Let’s talk about last night’s Monday night Raw. It was a mixed bag for me, I remember watching it, but nothing really stood out as really exciting to me. It was a ppv follow up show, so I was expecting some big fall out, but it really just felt like a business as usual show to me.

The opening segment was bad. I know a lot of folks love Heyman, but he’s doing nothing for me. Cena’s revisionist history, and shouty promos turn me off, and ADR is a black hole of suck. Combine those with AJ coming out to pull some Teddy Long booking, and I was pretty much done with the show after the very first segment. It’s hard to believe that this is the same AJ I enjoyed so much 4 months ago, as her as GM really has fallen flat. Plus most of the time she looks like a little kid playing dressup in the suits they put her in.

I do appreciate the renewed interest in the tag team division, but I just find that I don’t care about either Rey/Sin Cara or the PTP. I do like Epico and Primo, but they really need some sort of interview time to develop personalities. The match was not bad, but it didn’t really do anything to keep my interest either.

I am glad they took the title off of Layla, because she has been getting worse sense her return, but I do wish it wasn’t on Eve either. Eve bores me in the ring, and is pretty shitty on the mic as well. I feel sorry for Beth, that she has been relegated to jobber status to these girls.

Brodus vs Slater was what it was, but at least Clay is getting a legit story with Cesaro. I like the former Claudio, and don’t hate Clay, so hopefully they will do something well together.

Miz and Booker on the mic were meh. Ryback bores the snot out of me, so I could care less about that matchup. Hopefully they don’t decide to put the belt on Ryback as Miz at least has decent matches.

I hate Punks heel turn. It just feels forced, and whiny, and not entertaining. It used to be I loved watching Punk’s segments, and they were highlights of the show. Now I want to turn the channel whenever he is on. He was doing so well with all the Kane/Bryan/AJ stuff, and in theory his stuff with Cena should be good, but it’s falling flat to me.

Dolph squashing Santino was what it was. Still not sure why Orton had to go over at the ppv. They need something for Ziggler to do now, but I’m hoping it’s not cashing in the briefcase yet. Wade vs Justin was a solid match, and both these guys could be solid contributors to the show, but both need a story/feud or at least some interview time to really give the fans a reason to connect with them.

The less said about the horrible subway promotion stuff the better.

I know a lot of people don’t care for it, but I love Sheamus as a face. He’s just so silly and fun loving, that I can’t help but chuckle along. I do think he needs a new feud tho, as the ADR one is played out.

Now for the highlight of the show, Kane and Bryan. These two are comedy gold. I would never have thought I would enjoy watching Kane so much in 2012, but he deadpans perfectly and really throws himself into each segment. These two play so well off of each other, and work well in the ring both with and against each other. Plus yelling I AM THE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS is one of the funniest things I’ve seen in wrestling in a while. I do hope with Kofi and Truth losing twice now, that they move on, and Kofi gets a singles push of some kind, as he’s another guy that I really enjoy watching in the ring.

Orton vs Tensai happened, and I did not care at all, admittedly by this point in the show I was three sheets to the wind. However, even sober I don’t think I would have cared. Orton is just there at the moment, and Albert has been less than impressive sense returning. Sandow vs Ryder was another match that was just there for me. I’m sure it wasn’t bad, but again I was a little intoxicated at this point and really wasn’t paying attention. Can someone who was let me know if this was any good? I keep hearing praise for Sandow, and Ryder looked good against Cesaro at the PPV, so maybe it was and I just missed it.

I’m not gonna comment on the main event, because I did not pay any attention to it at all. I saw the “controversial” ending, and am not looking forward to more of Punk complaining about lack of respect. Like I said earlier, this Punk heel persona is just lame to me, and not something I find myself wanting to watch.

I know I seem pretty negative for most of this, but I don’t really think it was a bad show, but if they want my attention for a full three hours, WWE really needs to change it up a bit. Very little on the show really caught my attention for any sustained period of the time, and the few things I did really enjoy tended to be followed up with things I could not care less about, or outright disliked. Also, I wish they would stop bringing back JR for commentary, he just seems lost out there these days.

It was. And even my occasionally grumpy about such things like spending money husband said we could go again. Not for a few years though



Oh, I think I would agree with you there. I don't GET why some fans cheer some things (much like they would not get why I cheer some things) but what REALLY annoyed me with that is that supposedly Brock wasn't an option to cheer. It was a Cena/Rock moment (or was being played that way) so either WWE needs to stop with the "leaks" so that way those moments aren't ruined, or folks should play along a little.

Which...neither will happen

And I'm glad someone enjoyed these I seriously meant what I said earlier about the only thing missing from the whole weekend.

For example, it sounds as though they aren't going to be able to keep Daniel Bryan heel much longer, and I'm happy about that.

Thanks for sharing your awesome WM experience, Fire.[/quote]

I’ll bet you can guess where we are coming from this week……..that’s right, the DU BURNS ARENA!

We open with a recap of the March Mayhem opener between Jay Lethal and Roderick Strong from last week. Lethal wins after botched interference from Michael Elgin. Lethal advances to the Final Fourway on April 7.

Jim Cornette is in the ring to hype the Triple Threat match at Showdown in the Sun. An opening promo? Shame on you ROH. Roderick Strong, Michael Elgin and Truth Martini are all out. Next out is Eddie Edwards, by himself. I am surprised Adam Cole is not out with him. And finally, Davey Richards comes out, also alone. You would think his ass kisser Kyle O’Reily would be out there. Corny asks them to use some professional decorum. In pro wrestling. Oh Jimmy, you scamp. Richards speaks first, and nearly bores me out of the room. He doesn’t like Edwards or Strong, and he doesn’t trust them at all. Eddie takes exception to being compared to a prick like Roddy. Roddy counters that a poor breakup with his boyfriend Davey is no reason to take it out on him. Touché Roddy. Roddy believes Elgin is going to give him his match in case Roddy doesn’t win the title on Friday night. Elgin is about to say something when Jay Lethal comes out, still sans TV title. He calls Roddy a……..butt munch. Way to bring it Jay. Lethal demands more respect, then calls Roddy a…….fart head. What the hell Lethal? Jay is done waiting around for what he deserves, he is going to TAKE what he deserves (and since it is ROH, presumably it will be taken by force). The wolf howls, and Kevin Steen comes out to save the segment. Steen busts on Davey’s hat. Steen is fantastic. Steen is rooting for Edwards to win the title, not because he likes him, but because he wants to win the title in Florida. Once he wins the title, he is going to be Cornette’s personal, never ending nightmare, then urges them to continue their circle of jerks in the ring. The love for Steen just grows week by week.

