ROH on Sinclair - Episode 276 - 31st December 2016
Our final filler broadcast of the festive season is another clip-show episode, but as with last week ROH production staff have at the very least given this tired format an interesting and fresh twist this time. This is a 'Best Of 2016' show, but with a goal of presenting the 'best' matches and moments which didn't take place on ROH TV. Kevin Kelly is our in-studio host once again.
SIDENOTE - This review will have a slightly different format. There are a couple of Women Of Honor Matches in here which do not appear in full on the broadcast, but I am going to dig out on YouTube to review in full. Stay tuned at the end of the episode for a 'bonus' review of the O'Reilly vs Cole ROH Title Match from NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11. My yearly recap and Top 10 Matches will also be tagged on.
Up first is extended highlights of the excellent War Machine vs Pretty Boy Killers no rules match from Survival Of The Fittest Night 2. This is a great match to spotlight on television, and they give away a decent amount of it. The amount Keith Lee gets put over, for a guy not under contract and leaving in mere weeks, is pretty unbelievable.
We get a highlight reel of ROH stars during the tour of New Japan earlier in 2016. They heavily feature talents like Moose and Roderick Strong...who have subsequently left. Kevin Kelly confirms that ROH will return to Japan for New Japan's 'Honor Rising: Japan 2017' weekend...
Next we get a brief clip-reel of material from Ladder War 6. I wasn't a fan of this, as it felt like they have a way a lot of the 'money' bumps and moments but none of the build or story around them. They also barely show Daniels due to his being covered in blood, and given that Daniels being a WARRIOR was at the heart of the damn match it really felt like the point was missed.
The Young Bucks reminisce about 2016...when they sold 'thousands and thousands' of t-shirts, and made it to the end as ROH Tag Champions...
Kevin Kelly narrates a Women Of Honor video package with as much enthusiasm as a plate of salmon. It leads into clips of Deonna Purrazzo vs Sumie Sakai (apparently heralded as one of the best technical WOH matches ever), then the No DQ feud blow-off match between Mandy Leon and Taeler Hendrix. Since I care about the Women Of Honor division - even with Ring Of Honor clearly doesn't - I'm going to dig out these matches on YouTube to review them in full here. To reiterate, they are shown in highlight form only during this episode...
SIDENOTE - Both of these matches were taped at the post-Final Battle TV Taping in Philadelphia and have Ian Riccaboni alongside Nigel McGuinness calling the action...
Deonna Purrazzo vs Sumie Sakai
Both of these women have appeared regularly since the rebirth of the Women Of Honor. Sakai is one of the tenured, respected veterans of the division and is one of the most capable workers on the roster. At the other end of the spectrum is Deonna, a fast-rising star with a penchant for technical wrestling who has seen her reputation grow quickly as she works far and wide; amassing skill and expertise at an alarming rate. Will it be the wily old pro or the dangerous young pretender who leave Philadelphia with a win?
Ian and Nigel do a great job of putting over Sumie's experience and MMA background and how that will impact Deonna's ability to apply her armbar finish. Clearly aware of the threat their opponents pose, they each rush into a frantic exchange of pinfalls. Purrazzo is with Sakai every step of the way, earning the respect of the veteran. Sakai is the one driving a quicker pace, lunging into a dropkick which rocks Deonna meaning she can be caught unaware with a catapult into a half crab. Purrazzo escapes and goes after the arm...so Sakai once again uses her experience by clinging to the ref. In the end Purrazzo applies the Fujiwara at an awkard angle and Sumie slides into the ropes. They are so evenly matched that as they get back to feet they simultaneously start bashing each other with forearms and a stereo lariat spot. Kick to the arm by Purrazzo...only for Sumie to hit a headscissors takedown. Three Amigos by Deonna, only for Sakai to block the third into a series of flash pins. In an aggressive manner Sakai mashes Purrazzo's head into the turnbuckles then gives her a HANGING GUILLOTINE CHOKE! FLYING CROSSBODY BY SUMIE...BUT DEONNA F*CKING COUNTERS IT TO A FUJIWARA ON THE FLOOR! Sumie's arm is toast! She gets back into the ring and hits a swinging fisherman neckbreaker, then a missile dropkick but comes up each time holding her shoulder. GERMAN SUPLEX BY DEONNA! NO SOLD! FUJIWARA ARMBAR! Sakai taps at 07:27
Rating - *** - I'm so glad I opted to check this match out in full for this review - because it was absolutely fantastic. It didn't quite have the rugged intensity of Klein/LeRae from the first WOH Live show in Baltimore, but other than that I can't think of a Women Of Honor bout I've liked more all year. The story was brilliant, with Purrazzo trying to work her submissions but Sumie using her years of experience (with an identifiable heel flavour) to block it. In the end it took an unreal counter by Deonna (that flying crossbody into the Fujiwara Armbar on the floor is one of ROH's spots of the year from either gender) to turn it in her favour - and from there her march to victory was unstoppable. Sakai was injured from that point and couldn't execute the Smash Mouse. Great match, technically gripping, well executed. THIS is what the Women Of Honor division should be built around...
