Ring of Honor- Best in the World 2012 iPPV Review

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-Taped from Manhattan, New York

-Your hosts are Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness

Match in Five Words or Less: Head Banging Bad

Match Highlights: If the “guardians” were more obvious, I’d identify one as a Mosh and the other as Thrasher, only because I don’t think the Sisters of Love ever had names. The New York crowd is utterly comatose for the announcement, and they’re so bored they’re able to notice how loose the ropes are, which apparently no one in the back was made aware of. Guardians start the brawl right away, and they have trouble using the ropes from the get go. Immediate heat segment on Mark Briscoe. Redneck kung fu and an enziguri as Jay drags the other guardian out of the ring. Spinebuster by Jay. Sliding dropkick by Mark Spring senton off the middle rope as well. Back elbow by Jay and a running boot. Even Kevin Kelly mentions the ropes! And now the fans are chanting about them. Jesus Christ. Shoulder tackles out of the three point stance. The guardians switch places, similar to how Ring of Honor in the 2000 switched places with the 1980s for this match. To work on Jay they go. Jay quickly escapes and tags Mark. More kung fu. Running dropkick in the corner. Up top Mark goes.  He manages the frog elbow. Count is broken but Jay lifts one of the guardians. Up top for the Doomsday Device. Jay ends up on top of one of the guardians instead for a three count.

Match Analysis: This felt like every tag team opener from a bygone promotion out of the 1980s. Even SMW likely had better openers than this. It was probably for the best the Briscoes didn’t try to hit the Doomsday Device considering the poor state of the ropes. If ROH was trying to get their second iPPV off to a better start than their first, they did not do a good job at all. Can anyone blame the Briscoes for not being motivated considering the quality of competition and the storyline? This is easily one of the worst Briscoes matches I’ve seen in YEARS. At least it was short.

Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: The Briscoe Brothers/6:12/*

-Briscoes have their way with Truth Martini. Guardians save their manager and flapjack Jay. Yeah guys, you’re still jobbers.

Match in Five Words or Less: Battle Of The Golden Boys

Match Highlights: Homicide is of course from New York. Eddie Edwards has earned the respect of these fans because of the ladder match three years previous and a shocking ROH world title victory at MM IV. Weird to think Edwards is from Boston! Homicide passes on the code of honor. Are they portraying him as a heel in NYC? Immediate suplex over. Homicide goes outside. Tope elbow  and a series of strikes. Homicide goes to the eyes. Straight right hand and a chop. Back rake. Strikes from Edwards now. Dropkick off the top rope. Knee to the gut by Homicide. Suplex countered. Another suplex by Edwards. Shining wizard gets two. Chop exchange turns to a boot exchange. They knock each other down. Overhead throw by Homicide. Edwards up and over again. He accidentally rams his shoulder into the post. Homcide sends him in a second time. Homicide goes for a chair but is convinced to put it away. Homicide bites Edwards in the arm. Headbutts by Edwards in the midsection. Swinging chop by Homicide. Fish hook and biting from Homicide. Two suplexes before Edwards counters into his own trio of suplexes. Homicide counters and brings him down by the arm. Edwards hits a running kick. Superplex hits. Acecrusher countered. Edwards drives Homicide down and then follows up with a fishermen’s buster. Armdrag by Homicide. Back elbow by Edwards. Boston Knee Party into the cover. He floats over for the STF. Homicide reaches the bottom rope. Atomic drop by Homicide. Running forearm. He sends Edwards over and hits a tornado DDT. Monkey flip countered. Kick and backpack slam… countered. Laurinitis crusher. Elbow pad comes off. Lariat to the back of the neck. Kick by Edwards. Lariat by Homicide!  Gringo Killer countered. Roll-up by Edwards gets two. Boot. Edwards rolls into the single leg crab. His arm gives way and Homicide kicks him. Small package gets two. Chop by Edwards. Hard elbow strike. Gringo Killer. Homicide picks up a huge victory.

Match Analysis: There are times when I forget how awesome Eddie Edwards can be in the ring. Here he excelled in selling the injured left arm and having it play into the ending. Homicide is not someone who has impressed in recent ROH stints, but there was something about him tonight that just clicked. Maybe it was the heelish tendencies. He felt fresh and more intense. If this is the Homicide we can expect to see in Ring of Honor now, I say push him as far as you can. He’s truly one of the more underrated wrestlers in indy wrestling history. I might be crazy, but this was a borderline great match with good psychology and a finish that made sense.

Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: Homicide/12:40/***1/4

Match in Five Words or Less: Forget The Rules

Match Highlights: My reviews are damn long enough, so find the rules elsewhere. Google them or whatever the kids do now. Extended feeling out process with a lot of MMA style moves. O’Reilly sells a supposedly injured knee that he acquired in training. Counter into the corner but Cole dropkicks O’Reilly in the knee. Dragon screw legwhip. Enziguri but Cole holds onto the leg. Another legwhip. Kneebar. Kick from O’Reilly. Cole with forearms. Series of punches in the corner. Up and over out of the corner. The knee buckles but O’Reilly applies the cross armbreaker. Cole reaches the bottom rope. Back elbow. Whip attempt but his shoulder is hurt. O’Reilly drives him down shoulder first. Slaps and kicks by O’Reilly. O’Reilly stretches Cole out. Series of fists to the head of Cole. Forearms by Cole. Enziguri. Running knee. Clothesline. Back elbow. Dropkick. Vertical suplex met by a knee. Dueling boots send both men down. Strike exchange. Cole is clearly bleeding. Pace picks up. Here we go! Ridiculous exchange of strikes and kicks. Headbutt by Cole. Running headbutt by O’Reilly. Cole hits. Knee by O’Reilly. Running kick misses. Low kick and superkick by Cole. Both men are down. O’Reilly’s mouth guard is gone. Superkick blocked. Discus clothesline by O’Reilly. Cole gets back up immediately. Another exchange. Kick. Axe kick. Forearm. Back suplex. All by O’Reilly. The doctor comes to ringside. Cole shakes his head at him. Guillotine choke by O’Reilly. Cole suplexes O’Reilly into his knee. Superkick in the face of O’Reilly, and it sends him out of the ring. Oh. My. God. O’Reilly whipped but his knee collapses. Cole lifts him up and gets put into the cross armbreaker. Cole counters into the cloverleaf. O’Reilly goes for an arm submission. Figure four leglock. O’Reilly taps.

Match Analysis: Don’t kid yourself. The last five minutes of this match MADE Adam Cole in New York and possibly in Ring of Honor. The first half of this match can be tossed out. The New York city crowd was clearly not into the early portion of the past because of the rules. Then Adam Cole started bleeding, and things got good fast. I mean, it went from 0 to 60. Great visuals as Cole pushed through his bleeding face and defeated his former partner and now foe. I can’t give this four stars considering the first half of the match, but this was an incredible spectacle combined with a star getting made. This is the sort of match Ring of Honor and Adam Cole desperately needed.

Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: Adam Cole/12:42/***1/2

-O’Reilly turns down a hand shake and pie faces Cole. Awesome heel move.

-Michael Elgin says Finlay will fall to him. Roddy Strong talks garbage. Elgin tells the members of the House of Truth to stay in the back.

Match in Five Words or Less: Why Won’t They Just Fight?

Match Highlights: Code of Honor followed between the powerhouses. Feeling out process. Uppercut by Finlay. Clubbering blow in response by Elgin. Finlay crossfaces in response. Blows from Elgin. Finlay takes him down and lays across his leg. Little slap to the face by Finlay. Elgin takes him in the corner. Forearm exchange. Another takedown and back to the leg. He turns his attention to a wristlock. They stand off. Finlay hits a running kick to the leg. Whip to the corner. Boot by Finlay. A second running boot. Elgin catches Finlay and sort of sends him over. Clothesline to the mouth. Finlay exits the ring. Elgin comes out and gets clotheslined. Back to the outside as Finlay rams Elgin back first into the side of the ring. Drops him across the guard rail. Running forearm by Finlay. Finlay forearms Elgin to the outside of the ring. Elgin comes back in the ring looking angry. Finlay backs up and boots him. Forearm. Short clothesline and a short knee drop. Chinlock. Back suplex by Elgin. Finlay grabs a headlock. Elgin applies a headscissors. Crowd is chanting “boring.” Finlay with another takedown.   Enziguri by Elgin. Whip reversed by Finlay. Shoulder into the iron. Series of clotheslines by Elgin. Head first into the turnbuckle. Superkick. Vertical suplex but he instead drives him down. That did not look good at all. Finlay back drops Elgin out of the powerbomb. Boots. Finlay shoves Elgin hard to the floor. Finlay roll into a two count. Air raid crash. 1-2-NO! Tombstone piledriver. Into the cover but again only two. Finlay goes for it again. Back fist and a bucklebomb. Spinning powerbomb ends the proceedings.

