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.
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Final Battle 2016 Date: December 2, 2016
Location: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Steve Corino, Kevin Kelly
This has been a fairly big request so I might as well get it out of the way before it’s way too late. Final Battle is the biggest Ring of Honor show of the year and this edition is headlined by Adam Cole defending the ROH World Title against Kyle O’Reilly. The card isn’t the strongest in the world but there’s always potential. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
We open with Story Time with Adam Cole, who has a story about two knights. One of them went on to become the King but everyone was jealous of him. The King had all all the friends he needed and all the other knight had was a shot at the throne, which he failed. Then he failed again and again until Kyle O’Reilly is out of shots. Cole drops the story and promises that tonight, Kyle fails all over again.
Opening sequence.
The announcers run down the card (as in the one you already paid for) which now includes a triple threat instead of a fourway as Bobby Fish’s mother passed away, forcing him out of the match.
Rebellion vs. Motor City Machine Guns/Donovan Dijak
The Guns are still in search of a permanent partner because trios are suddenly awesome. The Rebellion is the former Cabinet (Caprice Coleman/Kenny King/Rhett Titus) because Rebellion might actually be an even weaker name. To really show how rebellious King is, he has an upside down ROH logo on his trunks. Sabin and King run the ropes a bit to start with a grand total of nothing happen. Gotta love that non-offense from these rebels.
A quick triple team puts Dijak down and it’s Titus, billed as the BIG DAWG with a similar ROH logo on the trunks, getting triple teamed right back. Shelley does a little Ric Flair strut and helps hold Titus up for a middle rope splash from Dijak. A good right hand (Corino: “PS!”) drops Sabin though and it’s time for the Rebellion (and their dastardly trunks to take over. Coleman, the true rebel here due to his slacks, gets in a few stomps of his own.
More triple teaming ensues until Sabin gets in a tornado DDT. That means Dijak gets to clean house with a top rope chokebreaker (close enough at least) getting two on Titus. The fans are WAY into Dijak here but the chants are cut off as the Guns start speeding things up. Well as speedy as they can make them at this point in their careers.
Dijak actually busts out a springboard flip dive to make my eyes pop open. Feast Your Eyes sends Titus into a powerbomb for two with Coleman and King diving in for the save. Another powerbomb puts King down but Skull and Bones are broken up. The Sky Splitter sets up the Big Dawg (frog) splash to put Sabin away at 12:27.
Rating: C+. Now this is a good way to start a show: with a mostly meaningless six man tag featuring a bunch of flying around and fast paced offense that gets the crowd going early on. Unfortunately that’s about it for the good stuff as the Rebellion might be the least interesting idea for a gimmick this year. It’s one of those cliched names that you throw out there on a tiny indy show, not the biggest show of the year for one of the biggest promotions in the country.
We recap Silas Young vs. Jushin Thunder Liger. Young got annoyed at a fan dressing up like Liger so he wanted to beat up the inspiration for never showing his face like a coward.
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Silas Young
Young has Beer City Bruiser with him. A cheap shot puts Liger trouble but the threat of a surfboard sends Silas bailing to the floor. Back in and we hit the surfboard until Silas grabs the referee for the break. A neckbreaker puts Liger down and the Bruiser offers a cheap shot (it’s not like he’s going to do much else) to keep Silas in control. Young actually goes for the mask because he really is that evil.
Liger gets caught in a backbreaker for two but manages to get in a double clothesline for a breather. It’s too early for the Liger Bomb though and a big neckbreaker gets two for Young. That means it’s time for a shot of beer, which is spat on Liger’s mask. It’s enough to make Liger hit a brainbuster but a top rope splash hits knees. Misery puts Liger away at 11:04.
Rating: C-. Nothing to see here but above all else the right person won. Liger is still an attraction and a win over him seems to mean something, which is exactly what someone like Silas needs. It’s nothing great but it did its job well enough. I’m still not sure where they’re going with Young but we’ve waiting on it for a long time.
We recap Colt Cabana vs. Dalton Castle, which is your standard short term tag team breakup feud with Cabana playing heel.
Colt Cabana vs. Dalton Castle
You can tell Colt has turned as his music into something much slower with rap lyrics. Castle comes out in a chariot pulled by the Boys. Dalton immediately poses on the middle rope with his legs crossed like a gentleman. A quick takedown puts Colt on the mat and he bails to the floor, allowing Castle to do his strut after faking Cabana out on a suicide dive. The Boys are thrown in so Castle uses them as stepping stones to set up a dropkick. Now that shows some thinking out there.
Another trip to the mat goes badly for Cabana but he finally pulls Dalton out of the corner to take over. A quick Billy Goat’s Curse sends Castle diving for the ropes, which looked quite a bit like a tap. Dalton grabs a hurricanrana before sidestepping a Lionsault press. Colt pops up but can’t hit the Chicago Skyline. He can however reverse the Bang A Rang into a rollup for two but Dalton grabs the Bang A Rang for the pin at 10:22.
Rating: C. Castle is another guy who could be something special if he’s given the right kind of push. However, his character is one of those kind that has a firm ceiling above its head because of the nature of the persona. He’s getting better in the ring though and those eyes being all buggy make things even better.
Jay Lethal gives a great promo about how he won’t be remembered if he doesn’t do something memorable. Tonight he’s going to show why he’s the best wrestler in the world, like he’s been for years.
Cody vs. Jay Lethal
Brandi Rhodes gets in a chuckle worthy line with “Where we’re going we don’t need Rhodes.” Lethal has a vest containing his wish list, which include Cody. We’re not quite ready to go yet though as the Addiction comes out to interrupt. They’re cool with the night off after what they went through at Ladder War. Daniels talks about growing up watching Dusty Rhodes and how important it is to have wrestlers like Cody on the roster. Addiction will be sitting in on commentary.
Feeling out process to start as they hit the mat early on. A hiptoss exchange goes fine until Lethal gets in a dropkick for the first major offense. Cody comes right back with a very delayed gordbuster and starts in on the arm. Addiction keeps putting over the idea of Cody having experience in big matches and not buckling under the pressure.
A skinning of the cat is broken up by Jay dropkicking Cody in the face (that’s a new one) to send him outside. That means three straight suicide dives with Cody being ready for the third and breaking it up with a Disaster Kick. Back in and another Disaster Kick grazes Jay’s hands but he backflips on the impact anyway. Eh it wouldn’t be Ring of Honor if there wasn’t an unnecessary flip.
Lethal comes back with a Crossface but Cody rolls into a modified Indian Deathlock of all things. After a rope is grabbed, Cody turns him inside out again with a clothesline and the frustration sets in on the kickout. The moonsault press misses, which Kevin calls Cody’s first mistake. Oh I’m sure I could find a few. Jay starts striking him in the face but we’ve got a ref bump, allowing Cody to kick Jay low for the surprise heel turn. Cross Rhodes puts Lethal away at 13:12.
Rating: B-. Best match of the night so far but it still wasn’t great. Turning Cody heel is certainly interesting though as you don’t often send in someone like Cody and then have them do anything other than be a short term conquering hero. A win over Lethal is still a big deal, even though Jay has taken a few steps down from where he was recently. Good enough match too.
