Reclamation Night 1 on July 12th, 2013 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Opening Match: ACH and Tadarius Thomas vs. Mike Sydal and Zizou Middoux
Sydal and Middoux appear to be a regular team and call themselves #PartyBoys. Sydal begins the match by having an awkward exchange with both Thomas and ACH. ACH irish whips Middoux and he doesn’t know which direction to go. This is not going well. Thomas catches Middoux with some kicks. Sydal low bridges Thomas to the floor and #PartyBoys work him over. He takes advantage of some miscommunication and makes the tag. ACH punts Sydal in the head and hits a pumphandle suplex. Middoux catches ACH with a gamengiri and Sydal adds double knees from the top rope for a two count. Thomas russian leg sweeps Middoux from the middle rope. ACH lands a 450 splash onto Sydal for the win at 9:06. This was not a good debut for Sydal and Middoux as a tag team. Though they seemed to pull it together in the closing minutes, the first five minutes of this match were brutal for them. I think the idea was to make them look competitive against an established team like Adrenaline Rush but I just could not buy that notion at all after seeing them in the ring. *½
Match #2: MsChif vs. Athena
MsChif hits a russian leg sweep and lands a standing moonsault. Athena tries to return the favor with a standing moonsault of her own but MsChif rolls her up for a nearfall. Athena recovers with double knees. MsChif snaps her neck across the top rope and takes control. Athena comes back with a springboard crossbody. She connects with an enzuigiri and adds corner punches. MsChif responds with repeated double stomps in the corner. Athena counters the Desecrator with a german suplex and both women are down. MsChif hits a sit-out chokeslam for a nearfall. Athena answers with an electric chair slam. Athena follows with the O-Face for the victory at 10:17. Despite this contest not necessarily clicking with the crowd, Athena has stood out big time thus far this weekend. I think for this kind of match to work, MsChif and Athena have to make more consistent appearances for Ring of Honor. It seemed as though the crowd was just waiting for MsChif to spit mist or Athena to hit the O-Face instead of trying to get invested in the action. **
Match #3: BJ Whitmer vs. Michael Bennett
Whitmer charges at Bennett before the opening bell and connects with a few chops. Bennett retreats to the floor where Whitmer takes him out with a dive. In the ring, Whitmer hits a back suplex. Bennett catches him with a neckbreaker in the ropes and takes over. Bennett actually punches Whitmer's head into the ringpost at one point. I've never seen that one. Whitmer starts to mount a comeback but gets planted by a spinebuster. He shrugs off a few punches and hits a powerslam. Bennett eats a mafia kick but fights off an exploder. He lays out Whitmer with a TKO for a nearfall. Bennett connects with a superkick but runs into an exploder into the turnbuckles. Bennett armdrags out of another exploder and hits a spear. He follows with the Box Office Smash for a two count. Whitmer sneaks in a small package but Maria has the referee distracted. Bennett hits a piledriver for the win at 9:48. There were flashes of solid exchanges here but the finish just took the wind out of everyone's sails. Still, I'd say that they slightly improved upon their match at Best in the World. **¼
Match #4: Eddie Edwards vs. Kyle O'Reilly
Edwards hangs onto a wristlock despite O'Reilly's best attempts to escape. They avoid each other's strikes. They battle over a knucklelock and find themselves at a stalemate. O'Reilly can't apply a cross armbreaker while Edwards fails to synch in the achilles lock. The crowd starts chanting for them and the crowd is being very vocal for this match. The intensity picks up as Edwards and O'Reilly begin trading strikes. Instead of kicking Edwards, O'Reilly just slaps him. That makes Edwards incredibly angry and he lays in some loud chops. He traps O'Reilly in a surfboard. They battle on the middle rope and O'Reilly hits a shoulderbreaker. Edwards rolls to the floor in pain but O'Reilly stays on the left shoulder. O'Reilly takes control until Edwards hits a german suplex. They trade superkicks but Edwards fires back with a lariat. Both men are down. Edwards boots O'Reilly off the apron and follows out with a dive. In the ring, Edwards locks in a crossface but O'Reilly reaches the bottom rope. O'Reilly avoids a charge and Edwards collides shoulder-first with the ringpost. O'Reilly connects with a missile dropkick from the apron. Back in, Edwards hits a backpack chinbreaker but O'Reilly immediately applies a cross armbreaker. Edwards counters into the achilles lock but O'Reilly reverses into a rollup for a nearfall. O'Reilly hits a shoulder-capture