Ring of Honor TV – July 20, 2016: …..THE TASKMASTER???
Ring of Honor Date: July 20, 2016
Location: Cabarrus Arena, Concord, North Carolina
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness
We’re less than a month away from Death Before Dishonor and it should be interesting to see how much ROH can cram into the card in the next few weeks. I mean, there’s always the possibility of bringing the New Japan guys in again as they haven’t been around in a full week at this point. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Kamaitachi vs. Jay White
This is fallout from Best In The World where Kamaitachi attacked White (a New Zealander), who was in the crowd. Naturally the commentators just show us this happening without actually saying anything. White’s name isn’t even mentioned in the clip they show. Kamaitachi is part of the Addiction (the New Japan contingent) and has Christopher Daniels in his corner. White is a good looking kid and New Japan Dojo graduate making his ROH debut.
Kamaitachi jumps him to start and a running shoulder to the ribs puts White on the floor. I’m not a big fan of the guy but Daniels is rather awesome as the overly proud manager. That’s something you can almost count on from a veteran and it adds a lot. They trade whips into the barricade and Daniels adds a clothesline to really cheat. Back from a break with Kamaitachi working on the leg with a modified figure four.
White escapes and hits a brainbuster but can’t nip up. That’s better selling than you get most of the time. A missile dropkick gets two for Jay but Kamaitachi hits a release Falcon’s Arrow. Double knees from the top rope get two on Jay and a swinging Rock Bottom gets the same on Kamaitachi. Daniels’ interference doesn’t quite work as Jay sends Kamaitachi into him, setting up something like a lifting Cradle Shock (Chris Sabin’s old finisher, called the Kiwi Crusher here) for the pin at 10:25.
Rating: C. Who are these people and why should I care? That’s what comes to my head far too often when I see New Japan wrestlers on this show: I have really no reason to care about these people and the wrestling is nowhere near good enough to overcome that lack of an emotional connection. I know a lot of fans only care about the in ring action but I need more than that and it lacks almost every time with this revolving door of imports. The match was fine but without a reason to care, it was just two people doing moves to each other.
The Addiction beats White down until the Motor City Machine Guns make the save. Now why couldn’t they have made this a proxy match for the teams’ feud? Sabin wants to make it a six man tag right now and McGuinness says ring the bell.
Addiction/Kamaitachi vs. Motor City Machine Guns/Jay White
Following WWE’s bad example, the bell rings and we take a break five seconds later with no one even in the ring yet. Back with Sabin getting double teamed followed by a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker from Daniels. Kamaitachi hits a running basement dropkick before it’s off to Kazarian for a front facelock. Everything breaks down for a little bit and the hot tag brings in White for some running clotheslines. A powerslam gets two on Daniels and the Guns start in with some of their signature stuff, including the bridging neck crank into the running dropkick. With everyone else on the floor, White hits a sitout powerslam to pin Daniels at 9:10.
Rating: C+. I’m still not a fan of the Guns in ROH but this was an improvement for the simple fact that I know who these people are and who they’re having issues. White looked fine and was probably the best part of the matchbut I need a little more of a reason to care about the two newcomers. Having four others in there helped but White and Kamaitachi need some work.
The Bullet Club is tired of everyone running from Adam Cole, who promises that Kyle O’Reilly will never be ROH World Champion. If I were them, I’d be tired of that whole ending at Global Wars still not going anywhere. Was there a point to that or was it really just a random beatdown that might lead somewhere in a few months?
Shane Taylor/Keith Lee vs. Victor Andrews/James Anthony
Taylor and Lee are two monsters in suits who attacked War Machine at a recent show in Columbus. Anthony is sent outside early on and it’s time for the loud chops. A pop up sitout powerbomb sets up a middle rope splash (Senmetsu, Japanese for annihilation) crushes Andrews at 2:00.
War Machine comes out for the brawl with Lee, who probably goes about 350lbs, hitting a huge flip dive over the top to take everyone out.
Quick preview for Jay Lethal vs. Kyle O’Reilly for the World Title next week. Both of them want to prove that they’re the best in the world. This was a simple exchange but it’s far more than we get most of the time.
Here’s BJ Whitmer to brag about beating Steve Corino at Best in the World. He’s accompanied by KEVIN SULLIVAN, in a purple wizard robe, who cost Corino the match. Whitmer says tonight is about Steve Corino’s questions. This started back in 2013 when Whitmer was sitting at home with a broken neck.
Sullivan approached him to carry on the legacy of evil that was started by King Curtis Iaukea and was supposed to be handed on to Corino and Whitmer. That wasn’t good enough though because Corino wanted it all for himself. Chaos is going to reign over ROH and all that matters is who will be causing that chaos to come. This chapter is over but the book has yet to be finished.
Does ANYONE want to see this ridiculous feud continue? Apparently this has been going on for three years now and they brought in KEVIN SULLIVAN to keep it going? That’s really the best they can do? Bring in someone who hasn’t been a regular wrestler in over twelve years (assuming you count a run in FIP as being a regular wrestler) because they’re evil? This really is the best thing they can come up with? As usual, ROH seems to have no idea how to just end something so they just keep it going, likely until Final Battle. The fans called this boring, which really isn’t something you hear around here.
Dalton Castle vs. Roderick Strong
There’s no real hiding the fact that this is Strong’s farewell match. Strong is taken into the corner to start and Castle tells him to bring it. Castle puts him on the mat and slams him for good measure. Now it’s Strong taking him to the mat as this is still in first gear. We take a break and come back with Castle being kneed off the apron, meaning it’s time for some fanning. Strong lays out the Boys and you just don’t do that to Castle.
Dalton’s fire is quickly extinguished with an Angle Slam into the post and both guys are down on the floor. Back in and some suplexes have Strong in trouble but he comes right back with a belly to back faceplant. Castle throws him down with a backdrop and some suicide dives send Strong into the barricade. The bridging German suplex gets two for Castle followed by more suplexes for the same. Dalton charges into a jumping knee to the face followed by a superplex and the Sick Kick for two. Back up and Strong charges into the Bang A Rang for the pin at 13:44.
Rating: C. This was fine but again it was just two people doing moves to each other. Castle lost a lot of steam with that loss to Fish though I get why they didn’t want to take the title off Bobby so soon. Strong didn’t get a sendoff or anything but maybe they just want him to quietly slip away instead of drawing the attention away from Castle and his win.
Overall Rating: C-. Slightly better show than last week as they’re still pretty much starting over from scratch since almost nothing was developed for weeks and months at a time. Having Cole mention Lethal and a World Title match announced for next week should help, especially with a pay per view in less than a month.
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Ring of Honor TV – March 23, 2016: Can I Sign Up For Old Japan?
Ring of Honor Date: March 23, 2015
Location: Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Mr. Wrestling III, Kevin Kelly
It’s a special show this time as we have a new taping cycle including the New Japan crew. These things can go a bunch of different ways and unfortunately a lot of those ways don’t often go well for the normal Ring of Honor guys. It’s also the fight show after the 14th Anniversary Show so things can start moving forward. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
TV Title: BJ Whitmer vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Ishii is defending after taking the title in Japan because WE MUST PRAISE NEW JAPAN. The graphic says “Tomorhiro” but I can’t find anything else that spells is that way. We’re not quite ready to go yet though as Veda Scott and Cedric Alexander come out with Veda offering a check in exchange for the title shot. Whitmer is appalled at the suggestion that he could be bought off and then takes the check anyway.
TV Title: Cedric Alexander vs. Tomohiro Ishii
The match starts after a break with Ishii hitting a hard shoulder and throwing Alexander across the ring with ease. Ishii headbutts him down but Veda grabs the boot to finally give Cedric an opening. See, she’s effective as well as gorgeous. Cedric starts stomping at the head before going with a far less painful chinlock.
That’s enough for the champ though as he Hulks Up and scores with chops and a suplex. Cedric is up at two and climbs the corner for a spinning kick to the head. Back up and Ishii just headbutts the heck out of him, only to have the sliding lariat get countered into a crucifix for two. Ishii is done playing though and he braninbusts Alexander for the pin to retain at 6:32.
Rating: C. I’m really not a fan of the NEVER stuff that Ishii does over in New Japan but he’s perfectly acceptable when he’s doing more wrestling than all that strong style toughman nonsense. Alexander is way too generic for my tastes but at least Veda is awesome in her role and can carry anyone however far she needs to.
Here’s the Addiction to complain about the reunion of the Motor City Machine Guns. Oh great that’s a thing again. They take credit for bringing Chris Sabin back from the depths (I’d have cheered if they added “of TNA”) and now they’ve been betrayed for a Machine Guns reunion. Kazarian gets in a few shots at Las Vegas being the land of bad decisions and thinks this was all one bad choice. Daniels thinks the fans are all thinking it’s Christmas morning to see Sabin/Shelley back together again but it’s time for an apology.
Cue the Guns, unfortunately without their rocking TNA theme. Before they get going, how in the world is Sabin the only former World Champion out of this group? Sabin has reached the conclusion that the Addiction are just delusional jerks. The brawl is teased but of course the Addiction bails. Daniels says they’ll have a match but it’s up to them, the adults, to decide when that happens.
Jay Lethal is ready to defend against Hirooki Goto next week.
Reno Scum vs. Briscoes
Scum (Luster the Legend/Adam Thorestowe) is a team who has been around before but aren’t that well known. Adam and Mark get things going with the former getting double teamed in a somewhat heelish attack by the Briscoes. Back in and Adam can’t get anywhere with Mark so it’s off to Luster for a running shoulder in the corner. Mark gets pounded down but finally comes back with some right hands to both Scum.
