ROH 321 – WAR – 30th March 2013
We’re just a week away from Supercard Of Honor 7, and with things hotting up as ROH prepares for their contribution to the biggest weekend on the wrestling calendar, we have one last house show stop off en-route. The Briscoe brothers have their sights set on the ROH World Championship, with Mark challenging Kevin Steen this evening and brother Jay (still struggling with a shoulder injury) waiting in the wings to challenge on ippv next week if he fails. The American Wolves face hometown favourites Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander in what should be an extremely athletic contest and we also have the Tag Titles defended, a TV Title Proving Ground contest and lots of ROH vs SCUM action. This is ROH’s debut in Asheville, NC. Kevin Kelly is on solo commentary duty.
SIDENOTE – Before we get further into the review, we should point out that the controversial Charlie Haas segment has been cut from the DVD. I didn’t particularly want to see it, and to be honest I’m glad he’s off the roster for the foreseeable future. It’s just a shame he seemingly went out in an odd blaze of insanity rather than putting someone over in the right way. At least BJ Whitmer got a big victory over him at his last ppv appearance. I’m not sure what went wrong with ROH’s logistics either, but this show looks very odd. They’re clearly using someone else’s ring (the canvas is white), and the show opens with the arena lit almost entirely by the house lights rather than ROH’s lighting rig.
Michael Elgin vs Adam Page
The last time we were in the Carolinas was for Caged Hostility, and that night Page really impressed me with a tremendously exciting show opener against Jay Lethal. Tonight he’s jerking the curtain again, but this time against the imposing Michael Elgin. Unbreakable has been on a roll as of late, beating Roderick Strong at the 11th Anniversary Show then winning a big Four Corner Survival on TV which featured Matt Hardy, Davey Richards and Roddy. He faces Jay Lethal in a bout to determine the #1 contender to the World Championship, so won’t want a costly loss to an underdog.
Elgin does his best to intimidate Page in the early going, so credit to the youngster who continually escapes his opponent’s displays of power…until he is finally blasted down with a big tackle. Adam trips Elgin out of the ring and springs into an immediate MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! There were shades of the Young Bucks in the way he executed that, which is hugely promising for the kid. He tries another springboard move but this time gets violently kicked in the face. The punishment doesn’t end there as Elgin starts whipping him into the rails with such force that he actually flips in the air upon impact. Kevin Kelly reveals that Page came into this match with a broken nose, and it’s pouring with blood again after that. He tries to dropkick Elgin’s knees out from under him, sadly with little effect. He does get 2 with a Red Star Press after Unbreakable misses an Earthquake Splash though. Spinning heel kick scores…but Elgin just STANDS THERE! Shortarm clothesline connects right across the bloody face of Page and he still kicks out at 2. Adam hits a Yakuza kick in the corner and chases Elgin up the turnbuckles for a second rope swinging neckbreaker! Frog Crossbody misses though, and you feel the end is nigh as Michael hoists him up for the STALLING dead-lift German. He sets up the Buckle Bomb…PAGE COUNTERS TO A ROLL-UP FOR 2! BACK FIST! BUCKLE BOMB! SPIRAL BOMB! Now it is all over, with Elgin taking the win at a competitive 09:33
Rating - *** - If I were involved in ROH’s talent recruitment process I’d be suggesting they sign Page up now. He might be raw, and he may be totally devoid of personality right now – but at such a young age he is stunningly good in the ring. This was a completely different match to some of the others he’s had in ROH thus far (like the Lethal match for instance), but he looked no less capable and (if possible) even more impressive. Defying a broken and bloody nose, he threw himself around the ring making Elgin look like a killer, and in return Unbreakable let him get in more than enough offence to look credible. That finish, where Elgin didn’t hit the usual spinning back fist spot, since he is only fighting an enhancement talent, only for Page to counter into a nearfall was a simplistic yet masterful piece of story telling. Page leaves with his head held high and great respect for having taken Elgin to the limit.
QT Marshall vs Darren Dean
No idea who the jobber is, but this match is so insignificant it wasn’t worth flying RD Evans out for. The Barrister supposedly has a surprise in store for us at Supercard Of Honor by unveiling a highly ranked new tag team partner for Marshall. QT badly needs a win having recently been resoundingly beaten by BJ Whitmer on television.
