ROH on Sinclair – Episode 131 – 22nd March 2014

Supercard Of Honor 8 is in our sights now, with ROH now gearing up for their big show in New Orleans. We already have Cole/Briscoe in Ladder War 5 booked, and judging from the conclusion to our main event last week Ciampa/Lethal looks a shoe-in too. Hopefully this will add more ingredients to the Supercard Of Honor pot, whilst producing an entertaining hour of television in it’s own right. The only match I’ve seen announced pits The Decade against Adrenaline RUSH and Andrew Everett. Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino are in Philadelphia, PA.

A graphic for the show announces that the main event will see the Briscoes face Adam Cole and Michael Bennett. Coincidentally, that was also the main event for ‘Flyin’ High’ which was taking place in Dayton the same night that this was aired.

Adrenaline RUSH/Andrew Everett vs Roderick Strong/Jimmy Jacobs/BJ Whitmer
The motivation for Roderick Strong, Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer seems pretty obvious here. ACH, Tadarius and Everett are all exciting young talents, all new to the Ring Of Honor roster and their burgeoning popularity without ‘paying their dues’ makes them an obvious target. Roddy will have seen his rival Cedric Alexander beat Everett with the Lumbar Check back at Wrestling’s Finest and will know he can’t afford to lose tonight lest he looks weak in front of Ced.

No handshakes from The Decade, and it’s noticeable that Strong wants to start with Everett – the man beaten by his current nemesis. Much to his embarrassment he is totally outfoxed by Andrew’s mixture of flips, headscissors and strikes which drive him out of the ring into a tag. Decade isolate Thomas instead, surviving his capoeira offence and dragging him out of the ring for a gang assault. We cut to commercials and when we return TD has been replaced in the ring by ACH – although it’s still the veteran trio still very much in charge. We’re just in time to see ACH make a hot tag to Thomas who kicks lumps out of both Strong and BJ. SPRINGBOARD SHOOTING STAR TO THE FLOOR by Everett! SPRINGBOARD SSP BACK INTO THE RING ON STRONG! His shooting star press is absolutely stunning by the way. Thomas hits a tope con hilo, then ACH does his best to touch the ceiling of the arena with AIR JORDAN! Strong evades Everett’s 630 Senton and scoops him up for the END OF HEARTACHE! He wins the match for The Decade at 05:52

Rating - ** - The placement of the commercial break really annoyed me here. I know American television seems to have an almost senseless amount of ad breaks, but this was only a short, flashy little opening match. Cutting it off two minutes in really killed their momentum. Everett, again, was the star of the show here, with his picture perfect high-flying really popping the crowd

NEXT WEEK – Michael Elgin vs AJ Styles

Romantic Touch vs RD Evans
This is something of a grudge match. Veda Scott is RD Evans’ valet and has taken the lead in hyping up the ‘New Streak’. Along the way she’s found herself annoyed by how very obvious it is that Touch is simply Rhett Titus in a mask. RT, meanwhile, has ignored her hatred and instead given her roses and flirted with her. Presumably he’d like to end the New Streak (now at 40-0) to impress Veda.

Touch gives Veda a kiss on the hand, pissing her off before beginning the match with the ‘Snuggle-monkey flip’ for 2. He smells Veda’s hair next, with Evans climbing the ropes to miss a diving headbutt. Jumping neckbreaker gets 2, followed by the signature Rhett Titus dropkick which knocks Evans out of the ring. SOMERSAULT PLANCHA nailed by Romantic! Veda Scott flees under the ring to escape Romantic Touch…and he goes after her! The match ends with a count-out victory for RD at 04:13 (taking the New Streak to 41-0)…but Touch doesn’t seem bothered as he emerges smoking a cigarette behind a dishevelled-looking Veda

Rating - DUD - I like the ‘New Streak’ gimmick, but I have no interest in Rhett Titus whether he’s wrestling as ‘Romantic Touch’ or not. I’m sure he’s cheap but even as comedic relief, his value is so limited. This match was way too long, hardly ever funny, and downright infuriating that it escaped without a commercial break whilst the Decade trios match was cut in half.

RD Evans tries to gloat about another victory in the streak but is chased out of the ring by Silas Young and his leather strap.

We get clips of the first episode of reDRagon’s new chat show ‘The Fish Tank’, featuring them largely making fun of their guest Cheeseburger.

NEXT WEEK – reDRagon vs Brutal Burgers

Adam Page vs Cedric Alexander
This was taped before Raising The Bar weekend, meaning Page hasn’t yet turned his back on Cedric in favour of being a young boy for The Decade. Roderick Strong is on commentary, so Ced will be under pressure to stay focused and deliver a noteworthy performance.

