Ring of Honor presents: Final Battle 2011
Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, NY
December 23rd, 2011
After a bit of issues with the stream, we start the show off in the middle of the ring with CEO Joe Koff, Cary Silken, Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness, and the greatest man ever (not really, but I love that big oaf) Jim Cornette. Cornette hypes up the crowd, saying preliminary reports show that this show will exceed any buyrate ROH has ever had. Well, no shit Jimmy. Koff thanks the crowd and Cary Silkin. We segue into the first match of the evening.
Michael Elgin (w/ Truth Martini) vs. TJ Perkins
Michael Elgin has emerged as the best big man in wrestling today, while TJ Perkins is slowly making a name for himself in Ring of Honor by way of the TV show (which I highly suggest you check out, because it is consistently entertaining) getting beat in 7 minute matches, but beating scrubs.
Here we go, and they start off circling. Did I mention I love Michael Elgin? Well, I do. Michael just tosses TJP around like a rag doll, but TJ gets him in the corner and kicks. They trade slaps, but Perkins locks in a headlock. He dodges a couple clotheslines, and hits a nice dropkick. He knocks Elgin over the ropes and fakes a second rope dive. TJ finally does it and Elgin catches him and runs him gut first into the guardrail! Back in the ring, Elgin takes control of Perkins. He foils a comeback, but Perkins reverses a suplex but Elgin reverses a headscissors into a freefall drop for a two count. Sitting waistlock is locked in by Elgin as the crowd rallies TJ up, who escapes with back elbows. Martini interferes, but TJ reverses a Gorilla press into a headscissors that knocks Elgin to the outside. TOPE! Back in the ring, TJ hits a missile dropkick for two. Elgin is too big to be taken down for a sunset flip, but TJ dodges a butt drop and hits a SICK standing corkscrew senton for two. TJ goes up top but Elgin stops anything else from happening with some chops. Elgin looks for a superplex, but TJ knocks him off. TJ jumps off and Elgin catches him in midair in suplex position! Falcon Arrow for a great nearfall. Elgin hits a Shock Treatment backbreaker for another nearfall. This is a really good match. Perkins hits a jumping neckbreaker on Elgin, looks for double knees, but Elgin reverses into a Buckle Bomb! Elgin looks for the Spiral Bomb, but PERKINS REVERSES INTO AN AWESOME REVERSE HURRICANRANA! TJ looks for a Detonation kick, but he can’t get Elgin up. He tries to stun Elgin and does, but Elgin gets out of another Detonation Kick. Elgin hits the Buckle Bomb and this time he hits the Spiral Bomb for the 1, 2, 3 at an all too short 7 minutes.
Analysis: **3/4 This was an AWESOME match for 7 minutes long. They didn’t get sloppy at all and built up some good nearfalls for the lack of time they were given. Elgin is a special wrestler and TJ kicks all sorts of ass and plays a good sympathetic babyface. This match could have gone for another ten minutes and perhaps entered the four star range, but no such luck, I guess.
The stream/audio has a major fuck up, and I hope this doesn’t become a recurring theme over the show because it sucks.
Tommaso Ciampa (w/ The Embassy) vs. Jimmy Rave
I’ve lightened up a lot on Ciampa, who has really impressed me with his wrestling and calm demeanor. I haven’t seen too much of Jimmy Rave but I’ve heard he was a fantastic heel in ROH. He’s playing the face here, so obviously I won’t see firsthand.
Pre match, Nana rambles incoherent words, so RD Evans takes over. Crowd tells him to shut the fuck up, but he tells them to watch their language in front of royalty. He says Jimmy Rave is like the ex girlfriend who doesn’t get the hint. He says it’ll be a silent night for Jimmy Rave. Rave comes out looking different than he did when I saw his match against Bryan Danielson in 2006, with short hair, a beard, and not a big, douchebag look. I like the change, but he still looks a bit skinny. Oh well.
They have a staredown to start, and Ciampa doesn’t shake Rave’s hand. They tie up and Ciampa overpowers the former Crown Jewel of the Embassy. They tie up again and Ciampa transitions into an arm wringer, which Rave counters into one of his own. Ciampa counters into a headlock, takes him over and locks in a chinlock for a second, but Rave gets out. Rinse and repeat that spot. Ciampa gets Rave again with an arm wringer, locks in an armbar, and they break with Rave selling his arm. They lock up once more, and Jimmy comes out with an arm wringer. Ciampa powerfully breaks it, and they trade cheap shots with Rave coming out on top with a loogie to the face. However, Ciampa immediately turns it around with a lariat that sends Rave to the outside. Ciampa sends Rave into the barricade and hits some open handed chops. Rave fires back with a knife edged chop of his own and throws Tommaso back in. Ciampa hits a jawbreaker, sends Rave sitting into the corner and hits two nice looking knees to the face for a two count. Ciampa starts toying with Rave now, but Rave comes back. Rave builds up some offense, but eats Ciampa’s boot in the corner. Ciampa runs the ropes, but Rave trips him up. Ciampa gets to the ropes on a single leg crab. Ciampa rolls out to the apron, and Jimmy knees him out to the barricade. Rave looks for a baseball slide, but Ciampa grabs his legs and wheelbarrows Rave into the guardrail. Ciampa sells his leg well, I must say. Rave comes in with a sunset flip, but Ciampa rolls through. Rave quickly takes control back and hits a Shining Wizard, and a Rave Clash! He only gets a nearfall, though. “AJ Styles” chant from this “witty” NYC crowd. Rave looks for Greetings From Ghana (pedigree) but Prince Nana brings out Rave’s old Embassy robe. The whole Embassy interferes, but Rave outsmarts them. Ciampa regains his bearings and hits Project Ciampa for the academice three count at 9 minutes.
