ROH 340 – The Golden Dream – 2nd November 2013
The Glory By Honor 12 eight man main event was certainly a memorable one – but it left ROH officials with a serious headache when it came to this live show, taking place just a week later. Adam Cole was scheduled to defend the World Championship against Kevin Steen here tonight – in Steen’s first shot at the title since he lost it back at Supercard Of Honor. Sadly Cole was injured (concussion) during the epic 70+ minute Champions vs All Stars match, meaning that would have to be postponed. Luckily someone else was waiting in the wings – Jay Briscoe. Having now been medically cleared to complete, he steps in to save the show, and will compete in the main event this evening – a Supercard Of Honor rematch pitting Mr Wrestling against the self-proclaimed ‘Real World Champion’. If that doesn’t draw your attention, the undercard also boasts Richards vs ACH, Elgin vs Silas Young, another Matt Taven TV Title defence as well as an ‘Instant Reward’ Proving Ground opportunity for the members of Alabama Attitude. Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness are in Cincinnati, OH.
Nigel comes straight to the ring to update the live fans on the Adam Cole situation, and confirm that even though Steen/Briscoe will be the main event, Cole is in the building tonight and will be at ringside to watch the replacement headliner. Jay Briscoe joins him in the ring still sporting his ‘Real World Championship’ belt, and demanding to know why he’s not in the Final Battle 2013 main event but Michael Elgin is. In response, Nigel tells Jay that Cole has concussion and if he is hurt in anyway tonight then whomever attacks him will be fined and suspended. Elgin slowly creeps to the ring to kindly inform Briscoe that once he’s taken Cole’s World Title at Final Battle, he’ll come for Jay’s belt as well. Kevin Steen is here too! He points out that HE is the guy that actually got screwed out of a title shot tonight, and he is the one synonymous with stealing the show at Final Battle. Nigel concedes they all have a valid point, and agrees to put the winner of Steen/Briscoe tonight in the Final Battle match.
Bobby Fish vs Mike Posey
This is an Instant Reward Proving Ground Match, whereby if either member of Alabama Attitude can beat either member of reDRagon in a singles match they will get an immediate Tag Title shot this evening. It could be a good time for Posey to face Fish too, given that Bobby was pinned for the first time since his return to ROH during the Champions vs All Stars match at Glory By Honor. How will he have dealt with that rare defeat? Corey Hollis and Kyle O’Reilly are both at ringside.
The crowd get on Fish before the match even starts, so he stomps into the crowd in a sulk. In a rather foolish move, Posey engages him in a mat wrestling exchange and is completely incapable of matching up to Bobby’s skill-set in that area. The pace is slow and Fish is totally dominant…and even when Mike tries to work faster he finds himself overpowered by his significantly larger opponent. Bobby then fakes a low blow, throwing Posey off his guard and giving Fish an opportunity to decimate his leg with a brutal kick. He starts picking apart the leg from there, as this one-sided massacre continues. Eventually the injured Posey tries to mount a comeback – doing an awesome job selling that knee as he limps into a one-legged slingshot tree of woe dropkick. It’s only brief respite though, as Fish almost takes his head off with a roundhouse kick to the face and follows it with an exploder suplex into the turnbuckles for 2. A Saito suplex puts Mike on his head for another nearfall seconds later. One more swift kick later and the assault is over, and Fish is victorious at 09:39
Rating - ** - I actually quite liked this, although it was long for what it was. My perspective is that I really enjoy watching Bobby Fish (particularly when he’s in full-on dickhead mode), and I really have no interest in ever watching Mike Posey wrestle. So seeing Fish effortlessly beat the crap out of Mike for near 10-minutes, alongside some hilarious verbal quips and exchanges with the fans at ringside, was rather entertaining. This has zero re-watch value though, and really did nothing to make you want to see more of Posey in Ring Of Honor.
