ROH on Sinclair – Episode 176 – 31st January 2015
This is the final episode taped during the Winter Warriors Tour stop-off in Nashville. We have plenty on tap tonight, with the decked stacked against Jay Lethal when he takes on tag partners ACH and Matt Sydal in a triple threat for the TV Title…plus the final first round match in the 2015 Top Prospect Tournament (featuring the debut of Dalton Castle). Steve Corino and Kevin Kelly are in Nashville, TN.
Romantic Touch vs Moose
Moose is supposedly primed for big things in 2015. On the same night that this episode aired he was would attack the World Champion at a live event in Dayton, whilst his manager Stokely Hathaway vowed that he was ‘ready’ for the top prize in the company. If he is to prove his worth as a top contender in Ring Of Honor, he needs to be demolishing also-rans like Romantic Touch. This is technically Moose’s first appearance since aligning himself with Veda Scott at Final Battle.
RT reigns in his normal shenanigans to land a couple of powerful early strikes, but is soon back to gyrating like a fool and soon gets clobbered by the bigger man. Veda is on commentary complaining about Moose having to wrestle jobbers…but then gets propped up against Stokely and dropkicked to the ground by Touch. Moose hits a Pounce, followed by the rolling Spear for the win at 02:59
Rating - N/A - Romantic Touch got in too much offence, but on the whole Moose looked impressive and formidable – which was the entire point of this exercise. It also got extra points from me for having Romantic Touch ditch all of his usual silly games. This added a degree of realism to proceedings as he knew that if he acted like his usual goofball self Moose would simply kill him. Ojinnaka still has a long way to go before anyone is interested in seeing him main event…
The Decade get some promo time…and Jimmy Jacobs is absolutely electric. He confirms Adam Page is a full member of the group, and as such they are scouting for new young boys. BJ Whitmer interrupts him and, much to Jimmy’s annoyance, drops out of the next match to give his spot to yet another potential young boy in Chris Larusso…
Jimmy Jacobs/Adam Page/Chris Larusso vs Three Generic Dudes
As Jimmy just said, The Decade are on the hunt for new young boys as they look to build for the ‘next decade’ in Ring Of Honor. Adam Page has now graduated through the scheme and is supposedly the living embodiment of the success The Decade have enjoyed. However, tensions are bubbling away under the surface. Roderick Strong has left the group and faces BJ Whitmer on pay-per-view at the start of march. The divide between Jacobs and Whitmer has been subtly increasing too.
The Decade order Larusso to start in the ring, which he obliges by aggressively singling out Leon something-or-other. Whitmer continually interrupts commentary and snatches Corino’s headset, because that issue just won’t die. Page has eventually had enough of Larusso, and sneaks in to attack another of the job squad (‘Chris Chambers’) from behind. Whitmer and Corino are still arguing at ringside with Steve’s headset malfunctioning as a result. Page wins with the inverted Tombstone at 03:24
Rating - DUD - Back to back squashes, and this episode is starting to feel like the real dregs of the Winter Warriors Tour: Nashville event. The strange thing here was, this went almost four minutes, which in TV-land isn’t a completely insignificant amount of time…yet it felt like nothing happened at all. None of the jobbers got the chance to shine, and it wasn’t like Jacobs and Page emerged from this with their reputations significantly enhanced either. The only two people who got any real air-time out of this was Steve Corino and BJ Whitmer – and that issue has nowhere to go at all. Is a match between those guys really much of a draw in 2015?
BJ Whitmer attacks Larusso and puts him in the Stronghold to send a message to Roddy…
NEXT WEEK – The Briscoes and ODB take on The Kingdom of Bennett, Taven and Maria
Ashley Sixx vs Dalton Castle
This is our final first round match in the 2015 Top Prospect Tournament, with the winner vying to join Will Ferrara, Donovan Dijak and the Beer City Bruiser in the semi-finals. It will be quite the clash of styles as gritty, brawling cancer-survivor Ashley Sixx squares off with the self-proclaimed ‘Peacock of Professional Wrestling’ Dalton Castle.
