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March 30th, 2013 – WNC AG Center – Asheville, NC
MATCH #1: “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin vs. Adam Page
Page is taller than Elgin but Elgin still has the obvious power advantage. They go back and froth in the early going, with Page using his speed and agility to counteract Elgin’s absurd strength. Page is able to send Elgin to the floor and hits a moonsault off the apron. He tries to do a springboard move back in the ring but Elgin cuts him off with a dropkick. Elgin follows him out and repeatedly whips him into the barricades. Back in the ring Elgin covers for two. Page fights back, even though his nose is bloody. He hits a dropkick to the knee, a dropkick to the face, and a standing shooting star press for two. After more back and forth exchange Elgin hits a big clothesline for two. Elgin goes for a powerbomb but Page backdrops his way out of it. Page hits a running boot to the face and then a super neckbreaker for a near-fall. He goes up top but misses a high cross body block. Elgin hits the dead lift German Suplex for two. Page makes one last gasp but Elgin hits the spinning back fist, buckle bomb, and the Elgin Bomb to get the pin at 9:33. That was sufficient for an opener, and I’d like Page to find a gimmick besides “guy that wears a trucker hat” because I think he could get real good. Elgin is hard to go wrong with these days.
Rating: **½
MATCH #2: “God’s Gift” Q.T. Marshall vs. Darren Dean
I have no idea who Darren Dean is. Must be a local. Marshall gets on the microphone to say his usual. He then puts over his upcoming mystery partner for Supercard of Honor VII. The crowd is not interested in any of this. (18:42)They do some standard back and forth stuff, and Dean actually gets in the first bit of offense. Dean goes up top and Marshall falls into the referee, who then falls into the ropes, knocking Dean to the canvas. Marshall goes to work with his boring offense. He hits a powerslam for two. Dean comes back with a spin kick and both men are down. Jimmy Jacobs and Jimmy Rave come out with Steve Corino and put a beatdown on Dean. The referee calls for the bell at (22:09). Obviously that wasn’t much of a match.
Rating: ¼*
“SCUM” Enters
Corino gets on the mic and talks about how SCUM has grown, and how they want to kill Ring of Honor and stuff. It’s hard to hear because after all of these years ROH hasn’t figured out a way to improve their sound. Also, Corino having laryngitis doesn’t help matters any. Corino calls out Grizzly Redwood and Mike Mondo, Jacobs and Rave’s opponents tonight. Redwood and Mondo come charging out and here we go.
MATCH #3: Grudge Tag Team Match – “No Fear” Mike Mondo & Grizzly Redwood vs. S.C.U.M.
There’s no referee at the start of the fight so there’s no bell. Redwood and Jacobs fight in the ring while Mondo battles Rave on the floor. They trade places and SCUM is not doing so well here. Redwood takes both Jacobs and Rave out with a dive to the floor and referees make their way down to try and restore order. Referee Paul Turner takes the match and we get an opening bell.
Redwood and Mondo are in control and they have Jacobs isolated in their half of the ring. After a few minutes SCUM uses some chicanery to take advantage on the Littlest Lumberjack. Corino also takes cheap shots wherever he can. This goes on for a while, as Jacobs and Rave keep Redwood away from his partner. Finally the tag is made and Mondo is a house afire. Mondo and Redwood look to be in control and both go to the top. Corino knocks Mondo down so Redwood gives chase. Redwood chases him into the ring and that gives Jacobs and Rave the chance to hit the T-Gimmick for the pin at 7:04. Watching SCUM struggle against the likes of Grizzly Redwood and Mike Mondo does not make me fear for Ring of Honor’s safety.
Rating: *½
Rhett Titus comes out to further the beat down. He’s wearing a leather jacket so you know he’s evil. Titus sets up a table at ringside. Jacobs and Rave go for the T-Gimmick over the ropes but BJ Whitmer runs out to make the save. That leads directly into our next match.
MATCH #4: Grudge Match – BJ Whitmer vs. Rhett Titus
Whitmer is pretty dominant in the opening minutes. Corino gets on commentary but his laryngitis makes it hard to hear or understand him. Titus fights back and starts wearing Whitmer down. Yawn. This is perhaps the least heated grudge match of all time. Whitmer fights back on Titus and takes him down with a series of clotheslines. He hits a spinebuster and a powerslam for two. Whitmer hits the Perfect Combination for a two-count. Titus comes back with the Thrust Buster for two, and then the inverted overdrive for two. He follows with the Old School Expulsion but Whitmer kicks out again! Titus and Corino are frustrated. Whitmer grabs a quick inside cradle for a near-fall when Corino pulls referee Todd Sinclair to the floor. Corino tries to clothesline Sinclair but the nimble referee is able to duck and get back in the ring to count a Whitmer backslide for two. Jimmy Rave runs out to interfere but Whitmer blasts him with a boot to the face. Corino tries to give Titus a roll of quarters but Whitmer thwarts him, and then Whitmer also thwarts the attempted interference of Jimmy Jacobs by suplexing him through a table at ringside. Titus is able to grab the roll of quarters and hit Whitmer with it to get the pin at 11:00. Look, I like BJ Whitmer and think he plays his role in ROH well. But if you want to get a super heel group over, having them need four guys just to beat Whitmer is not the way to do it. The match was dull and lifeless.