Analysis: ** Not a great match, I’m afraid. The work was technically sound, no botches that I noticed, but it wasn’t built on television and Ciampa does not have a solid character base to work with as Rave seemed to have when he was the Crown Jewel. Rave looked fine and I’d like to see some more of him in ROH, mainly on TV as a gatekeeper. I don’t want to see him pushed all that much, but he could put over guys like TJ Perkins in good matches or something. Ciampa is a cool guy, me having met him before. He is a good worker and a good talker, so I hope he gets a new character.
Man, ROH is doing a shitty job of streaming this iPPV. Take in mind, my download is the PPV stream. They couldn’t get the replay up. Best in the World was absolutely fine when it came to stuff like this. Final Battle doesn’t have the same fortune, I guess.
Post-Match, Rave gets a standing ovation. I really wish he could have gotten more time, but oh well!
ROH TV Title: Mike Bennett (w/ Maria Kanellis & Brutal Bob) vs. El Generico vs. Jay Lethal
I still don’t like Mike Bennett, even though he works his ass off to get better. That’s all you can ask for. He comes out with Maria, his real-life girlfriend, and MOTHERFUCKER SHE IS HOTTER THAN HELL TONIGHT. I love that woman, you know. Brutal Bob doesn’t exactly match her on the “easy-on-the-eyes” criteria. HAHAHAHA A BIG CM PUNK CHANT!~! Man, that made my day. Bennett plays to the crowd, saying “Who?” and he frenches Maria. You bitch. “Fuck you Bennett” says the crowd. I don’t like Bennett’s in ring work too much, but he has good charisma and don’t be surprised if you see him in the WWE in a couple years. I’m still angry ROH hotshotted the TV belt from Generico to Lethal, because Lethal didn’t really do anything to deserve it, and Generico worked his ass off for ROH. But I can’t control that, and at least it went to Lethal and not Bennett. I do like Lethal but I haven’t enjoyed him as much in ROH as I did in TNA.
Kevin Kelly gets on my bad side once more by comparing Bennett to Tebow using the analogy, “He’s so good, but so hated.” Damn it, Kevin, you haven’t gotten on my nerves tonight and do not start now, fella. Especially since I’ve dealt with Michael Cole for a while now. Please, Kevin? Good, bitch.
Bennett does not follow the Code of Honor. Another CM Punk chant! Man, that kills me. Bennett bails to the outside as the bell rings and tells the two to fight. Generico and Lethal circle, but Bennett comes in and cheapshots Lethal, who chases after him. Generico holds him back. Bennett comes back in and cheapshots Generico this time, and Lethal has to hold him back. Generico and Lethal tie up but Generico breaks and they both go to the outside and double team Bennett. Back in the ring, they trade turns with him. I want a turn with Maria. BOING. They send Bennett outside. Generico and Lethal argue over who will dive onto the Prodigy first and instead they compromise and do stereo suicidas through the second rope. Generico and Lethal tie up, and Lethal gets a headlock and a shoulder block. He rolls Generico up for two, and hits a headscissors for another two count. Lethal gets a hiptoss and a dropkick for another two count. Generico has his head bounced off the top turnbuckle. Lethal whips Generico back into the corner, but Lethal is sent to the outside. Bennett comes back and drops him face first into the ring frame. Back in the ring, Bennett starts working Generico over. He hits a scoop slam for a two count. WHAT A MANUEVER. Generico comes back with a forearm, but Bennett comes back with a right hand. Bennett runs the ropes, looking for a move, but Generico pulls the rope down to send him over. Generico looks for a tope, but Lethal catches him on the run with a springboard dropkick. Lethal locks in a submission, a Texas Cloverleaf/Surfboad is the best name I can give it. Lethal breaks it after the referee almost counts him down. Bennett comes back in and disposes of Generico and hits an avalanche in the corner to Lethal. Bennett heads to the apron and Lethal hits a springboard dropkick, but right after that, Generico comes back and hits a crossbody to the back of Lethal for a two count. Generico and Lethal go at it for a bit Bennett comes back in and Generico gets nine punches in the corner, but Bennett counters. Lethal comes back with a kick to Bennett. He mounts Generico on top of Lethal, who kicks. Bennett gets to his knees and eats a kick to the face. Generico comes back and hits an Exploder into the turnbuckle. Bennett distracts Generico, so Generico comes out and punches Brutal Bob out, dodges Maria, but Bennett punches Generico out. Back in the ring, Bennett hits a powerslam and a TKO on Generico. Bennett hits a Snake Eyes on Lethal, and goes to the opposite corner. He eats a Yakuza kick from Generico however and they are all three down. Generico and Lethal slug it out in the ring until Lethal hits the Lethal Combination for 2. Bennett comes in and gets a waistlock on Lethal. Lethal reverses, runs the ropes, but Bennett hits a spinebuster for a two count. Generico hits an unexpecting Bennett with a Michinoku Driver for two. Lethal comes back in and kicks Generico right in the mush. He goes up top looking for a Lethal Injection, but Generico knocks him off with a Yakuza kick. Generico goes rope to rope and hits a tope on Lethal! He dives onto Bennett too! Back in the ring, Generico runs amok over Bennett and hits a beautiful Half Nelson suplex! One, two, thr—NO! Awesome nearfall. Lethal comes in and hits a neckbreaker and looks for a Lethal Injection. Lethal poses and hits it! One, two, thr—NO! Good nearfall there too! Generico dives up and looks for a turnbuckle brainbuster, but Bennett rolls Generico up for a three count! GENERICO IS ELIMINATED. Damn. Not even a few seconds later, Lethal hits a great looking handspring Cutter for the three count at 18 minutes!
