NXT Date: August 30, 2017 Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida Commentators: Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo
We’re back to the regular stuff this week as NXT returns home to Full Sail. After last week’s recap/reset episode, this time we’ll be having the first storyline advancements since Brooklyn. The big story will see Drew McIntyre as the new NXT Champion and the former Ring of Honor guys biting at his heels. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Sanity, some security guards and possibly other wrestlers are down in the back. Three people, presumably Adam Cole, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly are seen walking away. William Regal comes in and wants medical personnel.
Here’s McIntyre for his first comments as champion. After the required YOU DESERVE IT chants, Drew says this is his life. The last seventeen years have led him to this moment and this is his life’s work. He understands that the title comes with a big bullseye on his back. Drew brings up Cole and company and is ready to face anyone so here’s Roderick Strong to interrupt. Roderick wants a shot at the title but first, he has to face Bobby Roode. The champ seems game.
Roode says he’s already on Smackdown but tonight he’s beating Strong and coming after his NXT Title, which he’ll bring up to Smackdown with him.
Peyton Royce vs. Ruby Riot
They head to the mat to start with Riot getting the better of it and scoring with a dropkick for two. An armbar keeps Royce in trouble so Peyton knees her in the face for a breather. Ruby gets thrown outside and we take a break. Back with Ruby fighting out of a chinlock and firing off a string of kicks for two. A Death Valley Driver gives Royce a quick two but Riot knocks her around even more.
Billie Kay pulls Royce outside though, like a true friend should be doing. That’s fine with Riot, who nails a double suicide dive. Royce tries to crawl away until Riot grabs her by the legs. Billie pulls her outside for a big boot though, with the referee seeing no problem with Riot just disappearing while pulling on Royce’s leg. Back in and Peyton’s fisherman’s suplex is good for the pin at 10:45.
Rating: C-. I like the idea of Royce and Kay getting a win here and there, especially when they cheat to keep Riot looking strong. With Asuka’s status in flux at the moment, Riot could become a major player on top of the division in a hurry. Royce is getting better in the ring though and she has a finisher that works well enough, which should help her in the future.
Kassius Ohno comes in to ask Regal for a match with Hideo Itami. The match is already made but Ohno wants and receives no disqualifications as a bonus stipulation.
Video on Heavy Machinery.
Heavy Machinery vs. Edwin Nagrom/Damien Awheel
Otis takes Awheel into the corner with a lockup, sending him climbing the buckles without breaking it up. It’s off to Knight for a front facelock on Awheel and a crossbody to both jobbers at once. The Compactor drives Awheel onto Nagrom and it’s a double pin for Dozovic at 2:11. Total squash, made only slightly more annoying by the odd jobber names.
We look at Lars Sullivan attacking No Way Jose.
Regal isn’t please with Sullivan being so violent and puts him in a 3-1 handicap match next week.
Cezar Bononi vs. Andrade Cien Almas next week.
Roderick Strong vs. Bobby Roode
The fans chant THANK YOU BOBBY until we’re ready to go. Roode promises to prove that Strong is a failure all over again but takes too long doing GLORIOUS, allowing Roderick to punch him down. A headlock slows Strong down as Roode is a full on face here. Strong will have none of that as he hammers away at Roode’s head and grabs two straight backbreakers.
The threat of a third backbreaker on the floor sees Roode shove Strong into the steps, followed by a spinebuster on the floor. Back from a break with Roode hitting a backbreaker of his own and striking the GLORIOUS pose. He poses a bit too long though and it’s Strong grabbing a pop up gutbuster for a breather. An Angle Slam is countered into an armdrag but Strong settles for another backbreaker. A tiger bomb into a Boston crab sends Roode straight for the ropes.
Back up and a TKO into a Stunner gives Roode two of his own. Another spinebuster looks to set up the Glorious DDT but it’s the Angle Slam from Strong instead. The fans are split now as Roode breaks up a super backbreaker, only to get enziguried on the top. Strong settles for a superplex for another near fall and both guys are down.
A slugout goes to Roode, who grabs the Glorious DDT for two with Roderick (it sounded like Percy called him Roger) getting his foot on the ropes. Roode makes the mistake of talking trash about Strong’s family though and it’s a jumping knee to the face. Strong nails End of Heartache, blows Roode a kiss goodbye, and hits a second to put Roode away at 17:48.
Rating: B+. This felt like Strong vs. Jay Lethal for the ROH TV Title where Strong needed to win and finally threw everything he had at Roode until there was nothing left. This is the kind of win that Strong has been missing as he’s never had that signature victory. If nothing else it’s going to put him near the NXT Title picture, either challenging McIntyre or joining the ROH guys as their second in command. Really good match here with a simple yet effective story.
It’s pretty clear that this is it for Roode in NXT and I was really surprised by how much I liked his time there. I’ve never quite gotten all of his hype in TNA but he was excellent in NXT with a very basic style played up to a high level. That made for some good matches to go with that outstanding theme song. I’m glad that they seem to want to do something with him on Smackdown as Roode is already 40 and deserves this kind of a run after spending so much time in TNA.
Post match Drew comes out to stare down Strong but gets jumped by Cole and company. Regal comes out to chase them off as the three of them shout about this being their NXT and how they’re doing Regal a favor to end the show. They’re doing a solid job of making them feel like the original NWO and that’s a good thing.
Overall Rating: B. They hit the ground running on this taping and that’s a very good sign. You have a fresh champion with a hot heel act plus Strong as a wildcard. That leaves you with a bunch of different possibilities, all of which could produce some very good results. Having those options is fun but it’s a lot more fun to see how they get to an ending, which is a long way off from here. Very good show this week and I’m feeling better about NXT than I have in a long time.
