ROH on Sinclair – Episode 150 – 2nd August 2014

Last week we finally got some fresh content…and it was good. reDRagon/Monster Mafia and the enjoyable four-team main event really delivered. Will we see that continue tonight with the Golden Gauntlet? Michael Elgin has asked for as much competition as possible for his World Championship – even from guys who aren’t normally considered main event material. The point of the Golden Gauntlet is to put guys who haven’t cracked the main event scene and have never won a World Title before together – with the winner earning himself a future World Title shot. Kevin Kelly is in Dearborn, MI and is joined by Nigel McGuinness (who replaces Corino for the rest of the tapings).

BJ Whitmer vs Caprice Coleman
This entire episode is dedicated to the Golden Gauntlet, meaning every match is part of it and the last man standing at the end of the night gets the title shot. We kick things off with two veterans, albeit two with very different ways of mentoring young talent. Caprice’s nurturing approach has left him at odds with Whitmer and The Decade and the two have been enemies for several months.

Wisely BJ looks to keep Coleman on the deck as he’s very obviously slower than him. Apparently he’s also working through a knee injury, so he sensibly works a methodical pace and looks to control proceedings with strikes and ground-based offence. Five minutes in and the beating has been relentless, and also relentlessly boring. Caprice barely has the strength to slap his opponent in the face by this point…and even a well-timed commercial break does little to rouse him. A springboard plancha barely makes contact but at least brings him back into the match – and he seizes the opportunity with a cobra clutch legsweep. Tadarius Thomas hops onto the apron, distracting the referee as Page saves Whitmer from Caprice’s standing frankensteiner. Whitmer advances with a lariat at 08:17 (shown).

Rating - * - The storyline behind this made a great deal of sense. Caprice is explosive, fast and athletic, whilst Whitmer is slower, stronger and carrying an injury. It was extremely logical that he’d try to work the mat and out-strike Coleman. Unfortunately that’s an extremely basic premise to stretch out for almost ten minutes with very little in-ring action to fill it. I was bored almost instantly and they never recovered my interest at any point.

BJ Whitmer vs Matt Taven
Taven has lost a World Title shot before, but produced one of his best displays in an ROH ring on that night in Milwaukee and would love to earn himself another shot.

Whitmer doesn’t even let Taven into the ring before kicking him in the head. Clearly his strategy is similar to the one he just deployed against Coleman as he drags Matt into the corner and looks to batter him with chops and elbows. He walks away from Taven’s suicide dive attempt…and after Matt blasts Page with a superkick BJ pounces to assault him against the guardrails. Whitmer is desperate to work a at a slow pace, and literally as soon as Matt gets up some speed he is able to rattle his jaw with another superkick. He is shut down with some power moves – a powerslam into rolling fisherman neckbreakers for 2. Back from commercials with Taven on the top rope…missing that but striking with a handspring enziguri instead. Five Star Frog Splash means he advances at 05:31 (13:48 total shown)

Rating - * - The action was slightly better than in the opening match, with a far better blend of Whitmer’s ‘slow it down’ strategy with some more high octane stuff from his opponent. Unfortunately the moronically placed commercial break cut off the entirety of Taven’s big comeback, and meant we basically rejoined the match just as it was finishing. Hard to go higher on my rating when it’s edited so very poorly.

Matt Taven vs Romantic Touch
Well this is interesting. Taven disguised himself as Romantic Touch to inflict an embarrassing defeat on Jay Lethal during the Road To Best In The World. Convinced that Taven had always been the man behind the mask, Lethal was completely taken off his game last night in Cincinnati whilst wrestling Touch – and got blindsided again by Taven (this time not under the hood). This should prove beyond any doubt that Matt isn’t the mysterious Romantic Touch. Is he good enough to beat him though, or will his antics prove too much?

The two men high five and pretend to mirror each other, showing their delight at getting one over on Lethal. RT uses a hug as an opportunity to nearly snatch a quick pin, and scores soon afterwards with the Aries diving back elbow for another nearfall. MOONSAULT PRESS gets 2 for Taven, followed with a blue thunder driver. Climax countered with an atomic drop though as Nigel points out how fatigued Taven is starting to look. He slips on the ropes and struggles to connect with a springboard corkscrew senton to further emphasise that point. Another springboard move is countered with a mid-air dropkick by Touch…before the Climax finishes him at 05:41 (19:29 total shown).

