By Jason Powell
Ring of Honor TV
Taped February 6 in Nashville, Tennessee at Municipal Auditorium
Aired in syndication over the weekend, available Wednesdays on Comet TV
ROH opened with Dalton Castle and The Boyz delivering a promo while music played. Castle spoke about how he was drawing himself a bath the other night and he realized he was very hungry. He said it wasn’t sweets that he craved, it was victory. Castle said he has his eyes on the moon and he’s going to take it, which means he’s going to break Christopher Daniels’ heart in the main event… The show opening aired… Steve Corino and Mr. Wrestling III (Steve Corino) were on commentary…
Powell’s POV: The Castle promo was a nice change of pace from the usual opening and effectively hyped the main event. I’ve been critical of ROH for just throwing too many main events out there, so hopefully this is a step to them addressing that issue.
1. Brian Fury vs. Lio Rush in the Top Prospect Tournament final. Footage aired of the promos cut by both men after their semifinal wins. Corino referred to Rush as “the million dollar rookie” and then spoke about how he is a rookie and Fury is an experienced veteran. Rush performed a couple of impressive high spots, but Fury ran him into the guardrail heading into the break. [C]
Fury turned Rush inside out with a nice clothesline. Rush went for a Popup Powerbomb that he used to win his previous match, but Rush turned it into a huracanrana and followed up with a DDT for a two count. Fury came back and got a near fall of his own. He went for a superplex, but Rush pushed him off and performed a frogsplash for two.
Fury ended up hitting a Popup Powerbomb and went for the cover, but Rush kicked out. Moments later, Rush turned him inside out and got the win. Nigel McGuinness and Cary Silkin came out and congratulated Rush… [C]
Lio Rush beat Brian Fury to win the Top Prospect Tournament.
Powell’s POV: A solid match to close the tournament and the right guy obviously went over. The live crowd didn’t add much to the match and there were plenty of empty seats opposite the hard camera compared to when the taping started. Rush made a good impression in each of his three tournament matches and I am hopeful that ROH has a plan in place to capitalize on this rather than just add him to the undercard mix. I enjoyed this year’s tournament more than I did in recent years.
Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly delivered a backstage promo and hyped next week’s tag team gauntlet match…
2. Moose vs. Kongo. Corino hyped the ROH 14th Anniversary pay-per-view replay. He noted that Stokely Hathaway was watching at home and was proud of Moose. Moose took the fight to ringside and ran toward Kongo, who whipped Moose into the guardrail and then followed up with a cannonball. In the end, Moose put Kongo away a spear.
Moose pinned Kongo.
Kelly and Corino hyped the main event… [C]
Powell’s POV: Imagine if the late Umaga were still with us and had never stepped foot in a gym. Now you have some idea what Kongo looks like. I’m surprised Moose gave up as much offense as he did.
The Young Bucks cut a promo in front of the ROH logo backstage. Nick Jackson said they signed with ROH to be part of the tag division. Matt Jackson said they want competition. They hyped their involvement in the tag team gauntlet match…
Kelly set up footage of Mike “P-Dogg” Posey and his posse delivering an in-ring promo before the show. Kelly said the fans were one step away from evacuating the arena when Cheeseburger came out to save the day. They actually showed Cheesburger performing a palm strike on one of the female sidekicks and doing the same to Posey…
Kelly hyped the stars of New Japan Pro Wrestling appearing on ROH television beginning two weeks from now…
Footage aired of Veda Scott offering Jonathan Grehsam money to give up his ROH TV Title shot…
3. Cedric Alexander (w/Veda Scott) vs. Adam Page. Before the match, BJ Whitmer ran out and attacked Page and put the boots to him. Alexander joined in on the beating. Gresham ran out for the save and was outnumbered by the heels. Corino questioned what the alliance is between Alexander and Whitmer. Page took a mic and said Whitmer can run but he can’t hide. He said it’s not over between them…
Cedric Alexander vs. Adam Page never got started.
Powell’s POV: An alliance between Whitmer and Alexander? I didn’t think things could get worse for the underutilized Alexander, but I’ll be damned. I don’t even know why Page and Whitmer are feuding. I just wish it would stop.
A recap aired of the Dalton Castle and Beer City Bruiser win over The Boys, and the beating they gave Castle afterward… Ring entrances for the main event took place. Silas Young sat in on commentary and said Daniels asked him to be there…
4. Christopher Daniels (w/Frankie Kazarian) vs. Dalton Castle (w/The Boys). Silas stood up and it distracted Castle. Silas said he was just straightening his pants out. He said sometimes you have to adjust things. Kelly noted that security was standing behind Young at ringside because of the issues between he and Castle. Silas said he’s finished with Castle because he’s already beaten him twice.
Castle and Daniels had an entertaining bit early with Daniels mimicking what Castle did. He tried to lean back like Castle does and fell over. Castle showed off his strength by picking up Daniels from the mat and performing a version of the fallaway slam. Castle also threw a nice running knee to the head of Daniels from the ring apron that knocked Daniels to the floor. They cut to the final break a short time later. [C]
Castle performed a nice suplex into a bridge for a two count. Kazarian jawed at Castle from ringside and Dalton gave it right back to him. Castle charged Daniels in the corner, but Daniels moved and Castle tumbled to the floor. Castle came right back with a huracanrana on the floor and then ducked a punch from Kazarian and punched him out.
Daniels avoided a high cross body block. Kazarian handed Daniels a pair of pliers, but one of The Boys rubbed a feather into the eyes of Daniels. Kazarian took out the boy. Castle took out Kazarian. Castle went for his finisher, but Daniels avoided it and performed an Angel’s Wings Suplex and got the win…
Christopher Daniels beat Dalton Castle.
After the match, Silas jawed at Castle about losing match. Dalton admitted he lost, but he said he is fantastic. He said he is going to win every championship the world has to offer. Castle said he can’t do what while he’s so focussed on Young. Dalton said he feels like Young’s face on the outside. Dalton said he wants to end this. Without a mic, Young said he already has. Dalton said he wants to end this with a fight. He said he doesn’t want security guards or rules. Dalton said he wants a Fight Without Honor. Silas nodded in approval and then Castle posed for the crowd…
Powell’s POV: The outcome of the match made no sense to me because Daniels is a tag wrestler at this point and loses as many matches as he wins, while Castle is a standout singles wrestler. It would have been fine if Silas had interfered, but watching Daniels essentially win clean was a head scratcher. The Castle vs. Silas feud continues to entertain me. I know there is some grumbling amongst fans that it has gone on too long, but I am still enjoying their feud and I look forward to what they are billing as the final chapter. I hope there’s a real plan in place for both men coming out of this.
Overall, the show was decent at best. I am disappointed that they didn’t make their pay-per-view feel more important and this show feel more relevant by inserting some promos taped in Las Vegas into this show. We still have one more show left in the can from the pre pay-per-view taping, so the shows taped the night after the pay-per-view will begin airing in two weeks.
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