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This also turned out to be the final show ROH would present on iPPV via GoFightLive, as the technical issues that plagued Night One were the last straw in their three year relationship. Night Two also suffered from an outage of the live stream, and even though this one was due to a power outage at the building and was completely out of the hands of GoFightLive, it was just one last bit of icing on the tombstone as the damage was done and ROH made the decision to take responsibility for iPPV production in-house. I didn't try to watch Night Two live, so this is my first chance to see the show and am glad to be able to give my thoughts based solely on what I see on the DVD rather than have my opinion colored in advance because of the technical problems, since the lineup looks absolutely awesome on paper.
The show kicks off with a somewhat less well-groomed Jimmy Jacobs than we've become used to coming out to explain that he and Steve Corino were trying to keep each other on the straight and narrow for the last year, but that being a good guy just wasn't for him. I'll spare you the sexually explicit analogy he uses, but he basically says that using the spike at Final Battle was like having an ice cream cone after not going to Carvel for a very long time, and he's again reborn as the Zombie Princess. Unusual nicknake aside, this draws out El Generico to attack Jacobs and start an impromptu match as Jacobs starts pulling out all the old, unsavory tactics he's known for, and Generico seems like less and less of a factor in ROH. You definitely get the sense that Generico was only here to put Steen and Jacobs over, and maybe sell his new DVD while he was at it, which is a shame considering everything he's done for that company over the years. I think the fact that he wasn't booked for Border Wars in Canada tells you all you really need to know about his status with ROH. Jacobs goes after Generico with the spike, but Generico gets ahold of it and goes after Jacobs, which appeared to be all part of Jacobs' plan as he rolls Generico up and pins him with a handful of tights.
The second match pitted Cedric Alexander against the undefeated Tommaso Ciampa, who still has yet to return the TV Title belt he stole at the Tenth Anniversary Show. Alexander got in some token offense, but Ciampa looked like a total psychotic monster here, finishing Cedric by laying him across the bottom rope with his head next to the ringpost, then hitting him with a pair of running kneestrikes that smashed his skull against the post. They got a great camera shot of Barrister RD Evans at ringside during this and even he was in shock at the brutal tactics Ciampa used to beat Cedric. Caprice Coleman got into it with the Embassy after the match was over, and Ciampa took him out as well with Project Ciampa. Hey, if you ever wanted to learn how to get a guy over as a killing machine, there you go!
The CHIKARA-ROH rivalry continues in the next match as TJ Perkins takes on CHIKARA's Fire Ant, who I'm seeing in action for the first time ever. I expected this to be a very lucha-esque match given what I've seen of the CHIKARA roster in other companies, and while they did fit in their share of high flying stuff, they did a good job of managing the pace of the match and slowing it down every now and then so it wasn't just spot-spot-spot-spot-spot. Fire Ant kicked out of a running Liger Bomb and the Detonation Kick, so TJ went up top and hit a 450 splash for the win. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, and of course it continued building steam toward the ROH-CHIKARA double header in Chicago in April.
Future Shock explodes in the next match, as Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly face off in their first singles match since splitting as a team. They've done a great job for the last few months of portraying O'Reilly as this total jerk who is 100000% loyal to Davey Richards, but doesn't respect anyone else, including his former partner Cole. He's furious that Cole scored what he considered a fluke win over Davey at the Tenth Anniversary Show, and wants to beat him here to prove the win was a fluke and try and win one for Davey. Meanwhile, Cole had legitimized his win over Davey by pinning NWA World Champion Adam Pearce on Night One, and had actually gotten more big wins since the split than O'Reilly. They started off with basic mat wrestling, but then O'Reilly picked up the pace by unloading on Cole with some of the heavy strikes he's known for. Cole started coming back and hit the top rope crossbody he pinned Richards with, but O'Reilly was ready for it and rolled through, pinning Cole with a handful of tights. I expected more out of these two because I never felt like this one really got out of first gear, but I would guess we'll see them standing across the ring from each other again before too long, and hopefully they'll be able to do a little more than they had the chance to do here.