It’s still not enough though as a catapult sends Mark into a Death Valley Driver for two. Not that it matters as Mark flips onto his feet and makes the tag off to Jay as house is cleaned. Everything breaks down and a powerbomb into a neckbreaker gets two on Luster. A German suplex followed by a double stomp gets the same on Mark, only to have him pop up with a Death Valley Driver. The Froggy Bow is enough to put Adam away at 6:55.
Rating: C-. Scum didn’t do anything for me here and I’m really not sure who is supposed to benefit here. The Briscoes were fine enough but this had that Ring of Honor style to it that doesn’t get me interested. There are more than enough teams in Ring of Honor already and Scum really wasn’t needed here.
Dalton Castle is excited for his Fight Without Honor with Silas Young in three weeks but the Boys aren’t old enough to know what he has planned.
Young Bucks vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi/Michael Elgin
The fans are far more behind Tanahashi than the Bucks here, which is a nice sign for the future of wrestling. Elgin and Nick start with Michael actually trying a test of strength. Now since no power guy has ever gotten a small heel to try a test of strength, I’ll let you guess how this goes. The Bucks start speeding things up and a pair of dropkicks have the good guys (I think?) on the floor.
Matt dives over the top to take Tanahashi out and we take a break. Back with Elgin bicycle kicking Matt out to the floor before giving him a double suplex. Elgin and Tanahashi give Nick a double SUCK IT in a nice visual. There’s a delayed vertical suplex with Nick trying a save, only to have Elgin suplex both of them at the same time. Tanahashi grabs an abdominal stretch and uses Matt’s ribs as an air guitar. Eh that was amusing.
We hit the chinlock for a bit until Nick pulls Elgin to the floor for our first superkick. Nick gets in a regular SUCK IT and there’s the slingshot X Factor. We take a break and come back with the Bucks still in control and getting cheered way too loudly. Tanahashi gets in a cross body though and the tag brings Elgin back in. Big Mike picks up the Bucks for a Samoan drop/fall away slam at the same time because he’s got freaking strength. The Falcon Arrow gets two on Matt but double superkicks set up a double 450 for two on Elgin.
Tanahashi no sells ANOTHER superkick and gets loaded up into kind of a reverse Alabama Slam from Elgin to send him onto….Matt’s knees. Now you might think we just had enough double superkicks for a lifetime, but that’s not how the Bucks roll. FIVE more superkicks have them in control but the Meltzer Driver is countered with Elgin’s powerbomb. The Sling Blade and another powerbomb sets up the High Fly Flow to give Tanahashi the pin at 16:10.
Rating: B. Better match here but I’ve made my opinions on the Bucks pretty clear over the last year. I still don’t get why they’re faces in this or any other promotion (well maybe PWG would make sense) but the fans go nuts over them and that’s the point of bringing in acts like this. Tanahashi continues to be amazing (I’m a bit late on that one) and Elgin has that freakish strength that only a handful of people ever have, making this a rather fun match. Not exactly the kind of match I’d like as I’m not big on the styles of either promotion, but at least it was a fun performance.
Overall Rating: C+. This was good enough but the New Japan shows can get annoying in a hurry. At least we had a good match and the Fight Without Honor offers some promise, especially if it gives Castle the boost that he’s been needing for months. Unfortunately I have a feeling we’re in for A LOT more New Japan before we get there and that’s not the most entertaining thing in the world.
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Ring of Honor Date: March 9, 2016
Location: Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee
Attendance: 675
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Mr. Wrestling III
It’s another stand alone show as we wait the first tapings from after the Anniversary Show. This week is a big week as we have the finals of the Top Prospect Tournament, though the most interesting prospect has already been eliminated. Other than that we don’t have a lot going on but one big match is better than none. Let’s get to it.
Dalton Castle talks about drawing a bath the other night when he realized he was hungry. Not for food though, but rather victories. He’ll be taking the moon starting tonight with Christopher Daniels.
Opening sequence.
Top Prospect Tournament Finals: Brian Fury vs. Lio Rush
They take their time to start with the bigger (though still average sized) guy shoving Rush around with ease. Rush takes him to the mat for some technical stuff as the crowd is eerily silent here. It’s almost like there’s no reason to care about either guy and it’s based entirely on their work. Fury gets knocked to the floor for a suicide dive as commentary is gone for some reason. A hiptoss counters a charge to send Rush into the barricade as we take a break.
Back with Rush doing the same kind of strike sequence that almost every indy wrestler does. Fury nails a headbutt to set up the Pop Up Powerbomb, only to be countered with a hurricanrana. A DDT gets two for Rush but Fury grabs a Gory Special into a faceplant for two of his own. Fury reverses a sunset flip and puts his hand on the rope for two but gets caught by an actually competent referee. The Pop Up Powerbomb gets two on Lio so he comes back with the C4 for the pin and the tournament at 9:02.
Rating: C+. The match was fun and if they’re so obsessed with Lio then so be it but I still don’t get it. Fury wasn’t much better as an option due to his age but I would have liked to see someone different instead of someone who screams INDY WRESTLER. It’s not a bad match or anything here so good enough, just nothing that interests me due to the names in there.
ReDRagon is ready for a tag team gauntlet match next week.
Moose vs. Kongo
Kongo is overweight and his singlet looks torn. No Stokely Hathaway for Moose here. They slug it out to start with Moose getting the better of it off a dropkick. Kongo is sent hard into the barricade but he sidesteps Moose to send him in as well. Back in and Kongo crushes him with a pair of splashes as this is WAY more competitive than it should be.
Moose headbutts him a few times before no selling a suplex. A discus lariat gets two on Kongo but he comes back with a Pounce of all things (minus the actual pouncing) for his own near fall. Moose bicycle kicks him in the face and runs the ropes for a cross body which was more like a standing splash to the face. The spear puts Kongo away at 5:04.
Rating: D-. Horrible stuff here as Kongo was a horrible option here. This should have been Kongo hitting a few fat man forearms to the back and then getting speared down for the pin in thirty seconds. Not every match needs to be some drawn out affair that wastes this much of our time on a boring match. Bad booking here and it showed horribly.
The Young Bucks are ready for the gauntlet match.
Earlier today, Mike Posey and the Get A Long Gang (seriously) rapped a lot until Cheeseburger came out to beat them down with a bunch of palm strikes.
Ad for War of the Worlds and all the New Japan stars who are coming in again.
We recap Jonathan Gresham turning down Veda Scott’s offer of money in exchange for a TV Title shot and his departure from the company.
Cedric Alexander vs. Adam Page
Scott is in her wrestling gear here which is rather fetching. Never mind as BJ Whitmer comes in and beats Page down. Alexander joins in until Gresham runs out for the save, possibly setting up a tag match next week.
We recap Silas Young/Beer City Bruiser beating the Boys last week which lead to Dalton Castle being beaten down.
Dalton Castle vs. Christopher Daniels
Silas Young is on commentary. They shove each other around to start until Silas stands up for a distraction. Young: “I’m just adjusting my pants!” Castle offers a clean break in the corner but stops Daniels in his tracks with a peacock chest thrust. They trade shoulders and it’s a standoff over who can bend backwards further.
Daniels can’t get as deep so Dalton gutwrenches him down before slowing down again. Castle’s running knee puts Daniels on the floor but he drives Dalton back first into the barricade. Kazarian offers an unnecessary distraction and we hit the waistlock to keep Dalton in trouble.
Back from a break with Castle hitting a running clothesline, followed by a pair of suplexes. A bridging German suplex gets two on Daniels as they’re still just trading moves with no particular rhyme or reason. Dalton misses a high cross body but Kazarian punches one of the Boys. That goes nowhere so Daniels grabs Angel’s Wings for the pin at 11:11.
Rating: D. I really wasn’t feeling this one as Young and Kazarian screwed up whatever they might have gotten going. It doesn’t help that these two have no reason to be fighting, much like Castle has no reason to still be fighting Young. Those two have been feuding for months and there’s really no reason for it to keep going. It’s not like it’s done Castle any good either as he was one of the hottest acts on the show and now he’s just there.
Post match Castle says everyone knows he’s better than Silas and it’s time for some titles. That can’t happen though because Castle can’t stop focusing on Silas. They should be done with each other so let’s have a Fight Without Honor.
Overall Rating: D. This was pretty easily the worst show they’ve had in months and there’s little to blame other than the way the show was put together. I’m really not sure why the tournament opened the show when the announcement of the Fight Without Honor wasn’t the strongest ending in the first place. Just a bad show with only one watchable match and very little interesting as far as storyline development. I expected a lot better than this from ROH.
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Ring of Honor TV – February 17, 2016: An Actual Prospect
Ring of Honor Date: February 17, 2016 Location: Cabarrus Arena and Events Center, Concord, North Carolina
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness
The Anniversary pay per view is almost here and we’re also getting closer to the end of the first round of the Top Prospect Tournament. However, we’re also getting closer to the end of this taping cycle which means things have a tendency to start dragging. Ring of Honor isn’t the best at going week to week so there’s little connection between shows. That can make things hard to keep track of but hopefully it isn’t a major issue here. Let’s get to it.
Top Prospect Tournament First Round: Jason Kincaid vs. Lio Rush
Two smaller guys here with Kincaid looking like Erick Rowan minus about 100lbs (but with some hair) and with pictures of a woman and a skull on his thighs. Nigel thinks Lio is in the vein of ACH. Well at least they don’t look the same. Lio kicks at the leg to start but Kincaid heads to the apron for a slingshot flip neckbreaker. Off to a Gory Stretch on Rush, followed by something like a standing abdominal stretch (as in Lio isn’t twisted around) into a jawbreaker.
