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.
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Ring of Honor TV – February 8, 2017: Ring of Ho-Hum
Ring of Honor Date: February 8, 2017
Location: Center Stage Theater, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Colt Cabana
We’re getting closer to the 15th Anniversary Show and tonight it’s about the minor titles. First up we’ll have the Young Bucks defending the ROH Tag Team Titles against the Tempura Boyz. After that though we have a six way match to crown a new #1 contender to Marty Scurll’s TV Title. Let’s get to it.
BJ Whitmer/Punishment Martinez vs. War Machine
It’s a brawl to start as Cabana is in full on heel mode, talking about how awesome he is at everything in life. Rowe takes over on Martinez to start but misses the shotgun knees in the corner, allowing Whitmer to get in a cheap shot from the apron. We take a way too early break and come back with Hanson cleaning house with back and forth corner clotheslines to Whitmer and Martinez.
To make things even worse, Hanson puts Martinez on the top rope and rams Whitmer’s head into Punishment’s ribs over and over. An overhead belly to belly makes things worse for Whitmer as everything breaks down. Whitmer gets in his exploder suplex but grabs a table instead of covering. Cabana doesn’t care for the lack of disqualifications but settles for a double countout at 9:43.
Rating: C+. This is what the match should have been as War Machine is a great power brawling team. Whitmer is fine once they cut off the Kevin Sullivan nonsense and Martinez is capable of doing some very horrible looking things to jobbers if given the chance. I had fun with this one and the ending was one of the only logical ways to go.
They brawl to another break after the match.
Kingdom vs. John Skyler/Corey Hollis/Joe A’Gau
Non-title. The Kingdom doesn’t waste time as they take Joe to the floor for a triple bomb. Hollis gets sent into the post and it’s Skyler alone against all three champions. That means a triple teaming but a double underhook backbreaker only gets two. A superkick into an enziguri gets the same as we hear about T.K. O’Ryan being a sassy horse. Skyler finally slips out and of a pumphandle and dives over for the hot tag to Hollis. Everything breaks down and the Triple Bomb ends Hollis at 5:03.
Rating: C. Better than I was expecting here with the jobbers getting to put in a little more offense than you would have thought. The Kingdom is still not all that interesting because it’s just Matt Taven (who wasn’t that interesting in the first place) plus two guys who just debuted as part of the team. Give us a little more and maybe I’ll care but that isn’t the case yet.
Post match the Kingdom says they’ll never lose the titles but here are Dalton Castle and the Boys to interrupt. Taven isn’t impressed and says bring it on, which shows how short the aisle really is in this arena. Dalton gets in but Cabana shoves the Boys down.
We look back at the Young Bucks agreeing to defend against the Tempura Boyz.
Colt Cabana leaves commentary due to a zero tolerance policy.
Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. Tempura Boyz
The Bucks are defending and it’s Nick cleaning house on Sho to start, including an assisted superkick to send him outside. Back from an early break with the Bucks in full control (duh) and a big highlight reel from the champs. Matt kicks Nick by mistake though and we get stereo deadlift German suplexes on the floor.
Things settle down again with the Bucks actually in a bit of trouble…which of course lasts all of ten seconds before some kicks and dives get them out of trouble. That means a SUCK IT/DELETE chant from Matt but Nick gets caught in a Boston crab. Cue the superkick for the save and the corner enziguri sets up the 450 to retain the titles at 9:27.
Rating: C-. Not much to see here but that’s so often the case with Young Bucks matches. I’m not entirely sure on the idea of the Bucks vs. the Hardys but it’s one of the biggest indy matches you can do at this point. If nothing else it gives me a great chuckle at the idea of the Bucks never showing up in TNA, making them look even worse by comparison, which is always a good thing.
Post match Hangman Page comes out to help the Bucks lay the Boyz out.
Marty Scurll loves the idea of six people fighting for a shot at his title.
Lio Rush vs. Chris Sabin vs. Alex Shelley vs. Donovan Dijak vs. Jonathan Gresham vs. Jay White
One fall to a finish and all six hug before the match. Scurll, on commentary, wants to gag at the sight. Thankfully there are tags here so it’s not quite as insane, though it’s under Lucha Rules, meaning going to the floor counts as a tag. Speaking of which, that exact rules quickly gives us Rush vs. Dijak with Marty saying he can do everything Lio can do. I’m already liking Scurll and I’ve heard him talk for all of a minute and a half.
Everything breaks down and we wind up with Shelley calling a spot to Rush, who can’t quite fight his way out of the corner. With Scurll, who is holding an umbrella, talking about the Power Rangers, Sabin and Shelley argue for a bit, only to quickly hug us to a break. Back with Sabin knocking Shelley to the floor but getting Stunned by Gresham. White and Rush get into a very fast paced exchange with Jay getting the better of it as Rush is knocked out to the floor.
Dijak gets Rock Bottomed (Scurll: “I would kick out of this.”) for two and it’s time to hit the dives. Scurll: “THEY’RE ALL GONNA DIE! I could do that!” Dijak adds a springboard corkscrew dive so Gresham and Rush double team the big guy down. Gresham goes up top but the freaking Rebellion comes out to get in a big brawl. Back in and Rush kicks Dijak in the head but his top rope dive is caught by the throat. Feast Your Eyes gives Dijak the shot at 9:45.
Rating: C+. This was the usual over done match with too many people involved. The action was good though and that’s what matters most here, along with Dijak getting the title shot. I mean, he’s not going to win the thing because he’s leaving but it’s a nice bone to throw him on the way out.
Scurll stares him down.
War Machine is brawling with Whitmer/Martinez in the back to end the show.
Overall Rating: C. Just a show really as they’re still setting up the pay per view with a long time to go. I’m not sure how interesting that show is going to be with all the names that are rumored to be leaving the promotion but it’s nice to have a show focused on the ROH names instead of everyone else possible for a change.
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Ring of Honor TV – January 18, 2017: The Firm Divide
Ring of Honor Date: January 18, 2017
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness
It’s a bit of a big week around here as we have the final first round match in the Decade of Excellence Tournament to go along with whatever BJ Whitmer meant by a sacrifice. If that means we don’t have to watch any more Kevin Sullivan ever again….well that wouldn’t be so much a sacrifice but rather a very nice surprise. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Jay White/Lio Rush/Donovan Dijak vs. The Rebellion
They’re in military gear now because this thing needs to keep going. It’s a big brawl to start with the Rebellion being thrown to the floor with ease. Back in and Rush gets triple teamed so the Rebellion can take over. An elbow drop/legdrop/splash sequence gets two on Rush before a quick sprint around the ring allows for a diving tag off to White.
House is cleaned for all of thirty seconds before a spinebuster gives King two. Back from a break with everything breaking down again and the Rebellion getting taken down with a cool looking stereo triple dive. Dijak gets to clean some house and it’s Lio getting on the big man’s shoulders to splash Coleman for the pin at 9:42.
Rating: C. Good enough match here but the Rebellion is so horribly uninteresting. This could have been a lot worse but at least White and Dijak looked good. Rush has some solid dives but I’m still not sold on him in general. I’m still not seeing the point of the trios matches either but the Rebellion losing is a good thing.