Time for the second half of the Dual Duel between the Young Bucks and All Night Express, as they collide in a No Holds Barred streetfight. The ANX had won the Tornado Rules match on Night One, but the Bucks attacked Titus' injured knee afterward and left his status for Night Two in doubt. Titus showed no signs of injury as he and Kenny King came out of the crowd with the Official New Jack Weapon Collection (tm) and proceeded to kick the Bucks' asses and destroy both of them with a trash can. The ANX took the Bucks out to ringside and repeatedly rammed them into the barricades, but Nick took them out with a surprise moonsault off the stage and the momentum swung in the Bucks' favor. You wouldn't think the Bucks would do as well in this kind of match as they did, but they did really well and even adapted some of their normal moves to the streetfight environment, like Nick hitting a slingshot facebuster over the guardrail. They did another innovative spot where they put King in a shopping cart and then Matt rolled him into a superkick from Nick, but then Titus got ahold of a chair and went after the Bucks' knees to get revenge for what happened on Night One. A ringside security attendant was inadvertently knocked out when Nick Jackson landed in his lap and Kenny King went for Shotgun Knees, but Jackson moved out of the way and King accidentally drilled the attendant. The ANX hit the Blockbuster/powerbomb combo, but both King and Matt Jackson were knocked out as they went through the table, so Nick dragged Titus out to the floor and Matt recovered long enough to roll on top of King and get the win. This was an insane brawl, and I liked how the Bucks basically stole the win to set up another war next time around.
"The Prodigy" Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis come out before the next match so Maria can respond to the CM Punk chants by saying she's been there, done that, and got the t-shirt, but was left completely underwhelmed and that's why she went with someone who is better than the best. With that out of the way, Bennett welcomes us to the first ever live edition of the Prodigy Service Announcement and asks Lance Storm to come out to the ring so he can gloat to his face about what he did to him last night. He suddenly (and conveniently) remembers that Storm isn't here, so instead, he and Maria are going down to the beach to prove once again that he is better than the best, and finishes by making out with Maria in the ring and grabbing her ass in front of everyone. And they really go at it, too, making out until the crowd starts a YES chant.
Back to the action, as Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team get their rematch with the Briscoes for the ROH World Tag Team Title. The heat between these teams had continued to increase since the Briscoes beat WGTT for the title at Final Battle, as Haas & Benjamin completely turned on the fans for siding with the Briscoes in New York, and used the Briscoes' own tactics against them by attacking them with chairs every chance they got despite repeated fines from Jim Cornette. This one wasn't a streetfight like the ANX-Bucks match, but it might as well have been because it took all of about a minute for the fight to spill out of the ring. The Briscoes were more at home in a brawling situation and got the early upper hand, but a cheapshot from the outside by Shelton allowed WGTT to take control and they began working over the leg of Jay Briscoe. Jay got away and tagged out to Mark, but he also quickly wound up in trouble when Shelton whipped him across the ring apron and into the ringpost. All four men wound up fighting it out in the ring and trading big boots, right hands, and suplexes until it was down to Haas and Jay. Haas locked Jay in the Haas of Pain, but Jay made it to the ropes and denied WGTT from winning the title two years in a row with the same hold. Mark blocked the Leap of Faith and neutralized Benjamin, allowing Jay to roll Haas up and retain the title. Excellent match, I thought it told a good story and was a strong wrestling match to complement the brawl they had at Final Battle. Haas & Benjamin attacked the Briscoes after the match, laying Mark out on the floor before wishboning Jay on the ringpost, then did it again just to be...well, the part of Jay they were destroying by doing that. They wishboned Jay yet a third time, then grabbed the title belts and held them high before strolling off laughing as the Briscoes lay in a heap on the arena floor.
