Here on Back Body Drop, we’ve covered the offerings of the WWE Network and New Japan World (amongst others) for those who are looking online for non-pirated wrestling. Another option out there comes from Ring of Honor, who for the last few years have made their weekly television show available for free via their website.
Granted, you need to be a member of the ROH website in order to access it – and all you need is an e-mail address to create an account – but if you’re looking to access ROH TV since 2014, you’ll need to cough up for a ROH Ringside Membership. We’ll probably touch on that at a later date, and see whether Ringside membership bridges any of the gaps I complained about in an earlier article about ROH neglecting their past… unless you want to buy their DVDs. For now, instead of picking random matches in our quest to see what available for free, we’ll take a look at ROH TV Episode 231 (which was available at http://www.rohwrestling.com/tv/current at time of writing)
Taped on January 9, 2016 in front of a crowd of around 800 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and one minute in, I get my very own Easter egg – kudos to the Sunderland supporter who went to the show and managed to get front row wearing the famous red and white stripes!
Jason Kincaid vs. Lio Rush
So, ROH are holding their annual “Top Prospect Tournament”, a single-elimination tournament that gives entrants exposure on a bigger stage, and the winner a ROH contract and a shot at the company’s TV title. Prior winners have included Mike Bennett (now in TNA), whilst past participants who have made it in ROH include Michael Elgin, Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Dalton Castle and ACH.
Our opening contest a first round tournament match between the 21 year old Lio Rush, and the thirteen-year veteran Jason Kincaid… and man, Nigel McGuinness has changed a lot since I last saw him on TV! Kincaid is portrayed by McGuinness and Kevin Kelly on commentary as a technical wizard who’s beaten a poverty-riddled background to make it, whilst Rush is being out across as a “phenom” who is better than he should be for his experience. They show the brackets for the remainder of the tournament – this is the final opening round match, and the winner of this will take on another rookie in the form of Punisher Martinez in the semi-finals.
Kincaid, who looks like a lost member of the Highlanders (if anyone remembers them from mid 2000s WWE), kicks Rush in the gut to start, but Rush uses his speed to evade several attacks, including leapfrogging over Kincaid in the corner, and ducking several clothesline attempts. A spinning backfist by Rush takes down Kincaid, but not for long as he goes after Rush, clotheslining him against the ropes. Kincaid steps outside the ropes, and slingshots himself in to take down Rush with a neckbreaker on the way, before locking in the Gory stretch on his younger opponent.
Rush breaks free and takes down Kincaid with an armdrag, before a wheelbarrow-like set-up gets caught with Kincaid locking in a unique take on an abdominal stretch, then dropping to his knees. That gets the veteran a two-count, as Kincaid then takes off his shirt and drops both arms on his singlet, signalling that the end is getting nearer.
Kincaid slaps a grounded Rush in the face, but walks into something resembling a monkey flip as Rush gets back to his feet. Rush misses with a kick and gets rolled up, but pops back to his feet and misses again with a kick. The pair switch waistlocks, with Kincaid dropping to his knees and finally taking a kick to the head from Rush. Kincaid charges at Rush, who sidesteps so that his opponent goes sailing out of the ring, and that sets up Rush to bound off the ropes and connect with a tope con hilo on the floor.
Rush rolls Kincaid back in and gets a two-count, as Kincaid rolls to the corner to recuperate. Kincaid pokes Rush in the eyes as he gets back to his feet, before picking up Rush for a spinebuster, dumping him in the corner. Kincaid then climbs the ropes as if he were going to hit a Van Terminator-style dropkick on the grounded Rush, but Lio leaves the ring… but that doesn’t matter as Kincaid hits his coast-to-coast dropkick and connects with Rush on the floor!
Kincaid follows that up with a dive through the ropes, flipping it into a Diamond Dust on Rush who was standing dazed by the apron, but that only gets a two-count after they return to the ring. Kincaid climbs to the top, but misses with a double foot stomp, and turns into the oncoming Rush, who connects with a C4 for the pin.
A really good television match, but in my mind the wrong guy won here. Sure, Rush fits the “Top Prospect” moniker better than Kincaid, but this was a slip-on-a-banana-peel finish if there ever was one.
I’d heard of ROH’s rather unique adverts – sadly, the first commercial for cheap/low-cost knee braces wasn’t one of those that had “synergy” with ROH talent. Maybe I’ll be treated to one later…
Silas Young & Beer City Bruiser vs. Caprice Coleman & Will Ferrara
Keeping the Top Prospect theme going, three quarters of this match have been involved in prior tournaments, with Coleman the odd one out. The Beer City Bruiser reminds me of a shorter Festus, and comes out with a keg of beer (naturally) and chomping a cigar. We’re shown footage of Young and the Bruiser’s recent feud with Dalton Castle, in spite of Castle not being involved in this match.
Prince Nana joins McGuinness and Kelly on commentary for this match, as he’s working to make Coleman and Ferrara a team in ROH. The match gets underway with Young and Coleman trading blows, until Coleman takes down Silas with a dropkick. Ferrara is tagged in and goes to work on Young’s ribs, but Young picks up the smaller Ferrara and deposits him in the corner. Young misses a punch, which allows Ferrara to get a two-count from a wheelbarrow roll, before taking Young down again with a German suplex.
