I am so, so glad I didn’t watch last weeks episode with Davey Richards against Kyle O’Reily.
1. The Briscoes cut a promo cold not giving a damn about looking directly into the camera. Cedrick Alexander and Caprice Coleman cut a promo also with a lack of compassion for looking directly into the camera. Is this the kind of edginess ROH needs?! No? Oh, OK.
1b. Caprice Coleman is pretty good cutting a promo. They say he’s a motivational speaker for his ministry or some such thing. If all religious motivational speakers are solid on the mic like Coleman, can you imagine Tim Tebow cutting a promo?
1c. TEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW
2. The Briscoes are taking on Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander. I dig the set up for this. Caprice and Cedric went 13 minutes with Benjamin and Haas, before losing, in a match where had they won, or survived to get a 13 minute draw, they then get a Tag Title shot at Benjamin/Haas. The Briscoes want this match against Caprice and Cedric just to embarrass the Champs by winning in less than 13 minutes. Pretty good set-up.
3. Except, it was over before it really got started. Neither side had a chance to show much of anything before Haas/Benjamin interference ended it. They ran outside…then didn’t do anything outside. But, boy was it TENSE. Or, at least, that’s what Kevin Kelly described it as. He must have seen some other more RAW footage or something. Like Brian Pillman standing out there waiting to shoot #DEMBOYS with his 9MM or something.
4. I know folks have complained about the new comment set up here at the Pulse. Now, I realize no one comments on these ROH Thoughts posts, so it doesn’t really interfere with me a whole lot. But, hey, there had been some decent discussions around these parts. Mainly Blair A. Douglas led, so, let me take a moment to plug TheDDT.com which is a pretty slick messageboard (as evidenced by the picture of Triple H at the top!). If you’re not crazy lame or insatiably dull* I definitely recommend heading over to check out the discussion.
5. They then had a handicap match between Michael Elgin and two dudes. The two dudes did not win. Crazy!
5a. This was awful.
6. *OK, so, even if you’re crazy lame or insatiably dull, still head over to TheDDT.com. It’s a good board. You can even write conflicting wrestling arguments with people who won’t “Pull a Glazer” and fly off the handle and think their manhood is being questioned everytime you point out disagreement with an argument someone makes. It should be good back and forth.
7. They ran a segment for the Eddie Edwards/Davey Richards Title match at Final Battle. Apparently Edwards and Richards haven’t been BORING ENOUGH yet in their promos. So, ROH ramped up the lame by bringing in Dan Severn, a MMA dude, to sit next to Edwards and say some really boring shit.
7a. ROH is apparently trying to capture those moments in sports where they build to a match or event by having the two competitors talk in a cerebral manner about their opposition. Those moments are awful when the people involved are boring, but, you don’t care, because they are playing a sport, not talking professionally. ROH apparently wants to mimic these moments. Are you supposed to watch these segments and say, “it’s OK, at least he doesn’t talk for a living!”?
7b. Really. Really. Dumb.
7c. Roderick Strong at least mocks the shit out of their “Team Richards” and “Team Edwards” fighting camps by saying that “Camp Strong” is at the bar with two blonde chicks getting drunk. I don’t love these Strong promos yet, but, like them more, is definitely something I’m starting to believe. He apparently has a “Strong Invitational” at Final Battle with an unknown opponent…with his gimmick being dude who doesn’t take fighting seriously because he’s the best, I’d love if that opponent was Low-Ki and Strong got his fucking face kicked in.
8. Kevin Steen will be on the show next week. In the ring. Talking with Jim Cornette. And their lawyers. I hope for two things out of that…
- That Jim Cornette is in heel mode. I don’t care if he goes back to face for more boringness right after, but, heel Cornette is spectacular and greatly needed.
- That Jim Cornette has hired Clarence Mason as attorney for Ring of Honor. Sidenote, how awesome would it have been if, instead of getting people who can’t act to put smug grins on their faces constantly and without purpose, they had gotten Jaime Dundee to play Steen’s ambulance chasing attorney?
9. Main Event is for the TV Title and it’s Generico against Lethal. I liked the opening minutes of this one a lot more than their first match for the TV Title. Generico and Lethal trade a lot on the mat, and it’s always Generico coming out on top. Lethal, each time, makes it clear he knows he’s a step slower than Generico. It added some substance to the early mat-flash that a lot of matches often ignore, which was a good thing. It’s just that they kind of forgot about that the rest of the way.
10. Oh, yeah, Mike Bennett was ringside, and he mixes it up with both dudes a bit. He wore the belt, Lethal decked him, Generico dove on them both. So, I assume they’re having a three-way dance for the belt at the iPPV. Time Limit draw here. OK stuff, but, probably forgettable.
Back to Thought 9…one thing they should have done was made it clear how Lethal would adapt to the knowledge that Generico was a step quicker than him this time around. They didn’t. It would have been cool to see Lethal play a slight heel in a face vs. face matchup because of that. Sure, they didn’t need to go in that direction, but, I just wish they would have done something with the early groundwork and Lethal as slight-heel is the easiest example I have. Maybe they’ll come back to that point at the iPPV, which would be nice.