Kyle O’Reilly vs Corey Hollis
So since Posey Jannetty failed in his attempt to earn the title shot, we now move to the second Instant Reward match, with Hollis (the considerably better member of Alabama Attitude) facing O’Reilly. If he can defeat Kyle then we’ll still have a reDRagon vs Alabama Attitude Tag Title Match.
Much like his partner did in his match, Hollis engages his opponent in a mat wrestling exchange to get us started. The difference is that Corey doesn’t just hold his own with Kyle, he actually gets the better of him on multiple occasions. Kyle has to resort to a cheap shot in the corner and even then gets put on his ass again following an athletic dropkick from the Alabama-native. RUNNING DISRESPECT SLAP from Kyle! And finally he gets Hollis off his feet, picking him apart with a flurry of close-range strikes. Corey is desperate to win and tries pinning combinations from every angle…but is starting to look out-gunned as O’Reilly decks him with another crisp kick to the upper chest. Hollis goes to ground, since he knows that’s where he had the beating of Kyle earlier…and it works. He outwits him, and gets him in position for a running neckbreaker. Kyle tries strikes since that’s what has worked for him, but Hollis ducks them in and delivers an airplane spin slam for 2. Fujiwara Armbar from O’Reilly – but it’s on the deck and Hollis COUNTERS to a crossface chickewing! He delivers a somewhat lacklustre Pele Kick…only for Kyle to DESTROY him with a kick/elbow combination for 2. PUMPHANDLE STALLING REGALPLEX gets another nearfall for O’Reilly! ROPE RUN butterfly suplex by Hollis in response! He tries a frog splash, but has it COUNTERED to a Triangle Choke. That’s enough, and reDRagon complete the 2-0 sweep at 11:03
Rating - *** - This was a clever little performance from both wrestlers. It is really easy to praise Kyle O’Reilly these days because he’s matured into such a fantastic worker. He really is as consistent as anybody ROH has on their roster these days. But it has to be said that Hollis really didn’t look out of his depth in there with him. Corey’s chain-wrestling was smooth, his strikes were crisp…this really wasn’t a carry-job by any stretch of the imagination. In a way you actually have to credit Fish and Posey for how enjoyable this one was. By having Fish easily dissect Mike at every turn, Hollis’ performance (outwrestling Kyle, absorbing some of his best shots and still kicking out) looked even better. Even on commentary Nigel and Kevin seemed to be saying that they are looking at Hollis as a long-term singles prospect. The sooner he breaks free of the Alabama Attitude stuff the better.
Michael Elgin vs Silas Young
These two had a superb match at Brew City Beatdown last year. It was a contest of such quality that it ended up being a real shame it wasn’t on a higher profile show so that a) more people got to see it; and b) more people gained a greater appreciation for Silas Young’s work. I don’t know that there’s much kayfabe rationale behind this one, but it should be a physical contest nonetheless. Elgin comes in red hot, having won the Champions vs All Stars match and earned himself a World Title shot at Final Battle in the process. But in turn, that makes you question his focus and preparation time for this one. He wrestled over 70-minutes last weekend, and for a large portion of that he was fighting multiple opponents by himself. He also has a World Title shot to prepare for next month, and opened the show by learning that one of Kevin Steen or Jay Briscoe would be added to that shot. Can Silas capitalise on what could potentially be a very distracted opponent this evening?
