I guess I'm going to try and review both days in this one post. I should mention that I've had nothing but trouble in watching this iPPV. First, my Day 1 Part 2 feed cut off before the main event and right in the middle of Steen/Generico. Now, I got halfway through Day 2 and Steen/Edwards keeps screwing up and I've had a ton of connection issues. At this point, I don't think I will be able to catch the rest of it. I've heard good things about the Elgin/Richards match and was looking forward to seeing it. Sorry for these problems to all my readers, as I had no problems with the DGUSA show last night.
DAY 1
Shane Haste/Mikey Nichols v. The Briscoes-Proving Ground Match-Pretty hot tag match to start this show off. Haste and Nichols hit a nice moonsault elbow double team combo. Mark Briscoe was in trouble but he flipped out of a backdrop and made the tag to Jay. However, Haste and Nichols nailed a double team DDT that stunned the Briscoes. The Briscoes were able to bounce back and hit the Doomsday Device for the win. Pretty solid and fun match and they gave Haste and Nichols a lot of offense. ** and a quarter
Jim Cornette is the in the ring to introduce the NWA Champ Adam Pierce. Pierce talked about his recent match with Adam Cole. Cornette said he won the match with a questionable low blow and a piledriver, which is illegal in ROH. Pierce did put over Cole as the future of ROH and he said he was good but not great. Cole came out and said he thinks he can beat Pierce and Pierce says he wants to fight now. Cornette was hesitant to make the match but eventually did and it wasn't for the NWA Title. Pierce carries himself well but he doesn't feel like he's ready to step into the next level in wrestling. Well, at least he's not fighting Vance Nevada tonight!
Adam Pierce v. Adam Cole-Cole hit a suicide dive and he got a lot of offense in. Pierce put him over well and this match was booked like Pierce is the veteran heel who is trying to teach the rookie Cole a lesson. Pierce was begging off at one point but the crowd told Cole not to listen to him. Pierce ended up hitting a chokeslam as Cole ran towards him. In the end, Pierce went for the piledriver which the ref blocked, then Cole reversed it into a pin. They both shook hands afterwards and Pierce raised Cole's hand. **
Kenny King/Rhett Titus (All Night Express) v. The Young Bucks-Dual Duel Part 1-Tornado Rules-This ended up being a better match than I was expecting, especially from the Bucks. They come across as major douche bags, comparable to Heath Slater, but better. Titus and King hit double somersault planchas. King was in trouble, got a hope spot, but got shutdown. He eventually made the tag to Titus who cleaned house. The finish was double 450 splashes for the All Nighters and Titus got the pin. Titus got attacked with a chair by Nick Jackson but King made the save. ** and a half
Tommaso Ciampa came out with Prince Nana and RD Evans. Evans said that his law office received an injunction that stated if the TV Title was not returned within 24 hours, the entire Embassy would be suspended. He said Ciampa was happy to return it but he did not bring it with him and that Ernesto Osiris was on his way to get the belt and bring it to Night 2.
