ROH on Sinclair – Episode 094 – 6th July 2013
After the Best In The World ippv which disappointed a lot of people, and last week’s Road Rage episode from it which absolutely infuriated me, we do now have the first episode from the much-hyped TV tapings from June 23rd. We are four weeks away from ROH vs SCUM in Steel Cage Warfare (that’s the last show of July) – a match which will decide the very future of the company. Kevin Kelly welcomes us to what could be the final ‘Ring Of Honor’ set of tapings in Baltimore, MD. Steve Corino joins him, and our scheduled main event is Taven vs Edwards for the TV Title.
Caprice Coleman/Cedric Alexander vs Alex Reynolds/John Silver
C&C were somewhat unfortunate in that their big Tag Title shot at Best In The World was hijacked by SCUM, and the chaos that ensued in their triple threat with both SCUM and reDRagon saw them wind up on the losing side. They earned a straight-up championship opportunity though, and they will get it next week, but for now need to prepare with a win over this debuting team. Reynolds and Silver are trained by Mikey Whipwreck (‘I’ve never heard of him’ – Corino).
Silver is only 5’6, a fact that Caprice points out by getting onto his knees to shake hands with him. He also starts the match and is quickly beaten down by some C&C double teams. Reynolds tags and doesn’t get on any better as he is decked by Coleman. In the end it takes a cheap shot from Silver to give the debutants their first offensive period in Ring Of Honor. A flipping neckbreaker/basement dropkick combo gets 2. Caprice tags Alexander, who explodes into the ring with some incredibly crisp aerial manoeuvres. Adrenaline RUSH are in the aisle, and watch as Silver nearly steals a victory with a bridging German suplex. Overtime finishes Silver at 05:00
Rating - * - Much too long for my taste, but for the record think Silver and Reynolds did anything wrong. After all, it’s not their fault the crowd (which is much smaller than it was for Best In The World) really weren’t interested and fell into total silence whenever they were on offence. Considering C&C are pulling double duty and working a title match at these tapings too, I’m surprised they were sent out there to work five whole minutes (which in TV-squash land is an age) with these guys.
Nigel McGuinness gets some promo time next. He is proud of the Briscoe brothers after they put each other through hell at Best In The World, and admits that both of them came out of it pretty badly injured. Mark isn’t medically cleared to be at the tapings (so won’t be on Team ROH for Steel Cage Warfare), and Jay is struggling with shoulder and back injuries. Kevin Steen comes out and unsurprisingly wants in on Steel Cage Warfare. SCUM arrive and look for another gang assault on Steen…but unlike at Best In The World he gets some help from the ROH locker room! Elgin, Lethal and Whitmer arrive to help him. Do they now trust him to be on Team ROH?
Veda Scott vs MsChif
This is a grudge match in the Women Of Honor division, and is the first time we’ve seen Veda wrestle in ROH. She took offence to being misted by MsChif on TV weeks ago, and has been doing her best to start a fight with her ever since.
Veda’s music is dreadful. She doesn’t back down from MsChif…and is rewarded by being thrown out of the ring and pummelled on the floor. She is rammed into the guardrails, and looks like she’s struggling until it gets back to the ring – and dropkicks MsChif ‘in the mammaries’ (that was a Corino line). SHE DIVES AT MSCHIF AND FALLS HEAD-FIRST OUT OF THE RING! SO MSCHIF GERMANS HER ON THE FLOOR! To the delight of the fans Scott drags herself up and refuses to be counted out. She ties MsChif up in a bridging Saito suplex for 2 as well! MsChif screams at Veda, implying she should stay down…but Veda screams right back! MsChif powerbombs her…only for Scott to kick out! Desecrator nailed – SHE KICKS OUT! Chif is furious and does her best to knock Veda out with repeated smashes into the turnbuckles. OBLITERATION! That’s an X-Factor from the second rope, with her opponent tied up and unable to protect herself folks. MsChif wins at 04:53
Rating - *** - The crowd were great which helped, but I thought this was terrific. They didn’t try to make Veda look like an amazing wrestler at the expense of MsChif (who has dominated the Women Of Honor division for months) – but instead went the believable route of having MsChif kick her ass and have Veda be so tough she just refused to quit. The moment where they both kneeled in the centre of the ring and screamed at each other was genuinely memorable.
Silas Young vs Adam Page
Both of these guys have been hovering around the ROH scene for a while. Young has produced some fantastic performances and really seems effective as a heel – without Ring Of Honor ever really being able to find the right spot to being him in with. Page is a super-talented youngster who seems to improve every time we see him. A victory here could potentially edge one in front of the other in a race for a more permanent spot on the roster.
