It was ‘Fighting February’ in Ring of Honor, and it was all about the 10th Anniversary Show, with tensions building between Eddie Edwards and Kyle O’Reilly, leading to some partner swapping between the American Wolves and Future Shock. Kevin Steen is back in full effect but hits a road block in the form of his finishing move being banned by Jim Cornette. Luckily he’s a creative man. Also the war between the Briscoes and Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team continued, the first ever televised champion vs champion match took place and much more.
ROH TV 2/4/12 – No Piledrivers For You!
– Jay Lethal retained the TV Title against Mike Bennett in a no time-limit match when Maria tried to push Bennett onto Lethal but he reversed it into a crucifix. They reused a lot of old material and had the least convincing slug-fest spot of all time, but it was much better than their first match which I reviewed as perhaps the worst in ROH TV history. Also, this match lasted less than the standard 15 minute time limit, so what was the point in the stipulation?
– Eddie Edwards made somef gay jokes about Kyle O’Reilly, who proceeded to storm in and challenge him to a match. Eddie really needs to work on his backstage promos, as he couldn’t help but smile when O’Reilly was in his face.
– Kevin Steen came out and cut a promo on how Jim Cornette kept him away because he wouldn’t kiss up to him. Cornette came out with Cary Silkin and some security and informed him that due to his actions at Final Battle Piledrivers were now banned in Ring of Honor. Steen said it was to protect Davey Richards and claimed he’d come up with a new way to win. Lots of fat jokes.
– The House of Truth blame the Briscoes for losing the 80-minute match and propose each team put up $5000 to see who the weak link was. Roddy talks down to Elgin repeatedly which is pretty funny. The Briscoes agree to the match.
– Rhett Titus promised to return soon from his injury and Kenny King calls out the Young Bucks. Meanwhile the Bucks mocked the ANX as well as the Briscoes.
– Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin refused to wrestle the Bravados, insulted the fans and wouldn’t leave until the Briscoes faced them. Director of Fun Jim Cornette tries to talk them out of it, but Jay and Mark had none of it, starting a brawl and a title match. The match ended abruptly however when Shelton Benjamin hit Mark Briscoe with a chair causing a disqualification. It was a little bit messy but at least it was an actual match unlike whatever Final Battle was… until they ended it before it really got going that is.
Show Review: This was a weirdly structured episode. I get the logic of having the TV Title match go on first to sell the no time limit stipulation, but that was pointless as it ended in about ten minutes anyway. Instead we close the show with half a match that ends in a DQ which just doesn’t sit well with me. The most interesting stuff happened in between the two matches, with Steen’s piledriver being banned which is bound to cause uproar among the fans. I love the move but I can see this leading to some interesting moments in the future such as Steen having Richards beaten and in perfect position to deliver it but hesitating and losing, setting up a rematch where he’s allowed to use it again. Or something.
ROH TV 2/11/12 -The American Wolves Go Swinging!
– Eddie Edwards and Kyle O’Reilly cut some more homoerotic promos on each other ahead of their match. With both Davey Richards and Adam Cole looking on, Eddie ultimately won after reversing a cradle, but Kyle put up a heck of a fight. Gay jokes aside, this was a really good match, and Eddie gets bonus points for keeping his Pimp-Hand strong.
– After the match Eddie noted how Davey and Kyle’s new team had left he and Cole without partners and so proposed forming a team of their own. Adam reluctantly accepted as Team Ambition looked disappointed. Eddie challenged them to a match down the line.
– Mike Mondo vs Matt Taven went to a no contest after Kevin Steen interrupted and destroyed both men with the F-5. Thank you Kevin, nobody cared about this match. Steve Corino, who was on commentary, seemed to want a piece of Steen but security held him back.
– WGTT make fun of the Briscoes and Shelton refuses to pay his fine for using a steel chair. Jim Cornette suspends Benjamin until he pays the piper. The Briscoes say things.
– Embassy LTD. talk about Ciampa’s upcoming TV Title match at the 10th Anniversary Show and interestingly R.D. Evans cuts Nana off, talking about the investors again. I like this idea of Nana being usurped from his own group, especially when it means Marchie Archie gets to talk more.
– Roderick Strong and Michael Elgin beat the Briscoes via disqualification with $10,000 on the line. The Briscoes dominated until Truth Martini threw powder in Jay’s eyes. Jay responded by grabbing a baseball bat and attacking the House of Truth. Mark then grabbed the money and led the fans in a chant. I hate money stipulations in wrestling with one exception: When Larry Sweeney furiously demanded Matt Sydal get one extra cent. Good times. This wasn’t as good as that, but the Briscoes, particularly Jay, looked great.
Show Review: The Briscoes walking away with the money was a feel good moment for the live crowd, but the opener was a much better match than the main event. Eddie and Kyle could do great things with more time and bigger stakes, and it’s nice to see a story where neither man is wrong and neither man is a heel. I could have gone for an explanation as to why Adam Cole came out to cheer Eddie, but Eddie offering to form a team after the match made sense at least, and the situation has sort of been explained recently so I’ll give it a pass. Steen should have interrupted the Mondo/Taven match earlier than he did, but it’s always great seeing him kill people. That’s not a sentence I should type too often.
ROH TV 2/18/12 – It’s A Trap!
– The scheduled main event of Haas & Benjamin vs The Young Bucks is cancelled due to Shelton being suspended. Charlie Haas then came out and called himself the best wrestler in the company, saying he’d fight either Briscoe. Dem Boys didn’t hesitate in coming out and after some trash talk a match was made between Haas and Mark with Jay handcuffed at ringside. Cornette points out Shelton is home in Texas.