Taeler Hendrix vs Mandy Leon - No DQ Match
This is, in theory, the final pay-off to a feud which has spanned the entire Women Of Honor rebirth. Hendrix has been a villainous presence hovering over WOH, with her links to the House Of Truth giving her a platform to showcase the truly wicked mind she has. Leon has been the force of good standing up to her at every turn. We've seen Taeler bring in the likes of Jessicka Havok in an attempt to take Mandy out, and we've seen Leon form alliances with the likes of Hania The Huntress, then Deonna Purrazzo in order to fight back, they've attacked each other with weapons - and now it is time to settle it. The 2300 Arena has seen it's fair share of no rules encounters in the violent history of the building...will this be another?
Taeler attacks Mandy in the aisle meaning we start hard and heavy. Leon hits back by ramming her body into the apron and guardrails. Hendrix delivers a heel kick which knocks Leon off the apron, then goes for a steel chair (the same kind that she has attacked Mandy with before). DIVING LARIAT THROUGH AN OPEN CHAIR by Mandy! Then in classic Raven fashion, in the ECW Arena, she hits a drop toehold into the open chair to knock Hendrix semi-conscious. She sets up a table on the floor, then climbs to the top rope with some evil intentions. Taeler uses a sleeper hold to pull her back, so Leon counters to a BACKPACK STUNNER THROUGH THE TABLE! Neither woman stands particularly well after that, and when Mandy takes too long locating a length of metal chain from under the ring Taeler is ready to kick her in the head and take it from her. She wraps it around Leon's neck and hangs her...only letting go when Mandy's limp body becomes too heavy to keep hold of. Deonna Purrazzo comes out to check on Mandy...so Taeler whips her into the guardrails too! Deonna tries to come back with a chair...but accidentally nails Mandy with it! DDT ON THE FLOOR takes out Purrazzo! The fans are cheering for Taeler now, mostly because Mandy is being booked as the heel needing outside interference for reasons I can't explain. Eventually they both crawl back to the ring, and sit opposite each other on open chairs dishing out chops. Now Mandy SPITS BLOOD into Taeler's face! Hendrix obviously doesn't like that so smears her face into a chair then gives her exposed head a superkick. She then licks the blood, once again getting cheers from the Philly fans. Ok now she's pulling out a ladder!? Did I miss something and Taeler is SUPPOSED to be the babyface here? The ladder is positioned in the corner...and Hendrix starts to climb. Mandy pulls drags her off, and the ladder LANDS RIGHT ON TAELER'S HEAD! That was not intentional and looked f*cking brutal. Todd Sinclair is all over Hendrix trying to check she hasn't been seriously injured, whilst Mandy starts piling chairs in the ring. Taeler pleads for mercy and begs for Mandy not to hit her with a chair...and Mandy shows compassion! You f*cking idiot! STEEL CHAIR TO THE RIBS BY TAELER! LONG KISS GOODNIGHT INTO THE CHAIR STACK! Hendrix wins at 15:30
Rating - *** - I don't want to go lower than this on my rating because it was generally a decent watch, and both women were sacrificing their bodies in a major way to deliver in one of the highest profile Women Of Honor matches to date. I don't know who was responsible for structuring this match - whether it was the women themselves or whether any agents helped them put it together, but whoever is responsible should be fired immediately. If the aim here was to make Mandy look as incapable and incompetent as possible then mission accomplished. Hendrix was basically the babyface for most of this match, and I mean that quite literally - the crowd was loudly chanting for her rather than Mandy. The only dastardly thing she really did after attacking Mandy during her entrance was the finish...but even that made Mandy look unbelievably stupid. As a match it was exciting, there were some good set-piece spots and both women were extremely courageous. But as a piece of story-telling it was atrocious. And, as an aside, I don't quite understand why Taeler is going over anyway. Isn't Mandy supposed to be the fiery, babyface, ROH Dojo graduate, homegrown 'star' of Women Of Honor? Why would they have her drop the highest profile match in WOH history?
