Powell's 4/29 ROH Wrestling TV review: Final hype for Border Wars, Jay Briscoe and Adam Cole vs. Matt Hardy and Rhino, Jay Lethal vs. Rhett Titus, ROH vs. SCUM six-man tag match

By Jason Powell

ROH Wrestling on SBG television affiliates
Taped in New York, N.Y. at Manhattan Center

[Q1] Highlights aired from last week of Steve Corino leading the rest of SCUM in an attack on Kevin Steen... The opening video aired... Kevin Kelly introduced the show as Corino stood in the ring with Rhett Titus, Cliff Compton, and Jimmy Jacobs. Corino said the moronic fans were about to get a treat. Corino challenged Nigel McGuinness to have three of his best ROH wrestlers face his trio...

1. Caprice Coleman, Cedric Alexander, and B.J. Whitmer vs. Rhett Titus, Cliff Compton, and Jimmy Jacobs. The ROH trio ran out and immediately brawled with the SCUM threesome, and a referee entered the ring to start the match. Corino joined Kelly on commentary.

Corino said he hates New York City more than any other city, so apparently the rest of the world can feel good about that. The match quickly settled into a normal six-man tag match. Late in the match, Corino tossed a chain to Titus, who used it as a weapon on Whitmer and pinned him...

Rhett Titus, Cliff Compton, and Jimmy Jacobs beat Caprice Coleman, Cedric Alexander, and B.J. Whitmer.

A spot aired for Belle Vernon, Pa. with Red Dragon talking about a match against opponents to be determined. Yes, really... [C]

Powell's POV: This felt like three guys from SCUM who don't get mic time facing a few ROH undercard wrestlers. There was some decent action at times, but it didn't feel important for an early faction war match. Meanwhile, nothing sends the message like an advertised show is meaningless when champions are talking about defending their titles against opponents TBD.

[Q2] 2. Jay Lethal vs. Rhett Titus. The match was joined in progress. Kelly said Lethal and Michael Elgin ran off the rest of SCUM, and then Lethal challenged Titus to a match. Lethal controlled most of the offense, but Titus had a really good flurry later in the match and scored a believable near fall. Lethal came back a short time later with the Lethal Combination, a superkick, and Lethal Injection for the win...

Jay Lethal beat Rhett Titus.

After the match, Lethal took the mic and said his win was the first ROH victory in their war against SCUM. Lethal swore Corino would be gone once and for all after Border Wars... [C]

Powell's POV: A good match with very good action down the stretch. The promo was brief. I'm not sure it's a good idea to have the babyface swear to something that won't come true.

Kevin Kelly hosted the Inside Ring of Honor segment. Kelly ran through the Border Wars iPPV lineup. It was not updated with the Naomichi Marufuji injury news.

Kelly hyped Michael Elgin vs. Karl Anderson for next week's television show and set up a promo in which Elgin discussed his match with Karl Anderson. He now that he has a guaranteed title shot, nothing will stand in his way.

[Q3] Kelly also announced Davey Richards vs. Kyle O'Reilly for next week's television show and then set up a Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish (a/k/a Red Dragon) promo... [C]

Highlights aired from Border Wars 2012 of Kevin Steen beat Davey Richards to win the ROH Title...

Nigel McGuinness stood in the ring and called out Jay Briscoe and Adam Cole for a contract signing for the ROH Title match at Border Wars. Both wrestlers quickly signed the contract. Nigel asked them to shake hands and they complied. Nigel set the mic down.

Steve Corino's voice could be heard saying, "Oh, how honorable" over the house mic. Corino walked to the ring with Rhino and Matt Hardy. Corino said Briscoe should be defending the ROH Title against "our savior" Matt Hardy. Corino said no one wants to see Briscoe vs. Cole, so he threw out the idea the idea of a tag match and said that's a pay-per-view main event. Briscoe took the mic and called for the match to happen on the spot. Nigel made it official...

Powell's POV: I like the effort to make the organic build to the champion and challenger teaming up on the go-home show. There's nothing wrong with that being announced ahead of time, but we've seen that so many times that it was nice to see an alternative route to get there.

Veda Scott hyped a live event segment for Richmond, Va. on May 18 and set up a B.J. Whitmer promo about his ROH Title match against either Briscoe or Cole... [C]

Before the main event, Hardy tried to throw his t-shirt to the crowd, but they kept throwing it back (see John Cena at the Hammerstein Ballroom)...

[Q4] 3. Jay Briscoe and Adam Cole vs. Matt Hardy and Rhino (w/Steve Corino). The heel duo was in control heading into the commercial break. [C] Cole continued to sell for the heels after the break. He made the hot tag to Briscoe, who had a good flurry of offense on both heels that woke up the crowd a bit.

Briscoe caught Hardy with a roaring elbow, but then Rhino suplexed him and set up for a Gore. The crowd chanted Gore, but charging Rhino ran into a knee. Briscoe followed up with a big boot to the face. He backed toward his corner, where Cole tagged himself into the match. Briscoe and Cole bickered.

Hardy struck Cole from behind. Cole went for a superkick on Hardy, who ducked, causing the kick to connect with Briscoe. Cole looked apologetic. He threw Hardy to ringside. Rhino charged for a Gore, but Cole stepped aside and Rhino ended up goring Briscoe. Cole rolled up Rhino and pinned him to win the match for his team.

Jay Briscoe and Adam Cole defeated Matt Hardy and Rhino.

After the match, the referee raised Cole's hands. After highlights were shown, Briscoe was up and jawing with Cole, who was trying to explain what happened. Kelly gave final hype to Border Wars and next week's television show...

A montage of wrestler promos aired to hype their Border Wars matches. The wrestlers featured were B.J. Whitmer, Eddie Edwards, Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander, Michael Elgin and Jay Lethal, Davey Richards, Mike Mondo, Mark Briscoe, Matt Taven and Truth Martini, and Jay Briscoe...

Powell's POV: A good main event both in terms of action and storytelling. The post match left a bit to be desired as Briscoe was questioning Cole's actions, but not in the heated manner that would leave viewers anxious to see them wrestle. The promo montage was similar to the old ECW "Pulp Fiction" promos minus the "Miserlou" theme song. It was a nice throwback, though Briscoe closing it out by telling people that he just won't the title and wouldn't lose it so quickly probably cemented the suspicion that most viewers have about the outcome of the match.

Overall, a good go-home show. Whether you like the Border Wars lineup or not, the show focussed nicely on those matches and made it seem like the most important thing happening in the company right now while also hyping two matches for next week's television show.