Ring of Honor – 9/30/15

Howdy!

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

No preliminaries. KUSHIDA/Sydal! Nakamura/Cole! Even *I* don’t want to listen to my bullshit this week! Let’s get on this thing!

Ring of Honor TV – 9/30/15

We are TAPED from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, PA! Your hosts are Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino, and tonight, well…see above. In fact, we’re going to start it right now, as Matt Sydal heads to the ring!

Matt Sydal vs KUSHIDA

We’ve traveled back in time a little bit here (considering Kushida’s standing as one of the Timesplitters, that’s actually kind of funny), as Kushida comes out wearing the IWGP JR Heavyweight belt; he is, unfortunately, not the champ any longer over in NJPW. He is STILL, however, wearing his pimp Marty McFly vest. I started to mark hard for Kushida after his win over Kyle O’Reilly in the finals of the BOSJ this year, so I will not even pretend to be objective about this match in the slightest.

Code of Honor is followed. Crowd starts chanting “This is awesome!” before the match starts, which….I mean, come on guys. Yes, it’s so likely to be awesome that you’re probably right on a percentage basis, but before the first lockup is a bit much. Lockup, clean break against the ropes. THIS IS AWESOME!

Ahem.

They circle and trade go-behinds, side headlock by Kushida turns into a trip on Sydal, into a front facelock. He floats over Sydal twice and spins on the top of him, turning him over for a 1 count. Kushida tries a kick, but Sydal dodges. Kushida with a side headlock, Sydal shoots him off, shoulderblock by Kushida. Criss-cross, leapfrog by Sydal, hiptoss attempt blocked, Sydal attempts a rocker dropper, Kushida flips him over but now Sydal gets the armdrag. Sydal charges and Kushida returns the favor. Sydal avoids the clothesline, goes for a ‘rana, but Kushida cartwheels out of it. Kushida with the ‘you can’t see me’ as he kicks Sydal, shoots him off, and gets an inverted atomic drop. Kushida off the ropes, dropkicks Sydal’s knee. Cartwheel into a dropkick by Kushida. Rights by Kushida, but Sydal blocks the big on with a Matrix dodge, kicks Kushida in the mid-section, sends him to the corner with a splash, and hits an enzuigiri. Sydal drops onto Kushida’s knee and turns into a modified STF. Kushida goes to the face to break, and speaking of breaks, it’s time for us to take one to watch these ads!

Dalton Castle and the boys want you to buy his shirt! Well, maybe not the boys anymore if Silas has been re-educating them, I suppose.

We’re back with Sydal in control, still working the leg. He picks up Kushida’s leg for a dragon-screw, but Kushida hits an enzuigiri. Sydal’s ‘what just happened?’ sell job is a thing of beauty. Sydal charges Kushida against the ropes, but a boot from Kushida catches Sydal and flips Kushida over the top rope, allowing him to catch a charging Sydal again with a kick from the apron. Kushida snaps Sydal’s arm on the top rope. Kelly and Corino are right on talking about the arm being the key to the Hoverboard Lock. Kushida to the top rope, but Sydal catches him coming down with a spinkick. Sydal picks him up for a suplex, but Kushida floats over, so Sydal elbows him and kicks him. Sydal off the far rope, but Kushida follows him in and catches him with both feet to send him to the outside. Kushida goes to the top and gets a CRAZY dive to the outside on Sydal, laying out beautifully. Sydal slumps against the barricade as Kushida collapses in the ring, having taken too much damage to the leg on that dive. Sydal attempts to crawl back in through the middle rope, but Kushida apparently felt like he needed some help there, so he gets a running dropkick to bring Matt back in. Kushida to the top for a moonsault; 1,2, no! Kushida measures him and kicks him in the arm, then comes off the ropes but Sydal turns a tilt-a-whirl into a legsweep. He tries a standing moonsault, but Kushida is ready and gets the knees up. Kushida rolls through – Hoverboard Lock! Sydal gets his legs to the bottom rope to break. Kushida does, but locks Sydal’s arm right back up and snaps it over his shoulder. Kushida calls for the big kick, but Sydal ducks and gets a kick of his own. Off the ropes, but Kushida meets him with a forearm shot. Kushida winds up for another one, but Sydal ducks and gets a jumping knee. Sydal doesn’t follow fast enough, though, and Kushida gets a Pele kick. Both guys down now. They start firing at each other from their knees, then chops and forearms on their feet, and finally Kushida kicks Matt in the arm. Another. Another. Kushida sends Sydal into the ropes, Sydal reverses and gets a REVERSE ‘RANA! 2 count, and neither myself nor Sydal can believe it. Sydal goes to the top….shooting star press misses! Kushida off the ropes, he floats over in mid-air….Hoverboard Lock! Sydal tries to roll through and gets back to his feet to attempt a suplex, but the arm is gone and Kushida just kicks him in the arm again. Again. One more time, but Sydal uses the other arm to catch the kick and step over into a stiff kick to Kushida’s head. Both wrestlers are staggered, Kushida winds up and just gets a strike to Sydal’s head. He tries to grab Sydal’s arm, but Sydal reverses and kicks him in the head again, followed by a jumping knee to the face. Back to the top for Sydal, and this time the shooting star press hits for the 1,2,3. (Matt Sydal over Kushida, pinfall, 11:04)