Results
Peyton Royce b. Ruby Riot – Fisherman’s suplex
Heavy Machinery b. Edwin Nagrom/Damien Awheel
Roderick Strong b. Bobby Roode – End of Heartache
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:
NXT Date: August 2, 2017 Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson
With just over two weeks to go to before Takeover: Brooklyn III, it’s time to get some things moving. We already have a lot of the card set so now we can focus on building up what’s already announced and set up some other stuff. Tonight the main focus seems to be on Aleister Black, who currently doesn’t have a match for the big show. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Johnny Gargano vs. Raul Mendoza
Johnny comes out to the old DIY music and video but stops so they can both change to Gargano versions. Gargano takes him to the mat with a front facelock into a headlock but Mendoza nips up and gets two off a rollup. That earns Raul a superkick to the jaw and Johnny starts in on the arm. Mendoza gets in a dropkick for two of his own, only to miss a springboard and eat the spear through the ropes. Raul hits an enziguri and goes up but dives right into the modified Crossface for the tap at 4:13.
Rating: C. Gargano looked good here and that’s all he had to do in his first match after the DIY split. Ciampa vs. Gargano is going to be a headline match when it finally happens but you have to keep Gargano hot while he’s out there on his own. Not a bad match here, though Mendoza was nothing special.
We look at last week’s brawl between Sanity and the Authors of Pain. The title match is official for Brooklyn.
Paul Ellering says the Authors will write the chapter at Brooklyn. Until then though, be prepared because the monsters are real.
Here’s Asuka with something to say. As usual, she keeps it very simple by saying she’s beaten Ember Moon before and Ember isn’t ready to face her again. Cue Moon, to say she knows that she’s ready, just as Asuka knows. Asuka offers the handshake but slaps Ember instead. The fight is on with Ember getting in some right hands but eating a kick to to the face. Asuka poses with the title….and turns right into the Eclipse to knock her cold. Ember won’t pick up the title, saying she’ll touch it when she earns it. Good segment here with Asuka putting the Eclipse over huge.
Bobby Roode talks about proving that he’s a better man than Roderick Strong but of course Roderick wants to play the lottery again. As for Drew McIntyre, Bobby is more than willing to have a chat with him in the ring next week. Roode goes to leave when Strong charges in for a fight. William Regal and security break it up with Strong saying he’ll do anything to face Roode. Regal says his hands are tied because the match is made.
The Street Profits are here next week.
Sonya Deville vs. Jenna Van Bimmel
Sonya offers to let the much bigger Jenna have some free shots but does some head faking to avoid them. A hard clothesline sets up some knees to the ribs have Jenna in trouble as this is looking squashish. Jenna hits a charge in the corner but gets pulled down into a triangle choke for the tap at 2:06.
Hideo Itami is tired of not being respected so he’s not going to respect anyone. He rants in Japanese and ignores a need to go back to the arena. Instead he steals the mic and walks into the arena, saying he deserves respect. He doesn’t care who’s next but it’s Aleister Black cutting him off. After the long entrance, Itami goes to leave but tries a sneak attack. That goes bad for him though Black Mass drops Itami with one shot. Black just sitting there staring at Itami’s unconscious body is great stuff.
Kyle O’Reilly vs. Aleister Black
This is Kyle’s debut. Nigel: “HE’S HERE TOO!” Feeling out process to start and they fight over some grappling. Some striking doesn’t last long and they go back to the grappling with Kyle not being able to get a triangle choke. A chinlock is countered into a hammerlock as Mauro is trying to get in every MMA reference he can.
Back up and a spinning legsweep into the sitting pose has Kyle in trouble as we take a break. It’s not much better for Kyle when we come back as Aleister kicks him square in the chest for two. Black charges into a boot to the jaw though and Kyle snaps off some kicks of his own.
Kyle grabs a leglock on the mat and it’s a slap off until Black finally gets out. Black blocks a cross armbreaker so Kyle settles for a hammerlock and knees to the arm. Back from a second break with Black telling Kyle to hit him and grabbing a snap suplex for two. Kyle snaps the throat across the top though and it’s right back to another arm hold.
Black kicks him in the head to escape and gets two off a Lionsault press. A second attempt is blocked with a kick to the leg though and a big forearm to the back of the head gets two on Black. Aleister fires off more strikes but charges into a jumping knee. Not that it matters as Black Mass puts Kyle away at 22:56.
Rating: B+. I’m not big on the MMA style a lot of the time but this was very fun with both guys beating the heck out of each other for a long time. Black is one of the best built starts they’ve had in a good while as not only does he look cool but the finisher is as devastating as they’ve had in a long time. Kyle looked solid as well and it’s a very good debut, though I have a feeling the ReDRagon reunion is the way to go for both he and Bobby Fish.
Overall Rating: A-. You can tell NXT is starting to feel it as we head into the biggest show of the year. We had the Tag Team Title match confirmed tonight and you can probably pencil in Black vs. Itami as well as Gargano vs. someone. Add that to the already announced NXT and Women’s Title matches and Brooklyn is looking good. Give us a hard sell on the NXT Title match and everything will be fine.
Results
Johnny Gargano b. Raul Mendoza – Crossface
Sonya Deville b. Jenna Van Bimmel – Triangle choke
Aleister Black b. Kyle O’Reilly – Black Mass
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:
Wrestling is built on the backs of feuds. When you add up all the matches and promos, they combine to form a feud between two wrestlers or teams. Over the course of 2016, WWE has produced more than its fair share of them but a handful have stood out above the rest. Today we’re going to look at the nominees for Feud of the Year. As will be the case with all of the awards we’ll be looking at over the next few weeks, these are presented in no particular order.
1. Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks.
This is a feud that has lasted a long time as these women fought down in NXT with Banks taking Charlotte’s NXT Women’s Title early last year. Both of them debuted on the main roster as part of the Divas Revolution later in the year, setting them on an inevitable path towards each other, likely over the Women’s Title.
