By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

RADICAN’S ROH TV REPORT
JUNE 2, 2012
TAPED IN BALTIMORE, MD

Highlights aired of Steen beating Richards at “Border Wars” for the ROH World title.

Kelly and McGuinness introduced the show and said we would hear from Steen later tonight. McGuinness said Jim Cornette would also decide on Steen’s challenger for the “Best in the World” iPPV.

Adam Cole cut a promo on Mike Mondo. He said he didn’t fear Mondo and promised to continue his rise to the top. Mondo cut a promo backstage. He cut a really cheesy promo promising to break Cole’s face into jigsaw pieces.

1 - - MIKE MONDO vs. ADAM COLE

Kelly said they didn’t know what was in store for ROH with Steen as champion. O’Reilly was out to scout Cole. He said he had an emergency to attend to, which is why he wasn’t in Richards’s corner in Toronto. Cole fired up on Mondo and wiped him out with a dive through the ropes. O’Reilly said Cole was one-dimensional. O’Reilly said Cole and lost to him and Elgin. O’Reilly talked about facing Cole at the “Best in the World” iPPV in a Hybrid Fighting Rules match, which can only end by knockout or submission. Mondo fired back inside the ring and went to work on Cole’s arm in the corner. Mondo tied up Cole’s hand between the turnbuckle. Mondo put the boots to Cole before he finally managed to free his arm. Mondo drove Cole head-first into the mat several times, but couldn’t get the pin.

Cole nailed Mondo with a kick from his back. He got to his feet and hit a series of blows on Mondo. Cole aggressively attacked Mondo in the corner and nailed him with several punches. They ended up on the outside and Mondo missed a spear and went crashing into the guardrail. Cole hit a cross-body off the top and Mondo kicked out. McGuinness said perhaps Cole didn’t get his usual elevation after tweaking his knee earlier in the match, which allowed Mondo to kick out. Cole countered Mondo and got a back slide pin for the win.

Winner: Adam Cole – Not much to the match, but the segment did a good job of setting up the O’Reilly-Cole match at “Best in the World.” O’Reilly talked a lot of trash on commentary and did a good job of portraying himself as a heel, although he needs to work on his inflection, which was flat a lot of the time.

Commercial break: Kelly hyped “Best in the World” and interviewed ANX about their match against WGTT at the iPPV.

Ciampa charged down to the ring and got in Nick Westgate’s face. He twitched around and posed on the turnbuckles. The announcers labeled Ciampa a dangerous man after losing his undefeated streak to Jay Lethal at “Border Wars.”

2 - - TOMASSO CIAMPA (w/Embassy Ltd.) vs. NICK WESTGATE

Ciampa pounded on Westgate and nailed him with a running kick. Ciampa screamed that he wants Lethal. Westgate caught Ciampa by surprise with a dropkick, but Ciampa nailed with a pop-up knee strike. Ciampa hit several elbows and knees on the mat and the ref called for the bell.

Winner: Tomasso Ciampa – This was a good squash for Ciampa. I still can’t believe he lost his undefeated streak to Jay Lethal, but I digress. Ciampa’s post-match attack on Westgate was well-done.

Commercial break: Next up – Inside ROH

Kelly introduced the Inside ROH segment. They showed highlights of the Briscoes-WGTT Fight Without Honor at “Border Wars.” Haas used an ether-soaked rag on Mark at “Border Wars.” Haas cut a promo saying Mark was so dirty, he had to wipe him clean. Benjamin talked about facing Titus & King at “Best in the World.” Benjamin said they would prove they are the best at “Best in the World.”

Lethal then cut a promo saying it took 2 people to cost him his ROH TV Championship in Ciampa and Strong. Lethal said he had already taken away Ciampa’s undefeated streak. Lethal said Strong was the last person left. Lethal said he’s coming for what’s his.

Kelly said Ciampa isn’t taking his loss to Lethal well and the Embassy is demanding a rematch with Lethal. Kelly said Finlay had lost to Strong at “Border Wars,” but was ready to bounce back against Elgin at “Border Wars.” Finlay cut a promo and said this was going to be a test that Elgin wasn’t going to pass. He promised to test who Finlay really is.