The final segment brings us choice cuts of Lethal/Cole for the World Title at Death Before Dishonor. I didn't particularly like the edit here. Usually ROH is decent at clipping together matches for 'Road Rage' or highlight reel episodes, but this felt disjointed to me. Nevertheless it ends with Adam Cole as World Champion...which he would retain until Final Battle when Kyle O'Reilly memorably defeated him in a No DQ Match to become the new Champ.
The episode ends with an interview with Adam Cole taped the day after Final Battle. He shows his wounded face and complains bitterly about forced into a No DQ Match that he hadn't prepared for. The promo concludes with him making an ominous promise to take the World Title back in 2017...
Tape Rating - N/A - I won't pretend to have liked all of this episode. They aired significant chunks of War Machine/PBK, Ladder War 6 and Lethal/Cole - all of which were the best matches on their respective shows and were given away for free when there are VOD's/DVD's to sell. But the format ('never before seen on television') was a unique one, and allowed them to explore content we don't always get to see. In particular, bringing out the best bits of two of the better Women Of Honor matches from 2016 was a welcome piece of work to spotlight the division (and I'd encourage everyone to go and check them out in full on YouTube). I appreciate that there was a sprinkling of new, post Final Battle content dotted around too, ensuring it had some ongoing relevance before we return to regularly scheduled programming next week.
Top 10 Best ROH Matches Of 2016
10) Kyle O'Reilly vs Adam Cole (****1/2 - Supercard Of Honor 10 Night 2)
9) Young Bucks vs reDRagon vs Adam Cole/Michael Bennett (****1/2 - ROH on SBG Episode 226)
8) Jay Lethal vs Colt Cabana (****1/2 - Reloaded Tour 2016 Duluth)
7) Will Ospreay vs Marty Scurll (****1/2 - Reach For The Sky Tour Night 3)
6) Adam Cole vs Silas Young (****1/2 - Road To Final Battle 2016 Night 2)
5) Kushida vs ACH (****1/2 - Conquest Tour 2016 Philadelphia)
4) Adam Cole vs Jay Lethal (****1/2 - Reach For The Sky Tour Night 3)
3) Jay Lethal vs Lio Rush (****1/2 - Supercard Of Honor 10 Night 1)
2) Jay Lethal vs Adam Cole (****1/2 - Death Before Dishonor 14)
1) The Addiction vs Young Bucks vs Motor City Machine Guns (***** - All Star Extravaganza 8)
HONOURABLE MENTIONS - Lethal/Cabana vs Young Bucks (Road To Best In The World 2016 Milwaukee) and Young Bucks vs Ospreay/Scurll (Reach For The Sky Tour Night 2)
Top 10 Best ROH on Sinclair Matches of 2016
10) Lio Rush vs Punishment Martinez (**** - Episode 232)
9) Adam Cole vs Kushida (**** - Episode 237)
8) Bobby Fish vs Katsuyori Shibata (**** - Episode 260)
7) Jay Briscoe vs Jay White (**** - Episode 257)
6) Jay Lethal vs Colt Cabana (**** - Episode 255)
5) Dalton Castle vs Silas Young (**** - Episode 238)
4) Jay Lethal vs Donovan Dijak (**** - Episode 246)
3) Jay Lethal vs Kyle O'Reilly (**** - Episode 253)
2) Kyle O'Reilly vs Kushida (**** - Episode 247)
1) Young Bucks vs reDRagon vs Adam Cole/Michael Bennett (****1/2 - Episode 226)
I will defend 2016 as one of Ring Of Honor's best years since the Sinclair buy-out. From a creative stand-point ROH are as flat as a pancake, but that is nothing new and has been a problem since Sinclair took over (and, in the eyes of most, since 2008 when Gabe left). But what Ring Of Honor did well in 2016 was ensure it had a packed talent roster at all times. Those talents weren't necessarily managed well, the opportunity for midcard talent to elevate themselves or change their status on the roster is still non-existent, and the New Japan guys periodically coming in to crush ROH's biggest names regardless of whether it was appropriate to storyline was frustrating. But in a year where they lost ACH, Roderick Strong, Moose, Cedric Alexander to name but a few, they recruited well to ensure the roster remains packed. Lio Rush, Punishment Martinez, Marty Scurll and Will Ospreay came onto the roster and looked like excellent pieces of recruitment. Top to bottom, from the Tag division, packed midcard ranks chasing the TV Title, to the top line guys going after the World Title, there is a wealth of talent there. And that is largely why I've enjoyed 2016. They had a couple of pretty major slumps (most notably with some awful shows between All Star Extravaganza and the UK Tour), I thought the New Japan War Of The Worlds tour week was a disaster due to the manner in which it derailed all the momentum ROH had been building - with Bullet Club wrecking a pay-per-view main event and trashing every storyline in their path (plus that was the week Naito went over O'Reilly right after his big win over Cole, and sycophantic Kevin Kelly waxed lyrical about how Kyle did well just to hang with a New Japan main eventer...).