This led to a long series of matches between the two of them with both women getting the better of it at one point or another. Both have taken the title from the other on multiple occasions, though Banks was never able to defeat Charlotte in a pay per view setting. All of her three title wins came on episodes of “Monday Night Raw” and all three ended in less than a month with Charlotte taking the belt back every time.
However, as good as their matches were, there was a much bigger historical significance to their rivalry. At “Hell in a Cell 2016”, Banks and Charlotte wrestled in the main event, making them the only women to ever do so at a WWE pay per view. To call this a huge moment would be an understatement as just a few years ago, WWE Divas (a term which has thankfully gone by the wayside) were lucky to have a two minute match with a chunk of that going to entrances.
Charlotte vs. Banks produced some excellent matches but more importantly, they set the bar for women’s wrestling at an entirely different level. What used to be a sideshow attraction turned into something that headlined one of WWE’s most important events of the year. The feud also had a conclusive ending, which isn’t something you get often enough in wrestling. It’s very good but also historic and that’s going to take something special to beat.
2. The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler
While Charlotte vs. Banks was built on action, this feud was built entirely on emotion. Ziggler has spent a large portion of this year talking about how he needed to win the big one no matter what happened. Unfortunately, this led to loss after loss after loss as Ziggler continues his career trend of not being able to pull off the big one no matter what he did.
After the Brand Split, Ziggler challenged for the Smackdown World Title at “Summerslam 2016” and was defeated by Dean Ambrose. Soon after this, Ziggler entered into a feud with the Miz, who seemed to have been ready to enter a feud with Daniel Bryan, despite the fact that Bryan was retired. It was Ziggler instead though and the reaction wasn’t exactly positive. Rather than having the huge moment of a potential Bryan return, we were stuck with Ziggler being all talk and no success all over again.
Boy were we wrong though. What followed was the performance of Ziggler’s career as he fought against everything Miz threw at him (including two male cheerleaders in something that probably didn’t need to take place) and FINALLY won the Intercontinental Title at “No Mercy 2016” in an amazing performance.
Miz might have won the title back in the end and pretty clearly won the feud as a whole, but the key thing was Ziggler pulling off the win and getting somewhere for a change. The emotion more than carried the feud and while the match didn’t main event “No Mercy 2016”, it was certainly the most interesting and biggest match on the card.
3. DIY vs. Revival
If you’re not a fan of the feuds based on talking and emotion like Miz vs. Ziggler, this one should be more your speed. These two teams went at it over the NXT Tag Team Titles over the course of several months with Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano chasing the belts in a series of matches but never being able to catch up to the Revival.
It took leaving the country but in the end, DIY finally pulled it off and won the titles in one of the best tag matches you’re ever going to see. In a two out of three falls match at NXT’s “Takeover: Toronto”, Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder tapped out at the same time to make DIY the new champions once and for all.
This was more of your traditional style of wrestling feud with DIY defeating the Revival in a non-title match earlier in the year to prove they could pull it off before getting closer and closer to the titles every single time. That’s what made the big blowoff title match work so well (aside from the fact that it was an instant classic and a Match of the Year candidate of course): it was such a long time coming that the fans wanted to see the title change because they bought into all the close calls.
NXT is one of the few promotions where you know what’s coming more often than not but the fun is in the journey to the finish line. It wasn’t much of a surprise when DIY finally took the belts but that didn’t make it any less of a blast to see them put Revival away. This feud had the classic match (two of them actually) and one of them might have been the best match all year. What more can you ask for?
4. Samoa Joe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
We’ll stay in NXT for one more as these two did something unheard of in the promotion’s history. Nakamura debuted back in April and took NXT by storm. In his debut with the company he took Sami Zayn beyond his limits and had one of the all time great NXT performances. This was followed up by a victory over Finn Balor and then a challenge to the NXT Champion.
That champion would be Samoa Joe, who had surprised quite a few people by defeating Balor to become NXT Champion. This set up a collision course between Nakamura and Joe over the title with Nakamura taking the belt away at “Takeover: Brooklyn”. It seemed that Nakamura would go on to hold the title for as long as he wanted as no one had ever been a two time NXT Champion.
That’s just what Samoa Joe did though as he defeated Nakamura for the title at “Takeover: Toronto”. The title reign would only last fourteen days though as Nakamura would defeat Samoa Joe again in a match held in Osaka, Japan. Nakamura finally defeated Samoa Joe once and for all inside a steel cage in Melbourne, Australia. The feud was punctuated with some great promo work from Samoa Joe, who injured Nakamura and then demanded that NXT General Manager William Regal either hand him the title or bring him Nakamura. This led to Nakamura returning and losing the title in a big surprise.
This feud had some excellent, hard hitting matches but also took NXT and its title to some new places. Instead of having someone win the title, defend it against the former champion and then move on, it was actually something fresh with the two wrestlers trading the title. This gave us some very strong surprises to go with the intense matches and promos between the two, making it an NXT classic.
5. AJ Styles vs. John Cena
There’s nothing wrong with a feud between the old guard and the new guard. Cena has been one of the best wrestlers and biggest in WWE for well over ten years. Few have been able to challenge him for that crown but Styles pulled it off. Debuting in January, Styles was instantly a dream opponent for Cena as they had been the two biggest stars in the two biggest promotions in America for years.
A match was quickly set up over the summer with Styles taking a surprise heel turn on Cena to set things up. In an even bigger surprise, Cena lost to Styles, albeit with some help from Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows. With one classic under their belts, the only solution was to have a second match on the bigger stage of “Summerslam 2016”.
