ROH Aftershock Tour: Hopkins
Hopkins, Minnesota 7/11/15
Bonus Match
1.) Nuclear Casserole (Chase Brown & Peter Kaasa) vs. AR Fox
& “The Outlaw” Ken Phoenix: **
This is the pre-show match from the TV Tapings that took place
at Terminal 5 in NYC the day after Best
In The World 2015. It’s a notable match, because it features none other
than AR Fox. Of course, AR Fox parted ways with Evolve/WWN earlier that year,
and he’s been floating around the independents ever since. Here, he’s teaming
with Ken Phoenix to take on the unique team of “Cauliflower” Chase Brown &
Peter Kaasa. This was a basic pre-show match, for the most part. The more
exciting moments (obviously) involved AR Fox & Peter Kaasa. I’m a little
disappointed that AR Fox hasn’t been used since, but given some of the stories
I’ve heard about what he does outside of the ring, I could maybe see why ROH
didn’t take him. Kaasa, on the other hand, I think is someone ROH missed on.
This is a guy who would go on to Evolve later that year, and just recently (as
I type this) started a run with Dragon Gate in Japan. Alas, as far as this
match goes, Kaasa gets the win for his team after hitting a 630 Senton on AR
Fox. I’ll gave this an extra ¼* to ½* for Kaasa busting that out on the
pre-show.
Pre-Show
1.) The Romantic Outlaws (The Romantic Touch & “The Outlaw”
Ken Phoenix) vs. Danny Adams & Paco Gonzalez: **
Here we have a match that’s actually from this live event in
Hopkins. Apparently The Romantic Touch & Ken Phoenix are referring to
themselves as The Romantic Outlaws. I wonder how Ken Phoenix’s “Dirty Outlaws”
partner “Dirty” Andy Dalton feels about this. Anyway, this was a fine pre-show
match. This was the second time we’ve seen the team of Danny Adams & Paco
Gonzalez, and they got to show a little more stuff here (they were squashed by
The Kingdom in their first match). Eventually, The Romantic Outlaws would pick
up the win.
Main Card
1.) Mark Briscoe vs. Danny Duggan: ***
I find it a little weird that, despite losing to Arik Cannon on
the last ROH Live Event in Hopkins almost three months prior, Danny Duggan is
the one who gets another match here. For those who are wondering, yes, he still
looks like Mr. Perfect. Mark Briscoe steals Duggan’s fanny back at the start in
a funny moment. This was a solid opener. It was actually a little better than I
would have thought coming into it. Mark Briscoe continues to show that he’s
just as capable of a singles wrestler as his brother Jay Briscoe, and honestly,
I think Danny Duggan actually looked solid here as well. I wouldn’t totally be
against seeing him again. Briscoe would pick up the win here.
2.) War Machine vs. Silas Young & The Beer City Bruiser:
***1/4
Before the match, we get a pre-match promo from Silas Young,
where he makes fun of War Machine, calling them hipsters, and then makes fun of
Hanson & Ray Rowe individually. Here we have another match that actually
turned out to be better than I thought it would be. In just this one match, I
can firmly say that The Beer City Bruiser is much better fit in the tag team
division with Silas Young. He does nothing for me as a singles guy, but in this
tag team environment, he’s much better. Young didn’t get along with The Beer
City Bruiser at first, but they really start to work well as a team in the
second half in the match. War Machine, of course, were very good in here as
well. A hard-hitting match, for the most part. In the end, War Machine would get
the win after hitting Fallout on The Beer City Bruiser.
3.) ACH vs. Dalton Castle: ***1/2
Now this is a rally interesting match, as you have two crowd
favorites going at it. Once again, Castle doesn’t have his usual “boys” with
him, and in this match, I thought it was blatantly obvious that original “The
Boys” are the only ones for this role. These boys just stood there stoically,
barely doing anything. As far as the match goes, I really enjoyed it. These two
are just so fun to watch, and they had a very good match here. Additionally, I
have to say that ACH’s reactions to some of Castle’s mannerism’s were pretty hilarious.
Eventually, ACH would pick up the victory after hitting the Midnight Star.
4.) “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin vs. Matt Taven: ***3/4
This is Elgin’s last appearance for ROH before he heads to New
Japan to compete in the G1 Climax. Once again, we have yet another match that
was honestly a little better than I was expecting. I know people like to hate
on The Kingdom, but I really don’t mind Matt Taven that much at all. Once he
returns from his injury (he’s still out, as I type this review), I have no
issues with him sticking around. He’s a very capable singles wrestler, and he
showed off some of that ability here against Michael Elgin. Of course, Elgin
looked really good here as well. There was a lot of back & forth action
between these two. The match was just a lot of fun to watch, in my opinion.
Elgin would score the win here, after hitting the Elgin Bomb on Taven.
