ROH on Sinclair – Episode 120 – 4th January 2014
As usual, I had big plans to catch up on (and review) a load of other stuff in my ever growing pile of DVD’s (and tapes!) once I’d finished an ROH year – in this case 2013. This year I even got a decent way into it. I finished the rest of year 2000 WWF ppv’s (now posted on the WWE section of the site), I got a few volumes into the magnificent AJPW Best Matches Of The 90’s 10-disc set, I’d watched some more PWG and a couple of random compilations too. Then a major computer issue, coupled with the fact I’d not backed up my system since I moved house meant I lost the lot. I really enjoy reviewing wrestling – but I find watching stuff I’ve reviewed recently a major chore, so I really wasn’t anxious to go back and ‘start’ again so to speak. I did it with the WWF stuff as that’s part of an on-going project, but everything else will have to wait. 2014 Ring Of Honor, thus far, has some fantastic reviews. People really seem to be engaged with the product in a way they haven’t been in a couple of years (or more) – so I didn’t want to wait any longer, and am ready to dive in to check it out for myself. Sadly we start with Final Battle Road Rage. I’ve written enough on how much SBG/ROH irritate me when they put their major shows on free television, so I won’t delay too much further here. Let me just say that, when their PPV’s go live later this year, and if/when the uStream iPPV streaming venture works out it’s a practice that absolutely must stop. Let’s not delay any further – we join Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness in Manhattan, NY.
Silas Young vs Mark Briscoe – Strap Match
The rules are simple – a leather strap will connect the two wrestlers, and the first to touch all four turnbuckles is declared the winner. Mark and Silas have been feuding since A New Dawn, when they came to blows during a match, and then during the Honor Rumble. They’ve traded wins, engaged in chaotic brawls across multiple shows…and this stipulation came about after Young beat Briscoe at Glory By Honor, then started whipping him with referee Todd Sinclair’s belt.
First blood to Mark, who whips Young across the chest with the strap. They go to the floor, where Briscoe bashes Silas’ skull into the guardrails…only for Silas to get up and start flinging him into the barriers using the strap for leverage. Camel clutch with the strap…but he only gets to two turnbuckles before Briscoe pulls him back for the urinage. In turn Young stops him going to the turnbuckles by jerking him back into a lariat. He hits a DDT from the apron to the floor – which knocks Mark out, but of course he’s now too far away to get to the four turnbuckles. Briscoe comes back with some deafening strap shots which produce some nasty welts on Young’s back. Froggy Bow nailed…but as Briscoe goes for the fourth turnbuckle Young dives out of the ring! Briscoe tries to retrieve him, but Young hits a STRAP-MARE from the apron to the floor! He fireman carries Mark around the ring, touching all four turnbuckles to win at 09:12
Rating - ** - They did some rather inventive things with the strap, and the crowd were really lively which helped them a lot. However the stipulation was still rather restrictive, and given their spot on the card there wasn’t a lot they could really do to make this particularly significant. I’m glad Silas won (he’s a talent worth elevating), but people don’t remember feuds for very long if none of the matches were that great.
An actual commercial for the Final Battle VOD is aired. I was legitimately shocked
Adam Cole vs Michael Elgin vs Jay Briscoe – ROH World Title Match
There is a decent amount of history between these three men going into this one. Jay Briscoe was World Champion, and actually beat Cole in his first defence of the belt at Border Wars 2013. But after his nagging shoulder injury worsened, Nigel McGuinness was forced to strip him of the title, declaring it vacant for the first time in ROH’s 12-year history. A tournament was held to crown a new champion – with Cole finally winning after a hell of a battle in the final…against Michael Elgin. At the time of Jay’s championship stripping, Elgin was actually #1 contender for the belt. Rumour had it he was going to be handed the World Title, but refused because he wanted to earn it. Jay was on hand to present Cole with his newly won belt…but was savagely superkicked in the back of the head. This provoked Briscoe to renounce Cole as World Champion, instead pointing out that he was never beaten and so should be considered the ‘real World Champion’. At Glory By Honor 12 Nigel booked the Champions vs All Stars main event, where each champion was squared off with their respective top contenders. Briscoe was furious that he wasn’t involved (he wasn’t medically cleared to wrestle), and that night Elgin earned a title shot at Final Battle when he defeated ALL the ROH Champions in one night – including Cole in a memorable finale which left the champ with concussion. Again Jay was on hand to disrupt the aftermath – this time revealing his ‘Real World Title’ belt and laying out both his rivals. He replaced Cole in the main event of The Golden Dream – facing Kevin Steen with the winner to be added to Final Battle. Briscoe won (with a little help from Maria Kanellis)…and now here we are with a Triple Threat main event. We have the World Champion, the ‘Real World Champion’ and the Unbreakable behemoth who pinned Cole clean just two months ago in Chicago. Everyone has a claim to the gold – but only one man will leave as champion after tonight.
Of course both Elgin and Briscoe want a piece of Cole, who is in no mood to oblige them and leaves the ring. He stands on the floor and orders them to wrestle, and since there’s no love lost between them they go at it. Cole tries to trip Elgin from the floor, nearly gets killed…and then nearly loses the belt as Jay tries a flash pin on Unbreakable whilst he runs away! TOPE SUICIDA from Briscoe to Cole! At last Adam is dragged into the ring, and a temporary truce is declared between the challengers as they team up on him. BRISCOE BIEL nailed! Cole leaves the ring, but having taken a pasting he’s not as quick on his feet, and the challengers ambush him on the floor for a sick game of one-upsmanship – tossing him into the guardrails. 60-second suplex scores, but of course Jay is on hand to break the fall almost before Elgin even pins him. Elgin tree of woes Cole in the corner…then GERMAN SUPLEXES Jay on top of him! He tries to back suplex Cole to the floor…only for Cole to adapt in mid-air for an APRON DDT ON BRISCOE! Black Hole Slam from Elgin to Cole for 2! Elgin is starting to dominate now, to the extent that Kevin Kelly starts speculating whether Adam and Jay will actually form an alliance to eradicate the threat he poses to the pair of them.
