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RoH TV: June 22nd Edition

Sorry about the delay, a combination of Final Exams and unpleasantness in my personal life conspired against getting this out by Monday like usual

Brace yourselves boys and girls, shit gets weird this episode.


We open with a vignette of highlights on the Briscoes before the traditional RoH opening.

Now this is usually where we'd go to an announcer hyping tonight's card, but tonight there is no card!  Instead we've been taken to Sandy Fork Delaware to see the Briscoes at their Chicken farm.  Mark takes us through the chicken coop which houses 30,000 birds and talks about having to clean out the dead chickens.  Jay says sometimes there are so many dead chickens they build a "big ass hole" and throw them in.  Well this is fucking morbid.  There's then this horribly acted bit like something off a "reality" TV show where they pretend the camera's not there (you know the type) in which Papa Briscoe throws a fit about Jay and Mark being late to deal with the chickens because they were getting stuff for wrestling together.  There's lots of swearing and I'm still not sure when this became a bad reality show.  What WOULD the Briscoes reality show be called?  "Homophobes in the Morning"? "Dumbest and Dumberest"? "The REAL house hillbillies of southern Delaware"?

So with that it's time for the Briscoe Brothers to hit the road!  Mark hops in the Doge pickup but Jay says they shouldn't take the truck.  oh my god the drama is killing me.  The truck wont start anyways rendering the conversation moot.  Upon Jay's suggestion they decide to take the RV instead.

Jay says Mark is a fool who thinks he could survive a leap of the Chesapeake bridge.  Mark confirms this and explains his "pencil diving" method; Mark does admit that he's not a physics expert.  Understatement of the year right there.

commercial break, this may be the first RoH to feature zero wrestling before the first break.

We return with them interviewing Papa Briscoe, as this episode suddenly decides its a documentary instead of a reality show.  Papa says that his sons were always wild kids and crazy competitive.  every Saturday morning at 12:00 the Briscoe kids tuned into the WWF.  In his teenage years Jay converted to being an ECW mutant, and it was getting bled on by Kronus at an ECW show that really solidified that this is what he wanted to do with his life.  well that's a new one, fuck Hogan, Savage or Steamboat--Kronus' Hemoglobin inspired me to be a wrestler!

Next Mark talks about him and Jay backyard wrestling on a trampoline before they wore it out and built a ring instead.  Tables, barbed wire, it was ECW they emulated at 15 and 14 as their dad laughs remembering a funny story involving a FLAMING TABLE!  I mean Holy Fuckballs, the Hardys showed more restraint in their backyard wrestling then that.  Mark shows all the buildings around the farm he's jumped off of and onto Jay.

The Brothers start talking about Mark's RoH debut.  Jay was on a losing streak at the time as a single wrestler while Mark sat at home because at 17 he couldn't legally compete in Pennsylvania where Ring of Honor was holding its shows.  This show was in Boston, which made Mark's participation legal.  We then get footage of...
  
Jay Briscoe VS Mark Briscoe
Match in progress.  Jay powerbombs Mark and puts both men down. German suplex gets 2.  some countering ends in Mark getting a Dragon Suplex for 2.  Mark continues the offense with a Fisherman suplex which gets 2.  He goes up for the moonsault but Jay rolls out of the way.  Jay gets up and delivers a VICIOUS lariat which turns Mark inside out.  Death Valley Driver only keeps Mark down for 2.  Jay Driller is reversed, but Jay just catches Mark with an Emerald Flowsion instead.  Jay goes up for the senton bomb, but this time its Mark's turn to roll out of the way.  Jay pulls him self up with the ropes and eats shining wizard up against them.  Mark hits the Cut-Throat Driver which is good enough for the three count.  This was a fun couple minutes.  Any reason we couldn't just get this whole match instead of all the chicken talk?

Jay says he can't remember who won that first match against Mark while he drives the RV.  Mark gloats about his victory.

