ROH 394 – Reloaded Tour: California – 25th September 2015
A week out from the debacle that was the All Star Extravaganza pay-per-view we are back on the road with the Reloaded Tour – visiting two debut markets for Ring Of Honor. The main event appears to be an encounter between former Tag Champions The Addiction and the Briscoes – but Daniels and Kazarian are also working the opening match so we may need some skulduggery to get to that point. Underneath that the clear stand-out match is the collision between former House Of Truth stable-mates Roderick Strong and Michael Elgin. The rest of the card is something of a mixed bag – although ACH and Caprice Coleman rematching their Aftershock Philadelphia match and All Night Express entering the Proving Ground with The Kingdom could be interesting. Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino are in California, PA.
Either this venue is huge, or the crowd is tiny for this show. It is three or four rows deep on all four sides of the ring (with empty seats dotted about within those)…and that’s it! Kevin Kelly breaks the news that Nick Jackson is off the show, but confirms Matt is still in attendance and promises a Superkick Party…
The Addiction vs Takaaki Watanabe/Will Ferrara
This would be the first time we’ve seen Daniels and Kazarian since they lost the Tag Titles to The Kingdom at All Star Extravaganza. The makeshift duo of Watanabe and Ferrara are in their sights and their plan this evening will be to take some frustration out on them.
Frankie is in a foul mood and demonstrates it by angrily yelling at both commentators then slapping young Will in the face. ‘Welcome to Ring Of Honor’ – Daniels to Ferrara…i.e. a guy who has been here for like a year. Maybe Daniels is confused because Will’s character has advanced so little in that time he may as well still be a ‘new guy’. The miniscule crowd are bored to silence as he and Kaz trade armdrags, but liven up slightly when Wata and Daniels come to blows. Kaz gives Ferrara a body slam on the hard floor to hand the advantage to the former Tag Champions. Watanabe gives the Ring General a back suplex…before Will lands the tornado DDT on Kazarian. Daniels eventually tosses Taka out…and Addiction win with Celebrity Rehab on Ferrara at 07:27
Rating - * - Traditionally you hope the opening match warms up and pumps up even a small crowd like this. These guys had the exact opposite effect and crickets could be heard chirping as they ambled through the most basic match they could muster. Daniels and Kazarian threatened to be mildly entertaining but their opponents were brutally bland and contributed nothing.
The Addiction grab a microphone and denounce losing the belts last week and plan to beat up Watanabe and Ferrara until the gold is ‘returned’ to them. The Briscoes put a stop to that and challenge them to a match later tonight…
Caprice Coleman vs ACH
I thought these two had a great little match at the Aftershock Philadelphia TV tapings, and apparently Delirious did too as he’s thrown a rematch together pretty swiftly. Coleman is a veteran who has been surprising people with some seriously competitive performances recently – perhaps inspired in part by the mysterious letter he received from Prince Nana. ACH is in the midst of a hugely competitive Best Of 5 Series with Matt Sydal, so not only does he need a win here but he also needs to avoid injury.
Caprice gets time to talk as well, and complains about being referred to as ‘passing the torch’ to ACH. He carries himself with a little more of an edge as well which is interesting. It bewilders ACH to such an extent that he tries to work the mat with Coleman…where he is rather out-matched. The veteran can hang with ACH aerially too – and proves it by sliding off the apron into a headscissors on the floor. ACH hits back with a straight lariat then the emphatic PK Kick from the apron. Freebird misses though, so Caprice slows the pace right back down. JUMPING Flatliner gets 2 and is sold like total death by ACH! Coleman is showing all kinds of charisma too; the kind of character he’s had all along but has never been allowed to show before. He drags his opponent down again with a cobra clutch legsweep then rolls him straight into a Cobra Stretch! ACH is in trouble…and hits a frantic Hero’s Grip as much to get Caprice off him as to look for a victory. Coleman survives that, grabs his neck and drops him once more with a Mind Trip for 2. ACH’s slingshot flatliner from between the ropes is blocked then countered into the Trinity! INSIDE OUT SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! Sky Splitter misses…and ACH nails a brainbuster. MIDNIGHT STAR! ACH wins at 11:14
Rating - *** - Delirious really should have opened the show with these guys. The Philly match showed they have genuine chemistry as opponents, and we saw a continuation of that here. Caprice was excellent when given more leeway to demonstrate an actual character – which isn’t surprising as he is a natural talker and has bundles of charisma. He delivered his edgier character with such conviction that it wasn’t hard to believe at all that he could be so dominant against ACH, who has been on a hot run in 2015. Coleman worked a perfect match with ACH – keeping him slow, keeping the match grounded and working the neck. It was telling that for long periods ACH’s complicated offence was dropped and all he had the capacity to do was hit clotheslines and kicks. Caprice eventually lost only when he stepped into ‘ACH territory’ and started trying big dives and top rope moves - just like their TV match earlier in the week.
