Tony Khan Buys ROH

[WyattSheepMask]

All I’ve seen so far is Vikingo taking 3 attempts to hit a Springboard Moonsault while Black Taurus just stands there like a fucking idiot. Not selling anything, just standing there like he’s waiting for a bus

[LaGoosh]

Blackpool Combat Club vs FTR and Mark Briscoe was bloody fantastic and well worth seeking out. 

[Lorne Malvo]

Enjoyed this show, for the most part. They did a good job of mic'ing the crowd considering it looked like nobody was there.

Vikingo vs Black Taurus was a weird one. It seemed like Vikingo was half a step behind for some of this which lead to some nasty looking bumps and awkward moments.

The Trios match was fun. Gates of Agony & Cage have been doing good work in ROH for a while now, I wouldn't be against them holding the AEW trios titles at some point. Bad Dude Tito had a great night, would love to see more of him.

Ethan Page vs Tony Nese was great! It's just been the epitome of a strong mid-card feud, this. The crowd loved it and if it leads to another Men Of The Year run that can only be a good thing.

Survival Of The Fittest may be my match of the night. Kyle Fletcher is an absolute stud. Fantastic closing stretch.

Wheeler vs Lawlor was okay but not on the level of recent Wheeler matches. The finish looked shite too with Lawlor's shoulder being up and his foot touching the rope. Not sure why they didn't do Wheeler/Hook here instead.

Wasn't arsed at all about Keith Lee vs Shane Taylor. I'm just glad this feud is over. Reunite them as a tagteam just so Keith Lee has something to do other than shite backstage interviews, please?

I wasn't as up on the BCC vs Dem Top Guys match as everyone else. I loved the first half of it, but when they restarted the match as no DQ I lost interest a bit. 

Eddie Kingston vs Anthony Henry didn't really need to be on this show. I love JD Drake but have never quite bought into Henry and I've realised why, it's because he's a complete CM Punk circa 2008 ripoff. His moveset, his mannerisms, his gear, the taunts/poses etc, it's all Punk.

Starkz vs Athena was a fantastic main event. Starkz is phenomenal in-ring considering her age. I'm glad they kept the belt on Athena too. The post-match with Starkz agreeing to be Athena's minion again was really odd and seems to contradict the whole stoy of this feud but I'll see where it goes. 

 

Edited December 17, 2023 by Lorne Malvo

[Infinity Land]

Vikingo v. Black Taurus, Yuta v. Lawlor, SOTF, BCC v. FTR & Mark Briscoe and the main event were all worth a watch.

One of the problems with going to HonorClub instead of PPV is that with Zero Hour that was over 5hrs of wrestling. Eddie Kingston v. Anthony Henry and Nyla Rose v. VertVixen probably shouldn't have made the main card.

A benefit to not being on PPV for ROH is if they start running more big events than the 3 they have. Checked the calendar and the Anniversary date would fall on Friday next year. Bring back the Anniversary show and something between DBD-Final Battle.

Happy to see the MOTY reunion. Although it's a catch-22. I'd consider them an act that AEW need for their tag division, but if you saw Ethan Page talk during the press conference you can see he's asset to ROH. Just like he did during the days of Dark/Elevation and made the best of the situation, he's done the same on ROH.

A spoiler from last night's tapings:

Spoiler

A Women's TV title is being introduced. It's complicated because Athena's run overshadows everyone right now, but there's probably enough depth within the ROH rotation to make a secondary title work.

 

[Tim Healys Chutney Spoon]

16 hours ago, Infinity Land said:

Vikingo v. Black Taurus, Yuta v. Lawlor, SOTF, BCC v. FTR & Mark Briscoe and the main event were all worth a watch.

One of the problems with going to HonorClub instead of PPV is that with Zero Hour that was over 5hrs of wrestling. Eddie Kingston v. Anthony Henry and Nyla Rose v. VertVixen probably shouldn't have made the main card.

A benefit to not being on PPV for ROH is if they start running more big events than the 3 they have. Checked the calendar and the Anniversary date would fall on Friday next year. Bring back the Anniversary show and something between DBD-Final Battle.

Happy to see the MOTY reunion. Although it's a catch-22. I'd consider them an act that AEW need for their tag division, but if you saw Ethan Page talk during the press conference you can see he's asset to ROH. Just like he did during the days of Dark/Elevation and made the best of the situation, he's done the same on ROH.

