ROH on Sinclair – Episode 108 – 12th October 2013
After a cracking few weeks of TV (for the casual fans anyway), and a couple of solid house shows, ROH leaves the World Title Tournament behind and starts building for the remainder of the year with it’s first fresh, TV-exclusive content in weeks. We’re in Philadelphia, PA for the full aftermath of Adam Cole’s World Championship victory. Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness are at the booth.
Adam Page vs ACH
I’m still looking for a reason to care about Adam Page. He’s a young kid with a lot of talent. But, as of yet, he has no real character. We’ve gained no real insight into his motivation. He basically seems to work opening matches, produce decent losing performances then move on. That’s not a great way for a young worker to get over in my opinion. In fairness, his opponent ACH hasn’t had much more than that (has he ever had any promo time?) and he’s one of the most popular acts in the company. So what do I know? This should be entertaining if they let it have any sort of time.
ACH starts brightly, as he impresses the fans with some back flips then out-works Page on the mat. Adam responds by drilling him into the canvas with a spinebuster. Nice work from Page, who realises he can’t match speed with ACH so goes for a series of vicious strikes then a HIGH back suplex to put him down. Slingshot swinging flatliner nailed by ACH…but Page blocks the Big Bang Attack and counters to the Red Star Press for 2. Inverted piledriver blocked…and ACH knocks him off the apron with a palm strike. AIR JORDAN NAILED! Back in the ring ACH hits a flying crossbody…only for Page to roll through and win at 03:30
Rating - ** - This was as about as much as they could have done in their measly time allowance. I’m slightly annoyed that ROH have had people beat Page for months, but then decide to put him over one of their brightest up and coming talents. However, I can’t complain that they’re making no effort to get people into him, then moan when they put him over a popular worker. I thought Page worked this match brilliantly, and this win coupled with his excellent showing against Eddie Edwards at Charm City Challenge may well have kicked his career into a higher gear.
Nigel McGuinness is in the ring to announce the main event at Glory By Honor – it will be an 8-man Champions vs All-Stars elimination match. The top challengers for each title will make up the All-Star team, and Michael Elgin is announced as the first entrant. That brings out Jay Briscoe, demanding to know why he won’t be in the match as either a champion OR an all-star. He will be cleared to wrestle before Glory By Honor, but before Nigel has a chance to respond Elgin comes out to join them. He is sick of fighting for ‘honour’. He wants to be World Champion now, and will mow through every champion ROH has in Chicago to prove he deserves the next shot at Adam Cole.
NEXT WEEK – Michael Bennett & Maria Kanellis face Bob Evans and Cheeseburger. Seriously
Roderick Strong vs Mike Mondo
We haven’t seen Mondo in some time. He was injured, then he came back, then he left again, then he came back looking completely different…but then he was gone. The ROH landscape has changed since he was last a permanent member of the roster. If he wants his spot back surely he needs a big victory against Roddy tonight.
Back suplex backbreaker from Strong, but Mondo responds with a big sidewalk slam for 2. He follows that with some close-range knee strikes then a big clothesline. Missile dropkick from Roddy, and he then chases Mondo up the ropes to hit a superplex. Gibson Driver wins it at 03:20
Rating - * - Too short to mean anything, although Mondo’s past in ROH does make this an emphatic and notable victory for Roderick. There will be lots of ROH fans who are delighted to see Mondo relegated to a jobber status. I haven’t missed him at all, but after how hard he worked, and how consistent his performances had become towards the end of his 2012 run, it is a shame that injury seems to have completely derailed his career.
Roddy grabs a microphone to point out he’s now been in this company for a decade. He’s faced all the greats to come through this promotion, he’s been a part of top stables, he’s won Survival Of The Fittest, he’s won all three championships and so on. That’s why he’s earned the ‘Mr ROH’ moniker it seems. Strange promo…the kind one would cut on their way out of a promotion
NEXT WEEK – reDRagon vs C&C WrestleFactory vs Forever Hooligans for the Tag Titles.
