ROH Final Battle 2014 review

It’s been a good year for Ring of Honor. They may have lost their top star, Kevin Steen, and seen one of their top prospects, Michael Elgin, misfire as a world champ but they’ve co-promoted shows with New Japan Pro Wrestling, made the move from internet streaming to traditional pay-per-view, and put on a number of high quality shows with world class matches. As such the pressure was on to score a hit with Final Battle, their last major show of the year. After such a strong year they didn’t want to go out on a low note.

I’m pleased to say they didn’t. The line-up that was put together looked good on paper, with reDRagon v Time Splitters, Cole v Briscoe, and the Young Bucks and ACH v Addiction and Cedric Alexander six man tag match all leaping out as potential matches of the night. On the night everyone put in their best effort. The show was great from start to finish.

The evening kicked off with a four corner survival match pitting Mark Briscoe, Caprice Coleman, Jimmy Jacobs and Hanson against one another. It was designed to do two things. The first was to start the show with something exciting. The second was to build up Hanson. It achieved both. Everyone got a moment or two to shine and Hanson muscled everyone around at one point or another and ended up with the win after he wiped out Briscoe and Jacobs with a suicide dive before pinning Caprice off a spinning heel kick.

Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer stuck around to introduce Adam Page. ‘The Zombie Princess’ started to give what probably would have been a rousing speech about it being a night for Page to step up in a match with Strong, win, lose or draw. He didn’t get very far though: Whitmer snatched the microphone and introduced Page himself. The idea was that Whitmer was ready to accept Page as an equal while Jacobs wasn’t.

The match was all Roddy to begin with. He outwrestled Page and gave him some of his famously stiff chops. Page only managed to gain control after a distraction from Whitmer. Roddy took a bit of offence then fired back with chops, a Sick kick and a back breaker on the apron (after Page had impressively landed on his feet off a Shooting Star Press). Page got a swinging neck breaker from the second rope. Roddy came back with a pair of knee strikes and a release suplex back breaker before locking in the Stronghold for the victory by referee stoppage.

Whitmer wasn’t happy. He showed his displeasure by grabbing Corino's headset and shouting about how Page was still better than Strong. Corino wasn’t impressed. Any time their apparent real-life animosity bleeds into the show (which, let’s be honest, is frequently) I enjoy it.

Michael Elgin and Tommaso Ciampa went on third. Elgin was met with apathy. Ciampa got some cheers but not as many as you may have expected. Once the bell rang and Elgers gave Ciampa a hammering he was booed. They worked a strong style match which, while good, never seemed to slick into gear, something I also felt with their Death Before Dishonor XII match.

The usual electric finishing sequence of Elgin matches was omitted here. Instead ‘The Sicilian Psycopath’ accidentally clotheslined the ref, prompting Nigel McGuinness to head backstage because he'd introduced a zero tolerance policy with regard to Ciampa attacking officials. This was an accident but the story was that McGuinness may have gone backstage to start filing the paperwork for Ciampa’s dismissal (because he’d totes do that in the middle of a show). Hether he did or not wasn’t revealed but the possibility was enough to distract Ciampa, allowing ‘Unbreakable’ to get in a boot to the face and an elevated double arm DDT to win the match.

To lighten the mood after the shady finish the all-babyface six man tag was up next: Cedric Alexander and The Addiction v ACH and The Young Bucks. It was a crazily fast match packed with great spots. Plus super kicks, obvs. Definitely a match worth watching if you get the opportunity. ACH and the Bucks won after a Meltzer driver from the Bucks and a 450 from ACH on Cedric.

The grudge match between Moose and RD Evans was billed as "The Revenge of The Streak." The story was that Moose, who had been rescued from his gig as a bodyguard for the Bravado brothers in EVOLVE and introduced as RD Evans’ tag partner, had turned on Evans and cost him his entirely fictitious 173-0 winning streak. Ramone had also turned on RD, changing his name to Stokely Hathaway and revealing that he was working for Prince Nana, who Evans had stolen some storyline dosh from several years earlier.

The important thing to note from that is Nana’s return. Because he’s always excellent entertainment.

