ROH Liv3 & Let Die Review

The ROH/S.C.U.M. War continues in Ohio and Eddie Edwards challenges for the World Title!

ROH Liv3 & Let Die

Columbus, Ohio 6/8/13

Bonus

1.) Empty Arena Match - Kevin Steen vs. Cliff Compton: **1/2

Now technically, this match is included as a bonus on the Best in the World 2013 DVD Release, but since this match took place at this venue during this event, I will include it on this review. Keep in mind, this match is not on this DVD. Ringside Members can also view the match in the VOD section on rohwrestling.com

This bit starts off as Veda Scott conducting a ringside interview with Kevin Steen (presumably) before the show. After the interview, S.C.U.M. comes out and starts to run down Steen. Compton takes center stage, saying he'll fight Steen here & now in front of nobody, and they start fighting. We technically have refs as Paul Turner & Todd Sinclair come out in their street clothes. It eventually turns into a brawl between S.C.U.M. and ROH (represented by Michael Elgin, Jay Lethal & BJ Whitmer). This leads to Matt Hardy coming out (who hadn't come out with S.C.U.M. originally) and assisting Cliff Compton for the win. It was a fun little brawl. I'd say this was one of the highlight of Compton's ROH run. S.C.U.M. leaves victorious as the ROH guys questions Steen's loyalties.

Main Show

1.) Adam Cole vs. Caprice Coleman: ***1/2

A very good opening match. I might be overrating this a little bit, but I enjoyed it a lot. Cole would pick up the win in this one.

2.) Roderick Strong vs "God's Gift" QT Marshall: ***

This was actually pretty entertaining. Strong proved that he can carry anyone, even QT Marshall, to a good match. The bit where QT Marshall tried to hit the People's Elbow was hilarious! In the end, Strong picks up the win.

After the match, Adam Cole came out. He apologizes to Roderick Strong for refusing to shake his hand following their match in San Antonio, and pretty much said it was in a heat of the moment type thing. They end up shaking hands.

3.) Cedric Alexander vs. Davey Richards: ****1/2

These two had a match in PWX a few months prior to this that received a lot of praise. To put it simply, this match was awesome. I loved every second of it. Just great stuff from both guys, and Alexander looked like a star. He's a guy who I can see ROH pushing as a singles talent when the C & C Wrestle Factory runs its course.

4.) Proving Ground Match - ROH World Tag Team Champions reDRagon vs. Adrenaline Rush: ***

If Adrenaline RUSH can beat reDRagon, they will earn a future World Tag Team Title Shot. This was a match that I feel like was hit & miss. Their were parts of the match that I liked (particularly the latter half of the match), but the first half came off as pretty slow. ACH & Tadarius Thomas decided to wrestle a ground based match against reDRagon and it just didn't work out. An oddly disappointing match.

Hoopla Uncut hosted by Truth Martini is up after intermission. He reveals that his guest is none other than Cheeseburger! Martini asks him if he got a boner when he kissed Maria Kanellis at Border Wars, which it did. His honestly earns him a lap dance from the Hoopla Hotties. Cheeseburger then asks to kiss one of the Hoopla Hotties, which Truth agrees to on the condition that Cheeseburger takes his pants off. He takes his pants off, but is then GORED by Rhino before his dreams are realized. This leads to Kevin Steen coming out and we have a match!

5.) Rhino vs. Kevin Steen: **3/4

This was decent. It was nowhere near as good as their match at Death Before Dishonor X but it was fine for what it was.

Matt Hardy almost instantly after Steen won hit the ring and started attacking him. This brought out Mark Briscoe and let to their match.

6.) Matt Hardy vs. Mark Briscoe: **1/2

An ok match. Not really much to say when it comes to Matt Hardy matches, but again, it was fine for what it was. Some stupid outside shenanigans let to Hardy getting the win.

Rhett Titus, Jimmy Jacobs and Cliff Compton are out to attack Mark Briscoe, but this leads to Jay Lethal, BJ Whitmer, & Michael Elgin coming out for...surprise, surprise...another match.

7.) No Rules - S.C.U.M. (Jimmy Jacobs, Rhett Titus & Cliff Compton) vs. Jay Lethal, BJ Whitmer & "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin: ***

A fine brawl, but a pretty short one. I think it went under 10 Minutes. In the end, S.C.U.M. gets another win over ROH. This is the part of the ROH/S.C.U.M. feud that was disappointing. When S.C.U.M. expanded, I thought we would get stuff similar to what we got with the ROH/CZW feud in terms of the wilds brawls, but they really have been a letdown by comparison. I feel like the matches in this feud in general have been watered down version of those we saw in the ROH/CZW feud.

8.) ROH World Title - Jay Briscoe vs. Eddie Edwards: ****

A very good wrestling match. Pretty much what you would expect from these two. Very hard hitting stuff. I really enjoyed it. I'd say it was Briscoe's second best title defense. The fact that Jay's best title defenses have come against The American Wolves should be a surprise to nobody. Bobby Fish on commentary was also a plus.

Overall: 7.75/10

To sum it all it, this show had a very good first half, with an awesome match between Richards & Alexander, but the second half, which was filled with ROH vs. S.C.U.M. matches, was a bit of a letdown, save for the World Title Match. Not one of the best ROH live events this year, but it has its moments. The DVD also included a Steve Corino (who was wearing a yellow suit jacket that was pretty funny) & Matt Hardy Pre-Show Q & A/Anti-Bullying Rally (For those who have not seen the Matt Hardy Anti-Bullying Video, it's great, go check it out now!!!) with what seemed like an oddly Pro-S.C.U.M. crowd, that is a good bonus.