ROH Reclamation Night 2 DVD Review

ROH Reclamation Night 2 is out now on DVD and available from www.rohwrestling.com, priced at $19.99 (just over £12 plus shipping) Taped at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center in Dearborn, Michigan, USA. Continuing on theme from Reclamation Night 1, this show puts the Tag Team Division as a focal point of the show, with a tag team main event pitting The American Wolves against Michael Elgin and Jay Lethal, alongside Tommaso Ciampa taking on Silas Young, Adam Cole battling BJ Whitmer and seven other matches. 

Content Listing

World Tag Team Champion Kyle O'Reilly vs. Tadarius Thomas (11:57)

Four Way Women's Match

Athena vs. Jenny Rose vs. Leah Von Dutch vs. MsChif (9:57)

Silas Young vs. Tommaso Ciampa (14:55)

Adam Cole vs. BJ Whitmer (12:53)

Andy Muscant vs. Michael Bennett with Maria Kanellis (2:59)

Michael Bennett with Maria Kanellis vs. Rhino (8:12)

ACH vs. World Tag Team Champion Bobby Fish (12:52)

Kevin Steen vs. World Television Champion Matt Taven with The House of Truth (10:12)

Kevin Steen vs. Truth Martini with The House of Truth (4:40)

Tag Team Match

Jay Lethal & Michael Elgin vs. The American Wolves (23:34)

Special Features

Q&A with Nigel McGuinness

Post Show Recap 

Review

The second night of Reclamation had a lot to live up to, after the first night had provided a number of top quality contests. In a number of ways, this show struggles to do so, with the bouts notably shorter than the night before, and only the main event really managing to stand out amongst the card.

The main event of Jay Lethal teaming with Michael Elgin is exactly what you would expect from these four top ROH talents. It's a typical ROH style tag team bout, with plenty of action throughout. There are some quality sequences in the middle of the bout, with all four men getting involved in a series of moves, which look equally beautiful as they do choreographed. The only downfall of this match for me, was a slight pacing problem in the final third of the match, but the closing sequence quickly makes up for that. This works perfectly as the main event of the show and is certainly the best match on the card, showing that tag team wrestling can easily be the focal point of the show, hopefully ROH continues it's push on tag teams going forward.

Tommaso Ciampa's meeting with Silas Young is a solid outing, with a lot of good back and forth action. There's also some well worked spots thrown in as well, with a German Suplex onto the concrete being the highlight of the bout for me. Unfortunately, this one is let down by the finish, which feels more like WWE than ROH, and sets a precedent that the company can't really keep up. It will be interesting to see if ROH hand Young a contract soon, he's been in a string of impressive matches and could be an interesting addition to the full time roster.

Adam Cole vs. BJ Whitmer is hurt by an early botch, that effects the rest of the match. The two don't seem to connect at all in the ring, with a lot of awkward moments throughout. After Whitmer seemingly suffers a head injury due to the botch, Cole noticeably works weak when using moves around Whitmer's head, which is understandable, but the basic ROH camera set up lets him down, as at times it's so clear that he isn't connecting that it pulls you straight out of the match. There are some positives to this bout however, a solid combination of suplexes from Whitmer works very well, whilst the finish continues the build toward Cole's heel turn, which is gathering momentum nicely by this point.

Kevin Steen and World Television Champion Matt Taven have an entertaining encounter, with Steen dominating amongst a number of comedy spots. The finish leads to Steen calling for an impromtu match with Truth Martini, which is another comedy bout, that serves it's purpose well. World Tag Team Champion Bobby Fish takes on ACH in a high octane encounter, that would have benefitted from a little extra time. Fish's partner in reDRagon, Kyle O'Reilly takes on ACH's Adrenaline Rush partner, Tadarius Thomas is similarly effective in the time slot given, with a series of different strike sequences being the highlight. Michael Bennett runs through Andy Muscant in what is essentially a squash match, before Rhino stops Bennett inflicting further punishment, effectively turned Rhino face, and the two put on a decent short contest. A Women's Four Way bout featuring MsChif, Athena, Leah Von Dutch and Jenny Rose, is a lot of fun, especially once all four women get involved, with Von Dutch and Rose more than holding their own with the ROH regulars. 

