*Note that this show is packaged in a two-disc set with Northern Aggression, the next event. The review of that show will be posted tomorrow.

December 3rd, 2011 in Spartanburg, South Carolina

Opening Match: Mike Bennett vs. Adam Cole

Bennett gains the advantage early on after some cheap tactics. Cole connects with a hard right hand and lands a plancha to the floor. Bennett hits a nice spinebuster into the apron and takes control in the ring. Cole comes back with a backcracker and connects with corner punches. He follows with a superkick and hits a german suplex. Bennett retreats to the apron and avoids a DDT attempt from Cole. Cole recovers with a flying crossbody but falls victim to a TKO. Cole armdrags out of the Box Office Smash and hits an ace crusher. He connects with an enzuigiri and a knockout kick for a nearfall. Bennett escapes the Panama Sunrise but almost gets caught by a sunset flip. Bennett elevates Cole into a backbreaker and hits the Box Office Smash for the win at 9:32. This was most likely the best performance I’ve ever seen out of Bennett. He found creative ways to work over Cole’s back and showcased some new offense that I can’t remember him using before. Cole worked well with him and they were able to get the crowd to bite on a few nearfalls down the stretch. While I’ve always been critical of Bennett, he definitely showed something in this match. ***


Match #2: Harlem and Lance Bravado vs. Cruz and Rios

Cruz catches Harlem with a flying forearm smash while Rios lands a lionsault onto Lance. The Bravados start working over Cruz after Harlem hits a delayed vertical suplex. He low bridges Lance to the floor, rolls through a lariat from Harlem, and makes the tag. Rios lands a seated senton onto Harlem and follows with double knees. The Bravados hit the Gentleman’s Approach on Cruz for a nearfall. Harlem bicycle kicks Rios to the floor. Lance catches Cruz with a bridging pin for the victory at 5:36. I’ve been saying for awhile that the Bravados need to start picking up some wins and that finally seems to be the direction that they are headed. Los Ben Dejos looked good in the ring and I wouldn’t mind seeing them back in Ring of Honor. However, this was mostly a squash for the Bravados. *¾


Match #3: Jay Lethal vs. TJ Perkins

If Perkins can defeat Lethal or last the time limit, he will receive a shot at the World Television Title. They have a nice sequence out of a knucklelock and Lethal hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. He connects with a handspring back elbow followed by a basement dropkick. Perkins escapes a submission and applies a pendulum. He transitions into a quick pin attempt to no avail. Perkins connects with a hesitation dropkick and hits a backbreaker. He takes over until Lethal connects with a superkick. Perkins quickly responds with a brainbuster and both men are down. They exchange strikes and Perkins gets booted to the floor. He cuts off a dive from Lethal and hits a sit-out powerbomb. Perkins snaps off a hurricanrana. They trade quick pin attempts to no avail. Lethal hits the Lethal Combination for a nearfall. Perkins blocks a top rope elbow drop but Lethal recovers with a handspring ace crusher for the win at 11:34. These two had amazing chemistry and I can see them having an excellent rematch down the line if given more time. Although I wish the match would have settled down at points, the constant back and forth action invoked a great response from the crowd and put Perkins on Lethal’s level in Ring of Honor. I’m glad that ROH has been giving Lethal some fresh opponents recently as it’s made the Television Title scene much more interesting. ***


Match #4: Kenny King and Rhett Titus vs. Matt and Nick Jackson

The All Night Express hit stereo scoop slams and back drop the Young Bucks. King lands a corkscrew plancha to the floor onto them. In the ring, King connects with a springboard elbow drop on Nick. Titus finds himself in the wrong corner and the Young Bucks take control with some double teaming. They target Titus’ left leg and isolate him. He starts to build momentum but Nick catches him with a flying double stomp. Titus takes advantage of some miscommunication and makes the tag. King connects with a series of kicks and hits an overhead suplex on Matt. Nick catches King with a running knee strike and Matt follows with a springboard ace crusher. Matt spears Titus. Nick tries to add a springboard maneuver but King lays him out with the Coronation for a nearfall. Matt saves his partner from a blockbuster-powerbomb combination by attacking Titus’ bad leg. The Young Bucks hit More Bang for Your Buck on King for the victory at 13:44. I’m surprised that I didn’t enjoy this match as much as I thought I would. It seems as though working over Titus’ leg has become a theme of his matches as of late. While that’s perfectly fine, the limb work didn’t stop Titus from performing any significant moves and only ever came into play during the finish. With that said, I thought the finish was effective in giving the Young Bucks a win while keeping King and Titus looking strong. I just think that these two teams have a better match in them. **¾


