The Glimpse:
Adam Cole finally comes to ROH TV with his Ring of Honor World Title in hand. Triple threat action for the ROH Tag Team Championship and Brutal Burgers debuts against Michael Bennett.
The Action:
Match 1: Tadarius Thomas vs Mark Briscoe
Winner: Mark Briscoe via pinfall
TD ducks Mark’s early chop and Mark ducks a kick for the usual “even” exchange of an ROH match. TD grabs the ropes off a chop and then delivers a kick followed by Mark flipping out of a back drop. Another exchange of ducks. TD drops Mark with a pair of kicks then Mark is up and over in the corner and delivers a northern lights into the corner. TD bails to the floor to regroup and Mark springs after him with a moonsault. Mark brings TD back in and boots him in the head. TD flips out of a belly to back and headbutts Mark’s chop. TD with a clothesline off the ropes then a series of kicks. TD wants a half nelson suplex but Mark elbows out; TD keeps at it and lands the suplex this time but Mark gets the ropes. TD whiffs a big kick and starts eating some Redneck KungFu. Backhand to end it and Mark plays to the crowd. TD does a headstand in the corner then delivers a back elbow, but runs into a DVD and Mark heads to the top for Froggy-Bow and the win.
Adam Cole
Cole enters to a new song, which I’m guessing is a bit more in line with his theme in PWG, where he’s already a heel. Despite his blatant heel turn, he still gets a strong reception from the crowd.
Cole says he’s finally accomplished what he wanted to accomplish. He says that he shirked the advice to shake hands, smile and make nice with everyone he meets. Cole isn’t just “happy to be here” in Ring of Honor. Why did Cole KO Briscoe and Elgin? Cole says Briscoe tried to ruin his big moment, when Briscoe had his entire family present for his title win. As far as Elgin…well we didn’t get too far because Elgin takes umbridge with Cole saying he was handpicked and heads to the ring. Cole bails up the ramp, only to come face to face with a stone-faced Jay Briscoe. Cole stupidly bails back into the ring and rolls away from a lariat, but he leaves his title belt as he does. Elgin tells Cole it belongs to him and Briscoe doesn’t seem to agree. Briscoe and Elgin jaw with one another while Cole stands on the floor.
Match 2: Michael Bennett & Maria Kanellis vs “Brutal” Bob Evans & Cheeseburger
Winners: Bennett & Kanellis via pinfall
Nana is at ringside. Why has nobody torn this guy a new b-hole for bringing in Outlaw Inc?
Evans is happy to start off with Bennett. Maria apparently wants to start it off with him instead. Cheeseburger is tagged in by Bob. Maria shoves CB (it’s gotta suck for this kid to be wrestling a woman that’s as tall as him and has better arms) and he takes her into a headlock. CB apparently can’t shoulder block Maria down and when he tries again Bennett bashes him from the apron. Bennett tags in and stomps on CB’s ribs. Bennett with a big scoop slam then Maria tags back in and rakes his face. Bennett back in and a huge stomp. CB crawls for a tag and eventually crawls through Bennett’s legs twice to tag in Bob. Evans pummels Bennett in the corner then powerbombs Bennett across the ring. Evans takes a three point stance but runs into a right hand. Bennett wants a piledriver and CB flies for a cross body. Bennett catches him then throws him to Bob who catches him and uses him as a battering ram and back drops Bennett while still holding him. Evans puts CB on his back and they hit a double body attack in the corner then a stacked Stunner. Maria pulls Bob out of the pinfall attempt and he’s not too happy about it. CB tags himself in and heads to the top – he jumps over Bennett then gets speared. Bob gets dropped with a superkick and Bennett hits the Box Office Smash on Cheeseburger to win it.
Bennett says he’s the talk of the town, playing up BJ Whitmer’s retiring. Bennett talks about how great it was to dump BJ on his head with the screwed up piledriver they did. Bennett says this means he has the best piledriver in all of wrestling. Bennett says he’ll show us and grabs Cheeseburger; Kevin Steen’s music hits (out in a “Package Piledrive Everybody” shirt, no less) and he calls Bennett on his new claim. Bob carries CB out to clear the space. Steen doesn’t care if Bennett wants to end anyone’s career, but he doesn’t like the lie that Bennett just perpetrated. Steen says the night Whitmer was dumped on his head Bennett was crying in the back – Maria slaps Steen and it’s a riot in the ring with the men separated.
