ROH on Sinclair – Episode 068 – 5th January 2013
It’ll be a low key start for Ring Of Honor in 2013, as they kick things off on the SBG show with a Road Rage edition. It was a pet peeve of mine throughout 2012 that ROH continually chose to give away ppv content for free on their show, so of course it is somewhat annoying that they start the new year in the same manner. However, with the new creative regime increasingly exerting their influence over the direction of the product, we are promised less of this sort of thing in the future. I’ll watch this space. Anyway, Kevin Kelly and Caleb Seltzer are in Manhattan, NY
Strangely, Kevin Kelly opens the show in the Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center, rather than the Hammerstein. Not sure of the reasoning behind that.
Veda Scott has exclusive comments from Truth Martini, with him seemingly indecisive about who to route for in the Strong/Elgin clash.
Michael Elgin vs Roderick Strong
This is certainly a hot way to start the show. These two have hated each others guts for months. Strong has been the top dog in the House Of Truth for years, so openly resented Elgin’s success – from winning Survival Of The Fittest in 2011 to delivering what many people calling 2012’s MOTY against Davey Richards at Showdown In The Sun. It was Truth Martini’s decision to allow Elgin to cash in his SOTF winners World Title shot at Glory By Honor which finally prompted Roddy to leave the HOT. On his part, Unbreakable was bitterly frustrated with Martini and believed his open favouritism towards Strong was ill-founded and unfair considering he was enjoying such a dominant year. Both have now seemingly split from the House, so this is all about personal pride and proving who the better man truly is in their first singles match.
No time wasted and both men charge towards each other with fists flying. Strong looks for a pescado, but is CAUGHT! Crazy strength by Elgin, who tries to slam Roddy into the apron…only for the former Triple Crown champion to escape. He aims a chop at the Canadian but gets nothing but ringpost as Elgin ducks the shot! Truth Martini sheepishly makes his way to ringside as these two continue to tear into each other. Michael tosses Strong over the ropes with a suplex, then launches himself off the apron with a football tackle which propels Roderick into the guardrails. RUNNING POWERSLAM ON THE FLOOR! They fight on the apron, with Strong hoisting Elgin up for the APRON BACKBREAKER! And they just keep dropping bombs on each other, both getting up and charging into battle again with more vicious chops and elbow strikes. Back in the ring Elgin floors his former team-mate with a Black Hole Slam for 2. RUNNING DVD INTO THE TURNBUCKLES! Still just 2 though! Unbreakable is crotched on the turnbuckles, allowing Strong to hit a turnbuckle backbreaker and get a nearfall of his own. Death By Roderick countered into a lariat flurry…so Strong lays Elgin out with a jumping knee. Stronghold blocked and they brawl up the ropes again. Elgin drags Roddy up for the DEAD-LIFT SUPERPLEX! Buckle Bomb…NO SOLD! DEATH BY RODERICK! NO SOLD! LARIATOOOO! Both men are down! Truth Martini is on the apron for no reason, and slides the Book Of Truth into the ring. Spiral Bomb COUNTERED with a Book Of Truth head-shot by Strong. ORANGE CRUSH BACKBREAKER NAILED! Strong takes a huge victory at 11:31
Rating - **** - Even with a sh*tty finish, this still felt like a great way to start the show. The New York crowd knows a good opening match when they see one, and they were going wild for this. I give the NYC fans their fair share of stick, but they are always a good barometer for what is successful as a curtain jerker. This was exactly the match I wanted to see two. Both of these men are big, physical and hard-hitting guys. I didn’t want to see them trade wristlocks, work the mat or waste time. From minute 1 they were out there dropping massive strikes and impressive power moves. It’s hard not to like high-octane and high-impact wrestling, and that’s exactly what Strong and Elgin provided.
Truth Martini hits the ring to join the celebrations with Roderick Strong…who reminds him that he quit the House Of Truth and walks out. He then proclaims his love for Michael Elgin instead. When Elgin shuns his hug Martini rants about how ungrateful both he and Roderick are. After getting slapped in the face, Elgin emphatically knocks Truth out of the ring with a spinning back fist.
American Wolves vs Kyle O’Reilly/Bobby Fish
There is a lot of history between these two men. It’s the first time the American Wolves have teamed since 2011, when they let the World Title and petty differences come between them. Eddie actually blames Kyle O’Reilly for the break-up of the team and for leading Davey down a bad path. But, Eddie is friends with Bobby Fish, and they team together in Japan. It was actually Edwards who had a part in bringing Bobby back to ROH in October. Richards, for his part, is still furious at the lack of loyalty and respect O’Reilly showed when he quit Team Ambition at Best In The World and was hurt both physically and emotionally when Kyle formed an alliance with Fish specifically to beat him up and take him out of Ring Of Honor.
