As I mentioned I’ll be on the Mouth of the South Shore Radio Show live tonight at 10pm EST. It now features live calls and you can get on the show and ask myself and the host (a bright fellow in his own right) whatever you like. I’m sure we’ll have a lot to cover after last night’s Raw and with Hell in a Cell coming up on Sunday.
You can call in at 1-605-562-8001, then press 5 to get through.
You can also listen live i95sportsnetwork.com or on the Zeno Radio Live app, which is available on most App stores on whatever device you have.
The show will be running from 10pm to 1130pm EST and is always fun. I’ve been on the show several times over the years and always have a great time. Check it out and call in.
Pick the Survivor Series I Redo
The annual Survivor Series count-up will start this Sunday and like I did with Summerslam, I’ll be redoing Survivor Series 2014 as well as whichever one you pick. Vote in the comments and I’ll redo which ever you want most.
It’s another shoulder but there’s no word on how much if any time he’ll be out for. That’s going to make for some very interesting shows going forward with Cena and potentially Orton leaving soon for a long time.
Monday Night Raw – October 19, 2015: Imagine What They Could Do. And Shield.
Monday Night Raw Date: October 19, 2015
Location: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, John Bradshaw Layfield
Tonight is all about the Cell as we’re getting a special panel of people who have been inside the Cell before. It’s one of the first times that the main event has actually received any focus and they have their hands full with giving the match a good build on such short notice. Let’s get to it.
We get right to the point with Steve Au…..oh wait never mind he’s been canceled again. Actually scratch that scratching as he’s on the show again. Austin does his poses on the ropes as his status for the show is changed another 394 times, leaving us with Austin actually appearing. JBL runs down his career stats, including saying that Vince has referred to Austin as the greatest draw in company history because NOTHING IN WWE CAN BE REAL. Right Rusev? Also, brilliant idea to have Austin come out first and not have him around later on when Monday Night Football kicks in to try to get some fans back.
Austin plugs the podcast with Lesnar tonight before bringing out the Undertaker to FINALLY hype up the match. JBL continues his nonsense by calling Undertaker the most iconic performer in sports entertainment history. He’s not even the most iconic person from Texas in the arena right now.
Austin leaves and Undertaker promises that this Sunday he will make the gates of Hell look like the gates of Heaven. This brings out Heyman and Lesnar almost immediately and Heyman promises that Lesnar will gain his revenge this Sunday. Then Undertaker will know what it’s like to die with a tainted legacy. It will be a legacy of dominance marred by the conqueror who took everything away from him.
Undertaker takes off the hat and robe while saying that if Lesnar takes everything from him, it means Undertaker can fight with nothing to lose. Brock comes straight to the ring but drops back off the apron. Well at least Heyman can relax. There better be more from this tonight because that’s nowhere near enough to build up this match. Undertaker’s nothing to lose line was good though.
John Cena/Dudley Boyz vs. New Day
Cena will officially have another US Open Challenge on Sunday. That piques my interest while also scaring me to death. I still have a bad feeling it might be Big Show and that’s not good for anyone. Before the match, Woods thinks the New Day are all unicorns because they’ve brought magic back to the WWE.
Big E. gets in some cheap shots at the Dallas Cowboys before reminding Cena and the Dudleyz about the beating they too a few weeks ago used the brass. Kofi says they used the brass to kick their……Woods: “KOFI! PG SHOW!” Kofi: “So what? We’re the New Day!” He finishes the line and Xavier gets in a comical gasp.
Bubba elbows Kofi in the head to start but it’s quickly off to D-Von for a double team elbow as we take an early break. Back with Cena taking the rotating stomps in the corner, followed by a running downward spiral from Woods for two. Big E. gets two off a side slam (with bonus dancing) but Cena dropkicks him in the chest and makes the tag to D-Von. Everything breaks down and Cena dives on Big E., leaving Woods to roll D-Von up for the pin at 8:32.
Rating: C. A lot of this was in the commercial so it’s a hard one to grade. I’m tired of seeing these groups fight though and hopefully the whole thing is wrapped up on Sunday. New Day continues to just own every single show they’re on though and the line from Kofi before the match was great. Not a bad match or anything but it’s the same thing we’ve seen several times now.
