ROH Final Battle 2012
ROH Final Battle 2012 (12/16/2012)- New York, NY
STEEN-GENERICO VIDEO PACKAGE- PERFECT! This made me want to go back and rewatch every single match in their feud and got me totally psyched for the main event.
RODERICK STRONG vs. MICHAEL ELGIN- 7/10
Truth Martini came down to ringside to watch the match. Roddy won after hitting Elgin with the Book of Truth. Truth then put Roddy over as being the only member of the House of Truth, but Roddy said he wasn’t part of the group anymore. Once Roddy leaves, Truth tries to put Elgin over as the only member of the House of Truth. Elgin goes to give him the Elgin Bomb, but Truth pleads with him to be allowed to talk. Truth then takes credit for both Roddy and Elgin’s successes over the past few years. He then slaps Elgin in the face, so Elgin gives him the Buckle Bomb and the Spinning Backfist.
JAY LETHAL vs. RHINO- 5.75/10
This came across MUCH better on DVD than it did live. After the match, Steve Corino, who was doing guest commentary, distracted Lethal, while Jimmy Jacobs jumped him from behind. They beat Lethal down a bit, then held him up for Rhino to GORE him. Corino then swore that Lethal would never be ROH World Champion.
PRINCE NANA vs. R.D. EVANS (w/Q.T. Marshall)- 4/10
After the match, Tommaso Ciampa showed up, which sent R.D. and Marshall fleeing scared.
NEW YORK CITY STREET FIGHT: Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team vs. Rhett Titus & BJ Whitmer- 6.75/10
Fun, but nowhere near as much fun as it was live. While the â€"MERRY CHRISTMAS!†chant is loud and clear, the dueling chant of â€"HAPPY CHANNUKAH!†that was going on in the balcony was unfortunately weak and you really have to strain to hear it. Same goes for the â€"YOU’RE A GRINCH†chant directed at Shelton Benjamin after he denied the fans’ request to use a miniature Christmas Tree as a weapon. BJ’s bump through the table during the finish looks even scarier on the DVD than it did live. Live it looked like BJ jacked his forehead but on the DVD it looks like he just crashed down on his head.
JERRY LYNN vs. â€"THE PRODIGY†MIKE BENNETT (w/â€Brutal†Bob Evans & Maria Kanellis)- 6.5/10
Kevin Kelly craps on Brutal Bob’s Iron Week, a very impressive accomplishment for anyone, especially a 40 year old, but never bothered to explain what it was (likely because doing so would actually make Brutal Bob look good… so why even bring it up in the first place?)
The match itself was good, but a lot more of a Mike Bennett-style dog and pony show match than a Jerry Lynn style match, which is disappointing considering this was Jerry’s last ROH show. Lynn eventually falls to the dog and pony show, but gets his revenge after the match.
After the match, Lynn gave a goodbye speech, then the locker room came out to honor him with a plaque for his dedication to the sport of professional wrestling.
NIGEL MCGUINNESS & JAY LETHAL HAVE A CONFRONTATION-
After the Thank You Jerry stuff is over, Jay Lethal grabs a mic and talks about his vow to fight the world champion tonight no matter what and demands that Nigel put him in the main event instead of El Generico. Nigel says he won’t do it, but promises Lethal that if Generico wins tonight, he will be the first in line for a world title shot. Jay vows to fight the world champion tonight anyway.
Lethal then talks about having to defend his family’s honor after Steen spat on his mother at Killer Instinct. Jay spits on Nigel and they have a shoving match. Security breaks it up, and Nigel orders for Lethal to be removed from the building.
KEVIN KELLY INTERVIEWS MIKE MONDO- no one cares!
â€"New York’s own Mike Mondo†got almost no pop. When Kevin Kelly asked him how he turned a recovery that was supposed to take a year into just a few weeks, he replied â€"because I’m Mike freakin’ Mondo. That’s how I did it!†This statement was met with very few cheers (probably members of Mondo's immediate family), and some loud boos (of which this esteemed reviewer was one). They definitely turned down the crowd mic for this segment, because the â€"NO!†chant that broke out in the arena upon Mondo’s revelation that he would return soon was inaudible.