Young attacks Elgin before the bell – a sensible strategy to derail all the momentum he came into the match with. Unbreakable throws him back with the ST-Joe though…and the Last Real Man tries to flee. Elgin catches him, then carries him around ringside with ease before delivering a slam on the hard floor. Silas snaps his neck over the top rope and sweeps his legs on the apron to deliver more damage to that body part. He doesn’t do enough damage to stop Michael delivering the stalling vertical suplex though. Silas responds by driving his back into the side of the ring then desperately clinging to a rear chinlock. He can’t keep Elgin on the deck, and he piles into Young with a lariat flurry and a Black Hole Slam. Cradle backbreaker/lariat combo from Silas puts Elgin on his neck again though! But every time Silas thinks he has Elgin down for the count he pops right back up. This time he does so with another violent lariat and follows that with the dead-lift German suplex for 2. Knees to the neck from Young…and a bridging German of his own for 2! Elgin SUPERKICKS him to counter the headstand Arabian Press! The dead-lift superplex sends Young bouncing across the ring liked he’d been tossed out of a car! Headstand Arabian Press misses…and Elgin muscles him into the Buckle Bomb. SPIRAL BOMB nailed! Elgin wins the match at 11:17
Rating - *** - They weren’t given the time allowance or the opportunity to reproduce their classic match from last year, but this was still a really solid undercard encounter between two very familiar opponents. These two have a genuine chemistry in the ring together, and everything they do seems so smooth. At times you almost forget you’re watching a staged wrestling match, and that’s the biggest compliment I can give them. I liked what they went for here – with Young working the neck, but never really able to build any significant traction with that approach because Elgin would continually come at him with brutal power moves. In the end the power was just too much for Silas, and the #1 contender to the World Title picked up another high profile victory on the road to Final Battle.
Davey Richards vs ACH
We’re into the final three shows of Davey’s run with ROH. Given that the American Wolves have barely been promoted at all since dropping the Tag belts back to reDRagon at Manhattan Mayhem, it was pretty obvious by this point that they were, in all likelihood, leaving the promotion and simply finishing up their dates before doing so. I’ve had my say multiple times this year on the continued importance to ROH of Davey Richards, but it’s clear both he and Sinclair see his future lying elsewhere, so I’m glad they managed to book this one before he departs. ACH has pushed ROH’s top stars to the limits in singles matches all year, but still hasn’t produced that star-making victory.
Davey is fresh from a training tour of Europe, and he looks comfortable in that World Of Sport style as he controls ACH from a wristlock position. ACH looks to quicken the pace, and knocks him out of the ring with an emphatic dropkick. Back to the mat goes Richards, despite the distractions of a VERTICAL backflip from his opponent. ACH retreats to the outside and blocks Davey’s signature running soccer kick from the floor. MID-AIR DROPKICK from Richards to counter a flying crossbody, and ACH’s ribs are in a world of pain now. He works his way out of a bodyscissors…and is promptly scooped into a cradle backbreaker which puts him on the canvas once more. RUNNING KNEE TO THE RIBS! And if that wasn’t bad enough, ACH has to cope with Kevin Kelly shoving a microphone in his face to capture his agony as he writhes in pain on the apron. Somehow ACH strings some strikes together, and delivers a jumping enzi from the floor. SLINGSHOT CUTTER gets 2! Flatliner into the apron! SUPER-FAST TOPE SUICIDA UP THE AISLE! Seriously, he hit that with such velocity he ends up with his head against the entrance curtain! He gets a 2-count with a flying reverse elbow but is being seriously hampered by his injured midsection now. He tries a sunset flip, only to have it countered with a STANDING DOUBLE STOMP to the ribs! I’m calling it now, this is another ACH vs ROH main eventer classic! ACH has a hurricanrana attempt blocked with a powerbomb, and Davey converts that to the Cloverleaf! Both men fight up the ropes…TOP ROPE ABDOMINAL STRETCH! But when he goes for a sunset bomb ACH holds onto the ropes! ROPE RUN GERMAN SUPERPLEX…BUT ACH FLIPS OUT! REVERSE RANA NAILED! He gets 2 with a Lo Down – mostly because he hurt his own ribs so much doing it. Richards is cunning and leaves the ring to escape…SO ACH CHASES HIM WITH AIR JORDAN! 450 Splash misses…and Davey splatters ACH with the Alarm Clock. Double Stomp misses…so Richards decapitates him with a lariat and brainbuster for 2! FLYING DOUBLE STOMP! Richards wins at 19:04
Rating - **** - It was in this building earlier this year where ACH really earned his spot in ROH with a stellar performance against Roderick Strong at Honor vs Evil. Tonight he returned to Cincinnati and produced another cracking display. I’ve spent years praising Davey’s performances, and he was great here, but it’s right to focus on ACH because he was excellent. His selling was strong. His execution was on point. The way he timed and NAILED his comeback spots was an utter joy to behold. It’s a tragedy that a worker of Davey Richards’ calibre, with the back catalogue of phenomenal matches that he has in this company, is being allowed to slip out the back door with almost no fuss whatsoever. He was at his best here, and it drew another brilliant showing from ACH. In 2014 Ring Of Honor NEED to find a positive way to push ACH.
