ROH: Relentless Review

Relentless on May 18th, 2013 in Richmond, Virginia

Pre-Show Match: Aden Chambers and Brandon Day vs. Team A-1
The crowd absolutely loves Team A-1. Day gets taken down by a dropkick and falls victim to a rope-assisted DDT. Chambers’ tricks don’t work on Team A-1 and they catch Day with some double team offense. Chambers and Day take control with an awesome assisted sunset bomb. Chambers gets laid out by a slingshot wheelbarrow german suplex but Day stops the hot tag. Day lands a dive to the floor onto Team A-1 as the crowd chants “this is awesome.” In the ring, Day misses a moonsault. Team A-1 try some pretty intricate offense that doesn’t all go according to plan. The crowd still loves them. They land stereo crossbodies to the floor onto Chambers and Day. In the ring, Team A-1 hit a neckbreaker-powerbomb combination on Chambers for the win at 8:03. Though the crowd was already familiar with them, I think both teams would’ve made a great impression regardless and the action stood out for a pre-show match. Some points were rough, but the sheer crowd response made this entertaining for what it was. **½

Opening Match: Michael Elgin vs. Kyle Matthews
Joe Dombrowski and Steve Corino are on commentary, which should happen way more often. Elgin asserts his power advantage early on. Matthews slips out of a powerslam and snaps off a headscissors. Elgin blocks a dive attempt and suplexes Matthews over the top rope. Elgin hits a scoop slam onto the floor and takes control in the ring. This includes a sixty-second delayed vertical suplex. Matthews comes back with a dive to the floor and hits a basement DDT in the ring. He connects with a missile dropkick but runs into an STO out of the corner. Elgin misses a top-rope senton. Matthews applies an octopus stretch. Elgin sits down on a sunset flip attempt and hits a dead-lift german suplex for a nearfall. Another dead-lift german only gets a two count. Elgin hits a swinging side slam but Matthews won’t stay down. Matthews kicks away a lariat and hits a flatliner. Elgin connects with a roaring elbow to the back of the head along with a short-arm lariat. He hits a bucklebomb but Matthews pulls out a jackknife pin out of nowhere for a nearfall. Elgin hits another bucklebomb followed by the spinning powerbomb for the victory at 11:34. Matthews presented a unique challenge to Elgin, as he had everything to gain here and just threw his entire offensive playbook at him. In fact, I can’t see Matthews not being brought back after how competitive he looked. ROH is on a streak of fun openers and this continued that trend. ***

Match #2: Adam Cole vs. Adam Page
Corino does his best to promote Cole on commentary. They wrestle to a stalemate. Cole enzuigiris Page off the apron and lands a dive to the floor. Back in, Cole hits a fireman’s carry neckbreaker and takes over. Page fights back with a powerslam after winning a forearm exchange. Cole slows him down with an enzuigiri and a shining wizard. He hits a leaping neckbreaker. Page dazes him on the middle rope with a dropkick and hits a swinging neckbreaker to the canvas. Cole retreats to the floor where Page takes him out with a shooting star press off the apron. In the ring, Page lands a flying crossbody for a nearfall. Cole blocks a second flying crossbody with a superkick and hits a neckbreaker over his knee for a two count. Cole connects with another superkick and hits the Florida Key for the win at 9:55. Cole walks away without shaking Page’s hand. My thoughts on Matthews could extend to Page, though I feel like Page has been in limbo for quite some time in ROH. This was just as solid as the opener except, unlike Matthews, I never really gave Page a chance at winning. **¾

Match #3: Roderick Strong vs. Mark Briscoe
They trade control on the mat. Mark hits a back suplex and connects with a spin kick. Strong misses a charge and goes out to the floor. Mark connects with a dropkick through the ropes. They battle up the entrance aisle and Mark wins the exchange with some redneck karate. Strong connects with a leg lariat and takes control. More redneck karate does the trick for Mark. He lays in a mafia kick but falls victim to an olympic slam. Mark recovers with an iconoclasm and connects with a shotgun dropkick. He hits a fisherman buster. Strong surprises him with a jumping knee strike and hits a gutbuster. Mark back drops out of the Gibson Driver. Strong connects with an enzuigiri but runs into a rolling death valley driver. They battle on the top rope and Strong hits a superplex. They trade quick pin attempts and Mark is able to pick up the victory at 16:06. I was hoping that this would come close to the incredibly fun matches that Strong had with Jay in 2009. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to keep the action fluid for the entire sixteen minutes and it felt like just a collection of moves at points. The finish was also disappointing, as Mark not winning decisively does nothing to build him up for Best in the World. **½

Match #4: Tommaso Ciampa vs. Chris LeRusso
Ciampa attacks before the opening bell because he can. Ironically enough, much like RD Evans, LeRusso is also a lawyer. LeRusso fights off the middle-rope air raid crash but gets caught by facewash knee strikes. Ciampa knocks out LeRusso with another knee strike for the win at 1:50. Squash city. After the match, Ciampa challenges Michael Elgin at Best in the World.

Match #5: Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards vs. Cliff Compton and Rhett Titus
Both teams start brawling before the opening bell. The American Wolves land stereo dives to the floor amidst red, white, and blue streamers, which is a cool visual. In the ring, the Wolves connect with stereo punches in the corner. Edwards hits a sit-out gourdbuster on Titus and Richards adds a missile dropkick. The Wolves continue the attack on Titus with a barrage of strikes. Richards gets backed into the wrong corner but eventually fires away with kicks in the corner on SCUM. Titus bulldogs Richards across Compton’s knee and SCUM isolate him. He takes advantage of some miscommunication and makes the tag. Edwards lands a dive to the floor onto Compton and hits a 2k1 bomb on Titus. The Wolves follow with an assisted Alarm Clock on Titus and hit a superkick-german suplex combination for a nearfall. Titus blocks a handspring enzuigiri with a dropkick and hits a chokeslam. Titus hits a superplex on Richards and Compton adds a top-rope splash. Edwards comes off the middle rope with a lungblower on Titus and Richards punts him from the apron. The Wolves both connect with flying double stomps on Compton for a two count. Richards transitions into an ankle lock while Edwards traps Titus in the achilles lock for the victory at 13:55. It’s tough to get into the team of Compton and Titus and they did not appear to be on the Wolves’ level here. A series of miscommunications made for some awkward moments throughout this match. The crowd was willing to cheer for the action but remained relatively dull for this contest. Instead of a competitive match, Compton and Titus looked like mere fodder for the Wolves here. **¼

Match #6: Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish, and Matt Taven vs. Jay Lethal, Caprice Coleman, and Cedric Alexander
The champions all enter together, which is a shame as I really wanted to see Fish’s reaction to Taven’s entrance. Fortunately, there’s some hilarious interactions before the opening bell. Lethal connects with a superkick on Taven and catapults O’Reilly into the corner. He hip tosses O’Reilly and connects with a basement dropkick. Coleman hits a high elevation leg drop on Fish followed by a leg lariat. Alexander connects with a springboard lariat on Fish and snaps off a headscissors on Taven. He adds a springboard tornado DDT on Taven. The match breaks down as everyone starts brawling in the ring. The faces land stereo dives to the floor as the crowd comes alive. In the ring, Fish blindsides Lethal with a lariat and the champions isolate him. Lethal ducks a clothesline from reDRagon and makes the tag. Alexander connects with an enzuigiri on O’Reilly and lands a split-legged moonsault onto Fish. Coleman and Alexander take out Fish with a high-low. Taven lands a frog splash onto Alexander. O’Reilly and Alexander trade forearms. This starts a series of strikes with everyone getting involved and hitting a move. Lethal plants O’Reilly with the Lethal Combination but gets crotched on the top rope when he attempts Hail to the King. O’Reilly hits a shoulder-capture suplex on Alexander for a nearfall. Coleman hurricanranas O’Reilly off the middle rope into a frog splash from Alexander for the win at 14:54. All of the personalities combined with chaotic in-ring work made for the most enjoyable match on the show thus far. Arguably the best part of this contest was that a non-title bout was used to setup new challengers. It’s also interesting to note that the House of Truth was absent from ringside and I felt as though Taven easily fit right in with the other five competitors. ***¼

Match #7: No Disqualification: Kevin Steen vs. Jimmy Jacobs
They start brawling before the opening bell. Steen sends Jacobs into the barricade. Jacobs misses a spear and collides with the barricade once again. Jacobs begins choking Steen with a chain and the referee calls for the bell. Referees try to separate them but they just keep brawling. Steen clears the ring with a chair as SCUM regroups at ringside. Paul Turner calls Nigel McGuinness and we have ourselves a no disqualification match! Steen throws a staff member over the top rope and onto SCUM. He attacks Jacobs with a shoe but falls victim to a spear onto the apron. In the ring, Jacobs sends Steen into a propped chair in the corner and hits another spear. Jacobs lands a dive to the floor. Steen blocks a double axe handle and hits a powerbomb onto the apron. Back in, Steen lands a swantan but misses a corner cannonball. Jacobs hits a springboard ace crusher. Steen escapes the Contra Code and successfully hits his corner cannonball. Jacobs recovers with an innovative Contra Code onto a chair for a nearfall. He brings a piece of the barricade into the ring. Jacobs counters the F-Cinq into the End Time. Steen powers out of the hold and hits the F-Cinq for a two count. Steen hits a package piledriver onto the barricade for the victory at 16:16. Steen attacks Jacobs after the match with another F-Cinq onto a chair. I would have preferred this match just starting out as no disqualification but the restart received a big pop from the crowd. Though they seem to be building towards Steen/Hardy, I think Steen/Jacobs is a pretty significant matchup considering the history of SCUM and they delivered as solid of a brawl as you would expect. ***¼

Match #8: ROH World Title: Jay Briscoe © vs. BJ Whitmer
Mark Briscoe replaces Corino on commentary, who is tending to Jacobs backstage. They trade control on the mat before battling over a shoulder block. The action intensifies as a lockup sends both men to the floor. They exchange chops. Jay connects with a mafia kick and throws Whitmer into the barricade. In the ring, Whitmer comes back with a spinebuster. They trade control with neither man being able to gain the advantage for very long. Whitmer lands a dive to the floor and takes over in the ring with rolling suplexes. Jay tries to fight back with a series of punches but runs into a powerslam. Jay hits a blockbuster out of the corner. Whitmer responds with a dragon suplex and rolling fisherman busters. Completely out of nowhere, Jay saito suplexes Whitmer over the top rope and through the ringside table. Jesus. Todd Sinclair calls for help but Jay stops him. In the ring, Jay hits a neckbreaker followed by the Jay Driller for a nearfall. Whitmer blocks a charge and tries a jackknife pin for a two count. He hits an exploder. Jay elbows out of another exploder and kicks Whitmer in the face. Whitmer withstands a few more mafia kicks before falling to the canvas. Jay applies a dragon sleeper to retain his title at 20:34. This match was very good but disappointing on one level. The saito suplex through the table set off an absolutely crazy final portion that the crowd just didn’t get into as much as they should have. This was Whitmer’s culmination of his journey back to Ring of Honor and he refused to give up despite Jay increasing the brutality. If this match happened in New York City, I think it would have been Whitmer’s breakout moment since his return. As it stands, this was decent exhibition until the contest broke down into craziness down the stretch, where things picked up significantly. ***¼

Overall: Much like Dragon’s Reign a week earlier, this was another fun house show that gave ample time to many of its matches and allowed mostly everyone to stand out. Though some of the undercard contests fell short, the opener as well as the final three bouts all brought a unique quality match to the table. While the lack of a “must-see” match is worth noting, I think Relentless would be an excellent DVD to pick up during a sale or one to just purchase for those that value consistently solid shows. Ring of Honor has been putting on some entertaining house shows recently and hopefully that trend continues moving forward.

You can purchase this DVD at Ring of Honor’s store right here.