Marshall starts listing guys rumoured to be his new partner – including Hiroshi Tanahashi, Prince Devitt and Alex Shelley. Whether it’s the ‘right kind of heat’ or not, he does at least succeed in getting the crowd to absolutely hate him. Dean instantly shocks him by bridging out of a headlock and scoring a nearfall with a standing moonsault. The debutant tries a top rope move…but is knocked off the ropes as QT shunts the official into them. A big powerslam follows, but again God’s Gift gets over-confident and eats a spinning heel kick. Before the match can proceed any further Jimmy Jacobs and Jimmy Rave of SCUM invade, giving this one a mercy kill no contest at 03:27
Rating - DUD - I wanted to say something nice, so I’ll say that Darren Dean didn’t do anything wrong, and I suspect if he can get himself to Baltimore ROH would have no problem letting him go on TV as an enhancement talent. But, a more realistic assessment is that this match was going nowhere. QT’s pre-match promo was as bad as it gets, and the contest was a first gear stall fest as both competitors knew they were just killing time before a SCUM angle.
QT Marshall walks away, leaving Rave and Jacobs (along with Steve Corino who has joined them) to destroy Dean. Corino is battling a heavy cold, and his sore throat means he can barely be heard even with a microphone in hand.
Jimmy Jacobs/Jimmy Rave vs Mike Mondo/Grizzly Redwood
This one comes about as a direct consequence of what we saw on the SBG show last week. Mike Mondo saved Grizzly Redwood from an assault at the hands of Charlie Haas and was in the midst of proudly confirming his comeback from injury before they were both attacked by SCUM.
There doesn’t appear to be a referee for this, but it doesn’t stop them getting into an ugly brawl from the moment Grizz and Mondo sprint to ringside. No Fear holds the ropes open for Redwood to hit a Heat Seeking Missile. Finally officials are on hand, meaning we can get the match underway. Grizzly soon gets a nearfall with a diving axehandle smash…only to be put down by an APRON STO from Rave! It’s not pretty, but SCUM act fast to deliver a cruel beating on the Littlest Lumberjack. It lasts for several minutes before Redwood at last gets the hot tag to Mondo – who drills Jacobs into the mat with a snapmare driver. He and Grizz climb to opposite turnbuckles, but Corino shakes the ropes to cause both of them to fall down. SCUM win with a T-Gimmick on Grizz at 07:03
Rating - ** - I’ll admit this match wasn’t memorable, special or worth going out of your way to check out at all. But despite that there were a number of positives. Firstly, this market were happy to get behind Mondo as a face. He’s hard to book in ROH as he’s such a divisive worker amongst the fanbase, but on this given evening he was an over babyface which helped. Another promising sign is that he was moving well and looks to have made a decent recovery from what was a very serious injury. I also thought Rave and Jacobs showed flashes of real talent as a team – to the extent that they reminded me of The Embassy team of Rave and Alex Shelley...which can only be a good thing. Rave, in general, looked much improved on his clumsy and slow performance from Final Battle a couple of years ago against Tommaso Ciampa. That night I honestly thought he was done in ROH, so credit to him for earning another spot. He looked in much better shape for this one.
Rave and Jacobs beat down their opponents, and are joined by Rhett Titus who sets up a table at ringside. BJ Whitmer saves Grizzly before they can put him through that table, and we go straight into our next scheduled contest.
Rhett Titus vs BJ Whitmer
Although their tag team was relatively short-lived and completely unsuccessful, this is still a battle of former partners and therefore should be pretty intense. BJ returned to ROH to help Titus in his fight against Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team. BJ settled that score when he finally defeated Haas at the 11th Anniversary…but that same evening Titus shocked everyone by turning on Whitmer and joining SCUM. Defending ROH against invaders is something Whitmer has experienced before, but tonight he does it against a former friend. We’re still to learn what motivated Rhett to join Corino’s troops, but you can rest assured he’ll want to prove his worth to SCUM by defeating an ROH veteran tonight.
