Live from Toronto. Hosted by Kevin Kelly and Nigel
McGuiness.
ACH & TaDarius Thomas vs. Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander: This has the potential to be a complete trainwreck. Thomas and Coleman start, they dance around for a bit before fighting over a headlock, then a cradle reversal sequence. Both guys tag out and ACH & Alexander do a back-and-forth involving some armdrags. Thomas back in now with an elbowdrop that only gets a 1 count. He gets a vertical suplex for 2, Alexander fights back with forearms but ACH comes in on a blind tag with a neckbreaker. He hooks a bodyscissors and tags in Thomas, who lands a dropkick for 2. Alexander is back up with a dropkick of his own, Thomas bails to the floor and Coleman gets tagged in, he tries a dive to the outside but ACH cuts him off. ACH backflips to the floor and Alexander takes him out with a dive, back in the ring Thomas goes after Coleman with his usual stuff. He tries one of the capoeira kicks, Coleman catches the leg and Alexander dropkicks him in the back of the head. C+C hit a snap suplex/slingshot senton combo, then a suplex/twisting bodypress combo for 2. Alexander in now and they slug it out before Alexander gets a snapmare and a kick to the back of the head. C+C hit the spinebuster/leg lariat for 2, Coleman hits a scoop slam and a legdrop for 2. Thomas enziguries both guys and finally makes the hot tag and ACH sends Coleman to the floor, but Alexander nails him from behind. ACH sends him to the outside as well, Thomas hits the Space Flying Tiger Drop on Coleman and ACH gets Air Jordan on Alexander. Back in ACH gets a pumphandle suplex, Coleman makes the save. Thomas gets dumped and Coleman hits the triple Northern Lights on ACH for 2. Everyone throws kicks before ACH lands some sort of rope-assisted Crusher for 2. Overtime finishes ACH shortly thereafter at 11:00. Everything landed clean, and that’s all I ask from these guys. **1/2, good opener but not something I’d go out my way to watch again.
Mike Bennett (w/Maria
Kanellis) vs. Roderick Strong: This was supposed to be a triple threat with
Mike Mondo, but he got injured again last week. Brutal Bob is absent from
Bennett’s corner thanks to problems getting across the border, according to the
commentators. Maybe he should start managing Sabu or Jeff Hardy… Maria is
practically naked, so I expect the camera to focus more on her than the
wrestlers. A couple lockups go nowhere before Strong hits a chop and Bennett
bails to the outside. He heads back in as Kelly describes him as a “5 tool
guy”. I don’t see how his baseball abilities are relevant here. Bennett hits a shoulderblock, Strong
lands a wheel kick and stomps away in the corner, Maria hops up on the apron
but nothing comes out of it. Strong gets a backslide for 2 and hooks the
Stronghold, Bennett easily gets to the ropes. Strong gets dumped, but he
immediately pulls Bennett out with him and chops away on the floor before
getting dropped back-first on the edge of the ring. Strong eats the barricade a
few times before Bennett tosses him back in for a 1 count. Shoulderblock for 2,
then Bennett hits a scoop slam (and does the CM Punk GTS taunt for some
reason) and a legdrop for 2. He runs into a boot on a blind charge but no-sells
and sends Strong back down with a clothesline. Maria joins the commentators for
a moment as a forearm battle breaks out, Strong wins that and he puts Bennett
on the top rope and eventually hits a (nearly blown) superplex for 2. He throws
a knee but ends up running into a spinebuster. Bennett charges in but Strong
jumps over him and lands a jumping knee in the corner, a backbreaker gets 2. He
tries a fireman’s carry but Bennett grabs the top rope to block. He gets it
again and tries for the double-knee gutbuster but Bennett reverses it into a
cradle for 2. Spear gets 2, he tries for the TKO but Strong gets free and hooks
the Stronghold again, Bennett taps but the ref is distracted by Maria. Bennett
hits a superkick and the Box Office Smash, but Strong kicks out. And now here’s
Cheeseburger out to jam his tongue down Maria’s throat, Bennett gives chase but
runs into the Sick Kick from Strong and that ends his night at 11:36. **,
decent enough, but I can’t be bothered to give a shit about either of these
guys. For some reason we get a replay of Cheeseburger making out with Maria,
though at this point I’d think that’s the highlight of his career.