Kincaid takes off his shoulder pads vest (that helped) but Lio knocks him outside for a flip dive. Back in and something like a spinebuster into the corner has Lio in trouble, though he’s still able to head outside before Jason can go Coast to Coast. That’s fine with Jason as he does it anyway, actually hitting the Coast to Coast with Lio on the floor. He’s not done though as Kincaid dives through the ropes into a flip Diamond Cutter. Jason’s top rope double stomp misses though and Lio catches him in a standing C4 for the pin at 5:05.
Rating: C+. Best match of the tournament so far and I’m really hoping Kincaid gets another look after that performance. One important thing here was Kelly putting over Jason’s backstory as coming up from pure poverty to get where he is today. That helped set Kincaid apart and let us connect to him a bit, which is the best thing you can do here. Unfortunately ROH felt the need to add another generic high flier because they don’t have enough of them yet. I mean, Nigel said Rush is exactly like ACH, so why would they want to go with him when they already have ACH?
Will Ferrara/Caprice Coleman vs. Beer City Bruiser/Silas Young
Prince Nana is on commentary to continue this story which feels like it’s been going on for six months despite not actually going anywhere. Coleman and Young get things going with a slugout as Kelly asks Nana about going after Donovan Dijak. Nana says the pieces of the puzzle are all in the letter and that’s all Kelly needs to know. Coleman takes over but Ferrara tags himself in, much to his partner’s annoyance.
A rollup gets two for Will but he goes with a much more effective German suplex to send Silas into the corner, meaning it’s off to the much bigger Bruiser. For some reason Ferrara tries to slam the big man and gets crushed as he deserved after something that stupid. The villains take turns beating on Ferrara until Bruiser misses a charge and Coleman gets the lukewarm tag.
Everything breaks down and Bruiser tries a superplex on Coleman, only to have Ferrara run in for a powerbomb. The Sky Splitter is broken up but here come the Boys (so much for selling a big beatdown) for a distraction, allowing Ferrara to DDT Bruiser on the floor. Now the Sky Splitter is enough to put Young away at 6:10.
Rating: C. Not bad here but again I lost all interest in whatever Nana is doing months ago. If he wants to reform the Embassy or whatever then so be it but that’s just it: so be it already. Instead of just giving people envelopes and showing them the way or whatever, do something because a Ferrara/Coleman/whoever else he has stable isn’t exactly thrilling in the first place.
Here’s the Decade with something to say. Whitmer has been hearing Steve Corino promising to come here tonight and have someone deal with BJ. Corino has three friends in wrestling and most of them are gone from this company already. This brings out Corino, who doesn’t exactly seem ready to fight.
No one wants to hear Whitmer talking week after week (I don’t mind it) and now BJ thinks Corino is the one coming for him. That’s going to happen one day but it’s not just yet. Someone has come to Corino and offered to take Whitmer out…..and apparently it’s Adam Page. The brawl is quickly on and the fans have no issue cheering for Page as security comes in to break it up. This makes as much sense as anything else if Corino is too hurt to fight.
We run down the PPV card, including a video of All Night Express beating War Machine via DQ to set up their No DQ match. The triple threat main event gets a quick video as well.
Mark Briscoe vs. Tim Hughes
Hughes is small and very pale. Mark knocks him into the corner as you would expect from a star beating on a jobber in a squash match on the weekly TV show. A Russian legsweep gets two on Hughes but Tim comes back with a long sidewalk slam. That just earns him some Redneck Kung Fu and a fisherman’s buster, followed by the Froggy Bow for the pin on Hughes at 3:50.
Rating: D. This was what it was with Mark getting a squash that he really didn’t need. I’m not sure what they were going for here as Briscoe is ready for a big tag team showdown, so why give him something like this? Nothing to see here and on top of that it wasn’t even all that entertaining.
ACH/Matt Sydal vs. Young Bucks
The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line here and for the sake of simplicity I’ll only refer to Matt Jackson as Matt. The handshakes take a while but thankfully they wait until after the break of the opening bell. Sydal slaps a belt out of Matt hand to start and it’s an early superkick party to send the non-champions to the floor but Sydal dives out to drop both Bucks.
Back in and ACH dives in, followed by a leg lariat and dropkick to Matt. A bit too much posing allows Nick to score with a superkick though and it’s time for a double superkick to send Sydal to the floor. The Bucks superkick an invisible ball into the crowd and we take a break. Back with Nick riding ACH’s arm and posing on the apron like a heel should, even though he’s a face here.
It’s time for more invisible basketball but ACH trips them up, allowing Sydal to come in off the hot tag. Everything breaks down and the slingshot X-Factor drops ACH and it’s yet another superkick party. More Bang For Your Buck is broken up but Sydal misses the Shooting Star, allowing Matt to hit another superkick. Nick’s Swanton is good for two but More Bang For Your Buck is countered again with some raised knees. Now the Shooting Star connects on Matt for the big upset win at 10:11.
Rating: C. I’m not wild on the teams here and I’m not sure how much I like champions losing clean, even if they’re champions in another promotion but there was something about that ending I did like. The Bucks’ offense was countered and Sydal/ACH get another win over them, which again I know because Kelly told us that at the start of the match. It sounded like a minor detail to start but knowing that helps the story they’re going for here. Again, well done and something so easy to do, which is what makes it so frustrating when most companies don’t do it.
Overall Rating: C. This was fine for the most part, but again they’re not exactly doing a great job of building up the pay per view. I know the World Title isn’t always the most important thing in Ring of Honor but they seem to go out of their way to not have Lethal out there. It’s nice for a change, but at times it becomes a bit annoying as whether Ring of Honor likes it or not, the World Title is going to be seen as the most important thing in the promotion. Still though, totally watchable show here, even with the midcard getting the focus.
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Ring of Honor TV – February 4, 2016: There’s Something Fishy Around Here
Ring of Honor Date: February 3, 2016
Location: Cabarrus Arena and Events Center, Concord, North Carolina
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Mr. Wrestling 3
We’re rapidly approaching the 14th Anniversary Show but we’re a few weeks back in the syndication run. The big story coming out of last week was Michael Elgin offering to bring in Hiroshi Tanahashi to team with him against the Briscoes in a dream match, though I’m not sure how many people were dreaming of it. Let’s get to it.
TV Title: Roderick Strong vs. Masada
Strong is defending and Masada is a death match guy. They go to the mat to start with Masada grabbing a knee bar to send the champ bailing into the ropes. Back up and they chop it out to take it outside with Masada taking over. That actually doesn’t last long as Masada sends him back inside for a knee to the face and a backbreaker onto the apron as we take a break.
Back with Masada chopping away but Strong slips out (or might have been dropped) of a powerbomb. Instead Masada grabs a Death Valley Driver for two but Strong starts cranking things up with another running knee and a belly to back for two of his own. Masada pulls out some weapon but gets it knocked away, meaning he has to settle for a powerbomb instead. That means it’s time for some bamboo but Strong is a wrestler so he hits his third knee to the head to retain at 8:16.
Rating: D+. Masada had some better moments in there than I was expecting but Strong was getting repetitive in there with the knees to the head. Like, throw a dropkick or something dude. I really don’t see why Strong had to turn heel in the first place as he’s lost some of his steam since the turn and isn’t as entertaining as he was before.
Post match here’s Bobby Fish to say he better move to another planet if Strong wants to be the best wrestler in the world. Apparently Roddy vs. the World is about Strong defending the title against anyone not named Bobby Fish. Strong things Bobby is having issues dealing with his age catching up with him but Bobby offers to go to war whenever the champ wants.
We look back at Elgin’s challenge to the Briscoes from last week.
Top Prospect Tournament First Round: Colby Corino vs. Punisher Martinez
Martinez is a good sized guy who towers over Corino. Colby tries some quick strikes and gets his head taken off with a clothesline. Some hard throws send Colby into the corner and an over the shoulder backbreaker gets two. A Liger Kick staggers Punisher and a middle rope Diamond Cutter gets two on the big man and a flip dive to the floor drops Martinez again. The fans are getting behind Corino here but Punisher gives him a Last Ride onto the apron for a SICK crash. Back in and a sitout chokeslam advances Punisher at 3:28.
Rating: C. Martinez looked good here and could have a future in this place. Colby is a good choice for a ragdoll and ROH is the kind of place that could go somewhere as size doesn’t mean as much around here. Nothing to see here but that Last Ride bump looked great and made up for some of the other stuff.
Post match BJ Whitmer gets in the ring to tell Colby that he did well but now it’s time for Steve Corino to take off that mask. Steve Corino is the man who spent Christmas with his new family while Colby was with Whitmer over the holidays. Wrestling 3 denies it again so Whitmer grabs Colby by the throat and yells at him for calling his father on Christmas. Colby is forgiven for that, but not for the sins of his father, meaning it’s time for another beating. Whitmer throws Colby in front of Wrestling 3 and tells the masked man that he’s proven what BJ has been saying.
We look back at the announcement of the #1 contenders match from last week.
Nigel McGuinness has replaced Mr. Wrestling 3 on commentary as the masked man helped Colby to the back.
ReDRagon vs. Adam Cole/Jay Lethal
Adam won’t come in for the pre-match handshake so it’s Lethal vs. Kyle to get things going. Cole actually offers to tag in but tags right back out after a quick circle of the ring. We get a standoff until Lethal grabs a headlock, only to get countered into a cross armbreaker. Lethal is too close to the ropes but it’s off to Fish to keep the champ in trouble. The announcers talk about the incoming New Japan guys as Kyle stays on the arm.