Post match Woods takes an AA, followed by a superbomb through a table.
We get some breaking news: the Wyatt Family has attacked Randy Orton over the weekend, meaning he’s out of the match on Sunday. No word on if this is legitimate or not but I haven’t heard anything about a Wellness violation or an injury so I’m assuming storyline.
Ambrose is sick of this and says he’s got business with Luke Harper and Braun Strowman tonight.
Nikki Bella/Alicia Fox vs. Naomi/Sasha Banks
Now pay attention here people. Watching a Bellas match, you too can find out how they empower women every second of every day. They talk about it in every interview and that makes it so right? Sasha and Alicia get things going and it’s Banks getting two off a dropkick. It’s off to Naomi for an a-may-a-a-a-a-a-zing dropkick (sweet goodness that doesn’t get better without the music) and we take a break.
Back with Fox keeping Naomi from tagging out, followed by a double suplex (was that the empowering part? I for one could certainly feel women everywhere being stronger when a Bella did a basic wrestling move so it must have been). Naomi comes back with some kicks but Nikki hits a running dropkick to the ribs before bending over to choke Naomi on the ropes. A few more kicks are enough for Naomi to tag in Sasha for some knees to the face (empowerment down by two points).
It’s quickly back to Naomi who rams Nikki into Alicia to set up a rollup for two. Nikki’s spinebuster plants Naomi and the Rack Attack is enough for the pin at 8:47. Cole had to make sure to mention that it was a team win. Not that he mentions Alicia by name or anything but this certainly wasn’t all about Nikki, like everything else in the division.
Rating: D+. Nothing to see here other than Nikki being awesome, because that’s exactly what this match was supposed to showcase. I’m not sure why this needed to be shown again, but maybe it can empower the Total Divas ratings and help build the crossover audience that these shows are supposed to share.
We recap Kane pinning Rollins last week. This has resulted in Corporate Kane being suspended. Of course the Authority could solve the obvious problem this creates by just saying KANE has been suspended but that would make too much sense. For the bosses of a global corporation, HHH and Stephanie are dumb sometimes.
Speaking of dumb things, breast cancer is dumb. I didn’t know this until Stephanie told me so, meaning she’s done has job for the night.
Here’s Shawn Michaels, who stops for a bite of pizza on the way. Shawn talks about being in the Cell before and how nothing can prepare you for it. He’s been in the Cell with the Undertaker before but there’s another match on that night as Roman Reigns is finally finishing things with Bray Wyatt. However, this brings out Seth Rollins instead. Rollins asks why Shawn is out here when he was just supposed to introduce him.
Those were his instructions, but Shawn has been ignoring instructions for over twenty years now. Well save for all those years when he wasn’t on TV but I get his point). Seth says those instructions came from HHH himself. Shawn needs to be talking about the man people have been calling Shawn Michaels Version II (John Morrison? Dolph Ziggler? Tyler Breeze? Shelton Benjamin even?). Michaels brings up that exact point: if he had a nickel for every time someone was going to be the second Shawn Michaels, he’d be a billionaire.
He never tried to be anyone else and just became the best ever on his own. Shawn mentions Kane but Rollins goes on a rant about how sick he is of Kane (since when did Rollins become the voice of the masses?) but there’s no music to play him off. Shawn says the worst part about being the second version is no one plays your music. Besides, Seth has a match right now against Ryback. Version I’s (not Matt Hardy as he’s too busy trying to figure out how that injunction actually works) song plays him out.
Ryback vs. Seth Rollins
Non-title. Ryback charges right at him to start and no sells some of the champ’s strikes. There’s part of a Flair Flip in the corner and a big chop puts Seth down. They head outside with Ryback’s ribs being driven into the barricade, followed by a Rollins suicide dive to send them into the announcers’ table. Seth is smart enough to put on a bodyvice back inside Ryback is fine enough to throw Rollins onto his shoulder and spin him around into a powerslam (that was different), followed by a spinebuster. Rollins bails from the Meat Hook, kicks Ryback in the ribs, and hits a Pedigree for the pin at 4:04.
