Manhattan Mayhem V on August 17th, 2013 in New York City
Opening Match: Silas Young vs. Adam Page
Young spits at Page and hides in the ropes. He sneaks in a cheap shot but Page traps him in a headscissors. Page lays in a few chops and connects with a dropkick. Young takes control with a well-timed knee strike. Page fights back by coming off the middle rope with a clothesline. Young gets him in an electric chair and just dumps him to the floor. Page’s back bounces off the apron. In the ring, Page hits a double underhook suplex and both men are down. They exchange punches and Page hits a powerslam. He follows with a michinoku driver for a nearfall. Young finds life with a backbreaker. Page ducks the lariat follow-up and lands a standing shooting star press for a two count. Young hits a powerbomb and pins Page with his feet on the ropes for a nearfall. Young rolls through a backslide and hits the Pee Gee Waja Plunge for the win at 8:13. I thought this opener was just okay until the last two minutes when the action picked up and they started showing their familiarity with each other. The crowd popped huge for Young’s finisher, which is a good sign, and both men should have a bright future ahead of them in Ring of Honor. **½
Match #2: ACH and Tadarius Thomas vs. Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander
Steve Corino tries to join commentary before this match but security escorts him out of the building. ACH and Coleman begin by wrestling to a stalemate. ACH attempts a springboard maneuver but gets dropkicked to the floor. Alexander hits a sit-out slam on Thomas and adds a senton. Coleman and Alexander hit an assisted leg lariat on ACH and isolate him. ACH connects with a basement lariat on Coleman and tags out. Thomas cleans house with his various kicks and hits a powerslam on Alexander. Coleman plants Thomas with a spinebuster and Alexander adds some sort of springboard maneuver. The crowd gets on his case. Alexander blasts ACH with a springboard enzuigiri. Thomas german suplexes Alexander but he immediately answers with a lariat. All four men are down. ACH lands a kick-flip dive to the floor onto Coleman and Alexander. Back in, Coleman and Alexander cause some miscommunication and hit Overtime on ACH for the victory at 9:05. There was definitely some miscommunication throughout most of this match. However, they were able to recover somewhat by the end of it and the crowd was invested in the action insofar as they wanted to see what crazy thing would happen next. This might not have been the best match that they could’ve had in nine minutes, but it certainly served its purpose. **½
Match #3: Matt Taven vs. Mike Mondo
If Mondo defeats Taven or lasts the time limit, he will receive a shot at the ROH World Television Title. They attempt their finishers early on to no avail. Taven regroups on the floor. In the ring, Mondo connects with a hesitation dropkick but walks into an enzuigiri. Taven hits a delayed vertical suplex and takes control. Mondo fights back with a series of punches and hits a snapmare driver. Taven hits angel’s wings and connects with a roaring bicycle kick. He hurricanranas out of a tiger driver and connects with a knockout kick. Mondo attempts a superplex but Truth Martini interferes. One of the Hoopla Hotties comes off the top rope with a hurricanrana on Mondo. Taven lands a top-rope splash for a nearfall. Mondo drop toe holds Taven into the Book of Truth. Taven blocks a diving headbutt and hits the Climax for the win at 11:40. Taven showed a lot of fluidity with his offense here. Yes, I have the same complaints regarding the House of Truth interference, but it was entertaining to some extent to watch Mondo fight through all of the shenanigans. At the end of the day, these two worked well together and I wouldn’t mind Mondo being reintroduced by fighting for the television title. It would be nice to see Taven actually defend the title on these types of shows, however. **¾
Match #4: Rocky Romero and Alex Koslov vs. Matt and Nick Jackson
Koslov connects with a dropkick on Matt and snaps off an armdrag. Romero is able to connect with a dropkick on Nick as well. Koslov lands a slingshot splash onto Nick and lays in repeated chops. The Forever Hooligans tease their usual breakup but hug each other instead. Nick takes down Romero with a stiff back elbow and the Young Bucks isolate him. He connects with a mule kick on Nick and makes the tag. Koslov enters the ring with a springboard lariat on Matt and snaps off a headscissors. He follows with a springboard dropkick on Nick and an enzuigiri on Matt. Koslov puts on his hat and kicks Matt a few times. Romero connects with a springboard knee strike on Matt. Nick superkicks Romero out of nowhere and Matt hits an assisted sliced bread on Koslov for a nearfall. Nick hits a slingshot facebuster on Koslov but misses the moonsault to the floor onto Romero. Romero comes off the apron with a knee to the face on Nick. Matt connects with a dropkick through the ropes on Romero. Koslov takes out the Young Bucks with a dive and all four men are down. In the ring, Matt steals Koslov’s hat and mocks his kicks. Koslov slows him down with an enzuigiri. The Forever Hooligans hit a doomsday knee strike on Nick for a two count. Matt backflips to avoid a lariat from Romero and superkicks him. He powerbombs Koslov into an enzuigiri from Nick. The Young Bucks