NXT Versus ROH

Triple H wants to expand NXT. He's made many comments in various interviews and Q&A sessions that indicates he believes the league can be expanded to into something that could operate autonomously (or semi-autonomously) from WWE. We've seen steps taken towards this goal with the events held at the Arnold Sports Festival and in San Jose as part of WrestleMania weekend. It's still early days but the fact that these events were able to attract very healthy crowds, the passion fans and wrestlers have for NXT, and the fact that the endeavour is being bankrolled by WWE (essentially meaning they don't necessarily need to worry about making a profit) makes me think that the growth of NXT into a marketable second brand within WWE is an attainable goal. It can afford to run at a loss for a while as it expands, that's not a position wrestling promotions are usually in.

That said it remains a developmental league. It's a place for wrestlers to learn and hone their skills before being promoted to the main roster, where they can earn better money and contribute to the shows where WWE makes its profit. Some people are brought in closer to this point than others. Finn Bálor, formerly New Japan's junior heavyweight ace Prince Devitt, could probably have bypassed NXT altogether. Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Tyler Breeze are all as main roster ready as they're going to get. Hideo Itami is still finding a middle ground between his stiff-as-nails NOAH style and the softer, safer approach taken by WWE's sports entertainers and working on his English. These things aside he's ready too.

But these names are in the minority. Most NXT wrestlers need NXT for the learning environment it was designed to be, not the WWE-owned indy fed people (not least Triple H) seem desperate for it to become. For the main roster to benefit from NXT as it's meant to a middle ground needs to be found, one that allows people like Enzo Amore, Alexa Bliss and Baron Corbin to become confident in-ring performers while also drawing sizeable crowds in its own right.

The solution WWE have apparently settled on is targeting indy talent with a proven ability to fill buildings of the size NXT will be holding events in as it expands. Essentially this means they're going after Ring of Honor guys. ROH operates on a smaller scale than WWE and is generally able to draw a couple of thousand or so people to their bigger shows. Although the ROH brand name contributes to this it's not enough by itself. It's the wrestler that deserve the bulk of the credit there. WWE understand this and want to sign these guys to help NXT and set back the competition. And while ROH is not direct competition to WWE it will be to an expanded NXT.

This would go down well with NXT crowds. Or any crowds, for that matter.
But my point still stands: ACH would be a good hire.

There are four wrestlers in ROH that I think WWE would be particularly interested in. At the top of the list is ACH. The most obvious reason is his dazzling aerial ability. He never puts on a foot wrong on his flying moves and never has a bad match. He can make himself look tremendously sympathetic when taking a beating, always handy for a smaller lad. He's precisely the sort of guy that could be signed strictly for use in NXT. This isn't to say he couldn't go far on the main roster, he could, but his style is well-suited to the more indy-flavoured NXT. With WWE on the hunt for a new lead high-flyer, and seemingly unaware that Kalisto is ideal for the role, ACH could be a great acquisition.

The second and third guys are Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly. As reDRagon they've been ROH's most reliable in-house tag team for the last two years. Three weeks in the summer of 2013 and the Young Bucks' two month reign last year aside, they held the ROH tag team titles from March 2 2013 until April 4 this year. They're a team ROH has invested a lot of time in and an act the company continues to rely on for selling tickets, VOD streams, and tickets. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the Fish and O'Reilly team has been one of ROH's greatest booking triumphs of the last few years.

ROH can't outbid WWE but even if they could it's possible reDRagon might be tempted away. ROH have treated them very well but there's nothing fresh left for them to do aside from beat the Briscoes for the longest cumulative days as tag champs, something they're only around four months away from accomplishing. Even their first match with the new Roppongi Vice team happened at the first opportunity, a sure sign that ROH booker Delirious is aware of how new things need to be done with the duo.

In NXT the team would have an entire roster of fresh opposition. They likely wouldn't get to display the dominance they have in Ring of Honor but I think it's fair to assume they'd be allowed to look immediately competitive with tag champs Blake and Murphy. It's also worth noting that aside from those two and the Enzo-Big Cass team there aren't that many teams kicking around in NXT right now, the Lucha Dragons having been promoted and the Vaudevillains having disappeared. A renamed reDRagon would be a welcome addition.

That they lost the tag straps to The Addiction, a talented pair of guys but men WWE are unlikely to have interest in, could indicate that reDRagon have announced they intend to leave ROH soon. Getting the titles off of them now avoids any sticky booking situations arising later. Of course it could just as easily be a switch made to tell a story and freshen up the doubles scene.

Bullet Club T-Shirt there. It's very much the new nWo shirt.

Another team WWE could show interest in from ROH is the Briscoe brothers. They've got a solid track record of good matches and have worked out their characters. The only stumbling block that presents itself is that Jay Briscoe is still the same man who made comments about shooting people if they tried to teach his son homosexuality was acceptable. Which, y'know, is a problem. ROH is a company that can get away with publically slapping down a guy like that and then getting back to business as usual. WWE isn't. It would be too big a deal (rightly so) for their sponsors. It could be assumed he's learnt the error of his ways but would they want to take that risk when they don't need to? I'm not sure they would.

Jay Briscoe is also a guy I think ROH would put up a fight for. Like reDRagon he's benefited from some strong booking over the last few years. He's not been pinned for around the two year mark and is only the second man ever to enjoy a second reign as the ROH world champion. He's a company stalwart who has, famously, been there since day one. Losing him would create a big gap in their man event scene. It could also send the message that even the most loyal ROH wrestler is willing to leave if they're offered more cash.

But Jay Briscoe isn't the fourth guy I think WWE would definitely be interested in. He and Mark are guys that I could see WWE hiring but not trying their hardest to lure away. The fourth name is Adam Cole. He's got everything  WWE looks for. The look, the wresting ability, the mic skills. There's nothing about Adam Cole WWE wouldn't embrace. He's probably the most signable member of the ROH roster.

The most important thing to note about Cole is that he would be an ideal replacement for Finn Bálor. They don't work especially similar styles but they can both slot into the experienced babyface role well. With a call-up to the main roster looking likely for Bálor a replacement who has as much appeal to live audiences would be desirable. Cole could fill that role nicely. As with Jay Briscoe I could see ROH making a counter offer but it wouldn't be one that WWE couldn't match. If they wanted him they'd get him. And if they're serious with their expansion talk, which we're assuming they are, they'll want him.

There are a handful of other guys WWE could be interested in. At 29 Jay Lethal is still young enough to enter the developmental system and have a meaningful main roster career. The same goes for 23-year-old Adam Page. Despite having lost steam over the last year or so Michael Elgin remains someone who'd make a solid mid-card addition to WWE and he'd look completely at home in NXT. ACH.

#streamers

Samoa Joe, who last wrestled for ROH at Supercard of Honor IX on March 27, doesn't feel like a true ROH guy after only working four matches for them in the last five-plus years, but he's worth mentioning here. Because obviously Joe could be a draw for NXT and do great things with everyone on the roster. With him being conspicuous by his absence from future ROH show line-ups, most notably the New Japan co-promotions, it seems safe to assume he's going to WWE. I wouldn't be surprised if they next quarterly special ended with him confronting NXT champ Kevin Owens.

But none of these guys other than Joe can be said to be the attractions that ACH, reDRagon, Cole and Briscoe are. They're reliable, exciting, in-ring performers who could benefit both WWE and NXT in the long run but they're not the instant fix that is required for NXT's expansion to work before this time next year. If NXT is going to grow and ROH stars are being targeted to help with that, Cole, O'Reilly, Fish, ACH and Joe are the guys I'd expect to get signed.

ROH Supercard of Honor IX review

While their disgruntled former employee Gabe Sapolsky was busy offering up in excess of half a dozen shows via his World Wrestling Network, Ring of Honor was taking a more conservative approach with WrestleMania Weekend. While they have the name value and roster to be able to put together two, possibly even three, shows on the biggest wrestling weekend of the wrestling year they decided to go for one. Less is more, and all that.

Looking at the line-up they had announced beforehand this is probably a good thing. Despite ROH's name value and roster Supercard of Honor IX looked like anything but a supercard before the fact. Of the six matches announced days before the event only the Jay Briscoe versus Samoa Joe main event and Jay Lethal's TV title defence against Jushin 'Thunder' Liger sounded like anything special. Daniels and Kazarian being placed in singles matches reeked of padding out a card, the Jimmy Jacobs v BJ Whitmer grudge battle was something that had been seen ten years earlier, and the reDRagon v Kingdom match sounded underwhelming.

In ROH's defence they suffered by losing access to regulars AJ Styles and the Young Bucks, all three of whom were busy in New Japan. But while that was beyond ROH's control it can only be taken so far as a defence. The promotion is still ultimately responsible for finding and building up its own new stars. That ACH was merely confirmed to appear with no match announced shows that the company's not as dedicated as it probably should be to establishing its next batch of headliners. And being in the position it's in (basically the last stop guys make on their way to being signed by WWE) that's something that should always be a priority for Ring of Honor.

