Brew City Beatdown on July 14th, 2012 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Opening Match: Rhett Titus vs. Mike Sydal
Sydal kips up out of a headscissors and they trade armdrags. Titus rolls through a backslide and hits a butterfly suplex. He adds a slingshot back suplex and takes control. Sydal attempts a springboard maneuver but gets caught by a dropkick. He matrixes to avoid a yakuza kick and hits a neckbreaker. Sydal snaps off a hurricanrana and connects with a corner lariat. He lands a standing moonsault. Titus lays in a knee to the midsection. Sydal gets into an electric chair position. He tries a tarantula-type move but falls to the floor and potentially lands on his head. The crowd goes crazy. Sydal follows with a moonsault from the top rope. In the ring, Sydal comes off the top with double knees for a nearfall. Titus catches him with snake eyes and hits an implant DDT for the win at 9:20. I’m looking forward to a singles run from Titus as he’s improved quite a bit since his previous stint as a singles wrestler. Sydal almost broke his neck on two occasions during this match, but he worked well with Titus for the most part. An interesting opener if nothing else. **½
Match #2: Jay Lethal vs. Mike Mondo
They exchange pin attempts and find themselves at a stalemate. Lethal barely escapes an implant DDT after a unique exchange. Lethal snaps off a slingshot hurricanrana and connects with a handspring back elbow. He lands a dive to the floor. In the ring, Mondo hits a snapmare driver out of nowhere and takes over. Lethal connects with a running knee strike and hits the Lethal Combination. Mondo responds with a gourdbuster and stomps Lethal into the canvas. Lethal tries for the Lethal Injection but Mondo buckles and starts clutching his knee. The referee offers to stop the match, but Mondo pushes forward. Jim Cornette comes out but Mondo tells him to get lost as well. Lethal and Mondo trade punches. Mondo attempts a samoan drop but his leg gives out. Lethal hits the Lethal Injection for the victory at 15:20. Mondo has been looking incredibly motivated as of late and it shows in the quality of his matches. He adds little nuances to his offense every time that I see him. The knee injury was odd, but it’s almost satisfying that Mondo wasn’t trying to “get one over” on Lethal, as that’s usually the case. **¾
Match #3: Samson Walker, Chris Silvio, and Mohamad Ali Vaez vs. Tony Kozina, Shiloh Jonze, and Adam Revolver
If you know all six men in this match, pat yourself on the back. Revolver and Jonze hit a double team gutbuster on Silvio. Revolver hits a northern lights suplex on Vaez and Kozina adds a dropkick. Walker enters the match and levels Jonze with a lariat. He elevates Kozina into a powerslam. Kozina is worked over until he avoids Silvio’s offense and makes the tag. Jonze cleans house with a series of strikes. He connects with a flying forearm smash on Silvio. Revolver clotheslines Vaez to the outside. Walker superkicks Jonze and boots Kozina off the apron. Walker hits a death valley driver on Jonze for the win at 11:31. Walker needed to wrestle Michael Elgin yesterday. Based on the crowd reaction that he received, I can’t see Ring of Honor not bringing him back. Unfortunately, the crowd only showed interest in the match when he was in the ring. This was solid enough, but probably could have afforded to lose a couple of minutes. **¼
Match #4: Kyle O’Reilly vs. Tadarius Thomas
O’Reilly reminds everyone that he didn’t tap out at Best in the World. They avoid each other’s strikes and reach a stalemate. Thomas judo throws O’Reilly and tries a cross armbreaker to no avail. O’Reilly applies an STF but both men quickly get to their feet. Thomas connects with a few kicks but gets caught by a flying knee strike. O’Reilly punts him in the chest and takes control. Both men connect with knockout kicks and fall to the canvas. Thomas blocks a charge and lands some well-placed strikes. He hits a powerslam. They exchange kicks and O’Reilly hits a shoulder-capture suplex. Thomas connects with an enzuigiri and hits a dragon suplex for a nearfall. O’Reilly responds with a dragon screw leg whip but gets caught by another enzuigiri. The crowd starts chanting “you tapped out” at O’Reilly. They trade forearms and O’Reilly hits a saito suplex for a two count. Thomas counters a cross armbreaker into one of his own. O’Reilly floats over into a fujiwara armbar for the victory at 12:21. Thomas is another wrestler that Ring of Honor should give another look. O’Reilly was nearly the ideal opponent for him and they had an energetic back and forth strike-based contest. With that said, this match won’t be for everyone due to a possible over-reliance on strike exchanges, but it was still an effective showcase for Thomas that received more time than I expected. ***
O’Reilly refuses to release the hold. Tony Kozina comes out to talk some sense into him. O’Reilly traps Kozina in a fujiwara armbar and bows to the crowd.