Clips of Kevin Steen getting booted out of S.C.U.M. are
shown.
I Quit: Rhett Titus
(w/ Steve Corino) vs. BJ Whitmer: Speaking of people I don’t give a shit
about… Corino runs his mouth about, well, everyone before Whitmer runs out and
attacks. Corino distracts Whitmer but it doesn’t do any good and Titus gets
dumped to the floor as McGuiness leaves the commentary table and heads to the
back. Whitmer lands a dive to the outside and plays to the crowd while
McGuiness is back with 2 refs and they toss Corino, with a “Get the fuck out”
chant from the crowd. Back in the ring Whitmer fires off chops in the corner,
he goes for a top rope rana but Titus drops him on the top turnbuckle. He
stomps away and chokes Whitmer with his foot, the ref asks him if he wants to
quit and he declines. Now Whitmer gets dumped, Titus hits a neckbreaker on the
floor and chokes Whitmer out, then kicks his head into the ringpost. Back in we
hit the chinlock, Titus also adds some fish hooking, which is guess is pretty
creative. He stops to play to the crowd before kitting a kick to the face, then
starts biting his forehead. Another chinlock now, this time with a bridge.
Whitmer finally makes the comeback, but gets sent into the middle turnbuckle
and Titus grabs some zip-ties from ringside. He tries to tie Whitmer to the
ropes, but Whitmer fights back. Titus ends up getting tied to the ropes,
Whitmer fires off some shitty looking punches but Titus won’t quit. So he grabs
a chair, but now Corino is back out to try and take one for the team, Titus
tells the ref that he quits before Corino gets his skull cracked open at 11:32.
This was just a bad idea from the start. *, total mess with a fucking stupid
ending, and hopefully this will be the last time these two are in the ring
together. Jimmy Jacobs and Cliff Compton are out to jump Whitmer, Jay Lethal
and Michael Elgin make the save and that takes us right into:
Jimmy Jacobs and
Cliff Compton vs. Jay Lethal and Michael Elgin: If S.C.U.M. wins then
Corino becomes the commentator and a S.C.U.M. member gets a world title shot.
If Lethal/Elgin win S.C.U.M. has to leave ROH for good, which gives away the
outcome right there. Brawling to start, Titus is still tied to the ropes so
Lethal superkicks him just for the hell of it. One of the ring crew guys
finally cuts him free (though Corino remains at ringside) as the guys that are
actually in the match take the brawl to the outside, Compton ends up going over
the guardrail and into the crowd thanks to a kick from Elgin. They make it back
in the ring, Jacobs takes over on Lethal but that doesn’t last long and Elgin
tags in. He goes straight for the delayed vertical suplex and holds him up for
nearly a full minute with the crowd counting along. It gets 2 and a “That was
awesome!” chant, Jay is back in and they do some double-team stuff (with
someone near the ring mic yelling “Fuck!”), Jacobs goes to the eyes and tags in
Compton. Lethal hits the handspring elbow and now Elgin is back in with the
delayed suplex on Compton, Jacobs tries to break it up but Lethal cuts him off
and hooks a delayed vertical of his own. That spot always impressed me just
because I couldn’t imagine being strong enough to do that. Elgin gets 2 off a standing
senton, Lethal comes in but gets nailed with a jumping knee, Jay comes right
back and sends Compton into an Elgin slingshot shoulderblock. Jacobs gets sent
to the floor and Lethal does the dive through the ropes, blowing out his knee
in the process. Elgin hits Compton with the Black Hole Slam in the ring for 2
before going to check on Lethal. A couple refs also come out to attend to him
as Corino wants him counted out, and he has a point, I’m pretty sure Lethal is
the legal man. Now McGuiness gets involved as well, Elgin gets back in the ring
and just destroys the heels, including a cool spot where he catches Jacobs
trying a spear and powerbombs him into Compton. A double fallaway slam gets 2
on Compton, he tries to bucklebomb Jacobs but Compton nails him from behind and
sends him into the ringpost. Jacobs tags in and the heels beat on Elgin in
their corner before Jacobs hits a jumping DDT and does the always hilarious
“pretend to be a dog pissing on your opponent” taunt. He grabs a sleeper but
gets crushed in the corner, Compton charges in but runs into a boot, Jacobs goes for
the sleeper again but Elgin German suplexes Compton while Jacobs is still
hanging on his back. Now THAT was awesome. Triple KO, and here’s Kevin Steen
