The Glimpse:
SCUM held ROH captive last week and has now “earned” the chance to wrestle the ROH faithful in a series of matches, just ahead of Supercard of Honor VII. Kevin Steen hasn’t been heard from since SCUM’s full invasion kicked in; what will the ROH World Champion have to say tonight?
The Action:
Kevin Steen
Steen is out in his own shirt, not the SCUM shirt the rest of his running buddies wear. Jay Briscoe interrupts before Steen can get a word out. Briscoe states that ROH is how he feeds his family, so he doesn’t take kindly to SCUM threatening his livelihood. Steen is about to address SCUM’s involvement and gets cut off by Steve Corino, entering from the crowd. Steen finally interjects and says that he’s happy the Briscoes have title shots lined up – He’ll be more proud than ever to be ROH World Champion after beating the Briscoes for it, then heads to the locker room, unbeknownst to the big-mouthed Corino. Briscoe pulls out a screwdriver as an equalizer before SCUM hits the ring and Mark Briscoe and C&C even the odds.
Match 1: Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander vs Rhett Titus and Cliff Compton
Winners: Rhett Titus and Cliff Compton via pinfall
C&C with quick teamwork to open the match on Titus who hasn’t even taken off his jacket. Alexander fights off both opponents in their corner, but Compton pulls him crotch-first into the ring post, bringing control back to SCUM. Titus hands Alexander out to dry on the top rope and Compton drops a forearm on his back. Scoop slam and a leg drop from Compton for two. Titus tags back in and lays a boot to the ribs and face of Alexander. Alexander tries to fight back but catches another boot and a clothesline; the pin is broken up by Coleman. Titus into a chinlock and Alexander escapes to tag in Coleman who strikes away at Titus. Commercial break as Coleman gets a two count.
Titus is in charge back from the break, but Coleman hits a spinning leg kick and moonsault to both opponents, allowing Alexander to set up for a double team facebuster and guillotine leg drop, but Titus kicks out at two. Alexander heads up to the top and Jimmy Rave shoves him off the top behind the ref’s back for a sickening back first landing on the apron. Titus drives Coleman into the corner and now Jimmy Jacobs shows up to hand Compton powder, which ends up in the face of Coleman. Titus hits a dropkick right in the jaw and cradles Coleman, making it SCUM 1, ROH 0.
Match 2: Mike Mondo vs Jimmy Jacobs
Winner: Jimmy Jacobs via pinfall
Mondo is out to even the odds during the post match shenanigans and the ref immediately rings the bell to start this one with Mondo delivering a bulldog. Mondo also kicks at Rave who is still on the floor; he gets tossed back over the guardrail. Jacobs tries to surprise Mondo with a dive, but Mondo dives back in the ring and responds with a twisting plancha of his own. Jacobs kicks out at one and gets wiped out with a chop. Jacobs kicks his chest off the ropes and heads to the top rope, but Mondo cuts him off and sticks Jacobs’ arm into the top of the ringpost, delivering kicks to the ribs while he can’t escape. Commercial #2 with Mondo firmly in control.
Back to action, it’s now Jacobs cutting Mondo off on the top rope, but Mondo fights him off , only to be dumped to the floor, laying like a crimescene outline. Jacobs dives off the apron with an awkward elbow then rips at the face of Mondo, tossing him headfirst into the barriers. Jacobs stands on the neck and chest of Mondo then breaks the referee’s count so he can continue fighting on the floor. Jacobs grabs a chair and sets it up on the floor, sitting Mondo on it. Jacobs hits the ropes back in the ring and hits a suicide dive, driving Mondo backwards onto the chair. Mondo sneaks under the ring and pops up through the apron, tripping Jacobs head first onto it. Mondo strikes away then lands a snapmare driver for a nearfall. Mondo calls to end it, but Jacobs dodges and walks into a spear for another two. Mondo wants the double arm DDT, but Jacobs rolls out and locks in Endtime – Mondo tosses him over into a Northern Lights bridge, but Jacobs still has his head and rolls back into his Guillotine (Seltzer calls it a Dragon Sleeper a couple times – He can be so on point one week and so blatantly off the next). Mondo stands up with Jacobs still attached and manages to maneuver him out to the double arm DDT position, which Jacobs escapes to try for the Contra Code. Mondo doesn’t go down and a series of rollups across the ring puts Jacobs by the ropes, able to use them for leverage, pinning Mike Mondo in his return. SCUM 2, ROH 0.
