1) Michael Elgin defeated TJ Perkins. Elgin got the win in 7:25 with his spinning powerbomb finisher. Good opener and a fun contrast of styles as expected. Perkins put on a good show and hit some of his signature spots, but couldn’t hit his finisher, and Elgin hit most of his usual power moves.

2) Tomasso Ciampa defeated Jimmy Rave. The full Embassy crew accompanied Ciampa, and Prince Nana and RD Evans did some mic work before the match. Rave had an Abe Lincoln style beard and shorter hair, but generally looked pretty much the same as during his last run. Todd Sinclair was the referee, which led to “Twinkies” chants and general idiocy from the crowd. Rave utilized both the heel hook and the Rave Clash but couldn’t put Ciampa down. Inevitably, the Embassy all interfered, leading to Ciampa hitting Project Ciampa for the win at 8:29. Unless Rave is sticking around, Ciampa absolutely should have won cleanly.

There have been technical difficulties in attempting to show replays after each match.

3) ROH Television Championship elimination match: Jay Lethal defeated Mike Bennett and El Generico to retain. Pretty early in the card for a title match. Bennett entered first with Brutal Bob Evans and a scantily-clad Maria Kanellis. The crowd chanted “CM Punk” at Maria and Bennett kissed her and cut a promo. Bennett avoided the action early, and eventually both babyfaces hit a dual suicide dive on him. Later, Bennett was outside again and hid behind both Evans (in “Put up your dukes” mode) and Maria; shortly after that, there was three-way action in the ring which eventually led to Bennett hitting a spinebuster on Lethal for a near fall. Generico hit a cool double springboard dive out of the corner onto Lethal, the nearly pinned Bennett with a half nelson suplex. Generico kicked out of a Lethal flying elbow, then cut off a second one. Bennett stopped him from a brainbuster attempt and rolled him up (with two hands full of tights) for the elimination at the 18 minute mark. Lethal then immediately hit what Kevin Kelly called the Lethal Injection (although I don’t actually think it was that) for the win at 18:15. Really good match.

4) Kevin Steen defeated Steve Corino in a No DQ match to earn reinstatement in ROH. Steen was denied locker room access, so he entered through the crowd. Just like Sandman at One Night Stand, only fatter and slightly less over as a babyface. Jimmy Jacobs was the special referee and both Cary Silkin and Jim Cornette were at ringside. Corino was introduced as wrestling out of Sea Island City, NJ. I think he’s working his way toward having every city in North America as part of his intro at one point or another. Steen hit the majority of the early offense to the delight of the crowd. Weapon-like implements included a chair, a guard rail section, a table, and a garbage can (they actually had a clever excuse for this being in the ring area as they used it to discard streamers). Steen is closer than ever to not making it over and paralyzing himself on his somersault leg drop. Corino bled and Steen was expectedly disgusting. Corino slammed Steen onto a pile of chairs and then hit a top rope splash from a longer distance than I thought he was capable of jumping. Corino kicked out of a surperplex onto a guardrail bridged over chairs. Corino knocked Steen off the second rope through a stack of tables and chairs on the floor. Corino hit his sliding clothesline with one chair into another chair for a two count. Steen hit an ugly cobra clutch suplex then an exploder onto a chair for two. Nigel can’t believe it. I can’t believe I’m writing this much about this match. Jacobs finally got actively involved, stopping Steen from a big chairshot, which allowed Corino to punch Steen with a roll of quarters for a near fall. Shortly after, Steen hit a Package Piledriver through a platform of chairs and Jacobs very slowly and reluctantly counted 3. The match was about 24 minutes long. This wasn’t good, but I guess it did what they were going for.

After the match, Steen spoke briefly and then hit a Package Piledriver on Jacobs. Cornette came into check on him, and I finally got my wish as Generico decided to care about this and stopped Steen from attacking Cornette. They traded punches and Generico hit a Yakuza kick. Steen countered an attempted turnbuckle brainbuster with a Package Piledriver through a table on the floor. The crowd chanted “Welcome back!” for the conquering hero. They sold the injury in a huge way (including Kelly calling Steen a son of a bitch) and this was actually a pretty good angle which would have been great if the idiots in the crowd realized that Steen is a heel.

