Ring of Honor – October 5th, 2016

Howdy!

Let’s watch some wrestling, shall we?

Ring of Honor TV – 10/05/16

Hey! We’re at a baseball field! And there’s a very nice rendition of the National Anthem going on, courtesy of one Mr. Keith Hardy! Heh, people attempting to be solemn while wearing Bullet Club shirts amuse me for some reason. That can only mean one thing; it’s Field of Honor time! For the next few weeks, we’ll be seeing matches from the Field of Honor 2016 event.

We are TAPED from MCU Park in Brooklyn, New York! Your hosts are Kevin Kelly & Steve Corino! Tonight, we’ve got a huge 8-man tag team main event as the Motor City Machine Guns, Super ACH, & Lio Rush will take on Bullet Club members Adam Page, Yujiro Takahashi, & the Young Bucks! But we’re starting off with a title match!

EVIL vs Bobby Fish – Ring of Honor World TV title match

EVIL comes out without his staff, which just really takes away from the entire ensemble. Fish is out next, and I have to echo those who have said that if Fish were just 10 years younger, he’d be a natural for today’s NXT.

No Code of Honor, which probably makes Fish sad. EVIL controls early with a kick and few forearms. Bobby fights back, but EVIL catches a kick and goes to the eyes, following that with a shoulderblock. Fish fires back as EVIL catches the ropes to stop a rollup attempt, they criss-cross, and Fish nails him with a dropkick. More kicks from Bobby, EVIL blocks an armbar attempt so Fish goes to a kneebar instead, forcing EVIL to the ropes. EVIL rolls out and Fish follows with a few more kicks, but gets caught and sent to the post by EVIL. EVIL grabs a chair and nails Fish in the midsection with it, and even the announcers are mystified as to why that’s not a DQ. EVIL with another kick, and now he wraps the chair around Bobby’s head and neck, then sends him into the post. For some reason, THAT’S not a DQ either. So EVIL takes out a shotgun next, and blow’s Bobby’s head….nah, that didn’t happen. But this is still ridiculous. Let’s ponder what it could possibly take to get DQ’d in ROH during these great ads!

We’re back with Fish hitting a splash in the corner on EVIL, then dropping him with a forearm as EVIL comes off the ropes. Huh. Guess he’s fine. Tackle to the corner by Fish, kneelift, exploder suplex on EVIL! 1,2, NO! Kicks in the corner by Bobby, and he goes for a German suplex but eats an elbow from EVIL. EVIL with another elbow and he sends Fish to the corner. Bobby gets his boot up off a blind charge, but EVIL catches it and hits a discus onto Fish! Fisherman’s Buster attempt is blocked by Bobby, but Fish comes off the ropes and eats a knee; he repays that in kind with a forearm as EVIL tries to come off the ropes now. Samoan drop by Fish! Belly-to-back suplex by EVIL! Dragon-screw legwhip by Fish! Bobby lines him up, but EVIL catches the leg of Fish and hits the Fisherman’s Buster! Both guys are down, they get back to their feet and slug it out, Fish with the advantage, but EVIL catches him, half and half suplex! Lariat by EVIL turns Fish inside-out! 1,2, NO! EVIL puts Fish in a fireman’s carry, then drops him down into a sitout powerbomb position! 1,2, NO! EVIL goes for the STO to finish, but Fish blocks it and gets a leg lariat! Fish gets him up, Falcon Arrow! 1,2, EVIL kicks out….right into the kneebar from Bobby! He tries to fight it…..he taps out! (Bobby Fish over EVIL, submission, 9:21)

WORTH WATCHING? – Started slow but picked up well enough in the second half of the match, although the nonsense with the chair was just stupid; I can buy into the ‘relaxed rules’ thing off of the first chairshot, but not the second one, and even the first one was dumb. Fish is doing a good job with that belt, to say the least, as he continues an unlikely run with it. I’ll give this one a half-hearted YES because of the decent near-falls at the end, but the first half of the match almost killed it for me. I will say that it’s again nice to see a visiting NJPW wrestler not being treated like a god and tapping out to an ROH talent; between that and Naito laying down cleanly for Lethal at the PPV, I’ve got some hope that going forward, the working agreement won’t just be clean jobs from ROH guys.

