Ring of Honor – March 23rd, 2016

Howdy!

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

Notable news from around the world of ROH this week:

–The Supercard of Honor 10 card is pretty much fleshed out at this point. We’ve got the following on tap for Night 1:
*The Young Bucks vs The Motor City Machine Guns
*Adam Cole vs ACH
*Roderick Strong vs Moose
*Matt Sydal vs Kyle O’Reilly
*The Briscoes & War Machine vs Silas Young/The Beer City Bruiser & The All-Night Express
*Jay Lethal vs Lio Rush – ROH World Title match

The World title defense is taking the place of a TV title match; for winning the Top Prospect tournament, Rush was supposed to get a World TV Title shot, but Ishii has commitments to NJPW that weekend, so they bumped him up to Lethal.

As for Night 2, expect a full report from yours truly, as I’ll be in attendance; unless they’re taping TV, in which case I’ll hold off. I don’t read or disseminate ROH spoilers on purpose.

Let’s watch some wrestling, shall we?

Ring of Honor TV – 3/23/16

We are TAPED from Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas, Nevada! Your hosts are Kevin Kelly and Mr. Steve Corino III. Tonight, it’s the return of the inter-promotional matches, as the NJPW stars stuck around from the 14th Anniversary show for the tapings! And we’re getting started with the music of the one and only (Thank God for that) BJ Whitmer! He’s down here for a title match after the 14th Anniversary show against the new World TV Champion, Tomohiro Ishii! Alright! Whitmer’s gonna get killed!

BJ Whitmer vs Tomohiro Ishii – World TV Title Match

We’re set to go with the ring introductions….but that’s Veda Scott! “Wait just a second, Bobby Cruise!” As usual, Veda is looking FINE. She tells them not to ring that bell, which promptly starts a “Ring the Bell” chant from the crowd. Hee. Anyway, Veda wanted to introduce herself to Ishii, and have a talk with Whitmer – maybe BJ would like to take this envelope with a certified check inside? All he has to do is give up his World TV Title shot to Cedric Alexander! BJ takes a peek at the check and immediately accepts the deal – he’ll give Cedric the title shot!

So, let me get this straight – BJ is going to get paid a bunch of money AND he doesn’t have to get his shit kicked in by Ishii? BJ WHITMER IS NOW THE SMARTEST MAN IN WRESTLING.

I guess that means that instead of the above, we now have the following….

Cedric Alexander vs Tomohiro Ishii – World TV Title Match

Crowd chants “You sold out!” at BJ on his way out, and he responds by holding up the check. And we’re going to hold up for these ads!

We’re back and the bell is rung! They lockup and go to the ropes, where Cedric fires a forearm instead of a clean break. Ishii looks mildly perturbed. A few more and Alexander grabs a headlock. Ishii shoots him off and Alexander tries a shoulder block that Ishii doesn’t move for. Another bounces Ishii off the ropes, so Ishii comes off and bowls Cedric over. He may want to rethink this plan. 3 straight forearms by Cedric is not the correct plan either, as Ishii comes back with chops and headbutts that stagger Alexander. Irish whip is reversed and Veda grabs Ishii’s leg, Cedric follows with a beautiful dropkick and lays in the stomps. Chops by Cedric, snapmare and single leg kick to Ishii’s face. That gets two. Another cover gets two. Jumping stomp by Cedric and he slaps on a chinlock. Alexander puts the badmouth on Ishii with shots to his head. Mr Wrestling: “He’s poking the bear.” I think there’s a legit chance that Ishii might share DNA with bears, so an apt metaphor there. Ishii finally has enough and just stands up, ignoring the seven or so forearms that Cedric throws before pasting him with one of his own. Ishii just DESTROYS him in the corner with chops and forearms. Cross-corner whip by Ishii is reversed by Alexander, but Ishii comes roaring out of the corner and sends Cedric flying with a shoulderblock. Brainbuster by Ishii! 1,2, no! Ishii sets up for a powerbomb, but Cedric backdrops him to escape. Cedric charges and gets a springboard enzuigiri and a Michinoku Driver for two. Cedric looks for the Lumbar Check, Ishii elbows out of it but Cedric gets a spinning back kick off the ropes. He tries for a jumping kick, but Ishii ducks it and kills him with a nasty headbutt! Ishii goes for the sliding lariat, but Cedric catches it and rolls him over in a crucifix. 1,2, NO! Cedric comes off the ropes but Ishii is waiting and just NAILS him with a lariat. 1,2, NO! I legit bought that as a possible finish. Ishii is not deterred, though, and just hoists him up and bounces him off the mat with a brainbuster, and that WILL be the finish. (Tomohiro Ishii over Cedric Alexander, pinfall, 6:18)

WORTH WATCHING? The first part was slow, but once they started to go into the near-falls, they ratcheted it up a notch to make me say YES, this one was pretty decent. It looked like Cedric had to figure out how to wrestle Ishii’s style in there, but he worked it out and they had a nice match.