Veda Scott leads Marshall Law to the ring. They are taking legal action against ROH following the actions of Outlaw Inc. at Manhattan Mayhem. But RD Evans also wants physical retribution, and seeks it tonight as they have a match with Homicide and Eddie Kingston. Is he mental?
Marshall Law vs Outlaw Inc.
As we just heard, Evans and Marshall were the unfortunate victims of Outlaw Inc.’s psychotic return to Ring Of Honor at Manhattan Mayhem. Homicide and Kingston wore shirts and ties, and shook hands to fit in with ROH’s new ‘corporate’ image. Unfortunately they also acted like lunatics, dressed up in terrifying clown masks and broke the Barrister’s fingers by following the Code Of Honor. Just how to Marshall Law plan to get retribution for that tonight in Outlaw Inc.’s SBG debut as a team?
QT Marshall tries to jump the Outlaws in the aisle…but unfortunately for him Homicide comes in through the crowd and attacks Evans from behind. Kingston joins him to hit a the Back Fist, and the Outlaws take the win after a Doomsday Bulldog at 01:22
Rating - N/A - I’m not sure this needed to be booked, but at least Delirious learned from his mistake at Glory By Honor and booked this as a rapid-fire squash match rather than an actual match, which would do nothing for what they are trying to achieve with this Outlaw Inc. gimmick.
After the match Homicide follows the Code Of Honor again…and by that I mean he breaks RD Evans’ fingers again. Eddie Kingston then calls out reDRagon, who opt not to join them in the ring.
Matt Taven vs Jay Lethal – ROH TV Title Match
Truth Martini has decided that since Taven is so motivated when he defends the TV Title he needs to make as many of his matches as possible title defences. To that end he now faces the former champion, Jay Lethal, who beat him in a Proving Ground Match to earn this opportunity.
As TV Title matches only have 15-minute time limits, it is a sensible strategy by Taven to take his time locking up with Lethal. He leaves the ring, gets rub downs from the Hotties and completely avoids physical interaction with his challenger. In a moment of genius, Lethal pretends to have been tripped over behind the referee’s back…and blames Truth and the Hoopla Hotties so vociferously that Todd Sinclair ejects them! Taven is going solo against Jay now, and is immediately wiped out by the rolling tope suicidas. When we return from commercials we see Lethal attempting a slingshot move, but seeing it COUNTERED into an elevated swinging neckbreaker for 2. The champ starts working on the neck, softening Jay up for the Climax. Even when he misses a fist drop and gives Lethal a window of opportunity, he quickly slams it shut by repeatedly pounding on the neck. It’s when he breaks away from that strategy by attempting a Lionsault that Lethal eventually mounts a comeback. He puts knees into Taven’s stomach then scores with the Lethal Combination. Lethal Injection COUNTERED with a spinning heel kick to the neck! Angel’s Wings blocked by Jay, who turns it into a short-range superkick for 2. But Matt catches him climbing the ropes for the Macho Elbow and starts battering his neck again. Lethal crotches Taven…but as he tries to pull him away from the turnbuckles, Matt hooks him up for the Climax. Taven retains at 10:34 (shown)
Rating - *** - It’s a shame this one didn’t happen at a house show. With the rest of the House Of Truth ejected from the arena in the first minute, it meant we actually got a clean wrestling match featuring Matt Taven – and it was mostly very good. I loved the way he worked the neck. He used that injury to set up his own offensive moves, but he also continually countered signature Jay Lethal spots by targeting it too. These guys just needed a few more minutes to flesh it out and produce some hot nearfalls to push the rating up and really make this one memorable.
Tape Rating - ** - It was good to have new content on SBG for the first time in ages. It wasn’t a particularly spectacular episode though, and that is reflected in my rating. That said, it genuinely felt like a very slick hour of television. Nothing dragged, things were happening at a rapid pace. We had high-flying junior heavyweight action, the TV debut of Outlaw Inc., an in-ring segment hyping the post-Death Before Dishonor World Title landscape, a solid main event and more. If you do find yourself watching this as a Ringside Member I don’t think you’ll find it dull.