ROH World Tag Team Champions Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin take on newcomers Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander in a Proving Ground match in the main event, plus we hear from Kevin Steen, Eddie Edwards is named the number one contender, and Michael Elgin is in action. All this and more this week on ROH TV.
– To follow up on last week's fantastic first-half work this episode opens with a nice little highlight package of said events. Nice work again by the editing team on these opening videos.
Eddie Edwards Named World Title Challenger
Jim Cornette names Edwards the challenger for the ROH World Title at Final Battle 2011, and the former champion comes to the ring and mentions he has a new trainer to counteract the coaching of Team Richards, but refuses to state who it is. Davey enters the ring and it's deja-vu as we hear him discuss how the Wolves will fight with honor in New York. He also mentions that they'll take on Roderick Strong and Michael Elgin next week. Edwards smiles but takes a pot-shot at the champion by pointing out how the fans used to chant “Next world champ!” at them in their tag matches and it turned out to be him, not Davey that made it come true. Nice subtle tension there, and after weeks of reading about Eddie having a coach in spoilers we finally have it confirmed on television. Get ready for a long month of teasing.
Truth Martini's Life Intervention
Truth Martini sits down and has a friendly little talk with Michael Elgin and tells him how he's let a lot of people down, including his brother who was hospitalised, his father who passed away and Roderick Strong. They end it with their long-running catchphrase about all men not being created equal which somewhat ruined the intentionally uncomfortable vibe Truth had been laying down up until then. I'm not sure if they invented some personal issues for Elgin or played up on existing ones but… damn.
Michael Elgin vs. Shiloh Jonze
Recap: An extremely motivated Michael Elgin proved that he may well be 'Unbreakable', easily dispatching OVW local talent Shiloh Jonze with the Spiral Powerbomb. Jonze managed to cut Elgin's lip with a forearm smash, but aside from that he managed almost no offense, and was completely dominated by Elgin in a short match.
Review: Hey ROH fans, were you aware that Michael Elgin is a beast? No? Well ROH decided to remind you. Though that comment was dripping in cheap sarcasm, this was a really fun squash. From the moment the bell rang Jonze was practically running away from Elgin and we got to see all the usual impressive power spots, including the tornado DDT block into a one arm running powerslam. Before this match Elgin's only television exposure besides some post-match beat-downs was a loss to Eddie Edwards, so it was important to remind people he's an absolute force and that was accomplished in spades here. It may be worth noting that Jonze got a pre-match interview and an entrance. That may have just been to add to the UFC style atmosphere, but Jonze is clearly very over in Louisville, so he may be in line for a spot on future Kentucky ROH cards.
Inside ROH: Kevin Steen Sues Jim Cornette!
Last week Jim Cornette finally addressed the fans who have been chanting Steen's name for several weeks and invited Steen to sue him if he was unhappy with his decision to keep him out of ROH. Well what may have been intended as a throwaway comment has been taken literally, as Steen sent a tape to ROH HQ with he and his legal team, headed by Mr. HardToSpellOrPronounce filing charges of conspiracy and defamation against Cornette. Steen promised he'd be back and he'd be coming for Steve Corino, Jimmy Jacobs, El Generico and even Davey Richards if he had to. This was a great move on ROH's part, and a good way to kick-start Steen's reinstatement but the horrific cutaways to each individual member of the legal staff sporting a different awful facial expression almost killed it.
Inside ROH: Mike Bennett/Jay Lethal
They also devoted some time to the abortion of a match/finish/angle
from two weeks ago with Mike Bennett and Jay Lethal. Bennett claimed he walked out because Todd Sinclair screwed him by not awarding him the match via stoppage, Sinclair says it was a fair call, Lethal says he didn't quit. Understanding this terrible finish/angle doesn't make up for how badly it was executed in the moment.
Proving Ground Match
Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin vs. Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander
Recap: ROH World Tag Team Champions Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin currently have three challengers to worry about, but thanks to their victory over Coleman & Alexander the list didn't swell to four. Though the ROH newcomers showed some flair at times the result of this match was never in any doubt, with the veterans showing their longevity and physical superiority over the youngsters, finishing Caprice Coleman off with a double high-angle powerbomb.
