We open with Steve Corino, Jimmy Jacobs, Rhett Titus, and
Cliff Compton in the ring, and Corino issues an open challenge. BJ Whitmer and
Coleman & Alexander answer.
Jimmy Jacobs, Rhett
Titus, & Cliff Compton vs. BJ Whitmer, Caprice Coleman, & Cedric
Alexander: Big brawl to start with the faces doing the majority of the
damage. That gets sorted out and the heels take over on Alexander in their
corner. That goes on for a while with nothing notable really happening. Alexander
flips out of a backdrop suplex attempt by Titus and finally makes the lukewarm
tag to Whitmer, who hits a powerslam but Jacobs makes the save. Whitmer dumps
him and hits an exploder on Titus, Compton makes the save this time and he gets
dumped as well, Coleman and Alexander dive over the top to take out the guys on
the floor. Titus somehow ends up with a hunk of chain and he cracks Whitmer in
the head with it to finish at 6:51. *1/2, total nothing match with no heat
whatsoever. S.C.U.M. tries a beatdown but Jay Lethal and Michael Elgin are out
to make the save.
Rhett Titus vs. Jay
Lethal: JIP with both guys slugging it out. Lethal hits a hiptoss and
cartwheels into a dropkick, then tosses Titus to the apron and a springboard
dropkick sends him to the floor. Lethal follows with the dive through the
ropes, then adds 2 more. They brawl on the floor for a bit, Titus throws Lethal
back in and grabs a chinlock. Lethal powers out, but Titus pulls his hair to
send him back down. Double kneedrop gets 2 and Titus goes back to the punching.
Lethal fights back and hits a missile dropkick and a DVD for 2. He goes up top,
but Titus is ready for him so Lethal just jumps over him and lands a kick to
the gut. He tries for the Lethal Injection but Titus dropkicks him in the back
of the head and hits a big clothesline for 2. Lethal blocks a suplex but misses
and enziguri, Titus walks right into the Lethal Combination anyway. A superkick
and the Injection finish it at 6:42 shown. *, match was mostly punching and was
pretty shitty. This is the first win for one of the ROH guys against S.C.U.M.
Inside ROH: Mostly
PPV hype. Michael Elgin cuts a quick promo talking up his match with “Machine
Gun” Karl Anderson on next week’s show, reDRagon cut their usual terrible promo
running down Davey Richards.
After some clips of Kevin Steen winning the ROH title at
Border Wars 2012 Nigel McGuiness brings out Adam Cole and Jay Briscoe for a
contract signing. That goes off without any issues, but Corino is back out,
this time with Rhino and Matt Hardy.
Jay Briscoe &
Adam Cole vs. Rhino & Matt Hardy: Hardy throws his shirt into the crowd
and they throw it right back at him. After a long stalling period Cole and
Hardy finally start us off, Cole gets too close to Rhino and gets distracted
and Hardy attacks him from behind. They punch away for a while before Cole hits
a neckbreaker for 2. Hardy tags out and Cole goes after Rhino’s arm, he hits a
dropkick to the knee and a shining wizard gets 2. Jay in now and he pounds on
Rhino in the corner, but he misses a blind charge and Rhino takes him down with
a shoulderblock. Jay fights back and tags in Cole, who fights off both heels
before getting caught going upstairs. Hardy is back in as we go to commercial.
We return with Cole and Hardy punching away, Cole tries a
crossbody but Hardy catches him and slams him down. Another slam gets 2, a sort
of powerbomb out of the corner gets 2. Rhino in now and he chokes Cole in the
corner. Cole fights back and flips out of a suplex attempt to make the hot tag
(didn’t we see that exact same spot in the opener?), Jay takes down Rhino with
a big boot and kicks Hardy off the apron. DDT for 2, Hardy tries to make the
save but Jay is ready for him and kicks his ass. Rhino hits a belly-to-belly,
but runs into a boot while trying for the Gore. Another big boot, but Cole tags
himself in. The faces argue about it before Hardy interrupts, Cole tries to
superkick him but hits Jay instead. Cole dumps Hardy, Rhino Gores Jay, and Cole
rolls up Rhino to finish at 8:07 aired. **, Cole and Briscoe have words after
the match but don’t come to blows.
Pretty shitty episode this week. Next week: Michael Elgin
vs. Karl Anderson.
Shows like this are why I'm only getting past ROH stuff now. I'm going to get SCOH 2013 for the Jay Briscoe title win but other than that I'm not bothering with any of the current product. Also if I want to get a comprehensive list of DVD sets of the most important ROH storylines and matches from the past that shoud include Rise of Generation Next correct?
ReplyDeleteRoH: Pissing away our legacy since 2005.
ReplyDeleteYou think it's been happening for that long huh? I don't think ROH ever did anything as good as the Summer of Punk though. Age of the Fall came close but they fucked up Tyler Black's title reign. I'd argue the true decline didn't start happening till 2009.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I mean. I really dislike Roderick Strong, and I think his winning the title (also because it was in a heel vs. heel match) was when the boots started getting put to the company.
