Thought Zero – And we’re back with Ring of Honor as they usher in the second world title reign of Adam Cole. Let’s see how it is addressed and hopefully get some feel for the future plans of Jay Lethal.
1) Before the opening theme, we get some rapid-fire highlights of Adam Cole’s victory and then Kyle O’Reilly’s attack post-match. Well, okay, I guess. Be that way, ROH.
2) To start the show proper, here comes the new champion Adam Cole with the Bullet Club, minus the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega. Hey, Adam Page, wearing a hangman’s noose like a necklace is probably not the wisest of ideas. Just sayin’. Also, Adam Cole on the mic is good when he starts, but then it is all a long run-on sentence after that. Take a breath, dude.
3) Jay Lethal comes out to hopefully correct Cole’s grammar. He has his own music and video package now, so I guess The House of Truth is no more? After some words bantered back and forth, Lethal introduces EVIL and Tetsuya Naito of Los Ingobernables as his “friends” to even the sides. This crowd is pretty hot for all of these guys and makes it seem like a pretty big deal. That is a good thing for everyone involved, including ROH and New Japan.
4) Back from commercial and Nigel McGuinness announces that next week’s main event will be Jay Lethal, EVIL, and Naito versus Adam Cole, Adam “Hangman” Page, and Takahashi. While I would rather see a World Title rematch, I can’t complain too much about that.
5) The Addiction just came out and accused Nigel McGuinness of slander and libel. Um, I am not sure Daniels is 100% correct in using those terms. Then we get another video of the whole BJ Whitmer, Steve Corino, Kevin Sullivan never-ending storyline. I am cool with bringing Punisher Martinez into it though, because if he can build some momentum, maybe he can just eliminate the rest of these guys and then we’ll have, you know, someone interesting to watch.
6) Oh joy, it’s The Cabinet. Their entrance is ridiculous. But there is no tag team goodness to be had today, as Caprice Coleman will be competing in a one-on-one match against Dalton Castle. Now, I may be hallucinating, but I think we just saw a 6-man match involving The Cabinet and Dalton Castle and the Boys last week. I am not sure we really needed this match, but okay. Coleman can work and I am a fan of Castle, so let’s see what they can do.
6) A) Sub-thought time – During Castle’s peacockified entrance, Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness recap the 6-man main event for next’s week’s television. They also announce an ROH TV title match between Bobby Fish and Katsuyori Shibata. Wow.
6) A) a) Sub-sub-thought time – I like Bobby Fish. I do. And I am cool with him being the ROH TV champion. But I have concerns. First, while I would have been okay with Dalton Castle or Mark Briscoe winning during Fish’s last couple title defenses, I am still cool with Fish as champion. However, after having him defeat the badass that is Ishii for the title, now having him face another badass in Shibata (where I imagine Fish will go over unless Shibata is going to vacation here in the US for a while) seems to push my level of acceptance a bit. You want Fish to be seen as a “strong-style” champion who can hold his own, and defeat, the toughest sons-of-bitches in wrestling? Okay, go for it. However, I think Fish’s own tag partner, Kyle O’Reilly, shows him up in that fashion. Basically, what I am saying is that, I like Bobby Fish and buy his as a legitimate, hard-fighting champion. But do I buy him as a super badass who can defeat the baddest of the bad asses New Japan has? I am not so sure…
7) Remember back in Thought #6 where I said, “Coleman can work and I am a fan of Castle, so let’s see what they can do?” Yeah, for most of this match what they did was bore me. It was just too much comedy stalling for my taste. Although having Castle start the match by challenging Coleman to a thumb wrestling contest before taking him down was pretty fun. And the crowd was pretty into this match as well, including a long “BOO-YAY” cheerfest during a pose-off sequenced into a headlock battle, so it had that going for it.
8) The All-Night Express gets thrown out after they attack the Boys at ringside. Couple really cool moves in sequence here – Caprice Coleman hits a standing jump no-hands top rope hurricanrana. As he goes for the pin, Castle bridges out and over Coleman and then hits his dead-lift German suplex. Even the crowd was like, “Ooooooooo!” to voice their amazement. This was a pretty cool sequence and it almost makes up for the rest of the match boring me. ANX returns to ringside but the Boys take them out with stereo dives. And Castle picks up the victory with Bangarang. Picked up a bit at the end, but the first half of the match just dragged for me.
8) A) Sub-thought time – If Vince McMahon is watching, Dalton Castle should be signed within the next year and put straight onto the main roster. He’s money and I have a feeling he will just flourish in front of the bigger audience.
9) The Addiction is out AGAIN, but this time with a ladder. And boy, is this episode dying a slow death. Did I accidentally turn on the Raw talk-a-lot hour? Anyway, our second match of the night, after what feels like an eternity, is Donovan Dijak versus someone named Manny Lemons. I think I would put money on Dijak here. Dijak’s new gear that he wears to the ring has an Ivan Drago feel to it. Lemons smacks Dijak in the face instead of shaking his hand at the match’s beginning, and I think that will not bode well for the young man. The crowd tries a “Let’s Go Lemons” chant, but Dijak hits the Feast Your Eyes and his push towards the ROH TV title continues. Oh, hey, MORE talking! This time from Prince Nana. Yay.
10) Main Event time – The Briscoes versus Lio Rush and Jay White. Wait, THAT is the main event? Ok, I will just try to put on my “Lio Rush is so awesome” noise cancelling headphones. And Jay White still has not found a rubber band or even a hairpin. I think Donald Trump might have one you can use. The Briscoes are still over and are still fun, but I am getting a feeling that they are close to bordering on John Cena territory. When you are so dominant for so long, you start to appear a little stale. Maybe it is time for the Briscoes to hit another territory for a bit. However, the Briscoes did it again, no matter my reservations I just stated. They pulled a very fun match out of White and Rush. The Briscoes won with a Doomsday Device.
10) A) Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness spoke about the new 6-man titles that are coming to ROH. To which, I respond, oh yeah, I remember reading about that on Inside Pulse.
10) B) Rush does a lot of getting beaten up and then forgetting about his immense pain and flipping and jumping for a while. Sigh. But Mark Briscoe is still funny as hell and Jay still has a ton of energy and aggression in his work.
10) C) Jay White ate a kick at one point and spent about 189 1/2 minutes outside the ring. I am guessing he fell asleep?
10) D) Nice little and subtle thing ROH pulled off here – Kevin Kelly starts to announce breaking away for a commercial break. Then he stops because he is “told from the back that we are going to delay because Jay White is going up to the top rope!” We know this is taped, but it was a pretty slick and subtle little moment which helped the feel of the show.
10) E) Nigel ends the show by announcing a Ladder Wars match for All-Star Extravaganza at the end of September. The match will be for the Tag Team titles and will involve The Addiction, The Young Bucks, and The Motor City Machineguns. I would be shocked if they didn’t put the belts on the Bucks there. It just seems like they are setting it up that way.
Final Thought – Well, not the best week of Ring of Honor television. Way too much talking and setting up of future matches. The main event was fun with a lot of energy, but no where close to required viewing. Let’s see what a packed hour brings us next week. Until then!
