RADICAN’S ROH TV REPORT
AIRED DEC. 10, 2011
TAPED AT THE DAVIS ARENA
LOUSIVILLE, KY

The show began with highlights from Cornette and Steen’s in-ring confrontation last week setting up Steen vs. Corino at “Final Battle.”

Kevin Kelly introduced the show with Nigel McGuinness. Kelly previewed the main event of WGTT vs. ANX in a Proving Ground match. Kelly went to Coleman and Alexander cutting a promo backstage.

Coleman said the Briscoes realize they’re not the people they thought they were. He said next time they’d be ready for the Briscoes and could fight their own battles.

Kelly ran down the tale of the tape for the Bravados vs. Coleman & Alexander.

1 - - THE BRAVADOS (Lancelot & Harlem Bravado) vs. CAPRICE COLEMAN & CEDRIC ALEXANDER

The crowd taunted Harlem with Beiber chants. Alexander grounded Harlem and worked over his arm. Harlem tossed Lancelot into the corner and tagged in Lancelot. The Bravados then hit a double team elbow. Alexander fired back on Lancelot and tagged in Coleman, who hit a springboard clothesline. Coleman took down Lancelot with a nice dropkick and tagged in Alexander for a double team suplex. Harlem ran into the ring and got taken out as well. The Bravados cut off Alexander and began working him over in their own corner. Harlem taunted the crowd as the Bravados continued to work over Alexander. Alexander fired back and tagged in Coleman, who ran wild. Coleman caught Harlem with a leg lariat for a 2 count. Coleman caught Harlem with a 6-1-9 around the ringpost and Alexander followed up with a dive to take out both Bravados.

Alexander hit a frogsplash on Harlem back inside the ring and Coleman covered him for a 2 count. The action broke down with all four men in the ring. Alexander and Coleman hit a tandem neckbreaker on Harlem for the pin.

Winners: Cedric Alexander & Caprice Coleman – This was a solid tag match to give Coleman & Alexander a win on television.

The Bravados refused to shake hands after the match.

They came back from the break with the Blossom Twins modeling ROH merchandise while the crowd clapped.

Kelly pitched to an interview with Chris Silvio. Silvio said he was a psychedelic superstar. Silvio cut a promo on T.J. Perkins. He said he could catch lighting in a bottle. He said everyone would know him after tonight. Perkins was shown cutting a promo. He said Silvio couldn’t catch lightening if his name was Ben Franklin. Perkins said Silvio was going to get struck by lightning.

Radican’s thoughts: They seriously put this on television?

Kelly ran down the tale of the tape. Silvio doesn’t follow the code of honor.

2 - - T.J. PERKINS vs. CHRIS SILVIO

Silvio looks like Jesse Ventura and Hulk Hogan’s bastard child. Perkins and Silvio went back and forth on the mat in the early going. Perkins took down Silvio with a dropkick. They picked up the pace and Perkins nailed Silvio with a hurricanrana. Silvio grabbed a headscissors on the mat, but Perkins slipped out and nailed him with a dropkick. Perkins drove Silvio into the turnbuckles, but Silvio managed to roll to the floor. They went at it on the outside and Silvio pushed Perkins into the ringpost. He then tossed him into the barricade and flexed for the fans. Silvio slipped come off the top, but connected with a fist on Perkins. Silvio hit an arm capture slam and followed up with a running senton for a 2 count. Perkins fired back and hit a springboard dropkick to the back of Silvio. Perkins lit up Silvio with kicks and hit his 32nd hurricanrana of the match. Perkins sent Silvio to the outside and nailed him with a dive through the ropes.

Perkins caught Silvio with an ankle lock with a grapevine, but Silvio eventually got the ropes. Perkins went for hurricanrana number 33, but Silvio countered it into a powerbomb. Silvio placed Perkins on the top turnbuckle and went for a superplex, but Perkins tossed him off. Perkins connected with the double knees off the top and followed up with the detonation kick for the pin.

Winner: T.J. Perkins – The match was fine, but neither man did a lot to stand out. I’ve seen Perkins in some really good matches, but this match was just there and the crowd really didn’t seem into the action.

