ROH on Sinclair – Episode 017 – 14th January 2012
Road Rage continues this week, as tonight we’re promised some choice cuts from the Northern Aggression event. Last week was a pretty clever piece of TV so here’s hoping for more of the same this week. Tonight we’re in Greensboro, NC – once again with Kevin Kelly and Jim Cornette.
Kev and Corny are in arena, now empty after a wild night of action. They announce that they’ve scrapped the original format they had planned – and instead will broadcast as much of the record-breaking 8-man Tag from this show that they possibly can. Not before including another segment where they kiss the ass of the local TV station manager.
SIDENOTE – I’ve copied in the review of the FULL match I wrote up for the Northern Aggression show. As such I’ve not mentioned where the edits occur. That said, I thought the production team did a really slick job cutting up an 80+ minute match into something suitable for the time constraints.
Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe/Roderick Strong/Michael Elgin vs Charlie Haas/Shelton Benjamin/Eddie Edwards/El Generico
It’s the record breaking match that got lots of attention and generated quite the buzz as 2011 came to an end. The Briscoes and WGTT hate each other, and will look to land some pre-emptive strikes ahead of their Tag Title showdown at Final Battle later this month. Generico has had his problems with the House Of Truth and the Briscoes in the past, so doesn’t really get along with any of his opponents. That just leaves Eddie Edwards, who will most likely be using this match to further hone his skills ahead of Richards/Edwards 3 in New York. $10,000 in monopoly money is on the line too for some added spice.
The rules are clarified to explain that you have to survive to the conclusion of the match to get your cut of the $10,000. The Briscoes have no intention of starting with WGTT, so it’s Edwards and Strong who get us underway. They’ve had some fierce battles in the past, and their initial exchanges are so ferocious that they nearly crash through the announce table. Things get chaotic as the heel team get into arguments with ringside fans, Mark Briscoe starts trying to steal the big fake cheque and Generico sticks his nose in to exacerbate the situation for no good reason. Tag to Benjamin which scuttles Jay and Mark, neither of them wanting any part of him so it falls to Elgin to do the honours. Unbreakable goes straight to Shelton’s permanently injured ribs to give the ‘Black Team’ (HOT/Briscoes) the advantage for the first time. House Of Truth are getting increasingly annoyed at the Briscoes’ refusal to get in the ring with WGTT though, and that lack of cohesion gives Shelton a window to tag out. After 11 minutes of action we’re back to where we started with Eddie and Roddy in the ring together, the Briscoes evading Haas and Benjamin, and neither team on top. Mark tagged and he goes move for move with Edwards in electrifying fashion which brings the crowd to life. WGTT try to isolate Strong, although they have to cope with constant illicit interference from the Briscoes. Eventually Roderick converts Generico’s flip attempt into a backbreaker and makes the crucial tag to Elgin. He counters a rana and tosses the luchador down onto his face with such force that his mask breaks! El Generico is trapped in the ring now, with HOT and the Briscoes tagging through their team keeping everyone fresh as they press home the advantage. Business picks up when Generico finally fights free and makes the hot tag to BOTH members of Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team. They explode into action and, after nearly 25 minutes, it’s WGTT and the Briscoes going at it for the first time.
All 8 men brawl around ringside with bodies and guardrail smashes on all sides! Haas hits a backbreaker over the barricade on Jay Briscoe…as on the ramp Benjamin hits a snap suplex on Mark! Not that it stops Mark, he recovers quickly to hit a SOMERSAULT PLANCHA OFF THE APRON! Jay drops Shelton with a DDT onto the apron too…only for Benjamin to retaliate by laying out both the Briscoes with superkicks. The officials have had enough of this crazy brawling and demand the legal men (Benjamin and Jay) get into the ring immediately or they’ll both be counted out. Jay manages to kick Shelton in the balls then tag himself out so he and his brother can get back to avoiding the reigning Tag Champions. Elgin attacks Shelton’s ribs again as order is restored – a theme the entire Black Team continue as they all take turns doing damage to that body part. It works for a time…until the WGTT/Briscoe feud ignites again, and we go back to all 8 guys flying around ringside in a crazy street fight. Eddie and Roderick brawl in the crowd...although it’s hard to tell what the hell is going on. Not saying it’s easy but a lot of the camera work in this match has been abysmal. Multiple big spots missed, missing SD card and low battery warning lights…it’s very amateur considering this is being taped for TV. Elgin slams Generico on the entrance ramp as we cross the 40-minute mark without a single elimination. The referees try to regain control…so everyone piles into the ring and brawls there instead! The babyface team are in charge, delivering four corners of mounted punches to their adversaries. LEAP OF FAITH ON JAY! He kicks out at 2 – honestly that’s the first nearfall of the match the best part of an hour in! Mark saves his brother, and behind the refeee’s back Jay blasts Shelton in the ribs with a chair. FROGGY BOW ON THE RIBS! Benjamin is eliminated at 47:32! OLYMPIC SLAM from Haas to Mark…and that’s enough to eliminate the younger Briscoe at 48:52. No time for Charlie to celebrate, Strong rolls him up for another elimination at 49:28 to end the WGTT participation in this contest. CHARLIE DESTROYS JAY WITH A CHAIR! BRAINBUSTER BY GENERICO! Jay eliminated at 50:14, so we’re down to House Of Truth vs Edwards and Generico!