Intermission

5) Contenders Cup tag team gauntlet: The Young Bucks defeated the Bravado Brothers, Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander, Future Shock, and the All Night Express. Teams were randomly drawn for order of entry. The Bravados started out against Coleman & Alexander. For the second time in recent ROH history, a color commentator incorrectly posited that the best strategy in a gauntlet match is to go hard early in order to win quickly and therefore “save energy” for the end. Coleman got a near fall with some would-be finisher off camera. After five minutes, Alexander eliminated the Bravados with a roll-up. Cole & O’Reilly entered next. If both jobber teams were going to enter and leave first, would anyone have objected to this just being a three-team elimination match? I guess the New Combination beating the Bravados ever so slightly elevates them and further puts the Bravados’ roster status in jeopardy, but still. Good action in the second fall and one or two semi-plausible near falls for the NC, but Future Shock eliminated them with Ride the Lighting at 11:45 (total). The Young Bucks entered third. The announcers played up the issue between the Bucks and ANX, which would seem to telegraph that the Bucks would win this fall. At one point, O’Reilly hit nine straight rolling butterfly suplexes on Nick Jackson. O’Reilly missed his flying kick off the apron, allowing the Bucks to hit a double superkick and More Bang for Your Buck on Cole to eliminate Future Shock just past the 20 minute mark. Really good stuff there. Titus and King immediately started off hot against the Bucks, but the Bucks took control quickly as Titus’s knee injury was aggravated. Nick Jackson hit an awesome counter to King’s cartwheel kick by simply kicking him in the head. The Bucks targeted Titus’s knee whenever they had a chance, and won in 29 minutes by referee stoppage after Matt had Titus in a leg lock and Nick hit him with a 450 splash. Good match with a nice logical finish.

Kevin Kelly addressed the rumor that Nigel McGuinness was a rumored opponent for Roderick Strong’s open challenge, and Nigel said that Truth Martini didn’t want Strong to wrestle him.

6) Roderick Strong defeated Chris Hero. Strong cut a promo and claimed that there were no worthy opponents, so he should be declared the winner by default. Martini led ref Todd Sinclair in a ten count (with rhyming quips interspersed) for some reason until Hero came out just before ten. That would have been an awesome surprise if it hadn’t been rumored for a few days. The match started just after 10:00, with two presumably long matches still to come. Typically good stuff but nothing too noteworthy through the first ten minutes. Hero was a half-step off in a few instances. At 14 minutes, Strong hit a cool combo finishing with a Gibson Driver for a near fall. Hero fired back with three straight spinning strikes for his own 2 count. He then hit a Death Blow, and Martini came in the ring, apparently trying to break up the pin, but not really doing anything except distracting Hero. Another distraction shortly after that allowed Strong to hit the Sick Kick for the win at 16:37. Good match, but the crowd was kind of flat and the usual Martini shenanigans hurt it.

The production was uniformly unacceptable on this show.

7) ROH Tag Team Championships: The Briscoe Brothers defeated Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team to win the titles. They seemingly decided to go with the tide of the crowd reactions as Haas & Benjamin attacked before the bell, including using the belts. They brawled at ringside and the opening bell still didn’t ring. WGTT were more aggressive and dished out most of the offense. Back in the ring, they attacked with chairs, including a big unprotected shot to Mark’s head. And then a slightly protected one for Jay. Still no bell at this point, and it seemed like there would be no match. More chair shots (not to the head). Jay started to bleed and then took an unprotected shot to the head. They hit a semi-botched Leap of Faith. For some reason, Paul Turner called for the opening bell at this point. If I didn’t make it clear by now, this was a definite heel turn by WGTT. Jay hit a supekick to cut off a second Leap of Faith and had an awesome face-off with Haas. Benjamin hit a Stinger Splash on Mark but then sold his pre-existing rib injury. The Briscoes were in control at this point, and took off his shirt to expose his taped ribs. Haas tagged in and hit some nice offense. Later, Haas avoided a spike Jay Driller and hit a series of German suplexes on Jay. He got Jay in the Haas of Pain, and Benjamin blocked a flying attempt to break it up by Mark. The damage to Benjamin’s ribs allowed the Briscoes to double team Haas, and refs helped Benjamin to the back. This pretty much ruined the underdog situation that the pre-match attack set up. Turner was wiped out on an Angle Slam attempt by Haas, and Benjamin came back out (he was gone for less than two minutes) and hit Mark in the head with a wooden sheet. WGTT went for a Doomsday Device, but Mark recovered and knocked Shelton off the ropes, then the Briscoes hit their own Doomsday Device for the win in 13:13 and their 7th tag titles. Certainly not without its (arguably major) flaws, but a good match with a well-done double turn and some good drama.