Moose destroyed RD for a lot of the match, but not as much as you might think. Veda rocked up after a few minutes and the camera immediately started treating us to lingering shots of her looking concerned. RD managed to turn things around after a while, hitting a reverse DDT and slapping on a sharpshooter. Nana and Hathaway tried to interfere with a chair, which promoted the referee to get out of the ring and argue with them in the aisle. That was Veda’s cue to get in the ring and betray RD with a low blow. Moose then speared him for the win. It was a fun little match. Exactly how guys like Moose and Evans should be used.

Match six saw House of Truth centrepiece and TV champ Jay Lethal defend his belt against Matt Sydal. They had an enjoyable match. I could have done without the Truth Martini interference but at least it was included for a reason and they didn’t go overboard with it. It took the form of him pulling Todd Sinclair from the ring after Sydal hit a Shooting Star Press that was framed as a definite finish. So basically Trith definitely cost Sydal the TV championship. He was chased around the ring before finally being caught and laid out for an SSP. Sydal went for it and got it... but Lethal connected with an Ace crusher as he hit it. A Lethal Injection later and Sydal was a beaten man.

reDRagon's defence of the ROH tag team championship against Time Splitters took the semi-main event spot. Both teams were greeted passionately by the New York crowd. At this point I think ROH is doing the right thing with O’Reilly and Fish and basically using them as tweeners.

The match started out as a competent display of tag wrestling by both teams. O’Reilly was isolated by the challengers before turning the tide to eliminate Shelley, working over his arm in preparation for an armbar submission. Fish got in on the action there too, giving Shelley a well-executed arm wringer out on the apron.

Tags became less frequent as all four guys moved into the ring to begin running through double team spots. Kushida performed an Okana roll and German suplex on both members of reDRagon. Time Splitters hit a power bomb-Sliced Bread supermove. O’Reilly took a moonsault and before applying a triangle choke. Kushida lamped O’Reilly with a Pele kick and O’Reilly came back with the McGuinness lariat. The match ended with Kushida kicking out of Chasing the Dragon before tapping out to the armbar. It was a well laid out tag match and probably the best wrestled offering of the evening.

The video package that preceded the Cole v Briscoe Fight Without Honor world title match was very good. It recapped their feud from its start in September 2013 and provided a good recap of the characters and motivations of both guys. I thought that was particularly impressive considering how long they've been linked to one another and the fact that their rivalry felt concluded with Ladder War V at Supercard of Honor VIII. It could have been overly complex and laborious.

There were scattered chants of "Next world champ!" when Cole stepped into the ring. Briscoe's entrance elicited chants of "Man up!" The audience would be split for the pair throughout the match.

Cole kicked things off with middle fingers and a super kick. Briscoe responded with an elbow and a Jay Driller for two. They left the ring for the requisite brawling, making use of chairs, tables and a staple gun, which Cole used to staple a “Reversed for Mrs Briscoe” sign to Jay’s head. Back in the ring Cole sat on a chair to pull at Briscoe's face. He ended up getting booted off it by the champ. Seconds later he was thrown head-first into it.

Jay grabbed a table, an additional chair, and a Singapore cane from under the ring (because, y'know, people have expectations for these sorts of stipulation matches). Cole grabbed the chairs and set them up but ended up taking a Falcon Arrow onto and through them. He had more luck using the cane, smashing Briscoe repeatedly in the head with it.

Cole took a tumble to ringside and bladed under the ring. Briscoe, being Briscoe, immediately began head butting him. He didn't get to do much though, the state athletic commission (who are always booked as heels on wrestling shows) pulled Cole from the ring to give him medical attention. Briscoe attacked the security accompanying the doctor, pushed Cole back into the ring, and gave him a neck breaker. He tried to suplex him through a table at ringside but Cole escaped and super kicked Briscoe off the top rope through it instead.

That barely phased Briscoe. He staggered back into the ring a minute or so later to be met with a title belt shot, a super kick to the back of the head (a call-back to the night Cole won the title after Briscoe had vacated it) and a Florida Key. Briscoe fired back with a Death Valley driver through the table propped up in the corner then sprinkled some thumbtacks (with heads a variety of colours) in the ring. Before he could use them himself Cole grabbed a handful, stuffed them in Briscoe's mouth, and super kicked him. Naturally such an extreme move had to be kicked out of. Two yakuza kicks and a back body drop sent Cole into the tacks. A Jay Driller, not on the tacks followed immediately.

