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Simon Watches ROH - 2013
Topic Started: Jul 26 2014, 06:10 PM (4,872 Views)
Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Kevin Steen, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/16/2012
ROH World Television Champion: Adam Cole, Since 7/28/2012

ROH Wrestling
January 5th, 2013
New York, NY


FUCK YEAH FINAL BATTLE RECAPS I GUESS.

Elgin vs. Strong opens the show

A recap of RD/Wolves airs.

Cole vs. Hardy ends the show.
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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Kevin Steen, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/16/2012
ROH World Television Champion: Adam Cole, Since 7/28/2012

ROH Wrestling
January 12th, 2013
New York, NY


Jay Lethal vs. Rhino and the post-match airs.

Bennett vs. Lynn is next.

And then the Tag Title switch airs to end the show. Real easy shows to get through these last few weeks. Good work, ROH.
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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Kevin Steen, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/16/2012
ROH World Television Champion: Adam Cole, Since 7/28/2012

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ROH The Hunt For Gold
January 18th, 2013
Dearborn, MI

Match #1: Kyle O'Reilly/Bobby Fish vs. BJ Whitmer/Rhett Titus

BJ guides Kyle through a good opening flurry. Rhett looks terrible again, whiffing on dropkicks and missing a flip dive when he undershoots. The heels work over Titus and do a real boring heatless control seg with nothing to really grab attention. Their kicks and stuff sound better than usual, but it's still very inconsistent. BJ has a good hot tag and Rhett gets back in to lose to what eventually is known as Chasing the Dragon, where Fish hits a head kick to Titus while Kyle has him in the air for a Brainbuster, and then Kyle comes down with it to win. It's totally stupid and contrived, so it's a perfect fit.
*3/4

Before the next match, Steve Corino gets on the mic and he says this doesn't have to happen. He says he knows Jay Lethal is mad, and asks if his mother raised him to be like this, and Lethal then hits him for bringing her up and the match is underway.

Match #2: Jay Lethal vs. Steve Corino
This is much better. It's only eight minutes, but Lethal's aggression is really nice, and Corino contributes again when given the shot to do so. He does all his big stuff and works in a solid basic bit of heel work. Good finishing run and Lethal hits the Lethal Injection and then the Flying Elbow for the win.
**1/2

Match #3: Roderick Strong vs. Silas Young

Truth joins commentary for this. Good, not great. They both hit really hard and there's some nice moments, but it never really comes together as a low level display of hard hitting and decent offense, and the offense wasn't perfect enough or laid out well enough for it to overcome that. Strong hits a shitty Rolling Elbow, and then hits the Death by Roderick and Sick Kick to get the win.
**3/4

Match #4: Kevin Steen [c] vs. Tadarius Thomas [ROH World Championship]

This is only ten minutes, so it's also not great, but they tried hard. Steen mixed in some of his awesome PWG improv comedy act, yelling at random fans and breaking out ridiculous shit to mock TD's style. Thomas did alright with the time he got on his comeback, but this was a pretty obvious gimme defense for Steen. He hit the Package Piledriver for the win.
**1/2

There's supposed to a match between locals next, but Charlie Haas interrupts and wants a handicap match.

Match #5: Charlie Haas vs. Jobbers
Horrible. Haas gets the Haas of Pain to win.
1/2*

Match #6: Adam Cole vs. Jimmy Jacobs w/ Steve Corino

This gets like 18 minutes, so they really get to develop a great match. Corino joins commentary and is absolutely on fire between yelling for Jimmy to stick his thumb up Adam's ass like he taught him and saying he's currently going to the West Texas State school of broadcast journalism. Good opening matwork and Jacobs forces Cole to deal with his latent homosexuality by kissing him to throw him off, so Cole snaps. Corino says this match can't end now, because he won't be able to stand up from the table. They do a crazy crazy finishing run with lots of Superkicks and counters and hard striking and nearfalls. This is Jacobs seemingly showing everyone that he's still one of the best in the world, seeing how many times Cole has done this thing in PWG and not had it work out nearly as well. Jacobs spaces stuff out so it all works and escalates properly without any jarring jump forward. Cole hits a series of Superkicks and hits one to the top of the head when Jimmy tries the Spear, and then wins with the Florida Key.
***1/4

Match #7: Michael Elgin vs. Rhino

Rhino is SUPER over in his hometown, basically. Really fun brawl, and this delivers on the kind of match their short TV match promised. Lots of real hard hitting stuff and they fight into the crowd and it all feels really wild. Awesome back and forth inside the ring, and Elgin catches the Gore into a Crossface for the win.
***

Match #8: The Briscoes [c] vs. The American Wolves [ROH World Tag Team Championship]

This is the best match these teams have ever had, since by 2013, Eddie is actually great, and the Briscoes are over their sort of average streak from late 2007-2010 or whenever and are more about roughnosed brawling type stuff than they were during the previous times this happened in 09-10. Feeling out stuff is a total blast. There's a nice subtle idea Nigel throws out on commentary that The Briscoes can more easily take over because the Wolves are still getting their groove back, where as The Briscoes haven't had the break like Davey and Eddie did for a year and a half. Davey can't help it and there's some contrived stuff here, but it's far more good than bad overall. Big finishing run of cool shit, and Jay beats Eddie with the Jay Driller.
***
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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Kevin Steen, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/16/2012
ROH World Television Champion: Adam Cole, Since 7/28/2012

ROH Wrestling
January 19th, 2013
Baltimore, MD


ROH finally has a new intro video finally showing off their characters and offense like a wrestling company should.

TONIGHT: BRISCOES VS. C&C FOR THE BELTS!

Match #1: Kyle O'Reilly/Bobby Fish vs. Alabama Attitude
Fish is still really horrible. Lots of attempted athletic stuff by a guy who is too bulky to do it properly, and stuff that's supposed to be stiff and violent that barely makes an impact. He's like 2011 Davey Richards without the charisma or occasional ability to be good. Kyle's stuff at least looks good half the time. These two win with Chasing the Dragon. Alabama Attitude looked pretty good and almost made this decent with good selling and a hot tag.
3/4*

ROH 11TH ANNIVERSARY: MARCH 2ND ON IPPV FROM CHICAGO RIDGE!

In the ring, Nigel McGuinness has the mic and repeats what happened at Final Battle, where he had to eject Jay Lethal from the building and asks Jay Lethal to come out to the ring. Nigel says he knew someone would test him in this new job and he thought it would be SCUM or Charlie Haas, but it's been Jay Lethal so far and he had to kick him out at Final Battle after spitting in his face. He says he could fine or suspend him, but he doesn't want to do that and he understands where he is and sometimes things get out of control. He says if he steps out of line again, he'll regret it. Jay asks for the mic and says the last few weeks have been frustrating and asks what he has to do to get his title shot against Kevin Steen. Nigel says his hands are tied and it was written in a legal document that he can't challenge Steen and if he wants a title shot, he has to change Kevin Steen's mind. Lethal says he understands what he has to do.

INSIDE ROH:
-The Top Prospect Tournament is returning
-It will be Adam Cole vs. BJ Whitmer for the TV Title next week
-Matt Hardy says he doesn't know what Nigel is thinking not giving him his title shot and says he beat Adam Cole with the best small package of all time, and he should get the title shot. He says BJ almost got crippled at the same show where he beat Adam Cole, and he won't stand for this treatment.
-Kelly says Kevin Steen hasn't been returning calls from ROH offices or asking about his opponents like he used to
-Steve Corino says people are starting rumors and blames Nigel McGuinness for this. He says he's here to say that everybody is fine in SCUM and they only deal with facts.

