Tuesday, December 3, 2013

RoH Border Wars 2013

Nothing says timely like a review seven months after the show happened. I might have a review of PWG TEN tomorrow depending on if I get my highspots.com delivery tomorrow or not.

ACH & Tadarius Thomas vs. Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander

Fast paced tag opener to start the match and Coleman and Alexander pick up the win after Coleman leaps up to the top and hurrincanrannas ACH off the top and Alexander hits a springboard frog splash. A fine match from all involved and a good way to start the show. I don't dig the team of Coleman and Alexander, they are just too similar as wrestlers. ACH and Thomas are both high flyers, but nothing like each other with ACH being flippy and super charismatic and Thomas with all his capoeria kicks.

Roderick Strong vs. Mike Bennett

Another solid match in the show between these two guys. I've really enjoyed Bennett since he came back from the break he took. He's really cut down on how much heel stuff he does outside of the ring to jaw jack with fans, but still has that slow heel style that works well. These guys do some good brawling on the outside and Bennett hits an impressive spinebuster from the floor onto the apron. Some shenanigans at the end, but Roderick picks up the win with the sick kick and that's the important part, Strong winning.

Rhett Titus vs. BJ Whitmer (I Quit Match)

Despite the stipulation this is pretty much just a standard brawl between these two guys. They do it well, but with an I Quit Match you want something more and it never happens in this match. Plus the ending is horseshit. Titus grabs some zip ties, but Whitmer stops him and then ties Titus to the ropes. He grabs a chair to wallop him, but Corino comes out to take the shots and instead Titus quits which is immediately followed by Jacobs and Compton attacking and then right into the next match. Why didn't they attack before Titus quits? Or free him? I don't know and I don't think anybody does. Just a blah match all around.

Jay Lethal & Michael Elgin vs. Jimmy Jacobs & Cliff Compton

It's all Lethal and Elgin to start the match and it starts hot and they do some awesome brawling on the outside before going into the ring and the RoH team keeps the advantage and Elgin gives both SCUM members a delayed vertical suplex. Lethal does a suicide dive and hurts his leg and is helped to the back. Elgin keeps the advantage all on his own for a bit, but eventually the numbers turn on him. Elgin has Jacobs on his back with a sleeper hold but Elgin doesn't care and grabs Compton and hits a deadlift german suplex and crushes Jacobs as well. Steen comes out and becomes Elgin's partner and comes in hot. Steen goes for a package piledriver, but Jacobs cuts his knees out and rolls him up for a quick three count. An exciting good match from these men. Elgin looked very impressive as he always does.

Eddie Edwards vs. Taiji Ishimori

This match was awesome. Hard hitting, athletic, and tons of near falls, everything I like to see in a wrestling match. Ishimori's chest gets lit up and is a nice bright red color from Edwards chops after the match. Ishimori hits an awesome meteora from the top and lands perfectly to stay on top of Eddie for a two count. A nice sequence of hard kicks from each other that ends with Ishimori hitting a reverse hurrincanranna that Edwards stands up from and delivers a lariat that leaves both men down on the mat. The finishing sequence is Edwards hitting Ishimori with everything and then some including a hurrincanranna from the top with them both standing up on the top. Ishimori then kicks out of a powerbomb followed by a sitout powerbomb so Edwards hits the Die Hard Driver for the win. Just great stuff from both men and so far the best match of the show.

Matt Taven vs. Mark Briscoe

I'm pretty sure Matt Taven is a good wrestler, but from his title defenses I haven't been able to find out. Mark Briscoe beats the shit out of Taven for almost the entire match all of Taven's offense comes in after Martini interference. Taven works Briscoe's right arm for a bit, but Briscoe doesn't give a single fuck and when he starts his comeback it's all about red neck kung fu with his right arm. The ending comes when the Hoopla Hotties get on the apron and makeout so Taven gets an Oklahoma roll with a handful of tights for the win. Just a squash where the guy getting squashed picks up the win after shenanigans. RoH is not doing Taven any favors with this title run.

Davey Richards vs. Paul London

This match is awesome. Davey accepts that people hate him and plays dick heel well. They start off with some nice chain wrestling and then both men do what they do best. Richards kicks really hard, and London does some cool high flying. I want to say the ending sequence has some cool stuff, but since London get's legit fucked up during it, I'm not a huge fan of it. London goes to headscissors Richards out of the ring and lands on his feet holding Richards for a tombstone then Richards flips over and hits a tombstone on the outside. London gets onto the apron and Richards goes for a double stomp and one of his feet misses the chest and hits London in the face and concusses him. But still they go to the top and London flips over Richards with a powerbomb then goes for a shooting star press and takes knees to the chest and Richards rolls over for the pin. Great to see London back in RoH and a fun match to watch knowing London ends up being okay afterward.

Jay Briscoe vs. Adam Cole

A good match between these two with Cole working the leg of Briscoe to setup the figure four. Briscoe does a good job of selling the leg and gets his hope spot when they fight onto the apron and he hits a big DVD there. Briscoe keeps starting comebacks, but Cole just gives him a shot to the knee and takes back over. The end closes in as Cole hits a top rope german suplex, then delivers a superkick, followed by a superkick to the back of the head, and then the bridging straight jacket german suplex for a two count. Cole goes for the figure four but Briscoe pushes him off and into the ref. Corino comes down and offers Cole a SCUM shirt, but Nigel trips Corino on the top rope and hits the Tower of London. Cole turns around and Briscoe hits the Jay Driller for the win. Just such a shitty fucking ending to this match.


I don't know how I feel about this show. It does have two really good matches in Richards/London and Ishimori/Edwards. The main event is really good until a shitty ending, and the SCUM vs, RoH tag match is good, but it's pretty okay stuff and not great. I want to say pass on it, but the two great matches are just so good. So if you've got the disposable income for lots of wrestling pick it up, but if not you can find better wrestling in PWG and other RoH shows.


RoH has been the biggest indy promotion for so long and they still can't balance their cameras so the lighting doesn't look completely different on every camera, it's infuriating. Or they do the lighting poorly, I don't really know which it is. I hate Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuiness on commentary. I'm also tired of how much interference there is in RoH matches. I know the idea of what RoH is has changed, but goddamn just give me the best wrestling without all these horse shit finishes.


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