Post-match, Fish celebrates as Kelly tells us that up next, it’s going to be Elgin vs Donovan Dijak for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship! Uh…..huh? I’ll wonder about that during these fine ads!

We’re back to the music of one Donovan Dijak! Prince Nana leads his charge to the ring as Kelly tells us that this will be a rare defense of the IWGP IC title on American soil! Now, you might be asking yourself, what did Donovan Dijak do to earn such a title shot, especially considering that the IWGP IC title has some prestige? The answer, as is sometimes the case in Ring of Honor, is…I dunno. And there’s the music of one Michael Elgin! The (at the time of this taping) IWGP IC champ makes his way to the ring. True story that I shall now brag about – he brought that title to a local fed here in Omaha, and I got to hold it for a pic with him. It was sweet.

Hmmmm…..that really wasn’t much to actually brag about, was it? I need to reassess my priorities in life.

Hey, BOLA ships this week!

What was I talking about before?

Michael Elgin vs Donovan Dijak (w/ Prince Nana) – IWGP Intercontinental title match

No Code of Honor. Lockup goes to the ropes and Elgin gives a clean break, promptly followed by a right hand from Dijak. Elgin invites him to come off the ropes and stands him up on a shoulderblock, then Mike shows Dijak how it’s done and drops him with a shoulder. Clothesline in the corner from Elgin and he gets Dijak up for the delayed vertical, which is an insanely impressive visual. He keeps him up there for a crowd count of over 40(!) before dropping him, which is kind of nuts. Slam by Mike and he goes to the apron, then slingshots in with a splash! 1,2, no! Elgin charges Dijak in the corner but misses, and Dijak goes to work with elbows to the head. Oy. Those elbows are not good. Well, the first few were. Dijak backs off and charges, and now Elgin shows him what a good elbow looks and sounds like, nailing him in the head. Enzuigiri by Elgin, but a cross-corner whip attempt is reversed and Dijak knees him in the back and tosses him from a slam position. Dijak selling his back being hurt is actually pretty decent. Standing twisting senton from Dijak! Neato. That gets two. They trade suplex attempts, fighting for it, and Elgin gets his. Time for ROH to get theirs; their sweet ad money, that is!

We’re back with Elgin clobbering Dijak with a lariat. I approve of this. Another one gets two. Powerbomb by Elgin, and he stacks Dijak up for two. Bucklebomb by Elgin! He goes for the Elginbomb, but Dijak turns it into a sitout of his own! 1,2, NO! They slug it out, and Dijak should take a lesson from Elgin into how to throw forearms; the difference is staggering. Elgin wins that fight and comes off the ropes, right into the discus boot from Dijak! Elgin no-sells it! Dijak fires at him more as a result, culminating in a second discus boot to put Mike down! Chokeslam across the knee from Dijak! Dijak springs to the top, moonsault hits! 1,2, NO! Elgin rolls out to the apron and Dijak follows, Dijak gets caught in a fireman’s carry by Elgin. Death Valley Driver on the apron by Elgin! Elgin goes up now, but Nana grabs his leg and Dijak slams him off the top. Dijak goes up, but Elgin follows him…..German release suplex from the top! Holy SHIT. Discus forearm from Elgin! Discus chop from Elgin! Bucklebomb from Elgin! Elginbomb from….well, Elgin! And that’ll do it here. (Michael Elgin over Donovan Dijak, pinfall, 10:18)

WORTH WATCHING? – Well, I’m of two minds here, as the big stuff from Dijak was all pretty awesome; watching a guy that size do moonsaults is always going to be impressive. But the faults with him are still there, and they’re things that are just going to go away in time, like his transitions not being great, his forearms and punches looking weak, stuff like that; if they keep putting him in there with good workers, he’ll probably get better. Elgin more than held up his end on this one, as his power moves look impressive when done to a guy like Donovan. The match itself was okay, but they crammed a lot into the last few minutes that I’m not sure totally worked. In honor of Dijak being willing to take that reverse German off the top rope, I’ll give this one a YES, check it out if you want. Skip it and all will be well in your world too. The good just barely outweighed the bad with it.

