Match #1: ROH World Tag Team Titles: Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin © vs. Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli (Ring of Honor Wrestling – 9/24/11)
Haas gets the better of Claudio to start. Shelton comes off the top rope with a lariat on Claudio. Hero shoves Shelton, who fires back with a right hand. Hero ducks a spin kick from Shelton and connects with a roaring mafia kick. The Kings of Wrestling isolate him until he hits a double neckbreaker and makes the tag. Haas snaps off a headscissors on Claudio and hits a german suplex on Hero. He overhead suplexes Claudio and comes off the middle rope with a hurricanrana. Hero slows him down with the KTFO. Claudio giant swings Haas into a basement dropkick from Hero. Shelton saves his partner from the KRS-1. Shelton superkicks Hero and Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team hit the Leap of Faith on Claudio. WGTT follow with a heart attack on Hero to retain their titles at 14:15. This was a condensed version of their previous matches together, which have all been strong outings. Especially with WGTT later transitioning into blatant heels, it’s interesting to look back and see them at a point in time when they were still fresh as faces. This didn’t match their previous encounters, but it made sense to showcase tag team wrestling on the debut episode and these two teams did put in strong performances here. ***¼
Match #2: ROH World Television Title: El Generico © vs. Jay Lethal (Ring of Honor Wrestling – 10/1/11)
Generico snaps off a hurricanrana but Lethal quickly answers with a headscissors. Lethal connects with a basement dropkick and hits a backbreaker. He applies a bow and arrow but eventually has to release the hold. Generico snaps off a few armdrags and lands a dive to the floor. After a commercial break, Generico connects with a leg lariat in the ring. He takes over until Lethal fires back with a handspring back elbow. Lethal connects with a missile dropkick as Bobby Cruise announces that there’s three minutes left in the time limit. He elevates Generico into a neckbreaker. Generico hits a tornado DDT. One minute remains. Generico hits a blue thunder bomb for a nearfall. Lethal blocks a yakuza kick and tries a quick rollup to no avail. Generico attempts a brainbuster but the time limit runs out at 15:00. The crowd wants five more minutes and Jim Cornette gives them three more minutes. Darn television show time constraints. They trade punches. Generico connects with a corner yakuza kick and hits a half nelson suplex for a two count. Lethal hits a running suplex. They battle on the middle rope and Generico gets shoved to the canvas. Lethal connects with a flying elbow drop for a nearfall. Generico hits an exploder into the turnbuckles. Lethal connects with a superkick and hits the Lethal Combination to become the new World Television Champion at 16:58 (shown). Everyone (myself included) hated the result of this match at the time. Ring of Honor was expanding to new audiences and Generico would have been the perfect wrestler to showcase as champion. However, if you can ignore the implications of the end result, the match itself was great. They displayed solid chemistry as expected and created some hot nearfalls once the match was restarted. ***½
Match #3: Matt and Nick Jackson vs. Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander (Ring of Honor Wrestling – 2/25/12)
Alexander snaps off a headscissors on Matt and Coleman adds a leg lariat. Alexander connects with a slingshot elbow drop. Nick connects with a flying double stomp on Alexander and lands a dive to the floor onto Coleman. The Young Bucks catch Alexander with a dropkick and isolate him. He matrixes to avoid a double clothesline and makes the tag. Coleman connects with a missile dropkick on Matt and hits an STO on Nick. He moonsaults to the floor onto Matt. Alexander follows with a dive of his own. In the ring, Alexander superkicks Matt into a snapmare driver from Coleman for a nearfall. Nick catches Coleman with a knee strike but he escapes More Bang for Your Buck. The Young Bucks connect with superkicks and hit More Bang for Your Buck on Coleman for the win at 5:30. Five minutes? No problem. I don’t think they could’ve packed more action into the time given and the crowd was with them the entire way. **¾
Match #4: Adam Cole vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Mike Bennett vs. Jay Lethal (Ring of Honor Wrestling – 4/7/12)