The special features included a Q&A session with Nigel McGuinness prior to the show, which sound quality much improved from the night before and including an entertaining appearance from Jimmy Jacobs. The Post Show Recap is short and ultimately a little pointless. It would have been nice to see the show dark match appear as an extra, as on the previous night's DVD, as well.

Overall, there is a lot of good action on this show, with the main event especially really standing out. However, it can't quite stand up to the night before, and never really feels like anything of importance is actually happening. 

Top Three Matches from Reclamation Night 2

1. Jay Lethal & Michael Elgin vs. The American Wolves 

2. ACH vs. World Tag Team Champion Bobby Fish

3. Silas Young vs. Tommaso Ciampa

ROH Reclamation Night 1 DVD Review

ROH Reclamation Night 1 is out now on DVD and available from www.rohwrestling.com, priced at $19.99 (just over £12 plus shipping) Taped at The Turner Hall Ballroom in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA on 12th July 2013, the show fits between Jay Briscoe being stripped of the ROH Championship, and the start of the tournament to find a new champion. The main event sees then World Tag Team Champion Bobby Fish take on Davey Richards, alongside a Four Corner's Survival Match with Adam Cole, Michael Elgin, Jay Lethal and World Television Champion Matt Taven, World Tag Team Champion Kyle O'Reilly's bout with Eddie Edwards and five other contests.

Content Listing 

Tag Team Match

Adrenaline Rush vs. #PartyBoys (9:09)

Women's Match

Athena vs. MsChif (10:20)

BJ Whitmer vs. Michael Bennett with Maria Kanellis (9:50)

Eddie Edwards vs. World Tag Team Champion Kyle O'Reilly (20:30)

Rhino vs. Tommaso Ciampa (9:33)

Kevin Steen vs. Silas Young (7:59)

Four Corners Survival Match

Jay Lethal vs. Michael Elgin vs. World Television Champion Matt Taven with The House of Truth vs. Adam Cole (22:04)

Davey Richards vs. World Tag Team Champion Bobby Fish (22:46)

Special Features

Bobby Fish on Davey Richards

Q&A with Nigel McGuinness

Tag Team Match

Beer City Bruisers vs. Benjamin Boone & Cheeseburger

Review

ROH Reclamation Night 1 had a fairly tricky job to do, with no ROH World Champion at the time, and the tournament to crown a new champion still waiting to start, it could certainly have come across as the company treading water until All Star Extravaganza. Luckily, the empathasis on ROH's tag team division gave the show an identity of it's own. With members of the American Wolves facing World Tag Team Champion reDRagon in singles matches, and four of the competitors in the World Championship Tournament entering Four Corner's Survival there was a lot to enjoy on this show.

The main event between the American Wolves' Davey Richards and reDRagon's Bobby Fish was an extremely strong bout, with Bobby Fish really stepping it up to take on the former World Champion. If you're familiar with either Ricards or Fish, you'll know what to expect from this one. Both men drawing on their stays in Japan throughout, to create hard hitting, technical bout. There's ridiculous spot on the apron, in the closing stages of the bout that send the crowd crazy, and looks extremely painful, and along with a crazy dive to the outside from Richards, really raise this bout into something quite special. With both wrestlers partners heading out to the ringside by the end of the match, the finishing sequence builds up nicely and satisfactorily continues the feud between the two teams.

The Four Corners Survival match between Jay Lethal, Michael Elgin, Matt Taven and Adam Cole, begin as a series of different singles combination, with the competitors having to tag in and out of the ring. I'm not usually a fan of these kind of matches, the tag in/tag out system seems an illogical one, luckily the action here is good enough for me to look past it. There's a lot going on in this with, with all four men in the World Championship tournament, it's was a good indication of where ROH were going to go with the tournament. A lot of the bout is fought between eventually tournament finalist Elgin and Cole, giving the two to practice what they could do in that bout. Taven feels a little bit out of place with the bigger names, but is essentially there to take the brunt of the punishment from the faces, and will have come out of this a lot better than when he went in, even getting a nice false finish at The House of Truth got involved. With all four men involved in a crazy finishing sequence, this is a nice preview of what was to come with World title Tournament.

