ROH 392 – Reloaded Tour: Chicago – 12th September 2015
Bitter old cranks like me – i.e. ROH fans who lived through and can’t get over the 2005-2006 ‘golden era’ – are having a hard time admitting it, but Ring Of Honor is having a strong summer. Sure it isn’t exactly groundbreaking from a creative standpoint (although it has been better), but there has been a consistently very decent level of wrestling since Best In The World and I’m being very genuine when I say that I haven’t enjoyed reviewing ROH as much in quite a while. Last night’s event in Dearborn was a great example of what ROH have been doing right recently, and I’m hoping for more of the same here. The Young Bucks will headline for a second consecutive evening, hoping to follow up on their victory over reDRagon yesterday with a win over Future Shock here. Lower down the card we have the second match in the Best Of 5 Series between ACH and Matt Sydal (those two smashed it in Dearborn), and the biggest match of Moose’s ROH career so far as he gets a Proving Ground match with Jay Lethal. There does look to be a fair bit of filler to get through on the undercard too, but also some potentially decent clashes in the form of (Jay) Briscoe/Alexander, Strong/Fish and Elgin/Watanabe. Kevin Kelly is joined by BJ Whitmer for commentary in Chicago Ridge, IL.
SIDENOTE – Unless they are shooting this show differently to how they usually film in this building, attendance looks significantly down on the usual attendance in the Frontier Fieldhouse. I don’t have the figures to back it up, and perhaps there were traffic/travel issues and the crowd will grow as the night progresses – but you can’t normally see ROWS of empty bleachers stretching right down to the floor seats in view of the hard camera usually. It’s probably what they deserve after crowing about how big the crowd was for the Conquest Tour event here earlier in 2015 then giving them a really sh*tty house show which showed no respect to one of ROH’s most loyal markets.
Michael Bennett/Matt Taven vs Curt Stallion/Brad Kevins
Stallion and Kevins are already in the ring as the show opens, which doesn’t bode well for them. I believe Curt Stallion has just been part of the laughable 2017 ‘Top Prospect Tournament’ field, so evidently he’s been throwing his money away attending ROH training camps for quite a while. The Kingdom made quite an impression in Dearborn yesterday by showing up super-late and assaulting both the Young Bucks and reDRagon after the main event. They are on a hot streak and are desperate to win the Tag Titles in San Antonio before Bennett and Maria need to renegotiate their contracts at the end of December.
Is Brad Kevins wearing a shell necklace? He deserves the devastating Spear that Bennett gives him as the bell rings just for that. HAIL MARY ON THE FLOOR takes out Stallion! A Hail Mary back into the ring finally destroys Kevins, giving The Kingdom an effortless win at 02:07
Rating - N/A - They haven’t exactly worked hard to earn their paychecks this weekend, but few acts on the roster have made more of a splash than Bennett and Taven. Their cameo at the end of the Dearborn event made for a really hot conclusion to that DVD, and they kick off this show with a total wrecking ball of a performance which had the sometimes-cynical Chicago fans going nuts. Right now Bennett is as over now as he’s been in his seven-year (yes, he really did debut in ROH in 2008) Ring Of Honor career.
Taven grabs a microphone to call out Adam Cole and demand he sever ties with reDRagon and pledge allegiance to The Kingdom. Cole enters the ring but doesn’t get to answer before Fish and O’Reilly come out to get in their faces…and with everyone distracted the Young Bucks run in undetected to give Bennett and Taven some payback superkicks.
Beer City Bruiser vs Dalton Castle
Giving credit where it’s due, the last time the Bruiser got booked at one of these shows was the Conquest Tour in Hopkins, where he and Silas Young teamed up for the first time and contested a spirited, physical slug-out with War Machine that I rather liked. Young is in his corner for this one too, since he’s wrestling Silas’ big rival right now. The Last Real Man will have tasked his supposed ‘friend’ with roughing up the Party Peacock ahead of their grudge match on pay-per-view next weekend.
