Ring of Honor - October 8, 2011
by SamoaRowe
-Video recap of last week’s main event. It’s a well done video, as I imagine if I hadn’t seen the show, I’d wish I had.
-From Chicago, IL. Our hosts are Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness.
-We kick things off with Jim Cornette in the ring. He introduces Jay and Mark Briscoe to the ring. Cornette brings up how the Briscoes were fined $5000 for attacking Haas and Benjamin in New York. Mark is upset because that money could have bought a lot of beer and bullets. Jay rants about how Haas and Benjamin are holding the Tag Team Championship that the Briscoes made famous. Cornette restates that ROH refuses to reward the Briscoes with a title shot. Cornette compromises that next week the Briscoes will face the All-Night Express for a shot at the belts. Jay scoffs at this notion, as he feels the ANX are their personal bitches. The ANX had better man up. This was actually a terrific interview. The Briscoes are really hamming up their scary redneck personas.
-Welcome to Focus on Ring of Honor! This week we’re looking at the only undefeated wrestler on the roster, Tomasso Ciampa! There is only one thing on his mind and that’s winning. Ciampa doesn’t plan on ever losing. Prince Nana shows up and introduces himself as leader of the Embassy. When he looks at Ciampa, all he sees are dollar bills. Nana is supposedly the descendent of an African ruler, though Cornette adds that he’s never seen any confirmation of this. Still, Nana appears to be rich and he offers Ciampa a life of luxury. I really enjoy these character building interview segments.
Andy “Right Leg” Ridge vs. Tomasso Ciampa (with Prince Nana and Ernesto Osiris)
Steve Corino is sitting in on commentary, as he is interested in the young Andy Ridge. Ridge lands several stiff kicks in the early going. Ciampa responds with a hard clothesline. Ciampa nails a Sicilian Suplex out of the corner. They fight on the apron with hard chops and stiff kicks. Ridge scores with a clothesline but gets dropped on the apron. Ciampa swings Ridge into the barricade! Ciampa combines head scissors with elbow strikes. Cue the chinlock! Ridge makes a comeback but can’t get the pin. Ciampa rolls down his knee pad for some running knee strikes. Ciampa hits his signature move, dropping Ridge onto his knees in a sickening fashion for the win at 4:45. Awesome, awesome extended squash. This is how you put someone over.
Winner: Tomasso Ciampa
-Ugh, Nigel McGuinness is going to interview a fan. Robbie from Kentucky doesn’t answer the question and instead shouts for them to bring back Kevin Steen. Nice. Nigel calls the fan a wanker and we move on.
-Welcome to Inside Ring of Honor! We are treated to pretaped interviews from Roderick Strong and Davey Richards explaining why it’s important to them to win the World title. Strong says winning the World title would be better than sex, even sex with him. Yikes. Richards says that winning the World title gave him closure. His parents weren’t around as a kid, so he was raised by his grandparents. His family didn’t watch football, they watched wrestling. His sick grandfather would come alive when it was time to watch wrestling. Richards will never forget that his grandfather died while he was living and training in Japan. Richards’ ROH title reign honors the memory of his grandparents.
-Ring of Honor is on tour! Come see the new Television Champion, Jay Lethal! Lethal acknowledges that there’s a lot of talent gunning for him. “Come and get it!”
ROH World Championship:
Davey Richards © vs. Roderick Strong (with Truth Martini)
Kelly and McGuinness put over just how much Strong and Richards dislike each other as they begin the match with a feeling out process. Strong slaps the face after a seemingly clean break. They quicken the pace with a series of counters and blocks. The match restarts and they trade submission attempts. Strong connects with some chops but Richards answers with a drop-kick. The fight spills onto the floor with Richards nailing some nasty kicks. They trade hard chops, with Strong getting the upper hand. Strong directs back to the ring. Martini distracts, allowing Strong to hit a potential knock-out kick to the head. Cue the commercial! After the break, Richards is in big trouble as Strong is picking up near falls. Richards surprises with an overhead belly to back suplex. Strong takes another hard shot to the head and a suicide dive! Missile drop-kick by Richards only gets 2. Richards wins a striking contest and delivers another overhead suplex. Strong rebounds with a power slam. Richards counters a back breaker with a crucifix pin attempt. Strong lands another hard kick to the head and backdrops him on the edge of the ring for a convincing near fall. Richards summons his fighting spirit (also known as no-selling) to score with a hard lariat before collapsing himself. Both men are selling exhaustion as they trade stiff shots. Gut buster by Strong gets 2.9999. Richards plants Strong on the turnbuckles for a superplex! Richards holds on for a Falcon Arrow! Richards transitions immediately into the ankle lock! Richards blocks a gut buster and applies the ankle lock! Martini distracts the referee while Strong taps. Richards chases Martini but manages to fight off Strong in the process. Martini is tossed over the ropes but Strong lands a flying kick. Strong hold, but Richards counters! Strong spits and slaps, which only makes Richards angry. The ankle lock finishes it at 19:58 (shown). Another great main event here, as the match really could have gone either way in the late stages, ****.Winner and still ROH World Champion: Davey Richards
Final Thoughts: More of the same goodness. I like the rhythm this show is settling into. I like the well defined characters and the ongoing storyline with the Briscoes looking for another shot at the WGTT. Thumbs up!
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