ROH on Sinclair – Episode 109 – 19th October 2013
We are just one week away from Glory By Honor, and with the 2-hour time limit 8-man elimination main event of that show in mind, Adam Cole is scheduled to appear tonight, making his first appearance on TV since becoming World Champion. We also have a huge main event, with reDRagon defending the Tag Titles against both Forever Hooligans and the C&C Wrestlefactory. We go back to Philadelphia, PA to join Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness.
Tadarius Thomas vs Mark Briscoe
Kevin Kelly bills this as a clash of ‘different martial arts styles’, which is a pretty fun way of describing the situation. I’d describe this as a clash of personalities personally. Tadarius is a decent wrestler, but seems to have had a charisma bypass. On the flip side Mark has become so invested in his crazy redneck persona over the last couple of years that, by this point, he’s almost entirely gimmick.
It’s a strike contest early on, with both workers scoring with some shots and missing with others. After a heated near-miss exchange we basically end up even. Mark is struggling to deal with the capoeira striking of TD, but in turn Thomas has a hard time dealing with Briscoe’s constant aggression. DVD INTO THE BUCKLES BY MARK! BERMUDA TRIANGLE MOONSAULT! The multi-time former Tag Champion just turned the heat up and Tadarius is now firmly on the defensive. He proves adept at fighting from there though, hitting the Sling Blade then a half nelson suplex for 2. Mark chops at Thomas’ neck…then plants him with a rolling DVD. Froggy Bow wins it at 04:29
Rating - *** - I wanted to see more of this. As I always say, not everyone meshes very well with Tadarius Thomas. That wasn’t a problem for Mark, who worked a fantastic, strike-based match with him. Everything these two did was silky-smooth and extremely fluid. In the end my rating probably is a little jealous, but I really enjoyed what they were doing together, and wanted the match to go longer. It felt like they were just hitting their stride when it finished.
Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander are hyped for the main event tonight. reDRagon interrupt to tell them they will lose AGAIN tonight…then leave to ‘do our squat thrusts’.
Adam Cole enters the arena to make his televised bow as World Champion. His gold spotlight-enhanced entrance looks fantastic on TV. He says he’s done with fake smiles, phoney handshakes and being ‘happy to be there’. He’ll be doing things his way now – which is why he superkicked Jay Briscoe in the back of the head at Death Before Dishonor. He then complains that ROH wanted Elgin to be their ‘poster-boy’, not him. Michael Elgin comes out to get him…but as Cole tries to run out of the ring to flee Unbreakable, he is cornered in the aisle by Jay Briscoe instead. With Cole having fled, Jay and Elgin argue over who gets to pose with the title belt he left behind.
NEXT WEEK – Silas Young vs Jimmy Jacobs in what would become the first Trial Series Match
Prince Nana replaces Nigel on commentary at this point.
Michael Bennett/Maria Kanellis vs Brutal Burgers
It seems like a long time ago that we saw Michael Bennett dismiss his long-time trainer Bob Evans. He blamed Brutal Bob for not having achieved the success in ROH many felt he should have, and assaulted him before signing a new deal with the company – with only fiancé Maria Kanellis to manage him. And in the midst of that, ‘Team Sexy’ have also had issues with Cheeseburger. They’ve beaten him up a couple of times, but in return he’s forced himself upon Maria and called her some rather colourful names. Evans and Cheeseburger have formed a team to fight a common enemy tonight…
Bennett demands to start with Brutal Bob…then tags out to Maria. Cheeseburger tags in, and Maria has no problem trading basic holds with him. She doesn’t budge when he tries to take her over with shoulder blocks, then laughs hysterically as Bennett socks him with a cheap shot from behind. Burger gets the tag to Bob, who hits a brutal drop powerbomb on Bennett. Michael tries to hit the Piledriver, but is distracted by Cheeseburger, who dives off the top rope at him. Bob starts using Cheeseburger as a weapon! DOUBLE STUNNER ON BENNETT! Maria has to save her fiancé from losing! Bennett chops Cheese down with a spear then pins him with a TKO at 05:17
Rating - ** - This was probably a little long for what it was. However, some of the comedy spots were undeniably hilarious. Maria being completely believable in no-selling Cheeseburger’s offence was utterly brilliant. I’ve got no interest in seeing Bob Evans as a regular member of the roster though, so I’m hoping this doesn’t lead to a regular spot for ‘Brutal Burgers’.
