Ring of Honor TV
Date: 2/4/2012
From: Baltimore, MD
The program starts off with a video highlighting a triple threat match between ROH Television Champion Jay Lethal, Mike Bennett and El Generico from Final Battle in December. Lethal retained the championship by pinning Bennett after hitting the Lethal Injection.
Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness are standing in the ring to promote the show. Tonight, Jay Lethal will defend the ROH Television Championship against Mike Bennett. We hear comments from Mike Bennett and says that Lethal has no time limit and there isn’t a crooked referee. He believes he will be walking out as the champion.
Opening Contest: ROH Television Championship Match: No Time Limit
[champion] Jay Lethal vs. Mike Bennett
Former WWE Diva Maria is by Bennett’s side for this match. Bennett fakes Lethal out on a handshake and bails to the floor. Lethal hammers away on Bennett on the floor in the opening moments of the contest. Bennett bails to the floor to avoid a handspring attempt but Lethal chops him out there anyway. Lethal sends Bennett to the floor with a hurricanrana and they both struggle to get to their feet. Lethal punches Bob Evans and Bennett uses Maria as a shield, just like at Final Battle. Bennett punches Lethal with a right hand to gain the cheap advantage. We go to commercial as Bennett has control of the champion on the floor.
Back from the break, Lethal hits a spin kick to regain control of the bout. Lethal knocks Bennett off the apron with a springboard dropkick off the apron. Bennett catches Lethal on a suicide dive attempt and slams Lethal into the guard railing. Bennett controls Lethal with a chin lock. They begin to trade right hands in the middle of the ring with Lethal getting the better of the exchange. Lethal connects with a middle rope moonsault and a springboard dropkick for a two count. Lethal super kicks Bennett but is met with a neck breaker by Bennett to counter the Lethal Injection for a near fall! Lethal nearly rolls Bennett up for the a three count. Maria shoves Bennett off the ropes onto Lethal who counters a pin attempt after colliding with Bennett and wins the match!
Your Winner and STILL ROH Television Champion: Jay Lethal via pin fall
Match Rating: **1/2
Backstage, Eddie Edwards is interviewed by Veda Scott. Edwards thinks that Kyle O’Reilly has a man crush on Davey Richards. Edwards is cut off by Kyle O’Reilly who wants Edwards to say whatever he needs to say to his face. O’Reilly wants to wrestle Edwards. Edwards says he has a match for next week. They need to upgrade on their microphones, by the way.
We see footage form Final Battle where Kevin Steen got his job back after beating Steve Corino.
Kevin Kelly calls out Kevin Steen for an interview in the ring. Steen yanks the microphone away from Kelly and says he finally has the chance to speak his mind after a year. Steen hands Kelly his gum before telling him to leave the ring. Steen says he has been asking himself a question. How can ROH keep him home for a year? How can ROH claim to be the top promotion when their best wrestler isn’t there? Steen thinks he was kept at home because he wouldn’t suck up to Jim Cornette. Steen is going to face the end of the world as the ROH World Champion. When he gets his shot he will rip Davey Richards apart. Jim Cornette comes out with some security guards and Cary Silkin. Steen laughs at Cornette saying that Cornette spent his career waving a tennis racket, though he looks like he hasn’t played a sport in his life. Cornette knows that Kevin Steen isn’t sorry for what he did at Final Battle. Cornette announces that the package pile driver is banned from ROH. Steen swears he will come up with something to foil Cornette’s plan. Steen promises to take Richards apart and win the ROH World Championship.
Inside ROH this week consists of the House of Truth pointing the finger at the Briscoe Brothers for losing the eight man tag match. Roderick Strong says they are going to have a chance to shut the Briscoe’s up and win the tag titles. We hear from the Briscoe Brothers who say that it was Strong and Elgin who blew the match. These two teams will meet in a match with a $5,000 bet. Kelly announces that Richards will defend the ROH World Championship against ROH Television Champion Jay Lethal. Richards says he is the best in the world because he has the ROH World Championship. We also hear from the All Night Express. King talks about how Final Battle saw everything crash and burn. Rhett Titus will be back sooner than four months. King promises that the Young Bucks will go to the emergency room next time they meet.
Backstage, Veda Scott interviews the Young Bucks. They will be meeting the Briscoe Brothers at ROH 10th Anniversary show. They aren’t impressed with Haas and Benjamin calling them losers. The tag titles will be coming from a chicken ranch to beautiful California.
Charlie Haas says that they aren’t going to wrestle the Bravado Brothers this week. They are going to do an interview even though Steen went long with his and theirs was cut short. Benjamin is mad that the fans feel the same way that NYC felt about what they did to the Briscoe Brothers at Final Battle. Benjamin says that anyone who cheers for the Briscoe Brothers are stupid. They are holding the show hostage until they get the Briscoe Brothers. Jim Cornette comes out again with several referees. He says they don’t have time for this. The fans want the rematch to happen. The Briscoe Brothers come out after a commercial and they have a brawl with Benjamin and Haas. This is actually a match!
Main Event: ROH World Tag Team Championship Match
Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team vs. [champions] Briscoe Brothers
Jay has Haas in the ring as the match legally starts. Haas kicks Jay in the corner but Jay fights back only for Benjamin to kick him in the face from the apron. Haas covers but only gets a two count on the cover. Benjamin stomps away on Jay in the corner to keep control of this title match. Benjamin sends Jay shoulder first into the ring post. Haas comes off the middle rope with a double axe handle and gets a two count after a snap suplex. Jay hammers away on Benjamin to make a comeback and blocks a splash in the corner with his knees!
Mark and Haas are tagged in. Mark hits a springboard cross body from the apron for a two count. Mark kicks Haas in the head and hits a straight jacket slam off the top, which looked to be messed up. Benjamin has a chair on the floor and Mark is hit in the head after Haas kicked Mark into the ropes! The referee saw that and this is over.
Your Winners and STILL ROH World Tag Team Champions: Briscoe Brothers via disqualification
Match Rating: *1/2
Final Thoughts:
I actually think this is the first bad show for ROH since they have gotten the television deal on Sinclair. The opener wasn’t anything all that great, and the main event was rather short and uneventful. The only positive from the show was Kevin Steen’s segment with Jim Cornette. I’m giving this episode a thumbs down.
Thanks for reading.