Unsurprisingly, Beer City isn’t a fan of Castle’s act whatsoever. He does have enough size to shake off Dalton’s attempts to grapple or armdrag him though. Young distracts Dalton by grabbing The Boys, allowing BCB to hit an ugly ass fallaway slam from the second rope. Obviously Silas is also on hand to lay in a couple of cheap shots behind referee Todd Sinclair’s back too. We’re past the three minute mark now, so Bruiser looks shot as usual – gasping for air and almost collapsing into an underhook DDT for 2. FATTY FROG SPLASH MISSES! He got some freaking DISTANCE on that though! Potentially his lack of conditioning leaves him way out of position as Castle attempts a rebound crossbody though, meaning that spot looked pretty atrocious. The Boys jerk Silas off the apron as he tries to interfere again…and Dalton hits the EVEREST F*CKING GERMAN on the Bruiser! Amazing strength, and he earns the win with that hold at 08:36
Rating - ** - The Bruiser is still too out of shape for this gig. His gimmick is that he’s a big tough brawler and I’m fine with that, but he really does seem to lack the sort of essential conditioning that is necessary to work even basic Ring Of Honor level matches. There were multiple times where spots looked ugly thanks to him, and that’s not acceptable. Having said all that, this match wasn’t without it’s charm. One of my favourite aspects of Dalton’s character is that for all his flamboyance, he is tough as nails. Matches like this against a mauler like BCB really demonstrate that. This felt like a down and dirty fight and a nice final segment for this feud before we reach All Star Extravaganza.
Young is beating the hell out of both Boys, and has left them in a heap by the time Dalton has his hand raised in victory.
Michael Elgin vs Takaaki Watanabe
‘Unbreakable’ Michael Elgin can truly call himself a New Japan star now. His showing in the G-1 Climax Tournament has earned him a regular gaijin spot with that organisation ever since. In essence, that now makes him a target for Watanabe. If Wata wants to prove to the NJPW office that his American excursion has been a success and that he is ready to return home, then a victory over the man who impressed so much earlier this year would certainly be a way to do that. He also has the small matter of an ROH TV Title shot to prepare for as well.
Watanabe earns some respect by refusing to back down and trading some heavy duty elbow strikes with the former World Champion from the opening bell. In fact, as the minutes tick by they just don’t stop smashing the absolute sh*t out of each other! Elgin puts a stop to that with a thirty-second suplex. Taka is an animal though – continually clawing his way back up from the mat and trying to trade blows with his adversary once more. Such is the severity of the beating Big Mike dishes out that he actually gets to land the corkscrew senton spot that he misses in almost every other match. Yet still Wata keeps fighting and manages to toss Elgin right over the top rope. Lariat duel…no sold…Polish Hammer…no sold! GERMAN BY ELGIN! 1 COUNT OF DISRESPECT! GERMAN BY WATANABE! LARIATOOOOOOOOOOO by Elgin! Back they go to slugging each other, and this time it’s Taka who gets the upper hand to deliver a fisherman buster. DEAD-LIFT AVALANCHE FALCON ARROW! TAKA KICKS OUT! Buckle Bomb…NO SOLD! ROARING ELBOW! Evil STO COUNTERED WITH A LARIAT! DEAD-LIFT ROLLING POWERBOMBS! Elgin wins at 12:17
Rating - *** - Certainly a candidate for an extra half star if I graded in such a manner, and comfortably Watanabe’s best ROH singles match thus far. He and Elgin beat the hell out of each other here in an ultra-physical contest. There was nothing fancy on display, but everything they did from the first bell to the last looked like it really REALLY hurt. If this is the kind of match Elgin was having in the G-1 I can see why New Japan absolutely loved him.
It’s supposed to be Mark Briscoe vs Adam Page up next, but it takes a back seat to the amusing spectacle of the Chicago crowd hijacking the show to stop BJ Whitmer cutting a promo before Page’s entrance. It’s the sort of organic crowd reaction that the previously stale Ring Of Honor product hasn’t been getting and is such fun to watch – especially once BJ, Mark Briscoe and even Kevin Kelly start running with it. It turns out that Adam has a shoulder injury so can’t compete (which presumably explains why he didn’t work last night either)…but when Page tries to attack Mark from behind he is ambushed by Jay Briscoe. Whitmer saves his protégé from going through a table, then just when the segment looks to be over Romantic Touch struts down to ringside. He gestures and poses in the Briscoes’ direction…and gets a Briscoe Biel through the aforementioned table.