Match #5: Jay and Mark Briscoe vs. Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander

The crowd absolutely loves the Briscoes. Both teams start brawling before the opening bell. Jay throws Coleman into the barricade and suplexes him onto the entrance ramp. Mark takes out Alexander with a dive and then throws him into the barricade as well. In the ring, Mark hits a bulldog on Alexander. Coleman catches Jay with a high leg drop. Jay flatlines Alexander into the middle turnbuckle and Mark follows with a shotgun dropkick. The Briscoes work him over until he hits a saito suplex on Mark and makes the tag. Coleman hits a snapmare driver on Jay and an STO on Mark. He connects with a double dropkick and lands a springboard moonsault to the floor onto Jay. Alexander follows out with a dive of his own. Back in, Coleman hurricanranas Mark off the middle rope and Alexander adds a frog splash. Jay starts brawling with Alexander on the outside. Mark hits the Cutthroat Driver on Coleman but gets caught by a spin kick from Alexander. Jay yakuza kicks Alexander and the Briscoes follow with the doomsday device for the win at 9:44. I think Coleman and Alexander have proven that they deserve a permanent spot in the tag team division and they complemented the Briscoes nicely in this match. However, Coleman and Alexander seem to be in the same position as the Bravados in that Ring of Honor gives them high profile matches but they can never pick up the big victory that they need. The match itself was a decent exhibition with the Briscoes mostly dominating aside from some back and forth action down the stretch. **¾


Match #6: Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin vs. Roderick Strong and Michael Elgin

If the House of Truth can defeat Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team or last the time limit, they will receive a shot at the ROH World Tag Team Titles. Strong goes directly after Shelton’s injured ribs. Shelton finds an opening after a series of punches and a corner splash. WGTT take down Strong with stereo shoulder tackles. Haas dropkicks Elgin to the floor. A distraction by Truth Martini allows Elgin to hit a powerslam on Shelton. The House of Truth isolate him, with Strong applying the Stronghold at one point. Shelton hits a move on Strong that the camera misses and makes the tag. Haas hits an overhead suplex on Elgin and an exploder on Strong. Shelton superkicks Elgin and Haas follows with an olympic slam. Strong catches Shelton with a knee strike and takes him out with a plancha. Elgin connects with an enzuigiri on Haas and hits a swinging uranagi. He dead-lifts Haas into a bucklebomb and Strong follows with the Sick Kick for a nearfall. Shelton hits a neckbreaker on Strong and a tornado DDT on Elgin. WGTT hit the Leap of Faith on Strong. Martini tries to interfere but gets crotched on the top rope. Elgin hits a side slam on Shelton and a TKO on Haas. He goes up top but Shelton german suplexes him off the top rope. Haas covers him for the victory at 15:58. They didn’t do anything mind-blowing but Strong and Elgin worked well with WGTT and this was an enjoyable match for its place on the card. While I absolutely hated the mandatory Truth Martini interference, I liked that WGTT were able to keep up once the action picked up, culminating with a smart finish. Elgin seems to be more focused on a singles run in ROH but I don’t think teaming with Strong every once and awhile would hurt. ***¼