out from the crowd, McGuiness gives the OK for him to replace Lethal. Elgin
makes the hot tag and Steen is a house of fire, tossing around the heels like
ragdolls, then hits both of them with the cannonball. The ass-whoopin continues
on the floor with both heels just getting launched into the barricade, then
Steen powerbombs Jacobs on the edge of the ring. Elgin hits him with the
bucklebomb, but Compton clips Elgin’s knee when he tries the spinning
powerbomb. Steen tosses Jacobs over the top for yet another nice bump and
powerbombs Compton, but Jacobs sneaks back in to roll him up while he’s going
for the package piledriver to finish at 20:06. ****, not the most technically
proficient match for sure, but this was a wild brawl with crazy bumping from
the heel side and nuclear heat, not to mention the insane power moves from
Elgin. The clean finish certainly helps too. I don’t see anything else tonight
being able to touch this one.
Intermission, clips of El Generico/Taiji Ishimori and Paul
London/Michael Shane matches are shown. Man, those old ROH commentators were
terrible…
QT Marshall and RD Evans join us for a cheap heat promo,
insulting the Canadian anthem and getting Toronto confused with Montreal. They
also complain about reDRagon not defending the tag titles at this show
(something I was wondering about myself, though I can’t say that I’m
disappointed in not seeing Bobby Fish) before the lights go out and Tomaso
Ciampa makes his return, getting a better entrance than anyone that’s actually
wrestling on this card. Marshall attacks, Ciampa kicks his ass but Evans gets
him out of harm’s way before any real damage is done. Hopefully this feud is
over quick and they can move Ciampa on to someone worthwhile.
Eddie Edwards vs.
Taiji Ishimori: I know absolutely nothing about Ishimori, though as the
clips during the intermission show he’s worked for ROH in the past, and
according to the commentators these guys have ran into each other before in
NOAH. He’s also the GHC junior champ, though that title is obviously not on the
line here. Both guys play to the crowd before locking up and doing some rather
acrobatic chain wrestling. Edwards gets dumped on a headscissors and Ishimori
tries the Tiger Pass (619, basically) but misses. More chain wrestling, Edwards
ends up on the floor again thanks to a headscissors and Ishimori hits him with
a gorgeous moonsault from the top rope. Back in the ring Ishimori grabs a
chinlock, but he’s Japanese so it actually looks painful. He gets backdropped
to the apron on a blind charge and a jumping enziguri sends him to the floor,
Edwards follows with the ROH staple, the dive through the ropes. I swear that
everyone in the company does that spot except for Steen and Elgin, and if they
could fit between the ropes I’m sure they’d be doing it too. Anyway, Edwards
rolls Ishimori back in for a 2 count, then hits a nasty Shining Wizard. Snap
suplex for 2, a chop battle breaks out and Edwards wins that easily, but he
runs into a boot on a blind charge. Ishimori goes up top but gets nailed with
an enziguri and Edwards hits the Chinchecker for 2, then turns it into the
Achilles lock, Ishimori makes it to the ropes. Now a forearm battle, this works
out better for Ishimori and he hits a nice handspring kick, then a painful
looking double-stomp for 2. He comes off the top with a move I can’t even
really describe for 2, then tries the handspring kick again but Edwards catches
him and drops him on his face. Edwards throws about 20 chops in the corner, a
knee to the face and a brainbuster gets 2.9. He tries a German but Ishimori lands
on his feet only to run into a Tombstone attempt, Ishimori reverses it into one
of his own but he drops Edwards face-first into his knees rather than
piledriving him. He blasts him with a kick to the face for 2, he tries a top
rope rana but can’t land it and they do a cradle reversal sequence. Ishimori
lands a beautiful reverse rana and Edwards actually has the nerve to no-sell it
(there’s some moves that should never be no-sold, and that’s one of them) and a
clothesline with the 360 sell by Ishimori gives us the double KO. Another
forearm battle goes Ishimori’s way so Edwards goes back to the chopping, but
Ishimori hits a great superkick and a brutal kick to the face for another near
fall. He tries the 450 (his finisher) but takes too long and gets nothing but
knees. He goes up top again, but Edwards catches him and hits the super rana.
