Ring of Honor – October 28th, 2015

Howdy!

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

Notable ROH news this week:

Steve Corino may have been written off television for a reason, as he’s apparently having spinal fusion surgery. That puts off any match he may have had planned for Final Battle against B J, and I know I give Corino a lot of shit, but seriously; get well soon and stay safe, man.

AJ Styles will apparently be ready to wrestle by Final Battle. The Observer is saying that he has a sciatic nerve problem, and bumping is therefore off the table for awhile. He did not wrestle at the Glory by Honor tapings, and probably won’t wrestle for awhile outside of already taped matches, but he expects to be ready to go for December against Lethal.

The Young Bucks have signed a deal with ROH that will take them off the indies. While they can still work PWG and NJPW, they’re exclusive to ROH besides that. So whether you like it or not, we’re going to be getting superkicks for the Holiday season and the New Year.

Finally, does anyone have any recommendations on stop smoking programs that actually work? I’ve been trying to quit for awhile and got read the riot act by my daughter the other day, and nothing she said was wrong. Tried the gum, tried vaping. Any suggestions?

Ring of Honor TV – 10/28/15

We are TAPED from the Shrine Auditorium in San Antonio, Texas! Your hosts this week are Kevin Kelly and Nigel Mcguinness, who says there will be ramifications for both BJ and Corino as a result of last week, but he can’t talk about it right now. So let’s get to the action then! Tonight, our main event is a 6-man tag between the Kingdom and reDRagon/Michael Elgin! But we’re going to start with the House of Truth!

Donovan Dijak (w/ Truth Martini) vs Moose (w/ Stokely Hathaway)

Oh Lord. This one could be rough. Everyone who threw streamers at Dijak should be ashamed of themselves. Code of Honor is followed. Lockup, Dijak shoulderblock doesn’t move Moose. Truth tells Dijak to do it again, same result. Now Stokely gets up on the apron. “Moose? Knock his ass down.” Yeah! Moose off the ropes, hiptoss by Dijak, Moose lands on his feet. Dijak off the ropes, Moose with a dropkick to send him to the floor. Moose goes out, sends him to the barricade. Charge by Moose gets a boot from Dijak, who chokeslams Moose on the apron. Dijak off the 2nd rope with what could generously be described as a moonsault by someone who has never seen an actual moonsault before. He sends Moose back in and springs to the top rope with a slightly better attempt that gets knees from Moose. Moose runs him over and shoulders him down. Charge by Moose gets him elbowed by Dijak, but when Dijak goes up Moose dropkicks him to the floor from the top. Nice bump, I’ll give him that. Moose flips over the top rope and lands on Dijak. Moose looks for the spear back in the ring, but Dijak leapfrogs him, so Moose just kind of wanders out of the corner and they slug it out. Moose off the ropes, but Dijak elbows him, Dijak off the ropes, Moose boots him. There is literally no story or flow to this match. One guy does a move, then another guy does. Spinning big boot by Dijak, chokeslam backbreaker by Dijak gets 2 in our first cover of the match. Dijak gets Moose up for Feast your Eyes, but Moose lands on his feet and shoves Dijak down into the corner. Moose runs up the ropes and hits a crazy leaping enzuigiri which is easily the highlight of the match, and the spear finishes Dijak off. 1,2,3. (Moose over Donovan Dijak, pinfall, 4:43)

WORTH WATCHING? Well, this was a thing that happened. So, here’s my beef with Dijak; he does have a ton of physical gifts, but he can’t put together a match to save his life, so putting him in there with another guy who is also newer does him no favors. The match was almost literally just hit a move, wander around with weak transition, hit another move. Putting two big guys in the ring and just hoping that it works itself out is the type of thing you want to avoid, and both Dijak and Moose need to be working with veteran talent if they want these guys to get to that next level. I’m confident that Moose will, whereas I have zero faith in Dijak at all. No, this match is definitely a skip with extreme prejudice.

Moose celebrates while Kelly tells us that up next, we’re going to see Dalton Castle for the first time since ASE! What will his mental state be after the loss? I know that I can’t wait to find out, but we’re going to have to because it’s time for an ad break!

We’re back to the music of Cedric Alexander, as Veda Scott leads him to the ring. Cedric is still selling his injuries from ASE, which Kevin Kelly refers to as having happened ‘a few weeks ago’. Yeah, pre-tapes can suck, can’t they? And there’s the music of Dalton Castle, who’s out in just a t-shirt without the boys or his trademark peacock jumpsuit, and he looks PISSED. Or crazy, I’m not honestly sure if there’s a difference right now for Castle.

