Proving Grounds ~ June 2nd, 2012
Jun 15, 2012 0:32:00 GMT -7
Post by Dustin Salyers on Jun 15, 2012 0:32:00 GMT -7
The camera pans the capacity crowd in the Grand Ballroom of the Manhattan Center as Joey Styles welcomes everyone to Ring of Honor’s Proving Grounds. The camera cuts to the announcers position up on one of the balconies as Styles introduces his broadcast partners, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair & “the Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels. Styles begins the night by hyping the main event, which will be the National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship Top Contender Match between AJ Styles and Davey Richards. Michaels chooses to comment on the Eight-Man Scramble match between the Revolution and the Briscoe Brothers & the Motor City Machine Guns. Flair admits that he is looking forward to another Six-Man Mayhem match and that this may be the best ROH Proving Grounds to date. “Unsettling Differences” blares through the ballroom as Styles adds that ROH Executive Producer Jim Cornette is expected to make a major announcement before the end of the night as well.
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 "Dashing" Cody Rhodes |  |  "Canadian X" Kenny Omega | |  "Wrestling's Worst Nightmare" Kevin Steen |
|  "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin | |  "The Prodigy" Mike Bennett | |  "The New Horror" Sami Callihan |
Paul Turner spent the next ten minutes trying to find a safe place in the ring and slapping the canvas an obscene amount of times as the near falls were fast and furious. Everyone was able to put together a signature move but the saves were well timed. Steen looked to return to top form as he used the Package Piledriver on Omega but Elgin was there to break up the pin. Elgin then drove Steen to the floor with a lariat before being attacked by both Rhodes & Bennett. Elgin proved to be a monster though, knocking Bennett back with a haymaker and then connecting with a lariat to Rhodes. The haymaker sent Bennett stumbling into Callihan and the Headlock Driver. Elgin picked up Rhodes and began spinning him as Turner counted the three for Callihan. A moment after Callihan had secured the win Elgin planted Rhodes with the Spinning Powerbomb. Turner raised Callihan’s hand and Elgin went into a frenzy, sending both Paul & Sami scurrying to the floor to avoid him.
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The camera cuts to the locker room to show Richards sitting in a corner with his eyes closed and earbuds in. Richards never moves but as the camera moves closer he clinches his teeth and opens his lips to show a mouth guard with the words “LONE WOLF” on it. Styles hypes the main event once again as the show goes to commercial.
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Commercial Break
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The show resumes with Styles recapping the events surrounding the Eight-Man Scramble match and then hyping the ROH Tag Team Championships Match between the Briscoe Brothers and the Motor City Machine Guns next week. Flair admits that this will be his first scramble match and compares it to the classic War Games matches he had as a member of the Four Horsemen. Michaels begins to laugh and adds “there isn’t two rings… and there isn’t a cage… it isn’t anything like War Games”. “Gimme Back My Bullets” cuts through the ballroom as Styles adds that the cooperation, or lack thereof, between the Briscoes and Guns should prove interesting.
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 "The Whole Shebang" Johnny Gargano |  Adam Cole |  Kyle O'Reilly |  Chuck Taylor |
|
 Jay Briscoe |  Mark Briscoe |  Alex Shelley |  Chris Sabin |
The chaos created by the unique Scramble rules, namely the ability to enter the ring once a teammate is tossed from the ring ala a lucha tag match, meant that Bryce Remsburg was hard pressed to keep track of the legal men. And it didn’t help that the Briscoes and Guns couldn’t seem to agree on who should enter when one of them was tossed from the ring. The match was full of action but they managed to take that up a notch when they started fighting outside of the ring as well. Gargano would connect with the Whole Shebang on Mark to determine the winner.
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The Briscoe Brothers and the Motor City Machine Guns would have to be separated after the match as both seemed to blame one another for the loss. Styles would hype the ROH Tag Team Championship match next week before the camera would cut to AJ Styles standing in the locker room. Styles re-strapped his gloves and slowly pulled his hood over his head as the show went to commercial.
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Commercial Break
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The show returned with Styles announcing that Sami Callihan would be challenging Tommaso Ciampa next week for the ROH Television Championship. Flair turned the attention back to the main event as he wondered aloud if NWA World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk would be watching this match. Michaels seemed to have his doubts since the show is only broadcast in New York City, but assumed that Punk would be told the winner before the end of the night. “Wherever I May Roam” tore through the ballroom as Styles reminded everyone that Cornette had promised a major announcement as well.
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*Main Event*
NWA World Heavyweight Championship Contender Match
 "The American Wolf" Davey Richards | |  "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles |
The main event absolutely lived up to the hype with the first 10 minutes featuring a lot of chain wrestling and counters. Neither man had the advantage and the crowd responded with several ovations during stalemates. Richards would begin to take control after the Damage Reflex but Styles would counter an Irish whip with the Stylin’ DDT as the show went to what Joey promised would be the last commercial break.
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Commercial Break
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When the show resumed the pace had picked up considerably. There were less counters and more two counts, including a couple near fall sequences. Eventually the crowd was treated to a kicking clinic until Richards countered into the ankle lock. Both men then traded submissions ranging from the Styles Crab to a Keylock. Richards would end up catching Styles with the Hammer of the Gods but found nothing but canvas with the Shooting Star Press. Styles would fire back with the Starmaker but missed on the Spiral Tap follow-up. Richards would eventually hook the arms for the DR Driver but Styles miraculously rolled off the shoulders, hooked Richards with his feet and rolled through for a pin. But before Turner could slap the canvas, Styles rose to his feet, pulling Richards up and then planted the ROH Champion with the Styles Clash!
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Both men laid on the mat for several moments, with Turner actually lifting Style’s arm as he laid on his back. Both men slowly began to stir and eventually found themselves standing across from one another. The crowd gave a fitting standing ovation and then a heartfelt “Thank You” chant. Michaels was amazed at the final sequence and the innovative counter of AJ, while Flair was impressed by the entire match and the admiration of the crowd. Joey started to hype the match between AJ and CM Punk for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship as well as the matches for next week’s Proving Grounds when “No More Mr. Nice Guy” cut the sendoff short.
Cornette walked to the ring with a microphone and immediately thanked Richards & Styles for their efforts. Cornette then congratulated Styles on his victory and announced that he would be challenging CM Punk for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on June 30th at Best in the World 2012 on iPPV! The crowd erupted at the announcement but grew even louder when Cornette announced that it would be held “downstairs” in the Hammerstein Ballroom. Cornette then ended the night by announcing that Richards would be defending the ROH Championship as well, adding “your challenger will be determined next week… and I GUARANTEE… it will be a former Ring of Honor CHAMPION!”. Joey hurriedly reminded everyone to tune in next week to find out who would be challenging Richards at the Best in the World 2012 iPPV!