Bobby Fish vs Roderick Strong
From a straight-up workrate perspective this could very well be the strongest match on the entire card. Strong is having a career-best year, and Fish has been killing it in his singles matches recently too. They are two men at the head of the pack currently chasing Undisputed Champion Jay Lethal, so will be aware that this is very much a de facto contendership match. Bobby is #1 contender to the TV Title and gets his shot next week, placing a target of sorts on his own back. Strong will be eyeing up beating the reDRagon member to force his own way back into championship reckoning.
They work the mat without a whole lot of conviction in the early minutes, and it’s clear they are rather evenly matched in that regard. Roderick is a wise strategist however, and realises it quickly so gets the jump on Fish by hammering him with a dropkick. After a few high impact strikes he has Fish on the defensive and he immediately launches into his favourite tactic of targeting the midsection and back. Fish is in danger, so comes back hard by reeling out all of his mixed martial arts tricks; kicks, takedowns and submissions in quick succession to halt Strong’s march. An Olympic slam shuts the MMA stuff down swiftly, with Roddy going after the back once more. Fish stumbles around the ring in real trouble and is throwing kicks on instinct rather than through aggression right now. He lucks out and lands a kick to the back of Strong’s leg, knocking him off the second rope and wrenching his knee. Now Roderick has an injury to tend to as well. He gets his legs up to block a Fish senton – obviously hurting Bobby’s back but doing more damage to his own bad wheel too. Fish capitalises by kicking the leg out from under him once more then hitting a slingshot senton right on the knee. Neither man can execute a suplex successfully, and ferociously battle over it until Strong hits a devastating gourdbuster! Cradle backbreaker blocked…but the Fish running elbow is countered immediately afterwards with a dropkick to the ribs! Both men are down! Fish hits the Samoan drop…but that’s another move which hurts his injury as much as his opponent. Strong quickly fires back with the Muso as a result. BUZZSAW KICK by Fish gets 2! He then scoops Roddy up and drives the legs into the top turnbuckle with the turnbuckle exploder. Both men battle up the ropes – with Fish clubbing at the knee to prevent Strong executing the superplex. FLYING WOLVERINE MISSES! More damage to Bobby’s ribs! SUPERPLEX NAILED! ROLLED INTO DEATH BY RODERICK…for 2! STRONGHOLD! But Fish latches onto the bad leg and grabs a kneebar to counter. SO STRONG KICKS HIM RIGHT IN THE DAMN FACE! REPEATEDLY! End Of Heartache COUNTERED TO A FALCON ARROW! HEAD KICK! JUMPING KNEE! RUNNING ELBOW! FALCON ARROW AGAIN! FISH WINS! What a war this was! 19:11 is your time.
Rating - ****1/2 - Matches like this are why I still watch Ring Of Honor, even though I may feel like they are ten years removed from what I consider their ‘creative peak’. No gimmicks, no silly booking goofs, just two exceptionally talented dudes busting their asses, working damn hard and producing a classic wrestling match. The way the gradually cranked up the tension as this match rolled along was masterful. Each and every move had meaning, and everything the two combatants did was as a direct response or reaction to counteract what the other man was throwing their way. Perhaps I could have used them selling their respective injuries a bit better, but that’s a pretty minor criticism to toss around. Chalk up another MOTYC for Roderick Strong’s sensational 2015.
INTERMISSION – Stokely Hathaway rejoins commentary as Whitmer vanished after the segment with the Briscoes. This guy did a HORRIBLE job at the Dearborn show, so I can’t fathom why he’s back again here. Considering he’s a wrestling manager who’s supposed to get by with his verbal skills, he’s a really lousy talker.