Cole kicked out. Briscoe sold exasperation for a second or two before grabbing Cole for another Jay Driller, the third of the match, on to the championship belt. That put Cole down for the three and ended a satisfying main event.

Final Battle was amongst ROH’s best shows of 2014, and considering the quality of their major events this year I think that says a great deal. No match disappointed, the title matches delivered on the (high) expectations for them, and Page v Strong and the opener were better than could have been reasonably expected. A strong end to a strong year from Ring of Honor.

*** 

Results summary:

Hanson def Mark Briscoe, Jimmy Jacobs and Caprice Coleman
Roderick Strong def Adam Page
Michael Elgin def Tommaso Ciampa
The Young Bucks and ACH def The Addiction and Cedric Alexander
Moose def RD Evans
Jay Lethal def Matt Sydal
reDRagon def Time Splitters
Jay Briscoe def Adam Cole

The Future of ROH

At the start of the year I was positive, hopeful even, about Ring of Honor's future. Jim Cornette had been shown the door, Kevin Steen was the world champion, and the company was coming off of a very good Final Battle show. Cornette being gone meant Delirious would be free to pursue his own creative vision, one that I was interested in seeing. Steen being the champion was good because in the past ROH had had trouble manoeuvring the title onto guys when they were at their hottest. They'd managed it with Steen and fans hadn't turned on him, another norm. Things looked promising for the league.

For the first half of the year I was impressed with what I saw. Technical issues aside the promotion's iPPV output from the Eleventh Anniversary to Border Wars was excellent. It was almost certainly the best string of major shows that ROH had mustered in years. The match quality was dependable at every level of the card, there was logical show to show development, and an interesting (if utterly unoriginal) central plot (Aces and Eights... sorry, I mean SCUM!).

That hot streak ended, ironically enough, at Best in the World. The main event didn't help. Mark Briscoe versus Jay Briscoe has never struck me (and likely never will) as a worthwhile big show main event. It's a B show-slash-Friday night show-slash-DVD taping-slash-TV taping level central attraction at best. Yet it was the match that went on last at BITW.

That Jay had won the championship had disappointed me. Steen had a good few months left in his reign and it felt like his natural successor was Michael Elgin (although current champion Adam Cole would have worked well as the man to replace him too). Not only did 'Mr Wrestling's' reign reach a premature end but it came at the hands of a man I didn't feel was a logical choice for the role.

The post-Best in the World TV tapings saw Jay and Mark written off TV, with the championship being declared vacant a week or two later. I've written about the title vacation to a fairly great extent. Basically it shouldn't have happened. Jay should have been dropped the title at the June 23^rd TV taping or agreed to come back to lose it in a one off appearance (sometime in July, realistically). The title's lineage is meant to be an important part of Ring of Honor and should have been protected. The company and Jay Briscoe should know that.

The title tournament that followed was a blown opportunity. Instead of making it something to attract new viewers, introduce new regular talent, experiment with a new creative direction or promote genuine dream matches it was a rushed affair that didn't achieve half of what it could have. The eventual victor, Adam Cole, was a good choice to become champion nineteen. His reign and the tag work of reDRagon, The American Wolves, and the Forever Hooligans are some of the sparse highlights of the promotion.

 

Highlights of Ring of Honor

 

The first half of 2013 saw ACH, Silas Young, Adam Page, and Tadarius Thomas become regulars. The second half of the year has no such names to boast. Without new names appearing and established names moving on the development of younger guys and new stars grinds to halt. That's always been the case for ROH and it's beginning to happen here.

As things stand at the moment there's little about Ring of Honor I find appealing. I’m not as uninterested as I am in TNA (ROH would have a long way to go before they sunk to those levels), nor do I think the company's in the bad shape it was this time last year, but I do feel it's become stagnant.

