Impact Wrestling – May 4, 2017: GFW Finally Gets Its Own TV Show
Impact Wrestling Date: May 4, 2017
Location: Impact Zone, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Josh Matthews, D’Angelo Dinero
We’re starting to get close to Slammiversary and that means we need to start lining up some title matches. There isn’t a lot announced for this week’s show as things are moving at a somewhat slow pace right now. Then again we have about two months before the next pay per view so they can take their time. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of last week. Thank goodness as I had to pull up last week’s review to remember anything about that show.
Opening sequence.
Dave Penzer is now doing ring announcing, which hopefully means the Swoggle vs. Spud is done.
Matt Sydal vs. Eddie Edwards
Josh says Sydal made his debut in the six sided ring last week, which means Josh doesn’t know his TNA history. Feeling out process to start with a technical sequence leading to a standoff. Sydal gets in a few kicks to the legs for the first advantage before countering a slam off the top with an ankle scissors. Now why didn’t Flair ever think of that? Eddie elbows his way out of a Muta Lock and grabs a Blue Thunder Bomb for two.
A sitout F5 sets up a spinwheel kick but Eddie can’t follow up. Matt hurricanranas him off the top for two but gets sent outside for the suicide dive. Back from a break with Sydal getting two off a powerbomb, only to get caught with a middle rope Codebreaker. As good as this has been, let’s pause for Josh to rant about JB a bit. Eddie slips out of a powerbomb but the Boston Knee Party is blocked with a jumping knee to the face. The shooting star press gives Matt the clean pin at 14:51.
Rating: B+. Where in the world did that come from? This was one of the best matches the company has put on in a long time and even Josh couldn’t make ruin it for me. Eddie losing clean aside, it’s cool to see a very good, long, clean match, especially opening a show. Good stuff here and Sydal looks like a star coming out of it.
They shake hands post match. Sydal leaves but here are Angelina Love and Davey Richards to beat Edwards down. Eddie gets laid out with a chair until Alisha dives off the stage to take Angelina down.
Magnus thinks he should be in the main event of Slammiversary but now he has to face Alberto El Patron. If that’s what he has to do then so be it, but here’s Matt Morgan to say he should get the shot. Bruce Prichard comes in and makes a GFW Title match for later tonight.
KM is exercising when a custodian comes in to clean. He sweeps up trash and leaves but KM throws a piece of paper on the floor and yells at the guy for missing it. KM does it again and the custodian says it wasn’t there ten seconds ago. That doesn’t sit well with KM, who doesn’t like being called a liar.
GFW Women’s Title: Sienna vs. Christina Von Eerie
Von Eerie is defending. Sienna grabs a suplex for two to start and Von Eerie is in trouble early on. Another suplex sets up a neck crank and Von Eerie is dumped outside in a big crash. Christina tries a Pedigree on the apron but gets backdropped back onto the floor as this has been completely one sided. Back in and a Pounce completes the squash to give us a new champion at 3:56. The announcers’ biggest concern: Sienna has no respect for the Jarretts.
Rating: D. Here’s the big problem with this whole GFW thing: what is GFW and why should the fans care? Unless you were watching for about four to six weeks worth of shows two years ago, it’s just a collection of belts from a promotion that ran a bunch of house shows and hasn’t been heard from since. I get that the hardcore fans are going to know what’s going on but catering to that audience when you’re drawing 300,000 fans a week and wanting to expand is a really bad idea.
As for the match itself, Von Eerie beat a jobber last week and that’s the grand total of her exposure here until she got squashed to lose her title. Get rid of these belts as soon as possible or just drop them already. It’s clear that Impact Wrestling isn’t going to bother to explain ANY of this so get rid of them as soon as possible.
Eli Drake tells Bruce Prichard he wants in on the title picture. Instead he gets Alberto El Patron later tonight, but it’s for a shot at the GFW Title.
ODB wants to make Impact great.
JB is behind Josh and mocks his over the top mannerisms. This is still your top story.
Karen Jarrett makes Alisha vs. Angelina Love for some point in the future. Sienna comes up to brag about being champion but Karen says the target is on Sienna’s back. I still have no idea why this is supposed to be interesting.
Ethan Carter III vs. John Bolen
Carter kicks him in the face to start and chokes on the ropes. A running knee to the back sends Bolen outside. Back in and the TK3 sets up the 1%er for the pin on Bolen at 2:33.
Carter puts the new bosses on notice.
Remember how JB had a sign earlier? He still does and Josh is getting annoyed.
GFW World Title: Magnus vs. Matt Morgan
Morgan is challenging and uses the size to take over early on. A big boot sends Magnus outside but he posts Morgan for a breather. Back in and the Carbon Footprint misses so Morgan bangs up a leg to give Magnus a target. A kick to the leg sets up the Figure Four with Morgan making the ropes without too much effort.
Morgan pops up for his revolving elbows in the corner, followed by a side slam. A chokeslam gets two on the champ and the Carbon Footprint puts him on the floor. Morgan’s knee gives out so Magnus can grab the title. The distraction lets Magnus get in a low blow, followed by a Michinoku Driver and the top rope elbow to retain at 9:20.
Rating: C. Technically fine, though I’m not sure if that was a heel turn from Magnus. That right there is the big problem: these guys have had maybe a match each since returning and we really don’t know anything about them. Yeah they were here before but what are they now? They helped JB in his match so I guess they’re faces but there’s no real way to know for sure, especially given how they’re fighting over a title that just appeared with Magnus. Decent match but the booking continues to be a problem.
Lashley doesn’t care about the GFW Title because that’s the title people can win.
More JB sign stuff.
LAX wants to hurt more people.
James Storm wants to make Impact great.
Spud, in a neck brace and with his leg in a cast, stares at a picture of Swoggle. So yes this is still going. So now we have a ring announcer feud to go with the commentator feud.
Kongo Kong vs. William Weeks
Kong throws him into the corner to start and stands on Weeks’ chest. Three straight chokeslams into backbreakers (at Laurel Van Ness’ orders) set up a Cannonball and a top rope splash to put Weeks away at 2:47.
Post match Braxton Sutter comes out to go after Kong. Some right hands and a clothesline put the monster on the floor so Sutter and Allie can stand tall.
Eli Drake wants to make Impact great.
We look back at Sonjay Dutt getting hurt in the X-Division Title match two weeks ago. Dutt isn’t sure if he should have come back. If they don’t give him the title at Slammiversary, I have no idea what they’re thinking. It’s not the most interesting story but they’ve set it up.
Eli Drake vs. Alberto El Patron
The winner gets a shot at Magnus at some point in the future. Drake runs away but gets pulled back to ringside, where the referee ejects Tyrus. Eli is fine enough to suplex him on the ramp but Alberto shakes it off and hits a suicide dive. Back from a break with Drake suplexing him onto the apron and choking on the floor.
Drake’s chinlock doesn’t work but Alberto misses a charge and both people are down. Drake gets back up and grabs a torture rack neckbreaker for a close two, only to have Alberto nail a low superkick for the same. The cross armbreaker is countered into a twisting throw for another near fall as this is far more competitive than I was expecting.
Drake can’t get a superplex and of course he winds up in the Tree of Woe. For once someone is actually smart enough to sit up and pull El Patron down. A springboard moonsault gives Drake two but he gets caught in the cross armbreaker. That’s countered as well but Drake gets caught in the ropes, setting up the double stomp (from the mat instead of the stomp) to give Alberto the pin at 17:56.
Rating: B-. Good match here as Drake’s in-ring abilities are starting to match his incredible talking skills. The same problem still remains though: they’re fighting over titles that have no meaning to the Impact Wrestling fans, which becomes a problem. The story would be exactly the same if they were all just fighting for a shot at Lashley. Just say Magnus is in this spot because he’s a former World Champion and thinks he’s entitled. It’s the same story advancement and the same ending. Why is that so complicated?
Overall Rating: C+. This is a REALLY tricky one to grade as the opener and main events were both very good but everything in the middle was just there for the most part. The booking continues to cater to the fans who are already here and the stupid battling announcers are now being joined by a former wrestler/manservant vs. a former leprechaun who is the illegitimate son of the owner the biggest wrestling company in the world. You need a lot more than that to make a company work and Impact really doesn’t seem to get that.
Results
Matt Sydal b. Eddie Edwards – Shooting star press
Sienna b. Christina Von Eerie – Pounce
Ethan Carter III b. John Bolen – 1%er
Magnus b. Matt Morgan – Top rope elbow
Kongo Kong b. William Weeks – Top rope splash
Alberto El Patron b. Eli Drake – Double stomp
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Ring of Honor Global Wars 2016: Japanese Cannon Fodder
Global Wars 2016 Date: May 8, 2016
Location: Frontier Fieldhouse, Chicago Ridge, Illinois
Attendance: 2,000
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Mr. Wrestling 3
This is a few months old and unfortunately someone requested it recently so I have to actually look at the thing. Basically it’s a bunch of New Japan vs. Ring of Honor matches and a few ROH only matches to pad out the card. I’m really not a fan of this concept, especially after weeks of watching the same thing on ROH TV. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
The opening video talks about the history and business relationship between the two promotions and looks at some of the great matches. Tonight is also about the return of Colt Cabana, who wants Jay Lethal’s ROH World Title. Thankfully the title part gets much more time than the interpromotional matches.
