ROH on Sinclair – Episode 195 – 17th June 2015
We are now just two days away from Best In The World, so tension should be reaching fever pitch and every opportunity should be taken to shill that pay-per-view tonight. Jay Briscoe and Jay Lethal will be in the same ring to sign the contract to make the Battle Of The Belts official. Will tempers boil over when those two combustible personalities meet face-to-face? Once again we join Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino in Toronto, ONT.
The show is supposed to begin with War Machine facing The Decade however, just like a couple of weeks ago BJ Whitmer ‘generously’ relinquishes his spot in the match to give Colby Corino an opportunity. He takes delight in sending Steve Corino’s son into a guaranteed ass-kicking once again. Ray Rowe tries to reason with Colby…but eventually gives up and gives him a merciless beating (with Page refusing to tag in and help).
Cedric Alexander gets some promo time, although he isn’t deemed significant enough to have his ring entrance included. He knows his career has flatlined in 2015 and he needs to start racking up some serious wins. In an effort to do that he lays down a major challenge – to the ‘undefeated Moose’.
Cedric Alexander vs Moose
It wasn’t the prettiest of promos, but Cedric did a fine job setting the stage for this one. In 2014 he was hot property after winning a feud with Roderick Strong, but has been stuck pressed against a glass ceiling ever since. In 2015 he hasn’t accumulated anywhere near enough victories to put himself into championship contention and the frustration has started to show. He is looking to jump-start his career by ending Moose’s undefeated streak tonight. This is a big match for Moose too though, as he could be just 48 hours from becoming the #1 contender for the World Championshhip.
Alexander dodges the Moose dropkick and plants a kick into the back of his head. He then SHOVES Moose’s big head into the ringpost with an audible crack. The big man seems slowed momentarily, until he takes flight in style to dropkick Cedric OFF THE TOP ROPE! Alexander really craves victory though and it takes seconds for him to retaliate with a springboard lariat then the somersault senton over the top to the floor. A tornado DDT drops Moose onto his head again – and it really seems like Cedric on a roll now. But even semi-conscious the ex-NFL man is a major threat and proves it by landing the Game Breaker (pop-up lariat – Wikipedia said so) for 2. His adverse reaction to his opponent’s attack on his head is all too apparent though – and he stumbles trying to run to the top rope, enabling Cedric to catch him with the aptly-named Concussion On Delivery (his version of Aries’ IED, yes, I looked for that on Wikipedia too). Referee Paul Turner is concerned for Moose’s safety as Alexander just keeps putting kicks into his skull. ROLLING SPEAR FROM NOWHERE! Veda Scott tries to get Moose to use a wrench to ensure victory…and when he refuses Alexander grabs it and SMACKS HIM IN THE HEAD! He’s already on the point of unconsciousness, and Cedric nabs the chance to score a huge victory. Moose’s undefeated streak is over at 07:30
Rating - *** - As a match I really enjoyed this. Alexander had an awesome weekend in Toronto actually, since his performance against Okada the previous night was terrific too. The story they went with – Alexander desperate for victory and breaking something of a ‘taboo’ in wrestling terms by outright trying to force a concussion on his opponent – worked really well. It also protected Moose’s limitations by letting Alexander do most of the work. Here’s my issue though – to the surprise of nobody, I HATE the booking. I’m far from Moose’s biggest fan, but they’ve put him over a load of people and are half-way through an angle hyping him for a World Title shot. Why the hell would they blow his undefeated streak on a heel turn for the chronically uncharismatic Cedric Alexander? As a worker Cedric is great, and I am thrilled Delirious is looking to reinvigorate his career…but to me it makes no sense at all to kill off Moose’s streak, and to do it for someone with only a limited upside, like Cedric, seems nonsensical. Fans don’t like Moose enough to buy this as a huge change in Cedric’s fortunes, and Ced himself doesn’t have the promo skills to put it over that way either. All this does is kill Moose’s credibility just when he was starting to resemble a half-decent member of the roster. And it was complete madness to air this TWO DAYS before a pay-per-view in which you’ve booked the loser as a top contender to the World Title whilst the winner doesn’t even have a scheduled match...
