Beating Lethal

Best in the World 2015 saw Jay Lethal defeat Jay Briscoe to become the new Ring of Honor world champion. He's the twentieth man to hold the title and the first ever to hold it in conjunction with another active championship. Yeah, Bryan Danielson won the pure championship from Nigel McGuinness during his world title reign but he retired it immediately. He didn't hold belts simultaneously and work as a double champion.

Apparently Lethal will. Reports from ROH's latest TV tapings indicate that Lethal opted not to vacate the TV championship as he'd put too much effort into building it up. Matchmaker McGuinness then made the ruling that if Jay wants to stay a double champion he will have to defend the TV and world titles as separate entities. All of which makes sense from the point of view of Lethal's character and creates the chance to produce some fresh scenarios for championship defences and show-long stories at future events.

The double champ is here.

I'll be surprised if Lethal doesn't hold onto both belts for a while. It would be fairly pointless to go to the trouble of giving him a lengthy reign as TV champion (the longest ever, in fact) and not have him vacate the title only to lose it in a random title match after a few weeks. It would also be pointless to put the world title on him just to take it away quickly. That's not how things work in ROH. Wrestlers work hard to win titles and get to enjoy substantial reigns with them. It makes the titles and wrestlers, and by extension the matches involving them, mean more.

But at some point Lethal will lose the world championship, just as has happened twenty-two times before. Which is the point of this article: discussing the possible successors (as I perceive them) to Jay Lethal as the ROH world champion. As far as the TV championship goes I think he'll hold it for a few more months before losing it to guy who'd benefit from a surprise upset win, such as ACH, or being stripped of it after some form of shenanigans during a title defence.

I'll start with Jay Briscoe. There's a chance that Lethal will lose the title back to him but I think it would be dependent on him having a long title reign. I don't imagine ROH would take the gold from Briscoe only to get it back to him a couple of months later, even though it's an approach that would fit the sports-emphasis style of the promotion. But if Lethal has been made champion with no long term plan for a replacement (not that I think that's the case considering how well Delirious has done planning things out over the last few years) it's possible Briscoe could regain the belt in the far future (by which I mean some time next year). If Lethal left for WWE Briscoe would be a lead candidate for a short notice replacement.

As would Roderick Strong. My reasoning is the same as with Briscoe: he looks and wrestles the part, would be accepted in the role, and is unlikely to leave for another major promotion. I can't see him beating 'The Greatest First Generation Wrestler' at Death Before Dishonor XIII on July 24 but farther in the future he could be in with a chance. Right now he's more of a credible contender to stabilise Lethal's reign than anything else.

AJ's already got a belt though, so...

Sticking with the theme of men who probably won't defeat Lethal but might there's AJ Styles. ROH seems comfortable in presenting him as a special attraction. As such he doesn't need the championship. He's a draw for ROH with or without it. He's also won the IWGP championship twice since joining New Japan last year and is the champion right now. That places limitations on ROH, because New Japan aren't likely to be happy if their champion starts laying down for people elsewhere. And ROH have benefited too much from their relationship with New Japan to upset them. Styles is best off facing bigger names who aren't champion and losing (or indeed winning) any ROH title matches he's in via disqualification.

The first guy I'll name who I think has a crack at taking the title from Lethal in a long term planning capacity is Michael Elgin. He's one of the better wrestlers in the company despite fans having turned on him. In fact his  current status as a heat magnet is a large part of the reason I think he could end up beating Lethal for the title. People would be genuinely irate if he become a two time champion with his current persona. He has the character and in-ring ability to make a reign as heel work and it would be nice to see him get the championship run he deserved to have last year. Although I think an 'Unbreakable' title win would be reliant on Lethal becoming a babyface at some point the response to his win at BITW indicates he'd be accepted as a good guy. I don't think it's something that's going to come any time soon though, if it comes at all.

Moose is a possibility too, which isn't something I would have expected to write a few months ago. He's comfortable in the big man role and could easily introduce some flashier moves to help him fit in at the top of the card (big lads need to have stuff like the cross body block he used at Best in the World when they're main eventing). He's also really, really over. His burgeoning programme with Cedric Alexander will likely keep him busy for a few months but he should be done with that in plenty of time to challenge Lethal at whatever big show ROH promotes in September or October or perhaps even at Final Battle (although there's someone mentioned below who I think would make a far better opponent for Lethal at Final Battle).

No ROH champion has mastered the point into the crowd... until now.

A wildcard possibility is Nic 'Dolph Ziggler' Nemeth. I mention him mostly because at time of writing there are rumours floating about that he'll be leaving WWE when his contract comes to an end later in 2015. I don't think this will come to anything but if it does ROH has to be the favourite for the company he'd turn up in. It wouldn't rule out him working for New Japan and TNA is a laughable suggestion at this point. He's probably the WWE guy I'd most like to see in ROH. Everything that's needed to make it to the top of the work rate-centric promotion he has, and he could do it as a face or a heel. Nemeth would be a boon to ROH, giving him the title would only help matters.

But I'm not going to make any of those names my official prediction. That honour goes to Adam Cole. Everything I can find on the subject indicates that he has a significant amount of time left on his current contract. If Best in the World and TV spoilers are anything to go by he's on the cusp of turning face. Having him work as a face champion would be something new for him and the company. By the time he's finished with what I suspect could be a lengthy breakup with his Kingdom stablemates we should be just about ready for a build towards Final Battle. Babyface Adam Cole versus heel Jay Lethal would not only be new, it would be one of the biggest matches Ring of Honor could promote. I think this will be the match to headline Final Battle.

That is my official prediction. Now watch as I'm wrong, just as I always am when it comes to predicting ROH title changes.

