Ring of Honor – March 3rd, 2016

Howdy!

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

Notable news from around the world of ROH this week:

— Well, ROH had a PPV last Friday! The 14th Anniversary Show is in the books, and it was a thing that happened. A good PPV, not a great one, but very, very good. Match of the night was (and I can’t believe I’m typing this) The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega over ACH, Matt Sydal, and Kushida. An absolutely awesome spotfest that stood out in contrast to everything else on the card, there was no resting and brutal shots all through the match. Kenny Omega is on another level with his facial expressions and ringwork, and is easily a candidate for best in the world right now. The match is more than worth your time to go out of your way to see. As for the rest; there was nothing on the card actively bad, but nothing that stood out as GREAT besides that match. The main event was a surprisingly anti-climactic 3-way, without enough real danger that the title could change and a silly finishing sequence involving a double Lethal Injection that somehow looked even more contrived than the Lethal Injection normally does. I have zero idea where Lethal goes from here; in the last few months, he’s disposed of Cole, O’Reilly (twice!), Michael Elgin, and AJ Styles. Counting in Roderick Strong’s earlier shots, and most of the ROH upper-card besides Jay Briscoe (the man he beat for the title in the first place) has failed to get the title off of the House of Truth’s top star. I really feel as though it’s going to be a big upset, someone like Moose or Sydal getting a shot and taking down Lethal at this point, because there isn’t a ton left. ROH IS fond of giving champions long reigns, so this isn’t out of the ordinary, but Jay has had the belt for close to 9 months, which has been a downfall for a few champs over the last few years: Jay Briscoe held the belt for 9 months before Lethal beat him, and Adam Cole held it for 9 months from 2013-2014 before dropping it to Michael Elgin. Before that? Kevin Steen held the strap for just under a year before dropping it to Briscoe.

What does all this mean? Not much, really. Just that ROH tends to keep the World Title where it is for longer periods of time in certain cases, but Lethal is starting to creep up there. If he successfully defends the title at Supercard of Honor this year, that would take him into the 10th month; with very few viable challengers at this moment, we might be looking at another year + reign for our champion.

Finally, on a personal note, I’ve secured my tickets to the TV tapings in Dallas ‘Mania weekend, and was curious as to anyone else on the blog who will be down there. Let me know, I’ll buy you a beer or something.

Let’s watch some wrestling, shall we?

Ring of Honor TV – 3-2-16

We are TAPED from the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee! Your hosts are Kevin Kelly and Mr. Corino 3. Tonight, the semi-finals of the Top Prospect tournament! But our main event should be awesome: Adam Cole vs Matt Sydal! Plus, we promise to speak in vague tones about how awesome the 14th Anniversary show was without actually telling you anything, since this is pre-taped! But we’re starting off with some tag team action tonight! Behold the music of Silas Young and The Beer City Bruiser! And there’s the music of Dalton Castle, as the Boys are out on the stage with their feathers, but it’ s a trap! Castle comes in from the crowd, attacking Young and the Bruiser from behind! Castle clears the ring, and he continues to jaw with Young as security comes out to separate the two of them and drag Castle to the back. As he’s being dragged away, Castle tells the Boys to make him proud; apparently, they’re the opposing team!

Silas Young & The Beer City Bruiser vs The Boys

“Dalton’s Boys!” chant as the Boys make their way to the ring, but Silas gets a mic. He tells the Boys that they may as well stand there and soak in the cheers from the fans as though they have an opportunity! Even though they failed every one that Silas gave them, even when they betrayed him, he was willing to take them back. But they apparently know everything about being a man; well, tonight is going to be a reality check! Because tonight, they’re in a situation against better wrestlers, better athletes, and better MEN than they are! Well, Silas is so confident that he’ll win that he’s willing to put his career on the line; if they lose to the Boys, he’ll walk away from the business and ROH forever! Whoa!

