ROH on Sinclair – Episode 133 – 5th April 2014

So after some compelling weeks of new TV content taped in Philadelphia, culminating in the amazing Styles/Elgin main event last week, it’s with a somewhat heavy heart that I find Ring Of Honor returning to Road Rage – this time from Raising The Bar weekend. Larry Mercer is your host in the studio, with live commentary coming from Kevin Kelly, Steve Corino, Jimmy Jacobs and Nigel McGuinness in Milwaukee, WI for the first match, and Chicago Ridge, IL for the second.

Roderick Strong vs Chris Hero
Former World Champion Roderick Strong will be extremely motivated for this one. Hero is a natural enemy of The Decade as another guy who has left ROH for another promotion only to come back to a proverbial ‘hero’s welcome’ when it didn’t work out. Chris Hero also has another World Title match in Chicago tomorrow, so Roddy knows a victory here would put him in pole position for a shot at the belt should Hero take it at Raising The Bar Night 2.

Strong refuses a handshake on moral grounds, and is quickly escorted to the canvas for a wrestling lesson at the hands of the ‘Knockout Artist’. They have an intriguing exchange on the canvas with Hero looking capable of comfortably out-classing his opponent even though Strong keeps trying different things to get the better of him. Roderick is kept on the canvas absorbing a variety of sentons and strikes. Eventually Mr ROH has to leave the ring…and even then it’s no escape as Hero FLIPS over the top rope into a mafia kick! Eventually Chris goes for one senton too many – looking for a slingshot senton and propelling himself straight into Roderick’s knees. They go back to the outside where Strong hits a BACK DROP ON THE RAILS! Classic Roderick Strong tactics come next, picking apart Hero’s back with gusto. On commentary Jacobs and Corino are having a fascinating conversation about different methods of nurturing young talent in a locker room…so Kevin Kelly interrupts them with some moronic babble. In the ring Hero tries another rope flip, but this time lands on the apron and gets walloped with an enzi to the back of the head. They trade strikes and just when Strong’s chops look like they have the edge Chris hits a JUMPING BOOT right into the jaw! Hero hits a flipping neckbreaker and nips up signalling that Roddy’s back assault was pretty worthless. Electric Chair Death Blow blocked with a running knee into the Olympic Slam. Strong isn’t done with countering either, converting the rolling bicycle kick into a cradle backbreaker for 2. We get another intense strike duel ending when Hero lands the release suplex. ELBOW SMASH! He hit that with such authority the crowd genuinely thought the match was over and popped huge when Strong kicked out. Roaring Elbow countered into Death By Roderick. SICK KICK…FOR 2! STRONGHOLD! Hero escapes and ploughs into Roddy with more savage elbows in the corner. ELECTRIC CHAIR DEATH BLOW! STRETCH PLUM! The referee stops it, giving Hero the win at 15:46

Rating - **** - I’ll admit to being annoyed at Hero’s total no-sell on the back throughout this one, but it didn’t prevent it from being a hell of a match. What it lacked in psychology it more than made up for in hard-hitting, super-physical and intense pro-wrestling from two veterans of the independent scene. Hero looks so comfortable in the new Sinclair-ROH, having refined his ring-style in his time in FCW he is now perfectly equipped to present his exceptional skills in significantly shorter in-ring times than he needed during his previous runs.

reDRagon vs Young Bucks – ROH Tag Title Match
Fish and O’Reilly have basically beaten everyone on the core roster, have sent the American Wolves packing and are now rightly considered one of the most dominant tag teams in ROH history. Tonight, however, international challengers have been brought in. One of the most decorated tag teams on the independent scene and current IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Champions in New Japan – the Young Bucks. The Jacksons are looking to add a first ROH Tag Championship to their lengthy list of accolades, and should take inspiration from fellow NJPW guys the Forever Hooligans who defeated reDRagon in similar circumstances last summer.

O’Reilly and Nick start, with Kyle attempting the Arm-ageddon early only to be tossed back and narrowly missed with the first Superkick attempt. The Bucks instantly enter the ring together, hitting O’Reilly with a gutbuster/neckbreaker/backbreaker sequence as an early warning of their prowess as a duo. Matt isn’t letting a broken hand affect his confidence clearly – dishing out cocky slaps to both the champions then holding him in the corner so Nick can hit the handspring back rake. Kyle has seen enough, and goes outside to ram the broken hand into the guardrails! His big mouth earned him that and it sees him isolated in the ring for the next few minutes. ARM-AGEDDON ON THE BAD ARM! Nigel points out Kyle pulling the fingers and putting pressure directly on the broken hand too. Matt looks increasingly bedraggled, and eats an armbreaker as he edges towards a tag. One last burst of energy sees him hit a spear on O’Reilly and get the much-needed tag at last. Nick comes in with the slingshot X-Factor on Fish for 2. Kyle kicks him off the apron…MISSILE DROPKICK OFF THE APRON COUNTERED WITH A SUPERKICK! ELEVATED 450 SPLASH ON FISH FOR 2! Bobby counters a Shining Wizard from Nick…only to eat another Superkick from Matt instead! But Nick inadvertently kicks his own partner, flattening him in the corner and allowing reDRagon to hit the tilta-whirl backbreaker/knee drop combo. BACK DROP DRIVER ON MATT! AXE & SMASH ON NICK! SUPERKICK ON O’REILLY! Everyone goes down! Fish blocks Nick’s moonsault off the apron, and counters it with a GUARDRAIL SPEAR! MISSILE DROPKICK OFF THE APRON from O’Reilly! AVALANCHE FALCON ARROW gets a 2 for Fish. The champs line up Chasing The Dragon but Nick saves his brother…so O’Reilly whacks him right in the broken hand! SUPERKICK FLURRY! NO SOLD! Matt levels him with the cast on his broken hand instead! SPIKE TOMBSTONE NAILED! FISH SAVES! MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK COUNTERED WITH A TRIANGLE CHOKE! COUNTERED TO A ROLLING PIN! BUCKS WIN! New champs at 15:12!

Rating - ****1/2 - Well that rocked. These guys always had the potential to deliver a classic, and they more than lived up to it – and a shock title change at the end certainly makes this one all the more memorable. Everyone was on top of their game here, which is a remarkable achievement when you consider Matt Jackson has a broken hand. The Bucks did what they do best, delivering picture perfect, rapid-fire double teams and combo spots…and they meshed really well with a more grounded team like Fish and O’Reilly. reDRagon more than held up their end too, with a really sound heat segment working Matt’s hand and some outstanding spot-work of their own. Kyle O’Reilly has wrestled the Jacksons plenty of time, and that really showed in his interactions with them. He’s athletic enough to keep up with them and work his MMA-influenced style alongside their high octane stuff. This one was more than just a tag team spot-fest and deserves this rating in my opinion.

Tape Rating - DUD - I’ve given this episode the DUD treatment not because it’s a bad show, but simply because I don’t agree with ROH putting out the two of the best matches from Raising The Bar weekend (including the match many are calling the best in the promotion thus far in 2014) for free. I’m not against Road Rage as a concept when it’s done (as it was here) to spotlight the great action people can see on live events. But when you give away the farm for free you’re making fools of the portion of your fanbase who are still paying the mortgage. Did they really need to put reDRagon/Bucks on television? Or could they have used highlights and used those to sell a VOD buy or two? And no, I’m not buying into the argument that they ‘needed’ to air the match to make fans aware of the title change.  

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