Post match Cody mocks the Code of Honor and flips Lethal off. Addiction chases him away while Corino jumps back in on commentary to say “he was right all along.” Rhodes shoves Corino down but Steve keeps his cool.
Long recap of the Six Man Tag Team Title tournament. Lio Rush is replacing ACH, who has left the promotion.
Six Man Tag Team Titles: Kingdom vs. Kushida/Jay White/Lio Rush
The titles are vacant coming in and I still have no idea which one is TK O’Ryan and which is Vinny Marsegila. Before the bell, Corino says the Father (likely meaning Kevin Sullivan) said the evil was coming and that’s clearly Cody. Things start very fast with Rush hitting a standing C4 and frog splash for a pretty hot two.
After a break on the floor, White takes O’Ryan down until it’s off to Kushida for a dropkick to the head. Rush comes in for some YES Kicks but Taven sneaks in for a DDT to take over. O’Ryan adds a spear for two as things settle down into your normal formula. The first hot tag brings in Kushida for the Hoverboard Lock but O’Ryan is quickly in the ropes.
The announcers are nice enough to start explaining why we should care about the Kingdom as Kushida scores with a double Tajiri handspring elbow. Everything breaks down and White gets two off a missile dropkick. To really pick things up a bit, White gets caught in a half crab from the top rope, only to have Kushida put Vinny in the Hoverboard Lock on the top for the save.
A superplex breaks the submissions which don’t count because they’re in the ropes and it’s time for Rush to get to show off because ROH LOVES that guy. Kushida gets in a big dive to take all of the Kingdom down, only to have Taven dive onto the even bigger pile. Back in and Rush has Vinny beaten so TK dives off the top to take out the referee. Rush goes crazy with his strikes but the triple powerbomb crushes Lio to give the Kingdom the belts at 15:22.
Rating: C+. This is a good example of just throwing titles out there and not bothering to put anything important behind them. There’s no reason to care about Six Man Tag Team Titles when there were barely any trios in the first place. It comes off like someone else did something so now we’ve got Trios Titles. That doesn’t mean it works and the match wasn’t great either, making this the finals of one heck of a waste of time, especially with the winners being a reincarnated stable that is missing all the parts that made it work in the first place.
We recap the rapidly changing TV Title picture. Will Ospreay took the title from Bobby Fish, only to lose it two days later to Marty Scurll. Dragon Lee is involved here as well because we need to bring in other people from around the world whether they’re interesting or not. Fish is out of the match due to a death in the family earlier in the day.
TV Title: Will Ospreay vs. Dragon Lee vs. Marty Scurll
Scurll, dubbed the Villain (I can work with this) is defending. As you might expect, everything starts fast with all three doing a bunch of flips without making any real contact. Will and Lee chop it out before all three wind up on the floor, only to have Lee hit a big flip dive. Back in and Will’s standing shooting star gets two on Lee, starting a British double team.
With Lee dispatched, Ospreay and Scurll start slugging it out until Marty gets caught in the Tree of Woe. Cue Lee for the Alberto Del Rio top rope double stomp and a near fall. A running hurricanrana pulls Ospreay off the apron and down to the floor but Will pops back up for a big running flip dive of his own.
A very fast series of dives has Scurll in trouble but he catches a final dive in his crossface chickenwing. Lee dives in for the save and it’s time for the circle chop fest. Ospreay does a double Tajiri handspring spinning kick to the face. Well that works. Scurll gets tired of this nonsense and BREAKS LEE’S FINGER, setting up the chickenwing to retain the title at 11:04.
Rating: B+. See, now this is something I can get behind. They didn’t bother trying with anything other than fast paced action and that’s what we got. I was having flashbacks to the Cruiserweight Classic here as it was all about speed and nonstop action, which is why you bring people like these three in. It might not have been the highest quality match but it was a lot of fun and highly entertaining.
We recap the Tag Team Title match, which is just about the Briscoes wanting their ninth title reign.
Tag Team Titles: Briscoe Brothers vs. Young Bucks
The Bucks are defending. Mark and Nick get things going but it’s quickly off to Jay (now with hair, making it easier to tell them apart) for an elbow. That goes nowhere so it’s a big staredown. The double superkicks are countered with the Bucks being sent to the floor, only to come back in for the slingshot dropkicks. A flip dive takes the challengers down and even more dives have them reeling.
The Briscoes are a bit more old school though and will have none of this being on defense thing, meaning a big double clothesline takes the Bucks down. Jay drops a BANG BANG Elbow off the apron because he’s not that original. We settle down to the Bucks in trouble because ROH is a weird company where the heels are faces and the faces are weaker faces because the heels are cool heels in Japan, which makes them faces by default.
Nick gets up and sends Jay outside for a tornado DDT off the apron, only to have the Briscoes come back in for a double superkick of their own. Unfortunately that means the Bucks start with their own superkicks and Corino SHOUTS THE MOVE’S NAME A LOT. Eh I’ll still take it over Joey Styles.
The draped over the ropes Swanton to Jay sets up More Bang for Your Buck on Mark, sending the fans even further into Buck-Love. Jay comes back in with a superkick of his own and the Jay Driller sets up the Froggy Bow for a very close two on Matt. A springboard Doomsday Device gets the same and the Briscoes can’t believe it.
That’s a bit too much selling for the Bucks though and it’s Nick cleaning house with a bunch of strikes because he can beat up both Briscoes on his own. The Meltzer Driver gets two on Mark and then, I kid you not, TWENTY EIGHT SUPERKICKS IN A ROW give the Bucks a double pin to retain the titles at 16:08.
Rating: B. I know the Bucks are annoying but they’re still two of the best high fliers going right now. The superkicks get really, really annoying at times (albeit nowhere near as bad as the “we’re cool heels like the NWO” schtick) but at least you get some good matches out of them. The Briscoes will be fine when they do whatever is up next for them and that’s been the case for years.
The lights go out…..AND WE’VE GOT BROKEN MATT HARDY! They’ll be coming to ROH soon (probably around Wrestlemania season) to make the Bucks and the Briscoes obsolete. The fans are WAY into the DELETE chant. The Bucks look stunned.
We recap Kyle O’Reilly vs. Adam Cole in a video that aired on ROH TV. The idea is they’ve spent years associated in some way and Cole is obsessed with keeping the title away from Kyle at all costs.
ROH World Title: Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly
Cole is defending and this is now anything goes as per Kyle’s request to not have to be held responsible for his actions. Kyle wins an early slugout and gets the armbreaker over the top rope. It’s not clear why he lets it go but Cole kicks him in the head for his general stupidity. Back in and Kyle kicks away before getting shoved off the top to give the champ control.
Even more kicks have Cole reeling but he stops a dive with a belt shot. That’s how a heel should use the weapons and it even draws blood from Kyle’s forehead. Kyle can’t stand up due to the blood loss so Cole puts a trashcan over him for a superkick. O’Reilly starts no selling chair shots (Seriously?) and suplexes Cole onto an open chair for…..well very little actually.
