ROH on Sinclair – Episode 082 – 13th April 2013

Check this out – possibly for the first time ever, this is the first TV episode to air after a major iPPV event, and it should actually feature results/reaction to the actual ppv itself. Somehow Sinclair have got their schedules together, and this is the first episode from the Wrestlemania weekend TV tapings – recorded in the Grand Ballroom of the Manhattan Center (rather than the Hammerstein). According to the ROHWrestling.com graphic we have Bobby Fish taking on Eddie Edwards in store for us tonight. Given that Eddie is a consistently high-level performer, and very few people in ROH are having better 2013’s thus far than Fish, I’d suggest that should be decent. Kevin Kelly is in Manhattan, NY.

The show opens with Nigel McGuinness in the ring, surrounded by the ROH locker room. He brings out new World Champion Jay Briscoe and proudly declares that ‘honour has been restored’. Adam Cole is the first man to step into the ring, and he will be the first to challenge him – at the next ppv in Toronto. He says he’ll take the belt from him at Border Wars…then walks out.

ROH has got a goofy new background for their backstage promos now. Bobby Fish tells Eddie Edwards he’s not holding anything back in their match tonight, even though they’ll be team-mates in Pro-Wrestling NOAH in just a few weeks.

Bobby Fish vs Eddie Edwards
At Supercard we saw Fish’s reDRagon team emerge victorious at the end of a super-competitive match against the challenging American Wolves. Now these two clash in a singles match, which presents an interesting dilemma for them as they regularly tag in Japan, and are set to depart for a tour together in just a few weeks. These two know each other well and have openly admitted that most of the hostility in the Wolves/reDRagon feud comes from Davey and Kyle – but tonight they will go head to head to see who the better man is in their first ROH singles match.

Both partners are at ringside, which definitely adds a combustible element to the match (although it’s negated somewhat by Richards doing commentary). Much as you’d expect with workers of this ability working on the indies, the start it is a hugely exciting (if somewhat superfluous) back and forth exchange. Fish ditches the pleasantries first and starts putting the boots to Edwards…only for Die Hard to retaliate with some thunderous chops. Sliding Enzi gets the former World Champion an early nearfall. Bobby takes so many chops that he opts for a full retreat, with his chest bloody and bruised. Front row fans actually pin him against the rails to let Edwards get a few more shots in. Fish comes back to the ring and utilises his kickboxing skills to his advantage, kicking lumps out of Edwards and dropping him to the canvas for the first time. Repeated kicks and knees rock the body and leave Eddie gasping for air. ASAI MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! He rattles his shins on the guardrail and further damages that midsection but also succeeds in laying his opponent out too. He didn’t earn the nickname ‘Die Hard’ for nothing though, and defies both injuries to scale the ropes and take to the air again – this time landing a missile dropkick. Backpack Stunner gets 2…and it’s floated straight into the Achilles Lock! Bobby kicks free and dragon screws the leg Edwards injured on the guardrails. Boston Knee Party by Eddie…only for him to limp away and give Fish a window of opportunity to nail a falcon arrow for 2. Back Drop Driver gets another nearfall as well. Edwards hops into a LARIAT! Tiger suplex scores – but he can’t hold the bridge! They battle on the top rope…with Edwards finally shoving Fish off for a double stomp! That lands successfully but once again Eddie is hopping around in pain. Fish capitalises to jack-knife him for a flash pin and the victory at 11:26 (shown)

Rating - *** - One of the best openers the SBG show has ever had. Had the opening minutes been as intense and intelligently worked as the second half of the match I could have been convinced to go higher on my rating. The history, chemistry and familiarity with these two was obvious but I felt they went for far too much of an ‘indy dream match’ vibe rather than trying to do their own thing or tell their own stories. It actually wasn’t getting much of a response from the live crowd who, whilst quiet throughout, were definitely reacting far more positively to the second half of the match when they worked the Edwards injury segment. I’d love to see a rematch on a house show or ppv to really see these two hit their straps in a competitive encounter against each other.

QT Marshall/RD Evans vs Alabama Attitude
We saw the Barrister reveal himself as Marshall’s mystery partner at Supercard Of Honor. QT wasn’t elated about that, and was even more annoyed when their debut night as a team ended in defeat. They will want to get back on the same page and deliver a commanding performance against serial tag team jobber junkies Mike Posey and Corey Hollis.