In the real shock of the feud, Styles pinned Cena completely clean for one of Cena’s only such losses in several years. Styles was instantly a huge star in WWE and would go on to win the Smackdown World Title at “Backlash 2016” while Cena was soon on his way to a hiatus, leaving Styles as the undisputed ace of the “Smackdown Live” roster.
This is how you make someone into a huge star by way of a big rub. Cena is someone who is going to be able to lose matches like this and bounce back with almost nothing lost along the way. Styles on the other hand was able to gain more in those two wins than almost anything else he could have done in months against other opponents. The shock of Styles winning clean still holds up and Cena will be just fine when he gets back in the ring full time.
6. Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens
Yeah you knew these two were going to be on here at some point. These two seem to have a great feud over year or so and that’s what matters. This time it was your old standard: they’ve hated each other for so long that they have to feud again at some point. Owens is such a perfect bully and Zayn is the ultimate underdog so how can the matches not work?
They had two great matches on pay per view this year at Battleground and Payback with the two of them splitting the wins. That win for Zayn at Battleground was a huge moment because he never won the big one over Owens at any point. This made Zayn into a player for the first time and if you ignore him doing nothing special after the win, it should have been a turning point in his career.
On the other hand, Owens got a big run out of this and would wind up being the World Champion as a result. Now, logic would suggest that Zayn would go on to be the #1 contender but since WWE decided that THIS IS THEIR LAST MATCH (until a few months later when they fought on Raw), that went nowhere. At least the two matches on pay per view were great.
Zayn vs. Owens is one of those feuds that is going to work no matter what because they know each other so well. Some people just have natural chemistry together and you can’t teach that. They had a few great matches in 2016 and I’m sure they’ll have great matches for years to come because that’s what great wrestlers do.
7. Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly
This is similar to Zayn vs. Owens as they’ve been fighting for so long now that it’s just kind of what they do. This feud went on for several months on and off over the course of the year with O’Reilly finally winning the World Title at Final Battle 2016. The matches were mostly great with Cole promising that Kyle would never win the World Title on his watch.
The key thing to this feud was how well it built up on all of their matches over time. The idea of Kyle getting closer and closer to the title with Cole holding him back just before he could cross the finish line made the title change all the sweeter. You even had some great storytelling in the title match with Cole hiding because he’s a coward and Kyle fighting because that’s what good guys do.
Again, must like Zayn vs. Owens, this one worked because of the story that came before it. They were both part of a great team and that made for an even better feud. There’s a big difference between just having a match for the sake of having a match and building up a story to get to the big blowoff.
The feud was violent, personal and entertaining as the big payoff was worth the build in the end. Kyle made the title seem important and beating one of the biggest stars in the history of the company helped so much. The fact that it was his old partner and rival was the big icing on the cake, which made everything work so well.
As for my pick though, I’m going with DIY vs. the Revival.
For me, it was the perfect balance of everything needed in a major feud and had no problems along the way. Each of the other four options had a flaw that holds it down just a bit. Charlotte vs. Banks felt repetitive, Miz vs. Ziggler was a bit much as Ziggler kept changing what he had to do to consider himself a success, Nakamura vs. Joe didn’t have a big enough ending and Styles vs. Cena was only two matches long.
That’s not to say that DIY vs. Revival was leaps and bounds better but it found the perfect balance for an amazing feud. The story went on at a good pace, the matches were outstanding and the blowoff was executed perfectly. It felt like it had a beginning, a middle and an ending instead of just going through the motions until everyone had something else to do. I was completely sold on the final match and it never got anywhere close to boring. It’s the best feud of the year in a year with some very strong candidates.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume V at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Ring of Honor TV – December 21, 2016: How to Treat a New World Champion
Ring of Honor Date: December 21, 2016
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly
Final Battle has come and gone and we’ve got a new World Champion. Other than that we have a heel Cody Rhodes in Kevin Sullivan’s back pocket because ROH has decided to sacrifice one of the biggest free agents on the indy scene for the sake of KEVIN SULLIVAN AND THIS HORRIBLE STORY. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of the Final Battle main event with Kyle O’Reilly winning the ROH World Title.
Opening sequence.
Wait…..why are we in an arena? I was promised a Best Of show last week and we’ve got an arena? Cool actually as I don’t want to wait around for the storyline advancement.
Here’s Kyle to open the show for his first address with the title. He’s going to defend the title with honor like all of the former champions, such as Samoa Joe and Bryan Danielson. He says he could go on and on but I’m not sure for how long given that he’s the 24th champion.
Cue Adam Cole to say he didn’t sign up for a No DQ match because he’s a wrestler. This brings out Dalton Castle to say he doesn’t like being a peacock left out of the conversation. He’s a dangerous man in the ring but more importantly he’s related to a math teacher, which means he’s next in line for a title shot after defeating Cole at All-Stars vs. Champions.
Now it’s Bobby Fish to come out and congratulate his brother on winning the title. Oh and he’d like a title shot too due to winning Survival of the Fittest. Cole goes on another rant about wanting the title shot so Kyle tells them all good luck because anyone can have a shot.
We’ll be having a tournament (because one just ended at the last show) called the Decade of Excellence Tournament with the winner facing the champ at the net pay per view. The participants are all people who were here over ten years ago, which might not be the best marketing plan. And we’ve got brackets!
Mark Briscoe
Christopher Daniels
Chris Sabin
Colt Cabana
BJ Whitmer
Jay Briscoe
Jay Lethal
Jushin Thunder Liger
Nigel has made a six man tag between Cole/Young Bucks vs. O’Reilly/Castle/Fish. I’ve heard worse.
Decade of Excellence Tournament First Round: Mark Briscoe vs. Christopher Daniels
Apparently Daniels mentored Mark when he first got here. Feeling out process to start with shoulder blocks having no effect all around. The threat of Red Neck Kung Fu backs Daniels up but he does his own crane pose. Mark hammers away in the corner until an STO gives Daniels a breather.