Match Analysis: Someone needs to sit me down and explain in a very slow voice why you’ve got two bruisers in the ring and they’re not beating the hell out of each other. A technical wrestling match is fine with two other wrestlers in another city. But this is NYC. Look, I don’t have a great fondness for them, but these people want action, not a slow technical battle where the mat wrestling ultimately means nothing. Yes, Finlay worked Elgin over. But what did it mean? Zero. Elgin hit the powerbomb and moved on. I think it’s interesting just how much stronger Finlay has looked in Evolve compared to ROH. His matches with Sami Calihan were at near MOTYC levels. Even the Jon Davis match was really excellent. The Strong and Elgin matches were nothing special. Not terrible by any means, but nothing justifying what Finlay undoubtedly costs. Considering the talent involved, I’d argue this was one of the biggest disappointments of the whole year.

Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: Michael Elgin/19:15/**3/4

-Elgin follows the code of honor after the match against the wishes of Truth Martini.

-Mike Bennett comes out with his entourage and cuts the same promo he’s been using the last three months. Apparently, he only wants title matches now. Remember that momentum he had after the Lance Storm match in April? Gone. Time for Mike Bennett to talk about being from Boston. As they’re about to make out, Mike Mondo comes out as I wonder if we’ve entered the seventh circle of hell. I swear to God I‘ve had wrestling nightmares involving THIS VERY MATCH!  Mondo is from NYC and really plays up the accent. Blah blah blah. He wants to wrestle in Hammerstein and lays down a challenge. Bennett’s jacket comes off, so we’re getting serious. Mondo calls Bennett a really nasty name and uses the microphone as a phallic device. He talks about fighting Bennett and then essentially raping Maria. Am I the only one who was offended by this? So a match ensues…sort of. Mondo mounts Bennett as Bob Evans pulls Bennett out. Mondo dives on top of Evans. Bennett spinebusters Mondo onto the side of the ring. Evans becomes involved as he attacks Mondo. Mondo gets the advantage but misses something off the top rope. Mondo rolls Bennett out of nowhere and gets the pin.

I was so close to liking Mike Bennett after Wrestlemania weekend. Then a segment with Mike Sydal happened. Then he lost to Lance Storm. Now he’s been jobbed out to Mike Mondo. It’s amazing how the guy finally starts getting better, and NOW the promotion depushes him. As it regards Mondo, there are a bajillion people better suited for his position in Ring of Honor. This segment was not good…not good at all.

Match in Five Words or Less: Strong

Match Highlights: Prince Nana singing still makes me laugh every single time. RD Evans can do no wrong. I will say the video package quality has improved significantly from the GFL days. Ciampa attacks Lethal and his Bozo haircut immediately. Strong sent into the rail. Lethal gets the advantage on the outside. Back in the ring. Right hands. Leapfrog and clothesline by Ciampa. Stomps by Strong on both men. Whip reversed but boots by Strong. Lethal hip tosses him. Low dropkick. Strong tossed outside. Ciampa with a  headbutt and clubbering blow. Lethal ducks a clothesline and hits a tope suicida on Strong. Princess Mia delivers a VICIOUS kick on Lethal. Jesus. Ciampa hits a series of running knee strike. Strong with a leaping kick from behind. Gordbuster into the ropes. Right hands by Strong. Chop in the corner. Running forearm and backbreaker. Stomps from Strong. Embassy tries calming Ciampa down.  Strikes out of the corner by Lethal. Strong with a knee. Ciampa attacks from behind. Whip into the electric chair. Ciampa drives him down. Up and over with a German suplex. Short clothesline by Ciampa. He goes for the eyes. Whip across and a clothesline. Chops in the corner. Lethal hits a superkick. Ciamapa nails him in the chin. Strong tosses Ciampa out. Cover on Lethal gets two. Into a chinlock. Right hands by Lethal. Strong hits a dropkick. Clubbering blow to the back and another chop. Lethal starts no selling. Chop exchange. They take turns on Ciampa. Elbows and clotheslines by Lethal. Handspring elbow. Lethal Combination on the champion for two. Ciampa shoulder blocks Strong. Lethal DDTs Ciampa. Figure four leglock on Strong. Ciampa interferes and gets cross-faced. Great spot. Hold gets broken. Forearm misses. Pop-up neckbreaker by Lethal. Ciampa heads to the top with both men prone. Elbow drop on Lethal gets two. Strong hits a jumping knee on Ciampa to prevent the finish from being hot. Lethal superkicks Strong. Ciampa placed on the top rope. Ciampa tosses Lethal. Enziguri by Strong. Superplex. Hail to the King on Ciampa. 1-2-NO! Strong low bridges Lethal out. Martini misses a shot with the book. Prince Nana threatens Lethal as Ciampa sets up for Project Ciampa. Nana accidentally trips his man up. Strong covers and gets three. Martini hits Lethal with the “Book of Truth.” Nasty Orange Crush backbreaker gets Strong the victory. Sick finish.

