ROH on Sinclair – Episode 086 – 11th May 2013

Ring Of Honor is hitting some decent form at the moment. Churning out strong, highly watchable matches on nearly every live show, and actually complementing that with some surprisingly great bouts on the free TV show too. Richards/O’Reilly last week was absolutely stunning, and one of my favourite matches of 2013 thus far. My point is that, they are due an off week – and it comes tonight in the form of Border Wars Road Rage. I’m sure ROH made it known they were going to stop doing this. That said, the scheduled TV main event is one worth putting out onto their Sinclar show, as it shows SCUM taking on Michael Elgin and Jay Lethal with title shots, commentary jobs and wrestling careers all on the line so significantly shapes future events on the ROH landscape. Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness called the action from Toronto, ONT.

SIDENOTE – As ever, I’m not really watching this all that closely. My reviews are cut and pasted in from my Border Wars 2013 review, so I haven’t noted what (if any) cuts are made for the TV edit.

Mike Bennett vs Roderick Strong
So after disappearing for months, it seems like ROH have nailed The Prodigy down for a run of shows. This was originally set to be a triple threat with Mike Mondo included too, but Mondo suffered a ‘training injury’ (there are other stories going round about the real reason for his absence) and is now out of ROH for the foreseeable future. Roddy and Bennett met a few weeks ago on TV, and although it was Strong who left victorious, they were involved in a heated post-match brawl and will eagerly anticipate getting to dish out more damage to their rival here tonight.

As ever, Maria Kanellis looks ridiculously hot. She is called into action quickly, consoling Bennett after he absorbs a chop from Strong. It’s apparent that the Prodigy wants to slow the pace, whilst Roddy favours something a little quicker. Roderick hits a backbreaker and has Mike on the rack at three minutes. Maria makes her presence felt again, hopping onto the apron and distracting Strong for long enough to let Bennett land some punches. The fight spills outside…SPINEBUSTER on the apron from the Prodigy! Before Roddy has time to recover from that his opponent is on him, repeatedly whipping him into the railings to do more damage to that back. It’s an interesting twist on a match to see someone target Strong’s back…not that the commentary team notice as Maria joins them. Strong quickens the pace again, with Mike once more unable to cope with his explosiveness. He drops Bennett with a superplex…then doubles over in pain from his own back injury. Spinebuster gets Prodigy a 2! Spear misses though, allowing Roderick to hoist him for a cradle backbreaker. Death By Roderick COUNTERED to a jack-knife pin for 2…and then Mike nails the Spear at the second time of asking. Strong turns the TKO into the Stronghold! Inevitably Maria is on the apron again…and the ref doesn’t see Bennett tapping! BOX OFFICE SMASH! Strong barely kicked out there. To add insult to injury Bennett puts Roddy in the Stronghold…but Cheeseburger runs out and KISSES MARIA! Bennett is furious! SICK KICK! Strong snatches another victory over him at 12:43

Rating - *** - I thought this was a vast improvement on their TV match, where they worked well within themselves and got dragged down by overbooking (and Mondo’s lousy commentary). The twist on Strong’s usual match (with Bennett targeting the back) was subtle and effective, and I really liked the dynamic of Roddy constantly trying to speed the pace up only for Bennett to slow it down again.

Rhett Titus vs BJ Whitmer – ‘I Quit’ Match
This will be the final singles battle in the feud between these two former partners. BJ returned to ROH to help Rhett Titus fight Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team after he was left high and dry by Kenny King’s departure to TNA. Titus then stabbed him in the back to join SCUM at the 11th Anniversary Show…and they now stand on opposing sides as Whitmer once again answers ROH’s call to defend it’s honour. As recently as last week on television Titus gained a dubious victory over BJ (he used Corino’s ever-reliable roll of quarters)…but tonight he has to be considered a massive underdog against a man who has fought in ‘I Quit’ matches, in Street Fights, in cage matches, in Cage Of Death matches, and in Barbed Wire matches throughout his Ring Of Honor career.

Whitmer shakes off Rhett’s early strikes as if he doesn’t even feel them…but then finds himself distracted by Steve Corino at ringside. Elbow suicida drives Titus into the rails, as Nigel McGuinness leaves commentary and retrieves referees to escort Corino from ringside. It’s completely one-sided for several minutes until Titus manages to drape BJ over the top turnbuckle. A snap suplex lands on the floor and the SCUM member tries to choke his opponent into saying ‘I Quit’. He doesn’t of course, and refuses again moments later after Rhett boots his head against the ringpost. Next he breaks out the Last Chancery – submission hold of his former mentor Austin Aries. Still BJ doesn’t quit…and suddenly we’re back to square one with him ignoring Titus’ punches. He drops Rhettski straight down on his neck with an exploder suplex. Rhett brings zip-ties into the match and instantly regrets it as Whitmer uses them to tie him to the top rope. Repeated, unprotected punches to the face rain down on Titus but to his credit he refuses to quit. Steve Corino comes back…and KNEELS in front of Whitmer! He begs to be hit with a steel chair in Rhett’s place…but Titus quits just to save him! BJ wins at 11:32

Rating - * - The match itself wasn’t actually as bad as people had led me to believe, but yeah, that finish was garbage. I completely understand the industry’s current stance on unprotected chair shots to the head. I understand ROH are particularly geared up to this thanks to the influence of Nigel McGuinness. But here’s the problem: the fans don’t put the same reverence on this as yet. Titus quitting to save Corino (a former EXTREME Championship Wrestling World Champion – extreme being the operative word) from a simple chair shot, whilst noble, comes off as stupid. Credit to the acting skills of Whitmer, Titus, Corino and Nigel who really want it to get over…but I’m sorry it didn’t work at all for me.

