ROH 389 – Field Of Honor 2015 – 22nd August 2015
In 2014 Ring Of Honor ran a hot summer night in a baseball stadium, drew a decent crowd and delivered what was, from a visual perspective, one of their most unique and memorable shows ever. Unfortunately the card itself was a giant letdown with only a couple of matches worth your time. Clearly ROH are looking to atone for that, as with the help of New Japan they’ve got a packed line-up tonight. They need it too, since they are running against a pretty stacked WWE NXT show at the same time. There are potential showstealers from the opening match (Cole vs Daniels) right the way through to the main event pitting reDRagon against Jay Lethal and Shinsuke Nakamura. Standout matches in the midcard include a G-1 Climax Tournament rematch between Michael Elgin and Hirooki Goto, ‘Mr ROH’ Roderick Strong stepping up to the ‘Rainmaker’ Kazuchika Okada and the returns of the Killer Elite Squad and the Time Splitters to face War Machine and the Briscoes respectively. Kevin Kelly and a ludicrously dressed Steve Corino are at the announce desk in Brooklyn, NY.
SIDENOTE – The crowd looks similar to last year. It’s a huge venue for ROH so there are endless empty seats available, but actually it’s probably quite a decent attendance for Ring Of Honor. Once again MCU Park provides a totally awesome and entirely unique setting for an ROH show.
Christopher Daniels vs Adam Cole
Daniels, Kazarian and Sabin devised an evil plot to lead The Addiction to the Tag Team Championship. Part of their master plan was to frame The Kingdom for their dastardly acts whilst under the red masks of the KRD, with the ultimate endgame being to take the belts from reDRagon – both of whom are friends with Cole. Will the former World Champion get some revenge tonight?
Cole starts impressively, but I’m immediately distracted by the loud and extremely irritating clanging that the ring makes with their every move. Daniels prevents him from applying the Figure 4 though, then mounts a comeback by attacking his surgically repaired shoulder. Seems like there are plenty of drunk fans in again this year too, with loud ‘second row’ chants drowning out even the sh*tty ass ring as Almighty lands a Lionsault for 2. He has rendered the arm and shoulder almost immobile meaning he can drop Adam to the canvas with a single strike. BME misses though, with Cole rolling out of the way then delivering a running knee to the head which leaves them both on the mat. ARM STUNNER into a running STO from the Ring General…rolled into the Koji Clutch to do yet more damage to the bad arm. Angel’s Wings blocked…but Adam can’t lift him for the Last Shot. RELEASE GERMAN SUPLEX instead! He then piles into Daniels’ constantly bad neck with a Shining Wizard for 2. Chris Sabin appears at ringside to distract Cole…but gets kicked straight off the apron by the former World Champion. LAST SHOT! Cole wins at 11:10
Rating - *** - There’s no doubt in my mind that these two could have stolen the show under different circumstances. That wasn’t their job here, so instead they went out and delivered an extremely competent ten minute wrestling match with very few tricks, bells or whistles – and still had the crowd in the palms of their hands. The Sabin interference spot felt rather out of place, and I wish Cole could have sold the arm a little better at the end but overall this was a neat little package that got the show off to a solid start.
Killer Elite Squad vs War Machine
Back at Episode 189 of the Sinclair TV show these two teams collided in a memorable heavyweight tag team brawl. They went to a non-finish on that occasion, and fans have been waiting to see Archer and Smith Jr. return for the rematch ever since.
Handshakes are declined by KES, who instead opt to batter their bearded opponents with a flurry of elbow strikes. Davey Boy shows off his hybrid skills by trading strikes with Rowe then seamlessly floating into a cross armbreaker. Hanson hits the cartwheel lariat on Archer to even things up before stacking both opponents in the corner for the Sledgehammer/Bronco Buster combo. Lance somehow survives that and spearheads an isolation segment on Hanson, with his rugged and uncompromising style contrasting nicely with Smith’s MMA-influenced style. Hot tag to Rowe who lands the Shotgun Knees on Davey then the Superman Punch on Archer. Path Of Resistance on Lance before Smith saves with a Saito suplex. KILLER BOMB gets 2! Cement Mixer on Archer! FALLOUT on Smith Jr! Huge win for War Machine at 10:28
Rating - *** - I liked the TV match more; it felt more exciting, raw and dynamic. But this was still a perfectly sound and enjoyable standalone contest in its own right. I really like the contrast in styles between the two Killer Elite Squad guys and would love to see more of them in ROH if their schedule allowed for it. This was a prelude for War Machine heading to Japan to do some work in NOAH.
