ROH: Supercard of Honor VII
April 5, 2013
by SamoaRowe
-Follow me on Twitter @SamoaRowe.
-From New York, NY at the famed Hammerstein Ballroom. This was a part of the Wrestlemania weekend festivities. Our hosts are Caleb Seltzer and Kevin Kelly.
-R.D. Evans and QT Marshall come to the ring to announce Marshall’s mystery tag partner. The crowd is already chanting STFU before anyone can speak. Evans tries to sell Marshall’s partner as the biggest story of the weekend (which earns a “boring” chant). Evans teases the partner being a bunch of big-name free agents before revealing himself as the surprise. That actually earns a “YES!” chant.
QT Marshall and R.D. Evans vs. ACH and Tadarius Thomas
Evans foolishly starts the match for his team and fakes an injury after getting overwhelmed. Marshall is unable to use his size advantage due to quick tags from the high fliers. Evans tags himself in but Thomas fights off an attempted double team in creative fashion. Marshall attacks ACH on the apron as some Evans trickery leads to Thomas getting isolated. ACH gets a hot tag and cleans house on the bad guys. ACH sets Marshall in a Tree of Woe on top of Evans for a running drop-kick. ACH delivers an Airplane Spin into a Cloverleaf, which is just awesome. Marshall breaks up ACH’s greatness but gets dumped to the floor for a dive over the ropes! Evans catches Thomas with a drop-kick but misses ACH on a dive and hits Marshall. Thomas delivers a back handspring dive onto both opponents! Sadly, a Marshall super kick and Inverted Clash from Evans almost finish ACH. Thomas dispatches Evans and ACH nails the Big Bang on Marshall for the win at 9:50. Talk about a hot opener, **¾.Winners: ACH and Tadarius Thomas
-R.D. Evans wastes no time blaming the loss on Marshall.
-Kevin Kelly discusses the sudden retirement of Charlie Haas, which leaves Shelton Benjamin without an opponent for tonight. Benjamin comes to the ring and says he has bad and worse news: Charlie Haas is not here and he has no match on the biggest weekend of the year. Benjamin brings one of the ring crew guys, apparently named Cheeseburger, to the ring. He says that Cheeseburger earned his respect for standing up to Charlie Haas and wants a handshake. They’re interrupted by the returning Mike Bennett, accompanied by Brutal Bob and Maria. Bennett calls the crowd out for the “Yes!” chant since they all hated him before. Cheeseburger cuts Bennett off and makes a really crass Divas Search reference towards Maria. They sure do take their time getting to the inevitable impromptu match.
Shelton Benjamin (with Cheeseburger) vs. Mike Bennett (with Brutal Bob and Maria Kanellis)
Benjamin takes control of Bennett by batting him around ringside. Bennett uses Maria as a shield but ends up taking a back drop in the ring. Benjamin hits Bennett with a nasty double stomp to the head. They trade forearm shots until Bennett surprises with a spinebuster. Bennett wears Shelton down for a bit. Benjamin quickly mounts a comeback, complete with a power slam. Bennett counters with the Box Office Smash but Shelton kicks out. Bennett imitates Maria’s ex-boyfriend, CM Punk, but is unable to hit the GTS. Benjamin reverses into a Half Crab but Maria distracts the referee. Brutal Bob sneaks in for a shoulder block, allowing Bennett to hit a guillotine leg drop. Bennett makes out and fondles Maria in a premature, um, celebration. Benjamin plants Bennett and Maria mistakes him for her boyfriend and gets touchy. Maria realizes it’s Shelton but gets knocked off the apron. Benjamin slams Bennett but can’t finish it. Bennett reverses a Sunset Flip and grabs Brutal Bob’s arms for leverage to pin Shelton at 8:49. Fun little match here with the usual nonsense finish you get with Bennett matches, **½.Winner: Mike Bennett
-The crowd chants “That was awesome” at Shelton, as they seemed to really enjoy the trick he played on Maria.
