Ring of Honor TV – March 7, 2018: They Got It Done
IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling
Ring of Honor Date: March 7, 2018 Location: Center Stage Theater, Atlanta, Georgia Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana
We’re coming up on the 16th Anniversary Show and that means it’s time to really hammer the card home. Or in this case, it’s time to have a bunch of other stuff before we actually get to the pay per view because of the weird schedule. The shows have been mostly solid as of late so hopefully the trend continues. Let’s get to it.
The Briscoes cost them a title shot a few weeks back to set this up. The violence continues here as the Best Friends are knocked off the apron to start with the beating starting fast. Back in and the Friends hit a string of running clotheslines in the corner but stop for a hug. You don’t give the Briscoes that kind of a break so the Friends are knocked outside as we take a break.
Back with Mark driving Barretta into the corner but getting caught in a tornado DDT. It’s off to Chuckie for a sitout powerbomb as everything breaks down. An Eat Defeat into a suplex rocks Mark, setting up the big flip dive from Barretta. Back in and the reverse Razor’s Edge into a cutter gets a close two on Mark. Barretta’s backslide gets two more but it’s a Jay Driller into a Froggy Bow for the pin at 8:45.
Rating: C+. I’m not big on the Best Friends but amazingly enough, they’re this much better without all the hugging nonsense. Instead it was a straightforward match where they came close to beating the Briscoes, only to come up short in the end as they should have. The Briscoes are going to win the titles without much effort and that’s how it needs to go.
Post match the Motor City Machine Guns come in and lay out the Briscoes in an attempt to make you believe this isn’t going to be the biggest layup of a title change in years.
We recap last week’s TV Title change.
Recap of the Women’s Title tournament so far.
Christopher Daniels vs. Adam Page
Hang on a second though as here’s Bully Ray to eject Scorpio Sky and Kazarian under the threat of a suspension. Page, acting on Ray’s orders, wastes no time in taking it to Daniels by knocking him into the corner and out to the floor. Daniels gets hung over the ropes (by the Hangman of course) but comes back with a shot to the face as we take a break.
Back with Page fighting out of a chinlock and winning the big exchange of forearms. Page powerbombs him down and sends Daniels outside for the shooting star shoulder. Daniels is right back with a rollup but neither can hit their finisher. Best Moonsault Ever misses and the Buckshot Lariat is enough to put Daniels away at 9:17.
Rating: C. I remember watching Page and thinking next to nothing of him. He wasn’t interesting, he wasn’t different and he wasn’t very good. Now though, he’s managed to turn himself into someone who not only puts on good matches but has also figured out how to be the aggressive enforcer of Bullet Club. That’s a role he can play and much more than I ever would have expected from him.
Post match Shane Taylor runs in and beats Page down with Daniels saying it was the best money he ever sent. Ray pops up and isn’t pleased with these events.
Punishment Martinez/Marty Scurll vs. Jay Lethal/Dalton Castle
Before the match, Martinez and Scurll say they’ll be the World Champion, Lethal is ready to take the title and Castle is happy with a bowl of delicious soup. Martinez and Castle start but Punishment wants Lethal. Jay, in full on Macho Man style gear, comes in and gets caught in a hard headlock. The early chokeslam doesn’t work and Jay’s chops just seem to annoy Martinez. Dude his name is Punishment. How smart do you think it is to chop him?
Scurll demands to come in and Castle wants a piece of that (his words). Some jockeying leads to an exchange of wristlocks with Marty actually getting the better of it. Jay comes back in for an elbow to the jaw and the good guys exchange Matrix style poses. Marty uses the distraction to kick Jay in the face though and we take a break. Back with Jay slipping out of a Psycho Driver and handing it off to Castle for the suplexes, including a German suplex for two on Scurll.
Lethal kicks Castle by mistake though (You knew that was coming) and Scurll grabs the Ghostbuster on Jay. The full chickenwing dance is broken up by Punishment tagging himself in. Now the Psycho Driver and a curb stomp connect for a near fall on Jay (that’s not a good sign for two big moves from Martinez).
Scurll tags himself back in this time and everything breaks down. Martinez turns Jay inside out with a clothesline but charges into a dead lift German suplex. The fans are way behind Castle but Punishment beats on the Boys. Lethal is back in with some kicks to Martinez, followed by some errant powder from Scurll. Castle takes Martinez to the floor and the Lethal Injection ends Scurll at 13:20.
Rating: C+. The ending being too overbooked didn’t do this any favors but the rest of the match was all it needed to be. They set up both matches on Friday as well as they could have and aside from a DQ or countout ending, Scurll probably has the least to lose here. Lethal continues to be awesome, but I think he comes up short on Friday.
Cody says there is no throne for the Kingdom.
Matt Taven is ready to make Cody kiss the ring.
The Briscoes can’t be held responsible for what they’ll do to the Machine Guns.
The Guns aren’t letting the Briscoes be around one more year.
So Cal Uncensored is ready for a street fight party.
The Bullet Club promises to win.
Scurll says Martinez is in for a spot of bother.
Martinez says Scurll is just his next victim.
Lethal is getting his title back.
Castle’s belly is full of excitement. We saw most of these promos last week but it’s nice to have them on the go home show too.
Overall Rating: C+. The main goal was accomplished: I care more about this Friday’s pay per view than I did coming in. If nothing else, I got a reminder of the matches on that show, which were getting a little hazy. It’s still not a good looking show, but the main event should be awesome and if there’s one more good match included, things should be fine.
Remember to check out my new forums at steelcagewrestling.com and pick up the 2018 Updated Version of the History of the WWE Championship in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:
Ring of Honor TV Results – August 9, 2017: Out of Way Too Many, One
Ring of Honor Date: August 9, 2017 Location: Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, Massachusetts Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Rico De La Vega
It’s a big night for Ring of Honor as we have the World Title being defended as Cody faces former champion Christopher Daniels in a 2/3 falls match. This is a rematch from Daniels losing the title to Cody back at Best in the World where we got a rare double turn to make Cody one of the top faces in the company. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
We open with a look at Cody winning the title and deciding that he deserves it. He’s still not signed to a Ring of Honor contract and is supposed to be an outsider despite not having a contract not really changing anything.
Daniels, in the same promo we’ve seen three times now, says one loss doesn’t define him.
Cody thinks Daniels’ rise to the top is amazing and Daniels is a classy professional wrestler but he doesn’t understand that Cody isn’t giving up this soon. He even takes credit for the higher buyrate when he’s in the title match, which isn’t quite the line you expect to hear but it fits for him. Cody is tired of all the mediocrity because he’s ready to be magnificent. Yes but is he DASHING?
Here are Daniels and Kazarian to the ring, albeit from a few weeks ago. This footage was barred from airing on ROH TV but it’s making its debut here. Kazarian rips into the fans for booing Daniels, including a row of fat guys in Bullet Club shirts flipping him off. Those fans are the same “stupid marks” that congratulated Daniels when he won the title. It’s the same out with the old, in with the new mentality that makes Kazarian sick.
Daniels, sitting on the top turnbuckle, talks about hearing dueling “DANIELS SUCKS/CODY chants”, which he finds interesting because no one cared about Cody when he was Stardust. He brings up Cody being a free agent but no one talked about him signing a two year contract. Daniels calls the fans a bunch of something censored, and then promises to win the title and get released. That way he can defend it around the world, except for here in Ring of Honor. From now on, it’s all about Daniels and Kazarian. Good heel promos, though I have no idea why we had to wait three weeks to see them.
Silas Young and Beer City Bruiser are here for their weekly Jay Lethal update. It’s now been 43 days since he’s been injured and Lethal isn’t coming back anytime soon. Silas remembers Lethal begging him not to do it but the Bruiser came up with the idea of splashing Jay through a table. There go the lights though and here comes Lethal. House is quickly cleaned with a chair and Young takes Lethal Injection. Lethal grabs the sign and writes a ZERO on it for the big visual.
ROH World Title: Christopher Daniels vs. Cody
Cody is defending and this is 2/3 falls. Daniels hits the floor immediately so Cody does some push ups. No contact in the first minute. They finally lock up with Cody grabbing a quick rollup for an early two. A headlock doesn’t do much as they’re firmly in first gear. Cody shrugs off a slam and hits a gordbuster, followed by some trash talk. Daniels bails to the floor for an argument with a fan and we take a break.
Back with Daniels jumping over Cody in the corner and taking him outside for a hard whip into the barricade. Cue the trainer to pop Cody’s shoulder back into joint, allowing him to hit a dropkick. Daniels breaks up a springboard though and Cody bangs his ribs on the apron. Back from a second break with Daniels still on the arm but stopping to yell at a fan. Not bright dude. Daniels heads up top so Cody runs the corner for a super armdrag and a powerslam gets two.
A quick Figure Four eventually sends Daniels over to the ropes so Cody tries a Rainmaker of all things. Daniels kicks him into the referee though and they trade low blows. Kazarian runs out but Marty Scurll chases him off. Cody grabs a rollup for the first fall at 17:48 but Daniels chairs him down before the second fall beings.
We take a third break and come back again with Cody still on the floor. It’s only a nineteen count though and Daniels is getting frustrated. The trash talk goes on a bit too long though and Cody grabs a Flatliner for a breather. Cody wins a slugout and hits the Bionic Elbow but Cross Rhodes is countered. Daniels hits Cross Rhodes of his own for two but Angel’s Wings are countered. The second attempt works just fine….for two. The BME misses as well and Cody flips over him in the corner, setting up Cross Rhodes to retain at 25:43.
Rating: B. Not a great match but it puts Cody over very strong with a straight falls win to vanquish Daniels once and for all. This didn’t need to be some kind of a classic as long as Cody won and having it be clean in both falls helps so much more. Now Cody needs a new monster villain to come after the title and hopefully that’s not too hard to find.
