Last Week: Wrestling Greatest Tag Team’s rivalry with BJ Whitmer & Rhett Titus ended up costing Whitmer & Titus the ROH World Tag Team title. Davey Richards came face to face with his protégé Kyle O’Reilly, only to be attacked by O’Reilly and fellow hybrid wrestler Bobby Fish.
ROH TV Episode 63
12/1/12
Pittsburgh, PA
Caleb Seltzer joined Kevin Kelly at the announce table, stating he believes in, “…old school tradition meets new school ambition.”
The Briscoes vs. The Headbangers
Huge ovation and quite a bit of streamers for Dem Boys. During the Tale of the Tape, the action began as Jay took Thrasher to the floor so Mark could hit the flying dropkick. When things settled, Jay set up Mark’s springboard dropkick on Mosh. Sadly for Mark Briscoe, Thrasher stripping him and slamming Mark against the steel barricades halted Mark’s momentum. Irish whip into the steel ring post laid out Mark for some time. Showing great agility, Mosh hit a springboard clothesline before using a gourd buster from the apron to the floor that bounced Mark off the padded Ice Garden.
Mark was trying to fire himself up, but couldn’t get to his brother thanks to the isolation and quick maneuvering to knock Jay off the apron. Some redneck kung fu saved Mark, giving him a chance to roll to a tag.
Jay Briscoe was on fire, jabbing Mosh in the face before using the Death Valley Driver on him. Froggy Bow by Mark couldn’t get the pin for Jay thanks to some timely interference from Thrasher. Hitting a double team flapjack didn’t help The Headbangers thanks to Mark yanking Thrasher to the floor before they could capitalize. When Mosh refocused on Jay, Jay Briscoe used a small package to pin Mosh.
In the back, Veda Scott was standing between Nigel McGuinness and Davey Richards. After what happened last week when Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish attacked him last week, Richards said he’d fight no matter what tonight. But Davey wanted something else - The American Wolves vs. Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish at “Final Battle 2012”. While Eddie is in Japan, Nigel promised to contact him to see if Edwards accepts the offer.
QT Marshall w/RD Evans vs. Adam Page
Page’s speed and agility had Marshall reeling thanks to some right hands and a leg lariat, busting Marshall’s nose. Page made a mistake by scaling the ropes with QT still on his feet. Marshall yanked Page, dropping him across the top rope with a hot shot. Marshall kept his composure though his nose was bleeding pretty good and Page refused to stay down. Power slam by Page when Marshall bounced off the ropes for something. Using a leg sweep, Page executed a standing shooting star press for another two count. Once again, Marshall caught Page attempted to the fly by dropping him across his knee abdomen first. Hitting God’s Gift put an end to Page’s night and another victory for QT.
After the match, Prince Nana came out of nowhere, clotheslining RD Evans before ripping his clothes off. Marshall tried to save his manager, but got sidestepped and dumped to the floor. Well, I’ve seen more of RD Evans than I ever needed to.
Coming back from the commercial break, Nigel McGuinness and Kevin Kelly were in the ring with Evans and Marshall. Evans yanked the microphone from Kelly to tell us Prince Nana violated him tonight. To make matters worse was the fact the back half of Evans’ pants were completely ripped, giving Nigel the chance to make a, “Keep your pants on,” and, “…genitals of a four year old,” jokes. Nigel announced that at “Final Battle 2012” it will be Prince Nana vs. RD Evans!
This week on Inside ROH, Kevin Kelly announced that WGTT vs. Titus & Whitmer will happen again at “Final Battle 2012” in a Street Fight following last week’s actions where both teams interfered in both team’s matches. Also there’s a chance that we’ll see the American Wolves reunite at “Final Battle” to take on the team of Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly. But before we get to New York, Kevin Steen will defend his ROH World title against Mike Bennett.
