Daily Royal Ramble #5 (28th March 2014)

Welcome loyal reader to the fifth installment of the Daily Royal Ramble! Today's Ramble is going to continue yesterday's theme of looking at where I am with a number of wrestling companies. Yesterday I wrote about TNA, today I'm going to take a quick look at Ring of Honor and New Japan.

However, before that I'd like a look at last night's NXT that aired on the WWE Network. The main draw for this episode was an NXT Championship bout with Adrian Neville defending against Bo Dallas. I really enjoyed this bout, some really lovely wrestling, some awfully stiff strikes for WWE and some of the best false finishes I've seen in a while. I honestly thought Dallas had the match won after he got the knees up on Neville's Red Arrow, with Neville kicking out at the last minute I was on the edge of my seat from then on. The finish saw Neville hit a crazy 450 splash to retain his title, it was fast paced and left us with no doubt that Neville's first win wasn't just a fluke. Everything in this one worked for, there were a few sloppy moments and a few moments when it was clear the action had to be cut in post-production, but this still was a splendid NXT main event. I would expect we'll see Bo Dallas turning up on the main roster soon, as it appear like he's done all he can do in NXT, he's more ready than he was fourteen months ago when WWE first tried to bring up to the main roster and with the right storyline I can see Bo flourishing on Raw and Smackdown.

Elsewhere, there really wasn't much else of note for me, Natalya defeating Charlotte by disqualification was a decent storyline continuer, but I'm not completely sold on the Flair vs. Hart story, as it seems like Charlotte is attempting to do a David Flair and piggy back off her father's legacy, whilst Bret Hart looked extremely bored at ringside, at times even a bit lost and confused. (4/10 Bret) It would seem Corey Graves is being primed for a run opposite Neville for the strap, as he squashed Yoshi Tatsu, and will face Sami Zayn next week, in what should be another excellent contest. I'm still not sold on Mojo Rawley, I don't think the gimmick fits the in-ring work, and if Chris Hero was told to get in shape, so should Rawley, he looks pretty flabby out there, he picked up the victory over CJ Parker non-the-less. Xavier Woods continues to go nowhere since turning up on the main roster, the decision to simply give him Brodus Clay's music and gimmick has killed any momentum he had and is possibly the laziest booking decision I've ever seen. He lost to Tyler Breeze this week to close their feud in a decent outing.

Overall a decent edition of NXT, the main event was an entertaining and enjoyable watch, but most of the show didn't match up to it and it's clear there's still a lot of work to do on some of these guys both as wrestlers and characters.

Now, onto where I am with Ring of Honor and New Japan. If you read yesterday's Ramble, you'll remember I started by talking about how I feel I've become to WWE-Centric over the last few months and talked about how I would rectify this (Check it out yourself for the full explanation), so I'm continuing that today by re-considering my stance with both Ring of Honor and New Japan.

Let's kick-off with Ring of Honor. I was, at one point, a subscriber to their website and brought a handful of DVD's. I was rarely disapointed with the match quality, but due to the taping schedule, I never felt an urgent need to watch the TV product, and eventually I fell behind. I also noticed that a lot of the guys at the top in ROH had been there for some time and there was very little upward mobility in the company, with the exception of Michael Elgin and Adam Cole, ROH's main event scene had been pretty stagnant for some time, coupled with a tiring ROH vs. SCUM storyline that ended in a clusterfuck, I really wasn't feeling ROH anymore. Whilst I was always guaranteed some quality in ring action, it would likely be the same few guys, with a weak storyline, I've probably not watched ROH in about eight months or so, and when I look at the cards they put on, they're pretty much the same as when I was last watching, with what seems like the same storylines running. Don't get me wrong, I love a good long storyline, but it needs to be a good idea in the first place!

Now, recently ROH have announced they will be running two iPPV's with New Japan Pro Wrestling, in May. This has piqued my interest for sure, for the simple reason that I've been meaning to watch New Japan for an extremely long time, and this seems to me like a great way to get into the product. This month alone saw three New Japan matches make the top six of our Match of the Month, with a similar result looking possible for February. So, yes, I will be watching on May 10th and 17th and hopefully this will be the start of me following ROH again and beginning to follow New Japan, which can only be good news for the blog.

That's it for today, boys and girls, I hope you've enjoyed my rambling on this fine Friday evening. I'll be back tomorrow with some news of how Kamikaze Pro fans can win a 2 disc DVD at Sunday's Over the Top show. Keep tuned.

PCW Final Fight Review

Promotion: Preston City Wrestling

Location: Preston, Lancashire, England.

Venue: Rumes Nightclub

After a long journey all the way from Aberystwyth, I arrived in sunny Preston ahead of a stacked card of professional wrestling from Preston City Wrestling. With a number of international stars on the card, as well as some of the biggest names on the British wrestling scene, could PCW Final Fight live up to the hype?

VIP Meet and Greet

All the advertised international talents were involved in this, with the exception of PWG's Brian Cage, who apparently missed his flight and wouldn't be involved on the show. Ultimo Dragon was late arriving, and early leaving, with his translator staying to flog some of his merchandise, which was a bit of a shame, especially as it meant most people had to start queuing again for Dragon. Everyone else however was very easy to talk to, even when the line was being pushed along by various PCW staff. After a signed photo from each talent, as well as Davey Richards and Michael Elgin signing copies of ROH All Star Extravaganza and Manhatten Mayhem, as well as a chat about LuFisto's hatred for WWE wrestler The Miz, it was a very enjoyable experience and great to get to meet talent that I've been watching for years. It was a shame, however, that only one photographer was on hand to take photos, and with him looking so busy with other people, I decided not to bother him and went without any pictures.

Tag Team Match

El Ligero & Martin Kirby

Versus

Dean Allmark & Ultimo Dragon

We were straight out of the gates with our opening contest, as El Ligero and Martin Kirby were first out for their bout with Dean Allmark and the well-travelled veteran Ultimo Dragon, who is most often seen wrestling for Michonoku Pro Wrestling these days. With the crowd nicely split between the two teams, there was some nice action on display here, with the bout keep a quick pace throughout, which really got the crowd warmed up nicely. The build up to a flurry of action from Dragon was exciting and the best action that Dragon offered in the bout, with on occasion there seeming to be a miscommunication between Dragon and his opponents, which did end up hurting the bout in the closing stages. Allmark and Dragon went on to pick up the victory, with Dragon getting the pin on Kirby, in what felt like a slightly flat finish. Overall, I was a little disappointed by this bout, as despite some good exchanges involving Allmark, Ligero and Kirby, the highly anticipated confrontation between Ligero and Dragon ended up falling short of expectations.

Winners: DEAN ALLMARK & ULTIMO DRAGON

PCW Crusierweight Championship Match

LuFisto

Versus

April Davids ©

Before the match started LuFisto was out to talk trash about her opponent for the night and listing a number of her own achievements, as well as introducing her manager, a doll called Pegaboo. Cruiserweight Champion April Davids came out to confront LuFisto, with the words “You're full of shite, you are”, to a nice pop for the crowd and the bout was under way.

I found this to be an enjoyable bout, with both women bringing a hard hitting style and intensity, that mainstream women's wrestling lacks. LuFisto did a great job of working the crowd and managed to get some quite considerable heat, which is commendable considering the pop she got when entering the club. This wasn't a pretty contest, far from it, with both LuFisto and Davids bringing everything they had in an all out brawl of a bout. Even usually technical moves like German Suplexes were given an extra edge, being delivered with a viciousness that would eventually lead to Davids picking up the victory. If you were expecting a catch as catch can classic, you would have come away disappointed. A handshake between the two made sure that there were no hard feelings between the two, but it'd be great to see the two go at it again under No Disqualification rules.

Winner and still PCW Cruiserweight Champion: APRIL DAVIDS

Davey Richards

vs.

Robbie Dynamite

This was originally scheduled to be Davey Richards taking on Dave Mastiff, but with Mastiff suffering an injured hand, Robbie Dynamite, most regularly seen at All Star Wrestling, was drafted in to make his PCW debut. Admittedly, this one was very different from what many had expected from a Richards vs. Mastiff contest, but was still an enjoyable encounter. Richards spent a lot of the match in control, with the crowd lapping it up, as Richards lead the crowd through a series of his signatures moves and holds. At times the two struggled to click with the dynamic never really becoming clear, but there some nice sequences and the fans adoration for Richards meant that it didn't really matter. The finish was certainly the strongest section of the match, with Dynamite spending a long time in the Ankle Lock before eventually tapping out to give Richards the submission victory. It makes sense to give Richards the W here, with his match against Dave Mastiff now re-scheduled for October 31st's Fright Night.

Winner: DAVEY RICHARDS

Catwalk Contest

Danny Hope

vs.

Mad Man Manson

One word describes this skit, FUN! It's difficult to really critique a Catwalk Contest, with Hope and Manson performing a series of ridiculous dances, and the crowd going crazy for it. If you weren't lucky enough to be in the club, then you'll probably thinking of numerous WWE skits with similar names involving the likes of The Great Khali and The Miz, but the major difference here was that Hope and Manson were both over with the crowd. The judges of the contest were from the Sci Fi Studios youtube series, and I thought their parts sort of dragged out a little bit, and when Manson and Hope united to take out those guys with stereo Superkicks and a 3D, I was just happy that the Sci Fi guys were no longer part of the show. I'm not sure if that was how I was supposed to feel, which is never good, luckily Hope and Manson were comedy gold throughout, if they aren't paired

Winner: NO CONTEST

During the intermission, apparently the ring broke! I'm not quite sure what happened, maybe it was Hope and Manson foxtrotting a little to hard, but they spent a good time putting the ring back together. Both Manson and T-Bone were out to fix the ring, alongside the PCW crew. Whilst some fans might have been disappointed and not being able to get their photo op with Manson and Hope during intermission, there can't have been many who would have put that over the rest of the show continuing. A quick cheer for the crew, specifically, Mad Man Manson and the show was back on the road.

This had been advertised as simply Lionheart's Championship Address, although pretty much everyone in attendance wasn't expecting it to go without incident, this is pro wrestling after all and with Doug Williams and Noam Dar both sending out interesting tweets in the lead up to the show, it was almost certain that we'd some form of shenanigans here.

True to form several seconds into Lionheart's “Championship Address” speech, amidst chants of “You Screwed Doug”, Noam Dar made his presence known coming out stake his claim to the PCW Championship, saying that if it wasn't for Dar's injury Lionheart wouldn't have been able to cash in on Doug Williams at Too Good To Be Two. Williams was quick to come out to reply to Dar, reminding him that he was still not medically cleared to wrestle, before announcing he wanted his rematch with Lionheart for the title tonight. After some back and forth with PCW Owner Steve Fludder, Lionheart vs. Doug Williams was booked, with Dar being forced to go to the back. I thought this segment was really strong and made the PCW Championship feel like something that was worth fighting for, due to the passion that each guy brought to their promo.

PCW Championship Match

Lionheart

vs.

