ROH on Sinclair – Episode 033 – 5th May 2012

It’s the go-home show for Border Wars…and since ROH has had a TV show pretty consistently since 2009 you should know the drill by now. We’re looking for a hard sell of the ippv and some quality wrestling. If Ring Of Honor can deliver that then I’m pretty much guaranteed to enjoy this show. It was taped in Baltimore, MD with Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness in the commentary booth.

Tommaso Ciampa vs Matt Taven
It’s Taven’s first ROH appearance since that crazy bout with Mike Mondo which earned him rave reviews. His performance in that one was remarkable even in defeat, and his ROH career doesn’t get any easier tonight as he is tasked with trying to end Ciampa’s undefeated streak.

Taven plays the crowd and is DESTROYED by a dragon suplex from Tommaso! He sets up for the Bare Knee Strikes…only for Matt to leave the ring and haul Ciampa out as well. SUICIDE DIVE NAILED! Jay Lethal takes a ringside seat and watches as his rival hits an AIR RAID CRASH ON THE FLOOR! Ciampa exposes the concrete under the mats, but takes too long yelling at Lethal and is punished with a BRAINBUSTER ON THE CONCRETE! These guys are taking crazy bumps! They crawl back into the ring and both look totally messed up. Taven no sells elbows from Ciampa and starts hammering him with kick combos. Rolling axe kick gets 2! Basement dropkick from a kneeling position brings Tommaso back into things. Project Ciampa countered into a SLINGSHOT NECKBREAKER! Ciampa barely kicks out! Prince Nana tries to interfere on behalf of his charge but Taven still knocks Tommaso off the ropes and hits a FROG SPLASH FOR 2! Taven looks like he has this won…only for Ciampa to FLOOR him with a jumping knee. Bare Knee Strike COUNTERED to a schoolboy pin for 2! Matt makes one more effort in jumping to the top, only to be tied up in the tree of woe. TREE OF WOE KNEE STRIKE! Taven is unconscious and helpless as Tommaso pulls him out of the corner into PROJECT CIAMPA! Tommaso wins at 07:38

Rating - *** - Awesome TV match. Ciampa keeps getting better and better as 2012 progresses, and Taven has so much potential. He reminds me of Eddie Edwards – not stylistically, but in the way he looks so comfortable and natural in the ring. Like Eddie, he seems to do the simple things very well and makes pro wrestling look so easy. Taven/Mondo and now Taven/Ciampa are both well worth checking out. Great way to start the show, and I really don’t know how Taven didn’t get a contract offer after that.

Veda Scott talks to TJ Perkins, who says Mondo can’t beat him. The Young Bucks stroll in to call him a ‘weird emo kid’.

Mike Mondo vs TJ Perkins
TJP beat Mondo the last time they met in front of the SBG cameras. We had round 3 of their trilogy at Rising Above 2012 last week in Dayton, so this is the meat in the sandwich we’d missed thanks to overlapping taping/broadcast schedules.

How is Mondo more over than TJ? There are even audible boos as Perkins springs into a neckbreaker. The Nigel McGuinness headstand catches Mike off guard too. Mondo has tricks up his sleeve too though, hiding under the ring then popping out the other side of the ring to jump TJP from behind. He fishhooks the mouth and actually starts DRAGGING him like that! He’s getting the better of ‘Technical Lightning’ by turning this into a brawl and confirms that point by flinging him into the guardrails. The barrage of weird offence continues, as he grinds the face into the apron and turnbuckles. Mondo is, quite literally, working over the face. He tries to BITE THE EYEBALL! Perkins desperately kicks Mondo away and lands a springboard dropkick combo for 2. The Young Bucks clearly didn’t like TJP’s comments towards them in that promo segment as they sneak up the aisle to distract him. SOMERSAULT PLANCHA from TJ takes out both Mondo and the Bucks! Nick Jackson grabs TJ’s leg…allowing Mondo to hit the Double Arm DDT to win at 07:29

Rating - ** - That was fun too. The finish was slightly annoying, although I do appreciate the effort of trying to build a little storyline and book another match into the Border Wars card. The main body of the match, with Mondo working over TJP’s face was actually really good. It’s taken well over a year, but Mondo is slowly starting to get into a bit of a groove in ROH.

All three of them put the boots to TJP, prompting the All Night Express to make the save.

INSIDE ROH – Kevin Kelly runs down the Border Wars card. There are plenty of interviews too.

Kyle O’Reilly calls Kevin Steen a disgusting slob and looks set to soften him up ahead of the World Title showdown at Border Wars.

Kyle O’Reilly vs Kevin Steen
The missions of both men are pretty straight forward here. Steen wants to send a message to Davey Richards by beating up his protégé, whilst O’Reilly wants to inflict some serious damage to his mentor’s challenger for the World Championship.

Kyle charges into battle and lands a big boot to the face. Steve Corino joins commentary although seems to resent being considered the ‘expert’ on Kevin Steen. The early onslaught from O’Reilly is successful and drives Mr Wrestling to the floor. In an ominous sign for this weekend, he seems to have the kick combos scouted, and catches one of Kyle’s kicks to counter it by smashing Kyle’s leg into the ringpost. The Team Ambition member is on the mat clutching his leg in pain as we go to commercials. Back from the break with Steen thinking about cannonballing the bad leg, only to miss and eat the MISSILE DROPKICK TO THE FLOOR! Huge move by Kyle, but it’s one that hurts his leg too. Missile dropkick nailed, followed by an armwrench over the ropes…but still the leg is hurting him and Steen swoops to hit a hanging DDT. F-5 is COUNTERED to the cross armbreaker! Kick to the shoulder…then Steen swats him away with a powerbomb. STEEN PUTS O’REILLY’S MOUTHPIECE IN HIS OWN MOUTH! ANKLELOCK ON KYLE! O’Reilly counters by kicking the gumshield out of Mr Wrestling’s mouth! F-5! Steen wins at 05:58 (shown)

Rating - *** - The crowd heat was electric, and Steen is absolutely red hot going into his big title shot this weekend. As a match this was disappointingly short and underwhelming, but if you can look at it as part of a bigger picture it was a decent main event. Despite having limited time to play with they did work in some decent wrestling exchanges. Definitely enough to make you want to see a rematch

Steen celebrates, as Corino angrily bickers with Nigel McGuinness as to whether he’s to blame for inflicting Wrestling’s Worst Nightmare on ROH. He puts Kyle in the Anklelock again…until Davey makes the save. Jimmy Jacobs low blows the World Champion then Steen wears him out with his tennis racket. Davey says he’s ditching the ‘American Strong Style’ gimmick, bringing back the American Wolf…and the hunt is on in Toronto.

NEXT WEEK – Chikara invades ROH TV, plus Richards vs Rhino in the Proving Ground.

Tape Rating - *** - Excellent go home show. Three decent matches, promo segments for the entire Border Wars card, an attempt made at giving some meaning to a filler match at the ppv, and a great angle to finish the show and hype the huge World Title Match with Team Ambition and the Steen/Jacobs alliance brawling. Taven/Ciampa genuinely was really impressive too. It is genuinely worth finding this episode in your Ringside Membership package just to see this show.
 

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