BRM Reviews the 6/7/2014 ROH

[Big Red Machine]

Right away we are told that Matt Taven was supposed to be in Defy or Deny, but he won't because Jay Lethal injured him at some point over the last week. Apparently the other two challengers will be Mark Brisoe and Jimmy Jacobs. No disrespect to either of these three, but this is easily the least star-studded Defy or Deny match ever. I loved the idea that a MAJOR contender was either going to earn a title shot or be shut out of the title picture. Taven has been going after the TV Title for the entire time (short) time he was also chasing the world title, Mark is basically a midcarder when it comes to singles action, and Jimmy is an upper-midcard guy who main focus is a whole different angle right now.

WAR MACHINE (Raymond Rowe & Hanson) vs. BJ WHITMER & ADAM PAGE (w/Tadarius Thomas)- 4.75/10
War Machine's new finisher is like the Demolition Decapitation, except that instead of a breaker, it is a back suplex. It looks great.

VEDA SCOTT & ROMANTIC TOUCH SEGMENT- okay
Veda (and Ramon) comes out, and Veda tells us that R.D. Evans will not be defending the New Streak tonight because he is in Swaziland defending the Swazi World Heavyweight Title. The Romantic Touch comes out. Ramon does not seem to like him very much. Veda tells RT that she hasn't had time to "get with you." He hits on Veda. She seems like she loves it, but then kicks him in the nuts and says that she will never, ever, ever be with him.

KEVIN KELLY PLUS THE FUTURE OF HONOR SHOW- good

FUTURE OF HONOR SHOWCASE MATCH: Zizou Midoux & Team Benchmark vs. Vinny Marseglia, J. Diesel, & Moose- 4.25/10
This Moose is not Mickie Knuckles. He is a large black man. J. Diesel is apparently the head of ROH security, which I assume means he will take the loss because all security guards in wrestling are chumps.
Apparently this "Benchmark" Bill Daly guy has more sponsors than anyone in ROH. How is it that this nobody who can't even make the main card of ROH shows has more sponsorships than ROH's stars?
Moose is apparently a former NFL player.
Everyone looked good and got a chance to show their stuff. I might actually check out the Future of Honor show.

DEFY OR DENY MATCH: ROH World Champion Adam Cole vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Jimmy Jacobs (w/Adam Page & Tadarius Thomas)- 7.25/10
The rules for this Defy or Deny appear to be different: Now it is ANYONE who the champ eliminates is ineligible for a title shot for the rest of the reign. I actually like this idea better than the old "only the guy who takes the final fall, and only if the champ wins." It also seems like only the guy who pins the champ gets the title shot, regardless of who wins, which I don't like, because it makes any falls that happen after the champ is eliminated not be worth anything, and because it takes away some interesting booking possibilities.
As far as Taven goes, either I missed something last week, or that shot to the back with the Book of Truth injured Taven enough that he couldn't compete in this very important match just one week later.
They told a good story with Jacobs and Mark foiling each others' attempts to eliminate Cole. After the match, Michael Elgin had a staredown with Adam Cole.

Another good show from ROH. They are really pushing Elgin vs. Cole HARD, which is what they should be doing.

STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:
1. Kevin Kelly calls a superkick in the middle of the match "cowardly" because it was to the back of the head. IT'S A F*CKING MATCH, KEVIN!