Ring of Honor vs. SCUM
Date: 2012, 2013

So over the last few weeks, I’ve bought a ton of DVDs and video downloads from Highspots as they had a crazy sale with everything in both categories at 50% off. They had a ton of cheap stuff included, including this 3 disc, nine plus hour set which I couldn’t pass up for $5. SCUM was a heel faction in ROH and the set is the major matches, angles and promos from the story. Let’s get to it.

I’ve never seen any of this as I wasn’t watching ROH at the time so I’m coming in mostly blind. I’m only going off what they show me here. Also for the sake of simplicity, all dates are the broadcast dates rather than the dates the matches were taped.

Disc 1

From Border Wars 2012 (May 12, 2012).

We see the end of Kevin Steen (Owens) challenging Davey Richards for the World Title. They beat the heck out of each other and Owens spat at him a lot but got caught in an ankle lock. That was reversed with a roll into an exposed buckle and the package piledriver gave Steen the title after about 4:30 shown of 24:27.

Post match, ROH boss Cary Silkin can’t bring himself to present the World Title to Steen so he hands it to the referee and walks away instead. Owens’ friend Jimmy Jacobs celebrates with him and commentator Steve Corino gets inside as well. The jacket comes off and Owens is ready to fight again but Corino hugs him for a big surprise, though Corino didn’t seem to do anything until after the match.

From ROH TV, June 2, 2012.

Here’s Kevin Steen, with Jimmy Jacobs and Steve Corino, for a chat. Corino cuts off Kevin Kelly and says that it’s about time the junior member of the commentary team got to talk. He introduces Steen and handles the interview with the new champ. Eighteen months ago, Silkin tried to kill Steen’s career but now he has to call Steen if he wants to book the World Champion.

Steen looks at the title and says he promised this would happen six months ago. Steen: “LOOK HOW SHINY IT IS!” Corino talks about how Steen has shows him evil is the only way to go and Steen talks about how he’s going to decide which appearances he makes. Of course he’ll go to the health and fitness expo, plus the affiliate dinner where the World Champion is expected to appear. He’ll dress to the nines and tell all of those people what they really need to hear about Jim Cornette.

Cue Cornette, who doesn’t want Steen anywhere near that meeting and promises Steen won’t be the World Champion by then. Cornette wanted Corino to keep Steen from winning the title and then he hugged him! Just for that, Corino is fired from doing DVD commentary. Corino blames Cornette for putting him out of the ring in the first place and rants about how Cornette made him sign some horrible contract.

Cornette calls Steen a cancer to this company who does nothing to his image. He’ll find someone who can take the title from Steen and there are a lot of people who want a shot at Best in the World. Cue Davey Richards, with Kyle O’Reilly, to say he’s sick of being lumped in with Camp Cornette. Before Cornette can say anything, Davey cuts him off to say that he’s here to fight for himself. Davey admits Steen was the better man in Toronto, which Cornette says is the problem. It is a problem, but it’s Cornette’s problem.

At Best in the World, Davey wants the two best to fight for that title. If Cornette won’t give him the title match, Davey is beating Cornette up instead. Steen and company leaves as Cornette makes the title match, which is Davey’s final shot at the title. Davey is coming for the title for himself and Steen’s worst nightmare begins in New York City. This was longer than it needed to be but it set up the next title match and showed you who was where.

From The Nightmare Begins (June 15, 2012).

Steen comes out for a match but first, Cornette rants about how Steen recently lost the company a potential sponsorship. Kevin has the fans chant MR. WRESTLING and makes sure Cornette hears it. Cornette gets in the ring and says Steen doesn’t deserve to be called Mr. Wrestling (he doesn’t even wear a mask).

Steen brings up the dinner with the sponsor and doesn’t get why saying the sponsor’s wife was more wrinkly than a puppy or threatening to eat the sponsor’s face were bad ideas. Cornette talks about how someone has to defeat Steen and every time he wrestles in a singles match, the title is on the line. Steen says Cornette will die before someone takes the title from him because he’s the World Champion.

Ring of Honor World Title: Kevin Steen vs. Eddie Edwards

Date: June 15, 2012

Location: Charleston Civic Center, Charleston, West Virginia

Commentators: Jim Cornette, Steve Corino, Kevin Kelly

Steen is defending and Jimmy Jacobs is at ringside. Jacobs goes for the trip from the floor to start so Eddie dives on him early on. A low bridge puts Steen on the floor but he trips Steen onto the apron. The apron bomb is countered with a hurricanrana but a fall away slam sends Eddie into the barricade (Corino: “I was hoping he’d hit a fan.”).

They fight up the aisle with Eddie being sent into the barricade again, right in front of some Hooters girls. We look at commentary as Cornette rants about how Steen is destroying everything the company is building. Steen fishhooks Edwards’ face to freak Cornette out again and they head back inside. The beating continues as Corino and Kevin Kelly get in an argument on commentary.

We seem to go to a commercial as commentary stops with Steen choking in the corner. Commentary pops back in as Steen cuts off a comeback attempt. The chinlock goes on with Steen saying it’s straight out of the 1980s. Corino: “If we had been around in the 80s, there wouldn’t have been a Midnight Express!”. Eddie fights out and hits a missile dropkick for two as the fans start getting behind the comeback.

Steen gets sent outside for a suicide dive and a middle rope Codebreaker (called the Boston Knee Party here) gets two. The pop up powerbomb gives Steen the same and the Sharpshooter goes on. Eddie makes it to the rope so Steen gives him a Randy Orton hanging DDT.

The Cannonball misses so Eddie drops a top rope double stomp for two. Steen bails to the floor and Edwards follows, earning himself a spinebuster through the announcers’ table. Back in and they trade superkicks but Steen reverses a Backpack Stunner into a sleeper suplex. The F Cinc (F5) retains the title at 16:17.

Rating: B. They were getting somewhere here, even though the title wasn’t exactly in danger. Edwards is a former World Champion who won the title in a surprise so it wasn’t completely out of the question, but Steen isn’t losing the title in his first major defense. Having Steen run over former World Champions makes him seem all the more dangerous and gives Cornette something else to rant about.

Post match, Steen spits in Cornette’s drink for a bonus.

From ROH TV, June 23, 2012.

Kevin Steen/Jimmy Jacobs vs. Davey Richards/Kyle O’Reilly

Date: June 23, 2012

Location: Du Burns Arena, Baltimore, Maryland

Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness, Steve Corino

Richards jumps Steen before the bell and the brawl starts on the floor. Richards kicks away at Jacobs and takes him inside but has to save O’Reilly from an apron bomb. A suicide dive sends Jacobs into the barricade as Richards is basically fighting on his own so far. Back in and Richards hits a top rope double stomp to Steen, setting up the ankle lock. That’s broken up and it’s Steen hitting the pop up apron bomb to break Richards in half.

We take a break (for some reason with the commercial footage not shown) and come back with Steen sending Richards into the barricade. Things settle down into a regular tag match with Jacobs hitting a springboard elbow to O’Reilly and grabbing him by the ear. It’s back to Steen for a backsplash to stay on the ribs but O’Reilly grabs a rollup for two.

Richards comes back in without a tag for a double clothesline and it’s time for the kicks in the corner. A big kick drops Steen and we hit the ankle lock. Jacobs makes the save with a guillotine choke but O’Reilly makes a save of his own. O’Reilly and Jacobs fight to the floor with Richards joining them.

Steen hits the big running flip dive to take all three of them out. Not to be kept down, Davey pops up with a t-bone suplex to Steen on the apron. Steen is back up and kicks the rope into a low blow on Richards but the other two knock Richards and Steen onto the timekeeper’s table. Jacobs drives O’Reilly through the table though and that’s a double DQ at 12:37.

Rating: C. This was your wild brawl style main event and that’s what it should be. We’re coming up on Best in the World and there is no reason to have Steen or Richards lose a fall here. That being said, having Richards take Jacobs out for a pin here would have been fine, but what we got here was good enough.

Post match the brawl stays on with Steen taking out a referee until security breaks it up.

From Best in the World 2012 (June 24, 2012).

Ring of Honor World Title: Kevin Steen vs. Davey Richards

Date: June 24, 2012

Location: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York

Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

Steen is defending and anything goes, including Steen’s package piledriver. Hold on though as we need to hear from Corino, meaning the ECW chants are out in full force. Corino says he is an evil man but you are seeing the era of KILL STEEN KILL. He’s going to be out there giving Steen the proper representation that he deserves, unlike Jim Cornette. Cue Cornette to say Corino can do commentary, but Cornette will be sitting at ringside as well.

We’re not ready to go yet though as Kyle O’Reilly comes out to complain about the fact that he’s not in Davey’s corner. Apparently Davey didn’t like O’Reilly’s match against Adam Cole. Well Adam Cole is getting stitches so he’s here to stab Richards in the f****** eye. He hates Steen but respects Davey but he’s no one’s lackey. Corino: “Does he kiss his boyfriend with that mouth?” O’Reilly flips the fans off and leaves, much to Richards’ chagrin.

Steen bails to the apron to start so Richards knocks him through the timekeeper’s table. A running boot against the barricade hits Steen and Richards whips him into it again. Davey has to deal with Jacobs though and it’s a pop up apron bomb to drop him cold. Steen rips off the barricade covers and buries Richards under them, setting up the frog splash off the apron. They go inside with Steen’s Swanton hitting raised knees (yelling at Cornette might have something to do with it) but he’s right back with a hanging DDT for two.

Just to be a bit more evil, Steen goes outside again and superkicks the ring announcer, allowing Richards to hit a suicide dive. Cornette and former boss Cary Silkin help the announcer to the back as Richards suplexes Steen on the apron. The fans want fire but have to settle for Richards hitting a top rope double stomp through the announcers’ table. Cornette is back and panicking as Richards sends Steen back inside for another double stomp and a near fall.

Richards throws in a couple of chairs and then adds two more, including the one Cornette was sitting in. Steen gets in a chair to the head though and the Cannonball onto the chair onto Richards gets two. The chairs are piled on top of Richards but he gets up before the Swanton can launch. A top rope superplex onto the chairs gets two on Steen so it’s table time.

Richards loads him up on top again but gets reversed into a spinning fisherman’s superplex through the table for two more. Cornette is selling the heck out of this as he panics over the near falls. Steen steals the mouthpiece and puts it in his own mouth but takes too long setting up the chairs. That earns him a German suplex onto the two open chairs and they’re both down again.

With nothing else working, Richards grabs a chain and wraps it around his boot for some Kawada kicks. Steen spits at him so it’s the big kick to the head, with the chain, for two more. The referee gets bumped and Davey busts out a ladder. Steen grabs a quick F Cinc (Corino: “WE NEED A REFEREE! WE NEED A REFEREE!”) so here’s another referee for a slow two.

That earns the new referee a package piledriver as the fans think this is awesome. Richards grabs a Jay Driller onto the ladder but there’s no referee, even as the fans count to twenty. The referee is thrown back in but Jacobs gets in and busts out his spike. That brings Cornette in to take it away, which brings in Corino to kick him low. Richards suplexes Jacobs onto the ladder in the corner but Steen stabs Richards low. The package piledriver retains the title at 21:20.

Rating: B+. This was a wild fight and while I’m rarely a fan of Richards, I got pulled into the story here and that’s a hard trick to pull. They made me believe that they might do a title change here and the story they were going with, of Richards having no friends because of his obsession and being overcome by the numbers, worked really well. I was rather surprised by this and they beat the heck out of each other.

Post match, Corino announces Steen the winner by clean pinfall. Steen says cut the music because he’s waited a long time to close a New York City show as World Champion. He can’t stand hypocrites and there aren’t many bigger hypocrites than Cornette. We’ll come back to that, as Steen needs to talk about Eddie Edwards (seems like he said the wrong name as he is talking straight to Richards) because he has been working a long time to face Richards in a title match like this.

The most hypocritical people in wrestling are the fans (that makes them cheer louder) because they cheered when El Generico got rid of him at Final Battle 2010. That brings up the OLE chants but Steen cuts them off by saying he came back six months later and the fans cheered him all over again. If you need even more proof of the hypocrisy, what about fans buying tickets to an ROH show and then chant for Brian Danielson and CM Punk. Like they even remember this company!

These people like turning on former World Champions like Nigel McGuinness and Tyler Black, but they can’t turn on Steen because he doesn’t care about any of them. He’s going to be the final ROH World Champion because they’re killing this company. So f*** this company and f*** New York City. I guess this was designed to make the fans boo Steen, but I’m not sure how well that is going to work.

From ROH TV, August 11, 2012.

Kevin Steen/Jimmy Jacobs/Steve Corino vs. Jay Lethal/All Night Express

Date: August 11, 2012

Location: Du Burns Arena, Baltimore, Maryland

Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

The Express are World Tag Team Champions Kenny King/Rhett Titus and Lethal has been asking for a shot at Steen. It’s a brawl to start with Lethal and Jacobs staying in the ring as the other four fight outside. Lethal’s basement dropkick connects but Corino throws Lethal to the floor. Titus comes in for a jumping elbow to Corino so it’s off to King vs. Steen for a change. The good guys clear the ring but head straight to the floor to keep up the fight. That lets Steen throw King into the barricade as Titus gives Corino a slingshot belly to back suplex.

We settle down to a regular tag match with Titus splashing Corino for two and King adding a suplex. Titus’ slingshot shoulder gets two and we hit the chinlock. That doesn’t last long so it’s back to King, who gets his neck snapped across the top by Jacobs so the villains can take over.

We take a break and come back with Steen planting King and sending him into the evil corner. Corino pulls on King’s ears (that’s just cruel) and kicks out of King’s sunset flip at two. It’s off to Lethal for the house cleaning, including a neckbreaker/DDT combination to Jacobs and Corino. Steen misses a clothesline and Lethal suicide dives onto Corino. Back in and Titus drops Steen, setting up the Hail to the King top rope elbow for two on Steen with Corino making the save.

A Downward Spiral plants Lethal and we hit the parade of secondary finishers. Lethal hits the Lethal Combination on Steen and everyone is down. The Lethal Injection is broken up and Jacobs hits the Contra Code (Sliced Bread) on Lethal. Steen’s Swanton gets two so Jacobs pulls out the spike, only to walk into the Lethal Injection for the pin at 12:16.

Rating: B-. Fine enough six man main event here and that’s all it needed to be. They had a nice, longish match here and it gives Lethal some momentum towards what is likely going to be a World Title shot. It’s fine to beat someone like Jacobs as he is the glorified lackey of the team, so everything is fine from all of this.

Post match Steen and company beat down the Express, including a suplex to put King through an open chair. Jacobs and Corino hold up the Tag Team Titles.

From Death Before Dishonor 2012 (September 15, 2020).

We see Corino and Jacobs defeating Charlie Haas and Rhett Titus for the vacant Tag Team Titles after King left the company over a contract dispute. That’s not mentioned here, along with why Haas is in the match or why the titles are vacant.

From Killer Instinct (October 6, 2012).

We see the end of Steen vs. Lethal with Steen spitting on Lethal’s mother, sending Lethal into a rage. The beating was on and the match was thrown out as a result. Steen storms off as Cornette tries to calm things down. The fans are TICKED as Lethal beats on things with a chair. Lethal leaves through the crowd but comes back in and threatens to murder anyone who spits on his mother. Of note: Corino was wearing a jacket that said SCUM, though there has been no mention of the name or what it means yet. For a DVD about Ring of Honor vs. SCUM, that might be an important detail.

