ROH Supercard of Honor IX
ROH Supercard of Honor IX (3/27/2015)- Redwood City, CA
Kevin Kelly and Adam Cole were on commentary to start this show. This would be the same Adam Cole who has completely refused to speak since Final Battle… so why did ROH put him on commentary? Well… Cole actually explained this, so points to ROH. Cole said that he is being paid to do commentary, so he’ll do his job, but he won’t give ROH the big venting session that he thinks they want. Cole was very good on commentary until he stormed off. He eventually came back and was still very good.
ACH vs. MARK BRISCOE- 6.75/10
FRANKIE KAZARIAN vs. MICHAEL ELGIN- 7.25/10
Great match. Elgin worked over Kaz’s neck, giving Frankie yet another singles loss. They had a great little post-match segment involving Daniels, too, which resulted in Elgin doing more damage to Kaz’s neck and also damaging Daniels’ back with a chair.
SIX MAN MAYHEM MATCH: Andrew Everett vs. Matt Sydal vs. Caprice Coleman vs. Cedric Alexander vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Moose (w/Veda Scott & Stokely Hathaway)- 6.75/10
The standard spottiness, but a great showcase for Everett in his return to action after fourteen months on the shelf, and a finish that could definitely go somewhere for Sydal and Moose. The stuff that they did with the handshake lines both before and after the match did a great job of getting over the stories for both Moose and Cedric. The undercard definitely seems like it will have quite a few interesting things going on this spring and summer.
NO DISQUALIFICATIONS MATCH: Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer (w/Colby Corino)- 8/10
Jimmy Jacobs fighting for a cause he believes in and having a violent match against BJ Whitmer with references to past matches in their careers (particularly the tease of the powerbomb that almost killed Jimmy at Dragon Gate Challenge nine years ago this very weekend, and their callback to the same spot a few months later at In Your Face). A perfect final match for Jimmy’s ROH career.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- PERFECT!
More of the same, tying things in Jimmy’s past together. Whitmer using â€"I love you little brother†as the signal to have Colby attack Jimmy was heartbreaking, but having Lacey come out and make the save and seeing those two get back together made it all completely worth it, and they ended the emotional roller-coaster that has been Jimmy Jacobs' ROH career on a perfect high note: Ballad of Lacey started to play and they shared a hug and a kiss and then hopped over the guardrail (like Jimmy often didd before cutting a promo in his Age of the Fall days, but this time going into the crowd instead of coming out of it) and walking through the crowd and out the front door (like Jimmy did at End of an Age, the last time he left ROH) and walked off happily into the future together, just like they should have.
As a longtime fan of ROH, and particularly of Jimmy Jacobs' work in ROH, this moment means just as much to me as some of the other iconic babyface moments in ROH history. This is just as much of a well-deserved payoff as the big title wins of Homicide, Nigel, and Gibson; as much as much as Nigel and Dragon’s last match, or Punk on his knees, overcome by emotion and buried in streamers. This is the happy ending that Jimmy Jacobs deserves, and is the kind of happy ending that only a character as rich and fleshed-out and human as Jimmy Jacobs could possibly have. It doesn’t matter what else happens: THIS is my Wrestling Moment of the Year.
CHRISTOPHER DANIELS vs. RODERICK STRONG- 7.5/10
So not only did Daniels get hit in the back with a chair earlier, but now he has to wrestle RODDY? Yeah… he’s screwed. They told the obvious story of Roddy working over Daniels’ back, and it worked. I totally marked out for the Calgary variation of the Stronghold, but that’s because I’m a huge Lance Storm fan.
ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: reDRagon(c)(w/â€Filthy†Tom Lawlorâ€) vs. The Kingdom (w/Maria Kanellis)- 7.75/10
The Kingdom have gotten themselves matching ugly-looking zip-up hoodies. They had a great match that was also a lot fun. The KRD got involved at one point, helping the Kingdom. Bennett held Fish while the KRD guy went for a superkick (teasing that it is Adam Cole- who had stormed off from commentary earlier in the night- and that he isn’t as injured as he claims to be), but Fish ducked it and the kick accidentally nailed Bennett. Fish then sent the KRD guy to the outside, hit a brainbuster and got the pin to retain the titles. If the KRD hadn’t been involved in the finish, I’d probably have given this an 8/10. I am just so sick and tired of this angle already.
