ROH 387 – Death Before Dishonor 13 – 24th July 2015
I have been fairly forthright in my criticism of the majority of Ring Of Honor’s recent major pay-per-view efforts. The 13th Anniversary Show was not good enough by any measurable metric, and even better efforts tend to be very top heavy, too cluttered full of matches and with very little memorable content outside of the main events. Best In The World 2015 was, in that regard, a pretty serious improvement. It wasn’t perfect, but all four of the top-billed matches lived up to their reputations – giving us perhaps ROH’s best pay-per-view effort under Sinclair. Can they keep that momentum going, and follow up with another strong major card? This time it is on the return to iPPV as ROH look to test that technology again. The main event we’ve known since Best In The World, as #1 contender Roderick Strong challenges Jay Lethal for his World Championship. The undercard isn’t bad either, even for a show lacking names like the Young Bucks or AJ Styles. There are big grudge matches between the likes of Adam Page, ACH, Cedric Alexander and Moose, a first-time-ever bout between the Briscoes and RPG Vice, four top teams vying for the Tag Team Championship – and a potential showstealer in the form of Adam Cole vs Dalton Castle. Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino provide commentary from Baltimore, MD.
Silas Young vs Will Ferrara
These two met recently on television, and Young was seriously embarrassed by falling to defeat. Although it was caused by interference from Dalton Castle’s Boys, losing to a bottom dweller like Ferrara will have seriously pissed Silas off. Tonight he’ll want to vent his frustration on the rookie…
Young leaves the ring to get into a lengthy argument with a fan in the front row…and spends so long out there that Ferrara decides to go out after him with a CRAZY TOPE CON HILO! Back in the ring he hits a diving headscissors from the ropes…before an angry Last Real Man pokes his eyes and rakes his back. In typically aggressive and surly fashion Young tries to grind Will into the dirt. Although it’s a simple approach, it does show respect to Ferrara’s strengths too as Silas clearly realises his opponent is dangerously explosive once he gets something going. The Killer Combo decks him once more just as he looked to be gaining some momentum. Ferrara blasts off the canvas with a standing Shiranui. He foolishly tries the same move seconds later though, and eats Misery. Young wins at 06:22
Rating - ** - Completely inoffensive, with an awesome dive at the start by Ferrara and a controlled heel performance by Young which really seemed to get the crowd going. My problem with this is that it had no place being on this card. They could have worked this perfectly satisfactorily as a bonus match, a dark match or some kind of free-stream preview to shill some last minute iPPV buys. ROH cards are cluttered enough without booking a random Will Ferrara match for the sake of it.
The Boys hit the ring to clown around and embarrass Silas. Even in victory the Last Real Man is left absolutely fuming.
Cedric Alexander vs Moose
It was at Episode 195 of the SBG TV show that Moose’s lengthy Ring Of Honor undefeated streak came to an end. Alexander had grown increasingly frustrated and spinning his wheels and going nowhere fast in ROH – having seen his career stagnate since Best In The World 2014 when he won his lengthy feud with Roderick Strong. He challenged Moose to make a statement – and he did so by using a wrench (which Veda Scott had asked Moose to use) to secure a victory. By Best In The World 2015 he was a young man struggling to keep his temper in check. He severed all ties with his former mentor Caprice Coleman early in the show – then attacked Moose with a wrench again after his match. Veda Scott turned on the former NFL player to join Cedric amongst all of that too. Now Cedric has to deal with a very big, very angry Moose looking to avenge two separate wrench attacks.
