ROH Pursuit: Night 2
Columbus, Ohio 11/16/13
1.) Silas Young vs. TaDarius Thomas: ***1/4
The show opens up with a rematch from Death Before Dishonor XI. This was actually a really good opening match. Thomas showed off some really good stuff and Silas was looking great at well. Young would pick up the win in a very solid opener to get the crowd going.
2.) Jimmy Jacobs vs. Sik Rik Matrix: **1/2
Never heard of Sik Rik Matrix, but he's a pretty big dude. Jacobs is coming off his World Title loss the previous night. This was a surprisingly competitive match that saw Jacobs get dominated by Matrix at several points, but Jacobs would fight back and eventually picked up the win.
After the match, ROH Matchmaker Nigel McGuinness comes out and tells Jacobs that he's officially back on the ROH roster. Jacobs asks about what his match at Final Battle would be, but McGuinness tells him that the card is full. Jacobs leaves seemingly despondent.
3.) "Sicilian Psychopath" Tommaso Ciampa vs. Mark Briscoe: ***1/2
Here we have a first time match up. It was actually a really good match. I don't a lot people were expecting this to be as good as it was. These two just clicked, and it made for a very entertaining match. Tommaso Ciampa would get the win and the momentum heading into Final Battle.
4.) The American Wolves vs. Outlaw Inc.: ***1/4
Another first time match up. I also believe this is the first time that Eddie Kingston has ever interacted with either Davey Richards or Eddie Edwards in any capacity. This was definitely the best match Outlaw Inc. have had up to this point. You can always count on the American Wolves to put on a good match with anybody and this contest was no exception. After a good back-and-forth match, Kingston & Homicide would pick up the win.
We did not know it at the time, but this would end up being Davey Richard's last match in Ring of Honor. Shortly before Final Battle, which was going to be the last match in ROH for the American Wolves anyway, Richards and the company split seemingly on bitter terms. Richards would go on to wrestle a match for both CZW & Evolve before heading to TNA with his American Wolves partner Eddie Edwards in January 2014.
5.) Proving Ground Match - ROH World Champion Adam Cole vs. ACH: ***1/2
This is the third straight first time ever match up we've had on this card, and I think this is the one people have been looking forward to the most. If ACH wins or gets the match to go to a draw, he's gets an ROH World Title Shot. Unfortunately, ACH apparently tweaked his knee during his match at Pursuit: Night 1 and limited his famous high flying ability. On the other hand, however, it made for great psychology as Cole continuously went after the leg throughout the entire match. ACH fought back hard and came close beating Cole, but in the end, the champ reigned supreme.
6.) Four-Corner Survival - Roderick Strong vs. Jay Lethal vs. ROH World TV Champion Matt Taven (with Truth Martini & Scarlett Bordeaux) vs. "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin: ***3/4
Taven's World TV Title is not on the line in this match. A pretty great Four-Corner Survival. ROH has been putting a number of these on lately and the majority of them have been really great. While I don't think this was as good as the Four-Corner Survival from Reclamation: Night 1, it was still a very entertaining match. Towards the end of the match, Lethal hit his Hail To The King Elbow Drop on Matt Taven through a table. This left Strong & Elgin alone in the ring and Elgin would pick up the win.
Before the Main Event, Steve Corino is in the ring to conduct an interview with Jay Briscoe. He asks a few questions about Jay Briscoe's title not being the real World Title. This gets Briscoe angry, but both Adam Cole & Michael Elgin come out and brawl ensues. Cole would end up getting the better of the scuffle and laid out both of his Final Battle challengers.
7.) ROH World Tag Team Titles - reDRagon vs. C & C Wrestle Factory: ****1/2
Coleman & Alexander have been asking for a clean shot at reDRagon for some time now, as previous title matches were either three-ways, four-ways, or were mired by outside interference. Now they finally get that clean two-on-two shot. This match was fantastic. It really had that big fight feel, which is something you normally don't see on a live event like this. The crowd was really behind Coleman & Alexander. reDRagon also looked really great in here as well, and this was probably the best title match reDRagon had this year, which is surprising when you consider that they've faced the likes of The Briscoes, The Forever Hooligans, and The American Wolves in 2013. C & C came extremely close on several occasions, but Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly would sneak out with the win and remain the World Tag Team Champions.
After the match, Caprice Coleman took the mic and said that it was time to end the C & C Wrestle Factory, saying that they've gone as far as they could as a tag team and that it was time for them to go their separate ways. He puts over Cedric Alexander in a big way, saying he's the future of wrestling. The two thank the crowd to close out the show and their run as a tag team
Overall: 8.5/10
Coming into this weekend, I was actually looking more forward to Night 1 and actually thought that would be the better show. Night 2 certainly proved me wrong by putting on a pretty great show. In contrast to Night 1 in Dearborn, Night 2 in Columbus was a much stronger and more consistent show in terms of match quality. Several matches went above *** and the Main Event, for me, is a must see match and is definitely in my Top 10 Ring of Honor matches from 2013. Again, a good deal of this was shown on TV, but I think this is good if you want to get the full show, not separated into parts and no commercial breaks. Plus the after match promo from Caprice Coleman, which I don't think was shown on TV, is a must see. Overall, it was honestly a very good show from Ring of Honor.
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