Strong levels the Generic Luchador with the Half Nelson Backbreaker for 2…and sensibly the HOT look to slow the pace and isolate Generico from the relatively fresh Eddie Edwards in the opposing corner. Elgin shakes the ring as he scores another close nearfall with an Oklahoma Stampede, and together with his partner they zone in on Generico’s back with savage precision. At last El Generico tricks Unbreakable into a spill to the floor! ELBOW SUICIDA BY EDWARDS! SUICIDE DIVE BY GENERICO! APRON BACKBREAKER FROM STRONG TO EDDIE! In the ring Elgin catches Generico coming off the top and gets 2 with a TKO. For only the second time in ROH history, we’re going past the ONE HOUR mark now! YAKUZA KICK BY GENERICO! HALF NELSON SUPLEX…STRONG SAVES! Eddie is on the floor vomiting…as Elgin nearly takes Generico’s head off with a lariat. SPIRAL BOMB! Generico is eliminated at 62:14! Eddie Edwards can barely walk, so Roddy hurls him into another Elgin lariat for 2. But incredibly he fights back with MACHINE GUN CHOPS – only to be punted in the mouth by Roderick. HOT work the numbers, but can’t put Edwards away. Die Hard refuses to go down without a fight and drags Roddy out of the corner into the Backpack Stunner for 2. He and Roderick stand toe to toe, levelling each other with right hands. DIE HARD BLOCKED! ACHILLES LOCK ON TRUTH MARTINI! JUMPING KNEE BY STRONG FOR 2! Elgin tags…and walks into a bridging roll up by Eddie. THREE COUNT! Elgin is eliminated at 73:48, meaning it will be year-long rivals Roderick Strong and Eddie Edwards to settle their differences with ten grand at stake! Both remaining men lie in a heap on the canvas, gradually struggling back to their feet as the clock ticks past 75 minutes to make this the longest match in ROH history (going past Aries vs Danielson at Testing The Limit in 2004). They fight on the turnbuckles…STRONG WITH A URINAGE BACKBREAKER OFF THE TOP ROPE THROUGH THE TIMEKEEPING TABLE! In the spirit of 2004 ROH – DANGEROOUUUS! Edwards just doesn’t know how to quit though…and he crawls into the ring just ahead of the count-out. BLACK SUPERKICK FOR 2! STRONGHOLD! COUNTERED TO THE MANHATTAN MAYHEM 4 ROLL-UP…FOR 2! LARIAT GETS 2! FLYING CODEBREAKER ON TRUTH! DRAGON SLEEPER ON RODERICK! HE TAPS! EDDIE WINS! EDDIE WINS! IT’S OVER AT 80:28!
Rating - **** - What an effort by all involved. I can be a scrooge and say this felt like SBG deciding to put on the longest ROH match ever just for the sake of it…but that shouldn’t take away from what was a phenomenal display of courage and undeniable workrate from eight of ROH’s finest. It rounds off a sensational year for Eddie Edwards, who has gone from being Davey Richards’ sidekick to legitimate Ring Of Honor main eventer in his own right, and served as the perfect way to hype him up going into the year-ending ppv in New York. I didn’t think this was a serious MOTYC candidate because, as I said, it felt very much like they were going long for the sake of going long. That didn’t make it a bad match – in fact it was GREAT to see guys of this quality given the time to really tell a story and not have to rush things. BUT, I felt there was that much less story-telling and significantly less drama in this one than Aries/Danielson in 2004. Lengthy matches like these are a big ask for the viewer (both live and on DVD)…and I felt like Austin and Bryan did a better job running with that responsibility than the guys in this one. The Briscoes/WGTT stuff was very effective, but it didn’t mask the fact that the first 45 minutes were very slow – with lots of the guys resorting to repeating spots to try and run down the clock before the flurry of eliminations. I was also disappointed in how low key Generico’s elimination was, and that House Of Truth didn’t show a little more personality and express themselves better in the concluding portion of the match with Eddie – particularly after Roderick eliminated Elgin from the Honor Rumble in Spartanburg yesterday. So yeah, not an MOTYC but a wonderful, gutsy match worth going out of your way to see. Buy the DVD and see the full match.
NEXT WEEK – More than a month after the ppv, ROH TV will finally have some highlights and reaction to Final Battle 2011 – along with content from the first ever tapings in Baltimore.
Tape Rating – N/A – Last week I thought the Road Rage concept produced a clever hour of television. I’m not sure this was as effective. For every one fan who saw 25 minutes of a great 80 minute match and thought ‘hey, I need to buy this DVD’, there were probably two other fans who would have preferred a format similar to last week with some snappy, TV-length FULL matches and highlights. Credit to the production team because the editing on that match was outstanding, and the quality was such that I didn’t want to give this episode a negative rating. But, I honestly feel like last week did more to promote the DVD and live event business than this one. I’m aware not everyone will share that opinion…