Cedric is a heel now, so obviously has new heel music. It’s as forgettable as his babyface music was. Prince Nana is also randomly on commentary. Alexander starts by slapping Moose in the face, then leaves the ring to consult with Veda. He bails again soon afterwards to avoid the Hitstick but this time Moose follows him out to take the assault to the floor. A fallaway slam into the rails soon follows, prompting Veda to get involved. Stokely Hathaway carries her away although not before Cedric has capitalised with a running punt to the chest. He goes to the eyes next and Moose is still struggling with his vision as Alexander connects with his springboard lariat for 2. Sensibly he looks to keep the big man on the mat…but flatly fails as Moose counters a mounted sleeper hold with a big Samoan drop. He then gets to his feet and almost jumps OVER CEDRIC’S HEAD whilst delivering a vertical dropkick. Go To Hell chokebomb out of the corner gets 2. Game Breaker ducked…ROPE RUN PLANCHA BY MOOSE…COUNTERED WITH THE 540 KICK! MICHINOKU DRIVER! Moose kicks out! Cedric slips trying something else off the top rope…and stumbles into a KNEE TO THE FACE! Game Breaker nailed to leave them both down. An obvious botch, but Moose’s response to knee the f*ck out of him was superb. COD Dropkick counters the Hitstick, followed by a SOMERSAULT PLANCHA TO THE FLOOR! Cedric is so impressed with that he invades commentary and instructs Corino to tell everyone how great he is. Where has THIS Cedric been for his entire ROH run? Prince Nana gets pissed off for some reason…so Alexander beats him up. He destroys Stokely as well! Veda Scott wants in on the action and nails Moose with a chair, to no effect whatsoever! Tope suicida by Cedric COUNTERED TO AN APRON BOMB! He collapses under the ring after that, as Moose pursues Veda Scott. When he re-emerges he has a wrench concealed in his hands…and WHACKS Moose with it again when he tries the Hitstick. Cedric wins at 12:00
Rating - *** - Without a doubt this should have opened the show and relegated the needless Silas/Ferrara encounter to the dark matches. One slip from Cedric aside, they worked this so well. Alexander’s new heel act was a huge improvement on so much of what he’s done previously, and the match they worked gave him every chance to look (as he said himself) ‘awesome’ without making Moose look foolish. The finish was overbooked (and why did Prince Nana need to be out there at all?!?) but most of this was decent. Moose has gotten so much better recently, and this stands alongside his match with ACH as one of his best singles outings in ROH. The real problem here was the crowd – they basically crapped on both men throughout. Delirious has fundamentally mismanaged both of them and they were made to pay the price for it, which is a shame because the match itself was decent.
RPG Vice vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe
This is billed as something of an international dream match, as the former 8-time ROH Tag Champions take on New Japan’s RPG Vice. Kevin Kelly points out on commentary that the Briscoes are going to use this tag match to go back to basics and get over the high-profile singles losses they both suffered to Jay Lethal in New York over recent weeks. They are no stranger to Rocky Romero of course, and have clashed with him in ROH rings multiple times down the years. Their rugged, no-nonsense approach will starkly contrast with Vice’s slick and intricate junior heavyweight tag work.
Mark and Romero start and apparently have plenty of mutual respect for each other. The niceties between those two lasts for a full minute, before Rocky thumbs him in the eyes and drags him to the Vice corner. Jay is soon on hand to assist and between he and his brother they set about isolating Beretta. TOPE SUICIDA from Jay to Rocky! Trent back body drops Mark OVER THE RINGPOST TO THE FLOOR! Despite that wild bump Mark is soon back involved, leading an amusing segment where the Briscoes rip-off the RPG Vice standing moonsault/running senton combo. He is attacked from behind by Beretta who takes him outside and swings him into the guardrails. RPG Vice spend the next few minutes working Mark over…until Rocky tries one too many Forever Hooligan running clotheslines and gets chopped in the head. He steals Trent’s headband as a prelude to some Redneck Kung Fu…as we notice that Beretta’s eye is cut pretty badly. Diving knee OFF THE APRON by Romero! Gobstopper on Mark! Jay dives in at the last to block Strong Zero! Superkick/Code Red combo by the Briscoes, followed by the Rude Awakening for 2. Romero dives in next, with a knee strike to prevent the Jay Driller from landing. He orders Trent to lift Jay on his shoulders. DOOMSDAY DEVICE MISSES! Mark catches Romero with the urinage then the RUNNING BLOCKBUSTER TO THE FLOOR! JAY DRILLER! FROGGY BOW! Briscoes win at 15:11
Rating - *** - This was a really good match as well. I thought the Vice/Bucks match from Vegas last week was slightly more polished, but watching two teams of this calibre go at it for 15+ minutes was certainly enjoyable. What I really liked here is that this match wasn’t awash with combo moves. As I said after RPG Vice’s Las Vegas match, I enjoy that it felt like each team was having to really work for every signature piece of tandem offence they were able to execute. The whole contest felt extremely competitive as a result. Although I didn’t agree with them going over the Young Bucks last week (and I still don’t now), the fact that RPG Vice were able to beat the Bucks really had you believing that they were a genuine threat to the mighty Briscoe Brothers too. My main criticism would be that the middle portion of the match did start to meander somewhat. The wrestling itself never got boring, but I thought they got a little ‘lost’ and there was a period where it felt like they were just hitting moves for the sake of doing something ‘cool’ rather than because it made sense or to transition them from one exchange to the next. I’ve seen some higher ratings for this match though, so maybe you’ll enjoy it more than me.
