Ring of Honor – August 12th, 2015

Howdy!

Let’s get the preliminaries out of the way here….

So, I want to take a brief second to thank those that wrote in the comments section with constructive criticism about last week’s recap. This week, we’ll tone it down quite a bit, since that seems to be what you all want, and I shall endeavor to give it to you. It’s a recap, and I want you to enjoy it. I’ll probably still pepper it here and there with some humor (vanilla recapping is not my strong suit), but I’ll keep an eye on letting it get out of hand.

2 things I did want to address, though.

1. Do you actually enjoy ROH? Quite a bit, actually. Been a fan for several years, since the Danielson era really turned me on to the company. Living in Nebraska, I’ve only seen a handful of live events, but I’m religious about catching the TV show every week. I do genuinely enjoy ROH, very much. My next live one will be Wrestlemania 32 weekend, as I just secured my hotel room for Texas this week. Come say hi if you’re going to be in town!

2. What’s with the O’Reilly thing? Not much; I do 100% believe that he’s one of the top 5 workers in the world right now (Nakamura, Okada, Owens & Zayn round out my T5). More to the point, while I’ve been a fan for years through FutureShock and his singles stuff after he and Cole broke up, it was his run in the BOSJ this year that really captured me fully, capped off by the finals against Kushida, which is my MOTY at this point. I underestimated him for a long time as just a part of reDRagon as a tag specialist, but he can hang with anyone and I will gladly watch him wrestle pretty much anyone, anywhere.

Ring of Honor TV – 8/12/15

We are TAPED from the William J Myers Pavillion in Baltimore, Maryland! Your hosts are Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino. They run down our card for tonight, including reDRagon against The Kingdom in our main event this evening. More Kyle O’Reilly in the main event? Most appreciated, ROH. Jay Lethal is also here, and we’ve got War Machine taking on the House of Truth. Let’s kick it off with a singles match!

Takaaki Watanabe vs ACH

Code of Honor is followed. They both come out of the corners with clotheslines, then they do it again. Dueling chopfest results in Watanabe getting on his knees and telling ACH to give him his best shot. ACH winds up and fires, then he gets on his knees and reciprocates. They repeat the sequence, basically continuing to voluntarily take shots from each other. Watanabe finally grabs a standing side headlock, but ACH sends him to the corner. ACH charge eats a back elbow. They run the ropes and Watanabe runs through him with a shoulderblock. Off the ropes, ACH drops down, Watanabe somersaults over him and sends him off the ropes, ACH cartwheels past him, does a backflip and hits an admittedly beautiful dropkick after all that nonsense. Stalemate. Watanabe comes out of the corner and asks for a test of strength. They lock the knuckles, but Watanabe with a kick to the gut. ACH reverses a whip and hits two thrust kicks, sending Watanabe outside the ring. ACH sets up for the running kick off the apron, but Watanabe blocks by hitting him in the ankle. Second try hits square in the chest, and Watanabe goes flying. Both wrestlers are down – shall we break for some ads?

We’re back with ACH firing at the right arm of Watanabe. Setup for a tornado DDT is blocked into a gourdbuster by Watanabe that he had to fight for. Arm-wringer by Watanabe. Surfboard by Watanabe. Foot to the back of ACH, and he PLANTS him into the mat, face first. Off the ropes, senton by Watanabe. 1,2, no! Watanabe with a chinlock, shaking out his right arm a bit as he applies it. ACH elbows out. Off the ropes, ducks a Watanabe kick, enzuigiri! Watanabe rolls to the outside, ACH runs the ropes and hits a Fosbury Flop over the top rope. Back in the ring, ACH with a running elbow to the corner; gets a running start for another, but Watanabe turns him inside out with a lariat! 1,2, no! Watanabe draws his thumb across the throat and sets up for the Fisherman’s Buster…..small package by ACH! 1,2, no. ACH misses a roundhouse kick but connects with a thrust kick! 1,2, no! Watanabe rolls back outside the ring, baseball slide by ACH is blocked, Watanabe attempts to send him into the post…..but ACH WALKS THE POST and does a backflip. Now THAT was cool. Then, he poses like an IDIOT, even bowing to the crowd, so Watanabe comes up from behind and hits a release German suplex on the floor. Back in to the ring, Watanabe gets a Fisherman’s Buster…..for two. Come on. Uranage attempt by Watanabe is blocked as ACH goes to the arm, arm wringer is countered by a head butt. Watanabe looks for the discus lariat, but ACH counters with a superkick. ACH follows that up with a brainbuster, and he’s heading to the top. Beautiful 450 splash is enough for the pin. (ACH over Watanabe, pinfall, 8:14)

Later tonight, reDRagon takes on The Kingdom! Let’s take a break for some ads!

