Ring of Honor: State of the Art
by Kieren Lucas
February 8th, 2014
From San Antonio, Texas.
Self Proclaimed Ring Of Honor World Championship match:
(ROH World Champion) Adam Cole vs. (Self Proclaimed ROH World Champion) Jay Briscoe
If you are not up to date with ROH and looking at the match listed above, you must bethinking “What the hell am I talking about?!” Well, Adam Cole is the real ROH World Champion and Jay Briscoe claims that he is, so he made his own belt, which is on the line here, not the real Ring Of Honor World Championship. This “World Championship” match starts off with both men brawling and a clothesline over the top rope from Briscoe. Briscoe catapults Cole into the turnbuckle and hits a suplex onto the apron. Briscoe goes for a suicide dive but in mid air Cole kicks him in the face. Cole hits a Death Valley Driver into a neck breaker and Briscoe hits a half nelson slam. Briscoe connects with an uppercut and a scoop slam, followed by a foot stomp. Cole super kicks the knee and nails a dragon screw leg sweep. Briscoe hits a frog splash off the top and the two wrestlers exchange strikes. Briscoe hits an insane forearm and a neck breaker for two. Cole hits a shining wizard and Briscoe connects with a big boot. Cole then hits an awesome suplex into a knee to the head and he applies a figure four leg lock. Briscoe hits a Death Valley Driver for two and goes for an axe handle off the top but in mid air Cole hits a super kick and a Twist of Fate for two. That starts a "This Is Awesome" chant and Briscoe hits a super kick and the Jay Driller to get the win. **½Winner and still “ROH World Champion”: Jay Briscoe
The Romantic Touch vs. Caprice Coleman
To be honest I am not a big fan of either of these two and in fact would go on record to say if I wasn't reviewing this show, this would have been my toilet break. This boring match starts off with a shoulder block from Touch and two hip tosses from Coleman. Coleman hits a dropkick and a scoop slam and so far every single move is basic and something I would expect from a match on WWE Superstars. Caprice hits a leg drop and a foot stomp. He connects with several chops, until Touch hits a springboard back elbow. Touch hits a monkey flip and a belly to back suplex. The crowd are bored and I can tell just by how deathly quiet they are being and I don’t blame them. Caprice hits a spin kick and a leg lariat for two. Caprice then hits three, yes, three Northern Lights suplexes and goes for a springboard move but in mid-air Touch hits a dropkick which is the only thing stopping this match from being a DUD. Touch hits a slingshot belly to back suplex and Caprice hits the Leap of Faith and Sky Splitter to get the win. *Winner: Caprice Coleman
Raymond Rowe vs. BJ Whitmer
Raymond Rowe, the runner up in this year’s top prospect tournament, gets a decent reaction when he enters the ring. This match starts off with a neck breaker from BJ and chops from Rowe. BJ hits a belly to back suplex but so far this match has been boring and the pace doesn't help. To make matters worse, BJ applies a goddam headlock. Rowe hits a running knee and connects with several hard hitting strikes. He then hits an impressive one handed spinebuster and BJ hits a big boot for a two count. Rowe then hits the move of the match: a wheel barrow German mother f****n suplex! I think you can assume that I love that move. BJ attempts a big boot but Rowe counters it into a one handed power bomb! Rowe is really impressing me so far during this match. They both exchange strikes until BJ hits a clothesline and the Exploder to get the win. *¼Winner: BJ Whitmer
Cedric Alexander vs. Jimmy Jacobs
I know there are so may people out there who adore Jimmy Jacobs. Yes he has been with ROH for ten years but, my gawd, he bores the s**t out of me. When I look at an ROH card and he is on it, I feel ill and that’s because I can't remember a good match he has had in the past five years at least. Anyway, rant over, the match begins with two deep arm drags and what was said about Jimmy Jacobs does not relate to Cedric Alexander, who in my opinion, is one talented son of a gun. They both exchange chops until Jacobs hits a belly to back suplex and a big boot. Jacobs hits three weak looking clotheslines in the corner and Alexander connects with several head butts. Cedric hits a suicide dive and as quoted from Kevin Kelly "SOARING AND SCORING!" Back in the ring and Alexander hits three running dropkicks in the corner and Jacobs applies a guillotine. Jacobs hits a springboard Ace Crusher followed by a Sliced Bread which gets countered into a spinning sidewalk slam. Cedric hits a belly to back suplex into a insane back breaker and Jacobs hits the spear to get the win. Dam shame, I wanted Cedric to get the win. *¾Winner: Jimmy Jacobs
RD Evans vs. Roderick Strong
