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ROH TV 11-24-12



This week’s ROH TV features S.C.U.M. defending the tag titles against BJ Whitmer and Rhett Titus.


First off, an apology to anyone that was offended by my rather classless comments about the women in last week’s match. I’m here to talk about the matches, not whether or not I think the girls in them are hot. That being said, I still maintain that the match stunk and was a waste of time, and the totally dead crowd seemed to agree with me.

We open with Nigel McGuiness bringing out Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team. Pretty funny bit to start it off, as Benjamin congratulates McGuiness on being named the new matchmaker and shakes his hand, but Haas blows it off so McGuiness responds with the universal jerking-off hand gesture (Wanker!), which is blurred by the camera. WGTT wants to know why Titus & Whitmer are getting the tag title shot tonight when WGTT beat them at the PPV last month. McGuiness tells them that it’s because Whitmer & Titus beat them on TV a few weeks ago. Haas: “That doesn’t count!” I have to agree, a more recent win on a PPV should carry more weight than a win in an impromptu TV match. McGuiness says that if WGTT wants a title shot they have to beat Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander RIGHT NOW!

Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin vs. Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander: Haas throws the (again blurred) double-bird during the Code of Honor. Kevin Kelly is left to do commentary by himself for the evening, and is clearly not used to flying solo. It comes off pretty poorly, as he’s kind of talking to someone that isn’t there. Benjamin starts off with Alexander and they lock up and fight over a headlock and a wristlock. Shelton gets the better of that and dumps Alexander and Haas pounds him on floor for a bit before sending him back in. Benjamin dumps him again, Hass sends him back in and Benjamin gets a scoop slam for 2. Alexander gets dumped AGAIN, but this time he nails Hass and scores with a missile dropkick on Benjamin to make the tag. Drop-toehold/legdrop combo gets 2 for the faces, and a top rope clothesline gets another 2 count for Coleman. Benjamin tags in Hass and Coleman gets beat on in the heel corner, but comes back with a standing leg lariat for 2. We play “face tries to come in and distracts the ref while his partner gets beat on by the heels behind the ref’s back” for a bit, and Haas hits an exploder suplex for 2. Rhett Titus (looking like a smaller Kevin Nash while in street clothes) and BJ Whitmer join us for commentary as we go to commercial.

Back from break as Benjamin hits a Bossman slam on Coleman and grabs a headlock. Coleman gets free and hits a crossbody for 2, but Benjamin takes over again with a knee and tags in Haas. Double-team backbreaker for 2, and once again Alexander is stopped by the ref from getting in while Hass chokes Coleman behind his back. Hass beats on Coleman for a while, but Coleman reverses a scoop slam into an armdrag and both guys tag out. Alexander throws forearms on Benjamin and hits an ugly enziguri, then hits a much better one off the second rope for 2. He knocks Haas of the apron and the faces hit the obligatory fucked up Total Elimination for 2. You’d think they’d be getting better at it, but I swear it looks worse every time they do it. Christ, find a new move! Hass makes the save and both he and Alexander go over the top, right in front of the commentators. Coleman tries the triple Northern Lights, but Benjamin gets a HUGE powerbomb and both guys are down. Outside, Hass bitch-slaps Whitmer and a big brawl breaks out (with Kelly screaming MY GOD! WHAT THE HELL! like he’s taking a rough shit or something), as back in the ring Benjamin gets a superplex on Coleman, but as soon as he hits the mat he’s nailed with an Alexander frog splash to finish it at 10:50. Pretty cool ending right there. ***, wee bit sloppy from the face side but still a really fun match, can’t go wrong with these guys. Give them a decent amount of time and they could hit ****+ easily.

Ryan McBride vs. Bobby Fish: Fish is an indy journeyman; having done time in ROH, Evolve, IWA-MS, NOAH in Japan, and various Northeast promotions, including my hometown promotion, Empire State Wrestling. McBride is a former Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup winner in MCW (Maryland Championship Wrestling, one of the better double-A level indies out there), which speaks well of him, and a CZW vet, which doesn’t. Not that it matters, as he is absolutely squashed here. Fish tosses him out, hits a dive to the floor, and back in the child-killer flying headbutt gets 2. McBride reverses an Irish whip and gets a couple shots in the corner and hits a vertical suplex for 2. That’s the extent of his offense, as he spends too much time going up top and misses a frog plash, and Fish ends it with a crescent kick at 2:19. This only served to let fans know who Fish is when he appears in the next segment, so I won’t bother to rate it.

