ROH on Sinclair – Episode 053 – September 22nd 2012
Since the latest round of TV tapings are only taking place tonight (September 22nd) it’s still a couple more weeks before we get any fresh content – Survival Of The Fittest in October. That means tonight we’ll continue ripping fans off who paid for ppvs by giving away more of it for free. Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness are in Providence, RI to give away more of Boiling Point 2012.
Nigel and Kevin open the show – promising that we’ll see action from the four-way contract match, the Edwards/Sara vs Bennett/Maria match, the Cole/Evans Proving Ground Match and we’re kicking off with Strong/Mondo. So basically we’re giving away the ENTIRE F*CKING PPV for free? It’s a complete disgrace if you ask me…
SIDENOTE – Presumably there will be edits and cuts made to fit this all onto TV. I’ve got no plans in watching for them so everything is clipped out of my event reviews as usual…
Roderick Strong vs Mike Mondo
No titles and no particular feud at stake here, but the importance of this match can’t be understated. Roddy just lost the TV Title, whilst Mondo just blew his big World Title shot when he lost to Kevin Steen on the SBG show. Both of these two want to be in the World Championship picture, and so need a win over the other person here to elevate themselves up the pecking order.
‘Standing room only crowd tonight’ – Kevin Kelly as the crowd sits down in unison after the entrance of the two wrestlers. Mondo is so intense he actually chain-wrestles Roderick out of the ring – forcing Roddy into a tactical rethink with Truth Martini on the floor. Strong tries to fire off a series of chops, and this gets STIFF IN A HURRY! Headbutts, fists and chops fly as these guys just lay waste to each other! No Fear tries to come off the ropes only to be shoved to the floor as Roderick looks to keep this as a fight rather than a wrestling match. They exchange chops and headbutts on the floor in absolutely vicious fashion. Strong gets his nose busted open…SO HE BOOTS MONDO IN THE F*CKING FACE! They’re not done…slaps next, even with Mike fighting from his knees. Strong delivers a sliding boot to the face for 2 then chops him over the ropes and back to the outside. He picks him up to ram him shoulder and head-first into the ringpost, and it’s unrelenting as he picks him up for a BRAINBUSTER ON THE CONCRETE! Somehow Mondo stays in the match, and starts to return fire with a flurry of knee strikes! He ties Strong in the ring apron, allowing him to deliver an unprotected stomp to the exposed head. Quebrada nailed for 2 – with No Fear clearly switching up his game to defeat the ROH veteran. REBOUND HEADSCISSORS OFF THE ROPES INTO THE RAILS! And Mondo isn’t finished – he heads up the ramp for a run up…POOOUUUUUUUUUNCE!!! These two have beaten the hell out of each other – to the extent that Todd Sinclair thinks about stopping the match. Strong capitalises on the respite to hit a jumping knee strike into the URINAGE BACKBREAKER FOR 2! Death By Roderick blocked and countered into a spinebuster from No Fear! LEBELL LOCK! Mondo counters to a schoolboy pin…and it’s 2 again. DEATH BY RODERICK! MONDO KICKS OUT AGAIN! Orange Crush Backbreaker…countered with a small package. JUMPING KNEE! SICK KICK! Strong finally puts Mondo away at 12:39
Rating - **** - There’s a chance I’m over-rating this a little, but f*ck it. Forget Mondo/Richards or Mondo/Steen – this is the best Mike Mondo match in ROH thus far. What a war this was. I’d say it was easily the best opening match from ROH in 2012. In fact, other than Edwards/Rhino at Border Wars I’m struggling to remember anything coming close. So rugged, tough and physical as these two just beat the sh*t out of each other. Nothing clever, nothing complicated – just unrelenting physicality.
INSIDE ROH – Michael Elgin tells Truth Martini to ditch the Roderick Strong favouritism and get behind him as the next World Champion. Elsewhere Mike Bennett is ready to get revenge on Mondo at Glory By Honor. Lethal/Richards is added to the ppv card too.
NEXT WEEK – Road Rage from Death Before Dishonor. Because raping one ppv wasn’t enough.
Kevin and Nigel introduce extended highlights of the Marshall/Taven/Marseglia/Thomas contract match, then Cole vs Evans in the Proving Ground.