Post-match, Elgin holds up his belt and celebrates as Kelly tells us that our main event is coming up next! After these great ads, I presume?

We’re back to the music of the Bullet Club! The Bucks, Takahashi, & Page make their way to the ring as we’re into nightfall now. And there’s the music of the Motor City Machine Guns! Hey, did you know that the title for their theme is “All Ghosts to Medicine Counter 4”? That’s awesome! I mean, the song is kind of generic rock, but the title is amazing. The Guns are out with Lio Rush and ACH, and ACH takes advantage of his being on a baseball field and runs the bases before sliding into home, AKA the ring. This should be fun.

The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin), Lio Rush, & Super ACH vs The Bullet Club (Matt & Nick Jackson, Adam Page, & Yujiro Takahashi)

No Code of Honor. Rush and Matt start us off. Matt with the armwringer and Rush escapes it, so Matt pokes him in the eyes. Matt wears him out with kicks, but Rush dodges him off the ropes and rolls him through into a kick. Rush does an insane dodge of a clothesline from Matt, then hits a kick combo on him. Lio Rush just does everything in the ring with such snap and precision, it’s incredible. Nick comes in and eats a leg lariat, and now Rush is daring anyone else on the Bullet Club side to come in, but there’s no takers. I know there’ll be some takers for the products from these great ads!

We’re back with Sabin and Page in the ring now. Page gets a few shots and an armwringer, but Sabin slaps on a side headlock. They trade shoulders with noone moving, and Sabin ducks a Page clothesline and takes him over with a headscissors. Sabin monkeyflips Page out of the corner while simultaneously tagging in Shelley, who comes off the top onto Adam. Page decides he’s had enough and tags in Nick, who springs in right into a fist to the gut from Alex. Shelley runs Nick into the boots of Sabin on the apron and tags in Chris, and they tie Nick up like a pretzel for a quad-team that culminates in Rush coming off the top with a double stomp onto Nick. Sabin covers for two, then sends Nick back to the corner, where now it’s a quad-team boot choke on Nick. Sabin takes out the Bullet Club members on the apron now, and it’s more double and quad-teaming on Nick in the corner, ending with a 4-way dropkick on a seated Nick Jackson. Tag to Rush now as Sabin tosses Nick, and Lio looks to fly; but the Bullet Club is back now, and they are pissed. Rush takes a double superkick as he comes off the ropes from Matt and Page, while Yujiro takes out ACH and the Guns on the apron. Page and Matt run the ropes, then slide out and double superkick ACH on the field. Nick Jackson goes into Terminator mode, then comes off with a tope con hilo onto the Guns and Rush! Nick tosses Rush back in now, twists the arm, and tags in Matt, who drops an axehandle on the arm of Lio. Rush tries to fight back, but gets caught on a ‘rana attempt and hit with the powerbomb/kick combo from the Bucks in the corner. Matt grabs Shelley on the apron with a headscissors and Nick sends him to the floor with a kick. And that’ll send us to what hopefully is our final ad break!