Silas emphasises that he’s a ‘real man’, and is embarrassed that he has to come on after ‘some women’s match’ since they belong ‘at home…cooking and cleaning’. With the help of Corino going all gospel on commentary, that was hysterical. His attempts to impose his physical will on Page fail early on, and as the fight spills to the floor he looks for a shoulder tackle off the apron…but sees it COUNTERED with a mid-air dropkick from Adam. Young’s response is to shunt Page into the ringpost. He misses a mafia kick and crotches himself on the rails. Page climbs up the rails too…SUPERPLEX OFF THE RAILS TO THE FLOOR! He re-enters the ring with a frog crossbody and gets a nearfall. Silas has to fight Page away as he tries another superplex in the ring, and plants him with a scoop backbreaker. He tries to dragon suplex…but the youngster rolls through and pins him! Page snatches the win at 04:42
Rating - *** - There were shades of Taven/Mondo from SBG TV in 2012 there, with two guys who aren’t on the main roster just destroying each other in a random undercard match and the live audience really getting behind it. The fact that they got to do something like this, and Silas’ promo at the beginning suggests we’ll be seeing more from both of these guys – which can only be a good thing.
Young assaults Page after the bell, and it takes the entire referee squad to stop his attack.
SIDENOTE – With VOD now ROH’s focus, it’s great that they have a number of forthcoming shows booked, and are advertising them on their TV show. A minor suggestion from me would be that they need to be naming these events in advance. Advertising a show as ‘live event’, where others already have names instantly detracts from their importance for a casual fan.
Matt Taven vs Eddie Edwards – ROH TV Title Match
This is our main event, and is the title shot Die Hard earned when he defeated Taven in the Proving Ground at Honor In The Heart Of Texas. If he can repeat that feat this evening he will become the first 2-time Television Champion in ROH history. For Matt, this is perhaps the toughest challenge he’s had in his title reign and it represents a real opportunity to demonstrate that he isn’t a fluke champion with a win over a legendary Ring Of Honor performer like Eddie.
Edwards is in charge from the bell and comfortably out-wrestles Taven. The champion fights back with a cheap knee to the stomach, but is hung over the ropes for a TREE OF WOE DROPKICK FROM THE FLOOR! The crowd are so into Eddie they are drowning out the commentators! He rewards their support by taking Taven on a chop-happy tour of the ringside area. Mexican surfboard comes next as the challenger continues dishing out a wrestling lesson to Matt. Truth Martini realises his charge is in serious trouble and trips Eddie from the floor, causing him to miss a step and giving Taven the change to land a springboard enzi. As we go to commercials Martini is hunched over Die Hard, choking him behind the back of Todd Sinclair. When we return they clearly haven’t done enough damage though, as Edwards is sprinting across the ring to boot him in the mouth. Five Star Frog Splash misses…and Die Hard escorts him to the corner for machine gun chops. Martini enters again, cutting Eddie off as he looks for an elbow suicida. Taven skins the cat, only to be clotheslined back to the floor. EDWARDS WITH A SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! Back inside he gets 2 with a sliding enziguri. Taven blocks the Backpack Stunner and drops him with Angel’s Wings! That’s the hold of the man that beat Eddie for the TV Title – Christopher Daniels! It doesn’t quite get the job done though, and Edwards retorts with the Boston Knee Party. Headlock Driver COUNTERED with the back suplex facebuster for 2! They battle up the turnbuckles and you still can’t separate them. Edwards strikes, diving into the double stomp. ACHILLES LOCK! Scarlett Bordeaux throws the belt to Taven…who misses with it and gets put back into the Achilles Lock! Seleziya is on the apron now, and she distracts Eddie as Taven sneaks up behind him for the HEADLOCK DRIVER! Taven retains at 11:02 (shown)
Rating - *** - I preferred their Proving Ground Match of course, since that got more time and wasn’t dragged down by Martini, Scarlett and Seleziya at ringside, but this was still a great television main event and did as much as any match in his reign so far to present Taven as a credible champion. Sure he had help from his entourage, but as a heel that’s to be expected to an extent. Despite that he was made to look like a wrestler capable of hanging with Edwards, and that really helps put Matt over. This was a great time to deliver his best match on TV since he became champion – and had they got rid of the outside interference my rating could potentially have been higher. Check out Honor In The Heart Of Texas if you want to see these guys in an even better match.
The House Of Truth celebrate a huge win as they prepare for their unauthorised ‘Night Of Hoopla’ in Chicago in the forthcoming week.
Tape Rating - *** - A poor C&C squash wasn’t the best way to get us started, but from there this episode was great. We actually had a good ROH/SCUM segment (largely thanks to the fact that Kevin Steen was in it though – as he adds instant box office to everything he’s involved with), and then got three decent matches. Veda/MsChif was better and more sensibly booked than I could ever have dreamed off, whilst Young/Page took everyone off guard with their vicious little fight on the undercard. Taven delivered his strongest non-house show performance as TV Champion too, so this was an altogether more promising night of television than you might expect having seen the line-up.