Match #5: Roderick Strong vs. BJ Whitmer
Before the match, Strong thanks his father for moving his family out of Wisconsin when he was a kid. Whitmer snaps off a few armdrags and connects with a leg lariat. A distraction by Truth Martini allows Strong to drop Whitmer across the apron. Strong takes control until Whitmer hits an exploder. Whitmer follows with a northern lights suplex and a spinebuster. Strong connects with an enzuigiri and a flying knee strike. He hits a half nelson backbreaker and a gutbuster. Whitmer anticipates a Sick Kick and hits another exploder. Strong falls victim to a running powerbomb. Whitmer hits a fisherman suplex for a nearfall. Truth Martini hits Whitmer with the Book of Truth. Strong connects with the Sick Kick for the win at 11:47. These two didn’t mesh as well as I thought they would. Most of the match just featured them trading moves and running through their offenses without much crowd response. On the bright side, Whitmer does have a lot of fresh opponents in ROH right now. **¾
Match #6: Michael Elgin vs. Silas Young
Elgin sends Truth Martini to the back. They tease finishers early on and Young connects with a dropkick. Elgin hits a powerslam but gets caught by a hurricanrana. Young lands a dive to the floor and hits a neckbreaker back in the ring. He follows with a finlay roll but Elgin avoids the PeeGee Waja Plunge. Elgin hits a german suplex into the turnbuckles along with a guillotine leg drop. He takes over until Young hits a backbreaker-lariat combination. Young tries a victory roll to no avail and lands a lionsault. Elgin answers with a swinging side slam and suplexes Young from the apron into the ring. Young falls victim to a bucklebomb but recovers with angel’s wings for a nearfall. Elgin connects with multiple lariats. Young hits a finlay roll and follows with the PeeGee Waja Plunge for a two count. He comes off the middle rope but Elgin catches him with a lariat. Elgin hits a bucklebomb followed by a spinning powerbomb for the victory at 17:41. Young couldn’t have been given a better opponent for his return to Ring of Honor. These two have had highly-praised matches in AAW together and this was an abridged version of them to a certain extent. The crowd was obviously familiar with Young and although I’ve made this comment a lot in this review, ROH should be using Young on a regular basis without question. Young and Elgin made the most out of this opportunity and as lame as it sounds, this match made me feel good about Ring of Honor. ***½
Match #7: Eddie Edwards vs. Rhino
Edwards uses his agility to snap off a hurricanrana. Rhino trips him on the apron and hits a corner spear. He begins working over Edwards’ midsection. Rhino fights off a quick achilles lock attempt and hits a spinebuster. He lands a top-rope splash, which I didn’t see coming. Rhino goes back up but Edwards catches him with a superplex. Edwards lands a dive to the floor and hits a german suplex back in the ring. He connects with a flying double stomp and applies the achilles lock. Rhino is able to reach the bottom rope. Rhino hits a belly to belly suplex. Edwards blocks a Gore and sneaks in a rollup for a nearfall. He reapplies the achilles lock but Truth Martini enters the ring, causing Edwards to break the hold. Edwards superkicks Martini but Rhino hits the Gore out of nowhere for the win at 13:42. Pretty much on par with their outing at Border Wars. It’s entertaining to watch Edwards fight from behind and Rhino provided a good base for him to showcase his offense. Rhino seems to be heading towards a title shot against Kevin Steen. While I don’t buy him winning the belt, the matchup itself is intriguing. ***
Match #8: Jay and Mark Briscoe vs. Kevin Steen and Jimmy Jacobs
Both teams start brawling before the opening bell. Mark hits a bulldog on Jacobs and the Briscoes follow with stereo shoulder tackles. Mark connects with an elbow drop from the middle rope and hits a suplex on Jacobs. The Briscoes continue to punish him with stereo facewash kicks. Steen plants Jay with a DDT in the ropes. Mark eventually enters the ring and shows off his karate-based offense. The action goes to the floor where Mark bulldogs Steen onto the entrance ramp. The referee counts them out but Jim Cornette restarts the match and makes it no disqualification. Jay lays out Jacobs with a death valley driver onto a propped chair. Steen pulls Jay out of the ring and powerbombs him onto the apron. Mark hits a uranagi on Steen, who responds with his pumphandle neckbreaker onto a propped chair. A series of moves leaves all four men on the canvas. On the outside, Jacobs back drops Mark onto the entrance ramp. They battle to the back. In the ring, Steen hits the F-Cinq on Jay for a nearfall. Jay recovers and places Steen on a table in the ring. Mark appears on a balcony and SPLASHES STEEN THROUGH THE TABLE! That was insane and very easily could have went wrong. Jay hits the Jay Driller on Jacobs for the victory at 15:21. This was just a fun main event that successfully felt like a spectacle at points, especially with the red-hot crowd. Even the restart didn’t come off as phony and may have added to the overall atmosphere. The balcony dive from Mark should be featured on numerous video packages in the near future. You would expect a quality brawl from these two teams and that’s exactly what they delivered. ***½
Steen attacks the Briscoes after the match. He threatens Mark with a package piledriver but Rhett Titus makes the save. Titus says that he’s willing to team with the Briscoes to rid ROH of Steen, Jacobs, and Corino.
Overall: Brew City Beatdown was a consistent show that should be valued for the sum of its parts. The most noticeable aspect of this show was the impressive new talent that was featured. Samson Walker, Tadarius Thomas, and Silas Young all impressed in a major way and could easily find a home in Ring of Honor. Throw in a highly entertaining main event, and this show comes together nicely to form a complete package, especially with the added backstage interviews. Much like LivE Strong, there’s nothing “must see” here, but consistently solid wrestling earns Brew City Beatdown a recommendation.
You can purchase this DVD at Ring of Honor’s store right here.