8 ) ROH World Championship: Davey Richards defeated Eddie Edwards to retain the title. As advertised, Dan Severn cornered Edwards and Tony Kozina and Kyle O’Reilly cornered Richards. They had a 1990s All Japan style opening with each man going for his finisher in the opening minute. Richards controlled early on. The crowd was clearly exhausted by this point. Edwards turned the tide and maintained control after a stint on the floor. At ten minutes, Richards hit a dive, prompting Kelly to use the phrase “soaring and scoring” for at least the third time on the night. A few minutes later, Edwards hit an Asai moonsault to the floor, but hit his leg on the guard rail. They had a really nice exchange in the ring resulting in Edwards getting an STF and then an ankle lock. They faced off mid-ring and traded slaps. Twenty minutes in, they exchanged strikes on the turnbuckles, and Richards hit a superplex. He held on and attempted another suplex, but Edwards blocked and suplexed him over the top to the floor, resulting in both men being outside until the count of 19. Later, they hit strikes simultaneously and were both down. Roderick Strong came out and eventually came to blows with O’Reilly and Kozina. He backed down from Dan Severn, who was then attacked by Michael Elgin. The corner men and House of Truth briefly fought, and Severn carried Martini to the back. If they were going to involve the seconds in the match, this was a good way to do it as it had no effect on the match from a competitive/kayfabe standpoint, but in a practical sense, gave the wrestlers an extra half-minute or so of rest than they might have otherwise taken. When they got back up, they traded strikes and Edwards hit a nice combo ending with a sit-out powerbomb for a two count. Edwards applied the dragon sleeper for the first time in the match, and each man got a reversal, then Edwards hit a tombstone and a 2K1 Bomb for a near fall. Both men were clearly fatigued as they surpassed 35 minutes. They exchanged strikes in the corner again, and Richards hit a release dragon suplex. They battled on the apron, and Richards threw Edwards off with an exploder, nearly resulting in a count-out. He got another 19 count following a dragon suplex on the apron. During that count, the camera crew had perhaps their only good moment of the show as they got a good close-up of Richards exasperated face as the crowd chanted for Edwards to get up. In the final minutes, Edwards had clearly used up his ammo and was in pure “Die Hard” mode as he kicked out of a buzzsaw kick at the 40 minute mark and a running kick to the head after that. Finally, Richards hit another buzzsaw kick, a spinning back kick, and a 360 buzzsaw kick to the kneeling Edwards to win and retain the title in 41:17. An epic match that was excellent, but dragged at times and didn’t quite live up to their previous world title match. Still, comfortably the best match of the night.

After the match, Richards cut a promo and began to praise Edwards, but Kevin Steen interrupted him and cut a promo mocking their respect for each other and Team Richards. He said that he would win the title and take ROH down in 2012.

Overall, a very good show with some pretty big flaws, including a truly awful night for the production crew. We’ll have more thoughts coming soon on BS With Honor, including a guest appearance by Cal Burnside, who attended the show.

After the jump, check out the all-seeing “Eye of Sauron” fan. (Those hanging things are no picnic either, are they?)

There first two matches of the year are both in my top 40, the 2/23/89 match in my top ten. They hook up one more time. Next.

You can feel the intensity as this one starts. Tenryu and Jumbo go at it, and right away they tease Tenryu’s big powerbomb finisher. Jumbo takes control of his arm, trying to rip the shoulder out. Tenryu chops, and then catches a Jumbo jumping knee. Kawada tags in and hits all his kicks well. Jumbo over-powers, then hits a running knee to the gut. Yatsu is in to control, and Tenryu fairs no better when he tags in. Kawada does fair better in his second stint with Yatsu, and Yatsu takes a moment at ringside to rethink. Tenryu tags in and delivers an enzuigiri. Kawada back in with more kicks. Great first five minutes.

Jumbo tags in and hits the jumping knee and a pile driver on Kawada. He slows it with a sleeper that Tenryu breaks up, and they double-team Jumbo with quick tags to keep control. Yatsu tries to get at Tenryu in the corner, but neither are the legal men. Kawada makes a mistake and hurts himself, and then Jumbo picks apart his mid-section with rough moves. Yatsu continues the beating, holds focused on the ribs/abs. Ten minutes gone.

Tenryu tags in, but Yatsu still attacks Kawada outside. When Kawada tags in he goes to Yatsu’s gut, while still selling his own ribs. Kawada tries an armbar, but Yatsu escapes. Tenryu maintains control as Yatsu works from underneath. Jumbo gets the tag, powerbombs Kawada, and then he and Tenryu go at it. Jumbo wins this time, but we get a ref bump out of it. Fifteen minutes gone.

Kawada takes a beating for a second stretch as Yatsu and Jumbo utilize tags. Kawada’s comeback lariat is great, and then Tenryu hot tags and comes heavy at Jumbo. Kawada/Tenryu make a big run on Jumbo, barraging him with moves, before a big lariat stops Kawada. Tenryu comes in and grabs control, ending with a powerbomb for a near fall. Yatsu breaks that up and delivers a powerbomb of his own. Twenty minutes gone.

Tenryu blocks a bulldog out of the corner, giving Kawada time to spinkick Yatsu. Tenryu teases a powerbomb and Jumbo comes in with a lariat to disrupt him. Kawada runs in to kick the crap out of Yatsu to stop a leg submission hold. Kawada struggles and finally hits a German suplex and Yatsu for a near fall. Tenryu takes out Jumbo while legal man Kawada climbs to the top rope and gets planted with a powerslam. A suplex later and Yatsu grabs the pin in 23 minutes.

This might be the most competitive these teams have looked against each other yet, especially the spark from Tenryu/Kawada. Great opening sequences and call backs to signature moves, and it keeps rolling for minutes as everyone looks good and essentially “all in at the poker table.” Then eight minutes in Kawada makes a mistake and Jumbo/Yatsu pick apart his mid-section with stiff offense. Kawada’s selling, as usual, is a cut above. Tenryu gets to come in and be the savior. I love that when Kawada tags back in he’s still selling the ribs, which gives it a nice revenge feel to it, and Yatsu’s hope spots in this section are decent, by numbers stuff.

One of the main stories that carries this is the tension between Jumbo/Tenryu that we know coming in, becomes an issue right away, and gets highlighted throughout the match. They layer it into the match evenly enough that its exciting, so when Tenryu gets beat up on the apron, then hot tags in for a run on Jumbo, you are feeling it emotionally. After everyone (perhaps not Tenryu) has sold for a spell, not to mention an offensive run or five, we head to an exciting stretch run. This match is more of a stiff heavyweight sprint than anything, which is what the top style is becoming anyway. I dug the partners run in to break up holds and big moves part of this final run. Good finish and you knew who was taking it. I didn’t like this as much as the 2/23/89 match, but it was probably better than the 1/22/89 match that went to long. So this one sneaks into my top 25. Wow, what a year 1989 was for quality. 3 ¾ stars and 7.55/10

Joe knows mat holds. Fuchi is one of the best mid card juniors from 80s All Japan. They hook it up and I watch.

First five minutes is almost exclusively on the mat, a constant struggle, fighting for holds and escapes. Good, quick stuff, but not on the level of the Malenko vs Malenko match from earlier in the year. That match might have looked more cooperative on inspection, but it was a good balance and a tad smoother. Fuchi gets a good amount of control though, and the only really bad looking spot is a blown bridge out of a pin.