ROH TV TITLE MATCH: Jay Lethal(c) vs. Jushin â€"Thunder†Luger- 7.5/10
Liger is FIFTY… and he still has it.
ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Jay Briscoe(c) vs. Samoa Joe- 8.25/10
This is the definitely the title defense of Briscoe's that had the most big-match feel to it so far (although I haven’t seen the Fight Without Honor with Adam Cole on DVD/PPV yet because I was there live and everything has a big-match feel when you’re live). More importantly, though the match was awesome (aside from that one chair-throwing spot that should have been a DQ). I really hope the rumors of Joe only being around for a few more shows aren’t true. To steal Cero2k’s perfect summation of the post-match stuff here:
â€"Joe raises Briscoe's hand in victory, and you can almost tell that Joe is proud of how far Briscoe has gone.â€
Another awesome show from ROH this year. From top to bottom there wasn’t a single match that wasn’t great. Yes, there were only two matches at 8/10 or higher (and I will admit that people who aren’t long-time fans of Jimmy Jacobs’ work in ROH will probably rate Jacobs vs. Whitmer lower than I did), but almost everything on the card came close to it. It is very much like Manhattan Mayhem; everything was great, but there was no single blow-away match… although this show did have an absolutely blow-away moment in Jimmy Jacobs’ ROH farewell. I’m not saying this show is better than Manhattan Mayhem was, but I certainly wouldn’t fault anyone for making the argument. Definitely a show you should buy, and a must-have if you are a fan of Jimmy Jacobs.
DVD EXCLUSIVE BONUS MATCH: Romantic Touch vs. Shane Taylor (From 4/4/2015)- 4/10
I was surprised that they managed to come up with a way for RT to plausibly beat this huge beast of a man.
Kevin Kelly and Adam Cole were on commentary to start this show. This would be the same Adam Cole who has completely refused to speak since Final Battle… so why did ROH put him on commentary? Well… Cole actually explained this, so points to ROH. Cole said that he is being paid to do commentary, so he’ll do his job, but he won’t give ROH the big venting session that he thinks they want. Cole was very good on commentary until he stormed off. He eventually came back and was still very good.
ACH vs. MARK BRISCOE- 6.75/10
FRANKIE KAZARIAN vs. MICHAEL ELGIN- 7.25/10
Great match. Elgin worked over Kaz’s neck, giving Frankie yet another singles loss. They had a great little post-match segment involving Daniels, too, which resulted in Elgin doing more damage to Kaz’s neck and also damaging Daniels’ back with a chair.
SIX MAN MAYHEM MATCH: Andrew Everett vs. Matt Sydal vs. Caprice Coleman vs. Cedric Alexander vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Moose (w/Veda Scott & Stokely Hathaway)- 6.75/10
The standard spottiness, but a great showcase for Everett in his return to action after fourteen months on the shelf, and a finish that could definitely go somewhere for Sydal and Moose. The stuff that they did with the handshake lines both before and after the match did a great job of getting over the stories for both Moose and Cedric. The undercard definitely seems like it will have quite a few interesting things going on this spring and summer.
NO DISQUALIFICATIONS MATCH: Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer (w/Colby Corino)- 8/10
Jimmy Jacobs fighting for a cause he believes in and having a violent match against BJ Whitmer with references to past matches in their careers (particularly the tease of the powerbomb that almost killed Jimmy at Dragon Gate Challenge nine years ago this very weekend, and their callback to the same spot a few months later at In Your Face). A perfect final match for Jimmy’s ROH career.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- PERFECT!
