ROH TV Report
November 2, 2014
Taped 9/27 in Wheeling, W. Va.
Report by Mike Metzger (@mD0uble), PWTorch contributor

The show opened with backstage comments from Matt Sydal. He said that he felt lost for a while, but he’s glad that Ring of Honor is still around because there he can truly put his heart into things. He turned his attention to A.J. Styles, particularly. Tonight, Sydal is reborn and he puts it all out there. Sydal said his fans will see his heart and what’s truly inside of him.

[M.M. Reax: Surprised the phrase “I’m glad that Ring of Honor is still around” made it on TV. It would have been nice to see Sydal say that he actually wanted to beat A.J. Styles in the ring. This wasn’t the greatest line.]

The ROH TV opening aired.

1 - MARK BRISCOE vs. CAPRICE COLEMAN

This was a the “Battle of Ordained Ministers” because both men apparently hold that distinction. Truth Martini, who was filling in for Steve Corino on commentary, accused both men of “reading from the wrong book” when they performed wedding ceremonies. Not sure the “Book of Truth” would be appropriate either. The babyfaces shook hands and then the bell rang. They went into a friendly mat wrestling sequence for the first 45 seconds. Coleman hit a couple of armdrags and then there was a brief stalemate.

Mark clotheslined Coleman out of the ring and immediately followed up with a baseball slide through the ropes. Coleman struck back with a heart punch on the outside. Mark seem unfazed, but keeled over a few moments later. This opened him up for a moonsault from the apron by Coleman. Caprice followed up with a huracanrana for a nearfall back in the ring. Briscoe battled back with a stiff lariat, but could only get a one count. Caprice reversed the momentum with a cross-body off the ropes. He went for a reverse STO, but Briscoe held onto the ropes and then broke out some Red Neck Kung Fu.

Coleman fought back with a series of Northern Lights suplexes into a pin attempt, but could only get two. Briscoe regained control briefly and went for a Froggy Bow, but missed. Coleman hit his reverse STO move, but Mark kicked out at two. Briscoe fought back with some more Red Neck Kung Fu and then hit a suplex, followed up by a modified brainbuster for the victory.

WINNER: Mark Briscoe via pinfall in 7:05.

ANALYSIS: Perfectly acceptable wrestling. This was more of a chance for the announcers to the talk about Jay Lethal’s dominant TV title reign and Tommaso Ciampa’s suspension. (**)

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, Nigel McGuinness introduced Tommaso Ciampa. “The Sicilian Psychopath” came to the ring without any theme music or fanfare. Ciampa immediately started pleading his case to Nigel, but was quickly cut off. McGuinness pointed out ring announcer Bobby Cruise and other officials around the ring as a reminder as to why Ciampa was suspended. McGuinness told Ciampa he understood that the title was very important to him, and would give him one more chance. McGuinness said Ciampa would return to the ring next week, but he would be immediately fired if he ever attacked Bobby Cruise, Kevin Kelly, or any other non-wrestlers.

Ciampa graciously offered to face Jay Briscoe in an ROH World Title match in his return next week. Nigel quickly shot down his suggestion, saying that he had to start at the bottom. Ciampa paced back and forth and said he had been proving himself for the last five years in ROH. He said he was tired of Nigel deciding where his career was headed, so maybe he would start to tell Nigel just exactly what he was going to do and when he was going to do it. Nigel asserted his authority, but Ciampa said he might have took him seriously back in 2008 when McGuinness was still in his prime. “I man up all day, every day. And that’s why I want Jay Briscoe to put that title on the line!” demanded Ciampa.

Out came ROH World Champion Jay Briscoe. The champ had heard enough. Ciampa said it was Day 2,806 of Ring of Honor, yet this was the first time Briscoe stood in the ring across from him. ROH referees and security ran into the ring to get between the two. Briscoe said that if Ciampa wanted a fight, he would get one right then and there. McGuinness urged the officials to hold both men back. Ciampa rolled out of the ring and the situation seemed to be diffused, but all of a sudden, the Kingdom ran out and attacked Briscoe from behind. Cole, Bennett, and Taven delivered a triple superkick to Jay. Mark Briscoe ran to the ring to break it up, but ate a superkick for his troubles. Bennett and Cole finished Mark off with a Doomsday Device. Cole, Bennett, Taven, and Maria then posed in the ring, each holding up four fingers.

[M.M. Reax: Good segment that added some depth to the World Title picture.]

[Commercial Break]

B.J. Whitmer gave a pep talk to Adam Page backstage. Whitmer said that all the training and the dues he’d been paying would be worth it because Page would be part of his team tonight. Page told Whitmer that he wouldn’t let him down.

The show went to Kevin Kelly and Truth Martini at ringside. They introduced a very Monday Night Raw-esque recap of what happened during the previous segment between Ciampa, Briscoe, and the Kingdom.

