ROH on Sinclair – Episode 135 – 19th April 2014
Tonight we have more Supercard Of Honor Road Rage – basically giving away all the biggest matches on the show. Strong/Alexander will kick us off, Steen/Elgin will be our main event and extended highlights of the Cole/Briscoe Ladder War are also promised. I’ll get my DUD rating warmed up now. Kevin Kelly, Steve Corino and Nigel McGuinness are in New Orleans, LA.
Cedric Alexander vs Roderick Strong
This is a grudge match we’ve been waiting months to see. It was back in January that Cedric raised the ire of The Decade when he defeated Andrew Everett with the Lumbar Check – a backbreaker finish – right in front of Roderick Strong. Roddy accused him of move-stealing, and ejected him from the locker room at the next live event in Texas. Alexander has continued to be bullied by The Decade ever since, but has refused to back down – and taken great pleasure in repeatedly delivering the Lumbar Check to opponents right in front of Roddy. Will the 10+ year veteran of this promotion win out, or will the up-and-comer score a popular victory over his tormentor?
All of The Decade (including Adam Page) are at ringside with Roddy. Alexander doesn’t back down from a fight though, holding his own with Strong in the early exchanges then happily getting in his face even whilst all his team-mates hop up onto the apron looking to intimidate him. Blood is flowing with Strong having seemingly suffered a cut hand…which doesn’t stop him sweeping Ced out of the corner and catching his head on the top turnbuckles. Young boy Adam Page actually has to leave ringside to retrieve some medical supplies for Roderick’s hand. He tapes it up and without missing a beat darts back towards his opponent and pummels him into the canvas. Grounded bearhug applied but Cedric makes the ropes and lands a slingshot DDT for 2! FULL NELSON FACEPLANT nailed as well! It’s over-enthusiasm which costs Alexander at that juncture though, getting caught running in with a knee to the stomach – doubling him over and allowing Strong to take him down with the Olympic Slam. Urinage backbreaker countered to a crucifix pin…only for Roddy to scoop him up seconds later and hit a capture backbreaker! JUMPING KNEE counters Cedric’s rebound enzi kick, and it’s followed with the Death By Roderick for 2! End Of Heartache countered with an enzi…then the Impact Explosion Dropkick. KICK 2 KILL! Decade members start appearing on the apron trying to get involved, so Alexander takes them all out with a somersault plancha! Springboard lariat countered with a dropkick – into END OF HEARTACHE! Strong wins at 10:25
Rating - *** - A hot opening match, although I’m disappointed to see arguably the hottest feud coming into this show reduced to a spotty ten-minute curtain jerker. These two are great and had no problems storming through a procession of their high-octane moves in front of a supportive live crowd – but this could have been something far more had they been given the chance and the time limit.
Jimmy Jacobs and the rest of Decade pile into the ring, gloating at Cedric’s fate then ordering him away so they can wrestle their match next
Jimmy Jacobs/BJ Whitmer/Adam Page vs Adrenaline RUSH/Andrew Everett
This is a major opportunity for Everett, who impressed as part of the 2014 Top Prospect Tournament and had a great showing at Wrestling’s Finest – but hasn’t been booked in the three months since. As ever in ROH, the pressure is on him to deliver the goods and nail down a roster spot. He teams with a finalist from the 2013 Top Prospect Tournament in Tadarius Thomas, and another popular rising star in ACH. They are three talented, popular and innovative workers. Unfortunately for them, that makes them targets for a veteran group looking to make examples of flashy newcomers to the locker room – in order to make them earn their place in Ring Of Honor.
This is under lucha tag rules, so tags aren’t necessary. ACH is getting increasingly fed up at Decade refusing to shake his hand every time he fights them…so leaves the ring to get handshakes from as many front row fans as possible. He also demands to start with the vocal mouthpiece of Decade in Jimmy Jacobs – who shows him yet more disrespect by giving him Page. They go through a near-miss exchange, culminating in duelling drop-saults. Whitmer doesn’t want to sell ACH’s moves, and as he distracts the fiery youngster Jacobs tries to attack him from behind. Sensibly ACH rolls out of the ring allowing Thomas to replace him and hit a Slingblade. Everett is MILES too fast for Jacobs – hitting headcissors and rana’s with such rapidity that Jimmy hasn’t finished selling one before being dragged into the next. TD lands the Bermuda Triangle to the floor, as Whitmer scoops ACH onto his shoulders. DOOMSDAY TOPE SUICIDA by BJ and Jimmy! Once again Decade have ACH in the ring, and this time they are able to keep inside the ropes to really rough him up. AIR JORDAN OUT OF NOWHERE takes out Whitmer! It means Tadarius can make his way in legally again – planting Jacobs on his head with a half nelson suplex! Torture rack backbreaker from Page to TD! Everett botches an attempted dive off the ropes, much to the delight of the crowd…but it doesn’t stop him hitting a moonsault press seconds later. SPRINGBOARD SHOOTING STAR TO THE FLOOR! SPRINGBOARD SHOOTING STAR BACK INSIDE on BJ for 2! WHITMER BACK BODY DROPS HIM OVER THE BUCKLES! All Seeing Eye finishes off Thomas at 10:13
Rating - *** - Another fun-filled, spot-packed Decade tag. Everett added a new, far more athletic element to these matches, whilst ACH got significantly more ring-time and chance to shine than he normally does (both of which helped). I have to be honest and say I’m a little fed up of seeing Decade vs Adrenaline RUSH in various forms. These spotty tag matches don’t suit Tadarius particularly well, and he is consistently becoming the weak-link in the group. What I find odd is that ROH spent most of 2013 ignoring C&C WrestleFactory, despite Cedric’s obvious burgeoning talent, and pushed ACH incredibly hard. He delivered the goods in a series of superb singles matches over the course of the year – yet in 2014 C&C were the team they chose to split up, Cedric was the guy they chose to give a singles push to, and ACH seems to be treading water (and even going backwards) in the midcard.
