ROH Showdown in the Sun - Day #2 Review

Match 1: El Generico vs. Jimmy Jacobs
Jacobs comes out to kick off the show to address the crowd for his actions the previous night until El Generico comes out and goes after Jacobs as the bell rings! Night 2 is officially under way! For an impromptu contest, this was fun to watch and was short to the point. Jacobs tries to use the spike against Generico but is unable to connect and finally rolls up Generico for the win. Just a big surprise and quick win for Jacobs as Generico is again getting lost in this roster. Nice match to open up the show.
Winner: Jimmy Jacobs
Rating: **¼

Match 2: Cedric Alexander vs. Tommaso Ciampa
This was just a quick match to further Ciampa as an animal as he took care of Alexander in just a few minutes after Ciampa drives his knee into Alexander. I’ve said it many times and I’ll say it again, Ciampa is ready for a bigger role in the company. Coleman puts his hands on Prince Nana which leads him to getting destroyed by Ciampa afterwards.
Winner: Tommaso Ciampa
Rating: *¼

Match 3: TJ Perkins vs. Fire Ant
Haven’t seen much Chikara so this is one of my first few times seeing Fire Ant and these two managed to put on a great little contest. The technical wrestling was there and the big moves were there to boot. Crowd wasn’t too much into the action but they did show their respect and attention still. With that being said, a pretty damn good match which suffered from time constraints. TJ picked up the win for ROH after the 450. The feud of ROH vs. Chikara continues.
Winner: TJ Perkins
Rating: **¾

Match 4: Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly
They showed a video clip of O’Reilly talking trash to Cole before the match and it was bad. It almost feels as if his character is so forced. Fortunately, the story is different with him in the ring. O’Reilly seems like a good fit as a heel but I strongly feel that Cole should have been the one to turn heel. For the amount of time given, they did a good job of using their strengths to fit the match. However, the action just seemed so slow for the talent given in the ring and the fun just wasn’t there for part of the match. Both the crowd and the commentators just didn’t even show that much interest. O’Reilly gets the quick win by pulling of the tights. Interesting to see where they go from here.
Winner: Kyle O’Reilly
Rating: **½

Match 5: Street Fight - The Young Bucks vs. The All Night Express
This is the second part of the Dual Duel matches for the two teams of the weekend. These two are a couple of my favorite tag teams in the business so a match with no rules or disqualifications should be a ton of fun. The intensity the two teams always bring is here and present with the crowd supporting all the action. The match didn’t go to extreme levels but went to the point where you could simply feel the feud in front of your eyes. A fun match for the weekend and definitely not the end of this feud. Bucks pick up the win after a big table spot and they leave Ft. Lauderdale with the big advantage.
Winners: The Young Bucks
Rating: ***¼

Match 6: ROH World Tag Team Championships - The Briscoes © vs. Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team 
This is a match that I just simply was not looking forward to and therefore, I had trouble investing in. It’s almost as if we have seen this match tons of times before and the action is pretty much the same that we’ve seen before. The wrestling was fine, the crowd was pretty hot, and WGTT were great in their roles as heels. But the problem arises when you feel like you’re watching a repeat of a match you’ve seen before. It also doesn’t help that this match followed the street fight and this match doesn’t seem as important. Briscoes retain after a quick pin. WGTT attack The Briscoes after the match as the feud continues.
Winners: The Briscoes
Rating: ***

Match 7: Eddie Edwards vs. Kevin Steen
Steen hasn’t lost a match since rejoining the company as he faces Eddie Edwards on the second show of the weekend. Crowd is somewhat split for both men and the action began quickly and stayed in the same gear throughout. I know I will get much hate for this but I feel like many of Steen’s matches are smoke and mirrors. He relies too much on flashy moves to make his matches interesting from a wrestling standpoint and this was a great example. I’m not saying this is a downfall for Steen but it becomes repetitive. However, that is not to say that these two pulled out a fun match that got the crowd set up for the final two matches. Steen is quickly moving up the ranks and a win here further proves it. Edwards is going downhill pretty fast and I really hope that ROH puts him in a better position soon.
Winner: Kevin Steen
Rating: **¾

Match 8: ROH World Television Championship - Jay Lethal © vs. Roderick Strong
Before the match, Tommaso Ciampa comes out and after a few words with Lethal, Lethal accepts Ciampa’s challenge to put the belt on the line. In the ring, Lethal doesn’t really do wonders for me and I don’t think this match isn’t going to change anything on that. His matches are just so similar to each other to me and this one was just like any other I have seen from him. The technical wrestling was there and fun to watch but the pacing was just too slow for my liking. It felt like they were waiting for the time limit to near its end so Ciampa could get involved. Ciampa softly threw Lethal into a steel post where Strong finished Lethal off to win the second ROH Triple Crown. Decent match that lacked energy throughout. Strong should be an interesting champion and the feud between Lethal and Ciampa continues.
Winner: Roderick Strong
Rating: **¾

Match 9: ROH World Championship - Davey Richards © vs. Michael Elgin
This is the match that has managed to garner critical acclaim and rightfully so. From start to finish, this was one hell of a match. Whether it be the intensity, the kicking out, the kicks, the moves, or anything, everything felt important and all served its own purpose. If I’m correct, this is Elgin’s first shot at the championship and he definitely managed to impress. He is quickly becoming a huge star and this furthers my point. This is the last match for the ROH weekend and the crowd managed to keep their emotions heavily invested. This match just felt a little different from Davey’s other matches because he used storytelling and psychology instead of focusing of landing kick after kick. I’m not saying Richards was the prime reason for the excellence of the match but he definitely upped his game here and made sure to close out the weekend on a heavy note.  Every big move and submission in this contest felt like it mattered. In typical matches for these guys and even the whole company, the moves of some wrestlers can be strongly diminished. In this case, Elgin slamming Richards into the barricade felt like it changed the match. Richards’ submission moves on Elgin had a significant impact and was also the prime reason to which Richards was able to land one final kick for the win. Go out of your way to see this match. A very inspiring wrestling match in a weekend full of overshadowing smoke and mirrors. I don’t have the words to describe the finishing sequence of this match. Just a beautiful performance by both. Definitely one in my top matches in Ring of Honor.
Winner: Davey Richards
Rating: *****

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
A weaker show than last night and also didn’t really do much to differentiate from it. However, the main event was incredible. Simply put, one of the best matches in recent memory. Seeing Elgin spit in the face of Davey Richards was so damn cool. Seeing Richards land one last blow to Elgin’s head was so damn cool. The whole match was just so damn cool and something fresh in a pretty stale show.
Rating: 7/10