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Greater Richmond Convention Center-Hall B – Richmond, Virginia – May 18, 2013
Joe Dombrowski and Steve Corino are on commentary.
MATCH #1: “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin vs. Kyle Matthews
Elgin immediately asserts his power advantage. He hits a powerslam for a two-count. Matthews comes back with a couple of headscissors variations that send Elgin to the floor. Back in the ring Elgin uses his power and Matthews cuts him off with a dropkick. Elgin quickly catches Matthews and simply dumps him to the floor. He follows Matthews out and bodyslams him hard. Back in the ring Elgin hits the delayed vertical suplex, holding Matthews up for over a minute. That gets a two-count. Matthews comes back and sends Elgin to the floor, and he follows him out with a heat seeking missile. Back in the ring Matthews tries a high cross body block off the top rope but Elgin catches him. Matthews slips out and hits an enziguiri and a mini-DDT for two. He hits a missile dropkick but then runs right into an STJoe. Elgin goes up top but misses the somersault senton that he always misses. Matthews locks on an Octopus Hold and tries to turn it into a sunset flip but Elgin drops down on him. Elgin hits the dead lift German Suplex with a bridge for two, and then hits another one with the same result. He unleashes a flurry of offense culminating in a Black Hole Slam for two. Elgin hits a series of clotheslines up against the ropes. Matthews comes back with a Shellshock for two. He goes up top but can’t connect on anything. Elgin hits the rolling forearm and a short-arm clothesline. He hits the Buckle Bomb and goes for the Spiral Bomb but Matthews gets a quick Jackknife Cradle for a near-fall. Elgin hits a back fist and another Buckle Bomb, plus the Elgin Bomb to get the pinfall at 11:34. Matthews got in too much offense on the Number One Contender, but at least he looked good in doing so. I just don’t get why they wouldn’t put him against someone lower on the card. Still, this was a solid opener.
Rating: **¾
MATCH #2: Adam Cole vs. Adam Page
They start with some chain wrestling and appear pretty evenly matched. Cole sends Page to the floor and wipes him out with a dive. Back in the ring Cole gets a one-count. Cole continues going to work, hitting a vertical suplex for two. He hits the Death Valley Neckbreaker for two. Cole locks on a headscissors and Page reaches the ropes. They exchange right hands and Page lands a powerslam. Cole fights back with a chinbreaker. Page comes back with another powerslam and Cole responds with an enziguiri and a shining wizard for two. Page scores a quick rollup for two and Cole cuts him off with a nice neckbreaker for a two-count. Cole goes up top and Page hits him with a dropkick. Page joins him up top and brings him down with a swinging neckbreaker. That gets a near-fall. Cole rolls to the floor and misses the enziguiri, but Page doesn’t miss with the shooting star press off the apron. Back in the ring Page goes up top and hits a cross body block for two. Pages goes for another cross body block and Cole drops him with a superkick. Cole hits the vertical suplex onto the knee for two. Page grabs a quick victory roll for two. Cole lands a superkick to the back of the head and hits the Florida Key to get the pin at 9:55. Page is a good addition to the roster and he worked well with Cole. That was a good match to have that let him show his stuff but didn’t make Cole look too weak either. Good stuff here.
Rating: ***
MATCH #3: Special Challenge Match – Roderick Strong vs. Mark Briscoe
They start with some chain wrestling and mat stuff, and they appear pretty evenly matched in the opening minutes. After wrestling to a standoff they show each other respect by doing one of the strangest simultaneous dances I have ever seen. Mark takes control and sends Strong to the floor. He kicks Strong in the face and follows him out. Mark throws Strong around ringside a bit and then brings him back inside for more abuse. Strong hits a leg lariat and goes to work now. They head back to the floor and slug it out. Strong maintains control and they make it back to the ring. He hits a hard dropkick for two. Mark fights back with Redneck Kung Fu. Strong responds with the Olympic Slam for two. Mark avoids a charge in the corner and hits the iconoclasm for a two-count. He follows with a shotgun dropkick and a fisherman suplex for two. Strong lands a knee strike and the gutbuster for a near-fall. Mark hits a rolling Death Valley Driver and goes up top. Strong joins him and hits a superplex. They do the Fish out of Water spot and Mark is able to hold Strong down for the pin at 16:06. If they wanted to make Mark look strong heading into his title match with brother Jay, how about having him go over strong (no pun intended) instead of with a lucky rollup? The match was fine but not really exciting or engaging, and the finish was really lame.
Rating: **¼
MATCH #4: Tommaso Ciampa vs. Chris LeRusso
Ciampa attacks before bell and this looks like it could be a massacre. He throws LeRusso to the floor and then tries to bring him back in but LeRusso snaps his nack off the top rope. LeRusso goes up top but Ciampa cuts him off and goes for a super Air Raid Crash, and LeRusso counters to an attempted Sunset Bomb. Ciampa blocks it and takes LeRusso down in the corner. He hits the running knee to the face and then another one. He pulls LeRusso out of the corner and hits one more knee to the face to get the academic pin at 1:50. I have no problem watching Ciampa squash geeks.
