ROH Road to Greatness: Night 1
ROH Road To Greatness: Night 1 (9/6/2013)- Chattanooga, TN
RODERICK STRONG vs. RAYMOND ROWE- 6/10
I’d really like to see them give Rowe more time to show his stuff (this only went about ten minutes). If you’re going to have him wrestle a guy like Roddy, really let him show you what he can do. Give him fifteen minutes. If he can’t have a very good match with Roddy in fifteen minutes, you probably don’t want him on the roster anyway.
ALABAMA ATTITUDE vs. ADRENALINE RUSH- 5.5/10
VEDA SCOTT PROMO- She says that R.D. Evans has hired her to help with his legal work now that his fingers are broken. As a result, she has also decided to take over for him in managing Q.T. Marshall. She calls out some radio intern who they are apparently doing an angle with (yup, not even a real DJ. An intern). This guy apparently calls himself the â€"ROH Radio Champion†and has brought his own belt with him. What a f*cking dork!
This guy is also dressed like an idiot (Kevin Kelly later refers to him as a hypothetical child of Goldust and Sgt. Slaughter), so he and Q.T. argue about who has the better robe on. Q.T. says that there is no one in ROH show can shut him up… and out comes Cheeseburger, and they set up a match. I don’t think there has been a match in ROH that I cared less about since Q.T. wrestled Mike Mondo last year at Caged Hostility. Then again, that match was a lot better than I expected it to be, so let’s see what happens here…
CHEESEBURGER vs. Q.T. MARSHALL (w/Veda Scott)- 3.5/10
Q.T. throws Cheeseburger around, but can’t put him down. Cheeseburger gets a bunch of roll-ups for two-counts. Veda comes in and feigns an injury distracting the referee so Q.T. can cheat… via a poke in the eye. Q.T. then hits Cheeseburger with his finisher and gets the win. SO apparently Q.T. can’t beat an ROH STUDENT whom he outweighs two-to-one, without cheating.
After the match, Q.T. calls the radio intern into the ring and tells him that if he gets down on his knees and apologizes, he will receive a signed official ROH 8x10 photo of Q.T. Marshall. The dork actually does so. Then Q.T. turns his back to this guy and demands that Cheeseburger follow the Code of Honor and shake his hand, and as this is happening, the radio intern gets on his hands and knees behind Q.T. Cheeseburgers shakes Q.T.’s hand, then pushes him so that Q.T. trips backwards over the DJ and takes a school boy bump (this is actually where the term comes from). The intern then rips up the picture of Q.T. and celebrates this… victory?... with the intern.
So once again Cheeseburger looks like a jerk, which is supposed to make us root for him for some reason. I don’t see how anyone can possibly see him as the babyface in this feud with Bennett. Cheeseburger started it by horribly insulting Bennett’s girlfriend and he later sexually harassed her. Now he acts like a sore loser. I will cheer for Brutal Bob against Bennett, but I’m not cheering for this jerk.
DAVEY RICHARDS vs. MATT TAVEN (w/Truth Martini & the Hoopla Hotties)- 7/10
Taven works over Davey’s head, Davey works over Taven’s leg.
JAY LETHAL vs. LUKE HAWX- 6/10
BOBBY FISH (w/Kyle O’Reilly) vs. CAPRICE COLEMAN (w/Cedric Alexander)- 6.75/10
KYLE O’REILLY vs. CEDRIC ALEXANDER- 7.5/10
Great match. Cedric puts up a good babyface fight, but Kyle works his arm over all match and gets him to tap.
ADAM COLE & TOMASSO CIAMPA vs. KEVIN STEEN & MICHAEL ELGIN- 7.5/10
A great match, but the circumstances of it (each team was comprised of guys who would be opponents in the semifinals of the ROH World Title Tournament) really just kind of screamed â€"mostly unimportant B show main event,†and that feeling did kind of get in the way. To ROH’s credit, though, the finish of this match actually did wind up mattering (I believe it was used as part of the justification for Steen’s title shot at The Golden Dream), but that is only clear in hindsight, and this match really just felt unimportant. It’s like one of those main events on the go-home show for a PPV where you get the two babyfaces in the top feuds for the PPV teaming against their heel PPV opponents. It should feel big, but you just kind of know that it isn’t.
I’m not criticizing ROH for doing this. Sometimes you have to put on a B show that screams â€"I’m the B show of this weekend. Buy the other show instead!†I get that. But as a consumer, it does make this show feel unimportant, and thus, it is less enjoyable. The show had some great wrestling, and the finishes of both the main event and the Davey vs. Taven match turned out to be important to the storylines, but there are much better shows out there. You won’t be disappointed if you buy it, but I would pick up most of the other shows from 2013 before this one.
STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:
1. Kevin Kelly- â€"He broke another rule. That’s okay. That’s what you’ve got to do if you want to win.â€
So after all of this talk we have been getting all summer about â€"restoring honor†to ROH, here we have the lead announcer ENDORSING CHEATING!
2. Kevin Kelly (after the Cedric vs. Kyle match)- â€"Cedric Alexander has nothing to be disappointed about.â€
Of course he has something to be disappointed about! He just lost his match! You can say that he has nothing be ashamed of because he gave it his all, but should still be disappointed that he lost.
