ROH on Sinclair – Episode 103 – 7th September 2013
These next couple of episodes are Road Rage episodes in a different name. ROH is airing all the World Title tournament matches on their television show (with no ippv now, I suppose it doesn’t do any major harm – although surely they should be pushing DVD’s, VOD’s…y’know – things fans have to pay for rather than giving it up for free?) so that means even the stuff at live shows will be cut up for TV. To that end, tonight we have tournament matches from All Star Extravaganza 5. I won’t be watching the whole show, but I really am hoping they have been edited heavily for TV, and the episode will contain several ROHwrestling.com advertisements pointing out you can see the full matches on VOD/DVD. ‘Hope’ being the optimal word…I don’t actually expect them to do that. Heaven forbid ROH do something logical right now. Anyway, we have the Ciampa/Young, Bennett/Whitmer and Elgin/London matches scheduled. We’re in Toronto, ONT with Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness.
Silas Young vs Tommaso Ciampa
This is a first round match in the ROH World Title tournament. Silas is a wildcard entry, having won his spot in the tournament by defeating QT Marshall and Adam Page on television. He will square off with a man many have picked as a dark horse to win the tournament. Ciampa has looked fantastic since returning from his major knee injury, and will be looking to go as far as possible in the tournament as he looks to progress his ROH career. These two had one of the better matches on a poor night for ROH in Dearborn at Reclamation Night 2 – which saw Tommaso emerge victorious but only after Silas had seen his win overturned by Match Maker McGuinness because he used the bell hammer.
Both guys appear to be in a foul mood and are getting into each other’s faces before the bell has rung. When it does they engage in a collar-and-elbow that is so intense they collapse out of the ring and quite literally smash into the guardrails! Ciampa does his best to dictate the pace by grabbing onto headlocks, but Young is tenacious in his desire to escape and eventually does so with an emphatic back suplex. Tommaso doesn’t like that and BOOTS Silas in the face for 2! He draws a big pop from the crowd by trying to rip the moustache away from Young’s face too. He literally tosses Young into the corner by the moustache…only for Silas to block the bare knee strike with a series of clubbing blows to the head. They battle for superiority on the apron, with Ciampa scoring with an exposed knee…ONLY FOR YOUNG TO HIT A SNAP SUPLEX TO THE FLOOR! The crew are struggling to correct the lights after Ciampa’s dramatic entrance, meaning the ring is bathed in an ominous red glow as both men battle to beat the count back into the ring. They do so, and are still so intent on fighting that they are crawling back in HEADBUTTING each other! DRAGON SUPLEX gets 2 for Tommaso. Young dropkicks at the bad knee of Ciampa then gets a nearfall right back with the backbreaker/lariat combo. BARE KNEE STRIKE to counter the headstand Arabian Press! Silas blocks the avalanche Air Raid Crash but is then CAUGHT jumping off the top ropes and flipped into a spinebuster. Project Ciampa blocked…and the two men absolutely unload on each other with elbow smashes! Lariat from Silas is NO SOLD! PROJECT CIAMPA NAILED! He advances at 10:53
Rating - **** - F*ck it, possibly my rating is a little generous but this was a better match than their Reclamation encounter and had a clean finish so I wanted to reward them. These guys have great chemistry in the ring together (Silas seems to have great chemistry with everyone he meets) and the intensity of their respective personas is marvellous to watch. This looked and felt like a savage fight between two men as intent on kicking the sh*t out of their opponent as they were about becoming World Champion. Silas’ rise up the card and Tommaso’s return have been two of my favourite things about 2013 in Ring Of Honor.
Michael Bennett vs BJ Whitmer
This is another first round match in the World Title tournament, and puts together two men who are developing quite the rivalry. They’ve traded wins on television, house show and ippv, we’ve seen Bennett assault the Buzzsaw on Maria’s instruction…and now they meet again with the stakes raised higher as they look to progress towards the top prize in Ring Of Honor.
Bennett tries to jump Whitmer, and sprints into the EXPLODER ’98 for 2! He tries to run away right afterwards but BJ is still all over him – this time with a tope suicida then a suplex on the floor! Michael is on the defensive, so it’s to his credit that he keeps his wits about him and spots an opportunity to drop toehold Whitmer into the ropes, then blasts him with a dropkick from the outside. The action stays on the floor with Bennett hitting a version of the Samoa Joe’s Ole Ole Kick and a body slam. But he gets over-confident and attempts what can only be described as a Bronco Buster only to horribly miss. Whitmer drops him right on his neck with a back suplex for 2. Bennett goes after the neck, driving it into the canvas with a spinebuster before peppering it with close-range knee strikes. That really pisses BJ off…and soon Nigel McGuinness is pissed off because Maria is trying to hand Michael one of her shoes to use as a weapon. He physically involves himself to preserve his new era of ‘purity’, and orders Todd Sinclair to eject her from ringside, then physically carries out that order by hauling her out (slapping her beautiful exposed rear end as he does). TOP ROPE SUICIDE DIVE BY BJ! There’s still a match going on in the midst of this and it’s tough to pick a winner from here. Whitmer gets a nearfall with the rolling suplexes only for Bennett to target his suspect neck again with a TKO. Rolling fishermans from BJ – and once again Michael is trying to leave. Whitmer lines up an exploder to the floor…BENNETT COUNTERS WITH A F*CKING PILEDRIVER ON THE APRON! And just like that BJ’s neck is f*cked up. Sinclair immediately stops the match at 10:07 (so Bennett is the winner).
Rating - N/A - For what it’s worth, that was definitely on a par (if not better) than their previous matches, but knowing that this one could have ended BJ Whitmer’s career means I just can’t bring myself to rate it. I feel bad for Bennett too. He took a lot of flak for injuring BJ, although it was clearly an accident and I’m sure it will take him a LONG time to get over it.
