Sunday 13 May 2012

ROH Border Wars Review (Well, sort of)


Last night I felt like the abused girlfriend who constantly goes back to the man thinking he's changed. Last night I felt like Homer Simpson when he tried to eat his chips around those puppies. After every 10 seconds or so I thought “Hmmm, maybe this time”, but alas, I wasn't able to login. Last night I felt like a football fan who paid for his ticket, but wasn't allowed in, even though their were people inside the stadium watching the match.

Once again, ROH let me down. On the production side at least. Yes, apparently Border Wars was a very good PPV from top to bottom, but unfortunately I only caught the second half of it. And no, not because I was finally allowed access, but because I eventually found a stream to watch it on. There's an irony in there somewhere.

Funnily enough, the stream was actually really good. The picture was clearer than ever, there were no lagging and the sound was totally in sync. But as always, they fucked up and left a lot of people pissed off.

I have the option of getting a refund or getting Best in the World 2012 for free. A refund would probably be the best option, considering the next PPV might not be any better, but once again I'm going to be a sucker and go back to ROH (in their wife beater vests I'm sure) in open arms.

Yes, no matter how many times they fuck with me, I'll go back and wipe the slate clean for them.

The stuff that I did see last night was very good however. Michael Elgin and Adam Cole put on a really entertaining match just after intermission. Adam Cole did his usual stuff (I'm still not pushed on him to be honest) and Elgin once again showed how much of a freak he is. Seriously, the way he caught Cole from that suicide dive, the way he dead lifted him into a Superplex – unreal.

Also on the show we saw Roderick Strong defend his TV Title against the “Belfast Bruiser” Fit Finlay. I heard people weren't that high on the match, but I actually found it to be quite enjoyable. Finlay and Roddy but on a solid match, with a nice slow pace and some moderately hard-hitting action. Could it have been better? Yeah, it could have, but that's in no way to say that I didn't think this was a good match.

Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team defeated The Briscoes to claim the ROH Tag Team Titles. I thought this was a good match, filled with some high-octane action and some pretty cool spots. Again, people weren't happy, this time with the ending. But the way I see it is Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team only won the belts so they could later drop them to ANX. I don't know when that will happen, but I'm sure it'll happen by Final Battle.

Lastly, it was the big one everyone was waiting for. I was looking forward to this match so much that I was willing to try and login until 3.30am just in the hope of seeing the main event. Thankfully I did see this match live, and as expected, it was a great bout. Both men went all out from the moment the bell rang and went that way for the whole 25 or so minutes. Richards ate up the negative atmosphere, Steen was on top of his game, and even Jimmy Jacobs' mannerisms were fantastic throughout. I'm not sure if Jim Cornette was supposed to play a part in this match, but nonetheless the match was brilliant, and had the feel-good ending to go with it. And to top things all off, Steve Corino went back to Kevin Steen in open arms. A truly great moment to cap off a truly great match.

Kevin Steen is the new ROH World Champion, and I am absolutely delighted.

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