Post-match, Ishii stands over a fallen Alexander and holds the belt in his face, taunting him before getting his hand raised. He makes sure to show his belt to the announcers before he takes his leave. Kelly tells us that our main event tonight is Elgin/Tanahashi against the Young Bucks, and that should make you want to stick around through these ads!

We’re back as The Addiction are making their way to the ring in street clothes, and they’ve got something to say! Kaz tells us that the reunion of the Motor City Machine Guns at the 14th Anniversary may make the fans happy, but it makes the Addiction sick! He calls Sabin a ‘turd’ and tells him that they brought him back to relevance by bringing him back to Ring of Honor! Were it not for the Addiction, Sabin would still be as broken as the Detroit economy! Sabin owes Kaz and Daniels a lot, but first and foremost, he owes them an apology! He hands off the mic to Daniels, who immediately says that an apology is not good enough! Well, get on the same page guys. Jeez. He says that a friend doesn’t treat their friends that way; Daniels expects Ring of Honor to treat them that way, he expects the ‘simple-minded’ fans to treat them that way, because they’re jealous of the Addiction’s success! They aren’t sure what generation the Machine Guns are, but it doesn’t matter, because The Addiction are the Generation Killers, and they’re going to end this reunion before it even starts! And that’s enough to bring out the Guns, Sabin with the mic. He says that Daniels and Kaz seem to be confused, so he’ll set the record straight – he came to the realization that Daniels and Kaz are just a couple of bitter old douchebags. And that’s the only reason that he’s here with his best friend Alex Shelley, and not with Daniels and Kaz anymore. But if they want a fight, they can do that right here, right now! The Guns charge the ring, but the Addiction apparently would prefer there not be fisticuffs because they run for the hills. Daniels asks the crowd if they want to see them wrestle the MCM, which the crowd would very much enjoy. Well, too bad! Children don’t tell adults what to do, and the Guns aren’t going to tell the Addiction what to do! And with that, Daniels and Kaz walk to the back while the Guns stand tall in the ring. And we’re going to stand up and get a beer from the fridge, because it’s time for some great ads!

We’re back with the House of Truth! Martini tells us that next week, Hirooki Goto will go one on one with the greatest ROH World Champ of all time! Lethal: “Goto. When I’m done with you, you’ll go to the hospital!” Lethal is proud of that one! He’s sending Goto back to Japan with a notebook that says Jay Lethal is the greatest! That’s next week!

Time for some tag team action! Reno Scum is making their way to the ring. And they’re out here as “Reach for the sky, boy!” hits, signaling the arrival of the Briscoes!

The Briscoes (Mark & Jay Briscoe) vs Reno Scum (Adam Thornstowe & Luster the Legend)

Reno Scum has showed up in ROH before, mostly when they pass through Vegas and the surrounding areas. Code of Honor is followed. Kelly and Corino have a pretty funny conversation about whether Reno Scum was part of the S.C.U.M. that was in ROH a few years ago, with “Mr. Wrestling” professing to needing to study more ROH history. Adam and Mark start us off. Lockup goes the corner, Adam with a kick and a cross-corner whip, Mark goes over to avoid. He takes Adam over with a snapmare and some Froggy-Fu in a kick to the head of Adam. Tag to Jay, and they tee off on Adam with headbutts, then Jay takes him over the top with a Cactus clothesline. Luster goes over to help, but Mark dropkicks him through the ropes. Jay sends Adam off the ropes and catches him with a heel kick. That gets two as we’re talking on commentary about how War Machine has never beaten the Briscoes. Tag back to Mark. Adam fights back and reverses a whip to the corner buckles, and Luster sneaks into the ring and shoulders Mark in the corner. Adam comes off Luster’s back for a double stomp on Mark while the ref is distracted by Jay. Tag to Luster now, and they make a wish on the legs of Mark Briscoe. Snapmare and a falling headbutt by Luster gets two. Tag back to Adam and they double-team Mark in the corner, whipping him to the buckles and beating him down. Mark tries to fight Adam off, but Adam is having none of that and sends Briscoe back to the heel corner and there’s another tag. Chop by Luster, then a snapmare as we hit the chinlock. Briscoe fights up, so Luster sends him back to the corner, but Mark continues to fight off both guys before diving for the tag, but Luster catches him just beyond Jay’s fingertips and drives him back. Tag back to Adam, and Luster catapults him into a Death Valley Driver for two as Jay has to break it up. Another quick tag as Luster is back in, with Reno Scum wrestling a very smart match right now. Headbutts to Briscoes’ chest by Luster. Adam comes back in and whips Luster towards Mark in the corner, but Mark moves and the Legend hits the post. Mark reaches for the tag, but Adam takes Jay Briscoe off the apron to prevent it. He sends Mark off the ropes for a back body drop, but Mark flips over and lands on his feet, stumbling into his corner and tagging Jay. He comes in and destroys Adam with clotheslines, then uppercuts and headbutts. Adam tries to hold him off with a kick, but he comes off the ropes and Jay catches him with a Death Valley Driver of his own. Machine-gun neckbreaker by Jay. 1,2, Luster breaks it up. Everyone is in now, and Mark goes after Luster with chops, but Luster fires back until Mark gets a Uranage and rolls him outside the ring. Tag to Mark from Jay. Jay whips Adam to the corner and splashes him, then Mark gets him up, neckbreaker/power bomb combo from Mark and Jay! 1,2, NO! Jaydriller attempt, but Luster is back in the ring and he shoves Mark into Jay and they knock heads. Luster loads Mark up, German Suplex! He holds him in the bridge and Adam comes over with a double stomp onto Briscoe’s chest! That was hella cool, right there. 1,2, Jay breaks it up! Jay and Luster go toe to toe now firing forearms, Jay gains the advantage and goes for the Jaydriller. Luster reverses out of it, but Jay hits him with a short-arm clothesline and both guys are down. Mark charges Adam and eats an elbow, but catches Adam out of the corner and gets a Death Valley Driver, rolling through and going up. Froggy-bow by Mark Briscoe! And that’ll do it for what ended up a pretty hard-fought win for the Briscoes. 1,2,3 (The Briscoes over Reno Scum, pinfall, 7:01)