Davey Richards/Kyle O’Reilly segment: O’Reilly is sick of playing second banana to Richards, Richards feels that O’Reilly is a little bitch and doesn’t appreciate what he’s done for him, including introducing him to his wife. O’Reilly asks for forgiveness, Richards accepts and they hug it out. Of course, O’Reilly turns on him and hits some horrible looking punches, but Richards quickly gets the anklelock. The stooges and Bobby Fish come out to break it up, but Fish blasts Richards with a kick to the face and locks in the Crippler crossface while O’Reilly gets in Richards’ face and talks shit. Given the lack of mic skills from the people involved you’d think this whole thing would suck, but it actually came off really well outside of the bad punching.

Inside ROH: More PPV hype. As expected, Michael Elgin vs. Roderick Strong is announced for Final Battle, Truth Martini tells us in an atrocious promo that he won’t let it happen. The Briscoes, Adam Cole, and Jay Lethal get airtime as well. Speaking of Cole, it’s announced that the Cole/Matt Hardy match is non-title. That's assuming Hardy makes it to the PPV, as he was injured with what was reported to be a pretty severe concussion at the Extreme Rising iPPV last weekend.

ROH Tag Team Title: Rhett Titus & BJ Whitmer vs. Steve Corino & Jimmy Jacobs: Titus and Whitmer jump S.C.U.M. from behind and everyone brawls for a while. That all gets sorted out and Corino gets a Russian legsweep on Titus and tags in Jacobs, S.C.U.M. takes over with quick tags and lots of the usual heelish tactics. Jacobs misses and blind charge and Titus gets the tag, spinebuster from Whitmer gets 2. Double Northern lights gets 2, but a Rock Bottom attempt is reversed into a roll-up. Spear from Jacobs gets 2, Titus kind of rolls out of a reverse rana and hits clothesline with the 360 sell by Jacobs. Both guys tag out, a forearm battle between Corino and Whitmer ends with a Whitmer clothesline for 2. Tilt-a-whirl on Corino, Jacobs makes the save, the faces try the “whip the opponents into each other” spot but Corino reverses his end and Jacobs hits another spear on Titus. Whitmer tries to suplex Jacobs to the floor, but the momentum takes both guys out and here’s WGTT to spike Whitmer on the barricade. Titus is left on his own, and the champs retain on a suplex by Corino at 8:00. I think we could all see that interference coming after what happened in the opener. **, I have nothing further to add on this one. Benjamin and Hass beat Titus down to end the show.

Much better show than last week, with every segment building up some sort of angle, and no terrible in-ring work. Next week: The Briscoes vs. The Headbangers and a rematch of the Michael Elgin/Davey Richards match from WrestleMania  weekend.

Comments

  1. Sub out BJ Whitmer for Kenny King and this show could've taken place last summer. ROH needs to stop running in place, now, before it's too goddamned late. They need a full reboot.

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  2. real fun show this week, and yeah, punches aside I really liked that Richards segment-Richards can't cut a "promo" were he is ripping someone very well, but he sounds honest when he's just talking. Final Battle thoughts; They really should pull the trigger on C & C at Final Battle, and I would predict O'Rielly and Fish vs the American Wolves will take place-which would almost certainly be better then Davey vs Kyle 1-on-1

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  3. That Richards/O'Reilly segment was shockingly good, honest is the right word I think, the whole thing came off very realistic. Wolves/O'Reilly&Fish is probably a go for Final Battle, as is WGTT/Titus&Whitmer, probably with some sort of stipulation attached. I'd like to see them pull the trigger on C+C too (like Cole, if Vince and HHH aren't taking a hard look at them they should be), but I don't see it happening. That match is focused around the Briscoes/S.C.U.M. angle, C+C are just there as extra bodies. I wouldn't be too shocked if the Briscoes turn heel and join S.C.U.M., actually.

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  4. Richards struggles when he tries to play a role, but he shows a lot of potential when he cuts those "speaking from the heart" promos, which explains why I liked him a lot more after I heard his "Art of Wrestling Appearance". I think he needs to figure out how to do the whole "character as an extension of the self thing" and stop trying to sell angles by cutting extremely awkward "badass" promos.

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  5. Sorry for not replying lately. Since going to Killer Instinct in NJ in early Oct, I haven't watched any ROH. I'm going to be in the second row for Final Battle, so I definitely plan on catching up. Like Ryan said, ROH feels like it's been treading water for over a year. I have faith Delerious will freshen things up, but I kinda wish he'd go a bit quicker. I'm still sad they couldn't capitalize on TJP, who's now lost with Kenny King in the TNA abyss.


    I think Bobby Fish can only help. Fish & O'Reily is a good team, but I'm getting a bit weary of strong style wrestlers who can't speak. Fish is more versatile than Edwards, Strong, and O'Reily, though. Still, I won't be mad about watching Fish & O'Reily vs the Wolves, but I hope they don't go to that well too often.

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  6. I can't like this post enough.