Post match the Rebellion destroys the winners but take it easy on Rush. Chris Sabin comes in for the save.
Video on Marty Scurll, who is a natural villain.
Video on Cody (Rhodes) turning heel at Final Battle.
Here’s Cody for a chat. He thinks he’s gotten off on the wrong foot with the fans because they thought they were going to judge him. Really, he’s there to judge all of them because there was this horrid smell of mediocrity at Final Battle. A heckling fan shouts something about Brandi but Cody says they don’t deserve that. Take your chance now to take his picture because it must be nice to finally have a star that hasn’t faded in this building.
Cue Steve Corino in wrestling gear of all things as Kevin Sullivan and company come out. Cody: “You’re taller than I thought you would be.” He brings up Corino saying he never respected Dusty Rhodes in this very building back in 1999. The fans chant for Dusty and after talk of a sacrifice in a story I probably don’t care about, the match is ready to go.
Cody vs. Steve Corino
One bionic elbow is enough to take us to a break because that’s how wrestling works. Back with Corino baseball sliding him into the barricade and they fight on the floor. Apparently Corino has officially joined Kevin Sullivan as we hear about the Dusty Rhodes vs. Kevin Sullivan feud from THIRTY YEARS AGO IN FLORIDA which is the whole reason Cody is involved here.
Corino gets beaten down for a bit until a right hand sends Cody outside. A quick spit of water blinds Corino and it’s time to go after his bad knee. The Bionic Elbow and Flip, Flop and Fly from Corino (who I think is supposed to be the villain here as he’s joined the heel stable….which also includes Cody) set up the package piledriver for no cover. Steve goes outside and gets the golden spike but the referee says no, allowing a low blow to set up the Disaster Kick. A Dusty elbow gives Cody the pin at 5:33.
Rating: D+. I’m assuming this is Corino’s swan song in ROH and it’s a shame that he’s stuck ridiculous story. Let me make this very clear: to really get this story, you probably had to be watching the Florida territory back in the 80s. How in the world does ROH think that’s the best possible idea? What do we need Sullivan in there for anyway? How does that make things better?
Jay Lethal runs in and chases Cody off. Back from a break, Jay goes on a rant against Cody for trying to cheat his way to the top around here. Cody is just smoke and mirrors and one day soon, Lethal will get his revenge. For now though, it’s Decade of Excellence time.
Recap of the tournament.
Decade of Excellence Tournament First Round: Jay Lethal vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
After a handshake, Lethal stomps him down to start and gets two off a dropkick. Another dropkick puts Jushin on the floor and that means three suicide dives. Those are only good for two and Lethal can’t hit a superplex. Liger grabs a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and there’s a running flip dive off the apron to take Jay down again.
Back with the Lethal Combination dropping Liger but Jay can’t follow up. An enziguri sets up a torture rack of all things but Lethal turns it into a reverse Regal Roll to set up a Crossface. An awkward looking Hail to the King is reversed into a crucifix for two and that means running palm strikes. Jay will have none of this and it’s the Lethal Injection for the pin at 10:15.
Rating: C-. This was just two guys doing moves to each other until one of them won and that’s not exactly thrilling stuff. Liger is a legend but this felt like “hey I’m Jushin Liger and I am in fact here”. Lethal going forward makes sense and this is little more than a way for him to advance to the second round. Nothing great here though it was fine.
They bow to each other to end the show.
Overall Rating: C-. Not every show can be major and that was certainly the case here. It wasn’t exactly interesting and the matches were nothing special. What we had was a trio of mostly forgettable matches with stories that aren’t exactly thrilling. There’s a firm gap between the top stories and the lower level stuff and that was firmly on display here.
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Final Battle 2016 Date: December 2, 2016
Location: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Steve Corino, Kevin Kelly
This has been a fairly big request so I might as well get it out of the way before it’s way too late. Final Battle is the biggest Ring of Honor show of the year and this edition is headlined by Adam Cole defending the ROH World Title against Kyle O’Reilly. The card isn’t the strongest in the world but there’s always potential. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
We open with Story Time with Adam Cole, who has a story about two knights. One of them went on to become the King but everyone was jealous of him. The King had all all the friends he needed and all the other knight had was a shot at the throne, which he failed. Then he failed again and again until Kyle O’Reilly is out of shots. Cole drops the story and promises that tonight, Kyle fails all over again.
Opening sequence.
The announcers run down the card (as in the one you already paid for) which now includes a triple threat instead of a fourway as Bobby Fish’s mother passed away, forcing him out of the match.
Rebellion vs. Motor City Machine Guns/Donovan Dijak
The Guns are still in search of a permanent partner because trios are suddenly awesome. The Rebellion is the former Cabinet (Caprice Coleman/Kenny King/Rhett Titus) because Rebellion might actually be an even weaker name. To really show how rebellious King is, he has an upside down ROH logo on his trunks. Sabin and King run the ropes a bit to start with a grand total of nothing happen. Gotta love that non-offense from these rebels.
A quick triple team puts Dijak down and it’s Titus, billed as the BIG DAWG with a similar ROH logo on the trunks, getting triple teamed right back. Shelley does a little Ric Flair strut and helps hold Titus up for a middle rope splash from Dijak. A good right hand (Corino: “PS!”) drops Sabin though and it’s time for the Rebellion (and their dastardly trunks to take over. Coleman, the true rebel here due to his slacks, gets in a few stomps of his own.
More triple teaming ensues until Sabin gets in a tornado DDT. That means Dijak gets to clean house with a top rope chokebreaker (close enough at least) getting two on Titus. The fans are WAY into Dijak here but the chants are cut off as the Guns start speeding things up. Well as speedy as they can make them at this point in their careers.
Dijak actually busts out a springboard flip dive to make my eyes pop open. Feast Your Eyes sends Titus into a powerbomb for two with Coleman and King diving in for the save. Another powerbomb puts King down but Skull and Bones are broken up. The Sky Splitter sets up the Big Dawg (frog) splash to put Sabin away at 12:27.
Rating: C+. Now this is a good way to start a show: with a mostly meaningless six man tag featuring a bunch of flying around and fast paced offense that gets the crowd going early on. Unfortunately that’s about it for the good stuff as the Rebellion might be the least interesting idea for a gimmick this year. It’s one of those cliched names that you throw out there on a tiny indy show, not the biggest show of the year for one of the biggest promotions in the country.
We recap Silas Young vs. Jushin Thunder Liger. Young got annoyed at a fan dressing up like Liger so he wanted to beat up the inspiration for never showing his face like a coward.
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Silas Young
Young has Beer City Bruiser with him. A cheap shot puts Liger trouble but the threat of a surfboard sends Silas bailing to the floor. Back in and we hit the surfboard until Silas grabs the referee for the break. A neckbreaker puts Liger down and the Bruiser offers a cheap shot (it’s not like he’s going to do much else) to keep Silas in control. Young actually goes for the mask because he really is that evil.
Liger gets caught in a backbreaker for two but manages to get in a double clothesline for a breather. It’s too early for the Liger Bomb though and a big neckbreaker gets two for Young. That means it’s time for a shot of beer, which is spat on Liger’s mask. It’s enough to make Liger hit a brainbuster but a top rope splash hits knees. Misery puts Liger away at 11:04.