Rating: D. BUT HE’S THE #1 CONTENDER FOR A TITLE!!! Of all the people you have to feed to Rollins, you pick someone who is getting a title shot in six days??? Why can’t they get any booking involving Rollins correct? It’s not had. Throw out….I don’t know…..Jack Swagger? As in a guy with NOTHING going on? No instead it needs to be someone you’ve been building up for months and who has a title shot on Sunday. Only in WWE.
We look at Summer Rae costing Rusev a match on Smackdown and then getting turned down by Ziggler.
Dolph Ziggler/Cesaro/Neville vs. King Barrett/Sheamus/Rusev
Rusev beats Neville into the corner to start but Neville escapes and does his flips across the ring. Some kicks keep Rusev in enough trouble for a tag off to Cesaro, who tags Neville back in after just a few seconds. It’s off to Sheamus to pound Neville down before Rusev comes for even more stomping. A big forearm sends Neville into the announcers’ table and a staredown takes us to a break.
Back with Neville still taking a beating but he avoids a charge and tags in Cesaro for the running uppercuts. A high cross body gets two on Sheamus but a collision puts both guys down. Double tags bring in Ziggler and Barrett with Dolph cleaning house. The big elbow drop gets two but Rusev makes the save. Ziggler mostly hits a Fameasser on Barrett for two followed by a superkick for the same. Rusev kicks Cesaro the floor and Neville does the same to Rusev, setting up a HUGE flip dive to take both guys. Ziggler rolls Barrett up for two but it’s a Brogue Kick from the floor to give Barrett the pin at 12:57.
Rating: C+. I like six man tags as you can fight so much stuff into one match while getting some fresh pairings. The match was just kind of there but it had a hot ending and that’s all you need most of the time. Barrett and Sheamus being rebuilt is a good thing and I’m glad it was Ziggler taking the fall as he can lose and lose without ever taking any real damage.
Here’s Flair for the third legends segment. He makes it quick by plugging Wrestlemania in Dallas next year and introduces Roman Reigns, who will team up with Ambrose to fight the Wyatts again. Roman gets to the ring but the Wyatts (including Erick Rowan but without Luke Harper, who was shown on the graphic earlier) are here in a hurry. Reigns gets two chairs this time and says one is for him and one is for Bray.
They get inside and sit in the chairs with Reigns talking about how Bray likes to kick people while they’re down. He knows the monsters are coming for him in a minute but let’s talk about this Sunday. When the monsters can’t get in the Cell, Bray won’t be able to get out. The fight is on but Roman has the chair to knock the monsters off the apron and send Bray to the floor. Ambrose runs out for backup and the Wyatts bail.
The Authority is in the back when Shawn comes in. They think Reigns and Ambrose shouldn’t be in a 2-3 handicap match against the Wyatts tonight but Seth isn’t available. Rollins doesn’t like the idea of being protected so he’ll go out there and it’s time for a Shield reunion. WITH AN HOUR OF BUILDUP BECAUSE THIS COMPANY IS STUPID!
Brie Bella vs. Charlotte
Non-title. Charlotte starts with her rolling headscissor slams but stops to yell at Nikki. Back in and the Brie Mode knee has Charlotte in trouble and we hit a long chinlock on the champ. Brie does the YES Kicks because she doesn’t know how to wrestle like a heel but thankfully Charlotte comes back and hits a quick spear and the Figure Eight for the submission at 5:34.
Rating: D. Brie is really bad at this heel thing. Her big spots are a dropkick, a move where she’s trying to get the fans to shout with her and her husbands YES Kicks which get a very positive reaction. She’s supposed to get the fans to boo her but instead we’re stuck with face spots and chinlocks. Well done Brie. You’re still empowering women of course because you wrestle and stuff.
Renee Young comes up to accuse Paige of attacking Natalya last week. Paige thinks it might have been Summer Rae, Lana, Eve Torres, Kaitlyn, Trish Stratus or even Lita. Renee presses her on this so Paige says Renee is no Erin Andrews, nor is she as cute.
