ROH 13th Anniversary Show... Live as it happens

[Johnny Sorrow]

How long until I can watch this for not 35 bucks?

[MikeCampbell]

I imagine the torrent will make the rounds late tonight or early tomorrow.

[Johnny Sorrow]

I imagine the torrent will make the rounds late tonight or early tomorrow.

No, I mean when is it gonna only be 15 bucks. I don't steal.

[Timbo Slice]

Normally, it's up the day after or later in the week on rohwrestling.com via VOD.

[goodhelmet]

http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/30628-ptbn-reaction-show-roh-13th-anniversary-show/&do=findComment&comment=5656730

[tigerpride]

I have some great suggestions for who could have replaced Gallows, but I'm saving them for my VoicesofWrestling review/post show podcast

Why not just post them here?

[concrete1992]

That doesn't help his #numbers. He plays the game. He plays to win.

 

Also, thought the opening two matches to the show were SOLID HOOTS. The main event treaded into NEGATIVE 5 HOOT territory. A shame.

[shoe]

I thought I'd throw my thoughts about the show here. One I liked it. Secondly, the ATL show was much better. On the Atlanta show it seemed the wrestlers seemed to be positioned much better to show their strengths. Also commentary was pretty bad as opposed to the Atlanta show.

 

Cedric Alexander vs. Matt Sydal

I thought Sydal looked real good here. We started off real hot with hot action. Sydal then slows it down and starts working the leg with leg kicks and leg locks. Then he just drops it. I think Sydal is at his best at mixing up his high spots and ground game. The guys are exchanging big moves. Alexander was good in this too. It seemed like they are going in a heel turn direction. So we had a lot going on here. I also thought the near falls were a little over kill for an opener. That's a small issue though. 3 1/4*

 

Moose vs. Mark Briscoe

This was another good match. It told a good story and got Moose even more over from the match. Good showing from both guys. I liked the ACH match more from Atlanta though. That drop kick from Moose was big time. 2 1/2*

 

Karl Anderson vs. The Addiction vs. The Kingdom

This was fun. For a guy working solo Anderson shined way too much. A lot of counters, and nearfalls. Clearly a crowd pleasing match. It lacked a narrative for me. They could have done some booking decision. Heck give him Cheeseburger as the Bullet Club Virgil. Burger eats the fall. The Bullet Club puts the boots to him. Of course I assumed they would be working as heels. 2 1/2*

 

BJ Whitmer vs. Roderick Strong

This was just there for me. In Atlanta both guys came across much better, because they were used better. They need to get away from one another. The match started out ok for me, but really lost steam. 1 3/4*

 

ODB vs. Maria

 

I loved this match I was popping.. It was cloaked perfectly with all the bells and whistles. Corino helped this match with his reactions. 2 3/4*

 

AJ Styles vs. ACH

I really liked this match. The early flash pin by ACH was awesome. Stlyles was great at pacing this out. Styles was so good at cutting off ACH. ACH had some really well timed hope spots. His high spots were fun. The finish teasing at the end with AJ using the Calf Slicer,to Bloody Sunday. to the Styles Clash was tremendous. A hell of a story. Maybe if ACH got some wins leading to this I might have bought into an upset more and made the match better. 3 3/4*

 

The Young Bucks vs. reDRagon

My match of the night. I thought the UFC gal was fine doing distraction spots, We start out with a ridiculous pace. Just so many hot moves. Young Bucks are positioned as babyfaces here. We even get a FIP. It wasn't super long but long enough to get the point over. Matt Jackson got caught in a hanging arm bar by O'Reilly. Jackson put that over big and sold it the rest of the way. Major props to him. We get this super hot finish with so much action.The FIP really allowed the action to take a breath and then kick it into high gear. 4 1/4*

 

Alberto El Patron vs. Jay Lethal

 

I liked this match. Lethal is a solid worker who really is presented well and seems special. They walked the line between good work and high spots that got over. I popped huge Lethal caught Patron with the arm breaker. He escaped a little too early for my liking. I love the payoff of Lethal failing because is arm that was worked over couldn't support the weight. The 1st false finish with the book was well done. 3 *

 

Samoa Joe promo was good and he came across as a huge star.

 

Hanson vs. Tomasso Ciampa vs. Michael Elgin vs. Jay Briscoe

 

Man this was frustrating on a lot of levels. The majority of the work before the overbooking seemed pointless. It seemed like a collection of spots that had no meaning. They really needed someone to be the glue here. Then the overbooking galore happened. Then the finish which was the worst for a babyface champion. It was straight out of Flair NWA touring champion. This match hurt everyone here. 1 1/2*

[Mad Dog]

 

I imagine the torrent will make the rounds late tonight or early tomorrow.

No, I mean when is it gonna only be 15 bucks. I don't steal.

I think you have to wait for the DVD for the best price. It looks like they won't drop the price on the site.

[Timbo Slice]

FUCK that main event.

[Memphis Mark]

In all fairness Ciampa substained a rib injury during the main event . No word on how bad it is or how long Ciampa will be out of action. Ciampa inabilty to finish the match may have led to the screwed up finish .

