ROH on Sinclair – Episode 128 – 1st March 2014
From Road Rage in Pittsburgh we move on to Philadelphia and extensive highlights of the 12th Anniversary Show. Why get people to pay to see it on VOD when you can just put it on free TV after all? Thankfully there were also some TV tapings over the 12th Anni weekend so we should see some fresh content relatively soon. Kevin Kelly and a combination of Steve Corino and Nigel McGuinness are in Philadelphia, PA.
Our opener was originally scheduled to be Michael Elgin facing Matt Hardy at the Anniversary Show, but thanks to flight difficulties Matt didn’t get to the show. Elgin comes to the ring anyway…
Michael Elgin vs Raymond Rowe
This one comes as a result of the events that transpired during the Top Prospect Tournament. Elgin made his presence known right at the start by decimating defeated first round super-heavyweight Kongo. And he watched the final from ringside, applauding both men for their efforts as Hanson defeated Rowe. With Matt Hardy off the table for the evening, he wants to give Rowe a spot on a big show and a chance to showcase his skills against one of ROH’s top stars.
Rowe goes straight for Death Rowe…but is knocked away with the ST-Joe. Stalling vertical suplex is initially blocked with knee strikes. Elgin, however, is so strong that he finds a way to shake them off and hit the move regardless. Rowe showcases his strength in return, hitting a dead-lift STALLING gutwrench suplex for 2. Unbreakable ups the dead-lift ante by executing his dead-lift superplex. He lays into Raymond with a flurry of lariats before driving him into the canvas for the Crossface. With the neck in serious pain Michael goes in for the kill. He drags Rowe over the ropes into a bridging German…and when he kicks out of that Elgin simply stands up for a dead-lift variant too. Despite obviously starting to weaken, Rowe tosses some offence back at his opponent and gets a 2-count with the one-arm spinebuster. Death Rowe blocked…Crossface blocked…into a cradle powerbomb from Raymond. EXPLODER SUPLEX DUEL! Elgin decapitates Rowe, for a 1-count of disrespect! Buckle Bomb countered into a belly to belly suplex! Then Rowe looks for a tope suicida only for Elgin to duck it causing him to hand on his head! GUARDRAIL BOMB BY ELGIN! He drags Rowe back into the ring, hitting the Spiral Bomb for the win at 12:36
Rating - *** - The placement of this one meant it suffered from a really poor crowd response. It was poor booking to put two heavyweight slug-outs on one after the other, with Elgin and Rowe really paying the price. Ciampa and Hanson worked a fast paced, spot-filled match, so when these two went out working basically the same style, but slowed down trying to tell a little more of a story with it, the crowd just died. However, watching on DVD I really respected what they were doing. It followed a similar pattern throughout, with Elgin consistently hitting bigger and bigger offensive bombs and Rowe never staying down and getting up to fire right back at him. That built to the extremely logical finish with Elgin taking drastic measures (the powerbomb into the guardrail) to finally put his plucky opponent down. No blame attached to the live audience, or the wrestlers, for a poor crowd response. However, despite the silence coming from the stands, I thought these guys delivered a decent match.
Adam Cole runs in looking to level Elgin with the World Title belt…only for Rowe to stop him. Michael Bennett gives Elgin a low blow just as he looks poised to give him a Buckle Bomb…and Jay Briscoe enters the fray soon afterwards taking shots at both men.
Jay Briscoe vs Michael Bennett
Supposedly the ‘Real World Title’ is in the line here. Bennett formed a new alliance with Adam Cole at State Of The Art after apparently being upset at the treatment the World Champion had been receiving from the likes of Jay Briscoe and Michael Elgin. He wants to do his new friend a favour here and beat him up before Jay has a chance to get his hands on World Champion Adam Cole.