suplex for a two count. He goes back to the cross armbreaker but Edwards is able to reach the bottom rope. They battle on the middle rope and Edwards hits a TKO. He adds a powerbomb and transitions into the achilles lock. Edwards stomps O'Reilly's head and the referee calls for the bell at 21:33. I could tell from the opening minutes of this match that it was going to be something special and the crowd noticed as well. They told an excellent story revolving around Edwards' shoulder. Edwards knew that he needed to finish this match as quickly as possible, but all of his high-impact offense forced him to use the injured shoulder. Watching him fight from behind in that way was awesome. This show really needed a strong match after a slow start and these two delivered in a huge way. ***¾
Match #5: Tommaso Ciampa vs. Rhino
Ciampa attacks before the opening bell. Rhino avoids a facewash knee strike but gets caught by a clothesline. They brawl around ringside. Ciampa throws Rhino into the barricade. Rhino hits a suplex onto the exposed floor. In the ring, Ciampa connects with corner punches but Rhino drops him with snake eyes. Rhino takes control until Ciampa traps him in a cobra clutch. Rhino is able to power out of the hold. He comes off the middle rope with a shoulder tackle. Ciampa fights back with a german suplex and connects with facewash knee strikes. He hits a superplex for a nearfall. Rhino responds with a belly to belly suplex and sets up for the Gore. Ciampa catches him charging with a knee strike for the victory at 9:31. They didn't try to reinvent the wheel, but I thought both men played their roles well and this will likely be different than anything else on the card. The finish seemed a bit odd but there's no doubt that it made Ciampa look like a killer, so they accomplished their goal in that regard. **½
Match #6: Kevin Steen vs. Silas Young
Young has some pre-match words for Steen but gets punched in the face for his troubles. They exchange punches and Steen connects with a nice dropkick that makes Nigel freak out on commentary. Steen hits a senton and brawls with Young around ringside. Young hits a back drop onto the floor. In the ring, Steen creates an opening with a DDT and hits a corner cannonball. Young responds with a chinbreaker, connects with a boot, and tries a quick rollup to no avail. He follows with his backbreaker-lariat combination. The action goes back to the floor where Steen hits a powerbomb onto the apron. He lands a swantan back in the ring for a nearfall. Young is able to lift him for a finlay roll but misses on the Pee Gee Waja Plunge. Steen hits a powerbomb and the package piledriver for the win at 8:01. I was not expecting this short of a match. I thought Steen would be the perfect opponent for Young, as Steen seems like the exact type of person that Young would detest. The most disappointing aspect of this match is that there was not one moment where you thought Young might actually win. They did their best in the time given, but this was a disappointment. **½
Match #7: Matt Taven vs. Michael Elgin vs. Adam Cole vs. Jay Lethal
Elgin showcases his power by blocking an armdrag and a tornado DDT from Cole. Cole connects with a basement dropkick but runs into a powerslam. He knees out of a delayed vertical suplex and quickly tags out. Lethal catches Taven with a series of chops. Seleziya distracts Lethal but Elgin starts chopping Taven instead. Cole and Lethal have a nice exchange that ends with Lethal connecting with a basement dropkick. Elgin finally catches Cole in the delayed vertical suplex that he avoided earlier. The match starts to break down as Taven lands a dive to the floor onto Elgin. In the ring, Taven hits a russian leg sweep on Elgin and lands a lionsault. Elgin responds with a german suplex into the turnbuckles. Lethal hits a backbreaker on Taven and Cole adds a neckbreaker. Everyone fights over who will get to work over Taven. Elgin lays him out with a swinging side slam for a nearfall. Elgin hits his fallaway slam-samoan drop combination on Lethal and Cole. Taven misses a knockout kick and Elgin catches him with a german suplex. Everyone connects with a kick and all four men are down. Lethal connects with a springboard dropkick on Elgin. Taven armdrags out of the Lethal Combination and hits a pedigree for a two count. Elgin elevates Taven into a uranagi. Cole superkicks Elgin and hits a brainbuster across his knee. Lethal dropkicks Cole off the apron and follows out with a dive. He also dives onto Elgin. Truth Martini stops him from diving onto Taven. Seleziya comes into the ring and hits an air raid crash on Lethal. Taven lands a top-rope splash onto Lethal for a nearfall. Lethal recovers with the Lethal Combination on Elgin. Elgin backfists Taven and bucklebombs Cole into Lethal. Elgin hits a spinning powerbomb on Cole for the victory at 22:00. Well, this one certainly came out of nowhere, not because the participants involved weren’t capable, but because this just seemed like a harmless four corner survival before the main event. Everyone definitely came out of this match for the better. Yes, even Taven. The House of Truth interference actually added to the match at points and Taven looked strong for withstanding everyone else’s offense in the middle of the match when they isolated him. This is a match that will probably be forgotten about due to Reclamation not being a major show. However, don’t sleep on this four corner survival because the action was excellent. ***¾
