Proving Grounds ~ June 23rd, 2012
Jun 27, 2012 13:00:40 GMT -7
Post by Dustin Salyers on Jun 27, 2012 13:00:40 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 show by hyping Best in the World 2012 and then reveals that he was told last week that tonight’s show would be the “Ultimate Prelude” to the Best in the World iPPV event, but that he has not been told what matches will take place or who will be involved. Flair jokes that they may not know until the entrance music hits. “No More Mr. Nice Guy” blares through the ballroom as Michaels points out that surely names like AJ Styles, Davey Richards and Tyler Black will be involved.
ROH Executive Producer Jim Cornette walks to the ring and quickly addresses the crowd by thanking them once again for supporting ROH and asking all them to attend Best in the World 2012 next week. Cornette then admits that tonight he intends to “set the tone” for next week’s event and announces that the main event will be a tag team match between AJ Styles and a partner of his choosing against CM Punk and a partner of his choosing. Cornette allows the fans to cheer before announcing that there will be a special television taping this Friday, June 29th here at the Grand Ballroom due to the Best in the World iPPV on Saturday replacing the usual television taping event. Cornette continues by announcing that “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin will challenge “the Dominant Male” Tommaso Ciampa for the Ring of Honor Television Championship in the main event that night. Cornette then announces that the semi-main on the 29th will be a match between “Die Hard” Eddie Edwards and Roderick Strong to help determine the top contender to the ROH Championship.
Cornette once more allows the crowd to digest the last statement before announcing that tonight’s show will feature a six-man tag team match between Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards & a partner of Davey’s choosing against Tyler Black, Roderick Strong & a partner of Tyler’s choosing. Cornette then shocks the live audience by announcing that he has signed a fifth and final match for Best in the World 2012 and it will be a “Gone… but not Forgotten match… between two former ROH Champions… both of whom will not be revealed until the 11th hour!” The crowd comes to life with a “R-O-H” chant as Cornette finishes by announcing that the first match of the night will feature the two remaining matches for Best in the World as “The Realist Killaz” competes with the crowd in the ballroom.
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 Jay Briscoe |  Mark Briscoe |  "The Warrior" Low Ki |
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 Adam Cole |  Kyle O'Reilly |  Rockstar Spud |
This match had plenty of potential but was hindered from the opening bell by the antics of Johnny Gargano & Chuck Taylor. They took turns making Paul Turner look like an imbecile and interfered whenever possible. Turner finally reached his breaking point and ordered both of them back to the locker room but that did little to ease the tension between the Briscoes and FutureShock. Inevitably a brawl ensued and the match was left to Low Ki and Spud, who used his quickness to position himself for the Satellite DDT. Low Ki had the move scouted well though and was able to grasp a leg and drop Spud with a vicious Ki Krusher.
The Briscoe Brothers and FutureShock continued to brawl at ringside, bringing Gargano and Taylor back into the mix. Styles sent the show to the first commercial break as ROH officials flooded the ringside area in an attempt to pull the Revolution from the Briscoe Brothers.
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Commercial Break
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The show returned with Styles once more hyping Best in the World 2012 while Flair pointed out that Rockstar Spud was going to have to bring his “A” game to Best in the World after seeing how effectively Low Ki countered the Satellite DDT. Michaels wondered how much damage was done to the Briscoes at the hands of the Revolution and how they would overcome the numbers game when the NWA World Tag Team Championships were on the line. “Clutch” poured into the ballroom as Styles shifted the conversation to who the mystery partners of Richards and Black would be. Richards and Edwards were being checked by ROH official Bryce Remsburg when “Complication” tore through the ballroom and the crowd rose at the familiar theme of the No Remorse Corps. Rocky Romero tore through the curtain to a huge ovation as Styles pointed out that Richards & Romero had held the ROH Tag Team Championships in 2008. Michaels pointed out that their were rumors swirling about the internet dirt sheets that Romero was close to inking a deal with NWA Great Lakes as “the Haunted” blared through the ballroom. Soon Black and Strong stood outside the ring and the crowd grew silent once more in anticipation of their partner’s arrival. The crowd begin to cheer wildly and a sly smile crept over the face of Black as familiar screams could be heard through the ballroom’s speaker system. Finally “Goodbye Horses” cut through the screams and Jimmy Jacobs strode onto the entrance way. Jacobs carries the NWA Great Lakes Championship over his shoulder with the strap facing outwards as he joins Black and Strong in the ring. Styles quickly points out that Black & Jacobs have held the ROH Tag Team Championships on two different occasions. Flair then points out that Jacobs is insisting on being announced as the NWA Great Lakes Champion. Jacobs gets his wish and holds his Championship up and points to Richards as he is announced to the crowd.
