ROH on Sinclair – Episode 211 – 7th October 2015
I feel like Sinclair have had more than sufficient time to edit together the post-All Star Extravaganza TV taping, rather than squeezing in a superfluous Road Rage episode here. We are getting matches and highlights from Field Of Honor 2015 for this episode, although during Episode 210 they didn’t exactly make it clear WHICH matches we’ll be seeing. As it took place the day after the Philadelphia TV taping all of the New Japan talent is still available, and as the Strong/Okada match got plenty of coverage I presume that will feature heavily. Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino sat ringside in Brooklyn, NY for ROH’s annual open-air baseball stadium event.
Time Splitters vs Jay Briscoe/Mark Briscoe
Prince Nana is back out on commentary, and actually makes a reference to Shelley once being a member of The Embassy. The Time Splitters make a welcome return this evening, in what some would term a ‘dream match’ against the top tag team in Ring Of Honor history. The Briscoes and the Motor City Machine Guns (Shelley’s old team) have shared some classics in years gone by so it will be particularly interesting to see them renew hostilities with Alex here.
The Briscoes can’t complete with the slick wrestling skills of the Splitters, so instead use more forthright and simplistic beatdown tactics to try and isolate Kushida. Shelley crashes the party and joins with his partner for a blistering piece of tag team wrestling which Jay Briscoe simply can’t keep up with. They are insanely quick; putting on a clinic to cut the ring in half and keep Mark away from his brother for a couple of minutes…until again Jay comes in with roughhouse tactics and mauls Shelley. In no time at all he has given Alex a bloody mouth, with Steve Corino reporting that part of his tooth is now missing. Kushida quickens the pace with a handspring elbow, before low-bridging Jay leaving him on the floor and in the path of a flying knee from Shelley. Kushida kicks at Mark’s arm and sweeps him into the Hoverboard Lock – which Jay instantly breaks. Frog splash/standing moonsault gets 2 for the Time Splitters! I-94 blocked by the Briscoes, for a Splash Mountain Neckbreaker on Alex. Next Kushida thwarts a Jay Driller attempt…only to walk into Mark’s urinage instead. JAY DRILLER on Shelley! The Briscoes win at 12:21
Rating - *** - If I gave half stars this would absolutely get an extra half. I adored the dynamic of these two, with the flashy and intricate moveset of the Time Splitters providing a perfect natural contrast to the brawling style of the Briscoes. I think Shelley’s mouth injury threw him off a little, and they really needed a little more time to develop this into something truly special. It actually felt like the first two thirds of a great match…but with the final act missing entirely. There is no doubt in my mind that these four could have stolen the show given the opportunity, but even working in a restricted and understated midcard role they still produced one of the most interesting matches of the entire Field Of Honor event.
A pre-taped interlude comes next, with Kevin Kelly confirming that Jay Lethal successfully defended both the World and Television Championships at All Star Extravaganza. Next week he defends the TV Title against Takaaki Watanabe, and that’s the lead in to air clips from the #1 Contendership Gauntlet that took place at Field Of Honor 2015.
INSIDE ROH – Is Mandy Leon stoned when she films these segments? She runs through the simmering heat between Adam Page and Jay Briscoe. They’ve been booked into a No DQ match next week.
Roderick Strong vs Kazuchika Okada
Strong was probably the stand-out performer from the New Japan tour earlier this year, producing outstanding singles matches against Kushida, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura. He now completes the set of New Japan’s ‘Big Three’ by facing the Rainmaker this evening. The stakes are high for him – not only because a win would mean he beats New Japan’s champion making him an instant contender for that belt, but because it would catapult him back into the ROH World Title picture. After suffering another loss to Jay Lethal in Philadelphia he will now have slid down the contendership rankings.
Strong is covered in cuts and bruises after his match with Lethal in Philadelphia yesterday. That might explain why he’s a little slow to start – but does get rolling at the two-minute mark by landing a couple of chops and a back suplex. He appears to be almost bating Okada into fighting him; smashing into his chest with notoriously stiff chops and smashing him down onto his back from a variety of positions. If the IWGP Champion wanted another easy Ring Of Honir night he night not be getting one here. BACK SUPLEX INTO THE FRONT ROW! GUARDRAIL GUTBUSTER! Mr ROH stands tall with a big smile on his face and is completely dominant against New Japan’s top star right now. Back in the ring Okada slips out of Death By Roderick and lands a neckbreaker…but is visibly slowed and struggling to get up. He tries his running elbow in the corner spot, only to be caught and chopped again! Muso by Strong gets 2. CRADLE APRON BACKBREAKER SCORES! Okada has been beaten all over the ring but somehow counters End Of Heartache into the Air Raid Crash to leave both men down. Still Strong won’t stop coming at him – he’s the first off the mat ignoring Okada’s elbow strikes to land the Olympic Slam. STRONGHOLD! Okada makes the ropes then dropkicks Strong in the head! Desperate Rainmaker COUNTERED WITH JUMPING KNEES! DEATH BY RODERICK! SICK KICK! OKADA KICKS OUT! TOMBSTONE BY OKADA! He can barely move! Strong tries another knee AND GETS TOMBSTONED AGAIN! Rainmaker…blocked! GERMAN SUPLEX BY OKADA INSTEAD! RAINMAKER NAILED! Okada wins at 15:23
Rating - **** - This was all kinds of awesome, and perhaps the closest we’ve seen to Okada’s New Japan brilliance in a Ring Of Honor ring. Ironically the central plot of the match meant he didn’t actually need to do all that much offensively, but he took some wicked bumps for Strong and went out of his way to sell for the ROH athlete like a true pro. I loved what they did here, with Strong roughing up and assaulting the IWGP Champion pretty much from the opening bell. It was like he knew that Okada likes to coast in his ROH matches, so set about devising a plan to draw the ‘Tokyo Dome Okada’ out. He countered Okada’s moves, stiffed him with strikes, threw him into the crowd and basically dominated. It was a powerful statement, and all built to that Sick Kick spot which was an ultra hot nearfall (considering this was a match where you knew Okada wasn’t going to job). In the end the Rainmaker had to desperately hit his vaunted finishing sequence then get the f*ck out with his reputation intact. Strong’s 2015 continues to be astoundingly superb.
Tape Rating - N/A - I’ll insert my usual ‘putting the best match of the show out for free totally devalues the purchase of a VOD/DVD made by your actual loyal, hardcore fanbase’ because that is a real pet peeve of mine with these Road Rage episodes. But the flip side of that is that ROH is totally centred around their TV show now – and having back to back episodes featuring Nakamura and Okada in killer singles main events is undeniably rather awesome. Of course, you could argue that having two of ROH’s top guys staring at the lights for them each week is slightly less beneficial – but that would imply that Delirious/ROH have any kind of long-term creative vision, when history has already shown us they very much don’t. Just like last week, for a casual fan this was another kick-ass episode.