RADICAN’S ROH TV REPORT
AIRED DECEMBER 17, 2011
TAPED AT THE DAVIS ARENA
LOUISVILLE, KY

Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness introduced the show and previewed the Richards vs. Elgin Proving Ground main event.

They showed Eddie Edwards backstage. He discussed his training with Dan Severn. Edwards said nobody would get in his way, including Strong or Richards from winning the title. Edwards promised to win at “Final Battle.”

Kelly questioned whether or not we would see a different Eddie Edwards since he’s been off TV training. Bobby Cruise did the formal introductions and then Kelly ran down the tale of the tape.

1 - - ANDY RIDGE vs. EDDIE EDWARDS

Truth Martini came into the commentary booth and said he’s a fan of Edwards. Kelly questioned Truth because he had recently said he was a fan of Richards. Martini told Kelly he was sick of the crap coming out of his mouth. Edwards and Richards exchanged counters and came to a stalemate inside the ring. Edwards backed Ridge into the ropes and nailed him with a chop. Ridge and Edwards began exchanging blows. Ridge finally took down Edwards with a kick, but only got a 1 count. Edwards fired back and locked in a nasty looking arm-capture submission, but Ridge got the ropes. Ridge fired back and hit a series of kicks on Edwards. Edwards countered Ridge and locked in the STF, but Ridge got the ropes. Kelly said he hadn’t seen that move before out of Edwards. Ridge got the ropes to escape the hold and hit a springboard ace crusher for a 2 count a short time later. Edwards got up and caught Ridge with a big clothesline. Edwards followed up with a powerbomb and locked in the dragon sleeper and Ridge immediately tapped.

Winner: Eddie Edwards – The action was solid, but I don’t get why ROH showcases these competitive squashes on television. Ridge got in a fair amount of offense.

Martini clapped for Edwards at ringside after the match.

After commercial, Kelly and McGuiness pitched to a video package on the Haas & Benjamin-Briscoes feud. Kelly said the Briscoes had been fined another $5,000 for attacking Benjamin with a chair last week. Kelly said Benjamin had suffered a crack rib, but he would still wrestle.

They went to commercial break. When they came back, Kelly was show hosting “Inside ROH” with a countdown to “Final Battle.” Kelly ran down the card for “Final Battle.” Kelly then narrated footage recapping the Edwards vs. Richards feud. Kelly then narrated footage of Richards defending the ROH World Title successfully against Roderick Strong from several weeks ago. Kelly then narrated footage of the House of Truth attacking Kyle O’Reilly after Strong defeated him. Kelly then mentioned Edwards had been named as Richards’s challenge. They showed footage of Richards cutting a promo on Edwards in the ring. Kelly then narrated footage of Edwards putting Elgin to sleep in the Wolves vs. Strong & Elgin match where Richards didn’t see the submission. Kelly said Richards then found out that Edwards was training with Dan Severn.

Elgin came out for his match against Richards with Martini wearing a ridiculous hat. Richards then came out to a good pop. Bobby Cruise did the formal ring introductions.

They came back from commercial break with Kelly running down the tale of the tape for the main event.

2 - - MICHAEL ELGIN (w/Truth Martini) vs. ROH World Champion DAVEY RICHARDS – Proving Ground match

The crowd chanted loudly Richards once the bell rang. Elgin drove Richards into the ropes and offered a clean break. Elgin offered another clean break against the ropes and Richards nailed him with a forearm, but Elgin fired back with a forearm of his own that sent Richards to the outside. Richards took Elgin down and went to work on his legs with a submission, but Elgin got the ropes. After a back and forth exchange, Richards caught Elgin with a dropkick as he came off the ropes and went back to work on him on the mat. Richards charged at Elgin in the corner, but he caught him with a spinning sidewalk slam. Elgin dragged Richards to the outside and drove him into the apron.

Elgin tossed Richards back into the ring as the crowd tried to rally behind Richards. Elgin tossed Richards back to the outside and Martini raked his eyes while Elgin distracted the ref. Back inside the ring, Elgin hit a big slam on Richards for a 2 count. Kelly focused on Roderick Strong and said he was bitter he wasn’t in the title match at “Final Battle.” Richards fired back and hit a dive through the ropes on Elgin and the crowd went nuts.

