Ring of Honor results
"Raising the Bar" Night 1
March 7, 2014
Milwaukee, Wis.
Report by Blake (@BlakeandSalShow)

The pre-show autograph line included Kevin Steen, Silas Young, Young Bucks, Michael Elign, Mischif, and the Briscoes.

Attendance was about 600, not full. Scarlett was the ring announcer and Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness were the commentators.

It was announced that the show was being filmed for TV and that we should watch our mouths and not flip off the cameras, which got booed.

Adam Cole opened the show to talk to the crowd and hype up Saturday's match vs. Chris Hero in Chicago. Cole described Matt Taven as a warm-up match tonight. Taven interrupted and said that he hopes he looks past him because when he wins, "drinks on Third Street" would be on him. Very good stand-off to set up the main event.

(1) Jay Lethal beat Silas Young (from Milwaukee) in 9:35. Red-hot crowd to start and hugely behind Young no matter what he did to get heat. About four minutes in, Truth Martini came out to a big pop for really no reason in a bright red suit. During a punching bout, the crowd was cheering for Silas and booing Lethal. Lethal won after a lethal combination after a low blow.

Post-match, Young refused to shake hands with Lethal. Truth left ringside doing nothing.

(2) Michael Bennett (w/Maria Kanellis) beat Tyson Dux via submission with the Anaconda Vice in 10:22. The crowd had no reaction to Dux. Good reaction for Bennett and Maria. Some boos. "C.M. Punk" chant directed at Maria. In the opening minute, Bennett looked out at Maria and she said to him, "I don't know who he is," referring to Dux. Note: Dux talks too loud in the ring. We could hear him calling spots in the back row on the floor. Dux hit a RKO at 9:30 and Bennett put his foot on the rope. Bennett countered a figure-four attempt into an Anaconda Vice to a "C.M. Punk" chant for the win.

(3) Adrenaline Rush beat ROH tag champions ReDRagon and Outlaw, Inc. (Homicide & Eddie Kingston) in a three-team match in 14:18. No reaction for Outlaw, Inc. Adrenaline Rush got a good reaction and ReDRagon got a huge reaction. Massive brawl outside the ring before the bell. The barricade broke in front of us when Homicide put A.C.H. through it. A.C.H. pinned Fish with the 450 and Outlaw, Inc destroyed both teams afterwards.

(4) ReDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly) beat Adrenaline Rush (A.C.H. & Tadarius Thomas) at 2:49 when Fish pinned A.C.H. with a roll-up to retain the ROH Tag Titles. Hot start as the four guys went to the outside. Fish pinned A.C.H. to retain on a roll-up holding the tights when A.C.H. was setting up for a top-rope dive.

[Intermission. Return Date is August 22.)

Steve Corino came out to a huge reaction to join commentary.

(5) The Decade (B.J. Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs) beat Cedric Alexander & Adam Page at 11:39. The crowd loved The Decade, especially Jacobs. At one point, Jacobs pretended like he was peeing on Page like a dog. Not making that up. The crowd was starting entertaining themselves with various "Zombie Princess" chants. Finally at 7:30 Cedric got the hot tag and the crowd kind of didn't care until he went on offense. Whitmer and Jacobs then hit their neckbreaker suplex finisher on Page for the win.

Post match, Whitmer and Jacobs drank beers with the fans. Jacobs cut a promo on Cedric, telling him to get out, but he asked Page to stay. He tried to recruit Page and was successful. Cedric was left in the ring dejected.

(6) Chris Hero beat Roderick Strong of The Decade at 15:37. Big pop for Strong; huge reaction for Hero. Dueling "Hero" and "Roderick" chants to start the match. A lot of action outside the ring, including Hero cheering with the fans right in front of us in the broken barricade from earlier. The front row in our section was starting a "Roderick's our hero" chant, funny. Very fast-paced match. Four elbow strikes into the Stretch Plum and Hero won.

Post-match, Hero dove into the crowd to celebrate. When he left, Jacobs came back down and led the crowd in a standing ovation for Roderick.

(7) The Briscoes & "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin beat Kevin Steen & the Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) at 19:06 when Elgin pinned Nick Jackson. Huge reactions for all six men. "This is awesome" chant before the match even began. This crowd woke up and was hot! Elgin hit his delayed vertical suplex for a 38 count on Matt until Nick kicked Elgin in the head. Afterward, Steen did seven push-ups as the crowd counted, then he bowed. Hysterical. Overall, Match of the Night, by far! They had the entire crowd eating out of their hands.

Post-match, all six men hugged, then group bowed for the crowd while the crowd chanted "That Was Awesome." Must-see match when it airs on ROH TV.

(8) ROH World champion Adam Cole beat Matt Taven with the Panama Destroyer at 15:51 to retain the ROH Title. Red-hot crowd despite a lot of people losing their voices. The match started with the crowd chanting for the shots Taven promised everyone in the opening segment. This crowd really wanted those shots. This is going to come off so bad on TV like there's a bunch of alcoholics in the crowd. Taven may have tweaked his right knee jumping back into the ring, and the crowd just wants shots. Why? Because "Shots are awesome!" Yes an actual chant. Truth came back out and no one seemed happy to see him. Cole retained by hitting the Panama Destroyer when Taven was distracted by Truth.

Post-match Jay Briscoe came out to confront Cole as Taven left. Then Elgin came out. As both men paced the ring, Steen came out. Then Hero came out. They tried to pull a Shield and Cole ran away. Hero then grabbed a mic to thank the crowd and send everyone home happy. Awesome show.

Best Pops:

- Six-Man Tag Post-Match Bow
- Chris Hero
- Adam Cole
- Silas Young

Biggest Heat:

- Outlaw, Inc after their match

- David Gruber. Yes, he got booed just for being in the crowd.

- The My24 representatives just for being there and coming to the ring despite giving out free stuff.

[Torch photo credit Wade Keller (c) PWTorch.com]

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