– The Kingdom (Michael Bennett & Matt Taven) (w/ Maria Kanellis) defeated Will Ferrara & Watanabe
– Michael Elgin defeated Adam Page (w/ BJ Whitmer). Whitmer had 4 security guards with him during the match. After the match, Elgin laid out Whitmer’s security.
– War Machine (Hanson & Raymond Rowe) defeated ACH & Matt Sydal
– Mark Briscoe defeated Romantic Touch (Romantic Touch replaced Cliff Compton, because Compton was rushed from the venue with a medical emergency that turned out to be a seizure.
– Roderick Strong defeated Caprice Coleman
– Jay Briscoe defeated Moose (w/ Stokely Hathaway) by DQ. Adam Page attacked Briscoe, which caused the DQ, and Cedric Alexander came out to attack Moose then a tag team match was set.
– Jay Briscoe & Moose (w/ Stokely Hathaway) defeated Cedric Alexander & Adam Page (w/ BJ Whitmer)
– Adam Cole & reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) defeated Jay Lethal (w/ Taeler Hendrix) & ROH Tag Team Champions The Addiction (w/ Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian)
Cole and Daniels had a professional opener. Spot on, but nothing to overshadow the later matches. Daniels is great at this.
– War Machine (Hanson/Ray Rowe) b. Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr./Lance Archer)
War Machine and KES a good mean guy match. Harry was the standout.
– Number One Contender Elimination Gauntlet Match for TV Title Shot: Tomo Watanabe earned the next TV title shot.
Order was as follows: Dalton Castle beats Adam Page, Castle beats Frankie Kazarian, Silas Young beats Castle, Bushwhacker Luke gets counted out, Moose beats Young, Moose beats Donovan Dijak. Cedric Alexander beats Moose, Tomo Watanabe beats Cedric Alexander.
The Elimination match was long, but never boring. Luke did his Rumble Spot, except this time he walked around the bases, of course not in 10 seconds. Dijak did a nice Fosbury Flop.
– Cheeseburger beats Steve Corino in one of those silly baseball park match races.
– The Young Bucks, ACH and Matt Sydal beat Rappongi Vice (Beretta/Rocky Romero) and the Kingdom (Taven & Bennett)
The Bucks match was ok, more comedy than anything else. Maria is a great heel valet; only distracts when it’s right for the match. WWE should have done more with Sydal. – Hirooki Goto beats Michael Elgin
Goto and Elgin another brutal hard hitting match. Both looked fine.
– The Briscoes beat the reunited Time Splitters (Alex Shelley/Kushida)
Great to see the Time Splitters back, even if just for one match. Shelley looked like he hadn’t missed a beat. There was a great false finish before Jay hit the driller.
The main event was fun; built up tension with Nakamura and Lethal. Apparently that match will happen somewhere. Nakamura is not a big fan of Books of Truth.
– Cedric Alexander w/ Veda Scott b Dalton Castle after Silas Young interfered. After the match, Moose came to attack Alexander.
– War Machine b Matt Taven & Michael Bennett after the Young Bucks came to ringside. After the match, the Bucks were attacked by Christopher Daniels, Chris Sabin and Frankie Kazarian.
– Cheeseburger came to the ring but was attacked by Brutal Bob Evans. Bushwhacker Luke came to do the save. Not for TV.
Taping #2
– The Addiction b The Young Bucks to keep their ROH World tag team titles after Taven, Bennett and Maria interfered.
– Nigel announced that at All Star Extravaganza in San Antonio, The Addiction would defend the titles against both The Kingdom and the Bucks.
– ROH World champion Jay Lethal b Roderick Strong. (Incredible match)
Taping #3
– Michael Elgin b Silas Young
– ACH b Caprice Coleman
– After that match, Kevin Kelly interviewed Prince Nana ringside for TV.
– The Briscoes & Hirooki Goto b Kazuchida Okada & Rappongi Vice
Taping #4
– Matt Sydal b Kushida. After the match Sydal asked for a title shot at the IWGP Jr Heavyweight championship.
– Takaaki Watanabe b Adam Page, Will Ferrara & Moose
– Shinsuke Nakamura b Adam Cole
Notes:
– The crowd was hot all night. A real great Philly crowd. Sold out crowd.
– The show lasted a little more than 4 hours including an intermission.
– Besides the New Japan guys, the ones with the most reaction were Dalton Castle, The Young Bucks and Moose.
– The match of the night was definitely Jay Lethal vs Roderick Strong. Nakamura had the best match out of the New Japan guys.