Rating - ** - Sloppier than anything we’ve seen before, but I enjoyed the comical self-awareness they displayed in the opening moments, and the theme of Taven struggling to hit his moves cleanly as he slows down is certainly provided some entertaining moments.

Matt Taven vs Jay Lethal
This isn’t the kindest of draws for Taven. He’s been waiting a long time to get a clean, fair fight with Jay Lethal…and this won’t be it. Truth Martini is at ringside and he’s already competed in two matches just to get to this point. His enemies will be licking their lips at the prospect of picking his bones…

The appearance of his rival reinvigorates Taven and he hauls Lethal outside to toss him into the guardrails. Unfortunately both Martini and Seleziya are at ringside to provide a distraction, enabling Jay to quickly return the favour. RUNNING SUICIDE DIVE BY TAVEN! Again he is distracted by Truth and Seleziya…but this time knocks their heads together and dives back into the ring to hit a slingshot swinging neckbreaker on Lethal. The TV Champ hits back with the Lethal Combo for 2. He tries to whack Taven with the belt only to eat mat with a superkick. Jay Diesel, ROH’s Head Of Security (but also on Truth Martini’s payroll) trips Taven on the top rope – feeding him into the Lethal Injection. Lethal advances at 06:05 (25:34 total shown).

Rating - ** - A generous 2* for this, as I’m well aware they couldn’t give away the farm on this rivalry so close to the blow-off Cage Match at Field Of Honor. After making such a big deal out of Taven battling fatigue and overcoming the odds with House Of Truth I do think his demise in this Golden Gauntlet could have been something more imaginative than Jay Diesel interference though.

Jay Lethal vs Cedric Alexander
Cedric is the sixth and final participant meaning it will be one of these two men who advances to face Michael Elgin for the World Championship. Jay Lethal is enjoying a strong year as TV Champion, whilst Alexander is still flying high following his huge submission victory over Roderick Strong at Best In The World. Two men with plenty of momentum – so who gets the title shot?

Alexander explodes to the ring, and stays in pursuit even with Jay tries to flee the ring for some respite. Nigel praises him for working a quick pace against a tiring opponent, but his enthusiasm gets the best of him as Lethal is able to crotch him on the ropes. The tope suicida knocks him into the barricade doing serious damage to his back it seems. The Randy Savage double axehandle gets a nearfall…as Kevin Kelly calls it historic that the TV Champion is now going after the World Title – clearly forgetting that LETHAL HIMSELF DID IT in 2012 when he challenged Davey Richards. Springboard tornado DDT by Cedric puts them both on the ground. More commercials (even though Kevin promised us the last ad break was the final)…and when we come back Alexander is crumpling Lethal up with an ugly looking gourdbuster. Hail To The King in response gets another nearfall. Black Superkick by Cedric…no sold! Superkick! Both men go down! Jay begs for assistance from his House Of Truth comrades in the back, as Cedric FLIPS out of the Lethal Combo! JUMPING ENZI to counter the Lethal Injection! LUMBAR CHECK! CEDRIC WINS! 11:04 (36:38 total shown) is the time

Rating - ** - A hot finish to a lengthy gauntlet match. I like Alexander winning, as it immediately makes him a player in the TV Title scene, and gives him a foothold into the main events with a World Title shot to capitalise on his post-Best In The World momentum.

Michael Elgin appears on the ramp to applaud Cedric’s victory. He then points to the World Title belt as if to say ‘now the hard work starts kid’.

NEXT WEEK – Elgin defends the World Title against Kyle O’Reilly.

Tape Rating - ** - I’m not a fan of gauntlet matches and this one was no exception. However, I liked the idea of giving over an entire episode to the format. It meant they had plenty of time to let this one play out and it certainly made for a unique and fresh episode of the show. Personally I’d have booked this a little differently to maximise Cedric’s victory though. I don’t think Lethal needed to be protected with the ‘Cedric was fresh and I’d worked a match’ excuse since he is a heel and his act is over anyway. Had Alexander entered the match earlier, fought through an opponent or two and really defied the odds to beat Lethal the place would have come unglued and would have provided him with another career-boost after his big win over Roderick. If, like me, you’re not the biggest fan of gauntlets you can easily skip this episode.
 

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