ROH Brew City Beatdown
ROH Brew City Beatdown (7/14/2012)- Milwaukee, WI
RHETT TITUS vs. MIKE SYDAL- 5.25/10
Sydal tried a poisonrana over the top rope to the floor, but it didn’t look good at all. It looked like it hurt Syddal a lot more than it hurt Rhett, but Rhett sold it anyway so it looked like he WAY oversold it. This was a decent match, but I’m not sure why there gave perennial jobber Mike Sydal this much of a fight against a guy who had just won the tag team titles.
MIKE MONDO PROMO- snore.
JAY LETHAL vs. MIKE MONDO- 5.75/10
Want to know how not-over Mondo is? They do this spot in the match where Mondo hurts his leg and Cornette comes out and says that if Mondo can’t continue, the ref will have to award Lethal the match by forfeit, which prompts Mondo to grab the mic and shout â€"MIKE MONDO NEVER QUUUUUIIIIIIITTTTSSSSS!â€â€¦ and Mondo bravely gets back into the ring and trades punches with Lethal… and winds up on the heel reaction of the â€"YAY!-BOO!†exchange.
JAY LETHAL PROMO- Jay puts Mondo over a whole bunch for being so brave… I couldn’t care less. Cornette has managed to find a way to shove Mondo down our throats without even giving him a damn win. I just want Mondo to go away.
TONY KOZINA, SHILOH JONZE, & ADAM REVOLVER vs. SAMSON WALKER, MOHAMED ALI VAEZ, & CHRIS SILVIO- 5.5/10
Walker looked great, and everyone else looked good.
KYLE O’REILLY PROMO- great
KYLE O’REILLY vs. TADARIUS THOMAS- 6/10
I just cannot buy this spot that Thomas does where he blocks punches with his skull. Yes. You did read that right. He blocks other people’s punches by making their fists hit his skull. You know what we normally call that? GETTING PUNCHED IN THE HEAD! Otherwise, the match was pretty good aside from the finish. They spent all match doing stiff strikes, so the submission finish felt like it came out of nowhere. Kyle being a jackass to Kozina afterwards was interesting, but they never went anywhere with it (although that might have more to do with Kozina shooting on that seventeen year-old kid that would happen the next month than with ROH not having any plans for it).
BJ WHITMER PROMO- eh. BJ seems to be under the impression that a good showing in this match will get him a full-time roster spot in ROH.
BJ WHITMER vs. RODERICK STRONG (w/Truth Martini)- 7/10
Good showing from BJ. I think he definitely earned that roster spot he was talking about.
SILAS YOUNG PROMO- a decent promo, but undermined by the fact that Silas looks like a stereotypical child abductor.
MICHAEL ELGIN PROMO- good stuff. He puts himself over, puts his opponent over, and advances the angle of dissension within the House of Truth.
MICHAEL ELGIN vs. SILAS YOUNG- 7.5/10
GREAT match. Silas looked very impressive. I’m not sure why ROH hasn’t brought him back since.
EDDIE EDWARDS vs. RHINO (w/Truth Martini)- 7.5/10
They told a very good story with Rhino working over Eddie’s ribs.
RODDY PROMO- okay
ELGIN & TRUTH BACKSTAGE/ELGIN PROMO- great!
KEVIN STEEN & JIMMY JACOBS PROMO- okay
ANYTHING GOES MATCH: The Briscoes vs. Kevin Steen & Jimmy Jacobs-7.25/10
This started as a regular match but quickly ended as a double count-out. Corny them came out and restarted the match as an anything goes match. This might be the first time I have ever heard a â€"THIS IS WRESTLING!†chant for a wild brawl with no technical wrestling going on whatsoever. The balcony dive was awesome, but not having it be the finish was sort of weird (at least the neither finish came right after that, though). I get them not wanting to have the champ get pinned, but why not have Jacobs take the dive and the pin. I also thought that everyone (aside from Jay) got up a bit too quickly afterwards, but Rhett running down to make the save and taking it to Steen and Jacobs did set Rhett up for a title shot pretty well.
RHETT TITUS PROMO- good.
Overall, a very good show from ROH. None of the matches were particularly awesome, but everything was at least solid, and most of the card was good or great. A very solid show from ROH, but skippable if you don't have the cash.
