Ring of Honor 5/11/2013 House Show in Pittsburgh Results

Ring of Honor 5/11/2013 House Show in Pittsburgh Results

Please include www.prowresblog.blogspot.com if you are linking the review or the pictures anywhere. It helps me get new viewers.

This was taken about an hour before showtime.

This was taken about 10-15 minutes before showtime.

The attendance was in the 350 range. They blocked off one side of the arena that was not blocked off last time. The crowd was definitely smaller than last time. I think the Pittsburgh Penguins being in the playoffs was probably the key reason this drew less. Other reasons could be: The Pittsburgh Pirates also playing, the crowd possibly burning out after the last time they came was a long show or because this was a house show and not a television taping.

Here are some shots from the pre-show festivities with Veda Scott hanging around, Steen/Fish/O'Reilly/Strong signing pictures and a trip to the merchandise stand.

Veda Scott was hanging out though she wasn't involved in the show.

Kevin Steen, Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly, who looked bored.

Strong, Fish and O'Reilly

One fan brought streamers for everyone. I'm not sure that this fan wasn't a plant. A fan in dreadlocks tried to catch one and did the bump of the night as he ended up doing a Seth Rollins rolling flip to get it on the hard rink floor.

A streamer that was given out.

Jay Briscoe came out and said he put out a few stupid tweets and said he apologies. He said he had a responsibility as champion and didn't act like a champion.

He said someone on twitter couldn't believe he was such a redneck hillbilly. He then said "Jay Briscoe isn't even my real name" and said he was too in-character.

QT Marshall and Barrister RD Evans vs The American Wolves
A fan threw toilet paper at Evans and the crowd chanted "Shut the F Up". QT then explained to the ring announcer how to properly say his name. QT shaved his hair. Early on, Eddie Edwards tope'd RD. Davey did a diving headbutt on QT. Davey went after QT in the corner and RD jumped in front of him. RD then got spin kicked for it. RD and QT did a double team move where RD did a flipping neckbreaker. Later, Eddie chopped both of his opponents at one time. QT did a Shinsuke Nakamura reverse slam.The Wolves hung their opponents in both corners and alternated with chops and kicks on them. QT got double stomped on his back off the top by Eddie and then got double stomped on his stomach off the top by Davey. The Wolves won with a single leg crab and a grounded ankle lock. Good match but it was mostly all squash with the heels taking a beating. The crowd loved Davey.

Vinny Marseglia vs Tomasso Ciampa
Tomasso had a big knee brace on. He did a version of the cattle mutilation with a hammerlock.
 Tomasso tried to leapfrog Vinny and botched it as he didn't get high enough and took a bad fall.  Ciampa then did a Cactus Jack clothesline to the outside. He bearhugged Vinny and put him into the rails. He then hung Vinny on the rails and kneed him in the head.  Next, he suplexed him on the hard floor after taking off the mats. He then put Vinny in a nudo on the ropes and dropkicked him ala Milano Collection AT.  Vinny did a satellite headschissors and the crowd got into it for a strike exchange with boo/yay chants. Cimapa hit Vinny with a Top Rope Schwein/White Noise to win. Good match but Tomasso got too much in and it felt like a squash making the result obvious.

Proving Ground - Tadarius Thomas vs Matt Taven
Truth was with Scarlett Bordeaux and supposedly Seleziya Sparx. Truth Martini asked "What does it take to give Matt Taven the respect he deserves?". Truth said TD would D-I-E courtesy of the H-O-T(House of Truth). Matt Taven is really starting to look like Paul Birchall during his pirate phase. TD did a handspring and a back flip early. TD did handspring kicks and a headflip to escape a headlock driver. Taven did a springboard enzugiri ala Low-Ki to TD on the apron.  Taven then missed a springboard corkscrew senton to no one. Truth yelled, "How 'bout some hoopla?". Taven then hit his springboard corkscrew senton on TD.  TD did a cartwheel kick. Truth later choked TD while Matt Taven grinded on TD's neck.  Truth and crew then got ejected.  TD landed some hard kicks and a dragon suplex. Taven then hit a headlock driver not too far after for a win. Great match here. The crowd liked Truth and was really into this one as was I. I thought this was the match of the night. After the match, Taven put the belt in his pants and let the strap hang out as he moved it around TD's face while Scarlett shook her backside over him. Rating:***1/2