Post show, Lethal is ticked off in the back and throws Cornette over a table, writing him out of the promotion. Lethal storms off as Cornette is checked on.

From ROH TV, December 15, 2012.

Steve Corino vs. Jay Briscoe

Date: December 15, 2012

Location: Rostraver Ice Gardens, Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania

Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Caleb Seltzer

Street fight as I guess the Briscoes are chasing the Tag Team Titles. Corino comes to the ring in a suit and the team is officially named SCUM. Kelly confirms that SCUM is defending in a three way tag match at Final Battle against the Briscoes and Caprice Coleman/Cedric Alexander. They fight to the floor in a hurry and Jay hits him in the face with a drink. A whip into the barricade gives Corino a breather and it’s time to fight over a table. Jay punches him down though and it’s a double stomp to put Corino through the table.

Back from a break with Jay hitting him in the head with the bell and wedging chairs in the corners. Cue Jimmy Jacobs for a distraction though and Corino gets in a right hand with a roll of quarters for two. Mark Briscoe comes out to drop Jacobs and here’s a wheelbarrow full of chairs for a bonus.

As Mark beats on Jimmy a bit more, Corino sends Jay into a chair in the corner. Corino slams Jay onto the pile of chairs and it’s time to bring in another table. A suplex onto an open chair gives Corino two (and Jay a rather sore back) but you don’t do that around here, as Jay gives him a Death Valley Driver onto two open chairs. Mark comes back out with a piece of barricade but Jacobs hits him low.

The distraction lets Corino suplex Jay through a table, because a Death Valley Driver onto a chair is a thirty second injury. The barricade is bridged between the chairs but Corino takes too much time and gets top rope superplexed onto the barricade. Fans: “HOLY (MOSTLY) CENSORED!”. Alexander and Coleman come down to brawl with Jacobs and Mark as Jay gets the pin at 17:53.

Rating: B-. The violence was good but at the same time, there was so much going on and the big spots were getting a little ridiculous by the end. I know they’re building up to the big title match, but how much sense does it make to have a major street fight on the go home show to a pay per view? It was violent, but it didn’t make the most sense.

Post match here’s Steen, holding El Generico’s mask. He talks about Generico beating him at Final Battle 2010 to get rid of him from Ring of Honor. Since then, Steen has returned and become World Champion. That isn’t enough to make the feeling go away because he realized that he and Generico are destined to fight forever. Steen starts rocking back and forth as he says he isn’t scared of a ladder war with Generico. He goes to the floor to yell at Kevin Kelly for being worried about what would happen to Generico and Steen two years ago. Back in the ring, Steen promises to leave Final Battle either as champion or as a corpse.

From Final Battle 2012 (December 16, 2012).

We see the end of Jay Lethal defeating Rhino. Commentary suggests that SCUM hired Rhino to take Lethal. Corino grabs the mic and says he dated Lethal’s mom. Lethal used to carry Corino’s bag and Corino respects him, but Lethal isn’t messing up SCUM. Cue Jacobs from behind and the double teaming is on. Rhino gets up to Gore Lethal so Corino can shout that Lethal will never be in the main event.

Also from Final Battle 2012 (December 16, 2012).

We get some highlights from the Ladder War between Steen and Generico. They beat the heck out of each other and destroyed a bunch of ladders, including a package piledriver to put Generico through a bridged ladder. Steen won (and it’s a newly designed title) because Generico was mostly dead.

From ROH TV, January 23, 2013.

Nigel McGuinness is in the ring, surrounded by security, and brings out Jay Lethal and Kevin Steen for a chat. Lethal is surprised that Steen came out here but isn’t surprised that he came out here with his lackeys (including Rhino, who has joined the team). He wants another title shot but Corino thinks Lethal’s mother would have raised him better than that. It was Lethal’s father who threw a drink on Steen to set everything off.

Steen takes the mic from Corino but Lethal calls him a vile human and disgusting human being. For some reason, Steen wants to destroy the company because of some grudge but Lethal is more about honor than anyone else. If Steen wants to destroy everything, he has to beat Lethal, or he isn’t s***. Jacobs and Corino say it isn’t happening but Steen heads to the apron and says he accepts.

Video on Lethal vs. Steen, which is Ring of Honor vs. SCUM. During the buildup, Steen even prevented SCUM from beating Lethal down because he was much happier now that Jim Cornette was gone. Who got rid of Cornette? Jay Lethal of course. Steen decided he cared about this company but Lethal didn’t buy any of it.

From the 11^th Anniversary Show (March 2, 2013).

Ring of Honor World Title: Kevin Steen vs. Jay Lethal

Date: March 2, 2013

Location: Frontier Fieldhouse, Chicago Ridge, Illinois

Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Caleb Seltzer

Steen is defending and there are no seconds. They slug it out immediately and the fight is on the floor in a hurry. Steen gets whipped into the barricade but comes back with shots to the face. That earns him another shot into the barricade as they keep going around the ring. This time it’s Lethal going into the barricade so Steen can send him inside. A quick dropkick gives Lethal two and another sends Steen into the corner as he can’t do much when they get down to the wrestling.

Lethal’s basement dropkick gets two and he sends Steen to the apron for a triangle dropkick. Two suicide dives connect but the third is countered into the apron bomb to give Steen his first control. Steen crotches him against the post and the taunting is on in a hurry. Choking on the rope gets two but the Swanton hits raised knees. A Backstabber drops Steen for two but he’s right back with the pumphandle brainbuster onto the knee for the same.

The Cannonball misses though and Lethal grabs a belly to back neckbreaker for two more. The ref gets bumped and, of course, the Lethal Injection connects two seconds later. Cue Jacobs and Corino to beat Lethal down, including a spike cradle piledriver to give Steen two. Jacobs decks the referee again but here’s Nigel McGuinness to cut Corino off. Nigel scares Corino to the back and Lethal kicks Jacobs to the floor.

That leaves Lethal and Steen to slug it out until Lethal hits a pair of scary looking release dragon suplexes for two. Steen’s pop up powerbomb gets the same but Lethal is right back with a Koji Clutch to put Steen in real trouble. A rope is grabbed so they head to the apron and it’s the F Cinc through the announcers’ table to destroy Lethal again.

Lethal is on the way back in and beats the count despite Jacobs grabbing his leg. The package piledriver gives Steen two and he tells Jacobs to get out of here. A heck of a clothesline blasts Lethal and they’re both down again. Lethal heads up top and hammers Steen down but Hail to the King is broken up. Instead, Steen grabs a Brainbusterrrrr (or however El Generico spelled his version onto the top turnbuckle) to retain at 20:47.

Rating: B. This was a good job of giving us a big showdown for the title and advancing Steen’s issues with SCUM. Steen is turning into the anti-hero and that could make for some interesting material going forward. On the other hand, Lethal has gone from some young guy who feels in over his head to someone who feels like a serious challenger to the World Title. Good match here and it felt like the major fight they were shooting for the whole time.

Post match Steen looks calm but here are Jacobs and Rhino to take out Lethal again. The Briscoes run in for the save but get taken down as well. Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander run in as well but here’s former ROH star Jimmy Rave, in a SCUM shirt, to take care of them as well. Now it’s BJ Whitmer and Rhett Titus coming in with the former going after Rave. Titus dropkicks Whitmer though and reveals his own SCUM shirt.

Michael Elgin comes in this time and goes after SCUM but Cliff Compton (Domino of Deuce N Domino) with powder to blind Elgin. Steen gets up and looks confused as Elgin is handcuffed to the corner. We’re still not done as the Wolves (Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards) run in to fight SCUM but the numbers get the better of it and the team starts tying everyone to the ropes. Adam Cole comes in (looking about 14 years old) and can’t do much either.

Matt Hardy comes in and he’s SCUM too as the huge beatdown continues. Steen is down on the floor watching now (he hasn’t done anything physical since the match ended) but Corino grabs the mic to say evil is here. This is the evolution of SCUM and the destruction of Ring of Honor. Corino praises Steen as the King of SCUM, Ring of Honor and professional wrestling because the vision has always been the same: bring suffering, chaos, ugliness and mayhem (the first time the acronym has been explained on the DVD) to this company.

They hold up an ROH banner as Steen gets in the ring and Corino introduces the (several) new members. Jacobs pulls out his spike and stabs the banner, which is torn to pieces. Corino declares war on ROH but it won’t last long because tonight, honor has died. The team poses, with Steen looking on from the side, to end the show after a very big and very long angle.

Disc 2

From ROH TV, March 16, 2013.

Nigel McGuinness is in the ring with a bunch of the roster on the apron. Nigel, holding the torn banner: “S*** just got real.” It’s time for ROH to fight because SCUM has started a way. They are still united and still believe in this company. Steve Corino said three things: SCUM will go down in history as the company who killed Ring of Honor, that there are no credible contenders to Kevin Steen and that honor is dead. Look at all of these people around the ring and you’ll know honor isn’t dead.

There are plenty of credible contenders, like Adam Cole, who will be getting a World Title shot. He has defended the TV Title with honor and next week he’ll be facing Matt Hardy with the winner getting a TV Title shot. Then there’s BJ Whitmer, who is getting a title shot as well. As for Jay Lethal and Michael Elgin, they can face off at Supercard of Honor with the winner getting a title shot. Roderick Strong jumps up on the ropes but Nigel says this isn’t the time for fun and games. They’ll talk about this in the back.

That brings him to the Briscoe Brothers, who are the pioneers around here. Mark Briscoe is getting a title shot in two weeks in Ashville, North Carolina. Then there’s Jay Briscoe, whose arm is in a sling. He gets in the ring and says he’ll fight with one arm if he has to though because he only needs one chance. Nigel grants him the title match at Supercard of Honor. As for tonight, SCUM is banned from the building, but that will change next week. The roster gets in the ring and Nigel says they aren’t running and hiding from SCUM.

From ROH TV, March 23, 2013.

Veda Scott (lawyer/manager) and Grizzly Redwood (short guy with a big beard) are in the ring to interview Mike Mondo, who has been out of action with an injury for four months. Mondo was supposed to be out for a year and cut that down for four months because he’s in Beast Mode every day. He has no fear….and here’s SCUM to beat the guys down. Corino asks if this is what Nigel wanted as Compton grabs Veda.

BJ Whitmer and some other wrestlers come out but Corino says Compton will end Scott if they take one more step. Nigel can come out here to talk face to face, because Corino wants a SCUM show next week. Nigel does come out and makes ROH vs. SCUM next week, so prepare for h***.

From ROH TV, March 23, 2013.

We see the end of Matt Hardy vs. Adam Cole, with Hardy pulling the floor mats back but having the Twist of Fate countered into a suplex. Rhino Gored Cole down so Cedric Alexander and Caprice Coleman ran in for the DQ.

The big brawl is on with both factions running in for the fight.

From ROH TV, March 30, 2013.

Here’s Kevin Steen to get things going but Jay Briscoe, still in a sling, cuts him off before anything can be said. Briscoe talks about how this company has been his life for eleven years and now SCUM is talking about wanting to kill it. That sounds like threatening his livelihood and that isn’t a good idea. Before Steen can say anything, here’s Corino to say how dare Briscoe disrespect the World Champion.

Briscoe wants to hear from the champ himself so Steen says he’s glad both Briscoes are getting the title shot. Steen: “In New York City, we’ll see who the b**** is, b****.” Steen leaves and Corino laughs at Briscoe, who pulls out a metal rod. Corino realizes no one else is here so SCUM comes in….and we take a break.

From ROH TV, March 30, 2013.

Rhett Titus/Cliff Compton vs. C&C Wrestle Factory

Date: March 30, 2013

Location: Frontier Fieldhouse, Chicago Ridge, Illinois

Commentators: Caleb Seltzer, Kevin Kelly

This starts with Coleman and Alexander running in to save Briscoe so maybe we’re getting the full episode here. Coleman takes Titus into the corner to start and Alexander springboards in with an elbow for two. Cedric fights out of the SCUM corner but Compton pulls him down for a crotching against the post. Titus drops him ribs first across the top rope so Compton can hit a top rope elbow to the back. A boot scrape in the corner has Alexander down and it’s off to a chinlock.

That’s broken up though and Cedric gets in a shot to the face, allowing the roll into a hot tag to Coleman. We take a break and come back with Titus breaking up a dive but tossing Coleman over the top….right onto Compton. Well to be fair, they haven’t been partners that long. Coleman’s guillotine legdrop gets two but cue Jimmy Rave to shove Cedric off the top (for a NASTY landing on the apron. Jimmy Jacobs comes out and slips Compton some powder to blind Coleman and Titus adds a dropkick for the pin at 10:11.

Rating: C-. This was fine and a good example of how SCUM can cheat to win with the numbers advantage. It’s not like Alexander and Coleman lose anything after this much cheating. Not a good match but Coleman and Alexander were a good team when they got to face the right opponents. I’m not sure they had that chance here.

From ROH TV, March 30, 2013.

Jimmy Jacobs vs. Mike Mondo

Date: March 30, 2013

Location: Frontier Fieldhouse, Chicago Ridge, Illinois

Commentators: Caleb Seltzer, Kevin Kelly

Sweet goodness this company loves alliteration. This picks up right after the previous match as well with Mondo running in for the save and the bell ringing. Mondo fights off Rave and avoids a dive from Jacobs, setting up a running corkscrew dive of his own. Back in and Jacobs gets in a kick to the face but Mondo catches him on top and unloads with kicks to the ribs.

We take a break and come back with Jacobs catches him on top but getting headbutted right back down. Jacobs knocks him down from the top to the floor though in a big crash. A running elbow from the apron to the….well some part of Mondo but it worked anyway. Jacobs puts him in a chair and hits a suicide dive to crush them both. Mondo is right back up and trips Jacobs off the apron.

Back in and Jacobs flips out of what looked like a tiger bomb and grabs a guillotine choke. That’s reversed with a northern lights suplex but Jacobs is right back with the guillotine. Mondo breaks that up and blocks the Contra Code so they go to an exchange of rollups with Jacobs grabbing the rope for the pin at 10:07.

Rating: C. Mondo is someone that Cornette raves about as an underrated talent but there is only so much that you can get out of him when he used to be in the Spirit Squad. He looked good here, but Ring of Honor isn’t supposed to win these matches. What we got was good enough though and Mondo looked solid even in defeat.

From ROH TV, March 30, 2013.

Corino presents Inside SCUM (instead of Inside ROH), starting off with a look at Rhett Titus. ROH has overlooked Titus several times now and he has no faith in the company. He’s found acceptance in SCUM though and that’s to their benefit. Then there’s Cliff Compton, who has never gotten a chance in ROH because Cornette wouldn’t give him a chance. It was always next time, but now it’s his time.

Next up is Jimmy Rave, who has been very successful in ROH and has beaten his personal demons so he can be back where he belongs. Matt Hardy has been screwed over by ROH despite his star power. Eight years ago, Matt yelled RING OF HONOR on Monday Night Raw but he still can’t get any respect. These men plus the rest of the group are wrestling’s worst nightmare and on April 5, Steen is defeating Jay Briscoe like he does to everyone else.

