BRM Reviews the 4/9/2016 ROH

[Big Red Machine]

ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: War Machine(c) vs. Roppongi Vice- 6.75/10
Rocky Romero is using his old Black Tiger gimmick because… um…
They packed A LOT of action into less than ten minutes of air time. After their victory, War Machine yelled into the camera at the Briscoes.

Kevin Kelly mentioned that War Machine had apparently said that they won’t feel fulfilled as champions until they have beaten The Briscoes, because they have never ever beaten the Briscoes. It’s a good angle and all… but I don’t ever remember hearing them cut this promo. If this is going to be the big angle, that promo REALLY should have aired on TV.

PRINCE NANA & DONOVAN DIJAK PROMO & CONFRONTATION WITH JAY LETHAL & TAELER HENDRIX- Not bad… but you’ve got ACH vs. Kenny Omega, a tag title match, and the big Dalton Castle/Silas Young blow-off you’ve been building to for ten months at this point! This did not need to happen on this show. I know that they got out of the ring very quickly (Lethal came out to fight Dijak, then they had a pull-apart), but the whole time this was happening, all I could think is that we were going to get screwed on time for the matches that actually need it.
Also, Kevin Kelly’s announcing here came off as completely artificial.

DALTON CASTLE PROMO- speaking of sh*t that didn’t need to happen on this show… HE’S BEEN CUTTING PROMOS ABOUT THIS MATCH FOR WEEKS!

ACH vs. KENNY OMEGA (w/the Young Bucks)- 7.5/10
Um… where at the Elite’s NEVER Openweight Trios Title belts? You know? The belts they successfully defended that the ROH PPV that was taped the night before this?
Yeah… this was not a good introduction to Kenny Omega for a first-time viewer. Things were not helped by the fact that one of the first things the announcers decided to emphasize about Kenny Omega is how much he loves anima. WHO GIVES A SH*T?! How does that help me understand his wrestling character?
This is Ring of Honor. It’s the place where you’re supposed to be serious. That doesn’t mean you can’t be quirky, but it means that you should be presenting yourself as a serious competitor, not a goofball. Those promos Cabana cut at Supercard of Honor? THAT is what Kenny Omega needs to be doing.
That issue aside, this was a really great match, other than that stupid stunner spot (and Omega selling it like The Rock). You want to do a stunner in your match? Fine. But don’t f*cking do it after flipping the double bird and then kicking the guy in the gut! It looks SOOOO fifth-rate. Like kids playing wrestling instead of professionals on a nationally-televised show.

The announcers told us that Omega and the Bucks kicked AJ Styles out of the Bullet Club on January5th. That’s true… but it also directly contradicts what we saw at the ROH show on 1/23 in Duluth, where AJ was all buddy-buddy with the Bullet Club.

ADAM COLE PROMO ON MATT TAVEN- Again… this couldn’t have waited until next week? Taven won’t even be back for another six months! We should not be spending TV Time on this right now instead of getting to see more of ACH vs. Kenny Omega or Silas Young vs. Dalton Castle!
That being said, this was a pretty great promo.

FIGHT WITHOUT HONOR: Silas Young vs. Dalton Castle (w/the Boys)- 7.25/10
OH COME ON! Is he really going to not dive on Silas just so he can do his stupid Dalton Castle mannerisms in the middle of a FIGHT WITHOUT HONOR?! Didn’t they JUST air a promo with him telling Silas that “tonight, I’m fighting to hurt you?!”
So yeah… there was quite a bit of stuff in here that I didn’t like. There was the above spot, there was the interference by the Boys (babyface interference? Really? In the big blow-off?), bad announcing (mostly by Kevin Kelly), fans fanning Dalton in the middle of a freakin’ FIGHT WITHOUT HONOR?! Can someone PLEASE take this seriously?

I think I’m just done with Dalton Caste in ROH. I realize that he is super-over, but I don’t want to see the guy ever again (or at least just for a long time). It’s just that his presence lends itself to a level of silliness that I don’t want to see. And the majority of it isn’t even his fault. I blame the bookers/agents for not telling the wrestlers “stop doing comedy spots in every match.” I blame the bookers for constantly booking him in match-ups which people will naturally expect comedy in. I blame the bookers for not doing anything with him that hasn’t revolved around the idea of “look at me! I’m so quirky/weird different.” It’s a shame because the guy is a great wrestler… but at this point I feel like I’ve been shown everything the company knows how to do with him, and as I said above, his presence has leant itself to there being a lot more silliness in the product than I like (and, quite frankly, than I think there should be. This is RING OF HONOR. It’s supposed to be the alternative to WWE where wrestling is a kayfabe sport and is treated as such).

Anyway… this was their big blow-off that they’ve been building to for ten months. It went fifteen minutes of TV time, which was not anywhere near long enough for something that has been building for that long. The match itself was probably a lot longer live (I got that feeling from the tag title match, too), and I that is where I think this show really went wrong. There was just too much stuff on here. I’m 100% certain that by letting some of the matches get more air-time they could have squeezed at least one more week of TV out of this set of tapings, and I think a lot of matches (in particular all three of this week’s matches, and a few others like Elgin/Tanahashi vs. Bucks and MCMG vs. Addiction) would have been much better for it. Plus, it’s not like they’re doing anything important next week. It’s just highlights and videos from Honor Rising, and that stuff is going to get old quite quick, so an extra week of TV here would have been a great thing (do they even have the next set of tapings taped yet?)
A decent show from ROH. Taken as individual parts you could probably say it was great, but it really felt like it could have- actually should have- been a lot better than it was.

[cero2k]

You have gone full Cornette.

That stunner spot was obvisuly for yhr cheap pop, it was a huge hit in pwg and they knew the fans would pop for it

[Big Red Machine]

You have gone full Cornette.

That stunner spot was obvisuly for yhr cheap pop, it was a huge hit in pwg and they knew the fans would pop for it

PWG fans will pop for anything from sexual harassment to unsanitary lollipop habits to gummy bears.

The point is that doing the stunner spot (and Ricochet's People's Moonsault or anything similar) comes off as little kids playing "Steve Austin" as opposed to adults who are stars in their own right. I'm not saying he can't do a stunner. I'm saying he shouldn't be doing Austin's mannerisms.
You don't do sh*t just because it will get a cheap pop. By that logic, every heel promo should include racism and insulting the local sports teams. You do something because it helps the story of the match.

I don't mind comedy when it makes sense, and when it is in an appropriate place on the card. Often, Dalton's comedy does not make sense within the match. Furthermore, at this point Dalton Castle's schtick is old. We've seen him lean backwards really far. We've seen him start headbutting the air. So have all of the wrestlers. There is no reason for them to be afraid of it anymore. It's not like Goldust where he was physically touching people to make them uncomfortable. He's just doing whacky stuff.