ROH Survival of the Fittest 2014: Night 2
ROH Survival of the Fittest 2014: Night 2 (11/8/2015)- Toledo, OH
JAY LETHAL PROMO- he buries the Survival of the Fittest Tournament as being for the â€"second most important belt in ROH.†He also claims that Cedric Alexander isn’t deserving of a shot at his TV Title.
JAY LETHAL (w/Truth Martini) vs. Cedric Alexander- 6.75/10
The jewel case listed this as a title match, but I'm pretty sure the announcers said it wasn't.
THE DECADE (w/Adam Page) vs. R.D. EVANS & MOOSE (w/Veda Scott & â€"Ramonâ€)- 5.75/10
R.D.’s streak currently sits at 172-0, so if he wins tonight, he’ll tie Goldberg!
Before the match, Jimmy Jacobs told Moose that if he wants to make it in the wrestling business, he needs to stop hanging around with a â€"goof†like R.D. Evans. Jimmy suggests that the best path to success for Moose would be to become the Decade’s next young boy.
Heat on R.D. Hot tag to Moose. Moose ran wild. The finish came when Page shoved R.D. off the top rope. Roderick Strong came out to yell at Page for this. Jimmy Jacobs got between them before they could come to blows, but this left Whitmer fighting two men on his own, and he eventually got speared by Moose and then pinned by R.D.
SEGMENT WITH THE KINGDOM & ANGI GONZALEZ- fun
Scarlett introduced Angi Gonzalez , who is a hot news reporter, I assume on the local Sinclair station. She didn’t get to say much of anything, but she came across like a really big fan. The reason she didn’t get to say much was that The Kingdom’s music played and Bennett and Maria came out to interrupt her. Maria claimed that, as the top woman in ROH, she could kick any woman who didn’t meet her approval out of the ring. She demanded that Angi take her â€"booty†to the back. The mention of said booty caught Michael Bennett’s attention, and Angi pointed out that Bennett was staring at it, which led to the always hilarious brow-beating from Maria to Bennett.
WILL FERRARA vs. MICHAEL BENNETT (w/Maria Kanellis)- 6.25/10
There were exactly two streamers thrown for Ferrara. That was really nice of his parents to make the trip all the way from Queens to Toledo to see him wrestle.
Maria denied Bennett his usual pre-match kiss due to the earlier Angi Gonzalez booty-looking incident. She told him he could only have a kiss if he won the match. This would serve as extra motivation for Bennett throughout the match, as he kept repeating it to help himself fight through the pain. Bennett and Maria as a unit somehow manage to be both dislikeable and hilarious. Quite the fun match.
After the match Ferrara got beaten down by Bennett and Taven until ACH made the save, transitioning into…
MATT TAVEN vs. ACH- 6.75/10
Bennett’s antics with Kevin Kelly were amusing. Props to Maria for being able to stay still and with her head down for so long. I know the temptation to watch the match would have gotten to me.
POST-MATCH BEATING- Bennett laid ACH out with the Title of Love, then Taven and Bennett hit ACH with a spike piledriver. Kevin Kelly insisted that â€"there have to be consequences for what the Kingdom is doing,†but it’s now nine months later and I can’t remember there being any at all. ACH didn’t come after them seeking revenge at any point.
TADARIUS THOMAS vs. ROMANTIC TOUCH- 6.5/10
A lot less Capoeira than usual from TD.
THE ADDICTION vs. THE BRISCOES- 8.5/10
FANTASTIC!
This has got to be one of the most underrated matches in ROH history simply because I don’t think I’ve ever even heard anyone bring it up, which you’d think they would have considering it was a first-time-ever match between two awesome teams.
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST MATCH: Adam Cole vs. Adam Page vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Roderick Strong vs. Hanson vs. Matt Sydal- 7.75/10
Good job keeping Roddy and Page apart and build to Roddy kicking Page’s ass very well before finishing this chapter of that rivalry off in the right way to build to Final Battle.
Michael Elgin eventually showed up in street clothes to annoy everyone and attack both Ciampa and Hanson. Ciampa got put through a table so he was taken away from ringside. He later returned, attacking the Kingdom, who had come out to ringside seemingly only to clutter things up with their presence and so that Ciampa could attack them on his way back. Ciampa’s ribs were taped, but of course he didn’t sell them when he hit Project Ciampa on Sydal to eliminate Sydal. Then Elgin showed up AGAIN just so he could hit Ciampa with a chair to eliminate him. Also, Truth Martini was at ringside this whole time, doing nothing but standing there.
As I’m sure that last paragraph made clear, I thought there was too much overbooking in this match. If you want Elgin to screw Ciampa… fine. Do that after Page eliminated Roddy and then give us a nice long, clean end of the match. Have Sydal eliminate Page so Sydal gets to look strong by eliminating someone and Page has already been made to look strong by lasting as long as he has. Have the final three go a while before Cole eliminates Sydal (he will wind up challenging for the world title at Final Battle, so it’s okay for him to beat the guy challenging for the TV Title), then let Hanson have a strong showing before falling cleanly to Cole.
What we got in the end in real life here between Cole and Hanson was actually pretty good, although there were a few missteps (Hanson doing his cartwheel spot after Cole had been working on his leg all match was the major one… and like ten seconds before the finish, too, so it’s not like it even mattered), but the overbooking just completely took me out of the match. Definitely one of the weakest Survival of the Fittest matches.
POST-MATCH STUFF- the Kingdom comes out to celebrate with Cole. Cole cut a promo on ROH World Champion Jay Briscoe, then the Briscoes came out and Jay cut a promo on Cole.
A decent show from ROH. The undercard was fun and the Briscoes vs. Addiction match was awesome, but the disappointing eponymous main event prevents me from calling this a good show. The crowd was pretty bad, too, both in quantity and in quality. The only guy they seemed to care about was Hanson, and they didn’t even seem to know his name, as they just chanted â€"FEAR THE BEARD!†over and over.
JAY LETHAL PROMO- he buries the Survival of the Fittest Tournament as being for the â€"second most important belt in ROH.†He also claims that Cedric Alexander isn’t deserving of a shot at his TV Title.
JAY LETHAL (w/Truth Martini) vs. Cedric Alexander- 6.75/10
The jewel case listed this as a title match, but I'm pretty sure the announcers said it wasn't.
THE DECADE (w/Adam Page) vs. R.D. EVANS & MOOSE (w/Veda Scott & â€"Ramonâ€)- 5.75/10
R.D.’s streak currently sits at 172-0, so if he wins tonight, he’ll tie Goldberg!
Before the match, Jimmy Jacobs told Moose that if he wants to make it in the wrestling business, he needs to stop hanging around with a â€"goof†like R.D. Evans. Jimmy suggests that the best path to success for Moose would be to become the Decade’s next young boy.
Heat on R.D. Hot tag to Moose. Moose ran wild. The finish came when Page shoved R.D. off the top rope. Roderick Strong came out to yell at Page for this. Jimmy Jacobs got between them before they could come to blows, but this left Whitmer fighting two men on his own, and he eventually got speared by Moose and then pinned by R.D.
SEGMENT WITH THE KINGDOM & ANGI GONZALEZ- fun
Scarlett introduced Angi Gonzalez , who is a hot news reporter, I assume on the local Sinclair station. She didn’t get to say much of anything, but she came across like a really big fan. The reason she didn’t get to say much was that The Kingdom’s music played and Bennett and Maria came out to interrupt her. Maria claimed that, as the top woman in ROH, she could kick any woman who didn’t meet her approval out of the ring. She demanded that Angi take her â€"booty†to the back. The mention of said booty caught Michael Bennett’s attention, and Angi pointed out that Bennett was staring at it, which led to the always hilarious brow-beating from Maria to Bennett.
WILL FERRARA vs. MICHAEL BENNETT (w/Maria Kanellis)- 6.25/10
There were exactly two streamers thrown for Ferrara. That was really nice of his parents to make the trip all the way from Queens to Toledo to see him wrestle.
Maria denied Bennett his usual pre-match kiss due to the earlier Angi Gonzalez booty-looking incident. She told him he could only have a kiss if he won the match. This would serve as extra motivation for Bennett throughout the match, as he kept repeating it to help himself fight through the pain. Bennett and Maria as a unit somehow manage to be both dislikeable and hilarious. Quite the fun match.
After the match Ferrara got beaten down by Bennett and Taven until ACH made the save, transitioning into…
MATT TAVEN vs. ACH- 6.75/10
Bennett’s antics with Kevin Kelly were amusing. Props to Maria for being able to stay still and with her head down for so long. I know the temptation to watch the match would have gotten to me.
POST-MATCH BEATING- Bennett laid ACH out with the Title of Love, then Taven and Bennett hit ACH with a spike piledriver. Kevin Kelly insisted that â€"there have to be consequences for what the Kingdom is doing,†but it’s now nine months later and I can’t remember there being any at all. ACH didn’t come after them seeking revenge at any point.
TADARIUS THOMAS vs. ROMANTIC TOUCH- 6.5/10
A lot less Capoeira than usual from TD.
THE ADDICTION vs. THE BRISCOES- 8.5/10
FANTASTIC!
This has got to be one of the most underrated matches in ROH history simply because I don’t think I’ve ever even heard anyone bring it up, which you’d think they would have considering it was a first-time-ever match between two awesome teams.
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST MATCH: Adam Cole vs. Adam Page vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Roderick Strong vs. Hanson vs. Matt Sydal- 7.75/10
Good job keeping Roddy and Page apart and build to Roddy kicking Page’s ass very well before finishing this chapter of that rivalry off in the right way to build to Final Battle.
Michael Elgin eventually showed up in street clothes to annoy everyone and attack both Ciampa and Hanson. Ciampa got put through a table so he was taken away from ringside. He later returned, attacking the Kingdom, who had come out to ringside seemingly only to clutter things up with their presence and so that Ciampa could attack them on his way back. Ciampa’s ribs were taped, but of course he didn’t sell them when he hit Project Ciampa on Sydal to eliminate Sydal. Then Elgin showed up AGAIN just so he could hit Ciampa with a chair to eliminate him. Also, Truth Martini was at ringside this whole time, doing nothing but standing there.
As I’m sure that last paragraph made clear, I thought there was too much overbooking in this match. If you want Elgin to screw Ciampa… fine. Do that after Page eliminated Roddy and then give us a nice long, clean end of the match. Have Sydal eliminate Page so Sydal gets to look strong by eliminating someone and Page has already been made to look strong by lasting as long as he has. Have the final three go a while before Cole eliminates Sydal (he will wind up challenging for the world title at Final Battle, so it’s okay for him to beat the guy challenging for the TV Title), then let Hanson have a strong showing before falling cleanly to Cole.
What we got in the end in real life here between Cole and Hanson was actually pretty good, although there were a few missteps (Hanson doing his cartwheel spot after Cole had been working on his leg all match was the major one… and like ten seconds before the finish, too, so it’s not like it even mattered), but the overbooking just completely took me out of the match. Definitely one of the weakest Survival of the Fittest matches.
POST-MATCH STUFF- the Kingdom comes out to celebrate with Cole. Cole cut a promo on ROH World Champion Jay Briscoe, then the Briscoes came out and Jay cut a promo on Cole.
A decent show from ROH. The undercard was fun and the Briscoes vs. Addiction match was awesome, but the disappointing eponymous main event prevents me from calling this a good show. The crowd was pretty bad, too, both in quantity and in quality. The only guy they seemed to care about was Hanson, and they didn’t even seem to know his name, as they just chanted â€"FEAR THE BEARD!†over and over.