ROH TV 4-20-13

Kevin Steen starts us off. Crowd chants “Thank you Kevin” and “Mr. Wrestling”, but before he can get any words out Steve Corino shows up through the crowd. Corino says that the mission is still intact even though Steen lost the title, Steen says that now that Cornette is gone he doesn’t want to kill ROH anymore and all he cares about is getting the title back. The rest of S.C.U.M. makes their way out through the crowd. Steen: “There’s one part of your plan I can’t get behind” (points at Matt Hardy) “and it’s this motherfucker!” Corino totally flips out about that (even referring to Hardy as “Jesus”) and he decides that it’s best that they go their separate ways. S.C.U.M. advances on Steen, and I’m sure you can see where this is going. And so can Steen, who gives Corino 2 choices: let him just walk away, or jump him and start something they’ll all regret. Corino says that choice #1 isn’t an option, so Steen attacks Hardy and quickly becomes the victim of a 6-on-1 beatdown that ends with a Twist of Fate from Hardy. And FINALLY, there’s your face turn.

Roderick Strong vs. Mike Bennett (w/Brutal Bob): No Maria tonight, which isn’t going to help this crappy crowd make any more noise (though at least the camera will stay focused on the match). Mike Mondo is on commentary, and while he’s not Truth Martini awful he’s pretty bad. Strong starts by working the arm and he hits a missile dropkick for 2, the kickout sends him to the outside. Strong pulls Bennett out and they brawl on the outside, they end up near the commentators and Bennett gets in Mondo’s face, but nothing comes out of it. After some more brawling they finally get back in the ring and Bennett hits a spinebuster. Mondo: “Don’t get in my grill, I’m from Long Island and I’ll beat your fucking ass!” Man, they’re playing it pretty loose with the TV-PG rating tonight. Bennett hits a back elbow for 2 and grabs a sleeper. Strong gets loose and chops away after a victory roll attempt, he gets a dropkick but runs into a boot on a blind charge. Bennett charges in but gets dumped to the outside, Strong follows with a dropkick through the ropes and they brawl on the floor some more. Bennett tries to whip Strong into Mondo but Strong puts on the brakes and Bennett ends up accidentally spearing Mondo into the guardrail. Strong drops Bennett back-first on the edge of the ring and rolls him back in for 2, jumping knee and a backbreaker gets 2. He goes for the Stronghold but can’t hook it in, both guys throw punches and Strong tries for the double-knee backbreaker, Bennett gets loose and hits a spear for 2. Brutal Bob tries to distract the ref but Mondo takes him out, snaps Bennett on the top rope, and Strong wins it with the double-knee backbreaker at 7:39. Mondo attacks both guys after the match and the stooges come out to break it up. **1/2, match was fine, commentary sucked.

Jorge Santi vs. TaDarius Thomas: S.C.U.M. is back out for a beatdown and the match is thrown out at 1:36. Shame too, the little bit they got to do was pretty decent.

Corino runs his mouth some more, and that brings out Nigel McGuiness. Nigel brings out Jay Lethal and Michael Elgin as Corino keeps referring to himself as God. Corino wants one of his guys (his “spiritual son”, in other words, Hardy) to get a title shot, Nigel says that “None of you wankers deserves a shot”. This whole segment goes on FOREVER, but eventually leads to a match at Border Wars, if S.C.U.M. wins Matt Hardy gets a title shot (you’ve got to be fucking kidding me…) and Corino becomes the new commentator, if Lethal & Elgin win S.C.U.M. has to leave ROH for good.

Inside ROH: Jay Briscoe cuts a promo, but the only words I can decipher are “Kevin Steen”, “Adam Cole” and “Toronto”. ACH and Mark Briscoe add their thoughts about the main event tonight, Mark wants ACH to win (he faces the winner at Border Wars) because Taven probably caught a disease from Martini.

ROH TV Title: ACH vs. Matt Taven (C) (w/ Truth Martini & Scarlet Bordeaux): Mark Briscoe is on commentary. ACH earned this title shot by winning a proving ground match at the show where Charlie Haas got shitcanned. They start with the usual chain wrestling, ACH busts out a headscissors and dropkicks Taven while he’s caught up in the ropes. Taven comes back with a spinkick but he ends up on the floor, ACH hits a baseball slide and Air Jordan as we go to break.

We return with Taven missing a twisting springboard senton, ACH is up with clotheslines. Taven bails and ACH hits a dive through the ropes, back in he gets a crossbody from the top for2. Martini pulls down the top rope as ACH is trying to bounce off them, but he lands on his feet and grabs Martini, only to eat a baseball slide from Taven. Taven puts ACH’s legs on the apron and hits a wicked neckbreaker, ACH just barely beats the count back in. DDT attempt from Taven is reversed into a rollup, ACH tries for the bearhug DDT but it’s blocked and he gets dropped face first on the top turnbuckle. Taven goes up top but gets nailed with a kick and a top rope rana, frog splash gets 2. Bordeaux distracts the ref, Martini trips up ACH as he’s coming off the ropes and Taven hits his Playmaker-like move to retain at 6:42 aired. **, a bit too short (maybe if Corino hadn’t ran his mouth for 15 minutes they could have got more time) but otherwise it was OK.

Good show this week, as the wrestling was fine and they’re finally starting to move the S.C.U.M. angle along. Next week: nothing was announced, so expect some impromptu S.C.U.M. matches.