ROH on Sinclair – Episode 213 – 21st October 2015
I constantly find myself frustrated at the booking decisions that drive Ring Of Honor’s product these days, but one shouldn’t deny that over the last few weeks they have consistently put out some really strong matches via their weekly TV show. Strong/Okada, Cole/Nakamura, Time Splitters/Briscoes, Sydal/Kushida and last week’s Sydal/ACH match have all been very good. They have two more big-time bouts this evening which could add to that list. Dethroned former Tag Champions The Addiction square off with All Night Express, wrestling for the first time on SBG TV since 2012. Our main event has Adam Page finally stepping up to face Jay Briscoe – in a No DQ grudge match that Kevin Kelly has warned requires ‘parental discretion’. Kelly calls it with Steve Corino in San Antonio, TX.
The Addiction vs All Night Express
Daniels and Kazarian continue to insist that they were robbed of the Tag Titles at All Star Extravaganza – pushing that since they never lost they deserve to have the belts back. It was the ‘never lost the belts’ line which drew the interest of All Night Express, as they legitimately are former Tag Champions who never lost but instead were stripped of the championship when Kenny King signed a contract with TNA. We are scheduled to hear from The Kingdom later in the hour, and both teams will want to ensure they are considered top contenders before we do. Chris Sabin is in Addiction’s corner…
The match is barely thirty seconds old before Sabin tries to distract King…so Paul Turner ejects him from ringside. Free of distractions ANX dominate the opening period, thanks in no small part to Kenny’s athleticism and agility. Addiction have better luck with Titus; raking his eyes then setting about isolating him from his impressive tag partner. They don’t do much of real interest with the heat segment though, so it adds no drama whatsoever. Eventually they turn their double-team attention to Kenny and almost break his neck with a Total Elimination variant. He retaliates with Shotgun Knees on Frankie, as Daniels and Rhett simultaneously take each other out too – leaving all four out cold. Urinage slam from Daniels to Titus…but he finds his path to the Best Moonsault Ever by another mysterious KRD Red Mask! ANX capitalise with the One Night Stand and win at 08:20 (shown).
Rating - * - Not very interesting at all. Everyone seemed to be on autopilot, and I really don’t understand why Delirious is rehashing this KRD stuff. Everyone hated it the first time, and there just isn’t the need to bring it back. Also, how long do we have to wait for ANX’s return buzz to wear off so that we can start getting a few Kenny King singles matches? The gulf in ability between he and Rhett Titus is so vast.
SIDENOTE – The bizarre editorial decision was made to insert a Jay Briscoe promo about the main event into the middle of the previous match. He calls Page a ‘green boy’ and plans to hurt him later.
The Kingdom come out for some interview time, all dressed in matching black attire. Mike Bennett explains Adam Cole’s heel turn by using the same farmer/snake metaphor that CM Punk used years ago – which is incredibly lazy, even before you take into account the fact that Bennett really shouldn’t be referencing Punk at all considering whom he's married to. Adam himself vents about guys like O’Reilly, AJ and Elgin being considered credible World Title contenders above him, and that’s why he torpedoed Kyle’s title match at the PPV. reDRagon try to storm the ring but are held back by security, so have to settle for some mic time on the arena floor. The Kingdom try to challenge them to a 2-on-3 match, only for Michael Elgin to come out (presumably because Cole was pretty merciless about him during his promo). He lays down a fresh challenge for a six-man tag…which we’ll generously assume ROH knows is a rematch from Episode 198.
SIDENOTE - I didn’t like this segment at all. It did nothing to justify the ridiculous Cole/O’Reilly turn angle, Bennett rehashing old CM Punk material made him look lame, Taven and Maria stumbled over their words and added nothing and Bobby Fish’s microphone broke! When Michael Elgin is the best part of an in-ring promo you know there are issues.
INSIDE ROH – For some reason Mandy Leon has highlights of Silas/Dalton at All Star Extravaganza, even though we already saw those last week. It gets even more pointless when they replay the key points from the Silas/Bruiser vs Boys segment from last week as well. Everything about the way Sinclair present Ring Of Honor these days is so goddamn lazy – and this is yet another example.
TWO WEEKS – We have Cole vs Styles III! That’s a huge announcement! AJ is 2-0 on Cole, most recently beating him in one of ROH’s best matches of 2015 at War Of The Worlds. Adam Cole says he’s a new man since they last met…
NEXT WEEK – The Kingdom vs Elgin/reDRagon rematch has been made official.