WOULD YOU WATCH IT AGAIN, RICK? There is not a doubt in my mind that YES, I would watch this one. Because they have disparate finishers, Kushida working the arm for the Hoverboard Lock didn’t prevent Sydal from doing his high-flying, and the match was booked in a way where Sydal just happened to land the last strike and get the last big move to win. Both guys come out looking great, and having an ROH guy go over an NJPW guy is something that they need to do more of, since the NJPW guys seem to go over more often than not; witness the fact that the crowd seemed surprised by the finish, as if they expected Kushida to kick out of the SSP. Both guys are awesome, what can you say? Just tremendous fun.

Coming up later, Cole/Nakamura! Next, a 4 corners survival match! Until then, we have these ads!

We’re back with BJ Whitmer and Adam Page in the ring, BJ has himself a mic, and he wants to know where Adam Page’s main event matches are! I’ve got a couple of ideas, BJ, and none of them involve those matches taking place in Ring of Honor. BJ drones on for a few more seconds until Will Ferrara’s music hits.

Adam Page (w/ The Decade) vs Will Ferrara vs Watanabe vs Moose (w/ Stokely Hathaway)

They replay Adam Page dropping Jay Briscoe on a pile of chairs until Mark makes the save, intimating that those two are far from done. Okay, so here are the rules: one fall to a finish, two wrestlers in the ring at any given time. Tags are legal, and if a wrestler falls out of the ring, one of the wrestlers on the apron can come in and declare themselves legal.

Code of Honor is followed by everyone except Page. Page kicks Watanabe in the face, and it looks like those two are going to start us off. Page backs him into the corner with shoulders. Rights by Page, whip is reversed by Watanabe into a go-behind, but Page elbows out. Page off the ropes, sideslam by Watanabe. He backs to close to Will’s corner though, and Ferrara tags himself in. He suplexes Page for 1. Ferrara gets sent off the ropes, but a baseball slide through Page’s legs is caught. Page attempts a belly-to-back suplex, but Ferrara flips out and catches a charging Page with a boot. Ferrara off the second rope with a ‘rana, and Page rolls to the corner and tags in Moose. Ferrara charges, but Moose just knees him in the midsection to take over. Off the ropes, pop-up clothesline by Moose. Moose gets set for the spear, but Page has recovered and tags himself back in. He puts the badmouth on Moose and turns around into a rights by Will. Will off the ropes, but Page gets a powerslam. Fallaway slam with a bridge gets two for Page. Page attempts a suplex, but Ferrara rolls him up for 2. He kicks Page off and tags in Watanabe. Forearm, elbow, neckbreaker by Watanabe. Senton by Watanabe. He blocks Page’s attempts at a tag by grapevining both arms, but Page stomps his foot to break. Forearm by Page and they trade reversals until Watanabe gets a Fisherman’s buster, forcing Moose to make the save. He sends Watanabe to the outside, apparently becoming the legal man, while Page rolls to the outside, so Will comes in. Moose gets the better of that exchange, but he tosses Ferrara into the ropes and charges, catching Will’s boot to his face. Will charges now, but Moose backdrops him on top of Watanabe on the outside. Colby Corino gets on the apron and Moose sends him to the floor with a kick that didn’t exactly look devastating. Moose turns and gets an Adam Page boot to the face, but Page decides to flip into the ring and eats a spear from Moose as a result. Page rolls out, so Ferrara comes back in with a dropkick to Moose’s knee and a kick to his head. He tries for a fireman’s carry, but that ain’t happening. Moose sends him to the corner but gets an elbow to the head on a charge. Springboard tornado DDT by Ferrara! Watanabe comes back in now and gets a DISGUSTING German suplex, we’re talking dropped on the head style, on Ferrara who may be legally deceased after that. He tries the same on Moose, but he’s just too big. Go-behind on a charging Moose, however, takes care of that problem as Watanabe gets the German this time and Moose rolls to the outside. Will tries to schoolboy a posing Watanabe, so Watanabe punishes him for his insolence by headbutting him, hitting him with a discus elbow, and an STO for the pin. (Watanabe over Will Ferrara, pinfall, 5:47)

