411’s Ring of Honor TV Report 10.01.11

Welcome to Week 2 of the new Ring of Honor television show recap. My name is Shawn S. Lealos and welcome to my world…

Champions:
World Champion: Davie Richards
Tag Team Champions: Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas
TV Champion: El Generico

I am pretty happy with the improvements in video quality from last week. I really don’t believe that Ring of Honor is completely responsible for the poor quality from week one, video wise, because the Sinclair channel I get here is pretty shoddy. However, the audio still blows. Someone in the comment section last week said the company believes that after the third episode, they finally figured things out, so give them a couple of more weeks and see how things work out.

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We start off with a recap of last week’s tag team championship match between Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team and The Kings of Wrestling.

** I complained last week about the opening segment seeming too indie, but I think I am starting to like it for that fact. **

Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness are our announcers. This leads to an in-ring interview segment with ROH executive producer, Jim Cornette. He calls out Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team (still can’t hardly hear the music). Cornette asks about the Briscoe Brothers. Shelton Benjamin puts over the teams they beat at Best in the World and then said they want revenge against the Briscoe Brothers for the attack after the match.

Cornette said he fined the Briscoe Brothers $5,000 but Benjamin said “big deal.” Charlie Haas said his dad never beat him that bad. Cornette said that the Briscoe Brothers refuse to fight unless the tag team titles were on the line. Haas agreed to a tag team title match but Cornette said he would not reward them for their bad behavior. Haas said they will give them a title shot “or else.”

That was a decent promo but Haas seems to be having trouble stringing words together. Benjamin is a lot better than he was in the WWE when it comes to talking though.

Next up, we get the promo for live events and this is the same promo with Mark and Jay Briscoe from last week.

Next is a segment called “FOCUS ON” and we look at “The Prodigy” Mike Bennett.

Jim Cornette starts out by saying that some of the other national promotions wanted Mike Bennett. He said that Bennett is very talented but has a huge ego. Then they go to Bennett, who said he wants to go Hollywood. He will be the next Schwarzenegger, Stallone or The Rock. He makes sure to say he is better than The Rock.

Cornette introduces “Brutal” Bob Evans, who is Bennett’s trainer. Evans has a gimmick that looks a lot like Micky from the Rocky movies. Bennett said that Evans made him a star but Cornette called Evans a washed up flunky who never made it and is bitter.

Next up is Mike Bennett in action…

Visit ROHWRESTLING.COM. The commercial said so.

MATCH 1: “THE PRODIGY” MIKE BENNETT VS JIMMY JACOBS

Mike Bennett is accompanies by Bob Evans while Jimmy Jacobs has a dapper looking Steve Corino with him. By the way, we are 15 minutes into the one hour show and this is our first match. The announcers explain that Jacobs and Corino are looking for redemption for all the bad things they did in the past. So, I guess this means the kick butt Jimmy Jacobs from Age of the Fall is dead? That sucks. Corino looks like Ted DiBiase, when he became a manager for the Steiners.

Bennett doesn’t really want to shake hands. The match starts and Bennett tells Jacobs to hit him. Jacobs refuses and gets pie faced. Fans start to chant “You Can’t Wrestle” and then Jacobs levels him with a right blow. Bennett fires back and takes down Jacobs with punches and kicks. Jacobs turns things around with a flurry of kicks. Jacobs charges Bennett but the big man moves and Jacobs slides into the buckle. Bennett hits nice move where he drapes Jacobs over the ropes and drops his back across his knee.

Tweet of the Week: You should #WatchROH because I’m Batman, and Batman said so. @DarthAwesomeoous – ok then…

Bennett starts to pound down Jacobs again, but Jimmy floats up and locks on a head scissors and starts to whip Bennett around. Bennett onto the floor. Jacobs sets up to hit a plancha but Bennett moves out of the way and then heads back in the ring. Bennett back out, pounds down Jacobs and then throws him back in. Bennett hits a backbreaker and a bodyslam. He gets a two count. Bennett continues the beat down and gets another two.

Jacobs looks to be Hulking Up. Bennett hits him and he moves around the ring. Jacobs sends Bennett into the ropes and sets up for a backdrop. Bennett kicks him and Jacobs explodes with a clothesline. Another clothesline. A neckbreaker. Two count for Jacobs. Bennett fights back and takes Jacobs up to the second turnbuckle. Jacobs looks like he’s going for a big DDT from there but drops to his feet and hits a snap suplex instead. Nice. Two count. Jacobs back up to the second buckle. Bennett is back to his feet and Jacobs leaps over, rebounds off the ropes and Bennett catches him with a Double A spinebuster. He only gets two.

Jacobs up, slides through Bennett’s legs, leaps to the second rope and catapults back into what looks like a modified Sliced Bread No. 2. He only gets a two. Jacobs heads to the top buckle and goes for the senton but Bennett raises his knees. That allows Bennett to hit the Box Office Smash for the win. It’s pretty much the Rock Bottom.

Winners: “The Prodigy” Mike Bennett by pinfall in 5:53 (* 1/2)

Jimmy Jacobs looked good but Mike Bennett is just a brawler. The finishing move looked weak compared to others who have used it and I wonder what they are going to do with Jacobs. When I think about the loser more than the winner, there is a problem. After the match, Bennett forces a handshake mockingly and then mocks Corino, causing a pull apart.

