ROH on Sinclair – Episode 169 – 13th December 2014
Moving Final Battle so far forward to accommodate putting it out on live pay-per-view left Ring Of Honor with the rather difficult conundrum of how to fill an empty month of programming. Final Battle is positioned as ROH’s big ‘year ending’ show…so having another run of televised broadcasts to get through after it is a challenge. The solution they went for is to spend the last month of the year running ‘Tag Wars 2014’. Filmed in November, the ‘Road To Final Battle’ tapings (none of which aired before the ppv) saw a one night, multiple episode tournament where six teams competed for three slots in a four-way Tag Title Match alongside reDRagon. I applaud ROH for this as it is a rather interesting solution to what could have been some seriously pointless television. Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino are in Baltimore, MD.
The Briscoes open the show looking hairy and mean. They face the House Of Truth in Tag Wars tonight, and plan on becoming 9-time ROH Tag Champions by the end of the year…
SIDENOTE – Still no new credits, even though the live shows and DVD’s have had a new opening title sequence for months.
Jay Lethal/J. Diesel vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe
Straight into the Tag Wars action, and it’s a big match too as it pits the World and Television Champions against each other. Lethal has held the TV Title since Supercard Of Honor in New Orleans and is the longest reigning current champion on the roster. However, he has the disadvantage of teaming with an inexperienced competitor. Diesel has been the House Of Truth’s paid bodyguard for months but recently asked Truth Martini for more opportunities. Opportunities in this promotion don’t come much bigger than getting to wrestle the most successful tag team in it’s history – the Briscoes – who just so happen to also feature the current World Champion too in Jay Briscoe.
The sheer amount of Jay’s will make play-by-play complicated. Lethal seems a little uncertain about his partner and doesn’t feel comfortable letting him start the match with Mark. Therefore it’s ironic that Diesel has to save the TV Champ when he starts getting knocked around by his opponent. Jay Briscoe seems so impressed with Diesel’s tough guy act that he willingly tags in so he can trade punches with him. We cut to commercials here, and when we come back the Briscoes are showing their experience and isolating the inexperienced HOT bodyguard. It eventually takes a distraction of the referee and some interference from Martini to put Jay Briscoe on the back foot. Lethal seems to be thinking about an avalanche Jay Driller, which is far too ambitious of course, and only results in him eating a big superplex. Mark tags in with Diesel and uses Redneck Kung Fu to get the better of his power. The World Champ stops Lethal hitting his tope suicida…then gives Diesel the JAY DRILLER! Froggy Bow finishes Diesel at 09:27 (shown).
Rating - ** - I was expecting to hate this, but actually found it quite enjoyable. Much to my surprise, Diesel is actually perfectly serviceable as a generic, brawling power guy in a tag team environment. He’s a little too small to take him too seriously, but as a background player in the Jay Lethal experience he more than held up his end of the deal. In truth everyone else was working on autopilot but on the whole this was a solid start to the show.
SIDENOTE – Interestingly Jay Briscoe didn’t come out with the World Title, and it was barely even mentioned that he was World Champion. Certainly it wasn’t played up at all that the World and TV Champions were in the same match. This possibly adds weight to the rumours that ROH were planning to put the belt back onto Adam Cole at Final Battle before his shoulder injury flared up…
Jimmy Jacobs/BJ Whitmer vs The Addiction
This is our second Tag Wars bout of the evening, and is also the continuation of a long-running rivalry. The Decade continue to object to the presence of Daniels and Kazarian in Ring Of Honor. The Fallen Angel, in particular, is a target for Jacobs and Whitmer given how many times he has quit ROH for TNA then come back again. The Addiction have made it known they are desperate to claim the ROH Tag Titles, but after losing two title shots against reDRagon in relatively quick succession earlier this year have been struggling to battle their way back into contention. Tag Wars 2014 could be just the chance they’ve been waiting for…
Whitmer hurls abuse at Colby Corino, who is working as part of the ring crew. Am I alone in not really understanding where they are going with the Whitmer/Corino stuff? The Decade try to jump The Addiction during their entrance, capturing Kazarian and looking to isolate him almost from the outset. Daniels is soon on hand though and helps his partner to hit Jimmy with a swinging neckbreaker. DOUBLE topes by Jacobs and Whitmer, thankfully putting a stop to the commentators’ endless shilling of those tacky ROH Championship rings. Unfortunately we then go to a commercial break, meaning another super-annoying Health Alert Hotline clip runs. I don’t want a pain-relieving knee or back brace for the love of god! We rejoin with Decade hitting an awesome double team version of the Curb Stomp on Kaz. The former Tag Champions do a pretty neat job wearing Frankie down. Most of their offence targets the back and midsection nicely and they even find time to hit the double hiptoss to powerbomb/neckbreaker combo that Bad Influence like to do so much. Daniels tags in with a running STO on Whitmer…and dodges Jacobs so he can toss him into a spear on his own partner. Angel’s Wings countered with the rebound Ace Crusher, feeding Daniels into a back drop driver from BJ for 2. Total Elimination on Jacobs! Tomikaze on Whitmer! Kaz wins it for his team at 10:05 (shown).
