ROH on Sinclair – Episode 223 – 26th December 2015
As with previous years, ROH will be signing off it’s televised content for the year with a best-of highlights show from assorted TV-broadcast matches that took place during 2015. I won’t post my full recaps as they are all heavily edited. Instead I’ll do what I did for 2014 and use this as an opportunity to post my traditional year-ending ‘best of’ lists and a few comments. Mandy Leon, in all her festive finery, hosts for us.
The first match to get highlights is Sydal/ACH vs Tanahashi/Naito from the Global Wars TV taping. This is done to showcase the ‘spectacular action’ we’ve seen when ROH and New Japan came together in 2015. The highlights don’t show an awful lot of Naito…largely because he made no effort to do anything at all during the entire tour. This match is followed by more (and significantly higher quality) ROH/NJPW action next as Strong vs Nakamura from the same taping is shown.
Next is the awesome 6-man from earlier in the year between the Bullet Club (Styles and the Bucks) and the trio of Matt Sydal, ACH and Cedric Alexander. I absolutely loved this match and had it my Top 10 TV Matches of the entire year…
We end the evening with PPV clips, with highlights of the Briscoe/Lethal Best In The World main event which lots of people enjoyed far more than me. I even went back and re-watched it in preparation for this year-end episode, and it didn’t even come close to my Top 10 matches of the year.
Delirious (actually introduced as ‘ROH Executive Consultant’) crashes Mandy’s closing segment with some loopy Lizard Speak then tries to climb into one of the lockers.
Tape Rating - N/A - The selection of action contained here was enjoyable enough. No reason to check it out if you’re a regular watcher, but for a casual viewer dropping in on a Boxing Day evening this could have been worse. Some of the festive well-wishing messages from the ROH talent were rather amusing (Adam Cole and Silas Young in particular).
2015 Top 10 ROH on SBG Matches
10) Michael Elgin vs Cedric Alexander (**** - Episode 187)
9) Alberto El Patron vs Christopher Daniels (**** - Episode 175)
8) AJ Styles/Young Bucks vs Matt Sydal/ACH/Cedric Alexander (**** - Episode 178)
7) Jay Briscoe vs Adam Page (**** - Episode 213)
6) Matt Sydal vs ACH (**** - Episode 212)
5) Jay Lethal vs Tommaso Ciampa (**** - Episode 189)
4) Shinsuke Nakamura vs Roderick Strong (**** - Episode 196)
3) Shinsuke Nakamura vs Adam Cole (**** - Episode 210)
2) Jay Lethal vs Roderick Strong (**** - Episode 206)
1) Jay Lethal vs Roderick Strong (**** - Episode 218)
2015 Top 10 Matches
10) Jay Lethal vs Roderick Strong (**** - ROH on SBG Episode 206)
9) Roderick Strong vs Kushida (**** - War Of The Worlds 2015 Night 1)
8) Jay Lethal vs Roderick Strong (**** - ROH on SBG Episode 218)
7) Bobby Fish vs Roderick Strong (****1/2 - Reloaded Tour: Chicago)
6) Jay Lethal vs AJ Styles (****1/2 - Final Battle 2015)
5) AJ Styles vs Adam Cole (****1/2 - War Of The Worlds 2015 Night 1)
4) Roderick Strong vs Kyle O’Reilly (****1/2 - Winter Warriors Tour: Atlanta)
3) Jay Lethal vs Kyle O’Reilly (****1/2 - Conquest Tour: Hopkins)
2) Alberto El Patron vs Roderick Strong (****1/2 - Winter Warriors Tour: Dayton)
1) Jay Lethal vs Roderick Strong (****1/2 - Death Before Dishonor 13)
It has taken me a LONG time to get through ROH’s 2015 season…a really really long time. My daughter is almost two as of writing, and she wasn’t even born when I started out on the January Winter Warriors Tour. Whilst life and responsibilities therein can assume a certain responsibility for how long it has taken to work through 2015, it is undeniable that I have grown hugely fatigued with the corporate, conservative and depressingly bland direction that Sinclair-owned ROH continue to pursue. As the standard of the above list attests, the quality of the wrestling isn’t necessarily a huge problem – it’s the total void in substance or creativity backing up ROH's super-talented roster that remains a major problem. Angles appear and are dropped just as quickly. There is no progression from one storyline to the next, and no obvious progression up the card for wrestlers either (e.g. Adam Page stepping up to Jay Briscoe, putting in a great performance, then going right back to randomly jobbing on the midcard as if nothing happened...or Cedric Alexander/ACH's careers over the last two years entirely). In isolation there is plenty of super wrestling. The Lethal/Strong trilogy from the year, any time AJ Styles stepped into the ring, the plethora of exciting Young Bucks spotfests, the rise of Jay Lethal, or the excellent Sydal/ACH Best Of 5…they’ve all been great to watch. But rarely has there been much storyline to back them up. Have the Bucks been involved in a single ‘storyline’ all year? Outside of Lethal/Briscoe (which was excellent to give Delirious his props) has there been a real, juicy ‘main event feud’ worth watching?
