Live and Let Die on June 8th, 2013 in Columbus, Ohio
Opening Match: Adam Cole vs. Caprice Coleman
Steve Corino stands up and applauds Cole from the commentary table. They exchange control on the mat and Cole connects with a dropkick. Coleman quickly returns the favor. Cole enzuigiris him off the apron and lands a dive to the floor. In the ring, Coleman hits a leg-liner but falls victim to a leaping neckbreaker. Cole takes control and repeatedly becomes frustrated when Coleman won’t stay down for three. Coleman sends him to the floor and follows out with a beautiful springboard moonsault. Back in, Coleman lands a flying crossbody and charges with a knee strike. He hurricanranas Cole from the middle rope but finds knees on a lionsault attempt. Coleman hits rolling northern lights suplexes. Cole blocks one with a brainbuster across his knee. Cole hits the Florida Key for the win at 7:18. This was a decent opener that could have easily lasted five more minutes. The finish seemed abrupt and Coleman would have looked even more competitive with more time. Still, Cole’s attitude change is interesting and he’s able to reference it throughout the match without it taking over the action. **½
Match #2: Roderick Strong vs. QT Marshall
Strong teases a chop in the corner but gives Marshall a clean break instead. Strong connects with a leg lariat and now delivers a chop in the corner. Marshall crotches him on the top rope and takes over with a neckbreaker. Strong comes back by avoiding the People’s Elbow. You’d think I’m kidding. Marshall regains control with a back elbow but gets caught by a running knee strike. Strong hits a bulldog and an olympic slam. Marshall kind of hits a tilt-a-whirl slam and the crowd falls silent. Strong catches him with a superplex. Marshall almost sneaks in a successful small package and connects with a lariat. Strong escapes a powerbomb and hits a gutbuster. Strong applies the Stronghold for the victory at 9:24. Strong’s face turn is working out extremely well, as recent crowds have had no problem getting behind him. That was definitely put to the test here. Despite Marshall not doing anything of note in the ring, Strong was able to keep the crowd invested to some extent. This match was not successful in showing that Marshall could hang with one of ROH’s best; rather, it was a testament to Strong’s ability. **
Adam Cole comes out after the match and apologizes to Strong for not shaking his hand after their match at Honor in the Heart of Texas. He wishes Strong luck at Best in the World. They shake hands.
Match #3: Davey Richards vs. Cedric Alexander
They trade control of a wristlock and wrestle to a stalemate. They have an awkward exchange and find themselves at a stalemate once again. Richards innovatively uses the ropes to escape a wristlock and takes control on the match. Richards even does the hip swivel before snapping back on Alexander’s legs. Alexander snaps off a desperate hurricanrana and back suplexes Richards to the floor. He misses a plancha and Richards connects with a punt from the apron. Richards follows with a diving headbutt. Alexander sends him back to the outside and lands a dive. Back in, Alexander connects with a series of kicks and lands a split-legged moonsault. Richards blocks a springboard maneuver with a dropkick. Alexander dodges a second punt from the apron and connects with a springboard lariat. They exchange strikes. Richards blocks an enzuigiri and synchs in an ankle lock. He transitions into a sharpshooter but Alexander counters with a small package for a nearfall. Richards connects with the Alarm Clock but Alexander fights back with a gamengiri. Both men are down as the crowd chants “this is awesome.” Richards lays in repeated kicks in the corner. He runs up the ropes and hits a super german suplex. Alexander is able to withstand a flurry of offense from Richards. Alexander dodges a flying double stomp and hits a reverse hurricanrana. He adds another reverse hurricanrana and a brainbuster for a two count. Richards blocks a frog splash with knees and connects with a flying double stomp for a nearfall. Richards connects with multiple kicks to the head for another two count. Richards applies a cloverleaf for the win at 18:12. Coleman and Alexander have not had many singles opportunities in Ring of Honor, but Alexander really made this one count. You can contrast this match with the opener to see how much better positioned this showcase was in order to accomplish its goal of making Alexander look strong. There were some incredible exchanges and I easily bought an Alexander win as the match progressed. Especially with the influx of some new tag teams, it might be time for Alexander and Coleman to pursue singles careers in ROH. ***½