A spoiler from last night's tapings:

  Hide contents

A Women's TV title is being introduced. It's complicated because Athena's run overshadows everyone right now, but there's probably enough depth within the ROH rotation to make a secondary title work.

 

Spoiler

We all know TK loves a title...bet there'll be a tournament for it too...

 

[BomberPat]

I really enjoyed Final Battle, having not kept up with ROH TV, though it's a struggle to figure out exactly who or what these ROH PPVs are for. Some of it is supplementary AEW stuff, some of it is standalone, some of it feels like showcases for the AAA guys, a try-out match, or a "give the locals a little something" situation like the Von Erichs match, so it has the feel of AEW Dark on a larger stage. That works for me, but it doesn't necessarily feel sustainable. But if Tony Khan is happy to run with whatever this is, it has a place.

What I find interesting about it is that we're always surrounded by discourse about what Tony Khan does or doesn't like in his booking - he apparently hates women's wrestling, for example - but ROH potentially gives us a glimpse at a clearer picture of what Khan actually wants his wrestling to look like, once the pressures of TV networks, advertisers, and other external pressures are off. There's much less goofy comedy than AEW, more women's matches taken more seriously, a more diverse roster, and that kind of "revolving door" feeling I loved about early AEW where it felt like pretty much anyone could show up for a one-off. In some ways, it feels like what AEW could be if it weren't in some ways a victim of its own success. Of course, the less generous reading would be that it's his secondary brand and he just doesn't give it as much thought, so more stuff that wouldn't make it onto AEW TV just slips through the cracks, but given how much he seems to care about ROH (sometimes to the detriment of AEW), I'm not sure how likely that is.

 

One thing that really stood out to me was some of the worst camerawork and production I've ever seen in wrestling during the BCC vs. Briscoe/FTR match. It happened a few times in subsequent matches, so maybe had happened all along, but was particularly egregious in the six-man - they would cut really abruptly from hard cam to another, lower quality, static camera on the opposite of the ring, so one second the BCC would be in the top-right hand corner of the ring, and in the next second they would be in the bottom-right corner. It makes following a tag team match really disorienting and jarring, as you lose the clear sense of the space, and the very simple dynamic of a babyface moving slowly from left-to-right or vice-versa to reach their corner, because that sense of direction gets all fucked up. 

[Lorne Malvo]

@BomberPat I completely forgot about them constantly switching the hardcam halfway through the show. Really weird production choice. The 2nd hard cam facing the crowd was a much better visual than the one facing the ramp so not sure why they didn't go with this originally.

[Fog Dude]

21 hours ago, Lorne Malvo said:

Starkz vs Athena was a fantastic main event. Starkz is phenomenal in-ring considering her age. I'm glad they kept the belt on Athena too. The post-match with Starkz agreeing to be Athena's minion again was really odd and seems to contradict the whole stoy of this feud but I'll see where it goes. 

It's nothing the big leagues haven't done with their women's divisions. Decades ago, Gail Kim agreed to be Molly Holly's sidekick just a week or two after dropping the belt to her in WWE. Still doesn't mean it makes much sense, but ROH isn't uniquely guilty in that regard. 

[Supremo]

Billy Gunn, Max Caster and Anthony Bowens, spending their Friday Night first watching that bonkers Lucha match on Rampage, then the BCC and Dem Top Guys knocking seven shades of shite out of each other on this show.

I love The Acclaimed, but fucking hell. They’re the worst part of what could be an absolutely phenomenal Trios Division. Any and all of these teams would be so much better as Champions. To quote a great man, the idea of keeping the belts on The Acclaimed much longer? You must have bumped your fuckin’ head, boy!

Edited December 18, 2023 by Supremo

[JLM]

Zero hour was an eclectic one. I was wondering where Taya Valkyrie has been. 

I do enjoy the Outrunners, especially Turbo Floyd. Them shaking each other's hands instead of their opponents' at the start was amusing. The match was a stinker though, largely thanks to Ross Von Erich, who was very obviously being carried and/or directed by everyone in the match but still couldn't be saved. The Outrunners tried their best, his brother had to correct him on which way to send the opponent into the ropes for a double team. He botched a monkey flip, he botched the double hip toss, he botched rolling out of the way of a top rope move. He almost botched a kick at one point. Not a dropkick, just a regular kick. Flipping heck. 