After the match, Elgin takes the mic, and says that over the
last few months, he’s been wrong. He sees now that it doesn’t matter if the
crowd cheers or boos him, because they’re both here for the same reason:
because they love pro-wrestling. Elgin says he’s been lying to himself, and
that, truth be told, he does love ROH. He says that the last few months for him
have been rough, but says that all relationships have their rough periods.
Elgin then talks about going to New Japan for the upcoming G1 Climax
Tournament, and tells Jay Lethal to watch the tournament, because when he
returns, he’s coming for the ROH World Title.
5.) Four-Corner Survival – Michael Bennett (with Maria Kanellis)
vs. Will Ferrara vs. Cheeseburger vs. Moose (with Stokely Hathaway): ***1/4
I think it’s always interesting to see how these Four-Corner
Survivals are put together, because the dynamic can change depending on who’s
in the match In this case, you have one heel and three babyfaces. A pretty
solid match, for the most part. They seemed to tease tension specifically
between Michael Bennett & Moose, but Cheeseburger & Will Ferrara had
their opportunities to shine in this match as well. Bennett would end up
getting the win after hitting the piledriver on Cheeseburger (I guess the
ruling for a few years ago that Bennett could no longer use the piledriver has
been lifted, as Kevin Kelly made a note of that on commentary). A fine match
for its spot on the card.
6.) Adam Cole vs. Bobby Fish: ***3/4
Over the past few weeks on ROH TV, they had been teasing
dissension between Adam Cole & The Kingdom, and that Cole was potentially
going to turn babyface. The fans loves Adam Cole almost everywhere he goes, so
they honestly wouldn’t mind. Here, Cole is taking on Bobby Fish, which I think
might be a first-time ever singles match between these two. I thought this was
a really good match. At this point in the show, it was right up there with
Elgin/Taven for Match of the Night. There was some really good action, but they
also told a really good story, as both men tried to work over a limb of their
opponent with the hopes of possibly getting a submission victory. We also saw
some very cool exchanges, particularly towards the end of the match, when they
went back & forth countering each other’s submission finishers (The Figure
Four & The Heel Hook, respectively). Eventually, Cole was to able to pick
up the win over Fish after hitting him with his Brainbuster onto his Knee (I’m
not sure if Cole actually has a name for that move yet).
Cole shake hands with Fish after the match, further cementing
his (apparent) face turn.
7.) Mixed Tag Team Match – The House of Truth – ROH World
Champion/ROH World TV Champion Jay Lethal & Truth Martini vs. Jay Briscoe
& ODB: **
This is the perfect example of a match that sticks out like a
sore thumb. Now, the idea behind this match isn’t totally crazy. Jay Briscoe
& Jay Lethal have (obviously) been feuding. ODB & Truth Martini have
both been part of the feud. Plus, it does continue a storyline that occurred at
the last ROH Live Event in Hopkins, where ODB actually wrestled Truth Martini
in a one-on-one match (I really like when ROH does that on occasion, where they
have a running mini-storyline in a specific city). However, in execution, this
match just wasn’t that good. It was easily the worst match on the main show.
The biggest issue I had was with ODB getting too much offense (in my view) in
on Jay Lethal. Now, I’m not someone who’s totally against inter-gender
wrestling. In certain cases, in specific situations, and involving the right
people, it can work. Also, I know that ODB’s a hometown wrestler (she’s from
Minnesota). However, ODB should not be getting that much offense in (I’d argue
she shouldn’t get any offense in) against your new ROH Undisputed Champion. I
know it’s a house show, but it just makes Lethal look bad, in my opinion. As I
said earlier, the match, as a whole, just wasn’t that good. ODB spits alcohol
in Martini’s face, and rolls him up for the pin.
8.) Triple Threat Match – “The
Phenomenal” AJ Styles vs. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Roderick Strong: ****1/4
There really isn’t that much story
behind this Main Event. It was pretty much a Triple Threat “Dream Match” of
sorts involving three of the best wrestlers in the world today. I was really
looking forward to this match, and it definitely delivered. This was an awesome
match!! All three guys looked great, and there was a ton of really good action
from start to finish. They also avoided some of the usual tropes of Triple
Threat Matches, and we got some interesting three-way exchanges. As a whole,
this was just a really fun match. In the end, Strong would score the victory
here after hitting O’Reilly with the Orange Crush Backbreaker.
After the match, Strong celebrates
to close the show.
Overall:
8.0/10
Aside from one match (that of course, being the Mixed Tag Team
Match), I thought this was a very good show from start to finish. Of course,
the Main Event, in my opinion, was fantastic, and given the competitors
involved, it should be no surprise. There were a few other really good matches
on the undercard, specifically Cole vs. Fish and Elgin vs. Taven. Other than
that, the rest of the undercard was relatively solid, with a number of matches that
ended up being better than I would have thought. As a whole, this was very
solid outing from ROH.
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