Without sounding like a broke record, Kyle O'Reilly and Eddie Edwards bout is another strong contest. With a much different feel to the main event between their tag team partners, building up slowly with a lot of reversals and a lot of good amatuer style wrestling. There's a strong sequence involving monkey flips and pinning variations that is really well put together and the match really picks up from there. Whilst the main event had a typical Japanese Strong style feel, this feels like typical ROH with a much more sports based style, with the two looking evenly matched throughout. The finishing sequence see's a nice exchange of submission holds, that keep the loser looking competitive, which is always good going forward.

The other bouts are a lot shorter than these three, but there's still a lot to enjoy. A women's bout between MsChif and Athena is a solid encounter between the two continuing their impressive run of matches for the company, with a shocking post match encounter. Michael Bennett and BJ Whitmer warm up for there World Championship tournament bout, it's just a shame that this is one of Whitmer's last ever matches. Tommaso Ciampa takes on Rhino in a bout that can't live it to the rest of the card, but is still entertaining in it's own right. The opening tag team bout between Adrenaline Rush and #PartyBoys has some nice spots but #PartyBoys still look out of their depth for ROH. Silas Young continues to impress, with a fun bout with former World Champion Kevin Steen. 

There's a couple of special features on this disc, with the highlight being a top quality promo from Bobby Fish on Davey Richards. Unfortunately, a Q&A session with Nigel McGuinness is harmed by poor sound quality and the lack of subtitles on the disc. A bonus match between Beer City Brawlers and ROH fan favourite Cheeseburger and Benjamin Boone is another nice addition to the set.

Overall, this is a very strong event from ROH, with a lot of strong action throughout, that does a good job of hiding the fact that there are no championship matches on the card. There's a lot to enjoy here, but when looked at it in the grand scheme of things, it's pretty inconsequential card, especially when put up against later events All Star Extravaganza and Manhatten Mayhem. It will still however be a nice addition to anyone's ROH collection. 

Top Three Matches from ROH Reclamation Night 1

1. Davey Richards vs. World Tag Team Champion Bobby Fish (22:46)

2. Eddie Edwards vs. World Tag Team Champion Kyle O'Reilly (20:30)

3. Four Corners Survival Match:

Jay Lethal vs. Michael Elgin vs. World Television Champion Matt Taven with The House of Truth vs. Adam Cole (22:04)

ROH TV 31st August 2013 Review

This week's edition of Ring of Honor TV saw the World Championship Tournament get into full swing, with two first round matches taking place. ROH's product seems to be reinvigorated as of late, with a real purpose behind what is shown on television. After the strong and some time over powering SCUM storyline, it's great to get back to what Ring of Honor does best, wrestling.

World Championship Tournament First Round Match: 

Mark Briscoe 

vs. 

Adam Cole

The main event this week pitted Adam Cole against a returning Mark Briscoe. We haven't seen Briscoe in the ring since his World Championship loss, to brother Jay Briscoe, at June's Best in the World. Briscoe later suffered a storyline concussion after multiple con-chair-tos at the hands of SCUM's Rhino, as a way to explain Briscoe's absense from the company after his contract ran out. Therefore, I was surprised when they announced that Briscoe would be part of this tournament. Cole has been put forward as one of the favourites for the tournament, down to having a couple of title shots recently, as well as a strong story, that has seen Cole almost turn heel on numerous occasion.

This was the first one on one meeting between Briscoe and Cole, and at points it showed. The early part of the match lacked flow and was difficult to follow, with no real story being put into the match. Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuiness did a good job on commentary putting over the idea of Briscoe's concussion and noting that Cole was delivering a number of blows to Briscoe's head, but with Briscoe not really selling the injury until later on in the match, audio didn't really match the images that were coming up on the screen. The most entertaining part of the match, for me, was when Briscoe launched into his “Redneck Kung-Fu” with numerous chops to Cole's head, and this is where the match really got going. With some well worked near falls, one off of a huge knee from Cole and the other off of Briscoe's Froggy-Bo, I was beginning to get into the contest, with Briscoe finally selling the head injury and beginning to look tired in the ring.