TV Title #1 Contendership Gauntlet Match
After the positive reaction I got for reviewing the SHIMMER Tag Title Gauntlet as a single match (rather than splitting it out into individual encounters) I’ll stick with that format again here. Tonight we have nine men competing for a TV Title shot – meeting the winner of the Lethal/Fish title match at All Star Extravaganza. Prince Nana has replaced Corino on commentary to avoid any conflict with The Decade, who are part of this match.
Adam Page is the first man to enter, grabbing a microphone on his way to trashtalk Jay Briscoe some more. Dalton Castle is his opponent and he draws a huge reaction from the live crowd. Page can’t cope with the Party Peacock’s antics and gets totally out-worked in the opening minutes. Colby Corino has to help out his mentor and socks Dalton with one of Whitmer’s crutches out of sight of the official. RUNNING NECK DROP POWERSLAM gets 2 for Page! Red Star Press misses, into the Everest German from Castle for 2. Adam counters the Bang-A-Rang into a jumping DDT! Adam’s Apple nailed for another nearfall, bringing an irate Colby onto the apron. On the floor BJ Whitmer gets into a fight with The Boys, causing such a distraction that Castle manages to sneak a pinfall win over Page at 09:23. Frustrated at his elimination, Page waffles Dalton with a crutch and gives him the Rite Of Passage as Frankie Kazarian makes his entrance. Just like Daniels earlier, he has Sabin in his corner and it’s he who starts doing damage to Dalton whilst Kaz occupies referee Paul Turner. Victory roll attempted by Frankie, but Castle rolls through AND WINS! He eliminates his second opponent at 14:06! For the second time Dalton is attacked after winning; this time getting jumped by both Kaz and Sabin and getting floored by a Tag Title belt shot. To his immense misfortune the next entrant is his arch rival Silas Young! The crowd goes NUTS when Castle kicks out of the instant pinfall! Misery nailed though, allowing Silas to advance at 15:46. We have a shock entrant next – Bushwhacker Luke Williams! They parody the classic Royal Rumble elimination spot…before he BUSHWHACKER MARCHES A HOME RUN! And is counted out in the process.
#6 is Moose so things are about to get very serious. He socks the still-fresh Silas with the Game Breaker for 2. Hitstick countered, so Moose nails a big spinebuster instead and pins Young to advance at 20:54.The seventh man to enter the fray is Top Prospect Tournament winner Donovan Dijak – a man who has already declined one TV Title shot against Jay Lethal this year and will possibly be entering this to protect Lethal’s title reign once again. ‘These are the guys who are going to be fighting for the World Title for years to come’ – says Kevin Kelly of Moose (now of TNA) and Dijak (now of WWNLive). Feast Your Eyes blocked into a bicycle kick from Moose…only for Donovan to counter the Hitstick with a CHOKESLAM BACKBREAKER! RUNNING MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT GETS KNEES! ROPE RUN MISSILE DROPKICK BY MOOSE! These guys are working like f*cking cruiserweights! Truth Martini and Stokely Hathaway are chasing each other all around the outfield! HITSTICK! Moose eliminates Dijak at 27:59! Cedric Alexander is up next, sneaking up behind to whack Moose with a monkey wrench AGAIN! Moose is pinned for the third time in ROH – all three of them to Cedric and his illegal wrench attacks! It means our final two are Cedric Alexander and Takaaki Watanabe. Alexander teases hitting the Three Amigos, but then doesn’t do it to piss the crowd off. I’m not sure channelling Eddie Guerrero to get heat is in particularly good taste, but he is soon punished by missing the frog splash and eating a Watanabe neckbreaker. Moose is having to be restrained from getting back into the ring, distracting Cedric as Wata hits the EVIL STO to win the whole thing at 34:56
