ROH on Sinclair – Episode 172 – 3rd January 2015

Although I’ve been fiercely critical about Ring Of Honor (and the booking in particular) in 2014, when one stops to reflect one can’t help but acknowledge that there were significant improvements made over the course of last year. They may be too reliant on part-time performers like AJ Styles and the Young Bucks, but the roster at this stage is far stronger than it has been in some time – which is some achievement considering ROH lost their biggest star (Kevin Steen) halfway through the year. The lack of long term angles and consistent booking is a perennial frustration…but on the whole the quality of the TV show has VASTLY improved with less Road Rage, a more structured tapings schedule and ultimately much better matches taking place on television. Some of the mismanagement of this company is still baffling…and although they start 2015 with rumours swirling that Sinclair are looking to cut their budget, it’s impossible to deny that Ring Of Honor has started moving in the right direction after years of crippling stagnation following the SBG buy-out. Tonight we look back on some of the highlights of 2014, with Larry Mercer inside the merchandise bunker. No Mandy Leon in sight for this show though. You can decide whether you’d like to rationalise that with brutal honesty (poor Mandy wasn’t a great host) or forthright cynicism (there isn’t a ppv to sell, so they don’t need her boobies).

Roderick Strong vs AJ Styles
After his split with TNA, and almost eight years away from ROH – AJ Styles now makes his return. He’s a former Tag and Pure Wrestling Champion, but has never won the World Championship despite multiple shots. His return after a lengthy run in another company has raised the ire of The Decade. They aren’t happy that a guy who has chosen to leave ROH on multiple occasions is being given such hype, whilst someone like Strong, who has an uninterrupted ten years in Ring Of Honor, is seemingly further away from the World Title than ever.

They go straight to the mat, and at this point the crowd is so into things they cheer every time AJ gets the edge, then boo every time the pendulum swings in Roddy’s favour. Strong makes fun of Styles, which he does NOT take kindly too – tossing him down and begging Roderick to out-wrestle him if he thinks he can. Strong rises to the challenge, and shoulder blocks him own before doing AJ’s signature arms-wide pose. Dropkick from Styles, followed by a running dropkick to the floor! He is controlling proceedings, delivering an emphatic pumphandle gutbuster. He makes a single mistake, trying a springboard move too early and eating a dropkick…and he ricochets backwards hanging his throat over the top rope. Strong pounces, dragging AJ straight to the floor where he can use the unforgiving guardrails to his advantage. Back suplex on the apron blocked…HALF NELSON BACKBREAKER INTO THE SIDE OF THE RING! His back is hurting him now, and as they collide in the middle of the ring each attempting crossbody blocks it leaves both of them struggling on the canvas. Styles hits the springboard elbow smash, and plants Strong with a DVD over the knee for 2. Too early for the Styles Clash though, and Strong scoops him up for the Olympic Slam – dropping him on that back again. Urinage backbreaker gets 2. Death By Roderick blocked…quebrada inverted DDT blocked too! Roddy misses an elbow strike, and this time eats the quebrada inverted DDT! AJ gets caught climbing to the top rope as both men really start to slow down and look fatigued. Massive superplex from Strong, once again putting him down on that suspect back causing him to writhe in pain. Gibson Driver escaped, pushing Strong into the corner for the PELE KICK! BRAINBUSTER gets 2! Styles tries a springboard move, but is so worn down and in such back pain that he slips off the top rope and barely makes contact with Strong. They jostle for position in the corner until Roddy pulls him out for a cradle backbreaker! DEATH BY RODERICK for 2! Strong flays away at the neck and back…only for Styles to fire right back! CALF CUTTER…countered to a pinfall which nearly gives Strong the win. They unload on each other with strikes…SICK KICK NAILED! AJ KICKS OUT! ORANGE CRUSH BACKBREAKER COUNTERED WITH A RANA! STRONG HITS A KNEE STRIKE! DISCUS LARIAT BY AJ! STYLES CLASH! STRONG LANDS ON HIS HEAD! It’s over at 18:13 (shown).