Cliff Compton and Jimmy Jacobs rush the ring for a gang attack on Whitmer…with Michael Elgin and Jay Lethal soon out in hot pursuit.

Michael Elgin/Jay Lethal vs Jimmy Jacobs/Cliff Compton
There’s a lot on the line for both ROH and SCUM in this one. If Elgin and Jacobs win then Steve Corino has vowed to leave the wrestling industry forever, but if his SCUM charges emerge victorious then SCUM are awarded a World Title shot, and Steve Corino becomes the new colour analyst for ROH TV and ippv. Unbreakable and Lethal were opponents at Supercard Of Honor, with Elgin winning an MOTYC to become #1 contender for the World Title. Sadly their show-stealing moment was ruined when SCUM assaulted them, so they are looking for some retribution too.

The fight begins with Titus still zip-tied to the ropes which is somewhat unique. Lethal beats Jacobs down then dishes out a superkick to the helpless Rhettski for good measure. Compton is in the firing line next, propped up in a chair against the rails as Jay pummels him with a stream of right hands. Elgin makes it worse by booting Cliff straight into the laps of the front row fans! Back inside the ring Elgin hoists Jacobs up…and he’s so small you feel like Unbreakable could literally stand there all night before hitting the stalled vertical suplex. Double hiptoss/dropkick/senton combo as Team ROH show a surprising amount of cohesion and continue to dominate the former Age Of The Fall leader. ‘He can do more than just throw powder in people’s eyes’ – Kevin Kelly on Cliff Compton’s abilities. He doesn’t do much to illustrate Kevin’s point though, as he finds himself up in Elgin’s endless stalling vertical suplex too. Lethal doesn’t want to be left out, and amusingly copies Michael using Jimmy Jacobs. Next Jay whips Cliff into a slingshot shoulder block from Elgin. Torture rack neckbreaker nailed too, then Unbreakable propels Lethal into a tope suicida to the floor on Jimmy. In the ring Elgin drills Compton with the Black Hole Slam, but on the outside it seems like Lethal suffered a leg injury when he pulled out that tope. Corino and Nigel clash again as the King Of Old School demands the match be stopped and the Match Maker comes to check on Jay’s condition.

Jacobs and Compton celebrate in the ring as Lethal has to be carried to the back, and have big smiles on their faces as Elgin marches back into the squared circle looking to fight them both at once. Jacobs tries to spear him…ELGIN CATCHES HIM IN MID-AIR! BUCKLE BOMB! FALLAWAY SLAM/SAMOAN DROP COMBO on both of his opponents! The numbers are just too much though, and as Elgin sets up the Spiral Bomb on Jimmy, Cliff grabs him for a shoulder-first trip into the ringpost. We’re at 15 minutes now, and it looks like hope is lost for Team ROH as Compton and Jacobs take it in turns to work over their tiring adversary. Jimmy clings to a sleeper hold like a limpet, as Cliff lays in some punches for good measure. Still Unbreakable doesn’t know when he’s beaten, as he Bam Bam Bigelow vs Taz’s Jacobs, AND DEAD-LIFT GERMAN’S COMPTON AT THE SAME TIME! Kevin Steen is here! He climbs onto the apron amidst a sea of streamers and demands to be let in as a replacement partner! NIGEL SAYS YES! Elgin (reluctantly) tags Steen in, and Mr Wrestling storms in to unload on his former SCUM team-mates. He hits the apron bomb on Jimmy…feeding him into the ring for Elgin’s Buckle Bomb. Spiral Bomb prevented as Cliff clips Michael’s knees though! Steen tries to give him the Package Piledriver, but Jacobs surprises him with a school boy pin…and Mr Wrestling has his shoulders counted down for three at 20:06

Rating - *** - That was possibly slightly long, and I don’t understand why Steen had to be inserted into this match only to have his momentum killed by being jobbed out in his first match since losing the World Title…but for the most part it was really entertaining. Elgin was on top form and came up with some many innovative ways to beat the crap out of his two opponents, and I actually quite enjoyed Jacobs and Compton as a team too. Corino on commentary is always gold, and if ROH don’t want to pay Nigel in the role long term (presumably that’s Nigel’s decision rather than theirs) then Steve is probably the best alternative

Tape Rating - DUD - With just a week to edit this, I can find very little evidence of intelligent editing done to preserve value to the ppv-purchasing audience. There were no additional skits or insights, no 'Inside ROH'. Other than a few pre-taped Kevin Kelly intros, ROH literally cut an hour long chunk of the show they’d wanted people to pay $15 to see the week before and through it out onto television for free. As I’ve made abundantly clear by now – I find that completely unacceptable. I also don’t understand how they managed to edit and put together TV from the Manhattan tapings just a week after the ippv, yet couldn’t do that here for the Toronto shows. Hopefully this is just a blip.

 

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