This said the show was better than my (admittedly low) expectations had made me think it would be. It kicked off with an enjoyable match between Mark Briscoe and ACH. Recent shows had seen ACH lose to AJ Styles, Alberto El Patron and Samoa Joe. He lost again here, coming close with a bombardment of big moves in the closing moments before Mark sat down on a roll-up during a pin exchange sequence.

I understand that a guy can't just start beating big names as soon as they start getting pushed but the regularity of ACH's losses isn't going to do him any favours. They're probably going somewhere with him not being able to win in one of these matches but it's not anywhere interesting. ACH deserves more than he's currently getting and ROH need to be trying to build him up in case they lose some of their top guys in the near future. If they don't then they'll still have ACH but he'll just be the guy who lost to everyone who left.

Match two saw Michael Elgin take on Frankie Kazarian. It was a slower match than the opener and the pair took a while to find their groove. They were fine by the halfway point though, and the match ended in the typically pacey big move sequence most Elgin matches benefit from. The story of the match was that Elgers was being particularly vicious and was going out of his way to try and injure Kazarian. Kazarian survived a chair attack and all of Elgin's big moves before finally falling to a spinning back fist and the Elgin bomb.

Despite having acted like a nasty heel throughout the match the crowd chanted for Elgin after the finish. They returned to booing him as he sarcastically asked a spent Kazarian for a handshake. Kazarian's Addiction teammate Chris Daniels came out to try and keep Elgin at bay but it didn't work. Elgin initially backed off before returning to the ring with a chair and smacking Daniels in the back with it. H gave him an Elgin bomb and then used the chair on Kazarian. Because, in case you haven't noticed, Michael Elgin is now a renegade who plays by nobody's rules but his own.

Andrew Everett, Caprice Coleman, Cedric Alexander, Tommaso Ciampa (sporting his MF Doom style mask), Moose and Matt Sydal were guys stuffed into the show's six man mayhem offering. That Sydal, Ciampa and Alexander were thrown into a multi-man match was disappointing. A more meaningful match could have happened in its place, or the card could have been reshuffled to put The Addiction in a tag match. It's hardly surprising that Ciampa asked for his release when he went from main eventing shows to being in filler matches. There were clearly no long term ideas for him.

This match was a good use of Moose though. With five men against him he had plenty of guys to throw around and look powerful against. The match was a fun spot-fest, which is all it was intended to be. Sydal won off a shooting star press on Everett. Moose was just a little too slow to break the pin up.

After the match Veda Scott again stopped Moose shaking hands, as she had at the start and in other matches since she turned heel. Cedric also refused to shake hands with people. He just looked angry as Adam Cole (who was working as guest commentator for the evening) and Kevin Kelly discussed how he'd had lots of exciting matches but couldn't win. That story would be more impactful if they weren't also running it with ACH. They may be building to those two confronting one another on their different outlooks on losing but so what? We've seen them wrestle one another before so the prospect of them facing off again isn't particularly interesting, even if Cedric's a heel when it happens.

That was followed by the Epic Grudge Match between BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs. Whitmer had his new young boy Colby Corino with him (which was why Steve Corino wasn't on commentary). They started with a handshake before immediately pummelling each other. They headed outside, fought more, then got back into the ring and had a chair duel. Whitmer whipped Jacobs into chairs set up in the corner. Jacobs fought back with a spear (which brought about a "Better than Reigns!" chant) and smacked Whitmer with chairs before dropping him with Sliced Bread Number Two onto a chair.

Whitmer got a fisherman suplex for two. Jacobs brought out a table. Whitmer tried to exploder Jacobs through it. Jacobs fought him off. Whitmer helpfully rolled onto the table in just the right place for a Jacobs senton. The table didn't break so Jacobs set it up between the ring apron and the crowd barrier. A second senton in that position worked. Whitmer kicked out of a pin attempt and got clamped in a guillotine choke. Whitmer muscled out into a brainbuster then hit a second brainbuster onto a chair. Jacobs kicked out.

Whitmer tried a top rope power bomb (a call-back to one of their more grizzly encounters against one another). Jacobs back dropped him off the top rope and gave him an Ace crusher, holding on to follow up with another Sliced Bread. Whitmer floored Jacobs twice with lariats before giving him an exploder suplex onto a pair of chairs. That was enough to put 'The Zombie Princess' down for three.

A "Thank you, Jimmy!" chant rang in, it being an open secret that this was Jacobs' final match with Ring of Honor before taking a creative job with WWE. Jacobs went for a handshake. Whitmer pulled away then said he only shakes hands with guys who belong. Colby then smacked Jimmy with a water bottle shot from behind and pummelled him before Lacey ran in through the crowd to make the save. They embraced as the Ballad of Lacey played, finally bringing an end to ROH's ancient Jimmy Loves Lacey story which began back in the Gabe Sapolsky days. It was a nice touch and a fitting end to Jimmy Jacobs' time in Ring of Honor.

The love story moment was immediately undercut by Chris Daniels dancing out to the ring to his jaunty entrance music. It would have been nice if ROH had had a video package to play at this point, or a heel promo to schedule to deliberately kill the mood. But they had neither because despite this show being held on WrestleMania weekend it was still just a VOD event. As  rule they don't get video packages, and there were no heel promos on the show.

Daniels versus Roderick Strong was predictably sharp but I still think it would have been better to have The Addiction in a tag match and Roddy doing something against someone else. Matt Sydal, for example. Strong won with the Stronghold following a torture rack into a back breaker.

That was followed by The Kingdom team of Matt Taven and Michael Bennett, with Maria Kanellis, challenging reDRagon, with MMA personality Tom Lawler, for the ROH tag team championship. The Kingdom played rock, paper scissors to decide who'd start (Bennett won with rock). I've always been a fan of that in tag matches.

As stated above I hadn't expected a great deal from this match. reDRagon are great and Taven and Bennett are good but it just seemed like an awkward bout waiting to happen. It took a while to get going, the first half being characterised by Taven and Bennett employing cheap heat shenanigans, featured a needless run-in from a lone KRD member, and faltered in the closing moments because of an injury to Kyle O'Reilly, but it ended up better than I'd expected. Fish got the pin for reDRagon with a falcon arrow on Bennett.

Cole returned to commentary (he'd left after Kelly had questioned him about The Kingdom's relationship with the Knights of the Rising Dawn during Whitmer v Jacobs) and promised he hadn't been the masked KRD guy. He probably wasn't, but in storyline he likely was. That's wrestling logic, that is.

Jay Lethal's television title defence against Jushin Liger took the semi-main spot. Lethal has been great as the aggressive heel champion and his reign is doing the championship's credibility a lot of good. He's the sort of guy ROH could elevate to the world title picture should they lose a bunch of their top guys. Liger is Liger. Not as good as he is in 80's and 90's videos but still very reliable and a definite crowd-pleaser.

What I liked about the Liger and Lethal pairing was that a title change wasn't inconceivable, something that can't often be said when a champion defends against an outsider. With ROH promoting shows with New Japan a month and a half after this they could have switched the title to Liger and had him enter those shows as champion. The TV title could have been defended on New Japan shows by Liger in the meantime and a rematch would have been a natural addition to one of the four inter-promotional shows. It wasn't likely but it made suspension of disbelief a bit easier than it had been in Liger's world title match with Cole at War of the Worlds 2015.

The match was very good and had a entertaining finishing sequence. After stopping a Lethal suicide dive Liger dropped the champ with a brainbuster. They made it back into the ring at the nineteen count. Lethal grabbed the TV title belt. The referee took it from him and Liger went for a rollup, which Lethal countered into a pin attempt of his own by grabbing hold of the ropes. The ref noticed and called a halt to the count. Lethal took the belt again and tried lamping Liger with it. Liger ducked and snatched the belt for himself. The referee started a tug-of-war over the belt with the challenger, allowing Lethal to sneak in a super kick and a Lethal Injection for the victory.

The main event saw Samoa Joe challenge Jay Briscoe for the ROH world championship. This was a match with a lot of history behind it. Briscoe and Joe had feuded with one another in the early years of ROH, Briscoe never managing to defeat Joe when it really counted. Joe is the man most readily associated with the championship, thanks to his dominant twenty-one month title reign during the company's formative years, a reign yet to be bettered in length. Briscoe is the dominant champion of the present, not having been pinned in two years and having defeated everyone that's been put in front of him just as Joe did during his reign.

