Taped on 01.20.2012 in Philadelphia, PA
Attendance is estimated at 650 according to our report
This show features not only the beginning of a CHIKARA/ROH relationship that is still going on as you read this but also the return of Chris Hero after a hiatus that would ultimately lead to him signing with WWE developmental as Kassius Ohno. Enough of that, lets start the show.
It opens with Eddie Edwards not being able to compete on this weekend of shows because of a staph infection which is a downer for the crowd but still they are getting a fun show.
Wrestling Greatest Tag Team Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin def Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly
This for me was the beginning of the end for Future Shock. An unintentional hit from O’Reilly on Cole and of course the loss has to be considered an impetus for a split. But that’s not where this starts. Haas & Shelton heeling it up calling Philly the “butt crack of America” and really that can’t make the fans happy no matter where you go. The WGTT had just lost the titles at FB 2011 the month before so they are angry and needed to take that anger out on a team and Future Shock was that team. Cole is no stranger to the Philly fans who probably also watch him in CZW and other promotions so Cole gets a lot of great reaction from the fans. An interesting point in this is that Haas & Benjamin really are working a style they really utilized a lot in WWE as heels and for me it still works. It’s a minimalist style but that is what you should do as a heel. You shouldn’t be doing flashy moves or crowd pleasing sets when a simple punch to the face or a kick to the guy gets the same reaction. The crowd seemed to like the match despite the less than exciting finish to the match. Good team work from both sides and I can honestly say that it was a good opening match for the event.
Grizzly Redwood promo and he’s ready for a 4 Corner Survival match. A fun promo but really I’m glad Griz is finding more success outside of ROH.
Four Corner Survival: Tomasso Ciampa (w/Embassy Ltd) def Mike Bennett, Grizzly Redwood, Andy Ridge
Really this could have been Ciampa vs Bennett and it would have probably gotten the same response. Ridge really hasn’t done much in ROH at all and Griz just doesn’t fit the ROH culture at this point. I’ve got nothing against those two talents but really this match didn’t need them other than it gave Mike the ability to not “lose” a match and Ciampa to put another win to paper. Does Griz even win any more in ROH? Ciampa and Bennett make short work of the ROH students and pretty much it’s a stare down that I was really hoping would always turn into something more. Unlike four ways in the past this felt more like a tag match with the ROH students doing what they could against the heels of Ciampa & Bennett until the heels decided they couldn’t coexist due to the fact that only 1 man can wini the match. Despite my like for 4 ways, this did nothing for me and I really can’t say is worth watching other than to see the progression of Tomasso & Mike. In ring action was fine, everything you would expect from these four. The lack of response from the crowd other than to chant for Griz at times pretty much sums up my thoughts. Ciampa wins via a Project Ciampa on Grizzly Redwood.
Backstage we go and Future Shock is having an argument. Cole wants O’Reilly to focus, O’Reilly tries to apologize abut it seems Cole would have none of it. At the time I felt it was Cole would be turning with O’Reilly being the sympathetic figure. My was I wrong. A good promo by both men who are going to be the future of this company unless they get picked up by other top promotions.
The Embassy is happy and especially because Mia Yim is happy which can make any day a good day. RD Evans still puts it out there that the investors are the ones who must be happy. Ciampa mentions how he’s going after the TV or World title. Ciampa has IMO always been a great serious promo and I gotta say ROH had better try to hold onto this man as long as they can.
Steve Corino comes out who at this time had a fight at FB 2011 with Steen may have been a loss but a gain of respect by his peers. Steen would come out and basically run this idea down and say that Corino is still evil and should return to those roots. Where this story goes would carry the company for the rest of the year.
Kevin Steen defeats Kenny King
A strong match and it shows what King could do in the singles competition. Steen and King was a championship match I was looking forward to seeing and as of this writing mere hours from Destination X 2012 we may see what King can do on a larger stage with the X Division title. Overall though King while getting in good spurts of offense, the overall story was Steen was just better on this night and with his focus being on singles competition got the win over a guy who mainly was a tag specialist. Post match Steen beat up Rhett & King and gained more heat. Nothing special but it added to his character.
Michael Elgin w/ Truth Martini defeats Chris Hero
A great match and with it being the farewell match for Hero in ROH I would have to say buying this DVD during a sale would be worth it just to have this in your collection. Gotta say found it very amusing when someone in the crowd did the MK Scorpion call of “Get Over Here” and Truth retorted with, ” Ah shut up!”. Just a small thing but amusing and makes me like Truth all the more. Hagadorn tries to convince Hero that he has his back but Hero will have none of it. Hero means a lot to these fans and it was great to see him bring it in this match. Hero no doubt did the honors on his way out and for me this was a break out match for Elgin. Strong technical showing by both men with Elgin being able to show his range which would be hard to do against a competitor the talent of Hero. Awesome stuff from both men including a great delayed suplex from Elgin to Hero. Both men battle back and forth and bring something very similar to the match Elgin would have with Richards later in the year. A buckle bomb followed by the spinning power bomb brings this to an end and a great win for Elgin. THANK YOU HERO
Post match Hagadown runs Hero down and gets his in the form of an awesome spinning elbow. Not a roaring/rolling elbow but a good one none the less.
