ROH SoCal Showdown II Review

Ring of Honor returns to Los Angeles for the second year in the row with an exciting lineup!

ROH SoCal Showdown II

Los Angeles, California 1/28/11

1.) The Bravado Brothers vs. Cedric Alexander & Caleb Konley: **1/2

This Caleb/Cedric pairing was certainly intriguing, but it wouldn't last, as they lost to The Bravados here. Decent tag match though.

2.) Colt Cabana vs. Jay Briscoe: **3/4

It's mentioned on commentary that despite the Second City Saints/Briscoes feud from 2004, this is the first time Cabana & Jay have met in a singles match in ROH. It proved to be pretty solid, but I was expecting a little better.

3.) The All Night Express vs. The Cutler Brothers: **1/2

The Cutlers are a tag team that used to (I say used to because they don't now) make appearances in PWG. Much like the opener, this was pretty decent. The fact that the crowd was already familiar with The Cutlers helped out a good deal.

4.) Battle of Mat Technicians – Davey Richards vs. TJ Perkins: ****

TJ had some matches in late 2010 for ROH, and he's facing a tough challenge in the form of Davey Richards. This was a very good match. Great wrestling that saw it all....strikes, submissions, the whole nine yards. 

5.) World TV Title – Christopher Daniels vs. Mark Briscoe: ***1/4

I really like what ROH did here. Mark pinned Daniels in the Champions vs. All-Stars Eight Man Tag in Richmond, so he gets a title shot. Allison Danger makes an appearance as she returns to the side of Daniels for this match. It was a good match. Enjoyable.

6.) Non-Title Rematch – Kings of Wrestling vs. Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas: ****

So the Kings got a win via nefarious means against WGTT at Death Before Dishonor IX, so we have a rematch here. Pretty good stuff. About as good as their first match. WGTT picks up the win, thus setting up a rubber match for the belts down the line.

7.) ROH World Title – Roderick Strong vs. El Generico: ****

This is El Generico's "reward" after winning the war and surviving against Kevin Steen. While Strong essentially cheating to win (using the World Title Belt) hurt the match a little, there was still a good story told. Very good match.

Strong trash talks on the mic but Daniels, Jay Briscoe & Davey Richards chase him off. Daniels then gets on the mic and tells Strong that his time is coming.

Overall: 8.25/10

This was a very good show. The three **** matches make this show an easy recommendation. The undercard isn't too shabby either, making for an overall good show.