Joe got the best of an early feeling out process. The match gradually got more physical with forearms, chops, jabs, a Jay boot to the face and a Joe enziguri. Jay went for a suplex. Got it on fourth try following a jab. He peppered the big man with more jabs and applied a sleeper. Joe muscled out, tweaked his knee on a bungled spill over the top rope, and rolled to the outside to counter a suicide dive with a high kick as planned.

Back in the ring Joe hit Briscoe with jabs of his own and used a Hogan-esque leg drop in place of his usual knee drop. Joe got the best of an exchange of blows with an uppercut. Briscoe tried climbing to the top rope but Joe booted him to the outside and hit a suicide dive. He went for the Olé kick but Briscoe threw a chair in his face (the lack of a DQ being explained away with talk of referee lenience). The champ threw Joe into the barricade before getting grabbed off of the apron and slung into the barricade himself. A second try for the Olé kick was successful. So was a third.

Joe pulled Briscoe back into the ring and got a two count. He peppered him with jabs and hauled him into position for the Muscle Buster. Briscoe fought out of it and dropped Joe with a neck breaker. Jay got more jabs on Joe and went for a Death Valley driver. Joe and his weight blocked it. Jay took some elbow strikes before firing back with a super kick and a belly-to-back suplex as Joe came off the ropes.

Briscoe got in several uppercuts and finally connected with the DVD. Joe kicked out at two. Briscoe went for the Jay driller. Joe back dropped out of it and sent Jay sprawling with clotheslines, an inverted atomic drop, a yakuza kick and a senton. Jay kicked out and slugged away at Joe before hit ting the ropes. He was met with a power slam. Joe went through the power bomb, Boston crab, STF, crossface sequence to loud cheers. Briscoe managed to make the ropes, forcing a break.

The two returned to their feet and traded forearms, slaps, and jabs, just as they had at the start of the match. Just as he had then Joe won out, this time when he smashed Jay with a kick to the chest. Joe again went for the Muscle Buster. Briscoe again fought out and caught him with a Jay Driller for the three count. Jay Briscoe finally defeated Samoa Joe in an ROH world championship match.

After the match the two shared a handshake and hugged. Joe presented Briscoe with his championship belts and raised his hand to end the show. Everything about Joe's performance, from his post-match actions to the fact that he went down to a single Jay driller, was designed to endorse Jay Briscoe as a great champion, which was a good call. In ROH terms Joe is one of the biggest guys a wrestler can receive a rub from. That said, the match wasn't anything amazing. It was good and a worthwhile main event, but Joe and Briscoe have both done far better and ROH has had more fitting headline bouts.

While this event was better than I'd expected it to be it still didn't feel particularly special. There was nothing bad on it but there also isn't really anything worth revisiting. There's nothing wrong with an enjoyable wrestling show (obviously) but sometimes it's nice to make a show feel a bit special, and that's something ROH can struggle with. Which was all too apparent here.

***

Results summary:

Mark Briscoe defeated ACH
Michael Elgin defeated Frankie Kazarian
Matt Sydal defeated Andrew Everett, Cedric Alexander, Tommaso Ciampa, Caprice Coleman and Moose to win a six man mayhem
BJ Whitmer defeated Jimmy Jacobs
Roderick Strong defeated Christopher Daniels
reDRagon defeated The Kingdom to retain the ROH tag team championship
Jay Lethal defeated Jushin Liger to retain the ROH television championship
Jay Briscoe defeated Samoa Joe to retain the ROH world championship

ROH 13th Anniversary Show review

Ring of Honor's anniversary shows fall t an awkward time for the company. They come just two months after Final Battle, generally the company's biggest card of the year, and around a month before WrestleMania weekend, at which ROH always has a presence (usually with a show called Supercard of Honor). It makes the pacing of storylines difficult and can result in a show which is more about bridging the gap between the bigger shows on either side of it and not giving too much away.

To an extent that happened this year. The four-way main event was a way to put on a significant card-topper while also holding more impactful singles confrontations in reserve for Supercard of Honor IX and beyond. Meanwhile the ACH versus AJ Styles match was a big match but not something that was likely to draw many viewers if used elsewhere and the Bucks versus reDRagon outing was the latest in a lengthy series. The only big match on offer that could have been saved was Lethal versus El Patron, but then whenever the former WWE champion debuted it was going to be of significance.

All told Ring of Honor put forth a good effort with this anniversary show. They struck the right balance between conservation and making it appealing in its own right.

The show kicked off with a Las Vegas-themed intro video (because it was being held in Las Vegas). It was a theme that continued throughout the evening and made a nice change of pace. In the arena Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino (now going under the name King Corino because why not?) talked up the evening's top three championship matches before introducing the new Spanish announce team. This addition would later be attributed to the signing of El Patron. I can believe that's true.

Cedric Alexander v Matt Sydal made a cracking opener. The two men had a lightning quick bout that gave the crowd a chance to blow off steam and kicked the broadcast off with a bang. Sydal got the win after Alexander went for a kick in the corner only to hit the ropes awkwardly, landing in position for a match-winning Shooting Star press (a botch due to unfamiliar ropes, but everyone involved styled it out well). Alexander shook hands after the match but looked like he was on the verge of a breakdown.

Match two saw Mark Briscoe take on Moose, the culmination of a feud that had begun with an errant spear from Moose to Briscoe. While the opener had lasted around fifteen minutes this match was significantly shorter, long matches not really being Moose's thing. 'The Offensive Line' muscled Briscoe around the ring, cutting off a lot of his offence with power moves and efficient ring placement before Briscoe mounted a comeback with a Blockbuster off the apron and a Cactus Jack elbow. It wasn't enough to win. Moose quickly regained control and floored Mark with a wild spear to win.

After the match Veda Scott slapped Moose's hand away from a handshake. He looked unimpressed with her but didn't push the issue. As they left Veda shouted that Briscoe was a loser.

That was followed by a three-way tag team match. The Addiction faced the Kingdom team of Matt Taven and Michael Bennett and Bullet Club representative Karl Anderson. 'The Machine Gun' was going it alone after Doc Gallows' plane had been grounded due to severe weather. The match had a steady first half and picked up a great deal for the home stretch. Taven and Bennett hit a double spike piledriver on Anderson for the victory after a Yuranage suplex and a Stun Gun to had eliminated Kazarian and Daniels respectively.

The BJ Whitmer and Roderick Strong grudge match followed that. They'd been teammates in The Decade and initially fell out over their differing views on the group's young boy Adam Page. It's developed further since then, with Whitmer feeling that Strong's selfish and desperate to protect his spot and Strong feeling Whitmer's jealous of his success and ability. It was a good story making good use of the history the two men have in ROH. It was a stiff affair. Strong won after a disrespectful "kiss of death" from BJ fired him up and he hit a pair of high knees, an elbow strike and the lumbar check.

Match five saw Maria Kanellis defend the title of love, formerly Jay Briscoe's real world title, against ODB. For the record that now stands for One Dirty Briscoe, which is pretty clever (by wrestling standards). The pre-match video featured some great verbal work from Kanellis. WWE missed a trick not rehiring her when they had the chance. She and Bennett could have been great in NXT.

Before the match Maria announced that she was unable to wrestle because she was pregnant. But that was a swerve! Bennett ran in through the crowd and super kicked Mark Briscoe, who'd accompanied ODB to ringside, as Maria hit ODB with the title belt. ODB kicked out, Briscoe evened the odds with Bennett, and then ODB clobbered Maria around ringside. Following a few minutes of that Maria floored ODB with a super kick then held her for Bennett to do the same. That backfired when ODB ducked out of the way, leaving Maria to take the move from her husband.

Briscoe fought with Bennett as Maria surprised everyone by kicking out. Presumably determined to prove she warranted a spot on the show Maria took a military press into the lads at ringside and then took part in providing a human crash mat as ODB leapt off the top rope. After giving Bennett a Doomsday Device with Briscoe's help ODB returned to ring to pin Maria with her Bam finisher. She and Briscoe then posed with the real world title (the pink love cover having been yanked off) before heading backstage. 

ACH and AJ Styles had a very good match after that, as was easily predicted, was essentially a procession through well thought out high spots. The first was an early attempt at the Styles Clash, 'The Phenomenal One' flipping himself out of a jackknife pin and into the move with smooth precision. ACH fired back with a crisp tornado DDT and a running phoenix tope straight out of the early playbook of Styles himself.

When that didn't get him the victory ACH unleashed his latest move, a fisherman buster variant called the Big Bang Attack. Styles kicked out but ACH stayed on him with a modified enziguri-cum-Pele kick as 'The Phenomenal One' clambered to the top rope. Styles avoided a 450 and applied the Calf Killer. ACH turned it into a pin but Styles slipped out to hit a Bloody Sunday and the Styles Clash for the victory. ACH was allowed to look competitive before taking the loss and Styles added to the list of solid outings his had since cutting himself loose from TNA.

reDRagon versus the Young Bucks was another predictably great match. Again it was essentially a procession of high spots with little story to link them together, but the Bucks and reDRagon are more proficient at this type of match than ACH. In some ways they're better at it than Styles.