ReplyDeletePrior to that, all the "real" champs (not Lynn) were guys like Nigel, Bryan, Punk, Joe, Aries, hell, even Black were guys that went on to move up. It's kinda how RoH worked, you win the title, then you move on to a bigger company. But who the fuck is going to take Roderick Strong? Now you have him, Edwards, Richards and Steen all running around the company, and I really doubt they're ever leaving unless there's some heat.
RoH is going to either start giving people multiple title reigns, because as is, they have four ex-champs running around the mid-card.
ROH can get back much of my goodwill by having Cole turn heel, win the ROH title, and lose it to Elgin at Final Battle. Fuck giving ANY members of SCUM the title, just have them feud with Steen and maybe a face Strong.
ReplyDeleteThomas has actually improved a lot in the last few months.
ReplyDeleteI think there's definitely a possibility of Cole turning heel, winning the title and then joining SCUM with Matt Hardy as his mentor of sorts. I assume that's where Cole's on/off feud with Hardy is leading up to eventually.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be against Cole joining SCUM so long as he wins the title but being Hardy's mentor? No way. Besides I don't think Matt would be too happy with Adam as champ and him not.
ReplyDeleteThe best way I can describe what I was thinking is by referring The Dark Knight with Hardy playing the role of the Joker to Cole's Harvey Dent in a way. Cole gets positioned as ROH's next big thing and role model of honor, but can't quite get the job down against Jay Briscoe. Steve Corino and Hardy keep taunting Cole about this with offers to join SCUM. Cole finally snaps and turns joining SCUM so Corino and Hardy can gloat to Nigel McGuinness about how they corrupted their golden boy.
ReplyDeleteIt could alternatively work as Cole wins title but then needs SCUM's help defeating Michael Elgin. Personally I think they missed the boat with Cole beating Steen for the title which should have then led to a double-turn by Cole and Steen.
As for Hardy not being happy with Cole as champ they could have booked around this with Matt Hardy declaring himself the OMEGA World Champion and boasting that his title has more honor and lineage than the ROH title. Sounds a bit daft I admit but I think it could work. Still that's enough fantasy booking for me for the time being!
If you say so. I haven't seen too much of him lately but he always struck me as the stereotypical terrible indy guy, flipping around, throwing ridiculous kicks and selling when he remembered.
ReplyDeleteYeah them clinging on to Nigel as champ, despite having torn BOTH his biceps, was insane. KENTA should have won the title at 7th anniversary then dropped it to Aries later on. The real deathblow was not giving the title to Tyler Black at Final Battle 2009.
ReplyDeleteEh...the Megapowers care to disagree with you.
ReplyDeleteAgreed here.
ReplyDeleteThomas...eh, maybe a little below average, but not truly horrendous.
Marshall has nothing. His ring work sucks, his look sucks, his mic work sucks, his gimmick sucks, his finisher sucks.
He sucks.
To be a spot monkey, don't you actually have to do spots?
ReplyDeleteHardy's just a monkey.
Which one?
ReplyDeleteI'm quite sure that the fanbase would except Hardy as champ. They just wouldn't accept it.
ReplyDeleteA spotty monkey?
ReplyDeleteI don't know why, but this made me laugh my ass off. And you're right on, he's like a 2013 version of Evan Karagis, only not nearly as annoying.
ReplyDelete5 of the last 6 weeks you have said ROH was a shitty show.
ReplyDeleteWell shit I botched pretty bad there.
ReplyDelete4 of the last 6 weeks, I called the show 3 weeks ago "OK".
ReplyDeleteMatt.
ReplyDeleteJeff can still work.
Story line wise I actually loved Nigel barely holding on to the title despite being crippled.
ReplyDeleteHe did a promo on Super Card of Honor(where he lost the title) where he basically said he hated being champion now because he was crippled in both arms and that sometimes he'd lay there and hope the ref would count to three, but then he'd hear a fan in the crowd chant "Die, Nigel Die" and it motivated him to keep the title that much longer.
I thought that promo beautifully defined the tail end of his run.
KENTA still should have won the title over Jerry Lynn.
ReplyDeleteOh definitely, I think KENTA was a better choice than Jerry Lynn. It would have felt appropriately epic having KENTA win it.
ReplyDeleteI might be the biggest Hardy apologist on the internet at this point but what exactly do you have against them? To my mind they spent three or four years being collectively the best thing in WWE and then had intermittent runs of greatness in between.
ReplyDeleteSo I take it Cole's WWE tryout was a no go? If so, if he beats Jay that makes two ROH title holders who failed to make it into developmental in just the last year.
ReplyDeleteEh, I'm kind of glad they didn't pick him up yet. He still has a lot to do on the indies and he's only been wrestling since 2008. I can see why Sami (might have) signed though, he's got a much more unique look.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of what he's done in the past, he's pretty fucking terrible right now.