Code of Honor is declined to the shock of someone on a desert island who has never watched pro wrestling, ever. Lockup and Young takes the Boy to the heel corner, punching and chopping away. Bruiser tags in and does the same, tossing the Boy into the other corner. Bruiser catches a crossbody by the Boy, but he wiggles free and fires at the Bruiser with shots. Bruiser cuts off the comeback and looks for a powerslam, but the Boy wiggles free and makes the tag. He comes in with a clothesline but hurts his forearm doing so, and they try to double-team the Bruiser with limited success, finally staggering him with a double Eat Defeat. The Ref escorts the illegal Boy out of the ring (for the love of all that is holy, can we at least get some distinguishing characteristics here? I know their names are different, but maybe something physical? I’m not even sure which one is Brendon and which one is Bret! It would help this humble recapper, ROH, and I don’t think it’s asking for too….holy shit, how long did I let this aside go on? No wonder people complain about the length of my match recaps. Jesus! And I’m still doing it! I have to st-) and Young takes his opportunity to stall the Boy on the top rope long enough for the Bruiser to take the Boy down with a fallaway slam from the top rope! That was pretty awesome, actually. Shall we have an ad break to think about how awesome?

We’re back with Young tagging the Bruiser back in. The Boy tries to fight Bruiser off, but gets caught with a vicious Wheelbarrow suplex. Bruiser drags him back to the corner and tags in Young. Silas comes in with stomps, and then takes the other Boy out on the apron. The Boy in the ring tries a schoolboy, but Young rolls through; he misses a straight kick, however, and the Boy gets a bulldog on Young and it’s a race for the tag. The other Boy comes in and runs wild with a clothesline and what might generously be called a dropkick on Young. Young tags in the Bruiser, but he gets hit with knees as he gets in the ring, and he’s winded! The Bruiser prevents a monkey flip and sets the Boy on the top rope, but the other Boy comes in and now we’re cooking. Enzuigiri on the Bruiser, then a tornado DDT on the Bruiser from the Boy on the top rope! 1,2, no! Young back in and we’ve broken loose in Tulsa, boys. The Boys double team Young, shooting him off, but Young hooks the top rope. The first Boy charges into a boot, while Young avoids the second one and the Boy takes a BUMP to the floor, going through the middle rope and splatting on his back with an audible thump. Ouch. The Boy in the ring gets a ‘rana on Silas, Silas avoids a charge and looks for an electric chair, the Boy fights out of that….right into the turnbuckle DDT by Silas. The Bruiser goes up to finish, but the other Boy is on the apron; Young charges but gets dumped over the top as a result. The Boy from the apron leaps into the ring and chases down Bruiser on the top rope, firing headbutts at him until the Bruiser has had enough of this shit and knocks the Boy off, stunning him on the top rope. Bruiser frog splash, but the Boy on the mat is back to his feet and he leaps and gets….something? I don’t know, it looked like he was trying for a Diamond Cutter or something like it, and they couldn’t complete the move, because he just kind of grazed him there. They both fall to the mat and the Boys attempt to dogpile the Bruiser for the pin, but he kicks out at 2. Bruiser rolls out of the ring, and the Boys stack up, one on the other’s shoulders, and he does a somersault dive from the shoulders onto Young and the Bruiser on the outside. The other Boy follows that with a very nice moonsault from the top onto Young and Bruiser, who look wobbly at this point. Young gets tossed back in, but he fights off a backslide and rolls through, getting a kick to the face of the Boy. Young looks for a powerbomb, but the Boy turns it into a facebuster. He puts the other Boy on his shoulders and tosses him onto Young for a sloppy looking legdrop or senton, not really sure what they wanted there. That gets two. And now the Bruiser is back in, and he murders one of the Boys with a lariat, but the other one jumps on the Bruiser’s back; the Bruiser drops him into the buckles on top of his partner, and now the Boys are stacked up. Running forearm by Silas, buttsplash into the buckles by the Bruiser, running kick by Silas, cannonball by the Bruiser, and the Boys are jello. Young covers, 1,2,3. (Silas Young & The Beer City Bruiser vs The Boys, pinfall, 7:05)