As tonight’s Ring of Honor show in Philadelphia, PA, ROH and New Japan Pro Wrestling announced that their relationship is stronger than ever. Kevin Kelly hosted the segment attended by Nigel McGuinness, Joe Koff, Cary Silkin, Tiger Hattori and Naoki Sugabayasi.
– In February, there will be two ROH shows in Tokyo. While there, the ROH World title will be defended for the very first time in a New Japan ring. The belt has been defended four times prior in Japan, all by Takeshi Morishima.
– NJPW wrestlers will appear at ROH’s 14th anniversary show in Las Vegas, NV.
– in May, NJPW talent will again come back to North America to do their usual dates in Philly and Toronto, but they will add more towns, and will bring more & different wrestlers from NJPW in 2016 than in past years.
It is also expected that both sides will send more talent back and forth and not just those that have gone in the past.
While the claim was made tonight at the ROH show in Philadelphia and reported that the ROH title would be defended for the first time in Japan in 2016, that is correct only related to New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Takeshi Morishima actually defended the ROH title twice in Japan on Pro Wrestling NOAH events.
ROH announced Thursday that during their TV tapings in Philadelphia, PA, Friday night, they and New Japan Pro Wrestling will make a “special announcement impacting their working relationship”. The news will stream live on ROH’s website at 7:10 PM EST.
There has been questions about the relationship since it was announced Justin “Thunder” Liger would appear at Saturday’s NXT TakeOver event in Brooklyn, NY — the same event that goes head-to-head with ROH’s baseball stadium show in Brooklyn featuring New Japan talent.
As Dave Meltzer talked about this week on Wrestling Observer Radio, things appear to be smoothed over between the two sides, evident by ROH’s booker Delirious’ appearance at the G1 Climax finals in which he revealed ROH talent would be headed over to Japan in 2016.
The Big Takeaway – A great main event, followed by a strong post-match angle setting up a future match between two of the top tag teams in the world.
Nigel McGuiness joins Kevin Kelly on commentary as Steve Corino is on paid leave due to the altercation with BJ Whitmer on last week’s show.
Silas Young vs Dalton Castle w/his boys
Highlights from Death before Dishonor and the altercation between Young and the boys air prior to the match. Castle cuts a promo to the camera on Silas Young during his walk to the ring, vowing to show Young who the “real man” is. Castle is showered with streamers at the end of the entrance.
Castle attacks Young before the bell. Quickly turns into a grappling match on the mat, as the fans chant DAL-TON CAS-TLE and then FAN UP as the boys fan the ring. Castle picks up Young with a dead-lift german suplex in an impressive spot. Young rolls out of the ring and the boys fan him. Young is not pleased at that and dresses them down but Castle attacks him and rolls him back into the ring.
In the ring, Young takes over and then throws Castle out of the ring and beats on him as we go to break. After the break, they’re back in the ring with Young still in control. Castle tries for another dead lift suplex but it’s blocked by Young. He then tries a running knee into the corner but Young ducks and Castle goes flying over the top, only to be fanned by his boys outside.
Back in the ring and it’s a chop-fest, won by Young. Castle recovers and hits a Thesz press, the momentum of which takes them both outside the ring. Castle hits a Rana off the ring apron and then tosses him back into the ring. Fans again chanting for Castle. Castle hits two flying knees and then a whirly-bird for a two count. Young DDT’s Castle into the bottom turnbuckle but only gets a two.
Young hits the Killer Combo and goes for his Misery finisher but drops Castle and goes after the boys instead. The distraction allows Castle to his the “Bang-a-rang” (? – I think that’s what Kelly called it) for the win.
WINNER: DALTON CASTLE by pinfall
Young takes a mic after the match, while Castle is still on the ramp. He doesn’t like what Castle does with his boys, he doesn’t like his lifestyle and the boys need to learn to be men. He asks for one more shot at Castle and if he beats him, he gets the boys. He wants to teach them to be men.
Mandy Leon is up next with Inside ROH. This episode deals with the dissension in the Kingdom. Clips of the original incarnation of Future Shock are shown and this leads into Mandy talking about how Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly reunited recently in New York City. Of course, they defeated the current tag champs in a non-title match, which led to tension within The Kingdom. Next week, they will rematch for the titles.
Bobby Fish is at ringside for an interview with Kevin Kelly. Clips from a house show in Las Vegas where Fish pinned Christopher Daniels in an elimination match. Then he talks about his upcoming TV title shot. He doesn’t think he’ll be facing Jay Lethal, he thinks that Hanson will beat Lethal for the title first.
This brings out Jay Lethal and he’s not happy. Lethal leaves without ca physical altercation though. They air a brief promo for the show featuring the New Japan guys next weekend, leading into the next match.
