The first portion of this compilation is an over two-hour interview with Steen. Among the topics discussed include:
-Final Battle 2010 and the circumstances surrounding him leaving, particularly Jim Cornette.
-Many other stories that will make you extremely frustrated with Jim Cornette.
-Being able to return to PWG full-time and host seminars in his time away from ROH.
-The plan for his return at Best in the World and the fun he had with his promo.
-The way he was introduced to the television audience and returning as a full-time member of the roster.
-His storyline lawyers, the cheesiness of the whole segment, and getting the storyline back on track.
-Developing “Kill Steen Kill” through social media.
-Wrestling and working with Steve Corino throughout his career.
-The differences and similarities between HDNet and Sinclair.
-Building towards a title match against Davey Richards and the shows leading up to Border Wars.
-The pressure of being ROH World Champion and wanting to be different from previous champions.
-Early title defenses against a variety of challengers.
-His feud with Jay Lethal and match of the year candidate against Michael Elgin.
-The struggle with Jim Cornette to get the Final Battle 2012 match against El Generico to happen.
-Trying to keep his matches with El Generico fresh and differentiated from each other.
-Losing the ROH World Title to Jay Briscoe.
-His future in professional wrestling and reflections upon his ROH World Title reign.
Before moving onto the matches, I just wanted to say a few things about the shoot interview. Kevin Steen has done many of these in recent months and it’s remarkable how he’s managed to save new stories and new thoughts for this one. This interview lasts over two hours (along with a wealth of promo and video footage) yet there’s a lot of new content. Steen is very well-spoken and open, but I’m surprised that he was able to go so in-depth on his issues with Jim Cornette and the like. In fact, ROH letting Steen tell these stories raises my confidence in the promotion and perhaps it’s a sign of how things have changed since Cornette left. As expected, this shoot interview was well done.
Match #1: No Disqualification: Kevin Steen vs. Steve Corino (Final Battle 2011 – 12/23/11)
Jimmy Jacobs is the special referee. Jim Cornette and Cary Silken are at ringside. If Steen wins, he will return to Ring of Honor. If Corino wins, Steen must leave Ring of Honor forever. Steen makes his entrance through the crowd. They charge at each other and trade punches. Corino connects with a leg lariat. He misses a baseball slide and Steen throws him into the barricade. Steen hits a cannonball on the apron, sending Corino into the ringpost. Corino immediately responds with a dive off the apron. He sends Steen into the barricade and brings a few chairs into the ring. Steen superkicks a chair into Corino’s face and hits a powerbomb onto the apron. Steen lands a frog splash off of the apron. He grabs a piece of the barricade and rams Corino in the head with it. Steen powerbombs Corino onto the edge of the barricade which also had a chair on it. He now props a table in between the apron and the barricade. Corino connects with a lariat and grabs more chairs as well as a garbage can. Steen hits him with the garbage can lid and follows with his front flip leg drop. Corino is now busted open above the left ear. He low blows Steen and hits him with the garbage can repeatedly. Corino hits a suplex onto the garbage can and lands a top rope splash. He props the barricade on top of four chairs. They battle up top and CORINO HITS A SUPERPLEX ONTO THE BARRICADE!! That only gets a two count. Silken and Cornette are livid at ringside. Steen sets up a pyramid of chairs on top of the propped table. They battle up top again. Corino hits Steen with a garbage can lid and he goes crashing through the table. In the ring, Steen hits a sleeper suplex followed by his pumphandle neckbreaker onto a propped chair. Corino spits at Steen, who waffles him in the head with a chair shot for a nearfall. Steen attempts another chair shot but Jacobs takes the chair away. Corino punches Steen with a roll of quarters for a two count. They battle on top of four propped chairs. Steen hits a package piledriver through the chairs. Jacobs reluctantly counts to three and Steen wins at 23:08. There’s a lot of things that can be said about this match. I’ll be the first to admit that some of the big spots were dangerous and there will be a lot of people that view this match as bad for professional wrestling. However, I’ll also admit that Steen and Corino left everything in the ring and put on a spectacle. Once again, whether it’s the right kind of spectacle is up for debate, but I thought this was an excellent weapons-based brawl. I’m glad that the finish wasn’t overbooked and that these two were allowed to settle their score without any interference. It’s quite possible that my thoughts on this match will change next time I watch it, but my first impression was that this was a fitting end to the Steen/Corino rivalry. ***½
Match #2: No Disqualification: Kevin Steen vs. Jimmy Jacobs (10th Anniversary Show – 3/4/12)
Steve Corino accompanies Jacobs to the ring. He distracts Steen before the opening bell, allowing Jacobs to spike Steen. Jacobs takes off his jacket to reveal his Age of the Fall coat. Corino freaks out on commentary, apparently not knowing that Jacobs was going to revert into a madman. Jacobs lands a dive to the floor, putting Steen through a chair. Steen hits a chair-assisted lungblower in the ring. He misses a corner cannonball. Back on the floor, Steen catches Jacobs and hits a fallaway slam into the barricade. They brawl up the aisle and Jacobs press slams Steen onto the entrance ramp. Steen hits a powerslam onto a piece of the barricade. Jacobs responds with a tornado DDT onto the barricade. A table is setup at ringside. Steen dodges a baseball slide and hits a powerbomb into the apron. Jacobs escapes another powerbomb and spears Steen from the apron through the ringside table. In the ring, Steen hits a pumphandle neckbreaker through two chairs. Jacobs blocks a swantan but falls victim to the F-Cinq. Jacobs finds life by going back to using his spike. Jacobs has a moment of realization where he cannot believe what he’s done. Steen low blows Jacobs with the spike and hits the F-Cinq onto two chairs for the victory at 15:12. Age of the Fall Jimmy Jacobs against an incensed Kevin Steen was a lot of fun, as expected. This was a great weapons-based brawl with a lot of inventive spots that added a lot of variety to the card. Jacobs’ realization of what he’d become at the end was perfectly played and this clicked from an in-ring and storytelling perspective. ***½
Match #3: Last Man Standing: Kevin Steen vs. El Generico (Showdown in the Sun Day 1 – 3/30/12)
Generico connects with a corner yakuza kick at the opening bell and hits an exploder into the turnbuckles. They brawl around ringside and throw each other into the barricade. Steen blocks a slingshot maneuver with an ace crusher and follows with a chair-assisted front-flip leg drop. He blocks a tornado DDT attempt and hits a backbreaker. Steen follows with a corner cannonball and powerbombs Generico onto the apron. Generico dodges a superkick and Steen accidentally superkicks a ringside attendant. They battle on the stage and Generico hits a michinoku driver. He lands a dive off the stage when Steen reaches his feet. Generico walks across the edge of the barricade and jumps off with a tornado DDT. Steen recovers and puts Generico onto a ringside table. He puts Generico through the table with a senton. A few chairs are setup in the ring. Steen blocks a brainbuster attempt and hits his pumphandle neckbreaker through the chair. Steen goes up top. Generico yakuza kicks him through a ringside table. They exchange strikes. Generico connects with another yakuza kick and hits a half nelson suplex. He follows with a brainbuster but Steen won’t stay down. They start swinging chairs at each other but Steen delivers a low blow. Jimmy Jacobs comes out. He hands Generico a chair but pulls out a spike. Jacobs stabs Generico and hits him with a chair! Steen falls with Generico in an awesome moment. Steen picks up the win at 23:24. This was the usual awesomeness that Steen and Generico bring with the added value of the awesome heel turn by Jacobs. Seriously, it’s not by accident that any time Jacobs is able to be heavily involved in a storyline, it’s usually going to make for at least a few special moments. It’s also worth noting that Generico will make you yell at the television with some awesome feats of agility. A nice complement to their Final Battle match. ****
Match #4: ROH World Title: Davey Richards © vs. Kevin Steen (Border Wars – 5/12/12)
Steen immediately goes for the package piledriver but Richards escapes. They trade strikes and Richards clotheslines Steen to the floor. He follows out with a dive and lays in various kicks around ringside. A distraction by Jimmy Jacobs allows Steen to hit a rope-assisted DDT. Steen throws Richards into the barricade and crotches him on the ringpost. They battle on the apron and Richards hits an exploder. He takes control in the ring, attempting to ground his challenger. Richards looks for his punt from the apron, but Steen pulls him down into a powerbomb onto the apron. Steen follows with his corner cannonball but finds knees on a swantan attempt. Richards hits a german suplex but walks into a superkick. He responds with a knockout kick but Steen takes him down with a lariat. The crowd begins to come alive. Steen hits his pumphandle neckbreaker and elevates Richards into a powerbomb. Richards escapes a sharpshooter and connects with a flying double stomp. Richards hits the DR Driver and lands some kawada kicks. Steen just spits at him. They exchange slaps and Steen hits the F-Cinq for a nearfall. Steen follows with a moonsault but his knee gives out on a package piledriver attempt. We get dueling ankle locks and Steen applies a sharpshooter. Richards reaches the ropes and goes back to the ankle lock. Steen crawls up the turnbuckles to escape and hits a sleeper suplex. Steen hits the package piledriver to become the new ROH World Champion at 24:25. I think everyone really wanted to see this title change happen, but knowing how constrained Richards was during his time as champion, I wish his title reign could have been something more. I liked how they eschewed an extended heat segment and just laid into each other for the entire match. That aspect also really helped the crowd stay involved. This was on par with the singles encounters they had during the Steenerico vs. American Wolves feud. ***¾
Match #5: ROH World Title: Kevin Steen © vs. Eddie Edwards (The Nightmare Begins – 6/15/12)
Steen gets into an argument with Jim Cornette before the match about a sponsorship deal that was ruined because of Steen’s antics. Cornette informs Steen that every one of his singles matches in Ring of Honor will be for the title. Edwards immediately takes out Jimmy Jacobs at ringside with a plancha. Steen powers out of an early half crab but gets low bridged to the floor. He trips Edwards on the apron. They brawl at ringside. Edwards kicks Steen’s head into the barricade. Steen attempts to powerbomb Edwards onto the apron, but Edwards hurricanranas out of the move. Steen hits a fallaway slam into the barricade and bites Edwards in front of Cornette. In the ring, Steen takes over until Edwards hits an overhead suplex into the turnbuckles. Edwards connects with a missile dropkick. Steen responds with his pumphandle neckbreaker. Edwards finds an opening to land a dive to the outside. He takes out Jacobs with a second dive. Steen recovers in time to connect with a lariat. Edwards comes off the middle rope with a lungblower and hits a sit-out gourdbuster. Steen dodges a flying double stomp and hits a powerbomb. He transitions into a sharpshooter but Edwards is able to reach the bottom rope. Steen plants Edwards with a DDT. Steen yells “you will never beat me” at Cornette and then misses a corner cannonball. Edwards connects with a flying double stomp for a nearfall. Steen retreats to the floor. Edwards charges at him but Steen elevates him through the table at ringside. Back in, Steen finds knees on a swantan attempt. They trade superkicks and Edwards hits a german suplex. Steen slips out of a backpack chinbreaker and hits a sleeper suplex. Steen follows with the F-Cinq to retain his title at 15:13. I don’t think anyone is going to buy Steen losing the title anytime soon, but Edwards gave him a very good match that generated some believable nearfalls down the stretch. While I found the three-man commentary team of Corino, Cornette, and Kelly to be distracting, Steen’s antics during the contest were entertaining. This was on par with their previous singles matches and Edwards proved to be a smart first challenger for Steen. ***½
Match #6: ROH World Title: Kevin Steen © vs. Roderick Strong (Live Strong – 6/30/12)
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
Match #7: ROH World Title: Kevin Steen © vs. Eddie Kingston (Boiling Point 2012 – 8/11/12)
Kingston immediately attacks Steve Corino on commentary at the opening bell. He lands a dive to the floor onto all of SCUM. Kingston drags Corino and Jacobs to the back. Steen blocks a chair shot and hits a chair-assisted flipping leg drop. He throws Kingston into the barricade and hits a suplex onto the floor. Steen props a table against the barricade but Kingston suplexes him through it. Steen powerbombs Kingston through a table setup between the barricade and the apron. Many referees come out to check on Kingston. There’s a long pause as Steen berates him on the microphone. Referees carry Kingston out on a table. Steen mentions Larry Sweeney, causing Kingston to reenter the ring. They exchange shots and Kingston connects with a lariat. Steen blocks a backfist but falls victim to a half nelson suplex. He recovers with a DDT onto a chair. Steen hits a chair-assisted corner cannonball. Another table enters the ring and Kingston hits a saito suplex onto it. He follows with another saito suplex through a propped chair. Corino comes back to ringside but Rhett Titus fights him off. Jacobs appears with his spike but he gets caught by a backfist. Steen low blows Kingston and hits the F-Cinq for a nearfall. Kingston spits at the champion. Steen hits another F-Cinq through a bundle of chairs to retain his title at 18:43. Considering that the CHIKARA involvement has all but disappeared from storylines, this was a fine way to end the angle with the Grand Champion of CHIKARA receiving an ROH World Title shot. They had a very solid weapons-based brawl that spaced out the big spots well. The down time from the referees checking on Kingston felt awkward, but everything else clicked. I would love to see Kingston as a regular member of the ROH roster, but it doesn’t look like that’s the case moving forward. ***½
Match #8: ROH World Title: Kevin Steen © vs. Cedric Alexander (PWX There Goes the Neighborhood – 8/18/12)
Steen charges at the opening bell but Alexander fires back with a flurry of strikes. He low-bridges Steen to the floor and follows out with a plancha. Steen trips Alexander on the apron and powerbombs him onto the apron. The champion takes control in the ring. Alexander tries to mount a comeback but gets cut-off by a rope-assisted DDT. Alexander connects with a springboard lariat followed by a running dropkick. He hits a springboard DDT for a nearfall. Steen responds with his pumphandle neckbreaker but gets caught by a gamengiri. Alexander hits a sit-out facebuster and connects with an enzuigiri. Steen elevates him into a powerbomb. Alexander blocks a swantan with knees and hits a nice backcracker for a two count. He adds a frog splash but a man appears on the apron to distract the referee. Steen delivers a low blow behind the referee’s back and hits the F-Cinq for a nearfall. Steen hits another F-Cinq to retain his title at 14:25. This was a nice preview of what these two could do together and I very much like Alexander in a singles capacity. The finish absolutely killed any momentum they had going, but I guess it was necessary to advance the storyline. Aside from the finish, this was a solid showcase. ***
Match #9: ROH World Title: Kevin Steen © vs. Jay Lethal (Killer Instinct – 10/6/12)
Lethal hugs his mother at ringside. Lethal connects with a superkick at the opening bell, dropkicks Steen off the apron, and lands four dives to the floor. In the ring, Lethal snaps off an armdrag and connects with a basement dropkick. Steen blocks a handspring maneuver and hits a powerbomb into the apron. He throws Lethal into the barricade and crotches him on the ringpost. Back in, Steen takes control until Lethal comes off the middle rope with a leg lariat. Lethal follows with a handspring back elbow and hits the Lethal Combination. Steen avoids a missile dropkick but gets caught by a backcracker. He elevates Lethal into a sit-out powerbomb. Steen hits his pumphandle neckbreaker but misses a corner cannonball. He counters the Lethal Injection into a sleeper suplex. Lethal connects with a superkick, hits another Lethal Combination, and applies a koji clutch. Steve Corino and Jimmy Jacobs appear at ringside. Steen is able to reach the bottom rope. Lethal connects with an enzuigiri and hits a death valley driver. He adds Hail to the King and follows with another one. Lethal pretends like he’s going for a third but dives onto Corino and Jacobs. He catches Steen with a dragon suplex for a nearfall. They battle on the middle rope and Steen hits a 2k1 bomb to the canvas. Lethal blocks a swantan with knees. He hits the Lethal Injection but Steen rolls to the floor. Lethal’s mother throws her drink at Steen. Steen spits at her. Lethal starts punching Steen repeatedly. Everyone tries to pull Lethal off (even though they’re in a match right now?). There’s a pull-apart brawl between two men who are in a match. This is the oddest thing. SCUM retreat to the back as Lethal brews around ringside. The match is ruled a no contest at 22:00. I knew about the finish beforehand and I didn’t want it to completely detract from the first twenty minutes of action, but it has to. There literally just wasn’t a finish to this match. The action went to the floor, Steen spit on Lethal’s mother, and Lethal started brawling with him. Then, as if this was some segment, staff members came out to break them up…even though they were wrestling each other in a current match. This was an odd way to end the show. I knew what they were going for storyline-wise, but you should not condition your fans to accept that a finish like this to a main event is even conceivable. **½
Match #10: ROH World Title: Ladder War: Kevin Steen © vs. El Generico (Final Battle 2012 – 12/16/12)
They trade punches at the opening bell. Generico hits a tornado DDT and connects with a corner yakuza kick. He lands a dive to the floor and brings a ladder into the ring. Steen gets hit in the face with the end of the ladder. He tries to rake Generico’s eyes but Generico bites his hand. Steen back drops Generico through a propped ladder and then hits a ladder-assisted cannonball with the wreckage. Kevin Kelly mentions on commentary how if Jim Cornette was still matchmaker, Generico would not be getting this opportunity. Well, that’s interesting. Steen sends Generico into the barricade and irish whips him into a propped ladder. The champion continues to dominate until Generico hits an exploder into a ladder. Generico follows with a half nelson suplex onto a ladder. He tries to climb but Steen pushes him into the top turnbuckle. Steen counters a tornado DDT into a backbreaker. He regains control and sets up some contraptions around ringside. He sets up a ladder in between the apron and the barricade and puts a table on top, for instance. Generico avoids a powerbomb and back drops Steen through the table. A huge utility ladder enters the ring. Steen F-Cinqs Generico through the ringside table. The champion begins climbing but Generico stops him. Two huge ladders are setup in the ring and a smaller ladder is lodged between them. Steen hits a powerbomb onto the smaller ladder. He starts to climb but Generico brings him down and hits a package piledriver! Generico climbs but gets knocked down the canvas with a hard thud. They eventually battle in between the two big ladders. Steen hits a package piledriver through a smaller ladder and retrieves the ROH World Title at 27:57. This felt like a fitting way to end their rivalry in ROH due to them being in the first ever Ladder War as a team. Unbeknownst to us at the time, Generico would soon be leaving independent wrestling and I’m glad that they were able to have this one final match. As usual, these two were able to effectively showcase their hatred for each other and there were a fair share of cringe-worthy spots. They went for a more spot-heavy ladder match, separating this from their previous ladder match in PWG which was more focused around brawling with only a few weapon spots. While I prefer the latter approach, this Ladder War still delivered and gave Final Battle 2012 the standout main event that the show needed. ****
Overall: Kevin Steen: Hell Rising does an excellent job of covering Steen’s ROH activity since Final Battle 2010. As I’ve mentioned, the shoot interview is really well-done and worth watching even if you’ve seen some of his other recent interviews. The match selection is also worthwhile, as it covers Steen’s feud with Steve Corino and Jimmy Jacobs before they joined him as well as the recent El Generico matches. The combination of the shoot interview and subsequent matches is a formula that I hope Ring of Honor sticks to when they can – it worked tremendously here. This is most likely my favorite compilation from ROH in recent memory and is a strongly recommended purchase.
You can purchase this DVD at Ring of Honor’s store right here.