Nigel McGuinness asks a fan who will win tonight’s main event, and the fan says El Generico.

It’s time for “INSIDE ROH” where we get to know “Die Hard” Eddie Edwards and look at next week’s main event.

Eddie Edwards talks about a match where he broke his elbow when he dived out of the ring. They showed the X-rays and he said they wanted to do surgery that night. He refused so he and Davey Richards could defend their titles. His entire arm was in a cast and he fought anyway. He then returned from the surgery in nine weeks instead of the six months doctors told him to expect. That is when he won the fans over because they knew what he did to wrestle through the pain.

Next up, World Champion Davey Richards talks about his opponent next week: Roderick Strong. Richards talks about how he doesn’t like Strong and just likes to hurt him. He compares it to fighting Edwards, out of respect, but fighting Strong out of hatred. Then they go to Strong who acts all cocky and says he likes to push Davey’s buttons. Strange how Strong comes across as the more personable one since I have always known him as boring. Strong pretty much is arrogant and calls himself a dick (Can Mr. Anderson sue for copyright infringement?). They fight next week for the World Championship.

Next up is Jay Lethal…

We get another commercial for upcoming live events with Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin.

Ole Ole! The fans love El Generico and this is a match between two fan favorites for the title. There is a hilarious moment where Nigel McGuinness asks how Generico is from Mexico when he is whiter than he is. I love how the TV title match is on a 15-minute time limit. Brings back good memories.

They lock up and Lethal turns it into a wrist lock. Generico reverses the move and the two jockey for position. Generico with an armdrag, heads into the ropes and hits a nice flying head scissors, taking down Lethal. The two work for position again, Lethal flips over Generico and then hits a great flying head scissors takedown. Lethal reaches down and helps up Generico.

Nigel mentions how Lethal was trained by Samoa Joe and endorsed by Ric Flair. Lethal and Generico work for position again but Lethal takes down Generico and then hits a dropkick to the back of the head. Lethal continues to pound down Generico and then hits another big dropkick, this one to the face. Two count. Backbreaker by Lethal gets another two. Lethal locks up Generico’s legs and turns him over into a submission move. I don’t know what is was called but it looked like a modified surfboard. Lethal gets tow after breaking the hold.

Lethal pounds away on Generico with some forearms and kicks. He gets two. Lethal with a chin lock. Generico fights out and starts to punch Lethal. Lethal answers with a huge dropkick. He gets two. They begin to trade blows. Generico sends Lethal into the ropes but Lethal with a shoulder block. Generico into the ropes, Lethal moves, Generico with a leapfrog, Generico comes back with an arm drag, another arm drag and then a third sending Lethal outside the ring. Generico takes advantage with a suicide dive to Lethal outside the ring.

We go to a commercial break.

We come back and they are in the ring again. Lethal with a dropkick but Generico with a dropkick of his own for two. Lethal with a sunset flip for two but Generico fights back with an elbow. Generico is moving slow now. Lethal with a body blow but Generico fights back with a forearm. Generico sends Lethal in, misses a clothesline and Lethal hits a handspring elbow. Both men are down. Lethal with a blow, Generico responds and they trade blows for awhile. Lethal takes the advantage. Generico fights back and Lethal hits a missile dropkick from the top buckle for two. Three minutes left in the match.

Fans are chanting “Ole.” Lethal with an amazing neckbreaker after catching Generico in midair. Two minutes left. The announcer point out that Generico won’t just wait for time to run out and wants to win. Lethal tries for a powerbomb but Generico fights back and hits the Tornado Swinging DDT for a two count. Generico looks like he is Hulking Up but it also looks like he is stalling with one minute left. Generico hits the Blue Thunder. He only gets two. Generico sets up for the Ole Kick but Lethal blocks it and gets a roll up for two. Each man tries for a move but gets it blocked and time runs out.

The fans want five more minutes, the wrestlers want five more minutes and Jim Cornette comes out and says they can have “TV time remaining (about three minutes).”

Then both guys explode and start pounding each other. Lethal with a hard forearm. He follows it up with a clothesline. Lethal has Generico in the corner, turns and runs to the other corner but Generico follows him and hits the Ole Kick! He follows with a half nelson suplex, dropping Lethal on his head but only gets a two count. Generico stalling again. He takes Lethal to his feet and signals for the Brainbustaaaaahhhhh!!!!! but Lethal powers out and hits a suplex. Lethal heads up for the Flying Elbow but misses. Generico sets up for the Brainbustaaaaahhhhh!!!!! again (Nigel even pronounces it like that) but Lethal fights him off and then hits the flying elbow drop. Lethal only gets a two count. Generico up and hits a back suplex, sending Lethal into the corner. Generico wants another Ole Kick but Lethal with a superkick and then hits the Lethal Injection for the three count and the title win.

Winners: Jay Lethal by pinfall in 18:21 (*** 1/2)

That was a lot like last week’s main event. There were moments of brilliance there but nothing that blew me away until the overtime period. That overtime period was awesome stuff. The rest of the match was just about average for the two.

My thoughts on the format of the show are as follows: I feel there is not enough wrestling and too many promotional pieces. However, I understand why. These promo pieces are the only way to get to know the wrestlers and who they are so their characters can be developed. WWE and TNA have endless in ring promos and backstage vignettes. Ring of Honor uses the segments between matches. I can live with that but I would like some more wrestling.