Mondo came out on crutches and wearing a boot. He declared that he didn’t need the crutches anymore, and said that in his dictionary, crutches are called â€"bitch sticks.†So if you ever get so injured that you need to use crutches, Mike Mondo considers you to be a bitch. Between statements like that and his lack of charisma, it’s pretty clear why he got booed so viciously (and remember, this is his home market).
Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly then came out. Fish said that Eddie Edwards was not going to team with Davey Richards tonight. The crowd booed this, because they wanted to see an American Wolves reunion. Fish then made fun of Mondo’s injury and suggested that he team with Davey Richards tonight. The crowd then booed this as well, because they didn’t want to see Mike Mondo wrestle under any circumstances, even if it was to save babyface Davey Richards from facing two dangerous men in a handicap match. Then Kyle O’Reilly attacked Mondo’s injured leg. The crowd popped for this unprovoked assault on an injured man. And remember… this is the injured man’s hometown market. I guess what I'm trying to say is that absolutely everyone on the face of the earth aside from his immediate family absolutely despises Mike Mondo.
Davey Richards made the save for Mondo but got beaten down. Eddie Edwards came out and they teased that he would actually turn on Davey before he saved him, and we got…
BOBBY FISH & KYLE O’REILLY vs. THE AMERICAN WOLVES- 7.25/10
MATT HARDY vs. ADAM COLE- 7/10
The crowd absolutely hated Hardy, which made the heel finish work even better.
â€"SUDDEN DEATH†ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Jimmy Jacobs & Steve Corino(c) vs. The Briscoe Brothers vs. Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander- 5.75/10
The gimmick here was that the titles could only change hands if the champs were the ones who took the fall. This was a lot more simple than the way they explained it made it sound. The match itself was extremely underwhelming.
LADDER WAR FOR THE ROH WORLD TITLE: Kevin Steen(c) vs. El Generico- 8.5/10
One of the most brutal matches I have ever seen. Just two men trying to kill each other with ladders. They did some innovative stuff, especially with the finish, which was SICK!
A pretty good show from Ring of Honor, but a lot of it felt very underwhelming considering how much build it had.
STEEN-GENERICO VIDEO PACKAGE- PERFECT! This made me want to go back and rewatch every single match in their feud and got me totally psyched for the main event.
RODERICK STRONG vs. MICHAEL ELGIN- 7/10
Truth Martini came down to ringside to watch the match. Roddy won after hitting Elgin with the Book of Truth. Truth then put Roddy over as being the only member of the House of Truth, but Roddy said he wasn’t part of the group anymore. Once Roddy leaves, Truth tries to put Elgin over as the only member of the House of Truth. Elgin goes to give him the Elgin Bomb, but Truth pleads with him to be allowed to talk. Truth then takes credit for both Roddy and Elgin’s successes over the past few years. He then slaps Elgin in the face, so Elgin gives him the Buckle Bomb and the Spinning Backfist.
JAY LETHAL vs. RHINO- 5.75/10
This came across MUCH better on DVD than it did live. After the match, Steve Corino, who was doing guest commentary, distracted Lethal, while Jimmy Jacobs jumped him from behind. They beat Lethal down a bit, then held him up for Rhino to GORE him. Corino then swore that Lethal would never be ROH World Champion.
PRINCE NANA vs. R.D. EVANS (w/Q.T. Marshall)- 4/10
After the match, Tommaso Ciampa showed up, which sent R.D. and Marshall fleeing scared.
NEW YORK CITY STREET FIGHT: Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team vs. Rhett Titus & BJ Whitmer- 6.75/10
Fun, but nowhere near as much fun as it was live. While the â€"MERRY CHRISTMAS!†chant is loud and clear, the dueling chant of â€"HAPPY CHANNUKAH!†that was going on in the balcony was unfortunately weak and you really have to strain to hear it. Same goes for the â€"YOU’RE A GRINCH†chant directed at Shelton Benjamin after he denied the fans’ request to use a miniature Christmas Tree as a weapon. BJ’s bump through the table during the finish looks even scarier on the DVD than it did live. Live it looked like BJ jacked his forehead but on the DVD it looks like he just crashed down on his head.
