ROH on Sinclair – Episode 199 – 15th July 2015
Ring Of Honor closed the book on Best In The World and geared up for their summer season in commendable fashion over the course of the last week, with a very decent episode of the weekly show (Episode 198) then a solid live event in Minnesota. We are on the road to Death Before Dishonor, and tonight we get our first glimpse of the World/Television Champion in action – as Jay Lethal defends his TV Title against Mark Briscoe. Also on the bill is Adam Page taking on Matt Sydal, so this could be another enjoyable hour of wrestling. Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino are in Manhattan, NY.
Adam Page vs Matt Sydal
Page is in the midst of a feud with ACH, and has backed up his claim that he is a superior athlete to ACH and deserves more opportunities as a result with two victories over him (albeit controversial ones). Now he wants further solidify his claim to be a superior performer by defeating ACH’s mentor/tag partner Matt Sydal – a man he pinned (again controversially) in a tag match at Best In The World. He isn’t coming alone either – with both BJ Whitmer and Colby Corino in his corner.
Page has a big attitude but only a fraction of Sydal’s experience and is quickly made to look foolish by the well-travelled veteran. He finally leaves the ring – and shoves Colby into the path of a running boot from Matt. Shooting star torpedo off the apron nailed, then Whitmer gives Sydal an illegal shot against the railings as we cut to commercials. When we return Adam gets a nearfall with the stalling wrist clutch suplex. A second is blocked with Matt returning fire with a flurry of strikes into a standing Meteora for 2. Slice/standing moonsault scores as well…with BJ starting to think about trying to interfere. Sydal Press blocked with a torture wrack backbreaker. Adam’s Apple nailed for a desperately close nearfall…only for the Rite Of Passage to e countered with a jumping knee. Sydal Press! Sydal gets the win at 07:14 (shown).
Rating - *** - A competitive first match, and a cut above a lot of the SBG show openers. These guys could have main evented the episode and been completely credible in that spot too. The match which pitted Page’s aggression and willingness to cheat against Sydal’s wealth of experience and did it well, but I do question the merits of putting Sydal over here. I know he put Page over on ppv and he can’t job constantly – but ultimately he’s not under contract and Page is on an obvious upward curve. Getting a second consecutive victory over Sydal would have been huge for him, and impacted Matt’s value to Ring Of Honor very little.
The Decade gang up on Sydal, bringing ACH to the ring. It’s an obvious trap as Whitmer is waiting to smack ACH around with a chair. He then holds him hostage and makes him watch as Page gives Sydal the RITE OF PASSAGE ON A STACK OF CHAIRS!
Veda Scott interrupts Kelly and Corino hyping the Death Before Dishonor iPPV to poke fun at Moose – who faces her new client Cedric Alexander at that show.
Silas Young vs Will Ferrara
We saw Silas last week, after being provoked by Dalton Castle. Dalton teasingly announced that he is the ‘only real man’ in ROH…and of course that is Young’s gimmick. He marches to the ring this week vowing to prove how much of a man he is – at the expense of young Will Ferrara.
Young wastes no time in laying Ferrara out with knees to the stomach. Will shows his growth as a performer by thinking strategically – and looks to ground the Last Real Man working submissions. Silas spends a minute or so in trouble but then emphatically suplexes his way out of an armbar. Young just can’t keep Will down; stumbling into the rebound tornado DDT for 2. Code Red nailed too, leaving Ferrara ready to set up for Eyes Wide Shut. Young counters with a TURNBUCKLE DDT! The Boys hop onto the apron in a provocative pose…just as Silas sets up for Misery. He is enraged, and doesn’t see Ferrara sneak up behind him with a schoolboy pin for a shock victory at 05:32
Rating - ** - It went on too long, and I could have done with Young looking a little more dominant, but they worked a decent story and it built to a finish which furthers a feud I’m definitely interested in (Castle/Young). The idea here was that Young wanted to bully Will but continually found himself thwarted by the plucky youngster – and they worked that core plot well. I just don’t know how beneficial it is to Silas to be giving such a low ranking member of the roster so much…
Young grabs one of the Boys and gives him Misery instead…
NEXT WEEK – 200th Episode Special!
INSIDE ROH – Mandy Leon has Moose/Cedric feud clips for us, particularly spotlighting Cedric’s repeated use of a wrench to the detriment of his rival.
Jay Lethal vs Mark Briscoe – ROH TV Title Match
Last week Nigel McGuinness tried to force Jay Lethal to relinquish the Television Championship. Unlike when Bryan Danielson won the World and Pure Titles, the World and TV Titles are not being unified. They remain separate entities, therefore Nigel’s assumption was that Lethal would vacate the TV Title now he has become World Champion. Jay refused, and as a result will now be defending both belts – starting tonight when he looks to defeat a second Briscoe brother in a high profile New York title match in a month (or one weekend since these tapings were right after Best In The World). Mark comes in with momentum having defeated Donovan Dijak on PPV. Lethal’s Death Before Dishonor opponent, Roderick Strong, has joined the commentary team.
Lethal attacks Briscoe from the opening bell and stomps him into the corner. Truth Martini also gets involved to distract Mark in a clear attempt to totally negate his usual crazy antics. ODB comes out and chases away Martini, evening the playing field as Mark brains Lethal against the guardrails. Briscoe now sets the tone…but just when he starts to dominate J. Diesel runs in. He can’t lay a shot on Mark meaning there’s no disqualification, but the distraction means Lethal is able to assert his dominance once again. Strong, a former House Of Truth World Champion, and Corino are having a really interesting conversation about Truth Martini as a manager and how it impacts your wrestling style…as inside the ring Lethal is trying to choke the life out of his challenger with chinlocks and facelocks. Urinage followed by a quick lariat turn the tables again, into the fisherman buster which Mark has won a few matches with recently. No victory here though, so he has to COUNTER the Lethal Injection with a snap German suplex. Cactus Elbow nailed…as ODB and Truth Martini are going at it again. Donovan Dijak and Jay Briscoe start brawling around the ring too! FROGGY BOW…gets 2! LETHAL HITS A TOPE SUICIDA ON ODB! Diesel low blows Mark, leaving him bent double and in prime position for a LETHAL INJECTION! Jay retains at 08:59 (shown)
Rating - *** - I’m sure some will consider the overbooking to be irritating, but I actually liked this. We don’t get sports-entertainment style, mass run-in finishes all that often in truth so this felt chaotic and fresh – and you also have to consider the fact that Lethal had already contested a gruelling ppv main event the same weekend that these tapings took place. I wouldn’t like to watch main events like this every week…but on a one-off basis it was fun. I was concerned that this would wind up being the usual Mark Briscoe routine, middle-of-the-road match – but actually, from the opening bell when Lethal jumped him, they did everything possible to flip up Mark’s usual formula…which I really appreciated.
The referee’s hand has barely come down for the three count before Jay Briscoe and Lethal are brawling again. Dijak and Diesel haul him away…so Roderick Strong steps away from the announce table to lay in a few chops on the World Champion instead. He challenges the House Of Truth to a 6-man at the 200th Episode, but ODB wants it to be 4-vs-4 instead! Lethal agrees as the show fades out!
Tape Rating - *** - Episode 198 had a better main event obviously, but on the whole this was another rather good show for ROH on SBG/Destination America. Every segment focused on and built towards Death Before Dishonor in some way (which is exactly what they should be doing with their TV time) and the hour started and ended with a couple of decent wrestling matches. One can’t ask for much more than that in less than fifty minutes…