By Chris Shore

ROH Wrestling on SBG stations
Taped in Baltimore, Maryland

A video recapped the Charlie Haas vs. Mark Briscoe match from last week...The opening video aired, and Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness were in the ring. They hyped hearing from the Briscoes later in the show and then setup promo videos from The Young Bucks and Coleman and Alexander...

1. The Young Bucks defeated Cedric Alexander and Caprice Coleman at 5:26. Cedric and Matt started. Matt hit a couple of forearms that Cedric no sold. Cedric hit a flying head scissor and tagged in Coleman. The two men hit several double team moves and Nick ran in to make a save. Cedric and Caprice looked to be in control as the four battled, but the Bucks dumped Caprice to the floor, then hit a double team move on Cedric before Nick hit a dive on Caprice. Crazy action.

The Bucks worked over Cedric in their corner. Cedric ducked a double clothesline and tagged in Caprice. All hell broke loose with bodies flying everywhere and several dives to the floor. After a round of superkicks, Cedric tried for a top rope splash but Matt got his knees up. The Bucks hit More Bang for your Buck for the win...

Shore's Slant: As is often the case with both of these teams, I gave you all I could. The action was fast and all over the place. Go out of your way to see this match. The Bucks vs. The Briscoes at the 10th Anniversary iPPV might steal the show. Cedric and Caprice continue to grow. They need promo work, but their in-ring work fits perfectly with ROH. Also, production is much better on these shows.

Veda Scott was backstage with The Embassy. She put over Tomasso Ciampa facing Jay lethal for the TV title at the iPPV, but said if Lethal wins tonight, Ciampa will be challenging for the world title. She asked Prince Nana for predictions. He started to speak, but Ciampa cut him off and said he would give a prediction. He said on March 4, he would take whatever gold was around Jay Lethal's waist. He challenged Lethal to overachieve and win the title tonight so that he can humble Lethal and become the first and only undefeated champion in ROH history...

Shore's Slant: Wow, surprisingly good stuff from Ciampa. I hope ROH has him under a solid contract, because with his size and in-ring work, coupled with an improving set of mic skills, I expect WWE to come calling sooner rather than later.

A Young Bucks promo hyped the tag title match at the 10th Anniversary show...The Briscoes came to the ring for an interview with Kevin Kelly. Jay said live on PPV it was going to be Dem Boys vs. the Lady Boys. He said they aren't taking the Bucks lightly, but they were going to make the Bucks their personal bitches.

Kelly asked about the House of Truth tag team and Jay put over that they won a check for $5000, but it bounced when they took it to the bank. He said the next time they see Truth Martini if he didn't have their money, their dad was coming to beat it out of him. Kelly asked about facing WGTT in Florida. Jay said that when they meet WGTT in Florida it wasn't about the belts. He said somebody would be leaving in a bodybag. He said whoever faced the Briscoes had better man up. The crowd chanted "Man up" to end the segment...

Shore's Slant: The Briscoes are perhaps the most entertaining tag team in all of professional wrestling right now. I had the privilege of working on a show with them this weekend and nobody worked harder than #DemBoys. And I say that even though Mark tried to kill me with flying chairs on Saturday. Good promo work here from Jay that put over three teams at the same time.

The Inside ROH video package featured the return of Kevin Steen to TV last week, as well as the return of Jimmy Jacobs. Jacobs cut a promo and said he learned sometimes, evil wins. Jacobs said it was time for him to be evil again. He asked if evil faces evil, does anybody ever win.

Steen cut a promo about how he hopes Jacobs causes him to bleed for their match at 10th Anniversary so that Jacobs can see that his future as a good company man is limited, but allowing the darkness in him to shine through makes him unstoppable.

All Night Express cut a promo about getting to the Young Bucks for putting Rhett Titus on the shelf, but first they wanted to make sure they were the top of the tag team division so they would face WGTT before getting revenge on the Bucks.

Next week, Roderick Strong will face Eddie Edwards with the winner getting a title shot on March 30. Strong said he was pulling for Lethal tonight because while he could beat both men, he could beat Lethal that much easier. He said Edwards was on a losing streak, so he expected to win next week and have the World Title picture under his control by April 1. That ended the Inside ROH segment.

