Ring of Honor - November 26, 2011
by SamoaRowe
-Video recap of Davey Richards and Kyle O’Reilly stiffing the hell out of each other last week. Truth Martini tried to recruit Richards as his client but got his ass kicked instead.
-From Louisville, KY. Our hosts are Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness. Tonight, El Generico gets his Television Championship rematch against Jay Lethal.
-The Briscoes are all fired up about their upcoming World Tag Team Championship match. Dem Boys are too loud for ROH to not listen to them and give them what they deserve. They promise to beat Cedric Alexander and Caprice Coleman in under 13 minutes. Meanwhile, Alexander and Coleman say they respect what the Briscoes have accomplished in ROH but they shouldn’t be making bets at their expense. Papa Briscoe should have warned his boys about them.
Cedric Alexander and Caprice Coleman vs. Jay and Mark Briscoe
The Briscoes are so over as heels that the fans in attendance chant “Man Up.” The Briscoes attempt to double team in the early going but Caprice Coleman ends up wiping them both out with a dive to the floor. Alexander and Coleman use their team work to overwhelm Mark with a series of quick offense. Jay cheap shots Coleman to give Mark the advantage. The Briscoes aggressively isolate Coleman and wear him down. The Briscoes shove the referee down and suddenly Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin storm the ring wielding chairs. WGTT chase the Briscoes out of the building as the match ends in a no contest around 3:15. You don’t see this finish very often in ROH. The match served it’s purpose.No Contest
Sean Casey and Raphael Constantine vs. “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin (with Truth Martini)
Constantine bravely starts against Elgin and is quickly knocked off his feet. Casey tags but faces a similar fate. Casey uses his experience advantage to avoid some shots but Elgin catches him. Constantine and Casey try to double team but Elgin counters with a double suplex! Casey tags but Elgin blocks his tornado DDT. Both men knock down Elgin and attempt a cover (nice work, ref) but Elgin shakes it off. Casey eats a fall away slam but blocks a charge. Elgin catches Constantine and throws him at Casey. Elgin pretty much murders Constantine with a face plant. Casey misses a super kick and Elgin lifts up both opponents for the Alabama slam. Elgin pins both jobbers at 5:04. This was a fun exhibition of Elgin’s bag of tricks, it might have gone a little long for what it was trying to accomplish.
Winner: Michael Elgin
-Jim Cornette makes his official response to Kevin Steen’s legal actions. Cornette invites Kevin Steen, Steen’s lawyers, Jimmy Jacobs, and Steve Corino to meet him in the ring next week on ROH TV. Everyone involved with settle this one way or another.
-Welcome to Inside Ring of Honor! Final Battle is fast approaching. Kevin Kelly introduces footage of Dan Severn training students at this school. Kelly lists off all of Severn’s legitimate sports accomplishments, including his UFC triple crown feat. Eddie Edwards says that Davey Richards had invited him to go train with Dan Severn together, but Richards changed his plans and went to Japan. Severn says he wanted Edwards to train with him, so Richards should blame him before he blames anyone. I still don’t see why this is a conflict at all, but I digress. Severn says when titles and money are on the line, you have to put friendship to the side. Eddie points out that at Best in the World 2011, Richards told him they would always be brothers, right before kicking him in the head. Eddie doesn’t know if he could have done that. This time, he will strike if he needs to.
-Roderick Strong is still crying over now being chosen to main event Final Battle. We see footage of Strong at a bar table, living it up with a group of loose women. This is “Camp Strong” where times are hard and training is even harder. Strong puts out an open challenge for Final Battle, with the goal of stealing the show.
ROH Television Championship:
Jay Lethal © vs. El Generico
Before the bell rings, Mike Bennett and Bob Evans set up seats at ringside, complete with snacks. Lethal earns a nice pop for kicking their nachos out of their hands. The match begins with an even exchange of moves. The match restarts after they each block sloppy monkey flips. They play the speed game, which Generico wins with a series of arm drags. Generico throws some chops and a backbreaker. Split legged moonsault by Generico gets 2. Lethal sends Generico crashing to ringside to lead us to commercial. After the break, Lethal is in charge. Generico shakes off some chops and forges a comeback. Blue Thunder by Generico gets 2. The Michinoku Driver gets another near fall for Generico. Lethal blocks the Yakuza Kick and delivers a suplex as we get the 3 minute warning. Meanwhile, Mike Bennett grabs the TV title belt, which he believes is his. Lethal nails an enziguri but Generico snaps back with the Yakuza kick. Super kick by Lethal! Lethal rolls to ringside, where Bennett taunts him with the TV belt around his waist. Lethal pops Bennett right in the kisser. Lethal blocks Generico’s suplex and rolls him up. Lethal nails the Lethal Injection, but the referee is distracted by Bennett. The time limit expires at 15:00 (13:25 shown). This was a fine television match, ***¼.No contest
-Lethal and Bennett brawl up the aisle, with Evans getting involved. Generico dives over the ropes and wipes everyone out!
Final Thoughts: This show needs more El Generico. The TV title match was quality television and it nicely sets the stage for a Lethal/Generic/Bennett triple threat match at Final Battle. Pretty much everything else this week was filler. The MMA-style build to Richards/Edwards III retained my interest this week, and I liked the rational way that Edwards responded to Richards’ hurt feelings over him training with Dan Severn. Next week’s episode, with Kevin Steen live in the building, should be something great. Thumbs in the middle for a rather unimportant edition.
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