ROH on Sinclair – Episode 170 – 20th December 2014
Right before Christmas, and just two shows left in 2014. Normally around this time TV takes a break and we get pointless filler highlights shows. The casual fan may actually prefer that format, but for those of us that tend to check out everything, it’s probably far more exciting to end the year with fresh episodes and plenty still at stake. Next week we have the finals of Tag Wars 2014, whilst tonight we’ve got two major showdowns scheduled. The unpredictable and dislikeable Michael Elgin squares off with a man he once considered a friend in Hanson, before our main event pits the even more unpredictable Tommaso Ciampa against Cedric Alexander in a No DQ Match which drew rave reviews. We return to Baltimore, MD to join Steve Corino and Kevin Kelly.
Roderick Strong vs Papadon
I’m pretty sure Papadon has been around on the indies for a long time, but for some reason ROH are billing him as an ‘international superstar’. He’s certainly got the generic, muscular look the current management of Ring Of Honor seem to go for. Presumably he’s paid his money at the seminars, so is another guy who has bought his way into a pretty major opportunity. Or maybe I’m being harsh. Either way, he is more than likely here as cannon fodder for Roddy who is now going solo and being positioned for a semi-significant singles run in 2015. As significant as it can be when he doesn’t appear to be signed to a contract and competes for rival promotion WWNLive/Evolve too…
Corino’s semi-insensitive cracks at the expense of Greece are rather comical. An early attempt at the Gibson Driver is blocked so Papadon can get 2 with a backbreaker/inverted DDT combo. He spikes Strong with a hanging DDT out of the corner to get another nearfall…and is impressive in his intensity if nothing else. Strong puts him out of his misery seconds later with End Of Heartache at 03:29
Rating - * - I’m historically not a fan of squash matches so obviously I didn’t particularly enjoy this. However, I will say that it was FAR better than some enhancement matches ROH have put on the air previously. It was short, it didn’t feature the established talent letting the jobber nobody cares about get in way too much offence, and Papadon did perfectly acceptably too.
Hanson vs Michael Elgin
Last time we saw Hanson in the ring during the SBG show he was competing in an absolutely killer match with AJ Styles. He pushed one of the finest wrestlers in the world to his limit on that occasion, and now looks to perform similarly admirably when he faces a former ROH World Champion. These two have history as well, with Elgin once supporting and endorsing War Machine as his allies…then bizarrely turning his back on them and trying to create friction between them during his mini-meltdown after losing the title. Will they settle their issues like men tonight? Will Elgin wrestle, or will he lay down and refuse to compete as he did against Caprice Coleman in Florida?
Elgin’s pre-match promo makes him seem more like a loose cannon than a whiny b*tch, which is definitely a step in the right direction. He wants to fight Hanson, but probably regrets it seconds later when the big man flies right at him with a tope suicida. Hanson clatters into him again with the cartwheel lariat too…before the Spin Kick Of Doom is countered into a powerbomb. The somersault leg drop scores for Unbreakable, followed by the Tiger Body Press for 2. Double Arm DDT (Elgin’s new finish) blocked…with Hanson mauling his former friend right out of the ring. Elgin tries to give him the Double Arm DDT on the exposed concrete floor but gets tossed aside so Hanson can pull out a table instead. Michael Elgin’s personal camera man tries to attack him…so Hanson mangles him against the guardrails! DOUBLE ARM DDT THROUGH THE TABLE! It’s a no contest (technically shouldn’t Elgin have been disqualified for that?) at 06:25
Rating - ** - I found this to be quite enjoyable. Certainly Elgin’s new heel persona here was much better than it was at the Florida tapings or the Glory By Honor 13/Survival Of The Fittest live events. Positioning him as an angsty, erratic Brian Pillman type is a far easier sell than a big Canadian toddler. It also helps that, for all the criticism he gets, he is still a decent wrestler and I enjoyed watching slug it out with another big, mean bruiser. Quite easily the best Elgin has looked in months (in my opinion)…
Caprice Coleman/Will Ferrara vs Brutal Burgers
It’s getting kind of creepy how they keep pairing Caprice up with younger wrestlers. There’s a fine line between mentor and predator. Having said that, I’d much rather watch him team up with Ferrara than I would watch Cheeseburger and Bob Evans in action. The sooner this one is over the better…
Even the referee can’t be bothered with this, and orders the bell to ring when they’re barely halfway through shaking hands. Having said that, credit to Cheese and Will. Apparently they train together a lot and it really shows as they bust out a really slick opening salvo. Evans tags and goes after Ferrara’s arm, meaning his new mentor Coleman soon needs to force his way in. Bob no sells more of Ferrara’s offence to apply a Fujiwara armbar. Caprice breaks it so gets shoved to the floor by Brutal Bob. Evans’ old ass makes the Trinity look like sh*t, and on the other side of the ring Ferrara pins Cheese at 04:56
Rating - DUD - This was messy, after a promising start. Neither Cheeseburger or Evans should be in Ring Of Honor at all, and even as an enhancement match for Caprice and Will this roundly failed. I didn’t need to see this at all and the whole thing felt like a massive piece of filler.
