ROH 365 – Survival Of The Fittest 2014 Night 2 – 8th November 2014
Night One of this rebranded, two night Survival Of The Fittest tournament produced a good show on the whole. Plenty of things about Ring Of Honor’s current product continue to frustrate and de-motivate me to a large degree, but I can’t argue that the wrestlers themselves are working extremely hard and last night the fruits of their labour were there for everyone to see. On this show the winners of the six qualification matches yesterday meet in the traditional six man elimination battle to crown the winner of the tournament, and a new #1 contender for the World Championship. Roderick Strong, Adam Cole, Tommaso Ciampa, Matt Sydal, Adam Page and Hanson are your finalists. The rest of the card is cobbled together from the losers of yesterdays matches, and since the core ROH roster is brutally thin it means that a lot of it is pretty underwhelming. I doubt anyone is clamouring to see Michael Bennett take on Will Ferrara, Tadarius Thomas battle Romantic Touch or a clash between The Decade and the RD Evans/Moose alliance. Hopefully big undercard battles like Briscoes/Addiction, ACH/Taven and a showdown between Jay Lethal and Cedric Alexander are enough to carry what could well be a mixed bag of a show. Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino welcome us to Toledo, OH.
TV Champion and 2012 SOTF winner Jay Lethal comes through the curtain, clearly hurting after his loss to Hanson the previous evening. He consoles himself with his belief that the World Title is a ‘second rate’ championship, so winning Survival Of The Fittest wasn’t everything anyway. The fact that he is wearing one of those cheesy replica ROH title belt rings makes this all the better
Jay Lethal vs Cedric Alexander
Cedric holds a victory over Lethal as part of the Golden Gauntlet Match from the TV show. However, he already used that win to petition for a shot at the Television Championship – successfully replacing ACH and getting a title shot at All Star Extravaganza 6 in September. Lethal retained that evening, but only thanks to substantial assistance from Truth Martini and Seleziya Sparx. That match took it’s toll on the House Of Truth as well though, and Seleziya hasn’t been seen since. If Alexander can win another one tonight he’ll instantly move to the front of the line for another championship opportunity.
Lethal puts a quick stop to Alexander’s fast start by landing a springboard dropkick to the apron but can’t press home his advantage and soon sees Cedric flying at him with a somersault plancha. As they brawl around ringside my gaze is drawn to the swathes of empty seats on all four sides of the ring. I’m sensing this show wasn’t the draw ROH were hoping for. The small crowd are trying to make some noise, but it’s lost in echoes and the vast empty spaces in the building as Jay hurdles the ropes to guillotine his opponent on them. TOPE SUICIDA scores just when Cedric looked set to throttle Truth Martini. Soon afterwards the TV Champ is in full control, choking Alexander in the ropes as his manager snaps pictures. Most of Lethal’s offence is effective, but very little of it is interesting in any way – and largely accomplishes nothing other than stalling for time. The fact that both commentators are chatting away about Corino’s history with ECW in this building tells you everything you need to know. Eventually Alexander lands the Three Amigos (leading to Corino making a pretty awful joke about Eddie Guerrero) and the springboard lariat for 2. 540 Kick counters the Lethal Injection for another nearfall too. Jay blocks a superplex, knocking Cedric away so he can hit Hail To The King. Of course, as usual he took so long executing that move it’s not a credible nearfall at all. Alexander recovers to flip out of the Lethal Combination into the IED! Lethal Injection wins it at 11:34
Rating - ** - These two are both talented guys, so we can chalk this up to one of two possibilities. Either it was an off night for them, and they were just unfortunate that they didn’t click as opponents on this given evening. Or we can believe that they were told to work safe, work within themselves and restrict what they were doing so as not to steal heat from proceedings later in the show. You can decide which. Either way, this was a pretty cold, clinical and largely dull match. Lethal’s heat segment was nothing more than a stall for time and Alexander’s babyface act is chronically un-over now because ROH did nothing with him after the Roderick Strong feud. If you pick up this DVD or VOD assuming that Lethal/Alexander on the card guarantees you at least one really good match – you’d be wrong.
Jimmy Jacobs/BJ Whitmer vs RD Evans/Moose
Last night The Decade pulled rank and turfed RD Evans and Moose out of the ring when they were trying to cut a promo. Moose got a measure of revenge when he cost Whitmer and Jacobs a match against The Addiction so there is plenty of heat on this. Will Evans and Moose further avenge the harsh words Jimmy Jacobs had for them yesterday, or will The Decade beat some respect into two guys who cost them a victory in a high profile match?