Doug Williams

The Williams/Lionheart title match was a lot more story based than it was on the actual wrestling, therefore it wasn't your typical Doug Williams encounter. It was easy to get into because of the England/Scotland divide in the crowd, but until the closing stages it felt a bit like Williams and Lionheart were going through the motions at times. Once, the finish began to come into sight though things did begin to heat up, with some good storyline advancement seeing Noam Dar stopping Williams from hitting Lionheart with the title belt, and causing the eventual distraction that allowed Lionheart to pick up a victory with Frog Splash. It was a decent bout, but felt more like a building block for things to come, which made it difficult to really get my teeth into.

Winner and Still PCW Champion: LIONHEART

PCW Tag Team Championship Match

Team Single

(T-Bone & Rampage Brown)

Versus

Michael Elgin & Davey Richards

With Davey Richards stepping for Elgin's original partner Brian Cage, this bout was about to steal the show. For me, this match stole the show with a great mixture of technical wrestling, comedy, crowd interaction and shenanigans that kept the crowd hooked from bell to bell. Numerous spots were thrown into the mix, with Elgin's usual delayed vertical suplex being attempted by every man (except Richards who gave up and went for a submission instead) as well as an impressive sequence that saw Richards manage to lock both T-Bone and Brown in the ankle lock. The finish saw fellow Team Single member Bubblegum enter the fray, during a series of near falls, and manage to clatter Elgin with the PCW Tag Title belt, allowing for a roll up victory for Team Single. A classic finish that generate a solid amount of heat that would build into the next contest. This match get's Match of the Night from me.

Winners and Still PCW Tag Team Champions: TEAM SINGLE

Bubblegum

with Team Single

vs.

The Pope

With Bubblegum having a few words to say about his opponent prior to the start of the bout, garnering some great heat from the PCW faithful, it was clear who the fan favourite was in this one, former WWE and TNA wrestler Elijah Burke or D'Angelo Dinero, going simply by The Pope this time round. In all honesty this bout was more style than substance, but that didn't stop it from being a lot of fun to watch, with old school distraction tactics from Team Single building up nicely to Michael Elgin and Davey Richards coming out to make the save for Pope, leading to Pope picking up the victory with the Elijah Express. The crowd made this bout for me, it was an entertaining bout but didn't really have that spark that could've made it anything specicial.

Winner: THE POPE

It was then time for the raffle! Everyone loves a raffle! With Cruiserweight Champion April Davids on hand to help out Ring Announcer Joanna Rose, those with tickets waited to see if they had won a prize, those without decided to top up their glasses at the bar. But this wasn't any raffle, with Davids makings the draw for second prize, Dave Rayne made a surprise appearance attacking Davids with a broom. Rayne went on to challenge Davids to a “Fans Bring the Household Objects” match on October 31^st at Fright Night with the Cruiserweight Championship on the line. I thought this was clever way to liven up a tired idea of a raffle and those that weren't at the bar loved every second. It would've been nice to LuFisto come back out to make the save, although it was right to keep the focus on the PCW regulars here.

Kris Travis

vs.

Joey Hayes

This probably wouldn't have been most people's first choice as a main event, but Travis and Hayes pulled it off very well. There was a lot for everyone to enjoy in this one, but a brawl around the club, that I'm sure will look fantastic on the Blu Ray and looked great if you happened to be over that side of the club, but from where I was sitting you couldn't really see anything, which isn't what you expect when paying for a front row ticket. The rest of the bout chucked a bucket load of main event cliches into the mix, with the referee getting knocked down and some back and forth with Travis' Money in the Bank briefcase, which built up nicely to the referee waking up to stop Travis hitting Hayes with the briefcase, allowing Hayes to hit a low blow, followed by a Roll Up for great false finish. It was Hayes' Crossface that would eventually get the submission victory, rounding off a strong contest between two top talents that deserved to be main event, setting up nicely to a Ladder match between the two on October 31^st.

Winner: JOEY HAYES

Overall, I thought Final Fight was an entertaining evening of wrestling, with a good mixture of British and Imported talent that allowed newer viewers of PCW, like myself, an easy way into the current storylines that the promotion is running. I enjoyed the more adult atmosphere the promotion has, which allows them to play around with the face and heel dynamic a lot and not insult the intelligence of it's audience. Whilst the wrestling wasn't always fantastic, the storyline based action and crowd involvement made this show easy to enjoy. I'll hopefully be able to catch another PCW show sometime next year.

Quick Results

Tag Team Match

Ultimo Dragon & Dean Allmark defeated El Ligero & Martin Kirby via Pinfall

Cruiserweight Championship Match

April Davids (C) defeated LuFisto via Pinfall

Davey Richards defeated Robbie Dynamite via Submission

Catwalk Contest

Mad Man Manson vs. Danny Hope went to a No Contest

PCW Championship Match

Lionheart defeated Doug Williams via Pinfall

PCW Tag Team Championship Match

Team Single defeated Michael Elgin & Davey Richards via Pinfall

The Pope defeated Bubblegum via Pinfall

Joey Hayes defeated Kris Travis via Pinfall

ROH Reclamation Night 2 DVD Review

ROH Reclamation Night 2 is out now on DVD and available from www.rohwrestling.com, priced at $19.99 (just over £12 plus shipping) Taped at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center in Dearborn, Michigan, USA. Continuing on theme from Reclamation Night 1, this show puts the Tag Team Division as a focal point of the show, with a tag team main event pitting The American Wolves against Michael Elgin and Jay Lethal, alongside Tommaso Ciampa taking on Silas Young, Adam Cole battling BJ Whitmer and seven other matches. 