We go to Steen, who says he doesn’t care about what SCUM is planning. What matters to him is Steen vs. Briscoe at Supercard of Honor. Steen knows how tough Briscoe is….and Corino says get the camera back on him to wrap it up in a hurry. Corino yells at the production staff for playing the wrong music.

Steve Corino/Matt Hardy/Rhino vs. Jay Lethal/BJ Whitmer/Michael Elgin

Date: March 30, 2013

Location: Frontier Fieldhouse, Chicago Ridge, Illinois

Commentators: Caleb Seltzer, Kevin Kelly

Apparently Corino is replacing Steen here because the team is already 2-0. Corino is wrestling in a suit and tapes his wrists on the way to the ring. With the other four fighting on the floor, Corino stops to offer Lethal a SCUM shirt, which goes as well as you would expect. Lethal even takes Corino’s glasses off to stomp on them, which is rather evil indeed. Elgin and Hardy take their places in the ring and the delayed suplex drops Matt. Now it’s Lethal coming in with a handspring elbow to rock Rhino and a springboard missile dropkick gets two.

Back from a break with Lethal hitting a suicide dive to take out more members of SCUM who aren’t involved in the match. The numbers game starts getting the better of the ROH guys and it’s time to zip tie Elgin and Lethal to the ropes. That leaves Whitmer to get triple teamed but he somehow gets in a spinebuster to Rhino. An exploder suplex sends Rave flying but a Corino distraction lets Rhino hit the Gore. Matt adds the Twist of Fate for the pin at 11:40.

Rating: C. This was more of an angle than a match and that’s not a bad thing. The whole show has been about SCUM dominating and taking over the company even more than they already had and that’s what they did here again. It was a nice brawl while it lasted though and Lethal continues to look like a star, which is the secondary point of the whole thing.

Post match Lethal and Elgin get loose and fight SCUM off. Jay Briscoe comes out and promises he’ll lose the sling while Steen loses the belt.

From Supercard of Honor VII (April 5, 2013).

SCUM vs. Mark Briscoe/BJ Whitmer/C&C Wrestle Factory/Mike Mondo

Date: April 5, 2013

Location: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York

Commentators: Caleb Seltzer, Kevin Kelly

It’s Compton/Jacobs/Rave/Titus/Rhino with Corino sitting in on commentary. This is an impromptu match after SCUM attacked Lethal and Elgin to break up their #1 contenders match. The big brawl is on before the bell with ROH getting the better of things to start. Everyone brawls on the floor with Seltzer snapping on Corino early on.

We finally settle down to Rave slugging Mondo into the corner so the villains can take over. Rhino hits the running shoulder in the ribs and Titus rubs Mondo’s face in the mat. Corino goes into a rant about how horrible the ROH guys are, including calling Cedric and Caprice the “black version of the Midnight Rockers.” Titus sends Mondo into Compton’s boot and we get a DEUCE WAS BETTER chant. This is likely the only time Deuce has ever received a chant in wrestling history.

Mondo slips between Rave’s legs, realizes he’s gone to the wrong corner, and rolls over to the right corner for the tag to Whitmer. Everything breaks down for a bit with the Factory hitting stereo dives, followed by Briscoe hitting a big springboard flip dive for a bonus. Titus beats on Whitmer and hits a running Fameasser from behind. Compton gives Caprice a Falcon Arrow but Cedric kicks him down. Corino: “HE’S A MOVE STEALER!!! HE STOLE THAT FROM STRONG!!!”.

Jacobs gives Cedric a Pedigree but gets dropped by Mondo. Rhino runs Mondo over but Briscoe shotgun dropkicks him into the corner. They’re taken down as well, leaving us with Whitmer sending Rave to the floor for a heck of a suicide dive. Corino gets off commentary and slaps Seltzer, so Whitmer makes the save.

Whitmer goes after Corino but gets grabbed by Rhino and Jacobs. He’s fine enough to spit at Corino but Titus comes back in for a dropkick. That’s enough for Whitmer to be cuffed to the rope and Jacobs throws powder in Mondo’s eyes. Corino gets back on commentary as Coleman hits a nasty piledriver on Rave. Rhino Gores him down though and Coleman is done at 11:14.

Rating: C+. This got better at the end and they were smart to keep it a little shorter. A big ten man match like this can get a little long winded at times so it was a good move to make it feel like a TV match. SCUM continues to dominate, but at some point ROH is going to have to pick up an important win.

Post match Corino brags about how awesome they are and promises to win their other matches tonight.

From Supercard of Honor VII (April 5, 2013).

We see the end of Kevin Steen vs. Jay Briscoe for the World Title, with the Briscoe family and some ROH wrestlers coming out to prevent SCUM from interfering. Briscoe kicked out of the package piledriver and here’s SCUM for the big brawl in the aisle. Matt Hardy snuck in from the other side but Steen broke up the Twist of Fate and threw him outside.

Steen kicked out of the Jay Driller and Nigel McGuinness is LOSING IT on commentary. Jay fought out of the Crossface and hit another Jay Driller to win, with Nigel literally jumping around ringside in celebration before coming back to commentary. Of all the things on this set, they couldn’t air THIS match in full? The set is looking to be close to ten hours long and you cut the major turning point? After airing the ten man tag in full? Weird choice there.

Post match Jay’s dad, his brother, Nigel and others got in the ring to celebrate. Jay grabs the mic but Steen gets back up and, after listening to the THAT WAS AWESOME and THANK YOU STEEN chants, drops the mic and shakes Jay’s hand. Steen leaves and Jay says tonight, SCUM dies and honor lives.

From ROH TV, April 20, 2013.

Here’s Steen for a chat, but first we need some THANK YOU KEVIN chants. Corino cuts him off though, saying Steen hasn’t been around for a bit so this is how they have to talk. He knows how hard it was to lose the World Title but the mission to kill Ring of Honor is still intact. Steen says Corino has been talking about the plan for over a year but now that Jim Cornette is gone, Ring of Honor doesn’t need to be put out of its misery. Right now, the only mission in Steen’s head is getting another World Title shot.

Cue SCUM to interrupt to surround the ring, as Corino suggests that it’s time for a new star of the team. The camera pans over to Matt Hardy but Steen says he’ll follow Corino through a lot. One part that he can’t get behind though is this mother ****** Matt Hardy. That’s too far for Corino so maybe it’s time he and Steen go their separate ways. SCUM gets in the ring and Steen says there are two ways they can do this.

Either they can walk away, or the people in the ring can start something they’re going to regret. Corino picks option two so the fight is on in a hurry. Hardy is held back by Corino as the beatdown is on, drawing out security and referees for a failed save attempt. Corino tells SCUM to step back and tells Matt to do his work. That would be a Twist of Fate and Steen is left laying. They had been building that for a long time so the turn not only makes sense but has been well set up. Nice job.

From ROH TV, April 20, 2013.

We see the end of Jorge Santi vs. Tadarius Thomas as SCUM runs in for the big beatdown. Corino says that the mission is still the same, even without Steen. After what happened earlier though, you’ll probably never see Steen again so it doesn’t matter anyway. Cue Nigel McGuinness to say Corino should shut up because SCUM is dissolving into the grave. Corino says he created and destroyed Steen so the mission continues.

Nigel brings out Jay Lethal and Michael Elgin and tells them to get out of the ring. Corino: “You don’t tell god what to do Nigel.” They do need the World Title back, so his spiritual son will become the next and final Ring of Honor World Champion. Corino is willing to sweeten the pot though: if the team gets one shot and loses, he’ll leave Ring of Honor. He knows Nigel won’t accept it though because he remembers Nigel as World Champion. The truth is that Nigel thinks a lot of himself and didn’t know why the fans booed him when he was World Champion.

Nigel shrugs that off and makes the match: Elgin/Lethal vs. any two members of the team at Border Wars. If SCUM wins, they get the World Title shot but if ROH wins, SCUM is done. Corino: “No deal.” He wants one more thing: if SCUM wins, he gets the vacant commentary spot next to Kevin Kelly, completely uncensored. Nigel takes off his jacket, slowly gets in the ring, and says he’ll see Corino at Border Wars. Corino says he’ll see him next week.

From Border Wars 2013 (May 4, 2013 in Toronto, mislabeled as March 30, 2013 in Chicago on the DVD).

Michael Elgin/Jay Lethal vs. Cliff Compton/Jimmy Jacobs

Date: May 4, 2013

Location: Ted Reeve Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness

This is immediately after SCUM interfered in a BJ Whitmer vs. Rhett Titus I Quit match so we start in a hurry with Titus still zip tied to the top rope. Lethal superkicks him before the four people actually in the match head outside where Elgin chokes Compton with a chair. SCUM gets beaten up some more as Titus is finally cut away from the ropes. Compton gets sent hard into the barricade and Elgin adds a running boot to send him into the crowd.

We finally settle down to Lethal vs. Jacobs in the ring for a chop off with Lethal getting the better of it. Elgin comes in for the very delayed vertical suplex on Jacobs, holding him up for 38 seconds, doing some squats, and then suplexing him down after another nine seconds. Lethal comes in for his hiptoss into a basement dropkick but Jacobs gets smart by going to the eyes.

It’s back to Compton, who is taken straight down by the handspring elbow. Elgin suplexes the much bigger Compton as well and holds him up, with Lethal adding his own delayed suplex on Jacobs for a nice visual. A backsplash gets two on Elgin but Compton knees Lethal in the face. It’s still too early for SCUM to take over though as Elgin tags himself in for a torture rack neckbreaker on Compton.

Everything breaks down again and Lethal hits a suicide dive on Jacobs, only to come up holding his knee. Elgin plants Compton with a spinning Boss Man Slam but Elgin goes outside to check on Lethal. Nigel goes over as well as SCUM demands they be awarded the win. Elgin is ready to fight n his own and throws Jacobs and Compton down. Jacobs gets powerbombed into Compton in the corner and it’s a Samoan drop to Compton with a fall away slam to Jacobs at the same time (that’s insane).

Back up, Compton gets in a shot in the corner and the clubberin is on (Corino: “YOU ASKED FOR IT! YOU ASKED FOR IT!”). Jacobs hits a DDT and mocks Elgin’s lack of a partner. Compton drops a leg and grabs a headscissors but Elgin stands up and tosses him to the floor. It’s back to Jacobs for a sleeper and Compton comes back in, meaning Elgin German suplexes Compton while dropping Jacobs onto his back for the three way knockdown.

Cue Kevin Steen to stand on the apron but Elgin won’t tag him. Nigel tells him to do it so Elgin goes with it. House is cleaned in a hurry, including back to back Cannonballs. There’s the apron bomb to Jacobs and Elgin’s buckle bomb makes it worse. Compton breaks up the Elgin Bomb so Steen gives him the pop up powerbomb (more like a spinebuster here but close enough). The package piledriver is loaded up on Compton but Jacobs grabs a fast rollup to pin Steen at 20:08.

Rating: B. This felt a bit like the Outsiders vs. the NWO at Bash at the Beach 1996 for a bit with the injury, though it was quite the different ending. You knew they weren’t going to have ROH win here as they can’t go with the faces winning with a 3-2 advantage. Steen taking the fall makes things even worse for him as they can now blame him for not getting rid of SCUM, thereby allowing him to need to do even more to redeem himself. Good match here though and it felt big, even though it was on the first half of the show.

From ROH TV, May 18, 2013.

Corino comes out with Jacobs to introduce himself as the new color commentator and promises that a member of the team will become the new, and final, World Champion. Cue Jay Lethal, still limping from Border Wars, to interrupt. Lethal says it was a bad idea to let Steen join the team at Border Wars because no one knows where his loyalty lies. For now though, it’s time to fight Jacobs…who pulls him down by the leg to start things in a hurry.

Jimmy Jacobs vs. Jay Lethal

Date: May 18, 2013

Location: Ted Reeve Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Steve Corino

Jacobs sends the bad leg into the apron and we start in a hurry. Lethal slugs away with right hands to get a breather, only to have the knee sent into the barricade. They get inside for the first time with Jacobs staying on the leg (well duh) as Corino declares that Lethal is in fact an African American. Lethal manages a basement dropkick for two so Jacobs starts crawling around to make Lethal chase him. That works just fine for Lethal, who grabs a DDT.

The Lethal Injection takes too long though and Jacobs ties the leg in the rope to stomp away. Back from a break with Lethal caught in a leglock. That’s broken up in a hurry though and Lethal hammers away. Jacobs is right back with a DDT on the leg but the Figure Four is quickly countered. Lethal chops away but the leg gives out on a superkick attempt. The Lethal Combination works though but the Lethal Injection doesn’t work either. Jacobs hits the Contra Code for the pin at 12:26.

Rating: B-. The story was right there throughout and that’s always a good thing to see. It gives SCUM another win and Lethal stays safe, with the bad leg costing Lethal in the end. This was a fun one and while I’m not usually big on Jacobs, he was nearly perfect in his role here. Lethal is looking more and more like a star every time though, and that’s going to serve him well in the future.

From ROH TV, May 18, 2013.

Adam Cole vs. Kevin Steen

Date: May 18, 2013

Location: Ted Reeve Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Steve Corino

Feeling out process to start but Cole forearms his way out of the corner. Steen runs him over without much effort and a headbutt drops Cole in the corner. They head outside with Cole missing the slingshot dive and getting sent into the barricade for more pain. Three straight apron bombs look to end Cole (Corino: “WHERE IS THE TWENTY COUNT???”) but Steen goes after Corino instead, allowing Cole to dropkick the knee (because you can be up forty five seconds after three apron bombs) and we take a break.

Back with Cole kneeing him in the face for two but Steen slugs away. The knee holds up well enough for a powerbomb for a very delayed two and they’re both down. Cole gets up with a nasty German suplex into a Shining Wizard but the Figure Four is blocked. Instead it’s the Sharpshooter (you can imagine Corino’s reaction), sending Steen straight to the rope. The F Cinc gets two so here’s Compton, who is quickly dispatched. Steen grabs the Sharpshooter but another Compton distraction lets Jacobs come in with a chain shot (which Cole clearly sees). Cole’s Florida Keys (arm trap German suplex) is good for the pin at 14:00.

Rating: C. The three straight apron bombs being just a moment in the middle of the match wasn’t a good idea but at least they did something else near the end. Cole is someone else who is starting to rise up the ranks and that’s a great thing to see. Ring of Honor is the kind of place that needs to develop new talent in a hurry and that’s what they seem to be doing here. Nice match, but not exactly great.

From ROH TV, May 25, 2013.

Nigel McGuinness is announcing the Best in the World main event when Steen comes in to ask about his rematch for the World Title. That won’t be anytime soon after Steen messed up at Border Wars so maybe he’s still working with SCUM. Steen says not exactly, and offers to fight all of them in exchange for a title shot. Nigel agrees, but Steen has to beat them all.

From Dragon’s Reign (May 11, 2013)

Rhett Titus runs out and interrupts a match between two guys making their in-ring debuts for the company (one of which is future World Champion Dalton Castle). Cue Steen in a hurry and we’re ready to go.

Kevin Steen vs. Rhett Titus

Date: May 11, 2013

Location: Rostraver Ice Gardens, Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania

Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Steve Corino

Steen slugs away and sends Titus to the floor before the music even stops. Titus is sent into the barricade a few times and there’s a Cannonball to make it worse. The fans are WAY into Steen here but the delay lets Titus get up and send him into the barricade to even things up a bit. Owens is right back up with a pair of crotches against the post, drawing a YES chant.