Adam Cole vs Dalton Castle
These two are legitimately two of ROH’s biggest stars right now. If you don’t believe me, check out the crowd’s reaction to the pre-match graphic for these guys appearing on the Cary-tron. This is effectively a ‘bonus match’ for the show, thrown together to give these guys something to do – yet a mere graphic with their faces on was more over than Moose and Will Ferrara combined. Castle has risen quickly up the card since debuting in the 2015 Top Prospect Tournament, producing a few really outstanding matches and even main eventing the live event in Vegas the previous week. It’s been more than a year since Cole last held the World Championship, and he is still very much rebuilding his career after the major injury which saw him miss the first quarter of the year. In fact, his stablemates in The Kingdom don’t appear to believe he is the force he once was; blaming him for defeats and now apparently headhunting a new ‘ace’ to go for the World Title in his place. No other member of The Kingdom accompanies him, as he looks to score a high profile pay-per-view win and take one step closer to being back in championship contention.
The crowd are into this! They barely touch for the first two minutes, but still get the biggest reactions o the show so far. Castle tries an early Everest German, and soon after Cole looks for the Florida Key. Neither is successful, but the Party Peacock is successful in hitting a slingshot Vader Splash. Les Artesse lift scores as well, and it appears Cole is struggling to cope with Dalton’s unorthodox style. He gets a foothold in the match by shoving him off the top rope to the floor then mocks Dalton as he tries to keep the impressive grappler on the canvas. The Boys are pissing him off too, prompting him to leave the ring and shove one over. Castle didn’t like that one bit and decimates him with an elbow suicida. Dalton’s strategy genuinely appears to be to throw the former World Champion around like a child – and he does so repeatedly. Exploder suplexes, Greco-Roman throws and a capture belly to belly suplex out of the corner all land and leave Cole in major trouble. He makes his play for Castle’s neck, hitting a DVD over the knee then sprinting into a Shining Wizard to snap the head back. Next he superkicks the knee and slaps on the Figure 4 – finally succeeding in trapping his opponent on the mat. The fallen Castle leaves the ring, and is still hobbling as he swings into the apron-619 rana! EVEREST GERMAN for 2! SUPERKICK by Cole! Then a German suplex…then a Bare Knee Wizard for 2. The two men trade strikes…and it doesn’t work out well for Dalton as he eats a SUPERKICK TO THE NECK! LAST SHOT! Cole wins at 14:05
Rating - *** - Another solid, commendable bout that I’d award an extra half star to if I rated matches in such a way. In reality though, I was actually rather disappointed with this. Good though it was, these two are capable of much better…and by the halfway point they’d actually lost a crowd who were going insane for them at the start. For me the core issue was that Castle never felt like a threat. Sure he was entertaining with his showmanship and got to bust out a few impressive feats of strength, but there was never a moment where you genuinely felt like he could beat former World Champion Adam Cole. I enjoyed Dalton using his power and grap skills, I really liked Cole’s dual-focus on the neck and knee, but as a package it felt stuck in a low gear and never kicked up to that next level. Hopefully they’ll get another chance down the road to deliver better – they are definitely capable of it.
Cole sportingly shakes Dalton’s hand effectively continuing to distance himself from The Kingdom…as on the outside Silas Young appears and assaults The Boys.