Jacobs reminds Moose that they have an opening for a Decade young boy if he wants to stop hanging around with a ‘goof’. Adam Page is at ringside as evidence for the success of Decade’s methods. Moose seemingly declines as he gets into a punching match with Whitmer to get the match started. Jimmy climbs onto Moose’s back trying to help his partner, but that has no effect either as the big man simply flops south to drop him on top of his own team-mate. The Decade are powerless to stop Moose, so wisely opt to get him out of the ring to concentrate on Evans instead. Jacobs nearly snaps both their necks as he Cactus clotheslines RD over the top rope – but that’s how desperate he is to work on Evans rather than have to lock up with Moose again. Whitmer goes after RD’s fingers too which, if intentional, is a nice reference to Outlaw Inc. snapping his fingers last year. The heat segment probably lasts a minute or so too long though, before Evans at last sidesteps a Jacobs spear and gets the hot tag to Moose. He is so annoyingly clumsy…but does create one awesome spot as he counters the End Time simply by tossing Jimmy head-first over the top rope to the floor. Evans tries to steal his glory and nail a pescado only to hopelessly land between both his opponents. Adam Page tries to get involved…but is prevented from doing so by Roderick Strong who sprints to ringside and tries to brawl with the Decade young boy. Jimmy Jacobs has to separate them and doesn’t see Moose drop BJ with the flipping spear inside the ring. Evans grabs the pin, continuing the New Streak at 10:17
Rating - ** - Far too long, and as usual Moose was mostly a complete joke as a worker. But Jimmy Jacobs was outstanding here and carried the entire thing to something entirely more decent than it had any right to be. He busted his ass putting the undeserving Moose over, and has enough acting ability about him to be believable in the Strong/Decade split angle too. His awesome performance, coupled with the residual popularity of the Evans ‘Streak’ was enough to prevent this from descending into anything too messy or terrible.
Some local TV personality gets to be guest ring announcer for the next match. Thankfully we can’t hear a word she says as she tries to ramble over Mike Bennett’s entrance.
Michael Bennett vs Will Ferrara
Bennett comes into this on the back of a huge victory for The Kingdom over the Briscoes at Night 1. They produced a surprisingly energetic brawl that I really enjoyed. It reminded me a lot of the Briscoes vs Homicide/Joe brawls we saw during the ‘Road Of Homicide’ storyline back in 2006. Tonight he’ll look to end a positive weekend for him with a crushing win over the up-and-coming Ferrara.
My personal highlight of the show so far comes as Kevin Kelly berates Bennett for perving on the local TV lady despite being a married man…right before he blatantly letches over Maria despite being married himself. Apparently Bennett is pretty banged up after last night’s main event and his plight gets even worse as Ferrara continually sends him into the ringpost. Maria has to step in, jerking Ferrara into the apron as he tries to climb the ropes. Bennett instantly capitalises with a spinebuster into the side of the ring. The rookie gets beaten up all around ringside, finally getting his skull rattled off the concrete floor of the building then catapulted into the ringpost. Box Office Smash nailed, and followed by the Twist Of Fate. Maria convinces Bennett to try something from the top rope…even though Mike doesn’t think he’s good up there. He misses a Swanton Bomb, giving Will an opportunity to hit him with a tope. REBOUND DDT on the floor! Ferrara tries another DDT back into the ring but gets caught with a northern lights bomb. Spear COUNTERED into a lungblower! And it gets worse as Bennett tries the spear for a second time and accidentally hits poor Maria with it. Matt Taven sprints to ringside and jerks Todd Sinclair out of the ring just when Will looked to have secured victory with a tornado DDT. PILEDRIVER by Bennett behind the ref’s back. He’s banned from using that move in ROH, but sneaks a victory with it anyway at 09:36
Rating - ** - Like the last match this was way too long. Ferrara isn’t horrible, but this match was carried almost totally by the charisma of the Bennett/Maria double act. They were entertaining enough so it never felt dull, and there were a few spikes of genuine excitement along the way too. If Ferrara keeps getting to wrestle half decent ten minute matches on every show he works (as he has this weekend) he will get better very quickly.
SIDENOTE – Why does Bennett sing Edge’s theme song before he hits a spear? I know he has a history of stealing the moves of WWE superstars to get heat. He’s done it with CM Punk in the past, and is now doing it with the Hardy Boyz. But Matt Hardy is supposedly the ‘spiritual leader’ of The Kingdom. Aren’t Matt and Edge supposed to be enemies?
