Ring of Honor Wrestling returns to Charlotte and the Metrolina Tradeshow Expo THIS Saturday night, September 8th, for another big event we can only call “Caged Hostility”! Featuring a 6-Man Cage War, the ROH faithful will also bear witness to the two of the top tag tag teams in wrestling colliding, a grudge match with TV Title implications, and the several young competitors getting their opportunity to shine.
We also know that Jim Cornette and ROH officials are planning on signing an ROH World Title challenger for our Rahway event on October 6th, and that warrior will be determined based on the events this Saturday in Charlotte! Jim Cornette has stated that, “We will see who shows me something this weekend. Whoever impresses me the most in Charlotte will get the match. It is as simple as that.”
Also, rumors are flying that a former ROH Champion who is not scheduled to be on the card may be in the house. We do not want to get hopes up as it is only speculation so we are not going to name names. We, ROH officials & fans alike, will just have to wait and see if these speculations have any merit...
MAIN EVENT SIX MAN STEEL CAGE WAR!!!
The Briscoes & Rhett Titus vs. ROH World Champion Kevin Steen, Jimmy Jacobs & Steve Corino
It's a renewal of a rivalry with former foes becoming partners, as Rhett Titus & The Briscoes will unite to take on ROH World Champion Kevin Steen, Jimmy Jacobs, and Steve Corino in a 6-Man Steel Cage War! Blood and violence is something of the calling card of the trio who have been heard to refer to themselves as Scum or EviL, but it's one that they share with The Briscoes and Titus. As Titus himself said in the video, it was Jay & Mark who taught him how to be a man during their lengthy rivalry that culminated in Ladder War III at “Death Before Dishonor IX”.
Speaking of that ladder, it was the bad blood between The Briscoes & Steen/Generico that introduced the Ladder War to ROH in the first place at “Man Up” and it was Jimmy Jacobs & The Age of the Fall who strung up Jay like a stuck pig that very same night in 2007 after The Briscoes retained the tag titles.
“A Steel Cage with the Briscoes?” said Kevin Steen to ROHWrestling.com, “That's something I'm quite familiar with actually. It's something I did a long time ago with a far lesser partner at my side, probably why we lost come to think of it. With Steve and Jimmy at my side though, with the ROH World Title in my possession, it's a damn certainty that we will be the men leaving this cage with our bodies intact and our blood still on the inside. I can't say the same for the hillbillies. And you Rhett...I think in another life I would have applauded you for stepping up like that. See I've basically watched your entire career, I've seen how hard you've fought to get where you're at and how little respect the fans and ROH gave you for a long time just because of how you came up. You should be proud of yourself for...what do the kids say...just doing you, grinding it out and becoming a champion for as long as that lasted. I can honestly say I respect all that but this is a whole new game you're trying to play Rhett Titus, and a brand new level of pain you're setting yourself up for. You've bled, good for you. You've been beaten up, haven't we all? But what you've never done is look into the eyes of someone like me or Jimmy or Steve and seen real evil.”
For the first time in over a year, the unforgiven Steel Cage makes its return when ROH hits Charlotte, NC on September 8th for “Caged Hostility”! It's Rhett Titus & The Briscoe Brothers vs. ROH World Champion Kevin Steen, Jimmy Jacobs & Steve Corino in a 6-Man Steel Cage War!
TAG TEAM COLLISION
Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin) vs. The House of Truth (Unbreakable Michael Elgin & Roderick Strong) w/ Truth Martini
With a 6-Man Steel Cage War already on tap, Ring of Honor's return to Charlotte, NC on September 8th is already a must-see event. Now ROH officials have signed a tag team challenge featuring two teams that are quite explosive for two very different reasons.
Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin, Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team, have demonstrated themselves to be one of the most volatitle teams in ROH right now. With a penchant for violence, and a general disregard for the rules that dictate professional wrestling, WGTT are as equally unpredictable as they are talented. Benjamin is currently serving out a suspension for such behavior after attacking Rhett Titus with a chair on “Ring of Honor Wrestling” TV but that suspension that comes to an end in Charlotte. Haas, on the other hand, is wrapped up in the ROH World Tag Title Tournament but obviously not with Shelton as his partner, instead with Titus at his side! Not much has been made of how Shelton may feel about the possibility of Haas winning the titles with someone else, but knowing these two men, they likely have something in mind if Haas & Titus are crowned champions.
Roderick Strong & Michael Elgin are explosive for a very different reason. For weeks now the tensions have been building between these two members of the House of Truth with Truth Martini the only factor that has prevented a violent outburst from either man. It has gotten to the point that two weeks in a row on “Ring of Honor Wrestling TV” Elgin has seemingly come out from the locker room to assist Strong & the HoT but rather turned around and walked away from this situation. The first time ultimately led to Strong losing the TV Title to Adam Cole while the second saw Strong & The Guardians ran off by The Briscoes and various members of the locker room. The tensions are high and it's a safe assumption that the HoT is a proverbial powder keg just waiting for the flames to catch the fuse.
Can the HoT stay on the same page long enough to pick up the win or will the former 2-Time Tag Champions be the ones with their hands raised?
PROVING GROUND - Best In The World 2012 Return Match
ROH World TV Champion Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly
“I never gave up”
Those were the first words of Kyle O'Reilly to ROH officials in an e-mail earlier in the week.