– Kevin Steen beat Andy Ridge with the F-5. After the match he tried to deliver a Package Piledriver but Steve Corino stopped him. Steen wanted a fight but was attacked by Jimmy Jacobs instead and they had a pull-apart brawl. Not a great reception for Jacobs.
– Team Ambition cut a promo on Eddie Edwards & Adam Cole with Davey claiming he was over the whole brotherhood/Wolves thing and simply saw four ankles to snap. Kyle says he’ll expose the real Edwards.
– Edwards & Cole defeated Matt Taven and Mike Mondo when Cole hit an X-Plex on Taven. Edwards didn’t really contribute to the finish and with the exception of an awesome double sliding dropkick spot they didn’t work together. They also had a bit too much trouble winning, which I guess is fine as they’ve never teamed, but their opponents hadn’t either and Eddie should have been able to overcome both of them. For a moment I thought Cole had elected to start using Akira Tozawa’s Package German Suplex, and I’m not sure how I would have felt about that. Mike Mondo laid his partner out after the match. Zero cares.
– The Young Bucks (who have 3 points… wait, no) and Embassy LTD. each promise to win championships at the 10th Anniversary Show, while Jay Lethal and Davey Richards talk about their upcoming world title match next week.
– Mike Bennett looks forward to facing Lance Storm in Florida, with Maria claiming Storm used to stare at her. Does she know he just liked to be serious?
– Mark Briscoe beat Charlie Haas in the main event with Jay handcuffed at ringside after reversing an Olympic Slam and rolling Haas up. Charlie didn’t take kindly to the loss and attacked Mark after the match, stealing the handcuff key so that Jay had to look on as his brother got hit with another chair. Haas threw down $10,000 to pay the two fines they now owe and claims this was his plan all along.
Show Review: The 10th Anniversary Show is starting to take shape after this episode with the main event and two title matches set, as well as Steen vs Jacobs. Speaking of Steen, he was still entertaining without the Package Piledriver, but Jacobs getting zero reaction from the crowd killed what could have been a cool moment. Edwards and Cole got to tune up before they face Team Ambition but the ending left a lot to be desired. Haas suckering in the Briscoes so he could attack Mark with a chair adds another twist to the WGTT/Briscoes rivalry… I guess.
ROH TV 2/25/12 – Champion vs Champion
– The Young Bucks and Coleman & Alexander cut promos on each other ahead of their match. Caprice sang, it was beautiful. The Bucks ended up winning with More Bang For Your Buck after a lovely little high-flying match. I don’t know if it was C&C’s best performance to date, but it was up there. Hopefully their days of botching are behind them.
– Embassy LTD.’s Tommaso Ciampa cut a nice promo on Jay Lethal, asking him to win the world title tonight so he can take both belts and be the company’s only undefeated champion. Nana was again cut off mid-sentence.
– The Briscoes came to the ring and called the Young Bucks lady-boys, expressed their distaste for Truth Martini for blocking their payment of FIVE…THOUSAND… DOLLARS, and said their match against WGTT in Miami wasn’t about the belts. Dem Boys are ridiculously over in B-More.
– Jimmy Jacobs talks about how he was going to be evil when he faces Kevin Steen at the 10th Anniversary Show. Steen mocks Jacobs’ new stance as a company man and wants him to embrace the hate.
– Rhett Titus throws down his crutches and claims he’s ready to return. Kenny King says they’re going to use WGTT as a warm-up for the Young Bucks.
– Roderick Strong ignores Eddie Edwards’ two recent wins and claims he’s on a losing streak so he’ll beat him next week to get a title shot in Miami. Edwards wonders if Davey is distracted by the upcoming tag match on iPPV and if he is underestimating Lethal. Adam Cole says he has Eddie’s back.
– Davey Richards defeated Jay Lethal to retain the world title in a chaotic main event. At various points throughout Tommaso Ciampa, the House of Truth, Kyle O’Reilly, Adam Cole and Eddie Edwards came out to watch from ringside. Towards the end everybody but Ciampa started brawling with each other and in the middle of the chaos Cole accidentally bumped Lethal as he went for the Lethal Injection, allowing Davey to kick his head off and win the match. This was probably the least annoying Davey Richards singles match since he faced Colt Cabana at the 9th Anniversary Show. I get that they wanted to protect Lethal even in defeat, but the finish came off a little flat. They also colossally wasted an opportunity to have Ciampa destroy one or both men after the bell to make a statement, and instead he just made scary faces at both champions as they praised each other. Enjoyable match though.
Show Review: Seemingly every episode since Final Battle has been about storyline progression, with some pretty short matches, some non-finishes and other general chicanery. This show was all about the wrestling with two fairly lengthy television matches, both of which were fun. They still got some build in for the 10th Anniversary Show, so I commend them for that. I’m still irritated that Ciampa didn’t lay out Lethal and/or Davey to make him look like a threat.
Overall Thoughts
– Fightin’ February didn’t really live up to its name as most of the matches were kept short or had some kind of B.S. finish. The episodes were still pretty decent though, and they did a good job of structuring a build towards both the 10th Anniversary Show and Showdown in the Sun.
– The Briscoes are the MVPs of ROH right now, and they appeared on every single episode in February, wrestling or cutting in-ring promos and the crowd adored them. Not many other people got to show off their personalities though. Mike Bennett was tolerable largely because he only wrestled once, and when Maria’s standing next to him I find him 37% less irritating.
– Kevin Kelly is the worst.