By Chris Shore

ROH Supercard of Honor
Aired live on iPPV on ROHWrestling.com
New York, New York at Hammerstein Ballroom

A video recapped the rise of SCUM and the ROH response, including Jay Briscoe's title shot…The opening video aired, and Kevin Kelly and Caleb Seltzer welcomed us to Supercard of Honor VII…

QT Marshall and RD Evans made their ring entrance. Evans cut a promo teasing a number of independent and Japanese stars as Marshall's partner before revealing himself. Score one for Jason Powell…

1. ACH and Tadarius Thomas vs. QT Marshall and RD Evans. Evans and Thomas started. He took one bump and then grabbed his knee and tagged out. Evans blind tagged himself back in after a minute and the babies got the better for a moment, but Marshall hit a lariat on Thomas to take control. ACH got the hot tag and took out both men. He hit an insane flipping dive on Marshall on the floor, and then TD hit another crazy dive on them. Back in the ring, Marshall dumped TD and kicked ACH in the face. Evans hit a reverse clash for two on ACH. Evans went to the top, but TD made the save and ACH hit his finisher for the win…

ACH and Tadarius Thomas defeated QT Marshall and RD Evans at 9:51.

Post-match, Evans blamed the loss on Marshall before helping him out of the ring…

Shore's Slant: Good opener. ACH is going to be better as a singles wrestler, but spending some time in the tag division won't hurt him. Evans is a riot in CHIKARA, but I'm not sure he will work long term in ROH.

Kevin Kelly announced Haas's retirement and said his match with Shelton Benjamin had been scrapped. He started to plug another match when unfamiliar music hit and Benjamin came to the ring. Benjamin took the mic and said he had bad news and worse news. He said the bad news is Haas wasn't there. He said the worse news was on the biggest weekend in wrestling, he didn't have a match.

He called Cheeseburger into the ring and said he knew the kid wanted to be a wrestler and had seen Haas beat him up a few times. He said he knew Haas could be an asshole. Kelly said, "You know that's right." Shelton said maybe the reason Haas didn't show up was because Cheeseburger was there. He started to shake Cheeseburger's hand when Mike Bennett's music hit and he came to the ring with Maria and Brutal Bob Evans.

Bennett cut a promo about being the best thing in wrestling and entertainment. He said everyone wanted to know where he was signing and he was going to tell everyone now. Before he could say more, Cheeseburger grabbed the mic out of his hand and said Mike, his "father," and his "cum farting gutter slut" should go back to Boston. Bennett dropped him with a right hand and someone came and carried Cheeseburger from the ring. Benjamin took the moc and said, "Guess I found my match." He attacked Bennett and a ref ran out to ring the bell…

2. Shelton Benjamin vs. Mike Bennett (w/Brutal Bob and Maria). Benjamin slammed Bennett all over the floor and rolled him into the ring. Bennett hit a cheap shot and then celebrated with Maria on the apron. Benjamin came back and tried Paydirt, but Bennett reversed into the Box Office Smash for two. The crowd didn't even respond.

Benjamin came fighting back, but Maria distracted the ref and Evans attacked from behind. Evans slid out right in front of the ref, making the ref look stupid. Bennett hit a leg drop and celebrated with Maria again. Benjamin knocked Bennett down, but Maria didn't see it and when Benjamin backed into her, she thought it was Bennett. She rubbed Shelton's hands all over her body until she saw them and freaked out. Bennett ran over with a superkick, but Benjamin moved and Maria took it like a champ. Benjamin went for Paydirt again, but Bennett rolled through and pinned Benjamin as Evans grabbed his hands for the dirty finish…

Mike Bennett defeated Shelton Benjamin at 9:01.

Shore's Slant: Great match. Usually the second math is a chance for the crowd to come down, but not here. They didn't seem all that hot during the match, though they popped out of their minds when Maria bumped. I can't blame them, it was a great bump. Shelton was well protected and the returning Bennett got a good win.