Jay Lethal v. Kyle O'Reilly-TV Title-This was a really good match and both guys looked good. Lethal carries himself well, especially in terms of workrate. Ciampa came out to watch the match. They went to technical wrestling to start but Lethal came alive. He hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker into a Russian leg sweep into a ground submission. O'Reilly bounced back and hit a guillitine choke that Lethal tried to fight off. Lethal ended up hitting the Lethal Combination and both guys were down. Lethal hit a handspring backelbow and O'Reilly hit a big back superplex. The problem was that Kyle started wasting time and pandering to the crowd which led to Lethal hitting the Lethal Injection for the pin. Ciampa and Lethal had a staredown and Lethal invited him in the ring but Ciampa left. Pretty solid match and I figured it had to be given that it was a 15-minute time limit match with Jay Lethal! *** and a half
Shelton Benjamin/Charlie Haas (Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team) v. Caprice Coleman/Cedric Alexander-Coleman and Alexander wanted to shake hands but Haas told them to fuck off and attacked them. Alexander missed a dive and Coleman ended up working from the bottom. Haas hit a sick back suplex on one of the ring barriers outside, I believe, on Coleman. Please correct me if I'm wrong on that. Coleman tried for a springboard crossbody but Haas caught him and threw him down. Coleman hit a double dropkick and went to the wrong corner to make the tag but he got it soon after. Alexander began cleaning house. Coleman came back in and hit a leaping rana on Haas, who was on the top rope. Shelton did his leaping top rope belly-to-belly superplex for the win on Alexander though. Haas and Benjamin are great heels for ROH. ***
Lance Storm v. Mike Bennett w/Maria-I expected a lot from this match, perhaps too much but it was still fun. Storm was in great shape and Bennett has some charisma and a little size. Lance hit a great dropkick but Bennett did a dropkick of his own a couple minutes later. Storm hit a springboard clothesline but Bennett hit his Box Office Smash afterwards for a two-count. Bennett went for a half-crab but Lance hit a superkick for a near fall and he started working on the leg. Lance hit his half-crab but Mike got out of it with the ropes. Storm had him on top for a suplex but Maria grabbed Bennett's leg to block it. Mike hit the Box Office Smash from the top but only got a two and then hit a TKO for the win. The TKO finish was a little anti-climactic coming so soon after the Box Office Smash and maybe they should've just finished with that. They shook hands after the match. ** and a quarter
Kevin Steen v. El Generico-Last Man Standing-I've been real impressed with El Generico for these shows. I hadn't seen much of his work until now but he can play a great traditional babyface or an intense, serious babyface, like in this match. You could tell this feud was personal. In the beginning, Generico went under the ring and grabbed some extra ring ropes for weapons. Steen hit a powerbomb onto the apron the outside floor that looked sick. They started to battle on the stage in front of the fans and Generico hit a Michinoku Driver on the wood floor. Steen tried to escape the stage but Generico ran at him and hit a huge somersault plancha. Then, Generico hit a great tornado DDT while running across the steel ring barriers. Generico set up a table but Steen went after him and hit his own somersault plancha through the table. They battled back in the ring, planting each other onto folded out chairs. Steen tried to go to the top rope but got sent down through the timekeeper's table at ringside and Generico exploded. Eventually, they both went for dueling chairs and Steen got the advantage and went to hit Generico with his chair. Jimmy Jacobs ran in and grabbed the chair from him and Generico hit a suplex on a chair to Steen. Jacobs then handed Generico the chair to hit Steen but he double crossed him and nailed him with a spike. Jacobs then handed Steen the chair and he hit Generico for the win. This beat the hell out of any of those John Cena Last Man Standing matches. This match really felt like they were trying to kill each other out there and Steen kept kicking out of everything. I didn't like the finish though with Jacobs though. *** and three quarters
Roderick Strong v. Eddie Edwards v. Davey Richards-ROH Title-I didn't really enjoy this match as it felt like three guys just doing moves, one after the other, with no absorption periods in between at all. They all went back and forth for most of the match with a lot of striking and slugfests. Davey hit both guys in two different submissions at the same time. Edwards was the first guy to be eliminated by a small package from Strong. The match got a little better when it was no longer a Triple Threat match but not by much. Davey hit a double foot stomp on Strong and then nailed a headkick and a pin for the win. Michael Elgin came in and powerbombed Davey afterwards and Truth Martini talked about how Elgin was going to win the ROH belt on Day 2. * and three quarters
DAY 2
Jimmy Jacobs came out and said that he being good wasn't good and that he was now evil. El Generico ran down after him with a ref and a match began.