We run down the card in case you bought the show on a whim.
ACH vs. Dalton Castle vs. Roderick Strong vs. Adam Page
Winner gets a TV Title shot at some point in the future. Castle has the Boys with him and is the big crowd favorite. This is one fall to a finish but there are only two people in the ring at once. ACH and Page get things going with Adam scoring off a spinwheel kick. Back up and ACH starts his flips but Strong tags himself in to take a dropkick from Page. That means it’s off to Castle with Dalton doing his lean back to the mat to freak Adam out a bit. Strong tags himself in to beat on Castle as the announcers are worried about a referee mistake.
Page works over Castle with Strong saving a pin, much to Adam’s annoyance. It’s back to Strong to keep Castle down as this has turned into a glorified tag match. Castle gets in a suplex on Page but ACH springboards in for a swinging Downward Spiral. The heels are on the floor so Strong can get crushed by a suicide dive from Castle. Everyone but ACH is down on the floor and that means a big flip dive to really pop the crowd. Wrestling 3: “Cheese and crackers he’s good!” Back in and Strong blocks ACH’s top rope splash, only to have Castle Bang A Rang Strong onto Page for the pin at 8:28.
Rating: C. Good choice for an opener here with everyone flying around and the fun character winning to set up the biggest match of his career pretty soon. This is the kind of thing you want to open the show and if there’s one thing ROH knows how to do it’s get a crowd going, especially one like this who is already white hot no matter what.
Strong is livid about the loss.
Cheeseburger/Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Addiction
Daniels won’t shake Cheeseburger’s hand to start so he has to duck an early palm strike. It’s already off to Liger to face Kazarian but everything breaks down with Kazarian taking a bad looking double dropkick. Now it’s time for Kazarian and Cheeseburger to slap it out which really should go to Cheeseburger since he does a big palm strike (yes a palm strike). Kazarian takes over and the double teaming begins with a gutwrench suplex planting Cheeseburger.
Daniels suplexes his partner into a moonsault onto Cheeseburger, setting up an arrogant cover for two. We hit the chinlock for a bit before a hurricanrana allows the tag off to Liger (Wrestling 3: “Hot suey tag!”). The Liger Bomb gets two on Daniels but Kazarian breaks up the brainbuster. Celebrity Rehab (belly to back flip into a gutbuster) gets two with Cheeseburger making the save this time. A pair of STO’s put Cheeseburger down but he rolls Daniels up for the big upset at 7:02.
Rating: C-. Cheeseburger has been around for years now and while I get the appeal, he’s really not someone I have any interest in seeing. Yes he’s small and yes his big move is a running slap but that’s not enough to make me want to see him. The Liger partnership only helps a little bit as Cheeseburger just isn’t interesting no matter how you package him.
Post match the Addiction knocks Liger to the floor and hits the Best Meltzer Ever (moonsault into a spike Tombstone) on Cheeseburger.
We recap War Machine vs. the Briscoe Brothers. War Machine have the belts but can’t be considered the best until they beat the greatest team in ROH history. They’ve never beaten the Briscoes before so tonight is also about vindication. Now that’s a simple story that I can get behind.
Tag Team Titles: War Machine vs. Briscoe Brothers
War Machine is defending and this should be a really physical fight though they respect each other. Hanson easily throws Mark out to the floor and the champs start double teaming as I’m assuming they’re the moderate heels here. Jay pulls Rowe outside and now it’s time for the brothers to suplex Hanson. Mark grabs a Russian legsweep and get two off a clothesline. A backdrop sends Mark crashing out to the floor and it’s time for the big man dive to take everyone out.
Hanson does….something that sends him through the table but the camera misses it completely. Thankfully we get a quick replay showing that it was Jay double stomping him through the table, which is something you don’t see often enough. The replay that is, not the double stomp. Back in and it’s Jay slugging it out with Rowe, whose Rock Bottom suplex has no effect. Everything breaks down again and Hanson’s big clothesline flips Mark inside out to put all four on the mat.
We get the double standoff (cool visual) and it’s Jay winning the slugout against Rowe, followed by a Cactus Clothesline to put them both on the floor. Mark keeps things moving with an apron Blockbuster to Hanson as the fans are behind the Briscoes. Rowe blocks a Jay Driller and Superman Forearms Mark out of the air. Back up and it’s Hanson getting double teamed, only to have Jay get caught in the Path of Resistance. Hanson misses the moonsault though and there’s the Jay Driller for two. A pop up German suplex drops Mark and it’s Fallout to retain the titles at 15:15.
Rating: B. The lack of tagging aside, I had a lot of fun with this one as they beat each other up for fifteen minutes and told a story with War Machine going as far as they could to finally beat the Briscoes. Jay and Mark are the kind of team you can throw in there and have them put over anyone because of all the things they’ve accomplished over the years and that’s a very valuable asset.
Tetsuya Naito vs. Kyle O’Reilly
Naito’s IWGP World Title isn’t on the line here but he does come to the ring walking a white suit. Feeling out process to start with Naito threatening a right hand but pulling back and tapping Kyle on the chest instead. Kyle’s leg lock doesn’t get him anywhere and a cross armbreaker across the ropes has the same result.
The crowd cheers for Naito as he dropkicks Kyle because the Japanese guys are the stars here and everyone knows it. A dropkick in the corner sets up a slingshot dropkick have Kyle in trouble but he comes back with the forearms and kicks. That means it’s time for the guillotine choke into an arm trap/leglock at the same time.
Naito climbs the ropes for a tornado DDT followed by a neckbreaker off the ropes for two. They kick each other in the head until Kyle hits a rebound lariat to put both of them down again. A Regalplex gets two on Naito and a knee to the head makes it even worse. Not that it matters as he does a weird backflip into a reverse DDT (Destino) for the pin at 12:03.
Rating: B-. Kyle has grown on me as he’s gone from one of the most overrated people I’ve seen in years to downright tolerable. Naito winning was obvious because New Japan won’t let one of their top stars lose here because that might imply that ROH is on their level. The match was good though again: I need a story, not just having two people have matches.
Naito lays him out and throws the belt down post match.
We recap Kazuchika Okada/Moose vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi/Michael Elgin. Moose impressed Okada in their singles match and now they’re teaming. End of story and all animosity.
Hiroshi Tanahashi/Michael Elgin vs. Kazuchika Okada/Moose
Okada and Moose have Gedo and Stokely Hathaway in their corner. Tanahashi and Okada start things off and the fans are in awe, despite knowing that this was a distinct possibility. That goes nowhere so it’s off to Okada vs. Moose and the fans aren’t pleased. Elgin does the delayed vertical suplex but Moose no sells it. You know, because it’s just a suplex.
Tanahashi comes in and mocks the Moose chant, only to have Moose and Okada dropkick their opponents to the floor. Moose isn’t done as he hits a big dive to the floor to take them out and get the fans’ respect for a bit. It’s Tanahashi playing the face in peril (good role for him) until Moose misses a charge, allowing the hot tag off to Elgin for the powerful house cleaning. Elgin only stays in for a bit before we get to the real showdown with Okada vs. Tanahashi with Okada getting the worst of it.
Tanahashi escapes a Tombstone attempt but neither can hit a Rainmaker. Instead Okada hits a Sling Blade but Elgin comes back in to powerslam Tanahashi off the top. Elgin puts Tanahashi on his shoulders for a kind of reverse Alabama Slam for two on Okada with Moose making the save. Tanahashi and Moose head outside with Elgin hitting a hard clothesline to the back of Okada’s head. Moose comes back in with a spear to Elgin, followed by the Rainmaker for the pin on Elgin at 13:46.
Rating: B-. This wasn’t bad though I could have done with Moose pinning Elgin and actually getting a big rub off this instead of just getting to stand next to the big star. At least Moose was actually involved in the ending as until then it was just about all of the New Japan guys doing their thing while Moose was along for the ride.
We recap Tomohiro Ishii vs. Bobby Fish which really shouldn’t have anything to do with Ishii but screw off with the whole storytelling thing when we can just go “New Japan vs. ROH, next.” Fish had been feuding with Strong over the title as Fish made him tap but the referee didn’t see it, allowing Strong to retain the title. Then Ishii won the title and took it over to Japan, leaving Fish to beat Strong again and earn this shot in what should have been the title change.
I’ve already done this one twice for ROH TV so I’m just copying it instead of doing it all over again.
TV Title: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Bobby Fish
Ishii is defending. Fish actually runs the much bigger Ishii over to start but Ishii does the same to send Fish outside for a bit of his time. Back in and Fish fires off some kicks to put Ishii in trouble, which isn’t something you see happen to him that often. Ishii wins another slugout though and a headbutt puts Fish down with ease.
Fish makes the mistake of headbutting Ishii and the referee has to check on him as a result. The champ gets knocked off the top but Fish misses a flying headbutt, only to start back in with kicks to the knee. Fish hits an exploder suplex for two but getting headbutted for his efforts. Ishii gets his own near fall with a delayed vertical superplex, followed by a Saito Suplex.
