ROH on Sinclair – Episode 081 – 6th April 2013

So it’s been around six weeks since I last reviewed (or even watched) any Ring Of Honor. The simple reason for that is that I got married on June 22nd 2013, preparations for that completely swamped me, and I just didn’t get any time to jump back into pro-wrestling at all. Supercard Of Honor felt like a natural stopping point for me to take some time off, and now I return a little refreshed and certainly interested in where they take the company as SCUM loses control of the World Title and Jay Briscoe stands at the top of the mountain for the first time in his eleven year tenure with the company. Since this episode of the TV show was a ppv weekend broadcast, I’m not expecting too much from it, but I believe the Forever Hooligans are on this one, so they certainly should provide at least one top quality match. Kevin Kelly and Caleb Seltzer are still in Chicago Ridge, IL

Adam Page/Mike Sydal vs Tadarius Thomas/ACH
Two thrown together, upstart teams looking to get some traction in the tag division come together now. TD and ACH have already produced some cracking matches in their short spell as a duo, and seem to compliment each other very well. Page and Sydal (who Kevin Kelly cringingly refers to as ‘one’s country, one’s rock’n’roll’) will be hoping for similar success

Impressive start by Page as he somehow grounds the super-fast ACH and gets an early nearfall on him with a Red Star Press. Thomas has to save his partner, visibly knocking Adam senseless with a flurry of capoeira strikes. Sling Blade nailed for 2. Adam is also struggling with his on-going hand injury, crumpling to the mat in pain after somehow dropping Tadarius with a powerslam. Sydal follows it up with a wheelbarrow bulldog followed by a WILD moonsault to the floor. MutaLock on ACH…broken by TD who punts Mike in the face! ACH hits his Cradle DDT finisher to win at 04:04

Rating - ** - Thomas and ACH looked good, which was really the whole point of this. Page continues to impress as well, even whilst being handicapped by only having one hand to fight with. Sydal is also starting to improve as well – if only he could stop trying things he’s not good enough to pull off he’d be infinitely more watchable. That moonsault to the floor spot looked appalling.

Veda Scott tries to interview MsChif about the forthcoming Women Of Honor four-way. Truth Martini interrupts to offer MsChif a spot as a Hoopla Hottie. MsChif, of course, declines – although does so using a strange Melissa McCarthy impersonation voice which does her no favours. Martini responds by entering his existing Hoopla Hottie (Scarlett) into the match to face her. Scarlett leaves in tears.

Scarlett Bordeaux vs Cherry Bomb vs Athena vs MsChif
It’s an in-ring debut for Scarlett here, who up to this point has been the House Of Truth’s resident Hoopla Hottie. Cherry Bomb also makes her debut, but has been around the American Joshi scene for some time. Certainly Veda Scott (who is on commentary) speaks very highly of her. We’ve seen MsChif and Athena go at it before, so they will be looking forward to the opportunity to showcase what they can do together once again.

Scarlett continues to look terrified, and crawls onto the apron in terror as MsChif and Athena take the fight to each other. Athena drops MsChif on her head in an ugly headscissors spot, prompting her to tag Cherry in for the first time. Nice back and forth wrestling between Cherry and Athena draws a round of applause from the small crowd…who are stunned into silence seconds later as Chif tags again and drives Bomb face-first into the canvas. Springboard crossbody from Athena…HANDSPRING FOREARM SMASH NAILED! Blind tag from Scarlett…only for MsChif to completely no sell her offence. MsChif MURDERS her with elbow smashes then a running knee in the corner for 2. MsChif tries a northern lights on Cherry, but sees her pin broken with a handspring double knee drop from Athena. TOWER OF DOOM powerbomb/superplex wipes out everyone…so Bordeaux tries to crawl around the ring trying to pin anyone she can find! She weeps again as MsChif gets to her feet and lays her out with a sit-out powerbomb. DIVING STUNNER from Athena to Cherry – and she wins at 04:46

Rating - *** - I really enjoyed that. Scarlett was tremendously entertaining in her role, and MsChif deserves a hell of a lot of credit for putting it over. I know she no sold all her spots, but her involvement in some of the comedic aspects of the gimmick really carried the match along. Athena looked to be the most athletic worker of the four by some distance, and I’m glad to see her win. If nothing else it breaks up the monotony of MsChif winning EVERY Women Of Honor match on TV.

Veda Scott tries to get MsChif’s thoughts on a rare loss for her. MsChif doesn’t answer any questions and responds simply with the GREEN MIST!

INSIDE ROH – Kevin Kelly spotlights this evening’s main event, with reDRagon set to defend their Tag Titles against the Forever Hooligans (Rocky Romero and Alex Koslov).