I thought the run of TV shows taped after Best In The World to build to Death Before Dishonor were truly outstanding. There were some fantastic live events (the Winter Warriors Tour was really decent, Conquest Tour in Philadelphia was great, I loved the first Reloaded Tour event in Pittsburgh, whilst events like Supercard Of Honor 10 (Night 1) and the Reach For The Sky Tour show in London were arguably the best cards of the whole year. PPV got better and better as the year progressed too. The 14th Anniversary was only ok, Global Wars was pretty poor, and Best In The World underwhelmed me...but Death Before Dishonor, All Star Extravaganza and Final Battle were all excellent. And, to reiterate again, very little of this is due in any large part to the storylines or creative directions the roster were being given. This is down to the sheer volume of talent in ROH's ranks. To give a couple of examples; guys like ACH, Lio Rush, Silas Young, Donovan Dijak, Dalton Castle and Adam Page continually knocked out great matches...despite spinning their wheels to varying degrees all year.
Any wrap-up piece about ROH in 2016 would be incomplete if it didn't mention three things - Jay Lethal, Adam Cole and Ladder War 6. Jay Lethal had an INCREDIBLE year from a workrate perspective. Roderick Strong was the darling of the critics for his remarkable 2015, and Lethal was the guy who took that bar and raised it again this year. Against all manner of opponents, in all manner of situations, morphing between heel and babyface, champion and challenger, he ALWAYS delivered. He produced great TV matches against the likes of Dijak, O'Reilly and Cabana, astonishing live event title defences (I can't recall ever being more stunned by how good a match was than his match with Lio Rush at Supercard Of Honor), strong PPV main events (Lethal/Cole at Death Before Dishonor was unlucky not to be MOTY) and hidden gems like the Ringmaster's Challenge with Cabana on an otherwise unremarkable Reloaded Tour event in Duluth.. The guy was on fire...
When he returned from injury in 2015 I made no secret of the fact that I viewed Adam Cole as ROH's 'franchise player' and someone they needed to put at the epicentre of the entire promotion. They didn't necessarily do that, and were proven right in the sense that they pulled the trigger on Jay Lethal as World Champion, and he more than delivered. However, I'd argue my point has been made by how good Cole personally has been in 2016. He has spent the year at the top of the card, and ROH has been a better place for it. He is a good looking guy, a superb talker and a terrific story-teller inside the ring - meaning he is a terrific person to embody and represent what ROH should be about (even over Lethal I'd argue). The Bullet Club takeover at Global Wars sucked (although putting Cole with the group and forming the 'SuperKliq' was a solid idea), but regardless of how he's booked Cole is another guy who has been in top form all year. He worked violent classics with O'Reilly, brilliant World Title matches with Lethal and Silas Young and was a reliable, high-level performer in TV main events too. That included participating in the TV MOTY (and yes, I know it was taped in 2015, but it aired in 2016 so I'm including it).
And finally to touch upon Ladder War 6. It was a violent, exciting and spectacular display - which exceeded even the sky high expectations placed upon it. I get criticised for being overly positive with my ROH ratings on occasion - but I'm not someone who throws 5* ratings out very often - and this one more than deserved it. From the incredible, innovative offence of the Bucks to the brilliant and bloody performance from Christopher Daniels - everything clicked. It was an all-time Ring Of Honor classic.
In short, if your argument is that from a creative/booking (or commentary) angle 2016 was a bad year, then I'd whole-heartedly agree with you. But the reason I've become something of an apologist for 2016 is that the roster was stacked SO full of talent that even the sheer volume of crap writing, piss-poor time allocations and the unbelievably dire creative direction couldn't suppress it fully. There was some GOOD stuff between the ropes this year, arguably more so than several of the years prior to 2016. And I've made it this far into my year-end reflections without mentioning anything to do with Steve Corino, BJ Whitmer, Kevin Sullivan and Punishment Martinez. Because f*ck everything about that angle...