Content Listing

World Tag Team Champion Kyle O'Reilly vs. Tadarius Thomas (11:57)

Four Way Women's Match

Athena vs. Jenny Rose vs. Leah Von Dutch vs. MsChif (9:57)

Silas Young vs. Tommaso Ciampa (14:55)

Adam Cole vs. BJ Whitmer (12:53)

Andy Muscant vs. Michael Bennett with Maria Kanellis (2:59)

Michael Bennett with Maria Kanellis vs. Rhino (8:12)

ACH vs. World Tag Team Champion Bobby Fish (12:52)

Kevin Steen vs. World Television Champion Matt Taven with The House of Truth (10:12)

Kevin Steen vs. Truth Martini with The House of Truth (4:40)

Tag Team Match

Jay Lethal & Michael Elgin vs. The American Wolves (23:34)

Special Features

Q&A with Nigel McGuinness

Post Show Recap 

Review

The second night of Reclamation had a lot to live up to, after the first night had provided a number of top quality contests. In a number of ways, this show struggles to do so, with the bouts notably shorter than the night before, and only the main event really managing to stand out amongst the card.

The main event of Jay Lethal teaming with Michael Elgin is exactly what you would expect from these four top ROH talents. It's a typical ROH style tag team bout, with plenty of action throughout. There are some quality sequences in the middle of the bout, with all four men getting involved in a series of moves, which look equally beautiful as they do choreographed. The only downfall of this match for me, was a slight pacing problem in the final third of the match, but the closing sequence quickly makes up for that. This works perfectly as the main event of the show and is certainly the best match on the card, showing that tag team wrestling can easily be the focal point of the show, hopefully ROH continues it's push on tag teams going forward.

Tommaso Ciampa's meeting with Silas Young is a solid outing, with a lot of good back and forth action. There's also some well worked spots thrown in as well, with a German Suplex onto the concrete being the highlight of the bout for me. Unfortunately, this one is let down by the finish, which feels more like WWE than ROH, and sets a precedent that the company can't really keep up. It will be interesting to see if ROH hand Young a contract soon, he's been in a string of impressive matches and could be an interesting addition to the full time roster.

Adam Cole vs. BJ Whitmer is hurt by an early botch, that effects the rest of the match. The two don't seem to connect at all in the ring, with a lot of awkward moments throughout. After Whitmer seemingly suffers a head injury due to the botch, Cole noticeably works weak when using moves around Whitmer's head, which is understandable, but the basic ROH camera set up lets him down, as at times it's so clear that he isn't connecting that it pulls you straight out of the match. There are some positives to this bout however, a solid combination of suplexes from Whitmer works very well, whilst the finish continues the build toward Cole's heel turn, which is gathering momentum nicely by this point.

Kevin Steen and World Television Champion Matt Taven have an entertaining encounter, with Steen dominating amongst a number of comedy spots. The finish leads to Steen calling for an impromtu match with Truth Martini, which is another comedy bout, that serves it's purpose well. World Tag Team Champion Bobby Fish takes on ACH in a high octane encounter, that would have benefitted from a little extra time. Fish's partner in reDRagon, Kyle O'Reilly takes on ACH's Adrenaline Rush partner, Tadarius Thomas is similarly effective in the time slot given, with a series of different strike sequences being the highlight. Michael Bennett runs through Andy Muscant in what is essentially a squash match, before Rhino stops Bennett inflicting further punishment, effectively turned Rhino face, and the two put on a decent short contest. A Women's Four Way bout featuring MsChif, Athena, Leah Von Dutch and Jenny Rose, is a lot of fun, especially once all four women get involved, with Von Dutch and Rose more than holding their own with the ROH regulars. 

The special features included a Q&A session with Nigel McGuinness prior to the show, which sound quality much improved from the night before and including an entertaining appearance from Jimmy Jacobs. The Post Show Recap is short and ultimately a little pointless. It would have been nice to see the show dark match appear as an extra, as on the previous night's DVD, as well.

Overall, there is a lot of good action on this show, with the main event especially really standing out. However, it can't quite stand up to the night before, and never really feels like anything of importance is actually happening. 

Top Three Matches from Reclamation Night 2

1. Jay Lethal & Michael Elgin vs. The American Wolves 

2. ACH vs. World Tag Team Champion Bobby Fish

3. Silas Young vs. Tommaso Ciampa

ROH Reclamation Night 1 DVD Review

ROH Reclamation Night 1 is out now on DVD and available from www.rohwrestling.com, priced at $19.99 (just over £12 plus shipping) Taped at The Turner Hall Ballroom in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA on 12th July 2013, the show fits between Jay Briscoe being stripped of the ROH Championship, and the start of the tournament to find a new champion. The main event sees then World Tag Team Champion Bobby Fish take on Davey Richards, alongside a Four Corner's Survival Match with Adam Cole, Michael Elgin, Jay Lethal and World Television Champion Matt Taven, World Tag Team Champion Kyle O'Reilly's bout with Eddie Edwards and five other contests.

Content Listing 

Tag Team Match

Adrenaline Rush vs. #PartyBoys (9:09)

Women's Match

Athena vs. MsChif (10:20)

BJ Whitmer vs. Michael Bennett with Maria Kanellis (9:50)

Eddie Edwards vs. World Tag Team Champion Kyle O'Reilly (20:30)

Rhino vs. Tommaso Ciampa (9:33)

Kevin Steen vs. Silas Young (7:59)

Four Corners Survival Match

Jay Lethal vs. Michael Elgin vs. World Television Champion Matt Taven with The House of Truth vs. Adam Cole (22:04)

Davey Richards vs. World Tag Team Champion Bobby Fish (22:46)

Special Features

Bobby Fish on Davey Richards

Q&A with Nigel McGuinness

Tag Team Match

Beer City Bruisers vs. Benjamin Boone & Cheeseburger

Review

ROH Reclamation Night 1 had a fairly tricky job to do, with no ROH World Champion at the time, and the tournament to crown a new champion still waiting to start, it could certainly have come across as the company treading water until All Star Extravaganza. Luckily, the empathasis on ROH's tag team division gave the show an identity of it's own. With members of the American Wolves facing World Tag Team Champion reDRagon in singles matches, and four of the competitors in the World Championship Tournament entering Four Corner's Survival there was a lot to enjoy on this show.

