ROH Showdown in the Sun Part 2
March 31, 2012
by SamoaRowe
-From Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Our hosts are Nigel McGuinness and Kevin Kelly.
-We kick things off with Jimmy Jacobs coming to the ring. Jacobs says over the past year he and Steve Corino have been trying to “be good.” Jacobs describes stabbing Kevin Steen with a spike as being “orgasmic.” Therefore, evil wins, Jacobs doesn’t want to be good anymore.
Jimmy Jacobs vs. El Generico
Generico charges into the ring and lunges after Jacobs. Generico delivers a running dive to the floor. The match officially starts, with Generico in the driver’s seat. Jacobs trips Generico to crotch him on the ropes. Jacobs lands an elbow drop off the apron. They trade shots back in the ring. Blue Thunder by Generico gets 2. Spinning suplex out of the corner by Jacobs. Jimmy resorts to biting and delivers an ace crusher. Generico positions the top rope Brainbuster but it’s blocked. Jacobs runs into a half nelson suplex into the turnbuckles. Jacobs locks on the End Time. Generico gets the ropes, so Jacobs pulls out the steel spike. Jacobs lunges with the spike, missing and stabbing the turnbuckle. Generico suplexes for 2. Generico considers going for the spike but gets rolled up. Jacobs lunges with the spike but Generico takes it. Generico swings and misses, allowing Jacobs to score a roll-up for the win at 8:47. Decent match that succeeded in reintroducing Jimmy Jacobs, **½.Winner: Jimmy Jacobs
Cedric Alexander (with Caprice Coleman) vs. Tommaso Ciampa (with The Embassy Ltd.)
Ciampa is a jerk and cheap shots Alexander to kick things off. Ciampa ruthlessly knocks Alexander against the barricade and grabs a chair. Referee Paul Turner scolds Ciampa, giving Alexander an opening. Ciampa turns it around and nails a running boot. Back to the ring, The Dominant Male stomps a mud hole into poor Alexander. Cedric ties Ciampa in the ropes and hits a DDT. Face buster by Alexander! They battle to ringside where Alexander nails an exploder suplex into the barricade! Ciampa drives Cedric into the turnbuckle from the apron. Ciampa lowers his knee pad for the running knee! That’s enough for the win at 5:26. This was a lively semi-squash, **.Winner: Tommaso Ciampa
-An irate Caprice Coleman goes after Prince Nana, prompting Ciampa to put him down with Project Ciampa.
TJ Perkins vs. Fire Ant
Perkins wears a Puma mask for his entrance, I guess for old time’s sake. They quickly sprint through a series of counters. Fire Ant begins to build some momentum, tossing Perkins to the floor in the process. Perkins returns to cut off a dive and drops Fire Ant off his shoulders. Vertical suplex by Perkins but Fire Ant counters with a fireman’s carry. Perkins hangs in the ropes to trip up his opponent but his drop-kick is cut off. Fire Ant finally connects with a tope into the stage. Fire Ant sprints back to hit a second dive! Fire Ant flies right into a drop-kick. Neck breaker by Perkins but Fire Ant reverses a power bomb into an ace crusher. Tornado basement DDT by Fire Ant! They battle on the ropes, resulting in a sunset flip power bomb by Perkins! Detonation Kick by Perkins only gets 2. A Perkins 450 splash ends it at 8:18! Nice lucha-style exhibition match, **¾.Winner: TJ Perkins
-These guys are so nice, they shake hands without any sneak attacks involved.
-Video recap from ROH TV when Kyle O’Reilly challenged Adam Cole to a match. Cole says O’Reilly’s “PMS cycle” is really starting to get old. Kyle says when this is over, everyone will know who the backbone of Future Shock really was.
Kyle O’Reilly vs. Adam Cole
It’s at this point that my live stream dies. Apparently, the power went out in the building. When the stream finally comes back on, it’s time for the Young Bucks/All Night Express match. It looks like we might never see what surely was a midcard match for the ages.Street Fight:
The Young Bucks vs. The All Night Express
I’m cautiously optimistic that I won’t lose my stream for this match. The Bucks come to the ring wielding brooms. ANX make their entrance through the crowd, accompanied by a shopping cart full of weapons. Rhett Titus appears to be just fine after suffering another attack to his previously injured knee. The ANX dress Nick Jackson in a can and bat him around. They do the same to Matt Jackson. Nick and Titus brawl at ringside while Kenny King dukes it out with Matt. The fans urge them to fight on the stage as my stream dies again. At this time, GFL hasn’t included the remainder of this match in the On Demand version of the show.
-Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis come to the ring for an interview. Bennett basks in his victory over Lance Storm from last night. He feels so good he might as well have just become World champion. He thinks it’s time for him and his lady to get out of this hellhole so they can hit the beach. They cap things off with some public displays of affection. I can’t imagine this act ever getting old.
ROH Tag Team Championship:
Jay and Mark Briscoe © vs. Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin
I’m a little surprised that this isn’t main eventing. Mark starts against Haas, who quickly rolls to ringside to stall for time. They finally lock up, with Haas gaining the upper hand in the early going. Mark surprises with a big boot, prompting Haas to take another hike. A brawl breaks out at ringside among all four men. The match settles back into Jay squaring off with Haas in the ring. Benjamin provides an assist from the apron, kicking Jay in the knee. WGTT smell blood and isolate Jay to work over his knee. Jay takes an extended beating before rolling into a hot tag to Mark. WGTT suffer some redneck kung fu. Mark yanks Benjamin off the top rope for 2. Unfortunately, WGTT arrange for Mark to take a bad spill to the floor. Shelton repeatedly knocks Mark’s head into the steel barricade. It’s Mark’s turn to take a beating as WGTT successfully cut the ring in half. Mark manages to somewhat reverse a back superplex and Jay gets a hot tag. Jay is a house en fuego and nearly pins Haas a couple of times. The match breaks down with everyone in the ring trading big boots until everyone goes down. They stumble to their feet for a stereo slugfest. Haas suplexes Jay while Benjamin DDT’s Mark onto the ring apron. Haas nails the Olympic Slam on Jay! Haas of Pain! Shelton cuts off Mark but Jay gets the ropes. Mark cuts off the Leap of Faith, allowing Jay to score a roll-up for the win at 16:15! Perfectly good tag team match here, not exactly the epic that was advertised, ***¼.Winners and still ROH Tag Team Champions: Jay and Mark Briscoe
-WGTT are sore losers and crotch Jay in the ring post. Security is seemingly unable to prevent WGTT from repeating the attack. Haas and Benjamin pose with the title belts. This feud will never end.
“Die Hard” Eddie Edwards vs. Kevin Steen
Steen has an amusingly difficult time tearing apart a Jim Cornette sign. The match quickly becomes a slugfest. They make a game out of running the ropes and trading shoulder blocks. Eddie breaks it up with a kick but suffers a somersault leg drop. Eddie rebounds with the flying Codebreaker and applies a crossface. Spike DDT by Steen sets up the running cannonball! They spill to ringside. Eddie counters one power bomb but soon suffers one onto the ring apron! They brawl onto the stage. Steen is a biter and sets Eddie up on a chair. Running cannonball onto the chair! The fans on the stage are sure getting their money’s worth this weekend. Eddie knocks Steen down and nails a double stomp off to the floor! Back to the ring, Eddie lands the backpack chin breaker for 2. Eddie runs into a power bomb, but shakes it off to apply a half crab. Steen’s small package pins Edwards at 10:41. Middle of the road match here, elevated by some creativity in the ringside brawl, **¾.Winner: Kevin Steen
-Roderick Strong and Jay Lethal make their entrances, but before the action can get underway, Tommaso Ciampa shows up with the Television title that he stole from Lethal. Ciampa struggles to get a working mic so he can boast that the title looks better on him than on Lethal. Ciampa questions Lethal’s manhood, challenging him to make his match against Strong for the title. If Lethal wins, he’ll gladly hand back the title without being forced to with legal action. Lethal agrees to Ciampa’s “stupid, little challenge” but if Ciampa doesn’t keep his promise, he’ll kick his ass.