Fish looks mostly dead so Ishii powerbombs him for two more but Bobby grabs a sleeper. I could go for a small vs. big match without the smaller guy jumping on his back with a sleeper. It’s just so overdone. Ishii, seemingly annoyed with how lame Fish’s strategy was, German suplexes him down.
They head to the apron with Fish back on his feet and slugging it out. As expected, Ishii easily knocks him down but Fish kicks the leg out to put both guys down on the floor. Back in and a hard lariat gets two for the champ but Fish goes back to the sleeper. He fires off some elbows to the head and survives a flip attempt to actually knock Ishii out at 15:30.
Rating: B. The match was a good, hard hitting brawl but Ishii is the definition of a guy that had no business winning the title or being involved in this story whatsoever. Strong vs. Fish had been a well built up story but instead of getting the payoff we had been set up for, Ishii got the belt despite having no connection to either of them. That’s becoming too common of a tradition and it’s getting old in a hurry. This match was good but Fish vs. Strong would have been as well and had a strong story to go with it. Which sounds better?
Kushida/Matt Sydal/Motor City Machine Guns vs. Bullet Club
For the sake of simplicity, I’ll only refer to Matt Sydal as Sydal and Matt Jackson as Matt. Young Bucks and the Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga/Tama Loa) here. Kushida and Sydal are IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, the Guerillas are the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions and the Bucks are two thirds of the Never Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champions with Kenny Omega. Mr. Wrestling 3 has a Bullet Club Superkick Counter as we get so far into the meta humor that my head wants to explode.
Sydal rides Matt to start so it’s a Too Sweet poke to the eye and a lot of crotch chopping. The good guys (as in not the Club) clean house and it’s a double dive to take the Bucks out. Back in and we get some sweet (not too sweet) triple teaming to on Matt as this is one sided so far. The Bucks start kicking everyone (not superkicking, much to Wrestling 3’s chagrin) but their dives are broken up by Guns’ superkicks. Wrestling 3: “THOSE ARE THRUST KICKS!”
The Guerillas no sell kicks to the face and clothesline the Guns down and it’s time for some Buck diving. Back in and Shelley blocks a superkick but gets kicked in the head anyway. Loa comes in and is one of the biggest balls of energy I’ve seen in a long time with headbutts and splashes to keep Shelley in trouble. Tonga comes in for a splash of his own before it’s off to Matt for a chinlock.
Shelley takes out both Bucks and makes the hot tag off to Kushida as things speed up again. Everyone else clears out and it’s Tonga not being able to powerslam Sydal, who escapes with a kick to the head. Some, ahem, thrust kicks drop the Guerillas before Matt gets quadruple teamed in the corner. A powerbomb/top rope double knees to the face gets two as the Bucks run in for the save.
Skull and Bones (top rope splash/neckbreaker combo) gets two more before Nick comes in and does SUCK IT over and over because popping the crowd is far more important than having a good or logical match. Sliced Bread #2 is broken up and a quick Meltzer Driver puts Shelley away at 13:04. Wrestling 3: “I JUST WASTED SIX GRAND!!!”
Rating: C. The match was certainly watchable but this meta comedy and running jokes throughout the match really bring things down. As I’ve said roughly 18,000 times, the Bucks are supposed to be heels but spend the whole match doing things faces would do. It makes the match feel completely uneven and it’s really annoying when you’re trying to keep the match straight. I know their response is they’re “evolving” the business but as is always the case, that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.
Wrestling 3 is distraught and it gets even worse when BJ Whitmer comes out in a Masked Superstar mask. Whitmer has a flash drive with something Wrestling 3 will want to see.
Long recap of the World Title match with Colt Cabana returning to win the one title he’s never been able to capture. He’s an indy legend but wants one more chance at the big prize. Cabana pinned Lethal in a quick non-title match to earn a shot.
Nigel McGuinness joins commentary.
ROH World Title: Colt Cabana vs. Jay Lethal
Lethal is defending and only has Taeler Hendrix with him. Cabana, the hometown boy, knocks him into the corner to start and the chops start early and Jay hides for a bit. A hiptoss sets up a basement dropkick to knock Cabana out to the apron and they’re still at a fairly hot pace to start. Jay misses another dropkick but a Hendrix distraction fails as well. Eh she’s there because of how she looks, not because of how she does things.
Hendrix redeems herself a bit by grabbing Colt, allowing Jay to hit three straight suicide dives. Unfortunately that means an ejection with Nigel having to drag her to the back by the wrist. Back in and we hit the chinlock before the Lethal Injection is countered into a rollup for two. A quick Lethal Combination sets up the top rope elbow for two on Cabana but he dives into a rollup for the same. They fight over a Tombstone with Jay connecting for two, meaning he’ll likely get a letter from the Bullet Club for copyright infringement.
Colt comes right back with the Billy Goat’s Curse (reverse Boston Crab), only to have Hendrix run out and pull the referee to the floor. Speaking of the Bucks, here they are to superkick the referee and Hendrix. The Bucks pull out two Bullet Club shirts (Wrestling 3: “I’M GETTING THE SHIRT!!!”) and toss them to Lethal and Cabana (Wrestling 3: “BUT I WORKED SO HARD!”). There go the lights and it’s Adam Cole in the ring in the shirt. Cabana and Lethal take superkicks and we’ll call it a DQ at about 16:00.
Rating: C+. This was fine until the ending with the Bullet Club taking over the ending and making it all about them instead of having anything to do with the match. Unfortunately this is probably it for Cabana, who was really in this spot for the sake of having a face for the Bucks to superkick. In other words: it’s the same thing that happened far too often on this show but that’s how Ring of Honor works these days.
Security eats superkicks and the counter goes back up but they only count double kicks as one. I DEMAND A REFUND! The Guerillas come out and the beating continues with Loa spray painting BC on a table and a security guard being powerbombed through it. More spray paint continues with the announcers getting kicks of their own.
The Bucks jump on commentary to do a Jim Ross impression because that’s cutting edge. Cole ties Lethal to the ropes and superkicks him a few times with the counter still going. Cue the Bucks’ dad (just go with it) who gets superkicked as well. The cameraman is kicked down and the Club all stare into the camera to end the show.
Overall Rating: C. This is a show where the wrestling really isn’t important. This show was all about the Japanese stars looking WAY more important than the ROH stars, making this far less a competitive show and much more about making New Japan look completely superior to Ring of Honor.
There were eight total matches on this show with Ring of Honor wrestlers winning in five of them. Of those five wins, there were two tag matches with a New Japan partner and two matches with no New Japan stars involved. Counting the no contest, New Japan went 4-1 along with destroying the World Champion and the #1 contender to close the show.
This was basically a New Japan show featuring the Ring of Honor players. I get the concept there, but that’s been all we’ve seen on Ring of Honor TV for weeks leading up to this pay per view. Yes I said pay per view, as this show carried a $45 price tag. I’m sure all the fans who paid to see Ring of Honor vs. New Japan, which is how this show was billed (in the one week of TV dedicated to it), and got the Bullet Club dominating everything in the end.
If that’s what you want to see on your Ring of Honor shows then so be it but I really do not care about seeing the Young Bucks, Okada, Tanahashi or any of the other names come in and beat the tar out of the Ring of Honor stars. The wrestling was actually quite good but the booking was a disaster, especially since the ending was just a big TUNE IN NEXT WEEK…..when you get a Jay Lethal special! Followed by a Bullet Club special!
Ring of Honor REALLY needs to switch some stuff up because this booking isn’t doing anyone but New Japan and the Bullet Club any favors. If that’s what Ring of Honor is going for then keep going with it but it’s really not working for me. I watch ROH because I like their roster but the last few months have told me that they exist for the sake of putting over New Japan and this NWO tribute stable for reasons that I really do not understand. I’m sure it’s some kind of knock on WWE for introducing the Club because that’s unfair or whatever their latest reasoning is. Either way, it’s a good but very, very frustrating show.
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Ring of Honor TV – June 8, 2016: Get Me Something New To Complain About
Ring of Honor Date: June 8, 2016
Location: Ted Reeve Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly
It’s another week as we get closer to Best in the World and the big showdown between Jay Lethal and Jay Briscoe for the ROH World Title. On top of that though we have the Bullet Club running roughshod over the company and pretty clearly being in line for some title shots in the future. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
We open with dueling promos from Jay Lethal and Donovan Dijak about their match tonight. Dijak was tired of having to help fight all of Lethal’s battles when he was part of the House of Truth and fought back, only to injure manager Truth Martini in the process. That made it personal for Lethal and it’s time to fight.
Matt Sydal vs. Kazuchika Okada
Okada has Gedo in his corner. There’s actually a bit of a backstory here as Sydal wanted to be part of the Chaos stable in New Japan but Okada and Gedo gave the spot to Will Ospreay instead. Sydal has to escape an early Rainmaker attempt with a hurricanrana and the threat of a dropkick has Matt holding the ropes to get us to a standoff. Now it’s Sydal heading up top but getting caught by a great looking dropkick to send him to the floor and us to a break.
