Dragon’s Reign on May 11th, 2013 in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania
Opening Match: Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards vs. RD Evans and QT Marshall
Larry Legend is the ring announcer for this show. More notable, however, might be Evans’ awesome ring gear. Richards connects with a dropkick on Marshall and snaps off a few armdrags. Edwards double stomps Marshall’s left arm and the American Wolves back drop him. Edwards hurricanranas Marshall to the floor but Evans prevents him from diving. Richards punts Marshall from the apron and Edwards wipes out Evans with a dive. In the ring, Richards connects with a missile dropkick on Marshall and connects with a diving headbutt. A distraction by Evans allows Marshall to hit a back suplex on Richards. They isolate him until he connects with a spin kick on Evans and makes the tag. Edwards chops Evans repeatedly in the corner and then does the same to Marshall. He follows with a sit-out gourdbuster on Evans. Marshall responds with a double clothesline. Evans runs into an assisted Alarm Clock and the Wolves hit their superkick-german suplex combination for a nearfall. Evans hits a neckbreaker on Edwards and nearly rolls up Richards. The crowd starts chanting “this is awesome.” Richards connects with a knockout kick on Marshall and kicks him low in the corner. The Wolves both double stomp Marshall and Richards applies an ankle lock. Meanwhile, Edwards traps Evans in the achilles lock for the win at 12:50. This was such a fun opener. Evans was as entertaining as expected and Marshall having to carry his team actually made him look strong for once. The Wolves clearly dominated the match but the times where they were met with resistance captured the crowd’s attention. You couldn’t ask for much more out of this contest. ***
Match #2: Tommaso Ciampa vs. Vinny Marseglia
Ciampa connects with a basement dropkick and takes Marseglia down to the mat. They battle over a knucklelock and Marseglia connects with a basement dropkick of his own. They botch a leapfrog and Ciampa grabs his bad knee. That actually works with the story a bit. Ciampa clotheslines Marseglia to the floor and rams him into the barricade. Ciampa charges with a running knee strike while Marseglia is draped over the barricade. Steve Corino is in awe on commentary. Ciampa hits a suplex onto the exposed floor. He continues the attack in the ring. Marseglia creates some space with an enzuigiri and hits a tornado DDT. He adds a russian leg sweep and lands a dive to the outside. Back in, Marseglia connects with a missile dropkick. They exchange strikes. Ciampa lays in repeated knee strikes in the corner. Ciampa follows with an air raid crash from the middle rope for the victory at 11:56. Ciampa should have dominated Marseglia in the same way that the American Wolves dominated Evans and Marshall in the opener. Rather, this felt much more back and forth and I don’t think anyone benefited. I’m looking forward to seeing Ciampa in more competitive singles matches, but Marseglia was not the right opponent for that. **¼
Match #3: Matt Taven vs. Tadarius Thomas
If Thomas wins or lasts the time limit, he will receive a shot at the ROH World Television Title. They begin with some chain wrestling. Thomas connects with a kick and Taven immediately retreats to the corner. Thomas avoids a moonsault and lays in another kick. Truth Martini jumps onto the apron but that doesn’t stop Thomas from kicking Taven. Taven attempts the headlock driver but Thomas cartwheels out of it! The interference eventually catches up to Thomas and Taven dropkicks him off the apron. The champion takes over. After awhile, the referee ejects the House of Truth from ringside after seeing too much interference. Kevin Kelly could not be happier about this. Thomas comes back with a half nelson suplex. Taven responds with a rope-assisted neckbreaker. He finds knees on a frog splash attempt. Taven escapes another half nelson suplex attempt and hits the headlock driver for the win at 13:01. The House of Truth interference continues to plague what could be very good matches from Taven. Still, if they’re moving in the direction of Taven winning on his own once the House of Truth get ejected, then at least these matches are leading to something. Watching Thomas dodge all of the interference with his athleticism was fun and this was a solid showcase for both men despite some annoyances. **½
Match #4: Michael Elgin vs. ACH
