BRM Reviews the 3/30/2013 ROH

[Big Red Machine]

STEEN & JAY SEGMENT- Jay cuts a very good promo. Steen is about to say something about SCUM but Corino interrupts him and insults Jay. Stuff transpires (including Steen showing a bit of verbal respect to the Briscoes), eventually resulting in…

CAPRICE COLEMAN & CEDRIC ALEXANDER vs. RHETT TITUS & CLIFF COMPTON- 5.25/10
A good match until the finish. I get that SCUM is all about being anti-ROH and that a large part of that means cheating, but I think it is important to establish that these guys are threats on their own, too. I think Compton getting a clean (or at least semi-clean) pin, with no major cheating involved would have been a bit more productive.
The concept aside, I also had a problem with the execution here. First, having two different things going on (Rave interfering to take out Alexander and Coleman throwing the powder in Coleman’s eyes) felt overbooked. Secondly, Jacobs to hand Compton powder just seemed kind of comical. Either have Compton carry the powder himself or have Jacobs do the throwing. (as an aside, throwing powder seems to be becoming Compton’s gimmick here). Secondly, a dropkick to the face is not a viable finisher. I don’t care if it is the best dropkick in wrestling or not… it’s not a viable finisher. The combination of the powder and the dropkick didn’t even feel like it should have finished the match, so a dropkick alone certainly won’t feel that way.
After the match, Titus and Compton leave and Jacobs and Rave continue the beatdown. This brings out (*groan*) Mike Mondo to make the save. Compton and Titus don’t even turn around to see what all of the commotion in the ring is, despite the fact that they have only just made it over the barricade when Mondo hits the ring. Facing two-on-one odds, Mondo still manages to take both guys down (way to make Jimmy Rave look strong there, ROH) and we wind up with…

JIMMY JACOBS vs. “NO FEAR” MIKE MONDO- 4.5/10
An excellent example of why, while Mondo might not have any fear, he also has no charisma. Mondo is a babyface coming back eight months early from an injury and is now in the hottest angle in the company against the heel mega-stable out to destroy the company… and his offense gets NO REACTION AT ALL (aside from a smattering of applause from a well-executed Snapmare Driver).

INSIDE SCUM SEGMENT- AWESOME! Corino explains the motivations for all of the new members of SCUM (and take note TNA: THEY ALL MAKE SENSE!) We also got a logical explanation of why this whole thing is happening (Corino apparently locked Kevin Kelly in a closet and has threatened the ROH tech guys to play the graphics and music he wants played and has taken over the segment. They start to play a promo from Steen putting Jay over but Corino demands that they stop the clip.

RELAXED RULES MATCH: Michael Elgin, Jay Lethal, & BJ Whitmer vs. Matt Hardy, Steve Corino, & Rhino- no rating. Okay segment.
Corino says that he has decided to wrestle tonight and replace Steen in this match. The army of SCUM guys on the outside tying Elgin and Lethal to the ropes was a little much for “relaxed rules” IMO. This wound up as a three-on-one because Elgin and Lethal got tied to the ropes on the outside and SCUM beat up on Whitmer. After the match, Lethal and Elgin break free and chase the heels off, then Jay Briscoe comes out and cuts and tells Steen “in New York City, this sling comes off of me… and that belt comes off of you.” GREAT promo to close the go-home show.

SUPERCARD OF HONOR VII HYPE PROMOS- these were very reminiscent of the ECW Pulp Fiction promos. They did a great job of hyping up all of the matches very in just a three minute span, including with the full version of the Steen promo that Corino ordered cut off before.

Overall, not a good show in the ring, but a great go-home show from ROH.