WORTH WATCHING? Well, I’m going to say NO for the following reasons. Number one, this feud should be over. Number two, the Boys were sloppy in several parts of this match and made it look like amateur hour. Number three, the stip was randomly announced before the match took place with zero buildup – I get the idea that it was supposed to build heat for the pinfalls, but I was not impressed at all. The Boys showed that they have some talent and Young and Bruiser are almost always solid, but the styles here clashed a lot and I wasn’t buying in, sorry.

Post-match, Young and the Bruiser put the boots to the Boys, who are down still. Castle attempts to make the save, but one man doesn’t beat two, and he gets left laying as well as Young and the Bruiser stand tall. This feud must continue! I mean, must continue? Anyway, it’s worth considering along with these ads!

We’re back with the first semi-final in the Top Prospect tournament! Brian Fury’s music heralds his arrival, and he makes his way to the ring. He’s followed out when the music of Action Ortiz hits! We recap how each of them got to this point, and the recap makes the matches look very exciting! They weren’t. I hope they bring it a little more here in the semis.

Brian Fury vs Action Ortiz – Top Prospect Tournament Semi-Final

Code of Honor is followed. Lockup, Fury with control. Ortiz shoots him off and stands him up with a shoulder. Slam by Ortiz, but a jumping elbow is avoided by Brian. Forearms by Fury, but Ortiz reverses a whip and criss-crosses him, finally shoulderblocking him and sending him flying. Ortiz is going to fly? He runs the ropes and gets a CRAZY no-hands plancha over the top, crashing to the ground hard. That was SICK. He tosses Fury back in and gets two. I mean, seriously, the dude is at least 275+, and he cleared the ropes with ZERO problems there. Action looks to charge Fury in the corner, but Brian gets out of the way, dropkicking the knee as Fury goes by. Fury with stomps and a back elbow off the ropes. That gets two. Reverse neckbreaker is countered with shots by Ortiz. Jabs by Ortiz, back elbow by Ortiz, clothesline by Ortiz. Action is firing away here. Back elbow to Fury in the corner, then a forearm shot. Backdrop suplex by Ortiz gets two. Ortiz tries for another one, but Fury wiggles out, so Action just turns around and awkwardly punches him. That wasn’t good, Fury had to stand there for a few seconds before Ortiz just took a shot. As Fury hits the ground, however, his leg comes up and hits Ortiz in the groin, and Brian takes advantage, with a headbutt and a pop-up sitout powerbomb out of nowhere for the pin. (Brian Fury over Action Ortiz, pinfall, 4:04)

WORTH WATCHING? Am I allowed to endorse a match for just one move? Well, it’s my recap, so why the hell not? YES, you can watch this one all the way up to where Action Ortiz damn near kills himself with that crazy plancha, but skipping the rest is fine. The story they seemed to be going for was Ortiz killing Fury until the low blow and Fury taking advantage after, but they were awkward in too many spots for my taste, and it felt like really, really indy wrestling out there. But that plancha was something else.

Post-match, Fury is with Kevin Kelly, and he feels ‘fantastic!’ He doesn’t care if it’s Rush or Martinez, he’s beaten guys like that before in his career, and neither one of them bring anything to the table that he’s impressed by. He can’t wait to show you what he’s capable of, since he’s only scratched the surface, and he’s going to win the tournament! A bold declaration, to be sure; let’s consider it’s veracity whilst watching these advertisements!

We’re back to the music of Punisher Martinez, who makes his way to the ring for the other semi-final match. We see highlights of him utterly destroying Colby Corino in the first round. And there’s Lio Rush, who’s the only sane pick to win this thing at this point, now that we know that it’s Brian Fury in the finals. I mean, seriously, he’s easily the most talented one that’s left. We see highlights of his first round win against Jason Kincaid, a match that should probably have been the finals and hopefully got Kincaid a job with the company.