Back from a break with Daniels still in control and something like a neckbreaker getting two. Briscoe fights back and hits a running uppercut in the corner, followed by a high collar suplex to send Daniels flying. Christopher comes right back with a Blue Thunder Bomb into a Lionsault for two. They head outside as this just kind of keeps going with Mark dropping the Cactus Jack elbow from the apron. Back in and the Froggy Bow misses, setting up Angel’s Wings to give Daniels the pin at 11:03.
Rating: C. The match was fine enough for a pair of veterans with no real animosity towards each other but needing to have a match in a tournament. That’s the problem I have with most of these things but at least Daniels is getting rewarded for his awesome talking in recent weeks. Good little match here.
Lio Rush vs. Caprice Coleman
Before the match, King offers Rush a spot on the team but that doesn’t seem to be happening because Rush stands for respect. Coleman: “I see why they don’t hand you the mic too much.” This turns into a huge rant about Coleman beating Rush like he stole something and getting thrown in jail for it, only to come back here and beat Rush again even more. Rush wins off a missed charge into a rollup at 20 seconds.
The Rebellion beats Rush down until Donovan Dijak and Jay White make the save.
Young Bucks/Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly/Bobby Fish/Dalton Castle
The Bucks beat down the good guys to start because the Bucks are the most popular wrestlers in the company. Cole takes the advantage but gets into a slugout with Kyle, who actually loses early on. Kyle sends him outside for a running knee from the apron as all six are on the floor.
That means a bunch of superkicks from the Bucks so the fans can chant TOO SWEET for a long time. A triple dive takes the good guys down and a bunch of apron bombs allow even more Bucks dominance. Things settle back down to Cole putting Cole in a camel clutch while the Bucks kiss Adam’s cheeks because this is yow you push a new WORLD CHAMPION.
Back from a break with Nick getting crotched on top but the Bullet Club breaking up the tag attempt. Three straight superkicks knock Kyle out and the Swanton off the apron keeps the Bucks looking perfect. Kyle finally blocks a splash with raised knees and the hot tag brings in Dalton for three straight German suplexes.
Stereo German suplexes get a triple two count on the Club, followed by a double clothesline to put Matt and Castle down. That means the hot tag off to Fish and everything breaks down with ReDRagon taking over. We’ve had enough offense from one of the best teams ever so let’s have some more superkicks, only to have Kyle pull Nick into the triangle choke. The cross armbreaker makes Nick tap at 11:41.
Rating: C. The win helps a lot but GEEZ was there no other option than having the Bucks go crazy like that on the brand new World Champion? I get it: the Bucks are the most popular act in the company right now and can do superkicks. That doesn’t mean we have to have them beat up anyone they want like this.
Next week is the Best of 2016. Kind of odd to have a regular show and then the compilation but I’ve heard worse ideas.
Overall Rating: D+. This was a rather up and down show as some of the booking made me want to pull my hair out but the wrestling was good enough to make up for parts of it. I like the idea of Kyle fighting half the roster for the title but I could go for less Bucks being treated like the most untouchable thing ever. Then again, Kyle did make one of them tap out to end the show and that helps a lot.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume V at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
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.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume V at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Ring of Honor TV – November 30, 2016: Something About Final Battle
Ring of Honor Date: November 30, 2016 Location: William J. Myers Pavilion, Baltimore, Maryland
Attendance: 600
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Steve Corino, Alex Shelley
It’s the go home show for Final Battle 2016, meaning we’re a few weeks away from any interesting content. Ring of Honor continues to be all over the place with the build towards pay per views and I’m sure this will be exactly the same. Things have been up and down of late and I have a feeling that’s going to be the situation here. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Lio Rush vs. Jonathan Gresham
Feeling out process to start and Gresham annoys Lio with an errant forearm to the face. They hit the mat with the arms interlocking for a quick standoff. Lio lights up the chest with a hard kick but Gresham kicks the arm to even things out. An enziguri puts Rush on the floor and a middle rope moonsault is awkwardly caught as Lio almost looks like he tried for a Big Ending.
We go to a break and come back with the pace having slowed down a bit. Rush slaps him in the face and kicks him in the head (partially blocked), followed by a superkick to send him outside. Back in and Gresham rolls away before Lio can dive so they trade rollups for two each. That means a round of applause, followed by Rush Hour (C4) for two on Jonathan. It’s FIGHTING SPIRIT time so suplexes and C4’s mean nothing. Back to back Rush Hours finally keep Gresham down and a top rope elbow puts Jonathan away at 10:57.
Rating: C+. This is where you almost have to be an ROH fan to like the style. The lack of selling and all the strikes get old in a hurry but this was FAR easier to sit through than a lot of the other stuff this promotion and so many others like it have done over the years. Rush still doesn’t do much for me but he’s a much better fit now that ACH is gone.
Post match the Motor City Machine Guns come in and put both guys over.
Video on Adam Cole/Kyle O’Reilly with Kyle talking about how they’ll never be apart because Cole has started a war he can’t finish. Kyle still isn’t great on the mic but this is the best I’ve ever heard him talk.
We run down the Final Battle card.
Addiction vs. Briscoes
Jay and Kazarian start things off with the Briscoe taking him down off a headlock. A dropkick sends Jey into the corner so it’s off to the partners for more headlockery. I guess Mark learned by watching his brother. Mark and Daniels finally get in each others faces and it’s time for the big brawl. The Briscoes get the better of it (well duh) and the dives take us to a break.
Back with the Briscoes stomping on Kazarian until Daniels gets in a few elbows to the back of Mark’s head. The slow down begins with a Daniels waistlock but, as you might expect, the fans are still all the way behind the Briscoes. Kazarian’s spinning springboard legdrop gets two and we take a second break.