Instead he takes Cole outside again and dropkicks a trashcan into Cole’s chest for a big crash. It’s table time and, after fighting it off for a bit, Cole gets belly to back superplexed through the table for the big crash. That’s not enough for Kyle so he grabs a guillotine choke on the apron and kind of DDT’s Cole off the apron and through a second table.
Kyle looks under the ring (where they keep all those freaking streamers) and finds a chain for a callback to their match in Dallas. Cole (busted as well) gets in a low blow for two and it’s time for thumbtacks. The triangle choke has Kyle in control so Cole powerbombs him onto the tacks for the break. O’Reilly one ups him with a BRAINBUSTER ONTO THE TACKS, followed laying down on those tacks while locking in the cross armbreaker for the submission and the title (announced after a few seconds for some reason) at 19:14.
Rating: B+. I wanted to see more of this and that’s a good thing. It felt like the needed a few more minutes to really flesh it out but Kyle laying in the tacks after dropping Cole onto them made it feel like he really just wanted to beat him no matter what. Cole felt like a jerk throughout but he just didn’t have heart to keep up with Kyle, which is wrestling in a nutshell. It’s not a classic but it told a story, albeit one that should have had its trigger pulled a long time ago. Maybe it’s just that I’m not a huge fan of this feud but I never got into the big emotional impact here.
O’Reilly celebrates to end the show.
Overall Rating: B+. The first half of the show isn’t as strong as the second but it’s still more than good enough to set up the main events. Nothing really stands out above everything else but nothing was bad and the last three matches range from good to very good. This show’s problem is the lack of a strong build, as nothing on here really feels like it’s something worth seeing. That makes it a rare instance where it’s better to watch the show with no TV build as the pay per view is actually very strong and better than most stuff ROH puts out.
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Ring of Honor TV – August 31, 2016: BJ Whitmer Is Good For Something!
Ring of Honor Date: August 31, 2016
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 850
Commentators: Matt Taven, Kevin Kelly
This is another show that’s only kind of related to the main stories but there’s a chance that we might get some new stuff this week. If nothing else there is a title match this week as the Addiction defends the Tag Team Titles against the Young Bucks. Last week’s stand alone show was good so hopefully they can continue that trend here. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Shane Taylor/Keith Lee vs. War Machine
Grudge match between two big teams. Kelly finally explains the story as Ray Rowe trained Taylor but Taylor turned on him and decided he was ready to be part of the better team. That’s a story that is going to work every single time and it’s fine here. Thankfully they don’t even bother wrestling here as it’s a huge brawl with Hanson dives onto Taylor, only to have Lee land on his feet to counter a monkey flip. The brawl heads outside with Lee and Hanson both being sent into barricades. War Machine starts getting the better of it with Rowe slamming Hanson onto Lee for a good looking crash.
Back in and Taylor slugs it out with Hanson, only to have Lee come over to really take over for the first time. We take a break and come back with Hanson on offense, only to get caught in something like a double chokeslam. A blind tag brings in Rowe and a springboard clothesline into a German suplex gets two on Lee. Rowe gets caught in an AA into a Jackhammer (that was SWEET) for two with Hanson making the save. Lee somehow kicks out of a sitout powerbomb and a suplex into a sitout powerbomb puts Hanson away at 11:28.
Rating: B. This was the PERFECT way to book this match and I liked it more than I was expecting to. There was no reason to waste time with the regular tag stuff so they just had two teams beat the heck out of each other with one big power move after another. Sometimes you need to switch up the booking and go with what makes sense and that’s exactly what we got here.
David Starr vs. Cheeseburger vs. Joey Daddiego vs. Tim Hughes
Bob Evans is on commentary and here’s BJ Whitmer to sit in on commentary. The four guys in the ring do nothing interesting as we hear about BJ going around the world and eating a positive cookie. Starr dives onto Hughes and Evans and Daddiego throws Cheeseburger onto them as well. Hughes takes forever to give Cheeseburger a side slam as Whitmer keeps saying it’s almost time.
The lights go out and we’re told that the new Purple Haze is coming. Back in the ring and……PUNISHER MARTINEZ IS BACK! House is cleaned for the no contest at 4:12 though we didn’t see enough to rate. To be fair it was just background noise so Whitmer could bring out Martinez. I’m really happy with this guy being back but PLEASE don’t let this be about Kevin Sullivan.
The Young Bucks promises a superkick party and kick the camera down.
Dalton Castle/The Boys vs. Cabinet
Coleman throws the Boys around so it’s off to Castle for a chest thrust-off. Dalton sends him outside and then launches the Boys over the top onto the Cabinet, hopefully breaking some of the doors and handle off the thing so it goes away for a long time. Back from a break with Boy #1 (the announcers’ words) getting triple teamed. King snaps #1’s throat across the top and it’s time for some twin magic, despite the Boys having different hair styles. The hot tag brings in Castle and of course everything breaks down. King kicks a lot and superplexes #2 to set up a guillotine legdrop/frog splash combo for the pin at 9:28.
Rating: D. The Cabinet couldn’t be less interesting if their lives depended on it. They don’t even have characters for the most part and it’s just a single idea that is tied into pop culture. You would expect that from WWE instead of a “smarter” company like Ring of Honor. The wrestling was watchable enough but I have no reason to care about the Cabinet and the live fans didn’t seem impressed either.
Adam Cole is sick of Kyle O’Reilly and knows he’s better because of the two World Title reigns.
Tag Team Titles: Addiction vs. Young Bucks
Veda Scott is on commentary. Addiction is defending and wait for the Bucks in the aisle. Therefore, since the Bucks are the best team ever, they sneak up on the Addiction, apparently just knowing the champs would be doing that. Daniels gets dropkicked in the face as we’re waiting on the opening bell. Some tables are set up at ringside and it’s Kazarian clotheslining the Bucks down to get a breather. A ladder is brought in as Veda suggests she could represent Taven on commentary if he gets even more injured.
Back from a break and I guess the bell rang while we were gone. Daniels breaks up More Bang For Your Buck by sending Nick off the top and through a table, followed by Matt slingshotting into a cutter for a near fall. Veda talks about the Bucks never beating the Addiction and that horrible voice makes it clear why she’s rarely allowed to talk.
Daniels and Kazarian hit back to back to back to back Lionsaults and spinning legdrops for no cover as the heel champions wrestle like heels and the “heels” wrestle like the faces they really are. Matt finally flips off the top into a cutter of his own as the Bucks take over again. Nick’s Swanton hits knees (feet but close enough) but Matt springboards into a DDT onto the apron to knock Kazarian silly. Hey, did you know that’s the hardest part of the ring?
Daniels comes right back with a suicide dive but Angel’s Wings is broken up with, you guessed it, a superkick. Cue Kamaitachi for a distraction but the Motor City Machine Guns come out (WAY too fast) for the save, only to have Nick dive onto the Guns. In the melee, Sabin accidentally hits Matt with the chair to give Daniels the pin at 9:15.
Rating: C. I’m not a fan of either team but it’s not like the tag division exactly has a lot of options at the moment anyway. The match was a bit more reined in than most Bucks match and I’m glad that they’re not going with the Bullet Club holding all of the titles at once, at least not so soon. I still have no idea why I’m supposed to care about Kamaitachi other than he has something to do with New Japan and they’re amazing or something.