Match #4: Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly vs. ACH and Tadarius Thomas
If Adrenaline Rush win or last the time limit, they will receive a shot at the ROH World Tag Team Titles. Fish tries to out-wrestle Thomas but he holds his own. ACH catches O’Reilly with a springboard back elbow and Thomas lays in a series of kicks. Fish and Thomas have another drawn-out exchange without much reaction from the crowd. There’s a “we want action” chant and Corino immediately makes fun of the fans on commentary. A distraction by Fish allows O’Reilly to hit a middle-rope divorce court on ACH. reDRagon isolate him until he hits a stunner on Fish and makes the tag. Thomas uses his unique offense to bring the crowd back into the match. Adrenaline Rush unload some double-team offense on O’Reilly. Fish lands a moonsault onto ACH. Everyone trades strikes. ACH hits an ace crusher-flatliner combination on reDRagon. Fish avoids a split-legged moonsault from ACH and rams him into the barricade. O’Reilly follows with his missile dropkick from the apron. reDRagon hit Chasing the Dragon on Thomas onto the floor. In the ring, ACH tries to fight off the champions single-handedly. O’Reilly plants him with a shoulder-capture suplex for a nearfall. Thomas botches a space flying tiger drop, so Fish drags him to the floor and hits a samoan drop. ACH finds knees on a 450 splash and O’Reilly applies an armbar for the victory at 20:36. This was a rough twenty minutes. The beginning portion of the match felt like everyone was going at half speed and the crowd took notice. Even down the stretch, neither team could string together any sequences that really captured the crowd’s interest. The transitions between spots felt awkward and a match designed to showcase the tag team division unfortunately fell flat. **¼
During intermission (I assume), Truth Martini comes out with some women for an edition of HOOPLAH Uncut. Martini introduces his guest for the evening…Cheeseburger. The crowd gives him the biggest pop of the night thus far. Martini asks him how it felt to kiss Maria Kanellis and he says that it was the greatest moment of his life. Martini then asks Cheeseburger to wrestle at A Night of Hooplah and he accepts. Next, Martini asks Cheeseburger if he got a boner while kissing Maria and he says yes. To reward him for being honest, Martini offers him a dance from the women. Cheeseburger takes off his pants for them and Rhino appears behind him. GORE! Kevin Steen’s music hits, leading to…
Match #5: Kevin Steen vs. Rhino
They start brawling before the opening bell. Steen connects with a dropkick through the ropes but gets tripped on the apron. Rhino hits a suplex onto the floor. Steen comes off the apron with a rolling senton. In the ring, Rhino takes control with a spinebuster. They bump heads during an exchange and fall to the canvas. Steen comes off the middle rope with a dropkick and hits a corner cannonball. He lands a swantan for a nearfall. Rhino fights back with a belly to belly suplex. Steen blocks the Gore and hits one of his own. Steen adds the F-Cinq for the win at 8:05. Eight minutes feels odd for a grudge match and the action didn’t have much time to settle down. Losing this easily does not help the “hired assassin” image that Rhino has right now. **
Matt Hardy lays out Steen with a Twist of Fate after the match. Mark Briscoe makes his entrance, leading to…
Match #6: Mark Briscoe vs. Matt Hardy
More brawling before the opening bell. Hardy retreats to the floor to escape a flurry of offense. Mark connects with a dropkick through the ropes. Corino interferes by pushing Mark into a Side Effect. Hardy takes over, working over the neck. Mark comes back with his karate offense. He even connects with a karate chop from the top rope. Hardy blocks a charge but runs into a flipping death valley driver. Corino jumps onto the apron to provide a distraction. Mark counters the Twist of Fate into a sleeper hold. Rhett Titus attempts to interfere but Steen chases him away. Corino punches Mark with brass knuckles behind the referee’s back. Hardy hits the Twist of Fate for the victory at 8:03. Mark’s offense is becoming tired and Hardy wasn’t exactly the best opponent for him. That aside, the finish just completely ruined any chance that this match had of being enjoyable. *½
More brawling ensues after the match…