Match #2: QT Marshall w/ RD Evans vs. Mike Sydal [Top Prospect Tournament - Quarterfinals]
Ugh, QT's clearly going to win this as the only one here with an actual push, and it's fitting, since he's a lot like Mike Bennett who won the first one in 2011. Like this, this is also a large mistake in hindsight as ACH is in this tournament. And even dudes who aren't amazing, but have done stuff in ROH like Taven and Silas Young and TD Thomas are in this. Sydal still sucks, and QT does alright with a showcase. He wins with God's Gift and is again at lest competent and does his routine well. Which is more than I can say for Bobby Fish.
*1/4

Match #3: The Briscoes [c] vs. Caprice Coleman/Cedric Alexander [ROH World Tag Team Championship]

Fun 10-15 minutes. The Briscoes do their thing and can't really be fucked with to not deliver in this kind of a situation. They also get to work from above, which I missed through 2012 and their babyface run. Coleman and Alexander show off all kinds of cool offense, but the problem is that nobody buys The Briscoes losing the titles this early, so it took a while for the crowd to get into it. Cedric gains a little something by kicking out of the Froggy Bow, but then is beaten with the Doomsday Device.
***
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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Kevin Steen, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/16/2012
ROH World Television Champion: Adam Cole, Since 7/28/2012

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ROH Defy or Deny II
January 19th, 2013
Milwaukee, WI

Match #1: Adam Cole vs. Silas Young

Silas is again a very good opponent for a star to have a showcase match against. Silas' whole roughneck heel routine worked really well against a pretty boy babyface like Cole and made Cole come off slightly tougher with the victory. The crowd is SUPER hot for some reason and it elevates a very good match into being a low level great match. Real basic heel/face basic formula match, but it worked super well and was a blast. Lots of cool stuff laid out well, and Cole hits the Superkick and then Florida Key to win.
***

Match #2: Tadarius Thomas vs. Bobby Fish w/ Kyle O'Reilly

And the momentum comes to a crashing halt. Thomas is an incomplete wrestler, and Bobby Fish is a horrible wrestler. Fish manages to kill a crowd that was white hot in a manner of minutes with his control segment. He flips back and forth between methodical mat guy and trying to use more high flying things like a hilo and a plancha, and it not only doesn't gel at all because the progression feels unnatural, but it all feels very soft and without impact. He has kick pads, but he seems afraid to throw an actual painful looking or sounding kick WHILE WORKING A MMA BULLY TYPE GIMMICK. COME ON, MAN. He is like if Charlie Haas and 2011 Davey Richards fused together. Shitty MMA sensibilities mixed with a real awkwardness about him that means nothing looks good. He does decent power stuff like suplexes and a Samoan Drop, which he should focus more on. TD has a decent comeback, but it's not enough. Fish puts on the Fish Hook heel hold to win.
*1/2

Match #3: Charlie Haas vs. Rhett Titus

You know what?

No.

Before the next match, Steve Corino gets on the mic. He runs down Milwaukee and Wisconsin for being kind of horrible, and says his monster is going to kill The Briscoes and Jay Lethal tonight. He says it's been 12 years since they teamed up, and the "ECW" chants start. Corino says to stop that and says nothing will come of chanting that at this point, because they're the only two that can still go, and besides, if you want to honor their old partnership, you should chant "NETWORK! NETWORK! NETWORK!" or "SCUM". THEY'RE GONNA RULE ROH, KILL ROH, FUCK ALL YOUR WOMEN, AND GORE ALL YOUR MEN. Corino is God.

Match #4: Jay Lethal/The Briscoes vs. Rhino/Jimmy Jacobs/Steve Corino
Yeah, this ruled. This has the super hot crowd again to help a really good match over the top. Just like last time in this awesome venue, Briscoes vs. SCUM gets out of control. Lethal works pretty well with everyone, and the SCUM team takes over with a lot of basic quality heeling. Rhino does cool power stuff, and Corino sort of lets everything go on while Jacobs is the general now. Lethal has an awesome hot tag and does all his stuff before Mark then also gets the proto-Daniel Bryan style hot tag. Jacobs gets down from the Doomsday Device attempt ducking under Mark off the top, and he holds Jay back while Rhino kills Mark with the Gore for the win.
***

Match #5: Matt Hardy vs. BJ Whitmer

Adam Cole joins commentary to continue this feud. This is logical and alright. Matt works on BJ's hurt neck from Final Battle. It's not super exciting, but it at least has a point and is a logical focus. BJ fights back and there's some flashes of Mott being good that Beej brings out. Matt brings out his Butterfly Lock with the body scissors that he used in ROH in 2005. BJ won't give up but can't get out, so Rhett Titus comes out to throw the towel in for him.
**1/4

Nigel and other people come out to check on Whitmer, along with Titus. Matt stops Nigel and gets the mic and says he wants his TV Title shot against that Matt Hardy wannabe. Adam Cole comes out at that and starts attacking him. The referees pull Matt back, and he steals Adam's belt and hits him with the TV Title before he leaves with it.

Match #6: Davey Richards vs. Kyle O'Reilly
This is about what you'd expect. They kick each other hard and then do some mat stuff in the middle without a lot of focus or semblance of a story. They do a lot of the bullshit double strikes and knockdowns and go for an epic without any real build up. They do okay stuff in the first half, and then jump way up to big stuff. Ankle lock reversals and then head kicks and then suplexes and then more holds and there is absolutely no kind of rhyme or reason behind any of this. They lose the crowd by going too long with the kickouts and stuff, and then Davey wins with the millionth head kick.
*3/4

Match #7: Kevin Steen vs. Michael Elgin vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Roderick Strong [DEFY OR DENY II - Elimination Match]

Yeah, basically if Steen wins, the person he beats last is shut out of title shots. If he loses, the person who eliminates him gets a title shot, as well as presumably whoever else would win the match itself. It's a cool concept that ROH again does not make the best of, as Steen wins. This is MUCH better than the one in 2011 though as it's only 20ish minutes. They start off super hot with Eddie hitting three Tope Suicidas in a row. Steen takes a big bump off the apron into the steel ramp. Strong again gets the best of Elgin with his speed and hits a the big flying knee thing and the End of Heartache to eliminate him first, in an upset. Eddie vs. Strong is fun again now that we've had a break from it for 10 months and Eddie eliminates him with the Achilles Lock and head stomps. Steen gets back in as kind of a default face since he's the one injured. Eddie throws a bunch at him, but Steen catches him on the apron. STEEN HITS A FUCKING PACKAGE PILEDRIVER ON THE APRON WHAT THE FUCK?! Steen rolls him back in and covers to win.
***

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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Kevin Steen, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/16/2012
ROH World Television Champion: Adam Cole, Since 7/28/2012

ROH Wrestling
January 26th, 2013
Baltimore, MD


In the ring, Nigel McGuinness is in the ring with a lot of security. Kelly says Steen and Lethal will get to meet face to face here, and Nigel introduces both of them. Steen comes out with Corino and Jacobs and now Rhino as usual. Jay talks first and says he's surprised Kevin had the balls to agree to this and says this isn't about his friends SCUM, it's about Kevin and asks him like a man to accept his challenge for the title. Corino asks Jay how dare he and says this is the World Champion and he thought Jay's mother taught him more respect than that. He says Jay's father is the one who started this when he threw water at Kevin Steen when he should have thrown in the towel. Steen stops it and lets Jay talk and Jay says he's not a REAL ROH Champion and he's a disgusting human being who only cares about himself and he's out to kill ROH or something for a two year old slight. Jay asks if he's scared to face him, and says if Steen can't beat him, he'll never be able to kill ROH or stick it to ROH or whatever and says he's not shit until he beats him. Jay cannot speak well. Steen just says he accepts, and leaves.

At commentary, they announce Steen/Lethal for the 11YA.

Match #1: Silas Young vs. Adam Page [Top Prospect Tournament - Quarterfnals]
Decent match. Truth joins commentary to talk about hoopla or something and says he's scouting for this tournament. This is largely a showcase for Silas, but Page does really good at that with quality bumping and stuff. Silas wins with kind of a Full Nelson in a crossface position, named the Stock Lock.
**

Charlie Haas comes out drinking beer and now named "The Outlaw" Charlie Haas. Fuck you. He must have a contract or something that doesn't run out for a while. Haas decides to try and get heat before the SuperBowl by calling Ray Lewis a pussy. He talks about ROH censoring him, and whatever. He claims that he made BJ Whitmer a star at Final Battle and him getting a TV Title shot is crap. He says Nigel's booked a tag gauntlet and his partner isn't even here and this isn't fair and it doesn't mean jack. Haas then beats up ringside attendant and trainee Cheeseburger. Nobody cares.