Will Ferrara vs Moose w/Stokely Hathaway
Prince Nana joins Kelly and Nigel on commentary. Crowd sings along with his entrance song as always. Nana brought Moose in and Hathaway is his protégé in case you didn’t know already. They do adhere to the Code of Honor and the size differential is ridiculous, which Nigel points out.
Moose hits a dropkick on Ferrara, who’s sitting on the top turnbuckle in an impressive spot. He follows him outside the ring and swings him into the ring barriers a couple times head first. He tosses him back into the ring and covers, but only gets a two. Ferrara fires away with a series of punches but Moose stops that with one shot. Moose takes his time when lifting him up for a powerslam and Ferrara hits a DDT. Moose rolls out of the ring and Ferrara follows him out but Moose catches him. Ferrara hits another DDT outside the ring, though.
Ferrara rolls him back in the ring and the fans are chanting WILL. Moose stops his little run with a superplex though. Moose follows up with a spear for the win.
WINNER: MOOSE by pinfall
After a commercial break, Adam Cole does a taped promo for next week’s tag title challenge when he teams with Kyle O’Reilly against the Addiction. He says he’s the best pro wrestler on the planet and it makes him sick that his teammates question his abilities and his priorities.
Main Event – Roppongi Vice (Barretta/Romero) vs The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson)
Bucks are out with the IWGP Jr Heavyweight tag team titles. They are greeted with so many streamers that the ring isn’t visible. Fans chants HAPPY BIRTHDAY and then SUPER KICK. The teams do adhere to a “2 Sweet” version of the Code of Honor.
Matt starts off against Barretta and misses a superkick early. Romero tags in and does the Eddie Guerrero shimmer to no reaction. Kelly brings up that the Vice team could get a tag team title shot with a win here. Nick hits a flying DDT from the ring apron onto Barretta and then they go for the Indie-taker but Romero powers out. Nick does take out both Vice members with a Swanton off the top rope to the outside as we go to break.
Back from break with the Bucks in control, trading tags, and Romero isolated in the ring. Barretta makes the save without a tag and soon all 4 are outside the ring brawling. Back in the ring and now Matt is isolated against both Vice members. YOUNG BUCKS chants as Matt is being double-teamed. Superkick #1 comes from Nick on Barretta as Barretta is prancing on the ring apron, about to do a springboard move on Matt who’s down in the ring.
Romeo tags in and hits a couple running clotheslines on Matt in the corner but Nick drops him from the ring with Superkick #2, again without a tag. Matt does make the tag and Nick is a house of fire against both Vice members. Ends up with both of them outside the ring and Matt takes them out with a suicide dive. Nick rolls Romero into the ring and then connects with a Senton for two as the THIS IS AWESOME chant starts up.
The Bucks miss a double superkick on Romero and he gets a brief flurry of offence but Bucks back in control after a unique version of Slide Bread, followed by a penalty kick. Matt covers but Barretta breaks up the count as we go to break.
Back from break and the Bucks are both stopped by Barretta on different moves and then he hits a twisting DDT on Matt. Romero picks him up and hits a reverse back-cracker and then Barretta hits a double-flying foot stomp from the top onto Matt. That only gets a two though.
Matt makes the hit tag to Nick, who hits an Enziguri but Romero follows up with a jumping knee. Soon all four guys are in hitting a bunch of moves and just like that they’re all down. Another THIS IS AWESOME chant.
Romero hits a dropkick onto Nick, who’s draped over the ropes and then Barretta follows up with a Shining Wizard but only gets a two. Vice go for a double suplex but Nick powers out. Matt pulls Romero out of the ring and hits Superkick #3 on him. In the ring, Barretta sets up for a powerbomb on Nick but Nick reverses into a Destroyer.
Matt tags in and hits a buckle bomb on Romero, following up with a cannonball. Romero draped across the bottom rope and Nick hits a 450 splash onto him and Matt covers but only gets a two. Matt sets up Romero on the top rope but Barretta charges and sets up for a superplex. Matt rolls through and hits Superkick #4 on Barretta. Romero leaps from the top but gets by Superkicks #5 and $6 from both Bucks. More Bang for Your Buck finishes it, as Matt gets the pin on Romero.
WINNERS: THE YOUNG BUCKS by pinfall
KRD attacks the Bucks after the match. The hit Celebrity Rehab on Matt and then tape him to the ring ropes. Nick gets a brief hope spot but quickly gets doubleteamed by the tag champs. Daniels then mocks the Bucks by hitting a Superkick on Nick, screaming out Superkick Party before doing it. Kazarian, followed by Kazarian and Daniels and then finally Sabin all hit Superkicks on Matt and then further mock them by doing the 2 sweet hand gesture. Then they hit the Indie-Taker on Nick and again do the 2 sweet stuff. This finally brings out Nigel and officials to try and stops things as the show ends.
