ROH: Revolution: USA Review

May 6th, 2011 in Dearborn, Michigan

Current Champions
ROH World Champion: Eddie Edwards (since 3/19/11)
ROH World Tag Team Champions: Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin) (since 4/1/11)
ROH World Television Champion: Christopher Daniels (since 12/10/10)

Opening Match: Homicide vs. Tommaso Ciampa
They trade punches and Homicide hits a butterfly suplex. A distraction from Ernesto Osiris allows Ciampa to connect with a clothesline. Ciampa hits a chinbreaker and takes control. He teases a facewash kick but instead decides to pander to the crowd with the Embassy sign. Homicide comes back with a tornado DDT and rolling suplexes. Ciampa responds with a sit-out gourdbuster. He goes outside and grabs a chair but Homicide takes him out with a dive. In the ring, Homicide hits an ace crusher but gets distracted by the Embassy. Prince Nana gives Ciampa a foreign object behind the referee’s back and he uses it to knockout Homicide for the win at 8:25. I’m not quite sure what this match accomplished, as Ciampa obtained a somewhat cleaner win over Homicide last month. Every attempt at a feud involving the Embassy just seems to become repetitive and uninteresting for some reason. This contest played out exactly how you would expect and they about matched their previous outing. **

The Embassy try to attack Homicide after the match but he fights them off. He lays out Osiris with the Cop Killa and stands tall.

Match #2: Michael Elgin vs. Andy Ridge
Elgin shrugs off a side headlock by utilizing his power. He takes down Ridge with a shoulder tackle. Elgin catches Ridge on a dive attempt and suplexes him onto the floor. Back in, Elgin takes over, applying an impressive japanese stranglehold-gory special type submission. Ridge fights back with a slingshot ace crusher and connects with a series of kicks. Elgin hits a half nelson suplex followed by a powerbomb for the victory at 7:32. It seems as though Ridge has been forgotten about after being given some attention with his “trial series” late last year. He didn’t contribute anything special to this match, which ended up being a showcase for Elgin. *½

Steve Corino makes his way to the ring. He says that he is an evil person but he is trying to change every day by helping younger talent in ROH. He tried to help Christopher Daniels, but it didn’t work out as Daniels joined the House of Truth. Corino admits that he ventured off his road to recovery by cheating against Mike Bennett. He took some time off but was in contact with an old friend. This “old friend” is also on the road to recovery and wants back in Ring of Honor. This man is now Corino’s sponsor. Mike Bennett interrupts and Corino apologizes for cheating. Corino tells Bennett to quit being an entertainer and start being a professional wrestler. Bennett replies by saying that no one has Corino’s back and promises to make him fall off the wagon. They almost come to blows but Grizzly Redwood comes out…

Match #3: Mike Bennett vs. Grizzly Redwood
Bennett punches Corino but almost gets caught by a rollup. Grizzly connects with a basement dropkick but walks into a spinebuster. Bennett takes control until Grizzly connects with an enzuigiri and hits a DDT. Brutal Bob interjects himself but Corino chases him away. Bennett hits a bucklebomb along with a piledriver for the win at 4:12. I think the story here is effective, with Grizzly having to fight Corino’s battles while not fully trusting him. However, it doesn’t necessarily lead to quality matches and this show is off to a slow start. *

Bennett lays out Corino with a uranagi after the match and informs him that he will fall off the wagon again.

Match #4: First Blood Match: Jay and Mark Briscoe vs. Kenny King and Rhett Titus
The All Night Express attack before the opening bell. The Briscoes throw them into the barricade and everyone brawls around ringside. Mark throws a chair at King, who responds with a suplex onto the floor. Titus hits a leaping bulldog on Jay. He attempts a dive but Mark catches him with a boot. King lands a rolling senton off the apron onto Mark. In the ring, King connects with a spin kick on Mark. Jay connects with a yakuza kick on Titus and the Briscoes isolate him. I hate the fact that this match has settled down into a regular tag team match. Titus sends Jay face-first into a chair and makes the tag. King connects with a series of kicks on Mark and Titus adds a dropkick. People start randomly low blowing each other and this action is all over the place. Jay rams King into an exposed turnbuckle but he doesn’t bleed. Titus takes out Jay with a corner yakuza kick. Mark hits a top rope ace crusher on Titus and trades strikes with King. The action goes back to the floor where King knees Mark into the barricade. Jay catches Titus coming off the apron with a chair shot. King lands a dive to the floor onto Jay. Mark is busted open but the referee doesn’t see him. Titus gets to his feet and is also bleeding. The referee sees Titus, giving the Briscoes the victory at 13:48. I never liked the idea of a first blood match and in this case, the stipulation definitely hurt more than it helped. The match transitioned from a chaotic brawl to a standard tag team match for no reason and I didn’t feel a great sense of hatred between both teams. The finish also left a bad taste and came at a time when the match was seemingly finding its groove. However, after a great contest last month, I have confidence that these two teams will be able to get their feud back on track. **¼