Kevin Kelly calls this a travesty after talking about how the Bucks break the rules all the time. I’m not even going to bother complaining about it this time as you’ve heard it before.
Overall Rating: C+. I liked the opener and the booking of the main event was a nice plus so we can kind of overlook the boring Cabinet match. It also helps that the expectations are a bit lower because it’s not a regular show with major storyline development, leaving us with just the wrestling to carry things. Good enough show here as ROH is getting a lot more steady, which is a really important step.
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Ring of Honor TV – August 19, 2016: The Second Half Of A Go Home Show
Ring of Honor Date: August 14, 2016
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 850
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly
It’s the go home show for Death Before Dishonor and they’ve actually done a good job of setting up the main event with Jay Lethal defending the ROH World Title against Adam Cole. Unfortunately the only other match that has gotten any real time is the TV Title match with Bobby Fish defending against Mark Briscoe. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of Cole getting himself a title shot by taunting Lethal last week.
Opening sequence.
War Machine and the Motor City Machine Guns are both out with injuries so the Tag Team Title situation is up in the air.
Donovan Dijak vs. Lio Rush
Rush still doesn’t do anything for me. Dijak throws him outside to start but Rush reverses a whip into the barricade. It works so well that Rush does it again but Prince Nana won’t let Rush get back inside. Well it’s not like he does anything else. Back in and Dijak kicks him in the face for two.
Another toss sends Rush flying as the size difference is staggering here. Rush comes back with strikes because that’s how you make comebacks in ROH. A suicide dive is caught in midair but Rush kicks him a few more times and hits a springboard corkscrew dive as we go to a break. Back with Rush knocking Dijak down until a frog splash is countered with a choke.
The chokeslam is countered into an attempt at a victory roll but Dijak reverses into Feast Your Eyes. That’s countered into another rollup, followed by a low DDT and a kick to the head for two. A chokebreaker finally slows Rush down but Nana wants one more. You really should see where this is going and of course Rush gives him a reverse hurricanrana. A kick to the head and the frog splash…only get two on Dijak. Ok they actually fooled me there. Feast Your Eyes is countered into a crucifix to give Rush the big upset at 12:26.
Rating: C+. That near fall alone brings this up though I’m not wild on Dijak losing to Rush. Lio is entertaining enough but there’s nothing about him that makes him stand out. Dijak might not be great but he has potential and he’s been built up long enough. It’s a good match though and my only issue is I’m not a Rush fan.
Jay White and Kamitachi come out for back to back saves, only to have Dijak and Kamitachi beat White down. These four are in a four way for the #1 contendership to the TV Title on Friday. You might mention that in the first place but I’ll take what I can get.
The Cabinet warns Dalton Castle that his Boys might be in danger. Can we just get rid of this Cabinet gimmick already? They’re not entertaining, they’re nothing unique and they barely wrestle.
Earlier today, Shane Taylor and Keith Lee beat down War Machine to take them out of the Tag Team Title shot.
Hangman (Adam) Page talks about the Bullet Club wanting every piece of gold they can find. That includes the Briscoe Brothers and their IWGP Tag Team Titles. Cue Jay Briscoe for the brawl until security breaks it up.
Earlier tonight Addiction said they have the night off but Roppangi Vice came out to say they should deserve a shot due to being undefeated in Japan for a month. Well if it was in Japan then of course it does. This brought out the Young Bucks to say this is going to be a two and a half star match at best so let’s make it a five star classic. Nigel says he can’t do it but he can make a #1 contenders match for the title shot in two weeks.
Young Bucks vs. Roppangi Vice
Matt pounds on Romero to start as the Addiction is on commentary with Daniels listing off various Japanese teams they could fight. They’ll be defending against Naito/Evil and Tanahashi/Elgin at the pay per view, because of course having them fight an ROH team was out of the question. Romero chops at Matt’s chest before it’s off to Trent, only to have the Superkick Party begin.
Some stereo suicide dives keep Vice in trouble but Romero knocks Matt to the floor as we take a break. Back with Vice in control until Romero is sent outside for yet another superkick. Matt’s top rope elbow gets two on Barretta and it’s time to SUCK IT over and over. That earns Matt a double knee to the face, followed by Romero cleaning house with clotheslines.
The over the back piledriver on the floor is broken up though and it’s time for Addiction to take some superkicks. More superkicks abound and Nick’s 450 gives Matt a near fall. Nick moonsaults onto Addiction, leaving Trent to hit the Dudebuster (kneeling tombstone) for two. Of course it’s two because that means that would imply the Bucks aren’t the most amazing team ever. A running knee gets two on Matt but the cover is countered into a rollup to give Matt the pin at 12:16.
Rating: C. Just give the Bucks the titles already so it can officially be the Bullet Club Era instead of just pretending that it has been for six months now. At least they could have had the Bucks vs. the Addiction for the titles which now has a TV build, but instead we’re getting the Addiction vs. two teams from New Japan because YAY NEW JAPAN. I’m not a fan of anyone involved here but the booking is even worse.
Post match Addiction gives Matt Celebrity Rehab onto the title belt.
Here are Lethal and Cole for a contract signing. Cole says it’s Story Time and asks Lethal if he really believes that he’s ready for Friday. Everyone here believes they’re two of the best in the world and they’re facing off at Death Before Dishonor. Cole doesn’t sign yet but it’s Lethal’s turn to talk. Every match Jay has had in Ring of Honor has always been around the ROH World Title.
No matter what he was doing, including beating an outsider like Alberto El Patron, it was about the title. The titles are the most prestigious things in the wrestling business. For the first time though, this is personal and not about a title. Lethal doesn’t have catchphrases and one liners. He’s coming to Las Vegas to fight and he signs the paper. Cole says Lethal just signed away the title so he goes to sign as well but Lethal throws scissors on the table. The fight is on (Cole signed) and there’s a superkick for Jay but Cole spends too much time talking and gets hit low. Jay goes for Cole’s hair but the Bucks make the save to end the show.
Overall Rating: C. The wrestling was acceptable and we got a strong push to the main event but there’s a lot of stuff that just wasn’t touched upon here. Death Before Dishonor is an eight match card and this show built up four (including the Tag Team Title match which was only mentioned). But no worries, because all you need to do is say New Japan is on the card and that makes it better. Anyway, if you combine this show with last week’s you have a strong go home show but on its own, this was just more hype for the main event.
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Ring of Honor TV – August 3, 2016: The After Before The Middle That Sets Up The Future
Ring of Honor Date: August 3, 2016
Location: Cabarrus Arena, Concord, North Carolina
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly
We’re two and a half weeks away from Death Before Dishonor and it should be interesting to see how they get around last week’s ruling. Last week ROH matchmaker Nigel McGuinness said Adam Cole will NEVER get a World Title shot against Jay Lethal…..and then the match was announced on ROH’s website last week. They really need to time this stuff better. Let’s get to it.
We open with a long recap of last week’s World Title match with Cole and the Young Bucks injuring Kyle O’Reilly. This seems to be setting up Jay Lethal’s face turn.