Fuchi spends the next few minutes trying to rip Malenko’s arm off his body. It’s violent looking. Joe sells it reasonably, more of a verbal sell, but nothing I’d call theatrics in an impressive way. Fuchi is pretty much dictating this, and it’s good submission stuff, but it’s done in more a a shoot style than a pro wrestling style. It impresses me, but doesn’t blow me away.

Malenko’s backbreaker escape was pretty badass. He doesn’t press enough on offense for my tastes, given this guy just contorted his arm for minutes on end, but Fuchi makes up for itby making Malenko look good. We get more of the pro wrestling stuff from Fuchi as we move to the fifteen minute mark, and they wrestle back and forth for the final stretch. Malenko just sort of wins with a pretty suplex in 17 minutes. I’m glad this match was on the set, it deserves to be, but it’s also a style of match that I can never rate super high in a “best of”-general sense. 2 ¾ stars and 6/10

A young Kobashi, future legend of the 90s, is thrown into a tag with the All Japan 80s legends.

Nice little switch for a Hansen match, as it’s Jumbo/Kobashi who jump Tenryu/Hansen before the bell. They brawl, Hansen taking out Kobashi with a chair while Tenryu makes a comeback off a Jumbo-sized beating. Except, he eats a jumping knee, and we settle into a tag match with the crowd chanting “Tsur-u-ta”. Kobashi gets a chant when he steps in and stares down Tenryu. Young boy, meet a master! Tenryu chops him down to size, hits an ezuigiri, and then we get some heavy Hansen offense. Jumbo rips him off and Kobashi tries to capitalize, but misses. A motivated Jumbo tags in, delivers another jumping knee to Tenryu, and takes out Hansen too. They tease a Jumbo powerbomb (Tenryu’s move), and Jumbo works some holds. Five minutes gone.

Kobashi tags in and immediately gets isolated. He does knock Hansen out of the ring, but for that Hansen violently grabs ahold of him and roughs him up. Double team shoulderblock on Kobashi, and Tenryu takes over with heavy chops and knees. Kobashi takes some Hansen offense and then Jumbo gets mauled by Hansen too. Big Lariat from Tenryu and Jumbo is on some trouble. Jumbo fixes that with a big boot. Diving knee from the turnbuckle by Jumbo. Running lariat for a near fall by Jumbo. Kobashi tags in and grabs a half-crab at the ten minute mark.

Tenryu/Hansen abuse Kobashi with stiff kicks and laraits. This audience is REALLY behind Kobashi. Tenryu powerbomb tease, but Jumbo comes in to back him off. Jumbo gets in with Hansen and goes right to work on Hansen’s lariat arm. Kobashi continues the work with an armbreaker. Hansen clubs him and Tenryu tries to take over, but Kobashi is badass and continually slaps Tenryu before dropkicking him. Jumbo continues the run of near falls, then grabs a headlock. Fifteen minutes gone.

Kobashi crossbodies for a two count, then grabs a hold. He switches into a leglock. Kobashi gets brash, slapping at Tenryu, and Tenryu knocks him on his ass. Jumbo tags in to save him, and Kobashi tags back in to control Hansen. This is a feat, and doesn’t last long. Jumbo gets in, takes some great chops from Tenryu, then drops him with a backdrop driver. Jumbo tries to powerbomb Tenryu again, but Hansen cuts it off with a lariat. Tag to Kobashi, who hits a dropkick and gets a near fall fisherman’s suplex before getting an enzuigiri by Tenryu. Powerbomb by Tenryu finishes off Kobashi for the pin in 20:13.

The first ten minutes of this is awesome action and well done moves with well defined characters and motivations. What makes this for me is the little things, like the nuclear crowd that is so passionately behind the young Kobashi, while the arrogant, stoic Tenryu teases one of his powerbombs after a beating by he and Hansen, and a fired up Jumbo walks into the ring to back down Tenryu from devastating his partner. Also love that after the arm work on Hansen, Tenryu tags in, saunters over to Kobashi to smack him around, and doesn’t expect the chopping flurry of Kobashi. Jumbo gets on the turnbuckle and implores the crowd to love this young kid, ignoring a tag opportunity, as if to say, “This is your time, kid.”