Cole finally comes in to face Fish but freaks out when Kyle is about to be tagged in. Lethal gets Fish to the floor and whips him into the barricade before the tag can bring in O’Reilly though, allowing the heels to take over. We take a break and come back with Lethal dropkicking Fish in the back of the head to set up some posing. Cole comes in and eats a clothesline, allowing the tag off to Kyle as things speed up again.
It’s back to Lethal who gets caught in another cross armbreaker as everything breaks down. Cole and Fish go to the floor so it’s time for Lethal and O’Reilly to trade their forearms, because that’s how you fight in ROH. Chasing the Dragon is broken up and the Lethal Combination sets up a Shining Wizard on Kyle for two. We take another break and come back with Lethal dropping a top rope elbow on Fish but getting caught in a dragon screw legwhip.
We finally get the showdown of Cole vs. O’Reilly, meaning it’s time to grab each other by the head and fire off forearms. Kyle, who can barely stand up, no sells a German Suplex and keeps hammering away, though he’s nice enough to sell a superkick. Lethal comes back in and kicks Kyle in the head but gives Cole the Lethal Injection by mistake. Chasing the Dragon puts Adam away at 16:55.
Rating: B. Nice long tag match here with the right ending as I can’t stand it when a makeshift team who doesn’t even like each other beats one of the best teams the company has ever seen. I’m still not wild on ReDRagon as singles guys but they’re a very entertaining tag team who work well together.
Overall Rating: C+. The main event more than carried this show, as is almost always the case with the tag division. The rest of the show worked more than well enough though with Corino vs. Whitmer shaping up quite well, even though I’m not sure how strong of a match it’s eventually going to be. I’m liking this show far better than I was expecting to and it’s really found its niche in recent months.
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Ring of Honor TV – November 25, 2015: Destination Awesome
Ring of Honor Date: November 25, 2015
Location: Wings Stadium Annex, Kalamazoo, Michigan Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly
This is a big show with a big main event as we have Roderick Strong challenging Jay Lethal for the TV Title to continue their long and rather entertaining feud over the last year or so. We’re getting closer and close to Final Battle and it’s about time to have a build between AJ Styles and Lethal for the World Title so maybe they can tie it in here. Let’s get to it.
As a side note, this is the final episode on Destination America, though the show will still air in syndication as it has for years now.
Opening sequence.
Moose vs. Dominic Carter
Spear ends Carter in five seconds.
Post match Moose’s manager Stokely Carmichael says Jay Lethal will only be World Champion until Moose gets his hands on him. Carmichael thinks he heard this last week from Michael Elgin, who isn’t as big or strong or talented as Moose. Therefore, Elgin needs to go to the back of the line where he belongs.
Instead Elgin comes out here to say that Moose did win his match faster than Elgin did last week, but there’s a bit of a size difference. Big Mike is ready to give Moose some real competition any time he’s ready. Moose says we can do it right now but here’s the House of Truth (minus Jay Lethal but including Taeler Henrdix (good lord)) to laugh all this off and call them out for using Lethal’s name to get over. Elgin says he’ll be in a hotel with Hendrix later. Those are fighting words and a tag match is on.
J. Diesel/Donovan Dijak vs. Michael Elgin/Moose
It’s a big brawl to start until we take a break. Back with Elgin taking Dijak down with an enziguri and a dropkick for good measure. Moose comes in for his own dropkick and then a suplex, challenging Elgin to best that. Elgin’s suplex is in fact longer but he stops to argue with Moose, allowing the House of Truth to make a comeback. Everything breaks down and Hendrix grabs Elgin for a distraction. Dijak grabs a good looking chokebreaker on Elgin as Kelly talks about Diesel wanting to go by Joey Diesel Daddiago or however that is spelled.
Moose makes his comeback on Diesel but Dijak jumps him from behind. Without a tag, Elgin sends both of them to the floor for an apron cannonball before teasing a kiss on Hendrix. That sexual assault goes nowhere so it’s a German suplex for two on Diesel instead. Everything breaks down again and Elgin buckle bombs Diesel, followed by a spear from Moose after a blind tag for the pin at 11:33.
Rating: C. This was all storytelling instead of a good match and there’s nothing wrong with that. Moose vs. Elgin has the potential to be two guys beating the heck out of each other for fifteen minutes at Final Battle and that’s all it needs to be. Lethal vs. either one could be a fun match on a big stage so everyone wins. Well save for whichever of them loses.
Moose and Elgin stare each other down as Elgin didn’t like that blind tag.
Long video on Strong wanting one more match to prove he can beat Lethal. It’s not about either title but rather Strong’s pride. They were smart to keep this taped as Strong live can be a disaster. He’s downright listenable taped though.
Story Time with Adam Cole focuses on the Kingdom being great Tag Team Champions. War Machine will get their hopeless title shot at Final Battle and Cole will beat up Dalton Castle next week. Simple, to the point and natural here.
Here’s the Decade so BJ Whitmer can rip on Steve Corino for lying about his neck surgery. Whitmer can’t believe that Nigel McGuinness bought it because McGunniness lied about being hurt a few years back. Nigel isn’t going to take this and gets in the ring to…..say the Decade can’t be at Final Battle either.
TV Title: Roderick Strong vs. Jay Lethal
Lethal is defending and this is their third match of the year with Lethal holding a 1-0-1 lead. There’s no Truth Martini here but there are two referees to make sure it’s a fair fight. They go to the mat to start with Lethal bailing outside when he can’t keep up. An armbar frustrates the champion even more and he teases leaving, only to get dragged back in and chopped as a punishment.
We take a break with Roderick in control and come back with Jay firing off chops on the floor. Roderick tastes the barricade (needs some honey mustard) but is thrown back in at a thirteen count. Back in and they chop each other some more until Lethal takes over with a headlock. Well it’s better than the standard chinlock. A quick enziguri gives Strong a breather and he fires off his running strikes before picking Jay up for a backbreaker.
Back from another break with Lethal missing a dropkick but grabbing the Lethal Combination for two. There’s a Koji Clutch (which just looks cool) until Strong crawls over to the ropes and bails outside for a breather. Two straight suicide dives have Strong in trouble but he avoids a third. Well yeah he should after Lethal does the same thing three times. Back in and Lethal gets caught on the top for a kind of reverse belly to back suplex.
The Strong Hold is broken up and a Lethal Injection gets two. Strong comes right back with three straight knees to the face but a superplex is countered into a top rope bulldog. That only gets two more so Strong pops up for another knee to the head. The Sick Kick and a suplex into a backbreaker set up the Strong Hold to FINALLY end Lethal’s eighteen month reign at 21:48.
Rating: B+. They really didn’t have any other choice here and that’s often the best thing that can happen. Lethal had held the title for so long that it didn’t mean anything anymore and now it’s freed up for others to have their run with it instead. I’ve never been a fan of having one person as a double champion so it’s a good move to let Lethal just be World Champion. The match itself was really solid stuff too with the ending being the best part as Strong just threw everything he had at Lethal until Jay couldn’t stand up any longer.
The House of Truth pulls Lethal out as Strong poses to end the show.
Overall Rating: A-. When a third of your show is one really solid match and the other major story is building up to what should be a fun match at Final Battle, everyone wins here. Everyone is on point right now and it’s making the build for Final Battle all the better. Good stuff here with another solid show, as it’s been for a long time now.
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Ring of Honor TV – October 21, 2015: Well Done ROH
Ring of Honor Date: October 21, 2015
Location: Shrine Auditorium, San Antonio, Texas
Commentators: King Corino, Kevin Kelly
We’re in the middle of the regular taping cycle before we move on to the Glory By Honor tapings which are bigger than the regular shows, which could make for some entertaining TV in the coming weeks. Tonight’s big attraction is a statement from the Kingdom after they won the Tag Team Titles at All-Star Extravaganza. Let’s get to it.
Addiction vs. All Night Express
The Express claims that they’re the rightful Tag Team Champions as they never actually lost them a few years ago. Sabin is at ringside, throwing pieces of paper at Titus during the handshake. Kazarian and King get things going with Kenny backdropping him over the top and out onto Sabin. For some reason this earns him an ejection and the distraction lets the Express double team Kazarian and then Daniels as well. Some heroes.
Daniels gets punched in the face a few times before Daniels adds a nice spinwheel kick to the face. Kazarian rakes Titus’ eyes from the apron and we take a break. During the break we get a promo from Jay Briscoe for his No DQ match against Adam Page tonight. Jay is sorry that Page has hit the biggest bump there is in the road but Page is going to be a better man for it. Back with Daniels suplexing Kazarian onto Titus and covering with a boot on the chest.
We hit a front facelock for a bit until Titus dropkicks King into the corner and dives over for the tag off to King as the pace goes way up. Everything breaks down and a High/Low drops King. A springboard spinning legdrop gets two on Titus but he collides with Daniels to put all four down. King throws Kazarian with a suplex but Titus walks into a release Rock Bottom. Cue a guy in a red mask to distract Daniels from making the pin though, allowing the Express to catch Daniels in a powerbomb/Blockbuster combo for the pin at 10:10.
Rating: C+. This was a nice way to establish that the Express is back and another player in the tag division. The tag teams have been one of the strongest points around here in recent months and another talented team isn’t going to hurt that a bit. The Kingdom is the kind of act that doesn’t need to win most of the time and they’re still going to be over, though the red mask thing isn’t working for me.
