The following is the Ring Of Honor television report from August 11, 2012. The report comes from Dave Musgrave and F4WOnline.com …
The show opens with footage of Kyle O’Reilly confronting Davey Richards prior to the Richards vs. Kevin Steen match at Best In The World in June 2012.
Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness introduce this week’s show from the Du Burns Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. They preview tonight’s main event pitting Kevin Steen, Jimmy Jacobs and Steve Corino against Jay Lethal, Rhett Titus and Kenny King.
Kyle O’Reilly comes out for the first match on the show. O’Reilly gets on the microphone and says that at Best In The World he did not tap out to Adam Cole and he was just beating the blood back into circulation from a pre-existing injury. He says he would rather die than tap out to Adam Cole but today is a new day. He says he has a thirst for blood now and is going to start by making an example Matt Taven who then comes to the ring. The “Tale Of The Tape” shows that Taven is 26 and O’Reilly is 24. O’Reilly charges at Taven and hits him a high knee to start. He whips him to the other corner but Taven gets out of the way and hits a leg lariat. Taven whips O’Reilly into another corner but O’Reilly jumps over Taven who climbs the ropes and hits a moonsault onto a standing O’Reilly for a pin attempt. O’Reilly whips Taven into the ropes and O’Reilly handsprings back at O’Reilly and armdrags him. O’Reilly goes out of the ring and Taven hits a dive over the top rope. They get back in the ring and Taven charges O’Reilly in the corner but ends up on the apron where he hits an enzuiguiri. O’Reilly gets to his feet and snaps Taven`s arm over the top rope. O’Reilly hits a Yakuza kick knocking Taven off the apron and then does a running missile dropkick to Taven on the floor. O’Reilly rolls Taven back in and hits a missile dropkick from the top rope before applying a cross armbreaker. Taven gets the ropes to break it. On their feet, O’Reilly hits a backbreaker for a pin attempt. Taven starts a comeback with forearms and punches but O’Reilly takes him out with a kick, a knee strike and a legsweep. O’Reilly does a series of armbreakers over his shoulder and continuously runs his shoulder into Taven but Taven hits an enzuiguri to stop this. Taven places O’Reilly on the top rope and hits a spinning neckbreaker. They trade kicks and chops leading to O’Reilly kicking Taven in the back of the head and hitting a big punch for a near-fall followed by a backdrop driver for another near-fall. O’Reilly puts Taven on the top rope in a superplex position but Taven pushes him off. Taven follows up with a frog splash but O’Reilly gets his knees and then applies a Fujiwara armbar for the submission.
After the match Kelly and McGuinness discuss ROH officials staying they have not heard from Davey Richards. McGuinness says that when you lose the ROH title it is like losing a child and you just need to step away and decompress. Nigel says he is sure Richards will be back stronger than ever.
Kevin Kelly previews Death Before Dishonor on September 15 in Chicago and notes that pay-per-view details and match announcements are forthcoming. New TV Champion Adam Cole is interviewed and says that he feels very privileged to have the ROH TV title and he will defend it the same way he won it, with pride.
After a commercial break Todd Sople gets in the ring for his ROH television debut. His opponent Rhino comes to the ring accompanied by Truth Martini. Rhino slaps Sople in the face and then punches and kicks him in the corner. Rhino whips him into the ropes and clotheslines him. Rhino then whips Sople into the corner and runs his shoulder into him twice before hitting a belly-to-belly suplex. The fans then chant for a “Gore” and get what they want as Rhino hits a Gore on Sople and pins him for the win. Martini then takes the microphone and says that in the House of Truth there is love, loyalty and unity. Martini says he has been hearing hogwash over here and hooplah over there but it is all rumors because Roderick Strong and Michael Elgin work together perfectly like a nice Swiss Watch. Martini says they are coming up next.
After commercial break footage is shown from two weeks ago of the match in which Adam Cole defeated Roderick Strong for the ROH TV title. Strong and Elgin are then shown coming to the ring followed by their opponents Harlem and Lancelot Bravado who are returning to ROH TV after a stint in Japan and the Pro Wrestling Noah dojo. They tease tension between Elgin and Strong as Strong is ready to start the match but Elgin tags in. Elgin is facing Harlem Bravado and Strong tags Elgin’s back and runs down the apron before Elgin can tag in. Strong then ties up with Harlem and hits chops and forearms in the corner. Strong whips him into the corner and Harlem jumps over him before hitting an armdrag and an elbow. Harlem tags in Lance and they whip Strong into the ropes with Harlem hitting a dropkick. Lance takes on Strong and gets chopped in the corner. Lance reverses and Irish whip and he and Strong criss-cross before Lance hits a belly-to-belly suplex. Harlem tags in and catches Strong with a reverse atomic drop while Lance hits an inverted neckbreaker. Strong hits a chinbreaker and tags in Elgin who lifts up Harlem but gets run into the corner. Harlem hits forearms but Elgin takes over and presses Harlem into the air and drops him to the mat. Elgin works him over with kicks and then attempts a powerbomb but Harlem fights back with elbows. Harlem hits a blind tag to Lance and hits an enzuiguri. Lance comes in and attempts a German suplex but Elgin blocks it. Elgin lifts Lance in a fireman’s carry and Harlem in a fall-away slam position at the same time and throws them backward. He attempts a pin on Lance and then goes for a powerbomb but Strong tags in and attempts a pin. Strong works over Lance in the corner with kicks and elbows and then attempts a backdrop suplex but Lance floats over and then hits a tag. Harlem hits Strong with a series of elbows followed by a boot to the face. Harlem hits n a running elbow in the corner followed by a snap suplex. He goes to the top ropes and jumps over a charging Strong. Lance comes in and grabs Strong while Harlem hits an enzuiguri. Lance hits a German suplex on Strong and Harlem goes for a pin attempt. The Bravados go for a double-team but Martini jumps on the apron and Lance runs after him. Strong punches and elbows Harlem and goes for a pin but Elgin walks away acting like he has a twitch in his leg. Harlem hits a bridging roll-up on Strong for the pinfall and the upset win. Strong and Elgin then face off and argue as the show goes to commercial break.