They came back from commercial break with Elgin and Richards exchanging blows in the ring. They showed footage from the commercial break of Elgin catching Richards and nailing him with a backbreaker while Richards attempted a comeback. Back to live action, Richards hit a kick on Elgin that sent him to the outside. Richards went for a kick off the apron, but Elgin caught him and hit a muscle buster on the outside. Hi, Samoa Joe! Richards slowly climbed his way towards the ring as the ref counted, but he beat the count. Elgin taunted Richards, but Richards spit in his face. Elgin nailed Richards with a kick and then nailed him with a suplex into a slam for a 2 count. Elgin hit a pump-handle slam into a pin for another 2 count, but Richards kicked out and the crowd went nuts. Elgin set up for a powerbomb, but Richards blocked it. Richards tripped Elgin and hit a doublestomp that left both men down as the crowd slammed the ring barriers.

Both men fought up top. Richards eventually won the war and hit a superplex and the crowd stood and cheered. Elgin got to his feet before Richards and Richards looked shocked. Elgin told Richards to bring it after Richards nailed him with a boot. Both men then began exchanging forearms and strikes. Elgin finally took down Richards with a kick to the head that left both men down. There has been some excellent action in this match so far. Both men struggled to get to their feet as the crowd chanted for Richards. Both men exchanged strikes again in the middle of the ring. Richards drove Elgin into the corner with a series of kicks. The announcers said there was only 4 minutes remaining in the time limit. Martini grabbed Richards’s foot from the outside. Elgin went for a suplex, but Richards landed on his feet and hit the alarm clock. Richards took out Martini with a running kick on the apron. He then hit a doublestomp off the top for a nearfall with a little over 2 minutes of time remaining in the match. The crowd roared as Richards nailed Elgin with a kick to the head and locked in an arm bar. Elgin got to his feet and tried to escape, but Richards hung on as Elgin clasped his hands.

Elgin dead-lifted Richards, but got nailed with several Elbows by Richards, who continued to hold onto the arm bar. Elgin stood up and Richards flipped over him and got a sunset flip for the pin.

Winner: Davey Richards

Star rating: (***1/2) – This was an excellent television match. I don’t see the benefit of having Richards have this good of a match on TV leading into “Final Battle,” but these two put on a show and Elgin looked really good in the ring. The crowd was as hot as they’ve sounded on television and the match really picked up pace leading into Richards getting the surprise pin in the end.

Elgin got up right after the pin and nailed Richards with a release German suplex after the match. The crowd chanted for Edwards to make the save as Martini held up the ROH World Title and laughed. Edwards took the belt from Martini and went to hit Elgin with it, but he shoved Richards in the way and he took the belt shot. Richards got up and confronted Edwards. He took out Edwards’s feet, but Edwards immediately applied the dragon sleeper and Richards tapped. Kozina and O’Reilly ran down to break them apart, along with several officials. Both guys went after each other as the officials tried to break both men apart. The show ended with both Richards escaping and going back after Edwards as dramatic music played. Jim Cornette eventually got into the ring to try to break up as both men exchanged heated words while being held back.

Overall thoughts: (6.0) – I enjoyed some things about this show, but I was left with the feeling that Richards and Edwards didn’t do enough verbally to convince people to buy the show. It’s a shame that the other selling points on the show weren’t given a strong go-home push, as they used a lengthy video package to touch on the Richards-Edwards and Haas & Benjamin-Briscoes matches.

I was left wanting more. I wanted to see more promos from the wrestlers that are on the show that would grab the attention of new fans, but this show fell short in that department.

This was a video package heavy edition of ROH TV, so there’s not much else to say about the show, except to focus on the main event. Elgin and Richards put on an excellent television match that was among the better matches I’ve seen on ROH, but I couldn’t help but think that giving away a good match like that with Richards hanging on by a thread was a good way to build him up as champion heading into “Final Battle.” The post-match pull-apart brawl was well-done and will likely grab some attention from fans watching on TV, but I don’t think it was enough.

ROH never walked fans through the process of ordering “Final Battle” on their computer through Go Fight Live and that is likely to deter new fans from ordering the show. People want easy access and ROH didn’t walk people through exactly how to order the show and only pointed them towards the ROH website. In the end, ROH needs to hype their iPPVs better through television and they did a solid job in many ways, but the go-home show left me wanting more.

Contact Sean at PWTorchSean@gmail.com

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