The show began with ROH Match Maker Nigel McGuinness in the ring surrounded by members of the ROH locker room (both faces and heels). Nigel addressed how S.C.U.M. declared war on ROH at the 11th Anniversary Event. Nigel said that S.C.U.M. can have a war. He said that ROH Management had banned S.C.U.M. from the arena this week for the sake of others’ safety. Regardless, Nigel still intends to go to war with S.C.U.M. because he and other members of the ROH locker room want to restore honor in ROH. Therefore, Nigel intends to let S.C.U.M. into the building next week even if it means putting his job on the line. Nigel said that one of the best ways to restore honor is by getting the ROH World Championship off the waist of the leader of S.C.U.M., Kevin Steen. Nigel named some contenders for the championship and those contenders would be getting their opportunity at the championship on those particular dates as long as Kevin Steen still holds the championship by the time that date comes around. The contenders that were named were Jay Briscoe, Mark Briscoe, BJ Whitmer, Adam Cole and Nigel put together a #1 contenders’ match between Jay Lethal and Michael Elgin to determine a who would face Steen for the championship. Roderick Strong then asked Nigel why his name wasn’t put in the hat and Nigel responded by telling him that they would discuss it backstage. Apparently, Nigel decided that if Roderick Strong could defeat Jay Lethal in a match, then his name would be thrown in because there was a match between the two in the main event of the show with that very stipulation. Unfortunately for Roderick Strong, he came up short in the match. As stated above, there were both faces and heels at ringside during Nigel’s address at the start of the show. What this tells me is that the faces definitely stand for honor and that the heels stand for honor as well, but only to a certain extent. In others words, I think that while the faces are fighting more for justice in the war against S.C.U.M., the heels are fighting more for power.