A video recapped the booking of the number one contender's match and then both men made their entrances…

3. Michael Elgin vs. Jay Lethal to become the number one contender to the ROH World Championship. The crowd sounded equally split for both men. They started with the even-steven string with Elgin almost hitting his powerbomb. They traded back and forth action and then Elgin hit a stall suplex for a count of 31. He tried for a crossface , but Lethal made the ropes quickly. The crowd chanted "Chris Benoit."

Lethal dumped Elgin to the floor and hit two back to back dives. Elgin jumped on the apron immediately after the second one, and Lethal hit a springboard dropkick and a third dive to take control. Lethal went to the top and paused for the fans to chant for Randy Savage. Elgin hit a dropkick on Lethal on the top rope to stop the elbow. That's a big dude to jump up that high.

Lethal fell to the apron from the dropkick and Elgin stood on the second rope. He muscled Lethal up and over for a superplex that the crowd popped big for. Both men made their feet and stared at each other. They traded blows and Elgin hit a swinging Black Hole slam for two. Elgin went for the corkscrew senton from the top rope, but Lethal moved and hit a neckbreaker for two.

Elgin hit his spinning back fist and then the buckle bomb, but Lethal no sold it and hit a superkick. Elgin no sold it and hit one of his own, followed by a lariat that turned Lethal inside out. Elgin hit the buckle bomb again and lifted for the Elgin bomb, but Lethal reversed into a reverse ranna. He hit the Lethal Injection, but Elgin no sold it. Lethal hit Lethal Combination and Hail to the Chief for the first nearfall the crowd reacted to all night. Lethal set Elgin on the top and climbed up. Elgin reversed into a superbomb, and then strung together the buckle bomb and Elgin bomb for the win…

Michael Elgin defeated Jay Lethal to become the number one contender at 19:05.

Shore's Slant: Spectacular match and the right guy won. I personally hate the no selling stuff, but that's the ROH style. Unfortunately, what happened next wiped the match from people's memories. I hate when companies do this.

Post-match, SCUM ran out and beat up both men. Steve Corino took a mic and said both men wrestled their hearts out only to be remembered as the guys SCUM killed. Corino said it was time to end ROH and demanded their team to come out. The ROH team ran out and attacked. A bell ran as Corino joined commentary…

4. SCUM (Jimmy Jacobs, Jimmy Rave, Rhett Titus, Cliff Compton, and Rhyno) vs. ROH (Mike Mondo, Mark Briscoe, Cedric Alexander, Caprice Coleman, and BJ Whitmer). Everybody battled around the ring as Corino and Seltzer bickered like a married couple. Bodies flew all over the place even when it tried to settle into a normal match. Corino stood up and took his headset off. He beat up Seltzer and threw him into the barricade. Whitmer tossed Corino in the ring, but SCUM grabbed him and held him for Titus to hit a dropkick. Titus handcuffed Whitmer to the bottom rope. Compton threw chalk in Mondo's eyes to stop his comeback, and then Rhyno hit the gore on Coleman for the win…

SCUM defeated ROH at 11:13.

Post-match, Corino took the mic and said Matt Hardy would win the TV Title and they would ensure Kevin Steen retained his title as well. The show cut immediately to intermission with videos of various Jay Briscoe attempts to win the World Championship…

Shore's Slant: Wild and crazy match I had no chance of calling spots on. The ending was very anti-climactic though. Corino attacking the color guy was strange and seemed out of place. I realize this is part of the total show storytelling, but in isolation it was a garbage match more than anything else.

***Intermission***

Nigel McGuiness joined Kevin Kelly for the second half due to an "injury" to Seltzer from the Corino attack. The next match got old school ring intros for some reason…

5. Roderick Strong vs. "Machine Gun" Karl Anderson. The fight spilled to the floor quickly and they battled near the barricade. Strong hit a front suplex over the railing in a spot that had to hurt like hell. Back in the ring, Strong hit several kicks, but Anderson hit a spinebuster for two. Strong came right back with a superkick for two.