I don’t know why this match is happening but I’m glad that it is. Elgin asserts his power advantage early on. ACH takes him down with a nice springboard headscissors. Elgin blocks an armdrag and a monkey flip. ACH low-bridges him to the floor but Elgin moves out of the way of a split-legged moonsault. ACH uses the ropes for leverage to snap off a headscissors on the floor. Elgin catches him on a dive attempt and hits an overhead suplex onto the floor. He boots ACH into the front row and hits a delayed vertical suplex in the ring. ACH fights back by reversing a suplex attempt into one of his own. He connects with an axe kick in the ropes and lands a nice kick-flip dive to the floor. Back in, Elgin catches ACH on a flying crossbody attempt but falls victim to a rolling neckbreaker. ACH flips out of a german suplex but runs into a swinging side slam. Elgin hits a death valley driver into the turnbuckles. They exchange kicks and ACH leaps out of the corner with a stunner. Elgin blocks a springboard maneuver with a dropkick. He brings ACH from the apron into the ring with a falcon arrow for a nearfall. Elgin misses a top-rope senton. ACH hits a lightning spiral. Elgin connects with a backfist, hits a bucklebomb, but ACH reverses the spinning powerbomb into a reverse hurricanrana! ACH lands a 450 splash for a two count. Both men reset. Elgin connects with a roaring elbow and hits a german suplex. Elgin hits a bucklebomb followed by the spinning powerbomb for the victory at 20:03. Easily the most memorable match that ACH has had in Ring of Honor thus far. Elgin took on the appropriate role of trying to teach ACH a lesson and their styles meshed extremely well. The already hot crowd really came alive for this match and made it seem like we were all witnessing something special. Steve Corino added to that feeling on commentary and even Kevin Kelly’s excitement felt genuine. Everything came together here and this is certainly a match worth checking out. ***¾
Match #5: Jimmy Nutts vs. Dalton Castle
These are two regulars of the International Wrestling Cartel, the most well-known promotion in the Pittsburgh area. Thus, the crowd is already familiar with both men. Nutts snaps off a few armdrags. Castle hits a nice pumphandle suplex and connects with a cheap shot in the corner. Nutts blocks a charge. He comes off the middle rope but Castle catches him with a suplex. Nutts escapes a dead-lift german suplex and lays in a few uppercuts. Rhett Titus runs into the ring and attacks both men, leading to a no contest at 2:28. Hopefully this is not the last time we see Castle in ROH. Kevin Steen makes the save, leading to…
Match #6: Kevin Steen vs. Rhett Titus
Steen immediately takes Titus to the floor and throws him into the barricade. Steen hits a cannonball, driving Titus into the barricade once more. Titus gets crotched onto the ringpost. He escapes a powerbomb onto the apron and rams Steen into the barricade. Titus takes control in the ring until Steen comes back with a senton. Titus dodges a corner cannonball and boots Steen’s head into the ringpost. The action eventually heads back to the floor, where Steen hits the F-Cinq onto the apron. Back in, Steen lands a swantan for a nearfall. Titus answers with a leaping facebuster and a frog splash. Steen elevates him into a powerbomb. Titus sneaks in a low blow behind the referee’s back and tries a rollup for a two count. Steen returns the favor with a low blow and hits the package piledriver for the win at 13:46. After the match, Steen returns to the ring twice to hit two more package piledrivers. I’ve become completely indifferent to Titus’ matches but this one served its purpose. Steen definitely isn’t being neutered as a face, which is undoubtedly a good thing. Once again, the crowd’s energy certainly helped as well as Corino’s awesome reactions on commentary. **¾
Match #7: Roderick Strong vs. Adam Cole vs. BJ Whitmer
They begin with everyone locked up in a test of strength. Everyone tries quick rollups to no avail. Strong connects with a leg lariat on Whitmer but gets caught by a dropkick from Cole. Whitmer hits a powerslam on Strong and a back suplex on Cole. He hits an exploder on Cole, sending him into Strong in the corner. Whitmer lands a dive to the floor onto Strong. Cole follows with a dive of his own. In the ring, Strong blocks a flying crossbody from Cole with a dropkick. He hits an olympic slam. Whitmer lays out Strong with rolling fisherman busters. Cole connects with a shining wizard on Whitmer. Strong hits a torture rack backbreaker on Cole for a two count. Whitmer hits an exploder on Strong. Cole hits a brainbuster on Whitmer across his knee but immediately gets superkicked by Strong for a nearfall. Strong hits a superplex on Whitmer and Cole tries to steal the pin to no avail. Strong hits a gutbuster on Cole. Everyone connects with strikes. Whitmer hits a pumphandle exploder on Cole for the victory at 9:45. There was absolutely no reason for this match happening but these three made the best of it. They maintained a fast pace and the crowd was very vocal throughout. No one looked better than anyone else or stood out in only ten minutes, but this was a fine last-minute addition to the card. **¾
Match #8: No Disqualification: Jay Lethal vs. Jimmy Jacobs