Match #2: Matt Hardy vs. Rhett Titus
This sucked, but that's more on Rhett. His ribs are taped up from Final Battle for some reason, despite BJ taking most of the big spots, so Rhett is just kind of a bitch. Matt works on the ribs for a while sort of and Rhett sort of sells, and Matt wins with the Twist of Fate.
3/4*

Match #3: Adam Cole [c] vs. BJ Whitmer [ROH World Television Championship]

Matt Hardy joins commentary midway through. This is sort of in second gear the entire way due to BJ's neck probably, but it's alright. They suddenly turn it way up at the end when Cole does a bunch of high impact stuff to target BJ's bad neck. Cole wins with the Florida Key.
**1/4
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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Kevin Steen, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/16/2012
ROH World Television Champion: Adam Cole, Since 7/28/2012

ROH Wrestling
February 2nd, 2013
Baltimore, MD

Match #1: Tadarius Thomas vs. Antonio Thomas [Top Prospect Tournament - Quarterfinals]

Yes, that is the former Heart Throb. Truth is again on commentary and makes bad sex puns. Stuff happens and RD wins with a spin kick.
*1/2

Mike Mondo joins commentary to talk about his injury.

Match #2: Roderick Strong vs. Grizzly Redwood
Competent Roddy showcase. Good strikes and he gets to throw Grizz around a bit. They let Grizzly kick out of the Death by Roderick for some reason, but then Strong wins with the Stronghold. Great to see that return.
*1/2

Post-match, Michael Elgin runs off Roddy when he won't let go.

Match #3: Michael Elgin vs. Mike Bennett w/ Maria & Bob Evans
TNA died tonight probably, so it's hard for me to even hate this. Bennett still sucks and it's been two years, so that probably won't ever change. Elgin basically runs through his stuff on PORDIGY and Bennett does a few things here and there. Elgin wins with the Buckle Bomb and then Spiral Bomb to win, despite Bennett's best efforts to sandbag on both, seemingly.
*3/4

INSIDE ROH:
-Steen/Lethal segment from last week is recapped
-Elgin/Strong II is made for 11YA in a Best of Three Falls match
-BJ Whitmer says Adam Cole beat him last week and says he hasn't been 100% in like a decade, to be honest, so Final Battle is no excuse. He says sooner or later, he's gonna need neck surgery, but until he can't walk, he'll be in that ring and his story isn't over yet.

Match #4: The American Wolves vs. Jimmy Jacobs/Steve Corino vs. Kyle O'Reilly/Bobby Fish vs. The Bravado Brothers [#1 Contender's Gauntlet Match]
The Wolves and Bravados start. They have a fun fiveish minutes and there's some really cool stuff. It's not complete because Davey is still flawed and the Bravados are young and inexperienced, but I liked it enough. Eddie takes a really nasty post bump on his shoulder. Davey catches the Enzuiguri part of the Gentleman's Approach into an Ankle Lock, and Eddie Superkicks the other one. The Bravado taps and they're gone, probs for good. SCUM is in next, and while they should win this whole thing and get the titles back, they give the Wolves an awesome match and look like the best team in this. I would like a full SCUM/Wolves match. Jacobs continues to break out cool stuff and Corino does heeling. Eddie ducks the Sliding C and gets a crucifix pin to eliminate them. SCUM hits them with the ring bell post match. Shitty fake Wolves are next, and this is the worst match. Like, ever. RD do horrible offense that doesn't look remotely painful and Davey shows them how to kick properly. DAVEY RICHARDS IS THE BEST KICKER IN A MATCH. THE FUCK? Eddie sells his arm well, and the heels win kind of clean with Chasing the Dragon on Eddie. UGH.
**
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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Kevin Steen, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/16/2012
ROH World Television Champion: Adam Cole, Since 7/28/2012

ROH Wrestling
February 9th, 2013
Baltimore, MD

Match #1: ACH vs. Matt Taven [Top Prospect Tournament - Quarterfinals]

ACH is the actual top prospect and the best dude ROH has picked up since Elgin and Cole, so I assume he loses. ACH does all his crazy flips and athletic stuff. Taven tries to keep up and he does alright, but is blown out of the water by ACH. He steals the show kind of, so naturally Taven hits a hanging Moonlight Drive and then a shitty Frog Splash to win. Hate that I called it.
**

In the ring, Nigel brings out Adam Cole and then Matt Hardy. Nigel says they've both asked him for the same match and he's had them out here to explain his decisions. Nigel says Matt believes he's earned a title shot and Adam wants revenge for the way Final Battle happened, and says he will not give Matt Hardy a title match. He beat Adam Cole, but he kicked him in the nuts to do it, but he will give Adam Cole a match with Matt Hardy and it will not be for the TV Title. Nigel tells Matt to earn it clean this time if he wants the title shot. Matt says he's going to have to decline because he has nothing else to prove. Adam says any time, any place, and anywhere he wants a shot, he has no problem putting the belt on the line and tells Nigel that he insists their match is for the title. Nigel says he works for ROH and he's the matchmaker, not him. Matt lists all the titles he's held and asks why Nigel is prejudiced against him and asks if he's jealous of him and Cole says Nigel's put more into ROH than anyone and says he'll give Matt a reason to face him and hits him. They have a pull apart.

INSIDE ROH:
-The Top Prospect Tournament semi-finals begin next week
-SCUM vs. Davey/Elgin/Cole in an elimination match is announced for 2/16 in Cincinnati
-The Briscoes vs. Kyle/Fish for the belts is announced for 11YA :(
-Kyle and Fish cut a promo. They're doing a hipster kind of gimmick with Kyle in a scarf and Fish with glasses. Fish says DEM is not an acceptable form of the English language, so I guess he's doing an uptight intellectual type deal while Kyle is more of the hipster, maybe. Kyle says their eight title reigns become eight losses.
-Adam Cole will defend the TV Title against the winner of the Top Prospect tournament at the show too

Match #2: MsChif vs. Athena
It's a little weird that MsChif is the only woman ROH is really utilizing in a featured role, but I suppose her being married to Elgin and an old partner of Delirious and Jacobs helps. Not that she's bad or anything, since this is solid enough. MsChif wins with the Desecrator.
*1/2

Match #4: Kevin Steen/Jimmy Jacobs/Steve Corino/Rhino vs. The Briscoes/Caprice Coleman/Cedric Alexander

RULED. This is what happens when you have the two best acts in the company together and a majority of the truly great wrestlers in Steen, Jacobs, Corino, and The Briscoes. Briscoes and SCUM start with a brawl and that's all fucking great. C&C manage to keep up and are off camera for most of it until it turns into a normal match, so it's not bad. It breaks down again at the end, AND STEEN HITS EVERYONE WITH A FLIP DIVE OFF THE TOP WHOA! There's an awesome Cedric/Steen finishing run, and when Rhino is setting for the Gore, Steen grabs Cedric instead and hits the Package Piledriver to win.
***

Post-match, Steen quickly leaves, and SCUM is confused.

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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Kevin Steen, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/16/2012
ROH World Television Champion: Adam Cole, Since 7/28/2012

ROH Wrestling
February 16th, 2013
Baltimore, MD


In the back, Veda is with both Tadarius Thomas and QT Marshall before their match. QT puts himself over and says Barrister RD Evans is overseas taking care of some business for him. Thomas cuts him off and says he likes to talk a lot and if he wants lip service, he can knock himself out, and then later in the ring, he'll knock him out. He leaves, and QT is thrown off before then saying he better walk away.

Match #1: QT Marshall vs. Tadarius Thomas [Top Prospect Tournament - Semi-Finals]
Truth is again on commentary, and this is alright. QT is probably better than TD as a whole, since I'm realizing that Tadarius is super green outside of the cool martial arts stuff and doesn't have a lot else to offer. QT doesn't have much besides the basics, but he at least has those down and works more smoothly. TD pulls off kind of an upset with a Tiger Suplex, which is more than he's shown previously.
*3/4

In the back, Veda is with Jacobs and Corino and announces that it's them vs. Coleman & Cedric at 11YA. Jacobs says he knows Caprice is a preacher and he likes to sing during their promos and preach the gospel like that's going to save them, but it won't. NOTHING SAVES. That beautiful callback line. Corino says they can be good, but the two of them will be evil, AND EVIL ALWAYS WINS. FUCK YEAH SCUM.

Video footage airs from Charlie Haas interrupting a BJ Whitmer appearance at some local car dealership and they get into a shitty fight. This is like the lowest rent and worst done version of a classic old angle. This would rule if it was with better brawlers and building a better feud.

Match #2: Caprice Coleman/Cedric Alexander vs. Nick Westgate/Brian Fury
Good for Cedric, getting showcase stuff like this. And I guess Caprice too, but whatever. They show off high flying stuff for a few minutes, AND RHINO COMES DOWN TO GORE COLEMAN FOR THE DQ!
*1/4

Steve Corino comes down and applauds and he takes the mic. He says the mission has never changed and will never change. He says he's warning you that evil is coming and on March 2nd on iPPV, evil is coming, Ring of Honor dies, and they will all live for Ring of SCUM.

