7-10 years ago I was a huge ROH fan. After a few years away from wrestling, I started to get back into the WWE in late 2003/early 2004. But a few too many Triple H promos and a lot of Randy Orton on my TV started to scare me away and forced me to look for alternatives. There was TNA, which I was really glad to see get a show on Fox Sports/Comcast Sports at the time. Then I heard about ROH, who had only run a few shows in the Chicago market. But there were coming back every 3 months or so. These were my first live wrestling shows ever and I had a ton of fun going. My poor mom even sat through one, since I was 15 at the time and couldn't drive myself.
My wrestling fandom started to fade over time and I lost interest in ROH. Fast forward to 2012 and I'm a regular wrestling watcher once more. ROH isn't the indy darling that it once was. Most of the big stars from the mid-2000s moved on. Gabe was gone. Cary didn't own it. Things were different. I've watched their show a handful of times since then. Always online, since they don't have TV in the third largest city in the country and arguably their second biggest fanbase locale. It could be entertaining, but not so much that I felt compelled to keep watching.
Word is that the product is improving. I check the results and read some of the feedback and people like ROH's direction right now. So maybe it's time to give them another shot and start watching their weekly TV show. What's 45 minutes a week to a guy who spends way too much time watching wrestling anyway? Without further adieu, let's get to the show.
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ROH is in Nashville, Tennessee for the taping. Kevin Kelly, on commentary with Steve Corino and Prince Nana, announces that we're getting Silas Young vs. Tommaso Ciampa for the TV title later tonight.
ROH Top Prospect Tournament - Andrew Everett vs. The Romantic Touch
Andrew Everett's a youngster, only 21. The Romantic Touch, a masked Rhett Titus, tries to gently woo a few women on his way to the ring. Everett shows off his flying ability early. It's not enough to do a tope out of the ring, he's gonna add a corkscrew to it. Everett's the embodiment of flippy do wrestling. It's a sight to see, but I wonder how long he'll be able to do it.
RT monkey flips Everett, who does a full 450 on it. RT gets Everett down with a high drop kick. Veda Scott bumrushes the commentary table and gets a mic in her hand, berating the announcers about the injustice of the ROH Top Prospect tournament. She's a lot better as a complaining heel than the baby face she was when I last watched. She's openly calling RT out as Rhett Titus and calls Everett "flips." I now love this woman. RT makes a romantic gesture towards Veda, but she's disgusted. Everett rolls RT up when he turns back around, getting a surprise pin.
Match rating: *. Nothing to this one really. Everett's ability to flip is impressive, but not cohesive with having a real match here.
Video package from final battle. BJ and Roderick Strong ambush Eddie Edwards. Jacobs joins them and spikes Edwards, literally. Strong, BJ, and Jacobs are a new stable from the looks of it. I'm down.
Jay Briscoe comes out before the next top prospect match can occur. Goddamn does he have a good look. He's got a big ass beard, a mohawk, leather vest, camo pants, and his own title belt. Jay looks like someone I would not want to fuck with. Jay wants Cole and he's mad as hell that Cole hasn't responded. Adam Cole comes out, but isn't about into the ring with the irate redneck.
Adam Cole is the real world champion, per Adam Cole. Not Jay Briscoe. Cole's great as a smug, condescending heel. He'll never care what anyone has to say if they're going to be dumb enough to believe Jay Briscoe is the real world champion. The only man he'll listen to his Matt Hardy, which the crowd boos. Cole actually does get in the ring for a moment, though it's only long enough to let Jay know that he'll get an answer next week.
ROH Top Prospect Tournament - Cheeseburger vs. Hanson
Cheeseburger is pretty damn over. He's a skinny little guy though. Hanson's not. He's billed at 275 and that looks about right. The crowd's chanting for Cheeseburger before the bell rings.
Hanson dominates Cheeseburger physically, which is no shocker if you just look at the guys. Cheeseburger tries a sunset flip but isn't strong enough to pull Hanson down. Any attempt at offense ends in disaster. The crowd chants for Cheeseburger again, rooting the little guy on. Cheeseburger's forearms slow Hanson down for a second and a drop kick to the leg puts him down on one knee. Cheeseburger bounces of the ropes. Hanson's back to his feet immediately and crushes Cheeseburger with a spinning leg lariat. Cheeseburger's not getting up from that and Hanson covers for the win.
Match rating: N/A. It was a squash match. Cheeseburger's really popular and bumped well. Hanson's spinning leg lariat was a fine finisher, albeit a bit stiff. Cheeseburger was bleeding some when they took him out of the ring.
Promo for AJ's return to ROH. Looking forward to it. I don't think I ever got to see AJ live in ROH, since my fandom coincided with TNA pulling a lot of talent.