The apron bomb is countered with a ram into the barricade though and they head back inside. Titus whips him into the corner but Steen is right back with a backsplash. That doesn’t get him very far though as Titus sends it back into the corner and kicks Steen’s head against the post. It’s time to choke on the ropes but Steen kicks him away. After relieving his nose on Corino, Steen gets taken back down for a double arm crank.

Steen fights up and runs him over again though and the Swanton gets two as the audio and video are a little out of sync. Titus is back with the running jumping Fameasser (ala Kenny Omega) for his own two. A frog splash to the back gets two more but Steen is back with the pop up powerbomb for the same. Neither of Steen’s finishers can hit and he almost runs over the referee, allowing Titus to kick him low for two. Steen crotches him in the corner (that’s three for Titus) and gets in a low blow of his own. The package piledriver finishes Titus at 13:46. Corino: “THIS MATCH IS UNDER PROTEST!”

Rating: C. They’re doing an interesting idea here with Steen having to run through the entire time. It’s been done before (Big Boss Man vs. the Heenan Family comes to mind) but that doesn’t mean it’s a boring idea. Steen had to start somewhere and Titus is a low enough name to have Steen run through him in a hurry.

Post match Steen leaves but comes back in for another low blow and package piledriver.

From Relentless (May 18, 2013).

Corino interrupts an announcement and tells the people to let everyone know about this: Matt Hardy is getting his World Title shot on June 23 at the TV tapings in Baltimore. That’s not all though because Corino wants to go all in. At the TV tapings: five members of SCUM vs. five members of Ring of Honor. If ROH wins, SCUM is gone, but if SCUM wins, Corino runs Ring of Honor. Twelve years ago he helped kill a company and now he’s going to do it again.

From Relentless (May 18, 2013).

Kevin Steen vs. Jimmy Jacobs

Date: May 18, 2013

Location: Greater Richmond Convention Center, Richmond, Virginia

Commentators: Joe Dombrowski, Steve Corino

They slug it out in the aisle to start with Steen whipping him into the barricade. More whips into the barricade ensue and they head inside for the opening bell. A clothesline takes Jacobs right back outside and there’s another whip into the barricade as Corino makes fun of French. Back in again and Jacobs busts out a chain to choke away and that’s a DQ at 1:02.

Post match security comes in but Steen gets up and wrecks Jacobs again. Steen swings a chair at everyone before saying he knew this is how it would wind up going. Jacobs is FINALLY ready to be a man so let’s do this again, No DQ. The referee grabs a phone and hears from Nigel McGuinness that we’re restarting the match. Steen goes outside to beat up the interfering Rhett Titus and there are some shoes to Jacobs’ head.

Jacobs gets in a low blow with the rope though and there’s a spear on the apron (Joe: “That’s the hardest part of the wrestling ring!” I didn’t realize that line was that old.). Back in and Jacobs stomps and elbows at the ribs before ripping at the eyes. Jacobs chokes with the chain as Corino shouts about breaking up with Steen. The choking is broken up and Steen takes it to the floor for the apron bomb.

The Swanton gets two but Jacobs is back with a springboard cutter for two. A quick Contra Code onto a chair gives Jacobs two so he unloads with the chair and grabs a piece of the barricade. That takes too long though and Steen gets in a chain shot, followed by the F Cinc for two. Corino: “YOU CAN’T WIN WITH THAT MOVE ANYMORE STEEN!” The package piledriver is reversed with Steen’s head bouncing off of the barricade but Jacobs can’t hit a chair shot. Instead Steen kicks him low and hits the package piledriver onto the barricade for the pin at 14:55 (counting the break between falls).

Rating: C+. They had a good brawl here and the No DQ deal made it better. You can only get so much out of a big name like Steen vs. someone like Jacobs on its own so adding the stipulation helped. If nothing else, this made me want to see Steen FINALLY get his hands on Corino, which has to be coming at some point in this right?

Post match, Steen hits the F Cinc onto an open chair and blows a kiss to Corino.

Disc 3

From Honor in the Heart of Texas (June 1, 2013).

Michael Elgin/BJ Whitmer vs. Rhett Titus/Jimmy Jacobs

Date: June 1, 2013

Location: San Antonio Shrine Auditorium, San Antonio, Texas

Commentator: Kevin Kelly

Anything goes and Texas Tornado rules. The fight starts outside before the bell, as you probably guessed. Elgin is whipped into the barricade but Whitmer rams their heads together to slow them down. Jacobs gets thrown into the trash as Whitmer and Titus fight on the other side of the building. Kelly: “This one is not Funk and Brisco!”. Well maybe Funk but probably not Brisco.

Elgin throws Titus onto a table, sending it sliding across the floor in a cool visual. A chair to the ribs hunches Jacobs over and Elgin backbreakers him onto said chair. They actually head to ringside for a change with SCUM getting Elgin alone for a double delayed vertical suplex. Elgin pops back up (I’m as surprised as you are) and this time it’s Elgin and Whitmer hitting a delayed vertical suplex of their own for a pretty nasty crash.

Whitmer grabs the exploder suplex on Jacobs and Elgin launches Titus into the corner for two. Titus is back with a dropkick to Whitmer and Jacobs dives over the top to take Elgin down again. That doesn’t last long as Elgin slingshots back in with a back elbow to Jacobs but Titus scores with a discus lariat.

We get another Titus vs. Whitmer showdown with Whitmer planting him off a powerslam. A Downward Spiral/DDT combination takes SCUM down and Elgin is back in to make it even worse. There’s a pump kick to Titus and Elgin powerbombs Jacobs onto Whitmer’s knees for two. Elgin gets crotched on top though and an assisted splash gets two on Whitmer. Titus heads outside to pull back some mats but Elgin breaks up a piledriver on the concrete.

The apron superplex brings Titus back in for two with Jacobs making the save this time. Jacobs grabs a middle rope springboard cutter on Elgin, who pops back up for a spinning backfist. The buckle bomb connects but the Elgin Bomb is countered into a guillotine choke. Whitmer is back in for the save and fisherman’s suplexes Jacobs for two more. Elgin plants both of them for two as frustration is setting in again. The buckle bomb hits Jacobs again but here’s Steve Corino with a chain. Mark Briscoe comes out with a cowbell for the save but Titus gets the chain. Whitmer kicks it away, only to get rolled up for the pin at 19:35.

Rating: B. I got into this more than I would have expected to and that’s a good thing. This was a lot of action throughout the match and while the interference was a bit annoying, that’s what SCUM would do in this situation. Solid match here and the rules played into it well. I could go for more of stuff like this, as the wild brawling feels more appropriate for this feud.

From some undisclosed show.

Nigel McGuinness talks about how serious this is and how Ring of Honor has their chips in with the best of it. Ring of Honor isn’t dying on June 23 because it’s only SCUM’s final chapter. The match is officially on and it’s going to be Steel Cage Warfare. Honor lives mother******.

From Ring of Honor TV, June 8, 2013.

Here’s SCUM to interrupt….well nothing actually but commentary isn’t pleased anyway. Steve Corino talks about all of the mistakes made around here in the last eleven years with all of the people coming and going. Corino blames Nigel for not giving Matt Hardy the World Title shot but Matt will be World Champion anyway. Why weren’t Cliff Compton, Jimmy Jacobs and Rhett Titus in the #1 contenders matches? Nigel takes off his headset but Corino talks about how he should have sued ROH after Border Wars. That’s enough for Nigel to get up and Corino promises to sue if Nigel does anything.

Cue Jay Lethal and the C&C Wrestle Factory so Corino keeps running his mouth and calls them homies. Fans: “THAT WAS RACIST!” The four of them get inside to stare down SCUM and the fight is on with Nigel and Corino going face to face without doing anything. Security breaks things up. If there is ANY possible way for Nigel to get physical, the pop when he uncorked a lariat on Corino would be amazing.

From Live And Let Die (June 8, 2013).

Kevin Steen is in the arena before the fans come in and interviewer Veda Scott asks what the Ring of Honor locker room thinks about him now. Steen says he doesn’t really care because this company makes money off of his name. He is this company but here’s SCUM to interrupt. Corino shouts something I can’t make out as Steen grabs a chair. Some referees (in street clothes for a rare visual) get ready to break it up but Compton wants to fight Steen right now. Cue Jay Lethal, BJ Whitmer and Michael Elgin to even things up as Compton talks enough trash to get a fight going.

Kevin Steen vs. Cliff Compton

Date: June 8, 2013

Location: Ohio Expo Center, Columbus, Ohio

Empty arena match. They head outside early on with both guys being whipped into the barricade. Steen chokes away but nearly gets in a fight with Whitmer, allowing Compton to get in a cheap shot. That doesn’t seem to bother Steen, who whips him HARD into the barricade. They go beyond the barricade with Steen getting backdropped onto some open chairs. Steen pops back up for a kick to the ribs and a big toss through the chairs (how rude to people who set those up).

Some chair shots to the knee keep Compton in trouble but Steen would rather dive onto SCUM than follow up. They get inside for the first time with Compton getting in a cheap shot. Corino throws in a chain so everyone else starts brawling at ringside. There’s the F Cinc onto a chair but Matt Hardy comes in to jump Steen and give Compton the pin at 5:19.

Rating: C. This is the kind of different action that I was hoping for on this thing. It actually felt different and that’s what this has been needing. It was actually unique for a change and the lack of commentary made it more realistic. Given how SCUM comes and goes at will, there is little reason to believe that something like this wouldn’t break out at some point. Not a great match, but it was entertaining enough with the special atmosphere.

SCUM just leaving by walking outside feels so indy. Lethal, Whitmer and Elgin say they came out here to see which side Steen was on and don’t seem pleased by the results. A distraught Steen sits in the ring.

From Live And Let Die (June 8, 2013).

Kevin Steen vs. Rhino

Date: June 8, 2013

Location: Ohio Expo Center, Columbus, Ohio

Commentator: Kevin Kelly

At least this one is scheduled. Steen shoulders him down to start and Rhino is sent outside in a hurry. They both wind up outside with Steen being sent into the barricade and suplexed on the floor. Some right hands get Steen out of trouble and there’s the flip dive off the apron to drop Rhino again. They get back inside with Rhino hitting a spinebuster for two, followed by the knees to the chest.

The bodyscissors goes on and Rhino even rolls him backwards for two. Back up and Steen gets in a shot to the face for a double knockdown. Steen’s dropkick into a middle rope dropkick sets up the Cannonball for two. Steen is surprised by the kickout so he hits the Swanton for two more. Instead it’s a Gore to Rhino for a change and the F Cinc is enough to give Steen the pin at 8:05.

Rating: D+. I wasn’t feeling this one as Rhino was treated as the monster of the team earlier in the year and now he’s beaten clean in eight minutes. That’s quite the short match and it doesn’t make it seem like Steen had to work too hard to pull off a win here. It’s not the worst, but it felt like a low level challenge instead of some big threat.

Post match here’s Matt Hardy to take Steen out, setting up the following.

From Live And Let Die (June 8, 2013).

Mark Briscoe vs. Matt Hardy

Date: June 8, 2013

Location: Ohio Expo Center, Columbus, Ohio

Commentator: Kevin Kelly

Hardy is in a #1 contenders match at Best in the World while Briscoe is in the World Title match at the same show. Briscoe comes in to jump Hardy and start in a hurry. Matt tries to hide on the floor so Briscoe posts him and goes up top. Corino throws in the microphone and then shoves Briscoe off the top, allowing Matt to hit the Side Effect for two. There’s a swinging neckbreaker to take Briscoe down again so we get the MAN UP chants.

The sleeper/chinlock goes on for two arm drops but Brisco powers up again. That just earns him a trip from Corino and Matt’s neckbreaker gets two more. Mark is up again and this time pulls Corino off the middle rope, meaning it’s time for Red Neck Kung Fu. Some chops to the head get two and a top rope version drops Matt again.

Corino offers a distraction though and Hardy slams Mark off the top. Briscoe is fine enough to grab a choke so here’s Rhett Titus…with Kevin Steen chasing him off immediately. Jimmy Jacobs and Cliff Compton follow Steen out, with the distraction allowing Corino to get in a cheap shot. The Twist of Fate finishes Briscoe at 8:14.

Rating: C. It worked well enough while it lasted and at least Briscoe didn’t lose clean on his way to a World Title shot. They’re getting into a pretty standard formula with SCUM though and that’s not going to work out all that well in the long term. The good thing is that the long term is likely finishing in less than two months, though I’m starting to roll my eyes every time it’s more interference for the SCUM win.

Post match the beatdown is on so Steen makes the save. As has been the case before, let’s go straight to the next match.

From Live And Let Die (June 8, 2013).

SCUM vs. Michael Elgin/Jay Lethal/BJ Whitmer

Date: June 8, 2013

Location: Ohio Expo Center, Columbus, Ohio

Commentator: Kevin Kelly

Anything goes and it’s Jimmy Jacobs/Cliff Compton/Rhett Titus for the team. It’s a brawl to start as the ring announcer tries to get the entrances. SCUM hits a triple suplex but the ROH guys are right back up for the delayed triple verticals. It’s already time to go outside with Lethal suicide diving onto Jacobs. Elgin beats Compton up the aisle as Corino is losing his mind at ringside.

Compton fights back near the entrance as the other four brawl nearby. Lethal and Jacobs finally get back in the ring but Titus makes the save and clotheslines Lethal outside. Titus walks into Whitmer’s suplex but here’s Compton to take him down in a hurry. One heck of a discus forearm sends Compton off the apron and his partners can’t quite catch him. Jacobs can’t hit the Contra Code off the apron to Elgin but they fall onto the pile anyway.

Back in and Jacobs hits the middle rope cutter on Lethal before going up top. A top rope backsplash….is pulled out of the air by Elgin. That’s just insane power and sets up a powerbomb for two with Titus and Compton making the save. Elgin doesn’t like that and suplexes both of them at the same time.

Jacobs comes back in with a chair to Elgin, followed by a reverse hurricanrana to Whitmer. Lethal is back in with a Downward Spiral/DDT combination to Jacobs and Titus. The Lethal Injection to Compton is broken up with a chair to the back though and Compton hits an F6 for the pin at 9:21.

Rating: C-. The action here worked but these matches are starting to bleed together. There’s only so much that can be gained from all of these matches that you see with some combination of the same handful of ROH guys vs. the same SCUM soldiers. They’re not bad matches, but I feel like I’ve seen these things time after time now.

Elgin is TICKED about the loss.

From Best In The World 2013 (June 22, 2013).

We recap Kevin Steen vs. Matt Hardy. Steen got thrown out of SCUM as Steve Corino seemed to be willing to get rid of him now that Hardy was here. Steen has tried to help in the war against SCUM but hasn’t quite pulled it off yet. He has to beat everyone in SCUM to get his title rematch and this is his big showdown, though he is still somewhat untrustworthy.

Kevin Steen vs. Matt Hardy

Date: June 22, 2013

Location: Du Burns Arena, Baltimore, Maryland

Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

Steve Corino is here with Hardy and rants about how Baltimore loves false heroes. Hardy on the other hand is an icon and has over 800,000 Twitter followers. Corino yells at some fans and they throw toilet paper back at Hardy. We get the full intro from Corino, including saying that Hardy is a beautiful man. Steen’s entrance gets a ton of streamers but hang on because he wants this to be No DQ. Nigel says game on and Steen accuses Matt of being the bigger coward of the Hardy brothers.