We open at a quick pace, with both men looking extremely evenly matched as they work back and forth. Alexander works himself into the ascendancy with a satellite headscissors…then back drops him TO THE FLOOR! Page slingshots himself back in to capture Alexander in the ropes then slap him! Rebound enziguri out of the corner gets 2 for Cedric. Lumbar Check countered into a powerslam though, as Adam hangs in there with his popular opponent. Alexander thinks fast to block his inverted Tombstone then drives him into the ground with a spinning flatliner. SSP OFF THE APRON by Page! Roderick pops up into the camera shot, urging Adam Page to leave it alone and accept a count-out victory. That makes zero sense considering his annoyance at Adam Cole for doing the same thing to him at Best In The World 2013. Page doesn’t take his advice, which wasn’t smart. Cedric fights back into the ring and hits the Lumbar Check to win at 06:38

Rating - ** - I liked the match, well enough, although I think Cedric should possibly have looked a little more dominant given that he is now significantly further up the card than Page is. The finish sucked too, since Strong made such a big deal of Cole winning by count out last summer.

Roderick really isn’t happy that Alexander is still using the Lumbar Check…but Cedric simply ignores him and walks out. Page, on the other hand, listens respectfully when Roddy shouts him down for not following his advice during the match

Adam Cole/Michael Bennett vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe
Cole and Briscoe are now scheduled to collide in the main event of Supercard Of Honor 8. Jay defeated the current World Champion at State Of The Art, but it was Cole who fired a significant warning shot ahead of NOLA last week when he sent his associate Michael Bennett out to attack Briscoe from behind. Mark was quickly on the scene to help his brother, and as a result of the pull-apart brawl Nigel decided to book this as our main event.

To nobody’s surprise, Cole refuses to start with Jay. That’s unfortunate for Bennett who is mugged by the Briscoes for the first couple of minutes. Adam only accepts a tag once Bennett has hit an offensive manoeuvre on Mark, although he soon regrets it as the younger Briscoe has dragged him back into their corner for a 2-on-1 beatdown on him. Maria Kanellis voices her displeasure that Jay and Mark keep using their tag team proficiency to get the better of their opponents (who are teaming together for the first time). Indeed, even when Cole and Bennett try to leave they show naivety as they allow the Briscoes to separate and cut them off. That’s where we go to commercials, and when we come back the ROH Champion and his partner appear to have turned the tables as they isolate Mark. That lasts all of a few seconds before Jay gets a hot tag and decimates Michael – getting 2 with the Rude Awakening. Falcon arrow/Froggy Bow combo gets another nearfall…but Cole manages to give Mark a back body drop on the floor soon afterwards. Now on his own, Bennett puts Jay down with the Box Office Smash (NOT the Side Effect) and tags in Adam to beat up his rival. Bennett and Cole smirk confidently as they drop to their knees to mow Jay down with the Briscoe football tackle spot. BLOCKBUSTER OFF THE APRON BY MARK! That’s Michael Bennett taken out, and Cole’s eyes widen as he faces off with the 8-time former Tag Champions single-handedly. BENNETT SPEARS MARK THROUGH A TABLE TO STOP THE DOOMSDAY DEVICE! As in the ring Cole superkicks Jay in the back of the head a’la Death Before Dishonor 11! Panama Sunrise blocked…Florida Key blocked…and the two World Champions stand face to face in the ring teeing off on each other with strikes. Roaring Elbow from Jay…into the JAY DRILLER! Briscoe pins Cole again at 12:20

Rating - *** - Not as good as Ciampa/Lethal from last week, but this was another solid free TV main event. Most of this was pretty basic formula stuff, but it was the character work from the four men involved which made it so interesting. Cole played the chickensh*t heel well, Bennett revelled in an elevated main event spot for what was essentially his normal act, whilst Jay and Mark have the crazy redneck thing down to a tee by this point. I’m looking forward to the Flyin’ High DVD now, hoping they can top this without the constraints of TV

Jay Briscoe poses with both World Title belts as the show fades out.

Tape Rating - ** - The main event saved what was, before that, a really lacklustre show. The trios tag and Alexander/Page weren’t bad necessarily, but both had major issues I struggled to get past (the commercial break in the opener, and Roderick Strong’s role in the Ced/Page finish)…and the RD/RT segment really was the pits. Luckily there was enough quality in Briscoes vs Cole/Bennett to redeem the hour; I had a lot of fun watching it.
 

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