Samson Walker vs Will Ferrara vs Silas Young vs Cheeseburger
Walker gets heckled and abused by the Chicago fans, so presumably the majority of this audience haven’t seen the pretty commendable effort he produced in his match with Moose the previous evening. He more than deserves another shot after that one. His size actually makes him a potential favourite here, although you’d probably still favour the experience of Silas Young (who has been around a very long time) over him. The little ROH Dojo boys are rank outsiders for sure…
Apparently Chris Jericho is a mark for Cheeseburger just like Jushin Liger. Young and Ferrara have had something of a rivalry over the summer and have traded wins, so it’s only natural that they start out together, although the fans want to see Cheesy get in there with Samson. They get their wish, and enjoy it as the ‘Dojo Boys’ team up to dump big Walker out of the ring. Will tries a tope suicida at him only to be caught and splattered into the ringpost. After Young has booted Samson’s head into the guardrails Burger is actually able to take the big man off his feet with a springboard plancha to the floor! He returns to the ring with a springboard knee on Young, followed by the Shotei on Ferrara and Samson. Killer Combo blocked…Misery instead. Young wins at 07:42
Rating - * - This didn’t do much for me, although that is mostly because it featured far too much Cheeseburger offence which we are supposed to take seriously even though he’s in the ring with at least two (and probably Ferrara as well) guys who would absolutely murder him in an actual fight. Walker had another entertaining showing for the weekend and has probably earned himself some more bookings if he wants them (ROH under Sinclair and Delirious isn’t the desirable workplace destination it once was), and the right man – in Silas – won so I can’t complain too much.
Cedric Alexander vs Jay Briscoe
A couple of significant losses recently have dented Cedric’s momentum, but he remains the only man on the roster who can say that he has pinned Moose on three separate occasions. The added notoriety that accomplishment has given him means his stock has risen sufficiently to get him singles matches with former World Champions like Jay Briscoe. These are the opportunities he felt he was missing out on (and losing when he did get them) in the months which led to his heel turn. He needs to back up his talk with a few more major victories – even without Veda Scott in his corner like tonight.
Alexander is an absolute ass in the opening minutes. He declines the Code Of Honor, he leaves the ring to delay locking up with Jay, then he shouts abuse at and makes fun of the former champion. Fans are relieved when Jay puts his foot through Cedric’s face a couple of times to seize the initiative. Cedric fights back by shoving him into the ringpost so hard a noticeable welt instantly appears on his back, then raking the eyes to set him up for a running boot off the apron. Spotting Stokely at the commentary table, he screams ‘it’s gonna be Moose’ right in his face as he chokes Briscoe over the ring apron. This is a sensationally bastard-ish performance from Cedric…because next he starts stretching Jay’s permanently-injured shoulder too! Briscoe blocks a springboard though, shoving him off the apron then wiping him out with a TOPE SUICIDA INTO THE GUARDRAILS! Rude Awakening scores, but Cedric blocks the DVD to hit a 540 Kick/Michinoku Driver combo for 2. Overtime misses! Jay Driller blocked! Jay at last gets to successfully hit the DVD but can’t put him away and walks into the Concussion On Delivery dropkick followed by a brainbuster. Alexander pulls out the monkey wrench, but has it snatched out of his hand by Stokely. Jay wins with a Roaring Elbow at 12:35
Rating - *** - I really liked Cedric Alexander’s showing in this one. In fact, I’ve enjoyed his work as a heel all summer, so I don’t quite understand why Delirious has started jobbing him out again (after killing Moose’s momentum to turn him heel in the first place). Hell, Alexander is so insignificant again that it seems Briscoe didn’t even need to use his finishing move to beat him. I’m not saying Alexander should have gone over here – but he deserved a stronger showing. It really feels like the writing is on the wall for Ced's Ring Of Honor career by this point, so I'm amazed it took him until the spring of 2016 to finally get out. He has his limitations, but some of the stuff he did to evoke a heat from the live crowd here was really good and showed what potential for growth he has. It really didn’t surprise me that he walked out of ROH, onto a few Evolve shows then straight into the rejuvenated WWE Cruiserweight division. He isn’t ever going to be ‘the guy’ but he’s a solid hand with plenty of upside.
Cedric roughs up Stokely with repeated COD dropkicks…which apparently Moose doesn’t care about enough to stop. At least it should put an end to Stoke’s awful commentary. Moose does finally show up, and gets knocked out with the monkey wrench yet again. He has to be carried to the locker room, with very little time to recover before his Proving Ground Match.
