The Glimpse:
SCUM has systematically dismantled the Briscoe Bros. Tonight, the ROH faithful defend the company they love as Elgin, Lethal, Whitmer and Steen take on SCUM in Steel Cage Warfare.
The Action:
Match 1: Mike Sydal & Zizou Middoux vs The American Wolves
Winners: American Wolves via pinfall
So Rock n Roll Mike Sydal is now in a tag team and they use “#partyboys” on Twitter. And they high fived like 10 times. This is going to get them real far.
Richards and Middoux start it off and exchange arm wrenches and headscissors. Looks like they want a double dropkick spot, but Richards sees the timing is off and makes it a couple Boston Crab counters as an audible. Arm drags by Middoux, then he takes a kick to the head from Richards. Richards knocks Sydal to the floor and wants to kick Middoux who dodges on the apron. Both wolves end up on the floor and Sydal hits a moonsault from the top to the floor on both then double team Ricahrds back in the ring. Double hip toss, double cartwheel, double low dropkick for two. Sydal tags in and snapmares Richards into a pinning combination, but he powers Sydal to the Wolves’ corner and tags in Edwards for some kicks and chops. Edwards takes Sydal to the corner but eats a good as he rushes in, then a tornado DDT in the middle of the ring.
Tags on both sides and Middoux ducks a right hand from Richards then lights him up in the corner. Richards counters the whip and ducks a Trouble in Paradise, then Middoux catches the kick for the Alarm Clock and hits his TIP kick for a two count. Edwards and Sydal hit the ring and a whole bunch of crap happens – it ends in both party boys kip-up dodging Wolf clotheslines and hitting stereo neckbreakers. Middoux hits a Chestblower and Middoux hits flying double knees for a two count (You’d think Sydal, being Evan Bourne’s little brother would hit these) as Edwards breaks it up. Edwards and Sydal exchange in the middle of the ring, ending up with Edwards catching a kick and pulling Sydal into a split to take a chop and kick from the Wolves on the mat. Middoux takes the Alarm Clock and Edwards hits a double stomp to his back, followed by one from Richards to end it.
Match 2: SCUM vs ROH, Steel Cage Warfare
Winners: Ring of Honor
Preceded by a lengthy recap video dating back to Steen’s title reign. If SCUM pulls off a win, Corino becomes the matchmaker of ROH, and that will spell the end of Ring of Honor. Kelly and Corino have a silly exchange on commentary about Steen having a flat tire and Corino mentioning it without getting prompted.
Jimmy Jacobs will start for SCUM, while BJ Whitmer is out first for team ROH.
Right hands back and forth and both men avoid getting thrown into the cage. Whitmer boots away at Jacobs, who avoids a suplex and delivers Whitmer into the cage via headscissors. Jacobs wraps Whitmer in the ropes and presses his face against the cage with a dropkick. Jacobs chokes Whitmer, who eventually counters an incoming spear to toss Jacobs into the cage a few times. Jacobs jabs back at Whitmer, but runs into an Exploder for two. Whitmer mounts Jacobs in the corner for the ole 10 punches. Chops back and forth now, but Jacobs ends it with an eye poke. Jacobs gras a front facelock, but Whitmer counters into a vertical and a northern lights suplex. Jacobs is out at two and gets his face raked on the cage. Whitmer keeps the fight up as Rhett Titus enters.
Whitmer goes right after Titus and bounces him off the cage as Jacobs is grounded in the corner. Titus kicks out at one and Whitmer chops him in the corner as Steel Cage Warfare goes to commercial.
Back into the cage, Whitmer is taking the inevitable double team beating from SCUM. In to help is Michael Elgin to even things up. SCUM goes right after Elgin, but he grabs the ropes and counters them, delivering a double belly to back suplex. Whitmer whips Elgin into Titus and Jacobs spears Whitmer, but Jacobs jumps right into an Elgin German suplex. Elgin strikes away at Titus and grabs both members of SCUM to deliver a samoan drop/fall away slam combination. Elgin takes Jacobs up for a stalling vertical suplex while Whitmer beats Titus in the corner. Entrant 3 for SCUM is Cliff Compton. Compton comes in with a handful of powder and blinds Elgin, then he and Jacobs ziptie Elgin to the cage while Titus rakes the eyes of Whiter. He fights away, but the rest of SCUM pounces and triple teams him while Elgin is pinned to the cage. Titus and Compton hit a spike piledriver to eliminate Whitmer.
Elgin is still tied to the cage with Jacobs, Compton and Titus. Jay Lethal is out next with a chair in hand. Titus takes a shot in the back, Compton gets the chair dropkicked into his face and Jacobs gets a Lethal Combination onto it, but still kicks out…right into another commercial…or not. They stop the commercial break to show Elgin being freed by Lethal. Titus climbs to the top and Lethal crotches him while Elgin begins to fight back. Now it’s time for that commercial.
