ROH on Sinclair – Episode 165 – 15th November 2014

Final Battle 2014 is now less than a month away and we have our #1 contender confirmed. Adam Cole was victorious at Survival Of The Fittest and now awaits the winner of Glory By Honor 13’s Briscoe vs ACH World Title Match in the main event. Speaking of ACH, he’d also like to enter Final Battle with more gold around his waist – as tonight he gets his long-awaited rematch against Jay Lethal for the Television Title. Steve Corino returns to the announce table alongside Kevin Kelly in Lakeland, FL

Jay Lethal and Truth Martini smirk that ACH has at least made it to the building this time…but promise to succeed where they couldn’t last time and defeat him.

Caprice Coleman/Tadarius Thomas/Will Ferrara vs Roderick Strong/BJ Whitmer/Adam Page
Roddy doesn’t get the opportunity to compete in his home state for ROH too often, so this is a big match for him. He’s been struggling to get on the same page as his Decade colleagues – particularly Whitmer and Page recently – so it will be interesting to see how they work together here. Coleman has been a rival of The Decade all year since he disagrees with their mentorship methods to their young boys and has tried to help young kids steer clear of them. He tried (and failed) with Adam Page, but the likes of Cedric Alexander, Takaaki Watanabe and now Will Ferrara have all sought guidance from him rather than approach the ‘veterans’. Thomas only recently quit The Decade to strike out on his own, so will be desperate for a win to prove that was the correct decision.

Whitmer goes right after Tadarius, furiously berating him for his choice to quit the group. The Decade soon have to flee though as the babyface team rallies…and it’s noticeable that Strong is already looking pissed off at BJ. It doesn’t come to much at this juncture though since Coleman and TD decide to toss Ferrara at the entire group. Thomas actually dishes out such a beating to Whitmer that he opts out of the ring again, letting Page fight his battle for him instead. Strong then rather violently tags himself in once Adam has done all the work wearing Ferrara down. The Decade show their experience by singling the least experienced member of their opposition out for isolation. Page encourages Strong to use a chair on Will…and not for the first time Roddy tosses the chair away and admonishes the over-enthusiastic youngster. That episode causes enough of a distraction to allow Ferrara to hit a tornado DDT and make a hot tag to Caprice. Vertical leap frankensteiner drops BJ, before he hits the Trinity on Page and Strong for 2! Page recovers quickly and mashes Thomas into the guardrails…but as a brawl breaks out on the floor Coleman capitalises with a springboard moonsault outside onto everyone. Roddy dishes out a devastating superplex on Caprice…but puts his head up into a CODE RED by Will! Coleman blocks End Of Heartache…and Page accidentally nails Strong with his somersault lariat! Mind Trip by Caprice, who wins the match for his team at 09:56 (shown).

Rating - ** - A little long perhaps, but it never felt dull and advanced The Decade’s rather meandering storyline forward so I’d call it a success. It’s a shame to see Strong jobbed out in his home state, but since he isn’t under contract and freelances with Gabe’s companies on the side he probably shouldn’t (and I’d imagine doesn’t) expect special treatment. Adam Page continues to absolutely nail his role as a young boy growing in confidence. At some point ROH are going to have to take the training wheels off and really see what the kid can do because he really looks like a special talent.

BJ Whitmer has to separate Strong and Page…but then joins Adam in trying to assault Roddy! Strong fights them both off to a standing ovation then rips up a Decade shirt seemingly indicating his departure from the group.

Kevin Kelly steps into the ring and brings out Ray Rowe, who’s arm is still in a cast as he continues to recover from that motorcycle accident over the summer. Whitmer and Page make their way back to ringside before he can even answer a question though. BJ orders Rowe away so he can go on a tirade aimed at Roderick, before challenging him to a match at Final Battle – but for Adam Page. That was a neat twist.

Backstage Adam Cole proudly announces his victory at Survival Of The Fittest 2014. He hates Jay Briscoe, and confirms that he’ll be claiming his title shot in the main event of Final Battle 2014.

Jay Lethal vs ACH – ROH TV Title Match
We’ve had to wait a long time for this rematch. It was way back on Episode 153 that ACH took Lethal all the way to a 30-minute draw when they locked horns for the TV Title. Many called it an MOTYC (I didn’t), and many felt that had their been more time ACH would have left as champion on that evening. A no time limits rematch was signed for All Star Extravaganza 6 in Toronto, but fate stepped in and ACH wasn’t able to make his flights and get to the show. The House Of Truth claimed it was because the time limit draw was a fluke and ACH was now running scared of Lethal. Now both have pride as well as championship aspirations at stake. Can Lethal prove that the precocious ACH got lucky last time? Or can the talented youngster grab a brass ring and earn his first championship in ROH?