hit a tandem tombstone on Koslov for a nearfall. Koslov blocks More Bang for Your Buck with knees. Romero lands a dive to the floor onto Matt. Romero knees Nick into a burning hammer from Koslov. The Forever Hooligans pick up the victory at 16:50. I haven’t been overly impressed with the Forever Hooligans’ matches in Ring of Honor thus far, but this was by far their best performance. Even from the pre-match taunting, there was something about this match that just felt special and the personalities of both teams clicked extremely well. ROH always claims that they’re the place for tag team wrestling and delivering matches like this one on a consistent basis will help prove that. This was a great way for the Forever Hooligans to pick up steam after some decent outings against the American Wolves and the Young Bucks are now certainly established for everyone who wasn’t already familiar with them. ****
RD Evans and QT Marshall come to the ring. Evans talks about how much of an injustice it is that they aren’t booked on the show. He threatens to sit in the ring until they get a match. Prince Nana informs them that as the new talent scout, he has signed some opponents for them…
Match #5: Eddie Kingston and Homicide vs. QT Marshall and RD Evans
Evans attacks Kingston from behind but he falls victim to an exploder. Kingston adds a northern lights suplex. Homicide connects with a facewash kick on Evans. Marshall intervenes and hits a backbreaker on Homicide. Evans follows with a rolling neckbreaker and they isolate Homicide. Kingston tags into the match with a uranagi on Marshall. Evans comes off the top rope but eats a backfist. Homicide hits an ace crusher on Marshall and Kingston connects with the sliding D for the win at 5:03. I think we can all agree that Kingston and Homicide delivering a massive beatdown would have been preferable to a squash match. But Kingston and Homicide are now a team in Ring of Honor so let’s just focus on that. *½
Homicide offers a handshake to Evans after the match but snaps his finger instead.
Match #6: ROH World Title Tournament Quarterfinal Round: Michael Bennett vs. Tommaso Ciampa
Ciampa receives live entrance music from a band so guess who’s winning this match. Bennett tries to run away from Ciampa and gets swung into the barricade for his troubles. In the ring, Ciampa begins working over the left leg. He even lures Bennett into a small package by faking a leg injury. Ciampa connects with a knee strike to the face. Bennett answers with a dropkick. The action goes to the floor where Ciampa connects with facewash knee strikes against the barricade. Back in, Bennett superkicks Ciampa off the top rope and his injured leg gets caught in the ropes. Bennett goes to work on the left leg. Ciampa avoids a charge and they trade punches. Ciampa locks in a crossface but Bennett reaches the bottom rope. Bennett attempts a piledriver to no avail but synchs in a sharpshooter. He hits a bulldog out of the corner. Ciampa hits a go 2 sleep (in reference to CM Punk, Maria’s ex boyfriend) for a nearfall. They battle on the apron and tease the piledriver. Ciampa connects with a knee strike and hits an air raid crash on the floor for the victory at 14:38. There were a couple of things going for this match, specifically Nana being consistent on commentary with disliking Ciampa and Bennett finding creative ways to attack Ciampa’s previously injured leg. If the crowd would have been more invested in what was happening in the ring, this match would have been taken to the next level. Still, Ciampa looks strong for toughing out a win. **¾
Match #7: ROH World Title Tournament Quarterfinal Round: Kevin Steen vs. Roderick Strong
Strong connects with a knee strike at the opening bell and hits a gutbuster. Steen blocks a dropkick through the ropes and hits a powerbomb onto the apron. In the ring, Steen lands a swantan for a nearfall. He catches Strong with a rope-assisted DDT and takes over. Strong gains the advantage with a bulldog. They exchange strikes and Steen connects with a lariat. Both men are down. Steen hits his pumphandle neckbreaker. Strong responds with a superplex. He transitions into the Stronghold but Steen quickly reaches the bottom rope. Steen hits a powerbomb. Strong fights out of the sharpshooter. Steen blocks a gutbuster and applies a sharpshooter. Strong is able to reach the bottom rope. Strong lays in a high knee strike, hits a gutbuster, and connects with the Sick Kick for a nearfall. Steen hits a 2k1 bomb from the middle rope for a two count. Strong escapes the package piledriver but falls victim to a sleeper suplex. Steen hits the package piledriver for the win at 11:59. This was quite the sprint and I can’t think of a way that these two could have a better twelve-minute match. Both men threw bombs at each other from the opening bell and this was a tournament match that really made the ROH World Title feel important. I wasn’t necessarily expecting this type of contest coming in, but I came away pleasantly surprised. ***¼
Match #8: ROH World Title Tournament Quarterfinal Round: Michael Elgin vs. Karl Anderson
Elgin connects with a boot at the opening bell and they trade strikes. They avoid each other’s finishers and stare each other down. Elgin takes down Anderson with a shoulder tackle and hits a delayed vertical suplex. Anderson catches Elgin coming off the apron and hits a spinebuster onto the floor. Elgin is able to beat the twenty count but Anderson takes over in the ring. He begins working over Elgin’s left leg. Elgin avoids a senton and lays in some lariats. He hits a running powerslam. Anderson fights off a dead-lift german suplex but runs into a swinging side slam. Anderson recovers with another spinebuster. Elgin blocks a corner charge but misses a top-rope senton. Elgin connects with a roaring elbow to the back of the head and hits a dead-lift german suplex. Anderson catches him up top and hits a TKO from the middle rope. Anderson follows with a piledriver for a nearfall. Elgin finds an opening to apply a crossface. Anderson reaches the bottom rope. The action goes to the apron where Elgin nearly gets knocked out by a yakuza kick. Anderson goes up top but Elgin suplexes him back into the ring. Elgin hits a bucklebomb. They exchange kicks and Elgin elevates Anderson into a uranagi. Elgin connects with two backfists, hits another bucklebomb, and follows with a spinning powerbomb for the victory at 17:11. I always say that I enjoy watching how Elgin’s opponents play to their strengths in order to try to defeat him. However, it almost seemed as though Elgin was the one who was trying to figure Anderson out throughout the course of this match. They had great chemistry together as expected and I’m actually surprised that the crowd wasn’t more vocal for the action. While I slightly preferred Elgin’s first round match against Paul London, it certainly seems like Elgin is being positioned to win the tournament after being involved in the two best matches of the tournament thus far. ***½
Match #9: ROH World Tag Team Titles: Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards © vs. Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly
Richards and O’Reilly begin the match by slapping each other. They have an exchange out of a knucklelock. Edwards and Fish show their familiarity with each other during a mat exchange. O’Reilly snaps off a few armdrags on Richards. Edwards double stomps Fish’s left arm and Richards stretches him with various submissions. Fish catches Edwards with a dropkick. O’Reilly and Edwards get into a heated strike exchange, ending with a nonchalant slap from O’Reilly. Edwards responds with a TKO and a shining wizard. Fish kicks Edwards during a backpack chinbreaker attempt and reDRagon isolate him. Edwards hits a double lungblower and makes the tag. Richards connects with a double missile dropkick and causes Fish to DDT his own partner. Fish hits a german suplex on Richards and reDRagon follow with a high-low. reDRagon hit stereo shoulder-capture suplexes. The American Wolves trap O’Reilly in a tree of woe and connect with stereo baseball slides. Fish lands a dive to the floor onto Edwards. O’Reilly hits a back superplex on Richards and Fish adds a moonsault for a nearfall. Edwards superkicks Fish. Richards and O’Reilly block each other’s kicks and slap each other. Richards lariats O’Reilly and all four men are down. Richards counters a cross armbreaker form O’Reilly into an ankle lock. Edwards elevates O’Reilly into an Alarm Clock and the Wolves hit a double team backcracker for a nearfall. Fish pushes Edwards off the top and rope and through the ringside table. Richards lands a dive onto Fish and connects with a flying double stomp on O’Reilly. He punts O’Reilly and hits a brainbuster for a two count. Fish pulls Richards to the floor and O’Reilly lays him out with a missile dropkick from the apron. In the ring, O’Reilly hits a divorce court from the middle rope on Richards. reDRagon follow with Chasing the Dragon for a nearfall. O’Reilly transitions into a cross armbreaker and reDRagon become the new ROH World Tag Team Champions at 25:56. This was my favorite match between these two teams by far. For one, the match did not feel like twenty-six minutes. Even the opening minutes felt like they mattered, with O’Reilly trying to one-up Richards or Edwards and Fish showing how well they know each other in the ring. I also thought that the finish was brilliant. These two teams are virtually equal in talent but it was reDRagon’s willingness to go to the extreme (pushing Edwards through the table) that won them this match. The table spot also added some drama as no one thought the titles would change hands given recent events. While completely different from Young Bucks/Hooligans, I thought this main event was just as great and it proved to be the right way to end the show. ****
As the new champions celebrate, Outlaw Inc. (Homicide and Eddie Kingston) enter the ring and attack them. Homicide snaps O’Reilly’s finger. The show ends with Homicide looking into the camera and saying “we’re back in business.”
Overall: Manhattan Mayhem V was one of the best Ring of Honor shows of 2013. The event is highlighted by two excellent yet different tag team matches. In addition, the three quarterfinal round matches in the ROH World Title Tournament are all worth checking out. There’s also some relevant happenings on this show, as reDRagon reclaim the tag team titles to likely stop the recent string of title changes and the debut of Outlaw Inc. as handled pretty well. Manhattan Mayhem V had my favorite quality in a wrestling show – consistency – and there was plenty of quality wrestling to be found here. High recommendation.
You can purchase this DVD at Ring of Honor’s store right here.