Post match, Generico and Lethal have a classy embrace in the middle of the ring.
Analysis: ***1/4 Generico single handedly saved this match from sucking. Lethal did a good job, don’t get me wrong, but everything Bennett did was too simplistic for what his other two opponents were doing, so he looked like the weakest link. Bennett tried, and he had a hot, HOT chick on the outside to cheer him on, but tits and ass aren’t enough for Bennett to look good in a wrestling match. Generico was on FIRE here and should have won, but as long as Bennett didn’t win, I’ll be alright. I know it seems like blind hate, but I just think Generico (& Lethal for that matter) deserves it a hell of a lot more than Bennett right now. Bennett has a hell of a lot of potential, and with some more work he will be perfectly serviceable in the ring. Baby steps, Mike, baby steps.
No DQ Match: Steve Corino vs. Kevin Steen, w/ Special Referee Jimmy Jacobs
This is the blowoff of the storyline of the year. Steve Corino basically created the evil Steen that ran like hell over ROH in 2010, so he came into 2011 trying to redeem himself. He did so and gained the trust of everyone back eventually, but Kevin Steen came back and fucked his shit up. Steen came back at Best in the World supposedly looking to do what Corino had done, but instead package piledrove Corino and became the anti-hero we see before us today. After that, ROH kicked the story into overdrive, not mentioning Kevin Steen ANYWHERE. His name would be starred out on the defunct ROH message boards (and they were shut down after Steen “hacked” it) and the TV show had no mention of him until the back part of the storyline kicked in. At Death Before Dishonor IX, Steen came back again and cut a scathing promo on Corino until his mic was cut off. He tried to piledrive Cary Silken, but former rival/partner El Generico came out and stopped that. They had a pull apart brawl before that was stopped as well. Steen also made an appearance at Glory by Honor X, cutting a promo on a children’s swingset about how fucked up ROH is and whatnot for not letting him in. Then, on ROH TV, Steen was threatening to sue ROH if he was not let back into the company. So in came Corino and Cornette. Corino offered Steen a settlement: he would face Steen at Final Battle in a No DQ match, with Jimmy Jacobs as the ref. Steen would be reinstated if he won, and would be banished from ROH forever. Kevin Steen accepted and requested that Cornette and Silken be at ringside to witness Steen’s reinstatement firsthand. Corino proclaimed himself an evil person for one more night, and had a pull apart brawl. Keep in mind, if Kevin Steen wins, he’s back in ROH.
Corino has dyed his hair his old blonde from ECW for this match. The crowd is hotter for this match than any other match, and rightfully so. Loud “Kill, Steen, Kill” chant from the crowd. Jacobs refuses a hug from Steen and the bell rings. They start slugging it out and Steen starts to take control. Corino whips Steen into the ropes and hits a dropkick. Steen bails out, and Corino follows. Steen runs Corino into the barricade and the ring post. He sets him on the apron and hits a sick looking Cannonball! Corino jumps Steen from behind with a dive from the apron. Corino picks one up and hits Steen with the chair in the corner. Corino looks to do it again, but Steen superkicks the chair into Steve’s face. Steen hits a nice powerbomb on the apron outside, and follows up with a nice frog splash. Steen goes by the stage and gets a guardrail and drills Corino in the head with it. Corino slides in the ring, grabs a chair and walks away. Steen goes after Corino but Corino stops him. Corino mounts the chair on the guardrail sideways and looks for a powerbomb, but Steen reverses and powerbombs him on the chair! Sick. Steen says hello to Nigel McGuinness and goes for a table. Kevin Kelly makes a wonderful comparison to Brian Pillman from Kevin Steen. Spot on, Hermie, spot on. Steen sets the table up on the outside, mount it on the apron and guardrail. Cornette flips Steen looks for a powerbomb through the table on the outside, but Corino knocks Steen down with a lariat. Corino goes to the outside to get the trashcan they put the streamers in. He throws it, along with some more chairs into the ring. Corino looks to hit Steen with the garbage can lid, but Steen takes it away and nails Corino in the head with it. Steen fucks with Cornette a bit and licks Corino’s blood off his head! It looks like Corino is bleeding hardway, above the ear. Steen looks to hit Corino in the head with the garbage can, but Corino hits a low blow and does it himself a couple times. Corino suplexes Steen onto the garbage can, henceforth crushing it. Corino puts the chairs into a pile and slams Steen on them. Corino comes off the top rope for an Awesome Splash for a two count. He sits the chairs upright. This doesn’t look good. And just as I type that, Nigel says it. You fucking Brit. Just kidding. Corino sets up the guardrail on the steel chairs. Steen takes control but Corino counters and goes up top, and HITS A FUCKING SUPERPLEX ON THE GUARDRAIL! My God, that was so brutal. One, two, thr—NO!!! Wow. Steen rolls out on the table to rest, but Corino is looking for some more weapons. Corino gives up and looks to splash Steen through the table, but Kevin comes up and knocks him down. Steen enters the ring and picks up a chair. He goes to the outside and waffles Corino on the back with it. Steen goes all insane and sets up chairs on the table on the outside. This looks a bit dangerous Kevin. He looks to superplex Corino onto in, but Corino foils that, whacks Steen in the head with the garbage lid. Steen falls off through the chairs and tables!! “We want fire” chants...what a retarded chant. After Corino gets some more chairs, he rolls Steen back in to get a nice nearfall. Jimmy Jacobs gets the guardrail out of the ring. Corino picks up a chair and sets it on Steen. Steen sits up, but Corino comes back at him with a chair to the chair that Steen is holding for a two count. Corino looks for a suplex on an upright chair, but Steen reverses into an exploder. Steen picks Corino up and hits a BRUTAL exploder on the chair! One, two, thr—NO!! Steen picks up a chair and looks to hit Corino. Corino sacrifices himself by spitting in Steen’s face. BAM. It didn’t really hit Corino’s head, so it wasn’t a terrible unprotected shot. Jimmy Jacobs takes the chair away as Corino regroups and hits Steen with a roll of quarters for two. Corino sets up the chairs 2x2, upright. Corino looks for a piledriver, but Steen reverses and HITS A PACKAGE PILEDRIVER ON THE CHAIRS!!! ONE…TWO…Jacobs hesitates…THREE! Wow.