Cedric Alexander (w/ Veda Scott) vs Dalton Castle

Cedric puts the badmouth on Castle before the match, so Castle just grabs him and suplexes him to start this thing! So that’ll be a ‘no’ on the Code of Honor, I assume. Castle fires at Alexander in the corner, being super-aggressive to start. Knee by Castle and he sends Cedric to the buckles. Go-behind by Castle is met with back elbows by Alexander, so Castle just picks him up and throws him down. Deadlift German attempt, but he opts to just throw him down again. Forearms, elbows, and a gator roll by Castle as he’s destroying Cedric in there. Deadlift gutwrench suplex by Castle! Awesome. Charge by Castle misses and Veda grabs his leg, allowing Alexander to get a dropkick to Castle in the corner, following with stomps to Castle. Irish whip, dropkick by Cedric. “I’m still great!” he proclaims, and that WAS a nice looking dropkick there, I’ll grant you. Chops by Alexander in the corner, no-sold by Castle. Chops of his own by Castle, blind charge misses Cedric, but Castle catches him springboarding in and gets an overhead throw! They exchange Irish whips and kicks, but Castle gets the better end and gets Cedric up, Bangarang! That’ll be enough here. (Dalton Castle over Cedric Alexander, pinfall, 3:41)

WORTH WATCHING: As a match, probably not, but for the development of the character of Dalton Castle, absolutely. He dominated this one in ways that he doesn’t normally wrestle, and that gives meaning to the loss of the boys, as he’s not only taking it hard (Ha! I’m twelve), but letting it affect both the way that he wrestles and the way he behaves, and that legitimizes any stipulation from a storytelling perspective. He lost a match with stakes he actually cared about and it affected him, something that we don’t always get in wrestling. I only hope that they keep going further with it, as it was really fun. Alexander selling the beating he took from Moose was very cool too, but since so much time had passed since ASE, it came off a little overwrought. So I’ll say Yes, watch the match, but be aware that it’s more about the characters and if they don’t interest you, skip it.

Post-match, Castle leaves immediately instead of posing, which is a nice touch as well. Meanwhile, Veda is in the ring with a mic, accusing Nigel of ‘recklessly sanctioning’ the hardcore match at ASE, and an athlete of Cedric’s caliber shouldn’t be subjected to that, nor should Veda! In fact, ROH is an unsafe working environment that has profited off of their pain and suffering, and she isn’t going to stand for it! She’s not a barbarian, though, so instead of violence, she’s going to settle this the civilized way – in court!

OH YAY, A LAWSUIT ANGLE. THOSE ALWAYS ARE SUCH FUN TO WATCH.

I am admittedly biased against this development.

Anyway, after that threat, Kevin Kelly is aghast! I’m annoyed! Let’s all take a moment to decompress and watch these ads!

“We are the House of Truth!” Truth Martini and Jay Lethal are making their way to the ring, to have, in Truth’s words, a ‘celebration of Jay Lethal.’ Alrighty then. If a clown named Yurple comes out, I’m leaving. “AJ Styles!” chants the crowd, but Truth wishes to correct them – that’s not Jay Lethal’s name. He starts to go into raptures about Lethal, but before he can, the music of Roderick Strong hits! Let’s hear what Mr. ROH has to say! Strong says that he’s out here to shake the hand of the man that beat him the last time they faced each other…and he shakes Truth Martini’s hand. Lethal goes nuts on Strong, telling him that he’s the greatest wrestler in the world, and what does he want? One more time, sayeth Strong! And the crowd goes…meh. Doesn’t sound like they’re really into it, Roddy. Lethal tells him that there’s a lot of challengers ahead of him – he calls Nigel into the ring to tell Strong that! “He just doesn’t understand! Tell him, Nigel!” Nigel admits that Strong had a chance, and isn’t in line for another shot at the ROH World Title…but Lethal does in fact hold ANOTHER title, and as he disposed of Watanabe last week, there is no #1 contender for the World TV title, so your new #1 contender for the TV title is…Roderick Strong! Crowd is happier about this. Lethal is displeased at this and gets in Nigel’s face, but Nigel is resolute. Now, were it ME, I’d wonder about the other contenders to the TV title, not just the World one, and I’d wonder why we had #1 contender’s matches before but now Nigel just names a challenger, and I’d say why do Lethal/Strong AGAIN, but that’s just me. While I think of more things that I would do differently, let’s watch these ads!