Back with Okada pounding on Sydal’s back, much to Gedo’s approval. Sydal gets in a few kicks and scores with a standing moonsault for two. Okada throws him right back down though and drops a top rope elbow, only to have Sydal duck the Rainmaker. The shooting star hits knees but Sydal slips out of the tombstone. Sydal misses his jumping knee though and the Rainmaker (still just a freaking clothesline) gives Okada the pin at 10:03.
Rating: C-. This was fine is a little obvious. I don’t think Okada has ever lost a singles match in Ring of Honor and it gets a bit tiresome to watch him come in and dominate people with no particular reason or any storyline advancement. Well at least not in this country but that doesn’t matter much around here.
The Bullet Club is ready for the winner of the Best in the World main event because Adam Cole wants his World Title back.
Silas Young didn’t like the fact that his son was coloring a picture of ACH because that’s not how a real man acts. It’s nothing personal but Silas just doesn’t like him.
Adam Page vs. Colt Cabana
This is over Page and the rest of the Bullet Club attacking Cabana a few weeks back. Feeling out process to start with Cabana throwing him into the corner and grabbing the arm before snapmaring Page for two. Cabana gets countered into a wristlock though and is sent outside for a big springboard shooting star as we take a break.
Back with Cabana making his comeback and hitting a Dusty Rhodes Bionic Elbow, followed by a forearm to the head. Page flips over the top into a clothesline for two but Cabana hits a standing Lionsault for the same. Back up and Page charges into an elbow in the corner, allowing Colt to grab a rollup for the pin at 10:09.
Rating: D+. Page is somewhere along the level of Buff Bagwell in the NWO, making him one of the least important members of the roster who is being in a featured angle because the Bullet Club needs more warm bodies. This story isn’t doing anything for me but it’s nice to see the Club lose for a change.
Post match the Guerillas of Destiny come out to beat Cabana down.
The All Night Express wants to make wrestling great again. Good grief yes we know Donald Trump is running for President. Find something new already.
Here’s BJ Whitmer to call out Steve Corino despite the fans calling him boring. Whitmer tells Corino to kiss his family goodbye before he goes off to Best in the World because he’ll never see them again. Cue Corino but security stops him from getting in the ring.
ACH thinks Silas Young is jealous because ACH can be himself while Young has to tell others how to be. Or maybe he’s just losing control of his household.
Donovan Dijak vs. Jay Lethal
Non-title with Prince Nana and Taeler Hendrix as the respective managers. Dijak wins a quick brawl and sends Jay to the floor to keep up the fighting. A whip sends Lethal into the barricade but he comes back by posting Dijak and heading inside. Dijak needs a breather so Nana gets in the ring, allowing Donovan to get on the apron. Jay knocks him outside again and hits two suicide dives, only to have the third countered with a throw into the barricade. Dijak bumps things up with a moonsault over the top for a huge pop as we take a break.
Back with Lethal scoring with a dropkick but banging up his own knee. Dijak throws him down with a suplex and nips up to his feet before covering. The Lethal Combination is broken up but Lethal snaps off a German suplex. Dijak uses FIGHTING SPIRIT (sounds like a video game weapon) to pop back up and turn Lethal inside out with a discus lariat.
Jay has to fight out of a chokeslam and counters into a rollup, only to have Dijak lift him up into Feast Your Eyes. The knee misses though, allowing Jay to superkick him back. The Lethal Injection is countered into a sitout powerbomb for two more, only to have Nana and Hendrix get into it. Dijak loads up another Feast Your Eyes but here are the Bullet Club to accidentally superkick Donovan, setting up the Lethal Injection for the pin at 12:26.
Rating: C+. Dijak actually isn’t bad but he needs A LOT of ring time and polishing to be able to really hang with most of the top names. I’m really not sure why we’re seeing the Bullet Club waiting on the sidelines while we sit through Briscoe vs. Lethal until we just have Cole win the title like he probably should have months ago. At least this was entertaining though and I’m glad they didn’t throw Donovan a title match as you have to earn them around here.
Post match the Club beats on Lethal until the Briscoes come in for the save. Jay Briscoe holds up the World Title and stares at Lethal to end the show.
Overall Rating: C. It’s nice to have things back to the closest thing to normal that you’re going to get around here, including the dominance of the Bullet Club. Yeah they’re definitely the new NWO and the fact that they’re basically the same thing really doesn’t make things better. Get the title on Cole already and hopefully have a way to wrap this up sooner rather than later so we can drop the New Japan obsession and I can find something new to complain about.
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Ring of Honor TV – April 6, 2016: We Get The Concept
Ring of Honor Date: April 6, 2015 Location: Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Mr. Wrestling III, Kevin Kelly
We’re still in Las Vegas and it’s time to have another show that airs after a big show with no mention of the big show’s results. In this case it’s Supercard of Honor from Wrestlemania weekend but we’re doing the TV that deals with the fallout from the 14th Anniversary Show. It would be nice if they could find a way to work this out but I don’t see it coming anytime soon. Let’s get to it.
Instead of the regular opening sequence, we get a look at Donovan Dijak laying out Jay Lethal and injuring Truth Martini a few weeks back.
Lethal goes on a rant about how Dijak has injured his best friend after it was all Martini’s idea to bring him into the House of Truth in the first place. Now Dijak has the ROH World Champion coming for him and that’s not going to be pleasant.
Opening sequence.
Kazuchika Okada/Gedo vs. ReDRagon
Okada is IWGP Champion coming in. The Japanese guys want nothing to do with a pre-match handshake so it’s a bit testy as we get things going. Gedo cranks on Fish’s head to start before getting two off a rollup. That’s countered into a legbar as the fans chant for the New Japan guys.
Fish wants Okada and even lays down in the ring, offering him a chance to come in. Okada does come in but it’s also off to O’Reilly as the announcers talk about Kyle’s ear injury. An early sunset flip attempt is countered into a cross armbreaker until Gedo comes in to break it up with a right hand to the bad ear. The Japanese guys start in on the ear and we take a break.
Back with Kyle striking away at Okada and diving over for the hot tag to Fish. Everything breaks down and Okada hits his over the shoulder backbreaker on Fish but the Rainmaker is countered into a Samoan drop. Gedo breaks up the hot tag and superkicks Bobby for two as everything breaks down again. Okada gets sent to the floor and it’s Gedo getting double teamed with rapid fire forearms, followed by Chasing the Dragon for the pin at 12:24.
Rating: C. The match was fun but it’s nice to see the New Japan guys get beaten for a change. I know they’re a special attraction but far too often it seems there’s no reason to watch the match because it’s a guaranteed win. ReDRagon needs better opponents though because they’re at the point of having nothing left to do in tag action.
We look back at the Briscoes picking up the Tag Team Titles last week, much to War Machine’s annoyance.
The Briscoes say War Machine can’t call themselves the best of all time because they’ve never beaten Dem Boys. That sounds like a challenge to me and it should be one heck of a fight.
Adam Cole vs. Kushida
Kushida’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title isn’t on the line. Cole shoves him around to start and for once the ROH guy seems to be the crowd favorite. Kushida doesn’t take kindly to this and rides Cole on the mat to some nice applause. A Fujiwara armbar sends Cole scrambling to the ropes. Adam gets in a few shots from the apron though and we take a break. Back with Kushida hitting an atomic drop and some seated dropkicks to the head to get the fans back on his side.
A front flip kick sends Cole out to the floor but the moonsault hits knees back inside. Cole gets two off a hard running Shining Wizard, only to have to get out of the Hoverboard lock with a small package. Kushida tries more kicks so Cole stomps on his hand, only to get kicked in the arm. There’s another Hoverboard lock but Cole puts him on his shoulders for two and forcing the break. Back up and Cole superkicks him in the back of the head, setting up the suplex into the backbreaker for the pin on Kushida at 11:05.
Rating: C+. This is the kind of match that I’m not wild on: exchanging moves and then doing the finish. There’s no real connection between these teams and there’s no real reason to see the two of them fighting. It’s certainly not bad or anything but I’m going to forget I saw it in a few minutes because it had no impact on anything whatsoever.
Dalton Castle is ready for his Fight Without Honor with Silas Young. He might even fill Young’s pants with brine shrimp and throw him in a blender.
We look back at the Motor City Machine Guns reforming at the 14th Anniversary Show.
Addiction vs. The Machine Guns
Yeah no Motor City now. Sabin and Daniels get things going but Kazarian gets in a cheap shot thirty seconds in like a heel should. As you might expect, the Guns clean house and send us to an early break. Back with Shelley coming in off the top to work on Kazarian’s arm, setting up the quick takedown and rapid fire basement dropkick.
The double dive sends the Addiction into the barricade, followed by a high cross body from Shelley for two on Kazarian. Daniels gets in a shot to the back though and Addiction finally takes over. Kazarian and Daniels take turns on Shelley, including a double clothesline, allowing Daniels to put his foot on the chest for two. We take another break and come back with Shelley giving Kazarian a Stunner while DDTing Daniels at the same time.