Back with Kazarian grabbing another waistlock. This one only lasts a few seconds before it’s back to Jay for all his usual stuff. Everything breaks down and Daniels hits his big suicide dive around the corner to take out Jay. Back inside and it’s Mark’s Redneck Kung Fu taking care of Kazarian, followed by a Rock Bottom suplex for two. Jay comes back in but the Doomsday Device is countered with a powerslam out of the air in a very Rick Steiner style counter. Not that it matters as the Jay Driller into the Froggy Bow give the brothers the win at 18:00.
Rating: B-. The opening drags it down a bit but the ending sequence was really good and that powerslam looked awesome. Above all else though the Briscoes won before their title shot so at least we don’t have #1 contenders going into their title shot on a loss. Good main event here though, which is a solid way to hype the show.
The Addiction actually shakes hands after the match.
Adam Cole talks about how he and Kyle O’Reilly came in together as Future Shock but only Cole has moved on to the main event. No matter how hard O’Reilly worked, he was always a step behind Cole. Why do we keep having to do this? It’s been proven time after time that Cole is the better man but we just have to do this one more time at Final Battle.
Overall Rating: C+. This was another awkward ROH go home show but the fact that they actually talked about the pay per view is an improvement. The main event got a strong push forward and the Briscoes are on a roll going into the show. Unfortunately the opening really didn’t matter but at least the last two thirds worked.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book, KB’s Complete Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume V at Amazon for just $3.99 at:
Ring of Honor TV – November 23, 2016: Two Unknowns Are Better Than Three
Ring of Honor Date: November 23, 2016
Location: William J. Myers Pavilion, Baltimore, Maryland
Attendance: 600
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Steve Corino
We’ve only got two shows left until Final Battle and that means we won’t be hearing most of the matches for a few more weeks because ROH can’t figure out a schedule to save their lives. Next up is going to be the remainder of the Six Man Tag Team Title tournament as we need opponents for ACH and company. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Silas Young vs. Kyle O’Reilly
Feeling out process to start with Kyle grabbing a full nelson to no avail. A kneebar works a bit better but Silas throws him outside, leaving a nice sweat puddle on the floor. That’s much more in Silas’ wheelhouse and he sends Kyle hard into the barricade as we take a break. Back with Adam Cole on commentary and Kyle using another kneebar to get out of trouble. A cross armbreaker makes Silas’ night even worse and the brainbuster puts Young away at 12:37.
Rating: C-. If they want Silas to become a bigger deal, I’m really not sure how they’re going about it. After the break, this was all Kyle beating the heck out of Young, who barely had any offense in the second half of the match. ROH needs some fresh talent at the top of the card and if they want to push Young then they need to push him instead of jobbing him out in such dominant fashion.
Post match Young criticizes a Jushin Thunder Liger fan for dressing up in a costume. Silas is out here every week facing the music but Liger is a coward. There’s a Final Battle match.
Jay Lethal is ready for his Final Battle match with Cody Rhodes. I’m assuming that was announced on ROH’s website because it wasn’t announced on TV. That’s one of the things they really need to work on. I know a lot of their stuff is online but you can’t throw up a fifteen second graphic and have Kelly mention it?
The Motor City Machine Guns talk about how brutal the Ladder War was before going into a rant about how Adam Page turned on them earlier this year. This turns into the Guns talking about how much they love the ROH roster and it sounds like they’re going after the Bullet Club. I’m not entirely sure what they were going for here as it was a bit all over the place.
The Addiction wants their titles back but more importantly, to prove they’re the best. They get the Briscoes next week. As has been the case recently, this was great fire.
Dalton Castle is still missing the Boys (Where did they go anyway?) so Colt Cabana offers him some replacements.
Colt Cabana/Dalton Castle vs. Preston Quinn/Ken Dixon
Castle and Dixon start things off and it’s time for the chest thrust. The Bang A Rang finishes Ken in 55 seconds. You don’t see squashes like that around here too often.
Post match Castle says he knew he could make Colt smile. Cabana says he saw a lot of himself in Castle but maybe it’s better if they go their separate ways. Colt goes to leave but Castle says not so fast. He’d like a goodbye hug but Cabana knees him low. Well that was rather uncalled for, especially considering he was willing to leave in peace thirty seconds ago. Cabana as a heel could actually be interesting as I’ve never seen it before. Colt beats up the Boys and stabs Castle with a feather.
Six Man Tag Team Title Tournament Semifinals: The Kingdom vs. Team CMLL
Yay for people we don’t know and the announcers won’t explain! O’Ryan and Hecheiro start things off but it’s quickly off to Taven, who gets rolled up for some near falls. Vinny and Ultimo Guerrero, the latter of whom Corino praises because EVERYONE knows who Ultimo Guerrero is. A triple team beatdown has Vinny in trouble as we take a break. Back with Okimura not being able to sunset flip Taven thanks to some old fashioned cheating. Everything breaks down and Guerrero gets triple teamed, only to pop back up and clean house.
Corino: “I LOVE THIS GUY!” Good for you Steve, because we can barely remember his name as he’s been in an ROH ring all of twenty minutes and has never even gotten an introduction. Hecheiro grabs a leg lock on Taven with T.K. making a save as we go to a second break. Back the Kingdom taking over via a dive to the floor, followed by a modified triple bomb for the pin on Hecheiro for the pin at 11:04.
Rating: C+. The match was entertaining though I’m still not sure if the faces or heels won. I mean, I know the Kingdom are heels but was I supposed to cheer for Team CMLL? Why? Just because they’re from Mexico and are here as visitors? I was having a hard enough time keeping track of who was who, let alone wondering if I should be happy with the winners. At least Taven is someone ROH fans is familiar with and it’s a much clearer face vs. heel picture in the finals.
