ROH Border Wars
ROH Border Wars (5/12/2012)- Toronto, ON
This review contains spoilers if you haven't seen the show. You are warned.
"The War Machine" Rhino W/ Truth Martini vs "Die Hard" Eddie Edwards - 6/10
I was really surprised that more people were behind the GORE, than Edwards at the start of the match. It was funny that when Rhino asked "who's the man?" the answered followed with a series of "WOOO"s. The dead weight german suplex looked great! Match was a decent opener, the finish was meh, but it did ok to not kill Rhino's ROH image.The aftermath was great.
ANX & "Technical Lighting" TJ Perkins vs Young Bucks & Mike Mondo - 5/10
I care nothing about Mike Mondo, guys like him is the problem i have with ROH right now, their roster seems soo stale to me. I lol'd when Mondo missed the triple dropkick and Matt simply stood there. The match was ok, fast paced, but not as amazing as you could expect with the guys involved. Some good spots here and there.
" The Dominant Male" Tommaso Ciampa w/ The Embassy Ltd vs Jay Lethal - 6/10
Why o why is Osiris still here??....Ciampa...that beard...you have something in your face...i think...The Section C spot was bad, they should feel bad. Alabama Slam to the turnbuckle looked great! There goes the streak. Again a decent match, but nothing out of this world.
Lance Storm vs "The Prodigy" Mike Bennett W/ Bob Evans - 7/10
Thank you Storm for changing the attire from the last time. Say what you will, I'm really behind Mike Bennett now, he just needs to get rid of Bob Evans. Best match of the night so far, between a guy no one believes in and an old timer. The chair thing was unnecessary, but i'll take it.
Adam Cole vs "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin W/ Truth Martini - 7/10
wait, Rhino vs Edwards again?? oh no, it's Cole vs Elgin. Adam reminds me soo much of Tyler Black sometimes. Ok, it was better than Rhino vs Eddie. Much Better. The Falcon Arrow from the top rope was wicked!! The finish felt out of momentum, but at a good point of the match.
ROH TV Title Match - No Time Limit
"The Messiah of the Backbreaker" Roderick Strong (c) vs "The Belfast Brawler" Fit Finlay - 7/10
I miss Roddy's old theme music. I missed Finlay. The match was good, slow paced, technical to brawl. Finaly is one of those guys like Storm that even at old age, they still got it. Crowd was annoying, especially that kid talking so much.
ROH World Tag Team Title Match - Fight Without Honor
The Briscoes (c) vs WGTT - 5/10
Fights without honor usually make me think of hardcore matches at the level of ECW, but they rarely live up that awesome name. The match was a decent back and forward match, but the finish was horrible!! It felt soo TNA, pretty crappy for a title change.
ROH World Title Match
"American Wolf" Davey Richards (c) vs "Wrestling's Worst Nightmare" Kevin Steen w/ Jimmy Jacobs - 6/10
The way Jacobs moves kinda annoys me, he used to be a mastermind. Davey is a bit Cena-ish right now, crowd is really against him, at one point, i wasn't sure if we were gonna get NRC Davey Richards or Best in the World Davey Richards. The match was decent at most considering the build up it had. This was supposed to be epic, but it just didn't do it for me. I found the headbutt-kiss spot really cool, because i feel like Richards is all straight, no fooling around during a match, and Steen kissing him was the complete opposite of that. I'm loving that Richards was getting desperate for the win at the end of the match, kinda like he was starting to lose confidence in himself. The exposed turnbuckle thing was terrible. Cornette was supposed to be outside for this match, his face at the title change is something that every fan had been waiting for. The Silkin thing was a nice touch.
Final Thoughts:
The show was good, but not epic as what it was expected, but then again, i've been feeling the same thing about many ROH shows lately. It's kinda sad that the matches i liked the most involved old timers that were visiting.
Notes:
- If they're gonna show so many clips beore the matches, why not work a bit on making build up videos instead of recaps of promos.
- Kelly is soo Sports Entertainment
- Tommaso.....that beard!!!
- I found it pretty stupid that they were adding the Code of Honor part when comparing wrestlers.
- Again, a lot of miscommunication between the announcing team, and the production team. Someone needs to agree to work for the other.
- The ROH crowd is as annoying as any other crowd, or am I getting to old??
- Shout out to Doug Williams!!
- I love what Nigel brings to the table.
