ROH Honorable Mention: ROH Reloaded Tour
Ring of Honor‘s television show this week emanated from Sam’s Town in Las Vegas, Nevada. The episode was the second of the tapings from the night after Death Before Dishonor, transitioning to a new ROH World Heavyweight champion as well as the company’s next PPV, All Star Extravaganza on September 30th.The company also ran two shows this weekend as part of the ROH Reloaded tour.
Adam Cole Can’t Dodge Kyle O’Reilly
Last week’s show saw Adam Cole’s championship celebration cut short by Jay Lethal coming out to remind Cole that Lethal is entitled to a title shot. Cole however, reminded Lethal that aside from being the best wrestler in the company, he is also flanked by the Bullet Club, making him virtually unbeatable. Lethal then brought out his own friends, Los Ingoberables to even the odds. Nigel McGuinness made a match for the following week pitting Cole, Adam Page and Takahashi against Lethal, Naito and Evil. It seemed odd that Lethal would pick two partners who would not always be around to have his back and this week that concern proved to be well founded.
During the six man showdown, Naito teased Lethal by not allowing him to tag in and get some revenge on Cole, who had been avoiding the confrontation. Lethal forcefully tagged himself in, which prompted Naito and Evil to leave the match all together, leaving Lethal outnumbered. Cue Michael Elgin’s music, who came down to even the odds. Big Mike was able to use brute strength to dominate the Bullet Club, but as Lethal was incapacitated, the numbers finally overwhelmed him as well. Kyle O’Reilly was the next man to run down to the ring, officially joining the match and essentially restarting it. Although Cole did his best to avoid O’Reilly, his former partner was able to get the best of him, and with both teams on equal footing, Lethal was able to win the match after hitting Takahashi with the Lethal Injection.
Before the main event started, Lethal was pacing behind Kelly and McGuinness, clearly still fuming about what went out during his match. He grabbed a mic and called Naito out for turning his back on him, vowing to gain a measure of revenge in the future. Before he could leave, Nigel made a match between Lethal and Naito for All Star Extravaganza, but reminded Lethal that the last time Jay asked for a match, he lived to regret it. This was a heavy-handed reminder that Lethal lost the title from a seemingly face matchmaker, but the match should be a great one and gives something Lethal a meaningful match on a night that Cole defends against Elgin.
Bobby Fish Fends off Shibata
In a great use of NJPW talent, Bobby Fish defend his ROH World Television title against Shibata. The match featured stiff strikes and submissions, with the IWGP looking strong, but eventually being outsmarted by Fish. Locked in a triangle choke, Fish used leverage to pin Shibata while still in the maneuver, defending his title successfully. The use of Prince Nana on commentary to remind the listening audience of Donovan Dijak’s number contender status was an effective use of the commentary position and allowed Nana to be his usual hilarious self. Post match both Shibata and Fish agreed to have another match down the road, all while Dijak stood menacingly at the top of the ramp, reminding us that before Fish can defend against Shibata, he needs to get past Dijak at All Star Extravaganza.
ROH Reloaded Tour- Bull Dempsey Makes ROH Debut
Ring of Honor hit the road this weekend, with shows in Pittsburgh,PA Friday night and Lockport,NY Saturday night as part of the Reloaded tour. The tour featured Colt Cabana returning to wrestle for the company and an appearance by CZW champion Jonathan Gresham, as well as Dalton Castle being inserted into the main event picture.
The first show in Pittsburgh saw Kelly Klein put matter into her own hands, using the End of the Match guillotine choke to her keep her undefeated streak in tact, as she teamed with Britt Baker and Veda Scott to topple Mandy Leon, Faye Jackson and “Crazy” Mary Dobson to start the festivities off. Hopefully when the video on demand is released, the Women of Honor are included on the show proper and not only through the company’s Youtube channel.
As pwinsider reported, an Honor Rumble on Saturday night saw former NXT wrestler Bull Dempsey, now known as Bull James not only appear, but make it to the final four against Silas Young, Jay Lethal and B.J. Whitmer’s protege Punisher Martinez. Having James appear in the final four speaks volumes about how the company values him and he may be positioned on the card in the coming months. With the departure of Cedric Alexander and Roderick Strong to WWE, as well as Moose’s signing with TNA, ROH needs to sign more talent that will consistently appear on their shows. James may not spring to mind as everybody’s first choice at filling the gap left behind by departing talent, but he is a solid worker who can be a believable tough guy in the company.
Silas Young picked up the win and earned a title shot against Adam Cole during the Road To Final Battle tour that will take place in Lakeland, Florida. Young has time and again proven himself to be worthy of more than losing mid-card feuds and despite going into the match as having a slim chance to become champion, a strong showing will go a long way to further his spot on the roster. There will be one more show on the Reloaded tour before All Star Extravaganza and all signs point to ROH building to a solid PPV from top to bottom.