Kevin Owens vs. Mark Henry
Non-title. So Owens is here but having him interfere in Ryback’s match earlier was asking too much. Owens mocks the Hook Em Horns sign and gets thrown to the floor. He’s lucky he didn’t get shot. Back in and Owens avoids a splash and gets two off a quick backsplash. Henry gets back up and shouts about being here fifteen years (it’s been more like nineteen) and headbutts Kevin in the corner. Owens stops him with a superkick though and actually nails the Pop Up Powerbomb for the pin at 3:42.
Rating: C-. That ending more than raises this up as Owens showed some shocking power with that one. Henry had some fire here but was cursed by being born in Texas, meaning he had no chance at winning here. This was better than I was expecting and that’s always nice to see.
Post match Ryback (LOSER!) chases Owens off but Henry throws Owens back in for a powerbomb (LOSER WHO DOESN’T SELL A RIB INJURY!).
Rollins assures us that this isn’t a Shield reunion.
Long video on the history of Lesnar vs. Undertaker. Well their recent history as their first Cell match is ignored.
The Kickoff match has been changed to a rematch of the six man from earlier tonight.
Roman Reigns/Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins vs. Wyatt Family
It’s Strowman/Rowan/Bray here. We get the big staredown to start with Rollins taking his time to stand beside Reigns and Ambrose. Rollins insists that he start and he gets Rowan right in his face. That means it’s off to Reigns instead and Rowan gets beaten down in the corner. Off to Ambrose vs. Wyatt with Dean running Bray over and tagging back out to the champ. Bray kicks Seth in the ribs and we take a break. Back with Dean coming in to hammer on Strowman but the giant runs him over to regain control. Bray kicks him in the face and Erick’s side slam gets two.
Cole brings up the horrible ending to Ambrose vs. Rollins inside the Cell last year as the announcers make sure to remind us that this is NOT a Shield reunion. Dean fights out of a chinlock and escapes a Sister Abigail attempt but Strowman pulls Reigns off the apron. Rollins is ready for the tag but he grabs his knee and drops to the floor before limping up the aisle. Reigns Superman Punches Rowan but it’s Strowman with the standing choke. Roman is in trouble but Dean comes in with a kendo stick (after throwing chairs to the side) for the DQ at 14:12.
Rating: C+. Well this could have been worse. It’s a good and logical thing to have Rollins limp away, especially when you have a potential big Wrestlemania moment on your hands with a proper Shield reunion. I still don’t like even teasing it like this but WWE feels the need to waste everything they can whenever they can. Good enough match.
Reigns cleans house post match with a HUGE dive over the top and spears to Bray and Erick. The fans think this is awesome to end the show.
Overall Rating: B-. That’s really as high as I can go with this due to so many stupid decisions which I think you can figure out already. This show did a lot of really good things though and had more energy (read as less Authority/Kane) than any show has had in months. Lesnar vs. Undertaker is still a horrible “big” main event but it wouldn’t be WWE if they didn’t overestimate drawing power. It’s a good show here but my goodness the things they could do without the stupid mistakes.
Results
New Day b. John Cena/Dudley Boyz – Rollup to D-Von
Nikki Bella/Alicia Fox b. Naomi/Sasha Banks – Rack Attack to Naomi
Seth Rollins b. Ryback – Pedigree
Rusev/King Barrett/Sheamus b. Neville/Cesaro/Dolph Ziggler – Barrett pinned Ziggler after a Brogue Kick
Charlotte b. Brie Bella – Figure Eight
Kevin Owens b. Mark Henry – Pop Up Powerbomb
Wyatt Family b. Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins/Roman Reigns via DQ when Ambrose used a kendo stick
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
John Cena Issuing US Title Open Challenge For Hell in a Cell
This both piques my interest and terrifies me at the same time. Given that Cena is taking time off, it really wouldn’t surprise me to see Big Show come in, hurt Cena REALLY REALLY BADLY with like two punches because he’s a giant (don’t you know?) and then dominate the belt until TLC or so.
Or Tyler Breeze.
Back On The Radio Tomorrow
I’ll be returning to the Mouth of the South Shore tomorrow night at about 10pm EST. If you’re interested, you’ll be able to call in to the show and ask myself and the hosts whatever you’ve got on your mind. I’ll have the details for you tomorrow but make sure to check it out as the show is always entertaining.