Post match, Steen gets on the mic. Merry Christmas, the devil is back. Jimmy boy, I came here tonight for number one, to destroy Steve Corino check. And number two…[package piledrives Jimmy Jacobs]
Cornette looks to be number three, but EL GENERICO COMES OUT!! THEY BRAWL IN THE STREAMERS! GENERICO HITS A YAKUZA KICK! He looks for a Yakuza kick in the corner, but Steen avoids it, hits a low blow, and HITS A PACKAGE PILEDRIVER ON GENERICO THROUGH THE TIMEKEEPER’S TABLE! Wow. What an awesome, awesome segment. Kevin Kelly does a good job of selling the devastation of the announcers, calling Steen a son of a bitch. Win me over, Hermie. You can do it. Nigel McGuinness checks on Generico as we segue into intermission.
Analysis: ***3/4 It was a great brawl. Those idiots who refuse to rate this match need to realize the unprotected shots in this match were not hard shots, and the one huge chairshot that Steen threw did not make full contact with Corino’s head. Soft shots that are unprotected do not hurt the competitors and do not cause long term damage. Sorry, but it’s true. Corino and Steen protected each other enough to where there were no serious injuries and the spots (maybe except for the guardrail spot) weren’t over the top. So people need to stop throwing hissy fits about this match. It conveyed the importance that Steen CANNOT stay in ROH well, especially with the commentary of McGuinness and Kelly selling worry. They went all out in an attempt to destroy each other, and that was what this match needed to be. This match could not be tame because the story had been built up so much that no one could tolerate this being a tame match. They did exactly what they needed to do and no one got hurt. It was a safe, but emotional and wild brawl that lived up to the hype. Corino brought the bump taking, Steen brought the insanity, and the crowd behaved exactly like they were forecasted to. You can’t ask for a better spectacle for this, capping off the best storyline of the year and starting the Kevin Steen era in ROH. And Generico coming out was the icing on the cake. Track this down, fella!
Intermission is basically a video package fest. Also, I must say that this was a great place for intermission because nothing could follow that match.
Tag Team Gauntlet Match…Match One: The Bravados vs. C&C Wrestle Factory
I will not rate these matches individually, but will treat each match as one of their own. I will rate the gauntlet as a whole after it is finished. Not familiar with the Bravados all that much, but I’ve seen Caprice Coleman’s promo work, and he’s fucking talented on the stick.
The Bravados pearl harbor C&C before the bell rings. They throw Cedric Alexander in the ring, but he comes right back out with a nice senton plancha. Cedric throws Lancelot Bravado in the ring and they double team him. Coleman hits a suplex and Alexander hits a tope atomico for two. Alexander is tagged in and Lance reverses and whips Coleman to the outside. Harlem on the outside hits a bicycle kick to Coleman. Double team to Alexander on the inside for a two count. Lancelot runs Alexander into the corner and plays to the crowd and hits a corner clothesline, then a side slam for two. Lancelot tags in Harlem and they hit a double elbow for a two count. Coleman comes back in but gets tossed out quickly. Alexander hits an enziguiri on Lancelot and Coleman takes him out and then hits a flying clothesline, then a SICK Asai moonsault to Lancelot on the outside. Alexander hits a forearm but Harlem locks in a headlock. Alexander drops him with a boot. Harlem counters a suplex with a small package, but Alexander falls on top for a rollup three count at 5 minutes. BRAVADOS ARE ELIMINATED. Really disjointed segment there, but it was short and inoffensive.
Match Two: Future Shock vs. C&C Wrestle Factory
I haven’t seen an extended Future Shock match except for their match with the Young Bucks at PWG Steen Wolf, which would have been Match of the Night if not for the five star Steenerico ladder match.
Alexander and Kyle O Reilly trade forearms, but Kyle takes him down with a running kick for two. He tags in Adam Cole and they hit a swift double kick. Cover gets two. Tag into Kyle, but Alexander chops off. Double bulldog for a close nearfall. Blind tag from Caprice Coleman. Nice double team Hart Attack with a leg lariat. Coleman hits a dropkick on O Reilly for two. Blind tag from Adam Cole who gets a two count on a Northern Lights Suplex. Cole hits a slick running dropkick to the back for another two count. Tag into O Reilly, who hits a side backbreaker and a knee drop to the back for two. Tag into Adam Cole who hits a scoop slam for two. Tag into O Reilly, but Coleman hits a double dropkick on both. Tag to Alexander who hits clotheslines to both. O Reilly hits a boot to the gut, but Alexander hits a kick to the face. Double stomp/backbreaker by C&C and Coleman hits a nice Frankensteiner. Alexander hits a frog splash for two. Kyle hangs Alexander from the tree of woe and Future Shock hits a double dropkick to the face. Ride the Lightning (superkick then Total Elimination) gets a three count at six minutes. C&C WRESTLE FACTORY ARE ELIMINATED.
Match Three: Young Bucks vs. Future Shock
The Young Bucks kick ass. That is all.