Rating - **** - What a comeback match for AJ. Critics have spent years bashing AJ for his selective selling and so forth, and sure there was an element of that here. But what you can’t praise highly enough is his exceptional ability to produce amazing high impact spots, and the ‘big match’ intensity he brings every time he’s in the ring. Not all of this was clean (that finish looked horrific – no idea why Strong tucked his head like that…and the same thing happened to AJ with a British wrestler the following month), but what a war it was. Roderick looked to make a statement at AJ’s expense, hammering him with strikes and attacking the back with his usual aggression…with Styles taking everything he had and still coming back. The last minute was as good a minute of wrestling as ROH have produced in some time. My favourite ROH match of 2014 so far.

Kevin Steen vs Steve Corino
The history between these two is far too long to recap in a paragraph here. As far back as ten years ago Steen has credited Corino with taking him under his wing and giving him important guidance which helped shape his professional wrestling career. Corino was the guy that lost to Steen at Final Battle 2011 to allow him back into the company after a year in exile. Together they gave in to evil and created SCUM – a group which led Steen to the World Championship and threatened the very existence of ROH. Since the demise of SCUM Corino has concentrated solely on his commentary and had been considered a retired wrestler – until Steen brought him back through the ropes for his final match. Is Steve in any serious shape to wrestle? Does he pose a threat to one of the most dangerous performers in ROH history? Can Steen give us one last memory before heading to Florida?

There are actually duelling ‘Mr Wrestling’ chants from different portions of the crowd as they await Steen’s entrance to the arena. He gets so many streamers that he is actually able to bury himself in them, visibly causing Bobby Cruise and Scarlett Bordeaux to crack up. Corino goes OLD SCHOOL and hands Bobby one of his trademark lists – spotlighting Corino’s many achievements in wrestling. He then cheapshots Steen before the bell to show that he’s not pulling any punches tonight either. The fight goes to the floor where Steve gleefully tosses his old friend into the guardrails repeatedly. Steen responds by grabbing an El Generico mask from a ringside fan then hitting a YAKUZA KICK! Corino misses a Flying Asshole (Ode to Cabana obviously), then sees a Thumb In The Bum countered with a Codebreaker. FLYING ASSHOLE/CANNONBALL COMBO by Steen gets 2! Running STO from Steve to put an end to the nostalgia-fest…before they spill to the floor again and take each other out with simultaneous clotheslines. Northern lights bomb gets 2 for Corino before Steen bounces back with the Steen-ton Bomb. But Steve refuses to lie down for Steen and drops him again with the Colby Shock. F-5 gets 2 for Mr Wrestling! Package Piledriver blocked with a superkick then the Eternal Dream! The crowd sportingly give him a ‘you still got it’ chant as he drags Kevin up the ropes. Unfortunately the only thing he ‘gets’ for that is an avalanche fisherman buster from Steen! PACKAGE PILEDRIVER NAILED! Steen wins his last ROH match at 11:46 (shown).

Rating - *** - Honestly this was better than I’d expected it to be. Corino was always pretty hit or miss when it comes to standard, straightforward wrestling matches so it was only fair to be a little cautious given the fact that he is semi-retired now. We shouldn’t have worried though, as these guys struck the right blend of comedy, nostalgia and hard hitting wrestling. Steen got the win, Corino’s performance was really decent too, and the crowd are sent home happy. Not quite on the level of Danielson/Nigel for best ever ROH farewell match, but it’s definitely one of the better ones.

Larry then introduces the match fans voted the 2014 MOTY – reDRagon vs Young Bucks from War Of The Worlds. As I’ve said before, whilst I absolutely loved it I never really had it anywhere near my favourites matches of 2014. It’s actually my least favourite of the Bucks/reDRagon trilogy

Young Bucks vs reDRagon – ROH Tag Title Match
At Raising The Bar Night 2 they produced a stunning encounter, with Young Bucks ending the second dominant Tag Title reign of reDRagon. Fish and O’Reilly were livid, as it was the second time they’d seen off every challenger Ring Of Honor had only to lose to a team from New Japan (last summer they briefly lost them to Forever Hooligans). After instantly earning a rematch at Supercard Of Honor 8, they are more focused than ever on regaining their belts tonight. In fact, they’ve been training with UFC’s Tom Lawlor to further hone their skills ahead of one of the biggest matches of their careers.