Matt Taven vs Adam Page – ROH TV Title Match
All of Matt’s matches are now title defences thanks to his manager Truth Martini – who has decided that Taven only produces his best work when backed against the wall with his belt on the line. The beneficiary of that House Of Truth policy tonight is promising up and comer Adam Page. At Glory By Honor fans started to get a little frustrated with Page, after a year of rudderless floating around on the undercard. He’s talented enough to rise above that, but he could really do with a strong performance here to remind Delirious/Sinclair why they signed him to a contract, and why they need to start giving him something to work with – and giving the crowd a reason to care about him.
Scarlett looks stupendously hot tonight. Jay Lethal joins commentary, possibly doing some scouting as he is scheduled to compete in a TV Title #1 contendership match later tonight. The pace is slow to begin with, which suits everyone just fine (even Kevin Kelly) as it gives us more time to watch Scarlett at ringside. Page is the aggressor and makes a real impression on the champion in the early minutes – forcing him to repeatedly crawl to the ropes, and even to the floor, for respite. We’re five minutes into the match now, with Page hitting a huge backbreaker for 2. Taven gets desperate, and hangs Page off the apron for a SWINGING NECKBREAKER! That was devastating in it’s own right, and Truth Martini makes it worse with a few cheap shots as Matt celebrates. Springboard corkscrew senton gets a nearfall for Taven. Page punches the champ onto the apron…SLINGSHOT SUNSET FLIP BOMB FROM THE APRON INTO THE GUARDRAIL! Where the hell did that come from? Was that planned? That was the highlight of Adam Page’s ROH career so far right there! There are just five minutes left in the time limit, and both guys are a mess as they desperately crawl back to the ring. Climax is countered into Page’s powerslam for 2. Matt tries Angel’s Wings instead…and again it’s countered – this time into a Red Star Press! Truth gets involved again…but he misses a shot with the Book Of Truth and eats a SHOOTING STAR OFF THE APRON! Frog crossbody gets 2 for Page! He wants to hit the inverted Tombstone, only for Taven to escape and blast him with the Climax. It’s over, with the champion retaining at 12:44
Rating - *** - One of the more memorable matches of Taven’s TV Title run (and of Page’s ROH career so far). They were having a pretty decent wrestling contest already, but that guardrail spot in the middle of the match really kicked this into a higher gear. The crowd came alive, and both guys responded by fighting with more intensity and purpose. As people are starting to grow tired of Taven’s TV Title reign, and starting to become disenchanted with Page’s act too – this really couldn’t have come at a better time for both gentlemen.
Jimmy Jacobs vs Roderick Strong – Trial Series Match #5
This is the final match in Jimmy’s Trial Series. Match Maker Nigel McGuinness surely already thinks he’s fought with enough courage and valour to earn his Ring Of Honor job back. However, if Jacobs can someone score a victory tonight he’ll be rewarded with a World Title shot in his home state of Michigan during the upcoming Pursuit weekend shows. BJ Whitmer, the man responsible for convincing Nigel to give him this opportunity, is at ringside to watch too. Can he get past Mr ROH in what is, arguably, one of the biggest matches of his career? He stands 2-2 in the Trial Series so far, and only a win will get him the dream championship opportunity.
