Here are live spoilers and impressions from the episode of ROH TV that will air this weekend. The episode was taped in the Du Burns Arena in Baltimore on August 22. They announced before the show that ROH would return to the Du Burns on January 5. They continue to run the gimmick where you get $10 of the price of admission if you purchase during intermission.
This was touted as “Fan Appreciation Night”. Everyone was offered an 18” X 12” glossy poster with photos of Jay Lethal, Adam Cole, Rhino, Mike Mondo, Cedric Alexander and Caprice Coleman. Fans lined up at a table in the back of the building to get signatures from all 6 men. Adam Cole had to depart earlier than the others since he was in the first match.
Be sure to check out in the front row on the hard camera side, there’s a guy dressed exactly like Truth Martini. It’s a great costume!
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Dark Match: Ryan McBride & Veda Scott def. Matthew Justice & Marti Belle in a mixed tag match – This was just ok. The women’s offense was sloppy at times and universally weak and low impact.
The men tangle briefly followed by the women. With the men back in, McBride hits a collection of nice, deep, almost overhead armdrags. McBride whips Justice into the corner. Justice stops before colliding with the turnbuckle, sidesteps and McBride launches shoulder first into the ring post. Justice works a key lock. McBride escapes and hits a dropkick to the face.
The women are in but Justice grabs Veda Scott’s leg as she runs off the ropes allowing Belle to gain the advantage. She chokes Veda over the bottom rope then kicks her square in the back. Belle taunts the audience with a Madison Rayne-style wave and continues choking Veda. Belle throws Veda into the corner. Veda with a kick to the face. She hits a clothesline off the turnbuckle.
The men are back in. McBride hits a top rope missile dropkick. Two count. Justice counters McBride’s charge into the corner with a boot to the face followed by a leg drop bulldog. Veda breaks up the pin attempt then launches herself at Belle taking her out. Meanwhile McBride hits a cartwheel Death Valley driver for the pin.
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Match 1 – (Survival of the Fittest Qualifying Match) Adam Cole def. Tadarius Thomas in 7 minutes. This was a lot of fun, really good match. Definitely check it out.
CROWD: Adam Cole! Adam Cole! Adam Cole!
The men shake hands. They trade, block and dodge shoulderblocks, superkicks, snap mares, wristlocks and waistlocks really quickly. Standoff. Cole hits a fisherman’s suplex. Two count. Cole hits a neckbreaker slam. Two count.
CROWD: Let’s go Adam! Let’s go Adam!
Tadarius employs capoeira style and avoids Cole’s offense with some very athletic dodges. He hits a unique judo takedown with a simultaneous fist to the face. Incredible.
CROWD: Eddy Gordo! Eddy Gordo!
Thomas looks towards the chanters in Section C and nods his head. They continue to quickly trade punches, elbows, enzuigiris and jumping shoulder kicks. The crowd is very into this.
Tadarius counters a suplex attempt with a knee to Cole’s head. He runs off the ropes, but Cole catches him with a pop-up shoulderbreaker. Two count. Adam goes to kick Tadarius in the head, but he dodges with a half cartwheel which transitions into a kick to Adam’s head. This guy is seriously Eddy Gordo.
The crowd claps loudly as Adam is slow to recover. Tadarius jumps into the air and hits a downward thrusted fist to the face. A kick to Cole’s shoulder hits. A second is blocked. Cole punches, but Tadarius ducks, runs off the ropes and hits a lariat in which he spins around to Cole’s back and drives him down like an inverted bulldog.
CROWD: Blackie Chan! Blackie Chan!
Cole to the floor. Tadarius tries a running boot from the apron but Cole hits a wicked superkick. Tadarius manages a shoulderblock coming back into the ring followed by a sunset flip. Two count. Adam recovers quickly and tries for a leg lock, but Tadarius escapes and misses a crescent kick. Cole kicks him in the back of the head and hits the Florida Keys! Three count.
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Match 2: Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin) and Fusion DS (Damian Dragon & Matt Saigon) have a no contest – WGTT receive a strangely positive reaction. Charlie is wearing a T-shirt that reads “You Haas Hole”. Before the match can commence, Rhett Titus comes out.
TITUS: Whoa whoa whoa. Fusion DS, I know you guys want your big opportunity on TV, but I’m going to ask you guys to leave the ring because [yelling now] I have a personal vendetta with Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin! And I want the both of you right here, right now in Baltimore.
CROWD: (cheers)
CHARLIE: Rhett Titus, you have to be the dumbest son of a bitch I’ve ever seen in my life. You come out here demanding a match with Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin. We’ve beaten you as singles, we’ve beaten you with a partner and every which way but loose. You have to have brain damage to want a piece of us. But you know what, let’s just get this match sanctioned and let’s whip his ass.
