ROH makes it's debut in Amarillo,
Texas!
ROH Road To
“Best In The World ‘15": Night 1
Amarillo, Texas 5/29/15
1.) BJ Whitmer vs. Americos: **
Americos is a Luchador who wears red,
white, & blue aka the colors of America (hence his name). This was an ok
opener. Americos got some offense in, but Whitmer dominated most of the match,
and eventually got the win with his Exploder Suplex. There is nothing much else
to say here about this match.
In an interesting note, based on the
crowd reactions in just this first match, it sounded like there were a lot of
kids at this show.
2.) Four-Corner Survival – Will Ferrara vs. Silas
Young vs. Mark Briscoe vs. ROH World TV Champion Jay Lethal (with Truth
Martini): **3/4
Of course, Lethal’s ROH World TV Title is not on
the line in this match. Interestingly enough, Truth Martini doesn’t have The
Book of Truth with him. I thought this was a fine Four-Corner Survival. Things
started off really slow, but picked up in the second half, which actually was
pretty solid. Ferrara actually got busted open a little bit early on, and I
think this may have been one of Ferrara’s better performances. He was very good
in this match. Mark Briscoe would eventually get the win here after hitting a
fisherman buster on Ferrara.
Jay Lethal does have a bit of a verbal
confrontation with Mark Briscoe after the match.
3.) Dalton Castle vs. The Romantic Touch: **
I don’t have a lot to say about this one. The
comedic interactions between these two were entertaining, but the match itself
was just ok. That mainly had to do with the fact that this match just went WAY
too long. This match didn’t need to go nearly thirteen minutes. That’s ridiculous!
Anyway, Castle gets the win here.
4.) Non-Title Match – ROH World Champion Jay
Briscoe vs. Caprice Coleman: ***1/4
This is probably one of the bigger matches Coleman
has had in quite some time, even though the ROH World Title isn’t on the line.
This was a pretty solid match, in my opinion. There was some good back &
forth action, particularly in the second half. Jay Briscoe would eventually get
the win with what looked more like a Tiger Bomb than a Jay Driller (seemed like
he botched it a little bit).
5.) Keith Lee & Shane Taylor vs. The Dirty
Outlaws (Andy Dalton & Ken Phoenix): *1/4
Andy Dalton (a well known local wrestler in the
Texas area) & Ken Phoenix were on a recent episode of ROH TV. On this
episode, they were beaten by War Machine so badly and so quickly, that Phoenix
never even tagged into the match. Phoenix cuts a promo say that while they got
off to a rough start, their fortunes are going to change tonight. He calls out
another team for a challenge, and out came Keith Lee & Shane Taylor, who
were announced as being a combined 820 pounds! They would go on to have a
match, which was totally what you would expect for this local showcase. The
Dirty Outlaws got some offense in, but Keith Lee & Shane Taylor dominated
most of this match, and would end up getting the win.
6.) ACH vs. “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin: ****
These two had an incredible singles match back in
2013 at Dragon’s Reign. Now while this match wasn’t quite as amazing as
that match, this was still pretty fantastic! I don’t know what it is, but ACH
& Elgin just have great chemistry with one another. Every time they’re in a
singles match, they always produce something great, and this was no different.
There was some awesome action from both guys during this match. Additionally,
they did do a bit of storyline advancement here, as Elgin teased using the ring
bell, but decided against it. Eventually, Elgin would get the win after a Super
Elgin Bomb.
After the match, Elgin shook hands with ACH.
7.) IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions The Kingdom
(Matt Taven & Michael Bennett with Maria Kanellis) vs. War Machine: **1/4
For some reason, The Kingdom come out with a golden
bowling pin. There really isn’t a lot to say about this one, as the match only
went about six minutes or so before The Kingdom used that golden bowling pin as
a weapon for the DQ. Strange that this would happen in the Semi-Main Event, but
it would make sense in a little bit.
8.) Adam Cole vs. Roderick Strong: **3/4
These two had a really long rivalry that spanned
several matches in 2012 & 2013. The action we did get in here was pretty
solid, but when you saw that they were going at a relatively quick pace, you
knew something was up. After about six or seven minutes, The Kingdom ran out,
followed shortly thereafter by War Machine, which led to a No Contest. Strong
took the mic and called for a Six-Man Tag (which the crowd had been chanting
for), and eventually goads The Kingdom into accepting.
9.) Six-Man Tag – The Kingdom (Adam IWGP
Heavyweight Tag Team Champions The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Michael Bennett
with Maria Kanellis) vs. Roderick Strong & War Machine: ***1/2
Despite the fact that it took a DQ and a No Contest
in the last two matches to get us here, this was a very good Six-Man Tag. There
was a ton of brawling early, as Strong & War Machine beat up The Kingdom
all around ringside. The action in the ring was pretty good as well. In the
end, The Kingdom would score the (relatively) clean win as the show came to a
close. This, and the two matches that preceded it, felt very much like
something you’d see on a WWE House Show, and that’s not a compliment.
Overall: 6.25/10
Every year you have one or two ROH Live Events that just aren’t that
good. This was one of those. Now this show wasn’t totally devoid of stuff
that’s worth checking out, as the ACH vs. Michael Elgin was pretty great. Other
than that, this show just didn’t deliver. Some of the matches on the undercard
felt very average, others matches went too long, and while The Main Event was
actually was relatively good, it took a DQ and a No Contest for us to get
there. For the most part, this show is one you can definitely skip.
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