ROH War of the Worlds
ROH War of the Worlds (5/17/2014)- New York, NY
PRE-SHOW:
ADAM COLE PROMO- okay
CAPRICE COLEMAN vs. SILAS YOUNG-
Steve Corino summarized this match-up as "Mr. Positive" vs. "Mr. Grumpy."
The match never happens because Silas walks out in street clothes and complains about getting booked on the pre-show, then walks out. Caprice cuts a good promo on Silas, then calls out the Decade for the way they have treated his former tag team partner, Cedric Alexander. Jimmy Jacobs responds to this challenge by saying that if Caprice wants a fight, he will give him one... then he has Adam Page attack Caprice from behind.
CAPRICE COLEMAN vs. ADAM PAGE (w/Jimmy Jacobs)- 4.25/10
Did its job well as an opener and served as a promise of the action to come if you buy the show. Jacobs kicked Page for losing the match.
OPENING SEGMENT- The Bullet Club comes out to a HUGE pop. We got a â€"F*CK TNA!†chant, which made AJ chuckle and which the Bucks fully encouraged. AJ says that everyone is the Bullet Club is a leader. Then Okada (& Gedo) come out to an even bigger pop than the Bullet Club got. Karl Anderson translates Gedo’s promo, saying that Gedo says that Okada can beat AJ. AJ says that he already beat Okada when he took the IWGP Heavyweight Title from him, and it doesn’t matter anyway because he is defending against Elgin tonight. Then Michael Elgin comes out and says that he wants a triple threat match tonight. Nigel asks the chairman of New Japan if that is okay, and he says it is. Nigel then clears it with the three competitors, and we have a new main event!
FOREVER HOOLIGANS & TAKAAKI WATANABE vs. ACH, TOMMASO CIAMPA, & MATT TAVEN- 5.75/10
For some reason, Ciampa does not want to shake hands with Koslov. This got the boos it deserved. Come on, Ciampa! You’re representing ROH in an interpromotional tag team match against three guys you have no problem with! Why would you not shake hands?!
JADO & GEDO vs. THE DECADE (Roderick Strong & BJ Whitmer) (w/Jimmy Jacobs, Adam Page, & Tadarius Thomas)-6 25/10
The Decade don't shake hands with Jado & Gedo, and the announcers call them out on this hypocrisy of their doctrine. A good showing from everyone involved. After the match Cedric Alexander came out, taped shoulder and all, and manager to get the drop on the Decade.
ROH TV TITLE MATCH: Jay Lethal(c) (w/Truth Martini) vs. KUSHIDA- 7.75/10
IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM TITLES: The Bullet Club (Doc Gallows & Karl "Machine Gun" Anderson)(c) vs. The Briscoe Brothers- 7/10
Great brawl.
KEVIN STEEN vs. SHINSUKE NAKAMURA- 8/10
Huge pops for both guys. Having these two personalities in the ring exchanging their signature stuff was just awesome.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- Kevin Steen says he thinks he needs a little time away from ROH. Silas Young interrupts him. He says that he doesn’t want to see Steen leave, and warns Steen that if he does leave, the fans will forget about him. Steen ignores him… until Silas says that if Steen quits, then it will set a bad example for his son, who will grow up to be a quitter just like him. Steen slugs Silas, and they brawl.
MICHAEL BENNETT PROMO- good
HIROSHI TANAHASHI vs. MICHAEL BENNETT (w/Maria Kanellis)- 7/10
I was expecting Tanahashi to get a bigger pop than he did. Bennett and Maria use lots of heel antics to try and get the win, but Tanahashi survives it all. This was also the second show in a row that Bennett accidentally bumped into Maria.
ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Young Bucks(c) vs. reDRagon (w/Tom Lawlor)- 9/10
An awesome, fast-paced match with great spots and gripping false-finishes. More of these two teams, please!
ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Adam Cole(c) vs. Jushin â€"Thunder†Liger- 6.75/10
Big pop for Liger. Match was probably the best we could have hoped for with Liger’s age being what it is. Cole wins clean, then snubs Liger’s offer for a post-match handshake to get his heat.
IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: AJ Styles(c) vs. Michael Elgin vs. Kazuchika Okada (w/Gedo)- 8/10
Big pops for all three guys, despite having already been out at the beginning of the show. They then went out there and put on an awesome match. Elgin maybe could have sold his knee a bit better at times, but the match still rocked. The crowd popped huge for all of their big spots, especially the Rainmaker.
Doing a triple threat match here was by far the best possible scenario. We’ve seen AJ vs. Elgin twice recently in ROH, and we just saw AJ vs. Okada at the beginning of the month in New Japan. If Elgin winds up going to Japan, we’ll probably see him and Okada have a singles match. Props to ROH for giving us a match that we almost certainly won’t see anywhere else by throwing all three guys in.
After the match, Adam Cole laid them all out with the ROH World Title.
HYPE FOR ROH’S LIVE BEST IN THE WORLD 2014 PPV- good.
CHRISTOPHER DANIELS PROMO- AWESOME!
He’s back! And he’s bringing a friend!
An awesome show from ROH. THIS is what I was hoping for when they told us we were getting an ROH-New Japan super-show. Definitely ROH’s best show so far this year (maybe even the best show this year from anyone), and the Young Bucks vs. reDRagon match is currently my ROH Match of the Year. GO BUY IT!
STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:
1. Steve Corino- â€"bludgeoned with a knife.â€
That’s not how knives work. If your knife is dull enough that hitting someone with it is â€"bludgeoning,†then it ceases to be a knife.
PRE-SHOW:
ADAM COLE PROMO- okay
CAPRICE COLEMAN vs. SILAS YOUNG-
Steve Corino summarized this match-up as "Mr. Positive" vs. "Mr. Grumpy."
The match never happens because Silas walks out in street clothes and complains about getting booked on the pre-show, then walks out. Caprice cuts a good promo on Silas, then calls out the Decade for the way they have treated his former tag team partner, Cedric Alexander. Jimmy Jacobs responds to this challenge by saying that if Caprice wants a fight, he will give him one... then he has Adam Page attack Caprice from behind.
CAPRICE COLEMAN vs. ADAM PAGE (w/Jimmy Jacobs)- 4.25/10
Did its job well as an opener and served as a promise of the action to come if you buy the show. Jacobs kicked Page for losing the match.
OPENING SEGMENT- The Bullet Club comes out to a HUGE pop. We got a â€"F*CK TNA!†chant, which made AJ chuckle and which the Bucks fully encouraged. AJ says that everyone is the Bullet Club is a leader. Then Okada (& Gedo) come out to an even bigger pop than the Bullet Club got. Karl Anderson translates Gedo’s promo, saying that Gedo says that Okada can beat AJ. AJ says that he already beat Okada when he took the IWGP Heavyweight Title from him, and it doesn’t matter anyway because he is defending against Elgin tonight. Then Michael Elgin comes out and says that he wants a triple threat match tonight. Nigel asks the chairman of New Japan if that is okay, and he says it is. Nigel then clears it with the three competitors, and we have a new main event!
FOREVER HOOLIGANS & TAKAAKI WATANABE vs. ACH, TOMMASO CIAMPA, & MATT TAVEN- 5.75/10
For some reason, Ciampa does not want to shake hands with Koslov. This got the boos it deserved. Come on, Ciampa! You’re representing ROH in an interpromotional tag team match against three guys you have no problem with! Why would you not shake hands?!
JADO & GEDO vs. THE DECADE (Roderick Strong & BJ Whitmer) (w/Jimmy Jacobs, Adam Page, & Tadarius Thomas)-6 25/10
The Decade don't shake hands with Jado & Gedo, and the announcers call them out on this hypocrisy of their doctrine. A good showing from everyone involved. After the match Cedric Alexander came out, taped shoulder and all, and manager to get the drop on the Decade.
ROH TV TITLE MATCH: Jay Lethal(c) (w/Truth Martini) vs. KUSHIDA- 7.75/10
IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TAG TEAM TITLES: The Bullet Club (Doc Gallows & Karl "Machine Gun" Anderson)(c) vs. The Briscoe Brothers- 7/10
Great brawl.
KEVIN STEEN vs. SHINSUKE NAKAMURA- 8/10
Huge pops for both guys. Having these two personalities in the ring exchanging their signature stuff was just awesome.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- Kevin Steen says he thinks he needs a little time away from ROH. Silas Young interrupts him. He says that he doesn’t want to see Steen leave, and warns Steen that if he does leave, the fans will forget about him. Steen ignores him… until Silas says that if Steen quits, then it will set a bad example for his son, who will grow up to be a quitter just like him. Steen slugs Silas, and they brawl.
MICHAEL BENNETT PROMO- good
HIROSHI TANAHASHI vs. MICHAEL BENNETT (w/Maria Kanellis)- 7/10
I was expecting Tanahashi to get a bigger pop than he did. Bennett and Maria use lots of heel antics to try and get the win, but Tanahashi survives it all. This was also the second show in a row that Bennett accidentally bumped into Maria.
ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: The Young Bucks(c) vs. reDRagon (w/Tom Lawlor)- 9/10
An awesome, fast-paced match with great spots and gripping false-finishes. More of these two teams, please!
ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Adam Cole(c) vs. Jushin â€"Thunder†Liger- 6.75/10
Big pop for Liger. Match was probably the best we could have hoped for with Liger’s age being what it is. Cole wins clean, then snubs Liger’s offer for a post-match handshake to get his heat.
IWGP HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: AJ Styles(c) vs. Michael Elgin vs. Kazuchika Okada (w/Gedo)- 8/10
Big pops for all three guys, despite having already been out at the beginning of the show. They then went out there and put on an awesome match. Elgin maybe could have sold his knee a bit better at times, but the match still rocked. The crowd popped huge for all of their big spots, especially the Rainmaker.
Doing a triple threat match here was by far the best possible scenario. We’ve seen AJ vs. Elgin twice recently in ROH, and we just saw AJ vs. Okada at the beginning of the month in New Japan. If Elgin winds up going to Japan, we’ll probably see him and Okada have a singles match. Props to ROH for giving us a match that we almost certainly won’t see anywhere else by throwing all three guys in.
After the match, Adam Cole laid them all out with the ROH World Title.
HYPE FOR ROH’S LIVE BEST IN THE WORLD 2014 PPV- good.
CHRISTOPHER DANIELS PROMO- AWESOME!
He’s back! And he’s bringing a friend!
An awesome show from ROH. THIS is what I was hoping for when they told us we were getting an ROH-New Japan super-show. Definitely ROH’s best show so far this year (maybe even the best show this year from anyone), and the Young Bucks vs. reDRagon match is currently my ROH Match of the Year. GO BUY IT!
STUPID ANNOUNCER QUOTES:
1. Steve Corino- â€"bludgeoned with a knife.â€
That’s not how knives work. If your knife is dull enough that hitting someone with it is â€"bludgeoning,†then it ceases to be a knife.