The Glimpse:
Truth Martini’s Guardians of Truth get a rematch with Jay and Mark Briscoe, Eddie Kingston appears and Lance Storm faces Mike Bennett once more.
The Action:
Match 1: The Guardians of Truth vs Jay and Mark Briscoe
Winners: Briscoes via pinfall
Martini introduces the Guardians of Truth himself. Martini pulls the bit again where he pulls one mask off the Guardians just to reveal another. A “Mosh and Thrasher” chant starts, as the cat has been out of the bag for a while that the GoT are the Headbangers under masks.
Cheap open from the Guardians, with a double team to take early control. A blind tag brings Mark Briscoe in to take over, then a tag back to Jay. The Guardians finagle a switcheroo on the floor, which allows them to trick Jay and take control once again. Back from a commercial, Mark Briscoe is taking a beating on the wrong side of town. One of the Guardians hits a springboard clothesline to the floor to keep the onslaught going. This draws Jay into the ring, distracting the ref and allowing continued double teams on the floor.
A snapmare and chinlock from one of the Guardians back in the ring allows Mark to fight up to his feet and flip out of a back body drop, tagging Jay to run wild. Jay hits a Death Valley Driver and Mark follows with Froggy-Bo, but the Guardian on the mat kicks out in two. Now to the Doomsday Device, but Guardian #2 sneaks in as Martini distracts. Mark stops an attempt to double suplex Jay, who rolls into a small package for the win. After the bell, things break down and Strong and Rhino head to ringside to help. Michael Elgin elects not to help and heads to the back, further pushing his leaving the House of Truth.
Chikara Grand Champion, Eddie Kingston addresses Kevin Steen
Kingston appears without his title; considering how much they like to drop the fact that he is the CGC, it’s odd he doesn’t represent it. Kingston says that redemption will be winning the ROH World Title. He speaks of chasing dreams and losing loved ones because of it. Kingston name drops Larry Sweeney who died last year, and the crowd (those who know the name, at least) react. Kingston says he’ll use the ROH World Title to show his son why you should chase your dreams.
Inside Ring of Honor
Was there collusion between The Embassy Ltd and the House of Truth? R.D. Evans throws Prince Nana under the bus, but doesn’t give specifics. Tommaso Ciampa tells Nana that the Embassy is dead and delivers a Kryptonite Krunch. R.D. Evans has assumed Ciampa’s contract and will represent him moving forward.
Shelton Benjamin has been “suspended” indefinitely for his chair shot to Kenny King on ROH TV one week ago. This will cover while Shelton is in Japan.
Adam Cole won the TV Title from Roderick Strong in an excellent match that also pushed forward the Elgin storyline and had Truth Martini take the best manager bump I’ve seen in a long time.
Match 2: Mike Bennett vs Lance Storm
Winner: Mike Bennett via pinfall
The “rubber match” – Bennett/Storm III. Interestingly, Storm comes out to a song by Fozzy, fronted by his good buddy Chris Jericho. Bobby Cruise announces this as the rubber match, which is just one of those odd things you don’t announce as the ‘name’ of a match, since people may not know what the term actually means.
Storm opens up with work on the arm and European uppercuts. Bennett turns it around with strikes of his own. Storm rolls through on a sunset flip from Bennett and wants the Single Leg Crab, but Bennett rolls to the floor. Bennett comes back in and slams Storm, then drops a pair of elbows, but only gets two. Bennett whips Storm to the corner and runs in, yelling “Screw you Lance!” but comes up empty, crotching himself on the middle turnbuckle.
Storm drops elbows, but Bennett runs him into the corner keeping the back and forth action going. Storm lifts Bennett to the apron and they exchange strikes; Bennett gets the best of Lance and throws him off into the barricade, then jumps off the apron with a clothesline. Both men are on the floor, so it’s commercial time.