BONUS REVIEW TIME - I often get asked to cover NJPW for my site, but in truth I don't have time to write about the promotions I already feature. I watch NJPW probably more than any other promotion at present, but there are SO MANY people doing great work writing about New Japan at the moment. I don't have much value I feel I can add, particularly when I don't have the time to commit to it. So whilst I did consider doing a full Wrestle Kingdom 11 review just to include this match, in the end I opted against it and decided to bundle this title match in with the year-end wrap-up review (for obvious reasons). I'm using the NJPW World version, and against my better judgement I'm using the English commentary feed - which was, I believe, the final time Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino would work together before Corino left for WWE.
Kyle O'Reilly vs Adam Cole - ROH World Title Match
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11 (4th January 2017) - Furious at losing the ROH World Title under previously-unannounced No DQ Rules, Adam Cole bitterly protested the result. He had a hand in ROH officials 'accepting' Nigel McGuinness' 'resignation' from the role of Match Maker in late December 2016 (so he too could go to WWE), and he now gets his one-on-one rematch on arguably the biggest stage professional wrestling outside of the WWE has to offer. This is the first defence of Kyle O'Reilly's tenure as World Champion, and it takes place at New Japan's annual Tokyo Dome extravaganza. Kyle wants to prove he is a fighting champion by starting his title reign with a comprehensive win over his former rival. Cole, on the other hand wants to make history on two counts - firstly as the first man to win the World Title outside of an ROH ring, and secondly to become the first ever 3-Time champ.
There is a surprising handshake before the bell rings, followed by a less surprising instance of Cole spitting in the champ's face. Kyle reacts furiously and almost ends the match in seconds with Arm-ageddon. He unrelentingly attacks Cole with armbreakers and rear naked chokes - until the challenger aggressively defends his space and shoves him over the top rope to the floor. STEEL CHAIR TO THE SHOULDER! Cole just destroyed the shoulder injury he targeted in the summer of 2016 to prevent Kyle from effectively challenging Jay Lethal for the belt. O'Reilly throws strikes and instantly starts no-selling the shoulder injury the challenger opened up. Kyle kicks ferociously at the leg, causing Cole to limp...only for Cole to block his attempt at a Regalplex by striking out at the bad shoulder. Kyle can't get the challenger up for his Brainbuster...then Cole no sells his own leg injury to hit the DVD over the knee for 2. Both men coming up kicking each other in the face as hard as they possibly can...until they collapse to the ground. Kawawa kicks by Kyle...E HONDA SLAPS by Cole! Axe & Smash appears to turn Cole's lights out...but it hurts O'Reilly's arm to inflict it. He eventually follows with the Brainbuster, but is still nursing his arm and unable to convert it to Arm-ageddon as he usually does. Last Shot blocked into a German suplex! No sold by Cole into the NXT Last Shot for 2! Bare Knee Wizard...followed by the Last Shot for 2. O'Reilly counters an attempted Superkick with an anklelock on the bad leg...only for Cole to break it with kicks to the shoulder. Superkick flurry by Cole, followed by a KNOCK OUT Superkick to the back of the head. Kyle is down and out, but Cole puts the exclamation point on it with the Last Shot. He makes history and becomes a 3-time champ at 10:15
Rating - ** - Back when I watched Wrestle Kingdom 11 I thought this was really poor and a major let-down. It did improve somewhat as a standalone viewing experience, but not much. The spot with the steel chair felt weird, the work they did on the limbs was patchy and inconsistently sold and the silent, uninterested Tokyo Dome crowd only enhanced how lifeless and ordinary the in-ring work was. It also felt REALLY slow, considering how little time they had and what a major moment in Ring Of Honor history this was. How much of that was Gedo and NJPW I don't know, but this was a mess. The whole situation was a mess and makes ROH look like sh*t. Did they know Kyle O'Reilly was leaving, but put the belt on him any way so they could get another cheap, fake, title change 'moment' by having it revert back to Cole in the Tokyo Dome? Or did they put their belt on a champ who wasn't sticking around, and then had to get their belt back in a ten minute filler match at the bottom of NJPW's card, effectively making this the worst ROH World Title change match since f*cking Xavier won it? Neither scenario makes Delirious or Ring Of Honor look great.