STEREO TOPE SUICIDAS BY THE WOLVES! They isolate Fish, hitting a facebuster/missile dropkick combo then turning their attention to O’Reilly, hammering him with chops and kicks. Arm Capture Cloverleaf on Fish…with Eddie pulling back on Davey to add extra torque to the hold. Finally Kyle manages to get Eddie out of the ring with a mafia kick…then does the same to Richards after Fish catches his boot on the apron. MISSILE DROPKICK TO THE FLOOR by O’Reilly! For the first time in the match reDRagon have the advantage and work on trying to isolate Edwards from his partner. They showcase their surprising fluidity for such an inexperienced team as they easily hit a tilta-whirl backbreaker/flying knee drop combo for 2. A brutal kick flurry follows, with Davey having to dive in to break the ensuing pinfall. SUPERKICK BY EDDIE…ALARM CLOCK BY DAVEY! SNAP GERMAN on O’Reilly! Fish lays out Davey with a falcon arrow, but as he puts his head up he EATS another superkick from Edwards. Eddie JUMPS a legsweep attempt from O’Reilly to put his boot through his face again. DUELLING SUPLEXES…ALL FOUR FALL TO THE FLOOR! Richards and O’Reilly are the first men back inside, and it’s finally time for Team Ambition to take it to each other. E HONDA SLAPS BY DAVEY! ELBOWS BY KYLE! GUILLOTINE CHOKE! COUNTERED TO THE ANKLELOCK! Edwards hits the Boston Knee Party, and the Wolves get 2 with a SUPERKICK TOMBSTONE! The Wolves look for the Powerbomb Lungblower only for Fish to save. BUZZSAW KICK BRAINBUSTER combo on Eddie! MOONSAULT BY FISH! O’Reilly nearly takes Edwards’ head off with a kick but it’s still just 2. POWERBOMB LUNGBLOWER by the Wolves! DOUBLE STOMP ACHILLES LOCK! WITH HEAD STOMPS! Wolves win at 12:25
Rating - **** - I read some criticism of how short this was, but for me this was booked absolutely perfectly. On TV they’d been running an angle about whether Eddie would even agree to team with Davey here tonight, and they paid that off before the match. It’s obvious this will now become the first skirmish in a longer war, therefore there’s no need to have them work a 25+ minute tag team epic yet. The crowd were psyched to see the Wolves back together, and Fish as part of the regular roster for the first time. What was required of these guys was to deliver a balls to the walls, sh*t kicking, neck dropping sprint and that’s absolutely what they produced. Even at less than 13 minutes I thought this was an exceptional bout, and possible one of the best tag matches in ROH this year.
The American Wolves cut an SBG-exclusive promo, announcing their intentions to take over the tag team scene in ROH once again. The fact that their duelling checked shirts makes them look like GAP shop boys does detract from it somewhat.
Adam Cole vs Matt Hardy
Yes, this is genuinely happening. ROH is spending what I can only presume to be a LOT of money to bring Matt Hardy in, and put him in the ring with what many people consider to be their top rising star. The premise for the match is absolutely ridiculous – with Matt claiming people have called Cole a ‘young Matt Hardy’ (which nobody had), then proceeding to subtly undermine him, showering him with underhanded compliments and thinly veiled criticisms. This could go one of two ways. Hardy is guaranteed to get heat in this building. Whether it’s up to the levels of Jeff Hardy at Death Before Dishonor in 2003 I don’t know, but he won’t be popular. Cole will get massive babyface heat here. This could be a huge way to put Cole over…or it could be ROH putting a guy who is YEARS passed his best going over their top prospect. The TV Title isn’t on the line tonight by the way.
To give him credit, Hardy is in infinitely better shape than he was a few years ago. Predictably the crowd sh*ts on him, although it’s definitely not the vehement hatred Jeff got in New Jersey years ago. He does show some speed as he turns on a sixpence and dives out of the ring to evade a superkick. TOPE SUICIDA by Cole, hit with such force that they take out a cameraman with them. Adam isn’t done, taking to the air again to land a pescado into a volley of punches to the face of the veteran. Hardy takes his best shots and retaliates quickly and brutally with a Side Effect on the apron. He locks in that weird butterfly submission hold he tried to get over…but Cole isn’t quitting to he releases it. The TV Champion counters him to a Figure 4…only for Matt to show his veteran instincts by easily rolling it over. None of the ROH roster have escaped that hold as easily, and he gets 2 moments later with a second Side Effect. He delivers a third, fourth and fifth…serving only to piss the crowd off still more. Twist Of Fate blocked, with Cole popping up to get a nearfall with a vicious superkick. Twist Of Fate ON Hardy…gets 2! Shining Wizard scores too, but still Matt won’t be pinned. Razor’s Edge gets 2 for Hardy as these guys trade bombs. FLORIDA KEY ON THE FLOOR! That would be the victory, but Matt is too heavy to get back into the ring quickly enough to pin him. He has enough time to recover and lands the Twist Of Fate for 2. Pissed off now, Hardy pulls the referee’s shirt over his head, punts Cole in the balls and wins with a small package at 11:41
Rating - ** - I’ll focus on the positives first, and say that this match really wasn’t that bad. Hardy was working as hard as his now-limited skills allowed him to and was clearly bumping around to make Cole look good. My issue here is with the booking in general. Actually, my issue is with Matt Hardy being in ROH generally. There’s no need for him. The crowd hated him, much as they do WGTT. I wish Sinclair would get over their boner for ex-WWE names and casual fans. Can they not hear the reaction of the live crowds? That’s not good heat. That’s not getting Cole over. Bringing Hardy in and putting him over guys ROH crowds do want to see like Adam Cole is just dumb. I’m really trying not to be naïve, and I get it that Cole will get some payback down the road. But with so much great young talent who could really contribute to the ROH product, why ROH are running their biggest show of the year with Rhino, Shelton Benjamin, Charlie Haas, Matt Hardy and Jerry Lynn who are all well north of 35 years old just baffles me.
NEXT WEEK – More Final Battle Road Rage.
Tape Rating - DUD - Another tough Road Rage to sit through if you’d paid to see the show previously. Strong/Elgin and Wolves/reDRagon were two of the best shows of the entire evening, so having those being given away for free a couple of weeks later is extremely frustrating. Matt Hardy beating Adam Cole still annoys me too, and whilst I see the logic in getting Hardy onto the TV show from a casual fan perspective, that annoyance certainly wasn’t diminished seeing it a second time around. Please let Final Battle be the last ppv which they do this with.