RODERICK STRONG vs. RAYMOND ROWE- 6/10
I’d really like to see them give Rowe more time to show his stuff (this only went about ten minutes). If you’re going to have him wrestle a guy like Roddy, really let him show you what he can do. Give him fifteen minutes. If he can’t have a very good match with Roddy in fifteen minutes, you probably don’t want him on the roster anyway.
ALABAMA ATTITUDE vs. ADRENALINE RUSH- 5.5/10
VEDA SCOTT PROMO- She says that R.D. Evans has hired her to help with his legal work now that his fingers are broken. As a result, she has also decided to take over for him in managing Q.T. Marshall. She calls out some radio intern who they are apparently doing an angle with (yup, not even a real DJ. An intern). This guy apparently calls himself the â€"ROH Radio Champion†and has brought his own belt with him. What a f*cking dork!
This guy is also dressed like an idiot (Kevin Kelly later refers to him as a hypothetical child of Goldust and Sgt. Slaughter), so he and Q.T. argue about who has the better robe on. Q.T. says that there is no one in ROH show can shut him up… and out comes Cheeseburger, and they set up a match. I don’t think there has been a match in ROH that I cared less about since Q.T. wrestled Mike Mondo last year at Caged Hostility. Then again, that match was a lot better than I expected it to be, so let’s see what happens here…
CHEESEBURGER vs. Q.T. MARSHALL (w/Veda Scott)- 3.5/10
Q.T. throws Cheeseburger around, but can’t put him down. Cheeseburger gets a bunch of roll-ups for two-counts. Veda comes in and feigns an injury distracting the referee so Q.T. can cheat… via a poke in the eye. Q.T. then hits Cheeseburger with his finisher and gets the win. SO apparently Q.T. can’t beat an ROH STUDENT whom he outweighs two-to-one, without cheating.
After the match, Q.T. calls the radio intern into the ring and tells him that if he gets down on his knees and apologizes, he will receive a signed official ROH 8x10 photo of Q.T. Marshall. The dork actually does so. Then Q.T. turns his back to this guy and demands that Cheeseburger follow the Code of Honor and shake his hand, and as this is happening, the radio intern gets on his hands and knees behind Q.T. Cheeseburgers shakes Q.T.’s hand, then pushes him so that Q.T. trips backwards over the DJ and takes a school boy bump (this is actually where the term comes from). The intern then rips up the picture of Q.T. and celebrates this… victory?... with the intern.
So once again Cheeseburger looks like a jerk, which is supposed to make us root for him for some reason. I don’t see how anyone can possibly see him as the babyface in this feud with Bennett. Cheeseburger started it by horribly insulting Bennett’s girlfriend and he later sexually harassed her. Now he acts like a sore loser. I will cheer for Brutal Bob against Bennett, but I’m not cheering for this jerk.
DAVEY RICHARDS vs. MATT TAVEN (w/Truth Martini & the Hoopla Hotties)- 7/10
Taven works over Davey’s head, Davey works over Taven’s leg.
JAY LETHAL vs. LUKE HAWX- 6/10
BOBBY FISH (w/Kyle O’Reilly) vs. CAPRICE COLEMAN (w/Cedric Alexander)- 6.75/10
KYLE O’REILLY vs. CEDRIC ALEXANDER- 7.5/10
Great match. Cedric puts up a good babyface fight, but Kyle works his arm over all match and gets him to tap.
ADAM COLE & TOMASSO CIAMPA vs. KEVIN STEEN & MICHAEL ELGIN- 7.5/10
A great match, but the circumstances of it (each team was comprised of guys who would be opponents in the semifinals of the ROH World Title Tournament) really just kind of screamed â€"mostly unimportant B show main event,†and that feeling did kind of get in the way. To ROH’s credit, though, the finish of this match actually did wind up mattering (I believe it was used as part of the justification for Steen’s title shot at The Golden Dream), but that is only clear in hindsight, and this match really just felt unimportant. It’s like one of those main events on the go-home show for a PPV where you get the two babyfaces in the top feuds for the PPV teaming against their heel PPV opponents. It should feel big, but you just kind of know that it isn’t.
I’m not criticizing ROH for doing this. Sometimes you have to put on a B show that screams â€"I’m the B show of this weekend. Buy the other show instead!†I get that. But as a consumer, it does make this show feel unimportant, and thus, it is less enjoyable. The show had some great wrestling, and the finishes of both the main event and the Davey vs. Taven match turned out to be important to the storylines, but there are much better shows out there. You won’t be disappointed if you buy it, but I would pick up most of the other shows from 2013 before this one.
STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:
1. Kevin Kelly- â€"He broke another rule. That’s okay. That’s what you’ve got to do if you want to win.â€
So after all of this talk we have been getting all summer about â€"restoring honor†to ROH, here we have the lead announcer ENDORSING CHEATING!
2. Kevin Kelly (after the Cedric vs. Kyle match)- â€"Cedric Alexander has nothing to be disappointed about.â€
Of course he has something to be disappointed about! He just lost his match! You can say that he has nothing be ashamed of because he gave it his all, but should still be disappointed that he lost.