Maybe
its the fact that this show is taking place in Toronto, but this PPV
has a real Death Before Dishonor XVIII feel to it.
That was
the first iPPV I ever ordered from ROH and I couldn't wait to see it.
It was the first time in years that I looked forward to a PPV that
much. Everything from the Newswires to the superb videos from ThatWrestling Show made me so pumped to see it.
Border
Wars feels like the same to me. Although ROH today just doesn't have
the same vibe as it did in 2010, it's still a PPV that I cannot wait
to see. While Davey Richards was the hungry challenger to Tyler
Black's title at Death before Dishonor XVIII, he is now the champ,
with Steen being the one that wants to capture the gold.
Like DBD
XVIII, the card is stacked with some promising matches, but it's the
main event that everyone wants to see. Davey Richards vs. Kevin Steen
is simply the must-see match on the Indie Circuit, and a match
everyone seems to be talking about. This PPV has a big night feel
about it, a feel that I haven't felt since Best in the World last
year.
Here's
to hoping that the main event, and the whole show for that matter,
lives up to everyone's expectations.
Six Man
Tag Team Match
The
Young Bucks & Mike Mondo vs. All Night Express & TJ Perkins
I
constantly wonder to myself whether TJ Perkins deserves better. I
know for someone who only signed last year that this is a way for him
to work his way up the ladder, but you also got to wonder why such a
talented wrestler is caught in the midst of tiny feuds like this.
Don't
get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with being involved in a
storyline with The Young Bucks, but it still feels like its just
thrown together. And as for Mike Mondo? Well, I don't think anyone
deserves to be paired up in a feud against him.
The
match should be fun however. The Young Bucks are consistently good,
Mike Mondo is an interesting prospect and TJ looks like he's well
adapted to working tag team matches. Really, the only people who I'm
not pushed on seeing are ANX. As good as they are together, they just
seem to have fallen off the mark since their Ladder War against The
Briscoes last year. Maybe its because of Rhett's injury, or maybe its
because their blow off feud with The Briscoes never went anywhere for
them. Whatever the reason, they just don't seem to have that spark
that they once had.
Winners:
All Night Express & TJ Perkins
Grudge
Match
Jay
Lethal vs. Tomasso Ciampa
Although
Jay Lethal losing the TV Title to Roderick Strong has kind of
degraded this feud, it's still a match that I'm looking forward to
seeing, well, depending on what Tomasso Ciampa shows up.
If it's
the Tomasso Ciampa that faced Lethal at the 10th
Anniversary Show then it will probably be a disappointment. However,
if its the Tomasso Ciampa we saw two weeks ago against Matt Taven
then it surely be an entertaining match. If who haven't seen that
match yet then do yourself a favour and watch it, because I think
THAT is the Tomasso Ciampa we all want to see.
If that
Tomasso Ciampa shows up, then I don't think he will look very weak in
defeat (which I think will happen).
Winner:
Jay Lethal
Adam
Cole vs. Michael Elgin
The man
who pinned the World Champion Davey Richards at the 10th
Anniversary Show vs. the man who pushed the same man to the limit at
Showdown in the Sun. To up and comers who are sure to put on an
entertaining bout.
Seriously,
while Steen vs. Richards is the main attraction, this is match that
could be hugely enjoyable as well. Their styles may be different, but
these are two people that could get the best out of one another.
Winner:
Michael Elgin
Eddie
Edwards vs. Rhino
Really,
this is the only match (as well as the 6-man tag maybe) that just
feels like a filler more than anything else.
I don't
know how these two will work together, but regardless of all that I
still expect it to be an OK match. Maybe. Eddie is absolutely fine,
and can get a good match out of many wrestlers, but Rhino? I'm not
sure the same can be said for him. He's good against lighter
opponents of course, but against someone like Eddie I think he may be
a bit limited.
Winner:
Eddie Edwards
Mike
Bennett vs. Lance Storm
Mike
Bennett hasn't had many good matches in ROH, but at Showdown in the
Sun he had his best against the man he's facing tonight in Toronto.
With
Lance Storm facing retribution after the post-match attack by
Bennett, expect a different style of match from the Canadian.
Although Lance's work his more ground based, he can still work a
hard-hitting match.
As for
Bennett, well, he just needs to let Storm carry the match again. He
also needs to use his heel persona against the what will probably be
hostile Toronto crowd, because in my view that could make the match
very entertaining, and all without Bennett doing an awful lot or
work.
Tough
one to pick here. The obvious choice is that the younger talent goes
over the veteran yet again, but for me I see Lance getting the win
and showing Bennett some tough respect.
Winner:
Lance Storm
ROH
World Television Championship
Roderick
Strong vs. Finlay
While
many people were disappointed that Finlay was wasn't booked against
Michael Elgin, I think the second best option is Roderick Strong.
No,
Roddy doesn't NEED this match against Finlay, because he's already an
ROH veteran in his own right, but there's no denying that this will
be a fun match to watch. While Finlay is obviously the better
wrestler (even at 53 years old), Roderick Strong his still fairly
similar to him in many ways. Like Finlay, Roderick Strong is a hard
hitter and a well versed technical wrestler (even if he doesn't use
that style too often), so to have these two face off against each
other is still a good move.
Because
(yes, I'm starting a sentence with the word “because”, College has made me lazy) this is a TV title match, it
means this is a 15 minute time limit. So, with that said, lets just
hope it's 15 minutes of both men beating the crap out of each other.
Winner:
Roderick Strong
ROH
World Tag Team Championship
Fight
Without Honor
The
Briscoes vs. Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team
I was
there at Best in the World last year when The Briscoes attacked WGTT
after their match. Who knew that after nearly a year these two teams
would still be in a feud together.
I really
haven't enjoyed any of this feud. Between the total mess at Final
Battle 2011 to the annihilation of Jay Briscoes genitals at Showdown
in the Sun, this feud just hasn't been very good at all.
What's
there left to say here? The feud really should have ended months ago.
Hopefully this Fight Without Honor gives us a happy ending to this
feud, even though it doesn't exactly deserve one.
Winners:
The Briscoes
ROH
World Championship
Davey
Richards vs. Kevin Steen
It's
been such a long wait, and now we're just hours away from this
massive main event.
While I
was delighted to see Davey win the World Championship last year, and
while he's only recently gotten into his groove as champion over the
past few months, Steen needs to win the title tonight.
After
all he's been through, after all the support that he's gained along
the way, Kevin Steen needs to win the ROH World Championship in
Toronto. Just think of how magical it could be to see Steen get his
arm raised in victory. Davey Richard laid out while a shocked and
livid Jim Cornette looks on at ringside.
Jim
Cornette. Jim could play a huge part in this match tonight. As the
storyline goes, Jim doesn't want Steen to win the World Championship,
and will probably do whatever it takes to ensure that doesn't happen.
Whatever happens tonight, expect Jim to get involved. Whether he'll
cost Steen the title, or whether his attempt to do so will backfire
and cost Richards is yet to be seen. My guess is on the second
option. Cornette looks to interfere, distracts Richards in the
process, gets knocked off the apron and is then followed by a Package
Piledriver on Richards. One. Two. Three. New Champion.
Winner: Kevin Steen
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