Rating: C-. Nothing to see here but above all else the right person won. Liger is still an attraction and a win over him seems to mean something, which is exactly what someone like Silas needs. It’s nothing great but it did its job well enough. I’m still not sure where they’re going with Young but we’ve waiting on it for a long time.
We recap Colt Cabana vs. Dalton Castle, which is your standard short term tag team breakup feud with Cabana playing heel.
Colt Cabana vs. Dalton Castle
You can tell Colt has turned as his music into something much slower with rap lyrics. Castle comes out in a chariot pulled by the Boys. Dalton immediately poses on the middle rope with his legs crossed like a gentleman. A quick takedown puts Colt on the mat and he bails to the floor, allowing Castle to do his strut after faking Cabana out on a suicide dive. The Boys are thrown in so Castle uses them as stepping stones to set up a dropkick. Now that shows some thinking out there.
Another trip to the mat goes badly for Cabana but he finally pulls Dalton out of the corner to take over. A quick Billy Goat’s Curse sends Castle diving for the ropes, which looked quite a bit like a tap. Dalton grabs a hurricanrana before sidestepping a Lionsault press. Colt pops up but can’t hit the Chicago Skyline. He can however reverse the Bang A Rang into a rollup for two but Dalton grabs the Bang A Rang for the pin at 10:22.
Rating: C. Castle is another guy who could be something special if he’s given the right kind of push. However, his character is one of those kind that has a firm ceiling above its head because of the nature of the persona. He’s getting better in the ring though and those eyes being all buggy make things even better.
Jay Lethal gives a great promo about how he won’t be remembered if he doesn’t do something memorable. Tonight he’s going to show why he’s the best wrestler in the world, like he’s been for years.
Cody vs. Jay Lethal
Brandi Rhodes gets in a chuckle worthy line with “Where we’re going we don’t need Rhodes.” Lethal has a vest containing his wish list, which include Cody. We’re not quite ready to go yet though as the Addiction comes out to interrupt. They’re cool with the night off after what they went through at Ladder War. Daniels talks about growing up watching Dusty Rhodes and how important it is to have wrestlers like Cody on the roster. Addiction will be sitting in on commentary.
Feeling out process to start as they hit the mat early on. A hiptoss exchange goes fine until Lethal gets in a dropkick for the first major offense. Cody comes right back with a very delayed gordbuster and starts in on the arm. Addiction keeps putting over the idea of Cody having experience in big matches and not buckling under the pressure.
A skinning of the cat is broken up by Jay dropkicking Cody in the face (that’s a new one) to send him outside. That means three straight suicide dives with Cody being ready for the third and breaking it up with a Disaster Kick. Back in and another Disaster Kick grazes Jay’s hands but he backflips on the impact anyway. Eh it wouldn’t be Ring of Honor if there wasn’t an unnecessary flip.
Lethal comes back with a Crossface but Cody rolls into a modified Indian Deathlock of all things. After a rope is grabbed, Cody turns him inside out again with a clothesline and the frustration sets in on the kickout. The moonsault press misses, which Kevin calls Cody’s first mistake. Oh I’m sure I could find a few. Jay starts striking him in the face but we’ve got a ref bump, allowing Cody to kick Jay low for the surprise heel turn. Cross Rhodes puts Lethal away at 13:12.
Rating: B-. Best match of the night so far but it still wasn’t great. Turning Cody heel is certainly interesting though as you don’t often send in someone like Cody and then have them do anything other than be a short term conquering hero. A win over Lethal is still a big deal, even though Jay has taken a few steps down from where he was recently. Good enough match too.
Post match Cody mocks the Code of Honor and flips Lethal off. Addiction chases him away while Corino jumps back in on commentary to say “he was right all along.” Rhodes shoves Corino down but Steve keeps his cool.
Long recap of the Six Man Tag Team Title tournament. Lio Rush is replacing ACH, who has left the promotion.
Six Man Tag Team Titles: Kingdom vs. Kushida/Jay White/Lio Rush
The titles are vacant coming in and I still have no idea which one is TK O’Ryan and which is Vinny Marsegila. Before the bell, Corino says the Father (likely meaning Kevin Sullivan) said the evil was coming and that’s clearly Cody. Things start very fast with Rush hitting a standing C4 and frog splash for a pretty hot two.
After a break on the floor, White takes O’Ryan down until it’s off to Kushida for a dropkick to the head. Rush comes in for some YES Kicks but Taven sneaks in for a DDT to take over. O’Ryan adds a spear for two as things settle down into your normal formula. The first hot tag brings in Kushida for the Hoverboard Lock but O’Ryan is quickly in the ropes.
The announcers are nice enough to start explaining why we should care about the Kingdom as Kushida scores with a double Tajiri handspring elbow. Everything breaks down and White gets two off a missile dropkick. To really pick things up a bit, White gets caught in a half crab from the top rope, only to have Kushida put Vinny in the Hoverboard Lock on the top for the save.
A superplex breaks the submissions which don’t count because they’re in the ropes and it’s time for Rush to get to show off because ROH LOVES that guy. Kushida gets in a big dive to take all of the Kingdom down, only to have Taven dive onto the even bigger pile. Back in and Rush has Vinny beaten so TK dives off the top to take out the referee. Rush goes crazy with his strikes but the triple powerbomb crushes Lio to give the Kingdom the belts at 15:22.
Rating: C+. This is a good example of just throwing titles out there and not bothering to put anything important behind them. There’s no reason to care about Six Man Tag Team Titles when there were barely any trios in the first place. It comes off like someone else did something so now we’ve got Trios Titles. That doesn’t mean it works and the match wasn’t great either, making this the finals of one heck of a waste of time, especially with the winners being a reincarnated stable that is missing all the parts that made it work in the first place.
We recap the rapidly changing TV Title picture. Will Ospreay took the title from Bobby Fish, only to lose it two days later to Marty Scurll. Dragon Lee is involved here as well because we need to bring in other people from around the world whether they’re interesting or not. Fish is out of the match due to a death in the family earlier in the day.
TV Title: Will Ospreay vs. Dragon Lee vs. Marty Scurll
Scurll, dubbed the Villain (I can work with this) is defending. As you might expect, everything starts fast with all three doing a bunch of flips without making any real contact. Will and Lee chop it out before all three wind up on the floor, only to have Lee hit a big flip dive. Back in and Will’s standing shooting star gets two on Lee, starting a British double team.
With Lee dispatched, Ospreay and Scurll start slugging it out until Marty gets caught in the Tree of Woe. Cue Lee for the Alberto Del Rio top rope double stomp and a near fall. A running hurricanrana pulls Ospreay off the apron and down to the floor but Will pops back up for a big running flip dive of his own.
A very fast series of dives has Scurll in trouble but he catches a final dive in his crossface chickenwing. Lee dives in for the save and it’s time for the circle chop fest. Ospreay does a double Tajiri handspring spinning kick to the face. Well that works. Scurll gets tired of this nonsense and BREAKS LEE’S FINGER, setting up the chickenwing to retain the title at 11:04.