Highlights included: a gut buster followed by a neck breaker on Fish; a top rope moonsault to the outside from Matt to Fish; O'Reilly applying an armbar to Matt while hanging in the ropes, with Nick leaping over them to wipe out Fish and then unleashing a super kick to break the hold; another super kick from Nick to O'Reilly as Matt tried to sunset bomb him to the outside, allowing him to throw O'Reilly into Fish; the ever over buckle bomb-enziguri combo; a springboard splash turned into an armbar on Nick by O'Reilly, broken up by a top rope elbow from Matt; and an Indy-taker on the floor to O'Reilly.

The finishing sequence was the best of the evening. The Bucks hit Chasing the Dragon on Fish after wiping out O'Reilly with the Indy-taker. Fish kicked out the crowd erupted in boos. Nick and Matt hit More Bang for Your Buck on Fish, only for Shayna Baszler (a UFC fighter who'd accompanied reDRagon to the ring) to pull Todd Sinclair from the ring. The Bucks left the ring and stalked stalked her around ringside, allowing O'Reilly to hit them both with a knee from the apron. He grabbed Nick and took him back into the ring to give him a tornado DDT. Fish followed that with a top rope falcon arrow.

The pair then hit Chasing the Dragon but Matt pulled Sinclair from the ring to save the match for himself and his brother. He headed back into the ring and cleaned house with super kicks and crotch chops before reDRagon hit him with the elevated DDT into a German suplex. As Matt writhed outside the ring Nick was left vulnerable for a second Chasing the Dragon for a successful reDRagon defence.

Jay Lethal's TV title defence against Alberto El Patron took the semi-main event spot. They started off quick, El Patron super kicking J Diesel off the apron and diving onto Lethal at ringside then throwing him into crowd barriers. Back in the ring Lethal took control by crotching Alberto on the top rope before unleashing a slew of cheap shots and a superplex.

The Knights of the Rising Dawn (who had briefly appeared during the tag title match) showed back up as Alberto hit a reverse suplex from the second rope. Lethal fell to clotheslines and a backstabber and signalled for the cross armbreaker but Lethal beat him to it. El Patron worked his way out of his own signature hold and rolled to the outside. Lethal stayed on him with a trio of suicide dives. The last sent El Patron tumbling over the crowd barricade (Corino was quick to point out that the lad he landed on was particularly hefty). When he rolled back into the ring at sixteen he was met with stomps by Lethal. The champ's attempt at a superplex backfired when the challenger pushed him down into a tree of woe position and double stomped him for a two count.

Lethal blocked a super kick and the pair exchanged punches. Alberto received a Lethal Combination but kicked out. Lethal headed to the top rope to attempt his Hail to the King elbow drop but got caught and crotched. Alberto fought off interference from Truth Martini and trapped him in the cross armbreaker. Lethal came off the top with the elbow but El Patron release Martini and reapplied the hold on Lethal as he landed.

Martini distracted the referee as Lethal lamped Alberto with The Book of Truth. 'The Greatest First Generation Wrestler' was stunned at the kick out but kept it together enough to catch a super kick attempt and wobble the challenger with a bicycle kick. He went for the Lethal Injection but his arm was too hurt from the cross armbreaker to support his weight, allowing El Patron up roll him up with an Okana roll for two. Lethal's kick out sent 'Mexico's Greatest Export' flying forward into a shot from The Book of Truth. He turned back around into the Lethal Injection, which was enough to put him down for a three count. The match was very good. It got over Lethal's win-at-any-costs character, kept Alberto strong and showed why he was such a good addition to the roster.

The main event was preceded by the appearance of two former ROH world champions. Nigel McGuinness joined the commentary team and Samoa Joe made a "surprise" appearance. I say surprise but it had already been announced he was returning and it had seemed a fair assumption he'd make an unannounced appearance on the anniversary card. Joe cut a pro-Ring of Honor promo and announced his intention to regain the world championship. 

The main event was a four-way match for the ROH world championship. Champion Jay Briscoe was attacked at the bell by all three challengers, Hanson, Tommaso Ciampa and Michael Elgin. That wasn't enough to faze him, he was outside the ring within minutes setting up a table.

The first half of the match was standard multi-man fare. Everyone got a turning working with everyone else and a handful of standard spots were cycled through. The highlight was an all too brief exchange between Briscoe and Elgin. I understand why ROH didn't want to do a singles match between them here and the addition of Hanson and Ciampa made a nice change, but they could have done something interesting one-on-one.

The final stretch verged on overbooking (by Ring of Honor standards) but was still enjoyable. Todd Sinclair took a bump as he headed back into the ring and was sent sprawling to the floor. Hanson ignored this and hit a a Rikishi driver on Briscoe, making a cover in excess of the required three but not having a referee to count for him. As he got up he was attacked by the KRD. Their beating of Hanson, Ciampa and Briscoe got them a distinct lack of heat. The return of Raymond Rowe did better. He chased them off through the crowd and the match continued with Elgin giving Briscoe a Jay Driller through the table that had been set up at the start of the match.

There was no referee to count the fall but it was a natural falsie anyway: nobody would fall to such a move in a pay-per-view main event. Elgin grabbed a chair and prepared to cave in Briscoe's skull with it. Nigel McGuinness got into the ring to stop him. Being a mad ol' heel Elgers went to power bomb the matchmaker. Ciampa made the save, had a bit of a stare off with McGuinnes, and then cracked Elgin with a chair as he leant out of the ring shouting. He went for a cover of his own but the match again continued because there was no healthy ref.  

Ciampa hit a power bomb on Elgin. Briscoe broke that up. Ciampa retaliated with Project Ciampa on Briscoe, who kicked out at two. Elgin power bombed Ciampa again. Briscoe broke the cover and rolled Elgin up for a two count. Hanson returned to the fray and wiped out Briscoe with a spin kick. Briscoe landed on Ciampa and got the pinfall win as Elgin pulled Hanson out of the ring.

Elgin freaked out at his own stupidity and misfortune (had he not pulled Hanson from the ring he'd have been free to make the save and the match would have continued) then headed up the aisle. There he came face-to-face with Samoa Joe. They shared a brief moment of tension before Joe continued to the ring to hand Briscoe the world championship. The show went off the air with the longest reigning champion ever and the current two time champion staring each other down in the ring. It was all very macho.

***

Results summary:

Matt Sydal defeated Cedric Alexander
Moose defeated Mark Briscoe
The Kingdom defeated The Addiction and Karl Anderson
Roderick Strong defeated BJ Whitmer
ODB defeated Maria Kanellis
AJ Styles defeated ACH
reDRagon defeated the Young Bucks to retain the tag team championship
Jay Lethal defeated Alberto El Patron to retain the television championship
Jay Briscoe defeated Hanson, Tommaso Ciampa and Michael Elgin to retain the ROH world championship

ROH All Star Extravaganza VI review

When I heard that ROH were holding All Star Extravaganza VI in Toronto I was pretty pleased. Over the last couple of years the city has gained a reputation as one of the best crowds the promotion attracts. The Toronto fans are enthusiastic, loud and appreciative. You can't really ask for much more from a wrestling audience. Putting them on iPPV for one of ROH's more significant shows of the year (the most significant between June's Best in the World and December's Final Battle) was a good call.

The crowd reacted as usual to the bigger matches on the show but they didn't feel as enthused for aspects of the undercard. They weren't quiet, just not as rambunctious as usual. But they were on form when it counted though, and it counted a few times on this show.

After an opening video package which looked at various members of the roster and (confusingly, I felt) referred to the company as a whole as "legendary" the show got underway with a House of Truth promo. The purpose of this was to announce that ACH hadn't shown up (he'd missed his flight to Toronto, which may have harmed his standing with the group), with Truth Martini announcing that Jay Lethal would have the night off and not have to defend his TV title. Truth also stated that ACH now stands for A Crack Head. Yeah, ACH's spot is definitely in jeopardy.

Cedric Alexander joined the gang and challenged Lethal to a title match in ACH's place. Lethal said no, Cedric commented that Selezia had bigger balls them him and Lethal, like a classic heel, immediately rose to the bait and granted Cedric a match. The segment ended with the men shoving one another and Lethal accidentally super kicking Selezia.

The opening match was Mark Briscoe versus Hanson, a match that stemmed from War Machine and the Briscoe brothers trying to outdo each other in terms toughness had having some pretty intense matches. It was a solid opener that excited the crowd and toured all around the ring. Briscoe won with his top rope frog elbow after avoiding a Hanson moonsault.