Match Analysis: Everything up to the finish was going pretty well. Quality action between these guys. Ciampa’s in-ring ability is certainly improving more and more.  The finish was just goofy with all the intereference and craziness. I’m wondering what the end game is with Ciampa. His turning babyface makes no sense considering the new psycho character, but Nana going babyface makes even less sense. Despite all the hubbub about Strong winning the title, this may ultimately prove to be the perfect role for him. Since he’s got the belt, I see no reason for him to lose the belt the rest of the year.

Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: STILL ROH Television Champion-Roderick Strong/13:10/***1/4

Match in Five Words or Less: Right Team Won At Least

Match Highlights: Kevin Kelly makes some interesting comments about WGTT before the match, almost what a lot of fans have been saying about their effort. Haas starts with King. The NYC crowd HATES Haas with a passion. Quick tag to Benjamin. They don’t like him very much either. About three minutes before actual contact is made. King with a quick series of armdrags. Benjamin heads outside. Punch into the corner. Forearms by King. Whip across and a back drop. Into the side headlock. Haas tags in and boots King. Clubbering blow sends him down. Running kick. Choking while King’s head is on the mat. Butterfly superplex. Benjamin goes for a piledriver. He shifts into a powerbomb. Dropkick by King and a tag to Titus. Running kick. Snapmare and a knee drop. Double boots. King hits a leaping kick. Dropkick by Titus. King with a modified chinlock. Armdrag into the armbar by King. Bodyslam and a double team. Kick and a forearm by Haas. Titus sent head first into the turnbuckle. Whip across. Titus hits a running bulldog. King with a single leg lariat. Front facelock. Into the corner. Shots from King on Benjamin and boots to King. He nearly battles out of the corner. Haas ties him in the ropes. Leaping kick by Benjamin. Now the pace is really sloooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwed down. King leaps up and over. Roll-up for two. Haas with a right hand. Small package by King. Backslide for two. Kick by Benjamin and he drives King’s midsection into his knees. Haas covers, but Paul Turner enforces the legal man rule. Another roll-up by King. Attempted vertical suplex. King counters into a double DDT. Hot tag. Dropkick in the ring. Right hands by Benjamin. Clotheslines for both men. Back drop on Benjamin. Elbow on Haas. Running boot into the facebuster. Boot and spinning clothesline. 1-2-NO! Benjamin reverses the whip. Titus on the top rope. He drops Benjamin on the turnbuckle. Shotgun knees by King. Haas breaks the count. King with clubbering blows. Haas with a German suplex. Forearm by Titus. Whip and a clothesline by Haas. Splash by Benjamin. Drunk slam by Haas. King tosses Benjamin a drink. Turner threatens a DQ. Titus kicks and DDTs Benjamin. But they’re the babyfaces. King sends Haas into the rail. King hits a spinning dive to the floor. Titus sets up for a dive of his own. Benjamin clotheslines him over instead. Titus sent into a chair. Turner threatens a DQ again. Haas comes back in the ring. Benjamin apparently nailed Titus in the face with the belt, but it was missed. Titus is now bleeding. Haas with right hands in the corner. Boots and choking by Haas. Back to the right hands and stomps. Benjamin with stomps. Turner keeps Benjamin back and checks on Titus. Benjamin hits a DDT. Haas hits a series of crossface. Stomp and a right hand. Haas gets on the microphone but says nothing of note. He wants Titus to quit. Forearms. Benjamin gets hit with a blockbuster. Haas boots King. Titus rolls him up and gets three on a fluke roll-up.