Let’s check in with reDRagon! Fish: “Kingdom, I know what you’re thinking – reDRagon, those guys are great!” He proceeds to list the litany of reasons that they are great, including the consumption of their own urine! YAY! Kyle adds to the list of reasons that reDRagon is awesome, but he seems to stop cold when mentioning the drinking of said urine. Fish warns The Kingdom – “Run away now…..or stay, and get run over.”

Earlier today, Nigel McGuinness was in the ring! He welcomes the crowd and has a few announcements. First of all, wasn’t Death before Dishonor great? Especially Lethal/Strong? He knows that people want to see a clear winner, and Roderick Strong is one of them. So, at the next set of tapings in Philly (crowd of course boos Philly), Jay Lethal will defend that world title one more time, against Roderick Strong! And the winner of that match will take the belt to All-Star Extravaganza to defend it against…..Kyle O’Reilly! NIGEL MCGUINNESS IS THE GREATEST AUTHORITY FIGURE EVER. Let’s have another announcement: Bobby Fish needs something to do that night, so he’ll get his World TV Title shot against “whoever is the Ring of Honor Television Champion” at that time. He tells the crowd to enjoy the rest of the evening – “This is Ring of Honor, and THIS is pro wrestling!”

Up next, War Machine vs The House of Truth! First, though, we’ve got these ads!

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Aftershock tour dates.

Here’s The House of Truth, with the World Champ and World TV Champ leading the way! Looks like we’re going to get some Lethal commentary here. War Machine is out next, and we’ve got ourselves a tag match.

The House of Truth (Diesel & Dijak) vs War Machine (Hanson & Rowe)

Kelly reminds us that in 3 weeks’ time, Lethal will defend the TV title against Hanson, which doesn’t seem to concern Lethal all that much. Referee calls for the code of honor, which of course results in cheapshots by the House of Truth. Hanson gets sent to the outside, while Rowe gets put in Hart Attack position for a big boot from Dijack. Looks like Diesel and Rowe are starting us off, and Diesel backs him into the corner with fists. Tag to Dijack, as Lethal is talking about buying a new car next month. He’s playing the smarmy champ to perfection. Dijack fires at Rowe, but Rowe picks him up and slams him out of the corner. Tag to Hanson, and a backdrop for Dijack. Diesel comes in, eats a big side slam. Dijack from behind on Hanson, off the ropes, Hanson with a cartwheel clothesline. He sets Dijack up in the corner on the top rope, but Diesel comes in. Hanson blocks and sets Diesel up on top of Dijack. Forearms in the corner! 10 of them, to be exact! Lethal: “Truth, Truth, tell them to slow down!” Dijack and Diesel fall into a sitting position in the corner, and that means a bronco buster with no busting is coming, and there it is! Hanson starts jawing with Lethal at ringside, and Dijack hits a spinning kick. Double team from Dijack and Diesel involving a legdrop and kick to the face, and that gets 2. Dijack sends him to the corner and fires rights at him. Hanson elbows out and hits both Diesel and Dijack, but a Dijack elbow sends him back to the corner. Charge is met with Hanson wrapping his legs around the neck of Dijack and falling forward. Tag to Diesel, hot tag to Rowe! Rowe with the overhead suplex to Diesel! Off the ropes, belly-to-belly suplex to Dijack! Blind charge to Diesel meets a boot, but he turns around and hits shotgun knees on Dijack. Rowe ducks a clothesline from Diesel and hits a Superman punch. Tag to Hanson! Alternating running kicks to the head from head of Dijack in the corner, but Diesel pulls Rowe out of the ring. Overhead suplex throw from Dijack to Hanson! Spear to Hanson from Diesel. 1,2, no! Lethal thinks that was 3. Setup for another double team, but this time Rowe pulls Diesel out of the ring and sends him to the barricade. Rowe’s back in, Path of Resistance on Dijack! And then, Rowe tries to powerbomb Dijack and damn near drops him on his head in a relatively scary moment. Hanson is on the top rope – frog splash from Hanson on Dijack! Diesel back in now – Hanson with a spin kick of doom! Fallout from War Machine is more than enough to get the W. (War Machine over House of Truth, pinfall, 4:52) Lethal promises that he WILL win in 3 weeks against Hanson. They jaw at each other as Lethal holds up the TV title. Let’s take a break for some ads!