Kelly said Edwards has challenged a number of former world champions. He beat former ECW Champion Rhino at “Border Wars.” Edwards is trying to force ROH officials to give him another title shot. Edwards will face Homicide at “Best in the World.” Next week, Edwards will face Richards on TV. Edwards said if he can beat Richards and Homicide, he will be the number 1 contender. Edwards promised to show the wolf how to hunt. Kelly promised there would be more on “Best in the World: Hostage Crisis” next week on Inside ROH.

Radican’s thoughts: This was a good segment that informed fans of what matches will take place at “Best in the World” and what matches could take place depending on how things shake out in the next couple of weeks. The problem is that ROH didn’t feature anyone cutting a good promo. Nobody in that segment grabbed my attention outside of Finlay and he’s already coming off a loss to Strong prior to setting his match up against Elgin at the next ROH iPPV.

Kelly said there’s a delay with Cornette backstage and he will address the audience after the upcoming match.

3 - - CAPRICE COLEMAN & CEDRICK ALEXANDER vs. ANX (Rhett Titus & Kenny King)

The announcers said Coleman and Alexander could gain some momentum with a win here after picking up a couple of fluke wins over established tag teams recently. King and Coleman went for spinning kicks at the same time and came to a stalemate. Titus tagged in, but Coleman cut him off and tagged in Alexander. Alexander caught Titus with a dropkick. King ran into the ring, but Alexander nailed him with a kick and took out Titus with a moonsault to the outside. Alexander then wiped out ANX with a huge flip dive to the outside and the fans popped big. Coleman sent Titus outside moments later and went for a dive, but King cut him off. Titus went to work on Coleman inside the ring. The fans tried to rally behind Coleman as they went to commercial break.

Commercial break: Kelly hyped “Best in the World.” He brought in Elgin to talk about his match against Finlay. Strong challenged Elgin to beat Finlay faster than he did at “Border Wars.” Elgin said he is unbreakable and invited Strong to watch the match closely.

They came back from break with ANX still in control of Coleman. They said Coleman had nearly tagged out during the break, but was unable to. They didn’t show a replay of that footage for some reason. Kelly said Steen is standing by and would speak after this match and Cornette would name his challenger. McGuinness talked about the difficult position Steen is in now that he’s the champion and everyone wants to knock him off the top spot. Coleman hit a DDT on King and tagged in Alexander, who ran wild on ANX. Coleman and Alexander isolated Titus, but King ran in. They took him out with a double dropkick and hit a tandem move on Titus, but King broke up the pin. King caught Alexander going for a springboard and hit a spinebuster. Coleman took out King, but Titus wiped him out with a discus lariat. King and Titus took out Alexander and Coleman with dueling kicks for a double nearfall.

Titus set up Coleman for the one night stand, but Coleman broke it up. After a rapid-fire exchange, Coleman & Alexander botched a tandem move and ANX hit the one night stand on Alexander for the win.

Winners: Kenny King & Rhett Titus – This was a good television match. Once again, Coleman and Alexander brought some excitement to their match and got the crowd behind them, but fell short to ANX. Kelly and McGuinness did a lot of talking about the upcoming segment with Cornette and Steen during the match.

Kelly introduced Steen, who came down to the ring with Jacobs and Corino. Steen smiled and held up the ROH World title to the camera. Several fans threw streamers into the ring when Steen got into the ring. Corino got on the mic and told Kelly to step aside while he introduced Steen. Corino asked Steen how it felt that 18 months the man that tried to starve him out now has to call him the ROH World Champion. Steen said it felt amazing. He said he got to stand in the ring and show the world he’s a man of his word. The fans chanted for Steen. Corino said Steen had convinced him that evil is the only way to go. He asked Steen what would make him different from past ROH World Champions. Steen said he will go to events he feels he should represent the company at. Steen suggested he would appear at an upcoming health and fitness expo. Steen then talked about the affiliate’s dinner and how the ROH World Champion has to be there. Steen said he’d be there and all those people would hear what they have to know about ROH and Cornette.