We start with the two trading strikes, which isn’t a great strategy for Rhett who takes a real beating. Corino tries to join commentary, but his throat is so bad he is completely unintelligible. They run through an ugly suplex counter sequence against the ropes…and end it with Titus snapping the injured neck of Whitmer over the top rope. This makes much more sense than trying to trade blows with the old warhorse – Rhett starts picking apart BJ’s neck. He gets a nearfall with a stranglehold neckbreaker, and pops right up to crank on it again with a neck vice. Whitmer sells the beating like a trooper, including an awesome moment where he really SNAPS his neck back to put over the impact of Titus’ signature dropkick. Kevin Kelly goes totally overboard with BJ’s comeback, and freaks out when he lands a spinebuster for 2. Rolling suplexes nailed, but still Titus kicks out to deny his former partner the victory and he pops up to work the neck again with the Thrust Buster. OLD SCHOOL EXPULSION NAILED! Corino marks out for his own move at ringside, then looks furious when BJ kicks out! His temper tantrum takes Kevin Kelly off the air (which is pretty much the second mercy kill of the evening)…as in the ring Jimmy Rave tries to help Rhett and eats a boot to the face. Jacobs runs in only to be EXPLODER SUPLEXED THROUGH A TABLE! Ten Dollar Punch from Rhett as the referee tries to restore some order! That’s enough for Titus to take the win at 10:59
Rating - ** - There was some good and some bad in this. The main positive was that pairing him with SCUM really seemed to put a sense of purpose into Titus’ in-ring work. He’s still clumsy and slow, but as a heel it allows him to be a little more methodical and take a few less risks. I really liked his neck work, and his use of Corino’s finisher was a really fun little moment. The negatives were that some parts of this were particularly sloppy and uninteresting. I also loathed the overbooked conclusion, found Kelly and Corino’s commentary massively annoying and distracting, and thought BJ’s decision not to bother selling the neck at all once he started making the usual big babyface comeback was poor form.
SCUM try to deliver a gang-style beatdown on Whitmer, only to be run-off by the American Wolves
American Wolves vs Caprice Coleman/Cedric Alexander
So often it’s been C&C staring at the lights and playing enhancement talent on television to the ‘big fish’ of the Ring Of Honor tag division like the Briscoes, WGTT, Team Ambition or whomever else. That’s what makes this match so interesting. It was obvious from the fan reactions going into Final Battle that the ROH fanbase are ready to accept Coleman and Alexander as worthy competitors for the big hitting teams in this division. But, outside of those matches with the Bravados, C&C are still lacking that definitive breakout performance to really establish themselves as a top level team in their own right. A strong performance here in their home market would really seal the deal for them.
The stakes are high, and the intensity with which Caprice takes it to the mat with Richards in the first minute suggests he knows how much he has to prove this evening. Alexander shows his skills too, rocking Edwards with a couple of armdrags. Realising the younger man is a potential weak link on the opposition team, Davey sets about trapping Cedric in the ring and works a few basic submissions just to start ramping up the pressure on him. He cranks on the arm capture cloverleaf, with Die Hard providing added leverage to the hold as Caprice tries to argue with the official. Alexander manages to make a tag and instantly the pace quickens. C&C work the combo moves and aerial strikes which is where they have a pronounced advantage over the former Tag Champions. It’s a short-lived period of offence for C&C though with Davey soon taking Coleman down with a savage kick on the outside. The Wolves pin Caprice in the corner for the chop/kick flurry to cement their dominance once again. He takes a real beating, constantly mauled and beaten to the mat with some unrelentingly violent striking. He doesn’t seem to have much left, but finally uses one last burst of energy to hit a double dropkick to both opponents before making the hot tag to Cedric. CRADLE LUNGBLOWER ON DAVEY! Eddie drops him on his neck with a tiger suplex for 2. Superkick German ducked though…and then he COUNTERS the Double Alarm Clock! Corkscrew enzi COUNTERED TO THE ANKLELOCK! Coleman saves with the ROLLING HEEL KICK TO MOONSAULT ON THE FLOOR! CEDRIC WITH A SOMERSAULT PLANCHA UP THE AISLE! Coleman re-enters the ring with a flying leg drop on Eddie, only for Davey to break the fall with a diving headbutt. Alexander absorbs a kick to the face, just stands there to enziguri Davey in the face! LARIAT BY EDDIE! MIND TRIP FROM CAPRICE! All four guys are struggling now, and stand in the middle of the ring trading clumsy, weary punches. The Wolves nail Cedric with the double Alarm Clock, followed by Davey’s flying double stomp for 2. They line up the Powerbomb Lungblower…only for Alexander to break-it with a rana. OVERTIME GETS 2! Alexander delivers one last defiant offensive splurge, but the Wolves have seen enough and give him the SUPERKICK TOMBSTONE! Wolves finally take the win at 18:54