HYPE! Showdown in the Sun, two nights, sixteen matches!
-WGTT are going to send the Briscoes from the ring on a stretcher. I am not really buying WGTT as brutal heels

WRESTLING’S GREATEST TAG TEAM vs. CAPRICE COLEMAN & CEDRIC ALEXANDER

-WGTT comment before the match. They wonder if Corny is still pissed because of what they did to the Briscoes. Sorry, still not buying them as heels. Shelton is going to call them the C+C Wrestling Factory. Ok, that was kind of clever. And completely over the head of 90% of their audience.
-C+C Wrestling Factory contends that they are not going to be beaten by Sysqo on Steroids and the Ben Stein’s Love Child. Ouch.

WGTT toy with C+C to start, treating it as a warm up match for the pay per view. Their tone changes pretty fast when neither Caprice or Cedric don’t roll over for them. C+C hit dueling dives and Nigel says, “send them back into the ring, you can’t beat them on the outside.” Well, you CAN beat them by count out, just sayin Nigel. Coleman and Alexander are a pretty good team, they just seem to be missing something, that “it” thing. I dunno. Maybe if they had a team name. Hey! How about C+C Wrestling Factory! I mean really, how much would it cost ROH to get the rights to “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)”? Couple bucks? I mean, C+C Music Factory should be pretty happy to earn any money at this point. Cedric (I think) hits a SICK frankensteiner on Haas. It was sick because Haas was on the top rope, and Cedric leaped up FROM THE MAT and took him off the top turnbuckle. That may be even more impressive than Kurt Angle scaling the turnbuckle for the belly to belly suplex. Awesome move. With the referee distracted, the Briscoes come out and KILL Haas with a chair shot! (somehow Jay Briscoe did not run head first into the chair). Haas may be dead, and C+C get the win! Gotta say I didn’t expect that. Haas sells it like he is dead. He got his arm up, but still, it was a sweet chair shot.

COMMERCIALS!

We come back and Haas is still dead. Shelton is not happy about things, and he threatens genocide against everyone named Briscoe and anyone who cheers for them. I’m no lawyer, but I think that would warrant some jail time.

INSIDE RING OF HONOR!

-Final countdown for Showdown in the Sun. Sixteen matches over two days.
Friday
-Triple Threat World Heavyweight Title Match – Davey Richards vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Roderick Strong
-TV Title Match – Jay Lethal vs. Kyle O’Reily
-Street Fight – Young Bucks vs. All Night Express
-La Revancha! – El Generico vs. Kevin Steen
-WGTT vs. Coleman & Alexander
-Mike Bennett vs. Lance Storm. Storm is serious for a moment and says ROH is not a stepping stone. Bennett and OMG MARIA IS HOT are color coordinated again, really…..just stop. He is going to get Storm laid…..no, wait, he is going to lay Storm out.

Saturday
-Blind Destiny Match 1 – Kevin Steen vs. Eddie Edwards
-Blind Destiny Match 2 – Michael Elgin vs. Davey Richards
-Blind Destiny Match 3 – Jay Lethal vs. Roderick Strong
- World Tag Team Title Match – Briscoes vs. WGTT
-Tornado Match – Young Bucks vs. All Night Express
-Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reily

So that is 12 announced ROH matches, I assume that means there will either be some unannounced matches, or they will have 4 CHIKARA matches.

-The Briscoes come out and comment on their match. It’s going to be an ass whuppin.

We come back, and Cornette has joined the broadcast booth. He promises that he is going to fine the Briscoes for using the chair……..but not tonight. He is going to wait until Monday…….and do it by phone.

ADAM COLE vs. MICHAEL ELGIN – March Mayhem Match 2

Lethal qualified last week by beating Roderick Strong. Next week Tomasso Ciampa faces Kyle O’Reilly and Eddie Edwards faces Mike Bennett. The final four face off in the Final Fourway on March 7

Kyle O’Reily joins the announce crew. Oh goody. You know, as boring as he is, I would still rather listen to him than Lawler or Booker. Kyle doesn’t respect Cole at all and says when he beats Lethal for the TV title, he MIGHT give Cole a shot. Maybe. He still believes that Cole’s pin on Davey was a complete fluke. Elgin KILLS Cole with a German suplex into the turnbuckle. That is a brutal looking move. Kelly badgers O’Reilly to tell him what he REALLY thinks of Adam Cole. Uh, Kevin, he said he doesn’t respect him. How much more do you want? Kelly flubs his line a little saying “….oh we have to go to a…..wait a minute! I am being told we have to go to a commercial break!” That made me laugh. He is usually pretty smooth. Honestly, as far as announce crews go, I would go Tazz/Tenay, Nigel/Kelly, then a very distant third whatever dreck the WWE throws out there. Here’s hoping Regal gets an announcer shot soon. Anyway, back to the match! Elgin is fucking powerful. Now, unlike WGTT, I think Kyle O’Reily pulls off a douchebag heel VERY well. He is very white bread, but he is a good heel. Elgin tosses Cole around while Kelly continues to badger O’Reily into telling him WHY he doesn’t like Cole and what is going on here. O’Reilly finally says it wasn’t HIS idea to be partners with Cole in Future Shock, and when he shook Eddie’s hand it was like spitting in his face. Ok, can we be done with that now? Cole hits a spring board DDT on the apron that looked like it could have gone VERY wrong. Cole tries the Florida Key, that’s not happening either. Cole hits a superkick (a transitional move in ROH, not a finisher, take THAT WWE) and Elgin nearly decapitates him with a clothesline (also not a finisher). Roderick Strong comes to the ring and tries to interfere and “accidentally” hits Elgin with a kick to the head, Cole rolls Elgin up (sadly, THAT seems to be a ROH finisher) and gets the win. I wonder if they are going to tease an Elgin face turn here? Elgin, Truth and Strong beat the snot out of Cole until Eddie makes the save.