Overall Rating: B+. Take a good main event and throw in a solid Jay Lethal segment and the whole show is quite the sit. It’s time to build towards Death Before Dishonor and I have no idea what to expect for Cody going forward. You can figure out a lot of the card but I really don’t know what to expect in the World Title scene, which is a good thing in a way. Really good show this week, though that’s likely more to do with them only focusing on one story in an hour.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:
Ring of Honor Date: July 5, 2017 Location: Frontier Fieldhouse, Chicago Ridge, Illinois Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana
We’re still in Chicago and still getting ready to deal with the fallout from Best in the World, which should start in another two weeks if we’re lucky. I’m really running out of ways to complain about how messed up the schedule is and I still don’t understand why we have to wait so long. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Here’s new World Champion Cody in the ring so apparently we’re already on the new taping cycle. THEN WHY DIDN’T WE HAVE THIS LAST WEEK??? Anyway before he can say much of anything, Christopher Daniels shows up and beats the heck out of the new champ. A referee gets tossed and the brawl continues with Cody hitting a Disaster Kick. Daniels gets in a moonsault to the floor though and security breaks it up. The fans want to see them fight and didn’t seem to favor one over the other. Good opener here and I have no idea why this didn’t follow the pay per view last week if it was already filmed.
Jay Briscoe says this is different than the Top Prospect Tournament and Josh Woods is in way over his head.
Jay Briscoe vs. Josh Woods
They adhere to the Code of Honor in a bit of a surprise. Feeling out process to start with Josh tripping him to the mat and chuckling a bit. A cross armbreaker doesn’t last long so it’s another trip to take Briscoe down. Josh knees him in the head and this is one sided in the first few minutes.
Jay comes right back with a big boot to knock Josh outside and there’s a suicide dive. Well done there with having Josh get the better of it when there are rules and structure but Briscoe takes over when things get a little more violent and intense. Back with Jay throwing him outside for a whip into the barricade as the brawling continues to go Briscoe’s way.
There’s a ton of room on the floor too, which makes me think they could have easily fit another row or even two of fans in there. I can’t imagine sales were that weak in Chicago of all places. Back in and Josh blocks a suplex for one of his own, followed by the TKO into a knee to the face. A springboard spinning knee/kick to the face gets two on Jay, who shrugs it off and lariats Woods for the pin at 10:50.
Rating: B-. I had a good time with this match as Briscoe continues to give the younger guys a rub, just like he did with Jay White. It’s not like he has anything else going on right now so give these guys something that they’re not going to be able to get from anyone else. Good match too with Woods showing off because he found out he was in over his head.
We look at Will Ferrara splitting with Cheeseburger because he’s sick of dealing with a charity case like Cheeseburger. Haven’t these guys split like three times now?
Tempura Boyz vs. Coast to Coast
Actually hang on as here are the Young Bucks who offer to add themselves to the match with the titles on the line under tornado rules.
Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. Tempura Boyz vs. Coast to Coast
The Bucks are defending under tornado rules and the champs waste no time cleaning house. It’s immediately time to fire off the kicks to send all four challengers outside, followed by the Rise of the Terminators. The double dives are broken up though with the Boyz hitting stereo German suplexes on the floor.
Coast to Coast dives on everyone and we take a break. Back with Nick firing off running knees in the corner to both Boyz, only to get caught in something like a 3D with a Flatliner instead of a cutter. There’s the big flip dive to the floor to take out Coast to Coast but the Meltzer Diver is broken up.
Coast to Coast comes back in and breaks up the Superkick Party (Colt: “Everybody knows they’re just going to do superkicks so it’s not that hard to figure out.). A double Indytaker sets up double superkicks to retain the titles at 8:27. That’s the EXACT same ending as the match in Long Beach.
Rating: C+. I can’t believe I’m saying this but thank goodness for the Bucks here. Coast to Coast and the Tempura Boyz are completely worthless tag teams so throw the Bucks in there and turn it into a glorified squashed. The match wasn’t great but this could have been very boring so the Bucks really did help things out.
Highlights of Adam Cole vs. Marty Scurll in an anything goes match.
Mark Briscoe vs. Beer City Bruiser vs. Kenny King vs. Chris Sabin
One fall to a finish and the winner gets a TV Title shot. Mark says he has to win because he has four kids. I wonder if he has an above ground pool. Mark and Kenny start things off and apparently this is under lucha rules, meaning Bruiser can come in and toss people to the floor.
Sabin dives into a side slam and for some reason Bruiser tags out. Why would you do that in a one fall match where you have to be legal to win? King’s Muta Lock is broken up and it’s Mark coming in to clean house. A moonsault to the floor takes out Bruiser and King, followed by Sabin firing off the kicks from the apron.
We take a break and come back with Bruiser running Mark over as the tags have been completely abandoned, as is the custom in these matches. Mark gets crushed against Sabin in the corner for a good looking crash, followed by a running flip dive to the floor to take out Mark and Chris. Kenny dives onto everyone but Mark is smart enough to walk away. Back in and Mark hits the brainbuster on Kenny, setting up the Froggy Bow at the same time the Bruiser splashes Chris. Both guys get up to avoid leaving is as a three way but King actually manages a Royal Flush on the Bruiser for the pin and the title shot at 10:59.
Rating: C. Pretty standard chaos match here with everyone flying all over the place and little in the way of storytelling, though that’s kind of the point to something like this. King winning is an interesting way to go as the Rebellion was such a waste of time but King’s natural athleticism should be more than enough to give him a good match with Kushida.
Overall Rating: C+. I had a good time with this show as there were three solid matches and a strong angle to open things up. They should be fine head into the next few weeks but above all else I’m VERY happy that we’re already on the pay per view fallout and don’t have to sit around waiting through weeks of one off filler shows. Good show this week and one of the more entertaining editions in a long time.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Histories of Saturday Night’s Main Event and Clash of the Champions, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:
ROH Best in the World 2017: The Same Good and the Same Bad
Best in the World 2017 Date: June 23, 2017 Location: Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, Massachusetts Attendance: 2,500 Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, BJ Whitmer
I do the TV shows so it would make sense for me to do the pay per views too. This isn’t the biggest show the company does but anytime they get on pay per view it feels like a big deal for them. The main event sees Christopher Daniels defending the ROH World Title against Cody, who is about as big of a favorite while still being a challenger that you can be. Let’s get to it.
The opening video is everyone saying they’re the best (the Young Bucks say SUPERKICK of course) until Cody says he’s the worst nightmare. Now he wants to be the best in the world and end a title reign that started fifteen years too late. The idea is that he’s not under contract and therefore an outsider. That being said, he’s still on almost every show and has been given a World Title shot before this so the lack of a contract hasn’t really hurt him that much.
The announcers preview the card that we already paid for.
Kingdom vs. Ultimo Guerrero/El Terrible
Matt Taven is on a throne, Vinny Marseglia is dressed like Jason Vorhees and the injured TK O’Ryan is a viking. Yeah they’re still not interesting. Ultimo Guerrero and Terrible are from CMLL and this is under lucha rules, meaning going to the floor counts as a tag. Terrible and Marseglia start things off with some good old fashioned stalling because that’s how you want to open a pay per view.
Vinny looks insane as usual but can’t get anywhere with a front facelock. A loud shot to the face drops Marseglia and it’s time for the strikes in the corner. Taven comes in and dropkicks Terrible to the floor, meaning it’s off to Guerrero, who apparently has a history with Matt. It’s not important enough to actually explain or anything so we’ll go to Guerrero dropkicking Taven to the floor.
Vinny saves O’Ryan from Guerrero so Ultimo takes Vinny inside for a headstand into a slinghsot Bronco Buster (cool looking crash). A second version is broken up with a superkick (add Taven to the list of people better it at than the Bucks as this one actually puts Guerrero down) but it’s Terrible taking the Kingdom out with a suicide dive.
Guerrero comes off the top with a dive of his own but the Kingdom pops up for two more dives. Ultimo fights them off back inside though and hits his reverse superplex, only to take a Swanton from Marseglia. The Kingdom loads up the Supernova but Guerrero grabs a rollup out of nowhere for the pin at 11:09.
Rating: C. This was a fast paced enough match and I’m sure the live crowd liked the luchadors but that’s not the most thrilling thing for the live crowd. The Kingdom continues to be one of the least interesting groups in a LONG time because they tried to reform the team without Maria, who was what makes the whole thing work in the first place. Couple that with not great matches and it’s no shock that the team is this worthless.
We recap Frankie Kazarian vs. Adam Page. After Kazarian infiltrated Bullet Club to help Daniels in the World Title, Adam beat him at War of the Worlds. Then Page kept things personal by attacking him with a strap as part of the Daniels vs. Cody feud. Therefore, it’s time for a strap match.
Frankie Kazarian vs. Adam Page
This is the pin/submission version as both guys have their own straps but they aren’t connected. Feeling out process to start until Kazarian trips Page up and grabs a rollup for two. A hard shot to the back sends Page to the floor and a hurricanrana makes things worse. Page will have none of that and starts whipping Kazarian into the barricade a few times. He takes too long peeling back the floor mats though and gets suplexed onto the ramp steps (freaking OW MAN) for a very painful crash.
Back up and Page gets tied to the ropes but comes right back with the front flip clothesline. Page is smart enough to take Kazarian’s strap away so they trade hard forearms/clotheslines with Page getting the better of it. With Kazarian down, Paige pulls out a rope and ties him to the ropes to really turn up the violence. Since he’s just that crazy, Page pulls out a belt with nails and tacks in it.
To avoid a bad case of death, Kazarian gets out and catches Page in a cutter, followed by a Backstabber. An Unprettier gives Kazarian two but he walks into the Rite of Passage for two. The nail belt is whipped over Kazarian’s back but Page stops to spit on him, earning himself a nail belt to the back. Kazarian chokes him over the ropes for the tap out at 11:58.
Rating: C+. The violence was nice here and it actually felt like they were wanting to hurt each other instead of just doing a match with weapons in their hands. The nail belt actually being used was a surprise but you knew it wasn’t going to be the big bloodbath. It was entertaining too but Kazarian winning a big match is kind of odd, especially with Page getting treated as a big deal lately.
Quick recap of Rebellion vs. Search and Destroy. They’re both stables and they don’t like each other so the losing team has to disband.
Search and Destroy vs. Rebellion
That would be the Motor City Machine Guns/Jonathan Gresham/Jay White vs. Caprice Coleman/Shane Taylor/Kenny King/Rhett Titus. It’s a big brawl to start (of course) until it’s Coleman in the ring against the entire four man team. His oh so loyal partners just let this happen until Titus FINALLY kicks Gresham into the Rebellion corner to take over. That lasts all of a few seconds before everything breaks down again with Search and Destroy hitting a series of dives.