RHETT TITUS vs. MIKE SYDAL- 5.25/10
Sydal tried a poisonrana over the top rope to the floor, but it didn’t look good at all. It looked like it hurt Syddal a lot more than it hurt Rhett, but Rhett sold it anyway so it looked like he WAY oversold it. This was a decent match, but I’m not sure why there gave perennial jobber Mike Sydal this much of a fight against a guy who had just won the tag team titles.
MIKE MONDO PROMO- snore.
JAY LETHAL vs. MIKE MONDO- 5.75/10
Want to know how not-over Mondo is? They do this spot in the match where Mondo hurts his leg and Cornette comes out and says that if Mondo can’t continue, the ref will have to award Lethal the match by forfeit, which prompts Mondo to grab the mic and shout â€"MIKE MONDO NEVER QUUUUUIIIIIIITTTTSSSSS!â€â€¦ and Mondo bravely gets back into the ring and trades punches with Lethal… and winds up on the heel reaction of the â€"YAY!-BOO!†exchange.
JAY LETHAL PROMO- Jay puts Mondo over a whole bunch for being so brave… I couldn’t care less. Cornette has managed to find a way to shove Mondo down our throats without even giving him a damn win. I just want Mondo to go away.
TONY KOZINA, SHILOH JONZE, & ADAM REVOLVER vs. SAMSON WALKER, MOHAMED ALI VAEZ, & CHRIS SILVIO- 5.5/10
Walker looked great, and everyone else looked good.
KYLE O’REILLY PROMO- great
KYLE O’REILLY vs. TADARIUS THOMAS- 6/10
I just cannot buy this spot that Thomas does where he blocks punches with his skull. Yes. You did read that right. He blocks other people’s punches by making their fists hit his skull. You know what we normally call that? GETTING PUNCHED IN THE HEAD! Otherwise, the match was pretty good aside from the finish. They spent all match doing stiff strikes, so the submission finish felt like it came out of nowhere. Kyle being a jackass to Kozina afterwards was interesting, but they never went anywhere with it (although that might have more to do with Kozina shooting on that seventeen year-old kid that would happen the next month than with ROH not having any plans for it).
BJ WHITMER PROMO- eh. BJ seems to be under the impression that a good showing in this match will get him a full-time roster spot in ROH.
BJ WHITMER vs. RODERICK STRONG (w/Truth Martini)- 7/10
Good showing from BJ. I think he definitely earned that roster spot he was talking about.
SILAS YOUNG PROMO- a decent promo, but undermined by the fact that Silas looks like a stereotypical child abductor.
MICHAEL ELGIN PROMO- good stuff. He puts himself over, puts his opponent over, and advances the angle of dissension within the House of Truth.
MICHAEL ELGIN vs. SILAS YOUNG- 7.5/10
GREAT match. Silas looked very impressive. I’m not sure why ROH hasn’t brought him back since.
EDDIE EDWARDS vs. RHINO (w/Truth Martini)- 7.5/10
They told a very good story with Rhino working over Eddie’s ribs.
RODDY PROMO- okay
ELGIN & TRUTH BACKSTAGE/ELGIN PROMO- great!
KEVIN STEEN & JIMMY JACOBS PROMO- okay
ANYTHING GOES MATCH: The Briscoes vs. Kevin Steen & Jimmy Jacobs-7.25/10
This started as a regular match but quickly ended as a double count-out. Corny them came out and restarted the match as an anything goes match. This might be the first time I have ever heard a â€"THIS IS WRESTLING!†chant for a wild brawl with no technical wrestling going on whatsoever. The balcony dive was awesome, but not having it be the finish was sort of weird (at least the neither finish came right after that, though). I get them not wanting to have the champ get pinned, but why not have Jacobs take the dive and the pin. I also thought that everyone (aside from Jay) got up a bit too quickly afterwards, but Rhett running down to make the save and taking it to Steen and Jacobs did set Rhett up for a title shot pretty well.
RHETT TITUS PROMO- good.
Overall, a very good show from ROH. None of the matches were particularly awesome, but everything was at least solid, and most of the card was good or great. A very solid show from ROH, but skippable if you don't have the cash.