Supercard of Honor VII in New York City on April 5th, 2013
Opening Match: ACH and Tadarius Thomas vs. QT Marshall and RD Evans
A surprise mystery partner was hyped for Marshall and it ended up being Evans. No one is disappointed, however, since many people wanted to see Evans wrestle in ROH rather than just being a manager. Evans quickly tags out after an exchange with Thomas. ACH snaps off a hurricanrana on Marshall. Thomas dodges a double-team clothesline and connects with a series of kicks. Marshall pulls ACH off the apron and lays out Thomas with a lariat. Marshall and Evans isolate Thomas until he connects with an enzuigiri on Evans and makes the tag. ACH catches both of his opponents with a basement lariat. He lands a flying crossbody onto Evans and giant swings him into a cloverleaf. Marshall breaks up the hold. ACH lands a kick-flip dive to the floor onto Marshall. Evans stops Thomas from diving but accidentally takes out Marshall with a plancha. Thomas is able to resume his dive and lands a space flying tiger drop. In the ring, Evans hits a tombstone on ACH for a nearfall. Evans gets crotched on the top rope and kicked to the floor. Thomas catches Marshall with a kick and ACH hits an implant DDT for the win at 9:51. As expected, allowing Evans to wrestle ended up working wonders. The crowd was really into the faces, of course, but Evans brought a lot of fun moments as well that made this a decent opener. It’s interesting that Marshall lost the match for his team and hopefully this means Evans will be wrestling more in ROH in the coming months. **¾
Match #2: Shelton Benjamin vs. Mike Bennett
Shelton was originally scheduled to wrestle Charlie Haas, but he spontaneously decided to retire last weekend. After some lengthy pre-match promos from both men, the crowd starts to become a bit restless. Well, Cheeseburger standing up to Bennett woke everyone up. Shelton punches Bennett before the opening bell in response to him knocking out Cheeseburger. Bennett misses a charge and Shelton connects with a double stomp out of the corner. They exchange punches and Bennett hits a spinebuster. He takes control until Shelton comes back with his corner splash. Shelton hits an overhead suplex but Bennett answers with the Box Office Smash for a nearfall. Shelton counters a go 2 sleep attempt into a half crab. Maria provides a distraction, allowing Brutal Bob to attack Shelton behind the referee’s back. Bennett hits a top-rope leg drop but spends too much time celebrating with Maria. Shelton fools Maria into touching him. Bennett accidentally superkicks Maria off the apron! Shelton hits a german suplex on Bennett for a two count. Bennett sneaks in a sunset flip with Brutal Bob providing extra leverage for the victory at 9:05. This match was going along just fine and then Bennett superkicked Maria. Then the crowd exploded and it made for an entertaining finishing stretch. They made the best out of Haas’ absence and the crowd seemed to like Shelton. **½
Match #3: Jay Lethal vs. Michael Elgin
The winner will receive a shot at the ROH World Title. They dodge each other’s strikes and trade quick pin attempts to no avail. Lethal comes off the middle rope with a leg lariat. Elgin blocks a hurricanrana and almost applies a boston crab. Lethal connects with another leg lariat followed by a basement dropkick. Elgin counters a slingshot attempt into a powerslam. He hits a delayed vertical suplex and synchs in a crossface. Lethal is able to get his foot onto the bottom rope. Lethal gets the better of an exchange on the apron and lands three consecutive dives to the floor. In the ring, Lethal connects with a springboard dropkick and hits a death valley driver. Elgin avoids Hail to the King and suplexes Lethal from the apron into the ring. They exchange punches and Elgin hits a swinging side slam. He german suplexes Lethal into the turnbuckles but finds knees on a corkscrew senton. Lethal hits a pop-up neckbreaker and locks in the koji clutch. Elgin makes it to the ropes instead of powering out. Lethal rolls through a chaos theory but eats a spinning backfist. Elgin hits a bucklebomb and connects with a short-arm lariat. Lethal counters the spinning powerbomb into a reverse hurricanrana and hits the Lethal Injection. Elgin is up! Lethal hits the Lethal Combination along with Hail to the King for a nearfall. Elgin blocks a top-rope hurricanrana and hits a super powerbomb. Elgin follows with a bucklebomb followed by a spinning powerbomb for the win at 19:03. These are two very successful faces of ROH that have avoided boos from even the most cynical fans due to consistently strong performances in the ring. They were put into a position to steal the show and came very close to doing so. The match was predominantly back and forth for the entire nineteen minutes but the fluidity of their exchanges made everything click. While Elgin is the most believable next champion at this point, I still contend that Lethal isn’t too far behind. ***¾
SCUM attacks both men after the match. Steve Corino steals a microphone and calls out their opponents, leading to…
Match #4: BJ Whitmer, Mark Briscoe, Mike Mondo, Caprice Coleman, and Cedric Alexander vs. Rhett Titus, Rhino, Jimmy Jacobs, Jimmy Rave, and Cliff Compton