Back in and the huge Taylor crushes Gresham with a splash and Coleman makes things worse by rolling some northern lights suplexes. Titus hits Coleman by mistake though and a headscissors allows the hot tag to White to pick the pace up again. Jay hits a bunch of running elbows in the corner and everything breaks down. The Guns come in for the fast paced precision offense but White gets tossed into the corner.
Coleman’s Sky Splitter and Titus’ frog splash combine for two with the Guns making the save. Gresham is fine enough for a botched Lionsault press and a suicide dive, followed by a shooting star headbutt (to the thigh) as part of Skull and Bones. Search and Destroy has had it with the match and grab a quadruple submission with Gresham making Titus tap to the Octopus Hold at 12:27.
Rating: C+. Another perfectly acceptable match here with Search and Destroy, who aren’t the most interesting team in the world, winning like they should have. The Rebellion has been stale since the day they debuted and I don’t know of anyone who thought they should stick around. This is ANOTHER hit to the trios division, which hopefully will lead to its demise sooner rather than later as it sets new standards for worthlessness every day.
Post match Punishment Martinez comes in to lay White out.
We recap Silas Young vs. Jay Lethal. Young doesn’t like Jay getting all the attention and media appearances and endorsement deals so he took out Lethal’s knee. I guess that means knee or back pain has Lethal down for the count. Silas beat him in a recent match too and says he has Lethal’s number.
Jay Lethal vs. Silas Young
Young has Beer City Bruiser with him….and Lethal comes through the crowd to knock Bruiser silly with a chair. The slugout is on as the bell rings in a hurry as Bruiser is taken to the back. Good, as I still can’t stand that big tub of goo. Lethal rains down right hands in the corner but it’s back to the floor for another slugout.
A suplex off the barricade drops Young again but Jay misses a slingshot dropkick back inside. That means a slingshot double stomp (I still don’t get how something like that doesn’t break a rib) and we hit an abdominal stretch. That goes nowhere so Lethal chops away and gets two off a basement dropkick.
Silas catches him on top though and clotheslines him out to the floor to take over for all of five seconds before eating a suicide dive. They’re going back and forth with control here and it’s helping a lot. Lethal hits another suicide dive but the third attempt hits a quickly raised chair.
Back in and neither finisher can hit so Lethal settles for a superkick and the top rope elbow. Young gets in a Saito suplex and a knee to the face, followed by his bouncing moonsault out of the corner. With that not working, Silas grabs his keg but, as you might expect, the referee says not so fast. Instead Silas tries Misery but gets rolled up for the pin at 16:23.
Rating: B. The more I see of Lethal, the more I like him. He’s rapidly becoming Ring of Honor’s ace and that’s a position they haven’t had filled in too long. He also comes off as a good talker and someone who knows what he’s doing in every aspect of wrestling. That’s a rare thing and having him in such a featured role is a good idea. Young has been on a roll as of late too and while I’m not big on him losing here, it’s good to have him in this spot in the first place. Then again, they need to do something with him as he’s an older guy and if he’s not pushed hard in the relatively near future, it’s not likely to happen.
Post match Young clotheslines Lethal down. The Bruiser comes back out and sets up the keg so Young can hit Misery, sending Jay’s ribs into the steel. With Lethal’s ribs on the keg, Bruiser adds some splashes. Bruiser still isn’t done and splashes Lethal through a table on the floor. The announcers hype this up as a way to take away Lethal’s chance at the New Japan United States Title.
We recap the Six Man Tag Team Title match. Dalton Castle’s Boys accidentally caused Jay Briscoe to get misted in the face, which cost him a match. Jay wants revenge while Castle and the Boys want the titles.
Six Man Tag Team Titles: Dalton Castle/The Boys vs. Bully Ray/Briscoe Brothers
Bully and the Briscoes are defending. Before the bell, Bully and Dalton have the exact staredown you would expect them to have. Dalton and Jay get things going but the latter stops to chase after the Boys. Mark finally calms things down and comes in as Castle takes him down with some nice looking amateur style. Mark gets him into a headlock and it’s Red Neck Kung Fu time.
The Boys protect Dalton in the corner (Give them some extra…..I really don’t want to know how he pays them do I?) and he throws one of them at Mark for a good visual. Castle wants Bully, who rushes him into the corner where Dalton hits the least sold chops I’ve ever seen. Bully does the snap jabs but misses the Bionic Elbow, earning himself a Peacock pose. Ian: “BULLY RAY JUST GOT SERVED!” Bully…..starts dancing for some reason and strikes his own Peacock pose, freaking the fans out as you might expect.
Castle has to be fanned up so Bully chops him down with a single shot. It’s time for Boy #1 and Boy #2 to be dragged in and that means it’s off to Jay for some fun. #2 kicks him low and hammers away to as much avail as you would expect before it’s back to Castle who might be able to survive. Dalton’s running knee in the corner sets up a front facelock to keep Jay in trouble. A top rope superplex is countered into a super gordbuster though and it’s off to Mark for the fast paced strikes in the corner.
The Boys get beaten up as well because they’re just boys and not worth much. Everything breaks down and Boy #1 takes What’s Up. Jay takes out the Boys with a suicide dive and just unloads on #2 as you can tell he’s losing focus. Boy #1 runs away from a thrown chair so Bully goes out to calm Jay down, leaving Mark to get cradled for the pin and the titles at 13:03.
Rating: C-. This was a comedy match and unfortunately, that might be an upgrade for these titles. I haven’t cared for these things since they were introduced back in December and they haven’t been worth anything since. Castle and the Boys have lost over and over but now they win one match and happen to be champions. When your resume is weaker than Jinder Mahal’s, you might not be the best choice to hold a title. There was a story here with Jay losing his cool (not that surprising) but that doesn’t make up for the weak booking with the titles in general.
The former champs are livid as Ian wants to know what the celebration is going to be like in the hotel room.
We recap Marty Scurll vs. Kushida in a rematch for the TV Title that Kushida recently took from Scurll. Marty is even angrier than usual and has promised to break a lot of fingers.
TV Title: Marty Scurll vs. Kushida
Kushida is defending. They trade some snazzy wristlock counters to start until Marty does his wings flapping thing. Scurll gets armdragged down and dropkicked in the face but it’s too early for a cross armbreaker. It’s also too early for the chickenwing so Kushida ties him in the ropes for a rolling kick to the head. A pumphandle neckbreaker gives Marty two and it’s time to hit those wings again.
Marty stays on the arm until Kushida sends him head first into the buckle. They’re playing a nice back and forth style battle here and it’s working so far. Another double heel kick staggers Marty and he gets pulled off the ropes into the Hoverboard Lock. The hold doesn’t last long so Marty knees him in the head and gets two off a piledriver. It’s back to the arm (the other arm this time) before a backslide is good for two on Kushida.
The chickenwing is countered into a rollup which is countered into another chickenwing which is countered into the Hoverboard Lock which is countered AGAIN, only to have Kushida kick him in the head to get a breather. Marty flips him off for reasons of general villainy so Kushida stomps him in the face. Somehow that doesn’t know Marty cold so he puts on a wicked looking arm hold with both of Kushida’s arms being bent behind his back at the same time.
The foot gets to the rope though and Marty looks even more annoyed. It’s time to go after the fingers but Kushida is smart enough to grab Marty’s fingers and snap them instead. A super Back to the Future (small package driver) followed by a regular version retains the title at 15:02.
Rating: B+. I had a good time with this but that tends to be the case with all of Kushida’s matches anymore. The had a perfectly natural heel vs. face story going here and that’s something that is going to work every time because it’s what wrestling is built on. It’s easy to see which of these guys is good and which is evil, which makes it easier to cheer for them. Unless you’re a modern wrestling fan who cheers for the villain by default more often than not of course.
We look back at the Women of Honor dark match, which may not have been much but it’s an excuse for me to look at Mandy Leon. This whole division is such a waste of time/a mess though and there’s not much of a way to fix it at this point.
Tag Team Titles: War Machine vs. Young Bucks
War Machine is challenging. Actually hang on a second here because cue the Best Friends to say they beat the Young Bucks back in Philadelphia so they should be added to this match. Sure why not.
Tag Team Titles: War Machine vs. Young Bucks vs. Best Friends
The Bucks are defending and this is under tornado rules. It’s a brawl to start with the Best Friends cleaning house on the Bucks. Naturally we get a hug but War Machine is right there to crush both Berreta and Taylor. Double shotgun knees and a double bronco buster bring the Bucks back in for some kicks and the Rise of the Terminator pose because the Bucks are very glorified spot monkeys.
The Bucks’ dives are caught but the Best Friends are there to hit their own dives. We get the first superkick to slow Berreta down but it’s War Machine coming back in to take over. Nick hits a moonsault to the floor to take out a bunch of people, only to have Chuck dive from the stage to take out even more of them. Naturally Hanson goes to the top to dive onto all five of them but I think you know what’s coming. If you thought selling or something original, you haven’t been paying enough attention.
Of course it’s a superkick and a bunch of flippy dives until all six are down in the ring. Everyone gets back up, there are eight superkicks, and everyone is down again. War Machine is up first and starts cleaning house with a German suplex/clothesline combination to take Berreta out, followed by a pop up powerslam for two. Fallout gets the same with Chuck making the save.
The Bucks are back in with superkicks and a flip dive but the Meltzer Driver is broken up and Chuck hits the Awful Waffle (spinning piledriver) for two on Matt. Rowe gets kneed in the face and both Friends roll him up at the same time for two. Superkicks continue to abound and a double Indytaker, followed by MORE superkicks retain the titles at 12:27.
Rating: B. You know, I watched the NJPW Dominion show and called the Bucks match their best ever. I also pointed out that they used by far the least amount of superkicks I ever saw from them. Here, I stopped counting at around twenty and I lost a lot of interest about halfway through the match. It really does get tiring, as does adding teams with no build for the sake of adding them in. True there was a story, but did we really need them there when you had a perfectly good title match already?
We recap the World Title match. Cody was supposed to win the title at War of the Worlds but got screwed over when a third man was added and cost him the fall. Now it’s his chance to win the title as a free agent. Daniels says the title means the world to him but for Cody it’s just another thing to add to his suitcase while he’s traveling from company to company. That’s a better version of the story they’ve been telling but it would be nice to have it announced more than five minutes before the opening bell.