#1 Contenders match:
Michael Elgin vs. Jay Lethal
They lock up and get a clean break. They run the ropes and sprint their way to a stalemate. The match restarts and Lethal scores first with a kick off the turnbuckles. Elgin goes for a Boston Crab but Lethal counters and nails a drop-kick. Lethal slingshots into a power slam counter. Delayed vertical suplex by Elgin gets a 2 count. Elgin counters again with a crossface. An enziguri sends Elgin to ringside for a series of Lethal suicide dives. Springboard drop-kick by Lethal and a Death Valley Driver. Elgin drop-kicks Lethal off the top rope. Dead-lift superplex by Elgin is amazing! Elgin wins a slugfest and builds steam with the Black Hole Slam. Elgin has an answer for everything Lethal tries to do and nails a German suplex into the turnbuckles. Lethal counters the Corkscrew Senton! Lethal ‘s neck breaker gets a 2 count. Lethal applies the Koji Clutch. Elgin counters the Lethal Injection but Lethal blocks a suplex. They trade pinning predicaments. Lethal absorbs a Buckle Bomb and they trade super kicks. Hard lariat by Elgin but Lethal kicks out! Another Buckle Bomb by Elgin but Lethal counters into the Lethal Injection! Elgin absorbs the finisher but suffers the Lethal Combination! Lethal finally delivers the flying elbow but Elgin kicks out! Elgin counters back with a super Elgin Bomb! Yet another Buckle Bomb and a spinning sit-out power bomb by Elgin finally ends it at 19:01. Seriously awesome match here, with lots of great counters and some well-earned false finishes, ****¼.Winner: Michael Elgin
-Lethal and Elgin share a show of respect when they’re ambushed by SCUM. Steve Corino talks some smack on the microphone and challengers any five guys in ROH to step up to them.
SCUM (Rhino, Rhett Titus, Jimmy Rave, Jimmy Jacobs, and Cliff Compton) vs. Ring of Honor (Mark Briscoe, Caprice Coleman, Cedric Alexander, Mike Mondo, and BJ Whitmer)
They kick things off with a wild ringside brawl. The match settles into the ring, with Mike Mondo on the receiving end of punishment as SCUM makes quick tags. Mondo reverses a suplex on Jacobs but can’t capitalize. Whitmer finally gets a hot tag and cleans house on SCUM. Alexander and Coleman assist with stereo dives to the floor. Mark Briscoe catches Jacobs and Rhino with a missile drop-kick. Briscoe dives off the top rope onto the rest of SCUM at ringside. The match completely breaks down with everyone taking turns hitting power moves in the ring. The sequence ends with Whitmer nailing Rave with a fast suicide dive. Corino gets made at this point and attacks Caleb Seltzer. Corino distracts Whitmer to set up a SCUM mugging .Whitmer gets handcuffed to the ring while Compton throws powder in Mondo’s face. Alexander suffers a metal spike to the head courtesy of Jacobs. Coleman kicks Jacobs out and drops Rave on his head. Rhino GORES the life out of Coleman for the win at 11:34. This was an intense brawl that kept it’s heat throughout, ***¼.Winners: SCUM
-SCUM celebrates in the ring while Corino gloats on the microphone. Corino accuses the fans of not being as intelligent as they think they are and make big promises for the rest of the night.
-We’re treated to a video package highlighting Jay Briscoe coming up short in World title matches against Xavier, Samoa Joe, Takeshi Morishima, Nigel McGuinness, Jerry Lynn, and Roderick Strong. The matches span from 2002 (which feels like a lifetime ago) to 2011. Briscoe has an underrated body of work in ROH.
-Nigel McGuinness joins commentary in place of the injured Caleb Seltzer.
Roderick Strong vs. Karl Anderson
Anderson quickly knocks Strong over with a shoulder tackle. Strong runs the ropes but gets caught in a side headlock. Strong rebounds with a leg lariat. Roderick takes control with some chops. Anderson drop-kicks the knee to shift the momentum. Strong blocks a Cutter on the guard rail and nails a suplex against the announce table. Strong is selling a knee injury as he picks apart Anderson. A hard power slam by Roderick gets a 2 count. They trade chops and counters. Anderson connects with the spinebuster for 2. A Strong super kick is good for a near fall. They duke it out on the apron until Anderson delivers a running drop-kick. Flying neck breaker by Anderson and a sit-out power bomb. Strong rebounds with the Sick Kick. Double knee gut buster by Strong and another Sick Kick. Strong shakes off a power slam but falls to the Ace Crusher at 12:31. This was a good display of power and MOVES to get us back into things after intermission, ***.Winner: Karl Anderson
ROH Television Championship:
Matt Taven © (with Truth Martini and a Hoopla Honey) vs. Matt Hardy (with Steve Corino) vs. Adam Cole
