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Man, ROH got that apron changed in RECORD time. They should save that apron and cut it up and sell signed plaques with all four talents. it will sell. That was legitimate history.
Next up is ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe vs. Juice Robinson. Juice is great and I'm a massive Samoa Joe guy, but they are in a hard position here. The crowd was super into Joe, chanting his name, so they thankfully are NOT burnt out.
Tony Deppen is watching in the crowd, so apparently he'll be challenging down the line.
They had some solid wrestling early. Juice went for a back senton splash but was snatched in the Klutch, racing for the ropes insuper-speed to escape. They went to the floor, where Joe pulled the mats up and went for a suplex. Juice escaped and they battled on the floor for a bit. Juice worked him over but Joe ran through him. Juice fought back and they jabbed at each other. The crowd chanted, "Juice" and "Joe" as they hit each other. Joe took him down with a lariat and nailed a back senton splash. Some classic old school Joe here.
Juice came back with a good spinebuster. Juice battered him with strikes and jabs, then hit a cannonball. So far, very solid stuff. Joe comes back with the STF. Joe set up Juice for the Muscle Buster but was caught with a sunset flip. Thet battled in the corner and Joe scored the win with the muscle buster.
This was solid all the way through.
Our final match is Chris Jericho vs. Claudio Castagnoli for the ROH World title. Their last match at Grandslam live wasn't great. Jericho has been pushed as a real POS crapping on everything fans loved in ROH, so to me, this has to be Eric Embry rescuing the USWA from the clutches on Skandar Akbar with a big celebration of all things Honor at the end. Claudio is awesome in the ring, so let's hope this clicks a lot better than it did inside the ring in NYC as that will be the difference between this show closing hot or peaking with the Briscoes. Here we go.
Jericho is booed to death and flips everyone the bird. Claudio offered his hand but Jericho attacked him. Claudio immediately attacked back and they brawled on the floor with Jericho bouncing off of everything from the ringside table to the barricade to the stairs. Maybe he was watching some Funk tapes!? He knocked the announcers off-air. Claudio avoided the Lion Tamer and the Codebreaker. Jericho failed with the Judas Effect so Claudio nailed the Gotch Neutralizer for a two count. So, they are tossing all the big moves out there at the onset.
It was all Claudio, who nailed a big boot, sending Jericho to the floor. Ian was cheerleading big-time for him and ROH. He even slipped in a Cary Silkin reference. Jericho worked over Claudio and brought him back into the ring. Claudio nailed a pop-up uppercut. Jericho came back with several clotheslines. Jericho went for a rana off the top but was caught and nailed wth shots to the mid-section before a powerbomb attempt that was reversed. The crowd was booing the hell out of Jericho's offense. Claudio nailed him with an uppercut as he went for a dropkick off the buckles.
They battled to the apron outside. Jericho suplexed him to the floor and they teased a count out before they both returned to the ring. They took each other out with a double clothesline. This is OK so far. The crowd is entertaining themselves yelling "Ocho." They began chopping the hell out of each other. Jericho countered an attempted big swing and grabbed the Walls of Jericho. The crowd came alive for this, cheering for Claudio to make it to the ropes.
2.0 came out and they brought Jericho a baseball bat, which he used to nail the challenger. Claudio kicked out and the crowd was HAPPY about that. Paul Turner tossed the JAS from ringside. They began a series of near-falls. Jericho nailed a Codebreaker and called for Claudio to get to his feet, waiting to strike. Claudio countered into the big swing and kept going until Jericho tapped. Well, that was different!
They shot tons of confetti and streamers as the announcers played up that Jericho had been exorcized from ROH. Wheeler Yuta and Jerry Lynn came to the ring to celebrate. They went off the air with Cesaro celebrating at ringside, taking photos with fans. It was a happy scene to close the show.
This was a solid main event to close the show and there was a lot of good things on the show to enjoy, but the true main event and the peak of the show was Briscoes vs. FTR.
Let's hope a year from now, ROH is in an even better, more prominent place!
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