The finish saw referee Todd Sinclair check over Briscoe, for quite some time, holding Cole back, only for Cole to superkick Briscoe in the head and finish him off with his brother's finishing move, The Jay Driller for the pinfall victory and to advance to face Jay Lethal in the Quarter Finals of the tournament. I thought this was a very strong ending, that played off of the concussion angle well, as well as furthering momentum for Cole's heel turn. It was a shame that the earlier part of the match felt so disjointed from the rest of the bout, as the final couple of minutes were very strong. It made sense for Cole to go over here with Briscoe no longer under contract for the company, and to have Briscoe put Cole over gives him a ton of momentum in the tournament.

So, how far do I think Adam Cole can go in this tournament? Pretty far, I wouldn't be surprised to see him make at least the Semi Final stage. I would imagine that at some point during the tournament, we will see the pay-off and Cole will finally turn heel, supposedly with some help from Steve Corino who continues to be referenced as a “friend” of Adam Cole, and from last week's Inside Ring of Honor, we know that Corino is not completely gone from the company. Corino and Cole could make a good on screen duo, with Corino in more of an advisory role than we've seen him in before, but I can't help but thinking that it is way to close to the end of SCUM to bring back Corino on television. Personally, I'd rather see Cole go it alone for sometime, before revealing Corino as the mastermind of it all, maybe even having Cole turn on Corino to really put him over as a heel.

Best of the Rest (In The World)

Elsewhere on ROH TV, we got a confrontation between four of the wrestlers scheduled to take part in the World Championship Tournament. First out was tournament favourite Michael Elgin, who cut a decent promo about not wanting to have to the title handed to him, and not being scared of anyone in the tournament. This brought out former World Champion Kevin Steen, who had a few things to say to Elgin, about when Steen retained his title against Elgin at last October's Glory By Honor. Steen's charisma clashes nicely with Elgin's more serious delivery. Out next was Mike Bennett, accompanied by Maria Kanellis, with Bennett once again looking strong on the microphone, proclaiming himself the future of ROH, whilst the other two were the past. The whole Mike Bennett/Michael Bennett thing though is a bit silly. Last out was Tommaso Ciampa, who went head to head with each of the three men in the ring, before looking straight into the camera and declaring himself the next World Champion to close the segment. Ciampa's entry was refreshing after hearing so much talk from the other three, Ciampa's attitude certainly stands out. It was a good little segment, that was reminiscent of a WWE Raw or Smackdown opening that were common place a few years back.

Elgin, Steen and Ciampa would all have to be considered favourites in the tournament, due to the way they have been booked over the last two years or so. But the really interesting participant in this segment for me was Michael Bennett. Bennett has shuffled around the mid-card for ROH for the last few years, with a couple of World Television title shots, and being chosen to take on veterans like Lance Storm and Jerry Lynn, so this tournament could be used to reposition Bennett higher up the card, this segment was a good start let's see if ROH continue this way for Bennett. The tournament could be used to help a number of talents at the same time, Bennett being one of them, whilst giving new purpose to wrestlers like Roderick Strong.

In another World Championship First Round Match, Karl Anderson took on ACH. The bout was an exciting encounter, taking the form of a David vs. Goliath contest. With Anderson's using power moves and precision to keep ACH grounded throughout the opening part of the match, we were treated to a number of fast paced comebacks from ACH, with a plethora of highflying moves, including a great springboard to the outside. The match built up well with a number of near falls for ACH including one off of The Best 450 Ever, where it seemed like ACH might have pulled off the upset victory. But it wasn't enough for ACH, as after he went for another Best 450 Ever, but missed, Anderson capitalised with an Ace Crusher to pick up the pinfall victory and advance to the quarter finals, where he'll face either Michael Elgin or Paul London. I enjoyed the finish, it quick and pacy with a number of near falls to keep things interesting, with ACH looking competitive until the end. ACH is certainly one to watch in the next few years for Ring of Honor.