ROH Best in the World 2015 review

ROH's Best in the World 2015 show started with a video package focusing on the main event, one of the most interesting matches they've presented in a long time, Jay Briscoe versus Jay Lethal. The chief reason this was an interesting match was that it was a champion versus champion scenario, Briscoe being the world champion and Lethal being the television champion, with both titles on the line. There was also the fact that Lethal had held the TV title for well over a year and Briscoe hadn't been pinned since March 2 2013. It felt like a big match because of how well the two wrestlers were presented and the video that kicked off the show only added to that. Everything from the promos the two men cut to the simple touch of listing the bigger names each man had made successful defences against drove home that the match was a big deal.

It was the main event I was most interested in. Whenever that's the case going into a wrestling show something's been done right. ROH did a great job promoting Lethal v Briscoe. Having said that the rest of the card did seen slightly underwhelming. Aside from the number one contender shop three-way nothing really stood out, and the three-way was mostly interesting because I wanted to see how a winner would be booked in a match involving guys who rarely lose in ROH.

The Addiction v reDRagon was a match I'd seen before and which had failed to grab me. The Bullet Club v Kingdom six man was a rematch. While the first encounter had been good I felt it had been slightly overhyped and so I wasn't as excited about this match as others may have been. Castle v Young sounded good mostly because I like the characters of both guys. And everything else looked like standard ROH fare: good but not necessarily the easiest stuff to engage with emotionally.

That last sentence perfectly summed up the first match, Mark Briscoe versus top prospect tournament winner and proud House of Truth member Donovan Dijak. It was a solid opener which didn't drag and saw both men get a turn in control but it didn't draw me in because I'm not the biggest fan of either guy and they did nothing to change that. Briscoe won after blocking Feast Your Eyes (a Burning Hammer into a knee strike) and hitting the Froggy Bow.

Pretty much the same thing can be said about match number two. It saw BJ Whitmer and Adam Page face off with ACH and Matt Sydal. Page and Whitmer had their Decade young boy Colby Corino with them. Colby's dad Steve (now inexplicably going exclusively by the title of King Corino) was on commentary for this match, as he is for all ROH shows, but he seemed reluctant to place any emphasis on his own personal feelings about Whitmer recruiting Colby to further their longstanding grudge. It's possible he doesn't feel comparable with the angle or, more likely, doesn't want to make it all about himself, preferring to keep The Decade in the spotlight. But if that's the case why bother doing it at all? Steve Corino's continued reaction to his son making a poor life choice is the entire story here and if he doesn't want to tell it, for whatever reason, it's not going to work. Which is a shame because there's a lot that could be done with it.

The match was entertaining enough. I like ACH a lot and couldn't help but feel he was a tad wasted here, especially considering how bland much of the rest of the card was (at least in terms of pairings). Page got the victory for his team after Colby pulled Sydal off a pin attempt from the Shooting Star press, distracting him long enough for Page to get the win with his Right of Passage finisher.

Young v Castle was a fun match that was surprising in how hard-hitting and back-and-forth it was. Although the approach they took made sense in terms of story: the match had come about because Castle had been the latest person to find himself accused of being "not a real man" by Silas. The two packed a lot in, including a Silas spear off the apron and a Castle deadlift German. Castle won off a rollup as Young was berating Todd Sinclair for not counting a pinfall, which Sinclair had refused because 'The Last Real Man' had shoved him into the ropes, crotching Castle, to get it. After the match Young hit his Misery TKO on one of Castle's lads. Castle was understandably distraught by this.

That was followed by the reformed C&C Wrestle Factory taking on War Machine. Alexander and Coleman got a nice welcome from the NYC crowd when they entered. Hanson and Rowe did not. They were mostly met with indifference, a worrying sign considering they've been in ROH for over a year.

This match was short and more about story than action. The story it was specifically concerned with was Cedric's continued edging towards the dark side. He tried using a wrench, the same weapon he'd used to hammer Moose and end his undefeated streak, but Caprice saw it in his hand and refused to tag him in. That allowed War Machine to grab Caprice and hit Fallout for the win. After the match Cedric teased using the wrench on Caprice but didn't. He did make it clear that their team was over though.

The first above average bout of the night was the number one contenders match. Michael Elgin, Moose and Roderick Strong had all been put in the match based on the strength of their performances and their win-loss records in 2015. It would be nice to think they were also selected because they're amongst the best guys Ring of Honor has. Elgin and Strong have both had their share of classic matches (and I'll say again that Elgin is a particularly fine finish man) and Moose has been constantly improving since I first saw him in EVOLVE. He understands how to work the role of the big man and doesn't go overboard on the bigger spots he's capable of.

There were plenty of highlights in this match. Amongst my favourites were: Elgin hitting a somersault tope on Moose, bowing afterwards and being jeered by the crowd; Roddy superplexing Elgin then Moose; Roddy performing another feat of strength by giving Moose a double knee gut buster; Elgin buckle bombing on Moose only to be immediately hit with a spear; Moose running across the ring, leaping to the top rope, and hitting a cross body to the outside on both guys; and the finish, which saw Elgin double power bomb Moose and being sick kicked as he tried for a third, with Strong pulling Moose to his feet to hot him with two jumping knees and a sick kick to put him down for three.

There was a handshake between Strong and Moose after the match. We were told Elgin shook Strong's hand but we weren't shown it. Veda Scott slapped Moose twice for daring to follow the Code of Honor, something she'd done before. This time it looked like she'd pushed Moose too far. He hunched down looking like he was setting up to spear Veda but before he could make a move Cedric Alexander ran out and smacked him and Stokeley Hathaway with the wrench. Veda smiled at him then Cedric screamed about how he should have been in the number one contenders match.

I liked this as a development. It creates a reason for Moose to not be in the title picture and freshens up Cedric's act by realigning him and giving him a manager. He and Veda seem promising together, and it neatly covers up his weakness on promos. Maybe caprice will go heel too and RD Evans will return to tag with Moose in a grudge match. Then again maybe not.