Nakamura, Okada, and Kushida are coming back to ROH! Check out these tour dates!

That’s the music of The Decade, and here’s Adam Page, BJ Whitmer, and Colby Corino. Corino pays extra attention to getting the streamers off Page. Footage from Death Before Dishonor shows Adam Page putting ACH through a table. His opponent is already in the ring, so that might give you a clue as to where this is going.

Adam Page vs Tim Hughes

Ref calls for the code of honor, but who are we kidding here? Hughes sticks his hand out, and Page takes his head off, sending him the corner with forearms and kicks. Rite of Passage ends the slaughter. (Adam Page over Tim Hughes, pinfall, 0:23)

BJ has a mic! “That’s what I’m talking about!” He goes on to say that Page is the future of ROH, and is he ready to make a statement? Page grabs the mic and calls out Jay Briscoe! Kelly: “You know darn well Jay Briscoe isn’t here!” Page accuses Briscoe of being a ‘scared, little tool’. And now, Whitmer is over at the announce table. He wants to know why Corino is still out here after having put his hands on Whitmer. He wants Nigel out here to get Corino out of here, and Corino’s jacket is off! He wants to fight, and BJ is egging him on! Now Nigel is here to sort this out, so while that happens, let’s watch some ads.

We’re back, and Whitmer and Corino have both been removed from the broadcast area. Kelly gives us a brief rundown of the feud between Whitmer and Corino, most of it centering about Corino’s son, Colby, and how last week Corino put his hands on Whitmer.

“Thy Kingdom Come” – it’s main event time! Maria leads Matt Taven and Michael Bennett. Taven has a piece of tape on his hands with the word ‘marks’ written on it. Kelly wonders if all is happy with the Kingdom, referencing Adam Cole’s actions last week as the music of reDRagon plays.

The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Michael Bennett) vs reDRagon (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish)
Code of Honor is followed. Taven wins the paper/rock/scissors battle and he’s going to start against Kyle O’Reilly. They circle… and Adam Cole is out at ringside for commentary! Crowd chants for Cole! Here we go. Lockup, arm wringer by Kyle, Taven cartwheels out into one of his own, O’Reilly kicks him off. They circle, lockup, side headlock by O’Reilly. Taven shoots him off, O’Reilly knocks him down a shoulderblock. Kyle off the ropes, hooks the top rope and avoids a Taven hiptoss attempt into a leg takedown. He walks over Taven and comes off, Taven drops down, Kyle somersaults over him, Taven off the ropes for a HUGE sunset flip, but O’Reilly grabs the arm and gets a cross-armbreaker! Taven rolls over and makes the ropes quickly – tag to Bobby Fish. “Bobby Fish” chant! Taven goes to his corner and attempts to start a “Mike Bennett” chant….results not as great. Big windup tag, and here comes Bennett. Circling, lockup, headlock by Bennett. Fish with the fishhook and he shoots Bennett off, shoulderblock by Bennett puts Fish down. Off the ropes, Bennett ducks a clothesline by Fish but gets caught with a kick to the midsection. Big kick to the upper chest of Bennett by Fish, and tag to O’Reilly. Double suplex by reDRagon gets 2. O’Reilly with a kick to the midsection, and a tag to Fish. Fish in, over the top rope to the outside, then back in with a senton. So fluid, it’s ridiculous. 1,2, no. Shot by Fish and another tag to Kyle. Bennett gets a knee to the midsection and tags in Taven. They take out Fish on the apron, but Taven charges Kyle and gets kicked in the face for his troubles, while Bennett charges and gets dumped over the top rope. Time to take a quick break for some ads!