Jimmy Jacobs v. El Generico-Jacobs is pretty dull to watch but thankfully Generico came through and looked good. At one point, Jacobs pulled out his spike but missed Generico and it nailed the turnbuckle pad instead. Generico had the advantage but went to use the spike and Jacobs rolled him up for the win. Pretty dull match here even with the fiery Generico. * and a quarter
Cedric Alexander w/Caprice Coleman v. Tommaso Ciampa w/Osiris, Nana, and RD Evans-Evans was on commentary. Alexander hit a full-nelson face first suplex on Ciampa and he hit a sick suplex into a barrier on the outside. Ciampa got the advantage and positioned Alexander in the corner with his head outside the ropes on the ground. He then went out onto the apron and delivered two running kicks and put Alexander back in and pinned him. Ciampa has some intensity and a good look but he lacks charisma. * and a half
TJ Perkins v. Fire Ant-ROH v. Chikara-This is my first time seeing someone from Chikara and I was impressed by what I saw. This match was cut off by a power outage but it was mostly lucha, high flying stuff. From what I saw, it looked good. ** and a half
Mike Bennett and Maria are out and he's talking about how he beat Lance Storm on Day 1. He said him and Maria were going to go down the South Beach and celebrate the idea that he is better than the best. Then, they made out heavily.
The Briscoes v. Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team-ROH Tag Titles-This match failed to deliver for me and I thought it was going to be really good. Benjamin and Haas were not nearly as good as Day 1 but they did get a lot of heat. At one point, on the outside, Shelton rammed Mark's head into the ring barrier a couple times, which had to hurt a lot. Mark was on the bottom but ended up making a hot tag to Jay who hit a plancha on Shelton and a crossbody on Haas. Jay ended up hitting a headscissors into a pin on Benjamin for the win.
I could not get the rest of the show to connect. If I can get it to work, I'll review the rest of the show. Overall, comparing these shows to the DGUSA show from last night, these shows were way better, especially Day 1. Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness were great on commentary. One complaint I do have is that the show kept cutting away from the action at the wrong moments. Also, I do think that the suicide dives and somersault planchas were overused. The problem is that so many people do high flying spots that they all get lost in the shuffle. It would be nice to slow things down a little so that way these spots would look more special. I would like to buy more ROH shows in the future but I'm hoping I won't have as many problems as I did with these shows. On the technical side of things, the DGUSA iPPV was loads better as I had know problems at all except for some minor sound issues.
I'll be back tomorrow night for WrestleMania! Take care.
@stevesgraps
stevesgraps@yahoo.com
DAY 1
Shane Haste/Mikey Nichols v. The Briscoes-Proving Ground Match-Pretty hot tag match to start this show off. Haste and Nichols hit a nice moonsault elbow double team combo. Mark Briscoe was in trouble but he flipped out of a backdrop and made the tag to Jay. However, Haste and Nichols nailed a double team DDT that stunned the Briscoes. The Briscoes were able to bounce back and hit the Doomsday Device for the win. Pretty solid and fun match and they gave Haste and Nichols a lot of offense. ** and a quarter
Jim Cornette is the in the ring to introduce the NWA Champ Adam Pierce. Pierce talked about his recent match with Adam Cole. Cornette said he won the match with a questionable low blow and a piledriver, which is illegal in ROH. Pierce did put over Cole as the future of ROH and he said he was good but not great. Cole came out and said he thinks he can beat Pierce and Pierce says he wants to fight now. Cornette was hesitant to make the match but eventually did and it wasn't for the NWA Title. Pierce carries himself well but he doesn't feel like he's ready to step into the next level in wrestling. Well, at least he's not fighting Vance Nevada tonight!