Match #3: Silas Young vs. Matt Taven [Top Prospect Tournament - Semi-Finals]
Fun match. Silas/Steen in 2014 was not very good, but I've enjoyed him since he resurfaced in ROH in 2012, so either that match was just a bad one, or he gets bad at some point in the next 18 months. Silas works to his gimmick well with lots of old style roughneck stuff like raking Taven with his boot laces, measured boots, etc. Taven looks kind of shitty here, as opposed to last week. Taven gets a schoolboy to win. Judging by his two matches, I know assume that Tadarius Thomas looks amazing in the finals before he loses too.
*3/4

INSIDE ROH:
-Clips air of Matt stealing the TV Title in Milwaukee
-Adam Cole says he didn't think this side of him could exist, but congratulates Matt Hardy on bringing it out of him when he hit him with HIS belt and took it. Matt Hardy is nothing more than a fraud who lives in the past and lives off this legacy where he USED TO matter. News flash, nobody cares about him anymore, but he's going to make people care about him when he's fucking dead.
-Charlie Haas interrupts Nigel McGuinness backstage in Milwaukee and he demands WGTT get a title shot at the Briscoes. Nigel asks how sure he is, and Haas says he'll bet his team on it and Nigel is interested then, because fuck WGTT. Nigel says he can give him the title shot if that's his wager, and if WGTT don't win, they can never team again in ROH. God bless you, Nigel McGuinness.
-Kelly says the match will be in two weeks on March 2nd.
-The Briscoes talk. Mark says they have Bobby the Fish and Kyle, and they're gonna school those boys. Jay say they also got Shelton and Charlie AGAIN. Jay says he HATES to break up such a superstar team, but they're the best in the world, boys.

Steve Corino joins commentary for the next match.

Match #3: Jay Lethal vs. Jimmy Jacobs
I dig the deal they've done in 2012-13 with Jacobs working as the Tully to Steen's Arn or the Orton to Steen's 2003-4 Triple H. This is only six or seven minutes, but it's another one of these great Jimmy Jacobs straight matches we're seeing in 2013 with his really weird and awesome career resurgence. Lethal hangs with him, but it's largely the Jimmy show. He does a Tope Suicida into nothing but an open chair after Lethal moves. Lethal comes back and hits a DVD and then the Hail to the King for the win.
**3/4

Post-match, Corino comes to distract Jay, and Rhino runs down to attack from behind. Cedric comes out to get revenge, but Corino trips him and Rhino Gores him. They set up Lethal for it, but Kevin Steen comes out. He gets in the way and shakes his head. He goes to shake Jay's hand instead, and Jay is freaked out and leaves.
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Kevin Steen, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/16/2012
ROH World Television Champion: Adam Cole, Since 7/28/2012

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ROH Honor vs. Evil
February 16th, 2013
Cincinnati, OH

Match #1: Jay Briscoe vs. QT Marshall

Solid Jay showcase. QT does well in his role as midcard jobber dude, and Jay has a ton of energy and charisma to carry it in the other ways. Jay wins with the Jay Driller.
**

Match #2: Jay Lethal vs. Tadarius Thomas

This is also a showcase going into 11YA, but Lethal gives Thomas more so it's pretty well disguised. They work a sort of present vs. future top vaguely athletic black guy deal. Lethal breaks out the Samoan Crab into an STF transition from Joe, which was nice. Thomas doesn't really get aggressive back at Jay though and fails to hang with him on an offensive level, which is disappointing as I find out Thomas isn't really that good, despite a great first impression. Jay wins with the Lethal Injection.
**1/2

Match #3: Mark Briscoe vs. Nate Webb

I love Nate Webb. During the mid 2000s, he was a treasure with his wonderful entrances, great comedy stuff, etc. Really just a blast to watch, but this is 2013 and he's been out of the scene for a while, and holy FUCK is he sloppy and bad. It's sad to see. Mark did the best he could and made this not suck, but it was not great. Mark wins with the Froggy Bow.
*1/2

Match #4: Roderick Strong vs. ACH

Killer match. This is probably what Roddy does best at this point, a fifteen minute sprint of cool stuff. ACH can't quite chop or strike at Roddy's level, but he turns it up with his super good high spots, and ACH does an absolutely nutty dive. He springboards off the middle rope inside the ring and jumps over the top with a flip dive. Big nearfall run, and Strong wins with the End of Heartache.
***

There is a long Truth Martini segment that spoils a bunch of stuff that hasn't aired on TV yet. Dudes really need to just write stuff down as far as obeying the TV continuity.

Match #5: Charlie Haas vs. Pepper Parks
Parks is apparently still alive. This is like 12 minutes of Haas being terrible and not trying before he wins with a roll up.
1/2*

Post-match, Haas attacks Cheeseburger on the floor again.

Match #6: BJ Whitmer vs. Kyle O'Reilly
This was horrible. BJ isn't trying super hard anymore either because he's working hurt or he has his job back now, so he can coast, if not both combined. Kyle is a terrible wrestler. He sort of works on the arm, but then gives it up to do generic chinlocky stuff. And Nigel calls him out on commentary for it in a kayfabe way and wonders why he gave up the arm work and said BJ's arm is fine now when BJ comes back and obviously doesn't sell it since Kyle abandoned that story thread. Their finishing run is hardly anything to write home about either, so whatever. BJ wins with a Peruvian Necktie.
*1/2

Match #7: Kevin Steen/Jimmy Jacobs/Steve Corino vs. Davey Richards/Michael Elgin/Adam Cole [Elimination Match]

This went almost 40 minutes and that is excessive, but I'd rather they go a little too long than try and rush another elimination deal into 20ish minutes again. I liked a lot of the minor storytelling though as far as strategies. After finally getting past El Generico at Final Battle and getting rid of Cornette, Kevin Steen is less vicious and worried about things because he basically realizes he can beat basically everyone and has, and no longer cares about killing ROH now that he's gotten rid of Cornette. So he's fine just doing whatever here and fights everyone because he has an unfocused rage. I love Steen's subtle character trait of being a guy who needs an enemy and a blood feud (Super Dragon, Briscoes, AOTF, Wolves, Generico, Cabana, Young Bucks, Cornette and later SCUM, Cole, Bennett, Silas) and when he doesn't have one, he kind of just goes crazy. Corino and Jacobs keep trying to get in the heads of opponents. The faces keep trying to isolate Corino and Jacobs with combos to try and get rid of them so Steen is all alone. Davey Benoit's himself on a tope where he breaks through SCUM and accidentally does a header to the floor. The match breaks down briefly into an awesome brawl before more refs come out to force it back into a normal match with SCUM in control after Steen's Apron Powerbomb to Cole. Elgin has a hot tag but things break down again, and when that happens, SCUM always takes over. THEY HIT A SPIKE PILEDRIVER TO COLE ON THE FLOOR! Protective mats and a carpet floor make it less of a kill move but they still take Cole to the back and it's 2 on 3. They briefly work Elgin's arm and while he doesn't no-sell it on the comeback, I wish it was more of a focus instead of just a brief thing. Davey has a hot tag, but Corino hits him with a roll of quarters and Steen hits the Package Piledriver to get rid of Davey. So Elgin is all alone. SCUM isolates him again with some great Corino and Jacobs stuff. Cole comes back out to get the tag and this match is wasted on a TERRIBLE crowd. In front of Chicago or Milwaukee or Baltimore or New York, this would be incredible. COLE HITS THE FLORIDA KEY AND HAS STEEN BEATEN FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2010, BUT CORINO PULLS THE REF OUT! YEAH! Jimmy spikes Cole in the dick after that and Steen hits the F5 to then officially eliminate Cole. Elgin goes for it and he beats Corino with the Spiral Bomb. HE THEN CATCHES JACOBS WITH IT TOO AND GETS RID OF HIM ALSO! Jay Lethal runs out to cut off SCUM from interfering, but despite that, Steen rolls up Elgin for a shitty finish to win. Probably went on too long and had a bad finish and took place in front of a bad crowd, but there was a lot of good here.
***

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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ZetaBoards keeps doing this thing where they go to the "Learn More" page whenever I leave a window open long enough without typing anything, so because RAWR was on, so it erased half of this review. Soz.

