ROH Wrestling 10/1/2011

Written by: Bob Colling

Ring of Honor Wrestling TV: Episode #2
Date: 10/1/2011
From: Chicago, IL

We get clips from last week’s show that saw Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin retain the ROH World Tag Team Championships against Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli

The show opens up with Jim Cornette in the ring. He calls out the ROH World Tag Team Champions Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin. Cornette mentions that they proved their excellence last week over Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli but there is one team that wants to wrestle them. Cornette is talking about the Briscoe Brothers, of course. The fans cheer for the Briscoe Brothers despite them being heels now. Benjamin says that in NYC he and Haas beat all the top tag teams but the Briscoe’s are “mad dogs” and attacked them afterwards. Cornette mentions that they had been fined $5,000 but Benjamin isn’t impressed by that. Charlie Haas chimes in saying that his father didn’t beat him up as bad as the Briscoe’s did at Best In The World. Cornette tells us that the Briscoe Brothers want the champions with the belts on the line, but he doesn’t want to reward them for their actions. Haas and Benjamin made it clear that they are going to get their hands on them.

Commercials

A video promoting “Prodigy” Mike Bennett is aired. Cornette claims that several other national companies tried to get him. Bennett says he is going to kick a lot of asses and head over to Hollywood. He believes he is better than The Rock because Bob Evans trained him. Bennett credits Evans for giving him all the tools needed to be a star. Bennett sees a lot of guys in ROH that he can plow through. Cornette thinks Bennett will be a champion someday.

Commercials

Jimmy Jacobs w/ Steve Corino vs. Mike Bennett w/ Bob Evans
They shake hands to comply with the Code of Honor. Bennett wants Jacobs to punch him, but Jacobs decides against it. The fans are chanting “You Can’t Wrestle” towards Bennett. Bennett works on Jacobs in the corner with several right hands and stomps in the corner. Jacobs responds with several stomps of his own to get the upper hand. Bennett connects with a back breaker while Jacobs is sat on the middle rope in the corner. Jacobs sends Bennett to the floor with a head scissors. Jacobs tries for a slingshot cross body but misses due to Bennett side stepping the attempt. Bennett goes back to work on Jacobs in the ring with a few back breakers but only gets a near fall on the pin attempt. Jacobs gets a second wind after a boot to the chest and clotheslines Bennett a few times before hitting a neck breaker for a two count. Jacobs takes Bennett over with a snap suplex after leaping off the middle rope to get a near fall. Bennett catches Jacobs coming off the ropes with a spine buster but Jacobs kicks out at two. Jacobs connects with a springboard ace crusher! Jacobs heads to the top rope looking for a senton splash but Bennett got his knees up! Bennett hits the Box Office Smash to win the bout.
Your Winner: Mike Bennett
After the match, they shake hands. Bennett puts his hands on Steve Corino who looks like he wanted a piece of Bennett but Bennett left the ring with Bob Evans.

Match Rating: **. It was decent with a few good spots put in the match. I’m not that big on Bennett but he worked a good match with Jacobs making him look good.

Commercials

Nigel McGuiness interviewed a fan at ringside looking for a prediction on the main event match that will see El Generico defend the ROH Television Championship against Jay Lethal. The fans picks El Generico to retain the championship.

Kevin Kelly talks about how Eddie Edwards earned his nickname, Die Hard. We see footage from September 25th, 2009 where Edwards broke his elbow in Boston. Edwards talks about having a match the next night in New York and needed to defend the tag titles with Davey Richards. He went back to the hospital where they put eight screws in his elbow. The doctor told him he would be out six months, but he returned to action in nine weeks. He says the fans took notice of that and he started to hear the chants of Die Hard. He did it for the fans and for Ring of Honor. “It’s not about how hard you can hit, it’s about how hard you get hit.”

