ROH on Sinclair – Episode 026 – 17th March 2012

I loved the Blind Destiny episode last week. Three solid matches, each one better than the last, packed into an hour of TV. It was good to watch, did a hell of a job promoting the Florida pay-per-views and provided plenty of wrestling closer to the quality long-term fans of the ROH product have come to expect. I want to see more episodes like that, and I certainly don’t want to see ROH let the momentum drop as we countdown the last two weeks of television before we get to Showdown In The Sun. Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness are in Baltimore, MD.

Show opens with the conclusion to the 10th Anniversary Show with Adam Cole pinning Davey Richards. They also air the aftermath which I didn’t get to see on DVD – that being Kyle O’Reilly throwing a sulk and refusing to shake hands with Cole or Eddie Edwards…then the notorious Steen ‘Jiu Jitsu Jackoff’ stuff. Steen trying to goad Davey into getting Cornette to sign off on a title match between them is a pretty awesome idea.

Adam Cole vs Chris Silvio
Good idea to send Cole through the curtain first, with a jobber to squash. They just showed him pinning the World Champion (the week after Steen beat him in five minutes), so it’s important they follow that up by giving Adam some televised victories and really built him up as a credible singles talent. Silvio has a fun look and gimmick, but has never looked anything more than mediocre.

Kyle O’Reilly joins Nigel and Kevin to commentate and rambles about how much he doesn’t respect Cole…as his former partner dropkicks Silvio in the face and drops him with a pescado. Silvio’s response is to hide behind the referee then jump out to sucker punch Adam. He hits a swinging neckbreaker…then takes too long posing to the crowd and misses an elbow drop. Crossface attempted only for Cole to counter into a Samoan drop. Death Valley neckbreaker scores but Silvio blocks the Florida Key (straight-jacket German) and belts him in the face with a forearm. Adam delivers a brutal jumping enzi then nails the Florida Key for the win at 04:49

Rating - * - Some of this was ok, but it went on too long with Silvio getting in way too much offence. This is obviously the start of some kind of push for Adam Cole, and I just think he shouldn’t be out here taking so much of an OVW enhancement talent’s offence.

Kyle interrupts the victory celebrations to lay down a simple challenge – he wants Adam Cole at Showdown In The Sun. Adam agrees and promises to stop his whining in Florida…

Before Kevin Steen comes to the ring for an interview segment, the show the best bits of his wild No DQ Match with Jimmy Jacobs in New York. That’s the Jimmy Jacobs all the Sinclair-era fans need to be seeing on television by the way. Steen drapes himself in streamers and delivers an absolutely demented promo. He is really growing into this role as the sick centrepiece in ROH. Jim Cornette interrupts him, clearly smug about who he’s signed to face him at Night 1 of Showdown In The Sun…it’s El Generico! And in an added twist, not only is the Package Piledriver still banned - he'll be suspended if he uses it on Generico.

INSIDE ROH – Still counting down to the Florida shows. Lethal defending the TV Title against Kyle O’Reilly has been added to Night 1…and we get a promos from the likes of Lance Storm, Davey Richards, WGTT and the Briscoes (who are hilarious).

Kelly announces the March Mayhem tournament, featuring Lethal, Strong, Elgin, Cole, Ciampa, O’Reilly, Bennett and Edwards. They will complete in four qualifying matches to progress to a Four Corner Survival Final with the winner receiving $24,000 (urgh).

Roderick Strong vs Jay Lethal
This is the first bout in the March Mayhem tournament, as well as a preview of Showdown In The Sun Night 2 when these two will collide as part of Blind Destiny. Roddy already has a TV Title shot in his pocket after Glory By Honor 10 last year, and a win here would certainly move him to the front of the queue of guys waiting to challenge Lethal.

Apparently ROH are filing a court injunction forcing Tommaso Ciampa to give Lethal his championship belt back. Kevin Kelly talks about his this match can’t be defensive, as the two guys wrestle the opening minutes extremely defensively – tentatively trading holds on the canvas and clearly desperate not to make an early mistake. Jay picks up the pace with a hurricanrana and a dropkick; giving him the first defined advantage of the contest. Strong is rattled and sent crashing out of the ring as Lethal nails the springboard dropkick off the apron. TOPE SUICIDA SCORES! The crowd really explode for that and it’s the TV Champion in charge as we go to commercials. During the break it turns out Truth Martini decided to distract Jay…allowing Strong to drill him back-first into the guardrails. I do NOT like significant events in a match like that being missed during a break. Could we not have had the ad break whilst Strong worked a camel clutch or worked the inevitable subsequent ‘attack the back’ portion of the bout? The Baltimore fans are right behind Lethal, and groan in disappointment as Strong absorbs some shots from him then drags him to the canvas and absolutely DESTROYS the back with clubbing forearms. Again Lethal mounts a comeback, delivering the hiptoss dropkick combo WHICH RODERICK SHOULD HAVE F*CKING SCOUTED LAST WEEK! I told you he wouldn’t counter it! Lethal Combination blocked and countered to a slingshot falcon arrow for 2. Strong can’t beat him down enough to score with one of his finishing moves though, and Jay explodes back with a handspring elbow. Martini is on the apron…so Lethal socks him in the mouth! Roderick uses the ropes to pin Jay – for 2! Death By Roderick…2 again! Gibson Driver countered to the LETHAL COMBINATION! Michael Elgin is out here as well – and Roderick accidentally smashes him into the guardrails! In the aftermath Lethal rolls Strong up for 3. 13:37 (shown) is the time.

Rating - *** - Last week I criticised the Baltimore crowd for being silent and taking away from the quality of the Elgin/O’Reilly match. This week their incredibly raucous support for Jay Lethal actually made this match so much better. These two didn’t click at Glory By Honor 10 last year, and if I’m honest this one wasn’t amazing either – from a strictly technical point of view. Lethal’s selling of the back was non-existent. What was the point in Roddy scouting Jay last week if he countered NONE of the moves he uses in every match? The amount of outside interference was incredibly frustrating. And who the hell edited the key turning point of the match into the freaking commercials? BUT, the great babyface/heel dynamic made it a really watchable main event.

NEXT WEEK – WGTT vs C&C, plus Elgin vs Cole in March Mayhem.

Tape Rating - ** - A real step down in quality from last week, but that’s mostly because there wasn’t as much wrestling, and what in-ring stuff there was didn’t resonate with me as much. But, lets credit ROH for continuing to push the Florida double header…as the cards are absolutely stacked. We now have the following matches booked, all with titles on the line, feuds to settle…or both: Richards/Strong/Edwards, Steen/Generico, Bennett/Storm, Lethal/O’Reilly, ANX/Bucks (twice), Briscoes/WGTT, O’Reilly/Cole, Richards/Elgin, Steen/Edwards. That’s ten matches, over two nights, all promoted and with something on the line. Given ROH’s limited resources, and given how easy it is to criticise the booking team at times, it’s an impressive feat to have built two such rammed shows in the last 6 weeks of television.
 

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