We’re back with Rush fighting out of the corner on Page, but Adam is able to contain him. He wraps him up, fallaway pumphandle slam with a bridge! 1,2, NO! Tag to Matt now, who puts Lio in a camel clutch and tags in Nick, who runs the ropes….and pokes Rush in the eye. God, I hate the Bucks sometimes. Stuff like that just annoys the shit out of me for some reason; I don’t really mind it when Adam Cole or Kevin Owens does it, but the Bucks still manage to annoy me with it. Tag back to Matt, who comes in with shots and then the ‘suck it’ punches, allowing Rush to finally mount a comeback after a few of those, but Matt stuffs the tag. Rush gets sent to the corner where he dropkicks Page off the apron. He tells Matt to suck it now, Nick grabs him from the apron and Matt goes for the superkick, but Rush moved! Nick takes the kick as Rush dives across the ring and makes the tag to ACH! ACH in with a dropkick to Page that sends him outside the ring, and there’s a tope from ACH to take out 3 members of the opposing team! Back in and ACH hits Page with a discus lariat in the corner, then a lariat as Page stumbles out. Matt back in now, ACH dodges a shot and nails him with an enzuigiri. ACH hits Page in the corner with a running crossbody, then goes down the apron with a kick to Yujiro. Get Over Here is blocked by Page, but ACH gets a Lumbar Check! 1,2, the Bucks save it! Sabin back in now as the commentators discuss whether or not they give the move a new name, or just call it the Lumbar Check still? Sabin takes out the Bucks, with an enzuigiri to Matt and Shelley comes in for a Magic Killer on Nick. Rush back in now, and he hits a tope to Nick on the outside, then slides back in to the ring to run across and hit a tope on Matt. The Guns hit multiple kicks on Page and ACH hits a bridging German for two before Yujiro makes the save. Man, I had forgotten he was even in the match. He hits ACH with a Fisherman’s Buster, but turns around into a double team from the Guns, who hit him with kicks. Matt back in now, and he manages to avoid a kick from Sabin that hits Shelley, and Nick appears out of nowhere to hit Chris with a superkick. Meanwhile, Page goes down the apron and hits a Shooting Star Press onto Shelley as Rush gets back in, but he’s up against both Bucks now. He makes a go of it, catching Nick from the apron with a kick, but he gets distracted by Page and nailed with a double superkick from the Bucks to send him to the floor. Matt gets a double dropkick through the ropes to take everyone out, and Nick follows that with a spinning tope over the top onto anyone left standing. ACH runs the ropes now and leaps over the top with a dive onto everyone as Corino just casually drops in that next week, we’re getting Shibata/O’Reilly!

Wait a second.

You mean, I get to watch Shibata/O’Reilly at King of Pro Wrestling this week AND I get to watch it on ROH TV this week?

I’ll be back to finish this in 3 minutes and 47 seconds.

Ah, okay. Ready to finish. ACH tosses Page back in and the Guns double team him in the corner with simultaneous kicks, and Shelley goes up for Skull and Bones; but Takahashi grabs the leg to prevent that and Matt comes back in with a superkick on him. Page gets tossed to the apron by Sabin and tries to come back with the slingshot lariat, but Sabin ducks it. Sabin tries to come off the ropes now, but Page levels him with a superkick, and the Bucks hit a double superkick on Sabin as Page hits him with the Rite of Passage, and that’ll be enough for the pin. (Bullet Club over Super ACH, Lio Rush, & the Motor City Machine Guns, pinfall, 13:30)

WORTH WATCHING? – Typical crazy multi-team tag match, fun to watch, good closing sequence, I still hate the Bucks, YES this was fun if not really a good match, who cares because SHIBATA/O’REILLY!

Post-match, the Bullet Club celebrates as Kelly tells us that next week, in addition to Shibata/O’Reilly (which he calls a ‘dream contest’; get outta my head, Kevin Kelly) we’ll also see a 4-corners survival match for the ROH World Title, with Adam Cole defending against Tetsuya Naito, Jay Lethal, & Hiroshi Tanahashi! And we’re done for the week.

FINAL THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: I’m always on the fence about these episodes. On the one hand, there was more than 30 minutes of bell to bell time on tonight’s show, which is good; but it’s also the definition of a lame duck show due to it having been taped before the PPV, which is bad. I mean, it’s good wrestling and I like that, but this can be ordered on VOD to see the full matches. It’s like ROH is taking two weeks off, essentially, by putting on good wrestling. I’ll leave it up to you all as to whether or not that’s something that you want to watch, or just come back in two weeks when the fallout from All-Star Extravaganza actually begins and we start building to Final Battle.

On the other hand, Shibata/O’Reilly? You KNOW I’ll be here next week for that one. See you all then.

As always, thanks for reading this thing I wrote,

Rick Poehling
@MrSoze on Twitter