Brutal Bob shoves Cheeseburger over, but then apologises seconds later. Because what everyone wants to see is a slow burning Brutal Burgers split angle.
Cedric Alexander vs Tommaso Ciampa – No DQ Match
These two had a heated match at the Florida tapings, which ended when Tommaso had a bit of a freak out and decided to assault Cedric using a chair thus necessitating a grudge match stipulation here. Tommaso also decided to attack Alexander during the Honor Rumble too. Both are unhappy at being stuck in the upper midcard and want to use this high profile televised main event as a springboard into the upper echelons of the roster.
Tommaso brings two chairs into the ring and hands one to Cedric…so the match starts with a high octane chair duel .Corino plays up Alexander’s lack of familiarity in a no rules environment and that’s emphasised as he shuns the use of weaponry and instead knocks Ciampa out of the ring with a 540 Kick. Tommaso is comfortable being more aggressive…and throws a trash can into his face to block a somersault plancha. We cut to commercials, so we can get the Health Alert Hotline number for like the twentieth time during the episode…and return to an extreme close-up of Ciampa clawing at Cedric’s mouth. BARE KNEE TRASH CAN STRIKES! The Psychopath drags a portion of the guardrail into the ring but takes too long about it thus allowing Alexander some recovery time. He fills the ring with chairs, absolutely hurling a couple of them into Tommaso’s head. STEVE AUSTIN-STYLE CHAIR MASSACRE! Cedric beats the piss out of Ciampa then props up the guardrail segment between two open chairs. The two men battle above the makeshift structure, with Tommaso getting the upper hand for a SUPERPLEX THROUGH THE GUARDRAILS! We miss all of Alexander’s selling on that with commercials…and when we come back he appears to have recovered enough to hit a SOMERSAULT PLANCHA! OVERTIME gets 2! STEEL CHAIR OVERTIME NAILED! CIAMPA KICKS OUT! Alexander rips up the ring canvas, just as Ciampa did earlier this year, to expose the wooden planks. Not content with that he ties Ciampa BY THE THROAT to the turnbuckles for REPEATED IED’S! CIAMPA BRAINBUSTERS HIM THROUGH AN OPEN CHAIR…FOR 2! SLAP DUEL! 540 KICK DUCKED…INTO A BARE KNEE STRIKE! HANGING NECKBREAKER ON THE EXPOSED WOOD BY CIAMPA! He wins a crazy little match at 13:33 (shown).
Rating - **** - I’ve got no idea where this came from, but it blew me away. Watching two guys who are clearly frustrated with their current creative direction (or lack of it) vent their anger by doing their utmost to steal the show at ANY cost was a hell of a spectacle. Alexander has gone absolutely nowhere since June, whilst Ciampa has been mismanaged for pretty much his entire Ring Of Honor career. However, they are both exceptionally gifted workers and they had no issue getting fans to buy into this as a heated grudge match even with relatively little feud behind them. Unlike some No DQ Matches we’ve seen this year (Steen/Compton for instance) this didn’t feel like a collection of hardcore spots for no reason – it felt like a straight forward FIGHT. Both men sold it as such with their body language and general demeanour. Alexander, in particular, was outstanding as the babyface so pissed off that he had no problem getting down and dirty in the mud with his rival even though he was totally out of his comfort zone. Go out of your way to see this match
Tape Rating - *** - Some of this episode was completely skippable (I’m looking at you Cheeseburger, your entire wrestling career is skippable) but a decent Michael Elgin segment and a kick ass main event redeemed it and then some. Ciampa/Cedric was a total war that deserves to be seen by as many people as possible, in the hope that Delirious gets his shizz together to book even ONE of them more effectively next year. To give credit where it’s certainly due, on the whole ROH on SBG has been pretty consistent this year. The New Orleans/WrestleMania weekend episodes were a total bust, and some of the planning (i.e. the run-up to Best In The World) has been atrocious…but the actual fresh content coming out of the tapings has been generally very decent. From the year-opening tapings in Nashville, the debuts in Wheeling and Lakeland to traditional ROH markets like Baltimore, Dearborn and Philadelphia we’ve seen some cracking matches and fine episodes. Tommaso and Cedric definitely continued that trend in this instalment.