Must be time for Inside ROH! This week, we’re going to look at the ACH/Sydal best of 5 series. Highlights of the first four matches are shown, including the insane-o boots to the face of Sydal by ACH during the SSP in match 2, and the incredibly stiff brainbusters that ACH keeps on dropping Sydal with in matches 2 and 3. We’re tied at 2, and the final match will take place at Survival of the Fittest on November 13th, with the winner advancing to the final Survival of the Fittest match, where the winner will receive a World title shot! I have nothing to add except to say that these gentlemen are excellent professional grapplers that deserve kudos for their fisticuffs.

“Thy Kingdom Come.” Time for the main event! Maria leads Bennett, Taven, and Cole to the ring for this 6-man tag!

The Kingdom (w/ Maria Kanellis) vs Michael Elgin & reDRagon

Elgin comes out first, with O’Reilly and Fish following, and they charge the ring! Good, this is one match where the Code of Honor is absolutely unnecessary and would be inappropriate. O’Reilly goes after Cole, sliding through the ring and chasing him around, ignoring everyone else. Attaboy. Fish and Elgin are disposed of as O’Reilly chases Cole back into the ring, and Taven and Bennett double-team O’Reilly. Whip, but O’Reilly grabs the top rope, getting a boot to the face of a charging Matt Taven and pulling down the top rope to send a charging Bennett to the floor…and he turns around and just PASTES Adam Cole in the mouth. Taven is recovered and charges Kyle, so Kyle sends him to the apron. He calls for Fish, alley-ooping him over the top and allowing Fish to jump over Taven on the apron and cannonball into Cole and Bennett on the floor. O’Reilly gets a nasty cross-armbreaker on Taven using the ropes on the apron, and Elgin cannonballs over the top of them, taking out everyone on the floor. Fish trips Taven on the apron and O’Reilly gets a running knee to send him to the floor, leaving O’Reilly alone and standing tall in the middle of the ring. As God intended. Bobby and Elgin join him, and Fish goes back out to get Taven while Nigel leers at Maria at ringside. Well, can’t blame him for that. reDragon now with the double team on Taven, double arm wringer first and double kick to the midsection next. Elgin comes in with a deadlift german suplex on Taven, followed by an O’Reilly cross-armbreaker, as Taven is just taking a shitkicking in there. He makes the ropes to force a break. Tag to Fish, and he gets a knee and a snapmare on Taven as we have to make some money for this company we all know and love, so let’s take an ad break!

We’re back with Elgin holding Taven up for a delayed vertical suplex. Bennett comes in and kicks Elgin to try to break it up, but Elgin just shrugs and holds him back up; Cole tries to come in but hits the bricks when Kyle answers. Elgin finally drops Taven and gets a 2 count. Elgin tags in Fish who misses the first kick on Taven, but gets a second one when Taven runs the ropes, followed by a shot to Bennett when he comes in. Forearms and elbows by Fish dominate Taven and Bennett, and Cole tries to sneak in. “Heeyyy!” says Bobby when he sees Adam, but Cole ducks the kick and Fish turns around into a superkick from Bennett followed by a springboard kick from Taven, 1,2, no. Bennett takes out Kyle and Elgin on the apron while Taven drags Fish to the corner and tags in Adam Cole. Stomps by Cole and he sends Fish into the corner. Kicks by Cole in the corner, and he turns towards Kyle…and spits on him! KICK HIS ASS, KYLE! O’Reilly tries to come in, so Cole drags Fish back over to the Kingdom’s corner and there’s a phantom tag to Bennett for some choking. Bennett with a snapmare and a reverse chinlock, “Wrestling!” he calls it. Fish fights out, but a dropkick from Bennett puts him down again. That gets two. Slingshot from Bennett into Cole for a shot to Fish, followed by a top rope elbow with Fish draped across Bennett’s knees. That gets two, O’Reilly makes the save. Cole back in and he works Fish over on the mat after a slam. 2-count on Fish. Tag to Bennett, and a triple team resulting in a crossbody by Taven gets two on Fish for Bennett. Tag again to Taven, who takes a shot at O’Reilly on the apron and drags Fish to the corner as the crowd wants the Young Bucks. Taven tags in Cole, who slaps on a rear chinlock because Adam Cole knows that it’s time for our final ad break of the evening!