The Bullet Club trio of AJ Styles and the Young Bucks versus the Kingdom trio of Matt Taven, Michael Bennett and Adam Cole followed that. As pointed out earlier this was a rematch from the ROH and New Japan War of the Worlds show, one I felt was very enjoyable but mildly overhyped in the grand scheme of things. They did pretty much the same thing here, producing another spot-heavy match with way too many highlights to mention and too fast a pace to do a full write-up.

We got the opposite result to the original encounter. The Kingdom had won at War of the Worlds so it was Bullet Club's turn to go over here. They did so in memorable fashion, wiping out Maria with two super kicks and a Pele kick from Styles (what a southern gent he is) before isolating Cole as Bennett checked on his wife and Taven sold a beating at ringside. Cole fought back valiantly, going for a Destroyer only to be caught by AJ and hit with a buckle bomb-enziguri triple team and then 'The Phenomenal One's' Bloody Sunday, kicking out and fighting back again, but eventually it was too much for him. 'The One' was finally put down with an Indytaker followed by the Styles Clash.

After the match The Kingdom looked upset with Cole. This didn't really make sense. Taven had been lying at ringside for a while when the loss happened and could probably have mustered the strength to get back in the ring. Bennett had a right to look ticked off, yeah, but why would he when his wife had just been knocked unconscious by three pro wrestlers? Logic flaws aside the prospect of Cole splitting from The Kingdom is interesting. A face turn could work well for both him and ROH.

The Addiction's no disqualification match with reDRagon was not as enjoyable as the usual reDRagon effort. Their strength is having exciting strong style matches with plenty of tag work mixed in, not crowd brawling. The stip made sense, of course, because of the personal nature of the feud and because the two teams have already met under regular rules. This meeting needed something extra to give it a bit of variety and set it apart from previous meetings. But it was never going to be as good as a regular match.

They at least made full use of the stipulation. There was plenty of ringside brawling and chairs were used liberally. A table and a ladder were introduced after things had hotted up. The table was there because in 2015 these sorts of matches require a table to satisfy the punters. The use of a ladder was interesting though. It's possible it was done to tease Ladder War VI. Then again, it's possible it wasn't.

The finish saw reDRagon hit Chasing the Dragon on Daniels on for former TNA world champion Chris Sabin to appear and pull the referee from the ring. The Addiction then recovered, Frankie took out O'Reilly by shoving him off the apron and into the crowd barricade, and hit Fish with Celebrity Rehab. The champions retained. Hopefully another team will be added to this rivalry if it continues. Addiction v reDRagon matches haven't wowed me so far.

Then came the Lethal versus Briscoe main event. It's worth sopping for a moment here to point out that the two men both have a lot of history in Ring of Honor. Briscoe has never been shy about reminding people that he was on the promotion's very first show. He's been a two time world champion and a record setting eight times. Over the last few years he's become one of ROH's most reliable headliners, working pay-per-view main events, being involved in heavily featured stories, and being well protected in terms of booking.

Lethal's pedigree is less celebrated but still impressive. He joined ROH a month shy of the company's first anniversary as Hydro, a member of Special K, and went through stints as Samoa Joe's protégé and pure champion before leaving to work for the promising-at-the-time TNA. It was easy to overlook how much he'd improved when he rejoined ROH full time in 2011 but improve he had. In the four years since he's won the television championship twice and, like Briscoe, become one of the company's most reliable wrestlers. The last eighteen months have probably been the greatest stretch of his career as he's been given the TV championship and tasked with making it mean something, which he has, been pitted against leading outside talent, and gradually been positioned as ROH's lead heel.

Briscoe versus Lethal is a match that's been brewing for a long time. Both guys have been built up so well. The atmosphere at the start of this match demonstrated what a great job both men, as well as booker Delirious, have done and how established they are as top names.

Before the first lock-up had even taken place Diesel and Dijak were sent backstage before the after Dijak had swiped his hand at Briscoe's legs. A suspenseful feeling out process, during which the combatants were bombarded by duelling chants from the crowd, was followed by a fight around ringside. Briscoe yakuza kicked Lethal. Lethal suplexed Briscoe. They threw one another into the barricade a bit.

Back in the ring Truth grabbed Briscoe's foot, distracting him and letting Lethal knock Briscoe down. Briscoe recovered and they traded uppercuts. Lethal got the better of the exchange by switching to clotheslines to knock the world heavyweight champion down. Back on their feet they traded jabs before Briscoe hit a neckbreaker.

A Lethal Injection was countered into a full nelson slam. Briscoe went for a Jay Driller but Lethal escaped into the Lethal Combination. Lethal went to the top rope but got cut off by Briscoe, who went for a superplex. Lethal fought him off but Briscoe fired back with a drop kick and went for his superplex again. Lethal fought him off again, this time pushing him down to the mat and hitting the Macho Elbow. Briscoe kicked out and immediately got put in the Koji clutch by the TV champ.

Briscoe made the ropes and rolled onto the apron. Lethal followed him out only to be set up for a Jay Driller. He escaped as Truth leapt onto the opposite apron to distract the referee. Nigel got up and sent Truth backstage as Briscoe recovered and Jay Drillered Lethal through the timekeepers table. Both men sold for a while before making it back into the ring just shy of the twenty count.

Briscoe was first to his feet and lobbed jabs at Lethal. Lethal surprised him with a super kick and went for the Lethal Injection again. Briscoe dashed forward and floored him with a rolling elbow as he rebounded off the ropes, getting himself a two count. Briscoe went for the Jay Driller. Lethal escaped it but got hit with a lariat for another two count.

Only the second double champion in ROH history.

The pair dragged themselves back up again. This time it was Lethal who struck first with a springboard cutter. He connected with another Lethal Injection but Briscoe kicked out. The crowd erupted at that as 'The Greatest First Generation Wrestler' clutched at his head in disbelief. He recovered and tried to hit Briscoe with his own Jay Driller. Briscoe escaped and tried for the move himself. Lethal escaped too, hit the move and then hit another Lethal Injection for the victory, a successful title defence and the ROH world championship.