The commentary teams discussion of Elgin's desire to have a long title reign and make the most defences in the title's history was interrupted by Tommaso Ciampa. His desperate, unhinged gimmick is not terribly convincing. It could improve over time, but right now I'm sticking with my original belief that Ciampa is not a guy built for this sort of presentation or character. And depression, which we are told Ciampa is suffering from, is not a subject I feel is well suited to what is meant to be an escapist art form.

Match two was a four-way tag bout: Ethan Gabriel Owens and Josh Alexander v BJ Whitmer and Adam page (of The Decade) v Caprice Coleman and 'I've Misplaced My First Name' Watanabe v Moose and RD Evans. It felt a little random but there was a lot to like. Coleman and Watanabe, with similar heights and builds and wearing not entirely dissimilar entrance gear, looked good together, and they're making the effort to act like a unit. Alexander and Owens are a team I'd seen on an EVOLVE show and thought deserved a crack in the larger ROH environment, so it was nice to see them get it. Evans, Moose and their entourage were very over and Moose was (gasp!) showing a bit of personality. And The Decade pairing were there to further the overall gimmick of the group (respect them because they've been around for a while, yeah?) and a story about Page being Whitmer's handpicked young boy.

This was another good match well received by the audience. The large number of guys involved ensured a quick pace, with lots of high spots and pin breakups thrown in to keep us on our toes. Naturally The New Streak continued, Evans stealing the pin off a burning hammer into a power bomb combo manoeuvre by Owens and Alexander on Page. Everyone else stood around looking miffed as RD did his OTT celebration. It was enjoyable. I'm a big fan of RD Evans' shtick in the usually serious ROH.

After Bad Influence, now The Addiction, recapped their issues with The Decade (the heels interfered in a tag title match Daniels and Kazarian had at Field of Honor) the two teams faced off. The former TNA world tag team champions of the world won a slick but perhaps slightly too long match with total elimination and an assisted gut buster on Roddy Strong. The Addiction shook hands with Strong after the match, which led to Page shoving Strong and Whitmer interjecting on his boy's behalf. Whitmer and Strong had words before Jacobs talked them both around. A split is clearly on the way for The Decade. I think there are still things they could do together bit maybe the plan was only for them to remain affiliated for long enough to make a split and rivalry mean something.

A really good Adam Cole video preceded his match with AJ Styles. They started things slow and gradually upped the speed, setting up and attempting to lock in their Calf Killer and figure four leg submission holds. Cole, as the heel, would be the first man to get the advantage for an extended period, super kicking Styles' knee as he attempted a springboard and then applying the ring post figure four. In the ring Styles attempted to flip into a hurricanrana but instead found himself placed in a traditional figure four. There was a story going on: Cole was targeting his foe’s knee.

Styles dropped Cole with what Kevin Kelly described as a suplex (it was more of a brainbuster) on the ring apron, following up with a marvellous 450 splash back into the ring. The pair exchanged punches in the corners before Styles was dropped head first onto Cole's knee for two. Moments later Cole was floored with a Styles Clash. He didn't kick out but he did sling a foot onto the bottom rope to stop the count.

Top rope antics followed, Cole halting an AJ attempt at something or other and German suplexing him down into the ring. An immediate Florida Key earned him a two count. By this point AJ was selling some serious fatigue and Cole was the ruthless aggressor desperate for the kill. A right hand sent AJ down to his knees. So did a second, a third, and a fourth. 'The Phenomenal One' got an adrenalin burst for long enough to enter a spirited punch exchange which escalated to include super and Pele kicks and which, as the face, Styles naturally got the better of.

Once recovered Cole headed to the top rope and got waffled with a second Pele kick. Styles then hauled Cole off the top with a Bloody Sunday (which he’s adopted from former Bullet Club leader Prince Devitt in one of those lovely little touches you don’t get often enough in wrestling outside of Japan), a brutal and believable finishing move. It was a very good match. Cole was protected in defeat by having AJ really have to work to put him down. They avoided going overboard on false endings and finishing moves and had a decidedly old school match that built logically and saw both men show game plans. It could very well have been Cole's best ROH match.

After the match Styles helped Cole to his feet and proffered his hand for the Code of Honor. Cole spat on it and walked backstage. Lucky AJ wears gloves, eh?

After a short intermission during which viewers at home were "treated" to clips from previous Bucks v reDRagon encounters (I've always felt promos and ads for upcoming events are a better use of the time) Michael Bennett and Maria Kanellis headed to the ring to fulfil their promise that they'd reveal what was underneath Maria's red trench coat. Both Steve Corino and Nigel McGuinness (who'd joined commentary for his now traditional second half stint) both put over Maria's looks. As the play-by-play man Kevin Kelly is not permitted to comment on things like this.

Maria announced that Matt Hardy would be returning to Ring of Honor. Then Michael Bennett peeled off Maria's coat to reveal the Iconic championship, originally Jay Briscoe's "real" world title, repurposed to become the Title of Love. It now has pink fur and a picture of Mike and Maria kissing on it. Bennett then suggested the pair "consummate" their marriage early on the title belt. Mark Briscoe, wearing a natty little do-rag around his head, ran out and chased the heels off, telling Bennett that when his brother found out about the disrespectful antics it would "be [his] ass."

The entire thing had a very Attitude Era vibe thanks to the sexual connotations, Bennett's love of cheap heat, and Mark Briscoe's do-rag. The marriage consummating that didn't happen had a tinge of Edge and Lita's 2006 sex celebration too.

Match five saw Jay Lethal defeat Cedric Alexander with his own Lethal Injection and Matt Taven's Climax. Because good lord it's not as though the Lethal versus Taven feud is utterly played out. It was a really good match, although the return Selezia made to get destroyed by more accidental Lethal offence wasn't entirely necessary. Hopefully they're going somewhere good with that and it wasn't just thrown in for the sake of things. If it's a bigger role for Selezia I'm all for it. She's great.

The ROH world championship match was prefaced by an excellent hype video. Both men made it clear they weren't intimidated by their opponent. They also talked about what their foe's claimed strengths. For Briscoe that was two years without a pinfall loss. Elgin said that was because Briscoe hadn't faced him in those two years. For Elgin it was his ascent to the top and a literal interpretation of his 'Unbreakable' moniker. There was also some nice stuff with Briscoe channeling Ric Flair, telling Elgin "to be the man, you've gotta the man." There are few wrestlers more unlike 1980s prime Flair than Jay Briscoe, which I think adds to the appeal of Jay becoming a modern day version of that character. I'd definitely be interested in Jay Briscoe's already lengthy winning streak continuing.

The match was a corker. It was filled, as most featured Elgin bouts are, with stiff offense, a bunch of lariats and some intense ringside brawling. These are, of course, thigns that Jay Briscoe is pretty familiar with too, so it felt like the natural direction for the pair to take the match in. It was great, everything we could have wanted. But the closing were… well, something of a surprise, to say the least.

The sequence began with Elgin being put through a table with a Jay Driller from the apron, raising his shoulder at the last moment to stay in the fight. Exhibiting disbelief Jay clambered back to his feet and belted Elgin with some fists. The champ fired himself up and blasted Briscoe with a spinning back fist as he attempted a clothesline, following up with a buckle bomb. He went for his follow-up of an Elgin bomb after that, only for Briscoe to slip out and spike him with a second Jay Driller for the victory and the championship.


ROH world champion Jay Briscoe there, looking a tiny bit awkward.

The title change was a massive shock. The build-up to the match, focusing on Jay’s two year winning streak, felt like it was intended to emphasise how significant an Elgin win would be. Plus Elgin’s a Canadian, and it seemed safe to assume ROH would want to have him win his first defence in his home country to build him up into a sort of “national treasure” role they could rely on in the future. More than that, ROH had been holding off on putting their world belt onto Elgin for an age (they waited too long in my opinion) and so it was a shock to see him lose the title after less than three months.

It felt like Elgin’s reign was cut short. In the last few days it’s not been hard to see a variety of reasons cited as to why he lost the championship, ranging from visa problems to off remarks he’d made in interviews. It’s a shame he lost the championship so quickly after having to wait so long, but on the plus side it got people talking about Ring of Honor and it could be the beginning of a far ranging storyline (although it probably isn’t). It also made me realise how my attitude towards Jay Briscoe has changed. I’m interested in him as a two time champion now, while last year I hated the idea of him as champion.

The main event as the two-out-of-three falls match for the ROH world tag team championships. reDRagon were defending against The Young Bucks. The two teams have faced off a few times now and the results have never been anything less than sensational. The most notable encounter was their show-stealing performance at the ROH and New Japan War of the Worlds crossover, which is a current frontrunner for match of the year. I mention this to illustrate the sort of level the units had been operating on and the expectations of fans for this match.

