ROH Reloaded Tour '15: Atlanta Review

Adam Cole teams with reDRagon to take on Jay Lethal & The Addiction in the Main Event!

ROH Reloaded Tour ’15: Atlanta

Atlanta, Georgia 8/29/15

Pre-Show

1.) “P-Dog” Mike Posey vs. Slim J: *3/4

I find it kind of funny how we have two guys who are either doing rapper gimmicks or have a rapper-esque name. An ok pre-show match for what it was. Slim J actually dominated a good part of the match, including hitting a spinning dive to the floor onto Posey’s posse. In the end, Posey would get the win here.

Main Show

1.) Cedric Alexander vs. Corey Hollis: ***1/4

We kick things off with a battle between two men who made their names on the Southeast Independents. Veda Scott is not with Alexander this weekend. I thought this was a pretty solid opener. Alexander, who’s doing some interesting things as a heel, always impresses, no matter where he’s placed on the card, but Corey Hollis looked good here as well. I wish Hollis would get more opportunities in ROH. He had a brief semi-regular run in ROH not that long ago with Mike Posey as part of Alabama Attitude, but really hasn’t been used that much since. I’d love for him to become (at least) a semi-regular again. Some good back & forth action between these two. Eventually, Alexander would score the victory over Hollis after hitting the Lumbar Check.

2.) The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Michael Bennett with Maria Kanellis) vs. Takaaki Watanabe & Will Ferrara: **3/4

So here we have New Japan’s young lion teaming up with Ring of Honor’s young lion to take on The Kingdom. While this wasn’t quite as good as the opener, this was still a decent match. Bennett & Taven did dominate a good portion of the match, but Ferrara & Watanabe did get in a fair amount of offense in as well, nearly scoring the upset at one or two points. However, The Kingdom would, in the end, seal the deal, and score the win.

Before the next match, BJ Whitmer tries to cut a promo, but the fans try to shout him down. Michael Elgin takes a sign demeaning Whitmer from a fan & parades around with it at ringside. Whitmer brings up what Corino did to him in NYC on an episode of ROH TV (I believe Corino tried to attack him, or something to that degree). He says that after talking to lawyers, he’s found that ROH is an “unsafe working environment”. He’s hired personal security to keep an eye on Steve Corino. Adam Page then cuts another promo about Jay Briscoe “dodging him”, and basically says that Elgin isn’t worth his time because he’s not Jay Briscoe. Elgin says everyone’s focus should be the ROH World Title, and every ass he kicks in this ring gets him closer to that title. As Adam Page is about to leave, Elgin says that Page can fight him now, or go to the back, hop in the shower with BJ Whitmer, and rub his “no no” parts. This enrages Page, and the match is on!

3.) Adam Page (with BJ Whitmer) vs. “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin: ***1/4

This match was going pretty well, and I think it had the chance to be ever better, but just as it seemed like Elgin was about to win, Page bailed, and decided to take the count out loss. A very strange finish, to say the least. You don’t see count outs that often in ROH. Honestly, I was really liking this match up until that point, and I think the finish hurt the match in the end. Still, this was a good match for its spot on the card.

After the match, Elgin cuts a promo, saying that he wants to give out more powerbombs, and does so by powerbombing all four of BJ Whitmer’s security guys.

4.) ACH & Matt Sydal vs. War Machine: ****

Here’s a match that I was actually pretty excited for, going into it. Hanson & Ray Rowe are getting ready for their upcoming GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match against The Killer Elite Squad in Pro-Wrestling NOAH, while ACH & Matt Sydal will soon be battling each other in a Best-of-Five Series. I thought this was a great match! There was some really good back & forth action, and it was very entertaining from start to finish. ACH & Sydal busted out some new double-team moves, and at times, were actually acting a little too cocky towards their larger opponents. War Machine looked good here as well, and this match as a whole was just great. At one point, Hanson actually kicked out of the Shooting Star Press! After a hard-fought battle, War Machine picked up the win after hitting Fallout on ACH. These two teams had some good chemistry, and I wouldn’t mind seeing a rematch (or a combination of singles matches) down the line.

“P-Dog” Mike Posey and his posse (I think they’re called the “Get Along Gang”) come out after intermission. Posey introduces everyone, and tries to start his own “rap concert”. Michael Elgin interrupts this “rap concert”, and beats up all of the male members of the posse, including Posey, before eventually hitting a powerbomb on one of Posey’s girls. Newsflash: Michael Elgin killing people with powerbombs is fun to watch.

