALL EYE ROLLS. Kelly says he and Cole will have a Hybrid Fighting Rules match, which is KO or submission. Mondo does a cool thing where he wedges Cole's arm in between the turnbuckle pad and the actual buckle which is pretty cool. Good back and forth, and Cole gets a backslide for the win. Kyle says Mondo should take jiu jitsu lessons. UGH. Kyle is the best heel in ROH, because I legitimately hate him and he's playing up the MMA superiority complex thing really well, even though it's probably just him being him.
**

In one of the local ad things that airs during the commercial, they also announce Finlay vs. Michael Elgin for BITW, and WGTT vs. All Night Express for the tag titles in the shot they earned like six months ago. At least they paid that off.

Match #2: Tommaso Ciampa w/ The Embassy Ltd. vs. Nick Westgate
Ciampa kills the kid in about ninety seconds, as he's pissed about losing his undefeated streak. The ref stops it after a bunch of knees again.
*1/2

INSIDE ROH:
-In the back, WGTT speaks. Charlie Haas said this is Mark Briscoe's fault and says that was a towel and disinfectant to wipe the chicken grease off Mark Briscoe long enough to put a Sleeper on, and he pinned him after he choked him out. Shelton says ANX were supposed to have been the champions already, according to them. Shelton says the knee injury had nothing to do with it, and they can never beat them when it counts.
-Jay Lethal says it took two people to take his title away from him, and that's one down and one to go. He took Tommaso Ciampa's streak away from him, and now Roderick Strong is left with the TV Title, and he wants what's rightfully his, and that's the truth.
-Kelly says Eddie Edwards has challenged several former World Champions and will face Homicide at BITW, and will face Davey Richards next week
-Eddie Edwards says he takes no pleasure in Davey losing the title, but he's looking to get back on a hot streak and if he can beat all of these former World Champions, he can't be denied a shot at Kevin Steen.

Match #3: The All Night Express vs. Caprice Coleman/Cedric Alexander
Rhett still looks pretty bad, but it's much better hidden here. King covers for him mostly and C&C look great again. Cedric has a particularly great hot tag and King vs. Cedric is a lot of fun. Rhett mostly stays out of the way, and they beat one of them with the One Night Stand.
**

In the ring, Kevin Kelly brings out Kevin Steen with Jimmy Jacobs and Steve Corino at his side. Corino takes over and announces Steen as the new champion. Corino says now Jim Cornette has to call him for bookings and call him the ROH World Champion and Steen says it feels amazing. He says he's told people for six months that this would happen, and he's a man of his word. Corino says he convinced him that evil is the only way to go and Steen shows off his LIV3 tattoo. Corino asks what makes him different than every other World Champion, and Steen says he'll represent this company properly. He won't train for jiu jitsu and he'll go to events that the champion should go to. Instead of going to Japan, he will GLADLY go to represent ROH at the Health and Fitness Expo. He'll go see the sponsors and take pictures like a champion, and more importantly, there's this big affiliates dinner for SBG that the champion has to be there for. He says he'll pull out his tuxedo t-shirt and everything to dress up and he can assure Jim Cornette that he'll tell them all they need to know about this company and what Jim's done to it. Jim Cornette comes out and says he'd rather swim in his sewer than see him at that meeting and promises he won't be the ROH Champion for the time that rolls around. Cornette says he gave Corino a commentary job when he was hurt after Final Battle because he felt bad for him, but his services are now no longer required. That's lawsuit worthy. Corino says he's the one who said if he wanted to keep a job in ROH in 2011, he had to change his ways! He can't fire him because of who his friends are and says to get his lawyers to look at that contract because until then? Shut up, Jim. He then says Kevin Steen is a cancer who is ruining their image (by making it more what fans actually want and are happy with) and someone has to beat him. He says everyone wants a piece of him and Davey Richards comes out with Kyle O'Reilly. Davey says to shut up and says he's so sick of being lumped into Camp Cornette and he tells Cornette to kiss his ass, AND IT'S THE BIGGEST POP DAVEY HAS GOTTEN IN A FULL YEAR. Davey says he fights for himself and he'd love for him to make an excuse, but in Toronto, Kevin Steen was better than him. Cornette says that's his problem and Davey says he'll make it easy and says he wants a rematch because it should be the two best, and they're the two best. Steen says he should give it to him unless he's abandoning his boy now, and Cornette books it. He says he has one more chance at the title and if he can't win, he'll get no more shots. Davey says he'll win the title back, but not for ROH or Cornette's BS vision of what ROH should be, but for himself.