Nasty powerbomb and a Ligerbomb by Edwards for 2, Die Hard Driver (a Northern
Lights bomb variation) finishes it at 15:44. Hey, let’s put on a good match
just for the sake of putting on a good match, what a concept… ***1/2, I can’t in
good conscience go any higher when neither guy would sell anything for more
than 5 seconds. I will say that Ishimori looked GREAT here, and if WWE ever
gets serious about bringing back the cruiserweight division he should be one of
the first people they call.
ROH TV Title: Mark
Briscoe vs. Matt Taven (C) (w/ Truth Martini, Scarlett Bordeaux, and some other
chick): Taven is wearing the belt like Johnny Nitro used to. Crowd is solidly
behind Mark, obviously. Back-and-forth technical stuff to start (headlock,
wristlock, etc…), with the camera focusing more on the girls than the match. Mark
hits a wheel kick and Taven bails. Fuck, this is going to be just like the
match with Adam Cole, isn’t it? Taven burns some time fixing his headband
before getting back in the ring. Taven misses an enziguri and Mark pounds away,
crowd chants “Fuck him up”. Mark gets a belly-to-belly and Taven bails again, Mark
dropkicks him through the ropes and follows him out and sends Taven to the
barricade. He suplexes Taven from the floor to the apron, then hops back in and
dropkicks Taven to the floor again when he tries to get back in the ring.
Another suplex on the apron, then a scoop slam on the floor. Does Mark realize
that he needs to win this in the ring? He goes up top, but Bordeaux distracts
the ref and Martini knocks him off. Taven gets Divorce Court for 2 and goes to
the arm, then hits a spinning boot for 2. Mark flips out of a suplex and goes
to his usual terrible striking, but gets distracted by Martini and nailed with
a spinkick. Vertical suplex and a twisting springboard senton gets 2 for Taven.
Mark comes back with more redneck kung-fu and a suplex into the corner for 2,
but the froggy elbow hits the knees. Taven hits a neckbreaker for 2 and goes up
top but takes too long, Iconoclasm by Mark is blocked but he still manages to
hit a powerbomb for 2. Taven tries a springboard something but botches it (with
the required “You fucked up!” chant) and eats a spinebuster, Mark stalls while
they figure out what to do. He gets a DVD, Martini tries to take his head off
with the Book of Truth but misses, and the 2 girls distract the ref (and Mark)
by making out. If I saw Scarlett Bordeaux making out with another chick 3 feet
away from me I’d forget about the match too. Taven rolls Mark up while holding
the shorts to finish at 13:45. *, these guys never had a chance thanks to the
booking, and as long as Taven is paired with Martini his matches will continue
to suck. Does ROH realize that Taven can actually work and doesn’t need the
circus at ringside to cover up his deficiencies?
Davey Richards vs.