ROH World Title: Christopher Daniels vs. Cody
Cody is challenging and of course we get Big Match Intros (as we should). The fans, as in the Ring of Honor fans, chant Too Sweet for Bullet Club’s Cody, because paying attention to the story is so beneath them. He’s supposed to be here to ruin the company that they all love so let’s cheer him. You know, the pure wrestling fans that ROH brags about having. Those guys who boo heels because the idea of heels and faces (you know, the pure wrestling that they all claim to love) is just passe at this point. I never got that but I’m often told to shut up and have fun so it probably isn’t worth asking about.
Cody works a headlock to start but a run of the ropes goes to Daniels, who puts his boot on Cody’s back as Cody drops down. Speaking of dropping down, Cody heads to the floor with a bloody lip. Back in and Angel’s Wings don’t work as Cody bails right back to the floor. This time he even goes into the crowd for a longer breather. Back in (again) and Daniels slugs away, sending Cody and his bloody lip outside for the third time.
Daniels finally follows him out with a baseball slide but Cody beats him up against the barricade to take over for a very short while. They head inside again with Daniels going up top, allowing Cody to armdrag him right back down in a good looking sequence. Cody grabs a short armscissors but stops to go outside and yell at former ROH owner Carey Silkin. Back in and Daniels drives him into the corner for a ref bump, allowing Cody to kick him low. BJ: “RIGHT IN THE DING DING!” After how forgettable he’s been tonight, even ripping off Steve Corino is a bit of an improvement for him.
Daniels gets in a small package for no count and here’s Scurll to throw Cody a chair. Of course the referee wakes up as Daniels picks up the chair, meaning it’s an Eddie Guerrero moment as he throws it to Cody and drops down. Cody grabs a cutter on the chair for no cover, but he does get a CODY chant. Kazarian comes out to get rid of Scurll and it’s table time.
The champ is right back with a Flatliner on the apron and an STO for two more. Angel’s Wings through the table is broken up and Cody busts out a Rainmaker (Thankfully not for a near fall BECAUSE IT’S JUST A CLOTHESLINE!). The Beautiful Disaster staggers Daniels but he’s still able to suplex Cody through the table in a big crash.
They both barely beat the count and Daniels grabs the Koji Clutch, sending Cody over to the ropes. Cody spits water (Where did he get that?) in Daniels’ face and gets two off Cross Rhodes. Angel’s Wings are countered again and Cody rolls him into another Cross Rhodes for the pin and the title at 19:18 to a huge face pop.
Rating: B. The crowd took me out of this one but that’s not on the wrestlers. Cody was trying to cheat in every possible way out there and they only cheered for him more. Simply put, if ROH doesn’t go for a BIG face turn for Cody (or perhaps even a double turn), they’re flat out wasting their time. The wrestling part here was fine and I liked the fact that the interference didn’t play a role in the win. Daniels lost the title at the right time as he was never going to be the next huge champion. Just giving him a feel good win and a few months as champion was all he ever needed to be.
Bullet Club comes out to celebrate to end the show as the announcers try to treat this as horrible while the fans can’t cheer Cody hard enough.
Overall Rating: B+. As is usually the case with Ring of Honor, I liked the show well enough but you’re only going to get so far with so little connection to a lot of the characters and stories. If the fans are going to cheer almost every heel, how exactly are they heels and therefore, why should I care about the people I’m supposed to care about? The wrestling is still good enough (flippy issues aside, though you expect that going into this one) and I liked most of the matches so I can easily say the show is good, though you have to really like this kind of wrestling to get behind the show, as is often the case around here.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Histories of Saturday Night’s Main Event and Clash of the Champions, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:
Ring of Honor TV – May 10, 2017: This Is Getting Really Old
Ring of Honor Date: May 10, 2017 Location: William J. Myers Pavilion, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Colt Cabana, Ian Riccaboni
It’s the go home show for War of the Worlds but I have no idea what that means in Ring of Honor terms. Odds are we’ll hear about the show here (maybe even more than the handful of matches we already know) and then move on to some one off shows for the next few weeks. Let’s get to it.
Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. The Squad
The Bucks are defending and that would be Mike Mondo and Ken Doane. The Squad runs in and attacks from behind before stopping for a cheer. Colt isn’t sure if they have spirit but they eat stereo superkicks for their efforts. A top rope double stomp/reverse DDT have Mikey in big trouble and we hit that TOO SWEET.
Stereo dives make things even worse but Ken actually takes over on Matt. Back from a break with Mikey dancing and grabbing a chinlock as this isn’t the most serious match in the world. Matt finally rolls out of a piledriver for a dropkick on Ken, only to have Matt get cut off again. We hit the awkward dancing from both former (Current?) cheerleaders but a toss into a gutbuster is broken up.
The hot tag brings in Nick a few seconds later as things speed way up. The slingshot X Factor into the moonsault from the apron has the Squad reeling. Mikey comes back with a snapmare driver (basically a falling Diamond Cutter) and it’s back to Doane….who eats a superkick. A Boss Man Slam cuts Nick off but quadruple superkicks and a flip dive set up the Meltzer Driver for the pin on Mikey at 9:14.
Rating: B-. Far better match than I was expecting here with the Squad more than looking like legit challengers. The Bucks were full on faces here despite being heels (I know, I know, something about Japan) and I kind of like the idea of them finally picking something. You knew the titles weren’t changing hands here but at least it was fun.
Matt Taven is ready to win the World Title because unlike Christopher Daniels being in the twilight of his career, he’s in his prime. This is for a house show defense.
The Briscoe Brothers are ready for the Rebellion. Jay wants a piece of Shane Taylor and I want a piece of whoever designed the Six Man Tag Team Titles because they look like they’re upside down.
Punishment Martinez vs. Beer City Bruiser
This could be ugly and Silas Young joins commentary to make things even worse. Bruiser knocks Martinez into the corner to start and gets two off a crossbody of all things. Martinez actually heads outside, leaving Bruiser to hit a running cannonball off the apron. Back from a break with Bruiser getting kicked off the top, only to have Martinez COMPLETELY miss the running dive over the corner. Even the announcers rip on him for missing that badly.
Bruiser belly to back suplexes him onto the apron as Colt wants to know how much Bruiser weighs in chili dogs. Martinez shrugs it off and hits a springboard spinning flip dive for two. Back to back cannonballs crush Martinez but he pops up for the slow motion slugout. A sitout Boss Man Slam gives Bruiser two more but he misses yet another cannonball. Martinez’s sitout chokeslam is good for the pin at 6:45.
Rating: D+. I’m really not a fan of Bruiser but he was doing way more than usual here. Martinez should be squashing people though and getting beaten up for a long stretch of this match by someone like Bruiser isn’t the right way to get him moving up the card. Not terrible here but a badly laid out match.
Marty Scurll says Matt Sydal won’t win the TV Title.
Adam Cole says the Bullet Club is united and they’ll prove it tonight in the main event.
Adam Cole/Cody vs. Christopher Daniels/Dalton Castle
Jay Lethal is on commentary and thankfully Colt keeps ripping on Castle and the Boys due to past issues. As another nice point, they go to a break and come back with the opening bell. That’s always nice to see. Cody and Castle get things going and let’s look at the commentary team.
Feeling out process to start until Cody gets clotheslined to the floor. Dalton does his slow walk across the ring and Daniels throws in some fanning. The champ comes in to face Cody with Daniels getting in the springboard moonsault for two. It’s off to Cole, who is wrestling in a shirt for some reason. Daniels gets away for the hot tag to Castle who gets in a double clothesline before being dropped with a low blow. Cole throws Dalton’s face into a boot (clearly didn’t make contact thanks to a bad angle) and it’s off to a double underhook hold.
The Beautiful Disaster hits Cole by mistake and Adam walks off instead of tagging. We take a break and come back with Castle grabbing a belly to back, allowing the hot tag to Daniels. An Iconoclasm gets two on Cody but Daniels has to bail out of the BME. Angel’s Wings is loaded up but here’s Cole with a superkick and the Last Shot. Cross Rhodes gives Cody the pin on Daniels at 10:34. Jay: “I don’t get what’s going on.”
Rating: C-. Not bad here with the match mainly serving as a way to help build up for the triple threat match. The tease of the Club breaking up was fine but it doesn’t work that well when it’s all fixed in five minutes. I don’t think there’s any secret about the fact that Cole is leaving the company soon enough so the split is likely going down soon enough. Watchable match but pretty much paint by numbers.
The Bucks come out to celebrate but the Club actually leaves instead of destroying Daniels. Lethal comes to the ring to yell at Daniels about adding Cody to make the match a triple threat. Cody comes back in and sends Lethal into Daniels, only to have Jay hit a double Lethal Injection.
We get a quick pay per view rundown to end the show.
Overall Rating: D+. Here’s the problem and it’s the same thing that always happens for ROH: they’re coming up on a pay per view that had nine matches on the card. TWO of them were mentioned here, one of which was in a thirty second promo. I didn’t even know most of the card until the quick package running it down at the end of the show. As usual, the solution is to just bring in all the New Japan guys, push one match, and be done with it. We’ll likely get to the fallout by June when it’s time to set up the next pay per view. Such is life around here, which gets really tiring.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:
Ring of Honor TV – April 26, 2017: Taste the Freshness
Ring of Honor Date: April 26, 2017
Location: William J. Myers Pavilion, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Colt Cabana, Ian Riccaboni
We’re FINALLY on a new taping cycle and that means we’re finishing off the Top Prospect Tournament once and for all. This taping mess continues to be annoying and I’m not sure what we have to expect here as it could be anything from World Title developments to a midcard feud getting TV time. Let’s get to it.
We see stills from Supercard of Honor XI, now only three weeks old.
Opening sequence.
Christopher Daniels is in the ring to get things going. He defeated Dalton Castle at Supercard of Honor and now it’s Matt Taven getting his chance. After that he’ll face the winner of a four way next week at War of the Worlds, but first up it’s the American Nightmare Cody. Daniels would love to face Cody anytime so let’s make that match as soon as possible.
Here’s Cody right now but the match isn’t happening tonight. It’s not worth it for Cody to compete for the match in Baltimore but New York City doesn’t sound too bad. That sounds great to Daniels so let’s add Cody to the War of the Worlds match and make it a three way. Cody thinks Daniels brings integrity to the title but imagine if a part timer like him took the title away.