It was a great match (with the standard caveat that you have to overlook the lax attitude to selling from the Bucks), edging out Cole versus Styles and the world championship match for best of the night honours. Personally I feel it was slightly less good than their WOTW encounter, but I could fully understand people feeling the opposite. I could wake up tomorrow and feel the opposite myself, the quality of the bouts is that close. It was a fitting end to the evening and yet more proof that these two teams, particularly when working together, are both something special.

Fish and O’Reilly took the first fall with Chasing the Dragon, putting them in the advantageous position traditionally occupied by heels. The Bucks evened things up with a package piledriver-super kick combo before losing the third and deciding fall when Matt tapped out to the Fujiwara arm bar that O’Reilly applied as a counter to More Bang for Your Buck.

A standing ovation for the valiant losers was interrupted by a returning Tommaso Ciampa. He dropped Nick with a German suplex and Matt with a Project Ciampa. The final shot of the broadcast was Nick Jackson taking a neck breaker onto the exposed boards of the ring. I stand by what I said earlier: Ciampa is not a performer particularly well suited to this and the topic of depression (which Corino stated very clearly he was suffering from) is not something that wrestling should be tackling. At least not in this manner.

Even with the mood-killing closing angle I thought All Star Extravaganza VI was a very good show. It was obviously be most remembered as the show on which Michael Elgin lost the ROH championship but there was a lot more going on (and perhaps as a trivia note should it prove to be ACH's last official booking). Every match was watchable and enjoyable, with Cole v Styles and the top two title matches standing out as particularly impressive. That title change will always make this a curiosity but it’s a very watchable show in and of itself. The ROH crew turned out another good effort.

ROH Supercard of Honor VIII review

Due to previous, much-discussed issues with their streaming facilities ROH's WrestleMania weekend offering was not available live. It took place on April 4, opposite DG USA's Open the Ultimate Gate 2014, but wasn't uploaded until a week or so later. Which is a pity, because it was a good show (as you'll read below) and deserved to be discussed during wrestling’s biggest weekend of the year.

It's likely that this will be the last time the issues of streaming and uploading affect ROH. From Best in the World onwards their big shows will be broadcast as live pay-per-views. Yeah, full on television PPVs, not those internet streaming things and taped offerings they’ve been doing until now. It's a big thing for ROH which could help them expand (which is the idea, obviously) if they can string together some top notch shows.

The situation’s obviously only come about because the WWE Network has finally reared its head. With WWE moving away from pay-per-view it's created an opening for ROH to build itself up. Basically the pay-per-view companies are going to ROH to try and recoup some of the losses they’ll be suffering losing WWE money. Doesn’t say much for TNA, does it?

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. The show at hand is Supercard of Honor VIII. Although it wasn’t available live for anyone who didn’t have a ticket it was still a big and important show for ROH. It paid off months of storylines between the company’s two world champion claimants and offered a number of clashes between top names.

The show kicked off with a very impressive video that recapped the last year of plot. Jay Briscoe's title win, his reign and his loss of the belt via stripping. Adam Cole winning the vacated championship and subsequent heel turn on Jay. Their feud over the legitimacy of Cole's reign and Briscoe's introduction of the so-called real world title. It was a great piece of work that caught people up without being tedious.

The night's first match was Cedric Alexander taking on ROH veteran and proud Decade member Roderick Strong. He had Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer at ringside, along with new member Adam Page. He'd joined as a young boy (a Japanese, and therefore Ring of Honor, concept linked to paying dues and earning a spot) a week or two earlier.

The pair had a very good match that told a good story: Cedric wanted to prove himself to be on the same level as Roddy and worthy of his, and The Decade’s, respect. He kicked out of a bunch of very convincing false finishes, took out the Decade members stationed at ringside before eventually being caught with a drop kick and a suplex into a back breaker for the Strong victory.

Kevin Kelly put over Cedric’s efforts, though he didn’t need to: the match was one of the best of the night and Cedric looked so good during the match that he got over even in defeat. After the match Jacobs told Cedric he should act more like Adam Page and be respectful. Perhaps that will be the next swerve turn, Cedric attacking Caprice Coleman in favour of joining The Decade. Or not. ‘The Zombie Princess’ also referred to ROH as the house that The Decade built. I hope that was intentionally ridiculous.

Andrew Everett and Adrenalin RUSH were called out for their six man scramble tag match. The scramble rule meant that if someone leaves the ring one of their partners could become the match’s legal man without the need for a tag. It’s a good approach that ensures a faster pace, never a bad thing in your second match of the night.

Once again the story centred on respect. Specifically it was about The Decade not respecting their foes and the younger trio doing everything they could to show they were worthy of it. ACH was a highlight during this, taking particular exception to his treatment at the hands of the heels. He shook hands with the fans when the bad guys refused and was booked as the star of his team, getting isolated and hitting the majority of the most impressive flying moves. Making him the star made sense: he was the most charismatic guy in the match and had the crispest delivery.

As with the opener it was a very enjoyable match. The faces, Jacobs and Page were all quick. BJ wasn’t going to keep up, but he offered the match some a power guy instead. Highlights of the match included a Doomsday Device-suicide dive combo on the floor from Whitmer and Jacobs, springboard shooting star presses to the outside and inside of the ring by Everett, an incredible topé from ACH, and The Decade's All Seeing Eye (a move it would be easy to botch and that always looks good). That was enough to earn Whitmer the win for his team.

After the match Jacobs teased caving in Tadarius's skull with his trusty spike. He walked off instead. ACH sat at ringside, exhausted and unable to make the save. My assumption is that there will be a singles match between ACH and Jacobs sometime soon. Probably at Best in the World.

After a reminder of why they don't like one another Truth Martini and Matt Taven went to the ring for a showdown. Instead of introducing his mystery wrestler Truth called Kevin Kelly into the ring and started reading the final chapter of the Book of Truth. Taven snatched it away and started reading his "favourite” chapter. He got about three words in before flames came out of the book which caused a distraction (understandably so) and allowed Truth to kick Taven in the groin and walk off. It was a confusing, disappointing mess of a segment.

Match three saw the "undefeated" RD Evans (he's pulled 82-0 from somewhere) take on Silas Young. Evans was popular with the fans. Young was not. He was, in fact, hated. Partly because he does such a good job of being an unlikeable bully. What could have been a simple comedy bout was actually a pretty lengthy, compelling outing. After narrowly avoiding being counted out (having absorbed an impressive electric chair drop on the apron) Evans caught Young with a small package that was just kicked out of.

Veda Scott then distracted the referee while Ramon, the other member of the RD Evans Comedy Troupe, tossed his belt into the ring. Young intercepted it so Evans pretended he'd been struck with it in an effort to win by DQ. Young escaped another rollup and accidentally battered the ref with the belt. Evans got a hangman's neck breaker but there was nobody to count the three so Evans, needing a ref, checked on the downed official. That allowed Young to grab him for a fireman roll and a moonsault, at which point a fresh official appeared in the ring to make the unpopular count.

However... original official Paul Turner got to his feet and reversed the decision. Silas Young was disqualified, presumably for striking an official. Evans celebrated in typically overblown style, screaming that he'd done it and high fiving and hugging fans at ringside. He’s one of the best things currently going in ROH.

Following that were Michael Bennett and Mark Briscoe in a no disqualification match. Bennett had involved himself in Jay Briscoe's rivalry with Adam Cole, so Mark was looking out for his brother. That was all the build they needed.

The match started with Briscoe launching himself off the apron and battering Bennett around ringside. Bennett turned things around and the two wound up brawling into the bleachers. Noteworthy here was Mark launching himself from one guardrail over another and landing on nothing but Bennett and concrete. Back at ringside 'The Prodigy' smacked Briscoe with a pair of chair shots, spat water in his face and ran him into the crowd barrier.

In the ring Bennett wrapped a chair around Briscoe's leg and smashed a second chair on top. Briscoe shrugged that off (just one of many no-sells he would perform) and came back with an elbow drop to a floored Bennett outside the ring (Cactus Jack style). Briscoe gave Bennett some chair shots of his own and ran him into barriers in the aisle. Up at the entrance Bennett speared Briscoe through a table, which fell over rather than broke in half. Which was somewhat anticlimactic.  

Once again returning to the ring Briscoe pulled out a kendo stick. Bennett took two shots before Maria grabbed the stick out of Mark's grasp. Bennett snuck in a super kick and Maria gave Briscoe a stick shot of her own, allowing Bennett to hit a side effect. A series of chair shots put the former tag champ down. Bennett followed that with a one man Conchairto and an application of the Anaconda Vice. Referee Todd Sinclair awarded the match to Bennett. Briscoe was helped out of the ring but was looking for a fight before he'd reached the aisle. The match was a very satisfying brawl but someone needs to remind Mark to sell.