“I never gave up”
What O'Reilly is referring to is his loss at “Best in the World 2012: Hostage Crisis” in the Hybrid Rules contest against now-ROH World TV Champion Adam Cole. It was a challenge that O'Reilly himself issued, an obvious attempt to humiliate his former Future Shock partner by “exposing him” as Kyle put it. As it turned out, with a mouth full of blood and the whole of the Hammerstein Ballroom behind him, Adam Cole was the one who humiliated O'Reilly when he captured that victory via Figure Four Leglock...a submission victory via tapout.
“I never gave up”
While it is true Kyle never said “I quit” or “I give up”, it is also just a matter of semantics as a tapout is considered a physical equivalent to uttering those words. Still, ROH officials were willing to give Kyle a chance to state his case but quite honestly what it amounted to was “I'm better than Adam Cole”, “I want another shot at Adam”, and “I never gave up”; not the most convincing case for O'Reilly but shockingly it was the argument of Adam Cole himself that swayed ROH officials.
“Give Kyle this match.” Cole asked when informed of the challenge, “Give Kyle this match if only so I can shut his whining mouth. He beat me in Florida, yes it was with a hook of the tights, but yet he was the one complaining and crying. I beat him in his own match in New York, I took on his challenge and I made him tap, and still he cries and cries. I would venture a guess that he spends his nights cursing the fact that I achieved championship success in Ring of Honor before he did too. It's sad what Kyle's become and for all those reasons I want this match just as much, maybe more, than Kyle.”
ROH officials took Adam's request into serious consideration, and agreed to make the match for our return to Charlotte on September 8th on one condition, a term that Adam was more than willing to accept, that it take place under Proving Ground rules.
“I am more than happy to give Kyle a chance to earn a title shot just like I earned my title match with Roderick. I know Kyle has the talent and the skill to be a champion, and I know that when he's fighting with all his heart, Kyle could very well beat me. But I am willing to take that chance and I will admit that this time, this time, my decision to accept is kind of like Kyle's Hybrid Rules challenge...I'm doing it to prove a point and maybe, if I'm totally honest, there is a little part of me that at this point just wants to embarrass him.”
It will be ROH World TV Champion Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly in a Proving Ground War at “Caged Hostility” on 9/8/12 in Charlotte! If O'Reilly beats Cole, or lasts the time limit, he will earn a future ROH World TV Title Match, and there have been rumors that Kyle O'Reilly is already petitioning to make this a Submissions Match but those are unconfirmed as of this day.
BATTLE OF NC's OWN
Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander vs. Harlem & Lancelot, The Bravados
“The Bravado Bandwagon is going to be out in full support!” said Lancelot Bravado to ROHWrestling.com, “This is going to be bigger than when the Tarheels won their last NCAA title! Bigger than when Jordan made that winning shot in 1982! The Bravado brothers are having an ROH homecoming!”
Why is Lancelot Bravado so excited? Why is his hyperbole gauge cranked all the way up? It's because he and brother Harlem are going toe-to-toe with Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander when Ring of Honor returns to Charlotte, NC on September 8th for “Caged Hostility. It's a pretty well known fact that the brothers call North Carolina home, so for the duo every time Ring of Honor returns to the Tarheel state, no matter the city, they consider it an epic night. What makes this one that much more epic for the Bandwagon is that they finally get an opportunity to take on the team that sent them packing on extended hiatus at “Final Battle 2011”...
“See me and my brother, we have always been taught that we shouldn't hold grudges.” said Harlem, “We were always told to look at them as opportunities to learn and even though it was Caprice and Cedric that took ROH away from us for a few months, well that's what let us go to Japan and learn some new tricks in NOAH. So I guess Grandma was right with what she said about opportunities because that hiatus just gave the Bandwagon new ways to roll right over C and C.”
It seems we have a bit of a Grudge Match in this Battle of Charlotte's Own as Lancelot & Harlem collide with Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander
Jay Lethal vs. Adam Page
Adam Page will get his chance to shine when he faces one of the most well-traveled, experienced men on the ROH roster, former ROH World TV Champion Jay Lethal! Page is a Virginia-based grappler, at only 21 years of age, has traveled the country from coast-to-coast in the four years since he first set foot in the wrestling ring. Quick on his feet, adept at coming off the top rope, Page will obviously have to pull out all the stops to win one over the master of the Lethal Injection.
"No Fear" Mike Mondo vs "God's Gift" QT Marshall
Also in Charlotte, the man who recently earned an ROH contract at “Boiling Point 2012” where he won a Four Corner Survival, “God's Gift” QT Marshall, will face a man who has learned a thing or two about making an impact in ROH this year: “No Fear” Mike Mondo! Marshall has impressed with his mix of power and agility but Mondo is on a tear lately with his victories over Mike Bennett, his impending ROH World TV Title match in Chicago Ridge, his ROH World Title battle on TV against Kevin Steen, and his gutsy loss against Jay Lethal at “Brew City Beatdown”. Marshall may have the biggest spotlight on him out of any of these new competitors though as he must prove that he is worthy of the contract he earned in Providence
Also there will be a Special Pre Show Autograph Signing w/ the Briscoes & Rhett Titus so make sure you're there early to take advantage of that one, but don't worry because there will be another at Intermission w/ Jay Lethal & Veda Scott!
Tickets for “Caged Hostility” THIS Saturday night are available right here in the ROH Store starting at just $15 or at the door the night of the event! Nobody does pro wrestling like Ring of Honor and all the great fans in Charlotte will see that for themselves in just a few days!!!