Opening sequence.
Here’s Lethal with something to say. What happened to O’Reilly last week just wasn’t right and Jay wants to do something about it. Last week Cole took the shot away from O’Reilly and it’s time to do something about it. Tonight is supposed to be Young Bucks vs. the Briscoe Brothers, so let’s just add Lethal and Cole to make it a six man. Nigel agrees to the match and we have a new main event.
Steve Corino and Kevin Sullivan are in a park with Corino talking about embracing his evil. Sullivan blames Corino for ending the legacy of evil by having a family. I’d still love to hear why Kevin Sullivan is on my TV in 2016.
P-Dogg (former referee Mike Posey) is in the ring with his Getalong Gang to call out Moose.
Moose vs. P-Dogg
The Getalong Gang is thrown away like a group of rappers called the Getalong Gang is going to be, leaving one of them to be powerbombed over the top rope onto the rest. Dogg’s microphone shot to the head doesn’t work and a buckle bomb followed by two spears give Moose the pin at 1:16.
Post match here are Prince Nana and Donovan Dijak with something to say. Nana says he brought Moose to Ring of Honor and it’s been fun to see Moose dominating all these smaller talents. Instead, how about Moose vs. Dijak right now?
Moose vs. Donovan Dijak
Moose jumps him at the bell (which thankfully rings as we come back from a break and not before we go to one) but gets dropkicked out to the floor. Moose swings him into the barricade in one of those very cool power displays, only to charge into a chokeslam onto the apron. Back in and Dijak loads up something on top but Moose pops up with a dropkick to knock him to the floor in a nasty looking crash.
A Sky High gets two for Moose and it’s time for the big slugout. Moose gets the better of it thanks to the fist pumps and kicks Dijak in the face. A discus lariat looks to set up the spear but Dijak sends it into the corner. The chokebreaker gets one on Moose and Dijak is stunned. It’s not bad enough that he can’t give Moose Feast Your Eyes for the pin at 7:25.
Rating: C. I liked this more than I was expecting to as it was just two big guys beating on each other until one of them couldn’t get up anymore. That’s all it needed to be and it’s a good way for Moose to go out as he heads to TNA. Dijak needs to get away from Nana, who is becoming as valuable as Mr. Fuji or Slick at this point.
Post match Nana tells Dijak to kick Stokely in the head, which will likely write Moose and Stokely off TV.
Addiction says they’re awesome.
Colt Cabana gets his World Title rematch next week.
The Cabinet thinks they’re going to build a wall around the Young Bucks which the Bucks will pay for with a t-shirt and 8×10 sale. They don’t like Moose either.
Young Bucks/Adam Cole vs. Jay Lethal/Briscoe Brothers
Matt Taven is on commentary again. For the sake of sanity, I’ll only refer to Jay Lethal as Lethal and Jay Briscoe as Jay. It’s a big staredown and brawl to start with Mark (sporting a big haircut) hitting a Blockbuster off the apron to take Nick down. A double superkick saves Cole from a powerbomb over the top and the Bullet Club stands tall. Things settle down to Jay playing face in peril as the Club takes turns on him.
Matt comes in off the top with a double stomp to the shoulder, which is then sent into the turnbuckle. A quick fall away slam (more like an AA) allows the tag off to Mark, meaning it’s time for Cole to take a beating of his own. The Froggy Bow is broken up with Mark being shoved off the top and through a table for the big spot of the match. Back from a break with Mark being helped to the back to make this a handicap match, at least for the time being.
Lethal gets caught in a chinlock as the announcers talk about Taven’s sexual voice. A backbreaker and neckbreaker combination plants Lethal but he grabs the Lethal Combination on Nick for a breather. The hot tag brings in Jay for superkicks all around but Cole sends him head first into the mat as we take a break. Back with the Lethal Injection being countered with a double superkick. Jay has some better luck with a double clothesline, setting up the Lethal Injection on Cole. Lethal rolls Nick up for the pin at 13:47.
Rating: C. This was a bit too messy for my tastes and as much as I like seeing the Bullet Club lose, it wasn’t the right call to have them lose this match. The last thing you want is to have your heel stable look like they’re not capable of beating the teams the top guys, especially when they have a man advantage.
Post match Jay takes a Jay Driller onto a chair, leaving Lethal all alone. A triple superkick knocks him silly and it’s time for a haircut. They go almost all the way too as you can see most of Lethal’s scalp. Cole holds up the title to end the show.
Overall Rating: C-. I like the idea of them focusing on the World Title picture for extended periods of time for a change as it’s often not that clear what the top story is in this company. That being said, there’s also stuff like the Prince Nana mess and the huge waste of time that is the Kevin Sullivan story. They need to start setting up some more stuff for Death Before Dishonor, though it would be nice if they didn’t spoil their stories on their own website.
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Ring of Honor TV – July 27, 2016: Well, They Didn’t Lie
Ring of Honor Date: July 27, 2016 Location: Cabarrus Arena, Concord, North Carolina
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness
We’re still in North Carolina but this time there’s a big time main event as ROH World Champion Jay Lethal defends against Kyle O’Reilly. That means it’s likely an Adam Cole appearance as Cole has vowed to keep Kyle from becoming champion no matter what. In theory this should start the push towards Lethal vs. Cole, which somehow still hasn’t been announced despite what happened at Global Wars way back in May. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
ROH World Title: Kyle O’Reilly vs. Jay Lethal
Lethal is defending and this is going to be the whole show. Well most of the show at least as Cole comes out before Lethal to say Kyle won’t even be wrestling in this match. Cue the Young Bucks with a double superkick to O’Reilly, which gets a face pop because ROH fans don’t get the concept of heels. Cole comes down to join them with a chair beatdown, including a Conchairto Pillmanizing (now THAT’S extreme) of the left arm. Bobby Fish finally comes out for the save and we take a break.
Back with a recap of what we just saw, which I thought ROH was above doing.
Kyle is getting his shoulder taped up in the back and tells the doctor that he wants to wrestle.
Due to the injury, it’s time for standby matches.
Tough Guy Inc. vs. War Machine
That would be Brutal Bob Evans and Tough Tim Hughes. Fallout ends Evans in 42 seconds.
Post match Shane Taylor and Keith Lee come out for the brawl but this time War Machine gets the better of it.
The Briscoes are ready for the Young Bucks next week. I can’t imagine that ends clean.
Cheeseburger vs. Will Ferrara
And never mind again as the Cabinet comes out to interrupt after about thirty seconds.
In case you haven’t heard about their one segment, the Cabinet is the Donald Trump inspired political group comprised of Caprice Coleman, Rhett Titus and Kenny King. Coleman, the Minister of Information, says this match is canceled because neither of the people in the ring meet the criteria to be a wrestler. King (the Commissioner of Championships) and Titus (the Secretary of Shoulders) rip on Cheeseburger and Ferrara and tell them to go buy a ticket or face the consequences. Ferrara says they don’t have a bear or an ox but they have something better: a TNA wrestler also named after an animal.