That’s still not enough for the hot tag as Daniels pulls Sabin off the apron, only to have Shelley send Daniels head first between Kazarian’s legs. We finally get the hot tag to Sabin as everything breaks down. Kazarian gets kicked in the face but Daniels sends Shelley outside, setting up a big dive to take Alex out. Shelley slides back in almost immediately and starts the double team strikes on Daniels, followed by Skull and Bones for the pin at 12:21.
Rating: C. I was a big fan of the Guns back in the day but given how many fast paced teams there are now and the fact that Sabin is nothing compared to what he used to be (And somehow a former TNA World Champion. I still don’t get that one.), there’s really nothing left for them to do, making this a fairly worthless reunion. The match was fine but still not my style for the most part.
Post match the Addiction beats the Guns down, only to have Kushida and Matt Sydal run in for the save. The Young Bucks come in to superkick the two of them down, triggering another brawl to end the show.
Overall Rating: C. I’m really getting tired of these tag brawls to end the shows. We get it: the tag division is really competitive. Now either do something with them or stop having the same story over and over. There’s almost no reason for most of them to be fighting other than “the tag division is competitive” and that’s not going to work for months at a time.
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Ring of Honor Date: March 30, 2015
Location: Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall, Las Vegas, Nevada Commentators: Mr. Wrestling III, Kevin Kelly
We’re still in Las Vegas with the cool blue curtains and a World Title defense with Hirooki Goto from New Japan challenging ROH World Champion Jay Lethal. It’s not like Lethal has anything else going on right now so having him defend against someone from outside the company isn’t the worst idea. Let’s get to it.
Roderick Strong vs. Adam Page vs. Moose vs. Matt Sydal
This is a Four Corner Survival match which actually means one fall to a finish. Strong and Sydal get things going with a nice running of the ropes before Roderick gets in his first backbreaker for two. Page tags himself in to go after Strong but Sydal tags himself in as well, only to get sent to the floor. That’s as good as a tag so it’s Moose coming in to slam Strong for two with Page making the save.
Moose and Sydal go to the floor with Matt getting powerbombed onto the apron, followed by Page diving on Strong as we take a break. Back with Page dropkicking Strong into the corner until Sydal drops both Page and Strong at the same time. A standing moonsault gets two on Adam, followed by Moose slugging it out with Strong.
Moose dropkicks Sydal and Page off the corner so everyone starts focusing on Moose to give themselves an opening. Page throws Sydal with a release dragon suplex but here’s BJ Whitmer to trip Page up, allowing Sydal to knee him in the face. The shooting star press crushes Page but Strong comes back in with a knee to both faces and the pin on Page at 11:53.
Rating: C. The match was certainly energetic but I’m not a fan of these wild messes with no real story (save for maybe Moose being dominant) and action all over the place. There’s a way to do these things but they have a bad tendency to turn into borderline trainwrecks like this one. It certainly wasn’t bad but it just came and went with no real impact.
Here’s Adam Cole with something to say. After some production guy says “I hope it’s story time. I really like it.”, it’s story time with Adam Cole. Adam says that despite this perceived downward spiral, he’s still the best wrestler in the world and the future World Champion. There is no one in that locker room who can stand up to him and Kyle O’Reilly shouldn’t even be in the same ring as him. Cole may be without his Kingdom but he’ll be winning that title back soon.
This brings out Matt Taven on a crutch to promise titles both in American and Japan. Well actually he’ll be winning them on his own because Cole hasn’t won any gold in a long time. After Cole got hurt, it was Taven who was keeping Cole relevant and he’s tired of carrying Adam. The Kingdom will be rebuilt in Taven’s image and that’s it for Cole.
Dalton Castle isn’t a fan of rules (like dress codes because he’s a clothing optional man) so he loves the idea of a Fight Without Honor against Silas Young in two weeks.
Cheeseburger vs. Foxx Vinyer
Foxx pounds the much smaller man down to start and some strikes to the chest don’t have much effect for Cheeseburger. Instead a powerslam gets two on Cheeseburger but he pops back up with a knee to the head. The palm strike is loaded up but here’s the All Night Express to pull Foxx out for the DQ at 1:32 for no apparent reason.
The Express isn’t here to attack Cheeseburger because they like him. They see the heart inside him and know that he’s tough enough to go through tables and be bent over ladders, even though the fans don’t care about him. Yeah no matter how badly he’s been beaten up, the people aren’t going to care.
The Express reads some mean Tweets from fans before ripping on the other teams for being too small (the Young Bucks), smelly farmers (the Briscoes) and big bald guys (War Machine). The fans chant for Cheeseburger, who reads the catchphrase on the back of the Express’ shirt and gets beaten down. Wrestling III: “HE’S JUST A BURGER!!!” War Machine and the Briscoes come out for the save but the Briscoes pick up the belts. The champs aren’t happy with that and it’s a big staredown.
The House of Truth is ready for the main event.
ROH World Title: Hirooki Goto vs. Jay Lethal
Goto is challenging after beating Dalton Castle at Supercard of Honor. Lethal‘s graphic still shows him with the TV Title. Jay kicks him in the ribs at the handshake but Goto easily pounds him down into the corner. With the champ in trouble, Taeler Hendrix offers a distraction to break up the top rope hurricanrana. Jay is right on him with a suicide dive and we get a Trutharooni in celebration.
Lethal hits a chinlock back inside and we take a break. Back with Goto making his comeback and blocking the Lethal Injection. A Saito suplex gets two on the champ and an AA into a backbreaker gets the same. Martini offers another distraction though and it’s the Lethal Injection to retain the title at 10:17.
Rating: C. This is the kind of match that doesn’t do much for me as there’s no real story other than Goto won a match at a show a few weeks back. There’s no connection or animosity between these two and with about seven minutes of airtime, there’s only so much they can actually do. It’s a perfectly watchable match but I need something else to care about or a lot higher quality.
Post match Donovan Dijak comes in to go after Lethal and easily wins the slugout. The Book of Truth to the back has no effect so Dijak kicks Martini’s head off to end the show.
Overall Rating: D+. I really wasn’t feeling this one as it’s a collection of midcard stuff or short term angles that don’t seem to have much importance. The show went by fast enough and wasn’t exactly bad but nothing felt big here, save for maybe the big angle at the end. Then again I can’t imagine they’ll put the title on Donovan Dijak, even though I’m a fan of the guy. This wasn’t a horrible show but it’s completely skippable.
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Ring of Honor TV – March 2, 2016: How To Clone An ACH
Ring of Honor Date: March 2, 2016
Location: Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee
Attendance: 675
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Mr. Wrestling III
We’re officially in one of those weird periods where the pay per view has passed but we’re still not done with the old taping cycle so this will be a lot of stuff that has nothing to do with the Anniversary Show or its fallout. We do however had a big match with Silas Young/Beer City Bruiser vs. Dalton Castle’s Boys. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Silas Young/Beer City Bruiser vs. The Boys
The Boys are Brent and Brandon (named a few weeks back but not mentioned here). Before the match, Dalton Castle sneaks in from behind and gets in a few cheap shots on Young and Bruiser but the Boys stand back and let them regroup on the floor. Great, so now they’re mad. Castle is escorted out and we get down to a regular match. Before the action starts, Young rips on the Boys for failing every task he gave them. There is no fairy tale ending tonight though and Young is so confident he and Bruiser will win that he’ll put his career on the line in this match.
We get a second bell so I’m not sure if the match just started or if we’re two minutes in. Bruiser starts with we’ll say Brent as the announcers preview the show and ignore the match. Brent can’t do a thing with Bruiser so it’s off to Brandon for a double clothesline. That goes nowhere either so it’s a double Eat Defeat to stagger the big man. Bruiser smacks Brent down and we take a break. Back with Brent flipping out of a rollup and bulldogging Young down. The hot tag brings in Brandon and everything breaks down with Bruiser getting DDT’ed for two.
Young catches Brandon in the DDT into the bottom buckle but Bruiser’s top rope splash is countered with….well it was supposed to be a cutter but looked more like a jumping uppercut. Either way it only gets two, followed by Brent flipping off Brandon’s shoulders to take both guys down at once. Brandon follows with a big moonsault and a faceplant gets two on Young. Not that it matters as the Bruiser comes back in and crushes both Boys in the corner with a Cannonball, giving Silas the pin at 8:30.
Rating: C+. It’s the power vs. speed dynamic working again, as if there was any doubt it was going to. The Boys looked like any given jobber team coming into this but they wound up being a surprisingly decent high flying team. I’m not sure how long they can have the Boys as valets when it’s clear they can wrestle well enough but the Castle character has evolved well so far so hopefully the trend continues.
Dalton tries to run in post match but gets taken out as well.
Adam Cole is ready for Matt Sydal tonight.
Top Prospect Tournament Semi-Finals: Brian Fury vs. Action Ortiz
Ortiz takes him down to start and runs the smaller (though still good sized) Fury over, knocking him out to the floor. A big flip dive over the top crushes Fury (or at least his shoulder as Ortiz didn’t make perfect contact) for two back inside. Brian dropkicks the knee out and Ortiz is in trouble for a bit, only to come back with some right hands to the jaw. Another right hand drops Fury but he raises his boot on the way down for an “accidental” low blow. A sitout Sky High gives Fury the pin to advance at 4:05.
