-Every year, RoH does two shows on WrestleMania weekend at whatever city WrestleMania is in. This is the first time the shows were broadcast on iPPV.
-From The Center Stage Theatre (hence the title) in Atlanta, GA
-Hosts are Dave Prazak & Kevin Kelly
-Match 1: Michael Elgin VS El Generico
-Elgin looks like Tazz and Santino Marella mated. Generico avoids an avalanche, and hits a crossbody from the top for two. Elgin counters a swinging DDT into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker in an impressive spot. Crowd is really hot for Generico. Generico gets a schoolboy for two. Ring is mic'd so you can hear everything. I like it when that's the case. It makes everything seem more impactful. Elgin stops a sunset flip, but misses on the sitdown splash.
Generico comes off the top with a hurricarana, and follows up with a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Elgin fights off a half-nelson suplex, but charges into an exploder suplex, which sends Elgin upside-down into the turnbuckles. Generico gets two off that. Elgin hits a big lariat for two. Elgin hits a sweet black hole slam for two. They go outside as Elgin catches Generico diving off the apron, but Generico shoves Elgin into the barricade.
Generico dives between the bottom two ropes, and hits a swinging DDT on the floor to a MASSIVE reaction. Generico looks ready to finish, but a mystery man dressed in all black with a black mask grabs Generico's boot, allowing Elgin to hit a spinning sitout powerbomb for the win. Really strong opener.
-A replay of Eddie Edwards winning the RoH World title airs.
-Match 2 Four Corner Survival: Caleb Konley (w/Truth Martini) VS Tomasso Ciampa (w/The Embassy) VS Homicide VS Colt Cabana
-Crowd chants "Let's Go Spanky!" at Konley, as he does look a lot like Brian Kendrick. Cabana gets a folding press on Konley for two. Colt his a flying ass for two. Homicide goes after Nana, but gets laid out by Princess Mia. Embassy stomp Homicide, and roll him inside for a two count for Ciampa. Konley hits a decapitator on Homicide for two. Cabana lays out the heels with elbows, then some members of the Embassy before stealing a kiss from Mia and hitting a quebrada on Konley for two.
Ciampa hits the Project Ciampa on Konley, but Homicide had tagged himself in, and he steals the cover for two. Homicide hits three tope con hilos, the last laying out all three opponents. Back in, Homicide finishes Konley with the Cop Killer. Fun four corners match. Needed more Ciampa though.
-Truth Martini gives Konley the thumbs up, but it's APRIL FOOLS, and Elgin lays Konley out with a powerbomb.
-Kevin & Dave talk about SHIMMER being the sister promotion of RoH to set up the next match.
-Match 3: Sara Del Ray & Serena Deeb VS Hiroyo Matsumoto & Ayumi Murihara
-Deeb & Hiroyo trade arm drags. Del Ray gets double teamed, and Ayumi hits double knees to SDR's chest twice. Deeb gets tagged in and immediately is locked into a nice submission I haven't seen before, forcing SDR to make the save. Deeb misses a spear and falls out to the floor. Ayumi follows up with a dive, wiping out both Deeb and SDR. Ayumi locks Deeb in a ropes-assisted armbar, but SDR breaks it up with a low dropkick.
SDR hits a wheelbarrow slam on Murihara for two. Deeb hits a legdrop for two. Ayumi gets a rollup for two. Hiroyo gets the hot tag and takes it to both opponents. Hiroyo hits SDR with a gutbuster for two. Deeb takes a urinage from Ayumi, and a backdrop driver from Hiroyo for the pin. Suspense was ruined by the announcement that the Japanese team would be getting a SHIMMER tag team title shot at Chapter 2. Match wasn't bad, definitely a step up from anything you'll see out of the WWE Divas division.
-A replay of the post-match fight between the All Night Express and the Briscoes from Manhattan Mayhem IV airs.
-Match 4: Adam Cole & Kyle O'Reilly VS The Briscoes
-Jay gets caught with a cross-armbeaker by O'Reilly, so Jay kicks him in the head after the hold is broken. Futureshock hit Mark with a flapjack/bulldog combo for two. Jay floors O'Reilly, and hits a legdrop for two. Briscoes chop the shit out of O'Reilly, and hit a huge double-beal toss for two. Cole hits Jay with an enziguiri, and a suicide dive. Jay responds with a nasty spinebuster to turn the tide. Briscoes hit Cole with a double shoulderblock for two.
Cole takes a pounding, but does manage to make a tag. O'Reilly takes Mark down with a series of strikes, followed by a legsweep. O'Reilly takes both Briscoes down with a double dragon screw legwhip, and follows up with a double missile dropkick for two on Mark. O'Reilly hits a couple rolling butterfly suplexes. Cole tags himself in, and hits a double-arm DDT while O'Reilly holds Mark, then Cole adds a German suplex with a bridge for two.
The match spills to the floor, and O'Reilly hits a missile dropkick off the apron onto Jay. Back in, Futureshock hit Mark with a roundhouse kick sandwich for two. Jay spikes Cole with a Falcon Arrow for two. O'Reilly tries to hit Mark, but walks into a SICK superkick from Jay. Briscoes finish Cole with the springboard Doomsday Device. Excellent tag match that really cemented Cole & O'Reilly as players in the tag division.
-The All Night Express come in through the front door and charge into the ring to fight with the Briscoes. Officials come out to separate the two teams. ANX look to set up a spike piledriver on Mark onto the floor, but Jay tosses a security guard over the top rope to break it up. Great segment to set up the match at Chapter 2, and the continuing feud between the two teams.
-Match 5: Roderick Strong (w/Truth Martini) VS Davey Richards
-They trade takedowns to start. Richards hits a snap suplex for one. Richards locks in a version of the Tequila Sunrise, and he turns that into a pinning combination for two. Davey goes up top, but Martini causes a distraction, allowing Strong to hit an enziguiri and knock Richards to the outside. Strong knocks Richards around, and locks in a sitting abdominal stretch. Richards' mouth gets busted open.
They go outside, and Strong tosses Richards onto the barricade. Strong hits a slam onto the corner of the ring apron. Back in, they slug it out. Strong hits a backbreaker for two. Strong follows up with a belly-to-back suplex for two. Richards hits a running kick off the apron, then follows up with a suicide dive. Back in, they slug it out again, and Richards hits a handspring enziguiri for two.
Richards hits a German suplex with a bridge for two. Strong counters an anklelock with the Labelle Lock. Strong hits a slam for two. Strong hits a turnbuckle backbreaker for two. Strong locks in the Stronghold, but Richards makes it to the ropes. Strong hits several chops, and Richards comes back with kicks. Richards tries going up top, but gets caught with a side slam onto the ring apron.
Richards no-sells some strikes, and comes back with slaps before taking a Sick Kick for two. Death from Above gets two. Strong spits in Richards' face after a buzzsaw kick, and ends up taking a superkick and another buzzsaw kick for two. Martini provides a distraction, allowing Strong to hit the Falcon Arrow backbreaker for two. Strong hits the Gibson Driver for two, then turns it into the Stronghold.
Richards lays out Martini, and catches Strong's Sick Kick with an anklelock. Richards hits a superplex and a Falcon Arrow before applying a heel hook for the submission. Good, hard fought match, but Richards needs to figure out how to make his offense work into the finish.
-Match 6 for the Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championship: The Kings of Wrestling [c] (w/Shane Hagadorn & Sara Del Rey) VS Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team
-Shelton controls both Kings to start, before tagging in Haas. Haas hits hero with an overhead throw for two. Haas no-sells some chops, so Hero goes to the eyes. WGTT go to work on Claudio's leg. WGTT get stereo two counts off German suplexes. Del Ray causes a distraction, allowing Hero to hit Shelton with a bicycle kick for two. Shelton becomes the face-in-peril. Shelton counters one Claudio chokeslam into a rollup, but a second attempt hits for two.
CC hits a gorilla press into a hot shot for two. Haas gets the hot tag and cleans house, getting two off an exploder suplex on Hero. Hero walks into a superkick from Shelton, and they hit both KoW with a double team. Haas gets two on Hero off that. Hero hits a roaring elbow on Haas, and a double bicycle kick gets two for CC. Giant swing into a low dropkick gets two on Haas.
Shelton hits Paydirt on Hero out of nowhere. CC hits the pop-up European uppercut on Haas for two. Haas fights off the Riccola bomb on locks in the Haas of Pain on CC. Hero gets the loaded elbow pad, but Shelton tosses Hero off the top, and Claudio taps to hend the Kings' near one year long title reign. Match was pretty slow for the longest time. Quite a step down from their first match.
-Match 7 for the Ring of Honor World Championship: Eddie Edwards [c] VS Ring of Honor Television Champion Christopher Daniels
-This is Edwards' first title defense, and he has never beaten Daniels, who was the man who beat Edwards for the TV title.
Neither man gets much of an advantage for the first couple minutes. They both a hurricarana spot, as Daniels lands right on top of Edwards after taking the move. Daniels counters another hurricarana attempt with the Achilles' lock. They go outside, and Daniels gets hip-tossed into the barricade. Kelly and Prazak talk about a world title only changing hands once in Atlanta, with Dusty Rhodes winning the NWA title in 1981, but they forget about Goldberg beating Hogan in the Georgia Dome.
Edwards ties Daniels to the tree of woe, and jumps off the floor onto the ring apron to deliver a dropkick. Edwards hits an overhead throw for two. Edwards runs into a Blue Thunder bomb. Edwards tries to hit a backpack stunner off the apron, but Daniels counters, and drives Edwards through a table with a urinage. Daniels breaks the referee's count, and slams Edwards onto a seated chair.
Daniels focuses on Edwards' back with slams and a hard whip into the buckles. Daniels hits a suplex for two. Daniels keeps right on Edwards' back. They go through a rollup series, but neither gets the pin. Edwards sends Daniels outside, and follows with a suicide dive. Edwards hits a crossbody for two. Edwards chops the shit out of Daniels in the corner, and follows up with a Tiger suplex for two.
Edwards hits an enziguiri and a throw for two. Daniels avoids a top rope double stomp, and locks in a standing Koji Clutch. Daniels hits a side slam from the second rope for two. Edwards locks in the Achillies' lock. Edwards hits the 2k1 bomb for two. Prazak and Kelly correct their mistake, apparently being reminded of Goldberg/Hogan via twitter. Edwards avoids the Angel's Wings off the top, and hits a double stomp to the back of Daniels.
Daniels blocks a powerbomb, and hits the Angel's Wings for two. Daniels hits the BME for two. Edwards gets his feet up on a second BME, and locks in the Achillies' lock. Edwards hits the 2k1 bomb off the top, and follows up with a regular one for the pin. Match was good, but the crowd was oddly quiet for the most part, except for the Daniels' near-falls towards the end.
-Daniels does not shake Edwards' hand, drawing boos. Edwards sucks up to Atlanta to close the show.
-FINAL THOUGHTS: A good, but not a blowaway show. The tag title match was pretty disappointing. I liked Cole & O'Reilly VS The Briscoes more than anything else on the show, which is saying something, as I used to hate the Briscoes. I don't think anyone thought Edwards would lose the title, which really hurt the reception the main event got.
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