Of course, Kobashi makes the mistake of getting to cocky and brash, and Tenryu makes him pay, but usually Jumbo is there for the tag and a rally. Jumbo going toe to toe with Tenryu at this point is a refined sight, and Kobashi trying to handle Hansen is pretty intense too. Can’t find much fault in the second ten minutes either, and the finish was perfect. ’88 and 89 is chalk full of these great tags where Kawada or Kobashi struggle, sell, get over, but ultimately take the fall. I love that story. Top 50 match for me, maybe top 30, because I like this more than the lesser stuff from the established big name heavyweight tags from the 85-88 era. Fair or unfair, this has to go above the last match (Fans vs Malenkos) just because you know, and could feel, this meant more. 3 ¾ star and 7.6/10

A bit of American flavor hits Japan as the technical wizards of the Malenko family take on Southern tag team the Fantastics.

Tommy Rogers and Dean Malenko run through a ton of hold/counter-hold sequences that looks beautiful. Joe Malenko gets in, and man are his knuckle lock takedowns wonderful. He grounds Tommy in a hold. Fulton tags in a moment later, but Joe outclasses him. Five minutes gone.

Futlon continues to try to eecute takedowns and holds, but Joe knows the escapes and chains. Dean gets in with Rogers again, and Rogers works the arm. The action gets faster, with Rogers and Fulton making quicker tags. No real sustained advantages, but Dean is really efficient when he takes over. Joe takes over to work Roger’s arm. Fulton is in and shows over some counterholds. Ten minutes gone.

Joe goes to work on Fulton’s arm with really good holds, and Fulton counters with kicks. Dean comes back on Rogers with a Texas Cloverleaf attempt, and Rogers counters with a doomsday device (with Fulton doing the top rope clothesline). Dean comes back with a dropkick, tags in Joe, and Fulton tags in Rogers. Rogers uses some strikes, and knocks Joe in the corner. Great spot where Rogers misses an elbow and really takes the turnbuckle. Dean uses a bow-and-arrow at the fifteen minute mark.

All four men in the ring, Joe gets knocked outside. He comes back as they do a great sequence, and the Malenkos double team Fulton. Rogers saves from the top rope and pankcake Dean with a double team of their own. Back and forth these teams go as it slows down again. A good amount of tags. Great spot where Dean gets in trouble, and big brother Joe takes a top rope move to cover his brother from further injury. They trade several convincing near falls, ending when Dean hits a lariat, Joe grabs a waistlock, and Dean dropkicks Fulton into a German suplex with a bridge for the pin at the twenty minute mark.

On first take, given the ring jackets, boy do the Fantastics seem out of place on this set visually, probably even more than the RNR did. No matter, this is a great change of pace match for this set, and really not as foreign as I expected wrestling-wise. Dean and Rogers put on an opening clinic, and then Joe outclasses Fulton. I like the way Rogers took over Dean’s arm, and Fulton was fine holding the work in short spurts (he’s not bad, I just think of him as the least in this match). And man are the Malenkos an efficient offensive team. Along with their array of holds and transitions into holds, they seem destine to leave the ring with one of the Fans arms. When the Fans do decide to come back with strikes it definitely pops the match as the Malenkos use 95% pure wrestling to that point. It also makes sense as a story without a true heel team.

This progresses past the 15 minute make with a little more flare and fire, and grows to include some great double team sequences that I liked before they slow it down again. I liked seeing the Malenkos get more violent with strikes as time went on. Again, played well with the chess match going on here. Loved the spot where big brother Joe saves Dean and takes a move to spare his brother. Very Funk influenced moment, as we’ve seen. Loved the near falls at the end, and the finish. This was nice because I’ve tired (momentarily) of the Jumbo/Tenryu tags where guys do a million moves that look like they could be finishers, and this had a great pace and a reasonable build up for my tastes. Easily in my top third. 3 ¾ stars and 7.35/10