Ring of Honor – 9/23/15

Howdy!

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

First off, thanks for all the kind words last week about the PPV preview. I will most certainly continue to write them if everyone enjoys them.

Obviously, we had ourselves a PPV last week in ROH. It was especially gratifying to read some of the comments on the evening thread with so many people weighing in on what makes ROH great. The level of discussion on the PPV matched the level of exquisite wrestling that we were privileged to view on that great evening. Let’s take a look at a completely random comment about the PPV from that very thread:

Jesus christ…Marias ass
Jobber123

This is an underrated aspect of ROH, to be sure.

Okay, in all seriousness, I’m glad that so many people enjoyed the PPV on the blog.

And, just to show that I’m not picking on Jobber at all, let me just say….Maria’s ass is SPECTACULAR.

How did I do on my PPV predictions? Wouldn’t have even passed my daughter’s math test at school, I got 4 out of 8 for 50%. Got Young, Kingdom, and both Lethals right. Missed ACH, the 4-way, ANX returning and beating the Briscoes, and Moose. Time to go back to prediction school, I suppose.

Quick and dirty on the PPV (Because no one wants to read 24 paragraphs of review)

Lethal/Fish: ***1/2; I liked this match a ton. One of my friends watching the show with me asked me why I give Lethal a pass on the Lethal Injection, since I normally hate contrived moves that require a ton of cooperation from the opponent, and my reply was that 1. It makes enough sense that the opponent doesn’t know if he should catch Jay or try a move, and by the time he figures it out, it’s way too late; and 2. I’m a massive hypocrite. Anyway, I liked Jay trying to win by countout, and I thought the commentary was top-notch selling the story about how Lethal needed to escape without injury at all costs to be ready for Kyle later. I really thought that Fish had it with that rollthrough kneebar, though.

Young/Castle: **3/4; probably just have seen the match one too many times, but this one didn’t do it for me as much. Still excellent work, still don’t love the result. We’ll see how ROH chooses to play this one in the weeks to come.

Briscoes/ANX: **1/2; Yeah, ANX is back! Rhett Titus must be thrilled to be out from under that damned mask, although as I said in the preview thread, if anyone had reason to hate Kenny King’s guts in real life, it was Rhett. Bygones were bygones, I suppose. ROH’s tag division continues to be the best on planet earth right now. Credit goes to Kenny Reigns on the preview thread for calling this one, as I never expected to see Kenny King in ROH again.

Moose/Cedric: ***3/4; This was one of the best hardcore matches I’ve seen in ages. I’m rapidly becoming a believer in Moose, and Alexander needed the heel turn for his character to be fresh again. Very, very fun match; considering that I hadn’t really been into this feud before now, that’s high praise from me.

ACH/Sydal: ***; I feel like that’s the basement rating that these guys can get, and then they build from there. Fine match, although ACH’s selling of the leg was driving me a little bit crazy at times. I think this one might have suffered from the insanity of the match before it. Still very good.

Tag title 3-way: **3/4; I actually LIKED the ending of the match with the blind tag into the rollup by the Kingdom; the match itself was alright, although I was admittedly pretty shocked when Daniels just straight up socked Maria in the face. The tag division chasing after Taven and Bennett should be really fun to watch, especially with ANX back.

#1 Contender 4-Way:****; Match of the night, easily. I was pretty sure that Styles was winning when the commentary guys started talking about him never having held the World title, but that Canadian Destroyer on Elgin by Cole was a fantastic near-fall. I haven’t watched it yet, but that G-1 Climax stuff must have done good things for Elgin, because I haven’t liked him as much in a match in awhile as I did in this one.

O’Reilly/Lethal: ***; Damnit. Just let me be alone with it for awhile. They had a good groove going, obviously the overbooking at the end was terrible, and that’s all I’ve got. Needed about 10 more minutes or so for ****+, and damnit, O’Reilly lost. Yeah, I know I predicted he would. Still.

Well, that should about do it for the PPV. On with the show!

Ring of Honor TV – 9/23/15

Very nice tribute to Roddy Piper starts us out.

We’re still in the previous taping cycle, so we aren’t likely to see much fallout from the results of All-Star Extravaganza. We are TAPED from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, PA! Your hosts are Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino. Tonight, it’s a night for ROH vs NJPW in the main event, as Okada/Roppongi Vice will take on Goto and the Briscoes! But for now, let’s get to the ring and welcome someone back from New Japan!

