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2016's house show tour kicks off with a loaded lineup that includes Adam Cole vs Alex Shelley, Roderick Strong vs Curry Man, the Addiction vs reDRagon, and a huge eight man main event pitting the Young Bucks and the All Night Express against the Briscoes and War Machine.
Your hosts Ian Riccaboni and Mr Wrestling 3 welcome us to the show, then send us to ring announcer Scarlett Bordeaux for our opening match...
Dalton Castle vs Will Ferrara
Dalton has the Boys back by his side for our opening contest, and Ferrara has a new, thicker beard than he previously sported. The fans chant at Dalton to fan up as they follow the Code of Honor, and the bells rings to kick us off. Basic feeling out and the usual shenanigans from Dalton to start, and Ferrara seems a little unsure what to do with him. Ferrara ducks a wild swing and works Dalton's arm, and quickly ties him up with a short armscissors that Dalton reverses to a cradle for 2. Ferrara snaps Dalton over with a flying headscissors, and the Boys fan him up. Dalton outwrestles Ferrara and the Boys fan Ferrara up, but Ferrara isn't happy with that and unloads on Dalton, who promptly dumps him to the floor and...fakes a dive. Ferrara dumps Dalton to the floor and connects with a dive, then hits a neckbreaker back inside for 2. Ferrara goes to the top, but Dalton knocks him off with a running knee and then hits a deadlift German suplex for 2. Ferrara goes for a tornado DDT, Dalton tries to block, but Ferrara hits it and gets a leaping Flatliner for 2. Ferrara dumps Dalton to the floor again and hits a baseball slide, and the Boys fan furiously while the referee counts. Ferrara tosses one of the Boys out of the way and rolls Dalton back in the ring, but that just served to fire up Dalton, who drills Ferrara with a big right hand and hit the Bangarang for the win.
Winner: Dalton Castle
Good opener and Ferrara got a great run at Dalton. Code of Honor is followed afterward.
ACH vs Silas Young vs Moose
Moose and ACH double team Young to start, then ACH does fast paced stuff to Moose until Moose drills him with a dropkick. Moose then goes to the floor and rams Young into the barricade, then stands in the corner of ringside and giant swings Young back and forth. ACH tries a dive onto Moose, Moose catches him, ACH slips out and tries to ram Moose into the post, but Moose stops short. Instead, ACH hits the running punt along the apron, then rolls Young inside and comes off the top with a something that Young dodges before planting ACH with a gourdbuster. ACH responds with a leg lariat for 2, but now Moose is in the ring and unloading on ACH. Moose sits ACH on the top rope, backdrops Young when he charges, then dropkicks ACH to the floor. Young comes out of nowhere with a tornado DDT to Moose, then clotheslines ACH to the floor before hitting Moose with a Lionsault for 2. Young goes for a second cover, but Moose is again out at 2. Moose pumps up with a series of right jabs, but Young drills him with a right of his own...and is promptly dumped to the floor by Moose. ACH is back in with some jabs of his own to Moose, but Moose drops him with a single shot. Young drags Moose out to the floor and rams him into the barricade, then comes in and hits ACH with the Finlay Roll, and he goes for the headstand Arabian Press, but ACH is up and dropkicks Young off just as Moose comes in and rips ACH's head off with a roaring clothesline for 2. Young with the killer combo for 2, then he puts ACH on the top rope and goes for a superplex, ACH drops off and hits Young with a leaping enziguiri, then Moose spears Young. Moose charges ACH, ACH drops down and Moose sails to the floor, and ACH hits the Midnight Star for the win.
Winner: ACH
Good match, all three of these guys have very different styles, but it came together really well.