BJ Whitmer comes out on crutches before the next match, announcing that he has had knee surgery and is on the injured list for the foreseeable future. The pop for that is huge! It means he can focus his efforts on managing Adam Page and mentoring Colby Corino…and tonight he’ll also be ‘schooling’ Colby’s father Steve at the commentary table.
Adam Page vs ACH – No DQ Match
This is a No DQ fight to finally settle the score between these two heated rivals. Page detests ACH, and believes that he doesn’t deserve to get the opportunity to wrestle the likes of Alberto El Patron, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Adam Cole and more in featured matches because his win ratio is so poor. And in his mind he has backed up his words by defeating ACH three times himself this year. He has also tried to light his shirt on fire in the middle of a TV broadcast and put his tag partner Matt Sydal on the injured list. ACH will point to the fact that, performance-wise, few men are having better in-ring years than he is. He has been in scintillating form thus far in 2015, with almost every live event featuring a strong ACH match. He can also defend the losses to Page by pointing out that they were all cheap, and The Decade member hasn’t come close to beating him cleanly. Who leaves Death Before Dishonor with the bragging rights?
‘ACH is a lie’ is emblazoned on Page’s ring jacket. In turn ACH is dressed in pink tonight, which is usually The Decade’s colour. Page tries to attack the ‘lie’ during his entrance only to be wiped out with a running moonsault to the floor. He then tries to ram ACH into the ringpost…only for ACH to BACKFLIP INTO A CAMERA MAN! ACH sprints energetically around the ring, but is distracted by Whitmer and gets crunched into the railings by The Decade man. Next Page wants to put his rival through an open chair only to have it thrown right into his face as he runs at him. He does succeed in using the chair seconds later inside the ring – hammering it into ACH’s spine as he tries to climb the top ropes. The wrestling has been solid in the opening five minutes or so, but the biggest surprise is that BJ has actually been rather entertaining on commentary. Powerslam THROUGH an open chair gets 2! ACH collapses to the floor as Adam thinks more weaponry. A table is hauled from under the ring, although it takes an eternity and allows ACH to fight back with a rebound enzi off the apron. A ladder is pulled out…but instead ACH opts to use ‘Indian workout clubs’ (although it looks more like a bowling pin) and swings one into Page’s ribs. Page’s retort is to gourdbuster him into a ladder. It panics ACH who attempts a twisting body press, misses it and gets pumphandle suplexed into the ladder again. Adam’s Apple through a chair blocked…and ACH fells him with a completely legal low blow. HERO’S GRIP INTO THE LADDER! BRAINBUSTER ON A CHAIR! Page kicks out! Looking to add insult to injury, ACH sets up for the Rite Of Passage (Page’s move) but it is blocked with a steel chair throw then a spike DDT for 2. MIDNIGHT STAR FROM THE APRON TO THE FLOOR! Both men down! Colby Corino tries to attack ACH, causing enough of a distraction for Page to smash him with one of Whitmer’s crutches. JUMPING RITE OF PASSAGE OFF THE APRON THROUGH A TABLE! Colby tosses ACH into the ring then rolls Page on top! Page wins at 17:55!
Rating - **** - I really like this feud, particularly since decent midcard rivalries have been an endangered species since Delirious got the book. The crowd were completely flat for these guys which did them no favours, but inside the ring they totally went to war. Page worked the neck and body to set up his finisher and prevent ACH from going aerial. Beaten back by the ultra-aggressive Page, ACH’s response was to come up with some amazing counter-punches, from the ringpost back flip (that the camera man f*cked up) to the Hero’s Grip on a ladder through to the Midnight Star on the floor. They both deserve credit for working such a heated, intense and believably violent no rules match in 2015 ROH where violence is so heavily managed, ‘state commissioners’ are at ringside to stop a match for blood and wrestlers are generally discouraged from doing anything too crazy. ACH has been awesome in 2015 so far, but if Delirious has no plans to elevate him beyond his current ‘happy guy who has 4* matches on every house show’ spot then Page is absolutely the right guy to go over. He has continually excelled since being given this spot in The Decade – and we are approaching the point where his ring work can get him over on his own without the need for BJ Whitmer to get his heat for him.