Rating: *¾
S.C.U.M. continues the assault on Whitmer after the bell until Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards, the American Wolves, come out to make the save. That segues nicely into the next match. Richards of course has to cut a little promo first. THE HUNT IS ON!
MATCH #5: Special Challenge Tag Team Match – American Wolves (Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards) vs. Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander
Bobby Fish joins Kelly on commentary. Richards and Coleman start the match with some mat wrestling. Edwards and Alexander tag in for more of the same. The back and forth continues amongst all four men as both teams try to set the pace. The Wolves take the first control but C&C won’t back down. The match spills to the floor and the Wolves are dominating. Back in the ring the Wolves continue to work on Coleman, keeping him isolated in their half of the ring. The Wolves are even acting a bit heelish here, which is smart considering C&C are in their home state. After several minutes a tag is finally made and Alexander is a house afire. The referee loses control and all four men are in the ring a lot longer than five seconds. The Wolves weather the C&C storm and reclaim control. They try the double-team Alarm Clock but Alexander avoids it. Sadly it leads to nothing as Richards locks him in the Ankle Lock. Richards isn’t legal but the referee can’t get him out of the ring. C&C use their aerial abilities to send the Wolves to the floor. Alexander wipes them both out with an impressive dive. Back in the ring C&C continue to pour on the pressure but the Wolves are right there with them. The crowd is chanting “This Is Awesome!” All four men are brawling in the ring with offense coming from all over the place. Everyone gets knocked down and the crowd chants “ROH.” They rise and trade strikes. Edwards and Coleman take a tumble to the floor. Alexander hits Richards with an enziguiri. Edwards gets back in the ring and the Wolves hit the double-team Alarm Clock. Alexander takes a powerbomb from Edwards and a double stomp off the top rope from Richards and is able to kick out! C&C come back and hit Overdrive on Richards but Edwards breaks up the cover. All four men continue to brawl. Edwards hits Alexander with the Boston Knee Party. The Wolves hit the head kick / Tombstone Piledriver combo on Alexander to get the win at 18:53. Once again C&C put on a show-stealing performance. This was exciting tag action, but one of these days C&C are going to have to get a big win, and hopefully a team like the Wolves will do the honors. Richards of course cuts another promo after the match, putting C&C over. Will he ever NOT do that?
Rating: ***½
MATCH #6: ROH World Tag Team Championship – reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) vs. Alabama Attitude (Mike Posey & Corey Hollis)
Fish and O’Reilly have been the Champions since 3.2.13, and this is their second defense. Mike Posey and Corey Hollis earned this match because Nigel McGuinness does a crappy job of making interesting matches. Fish cuts a promo before the match, becoming the Davey Richards of his team. Hollis has an answer and slugs Fish to begin the match.
The challengers are rolling in the opening minutes, trying to set the stage for a major upset. Hollis and Posey throw the Champions around ringside and the referee tries to get control of the matchup. Back in the ring the Alabamians isolate O’Reilly and work him over. O’Reilly is able to cut Hollis out of the air with a dropkick. Now reDRagon goes go to work. After a short bit Hollis makes the tag and Posey is a house afire. Fish cuts him off with a Back Drop Driver. Momentum continues to shift back and forth; the Challengers have been surprisingly even with the Champions. Eventually referee Todd Sinclair loses control and the legal man rule gets thrown out the window. Posey tries a dive on Fish but misses and crashes hard to the floor. O’Reilly and Hollis trade strikes in the ring, and O’Reilly gets the better of it with a series of hard strikes for a two-count. He hits a bridging Regalplex and Hollis kicks out again! They fight up on the top rope and Hollis hits a Sunset Bomb. Posey follows with an Alabama Jam for a near-fall. All four men are going tie-to-toe. The Champions unleash a series of kicks and look ready to put their plucky foes away. O’Reilly and Fish hit Chasing the Dragon on Hollis to get the pin at 13:16. That was a fun tag match and the right match to have given the positions of both teams on the roster. I still don’t get why it was a title match, because not one person thought there was a chance of a title switch so there was little drama.