The Cabinet vs. Will Ferrara/Cheeseburger/Moose
We’re joined after a break (and a Young Bucks promo inviting the Briscoes to a superkick party) and we might break five minutes this time around. It’s a big brawl but Nigel McGuinness has to run to the back for some reason. Moose is left alone in the ring but elbows his way out of trouble before running the ropes for a spinning cross body.
Things settle down to Cheeseburger and Ferrara running into King in the corner, only to have Coleman come in and knee Ferrara in the face to take over. Titus slaps on a chinlock for a bit before the hot tag brings in Moose to clean house. A Rocket Launcher only has Cheeseburger hitting raised knees which of course does no damage to the knees. King corkscrew dives onto Moose and it’s Cheeseburger getting beaten down three on one, including a high angle Edgecution to give Titus the pin at 5:42.
Rating: D. I hated this Cabinet gimmick from the second it started as it’s not going to be entertaining while it lasts but thankfully it’s pretty much only going to last until the elections in November. These current events storylines and angles rarely work and having something inspired by the Trump campaign probably isn’t the best idea in the first place.
Kyle has demanded to wrestle tonight despite his shoulder.
ROH World Title: Kyle O’Reilly vs. Jay Lethal
Lethal is defending but before the match he respectfully offers Kyle an out due to his injury. Kyle wants to fight like men though and we’re ready to go. Kyle is very tentative to start and throws a few kicks, only to get taken down by a headlock. A shoulder block makes Kyle scream but he comes back with a kick to the spine. Another kick jars the arm though and Lethal kicks him in the shoulder to send Kyle outside.
Back from a break with Kyle fighting back as the announcers talk about Lethal’s change of attitude since Truth Martini has been gone. The Lethal Combination gets two and we hit a modified Crossface. Jay hits a pair of suicide dives but looks very mad at having to do them due to the injury. Kyle comes back with a dive of his own and a missile dropkick but he can’t get up.
It’s Jay up first with a top rope elbow but Kyle reverses into a cross armbreaker, only to have Jay stomp at the shoulder for the break. That means another break and we come back with Kyle fighting out of another Crossface. Jay plants him with a series of shoulder breakers but he asks for a stoppage instead of the Lethal Injection. Kyle says no way and they slug it out until Jay kicks the shoulder, setting up the Lethal Injection for the pin at 15:04.
Rating: B. I liked this a lot more than I expected to as I’m really not a huge Kyle fan. The concern over the shoulder injury is going to go a long way in Lethal’s face turn, though I can’t imagine Cole isn’t champion in the next few weeks, likely at Death Before Dishonor. Good main event here though and that was the point, along with giving Kyle a nice rub along the way.
Lethal is disgusted and says that wasn’t right. Jay leaves and here’s the Bullet Club again with Cole hitting a backbreaker onto the knee. Security is held off, allowing the Bucks to hit an Indytaker onto a chair. Fish and Lethal come out just too late for the save. McGuinness grabs the mic and says Cole is NEVER getting another shot at the World Title.
Overall Rating: C+. The show long story was a good idea and a clever enough way to get around having the match go throughout the entire show. The Cabinet stuff really doesn’t work and unfortunately it got a big chunk of the action here. It’s definitely the best show since the New Japan guys left and that’s a positive sign.
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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 Date: July 6, 2016|
Host: Kevin Kelly
We’re at a special show this week with the 250th episode, which is going to showcase the best of 2016 so far. This could mean several things, though I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot of the New Japan wrestlers who have basically dominated the year so far. Unfortunately that means even more time away from the new stuff ROH is doing but that’s a common problem for the promotion. Let’s get to it.
TV Title: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Bobby Fish
From Global Wars with Ishii defending after taking the title from Roderick Strong, the champion that Fish had been chasing. 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. We take a break and come back with Fish hitting 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 (original time).
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?
Briscoe Brothers vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi/Michael Elgin
From the 14th Anniversary Show and no real story here other than ROH vs. New Japan in a “dream” match. Jay and Michael get things going with Jay kicking him in the face but getting gorilla pressed to put him right back down. We get the very cool delayed vertical suplex with Mark’s interference not doing a thing to stop Elgin. That’s such insane power.
It’s off to Mark vs. Tanahashi for the air guitar vs. Redneck Kung Fu battle which results in Tanahashi grabbing an armbar. Naturally that means it’s time to talk about Hiroshi’s hair but Jay is tagged in, only to stay on the floor while Mark hits a Blockbuster off the apron to take Elgin out. We get the big showdown (which isn’t treated as big or a showdown) with Jay getting two off an elbow to Tanahashi’s jaw. Mr. Wrestling 3 finally realizes what we saw there but it’s already off to Mark for a Russian legsweep.
The fans chant for Elgin but get a commercial instead. Back with the tag bringing in Elgin for some running strikes to Mark’s chest. Jay has to save his brother from Rolling Germans as everything breaks down. A back elbow/German suplex combo sends Mark flying but Jay breaks up the High Fly Flow.
Mark shouts a lot and flips Mike off the top for two. With Tanahashi down on the floor, the brothers take turns with headbutts until Mark is backdropped over the top. Elgin no sells a boot to the face (he’s from New Japan remember) and clotheslines Jay down for a breather. The hot tag brings in Tanahashi for some dragon screw leg whips but he walks into a neckbreaker.
Froggy Bow gets two before Elgin breaks up the Doomsday Device. In a cool move, Elgin gives Tanahashi a reverse Alabama Slam onto Mark for two more with Jay making the save. Jay is dispatched so it’s a powerbomb into the High Fly Flow for the pin on Mark at 14:50 (original match time).
Rating: C+. The match was fine though I’m rarely a fan of these matches where the only story is one great team against two guys who might team together for a few months. Oh and of course the New Japan team goes over clean. Heaven forbid Tanahashi isn’t treated as the biggest star in the history of ever over here.
Clips from the Fight Without Honor to blow off Silas Young vs. Dalton Castle. We see less than a minute of the match which ran over sixteen minutes. To recap: we can see a full TV Title match where a New Japan guy took a spot from an ROH guy for no reason other than “we need ROH vs. New Japan” and then we can see a full meaningless “dream” match where the freshly created New Japan team defeated the undisputed best team in ROH history. The blowoff match to a year long ROH only feud can’t even get a minute of TV time though. I’ve said it many times now but this isn’t an ROH show. This is New Japan TV: America.
ReDRagon vs. The Kingdom vs. Young Bucks
From ROH TV on January 20. It’s Cole/Bennett for the Kingdom here and this is a street fight. The Bucks jump O’Reilly and Fish during the entrances and we’re starting fast. The injured Taven gets a double superkick, as does ring announcers Bobby Cruz. ReDRagon gets back in to work on the Bucks, only to have the Kingdom come in again to turn this into a wild brawl that is going to be almost impossible to keep track of.
Bennett punches Fish down and it’s Cole setting Matt in a chair in the middle of the ring. A running charge sets up a chinlock and even Kelly has to acknowledge that it’s a spot they’ve seen before. Kyle backdrops Nick on the floor for a thud before diving into a superkick. We take a break and come back with Cole in a shopping cart and being wheeled into a superkick.