We’re on in a hurry with Steen pounding him down in the corner, only to have Hardy pull the referee in front of the Cannonball. That’s enough of a distraction so Hardy can start working on the leg. Steen uses the good leg to kick him to the floor, allowing Steen to yell at a fan before chopping Matt against the barricade. Some crutch shots to the back have Matt in more trouble and Steen picks up a sign in his name to punch Hardy.

There’s a crotching against the post as the fans are WAY into Steen here. Hardy finally sends him back into the barricade and it’s time for a trashcan inside. A pair of neckbreakers plant Steen but he sends Hardy hard into the corner for the Cannonball. The Cannonball into the trashcan into Hardy gets two and it’s time to set up a table at ringside. That takes too much time so Hardy grabs the Side Effect for two more.

Steen fights back on the apron, drawing out Jimmy Jacobs to get rid of the table before a package piledriver can connect. Instead, Jacobs gets powerbombed onto the apron so here’s Compton to chair Steen down. Back in and Hardy hits him in the face with a ladder but Steen grabs a Codebreaker to send the ladder into Hardy’s face for two.

Thankfully that hurts Steen’s knee and the delay lets the Twist of Fate give Hardy two more. The low blow into the F Cinc drops Hardy for another near fall. Matt gets in his own low blow this time, setting up the Side Effect onto a chair. Compton throws in some more chairs and it’s a Twist of Fate through said chairs to finish Steen at 14:10.

Rating: B-. This felt like a big match though Steen losing feels rather flat. At the same time though, Hardy was kicking out of Steen’s big stuff so it does give him some credibility rather than just coasting on his reputation. Steen’s path forward almost has to lead to the big save in Steel Cage Warfare, but you never can tell around here. That’s a good thing too, especially in this situation.

Post match the beatdown stays on and no one comes out for the save.

From Ring of Honor TV, July 6, 2013.

We see a clip of Jay Briscoe after he survived against Mark Briscoe at Best In The World.

Nigel is in the ring and talks about how Best In The World reminded him why he loved this business. You had two people who helped build this company fighting to determine who was the best man. They did everyone proud (Kevin Kelly: “Amen.” Steve Corino: “Shut up.”) but the question now is how much do you have left.

The point is that both Briscoes are banged up with Jay having hurt his shoulder and Mark having suffered a concussion (Kelly to Corino: “Stop clapping.”). Therefore, Mark is out of Steel Cage Warfare, meaning we need a replacement. The fans want Steen….and here he comes, much to Corino’s fear. Steen gets straight to the point: put him in Steel Cage Warfare.

Nigel isn’t sure because he’s not wild on trusting the man who started SCUM in the first place. Steen is here for payback and to beat them up so now he can finish this. Steen: “So grow a pair and put me in the G** d*** match!” Cue SCUM to go after Steen so here are BJ Whitmer, Michael Elgin and Jay Lethal for the save. Security breaks it up as Corino looks worried.

From Ring of Honor TV, July 20, 2013.

SCUM is in their limo, as paid for by Hardy, on their way to the arena. They are ready to pay him back for everything by making him World Champion. They’re closer to him than his own brother.

We see SCUM arriving at the arena with Matt offering to buy pro-Steen signs and cutting promos on fans. Corino: “IMAGINE THE DRUGS YOU CAN BUY WITH EIGHTY BUCKS!” The fan won’t budge so Rhett Titus rips it up for him.

Ring of Honor World Title: Jay Briscoe vs. Matt Hardy

Date: July 20, 2013

Location: Du Burns Arena, Baltimore, Maryland

Commentator: Kevin Kelly

Briscoe is defending with a bad shoulder and Corino is here with Hardy. Corino handles Hardy’s introductions, including saying he can walk on water. They lock up to start with Matt wisely going after the shoulder but Briscoe stomps him down in the corner. The bad shoulder goes into the post a few times though as Matt is showing the brains early on. Briscoe tries to slug away but gets caught in the Twist of Fate for two. Matt hits the hammerlock and we take a break.

Back with Jay hitting the forearms and nailing a dropkick but not being able to follow up. A superkick drops Hardy for two and the hangman’s neckbreaker is good for the same. The Jay Driller is broken up though and Matt grabs another Twist of Fate for another two. They go outside with Hardy sending him into various things for two back inside. Jay breaks out of the double underhook choke though and hits a very quick Jay Driller for a near fall.

A bunch of stomps to the leg in the corner have Hardy in more trouble so the referee pulls Briscoe off. That lets Hardy take off his boot for a shot to the head and two of his own. Two more Twists of Fate give Hardy two more and he can’t believe the kickout. The double underhook choke goes on but Briscoe is out in a hurry. Hardy takes his sweet time going up top and a belly to back superplex gives Jay two. They slug it out and the Jay Driller is countered into the Twist of Fate, which is countered into a small package to retain the title at 18:45.

Rating: B. They came as close to epic as you can get in this situation and that’s a good feeling. Matt taking the fall is a big deal as Briscoe gets to establish himself a little bit more. Briscoe hung in there against a legend and even got the pin after surviving several finishers. It felt big and that’s what they were going for so well done.

Post match here’s Rhino to Gore Jay, drawing out Mark Briscoe for the save. ROH and SCUM come out for the brawl with the latter using zip ties to tie ROH to the ropes. Corino puts the title around Hardy and the already concussed Mark takes a pair of Conchairtos. Matt Pillmanizes Jay’s shoulder, which is treated as a bigger deal than the Conchairtos. Corino promises to burn ROH down to end the show. Steen was notably absent for the save.

From ROH TV, July 27, 2013.

Long video on the history of SCUM and how we got to this match. No one on Team ROH really trusts Steen, but they know he’s their only chance.

Team ROH vs. SCUM

Date: July 27, 2013

Location: Du Burns Arena, Baltimore, Maryland

Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Steve Corino

ROH: Michael Elgin, Jay Lethal, BJ Whitmer, Kevin Steen

SCUM: Rhino, Cliff Compton, Jimmy Jacobs, Rhett Titus

It’s Steel Cage Warfare with everything on the line. If SCUM wins, Steve Corino runs ROH but if ROH wins, SCUM disbands. The match is WarGames with one ring and under elimination rules. Two men are in for five minutes, then SCUM gets a two minute advantage. Then it is back and forth entrants every two minutes until one team is completely eliminated. Before the match, Corino mentions that Steen had flat fires and couldn’t be here for the save last week, but Kelly realizes there is no way Corino would have known that without having something to do with it.

Jacobs and Whitmer start things off and immediately slug it out until Whitmer headscissors him into the cage. Whitmer shrugs it off and sends Jacobs into the cage over and over as Corino is being way closer to neutral than you would expect. The exploder suplex gives Whitmer two and he rakes Jacobs’ face into the cage.

Titus makes it 2-1 so Whitmer is waiting on him with some weak looking clotheslines. Whitmer sends him into the cage a few times and we take a break (feels so wrong in a match like this). Back with Whitmer being stomped down in the corner until Elgin is in to tie things up. Elgin suplexes both of them at once and then throws them both at once as the power is on full display. There’s the delayed vertical suplex to Jacobs but Elgin just sits him down for a whip into the cage instead.

Compton makes it 3-2 and he throws powder in Elgin’s eyes. SCUM busts out the zip ties to tie Elgin to the cage so Whitmer is triple teamed. The spike piledriver gets rid of Whitmer so here’s Lethal to take his place with a chair. House is cleaned and Lethal is smart enough to untie Compton so the comeback is on. Titus gets crotched on top and we take a break. Back again with Rhino (MATT HARDY ISN’T IN THIS???) completing SCUM and it’s a Gore to Elgin. Rhino Gores Titus by mistake and it’s a Lethal Injection to get rid of Rhino in about thirty seconds. Corino: “THAT WASN’T PART OF THE PLAN! THAT WASN’T PART OF THE PLAN!”

Lethal goes Savage with a top rope ax handle for two on Compton. Elgin throws Jacobs onto the cage but he bounces off with a back elbow. Steen is in to complete Team ROH but Matt Hardy (at least he’s here) jumps him from behind and sends him into the cage. The door is left open though and everyone fights to the floor with Steen fighting back up without much effort. ROH takes over as Corino is wondering about the lack of disqualifications.

A table is slid into the cage as everyone keeps brawling on the floor. Elgin side slams Compton through a chair and the table is set up in the corner. Lethal is left alone with Titus and Jacobs with a backflip cutter dropping Titus for the elimination. So it’s Lethal/Elgin/Steen vs. Compton/Jacobs, though Hardy is here too. Hardy gets whipped into the barricade again (they like that around here) and Steen gives him a crutch between the legs. Jacobs chairs Lethal in the back and hits a spear through the table. Compton steals the pin to get rid of Lethal and it’s back to 2-2.

Steen gets back in to send Compton into the cage and we take another break. Back with Jacobs hitting the Contra Code on Steen but Elgin sends Jacobs into the cage. Compton climbs the cage for some reason and gets super sitout powerbombed down to give Elgin the pin, leaving us with Elgin/Steen vs. Jacobs. Corino gets in the cage and throws a fireball at Elgin to give Jacobs the pin.

Hardy comes in with a Twist of Fate to Steen and Corino has a briefcase. Corino opens it up to reveal lighter fluid and a bunch of matches with Jacobs even trying to call this off. Hardy holds the referee back as Corino lights the match. Cue Nigel McGuinness to stop Corino and take him down with a lariat. Steen saves Nigel from the Twist of Fate and gives Matt the package piledriver. Another package piledriver ends Jacobs to finish SCUM at 25:47.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t very good actually and I was kind of disappointed. After over a year of buildup, you kind of expect a lot more than ROH only being in any kind of danger in the last minute. Nigel laying out Corino was a great moment but why in the world did SCUM not put Hardy in there? Over Rhett freaking Titus?

Anyway, it wasn’t a bad match, but they really didn’t do a great job of setting up the drama. I can understand why they didn’t want to go with one fall to a finish here, but the elimination didn’t leave a ton of drama in the end. Steen getting the final fall worked, though he never even got his hands on Corino after everything that happened between them. What we got was good, but I was expecting an epic fight and only got a pretty good one.

The celebration is on with Adam Cole of all people coming out to watch as Nigel hugs Steen to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. It’s kind of hard to give an overall rating to something nearly nine and a half hours long, though I do it every year with Wrestlemania so it’s not completely foreign. This worked well in that it showed a complete story (keep in mind that there is a difference between everything there is to know and everything you need to know) and made me want to see how it was going to end. You knew SCUM would go down in the grand finale, but they did a decent job of making me want to see it happen.

The problem though is the story is only so good. The ending cage match is a big deal but once that was announced, a lot of the time was spent killing time until they reached the match. Once Steen was thrown out of the group, the story kind of stopped evolving and it was little more than “SCUM attacks, ROH can’t fight back, we build up the cage match”. That gets a little tiresome, especially when Steen’s fight through SCUM didn’t wind up going anywhere.

Overall, it’s worth checking out if you haven’t seen the era before (as I hadn’t), but it’s not something that needed to be nine hours. They EASILY could have cut out a handful of matches and trimmed this down by at least an hour and a half, but for the price I paid for it ($5, albeit in a huge sale), I really can’t complain about it whatsoever. It’s an interesting sit, but I wouldn’t watch the three discs back to back to back.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Ring of Honor
Date: May 13, 2020

We have an interesting one this week with the company’s new boss, Marty Scurll. This is one of the more fascinating choices as you don’t often see the company’s boss as one of the most popular wrestlers around. Scurll is someone you could see being a top guy and he pretty much is, but never THE top guy. Let’s get to it.

We open with a Scurll video package.

Marty joins us from his couch and talks about how we have to do something like this because of the Coronavirus and they with they could be in the arenas like usual. It’s a crazy time so stay safe out there. Their job is to entertain you and the fans have always been loyal to them. Therefore, we’re going to be looking at a special subject: Marty himself! Marty debuted here and won the TV Title in a hurry over his longtime rival Will Ospreay.

And now, his first match, from All In.

Marty Scurll vs. Kazuchika Okada

We even get the Okada Bucks. Feeling out process to start with Okada laying Marty up against the ropes and slapping him on the chest. Marty teases doing the same thing but stops with a pose instead. The announcers entertain themselves with inside jokes as Okada’s wristlock doesn’t get him anywhere. Marty starts slugging away with running forearms and an apron superkick, followed by the suicide dive.

They chop it out with Marty getting the better of it but Okada flapjacks him back inside. That’s enough for in the ring so they head outside again with Okada DDTing him on the floor. Back in and Marty pulls himself up but gets caught in a crossarm choke. That’s reversed into a Backstabber followed by a tornado DDT for two more.

Another DDT gives Okada two and they strike it out until Scurll grabs the brainbuster to knock Okada silly. Scurll grabs a piledriver but can’t pick him up. Instead he stops to fire himself up, allowing Okada to hit the over the White Noise onto the knee to put Marty right back in trouble. They go to the corner to slug it out with Okada getting the better of it, followed by the pinfall reversal sequence for two each.

Scurll powerbombs the heck out of him for two so Okada missile dropkicks him for two of his own. Another DDT gets Scurll out of trouble but there’s the Tombstone. Okada spends too long loading up the Rainmaker though and Marty snaps his finger (Ian: “We found the umbrella!”). The Rainmaker is countered a second time into the chickenwing but Marty can’t get the grip. Okada stands up and drops back on him for the break, only to have Marty slap it on again.

The hold gets flipped back for the break…and the ref gets bumped. An umbrella to Okada’s head sets up a Rainmaker from Scurll for two as THIS JUST KEEPS GOING. The chickenwing is countered into the Rainmaker but Okada can’t cover. Scurll tells him to bring it on so a forearm puts him down. A slap to the face annoys Okada and it’s a discus lariat into the Rainmaker to finally finish Scurll at a ridiculous 26:09.

Rating: C. It was pretty good at times but GOOD GRIEF this was long. They easily could have cut ten minutes out of this and when the show is already running long, it would have done them a lot of good. The story of Scurll trying to rise up to the heavyweight level was a good one, but sweet goodness it wasn’t the right time to go the better part of half an hour. I was worried they would do that late in the show and they did it here.

That’s the kind of match that makes him love wrestling. Just like this one, with a very exciting opponent. From ROH TV, September 18, 2019.

Bandido vs. Marty Scurll

The fans are VERY into both of them here. We get a handshake, with Bandido being nervous but going through with it, earning some applause from Scurll. Marty wrestles him to the mat to start and an early standoff takes us to a break. Back with Marty “accidentally” poking him in the eye, though Bandido is fine enough to superkick him outside. Scurll hits his own superkick on the floor to take over and he even heads into the crowd for a quick bow.

Back in and a slingshot into an arrogant cover gets two on Bandido as the fans are eating Marty up here. There’s a surfboard double knee stomp to slow Bandido down and the knee gives out on a gorilla press attempt. The knee is fine enough for a springboard spinning crossbody and a cutter puts Marty on the floor for a big flip dive. Back from another break with Marty suplexing him for a double knockdown.