ACH vs Matt Sydal – Best Of 5 Series Match 2
These two stole the show in the opening match of this Best Of 5 Series yesterday in Dearborn. They went back and forth at a relentless pace, and despite ACH’s best efforts he never really came close to winning the match. He did push Sydal extremely hard however, and the aggressive nature of some of his tactics will have caught many off guard. He left nobody in any doubt as to how badly he wants to win this series, and will hope to channel what he learned yesterday into an equalising victory this evening. Sydal’s age and miles on the clock will count against him here. For all his experience and know-how, back-to-back matches of this intensity are a big ask on the body – which plays into the hands of his more youthful and energetic opponent.
The handshake tonight isn’t quite as relaxed and friendly as it was last night which I like. There is far less smiling and self-promoting commentary from either man tonight as well. They launch straight into some intense chain-wrestling…and even when they do stop for a hug, Sydal uses it as an opportunity to grab a sneaky wristlock on his opponent. ACH violently dropkicks Matt out of the ring…only for the veteran to regain his feet instantly and counter the PK Kick from the apron to trip him face-first to the floor. Again it’s Sydal making all the running here, and still focusing on ACH’s arm. It’s another wrestling clinic from Sydal; snapping the arm across the apron and keeping him very much on the ground, unable to utilise his high-flying athleticism. ACH is fighting one-armed but crucially does get some distance which allows him to string together a couple of kick-based assaults. Sydal shuts that sh*t down fast with a SUPER MCLARIAT for 2! As if to prove a point he then starts KICKING ACH right back whilst also becoming increasingly aggressive and vocal in his taunts. He has a counter to everything ACH tries – with even a basic Irish whip blocked with a Sayama flip into the Slice. A couple of superkicks give ACH a glimmer of hope…although his arm is so sore he can’t hold the bridge on the Hero’s Grip. He tries a suplex…but Sydal FLIPS INTO HURRICANRANA! RUNNING MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! Sydal just scored with one of ACH’s signature spots, payback for ACH stealing his yesterday. SYDAL PRESS BLOCKED! MIDNIGHT STAR NAILED! ACH STEALS THE WIN! He brings the score to 1-1 at 16:28
Rating - **** - I am loving this Best Of 5 Series thus far. This wasn’t as outright exciting as the Dearborn match, but possibly had even more depth and rich storyline content to enjoy. Sydal dominating almost the whole thing was a brilliant touch. He was the aggressor yesterday, scored the win to rock ACH’s confidence, boost his own ego and help him understand where ACH is a threat to him - so it made perfect sense that he would be the dominant force in the second bout. Tonight he had a counter for EVERYTHING his occasional tag partner threw at him. All of ACH’s signature spots were blocked, his arm was decimated, his strikes were negated...basically he couldn’t lay a glove on Sydal. It was also clear that some of ACH’s cockiness yesterday (like stealing Sydal’s moves) had forced Matt to take this one more seriously. And in the end it was that confidence that cost him, as he took too long setting up the Sydal Press and lost the match to the only ten seconds of offence ACH was able to string together all night. Match #3 is on pay-per-view at All Star Extravaganza, and although Sydal has been dominant this weekend ACH has found a way to hang in there and goes to Texas – his home state – with the score tied up.
Jay Lethal vs Moose
This is a Proving Ground Match, meaning if Moose beats Lethal or takes the match to a time limit draw he will earn himself a World Title shot. He has made the ROH Championship his goal since debuting in the promotion, and Moose has never been closer than he is tonight in Chicago. Unfortunately for him, his chances have taken a serious dent after being knocked silly by Cedric Alexander and the monkey wrench less than half an hour ago. Has he been able to clear the cobwebs sufficiently to stand a chance of defeating the Undisputed Champion? On an unrelated note, is it ever going to be explained why Taeler Hendrix is in the House Of Truth now?