Adam Pierce v. Adam Cole-Cole hit a suicide dive and he got a lot of offense in. Pierce put him over well and this match was booked like Pierce is the veteran heel who is trying to teach the rookie Cole a lesson. Pierce was begging off at one point but the crowd told Cole not to listen to him. Pierce ended up hitting a chokeslam as Cole ran towards him. In the end, Pierce went for the piledriver which the ref blocked, then Cole reversed it into a pin. They both shook hands afterwards and Pierce raised Cole's hand. **
Kenny King/Rhett Titus (All Night Express) v. The Young Bucks-Dual Duel Part 1-Tornado Rules-This ended up being a better match than I was expecting, especially from the Bucks. They come across as major douche bags, comparable to Heath Slater, but better. Titus and King hit double somersault planchas. King was in trouble, got a hope spot, but got shutdown. He eventually made the tag to Titus who cleaned house. The finish was double 450 splashes for the All Nighters and Titus got the pin. Titus got attacked with a chair by Nick Jackson but King made the save. ** and a half
Tommaso Ciampa came out with Prince Nana and RD Evans. Evans said that his law office received an injunction that stated if the TV Title was not returned within 24 hours, the entire Embassy would be suspended. He said Ciampa was happy to return it but he did not bring it with him and that Ernesto Osiris was on his way to get the belt and bring it to Night 2.
Jay Lethal v. Kyle O'Reilly-TV Title-This was a really good match and both guys looked good. Lethal carries himself well, especially in terms of workrate. Ciampa came out to watch the match. They went to technical wrestling to start but Lethal came alive. He hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker into a Russian leg sweep into a ground submission. O'Reilly bounced back and hit a guillitine choke that Lethal tried to fight off. Lethal ended up hitting the Lethal Combination and both guys were down. Lethal hit a handspring backelbow and O'Reilly hit a big back superplex. The problem was that Kyle started wasting time and pandering to the crowd which led to Lethal hitting the Lethal Injection for the pin. Ciampa and Lethal had a staredown and Lethal invited him in the ring but Ciampa left. Pretty solid match and I figured it had to be given that it was a 15-minute time limit match with Jay Lethal! *** and a half
Shelton Benjamin/Charlie Haas (Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team) v. Caprice Coleman/Cedric Alexander-Coleman and Alexander wanted to shake hands but Haas told them to fuck off and attacked them. Alexander missed a dive and Coleman ended up working from the bottom. Haas hit a sick back suplex on one of the ring barriers outside, I believe, on Coleman. Please correct me if I'm wrong on that. Coleman tried for a springboard crossbody but Haas caught him and threw him down. Coleman hit a double dropkick and went to the wrong corner to make the tag but he got it soon after. Alexander began cleaning house. Coleman came back in and hit a leaping rana on Haas, who was on the top rope. Shelton did his leaping top rope belly-to-belly superplex for the win on Alexander though. Haas and Benjamin are great heels for ROH. ***
Lance Storm v. Mike Bennett w/Maria-I expected a lot from this match, perhaps too much but it was still fun. Storm was in great shape and Bennett has some charisma and a little size. Lance hit a great dropkick but Bennett did a dropkick of his own a couple minutes later. Storm hit a springboard clothesline but Bennett hit his Box Office Smash afterwards for a two-count. Bennett went for a half-crab but Lance hit a superkick for a near fall and he started working on the leg. Lance hit his half-crab but Mike got out of it with the ropes. Storm had him on top for a suplex but Maria grabbed Bennett's leg to block it. Mike hit the Box Office Smash from the top but only got a two and then hit a TKO for the win. The TKO finish was a little anti-climactic coming so soon after the Box Office Smash and maybe they should've just finished with that. They shook hands after the match. ** and a quarter
Kevin Steen v. El Generico-Last Man Standing-I've been real impressed with El Generico for these shows. I hadn't seen much of his work until now but he can play a great traditional babyface or an intense, serious babyface, like in this match. You could tell this feud was personal. In the beginning, Generico went under the ring and grabbed some extra ring ropes for weapons. Steen hit a powerbomb onto the apron the outside floor that looked sick. They started to battle on the stage in front of the fans and Generico hit a Michinoku Driver on the wood floor. Steen tried to escape the stage but Generico ran at him and hit a huge somersault plancha. Then, Generico hit a great tornado DDT while running across the steel ring