The Addiction vs Michael Bennett/Matt Taven vs War Machine vs reDRagon – ROH Tag Title Match
Tonight Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian, champions for months in the aftermath of the ‘KRD scandal’ (where is Chris Sabin by the way?) now face three top challengers in this showcase of just how strong Ring Of Honor’s tag division is at present. War Machine have been on a dominating tear since Rowe’s return from injury. reDRagon are one of the finest teams ever to have held the ROH Tag Titles and are still pissed at getting screwed out of them by The Addiction. Meanwhile the clock is ticking for The Kingdom, since Bennett and Maria’s contracts are up at the end of the year and she wants to lead them to the Tag Titles before that date. Frankie and Daniels are highly experienced and will have faced situations like this before…do they have a plan to survive this enormous challenge?
The Addiction don’t look like they are remotely concerned about this challenge. Bennett and O’Reilly start, with Adam Cole joining commentary to complain that he wasn’t invited to The Kingdom’s ‘strategy meeting’. They have apparently been dodging him all day, and he almost gloats as reDRagon take turns picking off both his stable-mates. He is even complimentary of O’Reilly…although as he does so Bennett Spears him on the apron. Rowe decides to get involved for the first time and Samoan drops both Daniels and Kyle at the same time. Shotgun Knee/Bronco Buster combo on Kazarian! With The Addiction in trouble Fish forcibly tags his way in…but gets tripped from behind by Daniels meaning the champs get the upper hand on him yet again. They isolate and work over Bobby with such success that Kaz even finds time to exchange flirtatious pleasantries with Maria on the floor! Taven misses the Five Star Frog Splash, giving Fish a window to tag out to Ray Rowe. Superman Punch on Matt! Two Man Smash Machine by reDRagon! Spear by Bennett! DOUBLE CHOKESLAM by War Machine! All eight are fighting in the ring in chaotic scenes…before Daniels leads the brawl to the floor with the Arabian Press. Somersault pescado by Fish! Flying knee off the apron by Kyle! RUNNING SUICIDE DIVE BY TAVEN! TOP ROPE SOMERSAULT SENTON BY HANSON! The Kingdom take out War Machine with double superkicks! Twist Of Fate/Swanton Bomb combo for 2! CHASING THE DRAGON! Kaz breaks the fall! Bennett dodges O’Reilly’s Axe & Smash…but gets Fish’s Samoan drop instead. CEMENT MIXER from Rowe to Taven…as Hanson levels Daniels with the cartwheel lariat. Maria hops onto the apron as War Machine set-up Fallout…and behind the referee’s back The Addiction start taking out everyone with the title belts! This match is nuts! Fish saves O’Reilly from Hail Mary…and together they hit Double Dragon on Taven for 2. CHASING THE DRAGON! But Kazarian is legal! CELEBRITY REHAB! The Addiction retain at 16:11
Rating - **** - This match was complete carnage. Definitely not one for the purists, but it was non-stop action from bell to bell, packed full of high octane spots, big personalities and some amazing false finishes. This felt slightly thrown together and didn’t have much build going into it (other than the obvious reDRagon/Addiction feud, but that’s been done to death) so I wasn’t expecting too much. I genuinely like all four teams though – The Kingdom can be extremely entertaining, The Addiction feel like they are FINALLY hitting their stride during this ROH run (having been back for more than a year), War Machine are so fun to watch when they just beat the sh*t out of people, and of course reDRagon are an all-time great junior heavyweight tag team. Perhaps that’s why I thought this match was such a joy to watch. Sometimes it’s fun to not take wrestling too seriously and just watch eight super workers throw themselves around in a total frenzy.
