ROH Raising The Bar Night One
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Report by Dot Net reader Tracy Thorn

The building is full with probably 500-600 in attendance. This isn't an official tv taping but they are recording it for air on television later. Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness were introduced to the crowd.
 
The show started with an Adam Cole promo. He said he had a warm up match tonight with Matt Taven before his showdown with Chris Hero tomorrow night in Chicago. This led to Taven hitting the ring and cutting a promo on Cole. Taven reminded Cole that he has never defeated him. Cole tried to cheap shot Taven and then fled when Taven turned the tables...

1. Jay Lethal defeated Silas Young. The crowd was split pretty evenly between Lethal and hometown boy Silas. Truth Martini came down to ringside midway through the match. He did not make his alliances known. Lethal won following the Lethal Injection. 

2. Michael Bennett (w/Maria) beat Tyson Dux. Maria looks amazing in person. The crowd did not know what to think of Dux. Some chanted "skinny Cena" at him. Bennett won after countering a sharpshooter into the Anaconda Vice.

3. ACH and Tadarius Thomas defeated Homicide and Eddie Kingston, and Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish in a non-title three-way match. The match was a wild brawl with plenty of high flying from ACH and TD Thomas. ACH won the match for his team following a 450 splash. The announcer apparently did not know the rules as she announced Adrenaline Rush as the winners. Next she announced that Outlaw Inc had been eliminated even though neither Homicide or Eddie Kingston were pinned. She finally announced that since Adrenaline Rush won the match, they would get an immediate title shot against Red Dragon.

4. Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly beat Adrenaline Rush to retain the ROH Tag Titles. Before the title match started, Outlaw Inc. destroyed everyone in the ring and had to be removed by security. Red Dragon won the match after a couple of minutes when O'Reilly used the tights to pin ACH.

Intermission

5. B.J. Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs beat Adam Page and Cedric Alexander. The crowd finally warmed up to Adam Page after he hit some of his high-flying moves. BJ Whitmer faked a neck injury which led to the finish. He hit a nasty lariat on Page and then The Decade hit their dominator/ace crusher finisher on Page and got the win. After the match, Jimmy Jacobs told Adam Page that there was still hope for him. Page ended up leaving with The Decade.

6. Chris Hero defeated Roderick Strong. The match was really hard hitting. Both guys kicked out of the other's finisher. Hero eventually won after hitting multiple roaring elbows. He got the submission victory after putting Strong in the stretch plum.

7. The Briscoes and Michael Elgin beat Kevin Steen and The Young Bucks and Kevin Steen. The match of the night. The crowd chanted "This is Awesome" before the match even started. The match was amazing and the entire crowd was standing before the match was over. Elgin especially wowed the crowd with his feats of strength. Elgin won the match for his team after a second rope power bomb on Nick Jackson. Hopefully this one makes television. 

8. Adam Cole defeated Matt Taven to retain the ROH Title. The crowd was still recovering from the previous match and entertained themselves by chanting "Shots" every time Taven hit an offensive move. (In Taven's opening promo he said he was going out for shots on Old World 3rd Street after the show.) Adam Cole won after his poor version of the Canadian Destroyer.

It was a fantastic show. Hopefully it translates well to television.

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