A tornado DDT looks to set up a chickenwing but Marty settles for a pumphandle Ghostbuster for two more instead. The chickenwing is broken up again so Marty snaps off a half and half suplex instead. Bandido is right back up with a shot to the face and they’re both down for a breather.

Marty teases a chop off before punching Bandido in the face, only to have a middle rope hurricanrana countered into a buckle bomb. The 21 Plex is countered so Bandido hits a standing shooting star press for two instead. The superplex moonsault World’s Strongest Slam plants Marty but he’s fine enough to pull Bandido into the chickenwing. That’s broken up so Marty hits Black Plague for the pin at 19:43.

Rating: B. Sometimes the solution is to just have two popular guys do a bunch of stuff to each other for twenty minutes and let the fans go nuts. That’s what they did here and the match was a blast as a result. They didn’t need to go any more complicated than that and we can get one more big team match between the groups next week, because that’s what works best around here. I’ll take it over whatever else we can get and it should be another fun match, just like this one.

Marty is proud of his win and knows more great ones are coming.

Overall Rating: B. Yeah this worked well enough. Scurll is someone who can do a lot of things but most importantly, the fans like what he is doing and he gets strong reactions everywhere. Hopefully he gets a major push somewhere down the line, because he’s earned a chance on top, even if it’s something short. Good show here, as these continue to work.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Ring of Honor
Date: May 3, 2020

It’s a British week this time around as we look at Mark Haskins. That should make for some good stuff as Haskins has been one of the more continuously entertaining wrestlers on the roster. This has done a good job of opening the vault a bit, though I’m not sure how much longer they can keep it going. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Haskins talks about how he was bullied by a kid but then discovered wrestling. A friend of his with Cerebral Palsy introduced him to it and Haskins wanted to win a major title to prove what he could do. His friend died before he could and that still bothers him. He got a call to wrestle a match in Liverpool against Silas Young and won in his debut, which is pretty rare. Then he won the International Cup to earn a World Title shot.

From Honor Re-United: London.

Ring of Honor World Title: Jay Lethal vs. Mark Haskins

Haskins is challenging and his wife is at ringside. Lethal misses a charge to start and they go to the mat for a very quick standoff. Haskins’ armbar is broken up in a hurry and we take a fast break. Back with Haskins working on the arm again and trying a Tommaso Ciampa flip over armbar. That’s enough to send Lethal to the ropes and then the floor for a breather as he can’t do much with Haskins early on.

Back in and Haskins chops away, only to get hiptossed into the basement dropkick. Haskins starts crawling on the mat to kick at the leg before dropkicking the knee out. Lethal tries a sunset flip but gets the arm stomped down as Haskins is picking him apart here. Some rapid fire chops in the corner keep Lethal in trouble and we take another break. Back again with Lethal hitting a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to send Haskins bailing to the floor for a breather of his own.

Some rams into the apron bang up Haskins’ back but a Chris Jericho triangle dropkick misses. Haskins scores with a kick to the head and goes back to the arm. A YES Lock sends Lethal bailing to the rope but he’s up in a hurry to suplex both of them out to the floor. They roll back in where Haskins hits an enziguri as we take another break. Back with Lethal grabbing a torture rack and hitting a reverse Regal Roll.

Lethal Injection and the Sharpshooter are both blocked and a double knockdown gives them a breather. It’s Haskins going up but Lethal crotches him with a chop. A superplex into a tiger driver gets two but the Figure Four is countered into a small package to give Haskins two. They slug it out with Haskins getting the better of it (and some polite applause), setting up a Canadian Destroyer.

The top rope double stomp gets two more and the Sharpshooter goes on. A rope break gets Lethal out of that as well and the Lethal Injection connects for two. Another Injection is countered into the flip armbar, setting up Made in England for a great near fall. They fight to the apron with Haskins being knocked to the floor. That lets Lethal hit back to back suicide dives but the third is blocked. They go back inside with Lethal hitting a cutter and then the Lethal Injection to retain at 27:05.

Rating: A-. This was excellent stuff as Haskins came to play and probably earned himself a job out of this kind of performance. Lethal was working here too and it was a heck of a performance from both guys. I had a blast watching this one as they were tearing the house down throughout the long match, which flew by with no dead spots. Check this one out.

Video on the Haskins vs. Bully Ray feud, which was every Ray feud ever. Haskins beat him in a street fight at Final Battle 2019.

From Free Enterprise.

Alex Shelley vs. Mark Haskins

They go technical to start (duh) as neither can get very far off arm control. Haskins’ rollup might get one as Shelley backs away for a standoff. A headlock takeover works a bit better but Shelley reverses into his very spinning rollup for two. Shelley grabs la majistral into an armbar but Haskins is out in a hurry as well. Haskins kicks him in the chest and we take a break. Back with a fight over an abdominal stretch but Shelley gets flipped into a Crossface.

With that broken up, Haskins starts kicking at the chest, which just seem to annoy Shelley. A slugout gives us a double knockdown with Haskins getting up first. Shelley gets in a snap suplex for a breather and sends Haskins hard into the corner. Haskins is right back with a suplex and a Samoan driver for two as the shock is real. Back up and Shelley hits Sliced Bread into a swinging Downward Spiral. The Border City Stretch (Gargano Escape) goes on but Haskins rolls into the Sharpshooter for the tap at 11:49.

Rating: B. Yeah what else were you expecting here? These two can do some great technical stuff and it was on full display here, as it should have been. Haskins is gearing up for either a Pure Title run or a World Title chase so putting him over here was the only option they had. Shelley is great as the veteran who is putting people over and that’s what they’re mainly using him for these days.

A Haskins highlight package ends the show.

Overall Rating: B+. I’ve liked Haskins since the first time I saw him and this was a great showcase for him. The opener was a great match that I hadn’t seen before and the second was a rather good one that I had seen just a few months ago. Haskins could be a big deal in a hurry if someone gave him the chance and it wouldn’t shock me to see Ring of Honor do just that. Very good stuff here and one of the better Best Of’s so far.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Ring of Honor
Date: April 29, 2020

It’s Flip Gordon week and that could be an interesting choice. Gordon has been around for a good while now and has had some big moments in the company. He has yet to break through to the other side, but there are enough moments to make for a good hour, at least in theory. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

We look at Flip Gordon walking his dog and then talking about a rough childhood. He kept getting in trouble but then he saw wrestling and knew that’s what he wanted to do. Eventually he became a college mascot and learned how to control his body, followed by going into the military to join in his mind. After that was over, he drove to Boston and learned how to wrestle.

From ROH TV, May 3, 2017 (labeled as April 8, 2017 for some reason).

Matt Sydal vs. Flip Gordon

I saw Gordon down in Orlando and thought something of him so hopefully he does well here. They trade flips (you would think Gordon would have the advantage there) to start with Gordon nipping up about ten times in a row for a standoff. Sydal grabs a rollup for two and there’s a spinwheel kick to put Gordon down. Back up and Gordon gets in a kick of his own and a standing moonsault gets two. Another kick to the head doesn’t do much good as Sydal scores with his own kick, followed by the Shooting Star for the pin at 5:34.

Rating: C. I haven’t liked Sydal this much since his Evan Bourne singles run, which is quite the surprise after all the time I spent being bored with his ROH stuff. Gordon looked good here and I’d have much rather seen him in the Top Prospect Tournament instead of half the schmucks they had in there.

From Final Battle 2018.

Flip Gordon vs. Bully Ray

Gordon is in military gear and comes through the crowd carrying the American flag. He comes over the barricade and springboards in with a Phenomenal forearm as commentary is completely behind Gordon here. They fight to the floor with Ray being sent into the barricade for a running forearm. A trashcan to the head gets Ray out of trouble and it’s time for a table. Ray can’t powerbomb him through it though and Gordon grabs another table as commentary admits that they’re a bit biased here. Just in case you’re kind of dumb you see.

Ray gets in what looked like a chain shot and stops to yell at various executives before shoving ring announcer Bobby Cruise. The referee yells at him too and gets tossed aside, leaving Ray to threaten ROH ambassador Cary Silkin. Daniels runs back in and dives over Silkin to protect him but gets dropped as well. Gordon gets thrown down but won’t quite. Instead Ray grabs Gordon’s girlfriend and threatens to powerbomb her through the table.

The bloody Gordon wants to quit (without actually doing it) to save her but Silkin hits Ray with the kendo stick instead. Gordon gets up and makes the save before giving his girlfriend a very bloody kiss. A top rope flag shot to the head sets up a Crossface with the flag but Silas Young runs in for the save and Misery. It’s time for lighter fluid both on Gordon and a table so here’s Cheeseburger to go after Young.

That earns him Misery (shame they didn’t burn him instead) so Colt Cabana comes in to fight them both until a low blow from Young stops him as well. Silas gets the lighter….and there go the lights because Sandman is here. On the biggest ROH show of the year because THIS NEEDS TO BE ABOUT ECW TOO!!! Beer is consumed and Ray misses a charge, allowing Gordon to hit a good superkick (Sandman didn’t hit Ray). A less good Star Spangled Stunner lets Gordon grab a pair of kendo sticks and unload on Ray for the win at 14:23.

Rating: C+. I’m not sure on this one. They had a bunch of stuff that fit with the story, but at the same time there was too much crammed into less than fifteen minutes. Gordon winning on his own in the end was the right call so they got the finish right, but at the same time there wasn’t enough of a focus on him having to fight back and overcome the adversity. I did like it and it was good, but they needed either more time or less stuff. Like less Sandman for example.

Gordon talks about coming to Ring of Honor young but he got hurt twice. That’s why he became the Mercenary, and it fit the military theme as well.

From War of the Worlds: Buffalo 2019.

Flip Gordon vs. Bandido

The fans are VERY behind Bandido here and there’s no contact for a good while to start. Gordon takes him into the corner but lets him go for some floss dancing. My goodness there is nothing Best Of about that stupid dance. Bandido flips out of a wristlock and it’s a standoff to keep things in slow motion early on. Gordon runs him over with a shoulder and walks on his hands for a headscissors. That earns Flip a hurricanrana but he flips out of a second attempt and ducks a penalty kick. They both bounce up to their feet and it’s a standoff.

Back from a break with Gordon hitting a quick Blockbuster into an inverted Cannonball in the corner. The Kinder Surprise sends Bandido outside and it’s a springboard hilo for two back inside. We hit the double arm crank to keep Bandido down but he’s right back up with a spinning high crossbody. A Shining Wizard sends Flip outside and there’s the big dive to send us to a second break.

Back with Bandido showing off with the one armed gorilla press (geez) into a standing shooting star. Bandido reverse hurricanranas him out to the floor, only to get sent into the barricade. They both beat the count back in and the slugout is on again. Bandido kicks him in the face but gets pulled into a sleeper. They go into the corner for the break and Bandido crotches him on top, setting up the moonsault World’s Strongest Slam for two on Gordon. The 21 Plex is blocked and the Star Spangled Stunner gives Gordon his own near fall. Bandido hits the X Knee but it’s the Flip Five to finish Bandido at 25:35.

Rating: B. Take two talented high fliers, let them go out and do their thing for a long time. They didn’t build a ton of drama until the finish but the point here was to have two guys fly around a lot. Gordon getting a win here is the right move and I’m sure Bandido is going to be fine given the reputation that he has built up in a hurry.

Gordon talks to his dog and we get a music video on him to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This might have been the weakest of the Best Of shows but Gordon doesn’t exactly have the longest tenure so far. Gordon is someone who is going to be fine, but I’m not sure how far you can get with the first name Flip. Then again, Dalton Castle is a peacock and former World Champion. Perfectly fine enough show, but nothing worth going out of your way to see.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Ring of Honor
Date: April 22, 2020

It’s Matt Taven’s week and that could mean a few things. Taven is someone who has done some good things in his time, but as long as we don’t hear him talk, everything should be fine. He has some solid matches on his resume and we might be seeing some of those here. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Taven talks about rehabbing from a knee injury in 2016 and knowing he had some goals. He knew he would have to beat Adam Cole because they started at the same time but Cole was already the World Champion. Then he beat Dalton Castle, allowing him to bring in the REAL World Title. The match that gives him the most pride is going an hour with Jay Lethal, even though he didn’t win the World Title. Then he won the World Title in Madison Square Garden, which was all he ever wanted.

From War of the Worlds 2019: Grand Rapids.

Ring of Honor World Title: Matt Taven vs. Mark Haskins

Taven is defending and tries to hit him with the belt before the bell. That earns him a kick to the face and they head outside with Haskins kicking him in the jaw again. A penalty kick from the apron connects but Taven is back in to run the ropes a bit before getting kicked down again. Haskins hits a shinbreaker and a basement dropkick gets two. Something like an Indian Deathlock stays on the leg, followed by a DDT for two more.

Taven gets to the apron though and snaps the arm across the top to get a breather. They head outside with Taven staying on the arm, including sending it into the post. Back from a break with Haskins being thrown up the steps and onto the stage. Haskins has to dive in to beat the count at nineteen so Taven stomps on the shoulder some more. A Fujiwara armbar has Haskins in major trouble but he gets over to the rope for the break. Taven hits him in the face so Haskins says bring it on and wins a slugout with a leg lariat.

Back up and Taven catches him in a fireman’s carry and drops Haskins throat first on the top rope. We take another break and come back with Taven pulling on the arm again but getting pulled down into a Crossface. Make that the Rings of Saturn as Taven is getting too close to the ropes. A foot on the rope makes the save and Taven is fine enough to hit a running knee to the face for two.

An enziguri into a Blue Thunder Bomb gives Taven two more but he misses the frog splash. The Gibson Driver gets two on Taven and they’re both down again. It’s Haskins up first and kicking at the chest until stereo dropkicks give us another double knockdown. They get up and slug it out with Haskins dropping him and hitting the top rope double stomp for two.

Haskins takes him to the apron but gets caught with the Climax. Back in and Taven hits the frog splash for two and the big shocked face. Haskins is mostly dead but manages to roll into a Sharpshooter….and here’s Bully Ray (Commentary: “NO!!!!”) to ask how Haskins’ wife is. The distraction lets Taven get in a cheap shot and the Climax retains at 25:52.

Rating: B+. Man they had me going there until the Bully Ray ending, which has been done so many times before. As usual, Haskins is one of the most entertaining guys on the roster and Taven can do very well when he drops the talking and just goes in the ring. I liked this one quite a bit and if they had done ANYTHING but the Ray ending, it would have been even better.

Taven talks his feud with Ultimo Guerrero in Mexico. That made him into a bigger deal and they did it again in America.

From ROH TV, July 4, 2018.

Matt Taven vs. Ultimo Guerrero

Oh it’s a post pay per view TV show for sure. No Vinny Marseglia with Taven and TK O’Ryan here and I don’t find that to be a bad thing. This is an old rivalry and Guerrero works a top wristlock to start. The fans give that a LUCHA LIBRE chant and it’s time for a standoff, complete with a lack of commentary for some reason. After chasing O’Ryan away, Guerrero sends Taven to the apron and baseball slides him out to the floor.

Taven gets thrown into the crowd and O’Ryan goes into the barricade to keep things even. Another whip sends Guerrero into the barricade as well and we take a break. Back with Guerrero fighting out of a chinlock but gets enziguried out to the floor. That sets up Taven’s great looking no hands dive but Guerrero steps to the side. Taven and O’Ryan are set on a chair for a big wipeout, followed by some rapid(ish) fire chops in the corner.