Mike Bennett/Maria Kanellis vs Eddie Edwards/Sara Del Rey
This is a Mixed Tag Match, and is to settle the rivalry between Edwards and Bennett which has been raging back and forth for months. They’ve traded wins, but it’s mostly been Eddie on the receiving end of post-match beatings and humiliation from Bennett, along with Brutal Bob and Maria. Having seen it once too often, Eddie reached out to an old Sweet’n’Sour Inc. colleague, and a woman who deeply resents Maria calling herself the ‘First Lady Of ROH’. The Queen Of Wrestling, and former Women Of Honor staple Sara Del Rey made her return on TV and nearly snapped Maria’s leg with an Anklelock. Bennett knows he’s almost going this alone and needs to make sure that he’s not only beating Eddie, but that he protects his girlfriend from the clutches of the former SHIMMER Champion.
Maria acts like she’s going to start, and of course tags out before Del Rey gets close to laying a hand on her. Eddie comes in with Bennett and, as has become customary, wrestles circles around The Prodigy. Sliding enziguri gets an early 2-count. Sara tags in and belts Bennett with a series of kicks, ending with a big axe kick to the back of the head. Bennett tries to fight back…only to walk into a superkick from the Queen! Finally Kanellis pulls Sara’s hair, giving ‘Team Sexy’ the advantage and allowing Bennett to choke her in the ropes like a gentleman. Such is Sara’s power though, she has no problems in kicking past Mike and tagging Edwards back – and he chases him into the corner to pummel him with Machine Gun Chops. Tree of woe dropkick combo, with added kicks to the sternum from Del Rey. This is becoming more like a handicap match for The Prodigy. Edwards dives off the apron at Bennett, COUNTERED IN MID-AIR WITH A SPEAR! Big moment in the match as The Prodigy at last delivers a significant offensive strike and gives his team a significant advantage for the first time. He takes some real punishment, but fires back with the Boston Knee Party. Bennett returns fire with a HUGE lariat, flipping Die Hard through the air and leaving both men down. Maria blind tags and tries to steal a laughable cheap victory over the former World Champion. Del Rey tags and KILLS Maria with a big boot flurry. Big elbows nearly take her head off…but Bennett blind tags and dives into the ring to take the full force of Sara’s Capo Kick. ELBOW SUICIDA FROM EDWARDS TO MIKE! Backpack Stunner brings him back in the ring for a 2-count. AVALANCHE BOX OFFICE SMASH COUNTERED WITH A BACK FLIP! ACHILLES LOCK! Maria tries to slap her man free, only for Eddie to laugh at her. ANKLELOCK FROM DEL REY TO MARIA! The First Lady crawls under the ring and hides…as Bennett counters and puts Edwards in the Half Crab! Del Rey emerges from under the ring with Maria’s clothes…and Bennett is so pissed that he lets go of the submission. ACHILLES LOCK ON BENNETT AGAIN! He taps, giving Eddie and Sara the win at 13:07
Rating - *** - This won’t be winning any MOTY awards, but it was something a bit different from ROH and I found it quite enjoyable. It was also good to see Eddie win a match with one of his finishing moves – possibly for the first time in 2012. To be fair to Maria, she really doesn’t have to be working matches in ROH. She might not be a huge star but she certainly has enough fame and finance behind her that she doesn’t need to be getting kicked in the face by Sara Del Rey in Rhode Island convention centres. Fair play to her for stepping into the Ring Of Honor ring, and she was entertaining enough in her role. It was a nice ROH send-off for Sara as well. She found out she was out of Sinclair’s ROH only when they didn’t put her on the roster of the new website. Nobody ever called her or had the courtesy to tell her they weren’t booking her anymore. That’s not on, and it was cool to see her work this show before getting a well-deserved WWE contract (I think she’s a trainer for them now).
Tape Rating - DUD - In case I hadn’t made it clear, I’m pretty pissed off with ROH right now. Even the stupid voice of the guy doing the voiceovers on their DVD and social media commercials makes me want to rip my ears off. The fact that we’re going straight from this to ripping content out of ANOTHER ppv next week is also infuriating. Why not just send the Sinclair cameras to any of the three house shows we’ve had since Best In The World? Thank god October is looking better with the New Jersey return, Glory By Honor on ppv (which already has a decent card announced) and Survival Of The Fittest on TV.