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Live Strong on June 30th, 2012 in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania
Opening Match: Kyle O’Reilly vs. Jay Lethal
O’Reilly reminds everyone that he didn’t tap out to Adam Cole at Best in the World. As far as he’s concerned, he won that match because he sent Cole to the emergency room. They begin with some chain wrestling and find themselves at a stalemate. They dodge each other’s kicks and we’re back to where we started. Lethal cartwheels into a basement dropkick and hits a backbreaker. He locks in a modified indian deathlock. O’Reilly finds an opening to apply a cross armbreaker for a brief amount of time and starts working over the left shoulder. He even counters the Lethal Injection into another cross armbreaker. Lethal comes back with a handspring back elbow and an enzuigiri. He lands a dive to the floor and connects with Hail to the King back in the ring. O’Reilly wins a strike exchange and hits a saito suplex. Lethal connects with a corner dropkick and a superkick. Lethal back handsprings into the Lethal Injection for the win at 10:25. O’Reilly is already starting to come into his own as a heel. The crowd was heavily into the action and O’Reilly deserves a lot of credit for that. They worked really well together and delivered some innovative exchanges in what was an effective opener. ***
The locker room surrounds the ring for a ceremony in honor of Bruno Sammartino. Bruno talks about his history in Ring of Honor and thanks everyone involved with the show tonight.
Match #2: Adam Cole vs. Pepper Parks
Some quick pin attempts from both men yield nearfalls. Parks barely avoids a superkick and backs off. He elevates Cole to the apron and dropkicks him to the floor. Cole blocks a dive attempt with an enzuigiri. He follows with a missile dropkick. Parks anticipates a charge and catches Cole with a knee strike. They exchange strikes and Parks hits a powerslam. They collide after both attempting a crossbody. Cole connects with an enzuigiri and a shining wizard for a nearfall. He hits a fireman’s carry neckbreaker. Parks blocks a superkick and hits a fisherman neckbreaker for a two count. Cole misses a flying crossbody. Parks comes off the top rope with a neckbreaker for a two count. Cole connects with a superkick out of nowhere and hits a straight jacket german suplex for the victory at 9:34. This was a lot more competitive than I expected, especially since Cole just won the World Television Title. Commentary referenced Parks being a veteran of professional wrestling and his experience did not go unnoticed. I could see Ring of Honor booking Parks again, so it’s helpful that he took Cole to the limit here. **¾
Match #3: Mike Bennett vs. Mike Mondo vs. Kenny King vs. Mike Sydal
Bennett and Mondo get into each other’s faces early on. Sydal low bridges King to the floor but Bennett cuts him off from diving. Bennett military presses Sydal onto King. Mondo clotheslines Bennett to the outside and follows out with a twisting plancha. Bennett sends Mondo into the barricade. Sydal takes out King with a dive. Bennett hits a spinebuster on Sydal, driving him into the apron. He works over Sydal in the ring until Sydal avoids a charge and makes the tag. King connects with a spin kick on Bennett and an enzuigiri on Mondo. He follows with a spinebuster on Mondo. Sydal lands a moonsault onto King and Mondo. A four-way sleeper hold ensues. King connects with shotgun knees on Mondo. Bennett plants King with the Box Office Smash. Sydal lands a standing moonsault onto Bennett. Mondo hits a double-arm DDT on Sydal for the win at 11:25. After a rough start, they found a rhythm together and produced a fun yet unspectacular four corner survival. Mondo has very little sympathy amongst Ring of Honor fans but he’s been bringing it in the ring on the past couple of shows. I dislike the “we’ll throw these guys into a four corner survival because we have nothing else for them” mentality, but this was fine for what it was. **½
Match #4: Eddie Edwards vs. Tommaso Ciampa
