ROH on Sinclair – Episode 160 – 11th October 2014
We’ve been in ‘Road Rage’ mode for a number of weeks. Normally I complain pretty fervently about that, but for once I will give ROH credit for structuring it rather well. The Death Before Dishonor shows were excellent as standalone events, but also provided some great matches for television and set the platform well for the (rather rushed) All Star Extravaganza 6 iPPV event. Now we’re back to fresh content for the television show, dealing with the aftermath of that memorable night in Toronto. Jay Briscoe has the World Title back. Jay Lethal and reDRagon continue their dominant reigns with their respective belts. Where do Adam Cole and The Kingdom go next now Elgin isn’t champ anymore? And what about Michael Elgin himself? We’re in Wheeling, WV (ROH’s debut in this market) with Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness
Kevin Kelly starts the show in the ring, bringing out Jay Briscoe to address the fans. By having Kevin structure this as an interview, rather than just letting Briscoe cut a promo this comes off as incredibly dorky. Jay says he’s open to any challengers, and also promises to get the ‘Title Of Love’ back from The Kingdom. Adam Cole interrupts with a big smile on his face. His banishment from the title picture is over, his feud with Jay Briscoe never went anywhere…and he wants to win the Honor Rumble tonight to officially position himself as #1 contender.
SIDENOTE – Not sure whether it’s the case that they are just running a really big building, but the crowd for this taping looks miniscule. Other than the first few rows around ringside there appear to be empty GA seats as far as the eye can see. Oh, and the above segment got much better once Kevin Kelly was kicked out of the ring, allowing Cole and Jay to talk amongst themselves.
The Decade get some promo time, with Jimmy pointing out that in the 20-man field for the Honor Rumble tonight…five of them represent Decade. Roderick Strong wants to pull rank and concentrate on winning it for himself – leading to an argument with BJ Whitmer, and BJ walking out as Jacobs desperately tries to keep the peace.
RD Evans/Moose vs Red Scorpion/Grey Wolf
The New Streak continues to gather pace, and Evans is looks more unstoppable than ever now he mostly competes in tag matches backed up by the sizeable presence of Moose. Moose himself doesn’t always look too happy to be a part of the Evans circus, but for now Veda Scott is keeping everyone on the same page. Tonight they face a team selected by Prince Nana – specifically chosen to take out the Barrister for his betrayal in The Embassy two years before. Scorpion and Wolf are debutants…and are JACKED! They look like miniature Road Warrior/Demolition hybrids…
Grey Wolf is, rather confusingly, covered in red body paint. RD Evans acts like he pulled a muscle in his leg, forcing Moose to start. Such is Moose’s speed and power that even guys the size of Scorpion and Wolf are no match for him. Evans is miraculously healed, and demands a tag so he can hit a double axehandle on Red for 2. Unsurprisingly the big newcomers are easily able to rough up the Barrister. Sensibly RD brings Moose back, and he beats the crap out of both opponents. Grey Wolf is f*cking awful. He can barely move he’s so big, and is pretty uncomfortable to watch. ROPE RUN FLYING CROSSBODY BY MOOSE! Evans is all fired up by that and fools himself into thinking he can hit a chokeslam. Double Chokeslam on him by the ‘Bloodbound Warriors’. Scorpion hits a sweet inverted cannonball in the corner for 2, with Veda Scott the only reason he didn’t win. Grey Wolf goes after Veda…but accidentally punches Prince Nana in the face. DOUBLE SPEAR by Moose takes out both Warriors, before once again RD sneaks in to steal the pin. The Streak continues at 06:35 (shown)
Rating - * - This was way too long, and terribly poor for a match on Ring Of Honor television. However, I couldn’t give it a DUD treatment because, despite how limited the ‘Bloodbound Warriors’ were this match actually achieved the two purposes set out for it. Moose looked as good as he has at any point in ROH. Admittedly that was largely because Grey Wolf was SO terrible that even Moose could look good in comparison, but still. The second goal was to continue the slow burn Evans/Moose tension…and once again the finish accomplished that. Terrible debut for Scorpion and Wolf though. Grey has no business being in Ring Of Honor and should never be invited back.
NEXT WEEK – Adam Cole vs Cedric Alexander.
Mark Briscoe points out that he has won two Honor Rumbles, and plans to do it again tonight. He then runs down Jay, and says it’s ‘his time’…not knowing that his brother was stood behind him during the entire interview.
Honor Rumble
Everybody knows the rules for these things. The Honor Rumble is simply ROH’s twist on the Royal Rumble – normally the only difference is fewer participants and less time between entrants. The winner of this gets a World Title shot in two weeks on television as part of ‘Championship Week’.