Rating: D+. Fury, who reminds me of Test (in a good way), was the better option here as Ortiz is really just an update on Bam Bam Bigelow. This whole tournament is kind of hard to get a handle on as the characters are being built from the ground up, which is a very tricky move to pull off. The match wasn’t the best in the world either as Ortiz was yet another big guy who can fly while Fury is a fairly generic guy with some decent power. Fury isn’t much but I liked him a lot better than Ortiz.
Fury doesn’t care who is in the finals with him because he hasn’t shown us anything yet.
Top Prospect Tournament Semi-Finals: Lio Rush vs. Punisher Martinez
Martinez has impressed me more than anyone else in this tournament and definitely has a presence about him. Lio slugs away to start and has to escape from the sitout chokeslam. Punisher misses a running big boot and they head outside with Lio getting in a running kick to the chest to drop Martinez for the first time. A springboard is quickly countered as Lio gets caught in a jawbreaker and the beating is on.
Lio rolls back out to the floor, only to have Punisher dive over the top for a great looking plancha. It would have looked even better if it had come close but at least it was a great dive. The apron Last Ride is escaped but Rush jumps up to the apron for a springboard into a tornado DDT (because everyone gets to use the tornado DDT) onto the floor. Back in and Punisher shrugs it off (granted it wasn’t much of a DDT) to set up a super chokeslam, but Lio counters into something resembling a C4 (landing on his own head in the process) for the pin at 6:04.
Rating: C. So much for Punisher getting to show off. I mean, we have ACH Jr. and that’s what matters around here. For the life of me I do not get the appeal of Rush while Martinez is a monster with a great look. Hopefully he gets hired by someone soon because I had a good time watching him. There’s a future for him either on his own or as a bodyguard and it should be awesome.
During the pin, you can see A LOT of empty seats opposite the camera. That’s a rare slip up from ROH.
Rush (who sounds like a Briscoe) is ready for the finals.
Matt Sydal vs. Adam Cole
Feeling out process to start as they have a lot of time to spend here. Cole takes him into the corner but Sydal trips him up and grabs an Indian Deathlock with a chinlock. The bridging forces Sydal to break the hold after a few seconds though and Cole takes over with a jawbreaker. Sydal gets shoved off the top for a big crash onto the apron and it’s time for Cole to take over. We hit the chinlock for a bit before taking an early break.
Back with Cole walking into an enziguri, followed by a standing moonsault for two. Sydal tries to fly around too much though and dives into Cole’s arms, allowing Adam to slam him into the apron and take over again. A Shining Wizard gets two on Matt but he hurricanranas Cole off the ropes to break up a Canadian Destroyer. Cole shrugs that off as well and grabs the Figure Four but it’s countered as fast as any other Figure Four. Back up again and Cole scores with two straight superkicks so Sydal takes him down with a reverse hurricanrana. The Shooting Star puts Cole away at 12:30.
Rating: B-. The match was fun and they’re setting up Sydal for his big house show title match, though I would have liked it to be against someone a little less important than Cole. It was entertaining though and a very ROH style match which isn’t exactly my thing most of the time but at least Cole looked awesome. Sydal as a house show challenger is fine enough but there are too many people who wrestle that style on the roster at the moment.
Overall Rating: C+. The wrestling helped make up for the mostly non-existent storyline advancement. That’s the thing you have to get used to in Ring of Honor though and I can’t really say I’m surprised. These stand alone shows are very hit or miss most of the time so this could have been a lot worse and the mostly decent wrestling helped get them through the hour.
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Ring of Honor TV – February 17, 2016: An Actual Prospect
Ring of Honor Date: February 17, 2016 Location: Cabarrus Arena and Events Center, Concord, North Carolina
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness
The Anniversary pay per view is almost here and we’re also getting closer to the end of the first round of the Top Prospect Tournament. However, we’re also getting closer to the end of this taping cycle which means things have a tendency to start dragging. Ring of Honor isn’t the best at going week to week so there’s little connection between shows. That can make things hard to keep track of but hopefully it isn’t a major issue here. Let’s get to it.
Top Prospect Tournament First Round: Jason Kincaid vs. Lio Rush
Two smaller guys here with Kincaid looking like Erick Rowan minus about 100lbs (but with some hair) and with pictures of a woman and a skull on his thighs. Nigel thinks Lio is in the vein of ACH. Well at least they don’t look the same. Lio kicks at the leg to start but Kincaid heads to the apron for a slingshot flip neckbreaker. Off to a Gory Stretch on Rush, followed by something like a standing abdominal stretch (as in Lio isn’t twisted around) into a jawbreaker.
Kincaid takes off his shoulder pads vest (that helped) but Lio knocks him outside for a flip dive. Back in and something like a spinebuster into the corner has Lio in trouble, though he’s still able to head outside before Jason can go Coast to Coast. That’s fine with Jason as he does it anyway, actually hitting the Coast to Coast with Lio on the floor. He’s not done though as Kincaid dives through the ropes into a flip Diamond Cutter. Jason’s top rope double stomp misses though and Lio catches him in a standing C4 for the pin at 5:05.
Rating: C+. Best match of the tournament so far and I’m really hoping Kincaid gets another look after that performance. One important thing here was Kelly putting over Jason’s backstory as coming up from pure poverty to get where he is today. That helped set Kincaid apart and let us connect to him a bit, which is the best thing you can do here. Unfortunately ROH felt the need to add another generic high flier because they don’t have enough of them yet. I mean, Nigel said Rush is exactly like ACH, so why would they want to go with him when they already have ACH?
Will Ferrara/Caprice Coleman vs. Beer City Bruiser/Silas Young
Prince Nana is on commentary to continue this story which feels like it’s been going on for six months despite not actually going anywhere. Coleman and Young get things going with a slugout as Kelly asks Nana about going after Donovan Dijak. Nana says the pieces of the puzzle are all in the letter and that’s all Kelly needs to know. Coleman takes over but Ferrara tags himself in, much to his partner’s annoyance.
A rollup gets two for Will but he goes with a much more effective German suplex to send Silas into the corner, meaning it’s off to the much bigger Bruiser. For some reason Ferrara tries to slam the big man and gets crushed as he deserved after something that stupid. The villains take turns beating on Ferrara until Bruiser misses a charge and Coleman gets the lukewarm tag.
Everything breaks down and Bruiser tries a superplex on Coleman, only to have Ferrara run in for a powerbomb. The Sky Splitter is broken up but here come the Boys (so much for selling a big beatdown) for a distraction, allowing Ferrara to DDT Bruiser on the floor. Now the Sky Splitter is enough to put Young away at 6:10.
Rating: C. Not bad here but again I lost all interest in whatever Nana is doing months ago. If he wants to reform the Embassy or whatever then so be it but that’s just it: so be it already. Instead of just giving people envelopes and showing them the way or whatever, do something because a Ferrara/Coleman/whoever else he has stable isn’t exactly thrilling in the first place.
Here’s the Decade with something to say. Whitmer has been hearing Steve Corino promising to come here tonight and have someone deal with BJ. Corino has three friends in wrestling and most of them are gone from this company already. This brings out Corino, who doesn’t exactly seem ready to fight.
No one wants to hear Whitmer talking week after week (I don’t mind it) and now BJ thinks Corino is the one coming for him. That’s going to happen one day but it’s not just yet. Someone has come to Corino and offered to take Whitmer out…..and apparently it’s Adam Page. The brawl is quickly on and the fans have no issue cheering for Page as security comes in to break it up. This makes as much sense as anything else if Corino is too hurt to fight.
We run down the PPV card, including a video of All Night Express beating War Machine via DQ to set up their No DQ match. The triple threat main event gets a quick video as well.
Mark Briscoe vs. Tim Hughes
Hughes is small and very pale. Mark knocks him into the corner as you would expect from a star beating on a jobber in a squash match on the weekly TV show. A Russian legsweep gets two on Hughes but Tim comes back with a long sidewalk slam. That just earns him some Redneck Kung Fu and a fisherman’s buster, followed by the Froggy Bow for the pin on Hughes at 3:50.
Rating: D. This was what it was with Mark getting a squash that he really didn’t need. I’m not sure what they were going for here as Briscoe is ready for a big tag team showdown, so why give him something like this? Nothing to see here and on top of that it wasn’t even all that entertaining.
ACH/Matt Sydal vs. Young Bucks
The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line here and for the sake of simplicity I’ll only refer to Matt Jackson as Matt. The handshakes take a while but thankfully they wait until after the break of the opening bell. Sydal slaps a belt out of Matt hand to start and it’s an early superkick party to send the non-champions to the floor but Sydal dives out to drop both Bucks.
Back in and ACH dives in, followed by a leg lariat and dropkick to Matt. A bit too much posing allows Nick to score with a superkick though and it’s time for a double superkick to send Sydal to the floor. The Bucks superkick an invisible ball into the crowd and we take a break. Back with Nick riding ACH’s arm and posing on the apron like a heel should, even though he’s a face here.