Moose is a terrible actor, and makes his entrance selling a shot to the head with a wrench…by walking with a huge limp apparently? Lethal doesn’t even let him get into the ring before jumping at him with a tope suicida. Moose catches him…POWERBOMB ON THE FLOOR! FOLLOWED BY AN APRON BOMB! The thud Jay made landing on the floor there was sickening. He is supposedly still knocked silly by the wrench shot though, and blacks out when lining up the Hitstick enabling Lethal to put a superkick into the side of his head. All of the World Champion’s offence targets Moose’s head, and I find Moose’s selling a lot better when he stops randomly limping in favour of just staring at his opponent with a vacant, emotionless stare (which is pretty much what he does in his matches usually anyway). He hits the Game Breaker, and follows it with Go To Hell for 2. Lethal drops him on his head with a couple of DDT’s to reassert himself…and an absent-minded Moose tries the rope-run flying crossbody, only for it to be countered with a MID-AIR CUTTER! Lethal Injection wins it at 09:31
Rating - ** - This is the second time on the Reloaded Tour that Delirious has booked Moose into prominent singles matches with main event level talent, then produced some form of bodge-job booking decision to ‘protect’ him. Either he trusts Moose enough to hang with and produce good matches with the likes of Jay Briscoe or Jay Lethal…or he shouldn’t be booking him in top-tier matches against them. Moreover, if he still doesn’t trust Moose to deliver with someone like Lethal after more than a year on the roster why on earth does he still have a job? Truth be told aborting the Briscoe/Moose match actually annoyed me way more than this one (since at least this adds hype to Moose/Cedric on PPV)…but to pull out of a major Moose singles match twice in three shows is silly on Delirious’ part. In addition, since Sinclair took over their brand of conservative, corporate ownership has seen the Ring Of Honor product watered down and sanitised in almost every conceivable way. In an era where they don’t allow swearing, blood, and promote themselves like they are stuck in an 80’s timewarp, who signed off on the morally dubious plot for this one of allowing a guy with a concussion to work, then having his opponent beat the sh*t out of his head? The match itself was an adequate, if forgettable fluff piece. The wrestlers did their best to do a passable job – but they should never have been in this position.
Kevin Kelly trots into the ring to announce that the first Chicago show of 2016 will be part of the New Japan War Of The Worlds Tour. In my opinion it should bother ROH significantly that this announcement gets way more of a pop than anyone on their own roster has done all weekend
Future Shock vs Young Bucks
These two teams have met many times before. They shared the ring multiple times during Future Shock’s first run in ROH, and even fought with the Bucks using their ‘GenerationMe’ personas at Best In The World 2011. In the years since they’ve shared a PWG ring too, so even though the Future Shock reunion is still fresh in Ring Of Honor terms these teams are far from strangers. The Young Bucks are part of the Tag Title triple threat at All Star Extravaganza, so Cole and O’Reilly will know that a win here could make them #1 contenders should Matt and Nick take the gold in Texas.
O’Reilly starts with Matt in a predominantly mat-based exchange, which obviously favours Kyle. Nick works far more quickly with Cole and swiftly ensures the Jacksons have the first significant advantage. In fact they are so dominant that they find time to forcibly eject O’Reilly from the apron even whilst isolating Cole. Realising they can’t live with the endless double teams of the Bucks, O’Reilly divides and conquers; driving Matt into the guardrails to leave his brother alone in the ring and having to scramble for the ropes to escape Arm-ageddon. Flapjack/bulldog combo gets 2 for Future Shock, repeating a spot they used frequently during their previous run. In a one-on-one environment it is evident that both Cole and O’Reilly are hugely superior workers and they effortlessly pick apart Nick with stretches and strikes. It also means that he’s softened up sufficiently to enable them to hit some of their own, more basic, double teams. Matt gets a tag and decimates Adam with a superkick on the floor! TOP ROPE MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! Kevin Steen Cannonball, followed by the elevated Swanton gets 2 as the Bucks start to build momentum and string together the tandem offence. Cole returns to the fray to prevent the Meltzer Driver…then tosses Nick off the ropes into