Anderson hit a nasty looking dropkick on the apron and then a flying neckbreaker after jumping off the top rope. Roddy came back with a couple of sick kicks for two. Anderson came right back with a pile driver for two. They traded blows and ran the ropes and Anderson hit an ace crusher for the win…

Karl Anderson defeated Roderick Strong at 12:35.

Shore's Slant: Good match to start the second half and get the crowd hot again. The finish was a little bizarre with all the rope running, but that's picking at nits. I just wish there was a story behind this match to have made it mean something.

A video setup the TV Title match. Everyone made their ring entrances and Bobby Cruise started old school intros when Corino snatched the mic out of his hand and gave an over the top intro for Matt Hardy that had the crowd chanting "F--- you, Hardy!"

6. Matt Hardy (w/Steve Corino) vs. Adam Cole vs. Matt Taven (w/Truth Martini and Scarlett Bordeaux) in an elimination match for the ROH Television Championship. After a ton of dives, Hardy took the first powder and Corino checked on him. Truth brought Scarlett over and she climbed on Nigel's lap and teased taking her top off. The cameras spent more time on them than the match. Fail.

Back in the ring, Cole put Hardy in the figure four, but Taven hit a splash on Cole for two. Taven went back and forth between both men for a moment, and then they hit a cool spot where Cole hit a Blockbuster on Hardy which made Hardy hit a DDT on Taven. They did another setup three man spot that was too soon and Hardy covered both men for two.

They did a Tower of Doom spot with Hardy taking the superplex and Cole pulling Taven down while in the tree of woe. Hardy hit a side effect on Cole and a Twist of Fate on Taven. Hardy covered and Truth Martini distracted the ref. Cole kicked Hardy in the nuts and then hooked a small package to eliminate Hardy in a reverse repeat of Cole and Hardy's previous match.

Matt Hardy was eliminated at 10:01.

Corino climbed in the ring and acted like he wanted to shake Cole's hand. Cole grabbed him and the ref broke it up. Cole scored an O'Connor roll on Taven, but Taven kicked out. The kick out was weak and Cole had to run and hit Corino instead of being shoved into him. Taven followed with his finisher for the win…

Matt Taven eliminated Adam Cole and retained the ROH Television Championship at 11:25.

Shore's Slant: What a mess. The match was pretty good. It had too many setup spots, but the problem was the finish. It was way overbooked and then poorly executed. Add in all the attention on Scarlett sitting in Nigel's lap instead of the match and the whole thing was a bust. They should have saved the Scarlett gimmick for TV. It was totally gratuitous and shouldn't have been on PPV.

A video setup the tag title match and Bobby Cruise once again had old school ring intros…

7. The American Wolves vs. Red Dragon for the ROH Tag Team Championships. The match started with the traditional back and forth series indicative of Wolves matches. Kevin Kelly explained the background of the men and even said that Eddie Edwards and Bobby Fish would have been, and will be, teaming in Pro Wrestling NOAH. I have no idea why you would do that, but whatever.

O'Reilly no sold a double team submission hold and knocked Davey down with kicks. Fish tagged in and hit several kicks as well. Richards hit a handspring enziguri and the crowd is dead. Edwards got the hot tag and knocked O'Reilly down. He hit a fisherman's buster for two, and then he and Davey hit combo rannas and dives on Red Dragon.

Red Dragon came right back with combo dives of their own, and then worked double team on Edwards in the ring. Richards got the hot tag and kicked both men in the corner in a spot that didn't even make sense. The Wolves worked double team moves on O'Reilly, but O'Reilly came back with palm strikes and the combo Dragon leg screw on both men.

Davey hooked a surprise trailer hitch on O'Reilly and then no sold two Fish kicks and locked an ankle lock on Fish. O'Reilly made the ropes for the break. All four men battled and Edwards accidently kicked Davey, but Davey stormed right back and hit a German suplex and double stomp on O'Reilly to leave all four men down in the ring.

All of a sudden the ref decided to enforce the tag rules to keep Edwards from coming in. What? O'Reilly went to the top and Davey slammed Fish into him to stop him. All four men ended up in the corner on the top rope. Edwards took out Fish with a ranna, and Davey hit a superplex. He held on and lifted O'Reilly again for Edwards to hit the superkick so the Wolves hit Chasing the Dragon on O'Reilly for two.

