Ring of Honor TV – September 28, 2016: The All-Star Break
Ring of Honor
Date: September 28, 2016
Location: Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Steve Corino, Kevin Kelly
We’re at the end of a taping cycle and it’s the final show before we’re off to All-Star Extravaganza this coming Friday. It’s hard to say what the big story is at the moment as the main event will be ROH World Champion Adam Cole defending against Michael Elgin so odds are that gets some attention here. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Silas Young vs. Toru Yano
Young makes sure to yell at a fan holding an “it’s my birthday” sign. Now that’s what being a heel is all about. Yano is a comedy guy who tries to sell some DVDs before the match. Silas goes after him to start so Yano hides in the ropes before offering a handshake. It’s time for a chase around the ring and it’s very clear we’re in a comedy match. Perhaps one of the wrestlers being a comedy guy should have been a hint.
Back in and Yano atomic drops Young to the floor and Silas takes a breather. A low blow via a kick to the rope doesn’t seem to hurt Young that badly as he hammers on Yano. Toru goes for a turnbuckle pad but Young takes him down because he doesn’t understand American pads.
Back from a break with Yano throwing him outside and going back to the buckle pad, this time with wire cutters. Yano hits him with the pad and they trade forearms but Yano’s second low blow is blocked. A quick cutter gets two for Silas and a suplex into a swinging neckbreaker gets the same. Yano sends him chest first into the buckle for another two, followed by a low blow for the fourth near fall in a row. Silas kicks Yano low for a change and since Americans are better at hitting people low, it puts Toru away at 10:12.
Rating: C-. Yeah it’s a comedy match and that’s fine. I’ve long since reached the point where I understand that the two promotions are co-promoting in this company and that’s not going to change anytime soon. Yano is a good enough comedy act and he did fine here, though Silas winning was the important thing as it’s really tiring to see the New Japan guys winning more often than not.
Silas stays on him post match but the Briscoe Brothers (Yano’s six man tournament partner) comes in for the save.
Christopher Daniels gives a very serious promo about what he’s willing to give up to continue being a champion in Ring of Honor. He’s been a father and husband for thirteen and twenty three years each and he’d give them both up to keep his title. Wrestling and championships are his life so he’s going to spit in the face of cliches. This was really good and like nothing I’ve heard from Daniels in years. Why can’t he do this kind of thing more often?
Cheeseburger vs. Punisher Martinez
Martinez has BJ Whitmer and Kevin Sullivan with him and Sullivan gets on commentary to talk with Corino. Cheeseburger gets his head taken off with a spinning kick to the face as Sullivan talks about Corino trying to circumvent evil. The palm strike has no effect and Punisher’s sitout chokeslam finishes Cheeseburger at 1:39. This would be so much better with Sullivan as a complete non-factor. What is this supposed to lead to? More Corino and Whitmer?
The beating continues with Will Ferrara coming in and taking a beating of his own as Kevin tells Corino to embrace what he is.
Post break, Corino is looking at the golden spike that was driven into his head at Best in the World. Now Whitmer wants Corino to meet him in the desert and of course Steve will do it.
We go to the break where Whitmer called Corino Mizar and told him to accept the guidance of the father (Sullivan) and they can be each others salvation. This is still stupid.
We run down the All-Star Extravaganza card and get some promos from some people on the card.
Bobby Fish is ready for Donovan Dijak and promises that Dijak will wake up a much wiser man after All-Star Extravaganza.
Jay Lethal wants to beat Tetsuya Naito to make a statement. That statement will be LOSS because Naito is now the IWGP Intercontinental Champion so the result is almost guaranteed.
Adam Cole is going to prove that he’s better than Michael Elgin, who took the title from him two years ago. Elgin held the title for a few months and then went back to Japan like a coward. Now it’s time for Cole to show that he’s the best in the world, just like his title proves.
Hiroshi Tanahashi/Michael Elgin vs. Adam Page/Adam Cole
Kyle O’Reilly is on commentary again. As expected the fans are behind Tanahashi because the guy not even on Friday’s show is more important than this company’s World Champion. Page hammers on Elgin’s back to no avail so it’s time for the long delayed vertical suplex. We take a break and come back with Tanahashi playing some air guitar. Cole sends him outside and Page scores with a running shooting star off the apron. When did he start getting good?
The double teaming begins as the Adams take turns stomping away until Tanahashi finally drops Page. It’s off to Elgin to clean house with a good looking falcon arrow getting two on Page. A DDT gets two on Elgin and it’s off to the second break of the match. Back again with Cole’s Destroyer being broken up with a Samoan drop. It’s off to Tanahashi vs. Cole, which sounds like an interesting match that we’re not likely to see for a variety of reasons.
They strike it out until Cole gets caught with a Sling Blade to put both guys down. Another hot tag brings Mike back in and everything breaks down. Well stays broken down but close enough. The Rite of Passage doesn’t work so Elgin takes Page’s head off with a clothesline for two instead. The Elgin Bomb puts Page away at 14:19.
Rating: C+. This was the only way they could have had this match end as Elgin gets a bit of a rub going into his title match. Cole vs. Tanahashi has the potential to be something good but there’s no secret about the fact that Cole vs. O’Reilly is headlining Final Battle. That’s not a bad thing but I’m getting a little tired of the two of them fighting with Kyle seeming pretty far beneath Page.
Cole and Elgin stare each other down to end the show.
Overall Rating: C+. Sullivan stuff aside (as always), this actually felt like an authentic go home show. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that about an ROH show and it’s something that they really needed to fix. The opener was fine for a one off match and the main event actually went somewhere (albeit down the dead end that Cole vs. Elgin is going to be) and that’s a step up over the clip shows we’ve gotten before.
This was an easier sit and that’s a positive sign for Ring of Honor. That and them finally saying on their website that New Japan is presenting the pay per view as well. It’s been New Japan’s subsidiary for months now and they’ll be better off as a promotion that gives New Japan what it needs if they’ve given up standing on their own two feet.
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