ROH on Sinclair – Episode 185 – 4th April 2015
These Baltimore tapings have been solid. Creatively ROH is still all over the place, but I’ve enjoyed the in-ring aspect. We end them tonight with an AJ Styles main event, and he always tends to bring the goods so things look promising for this episode too. Intriguingly his opponent is Mark Briscoe. I say intriguing because facing the World Champion’s brother firmly inserts Styles into the title picture. And it’s also a lot of pressure on Mark Briscoe – a guy with obvious talent but whom hasn’t really produced a significant singles match in years. Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino are at the booth in Baltimore, MD.
Will Ferrara vs Michael Elgin
I’m not even sure Delirious knows where he’s going with Elgin right now. He’s been so badly mismanaged that the fans have entirely rejected him, even though his in-ring work has been solid of late. He was in the 13th Anniversary main event and nobody cared. He stunk up the place at Final Battle 2014 and nobody cared. His World Title reign was a complete bust and is now a distant memory (much as many of us predicted when ROH foolishly took the belt off of Adam Cole at their first big ppv for a cheap and easy ‘moment’). He’s back at the bottom of the card now, fighting for his place and struggling to break out of the pack once more. Will the plucky rookie Ferrara allow himself to be pushed around by the cranky Canadian?
Elgin smirks before stepping to the centre of the ring and flattening the rookie. A massive boot poleaxes him, then he gets thrown into the lights for a huge pancake. Will gets some token offence – and ceases his moment by NAILING a Code Red. It barely gets even a 2-count though and soon Michael is back on his feet dishing out a mammoth roaring elbow. Elgin Bomb wins it at 04:40
Rating - * - Elgin gets a convincing win and looks impressive which is all fine and dandy but it was nothing ROH fans haven’t seen a million times before. I wish ROH would get over this fetish for how big and strong Elgin is and actually do something with him. His creative direction needs a massive overhaul if he is to salvage his Ring Of Honor career. I’d love to see an opening match on the TV show which wasn’t completely skippable too for that matter.
War Machine vs Anthony Greene/Cam Zagami
Don’t expect this to last long. It’s the first time we’ve seen War Machine as a tag team since last year, with Raymond Rowe missing several months of action after a motorcycle accident last summer. He returned at the 13th Anniversary Show, and it couldn’t have been at a better time as Hanson’s steam as a singles player was really running out – despite some great performances here and there. They are a formidable presence in the tag division and are another duo who will have their sights firmly set on the reigning champions reDRagon.
Maybe it’s just because we haven’t seen him in a while but Rowe looks f*cking huge. Helpfully the jobbers have their initials on their trunks, meaning I know that it’s Zagami who starts in the ring getting mauled by Ray. It’s even worse for Greene – he gets pummelled by both Hanson and Rowe! ‘Let’s go jobbers’ – Baltimore. That chant is silenced by Hanson’s cartwheel lariat. The Fallout gives War Machine their comeback victory in an emphatic 02:05
Rating - N/A - An effective squash match which showcased War Machine in a positive way, so no complaints from me. Kevin Kelly calling Hanson and Rowe the ‘modern day Road Warriors’ was cringe-worthy but they are so different to every other team in the division. I’m still not certain that either of them are particularly outstanding workers – but they look great and are a whole heap more interesting than big chunks of the ROH roster.
Michael Elgin comes through the curtain to piss on Ray Rowe’s comeback party. He claims credit for the success of War Machine…then challenges them to a handicap match.
War Machine vs Michael Elgin
Well, I did say I wanted ROH to do something with Elgin. This is surreal booking in the extreme that makes no sense at all. Delirious has booked himself into a corner whereby he either crushes War Machine’s momentum, makes Elgin looks like an idiot, or pisses off all the fans by getting out of this hole with some bullsh*t chicanery. I’d be more critical – but at least this is unpredictable.
Spin Kick Of Doom ducked…so Rowe messes Elgin up with an elbow smash instead. Bronco Buster gets 2. Ray hits the Cement Mixer then gets powerbombed into a senton which sends Michael running to the floor. He clubs Rowe with a chair, forcing his disqualification at 01:54
Rating - DUD - As I said, Delirious booked himself into a corner here. In fact, he did it so spectacularly that ALL of my issues with this match came true. The fans are pissed off with a crappy finish. Elgin looks like a moron. And worst of all – all the air has been let out of War Machine’s big comeback. I genuinely don’t understand how ROH is as popular now as it has ever been despite being SO badly booked. Can Sinclair not chuck a pile of money at Gabe to get him back or something? This was worse than Jim Cornette era ROH
NEXT WEEK – Supercard Of Honor Road Rage. Jay Briscoe talks about his history with Samoa Joe. Where the hell was this promo on the Supercard Of Honor DVD?
QT Marshall vs ACH
Yes indeed, everyone’s favourite husky, balding fool is still getting booked. QT is back, still scraping around at the bottom of the ROH roster and now trying to climb the ranks at the expense of ACH. ACH himself is trying to rebound from another high profile loss – this time to AJ Styles in Las Vegas.