Jacobs tries to plant a kiss on Roddy’s lips – trying to use mindgames to overcome the physical differences between them. And it appears to work as he seizes the early initiative and works aggressively in the first few minutes. He rolls through the ropes into a headscissors on the floor, and continues taking the fight to Strong out there. He tries an ill-advised spear, only for Roderick to leapfrog it and send him head-first into the guardrails. Torture rack backbreaker on the apron! Veda Scott (also looking lovely) is in the aisle watching proceedings, and witnesses Strong get a nearfall with another powerful backbreaker. And with Jimmy struggling to get back to his feet, Mr ROH is still on hand to remorselessly deliver punches to his increasingly-injured spine. RUNNING back drop driver gets 2! Veda is here to talk to BJ apparently, and does so in hushed tones at the announce table. In the ring Jacobs hits a neckbreaker, but does as much damage to himself as he does to his opponent. Tornado snap suplex scores for 2 though. END TIME! And when Roderick escapes that he floors him again with the rebound cutter for another nearfall. Contra Code blocked into a backbreaker…and a PRESS SLAM into the turnbuckles! Urinage backbreaker blocked…Death By Roderick blocked too! Jimmy lands a tope suicida on the outside, but by this point is so wounded that he struggles to follow it up. He finally does with a dragon screw in the ropes…and as Roddy hangs there helplessly Jacobs dives at him with a guillotine leg drop for 2. Death By Roderick COUNTERED TO END TIME! COUNTERED TO THE STRONGHOLD! BACK TO END TIME! And just when it seemed like Roddy was unconscious he somehow muscles Jacobs up to shunt him into the buckles. Rebound cutter is caught and converted to a back suplex backbreaker which leaves them both down again. Urinage backbreaker gets 2! A furious Roderick drags Jimmy all the way to the top for a superplex…and still Jacobs refuses to be pinned. Gibson Driver countered with a rana…and the SPEAR! CONTRA CODE! FOR 2! He goes for the senton bomb…but lands flush on Roddy’s knees. DEATH BY RODERICK! SICK KICK! JIMMY KICKS OUT! Jacobs fights his way out of a turnbuckle backbreaker, and grabs Strong’s head for the AVALANCHE CONTRA CODE! JACOBS WINS! The series ends 3-2 at 19:10
Rating - **** - One of the benefits of this Trial Series has been getting to see Jacobs work some really strong straight-up WRESTLING matches. He’s such a good brawler, and such a master of character work that he frequently gets booked into that style of match – and you end up forgetting how good a worker he actually is. Admittedly the Silas Young and Adam Page matches were easy to forget, but Jacobs/Steen, Jacobs/Bennett and Jacobs/Strong from the series have all been great to watch. This was possibly the best of the lot, combining Roderick’s signature work on the back with a terrific underdog performance from Jimmy – and a really hot sequence where you really didn’t know which way it was going (even though everything pointed to a Jacobs victory).
BJ Whitmer enters the ring to check on both Roderick Strong and Jimmy Jacobs…and is the on hand to congratulate Jacobs on winning his Trial Series and earning the World Title shot in Dearborn.
Maria Kanellis makes an appearance, formally removing Michael Bennett from the upcoming TV Title #1 contendership match…as she thinks it’s beneath him and he should get an opportunity already. Which is kind of understandable considering Adam Page just got a shot. Instead Bennett is going to concentrate in preparing to end Kevin Steen’s career at Final Battle.
Mark Briscoe vs Tommaso Ciampa vs Jay Lethal
So with Bennett out of this one, it becomes a three-way for a shot at Matt Taven and the Television Championship. I believe it’s already been announced that the winner will get their title shot at Final Battle, but don’t quote me on that. We know there is a lot of history between Lethal and Ciampa, going back to Tommaso’s days in The Embassy whilst Lethal was TV Champion, and with Jay having been selected as Taven’s ‘top contender’ as part of Champions vs All Stars in Chicago Ridge, both other guys will be desperate to prove their credentials and prove themselves more deserving of the spot.