ReplyDeleteWrestling is very much a "what have you done for me lately" business.
I've been to every Baltimore taping so far sans one and I gotta say, the crowd heat for this taping has been embarrassing. You can actually hear individual comments out loud during the TV show! Reminds me of the graveyard known as the ROH/HD tapings in Philly.
ReplyDeleteOsmosis. Works with plants and shitty wrestlers.
ReplyDeleteThat is a HORRIBLE insult and you should apologize immediately.
ReplyDeleteTo Evan Karagis.
The King of Old says at the top of the show "SEND OUT YOUR BEST!" and Blowjob Whitmer, Iesha and Shaniqua hit the ring. I think I just joined SCUM.
ReplyDeleteAnd from the was Kelly was selling it, next week we're getting two guys trying to go broadway. Someone PLEASE tell me this "Machine Gun" dude doesn't suck. The fact that he looks like "God's Punishment" QT Marshall with a mustache has me concerned
Machine Gun was Tensai's partner in Japan.
ReplyDeleteKarl Anderson does not suck
ReplyDeleteOn the flipside Mark has attv title shot
ReplyDeleteTag match for ALL THE TITLES!
So in Short LETS GO COLE
Ive taped and not watched the last couple weeks but I will be watching next week for Elgin vs Anderson cause, at least in Japan, Anderson is awesome.
ReplyDeleteSupposedly they've been waiting for the new training facility to open before they sign anyone. Even so, word is that they're signing Mike Bennett, not Cole.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this crowd sucks.
ReplyDeleteTheir lack of talent and their unprofessional behavior.
ReplyDeleteYou can say a lot of things about Jeff Hardy, but lack of talent isn't one of them. Kayfabe speaking, he's one of the best underdog babyfaces of the last 15 years.
ReplyDeleteSorry, but being able to huck yourself off high places does not equal wrestling talent in my eyes.
ReplyDeleteSure, that's part of his repertoire, but it's hardly the only thing. He's a great babyface foil for a great heel. See Edge-Hardy, Punk-Hardy and his matches with HHH and UT were great too without mentioning his work in the TLC matches. I couldn't disagree more with you on this one.
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell does anyone see in Bennett? I can't call him ROH's worst wrestler (cause, y'know, "God's Punishment") but he's damn close. I'd rather they sign Tom Marquez, and no one's seen him since ECW folded.
ReplyDeleteWhat he said. Even if you don't like his spotty offense, Jeff Hardy is one of wrestling's better sellers.
ReplyDeleteI finally got around to watching SCOH. Strong/Anderson and Elgin/Lethal were both really good. The main wasn't great, but I'm glad to see Jay get rewarded for his history with the company. And the video package during intermission with all of Jay's losses in past title matches was amazing.
ReplyDeleteHis match with Roddy at SCOH was the first of his work I have seen, and I was impressed. I thought it was one of the best matches of the night. But, to be fair, I'm a big Roderick Strong fan.
ReplyDeleteYou know how big WWE is on guys that have "it." As far as what WWE thinks "it" is I'm not sure, but Bennett is about the only guy in ROH that actually carries himself like a star. If you judged the ROH roster on how they walked to the ring, and never saw them wrestle, he is definitely the guy you would pick as the one that should be a huge star.
ReplyDeleteI thought Elgin/Lethal sucked, but my copy of the PPV had no sound and to be fair I was in a pretty shitty mood when I saw it. I should really give it another look.
ReplyDeleteI think I would take Cole or Steen over Bennett if that's the criteria, but you have a point. Most of the ROH guys just scream "Indy guy 4 life". Not that there's anything wrong with being an indy guy.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I wasn't really paying a ton of attention to it. I enjoy Elgin tossing dudes around, so I liked it. If I were to watch it again and pay attention more closely I might change my mind about it.
ReplyDeleteSee, when I tried to review the show that's the match where I gave up, because watching with no sound I was bored out of my mind and I totally shit all over it. At that point I realized I was being overly harsh on the show and just decided to scrap it. I still maintain that the Benjamin/Bennett match was total shit no matter what.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, what match where you watching. Lethal vs Elgin was fucking awesome
ReplyDeleteThey've always bounced back from unprofessionalism by long stretches of professionalism. Jeff is pretty great in the ring all around, I think you're underrating him because of a pre-existing bias (against garbage matches, high spots, whatever the case may be), because in TNA he's mostly done straight wrestling matches and they've been great. Matt, I'll cop to him being better in small doses and short matches. He's got the rhythms but a lot of his old moveset he doesn't really have the ability for anymore (remember when he used to do a 450? Seems unfathomable now) and he hasn't come up with decent replacements. I've seen him go to the Side Effect and Twist of Fate twice in a match
ReplyDeleteI knew that was coming. Bennet has all the hallmarks of being what a scout looks for without anything behind it. He's the equivalent of one of those ballplayers that all the scouts in Moneyball loved based on his look that didn't have the sabermetrics to back it up.
ReplyDelete