ROH Wrestling
February 23rd, 2013
Baltimore, MD


Steen cut a promo and explained that SCUM and he caused the change ROH needed by getting rid of Jim Cornette, and now that he's gone and they're in control, he no longer wants to kill ROH and they only wanted to give it the mercy killing. He then talks about Jay Lethal and says Jay can't beat him.

Matt Taven beat Tadarius Thomas for the Top Prospect Tournament win and TV Title shot, after Truth Martini hit TD with the book of truth, and Taven and Truth shook hands. About *3/4.

Amurican Wulves vs. Forever Hooligans [Rocky Romero/Alex Kozlov] was announced for 11YA.

Jay Lethal cut a promo and said Steen was full of shit and thinks this is a mind game.

Match #2: Michael Elgin/The American Wolves vs. Roderick Strong/Kyle O'Reilly/Bobby Fish
This is where we left off. This fucking blew, oh my god. They tried to start at a million miles an hour and do a constant action spring and it was awful. Elgin's worst tendencies are to try and do this kind of high spotty thing, and Fish and Kyle are two of the worst spotty guys in the world. Davey and Strong and Eddie all try to do it too, and this is basically 2-3 bad wrestlers dragging 2-3 goodish wrestlers down into the abyss. Strong beats Elgin once again with the End of Heartache.
*1/2
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Kevin Steen, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes, Since 12/16/2012
ROH World Television Champion: Adam Cole, Since 7/28/2012

ROH Wrestling
March 2nd, 2013
Baltimore, MD


TONIGHT: BRISCOES/WGTT FOR THE LAST TIME EVER HNGH

Match #1: Steve Corino/Rhino vs. The Flatliners
Quality squash by SCUM. The jobbers fight back well and they give them stuff and actually make them look alright before they die. Rhino wins with the Gore.
*3/4

In the ring, Nigel McGuinness invites Matt Hardy out with his stolen TV Title and he comes out with it. Nigel says he stole that title and he can't let that go and either he gives him this belt back, or he'll have someone take it from him. Matt says he took this title after Adam Cole attacked him and claims he only took the title so Adam couldn't hit him with it. Matt says he should reprimand Cole too, but he won't because he's one of his favorites and Nigel is jealous of him. He books Matt vs. Cole in two weeks and Matt hands the title back. He says it won't be a title match yet and says if Matt proves to him next week in his match that he can fight with honor, then he'll put the title on the line in two weeks. That's stupid.

Mike Mondo is back on commentary for another Grizzly match, and Mondo loves Grizz.

Steen comes out to kill the jobber against Grizzly and says he's wrestling him now.

Match #2: Kevin Steen vs. Grizzly Redwood
Awesome brutal Steen showcase. He throws Grizzly around in super violent ways and then wins with the F5.
**

Post-match, Steen helps Grizzly up post-match weirdly.

INSIDE ROH:
-Truth says it arouses him how things fall into place and says he knew Taven had IT and the HOOPLA running through his veins, and they're a match made in heaven or hell. He says the HoT is too hot for TV and says to take your pants off because it's time to get off.
-Haas asking for the tag title shot airs again
-Next week, Supercard of Honor build begins

Match #3: The Briscoes [c] vs. WGTT [ROH World Tag Team Championship - Title vs. Team]
The Briscoes do the best that they can, and mostly are able to drag WGTT up to the two-point level. Haas mostly stays out of the way and Shelton randomly starts trying again like it's Glory By Honor in 2010 at the end of this. Good nearfall run, I guess, but instead of WGTT finally losing clean, Haas turns on Shelton with an Angle Slam and Mark then hits the Froggy Bow to win. WGTT can't even put anyone over in their last ever match as a fucking team, holy shit. This must be in their contract.
**

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ROH 11th Year Anniversary
March 2nd, 2013
Chicago Ridge, IL


Chrome is fucking up again. Accidentally dragged an image to this tap and when I went back, the entire review was gone. This usually doesn't happen and it usually saves and I can continue it. I was on the main event, so fuck writing it all out again.

ACH vs. QT Marshall vs. Silas Young vs. Tadarius Thomas vs. Adam Page vs. Mike Sydal - **1/4
-ACH beat Silas with the Teddy Hart Cradle DDT

Jimmy Jacobs/Steve Corino vs. Caprice Coleman/Cedric Alexander - **3/4
-SCUM wins after a Spike Piledriver

BJ Whitmer vs. Charlie Haas [No Holds Barred] - **
-Beej wins via KO after a lot of knees

The American Wolves vs. Forever Hooligans - **1/4
-Disappointing match due to a shitty effort from Romero and Koslov, it seems. Wolves won with a Powerbomb/Lungblower.

Michael Elgin vs. Roderick Strong [Best of Three Falls] - **3/4
-Also disappointing due to being too short at 15 minutes. Elgin wins 2-1 with a Crossface in the middle of an unfinished nearfall run.

Adam Cole [c] vs. Matt Taven w/ Truth Martini [ROH World TV Title] - **1/2
-Matt Hardy did commentary to scout Cole before tomorrow night's title match at TV tapings and said this was an afterthought. Taven gets the upset after interference in a super forced way to try and get the belt off Cole so he can move up and make a new star.

Post-match, Matt is livid about losing his shot.

The Briscoes [c] vs. reDRagon [ROH World Tag Team Championship] - ***
-Total Briscoes carryjob. They leaned into the usually shitty strikes to make them good, brought the structure, and Jay sold his leg through most of this despite Kyle and Fish bringing amateur hour bullshit by transitioning to control with knee work and then totally abandoning it. They beat Jay with Chasing the Dragon to bring about another terrible title run. Briscoes needed to lose the title for what comes next month, but it should have been SCUM or C&C.

Kevin Steen [c] vs. Jay Lethal [ROH World Championship] - ***
-Usual Steen deal here, leading Lethal through a brawl and control deal before the finishing run where Lethal was actually of some use. Corino and Jacobs interfere for some nice twists and turns, and they go too far when Lethal kicks out of the Package Piledriver. Steen then wins clean after that with the BRAINBUSTAAAAAAAAAH.

Post-match, Rhino comes out and Gores Jay when he gets up! Corino and Jacobs get in to celebrate, and The Briscoes come to save. They get beaten up in a 4 on 2, and C&C then come back out to help. JIMMY FUCKING RAVE COMES FROM THE CROWD IN A SCUM SHIRT TO MAKE IT 5 ON 3 YEAH! AWESOME! BJ Whitmer and Rhett Titus come out, and this becomes terrible when Rhett swerves and attacks BJ to join SCUM. Michael Elgin comes out to clean house but UGH FUCKING CLIFF "DOMINO" COMPTON COMES TO BLIND ELGIN WITH POWDER, ALSO IN A SCUM SHIRT. HORRIBLE. Steen just watches this and starts to shake his head. They start handcuffing people to the ropes, and The American Wolves run out to save, along with Adam Cole! Matt Hardy runs down too AND HORRIBLE, HE ALSO JOINS SCUM. They tear up an ROH banner, and Corino says Honor is dead.

This is also amazing in theory. SCUM taking the next step while Steen (and to a lesser extent, Jimmy) are less excited about actually killing ROH now that the cancer has been removed is fantastic. Jimmy Rave is a great choice there, because he's been fucked over by ROH and fired after killing his body for ROH in 2004-7 and destroying his future career prospects. Rhett is a terrible choice because ROH has obviously protected him so much and given him way too many opportunities for a terrible wrestler. Compton is a bad one too, because he fucking sucks. Matt Hardy, yeah, whatever. It's 2013. If this was done with guys with known issues with ROH like a Low Ki or Eddie Kingston or people who were wrongfully let go in the eyes of a lot of people like Necro Butcher or even a classic ROH villain like Alex Shelley pr Homicide, it would have ruled. SCUM was originally designed to be a super Rogues Gallery to begin with, so it would fit so well.

As it is, it waters down SCUM with really shitty wrestlers and ruins the amazing hot streak of tags and six mans that they had been on in 2013.

Steen's face says it all.