Next Wee!
Tomasso Ciampa vs. Kyle O’Reilly and Eddie Edwards vs. Mike Bennett in March Mayhem qualifying matches!

PPV PREDICTIONS!

Man, ROH is kind of tough to predict. They seem to really dig the long title reigns, but both Lethal and Edwards have held the title for over six months now. Here we go:

-Triple Threat World Heavyweight Title Match – Davey Richards vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Roderick Strong – Richards retains. I think they are going to slow build Richards/Elgin, probably holding off until December
-TV Title Match – Jay Lethal vs. Kyle O’Reily – Kyle O’Reily gets the upset win here. Lethal can move into world title contention
-Street Fight – Young Bucks vs. All Night Express – Bucks steal this one
-La Revancha! – El Generico vs. Kevin Steen – Steen wins, but really, it wouldn’t matter if El Generico won this one
-WGTT vs. Coleman & Alexander – Gotta think WGTT gets their win back here, though I could see this being a no contest when the Briscoes get involved
-Mike Bennett vs. Lance Storm – No reason for Bennett not to win here

Saturday
-Blind Destiny Match 1 – Kevin Steen vs. Eddie Edwards – Steen wins
-Blind Destiny Match 2 – Michael Elgin vs. Davey Richards – Richards retains, Roddy will be involved in some form here
-Blind Destiny Match 3 – Jay Lethal vs. Roderick Strong – Lethal beats him, cementing his push in the world title picture
- World Tag Team Title Match – Briscoes vs. WGTT – Briscoes retain, if the feud is ending here, it makes no real sense for WGTT to win, unless the rumors of the Briscoes going to WWE are true (and I hope they are not)
-Tornado Match – Young Bucks vs. All Night Express – ANE wins this one
-Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reily – This becomes a TV title match and O’Reily cements his heel turn by cheating to win
Be sure to check out www.punshouse.com for more ROH reviews and general chatter. And if you are into fantasy wrestling, there is no fed better than the OOWF, just go to www.oowrestling.com and check us out in the fantasy thread! We have been going for over seven years now!

Ooooh, you cannot reach me now
Ooooh, no matter how you try
Goodbye, cruel world, it's over
Walk on by.

Sitting in the third row here behind ringside
Waiting to leave Du Burns sometime.
In perfect isolation here at ringside
Waiting to leave Du Burns sometime.
We're {waiting for the taping} and going to convene outside the arena
for those in charge where we're going to be...
Waiting to cut up Grizzly Redwood.
Waiting for Maria, OMG SO PRETTY
Waiting to escape from Du Burns
Waiting to buy a Kill Steen Kill t-shirt
Waiting for Richards to sell for the weaklings
Waiting to put a Briscoe through a window
And kick in their teeth
Waiting for a American Wolf resolution
To ease up my pain
Waiting to escape from Du Burns
Waiting for an attack in the showers
And a brawl between dozens
Waiting for Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team
To get in the ring
Waiting to escape from Du Burns

Would you like to see Ring of Honor
Tape somewhere else, my friend?
All you have to do is escape from Du Burns.
Would you like to see your family
And sunshine again, my friend?

All you need to do is escape from Du Burns

We open live……from the Du Burns Ar……..wait a minute……..THIS IS NOT THE DU BURNS ARENA!

We open in New York City where Adam Cole PINS Davey Richards! Highlights from the ROH 10th Anniversary Show. Davey does the goofy take a knee handshake, but Kyle O’Reily is a dick and doesn’t respect anyone, Kevin Steen is talking on the balcony of the Hammerstein Ballroom and respects everyone even LESS! Take THAT O’Reily. Steen is going to haunt Davey until Davey convinces Cornette to give Steen a match. I like where this is headed!

We come back and……..DAMN YOU RING OF HONOR! WE ARE STILL IN THE DU BURNS ARENA!! They are never going to leave.

We start right off with a match……

ADAM COLE vs. CHRIS SILVIO

First, Adam Cole has things to say. He is thrilled to get the win for the team, but thinks Kyle is a great big douche for not shaking his hands. Cole is going to MAKE him respect him……by force! Cole faces the “Psychedelic Superstar” Chris Silvio. I kind of dig Silvio, he looks like (as pointed out by Nigel) a throwback to Austin Idol, Jesse Ventura or Billy Graham……except he is about 80 pounds lighter and six inches shorter. Kyle O’Reily joins Nigel and Kevin on commentary and adds nothing. This guy just oozes dull. We find out that O’Reily gets a shot at Lethal’s TV title at Showdown in the Sun on Friday. This is far less of a squash than I thought it would be. Silvio is allowed to look kind of good in this one, he bumps his ass off for Cole though. Cole KILLS Silvio with a fireman’s carry into a neck breaker kind of thing, looked BRUTAL. Silivo catches Cole with a straight punch to the face, which Cole sells like he had been shot. Naturally though, Silvio does not go for the cover and moments later, Cole hits the FLORIDA KEY for the win. Afterward, Kyle O’Reily decides he has not been QUITE enough of a douche and grabs a mic. He challenges Cole to a match for the Saturday portion of Showdown in the Sun, which, I guess in theory, could be for the ROH TV title if O’Reily beats Lethal on Friday….yeah right. Cole calls O’Reily a PMS bitch…..can’t really argue with that…..and accepts the match.

Up next….KEVIN STEEN TALKS…..and I can barely wait!

COMMERCIALS!

-the House of Truth comes out, Strong talks up his match, naturally says he is going to walk away with the ROH title. Elgin says nothing. That was disappointing.