Kevin Steen cuts a backstage promo during Jacobs’ entrance claiming that he’s not done with SCUM tonight. They start the match on the floor. Lethal throws Jacobs into the barricade and connects with a series of punches. Jacobs trips him into a chair. Lethal catapults Jacobs into the ringpost. Lethal hits a suplex onto the floor and blocks a double axe handle with a superkick. They battle up the entrance aisle and back into the ring. Lethal drop toe holds Jacobs into a chair and bulldogs him into it. Jacobs blocks the Lethal Injection with a chair shot. He continues to utilize the chair and takes control. Lethal manages to avoid the spike. Jacobs misses a charge and collides with a propped chair in the corner. Both men are down. Lethal connects with a handspring back elbow and grabs a garbage can from under the ring. He connects with a superkick and hits Jacobs with the garbage can. Lethal puts Jacobs into the garbage can and connects with a baseball slide. Lethal lands a dive to the floor. Jacobs uses the barricade as a springboard to hit an ace crusher onto the floor. In the ring, Jacobs misses a top-rope senton and crashes into the garbage can. Lethal knocks the spike out of Jacobs’ hand and hits the Lethal Combination onto a chair for a nearfall. Lethal props a table into the corner. Jacobs escapes a dragon suplex but gets caught by a superkick. Steve Corino enters the ring and clotheslines Lethal. Steen runs out but Jacobs saves Corino from a package piledriver. Jacobs and Steen start brawling. Lethal accidentally superkicks Steen. Jacobs spears Lethal through the table for the win at 21:50. The biggest compliment that I can give this match is that it felt like a war. I legitimately bought the SCUM vs. ROH feud during this brawl and Steen’s characterization also seems to be moving in an interesting direction. 2013 has seen both Jacobs and Lethal be involved in some pretty great singles matches and I hope that trend continues throughout the year. The way the brawling escalated as the contest progressed along with the longer duration helped this one stand out. ***¼
Match #9: ROH World Tag Team Titles: Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly © vs. Jay and Mark Briscoe
O’Reilly and Mark trade control on the mat and wrestle to a stalemate. Jay blocks a charge from Fish, connects with a few punches, and lays in a mafia kick. Mark hits a slingshot senton on Fish and suplexes him from the apron into the ring. The Briscoes hit stereo shoulder tackles on Fish. The Briscoes continue the attack until O’Reilly provides a distraction, allowing Fish to sweep Mark’s legs. reDRagon isolate Mark until he flips out of a suplex and makes the tag. Jay cleans house with a series of strikes. He hits a flatliner on Fish into the middle turnbuckle. Mark lands a top-rope corkscrew splash onto Fish. reDRagon use some double teaming to isolate Jay. He powers out of a cross armbreaker from O’Reilly, hits a spinebuster on Fish, and tags out. Mark showcases his redneck karate. Fish traps Jay in a cross armbreaker but Mark saves his brother with the froggy elbow. O’Reilly hits a saito suplex on Mark and all four men are down. O’Reilly connects with his missile dropkick from the apron on Jay. Fish and Mark exchange strikes in the ring. O’Reilly hits Mark with a title belt behind Todd Sinclair’s back. Fish connects with a knockout kick on Mark and reDRagon retain their titles at 18:47. This match was hurt by the fact that no one believed the Briscoes would win the titles as well as the deflating finish. Both of those factors caused a crowd that was rabid for the entire show to come off as somewhat reserved during the main event. There was a lot of solid tag team wrestling and both teams had good chemistry as expected. However, there is no reason that reDRagon need to be cheating in main events, and the cheap finish ended a consistently enjoyable show on a bit of a down note. ***
The American Wolves and BJ Whitmer enter the ring after the match to stare down their future opponents. A massive brawl erupts as Michael Elgin watches from the aisle. Multiple staff members eventually separate everyone as the show ends.
Overall: Dragon’s Reign could have been an inconsequential house show but the event ended up being an uplifting example of Ring of Honor firing on all cylinders. I don’t necessarily mean that the match quality was out of this world, but every match received a decent amount of time, allowing everyone to stand out as well as progress the current storylines in an efficient way. The Elgin/ACH contest certainly shines here and I’ve seen higher ratings for it than my own. But I think there is something for everyone on this card. Dragon’s Reign is a good template to show how entertaining ROH house shows can be in 2013 and I hope to see more DVD tapings like this one moving forward.
You can purchase this DVD at Ring of Honor’s store right here.