The crowd gave him a "You deserve it!" chant. After a bit of celebrating from the new champion Briscoe came out of the corner and offered a handshake. In a nice moment Lethal accepted it with gusto before he continued celebrating. It was a touching way to close the show, watching a man who first worked for the company twelve years ago celebrate his first world title win. He'd earned it and it was lovely to see.

***

Results summary:

Mark Briscoe defeated Donovan Dijak
The Decade defeated Matt Sydal and ACH
Dalton Castle defeated Silas Young
War Machine defeated C&C Wrestle Factory
Roderick Strong defeated Moose and Michael Elgin to earn an ROH world championship match
AJ Styles and the Young Bucks defeated The Kingdom
The Addiction defeated reDRagon to retain the ROH tag team championship
Jay Lethal defeated Jay Briscoe to retain the ROH TV championship and win 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

EVOLVE 37 review

Despite being accidentally kicked in the head by Drew Galloway at the end of the previous evening’s show Heather Lynn was in the ring when the EVOLVE 37 stream started up. She introduced the show before coming over all woozy and in need of a sit down. Joanna Rose replaced her to handle the intros of the first match. If she wasn’t able to speak why did Lynn bother to turn up? I mean, yes, obviously it was to get over the kick she’d taken from Galloway, which in turn reminded everyone that Roderick Strong is a bit of a cad, but in real life terms why did she attend the show?  

Shane Strickland was in the opening match for the second night in a row. Also for the second night in a row he was wrestling a champion. This time it was a non-title contest with Open the United Gate champion Anthony Nese. Before the match Nese introduced the new Director of PR for the Premier Athlete Brand, So Cal Val. Then he demoted Su Yung to Val's assistant. Because that’s how business works in wrestling. Val would immediately start issuing order to Su and they would bicker throughout the match. I wonder if this development will lead to a match or feuding factions or anything...

Strickland and Nese had a good opening match. As was the case the night before Strickland was given plenty to do to make him look competitive. Nese won after flattening Strickland with a pump handle bomb and applying the single leg crab. At Val’s request Su Yung took a picture of the rest of the gang after the match. 

Timothy Thatcher v Roderick Strong was preceded by Strong being disingenuous with a microphone. He apologised to Heather Lynn for what Drew Galloway did to her the night before, failing to acknowledge it was his fault. But he’s a heel, that’s what they do. He said he wasn't going to kick Galloway around the building again but that he'd give Thatcher a kicking. Lenny Leonard explained that Strong and Galloway had been told they’d face heavy fines if they interacted in any way during the show.

Thatcher took Strong down to the mat and worked over his arm at the start of the match. Strong took Thatcher down and targeted his leg. They worked through pinning situations and submission holds, ending with a Strong dragon suplex which thatcher bridged out of and turned into an armbar. Roddy escaped that and took a breather at ringside.

Thatcher swatted aside a drop kick and connected with uppercuts before they went back down to the mat. Strong elbowed and kneed Thatcher, trying again and again to get a pin in place for the three count but not managing it. Thatcher tried a cross armbreaker but Strong quickly slipped out and ran Thatcher into a corner. Thatcher fought out and worked Strong down to the mat with armbar applied. Strong used the ropes to get a break then left the ring again. Thatcher followed and got run into a ring post.

A drop kick welcomed Thatcher back to the ring. He fired back with chops and uppercuts but another drop kick floored him for a two count. Strong went for the Stronghold but couldn't turn Thatcher over so he cornered him and hit him with a running knee and a forearm instead. Thatcher got up and went back to his forearms before dropping Roddy with a suplex. Strong slipped out of a Tower of London attempt and got a German suplex. Thatcher got back to his feet and hit more uppercuts before Strong floored him with a roundhouse.

Thatcher absorbed chops in the corner, hit an enziguri, then hit a superplex. Back on their feet Roddy battered Thatcher with punches before being spun down to the mat with an arm bar, which he floated through to apply the Stronghold. When Roddy turned Thatcher onto his back to drag him away from the ropes Thatcher kicked him off, rolling him up in a small package as he bounced off the ropes for a two count. That was a great false finish.

Roddy hit a high knee and reversed out of a suplex attempt to hit a rolling elbow. Thatcher hit a head butt, yet more uppercuts, and knees then blasted Strong with a butterfly suplex. Strong kicked out but he was immediately trapped in a Fujiwara armbar. Unable to make it to the ropes and trapped in a painful hold Strong could do nothing but tap out. It was a big win for Thatcher and was talked up as such by Leonard and Niemi on commentary.

After the match Thatcher reminded everyone that he won the style battle tournament last time he was in Florida for WWN. He asked for a match with Chris Hero, who’d kicked him in the head the same night he won the tournament. Hero wasn’t there to respond but I imagine we’ll be seeing that match.

Match three pitted Trevor Lee against AR Fox. They had a lightning quick two minute exchange before the match was called to a halt when Fox took a nasty fall outside the ring and started bleeding from the eye. It's a shame it didn't get to go longer based on the first few minutes but it was a legitimate injury so they did the right thing calling the match off (it was announced prior to the main event that Fox was fine). A rematch on one of the 'Mania weekend cards would be nice to see.

On paper Biff Busick v Uhaa Nation looked like an unappealing clash of styles. It practice it was a lively, enjoyable encounter. They began with Uhaa getting the best of some lockups and then beating Busick in a test of strength (which Busick had foolishly instigated). They traded the advantage throughout the match, building towards a marvellous final few minutes.

Uhaa hit a Death Valley driver and started the Uhaa Combination. He made it all the way through the sequence but was met with Busick’s knees as he performed the standing shooting star press. Busick rolled him up for a very convincing two count. Uhaa was immediately locked in the rear naked choke as he kicked out. Uhaa staggered to his feet with Busickstill clutching at him and threw up over his body to break the hold.