Video on Marty Scurll retaining the TV Title at Supercard of Honor.
Kazarian is ready to replace the chip on his shoulder with the TV Title.
Lio Rush vs. Shane Taylor
Speed vs. power and Rush is basically the hometown boy. Taylor recently joined the Rebellion, who Rush has been dealing with for months now. Before the match, Caprice Coleman says this is Rush’s punishment for defying the Rebellion. Lio slaps Shane in the face to start but his strikes have as much effect as you would expect on someone twice his size. A low bridge sends Shane outside but he easily blocks a hurricanrana. Instead Rush tries some kicks to the head, only to be slammed back first into the post.
Back from a break with Rush hammering away and getting swatted away again. Yet another strike sequence works a bit better and he kicks Taylor in the head a few times. The tornado DDT gets two but Coleman offers a distraction, meaning Rush has to dive out onto him. Rush misses the Dragon’s Call though and a sitout spinebuster gives Shane the pin at 7:25.
Rating: C+. Taylor is just huge (especially in the thigh region) and there’s only so much that someone Rush’s size is going to be able to do against him. It’s also pretty clear that Rush is heading to WWE or at least out of ROH in the near future so this isn’t the most surprising result in the world.
Post match the Motor City Machine Guns come out to prevent a post match beatdown, which takes place anyway as the Rebellion destroys the Guns.
We look at Josh Woods and John Skyler before the tournament finals. I believe this is the same video as last week.
Top Prospect Tournament Final: John Skyler vs. Josh Woods
Bob Evans is on commentary and Woods gets some rare pyro. Woods takes it to the mat to start and it’s already off to the arm work. A running knee stuns Skyler but he grabs a quick hot shot anyway. John shouts a lot and we take a break with the fans not all that interested so far. Back with Skyler working over the ribs with some stomping and a backsplash for two.
A second backsplash is countered into a quickly broken triangle choke, followed by a series of strikes. Some suplexes give Woods two and he slips out of Southern Salvation (super Regal Roll). Skyler comes right back with a spear on the apron, followed but a slingshot spear for two more. For some reason Skyler tries another spear, only to dive into something like a GTS of all things. John tries a charge in the corner but gets caught in a Rolling Chaos Theory. Woods floats over into a kneebar for the tap and the tournament at 9:28.
Rating: C+. This was just a few steps above a squash as Woods was obviously the best option in the whole tournament from the start of his first match so there was no reason to believe he wasn’t winning here. Skyler was fine but no one I’m going to remember after this. Woods might not be great but he’s someone who should fit in well on the roster, which is more than I was expecting coming into this tournament.
Post match David Starr (Who is David Starr? Someone you’re supposed to know in advance because ROH doesn’t feel the need to explain.) runs in and lays him out before listing off his fifteen or so nicknames. Starr: “I am really good at professional wrestling.”
Adam Cole wants to make up with the Young Bucks and get back to being the Bullet Club again.
TV Title: Marty Scurll vs. Kazarian
Scurll is defending. They trade wristlocks to start and it’s a very early standoff, as is often the case. Kazarian switches things up a bit and blasts Marty with a right hand to the face before hitting a slingshot DDT onto the apron (read as it missed the apron by a good foot, though to be fair it was basically the same as being thrown over the top so there would still be impact) as we take a break.
Back with Scurll working on the arm until Kazarian hits a cool hiptoss into a brainbuster/neckbreaker (could have been either really). An inverted exploder gets two on the champ but he kicks Kazarian’s knee out to take over again. It’s too early for the chickenwing (Kazarian: “NO CHICKENWINGS ON THE MENU!”) so Scurll settles for two off a brainbuster instead.
Scurll goes outside for his umbrella but stops to snap Kazarian’s finger instead. The fingers are fine enough that Kazarian can grab the umbrella, but the distraction lets Scurll grab some powder. That goes into the referee’s face though, meaning the Ace of Spades gets no count. Cue Hangman Page to hit Kazarian with a chair, giving Marty a rollup to retain at 8:12.
Rating: C-. It’s never a good sign when you can take out a major plot point and have the same match. This is identical with or without the powder spot and that’s not good. They could have done the exact same story with Page chairing Kazarian into the chickenwing for the submission, which makes Scurll look strong but keeps the Kazarian vs. Bullet Club going. Instead though, just throw powder as an unnecessary bonus.
Post match, Scurll makes the eternal mistake of saying he’s out of competition. Cue the returning Matt Sydal to say he wants a shot to end the show.
Overall Rating: B-. It’s amazing how much better a show can be when the stories are from the same month instead of several weeks beforehand. The wrestling being good was a major plus as well and now they have a few weeks before the War of the Worlds show, which already sounds like it could be a fun show. Granted it’s not going to matter if they just throw the New Japan guys onto the card in a bunch of random matches and expect everything to work without putting in the effort.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:
Ring of Honor 15th Anniversary Show: You Can’t Rely on This Forever
15th Anniversary Show Date: March 10, 2017
Location: Sam’s Town Live Casino, Sunrise Manor, Nevada
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Kevin Kelly, Colt Cabana
This was a recent request and for once I’m actually trying to get some of those knocked off. Ring of Honor has been around for a long time and the fact that they’ve made it this far is really quite impressive. Since it’s a major milestone show, the main event is an ROH legend in Christopher Daniels trying to win the ROH World Title for the first time. Let’s get to it.
The opening video looks at some of the bigger names in the company’s history (the only logical way to go) before switching up to Daniels talking about starting wrestling in 1993 and getting here. Champion Adam Cole says 1993 was important for him too as he learned to color. This is your classic young punk vs. veteran and there’s nothing wrong with that. It worked for Raven vs. Terry Funk and it can work well here. As a final note, Daniels’ best friend Kazarian joined the Bullet Club, which sounds rather swervish.
Jay White vs. Caprice Coleman
Great. We’re starting with a bonus match and a bonus REBELLION match on top of that. This show isn’t looking very promising. Ian: “Collar and elbow tieup to start here.” Colt: “Great call Ian!” They fight over wristlocks and armdrags to start with King getting the better of it and driving some knees into the back.
White gets in a few Tomoaki Honma spots to pop the crowd (Honma was badly injured and out of action at this point). Since it’s just a headbutt, King knocks him to the floor for a flip dive. A chinlock goes nowhere so White gets up and dives on fellow Rebellion member Caprice Coleman.
This proves to be a bad idea (as is almost always the case) as King hits a running dropkick, followed by a bridging capture suplex for two. White comes back with a Downward Spiral but charges into a spinebuster for no cover. Jay gets dropkicked on the top but shoves King away for a high crossbody. That’s rolled through as well with King trying the Royal Flush, only to have White small package him for the pin at 9:52.
Rating: C+. Nice match here with both guys looking good, or at least as the Rebellion is capable of looking. White is one of the many talented people in ROH who can wrestle a solid match but doesn’t really have a character, meaning he has a bit of a firm ceiling to how far he can go. The match was a good opener and the ending was exactly what it should have been.
We recap the dissolution of the Addiction with Kazarian joining the Bullet Club.
The Club welcomes their newest member.
Kazarian vs. Hangman Paige vs. Chris Sabin vs. Punisher Martinez vs. Cheeseburger vs. Silas Young
One fall to a finish, tags required, lucha rules and the winner gets a future TV Title shot. We start with Kazarian and Sabin trading probably a dozen one counts off a rollup. They’re on the floor in a hurry and that means we hit the parade of dives with the 6’7 Martinez hitting a step up dive of his own to really freak the crowd out (I’m not sure if that’s really easy or really hard to do around here).
Kazarian and Page take Martinez down, leaving us with a short lived Bullet Club showdown. Cheeseburger comes in to break it up but gets beaten up by Young, leaving the announcers to make food jokes. Martinez chokes Cheeseburger (Colt: “What a pickle!”) but everyone comes back in, allowing Sabin to hit a springboard tornado DDT on Young. Page loads Cheeseburger up for the Rite of Passage on the apron but Martinez breaks it up for no apparent reasons.
Adam spits at him for reasons of general stupidity, earning himself a chokeslam onto the apron. Back inside, Sabin German superplexes Kazarian but gets caught in Young’s Misery for two. Cheeseburger escapes the same thing and kicks Silas from the apron. The palm strike drops Young but Kazarian grabs the Ace of Spades (twisting Stunner) for the pin on Cheeseburger at 10:19.
Rating: B-. It was fun but this is one of Ring of Honor’s major problem areas: throwing a bunch of people into a match and thinking that’s good enough for a story. Kazarian was the only one in the match that had a real chance of winning (based on the story) so why did four others need to be there? Let Kazarian fight any of them (build someone up so they seem like a real threat to beat him) and tell a better story. Just throwing a bunch of people together feels like the easy way out and while the match was fun, it could have been better.
Jay Lethal and Bobby Fish both say they need to win the match so they can go after the World Title.
Bobby Fish vs. Jay Lethal
The match is billed as a top contenders match which may or may not mean a #1 contenders match. It’s pretty early in the show for something that big so I’ll assume it’s just another one of ROH’s ideas that might mean someone gets a title shot on some house show. They hit the mat to start before Fish starts in with the kicks. One big kick puts Lethal on the floor for a second thought on his strategy.
Back in and Lethal scores with a dropkick to send Fish outside. Another dropkick sends him into the barricade but Jay misses the suicide dive and hits the barricade as well. That means a bad arm but Jay gets in a third dropkick to keep control. Fish kicks him hard in the chest a few times though, shrugs off a European uppercut (why yes, we are watching an indy wrestling match) and hits another kick to the chest to drop Lethal.
Jay comes right back with a superkick (make your own jokes) and this time the suicide dive works. They get back inside for the big serious exchange of forearms with Fish driving him into the corner for an ankle lock. That’s not the brightest idea so Lethal grabs a cutter but Hail to the King is countered into the heel hook. A quick Lethal Combination sets up Hail to the King, only to have Fish grab another heel hook. Jay reverses into a rollup for the break, followed by the Lethal Injection for the pin at 15:12.
Rating: B. The matches are getting better and this one told a good story with the submission grappler against the natural all around performer who comes up biggest on the grand stages. I had a good time with this match, which isn’t the most surprising thing in the world given that I like both guys. Fish is a very solid hand but I think he’s pretty much resigned to the position of making the stars look good. Not the most horrible thing in the world to be sure.