Bennett takes some unpleasant trips into the guardrails during a chaotic opening minute which has Adam Cole running for cover and Nigel McGuinness at ringside trying to calm the situation and this match hastily rebooked for earlier in the show than scheduled. BRAINBUSTER ON THE APRON! That was a brutal spot, completely no sold by the commentators who don’t even mention it! Maria Kanellis comes out next, distracting Briscoe for long enough to allow Bennett the chance to grab him and toss him THROUGH a guardrail segment. Jay responds by suplexing him on the entrance ramp! Unfortunately the pace slows and the action much more generic when it returns to the ring. Briscoe no sells a superkick to plant Bennett with the Rude Awakening for 2. He then dives most of the way across the ring into a frog splash which gets another nearfall. Box Office Smash scores…but Jay blocks the Go Back To Japan for a falcon arrow. Adam Cole returns as Briscoe sets up the Jay Driller…and Bennett pounces to hit him in the balls. But with Maria and Cole on the apron distracting Todd Sinclair, Jay low blows him right back! Jay Driller wins it at 10:49
Rating - ** - The opening brawl on the outside of the ring was really dynamic, and I liked the finish too – but the middle portion of the match really disappointed me. There was no attempt at telling a story, or doing anything of note. Instead they just meandered back and forth hitting generic spots, not really selling anything and basically wasting time. Both of these two are much better workers than that.
The TV show has exclusive post-match footage from AJ’s return match against Roderick Strong. We see Lethal welcoming him ‘home’, and Styles promising the fans that he’s not here to ‘mail it in’. In a taped promo Lethal admits he wants to boost his career by defeating the Phenomenal One.
Jay Lethal vs AJ Styles
The Phenomenal One announced his return to ROH with a memorable victory over Roderick Strong, including a Styles Clash so devastating that it injured Strong causing him to miss a few weeks of competition. Lethal was quick to challenge AJ. The two are both former TNA performers, and Lethal will be keen to show how much he has improved in ROH whilst Styles has remained there.
We have a tentative start, trading headlocks, wristlocks and knucklelocks in front of a hot crowd. First blood to Lethal, who knocks Styles out of the ring with a springboard dropkick. AJ responds by sprinting across the ring to clothesline him to the floor! Moonsault off the apron misses, and Jay mows him down with a TOPE SUICIDA! Lethal seems happy working at a slow pace, really looking to beat up his opponent. A backbreaker lands, then he dusts off a hurricanrana attempt to plaster him with the hiptoss dropkick. Styles escapes to the apron and both guys fight desperately for a suplex. Lethal is hauled over the ropes…INTO A BRAINBUSTER ON THE APRON! Next he hauls the former TV Champion into the ring for a snap suplex into the turnbuckles. He folds Lethal in half with his big dropkick – one of the first times he’s managed to hit a signature AJ spot and it’s more than ten minutes into the match. Lethal punches and chops his way free…and they absolutely TEAR into each other with strikes. Lethal Combination nailed, followed by a POP-UP NECKBREAKER for 2! He goes for a superplex, only for Styles to hop between his legs and sweep him off the top. It’s a rough landing for Jay, made worse by Styles flying at him with his springboard flying elbow. Styles Clash blocked, discus lariat blocked…into a superkick! DISCUS LARIAT NAILED! Lethal grabs the ropes, desperately fighting off the Styles Clash to hit a jumping heel kick which puts both men down. Pele Kick drops Lethal to his knees…only for Jay to get to his feet to hit the Dragon Suplex! Macho Elbow scores for 2. Lethal Injection…only for AJ to duck and roll him over his shoulders. INTO THE STYLES CLASH! Styles goes 2-0 on his ROH return at 18:12
Rating - **** - I’ve seen this one get some lukewarm ratings, but I thought this was a fantastic match. Every move meant something. Each offensive manoeuvre was a struggle. There were multiple counters, countless blocks. Lethal, in particular, was awesome at blocking AJ’s usual offensive combinations – meaning it actually took until the tenth minute for Styles to hit any of his signature spots. Maybe this was fought at a slower pace than some expected, but I thought it was outstanding and told a gripping story as it unfolded.
Tape Rating - N/A - A strong ‘Road Rage’ episode in all fairness. The World Championship situation was heavily featured (Elgin, Briscoe and Cole all appeared), we saw the new Cole/Bennett alliance in action, and any time ROH can get AJ Styles on their television show it’s great business. I really didn’t like Briscoe/Bennett much, but Elgin/Rowe was decent – and Styles/Lethal was outstanding.