Silas Young vs Michael Elgin

Code of Honor is followed. Lockup, Elgin shoves Young off. He gives the ‘just bring it’ hand motion to Young as the announcers are taking extra time and care to put over Elgin’s performance in the G-1 as a really big deal. Dueling go-behinds, Young comes off the ropes with a shoulderblock and Elgin doesn’t move an inch. He invites Young to try again, and this time Elgin bounces off the ropes after the block but Young catches him with a kick to the gut. Trashtalk by Young results in Elgin knocking Young down with a shoulder. Forearms by Elgin, off the ropes, Young ducks but gets caught in a press slam by Elgin. Corner clothesline by Elgin into a delayed vertical suplex, holding Young up there for more than 30 seconds. That gets two as Young rolls to the apron, where he and Elgin exchange forearms; Young gets a kick to the knee and a DDT on the apron. Slingshot stomp by Young. Young taunts the crowd, so it must be time for us to check out some ads!

Ah, Dalton Castle with the boys in happier times. Buy the shirt to make him feel better! It’ll change your life!

We’re back with Young getting a bulldog on Elgin, 1,2, no! Suplex attempt by Young is blocked by Elgin, Young floats over Elgin into a go-behind, so Elgin backs him up into the corner. Elgin misses a corner splash and Young looks for a tornado DDT, but Elgin pushes off. Both charge and Young gets an awkward looking backbreaker for a 2 count. Young with a fireman’s carry, but Elgin wiggles out and gets a go-behind on a charging Young; German suplex! Elgin’s up and he starts firing forearms and elbows at Young in the corner. He puts Young on the top rope, but Young fires rights and knocks Elgin off. Young with the bodypress, caught by Elgin, spinning sitout slam! 1,2, no! Elgin picks him up in a waistlock, Young fires elbows at him to get out. They exchange rights and Elgin gets an enzugiri. He comes off the ropes and Young ducks under and gets a backslide that Elgin rolls through, so Young just kicks him straight in the head. Awesome. Rolling plunge by Young into a headstand on the top rope into a split-legged moonsault, which is also awesome. That gets two, which is CRIMINAL. That whole sequence was really well-done and crisp. Young charges Elgin against the ropes, but gets caught with an Enzugiri. Kick puts Young against the far rope and Elgin gets a running start, leading to a discus lariat by Elgin, as they are just beating the shit out of each other in there and it’s great. Elgin gets a deadlift from the apron on Young….Super Falcon Arrow! 1,2, no! Well, I’ll give him that one since Elgin got to kick out of that beautiful combo earlier. Elgin looks for the powerbomb, but Young gets a jackknife pin for 2. Young gets Misery, but Elgin rolls out of the ring. Young pulls up the padding on the outside, but a suplex attempt to the concrete is reversed by Elgin, who gets a running powerbomb into the barricade. He tosses Young back in and the Elgin bomb finishes. (Michael Elgin over Silas Young, pinfall, 10:06)

WOULD YOU WATCH IT AGAIN, RICK? Man, this turned into one HELL of a fun match. It took a few minutes to get going, but it turned into a strong-style big move affair with stiff shots that was really a blast to watch, so YES, I would watch it again and so should you. Just fun wrestling here.

After the match, Young refuses the handshake. What a cad! What will the boys think when they see that? Let’s ponder that during these ads!

Adam Cole has some words for Shinsuke Nakamura, who he’ll face on next week’s episode of ROH TV. Holy SHIT, is it my birthday? Cole vs Nakamura for free? I did something right. I bet there’s nothing that could make next week even better.

We’re back to the dulcet tones of Caprice Coleman’s entrance music! Time for another match!