A super gordbuster gets two but Taven is right back with a knee to the face. Back again with Taven getting two off a Lionsault but having a super hurricanrana countered into a superbomb. A springboard enziguri drops Guerrero again but he’s right back up to catch Taven on top. Cue the red balloons and Marseglia from underneath the ring for a distraction though, allowing Taven to hit the Climax for the pin at 14:17.

Rating: C+. I’m not sure what to say about this. It wasn’t boring and the work was fine but Guerrero is more a treat for the live crowd and he’s not exactly the biggest name in the world. This really felt like a main event on a show you didn’t need to see and while it was fine, it’s really not a match that I need to see or really care about. Taven has gotten a lot better though.

Post match the Kingdom celebrates for a long time before Taven says he respects Guerrero. Just realize that you’re not as good as Taven of course.

Taven talks about how important these matches are but Vincent cuts in and says he left Taven laying at Final Battle. Vincent is the best of Matt Taven.

Overall Rating: B. That opener is great and is enough to pull the just pretty good main event up. Taven is someone who does not have the best reputation in ROH (fair enough) but things get a lot better when he’s in the ring. This was as good as it was going to get from him and I liked the show well enough. Face Taven could be interesting, and seems like such a natural fit for him. Why did it take until the end of last year to make that happen?

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Ring of Honor
Date: April 15, 2020

It’s PCO week as we continue the highlight episodes. I’m not sure what to expect from this one as PCO hasn’t been around the company that long. It was cool to see his career renaissance but I’m not entirely sure how smart it was to push him all the way to the main event scene. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

PCO talks about how long he has worked to get here. At one point he quit but then he had one more chance. Now he believes that he isn’t human and here he is. A few months ago he and Brody King made it to the finals of a tournament to become the new #1 contenders to the Tag Team Titles. After they won, the Briscoes attacked them and he never felt the pain. This set up their big showdown for the titles at the 17^th Anniversary Show where he and King won the titles for PCO’s huge moment. It was enough to get him into the tournament for the #1 contendership to the World Title and that’s where we’re going.

From ROH TV, November 13, 2019.

#1 Contenders Tournament Finals: PCO vs. Marty Scurll

They’re both part of the Six Man Tag Team Champions, though it helps when you almost never defend the things. Before the match, Scurll suggests they wrestle a clean match…and then hits him with the umbrella for two. PCO shrugs it off and hits the standing splash as we take a break. Back with Scurll hitting an enziguri on top and scoring with an Iconoclasm.

They head to the floor with PCO going into the barricade so Scurll can pose a bit. It’s back inside for a chop off but PCO goes with a powerbomb and spear to take over. The chokeslam sets up the Swanton for two more and they head right back to the floor with PCO setting up a table. Scurll gets off of it before PCO can dive and sends PCO through it instead.

We take another break and come back with PCO hitting a powerslam but the referee was bumped. Cue Brody King for a Boss Man Slam on PCO to give Scurll two. Scurll hits PCO by mistake though and walks into a sidewalk slam for two. The PCOsault is broken up and the ref gets bumped again, but it’s Flip Gordon to kick PCO down. A belt shot gives Scurll two so PCO flip dives onto King and Gordon. The PCOsault connects for two but the Cannonball to the apron misses. Well not the apron but Scurll at least. PCO is fine enough to hit a clothesline and the PCOsault for the pin and the title shot at 14:33.

Rating: D+. Well that happened. This one was designed to make PCO look like a killer but that had been done in previous weeks. It’s another day where you look at Scurll and try to figure out why he isn’t a multiple time World Champion already, but ROH has not been known for its bright ideas in this area as of late. PCO getting a chance is fine, though he isn’t someone I would build my biggest show of the year around.

Post match, Scurll tells him to go win the World Title.

Then it was time for the title match against Rush at Final Battle.

Ring of Honor World Title: PCO vs. Rush

PCO is challenging and anything goes. They stare each other down to start and forearm it out with PCO shouting a lot. A clothesline drops Rush but he stops a suicide dive with a chair to the head. Rush whips him with a camera cord, followed by the running slap in the face in the corner. That means a Tranquilo pose but Rush would rather go over the barricade to get a small ladder. He throws the ladder at PCO and then wedges it in the corner before whipping PCO hard into said ladder/corner.

The posing takes too long though and it’s a pop up powerbomb to send Rush outside. PCO misses the Swanton to the apron though and Rush suplexes him onto the timekeeper’s table. They fight up the aisle and Rush hits him in the head with a barricade. Rush stacks up a bunch of barricades and chairs before throwing PCO off the stage for a huge crash.

PCO is a bit dead so here’s his trainer Destro to pop open the hoot of a well placed hearse…..and jump start PCO using some jumper cables. Well of course he does, allowing PCO to chokeslam Rush onto the car. Rush suplexes him off of the car and heads back to the ring, only to have PCO stagger after him.

That means it’s time for some doors, with Rush standing them up in opposite corners. Rush knocks him down and gets one off a top rope backsplash. PCO gets sent through the door but of course he’s right back up to send Rush through another door. The PCOsault gets two so Rush goes outside to beat up Destro. The delay lets PCO hit a chokeslam and another PCOsault through a table finishes Rush at 22:28.

Rating: D. And no. The problem here comes down to the fact that Ring of Honor was in a terrible place at this point and this is what they give us for the main event of the biggest show of the year? It was just a brawl, but a very slow paced one that should have been about ten minutes shorter. The PCO story is a nice inspirational one about never giving up on your dream, but this was a really rough sit, especially in this spot. It wasn’t the right way to go given where Ring of Honor was and it was a pretty terrible match as a result. Cut this down to ten minutes and put it in the middle of the card and maybe, but not like this.

PCO talks about how dreams come true and he can’t believe this happened. He thanks everyone who helped get him here, from his fellow Villain Enterprises teammates to Destro to the fans. This is only the beginning.

Overall Rating: D-. I really don’t get the PCO thing. It’s a nice story and PCO did an amazing job of reinventing himself but making him World Champion when you have Marty Scurll right there next to him? Yes I’m aware of Scurll’s contract situation around the time, but how many other people would have been better off in the spot? Just too much for someone who doesn’t have enough to make something like this work.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Ring of Honor
Date: April 8, 2020

It’s another profile edition this week with Jay Lethal, who really does deserve something like this. Lethal might not be everyone’s favorite but he has been one of the real constants around here for a long time. Those title reigns of his make him one of the few elite stars in the company, with his only competition also oddly enough being named Jay. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Lethal can’t figure out a choice for his favorite match around here. We hear a bit about his first big matches around here, way before he became a top star. He didn’t think he belonged here and two years into his career he was facing AJ Styles and Bryan Danielson.

Then Dusty Rhodes came in and because Jay was part of Special K, he got to get in a cage with him and he couldn’t believe it. As for his favorite match, it was against Jay Briscoe at Best in the World with his family being there in the crowd. His dad was at his first Ring of Honor match and begged Jay not to make him go back because the building was so hot.

And, from Best in the World 2015.

ROH World Title/TV Title: Jay Briscoe vs. Jay Lethal

They shake hands to start and we’re ready to go. The House of Truth tries some early interference and get thrown out to make this one on one. Well two on one as Truth Martini is still at ringside. Lethal drops to the floor twice in a row to start but the fans declare it awesome anyway. Well to be fair that was indeed some AWESOME walking around on the floor. A lockup doesn’t go anywhere so they trade wristlocks with both guys challenging, only to have Briscoe take over with a front facelock.

Both guys get back up and it’s time for the slugout with Briscoe being sent out to the floor. Lethal follows him out and drives Briscoe into the barricade to keep his control as we take a break. Back with Briscoe kicking Lethal in the head, only to be sent to the floor for a suicide dive. Lethal loads up another but Briscoe decks him with a hard clothesline and a big suicide dive of his own. Martini finally does something by grabbing Briscoe’s leg, allowing Lethal to stomp away some more.

We hit the chinlock for a bit before Briscoe fights back up and grabs a neckbreaker. Back from another break with the Lethal Combination getting a quick two. The Macho elbow is broken up for a bit, only to have Lethal shove Briscoe off to stop a superplex. Now the elbow gets two but a Koji Clutch is quickly broken up.

They head to the apron with Lethal hitting him low to save himself from a Jay Driller through the table. Well I’d hope he broke it up as it would have meant a bad case of death otherwise. Martini’s distraction earns himself an ejection and NOW the Jay Driller puts Lethal through the table as we take a third break.

Back with both guys inside and Briscoe running into a superkick, only to counter the Lethal Injection with a discus lariat. The fans are losing their minds over this stuff, though I’m still getting over the rolling out of the ring earlier. Lethal grabs the Injection out of nowhere for a very close two and Corino can barely keep going. With nothing else working, Lethal grabs a Jay Driller, followed by another Lethal Injection to finally become undisputed champion at 27:13.

Rating: B. The clipped version was good and I’m assuming the full version is even better. Lethal winning clean here, especially after going through the table like that, was a great way to make him look like the top guy in the promotion. Briscoe is pretty easily the most decorated name in the company’s history so having him lose a major match like this, especially going down fighting, isn’t going to cost him that much. This was good stuff all around and felt like a major showdown so well done all around.

Lethal talks about not being able to hear anything after he won the title, even his own scream.

Another match he remembers is his match with AJ Styles, who has been one of his idols for his entire career. He fought AJ earlier in his career but now he has the confidence to make it work.

From Final Battle 2015.

Ring of Honor World Title: AJ Styles vs. Jay Lethal

Lethal is defending and has Truth Martini/Taeler Hendrix with him. Styles, who has a bad back coming in, is part of the Bullet Club but comes out alone. We get some big match intros and we’re ready to go. Feeling out process to start as they seem to have a lot of time to work with. AJ gets the better of a technical sequence and Lethal bails out to the floor. Back in and AJ grabs a headlock as the announcers debate whether Elgin vs. Lethal will be for the title or not.

We get the drop down into the dropkick from Styles but Lethal hiptosses him down for a basement dropkick of his own. It’s time for some big chops until Lethal gets caught in the Calf Cutter, sending him straight to the ropes. AJ has to avoid a book shot from Martini and gets dropped onto the apron, drawing a TRUTH MARTINI chant.

Lethal gets smart by sending him back first into the barricade and the pace slows down. We hit a camel clutch as the fans swear at someone over something. A suplex into the corner (also becoming too popular lately) rocks Styles’ back for two more and Lethal grabs the world’s least convincing bearhug. Shockingly enough, Jay Lethal holding a bearhug doesn’t last long as AJ comes back with forearms and clotheslines, followed by a suplex into the corner of his own.

The springboard forearm is caught in the Lethal Combination for two and the champ takes over again. They fight over a suplex until AJ takes him over for a neckbreaker. I’ve always liked that move. Styles can’t get the Clash so Lethal throws him into the air and pulls him down into a neckbreaker for two of his own.

Lethal gets tired of this wrestling stuff and throws AJ over the barricade and into the crowd. Ever the genius, Lethal tries a suicide dive with AJ still behind the barricade. AJ, also not that bright, tries the forearm off the barricade but really just collides with Lethal instead. Naturally the fans think it’s awesome because you could put an ROH label on Lord Littlebrook vs. Little Beaver and they would declare it wrestling.

Back in and Jay grabs a Koji Clutch, only to get countered into the Calf Cutter, sending Jay into the ropes again. A big Lethal Injection out of the corner gets two but AJ snaps off a Pele, followed by the Bloody Sunday. Styles loads up something else but gets thrown over the top and through a table, absolutely destroying it in the crash. AJ dives in at nineteen and the Lethal Injection gets two (of course). Instead, Lethal uses Jerry Lynn’s cradle piledriver (due to Jerry saying AJ would win) to set up the second Lethal Injection to retain.

Rating: B+. This wasn’t a masterpiece or even a classic but it was a pay per view quality main event. Lethal pinning Styles clean was a good way to make Lethal look great as AJ has been considered one of the best in the world for a long time now. I’m not sure how long Jay holds the title but if they want to pull the trigger on something, giving it back to Elgin in Tokyo would be rather smart.

Lethal says he’s only 34 and has a lot of wrestling left, hoping that someone can look up to him like he did to Styles or Samoa Joe. That would make his career 100% complete.

Overall Rating: A-. This was an interesting one as Lethal is one of the most successful people in all of Ring of Honor history. He also came off as very down to earth here and that’s a cool thing to see. As he said he’s only 34 and really could be someone who is around for a long time to come. I could see him getting a WWE run at some point, but he might be the kind of guy who is happy with staying in ROH for the rest of his career. It’s not like he wouldn’t be revered there until he leaves, so good for him for having that option.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Ring of Honor
Date: April 1, 2020

Things have changed up all over again as Ring of Honor is out of new material to show for weekly television. However, being around for over eighteen years means you have a long video library to draw from and that’s what they’re doing here. Over the next few weeks, we’re going to have some special biography episodes on various stars, starting with the Briscoes tonight. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

We start in Delaware with Jay and Mark Briscoes showing us where they ran their trampoline wrestling federation in their backyard. Jay talks about a variety of memories wrestling back here, most of which involve a variety of injuries. Mark pulls out some barbed wire from underneath the porch. It used to be tied to a board but the board is rather rotten.

Jay’s barbed wire bat is still in the garage though and he talks about getting it at a minor league baseball game. The matches took place all over the property and you can tell this means a lot to them. Now it’s off to the chicken house, where they had to go around and pick up all of the dead birds every day. It was a two person job and they did it together.

From Driven on June 23, 2007 in Chicago.

Tag Team Titles: Briscoes vs. Kevin Steen/El Generico

The Briscoes are defending and that would of course be Kevin Owens and NOT Sami Zayn (Completely different people entirely. Not even close you see.). Jay drives Generico into the corner to start and it’s almost scary to see how young the Briscoes look here. A headscissors keeps Generico down and seems to rough up the mask a little bit (you never rough up the mask). We take a break and come back with a double tag to Jay and Steen (who looks crazy young as well).

A springboard elbow drops Steen but he gets in some chops to slow things down. Steen runs him over with an elbow but Mark pops back up for some (yet to be named) Red Neck Kung Fu. Jay comes back in and everything breaks down with Steen taking some running kicks to the face in the corner. Steen gets in a knee to Jay’s ribs and it’s back to Generico as the double teaming begins. There’s a drop toehold to set up a flipping legdrop to the back of Jay’s neck for two as the champs are in trouble for a change.

Steen chokes Jay on the rope but stops to knock Mark off the apron in a smart move. Jay gets in an atomic drop though and Mark comes in with a big boot for two. A knee drop gets two on Generico and we take another break. Back again with Jay hitting a middle rope Fameasser for two on Generico and we hit a chinlock. Mark’s Samoan drop gets two more and he knocks Steen off the apron as a receipt from earlier. You don’t do that to Steen, who comes back in sans tag and hits a big flip dive onto Jay.

Mark gets sent to the apron so he flip dives onto Steen. Jay gets back in for a Cactus Clothesline on Generico to put everyone outside. A moonsault off the apron hits Steen and Generico gets LAUNCHED over the barricade onto a bunch of chairs in a scary looking bump. Steen powerbombs Mark over the barricade as well and everyone is down. Jay gets back inside and walks into a Pop Up sitout Powerbomb for two.