We’re back with O’Reilly having an armbar applied over the top rope on the apron to Taven, with Fish and Bennett on the floor. O’Reilly breaks the hold and Fish fires a kick to Taven’s shins, sending him face first to the apron and then the floor. O’Reilly follows with a flying knee to a recovering Bennett. During the break, they show Fish hitting a double jump dive to Bennett on the outside to give reDRagon the advantage. Taven is thrown back in, but now Maria’s on the apron. She gets in O’Reilly’s face, allowing Taven to come with the kick to the head out of the corner, followed by a spear from Bennett on the apron to put Kyle down. Taven sends O’Reilly to the barricade, then sends him back in. Tag to Bennett, and he’s in with a snapmare on O’Reilly, and we’ve got ourselves a chinlock. O’Reilly fights out, they run the ropes – O’Reilly ducks a clothesline, then he ducks an elbow, so Bennett finally goes for the Thesz press. He mounts and fires rights, then off the ropes with a kneedrop. He sends Kyle back to the Kingdom’s corner and tags Taven back in. Taven chokes O’Reilly out in the corner with his boot, but Kyle uses the power of his being awesome to take Taven down in a leglock, which Bennett breaks up by raking the eyes of O’Reilly. Tag back in to Bennett, and there’ s a double dropkick by The Kingdom. 1,2, no! Cole is REALLY talking up the whole FutureShock reunion thing on commentary and essentially burying The Kingdom. Bennett gets another tag to Taven and takes a shot at Fish in the corner, sending him to the floor. They send O’Reilly to the corner, but he leaps a charging Bennett, and good old heel miscommunication results in Taven clotheslining Bennett. Kyle looks for the tag, but Taven catches him from behind. O’Reilly flips out and here we go. Kick, punch, knee to the face, kick and legsweep take out Taven. Hot tag to Fish. He attempts to come off the ropes, but Taven ducks the kick. Fish gets a shot to Taven’s ribs, then a kick to his ribs. Taven ducks a high kick, off the ropes, Fish catches him with a kick to the chest. He sends Taven to the corner and hits a weak splash, comes out looking for the exploder. Taven elbows out of that. Whip, reversal, Taven over a charging Fish who catches him – exploder in the corner! Bennett comes in with a clothesline that Fish ducks, catches him over his shoulders on a missed lariat for a Samoan Drop by Fish. Taven is trapped in the corner as Kyle comes back in with a running shot. Then a running knee by Fish, then another running kick by Kyle. Fish gets Taven across his knee – O’Reilly off the top with the kneedrop! 1,2, no! Chasing the Dragon attempt is countered as Taven flips over and sends Fish into O’Reilly, spinning back kick on Fish! Meanwhile, Bennett is back and O’Reilly blocks a Bennett superkick, while Bennett catches the leg on a kick to the side. O’Reilly with the enzuigiri, ducked by Bennett, but Bennett walks over and gets caught in a sleeper. Bennett turns him around into a Proton Pack with Taven, but he can’t get a count since he’s not the legal man. Diamond Cutter by Bennett and a GORGEOUS swanton bomb by Taven only gets 2. Set up for the spike piledriver for The Kingdom, but Fish backdrops out and catches Taven coming down with a shot to the gut. DDT into overhead suplex (Cole: “Little FutureShock shout out there.”) gets two, but Bennett breaks it up. Bennett and O’Reilly trade shots inside the ring, and Bennett gets a superkick on O’Reilly. Fish is back and he comes off the ropes to knock over Bennett, but Taven comes off the ropes with a kick to Fish. O’Reilly hooks up with Taven now, kicks and knees flying. Taven with the step-up enuigiri, but O’Reilly ducks and gets Ax and Smash. Sets up for a brainbuster, but Taven wiggles out and kicks him in the face. O’Reilly falls almost out of the ring (think Dean Ambrose’s in the ropes clothesline, but further out, almost upside down) and Bennett superkicks him from the outside before he can rebound. Hail Mary on the floor to Kyle O’Reilly! Adam Cole looks distressed. Back in the ring, Fish is trying to fight two on one, but a superkick by Taven and a spear from Bennett sets up Hail Mary on Bobby Fish, and that’s enough. (The Kingdom over reDRagon, pinfall, 13:06) “On the floor? Was that necessary?” asks Adam Cole on commentary. After the match, Taven and Bennett set up for another Hail Mary on Bobby Fish, but Cole is in the ring to put a stop to this…..and Maria calls them off.

And that’s where we’ll leave ROH for this week.

Thanks for reading.
Rick Poehling
@MrSoze on Twitter