Caprice Coleman vs ACH

The announcers recap that a few weeks ago, Prince Nana gave Coleman an envelope that contained some unknown contents. Will we find out what was in there? Code of Honor is followed. Lockup and Coleman with a go-behind, ACH turns that into a wristlock. Coleman counters out of it, gets one of his own, and blocks ACH’s attempt to get out by turning it into a chinlock. ACH shoots him off, but Coleman knocks him down with a shoulderblock. He and ACH do their tumbling routine with cartwheels and backflips, but Coleman sidesteps ACH’s dropkick and gets one of his own. He tries for a cover, but ACH doesn’t let him. Chops and spinning back kicks by ACH send Coleman outside the ring, but Coleman trips ACH up on the apron after he dodges an ACH running kick. Back in the ring, Coleman gets a slam and a big legdrop on ACH for 2. Elbow drop by Coleman. Irish whip is reversed, but ACH ducks his head and Coleman kicks him. Coleman comes off the second rope, but ACH gets a dropkick to send Coleman to the outside. I REALLY like the story they’re telling here, as Coleman the veteran calmly countered all of ACH’s stuff until he went for a bigger move and got caught. Running apron kick by ACH connects this time. Chop by ACH, and he sends Coleman to the barricade. Back in the ring, ACH gets two. Suplex attempt by ACH is reversed by Coleman, but ACH hits him with back elbows. ACH gets tossed to the apron, but catches Coleman coming in with the shoulder. Get Over Here is reversed by Coleman into a sloppy facebuster for 2. Coleman looks for the Trinity, but ACH gets out, but a second attempt gets them for 2. They exchange kicks and Coleman gets the 1-inch punch, one of the stupider moves in wrestling today. ACH sends Coleman to the outside and looks for a tope, but stops midway through his run to sell the 1-inch punch, which makes him a true professional in my eyes. Coleman goes to the top and gets the Skysplitta! 1,2, NO! ACH goes to the top, and Coleman brings him down with a rana, but ACH landed on his feet and gets a very nice superkick, followed by the brainbuster. Midnight Star by ACH! 1,2,3. (ACH over Caprice Coleman, pinfall, 6:53)

WOULD YOU WATCH IT AGAIN, RICK? About as good a 7 minute match as you’re going to get these days, this one actually told a story early and tried to follow it most of the way, with ACH just being a bit stronger in the end, as he got to kick out of Coleman’s finisher, but Coleman didn’t get the same. The announcers were really harping on Coleman being potentially disappointed that guys he helped to train or mentor were above him or taking cheap roads to win, so a heel turn may be in offing for Caprice. Regardless, YES, I’ll give this one a pass as well, as it was perfectly acceptable wrestling and worth a few minutes of your life.

Post-match, Code of Honor is followed. Corino rushes over to Coleman to try to find out what was in the envelope Prince Nana gave him. Coleman tells Corino that there was money and a letter in the envelope, and at first he didn’t understand the letter, but after reading it many times, and after this match, he gets it. He tells Nana he’s right, and he gets it. Up next, 6-man action! Until then, though, let’s peek at these ads!

Time for Inside ROH! This week is all about the ROH/NJPW talent sharing agreement, which I am most certainly in favor of. The officials talk about an ROH show in Japan in February, including a World Title defense there; and NJPW will send wrestlers for ROH’s 14th Anniversary show in Vegas. Anyway, Mandy also tells us that next week, in addition to Cole/Nakamura, we get Matt Sydal vs KUSHIDA as well.

I’m not crying because I’m sad. I’m just…..so…..happy.

We wind it up with Delirious wandering into frame and inspecting the lockers behind Mandy, and I just dream of ROH TV next week. Let’s give me a moment to doze with these great ads.

We’re back with Roppongi Vice’s theme music!

ROPPONGI VICE (Trent Baretta & Rocky Romero) & OKADA vs GOTO & THE BRISCOES (Mark and Jay)

Okada gets a MONSTER pop, as you might expect. Crowd doesn’t seem to know how to react to Goto; it’s like they know they WANT to cheer him, but they’re just not sure yet. Briscoes of course are cheered like nuts. Code of Honor is followed by Roppongi and the Briscoes, but Goto and Okada decline. Before we get this thing rolling, it would be a great time to see some ads!