A pop-up power bomb and a second, regular, power bomb got Uhaa a two count. Busick rolled onto the apron and got caught with a deadlift second rope suplex, hooking Uhaa for another pin as they landed. Uhaa again kicked out and levelled Busick with a bicycle kick. Busick slipped out of a gorilla press and pulled Uhaa down to the mat in a rear naked choke for a submission victory. The result, like many across the weekend, did Busick a lot of good. That’s what happens when wrestling shows don’t casually dismiss the importance of winning and losing. Take note WWE and TNA.

They shook hands after the match. The crowd changed "We will miss you!" at Busick, acknowledging the rumours that he’s heading to WWE. Busick downplayed the chant and announced that he had a problem with Timothy Thatcher calling out Chris Hero. His beef seemed to be that he’s proven he can beat Thatcher so Thatcher should be concerned with him, not Hero. He challenged Hero to a match at WWN Live in San Jose. Something tells me that will be accepted.

A non-title victory over EVOLVE champion Drew Galloway at EVOLVE 33 had earned Ricochet a title shot. He got it here, kicking the match off with a bang as he super kicked Galloway during the ring introductions. Galloway floored him with a big boot seconds later, just as he had done to Strong the night before.

They went out into the crowd, fighting beyond the guard rail and over to the wall of the arena. There they did a fun little spot with Galloway back dropping Ricochet only for Ricochet to hold onto to a basketball hoop, spin around, and hurricanrana the champ. Continuing the flashiness Ricochet ran up the wall for a body block on Galloway. But Galloway caught him and smacked him into the wall. Sooner or later the EVOLVE roster will pick up on the fact that Galloway is larger than all of them and they’ll stop trying to brawl with him.

Back in the ring Ricochet kicked Galloway’s hand, which had been injured the night before, and then started targeting it with stomps, heelish twisting and a shooting star press. Taunting earned Ricochet a series of forearms and lariats. Galloway blocked a Regalplex and German suplexed ricochet into a turnbuckle. Ricochet came back with a roundhouse kick, the Regalplex and a running SSP for a two count.

Galloway was pulled into position for a top rope shooting star press but he got to his feet and crotched ricochet on the top rope before he could hit it. He belly-to-belly suplexed Ricochet down into the ring before hitting him with an inverted Alabama Slam. Ricochet countered the double arm DDT into the floatover northern lights suplex, followed by a brainbuster, but it wasn't enough to earn him a three count.

Galloway avoided another attempt at the top tope SSP, blocked a Benadryller and then backhanded Ricochet with his splinted finger. He screamed at the referee that it wasn't intentional before very much intentionally booting the challenger in the head and giving him a double arm DDT for the win. The champion tried to check on Ricochet after the match but Ricochet shrugged him off. Galloway clearly wasn't that cut up because he immediately started posing with his belt and started yelling into the camera.

The Bravado brothers and Moose v Ronin was the main event. The stipulation was that the losing team would never ever get to team again (like, for total realsies). It was a peculiar ruling to have. The Ronin trio hadn't teamed (on a WWN show at least) in years and the Bravados and Moose aren't really known for being a trio. It lessened the impact the stipulation could have had, unless of course it was meant that no combination of the losing team could team could compete as a double or triple act. But that wasn’t made clear, which was probably a deliberate booking choice.

The match started with all six men brawling around ringside. The highlight of this portion was Moose power bombing Swann at Gargano and Taylor. The match was disappointingly light on moments that got over Moose’s power.

Swann was the first man to get isolated. A good decision considering his ability to draw people into his performances and make them believe he’s hurt. Once he tagged out the pace quickened and the tag aspect of the bout was quietly dropped for a bit so that everyone could work in their “cool” spots. Again the highlight of this part of the match involved Moose: he gave Gargano a Samoan drop at the same time as giving Swann a fall away slam.

The beginning of the end came when Harlem tagged himself in as Moose ran the ropes for a dive onto Ronin. ‘The Offensive Line’ stared at his charge, they had a few words, and then Harlem lashed out with a slap. Moose Death Valley bombed him onto Ronin, who were still chilling at ringside, then took out both Bravados with a dive from the ring. It wasn't made clear whether Ronin had moved or if Moose had been aiming for the Bravados. This set up Harlem to take a double stomp onto an assisted DDT, followed by a Hurts Donut from Gargano and a match-winning frog splash from Swann.

After the Bravados had limped backstage Gargano announced they'd never be allowed to team again. Again, this wasn’t made clear before the match so I’m fully expecting a Grandma Bravado mention that results in Harlem and Lancelot being allowed to continue teaming. Then he retracted his statement from the night before that he was the face of WWN. Apparently in the time since that statement he’d realised that every member of the roster and every fan is the face of the company. The Open the Freedom Gate champ finished up by saying he'd do everything he could to make his prize the most meaningful in wrestling. 

That caught the attention of Drew Galloway, who sauntered out to the ring to join Ronin. He announced that he shared Gargano's sentiment about the faces of WWN but disagreed about the title situation. He said DGUSA was dead and his belt was more important. The two champions held their belts up and glared at one another. Then they stopped. Then they took turns holding their belts up and got in one another's faces. Champion versus champion seems like a safe bet at this point.

Despite only having two shows to work with a lot was packed into the weekend and several threads were left dangling, ready to be picked up again in San Jose during WrestleMania weekend. The talk of there being a face of WWN felt like it could go somewhere, with Galloway, Gargano and Ricochet all having been established across the weekend as men who could stake a claim to the title. As part of that I’d expect the san Jose shows to feature Galloway and gargano in a champion versus champion match.

The behaviour of Drew Galloway across the two shows and the situations he found himself in felt like the start of a textbook Gabe Sapolsky storyline. I hope it gets to play out and isn't hindered by Galloway's debut for TNA. Whether it’s going in the direction of Galloway turning bad or being thought of as a fluke champion or somewhere else entirely I’d like to see it play out in full.