Rating - **** - Awesome tag team encounter, and you can forget the C&C/Bravados series because THIS is the one that breaks Caprice and Cedric out in a major way. It’s not like having a good match with the Wolves is the achievement here (lots of people have had good matches with Davey and Eddie), the aspect of their performance to celebrate was how much they contributed to an outstanding journey and story told throughout the contest. This wasn’t a carry job in the slightest. The entire match was laid out like a ‘proving ground’ for C&C as a main event team. They looked fired up early, and clearly showed an edge when it came to a fast-paced or aerial match. But they constantly found themselves overpowered, out-matched and out-gunned by the experienced former World and Tag Champions. They spent a large portion of the match getting beaten up. That isn’t squashing them, that’s the natural direction the match they went for should go. And it’s why when Cedric started that hot comeback sequence, they had the crowd going nuts for it. The opening portion MADE the crowd realise that beating the Wolves was a huge deal for them. It meant that they were really routing for C&C to pull off the surprising win. The defiant desire to win and prove themselves at an elite level C&C showed went right to the concluding spot, with Alexander wildly throwing kicks and punches until the Wolves literally dropped him right on his head to knock him out. Great match, and one that should be the start of really good things for C&C.
reDRagon vs Alabama Attitude – ROH Tag Title Match
Much as he gave Tadarius Thomas a random World Title shot in Dearborn back in January, Match Maker Nigel McGuinness has opted to give an ‘up and coming’ talent a wildcard championship opportunity here this evening. Hollis and Posey have been in ROH before. They’ve lost far more than they’ve won (including a loss to reDRagon on TV earlier this year) and, for all they’ve looked decent, they’ve certainly never had Ring Of Honor fans begging to have them on the permanent roster. That could all change this evening if they are able to beat Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly in the first defence of their belts.
Fish slates Alabama Attitude on the microphone before the bell, showing real growth in his role as an arrogant douche. Hollis takes offence and kick starts a brawl. He dives into an elbow suicida on O’Reilly as Posey slingshots over the ropes into a leg drop on Bobby. The champions take some rough rides into the guardrails as the underdog challengers continue making a hot start. It ends with Kyle boots Hollis in the ribs as he attempts a crossbody block. The momentum quickly shifts, with reDRagon isolating Corey and beating him down with an assortment of kicks and ground submissions. Tag to Posey, who almost trips over Fish in his desire to beat him up. O’REILLY TIGER SUPLEXES HOLLIS ON THE FLOOR! In the ring Fish drops Posey with a Saito suplex for 2. That big bump on the floor has put Mike in real trouble, with the champions able to tag in and out at will as they take turns working him over. O’Reilly seems especially interested in hurting Posey, working his stretches with a ruthless aggression and precision. Mike catches Fish with a swinging neckbreaker and does make a tag to Hollis. He counters Kyle’s Regalplex attempt, snapping him to the canvas with a fireman’s carry slam for 2. Posey gets carried away, wildly missing a pescado which was loosely aimed in Bobby Fish’s direction. In the ring O’Reilly and Hollis are really pasting each other with elbows. STALLING REGALPLEX by O’Reilly for 2. Corey counters a superplex attempt with a sunset flip bomb out of the corner, allowing Attitude to get their closest nearfall of the contest. That’s as good as it gets for them though, as the champs hit a PANCAKE DOUBLE KNEE ON POSEY! CHASING THE DRAGON ON HOLLIS! They retain the belts at 13:17
Rating - *** - These four were put in a tough spot. Nobody ever bought Alabama Attitude as serious contenders for the championship, and a match this long with every person in the building knowing exactly who is going to win is always a hard task for the wrestlers. They were also coming on (I think) after the Haas incident, after intermission and after the awesome Wolves/C&C tag which was obviously going to smoke whatever they could do. With so many obstacles put in front of them, I think this was as good as it was going to be. reDRagon looked very good – with a variety of submission and kick combos which were really effective. O’Reilly was exceptional as a bitter, stiff and unwelcoming 'veteran', unhappy at these unsigned guys being gifted title shots they didn’t earn. I also really rate Corey Hollis. He looks to have real ability, and I think he’d have more chance of getting shots in ROH if he ditched Posey, who is accident prone and painfully average in the ring.
