ROH The Golden Dream Review

A last minute twist has big implications on the World Title picture!

Let me start off by saying that I LOVE the cover for this DVD! Very cool design.

ROH The Golden Dream

Cincinnati, Ohio 11/2/13

The show starts off with ROH Matchmaker Nigel McGuinness. He tells the fans that due to a concussion he sustained in the Champions vs. All-Stars Match at Glory By Honor XII, Adam Cole would not be able to defend the ROH World Title against Kevin Steen as scheduled. Jay Briscoe vs. Kevin Steen had been named the replacement Main Event a few days prior with Briscoe finally being cleared to wrestle. Nigel also states that anyone who touches Adam Cole tonight will be suspended indefinitely. This brings out Jay Briscoe, who lobbies to be in the Final Battle Main Event, which at the moment, is Cole vs. Elgin for the World Title. Michael Elgin comes out and has some words with Jay Briscoe. Kevin Steen comes out and also lays his claim to the World Title, having yet to receive his championship rematch. Nigel decides that the winner of the Kevin Steen/Jay Briscoe main event tonight will be added to the Final Battle Match Event in a Triple Threat Match. The upsets Michael Elgin, who leaves in a foul mood.

1.) ROH World Tag Team Champion Bobby Fish (with Kyle O'Reilly) vs. Mike Posey (with Corey Hollis): **

This is the first of two "Instant Reward" Matches. If Mike Posey gets the win here, Alabama Attitude will get an immediate ROH Word Tag Team Title shot. It was an ok match, nothing much else to it, to be honest. Fish gets the win.

2.) ROH World Tag Team Champion Kyle O'Reilly (with Bobby Fish) vs. Corey Hollis (with Mike Posey): **3/4

Alabama Attitude can still get their "Instant Reward" Title Shot if Hollis is able to knock off O'Reilly. a fine match that had some good action. Hollis is known for his singles work in places like PWX and showed here that he could be a future player in the singles ranks of ROH. In the end, O'Reilly defeats Hollis and denies Alabama Attitude a title shot.

3.) "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin vs. Silas Young: ***3/4

These two had a very good match at Brew City Beatdown and have a long history together in AAW. I really enjoyed this match. Wouldn't call it as good as their Brew City Beatdown match, but it came extremely close and was still very solid. Elgin gets the win.

4.) ACH vs. "American Wolf" Davey Richards: ****1/4

I'd compare this match to ACH vs. Kyle O'Reilly from Night 2 of PWG's Battle of Los Angeles two months prior. Slow to start, but picked up to the point where by the end it was great. Lots of back & forth action that eventually sees Davey Richards (sporting some blond highlights) getting the victory. ACH has had a great year match quality rise, and he was mad over here. He's proven that he can hang with the best in the company, and got a standing ovation after the match. Anybody who says ACH is on a "Job Tour" is sorely mistaken.

5.) ROH World TV Title - Matt Taven (with Truth Martini) vs. Adam Page: ***1/2

Who in the world would have thought Adam Page's best match in ROH to date would come against Matt Taven? Really enjoyed this match actually, a lot more than I thought I would. Their was scary moment where they took a nasty bump on the guardrail that has to be seen to believed. Kudos to both of them for being able to continue. Distraction from Truth Martini & Scarlett Bordeaux eventually allow Taven to pick up the win and retain his title.

6.) Trial Series Match #5 - Jimmy Jacobs vs. Roderick Strong: ****1/2

This is the final match in the Trial Series. If Jimmy Jacobs wins, he gets a World Title Shot in Dearborn, Michigan. I was wondering how Jacobs & Strong would match up, and they went out there and had a fantastic match. It was definitely one of the best matches of the year from ROH in my opinion. A lot of it had to do with the drama. I gotta say, having BJ Whitmer on commentary added SO MUCH to this match. It really made it seem special (especially his reactions to stuff in the second half of the bout) and elevated this match a lot for me. Jacobs gets the huge win and earns his World Title Shot. In hindsight, this match is very odd to look at given what would happen involving these three at Final Battle, but more on that in a later review...

Before the #1 Contender's Four-Corner Survival, Maria Kanellis comes out, but Michael Bennett is nowhere in sight. She says Bennett won't be in the match because the World TV Title is below him and that he's focused more on Kevin Steen.

7.) #1 Contender's Four Corner Survival Triple Threat - Michael Bennett vs. Mark Briscoe vs. "Sicilian Psychopath" Tommaso Ciampa vs. Jay Lethal: ***1/4

It's always a bid odd seeing a multi-man match that's all good guys, but this proved to be pretty entertaining. They never really slowed down and it was a lot of fun to watch. Matt Taven was on commentary, and his presence playing into the end of the match, as Taven got physically involved which caused Jay Lethal to go after him, leaving Ciampa in the ring to pin Mark Briscoe and earn a World TV Title Shot at Final Battle. 

Taven tries to attack post match but is laid out. Briscoe, Lethal, and Ciampa shake hands over the fallen Television Champion.

Before the main event, Adam Cole is out to cut a promo before he joins the commentary table. He says it doesn't matter who's added to the Main Event at Final Battle because he will walk out still the ROH World Champion.

8.) Kevin Steen vs. Jay Briscoe: ***1/4

This is a rematch from their World Title encounter at Supercard of Honor VII, where Briscoe dethroned  Steen to become champion. The match was not as good as their World Title Match, and was a bit of a disappointment compared to some of the other matches on the card. Still, it was a solid match. During the match Cole would get involved an tried to goad Jay Briscoe into hitting him. At one point Steen had the match won but Maria interfered by distracting referee Todd Sinclair. Steen chased here off but this allowed Briscoe to recover, hitting two Jay Drillers on Steen to win the match and punch his ticket to Final Battle.

After the match, we get more of Cole taunting Jay Briscoe by taking Jay's World Title. He gets it back but Michael Elgin comes out and gets into it with Jay Briscoe. Cole scatters as his two challengers go at it. Things calm down enough where Briscoe & Elgin are escorted to the back. Then Kevin Steen comes out pulling Maria by her hair back to the ring! He attempts to give her the Package Piledriver but is stopped by referees and security. Maria escapes, and Steen proceeds to beat up both the refs and security, giving Package Piledrivers to a few security guys and referee Paul Turner. He closes the show by saying that after Final Battle he's coming for the World Title, no matter who the champion is.

Overall: 8.75/10

I gotta say that this was a really great show. Their are a lot of awesome matches on here. Jacobs/Strong and Richards/ACH are worth getting the DVD by themselves. You also had very solid Elgin/Young match, a very good World TV Title Match and an entertaining #1 Contender's Match. While the main event was a bit of letdown (compared to the rest of the card. It was still a good match by itself) and a slow start to the show with the opening two matches, the event as a whole was still very good. This show was definitely one of Ring of Honor's top live events of 2013, and it's definitely worth seeking out.