Steve Corino comes out in a piss-yellow suit and takes a seat at the commentary booth. Corino rolls into the ring and says that he has a valid contract to be the color commentator on ROH television. Nigel says he’ll step in the ring and show Corino what’s what, so Corino drops his contract and the mic and bails.
Match 3: C&C Wrestle Factory vs Forever Hooligans vs reDRagon (c), ROH Tag Team Championship
Winners: reDRagon via pinfall
O’Reilly starts it with Koslov (who has noh8 logos written on his stomach and face). Fish tags in before any actual action and calls out Romero. Fish tags in Alexander and heads back to his corner. Exchange of some rolls and Alexander hits a kick. Romero answers back with an elbow but runs into a tilt a whirl slam. Coleman tags in and lands a flipping senton and a dropkick to Romero’s face. Alexander tags back in and C&C hit their version of a Hart Attack, but O’Reilly breaks it up since this is first to a fall. Coleman back in but he whiffs a springboard cross body which lets him tag in Koslov. He gets back dropped and Fish tags himself in and levels Coleman. Coleman answers with an STO and tags in Alexander. O’Reilly tries to help and ends up taking a dropkick in the corner. Alexander heads up top but Fish cuts him off. Alexander shoves him off and Coleman helps for a double team combination, broken up by Koslov. Coleman hits elbows on everyone then dives onto Koslov and O’Reilly. Koslov caught him so Alexander dives out to finish the job while O’Reilly rolls away.
Back from commercial, Romero is hitting his clotheslines on Fish in the corner, then grabs a hurricanrana. Fish feigns some fisticuffs and bails to the floor, blind tags O’Reilly and Romero gets hit from behind back in the ring. reDRagon are firmly in control and O’Reilly drops a knee on Romero for two. Fish tags back in and hits a pair of kicks for a two count. O’Reilly is back in and reDRagon boots everybody. Double team by reDRagon and a sidewinder-style knee drop that Alexander breaks up. Romero flips out of a suplex from Fish and eventually gets a kick that leaves both men on the mat. Koslov and O’Reilly both tag in and Koslov goes off on everybody. Koslov tags O’Reilly with an enzuigiri and grabs his hat for some Cossack Kicks. Double stomp to the head and only a two count. Double team from the Hooligans that C&C break up then are quickly disposed of to the floor. Koslov gets stuck between reDRagon for kicks and a Regalplex, which is broken up by Coleman. Coleman is fresh and lays into Fish. O’Reilly takes out Romero then takes a kick from Alexander who gets dropped by Koslov. Contract Killer is done Doomsday Device style and its Hooligans double knees in the corner for O’Reilly and Coleman. Fish breaks up an actual Contract Killer and O’Reilly hits a huge springboard tornado DDT rolled up into Chasing the Dragon for the win.
Outlaw Inc hits the ring and tries to break Fish’s fingers, but O’Reilly saves him. Nana mentions how “professional” they look. They’re really drawing out the whole “Nana brought them in to do this on purpose” thing here.
The Reaction:
We all love goofy Mark Briscoe, but the difference between him and the more serious Jay is the reason only one of them is a former World Champion. The Redneck KungFu act just isn’t a singles champion act. Showcase match to let both guys do their bits, so it was a very choreographed set of spots.
This will be a series of singles matches and eventually a three way dance. It has to be. And it’ll be fun as hell to see, let’s be honest.
Comedy as was expected out of a tag match involving Cheeseburger. Another example of a match that was used to set up an angle, instead of be a good match. It happens all the time, so it doesn’t come as much of a surprise.
Now that’s some ROH at its best. Said it many times here – For those that don’t enjoy the frenetic action of ROH, this looks like a mess but for the fans, it’s a load of fun. Some matches need down time, but a match with six guys should be going hard from start to finish, just like this did. C&C still can’t get a straight forward shot at the tag titles, the Hooligans are always a valid contender and Outlaw Inc are demanding a shot of their own, soon to be backed up directly by Nana is seems. At least it has the making for an interesting set of shows, matches and storylines.
The Preview:
None given, but I’m willing to assume we’ll get an answer from Elgin and/or Briscoe, a Corino follow up and something from Outlaw Inc.
The Shill:
As always, if you like what you read here, let me know in the comments or on twitter @sbfantom. I sincerely would like to hear what people think and strike up some conversation!