We hear from ROH World Champion Davey Richards who will compete against Roderick Strong next week. Richards says he and Strong wrestle each other because they don’t like each other. He credits Strong’s manager, Truth Martini, for giving Strong the confidence he didn’t have before. Roderick Strong says that he is a dick and believes Richards is just jealous of him. Strong doesn’t think Richards can beat him and he is going to “dick him out of the World Championship”.

ROH Television Championship Match:
(champion) El Generico vs. Jay Lethal
They trade wristlocks to open the bout. Generico hits the first big move, a running head scissors take down. Lethal comes back with a head scissors of his own leading to a stare down until Lethal helps Generico up to his feet. Lethal dropkicks Generico following a snap mare for a one count. Lethal arm drags Generico and dropkicks the champ right in the face for near fall. Lethal continues to control the early stages of the bout with a back breaker for a two count. Lethal has a creative submission hold using his legs to push Generico’s chest up while having his legs tied up. Lethal stomps Generico in the face for a near fall and puts a front face lock on the champ while the fans get behind Generico. Lethal drops Generico with a quick dropkick but only gets a two count on the cover. Lethal avoids a split legged moonsault but the champ is able to arm drag Lethal several times before Lethal bails to the floor. Generico takes Lethal out with a dive over the top rope as ROH goes to commercial.

Back from commercial, Lethal hits another dropkick. During the break Generico hit a springboard moonsualt on the floor off the guard railing. Generico gets a near fall following a heel kick. Lethal is on the apron but comes back with a near win on a sunset flip. Generico stops Lethal with a strike but the fans are behind Lethal at the moment. Lethal hits a handspring back elbow but isn’t able to follow up. Lethal drops the champ with a few forearm strikes but is rammed back first into the corner by Generico. Lethal heads up top to hit a missile dropkick as there is only three minutes left in the time limit. Lethal goes for the cover but only gets a near fall. Lethal hits a nice neck breaker after tossing Generico into the air but again only gets a near fall. Lethal tries for a pile driver but Generico is able to block it. Generico plants Lethal with a tornado DDT but Lethal kicks out at two. Generico avoids a kick and hits a spinning sit out slam for a two count! Generico signals for the running yakuza kick but it is blocked. Lethal rolls Generico up for a near fall. Generico goes for a suplex but the time limit has expired.

Your Winner: DRAW, El Generico retains the ROH Television Championship.

The fans want five more minutes. The referee is saying he doesn’t have any power to restart the match. Both Generico and Lethal want five minutes. Cornette comes out and says he can give them three more minutes. So, here we go!

Lethal and Generico are trading right hands as the crowd is going nuts! Lethal clotheslines Generico in the corner but Generico big boots Lethal in the corner followed by a half nelson suplex but Lethal manages to pop his shoulder up at two! Generico goes for a top rope brain buster but Lethal counters with a brain buster of his own. Lethal heads to the top rope but misses an elbow drop. Generico goes for the brain buster again. Lethal fights him off and Generico crashes to the mat. Lethal hits the top rope elbow drop but Generico just kicks out at two! Generico tosses Lethal into the corner and goes for another yakuza kick but is met with a super kick. Lethal hits the Lethal Injection and gets the three count!

Your Winner and NEW ROH Television Champion: Jay Lethal

Match Rating: ***1/2 Everything before the sudden death three minutes was good, but it all picked up with the final three minutes. The crowd was dull in the beginning compared to the final moments. The action was good throughout, though. I do wish that Generico would’ve won because he is a ROH guy and it’s important to put those guys over instead of just recently returned talent like Lethal. Nonetheless, it was a good match.

Next week, ROH World Champion Davey Richards defends against Roderick Strong!

Final Thoughts:
I thought it was another solid episode by ROH. Sure there were only two matches but one of them nearly went twenty minutes. Plus, you have to factor in the fact that they are still introducing fans to the product so once they get that out of the way I’m sure there will be more matches on the shows. I think as time goes on, we are going to be seeing some fabulous matches from ROH on a big stage they deserve to be on.