Young tags in the Beer City Bruiser, who gets shoved by Ferrara, and needless to say, the receipt carried a lot more weight. Ferrara slides out of a bodyslam attempt, but his efforts at trying a German suplex were clearly ill-advised, as the Bruiser easily elbows his way out. Ferrara goes for a body slam, and actually gets Bruiser off his feet, but the weight is too much and he collapses to the mat. The Bruiser doesn’t go for a pin, instead punching Ferrara in the head, and brings Ferrara to his own corner, slamming him to the mat before tagging Silas back into the match.
Young slingshots in and hits a double foot stomp on the grounded Ferrara, getting a two-count for his efforts. Bruiser gets tagged back in, but immediately misses an Avalanche in the corner as Ferrara gets out of the way, and Ferrara knocks Young off the apron, but he doesn’t opt for a tag. Instead, Ferrara gets hung on the rope by Young, before staggering into a backdrop driver by the Bruiser. Young rushes in and connects with a Quebrada (Lionsault), as the Bruiser follows up by bounding off the ropes and flattening Ferrara with a big splash. Caprice Coleman finally intervenes, breaking up the pinfall at two, but Ferrara can’t make the tag as he’s instead forced into the opposite corner for more double-teaming.
Ferrara takes a hip attack in the corner by the Bruiser, but manages to roll out of the way of a cannonball, but he goes straight into the path of Silas Young. Young goes for a powerbomb, but Ferrara flips out of the move, and makes the hot tag to Coleman, who takes out Young with a series of strikes, before sending Young into the middle turnbuckle with a STO. Coleman ducks the onrushing Bruiser, and hits a RVD-esque springboard leg kick, leaving Coleman and Young in the ring. Coleman surprises Young with a huracanrana off the top, but the Bruiser breaks up the pin attempt.
Bruiser dumps Coleman on the top rope, and goes for a superplex, but Will Ferrara comes in to break that up, and manages to powerbomb the Bruiser off the top, sending him head over heels on the mat. Coleman looks to follow-up, but Young crotches him across the top rope, before taking out Ferrara with a backbreaker and a clothesline. All four men are down, and that’s the cue for Dalton Castle’s Boys to hit the ringside area, just as Young picks up Ferrara, but the distraction sees the Beer City Bruiser go to the floor to admonish the Boys.
That puts the Bruiser in place to get hit with a dive through the ropes from Ferrara that’s turned into a DDT on the way down. Back in the ring, Young turns around into the Sky Splitter (missile leg-lariat off the top rope), and that’s all she wrote!
Another good television match, but again, the winners were the team that were on the losing end of the majority of the match. The Beer City Bruiser is certainly an interesting talent, if not one that we’d ever see anywhere near a WWE camera!
Finally! The Jay Lethal Health Alert Hotline ad! There’s something to be said for having talent working with advertisers like this – WWE, you’re missing a trick by restricting it to the big brands… speaking of, that’s followed up with an advert for the “Best of” Steve Corino (ironically called “The Worst of Steve Corino”), as the King of Old School shills his DVD with the Young Bucks. Steve’s son, Colby, comes into frame and gets the DVD as a birthday party, followed by a superkick after complaining about it being late. That was suitably wacky
We come back from commercial with an in-ring segment with BJ Whitmer and Adam Page – better known as “The Decade”. They show footage of Whitmer killing Colby Corino with some Exploder suplexes after Colby’s Top Prospect Tournament match, at least until he was saved by the masked Mr Wrestling III. This segment is here to extend the weird storyline between Whitmer and Steve Corino – and I say weird, because Corino’s recent neck surgery means that he legitimately cannot wrestle. Steve Corino comes out, as Kevin Kelly reminds us of the surgery and how he’s no longer commentating because he was suspended for attacking Whitmer. This segment’s really exposing the production issues ROH has – particularly with lighting, as Corino is hard to see on the stage area by the video screens. Corino promises to fight Whitmer “someday”, and reveals that it’s Adam Page who he’s gotten to fight Whitmer in his stead. Page and Whitmer trade blows until referees and security spill into the ring to break them up.
A run-down of the ROH 14th Anniversary PPV show card follows, along with clips to hype up the no-DQ tag team title rematch with Raymond Rowe & Hanson vs. Kenny King & Rhett Titus.
Mark Briscoe vs. Tim Hughes
Back to in-ring action now, but this shouldn’t take too long… it’s weird to see how ROH credits every song they use, including Briscoe’s theme which is namechecked as “The Anthem of the Sussex County Chick” by one of my favourite YouTubers, Adam Massacre. Tim Hughes gets the “already in the ring” treatment, so you can see where this is heading!
