ROH TV 10th August 2013 Review

This week’s ROH on Sinclair continued the strong run of main events that we’ve seen over the last three weeks. With six of ROH’s top names involved in the “Honor Personified” Six Man Tag Team Match, it had to deliver something special. With a the continuation of Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis feud with former trainer Brutal Bob Evans also on the show this was strong showing from ROH.

“Honor Personified” Six Man Tag Team Match: 

Michael Elgin, Kevin Steen & Tommaso Ciampa 

vs. 

The American Wolves & BJ Whitmer 

Now this one of the reason I enjoy watching ROH, for matches like this. Six fan favourites split into two teams and putting on an entertaining battle. Can you imagine WWE or TNA doing this? Didn’t think so. With four of these men being involved in the World Championship Tournament that starts on television in two weeks’ time, I was expecting to get a preview of what to expect in that tournament in this one. The only reason The American Wolves aren’t in the title tournament, is their decision to focus on the World Tag Team Championships, currently held by Forever Hooligans. I think this was a good move by ROH as it elevates those Tag Team titles into a prize the top names in the company want, which can only be a good thing. The more each of ROH’s Championships mean, the more the matches for them will mean, and the more interest they will be able to generate from those matches, it’s a pretty simple philosophy.

The match then, was just shy of twenty minutes of television time, and chock full of spots. This match essentially moved from one spots to the next with little time to stop for breath. In the early parts of the match, Kevin Steen stole the show, with some nice comedy that brought an extra edge to the match. The complete over sell of a chop from Eddie Edwards being the highlight for me! After both Elgin and Ciampa had tried to outdo each other with delayed vertical suplexes, Steen tried one of his own, only to get suplexed by Eddie Edwards instead! It was nice to see a continuation of the feud between Elgin and Ciampa in this one, as even though they were on the same team they were constantly trying to one up the other, could Elgin vs. Ciampa be the final match in ROH World Championship Tournament?

The end of the contest saw a repeat off ROH’s latest Five Star match from Showdown in the Sun Night Two back in 2012, with Elgin and Davey Richards going at it. It was nice to settle down into some strong wrestling after the spotfest of the earlier part of the match. With the other team  member battling on the outside, there were a number of strong strikes and false finishes, and with Davey Richards fighting until the end, Elgin hit the Revolution Elgin Bomb to pick up the pinfall victory for his team. I enjoyed this ending a lot, not only because it harked back to one of the greatest matches in Ring of Honor history, but because it kept both men looking incredibly strong, with Richards fighting right till the end. It also gave us a strong clue as to how the ROH World Championship tournament might play out.

Michael Elgin is certainly the one to watch in the tournament, as he’s been strongly booked by ROH for the last six months or so, and I’m sure if Jay Briscoe has stuck around he’d have beaten him for the title anyway. The tournament also seems to have positioned as a showcase for Elgin as he picks up victories over four different names on his route to the title. The only other name I can see competing with Elgin for the title is Tommaso Ciampa, down to the competitive rivalry the two have had as of late, it would be a great way to finish of the rivalry over the ROH World Championship. Kevin Steen is clearly still one of the most popular names in ROH, and the crowd obviously adores the guy and his antics, but it doesn’t quite feel like Steen’s time this time for some reason. I haven’t really seen BJ Whitmer pushed strongly enough by ROH to consider him a threat in the tournament.

Best of the Rest (In The World)

Elsewhere on ROH this week, Mike Bennett faced off against former trainer Brutal Bob Evans. Bennett’s gradual move away from Evans over the last few months, mainly down to girlfried Maria Kanellis has been fairly well worked by the trio. It’s easy to dislike Bennett and Kanellis, and whilst the same could have been said for Evans a few months back, he’s certainly transitioned well into the face role. With Maria joining Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuiness on commentary, the bout was allowed to play out between just Bennett and Evans, which is definitely what needed to happen, as the story that needed to be told didn’t really call for Maria’s involvement.

That was, of course, the teacher vs. student. We’ve seen it numerous times throughout wrestling history, it’s youth vs. experience, which always an interesting idea to what unfold in the ring. Bennett would dominate the majority of the contest, clearly trying to injure Evans rather than just win the contest early on, as he went for a Piledriver on the exposed floor. Evan would attempt a fight back numerous times, really helping you to get behind the guy. With Evans on a role, he made the questionable decision to head to the top rope, only to miss a diving leg drop, allowing Bennett to hit the Box Office Smash and Photo Finish to pick up the pinfall victory. It wasn’t a technical classic by no stretch of the imagination, but told a decent story that was easy to get involved with. After the bout, Bennett signed the ROH contract he’d been carrying around for weeks, before Cheeseburger attempted to help Evans, only to receive a swift Piledriver from Bennett. Bennett is certainly on a role, will that carry over to the ROH World Championship tournament?

There was also a Women of Honor bout on the show with MsChif facing off against the debuting Bonesaw Brooks. I have to say that I was fairly disappointed by this bout, after some of the other Women of Honor matches we’ve seen in recent weeks. Bonesaw looked fairly sloppy in the ring, and that didn’t help the usually slick MsChif either. Even in the finished with MsChif hitting a Facebuster in the corner, it looked a little awkward with MsChif struggling to get the pin on Brooks. Overall, a disappointing outing for the Women of Honor, hopefully they’ll be back to normal next time they step into the ring.

Finally....

What did I learn from this week's ROH on Sinclair?

1. Michael Elgin is my pick to win the ROH World Championship tournament.

2. Brutal Bob Evans can still go!

3. Even the Women of Honor can have Divas style match once in a while!