Bennett proclaims his piledriver to be the best in wrestling…bringing out Kevin Steen – who is appropriately wearing his ‘Package Piledrive Everybody’ shirt. He calls Bennett a bitch, prompting Maria to slap him. Security has to separate Steen and Bennett as we cut to commercials.
NEXT WEEK – Ricky Marvin makes his SBG debut to face Davey Richards.
Steve Corino comes out, still angry at not being able to take his place at the commentary table. He pulls out the contract he won at Border Wars, as permanent commentator. As a result ROH and Sinclair owe him money for loss of earnings as they’ve not let him at the booth since SCUM were removed, and he leaves by telling Nigel McGuinness to do what’s right and reinstate him.
reDRagon vs Forever Hooligans vs Caprice Coleman/Cedric Alexander – ROH Tag Title Match
C&C have been campaigning for another shot at the Tag Titles for a long time, but will again be irritated that it’s in another three-way, rather than the straight 2vs2 match they’ve wanted. But that does favour them in that they don’t have to beat the champions to win the belts. Sadly for them, the other team are NJPW stars, and also former ROH Tag Champions. Will the Hooligans repeat what we saw in Providence and defeat reDRagon for the titles on TV again? Or will Fish and O’Reilly continue their incredible year by defeating two high profile challengers at the same time?
Fish demands to start with Romero…then forcibly tags Cedric in to face him when Rocky obliges. Alexander drops Rocky with a tornado front slam for 2. Hart Attack Leg Lariat from C&C gets another nearfall. Fish tags and is instantly wiped out with a springboard lariat from Cedric. IRISH AIR RAID gets 2! C&C clear the ring…with Alexander connecting with a somersault plancha to the floor. Bobby Fish is still trying to run away from Romero, and in doing so blind tags O’Reilly to attack Rocky from behind. The champions try to isolate him – getting a nearfall with the knee drop/backbreaker combo. Rocky is seemingly struggling with injuries to the midsection, but manages the hot tag to Koslov at a critical juncture. Cossack Kicks on O’Reilly! reDRagon start double-teaming Alex, with Fish connecting with a roundhouse kick which sends him backwards into the Regalplex from Kyle. Caprice saves with a Mind Trip on Bobby! DETONATION KICK from Cedric to O’Reilly! The Hooligans hit a DOOMSDAY KNEE STRIKE on Alexander! CHASING THE DRAGON! O’Reilly pins Koslov, meaning reDRagon retain the championship at 11:07 (shown)
Rating - *** - Eleven minutes is not enough time for three teams of this calibre to produce an effective, main event-level match. That’s not to say this was bad, but it just wasn’t long enough for them to create something really special. What we got was a really entertaining, non-stop spotfest. The stand-out talents, in my opinion, were Bobby Fish and Cedric Alexander. Fish’s slimy douchebag act is one of the more entertaining characters in ROH right now, whilst Cedric just keeps improving. The precision with which he was hitting his high spots tonight was incredibly impressive. Guys like Fish, Romero and Koslov have been touring major Japanese promotions for years. That he was able to outshine those guys in a match like this speaks volumes for how talented he is.
Before reDRagon can start celebrating the ominous entrance siren of Outlaw Inc. hits. Homicide and Eddie Kingston storm the ring! Homicide tries to break O’Reilly’s fingers, before Bobby pulls him to safety at the last possible second!
Tape Rating - *** - A very similar episode to last week, in that nothing got too much time, nothing dragged and the entire show flew by in a heartbeat. With only 50 minutes to play with each week it’s essential ROH maximises it’s television time, and they’ve certainly done that with the last two episodes. The in-ring stuff was decent (particularly the main event), but we also saw feuds progressed, the Corino angle develop, some solid comedic wrestling and plenty of matches announced for next week. All in all a successful week, albeit not one you’re likely to want to revisit once you’ve seen