The Bucks set up a table at ringside but it’s ReDRagon double teaming Matt inside. The Kingdom brings in a ladder (Mr. Wrestling III: “It’s amazing what you can find in south Philadelphia”) to take out ReDRagon and it’s Cole putting the ladder around his neck. That only allows ReDRagon to blast the ladder with chairs before setting the ladder on top of those chairs.
Bennett comes back in to spinebuster Kyle onto the steel but the Bucks powerbomb him (Bennett) through the ladder. A Swanton onto the ladder sets up More Bang For Your Buck but Cole pulls the referee out at two. Kevin Kelly accidentally eats a superkick and Mr. Wrestling III freaks out while still shouting SUPERKICK in a funny moment.
We take another break and come back with Cole hitting the Canadian Destroyer on Matt but walking into a superkick from Nick. Bennett takes Chasing the Dragon on the floor, leaving O’Reilly and Cole to fight in the aisle. That leaves Fish alone against the Bucks but he stops to spear Bennett through a table on the floor. A double superkick off the apron gives Fish the weakest table bump in history with Nick having to splash him the rest of the way through.
Back in and the Bucks put a party hat on Bennett for a superkick party, only to have Maria hit them both low for a save. This brings out AJ Styles to hit Bennett in the ribs with a chair before laying him out with Bloody Sunday. Maria gets a Meltzer Driver and the Indytaker into the Styles Clash puts Bennett away at 16:45.
Rating: B. Totally wild brawl here and a lot of fun at the same time. This wasn’t about anything more than carnage and that’s all they delivered the entire time. The piledriver to Maria was a good way to write her off TV and the Kingdom goes out in a great performance, especially considering it wasn’t their usual combination.
Overall Rating: F. The wrestling wasn’t the problem here (obviously). The problem is the same thing I covered earlier: this isn’t about Ring of Honor anymore. I know the next set of TV tapings doesn’t feature the New Japan wrestlers but look at what they consider the best of the first half of 2016: New Japan wrestler, New Japan wrestlers, one minute of ROH only and the New Japan stable.
Also this was somehow their usage of the 250th episode. No mention of the history of the show, no classic matches (or even match), nothing but “Hey here’s a bunch of New Japan stuff in case you haven’t seen enough of it yet.” ROH should be better than this by now and it’s not like they can’t stand on their own feet without New Japan.
I really can’t imagine their ratings go up that high when they’re there, especially when they’re around that often. It’s not even a novelty anymore as they’re around so much that we just had a highlight show featuring them in every match. Having them around every once in awhile for a set of tapings here and there is fine as they’re certainly an attraction but this is WAY too far and has been for a long time.
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Ring of Honor TV – June 1, 2016: Well Of Course It Is
Ring of Honor Date: June 1, 2016
Location: Ted Reeve Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness
Could this finally be the week? Could this finally be the week that we do something other than just recap stuff or show matches from Japan? It would be nice to finally get somewhere with this stuff as it’s been going on four months since we saw a Ring of Honor show without the Japanese contingent. Let’s get to it.
We open with a clip from the end of Global Wars with Adam Cole joining the Bullet Club and laying waste to various people.
The main event tonight: three New Japan guys vs. the Bullet Club. Of course it is. Well to be fair one of those New Japan guys is Michael Elgin but still, close enough.
Lio Rush vs. ACH
In case one of them isn’t enough. ACH and partner Matt Sydal amicably split up at a recent house show. Silas Young sits in on commentary because he’s sick of people like ACH playing video games in the back before the show. A dropkick puts Lio down to start as Silas rips on the two of them for trying to be fake wrestlers. Rush sends him to the floor for a flip dive but gets kicked in the head back inside. A snap German suplex gets two on Rush and he runs into a superkick. ACH gets a brainbuster and the Midnight Star pins Rush at 4:10.
Rating: C. Yeah I know it was high flying and exciting but I’m really not a fan of this style. If nothing else you have two guys who wrestle a very similar style, which still makes me wonder why they even hired Rush in the first place. This was better than most ACH matches though so maybe it was Sydal holding them back.
Young comes in and lays both guys out post match.
Clip of the Addiction cheating to beat War Machine for the Tag Team Titles at a recent show.
Here’s the Addiction for a chat. Daniels talks about how much better the world feels right now because everything is just a little bit better now that they’ve got the Tag Team Titles back. He says no one else is worthy of them and since they’ve never been beaten in a Ring of Honor ring (Kelly: “SAY WHAT?”)……and here are the Motor City Machine Guns to interrupt.
Sabin thinks that since they’re already losing their battle with male pattern baldness, how about they lose those titles to the Guns tonight too? Roppangi Vice comes out as well with Trent saying they’re the young and cool tag team while the Addiction is getting old. That’s too much for Daniels so he says let’s do a triple threat right now and if either team can beat them, they get a title shot at Best in the World.
Roppangi Vice vs. Motor City Machine Guns vs. Addiction
Non-title. Sabin and Romero start things off while the Addiction chills on the floor, only to have the champs come in for some cheap shots. Romero clotheslines Kazarian and Daniels down before it’s off to Trent for some dancing on the apron before coming in to rake his boot over Kazarian’s eyes. The Guns come in and beat on Daniels for a bit with their fast paced (well high speed paced at least) but Kazarian takes Shelley down and we go to a break.
Back with the Addiction still in control on Shelley with a stomping in the corner. Not that it matters as Shelley gets over for the tag to Sabin a few seconds later as things speed up again. Everything breaks down with Trent suplexing Kazarian and kneeing Daniels in the face for two. Strong Zero is broken up and Daniels plants Trent with a Rock Bottom and the BME. That cover is broken up as well as the Guns get in one of their quick sequences capped off by a basement dropkick to Daniels, followed by Skull and Bones for the pin on Daniels at 9:28.
Rating: C+. The right team won here and I like it a lot better than having the champs lose a clean tag match to any team to set up the title match. Vice didn’t serve much of a purpose but it was nice to see them there to make this match different from the eventual title match.
Roderick Strong is going to prove how good he is to Jay Briscoe this Sunday in Columbus, Ohio. Strong is still not great on promos but he’s WAY better than he was just a few months ago.
The Bullet Club brags about throwing 51 superkicks at the end of Global Wars and says we’re just living in their world.
Nigel announces BJ Whitmer vs. Steve Corino in a Fight Without Honor for Best in the World after Whitmer has stalked Corino’s family.
We see Adam Page joining the Bullet Club and helping beat down a bunch of wrestlers at a recent show with the highlight being a Rite of Passage (over the back piledriver) onto a table (as in the table didn’t break) to Jay Briscoe. I get the NWO vibe but the group is getting WAY too big, just like the NWO back in the day.
Elite vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi/Michael Elgin/Yoshi Tatsu
Kelly almost laughs off the idea of there being groups within the Bullet Club. Matt Taven is on commentary for no apparent reason. The match begins after a break (thankfully without the bell ringing before the break) with the non-Bullet Club guys (I have no idea who the faces are in this as the Club gets ridiculous pops every time) telling them to suck it. The Club is sent to the floor and it’s Elgin flipping over the top to take them down.