Match #7: Eddie Edwards vs. El Generico

Generico armdrags out of a wristlock and they find themselves at a stalemate. Generico connects with corner punches followed by a leg lariat. Edwards avoids a split-legged moonsault and connects with a hesitation dropkick in the corner. He adds a running baseball slide. Generico lures him to the floor and follows out with a dive. In the ring, Generico lands a flying crossbody and hits a blue thunder bomb. Edwards blocks a yakuza kick and connects with a running knee strike. He hits a backpack chinbreaker and transitions into an STF. Generico is able to reach the bottom rope. They trade strikes and Generico hits a half nelson suplex. Edwards connects with a superkick but gets caught by a yakuza kick. Generico attempts a brainbuster but Edwards suplexes him over the top rope. Both men are down on the outside. Back in, Generico hits a michinoku driver for a nearfall. On commentary, Jim Cornette says that Generico would have “upset” Edwards there. Okay. Edwards hits a saito suplex and goes up top. Generico catches him with a yakuza kick. They battle up top and Edwards hits a TKO from the middle rope. He connects with a superkick for a two count. Edwards follows with a flying double stomp. Edwards hits a powerbomb and transitions into the achilles lock for the win at 18:01. These two had a great match in PWG about six months ago and they had a worthy follow-up here. They kept the action predominantly back and forth but the crowd was still able to get invested in the match due to some awesome exchanges. If anything, this contest helped to build up Edwards heading into his main event match against Davey Richards at Final Battle, as Richards was able to defeat Generico as well after a hard-fought battle at Glory by Honor. As for the match itself, I liked their PWG encounter slightly more than this one. While the finishes were almost identical, Edwards spent most of the PWG match working over Generico’s leg. However, this was still a very good contest and will most likely end up being the best match on the show. ***½


Match #8: The Honor Rumble

There will be twenty entrants with elimination occurring when someone is thrown over the top rope and both feet hit the floor. A new entrant comes out every minute and the final remaining wrestler will receive a shot at the ROH World Title. TJ Perkins and Matt Jackson start the match. Perkins hits a neckbreaker after a fast-paced exchange. Matt responds with a dropkick from the middle rope as Kenny King comes out. He catches Matt with a spin kick but gets caught by a hurricanrana from Perkins. Harlem Bravado is the next entrant followed by Cedric Alexander and Jay Briscoe. Jay eliminates King, Alexander, and Harlem. He hits a stunner on Matt and sends him packing as well. Perkins avoids elimination momentarily but gets eliminated eventually. Jay is the only wrestler in the ring. Caprice Coleman comes out next but gets quickly eliminated. Charlie Haas is the next entrant and he starts trading punches with Jay. Lance Bravado enters the ring as well. Jay and Haas quickly eliminate Lance as my frustration with the way ROH books the Bravados continues. Mark Briscoe joins his brother in the ring and they work over Haas. Grizzly Redwood joins the fray but Mark plants him with a german suplex. Adam Cole comes out next but the Briscoes continue to dominate as they biel Grizzly across the ring. Shelton Benjamin enters the match and evens the score. He eliminates Cole. Haas and Shelton clothesline the Briscoes over the top rope, eliminating themselves in the process as well. Grizzly is the only man left standing. The Briscoes and Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team brawl around ringside. Michael Elgin comes out next and hits a chokeslam on Grizzly. El Generico enters the match but is feeling the effects from his recent match. Jay Lethal comes out and gets in some offense on Elgin. Everyone works together to eliminate Elgin to no avail. Nick Jackson joins the contest followed by Mike Bennett. Lethal immediately starts brawling with him. Rhett Titus comes out before his official entrance. Roderick Strong reveals himself as the final entrant. Grizzly finally gets eliminated as does Nick. Elgin sends Titus packing while Generico eliminates Bennett. The final four are Strong, Generico, Elgin, and Lethal. The House of Truth take over with some double teaming. Strong elevates Elgin and Generico over the top rope at the same time. Lethal and Strong trade punches and Strong takes control. Lethal ducks a lariat and hits a handspring ace crusher. Strong retreats to the apron and they battle over a suplex. Lethal connects with a superkick that knocks Strong off the apron. Lethal wins the Honor Rumble at 24:25. I honestly do not have much to say here. The usual Royal Rumble type shenanigans occurred and if you like these kind of matches, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this contest. The segment between the Briscoes and WGTT was probably the highlight and I think Lethal winning was a solid choice. **½


Overall
: Due to Southern Defiance being packaged with Northern Aggression, the next show, I’m going to hold off on giving most of my overall thoughts. However, I will say that this show would have most likely earned a slight recommendation on its own. The card was extremely consistent, with a lot of matches hovering in or around the three star range. Let’s see what Northern Aggression brings to the table (aside from a ridiculously long main event).

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