RHETT: (to Bobby Cruise) Get this match going, brother! Get it going!
CRUISE: At this time, Jim Cornette, executive producer of Ring of Honor and the production truck in the back have just told me that if Rhett Titus wants it, Shelton Benjamin wants it and Charlie Haas wants it, then it’s on!
CROWD: (cheers)
CHARLIE: Hey, idiot. You have to be stupid if you want to fight both of us and you don’t even have a partner, you moron.
RHETT: Hey, Charlie. I’m a lot of things but a moron isn’t one of them. And I never said that I didn’t have a partner.
BJ Whitmer runs out to the back, making his first TV appearance since the Baltimore TV tapings have begun!
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The REAL Match 2: Rhett Titus & BJ Whitmer def. Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin) in 5 minutes.
CROWD: BJ Whitmer! BJ Whitmer!
Whitmer gets off to a hot start by back body dropping Charlie and punching and kicking Shelton in the face (after Rhett pulls him into the ring). Shelton recovers, smiles and offers Whitmer his hand. Whitmer shakes it, but telegraphs Shelton’s cheap shot and kicks him in the gut.
Meanwhile, Rhett throws Charlie into the ringside barricade. He returns to the ring and kicks Shelton hard in the gut. Rhett charges Charlie as he gets back into the ring, but ends up going over the top rope. Rhett tries to jump back in, but Charlie grabs his foot while Shelton knees him in the forehead. While the ref is distracted by Whitmer’s outrage, Charlie beats on Rhett on the floor.
Shelton follows up by intimating throwing Rhett into the barricade. The fans cheer it, so Shelton just blows them and rolls Rhett back in.
CROWD: Charlie sucks! Charlie sucks!
Rhett is hung over the second rope. Charlie attacks, Rhett dodges and Whitmer’s in! Whitmer hits a big spinebuster on Shelton, but Charlie breaks up his pin attempt at two. Rhett runs back in and tussles with Charlie to the floor, ultimately throwing him back into the barricade.
While Rhett his an axehandle on Charlie, Whitmer dodges Shelton’s Stinger Splash and rolls him up for the quick pin.
After the match, WGTT beat down Rhett and Whitmer. Shelton hits Paydirt and Charlie spits on them. Haas and Benjamin grab Whitmer by his legs and yank him crotch first into the ring post. The bell is ringing like crazy. The low blow draws out 4 security officials and 3 more referees to attend to Whitmer.
CROWD: This is Haasome! This is Haasome!
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Kevin Kelly is the ring.
KELLY: Ladies and gentlemen, my guest at this time, Ring of Honor World Champion Kevin Steen, World Tag Team Champions Steve Corino, the Zombie Princess Jimmy Jacobs, collectively known as SCUM.
These three get a big reaction. One fan has a sign that reads “SCUM rises to the top.” Steen has a Kevin F’N Steen T-shirt on, alluding to the old ECW shirts.
CORINO: Kevin Kelly, as your true partner in color commentating, I’m going to ask you to leave, and I’m going to conduct this interview with the ROH World Champion, Kevin Steeeeeen!
CROWD: (cheers)
CORINO: We’re waiting with bated breath to hear what you have to say.
STEEN: What I have to say is quite simple. Tonight I will beat Rhett Titus for the Ring of Honor World Title. On October 6, I will beat Jay Lethal for the Ring of Honor World Title. And then on October 13 in Toronto, I will put my Ring of Honor World Title on the line against “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin.
CROWD: (cheers)
STEEN: You like that, huh? That’s very unfortunate for you. That’s exactly why I’m out here. I have some things to tell Mr. Elgin. So if you could please join us, that’d be lovely, Mr. Elgin.
The House of Truth’s Music hits.
STEEN: That was pretty easy.
Michael Elgin and Truth Martini come to the ring.
TRUTH: Kevin Steen, just shoosh. Nobody cares what you have to say. Michael Elgin believes that everything that’s coming out of your mouth is a bunch of hooplah.
ELGIN: (grabbing the mic) Truth, the only hooplah I’m hearing is your voice. Kevin, I’m out here to confront you face to face. Truth is, I have something you need to know as well. I’m a man of few words, Kevin. And lately, you seem to be a man of so many. So I’m going to let you say what you have to say, and I’ll tell you what I have to say after.
STEEN: Let me guess what you have to say – they say all men were created equal but they were wrong! Mike, I called you out here to tell you three things. Number 1 – I don’t like you. I’ll explain why I don’t like you, but before we step into the ring with each other on October 13, I think we need to think about a little something.