Matt Taven was also in action defending his title against Brian Fury. The match was essentially there to get the H.O.T over, with a lot of interference from the group throughout. Fury, at times, looked sloppy with a number of awkward looking moves, including a bridging pinfall attempt that went woefully wrong, which was a shame after Fury put in an impressive performance in the four way match last week. There were two nice false finishes, the first saw Truth Martini distracting the referee, giving Kaycee Ray the opportunity to hit a diving hurracanrana on Fury, with Taven following up with a Frog Splash for a near fall, the other saw Fury use the same move he used to finish Vinny Marseglia last week but to no avail. The finish actually saw Taven win cleanly after hitting Climax for the pinfall victory and to retain his World Television Championship. It was good to see Taven win clean here, as I've mentioned before the best heels are the ones that can win cleanly, but choose not to, therefore this win showing that Taven can win clean, can only be a good thing for the World Television Champion.  

Finally...

My final thoughts on this week's ROH TV.

1. Adam Cole vs. Mark Briscoe could have been a lot better than it was.

2. Michael Bennett is someone who could gain a lot in the ROH World Championship Tournament.

3. ACH is definitely someone to look out for within ROH and Independent wrestler. 

ROH TV 6th July 2013 Review

Overall, this was a solid outing for Ring of Honor, with their first original weekly show since Best in the World on June 22^nd. Each match brought something new to the table and therefore the hour seemed to fly by, unlike certain TV shows from other promotions. However, it did feel like I was sitting in a time machine for most of the episode. With Ring of Honor filming four weeks of television on June 23^rd, this meant what I was witnessing was two weeks old, and a lot has happened to ROH in those last two weeks. The biggest change being the departure of The Briscoes, including former World Champion Jay Briscoe, but because of the filming schedule Briscoe is to continue as ROH World Champion for the next three weeks of television, even if the website says otherwise. ROH is in desperate need of a new schedule for Television, and should really stop letting their Champions depart the company whilst still holding gold.

World Television Championship Match: 

Eddie Edwards vs. Matt Taven © with HoT

Now two weeks ago at Best in the World 2013, we saw Matt Taven retain his World Television Championship in a three way match against both SCUM’s Jimmy Jacobs and Jay Lethal, whilst Eddie Edwards teamed with Davey Richards to defeat Adrenaline Rush. Somehow this all meant that Eddie Edwards was next in line for a World Television Title Match. Obviously, Eddie Edwards has done a lot in Ring of Honor, becoming the first Triple Crown winner in company history back in March 2011 and therefore commands a lot of respect within the company, however I can’t quite get my head around the logic that saw him getting a title match here against Taven. I can understand why ROH would want Taven in the ring with Edwards, it just wasn’t explained particularly well in terms of story.

The match, of course, was a terrific display of athletism, with both men working hard to create an exciting back and forth contest, that really allowed Taven to shine. The match was soundly wrestled, with a strong technical element with both men coming up with some nice reversals and high spots interspersed throughout the contest to build the momentum into the finish. A nice spot saw Taven get hung in the tree of woe, but instead of facing into the ring, he was on the other side of the ropes, allowing Edwards to hit and impressive dropkick from the outside. Edwards got the fans on his side well, by allowing them to hold Taven as he hit a couple of knife edge chops, much to the disdain of Steve Corino on commentary. Meanwhile, Truth Martini continued to be an asset for Taven helping him garner heat simply by being a ringside.

As the match headed towards a conclusion the pace really picked up with momentum switching sides almost constantly for about five minutes. Truth Martini’s involvement was also upped as the match progressed with Martini tripping Edwards from the outside on a number of occasions. Edwards did a lot to help Taven look like a legitmate competitor in this contest, as we saw Taven kick out of a number of Edward’s signature moves which looked to have ended the match. The end saw the culmination of Martini’s involvement as he distracted the referee, to allow Taven to attempt to hit Edwards with the World Television Title belt, only for Edwards to duck, but get distracted by Selezia of the Hoopla Hotties, allowing Taven to hit his Arm Trap Headlock Driver for the three count and to retain his World Television Championship. It was good ending for me, because it looked like Taven didn’t really need the outside interference to get the win, therefore keeping Taven from looking like a weak champion, whilst the interference allowed him to keep the heat following the victory. It’s easier to hate someone who doesn’t need to cheat, but cheats anyway than someone who just cheats.