Hughes is a trainee of “Brutal” Bob Evans, and makes that known as he yells at Briscoe that “Brutal Bob told me to never shake anybody’s hand”. Must be a germophobe. They lock-up to begin, but Briscoe quickly gets the advantage, hitting a diving clothesline after being whipped into the ropes by Hughes. Briscoe punches Hughes in the corner, then lands a suplex in the middle of the ring for a two-count. A side Russian legsweep takes Hughes down for another near fall, as Briscoe follows up with some chops, before Hughes finally gets some offence in… even if it is only in the form of elbowing out of a Fireman’s carry! Briscoe is pushed into the ropes but manages to stop himself, and then hits a vicious back elbow on Hughes, before running into an actual move from Hughes… a slowly spinning sidewalk slam!
That gets Hughes a two-count, who follows up with a slap to the face of Briscoe. Mark blocks a second slap, who returns the favour. Multiple times. One Fisherman’s Buster later, Briscoe goes up top and lands a top rope elbow for the win. A perfectly acceptable squash match, even if it threatened to get a little long!
ACH & Matt Sydal vs. The Young Bucks
Main event time now, and that guy in the Sunderland shirt by the aisle seemed less than enthused by Matt Sydal! Nor the Young Bucks, who come out with the IWGP Junior tag team titles that they were holders of at the time.
The match gets off to a flying start as Matt Jackson and Matt Sydal go face to face, before going to ground as the fists fly. ACH tries to separate them, but he turns around into a Nick Jackson superkick, before the Bucks combine to a headscissors-assisted superkick on Sydal. Stereo topes see them go to the floor, albeit only to throw Sydal back into the ring, but it’s not long before he’s back on the outside, with another dive over the top rope. The two Matts resume in the ring, with Sydal trapping Jackson’s arms in the ropes, setting up Sydal to make the tag, with ACH flying in with a double foot stomp (that move again…) across the prone Buck. A leg lariat from ACH sends Matt to the floor again, as he follows up by going to the apron and kicking Nick Jackson to the floor. A few handsprings in the ring sets up ACH for a dropkick on Matt, but in comes Nick to connect with a superkick as ACH was motioning to the crowd.
A clearly angered Sydal comes in and hits a huracanrana to take out both of the Bucks, but they pop up to hit (you got it) dual superkicks on Sydal.
Back from commercial break, and we see the Bucks throwing ACH into the ropes, allowing them to hit a double hiptoss followed by double low dropkicks to the seated ACH for a two-count. Nick hits a springboard dropkick to knock Sydal back to the floor, before tagging in Matt, but their attempt at a double team goes awry when they waste too much time, as Matt ends up hitting a forearm to Nick, sending him to the floor. A forearm to the back of ACH sends him to the canvas, as Matt tries to stay on top, but ACH manages to take out both Bucks, including the Get Over Here (swinging Flatliner through the ropes) on Matt.
ACH finally makes the tag to Sydal, who springs into the ring with a flipping huracanrana on Matt Jackson, before ducking a Nick Jackson superkick and rotating into a high kick of his own on the Young Buck. Matt takes advantage of the distraction and kicks Sydal in the gut to set up for a tiltawhirl backbreaker, but Sydal slips out and connects with a leg-assisted reverse DDT and a standing moonsault for a near fall. ACH re-enters the fray as Nick pulls Sydal out of the ring, and Nick dropkicks Sydal through the ropes into the guard rail.
From the apron, Nick hits a springboard facebuster onto ACH from the apron into the ring, before trying to moonsault onto Sydal outside. Sydal avoids it, and ends up catching the boot of Nick, using it to kick the other Young Buck… but Nick superkicks Sydal anyway, as ACH runs through the ropes and just about makes a suicide dive into the path of two more superkicks from the Young Bucks.
Back in the ring, and Matt Jackson has Sydal in a Fireman’s carry, but he wriggles free and hits a huracanrana onto Nick Jackson – who was perched on the top rope ready to strike – sending the Bucks colliding into each other in the ring. Sydal then goes up top for the Shooting Star Press, but Nick rolls out of the way; Sydal landed on his feet but quickly ate yet another superkick from Matt Jackson, who then powerbombs him into the turnbuckle as Nick kicked him in the head on landing. A combo of a cannonball and another kick follows, as they hit a senton splash over a suspended Sydal for a near-fall.
The Bucks look to finish off Sydal with the More Bang for Your Buck combo, but Sydal gets his knees up both for the Shooting Star Press, and the moonsault attempt that followed. In the aftermath, ACH connects with a double stomp to the back of Matt Jackson, and Sydal hits a Shooting Star Press of his own for the win.
The Young Bucks, at best, are an acquired taste. Throughout this nine minute match, I lost count of the number of superkicks these guys attempted and actually hit; and that’s a problem. Whilst repeatedly “spamming” the same moves, this video game-style wrestling can be fun to watch, it doesn’t always lead to good matches. Being kind, I’ll just say that I’m not yet sold on all of the hype behind the Young Bucks.
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]s an hour of television, Ring of Honor’s show just flew by. In contrast to the chore that can be Raw, ROH flew by and was extremely solid. Everything was done for a reason – and as a lapsed fan, I was able to drop back into the product and figure out who everyone was and why things were happening. In a phrase: everything just made sense. The only negative I would have is that aside from the pre-tapes, there was very little done to hype up the company’s upcoming pay-per-view.
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