Steen is backstage and he’s ready to take ROH hostage this year. I guess we’ll find out if he does or not *wink wink*
Elgin cuts a promo on Hero and his toughness is never going to be in question again.
No Holds Barred: Roderick Strong w/ Truth Martini beat Adam Cole (substituting for an injured Eddie Edwards)
Roderick Strong tried to get a countout win but then Cole’s music hit and Cole was ready to prove that he had what it took to get a win on this night. Unfortunately that is not how it worked out but the crowd was happy to see him and in some ways this reminded me of when Strong was in Generation Next and taking the wins he wanted. A very interesting line that I didn’t remember from watching this the first time around was the praise Cole had for Edwards which semi foreshadowed the relationship they would have later on in the year. This was a fun match with Strong showing his sadistic side with usage of a chair and back breakers on the ring apron and Cole showing that he had a lot of toughness left despite the loss earlier in the show. Use of a chair with the camel clutch though is just one of those moments you’ll probably only see in ROH but it is one I’d say made this match a good encounter between the two. For my money this was the best match up to this point on the DVD. These two had a great match and this was the 2nd gear that the fans needed to really get into this event. Elgin of course had to make a showing as well tonight as he came out to help fellow HoT member but Edwards came out to even the score and help Cole out as they battled to the back. A great match and though Strong got the win, Cole really put his name in the hat that he could hang with the former ROH champ.
Veda’s debut to the Briscoes is gold. Jay gotta remember he got a wife and kids that could be watching. Just saying. CHIKARA vs ROH is just one of those things that brought some life into the buzz where ROH is sorely lacking.
Proving Ground match: Jigsaw & Hallowicked to earn a future ROH World Tag Team title shot by defeating ROH World Tag Team Champions Jay & Mark Briscoe
Seriously the crowd made this match even more exciting as we had then ROH Tag Champs against the CHIKARA team of Hallowicked & Jigsaw who are two men who can definitely get it done in the ring. Even before the match started I was excited to see this and I gotta say that even though this will not be the same as the ROH/CZW invasion of the past, it certainly makes the ROH product seem more exciting. I would say that this cemented this DVD as must buy for me even if this match was horrible, it is the genesis of what hopefully will continue to be a running feud going on into 2013. I don’t think I have to sell you guys on the awesomeness of this match so I won’t even bother to try. Buy the DVD the next time ROH has a sale.
I will say despite the fact that this should have been a big moment, the commentary really killed it for me. I don’t mind Kelly as much as I used to but the guy who was on with him despite knowing wrestling decently just did nothing for me.
We go back stage again to ROH World champion Davey Richards who says Jay Lethal is on his head hunting list. So I expected some Samoans to show up during this match.
ROH World title match: ROH World Hvt. Champion Davey Richards defeated ROH TV Champion Jay Lethal
Good reaction for the TV champ as he came out despite the fact that he does nothing for me but garuntee some good match work. Good mat work from both guys as you would expect. Honestly these are the kinds of matches that I feel ROH built it’s reputation on and I would say this match would be one of those matches I’d want to see on either mans compilation. Good match, decent story telling, both men selling well, I can’t say anything bad about the match other than it would have been nice if it had been built up a bit more. The crowd was into it and even though I would assume most if not all knew there was little chance of a title change there were times they reacted as if it could have happened and that is the sign of good story telling. Unfortunately Strong would come out and interfere but distracting Lethal while he was on the top rope. Davey would get the chance to jump to the top rope with Lethal and come down and float into a nice armbar as he had been focusing on the left arm of Lethal all night.
I will agree with Justin Houston though on the mindset that there were times Davey went for the ankle lock but had not worked the leg at all and should have stayed with the arm bars/locks. A minor thing but it is noticeable at times, especially if the men are in the main event. But as I said above other then that this match was quite good and while I won’t say it was $20 good overall, it’s worth $15 IMO. Davey wins with a series of kicks to the head after Lethal, knowing he was beat, dared him to knock him out. A great outing by both men.
Overall Thoughts: With the first half of the card mostly passable and the second half of the card full of fun matches including Strong vs Cole, Elgin vs Hero, Jigsaw & Halllowicked vs Briscoes, and the main event I can definitely say this was a good show from ROH. I’d probably give it a 7 out of 10 and say that it is worth purchasing on a sale.
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