Rating: B+. See, now this is something I can get behind. They didn’t bother trying with anything other than fast paced action and that’s what we got. I was having flashbacks to the Cruiserweight Classic here as it was all about speed and nonstop action, which is why you bring people like these three in. It might not have been the highest quality match but it was a lot of fun and highly entertaining.
We recap the Tag Team Title match, which is just about the Briscoes wanting their ninth title reign.
Tag Team Titles: Briscoe Brothers vs. Young Bucks
The Bucks are defending. Mark and Nick get things going but it’s quickly off to Jay (now with hair, making it easier to tell them apart) for an elbow. That goes nowhere so it’s a big staredown. The double superkicks are countered with the Bucks being sent to the floor, only to come back in for the slingshot dropkicks. A flip dive takes the challengers down and even more dives have them reeling.
The Briscoes are a bit more old school though and will have none of this being on defense thing, meaning a big double clothesline takes the Bucks down. Jay drops a BANG BANG Elbow off the apron because he’s not that original. We settle down to the Bucks in trouble because ROH is a weird company where the heels are faces and the faces are weaker faces because the heels are cool heels in Japan, which makes them faces by default.
Nick gets up and sends Jay outside for a tornado DDT off the apron, only to have the Briscoes come back in for a double superkick of their own. Unfortunately that means the Bucks start with their own superkicks and Corino SHOUTS THE MOVE’S NAME A LOT. Eh I’ll still take it over Joey Styles.
The draped over the ropes Swanton to Jay sets up More Bang for Your Buck on Mark, sending the fans even further into Buck-Love. Jay comes back in with a superkick of his own and the Jay Driller sets up the Froggy Bow for a very close two on Matt. A springboard Doomsday Device gets the same and the Briscoes can’t believe it.
That’s a bit too much selling for the Bucks though and it’s Nick cleaning house with a bunch of strikes because he can beat up both Briscoes on his own. The Meltzer Driver gets two on Mark and then, I kid you not, TWENTY EIGHT SUPERKICKS IN A ROW give the Bucks a double pin to retain the titles at 16:08.
Rating: B. I know the Bucks are annoying but they’re still two of the best high fliers going right now. The superkicks get really, really annoying at times (albeit nowhere near as bad as the “we’re cool heels like the NWO” schtick) but at least you get some good matches out of them. The Briscoes will be fine when they do whatever is up next for them and that’s been the case for years.
The lights go out…..AND WE’VE GOT BROKEN MATT HARDY! They’ll be coming to ROH soon (probably around Wrestlemania season) to make the Bucks and the Briscoes obsolete. The fans are WAY into the DELETE chant. The Bucks look stunned.
We recap Kyle O’Reilly vs. Adam Cole in a video that aired on ROH TV. The idea is they’ve spent years associated in some way and Cole is obsessed with keeping the title away from Kyle at all costs.
ROH World Title: Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly
Cole is defending and this is now anything goes as per Kyle’s request to not have to be held responsible for his actions. Kyle wins an early slugout and gets the armbreaker over the top rope. It’s not clear why he lets it go but Cole kicks him in the head for his general stupidity. Back in and Kyle kicks away before getting shoved off the top to give the champ control.
Even more kicks have Cole reeling but he stops a dive with a belt shot. That’s how a heel should use the weapons and it even draws blood from Kyle’s forehead. Kyle can’t stand up due to the blood loss so Cole puts a trashcan over him for a superkick. O’Reilly starts no selling chair shots (Seriously?) and suplexes Cole onto an open chair for…..well very little actually.
Instead he takes Cole outside again and dropkicks a trashcan into Cole’s chest for a big crash. It’s table time and, after fighting it off for a bit, Cole gets belly to back superplexed through the table for the big crash. That’s not enough for Kyle so he grabs a guillotine choke on the apron and kind of DDT’s Cole off the apron and through a second table.
Kyle looks under the ring (where they keep all those freaking streamers) and finds a chain for a callback to their match in Dallas. Cole (busted as well) gets in a low blow for two and it’s time for thumbtacks. The triangle choke has Kyle in control so Cole powerbombs him onto the tacks for the break. O’Reilly one ups him with a BRAINBUSTER ONTO THE TACKS, followed laying down on those tacks while locking in the cross armbreaker for the submission and the title (announced after a few seconds for some reason) at 19:14.
Rating: B+. I wanted to see more of this and that’s a good thing. It felt like the needed a few more minutes to really flesh it out but Kyle laying in the tacks after dropping Cole onto them made it feel like he really just wanted to beat him no matter what. Cole felt like a jerk throughout but he just didn’t have heart to keep up with Kyle, which is wrestling in a nutshell. It’s not a classic but it told a story, albeit one that should have had its trigger pulled a long time ago. Maybe it’s just that I’m not a huge fan of this feud but I never got into the big emotional impact here.
O’Reilly celebrates to end the show.
Overall Rating: B+. The first half of the show isn’t as strong as the second but it’s still more than good enough to set up the main events. Nothing really stands out above everything else but nothing was bad and the last three matches range from good to very good. This show’s problem is the lack of a strong build, as nothing on here really feels like it’s something worth seeing. That makes it a rare instance where it’s better to watch the show with no TV build as the pay per view is actually very strong and better than most stuff ROH puts out.
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Ring of Honor TV – December 7, 2016: An Early Christmas Present
Ring of Honor Date: December 4, 2016
Location: William J. Myers Pavilion, Baltimore, Maryland
Attendance: 600
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness
We’re past Final Battle and that means a few weeks before we actually get anything substantial in storyline terms. It’s really hard to say what we might get here but it could be anything from a house show to some nothing TV matches, but there’s almost a guarantee that it won’t be anything storyline driven. Let’s get to it.
Will Ferrara/Cheeseburger vs. Tempura Boyz
Joey Daddiego, Ferrara and Burger’s trainer, is on commentary. Ferrara and Burger double team Sho in the corner to start as we hear about Daddiego working on the Americans’ weight training. It’s off to Yo as the beating begins but Sho runs over to pull Cheeseburger off the apron to break up a hot tag attempt.
That goes nowhere though as Burger gets the hot tag a few seconds later, meaning it’s time for all the chops. Everything breaks down and the palm strike into a jumping Flatliner….only gets two as we take a break. Well it’s a special show so they have to fill in time. Back with Cheeseburger taking a package piledriver for the pin at 8:00. The post break stuff was less than a minute.
Rating: D+. Not much to this one but that’s going to be the case on the whole show. There’s nothing interesting to this one but at least the Tempura Boyz stand out a little bit instead of being a very similar kind of act than you see so often. Also it’s not like you can ever have too much talent on a roster so this is all fine. Not a good match or anything but fine enough for what it was.
Post match here are Prince Nana and Donovan Dijak to destroy Ferrara and Cheeseburger. Daddiego gets in and says this isn’t happening so let’s have a match.
Joey Daddiego vs. Donovan Dijak
Daddiego slugs away but can’t do much on the much bigger Dijak. A brainbuster gets two on Donovan but Nana crotches Daddiego. Feast Your Eyes gives Dijak the pin at 2:29.