This is around the point where the shoot interviews begin to surface with Steen, Davey, Roddy, Briscoes, ANX, etc. all basically shitting on Cornette's ROH and openly rebelling.

It's beautiful.
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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Kevin Steen, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Tag Team Champions: WGTT, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Television Champion: Roderick Strong, Since 3/31/2012

ROH Wrestling
June 9th, 2012
Baltimore, MD

Match #1: Michael Elgin w/ Truth Martini vs. Matt Taven

Another awesome Elgin showcase. He uses the Brian Cage Superplex, which means I get to type that MICHAEL ELGIN IS A FUCKING MACHINE. Truth joins commentary and says he wants the Tag Titles and challenges The Briscoes to face his new team named The Guardians of Truth that he cannot announce yet. It's The Headbangers. Don't get your hopes up, anyone who reads this. It's the fucking Headbangers. Taven has a few nice things and then dies. Spiral Bomb ends it.
**

In the back, Veda interviews Eddie Edwards. Eddie says there's no titles tonight and if he beats Davey tonight and he loses to Steen, then Davey is done and he gets he shot. But if he beats him and Davey regains the title, then he's next in line, and he has to beat Davey tonight.

In the ring, Kelly brings out WGTT. Fuck you. Haas takes the TOOT TOOT line from Arn and then keeps yelling it to ruin it and Haas repeats his line from last week about chicken grease. Shelton then repeats his lines too. Why even bother? ANX come out to the ring and King says this is a bunch of garbage with their old ass jokes and their old ass moves that have been worn out for 10 years now and they're gonna turn their old asses into old news. Rhett says they earned this shot over six months ago and they've been ducked, but they're not going away and they're going to be the World Tag Team Champions. Shelton says they're just another tag team who wish they were the greatest. They try to brush by, but ANX attacks and runs them off. So basically, we're just doing the same idea as KOW/ANX a year and a half ago with the champions not taking them seriously.

INSIDE ROH:
-They announce Jay/Haas in a Texas Death Match for this Friday on a live event. Good for them for promoting this shit.
-Jay says this shit's gone too far when he tried to kill his brother, and says this feud comes to an end on Friday in Charleston, WV.
-Best in the World SAUSAGE CRISIS now has Strong vs. Lethal vs. Ciampa for the TV Title
-Roderick Strong yells at Truth because he has to fight Ciampa next week and says Truth told him he would never have to face him with this whole thing.
-RD Evans stops Nana from saying anything against Truth and says they tried to persuade Ciampa to persue other goals, but their client insists on the triple threat, and the Embassy Ltd. looks forward to it.
-Kyle O'Reilly says Adam Cole is a great pro wrestler, but he's a hybrid fighter and this is his match. This is about embarrassing Adam Cole so he realizes that he was right all along.
-Adam Cole says this is a pro wrestling match in a pro wrestling ring, stupid stipulation or not. Come June 24th, he accepted this match under Kyle's ridiculous rules because he's going to show him who the better professional wrestler is.

Steve Corino is on commentary for the match.

Match #2: Davey Richards vs. Eddie Edwards
Due to TV, this is under twenty minutes, so it's their best match together and great on a sliding scale. They only have one story here instead of trying to juggle 2 or 3. Davey works over Eddie's arm throughout and the work is really good, including THAT ARM SUBMISSION. Nigel FINALLY fucking names it on commentary like eight years after it would have been useful, and it's the Thames Barrier. I prefer T.A.S. Eddie sells it the entire way through the match for the most part, and always went back to it, so you can chalk forgetful moments up to adrenaline or something. Eddie really gets it. I love cool moves and stiffness and all this stuff, but you need to at least give me SOMETHING to make the limbwork not a total waste, and Eddie gets that. He also sells the arm when stuck in the Ankle Lock, making it impossible for him to crawl to the ropes! NEXT LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY IN A DAVEY/EDDIE MATCH WHAT THE SHIT? Jimmy Jacobs comes out to distract Davey, and it allows Eddie to catch his flying joshi dropkick and get a Jackknife Pin for the win.
***