The main event between the American Wolves' Davey Richards and reDRagon's Bobby Fish was an extremely strong bout, with Bobby Fish really stepping it up to take on the former World Champion. If you're familiar with either Ricards or Fish, you'll know what to expect from this one. Both men drawing on their stays in Japan throughout, to create hard hitting, technical bout. There's ridiculous spot on the apron, in the closing stages of the bout that send the crowd crazy, and looks extremely painful, and along with a crazy dive to the outside from Richards, really raise this bout into something quite special. With both wrestlers partners heading out to the ringside by the end of the match, the finishing sequence builds up nicely and satisfactorily continues the feud between the two teams.

The Four Corners Survival match between Jay Lethal, Michael Elgin, Matt Taven and Adam Cole, begin as a series of different singles combination, with the competitors having to tag in and out of the ring. I'm not usually a fan of these kind of matches, the tag in/tag out system seems an illogical one, luckily the action here is good enough for me to look past it. There's a lot going on in this with, with all four men in the World Championship tournament, it's was a good indication of where ROH were going to go with the tournament. A lot of the bout is fought between eventually tournament finalist Elgin and Cole, giving the two to practice what they could do in that bout. Taven feels a little bit out of place with the bigger names, but is essentially there to take the brunt of the punishment from the faces, and will have come out of this a lot better than when he went in, even getting a nice false finish at The House of Truth got involved. With all four men involved in a crazy finishing sequence, this is a nice preview of what was to come with World title Tournament.

Without sounding like a broke record, Kyle O'Reilly and Eddie Edwards bout is another strong contest. With a much different feel to the main event between their tag team partners, building up slowly with a lot of reversals and a lot of good amatuer style wrestling. There's a strong sequence involving monkey flips and pinning variations that is really well put together and the match really picks up from there. Whilst the main event had a typical Japanese Strong style feel, this feels like typical ROH with a much more sports based style, with the two looking evenly matched throughout. The finishing sequence see's a nice exchange of submission holds, that keep the loser looking competitive, which is always good going forward.

The other bouts are a lot shorter than these three, but there's still a lot to enjoy. A women's bout between MsChif and Athena is a solid encounter between the two continuing their impressive run of matches for the company, with a shocking post match encounter. Michael Bennett and BJ Whitmer warm up for there World Championship tournament bout, it's just a shame that this is one of Whitmer's last ever matches. Tommaso Ciampa takes on Rhino in a bout that can't live it to the rest of the card, but is still entertaining in it's own right. The opening tag team bout between Adrenaline Rush and #PartyBoys has some nice spots but #PartyBoys still look out of their depth for ROH. Silas Young continues to impress, with a fun bout with former World Champion Kevin Steen. 

There's a couple of special features on this disc, with the highlight being a top quality promo from Bobby Fish on Davey Richards. Unfortunately, a Q&A session with Nigel McGuinness is harmed by poor sound quality and the lack of subtitles on the disc. A bonus match between Beer City Brawlers and ROH fan favourite Cheeseburger and Benjamin Boone is another nice addition to the set.

Overall, this is a very strong event from ROH, with a lot of strong action throughout, that does a good job of hiding the fact that there are no championship matches on the card. There's a lot to enjoy here, but when looked at it in the grand scheme of things, it's pretty inconsequential card, especially when put up against later events All Star Extravaganza and Manhatten Mayhem. It will still however be a nice addition to anyone's ROH collection. 

Top Three Matches from ROH Reclamation Night 1

1. Davey Richards vs. World Tag Team Champion Bobby Fish (22:46)

2. Eddie Edwards vs. World Tag Team Champion Kyle O'Reilly (20:30)

3. Four Corners Survival Match:

Jay Lethal vs. Michael Elgin vs. World Television Champion Matt Taven with The House of Truth vs. Adam Cole (22:04)

ROH A Night of Hoopla DVD Review

ROH A Night of Hoopla is available now on DVD from www.rohwrestling.com priced at $19.99 (about £13 plus shipping). The show was taped at 115 Bourbon Street in Chicago, Illinois, USA, with the gimmick of the show being that it is booked by leader of the House of Truth, Truth Martini. Main evented by an Inter Gender Six Person Tag Team match, pitting BJ Whitmer, Michael Elgin & MsChif against Adrenaline Rush & Athena, alongside reDRagon defending the World Tag Team Championships against Roderick Strong & Cheeseburger and Jay Lethal taking on Delirious, this is Ring of Honor like you have never seen before.