Michael Elgin vs Tim Hughes
Tim Hughes, for those who don't remember, was the guy who hooked up with Brutal Bob Evans during his feud with Cheeseburger. Tim Hughes refuses the Code of Honor, and I think he's going to end up regretting it. Elgin tosses Hughes across the ring, so Hughes gets a boot to the gut and unloads with a series of forearms. Elgin doesn't budge, and yells at Hughes to hit him, so Hughes tries his best, but it doesn't get him anywhere. Elgin knocks Hughes silly with one big forearm, Hughes tries a shoulderblock, but Elgin doesn't budge. Hughes tells Elgin to try a shoulderblock, but Elgin just laughs at him, so Hughes goes for another shoulderblock and Elgin pretends to budge, but doesn't. Hughes hits the ropes a third time, but Elgin just rolls right over him with a shoulderblock, flattens him with a charging clothesline in the corner, and gets a delayed vertical suplex for a full minute before dropping him and covering for 2. Hughes rolls to the floor and drags Elgin out, then starts pulling back the ringside mats. Elgin is up and walks over, shakes his head at Hughes, blocks a punch, and DRILLS him with a forearm before ramming him into the barricade. Those barricades are taking a beating tonight, huh? The crowd chants "OVER HERE! OVER HERE!" at Elgin, so he obliges by ramming him all the way around the ring, thoughtfully rolling into the ring to break the count before the final ram literally drives Hughes through the barricade. We go back in and Elgin charges, but Hughes drop toeholds him into the second turnbuckle. Hughes tries a charge, but Elgin catches him and launches him across the ring with a T-bone suplex. Elgin with a leaping forearm, slams Hughes into the ropes, and slingshot splashes him. Elgin winds up, hits a series of short clotheslines, and Hughes somehow stays on his feet. Elgin tries another clothesline, but Hughes ducks and backslides Elgin for 2. Elgin charges, Hughes dumps Elgin to the floor, but Elgin is back in now, and he's PISSED. Elgin with another charge, Hughes moves, and he hits a delayed side suplex for 2. Now Hughes hits a series of clotheslines on Elgin, but Elgin again yells at him to keep it coming before ducking another clothesline and ripping Hughes' head off with one of his own. Elgin casuallly pops Hughes up for a powerbomb, pulls him up for a second, pulls him up again and hits the sitout powerbomb for the win.
Winner: Michael Elgin
This ended up being a lot more entertaining than I thought it would. I knew Elgin wasn't going down to that backslide, but it was a great spot nonetheless. Hughes is DEAD, and Elgin gets down on the mat and photo ops by smiling and giving a thumbs up next to Hughes' fallen form.
The Addiction vs reDRagon
Frankie Kazarian and Chris Sabin are representing the Addiction tonight. Sabin tries catching Fish with a cheap kick to start, but Fish catches the foot and takes him right down into the Fish Hook. Sabin's too close to the ropes and forces the break, but Fish gets a slingshot rolling senton for 2. Kazarian tags in and doesn't do much better until he rakes O'Reilly in the eyes, but O'Reilly quickly turns it around and catches Kazarian in a cross armbreaker. O'Reilly continues working on the arm, and they do a criss cross for a really, really long time until Kazarian drops down and O'Reilly catches him with a shoulderblock. Sabin tags in and criss crosses with Fish, who just stops and rolls out to the floor as Sabin continues criss crossing by himself. Sabin makes the mistake of going out to the floor, and takes a kick beating from reDRagon. reDRagon comes back in the ring and double teams Kazarian now, but finally Kazarian gets a cheapshot on O'Reilly and dumps him out to the floor for some cheapshots from Sabin before rolling him back in so Kazarian can cover for 2. O'Reilly is in the wrong part of town, and is on the receiving end of a series of double teams by the Addiction. Sabin goes for a cover with the boot in the chest, O'Reilly kicks out, and Sabin gets a half crab instead. O'Reilly gets a rope break, and he fights Sabin and Kazarian off, causes heel miscommunication as Kazarian clotheslines Sabin, and O'Reilly makes the hot tag to Fish, who comes in and cleans house on Kazarian. Fish suplexes Kazarian onto Sabin and covers Kazarian for 2, but gets his eyes raked by Sabin and allows Kazarian to hit an Ace Crusher and cover Fish for 2. Fish and Kazarian wipe each other out with a double clothesline, both men tag out, and O'Reilly goes to town on Sabin, and then Fish joins in when he has a chance to recover. They hit the Demolition Decapitator for 2 on Sabin, and O'Reilly gets a cross armbreaker on Sabin while Fish gets a front guillotine on Kazarian. Sabin makes the ropes to force a break, so they go for Chasing The Dragon, Kazarian breaks it up, and Sabin powerbombs O'Reilly onto Fish and covers him for 2. Fish and Kazarian go to the floor, Fish rams Kazarian into the barricade and they're both down, O'Reilly goes for Ax and Smash on Sabin, Sabin counters to a superkick, but O'Reilly hits a rebound lariat, and then Fish is back in to hit Chasing The Dragon on Sabin for the win.
Winners: reDRagon
Awesome match! Great finishing sequence, no idea who was winning until it happened. Sabin looked good considering he was just getting back in the ring after a bunch of injuries at that point.