We recap the Cabinet getting rid of their gimmick and calling themselves….the Rebellion. That’s really the best they could come up with? The idea of just scrapping the thing was out of the question? They also attacked Dijak and the Motor City Machine Guns at a house show.
Video on Kevin Sullivan/Steve Corino/BJ Whitmer. Thank goodness Corino just left the promotion instead of making us sit through this anymore.
BJ Whitmer/Damien Martinez vs. War Machine
As expected, they don’t even bother with the wrestling and just head outside to set up tables. The big brawl takes us to an early break with neither team in any real control. Back with a wrestling match having broken out with Whitmer and Rowe down off a double clothesline. Everything breaks down again with Hanson and Martinez slugging it out on the floor. The referee gets shoved and the match is thrown out at 7:16. Not enough to rate it but this was the kind of brawl it should have been.
Rowe gets chokeslammed through a table and Hanson gets kicked a lot. Kevin Sullivan talks to Hansen and apparently they knew each other back in the day. Hansen used to call himself Steve NEW SCHOOL Corino so Sullivan calls out the real Corino. This means a staredown between Corino and Hansen which goes….nowhere. Much like EVERYTHING ELSE IN THIS STUPID STORY!
Briscoe Brothers/Silas Young/Jay Lethal vs. Motor City Machine Guns/Lio Rush/Jay White
There are three people in this match named Jay. The referee is so confused by the horrible naming decisions that he doesn’t ring an opening bell (or maybe I just missed it) but Lethal shoulders Rush down to start. Rush starts firing off strikes and kicks Lethal in the head, setting up a big dive to the floor. That triggers a parade of dives to put everyone down as we take a break.
Back with more chaos, albeit slightly more controlled chaos. Mark takes a trashcan to the head and stops to chat about it on commentary for a bit. Lethal gets in trouble but there isn’t a heel corner for him to get caught in. Some quadruple teaming allows Lio to fire off some YES Kicks but Young tags himself in to save Lethal.
Rush gets caught in the corner as the Rebellion comes out to watch for reasons of general annoyance. We take a second break and come back with Rush handstanding his way out of a cutter (not a fan of the guy but that was cool). The hot tag brings in White as everything breaks down.
Everyone else winds up on the floor so Rush’s frog splash hits Lethal’s knees. White gets the tag but Mark makes a blind tag to kick White in the head. The Guns do their rapid fire stuff to Young and a double suplex staggers Jay Briscoe. White’s Kiwi Crush actually gets the pin on Jay Briscoe at 15:22 in a big upset.
Rating: B-. Rush is slowly growing on me though I still find him vastly overrated. White getting the pin is a nice touch though as he and Briscoe had that great brawl for one of White’s earliest matches. This was the high energy match that this promotion is capable of putting on and it worked well for this nothing show.
Overall Rating: C. For what we had here, this was actually a watchable hour. I like the idea of giving the lower stories and talent a show of their own like this as it’s not often they get a chance to shine. There are even stories to them most of the time, even though they don’t get to be on the pay per view. At least they get a chance to advance them, though unfortunately one of them is Sullivan vs. Corino. Good little show here, which was a nice surprise.
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Ring of Honor TV – November 2, 2016: It’s All The Rage In Japan
Ring of Honor Date: November 2, 2016 Location: Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, Massachusetts
Commentators: Steve Corino, Kevin Kelly
We’re still in Lowell and things are slowly starting to get ready for Final Battle. Kyle O’Reilly is probably on his way through the Bullet Club to get to Adam Cole and that’s likely going to include a tag match with Cole and Adam Page against ReDRagon, which has the potential to be a lot of fun. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of ReDRagon vs. the Adam’s.
Opening sequence.
Donovan Dijak vs. Danny Miles
The fans know this is going to hurt. Dijak kicks the handshake away and mauls Miles into the corner with forearms. The chokebreaker and back to back to back Feast Your Eyes wrap this up at 2:17.
Prince Nana says Dijak will never quit.
We look at the Motor City Machine Guns brawling with the Bullet Club after last week’s show went off the air.
The Briscoes are ready for the Addiction.
Briscoe Brothers vs. Addiction
Actually hang on a second as the Addiction is in street clothes. Frankie says they’re too banged up from Ladder War to compete here before going into the Briscoes’ legacy here in ROH. When Kazarian thinks about legacies, he thinks about Christopher Daniels, who has given everything he has to Ring of Honor and it’s Kazarian’s privilege to stand beside him and fight the wars with him. The Addiction leaves as I wonder what has lit a fire under them with these promos lately. I’m not a big Daniels fan but I’d love to see these speeches go somewhere.
The Briscoes say they didn’t lace their boots up for nothing so let’s get the Young Bucks out here right now for a World Tag Team Title shot.
Adam Page/Adam Cole vs. Briscoe Brothers
The Adam’s are here because the Bucks are still banged up. The Briscoes fight off an early ambush and it’s Page vs. Mark to start, only to have Cole jump Mark from behind. It’s Page sending Mark into the corner as the villains take over early on. The announcers use the stomping time to talk about Cole’s long list of challengers, which is one of the better uses of such time that you’re going to see.
We come back from a break with Mark having to fight off the double teaming with an enziguri to Cole. The hot tag brings in Jay (who is oddly booed) for a hard clot and neckbreaker on Page. Jay loads up the Jay Driller on the champ but takes a World Title shot to the head for the DQ at 7:30.
Rating: D+. This didn’t have time to go anywhere but I’m digging Page getting a push. He showed he can go in the feud with Jay Briscoe and it’s not like you can ever have too much talent. The Briscoes are one of those teams who can be fine no matter how many times they lose and I’m sure they’ll get another Tag Team Title feud soon enough.
ReDRagon makes the save despite Fish barely being able to move due to bad ribs.
Matt Taven says the Kingdom debuts next week.
Jay Lethal thinks he’ll get the World Title back in London.
We recap the Six Man Tag Team Title tournament so far.
Caprice Coleman says the Cabinet is ready to win the belts.
Six Man Tag Team Title Tournament Semifinals: The Cabinet vs. ACH/Jay White/Kushida
This is for a spot in the finals, despite the other half of the bracket not even starting yet. The Cabinet does their protest of the handshake but jump the good guys, meaning it’s time to stomp on White. We come back from a way too early break with White still in trouble until he kicks Coleman and Titus off the apron.
It’s off to ACH (now Super ACH apparently, which I actually kind of dig) and everything speeds up in a hurry. The announcers talk about how this is more traditional in Japan, which is as close of an admittance to “we’re doing it because New Japan did” as you’re going to get. The Hoverboard Lock sends Coleman to the ropes for a hilarious “GET HIM OFF ME!” in a high pitched voice.
Coleman’s arm gets worked on with a variety of wristlocks. King low bridges ACH to the floor as everything breaks down again. We come back from another break with King suplexing ACH for two as Corino thinks he and Kelly can get Nigel McGuinness to come out of retirement and win the belts.
ACH sends Coleman and Titus together and brings in Kushida to clean house. Everything breaks down and Titus gets triple teamed until Coleman and King have to save a pin. The Sky Splitter gets two on White and Kushida kicks King and Titus to the floor. A Rock Bottom plants Coleman and the Midnight Star gives ACH the pin at 21:07.