barriers. Generico set up a table but Steen went after him and hit his own somersault plancha through the table. They battled back in the ring, planting each other onto folded out chairs. Steen tried to go to the top rope but got sent down through the timekeeper's table at ringside and Generico exploded. Eventually, they both went for dueling chairs and Steen got the advantage and went to hit Generico with his chair. Jimmy Jacobs ran in and grabbed the chair from him and Generico hit a suplex on a chair to Steen. Jacobs then handed Generico the chair to hit Steen but he double crossed him and nailed him with a spike. Jacobs then handed Steen the chair and he hit Generico for the win. This beat the hell out of any of those John Cena Last Man Standing matches. This match really felt like they were trying to kill each other out there and Steen kept kicking out of everything. I didn't like the finish though with Jacobs though. *** and three quarters
Roderick Strong v. Eddie Edwards v. Davey Richards-ROH Title-I didn't really enjoy this match as it felt like three guys just doing moves, one after the other, with no absorption periods in between at all. They all went back and forth for most of the match with a lot of striking and slugfests. Davey hit both guys in two different submissions at the same time. Edwards was the first guy to be eliminated by a small package from Strong. The match got a little better when it was no longer a Triple Threat match but not by much. Davey hit a double foot stomp on Strong and then nailed a headkick and a pin for the win. Michael Elgin came in and powerbombed Davey afterwards and Truth Martini talked about how Elgin was going to win the ROH belt on Day 2. * and three quarters
DAY 2
Jimmy Jacobs came out and said that he being good wasn't good and that he was now evil. El Generico ran down after him with a ref and a match began.
Jimmy Jacobs v. El Generico-Jacobs is pretty dull to watch but thankfully Generico came through and looked good. At one point, Jacobs pulled out his spike but missed Generico and it nailed the turnbuckle pad instead. Generico had the advantage but went to use the spike and Jacobs rolled him up for the win. Pretty dull match here even with the fiery Generico. * and a quarter
Cedric Alexander w/Caprice Coleman v. Tommaso Ciampa w/Osiris, Nana, and RD Evans-Evans was on commentary. Alexander hit a full-nelson face first suplex on Ciampa and he hit a sick suplex into a barrier on the outside. Ciampa got the advantage and positioned Alexander in the corner with his head outside the ropes on the ground. He then went out onto the apron and delivered two running kicks and put Alexander back in and pinned him. Ciampa has some intensity and a good look but he lacks charisma. * and a half
TJ Perkins v. Fire Ant-ROH v. Chikara-This is my first time seeing someone from Chikara and I was impressed by what I saw. This match was cut off by a power outage but it was mostly lucha, high flying stuff. From what I saw, it looked good. ** and a half
Mike Bennett and Maria are out and he's talking about how he beat Lance Storm on Day 1. He said him and Maria were going to go down the South Beach and celebrate the idea that he is better than the best. Then, they made out heavily.
The Briscoes v. Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team-ROH Tag Titles-This match failed to deliver for me and I thought it was going to be really good. Benjamin and Haas were not nearly as good as Day 1 but they did get a lot of heat. At one point, on the outside, Shelton rammed Mark's head into the ring barrier a couple times, which had to hurt a lot. Mark was on the bottom but ended up making a hot tag to Jay who hit a plancha on Shelton and a crossbody on Haas. Jay ended up hitting a headscissors into a pin on Benjamin for the win.
I could not get the rest of the show to connect. If I can get it to work, I'll review the rest of the show. Overall, comparing these shows to the DGUSA show from last night, these shows were way better, especially Day 1. Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness were great on commentary. One complaint I do have is that the show kept cutting away from the action at the wrong moments. Also, I do think that the suicide dives and somersault planchas were overused. The problem is that so many people do high flying spots that they all get lost in the shuffle. It would be nice to slow things down a little so that way these spots would look more special. I would like to buy more ROH shows in the future but I'm hoping I won't have as many problems as I did with these shows. On the technical side of things, the DGUSA iPPV was loads better as I had know problems at all except for some minor sound issues.
I'll be back tomorrow night for WrestleMania! Take care.
@stevesgraps
stevesgraps@yahoo.com
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