Powell's 8/12 ROH Wrestling TV review: Kevin Steen, Michael Elgin, and Tommaso Ciampa vs. The American Wolves and B.J. Whitmer, Michael Bennett vs. Brutal Bob Evans, MsChif vs. Bonesaw Brook

We are playing catch up on our ROH TV coverage today. Check back on Wednesday for Jason Powell's review of the latest ROH television show.

By Jason Powell

ROH Wrestling on SBG television affiliates
Taped in Providence, R.I. at the Convention Center

[Q1] The show opened with the video montage... ROH voice Kevin Kelly hyped the six-man tag match main event and introduced color commentator and ROH matchmaker Nigel McGuinness... Highlights aired of Michael Bennett beating up Cheeseburger on the July 13 television show, only to have Bob Evans pull him off...

1. Michael Bennett (w/Maria) vs. Brutal Bob Evans. Before the match, the referee called for a handshake per the Code of Honor. Evans was distracted by Maria, which set up Bennett superkicking him. The bell rang to start the match.

Powell's POV: So Ring of Honor rewards heels for blowing off the Code of Honor and attacking a distracted opponent to start the match? It's bad enough in WWE and TNA, but you'd think the company named Ring of Honor would approach that differently.

Maria sat in on commentary while Bennett and Evans brawled at ringside. Maria said everyone has told Bennett who to be, but he's finally coming into his own now. Bennett caught Evans with two superkicks, but Evans caught his leg on the third one and threw Bennett across the ring. Evans followed up with a shoulderblock and got a two count. Evans actually went to the top rope and missed a leg drop. Bennett came back with his finisher and scored the pin...

After the match, Maria entered the ring and handed Bennett a contract. Bennett signed the contract. Kelly said Bennett is now part of the long term plan of ROH. Cheeseburger hit the ring and tried to catch Bennett with a top rope move, but Bennett avoided it and then piledrove Cheeseburger... [C]

Powell's POV: Okay, now that we have that out of the way, can we get to the part where Bennett faces real opponents and rattles off some meaningful wins? I can live with Cheeseburger and Evans being occasional pests for Bennett, but here's hoping he gets put in something more meaningful and beneficial than this.

An ROH text service plug aired... Ring entrances for the next match took place...

[Q2] 2. MsChif vs. Bonesaw Brook. Maria sat in on commentary again. MsChif dominated the match aside from a couple of nice Northern Lights Suplexes from Brook. In the end, MsChif performed a facebuster off the second rope for the win...

Powell's POV: Brook took a really nasty looking bump during the facebuster finisher as she went head first into the mat from the second rope. ROH needs an ROH Women's Championship and MsChif is the obvious choice for the first champion.

B.J. Whitmer was featured in a spot for the live event in East Ridge, Tennessee... [C]

Kevin Kelly hosted the Inside ROH segment and discussed the ROH Title tournament and set up a Silas Young promo. Young said he sees a bunch of boys trying to be me and trying to be him. He said one by one he they will all fall by the wayside. Young said it doesn't matter what people think of him, they will call him the last real man in pro wrestling and the ROH Champion.

Kelly spoke about the American Wolves not being in the title tournament because they are focussed on the ROH Tag Titles. Kelly also set up footage of the ROH Tag Title change from the previous week. Kelly hyped the 100th episode for next week. Jay Lethal and Roderick Strong will be discussing some of the best matches of ROH TV history... Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander hyped an upcoming live event... [C] Another text message plug aired...

[Q3] Ring introductions for the six-man tag match took place. The match was billed as "Honor Personified." Five of the wrestlers received strong reactions, while Whitmer didn't get much of a response...

3. Kevin Steen, Tommaso Ciampa, and Michael Elgin vs. Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards, and B.J. Whitmer. All six men shook hands before the match. Richards snuck a hug from Steen and smiled. Elgin held onto Richards' hand when they shook. The announcers played up Ciampa being back in the same arena one year after he suffered his knee injury.

Kelly said Edwards wears Boston Celtics socks for every match (he'd be a lot cooler if they were Boston Bruins socks, but that's just me). The opening minutes didn't feature much action. Richards was seated in his corner after taking a shoulder block from Elgin heading into the break. [C]

The ROH text spot and a live events spot aired...

After the break, Elgin held up Richards for a vertical suplex and worked up the live crowd with his hand before finally putting him down. Ciampa checked into the match and performed the same vertical suplex on Whitmer while the crowd counted.

[Q4] [C] Edwards had an offensive run on Ciampa. Elgin tried to break it up with kicks, but Edwards no sold them and Richards ended up running in to cut off Elgin. Ciampa and Edwards met again in the middle of the ring a short time later and exchanged blows. Edwards got the better of it and caught him with a kick, but Ciampa came right back with kicks and a big clothesline.

Later, Elgin and Richards were the last two men left in the ring following a series of events. They traded blows and then Richards caught Elgin with a German suplex and followed up with a submission hold, but Elgin powered up and had him in position for a piledriver. Richards spun himself into position, Edwards kicked Elgin, then Richards put him down with a piledriver for a two count. After a series of counters, Elgin caught Richards with a clothesline and then powerbombed him for the win...

Michael Elgin, Tommaso Ciampa, and Kevin Steen beat Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards, and B.J. Whitmer.

Powell's POV: Unfortunately, the last show of my four show "catch up on ROH TV" marathon was my least favorite. If you're only reading this because it's the newest review, know that the last three television shows were very good and the overall television product is much improved. This episode wasn't lousy or anything, but it was uneventful compared to the other newsworthy shows.

This show just felt thrown together without any real cohesion with last week. The announcers talked about the ROH Tag Title change, but why wouldn't we hear from the new champions and the former champions? The main event was entertaining, though I definitely prefer matches that have a storyline buildup rather than just six babyfaces thrown together in a six-man tag match. On a positive note, it did have a lot of ROH star power, and the right guy went over since Elgin is a player in the ROH Title tournament and Richards is working tag matches.

Next week is the 100th episode special, so even though I am finally caught up on ROH TV, there's a chance that I won't review next week's show since it appears to be a "best of" edition.