Ring of Honor – June 8th, 2016

Howdy!

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

Notable news from around the world of ROH this week:

–We’ve got two items of interest when it comes to potential free agents. Both Moose and Roderick Strong’s contracts are set to expire within a few weeks, and the WWE has at least shown interest in Moose at a minimum. He was down at Takeover visiting old friends and was snapped in a shot driving with Apollo Crews. The WWE allegedly made a run at Moose a year ago, trying to recruit him to appear in Tough Enough, but they were turned down. The interest is apparently still there. As for Strong, his weight class would put him right in the middle of the upcoming Cruiserweight tournament, but he’s apparently also being eyed with the idea that the brand split is going to swallow a lot of talent from NXT and that talent will need to be replaced. Stay tuned.

–Adam Cole will be heading to Japan for the Dominion PPV – this marks the first tour of duty in NJPW for Adam, who will be representing the Bullet Club.

Let’s watch some wrestling, shall we?

Ring of Honor TV – 6/8/16

We’re starting with Prince Nana and Donovan Dijak! Yes, the exclamation point is there on purpose, why do you ask? Nana: “The time has come!” Is it time to explain what those envelopes are? Who else is going to be in the new Embassy? How he manages to pull off that headband with such suave sophistication? Naw, he’s talking about Dijak taking out Truth Martini. Jay Lethal chimes in on the other side with Taeler Hendrix, and they’re upset! Donovan broke the neck of the only man who believed in him! Nana says they have no one to turn to, while Lethal and Hendrix say that it has turned personal! Well, tonight, we’re going to settle this thing! Lethal/Dijak for the ROH World Title, tonight!

We are TAPED from the Ted Reeve Arena in Toronto, Ontario Canada! Your hosts are Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness! Tonight, besides our main event, we’ll see Colt Cabana take on the Bullet Club’s newest recruit, Adam Page! But we’re going to get started with Matt Sydal vs Kazuchika Okada! It’s my reward for sitting through a Donovan Dijak main event!

Okay, I promise that was the only cheap shot tonight. I’m looking forward to being proven wrong about Dijak.

And there’s the music of the aforementioned Matt Sydal! He’s followed by the music of the Rainmaker himself, who’s accompanied by Gedo! This should be awesome.

Matt Sydal vs Kazuchika Okada (w/ Gedo)

Code of Honor is followed. The announcers actually give a little backstory for the match, saying that Sydal was feeling a bit slighted that Okada chose Will Ospreay for the CHAOS faction over Sydal. Lockup, they trade go-behinds, Okada with a wristlock, Sydal with a reversal into a hammerlock and a headlock takeover. Okada gets back to his feet with a side headlock on Matt, Sydal shoots him off the ropes, but Okada runs through him with a shoulder. Okada catches a Sydal leapfrog and goes for the Rainmaker, Sydal reverses and ‘ranas him. Sydal looks for the Rainmaker now, but ends up putting Okada on the mat and going for a standing moonsault. Okada moves, but Matt lands on his feet. They have a staredown in the middle of the ring, test of strength ends with Okada taking Sydal to the mat with a wristlock. Cross corner whip is reversed by Sydal, but Matt runs right into an elbow from Okada. Okada charges out of the corner and Matt catches him with a leg lariat. Tornado DDT attempt by Matt is blocked by Okada, who dropkicks Matt off the top rope to the floor, and that kicks us to our first ad break of the evening!

We’re back with Sydal elbowing out of an Okada chinlock. Okada gets sent to the ropes and fakes Sydal out, hitting him with a big boot. He goes to the apron and springboard in with a senton for two. Sydal tries to fight back with kicks, but Okada just clubs him down with forearms, which was pretty cool. Okada sends Matt head first to the buckles a few times and knocks him down again with an elbow to the back of the head, as they’re playing the big man/little man formula here pretty well, Okada dominating and Matt fighting up. Sydal finally blocks a buckle smash with a kick, then a few more and he hits the standing moonsault for two. Corner clothesline into the top rope double knees from Sydal, 1,2, no! Sydal charges Okada in the corner and gets a jumping spin kick, then sets Okada on the top. Looking for the top rope ‘rana, but Okada slips out when Matt jumps and he hits his head on the top buckle! Okada gets the neckbreaker across the knee for two. Slam by Okada and he goes up, beautiful flying elbow by Okada. He signals for the Rainmaker, but Sydal does a Matrix dodge and gets a reverse ‘rana! Matt goes up, Shooting Star Press hits the knees of Okada! Okada goes for a tombstone, Sydal wiggles out but misses a jumping knee, Okada with the dropkick! Man, I don’t know who does it better, him or Jason Jordan. They’re both gorgeous. Rainmaker hits this time, and there’s no getting up for Matt. 1,2,3. (Kazuchika Okada over Matt Sydal, pinfall, 7:29)

WORTH WATCHING? Well, I was ready to say ‘duh’ once I saw who was wrestling, but I have to admit that I would like to have seen the whole match, as it felt like we went to clipsville there. Regardless, the closing stretch was excellent and that’s enough to warrant a YES, this one is worth your time. Just wish there was more of it.

