ROH on Sinclair – Episode 155 – 6th September 2014
On the same weekend as the rather impromptu All Star Extravaganza 6 ippv, we also have the final instalment of fresh material from the recent Philly tapings – including a huge main event. The Addiction of Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian are looking to get their ROH career back on track after a couple of Tag Title losses to reDRagon…and tonight step into the ring with the hottest tag team on the planet in 2014 in the shape of the Young Bucks. Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino welcome us back to Philadelphia, PA.
Tadarius Thomas has re-cut the promo that BJ Whitmer stormed out of on Episode 153. This time he calls ACH a ‘piece of sh*t’, with ‘no redeeming qualities’ and ends it with ‘I hope you die’. I’ll openly admit that I found this absolutely hysterical.
Jimmy Jacobs/BJ Whitmer vs Caprice Coleman/Takaaki Watanabe
ROH go back and forth on whether they want Watanabe to have a first name or not. Apparently Caprice has taken him under his wing because he’s a talented up and comer, and Caprice is worried he’ll fall into bad habits or get in with the wrong crowd – like Adam Page and TD Thomas. What better way to test their new partnership than to put them against two people who practice an entirely different form of mentorship with the wrestlers of the future?
Decade trash talk Watanabe for taking on Coleman as his mentor, then dump him on his ass as he turns his back on them. Caprice quickly comes to his partner’s aid and, together with his Japanese protégé, works on isolating Jacobs. As soon as he leaves Taka alone again Decade resume control though. Iron Claw Bless-TO from Caprice to Jimmy…straight into the vertical leap frankensteiner to Whitmer! Trinity TO THE FLOOR on Jacobs! Coleman is on fire it seems, and keeps the outrageous offence coming with the inside-to-out springboard moonsault to the floor. Superfly splash gets 2 before BJ breaks the count. Watanabe scoops Jimmy up for a back drop driver, whilst Whitmer shoves Coleman off the top rope. All Seeing Eye finishes Watanabe at 06:14
Rating - * - Other that some awesome offensive flurries from Caprice this one had nothing going for it. Nobody seemed to have any chemistry with anyone else, Watanabe looked less over in this new gimmick than ever before and the whole match felt extremely awkward.
The Decade try to recruit Watanabe as another young boy, but Coleman tosses the shirt they offer him down. I’m not sure if they’ve done anything with this angle since these tapings…
PUBLIC SILAS ANNOUNCEMENT - Silas makes fun of people who are cyber-bullied. I found this quite amusing, but I’m surprised this made it to air given how politically correct SBG try to be…
Silas Young vs Brian Kendrick
I completely forgot about Spanky’s comeback at these tapings. It’s the first time he’s been back since his random appearance in the World Title Tournament in 2013. He’s a world-travelled, highly experienced veteran who made his Ring Of Honor debut on the first ever show, so despite not being around in a while will still be an extremely dangerous opponent for Young who, by the time this aired, was looking to rebound after his disappointing World Title loss at Death Before Dishonor 12.
Spanky gets a healthy pop which is nice. He starts by kicking Young in the face then DIVING straight at him with a tope suicide as he collapses out of the ring. Springboard knee to the neck lands as well before Silas finally hits back with a violent clothesline. Young’s offence isn’t flashy at all but his barrage of slams and shots are striking in their violence and they soon have Kendrick in serious trouble. He back drops him all the way over the top rope, splattering him all over the mats on the floor as we cut to an ad break. Everything he does is drilling Brian down onto his back and rapidly wearing him out. The returning veteran looks out on his feet, and makes an uncharacteristic error – attempting an ill-advised standing moonsault and propelling himself right into Silas’ knees. Pee Gee Waja Plunge misses…into SLICED BREAD #2! Young gets his feet on the ropes! SILAS SUPLEXES SPANKY FROM THE RING TO THE FLOOR! Amazingly Kendrick doesn’t die there and recovers with a REBOUND DDT ON THE FLOOR! Frog splash scores gets Spanky another nearfall. Sliced Bread blocked into a kick to the head then the Killer Combo for 2! Plunge nailed this time…but still only 2. AVALANCHE SLICED BREAD #2! SILAS KICKS OUT! Kendrick then misses a quebrada to be rolled up for three at 10:17 (shown). Silas pulls off the big win
Rating - *** - What an unexpected treat this was. I say unexpected not because I don’t think both guys aren’t great. Anybody that’s followed by reviews for a long time will know that I was a huge fan of Spanky back in ROH’s formative years. However, Kendrick has hardly set the world alight in recent years on the indies. He’s still a solid, reliable performer, but has seemed to be missing that spirit, heart and fire which made him such an entertaining prospect between 2002-2006. This was much more like the Spanky we used to know, as he brought a wonderfully entertaining and engaging style to the party, took some incredible bumps and seemed to be working exceptionally hard. It worked in every respect – because Silas looks great with this victory, and equally his chances of a callback and more ROH dates are greatly improved. I couldn’t quite go 4* on the rating, but for free TV this was a blast. If he’s motivated like this Kendrick needs to be on more shows.