We’re back, so ring that bell! Briscoe and Romero look to start, but Jay wants none of it, so they tag in Okada instead. I am NOT complaining. They exchange forearms with the crowd eating Okada up with a spoon, actively booing Briscoe. Headbutt by Briscoe puts Okada against the ropes, but Briscoe eats a boot on a running charge. Okada tags in Romero, and he sends Briscoe off the ropes, with neither of them going anywhere on a shoulderblock. Kick to the midsection by Romero and he sends Briscoe into the corner, but gets caught coming in with an elbow. Briscoe with elbows and uppercuts, and he tags in Goto. Goto controls with elbows, but Romero goes to the eyes and tags in Trent. Baretta with a standing side headlock, he gets shot off and shoulderblocks Goto, who bounces off the ropes and does the same, sending Baretta to the mat. He comes off the ropes and gets a second one on Baretta. Third time gets caught with a kick from Baretta, but Goto puts him down again on a Baretta charge. Tag to Mark Briscoe. Side headlock by Mark, he gets shot off but now he runs through poor Trent, who basically keeps getting hit by trucks. Mark gets a palm strike after taking off Trent’s headband. He puts the headband on, and here comes some Froggy-fu. Chops and kicks by Mark and Trent is driven to the corner. Mark charges but Baretta puts him down with a double leg kick into a double leg stomp, while Okada and Romero charge across the ring and send Jay and Goto to the floor. Baretta drags Mark to the heel corner and tags in Romero. Vice double teams Mark with a running knee into a clothesline for 2. Tag to Okada and he comes in with a senton on Mark. 2-count, and Okada slams Mark and tags in Baretta. He comes in and rakes Mark’s eyes with a boot, which gets booed. Romero comes in and rakes Mark’s eyes with his boot, which gets booed. Okada gets tagged in, comes in and rakes Mark’s eyes with his boot….to massive cheers. Yep, might as well just book all the NJPW guys against heels, because all of them are faces to the ROH faithful. Anyway, Okada gets Mark up in a fireman’s carry, but a series of reversals puts Okada on Mark’s shoulders for a Death Valley Driver. Mark tags in Goto, and he cleans house on the heels, ending with a big lariat on Okada. Kicks by Goto, he sends Okada into the corner and follows him in with a spinning back kick. Suplex by Goto out of the corner gets 2. Standing switch, but Goto gets caught off the ropes with a flapjack by Okada. Okada with a kick in the corner, followed by a DDT, then a running European uppercut to Goto on his knees. That gets two, and Roppongi take the Briscoes off the apron again while Okada slams Goto and heads to the top. Flying elbow by Okada! He signals for the Rainmaker, but Goto counters and gets a DVD neckbreaker. Both guys are down, and we’ve got one more break we need to take, so let’s do it now and watch these ads!

We’re back with Jay Briscoe leveling both of Roppongi Vice with punches and headbutts. Jay comes off the ropes, but Vice is there with a double high knee. Baretta hangs Jay up on the top rope and Romero comes off the opposite side with a dropkick, which Okada follows with a Shining Wizard. Running knee strike by Trent and Rocky gets two on Jay. Jawbreaker by Jay allows him to tag in Mark. He flips over Romero and takes out Okada and Baretta on the apron, but walks into a Romero kick. Running clotheslines in the corner by Romero, but he tries one too many and eats a Mark Briscoe palm strike. Mark wears him out with further palm strikes and sends him to the corner, allowing Jay and Goto each get in a shot. Mark gets him up; crucifix neckbreaker by the Briscoes! 1,2, but Baretta breaks that up. Jay takes it to Baretta with forearms, but comes off the ropes and eats a Baretta superkick. Baretta turns, but Goto is there and gets a discus clothesline. Okada in from behind now, he rolls through a jackknife position on Goto and gets an over the shoulder neckbreaker. Mark is back in now, uranage is blocked by Okada, who goes for the Rainmaker, but that’s ducked by Briscoe who gets an exploder suplex. Now Romero is back in, and Jay ducks an enzugiri but doesn’t duck Romero’s second back kick. Everyone is down at this point. Mark and Romero finally get to their feet, Mark sends Romero off the ropes, but Rocky hooks himself into them. Blind tag to Baretta and a charging Mark is sent to the outside. Doomsday Device on Mark attempted by Roppongi Vice, but Goto makes the save. Mark and Jay show them how it’s done, though, as they get the move on Baretta. Back in now, and Mark gets the Froggy-bow on Baretta, 1,2, no! Tag to Jay and he sets Trent up for the Jaydriller, but Romero makes the save with a dropkick to the back of Briscoe. Mark back in and he gets a Fisherman’s Buster on Romero, but Okada is lurking. Tombstone by Okada! Goto back in now, as the last few minutes of this match have been non-stop action, and Okada gets the dropkick. He signals for the Rainmaker, but Goto headbutts him to break. Everyone else falls from the ring but Jay and Trent, and Baretta makes a pretty good go of it for a second there, getting strikes and an enzugiri, but Briscoe catches him off the ropes with a discus punch and the Jaydriller, and that’ll do it here. (Briscoes/Goto over Roppongi Vice/Okada, pinfall, 13:05)

WOULD YOU WATCH IT AGAIN, RICK? This was tremendously fun and YES, I would watch it again. Not much there on the psychology level, but it worked for me and as a one-of thing with little implication, it was fun ringwork.

The Briscoes and Goto stand tall in the ring as Kelly hypes Cole/Nakamura for next week, and that’ll be the end of our program this evening.

FINAL THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: This might be the first time that I’ve given a ‘watch it’ label to everything on the show, but I really enjoyed the matches this week. No distraction finishes, no belt shots, no rollups from behind, ROH just put on enjoyable matches this week, and it turns out that’s enough to make a show worth watching. Who knew?

Thanks for reading,
Rick Poehling
@MrSoze on Twitter