Stuff with Busick, Thatcher and Hero was also set up for the San Jose shows. Plus there’s the question of what the Bravados will do after their split-enforcing loss and where the Premier Athlete Brand will go with So Cal Val and Su Yung at one another’s throats. With only two shows to play with to set up a big block of shows I think Gabe Sapolsky outdid himself. And I think the roster did well with everything they were given. As they almost always do.

***

Results summary:

Anthony Nese defeated Shane Strickland
Timothy Thatcher defeated Roderick Strong
Trevor Lee defeated AR Fox via referee stoppage
Biff Busick defeated Uhaa Nation
Drew Galloway defeated Ricochet to retain the EVOLVE championship
Ronin defeated Moose and the Bravado brothers

EVOLVE 34 review

Back in September EVOLVE returned to New York City for its thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth shows. This was necessitated by the lack of available Dragon Gate stars (due to Visa issues, apparently), something which had plagued the company since WrestleMania weekend in April. That’s something that’s still effecting them at time of writing, and judging by the line-up of announced WWN shows over next year’s WrestleMania it’s an issue that doesn’t seem likely to be sorted out any time soon.

Booker Gabe Sapolsky has worked well within these limitations. Across the August weekend of shows (including EVOLVEs 31, 32 and 33) he fleshed out his roster of “home” stars and started to work at building up some new names to replace the imports he can’t access. A logical thing to do and something he continued across these shows.

EVOLVE 34 kicked off with a Johnny Gargano promo in which he officially became a face again. He claimed he’d had a moment of clarity at EVOLVE 32 when Konley said he wasn't the man he once was. He acknowledged he’d gone mental while Open the Freedom Gate champion and said he understood that and regretted it. He’d asked to open every card over the weekend as a penance for his behaviour, because wrestling logic. In fact Gargano being in both openers was a good idea. It ensured a significant name kicking off each card.

Surprisingly Anthony Nese, Su Yung, Mr A and Trent Baretta (on crutches because of his broken leg) didn’t offer an opinion on Gargano’s revived good guy persona. They simply walked out and posed a bit before Nese got ready to wrestle. I was a bit disappointed. I’d hoped one of them would diss Gargano a bit so he could make some generic sexist comments to Su Yung.

The match was the ideal opener. It featured two guys the fans wanted to react to, was worked fast. and included lots of signature spots to keep the crowd rowdy. ‘The Whole Shebang’ won after a blistering series of kicks, rolling through a one arm power bomb to get a schoolboy.

The Brand hit the ring after that. Gargano smacked Konley but then got smacked himself by Mr A. Rich Swann dashed out to return the favour from EVOLVE33 and took out Mr A and Trent Baretta then grabbed Su Yung. Naturally she was saved by Nese. Gargano brawled backstage while Swann lay limp on the floor. He was helped backstage by a referee, selling that he’d been knocked loopy by the Brand’s attack.

Zack Sabre Jr versus Timothy Thatcher was match number two. The crowd gave the pair a "British wrestling!" chant to begin with, even though Thatcher has himself announced from Sacramento before matches. Another British note: Canterbury was referred to as a suburb of London. This is in no way true.

The match was heavy on holds and counter holds. Arm locks were the order if the day. It was a satisfying match that did a good job of showcasing both men. That said it would have been nice to see Sabre Jr perform some of the flying moves he’s capable of, to add some variety and alter the story a little. Sabre Jr won with a particularly vicious armbar and some kicks to the head and shoulders.

The first ever meeting of Roderick Strong and Uhaa Nation was next. The early going was characterised by Roddy bring a prick, taking cheap shots and mocking Uhaa's posing. He was the first to get the advantage for an extended period, shoving Uhaa from the turnbuckle to the floor after using the referee as a distraction. He targeted Uhaa’s arm and neck, peculiar considering his signature submission hold is a high angle Boston crab.

Uhaa caught Strong as he attempted a cross body and gave him a fall away slam to start his comeback. He followed up with a belly-to-belly, rolling Germans, and an Asai moonsault off the apron. Uhaa missed a top rope splash and took a series of forearms in the corner and a jumping knee in the middle of the ring. Strong got a gut buster and tried a hurricanrana but Uhaa turned it into a sitdown power bomb.

Uhaa got the better of a punch exchange so Roddy hit a Sick kick, a Gibson driver and then applied the Stronghold. Uhaa forced a break with the ropes. Roddy might have won there had he softened up Uhaa when he’d had the chance. What a mug! Uhaa performed his ever impressive Uhaa Combination for the three count to win a very good match.

A non-title came next, Open the Freedom Gate champion Ricochet facing Caleb Konley. It was actually one of the match I as most looking forward to seeing. Konley was one of the guys selected to have his standing in the company beefed in the absence of Dragon Gate stars and I think he’s done a great job with everything he’d been given.

The early going got over the fact that Konley had Ricochet scouted, countering his regular moves and getting in more of his own than would have been expected. It didn’t last: Ricochet turned the tide with an axe kick and a springboard clothesline. He tried a Regalplex but Konley fought out and floored him with an enziguri, then countered the running Ace crusher and nailed the champ with a bridging German suplex. Ricochet scored an alarm clock and a running SSP for two. He followed up with a floatover Northern suplex then a release suplex. ‘The Obsession’ countered the kick of the Benadryller and gave Ricochet the Regalplex, one of Ricochet’s own preferred moves. That got him a two count and momentarily riled the audience. Ricochet avoided the double jump moonsault. Konley escaped the Benadryller and got a Death Valley bomb for a convincing near fall.

‘Mr High Fly’ hit a springboard 450 but Konley kicked out again, surprising the audience. Ricochet went for a top rope springboard but Konley sprang to his feet and caught him, giving him a Death Valley bomb from the top rope to earn the clean pinfall victory. Another contributing factor to the elevation of Konley.