Paul London: This was originally supposed to be Richards vs. Naomichi
Marufuji, but Marufuji injured his knee in Japan and London (who shakes hands
with or hugs everyone at ringside) will take his place. He’s in good shape, and
clearly really happy to be here, though he’ll regret it later on. They fight over
a wristlock as the fans get into the dueling chants. They then get into a
crowd-killing submission reversal sequence. Now some stalling, and at this
point I’m thinking that the S.C.U.M. match should have gone on here, especially
with the 2 Canadians in that match. A cris-cross ends with a London rollup for
2, both guys do armdrag-related stuff before stalling some more (though I will
say that Davey’s facial expression here is hilarious). London tries for the
third handshake of the match, Richards declines so London dropkicks him and he
bails. Yeah, that’s just what this match needs. Back in London gets backdropped
to the apron and slingshots back in with a shitty headscissors, then gets
tossed to the floor, landing on a photographer at ringside (she’s OK). Richards
hits the kick from the apron, back in he throws kicks in between standing
around. Another cris-cross ends with Richards landing on his face (looked like
a botch, but I can’t be sure), then running into an atomic drop. A headscissors
sends Richards to the apron, London tries to springboard out but eats an
enziguri and Richards fucks off some more. Now an Indian deathlock that gets
turned into a 2 count, and Davey plays to the crowd some more. London lands on
feet after a backdrop and hits a wheelkick and Richards bails AGAIN, London
follows him out with a somersault dive to at least try and bring this above DUD
(SPOILER ALERT: It didn’t work). Back in London gets a slingshot cradle for 2
and a standing shooting star press, Richards runs into a boot on a blind charge
and London gets a double stomp for 2. Richards runs into another boot but
no-sells it and hits a kick to the face and a German for 2. Forearm battle ends
with London getting a superkick and a dragon suplex for 2, Richards comes back
with a kick that sends London rolling to the apron, and Richards tombstones him
on the floor. Fans chant “This is awesome!” They must be drunk (after all, it is Toronto), because this
match is fucking awful. London makes it back in at 19, Richards hits a baseball
slide and goes upstairs, but he fucks up the double-stomp and lands right on
London’s face, giving him a concussion. Crowd chants “You killed Paul” as
Richards puts London on the top rope (after another minute or so of standing around,
though at least here it’s warranted) but ends up taking a sunset flip
powerbomb, London (barely) gets to the top rope but the SSP hits the knees and
Richards wins it with a cradle at 18:00, about 12:00 of which was just standing
around, or at least it felt that way. Boring and sloppy, this was just a
terrible match, and it’s not like these two are green rookies or anything. DUD,
bordering on negative stars, and Davey should be fucking ashamed of himself. He
gives props to London after the match, if he really had any respect for him he
should have actually put in some effort here.
Cole/Briscoe hype package is shown.
ROH World Title: Adam
Cole vs. Jay Briscoe (C): I already said everything I have to say
about Jay’s recent ignorant remarks about homosexuals in the Wrestlemania 26
thread a couple days ago, so I won’t bother getting into it here. Same old
chain wrestling to start, Cole takes a shoulderblock and bails to the outside.