The House of Truth taunt TD

ACH vs Michael Elgin

ACH does a 450

ACH got overpowered early. He hit a springboard reverse satellite headscissors. ACH tried a split legged moonsault to the outside and Elgin moved. However, ACH landed perfectly. ACH then did a springboard onto the apron and hit a headscissors. He then tried to tope Elgin but got caught and Elgin hit him with a belly to belly suplex on the floor. Elgin then chucked ACH into the first row. Elgin did a 37 second delayed vertical suplex. ACH did a springboard inside middle rope 360 to Elgin on the outside. ACH got caught off of a crossbody.  Elgin did a death valley driver into the bottom rope. He then hita deadlift falcon arrow off the second rope.  Elgin then missed a corkscrew senton. ACH then hit Paige's Paige-Turner. ACH hit a reverse hurricanrana and a 450 for a nearfall. Elgin landed some stiff forearms to the back of the head, a deadlift german and a spiral bomb for the win. This was a great match that the crowd loved. However, I thought it had some overkill on the moves and went a little longer than it should have. Still, it was memorable and one worth going out of your way to see, especially if you like the ROH style and both guys. Rating:***1/2

Dalton Castle vs Jimmy Nutts/James Nutter
This had two stars from the IWC federation in Pittsburgh. Dalton did a deadlift belly to belly and then Rhett Titus ran in a little bit after beating both guys, making this a no-contest.

Kevin Steen vs Rhett Titus
Titus got tossed out and Steen did a cannonball into the rails on him. Titus then got crotched on a pole. Steen hit lots of forearm strikes and later hit Titus with an F-5 on the apron. Steen did a swanton. Titus did a frog splash onto Steen's back. Titus hit a low blow while the ref wasn't looking and later Steen returned the favor. Steen then hit a package piledriver for the win. Afterwards, he hit two more low blow's and package piledrivers. The crowd was really into Steen but this was a long squash and wasn't super interesting.

Adam Cole vs Roderick Strong vs BJ Whitmer
They did a threeway test of strength spot early. Strong took an exploder suplex on a sitting Cole in the corner.Whitmer tope'd Strong. Cole tope'd BJ. Later, Cole did a crossbody and met a Strong dropkick. Strong had Cole in the DVD position and did a backbreaker on him. Strong superkicked a kneeling Adam Cole. Strong then superplexed BJ Whitmer. BJ hit a Jun Akiyama wrist-clutch exploder for the surprise win. This was a fast action-filled match but it was very move heavy for being such a throwaway match. Rating:***

No DQ - Jimmy Jacobs vs Jay Lethal

Jimmy Jacobs

Lethal goes through a table

Jimmy buzz cut his hair but left some long hair in the front. They brawled outside to start. Jacobs got see-saw'd into the post.  Jay caught a Jimmy dive with a superkick. Jacobs took a drop toe hold on a chair ala Raven, when ECW chants started. Jay did a handspring into the ropes into a chair from Jacobs. Jacobs then did a diving elbow onto Jay on the outside. Jacobs did a spear into a corner into a chair that was previously set up inbetween the ropes.  Jimmy got a trash can. Lethal kicked him in the stomach and Jacobs lost it. Lethal caught it and used it on him. Jay put him in it upside down in the corner and did a baseball slide into it. Later, they were outside when Jacobs ran up a chair and jumped off of a rail into a rebound stunner. Jacobs got him back in and went for a senton on a trash can. Lethal moved and he did it straight onto the can. Lethal got his spike which was earlier inserted into a turnbuckle. Lethal got a chair and swung it at the spike, winning that one. Steen and Corino ended up jumping in and Lethal super kicked Steen on accident. Lethal then got speared into a table in the corner for the Jacobs win. This was a good match but it went a little long and did have some overkill. However it was fun and a good match which the crowd liked. Tons of weapon shots. Rating:***

ROH World Tag Team Titles - Red Dagon vs The Briscoes


The Briscoes Enter

We got a Redneck Kung Fu chant and technical wrestling to start. Mark did tons of kung fu spots. Fish did a top rope headbutt.  Mark later froggybow'd Fish. The Wolves watched on from the entrance way as we got a "This is Awesome" chant. Kyle ended up hitting Mark from the outside later which distracted him and got Fish the win with a high kick. The match was paced well and was a lot of fun. After the match, we got a brawl with all of teams involved plus The Wolves and possibly BJ Whitmer. Rating:***

Overall thoughts: Good show. Nothing was bad here and everyone gave it their all. A shame more fans weren't there though. The show was 3.5 hours long.