Post-match, Code of Honor is followed, complete with bows! And we’re going to bow out to check out these fine ads!

We’re back with the Bullet Club! Well, Adam Cole and the Young Bucks, and have they heard about the main event at Best in the World? Jay Lethal vs Jay Briscoe? Well, no matter who wins, they’re just keeping the title warm for Adam Cole! Cole all but promises that the Bullet Club will be interfering in tonight’s main event between Lethal and Dijak.

Meanwhile, Silas Young is perturbed, because he came home and found his son coloring in the brand new ROH coloring book! More specifically, he was coloring a picture of ACH! Well, Silas told him that the guy that he was coloring didn’t act the way that men acted, and his boy told him that if that was the case, he didn’t want it anymore! Man, Silas’ kid sounds like kind of a brat; you got a coloring book, man! Don’t just give it away! It made Young think that his 7 year old son is more of a man that ACH is. Well, Silas wants ACH to know that he doesn’t have a problem with him, he just wants to teach him some lessons; lessons that ACH’s father obviously didn’t teach him. Now, to this untrained recapper’s eye, that seems like he DOES have a problem with ACH there, but I’ll take him at his word.

“Bullet Club!” We’re back to the action as the newest member of the Bullet Club, one Adam Page, makes his way to the ring. Page is now known as ‘the Hangman’ apparently. “Boom Boom Boom – Colt Cabana!” There he is! Making his return to ROH TV after a lengthy 5 year absence, it’s Colt Cabana!

Colt Cabana vs Adam Page

Code of Honor is declined. Lockup goes all over the ring into the corner, where Page spits on Colt while the ref separates them. Again, but this time Page takes a cheap shot. Side headlock by Page, Colt shoots him off, Page knocks Colt down with a shoulderblock. They criss-cross, and Colt gets a headscissors takeover on Page, and we reset. Cabana takes him down and gets a wristlock, then snapmares him over for a one count. Cabana with a crucifix for one. Cabana wrings the arm of Page and drops him to the mat. Cross-corner whip is reversed by Page, Cabana dodges but Adam catches him and tosses him to the floor. Page to the apron, Shooting Star Press from the apron to the floor! Page poses in the ring as we need to take a break for these great ads!

We’re back with Colt fighting up with chops against Adam. They slug it out with a few reversals, and Page takes Colt down with a clothesline. Dropkick by Page, Colt hits the buckles in the corner, 1,2, no! Cabana fights out with a couple of rear ends to the midsection (must have been watching Taguchi matches recently), Page whips him cross-corner but Colt comes out with an elbow to stagger Adam. Colt goes to the top and leaps over a charging Page, then levels him with a chop. Cabana with jabs, then the Flip, Flop, and Fly. Rear splash in the corner by Colt, and he catches Adam coming off the ropes with another elbow to the head, sending Adam to the apron. Colt charges, but Adam flips in with a lariat for two. Rite of Passage attempt by Page is blocked, and Cabana springs off the second rope with a moonsault for two. Page charges Colt in the corner, but Cabana gets the boots up to drop Adam, and leaps forward with the legs trapped to get the pin. (Colt Cabana over Adam Page, pinfall, 8:06)

WORTH WATCHING? Meh, it was perfectly acceptable wrestling. Nothing to set the world on fire here, just two professionals having a decent match. I’m going to say NO, you can skip this one, but there’s no real shame in watching it either. Decent enough stuff, just didn’t trip my trigger.

Post-match, the Guerillas of Destiny jump Colt, and they’re low enough on the Bullet Club totem pole that the crowd actually BOOS them. Page goes to hang Colt as Kevin Kelly tells the back to go to break, because they can’t show what’s about to happen; but I know what we can watch that’s about to happen, and that’s these great ads!