We recap the Six Man Tag Team Title match. The Kingdom have the titles and since Dalton Castle and the Boys are a three man combination, they get a title shot. These belts continue to be one of the worst ideas possible for a company like this but hey, New Japan has them right? Both teams have a quick promo, saying they’ll win for the obvious reasons.
Six Man Tag Team Titles: The Kingdom vs. Dalton Castle/The Boys
The Kingdom is defending and Castle is just crazy over, being accompanied to the ring by an army of Boys. Thankfully Cabana is there to insult Castle and the Boys after their long feud. It’s a brawl to start and I don’t remember hearing a bell. The Boys start fast with double suplexes and the Kingdom bails to the floor for a meeting.
Castle and Marseglia start things off with Dalton wrestling him down and slamming the Boys onto him. Cabana actually knows how to tell the Boys apart and it’s #1 being taken to the floor for a beating. Colt: “THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN!” #1 gets slammed back first onto the apron and Marseglia follows up with some running forearms to the head. Since he’s a good boss, Castle offers a distraction so the Boys can switch.
Colt is losing his mind as he tries to get the referee’s attention but the hot tag brings in Castle anyway. The Bang-a-Rang plants O’Ryan for two so the Boys come in for a double dropkick on Vinny. O’Ryan sends the Boys outside and tries an Asai moonsault…..which hits the barricade, giving him a legitimate broken leg. Taven and Marseglia throw #1 back inside for a double powerbomb (Rockstar Supernova, an awesome name) to retain at 7:54. You can tell they were home REALLY fast and that’s completely understandable.
Rating: D+. This wasn’t any good and would have been boring on a regular TV show, let alone a major pay per view. I can’t imagine it would have been much to see even with the regular ending but you can’t fault them for ending the match soon because of a broken leg. The titles need to go away in a hurry though because they’re just not working.
We recap Marty Scurll vs. Lio Rush for the TV Title. Scurll has been a dominant champion and Rush is his latest challenger, having beaten him in a non-title 2/3 falls match. Assuming Scurll was champion then, why in the world was a 2/3 falls match non-title?
TV Title: Lio Rush vs. Marty Scurll
Rush is challenging and they’re quickly on the mat with a series of headlocks into headscssiors. Things speed up a bit with Rush tripping him to the floor for a hurricanrana off the apron. That’s fine with the arm flapping Scurll who superkicks him from the apron. Back in and Scurll start sin on the arm, including a stomp to the hand. Rush blocks the finger break though and hits a Tajiri handspring into a body block to take over.
Something like Sister Abigail into a DDT instead of a Downward Spiral gets two on the champ but he sends Rush shoulder first into the post. Rush speeds things up again and sends him outside for a double stomp to the back. Back in and Marty kicks at the legs for a change of pace (with the announcers explaining that he’s trying to break Rush down piece by piece and that he can always go back to the arm later).
One heck of a forearm puts Rush outside but he storms back in for a rapid fire exchange of forearms. Rush’s Tajiri handspring is pulled into the chickenwing but Rush makes the ropes. Scurll gets two off a piledriver but Rush comes right back with a running C4 (Rush Hour) for the same. With nothing else working, Rush heads outside and grabs the belt (Colt: “You have to win that first.”).
Not that it matters as he throws it right back outside and kicks Marty in the head for two. With nothing else working, Rush loads up a chair on the floor. A super Rush Hour is broken up though and Scurll takes him down with a Tower of London (hanging cutter out of the corner). The finger is snapped and Marty chickenwings him to retain at 18:38.
Rating: B. Really solid stuff here as Rush continues to grow on me in ways I never would have expected. Scurll is so much fun to watch though I could go for him doing more villainous things than just saying he’s a villain. To be fair though, when the setup for your finisher is breaking a finger, you’re quite evil in the first place. Good match here and probably the best thing all night so far.
We look at Bully Ray helping the Briscoes in Manhattan, which is all you’re getting for a recap.
Briscoe Brothers/Bully Ray vs. War Machine/Davey Boy Smith Jr.
This was supposed to be Smith/Lance Archer vs. the Briscoes but Archer is injured so this is a replacement match. War Machine and Smith don’t get along though so this might not be the most competitive match. It’s a brawl to start (of course) with Bully sending Davey into the corner a few times. The Briscoes come in and get suplexed at the same time in quite the power display.
Smith gets slammed down for What’s Up with Mark hitting an elbow instead of the headbutt. That means it’s time for some tables but War Machine makes a save and takes over on Mark. Kelly tries to explain the backstory with all the New Japan stables and as usual, I need a good sized chart to make sense of all this (please don’t explain it to me). A series of stomping sets up Smith’s camel clutch and a delayed vertical suplex.
Hansen tries one too many right hands and gets caught in a suplex, allowing the hot tag off to Jay. House is cleaned for a few moments until a pop up powerslam plants Jay for two but a clothesline allows the real hot tag to Bully as everything breaks down. Bully actually goes up top for a high crossbody (!) to take out everyone at once. The Jay Driller into the Froggy Bow sets up a three man 3D to finish Rowe at 11:45.
Rating: C+. This was the kind of fun match that you would expect. They beat each other up for a bit and didn’t bother wasting time on anything more than they needed to. Bully is best used as a featured attraction like this as he’s a legend who can just come in, do his signature stuff, and go to the finish. The match was fine and entertaining, which is all it needed to be.
Smith and War Machine fight on the floor which I’d assume will be resolved in another promotion in Japan.
We recap the Tag Team Title match. The Young Bucks were the champions and successfully defended at Manhattan Mayhem. Post match the Broken Hardys appeared and won the titles in an impromptu match. Roppongi Vice was already scheduled to challenge in a street fight so we’ll just make it a three way.
Tag Team Titles: Roppongi Vice vs. Young Bucks vs. Broken Hardys
Matt and Jeff are defending in a street fight. This is just after the TNA lawsuit, meaning the Hardys can only be kind of Broken because TNA is annoying and petty because they seem to think they can just throw the Broken gimmick on anyone and it’ll work (it won’t work because no one else can play the characters like Matt and Jeff). But hey, TNA gets to stand by its principles and if they just happen to look like penny pinching imbeciles, so be it.
Vice is knocked to the floor to start so they bring in some weapons to put the bigger teams down. A springboard dropkick drives a trashcan lid into Jeff’s back. The Bucks can’t hit a Meltzer Driver but the Hardys come back in to beat up Vice instead. Vice breaks up another Bucks vs. Hardys showdown so Nick powerbombs Romero off the apron and onto the ramp. The Bucks and the Hardys start brawling….and let’s hit the replay!
The champs get dropped with superkicks but the Bucks miss the stolen Hardys’ top rope shots. It’s time for the first ladder because I’m not sure the Hardys know how to work a long match without one. Jeff brings in a trashcan but gets superkicked with Matt taking one as well. A third superkick knocks Jeff off the ropes and into a big pile, only to have Nick get shoved off the ladder into a springboard flip dive onto the same pile.
Nick is right back in with a springboard 450 onto a trashcan onto Trent for two. More Bang for Your Buck is broken up and Jeff’s Swanton hits raised knees. With everyone down, Romero grabs a sleeve (as in from a shirt) covered in thumbtacks for a string of clotheslines in the corner. Strong Zero gets two on Nick with Matt making the save. Beretta pours out another bag of tacks but due to wrestling law #1, that means he’s sent face first into them, this time via something like a Steiner Bulldog.
The Five Star Driver (or maybe it’s the Meltzer Driver or whatever their insider name is for it that the fans cheer for because it makes them feel smart) sends Trent into the tacks, setting up another slugout with the Hardys. The champs get the better of it and bring out a table and a second ladder for various hardcore reasons. Matt and Jeff send the Bucks to the floor and a flip dive (not exactly a Swanton through Trent through the table is enough for the pin to retain at 17:14.
Rating: B+. These matches, along with most Bucks matches, are like junk food: there’s no quality to them but they’re a lot of fun to watch. I’d rather watch them just do their stuff with the superkicks and flips than try to have people tell me how great a match it is because they know how to put together better matches than any other team. The match was a fun, violent brawl and that’s all it needed to be. It was designed to pop the crowd and I got into a lot of those big spots, though the ending felt a bit flat. Also, well done on putting this together so quickly with the surprise addition of the Hardys.
The Hardys take the Young Bucks’ Superkick Titles too.
We recap the World Title match. Christopher Daniels won a tournament designed for older competitors to earn his shot. The idea is Daniels has given his all to the business but has never actually won the World Title. He’s put in everything he’s had for twenty four years and absolutely cannot lose.
This includes another outstanding promo from Daniels where he breaks into tears, talking about how he just has to win. Daniels has been on fire with the promos lately and I actually want to see him win after really not being a fan for years on end. The other detail is Daniels’ best friend Kazarian turning on him to join the Bullet Club to side with champion Adam Cole.
ROH World Title: Adam Cole vs. Christopher Daniels
There are no seconds here. Daniels is challenging and we’re ready to go after some Big Match Intros. We actually get a Code of Honor as the announcers talk about Daniels being 0-8-1 in World Title matches. Cole takes him down and makes a face before doing it again and slapping Daniels in the back of the head. The feeling out process/mind games continue as Cole sends him into the ropes for an ADAM COLE BAY BAY!
That earns him a right hand to the jaw so Adam stomps away in the corner. A backdrop sends Cole outside to give Daniels his first major offense nearly five minutes in. That’s quickly wrapped up though as a superkick knocks Daniels’ head into the post to draw some blood. Thankfully Adam is smart enough to stay on the cut and we hit a chinlock, which should squeeze more blood out of his head.
More kicks to the head have Daniels reeling but one too many poses allows Daniels to get in a Koji Clutch for a big hope spot. Daniels can’t follow up though so Cole talks trash about Daniels’ wife, which gives us the expected result. We hit the slugout with Daniels getting in an STO and a Blue Thunder Bomb for two.
The BME misses though and Adam scores with a superkick for two more. A Shining Wizard sets up the Last Shot for a near fall but Daniels hits him in the face again. Angel’s Wings is countered and it’s a double clothesline to put both guys down. Cole’s Canadian Destroyer is countered but he grabs Angel’s Wings on Daniels for two.