The All Night Express hit their backbreaker-flying knee drop combination on Jay after the match. A bloodied Mark pulls his partner out of the ring. King grabs a microphone and proposes a Chicago Street Fight at Supercard of Honor VI.

Match #5: Christopher Daniels vs. Colt Cabana
In a promo before the match, Daniels explains how reading the Book of Truth has affected him. Basically, he doesn’t care about the fans anymore because they only want the truth when it’s convenient. He also says that the ROH World Television Title will not be defended until a decision is made about the future of the belt. A distraction by Truth Martini allows Daniels to attack before the opening bell. Cabana tries for an early Billy Goat’s Curse to no avail. He uses some creative mat wrestling to frustrate Daniels. Martini interjects himself once again and Daniels takes control. Cabana comes back with a flying hip attack and a springboard moonsault. He connects with corner punches. Daniels dodges the flying asshole and Martini hits Cabana with the Book of Truth. Daniels follows with Angel’s Wings for the win at 9:04. The crowd was vocal for the entirety of this contest and I was curious to see what these two could do together. Unfortunately, this match ended rather abruptly and the action never reached a higher gear. The good news is that Daniels proved to be effective in his new role and should be a great addition to the House of Truth. **½

Match #6: Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas vs. Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly
Haas takes control on the mat against Cole. Cole comes off the middle rope with a leg lariat and Haas falls victim to a double team flapjack and stereo basement dropkicks. Shelton and O’Reilly trade the advantage on the mat and find themselves at a stalemate. Shelton catches O’Reilly with a shoulderbreaker and Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team begin to work over his left arm. Cole and O’Reilly take down Haas with a northern lights suplex. Haas responds with an overhead suplex on Cole and WGTT isolate him. The champions do an excellent job of targeting Cole’s back. He connects with an enzuigiri on Shelton and makes the tag. O’Reilly snaps off a headscissors on Shelton and a hurricanrana on Haas. Cole and O’Reilly connect with stereo superkicks. Cole lands a dive to the floor onto Haas while O’Reilly takes down Shelton with a flying crossbody. O’Reilly hits a bulldog on Shelton but gets caught by a stiff kick from Haas. Shelton connects with a superkick on O’Reilly and WGTT take control with some double teaming. Shelton plants O’Reilly with a flatliner for the victory at 17:36. There always seems to be something about WGTT’s matches that puzzles me. I often find that while their matches are worthwhile, the action tends to drag on for too long and seems forced. However, Haas and Shelton effectively focused their offense around Cole’s back and made the long middle portion of this contest interesting. Once the match broke down, things were going great until the abrupt ending. While Cole and O’Reilly were able to shine during parts of this match, a stronger fight down the stretch would have really made them look special. Still, this contest pumped some energy into the show as it was the solid outing that you would expect from these two teams. ***¼

Match #7: No Disqualification: El Generico vs. Roderick Strong
Truth Martini appears on the entrance ramp and distracts Generico while Strong comes through the crowd and attacks from behind. Generico fights back with a series of clotheslines and chases Martini. Strong catches him with a baseball slide and they trade chops at ringside. Strong hits a scoop slam onto the floor. Generico uses the barricade to land a moonsault and follows with a flying crossbody in the ring. The action goes back to the floor where Generico connects with a chair shot across Strong’s back. They battle on the apron and Strong hits a uranagi. He takes over until Generico yakuza kicks him off the apron. Martini stops Generico from diving. On the outside, Generico plants Strong with a tornado DDT and hits a blue thunder bomb in the ring. Strong tries to use the Book of Truth but Generico stops him. They trade strikes and Strong hits a backbreaker for a nearfall. He drops Generico midsection-first across a propped chair and connects with the Sick Kick. Strong transitions into the Stronghold but Generico is able to escape the hold. Generico hits an overhead suplex into a chair for a two count. He brings a table into the ring. Strong connects with a quick superkick but Generico boots him onto the table. Generico puts Strong through the table with a top rope splash for a nearfall. He follows with a brainbuster but Martini breaks up the pin attempt. Michael Elgin runs to the ring but gets low bridged to the floor. Generico yakuza kicks Martini and hits another brainbuster on Strong. Elgin pulls the referee out of the ring and Christopher Daniels attacks Generico from behind. Elgin sets up another table in the ring. Colt Cabana makes the save and gives Generico some breathing room. Generico takes out Daniels and Elgin with a dive to the floor. Back in, Generico connects with a corner yakuza kick on Strong. They battle up top and Strong delivers a low blow. Strong slams Generico through the table for the win at 20:48. As I’ve said before, these two have great chemistry and were able to effectively utilize weapons without ever over-relying on them. I would say that this match was on par with their encounter from last month. They were on their way to matching their outing at SoCal Showdown II but the interference from the House of Truth held this contest back. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but if this match was being contested under no disqualification rules, why didn’t the House of Truth just interfere when the opening bell rang? Why wait fifteen minutes to help Strong? Generico and Strong delivered on their end; I just wish that ROH would let them have a classic. ***½