Match Analysis:  I could talk about how fluke of a victory this turned out to be. I could talk what about what a useless title reign this was for two guys who appear to be dogging in the ring. I could talk about how Benjamin and Haas have only been given opportunities because of who the booker is. Instead, I’ll congratulate the champions on a new victory. Every time these guys were on offense, the excitement level picked up. Titus bleeding made for some awesome moments. Great fire shown from both guys. I do have a major problem with Haas and Benjamin literally controlling three quarters of the match and then losing on a fluke. Hopefully, this is not a sign of things to come for their title reign.  

Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: NEW ROH World Tag Team Champions-ANX/22:59/***

-Just to further establish what a fluke victory this was, WGTT continue beating King and Titus down. Thankfully, it doesn’t last and they are able to celebrate an awesome moment.

Match in Five Words or Less: Davey’s Bad Night

Match Highlights: Steve Corino is on commentary. Jim Cornette threatens Corino if he interferes. Kyle O’Reilly breaks up with Richards before the match. Richards responds by immediately charging at Steen and kicking him through a table. Look, if my significant other broke up with me, I’d have the same reaction. Great promo from O’Reilly if nothing else. Into the rail and a running boot. Kicks from Richards. One final running boot. Another whip to the guard rail. Punt to the chest. Clubbering blow and knee strike. He goes after Jacobs’s eyes. Steen powerbombs the challenger across the side of the ring. Corino is fantastic on commentary, almost making up for Kevin Kelly through sheer force of will. Richards sent into the rail. Bodyslam. Steen sends a number of the steel plates into Richards’ body. Frog splash into the steel. Steen has a chain now. He whips Richards with it. Steen heads to the top rope. Swanton met with knees. It’s turned into a world title match with two guys battling in shirts. Richards sent up and over. Steen hits a draping DDT. Steen bumps into Bobby Cruise… and SUPERKICKS HIM! Richards hits a tope suicida. Richards with stomps. Richards gets a brief advantage. To the apron as they battle. Richards hits an exploder on the apron. Jesus. Richards with stomps and a big kick to the head. Underneath for another table. Steen placed across the table. Shirt finally comes off. DOUBLE STOMP THROUGH THE TABLE! HOLY SWEET JEBUS! Double stomp in the ring. 1-2-NO! Challenger goes for a chair. Steen lungblowers Richards into the chair. He then has an announcement. CANNONBALL! 1-2-NO! Steen puts  a chair on top of Richards. A second one. Steen goes up to the top rope. Richards hits a number of headbutts. Superplex into the chairs. Back under the ring for another table. Stomp to the head of the champion. Richards places Steen on the top rope. Steen puts Richards through a table with fishermen’s buster. 1-2-NO! Steen sets two chairs up. German suplex by Richards into the chairs. Richards has the chain and chokes Steen. Mouth guard falls out. Chain wrapped around his leg. Kawada kicks with the chain.  Hard strike to the head. Kick with the chain. 1-2-NO! Richards is so angry at Todd Sinclair. He kicks him in the chest and instantly becomes a babyface. Then he challenger goes for the smallest ladder in the history of wrestling. F-5 by Steen. No referee. Paul Turner counts two and then gets hit with a package piledriven. Kick by Richards. D-R Driver on the ladder! No referee. There could be a 20 count in the ring. Richards sets up the ladder in the corner. Jacobs comes from behind. Richards tears him down. Jacobs goes for the spike. Cornette grabs it. Corino low blows him. That was awesome. Corino kicks him out of the ring. Richards hits an exploder on Jacobs. Richards goes for the spike. Steen rams the spike into Richards’s groin. Package piledriver. Done. Steen retains.

Match Analysis: A lot of the things missing from the first match were in this contest. Loved every minute of this. Richards deserves so much credit here. He has allowed himself to be emasculated these two iPPVs and did a great job making Steen look like a wrestling genius. The champion had the advantage at almost every turn and was able to usurp Richards for the whole match. This was better than the Border Wars contest by a slight margin and was a perfect way for these men to end their feud.

Winner (s)/Time/ Rating: STILL ROH World Champion-Kevin Steen/20:48/****1/4

-Steen tries to turn heel on the NYC crowd and fails.

The Verdict: Best in the World 2012 was not nearly the amazing show Border Wars was. Thankfully, Ring of Honor was able to put everything together so most people could see the show. There is still a great deal of work to do before they gain the trust of the audience back, but this was a solid first step. With the ANX, Roderick Strong, and Kevin Steen, there is some hope for the championship divisions. However, the opener and post- intermission segment were a cause for concern. Ring of Honor is certainly not making the best decisions as far as talent goes. A thumbs up show and well worth checking out nonetheless.

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