Rating - ** - The match itself was, like the opener, perfectly decent…but it still left me pondering the massive waste of potential that this Decade/Addiction issue has become. They are all experienced pros, Daniels and Jacobs are great talkers and natural adversaries…but ROH has invested almost zero time in getting people into it, and the matches have almost always been forgettable affairs too. Some of this was really good (Decade’s isolation of Kazarian for instance), but some of this was really bad. I lost count of the amount of times you’d see a guy standing and looking at one of his opponents, basically saying ‘hey, you need to give me one of your moves now’. Every one of these athletes is far more talented than this match demonstrated. Having said that, the right team won…and a final featuring reDRagon, the Briscoes and The Addiction (plus one more to join them from ACH/Sydal and the Young Bucks) looks extremely promising.
reDRagon pop in to pour scorn on Ring Of Honor for even booking this Tag Wars 2014 tournament. Kyle O’Reilly’s Christmas jumper and Adam Sandberg acting are a real treat…
Young Bucks vs Matt Sydal/ACH
You may think the pairing of Matt Sydal and ACH is completely random…but you’d be wrong. It is perfectly in keeping with Sydal’s Ring Of Honor history to team with anybody that comes along. During his previous tenure with the company he became quite the tag partner whore – replacing Alex Shelley in Generation Next, then teaming with AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Claudio Castagnoli and quite literally anyone else who was interested. The window-dressing on their left-field alliance is mutual respect formed during their classic match at Survival Of The Fittest 2014. They couldn’t wish for a sterner test to debut their team with however. The Bucks have been one of the hottest acts in all of pro-wrestling during 2014, and would love to end the year with the ROH Tag Titles back in their grasp.
The Bucks’ tights are totally ludicrous, therefore absolutely perfect for them. Interestingly their opponents start with a bit of classic Young Bucks tandem offence, with ACH holding Nick’s arm exposed to a top rope double stomp by Sydal. ACH and Matt dominate the opening minutes, laying down their mark and making the point that they are just as fast as their opponents. Superkick COUNTERED to a standing moonsault by Sydal! Nick gives him a running punt from the apron soon after though to the absolute delight of the crowd. Neckbreaker/backbreaker combo nailed after the final commercial break firmly placing ‘Reborn’ at the mercy of the Bullet Club members. BASEMENT SUPERKICK to counter Matt’s running hurricanrana spot! SLICE/FLATLINER COMBO from Sydal to both opponents! ACH hot tags in with Kobashi chops then super-violently hiptosses Matt right into the turnbuckles! RUNNING MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR! METEORA from Sydal to Nick! Todd Sinclair gets shoved into the ropes to save Nick from the Sydal Press, before ACH gets killed with a murderous volley of kicks from all angles. TORNADO DDT OFF THE APRON BY NICK! More Bang For Your Buck blocked! MORE BANG FOR YOUR F*CK INSTEAD! SYDAL BREAKS THE PIN! Early Onset Alzheimer’s COUNTERED TO A DOUBLE RANA BY SYDAL! SYDAL PRESS NAILED! 450 SPLASH BY ACH! HE PINS MATT! It’s a huge upset at 11:10 (shown).
Rating - **** - It seems a waste not to put the Young Bucks in the final of this thing, and it seems a shame not to give these guys more time to rock the house…but this was still an absolutely storming main event. With so little time to play with they basically went balls to the wall from the opening bell – and ten minutes later had the place going crazy. Credit to Sydal and ACH, who showed their class and skill by not missing a beat and hanging with a super-experienced and silky-smooth team like the Young Bucks every step of the way. Clearly Ring Of Honor are positioning ACH for big things in 2015 because he is ending the year picking up some big wins and getting plenty of exposure.
NEXT WEEK – Elgin vs Hanson, then Ciampa vs Alexander in a No DQ Match…
Tape Rating - *** - These post-Final Battle episodes could be a real waste of time. They were taped before the ppv meaning they were intentionally kept vague, spoiler-free and largely unrelated to any of the events that transpired in New York. It would be easy to not care about these shows, so it’s to everyone at ROH’s credit that this episode was a heap of fun. Three decent matches, all of which felt like they were important thanks to the Tag Wars 2014 framing, with one of the most exciting main events we’ve seen all year on the show. A solid thumbs up for this one…