ROH A New Dawn Review

The Honor Rumble determines Adam Cole's first challenger!

ROH A New Dawn

Hopkins, Minnesota 9/28/13

The show starts off with an in-ring promo from ROH World Champion Adam Cole. He says he's grown up and now realizes that you need to do whatever it takes to win. Cole claims he'll beat whoever wins the Honor Rumble and calls Michael Elgin & Jay Briscoe some rather unflattering names. This brings out Jay Briscoe, who says that once he's medically cleared, he's going to kick Cole's ass and take back his title.

  

1.) Non-Title Match - ROH World Tag Team Champions reDRagon vs. The Monster Mafia (Josh Alexander & Ethan Page): ***1/2

This is the first time I'm seeing the Monster Mafia of Josh Alexander & Ethan Page. I'd heard a lot about these two. It was a very solid match. The Monster Mafia looked pretty good and hit some really cool double team moves. Even though Fish & O'Reilly came out on top, it was a really good showing from the Monster Mafia.

2.) Silas Young vs. Mark Briscoe: **3/4

A fine match here. Nothing really outstanding, just a pretty solid undercard match. The main story is what happened after the match. Silas Young attacks Mark Briscoe after Briscoe won the match with a roll up. They would later have a confrontation in the Locker Room. This would be the start of their feud, which would go to Final Battle.

3.) Adrenaline Rush vs. Jay Lethal & "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin: ***1/2

I was actually really looking forward to this. It turned out to be a pretty good tag team match. We oddly didn't see a lot of high flying from ACH & TaDarius Thomas, but I thought they worked really well together. Their was a lot of great action, including Elgin hitting Jay Lethal's Top Rope Elbow Drop! Elgin & Lethal would pick up the win.

4.) Honor Rumble: ***1/4

I took the liberty of writing up the entry/elimination order. Entry order is first, elimination order in parenthesis.

1. (12) Jay Lethal by Bobby Fish

2. (13) Mat Taven by Bobby Fish

3. (8) Kyle O’Reilly by Mark Briscoe

4. (9) Davey Richards by Bobby Fish

5. (3) Michael Bennett by Roderick Strong

6. (1) Delirious by Michael Bennett

7. (6) ACH by Kyle O’Reilly

8. (10) Roderick Strong by Jay Lethal

9. (2) Cheeseburger by Michael Bennett

10. (5) Silas Young by Mark Briscoe

11. (Winner) Mark Briscoe

12. (4) Josh Alexander by Silas Young

13. (11) Eddie Edwards by Matt Taven

14. (7) TaDarius Thomas by Eddie Edwards & Roderick Strong

15. (14) Bobby Fish by Mark Briscoe

I think I enjoyed this more than the Southern Defiance Honor Rumble. In comparison, this one felt much more like a Rumble Match, if that makes any sense. Seeing Delirious was a nice surprise. I'd actually like it if ROH makes it a semi-regular thing, maybe every year or two. For a live event, it's perfect. Some notable items include Silas Young once again attacking Mark Briscoe after Briscoe eliminated him and Cheeseburger making an appearance. Mark Briscoe would get the win and will challenge for the World Title in the main event.

5.) Michael Bennett (with Maria Kanellis) vs. Eddie Edwards: ***1/2

These two had a mini-feud during the summer of 2012 which included a mixed tag team match with Maria Kanellis & Sara del Rey at Boiling Point 2012. This was a really solid match. I'd say it was one of their better ones these two have had with each other. Edwards is always great but this was definitely one of Bennett's best performances.

6.) Trial Series Match #2 - Jimmy Jacobs vs. Kevin Steen: ***1/4

This is the second match in the Jimmy Jacobs Trial Series. If he wins three out of the five matches, he gets a World Title Shot. They went balls to the walls in this one. Basically it was (I'm guessing here on the time) a 5 minute-ish match where they just hit their signature moves on each other. Big move after big move. It was actually real competitive, and I think it makes sense that Jacobs would try to beat Steen as quickly as possible. Really entertaining and a lot of fun, but also very short, hence the rating I give.

After the match, Maria Kanellis comes out and distracts Kevin Steen, which allows Michael Bennett to come out and hit his Piledriver on Kevin Steen.

7.) ROH World TV Title - Matt Taven vs. Davey Richards vs. Roderick Strong: ***3/4

Another match that I was looking forward to on this show. Taven has Scarlett Bordeaux & Seleziya Sparx with him, but no Truth Martini. It was a very solid World TV Title Match. Richards & Strong worked well together as usual, but having Taven in there added a completely new twist on it and it helped a lot. The Hoopla Hottie's interference at the end led to a bit of a lackluster ending, but that's my only complaint. The match, otherwise, was great.

8.) ROH World Title - Adam Cole vs. Mark Briscoe: ***3/4

Jay Briscoe would try to come out at the start of the match but was dragged away by security. This was actually a really good match. Some might see it as overrating it, but I really enjoyed the match. Cole was great as a heel in this match (can't stress that enough). Definitely a step up from their match in the World Title Tournament. Adam Cole retains the World Title.

After Cole won, Jay Briscoe came back out through the crowd to try and get to Cole, but then Michael Elgin came out and Cole scattered, leaving his World Title in the ring. Jay attacked refs and security before leaving. Elgin then takes the belt and cuts a promo.....in cowboy boots (Yes, that actually happened) and said he's coming for the World Title.

Overall: 7.5/10

When looking at this show compared to the rest of ROH's shows in 2013, I'd say this show to WAR, Relentless, and Liv3 & Let Die. Their really isn't anything must-see on this show and it's not an event you need to go out of your way to see, but their is not a single bad match on here, and if you're looking for a good night of solid wrestling, this is a good choice. It's very consistent, which is something that's been a constant on ROH live events in 2013. I should note that Kevin Kelly doing commentary by himself was awful! Adam Cole being with him on commentary for several matches was a saving grace for sure. Overall, I'd say it was a pretty solid show. If you're looking for a show to get during a sale, definitely get this one.