Taven joins Kevin Kelly at the booth for a scouting mission. He voices doubts on whether Briscoe has a face for television…as Mark takes it to both opponents with karate thrusts. Uncle Mule Kick scores early on Lethal…but he turned his back on Ciampa who is quickly on the scene with a Cactus clothesline. Lethal goes for the hiptoss dropkick combo…BUT TOMMASO COUNTERS!!! Yes! Finally someone stops that f*cking move! He clocks Jay with a lariat, and I stop watching the match for the next few moments as I celebrate the demise of that bloody Jay Lethal spot. He soon recovers though, hitting a springboard dropkick on Mark, clearing him from the ring so Jay and Tommaso can renew their hostilities. He points at Ciampa’s knee – injured in a match against Lethal in 2012. Tommaso responds by BLOCKING the Lethal Injection and nearly knocking him out with a jumping knee strike. Lethal does hit the hiptoss dropkick combo at the second time of asking, but doesn’t get much further before Briscoe returns to the match with a fisherman buster for 2. We have another nearfall moments later after he hits the urinage on Ciampa. Jay has recovered now, delivering a sunset flip bomb into a low superkick…and in turn leaves himself open to the BARE KNEE STRIKES from Ciampa. INTO a corkscrew pescado on Mark! Air Raid Crash gets 2! Project Ciampa blocked and converted to a rolling DVD…but Lethal crotches Briscoe before he can hit the Froggy Bow. Lethal Combination on Tommaso! Macho Elbow for 2! FROGGY BOW! Still 2 though, as Jay breaks Mark’s cover. Taven distracts Lethal as he lines up the Lethal Injection…prompting Jay to tope suicida the TV Champion! Lethal and Taven brawl on the floor, as in the ring we see PROJECT CIAMPA! Tommaso gets the ticket to Final Battle at 11:01!
Rating - *** - This was fine for a forgettable undercard match. All three men threw spots around with real gusto, providing some superfluous light entertainment for everyone ahead of the main event. Taven showed lots of personality on commentary too, which really helped, and had me wondering why he’s not shown more of that during his entire reign so far. As many know, I’d have put the belt on Tommaso back when he was really hot in Spring/Summer 2012, and given his performances since returning to the promotion at Border Wars 2013, I felt he was actually a little above the TV Title now. But with no other feuds on the go, it’s good to see him booked in a high profile title match for Final Battle – to keep him in the spotlight even if he’s not getting the ‘big push’ at this time.
Matt Taven tries to flee… but is dragged back into the ring by Jay Lethal. Ciampa feeds Taven to Jay for a big superkick. They shake hands as Ciampa poses with the TV Title belt, indicating that it will be his come December.
Adam Cole comes to the ring ahead of the main event. He calls it a correct decision to protect him tonight, as he is such an asset to the company. He also welcomes the decision to add the winner of Steen/Briscoe to the World Title Match at Final Battle – as it gives him a chance to beat two men on the biggest stage in ROH instead of just one.
Jay Briscoe vs Kevin Steen
Is Jay defending his ‘Real World Championship’ in this one? The one thing that is definitely on the line is the chance to join the Final Battle main event, and earn an opportunity at the actual World Champion. This is a rematch from this year’s Supercard Of Honor – which saw Jay defeat Steen to become World Champion. Steen has never received a rematch for the belt (he was sidetracked by the war with SCUM for several months), and is now desperate to regain his championship. But the same can be said for Jay, who never actually lost the World Championship…and actually beat current champion Adam Cole in his first title defence at Border Wars. Who will win this one, and move on to join Cole and Elgin at the Hammerstein?