Rating - ** - This was LONG, and I really think Watanabe would have been my last choice to win this (yes, I’d rather see Lethal vs Bushwhacker Luke)…but there were some fun elements too. Dalton Castle’s strong early run was enjoyable, and he was, by a distance, the most over performer we’ve had on the show so far (which isn’t bad considering Cole and Daniels were in the opening match). The brief interactions to further the Moose/Cedric and Silas/Dalton feuds were nicely done – and I particularly liked Alexander cheating again to pin Moose for an unprecedented third time. The undoubted highlights, however, were Bushwhacker Luke’s hilarious cameo and the jaw-dropping spot exchanges between Donovan Dijak and Moose. Dijak has insane agility for his size and badly needs more opportunities to work serious matches with top tier talents if he is to improve and live up to his immense potential. Watanabe winning is nothing but lip-service to New Japan, and a way to make amends after NJPW were rumoured to be pissed off at how little ROH has used him during his excursion. He is by far the least interesting choice of opponent for Jay Lethal (or Bobby Fish) at the post-All Star Extravaganza TV Tapings.
Michael Bennett/Matt Taven/RPG Vice vs Young Bucks/Matt Sydal/ACH
The Kingdom and the Young Bucks are part of a triple threat Tag Title match at All Star Extravaganza, so get a chance to soften each other up for that one tonight in this 8-man tag. Bennett and Taven are paired with Roppongi Vice – which will certainly benefit them as Romero and Beretta are long-time rivals of the Bucks in Japan. The Jacksons have strong partners too…with one of ROH’s MVP’s for 2015 in ACH joining Matt Sydal, the man who defeated IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Kushida in Philadelphia yesterday. It was around this time that Ring Of Honor announced that ACH would be facing his partner/mentor Sydal in a Best Of 5 Series.
The crowd is way into everyone except Bennett and Taven. Even Maria gets plenty of love! They fall victim to some early Young Bucks double teams…and as they try to retreat it FOUR MAN SUPERKICKS from all of their opponents. TRIPLE MOONSAULTS OFF THE APRON by the Jacksons and Sydal! ACH JUMPS OVER MARIA INTO A RUNNING MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! Bennett gives ACH a Spear to kill their momentum, and wisely the ‘Kingdom of Chaos’ pull him into their corner to slow the pace right down. In fact, they are so dominant they find time to leave the ring to engage in a game of IMAGINARY BASEBALL! Home Run knee strikes by RPG Vice! Bennett, Taven and Maria try to repeat that spot…INTO EARLY ONSET ALZHEIMER’S AT FOURTH BASE! Slice/standing moonsault from Sydal to Rocky gets 2. Romero recovers with Forever Clotheslines on Matt…who counters with ‘Suck It’ Clotheslines and superkicks! The Kingdom jump the Jacksons from behind to give Matt the Proton Pack. FIVE STAR FROG SPLASH gets 2 for Taven. HAIL MARY on Sydal for 2! ACH somersaults over Bennett’s Spear only to eat a springboard enzi from Taven! SUPERKICKS by the Bucks! GOBSTOPPER KNEE BY TRENT! TRIPLE SUPERKICK PARTY ON HIM! SOMERSAULT PLANCHA TO THE FLOOR BY NICK! MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK! MIDNIGHT STAR! SYDAL PRESS! Taven is entirely dead, giving the Bucks, Sydal and ACH the win at 14:31
Rating - **** - This was a refreshing change of pace after the TV Title contenders gauntlet which became something of a slog to sit through. Nobody took themselves too seriously and gave us nothing but entertaining comedy and frantic highspots. You could probably classify this as something of a waste of eight such talented individuals – but for their spot on the card they got the tone just right. My biggest criticism here is that I have no idea why Delirious has jobbed out The Kingdom twice this weekend, right before he wants them to be considered viable threats to the Tag Team Championship at All Star Extravaganza.
