ROH TV Report
August 30, 2014
Taped 8/9 in Philadelphia, Pa.
Report by Mike Metzger (@mD0uble), PWTorch VIP Member

In Cincinnati, the question was asked: Who was the tougher team, The Briscoes or War Machine? Clips from their match at a live event on July 18 aired, mixed in with backstage soundbytes from both teams.

The ROH TV Opening aired.

Tonight: Michael Elgin defends the ROH World Title against Golden Gauntlet winner Cedric Alexander!

1 - WAR MACHINE (Hanson & Raymond Rowe) vs. THE BRISCOES

This was taped shortly before Rowe’s motorcycle accident. The Code of Honor was adhered to by both babyface teams. Rowe and Mark started the match. Rowe immediately took Mark down with some amateur throws. Mark went into a frenzy of his own and there was a stalemate. Hanson and Jay both tagged in. They exchanged blows, with Jay getting the upper hand. He tagged in Mark, who clotheslined Hanson in the corner.

Mark was in control briefly, until Hanson reversed into a sidewalk slam and tagged Rowe back in. Rowe pummeled Mark in the corner with fists and knee strikes. Mark tried to fight back, but found himself outnumbered in his opponents’ corner. Rowe was still in control, as the show went to its first commercial break at 3:15 of the match.

[Commercial Break]

(All Star Extravaganza iPPV hype count: one passing mention by Kevin Kelly that “Jay Briscoe will receive a shot at the ROH World Title on September 6.” However, no mention of it being an iPPV.)

Back at 5:45, Rowe was still hammering away on Mark. Rowe followed up with running knees to the face of Mark. He tagged in his partner, and Hanson delivered a huge Bronco Buster (without all the bucking motions) to Mark in the corner! Hanson dominated for another thirty seconds, until Mark created some separation and tagged in Jay. The older Briscoe delivered some headbutts to Hanson. Hanson was able to cartwheel out of the way and tag in Rowe. Things started to break down, as all four men brawled in the ring and then to the outside. This set up Hanson to deliver a massive dive to the other three men on the outside!

Hanson threw Mark back into the ring and tried to follow him in, but was met with a jumping enziguiri from Mark. This sent Hanson onto the timekeeper’s table at ringside, which set up Jay to deliver a double foot stomp on Hanson through the table! Back in the ring, The Briscoes double-teamed Rowe. Rowe fought back with a German suplex to Mark which sent him to the outside. Jay and Rowe exchanged fists in the center of the ring. Rowe hit Jay, sending him directly into a hip-toss to the outside from Hanson, who was back up on the apron! Mark immediately hit a springboard dropkick on Rowe! Hanson came into the ring and nailed Mark with a huge lariat!

Jay began to throw chairs into the ring from the outside. Hanson went after him, which opened up him up to be thrown into the hockey boards by Jay. All four men began brawling on the outside. Jay pulled up the mats at ringside. All four men continued brawling, as referee Paul Turner called for the bell.

WINNER: No Contest at 10:40

After the bell, both teams continued brawling. The hot crowd chanted, “Let them fight!” The fighting eventually culminated when Rowe delivered a Yuri Nagi to Mark from the apron through a table at ringside!

ANALYSIS: The crowd was very hot for this opening bout. Too bad ROH didn’t bother hyping this match until a couple minutes before it began. Rowe showed some amateur skills in the opening sequence, although his kick-punch office felt plodding at times. The teams displayed good chemistry during the brawling sequences, but there’s only so much a babyface vs. babyface match with no back-story can do for me. (**1/4)

Backstage, Caprice Coleman talked about all of the talent in Ring of Honor, including NJPW’s Watanabe. Coleman feared that the Decade would have their sights set on such an international superstar, so he would keep an eye out for him. Next week, Coleman and Watanabe will face the Decade in tag team action.

[Commercial Break]

(All Star Extravaganza iPPV hype count: Still just the one passing reference from Kevin Kelly.)

A public service message aired, brought to the viewer by Silas Young. He is getting sick of all the anti-bullying campaigns out there. If it wasn’t for bullying kids for their lunch money, Silas said he wouldn’t have been able to put himself through college.