Post-match, Davey is mad but they shake hands. He goes to raise Eddie's arm, but Eddie is still selling and makes Davey raise his good arm instead. MY DUDE EDDIE EDWARDS.
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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Kevin Steen, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Tag Team Champions: WGTT, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Television Champion: Roderick Strong, Since 3/31/2012

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ROH The Nightmare Begins
June 15th, 2012
Charlottesville, WV

Match #1: The All Night Express vs. Caprice Coleman/Cedric Alexander

Basically the same match with the same amount of time too, just a lesser crowd. Cornette is on commentary, so this show is gonna blow. Sloppiness abound here from Rhett Titus and Caprice Coleman. King had his generally solid acrobatic stuff, and Cedric again looked like the best dude in the match. ANX goes for the One Night Stand, but the top rope is super loose when King tries the springboard, so he hits a Doomsday Device sort of deal instead for the win.
**

In the back, Veda interviews Mike Mondo. He says he respects Davey Richards, but he doesn't like him. He then says Davey can't be the best in the world when he's never beaten him, like Mondo is even in the conversation. Although being fair, it's not like Davey is either. He says tonight Davey is being hunted, and proudly yells "IT'S GUT CHECK TIME" like that's an impressive or unique catchphrase to be proud of. Mondo is better in the ring lately, but he's still the worst person.

Match #2: Davey Richards vs. Mike Mondo
This goes to a fifteen minute draw, and is actually around fifteen minutes, so they're getting better at this. Davey seems to actually be having fun again, which is nice, and he's at his best here at only fifteen minutes. Of course, it's still a Davey match as he no-sells all Mondo's rib work stuff to come back at the end. Decent finishing run, and Davey has the Ankle Lock on as time expires. This is supposed to do a lot for Mondo, but that's Cornette again not really understanding how ROH fans react to people. Maycabe performance only really matters to these people when you've won them over like how Elgin is boosted by his SOTF win and great showing in the title match, same with Cole in his 2012, but then Mondo will always be seen as a guy forced on them by Cornette due to his repeated shots dating back to 2010, until he performs well enough ON HIS OWN (read, not with TJ or Cabana or Cole carrying him), none of his booking will really matter. He was solid here, but even with a flawed selling performance, Davey was better, and Mondo also needs to be better than the dozens of guys not in ROH at this point like Sami Callihan, Generico, Cabana, Ricochet, Chuckie T, Young Bucks since they're on the way out, etc.
**1/2

The crowd wants five more minutes, but Mondo leaves.

Match #3: Roderick Strong w/ Truth Martini vs. BJ Whitmer vs. Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly
The main deal here is Adam/Kyle build for the next iPPV, but it's also a Proving Ground match, so everyone wants to beat Strong. This wasn't great because I don't know why. Nobody really did anything wrong here, but it never really got to a level besides being a fun match and the crowd wasn't super into it, because this is another one of those shows that got thrown at a market that Sinclair runs instead of a market that actually loves ROH and usually does good business, so it's a half sold show in the south. Anyways, Cole gets Strong with a crucifix pin to get a title shot.
**1/2

Match #4: The Briscoes vs. Paredyse/Chris Silvio [RADIO WARS~~~~~]

This is another super bush league local indy thing Cornette forced on ROH, as they had feuding radio DJs in the corners of both teams. The heels are TERRIBLE as I've discussed before with Silvio, but because this is a thing that's been built, the Briscoes have to humor everyone with a bullshit ten minute match. The crowd really doesn't give a shit about the DJs because it's 2012 and we have iPods and satellite radio and shuffle and what not. The Briscoes finally put it away with Jay just fucking Chokeslams Paredyse to win.
41/Shart