Michael Elgin vs Paul London
This was originally booked for the post-Border Wars TV tapings in Toronto earlier this year, but the head injury suffered by London during his comeback bout against Davey Richards at the ppv caused it to be postponed. But ROH officials promised to bring the Intrepid Traveller back after he was so impressive in his homecoming and have lived up to their promise. The Toronto fans do now get to see the legendary Paul London against Unbreakable Michael Elgin – and it’s part of the ROH World Title tournament. Elgin is still officially considered #1 contender, and could have been handed the title after Jay Briscoe’s injury but turned it down. He will be considered one of the favourites for the tournament – but wouldn’t it be an incredible story if Paul could return home and capture the one prize that alluded him in his critically-acclaimed first run in ROH?
If anything, London is in even better shape here than he was at Border Wars – and demonstrates that by back flipping off the turnbuckles during his entrance. Kevin Kelly points out that he was part of the first ROH Title tournament back in 2002. Elgin isn’t phased by any of it though, showing his power by repeatedly shoving him into the ropes. Unbreakable wants a test of strength…but Paul is too smart for him. He uses that position to leverage the big man into a headlock then immediately quickens the pace with a satellite headscissors. Paul knows he has to work at a quick pace, but everything he tries seems to fail. He can’t out-wrestle the big man, when he knocks him to the floor for a dive Elgin is back in before he can execute it, and when he finally hits a dropkick Unbreakable pops up to send him SPINNING through the air with a shoulder block. Michael stands in the middle of the ring as if to say ‘this is my ring’. London tries the aerial route instead, only to be caught going for a slingshot springboard crossbody into a massive powerslam for 2. At 5 minutes Unbreakable seems to have an answer to everything the veteran throws at him. ONE MINUTE SUPLEX NAILED! Rolling backbreakers score next before he simply dumps London’s limp body on the deck like a sandbag. In the end it’s over-confidence on Elgin’s part that gives Paul an opportunity – as he scales the ropes to MISS a corkscrew senton. But Elgin shuts it down again with the ST-JOE! Paul is in real danger of being seriously injured as Michael escorts him to the apron for what appears to be a back drop driver.
PAUL HITS HIM WITH A FLYING HEADSCISSORS TO THE FLOOR! At 10 minutes that’s his first major offensive strike of the match, and he follows it with springboard dropkick and a rolling heel kick in the corner. Elgin misses a butt splash…RED STAR PRESS GETS 2! A Black Hole Slam splats the Intrepid Traveller back into the mat though. DEAD-LIFT STALLING GERMAN SUPLEX! Paul refuses to quit, escaping the Buckle Bomb and double stomping his opponent’s massive chest. Nothing he does works, as he expends masses of energy striking with the big Canadian only for Unbreakable to knock him down with a single shot. Nigel wonders if Paul is trying to exhaust Elgin, but it doesn’t seem like that as he absorbs a jumping enzi before simply shaking it off to hit a DEATH BLOW! LONDON RETURNS FIRE WITH THE DROP-SAULT! SOMERSAULT PLANCHA TO THE FLOOR! And he’s not done! SPRINGBOARD DOUBLE STOMP TO THE FLOOR! He goes upstairs for one more high-flying strike but this time is caught on the top rope. London looks like a wildman as he desperately throws headbutts in Elgin’s direction! ELGIN DROPKICKS HIM OFF THE TOP! DEAD-LIFT SUPERPLEX NAILED! FOR 2! How much more does Paul have left? BUCKLE BOMB! SPIRAL BOMB…COUNTERED TO A REVERSE RANA! LONDON STAR PRESS! ELGIN KICKS OUT! Paul can’t believe it, and tries to haul Elgin up to the top for a super rana. AWESOMEBOMB BY ELGIN! BACK FIST! BUCKLE BOMB! SPIRAL BOMB! It’s all over, with Michael Elgin advancing and London going 0-2 on his ROH return at 19:57
Rating - ****1/2 - If Paul’s comeback match with Davey wasn’t enough to get him a permanent spot on the roster I can’t believe this wouldn’t. A masterful performance from both men, who receive a deserved standing ovation for it. Elgin has been imperious in 2013, producing amazing matches against pretty much everyone, so for him to produce another great one isn’t that surprising. The shock here is that London hung with him every step of the way. For a ‘part time guy’ that is an incredible feat. Everything they did was so crisp. Elgin bumped like a champ for Paul, whilst London threw himself around like a maniac to make Unbreakable look like a killer. I loved the story they went for – with Elgin (the full time, younger and bigger man) seemingly having an answer to everything Paul tried. But London was spectacular, playing the role of the wily and resilient old fox to a tee. He refused to stay down, and at around the 15-minute mark it really seemed like Elgin was going to punch himself out. If they can afford him, and if he wants to sign, Paul needs to be full-time now. They may not have been technically the best, but truthfully I can’t think of too many matches I’ve enjoyed watching more than his two Ring Of Honor matches this year.
Tape Rating - N/A - Lets be fair, if you didn’t see the All Star Extravaganza show, this has to be one of the best hours of free wrestling television to be broadcast anywhere all year. Ciampa/Young and London/Elgin were both awesome. I’ve not sat down and fleshed out my ROH 2013 MOTY’s as yet, but when it comes to Final Battle season I’m sure the London/Elgin match will be right up there – it was that good. Of course I’m annoyed ROH didn’t advertise the All Star Extravaganza 5 VOD, and it’s annoying we’re not getting fresh content. BUT, All Star Extraganza 5 was a great show, and if the mission is to put all the World Title tournament matches on television then you have to acknowledge this as a strong episode. I’ve done so by giving it an N/A rather than a ‘DUD’.