Michael Elgin vs Hirooki Goto
‘Big Mike’ was reportedly considered one of the MVP’s of the 2015 G-1 Climax Tournament. Having fulfilled a lifelong dream to make it to New Japan, he more than held his own in a tough group which also contained Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito, Karl Anderson, Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima, Tomohiro Ishii and his opponent tonight – IWGP Intercontinental Champion Hirooki Goto. In fact, the Elgin/Goto clash was considered something of a cult classic and a rematch was top of many ROH fans’ wishlists when Goto was announced for these dates. In Japan it was Hirooki who emerged victorious. Will home-field advantage assist Unbreakable in earning a revenge win (and potentially an IC Title shot) this time around?
The action is intense from the opening bell as both men throw elbows and shoulder tackles. Elgin is the stronger of the two and actually hits with such force that he has soon driven the IC Champion to the grass outside the ring. Goto tries to trade strikes on the floor…and gets ELBOWED IN THE FACE! It seems like the Japanese athlete is really struggling, lumbering back into the ring and getting German suplexed into the turnbuckles for 2. From nowhere he clubs Elgin with a lariat; rocking the former ROH Champion for the first time. It softens him up for a back drop driver which gains Hirooki his first nearfall of the contest. ROLLING GERMANS by Elgin…into CHAOS THEORY for 2! DEADLIFT AVALANCHE FALCON ARROW! Goto slides away from the Buckle Bomb only to eat a spinning backfist instead! AVALANCHE CODE RED BY GOTO! Goto hits the Shouten Kai to win at 13:26.
Rating - *** - I’ve not seen their G-1 Climax Match so I can’t compare the two I’m afraid. For what it’s worth I enjoyed watching their work here. It wasn’t particularly fancy, but I certainly don’t have a problem with two tough performers slugging the hell out of each other for almost fifteen minutes. The biggest killer here was that they never really created any sense of drama or palpable tension to give the match an emotional hook. It wasn’t an unpleasant experience watching them smash the sh*t out of each others faces…but ultimately I didn’t feel like they gave me enough of a reason to care, which is why my rating stood no chance of going higher.
Time Splitters vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe
Prince Nana is back out on commentary, and actually makes a reference to Shelley once being a member of The Embassy. Is this the first time we’ve seen Shelley and Kushida as a duo since Final Battle 2014? They make a welcome return this evening, in what some would term a ‘dream match’ against probably the top tag team in Ring Of Honor history. The Briscoes and the Motor City Machine Guns (Shelley’s old team) have shared some classics in years gone by so it will be particularly interesting to see them renew hostilities with Alex here.
The Briscoes can’t complete with the slick wrestling skills of the Splitters, so instead use more forthright and simplistic beatdown tactics to try and isolate Kushida. Shelley crashes the party and joins with his partner for a blistering piece of tag team wrestling which Jay Briscoe simply can’t keep up with. They are insanely quick; putting on a clinic to cut the ring in half and keep Mark away from his brother for a couple of minutes…until again Jay comes in with roughhouse tactics and mauls Shelley. In no time at all he has given Alex a bloody mouth, with Steve Corino reporting that part of his tooth is now missing. Kushida quickens the pace with a handspring elbow, before low-bridging Jay leaving him on the floor and in the path of a flying knee from Shelley. Kushida kicks at Mark’s arm and sweeps him into the Hoverboard Lock – which Jay instantly breaks. Frog splash/standing moonsault gets 2 for the Time Splitters! I-94 blocked by the Briscoes, for a Splash Mountain Neckbreaker on Alex. Next Kushida thwarts a Jay Driller attempt…only to walk into Mark’s urinage instead. JAY DRILLER on Shelley! The Briscoes win at 12:21
Rating - *** - If I gave half stars this would absolutely get an extra half. I adored the dynamic of these two, with the flashy and intricate moveset of the Time Splitters providing a perfect natural contrast to the brawling style of the Briscoes. I think Shelley’s mouth injury threw him off a little, and they really needed a little more time to develop this into something truly special. This actually felt like the first two thirds of a great match…but with the final act missing entirely. There is no doubt in my mind that these four could have stolen the show given the opportunity, but even working in a restricted and understated midcard role they still produced one of the most interesting matches of the entire show.