Dalton’s entrance, featuring an insane outfit, half-naked dudes in sequinned towels and catchy music, is quite the spectacle. Within seconds he has made more of an impression than anyone else in the TPT. Sixx isn’t impressed by Castle and bites him during the Code Of Honor. Steve Corino mentions that Ashley was actually going to be a part of SCUM, but his cancer diagnosis meant he had to drop out. Castle shows impressive strength to catch him in mid-air from a crossbody attempt and converting him into a belly to belly suplex. Bang-a-Rang scores for Castle and gets a nearfall, as the camera pans into the crowd where masked KRD representatives are once again watching. Tope suicida by Sixx, before hitting the Sixx Year Itch for the win at 04:51
Rating - * - Once again, considering how long this one went it felt like it accomplished very little. I didn’t come away feeling like I’d seen a star being born in Ashley Sixx, and I also came away feeling like I’d seen the natural charisma of Dalton Castle unceremoniously neutered. Having said that, in mere minutes Dalton Castle emerged as perhaps THE star of the 2015 Top Prospect Tournament. In a really weak year for the TPT he is a real diamond – something Chikara fans already knew.
Adam Cole enters the arena next. We are still yet to hear him say anything since losing at Final Battle, His injured shoulder is heavily strapped and braced…and after circling the ring ominously he opts to give the crowd the finger then leave. Still we wait to hear his post-Final Battle thoughts…
Jay Lethal vs ACH vs Matt Sydal – ROH TV Title Match
In the latter half of 2014 Jay Lethal fended off two high profile challengers to his Television Championship. After being pushed to the limit in a 30-minute draw, he eventually overcome ACH in the rematch…then advanced to Final Battle where he successfully negotiated the challenge of the returning Matt Sydal. Tonight, though, ROH is forcing him to do battle with these two opponents one more time. If that wasn’t difficult enough for him, he will also have to contend with the fact that Sydal and ACH have formed a bond and occasionally team together. The shadow of Alberto El Patron also looms over this one, as he will challenge Lethal at the 13th Anniversary Show if he is successful here.
Sydal and ACH hug during the Code Of Honor…so Lethal shakes hands whilst hugging the belt to make a point. He then walks out of the ring to force the tag partners to fight amongst themselves. He gets a little too relaxed on the floor though, and doesn’t see Matt fly at him with a pescado. Jay eventually catapults ACH into Sydal, breaking up the tag team unity between them for the first time. ROLLING TOPES on both opponents! He keeps Sydal out of the ring allowing him to focus on ACH, until Matt flips back in with a slingshot somersault rana. He has no problem dishing out punishment to ACH either and lands the standing moonsault on him for 2. Hero’s Grip on Lethal gets 2 as well! AIR JORDAN NAILED! ACH senses victory but can’t hit the 450 Splash on Sydal…who avoids it then climbs the ropes looking for the Sydal Press. SYDAL PRESS ON ACH! Lethal breaks the fall with a superkick, and hits the Lethal Injection on him! Lethal Combo, followed by the Injection on ACH! The champ retains in a rather disappointing 09:27 (shown).
Rating - ** - This had the potential to be a hell of a main event, but this paltry time allocation ripped apart any chance of that happening. On an episode where so little happened it really isn’t acceptable that ROH could only find less than ten minutes for these three. There were some moments of excitement, and Lethal’s performance as the heel gluing it all together was strong…but this was nothing more than forgettable filler. For a TV main event and for athletes of this calibre this was pretty underwhelming…
Alberto El Patron runs in and chases Jay Lethal away to send another message before Vegas…
Tape Rating - * - One of the worst episodes of ROH on SBG for a long time. A disappointing main event, a couple of mediocre squashes and an unimpressive Top Prospect Tournament match all made for a really poor hour of television. Outside of Adam Cole’s cameo and Dalton Castle’s debut there really isn’t much to recommend about this one at all. Upon reflection, even though up until this week the episodes taped haven’t been too bad, the Nashville tapings in general weren’t much to write home about. Outside of a half decent triple threat to set up the Vegas main event and Alberto’s stellar debut against Christopher Daniels there wasn’t a lot to get excited about at all. Unless you’re a massive ODB fan or something…
Top 5 Winter Warriors Tour: Nashville Taping Matches
5) Roderick Strong vs Mark Briscoe (** - Episode 173)
4) Jay Lethal vs ACH vs Matt Sydal (** - Episode 176)
3) Jay Briscoe vs Matt Taven (*** - Episode 174)
2) Michael Elgin vs Tommaso Ciampa vs Hanson (*** - Episode 173)
1) Alberto El Patron vs Christopher Daniels (**** - Episode 175)