RADICAN’S ROH TV REPORT
AIRED OCT. 15, 2011
TAPED IN CHICAGO, ILL.

The show began with a highlight package on Davey Richards defending the ROH World Title against Roderick Strong from last week. The package featured high-impact moves surrounded by sound bites from Kelly and McGuinness on commentary.

The show began with Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness standing in the ring. The crowd noise wasn’t mic’d correctly. McGuinness announced Edwards vs. Elgin and ANX vs. The Briscoes.

We went to an interview with the Briscoes. Jay said Rhett Titus used to carry his bags. Jay then talked about picking dead chickens for Papa Briscoe, who would whoop them if they didn’t do it fast enough. Mark said the chickens stunk as bad as Haas & Benjamin. Jay said they’ve earned their respect. Mark said you can’t earn their respect unless you whoop their asses. Jay said they aren’t dumb rednecks. Mark said they had a plan.

Radican’s thoughts: This was a much better interview with the Briscoes compared to the one that aired last week. It was hilarious at times, although I think they should have kept a serious tone throughout the promo. Jay and Mark did a good job of driving the point home by the end to set up their match against Titus & King.

King & Titus spoke after the Briscoes made their entrance. Titus talked about their bloody feud. King said the Briscoe’s had tried to punk them out. King said you don’t step up to ANX if you don’t want a fight. Titus said every time he looks in the mirror, he sees a scar on his head that reminds him of the Briscoes.

Radican’s thoughts: Another good, albeit short promo with King and Titus discussing their history with the Briscoes. Titus did a good job closing the interview.

They went to a commercial break with a graphic featuring the ANX vs. Briscoes match.

Kevin Kelly plugged ROHWrestling.com. He brought in Richards for the first commercial.

2 - - THE BRISCOES vs. ANX (Kenny King & Rhett Titus) - #1 Contender match for the ROH World Tag Team Titles

No Code of Honor here. Kelly said ANX was here to avenge the chair attack in NYC at “Best in the World.” The Briscoes quickly double teamed King and stomped away at him in the corner during the early stages of the match. They took King out to the floor, but he fired back with a senton off the apron on Jay as Titus ran in and took out Mark. ANX went to work on Mark inside the ring tagging in and out to work him over. Jay caught Rhett with a knee on the apron that gave Mark the upper hand. The Briscoes ended up hitting a leg sweep/running kick on Titus moments later. The Briscoes continued to work over Titus as Jay nailed him with a big chop in the corner. Titus fired back with a slap to the face, but Jay cut him off right away with a knee to the gut.

Kelly read the Tweet of the Week as Mark worked over Titus. Titus caught Mark with a boot out of the corner. Mark fired back and both men went at it on the turnbuckles. Mark went for a hurricanrana, but Rhett dropped him face-first on the top turnbuckle. Both men tagged out and King ran wild on the Briscoes. Kelly compared King to Deion Sanders as he nailed Jay with a leg cradle suplex and the crowd popped. Mark dragged Jay out of the ring, but King backdropped Titus over the top to the outside onto the Briscoes.

ANX went for a double team, but Jay fought out of it. Mark dragged Titus to the outside and slammed him into the guardrail. Mark sent King into a big boot from Jay and then hit a running senton off the apron onto Titus on the outside. Jay hit a frogsplash elbow off the top, but King kicked out. Mark and Titus brawled near the announce table. This made Kelly very upset. Jay got a small package on King for the pin after hitting a low blow on King behind the ref’s back.

The ref asked Jay if he hit King low after the match. The ref told Titus there was nothing he could do about it. Titus attacked the Briscoes, but was quickly outnumbered. Several referees came out and separated the Briscoes from Titus.

Winner: The Briscoes – The way these two teams wrestled once again didn’t match the tone of the video packages. The heel/face dynamic simply wasn’t defined here as it was in the video packages. Management needs to figure out a way to get the Briscoes to come across like heels. Another thing that was missing was the intensity from ANX right from the start. They should have come out aggressive against the Briscoes given what was shown on television, but the match was wrestled like it was just another meeting between the two teams. The match itself was good, but as was the case with Strong-Richards, the action in the ring didn’t match the story being told. Some fans stood and cheered the low blow pin from the Briscoes. There certainly weren’t boos of outrage given the Briscoes actions. There wasn’t even much of a reaction to the post-match activity.

An ad for ROHWrestling.com aired.

We came back from the break and Kelly said there was video evidence of Jay’s low blow. Kelly said it was a blatant low blow. McGuinness said it was a foul. Kelly said we would find out if there was going to be a resolution to this.

A “Focus on ROH” segment aired on Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin. Haas said being Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team means they’re the best at what they do. Haas said the ROH platform offers them a great platform to wrestle on. Benjamin said every night was a test. Kelly said both men have extensive amateur backgrounds. Haas and Benjamin ran down their athletic credentials as photos were shown of them in action. Benjamin mentioned he was Brock Lesnar’s assistant coach at University of Minnesota. Haas said the ROH fans are the most knowledgeable and critical fans in existence. Benjamin talked about how wrestling mattered in ROH compared to WWE. Benjamin said this was the first time he’d been in a place where wrestling really mattered. They showed the Briscoes taking them out in NYC at “Best in the World.” Haas said the Briscoes wouldn’t dominate the ROH tag division. Haas said nobody would put the fire that had been lit from under them out.

Radican’s thoughts: This was a good segment to introduce Haas & Benjamin to new ROH viewers on Sinclair. They did a good job of putting over their amateur credentials while focusing on their feud with the Briscoes. Both men need to work on becoming more convincing on the mic, but this was much better than I’ve seen them in the past when it came to selling their characters to the new viewers.

Another ad for ROHWrestling.com aired.

We came back from commercial with Kevin Kelly interviewing Jim Cornette. Cornette said he’d been reviewing the ANX-Briscoes situation backstage. Cornette said Jay insisted it was an accident. Cornette said the ref’s decision was final. Cornette said until he found out exactly what was going on; neither team would be named as the #1 contender to the tag titles.

We went to an “Inside ROH” Segment featuring The House of Truth and Eddie Edwards. Kelly said Michael Elgin vs. Eddie Edwards was more than just a Contenders match. Cornette said the people that follow Martini believe in him. Martini was shown throwing around empty quotes about his influence. Richards said Martini is full of s---. Richards said Martini just takes what he wants and moves along. Cornette said Martini helped make Roderick Strong an ROH World Champion. Martini said he helped Strong realize it wasn’t his fault he hadn’t been a champion, but it was everyone around him. Cornette turned to Michael Elgin. Martini said without a shadow of a doubt, Elgin is unbreakable. Cornette put over Elgin’s strength. Elgin was shown on camera. He said nobody can break him. Elgin said Martini filled a void in his life. Elgin said Martini showed everyone that he’s unbreakable. Martini was shown. He said the truth will make you mad.

Kelly said Edwards had to get past Elgin if he wants to get a rematch with ROH World Champion Davey Richards. Edwards said Davey knows he’s lost before, but that won’t stop him. Edwards said he’s the hunter now and Richards is the hunted. Richards said there’s always another fight. He said when the time comes; they will fight over the ultimate achievement, which he labeled the ROH World Title.

Radican’s thoughts: They did a good job here of typing together a number of different angles involving Martini’s influence on Strong and Elgin. They fit that into the ROH World Title picture and drove the point home that if Edwards loses here, he won’t get another shot against ROH World Champion Davey Richards. Martini’s delivery is way over-the-top and filled with empty phrases to the point where it’s hard to take him seriously in the role he’s portrayed in.

Kelly said Elgin’s job was to stop Edwards’s path to the title as he made his entrance with Truth Martini. Edwards then came out to a nice reaction from the fans. Kelly put over Edwards as the first triple crown champion in the history of ROH.

Radican note: These two had a really good match at “Defy or Deny” back in March. The DVD is available at ROHWrestling.com, so if you like what you see in this match, it’s not a bad release to pick up to see the difference between their television match and the one that was taped for DVD.

Bobby Cruise did the formal ring introductions for the TV main event.

We went to a commercial with a graphic of Edwards vs. Elgin. Is the tale of the tape gone?

Another localized promo aired with Kevin Kelly interviewing Jay Lethal.

2 - - MICHAEL ELGIN (w/Truth Martini) vs. EDDIE EDWARDS

Elgin didn’t follow the Code of Honor. Kelly then ran down the “Tale of the Tape” noting that Elgin was slightly younger than Edwards. Both men exchanged forearms in the middle of the ring during the early stages of the match. They switched to slaps to the face. Elgin finally took down Edwards with a shoulder tackle. Elgin went to work on Edwards and hit a delayed vertical suplex, but only got a one count. Both men exchanged big chops. Elgin hit a big chop that sent Edwards into the corner. Elgin followed up with a series of kicks in the corner. Edwards went for an arm drag, but Elgin caught him. Edwards eventually caught Elgin with a hurricanrana and locked in the Achilles lock, but Elgin shoved him off. Edwards hit a big kick and a springboard moonsault for a 2 count.

The crowd chanted for Edwards after the nearfall. Edwards hit a back drop out of the corner. Elgin blocked the double knees off the second rope from Edwards and drove Edwards into the turnbuckles before tossing Edwards over his back. They went to commercial.

Back from commercial, Edwards tried to fire back, but Elgin nailed him with a series of backbreakers followed by a side-slam for a 2 count. They went to footage from the commercial break that showed Elgin elevating Edwards before dropping him down with a Samoan drop. Elgin blocked a backdrop driver, but Edwards hit a superkick moments later and followed up with a falcon arrow. Both men were down on the mat as the crowd popped. Edwards hit a running boot, but Elgin caught him with an elbow. Edwards caught Elgin with an enzuguri from the apron and followed up with a missile dropkick for a 2 count. Edwards sent Elgin to the outside and nailed him with a dive through the ropes as the fans at ringside slapped the barricade.

The ref counted as both men struggled to get to their feet on the outside. Kelly put over Edwards’s “Die Hard” personality while mentioning him battling through injury to win “Survival of the Fittest” last year. Edwards hit a running kick to Elgin’s chest for a two count. The fans chanted for Edwards as he lifted Elgin to his feet. They actually went away from the match to show a ROHWrestling.com ad. Elgin caught Edwards coming off the ropes when they came back to live action. Both men ended up on the apron. Both men battled for position. Edwards caught Elgin with a superkick. He then went up top and nailed Elgin with a doublestomp on the apron and the crowd applauded. Edwards hit another stomp across Elgin’s back inside the ring. Elgin countered Edwards and nailed him with a buckle bomb. Edwards countered a powerbomb attempt into a rollup. Elgin kicked out, but Edwards hit him with the die hard (2k1 bomb) for the pin.

Winner: Eddie Edwards – This was a good match. I liked how they set a purpose for both men within the context of the match. Edwards has to win to avoid falling off his path towards an eventual match with ROH World Champion Davey Richards. Elgin was there to block his path, as he serves as the enforcer for the House of Truth, which also features Roderick Strong. This was solid television all-around.

Kelly said Edwards could begin to set his sights on Davey Richards. Roderick Strong came out and confronted Edwards. Kelly said the future of the ROH World Championship had intersected. Kelly teased a future match between Edwards and Strong. McGuinness said the odds weren’t even and he went into the ring to stand alongside Edwards against Martini, Strong, and Elgin as the show ended.

Overall score: (7.5) – The same problems that have been presented in previous weeks were present on this show. The ANX-Briscoes feud was presented as a violent and intense feud, but their match didn’t match the tone of the build.

The talking segments were a mixed bag. The Briscoes need to set a better tone in their promos to come off like heels. King & Titus did a good job of driving home the points of what was at stake for them in their match against the Briscoes. Haas & Benjamin were also solid during their interview segment where they focused on the Briscoes while discussing their amateur and professional background. The real problem is that none of these acts came across like true stars worth going out of your way to see.

The “Inside ROH” segment did a really nice job of typing together the issues between Martini, Elgin, Edwards, and Richards. Martini’s delivery of his lines makes it hard to take him seriously. It’s just way too over-the-top when he speaks about his “truth.” Other than that, the video package did an excellent job of setting up the main event and what was on the line for all involved.

The main event felt important because of what was on the line for Edwards. Elgin had a good showing and his wrestling in the ring matched how he was presented in the video package shown prior to his match. The show went off the air giving fans a reason to tune in next week, as Strong confronted Edwards. Both men were clearly set up as the next potential challengers to the ROH World Title. It was also interesting to see Nigel McGuinness involved when Edwards was facing 3-1 odds against Martini, Elgin, and Strong. It’s nice to see a lot of unanswered questions going forward, but they didn’t advertise anything for the show next week.

Contact Sean at PWTorchSean@gmail.com

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