By Jason Powell
Ring of Honor TV
Taped January 9 in Concord, North Carolina
Aired in syndication over the weekend, available Wednesdays on Comet TV
The opening video aired and then Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness checked in from ringside and hyped the main event…
1. Jason Kincaid vs. Lio Rush in a Top Prospect Tournament match. Kelly said Kincaid is known for technical wizardry, but his poverty background is even more of a story. Nigel said Lio has made a splash in his rookie year similar to the way ACH did. Kincaid has been wrestling since 2003. Kelly said Kincaid was born in a one room trailer on top of a mountain in West Virginia. He said he wears a mouthguard because his teeth were affected by the poverty that he grew up in.
After taking Rush down with some nice offensive moves, Kincaid removed the top part of his attire. Rush came back by kipping up into a kick. He followed up with an ACH-like flip over the top rope onto Kincaid on the floor. Kelly noted that Rush was an All American amateur wrestler. Nigel noted that Kincaid won the Super 8 independent tournament.
Kincaid came back and teased going coast to coast. Rush rolled to the floor. Kincaid performed the coast to coast leap and kicked him through the ropes, then followed up with a neckbreaker from the ring to the floor that popped the crowd. Kincaid got a two count and the crowd chanted “this is awesome.” Kincaid went for a top rope double stomp, but Rush avoided and followed with a wild one-man Spanish Fly for the win…
Lio Rush beat Jason Kincaid to advance in the Top Prospect Tournament.
Powell’s POV: This was easily the best match of the tournament and it’s a shame they didn’t save this for last because I want to see more of both guys. Kincaid took fans from chuckling when he removed the top portion of his attire to popping with “this is awesome” chants when he performed his bigger spots. Meanwhile, Rush showed huge potential with some incredibly flashy moves and a competitively arrogant look on his face at just the right times. Keep an eye on Rush especially.
2. Silas Young and The Beer City Bruiser vs. Will Ferrara and Caprice Coleman. Prince Nana sat in on commentary and took credit for pairing Ferrara and Coleman. Kelly spotlighted their past differences as highlights were shown. Silas and Bruiser blew off the pre-match handshakes. Ferrara tried to slam Bruiser at one point, but he collapsed under his weight. Bruiser roughed him up with punches and then slammed Ferrara before tagging Young into the match.
Later, Young and Bruiser performed three moves in a row on Ferrara and Bruiser had him pinned after a splash, but Coleman broke it up. Ferrara avoided a cannonball from Bruiser and made the tag. Coleman had a run of offense. Ferrara snuck in underneath Bruiser as he was on the ropes and powerbombed him. Caprice set up on the top rope, but Silas cut him off. The Boys ran out as Bruiser went after them at ringside. Ferrara performed a diving tornado DDT on Bruiser, then Coleman performed a top rope leg lariat on Silas and pinned him. Silas Young came out and fed The Boys on the stage…
Will Ferrara and Caprice Coleman beat Silas Young and The Beer City Bruiser.
Kelly hyped the main event and an update on the pay-per-view… [C]
Powell’s POV: An entertaining tag match. I can’t complain about Silas and Bruiser losing as I usually do because it helped further their feud with Castle and The Boyz, and it also gave a needed win to Ferrara and Coleman who are teaming together after feuding against one another.
BJ Whitmer and Adam Page headed to the ring to a song named “Emofarm” as highlights of Whitmer attacking Colby Corino were shown. Whitmer said someone approached Corino and wants to take him out. Whitmer said he sees it as lies and empty threats. He said there’s no one in the locker room who wants a piece of him. Whitmer said Corino has three friends in wrestling and one is at the table and doesn’t want to fight him, and the other two don’t work in ROH anymore and forgot Corino exists.
Whitmer called for Corino. who walked onto the stage wearing a suit. Kelly reminded viewers that Corino isn’t the man who will face Whitmer because he recently underwent neck surgery. Corino said nobody cares what Whitmer has to say. Corino promised that one day he will face Whitmer. However, he said someone came to him and said they wanted to take out Whitmer.
“One thing I’ve learned in the last 22 years of my career is to always have eyes in the back of your head,” Corino said. Page spun Whitmer around and told him he was going to put the mic down and beat the holy hell out of Whitmer. Page put the mic down and then punched Whitmer. They traded punches as the crowd chanted for Page. Whitmer tackled Page as referees and security broke them up, and Corino remained on the stage smiling. Both men broke free briefly and fought more heading into the break… [C]
Powell’s POV: That felt a little random and Page telling Whitmer what he was going to do was kinda lame. Still, the live crowd was behind Page. I’m pleasantly surprised to hear Corino promise that he will face Whitmer someday, as that’s a good indication that his surgery went well and he thinks he can return to the ring someday.
Kelly narrated a 14th Anniversary pay-per-view video that highlighted several matches…
3. Mark Briscoe vs. Tough Tim Hughes. Hughes told Briscoe that Brutal Bob Evans told him never to shake hands. Hughes yelled a lot and said “this one is for Bob” before slapping Briscoe. Mark blocked another punch and then performed Redneck Kung Fu for a quick laugh. Briscoe performed a fisherman’s buster suplex and followed up with Froggy Bow for the win. Mark grabbed the hand of Hughes and shook it afterward…
Mark Briscoe defeated Tim Hughes.
Kelly hyped the main event for after the break… [C]
Powell’s POV: Just a random win for Briscoe that filled some television time.
Ring entrances for the tag team main event took place… [C]
[Q4] 4. The Young Bucks vs. ACH and Matt Sydal. Matt Jackson brought one of the IWGP Jr. Tag Titles to mid-ring and shoved it in Sydal’s face. Sydal knocked the belt aside. Jackson spat on his face. The Bucks got off to the fast start and tag team rules disappeared. Sydal and ACH came back. Matt called for a break while selling a thigh injury only to poke Sydal in the eyes. ACH checked in and hit some flashy offense and took out Nick Jackson on the floor with a kick. ACH did the Ballin’ pose, but Nick was there to blast him with a superkick. Sydal performed a double huracanrana on the Bucks, who came right back with a double superkick. [C]
Tag team rules were back in play coming out of the break. Well, at least there were only two men in the ring at the time. Matt mocked ACH and charged the corner, but ACH moved and Matt hit his brother instead. ACH caught Matt with a face-first slam and then made the hot tag to Sydal, who had a flurry of offense on both opponents that included a standing moonsault on Matt for a two count.
Later, ACH went for a dive between the ropes. It looked like he was slowed when his foot hit the ropes, but he flew into a double superkick. Nigel said that was two or three mistakes made by ACH during the match. Back in the ring, Sydal went for the Shooting Star Press on Nick, who rolled out of the way. Sydal landed on his feet, but Matt was there to blast him with a superkick. The Bucks performed double team moves on Sydal. They set up for their More Bang For Your Buck finisher, but Sydal got his knees up. Moments later, Sydal performed his own Shooting Star Press finisher on Matt Jackson and pinned him clean. Nigel put it over as a huge win for ACH and Sydal to beat the IWGP Jr. Tag Champions…
ACH and Matt Sydal beat The Young Bucks.
Powell’s POV: A good spot-fest main event with a surprising outcome. I like the move because it really is a credibility boosting win for ACH and Sydal, and it gives the Bucks something to overcome rather than working random tag matches. Once again, though, it’s just another strong main event that was thrown out there without any build aside from Kevin Kelly hyping it on commentary. Overall, this was a good show with the best Top Prospect Tournament match of the bunch, the and two tag team matches that had upset finishes.
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