Back in for more chain wrestling, and the crowd is dead. Jay pounds away in the
corner, a couple headbutts and a back elbow get a 2 count. He goes back to the
stomping in the corner but gets backdropped to the apron on a blind charge and
Cole hits a jumping enziguri to send him to the floor. Cole follows with the
dive through the ropes (of course), he tosses Jay back in and hits a crossbody
from the top for 2. He gets a snapmare and throws knees to Jay’s back, a
running seated dropkick gets 2. He grabs a headlock, Jay gets free and hits a
full nelson slam. Scoop slam and a running legdrop get 2 for Jay, snap suplex
gets 2 and we hit the chinlock. Cole makes it to the ropes. Jay runs into a
boot and Cole hits a missile dropkick to the knee, then hooks the ringpost
figure 4. It’s been a while since I’ve seen that… Cole starts working the knee,
Jay gets to the ropes and they slug it out as the commentators foreshadow a
heel turn by Cole. Jay does the Road Dogg punches, Cole goes back to the knee
but gets dropped into the middle turnbuckle. Boot to the face and a rolling
elbow get 2 for Jay. He puts his head down and eats a kick, Cole hits a fireman’s
carry into a backbreaker for 2, crowd still doesn’t care. Cole tries for the
figure 4, Jay blocks it and tries something off the top but dives right into a
superkick. Cole tries coming off the ropes but Jay is right there with a
shoulderblock and the falcon arrow gets 2. He tries for the Jay Driller (Tiger
Driver 91) but the knee can’t take it and Cole hits a vertical suplex into a
neckbreaker for 2. Jay bails to the apron, Cole follows but takes a DVD, and
both guys are out on the floor. Jay is up first and he tosses Cole back in, a
Yazuka kick and a neckbreaker gets 2. Jay Driller attempt #2 is reversed to the
figure 4, Jay makes the ropes. Jay goes upstairs, Cole follows with a German
from the top. Superkick, superkick to the back of the head, Cole gets the
Florida Key but Jay kicks out. Back to the figure 4, Jay makes the ropes, Cole
tries it again but Jay kicks him off and the ref gets bumped. And here’s Corino
to toss Cole a S.C.U.M. shirt, McGuiness crotches Corino on the top rope and
hits him with the Tower of London while Cole considers the offer. Jay Driller
on the distracted Cole and Briscoe retains at 19:59, a decision that ROH
officials surely regretted a few days later. **1/2, this would have been fine
for a TV match, as a PPV main not so much. Almost no heat either, though I’d
blame that more on the length of the show and the 2 shitty matches preceding
this than the performance of Cole and Briscoe. They shake hands after the
match, Cole teases turning on Jay but doesn’t go through with it.
Final thoughts: The S.C.U.M. match was great,
Edwards/Ishimori was really good (albeit meaningless), the rest was either
totally forgettable or complete crap, and the crowd was shot by the time the main
event rolled around. They could have easily cut out at least a half hour out of
this show (starting with Richards/London), and it would have been better for it.
Check out S.C.U.M. vs. Elgin/Lethal/Steen and
Edwards vs. Ishimori if you can find them, but they weren’t enough to save this show.
Not recommended.
What was the issue with Briscoe? Injury issue, or the whole twitter "scandal" thing? Or is there something else I'm missing?
ReplyDeleteLetting London attempt a ssp after getting knocked out was uncalled for. It was 100% obvious he was out of it. I'm sure he said he wanted to continue but he doesn't get to make that call.
ReplyDeleteThat was ridiculous, they should have had Davey just pin him after the blown spot, or the ref should have just called it right there.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean?
ReplyDeleteMaybe I misunderstood the "a decision that ROH officials surely regretted a few days later" in reference to the end of the Briscoe/Cole match. Why are they regretting it?
ReplyDeleteThis show took place about a 40 minute public transit ride from me and I bailed on watching... thinking that I made the right choice. I feel justified in my decision.
ReplyDeleteOh, that. Yeah, I was referring to the Twitter thing. It's one thing to have some random guy on your roster do something like that, it's a whole other thing when he's your top guy.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious as to how bad Richards/London really could've been considering the participants, because I think you have a bias against Davey that I don't agree with. Just from the move descriptions it sounds like it had to be above Dud level. I'm biased toward Davey (in ring) and definitely toward London, so maybe I'm being generous, and I won't really be able to check it out to counter, but I'm curious to know what everyone else thinks.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think it was a DUD at all. I'd go about ***. London didn't look bad but wasn't in shape to go more than ten minutes. He was winded an that was the reason it was slower-paced.
