I
should note, before I begin my review, that there’s actually a pretty funny
bonus feature. At some point during the show, a steamer got caught in one of
the sealing fans, causing the streamer to spin around and around with the fan.
Apparently, it got enough attention that Bobby Cruise actually provided it with
it’s own ring introduction, which made the fans really happy. Matt Taven then
came out to try and pull the streamer down, but he only succeed in pulling half
of it. The fans cheered at this, and jeered at Taven for his failure. Bobby
Cruise then announced it as the streamer’s little brother, “Tiny Streamer”. The
fans chanted this, which was pretty funny, as “Tiny Streamer” is actually
pretty close to “Tommy Dreamer”.
The
opening of the show itself also includes a segment between Silas Young, The
Beer City Bruiser, & The Boys, who are now in Young’s possession.
Apparently they were riding in the trunk of Young’s car. The Boys were forced
to carry Young’s bags, as well as The Beer City Bruiser’s keg.
ROH
Glory By Honor XIV: Champions vs. All-Stars
Dayton,
Ohio 10/24/15
1.)
Kelly Klein (with BJ Whitmer) vs. Ray Lynn: DUD
We
open up the show with the Women of Honor. Both women are making their ROH
debuts here. Klein comes out with BJ Whitmer in her corner. There isn’t much to
say about this one. It was a squash match that went about a minute. BJ Whitmer
cuts a promo after the match hyping up Kelly Klein. It’s pretty clear that the
intent is to make Klein the “monster” of the division.
2.)
Adam Cole vs. Will Ferrara: ***
Our
first true match of the show sees Adam Cole taking on Will Ferrara. I thought
this was a good match. It was relatively entertaining from start to finish.
Ferrara did get some offense in, and showed fighting spirit, but in the end,
Cole would pick up the victory.
3.)
The All-Night Express vs. Silas Young & The Beer City Bruiser: ***
The
Beer City Bruiser is wearing these GOD-AWFUL purple tights that actually make
it look like he’s wrestling in his underwear. Gross. Before the match begins,
Silas Young cuts a promo saying that he wants to give The Boys an
“opportunity”. That “opportunity” is for them to wrestle in their place against
ANX! The Boys wrestle Kenny King & Rhett Titus for a good minute or so,
before Young kicks them out, and resumes the match with The Beer City Bruiser.
Aside from all of the shenanigans with The Boys, this was actually a pretty
decent tag team match. I don’t like The Beer City Bruiser, but if he’s going to
be in ROH, being Silas Young’s tag team partner is the best roll for him.
Eventually, ANX would pick up the victory in this tag team affair.
4.)
Caprice Coleman vs. Samson Walker: **
Before
the match begins, Coleman (who’s wearing new blue & white tights tonight)
cuts a promo similar to the one he’s been cutting on other house shows. He
talks about Samson Walker having a big opportunity to impress, but adds that he
is also trying to impress so he could keep his job. This was ok, but it had no
business going nearly TEN minutes. Walker’s been fine in the sporadic
appearances he’s made in ROH in 2015, but I just can’t see him becoming a
regular. Towards the end of the match, chairs become involved, and Coleman uses
the old Eddie Guerrero trick of pretending to get hit with a chair before the
referee turns around. Walker arguing with the referee proves to be enough of a
distraction for Coleman to roll up Walker (with a handful of tights) for the
win.
Before
the next match begins, Bobby Cruise introduces Steve Corino as the guest ring
announcer (Corino had been indefinitely suspended on a recent episode of ROH TV
for attacking BJ Whitmer). Cruise mentioned that Corino helped him get a job
with ROH back in 2003, and as we all know, Cruise has been the ring announcer
for ROH ever since.
5.)
“Unbreakable” Michael Elgin vs. Donovan Dijak (with The House of Truth): ***3/4
I
believe this is a first-time ever match (definitely in ROH, but I’m not sure if
they’ve met somewhere outside of ROH before this). Here we have a rare instance
of Michael Elgin facing off with an opponent who’s actually bigger that him. I
thought this was a really good match, bordering on being great. It was a little
long (going just over nineteen minutes), but it was entertaining, and packed
with action from start to finish. These two just worked really well together,
and I honestly enjoyed this a lot. Plus, even though both Truth Martini &
Taeler Hendrix were at ringside, we saw pretty much no interference at any
point, which was very refreshing. Michael Elgin would eventually get the
victory here.
After
the match, Elgin & Dijak shook hands.
6.)
Joey “Diesel” Daddiego (with The House of Truth) vs. Shaheem Ali: *1/2
Ian
Riccaboni, who joins Kevin Kelly on commentary for this match, actually calls
J. Diesel “the most improved wrestler in ROH in 2015”. I’m sorry, but what a
bunch of bullshit. Diesel STINKS. Anyway, Diesel is apparently now going by his
real name, Joey Daddiego. This led to Truth Martini cutting a pre-match promo
where he kept saying “Who’s Your Daddy?!” over and over again. There’s not much
top say about this one. It went about six minutes or so before Daddiego
eventually got the win. The only real purpose this served was to introduce the
name change.
There
ended up being a lot of changes to this card, and I’m going to talk about that
now, since it had an impact on the next match. So the Champions vs. All-Stars
Match was originally scheduled to be Jay Lethal (who was still both ROH World
Champion & ROH World TV Champion) & The Kingdom vs. ACH, AJ Styles,
& Roderick Strong. Now, as we know, Strong won the ROH World TV Title from
Lethal the night before at the TV Tapings in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Strong moved
over to the champion’s side. I think the title change and this match going from
three-on-three to four-on-four was always the plan. However, the All-Stars team
fell apart fast. It was announced a few days prior that Styles would be unable
to compete due to (I believe) nagging back issues. Then, the night before in
Kalamazoo, ACH suffered a concussion in a match with Cedric Alexander, forcing
him to be pulled off the show. The All-Stars team was then made up by The
Addiction, Dalton Castle, & Moose. The upcoming Four-Corner Survival Match
was going to feature Castle, but that changed when Castle got moved into the
Main Event.