Jay Lethal vs Roderick Strong – ROH World Title Match
The first thing to point out here is that this isn’t an ‘Undisputed’ Title Match, and Lethal’s Television Championship isn’t on the line. The TV Title is worth mentioning though, since it was Roddy who actually ended Lethal’s first reign as TV Champion. Strong is having what many consider to be a career-best year, with a string of outstanding matches across multiple promotions. At the start of 2015 he announced his intention to become ROH Champion for a second time, and despite a few speedbumps along the way, was formally crowd as #1 contender at Best In The World when he defeated Michael Elgin and Moose. Best In The World represented a career highpoint for Lethal, as he ended Jay Briscoe’s two-year undefeated streak to win the World Title. He now stands atop the ROH mountain with two targets on his back and contenders piling up. Bobby Fish is awaiting a date for the TV Title shot he earned in Vegas last week, Michael Elgin and Jay Briscoe have both publicly stated that they want to be World Champion again, Kyle O’Reilly seems to have his number, Mark Briscoe’s ‘dream’ is to be TV Champ, Adam Cole looks stronger and stronger with each passing show…and AJ Styles continues to hover in the background with an untouchable win/loss record. Can he forget all of those and focus on Mr ROH; a man in the form of his life and a massive threat to the gold that Lethal worked so hard to earn.
Apparently Strong has cut weight for this one and concentrated on his endurance. Lethal repeatedly bails to consult with Truth Martini, irritated that Strong seems to have his number on the canvas. He can’t strike with Roderick either and finally angrily throws the challenger out of the ring. Even when Jay does mount some offence for the first time, he still gets annoyed because Roddy continually finds ways to kick out at 1. The champ wants to press home his advantage on the outside…and is punished for that as Strong capitalises with a gutbuster over the guardrails (the first major shot to Lethal’s midsection). Jay doesn’t like that one bit and slows the pace to a methodical crawl. His offence is basic and his intention is clear – slow Strong down, wear him out, protect his back and prevent all ‘gear-changing’, backbreaking shenanigans. The sensibility of that approach is swiftly demonstrated as a simple back suplex from his opponent sends him all the way to the apron…where Strong bends his back again with a Mexican surfboard in the ropes. Instantly Lethal drags Roddy down again, choking him with a sleeper. Death By Roderick blocked with a superkick, followed by the Lethal Combination for 2. Again Strong’s momentum is cut down before it gets going! It doesn’t help that Donovan Dijak is on hand to pop the challenger in the face behind Todd Sinclair’s back either. Lethal actually starts throwing the challenger out of the ring so Dijak and Diesel can lay in the cheap shots.
Still Mr ROH battles back; delivering a running powerslam then applying an abdominal stretch to punish the champion’s back some more. An Argentine backbreaker lands next – the first backbreaker of the match at almost 25 minutes! Sensibly Jay pummels him straight out of the ring into yet more cheapshots from Dijak. He heads out to pick Roddy’s bones…and eats an INVERTED DDT ON THE FLOOR! CHOP DUEL! LETHAL SHOVED INTO THE RAILINGS! The clock ticks past the half hour mark, as for the fourth time in the match Dijak and Diesel make their presence felt and give Jay the advantage. Lethal tries a tope…SO STRONG THROWS HIM INTO THE GUARDRAILS AGAIN! CORKSCREW PESCADO on Dijak and Diesel! GUARDRAIL BACKBREAKER! DEATH BY RODERICK! Lethal kicks out frantically having failed to stop Strong building momentum for the first time. He blocks the Strong superplex and takes him to the mat again with a front guillotine. He then wraps tape around Strong’s throat to ground him again in a Samoa Joe-style Choke. A neckbreaker in the ropes follows when that ploy is rumbled and it’s clear that the champion is now seriously targeting the neck of his fatigued challenger to set him up for the Lethal Injection. Strong defensively hits a back suplex backbreaker but collapses to the ground alongside him. He rolls to the outside, where Martini holds him in place so Jay can hit the TOPE TRILOGY!