Adam Cole enters the arena to explain why he screwed O’Reilly out of the World Title. He calls Kyle out, happy in the knowledge that he’s in Japan. Cheeseburger interrupts to stop him being a total ass
Adam Cole vs Cheeseburger
By screwing Kyle O’Reilly and reaffirming his commitment to The Kingdom, Cole has made himself a serious enemy. But with Kyle in Japan for the time-being, it leaves Cole free to concentrate on his own quest to get back into the World Title picture. Does that continue with an easy win over Cheese, or will the skinny rookie profit on the element of surprise to score a colossal upset?
Burger throws his bony little elbows into Cole’s face early – but has no weight behind them and is soon swatted away by the former World Champion. A Shining Wizard should have finished it for Cole…but for the fact that he lifts Cheese’s shoulders up from the pin himself to continue the torture. It’s a one-sided demolition job; narrated by an uber-confident Adam Cole. CB desperately tries the Cobra Clutch of his mentor Delirious…but it’s quickly shut down with a DVD over the knee. Cole decides he wants to do live commentary too so grabs a microphone to talk to the audience as he stomps Burger down. Shotei out of nowhere! Cheesey gets 2! That’s it for his comeback though…and he is roundly destroyed with the Last Shot at 07:18
Rating - * - Cole was definitely fun to watch, but this went on far longer than it needed to. Everything it accomplished could have been achieved in half of the time. At least this felt like a far more appropriate use for Cheeseburger than having to pretend to buy his sh*tty offence in an actual match. He might not be champ, but Cole is ROH’s franchise player right now and he needs to be heavily promoted as a top talent moving forward.
Cole wants to continue his beating on Burger…but gets interrupted by Matt Jackson and his solo Superkick Party.
War Machine/Moose vs Jay Lethal/Donovan Dijak/J. Diesel
Hanson and Rowe are just back from what is reported (by renowned speaker of totally unresearched and incorrect bullsh*t, Kevin Kelly) to be a successful tour of NOAH. New Tag Champions have been crowned in their absence, so they’ll know big wins will quickly move them up the tag division pecking order…and wins don’t come any bigger than defeating a team with the World Champion included. The House Of Truth also boasts the 2015 Top Prospect Tournament winner in Dijak, whilst Hanson won the 2014 instalment. Moose too has a lot at stake, since he has gone on record as wanting to be ROH Champion. If he can somehow pin Lethal tonight he’ll be right in line for an opportunity.
