ROH Unity Review

Match 1: The All Night Express vs. Roderick Strong & Michael Elgin
The title of the show is very appropriate as we are set for a huge night of tag team action in the latter part of April! This is the first time ever these two teams will be colliding and they have the chance to get the show going at their pace. Michael Elgin has blossomed into an absolute star of the company and his strengths were on display early and often here. Great back and fourth action with everyone playing their roles nicely. Rhett Titus was the weak link of the match as he is returning from a knee injury while Kenny King is the guy that is trying to get the crowd energetic and in turn, give his side the momentum needed. Conversely, Roderick Strong is seemingly looking out for mainly himself and that shows when he apparently injures his knee near the end of the match which lets the referee not see that Elgin has Titus ready for a winning pin. This allows The All Night Express to capitalize and pin Elgin for the win. Elgin & Strong are visibly upset with each other and have a very heated conversation afterwards until Truth Martini breaks it up. I love when tag team wrestling is done right and this is a prime example. Everyone playing their roles properly with great action throughout.
Winners: The All Night Express
Rating: ***¼

Match 2: Mike Bennett vs. Mike Sydal
Mike Bennett comes out before the match with Maria to do the routinely heel shtick before Mike Sydal interrupts and we have an impromptu match tonight between these two. I must say, for a glorified squash match, this was pretty fun to watch. Bennett is that great new heel that the company really needs and his interactions with the crowd are wonderful. Plus, he has Maria by his side to help boost some heat. Bennett gets the convincing win and continues to make out with Maria after the match.
Winner: Mike Bennett
Rating: *¼

Match 3: The Young Bucks vs. The Bravados
The Bravado Brothers are returning from their Ring of Honor hiatus after months in a Pro Wrestling Noah Dojo against arguably the best tag team in the business. It is incredible to see how much The Bravados have improved, they look more confident in the ring and are managing to pull off extremely athletic and innovative moves in the ring. Keeping up with the fast Bucks is no easy task but these guys pulled it off. They went from being scrubs of the company to getting huge support from the fans as they defeat The Bucks here in a shocking manner. The Bravados are a cool representation of the company. They didn’t light the company on fire in their early stint but after learning and improving, they are poised for a much stronger future. A big win against The Young Bucks is a great start. Bucks get the attention for being a fantastic team, but it was The Bravados who stole the spotlight tonight.
Winners: The Bravados
Rating: ***¼

Match 4: No Disqualification - Kevin Steen & Jimmy Jacobs vs. El Generico & BJ Whitmer
Whitmer is a very fitting choice of partner for Generico considering the history between he and Jacobs. This match quickly gets turned from a regular tag match to a no disqualification match after Jim Cornette made the call via cell phone call to Todd Sinclair. That was really stupid. Anyway, this is the third year in a row that ROH has held a big no disqualification tag team match in April for a Chicago show. Unlike the last two, the guys put an emphasis on fighting each other and going for the win instead of simply beating the hell out of each other with a bunch of weapons. While the action did get chaotic, it did not get to the point where any cringing was necessary. It was just a fun match with lots of action and lots of cool spots. Although I was expecting much more, they managed to pull off a very enjoyable match that served its purpose and played the role of being a great transition into the big matches. Generico & Whitmer pick up the win after Whitmer slams Jacobs through a table off the top rope. The biggest gripe I just have with this match was Generico & Whitmer getting the win. It makes Steen come off as a weaker foe for Richards and this is so close to Border Wars.
Winners: El Generico & BJ Whitmer
Rating: ***½

Match 5: The Colony vs. Jay Lethal, Adam Cole, & TJ Perkins
I have not seen much from these Chikara guys but am definitely looking forward to this match. The match is going by Chikara’s Trios rules in which you can have a partner enter the match by simply rolling out of the ring. A simple, yet innovative rule to increase action. The crowd is somewhat split for both teams and you really get that sense of war from this match. A feeling the company is trying to convey through this event. Off the bat, I am definitely impressed by the communication and how well they complement each other. This is also the first time the ROH team is teaming together but they are already definitely showing their abilities to work well with each other. While the action sometimes fell into a cluster on occasion, it was still tons of fun to watch and the crowd was easily into the action. Tons of cool creative spots with the crowd eating it up on the way. Team Chikara gets the win after the Chikara referee does not see Perkins pinning a member of The Colony which eventually led to The Colony switching the pin over Perkins. A tainted win by Team Chikara which Cark Silkin gets very upset over. Nonetheless, that was a fun match which could have been tons more special had it gone on a bit longer.
Winners: The Colony
Rating: ***¾

Match 6: Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team vs. Team Ambition
I love WGTT as heels, they play their roles so nicely and the crowd just eats it all up. Them facing Team Ambition is perfect for the night as Kyle O’Reilly is slowly becoming a heel. The only unfortunate part is how bad O’Reilly is at cutting promos and with his body language. It becomes embarrassing to watch him try to gain heat. The main problem I have with both sides is how many of their matches are hard to differentiate from each other. Watch one match and essentially, you have seen them all. I was pleased to see that this match not only was different, but simply felt different from the rest of the pack. This may be due to the drastic change in characters but the action just had a nicer flow to things. It was definitely a longer match but it never felt like the match was dragging. WGTT pick up the victory after miscommunication between Richards & O’Reilly throughout the match. O’Reilly basically left Richards to the pack of wolves during the match and later, accidentally pushed Richards. This all eventually led to Shelton Benjamin getting the pin on O’Reilly. Good match with a good win for WGTT. The right team definitely won here as O’Reilly gets ready for his heel turn and Richards gets ready for his match against Adam Cole.
Winners: Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team
Rating: ***½

Match 7: ROH World Tag Team Championships - The Briscoes © vs. Jigsaw & Hallowicked
This is the big finish to the ROH vs. Chikara weekend as The Briscoes look to successfully defend against Team Chikara after ROH suffered a tough loss earlier. Action between the two teams was stiff early and throughout with no team getting the real upper hand. Their styles complement each other nicely and the crowd is loving the fighting. They tried to separate this match from all the other tag matches that occurred earlier on and I feel like they were pretty successful in doing so. A match at a faster pace with more big moves instead of a methodically paced match. This works considering the tone the main event is set at. After guys come out to support each team, The Briscoes pull out the big win and retain to avenge ROH’s loss earlier in the night. Big show for the company that really needed something interesting to pull them out of this jam they are stuck in. The Briscoes picking up the big win at the end of the night prove that they are indeed the top tag team in independent wrestling and they still have bigger things on the horizon. Interesting to see where this whole feud goes after both sides celebrate at the end. It feels like a feud that could have a been so much more. It simply feels like a big missed opportunity.
Winners: The Briscoes
Rating: ***¼

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
The show felt fresh and something different, exactly what the company was lacking. The idea of this show was to not only display this huge ROH vs. Chikara feud, but also push Border Wars. It should easily be one of the biggest shows in company history. This was a great way for the company to push the stars and the show on the way there.
Rating: 7.75/10