We’re back with Fish stopping a triple superkick and getting an exploder on Cole in the corner. Tag to Taven, who dropkicks Kyle off the apron and goes to Fish, but Fish reverses into a Samoan Drop. Michael Elgin desires the tag and is not shy about it. Tag to Bennett….tag to Elgin! “Big Mike!” chant as he sends Cole to the floor from the apron and gets an enzuigiri on Bennett. Overhead release throw on Bennett! Elbows by Elgin and STIFF shot to Bennett’s face in the corner. Elgin sets Bennett on top for the superplex, Taven tries to break that up. So Elgin just sort of shrugs, grabs Taven over one shoulder and Bennett over the other, double powerslam! That gets two on Bennett. Elgin calls for the buckle bomb, but Bennett backdrops out. They trade forearm shots and punches, and Elgin catches Bennett coming off the ropes with a bicycle kick! Elgin off the ropes now, superkick by Bennett, which Elgin no-sells. Man, what do they put in the water at ROH events? Superkicks don’t do shit to these guys. Elgin off the ropes again, superkick by Bennett again, no-sell by Elgin again, who then proceeds to murder Bennett with a lariat. Taven misses a kick and eventually he also gets his head taken off by an Elgin lariat. Everyone is down and Kyle wants it…hot tag to Kyle O’Reilly! Double dropkick on Taven and Bennett, but here’s Cole from behind. He pounds O’Reilly with forearms and does the pose, which proves to be a mistake as O’Reilly comes up from behind and gets a rear-naked choke. Bennett makes the save. Cole rolls outside and Fish is there to pick him up and run him into the barricade. Meanwhile, Kyle is dominating in the ring with kicks, knees, and a legsweep. Taven back in and he tries a go-behind, but Kyle backs him into the corner and here’s Bobby as reDRagon starts cooking. They take out Taven and turn their attention to Bennett, getting the double-team DDT/wheelbarrow suplex combo. 1,2, no! Chasing the Dragon attempt is broken up as Cole pulls Fish out. Taven and Bennett get a double superkick on O’Reilly. Elgin back in and he throws forearms, but he comes off the ropes and takes a double superkick of his own, which he’s kind enough to sell this time. Proton Pack on O’Reilly by Taven and Bennett! Shining Wizard by Adam Cole! 1,2, NO! Crowd chants for Kyle, thus proving that they are sophisticated gentlemen and true students of the wrestling game. Hail Mary attempt is set up by the Kingdom, but Fish pulls Cole out of the ring and Kyle gets out, sending Bennett to the corner and crotching Taven on the top. Elgin bucklebombs Bennett into a hanging-down Matt Taven, and Chasing the Dragon fnishes things. (Elgin/reDRagon over The Kingdom, pinfall, 13:07)

WORTH WATCHING: Well, it was fine, I suppose. The heat segment on Fish went a little longer than I like to see in 6-man tags, and there were a few moments where the absurdity of the double and triple-teams versus the referee trying to restore order were being tested. Elgin continues to look good, but I really liked Adam Cole in this match; his running like a bitch from Kyle made it all the more satisfying when he briefly got his hands on Cole midway through, and was a good tease for a match between them. But it wasn’t the best match I’ve seen these guys involved in, not by a long shot. Still, it was good wrestling, so I’ll say Yes, this one is worth watching, but there is better with these guys out there. A good main event to finish off the week.

After the match, Cole runs wild with one of the title belts and flattens everyone. As the Kingdom retreats, Kyle gets a mic. He calls Cole a ‘son of a bitch’, and tells him that he can run around with his ‘butt buddies’ (!) all day if wants to, but he wants his revenge, he wants a one on one match, and he wants it TONIGHT, in San Antonio, Texas! The crowd is in favor of this plan. Kyle pleads with Nigel to make it happen, but Nigel won’t put Cole in another match tonight. But next week, Adam Cole is taking on AJ Styles. Contractually, he can’t take AJ out of that match….but what he can do is put Kyle O’Reilly in that match! Next week, it’s AJ Styles vs Adam Cole vs Kyle O’Reilly!

THUD.

(20 minutes later, I wake up to finish the recap.)

Well. Sorry about that. Where were we?

FINAL THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: This was a decent show, but forgettable in many ways. The main event was decent, and I really appreciated what they did with Castle this week, but it wasn’t a blowaway from a workrate perspective by any stretch of the imagination. I’m trepidatious over the angles and matches that were set up early, as I don’t think that legal angles work very well in wrestling at all and Strong/Lethal again doesn’t thrill me very much either. But we’ll see what happens. Besides, next week, we get AJ Styles/Adam Cole/Kyle O’Reilly in a triple threat!

THUD.

(20 minutes later, I wake up to put my name on this.)

Thanks for reading,
Rick Poehling
@MrSoze on Twitter