As you might expect, Daniels hits a Last Shot of his own for the same, followed by a Styles Clash of all things for a very near fall. Back up and the referee gets superkicked so heeeere’s Kazarian. We nearly get some heel miscommunication but instead Kazarian rips off the Bullet Club shirt to reveal a Daniels shirt. A Rock Bottom into three straight BME’s give us a new champion at 21:47.
Rating: B. I liked this more than I was expecting to with a great story as Daniels survived until he got one shot, just like he had done for his entire career. The Kazarian stuff was really well done (a bit predictable but still good) and Daniels did everything himself (Kazarian never touched Cole). They nailed the big moment and that’s all that mattered here with a good match to make it work even better.
The long celebration with a lot of the locker room coming out ends the show.
Overall Rating: A-. This really was a great show with the worst thing being the Six Man Tag Team Titles and even that was far from bad. They nailed the big ending which is all almost anyone is going to remember from this show and that’s the most important thing. However, it also brings up one of ROH’s major problems.
Aside from the main event and the Tag Team Titles to a lesser degree, almost nothing on here feels like it has a story that has either been thoroughly explained or even exists at all. I watch every episode of ROH TV and I couldn’t begin to tell you where a lot of these matches came from. Yeah Rush beat Scurll in a 2/3 falls match. Not only do I have no idea when/where he did that but I don’t remember it being mentioned on TV unless it was in passing.
This comes back to ROH’s TV being all screwed up. The go-home show for this (dated March 8) featured Kazarian turning, the Kingdom defending against the Rebellion with Dalton Castle on commentary and a Top Prospect Tournament match. Before that it was Addiction having issues, another Top Prospect Tournament match and the setup for Rush vs. Scurll, which involved about six more people. Finally, the last show of February featured Colt Cabana (on commentary here) squashing the Boys (title contenders here), an unrelated match and Daniels becoming #1 contender.
In the three weeks of build to this show, three out of the eight matches (World Title, TV Title, Six Man Tag Team Titles) got any kind of significant mention on TV. Maybe the other five matches were mentioned on the ROH website or something but I really should have a better idea of a pay per view by watching the last three weeks of TV. Run down the card or give us some promos (maybe you could get rid of the horrible Top Prospect Tournament matches or move them to a later date or something) or do SOMETHING to help build these matches up.
The formula worked here but you’re not going to be able to rely on the wrestlers knocking it out of the park every time. So much of this show worked because the main event (which was well built and told a great story) rocked and the ladder match had people who know how to work that match to near perfection. You can’t rely on that every single time and a big solution to that problem is to fix their freaking TV. I mean, they haven’t in years and it’s not going to get better anytime soon but it need to get better. Anyway, really strong show here and one of ROH’s best in a long time.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:
Ring of Honor Date: March 8, 2017
Location: Stage AE, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentator: Ian Riccabani
Officially this is the go home show for the Fifteenth Anniversary Show but it’s hard to really imagine how the schedule is going to go based on how ridiculous some of these tapings go. We’re likely going to hear about the pay per view but also the Top Prospect Tournament, which continues to not do much for me. Let’s get to it.
The Briscoe Brothers, Jay Lethal and Bobby Fish are ready for their eight man tag against the Bullet Club.
Opening sequence.
Six Man Tag Team Titles: The Kingdom vs. The Rebellion
Kingdom is defending and Dalton Castle is on commentary. Titus and O’Ryan go after the hair to start as Ian points out how similar these two are, both in style and look. I really wouldn’t bring up how only one of them really needs to be employed dude. Titus seems to tweak his ankle on a leapfrog so it’s off to Vinnie and Caprice, both of whom try kicks to the ribs and then poke each other in the eye.
King and Taven come in instead with Kenny kicking him in the head. Titus comes back in to chop at O’Ryan and clean some house in general. The knee goes out again though and we take a break. Back with Titus being taken to the locker room and Coleman hitting something like an RKO on O’Ryan. King gets the tag but the referee doesn’t see it, nor does he see King hammering on Taven in the corner.
Coleman somehow knocks down all three champs but here’s Lio Rush dressed as a member of the Rebellion to take the tag. Lio cleans house (Castle: “HOW IS THIS ALLOWED?”) with his usual fast paced stuff before he gives King an RKO and watched from the apron. Ian: “Was this a ploy all along???” All along? It lasted like a minute and a half! The Kingdom’s triple powerbomb retains the titles at 8:14.
Rating: D. At what point does Ring of Honor realize that these teams are worthless as well as uninteresting and that having titles for a “division” that has three regular teams (including the champions) is ludicrous. Big waste of time here and time that could have gone to ANYTHING else.
Jay White wants a rematch with Jay Briscoe from their time limit draw a few months back.
Briscoe calls White dog food and accepts.
Dalton Castle and the Boys want a Six Man Tag Team Title shot at the pay per view. Castle starts quoting Pocahontas, asking if you’ve ever asked the grinning bobcat why he grins. Castle: “WELL I HAVE! And I got 36 stitches and a rabies shot!”
Top Prospect Tournament First Round: Raphael King vs. Brian Milonas
Bob Evans has replaced Dalton on commentary. King is a frat boy with a female manager. On the other hand, Brian is a huge guy who weighs nearly 400lbs. King does some shouting and the slugout is on with Brian’s right right hand not seeming to make contact. Trash is talked and King gets in a dropkick, only to be crushed by some splashes.
Brian misses a middle rope legdrop and gets kicked in the face as this isn’t exactly working. Evans asks what else you can do other than kicking and punching Brian, which isn’t the best thing to point out. The manager gets in a slap of her own, setting up a good looking Rock Bottom for two. A side slam sets up a…..well I guess a backwards splash as Milonas was setting up for a regular splash but turned around and just fell backwards for the pin at 3:38.
Rating: D-. No idea who these guys are and it was horrible to see Milonas just being huge and not having much skill beyond that. King was watchable enough but that doesn’t mean it’s worth watching. I really can’t stand this tournament and this is one of the weaker classes of talent I’ve ever seen it have.
Christopher Daniels is your new guest commentator.
Bullet Club vs. Jay Lethal/Briscoe Brothers vs. Bobby Fish
It’s Cody, Adam Cole and the Young Bucks. We’ll start with Lethal and Matt Jackson but Lethal has to knock the Club off the apron before really getting started. A suicide dive takes Cody into the barricade and everything breaks down in a hurry. We wind up with Cody and Lethal in the ring and Cody taking a cartwheel into a dropkick.
It’s off to Mark who gets pulled to the floor and pummeled by Matt as this match is all over the place so far. Cole hits some bicycle kicks on Fish but takes a big jumping knee to the head for his efforts. That means a Briscoes vs. Bucks showdown and of course that means superkicks all around.
The Bucks add some big flip dives to the floor but Mark gets in a running Blockbuster off the apron on Cole. Not to be outdone, Cody superplexes Mark onto the whole pile of people for a major crash. Back from a break with the Bucks working over Mark but stopping to strut because they’re cool heels you see.
Mark isn’t ready to fight out of the corner just yet so Cody suplexes Cole onto him for no count as Fish and Lethal have the referee’s attention. A flipping slam off the ropes takes Cole out though and the hot tag brings in Lethal. Everything breaks down and Lethal hits the four pack of suicide dives. Fish wants to pin Cole though and they get in a fight to take us to a second break.
Back with the Briscoes on their own and Mark punching all four Club members. A quadruple superkick is well scouted though and the Club is quadruple clotheslined to the floor. Jay gets two off a powerbomb/neckbreaker combination but Matt flips out of the Doomsday Device. Superkicks a go-go set up Cross Rhodes to Jay. The Last Shot sets up a Meltzer Driver for the pin at Jay at 12:46.
Rating: B. Well that worked. This was all about flying all over the place and letting everyone look good (especially the Young Bucks of course). Lethal and Fish are fighting at the pay per view so their brawl here makes sense, making the match a little more logical. It’s easily the best thing ROH has done in a few weeks and it was very necessary on this show.
Post match Cole is left alone in the ring so here’s Daniels in the ring with some scissors. A pair of Angel’s Wings drop Cole but here’s Kazarian to help. That leads to Kazarian pulling off his shirt to reveal a Bullet Club shirt, which freaks Daniels out as expected. Kazarian knocks the scissors away from Daniels and takes a lot of yelling. Too Sweet brings the Bucks back out for double superkicks and the Club stands tall to end the show. Note that Kazarian didn’t punch Daniels once, which seems like a potential swerve.
Overall Rating: D+. The main event did this show some wonders but there was just WAY too much damage done by the time we got there. As usual, Ring of Honor doesn’t seem capable of focusing on anything long enough to really build it up, which is why we’re seeing a pay per view build and a tournament at the same time. The main event helped but the talent drops off a cliff at various point in ROH and those first two matches really showed it.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the History of the WWE’s Big Four Pay Per Views, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:
Ring of Honor TV – March 1, 2017: Back on the Rails
Ring of Honor Date: March 1, 2017
Location: Stage AE, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentator: Ian Riccabani
We’re getting very close to the Fifteenth Anniversary Show and now we have a main event set in stone with Christopher Daniels getting his shot at ROH World Champion Adam Cole. Other than that we have the start of the Top Prospect Tournament, which is always a guaranteed look into the future but that could be either a big hit or a big miss. Let’s get to it.
We open with a quick speech from Daniels about his tournament win.
Opening sequence.
Here’s Daniels to welcome Pittsburgh to Ring of Honor. From the day he stepped foot in this company as a long haired babyface named Christopher Daniels (“Well, I don’t know about fresh faced or long haired but I was there!”). He knew it was his destiny to be the ROH World Champion and he has his chance on March 10 in Las Vegas.
Cue Adam Cole and it’s STORYTIME BABY! Cole says he’ll beat Fish in New York City (causing Fish to crack up on commentary) but Daniels looks like he wants a fight with Bullet Club right now. Adam Page runs through the crowd to jump Daniels but Kazarian runs out for the save. Fish: “Take your time Frankie!” Make your own Teddy Long joke.
Adam Page/Adam Cole vs. Addiction
Kazarian and Page head to the floor as Fish accuses Kazarian of hanging his partner out to dry. Daniels doesn’t seem to mind as he hits a good looking suicide dive to take out the Adams. A hurricanrana over the ropes doesn’t quite work though and Cole superkicks Daniels into a commercial.