The Bucks pose on the floor, but O Reilly kicks them to the ground on the outside. Vaulting body splash on both Matt and Nick Jackson, but they catch him. Cole saves his partner’s ass with a tope. Nick hits a superkick that knocks Kyle off the apron and they hit an assisted Sliced Bread #2 on the apron knocks Cole stupid. Nick hits a springboard frog splash in the ring for two on Cole. Tag in to Matt, and the Bucks nail a double team cutter for two. Matt tries to steal Chris Jericho’s cocky pin, and in the process looks like a dumbass. Matt tags Nick back in. Really slow start to this portion, as the usually rowdy NYC crowd is dead as a doornail except for a year idiotic hecklers. Matt Jackson even puts on a chinlock. What the shit? These two wrestled at Steen Wolf in a balls-to-the-wall match that nearly stole the show. Nick Jackson flies out through the second rope onto O’Reilly after hitting a double stomp on Cole. That gets a two count, and the Young Bucks trade tags. Cole flips out of some moves and tags Kyle in, who nails a double dragon screw, and a belly-to-belly suplex. O’Reilly then nails NINE butterfly suplexes, tags in Cole, who hits a wheelbarrow suplex on Matt for two. Nick hits a fucking beautiful slingshot X Factor, as Cole nails Matt with a german suplex on the ring frame. O’Reilly looks for a running dropkick to a seated Nick, but Nick moves. Back in the ring, The Bucks hit More Bang For Your Buck to advance at 8 minutes.
Match Four: Young Bucks vs. All Night Express
Kenny King should have won WWE Tough Enough II. Fuck WWE and fuck Al Snow. Just kidding. Maybe.
The teams start brawling on the outside. There are a lot of hecklers in the crowd that are fucking stupid. You never see that in New York, and I hope those obvious lifeless virgins fuck themselves. Harsh, yes. Warranted, yes. Rhett Titus is favoring his knee on the outside. Nick toys with King in the ring. Man, this is boring. Rinse and repeat with Matt now, but King tries a comeback. Neckbreaker by Nick gets two. Nick toys with King again. God damn it, do something. You’re dragging this whole thing down, guys. King comes back with a capture suplex. Titus is in his corner now! Tag in to Rhett, who cleans house on his very injured knee. Matt Jackson falls prey to a Low Down bomb, but they quickly turn the tide. Kenny King comes back and hits Coronation, but Matt nails him with a DDT on the apron. Titus hits Nick with a sick lariat in the ring, but Nick comes in with a chop block before he can follow through. They go to work on the knee. Nick nails a 450 splash and the referee stops the match at 6 minutes.
Post match: The Bucks don’t stop attacking ANX
OVERALL MATCH TIME: 29:36
Analysis: ** Damn, this sucked. Well, it didn’t suck, per se, but it was supremely boring. Nothing was very exciting, and the portions that had the potential to be exciting turned out to be a damp squib. I mean, Future Shock and the Bucks could have woken the crowd up from their sleep, but they just went through the motions and made nothing of what could have been a sick, action packed segment. The first few segments showed some promise, mainly because of Coleman and Alexander, who are very, very good. And even though I like Future Shock, I just can’t understand why they seemed so damn unmotivated tonight. At Final Battle 2010, they nearly stole the entire show against ANX (in the opener, no less) and here just did their job lethargically and went home. The Young Bucks didn’t look to give much of a crap either, but you can’t exactly be motivated for awesomeness with the crowd is sitting on their hands so much that they’re getting rashes. ANX had a reason to be a little lacking, and Kenny King tried with his comebacks, but this audience just wasn’t buying it. The hecklers in the crowd really ruined a lot of this match too. As a whole package, nothing you really need to spend thirty minutes of your life on. It’s not offensively bad, but I can’t find one real reason to recommend it. Also, if you want to see Future Shock and Young Bucks kick ass, watch their ****+ match at PWG Steen Wolf. It was a tag team clinic, probably one of the best tag matches of the year.
Roderick Strong comes out to call out anyone who wants to face him in his Invitational Challenge. This guy gets such a bad rap, but he really is an awesome wrestler who can work a variety of styles. His promo here was really good, and if I’m being honest he showed a shit ton more charisma and promo skills than either Davey Richards or Eddie Edwards have shown during the Sinclair TV era, barring the Best in the World ending. Truth Martini counts to ten, and has some funny-as-hell ad libs in between numbers. Music plays, AND HERE’S CHRIS HERO!! Damn, I love that man. This would prove to be his second-to-last ROH appearance, as he just signed with WWE after some medical issues.
Roderick Strong vs. Chris Hero
Roderick bails to the outside to start. Back in, Hero knocks Strong down with a shoulderblock. Hero goes to work with chops in the corner. I’m still elated after all these years that Hero doesn’t have that atrocious gut he had all those years ago. Hero boots Strong to the outside, but Martini nails Hero with his book on the outside. Strong works Hero over in the ring with stomps. Roderick foils a Roaring Elbow by shoving Hero in the corner. Also, on an unrelated side note, Nigel McGuinness kicks so much ass at commentary. His insight and wit makes any shitty match (see tag gauntlet) a little better. And Hermie hasn’t been a pain in the ass tonight. If only Lenny Leonard were around. Hell, I could still deal with Jimmy Bower. Hero dropkicks Strong to the outside. Roddy runs Hero into the barricade on the outside however, and hauls him back in the ring to get a two count. Hero is up and they trade forearms, and Hero meets Strong halfway off the ropes with a dropkick. Hero walks right through a chop and just elbows the piss out of Roderick, who then falls prey to a powerslam. Roddy moves out of the way of a running dive. Hero hits a Snapmare suplex off the top for a two count. Roderick comes back with a jumping knee for a nearfall. Roderick hits a very nice backbreaker onto the top turnbuckle for a nearfall. Hero kicks Roderick off of a Stronghold and hits a Cravat (?) suplex. It’s that Snapmare suplex I mentioned above. Hero nails an elbow for a two count. Roderick hits a fireman’s carry lungblower then nails a Gibson Driver! One, two, thr—no! Good nearfall. The two trade chops on the middle of the ring. I wouldn’t wanna take those; I’d probably be crying like a little bitch. Chris Hero rolls out of an Irish whip attempt and NAILS A ROARING ELBOW! ANOTHER ONE! SPIN KICK! ONE, TWO, THR—NO! Damn, I thought that was it. Truth Martini distracts Hero on another pin attempt, and Hero’s all like YOU FUCKING HOMO and chases him down. Back in the ring, Roderick rolls him up for two. Hero kicks Strong into Martini and comes off the ropes. Roderick moves and Hero ends up kicking Martini. Strong takes the distraction to heart and nails the Sick Kick for the three count at 17 minutes.