The total silence that greets these six as they follow the Code Of Honor is rather concerning. Lethal voluntarily starts out with Moose…only to be swiftly despatched to the floor. Diesel is somehow left alone with all three opponents and eats a Shotgun Knee/Bronco Buster combo from War Machine. The champ’s response – demanding Hanson instead of Moose – is rather comical…and it gets even funnier when he tries to fight all three huge opponents at once, before running away and making poor inept J. Diesel face the music for him. My disdain for Diesel is well documented but I won’t pretend it isn’t enjoyable watching him get utterly destroyed by his opponents here. It annoys me more when Dijak tags and gets treated like cannon-fodder as well though. This guy is supposed to be the f*cking Top Prospect – why is he constantly getting treated like a total scrubber? War Machine smash him up with ease…and it is only when one of his team-mates whacks Hanson in the back of a head with Taeler Hendrix’s shoe that Donovan gets to lay a single glove on him. Predictably it’s then Lethal who gets to spearhead almost all of the HOT isolation segment on Hanson too, so Dijak doesn’t get to rebuild any of his credibility there either. When he does tag he goofs off posing to the fans like an idiot then lets Hanson tag out. Rowe puts him on the ground with an exploder suplex then judo throws through Diesel too. Death Rowe blocked…so Ray hits a jumping knee/German suplex combo instead! Lethal rescues Diesel from the Hitstick, and as bodies clear the ring Donovan at last contributes something meaningful to the match with a big man ASAI MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! Hanson tops it with a TOP ROPE SOMERSAULT DIVE! House Of Truth try to isolate Moose, putting him into position for Hail To The King which gets 2. War Machine to the rescue…as Moose Hitsticks Diesel! Superkick from Lethal breaks the pin on that, only for the champ to be taken out by Hanson’s cartwheel lariat. Cement Mixer from Rowe to Donovan! Path Of Resistance finishes Diesel at 15:49
Rating - *** - I gave this match a pretty hard time during play-by-play, so I want to clarify that I liked this one more than anything else on the show so far. I really like Jay Lethal as World Champion, I’ve always been a fan of War Machine and I thought the weak links (Moose and Diesel) were managed so effectively that their only real contributions were genuinely entertaining. But Dijak has been booked like total sh*t since he won the TPT, and it is starting to become clear why he ducked out of his ROH contract as soon as he could in 2017. After turning down a TV Title shot to be a back-up henchman to Jay Lethal without any real explanation, he’s done nothing of real value at all. He has had some semi-decent matches, but it’s basically six months since he won that TPT – and he’s less relevant now than he was when he started. I didn’t need him to win this match, or even take too much spotlight away from Lethal. But he looked like an idiot here, and got pulverised as emphatically as total joke worker J. Diesel for the most part. He’s your top f*cking prospect, and as the complete silence they worked this match in will attest, it isn’t like Hanson, Rowe or Moose are such huge stars that they needed to be protected. Would it have killed whomever laid this match out to make Dijak look like even a little bit of a threat?
Shaheem Ali vs Bob Evans
I’m all ready to decry this as a complete waste of time and to complain about Bob Evans continuing to occupy a spot on the roster. But fast forward to 2017 and people seem to think Ali shows some potential, so lets see whether he showed some early promise at this stage. Remember Evans is a heel again now because he broke up his crappy little team with Cheeseburger. I say ‘remember’, because you probably forgot – that’s how unnecessary Brutal Bob is to ROH.
The fans are as loud as they’ve been all evening to chant ‘no-one cares’ at Bob Evans. You couldn’t make this stuff up. Evans tries to be disrespectful to Ali, but is thwarted because the newcomer is talented enough to take the fight to him. Youthful exuberance is what costs Shaheem; missing a body avalanche on the floor and crushing his shoulder against the ringpost. Brutal Bob quickly targets the arm…which Ali doesn’t make much effort to sell at all. He even goes so far as to attempt a gutwrench suplex? Holy sh*t this match feels like it’s going on interminably. Shaheem randomly starts selling the arm…but then stops again to hit a gutwrench powerbomb. Are you f*cking kidding me? Bob mercy kills the match with a grab of the tights and a roll-up at 07:34
Rating - DUD - Either Ali has gotten a lot better by 2017, or the quality of ROH’s roster in ’17 has gotten seriously terrible for this guy to be considered a ‘prospect’. He looked as generic as they come for the most part – solid, without looking to be a particularly skilled technician, nor a gifted flier, nor overly athletic, nor looking particularly imposing physically. His wrestling was mundane, his selling of the arm – the only focal point in an extremely brief match – was a complete disgrace. I truly couldn’t wait for this match to end. No wonder ROH didn’t give a sh*t and couldn’t even be bothered to include it on the match-listings on the back of the DVD artwork.
Michael Bennett/Matt Taven vs All Night Express
ANX returned to ROH a week ago at All Star Extravaganza, with King making his way back from TNA and Rhett Titus ‘returning from exile’ after losing his job as part of the SCUM angle. They technically never lost the Tag Titles, and despite that being because Kenny quit the company, they are rewarded with an immediate chance to win them back. This is contested under Proving Ground rules, meaning new champions Bennett and Taven will be forced to offer up a title shot if they fail to win.
