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Ring of Honor - April 7, 2012

by SamoaRowe

Video recap of last week’s epic Davey Richards/Kevin Steen confrontation. Nothing was settled, but it established that what Steen is doing is getting under Richards’ skin.

-From Baltimore, MD. Our hosts are Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness.

The Young Bucks vs. TJ Perkins and Shiloh Jonze

As per usual, the Bucks are only willing to shake each other’s hand. After a rough start, Jonze fights off Nick Jackson with a head scissors takedown. Perkins tags and stretches Matt Jackson. Jonze tags and overwhelms with a flying forearm. The Bucks team up to drop-kick Jonze off the apron. The Bucks manage to isolate Jonze for a mixture of double team moves and arrogant offense. Perkins makes a hot tag and fires away with lightning quick strikes. Perkins sets Nick in a tree of woe. Perkins blocks Matt and continues to punish both Bucks. Jonze tags in and trades head shots. Perkins sneaks in for a tope on Nick while Jonze looks for a cover. Sadly, Jonze flies into a super kick from Matt Jackson. That sets up More Bang For Your Buck and the Bucks are victorious at 6:05. Good win for the Bucks.
Winner: The Young Bucks

-Video recap of Mike Mondo and Matt Taven’s short history together. First, they were opponents, but Kevin Steen interrupted them. Then, they tried teaming up, and it was a disaster. Now, they’re officially enemies.

Matt Taven vs. Mike Mondo

Both of these guys really need a win, so unless Steen plans on crashing the party again, one of them will be back on the right track. Taven isn’t dumb enough to fall for Mondo’s trap in an insincere handshake and a brawl breaks out. Taven dumps Mondo over the ropes and cuts off numerous attempts to get back in. Mondo returns the favor, but Taven skins the cat. Mondo has a bad landing on a back drop reversal, and appears to have rolled his ankle. Mondo rolls to the floor and eagerly removes his boot. Taven is dumb enough to fall for this trap, as Mondo was faking it. Mondo repeatedly smashes Taven into the guard rails and takes a jog around the ring. Mondo rolls Taven back to the ring but can’t get the cover. Cue the chinlock! Mondo goes for a dive to the floor but Taven reverses into a power slam on the floor! Taven wants revenge and drives Mondo around the ringside area. Taven delivers a vertical suplex onto the entrance ramp! Back to the ring, Taven nails a flying cross body for 2. Mondo blocks a second attempt and nails his swinging DDT for the win at 6:09. That was a heckuva fight! Good stuff, would be open to seeing more of this.
Winner: Mike Mondo

-Kevin Kelly has to postpone Inside Ring of Honor because they have footage of the Border Wars press conference. They pull out all the stops to make this seem like a big deal, with Jim Cornette announcing Fit Finlay and Rhino for the event. Davey Richards speaks for the press but he’s rudely interrupted by Kevin Steen. Steen says there’s only one main event that the people want to see and it’s him getting his title shot against Richards. Davey demands that Cornette let him have the match or he’ll vacate the title and go to Japan. Davey even welcomes Steen to use the Piledriver! Cornette begrudgingly makes the match official.

-The four competitors in tonight’s March Mayhem match make their cases. No one seems all that concerned about the money.

March Mayhem finals:
Adam Cole vs. Tommaso Ciampa (with The Embassy Ltd.) vs. Mike Bennett (with Maria Kanellis and Brutal Bob) vs. Jay Lethal

The winner gets 24,000 dollars. Yeah, I don’t care either. Let’s just hope the match is good. There is still bad blood between Lethal and Ciampa stemming from their TV title feud (that wasn’t resolved before Lethal lost the title to Roderick Strong). Ciampa and Lethal begin brawling immediately. Bennett tags himself in and has a more traditional back and forth exchange with Lethal. Ciampa demands a tag from Bennett, but Lethal tags in Cole. Bennett and Cole square off with Cole gaining the upper hand. Lethal tags in and does well until Ciampa attacks him from behind. Cole saves Lethal from a double team with a dive to the floor! Cue the commercial! After the break, Lethal and Ciampa are duking it out. Ciampa blocks the Lethal Injection with a drop-kick to the mid-section. Bennett tags himself in, causing friction among the heels. Lethal takes advantage of the situation and pins Bennett at 8:01! Ciampa plants Lethal and eliminates him at 8:06. It’s down to Ciampa vs. Cole for the $$$. Ciampa only manages to hit one running kick before Cole pops up for a super kick. Ciampa catches Cole on a dive and plants him on the floor! Ciampa is beside himself when Cole kicks out. Project Ciampa is blocked and Cole applies a sleeper! Ciampa fights out, but Cole nails another super kick and locks on a rear naked choke! Ciampa powers out but Cole blocks a head of steam. Jay Lethal attempts a run in, which knocks Cole off the ropes in the process. Project Ciampa finishes Cole at 12:42 (shown). I’m not feeling that finish, what was the point of Lethal costing Cole the victory? I know they’re pushing Cole and want to protect him, but Ciampa has a entire host of friends at ringside to cheat on his behalf. Anyway, the match was generally good and rocking at times, ***¼.
Winner: Tommaso Ciampa

-The Embassy Ltd. celebrate with a giant check. It gets pretty goofy, with Prince Nana singing “We in the money!”

Final Thoughts: The March Mayhem silliness is over and I’m relieved. The show is beginning to gear up for the Border Wars iPPV, as we finally have a confirmed match between Davey Richards and Kevin Steen scheduled. That feud really needs to consistently be front and center going forward. I must point out that Mike Mondo and Matt Taven really stepped it up and had a great brawl, even if the match seemed more like an angle than an actual match. This could be an interesting spring for Ring of Honor, thumbs slightly up.

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