ThunderStruck: ROH Border Wars Reaction

Eddie Edwards and Rhino wrestle a short opening match and Edwards wins with the school boy rollup for the three count. Rhino went to attack Truth Martini after the match but Martini pulled out a wad of cash and gives it to Rhino. Rhino walks off and Truth is unharmed.

TJ Perkins and the All Night Express defeated the Young Bucks and Mike Mondo in a six man war. This match was insane! TJ Perkins and Mike Mondo are so talented; it’s unbelieveable to see what they did in the ring with those two tag teams. This match had a lot more to it than what I was expecting.

Jay Lethal and Tommasso Ciampa wrestled an awesome match that ended with Lethal delivering ten backbreakers to Ciampa and ending the dominant male’s undefeated streak. This match was great from start to finish, and you have to wonder how long before Lethal will be challenging for the ROH World Title.

Lance Storm and Mike Bennett wrestled a style of match that was much different than their contest from Showdown in the Sun. Bennett actually controlled the pace of this match quite a bit and it was more of a brawl style contest than a technical one. I was surprised to see Bennett hold his own. The match just wasn’t filled with high spots like their last one; it was more about just beating the hell out of each other. Storm got the win with the superkick and the three count to finish Bennett off. Good match here. I can’t wait for the rubber match! Storm thanked the Toronto crowd after the match for their appreciation of the hard work tonight in the ring. He thanked ROH for still having honor in this sport. Class act.

Michael Elgin defeats Adam Cole with the 360bomb after the buckle bomb on Cole. This match was awesome too! Cole is a rising star, but Elgin is on his way to becoming a full time main eventer. He’s extremely talented for a guy with his physique. Again, this was just another great match on the card. Adam Cole superkicked Truth Martini for running his mouth after the match.

Fit Finlay and Roderick Strong wrestled a very solid technical contest with some impressive brawling outside the ring mixed in with it. Strong wins the match with a running kick to Finlay’s jaw as he retains the TV Title by getting the three count. This matchup was completely unique to the rest of the card in how it was worked. I thoroughly enjoyed this match.

WGTT defeated the Briscoes to become the new ROH World Tag Team Champions. Charlie Haas sprayed something on a towel and used it to choke out Mark Briscoe before picking up the three count. Before the screwy finish, these two teams wrestled an excellent tag team match for over fifteen minutes. The Briscoes showed why they are the best tag team in wrestling today, and WGTT just stole the belts back in sneaky fashion.

I’m surprised to say that this match was more of a brawl than an in ring matchup for the first six minutes or so. They used the ringside area a lot more than I expected in this one. The crowd was clearly against Davey with all of their f-you chants towards him. Steen was still able to hit most of his signature moves in this one. The crowd was hot with all sorts of chants throughout this match; they were just never quiet. Davey used the DR Driver on Steen and got a two count near the end of the match. Steen hit the F5 after an amazing exchange of blows and slaps and only got a two count. Steen then hits a moonsault off the top rope for another two count. Steen countered Richard’s ankle lock attempt and countered it into the sharpshooter, and then Richards countered back into the ankle lock when Steen’s knee buckled. Steen grabbed the turnbuckle and Davey pulled so hard that Steen ripped the turnbuckle off and Davey flew face first into the exposed turnbuckle when Steen was able to counter the hold. Steen then hit the sleeper suplex followed by the package piledriver and the three count to become the new ROH World Heavyweight Champion! Steen is hugged by Jimmy Jacobs and Steve Corino after the match. This match was great; it wasn’t what you would call a five star classic in terms of a technical matchup, but it’s a solid four plus stars for the story it told and the performance these two gave us.

Now THAT is how you deliver a great pay per view. I hope now that the first two pay per views of May have been good that the third and final(Over The Limit) delivers this coming Sunday. Thanks for checking this out and remember that you can view this show for only fifteen dollars on rohwrestling.com.

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