WORTH WATCHING? Well, I expected a Briscoe squash here, but Reno Scum got a very good bit of offense, including some nice double teams. I’ll say YES, go ahead and watch it, but it’s not going to set your world on fire, just a decent to good tag match.
Post-match the Code of Honor is followed again as we’re reminded that our main event is next! Well, not totally true – what’s next are these great ads!

We’re back with a promo from Dalton Castle! “Silas Young. Isn’t this exciting?” In 3 weeks on ROH TV, it’ll be a Fight without Honor between Young and Castle! Where are the Boys? Well, Castle doesn’t want them to see what he’s going to do to Young; they have sensitive ears and eyes! They can’t handle a Fight without Honor. Castle stares at the camera as we’re out.

Hey, do you want your friends to tell you how cool you are? Well, then you should buy this Kenny Omega t-shirt! I’ll just make this simple: Kenny Omega may be one of the best wrestlers in the world right now. He still creeps me the fuck out.

And there’s the music of the Young Bucks! Time for the main event! Elgin out next, then Tanahashi, who gets a nice pop from the crowd. This could be really, really good. We’ve been joined on commentary by Nigel McGuinness, who confirms that in two weeks, we’ll get The Addiction against the Motor City Machine Guns. There’s a bit of history here, as the Bucks helped Kenny Omega defeat Tanahashi for the IWGP Intercontinental title in Japan.

The Young Bucks vs Michael Elgin & Hiroshi Tanahashi

Code of Honor is not followed, as Tana is trying to get at the Bucks from the start of this one, as the Bucks mock his shoulder injury. Nick Jackson and Elgin are going to start this one. Big Mike calls for a test of strength to start; could Nick be that dumb? Nope, as he holds up the too sweet fingers and pokes Elgin in the eye as the crowd roars. Headlock by Nick, Mike shoots him off and stands up off a Nick shoulder, Nick tries again and Elgin runs through him after bouncing off the ropes. Nick doesn’t seem all that upset and he gives Elgin a hip thrust from the mat and they run the ropes, Nick with a go-behind and then a kick to the gut when Elgin breaks. Elgin reverses into an armwringer and sends him off the ropes, but Matt blind tags Nick and Nick comes in with a kick to Elgin, followed by Matt elevating Nick into a dropkick to send Elgin to the floor. The Bucks hit Tanahashi with the headscissors into a dropkick to send Hiroshi to the floor, then Matt comes through the ropes with a double dropkick to keep both of them there. Nick gets a running start and goes over the top of Matt with a corkscrew onto Elgin, and we’ve got some ads to watch!

