By Chris Shore

ROH Wrestling on SBG affiliates
Taped in Chicago Ridge, Ill.

[Q1] A video recapped the tag title match last week…The opening video aired, and Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuiness checked in on commentary and sent it up to Jim Cornette in the ring. Cornette introduced Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team. The audio this week is God awful. Are they picking this up through Kevin Kelly's headset? Shelton Benjamin cut a promo on some question that Cornette asked about the Briscoes, but I swear I couldn't understand him.

Cornette said ROH fined the Briscoes $5000 each. Haas said his daddy had never beaten him as bad, referring to the attack post-match at Best in the World. I could barely understand Haas. Cornette said he told the Briscoes that WGTT would want a match, but the Briscoes refused unless the tag titles were on the line, and he wasn't going to reward the Briscoes with tag title shots. Benjamin said something else, and Haas said they wanted them one way or another…I think…The announce team hyped the TV title match and Mike Bennett for next…[C]

Shore's Slant: Holy crap is the audio bad! Was it this bad last week? Looks like the WGTT goes into a feud with the Briscoes first. How much better would this have been if the Briscoes were the champs and WGTT were chasing?

The ROH Focus featured "The Prodigy" Mike Bennett. Cornette put over Bennett being wanted by many different wrestling groups. The video cut back and forth between Cornette and Bennett with "Brutal" Bob Evans. Cornette closed by saying Bennett was going to be a champion one day. He said Bennett was great, but he also knew he was great and that gave him a huge ego. Bennett was hyped for action next…[C]

Shore's Slant: Bennett has an unfair rep for being a bad worker. It's way off. Watch this next match and see how he sells.

[Q2] 1. "The Prodigy" Mike Bennett (w/"Brutal" Bob Evans) defeated Jimmy Jacobs (w/Steve Corino) at 5:54. Bennett pie-faced Jacobs a few times, daring him to through a punch. Corino gave his approval, and Jacobs punched him. Bennett hit a kick and then stomped Jacobs in the corner. Jacobs came back with the Kelly Kelly tilt-a-whirl head scissors that sent Jacobs to the floor.

Jacobs missed a dive to the floor to allow Bennett a chance to recover and take control. Jacobs came back with a great pop-out Ace crusher. He went for a senton, but Bennett got his knees up. He hit his "Box Office Smash" (a sitout sidewalk slam) for the pinfall victory. Post-match, Bennett made Jacobs shake his hand as the Code of Honor calls for. He rubbed Corino's head and Corino slapped his hand away and snatched his jacket off. Jacobs stopped him and they cut away…[C]

Shore's Slant: Jacobs is the most unassuming wrestler I have ever seen, but very good in the ring. Bennett made him look like a champ too. If you saw this match and think the guy can't wrestle, I honestly don't know what to tell you. He's not flashy on his offense, but he is a solid worker. And apparently his gimmick is the next action movie star. I thought they were kidding in the video package. Sounds lame.

Nigel McGuiness asked a fan who would win the main event and the fan picked Generico…The Inside ROH video package was how Eddie Edwards got the nickname "Die Hard" when he wrestled with a broken elbow in a Ladder Wars match.

[Q3] The next half of the video was Davey Richards and Roderick Strong putting over their match next week. Roddy said "shit" and they bleeped it with a ring bell. Wow. Good other than that…Jay Lethal made his ring entrance, followed by El Generico…[C]

2. Jay Lethal defeated El Generico for the ROH TV Championship in 18:00. Both guys won a series of mat wrestling and showed mutual respect. Lethal took early control and locked in a weird looking submission hold. Generico fought back and hit an arm drag that spilled Lethal to the floor. He hit his big dive and both men sold…[C]

[Q4] Back from commercial, Generico was still in control and a video showed him hitting a moonsault on the floor from the barricade. Lethal came fighting back and hit a pop-up neckbreaker for a great near-fall. Generico returned the favor with a spinning sitout powerbomb.

Time expired as they continued to fight and the match was announced as a draw. Both men asked referee Paul Turner to restart the match but he said he couldn't. Jim Cornette ran out and said they could have the rest of TV time left if they wanted it. Turner called for the bell. Both men hit signature spots, including an elbow drop from Black Machismo. Generico ran for an Akuza kick, but Lethal hit a superkick, followed by Lethal Injection for the win…

Shore's Slant: Good match that suffered greatly from the finish gimmick. They JUST did this at the last iPPV with Cornette restarting the match. So predictable. I'm also ready to get past these initial tapings and see some real storyline progress. I was not nearly as impressed with this episode as the first. I'll have more to say tomorrow on the hitlist. Thanks for reading along tonight.

Questions? Comments? Anyone, anyone? Let me hear from you. Email me at css3238@gmail.com or tweet me @TheShoreSlant with whatever is on your mind.

And read my first work of fiction: The Following Contest is a Dark Match available exclusively on ebook for all eReaders, smartphones, tablets, and PCs for only 99 cents.

RECOMMEND THIS ARTICLE: