WWE Money in the Bank 2012 7/15/12

-From Phoenix, AZ

-PRE-SHOW:

-Scott Stansford & Matt Stryker run down the card, including announcing that the WWE Championship match is now no-DQ.

-Zack Ryder & Santino have their fun spoiled by Damien Sandow, who reminds Ryder that he has the night off because Sandow beat him in their Money in the Bank qualifying match.

-Pre-Show Match: WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston & R-Truth VS Hunico & Comacho

-Truth consults with Little Jimmy, so Hunico pisses him off by stomping on Truth's imaginary friend. Kofi gets in, and hits a flying clothesline for one. Champions hit a double hiptoss, and Truth follows up with the Crazy People's legdrop for two. Comacho gets in, and hits Truth with a butterfly suplex for one. Hunico gets in and walks into a leg lariat. Kofi takes over on Hunico, and hits the Boom Drop. Hunico avoids Trouble in Paradise, and goes back on offense.

Comacho prevents a Kofi springboard, and Kofi is officially the face-in-peril. Hunico hits a swank school boy into a powerbomb for two. Kofi springs up the turnbuckles and hits a sweet flying headscissors. Tags on both ends, and Trush spikes Comacho with a DDT. Kofi takes Hunico out, then sends Comacho into the Little Jimmy for the win at 8:23. Average undercard tag match.

-Josh Matthews gets some words from Chris Jericho, who has his fans in attendence. Jericho breaks out some of his old catchphrases, and gets pops for them.

-Video package previews Sheamus/ADR.

-Daniel Bryan says AJ is his future wife. Matthews reminds Bryan that AJ slapped him in the face, to which Bryan replies that Matthews must not know much about women. Bryan says he's going to leave with both the WWE Championship, and AJ's heart.

-Video previews the WWE title match.

-MAIN SHOW:

-Match 1 for the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank Contract: Dolph Ziggler (w/Vickie Guerrero) VS United States Champion Santino Marella VS Cody Rhodes VS Damien Sandow VS Tyson Kidd VS Sin Cara VS Tensai (w/Sakamoto) VS Intercontinental Champion Christian

-Ring gets cleared out quickly. Santino tries to jump and grab the case. Tensai catapults Kidd face-first into a ladder. Tensai tries to set Christian up, but gets caught and double-teamed by Christian & Kidd. Christian takes Kidd out and climbs, but is cut off by Santino. Kidd joins the fun, but they all get wiped out by Sandow. Sandow climbs, but is dropkicked off the ladder by Ziggler. Ziggler misses the famouser on Rhodes, but Rhodes then tosses Cara into a dropkick on Ziggler. Cara takes Rhodes out, then badly blows a Flux Capacitor on Ziggler.

Cara puts Kidd on a ladder, but gets shoved down by Christian, who then misses a frogsplash on Kidd, hitting the ladder. Rhodes hits the disaster kick on Sandow, but is then sent out of the ring by Kidd. Kidd gets cut off by Tensai, who also catches Santino and tosses him. Tensai catches Kidd climbing again and tries to powerbomb him, but Kidd counters into a hurricarana over the top and out. Sandow gets stopped by Cara. Sandow takes Cara out and almost has it, but is stopped by Christian. They go at it for a while, and Christian counters a running powerslam into a ladder and hits an inverted DDT.

Sandow avoids one spear, but not the second, and is sent right into a ladder. Christian is cut off by Ziggler & Rhodes, who then fight it out before getting taken out by Tensai. Tensai climbs, but has to stop Kidd, who springboards onto the ladder and almost gets the case first. Tensai fights off Santino, but takes ladder shots from Christian, then Christian & Santino. Santino & Dolph square off. Santino hits the saluting headbutt and THE COBRA on Dolph.

Santino climbs, but does so very slowly, since he's afraid of heights. Santino cobras Sandow, but then takes a springboard dropkick from Rhodes to knock him over. Cody climbs, but is distracted by Vickie, and Dolph sneaks in with a Zig Zag off the ladder. Ziggler fights with Christian while Sandow sets up a ladder and Kidd waits for his opportunity. Kidd leans one ladder into the one Ziggler & Christian are climbing, then goes for a sunset bomb on Ziggler, taking Ziggler's taint in his face for his troubles.

Tensai bridges the ring and the announce table with a ladder, and powerbombs Cara on it, then throws Ziggler, who almost breaks his neck on Booker T's chair. Rhodes uses two disaster kicks to drop Tensai. Cody tosses Kidd off a ladder, but then takes a spear from Christian off the same ladder. Ziggler slowly emerges from behind the announce table as Santino and Christian climb. Christian takes care of Santino, but is then dumped by Ziggler, who grabs the briefcase at 18:29. Pretty much what you should expect from one of these matches; total car wreck spots and guys disappearing until their segment comes up. Ziggler almost killing himself off the Tensai throw was something else though. The right guy won here. Now he needs a successful cash-in and a good length title reign to get to the next level, where he should be.

-The Miz makes his return after filming THE MARINE 3, with a grown-up haircut and modest facial hair. Miz enters himself into the WWE Championship Money in the Bank match.

-RAW MOMENT: Tony Schiavone announces Mick Foley winning the title on Nitro, and 600,000 viewers immediately changed from Nitro to Raw.

-Match 2 for the World Heavyweight Championship: Sheamus [c] VS Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez)

-Back-and-forth start, with ADR trying to work the arm he injured on Smackdown. Sheamus hits a kneedrop for two. Sheamus hits a flying shoulderblock off the top for two. Ricardo provides a distraction, allowing ADR to dropkick Sheamus off the apron. ADR goes back to work on the arm. Sheamus hits a couple headbutts, but whiffs on an Irish hammer, and ADR gets an armbar takedown to retake control. ADR hits a couple buzzsaw kicks for two.

ADR runs into a boot, and Sheamus follows up with a swinging neckbreaker. Sheamus hits a couple Irish hammers, but runs into a knee to the shoulder to put ADR back on offense. ADR sets up for the cross-armbreaker, but Sheamus fights out. Sheamus immediately crashes shoulder-first into the ringpost. ADR uses a headbutt to win a slugfest. Sheamus again fights off the cross-armbreaker, but slingshots right into a double-knee code breaker on the arm for two.

ADR talks shit, and Sheamus fires up, hitting a big powerslam for two. ADR tries, but can't fight off the Irish Hand Granade. ADR runs right into the Irish Curse for two. ADR avoids the Brogues Kick, and hits a lung blower for two. ADR whiffs on the step-up enziguiri, and Sheamus immediately hits White Noise, followed by the Brogue Kick to retain at 14:24. This was the first time in a long time that I can remember someone calling for their finisher, and actually hitting it for the win. This was really good, and I wouldn't mind seeing a rematch, as these two look to have good chemistry.

-Ricardo helps ADR attack Sheamus for the post-match revenge attack. Ziggler runs out to cash in his briefcase, having to stop to clock ADR with the case, then walking right into a Brogue Kick before the bell can be rung to start the match, so no cash-in.

-Match 3: The Prime Time Players (w/ A.W.) VS Primo & Epico (w/Rosa)

-Kofi & Truth join the announce table. P & E hit a low dropkick/missile dropkick combo on Titus for two. P & E then double team Young before taking O'Neil out too. Epico hits a dive on both Players. Epico plays face-in-peril. Young holds Epico on the ring apron while A.W. combs Young's afro. Titus hits a backbreaker followed by a fall-away slam for two. Primo breaks up the cover, prompting A.W. to yell out "hey, this ain't Taco Bell!". Titus & Rosa have a dance-off, which Titus loses, allowing Epico to make the tag.

Primo gets in and fires up on Young, hitting a springboard twisting splash for two. Primo springboards right into a gutbuster, but catches Young with a rollup for the pin at 7:30. Match was fine, but had no heat.

-The Players confront Kofi & Truth, and Truth ends up throwing a drink in A.W.'s face. A.W. has to be held back, and R-Truth has to hold Little Jimmy back.

-AJ isn't sure what she's going to do tonight.

-Match 4 for the WWE Championship: CM Punk [c] VS Daniel Bryan [No DQ, Special Guest Referee AJ]

-Punk goes right after Bryan, who manages to turn the tide by whipping Punk into the barricade. Bryan hits the YES kicks, but Punk gets a quick schoolboy for two. Bryan rips at Punk's face, then they exchange chops before Punk hits a European uppercut. Bryan avoids a legdrop and hits more YES kicks. Punk comes back with a dropkick followed by a suicide dive. They fight on the entranceway, then when they get back in the ring, Bryan shoves Punk right into AJ, knocking her off the apron.

Bryan whips Punk into the steps as AJ is lead to the back. Bryan hits more kicks, then a flying knee off the apron. Bryan sends Punk into the barricade again, but Punk then backdrops Bryan into the time keeper's area. Punk hits a flying clothesline off the barricade. Crowd stops with dueling chants to call for tables. Punk tries to ablige, but Bryan attacks him before he can. Bryan grabs a kendo stick, but can't get a good shot in until he counters a Punk springboard flying clothesline with a shot to the stomach for two.

Bryan wears Punk out with the kendo stick, and gets two. Bryan pounds away in the corner, then hits a snap suplex, but then misses a diving headbutt. Punk wins a strike exchange, and hits a swinging neckbreaker for two. Punk hits a high knee, avoids a clothesline, and hits a snap powerslam for two. They avoid each other's finishers, and Bryan's counter of the GTS is a hurricarana rollup for two. Bryan locks on a surfboard, but Punk gets a hold of the kendo stick, and wears Bryan out for two.

Punk goes up top, but gets caught with a superplex. AJ returns to ref the rest of the match. She skips around the ring, then lays a chair in between them, ignoring Bryan's pleas that she hand it to him. Bryan gets the chair anyway, and drills Punk 4 or 5 times, getting two off that. Bryan talks with AJ, and Punk takes the opportunity to get a schoolboy for two.

Bryan gets more YES kicks in, but then runs into a clothesline. Punk sets the chair up in a corner, but AJ steps in front of it to prevent Punk from whipping Bryan into it. Bryan takes advantage by hitting a running dropkick. Bryan tries to grab the kendo stick, but AJ steps on it. Bryan walks into a roundhouse kick, then Punk adds a chair slam. Punk misses the Savage elbow, hitting the chair. Bryan gets a kendo stick-assisted YES lock, but Punk escapes, hits a catapult, followed by the GTS for two.

Punk sets up the table, lays Bryan on top of it, but Bryan crotches Punk on the top turnbuckle. Bryan looks to hurricarana Punk into the table, but Punk crotches him to counter. Punk hits a series of elbows, then a belly-to-back suplex through the table to retain at 27:46. Man, this was a WAR and well worth going out of your way to see. Glad to see the AJ angle didn't completely overwhelm the match.

-As Punk celebrates, King points out that AJ doesn't look too happy that she wasn't more involved in the decision.

-Match 5: Ryback VS Curt Hawkins & Tyler Reks

-Hawkins and Reks have to tag. Ryback throws Hawkins and follows up with a push kick. Reks gets in, and takes Ryback down with a clothesline. Hawkins & Reks (mostly Reks) work Ryback over as the crowd silently waits for Ryback's big comeback. He does in short order, and the crowd responds with a "Goldberg" chant. Ryback finally finishes with Shell Shock (fisherman drop) at 4:19.

-RAW MOMENT: Chris Jericho debuts by interrupting The Rock.

-Match 6: Divas Champion Layla, Kaitlyn, & Tamina Snuka VS Beth Phoenix, Natalya, & Eve Torres

-Natalya and Tamina do a short sequence, the Kaitlyn takes on all three heels. Beth & Layla get in, then the match completely breaks down. Tamina hits Beth with a superkick, and Layla finishes her with the Layout at 3:23. NEXT!

-Match 7 for the WWE Championship Money in the Bank: Kane VS Chris Jericho VS The Miz VS Big Show VS John Cena

-FUN FACT: The WWE title has yet to main event a PPV this year. The World Heavyweight title hasn't even come close. Only the Royal Rumble & John Cena's matches have gone on last so far this year. Everyone save Cena & Show go outside right off the bat, then Cena knocks Show outside, before Show takes Cena out and whips him into the steps. Cena stops Miz, then both are taken out by a spear from Show. Show blocks a Kane DDT, then chops a flying Miz and floors a charging Jericho.

Show then takes a Code Breaker, DDT from Miz, and a big boot to the outside from Kane. Cena then puts Show through the Spanish announce table with the AA. Everyone else then buries Show under a pile of ladders. Jericho gets Miz in the Walls of Jericho, then takes out an intruding Kane. Jericho stops Miz from stealing the win, takes him out, then climbs himself before getting cut off by Cena.

Miz stops Cena, and hits him with a DDT. Kane takes Miz out and climbs, but is cut off by Jericho. Kane tries a double chokeslam on Jericho & Miz, but ends up taking a double suplex onto a ladder. Cena cleans house, then hits Jericho & Miz with a double Five Knuckle Shuffle, then an AA on Kane.

Jericho ends up by himself and almost wins it, but Show finally gets up and stops Jericho. Show ends up breaking a ladder in half while using it to batter Jericho. Show takes care of Miz, then works Cena over. Show sandwiches Cena between the ropes and a step ladder, then hits a running butt bump on the ladder. Show then goes under the ring and grabs the special ladder he had for a MitB match a couple years ago. The announcers of course act like they've never seen it before.

Show takes a while to set it up, then climbs. Kane cuts Show off, but then gets tossed off the ladder. Cena gets in there, and the same thing happens to him. Jericho finally uses a chair to get Show away from the briefcase. Cena & Jericho fight over the case. Cena almost gets the AA off the ladder, but Jericho counters into a sleeper. Cena climbs back up to the top of the ladder while still in the hold. Jericho almost puts Cena to sleep, but has to release the hold to take care of Miz.

Cena finally goes out from the sleeper. Jericho is all by himself. Miz quickly climbs the ladder and both men almost get the briefcase. Show ends that fight by knocking both out. Cena gets to the stop, and uses the briefcase to block the WMD and starts hitting Show with it, accidentally taking the briefcase off the hook early to win at 20:01. This was the lesser of the two MitB matches by far, as this one didn't have anyone willing to take the suicidal bumps, and instead tried to use the marquee value of the people in the match to carry it.

-Cena makes goofy faces while triumphantly holding the briefcase. Replay shows the hook actually broke off while Cena was hitting Show with the briefcase.

-FINAL THOUGHTS: This was a pretty good show, but not blow-away awesome like last year's. The main event MitB wasn't that great, and the bathroom break matches after Punk/Bryan stopped the momentum of the show cold. The Smackdown MitB and the two title matches delivered, but there was a lot of filler on this show.

RoH Best in the World 2012: Hostage Crisis 6/24/12

-From NYC

-Hosts are Kevin & Nigel

-Nigel immediately screws up by talking about how it's going to be difficult for Davey Richards to regain the RoH World Title because it can't change hands on a DQ, and Kevin has to point out that it's "anything goes" tonight.

-Match 1: The Briscoes VS The Guardians of Truth (w/Truth Martini)

-Nigel, continuing his bad night, tries to be cute and says that "everyone has been banging their heads" trying to figure out the identity of the GoT. The GoT are dressed like quickly-made CAWs from your wrestling video game of choice. Cute bit as Martini unmasks both GoT, only to reveal more masks underneath. GoT work Mark over right off the bat. Mark comes back with Redneck Kung Fu, and whips one of the GoT into a spinebuster from Jay.

The ropes are so loose Kevin has no choice but to point it out, and right after he does, the crowd chants "fix the ropes". Briscoes hit a double shoulderblock, but Martini provides a distraction, allowing the GoT to switch. GoT hit Jay with a sidewalk slam/legdrop combo for two. Jay plays face-in-peril as a couple crowd members chant "Beaver Cleavage", obviously tipped off as to who the GoT are. Mark gets in and cleans house, then hits a frog splash into an elbowdrop.

Briscoes set up for the Doomsday Device, but one of the GoT tries to roll through the electric chair, and Jay counters by sitting down for the pin at 6:00. Short and sweet. Wouldn't be surprised if they were told to go home early before someone got hurt.

-Briscoes go after Martini, but are cut off by the GoT, who escape before they can be unmasked.

-Match 2: Eddie Edwards VS Homicide 

-Edwards has been trying to get back in World Title contention by beating former champions. Kevin & Nigel discuss Eddie having an arm injury coming into this match.

Edwards immediately hits a high angle suplex and follows with a suicide dive. They exchange chops outside, then Eddie hits a missile dropkick for two. Eddie follows with another suplex and a Shining Wizard for two. Another strike and boot exchange leads to Edwards running into an overhead throw. Eddie hits the bad arm on the ringpost, and Homicide adds another shot into the post. Homicide works the arm, including a crossface with a fishhook and bite to the forehead.

Homicide goes for the Three Amigos, but pauses before the thirds, leading to Eddie getting two suplexes of his own before Homicide gets an arm takedown. Eddie comes back with a superplex. Eddie hits a faceplant and a fisherman buster for two. Eddie springs off the second turnbuckle with a modified code breaker (called "The Boston Knee Party" by Kevin, damn that's terrible) and gets a schoolboy for two, transitioning that into a crossface. Homicide comes back with a tornado DDT for two.

Homicide blocks the backpack chinbreaker and hits an Ace Crusher for two. Homicide hits a clothesline to the back of the neck, then walks into a superkick, but a regular lariat knocks Eddie for a flip and gets two. Eddie blocks the Gringo Killer and gets a rollup for two. Homicide kicks the bad arm to escape the achillies' lock, then gets a small package for two. Homicide hits another shot to the bad arm, and finishes with the Gringo Killer at 12:45. A couple of dumb spots (and dumb move names) aside, this was a pretty good match. Good to see Homicide back, if he is indeed back full-time.

-Video runs down all the rules for the next match, which is under "Hybrid Fighting" rules. Most important rules: match can be won by KO, TKO, submission, or DQ. If a wrestler commits a "critical" foul (i.e., anything that would normally get a DQ if detected), he is DQ'd. If he gets three minor fouls (pretty much anything that would draw a warning, plus leaving the ring and/or throwing your opponent out of the ring), he is also DQ'd.

-Match 3: Kyle O'Reilly VS Adam Cole (Hybrid Fighting Rules) 

-O'Reilly gets a couple quick takedowns. They do a series of dodged moves to establish that they know each other well. O'Reilly has a tweaked knee, and Cole goes after it. O'Reilly gets a nice rollup into a cross-armbreaker, but Cole gets to the ropes. O'Reilly goes after the arm to gain control of the match for a while. O'Reilly goes for the knockout, but doesn't get it. Cole comes back with a Shining Wizard and a couple dropkicks. Double-KO spot almost ends it, but both make it to their feet before ten.

They exchange rapid-fire forearms. O'Reilly hits some Kawada kicks and knocks Cole's two front teeth out. Cole comes back with a superkick for another double-KO spot. O'Reilly blocks a superkick and hits a big discus clothesline, but Cole Hulks up. O'Reilly responds with more strikes, a nasty kick to the head, and a backdrop driver. Cole stares down the ringside doctor, then turns a standing guillotine into a headdrop.

Cole knocks O'Reilly out of the ring, then incurs a minor foul by going to get him. Cole takes too much time to make his next move, and that allows O'Reilly to get the cross-armbreaker again. They exchange arm and leg holds, and Cole finally gets the submition with a Figure 4 at 12:38. This was lots of fun, and probably my favorite match for both of these guys. Should be a star-making performance for both, particularly Cole. Kevin & Nigel did their best to ruin it with their Matt Striker-esque over-selling though.

-Cole goes for the handshake, and gets bitch-slapped instead.

-Pre-match video sees Michael Elgin get tired of Roderick Strong's shit, and demand that neither he or Truth Martini be at ringside for his match.

-Match 4: Fit Finlay VS Michael Elgin 

-Slow start, with Finlay dominating the early going. Finlay works some holds as the crowd grows restless. Finlay keeps working on the knee. These guys seem like they're working in slow motion, especially after the frenetic pace of the last match. Elgin finally hits his first big move over nine minutes in: a blind clothesline. Finlay takes a powder, and lures Elgin into a big clothesline of his own.

Finlay works Elgin over on the outside, then has some fun keeping Elgin out of the ring. Finlay works a side headlock. Elgin counters with a belly-to-back suplex. Elgin gets a headscissors as a sizeable "boring" chant breaks out. Elgin counters a knee bar with an enziguiri. Finlay crashes into the ringpost, and Elgin gets his first real sustained offense, with several corner clotheslines followed by a superkick.

They blow a suplex-countered-with-a-DDT spot, and Elgin just covers him for two. Elgin goes up, but Finlay shoves him down to the floor. Back in, Finlay roll gets two. Finlay hits an Air Raid Crash for two. Finlay struggles with, but manages to hit, a tombstone for two. I thought all piledriver-type moves were banned except for special occaisions? Elgin comes right back with a spinning back fist, buckle bomb, and spinning sit-out powerbomb for the pin at 19:15. I got what they were going for and appreciated it, with the veteran Finlay controlling the match before being overtaken by the younger, stronger, and simply too-tough up-and-comer. However, they were fucked by really bad match placement. Should have had something short in between O'Reilly/Cole and this, and/or made this the post-intermition match.

-Martini comes out to celebrate the win, then prevent Elgin from shaking Finlay's hand, but Elgin shoves Martini aside and shakes his hand anyway.

-INTERMISSION

-THIS IS A LIVE PRODIGY SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Bennett says RoH came to him and offered him the opportunity to wrestle whomever he wants, but Bennett declined because it wouldn't be a title match. Bennett & Maria makeout until Mike Mondo runs in to defend NYC. Mondo says he's always wanted to wrestle in NYC, but RoH wouldn't take his calls. Mondo challenges Bennett to a fight, and says after he fights Bennett, he's going to fuck Maria. This kicks off a fight, which leads into...

-Match 5: Mike Bennett (w/Maria & Bob Evans) VS Mike Mondo 

-Mondo dominates until taking a spinebuster into the ring apron. There's some confusion on the part of Kevin Kelly as to whether this is a match or not. Mondo blocks a running powerslam, and after a double clothesline, uses a series of strikes to take Bennett down. Mondo misses a diving headbutt, prompting a couple jackasses to chant "Benoit". Bennett talks shit, but gets small-packaged and pinned at approximately 4:12. Well, it was a face turn and effective elevation for Mondo if nothing else.

-Match 6 for the RoH Television Championship: Roderick Strong [c] (w/Truth Martini) VS Tomasso Ciampa (w/The Embassy) VS Jay Lethal 

-This is under elimination rules. Lethal's haircut makes him look like a homeless man hanging out in front of a detox center. Ciampa goes right after Lethal. All three go outside right away, and Lethal takes control. Back in, Ciampa drops Lethal, Strong drops Ciampa, then Lethal drops Strong. Lethal avoids a clothesline from Ciampa, then hits a suicide dive on Strong. Princess Mia gets a cheapshot on Lethal in, setting up the running exposed knees to the face from Ciampa. Strong interrupts with an enziguiri to Ciampa, then fucks up dropping Ciampa across the top rope.

Strong pounds on Lethal (who now looks like a black Krusty the Klown), and hits a backbreaker for two. Kevin Kelly actually takes time to note that the ref from Elgin/Finlay was fined $250 and yelled at by Jim Cornette for allowing the tombstone piledriver. Nice to see them take the time to provide some kind of explanation for that. WWE might let it slide, unless they're in one of their "continuity matters" moods. Ciampa takes control of the match, mainly working on Lethal before Strong pitches Ciampa out of the ring. Strong hits Lethal with a suplex for two, then works a rear chinlock.

Strong dropkick almost KO's Lethal, and gets two. Lethal makes a Sting comeback, no-selling some chops from Strong before hitting some of his own. Lethal works both opponents over, hitting the Lethal Combination on Strong for two. Lethal gets a Figure 4 on Strong, then a crossface on Ciampa at the same time. Ciampa drops Lethal with a knee to the face, and hits a Savage elbow for two. Strong catches Ciampa with a superplex, then Lethal hits Ciampa with Hail to the King for two.

Lethal avoids a cheapshot from Martini, and lays him out. Ciampa gets Strong in Project Ciampa, but Prince Nana rolls into the ring (ostensibly running from Lethal, who is not chasing him), and "accidentally" clips Ciampa, allowing Strong to fall on top and eliminate Ciampa at 12:49.

Lethal immediately goes for the Lethal Injection on Strong, but Martini saves by clocking Lethal with the Book of Truth, and Strong finishes with what was supposed to be his toss into a backbreaker at 13:08, but he tossed Lethal so high that Lethal ended up hitting Strong's knees with his ass instead. Match was decent aside from a couple botches from Strong. I'm interested in seeing where the whole "Embassy keeps Ciampa from the TV title to appease business partner Truth Martini" angle goes.

-Match 7 for the RoH World Tag Team Championship: Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team [c] VS The All-Night Express 

-ANX is finally getting the title shot they earned six months ago. Titles can change hands on a DQ. Stalling to start. King gets a nice takedown, and Shelton takes a powder. WGTT take control of the match, and take turns working King over. King fights off a powerbomb, and holds Shelton for a running punt to the ribs. ANX hit a double-team series of kicks, and King gets two on Shelton. Haas gets in, and takes a springboard legdrop/big splash combo for two.

King follows up with a leg lariat for two. King gets caught in the WGTT corner, and takes a nasty roundhouse kick from Shelton, and Haas gets two. Shelton gets in, and starts tossing King around. King is officially the face-in-peril, as Haas gets back in. King gets a really fancy rollup for two, but then gets killed with a big clothesline to keep momentum on WGTT's side. Shelton gets back in, and King gets a couple quick near-falls, before Shelton regains control, and hits a version of the Glam Slam, with King hitting Shelton's knees instead of the mat.

King counters a double-team suplex into a double DDT, and makes the hot tag to Titus. Titus cleans house, and hits Shelton with a big boot followed by a big clothesline for two. Shelton goes for the pop-up throw off the top, but Titus counters with an alley-oop into the buckles, then King adds shotgun knees for two. WGTT manage to hit some signature spots on Titus, with a Blinger Splash followed by an Angle Slam for two. King throws a chair to Shelton, who drops it in the ring after arguing with the ref, and that allows Titus to hit a DDT on the chair for two.

King hits a dive on Haas, but Titus, who clearly sees Shelton beforehand, gets cut off by Shelton before he can do one. Shelton whacks Titus with one of the belts while Haas has the ref, and that busts Titus open. Haas goes right after the open wound. Shelton gets in and does the same, and Titus has to ask the ref not to stop the match. Haas gets back in, and gets on the house mic, saying if the ref doesn't call it, then WGTT is going to kill Titus. King cuts off the Leap of Faith, and Titus surprises Haas with a schoolboy to win the titles at 22:51. Probably the best match WGTT has had in a while, but it's still good to see new blood as tag champs after WGTT and The Briscoes traded the belts a couple times.

-Post-match celebration gives me the feel of this being an "underdog surprises the champ(s), but loses the rematch" angle that WWF & WCW used to do every so often in the early-mid 90's. WGTT wipe out the new champs before leaving.

-Steve Corino (having stolen Mike Mondo's half-blond, half-dark hairstyle), wants to stay at ringside and do color commentary, and has some words for Jim Cornette. Cornette says he can stay, but Cornette is going to stay to keep an eye on Corino.

-Match 8 for the RoH World Championship: Kevin Steen [c] (w/Jimmy Jacobs) VS Davey Richards [Anything Goes] 

-Steen has his own takeoff of the Cena "Rise Above Hate" t-shirt, with "Kill Steen Kill" written in the same style. Kyle O'Reilly comes out to call out Richards and dissolve Team Ambition. Richards starts it off by kicking Steen off the apron through a table. Davey goes to work on the outside, stopping to go after Jacobs, but then runs right into the ring apron powerbomb. Steen buries Richards underneath the RoH logo piece that are on the guardrails, and hits a frog splash off the apron. Corino tries to get shooty on commentary, in the most obnoxious way possible.

Steen goes for a swanton, but that hits knees. Steen superkicks Bobby Cruise, just because. Davey hits an exploder on the apron, then gets a table from underneath the ring. Richards puts Steen on the table, then comes off the top with a double stomp. Back in the ring, another double stomp gets two. Davey grabs a bunch of chairs and tries to hit Steen with one, but Steen counters with double knees, and follows with a somersault splash in the corner.

Steen buries Richards underneath the chairs, but Richards pops up and hits a superplex onto the chairs for two. Richards sets up another table and goes for a superplex, but Steen counters with a fisherman buster off the top, through the table for two. Steen puts Richards' mouthpiece in his own mouth. Steen sets up two chairs, but takes a German suplex into them for two. Richards gets a chain, first choking Steen, then wrapping it around his boot and hitting Kawada kicks followed by a buzzsaw kick for two.

Davey then kicks Todd Sinclair for the hell of it. Richards gets a ladder, then his mouthpiece back. Steen hits an F-5 for two, so Steen hits Paul Turner with a package piledriver. Richards hits the DR Driver on the ladder, but there's no ref. Jacobs interferes and goes for the spike, but Cornette disarms Jacobs, only to get kicked in the nuts by Corino.

Corino attacks Cornette as Richards fights off Jacobs and gets the spike, but Steen gets another spike, stabs Richards in the groin, and finishes with the package piledriver at 21:23. This wasn't a match as much as it was an attempt at an ECW tribute. Steve Corino was the worst thing about it with his smark-Michael Cole act.

-Steen gives a long speech about hypocrites, focusing on the fans in NYC who cheered when he lost his career at Final Battle 2010, but love him now no matter what. Steen vows to kill the company and be the last Ring of Honor World Champion. He, of course, gets cheered for that. I really think it's a side-effect of the homogination of wrestling and wrestlers, as for years anyone who stands out gets cheers, reguardless of their face/heel alignment, and these days, the heels get more opportunities to stand out as characters.

-FINAL THOUGHTS: This was a decent show. O'Reilly/Cole was something else and well worth tracking down. All the other matches were decent ---> good, so no complaints on that front.

Ring of Honor Presents: Bloodstained Honor

-DVD is hosted by Dave Prazak & Lenny Leonard

-Cage Match for the RoH World Championship: Samoa Joe [c] VS Jay Briscoe [At Our Best 3/14/04]

-Weird to see Jay with hair. Joe stops Jay from escaping, and applies a wristlock before delivering several headbutts to Jay's hand. Joe lands a chop, but Jay gets a drop toe hold, and tries to escape, but Joe stops him again. Jay hits a big boot, then declines the chance to escape. Joe comes back, and blocks another escape attempt by Jay, then hits a German suplex. Joe rams Jay into the cage, then locks the cage door to prevent Jay from escaping. This also buys time for Jay to blade.

Joe works on the cut, mashing Jay's face against the cage, then throwing him into it. Joe hits the facewash, then dances as the crowd sings "ole" before hitting a second one. Jay manages to avoid being rammed into the cage again, and hits a running big boot. Jay climbs, but gets caught by Joe, who hits a belly-to-back suplex off the top, drawing a "holy shit" chant. Joe gets two off that. Joe pounds away in the corner, but runs into a boot, and Jay hits a belly-to-back suplex.

Jay climbs, and Joe meets him on the top turnbuckle. Jay hits an Ace Crusher off the top, but can't make the cover. Jay wins a slugfest, blocks a full-nelson suplex with a low blow, then hits a big clothesline. Jay climbs again, and Joe meets him again. They exchange chops, but then Jay kicks Joe down, but loses his footing and falls down himself. Joe hits an Ole kick, which rams Jay into the cage, and actually breaks the cage wall open. Mark Briscoe helps open the hole wider, but Joe prevents the escape, hitting a powerbomb and locking on an STF.

Jay almost goes out, but he does manage to make it to the ropes. Joe hits several knees to the face followed by slaps, but Jay comes back, and hits the Jay Driller. Mark Briscoe tries to climb in, but he's cut off by AJ Styles, who hits Marl with the Styles Clash on the floor. Jay climbs, but gets caught yet again, and Joe hits a sloppy muscle buster for the pin to retain. Match was decent. I've yet to see a really good RoH Cage match.

-Chicago Street Fight: CM Punk & Ace Steel VS BJ Whitmer & Dan Maff [Death Before Dishonor II Part 2 7/24/04]

-The Saints won't let the Prophecy in the ring, so Maff & Whitmer pull Punk & Ace outside, and work them over. Prophecy get Ace alone in the ring, so Punk pulls Whitmer out, then the Saints work Maff over. Punk hits Whitmer with an exploder, but when Punk goes for a suicide dive, Whitmer meets him with a chair. Big brawl on the outside, where both Saints get busted open. Back in the ring, the Prophecy take off their belts, and take the Saints to the woodshead.

The Saints fight back as Steel gets a hold of one of the belts. Steel works on Maff outside while Whitmer & Punk go at it inside. Whitmer slides a table into the ring, but gets cut off by Steel. A ladder is introduced. Punk holds a chair in front of Maff's face, and Ace hits a running dropkick. Then, they wedge Maff's head in the ladder, then Ace hits the ladder with a chair. Punk hits Whitmer with a facewash. The Saints trap Whitmer in the corner by sliding the table right up to his neck, then Ace holds a chair in front of Whitmer's face, and Punk slides the ladder across the table, right into Whitmer's face.

Whitmer is busted open, and Punk whips him with a belt. Punk gets a hold of a barbed wire 2x4, and hits both Maff & Whitmer with it. The Prophecy turn the tide, and Maff hits Punk in the nuts with the 2x4. He then does the same to Ace. Maff slides a barbed wire covered board into the ring. Punk & Whitmer fight over a suplex, but neither get it. Punk goes for a tornado DDT, but Whitmer throws Punk off, right onto the board. The Saints try to suplex Whitmer onto the board, but Maff moves it out of the way.

The board gets set up in the corner, but Punk can't knock Maff into it. Punk ends up getting sent into it via a cannonball by Whitmer. Steel whips Maff into the board, then hits a Tiger Driver for two. All four grab chairs, and exchange chairshots, waiting to see who falls down first. The Saints win that battle. A whole bunch of chairs get launched into the ring by the wrestlers and some of the fans, in an obvious attempt to re-create a famous scene from ECW.

Punk no-sells a half-nelson suplex onto the sea of chairs from Maff, then hits him with a German suplex. Maff uses the ladder to bridge the guardrails and places Ace on it, but Punk prevents a splash by Whitmer. Whitmer cannot do the same to Punk when Ace sets Maff on the ladder. Back in, Ace hits Whitmer with a tombstone off the second rope, through the table for the pin. Pretty good ECW-style street fight. Could have lived without the chair tossing though.

-Dog Collar Match: CM Punk VS Jimmy Rave (w/The Embassy) [Manhattan Mayhem 5/7/05]

-It's teased that Punk will have to wrestle Mike Kruel instead, but then Rave runs out and jumps Punk from behind. As Rave gets attached to dog collar, the time allows Punk to recover and take control. Punk does a Garvin stomp, and adds a kneedrop to finish. Punk ties Rave to the Tree of Woe, and hits a couple running knees. Punk grabs a chair, but Rave yanks on the chain, causing Punk to run into the chair and the ringpost, which busts Punk open.

Rave works Punk over on the outside. Back inside, Rave grinds the chain into the cut on Punk's forehead. Punk fights back, but gets cut off by Rave. Rave puts the chain in Punk's mouth and pulls back, transitioning that into a curb stomp for two. Punk fights off a Rave Clash, and hits a Shining Wizard. Punk pounds away, and hits a superkick for two. Rave fights off a powerbomb, and gets a chain-assisted Crippler Crossface, but Punk rakes the eyes to escape. Punk dodges a running knee strike, and locks on a single-leg crab.

Prince Nana distracts Punk, allowing Rave to crotch Punk with the chain, and hit the running knee strike for two. Rave sets up for the Pepsi Plunge, but Punk backdrops him out of it. Punk hits three powerbombs with the third getting a two count. Punk locks on the Anacoda Vice, but he has to fight off the Embassy. Punk hits Rave with the Pepsi Twist, then sees Fast Eddie coming with a moonsault, moving out of the way so Eddie hits Rave.

Punk fights off Nana and Jade Chung, but Rave gets a chair, and KO's Punk for the pin. I liked this more than I did the first time I saw it, but it's still nothing special.

-Steel Cage Warfare: The Embassy (Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelley, Abyss, & Prince Nana) VS Generation Next (Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Jack Evans, & Matt Sydal) [Steel Cage Warfare 12/7/05]

-This is RoH's version of War Games. The cage door is left open, and there are eliminations. Aries and Rave start. Rave immediately leaves the cage, but Aries catches him on the outside, and goes to work. Back in, Aries crotches Rave on the top rope, then hits a flying elbow off the top. Aries stomps a mudhole in Rave. Aries keeps workig on Rave as Alex Shelley (with a chair) enters to give The Embassy a 2-on-1 advantage.

Aries catches Shelley coming into the cage and fights him off for a while, before Rave gets back in the match, and The Embassy starts to double team Aries. Aries comes back with a springboard double back elbow. Aries works both men over, hitting Rave with a Finlay Roll right on top of Shelley. Aries goes for the 450, but Rave prevents that, and Shelley and Rave hit a running clothesline/spear combo to regain control. Rave applies a camel clutch, then Shelley pulls back on Rave to make it worse. Rave then holds Aries in place for a low dropkick to the face. The Embassy try several times to pin Aries, but are unsuccessful. Rave rams Aries into the cage for two.

Matt Sydal evens up the odds. Sydal cleans house. Cute sequence as Sydal goes for a moonsault, avoids Shelley's knees, then hits Rave with a drop toe hold onto Shelley's knees, then adding a standing moonsault onto Rave's back and almost pinning Shelley underneath Rave. Sydal & Aries keep control of the match, but can't get any eliminations. Sydal hits Rave with a spinning heel kick for two. Sydal prevents Rave from escaping the cage, while Aries mashes Shelley against the cage before hitting a low dropkick to the face.

Abyss gives The Embassy the advantage again. Abyss fights off a double team from Aries and Sydal, hitting Aries with Shock Treatment. Rave gets two off that. Abyss hits a monster backdrop on Sydal, and Shelley gets two. Shelley & Abyss work on Sydal while Rave chokes Aries. Abyss lawn darts Aries into the cage, then Shelley adds a wicked chairshot. Abyss then tosses Sydal into the cage. Shelley hits Aries with the skullfucker on the chair, and Aries is busted open. Shelley gets two off that, then goes after the wound on Aries.

Roderick Strong evens the odds again. He hits a series of backbreakers on Shelley while keeping Abyss at bay. Strong hits some chops on Rave, then a knee to the back for two. Strong fights off a chokeslam from Abyss, but can't hold onto Death From Above. Abyss hits an overhead throw, sending Strong upside-down into the cage. Abyss hits Sydal with the Black Hole Slam, and Rave pulls him off the pin before hitting Sydal with Greetings from Ghana (Pedigree) for the pin. Rave and Strong go outside, where Rave whips Strong into the barricade. Rave adds another whip into the barricade, followed by a running knee. Rave got opened up at some point. Back in the cage, Abyss squashes Aries with an avalanche. Back outside, Strong (who is opened up) turns the tide on Rave. Abyss & Shelley choke Aries with the chair.

Prince Nana enters to make it 4-on-2 in favor of The Embassy. Everyone gets back in the cage as The Embassy dominate, with Nana adding the occaisional stomp. Abyss tastes Aries' blood (drawing a talking-to from Shelley) before stomping Aries in the nuts while Nana does a Nature Boy strut. Rave rakes Aries' face across the cage. Jade Chung makes her return after taking a Pedigree from Rave, cutting a promo on Nana. Nana & Abyss go after her as Jack Evans becomes the last entrant.

Evans immediately scales the cage and dives onto the entire Embassy on the floor, smacking the back of his head on the way down. Bet that felt WONDERFUL. Nana immediately crawls on top of Jack, perhaps to apologize for not catching him properly. Aries and Strong get back into it, and it's a brawl on the floor. Back in the cage, GenNext triple-team Abyss, with Strong hitting Death From Above. Evans climbs the cage. Rave climbs up to stop him, and Strong follows as the crowd chants "Please Don't Die". It all sets up Strong & Evans' Ode to the Bulldogs and a triple pin on Abyss to eliminate him.

Rave gets caught inside the ring with GenNext, who then go after Shelley when he tries to interviene. Evans hits Shelley with a fisherman buster, but 630 hits Shelley's knees. Shelley then hits Evans with an Air Raid Crash off the second turnbuckle for the pin. Aries powerbombs Rave as Shelley hits a low dropkick on Strong. Nana slides out of the cage, making it 2-on-2 for the time being. Strong fights off a Pedigree from Rave, but takes Shell Shock from Shelley, but Aries makes the save. Nana gets in, but misscommunication between The Embassy leads to Strong destroying Rave with a series of backbreakers while Aries hits Shelley with a brainbuster on a seated chair. Aries pins Shelley while Rave taps out, leaving Strong & Aries alone with Nana.

Strong & Aries have some fun with Nana, before Aries finishes with the 450. This was loads of fun. Hard not to be with the level of talent that was in this.

-Ghetto Street Fight: Colt Cabana VS Homicide (w/Julius Smokes) [4th Anniversary Show 2/25/06]

-Cabana & Homicide brawl through the curtain to kickstart the match. This is an "I Quit" match. Cabana dominates the first few minutes. They go outside, where Homicide takes control, and busts Cabana wide open. Back in the ring, Homicide launches a chair at Cabana's face. Homicide grabs a disposable razor and digs at Cabana's face. Homicide throws Cabana upside-down into a piece of barricade that's in the corner. Homicide hits a running kick to the face, but Cabana fires up, hitting the butt bump to the face.

Homicide quickly regains control with a swinging DDT, and applies a Tequila Sunrise. The fans chant for tables as Homicide hits another chairshot to the head. Smokes preps a ringside table, but Homicide misses a splash off the top. Homicide slides out of the Colt 45, but runs into a clothesline. Cabana chokes Homicide with Homicide's own arm, pulling on his injured shoulder in the process. Homicide comes back with a lariat and a camel clutch.

Smokes slides a coat hanger into Homicide, and Homicide chokes Cabana with it. Todd Sinclair stops the match before Homicide kills Cabana.

After Homicide celebrates his win, Cabana gets on the mic, declaring that he never gave up, and asks for the match to be re-started. Cabana rings the bell himself to restart the match. Homicide blocks a clothesline, and hits an Ace Crusher. Cabana goes after the injured shoulder. Smokes interferes, allowing Homicide to regain control with a chairshot to the back. Ricky Reyes helps Smokes tie Cabana in the corner while Homicide pounds away, then throws a chair into Cabana's face. Homicide adds another chair throw to the face, and Sinclair stops the match again.

Cabana gets on the mic again, telling Homicide to finish him off, and if he leaves now, Homicide's son is going to think his daddy is a pussy. They fight on the apron, where Smokes pours something into Cabana's open wound, allowing Homicide to hit a piledriver off the apron through a table, and Sinclair stops the match again. Homicide calls for a "Fight Without Honor" in Chicago. Match was good, finish was pretty weak, as it looked like it was building to Cabana continuing to fight and getting the win. No quitting in an "I Quit" match = no buys.

-RoH VS CZW Six Man Street Fight: Samoa Joe, Adam Pearce, & BJ Whitmer VS Chris Hero, Super Dragon, & Necro Butcher [The 100th Show 4/22/06]

-Big brawl to start (shocking, I know). Joe hits Hero with a suicide dive. Claudio (in an RoH jacket) tries to provide a distraction, but ends up running away. Joe hits Hero with an Ole Kick before they go into the crowd. Necro & Pearce (who is busted wide open) brawl on the floor. Pearce hits an unprotected chairshot to the head. Pearce adds another, and Necro is busted open. Back in the crowd, Joe & Whitmer hit Dragon with a double suplex on some chairs. Joe whips Hero into the barricade, and Hero ends up kicking a fan in the face.

Close up shows Pearce has a nasty cut on the side of his head. Joe slugs Necro down on the floor. In the ring, Pearce hits an axe handle off the top on Necro for two. Dragon jaws with some fans, allowing Whitmer to hit him with a couple chairshots. CZW gains control on the outside, while inside, Whitmer hits Hero with a brainbuster for two. Dragon goes low on Whitmer. Dragon goes up top, but gets crotched by Whitmer. Dragon fights Whitmer off, and hits a senton for two.

Pearce grabs chairs from a couple fans, and mashes Necro in the head with them. In the ring, Necro tries to powerbomb Joe through two chairs, but Joe turns the tide, sets the back rests of the chairs together, and drops Necro onto them. That gets two. Outside, Whitmer runs Dragon into the barricade, but is then attacked by Hero. Joe hits Necro with a chair as they brawl through the crowd. Inside, Hero hits Whitmer with a cannonball and poses as Joe grabs a table and brings it through the crowd.

Hero hits Whitmer with a big boot for two. Pearce goes for a piledriver on Hero, but Necro breaks it up. Slugfest is won by Necro. Dragon digs a piece of wood into Joe's forehead. Pearce slugs Necro down as Hero launches a chair at Whitmer's head. Hero breaks up another slugfest between Pearce and Necro, and gets dumped for his troubles. Joe drops Dragon through a table, and goes after Hero.

Joe hits a running knee and sets up for the face wash, but gets cut off by Necro and Dragon. Necro takes his belt off, and whips Joe with it. Back inside, Pearce hits Hero with a splash off the top, but Dragon breaks up the pin. Dragon hits the curb stomp on Pearce, but is then knocked for a loop by a Whitmer clothesline. Whitmer adds an exploder suplex through a seated chair for two. Whitmer looks to send Dragon through a table, but is stopped by chairshots from Necro as Joe works Hero over on the outside. Necro wedges Whitmer's head in between the seat and back rest of one chair, then hits the legs of that chair with another chair.

Dragon wedges Whitmer's head in similar fashion, but he hits a kneedrop off the top for two. Dragon hits Whitmer with a Psycho Driver off the apron, through a table. Back in the ring, Hero and Joe go at it. John Zandig, CZW owner gets involved, then the RoH and CZW refs argue before Necro lays out Todd Sinclair. Claudio Castagnoli throws Zandig outside, then holds Hero for Joe...but then attacks Joe before embracing Hero. Pearce hits Claudio with a missile dropkick, but gets laid out by Hero.

Crowd chants for Homicide, but no dice. Hero & Claudio hit Pearce with a double team Hero's Welcome for the pin. Technical classic it was not, but this was a FUCKING WAR. Tremendous streetfight that was total chaos. This was hard to recap at times because so much was going on. Wrestling needs more of that.

-Windy City Death Match: Colt Cabana VS Jimmy Jacobs (w/Lacey) [5th Year Festival: Chicago 2/24/07]

-Jacobs runs from Cabana to start. They go outside, where Cabana throws Jacobs into the barricade. Colt sets Jimmy on a table, but Lacey interferes to prevent Colt from driving Jimmy through it. Jimmy clips Colt's knee to take control. Jimmy holds Colt for a cheapshot from Lacy, but Daizee Haze runs in, and chases Lacey away. Colt sets Jimmy up in the Tree of Woe and grabs a ladder from under the ring, but Jacobs gets free, and hits a baseball slide into the ladder onto Colt.

Jimmy pounds away, but Colt comes back with elbows to the top of head, which bust Jimmy open. Colt pulls scissors out of his elbow pad, and digs them into Jimmy's wound. Colt misses a stab with the scissors, and Jacobs hits a chairshot to the back. Jacobs looks for his railroad spike, but can't find it. That's because Cabana has it, and he digs it into Jimmy's head. Colt hits Jimmy with a Chicago flag, but Jimmy turns the tide, and breaks the flag pole over Colt's back, before digging a piece of the broken pole into Cabana's head, busting him open.

Jimmy uses the flag to wipe blood out of his eyes, then chokes Colt with it. Jacobs grabs the spike, and nails Colt in the head with it, before digging it into his head. Colt blocks the Contra Code, then jabs Jimmy in the head with the scissors. Colt hits a big chairshot to the head. Colt goes for the Colt 45, but Brent Albright interferes, hitting Colt with a half-nelson suplex, then putting Jimmy on top for two.

BJ Whitmer runs in to even the odds, fighting off a double team, then taking Jimmy outside with a Cactus clothesline. Whitmer holds Jimmy & Albright in place for an Asai moonsault from Colt. Colt grabs the spike and a hammer, then tries to hammer the spike into Jimmy's head. He misses the spike, but hits Jimmy in the head with the hammer. Colt hits the flying asshole, then throws a couple chairs at Jimmy's head. Colt sets a chair on top of Jimmy, then hits a moonsault for two.

Colt preps a table, but that gives Jimmy time to recover. Colt jabs the flagpole into Jimmy's head, forcing him onto the table, which tips over. Colt bridges the ring and the barricade with a ladder, then tries again to set Jimmy on the table, but it collapses. Jimmy grabs a table, but then takes another flying chair to the head. Colt gets Jimmy on the table and goes up top, but Lacey returns, and crotches Colt on the ropes. Lacey helps Jimmy get Colt on the table, and Jimmy sets the ladder up inside the ring. Jimmy climbs the ladder, then hits a senton off the ladder, to the outside, driving Colt through the table.

Jimmy rolls Colt back inside, but only gets two. Jimmy sets a table up in the corner and goes for a spear, but Colt sidesteps him, and Jimmy goes through the table. Lacey tries to hit Colt with her shoe, but Colt gets it, hits Jimmy with the shoe, then the Colt 45. Colt then hits Lacey with the Colt 45, and sets Lacey on top of Jimmy and gets the pin. Decent enough street fight. Could have done without the violence against a woman though.

-Boston Street Fight: RoH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes VS Kevin Steen & El Generico [Death Before Dishonor V Night 1 8/10/07]

-Match breaks down before it even gets into the ring. Steen & Jay brawl in the crowd while Generico & Mark go at it at ringside. The announcers bail out, so the rest of the match is sans commentary. Generico tosses chairs into the ring, while Steen works Jay over on the outside. Generico sets a table up in the crowd. Mark dives off the top to Generico, but then takes a chairshot to the head, and a powerbomb through the table by Steen, who in turn takes a chairshot to the head from Jay. Steen whips Jay into a pile of chairs while Generico and Mark go at it. Generico ends up doing the same to Mark.

Jay fights back on Steen, hitting a superkick, then a moonsault off the barricade. Mark hits Generico with a chair, then suplex on the floor, followed by a legdrop with a chair draped across Generico's face. Generico dumps Mark face-first onto a chair. Jay goes after Generico, then Steen goes after Jay. Mark dunks Steen into a garbage bin and tips it over. Steen hits Mark with a fisherman buster onto a seated chair, then Generico hits Jay with a tornado DDT on the floor, using the barricade as a boost.

Steen brawls with Mark (as fans encourage "Jay" to fight back). Generico pounds on Jay. Jay blocks a running Yakuza kick, and hits a superkick. Steen steps on the guardrail, but pauses to ask the fans who the man is, allowing Mark to hit him with an Ace Crusher off the barricade, onto the floor. Jay got busted open at some point. Generico sets up for an Asai moonsault, but gets yanked off the apron and thrown into the barricade by both Briscoes.

Steen hits a cannonball on Mark into the barricade, but then takes a running kick from Jay. Steen grabs a section of the barricade and launches it at Mark, but he thankfully misses. Generico grabs Mark, and hits a Michinoku Driver onto a section of the barricade. Jay throws Steen through a ringside table. Generico DDTs Mark on the barricade. Steen blocks a suplex on the floor, and delivers the move to Jay. Steen sets up a table (which collapses because one of the legs is broken) and goes for the package piledriver, but Jay fights him off.

Steen & Jay slug it out in the ring. Steen bites Jay in the forehead. Generico hits a cross-body off the top on Jay, then Mark hits Generico with a missile dropkick, then Steen hits Mark with a powerbomb. Everyone grabs a chair, and everyone takes a chairshot to the head. Jay takes Steen outside, then Mark drops Generico right on his head. Mark goes for the cutthroat driver through two chairs. Generico counters and goes for a brainbuster, but Jay blocks that with a chair shot, then the Briscoes toss Generico high into the air, before he crashes down onto the chairs.

Steen breaks up the pin. The demolishes a seated chair by driving Mark through it, and that only gets two. Steen goes up top, but gets shoved by Jay and flies through a table. Generico hits Jay with a running Yakuza kick and goes for the turnbuckle brainbuster. Jay blocks it, and the Briscoes hit a splash mountain/neckbreaker combo off the second turnbuckle. Steen pulls the ref out at two, so Mark hits him with a dive. Briscoes hit Generico with the springboard Doomsday Device, but Steen makes the save.

Steen grabs a ladder and cracks Jay in the head with it. Steen sets the ladder up in the corner, but ends up getting backdropped into it, courtesy of Mark. Mark climbs the ladder (with help from the ref), but before he can do anything, Generico comes out of nowhere with a springboard Ace Crusher. Jay hits Steen with the ladder and goes for the Jay Driller onto it, but Steen blocks, kicks Jay in the nuts, and hits the package piledriver onto the ladder for the pin. Another pretty wild street fight. This isn't for you if you're looking for expert selling (or any kind of selling really), but it's what you'd expect from these four, for better or worse.

-FINAL THOUGHTS: This is a pretty good collection of matches, if a little exhausting to sit through, since they're all at least 20 minutes, and seeing the same type of match over and over can wear one down.

RoH Border Wars 5/12/12

-From Toronto

-Hosts are Kevin & Nigel

-Match 1: Rhino (w/Truth Martini) VS Eddie Edwards 

-Not much happening early. Hurricarana sends Rhino outside, but he manages to trip Edwards and smack his face on the apron to gain control. Back in, Rhino hits a vicious shoulderblock in the corner. Rhino military pressed Edwards over the top and out. Rhino works on the midsection to set up the gore. Edwards hits a very dangerous German suplex. Edwards hits a bunch of chops, a kick to the knee, and a shining wizard for two.

Martini grabs Edwards' ankle, but it doesn't work as Rhino misses a gore through the ropes, and Edwards hits a moonsault off the apron. Back in, Edwards hits a missile dropkick for two. Rhino comes back with a belly-to-belly suplex, but Edwards counters the gore with a dropkick. Martini almost strikes Rhino with the book of truth, and the pause allows Edwards to get a schoolboy for the pin at 11:00. Not much of an opener. Nigel did more to sell the rib work on commentary than Edwards did in the ring.

-Rhino teases killing Martini, but takes a wad of cash not to.

-Match 2: The Young Bucks & Mike Mondo VS The All Night Express & TJ Perkins 

-Perkins sprays water into Mondo's eyes, then holds Matt Jackson in Boston crab position for a low dropkick by King, which gets two. King gets a double-leg on Mondo, and pounds him down for two. Crowd chants "Spirit Squad" at Mondo (a.k.a. Mikey). Mondo takes some more damage before tagging in Matt. Titus hits Matt with a Rough Ryder from behind. Nick pulls Titus outside. Titus ends up getting dropkicked off the apron, right into the arms of Mondo, who slams Titus into the guardrail.

Titus plays face-in-peril. Mondo fucks up what looked to have been a triple low dropkick spot, getting the appropriate chant for it. Matt and Mondo double-team Titus in the corner, then Nick Jackson does a flip into...a back rake. Tremendous. Titus almost makes the tag, but Mondo & Nick pull King & Perkins off the apron to cut it off.

Rhett finally makes the hot tag to King, who cleans house. Perkins gets in, countering a kick from Matt into a powerbomb for two. Match breaks down into some contrive spots, which end up leaving all six men down. Bucks hits a buckle bomb/enziguiri combo on Titus, then follow up with a Mondo head scissors into a frog splash from Nick, which gets two. Just about everyone is wiped out by a series of dives, then the ANX hit Matt with the powerbomb/blockbuster combo, followed by a 450 from Perkins for the win at 12:56. Started out with some solid tag formula, before transitioning into the contrived spots associated with the Bucks. This was pretty entertaining, all-in-all.

-Match 3: Tomasso Ciampa (w/Prince Nana, RD Evans & Ernesto Osiris) VS Jay Lethal 

-Ciampa has a goatee that's dyed white, making it look like he's foaming at the mouth. They brawl outside before the match officially starts. Ciampa goes for the exposed knee strike, but misses and hits the barricade. Ciampa fights back and grabs a sign, but ends up getting catapulted into it. Still out on the floor, Ciampa runs into the hiptoss/low dropkick combo. Lethal goes for a dive, but Evans gets in the way, taking a springboard dropkick for hit troubles. Lethal again goes for the dive, but Ciampa jumps and hits the exposed knee strike, and the match officially starts.

Ciampa gets two off the knee strike. Ciampa works Lethal over, applying a modified dragon sleeper. Lethal finally comes back with a leg lariat, as the crowd amuses themselves with a "yes" chant. Lethal drops Ciampa onto Lethal's knee with a TKO for two. Lethal hits a handspring elbow for two. Ciampa hits a Lethal Combination for two. Lethal slugs down Nana & Osiris then goes for the Lethal Injection, but Ciampa hits a follow clothesline for two.

Lethal counters Project Ciampa with a hurricarana for two. Ciampa hits a nasty knee strike for two. Flying knee sets up three exposed knee strikes, but Lethal counters Projecy Ciampa into an Alabama slam into the buckles. Todd Sinclair shoves Nana down, thus missing a small package, but it's questionable whose shoulders are down. That gets two anyway. Ciampa talks shit, but Lethal comes back with a flurry of strikes and the Lethal Injection...but RD Evans pulls Sinclair out of the ring at two.

Lethal hits Hail to the King (Savage elbow) for two. Lethal hits the back breaker part of the Lethal Combination ten times before completing the move, and that ends Ciampa's year-plus undefeated streak at 10:50. This was really good, and while Ciampa lost, he looked great coming out of it, considering what it took to put him down.

-Ciampa apparently loses his sanity after the loss, and leaves on his own.

-Match 4: Mike Bennett (w/Brutal Bob Evans & Maria) VS Lance Storm 

-Former WWE ref Jimmy Korderas is the official. Storm controls the early going with striking. Bennett turns the tide by sending Storm into the ringpost. Bennett works Storm over on the outside, focusing on Storm's back. Bennett continues to work the back, but Storm hits a mule kick to get back in the match. Bennett regains control with a big backdrop. Storm wins a "boo/yes" punch exchange, and hits a back spring elbow for two.

Storm hits a code breaker for two. Bennett blocks a superkick, and hits a spinebuster for two. Storm misses a springboard clothesline, and walks into a spear for two. After a couple reversals, Bennett hits the box office smash for two. Bennett hits a dragon screw leg whip, and Storm sells it like Bennett broke his leg. Bennett adds insult to injury by applying a single-leg crab. Storm reverses into one of his own to a HUGE pop.

Brutal Bob pulls Bennett into the ropes, then distracts the ref as Bennett grabs a chair. That doesn't work out, as Storm ends up hitting a chairshot to the back, and Storm finishes with a superkick at 12:34. This was OK. The Showdown in the Sun match was better though.

-Storm sucks up to the crowd after the match.

-Intermission

-Match 5: Adam Cole VS Michael Elgin (w/Truth Martini) 

-Face reaction for the hometown boy Elgin. Cole controls the early going with strikes, hitting a missile dropkick for one. Cole goes for a dive, but gets caught in mid-air, and Elgin hits a running powerslam onto the ramp, which gets two. Elgin pounds Cole down, and gets two. Elgin blocks a tornado DDT, but gets shoved into the turnbuckles. Elgin comes back with an Alabama slam for two. Cole gets a schoolboy for two. Elgin wins a strike exchange and talks some smack.

Forearm exchange proves nothing, then Cole counters a tilt-a-whirl into a tornado DDT that spikes Elgin into the mat. Cole hits a DDT on the apron, then a splash off the top for two. Elgin fights off the Florida key, and hits a chaos theory for two. Cole comes back with a couple shining wizards for a couple two counts. Cole hits superkicks to the front and the back of Elgin's head, but Elgin hits a massive blind clothesline.

They exchange enziguiris in the ropes, then Elgin pulls Cole off the apron into a falcon arrow off the second rope for two. Elgin applies a crippler crossface, but Cole counters into a rollup for two. Cole hits a suplex into a backbreaker for two. Cole goes for a cross-body off the top, but Elgin catches him, hits a buckle bomb, and finishes with the spinning sit-out powerbomb at 13:54. Match started out pretty slow and was unimpressive for the most part before picking up at the end.

-Truth sends Elgin to the back, but stays for the TV title match. Cole gives Martini a pop for calling him a "piece of crap" and "untalented". Elgin retrieves Martini, giving Cole a shrug on his way out. Elgin is going to be king-sized when he turns face.

-Match 6 for the RoH Television Championship: Roderick Strong [c] VS Fit Finlay 

-Unlike other RoH TV title matches, this has no time limit. Feeling out process to start. Finlay works on Strong's leg, as they appear to be setting up to go long. Finlay responds to a stiff chop with a single leg takedown. Finlay hits a short-arm clothesline, and drops a knee for two. They go outside, where Finlay drops Strong chest-first on the barricade. Strong fights back by dropping Finlay onto the apron. Strong locks on a reverse bearhug, takes a chinbreaker, and hits a dropkick for two.

Strong kicks Finlay to the outside, and sends him into the barricade. Strong works on the back and ribs, then Finlay comes back with an avalanche and shoulderblock. Strong fights back, hitting a belly-to-back suplex for two. Strong stops to stare at the ringside fans, allowing Finlay to get a schoolboy for two. Strong applies the Stronghold (Boston crab), but Finlay almost immediately fights his way out.

Finlay hits the Finlay roll and the Celtic cross for two. Finlay goes to the second turnbuckle, but gets shoved out over the top. Back in, Strong hits Death from Above for two. Finlay hits a sitdown splash for two. Strong slides out of the Finlay roll, and hits a roaring elbow and the sick kick for the pin to retain at 17:16. I liked that they tried to make this a struggle, but it wasn't particularly exciting. Not bad, but nothing memorable. The best part was Nigel openly marking out for Finlay on commentary.

-Finlay gets the sympathy standing ovation following the loss, with a "please come back" chant.

-Match 7 for the RoH World Tag Team Championship: The Briscoes [c] VS Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team [Fight Without Honor] 

-"Fight Without Honor" = street fight. They tease that Mark got held up at the border, but he eventually comes out in a hockey jersey and wielding a hockey stick to start the match. Briscoes clean house right off the bat. Match spills outside, where the Briscoes continue the beating. Back in, Mark hits Shelton with a drop toe hold onto a seated chair. Haas catches Jay with an exploder suplex for two. Jay responds by driving Haas head-first into a chair.

Haas gets busted open by a chairshot from Jay as Mark hits a somersault splash off the apron onto Shelton. A bicycle wheel gets used by Jay. Shelton throws Mark off the top through a table. In the ring, Jay hits Shelton with a death valley driver. Shelton throws Jay off the top for two. Shelton hits Jay with a spinebuster off the second rope for two. Haas steps on Jay's nuts.

WGTT try to ram Jay's nuts into the ringpost, but Mark makes the save and utilizes some redneck kung fu. Mark hits Haas with a frog splash into an elbow drop for two. Crowd chants for table, and Jay abliges. Mark tries to splash Shelton through the table, but gets caught with an Angle slam by Haas. Shelton ends up dropping Jay through the table with an electric chair drop. Haas brings back THE ETHER SOAKED RAG OF DEATH to put Mark down and win the titles at 14:29. Match was an OK street fight before that outdated finish. I was worried about them going too long and it didn't, so that's nice. This doesn't seem like the feud ender, but where do they go from here? Ladder war?

-Match 8 for the RoH World Championship: Davey Richards [c] VS Kevin Steen (w/Jimmy Jacobs)

-Steen comes out draped in the Canadian flag, sucking up to his home country crowd. Crowd is 100% for Steen. The piledriver is legal for this match. Richards clotheslines Steen out over the top, and follows with a dive. Jacobs distracts Richards, allowing Steen to hit a ropes-assisted DDT. Steen welcomes Richards to Canada by whipping him into a part of the barricade where a fan has draped a Canadian flag.

Steen crotches Richards on the ringpost, then takes him to another corner, and does it again. Richards hits an exploder suplex on the ring apron for two. Richards goes for a tequila sunrise, but Steen fights it off, so Richards applies a trailer hitch instead. Richards keeps taking his mouthpiece out. Why wear it if you're going to keep taking it out? Richards takes Jacobs out with a kick off the apron, but Steen avoids it, and hits the apron powerbomb.

After the ref reaches 10 (the count in RoH is 20), Steen adds another apron powerbomb, and follows up with a cannonball for two. Steen goes for a swanton bomb, but it hits knees. Richards hits a German suplex, followed by a lariat for two. Richards slides out of an F-5, takes a superkick, lands a spinkick, but then takes a discus clothesline for two. Steen hits the pumphandle into a drop on the knee for two. Steen puts Richards' mouthpiece in, and goes for the package piledriver, but Richards fights it off.

Richards hits a low dropkick, but runs into a powerbomb for two, which Steen transitions into the Sharpshooter. Richards ties the knee in the ropes, then hits a couple double stomps off the top for two. Richards applies an anklelock. Steen ducks a big kick, and gets a schoolboy for two. Richards fights out of both the F-5 and the package piledriver before hitting the DR Driver (double underhook brainbuster) for two.

Steen absorbs some Kawada kicks, slaps the taste out of Richards' mouth, and hits the F-5 for two. Steen hits a moonsault for two, hurting the knee in the process. Richards slides out of the package piledriver, and hits a running kick for two. Richards hits a couple stiff kicks to the head, but a third is counter into an anklelock, which Richards counters into one of his own.

Steen counters the anklelock into a Sharpshooter, then Richards counters back into the anklelock. Steen pulls off one of the middle turnbuckle pads while fighting the hold, then sends Richards into it, hitting a sleeper suplex on the rebound. Package piledriver wins the title for Steen at 24:44. This was your typical Davey Richards match, elevated greatly by the crowd, which turned it into the RoH version of Cena/Punk from Chicago last summer. I was definitely expecting a screwjob and a double-turn heading into this.

-Steve Corino gets into the ring...and embraces Steen. Steen, Jacobs, & Corino celebrate as the show ends.

-FINAL THOUGHTS: This was an OK show, greatly elevated by the main event. Other than that, only Ciampa/Lethal was particularly memorable, but nothing was bad, except the finish to the tag title match.

WWE Raw House Show 5/13/12

-From Rochester, NY

-Had pretty good seats in the 100 level, diagonal from the ring. If the building was more than 1/3rd full, I'd be surprised, but that's what you get for running a show on Mother's Day. The crowd that was there was hot all show though.

-Match 1: Brodus Clay VS JTG

-Pretty much the same as every Brodus match so far. JTG got some token jobber offense in, but fell victim to the big splash fairly quickly. Brodus pulls a couple kids from the crowd into the ring to dance, then says whether it's Mother's Day or not, everyone needs to call their momma.

-Match 2: Zack Ryder VS Dean Ambrose

-My only other exposure to Moxley/Ambrose was a DGUSA PPV. He seemed to be a lot different here, and had some weird maneurisms, wrestling as if he had some kind of mental handicap. Good match though. Ambrose blocks the Rough Ryder and hits a spike DDT before taking off one of the turnbuckle pads. Ambrose rams Ryder into the exposed buckle, but is then promptly DQ'd for refusing to break while Ryder is in the ropes.

-After the match, Dolph Ziggler runs in and lays Ryder out with the Zig Zag, just because.

-Match 3 for the Divas Championship: Layla [c] VS Beth Phoenix

-Split crowd because of the western New York native Beth. Better than usual Divas' fare. Beth worked the leg for the most part, but Layla managed to slide out of the Glam Slam and hit the Layout to retain.

-Match 4 for the United States Championship: Santino Marella [c] VS Jack Swagger VS The Miz [Triple Threat Match]

-Miz kept getting a pop everytime he teased taking his shirt off, so he did it multiple times. After finally taking it off, he teased throwing it into the crowd before simply throwing it onto the ground. Santino did some comedy before getting double-teamed for most of the match. In a spot I've never seen before, Miz tries to sunset flip Swagger, who held onto the ropes. As they were in that position, Santino grabs Miz's legs, and catapulted him right into poor Swagger's balls. Santino then hit both with the Cobra before pinning Swagger to retain.

-Match 5 for the WWE Tag Team Championship: Kofi Kingston & R-Truth [c] VS Primo & Epico

-Mostly tag formula with Kofi playing the face-in-peril. Dusty finish as after R-Truth cleaned house, Epico caught him with the back stabber and got the pin...but Truth's leg was on the bottom rope. Scott Armstrong ran out to tell the other ref what happened, and he re-started the match. Truth quickly hit Epico with the Little Jimmy to retain.

-Intermission

-Coming out of intermission, Dolph Ziggler cut a promo, revealing Mason Ryan as his new "insurance policy". Ziggler demanded that Justin Roberts announce him as "the show stealer" before Ziggler's match later in the show.

-Match 6: Tyson Kidd VS Lord Tensai

-Kidd put up a decent fight, but fell victim to the Baldo Bomb followed by the green-mist-covered-claw- into an STO for the pin. Only heel victory of the show.

-Ziggler did not get the intro he wanted, and as he & Ryan were bullying Roberts about it, they were interrupted by Ziggler's opponent...

-Match 7: Dolph Ziggler (w/Mason Ryan) VS John Cena

-Massive pop for Cena's entrance. Crowd was 90% pro-Cena. Really good match as Cena dominated early before Ziggler took most of the match after Ryan interfered. At one point the ref was bumped, and Ziggler quickly tapped to the STF. Ryan attacked Cena, hitting a big clothesline and a spinning powerslam, before putting Ziggler on top, but the cover only got two. Ziggler ended up accidentally hitting Ryan with a superkick, and Cena finished Ziggler with the AA.

-Match 8 for the WWE Championship: CM Punk [c] VS Chris Jericho [Special Guest Ringside Enforcer: Mick Foley]

-Big pop for the unadvertised Mick. Really strong back-and-forth match. Jericho countered the GTS a couple times, but got frustrated after Punk survived the Walls of Jericho and a Code Breaker. Jericho grabbed a chair, but was disarmed by Foley. Jericho got in Foley's face, so Foley applied the Socko Claw, then pushed Jericho into the GTS for the pin.

-After the match, Foley said a few words, and we're out after 2:45.

-FINAL THOUGHTS: It was my first untelevised WWE show, and it was really good. No bad matches with the final two in particular being really good, so it was well worth going to see it.

WWE Extreme Rules 2012

-4/29/12

-From Chicago, IL

-Match 1: Kane VS Randy Orton [Falls Count Anywhere]
 -Fast start as they exchange strikes before Kane knocks Orton off the turnbuckles and to the floor with an uppercut. That gets two. It's Kane. In the ring. With the lead pipe, but Orton steals it, and uses it to take control. Into the crowd they go, where Orton slugs Kane down, then hits a knee to the face for two. Kane slams Orton on the exposed concrete for two. Yeah, you really want a top guy with recent back problems taking that kind of bump.

Kane follows that up with a low dropkick (!) for two. They make their way out to the staging area, where Orton hits a dropkick for two. RKO is blocked, and Kane hits a big boot for two. They head backstage to where guys who aren't booked on the show hang out to watch it. Ryder jumps Kane, who no-sells his punches, but that allows Orton to hit the 3.0 for two.

Kane fights back, and a cameraman goes down. Kane hits Orton in the head with a case for two. Back into the arena, where Orton takes control. Orton pounds on Kane in the corner (w/YES! chants accompaning every strike). Orton hits the snap powerslam, and grabs a chair from underneath the ring. Orton hits some fairly weak chairshots on Kane's back. They go back outside, where Orton preps the announce table. Orton hits the draping DDT off the table to the floor, for two.

Kane counters the RKO by shoving Orton into the ringpost, and gets two off that. Back in the ring, Orton crotches Kane on the top turnbuckle to block the flying clothesline. Orton hits his dad's finisher for two. Kane counters the RKO again, and hits a chokeslam for two. Kane goes for a tombstone, but Orton slides out and finishes with the RKO on a chair at 16:46. Good opener. Not techincally sound, but enough was happening where the near-seventeen minutes went by pretty quick.

-Johnny Ace & Eve toast to change, but Johnny is interrupted by a phone call from Triple H.

-Match 2: Brodus Clay (w/The Funkasaurettes & Hornswoggle) VS Dolph Ziggler (w/Vickie Guerrero & Jack Swagger)
 -Crowd is pro-Ziggler. Ziggler goes for a single-leg, but Brodus shrugs him off. Dolph send Brodus outside, where he takes a clothesline from Swagger. Brodus fights back (drawing boos). Ziggler avoids a knee lift, and hits the famouser for two. Ziggler stops another comeback with a dropkick for two. Ziggler gets the sleeper, but Brodus fights him off.

Ziggler pounds away in the corner, but stupidly tries a suplex. Brodus throws him off, then drops an interfering Swagger. Brodus shrugs off another sleeper attempt, catches Ziggler with the headbutt to the stomach, and finishes with the big splash at 5:17. About three-times longer than the usual Brodus outing, but he did OK. Really hard to have a bad match with Ziggler who, in a just world, would be ruling Smackdown.
-On the pre-show, Teddy spins the wheel to assign the stipulation for the I-C title match. It lands on tables match. Cody blames Teddy for that.