7.)
Four-Corner Survival – Cliff Compton vs. Adam Page (with The Decade) vs. Cedric
Alexander (with Veda Scott) vs. “Brutal” Bob Evans (with Tim Hughes): *3/4
ROH
has been trying to get Cliff Compton on a show since late August, but a seizure
forced Compton to cancel two scheduled in-ring appearances. Before this match
begins, Bob Evans cuts a promo about Cheeseburger. Evans and his protégé, Tim
Hughes, had broken one of Cheeseburger’s hands the night before in Kalamazoo.
Cliff Compton then takes the mic, saying that nobody wants to hear Evans talk.
He then talks about the seizure he suffered at the end of August, and thanks
the fans for supporting him. He then calls BJ Whitmer a drug addict & Veda
Scott a “$2 hooker”. Well, that was Cliff Compton being….Cliff Compton, I
guess.
Four-Corner
Survivals are usually pretty good. They’ve become a staple of ROH cards over
the years, and most of the time, they deliver. Unfortunately, this match didn’t
deliver. It SUCKED. This match just didn’t work. Firstly, the dynamic was all
wrong, as you had three heels going up against a babyface Cliff Compton, who
received almost no reaction from the crowd when he came through the curtain.
Then the match itself just wasn’t that good. Aside from a pair of tandem dives
by Alexander & Page (which popped the crowd), all of the people at ringside
getting thrown out, and Cheeseburger coming out to attack Evans, leading to
Compton winning via ROLLUP, this was just a bad match, plain & simple.
After
the match, Cheeseburger cuts a promo saying that he’s going to settle his score
with “Brutal” Bob Evans at Final Battle.
8.)
The Briscoes vs. War Machine: ****
These
two teams have had a number of encounters, most recently in April at a Conquest
Tour live event in Hopkins, Minnesota. Hanson & Ray Rowe have yet to score
a victory over “Dem Boys”. I thought this match was awesome!! It was easily the
best match on the show. The crowd was rocking as soon as The Briscoes came out,
and they were into the entire match from start to finish. The action was
hard-hitting right from the opening bell, as these two teams beat the crap out
of each other. It was to be said that there’s excellent chemistry between The
Briscoes & War Machine. They’ve had two matches together in 2015, and this
was ever better than their match from April in Hopkins (and that match was
really good). The Briscoes would eventually get the win here, as they continue
their winning streak against War Machine.
Before
the Main Event, we get an AJ Styles promo. He thanks the crowd for being
awesome, and says that he’s not wrestling tonight because he doesn’t want to
give the fans an AJ Styles that isn’t 100%. He then says he’ll be joining Kevin
Kelly on commentary for the Main Event.
9.)
Champions vs. All-Stars Elimination Match – ROH World Champion Jay Lethal (with
The House of Truth), ROH World TV Champion Roderick Strong, & ROH World Tag
Team Champions The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Michael Bennett with Adam Cole
& Maria Kanellis) vs. The Addiction, Dalton Castle, & Moose (with
Stokely Hathaway): ***3/4
Just
to quickly run through the eliminations, Kazarian is eliminated first after a
low blow from one of the members of The Kingdom, followed by the Hail Mary.
Bennett is eliminated next after a rollup from Daniels. Taven is then also
eliminated by Daniels. Strong would then eliminate Daniels. Castle is later
eliminated by Lethal after some shenanigans from The House of Truth, and
finally, Strong then eliminates Moose to win the match for the ROH Champions.
I
thought this was a very good match. It wasn’t quite as great as some of the
previous Champions vs. All-Stars matches, but this was still, for the most
part, a really entertaining match. The only gripe I have is the fact that
Daniels scored the only eliminations for the All-Stars team. I think it would
have benefitted Dalton Castle & Moose more if they had scored those
eliminations. The Addiction was coming off a title loss to The Kingdom the
night before in Kalamazoo, and they wouldn’t get another shot at the titles
until long after The Kingdom lost the titles, so him getting to pin both
Bennett & Taven here made no sense at all. Other than that, like I said,
this was a very good match.
After
the match, Lethal & Strong have a faceoff in the ring. Of course, there’s
no love lost between these two, after their two ROH World Title matches, and
their third match the night before where Strong captured the ROH World TV
Title. AJ Styles then jumps in the ring and faces off with both Lethal &
Strong (the former more so than the latter) to close the show.
Overall:
7.0/10
There’s
one thing I need to address before I talk about this. It definitely didn’t live
up to the Glory By Honor name, but to be perfectly clear, Glory By Honor really
isn’t an important show on the ROH calendar anymore, at least in the SBG era.
The only time it’s really been important over the last several years was in
2012. It’s clear that Glory By Honor has fallen down the pecking order, and
this show was easily one of the worst editions of the event. Now, judging it
from the standpoint of a regular ROH live event, it was actually a fine show.
There were a number of matches that had no business being on this show, but
then again, I can’t totally trash a show that has two *** matches, two ***3/4
matches, and a **** match. This was a show where you really have to pick &
choose, because there is good, even great, stuff mixed in with the really bad
stuff. Definitely check out The Briscoes vs. War Machine. Elgin vs. Dijak &
Champions vs. All-Stars were both really good as well. Other than that,
everything else is pretty much stuff that you can skip.
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