Inside ROH SCUM
Corino introduces the segment this week and demands the music/graphic change…very “original NWO” of him. Corino reminds us that suffering, chaos, ugliness and mayhem will burn ROH down.
A quick overview of SCUM members’ reasons for joining:
Titus? Lack of respect and faith.
Compton? Never getting a chance and vengeance on Jim Cornette for it.
Jimmy Rave? Beat his personal demons, but ROH wouldn’t give him a chance to prove himself again.
Matt Hardy? Disrespect from Nigel McGuinness and so many others.
Kevin Steen’s turn to talk – He doesn’t know and he doesn’t care about SCUM’s plans. Steen says the night of Supercard of Honor VII will be about himself vs Briscoe…Corino demands the camera back and cuts Steen off yet again, yelling at the producer that he wasn’t supposed to play that clip.
Match 3: Jay Lethal, BJ Whitmer and Michael Elgin vs Rhino, Steve Corino and Matt Hardy
Winners: Rhino, Steve Corino and Matt Hardy via pinfall
Corino enters, mic in hand with Rhino at his back. He’s “giving Kevin Steen the night off” because there’s “nothing wrong” (geez, loss of subtlety, huh?). Corino is apparently going to fight in his suit.
All six man brawl to open up and Corino offers Lethal a SCUM t-shirt in the middle of the ring. Lethal lays it down and blows snot on it, then boots away at Corino and stomps his glasses! Hardy wants a Twist of Fate but Elgin fights out. McGuinness has sent word that this match will be “relaxed rules” – Tags are optional, as is sportsmanship.
Elgin takes Hardy into a stalling vertical suplex while the other four men fight on the floor, but only get a two count. Rhino is taking it to Whitmer on the floor while Elgin stomps Hardy out. Rhino and Lethal in the ring now and Lethal hits the springboard elbow then a springboard dropkick, good for two. Back from a commercial, Lethal takes out everyone on the floor with a dive, as SCUM has arrived in force. Whitmer takes a Side Effect and is left in the ring. Corino steps back in to pick up Whitmer and now SCUM zip-ties Lethal and Elgin to the ropes while Whitmer takes a three man beating. Hardy hits a neckbreaker on Whitmer now while the rest of SCUM continue to pick the bones of Lethal and Elgin. BJ begins to fight back and starts hitting spinebusters and exploders on extraneous members of SCUM. Corino distracts from the apron and Rhino hits the Gore. Rhino wants Corino to make the pin, but he pulls in Hardy to hit a Twist of Fate and make the pin himself. SCUM sweeps the night.
Jay Briscoe grabs a mic after the mess and says that at Supercard VII, ROH will kill SCUM.
The Reaction:
Steen continues to express how proud he is to be ROH World Champion and wants proper competitors…We may see him split from SCUM quite soon.
SCUM cheats multiple times and picks up a win after a good match. That bump on the apron was brutal looking; I hope Alexander fell the way he was planning and it looked worse than it was. Powder + the dropkick was a nice touch – Interesting to see that they didn’t go overboard finisher-wise. If this is an indication of how SCUM will battle tonight, why wouldn’t McGuinness have every ref at ringside tonight?
That was fun – I’m a much bigger fan of Mondo when he wrestles than when he opens his mouth and Jacobs is always entertaining. Excellent back and forth and Mondo had me thinking he was going to try a package double arm DDT there for a second. The bad guys of course continue to cheat to win. Maybe this is why Kevin Steen was getting decisive victories in matches against guys like Elgin – We’ll eventually grow to see that SCUM always has to cheat but Steen can do it on his own, regardless of his bad attitude. I’m not desperate for a Kevin Steen face turn per se, but I still see that SCUM split coming for him in the near future. Good match and glad to see that Mondo’s leg seems good to go.
Corino cutting off Steen again, even in video form? Yeah, that split is coming reaaaaaal soon. Maybe tonight! Aside: The SCUM music is a fun riff to listen to.
Well that wasn’t so much relaxed rules as it was…well…a beating. All of SCUM was in or at the ring for this match, but no Briscoes, C&C, Mondo, etc. Weird ending, and hard to justify nobody coming down to help at all. Jay Briscoe has had many a shot in the past, but will it be his capturing the ROH World Title that begins the downfall of SCUM? The Briscoes did lose the Tag Titles pretty quickly; perhaps a set up for this.
The Preview:
Supercard of Honor VII is tonight – Be sure to watch, and if you can’t watch follow along on Twitter!
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!
