BRM Reviews the 10/4/2014 ROH (Elgin vs. Ciampa= bad!)

[Big Red Machine]

ADAM COLE vs. HANSON- 5/10
This match was going along great, with Hanson looking like a big strong babyface and Cole being a great heel and working over Hanson’s knee… and then they ruined it in the last ninety seconds of the match when Hanson just stopped selling the knee (including doing his f*cking cartwheel spot), and then Cole, who had spent the whole match working over Hanson’s knee, won with a random inside cradle. What the f*ck happened to the story you guys were telling?!

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- Wrestlers=good, fans=bad
The Kingdom attacked Hanson. Bennett sang the beginning of Edge’s entrance theme before spearing Hanson. That made me laugh. Cole cut a great heel promo, saying terrible things about Hanson’s tag team partner, Raymond Rowe, who had just been injured in a serious motorcycle accident. The fans cheered this, because they suck. The same dumbsh*t fans then popped when Michael Elgin came out to chase off the heels they had just been cheering.


I don’t think I’ve commented on this yet, but the commercial they have advertising the DVD for All-Star Extravaganza VI is great. It uses really fan feedback via Twitter to put the show over, rather than just saying “buy our awesome DVD.” They also had a commercial for the Field of Honor DVD which was better than their usual commercials. In this one, Steve Corino got to wear a baseball uniform and catch a baseball, so I’m assuming the whole commercial was his idea.
What wasn’t good is the fact that they are still advertising tickets for the September 27th TV taping. Kind of hard to use those now unless you’ve got a time machine.



ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Michael Elgin(c) vs. Tommaso Ciampa- 5.5/10 (yes, you read that correctly)
Sometimes there is a match that you are SO excited for, and the wrestlers put on a great match, but you built it up in your head so much that even a “great” match feels disappointing. But that’s not what this was. This was a time when I was super-excited for a match, and then the wrestlers just went out and put on a crappy match.
Ciampa countered a suplex by applying testicular claw. Right in front of the referee. There was no DQ for this. They followed this up by doing one of those spots that I f*cking hate where one of them throws a hard kick to the back, then sits down on the mat and just lets the other guy kick him in the back, and then they alternate. What happened to wanting to win the ROH World Title?! These guys have been talking about how hard they have trained for this match… and now they’re doing this pointless sh*t?!
Elgin put Ciampa through a table, completely and totally on purpose, right in front of the referee. No DQ for this, either.
Ciampa being Ciampa, he had to kick out at one at some point in this match. At least he didn’t do it after a finisher. Maybe he’s learning? Aw… who am I kidding? He later proceeded to blatantly poke Elgin in the eye. There was no point to doing this because he was already in control of the match, and it didn’t matter at all because after he did this, Elgin sold it, but then went on offense before Ciampa could land a single move!
Now this might not be fair to them because this was an edited version of the match (and I will be buying the DVD and watching the full version once the Black Friday sale comes around), but this really came off as two guys with no clue how to tell a story in the ring (other than the basic “I hit you until you fall down and can’t kick out).


And while I’m angry, here’s another thing that really annoyed me: In the middle of the match (as a commercial bumper), they had a promo by Mark Briscoe hyping up the Honor Rumble on next week’s TV. I HATE it when they do this in the middle of a match, especially a main event, because I spend the whole commercial thinking of how much action I am missing right now. They also interrupted the match for a stupid promo by the Kingdom.

POST-MATCH ANGLE- Elgin wanted handshake. Ciampa instead picked up the title, stared at it longingly, and then dropped it and left the ring. Elgin went to the back, then Ciampa went nuts and attacked a few ringside attendants. He then went after Kevin Kelly. Steve Corino tried to talk him down, while referees and security showed up to help. Ciampa appeared to have calmed down, and people wne tot the back. Ciampa celebrated as if he had actually done something (totally out of character for him), and some dumbass fans actually threw streamers at him this this. Ciampa then went after ring announcer Bobby Cruise. He hit him with about eight straight running knees to the face. Not a single person came out to help Bobby Cruise because… um…


Well… it had to happen sometime. ROH’s streak of GREAT shows ends after two straight months. The fact that it ended with the much anticipated Elgin-Ciampa match stinking so much just made things even more disappointing.