More of the same, tying things in Jimmy’s past together. Whitmer using â€"I love you little brother†as the signal to have Colby attack Jimmy was heartbreaking, but having Lacey come out and make the save and seeing those two get back together made it all completely worth it, and they ended the emotional roller-coaster that has been Jimmy Jacobs' ROH career on a perfect high note: Ballad of Lacey started to play and they shared a hug and a kiss and then hopped over the guardrail (like Jimmy often didd before cutting a promo in his Age of the Fall days, but this time going into the crowd instead of coming out of it) and walking through the crowd and out the front door (like Jimmy did at End of an Age, the last time he left ROH) and walked off happily into the future together, just like they should have.
As a longtime fan of ROH, and particularly of Jimmy Jacobs' work in ROH, this moment means just as much to me as some of the other iconic babyface moments in ROH history. This is just as much of a well-deserved payoff as the big title wins of Homicide, Nigel, and Gibson; as much as much as Nigel and Dragon’s last match, or Punk on his knees, overcome by emotion and buried in streamers. This is the happy ending that Jimmy Jacobs deserves, and is the kind of happy ending that only a character as rich and fleshed-out and human as Jimmy Jacobs could possibly have. It doesn’t matter what else happens: THIS is my Wrestling Moment of the Year.
CHRISTOPHER DANIELS vs. RODERICK STRONG- 7.5/10
So not only did Daniels get hit in the back with a chair earlier, but now he has to wrestle RODDY? Yeah… he’s screwed. They told the obvious story of Roddy working over Daniels’ back, and it worked. I totally marked out for the Calgary variation of the Stronghold, but that’s because I’m a huge Lance Storm fan.
ROH WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH: reDRagon(c)(w/â€Filthy†Tom Lawlorâ€) vs. The Kingdom (w/Maria Kanellis)- 7.75/10
The Kingdom have gotten themselves matching ugly-looking zip-up hoodies. They had a great match that was also a lot fun. The KRD got involved at one point, helping the Kingdom. Bennett held Fish while the KRD guy went for a superkick (teasing that it is Adam Cole- who had stormed off from commentary earlier in the night- and that he isn’t as injured as he claims to be), but Fish ducked it and the kick accidentally nailed Bennett. Fish then sent the KRD guy to the outside, hit a brainbuster and got the pin to retain the titles. If the KRD hadn’t been involved in the finish, I’d probably have given this an 8/10. I am just so sick and tired of this angle already.
ROH TV TITLE MATCH: Jay Lethal(c) vs. Jushin â€"Thunder†Luger- 7.5/10
Liger is FIFTY… and he still has it.
ROH WORLD TITLE MATCH: Jay Briscoe(c) vs. Samoa Joe- 8.25/10
This is the definitely the title defense of Briscoe's that had the most big-match feel to it so far (although I haven’t seen the Fight Without Honor with Adam Cole on DVD/PPV yet because I was there live and everything has a big-match feel when you’re live). More importantly, though the match was awesome (aside from that one chair-throwing spot that should have been a DQ). I really hope the rumors of Joe only being around for a few more shows aren’t true. To steal Cero2k’s perfect summation of the post-match stuff here:
â€"Joe raises Briscoe's hand in victory, and you can almost tell that Joe is proud of how far Briscoe has gone.â€
Another awesome show from ROH this year. From top to bottom there wasn’t a single match that wasn’t great. Yes, there were only two matches at 8/10 or higher (and I will admit that people who aren’t long-time fans of Jimmy Jacobs’ work in ROH will probably rate Jacobs vs. Whitmer lower than I did), but almost everything on the card came close to it. It is very much like Manhattan Mayhem; everything was great, but there was no single blow-away match… although this show did have an absolutely blow-away moment in Jimmy Jacobs’ ROH farewell. I’m not saying this show is better than Manhattan Mayhem was, but I certainly wouldn’t fault anyone for making the argument. Definitely a show you should buy, and a must-have if you are a fan of Jimmy Jacobs.
DVD EXCLUSIVE BONUS MATCH: Romantic Touch vs. Shane Taylor (From 4/4/2015)- 4/10
I was surprised that they managed to come up with a way for RT to plausibly beat this huge beast of a man.