King spends the opening minutes working circles around Taven, clearly looking to prove he still belongs in an ROH ring. Rhett enjoys similar success in sending Bennett running for cover too, completing a successful opening five minutes for the All Nights. The champions rattle off a series of double teams to put Kenny on the back foot. ANX have a few double team moves in their locker too, and return fire with a few of them to isolate Taven. The commentary team are ignoring the match by the way, with Kevin Kelly talking about how ‘cool’ it was when The Rock used to call him ‘Hermie’ in WWE. Way to put your talent over you utter idiot. A hideous somersault dive to the floor by Taven restores parity, although he connected more with the ground than either of his opponents. The Kingdom isolate Titus for a few minutes without doing much of real interest, other than Taven continuing to botch moves. Rhett blocks the Hardy Boyz combo…blocks Bennett’s TKO before making a ‘hot’ (term used loosely) tag to King. One Night Stand blocked…so Kenny capo kicks his way out of Bennett’s apron Spear! Corkscrew pescado from King to The Kingdom! Super Sex Factor from Titus to Bennett gets 2. Maria Kanellis causes a distraction just as ANX look set to win, and Adam Cole emerges from the locker room to superkick King. Hail Mary on Rhett gives Kingdom the win at 15:46
Rating - ** - I’m trying to find a more positive and constructive term than ‘boring’ to describe this, but I’m struggling. There was SO little content of any interest here that I just couldn’t get into the match. Bennett and Taven were kind of funny but never once looked like they were taking it seriously, f*cked moves up constantly and did nothing to engage me as villains. ANX produced a few moments of excitement (having Kenny King’s x-factor and athleticism back on the roster is a real plus) but never came off as believable threats – even when you consider that their opponents were two guys clowning around and f*cking spots up. Like Evans/Shaheem, it just dragged on and on…and built to the pay-off of a measly cheap finish. This show is over 100 minutes old now and has been brutally dull so far. And I’ve gone DEEP into this summary paragraph without talking about how ridiculous it is to bring ANX back, put them over the Briscoes then job them out to the champs right away. I don’t even know where to begin with how crazy I find that decision!
Adam Cole celebrates with Bennett, Taven and Maria to reinforce the point that he is back in the bosom of The Kingdom after All Star Extravaganza. However, he lingers in the ring taunting the audience for a little too long…and after his friends depart Matt Jackson rushes the ring to give him more Superkicks! Time for an impromptu singles match…
Adam Cole vs Matt Jackson
Young Bucks singles matches are pretty rare things – but Matt’s hand has been forced this weekend after his brother had to miss the festivities due to the birth of his child. He is here to fulfil his obligations though, and has Superkicked his way into a rather high profile bout with the former World Champion. Having torpedoed Kyle O’Reilly’s World Title ambitions last week, Cole will be on the hunt for wins so that he can reignite his own hunt for gold.
Appropriately, we begin with Matt landing yet another Superkick! Cole fires back with his own superkick – directed straight into Jackson’s leg. Adam shows his class a singles worker against a guy who almost exclusively appears in tag matches, and starts methodically picking apart the leg. In fact, he feels so confident in his performance that he demands a microphone to lecture the audience…and of course walks into yet another Superkick. Jackson makes no effort to sell the leg; sprinting round the ring and even chasing his opponent to the floor for more Superkicking fun. Buckle Bomb blocked, then countered into the Figure 4 Leglock! This time Matt’s leg really is injured and he now struggles to even run the ropes. He blocks the Panama Sunrise…then misses an ill-advised moonsault and eats the Shining Wizard for 2. Florida Key blocked, so Cole superkicks the knee again and hits the PANAMA SUNRISE! Last Shot gives him the win at 09:12
Rating - *** - Nothing particularly special…but it least it was exciting, unique and felt a little bit unpredictable. Both men have big personalities, and they relied on those to get the match over without really having to break too much of a sweat. Matt obviously could have sold the leg a lot better, but that’s not really his thing and he doesn’t really get exposed for it in tag matches quite as often. Having made the decision to f*ck up a whole pay-per-view with the nonsensical BS Cole heel turn finish, it is critical they really heat Cole up as the top ‘bad guy’ in the company. To that end making him interact with the most over babyfaces (the Bucks) makes total sense. Having him made to look a fool by getting Superkicked to the point of comedy is less sensible…
Sure enough, ultra-Conservative ROH can’t possibly leave a ‘new market’ with the most popular babyface act having stared at the lights to give their top heel the rub. The segment ends with Matt again making Adam Cole look like an idiot and giving him yet another Superkick. From a wrestling perspective this DVD hasn’t been great…but from a long-term booking perspective it’s a f*cking horror show.
