ROH Aftershock Tour: Las Vegas
ROH Aftershock Tour: Las Vegas (7/17/2015)- Las Vegas, NV
AUSTIN ARIES PROMO- a nice welcome back. He said all of the things you’d expect him to say.
ROH TV TITLE #1 CONTENDERSHIP TOURNAMENT FIRST-ROUND MATCH: Matt Taven vs. Bobby Fish- 6.75/10
Both guys worked a body part. It was very good.
NANAE TAKAHASHI vs. ODB- 7.25/10
One of the best women’s matches in ROH history. Also, if I’m honest with myself, this was a nice reminder that ODB does have more than just a bit of size and an obnoxious personality.
ROH TV TITLE #1 CONTENDERSHIP TOURNAMENT FIRST-ROUND MATCH: Christopher Daniels vs. Mark Briscoe- 6/10
A nice little match with a heel finish. It’d be nice to see some more intricate booking like a finish like this being used as the starting point for a Briscoes vs. Addiction program, but considering that ACH was the one who came out to save Mark from the post-match beatdown instead of Jay, I wouldn’t count on it. It’s not that these â€"earn a title shot in one night†deals that Delirious seems so fond of are necessarily bad (aside from how repetitive they feel). It’s just that they could be a lot better if they felt important to some sort of overall story rather than just feeling like lazy booking.
ROH TV TITLE #1 CONTENDERSHIP TOURNAMENT FIRST-ROUND MATCH: ACH vs. Frankie Kazarian (w/Christopher Daniels)- 6.25/10
Kaz works over ACH’s neck. We get another post-match and Mark returns the favor for ACH. As I watch this here four shows later (with the card for a fifth announced), there appear to be no plans whatsoever to do the obvious natural follow-up to this (and it doesn’t look like any are in place either after this ACH vs. Sydal Best of Five announcement today, either). It’s a real shame, too, because The Addiction vs. Mark Briscoe & ACH is a match that would make no sense to book without this sort of set-up, so why waste it? Hell… you could even have them beat the champs non-title to set up a title match with the story being that the strange bedfellows deal is working for Mark and ACH against the Addiction where there normal tag team partners have failed.
YOUNG BUCKS vs. ROPPONGI VICE- 7.5/10
The fun spotfest you expect it to be.
SILAS YOUNG vs. WILLIE MACK- 5.5/10
Willie gets his sh*t in, then Silas wins.
MARIA PROMO- she says that Bennett and Taven will be focusing on the tag titles while she will bring in a new member who will go after the world title. This last part made Adam Cole very unhappy.
WAR MACHINE vs. THE KINGDOM (Adam Cole & Michael Bennett) (w/Maria Kanellis)- 6.5/10
Kingdom work Rowe’s leg, War Machine overcomes it. Bennett eats the pin, but Maria blames Cole for not being able to break it up, even though the reason he couldn’t do so was because her attempt at interference backfired.
THREE-WAY ELIMINATION TV TITLE #1 CONTENDERSHIP TOURNAMENT FINALS: Bobby Fish vs. Christopher Daniels vs. ACH- 6.75/10
A little disappointing, considering the talent involved.
JAY BRISCOE, KYLE O’REILLY, & DALTON CASTLE (w/his boys) vs. AUSTIN ARIES, JAY LETHAL, & MOOSE (w/Thea Trinidad, Truth Martini, & Stokely Hathaway)- 7.25/10
This was a solid main event, but I was actually pretty disappointed with it. I was really hoping to see Moose and/or Castle step up and justify their rather random placement in this match, but neither guy did.
The story of this match was that Lethal was a jerk who didn’t want to be on the same page as his partners and they told it well. They used that to set up a possible program with Aries, while Kyle making Lethal tap sets him up for a title shot. Aries was definitely the MVP of this match. Lethal was very good at making his part in the story work as well.
MARIA PROMO- good.
She has her eye on Aries as a potential new member of the Kingdom.
AUSTIN ARIES PROMO- decent.
In terms of in-ring quality, this was one of the worst ROH shows so far this year… which says a lot because every single match on the card was, at the very least, solid. What gives this show a leg up on other shows is the fact that between the TV Title Tournament, Kyle making Lethal tap, the Lethal-Aries stuff, and the Kingdom stuff, this is by far the most storyline-important non-televised show ROH has done in a long time. The only one from this year that even comes close is Conquest Tour: Milwaukee.
AUSTIN ARIES PROMO- a nice welcome back. He said all of the things you’d expect him to say.
ROH TV TITLE #1 CONTENDERSHIP TOURNAMENT FIRST-ROUND MATCH: Matt Taven vs. Bobby Fish- 6.75/10
Both guys worked a body part. It was very good.
NANAE TAKAHASHI vs. ODB- 7.25/10
One of the best women’s matches in ROH history. Also, if I’m honest with myself, this was a nice reminder that ODB does have more than just a bit of size and an obnoxious personality.
ROH TV TITLE #1 CONTENDERSHIP TOURNAMENT FIRST-ROUND MATCH: Christopher Daniels vs. Mark Briscoe- 6/10
A nice little match with a heel finish. It’d be nice to see some more intricate booking like a finish like this being used as the starting point for a Briscoes vs. Addiction program, but considering that ACH was the one who came out to save Mark from the post-match beatdown instead of Jay, I wouldn’t count on it. It’s not that these â€"earn a title shot in one night†deals that Delirious seems so fond of are necessarily bad (aside from how repetitive they feel). It’s just that they could be a lot better if they felt important to some sort of overall story rather than just feeling like lazy booking.
ROH TV TITLE #1 CONTENDERSHIP TOURNAMENT FIRST-ROUND MATCH: ACH vs. Frankie Kazarian (w/Christopher Daniels)- 6.25/10
Kaz works over ACH’s neck. We get another post-match and Mark returns the favor for ACH. As I watch this here four shows later (with the card for a fifth announced), there appear to be no plans whatsoever to do the obvious natural follow-up to this (and it doesn’t look like any are in place either after this ACH vs. Sydal Best of Five announcement today, either). It’s a real shame, too, because The Addiction vs. Mark Briscoe & ACH is a match that would make no sense to book without this sort of set-up, so why waste it? Hell… you could even have them beat the champs non-title to set up a title match with the story being that the strange bedfellows deal is working for Mark and ACH against the Addiction where there normal tag team partners have failed.
YOUNG BUCKS vs. ROPPONGI VICE- 7.5/10
The fun spotfest you expect it to be.
SILAS YOUNG vs. WILLIE MACK- 5.5/10
Willie gets his sh*t in, then Silas wins.
MARIA PROMO- she says that Bennett and Taven will be focusing on the tag titles while she will bring in a new member who will go after the world title. This last part made Adam Cole very unhappy.
WAR MACHINE vs. THE KINGDOM (Adam Cole & Michael Bennett) (w/Maria Kanellis)- 6.5/10
Kingdom work Rowe’s leg, War Machine overcomes it. Bennett eats the pin, but Maria blames Cole for not being able to break it up, even though the reason he couldn’t do so was because her attempt at interference backfired.
THREE-WAY ELIMINATION TV TITLE #1 CONTENDERSHIP TOURNAMENT FINALS: Bobby Fish vs. Christopher Daniels vs. ACH- 6.75/10
A little disappointing, considering the talent involved.
JAY BRISCOE, KYLE O’REILLY, & DALTON CASTLE (w/his boys) vs. AUSTIN ARIES, JAY LETHAL, & MOOSE (w/Thea Trinidad, Truth Martini, & Stokely Hathaway)- 7.25/10
This was a solid main event, but I was actually pretty disappointed with it. I was really hoping to see Moose and/or Castle step up and justify their rather random placement in this match, but neither guy did.
The story of this match was that Lethal was a jerk who didn’t want to be on the same page as his partners and they told it well. They used that to set up a possible program with Aries, while Kyle making Lethal tap sets him up for a title shot. Aries was definitely the MVP of this match. Lethal was very good at making his part in the story work as well.
MARIA PROMO- good.
She has her eye on Aries as a potential new member of the Kingdom.
AUSTIN ARIES PROMO- decent.
In terms of in-ring quality, this was one of the worst ROH shows so far this year… which says a lot because every single match on the card was, at the very least, solid. What gives this show a leg up on other shows is the fact that between the TV Title Tournament, Kyle making Lethal tap, the Lethal-Aries stuff, and the Kingdom stuff, this is by far the most storyline-important non-televised show ROH has done in a long time. The only one from this year that even comes close is Conquest Tour: Milwaukee.