ReplyDeleteI've actually backed off on my Davey hate lately, in fact I've thorughly enjoyed his work when he tags with Edwards. I guess I didn't express how much satlling he did, or just how fucking BORING that match was. He came across like he didn't even want to be there. Put it this way: the main went about the same amount of time and felt like 10 minutes, this felt like an hour. I will say that I don't blame London at all for it being shitty, he tried his best but there's not much you can do when you spend most of the match on you back.
ReplyDeleteTakes two to tango.
ReplyDeleteMatch was pretty decent. ***ish. London was horrible trying to keep up with the stud hottie Davey Richads.
ReplyDeleteFuck, at least it'd get the double stomp over.
ReplyDeleteDAVEY RICHARDS' STOMPS KILL YOU DEAD!!!!
You could've presented it as more boring. Cause from the list of moves described it sounds pretty exciting.
ReplyDeleteWell, London's lack of cardio is to be expected.
ReplyDeleteHey hey hey hey...............smoke weed everyday.
Sounds like you need more Ryback vs. Kane.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah and CM Punk telling a fan to kill himself is right? You are such a hypocrite horrible writer.
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't understand why you continue to review ROH when you seem to dislike it so much. I'm not saying you're not allowed to have an opinion, but why spend time on something you clearly dislike?
ReplyDeleteCheetos aren't exactly filled with good carbs either.
ReplyDeleteIt could be that London had a concussion.
ReplyDeleteThis company sucks. Their two biggest stars are pieces of garbage who threaten people regarding their lifestyle choices (Briscoe) and stop wrestling in the middle of a match to use homosexual slurs against fans (Steen).
ReplyDeleteStay classy, ROH.
To be fair, the same could be said about Scott reviewing Raw. But I guess people here like to read it so he continues to torture himself for our pleasure.
ReplyDeleteBut really, Raw's biggest problem is the 3 hour length and overall inconsistency plus the SAME MATCHES OVER AND OVER AGAIN for the past few months now. At least the wrestilng quality still ranges from passable to very good.
That's odd from Steen. In the past he's been known to kiss and lick guys in the audience who say that kind of shit at him.
ReplyDeleteI would assume it's like a band that you really used to like, but haven't liked their new stuff. You are a fan of them and know they are capable of better. You get occasional glimpses of what made you really dig it in the first place, and you just keep hoping they can get things back on track and start clicking with you again.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't very good. DUD is a little low, but it wasn't much beyond ** to me. But, to be fair, I don't like Davey very much at all, so he is always fighting an uphill battle with me.
ReplyDeleteNot really sure what you mean. Of course when an athlete gets hurt they want to keep going, but someone has to step in. Davey, the ref, Nigel, someone from the back... There is no way he should have been allowed to try a spot like that. No one watching would have complained if they stopped the match then. It's not even like it was a title match and the wrong guy would have won. It was a nothing match and the guy who was injured was losing any way. You've got to put someone's health over finishing the last 3 minutes of a wrestling match in that situation.
ReplyDeleteThat really did come out of nowhere.
ReplyDelete"Man, I really hate asparagus."
"NAZI!!!!"
Mr. Engel doesn't know the difference between shoots and works.
ReplyDeleteSteen is old school. Him calling people faggots and telling them he fucked their mother is just an attempt to get heel heat.
I had this relationship with Weezer for a very long time. Raditude finally put my faith out of its misery though.
ReplyDeleteSo he's not homophobic, he's just unoriginal.
ReplyDeleteYOU TAKE THAT BACK!
ReplyDeleteHe got the concussion in the last two minutes of the match, not the first ten.
ReplyDeleteI was referring to it all not being Davey's fault. The ref, Nigel, people in the back, etc. could have stopped the bout.
ReplyDeleteidk ... the SSP by London made me laugh. ROH is such an unprofessional company.
ReplyDeleteI've read the recap of the opener a few times, and it just hit me why it was good. Iesha and Shaniqua didn't try Total Elimination. See how that works, guys? You can't do a move well, you don't do it, good things happen.
