Sorry about whose damn luck? James Storm is the latest challenger in Dojo Pro as the road to the ROH TV title shot continued!
With all due respect to those beforehand, Storm is perhaps coming in with the biggest name value here, even if he’s about six months out from the end of his Impact Wrestling run. That’s what’s earned Storm his “veteran’s slot”, as his B-roll sees Storm call himself a legend… even if he takes umbrage at the connotations of it all. Janela claims that James Storm isn’t relevant, nor a dream opponent, as he’s still fixated on his own ranking. For a “thrown together” match, these promos are actually quite solid in building up the contest.
Joey Janela vs. James Storm
Hey, the Cowboy’s got his old TNA music here! It stands out head and shoulders above every other track used here, making him look a big deal by proxy.
There’s chants of “dream match” before the bell, which look rather forced as I don’t think there’s too many people who’d have called it that. We start with a little over 10 minutes left on the video, as Storm takes Janela into the corner, only to get slapped as the “Bad Boy” lived up to his moniker… and got a receipt.
Storm’s back with shoulder tackles and a hiptoss, before landing a Slingblade to take Janela down… but Joey scarpers as the Last Call superkick was attempted. Storm follows him outside as a fan’s foot is used as a weapon, but Janela recovers and posts the Cowboy, before he ripped up the padding on the floor. A suplex is teased, but instead it’s a simple hiptoss that took Storm onto the bare floor, as he manages to beat a ten-count… and return into some right hands from Janela.
Joey keeps up on Storm with some Garvin-esque stomps, but the crowd are actually starting to warm to him. Ah nevermind, there’s the “sad boy” chants, just as Storm mounts a comeback… forearms, atomic drops, clotheslines, then a gamengiri off the apron as a leaping clothesline almost won him the match. A discus forearm from Janela, then a death valley driver, sharply turns it back around for him, until a back cracker from Storm almost gave him the win. The Eye of the Storm looked to follow, but Janela escaped a spinning crucifix bomb as both men ran into each other with a clothesline at the same time. Janela gets a near-fall as he tried to make a cover, before we broke into some boo/yay punches, ending with some clotheslines from Storm and an Alabama slam out of the corner, as the Eye of the Storm comes off for the near-fall!
Trying to follow-up, Storm goes up top, but Janela shoves himself and the referee into the rope as the Cowboy took too long… that crotches him and takes the veteran down as a double stomp quickly gets Janela the win. A bit of an old-school, banana-peel loss for Storm, in a match that was fine, but felt the most like a TV style match thus far. ***
Post-match, Rob Johnston’s shocked that Janela won… of course, Joey takes offence to the ringside interviewer, shoving him down and declaring that this is his time. Storm gets back to his feet and superkicks the Bad Boy to leave him laying. Heat back. Janela leaves without the belt, but safe in the knowledge he’s held it for the longest streak this series as he prepares to face Ricky Starks next.