Matt Taven vs ACH vs Roderick Strong vs Jay Lethal
This is a Proving Ground Match, presumably meaning if anyone other than Taven wins they’ll be rewarded with a TV Title shot at the earliest possible opportunity. That’s of interest to Lethal and Strong, both of whom would love to become the first ever 2-time ROH Television Champion. Taven earned his TV Title shot by winning the 2013 Top Prospect Tournament – including a first round victory over ACH which I’m sure ACH would love to avenge tonight. It’s also the first time Roddy and ACH have been in the ring together since their gripping encounter at Honor vs Evil last month.
Taven’s entrance, and use of the ‘Hoopla Hottie’ certainly doesn’t do the campaign for gender equality much good. Strong and Lethal both have strong followings which splits the crowd fairly evenly. As the new guys Taven and ACH don’t really get much of a response at all. Jay stomps on Taven’s hand to get us going, prompting the TV Champion to retreat to his corner to seek solace with Scarlett the Hoopla Hottie. ACH feels a little boxed out of the action, and forcibly tags himself in at Lethal’s expense. Roddy joins him so we have an immediate rematch from the Cincinnati show last month. Strong tries to keep the high-flier on the canvas but ACH surprises everyone by absorbing everything that is thrown at him then dialling up the pace to hit some whacky lucha armdrags. Lethal and Taven tag in next, with the champion forming a strange past-and-present House Of Truth alliance to isolate Lethal in the ring. The tide changes when ACH gets a tag, rejoining Strong in the ring where they really tee off on each other. Amusingly, a recovered Lethal blind-tags himself back in by slapping ACH in the back of the head. CRADLE CORKSCREW BRAINBUSTER ON TAVEN! Scarlett dives in the ring to protect Taven from the Macho Elbow…and Truth Martini springs into action by shoving Lethal off the ropes. Matt tries to capitalise with a springboard move, but the middle rope is so loose and unsafe that he aborts the move and works a chinlock instead. That pisses the fans off but I’d rather see that than a talent landing on their head in an unsafe working environment. Cobra clutch on Lethal…until ACH tags in and decimates Taven with a flurry of athletic kicks. Strong once again demands to be let in with ACH, only to eat a BACKFLIP KICK in the corner! Sliding lariat to the floor nailed too. ACH tries a dive to the outside only to be tripped out of the ring by Taven. TOPE SUICIDA BY LETHAL instead! ACH looks for that step-up somersault plancha, but that ridiculous middle rope gives way underneath him and it means the poor kid flops out of the ring in a bit of a mess. To his credit, he trusts the middle rope enough to hit a quebrada into a Hero’s Welcome for 2. He and Roddy run circles round each other, until the former World Champion has seen enough and KILLS him with the Death By Roderick. Orange Crush Backbreaker countered…and Lethal cleans house with superkicks on everyone! Lethal Combination on Strong! AIR TAVEN TO BREAK THE PIN! Taven hits the slingshot swinging neckbreaker on ACH for 2. All four men fight in the turnbuckles…and all four collapse in another botched mess on the mat. Jay tries to save things with the Lethal Injection on Strong. He tries it again on Taven only to be kicked out of the ring. CRADLE DDT from ACH to Taven…and that’s enough for ACH to score a huge victory at 20:56! He will get a TV Title shot in the near future!
Rating - ** - There was some good action and some really neat spots in this, but it was way too long and far too clumsy for me to go any higher on the rating. Some of it wasn’t their fault. That middle rope was an accident waiting to happen and it’s noticeable that a lot of the major botches involved spots using that rope. I credit Taven with having the confidence to abort an attempted high spot because he didn’t feel the ropes were right for it. He’s a young kid struggling to prove himself in ROH, so it takes genuine bravery to choose not to do a flipping high spot you know will pop a crowd. Putting it into perspective: ACH saw that incident, yet still tried his own high spot using the middle rope and was punished with a really ugly mess of a botched spot. Given what had happened, Lethal and Strong are experienced enough to know they should never have tried that tower of doom spot at the end either. There were some good bits – such as the new Taven/HOT act being quite entertaining, ACH winning another crowd over, and I loved the Strong/ACH interactions...but not enough to save this mess to any real degree.