Back to action, Bennett lands a dropkick and gets a nearfall. Bennett follows up with a belly to back suplex for another two count. Storm starts a comeback, but gets thrown shoulder first into the ringpost. Bennett keeps on the shoulder, booting it into the post and dropping it on the top rope. Now a half nelson and chinlock, but Storm fights to his feet. Storm wants a back body drop, but Bennett counters with a single arm DDT. The men exchange strikes and Storm reverses a suplex into a small package, but Bennett kicks out and hits a big clothesline. Bennett throws on an armbar this time, but Storm again fights out and lands a series of strikes ending in a step up enzuigiri for a two count. Storm steps to the apron and ends up getting rammed headfirst into two turnbuckles. Bennett sets up for a suplex, but Storm grabs the ropes to counter and clotheslines Bennett back into the ring. Storm tries a leapfrog knee drop, but comes up empty, letting Bennett keep control. Back to an exchange of strikes, which Storm wins with a leg lariat; it’s good for another nearfall. Storm follows with a springboard clothesline, but Bennett kicks out again.
Lance Storm tries for the Straight Shooter, but Bennett clamps down for a pin attempt, which Storm escapes. Storm whiffs another Enzuigiri attempt and Bennett puts him in a single leg crab of his own. Storm kicks out and hits Bennett’s own Box Office Smash for a two count. Storm pulls Bennett into a fireman’s carry and wants a TKO, but Bennett escapes and tries one of his own, but Storm counters down into the Straight Shooter. Bennett gets the ropes and Storm sits him on the top rope. Storm wants a superplex, but Evans distracts; Bennett is able to hit a jumping neckbreaker from the second rope, but Storm kicks out at the last second. Maria gets on the apron to distract and Brutal Bob slips a chair in – Bennett hits the Photo Finish (his name for the TKO) on it and it’s good for the win. The men stand Storm up and Maria pops him in the face with her boot. Sara del Rey hits the ring and kicks Maria in the face, then puts her in a half crab. Bennett and Bob break it up, drawing Eddie Edwards out.
The Reaction:
Basically the same match as they had at Best in the World 2012 – Briscoes via a roll up after a pretty basic back and forth tag. Not much else to say, except Rhino and Strong coming out at the end will likely lead to an 8-man tag at some point.
Kingston was a stumbling a bit as he gave his promo, but there’s a lot of passion behind it. He has himself convinced that he’ll walk out of Boiling Point as both the Chikara Grand Champion and the ROH World Champion. Seems like a good portion of the fans agree with him and are staunchly behind him. Steen/Kingston should be a great hard hitting match.
Great match between Bennett and Storm. When Bennett debuted, I didn’t enjoy him at all, but he’s gotten better and better as he’s had more time in the ring. Solid action throughout, but I’m not a big fan of the ending of this trilogy. If Storm is done with the storyline, that’s a terrible send off for him. Great section in the middle there with the men using each other’s signature moves. It just so happens that both of them are pretty common, so it’s not one of the situations where it seems entirely odd for the guy to use the other guy’s move.
The Rant:
Like I said, the same match that people paid for on PPV a while back. Nothing special here at all, aside from the usual awesomeness that is the Briscoes. If thatis the Headbangers under those masks, they’ve gotten sloppy. The Guardians of Truth aren’t looking very good at all. At least after the match they hit the old Stage Dive powerbomb/guillotine leg drop combo. Be nice if they had matches that ended that way, but fine.
Can’t rant about a great match, but the events surrounding it can definitely be discussed. Lance Storm has his “last match on TV?” end with a TKO on a chair. This doesn’t give Bennett much of a nod or a rub, since it’s a dirty win. It also makes the veteran look like a bit of a goof, getting outsmarted by the young upstart he came to put in his place. I don’t believe that Storm is going to be continuing this storyline, so this is more of that screwy ROH booking that really makes a fan scratch their head. Storm loses and immediately the focus shifts to the mixed tag match coming up on Saturday. Sara del Rey appears and kicks Maria’s makeup right off her face and Eddie Edwards makes the save, standing tall and protecting del Rey and Storm. Perhaps Storm appears in their corner, as he trained Maria and had a beef with Bennett? This may be one of the last times we see Death Rey in action before she assumes whatever position it is she’s taken with WWE.
The Double Preview:
Next week, ANX and Jay Lethal take on Steve Corino, Jimmy Jacobs and ROH World Champion Kevin Steen.
This Saturday, August 11th, Eddie Kingston challenges for the ROH World Title, Charlie Haas takes on Michael Elgin, Jay Lethal faces Tommaso Ciampa, and a Boston battle takes place between Eddie Edwards (teamed up with Sara del Rey) and Mike Bennett (tagging with Maria). ROH Boiling Point 2012, Saturday night at 7:30PM EST!
The Shill:
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