The lead plot of ‘The Panama City Playboy’ going bad and feuding with Jay Briscoe and-or Michael Elgin is fine, but alone it's not enough to hold interest in ROH. Cole is a fine champion and an enjoyable antagonist while 'Unbreakable' is a very good powerhouse babyface but neither man has the charisma of Kevin Steen. As long as he's around he's always going to be one of the promotion's biggest stars and needs to be treated as such. I appreciate his current work opposite Michael Bennett is designed to elevate Bennett (and protect Steen from overexposure) but it can only go on for so long before he loses steam and the amount of good he can do decreases.

I want ROH to succeed. I've liked what the company has stood for in the past and believe it presents a better alternative to WWE's approach than does TNA. But if the people running the company want it to be as good as it can be changes are needed. They can probably muddle through to the end of the year with the current approach but they should really be working on having something solid for 2014. To get back onto the streak they had early this year they need focus on crafting a riveting new lead storyline supported by engaging secondary ones and new talent. It's a challenge I feel Delirious and the roster are more than capable of meeting.

All Star Extravaganza V review

All Star Extravaganza V was the first Ring of Honor show this year that I would describe as a disappointment. The announced card, which we saw all of, looked very good on paper, boasting several matches that I felt could potentially steal the show. Some of them lived up to expectations. Some didn’t. We’ll come to which matches fall under which header below.

It wasn’t just a few below average matches that disappointed me. The decision to add the three first round tournament matches recorded at the July 27^th TV taping to the beginning of the All Star Extravaganza VOD created a very long run time. I like wrestling as much as the next man (in fact I probably like it more than the next man, look at how much I write about it) but a run time that exceeds three and a half hours is ludicrous. Unless it’s a particularly big event (which this wasn’t) no uploaded show should be running for more than three hours.

Don’t mistake this sentiment for ingratitude. I think it was a very nice idea for those three matches to be made available online so that fans could fully follow the unfolding tournament. I just don’t feel there was a need to staple them to this already lengthy event.

The video (available now at ROH’s official website) kicked off with Nigel McGuinness in the ring with Cary Silkin and Joe Koff. Cary, for any of you who somehow don’t know, is the man that founded Ring of Honor and funded its first decade or so of existence. He said a few words about how he feels the ROH world championship is still the most meaningful in wrestling. A few years ago I’d have immediately agreed with that statement. I find it hard to now.

Joe Koff also said a few words. I expected him to get booed, considering the dreadful job ROH’s public relations department has done this year. But he got cheered almost as much as Cary. He said the tournament was happening for the fans. That’s rubbish: if ROH cared about the fans they’d know that they put stock in the ROH title’s lineage, which was harmed when it was vacated as a result of short-sightedness in July. Putting the fans first would have involved having someone without the surname Briscoe leaving Best in the World as champion.

Those first three recorded matches saw Jay Lethal beat Sonjay Dutt, ‘Machine Gun’ Karl Anderson drop ACH, and Adam Cole defeat Mark Briscoe. They were all perfectly satisfactory matches but none of them were amazing. ACH and Anderson were the best of the bunch, having a fun big man versus small man outing. The only relevant piece of information from the three bouts was Cole using the Jay Driller, former champion Jay Briscoe’s finishing manoeuvre, to beat Mark.

 

The All Star Extravaganza portion of the video kicked off with Adam Page taking on New Japan’s Kushida. Nearly an hour in and we got the first match that stood out as something special. Kushida, the current tag team partner of Alex Shelley, wrestled and carried himself like a star. The match was fast and featured a healthy number of near falls, always good for an opener. Kushida used the buzz saw kick and springboard elbow of his trainer Yoshihiro Tajiri. Touches like that are always nice to see.

Kushida won his ROH debut with the Midnight Express. That’s a twisting corkscrew moonsault as opposed to interference from a 1980s tag team. Or a film.

He may have lost but Adam Page looked very good in this match. The crowd were into him too, which is promising. I was surprised he got the spot of wrestling a foreign star because that’s something guys who have been around for a while usually get to do. It makes a change though, and it shows the company has confidence in him. I’m still expecting ROH to lose a fair chunk of their established names within the next few months so putting Page in this spot is a smart move. He’ll be ready to move up the card if and when bigger names go.