INSIDE ROH – The Tag Title showdown at Best In The World between The Addiction and reDRagon is showcased this week. One can’t help but feel that the build-up to this one has been really harmed by Bobby Fish not being allowed into Canada for Global Wars then both members of reDRagon missing the entirety of the Road To Best In The World Tour. Adam Cole crashes the segment to call the Bullet Club punks, and vows to prove that The Kingdom are the top faction when they collide on ppv.
Matt Sydal/ACH vs Hiroshi Tanahashi/Tetsuya Naito
Sydal and ACH don’t have a lot of experience as a team, and have a huge task before them as they face two of New Japan’s top stars. Do they have the weaponry in their arsenal to take down the likes of the great Tanahashi? Perhaps the bigger question here is – will Naito actually look like he gives a crap tonight, for the first time on the entire tour?
ACH has his own gear tonight, but just like last night (versus Nakamura) pesters Tanahashi by hopping around in front of him. Sydal isn’t phased by Tana’s reputation either and splashes into him with the standing moonsault early. Naito shutting ACH up by smashing his mouth with a huge running dropkick is possibly the best thing he’s done all week, although ACH is soon back on his feet and mocking his (stupid) pose. Tanahashi decides to attack ACH from behind and gives him a ride into the guardrails behind the ref’s back. The New Japan team start targeting the back and show a willingness to break any rule they need to in the process. Tanahashi is, unsurprisingly, much more interesting to watch than Naito – who is doing his usual Rob Van Dam tribute act of spot-pose-spot-pose on repeat. Sydal rescues his partner and takes out Naito in the process with a standing super rana…but then tries another standing moonsault and gets CAUGHT WITH A GERMAN SUPLEX by Tana! Slice on Tanahashi! Jumping knee/Hero’s Grip combo gets 2. Tanahashi looks insanely pissed off with ACH now, and puts real torque on the Texas Cloverleaf he applies on him. JUMPING KNEE TO THE FAAAAAACE! Team NJPW stop Sydal hitting a dive…AIR JORDAN NAILED BY ACH INSTEAD! SYDAL PRESS! Naito saves Tanahashi! 450 SPLASH…sort of blocked! SLING BLADE! HIGH FLY FLOW! Tanahashi finally silences ACH at 14:54
Rating - *** - This was, by a distance, the most enjoyable Naito match of the entire tour…although he was still the worst part of the match. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to this and had been expecting a rather vapid exhibition encounter, so they really surprised me. ACH being an annoying sh*t was the focal point, and the New Japan guys were awesome in putting that over. He was such a tool he made Tanahashi want to work heel. He pissed Naito off so much he had to be stopped from ripping his eye open…and it got to the point where Tana had an in-ring temper tantrum at the fact that he couldn’t put ACH away.
Nigel McGuinness is in position to host the contract signing for the Best In The World 2015 main event – the ‘Battle Of The Belts’ between World Champion Jay Briscoe and TV Champion Jay Lethal. Surprisingly it doesn’t end in violence, but culminates only in a few pointed remarks from each man and a stare-off as they raise their belts aloft. Jay Lethal looks every bit the World Champion in-waiting at this stage…
Tape Rating - *** - Not quite as good as last week, but given how appalling the first Destination America episode was one really should acknowledge the improvement. Getting NJPW’s big names onto the TV show is great for ROH, albeit they really made no effort to promote it at all so probably won’t see much benefit. Alexander/Moose and Sydal/ACH vs Tanahashi/Naito were really solid TV matches (if you disregard the booking plotholes that you could drive a truck through) and the final segment, whilst basic, did at least give one last hard sell for the pay-per-view.