This crowd pisses me off by giving a very shitty standing ovation to a very game Hero.
Analysis: ***1/2 Fun match here. They didn’t try to do anything very fancy, and that worked. They told a good story in the match as well. Hero hadn’t wrestled since August or so (in the ROH world anyway) and was rusty. Roderick had been wrestling an 80 minute match not even a month beforehand, and had been wrestling all over the world, so he had the psychological advantage. It’s a simple yet effective story, and it sufficed in this case. Hero looked great, he didn’t botch, and brought this poor excuse of a crowd alive. With the proper reaction, you have to imagine that this match could have encroached upon four star territory. But it’s a really good match as is, and if you want to see Chris Hero’s last PPV appearance for ROH, this was a suitable send off to one of the best wrestlers to ever step foot into the ring. Strong showed his doubters here that he has charisma and shows a little bit more passion in his promos (more than likely from working with Martini) than the two top ROH wrestlers do, which alarms me and makes me happy at the same time.
ROH Tag Title Match: Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team © vs. The Briscoe Brothers
Dem Boys (or your Gods) get the biggest pop of the night so far, barring Kevin Steen. WGTT? Ha, not so much. They’ve been dogging it on TV pretty blatantly, and I don’t like that. I get it, both guys are approaching 40, blah-blah, but if you can be such a great addition to the roster just months earlier, why the dick can’t you buck up when ROH needs it? Their match with Coleman & Alexander on TV was atrocious and showed the lethargy (is that a word?) within the usually really good team. Dem Boys are so fucking awesome; my two favorite wrestlers at the moment. They have more personality than anyone on the roster not named Kevin Steen or Jim Cornette. Also, they’re absolute masters at tag team wrestling, probably the best tag team in terms of pure match quality (get their DVD on rohwrestling.com) since the Midnight Express.
The two teams start brawling right away, with no bell to officially start the match. The boos were louder for the champs during their ring intros. The champs start whipping the Briscoes with their belts. They all brawl on the outside. Man, Mark takes some vicious bumps. And to think the guy is only 26. And they bring out the chairs. A very hard unprotected shot hits Jay. Jesus fucking Christ. And they nail Mark with a hard one too. Really? You’re pushing it a bit here. Benjamin “hits” Jay on the back with a chair, but it just hits the mat. So you’re telling me you can feign that just fine, but you really have toi whack the guys on their head, knowing all of the repercussions. Listen, I know it’s continuity, but damn guys, do it safely. This is wrestling, not a street fight. There is no reason to hit a guy with a non-gimmicked chair, over his head with no protection. There weren’t any shots in Corino-Steen that were too hard to the head, and there were several sickening shots here. And there’s another fucking chairshot. C’mon. This is unsanitary. Look, I appreciate the risk these guys take for entertainment, but there’s a fine line between a wrestling move and a chairshot. No one cares to see a guy get whacked with a blunt, metal object unless they’re an ignorant ultraviolent fan. I know I’m ranting here, but considering what has happened to some wrestlers over the years with head injuries, you just can’t do that in 2012. Nigel McGuinness is blatantly disgusted on commentary, audibly saying “god damn it” after a chair shot. This guy has had so many concussions, he can’t count them. He’s gone on record saying he’s suffered memory loss, spontaneous headaches, etc, and if anyone around this environment knows about it, it’s Nigel. I’m okay with a chair shot to the head if it’s either a) protected or b) soft. But the way Haas and Benjamin were swinging these chairs, carelessly at two young, shining wrestlers’ heads (and it is partially their fault for not covering up), is just inexcusable, especially considering Mark has an extensive history with concussions. I could stand to never see something like this in wrestling (at least from here on) ever again. This was disgusting. Okay, pissy rant over. Onto what’s left of this match. Benjamin fucks up his signature move, the Broken Arrow. Hammerstein Ballroom lets him hear about that one.