After that Heather Lynn introduced AR Fox to the ring. She reminded the audience he had the right to book himself in any match he wanted once he's recovered from injury. He ran down his DG USA and EVOLVE credentials (first ever EVOLVE champ, former Style Battle winner, and a former Open the United Gate champ) and said he wanted the Freedom Gate belt. Fox versus Ricochet would have been great but it wasn’t to be.

What we got instead was the Bravados brothers wandering out. They took exception to Fox saying he was one of the best United Gate champs ever. Subpar mic work followed, ending with the Bravados introducing Moose for an impromptu match with Fox.

Moose hit some power moves. Fox sold the arm and did some flying. It didn't go very long so they were able to string some spots together for a decent match. Unsurprisingly, with it being his comeback match, Fox won. But only by DQ: Lance Bravado interfered just as ‘The Whole Foxin’ Show’ was about to hit Lo Mein Pain. They gave Fox a Gentlemen's agreement before The Colony made the save, taking us into the Open the United Gate match.

It was a standard Bravados match. Lots of cheap heat, particularly in the form of mask-tugging. That actually led to the Bravados win. As Harlem was trapped in the CHIKARA Special Lancelot grabbed Silver Ant's mask, forcing him to break the hold and allowing legal man Harlem to roll Silver Ant up with a schoolboy. The match was decent enough but unspectacular.

That just left the EVOLVE champion Drew Galloway to defend his prize against Rich Swann. The story going in was that Swann was injured from earlier in the night and Galloway didn't want to defend against him at less than one hundred per cent. Swann insisted on the match because it was his first time getting a chance at a singles championship in either EVOLVE or DG USA.

Swann tried to get the match finished early, jumping Drew at the bell and going for a series of flash pins. Drew put a stop to that with a stiff strike and spent several minutes muscling the challenger around. But he did the "I don't want to do this" routine to remind everyone that, hey, he's a babyface!

After several minutes Swann managed to get a hurricanrana, a DDT, and a tope. Galloway turned a cross body into a back breaker but Swann kicked out at two. Galloway attempted his double arm DDT but Swann countered into a pin for a close two then cracked out a super kick for another.

By this point the crowd were going crazy, perhaps believing a title change was on the cards. Galloway avoided a 450 and booted Swann in the face, sending him rolling out of the ring. At which point the PAB wandered out to stand over Swann and gloat. Galloway wiped them out with a tope and then gave Swann a cradle Tombstone piledriver back in the ring. Swann still wouldn't stay down, giving the crowd a surprise by kicking out just before the three count. He went for the Lethal Injection but Galloway countered it into a sleeper, which quickly became a rear naked choke. That proved the final straw for the referee who, tired of seeing Swann suffer, ended the match in Galloway’s favour.

Galloway closed the show with a promo. He said Swann deserved a rematch and then put over the fans and EVOLVE. The standard stuff really. As by-the-numbers as the ending was the show itself was top notch. The opener, Konley Ricochet, and the EVOLVE title match were all terrific and while nothing else stood out as being particularly great nothing was actively bad. It was well put together and well-paced, and everyone gave it their all. You can’t ask for more than that.

***

Results summary:
Johnny Gargano def Anthony Nese
Zack Sabre Jr def Timothy Thatcher
Uhaa Nation def Roderick Strong
Caleb Konley def Ricochet
AR Fox def Moose via disqualification
The Bravado Brothers def The Colony
Drew Galloway def Rich Swann

DG USA Mercury Rising 2014 review

Open the Ultimate Gate saw Gabe Sapolsky bring in Low Ki and Masato Tanaka to combat the absence of Dragon Gate performers. While said absence harmed the show’s legitimacy a little both Ki and Tanaka proved shrewd investments, turning in enjoyable performances in their respective matches.

For Mercury Rising Sapolsky added an additional approach to disguising his lack of access to the parent company’s heavy hitters. Falling back on his love of six man tag team matches he booked a six team four match trios tournament for the card. This not only kept his much loved tradition alive¹ it also made the show feel different to other recent DG USA offerings. The stipulation that the winning trio would get to book themselves in the matches of their choice also ensured that the series would add something to the company’s continuing plots and provided a reason for viewers to check out future offerings from the promotion. A shrewd move from Sapolsky.

Once again no time was wasted getting to the action. Chris Hero, Roderick Strong and Masato Tanaka versus Ricochet, Rich Swann and AR Fox opened the show. Noteworthy things about this match included: Strong and Swann being co-holders of the FIP tag team titles; Swann and Ricochet having competed as a team before (The Inner City Machine Guns); Hero having defeated Fox for his EVOLVE gold in February; and that Ricochet was wrestling his first match (though not his first defence, obvs) as the Open the Freedom Gate champion.

At half an hour long it was a satisfying opening contest. 'Ochet and his boys took pastings in the early going to highlight the striking abilities and experience advantage of their three opponents. Swann and Fox each took a turn being isolated by the hard hitters, weathering the storm until Ricochet could be tagged in. He took on both Hero and Strong, wiping them out with a series of one-against-two moves and flying offence. From there the bout evened out and all six men shifted in and out of the ring hitting signature moves and finishers. The finish saw Tanaka, Strong, Ricochet and Fox wiped out, leaving Swann to score the winning pin on Hero following a rollup.

Hero taunted his opponents with his title after the loss. It could have been the beginning or a heel turn but I doubt it.

Chuck Taylor came to the ring before match two. He had been scheduled to team with Drew Gulak and Orange Cassidy but the group had been disbanded the previous night when Gulak attacked Taylor. Whatever Taylor said into the microphone couldn't be understood but it was presumably something about The Gentlemen's Club being no more. Maxwell Chicago joined him and spoke at length before a match between the two started.

The story was that Taylor's heart was not in the match. Basically he wrestled like Orange Cassidy, very slowly and lackadaisically. He was eventually drawn into the spirit of things but the match ended up going to a no contest when The Premier Athlete Brand ran in and beat up Chicago. Su Yung told Taylor that he had no friends so had to fight alone or forfeit the match. He chose to fight. Because he’s a spunky young babyface and that’s what they do.