Match #7: No Disqualification: Michael Elgin, Jay Lethal, and BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs, Cliff Compton, and Rhett Titus
SCUM hits stereo suplexes but the faces immediately return the favor with delayed vertical suplexes. Lethal lands a dive to the floor onto Jacobs as everyone brawls around ringside and into the crowd. Back in the ring, Lethal connects with a handspring back elbow on Jacobs. He fights off the Contra Code and lays in a superkick. Titus clotheslines Lethal to the floor but falls victim to an exploder from Whitmer. Compton plants Whitmer with a michinoku driver. There’s a spot involving everyone on the floor that somehow ends with Elgin suffering a Contra Code onto the apron. Jacobs hits a slingshot ace crusher on Lethal. Elgin connects with a short-arm lariat on Jacobs for a nearfall. Elgin hits his samoan drop-fallaway slam combination on Compton and Titus. Jacobs hits a reverse hurricanrana on Whitmer. Jacobs blocks the Lethal Injection with a chair shot. Compton hits the F-Cinq on Lethal for the win at 10:32. The previous two matches being cut short would have made sense if they led to an epic ROH vs. SCUM brawl. Instead, this felt like a way to give the crowd some violence without much meaning behind it. The crowd was vocal and there were definitely some solid exchanges sprinkled throughout, but the placement and duration of this match made it hard to stand out. **½
Match #8: ROH World Title: Jay Briscoe © vs. Eddie Edwards
Bobby Fish joins commentary for this match, which should be awesome. They begin with some chain wrestling. Edwards tries a few quick pin attempts to no avail. Keep in mind that he defeated Roderick Strong for the ROH World Title with a flash pin attempt. Jay snaps off a hurricanrana but Edwards quickly returns the favor. The action starts to break down when Jay connects with a stiff forearm smash. Edwards lures him to the floor and follows out with a dive. In the ring, Edwards misses a flying double stomp and tries a rollup for a two count. He transitions into an STF but Jay is able to reach the bottom rope. Edwards maintains control on the mat with various submissions. Jay fights back by firing off a few punches and connecting with a mafia kick. He hits a neckbreaker but Edwards responds with his backpack chinbreaker. Edwards transitions into the achilles lock. Jay escapes the hold. He attempts the Jay Driller but Edwards counters with a backslide for a nearfall. They trade rollups but neither man can pick up the three count. A strike exchange ends with both men being suplexed over the top rope. They brawl at ringside before beating the twenty count. In the ring, they connect with mafia kicks at the same time. Edwards goes back to the achilles lock but Jay reaches the bottom rope after a struggle. The action completely breaks down into a fight as both men throw wild strikes. Jay hits the Jay Driller to retain his title at 19:58. I quite liked this main event for what it was. The best part of the match for me was Edwards always attempting to sneak in rollups when he could to possibly catch Jay off-guard. The action also had a nice progression from strictly mat wrestling to a degenerate brawl. Jay was able to use his experience in such conditions to find an opening to hit the Jay Driller and retain the title. This wasn’t the earth-shattering main event that this show needed, but it was another solid match in a string of them thus far in Jay’s title reign. ***½
*Included as a bonus is the pre-show question and answer session with Matt Hardy and Steve Corino. The session lasts thirty minutes and while both men are clearly in-character, Corino does his best to provide some informative answers. Though mileage will vary here, most of the session is either informative or somewhat comical.
Overall: Ring of Honor has been having some great house shows lately but Live and Let Die unfortunately fell short of recent efforts. Though the event is book-ended by some quality matches (Richards/Alexander and Jay/Edwards), the middle of the show dragged things down. reDRagon and Adrenaline Rush were positioned to steal the show but the match just never clicked. Then, the ROH vs. SCUM matches never led to anything significant and just felt rushed. I don’t think the match quality is high enough here to earn a recommendation. On the bright side, ROH has been having a fantastic year in the house show department so there are many other recent DVDs that you could check out.
You can purchase this DVD at Ring of Honor’s store right here.