These are always fascinating to see. This is from a legal case about discrimination so these are likely accurate. There are some gems in here. If you’re a stats geek, there’s some great fun to look at. It’s also cool to see stuff like Hogan’s “official” salary when he was also on TBS’ payroll, meaning WCW could cut a cost by sneaking around various contract issues.
I’m going to miss the guy. He was nothing special in WWE but he was actually awesome in Lucha Underground as a cool thug for hire. However, anything that lets Lucha Underground try something new is worth a shot.
Reviewing the Review – Monday Night Raw: October 12, 2015
Aside from the important shows, my favorite reviews to look back on are the shows where people say I got the ratings totally wrong. I’ve changed my opinion on shows before via a second look so maybe that’s going to happen here. This week’s show was pretty much hated but I had a decent enough time with it. Let’s get to it.
We start immediately with the big story of the night: the Authority isn’t here (and won’t be here despite saying they’re trying to make it all night). Therefore Corporate Kane is in charge and gets to book the show on his own so he makes himself vs. Seth Rollins in a lumberjack match. Why doesn’t he make this a title match you ask? Plot convenience of course.
Throughout the night, the Authority keeps trying to get hold of Kane and ask him what the main event is but bad reception keeps cutting them off. Why doesn’t HHH send him a text or an e-mail so he can get the information when the reception is good and doesn’t have to be on his phone at that time? Plot convenience of course. Granted it wouldn’t matter in this case as the Authority found out about the match and told Kane he had to change it.
Naturally this gave us Demon Kane vs. Rollins because that’s still supposed to be different. This wasn’t the best idea, especially given that the fans aren’t thrilled to see them fight in the first place, so now they get to fight twice. Monday Night Football was a weak game and they had a chance to do something good, but we get Rollins vs. Kane I instead of the only match at the pay per view. I know I defend this company a lot, but there are times where they do stuff that boggles my mind.
Ambrose and Orton had a male bonding segment that was interrupted by New Day. As usual New Day stole the show with pure charisma and asked why Orton has been a part of so many groups. This led to a very long tag match (by Raw standards at least) that didn’t do much for me but could have been far worse. If my best option is nearly twenty minutes of pretty good wrestling, I’ll gladly take it over the drek that Raw is capable of putting on any day. Even on a new day, like the team that won the match due to some face miscommunication.
Things aren’t boding well for Orton/Ambrose heading into the pay per view. For one thing they lost here and even worse they’re actually on the pre-show. That screams angle for later in the show to me, as they’ve been in one of the biggest stories on the show and the card currently has six matches. I could easily see a fight breaking out to set up Orton vs. Ambrose on the show, because why build what could be a solid midcard pay per view match when you can throw it out there with an hour of build?
Video on Undertaker vs. Lesnar, which would air again (or at least a very similar version) later in the night. Well that’s nice of them. It’s not like either guy can be bothered showing up and making me want to see the match so I’ll take what I can get.
Nikki beat Naomi in a nothing match but the fans chanted for Sasha to fill in most of the time. The more I think about it the more I’m glad they haven’t added Sasha to the title match in the hopes that we get past Nikki’s rematch and move on to something else, because you know this company loves itself some rematches.
Dolph Ziggler answered the US Open Challenge and lost like everyone else does. It was another good match but when are they going to pick something for Cena to do at the pay per view? Word on the street is that he’s leaving for a few months after the show but at the moment there’s no one to challenge for the title and no real prospects, unless they throw Big Show in there again. Would that really be a big surprise at this point? You would think Ziggler wins it here but I guess this was the payoff to the accidental superkick. Every day that goes by scares me even more that we’ll get something stupid at the pay per view.
The Dudleyz squashed the Ascension. At least they’re on TV.
Sheamus and King Barrett beat Neville and Cesaro in a nothing match. Barrett has said he wants to be a tag wrestler and Sheamus/Barrett would be fine enough for a team. I’d like to see Cesaro/Neville actually win something but they seem to be the latest acts on the doomed bulletproof list.