The Jacksons kick the middle rope into Tom Lawlor’s crotch before the bell even rings. I wonder if UFC were happy about that? Nick gives Fish the handspring back rake, before joining his brother for a DOUBLE BACK RAKE on Kyle! CRAZY DIVE TO THE FLOOR BY NICK! Lawlor then gets some retribution by crotching Matt on the top rope as he attempts his own dive. Having proven their superiority when it comes to throwing spots around, reDRagon realise they need to slow the pace down if they want to beat the Bucks. After a backbreaker/knee drop combo O’Reilly takes Matt to the canvas and wears him down with multiple submission holds. They seem to be targeting Matt’s ribs which will make it hard for him to breathe and significantly more difficult to string together endless high spots. Even when Matt edges towards a tag to Nick, Tom Lawlor is again on hand to drag the other Buck off the apron. O’Reilly scores the first serious nearfall of the match with the Regalplex. Finally Matt lands a springboard blockbuster on Kyle and does get the hot tag to Nick. TORNADO DDT ON THE FLOOR for O’Reilly! He returns with the slingshot X-Factor on Fish for 2. Moonsault off the apron misses though, with Fish COUNTERING WITH A SPEAR INTO THE RAILS! MATT SPEARS FISH! MISSILE DROPKICK OFF THE APRON BY O’REILLY…COUNTERED WITH A SUPERKICK! Fish barely kicks out of a springboard splash/standing moonsault combo whilst his partner is totally incapacitated on the floor. More Bang For Your F*ck countered (damnit) into an Anklelock by Bobby…as Matt lunges into the ring for a Superkick on O’Reilly. The Bucks position their opponents then superkick them into a FORCED TOMBSTONE FROM FISH TO O’REILLY! DOUBLE DRAGON SCREW by O’Reilly! MISSILE DROPKICK FROM THE APRON TO THE GUARDRAILS! Fish slips on the ropes, but STILL manages to plant Matt with an avalanche falcon arrow! Chasing The Dragon countered with a Superkick. Axe & Smash COUNTERED WITH ANOTHER SUPERKICK! Fish kicks Nick’s legs from under him though, with Kyle cranking on Matt with a front choke. NICK SAVES WITH AN ELEVATED 450 SPLASH! FOR 2! SUICIDE DIVE TO THE FLOOR! MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK…COUNTERED WITH KNEES ON NICK THEN A TRIANGLE CHOKE ON MATT! COUNTERED TO THE RAISING THE BAR ROLL-UP FINISH…FOR 2! AXE & SMASH! BRAINBUSTER! MATT KICKS OUT! CHASING THE DRAGON! MATT KICKS OUT AGAIN! ARM-AGEDDON! MATT TAPS! New champs at 12:40

Rating - **** - I could be critical and say that a scrooge-like mere 13-minutes for these two teams was another dick move by ROH/SBG. I could complain that I really hated Tom Lawlor’s persistent interference (although not as much as his UFC bosses did I’d wager). And I could point out that giving reDRagon the belts for a third time feels a little stale as there really isn’t a team in Ring Of Honor they’ve not beaten already. But, to complain would be wholly out of place following a match which was such unashamedly good fun. Raising The Bar was a more intelligent, spaced out and, to be frank, BETTER match. However, for non-stop thrills, constant action and mind-bogglingly complex tag team sequences this was as entertaining as it gets. In 2014 most wrestling fans know that what they are watching is a ‘work’. They come to have fun and to enjoy themselves watching great athletes do amazing things inside the ring. Sometimes ‘super serious’ ROH can lose sight of that. Not tonight. This was stunning

Tape Rating - N/A - Larry Mercer, enthusiastic as he is, really isn’t great at hosting these things. Thankfully on this episode he wasn’t in it a whole lot, and instead we were presented with pretty lengthy portions of three really enjoyable matches which casual fans (who’d not seen them before) would have lapped up.  

Make a free website with Yola