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 "The Lone Wolf" Davey Richards |  "Die Hard" Eddie Edwards |  "The Contract Killer" Rocky Romero |
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 Tyler Black |  Roderick Strong |  Jimmy Jacobs |
The match carried a certain sense of nostalgia and Remsburg found himself winded from the frequent tags and quick pace. Plenty of saves had to be made as well as Richards & Romero connected with the Contract Killer to Jacobs and Black used a backbreaker rack on Romero to setup Jacobs for the senton. Eventually Edwards would connect with a super kick to Strong that would send him stumbling into a German suplex hold from Richards. Black made the save and Richards took offense. Richards would tag out to Edwards and then attack Black at ringside. Strong would eventually make the hot tag to Jacobs while Romero was absent from the apron as Edwards looked for the same. Romero was helping Richards pummel Black, allowing Jacobs to hit the Contra Code. Strong would add insult to injury with the Sick Kick before Jacobs would cinch in the End Time and roll to his back. Strong got the attention of Remsburg, who after checking on Edwards called for the bell.
Styles called for someone to help Black from the onslaught of Richards & Romero. Finally, Jacobs and Strong ran them off and Black’s bloodied face was shown as the show went to commercial.
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Commercial Break
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Styles was still appalled at the actions of Richards & Romero when the show resumed. Flair pointed out that it was obvious that Richards & Romero could care less about the outcome of the match and were solely driven to injure Black prior to Best in the World. “Cult of Personality” blares through the ballroom as Michaels reminds his broadcast partners that we still have two more mystery partners to reveal. Punk was met with a chorus of boos as he walked to the ring with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship around his waist. But the crowd turned instantly as “The Final Countdown” tore through the ballroom. The ovation was by far the loudest of the night and reached a fever pitch when Bryan Danielson stepped onto the entrance way. Styles and Flair were speechless but Michaels was quick in his praise of his former student. Styles eventually pointed out that Danielson was the third longest reigning ROH Champion and held the record for most successful defenses of the Championship.
“Wherever I May Roam” seemed to tear the crowd in half, with some still cheering and chanting for Danielson. Styles seemed unaffected by the crowd’s reaction and instead found himself jarring with Punk from ringside. There was a lengthy pause after Styles’ entrance and Punk seemed to question whether Styles had a partner. “Disposable Teens” cut through the silence in the ballroom and a smile crept across the face of Styles. The crowd reacted in a manner that even put Danielson’s ovation to shame as Christopher Daniels bathed in his adulation from the entrance way. Even Joey Styles began marking out as he pointed out that Danielson & Daniels were part of the very first ROH main event along with Low Ki, calling the three men the “Founding Fathers” of ROH. Flair pointed out the long-time friendship of Daniels & Styles as well as their countless wars across the World over the last dozen years.
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 "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles |  "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels | |  CM Punk |  "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson |
The crowd never used their seats again for the rest of the night instead choosing to clap for the simplest of moves and install chants at their leisure. The beginning of the match was slow, methodical and filled with respect as no one was looking to make the first mistake. The pace only picked up once the bad blood between Styles and Punk brewed over between the two. It would be a sequence of counters and one counts that would bring forth a “THIS-IS-AWE-SOME” chant from the crowd and send the show to its final commercial break.
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Commercial Break
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The show and match would resume with a more deliberate pace as if someone removed the handcuffs during the commercial break. After nearly 25 minutes of action everyone in the match seemed drained and the ending did a great job of promoting that. Danielson was able to lock Styles in the Cattle Mutilation but Daniels made the save almost immediately and then sent Punk flying off the apron. Danielson would throw a right hand at Daniels but the arm was trapped and Christopher spun Bryan around, seamlessly transitioning into the Angel’s Wings. With Danielson motionless and Styles beginning to stir in the ring, Daniels would take out Punk with a tremendous springboard version of the BME from the apron. Punk and Daniels would land awkwardly though, with Punk banging the back of his head and Daniels catching his knee on the guardrail. This left Styles to pull himself to his feet and then slowly climb the nearest turnbuckle. The crowd cheered in anticipation as he leapt for the Spiral Tap but it seemed obvious by the amount of time it took him that Danielson would roll out of the way. To the shock of most, surprise of some and joy of a few, Danielson took the full brunt of the move and Turner counted the three.
Styles put the match over several times and the camera cut to the piles of humanity that littered the ring and the ringside area. None of the four men were moving very much and Styles rolled to his belly as soon as Turner dropped his arm. Flair put over the efforts of all four men and Michaels promised that Best in the World would live up to the hype it has received thus far. Styles once more reminded the fans to order Best in the World 2012 on Saturday, June 30th at 8 PM on rohwrestling.com as the show ended.