Content Listing

The H.O.T. National Anthem

Three Way Match: Eddie Edwards vs. Adam Cole vs. World Television Champion Matt Taven (9:41)

Jimmy Jacobs performs Gypsy Soul

Sore High With The Eagles and Slither With The Snakes: Jay Lethal vs. Delirious (Special Guest Referee: Maria Kanellis) (17:02)

The Pants Off Dance Off

Lumberjill Match: Davey Richards vs. Silas Young (10:05)

A lapdance for one lucky fan

World Tag Team Championship Match: Roderick Strong & Cheeseburger vs. reDRagon (C) (21:01)

Hoopla Uncut with The Devil

Six Person Intergender Tag Team Match: Michael Elgin, BJ Whitmer & MsChif vs. Adrenaline Rush & Athena (25:53)

Special Features

Hoopla Roll Part 1

Hoopla Roll Part 2

Hoopla Uncut with Delirious

Beach Bum Alcoholics concert

Review

Similiar to what TNA have been doing with the One Night Only series of PPV's this show sits outside of the regular continuity of Ring of Honor, and feels completely different because of it. The main event however could fit quite comfortably onto any ROH card and not look out of place. All six competitors put forward a very strong outing, with Adrenaline Rush continuing to impress as a duo. The comedy in this one is also played very nicely, centering around Elgin and MsChif's relationship. The match builds really nicely towards the finish, that will have you questioning how you didn't think of it earlier. ,

The World Tag Team Championship match with reDRagon defending against Roderick Strong & Cheeseburger is more entertaining than it should have been. That's not saying that I don't respect the talents of the wrestlers in the ring, it's just the story for this one seemed so simply with the younger smaller Cheeseburger involved that you'll think you'll know where it's going and it will take you in a completely different direction, helped by the fact that Chicago absolutely loved Cheeseburger. The concept of the show allows reDRagon and Strong to be a little freer in their performance and once again there are some nice comedy moments that complement the action in the ring.

Jay Lethal vs. Delirious is an absolute gem of a contest. At times it will had me in stitches as the two run through Randy Savage vs. Ultimate Warrior from Wrestlemania VII, with Lethal, of course, playing Savage and Delirious presenting us with an parallel universe version of Ultimate Warrior. Complete with spot on pre-match promo from Lethal in the style of Savage and Lethal's manager Sister Sherri, this bout had me in stitches from start to finish, with Delirious' impression of Warrior bordering on the ridiculous. With a shock ending and closing segment with Special Guest Referee Maria Kanellis, this is a new look at a classic.

Davey Richards taking on Silas Young is a decent enough contest, that is hampered by a Lumberjill gimmick where all the Lumberjills are in fact men. It's a very surreal outing, when I much rather would have seen Young and Richards just have a straight up wrestling match. The three way opener between World Television Champion Matt Taven, Eddie Edwards and Adam Cole is a solid three way bout, with some nice fan interaction, and interesting "Eiffel Tower" spot, but probably could have done with a bit more time. The segments also presented on the show are mixed bag with Jimmy Jacobs performing "Gypsy Soul" as well snippets from other songs including "Ballad of Lacey" is a nice nostalgia hit for old school ROH fans, whilst Hoopla Uncut with The Devil is a severe waste of time, alongside a fan getting a lapdance whilst blindfolded, in a segment that is so outdated it was painful to watch.

Special Features include two parts of the special "Hoopla Roll" with Truth Martini attempted to gain talent for the show, with some very entertaining segments with the likes of Jimmy Jacobs and Kevin Steen standing out, Hoopla Uncut with Delirious is a similarly entertaining affair. Elsewhere, however a concert from Beach Bum Alcoholics concert during intermission of the show is deservedly rubbished by the Chicago crowd, it really isn't very good, in either a musical or comedic sense.

Overall, this is an enjoyable show, with some nice matches that are easy to watch, but it let's it's self down with some pretty rotten segments. Some other little things also let the show down for me, mainly the camera work, which is poor throughout, with the stage meaning that the cameras after often at awkward angles to the ring. There is also no commentary on the set, and whilst that didn't effect my enjoyment of the show, I know that certain people will find it difficult to adjust to.

Top Three Matches from a Night of Hoopla

1. Six Person Intergender Tag Team Match: Michael Elgin, BJ Whitmer & MsChif vs. Adrenaline Rush & Athena

2. Sore High With The Eagles and Slither With The Snakes: Jay Lethal vs. Delirious (Special Guest Referee: Maria Kanellis) (17:02)

World Tag Team Championship Match: Roderick Strong & Cheeseburger vs. reDRagon (C) (21:01)

ROH TV 31st August 2013 Review

This week's edition of Ring of Honor TV saw the World Championship Tournament get into full swing, with two first round matches taking place. ROH's product seems to be reinvigorated as of late, with a real purpose behind what is shown on television. After the strong and some time over powering SCUM storyline, it's great to get back to what Ring of Honor does best, wrestling.

World Championship Tournament First Round Match: 

Mark Briscoe 

vs. 

Adam Cole

The main event this week pitted Adam Cole against a returning Mark Briscoe. We haven't seen Briscoe in the ring since his World Championship loss, to brother Jay Briscoe, at June's Best in the World. Briscoe later suffered a storyline concussion after multiple con-chair-tos at the hands of SCUM's Rhino, as a way to explain Briscoe's absense from the company after his contract ran out. Therefore, I was surprised when they announced that Briscoe would be part of this tournament. Cole has been put forward as one of the favourites for the tournament, down to having a couple of title shots recently, as well as a strong story, that has seen Cole almost turn heel on numerous occasion.

This was the first one on one meeting between Briscoe and Cole, and at points it showed. The early part of the match lacked flow and was difficult to follow, with no real story being put into the match. Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuiness did a good job on commentary putting over the idea of Briscoe's concussion and noting that Cole was delivering a number of blows to Briscoe's head, but with Briscoe not really selling the injury until later on in the match, audio didn't really match the images that were coming up on the screen. The most entertaining part of the match, for me, was when Briscoe launched into his “Redneck Kung-Fu” with numerous chops to Cole's head, and this is where the match really got going. With some well worked near falls, one off of a huge knee from Cole and the other off of Briscoe's Froggy-Bo, I was beginning to get into the contest, with Briscoe finally selling the head injury and beginning to look tired in the ring.

The finish saw referee Todd Sinclair check over Briscoe, for quite some time, holding Cole back, only for Cole to superkick Briscoe in the head and finish him off with his brother's finishing move, The Jay Driller for the pinfall victory and to advance to face Jay Lethal in the Quarter Finals of the tournament. I thought this was a very strong ending, that played off of the concussion angle well, as well as furthering momentum for Cole's heel turn. It was a shame that the earlier part of the match felt so disjointed from the rest of the bout, as the final couple of minutes were very strong. It made sense for Cole to go over here with Briscoe no longer under contract for the company, and to have Briscoe put Cole over gives him a ton of momentum in the tournament.

So, how far do I think Adam Cole can go in this tournament? Pretty far, I wouldn't be surprised to see him make at least the Semi Final stage. I would imagine that at some point during the tournament, we will see the pay-off and Cole will finally turn heel, supposedly with some help from Steve Corino who continues to be referenced as a “friend” of Adam Cole, and from last week's Inside Ring of Honor, we know that Corino is not completely gone from the company. Corino and Cole could make a good on screen duo, with Corino in more of an advisory role than we've seen him in before, but I can't help but thinking that it is way to close to the end of SCUM to bring back Corino on television. Personally, I'd rather see Cole go it alone for sometime, before revealing Corino as the mastermind of it all, maybe even having Cole turn on Corino to really put him over as a heel.

Best of the Rest (In The World)

Elsewhere on ROH TV, we got a confrontation between four of the wrestlers scheduled to take part in the World Championship Tournament. First out was tournament favourite Michael Elgin, who cut a decent promo about not wanting to have to the title handed to him, and not being scared of anyone in the tournament. This brought out former World Champion Kevin Steen, who had a few things to say to Elgin, about when Steen retained his title against Elgin at last October's Glory By Honor. Steen's charisma clashes nicely with Elgin's more serious delivery. Out next was Mike Bennett, accompanied by Maria Kanellis, with Bennett once again looking strong on the microphone, proclaiming himself the future of ROH, whilst the other two were the past. The whole Mike Bennett/Michael Bennett thing though is a bit silly. Last out was Tommaso Ciampa, who went head to head with each of the three men in the ring, before looking straight into the camera and declaring himself the next World Champion to close the segment. Ciampa's entry was refreshing after hearing so much talk from the other three, Ciampa's attitude certainly stands out. It was a good little segment, that was reminiscent of a WWE Raw or Smackdown opening that were common place a few years back.

Elgin, Steen and Ciampa would all have to be considered favourites in the tournament, due to the way they have been booked over the last two years or so. But the really interesting participant in this segment for me was Michael Bennett. Bennett has shuffled around the mid-card for ROH for the last few years, with a couple of World Television title shots, and being chosen to take on veterans like Lance Storm and Jerry Lynn, so this tournament could be used to reposition Bennett higher up the card, this segment was a good start let's see if ROH continue this way for Bennett. The tournament could be used to help a number of talents at the same time, Bennett being one of them, whilst giving new purpose to wrestlers like Roderick Strong.

In another World Championship First Round Match, Karl Anderson took on ACH. The bout was an exciting encounter, taking the form of a David vs. Goliath contest. With Anderson's using power moves and precision to keep ACH grounded throughout the opening part of the match, we were treated to a number of fast paced comebacks from ACH, with a plethora of highflying moves, including a great springboard to the outside. The match built up well with a number of near falls for ACH including one off of The Best 450 Ever, where it seemed like ACH might have pulled off the upset victory. But it wasn't enough for ACH, as after he went for another Best 450 Ever, but missed, Anderson capitalised with an Ace Crusher to pick up the pinfall victory and advance to the quarter finals, where he'll face either Michael Elgin or Paul London. I enjoyed the finish, it quick and pacy with a number of near falls to keep things interesting, with ACH looking competitive until the end. ACH is certainly one to watch in the next few years for Ring of Honor.

Matt Taven was also in action defending his title against Brian Fury. The match was essentially there to get the H.O.T over, with a lot of interference from the group throughout. Fury, at times, looked sloppy with a number of awkward looking moves, including a bridging pinfall attempt that went woefully wrong, which was a shame after Fury put in an impressive performance in the four way match last week. There were two nice false finishes, the first saw Truth Martini distracting the referee, giving Kaycee Ray the opportunity to hit a diving hurracanrana on Fury, with Taven following up with a Frog Splash for a near fall, the other saw Fury use the same move he used to finish Vinny Marseglia last week but to no avail. The finish actually saw Taven win cleanly after hitting Climax for the pinfall victory and to retain his World Television Championship. It was good to see Taven win clean here, as I've mentioned before the best heels are the ones that can win cleanly, but choose not to, therefore this win showing that Taven can win clean, can only be a good thing for the World Television Champion.  

Finally...

My final thoughts on this week's ROH TV.

1. Adam Cole vs. Mark Briscoe could have been a lot better than it was.

2. Michael Bennett is someone who could gain a lot in the ROH World Championship Tournament.

3. ACH is definitely someone to look out for within ROH and Independent wrestler. 

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!

ROH TV 29th July 2013 Review

It was a big week for ROH this week, as they presented the ending to the ROH vs. SCUM storyline with Steel Cage Warfare taking up most of the show and after two disappointing main events in a row, Ring of Honor had to deliver with this one. It also brought to a close months of ROH television being hideously behind with the real world, as next week we get footage from a brand new television taping.

