Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Kevin Steen – Thanks Steen Thanks – Disc 1

Honor vs. Evil
Cincinnati, Ohio
February 16, 2013

SCUM (Kevin Steen, Steve Corino, & Jimmy Jacobs) vs. Michael Elgin, Davey Richards, & Adam Cole [Elimination]

So, this match is fucking terrible because it goes on for over forty minutes for absolutely no reason and is really boring most of the time. I thought the silver lining would be that at least someone would get a win on the ROH champion, Kevin Steen. That was foolish optimism though. Steen small-packaged Elgin to pick up the win after a distraction from SCUM. Jay Lethal also got involved during the finish. Garbage. Please avoid this match. (DUD)

 

Anniversary Show
Chicago Ridge, Illinois
March 2, 2013

Kevin Steen(c) vs. Jay Lethal [ROH World Championship]

This was a bit of an overbooked mess (interference, ref bumps, etc.), but I was actually okay with that given how uninspired their match back in 2012 was (even before the non-finish). Lethal got to look as strong as possible and even kicked out of the package piledriver. The two most notable things about the match were that Steen rejected Jimmy Jacobs’ help late in the match and that Steen used the turnbuckle brainbuster to finally finish Lethal. This was good enough for a PPV main event featuring Jay Lethal. (***)

After the match, ROH did their big SCUM invasion angle with Matt Hardy, Jimmy Rave, Rhett Titus, and Cliff Compton joining SCUM. Steen was not enamored with this turn of events.

 

WAR
Asheville, North Carolina
March 30, 2013

Kevin Steen(c) vs. Mark Briscoe [ROH World Championship]

The funny part of this match to me is that it felt like a trial run for the Jay Briscoe title match (and win) a week later at Supercard of Honor. The biggest way that was true was that they were building to a closing stretch where an army of babyfaces squared off again SCUM. Unlike Supercard of Honor, it was the Briscoe family that got into a brawl with SCUM instead of the babyfaces from the roster. Mark distracted himself by putting Rhett Titus through a table. Steen pounced and put Mark away after a sleeper suplex, the F-Cinq, and the the package piledriver. This felt like a solid television match. (***)

 

Supercard of Honor
New York City, New York
April 5, 2013</i<

Kevin Steen(c) vs. Jay Briscoe [ROH World Championship]

This was a great match and one of the last great moments in Ring of Honor history. While I’ve never seen Jay as someone who should really be the #1 guy in the company, this title change felt incredibly earned both because of how long he had been in the company and for how this match was put together. Steen took control early on by going after Jay’s injured left shoulder. The moment Jay showed signs of life, Jimmy Jacobs showed up at ringside (just as he did when Mark started his comeback at WAR). That distraction gave Steen a chance to get back control. SCUM and ROH babyfaces started to progressively interfere more and more after that, but they mostly were kept away from the wrestlers. The key moments were Kevin tossing Matt Hardy from the ring, the package piledriver being kicked out of, and then the Jay Driller being kicked out of. The second Jay Driller kept Steen down for good, and it got a monster reaction from the crowd. Some sort of payoff to Jay’s injured left arm would have put this really over the top. I’d still consider it great though for the macro issues it got right. (****)

 

We saw a segment taped the next day where SCUM turns on Kevin Steen.

 

Relentless
Richmond, Virginia
May 18, 2013

Kevin Steen vs. Jimmy Jacobs [No Disqualification]

Jacobs initially got disqualified for choking Steen with a chain, but Steen got the match re-started as a “No Disqualification” match. This was a fun brawl and a huge improvement upon their match at the 10th Anniversary show. They did a bunch of plunder-related stuff and basically worked a PWG match in terms of making the match much more about timing comebacks and twists/turns in the ring down the stretch. Steen won with the package piledriver on the guardrail. It is going to be tough to get into too many more Steen vs. SCUM matches though. There is just not enough substance there. (***1/2)

 

Live & Let Die
Columbus, Ohio
June 8, 2013

Kevin Steen vs. Cliff Compton [Empty Arena Match]

They honestly did an okay job of doing a fun brawl under the ridiculous circumstances they were put in. It thankfully did not go too long, and I was genuinely never bored. They had a storyline finish, as Matt Hardy ran in during the SCUM/babyface-locker room brawl and gave Steen a Twist of Fate onto a chair. This sounded worse on paper than it ended up being. The ROH locker room left Steen on his own after the match. (**3/4)

 

Watch some Steen for free!

Kevin Steen vs. Alex Shelley

Kevin Steen vs. Kyle O’Reilly

KENTA, Kevin Steen, & El Generico vs. Chris Hero & The American Wolves

Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. The Young Bucks

Kevin Steen vs. PAC vs. Takeshi Morishima vs. Ashley Reed

Kevin Steen vs. Brodie Lee vs. Slyck Wagner Brown vs. Jay Freddie

Kevin Steen vs. B-Boy

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

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