Match #8: Davey Richards vs. Bobby Fish
They charge at each other at the opening bell with boots. They dodge each other's subsequent strikes and stare each other down. Richards anticipates a dropkick and catapults Fish into the turnbuckles. Richards applies a trailer hitch and transitions into a pin attempt for a two count. Fish takes some time to regroup on the floor. In the ring, Richards lays in repeated kicks in the corner until he gets poked in the eye. Fish mimics his corner kicks but Richards ultimately punts him in the chest. Richards locks in a cloverleaf and connects with a dropkick. He attempts a punt from the apron but Fish kicks out his legs. Fish takes control until Richards avoids a plancha and successfully connects with the punt on the second attempt. Back in, Richards connects with a missile dropkick and follows with multiple kicks. Fish desperately fights out of a cross armbreaker. He dazes Richards on the top rope with a roundhouse kick and hits a super falcon arrow. They exchange kicks on the apron and Fish hits an absolutely brutal fisherman buster onto the apron. Eddie Edwards and Kyle O'Reilly come out to check on their partners. Richards beats the twenty count but Fish immediately lands a moonsault. Richards applies an ankle lock but Fish reverses into one of his own. Richards counters into a sharpshooter. Fish turns the hold into a small package for a nearfall. Richards lands a dive to the floor and sends himself into the third row. In the ring, Richards connects with a knockout kick, hits a german suplex, and adds a lariat. Fish kicks out at one! Richards connects with the Alarm Clock and a flying double stomp. Fish fends off an ankle lock. O'Reilly grabs Richards' leg from ringside. Richards charges but Fish catches him with a knee to the face for the win at 22:42. I was becoming a huge fan of this match until the finish. I got the sense that they were trying to make every exchange mean something and this match was safely avoiding the usual criticisms associated with most of Richards' lengthy singles outings. However, the O'Reilly interference in the closing seconds felt unnecessary and the crowd was completely quiet when Fish “knocked out” Richards. It also didn't help that nearly the same exact finish occurred in the Ciampa/Rhino match and came off much better. However, the first twenty-two minutes of this contest were well-executed and they ended up delivering a worthwhile main event. ***¼
Bonus Match: Benjamin Boone and Cheeseburger vs. The Beer City Bruisers
Boone hip tosses the larger Bruiser while the crowd chants “we want Cheeseburger.” Cheeseburger enters the match and shows some fight before tagging out. The Bruisers use some double teaming to isolate Boone. He hits a german suplex and makes the tag. Cheeseburger cleans house with a little help from Boone. Boone hits a spinebuster on the smaller Bruiser and Cheeseburger adds a top-rope splash for the victory at 4:24. I would have a hard time arguing against just putting Cheeseburger on every pre-show. *
Also included is the question and answer session that took place before the show with Nigel McGuinness. The questions are mostly legitimate, though it was sometimes hard to hear due to the microphone not coming across very well on the DVD. Jimmy Jacobs also asks Nigel why he's not on the show, which is just awesome.
Overall: Reclamation Night 1 was really carried by the strength of its top matches. Edwards/O'Reilly and the four corner survival were tremendous matches that completely blew away my expectations. Again, that's not because I didn't think they were capable, I just thought that other matches like Steen/Young and the main event were positioned to be the standouts on this show. Though the first couple of contests didn't really click and Steen/Young was ultimately disappointing, they don't take up much time and the majority of Reclamation is devoted to quality matches. This was not a must-see show by any means, but the wrestling ends up being good enough to earn a slight recommendation.
You can purchase this DVD at Ring of Honor's store right here.