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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Kevin Steen, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Tag Team Champions: reDRagon, Since 3/2/2013
ROH World Television Champion: Matt Taven, Since 3/2/2013

ROH Wrestling
March 9th, 2013
Baltimore, MD

Match #1: Eddie Edwards vs. Rhett Titus

Bobby Fish is on commentary for some reason. This is also worked face/face the week after a big heel turn by Rhett. Gotta line these up better, bros. Rhett kind of drags down an Eddie showcase by being slow and awkward and having no fire whatsoever. Just a textbook bad pro wrestler. Fish keeps talking about how Davey uses people, and he likes Eddie, but he chose wrong. Eddie wins with the Achilles Lock and head stomps.
*3/4

Match #2: MsChif vs. Mia Yim

Another showcase for MsChif. This goes on a lot long because Yim is not very good and MsChif is also kind of past her prime. Desecrator ends it. I again repeat, she could use an actual opponent instead of just victims for these generic overlong matches that are a foregone conclusion.
*

INSIDE ROH:
-Supercard of Honor VII is announced for Friday April 5th in the HammerSTEEN Ballroom, along with TV tapings the next day
-Clips air of Briscoes vs. SCUM from National Pro Wrestling Day where Steen attacked the Briscoes post-match
-This was basically a big show for Quack to show off all his CHIKARA offshoots, but ROH got invited to sell the idea of it all
-Jay Briscoe says the Briscoes got sent to represent ROH and they won like always, and Corino then wants to hit them with a chain after and run his mouth backstage about how Steen's beaten everyone, but he ain't beat either of DEM BOYS. He says nobody gets to destroy this company and if he wants to kill ROH, he's gotta kill the Briscoes first, because they are ROH.

Match #3: Michael Elgin vs. Davey Richards vs. Roderick Strong vs. Matt Hardy
The deal is that Matt had to act "honorable" to get a shot at Adam Cole next week, which we know doesn't happen anyways, because the TV vs. event continuity is all fucked up because ROH has never really been able to manage multiple continuities. They came pretty close in 2010 at points during Pearce and Cornette's co-booking. This is sort of just a match that takes place and nobody really seems to care or put effort into this, or in Matt's case, is able of more. He has a visual pin off the Twist of Fate when the ref is distracted with the other two, and then Elgin beats Strong with the Spiral Bomb.
*3/4

Post-match, Nigel is on commentary and says he'll think about if Matt earned it.
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Kevin Steen, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Tag Team Champions: reDRagon, Since 3/2/2013
ROH World Television Champion: Matt Taven, Since 3/2/2013

ROH Wrestling
March 16th, 2013
Chicago Ridge, IL


The show opens with the non-SCUM roster on the apron and Nigel McGuinness comes down and gets on the mic. He says shit just got real and they've been disrespected and the future of ROH is being threatened, but this is a war they're willing to fight. Nigel says SCUM claims honor is dead and there's no more credible contenders to Kevin Steen, and says honor will never die. There's plenty of credible contenders here now. He calls out Adam Cole and says he will get a title shot. He says Cole/Hardy will still happen next week and the winner will get a TV Title shot at Supercard of Honor VII. He says BJ Whitmer also proved that he's credible and says he's also in line. He tells Elgin and Lethal that they've both come up short, but they're still credible, and the winner of Elgin vs. Lethal at Supercard of Honor will also get a future shot. If he's talking about credible men of honor, he can't ignore the Briscoes. He books Steen/Mark on March 30th in North Carolina, and says Jay Briscoe will fight for the ROH Title at Supercard of Honor VII. He says ROH officials have banned SCUM from the building, and says those doors will open next week, because he wants them to pay for what they've all done.

Match #1: The American Wolves vs. ACH/Tadarius Thomas
This is probably flawed, but it was a 10 minute spotfest that had a hot crowd to help it out, did't pretend to be something it wasn't, and ended at the right time. There were some timing issues and it didn't come together to be great, but it was very good, and the best non-Briscoes match the Wolves have had since reforming. They beat ACH with the Powerbomb/Lungblower thing, which could use a name.
**3/4

Match #2: BJ Whitmer vs. QT Marshall w/ RD Evans

Good showcase going into whenever BJ's title shot is. QT does some basic stuff, and BJ wins with the KO after knee strikes again.
*1/4

INSIDE ROH:
-Basically just highlights from the 11YA
-reDRagon/Wolves II is announced for Supercard of Honor VII

Truth Martini, Matt Taven, and two random broads come out to the ring. Hoopla Hotties, apparently. Truth says he is the punani predator, Truth Martini, and this is Hoopla Uncut. He introduces Taven as his guest and says he is the most important wrestler on TV and even more important than Kevin Steen. Truth asks him how it feels to join the House of Truth and TV Champion. Taven says to excuse him while he whips this out and pulls out the TV Title and hangs it from his pants. The ladies get on their knees and Truth tells them to take their pants off and it cuts out.

Match #3: Roderick Strong vs. Jay Lethal
Nigel says if Strong wins tonight, he can have a title shot. I figured this was a set up for SCUM to interfere because this was only like six or seven minutes and they took it super easy for the first three to four of that with resting headlocks and arm holds, but nope. They turned it up for a quality finishing run, but it was over far too soon. Lethal ranas out of the Gibson Driver and hits the Lethal Injection for the win.
*3/4
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Kevin Steen, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Tag Team Champions: reDRagon, Since 3/2/2013
ROH World Television Champion: Matt Taven, Since 3/2/2013

ROH Wrestling
March 23rd, 2013
Chicago Ridge, IL

Match #1: Michael Elgin vs. Silas Young

Not as good as their 2012 match, but hey. Jay Lethal is on commentary and doesn't add a lot. Basically a showcase for Elgin, but Silas has some nice stuff before he gets put down by the Buckle Bomb and then Spiral Bomb.
**1/4

In the back, Adam Cole says he's wanted this match for three months and he wanted to face him more than he wanted the TV Title, but he'll get his title back at Supercard of Honor.

Charlie Haas comes out and says he carried Shelton for 10 years, because apparently they DIDN'T stop teaming from 2004-9 and then 2009-10. He then says generic mean things about Shelton and he carried him and says he's better etc. He says he has a match with Shelton at Supercard of Honor and says Shelton's going to no show and he's never coming back and challenges someone to fight him. He asks if anyone wants to fight him and calls out both ROH and SCUM and instead of him dying, Grizzly comes out. Horrible.

Match #2: Charlie Haas vs. Grizzly Redwood
This is at least only 90 seconds, but it's still super bad. Haas wins with the Haas of Pain.
1/4*

Mike Mondo runs out to fight off Haas. I'd be mad, but no match comes of this.

After the break, Veda interviews Mondo. He says he was supposed to be out for 12 months, but he knocked it down to 4 because he's in beast mode 24/7. This is so embarrassing for him. He thinks he's the coolest motherfucker ever. He says he has no fear and Steve Corino yells that he should have fear because EVIL IS HERE. SCUM HITS THE RING AND BEATS THEM UP. Corino asks if Nigel wanted a war and Compton grabs Veda. Babyfaces come out and Corino says if they get in here, Compton's gonna whip it out and give it to Veda and this TV show will get canceled earlier than he thought. Corino says next week it's a SCUM show and Nigel can put whoever he wants against his guys and Nigel says he's got it. They let go and Veda rolls out.

Match #3: Adam Cole vs. Matt Hardy w/ Steve Corino
This gets like 15 minutes for some reason. It was okay. They did some things and Cole bumps around and takes some dangerous stuff to make this sort of worthwhile. The main idea is that Cole is more aggressive than ever now because fuck Matt Hardy. Matt tries the Twist on the floor at the end, and Cole blocks into the Florida Key on the floor. Rhino comes down to attack Cole, and the ref throws it out.
**

Everyone comes down. SHOW. ENDING. BRAWL.
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Kevin Steen, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Tag Team Champions: reDRagon, Since 3/2/2013
ROH World Television Champion: Matt Taven, Since 3/2/2013

ROH Wrestling
March 30th, 2013
Chicago Ridge, IL


Kevin Steen comes out by himself, and it's the first time he's been here since the iPPV. Jay Briscoe comes out before he can say anything and is in a sling due to one of the SCUM attacks. Jay says ROH is how he feeds his family and he and SCUM want to kill that and he doesn't take too kindly to people threatening his livlihood, so he's gonna have to win that belt, bitch. Steen says first of all, as far as SCUM goes -- Steve Corino interrupts him and asks how dare he disrespects the champion and stands in the ring with the greatest wrestler in the world. He says Steen is the best champion in ROH history, and Jay can never win the big match. Jay asks when he became Corino's puppet, and Corino says not to raise his voice to him. Steen cuts him off and says he's glad the Briscoes are getting title shots because he thinks they deserve them. He says he's proud of being ROH Champion and he'll be even more proud once he beats them both for it, and he'll see who the bitch is in NYC, bitch. Steen leaves and Corino taunts him so Jay pull a massive screwdriver out of his sling. SCUM comes out to help and Jay is all alone, before help comes and the first match happens.