Roman Reigns came out and gave a big speech about how Bray was trying to take away his livelihood. This has been described as horrible but I really liked it. What was far worse was the obnoxious Chicago crowd jeering the whole thing because they can’t shut up for five minutes. They decided a long time ago that they don’t want to see Reigns (they’ll take anyone but him I assume) and no matter what he says, they’re going to boo. This gets annoying quickly and unfortunately that’s often what decides everyone’s reactions to the speech. Roman got to the point and delivered, which is a big improvement over his usual stuff.
In something I really don’t like, Reigns beat Braun Strowman by countout. I could live with this if it was like Strowman’s debut match against Ambrose where it was a squash, but in this case Roman hung with Braun the whole way and basically knocked him out to win. That shouldn’t happen for months but this is WWE where the idea of CHILL OUT AND WAIT is sacrilegious. Not a good brawl either and that’s not a good thing, especially with Braun losing and being made to look beatable this early.
Then Ryback beat Rusev in about three minutes because Vince loves publicity as long as it’s controlled publicity.
Kevin Owens squashed Kalisto to end one of the best uses of the mini feuds that I’ve seen in a long time. They don’t need to do their usual tropes so let Owens beat up a midcard tag team instead. The story works fine and Owens vs. Ryback is built up even more. Simple, yet effective. I love that idea.
Brie Bella pinned Charlotte in a tag match because the way to get someone new over in the division is to give them the title and then have them lose almost every match. Paige and Natalya fought a bit to pad out the match. I do like the idea that they have more than one Divas story going at the same time, but they could have better ideas than Brie Bella pinning the Divas Champion.
Kane pinned Seth Rollins off a tombstone. This really doesn’t surprise me at this point and it shouldn’t surprise you either. Neither should Rollins retaining the title in a boring pay per view match.
So….yeah I’m not sure what I was thinking. Ziggler vs. Cena was good but not good enough to make up for a lot of the boneheaded moves going on here. This is looking like the weakest pay per view I’ve seen in a long time and WWE really doesn’t seem interested in making anything of it. Lesnar vs. Undertaker might as well not even be happening because neither guy seems interested in building it, leaving us with a main event of Kane vs. Rollins. Which we saw here. And it sucked.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Ring of Honor TV – October 14, 2015: Where Are We Here?
Ring of Honor Date: October 14, 2015
Location: San Antonio Shrine Auditorium, San Antonio, Texas
Attendance: 600
Commentators: King Corino, Kevin Kelly
We’re FINALLY up to some fresh storyline material here with the fallout from All-Star Extravaganza which took place nearly a month ago. Jay Lethal retained both his titles at the pay per view but the TV Title is on the line tonight against Watanabe. There’s another pay per view next week so things have to pick up in a hurry. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
The commentary audio is notably lower this week as I can barely understand Kelly.
ACH vs. Matt Sydal
This is match #4 in a best of five series with ACH (from Texas, making him the crowd favorite) up 2-1. Kelly thinks winning match #3 bodes well for ACH. As usual, you can’t buy this kind of analysis. They shake hands to start but ACH holds up two fingers. The fans do a New Day style A-CH chant as they fight over a lockup to start. It’s time for some holds on the mat with neither guy being able to keep an advantage.
Sydal gets up and taunts ACH a bit which seems to get inside his head. ACH cartwheels out of a headscissors attempt and Sydal dropkicks him to the floor for a baseball slide. It’s time for the chops and therefore the WOO’s and therefore more audio issues. ACH grabs a headscissors of his own to take over, followed by a top rope double stomp to the back of the head (the Dum Dum Drop. Seriously?) for two. There isn’t much to say on a match like this as it’s just spot after spot with nothing in between.
We take a break and come back with ACH kicking Sydal in the face, only to dive into a nice spinwheel kick. Sydal gets two off something like Big Show’s Final Cut but ACH kicks him in the face again. A nice German suplex gets two on Matt, followed by a kick to the face (popular move) and a Cross Rhodes for another near fall.
Sydal rolls away from Midnight Star (450) and is booed as a result. Yeah somehow avoiding a finisher is a heel move. ACH takes him down again with a running shooting star dive to the floor but some jumping knees to the face look to set up the shooting star. It’s ACH up again though with a brainbuster but the Midnight Star hits knees. A reverse hurricanrana sets up the shooting star to give Sydal the pin and tie the series at 14:15.