Kevin Steen vs Mark Briscoe – ROH World Title Match
As we saw a couple of weeks ago on television, Match Maker Nigel McGuinness has awarded title shots to both Briscoes. They have been the flag bearers for his ‘Honor Lives’ movement and mainstays on the roster since Ring Of Honor opened in 2002. Mark gets his shot tonight, and has the whole Briscoe family (including Papa Mike and still-injured brother Jay) in the building to cheer him on. If he can’t get the win tonight, he knows his mission is to inflict as much damage as possible ahead of Supercard Of Honor. The main event for that ippv is scheduled to be Steen/Jay, but with Jay’s arm still in a sling with just seven days to go there is a real chance Steen could end his career in New York if Mark can’t at least soften him up.
Steen goes straight outside the ring to harass Mike Briscoe and ‘Cousin Jethro’…much to Mark’s annoyance as he dives over the top rope into a crazy suicide dive. He tries one high risk move too many, allowing Steen to catch him with a POWERBOMB on the hard floor. He drags Briscoe down the aisle so he can beat him up right in front of his family. Even when they come back into the ring the champion is still in charge, dropping Briscoe on his face with a DDT. Briscoe is taking a real beating and Steen is now so confident he stops the match so he can challenge a little girl wearing a Mark Briscoe shirt in the crowd to a fight. Jimmy Jacobs appears at ringside to support Steen, who ploughs through Mark again with the cannonball senton. Jay Briscoe, arm still in a sling, also comes to the ring to support his brother and monitor Jimmy’s activity. His presence rejuvenates Mark, who nearly KILLS Steen dropping him on a gutwrench powerbomb. Rave and Titus surround the ring too, so Papa Briscoe and Cousin Jethro jump the rails. Steen-ton Bomb nailed for 2, but the scene surrounding the ring is starting to get increasingly combustible. Mark chases Steen up the ropes and goes old school with the SPRINGBOARD ACE CRUSHER! Jay Briscoe drags Jacobs off the apron…and that’s the spark that ignites a brawl between the Briscoe clan and the SCUM guys. Kevin Kelly has to do commentary whilst hiding in the corner of the ringside area which is pretty funny. Mark scales the ropes – to SUPERFLY SPLASH TITUS THROUGH A TABLE! FROGGY BOW ON STEEN FOR 2! Briscoe goes up the ropes again only to be crotched as he lines up a moonsault. SLEEPER SUPLEX! F-5! Mark kicks out…so it’s the PACKAGE PILEDRIVER! Steen retains at 13:32
Rating - *** - I wasn’t expecting much from this (maybe I’m being harsh, but Mark is pretty much 90% gimmick at this point and rarely has good singles matches), so I actually found this pleasantly surprising. The stuff they were doing in the opening five minutes really didn’t go anywhere, but once we got to the overbooked smoke and mirrors ending I was quite caught up in the drama of it all. Certainly the chaotic scenes at ringside helped set the scene and wet the appetite for Jay’s title shot against Steen on ppv the following week.
The unhappy Briscoe brothers grab Jimmy Jacobs as the rest of SCUM flee, and lay him out with the Doomsday Device. Jay tells the crowd to order the ppv so they don’t miss him beating Kevin Steen next week. Ironically, even if they did buy the ppv they would have missed Jay winning…
Tape Rating - ** - This was ROH’s worst show of the year, and certainly one to save some cash and check out on the new VOD service if you really want to see it. There were some positive aspects – such as Page’s performance in the opener, a fun main event and a truly stunning midcard tag match, but there was just too much forgettable or poor filler. Being a week before the biggest show of the year thus far didn’t help, as lots of guys were being protected and visibly working safe. It also didn’t help that the Charlie Haas incident took the crowd out of things for the second half, and the ‘big match’ they’d pinned their hopes on for the second half of the show was the TV Title Proving Ground fourway, which pretty much bombed. Wolves/C&C was one of the best ROH matches thus far in 2013, but it’s really not enough to save the show for me.
Top 3 Matches
3) Michael Elgin vs Adam Page (***)
2) Kevin Steen vs Mark Briscoe (***)
1) American Wolves vs Caprice Coleman/Cedric Alexander (****)