I'm the sidekick co-host on the Saturday night podcast "The Outsiders' Edge" here at Cheap-Heat, alongside the very talented Dario Rivera. Dario and I were having a debate via text recently wherein he suggested that the WWE might be attempting to squash what remains of the independent wrestling circuit by signing top stars to NXT such as Uhaa Nation and Samoa Joe. Now—although Vince McMahon might seem like a James Bond villain, with his son-in-law playing the perfect henchmen, I don't think their goal is to destroy companies like Ring of Honor. Without ROH or PWG or CZW, the developmental system would be forced to rely on homegrown acts like Enzo Amore and Bo Dallas. Nothing against either individual, but would NXT be nearly as popular as it currently is without former independent superstars such as Kevin Steen, El Generico, PAC, Prince Devitt, or KENTA? How about main roster world champions like Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan, each of whom became world famous while working for Ring of Honor before ending up—in NXT. Granted, Daniel Bryan's experience with the black and yellow brand was a little different. The point is that the independent promotions such as Ring of Honor are still crucial in the development process, and shot-callers like Vinnie Mac and Triple H know that.
That was a long winded way to say WELCOME to this week's edition of "Honorable Mention" here at Cheap-Heat.com. Every week I break down the most recent episode of Ring of Honor television, syndicated by Sinclair Broadcasting. I'm a few days late, but once again, we can owe that to my inability to watch the show in a timely fashion because Sinclair has yet to enter Southern California. But as I've said before, I do catch the show on their website when I'm desperate enough to watch wrestling on my computer, and this week I had to make due.
The action kicks off inside the Eisenhower Memorial Center in Hopkins, Minnesota with the standard set of broadcasters, Kevin Kelly and King Steve Corino. The opening contest tonight is a one-on-one meeting between the ferociously feuding ACH and Adam Page. Page represents the Decade, but makes his way to ringside by himself, without the usual BJ Whitmer-escort. Which is a shame, because I really like BJ Whitmer. He's probably the most detestable heel in the entire wrestling industry, as I can't think of a single person who actually LIKES him. This match kicks off with a bit of taunting from both individuals and an onslaught of arrogant slaps until Page hightails it to the outside in a vain attempt at regrouping. Once he reenters the match however, the contest belongs to ACH who immediately kicks the throttle into top gear against the former "Decade Young Boy." King Corino has had his trouble with the Decade in recent weeks; when Page graduated from Young Boy, BJ Whitmer began his search for a viable replacement, and found one in Steve Corino's son.
The match hits the floor where ACH remains in control as he hammers Adam Page's skull against the steel barricade, and capitalizes with an amazing display of conditioning. ACH ran around the entire ring and clasped his hands on the final ring post he passed, allowing his body to twist in the wind while coming around the corner, as he caught Adam Page with a picture perfect hurricanrana. Page had trouble returning the offense, but mounted a considerable defense that culminated with a handful of beautiful maneuvers. Side Note: Is Kevin Kelly really plugging a fucking WRESTLING HOTLINE IN 2015? GET OUT OF TOWN! Page came within a "frog's hair" of earning the victory when he finally turned the tables in his own favor. He finally caught up with the considerably seasoned ACH, and hit him with a driving DDT down and nearly through the canvas. The matched moved to the outside once again when ACH was unable to land a baseball slide, and Adam Page was able to capitalize with a shooting star press from the apron. The crowd went wild and chanted "This is Wrestling" and "This is Awesome" in competition with one another, so what was heard was an amalgam of "This is Wrawesomling." Page evaded ACH's final effort toward victory and landed a low-blow with his right leg to secure a the 1-2-3 over the Decade's number one enemy.
Following the match, Adam Page held out his hand for the "Code of Honor," which was met by a tackle and a fury of fists from ACH. The officials separated both men and ACH leapt over the crowd and onto Page. This rivalry is far from over, and the Decade isn't done terrorizing one of the most electrifying individuals in Ring of Honor. We head into commercial, and when we get back there are a number of vignettes including one depicting the dubious deeds that went down when reDragon lost the tag titles to The Addiction. If you don't know by now, then let me fill you in: Chris Sabin, Frankie Kazarian, and Christopher Daniels are in cahoots; they are now known as the Knights of the Red Dawn, and they are in possession of the ROH tag team championship belts. We get a quick video of Jay Lethal hocking his recent DVD release. Really Ring of Honor? DVDs, still? I mean, the WWE still produces DVDs. They even released a Jerry Lawler set this past Tuesday. But it might behoove the powers within ROH to start considering an "Over the Top" streaming services not unlike the WWE Network or New Japan World. In fact, that could also work for a company like TNA who only needs to secure a few key sponsors. But that's a conversation for another day. The point is—Ring of Honor is poised to be the official number two promotion in the Western World if TNA can't stay afloat after being cancelled by Destination America. Now would be the time to up the production level, now would be the time to release the action figures, and yes—NOW would be the time to debut a "Ring of Honor Network."
