ROH on Sinclair – Episode 003 – 8th October 2011
Episode 2 saw the new Ring Of Honor TV show’s first genuine high quality match, and its first title change as Jay Lethal surprisingly won the Television Championship from El Generico. Will that happen again this week? It was on the same night that Generico captured the TV Title from Chris Daniels that we saw Davey Richards defeat Eddie Edwards to become World Champion. This evening he makes his first defence of the top prize in the promotion, and won’t want to lose it first time around like the Generic Luchador. Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness are in Chicago Ridge, IL
Just as last week we opened with Jim Cornette bringing WGTT to the ring, this week he calls out Jay and Mark Briscoe. They are still pissed off at Cornette for fining them $5000 after Best In The World and not letting them have a title shot against Haas and Benjamin. Jim offers them a compromise – they have to fight the All Night Express again next week for #1 Contendership.
FOCUS ON – This week we’re looking at the only undefeated wrestler in ROH: Tommaso Ciampa. He has a new nickname (‘The Dominant Male’), gets his first chance to talk in front of the cameras and it also serves as a way to bring Prince Nana to TV for the first time.
Tommaso Ciampa vs Andy Ridge
You’d presume that this will be nothing more than an enhancement match to introduce Ciampa and extend his undefeated streak. However, Andy Ridge has said recently that he wants to be a top prospect and start climbing the ranks in Ring Of Honor. Ending Tommaso’s streak would be a huge statement.
Steve Corino is on commentary for this as he has an interest in helping younger talent like Ridge develop. Andy tries to start quick but is nearly taken out of his boots by a simple clothesline from Tommaso. SNAP GERMAN out of the ropes, hit with such force that Ridge nearly tumbles straight out of the ring. They trade strikes on the apron and it’s to Andy’s credit that he absorbs a flurry of strikes before knocking Ciampa back to the canvas. Unfortunately Tommaso simply picks him up and swings him straight into the guardrails. Kevin Kelly stops Steve Corino talking about Kevin Steen on commentary which is a neat, subtle little way to progress that angle. Skullf*ck from Ciampa only for Ridge to kick out at just 1! Right Leg slingshots himself from the apron into an Ace Crusher for 2…then gets shut down with the knee strike flurry in the corner. PROJECT CIAMPA NAILED! Tommaso’s streak continues at 04:42
Rating - ** - This was Tommaso’s best performance in Ring Of Honor thus far. I know it was a rudimentary squash so my rating isn’t necessarily that high, but in terms of Ciampa this was his best outing. ROH have clearly decided on pushing him as this hard-hitting, slightly unpredictable beast and his wrestling style has changed a little to represent that. Everything he did was hit with huge, completely remorseless force – and well sold with ice cold facial expressions and body mannerisms.
Nigel tries to ask a fan about his predictions for the main event tonight…but the fan starts ranting about bringing Kevin Steen back. ‘What a Helen Hunt’ – Nigel.
INSIDE ROH – It’s more focus on the World Title Match tonight. Strong continues his cocky fratboy gimmick which, again, is surprisingly entertaining. Davey Richards, in contrast, goes over a lot of his background and tells some emotional stories about his family.
Davey Richards vs Roderick Strong – ROH World Title Match
The American Wolf has called Roderick his top rival in Ring Of Honor. They are former stable-mates, former tag partners and now heated rivals. Final Battle 2010 was hyped as the biggest match in Davey’s career but he failed in his attempt to dethrone Roderick Strong as World Champion on that evening. Even though he would go on to defeat Strong at Honor Takes Center Stage weekend, there is still a lingering doubt as to whether Roderick has the edge on him in a big title situation and now is his chance to end that speculation.
These two are familiar opponents, and the initial pace is very slow. Strong acts out first, opting to slap Richards in the face rather than give him a clean break. Davey keeps his temper in check and traps the challenger in a surfboard stretch…only for Strong to counter to a version of the hold himself. Davey tries the Anklelock but it’s far too early and Roddy kicks him out of the ring to block it. The two men trade blows on the floor and it’s Strong’s chops that actually win out over Davey’s kicks – giving Strong the advantage for the first time in the match. He jumps at Davey, knocking him off the turnbuckles with a knee strike for 2. Back from commercials and it’s still Roddy on top, getting another nearfall with a back suplex. Davey lands a German suplex out of nowhere but is so beaten up he can’t follow up! Once again they trade strikes and this time it’s Davey’s kicks taking the edge. He connects with the running punt from the apron…THEN THE ELBOW SUICIDA! Back in the ring Davey gets 2-count using an exploder suplex. Saito Suplex blocked though, enabling Strong to go after the back again with a powerslam. Half Nelson suplex blocked…BLACK SUPERKICK!
Again it’s Richards getting a shoulder up at 2! STRONG CHOPS HIM IN THE FACE! BACK SUPLEX ON THE APRON! Still the champion finds a way to get his shoulder up! ALARM CLOCK! DISCUS LARIAT! Both men lie on the canvas, drenched in sweat and looking like they’ve got nothing left to give. Somehow they drag themselves up and stomp across the ring to trade stiff shots once more. They exchange kicks and chops in the corner…DEATH BY RODERICK NAILED! Suplex Flip Backbreaker blocked though, and Davey takes the fight to the top rope for a superplex! ROLLED INTO A FALCON ARROW ANKLELOCK! Strong escapes and knees him in the face! DEATH BY RODERICK COUNTERED TO THE ANKLELOCK AGAIN! Truth Martini jumps onto the apron to save the match, but it doesn’t stop Richards levelling Strong with the Handspring Enzi. Davey throws Truth out of the ring! SICK KICK! STRONGHOLD! BACK TO THE ANKLELOCK! RUNNING KICK TO THE HEAD! STRONG NO SELLS! BUZZSAW KICK! FOR 2! ANKLELOCK FOR A FOURTH TIME! This time Roddy has nowhere left to go and Richards retains at 19:56 (shown).
Rating - **** - If any new viewers were in any doubt as to how hard hitting and dramatic the Ring Of Honor product can be, this should have cleared things up for them. These two are so natural in the ring together by this point that, even when modifying their sh*t for TV, they still produce something really special. Live reports indicated this was the stand-out match from the first night of tapings and it’s hard to disagree. Even though the initial pace was slow, everything they did conveyed a very natural hatred of each other. Everything they did was done with such force and impact that it exploded off the screen at you. And everything they did portrayed them as completely equally matched, which meant that the false finishes at the end were incredibly effective.
Tape Rating - **** - Perhaps I’m over-rating this a tad, but I thought this was a really enjoyable hour of wrestling television. The memorable World Title Match will get the headlines, but some of the stuff they did before that worked very well too. The Briscoes made their SBG bow and looked like a big deal, Tommaso Ciampa looked the best he’s looked in his entire ROH career and the ‘Inside ROH’ segment was a simple but effective way to build not just the rivalry between Davey and Roderick, but also their characters and motivations too. The HDNet show was so often bogged down by endless squashes and wastes of television time. On SBG having a commercial every 4 minutes means that literally every second of TV time is precious, and it’s clear that there is a genuine effort in the editing room to make sure nothing is wasted this time.