Steel Cage Warfare: 

ROH 

(BJ Whitmer, Michael Elgin, Jay Lethal & Kevin Steen)

with Nigel McGuinness 

vs. 

SCUM

 (Jimmy Jacobs, Rhett Titus, Cliff Compton & Rhino)

with Steve Corino & Matt Hardy

After a built up over over two years, the ROH vs. SCUM storyline finally came to close this week on ROH television, as ROH’s Team of BJ Whitmer, Michael Elgin, Jay Lethal and former SCUM leader Kevin Steen took on SCUM’s team of Jimmy Jacobs, Rhett Titus, Cliff Compton and Rhino. For anyone unfamiliar with the Steel Cage Warfare concept, it’s very similar to a War Games or Lethal Lockdown match. With one single ring surrounded by a steel cage, two competitors start the match, with another member of one team joining after five minutes, the teams then alternate entrants every two minutes. However, the major difference between the concepts, is that Steel Cage Warfare is an elimination style match up, we generally means that my main gripe with the Lockdown and War Games matches, that the ending is usually underwhelming, is pretty much taken out of the equation.

The match kicked off with BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs locking up for five minutes with some entertaining grappling action, before Rhett Titus entered for SCUM, who used the numbers game well. With Michael Elgin entering next, the tides turned, as the layers of story began to build up nicely. Things began to get really interesting when Cliff Compton entered, throwing powder in the eyes of Michael Elgin, before using SCUM’s signature Zip Ties to keep Elgin contained. With some great heel antics, Jacobs, Titus and Compton triple teamed BJ Whitmer, finishing him off with a Spike Piledriver, making it three on one, until Jay Lethal joined the fray for Ring of Honor. With Elgin untied things looked a lot better for ROH, until the Manbeast, Rhino entered last for SCUM, hitting a Gore on Michael Elgin. Then in one of my favourite sections of the match, Rhino ended up eliminated after accidentally Goreing Rhett Titus and getting a Lethal Injection from Jay Lethal.

This earlier section of the match, whilst entertaining merely felt like build up for the chaos that would ensue once Kevin Steen entered the match. With long time rival, Matt Hardy attacking Steen before he could get into the cage, everyone spilled to the outside, in full on brawl mode. With Steen and Elgin getting the upper hand on Hardy, Titus and Compton, sending them flying into the barricades and swinging steel chairs like their life depended on it, Jimmy Jacobs was setting a table up in the ring. There was a lot to watch and keep an eye on at this point, but the camera work was strong so it didn’t feel too busy. Jay Lethal then managed to fight off a double team attack from Jacobs and Titus, ending up hitting Titus with a Lethal Injection to get his second elimination of the night and give Team ROH a three to two advantage. With Steen and Elgin, busy with Hardy and Compton on the outside, that allowed for a nice exchange between Lethal and Jacobs to occur in the ring, with Lethal building for another Lethal Injection, he instead got a chair shot for his troubles, before being speared through the table in the corner, with Cliff Compton running in to pick up the pinfall, to even the teams at two men a piece.

With Jimmy Jacobs and Cliff Compton against Kevin Steen and Michael Elgin back in the cage, we got some a nice wrestling segment, orchestrated mainly by Jimmy Jacobs, who was my man of the match. ROH looked to have the match won when Elgin eliminated Compton after a Powerbomb from the top rope. It was now two on one in favour of Ring of Honor, but of course it wasn’t with Steve Corino and Matt Hardy both making their presence felt in the closing stages of the bout. With Corino taking advantage of the open door, to through fire, yes fire, at Michael Elgin, Jimmy Jacobs was able to get a pin and make it one on one. The match then got even crazier with Corino pouring lighter feud on Steen, with Jacobs clearly not agreeing with his leader’s action, he got pushed to the ground. The ending segment for me was epic, and closed off the story fantastically, with ROH Match Maker Nigel McGuiness stopping Corino’s plan with a swift Lariat, followed by Package Piledriver’s from Steen to Hardy and Jacobs allowing Steen to pick up the victory for Team ROH. Whilst ROH vs. SCUM has for the most part been entertaining, it was nice to see it concluded here, with a good story telling match that tied up a lot of loose ends for the feud, as it means that ROH can begin to focus on something fresh over the coming months, which can only be a good thing.

Best of the Rest (In The World)

Due to the length of Steel Cage Warfare, there was only one other match on the card, which saw The American Wolves take on Mike Sydal and the debuting Zizzou Middoux. The match was a lot more competitive than I had first imagined with Sydal & Middoux getting in a lot of offence in on the ROH veterans. At times Sydal & Middoux seemed a little sloppy, but the American Wolves more than made up for any nerves that the younger duo seemed to be suffering. The new team showed signs of athleticism with a nice moonsault to outside from Sydal, the highlight, as they were clearly still in the development process for their team.

With the American Wolves beginning to dominate after Eddie Edwards broke up a near fall attempt for Sydal & Middoux, the Wolves quickly chalked up a victory, after a Double Foot Stomps from both Edwards and Davey Richards allowed Richards to pick up the pinfall victory on Middoux. The American Wolves continue to prove their worth to the tag team division as they looked impressive throughout, although Sydal & Middoux as a team are not quite ready for a regular spot on television, with Middoux looking especially ropey in this match.

Finally....

What did I learn from ROH this week?

1. I hope this isn't the last we've seen of Jimmy Jacobs, but I'm not too fussed if the rest of SCUM are not seen again in Ring of Honor.

2. American Wolves are still one of the best tag teams in the business today. 

3. It's good to know ROH are no longer two months behind the rest of the world!