-Match 3 for the Intercontinental Championship: Big Show [c] VS Cody Rhodes [Tables Match]
 -Michael Coles lists HBK & Owen as people who, like Show, have won all five current WWE titles. Yes, I remember HBK & Owen's long and storied U.S. title reigns. Show chops Cody, then hits the BIGGEST. BACKDROP. EVER. Show sets up a table. Cody hits a chop block, but Show blocks a kick, and tosses Cody around some more. Show sets a table up in the corner, but Cody springs off it with the disaster kick. NICE!

Cody tries to fight back, but it doesn't go well. Show throws Cody into the ring. Cody dropkicks Show, who steps off the apron...through a table to lose the title at 4:36. Cody's reaction when the ref calls for the bell is tremendous. Match was Show beating the shit out of Cody before losing on a fluke.

-Show, ever the sportsman, spears Cody, then chokeslams him through a table. Crowd can't decide whether they want to boo Show, or they want to see him kill Cody. Show gorilla presses Cody over the top, through another table before leaving. Cody refuses help, drawing a mixed reaction for it.

-BUY EDGE'S DVD!

-Matt Striker interviews Daniel Bryan, who lists the advantages he has over Sheamus. Will Bryan regain the world title? YES! YES! YES! A.J. is shown stalking him in the background.

-Match 4 for the World Heavyweight Championship: Sheamus [c] VS Daniel Bryan [2 out of 3 Falls]
 -HUGE boos for Sheamus during his entrance.

-FIRST FALL: Sheamus goes for the Brogue Kick right off the bat, but Bryan avoids it. Bryan tries for the YES lock, but Sheamus counters, and works on Bryan's arm. Chain wrestling for a bit. Sheamus catches Bryan in mid-air, and hits a Finlay roll. Sheamus catches Bryan with the Texas Cloverleaf, but Bryan makes it to the ropes. Bryan does his corner flip, and hits Sheamus with a flying clothesline. They go outside. Bryan dives off the apron, but gets caught, and Sheamus DRIVES Bryan into the barricade.

Sheamus goes up top, but Bryan shakes the ropes to knock Sheamus down. Big "Daniel Bryan/18 Seconds" dueling chants as Bryan works on Sheamus' leg. Bryan uses some of his old RoH tricks, stretching Sheamus in very uncomfortable positions. Sheamus hits some elbows to escape, but Bryan catches him with a knee to the gut, and a low dropkick for two. They exchange strikes, and Bryan gets a roll-up for two. Bryan chokes Sheamus in the ropes, and HE HAS 'TILL FIVE.

Bryan works the arm, but Sheamus fights back, getting boo'd for it. Sheamus hits the Irish Hand Granade, and follows up with a fallaway slam for two. Bryan manages to catch Sheamus with a kick to the head for two. Sheamus blocks a top rope hurricarana, and hits a flying shoulder block for two. Bryan low-bridges Sheamus, but Sheamus counters a suicide dive with a forearm. Sheamus goes for the Celtic Cross, but Bryan rolls out for two.

Sheamus fights out of two attempts at the YES lock, but rams his shoulder into the ringpost while trying to attack Bryan. Bryan goes after the injured shoulder, but doesn't stop kicking Sheamus after Sheamus grabs the ropes, and gets DQ'd for it at 14:27 to put Sheamus up 1-0. DQ's are EXTREME!

-SECOND FALL: Bryan quickly applies the YES lock. Sheamus fights it, but passes out at 16:37 to tie the match at 1.

-THIRD FALL: Bryan orchestrates the crowd into "YES/NO" chants while doctors examine Sheamus. Bryan runs right into a Brogue kick...for two. Bryan hits a buzzsaw kick for two. They fight on the second turnbuckle, leading to Bryan missing the diving headbutt. Sheamus turns the tide, hitting the Irish Curse, then finishing with the Brogue kick at 22:54 to retain the title. Match was really good, as these two have had great chemistry even when main event heel Sheamus was squashing mid card babyface Bryan. That is what WrestleMania should have been.

-Santino calls Khali over to watch Ryback squash two jobbers with him. The jobbers getting to cut promos before getting killed is a great gimmick.

-Match 5: Ryback VS 2 Jobbers [Handicap Match]
 -What do you THINK happened? Ryback demolishes the jobbers as the crowd, catching on, chants "Goldberg". Ryback pins both jobbers at 1:50. Breaking his leg might actually be the best thing that could have happened to Ryback, as of the former Nexus, only Barrett & Otunga are non-jobbers, and most of the others aren't on the roster.

-CM Punk is happy to be in Chicago.

-Match 6 for the WWE Championship: CM Punk [c] VS Chris Jericho [Chicago Street Fight]
 -Only Jericho would wear a lite brite jacket to a street fight. Punk whoops on Jericho to start. Kendo stick shot draws an "ECW" chant. Jericho uses the ref as a shield, and pokes Punk's eyes to turn the tide. Surprised more heels don't use the ref like that. Jericho exposes on of the turnbuckles. Punk fires back with chops, but misses the high knee. Jericho taunts Punk's sister, earning a slap to the face.

Punk goes nuts, slamming Jericho on the announce table covering, then setting up the Spanish announce table. Jericho counters a piledriver with a backdrop on the floor, then hits Punk in the back with a monitor. Punk counters a rear chinlock with a side suplex. Punk goes for the springboard clothesline, but slips, and Jericho lays waste to Punk with the kendo stick.

Jericho takes too long talking smack, and gets small packaged for two. Jericho hits an enziguiri to regain control, however. Jericho grabs a cold one and dumps it on Punk. Jericho stops to do it again, allowing Punk to fight back. Punk hits the high knee ---> bulldog combo. Punk crotches Jericho with the kendo stick, and calls for the GTS. They fight off each other's finisher, and Punk hits a snap powerslam for two.
Punk goes up top for the Savage elbow, but Jericho crotches him. Punk fights off a superplex, and hits the Savage elbow for two. Jericho fights out of the GTS, and hits his bulldog version. Punk blocks the Lionsault, but Jericho again avoids the GTS, then throws Punk head-first into a chair for two. Jericho hits a sloppy Code Breaker, and applies the Walls of Jericho.

Ropes can't cause a break, but a blast from a fire extinguisher does. Punk knocks Jericho onto the Spanish announce table, and hits the Shane McMahon elbow. That gets two. Punk applies the Anaconda Vice, but Jericho uses the kendo stick to escape. Punk grabs a chair, but Jericho hits a Code Breaker for two. Jericho goes for his own GTS, but Punk counters, catapults Jericho into the exposed turnbuckle, and finishes it himself with the GTS at 25:14. Great match that hit all the right notes. Perfect ending for this feud.

-Punk celebrates with friends and family. No Colt Cabana though.

-A new "Don't Try This at Home" spot.

-ON THE PRE-SHOW: Santino retains the U.S. title against the Miz.

-Beth tells the Bellas she's going to take the Divas title back. Eve says it won't happen because Beth isn't cleared. Nikki will still defend the title against a mystery opponent that is not Kharma.

-Match 7 for the WWE Divas' Championship: Nikki Bella [c] (w/Brie) VS ????
 -Crowd wants Kharma, but it's not to be. Instead, it's Layla, making her first appearance since last year's Extreme Rules. Brie gets a cheap shot behind the ref's back, allowing Nikki to work on Layla's injured knee. Layla hits a cross-body, but stops to take care of Brie, and gets caught by Nikki. Bellas try Twin Magic, but Layla catches Brie with the Layout, and pins her to win the title at 2:30. Usual diva fare.

-Matt Striker asks Johnny Ace what he spoke about with Triple H. Johnny won't disclose, but Triple H will be at RAW.

-Match 8: Brock Lesnar VS John Cena [Extreme Rules Match]
 -Dueling "Let's Go Cena!/Cena Sucks!" chants before the match. Cena brings back the chain from his Thuganomics days. Lesnar busts Cena open right off the bat with elbows to the head. Lesnar uses some UFC-style side mounted punches to work on the cut. Doctors take a look at Cena's wound. Cena charges, but gets mauled by Lesnar. Lesnar kicks Cena out of the ring.

Lesnar charges into a back elbow, but counters the AA with a couple rolling Germans. Cena fights out of a third, but flying shoulder block knocks Lesnar into the ref. Lesnar continues to maul Cena, and goes for a khimura. Lesnar works on the arm. Lesnar grabs the chain, but throws it down, rather than use it. Lesnar ties Cena's legs up with the chain, then hits a big running clothesline when Cena gets to his feet.

Lesnar uses the chain to lock Cena into an EXTREME tree of woe, and pounds away. Cena tries to fight back, but gets thrown into the steps. Lesnar, freak that he is, picks Charles Robinson up. By Charles' belt. WITH ONE HAND. Lesnar hits the F-5, but that takes Robinson out again. A second ref slides in, only gets two, and Lesnar kills the ref.

Lesnar muscles the steps into the ring, and taunts Cena while standing on them. Cena tries to fight back, but gets caught with the khimura. Cena muscles Brock into a spinebuster on the steps. Cena goes for the leg drop off the top, but Lesnar avoids it. Lesnar runs, and jumps off the steps to clobber Cena, sending them both flying, and Brock almost lands on his head. Lesnar may have hurt his leg, but he hops up, and LAUGHS.

Lesnar tries it again, but Cena punches him in the head with the chain, which opens Brock up. Cena hits the Attitude Adjustment on the steps for the pin at 17:38. This was AWESOME. Completely unlike anything we've seen in WWE before. Double juice? In an era where HELL IN A CELL has no blood? Modern day Sting VS Vader formula, which always rules? If you haven't, you need to see this match ASAP. Worth the DVD purchase on its own.

-Cena cuts a post-match promo implying that he's taking some time off. Which would be directly contradicted the next night on RAW.

-FINAL THOUGHTS: Man, Chicago has been lucky with the last two PPVs they've gotten. First last year's Money in the Bank and then this one. It was a three match show, and all three delivered in spades. I actually don't mind Cena going over, as it plays into the story of Brock being ridiculously arrogant, and thinking he'll just waltz over everyone in WWE. Brock used his physical gifts to demolish Cena, but lost because he spent more time taunting Cena than trying to finish him (well, that and a ref bump).

RoH Showdown in the Sun Day One

-3/30/12

-From Ft. Lauderdale, FL

-Hosts are Kevin Kelly & Nigel McGuinness

-Match 1: Shane Haste & Mikey Nichols VS RoH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes [Proving Ground Match]

-For those unfamiliar with the concept, the "Proving Ground" match is a non-title match where if the potential challengers can win or last 15 minutes, then they get a title shot at some point in the near future.

Match immediately spills outside, where the Briscoes dominate. Back in the ring, Mark holds Haste for a big boot from Jay. Haste & Nichols finally manage to get a couple double teams on Mark to turn the tide, including a slingshot double stomp to the back by Haste. Mark fights out of the corner with headbutts. Haste catches Mark with a slap followed by a hurricrana off the second rope. Mark flips out of a backdrop and tags Jay, who cleans house, hitting a Falcon Arrow on Nichols for two.

H & N fight back, with Nichols hitting a running powerslam on Mark, then Haste jumps off Nichols' back to cannonball Jay in the corner. H & N hit Jay with their finisher...for two. Briscoes come back, and Jay hits Nichols with a frog splash into an elbowdrop for two. Briscoes finish Nichols shortly after that with the Doomsday Device. Good opener. Would like to see more of Haste & Nichols.

-Kevin & Nigel talk about the NWA: Ring Warriors show the night before, and Adam Pearce defeating Adam Cole to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

-This leads to Jim Cornette bringing out Adam Pearce. Pearce says Cole is damned good, but not great. Pearce thinks Cornette is ribbing him when Cornette chastises Pearce for using a low blow to win last night. Cole comes out and says he guarantees that he can beat Pearce. Pearce wants to do it RIGHT NOW, and that he guarantees that he can beat Cole in two minutes.

-Match 2: NWA World Heavyweight Champion Adam Pearce VS Adam Cole

-Pearce wrestles in his street clothes. Pearce gets the early jump, but Cole hits a dropkick to send Pearce outside, and follows with a suicide dive. Pearce begs off, but it doesn't work. Pearce does hit a MASSIVE chokeslam to take control. Pearce hits a backdrop for two. Pearce hits a nice move that's really hard to describe which drops Cole on his head for two. Cole fights back, but misses a cross-body off the top. Cole comes back with a superkick and a shining wizard for two.

Pearce fights out of the Florida Keys (straightjacket suplex) and goes for a piledriver, but that move is currently banned in RoH, and Cole counters a sunset flip with a cradle for the pin. Pearce surprises everyone by shaking Cole's hand, then raising it. Decent match. At least they're making a go with Cole, after it looked for a while like he may be the Marty Jannetty of Futureshock.

-Kevin & Nigel preview the next match. The Young Bucks & All-Night Express had a coin flip to determine who could choose the stipulation. The Bucks won, and chose a tornado match.

-Match 3: The Young Bucks VS The All-Night Express [Tornado Match]

-No tags, everyone is legal. Titus is coming off a knee injury caused by the Bucks. At this point on the live feed, there were issues with the stream, so a lot of people who bought the show didn't get to see this live. Rhett hits Matt with a neckbreaker for two right off the bat. Rhett whips Matt into a leaping leg lariat from King. ANX hit stereo dives to the outside. Bucks catch ANX getting back into the ring and gain control. Bucks use some signature double teams to work mainly on King.

King catches Matt with a kick to the head, but takes a spin kick to the gut from Nick. Rhett finally gets back in the match and cleans house. Rhett hits Nick with a dropkick for two. Rhett catches Nick when Nick tries a superkick, and sends him into King for a capture suplex. Rhett hits Matt with a Samoan drop for two. ANX take too long setting up their finisher. Nick catches Rhett with a superkick, then the Bucks hit King with a double superkick.

The Bucks hit stereo 450s, but both ANX members kick out at two. Bucks set up for More Bang For Your Buck, but ANX fight it off, and Rhett ends up rolling Matt up for the pin. OK match that mainly set up the rematch for day two.

-Nick hits Rhett in the bad knee with a chair and stomps on it. The Bucks bail before King can get a hold of the chair.

-Before the TV title match, The Embassy members Prince Nana, RD Evans, & Tomasso Ciampa hit the ring. Nigel compares their appearance to an "unscheduled herpes flair up". I didn't know you could schedule those. RoH has threatened to fine and suspend the Embassy if the TV title belt is not returned to RoH within 24 hours. Evans says the belt is not in Florida, but Ernesto Osiris is en route to get the belt from Ciampa's trophy case, and Ciampa will return the belt at Day Two.

-Match 4 for the RoH Television Championship: Jay Lethal [c] VS Kyle O'Reilly

-Ciampa comes back out to sit at ringside and watch the match. They fight over a collar-and-elbow lockup, with neither gaining an advantage. It takes O'Reilly a few tries to escape a wristlock, and when he does, O'Reilly slaps Lethal across the face. Lethal hits the hiptoss/low dropkick combo. Lethal chains a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, a Russian leg sweep, and a submission together. O'Reilly comes back and locks on a modified abdominal stretch, which he turns into a rollup for two.

They go onto the wooden stage area, where O'Reilly hits a leg sweep to send Lethal crashing down onto it. O'Reilly hits some kicks to the midsection, then applies a modified octopus hold. O'Reilly locks on a guillotine choke and refuses to let go even after getting mashed into the turnbuckles, but Lethal does manage to turn that into the Lethal Combination.

Lethal wins a strike exchange and hits a handspring elbow for two. O'Reilly comes back with a belly-to-back suplex off the top for two. O'Reilly gets cocky, but Lethal avoids the legsweep and hits a superkick, which sets up the Lethal Injection (handspring diamond cutter) for the pin. Another decent match, hurt by the fact that because of the Lethal/Ciampa angle, O'Reilly had no shot to win. Match did further O'Reilly's heel character, if nothing else.

-Lethal calls out Ciampa, who walks away.

-Intermission time.

-Match 5: Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander VS Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team

-WGTT get the early jump, but C & C quickly clean house. Haas alley-oops Coleman onto the apron, right into a superkick from Benjamin. Coleman becomes the face-in-peril off that. Benjamin hits a spine buster for two. Haas drops Coleman back-first onto the barricade. Haas gets a couple near-falls, then tags in Benjamin, who hits a throw for two.

WGTT slowly work Coleman over. Coleman manages to avoid a Stinger splash and finally make the hot tag to Alexander, who cleans house. Alexander hits Benjamin with a bulldog for two. Alexander sets Haas up top for a Coleman hurricarana, but they take too long to follow up, and Benjamin throws Coleman into the ropes, which crotches Alexander on the top turnbuckle. Haas hits Coleman with an Angle slam, and Benjamin finishes Alexander with an overhead belly-to-belly throw off the top. Match was OK, but WGTT are getting more and more exposed as not fitting with the RoH style.

-Match 6: Mike Bennett (w/Maria) VS Lance Storm

-Storm wins a fight over a wristlock, earning a "you still got it!" chant. Storm completely dominates the first few minutes, working on Bennett's arm. Storm hits a nice dropkick for two before going back to the arm. Bennett uses the ref to finally get some offense in, hitting a neckbreaker in the ropes. They fight outside for a bit, then Bennett hits a dropkick of his own for two.

Bennett goes for a sunset flip off the second rope, but Storm rolls through and goes for the half-crab, but Bennett kicks him off. Storm wins a slugfest, and hits a leg lariat for two. Storm hits a springboard clothesline for two. Bennett counters a superkick, and hits a spinebuster for two. Storm fights out of one Box Office Smash, but after some awkwardness, Bennett connects with it for two.

Bennett goes for a single-leg crab, but Storm fights out and hits a superkick for two. Bennett avoids the rolling single-leg crab, and hits a spear for two. Storm works on the leg, but Bennett avoids the single-leg crab. Bennett goes for a TKO, but Storm gets out, and applies the single-leg crab. Bennett makes it to the ropes. Maria helps Bennett block a superplex, and Bennett hits the Box Office Smash off the second rope...for two.

Bennett pounds away, yelling at Storm to die in the process. Bennett hits the TKO to finally put Storm down for three. Best match so far by far, even if the early arm work didn't go anywhere. Good story with the veteran out-classing the youngster early, only for the active wrestler to wear him down and get the win.

-Storm gets the sympathy ovation after the loss. Bennett shakes Storm's hand...then hits him with the Box Office Smash. Kevin freaks out over that.

-Match 7: El Generico VS Kevin Steen ["La Revancha" Last Man Standing Match]

-Generico attacks with a running Yakuza kick and a throw into the buckles before the ring intros can even start. Generico follows with a dive that clearly misses. They fight on the outside, and Steen chokes Generico with the Canadian flag. Generico grabs some stuff from underneath the ring, including the extra ring ropes, which he hits Steen with it. Generico grabs a chair, but Steen kicks him to prevent Generico from using t. Generico pounds on Steen in the corner, getting to about 25 punches before stopping.

Generico tries a slingshot, but Steen counters with a Diamond Cutter. Steen hits a chairshot across the back. They fight over the chair, and Steen hits a chair-assisted code breaker before laying the chair on Generico's head, and hitting a front-flip legdrop. Generico gets up at 7. Generico goes for a tornado DDT, but Steen counters that into a backbreaker. Steen hits a cannonball in the corner, then puts a chair on Generico before adding a second one. Crowd is just about 100% behind Steen here.

Match goes back outside, where Steen hits a powerbomb onto the apron. Steen ends up accidentally hitting a ringside attendant with a superkick. Generico takes the opportunity to hit a couple Yakuza kicks. They fight on the stage, where Generico hits a modified Michinoku Driver. Steen slides off the stage to get on his feet at 9. Generico dives off the stage, over the announce table, onto Steen.

When Steen gets up, Generico hits a tornado DDT on the floor. Generico tries to pull a table from underneath the ring, but it gets caught on something. A tech ends up helping Generico get it out. Generico puts Steen on the table, but Steen fights back, rams Generico into the ringpost, and hits a running dive over the top, through the table. Steen sets two chairs up in the ring, but ends up taking a half-nelson suplex onto them. The chairs don't bend. OUCH!

Generico hits a chairshot to the back, and goes for a brainbuster through the other chair, but Steen counters, and hits a pumphandle driver through the chair. Steen goes up, but Generico hits a running Yakuza kick to knock Steen off the top, through the timekeeper's table. Steen barely makes it up at 9. They counter each other's finishers a couple times before Generico hits a brainbuster. Steen wins a chair duel and kicks Generico low. Steen looks like he's going to paste Generico in the head with the chair, when Jimmy Jacobs runs out.

Jacobs stops Steen from hitting Generico with the chair. Generico hits a half-nelson suplex, and Jacobs hands Generico the chair...before grabbing a spike and stabbing Generico in the head with it. Steen hands Jacobs the chair, and he cracks Generico in the head, giving Steen the win. Great match. Steen & Generico have tremendous chemistry and reacted appropriately to the situation they were in. Match was also helped by the referee counting like a normal person and not taking 10 seconds in between counts and slow the match down.

-Steen & Jacobs celebrate. It's interesting because RoH is trying everything they can to make Steen an ultra-heel, but the crowd reaction is threatening to turn Steen into their version of Stone Cold Steve Austin.

-Kevin & Nigel preview the main event.

-Match 8 for the RoH World Championship: Davey Richards [c] VS Roderick Strong (w/Truth Martini) VS Eddie Edwards [3 Way Dance]

-They keep saying "triple threat", but this is elimination style, like the ECW 3 Way Dance. Strong goes right after the other two. Strong gets a roll-up on Edwards, but Richards breaks it up with a kick to the chest. Edwards works on Richards, while Strong mostly stands outside and watches. Richards gets a Tequila Sunrise on Edwards, but Strong breaks it up. Strong works on both opponents, including a stomp to Richards' nuts. Strong hits Richards with a Nightmare on Helms' Street for two.

Nice spot as Richards rolls up Edwards, then catches Strong with a Northern Lights' suplex, getting two counts on both at the same time. All three get laid out with big strikes. Three-way slugfest ends with Richards & Edwards teaming up against Strong. Strong ducks out of a kick sandwich, and the shins of Edwards and Richards collide. Strong hits Richards with a urinage backbreaker followed by a Blue Thunder bomb for two.

Richards fights out of a tiger driver, but takes a dragon suplex from Edwards, who then hits Strong with a backpack chinbreaker. Strong dumps Edwards outside, but Richards counters Death From Above into the anklelock, then the Trailer Hitch. For some dumb reason, Edwards kicks at Richards to try to break the hold. It doesn't work, and Richards ends up catching Edwards with the anklelock while keeping the Tralier Hitch on Strong.

Edwards tries to give Strong the Die Hard on the apron, but Strong drops Edwards back-first onto the apron, then Richards hits Strong with a suicide dive. Edwards hits an Asai moonsault onto both opponents. Back in the ring, Edwards hits Strong with a fisherman's suplex for two. Richards hits Edwards with a superplex, holds on and hits a falcon arrow, then turns that into an armbreaker. Strong sneaks in, and locks the Stronghold on Richards.

Strong and Edwards exchange chops. Edwards tosses Strong into an alarm clock from Richards. Edwards hits Richards with a superkick, but ends up taking the Sick Kick from Strong for two. Great sequence there. Strong sets both opponents on the top rope, but Edwards blocks a superplex, and dumps Strong, right into a double stomp to the back from Richards.

Richards hits Strong with a German suplex, but Edwards hits a double stomp on Richards before dropping Strong on his head for two. Edwards/Richards hit Strong with a powerbomb/lung blower combo. Michael Elgin makes his way to ringside. Edwards knocks Martini onto Elgin, but then walks into a small package from Strong, and is eliminated. Weak sauce.

Richards goes right on the attack, hitting a full nelson suplex for two. Strong gets out of the anklelock, and hits the Sick Kick for two. Strong hits a tiger driver for two. Richards KO's Martini with a kick, hits double stomps first to Strong's back, then hits chest for two, and follows up with his own tiger driver for two. Richards hits a superkick, then finishes with a spinning buzzsaw kick to retain. Questionable psychology aside (what else did you expect with these guys?), this was a strong main event. Pretty much all action bell-to-bell.

-Michael Elgin (who faces Richards for the title on Day Two) attacks Richards, and lays him out with the spinning sit-out powerbomb. Martini says soon there will be a new RoH World Champion.

-FINAL THOUGHTS: The undercard was ok, but nothing special. Too much was just there to set up Day Two. The last two matches were tremendous, and would have been worth the iPPV price by themselves.