There’s no union between the World Champions, and seemingly no need either as Briscoe’s striking power sees him beat down both his opponents for a couple of minutes. It’s only brief though, as Elgin powerslams Jay, then atomic drops Cole into a leg drop down on top of him. BOSTON CRAB/CAMEL CLUTCH COMBO stretches out both of them at the same time! NECK DROP German on Briscoe…and Cole capitalises with the Shining Wizard on Michael for 2. The trio battle on the ropes, with Elgin legsweeping Briscoe INTO a superplex on the champ. The twinkies sh*t starts up again…and Corino and Kelly CRAP on the NY fans in awesome fashion. Cole gives Jay the DVD over the knee…and is promptly DEAD-LIFTED FROM HIS KNEES into a front slam by Unbreakable. Dead-lift superplex nailed…with Briscoe on hand to hit a frog splash and come close to stealing the win! Jay Driller blocked…and Cole nails the cradlebreaker for 2! Figure 4 Leglock applied! ELGIN BREAKS IT WITH THE CORKSCREW SENTON! Cole goes for the Panama Sunrise…BUT JAY BACK DROPS HIM OFF…INTO THE BUCKLE BOMB FROM ELGIN! And it squashed Briscoe against the buckles too! Spiral Bomb blocked…Florida Key blocked! LARIATOOOOOOO from Elgin to Cole! The champ tries to get his belt and run for the hills but is captured by the challengers for a DOUBLE CHOKESLAM THROUGH THE TIMEKEEPING TABLE!
Cole is dead, and the remaining fighters cordially invite each other back into the ring for a sh*tkicking contest! Briscoe can’t out-strike Michael and finds himself splattered into the mat with the ST-Joe. TKO over the knee! DEAD-LIFT STALLING GERMAN! With Cole still down in the wreckage of one table, Jay climbs onto Elgin’s back for a sleeper hold. But Elgin VADER DIVES OFF THE APRON and sends them both through the announce table! Adam Cole slides in and looks set to win by count-out! He stops the count…but it’s a distraction for his new mentor to arrive. It’s Matt f*cking Hardy! TWIST OF FATE ON THE FLOOR FOR JAY! Elgin blocks it and crawls into the ring…into a TWIST OF FATE BY COLE! FOR 2! Adam tries to choke Elgin out…as Mark Briscoe runs in to join his brother in a brawl with Hardy. Panama Sunrise COUNTERED TO AN AWESOME BOMB TO THE FLOOR! ELGIN HITS A FREAKING SOMERSAULT PLANCHA TO WIPE OUT EVERYONE! Jay wildly counters the Spiral Bomb, and desperately counters to the JAY DRILLER! ELGIN KICKS OUT! Shades of Supercard Of Honor, as Briscoe drags Elgin up for a SECOND JAY DRILLER! STILL 2! COLE SUPERKICKS THE BACK OF ELGIN’S HEAD! SUPERKICK ON BRISCOE! Cole pins Elgin with the tights to retain at 33:41
Rating - **** - I came seriously close to calling this an MOTYC, but ultimately the silly over-booked finish (Matt Hardy? Seriously? Why is he now Cole’s mentor? How does that make sense?) and a few dead spots throughout the match counted against it. Despite that, this remains one of the best triple threats in ROH history. Outside of Ki/Dragon/Daniels at Era Of Honor Begins and London/Ki/Styles from the 1st Anniversary Show I can’t think of many others that touch this. The majority of the ‘one guy lies around whilst two fight’ segments were handled perfectly. There were some excellent counter sequences, and some clever and intricate three-person pre-planned spots too. Cole’s cowardly asshole worked perfectly, with just enough edge and aggressive intent that you still believed he was a legitimate threat to the two absolute destroyers he was in the ring with. Jay looked as good here as he has in a long time (perhaps the post-hiatus ring rust is starting to wear off), but the MVP of the match was Michael Elgin. He produced a one-man wrecking ball of a performance – steamrolling both opponents with a complete blitzkrieg of unbelievable offensive bombs. Going into the match I didn’t buy this as a Final Battle main event.
Matt Hardy presents Cole with his World Championship belt…then lays out Briscoe and Elgin with Jay’s ‘Real World Title’. Elgin gets a Twist Of Fate for good measure, and the Cole/Hardy alliance hug over the fallen bodies of their victims. But the show isn’t over…CHRIS HERO IS BACK! HERO COMES THROUGH THE CROWD! ROARING ELBOW ON HARDY! GOLDEN ELBOW ON COLE! That Young Knock-Out Kid is back!
Tape Rating - DUD - I have to acknowledge that they only actually aired two matches from the Final Battle show, but I refuse to get over my belief that putting your major show on free television is NOT a sustainable way of doing business (whether ‘TV is the priority’ or not). Of course it was edited (the actual match ran 30+ minutes), but putting the freaking main event is an utterly strange and indefensible decision. As I said during my introduction, this is a practice that very much needs to stop once they go onto national PPV this June. People will not enjoy paying $25 to watch the show, only to then see it aired for free within a couple of weeks.