Baretta stood around at ringside because he didn't want to take advantage of Taylor due to their friendship. It still left 'The Kentucky Gentleman' in a two on one situation against Konley and Nese. He fought them off for a while but eventually the numbers got the better of him. Luckily for Taylor Biff Busick showed up to be his partner. A few minutes later Larry Dallas introduced Teddy Hart to proceedings. He cleared the ring of The Brand and then brought his cat into the ring and teased that he'd be the third man on the team face team.

It wasn’t to be. Hart turned on Taylor and Busick then shouted about bringing wrestling to an end. The audience chanted "This is stupid!" as the Brand slunk back into the ring and scored a winning pinfall.

The third tournament match saw Lince Dorado team with Green Ant and Fire Ant against Moose and the Bravado brothers. It was the most consistently fast of all three first round matches and featured some pretty slick double team moves. Moose was used sparingly, because he's inexperienced, but he handled what he was given well. For the record that was mostly acting as a powerhouse, blocking punches, hitting big moves, and catching his opponents in mid-air. He also proved fond of spears.

After eliminating Moose and Harlem, Green Ant was left free to apply the Chikara Special on Lancelot for the submission win. Green said something crowd pleasing after the win. No idea what though (because of the mic problems DG USA seemed happy to leave unaddressed). Lenny Leonard helpfully filled in the blanks and told us The Colony had issued a challenge for the tag straps at Dragon Gate's May shows, and that the Bravados had accepted.

The show's second half opener with Mercedes Martinez challenging Ivelisse Velez for the SHINE championship. Martinez controlled the pace of much of the match although the champion managed to get in a number of offensive flurries. ‘The Huntress’ retained after a crucifix and then helped the challenger walk to the back. The story was that Martinez had given the match her all and it hadn't been enough, basically. The match was perfectly adequate but not something that anyone will remember.

Low Ki's second appearance of the weekend was up after that. He was facing Johnny Gargano, who received a standing ovation when he entered. Before the match started Gargano cut a promo about being a hero and gave the impression that he still felt he was the Open the Freedom Gate champion (he’d lost it the evening before). The fans chanted "Where's your title?" Low Ki said something that must have been hilarious because the audience cracked up. Then the match started.

A slow pace was established in the early portion of the match, the two men feeling each other out and Gargano spending some time stalling at ringside. When the match got going it was okay but I wouldn't say great. The audience were into it though and reacted to everything loudly. That helped the atmosphere. Each man took a turn holding the initiative, 'The Whole Shebang' going second and keeping it longer. As was the case the night before the finish came from nowhere: Low Ki connected with the Ki Krusher for the pinfall victory.

Which left only the main event: the three-way elimination trios match. For the record this match was Ricochet, AR Fox and Rich Swann v The Premier Athlete Brand v Lince Dorado and The Colony. The Brand jumped the two face teams at the bell to get the ball rolling.

You could probably have guessed beforehand the match would be wild. The favoured triple threat spot of a three-way submission hold was modified, eight guys getting involved applying holds to one another until Nese decided to break it up. Speaking of Nese he performed an impressive Gotch lift power bomb to the outside on Swann. Fire Ant was launched to the outside by his teammates, but the mass of bodies waiting for him caught him and held him in place instead of tumbling to the ground, so Green Ant and Dorado launched themselves off the turnbuckles to send everyone crashing to the floor. Konley became the first man to get an elimination when he performed a fireman driver from the top rope on Dorado.

The pace slowed a little after that as the heels grounded Swann, included a moment where Baretta rubbed the Velcro of his boot across Swann's face. Swann came back with a hurricanrana. AR Fox cannonballed onto the heels as they stood on the outside. Back in the ring Nese got a near fall from a great looking power bomb. 'The Whole Foxin' Show' got a near fall of his own off an Ace crusher. Swann joined in with a handspring Ace crusher seconds later. Ricochet hit his northern lights into a brainbuster on Konley and then hit a Code Red on Baretta. Nese took a Benadryller and a 450 from both Swann and Fox for a near fall broken by Konley. Fox gave Konley a Lo Mein Pain for interfering but took Baretta's running knee as he stood up afterwards. And it was that knee that gave The Premier Athlete Brand the victory in a match that lasted less than twenty minutes.

The audience booed and chanted "Fire Russo!" after the decision. The sentiment was clear: Nese, Baretta and Konley going over was not a popular decision. That was to be expected, what with The Brand being the company's lead heel stable. The result seemed clear enough in advance though. The match stipulation was that the winning team would earn the right to book themselves in any matches they wanted. The Colony and Lince were clearly not going to win because Lince's not a top line performer and isn’t ready to become one, and the Ants will soon be prioritising CHIKARA again. Ricochet's team could have won but it was unlikely what with him being the company’s (double) champion. Match making stipulations are always given to heels, unless there's an underdog babyface involved who's been battling for a title shot for months (see Daniel Bryan). That wasn't the case here so it made sense to give the stip to the heels. They can now use it to drive storylines by giving themselves unfair advantages on upcoming shows.

The event as a whole did not quite meet the standard set by the previous evening. Only the opener and the main event really delivered the thrills and there was nothing capable of competing with Hero v Tanaka or Gargano's loss of the Open the Freedom Gate gold. It wasn't a bad show, it just suffered having to follow a very good one. Taken as a whole the weekend's DG USA and EVOLVE shows were worth watching. The paid off long running stories (in the case of Ricochet's title win a yearlong story) and provided developments that should ensure some good matches and cards later in the year. On the whole I'd say the weekend was more hit than miss for the sister promotions.

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¹ Sapolsky has a history of booking six man tags at WrestleMania weekend featuring Dragon Gate dating back to his time scripting Ring of Honor.