Ciampa attacks Prince Nana out of frustration before the match. Referees carry Nana to the back while Princess Mia and RD Evans stay at ringside to second Ciampa. They have a fast-paced exchange and find themselves at a stalemate. Edwards slaps Ciampa twice, which just angers him. Edwards connects with a hesitation dropkick followed by a sliding dropkick from the floor. Ciampa connects with a northern lariat and takes over. Edwards catches him with a gamengiri. Ciampa fights off a backpack chinbreaker and hits a wheelbarrow german suplex. Edwards lures him to the floor and lands a moonsault off the apron. Edwards hits an overhead suplex onto the floor and lays in a running kick in the ring. He comes off the middle rope with a lungblower and synchs in a half crab. Ciampa quickly reaches the bottom rope. Edwards connects with a superkick but gets caught by a facewash knee strike. They battle on the middle rope and Ciampa hits an air raid crash. Edwards hurricanranas out of Project Ciampa for a nearfall. He applies a half crab but Ciampa kicks out of the hold. Ciampa connects with a dropkick from his knees. Edwards surprises him with a rollup for the victory at 16:08. These two had great chemistry together and this match was perfect for its place on the card leading into intermission. The attack on Nana before the match was satisfying in that the storyline is finally heading somewhere, and that set the tone for a contest that reached its full potential. If Ciampa is going to start losing on a consistent basis, it helps to have quality matches as well. ***½
Match #5: BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs
They immediately exchange punches. The action goes to the outside where Jacobs gets sent into the barricade. He drop toe holds Whitmer into a chair at ringside. Jacobs misses a charge and collides with the barricade. They continue brawling and Jacobs uses a chair to land a flying elbow drop. In the ring, Jacobs hurricanranas Whitmer into the middle turnbuckle and connects with a yakuza kick. He takes control until Whitmer comes back with various strikes and a suplex combination. Jacobs springboards off the middle rope and hits an ace crusher. Whitmer responds with a twisting neckbreaker-fisherman suplex combination. Jacobs hits the Contra Code for a two count. He finds knees on a top rope senton. Whitmer suplexes out of the End Time, but Jacobs reapplies the hold. Whitmer sends them both over the top rope to finally break the End Time. Kevin Steen distracts Whitmer, allowing Jacobs to win via countout at 11:41. After the match, Whitmer says that nothing was settled tonight and the feud will continue. I don’t think it’s possible for Jacobs and Whitmer to have a bad match together. The finish was deflating, but I think it plays into Steen’s mission of tainting Ring of Honor by giving everyone an indecisive finish to an old feud when we all wanted a decisive one. I hope that ROH gives this issue a proper conclusion. ***
Match #6: Rhett Titus vs. Charlie Haas
Haas argues with just about every fan in the front row. One man even jumps the barricade to get into Haas’ face. Titus takes advantage of the distractions and sends Haas into the barricade. In the ring, Titus hits a thesz press and reigns down punches. Haas hip tosses him over the top rope and hits a back suplex onto the edge of the barricade. Titus tries to sunset flip into the ring but Haas puts his knee out and catches him with a backbreaker. Haas takes over until Titus fights back with a neckbreaker and a powerslam. Haas hits a german suplex and a belly to belly suplex. He brings a chair into the ring. Titus sneaks in a rollup for a nearfall. Haas connects with a boot and grabs the title belt. Titus steals it but the referee stops him from using it. Haas hits a DDT onto the chair behind the referee’s back for the victory at 14:14. And everyone lets out a collective sigh. These are the types of finishes that we’ve come to expect from a feud involving Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team. The action was bordering on enjoyable and there was some nice back and forth counter wrestling to be found, but the finish just left too bad of a taste. **¼
Match #7: Jay and Mark Briscoe vs. Michael Elgin and Rhino