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  7. 1) What's the deal with Trugh Martini? Does he own Sinclair Broadcasting or something? How does he have a job?
    2) I still don't understand why WWE dumped Shelton Benjamin. The guy can flat out go.
    3) The finish to the opening match was great.
    4) The Elgin/Strong match is gonna be awesome. I would say it has steal the show potential, but with Ladder War in the main, I don't see it happening.

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  8. Briscoes Turn heel...and you think SCUM gets cheered now!

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  9. 1. Well, he does draw decent heel heat. As bad as he is, I find R.D. Evans even worse. ROH's roster is so thin right now they'll take anyone who will show up. Example: The continued employment of TaDarius Thomas, who is the worst wrestler on TV right now.
    2. The usual bullshit about Vince/HHH feeling he doesn't have enough respect for THIS BUSINESS, in this case playing video games in the locker room. I can't believe TNA hasn't picked up WGTT.
    3. Yes it was. I wish they'd give them 20-25 minutes and a clean finish. I don't think they could hit *****, C+C is a bit sloppy (they'll only get better with experience), but they'd get close.
    4. Eh, it will be pretty good, but I think "awesome" is going a bit far.

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  10. Perkins is in TNA now? I thought ROH wasn't using him because of the cost to fly him in from Cali. The match from this show was the first time I've ever seen Fish, couldn't really tell anything about his skills in a short squash. I could do without him using both of Benoit's finishers though.

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  11. No kidding. I've realized a big part of why ROH crowds have such odd face/heel reactions (forgive me if I'm stating the obvious here): the lack of what I guess you'd call the "classic mark". There's hardly any kids in their crowds, and the few that are there are probably the most smartened-up kids in their schools. It's like 95% IWC types. Add that to the fact that they run most of their shows in old ECW stomping grounds and it's no wonder heels are being cheered.

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  12. I'm not gonna get completely behind Iesha and Shaniqua until they either a) properly hit Total Elimination or b) drop the move from their arsenal. The Eliminators made that move look lethal every time they hit it, and Kronus makes Tadarius Thomas look like CM Punk. Do it better or do something else. MNM isn't getting back together, the Snapshot is RIGHT THERE.

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  13. I hear ya there, this is 3 matches in a row where I've bitched about it, though it would help if the ROH crack camera team didn't make it so obvious. I swear the one time they even hit it backwards, with the top guy hitting from behind.


    You're insane if you think Kronus was worse than Thomas though. He makes the Divas look like fucking Jushin Liger.

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  14. What baffles me about Truth Martini is they have Prince Nana right there in front of them and yet they never even bother to use him. Nana's had about three promos total ever since the Sinclair buyout while Truth is one of the only guys to be on TV nearly every week even though Nana in his sleep could talk circles around Truth and RD Evans.

    IMO, Prince Nana should have been managing The House Of Truth, but seriously, what is the deal with Truth Martini? Does he own the ring? Is he working for free? Why exactly is ROH giving him so much airtime? Even CZW would have tossed him out on his ass by now.

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  15. Which is why the loose face-heel thing may be what works best for them in some cases-their fans are going to cheer and boo who they like, RoH just has to make them have a reaction

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  16. Yep. In other ROH news, Cornette is out of the company completely now, apparently having a big blow up at the last TV taping. He's on a sabbatical, not fired or anything, but he'll be gone for a while. Delirious will handle TV production starting at Final Battle, which probably isn't a good thing.

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  17. Why? did delirious suck at it last time around?

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  18. I have no idea if he has any experience in the TV production side of things. Cornette has been doing it since the Sinclair buyout, and he's an old hand at it with his WCW/SMW past. I think before that they were using an outside company, probably RF Video or K5. For all I know Delirious might have gone to film school or something, but Meekin's recent column shows filming a wrestling show is harder than it looks. Guess we'll find out at Final Battle.

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  19. Do we know why Corette blew up

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  20. Not yet, though with him it could be anything, supposedly he once flipped out at a Diary Queen and hit some chick with a burger or some shit. Him being removed from his position as a booker is part of it, I'm sure.

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  21. He didn't hit her, but I've seen that dairy queen clip, fucking classic, seriously-watch this

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_R9aKiu2Uw

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  22. Video keeps lagging, but I did watch the Dairy Queen clip, never knew there was a video, fucking hilarious. Would have been the perfect time for the fire in the whole prank had it been invented yet.

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  23. since the interview lagged I'll just say, the fact that Jericho was in the back egging him on is fantastic

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  24. That's who I was hearing in the background? That figures...

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  25. the DQ around here is also a burger joint with a drive through

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  26. Really? Where in Southern Ontario do you live?

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  27. about 2 hours south of Toronto, I'm actually further south then Buffalo where we dip down along the lake

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  28. Somewhere near Sherkston?

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  29. nah, closer to the Michigan boarder then NY state's (but still somewhat central) small town just south of London Ontario

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  30. Ah, OK. I've been to London once, for a BCW show.

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