Adam Page vs. Mark Briscoe
Mark's got a good look in his own right. It's similar to his brother, but his facial expressions read more as "nutty crazy" than "murderous crazy." The match can't even start before music interrupts the contestants. Out comes Jacobs, Whitmer, and Strong. Jacobs says they're sorry to interrupt, but they can do whatever the hell they want. They're "the Decade" from the sound of it.
Mark's been here since day one, which Jacobs hasn't forgotten. Mark belongs with the Decade, if you ask Jacobs. Jacobs slaps Everett, who's using ROH as a stepping stone. Decade triple team him, Mark Briscoe joins the fray to run them off, and it looks like we're getting a tag match after a commercial break.
We get a Veda Scott promo, hyping up RD Evans' undefeated streak all over the world. Good stuff.
Decade (BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs) vs. Adam Page and Mark Briscoe
They're still brawling inside and outside of the ring as we come back. It takes a minute for things to slow down and the match to really start. BJ and Jacobs are beating down Everett, getting the heat right from the open. The crowd's into Everett, who's doing a fine job as a face in peril. It's a short heat segment once Everett gets the tag to Mark pretty quickly.
Mark and BJ exchange looping punches to the head. Mark gets the advantage and busts out his kung fu skills. A clothesline sends BJ crashing outside. Jacobs knees Mark in the back as he runs the ropes to get a head of steam, wanting to dive to the outside. Everett hits a running shooting star press off the apron onto BJ to make up for that. Mark adds in a Catcus Jackian elbow drop off the apron for good measure.
Adam Page is big into flips today, but not as much as Andrew Everett. He tries to go up top and Jacobs cuts his legs out from under him. BJ hits a super exploder and Mark has to make the save.
BJ lariats Everett, killing his momentum. Jacobs and Whitmer hit their double team finisher, which is something of an inverted powerslam/ace crusher combo. I like it. Match over.
Match rating: **. I like the team of BJ and Jacobs, then again I always have. Everett could slow it down a bit.
Angry Kevin Steen promo. He's going to put Cliff Compton down because he ambushed Steen last week.
Silas Young vs. Tommaso Ciampa
Silas has strap with him as he enters. He plays up his "last real man" gimmick as a loudmouthed heel, unlike in AAW where he's more of a disgruntled babyface. Ciampa's in damn good shape. Taven's rudely interrupts before things can start and hypes up his TV title reign. He wants his belt back and he's up in Tommaso's face about it. It looks heelish until he extends a hand to Tommaso, doing something he wouldn't do before. Tommaso never gets to accept because Silas ambushes Taven. Security has to pull Taven away.
We've got Jay Lethal on commentary this time. I kinda like the revolving door third man in the booth concept for now. Unfortunately, him and Corino are bickering much of the time, which distracts from the in-ring action. Tommaso gets Silas outside and sits him down in a chair. He's creaming Silas with running rising knees. Silas manages to run before the third of those and grabs his strap from the corner. Tommaso chases Silas back into the ring. Silas pulls a clever one and kicks the middle rope just as Tomasso steps over it, cutting off the chase and giving the show a chance for a commercial break.
The two are exchanging punches and chops when we come back. Lethal is putting over Ciampa on commentary when he's not screaming with Corino. Silas gets his hands on that strap again, but Tommaso ducks under two wild swings. Silas slips and Tommaso busts his nose up with another stiff rising knee. These two work well together when they brawl. Silas keeps going for the strap. The ref pulls it away before Silas can get at Tommaso. Silas kicks out at one after Tommaso slams him. Silas hits a hard lariat, starts to build momentum, and suddenly Tommaso has him in the Sicilian stretch more or less out of nowhere. Silas taps immediately. He ambushes Tommaso while he celebrates and goes to get the strap. Jay Lethal comes to the rescue, but Silas fights him off. Taven's out next and he manages to get Silas out of there.
Lethal, Tommaso, and Taven eye each other up. They all want the belt, but it's Tommaso's for now.
Match rating: *1/2. Ending felt really rushed and maybe it had to do with TV restrictions. Or maybe they laid it out that way, I'm not an insider. Either way, I'm not a fan of guys tapping to submission immediately, especially if they weren't worked over before or don't have a reason to, like in an iron man match. Tommaso and Silas brawling was the highlight of the match when it happened, which wasn't often enough.
Final Thoughts
A fine 50 minutes that was lighter on wrestling than I would have guessed. Nothign to write home about. This one was much more of a transition week than anything else. ROH's TV product is supposed to support the live events, so that adds up. I'll be watching when the next episode is up.
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