Review: I really like the C&C Wrestle Factory, but they weren't at all ready for this opportunity in the main event of a television episode against the world champions. Alexander blew one spot pretty badly early in the match, and I believe the pair messed up at least twice more towards the end as the editing was very choppy and seemed to omit some action, perhaps to cover up a botch or two. These two were just too unevenly matched, with Wrestling's 12th Greatest Tag Team embodying the larger, crisper style of the mainstream, while C&C demonstrated the rough around the edges aspect of indie wrestling. Given the high quality of Roddy vs O'Reilly last week, I think they should have moved it to this week's main event and moved this match to an opener because it just didn't deliver. I know I'm being hard on Coleman and Alexander, but I have to be honest, they were handed the biggest chance of their careers and they didn't bring the goods to a high enough degree. However this match will prove to be very important in a few weeks time. Oh, and Kevin Kelly decided to dub the match-winning move 'Wrestling's Greatest Finisher' which is the officially designated name for their Hart Attack style combination, or at least I thought so. Is any move Haas and Benjamin use to win a match considered wrestling's greatest finisher because they're apparently wrestling's greatest tag team?
The Briscoes Call Out Haas & Benjamin
'Dem Boys' made their presence known after the match, with Jay mocking the champions' victory over “the biggest greenhorns on the roster”. Remember that comment folks. Jay then said they were coming for the belts at Final Battle and they'd become the 7-time champions. I'm sure the All-Night Express were very hurt by the Briscoes' lack of confidence in their abilities.
Overall Episode Thoughts
– This episode did a lot for the build of Final Battle 2011, with Eddie being named the challenger for the world title and the groundwork being laid for a full-on Wolves split. We finally got to hear from Kevin Steen on television, and we were promised a special look at his 'evil deeds' next week. It might have made more sense to do things the other way around as new fans may not have cared enough about who Steen was to listen to the three minute video package he starred in. They also advanced the Briscoes/WGTT feud and added more to the impending mystery that is Lethal and Bennett and the TV Title.
– The wrestling was fine but nothing special. The problem was that while Elgin's squash was fun, squashes only work if they act as a prelude to a more competitive traditional match. Unfortunately the main event was sloppy to say the least and never really kicked into the higher gear a main event demands. The result was two short matches where the result was never in doubt.
– Still, they did enough story development for these negatives to get a free pass for one week. With the Wolves taking on the House of Truth and the Young Bucks in action next week, I don't think there's any danger of a poor showing from an in-ring perspective two weeks running.
Housekeeping
– This weekend is going to be one of the busiest in the history of this website with Chikara making their iPPV debut on Sunday, and DGUSA closing out their year with a triple-shot of iPPVs of their own. That's right folks, four iPPV events in three days. We're still working out the logistics of who is going to cover what, but I'll be handling at least one of the DGUSA events, while Justin Justice Houston will man the helm for the PWP Chikara live coverage. There will more than likely be some kind of podcast reviewing the shows too so look out for all of our coverage this weekend.
– Take a listen to the 4th Podcast of Honor if you want to hear Chris, Ari and my thoughts on last weekend's ROH events ahead of time. For a breakdown of the results, take a look at my article analysing all the happenings.
Although I enjoyed the majority of the show, the main event was atrocious. Coleman and Alexander looked completely lost and barely out of wrestling school. At one point, the match looked to be moving in slow motion. I guess ROH learned the hard way that they weren’t quite ready for the main event.
Yeah I tried not to hate on them too much but it was bad-out-loud. The only merit is that they’ll be facing the Briscoes too and WGTT get involved to kind of bring it full circle. But this belonged nowhere near a main event. Haas and Benjamin were just too big and strong for them to handle. They’ll do better against smaller, more traditional indy guys, but they blew it big time here.
I was there, and C&C seemed incredibly nervous. it didn’t help that the crowd was all over them (Louisville is WAAAAYYY pro-WGTT). Coleman hit the ropes and almost fell right through them, and Alexander tried a standing Shooting Star, fell short of the target, then tried it again and went almost completely sideways. Bad stuff.
Wow. It definitely seemed they cut off a giant part of C&C’s hot-tag near the end and suddenly we were 3 minutes from the time limit. Sucks to be them.
i think this should not be the main event of course wgtt
belong there but not cedric & coleman who know they could be ready later on