Jimmy Jacobs brings out his railroad spike whilst his two team-mates circle the ring making sure ACH and Everett can’t get in. Thomas slumps to his knees, apparently accepting his grim fate…but Jimmy opts to put the spike away and leave. He was simply sending a message to ACH after he disrespected him in the opening portion of the match.
Michael Elgin vs Kevin Steen
This is the third match in their ‘major show’ trilogy. Steen took the first bout, defeating Elgin to retain his ROH World Title in 2012’s ROH MOTY at Glory By Honor 11. In 2013 Elgin won the second, defeating Mr Wrestling in the semi-finals of the World Title tournament at Death Before Dishonor 11. Now, tied at 1-1 on major events, they lock horns again. This time a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Title is on the line – with the winner getting his opportunity at War Of The Worlds. It’s always been Elgin’s dream to go to Japan, whilst Steen has never won a major singles title in Japan.
Elgin has to block the Package Piledriver in the first five seconds…but can’t avoid the Cannonball for 2! They go to the floor…for Steen to throw Unbreakable with such force that the guardrails give way! The two men take it in turns killing each other against the rails, before Elgin blocks the Apron Bomb and lifts him up for the STALLING SUPLEX ON THE FLOOR! Steen is shaken up by that so forcibly returns the match to the ring with a spike DDT out of the ropes. DEAD-LIFT STALLING GERMAN by Elgin! Mr Wrestling blocks the Crossface…and in turn Elgin counters the Sharpshooter to land the Black Hole Slam! Corkscrew senton misses (like it normally does), further injuring a midsection injury Michael seems to have sustained somewhere along the way. Steen boots him in the ribs, bending him over into the pumphandle cradlebreaker. Cannonball attempted a second time…COUNTERED to a powerbomb! F-5 NAILED but only for a Steen nearfall. The two big dudes wearily get back to their feet and DESTROY each other with some fierce striking. Unbreakable gets the better of that exchange with a spinning elbow smash. Sadly his midsection is hurting him sufficiently that he can’t land the dead-lift superplex. Steen hauls him out of the ring into the APRON BOMB! CANNONBALL TO THE FLOOR MISSES! Steen writhes in pain and is dragged up to be powerbombed into the ringpost! TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER gets 2! Kevin punches the stomach to escape the Buckle Bomb, and lifts Elgin into the PACKAGE PILEDRIVER! ELGIN KICKS OUT! Such is the popularity of that finishing move that the crowd actually boo’s Elgin kicks out of it! STEEN-TON INTO THE KNEES! BOTH MEN DOWN! ST-Joe scores for Unbreakable, then the Buckle Bomb/Elgin Bomb combo. Steen kicks out to a noticeably better reaction than Elgin got! Michael goes for a superplex but gets flipped in mid-air to an AVALANCHE NORTHERN LIGHTS BOMB! Package Piledriver blocked, into DEAD-LIFT ROLLING POWERBOMBS! Ridiculous strength from Elgin, but it took so much out of him he squirms on the mat alongside his fallen opponent. BUCKLE BOMB! NO SOLD! SLEEPER SUPLEX ON ELGIN! NO SOLD…LARIATOOOOOO! BUCKLE BOMB AGAIN! ELGIN HITS THE F*CKING PACKAGE PILEDRIVER! HE WINS! Elgin is victorious at 19:12
Rating - **** - I toyed with the idea of giving these guys an extra half star. In many ways they deserved it through sheer effort. Michael Elgin is very much Ring Of Honor’s go-to guy for WrestleMania weekend and this is the third year in a row he’s produced something really special. There’s no doubt this match was tremendously exciting, and it was helped by a great crowd who treated the two workers like major superstars. Ultimately though, I just couldn’t justify taking this into MOTYC territory. As exciting as it was, as hard as Steen and Elgin worked, and as great as the crowd were, it just lacked the real depth, purpose and sheer quality that their Glory By Honor 11 match had. At times this felt like they were sprinting between awesome spots and head-droppy, crowd-popping moments. It was like they knew they had some GREAT stuff they wanted to showcase but were always fighting against the clock to fit it all in. The solution was either give them more time, or drop a few sequences so they could really sell the effects of the crazy sh*t they were doing to each other. This was a hell of a match and will, quite possibly, steal the show. If you’re keeping score, it was also better than Death Before Dishonor 11 in my opinion. I really enjoyed it, but it was just a little too chaotic, a little too rushed and a little too spotty for me to go higher on the rating.
Tape Rating - DUD - Less than two weeks after the VOD went live on ROHWrestling.com the majority of Supercard Of Honor 8 has now been put on the television show for free. That is inexcusable. It’s a lazy practice by an SBG management team who enjoy scrimping on Ring Of Honor wherever possible, and indicative of a corporation which sees ROH almost exclusively as a producer of cheap television for their networks and nothing more. Why spend money booking talent and running another TV taping so you have enough fresh content to fill these episodes when you can fill weeks of TV with content you’ve already asked the loyal fans to pay for via VOD, DVD and pay-per-view? It’s a practice that simply has to stop by the time we get to June and Ring Of Honor launches on traditional ppv.
ROH on SBG Episodes 130-135 – Top 5 Matches
5) The Decade vs Adrenaline RUSH/Andrew Everett (** - Episode 131)
4) Cedric Alexander vs Adam Page (** - Episode 131)
3) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs Adam Cole/Michael Bennett (*** - Episode 131)
2) Tommaso Ciampa vs Jay Lethal (*** - Episode 130)
1) AJ Styles vs Michael Elgin (****1/2 - Episode 132)