The Briscoes are ready for their tuneup next week because the Addiction are just a step on the way towards Final Battle, where they’ll get the titles back.
Overall Rating: C. I liked this show a lot more than the recent episodes as they advanced several stories and fleshed out a lot of the Final Battle card. That’s been lacking in recent weeks and they nailed it this week. The wrestling was fine enough and hopefully they can give us the big go home show next week, though ROH tends to lack in that area a lot of the time.
Ring of Honor TV – November 16, 2016: It’s a Problem Until ROH Fixes It
Ring of Honor Date: November 16, 2016
Location: William J. Myers Pavilion, Baltimore, Maryland
Attendance: 600
Commentators: Steve Corino, Kevin Kelly
We’re on a fresh taping cycle now and that means we’re almost up to Final Battle. The big story this week seems to be the rest of the first round of the Six Man Tag Team Title tournament as we get the final four all set up. Other than that we’re probably going to get some more on Kyle O’Reilly vs. Adam Cole. Let’s get to it.
We open with a video of Adam Page attacking Bobby Fish and dueling speeches from both guys.
Opening sequence.
Six Man Tag Team Titles Tournament First Round: Addiction/Kamaitachi vs. Team CMLL
That would be Ultimo Guerrero, Hechiero and Okimura because there was nowhere near enough trios to fill in a tournament so here are a bunch of imports. Okimura and Kazarian start things off as Corino does everything he does to explain who the CMLL guys are. They hit the mat to start with neither guy getting an advantage, save for Kazarian grabbing an arm trap rollup for two.
A cutter out of the corner gets the same on Kazarian so it’s off to Hechiero, who grabs a choke on the mat and rolls around for a bit. Ultimo (a guy in his mid 40s who has won a ton of titles in CMLL) comes in and everything breaks down with Kamaitachi being sent outside for a brawl in the crowd.
Back from a break with Addiction in control with Hechiero getting beaten down. That lasts all of ten seconds as it’s off to Guerrero for a slingshot Bronco Buster (cool move) as everything breaks down. Kamaitachi hits a dive, followed by a Falcon’s Arrow on Guerrero. Daniels says he has this though, meaning Kamaitachi’s top rope knee hits him instead. A reverse superplex plants Daniels for the pin at 13:04.
Rating: C-. I’ve said this before and I’m going to say it again until ROH fixes this problem: who are these people and why should I care? I keep having to ask it because ROH never bothers to do anything about it. Kelly mentioned something about ROH, CMLL and New Japan all working together to present the best wrestling in the world.
That’s fine in theory but when the action is just ok, I need WAY more in the way of connecting with the characters. Take Okimura for instance. Corino’s explanation came down to “he wanted to be a big star in Mexico…..and now he is!” Good for him. Now what does he do? That happens WAY too often around here and it’s happening with so many people ROH brings in.
Addiction and Kamaitachi break up post match.
Here’s the Cabinet, out of their outfits. Actually never mind as Caprice Coleman rips on ROH for giving them such a horrible gimmick. The announcers don’t seem to care so Coleman says there are more of them than anyone knows.
We look at Dalton Castle challenging the Young Bucks to a World Tag Team Title match in the middle of an eight man elimination tag, which cost he and partner Colt Cabana their shot. Colt wasn’t pleased.
Castle can’t find the Boys but Cabana says they’re not needed.
Colt Cabana/Dalton Castle vs. Keith Taylor/Shane Lee
It really does amaze me that Taylor and Lee’s pants manage to stay up. Taylor and Castle get things going and that means an early chest thrust. Cabana comes in and headscissors Lee down as we have to hear about the World Series. I’m still not over that yet Corino. Lee runs Castle over with a clothesline and we take a break. Back with Taylor dropping a huge leg but Dalton slips over for the tag anyway. Corino: “Shades of Ricky and Robert!” No Steve, it’s not.
Everything breaks down and the big guys are dropkicked out to the floor, setting up a double strut instead of a double dive. Back in and Castle can’t quite suplex Taylor due to a bad case of physics. Dalton kicks Colt in the face by mistake and the Pop Up Powerbomb into a middle rope splash gives Lee the pin at 10:54.
Rating: C+. Not bad at all here as Taylor and Lee are starting to become a bigger team instead of being just a glorified freak show. It really helps that they look completely different than most teams in ROH. What good is it to have so many versions of the same team or act? It’s why I don’t get why you have ACH and Lio Rush in the same promotion. Cabana vs. Castle is…..I’m not sure what that’s going to be actually.
Adam Cole is ready for all challengers.
TV Title: Adam Page vs. Bobby Fish
Fish is defending and has taped ribs so Page jumps him before the bell to take over. Kyle O’Reilly comes out to cheer his partner on and we take a break. Back with the champ still in trouble as Page bends the ribs around the ropes. Page loads up something off the apron but gets suplexed down onto the floor in a big crash. Back in and Page is thrown with another suplex, only to score with a shooting star off the apron for a big crash. We take a second break and come back with Page getting a near fall off a flip clothesline but a really quick kneebar retains Fish’s title at 13:01.
Rating: C+. Another good match here though the ending was REALLY sudden and hurt things a little bit. I’m starting to get into Fish’s title reign and I’m having a good time with Page too so I would have been fine with either one leaving as champion here. Also it was nice to not have a bunch of people interfering here, which happens way too often.
Post match Adam Cole comes out to call out O’Reilly but Jay Lethal comes out as well, leaving Cole surrounded by challengers to end the show.
Overall Rating: C. This was fine but I’m not sure what they’re going to set up for Final Battle. The World Title is set and we’ll get the two Tag Team Title (two and three man versions) matches but the rest of the card isn’t the most clear, which isn’t a good sign with two weeks to go. Good enough TV show this week though with the title match feeling important.