I don’t wish to totally detract from a number of wrestlers who have had remarkable years so I'll quickly pick out a few names whom I believe deserve special mentions. Roderick Strong has received widespread praise for his substantial body of high-quality of work for 2015 – and justifiably so. Six of my Top 10 2015 ROH Matches feature him, and there were a few others which would place in an ‘honourable mentions’ section where I to include such a thing. But Roddy wasn’t the only one. Jay Lethal ends the year as World Champion…and his rise in 2015 has arguably been the best ‘angle’ or most enjoyable thing to watch on a week-to-week basis that ROH has produced. Despite his TV Title match with El Patron tanking earlier in the year, his epic TV Title reign, his World Title win, his ‘Undisputed Champion’ reign and the comfort he has shown in stepping up to become ROH’s top guy has been wonderful to see. Adam Cole was only around for half of the year, but returned with an MOTYC with AJ Styles at War Of The Worlds and looked every bit ROH’s franchise performer…even when saddled with the totally lousy O’Reilly screwjob angle coming out of All Star Extravaganza. AJ Styles has battled injuries for the majority of the year, so was far more selective with his ROH dates…and didn’t work many singles matches as a result. But despite this he still retained his spot as perhaps THE premier worker in Ring Of Honor – culminating with his outstanding Final Battle main event and generous putting over of Lethal on his way out. I’d also like to mention ACH, who hasn’t really put on any MOTYC’s this year, but has been admirably consistent – rattling off 4* matches on almost every show with all manner of opponents. Sure some could be attributed to high quality opponents carry him, but he has been SO consistent this year he truly does deserve acknowledgement.
I feel like I need a break before jumping into 2016, but I’m so far behind and I know people are anxious for me to catch up and start writing about more current ROH shows. In truth, I don’t leave 2015 feeling like I’ve seen a ‘vintage’ year…and what’s concerning is that by 2017 people are already nostalgically harking back to 2015 as if it was on a similar level to 2005, 2006 or 2010. As we begin to roll through 2016 and 2017 ROH will continue to rely on it’s talent to deliver top quality wrestling against a backdrop of forgettable booking. Which is alarming as from 2016 ROH will also start to shed top names (e.g. Michael Bennett, Roderick Strong, Cedric Alexander, ACH, Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish, Adam Cole etc) far more quickly than they replace them. My hopes for the coming year is that we see a LOT more of Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish as legitimate main event singles stars. Both have chalked up enough top quality matches in 2015 to demonstrate they are capable of much more than reDRagon. I want to see the Young Bucks in actual storylines, and with the Tag belts around their waist. As the biggest draws on the indies, it feels like ROH are missing a trick having the likes of War Machine and ANX jostling over the tag belts whilst the Bucks twiddle their thumbs. I want an expanded role for Dalton Castle and Adam Page – two ultra-consistent and reliable midcard performers who are chomping at the bit for something more substantial than they’ve been given this year. Finding something to keep Adam Cole at the very epicentre of the ROH product also remains a top priority.
I started covering this promotion way back in 2002…and after 2015 I genuinely considered whether I wanted to carry on when there are SO many alternative products that I enjoy more. I approach the coming year with some reticence, knowing that several people have warned me to expect a year-on-year decline. But I’m not ready to throw in the ROH towel quite yet…