ROH on Sinclair – Episode 156 – 13th September 2013
I’m well-documented as not being the biggest fan of many of the ‘Road Rage’ episodes they put on the ROH TV show. When the concept launched in 2011 I really supported it. I loved the idea of bolstering attendances and promoting non-ppv, non-TV taping live events by occasionally putting choice cuts of some shows on television. However, it’s been wildly mis-used over the last two years…particularly with the amount of pay-per-view content that has lazily been tossed onto the show mere weeks after fans had to pay to view it. Tonight, however, we start several weeks of Road Rage shows from the Death Before Dishonor 12 weekend. Since those events weren’t broadcast on ppv, hadn’t been made available on VOD by this point, and the actual shows themselves were only very loosely formatted for television (as opposed to Glory By Honor 12 last year when they largely castrated one of ROH’s flagship events to make it nothing more than a closeted TV taping), a lot of my reservations have been removed. If TV is the priority – THIS is the way they should be doing it. This episode in particular should be an absolute knock-out as it features two of the best matches from Night 1. AJ Styles battles Kyle O’Reilly in what turned out to be an MOTYC, and our main event sees veteran brother tag teams the Briscoes and the Young Bucks lock horns. Kevin Kelly, Caprice Coleman and Steve Corino call the action from Milwaukee, WI.
SIDENOTE – The Death Before Dishonor 12 DVD/VOD’s had new opening credits, something the TV show has needed for over a year. Sadly the TV edits are still using the old theme and video package.
Kyle O’Reilly vs AJ Styles
In 2014 Styles has, quite possibly, been the very best wrestler on the planet. Very few people have delivered the goods in the way he has across multiple high profile companies. And Kyle O’Reilly has quietly been having a pretty awesome year too. PWG fans love him, in ROH he and Bobby Fish’s reDRagon team have become as entertaining as they were lethal, and there is now clamour to get them to New Japan more often as well. There isn’t a huge amount of storyline here, but it’s a high profile match pitting two of the best in the world right now against each other. Kyle will know that NJPW won’t be able to ignore him if he notches a win over AJ, and likewise Styles will know he needs to win this if he is to get back in the hunt for the Ring Of Honor Championship.
Bobby Fish amusingly tries to perch in the corner as if it was a reDRagon tag match, and looks absolutely furious when Paul Turner orders him off. Kevin immediately brings up NJPW’s G1 tournament, and wonders if fatigue will play a part for AJ here. Certainly Kyle starts more quickly and starts targeting his arm – and even clings to it as Styles tries to slam him over the ropes, effectively making that move more painful to the aggressor than the recipient. He kicks AJ in the face, but obviously hasn’t watched every AJ Styles match ever because he walks straight into the dropkick. Fish tries to distract the IWGP Champion – allowing O’Reilly to pounce on the arm again. AJ looks for the Styles Clash, but falls backwards with his arm clearly troubling him. Fish is still distracting him too, and this time Kyle strikes with an arm wrench onto the apron! Not content with that he then starts hammerlocking the shoulder straight into the guardrails. Suddenly everything the Tag Champion does works that body part – right down to hammerlocking the arm before hitting a legsweep meaning AJ lands right on his bad shoulder. His arm gives way as he attempts a brainbuster…but he keeps his wits about him and counters a tornado DDT with a SNAP SUPLEX TO THE TURNBUCKLES! Flying elbow (with arm selling) nailed, then a DVD over his own knee…before he slumps to the ground grasping his shoulder in pain. Styles Clash COUNTERED TO ARM-AGEDDON! AJ tries to Styles Clash his way free – but once more drops him thanks to his bad shoulder…and this time gets thrown shoulder-first into the turnbuckles. MISSILE DROPKICK OFF THE APRON! O’Reilly is apoplectic with rage that AJ just won’t stay down, and he angrily kicks at the shoulder before going back to ARM-AGEDDON! Then switches it to a triangle choke! COUNTERED TO THE ONE-ARM STYLES CLASH! BOTH MEN DOWN! They eventually get back to their feet and absolutely HAMMER each other with strikes. Roundhouse ducked into AXE & SMASH! NO SOLD! PELE KICK NAILED! DISCUS LARIAT! GETS 2! Styles then knocks O’Reilly out with a brainbuster before stalking the ring. STYLES CLASH COUNTERED TO A CHOKE! STYLES CLASH BLOCKED AGAIN…SO STYLES PILEDRIVES O’REILLY ON HIS DAMN HEAD! STYLES CLAAAAAAAAAASH! AJ wins at 17:28
Rating - ****1/2 - Plenty of people have already hyped this as an MOTYC, and you can add my name to the list. Kyle was outstanding with his arm work, Styles sold it well for the most part, and down the stretch some of the countering they produced was just a joy to watch. The finish was among the best things I’ve seen in wrestling for a long time too. This is must-see, and more than likely the best match of the entire weekend.
Tadarius Thomas vs Adam Pearce
Pearce has been brought in by The Decade to teach their young boys a lesson. Both Page and TD have been stepping up in recent shows, with Page in particular producing some impressive displays. It seemed to have brought increased dissension to the group, with both the young boys threatening to stand up for themselves against their ‘mentors’ before eventually backing down. Strong, Jacobs and Whitmer decided to call in another bitter, angry veteran to teach them respect…and the Scrap Daddy returns to ROH for the first time in well over a year.