This is the finals of March Mayhem. Lethal connects with a basement dropkick on Bennett. Ciampa tries to enter the ring but the Embassy stop him. Cole catches Bennett with an atomic drop and connects with a dropkick. The match breaks down when Lethal and Ciampa start going at it. Cole lands a dive from the top rope onto all three of his opponents. After a commercial, Lethal and Ciampa are battling in the ring. Ciampa connects with a lariat. During the commercial, Bennett hit a spinebuster onto the apron on Cole. Ciampa blocks the Lethal Injection with a dropkick. Bennett blind tags into the match and stares down Ciampa. This gives Lethal time to comeback. He hits the Lethal Injection on Bennett but Ciampa catches him with a running knee strike. Both Bennett and Lethal are now eliminated. Cole crawls back into the ring as Ciampa stands waiting. Ciampa connects with a facewash knee strike but runs into a superkick. Cole fights out of Project Ciampa and applies a sleeper hold. Ciampa powers out after quite the struggle. Lethal runs back out to ringside to attack Ciampa but referees restrain him. Ciampa hits Project Ciampa on Cole for the victory at 11:55 (shown). Everyone brought something different to the table here and the action kept rolling. I liked how Ciampa waited until AFTER Lethal eliminated Bennett to knee him in the face instead of trying to steal the pinfall or something along those lines. The final showdown between Ciampa and Cole was excellent and although Lethal coming down to ringside felt a bit forced, I think both Ciampa and Cole came away looking strong. ***
Match #5: Eddie Edwards vs. Davey Richards (Ring of Honor Wrestling – 6/9/12)
They trade armdrags and both attempt kicks at the same time. Richards connects with a spin kick. Edwards boots him off the apron and Richards crashes into the barricade. In the ring, Edwards attempts his backpack chinbreaker but Richards counters into a cross armbreaker. Edwards scrambles to reach the bottom rope. They battle on the apron where Richards hits a divorce court. After a commercial, Richards starts getting cocky as he takes over in the ring. Someone in the crowd flicks him off and gets blurred out. Edwards comes back with a dive to the floor. In the ring, he connects with a missile dropkick and hits a tiger suplex. They battle up top and Richards hits a superplex. He transitions into a cross armbreaker. Edwards counters into the achilles lock. Richards responds with an ankle lock. Edwards fights out of the hold and they exchange kicks. Richards goes back to the cross armbreaker but Edwards turns it into a pin attempt for a nearfall. They exchange rollups to no avail. Richards connects with the Alarm Clock, a knockout kick, and a lariat. Edwards hits a TKO off the middle rope for a two count. Richards finds life with an ankle lock. Edwards fights out but gets caught by a running kick. Jimmy Jacobs appears at ringside and tries to interfere. The distraction allows Edwards to turn a missile dropkick into a rollup for the victory at 15:54 (shown). This was a solid showcase of what they could do together. Due to the shorter duration, they kept the nearfalls and elongated strike exchanges to a minimum and focused more on the mat wrestling, which worked out well. Jacobs’ interference leading directly to the finish was far from ideal, but this was a satisfying television main event. ***¼
Match #6: ROH World Title: Kevin Steen © vs. Mike Mondo (Ring of Honor Wrestling – 7/21/12)
A pre-match promo from Steen causes Mondo to attack before the opening bell. Mondo connects with a baseball slide and sends Steen into the barricade. He runs down the entrance aisle and shoulder blocks Steen into the barricade. Steen powerbombs Mondo onto a piece of the barricade. Mondo desperately tries to make it back into the ring as Jimmy Jacobs taunts him at ringside. He’s able to beat the twenty count. After a commercial, Steen is in control. He even gets on the microphone and taunts Mondo. Mondo fights back with a plancha (with Steen screaming on the microphone). Mondo comes off the top rope with a stomp. Steen responds with a corner cannonball. Mondo reverses the F-Cinq into a small package for a nearfall. Steen blocks a 2k1 bomb and hits the F-Cinq to retain his title at 10:07. This was an entertaining one-off title match for Steen. Mondo brought great energy as usual and although much of his momentum was slowed by injury, I still contend that he’s been enjoyable to watch on the whole. **½
Match #7: ROH World Television Title: Roderick Strong © vs. Adam Cole (Ring of Honor Wrestling – 7/28/12)
Strong attacks before the opening bell after a distraction by Truth Martini. He throws Cole into the barricade and takes control in the ring with a half nelson backbreaker. Cole attempts a comeback but gets hurled into the ringpost. Strong hits a suplex onto the floor and maintains control in the ring. Cole reverses a gutbuster into a crucifix for a nearfall. He tries a couple more quick pin attempts to no avail. Strong synchs in the Stronghold but Cole escapes and connects with an enzuigiri to create some space. They trade strikes and Strong gets clotheslined to the floor. Cole follows out with a dive and lands a flying crossbody back in the ring. Strong connects with a running knee strike but Cole responds with a shining wizard. Strong elbows out of the Florida Key and drops Cole back-first across the top rope. He hits a gutbuster for a nearfall. Cole hurricanranas out of the Gibson Driver and hits a slingshot DDT onto the apron. Martini jumps onto the apron but Cole sends him to the floor. Cole avoids the orange crush backbreaker but almost gets rolled up. Cole connects with a superkick and hit a brainbuster over his knee for a two count. Cole locks in a figure four. Michael Elgin comes out but refuses to help. Strong reaches the bottom rope. Cole connects with a superkick and hits the Florida Key to become the new ROH World Television Champion at 12:20. This was a strong exhibition between these two and a very good television match for the time given. The crowd popped for the title change despite some House of Truth shenanigans getting in the way. I don’t think Cole needed the title, but it gave him more of an opportunity to be showcased, which was undoubtedly a good thing. ***¼
Match #8: Mike Bennett vs. Lance Storm (Ring of Honor Wrestling – 8/4/12)
Storm backs Bennett into the corner. Bennett barely escapes an early half crab attempt. He begs off in the corner but falls victim to a suplex. Bennett responds with a power slam and takes control. They battle on the apron and trade punches. Bennett throws Storm into the barricade and comes off the apron with a clothesline. After a commercial, Bennett connects with a dropkick in the ring. He hits a back suplex and sends Storm shoulder-first into the ringpost. Bennett continues to work over the left shoulder. Storm finds life with a series of strikes and connects with a springboard lariat. Bennett reverses a half crab attempt into a nice rollup and applies a half crab of his own. Storm escapes and hits a uranagi. They escape each other’s TKO attempts and Storm synchs in a half crab. Bennett is able to reach the bottom rope. A distraction by Brutal Bob allows Bennett to hit a neckbreaker off the middle rope for a nearfall. Bennett hits a TKO onto a chair behind the referee’s back for the victory at 15:13 (shown). People look upon Bennett’s matches against Storm highly compared to his other outings in ROH thus far. However, while the psychology was sound, the crowd just did not care enough to become fully invested in the action. Tack on a finish that helps Bennett in zero ways and this contest wasn’t all that productive. **¼
Match #9: Survival of the Fittest 2012 Finals: Adam Cole vs. Davey Richards vs. Jay Lethal vs. Roderick Strong vs. Mike Mondo vs. Michael Elgin (Ring of Honor Wrestling – 10/27/12)
They show a great video package detailing the previous winners of Survival of the Fittest. Strong does his best to avoid Elgin early on. Elgin hits a powerslam on Mondo. Richards punts Elgin from the apron, falls victim to a back suplex onto the apron from Strong. Cole lands a plancha onto Strong. Lethal dives onto Cole. Mondo lands a moonsault onto everyone. All six men are down at ringside. In the ring, Strong connects with the Sick Kick on Mondo to eliminate him. He catches Cole with an enzuigiri and hits a gutbuster. Elgin backfists Strong and Cole follows with a superkick to eliminate Strong. Cole hits a fireman’s carry neckbreaker on Richards. Elgin bucklebombs Cole and hits his spinning powerbomb to eliminate him. Elgin hits a samoan drop-fallaway slam combination on his two remaining opponents. Strong comes back out to push Elgin off the top rope. Richards overhead suplexes Elgin onto a table at ringside. Elgin wills himself back into the ring. Richards connects with a flying double stomp on Elgin. Lethal adds Hail to the King for a nearfall. Elgin won’t stay down. Richards and Lethal connect with stereo knockout kicks to eliminate Elgin. Lethal connects with Hail to the King on Richards for a two count. The locker room has surrounded the ring for the last two combatants. Lethal hits the Lethal Combination and transitions into a koji clutch. Richards reverses into an ankle lock but Lethal counters into an indian deathlock. Richards reaches the bottom rope. They battle on the apron and Richards hits an exploder to the floor. He reenters the ring with a flying double stomp. Richards lays in a barrage of kicks but Lethal responds with multiple superkicks. Richards hits a superplex and transitions into a brainbuster for a two count. Lethal rolls through an ankle lock and hits a dragon suplex. Lethal follows with the Lethal Injection to win Survival of the Fittest 2012 at 20:49 (shown). I wasn’t feeling great about this match to start, as the first three eliminations came off as rushed and didn’t stand out. However, Elgin’s elimination was handled perfectly, as he still looked like a monster in defeat. Finally, Richards and Lethal had an incredible final portion that should spell great things for their upcoming singles match. After a slow start, this main event delivered some must-see action that did wonders for Elgin, Richards, and Lethal. ***¾
Match #10: ROH World Television Title: Adam Cole © vs. Kyle O’Reilly (Ring of Honor Wrestling – 11/17/12)
Cole hits an atomic drop and connects with a clothesline. He enzuigiris O’Reilly off the apron. O’Reilly blocks a dive with a forearm but Cole blocks a dive in return with another enzuigiri. Cole lands a dive to the floor and throws O’Reilly into the barricade. In the ring, O’Reilly blocks a flying crossbody attempt with a dropkick and takes control. After a commercial, Cole comes back with a slingshot DDT onto the apron. Cole lands a top-rope splash for a two count. O’Reilly counters a figure four into a small package for a nearfall. They trade kicks and O’Reilly hits a shoulder-capture suplex. He transitions into a guillotine choke but Cole bridges over into a pin attempt for a nearfall. They slap each other and trade strikes. O’Reilly hits a tornado DDT and transitions into a brainbuster. Cole responds with a brainbuster across his knee. Both men are down. Cole connects with a superkick to the back of the head and hits the Florida Key to retain his title at 8:50 (shown). The match ended up being fairly short but these two showed great chemistry together. It’s interesting to look back on this match and see how far both men have come in under a year – Cole as world champion and O’Reilly as multiple-time tag team champion. ***
Match #11: Davey Richards vs. Michael Elgin (Ring of Honor Wrestling – 12/1/12)
They dodge each other’s offense and stare each other down. Richards connects with a dropkick and punts Elgin from the apron. They send each other into the barricade and connect with mafia kicks. In the ring, Elgin powers out of an ankle lock and suplexes Richards from the apron into the ring. They exchange forearms. Elgin rolls through a crucifix and hits a death valley driver into the turnbuckles. He takes over until Richards finds an opening to land a dive to the floor. In the ring, Richards connects with a missile dropkick. Elgin blocks a charge but runs into a knockout kick. Richards hits a german suplex and applies a cross armbreaker. Elgin powers out of the hold and hits a bucklebomb. Richards catches an enzuigiri attempt and locks in an ankle lock. Elgin reaches the bottom rope. He lays out Richards with chaos theory. Richards misses a flying double stomp. They trade control of a tombstone and Richards finally hits the move. They have an elongated strike exchange on the apron. Richards hits a superplex but Elgin immediately answers with a uranagi. Richards avoids a top-rope senton. They battle up top and Elgin hits an air raid crash from the middle rope. Elgin lands his top-rope senton for a nearfall and transitions into a crossface. Richards escapes the hold but runs into a knee strike. Elgin hits a bucklebomb and follows with a spinning powerbomb for the win at 15:04. This had the usual quirks associated with Richards’ singles matches, but I think it’s okay to do a match like this every so often on television. They were also in a unique position because the building was absolutely freezing on this night (you can see the steam coming off of their bodies after the match). They didn’t try to reinvent the wheel here but I’ve never seen these two have a bad match. ***¼
Match #12: Matt Taven vs. Tadarius Thomas (Ring of Honor Wrestling – 2/23/13)
This is the finals of the Top Prospect Tournament. Taven connects with a dropkick. Thomas avoids a running kick and lays in some of his unique kicks. Taven lands a springboard crossbody and connects with a spin kick. Truth Martini appears at ringside to scout. Taven takes over with a backbreaker-gutbuster combination. Interference from Martini actually allows Taven to get back in the match. Thomas hits a tiger suplex. Taven accidentally levels Todd Sinclair with a spin kick. Martini starts throwing weapons at Thomas to use, but he refuses. Taven steals a weapon and attempts using it. Martini hits Thomas with the Book of Truth. Taven covers for the victory at 8:32. Martini single-handedly caused the end result of an entire tournament. That’s probably when you know that interference has become overkill. I guess this match has historical value for the start of the new House of Truth. **¼
Match #13: Roderick Strong, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’Reilly vs. Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards, and Michael Elgin (Ring of Honor Wrestling – 2/23/13)
Everyone begins brawling at the opening bell. After a commercial, Elgin is brutalizing people with corner charges. He hits a powerslam and a delayed vertical suplex on Fish. reDRagon use some double teaming to isolate Richards. He causes some miscommunication and makes the tag. Edwards connects with a double missile dropkick on reDRagon. He repeatedly chops Fish in the corner and connects with a shining wizard. Fish answers with a sit-out slam and tags out. Strong and Edwards trade chops and the match starts to break down. The American Wolves land stereo dives to the floor onto reDRagon. Elgin isolates Strong in the ring and hits an STO. He hits a swinging side slam but O’Reilly saves Strong from a bucklebomb. Elgin german suplexes Fish with O’Reilly on his back. So, that’s really impressive. Jesus. Edwards connects with a flying double stomp on Strong and Richards adds a double stomp of his own. Elgin hits a huge uranagi on Strong for a nearfall. reDRagon take out Elgin with a high-low. Strong hits a torture rack backbreaker on Richards and connects with the Sick Kick on Elgin for a nearfall. Strong follows with his orange crush backbreaker on Elgin for the win at 14:51. This match was as good as you’d expect and I actually think that the shorter duration worked towards their advantage. There were natural pairs of opponents between the teams and all of the interactions were entertaining to watch. The final sequence between Elgin and Strong in particular was fantastic. On a house show, a match like this might make the card inconsistent with so much talent in one match. However, as a television main event, this worked extremely well. ***½
Match #14: ROH World Tag Team Titles: Jay and Mark Briscoe © vs. Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas (Ring of Honor Wrestling – 3/2/13)
If Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team lose, they must disband as a team. Mark connects with a missile dropkick on Haas. WGTT attempt to regroup at ringside but Mark dives onto them. The Briscoes send them into the barricade. Mark tries to use a chair but Todd Sinclair takes it away from him. This allows Haas to hit a german suplex. WGTT work over Mark until he avoids a spear from Haas and makes the tag. Jay connects with a series of punches on Haas and connects with a dropkick. He follows with a death valley driver. Haas accidentally knocks Shelton off the apron. The Briscoes hit the doomsday device on Haas but Shelton pulls Sinclair out of the ring. Mark takes out Shelton with a dive. In the ring, Haas hits a spinebuster on Jay. Mark and Shelton exchange strikes. Shelton leaps to the top rope and hits a superplex on Mark. Mark answers with a flipping death valley driver. Haas prevents the froggy elbow. Mark springboards into a superkick from Shelton. WGTT hit a double team powerbomb on Mark but Jay pulls Sinclair out of the ring this time. Shelton hits Paydirt on Jay. Haas hits an olympic slam on Shelton out of nowhere. Mark hits the froggy elbow on Shelton and the Briscoes retain their titles at 11:09. Why in the world would Haas wait eleven minutes to turn on his partner? If you can look past that issue, these two teams worked well together and once again, I think the shorter duration was better for them considering prior matches that went long. WGTT have been gone from Ring of Honor for about six months and I haven’t heard anyone even bring them up during that time. **½
Match #15: Adam Cole vs. Matt Hardy (Ring of Honor Wrestling – 3/23/13)
They exchange punches at the opening bell. Cole lands a crossbody and reigns down punches. He superkicks Hardy to the floor and follows out with a dive. Cole hits a suplex onto the floor and locks in a figure four around the ringpost. Hardy desperately shoves him head-first into the barricade. Ouch. In the ring, Hardy hits the Side Effect from the middle rope. After a commercial, Hardy is still in control. Cole fights back with an enzuigiri and connects with a shining wizard. He follows with a missile dropkick from the middle rope. Cole hits a fireman’s carry neckbreaker but misses a flying crossbody. Hardy applies a figure four but Cole is able to turn it over. Cole locks in a figure four of his own. Hardy reaches the bottom rope. The action goes to the floor where Cole hits the Florida Key. Rhino runs through the crowd and Gores Cole. Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander come out to make the save. Chaos ensues. The match is called off somewhere around 13:00. This felt like the classic “we’re not giving the fans a clean finish but hopefully a huge brawl sends them home happy” mentality. That’s a shame, as Cole and Hardy were having a pretty solid match until the non-finish. **¼
Match #16: ROH World Tag Team Titles: Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly © vs. Rocky Romero and Alex Koslov (Ring of Honor Wrestling – 4/6/13)
Koslov connects with a basement dropkick on O’Reilly. Romero snaps off a hurricanrana on Fish. The Forever Hooligans tease a breakup but hug instead. O’Reilly hits a dragon screw leg whip in the ropes on Romero. He connects with a missile dropkick from the apron on Koslov. reDRagon isolate Koslov in the ring until he catches O’Reilly with a nice leaping DDT and makes the tag. Romero cleans house with a series of clotheslines. He lands a dive to the floor onto reDRagon. Back in, Koslov puts on his hat and lays in a series of kicks on Fish. The Forever Hooligans hit a doomsday knee strike on Fish for a nearfall. Fish creates some space with a knockout kick on Romero and all four men are down. O’Reilly hits a shoulder-capture suplex on Romero. reDRagon follow with a high-low on Romero for a two count. Finally, reDRagon hit Chasing the Dragon on Romero to retain their titles at 12:43. This was a nice sampling of what these two teams could do together. One thing I’ve noticed about the Forever Hooligans’ matches in ROH is that they tend to adhere to the same structure and a lot of the spots are repeated. So, for instance, the spot where they tease a breakup and then hug is a lot more effective the first time you watch it. After having reviewed most of their matches in ROH lately, the action in this one didn’t feel fresh to me, but obviously that will vary from person to person. ***¼
Match #17: Karl Anderson vs. Michael Elgin (Ring of Honor Wrestling – 5/4/13)
Elgin hits a back suplex after a shoulder block battle. He follows with an impressive delayed vertical suplex. Anderson fights off a running powerslam and connects with a basement dropkick. He starts targeting Elgin’s left leg, even using the barricade to attack the body part. In the ring, Anderson takes over until Elgin comes back with a dead-lift german suplex into the turnbuckles. Both men are down. They have a strike exchange and Elgin hits a belly to belly suplex. He adds a swinging side slam and another dead-lift german suplex. Elgin tries to superplex Anderson from the apron into the ring but can’t quite lift him the whole way. Anderson connects with an enzuigiri and comes off the top rope with a neckbreaker. Elgin answers with an air raid crash and lands a top-rope senton for a nearfall. Anderson falls victim to a bucklebomb but responds with a tombstone. Elgin blocks an ace crusher and sneaks in a small package for a nearfall. Anderson is able to hit an ace crusher on the second attempt for the win at 14:52 (shown). It’s interesting to see how Elgin’s opponents go about trying to defeat him. Here, it seemed as though Anderson was just trying to wear Elgin down by forcing Elgin to lift him around the ring. That’s certainly a strategy that we don’t get to see many of Elgin’s opponents utilize. They would go on to top this match at Manhattan Mayhem V as part of the ROH World Title Tournament. ***¼
Match #18: Davey Richards vs. Kyle O’Reilly (Ring of Honor Wrestling – 5/4/13)
Richards punts O’Reilly from the apron before the opening bell. He connects with a yakuza kick at ringside. Bobby Fish is of course angered by the situation on commentary. Richards begins targeting the left shoulder in the ring. O’Reilly finds an opening to connect with a roaring elbow and hit a saito suplex. O’Reilly takes control until Richards comes back with a tombstone. O’Reilly counters a diving headbutt into a triangle choke. Richards is able to reach the bottom rope. They trade strikes and O’Reilly gets sent to the floor. Richards follows out with a dive. Back in, Richards connects with a missile dropkick and lays in repeated kicks in the corner. He hits a german suplex for a nearfall. O’Reilly blocks the Alarm Clock and hits a regalplex for a two count. After a commercial, Richards synchs in a cross armbreaker. O’Reilly reverses into an ankle lock but Richards counters into a small package for a nearfall. They exchange strikes and O’Reilly hits a tornado DDT. Richards hits a falcon arrow and transitions into another cross armbreaker. O’Reilly blocks a missile dropkick but falls victim to a sunset bomb. Richards punts him across the chest and connects with a flying double stomp. O’Reilly applies an ankle lock and transitions into a sharpshooter. Richards reaches the bottom rope and rolls to the apron. O’Reilly gives chase. Richards hits a divorce court onto the apron. O’Reilly blocks a charge and hits A BRAINBUSTER TO THE FLOOR!! O’Reilly covers back in the ring for a nearfall. Richards applies a cross armbreaker in the ropes and double stomps O’Reilly through a ringside table. Both men somehow make it back into the ring. Richards connects with a knockout kick and reapplies the cross armbreaker for the victory at 16:25 (shown). It’s interesting how O’Reilly has been able to break away from Richards and develop his own style over the years. They showed their familiarity with each other and the finishing stretch of this match was insane, with the crowd solidly behind them. It’s also appreciated that they never forgot about the body part work that they established early on. Although the commercial break came at an awkward time, there really wasn’t a right place to break up this contest. I could be largely overrating this match, but the action seemed like it mattered and they couldn’t have had the crowd in the palm of their hands more. ****
Match #19: Roderick Strong vs. Taiji Ishimori (Ring of Honor Wrestling – 5/25/13)
They trade control of a wristlock. Ishimori snaps off an armdrag and connects with a dropkick. He teases a dive to the floor. Strong avoids a baseball slide and hits a back suplex onto the apron. After a commercial break, Strong hits a backbreaker in the ring. He takes over until Ishimori counters a powerbomb attempt into a spike DDT. Both men are down. Ishimori lands a dive to the floor and adds a huge double stomp in the ring. He comes off the top with double knees for a nearfall. Strong responds with some sick pumphandle backbreaker. He charges with a knee strike and hits an olympic slam for a nearfall. Ishimori handsprings into another backbreaker and Strong locks in the Stronghold. Ishimori reaches the bottom rope. He fights back with a death valley driver variant. They fight over a tombstone and Ishimori hits a lungblower out of the position. He connects with a shining wizard for a nearfall. Strong avoids a 450 splash and hits a gutbuster. Ishimori hurricanranas out of a Gibson Driver as the crowd comes alive. They trade forearms. Ishimori escapes the orange crush backbreaker and just kicks Strong in the face. They battle on the top rope. Ishimori lands a 450 splash for the win at 14:52. Strong tends to work extremely well with smaller opponents that he can trade strikes with and throw around the ring. Ishimori fit the bill perfectly and you couldn’t have asked for a better exhibition on television. ***½
Match #20: Jay and Mark Briscoe vs. Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards (Ring of Honor Wrestling – 6/8/13)
Edwards and Mark trade control on the mat. They have a pretty intense strike exchange with Edwards not being phased by the karate offense. Jay blocks a dive from Richards and the Briscoes take him down with stereo shoulder tackles. Edwards slams Mark onto the floor. Back in, Jay hits a hangman’s neckbreaker on Edwards. Richards punts Jay from the apron as Edwards lands a dive to the floor onto Mark. In the ring, Edwards hits a gourdbuster on Jay into a missile dropkick from Richards. The American Wolves isolate him until he hits a spinebuster on Edwards and makes the tag. Mark cleans house with more of his karate offense. He catapults Richards into a superkick from Jay and the Briscoes follow with a double team neckbreaker. Edwards saves his partner from the doomsday device. Richards connects with a knockout kick on Jay and hits a german suplex. He applies a cross armbreaker but Mark breaks it up with the froggy elbow. Edwards sends Mark into the Alarm Clock and superkicks Jay. The Wolves both connect with double stomps on Mark. Mark recovers with a dragon suplex on Richards. Mark accidentally hits Jay. Richards hits a tombstone on Mark for the victory at 11:41 (shown). This was a big win for the Wolves to establish their reformation. I was never crazy about their previous matches and this was more of the same. The finish, with Mark striking his brother, felt forced and I don’t remember anything interesting coming out of it. This was a solid enough match and I think mileage will vary, so it’s quite possible that you enjoy this more than I did. ***
Match #21: ROH World Tag Team Titles: Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly © vs. Rocky Romero and Alex Koslov (Ring of Honor Wrestling – 8/3/13)
Romero controls Fish on the mat until he scrambles to the ropes. Romero connects with a side dropkick and Koslov adds a slingshot splash. Koslov connects with a dropkick on O’Reilly. Fish stops him from diving initially but he ends up diving onto O’Reilly anyway. Romero lures Fish to the floor as well and lands a dive of his own. After a commercial, the Forever Hooligans do their teased breakup spot. It continues to get a great reaction. Fish rams Koslov into the barricade and O’Reilly catches him with a missile dropkick from the apron. In the ring, reDRagon hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker-flying knee strike combination on Romero. The champions isolate him until he fights off Fish with kicks and makes the tag. Koslov snaps off a satellite headscissors on Fish and connects with a springboard dropkick on O’Reilly. Koslov puts on his hat and repeatedly kicks Fish. The Forever Hooligans connect with a doomsday knee strike on O’Reilly. Romero tombstones Fish and Koslov adds a shooting star press for a nearfall. Fish recovers with a saito suplex on Koslov and all four men are down. O’Reilly and Romero trade strikes. O’Reilly hits a regalplex for a two count. Fish follows with a german suplex on Romero and reDRagon hit a high-low for a nearfall. Koslov interrupts Chasing the Dragon and Romero backslides O’Reilly for the win. The Forever Hooligans become the new ROH World Tag Team Champions at 13:09. My comments on their previous match still apply, however they were able to establish even more of a rhythm down the stretch and the shock title change stunned the crowd. Perhaps a backslide was not the best finish considering all of the action that came before it, but I think it nicely reflected the surprise factor that was the Forever Hooligans winning the titles. I also like that this match was included on the compilation, as many fans want to own title changes on DVD. ***½
Overall: This compilation is a nice snapshot of the past two years of Ring of Honor. Despite most of these matches being shortened to fit the constraints of television, there were numerous times where I felt the shorter duration helped the matches. The bigger weekends for Ring of Honor each year usually consist of an iPPV on one night and television tapings the next night. Thus, you get a chance with this compilation to see some of the rarer matches from wrestlers like Lance Storm, the Forever Hooligans, Karl Anderson, and Taiji Ishimori. It seemed natural for this compilation to be made and I’m glad that it was. Ring of Honor Wrestling Vol. 1: The Best of Episodes 1-100 has the quality and consistency to earn a solid recommendation.
You can purchase this DVD at Ring of Honor’s store right here.