Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Kevin Steen – Hell Rising – Disc 2

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Showdown in the Sun
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
March 30, 2012

Kevin Steen vs. El Generico [La Revancha]

Unlike the first two matches on this set, Steen could work heel against El Generico, and it would not impact the match negatively. Instead, they worked a fairly simple match with early shine, cut off by Steen, and then a wild back-and-forth. Steen dominated the match for so long that Generico needed some BIG spots to get back into the match. He gave Steen a Michinoku Driver on the stage and then a wild hilo off the stage. With the match even up a bit more after that, they wisely turned to just throwing bombs to end the match as soon as possible. Sadly, the match had a storyline finish. Jimmy Jacobs finally turned heel by stabbing Generico with the spike. Jacobs even got to finish Generico with the chairshot. Great match though. (****)

 

Border Wars
Toronto, Ontario
May 12, 2012

Davey Richards(c) vs. Kevin Steen (w/ Jimmy Jacobs) [ROH World Championship]

Given the dynamic of Davey being a babyface who was hated and Steen being a heel that was beloved, they worked a really smart match. They just traded periods of control where each guy had to use a big move (usually on the apron) to get control back. Late in the match, Davey seemed to be getting a definitive advantage by going after one of Steen’s knees. That nearly cost Steen the match, as he struggled to make the cover after a moonsault and could not hit the package piledriver on his first attempt. Steen desperately sent Davey into an (accidentally) exposed turnbuckle and finally finished Davey with a package piledriver to win the match and the title. This was a great match. (****)

Steve Corino hugged Steen and Jacobs after the match.

 

The Nightmare Begins
Charleston, Virginia
June 15, 2012

Kevin Steen(c) (w/ Jimmy Jacobs & Steve Corino) vs. Eddie “Eddie Edwards” Edwards [ROH World Championship]

This match overcame the insufferable dynamic of Jim Cornette, Steve Corino, and Kevin Kelly bickering on commentary. Holy shit, I hope this DVD is not full of matches with them commentating on them.

The first title defense for a new champion in ROH is a tough sell for the fans. There is virtually no chance of seeing a switch, and EEEE was certainly not someone positioned to be on the verge of carrying the company. Steen and EEEE wisely do not try to force an epic match down our throats, and they just deliver a good match instead. It works out well, as they have good enough in-ring chemistry to produce enough cool sequences to keep me entertained through. Steen isn’t Nigel in the ring in terms of controlling talents, but he worked a smart pace here and made EEEE look good before putting him away with the F-Cing. A fine start for Steen’s title reign. (***1/2)
Watch this match here.

 

Live Strong
Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania
June 30, 2012

Kevin Steen(c) (w/ Jimmy Jacobs) vs. Roderick Strong (w/ Truth Martini) [ROH World Championship]

This match was put together very well, as they once again had to overcome the fact that it would be nearly impossible to believe that Roddy could win the title. Roddy came out full of fire, and it set the tone/pace of the match. Steen worked him over in a lively way (helped in no small part because of the fashion show), and the crowd was all in on Roddy’s comeback. As a result, this ended up being tons of fun if fairly insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Thing of it as a PWG match in ROH. Steen won with the F-Cinq. (***3/4)

 

Boiling Point
Providence, Rhode Island
August 11, 2012

Kevin Steen(c) (w/ Jimmy Jacobs & Steve Corino) vs. Eddie Kingston [Anything Goes match for the ROH World Championship]

Steen’s title defenses against EEEE and Roddy were about them working smart matches and accepting that fans were not going to “buy” epic. This match was much more about overbooking to compensate for the lack of natural in-ring chemistry between Steen and Kingston. That was clear from the beginning when the “Anything Goes” stipulation was introduced at the last possible second. They worked a WWE plunder match, did a stretcher job, Steen mocked Kingston about Larry Sweeney, Corino and Rhett Titus got involved, and Kingston even got to kick out of the F-Cinq. This all came together to make for a fine match (but I could see myself being annoyed with it in the proper context of it being a PPV main event). Kingston, for all his talent, just never worked well in Ring of Honor. Chikara just knew how to present him in a way that almost no one else has come close to matching. (***)

 

PWX There Goes the Neighborhood
Charlotte, North Carolina
August 18, 2012

Kevin Steen(c) vs. Cedric Alexander [ROH World Championship]

Unlike the previous title defenses seen so far, this match was built around Steen completely dominating Cedric. Cedric barely got any offense in for the longest time, and the closing stretch was all about Cedric throwing every move in his arsenal at Steen. Cedric is a god in PWX (and booked as such), and the fans were perfectly willing to buy in to this match. Unfortunately some PWX geek (Tommy Simpson) interfered to lead to the finish (two F-Cinqs). This was not the best title defense for Steen, but I was glad ROH got access to it for this set. (**3/4)

 

Killer Instinct
Rahway, New Jersey
October 6, 2012

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

Unfortunately, Jay Lethal just is not very good at all, and they tried to force this epic match here. That was a recipe for tedium. Lethal just had no idea how to sell being in a long match or when to time his comebacks. You know the match was in trouble when Lethal started the match with a bunch of dives, because then they lost the crowd for nearly the rest of the match. On top of that, they did an angle at the end where Steen spat at Lethal’s parents. That led to a big brawl where referees were taken out and whatnot. There was no finish to the match. “If anyone spits on my mother again, I’m going to fucking murder them!” Terrible match. (*)

 

Final Battle
New York City, New York
December 16, 2012

Kevin Steen(c) vs. El Generico [Ladder War for the ROH World Championship]

This is more like it. They told a similar story to La Revancha, but this time they got to finish it. Steen got control early after a brief flurry from Generico. Steen used the available plunder to do a ton of damage. Generico needed to rely on some big spots to get back into the match. Eventually, Generico made it competitive enough that both men realized they needed to make some serious efforts into climbing or they would lose. This led to quite the spectacle in the ring of four ladders being connected. They managed to to *mostly* bring all the ladders together in an organic manner so it did not just feel like they were arranging furniture. Almost everything they did with plunder in the whole match in fact was about doing as much damage as possible to each other. Eventually, and Steen and Generico were standing on a ladder propped up by two other ladders, and Steen gave him a package piledriver to end it. Great match. It’s been unfairly unheralded quite frankly. (****1/4)

Watch some Steen for free!

Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Super Dragon & Excalibur

Kevin Steen vs. Claudio Castagnoli

Kevin Steen vs. Sami Callihan II

Kevin Steen vs. Eddie Edwards [ROH World Championship Match]

Kevin Steen vs. Jerry Lawler

Kevin Steen vs. Dave Mastiff

Kevin Steen vs. Mike Bailey

Kevin Steen, Steve Corino, & Jimmy Jacobs vs. Jay Lethal & ANX

Kevin Steen & Jimmy Jacobs vs. Davey Richards & Kyle O’Reilly

Kevin Steen vs. B-Boy

9.0

The final score: review Amazing

The 411

This is one of the rare sets that I have looked at over the years where the interview absolutely carries the set into "great" territory. The 2+ hours of Steen talking about 2010-2013 ROH is by far one of the most interesting wrestling interviews that I have ever seen, and it is a must-see for people that are remotely interested in his career or Ring of Honor as a whole. The matches start off cold as Steen could not do much with being forced into a heel role against people ostensibly fighting for Jim Cornette. The matches pick up big time on disc 2, and almost every single of them is good if not great. Pick up this set.