Match #5: Jay Lethal vs. Michael Elgin w/ Truth Martini

This is another of those Lethal matches that is good, but not great. Elgin shakes Lethal's hand to start, which upsets Truth. Elgin has some good stuff, but Lethal is very clearly holding back here because this is more about building other stuff than an actual great match. I've noticed that Lethal tries much more on the bigger matches in this ROH run. Strong runs out to interfere at the end, but Lethal dropkicks Elgin into him on the apron, and Lethal then hits the Lethal Injection for the win.
**1/2

Post-match, Elgin is livid and argues with Strong. Truth tries to get them to shake hands again and the crowd chants "ELGIN'S GONNA KILL YOU". Elgin goes to leave, but then comes back. He takes the microphone again and says the crowd's right because if that happens again, he WILL kill him.

Before the next match, Kevin Steen comes out with his guys and Cornette just loses it ranting about weight issues and how much respect both Steen and Jacobs have for wrestling based on their gear. Steen gets the mic and asks Jim if they can hear the Mr. Wrestling chants and says that's the most noise they've made all night, and says that's the name he told everyone to NEVER call him because he didn't deserve it. Steen says this title proves that he is Mr. Wrestling and Cornette gets in the ring. Cornette says he doesn't deserve that name and Jimmy says the title disagrees with him. Cornette says he cost them a sponsor when he had dinner with them and threatened his life and says this is exactly what he was afraid of. He says the prophecy is coming true, and Steen burps in response. Steen says this match with Eddie Edwards next is now for the title, and if Steen leaves Best in the World as the champion, every singles match Steen has in ROH is now a title match, and he'll throw everyone in ROH and outside ROH at him and sooner or later, someone will beat him, and it's going to be before he gets them kicked off TV. Steen calls him an old, out of touch, piece of garbage and says he will not live to see him lose this. HIS NAME IS KEVIN STEEN, AND HE IS RING OF HONOR.

This is the most believable and organic wrestler vs. authority figure gimmick since Austin vs. McMahon's first year or so from Mania 14 to Mania 15. Of course, Cornette would book that with Austin as the heel because he didn't act right and defied authority or whatever. If they ran with this properly and built to Cornette taking a Piledriver, there was a world of money to be made.

Match #6: Kevin Steen [c] w/ Steve Corino & Jimmy Jacobs vs. Eddie Edwards [ROH World Championship]
Corino joins commentary! They get fifteen minutes now, and they get the proper time to have a great match. Corino absolutely wastes Cornette on commentary and asks if Dick Murdoch and Adrian Adonis were bad because they didn't have Jim's favorite sports entertainment body type look. Kelly asks how many world titles they had between them and Cornette claims they were good because they didn't ruin sponsorships. BRO, IT'S DICK MURDOCH. HE WAS INSANE. HE GOT AN NWA TITLE AUDITION WITH THE NWA BOARD LIVE FOR ONE OF HIS MATCHES AND THEN PURPOSELY PUT ON THE WORST MATCH OF HIS CAREER AS A MIDDLE FINGER TO THE ENTIRE CONCEPT. Steen is so much like that. Corino then doesn't even bother destructing Jim's argument with the name Dusty Rhodes, and says he hopes Cornette keeps his glass house clean. Anyways, the match. Steen does awesome violent power spots and brawls super well. Eddie makes a comeback with his cool stuff, but Steen blocks the Backpack Stunner into a Sleeper Suplex, and then follows with the F5 for the win.
***

Match #7: Jay Briscoe vs. Charlie Haas [Texas Death Match]

This was horrible and got like 20 minutes. It at least seems to FINALLY be the end of this feud. There were some cool spots with guardrails and mostly saw Jay Briscoe taking much of the punishment in terms of the big spots because Haas is a fucking coward and won't bump despite accepting these kinds of dangerous matches. It's okay though because after Jay survives a bunch of stuff like drops in the railing, chair shots, table stuff, and an Olympic Clam onto the railing, all Jay has to do is hit Haas in the face with the ether spray can. He gets the pin and somehow that has knocked out Haas and he can't answer the ten count, so Jay wins.
*3/4
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