We’re back with Elgin catching a Matt Jackson crossbody attempt. Matt wiggles his way to the apron out of a powerslam position and tries to superkick Tana, but Hiroshi catches the leg and holds him in place for Elgin to get a bicycle kick to send Matt to the floor. Nick comes in and eats a discus punch from Elgin. Tanahashi sends Matt back in now, and there’s a tag from Elgin. Double delayed suplex from Elgin and Tanahashi. They tell Nick on the apron to suck it, and Tana sends him to the corner, then goes back over to Nick to antagonize him further while Elgin works Matt over. Hiroshi takes a shot at Nick Jackson to put him on the floor. Elgin holds Matt in place as Hiroshi charges….and stops short to rake Matt’s back. Oooohh. That was nasty. Tag back to Elgin, who comes in with a forearm to drop Matt. Elgin holds Matt up for another delayed suplex, Nick comes in and pulls him down, so Elgin just suplexes both Bucks. He gets two on Matt. Tag back to Tanahashi, who is really just awesome at making me believe that he HATES the very existence of the Young Bucks. He puts Matt into an abdominal stretch and plays the air guitar to crank on it. Matt hiptosses out of it, but Tana catches him before he gets a tag and puts on a loose crossface, turning it into a chinlock. Matt fights out of it and fires shots at both Hiroshi and Elgin on the apron. He comes off the ropes, Elgin pulls him out and we have our first superkick of the match as Matt drops Elgin on the floor. Matt comes back in and somersaults past Hiroshi, and there’s a tag to Nick, who comes in and dropkicks Tana. Another one. Springboard dropkick to put Elgin back on the floor from the apron. He reverses an attempted whip by Tanahashi and gets a back elbow. Nick charges, Hiroshi alley-oops him to the apron and charges, but Nick shoulders him in the midsection and comes in with a facebuster. He tries to flip to the apron and moonsault Elgin, Mike catches him in a powerslam but Nick reverses it into a tornado DDT on the floor. That was nice, Nick. And you know what else will be nice? Our final ad break of the evening!

We’re back with Nick Jackson coming off the top with a swanton that grazes a prone Tanahashi on the mat for two. Tag to Matt, who comes in with fists on Hiroshi and whips him to the corner. Matt charges but eats a back elbow and a springboard crossbody from Hiroshi. Tana makes the tag, and Elgin comes in with forearms to both Bucks. He wrecks both of them going corner to corner with clotheslines and gets Matt up for a suplex, but Nick pulls him down and goes for a superkick. Elgin catches it and sends it at Matt instead. Elgin loads up both Bucks and gets a fallaway slam to put them both down. Good fucking God, Elgin is crazy strong. Elgin goes to the corner and goes up….deadlift Falcon Arrow on Matt Jackson! That was insane. That somehow only gets two. Elgin tries for a buckle bomb, but Matt ‘ranas him into the buckle where Nick gets a kick to the head. The Bucks do a double-team move that looks like a Blockbuster of some type, and they double superkick Tanahashi when he comes back in. The Bucks go up now, 450 splash by Matt on Elgin! 450 splash on Elgin by Nick! 1,2, Tanahashi BARELY makes the save! Nick dumps Hiroshi back onto the floor, and the Bucks set up for More Bang for Your Buck, but Elgin slips out and Tanahashi gets the tag as Elgin hits Matt with an enzuigiri. Nick comes in with a spinning kick to Elgin, but Tana catches the superkick and gets a dragon-screw legwhip on Nick. Matt comes back with a superkick on Tanahashi, but Hiroshi doesn’t sell it and turns Matt inside-out with a clothesline. Good. If the Bucks are going to use the damn superkick as a transition move, then it should be sold like one. Tana goes onto Elgin’s shoulders and Big Mike goes for a slam of Tanahashi onto Matt, but Matt gets the knees up. Elgin eats a superkick from Nick that he doesn’t sell, but the Bucks get a double superkick to put him down as after a pretty great match, we’re down to the usual silliness from the Bucks. And yes, they double superkick Tanahashi while he’s on his knees. The Bucks call for the Meltzer Driver, but Elgin is back up and he catches Nick when comes off the top and drops him with a power bomb. Tana comes back with a sling blade on Matt, and Elgin follows with a power bomb on Matt. And that’s gonna just about do it here as Tanahashi goes up, High Fly Flow! 1,2,3. (Michael Elgin & Hiroshi Tanahashi over The Young Bucks, pinfall, 12:02)

WORTH WATCHING? Well, YES, this was a very good tag match. I don’t really understand why the Bucks are doing jobs to Elgin and Tana, but whatever. The flow was nice and they didn’t fuck around with the superkicks until the end, so I can live with it. There’s still going to be the usual stuff with the Young Bucks being more style than substance, but I’ve learned to just accept that this is who they are, for better or worse.

Post-match, Tana and Elgin celebrate with a hug as Kelly reminds us that next week, it’s Lethal/Goto for the World title! And we’re out.

FINAL THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: Good episode of ROH this week. Nothing to set the world on fire, but a good main event and two other decent matches with little filler is exactly how I like my wrestling shows, and this one more than delivered on that front. Worth a look this week.

As always, I appreciate you reading this thing I wrote,

Rick Poehling
@MrSoze on Twitter