Steve Corino steals the microphone and puts his own spin on the ring introductions. The bell rings and Taven is happy to watch Cole take the fight to Hardy. Taven ambushes Cole, who finds time to nail a suicide dive on Hardy. Taven scores with a dive onto both challengers. The Hoopla Honey gives Nigel McGuinness a lap dance as the action continues. Cole applies a Figure Four on Hardy but Taven breaks it with a flying cross body. Cole arranges a neck breaker/DDT combo on both Hardy and Taven. Hardy plants both opponents and comes close to gaining a double pinfall. Taven rollls Hardy up off of a Cole super kick. Cole sits up from a Tree of Woe to nail a superplex/power bomb combo on Taven and Hardy. Hardy uses his veteran instinct to take control but he can’t seem to score a pinfall. Low blow by Cole gets a Small Package on Hardy to eliminate him at 10:02. Steve Corino tries to make nice with Cole and the distraction allows a near fall from Taven. Cole dumps Corino but suffers a Taven DDT for the 3 count at 11:18. There were some really cool spots in this one, but the dead crowd and distracting individuals at ringside brought this one down a bit, **½.Winner and still Television Champion: Matt Taven
ROH Tag Team Championship:
reDRagon (Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish) vs. The American Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards)
O’Reilly mixes it up with his former mentor, Richards, who apparently still has some things to teach him. Fish and Edwards take over and trade holds. The Wolves use their experience edge to gain an early advantage. O’Reilly counters to drag Richards into enemy territory for some quick tags. Davey counters with a back handspring to make a hot tag to Eddie. Fish takes a lot of punishment from Edwards, complete with a Fisherman Buster. The Wolves dump reDRagon to the floor for stereo running kicks. The Wolves follow up with double hurricanranas and suicide dives. The Wolves briefly isolate Fish, but reDRagon come back with attacks off the apron. Edwards gets isolated in reDRagon territory but Davey gets a quicker than expected hot tag. Richards delivers some rapid fire attacks to both members of reDRagon to “YES!” chants. O’Reilly takes a flying Code Breaker from Davey and survives a roll-up from Edwards. O’Reilly unloads slaps on both Wolves and scores a double dragon screw leg sweep. Davey applies an ankle lock into a Trailer Hitch and holds on despite getting kicked by Fish. Richards applies the ankle lock on Fish while holding on to the Trailer Hitch on O’Reilly! The Wolves continue to roll with the Alarm Clock on O’Reilly, but Eddie accidentally drops Davey with a super kick. Eddie rolls through a suplex from Kyle and nails a double stomp! The referee doesn’t recognize a tag by the Wolves, giving reDRagon an opening (kind of silly since the match has already broken down). Davey superplexes O’Reilly into place for a super kick from Eddie, but it only gets a 2 count. O’Reilly suffers two double stomps and still kicks out. Fish grabs Davey while O’Reilly nails an inverse hurricanrana on Eddie. Kyle pulls the tights to gain the pinfall at 21:03. This was the type of nasty, hard-hitting, ridiculous spot-fest that you either love or hate the American Wolves for, ****.Winners and still ROH Tag Team Champions: reDRagon
ROH World Championship:
Kevin Steen © vs. Jay Briscoe
They size each other up. Jay scores a shoulder tackle and some big boots. Jay counters with a back drop at ringside. Steen rebounds with a DDT in the ring. Roaring elbow by Jay and a scoop slam. Steen drives Jay into the ring post begins targeting the hurt shoulder. Briscoe’s shoulder takes a ton of punishment during an extended beat down. Jay rebounds with a somersault stunner. Jimmy Jacobs attempts a run in but gets neutralized by Mark Briscoe. Death Valley Driver by Jay only gets 2. Steen wrenches the hurt arm and nails a running cannonball. Steen follows with a power bomb onto the apron. Swanton Bomb by Steen is countered! Neckbreaker by Briscoe gets another 2 count. SCUM attempt another run-in, but Veda Scott and other ringside attendants prevent it from happening. Steen and Briscoe knock themselves loopy with a series of punches and both go down after hitting clotheslines. The ROH locker room surround the ring to make sure there’s no more SCUM incidents. Steen nails the F5 but Jay kicks out. Jay blocks the Package Piledriver but eats an overhead suplex. Package piledriver by Steen but Jay kicks out yet again. SCUM shows up and a grand brawl breaks out. Matt Hardy makes it into the ring and is about to hit a Twist of Fate on Jay, but Steen throws him out. J-Driller by Briscoe only gets 2! Crossface by Steen is countered. Overhead suplex by Jay and a lariat. A second J-Driller ends it at 18:17! This one took a while to get going but once things kicked into a higher gear with all the counters and finisher kick-outs, this became a suitably exciting main event, ***¾.Winner and new ROH World Champion: Jay Briscoe
-The crowd can’t believe Jay won and chants “holy sh!t.” Jay’s celebration is a big moment, it’s too bad Jay had to overshadow this with another round of stupid homophobic tweets a few weeks later.
Final Thoughts: Ring of Honor delivers the goods yet again on a Wrestlemania weekend, despite a card that didn’t seem all that wonderful on paper. This one is worth your time. Thumbs up!
Sound Off!Comment about this article on Da' Wrestling Boards!