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ROH “Supercard of Honor” Night 1 Report
April 1, 2016
Dallas, Tex.
Report by Dot Net reader Jonny “Mad Dog”
The crowd for the evening show was energetic consistently throughout the entire night. And, without nourishment, I found it tedious to keep up with them, but I managed, and even gained confidence with creating some unique chants and calls and reverberating others that needed steam, as well as having a nice couple conversations with fellow fans about GFW (Global Force Wrestling) and wishing them the ability to get off the ground and wondering if WrestleMania (with its lackluster build and mediocre card) could beat the greatness of this Supercard X (Night One) show, because it was that “awesome” (a word used frequently throughout the show, almost in every match at least once).
The first match was an introductory-style match featuring the up-and-coming talent, or ROH “Youngboys” in P and “Bruno Mars” (as the crowd and I dubbed him) vs. Taylor and Limitless (winners). This was much better than I thought any opening (and presumably “dark”) match would’ve been.
(1) Bobby Fish beat Christopher Daniels. This was a nice technical match. I, and those who share my taste for long, sport-like, technical showcases, could “sink our teeth into.”
(2) Roderick Strong beat Moose. This match had the crowd exercise their proficiency of dueling chants, in a “mixed bag” of a match with plenty of striking, grappling, stiff power moves, and outside-the-ring action.
(3) Dalton Castle beat Kazarian, Donovan Dijak, Adam Page, Joey Daddiego, and Cheeseburger in a six-way match. This was another great match (they were all great in their own way really) with the crowd enhancing everything. (The DFW metroplex is a great wrestling area, but we just need more of an indy/developmental presence.) The Six-Man Mayhem match was fun and spot-filled, yet told a nice story with the Decade/House of Truth power struggles and roster shuffles along with the overtly-“over” Dalton Castle and Cheeseburger being capable of comedy even when serious, and vice versa, as well as the breakout potential of Dijak and to lesser extents, at least evident from this match alone, Page and Diesel. Kazarian, meanwhile, just seemed to be along for the ride.
(4) Kyle O’Reilly beat Matt Sydal. Another ground-and-pound moshpit. It was a little less technical than previous matches. However it still featured some nice grappling, with the focus on Sydal’s “educated feet” going up against O’Reilly’s chops, with both men rarely leaving their feet for the turnbuckles. Both men were evenly over with the crowd, perhaps with a slight edge to O’Reilly, the more accomplished one, at least in recent memory.
[Intermission. I felt the timing of this intermission could have been better. The crowd was hot from start to intermission and to finish but were on the brink of being burnt out for Sydal vs. O’Reilly and I felt they could have gotten slightly better reactions (not that they didn’t by any means) if the Women of Honor match was placed before them, or perhaps going before the multi-man match, and letting that take the buffer slot, but I digress. Several fans left for the “NXT Takeover: Dallas” show as expected.]
(5) Mandy Leon & Solo Darling beat Amber O’Neal/Gallows & Deonna Purazzo. This was nice, if for nothing but the fact it’s been a sausage-fest all night minus a few glimpses of Taeler Hendrix throughout the show and the valets in the opening match as well as for the ability to put on more than one match in one night for the team of Leon and Darling, who worked the Queens of Combat show earlier.
(6) Adam Cole (BAYBAY) beat (GO GO) A.C.H. This was in contention for match of the night, along with the two main events. With a combination of comedy, grappling, striking, high-flying, and a rabid crowd it didn’t differ too much from the rest of the matches. The whole show was stacked and delivered, as did the crowd throughout, so picking biggest pops and heat is going to be tough.
(7) ROH tag champions War Machine & The Briscoes beat All Night Express (Rhett Titus & Kenny King) & Beer City Bruiser & Silas Young in an eight-man tag match. This was a fun match with at least one interesting call to King that he threw right back at the fan who spit it as well as because of the usual antics of “Dem Boys.”
(8) ROH World champion Jay Lethal (w/Taeler Hendrix) beat Lio Rush to retain the ROH Title. This was the penultimate match for the evening, and some would argue, including myself if the mood suits me and I feel the circumstances justify it, that the world championship match should go on last. But, seeing what went on after this match with the return of Colt Cabana facing off against Jay Lethal, and the majority of fans wanting to see the Young Bucks, it made sense for the train-wreck tag match to go on last. Lio Rush is a future star, he was “made” tonight, he had an awesome showing, and Lethal proves why he is if not the best in the world at professional wrestling today, he’s one of the best.
(9) The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) beat The Motor City Machineguns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) in the main event of the evening. Dueling chants for both teams continued non-stop throughout the match. The crowd ate up the antics and athleticism of both teams’s signature spots except myself for one in particular, one where the Young Bucks mention this not being TNA or something of the like, and the crowd chanting “F-TNA.” The Addiction and the Briscoes came down to ensue a brawl to end the show and set up Saturday’s matches.
Biggest Pops: Colt Cabana/Young Bucks/Adam Cole/ACH/ReDragon/Dalton Castle/Moose/Strong/Briscoes/Taylor and Limitless/Referee Todd Sinclair
Biggest Heat: B.J. Whitmer (by far)/non-Todd Sinclair referee/ANX/The Addiction
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