We’re back with the All-Night Express! “Are you tired of little boys with itty-bitty biceps?” And the undercover officer working the camera hears that and hauls Rhett Titus off to jail immediately. Hey, I could have made a Rob Feinstein joke there. Anyway, Kenny King and Rhett Titus want to make wrestling great again! They proceed to extol the glories of Jushin Liger for a few moments before running down Cheeseburger, and so far I’m good with what they’re putting down here. They run down Liger now, comparing him to Brett Farve as another guy who stayed in the game too long, and they promise that their match in Toronto is the first step in making wrestling great again! They shake hands as I shake my head about why this segment, though amusing, was on this show.

We’re back at ringside with Kelly and Nigel, and they start to talk about Best in the World when BJ Whitmer comes down to ringside. Oh, joy. BJ’s got a mic, and he’s got something to say. “Finally, Nigel, finally you have come to your senses and booked the match!” He tells Corino that his actions weren’t too far – in fact, Steve has no one to blame for BJ’s actions but himself. Crowd thinks this is boring; crowd is correct. BJ tells Corino that he’s not only going to break his body, he’s going to steal his soul! And that brings Steve Corino out of the crowd, and he wants a piece of BJ Whitmer. Whitmer says that they can do this match right now! So Steve slides into the ring while BJ, of course, runs for the hills. Kevin Kelly screams that BJ Whitmer pushed Steve Corino too far! Can we at least SEE some of this footage on the television program? I mean, seriously, why can’t we just go with Whitmer abusing Corino’s son for months in the Decade as sufficient motivation for the fight if they’re not even going to show the footage on TV that they keep vaguely referring to? Jesus. Anyway, maybe I’ll see some of that footage in the following ads!

We’re back with ACH! “When I was 13 years old, my father actually told me if you’re handling your business and you’re taking care of your responsibilities, you do you!” Yeah! I mean, huh? Anyway, what ACH means is that so long as you’re not taking food off another man’s plate, you be who you are! And he’s not taking food off Silas’ plate, nor does he have a problem with Silas! Man, what a great feud, two guys who swear they DON’T have a problem with each other! It’s gonna draw millions! Anyway, it’s clear that Silas is just jealous of all the things that ACH does, it doesn’t matter who you are, if you want to watch cartoons, watch cartoons! ACH is all over the place here. He tells Silas that his problem is that he can’t hold down his own household, clearly! Okay, gotcha. We couldn’t just go with ‘you insulted my father, prepare to die’ here?

And that’s the music of one Donovan Dijak! Time for the main event! He is, of course, accompanied by Prince Nana. Kelly drops in that this is a non-title affair; now, I could have SWORN that I heard Nana say otherwise earlier, or at least imply it, but whatever. “We are the House of Truth!” That’s the music of the champ! Jay Lethal and Taeler Hendrix are out, and Lethal is really selling this thing, not taking his eyes off Dijak on the ramp. Lethal makes his way to the ring….and slides in, attacking immediately!

Jay Lethal (w/ Taeler Hendrix) vs Donovan Dijak (w/ Prince Nana)

No Code of Honor, obviously. Lethal double legs Donovan immediately and they roll around on the mat, trading punches. I’m not a fan of Dijak’s punches, he throws them loosely, but he does make a comeback out of the corner with some very nice straight forearms. Dijak stomps Lethal down in the corner, Lethal tries to come back with shots, but Dijak just picks him up in slam position and flings him over the top rope to the floor. GOOD. That type of stuff is exactly what Dijak should be doing, emphasizing the size difference as much as possible. Most of his matches are built around him being the bigger guy, and while I do find it somewhat repetitive he might as well continue to work on that if it’s going to be his go-to stuff. They trade shots on the floor and Dijak gets a knee, and throws him over in suplex position to the mat. Dijak goes to whip Lethal to the barricade, but Jay reverses and sends Donovan crashing into it instead. Again! Lethal sees Nana out of the corner of his eye and gives chase, with Nana rolling into the ring. Nana pleads for his life as Lethal backs him into the corner, but Dijak is back in now and the two exchange rights as Nana bails to the floor. Dijak charges Lethal, but Jay dumps him to the apron and gets the springboard dropkick to send him to the floor. Lethal runs the ropes, tope sends Dijak to the barricade! Again! Jay goes for again, but Dijak sidesteps it and sends Jay to the barricade this time. Dijak back in the ring, he runs the ropes, twisting moonsault over the top rope to Jay on the floor! Alright, FINE, that was pretty fucking cool, especially for a guy his size. And now that I’ve paid Dijak a compliment, I’m going to check the temperature in Hell while these fine ads are watched!