ROH just announced the addition of Intercontinental Champion Hirooki Goto of New Japan to its 8/21 show in Philadelphia. Goto will team with Mark & Jay Briscoe against Roppongi Vice (Rocky romero & Baretta) & Kazuchika Okada at the 2300 Arena.
The Big Takeaway – Outstanding opener, unique main event with a bonus tag team match at the end. Angle advancement in the Cedric Alexander and Adam Cole storylines makes for a fun show with future repercussions.
Roderick Strong opened the show with a promo to order the on-demand version of Death before Dishonor and their outstanding 1 hour time limit draw. I think that knowing the match when 1 hour takes a little bit away from it but it was an awesome match. Strong called for a rematch the next time the title’s defended.
This show was taped at Terminal 5 in New York City, so it should be a hot crowd and they’ve got a heck of a tag match to kick it off.
War Machine (Hanson/Rowe) vs The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)
The Bucks are out with their IWGP Junior Tag Team titles and get a great reaction with a YOUNG BUCKS chant during their ring entrance. No adherence to the Code of Honor as the Bucks would prefer that War Machine “Suck It”, which they don’t terribly appreciate.
War Machine have the early advantage and Rowe clears the ring by overhead pressing Nick onto his brother. They follow them outside the ring and we get Superkicks #1 and #2 as both Bucks connect on both members of War Machine but don’t even knock them down. They then hit simultaneous Asai moonsaults but get caught by War Machine. Superkick #3 is Nick on Hanson and that knocks him down. #4 is Matt on Rowe and he stays on his feet. Nick then nails Rowe with a Senton splash while Matt drapes him between the ring apron and the floor. That draws another YOUNG BUCKS chant.
Bucks double-teaming Hanson in the ring. Combination top rope splash and standing moonsault from the Bucks only get a one count on Hanson, who then takes them both out with a double clothesline. Superkicks #5 and #6 are both Bucks on Hanson and that knocks him out of the ring. Nick then takes out both members of War Machine with a crash and burn dive, which draws a TOO SWEET chant from the crowd. Nick landed badly, drawing medical attention as we go to break.
Back from break and Rowe pulls Matt away from the doctors and throws him into the ring. War Machine double-teaming Matt while Nick is getting his leg iced. AJ Styles comes out to check on things during this time. Crowd chanting for AJ. Beating goes on for several minutes and the crowd really turning on War Machine during this. Matt gets a brief hope spot that ends with a double body-slam and then Rowe press slamming Hanson onto Matt and then Hanson powerbombing Rowe onto Matt but Matt rolled out.
AJ decides to take over for Nick and gets a tag from Matt. AJ is a house of fire and the crowd is loving it. AJ then takes out the ref with a clothesline that was aimed at Rowe. Matt is then in for superkicks #7 on Rowe and #8 on Hanson. Powerbomb by Rowe on Matt but Nick comes in and hits superkicks #9 on Hanson and #10 on Rowe. AJ with the Sunday Bloddy Sunday DDT on Rowe and then a Styles clash. Ref counts the three.
WINNERS: THE BULLET CLUB (MATT JACKSON AND AJ STYLES) by pinfall
Nick seems just fine during the celebration. Adam Cole cuts a backstage promo on Kyle O’Reilly for tonight’s main event. Cole is really questioning where he stands in ROH as there’s dissension in the Kingdom. Cole insists there is no dissension and his friendship with O’Reilly has nothing to do with the Kingdom. They broke in together as a tag team, they’ve been there for the most important moments in each other’s lives and have respect and admiration for each other.
A Roddy Piper “I stand for the silent” commercial aired during this break. R.I.P Hot Rod.
Cedric Alexander w/Veda Scott vs Romantic Touch
Caprice Coleman joins the commentary table for this one. Coleman is there to talk about Alexander and “whether he’s changed”. Alexander attacks before the ring intros with three straight running dropkicks into the corner. Coleman says this is his new-found aggression and it’s what he was missing all along.
Coleman explains that Alexander changed out of need, out of fear and out of needing to keep his job. Coleman vows to show that he can do things the right way and be successful. This is basically an extended squash, as it should be. Touch gets brief offence in, tossing Alexander out of the ring and then hitting a dive to take him out but Scott distracts him to allow Alexander to get the advantage. He hits the Lumbar check for the pinfall shortly after.