It’s time for more invisible basketball but ACH trips them up, allowing Sydal to come in off the hot tag. Everything breaks down and the slingshot X-Factor drops ACH and it’s yet another superkick party. More Bang For Your Buck is broken up but Sydal misses the Shooting Star, allowing Matt to hit another superkick. Nick’s Swanton is good for two but More Bang For Your Buck is countered again with some raised knees. Now the Shooting Star connects on Matt for the big upset win at 10:11.
Rating: C. I’m not wild on the teams here and I’m not sure how much I like champions losing clean, even if they’re champions in another promotion but there was something about that ending I did like. The Bucks’ offense was countered and Sydal/ACH get another win over them, which again I know because Kelly told us that at the start of the match. It sounded like a minor detail to start but knowing that helps the story they’re going for here. Again, well done and something so easy to do, which is what makes it so frustrating when most companies don’t do it.
Overall Rating: C. This was fine for the most part, but again they’re not exactly doing a great job of building up the pay per view. I know the World Title isn’t always the most important thing in Ring of Honor but they seem to go out of their way to not have Lethal out there. It’s nice for a change, but at times it becomes a bit annoying as whether Ring of Honor likes it or not, the World Title is going to be seen as the most important thing in the promotion. Still though, totally watchable show here, even with the midcard getting the focus.
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Ring of Honor TV – January 13, 2016: That’s A Lot Of Tag Teams
Ring of Honor Date: January 13, 2016
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 600 Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly
The show started the new year on a roll so hopefully things can keep up this week. If nothing else this week won’t have build up for a show that already took place. Nothing has been announced for this show but that’s normally the case for this company and things tend to turn out fine. Let’s get to it.
Roppongi Vice vs. All Night Express
The Express are the #1 contenders to the Tag Team Titles so this should be a nice test for them. King and Barreta go to the mat to start and it’s a quick standoff. The Express gets smart by taking Barreta into their corner for some double teaming, only to have Titus get backdropped out to the floor. King clotheslines Barreta but gets taken down by Romero. Nice starting sequence.
Romero gets kicked in the face for his efforts and Barreta gets pulled off the apron, sending him head first into the buckle as we take a break. Back with Barreta getting double teamed again but King takes a breather to shout at the crowd for a bit. Barreta gets in his double stomp out of the corner though and the hot tag brings in Romero.
House is cleaned until it’s back to Barreta for a slugout, only to have Vice double knee Titus in the chest. King gets taken down by a suicide dive and there’s Strong Zero (a springboard spike Fade to Black) on Titus but there’s no count. Instead King, the legal man, runs in and rolls Barreta up for the pin at 10:48.
Rating: C+. I liked this a lot more than I was expecting to as I’m not a fan of either team. Instead they had a nice back and forth formula based match which worked far better than I though it would. The right team won and they did so legally while still being heels, making everyone come out looking fine. Much better match than I was expecting.
Here’s the Kingdom (including Mike and Maria who have both left and Taven who is out for the better part of a year) for the first time since Final Battle. Cole says it’s time for Story Time with the Kingdom. There’s security around the ring so Kyle O’Reilly can’t come out here for another cheap shot. Cole says that he won but the other two dropped the ball. How can they hold all the gold without Taven and Bennett holding the Tag Team Titles?
Cue ReDRagon to say they remade tag team wrestling in this company and if they have to run through the Kingdom to get their belts back, it’s time for Nigel to make the match. That’s fine with McGuinness, who makes the match for next week. This brings out the Young Bucks who says if anyone is taking out these Bullet Club marks, it’s them. Therefore, Nigel makes it a three way Philadelphia street fight. Well that was quick.
Donovan Dijak/Joey Daddiego vs. War Machine
Non-title. Rowe gets kicked in the face to start and Dijak knocks Hanson off the apron as well. Donovan isn’t done as he takes out both champions with a corkscrew dive but he isn’t interested in using the Book of Truth. Instead it’s off to Daddiego, allowing Hanson to start slamming both guys. He piles the two of them on top for some forearms to Dijak’s chest, followed by a double Bronco Buster. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker into a Superman Punch drops Dijak and there’s a double chokeslam to Daddiego. Fallout ends Dijak in a hurry at 3:22.
Rating: D+. Total squash here but Dijak looked solid. Daddiego is still just a small guy without much upside but Dijak is another example of a guy who really shouldn’t be able to do the things he does at his size. That never ceases to impress me, though the thing with the Book of Truth would suggest a split in the future.
Post break Truth Martini says Dijak is the weak link in the team, which even the announcers find stupid. There was no Dijak at the main event of Final Battle, which was a slap in Martini’s face. Truth slaps Dijak in the face and Daddiego punches Dijak down. Martini’s trash talk earns Daddiego a Feast Your Eyes so Martini fires Dijak. The fans seem very pleased. Cue Prince Nana to applaud as well.
ReDRagon is ready for next week.
We look at Dalton Castle reuniting with the Boys at Final Battle.
Dalton Castle vs. Jay Briscoe vs. Matt Sydal vs. Moose
This is one fall to a finish despite being called a survival match. You have to tag but there are lucha rules so going to the floor counts as a tag. Briscoe doesn’t seem cool with Castle, which really isn’t all that surprising. Sydal vs. Moose gets us going with Matt teasing a test of strength as a ruse to kick Moose in the thigh. A running curb stomp misses though and Moose tells him to bring it.
Now we actually get the test of strength with Matt going down in about half a second. Thankfully it’s off to Jay for the big staredown and the fans aren’t sure who to cheer for. Castle tags himself in to face Briscoe though and we get a much different showdown. The Jay Driller and Bang a Rang are both broken up to take us to a staredown, followed by a break. Back with Briscoe headbutting Castle before it’s off to Moose. The announcers say the two of them have been tagging in and out to work on Castle during the break, which may or may not be true but at least they’re trying to make it work.
As expected, Moose and Briscoe quickly break down and they trade some big left hands. Moose gets the better of it but stops to dance a bit, allowing Castle to get two off a German suplex. Everyone but Sydal winds up on the floor so Matt busts out a big moonsault to take them all down. The Boys start fanning until Moose’s manager Stokely Hathaway steals a fan to cool Moose off.
Back in and Sydal hurricanranas Moose for two until Jay makes a quick save. Moose spears Jay down but walks into a missile dropkick from Castle, who is taken down by Sydal’s reverse hurricanrana. The shooting star misses though and Castle Bang a Rangs Sydal for the pin at 9:18.
Rating: C. This was fine though more of your standard Ring of Honor formula. I know the name is a longstanding tradition in this company but when I hear the word “survival”, the first thing I think of is an elimination tag. I get the idea but I still wish they would change that. Castle winning is a nice touch and a surprise as he could definitely move up in the ranks soon enough.
Overall Rating: C. It was another totally watchable show from a company that specializes in such. The Kingdom basically crumbling is sad but at least they’ll have a good blowoff match next week to send them off. I’m not sure where a lot of this stuff goes but they have some time before we get to the next pay per view in late February.
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Ring of Honor – December 16, 2015: The Almost Final Battle
Ring of Honor Date: December 16, 2015
Location: Tennessee State Fair Grounds, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly
It’s the go home show for Final Battle but the complicated TV schedule would suggest that a lot of this isn’t going to be focused on the pay per view main events. That being said, Ring of Honor has been more than entertaining enough lately and I’ve been looking forward to these shows more and more lately. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Adam Cole vs. Corey Hollis
Unfortunately no Maria with Cole. The announcers don’t try to hide the fact that this is going to be a glorified squash. Cole stomps him down in the corner to start and does his signature pose. The AA onto the knee sends Hollis into the corner again and a Shining Wizard breaks up a comeback.
Hollis tries a springboard and is quickly knocked outside for his efforts. Back in and Cole misses a superkick and has his suplex countered into a Stunner of all things. Sean O’Haire’s Widowmaker (kind of a fireman’s carry into a spinebuster) but Cole stops him dead with a superkick. A brainbuster onto the knee gives Cole the pin at 4:29.
Rating: C-. This was much more entertaining than I was expecting as they kept it moving but also gave Hollis enough offense to keep this from being a total squash. Cole continues to be probably the most well rounded performer in ROH and that’s a good choice for a showcase match like this one.
Post match we get a quick Story Time with Adam Cole where Kyle O’Reilly is guaranteed to be destroyed.
The Young Bucks vs. the All Night Express vs. the Briscoes for the #1 contendership is confirmed for Final Battle.
War Machine vs. Washington Bullets
The Bullets are Jon and Trey Williams, who decide it’s a good idea to not shake hands with the big bearded monsters about to kill them. Hanson clotheslines both of them down and it’s off to Rowe to German suplex Trey. Path of Resistance sets up Fallout for the pin on Jon at 1:33. Total squash and War Machine looked awesome.
Here’s former referee Mike Posey as a rapper and a five person posse. The fans sound stunned as he “raps” about Dalton Castle at a level equal to PG-13 from the Nation of Domination days.
