Jim Cornette brings all three participants in the triple threat ROH World Title Match at Showdown in the Sun to the ring. Out come Roderick Strong, Eddie Edwards, and ROH World Champion, Davey Richards. Richards says he doesn’t trust Strong or Edwards. Edwards is offended that Richards compared him to Strong. Strong tells them both to get over it. He says he will take back his ROH title from that MMA wannabe. Strong says if by some chance he doesn’t win on Friday, he will get a second match on Saturday because Michael Elgin will give him his title shot. Before Elgin can respond, Jay Lethal comes out. Lethal asks Jim Cornette why he isn’t getting the respect he deserves. He complains about the interference in his World Title match against Richards. He says he’s done waiting for what he deserves, and Lethal says he is taking what he deserves from now on. Kevin Steen interrupts next. Steen tells Edwards he genuinely hopes he wins the title on Friday so he can get his match on Saturday. He tells Cornette he will be getting a title shot one way or another. He tells Cornette he will be his personal never ending nightmare once he wins the ROH World Title.
^I hope this only happens before a major pay per view. This much talking from guys that are primarily used to performing is a major waste of time. Most of their promo skills are average and time shouldn’t be spent on hearing them argue, even if it was kept short.
Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team is up now to take on Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander. Each teams cuts a promo before the match(typical). These four put on an awesome match that appeared to be under tornado rules. While the ref is distracted, one of the Briscoe brothers comes out and nails Haas with a steel chair and allows Coleman to get the pinfall. Haas stays laid out after the match. Benjamin gets on the mic after the match and he trash talks the Briscoes. He says it’s going to be genocide against anybody with the last name Briscoe or any person with a steel chair at SitS in Florida.
^What an upset! These guys were going all out in this match and were heavy with the double team action. The intensity of this rivalry with the Briscoes has reached an all time high for Haas and Benjamin. That match could legitimately steal the entire show on day two of Showdown in the Sun. Shelton Benjamin needs to get on the mic a little bit more. I’d like to see him back in action as a singles competitor sometime in the future.
March Mayhem Qualifier: Adam Cole takes on Michael Elgin in our main event. Kyle O’Reilly is on commentary. These two wrestle a good ten minutes before Roderick Strong comes to the ring and jumps on the apron. He attacks Adam Cole until Cole moves out of the way. Strong goes up for what appeared to be an attempted kick to the head of Cole, but Michael Elgin walks right into it and gets rolled up by Cole for the three count. House of Truth beats down Cole until Eddie Edwards comes out for the save.
^The kick to the head of Elgin looked pretty blatant from my perspective. I think it was supposed to look like more of an accident. You can see the breakup of House of Truth coming. Elgin looks ridiculous with that haircut. Adam Cole seems to go for the big spot moves in his matches, but he has a ways to go before he reaches the top. I see him developing his skills for a while before going after maybe the television title. I don’t see any reason why he couldn’t be a tag team wrestler again, either. Good match overall, but nothing spectacular for a main event.
The Showdown in the Sun event was hyped in a video package with an emphasis on Mike Bennett and Lance Storm. I can’t wait to see Storm in the ring again. I’m not overly impressed with Mike Bennett, so it will be interesting to see what Storm brings out of him in this match. I’ll have more on this in my predictions column for the pay per view. This was an alright show. I’m glad the two matches were given at least ten minutes of time to focus on some wrestling. That opening segment really didn’t do much for me. I’ll have a bunch of different stuff coming this week before the big events next weekend. Thanks for reading!