Generico takes Mark outside and hits a springboard moonsault, setting up the yet to be named Helluva Kick on Jay. Steen’s Swanton gets two in a rather hot near fall. Generico hits his corner walk tornado DDT to plant Mark but he’s right back up for a slingshot double stomp over the top to put Steen through a table. That leaves Jay to hit a gorilla press Death Valley Driver (dang) for a very close two on Generico. A spike Jay Driller ends Generico at 19:38.

Rating: A-. This was awesome and I can see why the tag team division had the reputation that it built up over the years. Steenerico was an awesome team but the Briscoes were the best team in the world for a long time. This was great stuff and I got way into the whole thing as it was a heck of a match.

The Briscoes talk about fighting as kids. Jay: “I’m a year older and a year more handsome.” Mark: “That means he’s gonna be dead a year earlier than me.” They’ve been wrestling for years but have been fighting even longer. Jay was in the first ROH match ever and lost, with Mark saying he let the family down.

Mark couldn’t wrestle in Pennsylvania but he could in Boston, and Mark beat him for the only time in his career. Then Jay won the rematch but they went to a draw in their third. Mark won in Philadelphia, making me wonder if he knows what it means by “the only time ever”. They’ve won a lot of titles and Jay rubs it in that Mark has never won a singles title.

From Best in the World 2013.

ROH World Title: Jay Briscoe vs. Mark Briscoe

Jay is defending. The fans are WAY into this as they fight over a lockup to start. Jay gets taken down off of the lockup and we take an early break. Back with the camera bouncing back and forth between the MARK/JAY chants for a cool shot. Mark gets backed into the corner as they’re waiting to really get going here. Jay isn’t about to be taken down and they stare at each other again.

They go to the mat for a split second before Mark scores with a spinwheel kick as commentary talks about the family not being sure what to do. Another handshake and the pace picks up a bit with Mark rolling underneath a kick and….I think dancing like a chicken? This time Mark won’t shake hands as it’s getting a little more serious. Mark knocks him to the floor for a chop off around (the very spacious) ringside. Jay gets dropped on the floor and we take another break as they get back inside.

Back with the fans chanting about chickens (oddly appropriate here) and Mark kicking him in the face. Jay scores with a superkick and a discus forearm, followed by a Downward Spiral into the middle buckle. Mark gets in an enziguri and Jay is knocked outside for a breather. For some reason Mark goes outside and sets up a table, followed by a Too Sweet and a slugout. Neither can get a superplex through the table so Jay throws Mark off the top to the floor for a big crash instead.

Back in and Jay hits a neckbreaker as we take another break. We come back again with Mark hitting an exploder and dropkicking Jay into the corner. An Iconoclasm gets two more and Mark sends him to the floor for a slingshot dive. Jay is laid on the table and the Froggy Bow drives him through for the huge crash.

Another Froggy Bow gets two back inside and something close to a Burning Hammer connects for the same. Jay fights back up and hits the Jay Driller, followed by a heck of a clothesline. Another Jay Driller only gets one and the fans are back into it. For some reason we look at the fans while Jay throws superkicks, setting up another Jay Driller to retain at 24:44.

Rating: A. There’s something interesting about watching two people who care about each other slugging it out and beating the heck out of each other like this. These two of course have great chemistry together and the story is set up just because of who they are. The fact that they beat the heck out of each other made it even better and they had an awesome match that lived up to the pay per view main event level.

Overall Rating: A+. I’m almost scared to imagine how long of a DVD you could make showcasing the best of the Briscoes. These two work together so well as you can’t recreate these characters no matter what. The Briscoes are as genuine of a team as you can get and it turns out that they’re both awesome at what they do. Awesome show here and I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do with more of them in the future.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Ring of Honor
Date: March 25, 2020
Location: Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Caprice Coleman, Ian Riccaboni
Host: Quinn McKay

From what I can tell, this seems to be the final weekly show that will feature new material. This is the start of a new event but for some reason it looks like the last episode they were able to produce. Fair enough as you never know how screwy things could have gotten thanks to everything going nuts. Things have been a bit better under the Scurll regime so hopefully they can go into hiatus on a high note. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

We open with a quick video on 2 Guys 1 Tag.

Quinn runs down the show.

Dan Maff/Jeff Cobb vs. Briscoes

Mark and Jeff lock up to start with Mark’s headlock trying to cut off the power. A dropkick sends Mark into the corner so it’s off to Maff. That earns him a forearm to the face and Jay comes in for the big staredown. Maff gets the better of it and forearms away in the corner….as we cut to a shot of commentary for some reason. A running clothesline in the corner rocks Jay but he’s right back to Mark in a hurry. The Briscoes get smart and it’s a distraction to set up the running clothesline to put Cobb down.

Back from a break with Mark getting suplexed and clotheslined, followed by a backsplash to Jay. The big shots to the back have Jay in trouble in the corner and a slam gets two. Jay finally slams Cobb down and the tag brings in Mark for another slugout. Everything breaks down in a hurry and Mark uses a chair for a launchpad to the floor. Jay’s running flip dive (no chair) takes Cobb out and it’s time to head back inside.

Jay walks into a spinning belly to back suplex and Maff jumps off Cobb’s back for a flipping splash onto Jay for two. There’s a Cheeky Nandos kick to Jay but Mark breaks up the Burning Hammer. A running kick into a dragon suplex (cool) drops Maff but Cobb clotheslines Jay to put everyone down. Back up and a pop up cutter (basically a 3D with a toss instead of a flapjack) drops Jay for two with Mark having to make a last second save. Tour of the Islands is broken up and it’s a Jay Driller into the Froggy Bow for the pin at 16:06.

Rating: B. These guys beat the heck out of each other and that’s what you want out of these matches. I was skeptical about having Maff around here but he’s been a pretty awesome big man, especially when you pair him with Cobb. The Briscoes have been doing their best work in years too, which is hard to do when they have been so good for so long.

Rey Horus vs. Alex Shelley

They fight over arm control to start before running the ropes with Shelley grabbing a spinning rollup for two. After a quick standoff, Horus grabs an armdrag into an armbar to slow things down. A dropkick puts Shelley on the floor but he ducks a baseball slide and chops away. That’s followed by a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on the floor can keep Horus down They chop it out again with Shelley getting the better of things before heading back inside. There’s a discus forearm to Horus and we take a break.

Back with a rather confident Shelley chopping away and grabbing the Billy Goat’s Curse. With that going nowhere, it’s off to a leglock to keep Horus down. A running clothesline drops Horus a second time but he dropkicks Shelley out of the air. Another dropkick puts Shelley on the apron, meaning the big running flip dive can take him down again. Back in and Horus grabs a Spanish Fly for two, plus an overhead belly to belly into the corner for the same. The 450 misses though and it’s a standing Sliced Bread #2 for two on Horus. Shell Shock gets two more so it’s the Motor City Stretch to make Horus tap at 15:01.

Rating: C+. Horus is an awesome high flier and Shelley is someone who can work with almost everyone but, as usual, most of his matches feel very scripted. I’m not sure what it is about them but there’s something about Shelley’s matches that keep me from getting into them. It’s still good, but it’s not great and that’s almost always the case for Shelley.

McKay talks about the awesomeness of the 18^th Anniversary Show and Past vs. Present. Supercard of Honor is going to be even better though and we run down the card. They couldn’t edit that out??? And dang it’s not a bad card either.

Tag Team Titles: 2 Guys 1 Tag vs. Jonathan Gresham/Jay Lethal

Gresham and Lethal are defending and jump Young and Woods before the bell. It’s a brawl on the floor to start with Lethal hitting four straight suicide dives. He doesn’t keep Woods down well enough though and it’s an overhead belly to belly to finally cut off the dives. Now we get the bell so Lethal can stomp away at Young in the corner. Back from a break with Gresham working on Young’s knee and Lethal coming in to do the same.

A strut looks to set up the Figure Four but, you know, the strut, lets Young kick Lethal away. Woods comes in for some suplexes and a TKO onto the knee gets two on Lethal. Gresham gets kneed out of the air but the Lethal Combination drops Woods for two more. A Backstabber sets up a powerbomb onto the knees with Lethal having to make a save. We take another break and come back with Lethal powerbombing Young down to set up a Figure Four (as we go back to the knee, as we should).

Woods finally gets back up and powerbombs Gresham onto Lethal for the save. Gresham gets clotheslined down and Young dive onto Lethal. The Doctor Bomb sets up the ankle lock on Gresham but a rope is grabbed. Young is back in but Misery is broken up in a hurry. Gresham moonsaults onto Young and dives onto Woods, leaving Lethal to hit the Lethal Injection. A shooting star press hits Young….for two? Dang I would have bet on that one. Woods grabs a small package but Lethal turns it over so Gresham can get the pin to retain at 12:08.

Rating: B. Another good tag match here as Woods and Young are somehow a rather solid face team. Lethal and Gresham are on fire though and they could hold those titles for a long time going forward. The tag matches have been ROH’s strong suit for a long time now and this was another worthwhile one.

Overall Rating: B+. And alas that’s how they go away for the time being. The tag matches were very good and the singles match was perfectly watchable. Throw in the sad/chuckle inducing announcement about the non-existent shows and I had a good time with this one. Hopefully they can keep this stuff going when they get back, but you never can tell with something like this. Really good show to go out on though.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Ring of Honor
Date: March 18, 2020
Location: UMBC Events Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Caprice Coleman, Ian Riccaboni
Host: Quinn McKay

This has to be the last show from Baltimore right? If my math is correct, they should have seven or eight weeks of television from their last two shows, but after that it’s going to be interesting in a hurry. These shows have been good so far and hopefully the trend continues this week. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

We open with a recap of Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham winning the Tag Team Titles in a great match at Final Battle.

Battle Royal

Beer City Bruiser, Brawler Milonas, Tracy Williams, Cheeseburger, Josh Woods, Brian Johnson, PJ Black, Silas Young, Blue Meanie, Rhett Titus, Maria Manic, Gangrel, Delirious, Eli Isom, Kenny King, Dragon Lee, Crowbar, Dak Draper, Danhausen, Leon St. Giovanni

The winner gets a future World Title shot and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a regular battle royal in ROH. Gangrel blows the liquid in King’s face during entrances and most of the people get in at the bell to start fast. We take a break at the ten second mark and come back, seemingly with nothing having changed, meaning Delirious is running around ringside and King is blindly throwing punches on the floor.

Gangrel suplexes Danhausen and Impales Johnson as I’m trying to wonder if they’re really considering him a big deal. Draper fights off another Impaler and backdrops Gangrel out to a chorus of booing. LSG goes up top to dive at Draper, who throws him out with ease. Draper backdrops out Isom and Crowbar with ease so, say it with me, Cheeseburger eliminates Draper a few seconds later.

With that required annoyance out of the way, the Bouncers start wrecking a lot of people. Meanie tries to get the Bouncers to dance….and they actually do it, only to have Johnson throw Meanie out. As Amy Rose comes out to get King to the back, the Bouncers beat up Johnson and toss him….only to the apron as PJ Black makes a save. As a result, Johnson throws Black out in a good old heel double crossing. Manic grabs Johnson low and gorilla presses him out as we take another break.

Back again with Maria throwing the Bouncers out at the same time but stopping to hug Danhausen. Young and Maria have a staredown with Silas dropping her but not quite being able to eliminate her. Cue Bully Ray to pull Maria out, allowing Young to celebrate. Ray chairs her in the back and adds a powerbomb through a table (apparently giving her a concussion).

Back in and Danhausen gives Delirious some teeth but then throws them at Delirious, setting up the elimination. Danhausen German suplexes Young but gets tossed out anyway, allowing Cheeseburger to hit a springboard crossbody. Young rolls through and they go to the apron but Woods makes the save. A clothesline eliminates Cheeseburger and we’re down to Williams, Lee, Young and Woods. Young puts Williams on the top so Tracy manages a DDT onto the top turnbuckle.

Woods jumps in front of a spinning forearm so Williams blasts him instead, leaving Young to return the save. Williams gets double teamed in the corner with a slingshot elbow, setting up the easy elimination. Young and Woods stomp Lee down in the corner but Lee sends Young to the apron. Woods kicks him out by mistake and gets tossed, only to have Kenny King run in. Lee survives an elimination attempt, unmasks as Flip Gordon, and dumps King for the win at 20:30.

Rating: C. This was an entertaining enough battle royal with a surprise ending. Gordon is a safe bet for a future title shot as he’ll get in a good match and there’s always the chance he might pull off an upset. There were enough stories going on in here and they advanced some stuff, so well done with the whole thing, especially for a battle royal.

Post break, Gordon says he’s coming for the title at Supercard of Honor.

Clips of Session Moth Martina beating Sumie Sakai in what looked like a comedy match. Martina likes to dance and drink, meaning her finishing move is called the Jager Bomb.

Post break Quinn asks Sumie for a comment but she shoves Quinn against a wall and tells her to shut up.

Dan Maff/Jeff Cobb vs. Jay Lethal/Jonathan Gresham

Non-title but if Maff and Cobb win, they’re guaranteed a title shot. The handshake offers are slapped away so it’s Cobb and Gresham starting things off. Gresham can’t quite wrestle him down as Cobb muscles him up for a throw into the corner. Back from an early break with Maff chopping Lethal and then slapping him in the face for a bonus. The Pounce sends Lethal outside and the champs need a breather.

Back in and Maff suplexes both of them before it’s Cobb coming in for a dropkick. The standing moonsault gets two on Lethal and Cobb pounds him down in the corner. Gresham comes in and goes after Cobb’s knee though as the champs take over for the first time. Lethal gets kicked into the corner for the hot tag to Maff but the referee doesn’t see it, sending Maff into a frenzy in the corner. Cobb suplexes the heck out of Gresham and now Maff can come in to run Lethal over.

We come back from another break with Maff hitting a Cannonball in the corner. The spinning belly to back from Cobb sets up an elevated backsplash from Maff to crush Lethal again. Gresham makes the save with an enziguri and Lethal cutters Cobb for two. Maff gets knocked to the floor so Gresham dives onto him with a sleeper, leaving Lethal to Figure Four Cobb.

Maff, with Gresham on his back, climbs back in but falls just short of a save. He gets up again and finally Attitude Adjusts Gresham onto Lethal for the big break. Everyone is down again until Maff spears Lethal, setting up the Oklahoma Stampede to Gresham. Lethal kicks Cobb to the floor and Gresham adds a suicide dive, only to have Maff hit a Burning Hammer on Lethal for the pin at 13:05.

Rating: B-. The tag matches have been rather good around here as of late and while this wasn’t quite up to the Briscoes vs. Mexiblood, it was a rather good power vs. technical match. There was even a nice twist of the power guys being the faces for a change and that’s not the kind of match you often see around here. Good enough match here though and the rematch will likely take place at a pay per view, whenever that takes place.

Overall Rating: C+. I liked this one well enough as the battle royal was a nice change of pace from the usual ROH formula. Things are starting to get a little better around here under Marty Scurll and hopefully we can get to another level in the near enough future. I’m not sure when that is going to be, but at least they seem to have something better here. It’s a heck of a lot better than what they were doing for years though and that’s a good sign.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6