Michael Elgin vs Roderick Strong
Quick, send out two former World Champions to save the show! These two used to be partners within the House Of Truth, until Elgin got sick of playing Roddy’s enforcer. In the years since they’ve met multiple times – including in an incredibly under-rated match as part of Big Mike’s World Title reign. The ROH Championship is an obvious motivator for both of these men – meaning the win becomes hugely important if either wants to edge their way up the rankings towards a shot at Lethal.
The opening minutes are all about Elgin’s power as he repeatedly out-muscles and grounds the quicker and smaller man. Even Strong’s chops have little impact as the dominant Big Mike continues his impressive start. Roddy needs a strategy…and appears to have found one by targeting the ribcage. Although it initially appears quite successful it only briefly halts Michael’s imperious charge towards victory. Mr ROH collapses to the floor…where he is pursued and elbowed IN THE FACE! Every signature Roddy Strong move is being countered right now – case in point being Mike grabbing the neck to block the Muso then piling in with more huge elbow smashes. What Strong badly needs is to quicken the pace – which he at last does by springing off the top rope, evading a big slam then landing a rapid fire kick combo…which softens Unbreakable up enough to hit the Muso second time around. DEAD-LIFT GERMAN by Elgin! CHAOS THEORY…for 2! Machine gun running elbows by Strong, totally no sold so Elgin can hit a huge lariat. GAMENGIRI hammers Roddy’s neck, yet he still keeps moving. Running knee in the corner blocked…lariat blocked…OLYMPIC SLAM! More running strikes by Strong; who then defies all the punishment his neck has taken to score with the big superplex. There isn’t any energy left in Roderick’s legs to execute the Gibson Driver…SICK KICK INSTEAD! NO SOLD! DISCUS LARIATOOOOOO! Strong fights the dead-lift superplex…only to crack his legs against the turnbuckle bolts on the way down causing him to fall outside clutching them in pain. Technically I think they slipped but I though the spot itself still looked pretty cool. Michael recovers it anyway by elbowing the f*ck out of Strong again and hitting the dead-lift superplex. Strong tries jumping knees…but is countered to the Buckle Bomb. ELGIN BOMB! Elgin wins at 18:45
Rating - **** - I said these guys needed to be sent in to save the show, and that’s just what they did. Delirious and SBG make a real habit of putting together painfully average shows, yet somehow salvaging them just enough by allowing a handful of athletes from this incredibly talented roster to really cut loose. It was Elgin and Roddy’s turn tonight and they didn’t disappoint. It is obvious ROH have fallen back in love with Michael Elgin; albeit only because his successful stint with New Japan has significantly boosted his stock. The lay-out of this match made him look phenomenal and played to all of his strengths. He looked tough, he looked intelligent and he looked totally formidable in the way he shook off basically everything Strong threw at him to win resoundingly. It also won’t surprise anyone to know that Roderick did an outstanding job putting him over too. He bumped hard, he executed his end of the cat and mouse story superbly…and although he spent the majority of the match on the defensive he still exuded sufficient sheer quality to be a credible threat to the larger man. Unless the Briscoes and The Addiction really roll back the years and produce something special this will be MOTN by a huge distance.