Rating: B-. I really can’t stand this tournament, though the Cabinet being eliminated helps a lot. They’re really not hiding the fact that these titles exist because New Japan has them and that doesn’t do much for me as a fan. You have three guys thrown together against a team with a stupid gimmick and if you win three matches in a row you get titles? These things just exist and I need more than that to care.
Overall Rating: C. This show was kind of all over the place with the tournament eating up a bunch of time, a quick squash and a long segment involving the Briscoes. It’s certainly not a bad episode but it basically comes down to your stance on the tournament. If you like that, you’ll like this show. If you’ve grown sick of all things New Japan like I have solely because of ROH, this probably isn’t your favorite show.
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Ring of Honor TV – October 5, 2016: What They Do Best
Ring of Honor Date: October 5, 2016
Location: MCU Park, Brooklyn, New York
Attendance: 1,500
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Steve Corino
It’s the first show after a pay per view and that means…..well I have no idea what that means actually as this could be anything for the most part. We could be getting a special look at someone or a special show with nothing to do with the regular shows. Or it could just be a stand alone show that focuses on some midcard storylines. My guess: New Japan. Let’s get to it.
We’re going to a special show called Field of Honor from Brooklyn back on August 27, 2016.
National Anthem.
Opening sequence.
TV Title: Bobby Fish vs. Evil
Fish is defending and gets his eyes raked to start. An early kneebar attempt sends Evil outside and Fish is right there to kick at the leg. Evil is right back up with a chair to the back before wrapping it around Fish’s throat to send it into the post. It’s not a DQ for reasons that aren’t clear and we take a break.
Back with Fish suplexing Evil into the corner because that’s a required spot these days. They trade forearms until Fish gets in a Samoan drop for a breather. A half and half suplex gets two for Evil and he takes Fish’s head off with a clothesline. Fish pops right back up with a falcon arrow into a kneebar and Evil taps at 10:40.
Rating: C+. This is the kind of match that I can always go with: simple wrestling with a random challenger coming for a title despite there being no chance of a title change (partially because this was taped six weeks ago). I’m not big on Evil but he was the perfect choice to go after the champ like this. Fun little match.
IWGP Intercontinental Title: Michael Elgin vs. Donovan Dijak
Elgin is defending and this title has never been on the line in New York before. Dijak gets powered into the corner but he punches Mike in the cut on his forehead. That goes nowhere so Elgin shoulders him down and follows with the delayed vertical suplex. Dijak avoids a charge in the corner and lifts Elgin up for some knees to the back. It’s too early to finish the champ off though and he muscles Dijak up for a suplex as we take another break.
Back with Elgin hitting Dijak in the face and getting two off a really hard clothesline. The Elgin Bomb gets two and Dijak grabs a fireman’s carry into a sitout powerbomb of his own for two more. A chokebreaker sets up Dijak’s moonsault for two. Elgin shrugs that off too and hits a quick Death Valley Driver onto the apron. A German superplex knocks Dijak silly and it’s a buckle bomb into the Elgin Bomb to retain the title at 11:45.
Rating: B-. I had a lot of fun with this as they just beat each other up for a long time. There was nothing scientific here and that’s all it was supposed to be. Elgin is a beast who can run people over and Dijak is the kind of athletic freak that you only get every now and then. Fun match here as this show has been good so far.
Bullet Club vs. ACH/Lio Rush/Motor City Machine Guns
Yujiro Takahashi/Hangman Page/Young Bucks for the Bullet Club here and ACH/Lio Rush and the Motor City Machine Guns for ACH/Lio Rush/Motor City Machine Guns. We have to wait for ACH to run around the bases before it’s time to get going. Matt and Lio start things off and it’s a thumb to the eye to give the Club the early advantage. Rush flips around and starts kicking both Bucks so we can take a break.
Back with Sabin headlocking Page and bringing Shelley in for a top rope armdrag. Nick gets hung over the top with three guys holding him in place for Rush’s top rope double stomp. Quadruple strikes have Nick in even more trouble and the rest of the Club FINALLY comes in for the save. A bunch of superkicks have Rush and ACH down so the fans gets behind the Club. Of course they do. Back in and the powerbomb into a kick to the head knocks Rush silly.
We come back from another break with Rush diving at the corner but getting suplexed over for two. Matt grabs a camel clutch so Nick can run the ropes, only to stop for a Too Sweet poke to the eyes. Rush doesn’t seem interested in sucking it so he makes the hot tag to ACH. Everything breaks down with ACH doing a bunch of dives and kicks to the head of anyone he can find.
A belly to back suplex gets two on Page and the Guns hit a Magic Killer on Matt. Rush starts firing off suicide dives and some superkicks send Page into a German suplex for two. The Guns start their rapid fire offense on the Bucks but a double superkick knocks Rush to the floor. Now we get the Bucks firing off dives but ACH hits an even bigger one to take everyone down. Back in and a double superkick into the Rite of Passage knocks Sabin out for the pin at 15:29.
Rating: B. This was exactly what it needed to be with eight guys who were there to fly all over the place and pop the crowd all over the place. The Bullet Club continues to dominate the promotion because that’s what Ring of Honor is about anymore. The Guns/Rush/ACH are fine enough for a group to lose to the Club so it’s all gravy here.
Overall Rating: B. Now this is the kind of show that I can get into. They aren’t trying anything over the top or anything stupid like the Kevin Sullivan story and just went with the wrestling, which is what you need every now and then. There’s good stuff in this promotion (meaning it doesn’t need New Japan) and it’s fun to watch them from time to time.
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Ring of Honor TV – September 14, 2016: Building With Japan
Ring of Honor Date: September 14, 2016
Location: Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly
All-Star Extravaganza is in a few weeks and we only know a few matches so far. These monthly pay per views are really hard to book when Ring of Honor has so many stand alone TV episodes just after the pay per views as they’re basically booking a huge show in just a few weeks. Hopefully this makes things a bit better. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of last week’s Bullet Club segment and Jay Lethal interrupting to set up a six man tag with Los Ingobernables de Japan backing him up.
Opening sequence.
Bullet Club vs. Jay Lethal/Los Ingobernables de Japan
That would be Adam Cole/Hangman Page/Yujiro Takahashi vs. Lethal/Tetsuya Naito/Evil. Takahashi and Evil get things going here with Evil easily taking him down. That means it’s off to Cole vs. Lethal with Adam bailing out to the floor as we take an early break. Back with Naito sending Page to the floor and doing his signature take it easy pose. We get more Cole vs. Lethal and yet again Adam tags out to Takahashi.
The fast tagging continues as Naito comes back in, only to get jumped from behind by Cole. A blind tag allows Lethal to finally get his hands on Cole and the brawl is on until a double right hand puts both guys down. Naito gets annoyed at Lethal’s attempt at a tag so Los Ingobernables both walk out. That means another break and we come back to Lethal in real trouble thanks to the triple teaming.