Jay is asked what the craziest in ring moment of his career was by the previously invisible camera man.  He says it's either Mark getting stretchered out after landing on his head once, or the time Mark lost his front teeth.  Mark makes fun of people who ask what happened to his teeth; "they got knocked out stupid."  Turns out Jay did it.  They were wrestling some indy team at a small show in 2006 in a No Holds Bared Match.  Jay wound up to hit his opponent with a chair but, and i quote, "Some Redneck Dumbass who was standing behind me".  Mark says he wasn't shocked when he lost his teeth because he always knew he'd end up looking like Mick Foley or Chris Benoit.  lets hope for his kids sake it's the former  They argue* it was each others fault.  They finished the match anyway
*They were interviewed in different places, and edited together to look like an argument

They start talking about the first time they won the tag titles, but now everything is clearly in kayfabe, talking about how it was a breeze winning the match thanks to the leadership of their manager, Jim Cornette.  *insert joke about Arn Anderson here.*  we then go to the match

RoH Tag Team Titles: Jay and Mark Briscoe vs Whoever the Hell the Champs Were.
Seriously, they don't actually bother telling us who the hell they are fighting!  According to the title history on RoH.com the Briscoes beat "Izzy and Dizzy" for their first reign. Rip Impact called and wants his shittiest ring name title back.  don't ask me which is which, from here on they are only known as J1 and J2.  J stands for Jobber.  The match is joined in progress with Mark back suplexing J1.  He follows up with a delayed vertical suplex.  Mark keeps the punishment going with a gut wrench suplex and some choking.  J1 dodges a boot and Mark takes out his brother.  J2 is running wild till Mark goes low and shuts him down.  Mark looks to fly put gets sent to the ring mat when he is enzugiried by J2.  J2 dives over the top rope to wipe out Jay Briscoe.  Mark gets up and tries to avenge his brother with a shooting star press to the outside, but he only hits Jay  The match skips forward.  A spring board Ace Crusher on J1 puts him out of commission.  P2 is set up for the doomsday device but gets out with a reverse rana.  Sliced Bread #2 for Mark gets J2 a two count but Jay then breaks it up.  Veg-O-Matic is a homage to Cornete's old clients in The Midnight Express, but it's also only good enough for a 2 count.  now J2 eats the doomsday device.  Mark dives out of the ring on J1, while the Jay Driller kills J2 for the three count and the titles.  This was alright, again it's hard to judge a match soley on the last few minutes.  The supposed champions looked completely out of their league in retrospect, I don't know how seriously they were taken 10 years ago, but looked ridiculous here.

Jay and Mark start talking about the Steenerico feud and seemingly Kayfabe has been dropped.  Next the show a montage of The two teams tearing into each other in all kinds of Hardcore matches.  Jay describes what those 4 did to each other as "some dumb shit".  Mark talks about the bittersweet feeling of knowing that the Ladder War they had was they end of an era for them--the final blow off of a year long blood feud.

Ladder War 1 for the Tag Team Titles: Jay and Mark BriscoeVSKevin Steen and El Generico      This match is, shockingly, joined in progress.  El Generico is taken out with the doomsday device and both Briscoes start climbing.  Steen brings in a ladder and hits both Briscoes with it.  Steen makes a bridge of the ladder that goes from the turnbuckle to the ladder.  Steen tries to power bomb Mark, but he rolls through and hits a pair of super kicks on Mr. Wrestling.  Mark starts climbing, but Kevin brings him back down onto his ladder bridge.  Steen hits the package piledriver right through the ladder and ends Mark's night.  Generico stumbles back into the ring and starts climbing, but Jay makes a ladder bridge in the corner opposite Steen's and brings him down.  Generico wants the Brain Buster onto the ladder, but Jay counters and puts him through it with a Jay Driller.  Well that's two wrestlers who are done for the night.  Steen and Jay climb either side of the ladder and get into a slug fest up top.  Steen goes down and Briscoe gets the strap undone but cant pull the belts down.  Steen climbs back up, probobly to ask Jay what is taking him so damn long as he's been dinking around with the belts for a good minute at this point.  Steen is slugged down again and Jay finally pulls the belts down to retain the titles.  A Huge match of the year chant breaks out at this point.  The end of a classic match--but all we get here are the final two jaw dropping spots.

Next there is a random clip of the Briscoes beating WGTT.  no one addresses the clip or explains it's significance--it's just there

Papa Briscoe talks about the angle he did with his sons that culminated in The Kings of Wrestling battling the Briscoe clan.  I genuinely enjoyed hearing how enthusiastic Pops was to take part with his kids.  If there is a reason to watch this episode this interview is it.