Punisher Martinez vs Lio Rush – Top Prospect Tournament Semi-Final

Code of Honor is followed, with Punisher towering over Rush. Now, keep in mind that Martinez has a full FOOT of height advantage and almost 100 pounds of weight advantage, and let’s see how they play this. Punisher holds onto the hand from the shake and drops Rush to one knee. Rush fires back with kicks and punches, all of them no-sold by Martinez. I don’t like the look of this already. Like, we’re talking 10 shots in a row that are no-sold by Punisher, and while I appreciated the Road Warriors as much as anyone, that’s a little much. Martinez grabs the arm off the last one and attempts a short clothesline, but Rush ducks underneath and gets a dropkick that Punisher doesn’t sell. Urge to kill….rising. Rush off the ropes with a clothesline, no-sold by Punisher. Rush attempts a schoolboy, but Martinez won’t even move for that, reaching down and grabbing him in a choke. He looks for a chokeslam, holding Rush up, but Rush gets out and kicks Punisher in the gut, which Martinez has the courtesy to at least act mildly perturbed by. Rush off the ropes with a crossbody, but Punisher casually catches him and tries to put him on the shoulders. Rush goes over the back and tries to sunset flip him, but Martinez isn’t going down for that. He tries a big kneedrop and misses it, but he still catches Rush’s followup kick. He flips Rush in the air, and now Rush as to avoid big haymakers and a big kick from Punisher, which he does. Martinez sarcastically applauds and charges Rush in the corner, and Rush kicks him in the knee, sending him into the buckle to FINALLY do some damage to Punisher. Martinez alley-oops Rush to the apron off a charge, and then (say it along with me, everyone!) no-sells a shot from Rush and a jumping kick from Rush, LITERALLY laughing in his face. Martinez charges but Rush pulls the ropes down. No worries, though, because Punisher lands on his feet and catches Rush by the throat on a tope attempt. Chokeslam attempt ends up with Rush on the apron, and Rush gets a big superkick right to Punisher’s face that he decides he’s going to sell. Rush goes to the top and corkscrews into Martinez to knock him down. Punisher tries to get back in the ring, but Rush kicks him on the way in and goes up. Rush off the top with an elbow, but that barely gets a 1 count. Lio follows that with a dropkick to the back, which Martinez looks mildly annoyed by, and attempts a springboard that gets caught by Punisher and turned into a jawbreaker on the shoulder. Martinez follows with jumping elbows to Rush in the corner, and a neckbreaker across the knee from the Alabama Slam position, just manhandling Rush. That gets two. Punisher tries for another splash in the corner, but Rush moves and gets a kick. Rush charges, but Martinez comes off the second rope with a knee to the face. 1,2, no! Punisher goes to the top, but Lio rolls out of the ring on the other side. So Martinez decides to lay out and do a crazy no-hands plancha over the ropes, clearing the turnbuckles and damn near killing himself on the floor. He looks for the big powerbomb to the ring apron, Rush wiggles out but runs straight into a back elbow from Punisher. Martinez tries to biel Rush back into the ring, but Rush reverses and gets a bulldog on the floor. Martinez pops back to his feet about 5 seconds later, not selling a thing. This is getting really tiresome. Rush runs at him, but Punisher counters the Rush Hour by shoving him down and getting a spinning kick. 1,2, NO! Martinez tosses him to the apron and goes up, saying “Here comes the pain!” I hope that Brock Lesnar finds this guy and beats his ass. He looks to chokeslam him off the top rope, but Rush counters in mid-air to the Rush Hour for the pin. (Lio Rush over Punisher Martinez, pinfall, 6:04)