Back in again, SCUM is using the numbers advantage and it’s about to become four on two with Rhino. Elgin immediately takes a Gore and when Rhino goes for Lethal, he dodges and throws him into Titus. Lethal does a handspring Lethal Injection, not using the ropes for obvious reasons, and immediately eliminates Rhino. Lethal bounces Jacobs into the cage and Compton throws the slowest right hand ever for Lethal to block. Lethal heads to the top and hits a double axe handle, but Titus breaks it up. Jacobs grabs the cage when Elgin elevates him and hits a back elbow, but he kicks out. Time for Kevin Steen to make his entrance and even things at three a side. Guess there was no reason for that flat tire nonsense.
Matt Hardy attacks Steen before he can even get in the cage and because of the confusion, Elgin is able to escape the cage with Titus in tow. Titus gets slammed and Steen starts beating on both Hardy and Compton on the floor. Elgin takes a chair to the back of Titus and Steen has one for Hardy. Jacobs steals the timekeeper’s table and readies it as SCUM begins to get the upper hand. Jacobs slides the table under the cage as Hardy gets tossed into the barricade and the fight continues. Jacobs gets back in the ring and begins to ready the table as Elgin slams Compton on the floor. Titus and Jacobs have Lethal ready to whip him through the table in the corner and he fights out, then super kicks Titus and hits another no-ropes Lethal Injection, eliminating him. Now it’s down to Jacobs/Compton vs Steen/Lethal/Elgin with Hardy as the x-factor. Lethal has Jacobs in the ring with a chair and teases a piledriver, but Jacobs counters out. Lethal hits super kicks and wants the Injection one more time, but Jacobs chairs him in the back and then Spears him through the table. Compton rushes in to get the pin and we’re at an official two on two + Hardy.
Back from another commercial, Jacobs hits Contra Code on Steen but gets tossed into the cage by Elgin. Now it’s Compton’s turn for the cage, then he counters a Bucklebome attempt. Compton heads to the top ropeand then toward the top of the cage itself. This puts him in position for Elgin to hit a super Elginbomb and eliminate him. Corino drops the mic and gets in the ring, getting nabbed by Elgin immediately. Corino blows a fireball in his face and Jacobs pins him. Hardy hits the ring and hits a Twist of Fate on Steen as Corino gets in the ring with a briefcase and begins to pour lighter fluid on him. Jacobs tries to stop Corino and he elbows him away. Nigel hits the ring now to stop Corino and they both throw off their jackets. Corino pie faces him and eats a Lariat, then Hardy wants a Twist of Fate, but Steen grabs him for a Package Piledriver. McGuinness throws Jacobs into Steen for a Package Piledriver of his own and he gets eliminated, leaving Steen as the sole survior.
Adam Cole stands on the entrance ramp and surveys the damage.
The Reaction:
That was the equivalent of a squash match with giving the new team a bit of a shine. The party boys refuse the Code of Honor at the end because I guess they need to be heels. There’s no reason to give a new team like that the amount of offense they dished out unless they plan to continue using them. Otherwise, The Wolves should obliterate a team like this, especially while they’re in the Tag Title chase. Sydal has seen at least three iterations in ROH and none of them have “stuck” for him. Richards tends toward these types of matches with new guys – It’s nice to see him giving some time to new guys and teams, but there’s something to be said about a decisive victory too. Plus, he needs to stop doing the exact same beginning for every friggin match.
That’s almost too much to react to without writing an entire extra article. Some of that was good stuff and some of it was just old fashioned wrasslin schmozz. The idea that team ROH didn’t see Rhino enter a cage for a “surprise” Gore is just silliness. Just think, in that match we got a super powerbomb, a top rope spike piledriver, chair shots galore, a fireball and an attempted death by fire. The problem with a match like this is that there’s not a load of quality wrestling to react to, just the way things are played out in the storyline itself. The fireball is the one spot I don’t know how they do without actually hurting the guy. I sure as hell wouldn’t want a ball of fire in my face.
It was the inevitable end of the whole angle, but I’m curious how things progress from here. Safe to assume that Cole will end up Corino’s new client/ward/etc to finish his bit up as well. I imagine that moving on from here, we’ll see Rhino and Compton kind of fade away from ROH. Rhino was brought in as muscle after the end of the House of Truth and Compton just doesn’t get anything done by himself. The next phase for ROH will be the World Title Tournament and there will be a couple of key chasers here. I’m willing to bet that near or at the end we see Elgin and Steen face off. Elgin is definitely the smart choice to win this whole thing. Cole isn’t really ready, but with Corino backing him will be an interesting entrant (if that’s the route they take). Putting it right back on Steen is lazy and I don’t think Karl Anderson is winning the tournament.
The Preview:
No proper preview given, but the new set of TV tapings were some of the best since the move to Sinclair Broadcasting according to Sean Radican. Stay tuned as the ROH World Title Tournament gets under way.
The Shill:
As always, if you like what you read here, let me know in the comments or on twitter @sbfantom. I sincerely would like to hear what people think and strike up some conversation!