Jay, Mark, and Papa Briscoe vs The Kings of Wrestling and Shane Hagadorn
So this match is joined in progress.  Papa rolls out side the ring and Sara Del Ray comes after him as the Kings manager.  He then uses the most overused RoH spot ever, as he forces a kiss on Del Ray.  Why does every match with a female manager have that spot?  Bennett has lost like a dozen matches in that fashion with Maria being SEXUALLY ASSAULTED as a distraction, it's embarrassing.   Papa climbs back in the ring and takes a rolling elbow from Chris Hero.  That was a damn fine elbow, that Kassius Ohno clown should take notes.  The Kings set up KRS-1.  Jay and Mark break it up and then Papa delivers a Stone Cold Stunner to Claudio.  Papa scales the ropes as Claudio is hoisted up.  He hits the diving clothesline to complete the doomsday device and give the Briscoes the win.  Papa looked really good for a non-wrestler old man.  Another match I'd like to see the rest of.

Recap of Jay Briscoe becoming the RoH World Champion.

Various members of the locker room are interviewed on who will win the Brother vs Brother match at BitW.  Nigel takes Jay.  Rodderick Strong thinks he's better then both, but Chicken will win.  Elgin thinks they're both losers, because whoever wins, has to face him.  after that we get a final promotional video for the Briscoes World title match and we're done

This was weird.  Part Documentary, Part Clip show, part Reality TV, 100% a commercial for BitW.  I'll say give it a watch if you want to see the strangest episode of RoH TV to date, or if you are massive  Briscoe fan, otherwise missing this show 'aint missing much

Review of Best in the World should be up sometime before Sunday

     

Comments

  1. I can think of one potential "weirder" RoH show: CHIKARA INVADES!


    But yeah... this is the clubhouse leader by a mile.

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  2. I thought of this show as a nice take on the MMA and boxing preview shows, so it was a pleasant change of pace for me.

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  3. So what about the NEWZ that the Briscoes might have made their final ROH appearances and are possibly headed up north?

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  4. Izzy and Dixie were part of a faction called Special K, which was this huge faction of raver kids consisting of mostly interchangeable spot monkeys. I say mostly because there were a few legitimately talented guys in the bunch, and it's where Jay Lethal got his start in ROH, wrestling as Hydro. ROH (and I'm pretty sure they were in a few other indies as well) absolutely drove that gimmick into the ground in the early days.

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  5. My only memory of the group is the show that ended with them raving in the ring. No memory of the show's name, just that I know I still have it on DVD, along with a fair chunk of ROH's early days.


    Oh, and having Mr. Hughes with them for some reason.

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  6. That'd be fucking fantastic.


    The Briscoes are fantastically talented pro wrestlers, and I hope they get the money and success of a WWE contract.


    Sure RoH would be kinda fucked, but there's really nothing left for them to do in that company anyway.

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  7. Goodwins 2.0 if they go there. I guaran-damn-tee it

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  8. I was thinking Wyatt cousins or converts.

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  9. I really liked that show as an ROH History lesson and it made the main event for that ppv seem important. If iPPV weren't such a dicey propostion I would have ordered it.

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  10. cant waste valuable tv time on two guys that could possibly bounce...


    roh needs to be highlighting all the jobbers they can

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  11. I order after the show is over. ROH clearly knows people do this because they still haven't posted the results on the front page. I'm watching the show in like 15 minutes

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  12. Godwins, ahem.


    The Briscoes have too much charisma and talent to be an also ran.

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  13. The Wyatt's need actual workhorses. Luke and Erick are a little plodding and pondering.


    Or...the Briscoes could be the babyface rivals to the Wyatt's? Good redneck vs. evil redneck?

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  14. So...you think the Briscoes are awesome or are they fat no-name jobbers like the rest of RoH?

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  15. No way WWE ever calls them up. It would be a PR nightmare.

    How bush league does ROH look for not only not immediately getting the title off of Jay Briscoe, but also letting him leave ROH as their champion!?

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  16. I thought this was stupid when it first but as I watched it I got really into it, they did a great job building that the Briscoes match up like it was a dozen years in the making.


    Does anyone know if you can watch the videos on the iPad? And also further then use the iPad and Airplay to watch it via my large television screen?

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  17. Come on...

    THe Briscoes are awesome... but what can they do? They along with Fat Steen are clearly so far ahead of the rest of the roster at this point, they are doing a disservice to themselves and the company by staying.

    I understand everyone wants to goto "the show" but unfortunately, everybody cant.

    Steen and the Briscoes should have gone to TNA or do extended runs in Japan by now.They arent getting any younger.

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  18. I mean, Zeb is right there. It's low-hanging fruit. Imagine the HILARITY of the segments involving Mark and Jay running down foreigners while Antonio becomes increasingly frustrated in the background.