Charlie plays to the crowd well, as they have turned on him. Mark starts to fight back, but Shelton nails a DDT. They look for a Broken Arrow again, but Jay Briscoe slides in and nails a superkick! Damn, Jay looks like a man possessed with the blade job he has. They exchange blows like a house on fire, but Benjamin starts to take control. He hits a splash, but he injures his ribs some more. Remember, his ribs were injured on a chairshot. Kayfabe of course. The Briscoes go to work on his ribs in a methodical pace. They don’t do very much, selling that this isn’t a time to be all flashy and whatnot. They make frequent tags, but don’t make very impactful moves. Benjamin finally tags in Haas, who plays to the crowd while he mounts offense on the Briscoes. He hits an Exploder for two. He nails the three German suplex combo after fucking with the crowd a bit. You told them, Charlie. Charlie seems pretty comfortable working as a heel. After more WGTT offense, Mark Briscoe inadvertently takes out Shelton by splashing on him. He was trying to break up a Haas of Pain locked in by Haas, but Shelton’s like no way bitch and comes in. So Mark comes in and tries to break it, but Shelton tries to intercept him and instead ends up with more injured ribs. You silly man. Paul Turner calls out some paramedics to help with Shelton and his rib problems as the Briscoes beat some Charlie ass in the ring. Shelton heads to the back. Oh, what a peril for you, Mr. Haas. The crowd has died now. The Briscoes pretty much have their way with Charlie, until he foils a double team and nails an Angle Slam on Jay. During that move, they wipe out Paul Turner. Here comes Shelton crawling back! He picks up an obviously gimmicked 2x4 and nails Mark with it. They start working Jay over with the pieces left of the 2x4. WGTT looks for a Doomsday Device, but Mark nails a top rope bound Benjamin with a broken piece of table. The Briscoes then hit the Doomsday Device for the win at 13 minutes. In doing so, they also win their 7th tag titles.
The crowd throws streamers at the Briscoes, happy that they took the titles off of Haas and Benjamin. I can’t say I’m not happy, but we’ll see where this heads.
Analysis: ** Well, they tried I guess. It wasn’t a good match though. First off, throughout the whole match you still had the stench of the chairshots, which probably shouldn’t affect the match. But the match had it’s faults as well. WGTT didn’t look crisp whatsoever here, including botching their signature move badly, and looking pretty lethargic, outside of a couple good spots with Haas being a heel. The Briscoes looked good, as usual, but they didn’t click with WGTT in this match, at least not like they did at the 9th Anniversary Show last year. Lacklustre match, lacklustre segment, marred heavily by the stupid chairshots.
As we stall in the graphics department, the crowd almost makes me forgive them with a totally-out-of-the-blue FRUITY PEBBLES chant. That one had me rolling.
ROH World Title Match: Davey Richards (w/ Team Richards) vs. Eddie Edwards (w/ Dan Severn)
Okay, let me tell you why I haven’t enjoyed this feud. First off, while they are exquisite wrestlers, neither Eddie nor Davey have the charisma to handle what should be an emotional angle. They’re faces spoke for them, and they were motionless a lot of the time. You can’t sell an angle like this by running through your lines. I love Eddie, I love Davey, but they lack a lot of character in their promos, and their angles usually suffer due to it. However, what I can’t understand about all of this is why the beginning of their feud (around Manhattan Mayhem) contained a lot of good stuff, but on TV, where they need to shine the most, the fall flat and the angle goes by in slow motion. The wrestling is fine, of course, but that’s not all you do in this business. You have to show a passion in your storylines, which they didn’t do after their classic at Best in the World. Hell, Kyle O’Reilly showed more passion in his quotes/promos for the feud than either Davey or Eddie. And second off, this whole MMA/American strong style + fighting spirit thing just needs to go. Davey likes to just get up right in the middle of a heated segment, and it’s terrible. He ruins the momentum of a match, and that happens a lot in ROH nowadays. This whole MMA tie-in with “training teams” and whatnot, it sounds good on paper, but the way ROH tries to sell it is very campy and very hokey. Jim Cornette looked like he didn’t give a dick during his segments in the feud, and it was probably because feuds should not base around this stuff. MMA has it’s place, and that’s in MMA promotions. I’m okay with taking stuff from MMA like EVOLVE does, but ROH does it in a criminally campy way and it makes some of the Davey Richards stuff hard to watch. I hope I see good selling in this match, a good story being told, and heated action because that’s what Best in the World gave us and look how heralded that match has been. So onto our main event!
Davey comes out like a house on fire. They do the GENERIC INDY STANDOFF!~! thirty seconds in. They wrestle for a bit and another GENERIC INDY STANDOFF!~! Two within a minute and a half. Oh, fuck you two. Davey dominates early, showing why he’s champ. His striking and wrestling overpower Eddie early. Eddie eventually comes back with various submissions, including a chinlock early. You may notice I’m sparing some play-by-play, but please know I am not doing this out of laziness. I’m looking to analyze this match more than any of the others on this show. Davey puts in a Liontamer/Texas cloverleaf, but Eddie gets to the ropes. They head to the outside, where they exchange chops. Back in the ring, Eddie goes to work with more submissions, working on the champ’s leg. Davey gets out and nails a Murderdeathkill kick from the apron, then hitting a tope. Back in the ring, Davey takes control. Davey isn’t selling his leg one bit. Davey rolls through an Edwards reversal and puts in an Ankle Lock. Edwards rolls out and puts in an Achilles lock. Eddie takes control now. Eddie fires Davey up with rapid chops, and they trade strikes in the middle of the ring. Eddie hits an Asai moonsault to the outside, but whacks his leg on the guardrail, kind of like he did in June. But of course, he doesn’t sell it like he sold his leg at Best in the World. Eddie puts in an STF, then an Ankle Lock. Eddie just gets pissed and stomps the piss out of Davey’s face. Davey just pops up and they exchange more strikes. Davey no sells a superkick and hits a lariat for two. Eddie no sells that and pops up, eating another lariat. Davey nails a double stomp, a running kick, and another double stomp for a two count. This lack of selling is ruining the match for me, honestly. They fight it