The Kingdom try to do a number on the rookie, bringing out ACH to break up the party and get the next match underway…
Matt Taven vs ACH
Taven has had his ROH career reinvigorated by aligning himself with The Kingdom. His career seemed at it’s lowest ebb after losing his high profile Steel Cage TV Title shot to Jay Lethal at Field Of Honor…but now seems to have more momentum than ever after a No DQ main event victory over the Briscoes yesterday. He and ACH met in ROH for the first time as part of the 2013 Top Prospect Tournament (which he won), so these two go a long way back. Both have stars on the rise, both had kick ass matches at Night One. Which one leaves SOTF weekend with more going for them?
ACH dishes out kicks to both Bennett and Taven from the apron and continues to use his surprisingly potent strikes as the match officially begins. Bennett, meanwhile, has positioned his unconscious wife on a chair next to Kelly and Corino on commentary. In fact, the antics of the commentators, Bennett and Maria on the outside become twice as interesting as what the two wrestlers are doing. Matt spikes ACH into the ringpost, causing him to slip to the floor where Bennett is waiting to superkick him in the head. DROP TOEHOLD INTO THE RAILINGS by Taven! And just when ACH starts crawling back towards the ring Mike is waiting to whack him with another elbow. He has problems with both his neck and arm now and just barely survives in the match by piling into Taven with more chops. A dropkick to Matt’s stomach does still more damage, and has Bennett pleading with his KO’d spouse to come up with a plan for them. Slingshot flatliner gets 2, but does more damage to his arm in the process. Taven crumples his neck again with a Blue Thunder Driver only for ACH to hit right back with a double stomp. Air Jordan blocked thanks to Bennett tripping him up…but still ACH hits a back flip kick as Matt prepares for the Five Star Frog Splash. RUNNING MOONSAULT BY ACH! 450 Splash misses though, allowing Taven to take his head off with a superkick. Climax blocked…and Bennett is on the apron distracting the ref again. ACH kicks Taven into Bennett! 450 Splash! ACH wins at 15:15
Rating - ** - It took a while to get going, and in truth the antics of The Kingdom were probably a little too overbearing considering how good this match could have been without them. However, ACH and Taven worked hard throughout and rewarded fans for showing patience through some of the more hokey comedy stuff with a really hot closing stretch. Since ACH challenges for the World Title next week he needed this win a lot more than Taven, so the right man won too.
ACH’s celebrations are short-lived obviously, with Bennett quickly sliding into the ring and beating him up with the Title Of Love. The Kingdom formally end ACH’s evening with a spike piledriver before leaving with the still-unconscious Maria in their arms…
Romantic Touch vs Tadarius Thomas
I’m pretty sure everyone is dreading this. Nobody likes these guys in ROH surely. The joke with Rhett Titus as Romantic Touch is painfully old, and the fact that there is no pay-off since Rhett sucks now anyway makes his continued presence in the company all the more frustrating. Tadarius Thomas is a unique performer, but has had two years in ROH to work on his charisma and personality yet still continues to be almost devoid of any kind of hook to get people interested in his matches. He recently left The Decade (after a decent little match with Adam Page) so now needs victories if he is to make a success of his singles career once again.
The amount of movement in the audience suggests that fans aren’t exactly rushing back to their seats after intermission for this one. They work the mat with mixed success, although the pace is already crowd-killingly slow. Snuggle-monkey flip gets the first nearfall of the match for Touch. Thomas barely makes contact with an attempted dropkick spot and is heckled by portions of the audience but persists anyway and moves into another volley of rather scrappy strikes. The match is boring as sh*t, but Kevin Kelly bemoaning the lack of wrestlers adopting masked personas later in their careers to hide their true identities (his tongue firmly in his cheek) during a Rhett Titus match is amongst the best things he’s done in four years with ROH. TD puts a kick into Romantic’s ribs, driving him to the outside into position for a near-slow motion tope con hilo. A running kick into the crowd unfortunately shines a spotlight on how many empty seats there are. Wrist clutch slam gets 2 for Thomas, with the gasps from the crowd being those of disappointment that the match is still going. A kick to the legs prevents RT from hitting the Aries-style tumbling reverse elbow and allows Thomas to pick up the win with a top rope slingblade. 10:30 is your time. It felt it lasted for hours
Rating - DUD - Watching this match takes away ten minutes of your life that you’ll never get back. Tadarius Thomas is good with the right opponent…and that certainly isn’t Rhett Titus, who has sucked since 2011 and never looked comfortable working with TD at any stage. Both of these two need to be cut from the roster badly. Experiencing them plodding from one clumsy, flimsily-executed spot to the next in front of a near-silent and uncaring audience was extremely uncomfortable. The SOTF finals and Briscoes/Addiction are both going to have to be seriously awesome to save this from being one of the worst Ring Of Honor shows ever…
The Addiction vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe
This is a ‘first time ever’ match between four guys who have been around forever. The Briscoes aren’t quite the cutting edge tag team they once were, as their bodies have started breaking down through injury and Jay Briscoe now concentrates more on singles competition. They may be the top team in ROH history, but right now they are much further back in the race for the Tag Titles than Daniels and Kazarian. They badly want another shot at reDRagon, and after a win over former champions Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer yesterday, they’ll believe a victory over the Briscoes could earn it.