Here’s the Kingdom in full with something to say. Bennett tells a story about a farmer and a snake. One day the snake asked the farmer to keep him warm, so the farmer put the snake close to his chest. Then the snake bit the farmer because he’s a snake and that’s what he does. Maria says she’s the manager of the greatest wrestling faction in history and even though she has to work in a male dominated industry, she doesn’t have to play by a man’s rules.
Taven talks about a vision the four of them had of them all standing next to each other with gold around their waists. That means the Kingdom will not rest until Adam Cole is World Heavyweight Champion once again. Cole turned his back on Kyle O’Reilly because Kyle doesn’t belong anywhere near the World Title.
It was clear that Cole was always a step better and not hearing his name listed among the top contenders for the World Title made him sick. He was behind people like Michael Elgin who had to go all the way to Japan to become relevant again. Cue ReDRagon but security holds them back. Fish says it’s a matter of time before they’re the Tag Team Champions again but first of all they’re coming for Cole. Adam laughs it off because of the numbers advantage but here’s Elgin to clean house on his own. The six man is set for some point in the future.
The Kingdom looked good here but it’s clear that there are a lot of weak promos in ROH right now. Cole and maybe Maria were the only ones to sound competent on the mic here as the rest sounded like a bunch of amateurs. The feud is fine though and Kingdom is a pretty solid stable, even though ROH has too many of them at any given time.
Inside ROH focuses on Silas Young vs. Dalton Castle and the Boys being turned into men by Young, much to Castle’s dismay. We see most of the Boys getting squashed last week as this is getting a lot more time than it needs.
Adam Cole is ready for AJ Styles in two weeks because it’s a different Cole than the one that Styles has beaten twice already.
The Kingdom vs. Elgin/ReDRagon will be next week.
Jay Briscoe vs. Adam Page
No holds barred. Whitmer joins commentary to drive Corino even crazier than usual. Page comes in with a banged up shoulder. Adam makes the mistake of slapping him in the face during the handshake so Jay kicks him in the jaw and clotheslines him out to the floor. Jay loads up a suicide dive but goes head first into a chair instead, giving Adam an unexpected advantage. It’s table time but Briscoe pelts a chair at Adam’s head to put him down again.
They head inside and Whitmer tries to slip Page the crutch but Mark Briscoe takes it away and leaves. Page DDT’s Jay through an open chair for two and we take a break. Back with Page choking in the corner and telling Jay to say his name (remember that Briscoe said he had no idea who Page was a few weeks back). Jay sidesteps a charge and the bad shoulder goes into the post, knocking Page right onto the table for a double stomp from the apron.
The arguing announcers wish that they would lose their voices as Jay slowly destroys Page. Back inside and the chair is wrapped around Page’s throat for a neckbreaker. Normally that would end things but Jay would rather get another table (which he has to rid of the stupid streamers). The fans want Jay to save the tables because, as usual, ROH wants to be different from WWE but goes along with all its good stuff. Adam grabs a pumphandle slam to send Jay through the table in an act of survival.
We take another break and come back with Jay not being able to hit the Jay Driller off the apron and through a table. Adam sets up yet another table but flips into a discus forearm to the head. Neither guy can hit their finisher off the apron through a table (because it would probably kill them) so Jay crowns him with a chair before actually hitting the Driller through the table (fans: “YOU JUST KILLED HIM!”) for……TWO??? That actually made my eyes pop open. Page slaps him in the face and scores with a kick to the jaw as Whitmer and Corino argue again. Another Jay Driller gives Briscoe the pin at 16:26.
Rating: B+. It takes a lot to surprise me in wrestling but they actually got me on that near fall. That’s going to go a long way for Page who doesn’t have a lot going for him but that’s one of those moments that people can talk about for a long time with him. Briscoe should have won here and the match can end this mini feud for him with both guys looking good, especially considering this was a squash on paper.
Post match Whitmer beats on Briscoe with the crutch. Corino gets in the ring, takes off his jacket, and punches out Whitmer with a roll of quarters. Steve hugs Kevin Kelly and leaves, likely without his job due to getting physical.
Overall Rating: B-. This was a solid show and a good use of an hour as several stories were covered and some matches were set up for the future. It’s a rare thing to see this show use its time so well but it worked well here and the result was an entertaining hour of wrestling TV. Check out the main event if you have time as it’s quite the brawl.
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Ring of Honor TV – August 12, 2015: I’m Getting There
Ring of Honor Date: August 12, 2015
Location: William J. Myers Pavilion, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: King Corino, Kevin Kelly
It’s FINALLY a new batch of tapings as the show has moved from New York to Baltimore. The big story coming out of last week is the Tag Team Title situation as Future Shock reformed to take down the Addiction in a non-title match. This isn’t cool with Future Shock member Adam Cole’s stable the Kingdom, who will likely have something to say about this tonight. Let’s get to it.
Watanabe vs. ACH
Hey, it’s the guy that I still don’t get but keeps getting matches on TV because he’s Japanese and therefore must be awesome. They chop it out to start and Watanabe kneels down, telling ACH to chop him again. ACH obliges before kneeling down, only to have Watanabe’s chops work a bit better. Back up and ACH backflips to set up a dropkick as Corino runs down the Field of Honor card. Watanabe gets kicked to the floor and a running kick to the chest from the apron puts him down again.
We take a break and come back with ACH working on the arm but getting caught in a gordbuster. A backsplash (which is becoming too common of a move these days) sets up a chinlock on ACH. That goes as far as a chinlock can take you so ACH kicks him to the floor and hits a great looking flip dive over the top.
Back in and Watanabe’s fisherman’s buster is countered with a small package for two. They head outside again with ACH running up the pole to flip over, but he’s stupid enough to stand there and pose, allowing Watanabe to hit a wicked overhead German suplex on the floor. A fisherman’s buster gets two for Watanabe but ACH hits a brainbuster of his own, setting up the Midnight Star (450) for the pin at 9:42.
Rating: C. Well that happened. Seriously this had no impact on me whatsoever and was just nine minutes of wrestling with a commercial in the middle. Watanabe is as generic of a Japanese wrestler as I’ve ever seen and ACH can do flips. That doesn’t make me want to see either guy again as they feel like archetypes instead of characters.
ReDRagon is ready for the Kingdom tonight but imply they drink their own urine. Very simple, old school promo here, minus the last part that is.
From earlier in the day, ROH boss Nigel McGuinness was here to make some announcements. He heard the FIVE MORE MINUTES chants at Death Before Dishonor when Roderick Strong vs. Jay Lethal went to a sixth minute draw, but the only thing that would happen in five more minutes was a serious injury.
However, it’s clear that the people want to see more of these two, which means we’ll see it again at the August 21 TV tapings. The winner there will take the title to All-Star Extravaganza on September 18 to defend against Kyle O’Reilly. Also at All-Star Extravaganza, Bobby Fish will face the TV Champion, whoever that may be at that time.
Dalton Castle and the Boys (as opposed to Dem Boys) pitch merchandise. This guy just breathes charisma.
House of Truth vs. War Machine
It’s Diesel/Dijak for the House of Truth here with Lethal on commentary. The heels jump War Machine at the call for the Code of Honor but Hanson easily puts both of them on the top rope for some sledges to the corner. Lethal: “TRUTH! TELL HIM TO SLOW DOWN!” Some good old fashioned double team cheating lets Dijak kick Hanson in the face and Lethal is downright giddy.
Hanson stays down as long as a monster is going to against someone like Diesel and it’s quickly off to Rowe to clean house. Dijak throws Hanson down with a release suplex and Diesel adds a spear for two. War Machine’s Path of Resistance crushes Dijak and Hanson’s top rope splash makes it even worse. Lethal: “SLOW DOWN!!!” Fallout (a belly to back suplex/top rope guillotine legdrop) ends Diesel at 4:52. Oh and Hanson is facing Lethal for the TV Title in a few weeks. This match makes so much more sense all of a sudden.
Rating: C. I had fun with this as there’s always room for a Legion of Doom style team to destroy various people, especially someone as pesky as Diesel. Lethal was more entertaining on commentary than he was for years imitating people and I can kind of see the massive appeal he carries. Granted that’s likely to end as soon as I really don’t care for his matches.
Tim Hughes vs. Adam Page
This is the only match I can ever find listed for Hughes. Fans: “LET’S GO JOBBER!” The Rite of Passage ends Hughes in 24 seconds.
BJ Whitmer yells at ROH for giving Page such an easy opponent. Page calls out Jay Briscoe, much to Kelly’s shock. As luck would have it, Briscoe isn’t here. With that going nowhere, Whitmer yells at King Corino but Nigel comes out to say cut it out. The fans, ever bloodthirsty, say LET THEM FIGHT.
Back from a break with King Corino off commentary and Kelly going solo. We see a clip of Corino nearly killing Whitmer last week to show where this came from. I always appreciate stuff like that as not everyone saw the previous show, so let us know what’s going on.
Kingdom vs. ReDRagon
Kingdom has finally lost their IWGP Tag Team Titles. Adam Cole comes out to do commentary to a huge face reaction and Maria is freaked out. O’Reilly and Taven get things going with Kyle grabbing a headlock until Taven comes back with a great sunset flip for two. It’s off to Bennett vs. Fish as we have the standard double tag. Fish kicks Bennett in the chest before it’s back to Kyle for a nice double suplex. A slingshot hilo gets two for Fish and we take a break with Bennett getting low bridged to the floor.