We were shown Matt Taven searching for Truth Martini backstage. He walked into the gents, there was some shouting, and then Truth wandered out. The cameraman entered the restroom to find Taven clutching his face. I think we were meant to assume he'd been fireballed. Although there were other options that would fit with Truth’s deviant character.

A top notch hype video for ROH's co-promoted shows with New Japan was followed by Cheeseburger giving out T-shirts. The inevitable interruption came from Matt Hardy. After politely asking the burger to give him the ring 'The Icon' talked about ROH setting record numbers in TV ratings, attendance figures, and merch sales, which he took credit for, natch. In fairness he didn't just claim it was because of him, he also said it was because he'd handpicked Adam Cole as the top guy in the company. Channelling both Triple H and Gedo ‘The Sensei of Mattitude’ talked up Adam Cole as being on another level and said he couldn't take anything away from Briscoe being a "pretty good little wrestler". Wrapping up, Hardy said that he, Bennett, Kanellis, and Cole are the best unit in wrestling and that Cole winning the main event would cement him as the greatest ROH champion ever.

Cheeseburger was called back into the ring. Hardy disingenuously apologised for taking his time and then gave him a Twist of Fate. The sequence was good for building up the importance of the main event and establishing the top heel unit in the company but it wasn't unmissable stuff. Nothing involving Matt Hardy is.

Match five was the Forever Hooligans v reDRagon v Hanson and Raymond Rowe in a three-way tag match, with the winners earning a title match with The Young Bucks at Global Wars. Despite Hanson and Rowe being the only guys who were definitely faces it was Fish and O'Reilly who got most of the cheers before the match started.

Things took a while to get going in this. The first several minutes were pretty standard tag fare. Things only really picked up in the final five minutes when the near falls kicked in and guys were rapidly coming and going from the ring. O'Reilly eventually got the win for his team off a rollup, craftily applied after the Hooligans had attempted a double team springboard thwarted by Fish (who, for the record, was sporting a lovely quiff).

Hanson and Rowe looked decent as a team. If they’re together long enough they could development into a useful combo. That said I can’t help but feel this match would have been better without their involvement. But that feels like an unfair complaint to make. The match wasn’t actively bad, it just wasn’t as good as it could have been. We’ve had Forever Hooligans versus reDRagon on other shows so all things considered I think I’d rather have had this three-way. It was something different and it gave Hanson and Rowe a good introduction to the tag division.

A video package showed an angry Jay Lethal talking about his two years of history with Tommaso Ciampa and wanting the TV title back. They have indeed had two years of feuding for the TV strap, on and off. Unfortunately none of their interactions are especially memorable. I think it was a result of Lethal's bland face character. I like Ciampa's character and both men's wrestling ability but they've never clicked for me as the great feud they're clearly meant to be.

The match was a two-out-of-three falls affair. Instead of a handshake Ciampa put his knee brace on Lethal's outstretched hand. It was a way of demonstrating that he was not only confident in his knee but keen to pursue a level playing field. The first fall was the length of a regular ROH match and ended with a Lethal Injection attempt countered into a pinning attempt which was countered itself into another pinning attempt. That put Lethal ahead by one fall.

Ciampa was on the defensive for the second fall, having to immediately escape a hurricanrana and a Koji clutch. He countered the latter into a Sicilian Stretch but it wasn't enough to get him his first pin. Minutes later he was on the receiving end of his own Project Ciampa. The second ref bump of the night followed when Ciampa ducked a Lethal Injection attempt and Todd Sinclair took the move instead. Ciampa blasted Lethal with a German suplex series (triggering a Benoit chant) and a lariat.

Truth Martini then rocked up and slid Ciampa's knee brace to Jay Lethal. The challenger used it. Ciampa kicked out but wasn't with it enough to make it back to his feet, so Lethal hit him with the Macho Elbow. Ciampa, channeling Hulk Hogan, immediately kicked out. He no sold a pair of super kicks but buckled after a kick to the knee and fell to a Lethal Injection.

The first ever two time TV champ celebrated with Truth Martini as the fans told him he'd sold out. Taking a microphone Lethal told the fans "There is a house in New Orleans. And it's called the House of Truth." At commentary McGuinness and Kelly talked about how Lethal had turned his back on honour and the teachings of his parents (though they failed to mention it was Truth Martini who cost him the TV title in March 2012 (not that I’d expected them to)). They also made it clear they'd never expected to see a Jay Lethal heel turn in ROH. I have to say I’d never thought we'd get it either. It could work out well though. Lethal's lack of charisma (except for when he's channelling Randy Savage) has always been a problem and he'd done loads as a face and become a little played out doing it. This is something new for him and it gives Martini someone new to interact with.

The evening's penultimate match saw Michael Elgin clash with Kevin Steen in a match that would see the winner challenge Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP world heavyweight championship at Global Wars. They set an electric pace from the opening bell, Steen immediately attempting a package piledriver with Elgin escaping and belting him with a right hand. Within thirty seconds Steen had hit a cannonball and gone for a cover. After that they headed out of the ring for the obligatory ringside rampage.

Several minutes passed before they re-entered the ring, at which point Elgin was in control after using a stalling suplex on the outside to wind 'Mr Wrestling'. Elgin hit a drop kick before Steen came back with a version of the draping DDT. Elgin took a senton and shoulder blocks in the corner then blasted Steen with an enziguri and a dead lift German suplex. Steen got a two count from a fisherman neck breaker then hit a second cannonball into the corner.

It would prove ill-advised as 'Unbreakable' kept hold of him and powered up to his feet to give him a power bomb. He went for a second but Steen turned it into an F5. Elgin kicked out and an exchange of big punches followed. Elgin got the better of that and dropped Steen with a bicycle kick and a back fist for two. Back on the outside Steen apron bombed Elgin and then took a power bomb into the turnbuckle. In the ring Steen survived a tombstone piledriver and responded with a pop up power bomb and a package piledriver for an ultra-convincing two count. Steen attempted a Swanton bomb but was met with knees.

Both men dragged themselves back to their feet. Elgin walloped Steen with a back fist, a buckle bomb and an Elgin bomb for another strong convincer. Elgin tried for something on the top rope but Steen countered with a version of the fisherman suplex for another two count. Steen once again tried the package piledriver but found it reversed into triple power bomb, followed by a buckle bomb. The Elgin bomb attempt that followed was countered with a sleeper suplex, but Elgin shrugged it off and belted Steen with a lariat, another buckle bomb and Steen's own package piledriver for the hard fought victory.

The match was phenomenal. Elgin and Steen are two of ROH’s best and this was proof of it. I thought it was significantly better than their last effort opposite one another.

The ladder match main event was excellent, which was to be expected. Jay Briscoe is one of the most experienced ladder guys ROH has while Cole is just generally awesome and capable of doing anything asked of him. The history behind the match helped too, creating a reason for the two to clash under ladder rules and continuing the tradition of ladder matches only occurring under very special circumstances in Ring of Honor.

In the end it was Cole who “unified the titles” and left New Orleans as Ring of Honor’s undisputed world champion. This, I’m sure, will be credited to the training from self-proclaimed ladder match whizz Matt Hardy. In actuality it was more down to interference from Hardy and Bennett. That made sense though: the heels are a confirmed faction and there was always going to be interference in the match.

Supercard of Honor VIII was a good show, all told. It paid off various long-running plots, provided some high quality matches, and provided a few changes to keep the promotion feeling fresh. It will almost certainly not end up being Ring of Honor’s best show of the year (especially when you consider what they’ve got coming up at Global Wars) but it was a satisfying show at a time when ROH needed to deliver a satisfying show. If they can give us more events like that when they hit pay-per-view they’ll be doing okay.

Sweet Sixteen

On July 3^rd Ring of Honor announced that their world title had been vacated. The reason given was that champion Jay Briscoe was too banged up to compete. I wrote at length on the subject at the time. The short form of what I said is that vacating the belt for anything other than a serious injury would harm its lineage and credibility.

The championship had been built up over the course of eleven years as something that the holder would fight to retain at all costs. That's part of what makes it such a respected title. That Jay Briscoe was stripped of the gold portrays him as a lesser champion and damages the title's, and the company's, credibility.

ROH will be holding a sixteen man tournament to crown a new champion. They announced one or two competitors a day over the course of a fortnight. The first round bouts will be held at the July 27^th TV taping in Providence and the August 3^rd All Star Extravaganza V show in Toronto.

I have mixed feelings on the field of entrants, which is to be expected with a tournament like this. The first eight names revealed got my hopes up and made me think we were going to see a memorable series. In order they were Michael Elgin, Brian 'Spanky' Kendrick, Karl Anderson, Kevin Steen, Paul London, Roderick Strong, Adam Cole and Sonjay Dutt. Those eight include the favourite to win the whole thing (Elgin), the promotion's top heel (Cole), and surprise returning stars (Kendrick and Dutt). The order in which they were revealed seemed to hint that ROH was taking the approach of entering one current member of the roster followed by an outsider. Had they stuck with that approach I think they could have put together a fantastic tournament.

