Thursday, July 11, 2013

ROH Relentless Review

BJ Whitmer & Jay Briscoe clash with the ROH World Title on the line!



ROH Relentless
Richmond, Virginia 5/18/13

Bonus

1.) Brandon Day & Aiden Chambers vs. Team A-1: **1/2

A pretty decent tag team match. Team A-1 were really popular amongst the fans. A fine contest that sees the popular Team A-1 pick up the win.

Main Card

1.) Kyle Matthews vs. "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin: ***

Matthews has made several appearances in Dragon Gate USA & Evolve. A pretty solid opener here. Nothing really outstanding, but these two put on a solidly entertaining contest. Elgin would get the win but Matthews proved he could hang. I would love to see him make more ROH appearances.

2.) Adam Page vs. Adam Cole: ***1/4

It's a battle of the Adam's! Another pretty solid match. Cole looked good as usual but Page was just as impressive. Lots of back & forth action which eventually led to Cole getting the win, who quickly exits without shaking Page's hand.

3.) Roderick Strong vs. Mark Briscoe: ***

This is the first time these two have had a singles match since How We Roll in 2006. A fine match, but I feel like it could have a little better. It just had something missing in my opinion. Still, it was a decent match.

4.) Chris LaRusso vs. "The Sicilian Psychopath" Tommaso Ciampa: DUD

Arrive. Kill Jobber. Leave.....that's pretty much what happened in this one.

5.) S.C.U.M. (Rhett Titus & Cliff Compton) vs. The American Wolves: **3/4

Much like the Strong/Briscoe match earlier, it was a fine contest that had its moments, but it was missing something that prevented it from being better. Still, this was a solid match, and a good way to advance the ROH/S.C.U.M. feud.

Steve Corino takes the microphone and cuts a promo in the ring. He announced that his "Jesus", Matt Hardy, will be challenging for the ROH World Title at the June 23rd TV Tapings the day after the Best in the World iPPV in Baltimore. He also challenged Nigel McGuinness to a 4-on-4 ROH vs. S.C.U.M. match, where if S.C.U.M. disbands if ROH wins but Corino himself takes Nigel's Match Maker job if S.C.U.M. wins.

6.) Six-Man Tag - ROH World Tag Team Champions reDRagon & ROH World TV Champion Matt Taven vs. Jay Lethal and C & C Wrestle Factory: ***3/4

This Six-Man Tag previews upcoming title matches at Best in the World. Matt Taven is without Truth Martini & The Hoopla Hotties. A very fun match. When you get these six guys together, you know it'll be something good. Entertaining contest which sees the Lethal and C & C getting the victory.

7.) No DQ Match - Kevin Steen vs. Jimmy Jacobs: ***1/4

The match started as a regular 1-on-1 contest but Jacobs choked Steen early, resulting in a DQ. Steen asks for the match to be restarted as a No DQ Match and gets his wish. A pretty solid match. Though it wasn't as good as the match they had over a year ago at the 10th Anniversary Show, these two put on a fun No DQ Brawl that further advanced Steen's war on S.C.U.M. Steen wins after giving Jacobs a Package Piledriver on a laid out section of Guardrail!

8.) ROH World Title - Jay Briscoe vs. BJ Whitmer: ***3/4

This is Jay's second defense of the ROH World Title. A very solid contest. These two put on an entertaining main event that saw good wrestling and a lot of hard hitting action. At one point, Jay tosses BJ over the top rope, sending Whitmer crashing headfirst through the time keepers table! He somehow is able to continue, and refuses to quit, despite all the punishment from Jay. Briscoe locks in the Dragon Sleeper and makes Whitmer pass out, retaining the title in the process.

After the match, the fans chant for BJ in support of his toughness. He & Jay embrace in a show of sportsmanship as the show closes.

Overall: 7.5/10

While this show didn't have anything that is must see, it was still a fine show. Pretty much all the matches were entertaining in some way or another, and the Six-Man Tag as well as the Main Event delivered. The one thing that continues to impress me with ROH in 2013 is the consistency of their live events, which is a big improvement over 2012.

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