ROH on Sinclair – Episode 187 – 18th April 2015
With Supercard Of Honor out of the way we are now very much in the latter stages of the Conquest Tour, with sights firmly set on the big NJPW crossover shows in Philadelphia and Toronto next month. Tonight sees the first broadcast of material taped at the San Antonio leg of the Conquest Tour and to give credit where it’s due – the Shrine Auditorium venue they usually run here looks terrific with the new TV set. Our scheduled main event sees two incredibly frustrated men lock horns as Michael Elgin takes on Cedric Alexander with both men looking to get over the perpetual plateau that their ROH careers have been stuck on. Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino are in San Antonio, TX too.
Donovan Dijak vs Dalton Castle
At Episode 183 Dijak declined the TV Title shot he’d earned with victory in the 2015 Top Prospect Tournament and instead opted to join the House Of Truth, falling in line behind current TV Champ Jay Lethal. Castle, the real break-out star of the 2015 TPT seized the moment and sweet-talked his way into getting the title shot instead. He was doing pretty well until Dijak proved his worth to the HOT by destroying him with the Feast Your Eyes and handing Lethal the victory. Now Dalton comes to Texas looking for some revenge and to solidify his reputation as the real star of this year’s Top Prospect Tournament.
How are Queen not suing ROH for Castle’s entrance music? It may well be the best ROH theme going right now. His mindgames bewilder Dijak at the bell allowing him to hit a barrage of knee strikes to really leave the big man reeling. Donovan finally batters Castle off the apron with a lariat then looks to impose himself on the floor with a series of crushing Irish whips into the side of the ring and railings. APRON 619 HEADSCISSORS TO THE FLOOR by Dalton! HEAT SEEKING MISSILE NAILED! That’s where we leave for a commercial break, and when we come back Dijak is powering his way back into the ascendancy with a brutal vertical suplex into the turnbuckles. He hits a springboard corkscrew senton off the bottom turnbuckle which is pretty impressive! Feast Your Eyes blocked with a flurry of strikes by the Party Peacock. EVEREST GERMAN GETS 2! BANG-A-RANG! TWO AGAIN! Truth Martini grabs Castle’s leg to distract him…and Dijak mows him down with FEAST YOUR EYES! Dijak wins at 08:15 (shown).
Rating - *** - My favourite opening match from ROH’s TV show in quite some time. It helps that these are two fresh faces of course, and it helps even more that Castle is definitely the most interesting new talent that has come into Ring Of Honor in a long time. His entirely unique androgynous persona and immense charisma are coupled with an intense toughness and believability in his wrestling style which I really like. It’s easy to see why he clicked so quickly with the ROH fans, and he deserves a lot of credit for getting both himself and Dijak over with this performance. He should be signed to a contract and booked onto as many shows as possible as he could be a real draw if managed correctly.
Truth Martini tries to manhandle Dalton and the Boys after the match – but is fought off with a Testicular Claw from Castle. Apparently that is so hardcore SBG have censored it. F*ck the PG era
War Machine are in action next, continuing their comeback as a tag team following Ray Rowe’s return from devastating injuries suffered in a motorbike accident in 2015. Their opponents are Ken Phoenix and Andy Dalton…not that it matters as it’s over in less than 20 seconds after the Fallout on Dalton.
FISH TANK LIVE – Jay Lethal is the guest of reDRagon tonight, and is introduced with a reminder that O’Reilly tapped him out at the Conquest Tour Milwaukee event. Lethal plays down that loss, and plans to get his own back next weekend at a live event in Hopkins. He’s actually here to promote his new compilation DVD apparently – which Bobby and Kyle obviously make fun of. Jay has some strong words for Jay Briscoe too…and the World Champion has no problem crashing the show! reDRagon jump for joy as the two singles champions come to blows on their segment…until the KRD invade and beat them up too! Chris Daniels, Matt Sydal and ACH come out to make the save as Corino points out that it can’t be Bennett and Taven since they are in Japan. What a heated segment...
Hold the phone, we have a backstage segment?!!! BJ Whitmer and Adam Page complain about all the opportunities guys like ACH get whilst they do things the right way and get nothing…
Michael Elgin vs Cedric Alexander
Last time these two met in the main event of an ROH on SBG episode things were very different. Elgin was World Champion, Cedric was riding the crest of a wave having won his feud with Roderick Strong and both men looked destined for great things. Sadly neither of them have had the careers they would have liked since that point. Elgin lost his championship and has been stuck in a surly, melancholic slump since then – resorting to childish tantrums and oddball antics looking to get attention as the fans and the company turn their backs on him. Alexander hasn’t quite resorted to that yet, but he will be similarly irritated at his continued inability to break out of the midcard pack. He can’t string together enough high profile victories to get things moving – and knows a high profile televised victory here could be exactly what he needs.
Alexander doesn’t back down from Elgin and is happy to try his hand at tests of strength or strike exchanges with the former World Champion. Nothing really works for him though, with Michael exploding him through the air with a massive shoulder tackle. Speed is his friend though – grounding Elgin with a somersault plancha to the floor. Overtime attempted far too early and he eats mat. Elgin counters a tornado DDT into a corkscrew slingshot suplex before slowing the pace again to methodically grind Cedric down. It forces Alexander into evasive action, dodging a powerbomb on the floor and a succession of elbows before attempting the Three Amigos. Springboard lariat gets 2. Can Cedric do enough damage put Unbreakable away? MICHINOKU DRIVER! Still 2! 540 Kick countered with a lariat, only for Cedric to capture Elgin in the corner to hit a trilogy of running dropkicks. OVERTIME TO THE BACK! He wants a second Overtime…and gets knees this time! Elgin double stomps the head then absolutely crushes his opponent with a sit-out powerbomb. Elgin Bomb countered to a jack-knife pun! BACK FIST COUNTERED TO THE LUMBAR CHECK! ELGIN KICKS OUT! He crotches Alexander on the ropes to hit him with a McGuinness-esque lariat despite having taken so much punishment he can barely stand. Frankensteiner by Cedric ROLLED THROUGH INTO A POWERBOMB! BACK FIST! ELGIN BOMB! Elgin wins at 14:10 (shown).
Rating - **** - I didn’t have particularly high expectations for this, but came away really enjoying it. They have such differing styles but worked together far more cohesively than when they met on TV last year. I loved how they played off each other – with the sulking and miserable Elgin looking to dismissively beat up the smaller man, whilst an aggressive and pissed off Cedric threw everything he had at the former World Champion; trading strikes, diving to the floor, coming off the top rope and more. Crucially, unlike several ‘big matches’ in Ring Of Honor recently, this had some really engaging nearfall moments. For the first time in a while I really was on the edge of my seat feeling like a match could go either way.
NEXT WEEK – reDRagon vs The Addiction for the Tag Titles.
Tape Rating - **** - I was forthright in my criticism of Episodes 185 and 186, so it is only fair that I am equally up front with my praise for this episode. From top to bottom this was an enjoyable and extremely effective hour of television. The Dijak/Castle opener showcased two dynamic new talents who have plenty of potential and felt so refreshing to watch. War Machine continue to be built as ROH Road Warriors with an impactful squash. The Fish Tank Live was easily the best live Fish Tank to date with an increased significance placed on live events, hype for the Lethal/O’Reilly Hopkins main event, the KRD stepping up their campaign against the Tag Champions and more shots fired in the brewing war between Lethal and Briscoe. And all that before a main event which I (along with many others) wrote off – but actually delivered far more than you might expect. I hope for more of the same from these San Antonio tapings – in front of, what has to be said, is an outstanding crowd. They have been hot for everything thus far.