ROH on Sinclair – Episode 100 – 17th August 2013
To commemorate the 100th episode of ROH Wrestling on SBG we have a special instalment of the show. We are going to look back over several of the more iconic moments and matches from ROH’s run on Sinclair so far – with insight and hosting brought to you by Roderick Strong and Jay Lethal. Yes, of all the guys they had on the roster, they seriously thought Roddy and Jay (wonderful talents as they are) would be the right choices for this. We are in a studio…somewhere.
Less than 90 seconds in and the nauseatingly awful hosting skills of Roderick and Jay almost make me want to turn it off. Thankfully they take us straight to clips from Episode 2’s main event – which saw Lethal challenge El Generico for the TV Title, in what would become the SBG show’s first title change. Periodically Jay and Roddy pop up in the bottom corner of the screen during the clips to deliver some insight. It’s vaguely more interesting, but delivered with all the personality of a pair of sponges.
Having enjoyed some Jay Lethal glory, up next our illustrious, charismatic and not at all snooze-inducing hosts introduce us to a Briscoes vs House Of Truth (Strong & Elgin) tag. This was the follow-up to the Northern Aggression 80-minute 8-man Tag which saw these four men team up on the losing side. They lost out on some cash as a result of that, so each put up $2,500 for this – so there was a £5k purse at stake for the winner. This match wasn’t all that memorable…
The last match is the Survival Of The Fittest 2012 finals, which is fair enough as it certainly was one of the best matches on the Sinclair show so far. Lethal and Roddy were both involved, so provide some interesting insights – particularly when they are in the ring together
Tape Rating - DUD - Maybe this is a little harsh, but I thought this was a HUGE bust for the 100th episode. The idea of having wrestlers look back on their matches is a fun idea, and not something you see on television too often. I just don’t understand why ROH thought a whole hour of Roderick Strong and Jay Lethal narrating highlight packages in monotone voices and hosting with horrifically badly acted little skits was a good idea. There are enough charismatic workers, and enough quality matches from the 100-episode history of the show that this one could have been MILES better than this. Not that some of what Roddy and Jay said wasn’t interesting…but they were putting me to sleep by the end.
ROH on SBG Episodes 94-100 – Top 5 Matches
5) Matt Taven vs Eddie Edwards (*** - Episode 094)
4) Jay Briscoe vs Matt Hardy (*** - Episode 096)
3) Kevin Steen/Michael Elgin/Tommaso Ciampa vs Wolves/BJ Whitmer (**** - Episode 099)
2) reDRagon vs Forever Hooligans (**** - Episode 098)
1) Team ROH vs Team SCUM (**** - Episode 097)
SIDENOTE – To coincide with this broadcast, Ring Of Honor released an ROH on SBG ‘Best Of’ for the first hundred episodes. It was a double disc set featuring something like 20+ matches. Some were great choices, but it felt like they missed some really strong matches. For those that are interested – I’ve compiled a list of my favourite 25 matches from the first 100 episodes. They are counted down chronologically (although, if you want me to name my favourite – it is easily Richards/O’Reilly from Episode 85). Personally I’d have preferred the below set, although I see why Sinclair had to mix it up a bit given the sheer volume of matches featuring Davey Richards, Eddie Edwards, Kyle O’Reilly, Roderick Strong and Michael Elgin below.
1) El Generico vs Jay Lethal (ROH TV Title Match – Episode 002)
2) Davey Richards vs Roderick Strong (ROH World Title Match – Episode 003)
3) American Wolves vs Roderick Strong/Michael Elgin (Episode 008)
4) Davey Richards vs Kyle O’Reilly (Episode 009)
5) Davey Richards vs Michael Elgin (Episode 013)
6) Eddie Edwards vs Kyle O’Reilly (Episode 021)
7) Davey Richards vs Jay Lethal (ROH World Title Match – Episode 023)
8) Roderick Strong vs Eddie Edwards (Episode 024)
9) Mike Mondo vs Matt Taven (Episode 029)
10) Eddie Edwards vs Davey Richards (Episode 038)
11) Roderick Strong vs Adam Cole (ROH TV Title Match – Episode 045)
12) Mike Bennett vs Lance Storm (Episode 046)
13) Jay Lethal vs Michael Elgin vs Davey Richards vs Adam Cole vs Roderick Strong vs Mike Mondo (SOTF Elimination Match – Episode 058)
14) Adam Cole vs Kyle O’Reilly (ROH TV Title Match – Episode 061)
15) Michael Elgin vs Davey Richards (Episode 063)
16) Jay Briscoe vs Steve Corino (Street Fight – Episode 065)
17) Roderick Strong/reDRagon vs American Wolves/Michael Elgin (Episode 075)
18) American Wolves vs Adrenaline RUSH (Episode 078)
19) reDRagon vs Forever Hooligans (ROH Tag Title Match – Episode 081)
20) Karl Anderson vs Michael Elgin (Episode 085)
21) Davey Richards vs Kyle O’Reilly (Episode 085)
22) Taiji Ishimori vs Roderick Strong (Episode 088)
23) Team ROH vs Team SCUM (Steel Cage Warfare Match – Episode 097)
24) reDRagon vs Forever Hooligans (ROH Tag Title Match – Episode 098)
25) Michael Elgin/Kevin Steen/Tommaso Ciampa vs American Wolves/BJ Whitmer (Episode 099)