For me, this was the biggest victory of Taven’s ROH career, beating a former World Champion is not something to be scoffed at. The performance as well was also amongst Taven’s best, in match where it would have been easy for him to coast of the ability of Eddie Edwards he did not and brought his A game making this an enjoyable television contest. I can see a lot in the future of Matt Taven and with the House of Truth by his side and what looks like is going to be a long Television Title reign, it looks like Ring of Honor has big plans for him coming up. 

Best of the Rest (In The World)

Elsewhere, Match Maker Nigel McGuiness came to the ring to discuss the Steel Cage Warfare match that will take place on the 27^th July edition of the show. McGuiness revealed that Mark Briscoe would be unable to compete in the match, due to injuries sustained at Best in the World. Obviously, we all know the Mark is done with Ring of Honor for the time being and therefore ROH would have to find a replacement. It looked like ROH had found a ready made replacement for Briscoe, when Kevin Steen made his way to the ring. The passion that both men bring to their promos made this part of the segment particularly enjoyable as you really felt what his fued meant to these men. There was some nice continuity as well, which is often forgotten in wrestling, with McGuiness reluctant to allow Steen into the match due to him originally being the leader of SCUM.

Before we could get an answer either way from McGuiness, SCUM member Jimmy Jacobs, Rhett Titus, Cliff Compton and Rhino made their way to the ring targeting Steen. With Michael Elgin, Jay Lethal and BJ Whitmer heading out to make the save for Steen, with the two sides battling in side the ring, it would seem like we have our complete Steel Cage Warfare mach for July 27^th even if Nigel McGuiness is yet to officially announce Kevin Steen as part of Team Ring of Honor.

There was also action involving the Women of Honor, involving Veda Scott and MsChif. This was a good match, not just a good women’s match, but a good match. Thee was clearl psychology going in with Veda playing the plucky young face, and MsChif the wiley and powerful veteran. They also weren’t afraid to go outside the ring either which always adds a different element to these kinds of matches with Veda getting sent into the barricade by MsChif, and take a German suplex onto the arena floor. After a number of near falls for each competitor, MsChif eventually picked up the victory with Obliteration. I’m surprised at the fact that Ring of Honor still don’t have Women’s Championship, with so many talented women at their disposle, surely giving these women something to fight over would only help to develop their division and the exposure gained from Ring of Honor surely help further these women’s careers.

Elsewhere Silas Young faced Adam Page in the surprise contest of the night. Before the contest Young cut a misogynistic promo, about the previous Women of Honor contest, saying women should remain in the kitchen and that he was a real man. What followed was a hard hitting brawl between Page and Young that really got the crowd going, impressive considering these two are relative unknowns to Ring of Honor. The highlight of the match for me saw Page superplex Young off the barricade onto the arena floor, which provided some impressive visuals. After some good chain wrestling between the two, Page picked up a shock victory with a victory roll. After the contest Young continued to attack Page and had be physically removed by security. This match really helped to set up both Young and Page, with a good mixture of brutal looking spots and technical wrestling showing what each wrestler can do well. I hope to see more from both in the future.

The Number One Contenders to the World Tag Team Championships were also in action as C&C Wrestle Factory faced the debuting Jon Silver and Alex Reynolds. This match was basically there to make C&C looked good heading into their title bout with reDRagon next week on ROH on Sinclair and it did exactly that. With Silver and Reynold getting in limited offence, although just enough to show us they can also go in the ring, C&C’s high flying skills really came into their own. With Adrenaline Rush also appearing on the entrance ramp, C&C turned it up a notch picking up the victory in a good closing sequence with their Over Time finishing move sealing the deal. It’s been great to watch C&C develop as a tag team over the last two years of Ring of Honor and hopefully they will be rewarding with a tag team title run sooner rather than later. A feud with Adrenaline Rush wouldn’t go a miss either!  

Finally...

 

What have I learnt from this weeks ROH on Sinclair?

1. Matt Taven is more than capable of having a fantastic match, he really impressed me this week.

2. ROH remembers continuity, making the show even more satisfying.

3. It is not satisfying however to know that so much has changed since this next three episode have been filmed that a lot of it will be redundant, such as Jay Briscoe's upcoming World Title defense against SCUM's Matt Hardy.