RD Evans has a 31-0 undefeated streak in ROH and will he make it to 32-0 with a win against the self proclaimed “Mr. ROH” Roderick Strong. Strong starts things off by hitting him on the head with a mic and connecting with chops. He hits a dropkick and Evans hits a crucifix pin but only gets two. The crowd are split 50/50 and Strong hits a vintage backbreaker for two. Strong applies a surfboard stretch before Evans nails a clothesline. Evans misses a splash off the top and Strong hits him with a running knee and an Angle slam. Strong hits an enziguri and a half nelson slam onto the apron and connects with another knee to the face. Strong spits on Cedric Alexander who is on commentary and Cedric goes to kick strong but ends up kicking Evans which means Evans wins the match and is 32-0! Cedric and Strong then brawl. *¼Winner: RD Evans
Michael Bennett vs. Mark Briscoe
Mark Briscoe is my least favorite Briscoe but I do think his Redneck kung fu is very funny and we get that early in the match. Mark follows that up with a spinning heel kick and a belly to back suplex. Briscoe hits a suplex and another suplex on the floor. Bennett nails a super kick and a sit-down choke slam. They both exchange chops until Bennett hits a dropkick and Briscoe again does Redneck kung fu. Wouldn't it be great if ROH made a DVD on how to do Redneck kung fu? Briscoe connects with a clothesline and a slingshot foot stomp. Briscoe then hits a Death Valley Driver and Bennett hits him with a chair when the extremely beautiful Maria distracts the referee. Bennett applies the Anaconda Vise to get the win. *¾Winner: Mike Bennett
Proving Ground Match
Adrenaline Rush (Tadarius Thomas and ACH) vs. ROH Tag Team Champions Red Dragon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly)
A Proving Ground match is a match where if the champions lose (or draw) then the team they are facing receives a ROH Tag Team Championship match in the future. This match starts off with the Code Of Honor and a roll up for one from ACH. ACH hits an arm drag and Thomas hits a big boot. Thomas nails a unique kick to the head before ACH connects with chops. Thomas hits a clothesline and so far Adrenaline Rush have been in control. Kyle then connects with a high knee before ACH slaps him. ACH hits a dropkick and Kyle pushes Thomas off the top rope down to the floor and Thomas lands hard. Kyle hits a back elbow and Fish connects with kicks. Fish does a slingshot flip into the ring and Thomas nails a kick to the head. Kyle hits a big boot before Thomas hits an enziguri. ACH hits a dropkick and a reverse STO for two. He then hits a slingshot cross body to the floor and hits a slingshot Ace Crusher! Kyle hits another knee to the head before ACH hits a back body drop over the top. Thomas nails a German for two and Fish hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. ACH knocks both member of Red Dragon down with a dropkick off the top before Fish hits a Saito suplex. Thomas hits a swinging neck breaker and kicks. ACH hits a discus clothesline and a "ROH" chant starts. Fish kicks him in the face and Thomas flips between the second and third rope and lands hard on his knee. ACH then hits a running springboard flip over the top rope! He nails an awesome frog splash off the top to get the win! ***Winners: Adrenaline Rush
Kevin Steen vs. Tommaso Ciampa (ROH TV Champion) vs. Jay Lethal vs. Michael Elgin
You just have to look at the wrestlers involved to know that this is going to be awesome. This main event starts off with the Code Of Honor before Lethal hits a super kick and a baseball slide. Lethal hits three suicide dives and Ciampa hits a clothesline and a German suplex for two. Elgin hits a big knee and Ciampa hits a running knee to the head on all three wrestlers. Elgin hits a fallaway slam and a Samoan drop at the same time before he hits a dead lift power bomb on Steen! He then hits a dead lift German on Steen! All the wrestlers exchange strikes until Ciampa nails a big boot and Steen canon balls all three men at the same time! WOW! He amazes me even more when Steen runs and flips over the top rope and flips of the top rope onto all three men on the floor! He then goes for a Swanton bomb but Elgin gets his knees up and all four men brawl Again, Elgin hits an awesome enziguri and Steen nails another cannon ball this time only on Ciampa. Lethal hits a half nelson suplex and Elgin hits a spinning side slam. That starts a "ROH" chant and Lethal hits a hurricanrana and the Lethal Combination. Steen applies a Sharpshooter and Elgin applies a crossface. Steen hits a catapult power bomb and Lethal hits the Lethal Injection. Lethal hits an elbow drop off the top, prompting a "Randy Savage" chant! Lethal hits a spin kick and Elgin hits a rolling forearm. Steen power bombs Ciampa onto the apron following a buckle bomb from Elgin. He follows that up with a super kick and Steen nails the Package Piledriver on Lethal onto Elgin to get the win! Awesome match and in my opinion the match of the year so far. ****½Winner: Kevin Steen
Overall - 6/10
The opening match and the two main events were all awesome and the rest is just average stuff. Defiantly a must watch main event!
Sound Off!Comment about this article on Da' Wrestling Boards!