Roderick Strong vs Pepper Parks
This will be an enhancement match for Roddy, who is somewhat drifting through the midcard at present without any major storylines or focus. As a Triple Crown winner you imagine he won’t be out of the spotlight for too long – but he needs to ensure he’s at the forefront of ROH management’s minds by securing a comprehensive victory over the well-built and athletic Pepper Parks tonight.

Dominant start from Roderick, shaking off whatever Parks throws at him to repeatedly blast him with chops. Pepper retaliates with a snap neckbreaker though and it prompts Roddy to crawl towards the corner in pain. He comes out with a back suplex, driving Parks to the apron…where he lies in wait to HAMMER Strong with a jumping knee strike. That’s nearly an upset win for Parks right there! A still-groggy Roderick hits the Black Superkick in response. He’s still struggling to regain his equilibrium as he tries to chase Pepper up the turnbuckles, and he fails – leaving him in prime position for Parks to hit a flying neckbreaker for 2. Almost out of desperation and on instinct he lands the Death By Roderick, then angrily spins him into the Stronghold for the submission victory at 05:20

Rating - ** - Decent little match, although I think they actually gave Parks a little too much offence. The whole match was stiff and super-competitive which I liked, but I think Parks got so much in that the crowd actually started to rebel against him beating up ‘their guy’...so to speak. Rather than getting him over, it simply solidified their support of Roddy.

reDRagon vs Forever Hooligans – ROH Tag Title Match
This was taped the night after reDRagon won the belts from the Briscoes, so strictly speaking this was their first defence of the belts, although as I mentioned, this actually went out on TV the same night as their next defence – against the American Wolves at Supercard Of Honor. Romero and Koslov returned to ROH at the 11th Anni Show and put up a real fight against the Wolves in their ‘dream match’ – and impressed Match Maker Nigel McGuinness sufficiently that their pre-scheduled bout with reDRagon for the TV tapings was made a Tag Title defence for the new champions.

O’Reilly and Koslov start at 100mph, breaking so Alex can try to get a ‘Russia’ chant going (and a ‘YES’ chant in Russian which is quite funny). Romero and Fish tag…with Rocky immediately showing his craftiness by luring Bobby into a striking battle only to poke him in the eyes to gain the advantage. Koslov and Romero get into an argument over who gets to hit a running clothesline on Fish in the corner…and tease getting into a fight amongst themselves before hugging it out then launching Kyle across the ring with a double biel. O’Reilly didn’t like that and snaps Romero’s leg in the ropes with a dragon screw. MISSILE DROPKICK OFF THE APRON aimed at Koslov! reDRagon stay on offence as we cut to commercials, with Alex Koslov seemingly isolated from his partner. Tilta-whirl backbreaker/flying knee drop combo scores for 2. Amazingly Koslov hits a JUMPING DDT on O’Reilly and finally gets the hot tag to Romero. He springs off Fish’s back into a clothesline which knocks Kyle to the outside. TOPE SUICIDA wipes out both the champions! RUNNING SPLASH OFF ROMERO’S BACK gets a 2-count for Alex. He pulls out his Russian hat for the Cossack Kicks into a DOUBLE FACE STOMP on Fish for 2. O’Reilly comes to the aid of his partner only to be knocked out with an enziguri from Koslov. DOOMSDAY KNEE STRIKE…O’Reilly barely breaks the count before we have new champions crowned. Romero and Fish strike each other so hard neither man can stand and take more punishment. O’Reilly tries his hand at strike exchanges with Rocky, and equally finds himself knocked goofy. STALLING REGALPLEX from nowhere gets 2! Koslov is taken out with a flurry of kick attacks from reDRagon, before Romero is dropped with Total Elimination for 2. CHASING THE DRAGON! O’Reilly pins Romero to retain at 12:54 (shown)

Rating - **** - I’d go so far as to call this one of my favourite ROH on SBG matches so far. I loved the blend of entertaining spots, frenetic strike exchanges and entertaining tag team dynamics these four guys brought into play. Without necessarily working too far outside of a ‘house show mode’ (particularly the Hooligans) they were able to produce a really exciting, non-stop action encounter which totally smoked Hooligans/Wolves from the night before on ippv. O’Reilly and Fish have been top quality together all year, and they certainly didn’t look out of place against an experienced tag team with top level experience in major arenas throughout the world. Credit NJPW for letting ROH put their Tag Champions over on television too.

Tape Rating - *** - A good ROH on SBG episode here. Since it was a ppv weekend there weren’t too many storylines progressed (although the MsChif/Veda thing was certainly an interesting development), meaning we could focus on in-ring action. For the most part, the work inside the ring during this hour was very good. Four matches was perhaps too much, and perhaps one of the two enhancement matches should have been cut, but the Women Of Honor four-way was super-entertaining, whilst the Tag Title main event was as good as anything else I can remember in the year or so ROH have been running on the Sinclair network.
 

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