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RADICAN'S TAKE
RADICAN'S RING OF HONOR 2014 YEAR END AWARDS (pt. 1) - 2014 Match of the Year

Feb 18, 2015 - 3:27:28 PM
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By Sean Radican, Torch columnist

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Over the next several days, I will be unrolling my ROH 2014 Year End Awards. The awards will begin with the 2014 ROH Match of the Year.

ROH 2014 MATCH OF THE YEAR

(1) IWGP Hvt. Champion A.J. Styles vs. ROH Tag Team Champion Kyle O’Reilly, “Death Before Dishonor XII: Night 1,” Aug. 22, 2014 (****3/4). A.J. Styles was in the midst of a red hot run in August of 2014. Coming off his incredible showing in the NJPW G1 Climax 2014 Tournament, Styles returned to the states and continued to show why he was the best wrestler in the world in 2014. This was a heel vs. heel matchup, but Styles is essentially a face in ROH. Either way, the crowd was split for both men during the match. Styles entered the match with a legit arm injury, which became the focus of the match.

O’Reilly worked over Styles’s arm throughout and they built things up to a fever pitch late in the match with O’Reilly blocking the Styles clash several times and trying to finish Styles off with arm bars and triangle submissions. The match hit a fever pitch when O’Reilly hit a huge kick to Styles’s arm and followed up with a flying cross-arm breaker. He switched it into a triangle on Styles. Styles ended up lifting O’Reilly up and he hit a modified Styles clash and the fans went nuts with both men down on the mat. This was one heck of a pro wrestling match and the finishing sequence was simply amazing with Styles hitting the hollow point and then the Styles clash for the win with the crowd going crazy.

You can watch this match by purchasing ROH’s “Death Before Dishonor XII: Night 1” on DVD by clicking HERE or by visiting ROHWrestling.com. You can also purchase this release on VOD at ROHWrestling.com.

(2) ROH World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) vs. ReDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly w/Tom Lawlor), “War of the Worlds,” May 17, 2014 (****1/2). The Young Bucks vs. ReDRagon feud set the standard for tag team wrestling in 2014. Their feud was settled in the ring, as this feud wasn’t built on TV with The Young Bucks being unable to make most of the TV tapings in 2014 due to their commitments in NJPW. Their three match series in ROH was amazing and although it’s incredibly hard to choose between this match and their 2/3 Falls match at “All Star Extravaganza VI,” this match gets the nod because it was a straight up tag match and the atmosphere was slightly better in NYC for this match than their 2/3 Falls rematch in Toronto at “All Star Extravaganza VI.”

As you would expect, this match was full of breathtaking action from beginning to end and the NYC crowd provided one heck of an atmosphere. Coming into the match, The Young Bucks had beaten ReDRagon at “Raising the Bar: Night 1” to capture the ROH World Tag Team Titles. In the rematch, UFC’s Tom Lawler was in ReDRagon’s corner and it added another element of excitement to the match, although Lawler didn’t take any bumps. They did some incredibly innovative spots in this match including the Young Bucks forcing Fish to tombstone his own partner by placing O’Reilly on top of him and then superkicking his legs out from under him. Later in the match, Nick managed to break up a guillotine choke on Matt with a 450 onto O’Reilly. ReDRagon managed to stay one step ahead of the Young Bucks during this encounter and pulled off some incredible counters of their signature offense. I really enjoy this style of tag team wrestling and The Young Bucks and ReDRagon are two of the best teams in the world and their styles complimented each other perfectly on this night.

You can watch this match by purchasing ROH’s “War of the Worlds” on DVD by clicking HERE; or by visiting ROHWrestling.com. You can also purchase this release on VOD at ROHWrestling.com.

(3) ROH World Tag Team Champions ReDRagon (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) in a 2/3 Falls match, “All Star Extravaganza VI,” Sept. 6 2014, (****1/2). This match headlined ROH’s September iPPV offering. Usually 2/3 Falls matches don’t turn out well, but the third and final match between The Young Bucks and ReDRagon in ROH in 2014 was well put together and delivered some fantastic action. The first fall was set up rather quickly, as The Young Bucks were running wild early until O’Reilly hit Nick with a hockey stick on the outside. ReDRagon then went up 1-0 after hitting chasing the dragon on Nick a short time later.

They then went to a long heat segment on Nick that built to a hot tag to Matt. The action really picked up from there as both teams went really accelerated the pace as The Young Bucks ran wild. The Young Bucks ended up isolating Fish and they tied the match 1-1 after hitting a package piledriver/superkick combination on him. The match really picked up from this point as the fans really got into the action in Toronto.

The Young Bucks hit the Meltzer driver (spiked piledriver/450 combination) on O’Reilly during the third fall, but Fish pulled the ref out of the ring. Nick accidentally hit the ref with a dive when he was going for Fish on the outside. O’Reilly caught Nick in a triangle when the Young Bucks went for more bang for your buck. Fish then dragged Matt off the top and tossed him through a table at ringside. Another ref came out and Nick had no choice but to tap out when O’Reilly transitioned the triangle into an arm bar. This was all action from bell-to-bell and was one of the best 2 out of 3 Falls matches I’ve seen.

You can watch this match by purchasing ROH’s “All Star Extravaganza VI” on DVD by clicking HERE; or by visiting ROHWrestling.com. You can also purchase this release on VOD at ROHWrestling.com.

HONORABLE MENTION

-ROH TV Champion Jay Lethal vs. ACH, ROH TV Taping, Aug. 9, 2014 (aired Aug. 25, 2014), (****1/2). You can watch this match on VOD by signing up for a Ringside Membership at ROHWrestling.com.

- The Briscoes (Mark & Jay Briscoe) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson), “Death Before Dishonor XII: Night 1, Aug. 21, 2014, (****1/4). You can watch this match by purchasing ROH’s “Death Before Dishonor XII: Night 1” on DVD by clicking HERE or by visiting ROHWrestling.com. You can also purchase this release on VOD at ROHWrestling.com.

- The Briscoes (Mark & Jay Briscoe) & Michael Elgin vs. Kevin Steen & The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson), “Raising the Bar: Night 1,” March 7, 2014, (****1/4). You can watch this match by purchasing ROH’s “Raising the Bar: Night 1” on DVD by clicking HERE or by visiting ROHWrestling.com. You can also purchase this release on VOD at ROHWrestling.com.

- ROH World Champion Adam Cole vs. Jay Briscoe in a Ladder War, “SuperCard of Honor VIII,” April 4, 2014, (****1/4). You can watch this match by purchasing ROH’s “SuperCard of Honor VIII” on DVD by clicking HERE or by visiting ROHWrestling.com. You can also purchase this release on VOD at ROHWrestling.com.

-ROH TV Champion Jay Lethal (w/The HOT) vs. Matt Taven, “Field of Honor,” August 15, 2014, (****).You can watch this match by purchasing ROH’s “Field of Honor” on DVD by clicking HERE or by visiting ROHWrestling.com. You can also purchase this release on VOD at ROHWrestling.com.

-ROH World Champion Adam Cole vs. Michael Elgin, “Best in the World 2014, June 22, 2014, (***3/4). You can watch this match by purchasing ROH’s “Best in the World 2014” on DVD by clicking HERE or by visiting ROHWrestling.com. You can also purchase this release on VOD at ROHWrestling.com.

My ROH 2014 Year End Awards will continue tomorrow with the Best Show of 2014 category.

***

Please click HERE; and click “like” to join the Radican’s Wrestling Community Facebook fan page.

Follow Sean on Twitter at Twitter.com/SeanRadican
Email Sean at PWTorchSean@Gmail.com


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