Everyone starts brawling before the opening bell. Mark lands a plancha onto Titus and throws him into the barricade. He comes off the apron with an elbow drop. Corino joins commentary and is not getting along with Caleb Seltzer. Thankfully, we have Kevin Kelly as the mediator. Rhino works over Mondo in the ring as the action settles down. Mondo rolls through a clothesline from Rave and tags out. Whitmer cleans house as Coleman and Alexander land stereo dives to the floor. Mark connects with a double missile dropkick on Jacobs and Rhino. He follows with a springboard dive to the floor. Whitmer hits an exploder on Rave but Titus catches him with a leaping facebuster. Everyone takes turns hitting moves. Rave brings back Ghanarhea. Whitmer takes out Rave with a dive of his own. Corino finally has enough and throws Seltzer into the barricade. Kevin Kelly is not pleased. Titus handcuffs Whitmer to the bottom rope. Compton throws powder into Mondo’s eyes while Jacobs stabs Alexander with his spike. Rhino hits the Gore on Coleman for the victory at 11:46. When I think of two groups of people that hate each other, this is exactly how I’d expect a match between them to proceed. The match didn’t overstay its welcome and while no one stood out individually, the feud as a whole was highlighted in the right way. Even Corino caused some havoc on commentary. This was the first pay per view match for SCUM since their growth at the anniversary show and I think it was a good first step. ***
Match #5: Roderick Strong vs. Karl Anderson
Anderson assets his power advantage early on. They trip up on a leapfrog attempt but Strong quickly connects with a leg lariat. Anderson responds with a basement dropkick to the left leg. He takes control and starts targeting Strong’s leg. The action goes to ringside where Strong hits a gourdbuster onto the barricade. Now Strong takes over with a backbreaker. Anderson anticipates a charge and hits a spinebuster. Strong connects with a basement superkick but Anderson is able to fight off the Stronghold. They battle on the apron where Anderson connects with a huge yakuza kick. He leaps off the top rope and catches Strong with a neckbreaker on his way down. Anderson hits a powerbomb for a nearfall. Strong fires back with the Sick Kick and hits a gutbuster. Another Sick Kick gets a two count. Anderson hits an island driver. Strong escapes a Gun Stun attempt and lays in a few back elbows. Anderson is able to hit the Gun Stun on another try for the win at 12:35. This match could have easily switched places with Elgin/Lethal on the card. Whereas Elgin/Lethal was given the most time of any contest thus far and went heavy on the close nearfalls, this was a solid match to bring everyone back from intermission. Anderson was impressive here but that’s not saying anything you didn’t already know. ***¼
Match #6: ROH World Television Title: Elimination: Matt Taven © vs. Adam Cole vs. Matt Hardy
Steve Corino gives Hardy an extended introduction, which is just gold. The crowd takes turns throwing Hardy’s shirt back into the ring. Cole immediately starts brawling with Hardy. Cole lands a dive to the floor onto Hardy and then blocks a dive from Taven with a gamengiri. Taven springboard dropkicks Cole off the apron and lands a dive of his own onto both of his opponents. Scarlett Bordeaux starts seducing Nigel McGuinness on commentary as the crowd chants “show your tits” at her. Kevin Kelly reminds us that there’s a match going on in the ring. Cole connects with an enzuigiri on Hardy followed by a shining wizard. He hits a fireman’s carry neckbreaker over his knee. Cole locks in a figure four but Taven breaks it up with a top-rope splash. Cole hits a neckbreaker on Hardy, causing him to DDT Taven. Cole hits a brainbuster over his knee on Taven. They do a tower of doom spot in the corner and all three men are down. Hardy hits the Side Effect on Cole for a nearfall. He plants Taven with a Twist of Fate but Truth Martini distracts the referee. Cole low blows Hardy and small packages him to eliminate him from the match. Corino gets into the ring to complain. Taven shoves Cole into Corino and hits a headlock driver to retain his title at 11:17. Taven needs to be removed from the Cole/Hardy feud as soon as possible because he’s coming off like a silly third wheel. Even when Taven won the match, the focus was still on Hardy complaining about being eliminated. The action was all over the place and while technically fine, this wasn’t the best showcase for the World Television Title on one of the biggest shows of the year for ROH. **½
Match #7: ROH World Tag Team Titles: Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly © vs. Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards
Richards and O’Reilly have an exchange to start the match and show their familiarity with each other. The American Wolves double team Fish in their corner while keeping O’Reilly off the apron. Fish is eventually able to create some space and both teams trade control. Fish catches Richards with a slingshot senton and reDRagon isolate him. He connects with his springboard enzuigiri on Fish and makes the tag. Edwards enzuigiris O’Reilly off the apron and hits a lungblower on Fish. He follows with a fisherman buster on Fish. I realized how ironic that was after I typed it. The American Wolves hurricanrana reDRagon to the floor and land stereo dives. In the ring, Richards connects with a diving headbutt on Fish. O’Reilly connects with a missile dropkick from the apron onto Edwards while Fish takes out Richards with a somersault dive. reDRagon plaster Edwards with kicks in the ring. Richards saves his partner with a double missile dropkick and unloads with repeated kicks in the corner. Richards connects with a knockout kick on O’Reilly and hits a german suplex for a nearfall. O’Reilly blocks an assisted Alarm Clock and hits a double dragon screw leg whip. Richards traps O’Reilly in an indian deathlock. Fish comically tries to break it up but Richards won’t let go. Instead, Richards synchs in an ankle lock on Fish and applies stereo submissions. reDRagon are able to reach the bottom rope. Edwards accidentally superkicks Richards. O’Reilly and Richards have a nice kick exchange. O’Reilly hits a german suplex but Richards pops up with a double stomp. All four men are down. reDRagon hit an assisted Alarm Clock on Richards and O’Reilly adds a regalplex for a two count. Edwards hurricanranas Fish from the top rope as Richards hits a superplex on O’Reilly. The Wolves hit Chasing the Dragon on O’Reilly for a nearfall. The Wolves lay in flying double stomps to O’Reilly but he won’t stay down. O’Reilly hits a desperate reverse hurricanrana on Edwards. O’Reilly rolls up Richards with a handful of tights and reDRagon retain their titles at 21:06. I’m enjoying the dynamic of reDRagon perhaps being a better version of the Wolves. Fish is so good at being an arrogant jerk that can back-up his cockiness. Everyone’s mileage will vary with these types of matches but the presence of a feud made the trading of moves down the stretch more tolerable and the stealing of finishers was nice to see. I didn’t even mind the rollup finish, as the Wolves really have not had the chance to gain any sort of traction in this feud thus far. I would actually place this on par with the excellent Elgin/Lethal match from earlier in the card, though they are completely different matches. ***¾
Match #8: ROH World Title: Kevin Steen © vs. Jay Briscoe
They begin with a feeling-out process with a few stiff strikes thrown in. Jay connects with a dropkick and a mafia kick. Steen low-bridges him to the floor. Jay avoids a powerbomb onto the apron and back drops Steen onto the floor. In the ring, Steen hits a DDT. Jay blocks a charge and connects with a roaring elbow, causing Steen to fall to the canvas. Jay comes off the middle rope with a leg drop. Steen sends him shoulder-first into the ringpost and begins targeting the shoulder. The champion even tries a cross armbreaker at one point. Jay hits a nice blockbuster out of the corner with his good shoulder to begin his comeback. Jimmy Jacobs runs out but Mark Briscoe is there to fight him off. Steen does not look happy. Jay hits a death valley driver but Steen yanks his shoulder across the top rope. Steen hits a corner cannonball and follows with a powerbomb onto the apron. Jay gets his knees up to block a swantan and hits a neckbreaker. Rhett Titus and Cliff Compton run out but Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander chase them away. Jay and Steen trade punches. They connect with clotheslines at the same time and both men are down. The ROH locker room surrounds the ring. Steen hits the F-Cinq for a nearfall. He shrugs off a superkick and hits a sleeper suplex. Steen adds a package piledriver for a two count. SCUM runs out and a huge brawl erupts down the aisle. Matt Hardy sneaks into the ring. He tries to hit the Twist of Fate on Jay, but Steen throws him to the floor. Jay hits the Jay Driller for a nearfall. Steen traps him in a crossface but Jay escapes. Jay connects with a lariat and hits another Jay Driller to become the eighteenth ROH World Champion at 18:19. I don’t think any sort of star rating will capture the energy and emotion involved in the finishing stretch of this match. While the attempted interference from SCUM could have detracted from the match, it actually added more believability to a title change occurring. Jay makes total sense as champion, especially because it seems as though the Briscoes have accomplished everything possible in the tag team division. While Steen has had better defenses in regards to in-ring quality, the emotion surrounding the finish felt organic and the title change was handled extremely well. ***½
The crowd erupts as the Briscoe family enters the ring. Cary Silkin presents the title to Jay. Steen gets to his feet and shakes Jay’s hand. Gimme Back My Bullets, Jay’s old theme music, plays to end the show.
Overall: Looking at the star ratings alone, I think Supercard of Honor VII lived up to its name by presenting a nice variety of worthwhile matches. Besides some booking problems with the World Television Title match, everything managed to find a way to be enjoyable, with the standout contests being Elgin/Lethal and Wolves/reDRagon. Most importantly, the main event presented us with quite the moment, as Jay winning the ROH World Title was a huge surprise to me and truly felt special. Even setting the historical title change aside, Supercard of Honor VII earns a recommendation due to its high match quality up and down the card.
You can purchase this DVD at Ring of Honor’s store right here.