The second ASE match saw Silas Young tangle with Tommaso Ciampa. ‘The Last Real Man’ told people they should be standing up for his entrance. That earned him “You suck!” chants and some rolls of toilet paper aimed at his head when he got into the ring. During his entrance Ciampa was described as one of the most formidable competitors in Ring of Honor history by Nigel. He could earn that status but he’s not there yet.

The highlight of the match was Young suplexing ‘The Sicilian Psychopath’ off of the apron to the floor. It was a pretty cool move that illustrated Ciampa’s resiliency and showed that Young is a man who will do anything in his pursuit of victory.

Eventually it was Ciampa who went over with Project Ciampa. He offered the handshake after the decision but Young, being a sore loser (and a heel), left without accepting it. The match was about what I’d expected, which is to say better than the average WWE TV match but not something that will stand the test of time or act as a shining example of why ROH as a concept works.

Michael ‘Don’t Call Me Mike’ Bennett’s clash with BJ Whitmer ticked similar boxes. It was exactly what I’d expected and isn’t a match anyone would show to someone to convince them to watch ROH.

This match will always be remembered as the one in which BJ Whitmer was injured. When Bennett delivered a piledriver on the apron Whitmer rolled down to the floor below in what at first to be standard selling. In actuality he had suffered a severe stinger that caused him to lose feeling in most of his body. Todd Sinclair immediately called for the bell and a graphic flicked up showing that Bennett was advancing. The way the video was edited made it seem as though it was a planned and worked finish. This is apparently not the case: Whitmer was genuinely injured and got checked out at a Toronto hospital.

There’s a reason piledrivers aren’t commonly used anymore. If they are going to be used it should be in big matches on cards that mean something. A first round tourney match between Bennett and Whitmer does not constitute a special occasion. The move should not have been a part of their match. Hopefully both guys will avoid it from now on.

The next match was TV champion and House of Truth member Matt Taven versus triple crown winner Roderick Strong. Shenanigans started off this match. Nigel McGuinness said that as Scarlet didn’t have a license to be at ringside she would have to go to the back or sit at ringside next to him so he could make sure she didn’t interfere. She chose the latter option and spent several minutes trying to convince Big Nige that they could come to an arrangement regarding her license. He declined her “offer”.

Wondering why Solicia gets to stand at ringside and Scarlet doesn’t? Well luckily Kevin Kelly, the man for whom kayfabe is always a priority, addressed this very issue. It’s because Solicia has a bodyguard license. Yeah, a bodyguard license. So now you know. Thank goodness Kev’s around, eh?

I expected this match to be proficient and it was. Roddy did a backbreaker onto the ring apron and hit a textbook superplex. Truth involved himself and ended up getting accidentally kicked in the face by Taven. Strong got the win after he escaped The Climax (yes, Taven’s tumbling DDT finisher finally has a name!), hit two backbreakers, a sick kick and a third backbreaker.

There was nothing wrong with the match but it didn’t wow me, or anyone else I should think. Strong going over was the right decision. His presence in later rounds adds credibility to the tournament. He’s the sort of name you’d expect to advance considering how long he’s been on the roster.

Taven should be put into matches with other guys relatively new to the roster. The TV championship is a mid-card title. It should be used to highlight guys rising up the card rather than being on a guy who wrestles non-title matches with former world champions. When wrestling guys like Strong we know Taven’s going to lose or, if it’s a title defence, retain via shenanigans or disqualification.

Altering Taven’s opponents allow for two guys to be presented as rising stars and introduce an element of doubt as to who’ll win when. If Taven were to wrestle the likes of ACH, Tadarius Thomas, Silas Young and Adam Page we’d have some genuinely unpredictable matches. They’d benefit Taven more than the current approach. They’d also help others on the roster.

Paul London v Michael Elgin was next. Either this match or the main event was the best of the evening.

The opening minutes saw London trying to use his speed and Elgin trying to use his power. It was sloppy and awkward in places but for the most part it was good. It was certainly the most logical way of approaching the matching.