Match #1: Caprice Coleman/Cedric Alexander vs. Rhett Titus/Cliff Compton
This is super bad and the worst C&C match I've ever seen. Compton is super slow and cold and like holy shit, I'm glad he sells t-shirts based on cool road stories with airtime Cabana gave him, but he is still just as bad as he was as Domino. And yeah, Rhett, I've written for the last year in 2012 about how bad he is now. Just an awful match and SCUM wins with cheating. Jimmy Rave comes out to blind Caprice with powder and Rhett hits a fucking dropkick for the win.
3/4*

During the local ads that are usually just bullshit hype, Taven/Cole/Mott for the TV Title is announced for the iPPV.

Match #2: Jimmy Jacobs vs. Mike Mondo
SCUM is still on the floor. This is better, because Jacobs is actually great and Mondo tries hard. Sort of a basic type of brawl with a lot of punching and kicking and scraping, but it's all actual good punching and kicking and scraping for once. Jimmy breaks out his sweet Tope Suicida again. Jimmy ends it by cutting off a series of roll ups with an O'Connor Roll grabbing the middle rope to steal it.
**

INSIDE SCUM:
-Corino does a killer Kelly impression
-Corino says ROH thought Kenny King was the real star of ANX, and Rhett hasn't been given any opportunities since he left, and he was also overlooked in favor of BJ Whitmer lately
-He says Cliff Compton was told by Jim Cornette and ROH that he would be brought into ROH next time, and told him that for two years, and now he's forced his way in.
-Corino says Jimmy Rave was one of the best in ROH history, but ROH overlooked him even then and once he was injured and needed ROH's help, they tossed him out and his problems mounted up for years until he solved them himself, and ROH refused to bring him back, just like Jimmy Jacobs before he came back
-Corino then blows Matt Hardy

Match #3: Steve Corino/Rhino/Matt Hardy vs. Michael Elgin/Jay Lethal/BJ Whitmer [Relaxed Rules]
This is the best match of the show. The match being more relaxed means they can just do a brawl, which is best for everyone, especially Corino and Mott, who being past their primes, may not perform as well in a real match as one where they can just throw strikes and heel with some shortcuts. The rest of SCUM sans Steen comes out and they ziptie Elgin and Lethal to the ropes on the floor, so BJ is alone. He tries, but is Gored and then Mott hits the Twist of Fate to win.
**1/4

Jay and Elgin get cut free and with the Briscoes' help, they run off SCUM. Jay Briscoe gets the mic and says SCUM's got it twisted and at Supercard of Honor, ROH kills SCUM and in NYC, this sling comes off of him and that belt comes off of Kevin Steen.
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Kevin Steen, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Tag Team Champions: reDRagon, Since 3/2/2013
ROH World Television Champion: Matt Taven, Since 3/2/2013


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ROH War
March 30th, 2013
Asheville, NC

Match #1: Michael Elgin vs. Adam Page

Quality Elgin showcase. Page has some nice things, but this is all about Elgin's power stuff, and I'm fine with that. Some quality nearfalls before Elgin hits the buckle bomb and then the Spiral Bomb for the win.
**1/4

Before the next match, QT Marshall says RD Evans is gone this weekend and is busy finding him the perfect partner for next weekend.

Match #2: QT Marshall vs. Darren Dean
This is like a three minute set up for an angle, so whatever. SCUM of Corino, Jacobs, and Rave hits the ring to attack Dean and Marshall bails, so it's a no contest.
1/2*

Corino gets on the mic and he says he warned everyone, and his vision is coming true. He says SCUM is going to kill ROH and calls out their opponents right now, because they wrestle when they want to wrestle, and Mondo and Grizzly then runs out.

Match #3: Jimmy Jacobs/Jimmy Rave w/ Steve Corino vs. Mike Mondo/Grizzly Redwood
This was alright. Double Jimmy is a good team, just like in 2013. Rave has obviously lost some speed that he had in his uninjured youth, but is a lot like Jacobs in that he's so smart and is great at all the basic stuff that can make brawls worth seeing like punches and quality cheating. So many guys look like they're clearly acting when they're trying to do heel work, but Rave is one of the most natural heels in ROH history, so he adds a lot to the proceedings. Mondo and Grizzly are just jobbers to the stars, which is a good spot for Mondo. Corino takes out Mondo on the floor, and Jimmys hit Redwood with a Double Chokeslam/Spinebuster for the win. Odd to imagine Jacobs ever doing that or any power offense, but Redwood is so fucking tiny that it's not that weird until you write it.
**

Rhett Titus comes out to continue a beatdown, but BJ Whitmer comes out to save, and a much less interesting match breaks out.

Match #4: BJ Whitmer vs. Rhett Titus w/ SCUM
I like BJ Whitmer, but he's a classic example of a guy who's quality is determined by the opponent. If he faces someone great, like he has for the last decade against Homicide or Punk or Jacobs or Necro or whomever, he can be great. But here he has Rhett Titus, and gets dragged way down by him too. Titus has no fire or anything and that's better when he's a heel, but he also lacks any kind of viciousness and is incredibly sloppy and awkward, which a turn can't really fix. It breaks down with interference and Corino gives Rhett the roll of quarters to hit a Ten Dollar Punch to beat Beej.
*1/2

It's a 3 on 1 maybe, but the American Wolves come out and clear off SCUM, and the rest of the show can begin now.

Match #5: The American Wolves vs. Caprice Coleman/Cedric Alexander
I loved this. It's flawed in that kind of Davey kind of way, but Cedric and Eddie are really good at reigning that in, and with 18-19 minutes, they manage to actually lay ground work with opening mat exchanges and lower level stuff, so it feels like they earned the epic stuff. The Wolves basically took over because they're more experienced. Cedric has an awesome hot tag. It goes on a little long at the end, but I still dug some of the ending nearfalls, so they got back into it by the end. Davey has Cedric upside down for a tombstone, and Eddie punts his head between Davey's legs and then Davey drops him with it to win.
***

There was a Charlie Haas match where he did the job to a local guy, and it was so bad that it got cut from the DVD.

Match #6: reDRagon [c] vs. Alabama Attitude [ROH World Tag Team Championship]
This didn't need to be a title match when everyone knew the result, especially a week before the iPPV. Basically a RD showcase, but they were the lesser team in this match. Attitude isn't amazing or anything, but they're actually good at the basic stuff they do, so they're much more together than Kyle and Fish doing their terrible pastiche thing of MMA, junior heavyweight stuff, bad heeling, etc. They win with Chasing the Dragon.
*3/4

Match #7: Matt Taven w/ Truth Martini & Scarlett Bordeaux vs. Roderick Strong vs. Jay Lethal vs. ACH

This could have been great, but it was 21 minutes and holy shit, no. Scarlett is the best, and I recommend everyone googles her. Taven is whatever as a heel again, and is blown the fuck out of the water by everybody here. ACH especially looks like a star with all his cool shit, and probably should have been the dude to get the TV Title instead. Jay and Strong are taking it kind of easy. ACH hits Taven with the Cradle DDT to win and get a future title shot.
**1/4

Match #8: Kevin Steen [c] vs. Mark Briscoe [ROH World Championship]

Awesome match, and leave it to Steen to make this show sort of worth watching. Corino, Titus, and Jay Briscoe all come out during this and interfere a lot on both sides, so this is more about them than what Steen/Mark could be. It's also pretty short for an ROH Title match at 13 minutes. Not asking for 25-30 here, but a little longer would have done them good. Still, it's dudes of this obvious quality doing great stuff, so it's a low level great one. Steen hits the F5 for two, but then the Package Piledriver puts Mark down.
***

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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Kevin Steen, Since 5/12/2012
ROH World Tag Team Champions: reDRagon, Since 3/2/2013
ROH World Television Champion: Matt Taven, Since 3/2/2013

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ROH SUPERCARD OF HONOR VII
APRIL 5TH, 2013
THE HAMMERSTEEN BALLROOM
NEW YORK, NY


This is the last ROH show I've seen before the present day, since I lapsed after reading some of the results in mid-2013 and didn't get back in until AJ/Hero came back, and didn't see another full show until Best in the World 2014.