- ROH, don't do recaps with louder volume than the commentary table!!
This review contains spoilers if you haven't seen the show. You are warned.
"The War Machine" Rhino W/ Truth Martini vs "Die Hard" Eddie Edwards - 6/10
I was really surprised that more people were behind the GORE, than Edwards at the start of the match. It was funny that when Rhino asked "who's the man?" the answered followed with a series of "WOOO"s. The dead weight german suplex looked great! Match was a decent opener, the finish was meh, but it did ok to not kill Rhino's ROH image.The aftermath was great.
ANX & "Technical Lighting" TJ Perkins vs Young Bucks & Mike Mondo - 5/10
I care nothing about Mike Mondo, guys like him is the problem i have with ROH right now, their roster seems soo stale to me. I lol'd when Mondo missed the triple dropkick and Matt simply stood there. The match was ok, fast paced, but not as amazing as you could expect with the guys involved. Some good spots here and there.
" The Dominant Male" Tommaso Ciampa w/ The Embassy Ltd vs Jay Lethal - 6/10
Why o why is Osiris still here??....Ciampa...that beard...you have something in your face...i think...The Section C spot was bad, they should feel bad. Alabama Slam to the turnbuckle looked great! There goes the streak. Again a decent match, but nothing out of this world.
Lance Storm vs "The Prodigy" Mike Bennett W/ Bob Evans - 7/10
Thank you Storm for changing the attire from the last time. Say what you will, I'm really behind Mike Bennett now, he just needs to get rid of Bob Evans. Best match of the night so far, between a guy no one believes in and an old timer. The chair thing was unnecessary, but i'll take it.
Adam Cole vs "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin W/ Truth Martini - 7/10
wait, Rhino vs Edwards again?? oh no, it's Cole vs Elgin. Adam reminds me soo much of Tyler Black sometimes. Ok, it was better than Rhino vs Eddie. Much Better. The Falcon Arrow from the top rope was wicked!! The finish felt out of momentum, but at a good point of the match.
ROH TV Title Match - No Time Limit
"The Messiah of the Backbreaker" Roderick Strong (c) vs "The Belfast Brawler" Fit Finlay - 7/10
I miss Roddy's old theme music. I missed Finlay. The match was good, slow paced, technical to brawl. Finaly is one of those guys like Storm that even at old age, they still got it. Crowd was annoying, especially that kid talking so much.
ROH World Tag Team Title Match - Fight Without Honor
The Briscoes (c) vs WGTT - 5/10
Fights without honor usually make me think of hardcore matches at the level of ECW, but they rarely live up that awesome name. The match was a decent back and forward match, but the finish was horrible!! It felt soo TNA, pretty crappy for a title change.
ROH World Title Match
"American Wolf" Davey Richards (c) vs "Wrestling's Worst Nightmare" Kevin Steen w/ Jimmy Jacobs - 6/10
The way Jacobs moves kinda annoys me, he used to be a mastermind. Davey is a bit Cena-ish right now, crowd is really against him, at one point, i wasn't sure if we were gonna get NRC Davey Richards or Best in the World Davey Richards. The match was decent at most considering the build up it had. This was supposed to be epic, but it just didn't do it for me. I found the headbutt-kiss spot really cool, because i feel like Richards is all straight, no fooling around during a match, and Steen kissing him was the complete opposite of that. I'm loving that Richards was getting desperate for the win at the end of the match, kinda like he was starting to lose confidence in himself. The exposed turnbuckle thing was terrible. Cornette was supposed to be outside for this match, his face at the title change is something that every fan had been waiting for. The Silkin thing was a nice touch.
Final Thoughts:
The show was good, but not epic as what it was expected, but then again, i've been feeling the same thing about many ROH shows lately. It's kinda sad that the matches i liked the most involved old timers that were visiting.
Notes:
- If they're gonna show so many clips beore the matches, why not work a bit on making build up videos instead of recaps of promos.
- Kelly is soo Sports Entertainment
- Tommaso.....that beard!!!
- I found it pretty stupid that they were adding the Code of Honor part when comparing wrestlers.
- Again, a lot of miscommunication between the announcing team, and the production team. Someone needs to agree to work for the other.
- The ROH crowd is as annoying as any other crowd, or am I getting to old??
- Shout out to Doug Williams!!
- I love what Nigel brings to the table.
- ROH, don't do recaps with louder volume than the commentary table!!