Jay starts with Daniels as Corino points out that the Fallen Angel was a ‘veteran’ at the first ever ROH show nearly thirteen years ago (whilst Jay was an 18-year old rookie). The World Champion kicks off by dropping the ‘veteran’ right on his neck with a stiff clothesline. The Addiction try to double-team Mark, which makes sense as he supposedly barely got medical clearance to compete at this show after the war he went through the previous evening. His body does look rather bruised as he exchanges violent chops with Frankie…but he uses it anyway to hit the trademark Briscoe football tackle. The majority of the Briscoes’ offence is targeted at Daniels’ neck, an area where he has had plenty of injury issues in the past. Jay tries to take him out with a dive, only to launch himself right into a kick to the face by Kazarian. That’s the big move Addiction were looking for and they use it to start isolating Jay. Daniels spearheads an attack on the champ’s neck, perhaps in retaliation for the treatment he was receiving just minutes earlier. ARABIAN PRESS TO THE FLOOR by Daniels to wipe out both opponents. Jay keeps fighting, but his creaking body is racked with pain after a seriously tough weekend. He collapses to the ground after dropping Kaz with a spinebuster and gets a vital tag to Mark, but in truth his younger brother isn’t in much better shape than he is. Even the Redneck Kung Fu isn’t pulled off with the same vigour as we normally see. Kazarian quickly puts him onto the mat with a swinging Russian legsweep…as Daniels and Jay simultaneously hiptoss each other over the top rope! CORKSCREW PESCADO by Frankie! TOP ROPE MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR BY MARK! Once again his ailing body suffers as a result, with Kaz capitalising to hit a Jerry Lynn guillotine in the ropes. Daniels soars at Jay with a tope suicida then exposes his neck to a springboard leg drop by his partner. Mark comes to the rescue with a springboard dropkick…and puts everything he has into more Redneck Kung Fu! RUNNING DVD FROM JAY TO KAZ gets 2! Doomsday Device COUNTERED TO THE FLUX CAPACITOR…MARK KICKS OUT! BEST MOONSAULT EVER! JAY SAVES! Daniels counters a urinage into a Blue Thunder Driver…and all four guys collapse to the mat in a heap. Angel’s Wings blocked. JAY DRILLER ON DANIELS! Kaz blocks the Driller…but is lifted into the DOOMSDAY DEVICE INSTEAD! Briscoes win it at 21:51
Rating - **** - Up there with the reDRagon/Bucks series as one of ROH’s best tag matches all year. This was definitely the best Addiction match since Daniels and Kazarian returned to the company in June. The work was phenomenal, with four world-travelled veterans working the western tag formula to a tee – constantly upping the ante and dialling up the intensity before going into overdrive during the last few minutes. Once again the booking of The Addiction is utterly frustrating though. Why are they losing this? The Briscoes aren’t going to be Tag Champions again anytime soon. Jay is already World Champion, Mark is perennially over – in short they didn’t need the win. Daniels and Kaz need all the help they can get thanks to being chronically mismanaged and mis-booked since their comeback. Last night they got a big win to put them back in the hunt for the titles…yet tonight their momentum is instantly damaged again thanks to staring at the lights and giving the rub to the Briscoes. Frustrations with Delirious and SBG’s continued inability to book the company with any kind of coherency aside, this was a hell of a match – and a real show-saved considering how lifeless this DVD has been.