Cornette came out and interrupted Steen. The fans lightly booed Cornette. Cornette said he’d rather swim in a sewer than see Cornette at the affiliates meeting. Cornette said he couldn’t be in Toronto and had asked Corino to make sure Steen didn’t win. Cornette told Corino his services were no longer needed on commentary. Corino told Cornette his contract says all he has to do is show up and talk on the DVDs. Corino said it doesn’t have anything to do with who his friends are. Cornette called Steen a cancer and sickness to the company. Cornette said he had been in the back talking to everyone in the locker room. He said they all want a piece of him at “Best in the World.” Cornette said Steen would be defending the title against… Richards’s music interrupted Cornette’s announcement.

Richards told Cornette to shut up. Richards said he was sick up being linked with camp Cornette. He told Cornette to kiss his a--. Richards told Cornette he’s not his associate and he only fights for himself. Richards said the old Davey is back and he wasn’t making excuses. Richards said in Toronto, Steen was better than him. Richards said he wants this match is because that title and this company is about the two best wrestlers fighting to see who the best is. Richards said he and Steen were the best. He told Cornette to give him the match or he’d kick his a--. Steen said he’d love to see Richards kick Cornette’s a--, but he was living. Steen told Cornette he’s the only tennis player he knows with no balls.

Cornette said Richards had the match. He told Richards he had the same deal as Steen. Cornette said if Richards doesn’t beat Steen, he’ll get another title. Richards said he would win the title, but not for Cornette and his bs vision of what ROH should be. Richards told Steen to bring his piledriver and his friends. Richards said he would be Steen’s worst nightmare in NYC.

McGuinness hyped Richards-Edwards for next week on television.

Overall thoughts: (6.5) – This felt like a dull show at times. The show did a good job of setting the stage for “Best in the World,” but the problem is a lot of the wrestlers on the roster don’t carry themselves like stars when cutting promos. The Inside ROH segment was good in terms of how it set the stage for the company going forward, but nobody that cut a promo grabbed my attention outside of Finlay.

I find a lot of the booking confusing. For example, Cole is labeled as a rising star, but O’Reilly points out all of the matches he’s lost lately on television. The company brings in Fit Finlay to face Roderick Strong and the hook for Finlay’s next match is to see whether or not Elgin can beat him faster than Strong did at “Border Wars.” Finlay should mean more than that if ROH is going to spend the money on bringing him in and using him in spotlight matches.

The show also seems like it tries too hard to fit a lot of storyline development in. There weren’t any great matches on the show, but when most of the matches were taking place, the announcers spent a lot of time talking about a lot of storyline related issues and I found myself listening to them instead of paying attention to the match.

At this point, Haas & Benjamin don’t bring a lot to the table. They feel stale as heel tag team champions and there is no spark behind ANX as challengers either. Neither team brings a lot to the table when it comes to cutting promo. It’s a shame there isn’t more steam in ROH’s tag team division, as there’s a lot of talent there, but as long as Haas & Benjamin are in this role, there just isn’t a lot to get excited about.

The last segment with Steen, Richards, and Cornette was the best thing on the show. Richards cut a heck of a promo distancing himself from Cornette and getting himself a rematch against Steen at “Best in the World” on June 24. I’m still not sold on Steen as a long-term solution as champion for this company. He has charisma, but he relies too much on sophomoric humor. It’s like the wise-ass kid in the corner in high school that cracked jokes all day while the teacher was talking to pop his friends.

One thing that hurts the Richards-Steen feud is that they are both fan favorites. Sure, some fans don’t like Richards, but Steen says and does things that should get him booed, but because of the way he does them, he gets cheered.

I’m looking forward to seeing Steen-Richards at “Best in the World,” but for all this buildup for what would happen if Steen won the ROH World Title, this doesn’t feel like a different product.

***

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