Jack Cartwheel vs Brian Keith was a cracking little match. Enjoyed Cartwheel on his previous cameo appearances on Dark/Elevation, but he really got a chance to impress here in a longer match. One of the few times I've ever enjoyed seeing a live chat going on whilst watching something. Comments went from "lol his gimmick is cartwheels" to being won over by some of the truly unique stuff he can do, then by the end the overwhelming majority were sad that he lost. One scary moment with Cartwheel grazing the ropes on a space flying tiger drop but he managed to save it. Other than that it was a brilliant showcase for him despite the loss. 

By far the highlight of Zero Hour though, was Daniel Garcia vs Blake Christian. Would actually recommend going back to watch this one, and I say that as someone who usually struggles to watch Blake Christian matches because his look turns me off so much. Right at the start they had Danny being a bit too cocky and Christian giving him a swift slap across the face for it, and they had me from there. It set the tone beautifully and the match had a great intensity for the remainder. Fantastic chemistry between them too, loads of great counters and sequences that played with your expectations, brilliant fire from Garcia whenever he had to fight from underneath. Very high quality match and one I'd like to see revisited on a bigger stage. 

Working through the main card in multiple sittings so will post some more stuff about that later, just wanted to highlight that Garcia and Christian match as I really enjoyed it.

Still have Collision from Saturday to watch as well. Too much wrestling!  

Edited December 19, 2023 by JLM

[Kfogg1991]

Got final battle on now check a couple of bits out from it. 

Got instantly giddy when I saw the opening match is vikingo Vs Taurus but Christ he's really having an off showing the Dive outside never great when you fuck it off and re try it three times before fucking off and doing something else, the amazing springboard from the middle rope outside doing the phoenix Star splash never fails to blow my mind but he bollocked that up and landed on his knees. 

Shame cos he is a stunning luchadore but yeah not a great day in the office 

[JLM]

Oh yeah one other note from Zero Hour YouTube live chat. Someone remarked “Bryan Keith’s pants are slowly consuming him like a snake”. I have to admit it hurt his credibility in my eyes. 

[JLM]

Nearly a week later I have made it to the end. STILL haven't seen Collision, so I still need to avoid spoilers for that *and* tonight's Dynamite now until I'm caught up. So. Much. Wrestling. 

Quick note on the crowd; although it was very small I thought they were in outstanding form for the whole show and massively elevated some of these matches. Big props to them. Riccabone and Caprice always a pleasure too, of course.  

Vikingo vs Black Taurus was nearly a superb match. The first few minutes I thought were bloody brilliant. I loved the idea of Black Taurus being the master of anti-airs. Watching him swatting away or catching all of Vikingo's high spots at the start was fantastic. All of his offense looked brutal too, particularly the most explosive crucifix bomb I've ever seen, the powerbomb backbreaker and the truly nutty military press from the top rope. He takes advantage of Vikingo's Spike Dudley factor better than anyone I've seen so far; everyting he did to the little guy looked like attempted murder. Unfortunately Vikingo was off his game and it hurt the match. Taurus standing there while Vikingo went for the springboard moonsault three times was incredibly stupid looking, two or three other botches as well. Taurus made a fan out of me though, what a monster. 

TMDK vs Mogul Embassy was tremendous fun. They wrestled it at the pace of a Dragongate six man tag, and with this amount of beef in the ring it was quite a sight to behold. I generally enjoy Toa and Kaun's work but this still over-delivered for me. Bad Dude Tito also looked fantastic in this one.

Speaking of over-delivering, I cannot believe I sat through, and thoroughly enjoyed, a Tony Nese match of this length. In fairness it's the first time I've seen him involved in something of real substance that I can recall. The video package was effective and the crowd was big into this from the outset, which helped a lot. Great pops for Mark Henry and Scorpio Sky's appearances too. But yeah this was an excellent grudge match. Interesting to see an I Quit match used in a lowe card feud but I thought it worked. The idea was to dunk on the other guy and humiliate them by making them quit, rather than to drink their blood and tear out their soul because they broke into your house. Lower stakes but it allowed them to stack the deck brilliantly against Page throughout, so his final "FUCK YOOUUU!" was a properly triumphant moment. Really good match and not one I expected to like this much. 

Vertvixen and Nyla Rose was a strange inclusion. Basically an ROH TV/Dark/Elevation match on what was an already a long show. 

Survival of the fittest was a belter. Dalton Castle is a treasure. Never ever fails to get a crowd behind him. @Lorne Malvo I think the limitation on Dalton's push is his back rather than the gimmick. I think he has to be very careful about what he does in the ring. He's such a great entertainer and can still throw people around magnificently in short spells, but I think that's all he can be doing post-injuries/surgeries. I'd still love to see him on the main AEW shows far more often than he is currently though, not necessarily doing anything too physical. 