Sadly they didn't. The announcement of Dutt's involvement was followed by BJ Whitmer's name. That’s the same BJ Whitmer who has been synonymous with the term "space holder" throughout his Ring of Honor career. His being awarded a spot in the tournament was as unsurprising as it was uninspiring. Tommaso Ciampa, Jay Lethal, Mike Bennett, the winner of a match between Silas Young and Adam Page, Matt Taven, ACH and Mark Briscoe were the final seven. It was, in my opinion, a pretty weak second half.

 

Under different circumstances Mike Bennett would have made a fine ROH world champion

 

Ciampa, Lethal and Bennett were all obvious entrants. I was hoping ACH would be entered as a sort of wild card so I'm pleased he's got a spot. (which he won by fan vote, seeing off competition from Caprice Coleman, Cedric Alexander, Tadarius Thomas and QT Masrshall). Matt Taven, as good as he is, is a mid-card champion. He's in that role for a reason, specifically that he's not yet ready to be a top guy. Not only that but ROH isn't going to put both of their singles straps on one wrestler, so his involvement serves to give away one guy who's definitely not going to win.

I've nothing against Silas Young and Adam Page. I've actually been hoping ROH would use both men more for a while, mainly because they need to start prepping their next batch of stars for the talent exodus I feel is going to hit them soon. But so far they've been used mostly as lower mid-card guys. Whoever progresses to the tournament doesn’t stand a chance of winning.

I should probably address my desire for every entrant to be perceived as a potential winner. It's fine for companies like WWE and TNA to load up tournaments with no-hopers. Those companies will always have the winner be a John Cena or a CM Punk, a Kurt Angle or an AJ Styles. Storylines take priority over work rate in sports entertainment, and so tournaments and series can involve some guys who are obviously there to make up the numbers.

ROH is supposed to be different. It's supposed to be the wrestling company that puts the sport of wrestling above everything else. With that in mind wouldn't it make sense for the league to only want to feature their best names and have everyone involved be seen as a candidate to win?

It's hard to see the inclusion of guys like Young, Page, Whitmer and Taven as anything other than a cost saving measure no matter how proficiently the "giving an opportunity to a younger talent" line is trotted out. This was a perfect opportunity for ROH to bring in outsiders and put together a special and memorable summer event. I was hoping they'd bring in one or two Japanese stars (it’s been announced that New Japan’s KUSHIDA will be All Star Extravaganza, could he not have been put in the tournament?) and perhaps even a Brit or two, but no. Instead we have SBG saving money and the possibility of a final involving BJ Whitmer.

Mark Briscoe's involvement is a bad call for a different reason. Had the belt been vacated for another reason his inclusion would make sense. He has the star power to warrant a position in any such tournament in Ring of Honor. But the ROH title was vacated specifically because Mark and his brother Jay were unable to compete. If Mark can wrestle it raises the question of why Jay can't, which in turn raises the question of why Jay was stripped of the title and why this series is happening to begin with. Mark's inclusion seems like a scheme designed to convince us that the Briscoes aren't headed to WWE. It's a bad call from ROH. I'd rather have had Jushin Liger or Dave Mastiff than him.

 

KUSHIDA should have had Mark Briscoe's spot

 

If the Briscoes are sticking around they should have been held off events until after a new champion is crowned. If this is a way of giving the team, or just Mark a send-off it should have been skipped. I’d rather the integrity of the belt be retained than a tag team wrestler be given a going away party in front of the fans.

My final complaint is the omission of the American Wolves. After the first eight names were announced I was convinced Richards and Edwards would be amongst the latter batch of entrants. The kayfabe reason for them not getting included is that they asked to stay out to focus on the tag team titles. Which, y'know, is as stupid as it sounds. I kayfabe terms what wrestler in their right mind would turn down the chance to become the world champion in favour of wrestling some tag matches? Tag team titles can be challenged for at any time. A vacant title only rocks up once every eleven years.

This seems like another diversionary tactic. The Wolves' contracts apparently expire in early August. Should either or both leave (and that's not impossible) that would make them unavailable for the second round of the tournament. So if both were entered and decided to head on over to WWE it would create a situation where ROH would have to eliminate two favourites in the first round. There would be ways around that looking strange, such as booking the Wolves against a favourite like Elgin or a guy who could benefit from a boost like Ciampa, but both going out so early would stretch credibility just a little too far, even by the elastic standards of pro wrestling.

Of the men entered I don't think there are many potential winners. I was keen for Lethal and London to be a part of proceedings but I don't think they'll win. They deserve spots based on their work and standing within the company. Only Adam Cole and Michael Elgin seem like they could leave Philadelphia on September 20^th as the new champion. While there's nothing wrong with that it does mean that the final seems predictable. The tournament is structured so as to allow a Cole v Elgin match to cap things off.

A predictable final doesn't need to be a bad thing. Tournaments in wrestling work best when they involve some upsets and surprising outcomes. ROH can still give us some of those and the final of Cole v Elgin, they'll just have to have the upsets come earlier on in the brackets.

 

The first round brackets

 

The trouble there is that ROH have left themselves precious few ways of doing that with the first round matches they've announced. The TV tapings in Providence will play host to Adam Cole v Mark Briscoe, Jay Lethal v Sonjay Dutt and Karl Anderson v ACH. Cole, as a favourite for the finals, is unlikely to lose and Anderson is a strong favourite in his match. Only Lethal v Dutt could give us a surprise outcome: Dutt is well respected enough to convincingly beat Jay without infuriating fans. Having him go through to the quarter finals to face Cole or Briscoe would be a good move.

I suppose ACH could beat Karl Anderson. He has his status as an ROH regular in his favour: it means ROH can guarantee they won't have trouble booking him for later matches. Anderson's career in New Japan could make him tough to get for later matches in the tournament. That said Anderson winning would see him go through to a match with the winner of Elgin v London. That's almost certainly going to be Elgin. That would allow Elgin to get his win back from his previous encounter with Anderson.

All Star Extravaganza V will see five first round matches. They are Bennett v Whitmer, Steen v Kendrick, Elgin v London, Strong v Taven, and Ciampa against the winner of Young v Page.

Again here are few opportunities for surprise. 'The Sicilian Psychopath' will clearly go over whoever he ends up facing because he's being presented as a rising star and Young and Page are not. For the record my money's on 'The Last Real Man in Wrestling' Silas Young to progress. Not that it matters.

The winner of Whitmer v Bennett is almost as inconsequential as Young v Page. The winner will just be losing to Ciampa in the following round. Neither can be considered an obvious winner so there can be no upset.

 

Tommaso Ciampa, practicing his Hardy Boyz impression

 

London defeating 'Unbreakable' seems unlikely. Elgin would benefit more form the win even if it weren’t a tournament match. London winning wouldn't be a huge, star-making moment if it occurred: he’s a star from the company's early years and is therefore seen as someone superior to the majority of the current roster by most fans (and they're not entirely wrong).

This leaves us with Steen v Kendrick and Strong v Taven to see surprise wins. Strong and Steen are the respective faves. Taven could conceivably win because he's been consistently presented as someone who defies the odds since winning the TV championship in February. Just last week he pinned Eddie Edwards, for example. Throw in some Truth Martini and Hoopla Hotty shenanigans and 'MTV' could beat 'Mr Ring of Honor'.

Kendrick has the same status as London amongst ROH fans. He could win. If this were not a tournament match I'd have no idea who to pick as a winner. The only trouble with Kendrick getting the surprise win is that it would leave 'Mr Wrestling', the regular with the company and former super-hot face (he's cooled, admit it) with nothing to do. I don't think Steen will win, but I can see him being booked in an incredibly competitive semi-final loss to Elgin.

However you look at it, that the biggest "shock" of the tournament would be seeing ACH or Sonjay Dutt progressing beyond the second round indicates that something, somewhere has gone wrong. As does the fact that ROH have failed to bring in any suitably big names or create brackets that make me think we may not see the Cole v Elgin final that seems so likely. Just because it's the match everyone expects to close the tournament doesn't make the lack of effort okay.

Nothing about the announced names and brackets has swayed me from my original pick of Michael Elgin. Only he and Adam Cole are in positions to be crowned champion and have the lengthy reign ROH desperately needs someone to have to restore credibility. Elgin is the favourite of the two because he's the face that’s been ready for a title reign for over a year. I can imagine a scenario in which Cole wins after interference from Steve Corino and-or Matt Hardy, setting up a Cole v Elgin feud culminating in a title change. But that would be harmful to the belt and the company's image. And ROH wouldn't risk that. Right?