Marshall marking out for his Cary-tron video is hilarious and almost makes his appearance on this episode worthwhile. He also has an impressive start to the match – catching ACH trying to dive off the apron and giving him a hard powerslam on the floor. In fact he’s so dominant in the opening minutes you’ll start to question what the hell is going on. It takes more than three minutes for ACH to get a move in – eventually scoring a nearfall with the Hero’s Grip. QT counters the Big Bang Attack into a corkscrew brainbuster though. Seriously, this is QT f*cking Marshall. WHY is he dominating one of ROH’s top babyfaces? Marshall is so confident now he actually tries a 450 Splash! Obviously he misses, and ACH hits the same move to win at 04:38
Rating - DUD - Was whomever wrote this episode on drugs? First we get a segment which murdered both Elgin and War Machine’s credibility, and now we get ACH having his ass handed to him by QT Marshall? This was a classic example of how abysmally Delirious/Sinclair manage their midcard. There is no consistently, no forethought and no cohesive plan for any of these guys. Marshall should have been out there making ACH look good, not the other way around. I will say that QT is pretty funny, and he had some fun comedic moments in this match. But is letting a jobber who appears once a month crack a few jokes really more important than one of your most over midcard babyface acts?
The Decade enter the arena, with Colby Corino now very much in tow as the water boy. Whitmer trashes ACH and goes over the same ‘unpopular in the locker room’ angle Decade were doing with him a year ago. Colby eventually jumps ACH from behind – feeding him to Adam Page for the Inverted Tombstone.
Mark Briscoe talks about AJ Styles’ history with the Briscoes. They’ve battled in tags before, but now AJ has to face a Briscoe in singles action. There’s some stuff about chickens and roosters in there too.
Mark Briscoe vs AJ Styles
I like that ROH has started booking AJ against midcard guys at TV tapings. He produced a hell of a match with Hanson in Florida last year, and I’m really hoping he’ll be the guy to elevate Mark Briscoe to his best singles match in a long time. Mark will be eyeing up a major statement by defeating the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion…whilst Styles will be looking to make a statement to the ROH Champion by beating up his little brother this evening. Can these guys salvage a quite atrocious episode thus far?
It’s quite refreshing to watch Mark wrestle a match like a normal person. Sadly the fascinating mat battle he has with AJ is being entirely ignored by the commentators – who are trading parental war stories in the wake of Colby’s actions in the previous segment. Briscoe evidently backs himself on the canvas and repeatedly grounds Styles rather than let him build any momentum. It’s a sound strategy – as AJ demonstrates by popping off his trademark dropkick the second Mark gives him some breathing room. Blockbuster off the apron blocked…Styles Clash on the floor blocked! STO INTO THE GUARDRAILS BY AJ! GUARDRAIL BACKBREAKER NEXT! A commercial break is inserted here, and when we come back we see Styles hit a backbreaker/gutbuster combo to continue that focus on the midsection. The Calf Killer comes out early – this time used more to wrench Briscoe’s back but on a guy with a history of knee problems that could be a lethal hold. Karate strikes from Mark to free himself – and these aren’t the goofy comedy strikes; he is REALLY laying them in on the IWGP Champ. A fisherman buster scores as well but it’s noticeable how much slower Briscoe is moving now. NECK DROP hammerlock back suplex by Styles to do more damage to the core of his opponent. PHENOM DDT SCORES! I’ve seen him hit that move for more than a decade and that might be the best I’ve ever seen it look! Mark heads to the apron – and even there he’s not safe as AJ springs over the ropes to hit the Pele Kick. A desperate Briscoe boots Styles off the apron and hits the Cactus Elbow so they’re both down on the floor. Froggy Bow GETS KNEES! Right into Mark’s ribs! BLOODY SUNDAY! STYLES CLASH! AJ wins at 14:27 (shown)
Rating - **** - Had this been at a DVD/VOD show or PPV I might have only gone 3*, but for free TV I always look to be more generous and this was a really strong match for television. It was a somewhat strange to watch, in that it was Mark’s best ROH singles match in years whilst also being perhaps AJ’s worst – but there was plenty of quality to be had. Styles is SO good these days. He circumnavigated all the usual comedic goofball pitfalls of a Mark Briscoe singles match with sheer, raw and total aggression. He wasn’t here for Redneck Kung Fu – he wanted to snap Briscoe in half. His intensity meant Briscoe had no choice but to step up his own game in order to hang with him. I could have done with this going longer to really click into the higher gears…and I haven't said that about too many Mark Briscoe singles matches recently.
Tape Rating - ** - The main event was good, but that shouldn’t excuse some truly awful television before that. Delirious has never been particularly good at managing his midcard and we saw a saddening example of that in this episode. Michael Elgin, War Machine and ACH are all competent talents who should be the backbone of the undercard (if not pushing for main event billing). One by one they were made to look like buffoons with some of the most idiotic writing I’ve seen in a LONG time. I know Gabe went off the rails a little in 2008. But I would hold up the Rhett/Delirious/Daizee love triangle, the over-pushed and convoluted Age Of The Fall or botched ‘stable warfare’ angle over the utter crap Delirious serves up any day of the week. I love the Lizard Man as a performer but some of his booking is maddening. Skip the first 30 minutes of this show if you want to keep your sanity.
Top 5 Conquest Tour: Baltimore Taping Matches
5) Jay Lethal vs Dalton Castle (N/A - Episode 183)
4) Jay Briscoe vs Jimmy Jacobs (*** - Episode 183)
3) AJ Styles vs Mark Briscoe (**** - Episode 185)
2) Samoa Joe vs Kyle O’Reilly (**** - Episode 184)
1) Michael Bennett/Matt Taven vs Young Bucks (**** - Episode 182)