The main event tonight is a tag team match between the longtime—and I mean LONG TIME—tag team partners, brothers Mark and Jay, the Briscoe Brothers. Their adversaries tonight are none other than the imposing twosome of Rowe and Hanson—War Machine. War Machine has been at odds with Michael Elgin in recent weeks and went to war with the Killer Elite Squad two weeks ago on Ring of Honor television. The Briscoes have been having their own share of trouble as of late, with the Kingdom, as well as various members of the Ring of Honor roster. Jay is still the Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Champion, but it will be his brother Mark who starts things off against "Warbeard" Todd Hanson.
The big man is in control of the Wile E. Coyote-like Mark Briscoe during the onset of this match and is able to pull off an impressive suplex before tagging his partner Raymond Rowe. Rowe enters and loses the advantage for his team and is soon face to face with the top-dog in ROH, the unpinned champion Jay Briscoe. The brothers team up on Ray Rowe and continue the assault in Briscoe fashion with Rowe on the receiving end. Hanson finds his way back into the match; both the Briscoes and War Machine have their supporters and detractors from coast to coast and around the world. The fans inside the Eisenhower Memorial Center seem to be on board the "Briscoe Bus" this evening, especially when Ray Rowe starts employing modest "heel tendencies" when he squares off with Mark once more. War Machine keeps things in their corner, and have no issue maintaining the edge over the accomplished Briscoe Brothers, perhaps due to their recent time tagging together, versus the Briscoes who compete in singles action as well. Although that's not to say "Warbeard" hasn't had his share of singles' opportunities in recent months. He was one of three men alongside Tommaso Ciampa and Michael Elgin who challenged Jay Briscoe for his world title in Las Vegas this past March.
We head into another commercial and once we return, the Briscoes are back in command with Jay hammering away on Ray Rowe with hard hitting European uppercuts. He followed up with a number of stiff lefts to Hanson, but was blindsided by a cartwheel offense and a set of 10 clubbing blows to the midsection. The action escalated until all four men were inside the squared circle, staring one another down as the fans in Hopkins went absolutely wild. The Briscoes went forehead to forehead with Rowe and Hanson, talking trash all the while until all four men let loose and the spectacle continued! Rights and lefts and rights and lefts and SUPER KICKS and clotheslines over the top rope! This match went �off the rails' and veered into the local nuclear plant! Everyone was unloading on everyone! Ray Rowe went toe-to-toe with Mark Briscoe—although that rhymed BEAUTIFULLY, it wasn't supposed to. Ray sent Mark flying over the top turnbuckle to the outside where he was, undoubtedly, supposed to land on his feet. Instead Mark rolled inadvertently and slammed his skull into the crux of the barricade and the concrete floor. Even Ray Rowe—Mark's opponent—looked on in horror to make sure Briscoe was alright. Rowe became distracted by his own humanity and Jay Briscoe took advantage of his brother's injury by blindsiding one half of War Machine. He fought valiantly until the duo sought to set up their signature finish, but were once again thwarted by the uncharacteristically charismatic Mark Briscoe! He swooped in from his seated position on the solid ground and knocked Hanson from his perch on the top turnbuckle.
Jay fought Ray Rowe out of a dangerous position and attempted to end the match with the "Jay Driller." War Machine fired back on all cylinders; after grounding the world champion, Hanson powerbombed an incoming Mark Briscoe from the top rope. Ray Rowe then POWERBOMBED Todd Hanson down onto Mark, but once again lost the advantage when they were unable to hit their finishing move. The Briscoes attempted the "Doomsday Device" for the second time in the match, this time successfully, taking Rowe on a ride across the ring to a place called "OUCH!" With his last bit of breath, the world champion Jay Briscoe hit Hanson with the "Jay Driller" for a 1-2-NO! Hanson kicked out of the JAY DRILLER! Jay hit him with a second �Driller after a few kicks to the face, this time successfully defeating the monstrous War Machine. After the match, amidst a cry to "Man Up," War Machine shook hands with the Briscoe Brothers to close the show.
An average episode of Ring of Honor which is on par with the best Lucha Underground or NXT has to offer. With TNA Impact losing its home on Destination America and fans becoming farther disenfranchised by Raw and Smackdown, it seems that this could be the "Era of One-Hour Wrestling." Good show overall, and I look forward to the stories coming out of Global Wars and going into the next Live Event in New York City. Until next time feel free to follow me throughout the perilous world of social media by LIKING "The B+ Players" on Facebook and by FOLLOWING @TapeTradez on Twitter.
