I had never been to a show at the old Maple Leaf Gardens so I wasn't in a
position to compare this to the original venue but as a venue for this
level of show it was awesome. It felt very modern and was more
comfortable than Ted Reeve or even Ricoh Coliseum. If this show worked
out well for them financially I would say they should do all their
future Toronto shows there as it feels like it could be this city's
Manhattan Center. I would say the show was probably one match too long
but overall it was very fun.
1) Kushida defeated Adam Page. The crowd gave a really good reaction to Kushida during his intro and the match. Page was a good guy for him to face and he did get some of his own offense in. I hope they air this match on t.v. as it is a good introduction for Kushida who hopefully gets a run like Go Shiozaki or Shingo did previously.
2) First Round Match- Tomasso Ciampa defeated Silas Young. Ciampa continues to look far better than he ever did before his knee injury. He matched up well with Young. It only seems to have recently come out that Young is Stan Hansen's nephew and he seems to be embracing it, growing a moustache and working more physically. This match was way better than it seemed on paper and was almost the best match on the first half of the card. Ciampa is a good pick to go to the second round, I would hope to face Elgin.
3) First Round Match- Mike Bennett vs BJ Whitmer- No winner was announced after Whitmer seemed to be injured on the piledriver on the apron. It was a mostly good match up until then, with some lag in the middle but they matched up well otherwise. Maria got good reactions as well. The piledriver on the apron was pretty ridiculous and while ROH probably does more moves on the apron then is safe I think it should have been obvious this wasn't a good idea. The crowd seemed shaken up by this and as I was walking a staff member ran by me with a radio asking someone to get him to the loading dock.
4) First Round Match- Roderick Strong defeated Matt Taven with Truth Martini, Scarlett and Saleyzia. The House Of Truth gimmick got a fun reaction. This was an o.k. match. Taven got in some fun offense but it was mostly about the H.O.T. gimmick plus Strong's offense, with Strong really getting in a strong finish with the suplex onto his knees.
5) Michael Elgin defeated Paul London. This was the best match of the first half and I'd say the second best match of the show. Elgin got strong reactions and he and London matched up well together. Elgin really took him apart at the end with a powerbomb followed by a buckle bomb followed by a spinning sit-out powerbomb.
During intermission Jimmy Jacobs came out to complain about not being booked in the World Title Tournament and Nigel McGuinness trying to starve him out of the promotion. He had autographed pictures he then offered to sell at ringside.
6) Adrenaline Rush of ACH and Tadarius Thomas defeated Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander and The Young Bucks. This was a crazy fast-paced match with lots of high-flying. The Bucks were playing heels to an extent although not as strong as they do sometimes. All three teams looked great with fun double-teams and dives. The crowd seemed happy to see ACH and Thomas win.
7) First Round Match- Kevin Steen defeated Brian Kendrick. This was the best match on the show to me and Kendrick was in great shape. Kendrick hit a crazy Sliced Bread # 2 on the apron. There was a lot of fun offense on this and Steen winning with the Sharpshooter went over well. Steen's "Fight Steen Fight" t-shirt had pink coloring instead of the usual red as well which I took as a Bret Hart tribute but my buddy thought was for breast cancer research. Possibly both I guess.
8) Quarterfinal Round Match- Adam Cole defeated Jay Lethal. I think the crowd was getting a little tired by this point but Cole was fun to watch. The crowd seemed to want him to win and it definitely feels right for him to be in the semi-finals.
9) The American Wolves of Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards defeated The Forever Hooligans of Alex Kozlov and Rocky Romero. I would have preferred to see Kozlov and Romero keep the belts but am really glad I got to see them live. They got in a lot of their fun spots including pretending to argue only to hug as well as Kozlov's Cossack kicks. The crowd was on Richards' case a lot and he was heeling it up for them which was fun. Although it was getting late (when this match ended the show had gone 3 1/2 hours) this did get good reactions.
This was a pretty fun night of matches. I wish they had done something to honor Toronto legends but otherwise I have no complaints.
Dave Musgrave
Oshawa, Ontario
1) Kushida defeated Adam Page. The crowd gave a really good reaction to Kushida during his intro and the match. Page was a good guy for him to face and he did get some of his own offense in. I hope they air this match on t.v. as it is a good introduction for Kushida who hopefully gets a run like Go Shiozaki or Shingo did previously.
2) First Round Match- Tomasso Ciampa defeated Silas Young. Ciampa continues to look far better than he ever did before his knee injury. He matched up well with Young. It only seems to have recently come out that Young is Stan Hansen's nephew and he seems to be embracing it, growing a moustache and working more physically. This match was way better than it seemed on paper and was almost the best match on the first half of the card. Ciampa is a good pick to go to the second round, I would hope to face Elgin.
3) First Round Match- Mike Bennett vs BJ Whitmer- No winner was announced after Whitmer seemed to be injured on the piledriver on the apron. It was a mostly good match up until then, with some lag in the middle but they matched up well otherwise. Maria got good reactions as well. The piledriver on the apron was pretty ridiculous and while ROH probably does more moves on the apron then is safe I think it should have been obvious this wasn't a good idea. The crowd seemed shaken up by this and as I was walking a staff member ran by me with a radio asking someone to get him to the loading dock.
4) First Round Match- Roderick Strong defeated Matt Taven with Truth Martini, Scarlett and Saleyzia. The House Of Truth gimmick got a fun reaction. This was an o.k. match. Taven got in some fun offense but it was mostly about the H.O.T. gimmick plus Strong's offense, with Strong really getting in a strong finish with the suplex onto his knees.
5) Michael Elgin defeated Paul London. This was the best match of the first half and I'd say the second best match of the show. Elgin got strong reactions and he and London matched up well together. Elgin really took him apart at the end with a powerbomb followed by a buckle bomb followed by a spinning sit-out powerbomb.
During intermission Jimmy Jacobs came out to complain about not being booked in the World Title Tournament and Nigel McGuinness trying to starve him out of the promotion. He had autographed pictures he then offered to sell at ringside.
6) Adrenaline Rush of ACH and Tadarius Thomas defeated Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander and The Young Bucks. This was a crazy fast-paced match with lots of high-flying. The Bucks were playing heels to an extent although not as strong as they do sometimes. All three teams looked great with fun double-teams and dives. The crowd seemed happy to see ACH and Thomas win.
7) First Round Match- Kevin Steen defeated Brian Kendrick. This was the best match on the show to me and Kendrick was in great shape. Kendrick hit a crazy Sliced Bread # 2 on the apron. There was a lot of fun offense on this and Steen winning with the Sharpshooter went over well. Steen's "Fight Steen Fight" t-shirt had pink coloring instead of the usual red as well which I took as a Bret Hart tribute but my buddy thought was for breast cancer research. Possibly both I guess.
8) Quarterfinal Round Match- Adam Cole defeated Jay Lethal. I think the crowd was getting a little tired by this point but Cole was fun to watch. The crowd seemed to want him to win and it definitely feels right for him to be in the semi-finals.
9) The American Wolves of Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards defeated The Forever Hooligans of Alex Kozlov and Rocky Romero. I would have preferred to see Kozlov and Romero keep the belts but am really glad I got to see them live. They got in a lot of their fun spots including pretending to argue only to hug as well as Kozlov's Cossack kicks. The crowd was on Richards' case a lot and he was heeling it up for them which was fun. Although it was getting late (when this match ended the show had gone 3 1/2 hours) this did get good reactions.
This was a pretty fun night of matches. I wish they had done something to honor Toronto legends but otherwise I have no complaints.
Dave Musgrave
Oshawa, Ontario
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