Match #8: Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli vs. Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards
The Kings of Wrestling attack before the opening bell. Hero connects with a stomp-roaring elbow combination on Edwards. Claudio giant swings him into a basement dropkick from Hero. Richards lands a dive to the floor onto Claudio and boots him into the front row. Richards follows with a dive over the barricade onto Claudio. Edwards superkicks Hero but runs into a saito suplex. Hero plants Edwards with a liger bomb. Claudio wheelbarrow slams Richards into the barricade. The Kings work over Edwards until fights them off with an impressive series of moves and makes the tag. Richards connects with multiple kicks, punting Hero from the apron. He jumps off the apron and DDTs Claudio onto a chair at ringside. Back in, Richards connects with a missile dropkick on Claudio. Sara Del Rey holds Richards’ feet. Claudio tries the UFO but Richards rolls through into an ankle lock. Hero catches Richards with an elbow and Claudio hits the UFO. Richards impressively responds with a unique northern lights suplex on Hero. He hurricanranas Claudio and follows with an exploder. Hero and Edwards trade mafia kicks. Edwards superkicks Hero to the floor and hip tosses Claudio over the top rope. He follows out with an asai moonsault. In the ring, Edwards connects with a missile dropkick on Hero and hits a fisherman buster. Hero answers with a roaring elbow but gets caught by a lungblower. Edwards hits a tiger suplex and trades pin attempts with Hero to no avail. Richards connects with an Alarm Clock on Hero and the American Wolves follow with their superkick-german suplex combination. Hero fights off the Wolves with elbows and murders Edwards with a roaring mafia kick. He nails Edwards with the Deathblow for a nearfall. Edwards synchs in the achilles lock on Hero but Claudio breaks it up with a DDT. The Wolves hit stereo saito suplexes and german suplexes. Edwards applies the achilles lock on Hero while Richards locks in a cross armbreaker on Claudio. Richards DDTs Claudio on the outside and german suplexes Hero from the middle rope. Edwards connects with a flying double stomp on Hero and Richards follows with one of his own. Edwards goes back to the achilles lock on Hero. Claudio tries to break the hold with repeated boots to no avail. Richards misses a charge and accidentally runs into Edwards. Hero connects with the Deathblow on Edwards for the victory at 23:22. Both teams were working extremely hard and this was just twenty-three minutes of excellent tag team wrestling. The match got off to an interesting start with the Kings trying to get the win early by attempting finishers in the opening minutes. In fact, there were numerous moments throughout this contest where Hero would try to send a message to Edwards and I have high expectations for their upcoming title match. The finishing stretch featured a lot of fast-paced action but everything was fluid and the crowd contributed by staying vocal. This was simply a fantastic main event between two of the best teams in the world. ****

Shane Hagadorn orders Hero to attack Edwards after the match. Richards makes the save for his partner. Edwards questions Richards about the miscommunication and says that he can handle himself. Richards looks disappointed as Edwards walks away.

Overall: After a slow start, Revolution: USA picks up after having three worthwhile matches to close the show. However, I have a hard time deciding whether or not this show should earn a recommendation. The WGTT match and Strong/Generico could have reached another level with better finishes. In fact, Strong and Generico had a much better match earlier this year. Combine those frustrations with the weak undercard and I’m not sure if the fantastic main event is enough to compensate. Ultimately, you should evaluate how much the last three matches mean to you and make your decision from there. In my opinion, this show deserves a slight recommendation.