Jay Lethal and ACH are the unfortunate first men in. Of course that means they get to continue their own rivalry over the Television Title though. ACH is extremely fired up after missing All Star Extravaganza and starts extremely quickly. #3 is ACH’s former tag partner Tadarius Thomas. Lethal tricks TD into forming an alliance with him, before jumping him from behind. #4 is the House Of Truth’s bodyguard Jay Diesel…who sprints to the ring and eliminates ACH. WHEELBARROW LETHAL INJECTION by Diesel and Lethal! Thomas is gone as well, so the HOT stand tall. Entrant 5 is Romantic Touch, and of course Lethal doesn’t like him either after he helped Matt Taven over the summer. Once again the HOT join forces to dispose of him as well. #6 is Mark Briscoe, to a huge pop. Wisely Mark doesn’t enter the ring, and instead chases Martini around on the floor. It buys him enough time for another entrant at least, and #7 is Adam Page. He clocks Diesel with the slingshot somersault lariat. #8 is Will Ferrara, who appears to have ditched the ‘Team Benchmark’ gimmick. Has anyone else noticed how much he looks like Ricochet too? Caprice Coleman and Brutal Bob are #9 and #10 during the commercial break…and we return with Adam Cole coming in and #11. The former World Champion pulls a Jerry Lawler and tries to hide outside the ring. Hanson enters at #12, dragging Cole in along the way before eliminating Bob Evans. SPIN KICK OF DOOM dumps Coleman as well. Lucky #13 is another Decade member in BJ Whitmer. Adam Cole has joined forces with the HOT guys in pursuing Mark Briscoe around the ring. Kyle O’Reilly is #14, and he’s another guy who gets a big pop. Page and Whitmer, who have issues with Hanson going back to Field Of Honor, team up to eliminate him. Jimmy Jacobs is #15…as WILL FERRARA ELIMINATES BOTH MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF TRUTH!
That was awesome! It reminded me of Maven and the Undertaker in the 2002 Royal Rumble, and just like that elimination, Lethal and Diesel haul Ferrara out of the ring to beat the sh*t out of him. Page, who is supposedly grasping opportunities now, does so again by dragging Will back in to eliminate him. This Rumble is being SO well booked right now. #16 is Roderick Strong, meaning The Decade have four members in play. It’s only for a moment though, because Strong socks Page in the face (possibly accidentally) – knocking him over the top rope. #17 is Cedric Alexander…but he’s been taken out by Tommaso Ciampa! Tommaso is suspended, but starts assaulting people at ringside and tries to take his spot anyway. NIGEL STOPS CIAMPA! Bobby Fish enters the fray at #18, walking past McGuinness and Ciampa and making it to the ring just as Decade eliminate his partner O’Reilly. The injured Alexander has limped into the ring somewhere along the line. #19 is Cheeseburger…who skips into the ring straight into a mauling by The Decade. Michael Bennett has the fortunate #20 slot, which is also lucky for Adam Cole who is taking a real beating. As Jacobs and Whitmer toy with Cheeseburger, their old enemy Cedric sneaks up behind them and eliminates them both! Strong then furiously tosses Alexander out too! There’s more great continuity as Bennett is really violent with Cheeseburger – who of course teams with Michaels former trainer Brutal Bob. Strong and Fish battle on the apron, striking each other with such force that they both collapse to the floor. We’re down to The Kingdom (Bennett and Cole), Mark Briscoe and Cheeseburger. Cole shoves Burger out…gets dumped himself by Briscoe…who is then ditched seconds later by Bennett. BENNETT WINS! He is officially crowned #1 contender at 20:49 (shown).
Rating - **** - This is extremely generous I’ll admit, but this was one of the best booked Rumbles I’ve ever seen. There was absolutely no dead time (the commercial breaks were perfectly placed) and there was a story to be told, or a history to play up with every entrant and elimination. We started with the Lethal/ACH feud, which led into references to the Adrenaline RUSH split, before Jay Diesel’s role as the HOT bodyguard was put over strong. Lethal’s history with Romantic Touch and Matt Taven was referenced. The tension between The Decade and young boy Adam Page was given time to shine. Adam Cole got to be a villain. Hanson got to look like a bad ass, playing up both his recent issues with Decade and Cole. Will Ferrara, who to date hasn’t done anything of note in ROH, got a HUGE push by eliminating both Lethal and Diesel. From somebody no-one cared about, immediately people now want to see where ROH go with Ferrara – that’s good booking. We then got the Tommaso Ciampa segment, Cedric Alexander’s feud with Decade rearing it’s head again…and a really neat finish as three guys got eliminated one after the other. Bennett winning is particularly interesting. He has a lengthy feud with the Briscoes in his own right…but how will Adam Cole react to not being the focal point of Kingdom for once? This was, by a mile, my favourite Honor Rumble. It may never have been outrageously exciting, but the depth of story-telling was compelling and it had you on the edge of your set from first bell to last.
Michael Bennett and Maria Kanellis celebrate in the ring together, as Adam Cole stares jealously from the floor.
Tape Rating - *** - Half of the show was taken up by the Honor Rumble, which was really good, so this episode is a pretty easy recommend. As usual, the Moose match sucked a dick (albeit it wasn’t actually his fault) so you can skip that. The rather perfunctory opening promo segment was fine too, though slightly ruined by Kevin Kelly’s dated and nerdy presence.