The Decade came out for the next match, as clips from last week’s show aired. For those who missed it, Moose agreed to join Veda Scott and team with R.D. Evans.

2 - THE DECADE (Adam Page & TaDarius Thomas w/B.J. Whitmer) vs. R.D. EVANS & MOOSE (w/Veda Scott and Ramone)

Veda comedically jumped up and down, as she fist-pumped to Moose’s theme music. Moose and Thomas started the match. Thomas delivered some kicks to the knee of Moose, but Moose no-sold it and responded with a big dropkick. Moose tagged in Evans, who delivered some headbutts to Thomas. TaDarius reversed with an Irish whip, but Evans channeled Ric Flair and flipped onto the apron, where he was able to elbow Adam Page.

Evans went after Thomas, which allowed Page to flip into the ring and clothesline Evans. Page followed up by just pummeling Evans on the mat. On commentary, Kevin Kelly blamed special guest Prince Nana for originally bringing Evans to ROH. Page positioned Evans in the “tree of woe” and tagged in Thomas. Thomas began stomping Evans right in the head, as he was hanging upside down in the corner.

Page was tagged back in. He delivered a pump handle back suplex to Evans, but could only get a two count. Page went for a another suplex, but Evans reversed. He tagged in Moose, who shoulder blocked both Evans and Thomas. Moose then charged at each man with huge clotheslines in separate corners. Moose flap-jacked Thomas and then pumped his chest. The crowd chanted “Moose,” similar to how WWE fans used to cheer for Ryback. Moose hit a spear on Thomas, but Evans snuck in and pinned him.

WINNERS: Moose & R.D. Evans via pinfall at 4:00.

After the match, B.J. Whitmer entered the ring and began slapping both Page and Thomas. The “young boys” got in the face of Whitmer, but ended up backing down and then subserviently held the ropes open for Whitmer.

ANALYSIS: Pure filler here. Apparently, ROH is going to the ol’ “heel steals the glory from big babyface partner who does all the work” storyline. Moose looked fine for what they let him do, but he was really channeling 2012 Ryback here. They also did the same exact angle from a couple weeks ago when “young boys” appeared to be fed up, yet ultimately submitted to The Decade in the end. (*)

[Commercial Break]

Then, 32 minutes into the PPV lead-in show, ROH finally hyped next week’s All-Star Extravaganza iPPV, with a full rundown of the card. Despite the previous segment being pure filler, there was no time for any promos or video packages, though, as it was time for the main event.

3 - ROH World champion MICHAEL ELGIN vs. CEDRIC ALEXANDER - ROH World Title match

Both men shook hands and then the bell rang. Cedric immediately rolled up Elgin for a quick two count. Elgin battled back and went for a crossface, but Cedric quickly reversed into another roll-up. They jockeyed for position again, and Cedric scored another nearfall! It was clear that Cedric was trying to put away the champion early.

Both men exchanged forearms and big boots. Eventually, Elgin grabbed Cedric and delivered several knee-strikes to the mid-section. Elgin positioned Cedric in the corner and then charged at him with a knee. Cedric fought out of the corner with some fists. He followed up with forearms, but Elgin took his legs out from under him when Alexander went to run the ropes. Cedric tried to springboard off the ropes, but was met with a forearm from Elgin. They battled on the apron and Cedric dropkicked Elgin to the outside. He went for a dive, but Elgin again grabbed Cedric by the legs. Elgin hoisted Cedric up into powerbomb position, but just flung him into the hockey boards on the outside. Elgin threw Cedric into another section of the barricade, and then picked him up and rammed him into it again! Elgin rolled Cedric back into the ring and scored a nearfall.

Cedric tried to fight back with some chops, but an annoyed Elgin demanded Cedric hit him some more. Cedric obliged and delivered several headbutts to the side of the champion’s head! Cedric chopped Elgin in the corner. Elgin moved to another corner. Cedric followed, but Elgin kicked him in the head. Elgin went for his delayed standing vertical suplex, but Cedric battled out. Elgin went for a tombstone, but Cedric wrestled out of it and hit a codebreaker on Elgin.