Adam Page vs Jay Briscoe – No Holds Barred Match
It’s no secret that Page has felt disrespected and overlooked for most of his time in Ring Of Honor. He didn’t like how many opportunities ACH was getting at his expense, and backed up his talk with some impressive victories over him. Then with ACH in the rear-view mirror, and egged on by mentor BJ Whitmer, he set his targets on bigger fish in the Ring Of Honor pond. He called out Jay Briscoe, made fun of him when he wasn’t booked on shows to defend himself, then when they were supposed to wrestle took a cowardly non-finish escape then gave him a piledriver into a pile of steel chairs. Briscoe wants payback, Page wants to make his name. Both great motivations – this could be a big match! Whitmer joins commentary, and explains that the shoulder injury which kept Adam out of action for the pay-per-view has recovered sufficiently to not be an issue tonight…
Page slaps Jay rather than shake his hand…so Briscoe clotheslines him straight over the top rope to the floor! Credit to Page though, he maintains his composure and swings a steel chair into Jay’s head as he tries to dive out after him. He opens up a table at ringside, but takes so long that Briscoe is able to grab the chair and brain him with it right back. Mark Briscoe appears at ringside to snatch Whitmer’s crutch when he tries to hand it to his protégé…though the distraction doesn’t stop Adam who hits a STEP-UP DDT THROUGH AN OPEN CHAIR! He screams at Jay to ‘say his name’, referencing the fact that Briscoe made out like he didn’t even know who Adam Page was…and winds up getting so pissed off that he leaves himself vulnerable to Briscoe tipping him shoulder-first into the ringpost. DOUBLE STOMP THROUGH THE TABLE! The Decade member is really messed up and completely defenceless as Briscoe gives him repeated Rude Awakenings. RUDE AWAKENING WITH A CHAIR AROUND THE THROAT! He wants to put Adam through another table but it’s countered for a WRIST CLUTCH SUPLEX through the table by Page for 2. We return from commercials with both men fighting on the apron…until Page swats Jay aside for the SSP TACKLE OFF THE APRON! A third table is introduced, and Briscoe counters Page’s slingshot somersault lariat with a Roaring Elbow. Jay Driller through the table blocked…Rite Of Passage through the table blocked! Steel chair shot by Briscoe! JAY DRILLER OFF THE APRON THROUGH THE TABLE! And that table f*cking shattered, barely doing anything to break the fall – making it even more amazing that Page kicks out at 2. Somehow he gets back to his knees and spits defiantly in Jay’s face! He even tries to mount a fight back but gets distracted by BJ Whitmer and Steve Corino arguing at the announce desk. LARIATOOO BY BRISCOE! JAY DRILLER! Briscoe wins at 13:50 (shown)
Rating - **** - I’d heard good things about this one and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Given that a lot of this feud was centred around Adam Page trying to prove he belongs in the ring with main event talent like Jay, it could have been crushing to his momentum that he lost here. But the way they wrestled this one ensured that didn’t happen. He didn’t act like a weasel, he didn’t rely on outside interference…and he was the guy bravely carrying an injury but still throwing everything he had at the multi-time former World Champion. Obviously the big table bumps will be the real talking point of this, but my favourite moment was when Page kicked out of the first Jay Driller then spat in his face. It was the perfect enactment and embodiment of ‘f*ck you, I’m just as tough and I can beat you’…before the silly Corino/Whitmer stuff (which I’m as sick of as everyone else) kicked in. Adam Page has excelled in whatever spot he’s been put in since he arrived in ROH, and continued that with his first big time singles main event. I’ve said for a while he’s ready and capable of a vastly expanded role, and I’m not sure how much longer he can be held back after this performance.
Steve Corino mocks Whitmer for costing his guy the match…so BJ vents some frustration by smashing up Jay with his crutch. Corino climbs into the ring…TEN DOLLAR PUNCH ON WHITMER! He hugs Kevin Kelly then walks out, seemingly aware that he’ll face consequences for that (albeit not ones that stopped him calling the Reloaded Tour events in California and Lockport that took place after this was taped).
Tape Rating - ** - Most of this episode is really terrible. ANX/Addiction was sinfully dull, The Kingdom interview segment was a complete flop, and the decision to use Inside ROH to re-run footage they aired seven days ago completely bizarre. But – as I said during my intro – ROH on SBG is on a streak of really killer matches right now and the Briscoe/Page main event is another example of that. If you’ve got a Ringside Membership it’s well worth checking out, but just make sure you join the episode at approximately 35-minutes in because everything else here sucked!