WINNER: CEDRIC ALEXANDER by pinfall
Fans are chanting for Moose after the match. Scott cuts a promo in-ring. She basically says the same thing that Coleman did but in a slightly different way. She asks Touch to rip off the mask of Romantic Touch and expose Rhett Titus. Coleman comes in to break it up but Alexander shoves him off. This brings out Moose from the back and Alexander bails. Alexander is MUCH better in this role.
Jay Lethal and Truth Martini cut a backstage promo. Lethal is set to become the greatest champion in ROH history. He congratulated Roderick Strong for taking him to the limit but the bottom line is he couldn’t get the job done and he’s to the back of the line because he’s got a lineup of people to defend against. Kyle O’Reilly and Hanson are brought up as potential challengers but Truth insists that Lethal is the greatest champion in ROH history and the House of Truth is Ring of Honor.
Mandy Leon is here for Inside ROH and it’s a look at Kyle O’Reilly, leading up to his title challenge. They show footage of O’Reilly submitting Lethal during a tag match in March. That was followed up by a 30 minute draw for the TV title in April in Hopkins that I was there live for.
Main Event – Adam Cole vs Kyle O’Reilly
Both guys are out without their partners. Christopher Daniels joins the commentary table. Kelly refers to him as The Fallen Angel but Daniels corrects him and states that he’s now “The Almighty” Christopher Daniels. This was mentioned on the iPPV and I was wondering if I’d missed when it had started. They do adhere to the Code of Honor to start.
Daniels is here because ReDRagon is the top contenders to the tag titles held by Daniels and Kazarian and also because the Addiction framed The Kingdome with their KRD ruse earlier this year. Grappling exchange to start with neither guy getting an advantage and the fans show their appreciation.
Their bloodbath a couple years ago in NYC is brought up early as the match that put both guys on the map. Fans chant HEADLOCK CITY as they exchange headlocks for a minute or so. In fact O’Reilly has Cole in another headlock as we go to the first break.
Back from break and they’re still chanting HHEADLOCK CITY but Cole tries to get out of it with a suplex but O’Reilly holds onto the headlock. Cole hits the ropes for a break and then rolls out of the ring. O’Reilly follows him out and puts the headlock on again but Cole rushes him into the ring barrier.
Daniels stands up at commentary taunting O’Reilly but Cole takes out Daniels with a shove. Daniels takes off the headset and attacks Cole, drawing a DQ. O’Reilly comes in to defend, which brings out Kazarian.
MATCH ENDS IN A NO CONTEST
Fans are chanting FUTURE SHOCK (Cole and O’Reilly’s former tag team name) as they fight off Daniels and Kazarian. Cole takes a mic and challenges “these two old bastards” to face him and O’Reilly tonight. Even though Daniels is in a jeans and T-shirt, they appear to accept the challenge.
The Addiction (“The Almighty” Christopher Daniels/Kazarian) vs Future Shock (Adam Cole/Kyle O’Reilly)
Cole starts against Kazarian and gets the advantage. He quickly tags out to Daniels, who’s double-teamed by Cole and O’Reilly. They rip his shirt off and give him alternating chops and kicks to the chest. We go to break with O’Reilly in control of Daniels.
Kazarian hits a clothesline from the outside to turn things around for the champs and now they’re double-teaming O’Reilly. They trades tags while continuing to double-team O’Reilly. Daniels even knocks Cole off the apron to distract the ref in a great old school heel move. O’Reilly makes the hot tag after a couple of minutes of this and Cole does the “ADAM COLE BABY” spot in a face role for the first time. Doesn’t get quite the reaction I thought it would.
Cole hits a Shining Wizard on Daniels for a two and then puts on the Figure Four. Kazarian breaks that up with a legdrop, which brings in O’Reilly. The champs double-team him but Cole hits an O’Connor roll from behind on Daniels to get the win.
WINNERS: FUTURE SHOCK by pinfall
Before the announcement of a winner is made, Chris Sabin is out to make it a 3 on 2 attack but this brings out Bobby Fish and it’s all even and a wild brawl in and outside the ring. Eventually Cole, Fish and O’Reilly clear the ring. Michael Bennett, Matt Taven and Maria come out to observe at the top of the ramp and they don’t look pleased with their stablemate Cole. Fans are chanting NEW REDRAGON as the show closes.
ROH today has announced three major championship bouts.
The Jay Lethal vs. Roderick Strong rematch coming off their 60:00 draw will take place on 8/21 in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena.
The winner of that match will headline the 9/18 PPV show in San Antonio against Kyle O’Reilly. Either way, Lethal will first defend the TV title against Bobby Fish in San Antonio.