ROH Television Championship:
Jay Lethal © vs. Roderick Strong (with Truth Martini)
They start off by exchanging wristlocks. It’s worth pointing out that Ciampa is actually wearing the TV belt while watching at ringside. Lethal runs the ropes and catches Strong in a leg submission. Slingshot senton by Lethal gets 2. They trade hard chops. Strong kicks at Lethal’s taped leg to gain an advantage, but Lethal cuts him off with a delayed vertical suplex. Lethal sets up a tope and it connects. Ciampa provides a distraction long enough for Strong to snap Lethal’s neck and suplex him onto the apron. Guys, the apron bumps aren’t effective when every damn match has one (or ten). The crowd is taking a collective nap and Strong’s heat segment doesn’t help. Some hard chops fix that problem, at least until Strong goes back to a rest hold. Lethal cartwheels into the Strong Hold. The pace quickens, this time with Lethal scoring the cartwheel drop-kick. Lethal overwhelms with a frenzy of chops. Strong gets a small package for a near fall. Double knee gut buster also gets 2. Lethal counters the Gibson Driver and nails a super kick. Savage elbow drop connects! Strong counters the Lethal Injection. Lethal rolls to the floor, where Ciampa shoves him into the ring post. The double knee gut buster wins Strong the match and title at 13:18! They worked so hard for such an average match, **½.Winner and new ROH Television Champion: Roderick Strong
ROH World Championship:
Davey Richards © vs. Michael Elgin (with Truth Martini)
Richards only has one speed and charges into battle as the bell rings. Richard kicks Elgin off the apron to set up a tope. Richards attempts a move off the turnbuckles but Elgin blocks. Delayed vertical suplex by Elgin gets 2. Elgin drops an Undertaker-esque leg drop on the apron. Elgin’s size advantage begins to come into play as he delivers a nice backbreaker. Elgin dominates for a while, alternating between clubs, power moves, and submissions. Davey fights back with his speed advantage, hitting too many moves to keep up with. Exploder suplex by Richards gets 2. They duke it out on the tope rope until Davey nails a superplex. Elgin absorbs the bump and gets right back to his feet. Elgin shakes off some strikes and delivers a hard enziguri. They trade moves but Richards gets an ankle lock! Elgin rolls out, ducks a kick, and nails a Fisherman suplex to the floor! Running power bomb into the guard rail by Elgin! Richards kicks out, so Elgin goes high risk for a corkscrew senton! Davey kicks out! They fight on the ropes again, Elgin blocks a sunset flip. Richards struggles but finally hits a belly to back superplex! Elgin kicks out so Richards goes right to the ankle lock! Rope break! They trade kicks to the face. O’Connor roll into a suplex by Elgin! Super kick and side slam gets 2.9999 for Elgin! Crossface by Elgin but Davey barely gets the ropes. Richards nails a double stomp on the apron! Second double stomp in the ring only gets 2! Lariat and suplex by Richards only gets 2 yet again. Elgin drops Richards on his head for near fall #4,531. Richards shakes off a Buckle Bomb but eats a lariat. Richards counters his way back into the ankle lock! Elgin reverses into the crossface! Richards counters into a pinning predicament. Elgin delivers the spinning power bomb for 2.999999! Elgin locks on the crossface again, as Kevin Kelly says the match is so good he doesn’t care who wins. Davey counters back to the ankle lock and refuses to let go despite some desperate kicks from Elgin. Elgin escapes, but he can’t stand! Shining wizard by Richards only gets 1! Davey is outraged and unloads his kicks until finally gaining the pinfall at 26:18. That. Was. Awesome! It’s amazing how much a fresh opponent helped Richards. That finishing sequence was incredible, ****¾.Winner and still ROH World Champion: Davey Richards
-Richards has something to say but has to wait until the “Elgin” chants die down. Richards puts over Ring of Honor and its fan base as being one big happy family. Richards can’t help but take a dig at WWE and TNA for sucking the proverbial big one. At least their live shows don’t cut out unexpectedly, just saying. Richards puts over how great Elgin is and claims they just had the match of the year. Richards tells Elgin he’ll get further in ROH if he has the crowd support instead of Martini’s support. Surprisingly, Kevin Steen doesn’t show up to ruin the love fest.
Final Thoughts: There was a lot to like on this show. The main event was a MOTYC, the undercard featured a lot of great action, and they set the stage for a lot of storylines going forward. However, the technical issues during the live stream were completely unacceptable, and at this time the replay doesn’t feature O’Reilly vs. Cole or any of ANX vs. Young Bucks. I don’t know if the power outage at the building prevented the Future Shock match from happening or being taped, but I can’t help but feel frustrated that I didn’t get to see the entire card. These sort of hiccups were more forgivable back when ROH didn’t have a syndicated television program advertising them. It’s really hard for me to recommend ROH to new fans if I can’t even have faith that I’ll be able to see the whole show. Aside from that, the show itself was great and the main event is must-see. Thumbs up!
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