2 - BRUTAL BURGERS (Bob Evans & Cheeseburger) vs. THE DECADE (B.J. Whitmer & Adam Page)

The Code of Honor was not followed before the bell. It looked like Whitmer was going to start, but he quickly tagged Page into the match to face off against Evans. “Brutal” Bob outwrestled Page on the mat and then tagged in Cheeseburger. They did their spot where Evans slams Cheeseburger onto their opponent. Cheeseburger’s momentum was short-lived, however, and in came Whitmer. Both members of the Decade double-teamed Cheeseburger in the corner. Page was tagged back in and he just overpowered Cheeseburger into a side slam for a nearfall.

Cheeseburger was able to tag in Evans, who then hit Page with a bulldog. Evans went after Whitmer on the apron. Page tried to seize control during the brief distraction, but Evans wrestled him to the mat. Cheeseburger tagged in, and they did an interesting double team where Cheeseburger hit a stunner while being carried on Evans’ shoulders. Cheeseburger went for the cover, but could only get two. Page came in and just clobbered Cheeseburger in the side of the head with forearm shots. Page hit a piledriver-like maneuver, where Cheeseburger’s body was in back of him instead of in front of him for the pin!

WINNERS: The Decade via pinfall in 4:25.

ANALYSIS: It looks the Decade is here to stay for the time being, with Page now being more appreciated after TaDarius Thomas walked out on the group a couple weeks ago. In theory, the Decade should have been a great vehicle to develop some younger talent, but I feel like the end result will not justify the means it took to get there. It’s nice to see some emphasis on the lower mid-card, but with only one hour of TV per week, I feel like that time would be much better spent on an act like reDRagon instead. (*1/2)

[Commercial Break]

(During the commercial, Mark Briscoe, Romantic Touch, and Delirious took part in a goofy Halloween spot.)

3 - MATT SYDAL vs. A.J. STYLES

Matt Sydal was greeted with “welcome back” chants, along with plenty of streamers when he entered the ring. Styles made his entrance, and Kevin Kelly said that A.J. was “having the best year of his professional career.” Hard to argue with that. Both men shook hands and then locked up to start. There was a quick stalemate after about 30 seconds. They continued feeling each other out for the next minute or so, until Sydal hit a headlock takeover on Styles. A.J. tried to fight out of the headlock, but Sydal was able to take him right back down without losing his grip. Styles eventually escaped and applied a headlock of his own. They had an impressive back-and-forth armdrag sequence that ended in another stalemate, as the show went to commercial at the 3:50 mark.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 5:50, Styles was in control of Sydal. Styles rammed Sydal’s head into a turnbuckle, but Sydal reversed with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors. His momentum was immediately cut off by a couple of backbreakers from Styles. Sydal fought back with some kicks, but Styles kicked him away and hit his flying forearm from the ropes! Styles stretched Sydal’s back across his knee for a few moments, until Sydal fought out of the hold. Sydal attacked Syles’s knee and followed up with a crucifix bomb! Sydal charged at Styles in the corner, but missed. Styles went for an inverted DDT, but Sydal reversed with an inverted DDT into a leg drop!

Both men exchanged blows in the center. Sydal came out on top with a flying knee to Styles’ jaw, and then threw him to the outside. Sydal went for a springboard dive, but Styles cut him off with a blow to the face. Back in the ring, Styles hit a pumphandle slam over his knee. Styles went up top, but Sydal cut him off. He went for a super huracanrana, but A.J. escaped! Styles crotched Sydal on the top turnbuckle, but Sydal fought him off and then delivered double knees from the top for a near fall!

Sydal hit a running lariat on Styles in the corner. He set up Styles on the top rope for a superplex, but Styles blocked and tried to reverse into a Styles Clash from the top! Sydal vigorously tried to escape, and eventually did so, as he struggled all the way down on the mat. Sydal went up top and went for Air Bourne, but missed! The fans chanted “ROH!” as Styles picked up Sydal for a Styles Clash, but dropped him right on his head. He followed up with a Styles Clash for the victory!

WINNER: A.J. Styles via pinfall in 14:45.

ANALYSIS: In a vacuum, this would be considered a good match. But, I thought it was disappointing considering the participants involved. It started off like classic matches do - slow, with some good mat wrestling. They built up to some compelling spots in the end, but something was just missing overall. Maybe it was the babyface vs. babyface dynamic or ROH’s blatant underutilization of A.J. Styles, but this just didn’t do it for me. (**3/4)

FINAL REAX: Skippable show. The Ciampa-Briscoe-Kingdom segment was intriguing, but not much else going on during this episode. It’s always a treat to see A.J. Styles, but I think the limited way in which ROH has used him in 2014 might be starting to wear out its welcome. Hopefully, next week’s tapings from Lakeland, Fla. will freshen things up a bit.

[Torch art credit Cory Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

We suggest these recent related articles...

METZGER'S ROH TV REPORT 9/27 & 9/30: NJPW vs. ROH Series continues - Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Adam Cole, Sydal vs. KUSHIDA, more

METZGER'S ROH TV REPORT 9/20 & 9/23: New Japan's top champions Okada & Goto in tag main event, ROH/NJPW announcement, more; Reax to post-PPV episode

METZGER'S ROH TV REPORT 9/13 & 9/16: The Kingdom vs. War Machine main event, ReDragon vs. House of Truth, final build-up to "All-Star Extravaganza" PPV, more; Reax