Shore's Slant: OK promos there. Strong's was probably the best of the bunch. The ANX promo was the weakest, though Jacobs lip biting was way over the top. Steen doesn't look or sound right sitting at a table talking.

Veda Scott was in the locker room again with Eddie Edwards and Adam Cole. She asked Eddie for his pick in the title match. Eddie said it all depends on where Davey's head is. He said if Davey has his head in the game, he'll beat Lethal. He said if Davey is worried about their tag match, he could make a mistake and Lethal is good enough to capitalize. Cole jumped in and said he would be ready for their tag match, and that he had Eddie's back next week vs. the House of Truth...

Shore's Slant: Ugh. Terrible promo that didn't put any heat on anything. Of course the looming tag match at the iPPV isn't very exciting anyway so what could they have possibly done?

Back ringside, Kelly and McGuinness said a lot of people were predicting a lethal win. Nigel said that was wishful thinking because it advances those people's position. Way to bury your TV champion guys. Bobby Cruise handled the in-ring introductions for the main event...[C]

2. Davey Richards defeated Jay Lethal to retain the ROH World Heavyweight Championship at 16:07. They started with some chain wrestling that saw Richards hook a hammer lock. Lethal made the ropes and Davey broke and helped Lethal to his feet. Davey locked in a submission hold and turned it into a pinning position. Lethal kicked out and hooked on the same hold before also getting a near fall by twisting it into the same pinning predicament.

They ran through the typical chain of moves that ended with them staring each other down and then the real action started with Lethal hitting a kick and taking control. Lethal ran the ropes and Davey hit a dropkick and hooked an Indian death lock with a bridge. Lethal made the rope and Davey broke dirty. Lethal came back with a rings of Saturn type move that Davey reversed into a horse collar leg lock until Lethal made the ropes.

Davey whipped Lethal into the corner. Lethal hit a kick when Davey ran in and hit a missile drop kick from the second rope. Tomasso Ciampa came out with a chair and sat down at ringside as Lethal hit a back suplex for two...[C]

Back from commercial, Davey hit a kick on Lethal on the floor and followed with a suicide dive. Davey walked past Ciampa and said something. Ciampa got in his face. Kyle O'Reilly ran out and pulled Davey away and told him to get in the ring. He stayed at ringside to keep an eye on Ciampa. Davey ran in the ring and Lethal hit the Lethal Combination for two.

The House of truth came out and Lethal went to the top. Davey caught him up there and hit a top rope superplex. Davey floated over and lifted Lethal for another suplex, but he hit it into a cross arm breaker. Lethal made the ropes and Eddie Edwards and Adam Cole came to the ring.

Davey hit several kicks and Lethal came back with a string of strikes. He hit the ropes and Davey tried for the alarm clock. Lethal blocked it and tried for a clothesline, but Davey reversed it into another cross arm breaker. Lethal escaped and hooked a weird looking submisson that had no leverage.

Davey escaped and they traded kicks. Davey hit a clothesline and climbed to the top. He jawed with Eddie Edwards on the floor. O'Reilly climbed up on the apron. Michael Elgin pulled him down and a brawl with everybody but Cimapa broke out. Lethal took the distraction and hit a move the cameras missed and called for the Lethal Injection. He hit the ropes, but Elgin shoved Cole into Lethal so Lethal landed on his feet. Davey hit another kick and that was somehow enough to put Lethal away. Post-match, everybody but Ciampa fought to the back. Ciampa yelled at lethal and Davey from the floor as the two shook hands to close the show...

Shore's Slant: Not a terrible match from Lethal and Davey, but nothing to write home about either. The ending would have been better if the cameras hadn't closed in on Adam Cole showing him fighting and watching the action in the ring so they could time the spot, but that's not the wrestlers' fault. And Davey still needs a finisher. That final kick looked no different from the ones they traded just minute prior.

Overall a good showing from ROH this week heading into this weekend's 10th Anniversary show. I will be covering that live for the site so be sure to join me this Sunday at 3:00 CT for full coverage.

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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