Dalton Castle vs. Mike Posey
Posey tries to jump Dalton before the bell and is easily suplexed for his efforts. Some headbutts have Posey in trouble and Dalton goes after the posse to kill some time. The distraction doesn’t work as Castle belly to bellys him out to the floor, setting up the Bang A Rang for the pin at 2:50.
Post match Castle describes himself as the Aurora Borealis of the ring and says he’s as majestic as they come. Castle: “Isn’t that right Planet Peacock?” He wants Silas Young out here right now but gets the Boys instead. It’s just a distraction though, allowing Young to sneak up behind Castle for a beating.
Here’s Jerry Lynn for a special appearance. He talks about everyone calling him as he went through a recent surgery and was overwhelmed by all the support. We quickly move on to the upcoming World Title match and Lynn can’t pick a winner. Lynn has traveled the roads with both guys and he sees it as totally even. Kelly directly asks him but here’s the House of Truth to interrupt.
Lethal accuses Lynn of being too old and out of touch so Jerry picks AJ. That’s enough for Jay so he takes off his shirt but Jerry says Jay beating him up would hurt Lethal’s parents. Lethal goes on a Flair style rant about how great he is and how much he’s done this year. He says he is professional wrestling and the House of Truth walks out. I’m not a big Lethal fan but he ran circles around the pretty bad Lynn out there.
Video on Moose vs. Michael Elgin.
Roppangi Vice vs. ACH/Matt Sydal
Alex Shelley is on commentary. Sydal and Romero get things going with Matt working on the arm. Romero lands on his feet out of a monkey flip but one shot to the face sends him crawling over to Trent. That means a double tag and Trent takes over with some chops. ACH flips around a lot and dropkicks Trent to the floor as we take a break.
Back with Sydal in a Romero Octopus hold. A regular headlock doesn’t work all that well and it’s a hot tag to ACH as things speed way up. Trent gets kicked in the face to put him on the floor, setting up the Jordan flip dive. Back in and a delayed German gets two on Romero but Vice comes back with a string of knees to ACH’s head for two. Standing Sliced Bread #2 drops Sydal but ACH kicks Romero in the face to put all four down.
Romero goes up to but gets kicked in the head, setting up a quick hurricanrana from Sydal. ACH takes Romero to the floor but Sydal’s shooting star hits Trent’s knees. Trent’s running knee gets two on Matt and all four are back in. Romero distracts Trent to break up his kneeling piledriver and Code Red (a sunset bomb) is enough to give Sydal the pin at 11:31.
Rating: C. This just isn’t my kind of match. They’re flying around a lot and hitting (moderately) big spots but there’s little flow to it and the ending is about who hits the last spot. I’m not a fan of this style though and this didn’t change my mind. It’s certainly not the worst but I almost never have any reaction to this style.
One more run down of the card ends the show.
Overall Rating: C-. I wasn’t feeling this one as much as it was almost all a big preview for next week’s major show but there was nothing that made me want to see Final Battle more. Lynn’s promo with Lethal was one sided and the wrestling ranged from squashes to nothing interesting. The card was almost entirely set up already though so this was just a bonus.
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Ring of Honor TV – October 14, 2015: Where Are We Here?
Ring of Honor Date: October 14, 2015
Location: San Antonio Shrine Auditorium, San Antonio, Texas
Attendance: 600
Commentators: King Corino, Kevin Kelly
We’re FINALLY up to some fresh storyline material here with the fallout from All-Star Extravaganza which took place nearly a month ago. Jay Lethal retained both his titles at the pay per view but the TV Title is on the line tonight against Watanabe. There’s another pay per view next week so things have to pick up in a hurry. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
The commentary audio is notably lower this week as I can barely understand Kelly.
ACH vs. Matt Sydal
This is match #4 in a best of five series with ACH (from Texas, making him the crowd favorite) up 2-1. Kelly thinks winning match #3 bodes well for ACH. As usual, you can’t buy this kind of analysis. They shake hands to start but ACH holds up two fingers. The fans do a New Day style A-CH chant as they fight over a lockup to start. It’s time for some holds on the mat with neither guy being able to keep an advantage.
Sydal gets up and taunts ACH a bit which seems to get inside his head. ACH cartwheels out of a headscissors attempt and Sydal dropkicks him to the floor for a baseball slide. It’s time for the chops and therefore the WOO’s and therefore more audio issues. ACH grabs a headscissors of his own to take over, followed by a top rope double stomp to the back of the head (the Dum Dum Drop. Seriously?) for two. There isn’t much to say on a match like this as it’s just spot after spot with nothing in between.
We take a break and come back with ACH kicking Sydal in the face, only to dive into a nice spinwheel kick. Sydal gets two off something like Big Show’s Final Cut but ACH kicks him in the face again. A nice German suplex gets two on Matt, followed by a kick to the face (popular move) and a Cross Rhodes for another near fall.
Sydal rolls away from Midnight Star (450) and is booed as a result. Yeah somehow avoiding a finisher is a heel move. ACH takes him down again with a running shooting star dive to the floor but some jumping knees to the face look to set up the shooting star. It’s ACH up again though with a brainbuster but the Midnight Star hits knees. A reverse hurricanrana sets up the shooting star to give Sydal the pin and tie the series at 14:15.
Rating: C+. I get the idea here but I’m really not a fan of this kind of match. The ending told me everything I needed to know. When the 450 hit Sydal’s knees, Sydal did another big spot to set up the final big spot. They could have done the exact same ending with a cradle or something, but instead it’s all about the next big move. It makes the whole thing look like a big spot fest where they have no idea how to do anything else. That’s not good. Fun match, but very telling if you pay attention.
They hold up two fingers to each other for some gamesmanship but shake hands. Cue the Addiction and Chris Sabin to beat both guys down and clean house. Back from a break with the trio still in the ring with Kazarian yelling about how they weren’t defeated for their Tag Team Titles at All-Star Extravaganza.
It’s a good thing that they’re here in Texas because these people believe in justice. Not bathing or education, but certainly justice. Daniels doesn’t like the idea of a third man coming to the ring in a red mask and stealing Chris Sabin’s idea. They were never pinned or beaten and therefore they’re still the Tag Team Champions.
Daniels demands that the Kingdom comes out here and hand over the titles but it’s the All Night Express (Kenny King/Rhett Titus, who reunited at the pay per view) instead. King doesn’t want to hear about the Addiction’s complaints because the Express never lost their Tag Team Titles three years ago. They were only defeated by a bureaucracy and the Addiction can get some anytime.
Addiction vs. All Night Express is announced for next week.
Here are Silas Young and the Beer City Bruiser (a large man who carries a beer keg) with Dalton Castle’s boys, who Young won at All-Star Extravaganza. Silas yells at them for their ring attire and it’s time for a match.
Beer City Bruiser/Silas Young vs. The Boys
Bruiser runs both of them over in the corner and suplexes both Boys at the same time. They avoid a top rope splash though and the Boys try to ride Bruiser, only to be destroyed by Silas. Misery is enough to pin one of the Boys at 1:40.
Truth Martini and Jay Lethal talk about Watanabe learning English. Tonight he learns how to say Jay Lethal is the best wrestler in the world.
Inside ROH focuses on Adam Cole costing Kyle O’Reilly the World Title. ReDRagon promises revenge on Cole because he decided to chase the dragon. Cole’s reply says that he’s the next guy instead of Kyle. What Kyle is going to learn is that he’s just a lesser Adam Cole. Adam had the fire in his eyes here and blew away what ReDRagon said. That was good.
We’ll hear from the Kingdom next week.
TV Title: Watanabe vs. Jay Lethal
Lethal is defending but uses the handshake to get in a cheap shot to take over early. Watanabe charges into a boot in the corner and gets elbowed in the face a few times, only to charge into a slam for two. A nice backsplash gets two for Watanabe but Truth Martini trips him up, allowing Jay to nail three straight suicide dives. We take a break and come back with Lethal getting two off a suplex.
Off to the chinlock from the champion followed by some knees to the face. A kick to Watanabe’s face gets two and Lethal goes Kevin Owens by loading up something big and then putting on a chinlock. Watanabe fights back and whips Jay hard across the ring before toss him away with a German suplex. The Lethal Injection is blocked and a big clothesline gets two. Martin throws in the Book of Truth, allowing Lethal to kick Watanabe low. The Lethal Injection retains the title at 12:28.
Rating: C. I’m still waiting on a reason to care about Watanabe. This was a glorified squash with Lethal picking Watanabe apart and putting on a clinic instead of ever feeling like he was in jeopardy. The match wasn’t bad or anything but it really didn’t make me care about either guy.
The fans remind Lethal that AJ Styles is coming for the title to end the show.
Overall Rating: C-. I wasn’t feeling this one as I’ve forgotten a lot of the stories they built up for weeks because of the awkward schedule. Lethal vs. Watanabe was nothing special and the best of five series match was a way to set up another match instead of meaning anything on its own. I’m not sure what they’re building towards here as they didn’t mention the pay per view and now have one week to talk about it. I guess after next week it’s time for more stand alone shows and probably more New Japan. Watchable and quick show this week but nothing that did anything for me.
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