Elgin catches Mark in mid-air for a powerslam. Mark hits a chinbreaker on Rhino and connects with a flying knee strike. Jay adds a lariat and boots Elgin to the floor. The Briscoes hit stereo shoulder tackles on Rhino. Mark connects with a dropkick through the ropes on Elgin and lands a rolling senton off the apron onto Rhino. In the ring, Jay falls victim to some double teaming by the House of Truth and they isolate him. Jay flatlines Elgin into the middle turnbuckle and makes the tag. Mark lands a flying crossbody onto Elgin and connects with a shotgun dropkick. Jay russian leg sweeps Elgin off the middle rope and Mark adds a flying elbow drop for a nearfall. Elgin responds with a double alabama slam. Rhino hits a belly to belly suplex on Mark. Mark dodges a Gore and tries a quick rollup to no avail. Jay superkicks Rhino but gets caught by a lariat from Elgin. Mark hits a death valley driver on Elgin. Rhino catches Mark with a Gore out of nowhere for the win at 12:23. This worked really well for the time given. The dissention between Elgin and the rest of the House of Truth has played a big part in many recent matches and I’m glad they took a break from that here. As long as Elgin is still apart of the House of Truth, I wouldn’t mind seeing him team with Rhino more often. ***
Match #8: ROH World Title: Kevin Steen © vs. Roderick Strong
They trade shots from the start. Strong connects with a dropkick and hits a corner spear. Steen answers with a DDT in the ropes. The action goes to the floor where Strong gets sent into the barricade. Steen avoids a chop and Strong inadvertently chops the ringpost. Of course, Steen starts working over and biting his hand. In the ring, Steen takes control until Strong connects with an enzuigiri and comes off the middle rope with a leg lariat. Steen slows his momentum with a codebreaker followed by a corner cannonball. They battle on the middle rope and Strong hits a superplex. Truth Martini charges at Steen but falls victim to a superkick. Jacobs tries to spear Strong but crashes into the barricade. Steen hits a powerbomb onto the apron for a two count. Strong gets his knees up to block a swantan. Steen escapes a gutbuster and hits a sleeper suplex. Strong flips out of the F-Cinq, lays in a knee strike, and hits a gutbuster. He follows with the Sick Kick for a nearfall. Steen blocks an orange crush backbreaker and hits the F-Cinq to retain his title at 12:17. One aspect of Davey Richards’ title reign was long matches and this main event was pretty short for an ROH World Title match. That’s not always a bad thing, as there’s a time and place for longer title defenses and this wasn’t one. No one bought Strong winning the belt and they managed to deliver an entertaining finishing stretch, so I don’t think twelve minutes should be a problem. A longer match would have lent itself to a more quality contest, but this was a good main event in its own right. ***¼
BONUS Match: Roderick Strong vs. Jay Lethal vs. Adam Cole vs. Mike Bennett
The winner will receive a title shot at LivE Strong. You can tell why this bonus match was included. Cole hits a neckbreaker on Bennett and snaps off a few armdrags on Strong. Lethal hits a DDT-flatliner combination on Strong and Cole. Bennett interjects himself and starts to isolate Lethal. Lethal catches Strong with the Lethal Combination but can’t capitalize. Cole connects with an enzuigiri on Bennett. Bennett dodges a baseball slide from Lethal and plants him with a spinebuster onto the apron. Brutal Bob distracts Cole. Strong tosses Bennett to the floor and hits an orange crush gutbuster on Cole for the win at 5:01. Way too short for anything of substance to occur, but everyone interacted well with each other. The good news is that I’d be interested in seeing any of these four wrestle Steen for the title (Bennett just for Steen’s antics during the match), so at least there could be some fresh challengers on the horizon. **½
Overall: Pittsburgh is a market that Ring of Honor hasn’t visited since 2009. In their return to the area, they delivered a consistently solid show. Five out of the eight matches hit the three-star mark, and while there’s nothing earth-shattering on the card, that’s a pretty good accomplishment. I also liked how post-match promos were included on the DVD as well as the bonus match to determine Strong as the #1 contender. The match quality and all of the little extras thrown in make Live Strong a recommendable show.
You can purchase this DVD at Ring of Honor’s store right here.