On “Inside Ring Of Honor” Kevin Kelly talks about the ROH television debut of Truth Martini’s Guardians of Truth last week in a rematch against Jay and Mark Briscoe. Footage of the match is shown with the Briscoes getting the roll-up for the victory. Footage is shown of the Guardians, Rhino and Strong beating down the Briscoes after the match. Elgin comes out but walks away before Adam Cole, Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander make the save. An interview with the Briscoes is shown with Jay saying that they want to know who the Guardians of Truth are and that they can tell they’ve been around for a while. The Briscoes say that what they did to them last week was horse manure and they brought Strong and Rhino in. Jay says that they respect Elgin walking away but they are going to find the address of the House of Truth and they will huff and puff and blow the House of Truth down.
Kelly says that while noone knows the true identity of the Guardians of Truth there is true debate over who the First Lady of Ring Of Honor is, Sara Del Ray or Maria Kanellis. Kelly says that debate got more heated last week in the aftermath of the match between Mike Bennett and Lance Storm. Highlights of that match are shown with Del Ray coming in afterward and placing Maria in a single leg Boston Crab.
Kelly previews that next week will see an ROH World Title match.
After a commercial break Jay Lethal is shown coming to the ring followed by Rhett Titus and Kenny King. Titus and King have the ROH tag team titles with them. Their opponents of Steve Corino, Jimmy Jacobs and ROH World Champion Kevin Steen then come to the ring. Steen offers to shake hands with Kenny King and does so but then mocks him and hugs him. The two teams start brawling with Steen vs King, lethal vs Jacobs and Titus vs Corino. Kin hits a cartwheel dropkick on Jacobs in the ring. Corino fights off King but Titus comes in and hits a Thesz press and lays in with punches and then whips Corino into the ropes and hits a back elbow. Steen comes in and throws Titus out of the ring but King enters and whips Steen into the ropes but gets kicked by Steen. King then hits an enzuiguri. Steen ends up on the floor and Lethal, King and Titus regroup in the ring before following to the floor for more brawling. Titus and Corino end up back in the ring exchanging punches before Titus picks him up for a belly-to-back suplex and slingshots him off the rope for extra effect. King and Lethal are now on the apron and King tags in. Titus slams Corino, King legdrops him and Titus splashes him with King going for a pin attempt. King then hits a vertical suplex and floats over into a sitting position and starts nailing punches. Steen comes into the ring but gets escorted out by the referee. King wristlocks Corino and tags Titus before whipping him into Titus’ boot. Titus then comes in with a shoulder-block and attempts a pin followed by a chinlock. King tags in hits Corino with punches before ending up in his opponents’ corner. Kin eats some punches and takes a back suplex from Corino. Jacobs tags in lays into King with punches. The match goes to commercial break and once back King takes a knee to the gut from Steen who then runs King’s head into the corner. Steen works over King and then taunts Titus and Lethal. Steen and Jacobs both bite King’s fingers, bringing Lethal and Titus in for the save but they get escorted out. Corino tags in and whips King into the corner but King jumps over and rolls him for a pin attempt before tagging in Lethal who hits a series of dropkicks. He charges Jacobs who jumps over allowing Lethal to hit s shoulder-block on Corino followed by a combination of a neckbreaker on Jacobs and DDT on Corino. Lethal then hits an enzuiguri on Corino who gets a tag to Steen. Lethal hits a dive onto Corino on the floor and is still the legal man and Titus and King come in and beat on Steen, setting him up for a top rope elbow drop from Lethal. Corino tags in and hits a reverse legsweep on Lethal. Titus comes in but takes a spear from Jacobs. King hits shotgun knees on Jacobs and Steen then hits a pop-up powerbomb on King before getting hit by a Lethal Combination from Lethal. All six men are on the mat. Lethal and Steen get to their feet and Lethal goes a superplex but is stopped by Jacobs. Lethal goes for a handspring as part of his Lethal Injection but is stopped. Jacobs hits him with Sliced Bread # 2 followed by a clothesline from Corino and a Swanton from Steen for a near-fall. All six men are brawling and Jacobs takes out the spike but Lethal kicks it into his face. Lethal then goes for a handspring and successfully follows through with his Lethal Injection Ace Crusher and get the pin and the victory. Steen, Corino and Jacobs continue to beat on their opponents after the bell and Corino and Jacobs set up a chair. Corino hits a vertical suplex on King and then Corino and Jacobs celebrate with the tag team belts as the show goes off the air.
The show was solid this week. As much as I’ve criticized the continued use of outdated footage of King, the ending angle with him getting “injured” by Corino and Jacobs does set up the tag title tournament well. The booking does seem to be leading toward Corino and Jacobs winning the tag belts and they feel even more poised to do so after this. The main event and the O’Reilly vs Taven match were both fun as well. Although the problems with having King on television are likely an aberration, hopefully the company does get the footage more up-to-date in the near future as they seem to be moving toward more of a monthly ippv schedule. Otherwise, the work on the television continues to be good fun at this point.