out, and they eventually head to the top, where they exchange headbutts. Nothing was really gained from this until Davey hits an enzugiri. Davey nails a superplex, rolls through, but Eddie fucking no-sells again and they both tumble over the ropes from a suplex. Goddamn, sell at least a little bit. They stalled for a litte while, milking the count, but they re-enter at 19.. Back in the ring, they exchange strikes some more, but Eddie stands out by taunting Davey with a bitch slap. Davey responds by kicking the piss out of Eddie. We’re back in the center of the ring, where Davey is bitch slapped once more. Eddie shows no emotion in this match, while Davey’s facial expressions help him. Hmmm. I don’t quite know about this one. Davey fucking no-sells two backdrop drivers and pops up, hits one of his own. Davey then no-sells a Tiger Suplex, hitting a Dragon Suplex. They trade slaps. The House of Truth heads down to the ring as Eddie knocks Davey retarded with a knee. Roderick Strong bitches out Team Richards, but Dan Severn intervenes and takes Truth Martini to the back after attacking Strong and Elgin with some crappy uppercuts. Everyone disappears from ringside. Davey and Eddie are up once more, and they stare each other down before trading strikes. Eddie nearly kills Davey by Tiger Suplexing him into the turnbuckles. Davey looks like Eddie knocked him on Queer Street. Eddie is looking for a super Tiger Suplex, but Davey breaks. Eddie comes back with a sick Frankensteiner, which of course DAVEY DOESN’T FUCKING SELL. Eddie hits a powerbomb for two. Eddie puts in a Dragon Sleeper, but Davey rolls over for a cradle! One, two, no. Eddie hits a tombstone piledriver, then hits Die Hard! One, two, no! “This is awesome” chant, which is pretty beyond the truth right now. Eddie puts Davey up top, but Davey tries to hit a sunset powerbomb. Eddie sandbags, so Davey goes after the leg that Eddie injured, but didn’t sell. I’m sick of the no-selling in this match, which isn’t bad other than that. Davey nails a super dragon suplex! One, two, no. I should be super-excited, but they’ve totally gotten me out of this match. Of course I’m bitching and moaning about it. That’s who I am, people. Davey tosses Eddie out to the floor with a seemingly botched Exploder. Looks like Eddie hurt his chest somehow. Eddie gets in at nineteen, but Davey hits a dragon suplex on the ring frame! This is finally starting to get pretty decent. Eddie gets into the ring at nineteen once more. “This ends now” says Richards, stiff kick combo, one, two, NO! Wow, I thought that was it. Eddie cradles out of an ankle lock! One, two, no! Davey nails a a Murderdeathkill kick! One, two, no! STIFF KICK COMBO! Davey picks up the win at 41 minutes, retaining his title.
Analysis: **1/2 I can’t go to three stars in this one. They worked hard here, but having watched this match two times since initially doing the play-by-play, I still find a whole hell of a lot more flaws than their masterpiece at Best in the World. They didn’t come close to the emotion in that one, Eddie Edwards didn’t sell well with his facial expressions, and THE FUCKING SELLING. I’ve never seen a match with so much disregard for the moves. They dropped each other on their heads, but they both just popped right up. I know this is independent wrestling, and I’m cool with one or two instances of that stuff, but I counted about 7-8 throughout the match. That is just stupid, and it doesn’t make the match look more competitive. No one just gets dropped on their head and pops up. Do you think Bret Hart would take a dragon suplex on his neck and just pop right up to hit his five moves of doom? Fuck no he wouldn’t, because he had a grip on in-ring psychology. It’s obvious these two threw Wrestling 101 out the window and just traded moves. Eddie didn’t sell his leg one bit during this match, even though it had blatantly waffled with barricade. He did the exact same thing in June, and sold the leg wonderfully. Here? An afterthought. I know these two are better than what they turned out here. I’ve seen people rate this as high as four stars, but you have to suspend your belief a whole hell of a lot to think this was a great match. They popped up after moves that would finish most wrestlers. That’s not good wrestling. It’s lazy. Yeah, they worked hard and tried, which is what the rating is for. Plus, they got pretty exciting at the end, but couldn’t drag me back in all the way. Not a good main event, not one bit. Davey and Eddie have had two better matches than this, one on free TV and the match of the year at Best in the World. Watch those two, because this one sucked for all the build it was given.
Post match, Kevin Steen comes out and taunts Davey. “Merry Christmas, bitch.” Merry Christmas, Kevin, you fucking awesome person.
Rating:
I give Final Battle 2011 a 6 out of 10
Why?
Hmmm…I don’t know how to conclude this show. Nothing on it was horrendous, but there were a lot of matches that did not deliver that should have. On paper, the double main event should have made this one of the best shows of the year, but they both ended up being massively disappointing, with the former being marred by a retarded pre-match brawl and the latter being basically everything that’s wrong with indy wrestling. They worked hard, but their lack of selling and coherence throughout the match just ruined it for me. But, the best part of this iPPV involved Kevin Steen and Steve Corino, brawling up and down the ring with some sick spots and a wonderful story. They beat the FUCK out of each other and ushered in Steen in the best way possible. Generico pulled out nearly a one-man show, making the three-way-dance very exciting, although not winning the title he truly deserves. I’m still a little disappointed Steen put him out after the latter’s match, but their small brawl before the package piledriver—in the streamers—was epic. I’m also pissed that TJP-Elgin ended up being only 7 minutes because it was so great, that just an extra 7 minutes could have propelled it to four star status. Elgin is going to be a star. The tag gauntlet was very, very boring. There were no exciting factors there, and the knee injury angle with Titus doesn’t interest me at all. The best three matches save this show, but the two main events bring the whole show down. I recommend the three best matches (Elgin-TJP, TV Title 3-Way, and Corino-Steen) but nothing else. Thumbs in the middle, I guess you could say.
Like it? Hate it? Tell me. No, I’m kidding, you can’t hate me. Tell me what you like, or what you dislike. My rants here were solely my own opinion, which doesn’t matter so don’t get worked up, the 2 people who read my reviews. Thank you a lot for reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment