ROH 11th Anniversary Show
Ring Of Honor's 11th Anniversary Show
March 2nd, 2013
Chicago Ridge, IL
Six Man Mayhem
Tadarius Thomas vs QT Marshal w/RD Evans vs Adam Page vs Silas Young vs Mike Sydal vs ACH - 5/10
Crowd is 100% behind ACH, The Last Hero will have a good ROH career. That little spotty match to get the people hyped at the start of the show. ACH getting surprised by a streamer was awesome. This match was to showcase the new signed talent, but Thomas and Page had a really good showing too.
S.C.U.M. (Jimmy Jacobs and Steve Corino) vs Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander - 6/10
A lot of great tag team stuff, but nothing overly amazing. Coming in to the show i thought this match was gonna be some kind of closure for this feud, but no, so I felt the end came out weird. Coming back after the end of the show, this match's outcome was good.
No Holds Barred
Charlie Haas vs BJ Whitmer - 7.5/10
Aw man, I hate watching Whitmer in 'hardcore' scenarios, there's always that freak spot he kinda botches and I freak out. Great match, the No Holds Barred gimmick never really came into play, this could have been a NO DQs match. Finish kinda sucked, but it seems this will escalate more in the coming weeks.
Forever Hooligans vs The American Wolves - 8.5/10
I mark out for Forever Hooligans and I'm quite glad to see the Wolves together. Gawd, why are USA fans so disrespectful to other anthems! Have they never seen how Japanese fans actually get up for Kozlov's anthem! Deportation chants!! YES! I'm loving this match, the hard hitting action from these four guys plus a little comedy in the middle. A lot of IWGP mention in this match, Richards actually gets referenced as a former IWGP champ and not the former ROH champ. Holy dang this match was fantastic, loved everything about it. I could really get into a series of these guys in tag and singles matches. Hope the Hooligans come back. Haven't watched ROH for a while, but it's nice to see the Code of Honor.
Awesome Quote of the Match: (About Kozlov) "Russian Leg Sweep, which for him is just a Leg Sweep"
2 out of 3 Falls
Roderick Strong vs 'Unbreakable' Michael Elgin - 7/10
It took 2 minutes for the first win. 2 minutes. I'll just accept it because of THAT BACKFIST!! Good match up for the most part, I think this is the most technical the show has been all night, this was also the most hard hitting we've been tonight. I've been kinda tired of this feud for a while, I'm really just enjoying this match for the wrestling and not necessarily the consequences of who wins. Second fall was great. Third fall was good. The finish was a bit lackluster.
Matt Hardy Promo - A Hardy getting a typical ROH reaction. But I have to say, Hardy looks great since the last time I saw him. Promo was eh.
ROH World TV Title
Adam Cole (c) vs Matt Taven w/Truth Martini - 7/10
I haven't followed Martini for a while now, but it seems things are getting a lot more sexual, homosexual to be exact, I'm ok with this, but it almost seems like Truth doesn't really have power over Matt like he did over the old House of Truth. Match was good, Cole always delivers and Taven as a wrestler is good.
Now, SPOILER ALERT: Taven wins the title Cole. Hrmm, I'm not against it, it definitely comes out of nowhere, but I'm ok with this, I like ROH pushing young talent, this is the TV title after all. I thought for a while that Cole has outgrown that title, so I have been expecting this title drop. But to Taven, i don't know, I'm guessing ROH is really really behind him to give him the title just weeks from his debut with not signed contract (that i know off), I mean, we don't really know much about him in ROH other than it seems that Truth is his sex slave. My only problem is that this kinda crapped the Cole/Hardy thing, since Hardy facing Taven would make Hardy the fan favorite. I guess I'm gonna have to see what happens next with these three guys. I loved the surprise in everyone's face, Hardy was out of words!
BTW, during the whole match, Matt Hardy sounded arrogant, but not antagonist at all, he was actually putting Cole over big. It was awesome how they didn't want to believe Taven could take the title.
ROH World Tag Team Title Match
The Briscoes (c) vs reDRagon - 8.5/10
Mark Briscoe, please please please shave that thing. I like this match up, I'm a big fan of brawlers fighting technicians. Lol at Nigel losing character and doing his own commentary. Doomsday Device from the Apron!! Amazing Match! I'm really happy that reDRagon took the titles clean. The Briscoes have been in ROH forever and to this point, I'm kinda tired of seeing them do their thing every time, and since breaking them up doesn't really do it for them (Maybe Jay, but not Mark) at least there is now a new team that was obviously better than them and they can chase the titles for a while. Second, Kyle O'Reilly has a title!
Kevin Kelly says that reDRagon asking to get the title place on them is arrogant, but this is a company that works around HONOR and these are your World Tag Team Champions!! Put the freaking titles on them!
ROH World Heavyweight Title
Kevin Steen (c) vs Jay Lethal - 9/10
Just coming in to the match it already feels like the stakes are as high as they can get. Even if it's Lethal vs Steen. It felt weird for Steen to offer the Code of Honor and Lethal to just go straight for the fight, it totally makes sense for this feud, but it's just not something you see everyday. SCUM attacks, I'm glad nothing really came out of it, but I did mark out when Corino and McGuinness got face to face.
BRAAAAAINBUSTAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!
Amazing Match!! best of the night and a perfect way to end the show
AFTERMATH -
BJ AND RAVE ARE FIGHTING!!! I'M MARKING OUT!!!
Man, how did this shift things. It seems now Corino will be soon in charge of S.C.U.M. thou Steen is still the 'King'. Corino mentions that Lethal was the final challenger, now i'm quite interested to see who steps up for Supercard of Honor. Thank God this finally ends that horrible Titus/Whitmer team. Compton was recognized by the fans (probably cuz they were in Chicago), so good for him.
BTW, putting Matt Hardy was a perfect choice in S.C.U.M. since it will finally bring heel heat to the stable.
At this point, my only concern is that this doesn't become ROH's version of the NWO, it's the last thing we want. But i'm confident that ROH has a good plan for this story. Regardless, i'm liking this development, the team, and i'm looking forward to see what happens now.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Thank you Lizard Man for bringing back the ROH i like. Nothing against the Cornette era, it gave us great matches, but for the first time since Generico vs Steen have I felt intrigued about what is gonna happen next, or happy about seeing new talent get recognized. There's still a lot to work on, but watching these new shows you can feel a different vibe. This show was great, even the worst match of the night was entertaining. The aftermath really turns things around, this is like watching the birth of the AOFT or something of that magnitude.
March 2nd, 2013
Chicago Ridge, IL
Six Man Mayhem
Tadarius Thomas vs QT Marshal w/RD Evans vs Adam Page vs Silas Young vs Mike Sydal vs ACH - 5/10
Crowd is 100% behind ACH, The Last Hero will have a good ROH career. That little spotty match to get the people hyped at the start of the show. ACH getting surprised by a streamer was awesome. This match was to showcase the new signed talent, but Thomas and Page had a really good showing too.
S.C.U.M. (Jimmy Jacobs and Steve Corino) vs Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander - 6/10
A lot of great tag team stuff, but nothing overly amazing. Coming in to the show i thought this match was gonna be some kind of closure for this feud, but no, so I felt the end came out weird. Coming back after the end of the show, this match's outcome was good.
No Holds Barred
Charlie Haas vs BJ Whitmer - 7.5/10
Aw man, I hate watching Whitmer in 'hardcore' scenarios, there's always that freak spot he kinda botches and I freak out. Great match, the No Holds Barred gimmick never really came into play, this could have been a NO DQs match. Finish kinda sucked, but it seems this will escalate more in the coming weeks.
Forever Hooligans vs The American Wolves - 8.5/10
I mark out for Forever Hooligans and I'm quite glad to see the Wolves together. Gawd, why are USA fans so disrespectful to other anthems! Have they never seen how Japanese fans actually get up for Kozlov's anthem! Deportation chants!! YES! I'm loving this match, the hard hitting action from these four guys plus a little comedy in the middle. A lot of IWGP mention in this match, Richards actually gets referenced as a former IWGP champ and not the former ROH champ. Holy dang this match was fantastic, loved everything about it. I could really get into a series of these guys in tag and singles matches. Hope the Hooligans come back. Haven't watched ROH for a while, but it's nice to see the Code of Honor.
Awesome Quote of the Match: (About Kozlov) "Russian Leg Sweep, which for him is just a Leg Sweep"
2 out of 3 Falls
Roderick Strong vs 'Unbreakable' Michael Elgin - 7/10
It took 2 minutes for the first win. 2 minutes. I'll just accept it because of THAT BACKFIST!! Good match up for the most part, I think this is the most technical the show has been all night, this was also the most hard hitting we've been tonight. I've been kinda tired of this feud for a while, I'm really just enjoying this match for the wrestling and not necessarily the consequences of who wins. Second fall was great. Third fall was good. The finish was a bit lackluster.
Matt Hardy Promo - A Hardy getting a typical ROH reaction. But I have to say, Hardy looks great since the last time I saw him. Promo was eh.
ROH World TV Title
Adam Cole (c) vs Matt Taven w/Truth Martini - 7/10
I haven't followed Martini for a while now, but it seems things are getting a lot more sexual, homosexual to be exact, I'm ok with this, but it almost seems like Truth doesn't really have power over Matt like he did over the old House of Truth. Match was good, Cole always delivers and Taven as a wrestler is good.
Now, SPOILER ALERT: Taven wins the title Cole. Hrmm, I'm not against it, it definitely comes out of nowhere, but I'm ok with this, I like ROH pushing young talent, this is the TV title after all. I thought for a while that Cole has outgrown that title, so I have been expecting this title drop. But to Taven, i don't know, I'm guessing ROH is really really behind him to give him the title just weeks from his debut with not signed contract (that i know off), I mean, we don't really know much about him in ROH other than it seems that Truth is his sex slave. My only problem is that this kinda crapped the Cole/Hardy thing, since Hardy facing Taven would make Hardy the fan favorite. I guess I'm gonna have to see what happens next with these three guys. I loved the surprise in everyone's face, Hardy was out of words!
BTW, during the whole match, Matt Hardy sounded arrogant, but not antagonist at all, he was actually putting Cole over big. It was awesome how they didn't want to believe Taven could take the title.
ROH World Tag Team Title Match
The Briscoes (c) vs reDRagon - 8.5/10
Mark Briscoe, please please please shave that thing. I like this match up, I'm a big fan of brawlers fighting technicians. Lol at Nigel losing character and doing his own commentary. Doomsday Device from the Apron!! Amazing Match! I'm really happy that reDRagon took the titles clean. The Briscoes have been in ROH forever and to this point, I'm kinda tired of seeing them do their thing every time, and since breaking them up doesn't really do it for them (Maybe Jay, but not Mark) at least there is now a new team that was obviously better than them and they can chase the titles for a while. Second, Kyle O'Reilly has a title!
Kevin Kelly says that reDRagon asking to get the title place on them is arrogant, but this is a company that works around HONOR and these are your World Tag Team Champions!! Put the freaking titles on them!
ROH World Heavyweight Title
Kevin Steen (c) vs Jay Lethal - 9/10
Just coming in to the match it already feels like the stakes are as high as they can get. Even if it's Lethal vs Steen. It felt weird for Steen to offer the Code of Honor and Lethal to just go straight for the fight, it totally makes sense for this feud, but it's just not something you see everyday. SCUM attacks, I'm glad nothing really came out of it, but I did mark out when Corino and McGuinness got face to face.
BRAAAAAINBUSTAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!
Amazing Match!! best of the night and a perfect way to end the show
AFTERMATH -
BJ AND RAVE ARE FIGHTING!!! I'M MARKING OUT!!!
Man, how did this shift things. It seems now Corino will be soon in charge of S.C.U.M. thou Steen is still the 'King'. Corino mentions that Lethal was the final challenger, now i'm quite interested to see who steps up for Supercard of Honor. Thank God this finally ends that horrible Titus/Whitmer team. Compton was recognized by the fans (probably cuz they were in Chicago), so good for him.
BTW, putting Matt Hardy was a perfect choice in S.C.U.M. since it will finally bring heel heat to the stable.
At this point, my only concern is that this doesn't become ROH's version of the NWO, it's the last thing we want. But i'm confident that ROH has a good plan for this story. Regardless, i'm liking this development, the team, and i'm looking forward to see what happens now.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Thank you Lizard Man for bringing back the ROH i like. Nothing against the Cornette era, it gave us great matches, but for the first time since Generico vs Steen have I felt intrigued about what is gonna happen next, or happy about seeing new talent get recognized. There's still a lot to work on, but watching these new shows you can feel a different vibe. This show was great, even the worst match of the night was entertaining. The aftermath really turns things around, this is like watching the birth of the AOFT or something of that magnitude.