Roderick Strong vs Kazuchika Okada
Strong was probably the stand-out performer from the New Japan tour earlier this year, producing outstanding singles matches against Kushida, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura. He now completes the set of New Japan’s ‘Big Three’ by facing the Rainmaker this evening. The stakes are high for him – not only because a win would mean he beats New Japan’s champion making him an instant contender for that belt, but because it would catapult him back into the ROH World Title picture. After suffering another loss to Jay Lethal in Philadelphia yesterday he will now have slid down the contendership rankings.
Strong is covered in cuts and bruises after his match with Lethal in Philadelphia yesterday. That might explain why he’s a little slow to start – but does get rolling at the two-minute mark by landing a couple of chops and a back suplex. He appears to be almost bating Okada into fighting him; smashing into his chest with notoriously stiff chops and smashing him down onto his back from a variety of positions. If the IWGP Champion wanted another easy Ring Of Honir night he night not be getting one here. BACK SUPLEX INTO THE FRONT ROW! GUARDRAIL GUTBUSTER! Mr ROH stands tall with a big smile on his face and is completely dominant against New Japan’s top star right now. Back in the ring Okada slips out of Death By Roderick and lands a neckbreaker…but is visibly slowed and struggling to get up. He tries his running elbow in the corner spot, only to be caught and chopped again! Muso by Strong gets 2. CRADLE APRON BACKBREAKER SCORES! Okada has been beaten all over the ring but somehow counters End Of Heartache into the Air Raid Crash to leave both men down. Still Strong won’t stop coming at him – he’s the first off the mat ignoring Okada’s elbow strikes to land the Olympic Slam. STRONGHOLD! Okada makes the ropes then dropkicks Strong in the head! Desperate Rainmaker COUNTERED WITH JUMPING KNEES! DEATH BY RODERICK! SICK KICK! OKADA KICKS OUT! TOMBSTONE BY OKADA! He can barely move! Strong tries another knee AND GETS TOMBSTONED AGAIN! Rainmaker…blocked! GERMAN SUPLEX BY OKADA INSTEAD! RAINMAKER NAILED! Okada wins at 15:23
Rating - **** - This was all kinds of awesome, and perhaps the closest we’ve seen to Okada’s New Japan brilliance in a Ring Of Honor ring. Ironically the central plot of the match meant he didn’t actually need to do all that much offensively, but he took some wicked bumps for Strong and went out of his way to sell for the ROH athlete like a true pro. I loved what they did here, with Strong roughing up and assaulting the IWGP Champion pretty much from the opening bell. It was like he knew that Okada likes to coast in his ROH matches, so set about devising a plan to draw the ‘Tokyo Dome Okada’ out. He countered Okada’s moves, stiffed him with strikes, threw him into the crowd and basically dominated. It was a powerful statement, and all built to that Sick Kick spot which was an ultra hot nearfall (considering this was a match where you knew Okada wasn’t going to job). In the end the Rainmaker had to desperately hit his vaunted finishing sequence then get the f*ck out with his reputation intact. Strong’s 2015 continues to be astoundingly superb.