Jay Briscoe is so distracted with Adam Cole’s presence at ringside that Steen physically has to leave the ring and drag him into the ring for the match. It backfires though, with Jay taking out his frustration with a vicious series of punches, chokes and stomps in the corner. That is until Cole distracts him again, allowing Steen to drill him with a DDT. Jay drops to his knees to block the Apron Bomb, and a battle as to who can whip the other guy into the guardrails harder ensues. The World Champion cackles with delight during that, and positively whoops with joy as Steen drives Briscoe crotch-first into the ringpost. He recovers to block another powerbomb attempt with a dropkick, then hits an impressive spinebuster for 2. F-5 blocked…and the two collide in the middle of the ring, leaving both of them on the deck. Steen is up first with a Codebreaker…and stays on the ribs/torso area with the Cannonball for a nearfall. Briscoe retaliates with a neckbreaker, and once again both men are on the mat struggling to recover. Jay Driller attempted, but it’s far too early and Steen coverts it to a pumphandle cradlebreaker – dropping him down right on the suspect shoulder. Steen-ton Bomb blocked with knees! Jay Driller blocked…F-5 blocked…and Kevin seizes control with a powerbomb. Package Piledriver countered to a DVD seconds later though! These two are just throwing bombs at each other. Cole further irritates Jay by stealing his ‘Real World Title’ belt, and taunts him because he knows he’ll be suspended if he attacks him for it. Steen watches the whole episode, then capitalises with the sleeper suplex. PACKAGE PILEDRIVER! But Maria Kanellis runs out and stops Todd Sinclair counting the pinfall! JAY DRILLER! Somehow Steen kicks out! JAY DRILLER AGAIN! Briscoe wins at 13:17
Rating - *** - This wasn’t a bad match, but it has to be said that it was a somewhat short and rather underwhelming main event. It was going to be hard to recapture the emotion of the Supercard Of Honor match, but I think most were expecting better. However, I really didn’t dislike this as much as some. Adam Cole was entertaining as hell on the outside, whilst I found the Michael Bay ‘as many explosions as possible’ approach to wrestling psychology was good, dumb, fun to watch too. You have to consider that this was Jay’s first match in some time, and he’s still visibly struggling with that shoulder, so he will obviously have some ring-rust to work through. I presume the shortened time limit was to protect him as he looks to work his way back to something resembling full fitness.
That means Jay Briscoe is added to the Final Battle main event, and Adam Cole is absolutely furious about it now. He angrily tosses aside Jay’s ‘Real World Title’ and poses with his belt…as Michael Elgin runs in and takes his turn goading Jay with his imposter World Championship. Jay and Elgin have to be separated…as Adam Cole sneakily leaves the ring.
And the show’s not over, as Kevin Steen re-appears dragging Maria by the hair – still pissed that she cost him the victory and the World Title shot just moments earlier. Having successfully pulled Briscoe and Elgin apart, the same group of officials have to restrain Steen before he hits the Package Piledriver on Maria. She runs away…and Steen vents his frustration by dishing out Package Piledrivers for a couple of students and poor referee Paul Turner.
SIDENOTE - Remember when attacking a referee got Takeshi Morishima 'suspended' from ROH for like a year during ROH's pay-per-view era? I presume Kevin Steen won't be dealt with quite so harshly...
Tape Rating - *** - This was possibly one of the most underrated house shows of 2013. Aside from the brief Fish/Posey match (which was still pretty decent if you’re a Bobby Fish fan), there isn’t anything below 3* - and the two undercard gems in Richards/ACH and Jacobs/Strong were absolutely worth tracking this show down to check out. If you modify your expectations accordingly (i.e. don’t expect anything close to Supercard Of Honor 7) the main event was perfectly acceptable too. Add in one of Matt Taven’s best TV Title defences (and Adam Page’s best ROH performance), another hard-hitting Elgin/Silas match and an impressive little performance from Corey Hollis and all-in-all you have a really decent little show. I hadn’t read many reports of this show at all, and found it to be a surprisingly high-quality 2 hours 45 minutes.
Top 3 Matches
3) Matt Taven vs Adam Page (***)
2) Jimmy Jacobs vs Roderick Strong (****)
1) Davey Richards vs ACH (****)