It's time for the Blind Destiny Challenge matches which will close out the show, starting with Eddie Edwards taking on Kevin Steen. Lots of history between these two, going back to the American Wolves-Steen/Generico feud in 2009 that saw Eddie break his elbow against Steen in Boston before coming back the next day with a huge cast on his arm to face Steen & Generico in Ladder War II. With Steen completely focused on getting a shot at Davey Richards for the ROH World Title, it's kind of poetic that he wound up back in the ring with Edwards on his way there. Edwards had won the ROH World Title and become a bonafide main eventer since his last match with Steen, but still couldn't seem to find a way to get an edge on him. Steen had an answer for everything Edwards threw at him, and destroyed Eddie with sadistic offense of his own like a pop up powerbomb onto the ring apron. Steen then took Edwards onto the stage, sat him in a chair, and bowled over him with a running cannonball. Edwards managed to knock Steen to the floor and connected with a double running stomp off the stage and onto Steen's chest, and that finally gave him an opening to start mounting some offense of his own. They went back inside and Steen went for the Sharpshooter, Edwards countered to the Achilles Lock, and Steen countered that to a small package to pin Edwards clean as a whistle in the middle of the ring. That was an awesome finish because it established that for as good as Edwards had become, Steen was still able to outwrestle him without needing any gimmicks or chicanery, and could now rub that fact in Jim Cornette's face.
The second Blind Destiny Challenge match was originally scheduled to be Roderick Strong taking on TV Champion Jay Lethal in a non-title match, but that changed when Tommaso Ciampa finally came out to the ring to confront Lethal with the TV Title belt in hand. He told Lethal that he'd get his belt back, but on one condition: Lethal had to prove he's a man by giving Strong a title shot, and then Ciampa would hand him his belt back if he won. Lethal agreed, so this now becomes a title match, which is just as well since Strong had earned a title shot in the Proving Ground that seemed to have been forgotten at some point. This was a super stiff war from the start as Lethal destroyed Strong with hard chops and wiped him out with a dive to the floor, but Lethal was distracted by Ciampa sitting at ringside and Strong took advantage by suplexing Lethal onto the ring apron. Strong went to work with his array of backbreakers, and Lethal started to fire back when it came to a chop exchange, but Strong caught Lethal's legs on a dropkick attempt and turned him into the Stronghold. Lethal made it to the ropes and hit the hiptoss/cartwheel dropkick combo, then started destroying Strong with chops and right hands. Lethal gets a handspring back elbow for 2, then he goes for a slam but Strong gets him in a small package and comes within millimeters of pinning Lethal. That, by the way, was amazing booking and I loved how they built off the finish of the previous match to create a believable near fall situation. Lethal countered a Gibson Driver to a headscissors and hit a superkick for 2 with three minutes remaining, then hit the Lethal Combination and went up for Hail To The King. Strong tries to roll away, but Lethal connects and gets 2. Lethal goes for the Lethal Injection, but Strong catches Lethal in the face with a baseball slide dropkick as he hits the ropes and sends him tumbling out to the floor. He lands right next to Ciampa, who pops out of his seat and rams Lethal into the ringpost, then rolls him back into the ring where Strong hits a vertical suplex into a backbreaker for the win. Strong wins the TV Title to become only the second Triple Crown winner in ROH history as Ciampa smiles at the havoc he just caused.
This brings us to the third Blind Destiny Challenge match and the main event of the evening, as Davey Richards defends the ROH World Title against Michael Elgin. Elgin had earned a title shot by winning Survival Of The Fittest 2011 after an extremely successful rookie year in ROH, and with his blend of power, speed, and timing, Elgin is somebody a lot of people see big things in as his ROH career progresses. In an interesting subplot, now that Strong is the TV Champion, Truth Martini will have control of both singles titles in ROH if Elgin wins the World Title here. Richards had a great strategy at the beginning of the match and tried to pummel Elgin with a series of high impact moves before Elgin was able to react since he knew he couldn't match power with Elgin. Richards quickly dumps Elgin to the floor and takes him out with a dive, but they wind up on the top rope and Elgin clotheslines Richards off the corner and into the ring, then picks Richards up for an extremely delayed vertical suplex. Elgin destroys Richards with power moves, and Davey tried to catch Elgin with the handspring enziguiri at one point, but Elgin caught him in a torture rack as he came off the ropes and turned it into Shock Treatment. Davey tried several suplexes, but couldn't budge Elgin and needed to put Elgin on the top rope and headbutt him into oblivion before he could finally hit a superplex. Even after all that effort, the superplex just served to piss Elgin off, and it took several of Davey's best shots to take Elgin down. Richards went for an anklelock, but Elgin quickly rolled out to the floor to escape. Richards went for the running punt across the apron, but Elgin caught his leg and converted it to a fisherman's buster on the floor, followed by a running powerbomb into the barricade. Elgin rolled Richards back inside and made a cover, but Richards was out at 2 so Elgin went to the top rope and hit a twisting swanton (!), but that only got 2 as well. Elgin tried to powerbomb Richards off the top rope, but Richards blocked and nearly killed Elgin with a Dragon suplex off the top rope. Elgin inexplicably still kicked out at 2, so Richards got the anklelock and Elgin somehow managed to dig deep and drag himself to the ropes.
