Taped on 01.21.12 in Norfolk, VA
Attendance estimated at 400-500 per our report: http://bit.ly/NsJ8Pk
This is the Underground event DVD that was sold with Rise & Prove. I’m going through these in chronological order so decided to take a look at this. First off, ROH really needs to stop doing these second rate DVD tapings. I mean let’s get real here, even though this was not put up for sale, it could have been an event that people cared about or ROH could have given a damn to make their events seem special and make it seem like this was something worth watching. Just one of my many gripes with the current ROH product. Put some banners up hanging from the ceiling. Get rid of that damned silver curtain. Good lord, no matter the venue small things like that can make it look a tad better. It may not be a jam packed arena, but jesus you’re a owned by a TV based company. Spend that money SBG and make your product seem like it is at least a top notch product. Several other smaller indy promotions we follow here at PWP do so much more for their events, it makes me very irritated that a company with some actual financial backing won’t put the time and effort to make their product look as good if not better than what people expect from them.
Opening is Eddie Edwards not being able to compete because of the staph infection so they have to make the announcement. Blah Blah Blah.
Kenny King defeats Andy “Right Leg” Ridge
Nothing special here. King and Ridge had a basic match that could have been put on Youtube for free. King had the crowd before and after, it’s too bad they didn’t capitalize on this talent. Basic comeback story for Ridge who still does nothing for me but that could also be the way ROH uses him.
Mike Bennett defeats Grizzly Redwood
Really don’t care about this match. Had nothing in it other than some comedy spots and the basic heat for Bennett who was still in the infancy of his character at this point but the crowd did hate him. Personally I’d tell you to just fast forward through it.
Kevin Steen defeats Adam Cole
This was every Steen match you’ve ever seen. Both guys had good chemistry with each other and perhaps this could be a sign of things to come. Steen dominated most of this match but Cole built up with the offense. So far though it’s better than the other two previous matches and I felt it really put the crowd in the mood for a good show. Steve Corino is fun on commentary and really if he wasn’t so involved in the storylines in ROH, I kinda wish they would keep him at the booth because he knows what to say and when to say it. Nigel & Corino would not be a commentary team I’d mute at any point unlike what I do when Kevin Kelly is talking. A good match, if I had to give it a star rating it would be about 3 but it’s very similar to a match Steen had oddly enough with Pac in PWG so I can’t say it’s anything special. Cole was starting to gain some momentum with the fans and you could feel it here. Cole is defeated with the F-Sanc. Post-match Steen goes for the Package Piledriver. Eddie Edwards makes the save which obviously sets up one of the larger storylines within ROH.
ROH World Tag Team Title Match
Jay & Mark Briscoe defeat Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander
Before the match started Coleman and Alexander cut a pretty incoherent promo. Really didn’t get me excited at all.
Coleman & Alexander got a shot here to show what they could do in the ring with a longer time than they usually get on TV. They can be an impressive tag team and there are facets to Alexander that I see in Pro Wrestling EVO that I wish he could show here in ROH. Some good in ring action such as a kick/dragon suplex combination from the Briscoes to Coleman but this was by the numbers for the most part. The Briscoes won with the Doomsday Device.
WGTT out and talking about how “great” they are. Also note that they’ve wrestled in the “real” Scope Arena and are cut off by a local team who got the biggest pop of the night thus far.
Jeff Early and Zak Hilton defeat Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team: Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas via DQ when Paul Turner is shoved. WGTT beat up A1 post match and Briscoes make the save – Big brawl ensues. Briscoes stand tall. Lots of attempted chair shots, none connected.
Kinda dumb situation that did nothing for me and really didn’t build any heat against WGTT in my opinion but the live crowd dug it so I guess that is the most you can ask for.
Jay Lethal cuts a pre-match promo. Good god this guy is bland. I really can’t get into his promo style.
Proving Ground Match
Tommaso Ciampa defeats ROH World TV Champion Jay Lethal: Tomasso Ciampa remains undefeated and now has a guaranteed ROH World TV Title match
The in ring work for this match was pretty average. Ciampa was able to counter a lot of Lethal’s moves but also it was a story of Lethal just having either a little more heart or toughness. Ciampa did a lot of power based sets to wear down Lethal who was really trying to just survive it and would get in quick flurries from time to time. Not a classic by any stretch but better than average. Of course the Embassy was ringside but oddly did not do as much to interfere as you would expect from a group as large as they are. Lethal’s dangerous moveset though including the naked knee strikes in the corner though always provide a bit of excitement as it’s something different and generally I think of Ciampa as a top talent in ROH who one day will hold the ROH World Title if he isn’t signed away. One fun spot was with a minute left in the match Ciampa hit Lethal with the air raid crash from the second rope to a close 2 count. After The Embassy would get on the ring apron, Lethal would chase them off and kiss Princess Mia but would get hit by Project Ciampa from behind to give Ciampa the win. A good match, worth seeing but that will really depend on if Rise & Prove is worth getting.
ROH World Tag Team Title Shot on 2/17 On The Line
Davey Richards & Kyle O’Reilly over Roderick Strong & Michael Elgin w/ Truth Martini when O’Reilly pinned Strong after an errant shot from Truth to Roddy with The Book of Truth.
This is the match that makes the DVD worth watching. The high impact moves of Elgin and Strong as they basically team up against O’Reilly but at the same time you can see the greatness that Elgin has with Richards as well. O’Reilly & Elgin could main event a ROH show one day and I don’t think anyone would doubt them in terms of what they bring in the ring and what the match could be. All four of these guys bring the fans to a fevor pitch. The story of O’Reilly trying to fight back to guys who are either much bigger than him or have more experience than him, fighting to get to Davey. When Davey is in the ring, he’s a superb talent who represents what ROH built it’s reputation on. The timing from all four guys is good though O’Reilly does go for an over the top tope and almost over shoots it but other then that this match was the best match on the card by far.
The action in this match is some of the best provided by ROH in a while IMO and really the type of match that got buzz for ROH back in the day. While I really think the production and overall lack of cutting edge storylines is hurting the product, if ROH would work on those aspects and deliver this kind of action on a more consistent basis I think we’d see a different reaction from the fans.
While it remains to be seen if Rise & Prove is worth buying, I’d have to say this main event is worth checking out if you do buy Rise & Prove.
Team Ambition/Team Richards will now face Jay & Mark Briscoe for the ROH World Tag Team Titles in Cincinnati on 2/17.
Overall Thoughts: Generally I would not tell you to even bother watching this DVD, but the main event is definitely worthy of watching. I can’t say you should watch anything else, but check out the main event. This is a one match show, two at the most depending on what you’re looking for, but for buying Rise & Prove, I’m glad I got a chance to see this main event.
Let me know what you think either by leaving a comment below or tweeting me at http://twitter.com/CGSTONG or now you can email me @ cgstong@pwponderings.com I want to know what you think and feel free to criticize as well. All the writers here want to get better and we want to know what you want. Thanks for reading.