Davey Richards vs. Michael Elgin
Before the match, Truth Martini came out to tell Elgin that if Martini was available during “Glory By Honor XI’s main event, Elgin would be the ROH World champion. Martini admitted he let Elgin down then, but wouldn’t again if Michael Elgin could promise not to wrestle Roderick Strong at “Final Battle”. Elgin promised to kill Roderick Strong before chasing Martini away.
This one started off like gangbusters as they exploded with attacks that concluded with both men losing near submissions and huge attacks like Davey’s running kick and Elgin’s Chaos Theory. Elgin initiated a shoulder block exchange, but got dropkicked to the floor instead. It took two tries, but Richards hit that running apron kick. The fans were starting to rise as Richards stunned Elgin with a running boot to the face. “Unbreakable” recovered, paying Richards back with a boot of his own prior to rolling Richards back in. Richards started fighting back, ending up slugging it out on the apron. Scaling the ropes, Elgin superplexed Richards from the apron into the ring for a two count.
Following a failed pin, Elgin started throwing forearms. The exchange allowed Richards to go for a series of pinning combinations. Elgin powered himself and Davey off the mat, hitting a Death Valley driver into the turnbuckles … for a near fall as we headed into a commercial!
When we came back from the commercial break, both men were looking for forearms. The fans were thoroughly behind Elgin. “The American Wolf” outsmarted Elgin, dropkicking him to the floor again for a tope con hilo! Missile dropkick connected for Richards when the action returned inside. Elgin ran into a roundhouse kick-German suplex combo, but refused to submit in the flying arm bar. Actually, Elgin hoisted Davey off the mat to turnbuckle bomb him.
Davey was seemingly out on his feet, but caught Elgin’s incoming enzuguri kick to hook Elgin in the Ankle Lock. Thankfully for Elgin, “Unbreakable” was close enough to the ropes to save himself. Richards couldn’t muscle Elgin up, but Michael Elgin had no problems hitting the Chaos Theory to gain another two count. Elgin’s leg was bothering him because of the Ankle Lock. Michael Elgin gingerly placed Richards on the top rope before climbing up with him. Headbutt by “The American Wolf” sent Elgin to the mat for the double stomp. Elgin moved at the last second, only to run into a tombstone piledriver (now legal in ROH) … for another two count!
The most disorganized dueling chant broke out, so the fans opted to slap the guardrails as Richards kicked Elgin while holding over the middle turnbuckle. The Kawada kick-knee strike exchange seen in their previous bouts was happening on the apron, between the turnbuckles. Richards stopped a second superplex, using a superplex of his own. When Davey tried to roll through the superplex, Elgin turned the tables and hit that suplex sidewalk slam. Instead of going for the pin, Elgin went for the tumbleweed that missed. Richards was full speed ahead, forearming and kicking Elgin in position for a possible frankensteiner. Instead, Davey Richards was laid out by a super air raid crash … to gain another two count!
Elgin executed the tumbleweed to lock in a crossface that Davey rolled out of. “The American Wolf” ran straight into a knee to the jaw that knocked him loopy. Spinning back fist to the back of Richards’ head left him prone for the turnbuckle bomb-Spiral Bomb … for the three count!
After several moments, Richards and Elgin met in the ring’s middle, following the Code of Honor as the fans clapped in approval.
Overall: Wow! Seriously, wow! What a main event! It’s hard for me to believe there’s been a free TV main event better than what Richards and Elgin did here. It’s amazing how mesmerizing their matches are. This is a must-see match. The rest of the show is good as The Briscoes and The Headbangers had their best match to date - which really isn’t saying much other than it was a solid encounter. Adam Page impressed again while QT Marshall just seems like a poor man’s Mike Bennett merged with Adam Pearce. Marshall might get better in time, but right now he’s floundering. Also want to note that announcer Caleb Seltzer sounds almost like a mini-Kevin Kelly. He’s competent, but doesn’t have his own personality at the table yet. If he sticks around longer than just these tapings, he’ll obviously get better. Can’t get any worse than Michael Cole. In the end, the strength of the main event saves this episode; and maybe makes it an unforgettable one.