ReplyDeleteCheesburger has an actual name, can we start using it? The guy who dubbed him that got cut loose. (Haas)
Titus/Blowjob was a bad idea from the start, making it I quit didn't help things. I see where they were going with the finish (trying to paint SCUM up as a hiveminded cult) but they didn't get there. Although Rhett getting his ass kicked during the start of the tag match while zipped to the ropes was pretty funny.
The ROH v. SCUM tag match worked on a lot of levels. Made everyone look good, Steen now has this "Is he REALLY out of SCUM?" vibe, Corino's back on commentary......OK, that last one is debateable. Plus, they have a way to tease a little dissention in the ranks: Corino wants Hardy to get the title shot, but it was Jacobs that made the winning pin, on the former champ no less, so shouldn't HE get the shot?
Did the Wolves need separate matches? Especially with Richards/London turning ugly thanks to an errant stomp. (It wasn't a bad match up to that point, but yeah, no way should the ref have let Paul try the SSP. Even if he did want to finish the match. That's a "take charge" moment right there, and the ref blew it.)
THE DOMINANT MALE RETURNS! (Hopefully with a new finisher, no way Project Ciampa can be good for his knees.)
I get why Taven's with Martini (he's not a good promo) but can we limit the mob that goes to ringside with him? Simon Diamond called, something about a cease and desist order.
And then, the main. I said it about Cole before, I'll say it again: He's good, but he's not ready for prime time just yet. As for Jay, if he were WWE champ and he had pulled that shit on Twitter, he'dve lost the title at a house show and been sent home (or at least to sensitivity training) Just saying.
It's wrestling. You have to make peace with what it is.
ReplyDeleteI said Cheetos, not Red Hot Cheetos, that's a super food.
ReplyDeleteNot really, Adam was WAY under on Richards and London.
ReplyDeleteBJ vs Rhett was AWESOME live, the whole crowd shit all over and it was so Much fun
Edwards and ishimori did a *little* more selling the he gave them credit for
Main was bad. He was right about that
To be fair, I wouldn't be happy if someone started talking shit about Bryan Danielson's dog either.
ReplyDeleteACH/Thomas v. Coleman & Alexander- 3.0 Solid opener, ACH is really over everywhere he goes. Is it too early to give him a TV title feud with Taven? I don't think so.
ReplyDeleteBennett v. Strong- 2.25 Meh, not much of anything here, neither guy is doing anything worthwhile right now. Bennett looked... weird.
Titus v. Whitmer- 1.5 Bleh. Titus needs a tag partner, tag teaming hides his weaknesses.
Jacobs/Compton v. Lethal/Elgin (& Steen)- 3.25 Good stuff, I kinda wish they kept Titus tied up in the ropes throughout the match. Elgin's great. He should have Big E Langston's role in the WWE.
Edwards v. Ishimori- 3.75 Liked this a lot, didn't think there was too much no selling. Just a good, solid match. Loved Ishimori's gear.
Mark Briscoe v. Taven- 2.75 Decent match until the ending which was a bit silly. Taven should've just gone over clean here. Mark Briscoe can carry a singles match, how 'bout that.
Richards v. London- 3.0 I thought this was fine. Definitely should've stopped the match after Richards stomped on London's face. Richards was weirdly pandering to the crowd throughout the match.
Cole v. Mark Briscoe- 3.25 Match never really got going. I like that their giving Cole's character some shades of gray. I don't want him joining SCUM but he needs some attitude or something.
Yeah, kind of a meh PPV. ROH could really do with 6 PPVs per year. And they should find something worthwhile to do with Edwards, Richards, & Strong.
Words wouldn't be enough.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of what you think of the Briscoe's as people, I think they're really good pro wrestlers in almost every aspect of the game.
ReplyDeleteI agree on project Ciampa. Its fun to look at, but its gotta be painful for both guys. And his repeated knee strikes to the head is both more vicious and unique. And safer.
ReplyDelete