We’re back with Dijak in control. We see that during the break, Donovan grabbed the World Title belt and held it in Jay’s face, telling Lethal that he was taking it, and there’s nothing that Jay could do about it! But remember, this ISN’T a title match! Meanwhile back in the ring, Jay gets a hiptoss and cartwheels into a seated dropkick. Jay comes up limping and sends Dijak to the top buckle. Chops by Jay, then a cross-corner whip is reversed by Dijak, but he runs into Lethal’s boot when Jay gets the leg up. Lethal to the second rope, but Dijak catches him coming off in an overhead belly-to-belly. 1,2, no! Dijak trash talks Jay on the mat, and the match flow here is all over the place. He keeps shoving Jay’s head while the announcers tell me that next week, our main event will be Kyle O’Reilly against KUSHIDA! I love you again, Ring of Honor! Well, I never really stopped, but still. You’re my heartbeat. Anyway, Lethal has had enough of this shit and he fights back, trading shots with Dijak in the middle of the ring. Jay starts to hit the Lethal Combination, but his knee hurts off the backbreaker and Dijak frees himself with a superkick. Discus clothesline by Dijak misses and Lethal gets a German suplex on Dijak, but Donovan isn’t selling that one. Chokeslam attempt by Dijak, but Jay flips out of it and gets a step-up enzuigiri. Lethal off the ropes, but Dijak gets the spinning big boot to put both guys down on the mat. Dijak signals to finish, but Lethal catches him and this time, the Lethal Combination hits! 1,2, no! And now Jay is back to selling the knee, and I really wish that Dijak would have started targeting it or doing something to it. Lethal to the top for Hail to the King, but Dijak catches him coming down in a chokehold. Donovan goes for it, but Lethal counters to a rollup that SPIKES Dijak’s head on the mat. Ouch. 1,2, Dijak reverses to a wheelbarrow, then up to the torture rack. He tries for Feast your Eyes, but Jay manages to avoid the knee. What he doesn’t avoid, though, is a kick from Dijak and a straight right that might actually be the single best punch Dijak has ever thrown. Dijak off the ropes with the spinning kick, but Jay just superkicks him to counter. Lethal Injection attempt is caught by Dijak in a Fireman’s Carry, then Dijak just drops him with a sitout powerbomb! 1,2, NO! Dijak springs to the top rope, moonsault misses! Lethal up and he’s going for the Lethal Injection again, but now Nana is on the apron to stop it. Taeler pulls him off the apron and they start to fight on the outside. Meanwhile, in the ring, Dijak has Lethal up for Feast your Eyes, but Jay wiggles out….just as Kenny Omega and Matt Jackson charge the ring! Ref is still occupied with Hendrix and Nana on the outside as they look to superkick Lethal, but Jay ducks and Dijak eats a double superkick! Jay off the ropes, Lethal Injection to Dijak! That’ll do it here. (Jay Lethal over Donovan Dijak, pinfall, 11:06)

WORTH WATCHING? Well, it’s Donovan Dijak’s best match ever on television, so there’s that. I’m torn here, because it was a very decent match with no real noticeable botches outside of that rollup that spiked Dijak’s head on the match, which isn’t that big a deal. Lethal sold a knee injury that Dijak did absolutely nothing with, and he still has his moments where he looks lost out there with some awkward hesitations on punches and on the missed Feast your Eyes, and that hurts the flow of his matches a bunch. That having been said, I’ll give him a ton of credit; this match was leaps and bounds above what he’s done before. Working with Lethal probably helped, as Lethal sold a bunch for him and let him look good out there. Suprisingly, I’m going with a YES here, it’s very watchable. Don’t mistake my meaning, I’m still not a fan of Dijak’s work; he’s all potential at this point and has a ton of holes in his craft. BUT, I’ll call a spade a spade and say that he had a pretty good outing here, and he deserves credit for that.

Post-match, the Guerillas of Destiny are back and they jump Jay this time, as it seems we have a winning place for them on the card; jump the faces after the match! They beat on Jay for a bit before the Briscoes charge the ring to make the save. Taeler hands Lethal the title belt, but Jay Briscoe grabs it out of Lethal’s hands and stares him down. Briscoe thinks for a second and holds the belt out to Lethal, who grabs it from Briscoe’s hands and they exchange words as the show comes to an end.

FINAL THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: Better show than last week, as we finally got some movement for Briscoe/Lethal II, along with a decent if too short Sydal/Okada match, and Donovan Dijak actually showing some potential. Cons were the stupid ANX promo that was a waste of valuable TV time, plus the ACH/Silas Young stuff that wasn’t particularly well-delivered. The positives outweigh the negatives this week. Check it out.

As always, thanks for reading,

Rick Poehling
@MrSoze on Twitter