Edwards lifted O'Reilly for something, but O'Reilly reversed into a reverse ranna. Davey rolled O'Reilly up. O'Reilly kicked out and Fish hit a kick through the ropes on Davey. O'Reilly rolled him up and grabbed the tights for the win…

Red Dragon retained the ROH Tag Team Championships at 21:07.

Shore's Slant: The crowd finally got into it by the end, but that wasn't the match I thought it would be. The Wolves run into this problem all the time where their matches devolve into spot fests and a lot of those spots don't even make sense. They had a much better match against C&C in Asheville, and I expected good stuff here. It was just OK.

A video package setup the main event, and Bobby Cruise handled ring introductions again. No one accompanied Steen to the ring and he made his entrance the normal way, as opposed to through the crowd like the rest of SCUM…

8. Jay Briscoe vs. Kevin Steen for the ROH World Championship. The match started slow with Briscoe half selling the arm but half toughing it out. Steen took control on a slam, but Jay Briscoe came back with a roaring elbow that looked stiff as hell. Jay went for a German suplex, but Steen elbowed out and drove the injured shoulder into the post and the announce team undersold it.

Steen continued to work the shoulder with dirty moves on the ropes and a shoulder breaker for a near fall. Steen whipped Jay to the corner and ran in. Jay hit a blockbuster type move with Steen landing on Jay's back. Jimmy Jacobs ran out, but Mark Briscoe ran out too and they battled to the back.

Jay hit a DVD and went to the top rope. Steen caught him up there and they battled. Steen dropped the arm across the top rope and then hit his cannonball for two. Jay rolled to the apron and Steen followed. Jay tried for the Jay Driller, but Steen pulled him to the ground and hit a powerbomb on the apron. He rolled Jay in the ring and jumped off the top rope for a senton, but Jay got the knees up. Jay hit a neckbreaker and two SCUM members ran out, but the feed froze up for everyone.

The feed came back for a second on much lower quality and Veda Scott was preventing a SCUM member (I think Compton) from getting in the ring, and it froze again. When the feed finally came back, both men were down in the ring and the locker room emptied and surrounded the ring. Steen hit the F-cinq, but Jay kicked out.

SCUM ran out and the ROH guys fought them to the back. Matt Hardy slipped through and went for a Twist of Fate on Jay. Steen kicked him and tossed Hardy from the ring. Jay hit the Jay Driller on Steen and the ref dove back in the ring for a near fall. The feed suddenly went live and the match was over with Jay having won, but I have no idea how…

Jay Briscoe won the ROH World Championship in about 20:00.

Post-match, Jay's family filled the ring and he started to say something, but Steen snatched the mic away. Steen started to speak and then just shook Jay's hand. Jay asked the music guy to play Lynard Skynard and the show went off the air…

Shore's Slant: What a tough break for ROH. I was sitting here during intermission thinking about whether I should comment on how good the feed had been and decided to pass because it has been good for several shows now and there's no reason to dredge up old memories. Then this. Steen and Briscoe had a hell of a match going, but we missed close to half the match with the feed going down, and I have no idea what he won with. What a shame.

The impact of the title change is going to take some time to figure out. I don't think anyone really saw this coming, and they didn't really build to it the way promotions normally do for title changes. Not seeing how everything played out with SCUM also makes it hard to figure out what happens going forward as well. They tape TV tomorrow, so I guess we will know more then. Overall a good show that oddly had a better first half than second. I will have more tomorrow on the Hitlist and I will try to do a member's exclusive audio, but I'm sick and my voice is very weak. To make sure you hear the audio (assuming I can), sign up now to be a Dot Net Member for only $1 via the Dot Net Member signup page using promo code WM29. Thanks for watching along tonight.

Questions? Comments? Anyone, anyone? Let me hear from you. Email me at css3238@gmail.com or tweet me @TheShoreSlant with whatever is on your mind.

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