CROWD: Hug it out! Hug it out! Hug it out!
STEEN: Absolutely not. In Toronto, I will have Jimmy Jacobs and Steve Corino, two men I can trust, the current Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions, by my side. But you, I see Truth Martini over here but, uh, Roderick Strong’s not here, Rhino’s not here. I came back to Ring of Honor for two reasons. I want to kill this company, but I also want to steal the show every single night. But in Florida you wrestled Davey Richards and on that night, you stole the show.
CROWD: (cheers)
STEEN: I can admit when someone steals the show, but that’s the part I don’t like. I don’t like when people steal the show. I don’t like when people take my spot. Let me tell you something, Elgin. That one night in Florida – is nothing compared to the six years that I have spent pouring my heart and soul to get this. Now we’re supposed to pin our hopes on you to get this off of me? They even call the show “An Unbreakable Hope”. Well to me, all it is is an undeniable joke. In your hometown, you may have the entire city of Toronto behind you, but it will not matter, because I will walk out of Toronto the same way I did on May 12 – as Ring of Honor World Champion! And you know why? (screaming) Because I, not you, I am unbreakable! I am unbeatable! Because I am Kevin Steen and I am the best damn thing in pro wrestling today!
CROWD: (cheers)
ELGIN: Now that you’re done, I wasn’t going to tell you that they were wrong. I was going to tell you that actions speak louder than words.
Elgin punches all members of SCUM in the head. The tag champs fight back, but as Elgin pushes them off Steen hits him flush in the head with the title belt.
As the bell rings, Truth begs Roderick Strong to come out and do something. Rodericks stands at the top of the entrance way, smiling, but he takes no action. Rhino and the Guardians of Truth charge the ring and run off SCUM.
CROWD: Rhino! Rhino! Rhino!
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Match 3: Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander def. Steve Corino & Jimmy Jacobs in an ROH Tag Team Championship match via DQ in 8 minutes.
CROWD: Steve Corino! Steve Corino! Steve Corino!
CROWD: C and C! C and C! C and C!
Cedric and Caprice beat on Jacobs. Corino comes in. Cedric holds Corino while Caprice hits a jumping leg lariat. Cedric attempts a twisting top rope splash, but Corino avoids by just walking away.
Jacobs in with a snapmare to Cedric and a dropkick to his back. Jacobs hits two neckbreaker slams, jumps on his chest and simulates peeing on him like a male dog. Corino in. They Irish whip Cedric and punch him in the head. Two count. They criss-cross his arms and pull him back first to the mat. Two count.
Cedric gets beat down for a bit with a leg vise and backbreaker over Corino’s knee. Cedric manages to bounce Jimmy off the apron and into the ringside barricade, but only makes the hot tag once Jacobs misses a senton from the turnbuckle.
Caprice is on fire with clotheslines. He thrusts Corino’s head into the mat with a ju jitsu-style take down. Caprice with two continuation suplexes. Corino interferes, but Caprice hits the same move on both men simultaneously. Caprice headlocks Corino, runs off the chest of Jacobs and DDTs Corino.
Jacobs reverses an Irish whip but gets kicked in the head. Caprice runs, jumps straight up onto the top rope, then jumps again hitting a HUGE bodysplash to Corino on the floor. That was some serious height! Jacobs tries a baseball slide to Caprice on the floor. Caprice counters with a 619 around the ring post. Cedric launches over the top rope taking out both Jacobs and Corino. Cedric faceplants Jacobs. Caprice hits a top rope leg drop. Corino breaks up the two count.
Corino off the ropes, but he gets hit with Total Elimination. Jacobs tries for Sliced Bread but Caprice blocks it. Cedric dropkicks Corino in the corner. He crosses the ring and does the same to Jacobs. Caprice hits Jacobs with his trademark standing jumping top rope hurricanrana. Cedric hits the frog splash on Jacobs, but Corino punches Caprice in the face with a roll of quarters which subsequently fly all over the ring. The ref calls for the bell.
SCUM throws Cedric out of the ring and beat down Caprice. Michael Elgin makes the save.
CROWD: Elgin! Elgin! Elgin!
Corino and Jacobs grab their title belts as Elgin stares them down. The tag champs just walk away.
CROWD: C and C! C and C! C and C!
Elgin stares at Cedric and Caprice and shakes both their hands. Truth Martini is upset at this and stomps on the entrance ramp.
CROWD: C and C! C and C! C and C!
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Between TV tapings, two ROH employees give free T-shirts and DVDs away to “whoever’s the loudest.”
GUY: You are the best Ring of Honor fans for all the shows you go to!
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