They came back from commercial and Kelly introduced the Inside ROH segment. Kelly narrated highlights of Lethal beating Generico for the TV Title. Kelly then discussed Lethal defending the TV Title against Bennett a few weeks later in a match that went to a time limit draw. Kelly said Bennett felt the ref should have stopped the match and awarded him the title. They went to footage of Lethal defending the TV Title against Generico last week with Lethal looking to have Generico pinned, but Bennett distracted the ref. Kelly said the TV Title was now a three horse race. Bennett was shown cutting a promo backstage. He said ROH had to find two guys to fight him because one couldn’t get the job done. Bennett said the entire thing showed he was going to fight two losers at “Final Battle.” Bennett said he would go out with his playboy model and Brutal Bob after he won the TV Title.

Lethal was shown cutting a promo. He said he wasn’t going to complain about having to fight two guys because they all faced that in the match. Lethal said he had Generico defeated. Lethal said he was tired of all the overtime and time limit draws. He said at “Final Battle,” he would beat them both in one night.

Radican’s thoughts: This was a solid segment with good promos by Bennett and Lethal that clearly told their respective stories. Bennett came off a lot better than usual in his solo interview. Lethal has also become more confident on the mic in recent weeks and is beginning to fill his role as TV Champion very well.

Kelly focused on ROH World Champion Davey Richards facing Eddie Edwards. Edwards was shown with Dan Severn. Edwards said Richards was the most experienced guy in his training camp, but Severn had more experience and was teaching him something new every day. Severn said he’s been in a lot of pressure situations in UFC. Edwards said his corner man could make the difference in a win or a loss at “Final Battle.” Severn said he never gets rattled and would give Edwards an advantage at “Final Battle” with his advice from the corner.

Radican’s thoughts: I like the sports-like built for Richards vs. Edwards at “Final Battle.” Severn is filling his role nicely and is using his real life experience in UFC to enhance the storyline. This is certainly a different built than we’ve seen from other wrestling promotions recently.

Kelly said Davey Richards would face Michael Elgin next week. Richards was shown backstage saying he knows why Elgin is challenging him in a Proving Ground match next week. Richards said it was all for Roderick Strong, who Richards said was looking for attention. Richards said he thinks Truth Martini is trying to get into his head before “Final Battle.” Richards said he doesn’t care who he’s facing, they can line them up and he’ll knock them down.

ANX made their entrance for the main event. Haas & Benjamin then made their entrance and got a mild reaction. Bobby Cruise then did the formal ring introductions.

Kevin Kelly ran down the tale of the tape. He said Haas & Benjamin hold a big experience advantage.

2 - - ANX (Rhett Titus & Kenny King) vs. ROH World Tag Team Champions (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin) – Proving Ground match

The match began with 14 minutes of TV time remaining. Benjamin drove King into the corner. Benjamin offered a clean break, but King shoved him away. Both men exchanged counters. Benjamin finally caught King with a sunset flip and they exchanged 2 counts. They went back and forth and finally came to a stalemate and the crowd applauded. King grounded Benjamin a short time later and Titus tagged in and continued to work him over landing a big dropkick for a 2 count. Haas blind-tagged himself into the match and they double teamed Titus with a series of maneuvers for a 2 count. Haas went to work on Titus’s arm. Kelly and McGuinness plugged ROH’s ringside membership while Haas continued to work over Titus’s arm.

Titus fired back and King blind-tagged himself into the match and took out Haas with a big clothesline. Titus tagged in and hit a splash on Haas after King landed a springboard legdrop. Titus went for a charge on Haas in the corner, but Haas got out of the way and he crashed into the ringpost. Kelly pitched to a commercial break as Haas worked over Titus’s arm.

They came back from commercial with Titus trying to mount a comeback, but Benjamin tagged himself into the match and took him down to the mat. They showed Titus nearly making the hot tag during the commercial break, but he got cut off. They showed a fan looking on in silence as Benjamin continued to work over Titus with a German with a bridge for a 2 count. WGTT continued to tag in and out to work over Titus. Haas continued to work over Titus’s eye as Kelly pointed out a turnbuckle had accidentally come off. Haas showed a bit of a mean streak while working over Titus and the crowd booed. Titus tried to fire up on Benjamin a short time later with a series of forearms. Titus whipped Benjamin into the exposed turnbuckle and both men were down on the mat.

Titus nearly tagged out, but Haas got the tag from Benjamin and cut him off. Haas continued to work over Titus’s arm, but Titus drove him into the exposed turnbuckle. Titus leapt over Haas and made the hot tag to King, who ran wild on Haas and Benjamin. The crowd didn’t seem to be much into King’s big comeback. Titus took down Haas with a top rope x-factor, but Benjamin made the save. The action broke down with all four men in the ring. King took down Haas with the shotgun knees in the corner and went up top. Benjamin recovered and tossed him down to the mat. Haas then covered King for a nearfall. Haas & Benjamin set up for the leap of faith on King, but Titus pulled the ropes down. The Briscoes then attacked Benjamin with a chairshot to the back. King hit a backbreaker on Haas. Titus then came off the top with a knee drop for the pin on Haas.

Winners: Rhett Titus & Kenny King to earn a shot at the ROH World Tag Team Titles

Star rating: (**1/2) – The match had some good action, but the crowd just wasn’t into the action in the ring which took out any excitement factor that would have been there. The Briscoes running in and attacking Benjamin set them up to go into “Final Battle” as heels, but they’re really going to have to drive home that point next week on television.

A replay aired of the Briscoes attacking Benjamin with everyone’s attention in the ring diverted. A ref went outside the ring and several other people came in as well to check on Benjamin. Titus and King looked to the outside in confusion as to what had happened to Benjamin. Haas asked Benjamin if he knew what had happened.

They went to a commercial break and Kelly went to ringside with a mic when they returned. They showed a replay of the Briscoes attack on Benjamin again. Kelly said Benjamin would need some x-rays. Haas said he was tired of the Briscoes. Haas said Benjamin was family and the Briscoes had hurt him. Haas said his brother had died and Benjamin had taken his place. Haas said both of the Briscoes would die.

Overall thoughts: (5.5) – The first half of this show really dragged. Last week, ROH did a nice job of hitting on all cylinders building up several programs for “Final Battle,” but a lot of the content on this show felt like it wasn’t necessary to be used on television.

The Coleman & Alexander vs. Bravados and Perkins-Silvio matches were just there and aren’t likely to garner attention from anyone that is new to ROH. One thing ROH should be doing is turning all attention towards “Final Battle” and the stars performing on that show. The Edwards, Severn, and Richards segment all felt like a repeat of last week and the backstage recorded interviews become repetitive. It would be nice to see the company break out of that mold.

On the other hand, the show did a nice job building towards Lethal defending the ROH TV Title against Generico and Bennett, although Generico didn’t get any spotlight time during the Inside ROH segment on the show, which is really a shame because he could be one of the top stars in the company and a true draw for fans that are new to the promotion if pushed correctly.

The main event featured some good action, but the crowd seemed dead for most of the match. The finish of the match was used to set up the Briscoes vs. Haas & Benjamin. That part of the show was really well-done with the Briscoes jumping Benjamin on the outside with everyone distracted, which allowed ANX to pick up the win and a future title shot.

On one hand, the company is spending a lot of time building up things for the future like ANX vs. WGTT or the Briscoes and Richards vs. Strong, but in the end the show ended on the right tone. I thought Haas did a really good job positioning himself as the babyface with his intense promo on the Briscoes to close the show. It felt spontaneous and showed the difference between setting up a match with backstage highlight packages and promos versus allowing Haas to naturally react to the attack on Benjamin in the heat of the moment.

Once again, there wasn’t a big hook pushed for fans to tune in next week, which is a huge show for ROH heading into “Final Battle.” The company should have done more to push fans to watch next week, which is the last show before “Final Battle,” outside of pushing Richards vs. Elgin in a Proving Ground match. Depending on what happens on TV next week, the company does have several good angles ready to explode for “Final Battle,” but I was left wanting more out of this show than I got.

Contact Sean at PWTorchSean@gmail.com

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