ROH on Sinclair – Episode 221 – 12th December 2015
This is the final episode which will make broadcast before Final Battle, so the pressure is firmly on to deliver a stellar go-home episode. We are promised an appearance by former ROH Champion Jerry Lynn, and a main event of RPG Vice taking on ACH and Matt Sydal. None of that screams hard-sell on a PPV, but I’ll try to stay open minded. Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness are in Nashville, TN.
Adam Cole vs Corey Hollis
The last time we saw Corey he was delivering a corking little match with Cedric Alexander during the Reloaded Tour. It isn’t surprising that ROH have done nothing to follow up on that performance and have instead relegated him back to enhancement talent duty…but it is disappointing. Cole needs wins and momentum as he prepares for Final Battle and Kyle O’Reilly.
Cole is aggressive and puts the boots to Hollis from the opening bell, before dumping him with a DVD over the knee. The Shining Wizard shuts Corey down again; as does a jumping enziguri strike which knocks him straight out of the ring as he attempts a springboard move. Last Shot COUNTERED to a stunner by Hollis! But he tries a dive off the top and flies right into a superkick. The Last Shot polishes him off, giving Cole the win at 04:28
Rating - DUD - Personally I didn’t like this. It made Hollis look like a scrubber, which is a travesty after how great he looked on the Reloaded Tour. The fact that Kelly and Nigel were selling it as an amazing feat that he was able to land a strike or a nearfall on Cole, just weeks after having an ultra-competitive match with Cedric Alexander, is enormously disrespectful. And the worst part is this went on for so long, and at such a sedate pace, that it did nothing to elevate Cole either. It wasn’t even effective as a squash!
Cole grabs a microphone to promise victory over O’Reilly at Final Battle…
After commercials Nigel formally announces Briscoes/Bucks/ANX in a triple threat Tag Title #1 contendership match for the PPV.
War Machine vs Washington Bullets
Hanson and Rowe are looking to be the men that the Briscoes, the Bucks and the All Nights are vying to challenge – because they get their shot at The Kingdom at Final Battle. Many consider them favourites after some impressive wins recently, plus strong showings in Japan as well. I didn’t even catch the individual names of their opponents tonight…and I’m not sure it matters.
The two jobbers have big mouths…which are shut extremely quickly by the massive bearded duo. Path Of Resistance nailed on one, followed by a Superman Punch and Fallout on the other. War Machine win in an emphatic 01:36
Rating - N/A - This was certainly more credible as a squash match. It was so one-sided we had no time to learn anything about the Bullets or how good they are, which is fine by me. War Machine crushed them and look seriously imposing as they prepare to face Bennett and Taven.
Dalton Castle vs Mike Posey
Is there a reason ROH are using this crucial go-home show to give bookings to a load of jobbers? P-Dogg brings his ridiculous ‘Get Along Gang’ and deliberately terrible rap skills and is, at the very least, a seriously experienced competitor to help get Castle set for the pay-per-view.
Castle almost suplexes P-Dogg out of his baggy pants right at the opening bell, but gets distracted by other members of the Get Along Gang. Are the Washington Bullets from the last match part of Posey’s entourage? Dalton tosses the leader of the ‘GAG’ into everyone else’s lap then puts him down with the Bang-A-Rang at 02:00.
Rating - N/A - Posey’s gimmick is so silly it is hard to tell whether it is humorous in a 'deliberately so bad it's funny' sense or completely embarrassing to be put on TV. Much like the previous War Machine tag, this was a competent squash but didn’t have much else going for it.
Dalton wants a fight with Silas Young now…but instead The Boys come out to stare him down. They are distraction, allowing Young to swoop from behind and take him out with Misery.
Our in-ring segment with Jerry Lynn is next, hosted by Kevin Kelly. He thanks fans, supporters and workers for helping him fund his spinal surgery and offers his opinions on the Lethal/Styles title match at Final Battle. Before he can pick a winner Jay Lethal crashes the party…then gets annoyed when Jerry picks AJ to win.
A video package goes over what has led us to Elgin/Moose at Final Battle. I like that it is made perfectly clear that it isn’t a grudge match, and instead is all about contendership for the World Title.
Alex Shelley follows up his mysterious return to ROH last week with another appearance this week, joining commentary for the main event.
NEXT WEEK – A ‘Christmas Surprise’ 10-man tag with Jay Lethal and Roderick Strong as captains
RPG Vice vs Matt Sydal/ACH
Sydal has recently headed to New Japan to join their bustling junior heavyweight scene, and will presumably have crossed paths with RPG Vice when teaming with Ricochet over there. The big question here is how well Sydal and ACH can co-exist as a team again following the conclusion of their Best Of 5 Series last month.
Sydal and Romero start with a hugely enjoyable little exchange. Both are so fluent and experienced that the way they move in the ring together is marvellous to watch. Rocky spearheads the isolation of Sydal but never really comes close to winning the match and soon finds himself on the wrong end of ACH’s raw speed. AIR JORDAN NAILED! Hero’s Grip gets 2 on Romero! Beretta comes to the aid of his partner and drapes ACH in the ropes where he exposed to the flying knee drop from Rocky. RUNNING SHIRANUI from Romero to Sydal! He then hits a big knee strike to stop Matt giving Trent the Here It Is Driver. Forever Clotheslines countered with a NO HANDS SUPER RANA! SYDAL PRESS GETS KNEES! GOBSTOPPER KNEE gets 2 for Beretta! STRONG ZERO BLOCKED WITH A SPRINGBOARD TACKLE IN MID-AIR BY ACH! HERE IT IS DRIVER! Huge win for ACH and Sydal at 09:12 (shown).
Rating - *** - Short, sweet and to the point. Packed with fast-paced and frenetic action; there wasn’t a whole lot of substance here but all four guys are good enough to kill ten minutes chucking around spots for fun. This had so little relevance to Final Battle so was a pretty mediocre go-home match for ROH’s biggest show of the year – but it was certainly entertaining.
Tape Rating - ** - As a commercial for Final Battle it wasn’t great, and it wasn’t up to much as a standalone episode of wrestling television either…which makes it hard to recommend. The main event was fun, and in the absence of AJ at these tapings the Lethal/Lynn segment made the best of a bad situation to offer some attempt at promoting the PPV title match…but the rest was rather poor. Trying to cram four matches into forty five minutes of TV isn’t workable at all.