WORTH WATCHING? Okay, settle in here, because I’m not really sure. This was an absolute squash by Punisher Martinez until the fluke pinfall by Lio Rush. Now, since they wanted to play up the difference in size as the main focal point of the match, that’s cool with me to a certain extent. But it’s a truly delicate story, and it’s one that’s built on the hope spots of the default babyface. This was on par with the Road Warriors no-selling a couple of jobbers, and that was not what was needed. Rush had about 5 offensive moves in a six minute match. Six minutes is an ETERNITY in pro wrestling, and the hope spots weren’t even that great. After having a great match the previous week, Rush now looks like the luckiest jobber that ever got to the finals. So what you have to decide is: is that the story you want to tell with a guy that, now that I’m looking at it objectively, is probably going to win this tournament? I get that there are people who will say that the story saved the match, and I can see that point of view; I truly can. But I don’t agree. Punisher needed to give a little more here, especially in the sequences where Rush was building to his brief flurries and comebacks, instead of continuing to no-sell EVERYTHING. The goal is to no-sell a lot of stuff, but he gave Rush almost nothing here. For the record, I’m not saying that Punisher shouldn’t ever do this type of match, or that this type of match is somehow always wrong; I’m saying it was wrong for THIS circumstance in this event. I can see the viewpoint of those that disagree. Either way, I’m going to say NO, you can skip this one.

Post-match, Kevin Kelly is with Lio Rush. On the replay, it looks like Rush hit his FACE on the mat with the Rush Hour, which must have fucking hurt. Anyway, Rush isn’t gonna lie – he feels beat up and broken right now, but he’s been beaten up and broken before, and it’s never stopped him before, and it’s sure as hell not going to stop him from being a Top Prospect! So Brian Fury, prepare to feel the Rush! I want to feel some ads, and look; here they are!

We’re back to the music of Adam Cole, bay-bay! It’s main event time! This should be a GREAT match, as Cole has been on a roll lately, and here comes Matt Sydal!

Matt Sydal vs Adam Cole

Code of Honor is followed. Arm wringer by Cole to start, but Sydal flips out and applies his own. Cole makes him fight for the reversal in a nice touch, instead of just surrendering to it like a lot of guys do. Matt torques on it into a hammerlock and takes Cole over to the mat. Cole legscissors out of it, and both guys reset. Cole goes back to the arm and takes Sydal to the corner, then breaks with an ‘Adam Cole, bay-bay’ post….and Sydal high-fives him! That was hilarious. Sydal gets a shit-eating grin on his face, but he turns his back to Cole, and that proves to be a mistake as Cole is perturbed and stomps a mudhole on Sydal in the corner. Cole whips Matt cross-corner, but Sydal moves on the charge and snaps off a ‘rana to put Cole down. Sydal with kicks, whip to Cole, leapfrog and spinkick from Sydal to Cole. Headlock by Sydal, and he maneuvers Cole down to the mat with a trip. He keeps Cole’s leg wrapped up and bridges over into a chinlock, keeping on the Indian Deathlock. Cole bites the fingers to break. Atta-boy, Adam. He takes Sydal to the corner with an elbow, but Sydal ends up on reversing and getting a shoulder to the gut against the buckles. Sydal with a kick and he takes the knee out again, dropping down on it. Cole shoves him off and gets a jawbreaker on Matt to separate, but Cole charges and takes a boot to the face. Sydal goes up, but Adam shoves him off the top rope to the floor. Sydal hit his head on the ring apron on the way down, because he’s insane. Cole tells the front row to move so he can toss Sydal into the crowd, but tosses him back in the ring instead and flips the crowd off. Out-stand-ing. Dude is SUCH a great heel, especially at riling up the crowd. Back in, Cole slams Matt for a one count. Cole with a couple of knees to the back of Sydal, then he does the ‘run the ropes, put on a chinlock’ spot that I always mark for, just because of the reaction from the crowd. Adam Cole has the crowd in the palm of his hand, and it’s time for us to take a break for some ads!