Adam Page vs Ken Phoenix
Mr Wrestling 3 clears out so BJ Whitmer can do commentary with Ian for this one. Page jumps Phoenix before the bell, and quickly dumps him out to the floor. Page works him over on the outside before bringing him back in and hitting shotgun knees to drive Phoenix to the floor. Page goes for the running shooting star press off the apron, but Phoneix runs for his life and makes Page chase him around ringside so he can nail him when they go back inside. Phoenix chokes Page with his boot, hits a charging forearm in the corner, and hits a bulldog in his knee. That just fires up Page, who starts hammering back, drills Phoenix with a knee to the face, and just pummels him with punches and kicks before snapping him over with a powerslam. Page gets a dragon suplex for 2, mouths off to BJ Whitmer, and leaves himself open for a lungblower from Phoenix. Page drills Phoenix with a big boot that knocks him to the floor, then hits a shooting star press of the apron. Page dumps Phoenix into the ring, hits the slingshot clothesline, and finishes with the Rite of Passage.
Winner: Adam Page
Solid "come back from intermission" match. BJ Whitmer gets up from the commentary table to go in the ring and says he doesn't want to fight. The fans boo BJ long enough that he asks them if they're gonna let him talk. He tells Page to turn around and look at him, and every time he starts to talk the fans keep booing him and making him stop. The fans chant "NO ONE CARES" at Whitmer, who insists that Page and everyone else cares. Page finally gets up in Whitmer's face, and Whitmer says he needs to back up. Whitmer says they had a bit of a misunderstanding and Page punched him in the mouth, but he'll let that go because Page's tiny little brain is full of ideas that Steve Corino put there. Whitmer says Page can take his rightful place by his side, and tells Page to shake on it. Whitmer sticks his hand out, and Page says that Whitmer taught him a lot of things, and one of them was that the Decade doesn't shake hands. He slaps Whitmer, Whitmer slaps him back, and they trade punches until security comes out to separate them. Steve Corino runs out and takes his jacket off, daring Whitmer to come after him, but Whitmer turns around and walks off. Corino sticks his hand out to Adam Page, and they shake hands before Corino leaves the ring and heads to the back.
Curry Man vs Roderick Strong
Wow, it's been a while since we've seen Curry Man in ROH. Bobby Fish joins the commentary team as Curry Man tangoes with Scarlett. Strong gets a mic before the match and tells Fish to watch very closely because he doesn't know where ROH found Curry Man, but guaranteed that he would beat Curry Man in under five minutes. Strong takes a good long time to stall, but finally follows the Code of Honor, and we're off. They do a test of strength and Curry Man keeps switching hands, and ends up dancing until Strong gets mad and bails to the floor. Strong comes back in and shoves Curry Man, then takes it down to the mat. Curry Man reverses and controls Strong until he bails to the floor again. Strong takes a long count and then comes back in, but once again finds himself on the receiving end of some shenanigans from Curry Man, who takes him down, dances on his back, and dumps him to the floor. Curry Man feints a dive, but dances instead. Strong comes back in and they go back to the chain wrestling, and they trade pinfall attempts as the crowd counts down to the end of the five minutes Strong said he'd beat Curry Man within. Strong looks startled and rolls out to the floor, then comes back in and trades wristlocks with Curry Man, who starts tangoing with Strong again. Strong gets mad, so Curry Man tanngoes with referee Todd Sinclair. Strong charges, and Curry Man rams him into the corner, runs his head into the turnbuckle a few times, then does the old school Human Tornado dancing stomps in the corner, but Strong finally has enough, ditches Curry Man to the floor, then puts the boots to him when he comes back in. Strong gets Curry Man in a seated abdominal stretch, then continues dishing out punishment, but Curry Man fires up and trades chops with Strong, which isn't usually a winning proposition. Strong misses a corner charge and Curyr Man fires up with a series of clotheslines and nearly backdrops Strong into the next ZIP code. Curry Man sits Strong on the second turnbuckle and charges in with a butt-butt, then goes to the top rope and hits a flying bodypress for 2. Strong meets a Curry Man charge with a boot to the face, leaping enziguiri, and a gourdbuster, then hits a charging knee and charging froearm in the corner, followed by a suplex into a flapjack for 2. Now Curry Man gets the boot up as Strong charges the corner, and Curry Man gets a cradle backbreaker before coming off the second rope with a headbutt for 2. Curry Man goes to the top, but Strong drills him with a leaping kick, then follows him up and goes for a superplex, and he hits it. Strong covers, but only gets 2. Curry Man dodges a leaping knee and gets a rollup for 2, Strong goes for a Stronghold, Curry Man tries reversing to a victory roll, Strong drops down for 2. They jockey for a waistlock, Strong gets it, but Curry Man asks for a quick water break, so Todd Sinclair...hands him a bottle of water, he takes a sip, and Strong just looks on in disbelief while all this goes on before Curry Man catches him with a northern lights suplex for 2. Strong escapes a backslide attempt and hits the Sick Kick for 2. Strong can't believe it, but waits for Curry Man to get to his feet so he can drill him with a leaping kneestrike for the win.
Winner: Roderick Strong
Really good match, but no shock considering who was in it. Bobby Fish was great on commentary, continually referring to Roddy as defending "their" TV Title since he maintains that he tapped Strong out at Final Battle. Strong holds the belt up in Fish's face as he leaves the ring, and Fish applauds him as he walks past.
Adam Cole vs Alex Shelley
Chris Sabin is on commentary for this match, and shares his thoughts on Shelley impersonating a member of the KRD the previous year. They do some basic mat wrestling to start, but Cole gets away, does ADAM COLE BABEE!!! and Shelley decks him with a big right hand and sends him scurrying to the floor. Shelley wristlocks Cole's hair (an interesting visual), then ties him up with a bow and arrow. Shelley trips Cole and snaps his neck down on the top rope, then tries a slingshot splash and lands on Cole's knees. Now Cole is in control, and puts the boots to Shelley in the corner and then goes for a chinlock, but Shelley counters to a Motor City Stretch, and Cole quickly goes to the ropes. Cole grabs Shelley and Tullys him into the corner, but Shelley dodges a charge and dumps Cole to the floor, then follows him outside and unloads with a series of chops before ramming Cole into the barricade. Shelley rolls Cole back into the ring and connects with a missile dropkick, then unloads with punches in the corner before Cole slips out underneath him and superkicks his legs out from under him. Now Cole is in control and working Shelley's leg over, but he goes for a figure four and gets caught in a small package for 2. Cole tries to ram Shelley's knee into the post, but Shelley pulls Cole into the post and creates a little space for himself, but Cole quickly runs in and clips Shelley's knee. He goes for another figure four, Shelley blocks, so Cole hits a shining wizard knee for 2. Cole charges in, but Shelley catches him and hits a flatliner into the second turnbuckle, and that seems to be enough to turn the tide! Cole is up first, but Shelley is firing back with chops, hits an inverted atomic drop, and flattens Cole with a short clothesline. Shelley goes to the top, but Cole shakes the ropes and crotches Shelley in the corner. Cole goes up and tries for a superplex, Shelley blocks and counters to a gourdbuster, then comes off with a double stomp to Cole's back and covers for 2. Shelley connects with an enziguiri, Cole kicks Shelley in the knee again, but tries a charge and gets backdropped to the floor. Shelley goes for a dive through the ropes, but takes too long and Cole connects with a leaping enziguiri as he comes through, knocking him into next week. They wind up fighting on the apron, Shelley superkicks Cole to the floor, and comes off the apron with a flying knee. Shelley sends Cole back in, slingshots in with a DDT, and covers for 2. Shelley goes for a dragon sleeper, Cole counters to a victory roll for 2, Shelley hits a ripcord roaring elbow, catches Shelley on a leapfrog attempt, and hits a fireman's carry neckbreaker over the knee. Cole with a shining wizard knee for 2, he tries for the second rope Canadian destroyer, but Shelley backdrops out. Cole hits a bicycle kick, a release German suplex, superkicks Shelley in the knee, and finally gets the figure four. Shelley reverses it, and Cole rolls through, but Shelley is able to grab the ropes and force a break. Cole is frustrated, Shelley superkicks him in hte face, hits a half and half suplex, superkicks Cole, and gets an air raid crash for 2. Shelley goes for Sliced Bread #2, but Frankie Kazarian comes out to distract the ref so Cole can kick Shelley low and hit a brainbuster over the knee for the win.
Winner: Adam Cole
Sabin doesn't seem happy about this, and he goes to get in the ring, but pauses on the apron. ACH runs out to chase the Addiction off before we have a chance to see what Sabin would have done. Terrific match!
And with that...IT'S MAIN EVENT TIME!