Before the opener, RD Evans introduces himself as the partner.

Match #1: ACH/Tadarius Thomas vs. QT Marshall/RD Evans
Fun opener. The team with ACH does a lot of favors for Thomas. RD and QT are the quality kind of basic heel team that allows the new flippy team to show off and look amazing on a big show like this. ACH's dive is still so fucking crazy to see every time. Tadarius has a nice Sasuke Special Moonsault too. ACH hits QT with the Cradle DDT, now named the Big Bang, for the win.
**1/2

Shelton Benjamin comes out to the ring and says Haas isn't here tonight. He asks Cheeseburger to the ring, but fucking Mike Bennett makes his return instead with his posse when Burger comes out. He says he's the hottest prospect and free agent in all wrestling and he had to be here on the biggest weekend of the year. He starts to shit on New York again and put over that shithole he comes from, but Cheeseburger defends New York. Bennett hits him, but Shelton saves and the match happens.

Match #2: Shelton Benjamin vs. Mike Bennett w/ Maria & Bob Evans
This isn't very good, and the highlight is this WONDERFUL spot.

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Posted Image

This is your standard Bennett vs. star match with Bennett being totally out of his league and looking like a fucking amateur even against a barely trying Shelton. He wins with a sunset flip block holding onto Bob's arms on the floor. WHATEVER.
*3/4

Before the next match on commentary, they announce that Cole's title shot will be on May 4th at Border Wars, and BJ Whitmer's shot will be on May 18th in Richmond.

Match #3: Michael Elgin vs. Jay Lethal [#1 Contender's Match]
This is one of those matches where mostly everything goes right for them and the pairing. They have a hot crowd and build up stuff well to an absolutely nutty finishing run. Early big move teasing stuff is good, and also probably the least amount two guys have ever had to do to get a "THIS IS WRESTLING" chant. There's still some shittier Lethal offense at points, but this is mostly much better than I expected. Awesome finishing run, and Elgin wins with the Spiral Bomb.
***

Post-match, SCUM attacks both guys, and their opponents for a ten man run out to save.

Match #4: Mark Briscoe/BJ Whitmer/Caprice Coleman/Cedric Alexander/Mike Mondo vs. Jimmy Jacobs/Rhino/Jimmy Rave/Rhett Titus/Cliff Compton w/ Steve Corino
This is probably going to be the best of the new-SCUM multi-mans, because it's only 11 minutes and there's 10 guys in there to stuff, so it's hard for this to get really bad. The Jimmys and Rhino are all awesome and do their best to carry their side. The ROH side is fine enough. Mondo isn't amazing, but he's average and tries hard, so it's better than Domino or Rhett. It breaks down into crazy dives and DAT MARK BRISCOE HOT TAG. Awesome finishing that elevates this just over the line of greatness. Corino does commentary and yells after Rave hits GHANAREA that in two days via transitive property, Jimmy Rave is going to have ended The Undertaker's streak. AMAZING. BJ is handcuffed to the ropes on the floor and Corino blinds Mondo with powder, so it's 3 on 5, and Rhino hits Caprice with the Gore for the win.
***

Match #5: Roderick Strong vs. Karl Anderson

These two had a super disappointing match in PWG in 2009, but Anderson is so much better by now. Really crisp and fast outside of one miscommunication, and they picked it up huge after that. There was a weird moment where Karl went to the leg briefly to take over and then ignored it, but since it was dropped pretty quickly, it didn't bother me that Roddy ignored it a few minutes later. They went into the bombfest they should have had, but this is only like 12 minutes sadly. Anderson hits the Gun Stun for the win.
**3/4

Match #6: Matt Taven [c] vs. Adam Cole vs. Matt Hardy [ROH World Television Championship - Three Way Dance]

The House of Truth and Corino are both on the floor. This sort of happens, and does no favors for Taven at all. I sort of like the idea that they're going back to old ROH ideas in using a title to elevate somebody, but the matches so far have all made Taven look like a total afterthought, holding the title until someone better comes along. Cole's aggression is a thing again, and this time, he kicks Matt Hardy in the dick in revenge for Final Battle, and cradles him to eliminate him. Corino then distracts Cole, and Taven hits the Headlock Driver to win.
**

Match #7: reDRagon [c] vs. The American Wolves [ROH World Tag Team Championship]

The booking of this is very good and a classic idea. The hot new team avenges their pre-title win loss to a dominant and beloved face team. This is the least offensive reDRagon match performance yet. Nothing great came from them, but nothing truly horrible was all them, and they were just kind of bland instead of outright bad during the first half. Finishing run had its strengths and weaknesses. Lots of super super cool stuff and great ideas, but some of the Davey/Kyle exchanges were especially groanworthy. Kyle ends up rolling Davey up with the tights to steal it.
**1/2

Match #8: Kevin Steen [c] vs. Jay Briscoe [ROH World Championship]

Well, this is it. It's been awesome, but every reign ends. This takes a little while to get going, but it's great via the theory that if you give great wrestlers 20 minutes, they'll produce a great match. SCUM comes out at a point and Mark Briscoe does the same and it gets dramatic when other ROH guys all come out. Steen refuses interference, but Matt Hardy does it anyways. Steen kicks him to block it and throws him out. Jay hits the Jay Driller, BUT STEEN KICKS OUT! They do some more stuff and Jay hits it again to win the title!
***

Post-match, Steen shakes Jay's hand and hands the belt off. To make a great moment complete, ROH shows some balls and plays "Gimme Back My Bullets". So, this has me torn. Jay Briscoe has been maybe the non-Steen MVP of ROH in the last few years and since this ended up being a "thank you" kind of reign a la Homicide/James Gibson, I'm okay with it in retrospect, but Jay's always gonna be a tag dude mostly, and ending the killer reign and year plus undefeated streak of Steen maybe should have gone to Elgin or Cole to cement a future main eventer. But hey, it's not the worst thing.

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Big Tuna
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The Master and Ruler Of The World

ROH World Champion: Jay Briscoe, Since 4/5/2013
ROH World Tag Team Champions: reDRagon, Since 3/2/2013
ROH World Television Champion: Matt Taven, Since 3/2/2013

ROH Wrestling
April 6th, 2013
Chicago Ridge, IL


TONIGHT: REDRAGON/FOREVER HOOLIGANS

"It feels good to get the taste of SCUM out of our mouths." - Kevin Kelly

Match #1: ACH/Tadarius Thomas vs. Adam Page/Mike Sydal
Great showcase deal for the new team. Many cool things and lots of cool moves and double team combos. ACH wins with the Big Bang on Sydal.
**

In the back, Truth is with Scarlett and asks MsChif to join the Hoopla Hotties. She awkward yells no and says she has a four way to win. She leaves and Scarlett says she's not hot enough anyways. Truth says she'll be in the match and Scarlett is sad for some reason. Truth wipes away one of her tears and tastes his finger and says her tears turn him on. Biggie, are you Truth Martini?

Match #2: MsChif vs. Athena vs. Cherry Bomb vs. Scarlett Bordeaux
This is another match blatantly set up for MsChif to win. This is a nice thing to do to try and say the old ROH is back, but the old ROH at least gave Sara Del Rey some competition, despite her being the main attraction, with Haze and Lacey and MsChif herself. MsChif has nothing going into this, but the match solves that by giving Athena a ton of focus. Athena has some cool stuff here and is like a lady Ruckus since she's black and does a lot of gymnastics but is pretty sloppy. Athena hits a flying Ace Crusher to Cherry for the win.
**

Post-match, Veda tries to interview MsChif, but she mists Veda instead.

INSIDE ROH:
-Kelly focuses this on hyping up Supercard of Honor
-Which happened on Friday when this show airs on a Saturday
-Awesome work, guys

Match #3: Roderick Strong vs. Pepper Parks
Strong gets a showcase, and whatever. Parks is good enough though. Roddy wins with the Stronghold.
*3/4

Match #4: reDRagon [c] vs. Forever Hooligans [ROH World Tag Team Championship]

This happened. Romero and Koslov are certainly solid, and RD didn't do anything offensive, but this was very much a match that existed with nothing really good or bad. This is also a TV taping on a Sunday and it's the last match, so after 4-5 hours, people are filing out by now, so there's almost no crowd. reDRagon make the obvious successful defense with Chasing the Dragon.
**

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