The fans are chanting Elgin's name now, but he's hurt and is easy prey for Richards, who pummels him with more hard kicks. Elgin no sells and drags himself to his feet, so Richards destroys Elgin with Kawada kicks, Elgin gets a three quarter nelson and rams knees to the face of Richards, and they take turns going back and forth with that until Richards backs Elgin to the ropes and beats on him with a long series of kicks. Richards tried to go to the ropes, but Elgin came in behind him and hit Chaos Theory for 2, followed by a superkick and vertical suplex into a uranage for another 2, then went right into the Crippler Crossface right in the middle of the ring. Richards somehow manages to get to the ropes, then lays Elgin out on the ring apron and comes off the top rope with a double stomp right onto his chest. Elgin rolls into the ring and Richards gets another top rope double stomp, but Elgin again gets out at 2. Richards goes for the knockout kick and Elgin catches his foot, then drills Richards with a roaring forearm and a version of the Steiner Screwdriver for 2. Elgin powerbombs Richards into the corner and plasters him with a roaring clothesline to the face, but Richards rolls through on Elgin and gets him in an anklelock, then Elgin counters out of that to the LeBell lock, and Richards rolls that into a cradle for 2. Elgin catches Richards with a kneestrike to the face, a spinning backfist, and the spinning powerbomb, Richards again gets out at 2 so Elgin goes back to the Crippler Crossface. Richards tries to roll through, but Elgin keeps the hold and Richards nearly taps out, but grabs ahold of Elgin's ankle and turns it into the anklelock. Elgin crawls toward the ropes, but Richards drags him back out to the center of the ring. Elgin tries to kick his way out, but Richards keeps the hold and Elgin teases tapping out, but rolls through and sends Richards crashing into the corner. Elgin tries to charge, but his ankle gives out and he collapses to the mat so Richards connects with a Shining Wizard knee and Elgin kicks out at 1. Richards with a flurry of knockout kicks to the head and covers, Elgin is out at 2 so Richards hits one more knockout kick and covers to retain.
This was easily, EASILY the best ROH match I've seen all year, and is an early contender for MOTY. The drama in this one was off the charts, and there were several points in the match where it looked like Elgin was going to win the title. Even though Elgin lost, Richards had to practically kill the guy to beat him, and Richards came out looking like a million bucks as well for surviving the considerable amount of punishment Elgin threw at him. Both guys deserve all the praise in the world for what they did in that ring, and Richards gets a microphone after the match to thank the fans for being a part of something special. He put over ROH and said that the real wrestling that weekend just ended, and the folks up in Orlando and Connecticut would be sent packing if they ever showed their faces in an ROH ring. He then said that one day, the ROH World Title would be Elgin's and they had a hell of a match, but one thing he learned from sharing that ring with Samoa Joe and Bryan Danielson was that you get a lot further in this company with the support of the fans than you would with people like Truth Martini. He cautioned Elgin to choose his company carefully, because the fans will never steer him wrong.
* * *
Showdown In The Sun Night Two was the absolute complete package of what you could want out of a wrestling show. You had great wrestling, great brawling, great storytelling, a surprise TV Title change, and a main event that was completely off the charts. If you weren't convinced that Michael Elgin was the real deal before, you will be after watching his match with Davey Richards. This is easily one one of the three or four best shows ROH has put on since being bought by Sinclair Broadcasting, and by my estimation, is the clear front runner right now for ROH's Show of the Year. If you buy one ROH DVD anytime soon, make it this one.
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