Cue Michael Elgin to get in Lethal’s corner and Nigel says it’s all cool (thank you for actually having the boss approve something). House is quickly cleaned with Elgin powerslamming Page and Takahashi at the same time (that’s not normal) to take over. More triple teaming has Elgin in trouble so here’s Kyle O’Reilly to really make this a six man tag again.
The tag brings in Kyle to slug it out with Adam until a brainbuster gets two on a champ. We take a ridiculous third break and come back with Kyle’s rebound lariat taking out Page and Takahashi. Kyle and Adam strike it out again until a low superkick from Cole puts both guys down. The double tag brings in Lethal and Takahashi and a quick Lethal Injection ends Yujiro at 19:20.
Rating: C+. This was more than I was going to like as they threw in so much stuff that it was hard to focus on anything. Elgin isn’t much of a title challenger as Kyle is pretty clearly the real contender to Cole’s title. Kyle needs a big win to get him into the title picture though and I’m not sure who they could put in that place.
Bobby Fish is ready for Katsuyori Shibata, who is getting a title shot because he’s from New Japan and that’s important.
Addiction is ready for Ladder War.
Lethal is still by the ring (nice of him to wait through all the taped material) and says he wants revenge on Naito. That earns him a match at All Star Extravaganza, though Nigel points out that Lethal’s last request cost him the title. The match makes sense as you have to completely confirm Lethal’s face turn.
TV Title: Bobby Fish vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Fish is defending and Shibata’s Never Openweight Title isn’t on the line. The threat of an early Penalty Kick sends Fish into the ropes as the fans are almost all behind Shibata. We get a Figure Four on the champ and the turn escape isn’t working for Bobby. A rope break gets him out of the hold and sends us to an early break. Back with Shibata’s knee in trouble and Fish getting two off a snap suplex.
We hit the chinlock and here’s Prince Nana for commentary as his client is #1 contender to the title. Fish starts in with the kicks to the chest but Shibata tells him to bring it on. Shibata wins a slugout and hits a running dropkick in the corner. It’s off to a rear naked choke on Fish but he reverses into the heel hook.
Shibata gets in a leglock of his own at the same time so both guys are in trouble. They roll into the ropes and we take another break. Back from a late break with Shibata using fighting spirit (Nigel’s words) to get in a German suplex. Another slugout goes to Shibata with an STO getting a one. Armbars don’t go anywhere so Shibata gets in a triangle, only to have Fish roll him up to retain at 16:33.
Rating: C+. I still don’t get the appeal of Shibata but that’s probably a Ring of Honor thing as I’m sure he’s different here than he is over in Japan. I’m fine with the one off match here as that’s the idea behind the TV Title, even though it’s basically treated as a regular midcard title most of the time.
Fish and Shibata go nose to nose to set up their rematch in Japan.
Nigel tells us that Steve Corino is back on commentary next week.
Overall Rating: C+. This was a good enough way to set up All-Star Extravaganza, which still doesn’t feel like an important show. At least the card is starting to fill in and they can put in more Six Man Title tournament matches to really pad things out. The wrestling was fine here if a bit uninspired but we got a big match set up and some build towards a few other matches so this did its job.
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Ring of Honor TV – September 7, 2016: Putting People Over
Ring of Honor Date: September 7, 2016
Location: Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly
We’re finally back to the regular taping cycle though thankfully we had two strong stand alone shows in the weeks since the pay per view. The big story is Adam Cole winning the ROH World Title and bringing it to the Bullet Club, which is suddenly stronger than ever before around here. Let’s get to it.
We open with a package on Cole winning the title and being attacked by Kyle O’Reilly, likely setting up their showdown at Final Battle.
Opening sequence.
Here’s the Bullet Club for their big celebration. It’s Story Time With Adam Cole, who has delivered on his promise to become a two time ROH World Champion. He’s going to be champion as long as he wants but here’s Jay Lethal to disagree. Cole knows that Jay wants his rematch tonight but it’s the champ’s night off. If Lethal wants to fight later then that’s fine, but just remember the Bullet Club will be right there. Lethal isn’t worried though because he’s got friends of his own: Los Ingobernables de Japan. The big staredown takes us to a break.
A six man tag has been made for next week.
We look at what happened after last week’s show ended, with the Young Bucks beating Addiction down.
Here’s the Addiction at the announcers’ desk to say that footage was doctored.
Video on Punisher Martinez being the new heir to Kevin Sullivan’s evil.
Caprice Coleman vs. Dalton Castle
They actually start with a battle of the thumbs until Dalton single legs him down for two. We get the chest stick out followed by a BOO/YAY fight over a headlock. A running knee knocks Coleman off the corner and there’s a running kick to the head because wrestling is about running strikes these days. With Coleman in trouble, the rest of the Cabinet goes after the Boys and we get a four man ejection to take us to a break.
Back with the Boys still at ringside and Coleman being thrown off a suplex. Castle does a sweet bridge out of a rollup into the lifting German suplex but here’s the Cabinet to get on my nerves all over again. I love that the company’s boss is RIGHT THERE and this keeps happening. The Boys come in and dive onto the Cabinet, leaving Castle to hit the Bang A Rang for the pin at 8:02.
Rating: C-. Castle and the Boys are as different than the Cabinet as you can possibly be. I know that’s probably why they’re feuding but that doesn’t work when the major difference is one being entertaining and the other being an act that caused me to wait several days to sit through this show. Hopefully this wraps up soon.
Clips from the way too good Jay Briscoe vs. Jay White match that ended in a time limit draw.
Here’s the Addiction with a ladder to say they’ve beaten every team put in front of them. See, they’re at the top of this ladder and each rung is a team beneath them.
Bobby Fish is ready for his title defense against Katsuyori Shibata next week and suggests that Shibata just pay off the referee because he has no chance otherwise.
Donovan Dijak vs. Manny Lemos
Manny slaps Dijak in the face on the handshake and gets punched down for his disrespect. Dijak throws him to the floor, bring him back in, and finishes with Feast Your Eyes at 1:34. Total squash.
Post match Prince Nana says Dijak is coming for the winner of next week’s TV Title match.
The Briscoes can respect what Jay White did in their singles match but tonight it’s a tag team match and that’s their world.
Briscoe Brothers vs. Lio Rush/Jay White
Non-title. For the sake of simplicity, I’ll only refer to Jay Briscoe as Jay. Mark and Rush get things going with Lio snapping off a springboard hurricanrana. It’s already off to White but Jay crushes him with a splash in the corner. Back from a break with White DDTing Jay and tagging in Rush for his variety of kicks. That means it’s time for the first flip dive over the top to take Jay out, only to have Mark come back with the Blockbuster from the apron.
Back in and Rush gets thrown with a gutwrench suplex, followed by a regular suplex for two. As you might expect, more kicks allow the tag off to White to face Jay and you can feel the energy picking up. White scores with a missile dropkick for two and we take a second break. Back with Rush hitting a suicide dive to take Mark out, leaving White to cover Jay for two. The fans are actually accurate for once with their THIS IS AWESOME chants.