The Bucks get double suplexed and Omega gets caught in the air, only to slip into a dragon suplex on Elgin. Tanahashi comes in to clean house but a double superkick breaks up the Cloverleaf. A triple dive takes the New Japan crew down and Tanahashi takes a triple kick to the head. Nick comes in for a bunch of cartwheels as Taven rips on how stupid this concept is, along with how easy it is to make fans cheer them.
Back with Tanahashi ducking a superkick and sending the Bucks into each other for the hot tag off to Elgin. Both Bucks get German suplexed at the same time but Taven accurately points out that they combine to weigh as much as one average wrestler. The Falcon Arrow from the apron gets two on Matt with Omega making the save. Everything breaks down and it’s Tatsu getting the tag as house is cleaned. With the referee looking away, Nick sprays Tatsu in the face and it’s a triple superkick for two. Omega adds the One Winged Angel for the pin at 10:02.
Rating: B-. It’s a fine enough main event if you can handle another Bullet Club match. Elgin continues to be an amazing strong man with seemingly limitless strength and that’s all he needs to be at this point. Tatsu being the Bullet Club Hunter over them injuring him a long time ago makes sense but he could use some wins over them. That can’t happen though because BULLET CLUB IS AMAZING.
Overall Rating: C+. What am I even supposed to say here? It’s very clear that Ring of Honor is all about the Bullet Club now and I can’t imagine Best in the World doesn’t end with the screwing up the main event. It’s nice to have some regular stuff going again but Ring of Honor becomes New Japan Jr. more and more every single week.
On top of that though, it’s really annoying to have the Bullet Club running around like heels but getting the biggest face reactions on the show. For all intents and purposes, they’re the top faces on the show despite being heels and that gets old in a hurry. Unfortunately they’re going to be here for a very long time because they make a fortune and the fact that they’re so upside down with psychology and absorbing half the roster just like the NWO. That group turned out fine though, right?
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Ring of Honor TV – April 27, 2016: ROH Doing New Japan The WWE Way
Ring of Honor Date: April 27, 2016 Location: Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 1,367
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Mr. Wrestling 3
We’re still in Japan and back in February with more matches from Honor Rising 2016. At this point you almost have to expect Ring of Honor to skip most of the Dallas stuff and just do a new set of TV tapings in May with the New Japan guys again. There won’t be anything major in storyline terms here but hopefully the action will be good. Let’s get to it.
Jay Lethal/Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada/Yoshi-Hashi
Okada is the IWGP World Champion but has since lost the title to Naito, who is kind of a loner, which is why he’s the leader of a stable. Lethal and Okada start things off in what’s actually a pretty cool visual. They trade wristlocks to start as we get the silent treatment (not a bad thing) from the fans. An early Lethal Injection attempt is countered (amazingly enough) but Jay ducks the Rainmaker to get us to a standoff. Naito doesn’t want to tag in and we take a break.
Back with Naito tagging in to jump over the apron and dropkick Naito for two. A quick Codebreaker allows for the tag off to Okada who eats a tornado DDT for his efforts. Lethal adds a roaring elbow but accidentally superkicks Naito (thankfully without a Young Bucks reference), allowing Okada to dropkick him down. The hot (minus the crowd reaction) tag brings in Yoshi for a neckbreaker and Blockbuster for two each. The Book of Truth is brought in to poor results but Naito’s goon Evil (formerly known as Watanabe) shoves Yoshi off the top, setting up the Lethal Injection for the pin at 12:56.
Rating: C+. This was fine and Lethal is really starting to feel like a major player instead of someone in over his head. I’m still not a big fan of the guy but he’s improved by leaps and bounds in the last year or so. Naito was fun to watch but I need to see more of him to get the idea of his whole deal.
Naito reads the Book of Truth and then uses it to pound on Yoshi. Jay shakes his hand post match to imply a future partnership.
Kazarian vs. Kushida
Kushida’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title isn’t on the line. It’s a fight over a top wristlock to start as the announcers talk about the referee’s career. Kushida gets in an early Hoverboard Lock but Kazarian bails to the ropes. That’s fine with Kushida as he rides Kazarian on the mat to take us to a break.
Back with Kazarian snapping the throat across the ropes and getting in the slingshot DDT. We hit the choking with Kushida pointing to his throat as he can’t breathe. A Backstabber gets two on Kushida as Kelly says we’ll be seeing more Honor Rising stuff for weeks to come. Kushida gets in a dropkick to send Kazarian out to the floor and there’s a big flip dive to take him out again.
Back in and it’s off to the submission attempts so Kazarian goes American with a rake to the eyes. An electric chair into a rollup gets two as the announcers talk about Japanese baseball. Kazarian loads up the Flux Capacitor (because both of these guys LOVE Back to the Future in a parallel the announcers miss) but Kushida grabs the Hoverboard Lock to slam Kazarian down to the mat. Another Hoverboard Lock makes him tap at 9:37.
Rating: C. I liked this more than I was expecting to but really I just want to go watch Back to the Future. Kushida still doesn’t do much for me and Kazarian hasn’t been the same guy I used to be a fan of back in TNA. I’m also not sure why you wouldn’t make this a title match to add a little spice. The wrestling was fine though.
The Briscoes get into shenanigans on the streets of Tokyo.
Elite vs. ReDRagon/Katsuyori Shibata
Elite is a subset of Bullet Club comprised of Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks because we haven’t seen them enough on the regular shows. The Elite is sent out to the floor and Shibata and Omega fight past the barricade. The Bucks try stereo sunset flips and get caught in matching cross armbreakers. Shibata puts Omega in one as well, only to get powerbombed onto his partners. Omega is left alone in the ring so he dives over the top to take everyone down.
We take another break and come back with the Elite taking turns choking Fish. A tag match breaks out of all the fighting with Nick telling Fish to suck it several times. Bobby suplexes Nick into Matt and makes the tag off to Kyle while Shibata is nowhere to be seen. Chasing the Dragon is broken up and it’s off to Shibata vs. Omega for the big slugout. Shibata gets in a choke and the Bucks can’t break it up.
A double superkick puts him down to one knee and the triple version gets two. Everything breaks down and Omega throws Shibata off a tornado DDT, setting up the superkick party. Everyone kicks everyone until Kyle counters the One Winged Angel into a guillotine choke. Matt sprays something in Kyle’s eyes though and it’s the One Winged Angle to put O’Reilly away at 10:16.
Rating: B-. Best match of the night here as Omega continues to look like a star. Shibata is fine in the Ken Shamrock mold of cyborg submission machine and it’s a good time whenever I get to see the Bucks get beaten up. ReDRagon is still one of the best things about ROH but they’re at the weird point where the Tag Team Titles don’t mean anything to them anymore.
Overall Rating: C. “So you know how we’ve been showing you these matches that don’t mean anything for weeks on end? Well how about paying to see a full pay per view of them?” That’s the WWE style of booking TV to a pay per view and it doesn’t work for either promotion. The limited interest I had in seeing Global Wars and War of the Worlds has been thrown out the window now because I’ve watched these big names for the better part of a month. Where’s the incentive to keep watching and even pay for another show?
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