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Ring of Honor TV – October 26, 2016: That One Thing
Ring of Honor Date: October 26, 2016 Location: Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Lowell, Massachusetts
Commentators: Steve Corino, Kevin Kelly
We’re getting closer to Final Battle and the big story continues to be Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly. The main event is also suddenly featuring Silas Young after a win in the Honor Rumble for a little twist. On top of that though we have the Bullet Club running roughshod over the company and more titles coming with the Six Man Tag Team Title tournament. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Tempura Boys vs. Colt Cabana/Dalton Castle
Castle and Cabana are the new #1 contenders for the Tag Team Titles and the Tempura Boys are a team from New Japan. Yohei (I’m going to butcher the spelling) and Cabana start things off but a blind tag brings in Castle for a chest thrust. The comedy begins and it’s off to Sho, who is quickly beaten down as well. Yohei kicks Castle in the face but can’t put him down, meaning it’s back to Sho. This continues to go badly for the Japanese contingent as Cabana gets two off a rollup. Castle throws Sho with a suplex and the Bang A Rang wraps up Yohei at 6:20.
Rating: C-. This was just a glorified squash to set up the makeshift team before they get to lose to the Young Bucks. It’s kind of amazing how fast ROH has gone from having a deep tag division to throwing together a team to give them a title shot but that happens in almost every promotion at one time or another.
Back from a break with the Briscoes, who almost got into it with Cabana and Castle after their match. Mark doesn’t understand why they’re not getting the next title shot after beating the champions and the #1 contenders. Not that it matters as they want the title shot at Final Battle.
We get back and forth promos from Adam Cole and Jay Lethal to hype up their title match in London.
Kyle O’Reilly is ready for his shot at Final Battle (with a December 2 date confirmed) against whoever wins. O’Reilly has REALLY improved his promos but he’s still needing work.
Jonathan Gresham vs. Kyle O’Reilly
Feeling out process to start as they fight over a wristlock, allowing the announcers to talk about all the different styles in the promotion. True actually and that’s a good thing. They fight out to the floor and get back in with a show of good sportsmanship. That’s rather cute. Gresham goes after the bad shoulder though and that’s not cool with Kyle (no reason for it to not be), who fires off some kicks. A twist of the arm takes us to a break.
Back with Kyle working on the leg until Jonathan kicks him in the shoulder. I hope they don’t try to make him out to be the heel in this match as there’s a difference between being evil and being smart. Kyle takes off his kneepad but opts for a standing choke, setting up the brainbuster for the pin at 8:50.
Rating: C. I liked the idea of both guys being friendly but the match didn’t do much for me. Kyle isn’t the most interesting guy in the world without Cole there to fight but this was short enough and to the point to make him look good. Having that as the main event of Final Battle is risky though and I’m not sold on them being able to pull it off just yet.
Adam Page runs in to go after O’Reilly but Bobby Fish makes the save. This brings out Adam Cole and some chair shots to the ribs have Fish in major trouble. I’m sure a tag match will result and perhaps a TV Title match for Page.
Video on BJ Whitmer/Steve Corino/Kevin Sullivan/Punisher Martinez.
Punishment Martinez/BJ Whitmer vs. Will Ferrara/Cheeseburger
This is the result of Ferrara issuing a challenge. Sullivan sits in on commentary to make this even worse. Martinez throws Ferrara around like a monster throws around a jobber before it’s off to Whitmer, who is in all white like Mark Lewin. Cheeseburger comes in for some palm strikes and a tornado DDT as Kelly and Sullivan keep going on about the father being gone. Martinez hits something like a middle rope Superman punch to put Cheeseburger away at 4:03.
Rating: D. OH MY GOODNESS LET IT GO ALREADY. This story is reaching WWC levels of sticking with one story and I haven’t cared in a long time. They’re not even hiding the fact that these are the same characters that were around years ago and Sullivan going on about whatever nonsense he’s talking this week isn’t interesting no matter what he does.
Sullivan whispers something to Corino, who runs down to the ring to get in Martinez and Whitmer’s faces. Post break, Corino was nearly taken over by the golden spike but shook it off. So is he going to turn one day? That’s what we’re stuck waiting on now?
Video on Ladder War.
Motor City Machine Guns vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon
The Guns are heavily banged up from Ladder War. Evil/Tetsuya Naito here with Evil starting against Sabin. The Japanese contingent tries some double teaming but is quickly taken outside for a double dive from the Guns. Back in and Shelley kicks Evil in the chest (keeping it simple is often a good idea) but Naito is right back in and sends Alex into the barricade. Things settle down with Naito taking over on Alex as Kevin Kelly compares Naito to Kevin Steen (Owens). Corino: “Is that a bad thing?”
We take a break and come back with Shelley DDTing Naito, setting up the hot tag off to Sabin. Both Guns hit double high crossbodies as things speed way up. Evil gets in a clotheslines so Naito can roll Sabin up for two, followed by an STO to drop Shelley. The announcers ignore this match to talk about Kevin Sullivan as Naito destroys Sabin with Destino for the pin at 11:24.
Rating: C+. Kevin Sullivan commentary aside, I’ve seen far worse. I know I’m often annoyed at the New Japan guys winning most of the time but it makes sense when the Guns are so banged up from Ladder War. If Naito and Evil go after the ROH Tag Team Titles out of this then I’ll be fine but odds are it goes nowhere, as is the case so often around here.
Overall Rating: C-. The Kevin Sullivan story is killing what could be an otherwise good show. However, the much bigger problem is the lack of a top story. Cole and the World Title is fine but I really don’t think it’s enough to carry the biggest show of the year. The shows are good enough for a one off week of wrestling TV but they need more of a card for Final Battle.
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