Rating: ½*
MATCH #5: Tag Team Challenge Match – The American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) vs. S.C.U.M. (Cliff Compton & Rhett Titus)
The Wolves charge the ring and immediately send Titus and Compton to the floor. Richards and Edwards follow them out with stereo dives. Back in the ring the Wolves continue the assault as Corino loses his mind on commentary. The Wolves send Compton to the floor and focus on Titus. It doesn’t take long for Titus to force Richards back into the ring corner and make the tag. Compton comes in and I realize why he was never in Ring of Honor before S.C.U.M. happened. Richards avoids a charge in the corner and unleashes some kicks. Titus tries to help out but he gets kicked a bunch too. S.C.U.M. perseveres and goes to work on Richards. Eventually Richards makes the comeback and the hot tag. Edwards unloads with chops and strikes. He hits Titus with a Fisherman Buster for two. Edwards goes for the Chin Checker but Titus avoids it. Titus cannot avoid the double-team Alarm Clock and the Big Wolf Combo, and Compton breaks up the cover. Richards tries the handspring spin kick but Titus blocks it with a dropkick. Titus hits a Chokeslam for two. S.C.U.M. hits the Powerplex and Edwards breaks up the pin. The referee has lost control here. Edwards hits Titus with the Boston Knee Party and Richards takes him out with the running kick on the apron. Back in the ring Edwards this Compton with a double stomp to the back and Richards follows with one to the chest. Compton kicks out at two. Richards puts on the Ankle Lock and Titus tries to break it up but Edwards puts him in the Achilles Lock. Both Titus and Compton tap out at 13:44. Titus and Compton aren’t the world’s most intimidating team, and the Wolves never really appeared to be in any sort of danger. The match was just kind of all over the place and not particularly thrilling.
Rating: **
Steve Corino Announcement
The leader of S.C.U.M. announces that on June 23 at the TV taping in Baltimore, Matt Hardy will challenge for the ROH World Championship. Corino also challenges Nigel McGuinness to put together a team of four to face S.C.U.M. in a tag team match. If S.C.U.M. wins Nigel is out and Corino takes over his match maker position. If ROH wins, S.C.U.M. is over.
MATCH #6: Six Man Tag Team Match – reDRagon (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) and Matt Taven vs. Jay Lethal, Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander
Taven is without Truth Martini or any Hoopla Hotties tonight. Fish gets on the microphone before the match and insults his opponents. Taven and Lethal start the match, and Lethal is one step ahead of everyone in the early going. Coleman comes in and continues the advantage, as does Alexander. The match breaks down into a pier-six brawl. The champions all get dumped to the floor and the challengers wipe them out with stereo dives. Back in the ring the reDRagon and Taven trio use some dirty tactics to take control of Lethal. This goes on for several minutes, as the Championship trio keeps Lethal isolated in their half of the ring. Finally Lethal is able to make the hot tag to Alexander, who cleans house. Coleman helps his partner out and the C&C Wrestle Factory is looking good here. The referee loses control and bodies are flying all around the ring. Everyone is throwing out some high impact maneuvers and the crowd is into it. C&C are able to trap O’Reilly alone and hit Overtime to get the huge win at 15:07. That was a ton of fun and everyone got a chance to look good there. This sets up C&C Wrestle Factory as future challengers to the tag titles quite nicely.
Rating: ***¼
MATCH #7: No DQ Match – Kevin Steen vs. Jimmy Jacobs
Steen comes charging out and the fight starts in the aisle. They fight around ringside and Steen whips Jacobs into the barricade. Jacobs responds in kind and then goes for a Spear but he misses and hits the barricade head-first. They make it to the ring and the bell officially rings. It takes about a second and a half for the fight to spill back to the floor. Steen is dominant there. Back in the ring Jacobs wraps a chain around Steen’s neck and referee Paul Turner calls for the disqualification at 1:02. Jacobs continues the assault and more referees and jobbers come out to pull him off. Steen fights back and takes Jacobs to the floor, where he finds a steel chair. Rhett Titus and Cliff Compton come out and Steen runs them off with the threat of the chair. Steen offers to restart the match under No Disqualification rules. Nigel McGuinness sanctions it via cell phone, which is exceptionally lame. Why can’t the wrestlers just agree and start fighting each other? Why is every company obsessed with an authority figure?
The match restarts on the floor and Steen (along with the crowd) is all fired up. Steen gets rid of Titus and Compton and then beats on Jacobs with someone’s shoe. They fight up on the apron and Jacobs pulls the middle rope into Steen’s groin. Jacobs then hits a Spear! He continues to beat on Steen and then brings him back in the ring for more abuse, including with a steel chair. Jacobs hits another Spear for two. He continues choking Steen with the chain and then throws him to the floor. Jacobs flies out after him with a dive. Steen comes back and hits the powerbomb on the apron. Back in the ring Steen hits the Swanton Bomb for two. Steen misses the Cannonball and Jacobs hits the Ace Crusher from the second rope for a two-count. Jacobs goes for the Contra Code but Steen counters it and puts Jacobs in the Tree of Woe. This time Steen hits the cannonball. Jacobs is able to come out of the Tree of Woe with the Contra Code and Steen lands right on a chair! Still that only gets two. Jacobs assaults Steen with a chair and then retrieves a piece of guardrail. He brings it in the ring but Steen catches him and goes for the F-Cinq. Jacobs counters that to the End Time! Steen re-counters and hits the F-Cinq but Jacobs kicks out! Now Steen goes for the Package Piledriver but Jacobs sweeps his leg and Steen’s head cracks against the guardrail. Jacobs tries to hit Steen with a chair and Steen counters with a kick to the junk. Steen then hits the Package Piledriver on the guardrail to get the pin at 10:37. That was good hardcore fun but wasn’t long enough or intense enough to reach the level of Jacobs/Lethal the week before. Still, a good piece for Steen’s war on S.C.U.M.
Rating: ***¼
After the match Steen sets up a chair and hits Jacobs with the F-Cinq! He then blows Corino a kiss.
MATCH #8: ROH World Title Match – Jay Briscoe vs. BJ Whitmer
Whitmer cuts a quick promo before the match, talking about how the ROH Title is his redemption for years of bad decisions and stuff. So it’s kind of like John Cena needing to beat The Rock at WrestleMania XXIX. Briscoe has been the Champion since 4.5.13, and this is his second defense. Mark Briscoe replaces Corino on commentary. That just sounds like a disaster.
These two have teamed together and fought against each other many times over the years. They start slowly, feeling each other out in the early going, both guys trying to set the pace. Tempers start to flare and they spill to the floor for a chop war. Whitmer wins that battle and throws Jay into the barricade, but Jay pops back out with a big boot to the face. Jay continues throwing Whitmer around ringside. Back in the ring Whitmer comes back with a big spinebuster. Whitmer keeps Jay on the mat now and wears him down with various power moves. Jay cuts him off with rolling forearm. Whitmer comes back with a leg lariat. He throws Jay to the floor and wipes him out with a suicide dive. Back in the ring Whitmer continues the abuse. Whitmer hits a vertical suplex into a Northern Lights Suplex with a bridge for two. Jay fires back with punches but Whitmer cuts him off with a nice powerslam for a near-fall. Whitmer charges into the corner but Jay avoids it and hits a flipping neckbreaker for two. Jay tries to follow up but Whitmer hits him with a bridging Dragon Suplex for a two-count. Whitmer hits a twisting Fisherman Buster and holds on, rolling it into a Perfectplex for two. They battle over towards the corner and Jay heaves Whitmer over the ropes and through a ringside table! That looked nasty. Back in the ring Jay covers but only gets two. Jay hits a neckbreaker for another two-count. He follows with the Jay Driller but Whitmer kicks out! Jay goes for another Jay Driller but Whitmer sweeps the legs into a jackknife cradle for a near-fall! Whitmer then hits the Wrist-Clutch Exploder but it only gets two! Jay comes back with a series of big boots to the head and then locks on a Dragon Sleeper. Whitmer passes out at 20:30. They did a great job building up Whitmer throughout this match, since on paper he really had not shot at winning. This was a fantastic, hard-hitting match up between two guys with similar styles and they meshed really well. The last few minutes were great, and elevated this match more than I thought was possible.
Rating: ***½
BONUS MATCH: Team A1 vs. Aden Chambers & Brandon Day
Team A1 is Jeff Early and Zak Hilton, and they are extremely over in Richmond. Early and Day start the match. There is no commentary so I hope I have that right. Early hits an elevated spinning neckbreaker for a two-count. Hilton and Chambers tag in and Chambers takes control. Day comes back in and loses it by getting hit with a dropkick. Hilton comes in and momentum continues to shift between the two teams. Hilton hits Chambers with a slingshot wheelbarrow suplex. Day comes in and clotheslines Hilton for a two-count. The match spills to the floor and Day takes everyone out with a dive. The crowd is actually chanting “this is awesome.” Back in the ring Day misses a moonsault from the top rope. Tags are made and Hilton is a house afire, hitting Chambers with a Death Valley Neckbreaker and a Snap Mare Driver for two. Day is in the ring illegally and pays for it by being on the receiving end of a neckbreaker. The match breaks down and all four men are fighting in the ring. Chambers and Day miss Total Elimination and both get dumped to the floor. Early and Hilton hit dives off the top rope to wipe out Chambers and Day on the floor. Back in the ring Chambers goes to work on Early, stomping his head. Hilton gets back in the ring and A1 is able to catch Chambers with a powerbomb/neckbreaker combination to get the win at 8:04. The crowd was absurdly hot for that and that did help make it fun. There was a little bit of sloppiness but that can be attributed to nerves I’m sure. I’d give A1 another shot.
Rating: **¼
THE PULSE
This is a bit of an under the radar show, but there is some good stuff here. The last three matches are pretty good, and the Adams put on a quality midcard match. Nothing will make any year-end lists, but it’s an easy show to get through with plenty of solid stuff, especially for BJ Whitmer fans. You can purchase this DVD at the ROH Store.