‘Unbreakable’ hit the first big move of the match, his adored stalling suplex. London came back with a hurricanrana from the apron to the floor and a springboard missile drop kick back in the ring. Elgin ducked a top rope leap and blasted his foe with a bicycle kick. London retaliated with a superkick but got dropped seconds later with a wild sidewalk slam. Elgin nailed a German suplex for two. He failed to connect with a buckle bomb, London escaping and double stomping him in the face.

They had a slugfest. Oddly, London managed to absorb a few blows before resorting to an enziguri. He connected with it but Elgin no sold and elbowed him in the back of the head then drop kicked him out of the ring. When he clambered back up onto the apron London was met with a deadlift suplex from the middle rope, an impressive feat of strength that the audience erupted for. Elgin sold the subsequent kick out beautifully. It was easy to believe he was beginning to wonder what he’d have to do to win.

The raw, unbridled power of Michael Elgin

He decided to try a buckle bomb. London turned the attempted Elgin bomb that followed into a reverse hurricanrana. He scored with the shooting star press that Vince McMahon famously hated but only got a two count. London slumped his foe onto the top rope and attempted a hurricanrana. That would be his downfall. Elgin turned it into a power bomb and followed up with a spinning back fist, a buckle bomb, and an Elgin bomb for the hard earned victory.

Both men deserve credit for introducing doubt into what was one of the most obvious outcomes of the show. There was no way that Elgin was going to lose in the first round but they constructed the match in such a way as to make it seem as though London would defy the odds. Without this match All Star Extravaganza would have been a much poorer show.

I’d expected the Adrenaline RUSH v C&C Wrestle Factory v Young Bucks match to be an action packed spotfest. It was action packed alright, but it was lacking in the high spots department. There was a lot of very slick double team wrestling and a ton of super kicks but… well, that was about it. Considering the reputation of the Bucks and the talent of the four ROH regulars (particularly ACH) I’d thought high flying would be the norm here. I thought wrong.

ACH scored the win for his team when he pinned Cedric Alexander after a 450 splash. Adrenalin RUSH have to get a tag team title match soon, surely? They’ve been a combo for around six months now and have won a fair number of their matches. Maybe once the Wolves, Hooligans and reDRagon scene settles down Adrenalin RUSH will get their time to shine.

The feeling before the show seemed to be that Kevin Steen v Brian Kendrick was going to be a classic, which was unfair. Both men are very popular and talented but they had a lot working against them. Their styles don’t mesh terribly well, they’ve not wrestled one another that often (if at all), and Kendrick appeared to be having an off night.

Kevin Steen, just before his "classic" match with Brian Kendrick

Kendrick ended up playing the bad guy for a lot of the match. That was necessitated when he took a tumble out of the ring that he didn’t need to take. Steen had hit him with a drop kick and was playing to the crowd (presumably because he’s a larger man and was playing up the athleticism), which prompted the former Spanky to stop, drop and roll out of the ring. It looked as though he thought he was expected to sell the move far more than he originally had. It looked sloppy.

The finishing sequence started when Kendrick low blowed Steen behind the referee’s back. ‘Mr Wrestling’ understandably wasn’t happy with this so he choke slammed and cannonballed Kendrick then locked in the Sharpshooter. That got him a submission win. Can you tell this show was held in Canada?

The evening’s penultimate match was the tournament quarter final match between Adam Cole and Jay Lethal. It wasn’t the worst match of the broadcast but it wasn’t the best either. I’ve seen better performances from both men. Cole was booked to kick out of the Lethal Injection (which everyone seems to achieve, maybe Lethal should development himself a more effective finish) and then go over clean with the Florida Key.

Streamers! Streamers everywhere!

After the match Cole continued his lethargic heel turn by proclaiming himself the better man as he shook Lethal’s hand. I’m beginning to think that he’ll cheat to beat Elgin in the finals, finalising the turn.

Speaking of Elgin, Paul London appeared in the show’s lone backstage segment following Cole v Lethal to put ‘Unbreakable’ over. ‘The Intrepid Traveller’ said he thinks Elgin is going to be the next Ring of Honor world champion. That, coupled with the commentary team’s acknowledgement that Elgin is considered the favourite, further makes me think we’ll see Elgin cheated in the finals.