QT and RD bicker about who gets to come through the curtain first and continue as they try to decide who is starting. Perhaps sensibly it’s Marshall who gets the nod and he quickly drills Hollis into the canvas with a faceplant. Posey evens things up with a springboard leg drop on Evans, which gives AA the opportunity to isolate the Barrister from his partner. God’s Gift doesn’t like that and aggressively tosses Posey into the ringpost to stop it. That apparently injures his back and Evans pounces on that like a predator. Backbreaker/swinging neckbreaker combo gets 2…and QT adds insult to injury with an awesome pumphandle suplex. He is perplexed as to why RD tags him out just when he looks to have the match won…and is even more mystified as Posey gets a tag to Hollis who tears into the Barrister from all angles. Marshall inadvertently elbow drops his own partner, and Alabama Attitude nearly steal the win with a sunset bomb/Alabama Jam combo. Marshall saves again, dead-lifting Corey into the God’s Gift! Evans snatches the victory from under QT’s nose at 05:59

Rating - ** - This was QT’s best match in ROH so far. I said it during my Supercard Of Honor review, but he is infinitely preferable as the goofy muscle in a comedy undercard team than the budget version of the Mike Bennett push he was getting beforehand. The comedy dynamic between RD and QT was strong, and kept this match continually entertaining even though at 6-minutes it was pretty long for a squash. As ever, Alabama Attitude offered very little…

RD Evans does victory laps of the ring as Marshall stands in the ring clearly annoyed that he didn’t get the pinfall all his hard work deserved

It’s supposed to be time for the main event, but Roderick Strong interrupts Mike Mondo’s entrance to complain about being overlooked for title shots. He doesn’t understand why Adam Cole is getting a World Title opportunity, and Mike Mondo is getting put in the main event (which is a TV Title contendership match) and he isn’t. No Fear takes exception to that and they get into a brawl as Kevin Kelly scrambles to a hasty commercial break whilst security tries to separate them

Mike Mondo vs Caprice Coleman vs Cedric Alexander vs Mark Briscoe vs BJ Whitmer
This is a 5-man Scramble Match with the winner becoming #1 contender to Matt Taven’s TV Title. Coleman and Alexander have the obvious advantage as team-mates, but Whitmer and Mark are super-experienced athletes and also have to be considered hot favourites. As Roderick Strong just pointed out, Mondo is the guy that seems like he ‘doesn’t belong’ but after finishing a match with a broken leg just a few months ago nobody can doubt his toughness and resilience. This match is a reward for the five men who waged war with SCUM at Supercard Of Honor last week.

Briscoe and Whitmer start, decking each other repeatedly then bumping fists before tagging out. Caprice and Cedric are the recipients of the tag so it’s the partners who have to go at it. There’s some clever touches in there as Alexander throws all he has at Caprice, only for the more experienced athlete to outwit him on multiple occasions. BJ and Mondo in next, stiffing each other with some really fierce strikes. Whitmer lands an elbow suicida…and turns around just in time to see a SOMERSAULT PLANCHA from Cedric. SPRINGBOARD SUICIDE DIVE from Coleman! Mondo wants to show his skills too – nailing a top rope moonsault to the outside! Briscoe hauls him back into the ring to drop him on his neck with a dragon suplex. Caprice hits the ring for rolling northern lights suplexes on Mark and gets a close nearfall…then eats rolling fisherman busters from Whitmer! BACK SUPLEX LUNGBLOWER from Alexander to Mondo gets 2! He hits a superplex but leaves himself in prime position for the Froggy Bow from Mark! It’s Briscoe who wins after a frenetic 05:37 of action!

Rating - *** - I don’t think anyone had particularly high expectations for this, but in fairness these guys did as much as they could with a really stingy time allocation. I think giving Mark the title shot is a little predictable (I’d be much more interested in seeing some like Caprice or Cedric oppose Taven in a real battle of the ROH new blood on ippv), but ROH need to find something for him to do now his brother is World Champion and can’t be tagging with him on every show.

Tape Rating - *** - Another very solid episode of ROH TV. They get bonus points for getting the first post-ppv episode right, but even as a standalone show this was decent. The new champion was announced, the new comedic duo of QT Marshall and RD Evans made a strong first impression on the television audience, whilst the matches that started and ended the show were highly watchable. Not every show can have former IWGP Jr. Tag Champions in the main event, and this was a perfectly decent hour of pro-wrestling. 

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