ROH Winter Warriors Tour: Dayton
Dayton, Ohio 1/31/15
1.) The Romantic Touch vs. Will Ferrara: ***
These two are usually in situations where they’re putting other guys over, but here, they’re taking on each other, which means one of them has to win! While the match itself was pretty inconsequential, it ended up being much better than I anticipated! This was a solid opener! I don’t know what it was, but both guys just worked very well together. Ferrara would pick up the win here. Don’t skip this match, because it’ll surprise you.
2.) "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin vs. Chris Dickinson: ***¾
Here we have the very much anticipated debut of “The Dirty Daddy” Chris Dickinson! He’s clashed before with Michael Elgin in the past (particularly in the Main Event of Beyond Wrestling’s Americanrana 2014), so these two are definitely familiar with each other coming. I thought this was a really good match, bordering on great! These two just beat the crap out of each other right at the opening bell, and didn’t let up until the end. If you enjoy hard-hitting matches, then you’ll like this one. Elgin would eventually get the win, but Dickinson looked good in defeat. I would have liked to have seen more of Dickinson in ROH, but if recent rumors are true, he fell out of ROH’s favor after what happened between him and Kimber Lee at a Beyond Wrestling event that would occur a month or two after this show (I’ll definitely be talking about that show sometime in the future).
3.) Michael Bennett (with Matt Taven & Maria Kanellis) vs. "Sicilian Psychopath" Tommaso Ciampa: ***
Both Taven & Maria are out with Bennett, so you know something’s going down sooner or later. The match itself was actually pretty solid. Bennett & Ciampa were in the middle of having a really good match until continued outside interference from The Kingdom, and later, Hanson getting involved, forced the match to be thrown own. Don’t let the fact that this match ended in a No Contest deter you. The match is still worth watching, for what it was.
As I just mentioned about, Bennett vs. Ciampa ended in a No Contest after Matt Taven & Maria Kanellis continually interfered, followed by Hanson coming out to help Ciampa. Taven then took the mic and challenged Hanson & Ciampa to a tag match against himself & Bennett (probably thinking that those two couldn’t get along because they’re part of the ROH World Title Match at the 13th Anniversary Show), and it looks like that’s what we’re going to get!
4.) The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Michael Bennett with Maria Kanellis) vs. Hanson & "Sicilian Psychopath" Tommaso Ciampa: ****1/4
I wasn’t sure what we were going to get out of this impromptu tag team match (especially since Hanson & Ciampa are part of the ROH World Title situation), but this ended up being WAAAAAAY better than I anticipated!! In fact, I’d say it was practically tied with the Main Event as the second best match on the show. This was fantastic!! These four just worked really well together (I’m sure the fact that all four coming out of New England, where they’ve surely worked together before, has something to do with it) and produced an exciting tag team contest! Ciampa & Hanson were fun to watch as a team, and while a lot of people dislike The Kingdom, this was one of their best efforts in 2015. It was action-packed from start to finish, and the crowd was really into it! Ciampa & Hanson get the win here in a can’t-miss tag team match.
After intermission, Kevin Kelly interviews a local ROH fan who’s going to be competiting on The Amazing Race. They interrupted by The House of Truth. Lethal cuts a promo about his match with Alberto El Patron at the 13th Anniversary Show, and The House of Truth starts to bully this person a little bit. He then mentions that he has “a few friends”, who turn out to be Cheeseburger & Samson Walker, who is being called “Big Mac” for this match.
5.) The House of Truth (ROH World TV Champion Jay Lethal & Jay Diesel with Truth Martini) vs. Cheeseburger & Big Mac (aka Samson Walker): **1/2
Now this is certainly an interesting match to look back on. It was the worst match on the show, but that doesn’t mean it was bad. For a match that came right after intermission, it was perfectly fine. Diesel would get the win for his team after pinning Cheeseburger. No much else to say about this one.
6.) The Decade (Jimmy Jacobs & BJ Whitmer) vs. Aeroform (Louis Lyndon & Flip Kendrick): ***
It’s pretty cool to see Louis Lyndon & Flip Kendrick getting an opportunity here! Unfortunately, The Decade doesn’t see things the same way. Jacobs cuts a promo before the match, and decides to wrestle in street clothes. He takes his sweet-ass time taking his stuff off. This was a fine match. Lyndon & Kendrick got to show some things here, and looked fine in spots, but in the end, The Decade would be too much for them, and would get the win.
After the match, Jimmy Jacobs took his sweet-ass time putting his clothes back on. Hilarious!
7.) Alberto El Patron vs. Roderick Strong: ****1/2
This is easily the biggest challenge Alberto El Patron has faced thus far in ROH, as he takes on the man who has become known as “Mr. ROH”. This match was fantastic!!! It was easily the best Alberto El Patron match I’ve seen in ages (including his WWE run, obviously), and it’s honestly no surprise that it came against Roderick Strong. These two fought each other in an all-out war, and it was awesome to watch. The fact that Strong seemed to have gotten his mouth busted open (or busted his nose up, not sure which) actually added to this match a great deal. The crowd really loved this match as well. Everything just came together so well, and it produced a really amazing match. El Patron eventually got the win with the Cross Armbreaker. Just incredible stuff from these two.
After the match, BJ Whitmer attacked Strong, but El Patron made the save. Jacobs then gets into an argument with Whitmer while Strong & El Patron embrace in the ring.
8.) The Briscoes vs. ACH & Matt Sydal: ****¼
ACH comes out wearing an AJ Styles T-Shirt, with his own unique twist on it, seeming taunting AJ Styles ahead of their match at the 13th Anniversary Show. This is a dream tag team match of sorts, even though ACH & Matt Sydal are still a pretty young team, especially when compared to The Briscoes. Moose & Stokely Hathaway are also out to observe this match. I thought this was a fantastic Main Event. Just two great tag teams going out there and putting on a show. This was a ton of fun to watch from start & finish. You really can’t go wrong with these four guys in the same ring. After some great back & forth action, The Briscoes would pick up the win.
Afterwords, Moose attacks The Briscoes & Matt Sydal, but backs down from ACH. They are facing off at a show the following month in Atlanta, so it seems like that’s what they were building towards.
Overall: 9.0/10
I thought this show was amazing!! You had some incredible stuff on this card. Alberto El Patron vs. Roderick Strong is a match you need to go out of your way to see. You also two fantastic tag team matches in The Briscoes vs. ACH & Matt Sydal and The Kingdom vs. Tommaso Ciampa & Hanson, as well as a very good match with Michael Elgin vs. Chris Dickinson. The rest of the undercard was fine, and there really wasn’t a bad match on the card. Hey, you know when The Romantic Touch & Will Ferrara have a worthwhile opener, you know you’re in for a great show, and that’s exactly what we got here.
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