5.) Mark Briscoe vs. The Romantic Touch: **1/2

So originally, Cliff Compton (yes, Cliff Compton is still getting booked in ROH on a few occasions) was going to face Mark Briscoe, but Compton had a serious medical emergency (I believe) the day of the show, and had to pull out. Mark Briscoe decided to issue an open challenge, and The Romantic Touch answered. This was a decent match. On some previous ROH reviews, I’ve complained that some matches involving The Romantic Touch have been going much longer than they needed to go. Fortunately, this match went around seven or eight minutes, which is the perfect length for a match involving The Romantic Touch. Of course, Mark Briscoe would get the win here, as you would expect.

The Romantic Touch, instead of shaking hands, smacks Mark Briscoe on the ass after the match.

6.) Roderick Strong vs. Caprice Coleman: ***1/2

For Caprice Coleman, I would say this was one of his higher profile matches of the year, as he’s taking on “Mr. ROH”. This was actually a pretty solid match. It was probably Coleman’s best outing of 2015, and it should come as no surprise that it was against Roderick Strong. Some solid back & forth action between these two guys. Coleman got in some good offense, but in the end, Strong would emerge victorious.

Up next we have an interview segment in the ring with Kevin Kelly & Stevie Richards. Yes, you read that right. Stevie Richards is in ROH. Kelly says he, and others, have always asked when Steve Richards was going to compete in a ROH ring (I don’t know about that, but ok). Richards says if he had it his way, he’d have been here a long time ago, and runs through a list of guys he would like to face, if he does indeed wrestle for ROH. However, he is soon interrupted by ROH Undisputed Champion Jay Lethal. He says that he feels disrespected, since Richards failed to mention his name, and says that this is his company. Lethal says that Richards is the past, and demands that he get out of his ring. Richards says he’s not an old, broken down veteran, and that he’s here to compete. Lethal, again, tells him to get out of his ring before he gets hurt. Richards refuses to budge, and the two need to be separated by security. Looks like we’re getting a match between these two at some point.

7.) Jay Briscoe vs. Moose (with Stokely Hathaway): N/R

I was pretty excited for this first-time ever singles match. Unfortunately, it only went about three minutes or so before Adam Page & Cedric Alexander ran out and attacked Jay Briscoe & Moose, respectively. Stokely Hathaway then takes the mic, and says that he smells a couple of pussies. BJ Whitmer retorts by saying they smell that way because they just came from Mama Briscoe’s house (very immature response from him). Jay Briscoe calls for a tag team match, and it’s on from there!

8.) Jay Briscoe & Moose (with Stokely Hathaway) vs. Adam Page & Cedric Alexander (with BJ Whitmer): ***

Again, I’m a bit bummed that we’re not getting Jay Briscoe vs. Moose here. As far as this match is concerned, it was fine. A fun tag team match that clocked in at just under ten minutes or so. In the end, Jay Briscoe & Moose would get a measure of revenge after Moose hit a spear on Alexander, followed by a Jay Driller for the win.

Before the Main Event, we got a confrontation between BJ Whitmer & Steve Corino. Whitmer antagonized Corino, and then Corino got in the ring and wanted Whitmer to fight him right now. Whitmer, however, backed down.

9.) Six-Man Tag – Adam Cole & IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions reDRagon vs. ROH World Champion/ROH World TV Champion Jay Lethal (with Taeler Hendrix) & ROH World Tag Team Champions The Addiction: ****

This Main Event is a continuation of the Adam Cole/reDRagon storyline, where Cole has been flirting with turning babyface and joining up with his Future Shock partner Kyle O’Reilly. In another interesting note, Taeler Hendrix made her first appearance here as a member of The House of Truth. She was in Lethal’s corner on this show, as Truth Martini wasn’t there. I thought this was a great match! I’d say it was right on par with ACH & Matt Sydal vs. War Machine, as far as Match of the Night is concerned. Adam Cole & reDRagon are a great trio, and the Lethal/Addiction trio was actually pretty entertaining as well. There was really good action mixed a few bits of comedy. The second half of the match was especially good. Eventually, the team of Adam Cole & reDRagon got the win after hitting Chasing The Dragon (with an added superkick from Cole) on Frankie Kazarian.

After the match, Lethal exchanges words with reDRagon as he exits, while The Kingdom come out and exchange words with The Addiction. All of this continues the build towards All-Star Extravaganza VII.

Overall: 8.0/10

While this was nowhere near as good as the Winter Warriors Tour event in Atlanta from that February, this was still a pretty solid outing from ROH, for the most part. The Main Event Six-Man Tag, as well as ACH & Matt Sydal vs. War Machine, were definitely the two best matches of the night. The rest of the undercard was pretty solid, though there were some issues percolating throughout, such as Adam Page getting counted out in his match with Michael Elgin, and the Jay Briscoe vs. Moose singles match not happening as advertised. You also have the appearance of Stevie Richards, and some more build towards All-Star Extravaganza VII. As a whole, I thought this was another very good show from ROH.