a waiting Kyle for an INADVERTENT INDYTAKER on his own partner! ARM-AGEDDON/FIGURE 4 COMBO ON NICK! 450 SPLASH BY MATT TO BREAK IT! Nick BACK FLIPS over O’Reilly’s signature strike combos, so Matt can give him a SUPERKICK! They run through an obscene, kung fu movie sequence which somehow ends with another superkick on Cole, then EARLY ONSET ALZHEIMER’S for O’Reilly! NO SOLD FOR A DOUBLE JAWBREAKER LARIAT! PANAMA SUNRISE ON MATT…FOR 2! CHASING THE DRAGON! NICK SAVES! AXE & SMASH! TORNADO DDT ON THE FLOOR BY NICK! O’Reilly saves Cole from More Bang For Your Buck, so Nick hits a TOP ROPE SOMERSAULT PLANCHA TO THE FLOOR! MELTZER DRIVER! The Young Bucks pin Cole to wrap up a dominant weekend for them at 16:25
Rating - **** - I criticised Delirious for the booking of Moose recently, but to his credit he’s done a great job of promoting both teams challenging for the Tag Titles on pay-per-view this weekend. The Kingdom haven’t done a lot of wrestling but leave with plenty of heat behind them, whilst the Bucks have back-to-back wins over reDRagon and Future Shock to boast about. This was exactly the match you’d expect them to have, and I mean that in a very positive sense. The Young Bucks dominated when they were allowed to work fast double team spots, whilst whenever Future Shock controlled the pace and were able to separate their opponents they proved their superiority as singles workers. Ultimately, even though they fought hard they were never going to have enough to stop the Bucks when it broke down to spot warfare in the final few minutes. I won’t pretend there was much depth here (as there was in the Sydal/ACH match for instance) but they told a basic, effective story well and fleshed it out to pop the crowd with some insane signature high spot work. Some don’t like it, but this is very much the Young Bucks style and they are drawing money all over the world running with it right now.
Matt Taven, Michael Bennett and Maria Kanellis re-emerge to chastise Adam Cole for seemingly picking Future Shock over The Kingdom then run down the Young Bucks one last time before Texas. They get sent packing with superkicks, which seems something of a shame after how well they’ve been hyped up this weekend.
SIDENOTE – One criticism I have across both events this weekend is that Jay Lethal and Kyle O’Reilly have had absolutely no interaction. They are supposed to have a World Championship main event next week but haven’t crossed paths at all to build to that. In both Dearborn and Chicago Delirious has worked hard to promote the Tag Title challengers or further the Moose/Cedric, Briscoe/Page, Lethal/Fish, ACH/Sydal and Castle/Silas storylines…so it just seems odd to neglect his main event in such a way. In fact O’Reilly has ended up on the losing end of the main event both nights.
Tape Rating - *** - I’ve really enjoyed both live events from the Reloaded Tour this weekend. Maybe Ring Of Honor isn’t the ‘can’t miss’ proposition it once was, and it certainly isn’t the edgy, arty independent movement it used to be…but they have a decent roster and this weekend it felt like more of them got to showcase their immense skill than is sometimes the case. This event was slightly patchy, however like yesterday had a couple of meaty undercard battles to really get your teeth into (Sydal/ACH and the outstanding Strong/Fish technical masterclass) and a spot-frenzied Young Bucks main event to send the audience home happy. One shouldn’t sleep on the strong-style war between Elgin and Watanabe either, which I know a lot of fans rated somewhat higher than I did. And although I do have some minor quibbles about certain areas – like the booking of Kyle O’Reilly and Moose – for the most part the creative side of things was pretty decent too with lots of spinning plates successfully maintained and issues kept bubbling along nicely in preparation for All Star Extravaganza. It’s tough to recommend one DVD/VOD from this weekend over the other – as Dearborn was probably a more consistent top-to-bottom show, whilst Chicago has the best match all weekend in Fish/Roddy, a great main event and the very decent sequel to Dearborn’s best match (Sydal/ACH) too. Both of these probably deserve a spot in your growing Ring Of Honor collection I’d suggest.
Top 3 Matches
3) ACH vs Matt Sydal (****)
2) Young Bucks vs Future Shock (****)
1) Bobby Fish vs Roderick Strong (****1/2)
Top 5 Reloaded Tour Dearborn/Chicago Weekend Matches
5) Roderick Strong vs Adam Cole (**** - Dearborn)
4) Kyle O’Reilly vs Silas Young (**** - Dearborn)
3) Young Bucks vs Future Shock (**** - Chicago)
2) ACH vs Matt Sydal (**** - Dearborn)
1) Bobby Fish vs Roderick Strong (****1/2 - Chicago)