JERRY LYNN vs. â€"THE PRODIGY†MIKE BENNETT (w/â€Brutal†Bob Evans & Maria Kanellis)- 6.5/10
Kevin Kelly craps on Brutal Bob’s Iron Week, a very impressive accomplishment for anyone, especially a 40 year old, but never bothered to explain what it was (likely because doing so would actually make Brutal Bob look good… so why even bring it up in the first place?)
The match itself was good, but a lot more of a Mike Bennett-style dog and pony show match than a Jerry Lynn style match, which is disappointing considering this was Jerry’s last ROH show. Lynn eventually falls to the dog and pony show, but gets his revenge after the match.
After the match, Lynn gave a goodbye speech, then the locker room came out to honor him with a plaque for his dedication to the sport of professional wrestling.
NIGEL MCGUINNESS & JAY LETHAL HAVE A CONFRONTATION-
After the Thank You Jerry stuff is over, Jay Lethal grabs a mic and talks about his vow to fight the world champion tonight no matter what and demands that Nigel put him in the main event instead of El Generico. Nigel says he won’t do it, but promises Lethal that if Generico wins tonight, he will be the first in line for a world title shot. Jay vows to fight the world champion tonight anyway.
Lethal then talks about having to defend his family’s honor after Steen spat on his mother at Killer Instinct. Jay spits on Nigel and they have a shoving match. Security breaks it up, and Nigel orders for Lethal to be removed from the building.
KEVIN KELLY INTERVIEWS MIKE MONDO- no one cares!
â€"New York’s own Mike Mondo†got almost no pop. When Kevin Kelly asked him how he turned a recovery that was supposed to take a year into just a few weeks, he replied â€"because I’m Mike freakin’ Mondo. That’s how I did it!†This statement was met with very few cheers (probably members of Mondo's immediate family), and some loud boos (of which this esteemed reviewer was one). They definitely turned down the crowd mic for this segment, because the â€"NO!†chant that broke out in the arena upon Mondo’s revelation that he would return soon was inaudible.
Mondo came out on crutches and wearing a boot. He declared that he didn’t need the crutches anymore, and said that in his dictionary, crutches are called â€"bitch sticks.†So if you ever get so injured that you need to use crutches, Mike Mondo considers you to be a bitch. Between statements like that and his lack of charisma, it’s pretty clear why he got booed so viciously (and remember, this is his home market).
Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly then came out. Fish said that Eddie Edwards was not going to team with Davey Richards tonight. The crowd booed this, because they wanted to see an American Wolves reunion. Fish then made fun of Mondo’s injury and suggested that he team with Davey Richards tonight. The crowd then booed this as well, because they didn’t want to see Mike Mondo wrestle under any circumstances, even if it was to save babyface Davey Richards from facing two dangerous men in a handicap match. Then Kyle O’Reilly attacked Mondo’s injured leg. The crowd popped for this unprovoked assault on an injured man. And remember… this is the injured man’s hometown market. I guess what I'm trying to say is that absolutely everyone on the face of the earth aside from his immediate family absolutely despises Mike Mondo.
Davey Richards made the save for Mondo but got beaten down. Eddie Edwards came out and they teased that he would actually turn on Davey before he saved him, and we got…
BOBBY FISH & KYLE O’REILLY vs. THE AMERICAN WOLVES- 7.25/10
MATT HARDY vs. ADAM COLE- 7/10
The crowd absolutely hated Hardy, which made the heel finish work even better.
â€"SUDDEN DEATH†ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: Jimmy Jacobs & Steve Corino(c) vs. The Briscoe Brothers vs. Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander- 5.75/10
The gimmick here was that the titles could only change hands if the champs were the ones who took the fall. This was a lot more simple than the way they explained it made it sound. The match itself was extremely underwhelming.
LADDER WAR FOR THE ROH WORLD TITLE: Kevin Steen(c) vs. El Generico- 8.5/10
One of the most brutal matches I have ever seen. Just two men trying to kill each other with ladders. They did some innovative stuff, especially with the finish, which was SICK!
A pretty good show from Ring of Honor, but a lot of it felt very underwhelming considering how much build it had.