We’re back with Sydal firing back at Cole with a kick. He does a matrix dodge on an attempted forearm by Adam, then hits a big kick to the head of Adam. Sydal with a kick to the leg of Cole, then a shoulder shot to the leg as well. Irish whip is reversed by Cole, but Sydal grabs the arm on the comeback and gets his legdrop across the chest. Standing moonsault by Sydal gets two. Sydal takes too long to get back up and Cole gets a knee, but comes off the ropes and Sydal leapfrogs him and gets a back kick to the back of Cole’s head, sending Cole to the floor. He tries to baseball slide him, but Cole catches him and gets a wheelbarrow suplex to the ring apron! Holy SHIT, Matt Sydal may, in fact, be deceased. That was awesome. Cole rolls him in and gets a Shining Wizard to the back of the head of Sydal that barely grazed him, and that is good for a two count. Cole tries for the brainbuster across the knee, but Sydal escapes. He runs to the corner and tries for a reverse crossbody, but Cole is ready and gets the knees up for a Codebreaker. Now Cole connects with the Shining Wizard, 1,2,NO! Cole can’t believe it. Cole goes up to look for the Canadian Destroyer, but he takes WAY too long and Sydal jumps up and ‘ranas him off the second rope for two. Sydal charges Cole in the corner with a running knee, but he misses and hits the turnbuckle. And now, WHOOO, we go to school, as Cole wraps Sydal up in a figure-four. He screams at Sydal to tap out, but Sydal fights him off and reverses the move, forcing Cole to the ropes to break. They trade shots in the middle of the ring, Cole kicking Sydal in the leg to put a stop to Matt’s offense. Cole is too exhausted to follow up fast enough, however, and Sydal fires back at him; Cole backs up to look for the superkick so Matt covers his face; Cole just kicks him in the knee instead. Cole looks for the figure-four again, but Sydal shoves him off. Sydal ducks another Shining Wizard and jumps up with a spinkick to stun Adam, but the knee is too hurt and he collapses. He takes too long to get back up, and Adam superkicks him, Sydal jumps back up with a knee that was purely on adrenaline. Sydal blocks another superkick, Cole avoids a Sydal kick, and another superkick by Adam Cole connects! No one superkicks better than Adam Cole. Sorry, Jacksons. Then another one, and he picks Sydal up in a Fireman’s Carry. He looks for the double knees, but Sydal hangs on when Cole tosses him the air and gets a reverse ‘rana on Cole! Sydal tries to run to the corner, staggering but still he makes it to the top rope, Shooting Star Press by Matt Sydal! 1,2,3! What a match! (Matt Sydal over Adam Cole, pinfall, 10:48)

WORTH WATCHING? There is literally no reason to have to ask the question. These two are magic. YES, this was outstanding. Working the body parts, using submissions, and both wrestlers come out looking great; Sydal scores the win after hitting Cole with the reverse ‘rana to incapacitate, and because that move is such a killer, he has the time to get the SSP to win it. Everyone comes out looking great. This was such a great match. Now, there’s also something interesting going on here: Adam Cole has been doing a LOT of jobs recently. He did a job for Sydal tonight, he did the job to reDRagon in the tag match a few weeks ago, and he was the one that got pinned at the 14th. Now, I’m not saying that he’s starting to finish up with ROH or anything, but there may be something there. He’s apparently not signed to a deal, and he’s rumored to be at the WWE exclusive tryout camp that’s coming up in the next few weeks or so. I would assume that with all the Indy talent currently in NXT, there’s got to be some support for bringing him in. Again, I’m not saying anything other than it sure is interesting that he keeps getting pinned in these matches. Also, Sydal is a good choice to take a shot with when it comes to Lethal if they want to build him up for it.

FINAL THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: This show was all main event, to be honest. There’s plenty of stuff on the show, sure, but the main event is what’s worth it. The rest of the show is very filler heavy, so a lot of that is very much of the ‘your mileage may vary’ variety. Check it out at your peril.

Thanks for reading this thing I wrote,

Rick Poehling
@MrSoze on Twitter