The All Night Express & The Young Bucks vs Jay & Mark Briscoe & War Machine
Code of Honor is followed all around, and then Hanson and Nick Jackson start us off. This is a bit of a physical mismatch, huh? Nick maneuvers around Hanson and tells him to suck it, so Hanson runs him over with a huge shoulderblock...and Nick tells him to suck it again. Nick spinkicks Hanson and tags Matt in to hit an assisted dropkick and then a headscissor dropkick sends Ray Rowe to the floor. Now Jay Briscoe is in and hammering Matt Jackson in the corner, then gives Nick a flatliner right into his brother's ding ding. Mark is in and hits a running boot for 2 on Nick, but Nick goes to the eyes and tags in Titus, who hits a gutwrench suplex on Mark for 2. Mark cleans house on the rest of the team and goes for a Cactus elbow off the apron, but leaps right into a superkick from Matt, and THAT ought to turn the tide here. Nick and King roll Mark back in and Titus covers for 2. King and the Bucks hit a series of triple teams on Mark, but Jay distracts the referee when Matt goes for a cover on his brother. Matt spits at Jay to draw him in and distract the referee so they can get a few more cheap shots in on Mark. Mark finally gets away and tags in Jay, who goes to town on Titus and chokes him in the corner with his boot. Hanson tags himself in and drives a series of knees into the ribs, then tags Rowe in for a double slam on Titus and then Rowe slams Hanson onto Titus. The Briscoes and War Machine continue just abusing Titus until Titus gets a backslide on Mark for 2 and then rolls to his corner to tag King in. King goes nuts on Mark, taking his head off with a leaping leg lariat followed by a spinning enziguiri. King goes to the apron and cartwheel kicks Hanson to the floor and then springboards it with a blockbuster to Mark before hitting a somersault dive to Hanson on the floor. The Bucks come in and superkick everyone and wipe War Machine out with a series of dives, Nick hits the springboard facebuster and then moonsaults off the apron onto War Machine, Matt powerbombs Mark into a leaping enziguiri from Nick, then Matt hangs Mark on the second rope so Nick can nail him with a springboard rolling senton for 2. That was an INSANE combination of moves. Matt gets the double cartwheel back rake, the ANX hits a series of charging moves in the corner, King picks Mark up in a fireman's carry, the Bucks double superkick Mark, Titus dropkicks Mark, and King hits the Royal Flush. He makes a cover, but Rowe breaks it up at 2. That was a great near fall. Mark finally makes the tag to Jay, who comes in and takes on both of the ANX by himself. The ANX double suplex Jay, but he lands on his feet and hits a double neckbreaker. Jay takes the Bucks out with a dive, Rowe hits Titus with shotgun knees, Hanson hits a cannonball, Mark hits froggy bow, and now the Bucks break up what should have been a surefire win. The Bucks get dumped to the floor, the Briscoes set up Titus for the Doomsday Device, but King shoves Mark onto the top rope, the Bucks double superkick Jay, double superkick HAnson, but Hanson just stands there and tells them to suck it. Hanson cartwheels past the Bucks and takes them out with a double clothesline to send the Bucks to the floor, then goes for a dive...and runs into a leaping enziguiri from King. King goes inside and goes for shotgun knees, but Rowe catches him and hits a sidewalk slam. The Bucks hit Sliced Bread #2 and a running knee on Rowe, a series of dives take out Mark and Rowe, but Jay comes in and cleans Matt's clock, then he goes for the Jay Driller on Titus, Titus gets out and hits a big boot and lariat, Hanson comes in and powerslams Titus, King is in and hits a leaping enziguiri, Mark ducks a flying leglariat and unleashes redneck kung fu on King, then nails King with a running kneestrike. Mark does the crane pose and the Bucks double superkick him, Rowe Superman punches Matt, hits a big knee on Nick, a series of windmill backbreakers on Matt, and Titus dropkicks Rowe. He gets on the second rope to celebrate, but Jay comes in and picks Titus up on his shoulders and Mark comes off the top with the Doomsday Device for the win.
Winners: Jay & Mark Briscoe & War Machine
OH...MY...GOD. That match was just off the f'ing charts. Worth the cost of the DVD alone.
We've also got a couple of bonus features here, including a post-show wrapup with Ian and Wrestling 3, and also a Women of Honor match with Kelly Klein (representing the Decade) taking on Solo Darling. I've heard a lot about Kelly Klein and how she's gotten some rave reviews from people whose opinion I respect, but this was my first chance to actually see her in action. Solo Darling is...an interesting character. She kind of looks like a live anime character, she comes out with fuzzy cat ears and a furry tail and feathers. She calls herself the Sugar Queen and is from the Land of Enchantment, and is powered by sugar, such as the soft drink she brought out with her. Anyway, Darling got some cute comedy spots in, but this was mostly Kelly Klein methodically working Darling over before putting her away with a northern lights suplex into a guillotine choke.
This was a great DVD, the show didn't have anything bad on it, and if anything it featured a bunch of matches that shouldn't have been good but were. The main event was unbelievable, just a balls to the wall battle that never stopped for a minute. Definitely a recommended show, and you can pick it up on from ROH's website at www.rohwrestling.com.
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