Rating: C+. I get the idea here but I’m really not a fan of this kind of match. The ending told me everything I needed to know. When the 450 hit Sydal’s knees, Sydal did another big spot to set up the final big spot. They could have done the exact same ending with a cradle or something, but instead it’s all about the next big move. It makes the whole thing look like a big spot fest where they have no idea how to do anything else. That’s not good. Fun match, but very telling if you pay attention.
They hold up two fingers to each other for some gamesmanship but shake hands. Cue the Addiction and Chris Sabin to beat both guys down and clean house. Back from a break with the trio still in the ring with Kazarian yelling about how they weren’t defeated for their Tag Team Titles at All-Star Extravaganza.
It’s a good thing that they’re here in Texas because these people believe in justice. Not bathing or education, but certainly justice. Daniels doesn’t like the idea of a third man coming to the ring in a red mask and stealing Chris Sabin’s idea. They were never pinned or beaten and therefore they’re still the Tag Team Champions.
Daniels demands that the Kingdom comes out here and hand over the titles but it’s the All Night Express (Kenny King/Rhett Titus, who reunited at the pay per view) instead. King doesn’t want to hear about the Addiction’s complaints because the Express never lost their Tag Team Titles three years ago. They were only defeated by a bureaucracy and the Addiction can get some anytime.
Addiction vs. All Night Express is announced for next week.
Here are Silas Young and the Beer City Bruiser (a large man who carries a beer keg) with Dalton Castle’s boys, who Young won at All-Star Extravaganza. Silas yells at them for their ring attire and it’s time for a match.
Beer City Bruiser/Silas Young vs. The Boys
Bruiser runs both of them over in the corner and suplexes both Boys at the same time. They avoid a top rope splash though and the Boys try to ride Bruiser, only to be destroyed by Silas. Misery is enough to pin one of the Boys at 1:40.
Truth Martini and Jay Lethal talk about Watanabe learning English. Tonight he learns how to say Jay Lethal is the best wrestler in the world.
Inside ROH focuses on Adam Cole costing Kyle O’Reilly the World Title. ReDRagon promises revenge on Cole because he decided to chase the dragon. Cole’s reply says that he’s the next guy instead of Kyle. What Kyle is going to learn is that he’s just a lesser Adam Cole. Adam had the fire in his eyes here and blew away what ReDRagon said. That was good.
We’ll hear from the Kingdom next week.
TV Title: Watanabe vs. Jay Lethal
Lethal is defending but uses the handshake to get in a cheap shot to take over early. Watanabe charges into a boot in the corner and gets elbowed in the face a few times, only to charge into a slam for two. A nice backsplash gets two for Watanabe but Truth Martini trips him up, allowing Jay to nail three straight suicide dives. We take a break and come back with Lethal getting two off a suplex.
Off to the chinlock from the champion followed by some knees to the face. A kick to Watanabe’s face gets two and Lethal goes Kevin Owens by loading up something big and then putting on a chinlock. Watanabe fights back and whips Jay hard across the ring before toss him away with a German suplex. The Lethal Injection is blocked and a big clothesline gets two. Martin throws in the Book of Truth, allowing Lethal to kick Watanabe low. The Lethal Injection retains the title at 12:28.
Rating: C. I’m still waiting on a reason to care about Watanabe. This was a glorified squash with Lethal picking Watanabe apart and putting on a clinic instead of ever feeling like he was in jeopardy. The match wasn’t bad or anything but it really didn’t make me care about either guy.
The fans remind Lethal that AJ Styles is coming for the title to end the show.
Overall Rating: C-. I wasn’t feeling this one as I’ve forgotten a lot of the stories they built up for weeks because of the awkward schedule. Lethal vs. Watanabe was nothing special and the best of five series match was a way to set up another match instead of meaning anything on its own. I’m not sure what they’re building towards here as they didn’t mention the pay per view and now have one week to talk about it. I guess after next week it’s time for more stand alone shows and probably more New Japan. Watchable and quick show this week but nothing that did anything for me.
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