Rating: **¾
MATCH #7: Proving Ground Match for a Future ROH World TV Championship Match – Matt Taven w/ Truth Martini vs. Jay Lethal vs. ACH vs. Roderick Strong
If ACH, Strong, or Lethal can defeat Taven they will get a future title shot. I’m not sure what happens in the event of a draw. Sadly, Truth Martini joins Kelly on commentary. Lethal and Taven start the match. They go back-and-forth a bit and Lethal has a distinct advantage in the opening minutes. ACH tags in and wants his shot at Taven. The TV Champ does the manly thing and tags Strong into the match. Lethal and Taven wind up back in the ring and it goes just like before: with Lethal in control. In fact all three non-TV Champions dish out more offense in the first half of the match than the Champ does. Taven tags himself in but quickly gets overwhelmed by Lethal again. It gets so rough that Scarlett gets in the ring to prevent Lethal from diving off the top rope on Taven. That gives Truth the chance to push Lethal off the top rope. That finally gives Taven control of the match. That goes on for some time and then ACH injects some life into the match with a flurry of offense. Strong makes a blind tag and gets in the ring to battle ACH. The referee loses control and bodies start flying all over the place. Lethal takes out Strong and Taven with a dive, and then ACH follows with one for all three of his opponents. Strong and ACH are the first two back in the ring. A series of reversals ends with ACH hitting a flip-over spinning cutter (is the best description I can come up with for some reason) for two. Strong comes back with Death by Roderick and a half nelson backbreaker for a two-count. The referee loses control again and all four men are in the ring. Everyone gets taken off their feet and needs time to recover. Lethal and Strong are up first and Lethal hits the Lethal Combination. Taven breaks up that cover with a Superfly Splash. Taven and ACH tag in and the Champ hits a rope-assisted swinging neckbreaker for two. They set up a Tower of Doom spot but all just kind of crumble to the mat, knocking the wind out of the crowd. Lethal hits Strong with the Lethal Injection to take him out. HE goes fro the same on Taven but gets kicked in the gut. ACH then kicks Taven square in the face and then hits the Cradle DDT to score the pin at 20:56. I like three of the guys in this match but Taven thus far has done nothing for me. The action in this one though didn’t get good until much too late, and the match was about five minutes too long. I do like ACH earning the title shot though, he’s great.
Rating: **¾
MATCH #8: ROH World Championship – Kevin Steen vs. Mark Briscoe
Steen has been the Champion since 5.12.12, and this is his seventeenth defense. The champ stalls right away by going to laugh at Mark’s family, who are in attendance for this important match. That gives Mark a chance to wipe Steen out with a dive. Back in the ring Mark hits a missile dropkick. Steen rolls to the floor and Mark follows him out with another dive. Mark is completely dominant here. As they’re out on the floor Steen catches a charging Mark and hits a pop-up powerbomb! Now the Champ goes to work both in and out of the ring. Steen hits a hard DDT for two. He continues the abuse and keeps Mark fighting from underneath. Mark fights back with his Redneck Kung Fu but it’s not enough to put Steen away. Jimmy Jacobs makes his way out but doesn’t interfere yet. Steen hits the Cannonball for two. Jay Briscoe makes his way out to counteract Jacobs. Steen tries for a move off the top rope but Mark brings him down with a powerbomb for a two-count. Mark hits another powerbomb but again only gets two. More S.C.U.M. reinforcements arrive as Jimmy Rave and Rhett Titus make their way out. Papa Mike and Jethro come down to even the odds. Steen hits the Pumphandle Neckbreaker for two. He goes up top and hits the Swanton for a near-fall. Mark comes back with the rolling Death Valley Driver. They fight on the top rope and Mark hits the springboard Super Ace Crusher. Ringside erupts into a brawl between S.C.U.M. and the Briscoe family. The Briscoes set Titus on a table and Mark comes off the top rope to send him through it. Mark then hits Steen with the Froggy ‘Bow for a very close near-fall. He goes back up top but Steen stops him. Steen puts Mark in the Tree of Woe and hits a Cannonball. He follows with a Sleeper Suplex. The F-Cinq only gets two. Finally the Package Piledriver is enough to finish Mark off at 13:33. As usual with Mark Briscoe title shots, no one thought he was going to win but they went out there and had a fun brawl of a match, though not enough to completely redeem the show.
Rating: ***½
The Briscoes hit Jacobs with the Doomsday Device after the bell, even though Jay is wearing a sling. #DemBoys is crazy. Jay then encourages everyone to watch Supercard of Honor on iPPV, where he will try to take the ROH World Title from Steen.
~BONUS~
The Briscoe Family Wants Steen
Kevin Kelly Show Recap
Kevin Steen Post-Match Promo
Supercard of Honor 7 Hype Video
THE PULSE
This was an obvious placeholder show between 11th Anniversary and Supercard of Honor VII, as there wasn’t much to really get excited about or remember. The undercard is a bit of a chore to get through, and while the Wolves versus C&C and the main event were fun, but if you’re not a completist, you might skip this one. If you do wish, you can purchase it at the ROH Shop.