NEXT WEEK – Road Rage from Death Before Dishonor 12 Night 1. Briscoes vs Bucks headlines.
Nigel McGuinness joins the broadcast booth for the Superkick Party…
Young Bucks vs The Addiction
There is plenty at stake for both of these teams. If we’re going by broadcast date then last weekend saw The Addiction defeat reDRagon as part of the huge 8-man tag main event of Death Before Dishonor 12 Night 2. They know a win over the Young Bucks will cement their claims to another title shot. Meanwhile the Bucks, still hurting after losing the ROH Tag Titles back to Fish and O’Reilly at War Of The Worlds, are preparing for their 2/3 Falls rematch this very weekend at All Star Extravaganza 6. They need momentum going into that, just as Daniels and Kaz will know that by beating them they’ll become immediate top contenders if they become champions.
Addiction’s music sucks so much ass. Daniels starts with Matt, and can’t cope with his speed as he gets backflip headscissors straight out of the ring. Leapfrog dropkick on Frankie to drive him out of the ring as well! They are experienced pros though – and they recover by THROWING one Buck at the other! The veterans take control, cutting the ring in half and picking apart Matt Jackson. Nick comes to his brother’s aid, grabbing Kaz for the gutbuster/neckbreaker combo. He can always be relied upon to dish out a handspring back rake too. Daniels in, dropping both Bucks with a clothesline/bulldog sequence. Some of the seamless, tag team combination moves we’re seeing here are absolutely beautiful. Matt blocks the Fall From Grace so gets put in the Koji Clutch – way too close to Nick though, who stomps on the Fallen Angel’s face. Frankie returns with a stalling brainbuster as once again the experience and muscle of Addiction is proving superior to the speed and dynamism of the Jacksons. Matt is so weary that he nearly botches the back flip blockbuster…but eventually gets a critical tag to Nick. Slingshot facecrusher, back flipped into the TORNADO DDT OFF THE APRON takes out both opponents! Nigel demands superkicks on commentary! Kaz saves Daniels from taking one, and together they pancake powerbomb Nick into the mat for 2. SUPER-FAST tope suicida by old man Daniels! Meanwhile Frankie is nearly sealing the victory with the slingshot cutter. SUPERKICK/CODE RED COMBO ON KAZARIAN! Matt hurricanranas out of Angel’s Wings! Assisted Shiranui/sliding knee combo on Kaz for 2! Frankie recovers with a slingshot DDT on Nick…only for Matt to spear him down. Running STO by Daniels! SUPERKIIIIIIIIICKS BY THE BUCKS! ALL FOUR DOWN! Kazarian almost pins both Young Bucks at the same time…then eats EARLY ONSET ALZHEIMERS! Daniels saves his partner from More Bang For Your Buck! ARABIAN PRESS TO THE FLOOR! SUPERKICK FROM THE TOP ROPE TO THE FLOOR FROM NICK TO DANIELS! KAZ GRABS NICK! FLUX CAPACITOR NAILED! ADDICTION WIN! It’s over at 14:56 (shown).
Rating - **** - It got a little sloppy in the closing stretch, but for most of the match this was beautiful to watch. It wasn’t necessarily as exciting as some other Young Bucks matches in 2014, but watching four experienced veterans of tag team wrestling effortlessly trade off their endless reams of combo moves and sequences was a blast. I loved what they did by way of story-telling too. Obviously fans are here for the spots so nobody wanted to see them work body parts, but in a match designed to restore The Addiction’s credibility, I thought it was a masterstroke to play up their experience, strength and cunning as a way to repeatedly overwhelm the non-stop offence of the Young Bucks. Matt and Nick are so recklessly over right now this doesn’t harm their credibility at all, but it’s a win which gives you fresh hope for Daniels and Kaz’s run after back to back title defeats pretty much crushed it off the bat.
Tape Rating - **** - The Decade tag at the start sucked, but the two matches that proceeded it were so good I simply had to give this episode a 4* rating. What I particularly enjoyed about this episode was that it featured long-time veterans of the wrestling scene recapturing their best form to deliver scintillating performances. Kendrick, Daniels and Kazarian (and Caprice Coleman to be fair) have been around for a LONG time. To see them still looking at Ring Of Honor as somewhere they need to bring their A-game and deliver truly world class performances even after the careers they’ve had is a testament to the reverence this promotion still has. Spanky/Silas was a quite stunning return to form for Kendrick, a man whom many had written off, before a the main event delivering a joyful explosion of high quality tag team wrestling. Go out of your way to check this episode out if you’re a Ringside Member and you’ve not seen it.
Top 5 Philadelphia Taping Matches
5) Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe vs War Machine (*** - Episode 154)
4) Silas Young vs Brian Kendrick (*** - Episode 155)
3) Michael Elgin vs Cedric Alexander (*** - Episode 154)
2) The Addiction vs Young Bucks (**** - Episode 155)
1) Jay Lethal vs ACH (**** - Episode 153)