Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin step into the Proving Ground with Kenny King and Rhett Titus in the main event, whilst the Bravado Brothers battle Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander, plus TJ Perkins is in action and much more this week on ROH TV.
Bravado Brothers vs. Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander
Recap: Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander – the team branded as the biggest green-horns on the ROH roster by The Briscoes – picked up their first win on ROH Television by defeating The Bravados thanks to their trademark athleticism and creativity. The Bravados put their cunning to good use and looked as though they might get the victory after taking out Alexander on the outside and hitting their finisher on Coleman, but in the end it wasn’t enough, and Coleman and Alexander used an STO/Frog Splash combo to set them up for their new finishing move (the Motor City Machine Guns’ old double-team move, Thunder Express). After the match Lancelot refused a handshake, frustrated with the Bravados’ numerous losses of late.
Review: This was a fun little match, and it’s nice to see the C&C Wrestle Factory get through a match without any hiccups, because they’re no doubt talented and just need to get some momentum rolling. The Frog Splash by Alexander was pretty monstrous, and Coleman’s hops are just insane for a 34-year-old. The Bravados have got it made in terms of their act, and ROH need to find a place for them in the division that isn’t Future Shock’s whipping boys. They’re off to NOAH for a while now though, so they might not actually return in one piece.
TJ Perkins vs. Chris Silvio
Recap: Wrestling’s youngest veteran continued his ROH TV win-streak by knocking off OVW local Chris Silvio with the Detonation Kick. TJ spent most of the match running circles around Silvio, tying him up in knots, using his educated feet and flying off the ropes. Perkins hit a minor stumbling block when Silvio attacked his shoulder on the outside of the ring, but it proved to be no more than a speed bump, and he was able to reverse a superplex attempt and fly off the top to hit a diving knee attack. Moments later Silvio fell victim to the Detonation Kick and it was all over.
Review: Why wasn’t this TJ’s debut? He spent almost the entire match embarrassing Silvio and won with his finisher. A no-brainer, right? Well cast your mind back to his actual debut: Mike Mondo was given just under half of the offense and TJ won with a roll-up. New fans probably didn’t respect Perkins all that much after that win, but if they’d seen this and a few other matches like this one first and THEN one where he manages to out-smart his opponent and win via a roll-up, then maybe it would be more compelling.
– This week’s Inside ROH gives the run-down on the TV Title situation ahead of their upcoming triple-threat match at Final Battle, plus a few more words from Eddie Edwards on his training with Dan Severn.
– That’s followed by an interview with Davey Richards ahead of his match with Michael Elgin next week. He brushes off the challenge and claims that while Elgin is Unbreakable, he is Unstoppable. Anyone else think those two nicknames should be switched based on their personalities?
Proving Ground Match
The All-Night Express vs. Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team
Recap: Stepping into the Proving Ground with the ROH World Tag Team Champions, Kenny King and Rhett Titus managed to earn a title shot by pinning Charlie Haas after the One Night Stand thanks to some unlikely help from the Briscoes. The match began with an athletic stand-off between King and Shelton Benjamin, followed by the All-Night Express dominating Benjamin after some double-teaming. The champions reclaimed control after Titus accidentally struck the ring-post with his shoulder, and Haas and Benjamin mercilessly attacked his arm for several minutes. Rhett managed to tag King after sending Benjamin back-first into an exposed turnbuckle, the start of an injury that would eventually be the champions’ down-fall. WGTT overcame a flurry of ANX offense and set up the Leap of Faith, but Titus low-bridged Shelton as he was running the ropes and he fell to the outside where the Briscoes sprang their trap, nailing Shelton from behind with a chair. This not only took Benjamin out of the match but distracted Haas, leaving him open to the One Night Stand, giving King & Titus a guaranteed title shot in the coming weeks.
Review: This was one of my favourite WGTT matches in ROH to date, and if you’ve been following my reviews of the company for long then you know that statement doesn’t come easily. King and Benjamin’s short exchange at the start was a lot of fun and I’m still waiting for their one on one match to happen. WGTT’s limb work was tremendous and they really attacked Rhett’s shoulder with convincing aggression. Best of all somebody finally beat a champion in a Proving Ground match to make the concept worthwhile. Makes things a little weird in terms of continuity as the ANX lost to Haas and Benjamin after winning Ladder War 3, they earned this title shot, and then they have a chance to win a gauntlet match at Final Battle to earn a second guaranteed shot.
Haas’ Post-Match Promo
Recap: As ROH officials tended to Benjamin’s injury after the match and a furious Charlie Haas vented his frustrations with the Briscoes, claiming he’d take them both on alone if he had to, stating Shelton was his family, more specifically his brother and that he knew something about losing a brother. He stated that next time he got his hands on the Briscoes they’d be dead.
Review: Wow. For one thing, how atrocious is Haas on the mic? Is the man capable of cutting a promo without looking legitimately insane? And Haas making mention of Russ made me a little uncomfortable.
Edit: Given what happened at Final Battle, I’m doubly against this promo. I mean on the one hand it explains why Haas and Benjamin went crazy with the chair attacks, but they either knew they were going to turn the champs heel, in which case why this desperate last-minute attempt to get them sympathy heat? Or they made the last minute decision to turn them heel after the reactions the Briscoes had been getting in which case… ya know, weird.
Overall Thoughts
– Three fun matches here so this episode gets a thumbs up from me. Not only that, but they did a nice job promoting Final Battle with the vignettes and interviews and the main event itself built heat for the tag title match, as well as the post-match angle… kind of. I still had a few minor problems here and there, but that’s always going to be true when I’m analysing a wrestling show. Overall this was a good episode, and that’s all that fundamentally matters, right?