Back with Kyle diving off the apron to take Bennett down and Fish swiveling his hips for reasons that aren’t clear. Maria offers a distraction (I wonder how she pulled that off) and Taven gets in a kick to the head to take over. Cole reiterates that he’s the only member of the Kingdom ready to hold the World Title as Bennett puts Kyle in a chinlock. Bennett’s Thesz press with punches and a middle finger elbow are a rather bizarre including so it’s off to Taven for some choking in the corner.
Kyle somehow grabs a leg bar for a breather and leg trips Taven down, setting up the hot tag to Bobby. Fish cleans house but Taven blocks the exploder suplex into the corner. The second attempt works a bit better though and Fish keeps cleaning house. Everything breaks down but Taven is able to escape Chasing the Dragon. There’s a choke to Bennett instead but he spins around for a running boot from Taven.
Matt’s high angle Swanton gets two on Fish and the wheelbarrow suplex gets the same for Kyle. O’Reilly eats a superkick and it’s time for everyone to kick with Taven kicking Kyle into the ropes for a superkick from Bennett. Hail Mary (spike piledriver) on the floor crushes Kyle again and Cole isn’t happy. Back in and Fish tries to go it alone but Taven kicks him in the face, setting up another Hail Mary for the pin at 14:04.
Rating: C+. This got a bit too insane for my tastes but they’re nailing the story at this point and I’m digging this more than almost anything else in ROH right now. Though to be fair, Maria has a lot to do with that. Good match here and you can see Cole’s full on face turn (he’s like 90% there already) on the horizon.
Post match the Kingdom loads up another Hail Mary but Cole comes in and says cool it, which Maria agrees with to end the show.
Overall Rating: C+. I’m starting to get into the stories around here, though I’m still not wild on a lot of the wrestling stuff. The tag team situation is getting better every week as you can see where they’re going with things, which as usual is a positive. The Jay Lethal stuff can work for awhile but they can only carry this on so long before the midcard starts to suffer. Good show this week though and I’m hopeful going forward.
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Ambrose got started in 2004 under the name of Jon Moxley. Here he is in an early jobbing appearance on Velocity, January 21, 2006.
Brad Taylor/Jon Moxley vs. MNM
MNM are Smackdown Tag Team Champions but this is non-title of course. Moxley, with hair longer than Rollins’, eats an elbow to the jaw to start. Everything breaks down and Taylor is thrown to the floor. Mercury drops him throat first across the barricade and adds a huge clothesline back inside. All MNM so far. The breakdancing legdrop has Taylor in trouble but Nitro has to stop for some posing. A tag finally brings in Moxley who is knocked on the back of his head by a dropkick. The Snapshot gives Mercury the easy pin in a long squash.
Rating: D. Dull stuff here but what else are you expecting on a five minute squash on the C list Saturday night show? Moxley didn’t get to show off much here but only a year and a half into the business he really didn’t have much to show off at this point anyway. It’s always interesting to see a jobber who becomes a bigger deal than the stars in the match and that’s what we had here.
Moxley would head to perhaps his most famous haunt: Heartland Wrestling Association in Cincinnati. Here he is on HWA TV in February 2007.
Jon Moxley vs. BJ Whitmer
Feeling out process to start as they trade wristlocks with the commentator running down upcoming house shows. Whitmer cranks on the arm as we hear the other commentator call Puerto Rico a foreign country. A headscissors from Whitmer gets us to a standoff as they’re not really going out of first gear yet. Whitmer hits a quick running knee to the face and a running clothesline puts Moxley out on the floor. That goes a bit better for him actually as he whips Whitmer into the apron and barricade to take over for the first time.
They head inside again with a Jon nailing a backbreaker for two. As is his custom, Moxley goes a little big insane by slapping on a headscissors but cranking on the leg as well for kind of an inverted STF. Back up and Whitmer rips off some chops before a big spinebuster gets two. Jon fights out of what looks like a Rock Bottom and nails a powerbomb into a Liontamer, sending BJ crawling to the ropes. He’s fine enough to superplex Moxley down though before hitting an exploder suplex (I’m guessing that’s what he was going for earlier) but a group called Five Most Wanted comes in for the DQ.
Rating: D+. This really didn’t do much for me, but to be fair Moxley was much better on the mic at this point anyway. I’ve never gotten the appeal of Whitmer. He’s been in ROH for the better part of ever and has had some ok matches, but I’m not sure why he’s been around as long as he has. I really don’t have much to say on this one if you can’t tell.
I’m not entirely sure but I believe this match took place at an HWA house (bar actually) show on March 7, 2007.
Raven vs. Jon Moxley
Before the match, Moxley says he only plays by his rules so this is Jon Moxley Rules, which I’m guessing means anything goes. Raven comes out and asks if that’s what Moxley considers a promo. A quick poll says the people are here to see Moxley take a beating. This is officially a Raven’s Clockwork Orange House of Fun match, which is yet another name for hardcore/weapons match.
Moxley takes him into the corner a few times to start and Raven pauses to grab the mic again. He calls that mildly intimidating and tells Moxley not to do that again. Now Jon wants a handshake but Raven is ready for his kick to the ribs. They head outside and thankfully there’s a spotlight there to make up for the horrible lighting. Raven takes him over the barricade but the cameraman seems to stumble as we lose sight of the guys in the match.
We catch up with Raven choking him on the ground before taking Moxley back to ringside. A clothesline knocks Moxley out of a chair but he comes back with a low blow inside. He shouts NEVERMORE and stomps Raven down for two and it’s time for a chair. Moxley has a seat and puts on the sleeper, only to release early ala Adrian Adonis at Wrestlemania III. Raven crotches him on top and gets all fires up with a bunch of left hands and a discus lariat, only to have Moxley throw him into the chair for two. Raven blocks the drop toehold, pelts the chair at Jon and plants him with the Raven Effect for the pin.
Rating: C. I liked this better than I was expecting to as it’s fascinating seeing a veteran like Raven walk Moxley through this match. Yeah it’s stuff we’ve seen before from Raven, but the stuff setting this up was probably an invaluable lesson for Jon. Raven has been around forever and has a great mind for the business, so it was clear that he was able to show these guys a lot of new ideas. That’s always good for guys like Moxley and other guys early in their careers and this worked well enough as a result.
Moxley would actually get a TNA tryout match on November 11, 2008 before an Impact taping.
Lamar Braxton Porter vs. Jon Moxley
Porter is a doctor character (specializing in PAIN) and is a big power guy with a beard. From what I can tell he wrestled down in FCW in 2010/2011 under the name Cable Jones on a developmental contract. Anyway he shoves Moxley around with ease to start and Jon bails to the corner. Moxley’s waistlock doesn’t get him anywhere and Porter chokes him in the corner.
Jon, a very cocky guy here who seems to be the default face, gets pounded down in the corner again before a spinebuster plants him. Porter misses a charge in the corner and gets slammed down, setting up a missile dropkick for two. An STO backbreaker drops Jon and sets up a swingout Rock Bottom for two more. Back up and Moxley plants him with a DDT for the pin.
Rating: D+. You know Moxley wasn’t much to see in his earlier days. I can see why Porter got a shot in FCW though as he’s a big, strong guy with a god looking beard. That being said, I can also see why these guys didn’t get on in TNA. It wasn’t much of a match and neither guy really stood out here with just back and forth stuff and Porter using his power game. I’ve watched about five Moxley matches now and he hasn’t done anything that stands out from the crowd.
I’m taking a guess on the date of this one and I have no information about it.
Jon Moxley vs. Bryan Danielson
The show looks to be in a church as there are very high ceilings and lights everywhere. Danielson flips out of a test of strength and spits in Moxley’s face to send Jon out to the floor. Back in and Moxley grabs a headlock and they hit the mat for a wrestling sequence. It’s Danielson taking over (shocking I know) with an armbar while sitting on Moxley’s head for good measure.
Danielson does that PAINFUL looking move where he has one arm pinned down and bends the other so that it touches the mat. Back up and Moxley elbows him in the face to take over as the match slows down a bit. The camera shot goes wide for some reason, making it a lot harder to tell what’s going on. Moxley chokes away in the corner and then hammers away in the opposite corner.
In what has been a recurring problem for him, Moxley takes way too long going up top and gets superplexed right back down. Bryan makes his comeback and hits a quick snap suplex, followed by the Swan Dive for two. We hit a nice pinfall reversal sequence for a series of two counts before Jon suplexes him down for another near fall. Moxley tries it again like a villain….rarely does actually, but gets caught in Cattle Mutilation for the submission.
Rating: C. This wasn’t bad and you can see Moxley starting to get the in ring work down. He still doesn’t have a varied offense but that would come soon enough. Danielson was on fire at this point and lighting up the indies (I say this point in a broad scope) and would have been able to get a good to great match out of anyone. Probably the best Moxley match so far.
We’ll head to a co-promoted show from Dragon Gate USA/Evolve on July 23, 2010.
Jon Moxley vs. Brodie Lee
You probably know Lee (in the same attire he wears today) better as Luke Harper. Moxley charges at the bell but gets shoved away and chopped HARD. A big boot drops Moxley again and Lee plants him with a butterfly suplex. Moxley can’t piledrive him though and gets kicked out to the floor. Total dominance so far. Things actually work a bit better for Moxley on the floor as he sends Lee into the post and bites his face.
Brodie comes back by knocking him up against the barricade and chopping Moxley into the crowd. Jon gets that crazy Ambrose look in his eye though and dives back over before choking Lee to the floor. Back in and Moxley gets caught in a half nelson suplex, only to fire off slaps to the face. They slug it out with that REALLY FREAKING ANNOYING non selling of shots to the face before a double clothesline puts both guys on the floor. Both guys bring in chairs and it’s a double DQ befor eanyone does anything with them.
