Thursday, March 7, 2013

ROH Homecoming 2012 Review

Jay Lethal challenges Davey Richards in Ring of Honor's return to Philadelphia!



 ROH Homecoming 2012
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1/20/12

Bobby Cruise starts off by informing everyone that Eddie Edwards cannot compete tonight due to a staph infection. Eddie Edwards comes out and hypes up the show anyway.

1.) Gateway To Honor Rematch – Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin) vs. Future Shock (Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly): ***

Haas & Benjamin are now heels, which is definitely a fresh direction for them. Their match here with Future Shock was pretty solid for an opening match. Cole & O'Reilly suffer some miscommunication, leading to their loss.

2.) Four Corner Survival – “The Prodigy” Mike Bennett vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Grizzly Redwood vs. Andy “Right Leg” Ridge: **1/2

A decent Four Corner Survival. Ciampa and Bennett both look good.

Steve Corino comes out to cut a promo. He talks about his path to redemption and Kevin Steen. This brings out Wrestling's Worst Nightmare. Steen says he knows that there is still evil inside Corino and that he doesn't need to earn the respect of Jim Cornette. He begs for a response but gets none as Corino walks off. Kenny King then comes out for the next match.

3.) Special Challenge Match #1 – Kevin Steen vs. Kenny King: ***1/2

This was actually a very good match. Steen's character is great and you could tell that his stock is quickly rising. 

After the match, Steen goes after the injured Rhett Titus, locking in the sharpshooter. Kenny king eventually chases Steen off.

4.) Special Challenge Match #2 – Chris Hero vs. Michael Elgin (with Truth Martini): ***1/2

So issues with his WWE signing gave Hero another one or two months on the Indy Circuit. This was another very good match. Having Hero face Elgin in his last ROH match was a good idea.

After the match, Shane Hagadorn, of all people, comes out. He verbally berates Hero, saying he carried the Kings of Wrestling, and that Claudio was better than him. Hero lays out Hagadorn.

Roderick Strong comes out with Truth Martini, even though his original opponent, Eddie Edwards, can't compete. They do the same count-out thing they did at Final Battle but Adam Cole comes out and says he can replace Edwards, and we got a match!

5.) No Holds Barred – Roderick Strong (with Truth Martini) vs. Adam Cole: ***3/4

Both Michael Elgin & Eddie Edwards run down and get involved. This was pretty great. Cole really looked good in this one, and this was the start of Cole's run as a singles wrestler in ROH. He gets a standing ovation after the match.

6.) Proving Ground Match – ROH Worlds Tag Team Champions Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. Jigsaw & Hallowicked: ***1/2

So CHIKARA is getting a Proving Ground Match since this is their home turf. This isn't the first time these two CHIKARA stars have teamed, as I believe they've teamed in Dragon Gate USA & Evolve. The Briscoes start messing with the masks of Jigsaw & Hallowicked. This brings out Mike Quackenbush, followed by Frightmare, Dasher Hatfield, Saturyne, The Colony & UltraMantis Black, who come out to support their guys. A very good match. Jigsaw & Hallowicked win after their fellow roster members provide a distraction.

Afterwords, Jay cuts a promo saying they didn't sign up for this, and says Jigsaw & Hallowicked are going to die on April 28th in Chicago. UltraMantis Black in return cuts a promo on the Briscoes, saying that CHIKARA supports it brothers and that they didn't appreciate the fact that The Briscoes don't respect the mask. He says Jigsaw & Hallowicked will bring their World Tag Team Titles to CHIKARA.

7.) ROH World Title Match –Champion vs. Champion – ROH World Champion Davey Richards vs. ROH World TV Champion Jay Lethal: ****1/4

This was a very good world title match. One of the better of Davey's reign, probably because it was something different from the usual shtik with Edwards & Strong. Richards gets the win in an exciting contest.

Davey cuts a promo after the match, thanking the fans & putting over Jay Lethal.

Overall: 8.25/10

This was a very good way to start off 2012 for ROH's live events. The first half was relatively solid, and the second half was very strong. Overall a great show.

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