Adam Page vs Hanson vs Tommaso Ciampa vs Roderick Strong vs Adam Cole vs Matt Sydal – SOTF Elimination Match
This is the finals of the Survival Of The Fittest tournament, and as usual the winner will receive a World Title shot on the date of his choosing. Past winners include great champions and genuine stars in the industry such as Bryan Danielson, Roderick Strong, Chris Hero, Tyler Black, Eddie Edwards, Michael Elgin and Jay Lethal. Roddy has won it before and wants to ascend to the top of the mountain again…and will also want to put a member of The Decade to the sword if he crosses paths with Page. Matt Sydal came desperately close to winning the tournament in 2006 only to fall at the very end to his great rival Delirious. Fresh off years of WWE mainstream experience, he’ll be desperate to become a World Champion in his return to ROH. Ciampa has been fighting to be considered a top guy in Ring Of Honor for a while, and has only recently been reinstated after his frustrations started boiling over. Still under ‘zero tolerance’, he’d love to win the tournament and prove to Match Maker Nigel McGuinness that he deserves top billing. Hanson is vying to become the first man to ever win the Top Prospect Tournament and Survival Of The Fittest in the same year, just 24 hours removed from scoring a shock victory over reigning TV Champion Jay Lethal. And that just leaves Adam Cole, who badly wants a rematch with Jay Briscoe and the chance to get his World Title back. Banned from challenging during Elgin’s reign, he is now looking for the quickest path back to the top of ROH. A victory in this tournament is the form that path now takes.
Ciampa and Page are supposed to start, but when Roderick tags himself in Page turns on his heels and runs for his life. Page doesn’t want any part of Roddy it seems, and eventually lures one of his former mentors into a sneak attack from Cole. Former Generation Next stable-mates Strong and Sydal lock horns next, with ‘Reborn’ soon falling victim to a trademark backbreaker. Page is a lot more positive about getting in the ring when it means beating on a roughed up Sydal rather than a refreshed Roderick – and bails to Hanson again when Strong comes after him. Roddy lost a match to Hanson over the summer, and bounces off his massive hairy body once again as he tries to take the fight to him. Ciampa has been particularly interesting in the first few minutes, steering clear of an obvious face/heel alignment and happily getting in the ring to square off with opponents of either affliction too. He traps Cole in an early Sicilian Stretch, almost tapping out the ‘King of The Kingdom’ early. Sydal gets another significant early nearfall with the Slice on Page…who’s response is to block the standing moonsault with his pad-less knees. The two Adams start isolating Sydal, Cole acting like a dick and Page working like a dogged old villain. Strong finally comes to his rescue and gets his hands on Page for the first time. He tosses his former young boy over the ropes to the floor, kick-starting a six man brawl on the floor! Bodies crash into guardrails with alarming velocity and speed, and Ciampa hits a Bare Knee strike on Strong with such force that he actually lands in the crowd. It takes about three men to get Hanson off his feet in the melee too. Even inside the carnage continues, with Hanson scooping up both Page and Cole for a DOUBLE GERMAN SUPLEX! Bronco Busters for Ciampa and Page!
SICK KICK BY STRONG! END OF HEARTACHE ON COLE! STRONGHOLD ON PAGE! BJ Whitmer appears at ringside to distract Roddy…and Page pounces to snatch a pinfall, eliminating the 2005 winner in an upset at 17:08. SHOOTING STAR HEADBUTT BY PAGE! METEORA TO THE FLOOR BY SYDAL! TOP ROPE SOMERSAULT PLANCHA FROM HANSON! Hanson is seriously over with this crowd…and inspired by them he climbs the ropes again to MISS A MOONSAULT! Truth Martini is at ringside now, supposedly annoyed that Sydal has declined his invitation to join the HOT. Page gets 2 with the somersault lariat on Tommaso…but lands in the path of the SYDAL PRESS! Page is eliminated at 21:10. Amidst all this Michael Elgin jumps the guardrails, grabbing a microphone and forcing his monotone commentary onto the live crowd. BARE KNEE STRIKES by Ciampa! And as if to piss Elgin off he drops Sydal with a BUCKLE BOMB! Unbreakable is so pissed off with that he hauls Ciampa out of the ring and absolutely DESTROYS him against the railings! POWERBOMB THROUGH A TABLE! His friend Hanson tries to reason with Elgin, so the former World Champion decks him as well. Cedric Alexander, ACH and a bunch of officials eventually forcibly drag him out, but he’s absolutely decimated the match. Cole blocks a Sydal Press after Matt is distracted by Martini…as Ciampa is carried out by medics. Realising his size is an issue, Cole goes after Hanson’s legs and rams the knees into the ringpost.