Rating: C+. Now THIS is more like it. These guys beat the tar out of each other and you can see the characters they would be best known for in WWE shining through. Moxley is finding his niche as the off his rocker brawler who can cut awesome promos on the side. The same is true for Lee, as he’s basically the same guy here as he is today as Harper.
Now we get to the matches I’ve been wanting to do since this summer: Dean Ambrose’s series with William Regal. The idea here is simple: Ambrose knows that he’s a villain just like William Regal and has spent months trying to get a match with him. They would FINALLY have their showdown on FCW TV, November 6, 2011. This feud was made by the promos as Ambrose just went completely insane on Regal while Regal kept his calm. One day Ambrose attacked him though and Regal snapped, turning into the evil man that Ambrose knew was still inside him. Regal thanked him for this and the match was set.
William Regal vs. Dean Ambrose
Regal receives a very respectful ovation from the fan. Neither guy is interested in shaking hands as they’ve got a lot of time to work with here. Regal drops him in the corner and stomps away while arguing with the referee as only a villain could. A bunch of forearms drop Ambrose and Regal’s facial expressions here are driving this to another level. You can tell how much he’s relishing being evil again because it’s his nature as a human.
Ambrose gets in a shot to the arm and grabs a standing armbar before Dean forearms him out to the floor. Regal sends him back first onto the apron though and we take a break. Back with Ambrose on his back but crawling away. You might even say backing up in a defensive position. That’s fine with Regal who grabs the arm and bends Dean’s pinkie finger back before driving elbows into the face.
Regal takes him into the corner and pulls Dean’s arm through the turnbuckle pad to tie him into the corner. He drives knees into the exposed arms until the referee has to try to get him out. The distraction lets Dean come back with a running clothesline with the good arm for two. Dean chokes with his shin in a move Regal used earlier on to keep up the psychological game. Regal reverses a triangle choke into a Regal Stretch attempt (cranking on the good arm since Dean can’t use the injured one to escape) but Dean gets to the ropes before the hold is on full.
It gets even worse for Ambrose as Regal is all fired up now. He takes Dean back to the floor and pins the arm between the steps and the ring before kicking the steps into the post. Back in and Regal just hammers Dean across the face with forearms. Ambrose tells him to bring it on so Regal rips at his face. A pair of exploder suplexes is only good for two and Dean is smiling. With the left arm hanging, the Knee Trembler is enough to end Ambrose.
Rating: B+. This was almost all psychology here and it worked wonderfully. Dean tried a monster but pushed him to a level he never should have gone near, sending Regal to pure evil. It was more than Ambrose could handle and Regal had to finish him off with a running knee to the head of a basically unprotected man. Great stuff and well worth checking out to learn how to be a heel.
We’ll wrap up the developmental time with this match that is likely headlining a major pay per view someday. From FCW TV on January 12, 2012.
Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins
Reigns is known as Leakee here but that looks better as a title. The winner gets a title shot next week. Ambrose stops to look at William Regal, who he’s been having a long feud with at this point. We’ll get there eventually. Leakee pulls Dean down as Regal talks about how glad he is that his children don’t have evil in their eyes. Rollins gets double teamed but Leakee slams both of their faces into the mat to take over.
Now it’s Leakee getting double teamed as we take a break. Back with Leakee still being double teamed as Regal talks about how great it is for he and Ambrose to be evil but he’s trying to control his hatred. Ambrose rolls Rollins up for two before getting sent to the floor. Leakee knocks Rollins out of the air for two but Ambrose takes Leakee down into the Regal Stretch as part of an obsession with getting a rematch.
Leakee makes the ropes but Rollins springboards in with a clothesline to Dean. The low superkick sends Leakee to the floor but Dean counters another attempt into a wheelbarrow slam for two. Ambrose misses a knee trembler (Regal’s finisher) and Rollins hammers away, only to miss the curb stomp.
Instead he dives through the ropes to take out Leakee before heading back inside to slug it out with Dean. Regal admits that he knows Ambrose will be the end of him as Ambrose turns Rollins inside out with a clothesline. Leakee comes in and Samoan drops both guys at the same time before Checkmate (a running bulldog, a terrible finisher for him) ends Ambrose for the pin.
Rating: C+. All this really did was make me want to watch Ambrose vs. Regal in a match that tears the house down and shows more emotion than anything WWE has done in years because they’re both old school workers like that. The match itself was your usual triple threat. Leakee changing finishers was the best idea he could have had.
Ambrose wasn’t done with Regal though and spent months trying to get a rematch. They finally had their showdown on the final episode of FCW TV on July 15, 2012.
William Regal vs. Dean Ambrose
Feeling out process to start with Regal reaching for the bad arm. An early key lock takes Ambrose (who has a hairy chest here) down and Regal rams the arm into the mat. He stays on the arm by driving in knees and bends the fingers around again. Back up and Ambrose tries to escape in the corner but Regal trips his leg to keep control. He stays on the arm as Dean just can’t get away from him. Regal is wrestling more of a match here instead of going after revenge.
Ambrose finally escapes and shouts that Regal is going to have to take the arm home with him. That’s fine with Regal who takes him down into a crossface chicken wing on the mat but Dean bites the hand to escape. Regal gets even angrier and fires off knees to the face, followed by an exploder suplex. They head outside with Regal putting the arm between the steps and ring again. He doesn’t crush it though but rather steps on Dean’s head to get back to the apron before pulling on the free arm.
The referee breaks it up so Dean unties the bottom buckle as we take a break. Back with Ambrose finally sending him into the post to get a breather. Dean stomps away and the left arm is far too healthy so soon. Regal is stunned from the bad shot into the post and the referee has to check on him.
A series of palm strikes to the head have Regal in trouble and Dean rips the buckle pad off. He drives a bunch of knees into the side of the head, sending Regal’s ear into the buckle. The ear is busted open and a trainer comes out to check on him, but Regal charges across the ring with a forearm. A bunch of referees come in and the match is stopped due to the injury.
Rating: B-. Good but not on the same level of the first match. They needed a bigger ending than what they had here though because the match ending with Regal making a comeback isn’t very powerful, but at least they had an idea here. You can see the anger in Ambrose though and that’s all you needed later on.
After the match Ambrose puts him in the Regal Stretch until everyone breaks it up. Regal looks at him and extends his head so Dean can finish him off. Ambrose nails the Knee Trembler to knock him senseless to end the show and FCW. That’s the way the match should have ended.
Ambrose would of course debut as a member of the Shield at Survivor Series 2012. Here’s one of his earliest singles matches in WWE on Smackdown, April 26, 2013.
Undertaker vs. Dean Ambrose
This is quite the rub for Ambrose. Apparently HELL NO isn’t here tonight so Undertaker is on his own. Ambrose takes it to the corner to start which is about the dumbest thing you can do against undertaker. As expected, Taker launches Dean into the corner and pounds away before hitting the apron legdrop. Back in and Taker misses a big boot in the corner, crotching himself in the process.
Ambrose sends him to the floor and goes off on the big man before sending him into the apron. Back in and Dean pounds away even more with that cocky/psycho look on his face. After a quick two count, Dean pounds on Taker’s jaw and yells about justice. He shouts a bit too much though and gets grabbed around the throat. Taker tries to run the ropes but gets caught with a running knee to the ribs. That gets him nowhere though as Taker snaps off a chokeslam but he has to fight off Shield. Ambrose grabs a DDT for a VERY close two but walks into the Hell’s Gate for the tap out at 4:40.
Rating: C+. You want to talk about a rub, look at what you just saw here. The Shield debuted just six months ago and now one of them is fighting the Undertaker in the main event of Smackdown. Ambrose had Taker in trouble too and never once looked like he was in over his head. This is one of the best initial pushes I’ve ever seen and is showing no signs of slowing down at all.
Time for some gold at Extreme Rules 2013.
US Title: Kofi Kingston vs. Dean Ambrose
Kofi is defending. Rollins and Reigns walk back up into the crowd to keep this as an actual one on one match. Feeling out process to start with Kofi trying a quick Trouble in Paradise but Dean grabs the rope. A hiptoss sends Ambrose down and Kofi pounds away in the corner. Dean comes out of the corner with a clothesline and drops an elbow for one. With Kofi against the ropes, Ambrose hits a hard dropkick for a near fall. Ambrose talks trash and puts on a crossface chicken wing of all things, complete with a grapevine.
Kofi fights up and sends Ambrose face first into the buckle to escape before dropping him with a dropkick. Boom Drop connects but Ambrose backs away before Trouble in Paradise can launch. SOS gets two on Dean and Kofi goes up top, only to be crotched down and caught with a butterfly superplex for two.
Ambrose charges into a kick to the face in the corner and there’s a top rope cross body for two for the champion. Dean goes to the apron and there’s Trouble in Paradise but it knocks Ambrose to the floor. Kofi throws him back in for two but another Trouble in Paradise only hits ropes. The bulldog driver gives us a new champion at 6:45.
Rating: C+. This was exactly what it was supposed to be. Kofi was given the title to drop it to someone like Ambrose and he did that just fine. Kingston is the kind of guy who can bounce back no matter who he loses to so he’ll be just fine. This should be the first of many titles for Shield and it’s a very good sign that they’re getting gold this soon.
Here’s a rare defense of the title at Night of Champions 2013.
US Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. Dean Ambrose
Ziggy beat Ambrose via DQ on Friday to get this shot. Feeling out process with Ziggler trying to speed things up, only to have Dean grab the rope. Ziggler gets two off a dropkick and there are the ten elbow drops. They tumble out to the floor and Dean takes over before heading back inside for a knee in the back and some face rubbing into the mat. We hit a reverse chinlock followed by a regular chinlock until Ziggler fights up and gets two off a sunset flip.
They trade rollups for two each and Ziggy goes to the middle rope, only to be knocked down so Dean can slowly rake his back. A superplex gets two for the champion so Dean flips over the top and goes up but Ziggler catches him in a top rope X Factor for two. Ambrose’s full nelson is countered into a rollup for two and Dean goes to the corner.
A Stinger Splash and ten punches set up a clothesline for two on Ambrose and it’s off to the sleeper. Dean easily suplexes his way to freedom and a near fall but gets caught in the Fameasser for a close two. Dean’s bulldog driver is countered into a rollup for two but the second attempt is good for the pin to retain the title at 9:54.
Rating: C+. I liked this one more than I thought I would. This is the kind of match the show needed: a fast paced, back and forth match with both guys looking good. A clean win over a former world champion is nothing but good for Dean and the match was a nice pickup as well. Good stuff here.
Ambrose had a major match at the 2013 Slammys on Raw, December 9, 2013.
CM Punk vs. Dean Ambrose
Rollins and Reigns are staying at ringside. Punk takes him down into a headlock followed by a wicked looking armbar to start. Dean fights up and takes Punk over to the rope, only to be taken down with a hammerlock. Back up and Punk tries a spinning cross body off the ropes but dives into a gutbuster instead. Dean stomps away at the injured ribs and drops an elbow for two before being Punk’s back around the ropes.
Punk has his face shoved into the mat for two and we hit the reverse chinlock. CM fights up and sends Dean chest first into the corner before throwing Ambrose outside to get a breather. The suicide dive takes Ambrose out but Punk has to keep an eye on the rest of the Shield as we take a break.
Back with Ambrose holding a headlock but getting belly to back suplexed down. Punk misses a dropkick and as per wrestling logic, he hurts himself despite landing the same way he would have had the move connected. A swinging neckbreaker gets two on Ambrose and some forearms keep him in trouble. The knee in the corner sets up the Macho Elbow for two but Ambrose comes right back with a butterfly suplex.
Punk’s top rope cross body is rolled through for two but he comes back with the high kick for two of his own. The fans think this is awesome. Ambrose knees him in the rubs but sends Punk to the floor where Shield gets in his face for some reason. The other two members leave and Punk hits a quick GTS for the pin at 17:07.
Rating: B. As I said on Smackdown: this was exactly what you would expect from Punk vs. Ambrose when they get time. I wish they would let someone else lose the fall to Punk, but at least this time we got some storyline development as a result. Very solid TV match here as anyone would have expected.
Ambrose had a long feud with Cesaro, inlcuding this match on Smackdown, July 25, 2014.
Cesaro vs. Dean Ambrose
No DQ after Ambrose got DQ’ed on Monday. Ambrose stomps him down in the corner and wants to know who sent Cesaro out here. He pulls out some Singapore canes and chairs but Cesaro kicks him off the apron. Cesaro gets a cane of his own but only hits the post, allowing Ambrose to take him over the barricade and into the timekeeper’s area. A box of something goes onto Cesaro’s head but he comes back with a cane shot to the chest as Ambrose dives off the announcers’ table.
We take a break and come back with Cesaro holding a cane over Dean’s face. He sets up two chairs and slams Dean onto the chairs, which don’t move. Back to the cane over the face before Cesaro nails him in the bad shoulder a few times. Dean says bring it and catches the next swing before hitting the rebound clothesline. Now it’s Ambrose’s turn to hammer away with the cane.
That’s not enough for Dean though as he sets up two chairs back to back but neither guy can nail a suplex. Instead Dean picks one up and suplexes Cesaro through the other chair for two. A middle rope chair shot to Cesaro’s arm has him in trouble but he slams Dean onto a chair for a near fall of his own. They head outside and Dean nails a suicide dive before throwing about ten chairs into the ring.
Ambrose throws Cesaro back in but here’s Rollins to jump Dean. It doesn’t seem to matter as Dean clotheslines him into the crowd but gets crotched on the top rope by Cesaro. A BIG superplex puts both guys down onto the pile of chairs for two and Cesaro is shocked. He’s so shocked that Ambrose grabs a small package out of nowhere for the pin at 11:39 shown of 14:39.
Rating: B-. Take two guys and let them beat each other up for about fifteen minutes. Where could that go wrong? Ambrose is such an offbeat character and he’s perfect for a match like this. Cesaro can wrestle any style and fits in perfectly in a brawl. That superplex looked awesome too.
The next major feud was with Seth Rollins after the Shield split up. Rollins crushed his head against some cinder blocks and the war was on. The blowoff was inside the Cell at Hell in a Cell 2014.
Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins
Dean is out first and throws a bunch of chairs and some bags in the ring before climbing the Cell. Rollins comes out but doesn’t want to go up so he sends the Stooges up instead. They go up and get the beating you would expect, only to have Rollins sneak up and destroy Ambrose with the Stooges’ help. There hasn’t been a bell yet. They slowly climb halfway down the side of the cage and we get the first major spot of the match as they ram each other into the Cell and fly through the announcers’ tables.
Both guys are put on stretchers as the match stops. Dean realizes what’s going on though and gets off his stretcher. He goes after Rollins and drags him into the Cell to officially start things off. Dean busts out some duct tape but blasts Seth over and over again with a chair instead of using it. He tries the screwdriver to Seth’s face but Rollins snaps his throat across the top to escape. Dean pops back up and dropkicks Rollins into the Cell to take over again. They get back inside so Dean can clothesline Seth out to the floor.
The suicide dive sends Seth into the Cell wall and Rollins is almost dead. Back in again and Dean piles up chairs but gets suplexed onto them instead. Dean gets right back up and puts Seth across a table at ringside for a middle rope elbow ala Cactus Jack. He rubs Seth’s face into the steel but Kane pops up with a fire extinguisher to blind Ambrose. Seth powerbombs Dean through a standing table against the Cell and they go back inside again.
The Curb Stomp gets two and Seth is frustrated. He goes outside for the briefcase but instead just destroys Dean with chair shots. Rollins puts him head first on the briefcase but Dean counters with Dirty Deeds, only to have Seth escape with a kick to the head. Dean comes back with a Rebound clothesline and a briefcase shot to the face for an even closer two.
Now it’s cinder block time with Dean loading up a Curb Stomp of his own but we’ve got Wyatts. Well at least Bray speaking in tongues and now a lantern in the ring. Smoke fills the ring and we have what looks like a ghost in the middle of it. Bray pops up and nails Ambrose as the lights go out again. Back up with Bray spider walking over to Ambrose and laying him out with a release Rock Bottom to give a shocked Rollins the pin at 13:48.
Rating: B+. It’s a good fight but the ending hurts it a bit. This is probably the best option they could have gone with as you don’t want Rollins losing but you also don’t want Dean to lose all of his heat. Ambrose vs. Wyatt should be good but I would have liked this feud to have a more definitive ending. Unfortunately that wasn’t really possible and this puts Bray back in the spotlight with a feud he could actually win.
Well you know who’s next. We’ll wrap it up at Tribute to the Troops 2014 in one of the only matches Ambrose won of the feud.
Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt
This is a Boot Camp match, meaning a military themed street fight. Sgt. Slaughter does the introductions for old times’ sake. Ambrose comes out in a camouflage hat to really suck up to the fans. It’s a brawl to start of course with Dean hitting his dropkick against the ropes. Bray comes back with a slam as we’re waiting on the weapons to come into play. Dean comes back with what looked like a bulldog to send Bray outside, setting up the suicide dive.
They head to the camouflaged posts before Dean hits him with what looked like a tool box. Since there aren’t enough weapons in the ring, Dean goes underneath to find some chairs, one of which he wedges in the corner. Bray comes back with a kendo stick shot and hammers away on Dean’s ribs. Some right hands get two on Ambrose as the announcers debate G.I. Joes.
We take a break and come back with Dean fighting out of a cravate but eating a right hand to the face. A big kendo stick shot gets two and Bray slowly kicks away. Bray misses a big shot though and Dean takes the stick away. Wyatt seems to like the idea but doesn’t like the beating Ambrose gives him as much. A White Russian legsweep and middle rope elbow with the chair get two for Dean so he starts looking for more toys. He picks a table but takes too long setting it up, allowing Bray to Rock Bottom Ambrose through the table for two.
Wyatt busts out another table but stops to get in Slaughter’s face, allowing Dean to get a breather. Slaughter takes off his boot as Dean comes back with the rebound clothesline. The steel toed boot comes into the ring and goes upside Bray’s head to knock him onto the table. Dean heads up top for the elbow through the table for the pin at 14:30.
Rating: C+. This was violent enough to be entertaining but the gimmick was just there to tie things together. In other words, this was a basic street fight with nothing special other than the last spot of the match. Nothing much to see here, but these two have done so much that it’s hard to find something new.
The more I watch of Ambrose, the more I like him. Looking back over his career, you can see the evolution of his persona into the one he is today. The early days as Jon Moxley really don’t hold up, but as he started becoming more of a brawler with a touch of insanity (and later a slap of insanity), everything clicked because he started nailing the character instead of the wrestling. I’d love to see where else he goes with his stuff because the groundwork is more than there.
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