The Addiction vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe
Why the hell is there a graphic introducing The Addiction as Tag Champions? It’s just indicative of how lazy, careless and slack Sinclair are when it comes to running this once-great company. Evidently The Addiction decided to accept Jay and Mark’s challenge from earlier in the show. You’d think someone could have shot some backstage footage to show that…but again that would require effort, and editing, so obviously SBG/ROH haven’t bothered. I’ve been over before how much history the likes of Daniels and the Briscoes have – and I mean going back to 2002 when Daniels recruited Mark to The Prophecy levels of history. Now all four men are respected veterans, but also dethroned FORMER Tag champions looking to get back into title contention. Who leaves California with bragging rights and having taken a huge step closer to challenging The Kingdom?
‘They never made you champion here’ – Kelly to Corino. What hope do we have when the play-by-play guy sh*ts all over kayfabe just to crack nerdy jokes with his friend? I am SO fed up of having to listening to this guy; he makes EVERY show worse. ‘Original main eventer’ Chris Daniels is punished for trying to fight both Briscoes at the same time and quickly runs for the hills. Addiction want to be counted out…but of course Jay and Mark are game for a fight on the floor. Mark shakes off an opportunistic attempt at Angel’s Wings on the floor, instead climbing to the apron for his Cactus Elbow spot. Sensibly Daniels and Kaz bring the match back to the ring because they can’t cope in a lawless brawl with the 8-time former Tag Champions. Fallen Angel trips Jay from behind, into the path of a springboard leg drop from Frankie…and soon after supplements that with a Lionsault for 2. They cut the ring in half to wear down the former World Champion…then take out his brother as well with an Arabian press to the floor when they both leave the ring. For the most part, however, The Addiction’s isolation of Jay could be described as ‘functional’ rather than overly ‘fun to watch’. Jay DVD’s his way out of a Best Moonsault Ever set-up and lunges into a hot tag to the Redneck Kung Fu of little brother Mark. T-Gimmick on Mark gets 2…after which Daniels suicide dives to the floor wiping out Jay. The Briscoes try to set up the Doomsday Device…BUT KAZ COUNTERS TO THE FLUX CAPACITOR IN MID-AIR! HOLY SH*T! MARK KICKS OUT! Jay saves him from Celebrity Rehab…by giving Daniels the Jay Driller! Froggy Bow wins it for the Briscoes at 16:27
Rating - *** - That Flux Capacitor spot was nuts! Outside of that this was a fairly standard SBG-era house show main event. Everyone hit their spots, they worked the tag formula well…and the babyface poster boys for the company sent the crowd home ‘happy’. There was no depth to this at all, no real attempt to do anything with any real meaning and absolutely zero rewatch value (other than that one aforementioned Flux Capacitor spot) but on a night that has really dragged at least I never felt outright bored watching these guys.
Tape Rating - ** - I’m actually frustrated to go as high as 2* on my rating, because for long-term fans this show was TERRIBLE to sit through. It’s taken me SO long to get through it, simply because so much of the undercard is populated by total filler that I genuinely struggled to find the motivation to watch. Despite that, I just can’t ignore the genuine quality of the Elgin vs Strong match – it really did save the show, which explains why I just couldn't go lower on my Tape Rating. If anything, this DVD is actually harder to recommend for completists than it is for casual fans. A casual fan will only dip in and out of the product, so won’t be as jaded and will possibly enjoy some of the content far more. A completist will know that lukewarm, safe, middle of the road, forgettable crap is the sort of product Sinclair has delivered on far too regular a basis for a long time. ROH is nothing more than cheap content for SBG, and that is reflected by how endlessly and thoroughly lazy they are with every single aspect of how they present Ring Of Honor. Boring, repetitive shows, rip-off pay-per-views, being left in the dirt creatively by countless other promotions, inexcusable basic production errors, abysmal commentary, handcuffed, stifled and suppressed talent in the locker room – the list of faults goes on and on. But as long as crowds hold up (which they will whilst they offer a couple of token big money contracts to proven draws like the Bucks) and they don’t lose too much money they will happily churn out forgettable filler like this; headed up by the growingly incapable Delirious and narrated by the worst announcer in pro-wrestling, Kevin Kelly. I can’t, and won’t, sign off this review by acting like I enjoyed this DVD. I really didn’t.
Top 3 Matches
3) ACH vs Caprice Coleman (***)
2) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs The Addiction (***)
1) Michael Elgin vs Roderick Strong (****)