Proving Grounds ~ June 9th, 2012
Jun 19, 2012 16:07:50 GMT -7
Post by Dustin Salyers on Jun 19, 2012 16:07:50 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 by hyping the two Championship matches that will take place on tonight’s show as the Briscoe Brothers defend the ROH Tag Team Championships against the Motor City Machine Guns and Sami Callihan will challenge Tommaso Ciampa for the ROH Television Championship. Flair reminds everyone that the Briscoes and Guns had to be separated after the Eight-Man Scramble match last week, a match that they lost to the Revolution and most notably the National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Champions FutureShock. “Bad Things” tears through the ballroom as Michaels adds that Ciampa will be out to prove that he truly is “the Most Dominant Male” in ROH. Styles also adds that Davey Richard’s opponent at Best in the World 2012 will be determined tonight as well.
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Ring of Honor Television Championship Match
 "The Dominant Male" Tommaso Ciampa |  Velvet Sky |  |  "The New Horror" Sami Callihan |
Ciampa and Callihan started the night off perfectly with a great mixture of wrestling, brawling and obvious bad blood. These two pummeled one another mercilessly on the debut episode of the Proving Grounds and this match opened those old wounds. Unfortunately the focus shifted from the ring when RD Evans strutted to ringside and began berating Velvet Sky. Ciampa took exception and immediately tried to grab Evans, who took off around the far end of the ring. Ciampa gave chase but was flattened by Michael Elgin as he rounded the ring post. Paul Turner had no choice but to award the match to Ciampa via disqualification.
Elgin picked up Ciampa and at the behest of Evans he drove the ROH Television Champion across the apron with a powerbomb. Ciampa lay at ringside writhing in pain as Velvet Sky attempted to shield him from anymore punishment. Evans was in the midst of trying to drag her away so the onslaught could continue when Callihan attacked Elgin from behind. Callihan and Elgin tore into each other but were quickly separated by ROH officials as EMTs rushed to ringside to check on Ciampa. Styles was barely able to recuperate from his litany of “OH MY GAWD” to send the show to the first commercial break.
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Commercial Break
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The show resumed with a replay of the events from the ROH Television Championship match as Styles reminded the viewers of the history between Ciampa. Velvet Sky & Evans. Flair was stunned by the power of Elgin while Michaels pointed out that Callihan would surely attempt to make Elgin pay for costing him the match and possibly the ROH Television Championship. “A Victim, A Target” cut through the ballroom as Styles noted that the former ROH Television & ROH Champion Roderick Strong would obviously be one of the participants in the match to determine the man who would challenge Davey Richards for the ROH Championship in three weeks. Flair added that Strong had successfully defended the Championship against Richards at Final Battle 2010, so he knew what it would take to defeat the Champion. Michaels added that this was Strong’s first match since losing the ROH Television Championship as “Sawtooth” signaled the participation of Eddie Edwards.
Styles noted that Edwards was the man that Richards had defeated for the ROH Championship nearly a year ago at Best in the World 2011. Flair pointed out that Edwards was given his Championship rematch at Final Battle 2011 but was obviously unsuccessful. Michaels seemed to question whether Edwards had the ability to put his friendship with Richards aside in order to do what was necessary to defeat the Champion. “The Realist Killaz” brought the crowd to their feet as Styles pointed out that Low Ki was the inaugural ROH Champion back in 2002. Flair pointed out that Low Ki had unsuccessfully challenged Samoa Joe for the ROH Championship in 2004 but Michaels pointed out that Low Ki had defeated former ROH Champion Austin Aries in a non-title match in 2005.
Bryce Remsburg checked all three men and looked ready to call for the bell when “The Haunted” tore through the ballroom. Tyler Black stepped onto the entrance way as the crowd erupted in an ovation that was rivaled only by Low Ki’s. Black walked to ring as Styles pointed out that Black had held the ROH Championship for nearly 7 months in 2010 but hadn’t wrestled for the company since. Flair seemed shocked as he fully expected the match to be a Three-Way Dance but Michaels noted that Black looked ready to wage war.
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ROH Championship #1 Contender Four-Way Fray Match
 "Die Hard" Eddie Edwards | |  "The Warrior" Low Ki | |  Roderick Strong |
|  Tyler Black |
This match easily stole the show as all four men gave everything they had to gain the opportunity to challenge for the ROH Championship. Edwards caught Low Ki with a Falcon Arrow while Strong planted Black with the Power-Breaker to score near falls as the show went to commercial.
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Commercial Break
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The show resumed with several near falls from all four men, giving Remsburg quite the workout. The end came without much notice as Black dropped Strong with God’s Last Gift to score the three count before Edwards or Low Ki could react. Styles, Flair & Michaels seemed surprised as well, none of them noticing the pin attempt until Remsburg had already slapped the mat twice. Styles hyped the ROH Tag Team Championship as the show went to commercial.
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Commercial Break
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“Beautiful Disaster” blares through the ballroom as the show comes back from commercial. Styles announces that a match between Sami Callihan and Michael Elgin has been signed for next week as the Motor City Machine Guns make their way to the ring. Flair reminds everyone that the winners of this match and subsequent ROH Tag Team Champions will challenge the NWA World Tag Team Champions at Best in the World 2012 on June 30th. Michaels ponders who FutureShock would rather face in three weeks time as “Gimme Back My Bullets” brings the crowd to their feet.
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*Main Event*
Ring of Honor Tag Team Championships Match
 Jay Briscoe |  Mark Briscoe | |  Alex Shelley |  Chris Sabin |
This match was given a hard act to follow but they were able to keep the crowd involved with frequent tags and a slew of double-team moves. The finish came with Jay countering a springboard tornado DDT into a Northern Lights suplex into the ropes. Jay tagged in Mark who sprinted across the ring and plastered Shelley with an elbow before climbing to the apron. Sabin was driven into the mat with a Spike Jay-Driller and Mark hooked the leg as Jay fended off Shelley.
Styles immediately commented that Sabin was going to need help from the back but when the curtains parted it was Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly instead of EMTs. FutureShock made a beeline to the ring but stopped at ringside. The Briscoes seemed to be inviting them into the ring and never saw Johnny Gargano & Chuck Taylor slide into the ring from behind. Things quickly turned into a 4 on 2 as Shelley pulled Sabin from the ring. ROH officials flooded the ring but the numbers game was just as difficult for them. Styles hyped the NWA World Tag Team Championships match at Best in the World and announced that the NWA World Heavyweight Champion would be in New York City next week as the show came to an end.