Strong has a huge bruise on his back after that and slumps on the outside whilst Lethal recuperates inside the ring. The champion is growing in confidence – stalking the ring and proclaiming his dominance as Roderick struggles to catch his breath or mount any kind of offence in response. MACHINE GUN CHOPS! STRONG NO SELLS! MACHINE GUN CHOPS ON LETHAL! Lethal Injection COUNTERED WITH THE MUSO! STRONGHOLD! Lethal gives that an incredible sell, somehow giving us false finishes on a tap-out! Less than ten minutes left in the one hour time limit! HAIL TO THE KING…for 2! Lethal Combo lands again, this time into the Koji Clutch to capitalise on all that work on Roddy’s neck. Martini slides the Book Of Truth in…and Jay nails Strong with it as he lines up the Sick Kick. STILL JUST 2! Strong crawls away, before pouncing to hit the APRON BACKBREAKER! Sick Kick COUNTERED with a superkick though! Hail To The King blocked for the STRONG SUPERPLEX! ROLLED INTO DEATH BY RODERICK! SICK KICK NAILED! LETHAL KICKS OUT! End Of Heartache blocked! LETHAL INJECTION! STRONG KICKS OUT! Jay is so shocked he hasn’t won he looks like he wants to puke…but struggles back to his feet as we approach the last minute! The two weary gladiators trade strikes! SUPERKICK! JUMPING KNEES! SUPERKICK AGAIN! TIME LIMIT EXPIRES! At 60:00 mark the time limit expires – this one is a draw. What a match!
Rating - ****1/2 - Wow! Matches that go this long tend to divide opinion, but for me this is ROH’s MOTY right now. Sure there was an element of Delirious booking a one hour broadway just for some cheap buzz, but then again you could level the same criticism at Gabe for Joe/Punk 1 and that’s one of the greatest ROH matches of all time. Going an hour is a monumental challenge, and one these two rose to admirably - everything was on point here. Lethal clearly feared Strong’s speed and explosiveness, so spent literally an hour shutting it down at every turn. Sure he cheated from time to time, but his entire motivation here was to prevent Roddy building any momentum – essentially throttling the life out of him, before gradually starting to work on the neck in preparation for his own finisher (but only after forty minutes!). Strong in return wrestled an AMAZING defensive match. He sold Lethal’s beating superbly, and showed serious endurance to periodically fire back into the contest with stunning offensive combinations. Everything he did targeted Lethal’s back…but in such a subtle and rewarding manner. He wasn’t just hitting backbreakers (it took him twenty five minutes before hitting one of those), and wasn’t able to dominate and control like he normally does…but such is his effectiveness he can do significant damage over an hour long period without endless backbreakers and big spots. The selling from both guys was magnificent too. If Strong did hit a move on Lethal’s back he’d immediately roll away to sell it’s impact – or stomp him down in a manner letting you know he was protecting the back at all costs. Strong was so good he was still selling a relatively minor leg injury from the opening few minutes of the match into the closing stages. Like Lethal said in a pre-match interview, no champion has ever lost in his first defence of the World Title. Based on that we probably knew Strong wasn’t winning – but they did a hell of a job making you believe he stood a chance. A couple of those false finishes in the closing stages were insanely hot as a result. I couldn’t quite bring myself to go to 5* on this – perhaps it was one too many interference spots, perhaps it was the rather anticlimactic finish – but this was an amazing piece of work. Briscoe/Lethal from Best In The World got all kinds of MOTY hype but fell short of my expectations. This, on the other hand, blew me away. I said it would take something special to get past the Strong/El Patron match to become ROH’s 2015 MOTY, and I think we just saw it.
Quite rightly these guys get a standing ovation, with ‘thank you both’ and ‘match of the year’ chants even drowning out the obligatory ‘five more minutes’ stuff. They haven’t even managed to get up from the mat before the show goes off the air…
Tape Rating - **** - I won’t pretend ROH don’t still have pacing and lay-out issues with their pay-per-view events. Having Silas/Ferrara open this show was a ridiculously poor move by Delirious, as it was quite clear that match should have been bumped to the pre-show. Having this ppv open with the hot Cedric/Moose match then splitting the extra ringtime from Silas/Will to the Briscoes/Vice and Cole/Castle matches would have made the undercard significantly better. But, aside from that pointless opener this is a really great show. The vast majority (more than two hours of it) is taken up by the top three matches. Strong/Lethal is must-see, and the two matches immediately beneath it are great too. I’ve seen other writers go higher on the Briscoes/Vice tag match as well, so it definitely stands to reason that this is one of ROH’s better shows of 2015. This is definitely one to check out
Top 3 Matches
3) Adam Page vs ACH (****)
2) The Addiction vs Michael Bennett/Matt Taven vs War Machine vs reDRagon (****)
1) Jay Lethal vs Roderick Strong (****1/2)