Bennett and Taven have joined the cast of characters at ringside and soon make their presence known by helping Cole in assaulting the ‘War Beard’. Tommaso returns seconds later, brandishing a metal pipe and belting as many Kingdom members as he can. His ribs are taped though and he screams in pain as he drops Cole with the kryptonite neckbreaker. PROJECT CIAMPA ON SYDAL! Reborn is eliminated from another SOTF final at 31:13! Michael Elgin is back too – whacking Ciampa in the head with a chair behind Todd Sinclair’s back. That’s enough for Cole to eliminate him at 32:03, giving us a final two of Adam Cole and Hanson. The TPT winner is still limping, but ready to do battle. Cole goes right back to his knee though; clipping it so he can hit the Shining Wizard. FIGURE 4 LEGLOCK! But Hanson has absolutely charmed this rather strange audience and they positively erupt as he battles out of the lethal submission hold. Unfortunately for him Adam simply kicks his knee again then gives him the cradlebreaker. Florida Key blocked into a powerbomb…before Hanson’s knee buckles from under him again. Cole looks for a suplex off the ropes but gets knocked back…HANSON-SAULT NAILED! FOR 2! Panama Sunrise countered…INTO A DEAD-LIFT SCREWDRIVER! STILL 2! Hanson can barely stand now though, and limps into a SUPERKICK FLURRY! He won’t stay down! FLORIDA KEY! HANSON KICKS OUT! CARTWHEEL LARIAT! Spin Kick Of Doom ducked into the FLORIDA KEY AGAIN! Cole wins it all at 40:15!
Rating - **** - Over the years I’ve not been the biggest fan of the Survival Of The Fittest concept, but this was actually one of the better SOTF finales. It was goofy and overbooked to hell, and probably took a little too long to get going…but on the whole it was action-packed and crazy, always had a story to tell and (in true SOTF fashion) ended with an underdog coming through to make his name as a top tier talent. Hanson continued a tradition started way back in 2004 (when the little-known Austin Aries broke out against Bryan Danielson) in his climactic showdown with Adam Cole. He charmed a drunk and irritating crowd and had them in the palm of his hands as he fought tooth and nail against injury and an uber-talented adversary. The Strong/Page stuff was good too, and a fine continuation of everything I've liked about Adam Page's performances over recent shows. Things got a little crazy when Elgin, Bennett, Taven and Martini all started popping up at ringside but it certainly made for a chaotic and memorable main event…and I imagine Elgin’s antics here were a lot more tolerable than the rather tired ‘work shoot’ stuff he ran with at the last TV tapings.
Cole wastes no time in laying down his challenge – he wants Jay Briscoe at Final Battle 2014. Jay himself interrupts The Kingdom’s ‘story time’ to formally accept…
Tape Rating - ** - Not for the first time in 2014 ROH’s flagging and limp undercard was propped up by a couple of killer matches which stand head and shoulders above everything else on the show. Just like Champions vs All Stars this was a total two match show, with everything else being varying shades of badly booked and/or forgettable. This was on course to be an all-time bad ROH show until we reached the two main events. Briscoes/Addiction and the SOTF finals are both excellent matches, but to caution potential buyers – absolutely nothing else on this show is worth your money. If they don’t tickle your fancy, and if you don’t like the talent in them as much as I do then this DVD becomes completely skippable. Briscoe/Cole was inevitable as the Final Battle main event. The Addiction and Cedric Alexander are still treading water and going nowhere. Matt Taven still can’t work a match without having millions of people interfere on his behalf. The likes of Moose, Tadarius Thomas and Romantic Touch continue to occupy roster spots they don’t deserve. The status quo remains very much intact as we leave Toledo…
Top 3 Matches
3) ACH vs Matt Taven (**)
2) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs The Addiction (****)
1) Adam Cole vs Hanson vs Tommaso Ciampa vs Matt Sydal vs Adam Page vs Roderick Strong (****)
Top 5 Survival Of The Fittest 2014 Weekend Matches
5) Adam Cole vs Delirious (**** - Night 1)
4) Michael Bennett/Matt Taven vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe (**** - Night 1)
3) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs The Addiction (**** - Night 2)
2) Adam Cole vs Hanson vs Tommaso Ciampa vs Matt Sydal vs Adam Page vs Roderick Strong (**** - Night 2)
1) Matt Sydal vs ACH (**** - Night 1)