Anywho, yes, this match was bananas. The sequence between Brian Keith and Lee Moriarty leading to Moriarty's elimination was stunning, as was the face off between Keith and Fletcher. Then of course the closing stretch with Fletcher and Komander was out of this world. Amazing showcase for Fletcher and, as I've said before on here, Komander has grown on me massively in the months since his arrival. I think he's a lot more reliable and consistent than Vikingo, and understands the pacing/tempo of a match better as well. Hell of a match. 

Yuta/Lawler was solid. Yuta as the pure champion who bends and breaks the rules in every match is perfect for him. He has the technical chops to pull it off and is also such a little prick. Post match was hilarious. 

Shane Taylor/Keith Lee had its moments but was also fairly dull when it had no reason to be. They should have just wrestled this as a mad sprint and done it in 7 minutes. Throw big haymakers and power moves at each other until one of them wins. I don't need to see super heavyweights plodding it up for 5 minutes at the start to build up to the good bit, by which point they're both on the way to being gassed anyway. Slap the meat with all the intensity you can muster and I guarantee nobody will feel short-changed by a shorter run time. 

Dem Top Guys vs BCC. Well, what to say about this. The only finish I could accept here was Mark Briscoe pinning someone with a Jay Driller, but what a ride we took to get there, and what better final boss for our hero to overcome than this version of Brian Danielson. Credit to the crowd for giving us the "no!" kicks at the end, what a great moment that was. I thought the double count out and then reset into utter madness was an inspired move as it basically allowed them to do two matches, both of them in keeping with the Briscoes' legacy. Above all else though, this felt like Mark Briscoe achieving catharsis through violence. An emotional, dramatic, batshit insane match. Incredible stuff. 

Eddie vs Anthony Henry was... fine. Obviously love Eddie Kingtston but this did not to be on the card and I was too burnt out to be engaged with it. 

Loved the main event. Athena is a candidate for my favourite wrestler of the year, so watching her carry Billie Starkz through an extremely ambitious 25-30 minute main event felt like a victory lap to complete one of the greatest wrestling transformations I've ever seen.  Billie had some nervy/sloppy moments, but for 19 years old it was a frankly miraculous effort. Tonnes of potential with her. Some fantastic facial expressions, too. She's going to be sympathetic getting beaten up as she looks her age, but it was stuff like the smile after she suplexed Athena off the table that showed she already gets it more than many more experienced wrestlers.

I thought the crowd dynamic hurt this for the first half. Athena's home town, Lexi emphasising that before the match, plus if you watch ROH or caught the end of the Dark/Elevation run, Athena has been so fucking good this year she's going to get some cheers. She was being as mean as possible, Billie was bleeding, and the crowd were still not rooting for Billie as much as I'd have liked. Credit to both of them then, that by the closing stretch, after chants of Athena/Women's Wrestling/This is awesome/Duelling chants, the last one of the match was straigt up "Billie". The near fall with Athena getting bonked face first onto the belt like she's done to everyone else was utterly brilliant. What a perfect spot. 

Post-match was a bit disappointing. The whole story of the match was Starkz growing in belief and defiance. I guess eventually getting tapped out showed that she isn't quite there yet, so she has decided she has to hold the loss for now and fall in line. She was obviiously reluctant, and I assume it's part of a long-term plan to build up for round 2.

October 2022 I posted this:  

https://ukff.com/topic/141595-other-aew-shows-discussion-dark-elevation-bte-whatever-else/?do=findComment&comment=3476326

Then over the course of 12 months she went onto become one of my favourite acts in all of pro wrestling. Remarkable. 

Anyway, Final Battle, bloody good show. Too long, could have trimmed some matches, took a few sittings to get through it as a result, but the stuff that hit was more than worth it. 

Edited December 21, 2023 by JLM

[RedRooster]

7 hours ago, JLM said:

Then over the course of 12 months she went onto become one of my favourite acts in all of pro wrestling. Remarkable. 

It's a huge shame that she's not having this run on national television, whether it would be with the AEW Women's title or the TBS title. There's a cracking women's division waiting to happen in AEW - the evidence is right there, in ROH - but for whatever reason Tony Khan just doesn't want to pull the trigger on it. They all deserve better. 

[David]

Excellent write-up as always @JLM a thoroughly enjoyable read.