ROH on Sinclair – Episode 217 – 18th November 2015

Final Battle is now a month away, with our headline bout set as Jay Lethal vs AJ Styles (barring something quite remarkable happening at the ROH/PCW weekend). Tonight the Tag Title bout is finalised as well with The Addiction looking to regain the belts from The Kingdom – and then defending against War Machine at the December pay-per-view. At this point the weeks start to fly by quickly so the pressure is on for ROH/Delirious to produce compelling television and hard-sell as many PPV buys as they possibly can. Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness provide commentary from Kalamazoo, MI.

The show opens with The Boys being dragged away from grooming themselves in the mirror for a lesson in changing car tyres with Silas Young. This was exactly what it needed to be – goofy, weird and a great vehicle to expand Young’s character. It was a tad over-produced, dated, politically correct and sanitised – but those are words which could describe the ROH product generally since Sinclair took over, so that isn’t too surprising at all.

Silas Young/Beer City Bruiser vs War Machine
These four had a heated brawl back at a house show earlier this year so it was probably only a matter of time before they got the opportunity to have a rematch on television. Hanson and Rowe are preparing for the biggest match of their careers at Final Battle when they challenge the Tag Champions, and supposedly come in hot having impressed during a recent Japanese tour. The Boys are at ringside, so perhaps the bigger question here is whom will they be more of a hindrance to?

Hanson and Bruiser charge and collide mid-ring, repeatedly. That’s a whole lot of running for BCB, and he is quickly gasping for air and stumbling into position for the Shotgun Knees from Rowe. The Boys amusingly try – and fail – to lift Beer City back to his feet after that, whilst War Machine take turns booting Silas in the face. Path Of Resistance blocked…so Young eats the Superman Punch instead, and Bruiser’s return is much needed as it appeared that Rowe was preparing to finish the Last Real Man off. Double team Killer Combo from Silas and BCB gets 2, and Young follows that with the turnbuckle DDT. Fatty Splash gets another nearfall for the Bruiser. Rowe fights back with the Cement Mixer and makes a much needed tag to Hanson – who floors Beer City with the cartwheel lariat. The Boys again try to come to the Bruiser’s aid…so Hanson gives them both the Sledgehammer in the corner (with Young on top for good measure). BACK DROP DRIVER from Bruiser to Hanson! CAPTURE EXPLODER from Rowe to BCB…only for him to be instantly floored by Silas’ rebound clothesline! FATTY CANNONBALL BY BCB…but only connects with The Boys! Spin Kick Of Doom takes out Young! Fallout finishes Bruiser at 07:32 (shown)

Rating - ** - A faithful but scaled-down replica of their house show match from earlier this year, so whilst it had enjoyable moments it certainly wasn’t winning any points for originality. There was a little too much Beer City Bruiser for me, meaning the quality inevitably went downhill.

Steve Corino comes to the ring next, invited by Match Maker Nigel McGuinness to address his punishment for the $10 Punch on BJ Whitmer. Nigel refuses to reinstate Corino as a commentator, but instead permits him to wrestle…and books a Fight Without Honor at Final Battle. Steve appears to respectfully decline the offer as he needs major neck surgery – and instead delivers an impassioned promo which serves as something of a farewell (for now).

Silas Young takes The Boys to the bathroom and gives them a lesson in how to use a urinal (then later makes them clean a toilet after he takes a dump)

STORYTIME WITH ADAM COLE – Once again Cole has hijacked Inside ROH, this time complaining that he isn’t on the list of Nigel McGuinness’ top contenders for the World Title. Like Jay Lethal he complains about the ‘preferential treatment’ Roderick Strong has been getting, and duly airs footage of Nigel handing Roddy #1 contendership of the TV Title.

NEXT WEEK – Lethal vs Strong for the Television Championship.

Up next Michael Elgin faces enhancement talent Kevin Lee Davidson. It was presumably a squash anyway, but has been further edited for this episode and has Unbreakable decking the massive jobber with a single lariat and picking up the win inside ten seconds. That’s one way to hype up his World Title match at Wrestle Kingdom! He then grabs the microphone to put Jay Lethal on notice that he is coming for him.

Michael Bennett/Matt Taven vs The Addiction – ROH Tag Title Match
Daniels and Kazarian have been blaming a conspiracy for their loss of the Tag Titles to The Kingdom at All Star Extravaganza. They weren’t pinned to lose the belts (Kingdom pinned the Young Bucks instead; perfectly legal in a triple threat environment) and now get the rematch they feel entitled to. They bring Chris Sabin to ringside with them, potentially to negate how effective Maria Kanellis can be in assisting the champions.

Kevin Kelly thinks the decisive factor in this one is who will be a bigger villain, and he’s proved correct as both teams take chances to land illegal cheap shots inside the opening minute. The four men continue to cheat, eventually building to a four-man cheater’s stand-off as we approach commercials. Taven seizes the initiative for the champions with a gourdbuster on Daniels, who then takes a real beating from Bennett after he mouths off at Maria. The fight between those two is so intense they spill over the top rope to the floor and still keep throwing punches. Sabin hands Frankie one of the title belts to use as a weapon…at the same time as Maria has the same idea and feeds the other belt to Taven! They then both go down faking injuries Eddie Guerrero-style trying to get the other disqualified. Sabin and Maria then simultaneously trip up their opposition, prompting Paul Turner to remove them from ringside. Bennett takes out Kaz with a pescado…then barely has time to get to his feet before Daniels is on him with the Arabian Press. MEGA SUICIDE DIVE BY TAVEN! He got sick hangtime on that! Hardy Boyz Combo blocked with the powerbomb/neckbreaker combo getting The Addiction a nearfall. Kingdom hit back with the Proton Pack for 2 in return. Bennett throws a Spear in Kaz’s direction – but only succeeds in nailing the referee meaning all of a sudden all four combatants and the official are down. Maria returns to the ring to check on her team only for Daniels to try to give her Angel’s Wings. Low blow on Daniels…MARIA HITS A SUPERKICK! A KRD Red Mask it at ringside too – kicking Kazarian into a Spear by Bennett. Kingdom retain at 10:47 (shown).

Rating - *** - Had this been on a pay-per-view or live event I’d have been a little more concerned, but this was a riot perfectly suited for purpose as a television main event. Watching two heel teams try to out-cheat each other was constantly entertaining; the four men (with the assistance of Maria and Sabin) executed that unique match concept extremely well. I really hope the new Red Mask guy is revealed ASAP though. Having that stupid gimmick pop up every time Daniels and Kaz wrestle on TV is getting aggravating.

War Machine appear on the ramp to intimidate The Kingdom. They have already booked their spot as challengers for the Tag Team Championship at Final Battle.

Tape Rating - ** - Nothing must-see about this episode, although likewise there’s nothing that bad on it either. The Silas/Boys vignettes weren’t the best, but carried a hint of comedy and did at least demonstrate the SBG guys trying to do something different and not just half-ass an angle that has the potential to be very entertaining. Corino’s promo was endearingly sincere – but the effectiveness of it is entirely reliant on how into the Corino/Whitmer stuff you’ve been. Since I grew tired of it a while I go I found the impact of Steve’s speech lessened somewhat (plus VOD/live event viewers will know he pops up as Mr Wrestling III a couple of weeks later anyway). The main event was the main selling point of the episode to me, and there was fun to be had in watching talented heels having fun running through their villainous playbook.

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