Matt Sydal joins commentary, suspiciously receiving pats on the back from Lethal and Martini during their entrance. ACH effectively urinates all over the canvas in the first minute – marking his territory by shunting Lethal into the corner and threatening to chop him. Jay retaliates with the cartwheel dropkick combo, proving to ACH that all the flashy offence in the world isn’t a substitute for research and hard work. ACH does have the Lethal Injection scouted though and counters it by hanging him in the ropes for a flurry of kicks to the chest! Sensibly uses all his championship pedigree and experience and rolls to the floor to buy himself some time to recover. When he finally re-enters ACH is still piling in with offence but a recovered TV Champion soon counters it with a flapjack. We see how seriously Lethal is taking this match too though, as the usual HOT photo opportunity on the apron this week is Jay repeatedly punching his opponent in the face rather than confidently posing as he normally does. ACH hits a double stomp for 2 but has already been visibly slowed by the work of his opponent. Jay continues to slow the pace, doesn’t try anything flashy and continually pastes his rival with some ferocious strikes. Hero’s Grip blocked with a flurry of elbows – delivered with such force that ACH collapses all the way through the ropes to the floor. His neck was apparently injured in the fall and needs medical attention as we cut to commercials. When we return he is still on the floor, on the brink of being carried out of the arena by a team of officials. Lethal grins at him from the apron…which apparently pisses ACH off so much that he turns around and sprints back to continue the fight. His momentum is short-lived of course since Jay goes right after his injured neck. It gets pounded with elbows and knees then ground into the mat with a snug and extensive chinlock sequence. Regardless of what offensive move he tries ACH’s neck now screams in pain…so it’s a real surprise that he continues to fight. ROPE STUNNER! Top rope double stomp to the head gets 2 for the challenger! But he’s so injured it takes an eternity for him to get up the ropes and it seems impossible for him to hit the 450 Splash…so he scores with the slingshot flatliner instead. AIR JORDAN NAILED! 450 SPLASH MISSES! TORNADO KICK…FOR 2! And that may have been ACH’s last burst of adrenaline since he slumps to the mat alongside his semi-conscious rival. Lethal brains him against the turnbuckles then snaps the neck back with a superkick. LETHAL INJECTION! ONE COUNT OF DISRESPECT! BIG BANG ATTACK BY LETHAL! He wins with ACH’s own move at 17:39 (shown).

Rating - **** - Maybe I’m in the minority, but I preferred this to the first match. That one had plenty of sizzle but significantly less substance despite going longer. They worked much smarter here, and barely wasted a movement at any point during the entire time they were in the ring together. I loved that you could see the motivations of both guys so clearly. ACH, pissed off that he didn’t win last time they met and desperate to make up for missing his flight to Toronto, flew out of the gates looking to be aggressive from the outset. Lethal showed his class as he quickly adapted his gameplan to that. He was working aggressively too, but far more intelligently as he constantly shut down ACH’s flurries and looked to quite simply beat him up. The last encounter was a serious driving force for him too. He wasn’t posing for pictures or messing around with the crowd – he wanted to win badly. Then came the neck injury – which was a cheap trick but added genuine drama to the last five minutes as Lethal attacked the sore spot like a bastard and ACH showed plenty of heart by continuing the fight. Lethal’s second reign as TV Champion has undoubtedly been a success, and this was right up there with his very best defences. Well worth checking out if you’ve not seen it already.

Sydal gets into the ring apparently to check on ACH, but gets into another discussion with the House Of Truth along the way. Just when it seems like Matt is about to join the stable, he declines Jay Lethal’s handshake and gestures that he wants the next shot at the TV Title…

NEXT WEEK – AJ Styles vs Hanson

Tape Rating - *** - Two episodes down from these Lakeland tapings, and they’ve both been pretty decent. The Decade angle took a big step forward tonight with Roderick Strong’s apparent removal from the group, and anything that advances the career of the promising Adam Page (like a match with Roddy at Final Battle) is something I support. The main event here could have been weighed down by expectation. Lots of fans and critics loved the last televised Lethal/ACH TV Title clash. Certainly it was one of the better ROH on SBG matches of 2014, so the sequel had a lot to live up to. For me Lethal and ACH more than lived up to that aforementioned hype. Their contest was smart, intense and dramatic – everything you’d want to see from a championship match. You don’t see that kind of quality given away for free on television every week.

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