Paul London's pick for next champion

The main event saw ROH world tag team champions the Forever Hooligans defend the gold against the American Wolves. Davey Richards continued his quest to become known as a more charismatic wrestler here. He wound up the crowd and even dropped in some comedy. Some worked, like the terrible Rick rude impression, and some didn’t, like his begging off form Rocky Romero. The latter went from being amusing to creepy when he kissed Rocky’s boots. It was hard to understand why Davey, a good guy, would do this. It became even more puzzling when it became clear there would be no payoff to the peculiarity.

The four delivered an intense match worthy of the main event spot. Memorable moments included Koslov applying a surfboard on Edwards off the apron, stereo submissions from the Wolves beign countered into rollups, the Hooligans hitting a Doomsday Knee, and Richards teasing a double stomp to the apron, significant because he’d concussed Paul London with the move during ROH’s last swing into Canada.

The Wolves secured the victory with a double team back cracker on Romero. I’d suspected the Hooligans would be transitional champions but I’d hoped it wouldn’t be the case. It would have been nice to see them get a month or two with the gold. Still, at least we have the Wolves as two time champions. That’s something that’s been built up for a while so they’ll likely have a lengthy reign.

And that was All Star Extravaganza V. Being the first major show since the cancellation of the live internet pay-per-views it really needed to be a classic. Sadly, it wasn’t. The hefty running time didn’t help. Nor did the abundance of tournament matches, which goes back to the tourney’s rather humdrum line-up. It did have its moments though: the Elgin match, the further emergence of Cole’s dark side, and the main event being chief amongst them.

Hopefully Manhattan Mayhem, the next major show, will feature a more varied card. Needing to include fewer tournament matches should help there. If they can trim the running time, include three or four must-see matches, and upload it with the same sort of speed that show will stand every chance of being a success.

Generation Next

This year has seen ROH introduce several new wrestlers to the roster. This is something that's been needed for a while. Being a small promotion Ring of Honor requires a steady stream of new names to keep them in fresh matches and avoid stagnation.

At the top of the list of new talent is ACH. I've written about him before, specifically the potential for him to become one of the company's biggest names if he sticks around for long enough. The same is true of his Adrenaline RUSH tag team partner Tadarius Thomas. The promotion isn't rushing things. The long approach is being taken, putting them in a tag team and letting them earn their way up the card with time.

That's how it works in ROH. Wrestlers work hard enough to make fans want to see them moved up the card. It's a meritocracy. That's one of ROH's greatest appeals. To me, anyway.

 

ROH's present shaking hands with ROH's future

 

There are guys like QT Marshall, Matt Taven and Adam Page too. QT's become a comedy act. Considering that I've yet to see him do anything special that seems like a pretty good use for him. Taven’s currently epitomising Ring of Honor mediocrity with the TV strap. He could progress but frankly I think he’s found his niche as a mid-card guy who can provide a speedy match that keeps the crowd interested.

 

Page, on the other hand, may he someone the company's got plans for. His All Star Extravaganza V outing against KUSHIDA is certainly indicative of there being bigger and better things in his future. He may have lost, but facing outside talent is generally something only significant names get to do.

 

Then there's Silas Young. He's not had any significant wins yet, unless you count his qualification for the ROH world title tournament (which I don't). He has, however, wrestled against big names Davey Richards, Kevin Steen and Tommaso Ciampa. He lost to all three but it's matchmaking that hints he's viewed as someone with potential, another guy to grow into a headline role.

His 'Last Real Man on Earth' gimmick is either bland or mildly amusing depending on your point of view. Personally I don't think it's prominent enough to be anything other than I offensively bland. If developed it could become something worthwhile. Ring of Honor currently being light on noteworthy personalities could help in that regard too. The lack of big characters would help to make Young's gimmick stand out even more.

Young is someone I think Ring of Honor should be building their future around. He's young enough to get established and maintain a top spot for several years but past the age where he's likely to interest WWE. That's perfect for ROH as it gives the company someone they can construct storylines around without worrying about how long they've got them for. He works the traditional, hard-hitting ROH style well (he is, I feel compelled to point out, the nephew of Stan Hansen). If he can master frenetic ending sequences and deliver half decent promos on a regular basis he could make an excellent addition to the company's upper echelon.