Jimmy Jacobs orders Pearce to ‘beat’ respect into his opponent here. To that end, there is no Code Of Honor, and the unsuspecting Decade young boy gets pasted with elbows and chops. Pearce’s old school approach is totally unprepared for TD’s capoeira striking though – and he soon goes on the retreat after Thomas kicks him all over the ring. Tope con hilo scores too…but as Tadarius basks in the applause Pearce rises to his feet and tackles him straight into the railings. Learning from his previous mistakes, Adam keeps a close proximity to his opponent, repeatedly knocking him to the ground and choking him in the ropes to ensure he can’t utilise more capoeira strikes. Unfortunately TD is also a proficient boxer and he fights back again using a succession of body shots…into a fierce German suplex. Mafia kick in the corner nailed, then a diving Slingblade from the top rope! The rest of Decade scream at Thomas to stay on his opponent rather than pose to the crowd – and he doesn’t heed their advice. Pearce delivers a crafty low blow then picks up the win with the Piledriver at 06:30
Rating - ** - As another innovative way to advance The Decade’s storyline this was a solid piece of business. I love the idea of bringing Pearce in as another way of torturing the young boys. He’s never been a huge star in Ring Of Honor, but most fans are smart enough to know he was booker here, or remember his in-ring contributions during the ROH/CZW war, or his part in both the Hangman 3 and Sweet’n’Sour Inc. And his promo skills and ability to get his character over are both so frighteningly good that he can effortlessly win casual fans over too. This match played out exactly as it should do, with Pearce using lots of crafty veteran tactics to dominate, whilst also giving TD a few hope spots which play up his MMA skills.
NEXT WEEK – More Death Before Dishonor 12 Night 1 Road Rage, with the Elgin/Young World Title Match being our main event.
Young Bucks vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe
Ring Of Honor has spent a lot of time recently building up the tag division. reDRagon are, quite rightly, being heralded as being one of the best teams in the world right now. And with the likes of The Addiction, The Decade, The Kingdom, War Machine, the Briscoes and the Bucks all in the hunt for the belts, certainly it seems like a pretty crowded scene all of a sudden. Against that back drop it was perhaps inevitable that these two independent superstar tag teams locked horns in an ROH ring once again. The two sets of brothers have locked horns in this company multiple times, but never really delivered the classic, memorable match we know they’re capable of. Is tonight the night?
SUPERKIIIIIIIIIICKS! Both Jay and Mark eat early Superkicks, to the delight of the crowd, and are instantly forced out of the ring. The Briscoes are experienced campaigners though and soon return to the ring to swiftly overpower their smaller opponents. Steve Corino referring to Michael Jackson’s father as the ‘BJ Whitmer of dads’ is possibly the funniest thing I’ve heard all year. It’s the Briscoes who continue to dominate, battering both Jacksons and stopping them building up any kind of momentum. The Young Bucks are no idiots though, with plenty of experience of underhanded tactics themselves. Nick starts attacking Jay from behind, kicking him out of the ring where he is able to repeatedly back rake him. Immediately the pattern of the match changes as the Bucks use frequent tags, combo moves and a liberal dose of rule breaking to isolate Jay and prevent the Briscoes from overpowering them. FLATLINER into Matt’s crotch! Mark rescues his brother with Redneck Kung Fu then DROP SUPLEXES Nick onto the apron! CACTUS ELBOW COUNTERED WITH A SUPERKICK! SPEAR INTO THE RAILS from Matt to Jay! Frog splash/standing moonsault combo gets 2 for the Bucks. Superkicks missed by the Jacksons…SUPERKICKS BY THE BRISCOES! Splash Mountain Neckbreaker gets 2! Press slam DVD from Jay to Matt! SUPERKICK ON THE APRON! FACEBUSTER! TORNADO DDT TO THE FLOOR BY NICK! MORE BANG FOR YOUR F*CK GETS 2! EARLY ONSET ALZHEIMERS ON MARK! Jay BLOCKS More Bang For Your Buck though! JAY DRILLER ON MATT! WHO KICKS OUT AT 2! DOOMSDAY DEVICE NAILED! This time it is over, with the Briscoes pulling out the win at 12:45
Rating - **** - The spots at the end, quite predictably, were out-of-this-world fun. The Briscoes worked this style extensively back in 2006/7, but have slowed down massively since then, so it was a welcome blast of nostalgia to see them throwing around spots and combo moves as fast as they possibly could. But, what I really liked, was the intelligent opening portion of the match. In PWG the Bucks dominate the tag scene, but Ring Of Honor is Briscoe territory – so the Jacksons starting the match by superkicking them straight out of the ring was a fantastic statement of intent. Jay and Mark used their power, striking and superior brawling to keep the Bucks from unleashing flurries of tandem moves, and in return Matt and Nick used their cunning, cheating and speed to gain an edge right back. These guys packed a hell of a lot into less than thirteen minutes.
Tape Rating - N/A - As I said during my introduction, since television is documented as Sinclair’s top priority for the Ring Of Honor product, THIS is how they should be using the Road Rage concept (particularly now they are running internet and nationwide ppv’s again). This wasn’t giving away something fans had already paid for, these tapings didn’t destroy a live event. This was very much the Road Rage concept as it was originally designed – a snapshot into the Ring Of Honor live event, inviting the casual fan to invest further into the product through tickets, VOD’s or DVD’s. If you’re a Ringside Member and you’ve not seen the DBD12 shows you need to check this out. Both matches are really good. REALLY REALLY good in the case of Styles/O’Reilly.