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  19. Japan doesn't really have much of a deathmatch scene anymore, does it? So that's kind of out, because he's basically a wild-ass brawler at this point. TNA has Joe Park as their human pin cushion. I honestly think Steen's brief window of opportunity passed him by in '06-'07, when his body wasn't so fucked up he didn't look as awful as he does now and he didn't have to rely as heavily on the brawling. I also think the dude's promos have been vastly overrated by the Internet hivemind. His stuff reminds me of Shane Douglas, actually. And "KILL STEEN KILL" isn't exactly a slogan any major promotion can run with on a t-shirt.

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  20. Mark at one point was the youngest gaijin to work in Japan. So yeah, they've done the Japanese thing.


    And I agree that basically there's a huge ceiling in wrestling if you don't have the look or disposition for WWE. Unless you branch out like Colt you're basically fucked.

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  21. He'll always have weak promos because of the language barrier, but his character work and charisma is what makes him work.


    Or, his delivery on his promos isn't great, but his material is usually pretty interesting.

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  22. Please god no. If I have to sit through the Briscoes culling through dead chicken parts or Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly wrestling, I'll take the dead chicken parts. ROH's problem is that their undercard right now is fucking awful. It's as bad as the company's early days when they relied on Special K, the Carnage Crew, and Dunn & Marcos to fill out their shows.

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  23. I think my problem is that he always has to be the smirking maniac. Like, they were trying to push him as a heel during the Cornette era. I get that it wasn't working, but the dude didn't even try. He was still pandering to the crowd even as the company's top heel.

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  24. My problem with that is that 90% of the people at shows are paying to see the smirking maniac, why the fuck would you tell your top star to stop doing the thing that's making people buy tickets,

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  25. Just saw Best in the World.

    Brief Thoughts Excellent first half followed by a mixed bag second half.

    -So Matt Hardy CAN still have a ***1/2 match in 2013, he just needs his opponent to have the charisma of Steen and 4 people interfering so that he doesn't have to do much work.

    -Briscoe vs Briscoe started great and then just kind of ended.

    -Fuck the tag title match.

    -Put the belt on Elgin Yesterday

    -I'll admit it, I get a kick out of Taven's Shtick

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  26. Don't you hate on Dunn & Marcos! After all...they were the TOP tag team in Ring a Honor!

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  27. Elgin isn't champion yet? He should just demolish whichever Briscoe is champion.

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  28. He's the #1 contender since April but not had his shot, says to me he's going to win when he gets it so they're holding off on giving it to him till they're ready to pull the trigger

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  29. Hey, Fish and O'Reilly are pretty good, lots of Shitty RoH mid carders, they 'aint it

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  30. "huge faction of raver kids consisting of mostly interchangeable spot monkeys."
    Holy shit you weren't kidding, what faction needs 25 FUCKING MEMBERS
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_K_%28professional_wrestling%29#Members

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  31. Pretty sure it was Wrestlerave 2003, where Homicide/Trent Acid was the main event.

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  32. Amsterdam_Adam_CurryJune 25, 2013 at 10:50 PM

    Starting with the next PPV they will no longer be live, just on demand. As far as know the replays always work fine.

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  33. Amsterdam_Adam_CurryJune 25, 2013 at 10:54 PM

    Another great review, Kyle. I was gonna skip this one, now I think I'll check it out

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  34. Ah, I haven't been following ROH but ever since his match with Davey I've assumed it's a matter of when not if. I thought he'd be the guy to beat Steen.

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  35. Having just watched it today I can vouch for this, besides ROH spoilers are easy to avoid, this is a plus in my book

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  36. So did most people :p

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  37. Agreed. Sticking with your character is one thing, but wrestling is a business, and giving the fans what they want to see is what entertainment is all about.

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  38. Have you heard him speak?


    Why would you want that man champion?

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  39. Have you heard Tyler Black/Davey Richards/Eddie Edwards/Roderick Strong/Low Ki/Morishima or Homicide speak.

    Fuck Yeah I want Elgin as Champ

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  40. Amsterdam_Adam_CurryJune 25, 2013 at 11:34 PM

    I haven't seen it, but from what I heard the Steen/Hardy match was a total clusterfuck. The next round of TV tapings looks pretty good though.

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  41. I LIKED Steen VS Hardy--A Cluster Fuck is what it had to be! It told a Story too! It's shocking!

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  42. Good lord, I think that beats the nWo.