reDRagon vs Jay Lethal/Shinsuke Nakamura
Having successfully staved off the challenge of Roderick Strong (for now), Jay Lethal has to turn his focus to reDRagon. Both men are gunning for his belts and have officially earned title shots at All Star Extravaganza. It means on that evening he’ll be facing both members of one of the most successful teams in ROH history, defending the TV Title against Bobby Fish then putting up the World Title against Kyle O’Reilly in the main event. Tonight is a valuable opportunity to even the playing field slightly and inflict some real damage to his challengers – and to ensure he doesn’t miss out he has recruited the King Of Strong Style to assist him. Fish and O’Reilly are New Japan competitors too though, so will not only want to soften up the champ but also will be thinking about beating Nakamura and enhancing their reputation overseas…
Lethal insists that he start the match for his team, meaning he begins in the ring with the man who he’s struggled with all year in O’Reilly. He refuses the fans pleas to bring Nakamura into the ring…so gets his ass kicked by both members of reDRagon by himself. Amusingly, when he then does want to tag Naka declines and sends his ‘partner’ back into a 2-on-1 situation. Eventually Nakamura does tag, but only after giving the World Champion a condescending hug; pissing Jay off so much that he threatens to walk out. Fish and O’Reilly evidently want Lethal in the ring with them as often as possible and pretty soon have their man back in legally so they can pick apart his arm. They are so efficient that they leave Nakamura with little choice but to help out – driving a sledgehammer knee strike into Fish’s ribs. That winds Bobby, and Nak is such a professional that he spots it instantly and spends the next several minutes running through every move he has that make it hard for Fish to catch his breath. Kyle tries to put Lethal in Arm-Ageddon…then puts a HEEL HOOK on Nakamura when he thinks about breaking it with a stomp! Chasing The Dragon blocked, with Lethal diving THROUGH NAK’S LEGS into a tope suicida! SUPERKICK/FLYING KNEE COMBO by Nakamura and Lethal! Jay tries the Dragon Suplex only to be inadvertently elbowed in the face by his own partner. BACK DROP DRIVER from Fish to Nakamura! HAIL TO THE KING by Lethal! Truth Martini hands Nakamura the Book Of Truth…only for the King Of Strong Style to toss it into the outfield! JAWBREAKER LARIAT COUNTERED TO A CROSS ARMBREAKER BY NAKAMURA! LETHAL INJECTION ON FISH! Jay pins Fish to win the match at 13:09
Rating - **** - For once not letting the main event go too long actually benefited all parties here. War Of The Worlds 2015 Night 1 had an overly long main event tag, going almost twenty minutes with Nakamura and Okada on autopilot producing something rather disappointing. Here these four worked a short, sharp and continually entertaining match; combining skilful build to All Star Extravaganza with some great exhibitions of Nakamura’s skills, plus the added bonus of the magnificent uneasy team dynamic Lethal and Naka demonstrated. A fun way to cap off a thoroughly decent DVD.
The show ends with Jay Lethal disrespectfully refusing a handshake with Nakamura and walking away
Tape Rating - *** - From top to bottom this was an extremely consistent card, and immeasurably better than the 2014 Field Of Honor event. It must have cost Ring Of Honor and Sinclair an absolute fortune putting the show together, because there was SO much great talent booked. There were a couple of matches that disappointed me somewhat as they didn’t get enough time or live up to their full potential (Daniels/Cole, War Machine/KES, Time Splitters/Briscoes) but nothing was actively bad all night. Even the TV Title Gauntlet should be considered ‘overly long’ rather than 'poor' in any way. When you think back to the 2014 Field Of Honor event, when the midcard was almost unwatchably terrible this show is almost unrecognisable in comparison. I wouldn’t say there is anything that will blow your mind or that you need to go out of your way to see (although Strong vs Okada was pretty special) but as a package deal this was just a downright FUN night of wrestling. The unique venue once again made this feel completely different from most other ROH events too. For $15 VOD, or perhaps even less in a DVD sale there’s a lot to like…
Top 3 Matches
3) Jay Lethal/Shinsuke Nakamura vs reDRagon (****)
2) Young Bucks/Matt Sydal/ACH vs Michael Bennett/Matt Taven/RPG Vice (****)
1) Kazuchika Okada vs Roderick Strong (****)
Top 5 Aftershock Tour Philadelphia/Field Of Honor 2015 Weekend Matches
5) Young Bucks/Matt Sydal/ACH vs Michael Bennett/Matt Taven/RPG Vice (**** - Field Of Honor 2015)
4) Matt Sydal vs Kushida (**** - Aftershock Tour Philadelphia)
3) Shinsuke Nakamura vs Adam Cole (**** - Aftershock Tour Philadelphia)
2) Kazuchika Okada vs Roderick Strong (**** - Field Of Honor 2015)
1) Jay Lethal vs Roderick Strong (**** - Aftershock Tour Philadelphia)