ROH Champions vs. All-Stars 2014
ROH Champions vs. All-Stars 2014 (10/11/2014)- Kalamazoo, MI
OPENING SEGMENT- important information
Are Nigel and Scarlett dating? Because if they aren’t, he’s being a lot more handsy than he should be with an employee.
Nigel announces that Mark Briscoe got covered in poison ivy and thus is not cleared to wrestle. That’s kind of embarrassing. Adam Cole comes out and alleges that the real reason Mark isn’t wrestling tonight is because he doesn’t want to face his brother Jay, and because he knows that even though they are on the same team, Cole would still kick his ass all over Kalamazoo. Mark Briscoe comes out and is, indeed, covered in poison ivy rashes. He chased Adam Cole away.
Nigel is about to name Mark’s replacement on the All-Stars team, when Tommaso Ciampa comes out. He certainly does a good job of making me think he is insane, desperate, and angry. He asks Nigel for one more chance, so Nigel tells him he will let him be replace Mark, but he is on a zero –tolerance policy: if he ever touches a referee or an announcer again, he will be banned from ROH for life.
BJ WHITMER vs. WILL FERRARA- 5.25/10
On commentary, Veda Scott referred to BJ Whitmer as a â€"legend.†Sorry. Not even within the confines of ROH is Whitmer what I could call a â€"legend.†Other than that, she was very good.
The match itself was decent. Whitmer did a good job playing the bully, but Ferrara really just doesn’t strike me as being any better than any other random indy guy they could be using.
TADARIUS THOMAS vs. OWEN TRAVERS- 6.5/10
Now this Owen Travers guy on the other hand… HE is someone I’d like to see more of in ROH. A good debut. Tadarius worked as the heel here. He didn’t cheat, but he was certainly a lot meaner than necessary, which allowed the announcers to play up the idea that we don’t quite know if he is still with the Decade or not.
CHRISTOPHER DANIELS vs. CEDRIC ALEXANDER- 7.25/10
Daniels works over Cedric’s neck while Cedric works over Daniels’ head. Another great showing for Cedric, who has really cemented himself as the rising star to watch in ROH. His match with Davey Richards at Live and Let Die was our first glimpse of it, but throughout 2014 he has really shown himself to be capable of going at that next level, with great matches against Roddy, Elgin, Lethal, Daniels, and others. He’s definitely the guy to watch in 2015.
JIMMY JACOBS vs. FRANKIE KAZARIAN- 6.25/10
A good match but I was expecting a lot more from a match in Jimmy’s hometown and Kaz’s first singles match in ROH. Because it was Jimmy’s hometown, Kaz played the subtle heel, despite the fact that he is a babyface and Jimmy is a heel. Kevin Kelly also did a good job of framing Jacobs as almost being a babyface, emphasizing the fact that the reason the Decade does what they do is because they love ROH so much.
After the match, Jacobs cut a promo thanking the fans.
MATT TAVEN vs. THE ROMANTIC TOUCH- 6/10
They had a good match. Taven was a great heel.
Steve Corino wanted Taven to do the disappearing thumb trick when he had Taven in the abdominal stretch and claimed to have taught Taven the move. Then he realized what this implied and made sure to point out that Taven had learned it from watching Steve Corino matches, rather than Steve having applied the disappearing thumb trick directly to Taven.
The Romantic Touch used Rhett Titus’ Thrustbuster, but he didn’t hit it as well as Rhett does, so he clearly is not Rhett Titus.
CHAMPIONS VS. ALL-STARS EIGHT MAN ELIMINATION TAG TEAM MATCH: ROH Champions (Jay Briscoe, reDRagon, & Jay Lethal) (w/Truth Martini) vs. ROH All-Stars (Tommaso Ciampa, ACH, Adam Cole & Roderick Strong)- 8.5/10
There were great babyfce-heel dynamics and I loved how the mixed up teams allowed it to play out. These teams weren’t like parejas increibles, but they were certainly two teams full of guys who didn’t get along for various reasons. It was awesome.
Ciampa’s elimination was particularly great booking. Nigel gives Ciampa a chance and tells him he has to be on his best behavior… and then Ciampa gets screwed by a bad call. It really made you feel sorry for this man, while at the same time being afraid he’ll snap (well… more than he did) and then attack innocent people.
Mark Briscoe interferes for a babyface reason, but it allows Cole to claim that Jay needed help to beat him. Good booking there, too. Lethal and Truth jump ACH after the match. Jay Briscoe made the save.
There was a guy in the third row wearing and n.W.o.-style shirt that said i.W.c. Clever.
A very good show from ROH. This is the way that matches like Champions vs. All-Stars of Survival of the Fittest should be used. They took what would otherwise have been a complete and total b-show and made it something that felt important.
OPENING SEGMENT- important information
Are Nigel and Scarlett dating? Because if they aren’t, he’s being a lot more handsy than he should be with an employee.
Nigel announces that Mark Briscoe got covered in poison ivy and thus is not cleared to wrestle. That’s kind of embarrassing. Adam Cole comes out and alleges that the real reason Mark isn’t wrestling tonight is because he doesn’t want to face his brother Jay, and because he knows that even though they are on the same team, Cole would still kick his ass all over Kalamazoo. Mark Briscoe comes out and is, indeed, covered in poison ivy rashes. He chased Adam Cole away.
Nigel is about to name Mark’s replacement on the All-Stars team, when Tommaso Ciampa comes out. He certainly does a good job of making me think he is insane, desperate, and angry. He asks Nigel for one more chance, so Nigel tells him he will let him be replace Mark, but he is on a zero –tolerance policy: if he ever touches a referee or an announcer again, he will be banned from ROH for life.
BJ WHITMER vs. WILL FERRARA- 5.25/10
On commentary, Veda Scott referred to BJ Whitmer as a â€"legend.†Sorry. Not even within the confines of ROH is Whitmer what I could call a â€"legend.†Other than that, she was very good.
The match itself was decent. Whitmer did a good job playing the bully, but Ferrara really just doesn’t strike me as being any better than any other random indy guy they could be using.
TADARIUS THOMAS vs. OWEN TRAVERS- 6.5/10
Now this Owen Travers guy on the other hand… HE is someone I’d like to see more of in ROH. A good debut. Tadarius worked as the heel here. He didn’t cheat, but he was certainly a lot meaner than necessary, which allowed the announcers to play up the idea that we don’t quite know if he is still with the Decade or not.
CHRISTOPHER DANIELS vs. CEDRIC ALEXANDER- 7.25/10
Daniels works over Cedric’s neck while Cedric works over Daniels’ head. Another great showing for Cedric, who has really cemented himself as the rising star to watch in ROH. His match with Davey Richards at Live and Let Die was our first glimpse of it, but throughout 2014 he has really shown himself to be capable of going at that next level, with great matches against Roddy, Elgin, Lethal, Daniels, and others. He’s definitely the guy to watch in 2015.
JIMMY JACOBS vs. FRANKIE KAZARIAN- 6.25/10
A good match but I was expecting a lot more from a match in Jimmy’s hometown and Kaz’s first singles match in ROH. Because it was Jimmy’s hometown, Kaz played the subtle heel, despite the fact that he is a babyface and Jimmy is a heel. Kevin Kelly also did a good job of framing Jacobs as almost being a babyface, emphasizing the fact that the reason the Decade does what they do is because they love ROH so much.
After the match, Jacobs cut a promo thanking the fans.
MATT TAVEN vs. THE ROMANTIC TOUCH- 6/10
They had a good match. Taven was a great heel.
Steve Corino wanted Taven to do the disappearing thumb trick when he had Taven in the abdominal stretch and claimed to have taught Taven the move. Then he realized what this implied and made sure to point out that Taven had learned it from watching Steve Corino matches, rather than Steve having applied the disappearing thumb trick directly to Taven.
The Romantic Touch used Rhett Titus’ Thrustbuster, but he didn’t hit it as well as Rhett does, so he clearly is not Rhett Titus.
CHAMPIONS VS. ALL-STARS EIGHT MAN ELIMINATION TAG TEAM MATCH: ROH Champions (Jay Briscoe, reDRagon, & Jay Lethal) (w/Truth Martini) vs. ROH All-Stars (Tommaso Ciampa, ACH, Adam Cole & Roderick Strong)- 8.5/10
There were great babyfce-heel dynamics and I loved how the mixed up teams allowed it to play out. These teams weren’t like parejas increibles, but they were certainly two teams full of guys who didn’t get along for various reasons. It was awesome.
Ciampa’s elimination was particularly great booking. Nigel gives Ciampa a chance and tells him he has to be on his best behavior… and then Ciampa gets screwed by a bad call. It really made you feel sorry for this man, while at the same time being afraid he’ll snap (well… more than he did) and then attack innocent people.
Mark Briscoe interferes for a babyface reason, but it allows Cole to claim that Jay needed help to beat him. Good booking there, too. Lethal and Truth jump ACH after the match. Jay Briscoe made the save.
There was a guy in the third row wearing and n.W.o.-style shirt that said i.W.c. Clever.
A very good show from ROH. This is the way that matches like Champions vs. All-Stars of Survival of the Fittest should be used. They took what would otherwise have been a complete and total b-show and made it something that felt important.