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  43. So they gave Jay the belt right before his contract expired...looking more and more likely that Jay's was a political move to try and keep them under employment.

    If that gamble backfires then taking the belt off Steen in the first place could be catastrophically bad

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  44. And people said the lower end NWO guys were nobodies, READ THAT LIST, A WHO'S WHO OF NO ONE GIVES A SHIT

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  45. If it turns out the Briscoes are leaving, then it's a great Irony that the man who "saved ROH" by winning the title will leave almost immediately after AGAIN. James Gibson eat your heart out, at least you actually dropped the belt to someone in a match

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  46. Amsterdam_Adam_CurryJune 26, 2013 at 12:29 AM

    Not even close. What Wikipedia calls the "original incarnation" was 25 guys on it's own, and that's not even counting the Wolfpac, Silver, WWE, or the guys that only worked in Japan. Shit, I think you and I were nWo members at one point.

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  47. Amsterdam_Adam_CurryJune 26, 2013 at 12:31 AM

    I didn't like ElginLethal, but there were sort of extenuating circumstances with that, for one my copy of the PPV had no sound, and for two I was in a really pissed off mood when I watched it. I need to watch it again under more favorable conditions.


    Fuck it, I'll drop $15, with all the entertainment they've given me I should at least pay for SOMETHING. Maybe I'll get the Supercard of Honor DVD too.

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  48. Amsterdam_Adam_CurryJune 26, 2013 at 12:36 AM

    I highly doubt they're going to WWE, especially Jay after his Twatter bullshit, and I'm willing to bet they're not going to TNA either (they've worked there before, albeit for only 1 or 2 matches). Methinks it's an angle, or they just need time off.

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  49. Entirely possible. I vaguely remember wearing a black and white shirt and being in the World War 3 battle royal one year. Course, I was drinking a lot back then, so it might've just been the tequila.

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  50. Amsterdam_Adam_CurryJune 26, 2013 at 12:43 AM

    I don't know how people drink that shit, just the smell of it makes me want to puke. And while were on the subject of Mexican alcohol, Corona can piss off too.

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  51. Alright, hope you enjoy it then!


    TRY to keep an open mind about Steen vs Hardy, and see the plot they are setting up with Steen

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  52. Amsterdam_Adam_CurryJune 26, 2013 at 1:29 AM

    Jeff is the one I really can't stand, and Matt seems to at least be putting effort into his matches now, which is all I really ask from any wrestler. I mean, talent is important too of course, but I'd rather see 2 guys that suck at least make the effort to entertain me then 2 good wrestlers half-ass it. But that match he had with Cole at Final Battle was just a fucking disgrace. I've watched it a couple times since and I think 1/2* was generous, that's a DUD (at best) all day long.

    You're still staking exams? School ended here 2 weeks ago.

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  53. Richards, Low Ki and Homicide aren't nearly as bad as Elgin.


    I don't even like him in the ring, so no, I don't want him to be champ.


    He's fat Davey Richards.

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  54. Really?


    Jay is one of the best promos in the company.

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  55. So ROH just officially announced the Briscoe's are out indefinitely, not due to contractual situations but kayfabe injuries. They all but said the ROH title will be vacated, making the first time in ROH history a break in their title lineage. If they would do this willingly they sure have faith in a title tournament drawing a lot of fan interest, and honestly I'm not down on that idea either.

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  56. they just announced that their done with RoH on facebook. title tourney time has come

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  57. Amsterdam_Adam_CurryJune 26, 2013 at 3:38 PM

    I've said it beofre and I'll say it again: Jay should have never got the title to begin with.

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  58. Don't sugarcoat it, tell us how you really feel.


    Know what's underrated? Dos Equis. People think the commercials are dorky, but it's very good.

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  59. Your_Favourite_AssholeJune 29, 2013 at 12:57 AM

    dunno what you were expecting from this show... they announced the week prior that the show would be dedicated to an overview of the briscoes. i thought it was a nice change of pace with some early high points in the careers.

    question: is that dude legit their dad? whoever he is, he actually had some decent moves in that one match they showed


    you mentioned the thing about mark not being an expert in physics. not sure which one it is, but apparently one of them is a left member of mensa or something

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  60. I assume you're not going to bother with ROH TV for 6/29 since it's just Road Rage. I will say this: Iesha and Shaniqua hit Total Elimination and it didn't look like shit.

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  61. I'm writing a review for the ppv as a whole as I ttype this

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