Mark grabs a fisherman’s buster for two on Lio and the kickout stuns him. A Shining Wizard catches Mark for two more and it’s time for the slugout between Jay and Lio. The Death Valley Driver into the Froggy Bow knocks Lio silly but White tackles Jay onto the cover for the save. The even bigger slugout goes to Jay but White slaps him in the face anyway. A double forearm from the Briscoes puts White on the floor and sets up a Doomsday Device to put Rush away at 18:41.
Rating: B+. I know he hasn’t won anything but this mini-feud has done more for White than almost any initial push that I’ve seen in a long time. It’s certainly better than having him win a tournament over a bunch of other unknowns and then having him lose to a singles champion. White has the goods and could be something special if he can talk.
We get the big handshake to really make the young guys look good.
Before we’re done, Nigel makes Addiction vs. Young Bucks vs. the Motor City Machine Guns in a ladder war at All Star Extravaganza. Addiction is treated as the heels here, which really should confirm the fact that the Bucks are faces despite acting like heels. The champs freak out backstage to end the show.
Overall Rating: B-. The main event easily carries this one and it was cool to see the focus on something other than the main event again. That being said, we’re less than three weeks away from the pay per view and I barely have any idea what we’ve got coming up other than a World Title match, a ladder match and some matches in the Six Man Tag Team Title tournament, which is likely a thing because they’re a big deal in New Japan. They need something more to fill in the card and I have a bad feeling it’s more New Japan to the rescue.
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Ring of Honor TV – August 19, 2016: The Second Half Of A Go Home Show
Ring of Honor Date: August 14, 2016
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 850
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly
It’s the go home show for Death Before Dishonor and they’ve actually done a good job of setting up the main event with Jay Lethal defending the ROH World Title against Adam Cole. Unfortunately the only other match that has gotten any real time is the TV Title match with Bobby Fish defending against Mark Briscoe. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of Cole getting himself a title shot by taunting Lethal last week.
Opening sequence.
War Machine and the Motor City Machine Guns are both out with injuries so the Tag Team Title situation is up in the air.
Donovan Dijak vs. Lio Rush
Rush still doesn’t do anything for me. Dijak throws him outside to start but Rush reverses a whip into the barricade. It works so well that Rush does it again but Prince Nana won’t let Rush get back inside. Well it’s not like he does anything else. Back in and Dijak kicks him in the face for two.
Another toss sends Rush flying as the size difference is staggering here. Rush comes back with strikes because that’s how you make comebacks in ROH. A suicide dive is caught in midair but Rush kicks him a few more times and hits a springboard corkscrew dive as we go to a break. Back with Rush knocking Dijak down until a frog splash is countered with a choke.
The chokeslam is countered into an attempt at a victory roll but Dijak reverses into Feast Your Eyes. That’s countered into another rollup, followed by a low DDT and a kick to the head for two. A chokebreaker finally slows Rush down but Nana wants one more. You really should see where this is going and of course Rush gives him a reverse hurricanrana. A kick to the head and the frog splash…only get two on Dijak. Ok they actually fooled me there. Feast Your Eyes is countered into a crucifix to give Rush the big upset at 12:26.
Rating: C+. That near fall alone brings this up though I’m not wild on Dijak losing to Rush. Lio is entertaining enough but there’s nothing about him that makes him stand out. Dijak might not be great but he has potential and he’s been built up long enough. It’s a good match though and my only issue is I’m not a Rush fan.
Jay White and Kamitachi come out for back to back saves, only to have Dijak and Kamitachi beat White down. These four are in a four way for the #1 contendership to the TV Title on Friday. You might mention that in the first place but I’ll take what I can get.
The Cabinet warns Dalton Castle that his Boys might be in danger. Can we just get rid of this Cabinet gimmick already? They’re not entertaining, they’re nothing unique and they barely wrestle.
Earlier today, Shane Taylor and Keith Lee beat down War Machine to take them out of the Tag Team Title shot.
Hangman (Adam) Page talks about the Bullet Club wanting every piece of gold they can find. That includes the Briscoe Brothers and their IWGP Tag Team Titles. Cue Jay Briscoe for the brawl until security breaks it up.
Earlier tonight Addiction said they have the night off but Roppangi Vice came out to say they should deserve a shot due to being undefeated in Japan for a month. Well if it was in Japan then of course it does. This brought out the Young Bucks to say this is going to be a two and a half star match at best so let’s make it a five star classic. Nigel says he can’t do it but he can make a #1 contenders match for the title shot in two weeks.
Young Bucks vs. Roppangi Vice
Matt pounds on Romero to start as the Addiction is on commentary with Daniels listing off various Japanese teams they could fight. They’ll be defending against Naito/Evil and Tanahashi/Elgin at the pay per view, because of course having them fight an ROH team was out of the question. Romero chops at Matt’s chest before it’s off to Trent, only to have the Superkick Party begin.
Some stereo suicide dives keep Vice in trouble but Romero knocks Matt to the floor as we take a break. Back with Vice in control until Romero is sent outside for yet another superkick. Matt’s top rope elbow gets two on Barretta and it’s time to SUCK IT over and over. That earns Matt a double knee to the face, followed by Romero cleaning house with clotheslines.
The over the back piledriver on the floor is broken up though and it’s time for Addiction to take some superkicks. More superkicks abound and Nick’s 450 gives Matt a near fall. Nick moonsaults onto Addiction, leaving Trent to hit the Dudebuster (kneeling tombstone) for two. Of course it’s two because that means that would imply the Bucks aren’t the most amazing team ever. A running knee gets two on Matt but the cover is countered into a rollup to give Matt the pin at 12:16.
Rating: C. Just give the Bucks the titles already so it can officially be the Bullet Club Era instead of just pretending that it has been for six months now. At least they could have had the Bucks vs. the Addiction for the titles which now has a TV build, but instead we’re getting the Addiction vs. two teams from New Japan because YAY NEW JAPAN. I’m not a fan of anyone involved here but the booking is even worse.
Post match Addiction gives Matt Celebrity Rehab onto the title belt.
Here are Lethal and Cole for a contract signing. Cole says it’s Story Time and asks Lethal if he really believes that he’s ready for Friday. Everyone here believes they’re two of the best in the world and they’re facing off at Death Before Dishonor. Cole doesn’t sign yet but it’s Lethal’s turn to talk. Every match Jay has had in Ring of Honor has always been around the ROH World Title.
No matter what he was doing, including beating an outsider like Alberto El Patron, it was about the title. The titles are the most prestigious things in the wrestling business. For the first time though, this is personal and not about a title. Lethal doesn’t have catchphrases and one liners. He’s coming to Las Vegas to fight and he signs the paper. Cole says Lethal just signed away the title so he goes to sign as well but Lethal throws scissors on the table. The fight is on (Cole signed) and there’s a superkick for Jay but Cole spends too much time talking and gets hit low. Jay goes for Cole’s hair but the Bucks make the save to end the show.
Overall Rating: C. The wrestling was acceptable and we got a strong push to the main event but there’s a lot of stuff that just wasn’t touched upon here. Death Before Dishonor is an eight match card and this show built up four (including the Tag Team Title match which was only mentioned). But no worries, because all you need to do is say New Japan is on the card and that makes it better. Anyway, if you combine this show with last week’s you have a strong go home show but on its own, this was just more hype for the main event.
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