WOULD YOU WATCH IT AGAIN, RICK? I don’t know, honestly, but I’m going to bite the bullet and say NO, I would skip this one. Moose looked much greener here than he has in the past few matches of his I’ve seen, the match was WAY too short for a four corners stip, and it just felt like a collection of moves instead of a fluid story being told. That having been said, that German by Watanabe was absolutely sickening and I’m amazed that Will wasn’t injured on it.

Post-match, Watanabe celebrates as the announcers speculate that this may be the match he needs to light a fire under him. I speculate that it’s time to watch these ads!

We’re back with the announcers hyping our main event…as Bushwhacker Luke comes into frame, licking people on the head. Let’s take you back to show you Brutal Bob Evans and a partner putting a beatdown on Cheeseburger earlier, until Luke came out and made the save. Luke gets one of the SHITTIEST stunners I’ve ever seen, and then a Battering ram by him and Cheeseburger ends the segment. Or not, as Kelly has a mic now, so Luke cuts a promo and licks Corino. Your life will not in any way be diminished if you forget that the last paragraph ever happened.

They make up for it by telling us that next week, we get matches from Field of Honor, including Strong/Okada and Briscoes/Timesplitters! All is forgiven, ROH. Up next, Nakamura/Cole! But now, ads!

We’re back to the music of Adam Cole, and Nigel McGuinness has joined us at ringside for this one!

Adam Cole vs Shinsuke Nakamura

Nakamura gets the CRAZY pop, as you might expect. Streamers are flying in the ring from pretty much everywhere. I approve. Code of Honor is followed. Nakamura’s smile, as mentioned by Corino, pretty much redefines wicked and goes straight into Lecter territory. He’s just so much more larger than life than almost anyone in NJPW. Bunch of time for this one, thankfully.

They circle, and Cole gets an armwringer into a wristlock. Nakamura flips out of it and takes him to the mat with a headlock, Cole attempts a break with a headscissors, but Nakamura hangs on. Second headscissors forces a break. Crowd with the dueling chants, so Adam Cole does his pose to cheers. Nakamura fakes being intimidated, then smiles as though he’s considering what Cole’s liver tastes like. Maybe with a nice Chianti. Lockup, Nakamura breaks clean, and does the Adam Cole pose himself. Cole charges but gets kicked in the midsection and snapmared over. Nakamura fakes a few kicks and gets one to back Cole into the corner. Nakamura looks to choke Cole with the boot, but Cole catches it, drapes it over the middle rope and kicks said rope, sending Nakamura to the outside and allowing Cole to do some of Nakamura’s poses. Let’s take a break for some ads!