Back with Cole taking too much time posing and charging into an elbow. The STO is enough for the tag off to Kazarian and a Backstabber plants Cole. House is quickly cleaned and the champ dives into a cutter for two more. Cole and Daniels slug it out in the ring with Daniels planting him off an STO. Daniels loads up the BME but lands on a raised boot, allowing Cole to grab a rollup for the clean pin at 7:43.
Rating: C+. This was more entertaining than I was expecting and that’s always fun. Addiction was a good heel team but I’m digging them even better as faces. The match wasn’t long enough to mean much and I’m somewhat intrigued about the idea of Daniels losing instead of doing the cliched “pin the champ before the title match” bit. If nothing else, Fish was really entertaining on commentary and makes me think he has a prayer in New York, which I’d never buy otherwise.
Kazarian yells at Daniels post match.
Fish cuts a quick promo about how Cole is playing checkers against a chess master. I know that’s the common line but how would a chess player beat a checkers play? I’ve never gotten how that line is supposed to make sense (yes I get what they’re going for).
Kazarian yells at Daniels again in the back.
Bob Evans replaces Fish on commentary, which is likely going to be a theme tonight.
Top Prospect Tournament First Round: John Skyler vs. Sean Carr
Skyler has made a few NXT appearances and calls himself the Southern Savior. Carr is always being asked why he’s not on TV and now he gets the chance. Feeling out process to start as I’m trying to find a reason to care about either of these guys. Skyler wins a slugout and takes him to the mat for a backsplash. It’s off to a chinlock for a bit as Evans talks about how important the ROH seminars really are.
Carr comes back with a superkick (he’s probably getting a job based on that alone) and a second sends Skyler to the floor. A suicide dive knocks John into the barricade. They head to the apron for a kick to the face that was so far from making contact that they had to cut the camera angle. Skyler spears him on the apron (looked cool) but gets caught in a middle rope Codebreaker for two. Back up and Skyler takes him to the middle rope for a super Regal Roll and the pin at 6:12.
Rating: C. Yeah I still don’t know who either of these guys are (Skyler was never much in NXT) and I have next to no reason to care about any of them. That’s always the problem with this tournament and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better with this edition. The match was fine but nothing exceptional, which makes for a rather uninteresting match when I have no reason to care because there’s no story.
The Kingdom thinks they’ll keep the titles forever and haven’t forgotten about Dalton Castle and the Boys. These titles continue to be the most worthless belts I’ve ever seen, including the Never Six Man Titles.
Tempura Boyz vs. Motor City Machine Guns
And never mind because the Guns have been attacked. No match.
We run down the Manhattan Mayhem card with Bobby Fish and Adam Cole giving some simple promos to set up their match. Cole has gotten much, much better on the mic.
Dalton Castle and the Boys are getting a Six Man Tag Team Title shot. They lost to the champs and the Rebellion but THEY’RE GETTING A TITLE SHOT??? I know I’d normally say they should have built a division before they have champions but New Japan did it first so it must be ok.
TV Title: Donovan Dijak vs. Marty Scurll
Marty is defending after Dijak won a big elimination match a few weeks back. The Code of Honor as Scurll throws a kick instead. Dijak knocks him outside instead and nails a suicide dive followed by a great looking springboard elbow for a near fall. Scurll knees his way out of a suplex attempt and we take a break.
Back with Scurll chopping away on the floor and Dijak getting kicked in the head for his efforts. Marty loads up a running kick so Dijak moonsaults off the apron to escape. That’s just scary athleticism. Scurll doesn’t really care as he kicks Dijak in the head for a near fall. Dijak is tired of getting kicked in the head (can’t say I blame him) as he picks Scurll up for a suplex but just tosses him with ease.
The chokebreaker is broken up as we see Lio Rush (#1 contender) watching on the stage. A sitout spinebuster gets two on the champ and it’s off to another break. Back again with Scurll elbowing his way out of another chokebreaker and kicking Dijak in the head. A piledriver gets two and Dijak is getting all fired up. Feast Your Eyes is only good for two and Scurll breaks the fingers to take over again. The crossface chickenwing and another broken finger (that sound never gets old) make Dijak tap at 13:39.
Rating: B+. This was all about the evil technician vs. the athletic freak but the fact that Dijak had already announced his exit from the promotion didn’t do it any favors. Scurll is getting better and better in this role as he just feels like a villain no matter how you look at him. I could go for more Dijak though as he’s just scary with the athleticism.
Rush comes to the ring and gets kicked in the head but the Rebellion comes out to chase Scurll off. The banged up Machine Guns and Jay White come out for another save and it’s a staredown to end the show.
Overall Rating: B-. Good show here which ROH has been needing for a few weeks now. The wrestling was better but more importantly than that it felt like they were actually getting ready for a big show. Fish is a good choice for the Manhattan challenger but the money seems to be in having Daniels make a run at the belt. Finally, I’m still not much of a Riccabani fan but I’d gladly take him as a neutral commentator over someone trying to play a character.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the History of the WWE’s Big Four Pay Per Views, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:
Ring of Honor TV – February 22, 2017: It Doesn’t Balance Out
Ring of Honor Date: February 22, 2017
Location: Center Stage Theater, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentator: Kevin Kelly
We’re finally ready for the end of the Decade of Excellence Tournament with Jay Briscoe vs. Christopher Daniels in what should be a pretty obvious ending based on the story they’ve been going with. Other than that there’s a good chance we’ll be seeing more Bullet Club because that’s how this place works. Let’s get to it.
The opening recap of course looks at the tournament, as it should.
Opening sequence.
Silas Young vs. Bull James
An early Beer City Bruiser distraction lets Silas get in a few early cheap shots but James puts his feet on Silas’ shoulders and pulls him out to the floor. That was supposed to be an ankle scissors but the lack of ANY grip around Silas’ head made it clear he was flipping himself. Another Bruiser distraction lets Silas hit a flip dive to take James down and we take a break.
Back with Young working on a cravate as the fans tell someone that they’re fat. It’s not a good sign when you can’t tell if they’re yelling at the face in the match or the heel manager. Bull makes his comeback with a Flip Flop and Fly followed by an elbow for two (you’re no Dusty Rhodes kid). James goes up but opts to run (work with me here) at the Bruiser for a tornado DDT off the apron instead. Back in and Misery puts James away at 7:48.
Rating: D-. Matt Borne told Bull James that he would make a million dollars in this business. I think this is proof that Borne wasn’t that bright. This is a rare match where all the good is on one guy and all the bad is on another. James is just big, slow and completely uninteresting. Young was doing what he could be he was limited by dealing with a horrible opponent.
Jay Briscoe was the first man to come through the curtain at a Ring of Honor show and it’s all about the numbers. It’s been fifteen years, ten years, eight time Tag Team Champion, three time World Champion or whatever. All that matters now is one, and that’s Christopher Daniels.
We look back at Bobby Fish’s rise to the main event, including winning Survival of the Fittest and then making Adam Cole tap last week. Those were just steps towards becoming World Champion because that’s the only thing that matters. No one works harder than he does and he promises to win the World Title on March 4. Fish has dominated every title he’s ever set his sight on and this will be no different. He gets in a good catchphrase with “Being Bobby Fish is good enough.”
Colt Cabana vs. The Boys
Yes this feud is still going. Before the match, Cabana laughs off the idea of Dalton Castle (on commentary here) thinking he’s the better man. Cabana: “I’m a legend!” Dalton names them #1 and #2 as the beating begins, despite the lack of an opening bell. Colt easily works them over until a double pose sends him outside. Back from a break (In this match?) with Cabana doing some Bionic Elbows and hiptossing #1 over the top for a big crash. Colt throws #1 into Dalton, hits the Chicago Skyline on #2 and grabs the Billy Goat’s Curse for the tap out at about 6:00. Not enough to rate but it was a long squash.
Daniels lists all of his accomplishments but none of them matter without winning the World Title. It is his destiny to win the title and it will cement him as the best instead of the best that never was.
Video on the history of the Top Prospect Tournament, which starts up next week.
Mark Briscoe and Frankie Kazarian come out for commentary on the main event. That’s a good idea actually.
Decade of Excellence Tournament Finals: Jay Briscoe vs. Christopher Daniels
The winner gets a World Title match at the Fifteenth Anniversary Show. Before the match, Daniels says Briscoe is the last obstacle between him and destiny. Briscoe says this isn’t personal at all. Feeling out process to start and both guys fail at an early finisher. Back from a break with Jay having to fight out of a headlock with the announcers keeping things calm.
Briscoe starts swinging and kicks Daniels in the face to take over as it seems he’s playing the default heel, though it’s not like the fans dislike either guy. Daniels gets in an STO and scores with a Lionsault for two. There’s a Koji Clutch (love that move) for a good bit until Jay makes the rope.
Angel’s Wings have to be broken up and Kazarian is quoting Karate Kid. Back from a second break with Jay hitting a suicide dive but getting caught with a springboard moonsault to put both guys down on the floor. The seconds both head to ringside and it’s a double crossbody to put both guys down inside. Double clotheslines have no effect so it’s time for a slugout. A quick Angel’s Wings gets two on Jay and frustration is setting in.
Jay is slow to get up but grabs the Death Valley Driver for a breather. Daniels misses the BME and gets his head taken off with a clothesline for two more. The drama is getting really strong here and the fans are split, as you might expect. With the Jay Driller not working, Jay takes him to the top but gets crotched for his efforts. A super Angel’s Wings is enough to give Daniels the tournament at 18:03.
Rating: B. Good, clean ending here and that’s all it should have been. This didn’t need to be an angle filled match because Daniels is going to be the mega face going into the title match and you don’t need some stupid cheating to get him there. I’m actually wanting to see Daniels win the title and that’s not something I expected. I’ve never been a big Daniels guy but they’ve nailed the story here and that’s what matters.
They shake hands to end the show.
Overall Rating: D. That main event was good but it’s not enough to make up for the rest of the show being such a disaster. It really is telling to see how horrible the rest of the show is compared to the one good thing they have going at the moment. Ring of Honor is a mess at the moment and I can’t imagine things getting much better anytime soon. We’re coming up on Wrestlemania season, which should be the biggest time of the year for any promotion, but there’s nothing even lukewarm right now around here and that’s a very bad sign.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the History of the WWE’s Big Four Pay Per Views, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:
