By Chris Shore

ROH "Showdown in the Sun" Night 2
Aired Live on iPPV at GFL.tv
Ft. Lauderdale, Fl at the War Memorial Auditorium

The show opened with Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness in the ring and the audio and video seemed to be working. They started to put over some of the matches when music hit and newly crazed Jimmy Jacobs hit the ring.

He took a mic and said over the past year, he and Steve Corino had been trying to be good, and Steen was trying to stop them. He said when he hit Steen with the spike at Final Battle (he meant 10th Anniversary) and froze, he wasn't disgusted, it was because he had been celibate for a year and had an orgasm. He said being good wasn't for him and the Zombie Princess had risen from the dead.

El Generico's music hit and he ran to the ring dragging referee Todd Sinclair. Generico attacked Jacobs. Jacobs escaped to the floor. Generico hit a dive on the floor. Bobby Cruise announced ROH had approved an unannounced match and it started now...

1. Jimmy Jacobs defeated El Generico at 8:01. Both guys worked strikes for some time. Generico hit a high cross body from the top for two. He followed with Blue Thunder for two. Kevin Kelly finally addressed the technical problems from last night and said the replay was up.

Jacobs bit Generico and hit a pop-out Ace crusher for two. Jacobs went to the top and Generico tried for the brainbuster. Jacobs knocked Generico down and charged on him. Generico caught him and hit an exploder suplex into the buckle. Generico charged for the Yakuza, but Jacobs grabbed the guillotine. Generico made the ropes.

Jacobs pulled the spike from his boot and tried to stab Generico, but missed and stabbed the buckle. Generico hit the half nelson suplex and got the spike. They fought over the spike, and Jacobs rolled up Generico for the win...

Shore's Slant: Fun match. I hate to see Generico lose twice in the same weekend, but there was little choice. Steen is the hottest thing in ROH, and Jacobs couldn't afford to lose the night after a turn. By the way, no tech problems at all.

2. Tomasso Ciampa (w/The Embassy) defeated Cedric Alexander (w/Caprice Coleman) at 5:25. Ciampa attacked before the bell and drove Cedric to the floor. He set Cedric in a chair and did something, but we didn't see it because they producer chose to show RD Evans talking to Kevin Kelly. Cause that's what I paid to see.

Cedric got in a few shots and hit a big slam for two. They spilled back to the floor and Cedric hit an exploder suplex into the railing. Ouch. Ciampa came back and slammed Cedric across the bottom buckle. He followed with two knees that drove Cedric's head into the post and covered for the win. Post-match, Prince Nana kicked Coleman, so Coleman attacked him and took Project Cimapa for his troubles...

Shore's Slant: Mostly a squash match for Cimapa, but good to see a hometown boy make good there for Cedric. Ciampa is a beast. WWE will come calling soon. Bet on it.

3. TJ Perkins defeated Fire Ant at 8:13. The announce team punked Referee Todd Sinclair for being fat. Stay classy guys. A spot fest broke out. Fire Ant hit back to back dives on the floor. Perkins came back with a reverse Ace crusher. Fire Ant reversed the very next lift into a stunner type move.

Fire Ant set Perkins on the top and setup for something, but Perkins hit a sunset bomb and followed with his finisher kick for a near fall. Perkins went to the top and hit a 450 for the win. Post-match, they shook hands and showed respect as the announce team hyped Synergy on April 28...

Shore's Slant: Fun as far as spot fests go. Very little ring psychology. The ending was flat. This is the problem with this style. They hit combo move after combo move and kick out, but then a single 450 ends it. That's not good storytelling.

4. Kyle O'Reilly defeated Adam Cole. Ring introductions were occurring and the feed went out. It is still down. GFL has a statement on their page saying power is out. I have heard from people in attendance. There is power. The story is that there is a brownout which means not enough power to transmit. The match went on, but we will not see it apparently. Got results from Twitter.

***Intermission***

They came back live, finally, and tried to no sell what happened. Cornette should be fired for not having his announcers falling on themselves apologizing. Terrible...

5. The Young Buck defeated The All Night Express in a street fight. The Bucks grabbed brooms out from under the ring and waited for ANX, but ANX came out through the crowd. Kenny King threw a garbage can into the ring to clue them off. That made sense. No ring intros as ANX attacked. They hit the Bucks with signs and trashcans, and even put the trashcan on Matt's head and hit him with the brooms.

Then the feed broke again. I was told via Twitter from people not at the show that there are power issues across Ft. Lauderdale. We may not get the feed back. Stay tuned. Again got result from Twitter.

The stream suddenly came back on and Mike Bennett and Maria made out for about 20 solid seconds. The announce team acted like nothing even happened, again, and hyped the tag title match...

6. The Briscoe Brothers defeated Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team to retain the ROH Tag Team Championships at 16:15. Mark and Haas started. Haas hit the floor immediately and played to the crowd. Nigel McGuinness said Mark Briscoe has an IQ of 147. That's the same as mine. Crazy.

The action went to the floor and the Briscoes beat up WGTT. Jay Briscoe slammed Charlie Haas into a sign a fan was holding at ringside. That guy probably needs to change his pants. Jay officially tagged in and WGTT took control and worked their offense. What offense you ask? Well, the fans chanted, "Same old shit."

Mark got the hot tag and took out both guys with redneck kung-fu. Shelton reversed a whip, and Haas pulled the ropes down. Mark landed on the apron and took out Haas, but Benjamin whipped him into the post to take control. He slammed Mark against the railing and then rolled him back in the ring.

Mark started bleeding. I didn't see anything that looked like a blade job so it might have been hardway. Mark reversed a throw from the top rope into a cross body type move on Benajmin and both men made tags. Jay took out Benjamin and hot a cross body on Haas for two.

Jay lifted Haas and Benjamin hit a superkick for a roll up near fall. Mark hit a back kick on Benjamin. Haas took out Mark, and then he and Jay kicked each other down to have all four men down in the ring. All four stood and did the "yea/boo" punches.

Benjamin took Mark out and Haas locked in the Haas of Pain on Jay. Jay made the ropes, so they setup for the Leap of Faith. The fans chanted "Same old shit" again. Mark recovered and hit a missile dropkick on Benjamin. Jay flipped Haas over for the pinfall victory. Post-match, Benjamin took out Mark by slamming him into the railing. They then grabbed Jay and rammed his nuts into the post three times. Fake or not, that made me hurt...

Shore's Slant: Good match. I'm tired of this feud and hope they move on, but it sure doesn't feel that way. ROH often doesn't know when to end feuds. Still, this match is worth seeing. And hey, we got to see it all!

7. Kevin Steen defeated Eddie Edwards at 10:46 They started with trading shoulder tackle attempts. Eddie broke the cycle by kicking Steen, but Steen hit a drop toe hold and followed with a flip leg drop. The actio spilled to the floor and some tool who has been flipping the heels off all show got mushed by Steen. I popped like a school girl.

Steen went for a powerbomb on the floor, but Eddie reversed into a ranna. He charged at Steen. Steen popped him up and then hit a sick powerbomb on the apron. That made my shed a tear. Wow. Steen tossed Eddie on the stage and bit him. He put him in a chair and then did the running cannonball on the chair.

Steen went back tot he ring to pose and then went back. Eddie kicked him down and then hit a double stomp from the stage. Actually he missed it for the most part, but the crowd loved it. Eddie rolled Steen in the ring and hit the backpack chin breaker. Eddie charged and Steen popped him up for a powerbomb into a bridge. Eddie kicked out and Steen tried to lock on a sharpshooter. Eddie reversed into an Achilles lock, but Steen flipped back over anf hooked a small package for the win...

Shore's Slant: If you heard my interview with Eddie Edwards, you know I said this was the match I was most looking forward to. Now you know why. Great match from these two. The finish was a surprise, but nt bad. Steen didn't need to kill Eddie to get heat here, and Eddie certainly didn't need to take a big loss. Good work.

Ring entrances occurred for the next match. As Cruise started to do introductions, Tomasso Ciampa's music hit. He came to the ring area and did have the TV title belt. He asked for a mic, and after finally getting one that worked, said he had the belt and he kept his word like a man. He said he wanted to see if Lethal was a man. He told Lethal if he made this match a TV title match, and he beat Strong, he would not only give Lethal his belt, he would admit he is the bigger man.

Lethal confirmed the deal and said he would take Ciampa's stupid bet. He told Ciampa to have a seat and plan his speech. He said when it happened, he wanted Ciampa to call him the "New Dominant Male" Jay Lethal. Cruise did ring intros and announced it was a title match. Kelly informed us this would count for the TV Title match Strong earned in a proving ground match earlier this year...

8. Roderick Strong (w/Truth Martini) defeated Jay Lethal for the ROH Television Championship at 13:22. The match started fast with Lethal's arm bar flipping gimmick. The match broke down into chops and kicks. Strong got knocked to the floor and Lethal hit a dive. He rolled Strong back in the ring and jawed with Ciampa, and then Truth. Strong hit a reverse hangman and went on the attack.

Roddy worked the back and the two men traded stall suplexes. Lethal hit an arm drag and did the cartwheel, but Strong grabbed the legs and hooked in the Strong Hold. Lethal made the ropes to break the hold. Roddy whipped him and Lethal hit the arm drag, cartwheel dropkick combo.

Lethal hit several chops and strikes. Roddy hooked a small package that Lethal failed to kick out of, but referee Paul Turner stopped the count anyway. Fail. Three minutes were announced and Lethal was knocked to the floor. Ciampa grabbed Lethal and slammed him into the post. He rolled Lethal back in the ring and Strong hit the Strong Bow for the win...

Shore's Slant: Decent match with a predictable ending of Ciampa getting involved. I'm not the biggest Lethal fan, and he needed to drop that title, but I was hoping to see Ciampa with it. Of course Strong has been teasing a baby turn so maybe this all plays in together. Congrats to Strong who now becomes only the second Triple Crown winner in ROH.

9. Davey Richards defeated Michael Elgin (w/Truth Martini) to retain the ROH World Heavyweight Championship at 26:16. Davey started fast and knocked Elgin to the floor and hit a dive. He pulled Elgin to the apron. He climbed to the top, but Elgin knocked him off with a clothesline.

Elgin held a stall suplex for close to 20 seconds. He must not have been watching the previous match. Davey tried for a handspring elbow, but Elgin caught him in a torture rack and dropped down for a backbreaker for two.

Elgin powered Richards around, but Davey slipped out of a back suplex attempt and hit a missile dropkick. They trade forearms and Davey got the best, somehow, and hit an exploder suplex for two. He sat Elgin on top and, after fighting forever, hit a top rope superplex.

Elgin no sold the move and hit a nice enziguri. Davey hit a explosive clothesline and Elgin rolled tot he floor. Davey tried for his kick from the apron. Elgin ducked and hit a fisher suplex on the floor, followed by a powerbomb to the railing. He rolled Richards in the ring for a near fall. Elgin hit a corkscrew top rope senton for two.

They went back to the top and battled forever until Davey finally hit a top rope dragon suplex that should have killed Elgin. Elgin kicked out at two to a great pop from the crowd. Richards grabbed the ankle lock out of the kick, but Elgin powered to the rope.

Davey started his finisher kick sequence and Elgin stood up. They traded the stupid rapid kicks to the head from Davey, knees to the face from Elgin. Elgin screamed and hit several high impact moves in a row and locked in a crossface. Davey made the ropes for the break.

Both men traded huge moves and near falls that the fans bought from Elgin more than Davey. Elgin hit a buckle bomb that Davey no sold, but Elgin hit a huge clothesline. Elgin hit his spinning powerbomb for another false finish.

Elgin locked on the crossface. Davey seemed out and then tried to make the ropes. Elgin rolled him back to the center of the ring. Davey grabbed the ankle and spun it into the ankle lock. Elgin fought forever and finally kicked out, but he couldn't stand. Davey hit his kick finisher and covered. Elgin kicked out at one and spit in Davey's face. Davey hit four or five more kicks and covered for two. He finally hit three more and that was somehow enough.

Post-match, Davey got a mic and cut a promo on how much his heart is in ROH even if his body belongs to MMA. He said they call this weekend the Super Bowl of wrestling, but that confuses him because Super Bowls happen on Sunday and all he sees on Sunday is entertainment. He said the guys in Orlando and Connecticut should stay where they are because if they got in that ring, they would be sorry.

He put over Elgin and and said one day he would be champion, just not today. He said he learned one thing from being there with Samoa Joe and Bryan Danielson, you'll get farther with the crowd behind you than Truth Martini. He said Elgin should pick his allies better. He said they had a match of the year and thanked the fans for coming to close the show...

Shore's Slant: So much to say here. First, that is probably my favorite Davey Richards match. Honestly. A lot of that was Elgin. I don't know if it was his size or what, but Davey wrestled a different match than I usually see from him, and that was a huge plus. I loved the match and would put it on the list for match of the year right now, even if the year is still young.

The match was not without its problems. The finish was still Davey's lame kicks. I know the kick out at one made for a cool moment, but it hurt the finish even more. I will never buy the "cumulative kick" psychology that Davey uses. There's no way that eighth kick was the magical one. It just looks stupid. I also hate the rapid fire kick/knee lift spot. It weakens everything else they do. There were too many false finished during one stretch. That's a forgivable one though as the rest were way over and it's hard to judge that sometimes.

The biggest problem was that Davey Richards's promo at the end took a lot of the heat off the match. He popped up after that match and talked like he hadn't been through a war. ROH has this fetish for him talking to close shows for some time, win or lose, and it kills what we just saw. Leave us the picture of two war weary guys too exhausted to stand. Don't act like the reason you're sweating is because you've been in a sauna. And considering the fact that a few thousand people saw your iPPV, and a big portion of them turned it off due to your myriad of technical problems, maybe you shouldn't call out the promotion that makes it possible for you to put on said shitty technical display. That's low class.

I'll be along tomorrow with an ROH Hitlist for both shows, as well as my WrestleMania preview and predictions article, and full LIVE coverage of WrestleMania 28. Thanks for watching along with me today and I will see you then.

Questions? Comments? Anyone, anyone? Let me hear from you. Email me at css3238@gmail.com or tweet me @TheShoreSlant with whatever is on your mind.

And read my first work of fiction: The Following Contest is a Dark Match available exclusively on ebook for all eReaders, smartphones, tablets, and PCs for only 99 cents.

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