WE ARE BACK! The main event tonight is Jay Lethal vs. Roderick Strong in the first match of the March Mayhem tournament…..more on that later!

Before that…..Young Wolves Rising in New York…..recap of Jacobs vs. Steen. Gotta say I wasn’t real big on Jacobs….but after seeing this? Holy shit. Between this and the Age of the Fall stuff….wow. He tries to KILL Steen with a steel spike to the face. Steen wins, but the match looks AWESOME.

Steen comes out to the beginning of Davey Richards music, AND he is carrying a tennis racket to mock Cornette. How many ways can I say I love Kevin Steen? Steen talks about the Blind Destiny challenge, and wonders if Cornette is going blind. Steen faces Edwards, and when he beats him, it puts him one step closer to winning the title, which is his destiny…..OMG WORD PLAY! He is going to win the title and hold ROH hostage, and make Cornette kiss his feet (bad), ass (even worse) and bal…..ahhhh Jimmy C gets out there before Steen can say balls. Cornette announces his opponent for the Friday portion of Showdown in the Sun and it is……..EL GENERICO! Now, if this was the WWE, Steen would have flipped out and acted like there was NO WAY he should face El Generico! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME! But not Steen…..Steen is happy about it, which is, once again, why I love Steen.

COMMERCIALS!

INSIDE RING OF HONOR!

Kevin pimps Showdown in the Sun, which actually looks like a really good two day card.
-Friday 3/30, 8 matches, including Bucks vs. ANX, Lethal vs. O’Reilly and Bennett vs. Storm
-Lance Storm is still alive! He does a very long and very rambling promo. And he looks like Sam the Eagle from the Muppets. You know, I hated the whole “you’re boring” thing Austin did to Storm back in the day, but holy shit this promo is BRUTAL.
-the Friday main event is Richards vs. Edwards vs. Strong. Richards talks about it and bores me to tears. I hope Richards never teams with Storm, that could be the most boring promo team in the history of wrestling. I did find out that Richards and Strong used to run together, I did not know that. He calls Michael Elgin the “War Machine” I like that. Didn’t they call Rhi(y)no that at one point? Davey says the only way someone is going to take the title from him is if they walk through the hell he has gone through and pries the title from his cold dead fingers. I would point out that if he was in hell, his dead fingers probably wouldn’t be cold, but to be realistic, this man COULD kick my head off my shoulders
-Saturday features the three Blind Destiny Challenge matches, Steen vs. Edwards, Lethal vs. Strong and Richards vs. Elgin. We also have a tag title match war between the Briscoes and WGTT
-the Briscoes dismiss WGTT for wrestling “makeshift” tag teams on Monday nights. The Briscoes had to go home and tell Papa Briscoe that they got their ass whupped by one man. That did not go over well. They guarantee that someone is getting carried out of the ring
-WGTT offer a retort. They say after the 31st that is IT. The last match. It’s over. Ok then. I have a feeling it will NOT be over at all.

MAIN EVENT TIME!

March Mayhem. Eight guys in a tournament, Lethal, Strong, Elgin, Ciampa, Bennett, Edwards, Cole and O’Reily. Each man put up $1500 and ROH matches it, for a $24,000 prize. First round matches take place over the next four weeks, then it appears that the final is a four way match.

Lethal enters the tournament as the TV champ, but doesn’t have the title because Ciamap took it from him. They recap their match in New York, and it looked like a pretty good one. Went to a fifteen minute draw and Ciampa steals the title. He KILLS Lethal with PROJECT CIAMPA which is a BRUTAL looking move and steals the title.

RODERICK STRONG vs. JAY LETHAL

But FIRST…..More commercials!

Did you know Showdown in the Sun is the end of March? I promise you it is! Seems like there might be another wrestling event taking place right around that time too….

-Kelly pimps the three way match a little more and asks Eddie about the match. Eddie claims HE is leaving with the title…..wait, Richards and Strong said the same thing! DRAMA!

We’re BACK! This should be a pretty good match. They mention again that Ciampa still has the TV title…..but he hasn’t had a match announced for Showdown in the Sun yet. Wonder if that will change. They keep saying that they will win $24,000 if they win this tournament, but if they put up $1500, wouldn’t they really only be winning $22,500? Or can you win back what you put in? Anyway…..the match. Lethal seems to dominate most of the match, Strong gets the upper hand when Truth interferes. Strong hits a slingshot suplex, niiiiice, haven’t seen one of those in a long time. Truth gets involved again and gets KILLED by Lethal, Strong rolls Lethal up and does the good old fashioned feet on the ropes, but only gets a two count. Elgin comes out and tries to interfere, but it doesn’t work so well, Strong and Elgin smack heads and Lethal rolls him up for the three count. ROH loves them some roll-up finishes.

Next week! WGTT vs. Coleman & Alexander, and if I heard right, two more March Mayhem matches, I believe Elgin vs. Cole and Ciampa vs. O’Reily maybe? I didn’t quite catch it. Anyway, tune in, it should be good!

Be sure to check out www.punshouse.com for more ROH reviews and general chatter. And if you are into fantasy wrestling, there is no fed better than the OOWF, just go to www.oowrestling.com and check us out in the fantasy thread! We have been going for over seven years now!

“Du Burns Arena. Day 117. I remember my family. They were good people. I miss them terribly. There were rumors going around today that we would be allowed to leave soon…….I like to think those rumors are true, but I just can’t allow myself to believe that. The ring rats are starting to look appealing. I wish I could see the sun one last time.”

Cold open to a recap of Edwards/Strong from last week. Great match, if a completely overbooked and wonky ending. To sum it up, Strong cheated, but the referee didn’t see it and counted the pin. A second referee comes out and somehow restarts the match, Edwards wins. Cornette says Richards will defend against Edwards AND Strong on March 30th. There, we are all caught up with that.

Nigel and Kevin are in the ring. It must be REALLY annoying to have to do this 10 times in one night. They talk about the triple threat match on March 30th, the first day of Showdown in the Sun. ROH has decided that they are going to have a title match both nights, so they come up with the Blind Destiny Challenge. Sounds like something I can get behind. Jimmy Cornette is going to explain.

Essentially, they want two title matches, but they don’t know who is going to win the match Friday night (wink wink). So, here’s the gist. Edwards, Strong and Richards will all have singles matches on Saturday. Whoever wins the triple threat match on Friday night; their match becomes a title defense. So tonight, we have three matches to determine their opponents. The three matches tonight are Adam Cole vs. Kevin Steen, winner faces Eddie Edwards. Kyle O’Reily vs. Michael Elgin, winner faces Davey Richards and Jay Lethal vs. Kenny King, winner faces Roderick Strong. This seems convoluted, but once you think about the logic, it is a REALLY good idea. An idea I have ZERO faith in TNA or WWE being able to pull off. This requires some actual pre-planning, and neither of the other companies seem too keen on doing that.

COMMERCIALS!
-Kevin talks to the All Night Express about their match against the Young Bucks, two matches in two nights. Kind of gives away the Lethal/King match doesn’t it? I mean I GUESS King could pull double duty, but that seems unlikely. I would have picked someone else to face Lethal. I kind of like King, but Rhett Titus just sounds goofy. Tornado match and a no DQ street fight. Should be a good couple of matches

-For some reason Kenny King comes back and talks about the match tonight against Jay Lethal. King things his destiny is to win the ROH world title. Aiming things a little high there aren’t you Kenny?
-Lethal kind of has a heel vibe saying he deserves the shot at the title. Lethal wants the world title, even though he admits he failed a few weeks ago…….though there WERE about twenty men at ringside having a riot. I wonder if that number will grow? In a few weeks it could be SEVENTY men having a CAGE MATCH at ringside. That would be fun.

KENNY KING vs. JAY LETHAL – Blind Destiny Match 1

Winner faces Roderick Strong. Lethal tries to attack at the bell, and Nigel correctly calls it “shades of Randy Savage”. Seriously, Lethal DOES have Savage’s mannerisms down to perfection. Rhett Titus is at ringside with King, and Roderick Strong and Truth Martini come out to the top of the ramp (which, since this is ROH is only about 20 feet from the ring, if that). I do kind of hate how Lethal calls for the LETHAL INJECTION before his move. Seems silly to telegraph the move. Same thing when HBK would stomp the mat for an hour and a half before he hit Sweet Chin Music. Lethal gets the win with a nice bridging pin. Not the best match I have ever seen, but certainly not terrible either.

-Adam Cole is geeked to be in this match. Just months ago he was teaming with that schmuck Kyle O’Reiley, now he has main evented New York, and he faces Kevin Steen. Wow! Good Gosh!
-Steen wants to smash Adam’s cute little face. He wants to win the ROH title so Jim Cornette loses his fucking mind. How many times do I have to say I love Kevin Steen?

KEVIN STEEN vs. ADAM COLE – Blind Destiny Match 2

Winner faces Eddie Edwards. Adam Cole would be very excited to face his tag team partner. I don’t like your chances Adam. Kevin Kelly reminds us that Steen has the height and weight advantage, but you can’t measure heart. Well, you might be able to measure Cole’s heart when Steen rips it out of his chest. Steen chops the SHIT out of Cole, and then tells the camera “that was a good one! Kind of hurt my hand.” Again, the love, it is strong. The crowd is not behind Cole at all, they are chanting for Steen to piledrive him. This is what happens when you hold a crowd hostage for a month. Steen does a rolling senton into the corner; it seriously looks like it kills Cole. That was after a DDT from the outside to the inside. This review sounds one sided, Cole is getting some moves in, but Steen takes everything he throws at him. Steen kills him with a powerbomb, then a clothesline from hell, and finally an F-6 or whatever he is calling it. It wasn’t quite a squash, but Steen dominated. Steen faces Eddie Edwards on the 31st. After the match, Steen wants to beat up Cole some more and tries a package piledriver, but Eddie Edwards meddles in Steen’s business.

INSIDE RING OF HONOR!

-Kevin Kelly pimps the 16 match Showdown in the Sun.
-Roderick Strong doesn’t like the triple threat match at all.
-Eddie Edwards doesn’t like the triple threat match at all.
-Lace Storm is coming out of retirement to face Michael Bennett. Dear ROH, it hasn’t worked for Jericho, it is not going to work for Lance Storm either
-Bennett is going to send Storm home early enough so he can still catch the early bird special. Oh, and OH MY GOD MARIA IS HOT
-The Briscoes face WGTT for the tag titles. I hope the Briscoes retain in this one, they probably should, though I could see WGTT embracing their heel turn and cheating to win them back. They recap the feud, the Briscoes winning the titles, Shelton getting suspended, Jay getting handcuffed, Mark running into chairs and Haas shelling out ten grand to pay the fines (it would have been interesting to have HOT win that match against the Briscoes and loan them the ten grand to pay the fines.)

COMMERCIAL!
-Young Bucks really sicken Kevin Kelly. The Young Bucks call the ANX dorks. Well THAT will rile them up. Gotta say though, I don’t hate the Young Bucks

KYLE O’REILY vs. MICHAEL ELGIN – Blind Destiny Match 3

Davey Richards joins Nigel and Kevin on commentary. But first, they talk to Kyle. Kyle will totally do things differently than Eddie if he beats Elgin. He will TOTALLY do it with honor and he and Davey will stay best buds. Truth puts Kyle’s mind at ease and says Elgin is going to kill him, so it’s all good. Davey puts Eglin over pretty nicely, really pimping his strength. They did have a nice match a few months ago. Richards is NOT a fan of Steen however. Calls him a joke. I really hope Steen takes the title from Davey, I have a feeling they will slow burn that all the way through to the end of the year though, just seems to make sense. Roderick Strong is back out to the ring, Davey is not happy about it, and calls bullshit. Literally. Davey has a potty mouth. O’Reilly hits a belly to back suplex from the apron to the floor, looked like Elgin smacked the back of his head on the guardrail, but he didn’t stay down. Elgin does have some stupid strength. O’Reilly tries for the guillotine choke, but Elgin powers out of it into a HELLEVATOR. I love watching Elgin toss people around. Regalplex into a crippler crossface by O’Reilly, very nice sequence. No mention of Benoit though. Roddy interferes again and Richards has had enough. Elgin attacks from behind and hits a sick Buckle Bomb, then a sit out powerbomb and gets the win. Elgin gets a rematch against Richards on the 31st. Nice match here too.

Three really good matches this week. Nothing announced for next week. I assume the siege situation continues for another week. The arena must be getting low on nachos and mountain dew. Things could turn ugly….tune in next week!

Be sure to check out www.punshouse.com for more ROH reviews and general chatter. And if you are into fantasy wrestling, there is no fed better than the OOWF, just go to www.oowrestling.com and check us out in the fantasy thread! We have been going for over seven years now!

Week 76 from the Du Burns Arena in Baltimore, Maryland!

Recap of Davey Richards beating Jay Lethal last week. Kept very short.

Nigel and Kevin are in the ring, and they mention Richards win. Tonight, Roderick Strong faces Eddie Edwards and the winner gets a shot at Davey in Fort. Lauderdale. But first…..

…..we talk to Mike Bennett and OH MY GOD MARIA IS HOT. Lance Storm is either 105 (according to Maria) or 107 (according to Bennett). Recently they cut Storm’s leg off and counted the rings, he is, in fact, 111.

…..TJ Perkins thinks he has a chance against Bennett tonight. They are cute when they are that young.

TJ PERKINS vs. MIKE BENNETT w/OH MY GOD MARIA IS HOT – Perkins looks like he is going to Alex Shelley’s barber. It is not a good look. What is the deal with the whole skunk hair do? Not a good thing guys. Brutal Bob is back with Bennett and OH MY GOD MARIA IS HOT. One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn’t belong. Bennett gets a handful of Maria ass, and now I really hate him. I dig Perkins, even though he has no chance of winning this match. I would like to see them push him as a threat to Lethal’s title. They had a match a few months ago that was very good. Kelly says Perkins isn’t quick, he’s sudden. I really don’t know what that means. Maria helps Bennett reach the ropes, Perkins drags Bennett and Maria into the ring and we get a fantastic Maria ass shot. Oh and I guess Bennett got the win, but that is really secondary here. In all seriousness, Maria is still really the only good thing about Bennett. It’s a damn good thing, but still the only thing.

COMMERCIALS!

-Young Wolves Rising (still sounds like a gay porno). This sounds like a good card. We talk to Jay Lethal who does not think it will be a fair fight, he will face the Embassy. Ciampa thinks he will add another notch to his belt, but Jay Lethal is going to add a notch to HIS belt. TAKE THAT CIAMPA! Seriously, is it me, or does everything that comes out of both these guys sound very homoerotic?

-Veda Scott is talking to the Embassy Limited. Let’s test my theory. Ciampa has nothing to lose in NYC, Lethal has everything to lose. His confidence, his health, his career, his TV title. Ciampa is going to win and be the only undefeated champion in ROH history. Ok, he toned down the homoerotic stuff for this one.

GUY ALEXANDER vs. TOMASSO CIAMPA – Guy who? Ok, Guy Smiley takes on Tomasso Bad Tights. Seriously, his tights look like something cut out of curtains from 1972. The lawyer guy from the Embassy Limited looks like Kenneth Parcell (the guy from 30 Rock, my new obsession) in other words, very goofy. Evidently Doyle Alexander is coming back from a back injury or something. ROH folks, was this guy ever anything, or are they just trying to give a jobber a back story? The Sicilian Psychopath is a damn good nickname I gotta say. That was for Ciampa in case anyone was confused. Ciampa KILLS Guy Smiley with like six running knees to the face and the referee stops the match. Not really much of a match, but they made Ciampa look really good. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Ciampa takes the title off of Lethal. After the match Lethal had against Richards last week, I could see them pushing him for the world title.

INSIDE ROH

-Sunday March 4th, the 10th anniversary show…..which, since you are reading this on the 5th was yesterday. They are at the Hammerstein Ballroom, I liked when ECW ran there.
-The Briscoes still think the Bucks are pretty. They aren’t taking them lightly, but they may still rape them. Not that ROH condones rape
-Kevin Steen wears a top hat. I mean really, how can you not like this guy? Steen is happy to spend the night with Jacobs, they are going to let the champagne and blood flow. I want to party with Steen.
-Showdown in the Sun March 30 & 31. This is shaping up to be a pretty good card too. Richards faces the winner of the Strong/Edwards match in the 30th. Also, Bennett faces Lance Storm. Storm called ROH and asked for the match. Storm is moral like that. Also, WGTT face the Briscoes.
-All Night Express face the Bucks in a Dual Duel. Two matches, two nights. Street fight one night, tornado match the next. Sounds good. The Bucks said no to a street fight, but wanted a tornado match, but the officials made both matches anyway. Wait, I am confused. If the Bucks say they were too smart to let the ANX pick the stips, but then ROH made the match anyway……ok stop thinking.
-Chikara is going to be featured during the New York and Florida shows. I can’t say I know a thing about Chikara. Is that the stuff with Dr. Cube? Or Ebessan? Speaking of….as an aside here…..there is a YouTube clip of Ebessan and some other guy wrestling a match in slow motion, cracked me up, go look it up, totally worth it.

MAIN EVENT TIME!

RODERICK STRONG w/Truth Martini (who is nowhere near as hot as OH MY GOD MARIA IS HOT) vs. EDDIE EDWARDS

A guy in the crowd is wearing a Yo MTV Raps t-shirt. When they started taping this show, I think Yo MTV Raps was still on the air. I wonder what they do with all the streamers that are thrown into the ring? ROH should open a party store. Streamers R Us or something. Some back story here, Eddie beat Strong for the ROH title. He beat him in something called the Ringmaster Challenge, which I don’t know what that was either. Someone fill me in here. Also, Edwards beat Strong to in that insane 80 minute plus eight man tag match a month or so ago. So these two DO have a history. They recapped the whole Richards/O’Reily vs. Edwards/Cole thing, rather unnecessarily. Edwards hits a nice sliding dropkick while Strong was in the Tree of Woe. Slick move.

COMMERCIALS!

-Davey Richards talks about who he is going to face at the Ft. Lauderdale show. He is collecting heads in Florida because he is a Headhunter. Ok then.

LOCAL COMMERCIAL – commercial for some workers comp lawyer, a kid is all upset because his daddy got hurt and “now he can’t work so good no more” gotta love when local commercials push that stupid hick stereotype.

WE’RE BACK! Roddy gets the upper hand by some Truth shenanigans……just like a good manager should. Seriously, both TNA and WWE are missing the boat on bringing back good old-school managers. Strong lifts Edwards for a suplex, then just throws him at the ropes. Great dick move, great visual too. Truth distracts Eddie as he goes for the double stomp. Adam Cole comes out and KILLS Truth with a superkick. Not a smart move because now you have PISSED MICHAEL ELGIN RIGHT THE HELL OFF. Eddie does a suicide dive out of the ring that takes all of them out. With the referee distracted, Strong wraps something around his boot and hits the SICK KICK (I think that is what it is called) and gets the three count!

Waaaaaaait a second. Paul Turner comes out and calls Strong a dirty cheater. The referee’s argue, Eddie nails Strong with a superkick, ref bump and Turner counts the three count for Edwards. Well now this won’t do. We go to commercial, then come back and Jimmy Cornette is in the ring to be the voice of reason. We are all in trouble. Cornette takes a page out of the WWE’s Playbook of Thinking Well Within the Box and announces that Davey Richards will defend against Roderick Strong AND Eddie Edwards at Showdown in the Sun’s Friday show in what sounds like a TRUE triple threat match. Ok, I am not really a fan of Strong, but do we need ANOTHER Richards/Edwards match? Let him go do the tag team thing with Cole.

This was a really good match, though something bothered me. Edwards is not as bad at no-selling things as Davey Richards, but he probably spent 90% of the match on offense. Strong would hit a move, Edwards would sell it, for a few seconds, then almost immediately get the upper hand again.

Very good show. I have no idea what they are going to show next week, I assume they will show the 10th Anniversary show. Maybe I get to see Kevin Steen!

Hope you enjoyed the recap, feel free to leave comments here, or head to www.punshouse.com and leave a comment there. There is some damn fine stuff on that message board (also, if you like fantasy wrestling, drop me a line about the OOWF, OMG CHEAP PLUG!)

Make sure you check them out on the blog first......we need the hits.....then come here to discuss. ;D

Yeah, Jacobs had a painkiller addiction that actually got so bad, he wound up living out of his van for a while, and even told fans during a promo that he refused to wrestle his match unless they got him some.

Thankfully, he found out about his problems and dealt with them before he bacame yet another wrestling tragedy.

ahhh ok Future Shock. I saw them a few weeks ago, I forgot that was Adam Cole

well, this ep felt very light in wrestling. The Steen promo was great, but it probably took up 10-15 minutes of the show. On top of the weird triple Briscoes/Bucks promo, the whole thing felt a little flat

You know what would be cool? Punk / Bryan retain...and Punk wins the Rumble to challenge Bryan at Mania, and they go back to have one world champ.

If not that...than I say go with the idea Scott Keith posted on his blog and have the 28th and 29th guy left in the match eliminate each other as Jericho as coming to the ring as the 30th entrant.

I also want to point out the awesome reverse hurricanrana piledriver Coleman (or maybe Alexander, I can't really remember ) pulled off on Richards, that shit looked wicked.

I am super envious of Grizzly's beard. That being said, I hope Elgin gets the ROH title this year, or at least a solid run with the TV belt. He just looks brutal in his moves.

(this is something I wrote up on Monday regarding the Sunday night house show I attended. Don't feel like going back and fixing all "last night" references, so I'm just going to put that out from the start.)

The last time I went to a big-time pro wrestling show, Eddie was feuding with Angle. I think I skipped out on this hobby for the right amount of time-- by my lights pro-wrestling is just now re-scaling the heights that it had reached then.

Back then (between 2000 and 2004) I went to a few TV tapings when the show swung by Minneapolis where I lived at the time. But I had always eschewed the house shows. Big time Pro Wrestling with no pyro? No Titan-tron? Few promos? What's the point, right?

Wrong. I regret now not having tried the house shows before they swung near my current home of El Paso last night, because I had a blast! When they show house show footage on TV (like the house-show tag-title change from a couple weeks ago) it looks poorly lit and cut-rate, but in person it looks much, much better. There's a neon-encrusted entrance ramp and a big screen. (Unlike at a taping, they only use the screen for entrance music videos, but they have it, anyhow.)

I would have been happier with a couple more promos. Actually, make that different promos-- Punk instead of Swagger, say.

The show opened up with a battle royale, the winner of which would challenge for Rhodes's Intercontinental Championship. I was rooting for "R Truth" Ron Killings. He made it to near the end, but the Great White bore Seamus ended up taking it. Rhodes then came out to immediately take up the challenge. He made a mighty effort, but failed to make a Seamus match interesting. Seamus kept going past ten on that "chops in the ropes" spot he does, and got DQ'd.

Then Swagger came out to cut a mediocre promo and challenge anybody in the back. R Truth came out to accept the challenge! A thrill for me, as I've been a Killings mark going back to his K-Kwik days. This match was a ton of fun--at one point, Swagger starts doing push-ups on top of a prone Truth, prompting me to shout "YOU'RE TOUCHING HIS ASS, YOU KNOW"-- and ended with a surprise: Truth wins, and is announced as NEWWWW US champion. His celebration (and mine) are short-lived, as the Harvard lawyer dude, Otunga, comes out and claims that this was NOT a title match and Truth needs to give the belt back to Swagger. Sadly, he does not take my suggestion to give it back IN THE FACE!!

Then there was a women's match, AKA smoke break,

Wade Barrett came out and jawed a little about how he was going to get a tune-up for Orton by kicking the ass of one of his former proteges, DiBiase. DiBiase comes out, but then there's a last minute replacement, it's ORTON! Which is very exciting to everyone in the audience, except me. This turns into a pier six brawl for no discernible reason.

Then for the match I, for one, was waiting for: Brian Danielson aka Daniel Bryan versus the Big Show. The match reminded me of HBK versus Mankind at Mindgames-- excellent ring psychology and working Big Show's knee, unfortunately marred by a pointless run-in DQ ending. This is one of my favorite matches I've ever seen live and in person.

The penultimate match was Cena versus Kane. The atmosphere for Cena was electric, as always. Despite the fact that I've always been a fan, I admit that I joined in on the "Cena sucks" chants. I just wanted to be a part of the electricity, and my voice is just too deep to join in with the "Let's go Cena" kids. In person, thousands of children chanting in unison is... really CREEPY. Another screwy finish, with Kane pulling a DQ for hitting Cena with a chair. They each get their "heat" moment afterward, with Kane chokeslamming Cena, and then deciding to go back for more and getting Cena's FU/AA.

Finally, it's Punk time. The seamlessness of his entire mystique, from the iconography of his unmistakable wrist holding lightning in front of the Chicago flag, to the big-time and perfectly fitting Living Color theme song is stunning. The reaction he gets from the crowd is incredible. He and the Miz put on an excellent match (if a bit slow-starting). I have to admit though, Punk still needs somebody a bit more established than Miz (or Ziggler next week) to really feel like a main event. I hate to admit that, but it didn't real;y feel like a top match... yet. But the crowd loved him, and his moves of doom flow flawlessly together to lead up to the Go To Sleep.

In short, I can't wait for the show to swing to the edge of Texas again; whether it be a house show or a taping, I'll be there.

In regards to the Women's match, I'm kinda over Mickie getting title shots, so I really hope she loses. Either of the others would be fine, but I'm leaning more towards Tara/Victoria, just because I can not remember her ever having a legit run against Gail in either WWE or TNA. Plus with Gail having Madison in her corner, Tara can counter with Tessmacher to keep it from being a repeat of the Mickie story.

I am hoping for Storm/Roode over Hardy/Roode as a top level feud, but would also be all right if it stayed a 4 way battle up to the PPV. Bubba has been surprisingly great as a heel, and is one of the few guys who debuted prior to 2000 that I don't mind having around.

Alex Shelly being back makes me happy. Him no longer having a proper Mohawk makes me sad.

I also hope for more EY/ODB as they are a continual source of amusement for me. I also agree with Fire that ODB has been looking prettier lately, but I really had no problem with how she looked before, so take that as you will.

I miss USF.....

Just a bit of pre-amble from local fed Insane Championship Wrestling's sunday night show "Summerbam", where goofy heel William Grange opens a battle rap with his opponents for the evening:

FYI the Jim Brown he mentions is this guy.

We're back tonight at 10:30 eastern with Dom Vitalli. You might now know his name, but he's got some great stories. He recently had a WWE tryout, and was slected to have his ass handed to him by Wade Barrett in a squash on Superstars. Plus the usual cast of characters (including Buggy), and lots to talk about thanks to the WWE's overloaded RAW broadcast last night.

www.411mania.com/wrestling/news/195409

www.blogtalkradio.com/gregdemarco/2011/07/27/the-greg-demarco-show-presented-by-411maniawrestling

I actually want to check Warrior's 55 minute rant/shoot that is coming out on June 17th.

www.tmz.com/2011/06/08/ultimate-warrior-hulk-hogan-cocaine-drug-use-wife-sex-video-rant-feud-rivaly-wwe-wrestling-er-wife-swapper/

Some classic Randy Savage footage from the early 80s in ICW.


And his debut in Memphis.

Ok, so the show. TNA hasn't been doing a ton to keep me riveted lately. Here is what I remember about the show

- The Morgan-Anderson stuff is good in theory, but the execution seems......I dunno, forced? Despite my best efforts I am kind of enjoying Hardy as a heel, he just really gives off a good heel vibe right now. Though I will say if this was all an elaborate plot by Immortune to fool Anderson (or Morgan, really) I am going to be pissed

- So, maybe I missed this. Dixie got an injunction preventing Hogan from doing anything, but Eric is still basically free to do whatever he wants? This does not make much sense to me

- Pope seems to be turning heel perhaps? Why?

- Eric Young is the funniest thing on TNA right now. He is TNA's Santino, only 100x better in the ring. I am glad to see him and OJ get a win, doesn't hurt Gen Me at all

- I love the Velvet shopzone commercial

- I really wish TNA would get on board with the TV title being defended every week. A backstage brawl does not count as a title defense

- I found it hilarious that Tara was covering up, and acting indignant when the camera caught her in her bra. Has she not wrestled in numerous bra and panties matches?

- Robbie and Cookie are ten kinds of awful. Jay Lethal deserves better. Hopefully this is all behind him now and he can actually worry about wrestling and not ridiculous "Fist Pump Offs" (which sounds dirty)

- Taz and Tenay are the best announce duo since Brain and Gorilla

- Bully Ray? Meh. Feels A LOT like Big Bossman/The Boss/Guardian Angel 2010

I think that is all I recall right now. Probably missing some stuff, but this is WAY more than I would remember about RAW

Fire - I was supposed to write for that site, too. But the guy running it stopped e-mailing/texting me.

Got some great comments on the column this week. Some of them seem to ring a bell...





Way better than the double poster calling me a child molester.

Do you still have those "problems"?

Wow is Barry YOUNG there

On the Flair DVD, in the steamboat section, they do the exact same excerise with Steamboat. Still good too!