Ring of Honor TV – October 19, 2016: Refresh My Memory
Ring of Honor
Date: October 19, 2016
Location: Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, Massachusetts
Commentators: Steve Corino, Kevin Kelly
It’s FINALLY back to the main storylines which are…..actually I can barely remember. That’s the problem with this company: it’s been multiple weeks since All-Star Extravaganza and I really don’t remember most of what happened last time. I know we’re gearing up for Final Battle and that means Kyle O’Reilly vs. Adam Cole for the ROH World Title. Let’s get to it.
We open with a montage of Ladder War with the Young Bucks winning the Tag Team Titles. As much as I can’t stand them, it makes sense to put the titles on them.
Opening sequence.
Here’s the Bullet Club en masse for an opening chat. Matt says All-Star Extravaganza was a FIVE STAR Extravaganza and Nick says they’re the best team in the world. Adam Cole declares STORY TIME, which means it’s time to hear about how great the Club is. They’re going to get the newly created Trios Titles as well and the Club is going to be stronger than ever. Really not much to this one but I’d much rather have a short opening promo than something needlessly filling time.
We see a clip of Silas Young winning the Honor Rumble.
Jay Lethal is ready for Young tonight and promises to get the World Title back.
Shane Taylor/Keith Lee vs. War Machine
War Machine dives through the ropes to take out Taylor and Lee as we start fast. Rowe is slammed onto Lee as the announcers acknowledge a lack of countouts or disqualifications here. Hanson beats on Taylor as we’re still waiting on the first count. They head inside for the first time, only to have Lee backdrop Rowe onto both partners. A big cannonball from the apron has Lee crushing everyone as we take a break.
Back with the brawling continues and all four guys actually in the ring. Rowe tosses Taylor with an exploder suplex but Lee POUNCES ROWE ACROSS THE RING. A double chokeslam plants Hanson for two and he’s busted open off something in there. Now it’s Lee left alone but Taylor trips Hanson from the floor. An AA powerslam gets two on Hanson and THEY ACTUALLY BOTHER WITH A TAG. Like, why?
Hanson takes Taylor out with a Whoopee Cushion (sure why not) out of the corner and brings Rowe back in. Fallout gets two on Lee and Taylor’s sitout powerbomb gets the same on Rowe. Hanson misses a top rope splash as there’s nothing between these big moves. For some reason Lee tries a moonsault, only to have Rowe roll out of the way, setting up a Canadian Destroyer for the pin on Lee at 12:42.
Rating: B-. This was out of the Masato Tanaka vs. Mike Awesome playbook: take some big, strong guys and have them beat on each other for an extended periods of time. I’m not sure if there’s any need for them to fight again and it’s good that War Machine got the win here after losing so many times.
Taylor and Lee wipe War Machine out post match.
Caprice Coleman says the Cabinet is ready to win the election for the Six Man Titles.
We finally get a bracket for the tournament.
ACH/Kushida/Jay White
Jason Kincaid/Leon St. Giovanni/Shaheem Ali
The Cabinet
Addiction/Kamaitachi
Team CMLL
The Kingdom
Bullet Club
So yeah: this REALLY doesn’t need to exist but Japan has them and that makes it awesome.
Six Man Tag Team Titles Tournament First Round: Jason Kincaid/Leon St. Giovanni/Shaheem Ali vs. The Cabinet
The introduction says this is Block A. Please, PLEASE tell me that this is just an eight team tournament and not double that. Maybe Block A is another attempt to make this sound like a Japanese tournament. It’s still stupid but it would make me feel better. Oh wait we can’t start yet because, I kid you not, the Cabinet needs to take a knee during the Code of Honor. Ali and King miss a variety of kicks against each other and it’s time for more kneeling in protest.
The Kingdom triple teams Ali and poses AGAIN (we’re less than three minutes in and that’s three times they’ve done the same bit), this time earning themselves dropkicks to the back. The makeshift team does some big, complicated triple team leg stretch spot on Coleman but Kincaid gets distracted off the top.
Back from a break with King missing another kick and allowing the hot tag to Shaheem. Everything breaks down with Leon coming in to spin into clotheslines. The former All Night Express cleans house until Kincaid slingshots in with a spinning cutter. A coast to coast dropkick gets two on Titus, who also blocks Leon’s Phoenix splash. The Sky Splitter ends Leon at 9:50.
Rating: C. At least the Cabinet is finally doing something other than getting on my nerves with their stupid promos. This wasn’t bad and did something to keep the tournament going but the kneeling continues to get on my nerves. I’ve never been a fan of current events characters and this made the Cabinet even worse than they were in the first place.
Jay Lethal vs. Silas Young
Feeling out process to start with Young flipping out of a wristlock and grabbing a rollup for two. A quick springboard dropkick knocks Young out to the floor and hits the back to back suicide dives because WE HAVE TO HAVE A SUICIDE DIVE. Lethal even hits a third because we need to kill a few more minutes. Adam Cole comes out to commentary and we take a break.
Back with Young driving a knee into Jay’s back and slapping on a chinlock. It’s too early for Misery though and a kick sends Silas sprawling across the ring. The Lethal Combination sets up Hail to the King but Jay tries one too many finishers, meaning the Lethal Injection is broken up. A cutter gets two for Young and it’s time for Cole to head down to ringside. That means Kyle O’Reilly needs to do his regular run-in to cut the champ off but he gets on the apron to distract Young by mistake. A quick rollup gives Lethal the pin at 11:07.
Rating: C+. I liked this better than I was expecting to but the ending was messier than it needed to be. It’s a good move to start elevating some fresh names into the main event and Young hasn’t exactly been doing anything else lately. I’d assume we’re getting a fourway at a house show at some point and that’s fine as a way to bridge us to Cole vs. O’Reilly.
Kyle brainbusts Cole to end the show.
Overall Rating: B-. Good wrestling, interesting stories and no need for the New Japan guys. Ring of Honor is a fun promotion that can do a lot of things when they act like themselves for more than five minutes and that’s what we got here. That main event scene has me intrigued and it’s nice to have the focus be back on the stuff that ROH does well.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete 2014 Raw and Smackdown Reviews Part I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LY6766K#nav-subnav
And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:
Recent Comments