Both men exchanged blows in the center. Despite some big strikes from Elgin, Cedric wouldn’t stay down. Elgin charged at Cedric, but Alexander ducked and sent Elgin to the outside. Cedric went for another dive, but Elgin was again able to get out of the way, this time just running back into the ring. Cedric responded with a springboard clothesline to Elgin! Both men were down. Cedric got to his feet first and hit a Michinoku Driver, but could only get two. The show went to a break at the 8:50 mark.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 10:50, Elgin was in control and hammering away on the back of Alexander. Cedric fought back with a running enziguri. Elgin charged at him in the corner, but Cedric got a boot up. Cedric got fought in the ropes, however, allowing Elgin to hammer on him. Elgin followed up with a Razor’s Edge into an X Factor, but could only get a two count!

Elgin went for a powerbomb, but Cedric fought him into the corner. Cedric charged at Elgin in the corner, but ate a kick to the face. Elgin ran toward Cedric, but the challenger spin kicked the champion in the face! Cedric went up top, but Elgin cut him off. They battled on the top turnbuckle. Cedric began headbutting Elgin and then went for a double foot stomp but missed. Elgin grabbed the knee and started hammering away on it. Elgin then applied a stretch muffler submission hold, where he stretched Cedric’s leg behind his head. Cedric quickly made it to the ropes, however.

Elgin went for an O’Connor Roll, but Cedric held onto the ropes and then hit a beautiful 540 spin kick, which sent Elgin to the outside. Cedric again went for a dive, and the third time was a charm, as he flipped onto Elgin on the floor! Back in the ring, Cedric hit two consecutive frogsplashes, but still couldn’t put away the champion. A brief “Cedric” chant rang out from the crowd. Cedric tried to pick up Elgin, but the champion fought out. Cedric charged at Elgin but ate an elbow. Alexander quickly followed up with a kick and then picked up Elgin. Unfortunately, Cedric was unable to hold Elgin, as his knee buckled. It looked like a botched spot, but the announcers put over the fact that Elgin had been working Cedric’s knee.

Elgin applied another stretch muffler (which Corino referred to as a “horse collar”), but Cedric was able to make it the ropes again. Elgin delivered a running boot to the face of Cedric in the corner. Elgin went for an Elgin Bomb, but Cedric reversed with a jackknife cover for two. Cedric went for the Strong Hold, but was unable to turn Elgin over due to his injured knee. Both men were exhausted. Cedric got up first and jumped toward Elgin, but Elgin caught him in yet another stretch muffler, this time in the center of the ring! While applying the hold, Elgin stomped on Cedric’s head, which caused the referee to stop the match, MMA-style.

WINNER: Michael Elgin via referee stoppage at 18:15 to retain the ROH World Title.

ANALYSIS: This match seemed “just okay” until the finishing sequence tied everything together. Perhaps it was because of the face vs. face dynamic, or maybe the chemistry between the two wrestlers was just off, but there was definitely a slow start to the match. They eventually built to the finish quite nicely, though. I loved the MMA-style ref stoppage and I think we need to see it more often in pro wrestling these days. Awesome finish aside, at no point did I feel like Cedric would win the championship. As much as I like Cedric, it seemed like he was putting on a performance, rather than trying to win a match. (***)

FINAL REAX: Well, at least ROH got around to hyping the All-Star Extravaganza iPPV one week before the event. If you want to know the meaning of the phrase “hard sell,” check out the final 25 minutes of this show. Two months removed from Best in the World, and one hand is still not talking to the other in the Ring of Honor front offices.

I mean, why exactly should I pay $20 for the iPPV next week? I just got to watch an ROH World Title match on free TV. And it was against the number one contender I had seen built up on TV in previous weeks, not against a tag wrestler from tonight’s opening contest. I know the hardcore ROH fan will disagree with me on my Cedric-Briscoe comparison, but that’s the story being presented on TV.

ROH is actually using the “divide and conquer” strategy against itself! By presenting different products to hardcore fans and casual TV viewers, ROH is only hurting themselves in the overall bottom line. At a time where WWE feels stagnant and TNA is on life support, ROH could not do more to disappoint fans looking for a competent alternative.

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