Ring of Honor TV 7/21/2012

Ring of Honor TV 7/21/2012

I always find ROH hard to get into nowadays. The show lost alot of interest from me with the various technical problems they had during their first weeks and since then they really haven't been able to capture me. It doesn't help that the show is on here at 5pm on a Saturday. Nonetheless, I'm deciding to give it a shot today.

They did a small package with Mike Bennett/Maria/Bob Evans against Eddie Edwards. I cannot get used to seeing Maria in ROH. Nothing against her, but it just doesn't feel right having a Diva search contestant in ROH.

Bob Evans/Mike Bennett with Maria vs Adam Cole/Eddie Edwards

Nigel said that Evans is so unattractive that he "makes blind children cry". We got a make out session Maria and Bennett during the intros. The announcers were really pushing Cole and his victory at Best in the World.

This match was okay but it didn't do much for me. The big highlight of this was Bennett/Edwards doing a suplex spot off the apron that ended with both of them on the floor. Cole won here with the high cross body onto Evans. Rating: *1/2

After the match, Maria and Evans beat up on Cole until Sara Del Rey made the save by putting Maria in an ankle lock.

On Inside ROH, they showed clips from Kyle O'Reilly vs Adam Cole at Best in the World. Cole got his lip busted open plus his two front teeth knocked out. I hope that was worth it. Kevin Kelly and Nigel did a great job announcing here and they made the match seem really must see. O'Reilly slapped Cole after the match.

They then showed Bruno Sammartino receiving a Lifetime Acheivement Award at the ROH show in Pittsburgh. Bruno looks as good as he's looked in years. Next, they pushed the rubber match in 2 weeks between Mike Bennett and Lance Storm. Lance cut a promo telling Mike it was his "last time, last chance". They also pushed Roderick Strong vs Adam Cole for the TV title next week.

Next, we got clips from Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team vs the All Night Express. Haas did some nice work promising to "kill" Rhett Titus. Titus end up getting a surpising victory to win the Tag Titles.

Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team vs Fusion DS(Matt Saigon and Damian Dragon)

WGTT made quick work of Fusion DS when Shelton won with an olympic slam. Not much to comment on here since it was just a squash. The most interesting part of this match was the guy in the full body Jushin Liger suit in the front row. Haas cut a good promo on the All Night Express with Haas saying that, "We beat you within an inch of your life...it was so close that we almost had to get a tape measurer to prove it".

We went to the back with Jim Cornette with Cornette looking for an opponent for Kevin Steen. Mike Mondo threw his name in the hat for a match against Steen and Cornette gave him the shot. They then did a quick package on Mondo who looks really different from his Spirit Squad days. 

ROH Title - "No Fear" Mike Mondo vs Kevin Steen

Steen cut a promo before the match saying that Cornette is so desperate to get the title off him that people don't even have to earn title matches anymore. Steen told him that while Mondo may have No Rest, No Mercy and No Fear that he will have No Pulse once the match is over.

Steve Corino joined the commentary booth for this one. They fought mainly on the outside with Steen getting whipped into the barricades. Steen got the advantage and then took one of the ROH fan barricades and powerbombed Mondo onto it. Corino said he had dreams of Steen doing that to Cornette every night. Mondo barely made it back in the ring before the 20 count. Corino mentioned a bunch of different local stations that ROH is on and made different shills about Kevin Steen to each.  The crowd got really into Mondo. Steen ended up winning this with the F-5 after a great match. After the match, Jimmy Jacobs beat up on Mondo until Eddie Kingston made the save. There was a nice pull apart brawl to end the show. Rating: ***

Overall thoughts: This was a good show. I enjoyed the main event and I really liked the video packages. I'm still trying to get used to ROH but this was a good way to make me want to check the show out next week.