ROH Reclamation: Night 1
ROH Reclamation: Night 1 (7/12/2013)- Milwaukee, WI
This weekend of shows was called â€"Reclamation†because ROH was reclaiming its honor and returning to its old ways now that the war with SCUM is over. It’s not a great name, but it sure beats â€"Reborn Yet Again.â€
ADRENALINE RUSH vs. MIKE SYDAL & ZIZZOU MIDDOUX- 6/10
Sydal & Middoux cut an extremely lame pre-taped promo on their way to the ring. Whoever put these two together must have a sense of humor, though. Now that SCUM has disbanded, perhaps Matt Hardy’s next project in ROH will be to mentor these guys and they can have a whole stable of guys whose brothers make a lot more money wrestling than they do. If you are wondering why I am being mean to these two, it is because their team name seems to be â€"#PartyBoys.â€
All meanness aside, though, Sydal and Zizzou looked pretty good as a team. Thomas and ACH did their usual crowd-pleasing babyface offense. After the match, Sydal and Zizzou snub Thomas and ACH on the handshake.
ATHENA vs. MSCHIF- 5.75/10
A solid match. Athena’s push continues… and this feud heats up a significant amount, as MsChif decides to be a very sore loser and spray green mist in Athena’s face after the match.
BJ WHITMER vs. MICHAEL BENNETT (w/Maria Kanellis)- 6/10
Bennett is now going by â€"Michael†instead of â€"Mike†to further divorce himself from his old â€"Prodigy†nickname and his old trainer, â€"Brutal†Bob Evans. The match was solid, though I don’t think having BJ kick out of the Box Office Smash was a good idea. It’s a ten minute undercard match. You really shouldn’t be kicking out of finishers. I also think it probably would have been better if Bennett had just gone over completely cleanly, rather than surviving off of Maria distracting the ref when Whitmer rolled him up and then taking advantage of Maria’s distraction to get the advantage on Whitmer.
KYLE O’REILLY PROMO- GREAT!
EDDIE EDWARDS vs. KYLE O’REILLY- 8.5/10
THIS WAS AWESOME! There were points when I thought that Kyle was going to completely rip Eddie’s arm off! Bobby Fish was awesome on commentary as well.
RHINO vs. TOMMASO CIAMPA- 6.75/10
Very hard hitting match, with a sick finish. Rhino is definitely worth keeping around.
SILAS YOUNG PROMO- decent.
KEVIN STEEN vs. SILAS YOUNG- 6.75/10
Great brawl!
MICHAEL ELGIN PROMO- good
FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL MATCH: Adam Cole vs. Jay Lethal vs. Michael Elgin vs. Matt Taven (w/Truth Martini & the Hoopla Hotties)- 8.25/10
AWESOME multi-man match. Elgin and Taven both really stood out here. Taven continues to improve. He really looked like he belonged in the ring with the other three. Also impressive was Selezyia, the really jacked Hoopla Hottie, who actually hit Lethal with a Kryptonite Crunch which, when followed up by a Frog Splash from Taven, made for a very convincing false finish. Cole refuses to shake hands after the match, continuing his heel turn.
For some reason Kevin Kelly kept referring to Elgin as â€"the #1 contender†even though there is currently no champion and Elgin’s chance are just as good as the other fifteen men in the tournament.
DAVEY RICHARDS vs. BOBBY FISH- 8.25/10
Another awesome match. I am absolutely loving this feud.
AWESOME show from ROH (and a great crowd, too)! Definitely their best show of the year so far!
This weekend of shows was called â€"Reclamation†because ROH was reclaiming its honor and returning to its old ways now that the war with SCUM is over. It’s not a great name, but it sure beats â€"Reborn Yet Again.â€
ADRENALINE RUSH vs. MIKE SYDAL & ZIZZOU MIDDOUX- 6/10
Sydal & Middoux cut an extremely lame pre-taped promo on their way to the ring. Whoever put these two together must have a sense of humor, though. Now that SCUM has disbanded, perhaps Matt Hardy’s next project in ROH will be to mentor these guys and they can have a whole stable of guys whose brothers make a lot more money wrestling than they do. If you are wondering why I am being mean to these two, it is because their team name seems to be â€"#PartyBoys.â€
All meanness aside, though, Sydal and Zizzou looked pretty good as a team. Thomas and ACH did their usual crowd-pleasing babyface offense. After the match, Sydal and Zizzou snub Thomas and ACH on the handshake.
ATHENA vs. MSCHIF- 5.75/10
A solid match. Athena’s push continues… and this feud heats up a significant amount, as MsChif decides to be a very sore loser and spray green mist in Athena’s face after the match.
BJ WHITMER vs. MICHAEL BENNETT (w/Maria Kanellis)- 6/10
Bennett is now going by â€"Michael†instead of â€"Mike†to further divorce himself from his old â€"Prodigy†nickname and his old trainer, â€"Brutal†Bob Evans. The match was solid, though I don’t think having BJ kick out of the Box Office Smash was a good idea. It’s a ten minute undercard match. You really shouldn’t be kicking out of finishers. I also think it probably would have been better if Bennett had just gone over completely cleanly, rather than surviving off of Maria distracting the ref when Whitmer rolled him up and then taking advantage of Maria’s distraction to get the advantage on Whitmer.
KYLE O’REILLY PROMO- GREAT!
EDDIE EDWARDS vs. KYLE O’REILLY- 8.5/10
THIS WAS AWESOME! There were points when I thought that Kyle was going to completely rip Eddie’s arm off! Bobby Fish was awesome on commentary as well.
RHINO vs. TOMMASO CIAMPA- 6.75/10
Very hard hitting match, with a sick finish. Rhino is definitely worth keeping around.
SILAS YOUNG PROMO- decent.
KEVIN STEEN vs. SILAS YOUNG- 6.75/10
Great brawl!
MICHAEL ELGIN PROMO- good
FOUR CORNER SURVIVAL MATCH: Adam Cole vs. Jay Lethal vs. Michael Elgin vs. Matt Taven (w/Truth Martini & the Hoopla Hotties)- 8.25/10
AWESOME multi-man match. Elgin and Taven both really stood out here. Taven continues to improve. He really looked like he belonged in the ring with the other three. Also impressive was Selezyia, the really jacked Hoopla Hottie, who actually hit Lethal with a Kryptonite Crunch which, when followed up by a Frog Splash from Taven, made for a very convincing false finish. Cole refuses to shake hands after the match, continuing his heel turn.
For some reason Kevin Kelly kept referring to Elgin as â€"the #1 contender†even though there is currently no champion and Elgin’s chance are just as good as the other fifteen men in the tournament.
DAVEY RICHARDS vs. BOBBY FISH- 8.25/10
Another awesome match. I am absolutely loving this feud.
AWESOME show from ROH (and a great crowd, too)! Definitely their best show of the year so far!