We’re back and Nakamura has Cole draped over the barricade, running knee to Cole. He drapes him on the opposite side to give them a taste, but charges and gets caught with superkick by Cole. Cole tosses him back in and stomps Nakamura’s injured arm, then sends him to the turnbuckle. He stomps a mudhole without walking it dry and chokes Nakamura in the corner. Snapmare by Cole, he runs the ropes….and applies a chinlock. Oh Adam Cole, you bastard. Nakamura makes the ropes, so Cole backs him into the corner, gets an armwringer and sends him cross-corner to the buckles. He does it again and mocks the crowd clapping for Nakamura. Shinsuke stops a third one, though, and gets a knee and a spinning back kick to put Cole down in the corner. Nakamura starts kicking Cole and then just starts ramming knees into Cole’s face on the mat. Awesome. Nakamura with a gourdbuster for 2. Cole blocks a suplex and comes off the ropes, Nakamura covers up his face, so Cole kicks him in the knee. Then he kicks him in the other knee. Then, with Nakamura on said knees, he gets a superkick to Shinsuke’s face. 1,2, no! Same sequence as Cole tries to send Nakamura cross-corner, but this time he avoids the kick from Nakamura and kicks him in the back of the knee to put him down again. Cole looks for a figure-four, but Nakamura scoots to the ropes, so Cole just starts stomping him on the knees. And that’s where we’ll take our hopefully final ad break!

We’re back with Cole on the top rope, he jumps over a charging Nakamura; Shinsuke attempts a knee and goes to the top, but Cole pulls him off into a backbreaker. And now, WHOO, we go to school as Cole gets the figure-four. That’s actually a cool strategy to try to take away the Boma Ye from Nakamura, and Cole really cranks on it until Nakamura makes the ropes. Dragon-screw legwhip by Cole. Another one. He looks for the figure-four again, but Nakamura turns it into a cross-armbreaker, which Cole turns into a pinning attempt for 2. Cole catches Nakamura’s leg, but Shinsuke gets an enzugiri as both wrestlers are down. They get to their feet and trade forearm shots, which Nakamura wins. He charges Cole, but Adam moves and Nakamura rams his knee into the turnbuckle. Cole charges but Nakamura catches him and sets him on the top rope, running knee from Nakamura into Cole on the top rope. Backstabber by Nakamura into an overhead throw, but now Shinsuke feels the knee and falls to the mat. He starts to slam his leg into the mat to get the feeling back, but Cole has recovered and gets a flying knee to the face of Shinsuke. Cole takes down his kneepad and gets a BEAUTIFUL Shining Wizard! He hit that thing FLUSH on Nakamura. 1,2, NO! Cole with the go-behind for the Florida Key, but Nakamura breaks with a stomp to the foot and a headbutt. Cole ducks a Nakamura clothesline and gets a superkick to the back of the head! Cole loads him up….Florida Key! 1,2, NO! Cole is sufficiently pissed off to threaten physical violence towards the ref, but he stops himself just in time. He gets Nakamura up for what looks like a brainbuster, but Shinsuke knees him in the head, so Cole drops him and kicks him to the corner. Cole charges but gets kicked in the face, and Nakamura comes off the 2^nd rope with a knee as well. He goes down with Cole and is still trying to get feeling back in the knee as Nigel is beside himself about why Cole hasn’t gone back to the knee at all. They exchange forearm shots, but Cole finally kicks Nakamura in the knee again and follows with a superkick. Cole looks to finish, but Nakamura gets another knee to the midsection and follows with an axe kick. Off the ropes, Boma Ye by Nakamura! 1,2, NO! Shinsuke is HULKING UP, but Cole blocks a second Boma Ye and gets a fireman’s carry neckbreaker after spitting in Nakamura’s eye! Cole looks for the brainbuster again, but Nakamura counters out, fireman’s carry….Landslide! Nakamura back to his feet….Boma Ye number 2! And that will do it here. (Shinsuke Nakamura over Adam Cole, pinfall, 16:01)

WOULD YOU WATCH IT AGAIN, RICK? Well, considering that it’s Nakamura/Cole, YES, I absolutely would watch these two gentlemen engage in manly fisticuffs again. Yes, Nakamura’s off and on selling can get kind of annoying, but him having just enough to put Cole away in this one was fun as hell, and Cole got to look good with the loss to a certain extent. Not the best match these two could have in all likelihood, and I’m pretty sure that it was clipped to HELL (I’d guess the full-length was at least 22-24 minutes based on the breaks), but this was still a fine wrestling match.

Nakamura celebrates to end the show this week.

FINAL THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: I think that I actually preferred Sydal/Kushida this week, but make no mistake; this show is well-worth checking out. Nakamura is just fantastic to watch in the ring with his facial expressions and stiff shots, and you won’t find much better wrestling on TV than what we got from those two matches tonight.

Thanks for reading,

Rick Poehling

@MrSoze on Twitter