 

However I do agree the main event was over booked.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

I just finished the show and thought it was alright, especially the tag match and ACH/AJ. Main event was awful and there was way too much Elgin going on for me. I like Hanson, though.

 

I thought the Maria match was pretty dreadful, too. Watching her wrestle is kind of insulting. ODB is fun but Maria is so bad that I couldn't get past it.

[Shining Wiz]

I honestly haven’t watched a full ROH show in.....years.

 

I own the first 120 or so shows, flew to see a few a shows, but around the time Sapolsky burned out and Pearce took over, I faded away like a bunch of other folks, and just never made my way fully back.

 

I have two 2^nd row tickets to both nights ROH has booked for Toronto in May on my fridge right now. While it’s the income New Japan talent that made me bite the bullet, buy the tickets and commit to flying to the T dot for the May 2-4 weekend, ROH has been popping back up on my radar lately as something worth watching.

 

I’ve enjoyed some of the bits and pieces that I’ve checked out over the past 6 or 7 years, but overall the product never fully caught me. That being said, the enjoyable bits and pieces have been more consistent lately and, being that I’ll be seeing them live two night in a row in 2 months, I’m giving the 13^th Anniversary show a shot. I know I’m well late behind everyone and their dog who watched the show last Sunday, but I’m a busy guy....what can I say?

 

Anyhow, here goes.....

 

Opening Video

 

This was great in its cheesiness.

 

Sydal vs Alexander

 

Definitely the first singles match I’ve watched of Alexander, but I think I saw him in a tag at some point. Either way, not too familiar. Familiar with Sydal obviously, but other than appreciating his athleticism, never been a huge fan. I don’t skip his matches, but I don’t drool for them either. Also, strikes as I guy I would find annoying, but now that I think of it, I did meet him at an IWA show a decade ago, and he was an ok guy.

 

I heard Joe at Voices of Wrestling rave over this, so I have some hopes.

 

Cedric looks kind of like Big E Langston’s Mini-me. The startings of a heel turn for Cedreic I assume. Subtle (by wrestling standard) starts to turns are great. Be nice if WWE put away the blunt hammer and did that sometimes. This is a nice opener......high energy but not going balls to the wall right from the start. Both guys have the athleticism to bring the match to a hot close.

 

So what is Sydal’s role in ROH? Is he in full time? If he is, does he get into the title picture, or does he become ROH’s most famous midcarder?

 

Moose vs Briscoe

 

Heard a lot about Moose....never seen him though. Saw highlights of that top rope dropkick though. On the flipside, I was never a big fan of Mark Briscoe. Again, see some of his positives, but just never went over the top for me. Also, he apparently has morphed into the Cuban Assassin’s illegitimate offspring.

 

Moose is a big, big dude.

 

That dropkick is the most impressive I’ve ever seen.

 

And Briscoe’s elbow off the apron isn’t all the far behind. That was a solid, solid landing.

 

Don’t know how I feel about that flipping spear, but that was an ok match up. I see what people see in Moose, and I see why “potential” is used rather than suggesting he’s ready to be big time right now. I hope he stays away from WWE though. His ceiling is Titus O’Neil. Imagine if Titus had started out in ROH rather than WWE...if Moose is getting this kind of buzz, imagine what O’Neil would get.

 

Three Way Tag

 

No one in this match make me turn off the tv, no one makes me turn it on. Except maybe Karl Anderson, but Guns and Gallows bores me.

 

Kingdom has the best of bad entrance themes. Best thing about the Bullet Club is their entrance theme, so they win. If they didn’t have a cool looking t-shirt, the faction that wouldn’t exist.

 

Anyhow...Corino is pumping Anderson’s tires something wicked.

Todd Sinclar hasn’t missed any of the Vegas buffets. That gentleman has put on a few....

A fine, fast paced triple threat. I have to admit – I didn’t notice the absence of Gallows. Anderson was the best guy in the ring though. And while I’m all for a little freshening of the New Japan tag division, and I think Bennett is entirely inoffensive, Taven doesn’t do a lot for me.

 

BJ vs Roderick

 

BJ can cut a promo? Where the hell did that come from? Roddy still sounds like he’s having a hard time remembering his lines. Overall, that was good little hype video. I got the whole angle out of that 2 minutes or so.

 

So, the video package builds this tension, and then they have a slowish paced wrestling match with not a lot of intensity (though BJ throws a nice right hand). This would have been the right spot for a big, hard hitting brawl before settling down into the bigger matches. Crowd still sounds kind of interested, but this is taking the momentum from the show.

 

8 or 9 years removed the ROH board, I find it amusing I still see people I know in the front row. Even when it’s someone who annoys me to annoy end.

 

Maria vs ODB

 

Maria can cut an awesome promo? Where did that come from?

 

By no means a technical masterpiece, but the next time WWE does an entertainment/storyline match this much fun will be the first time this decade. After the last match slowing things down, the crowd was right back into this one.

 

 

I’ll finish this off tomorrow.....

[Memphis Mark]

Sydal and Delirious are boys , they both started in St . Louis together. I guess Sydal's role will be whatever he wants since the booker is his best friend and he is somewhat of a draw . I really think he just wants to work and have good matches at this stage of his carreer. Sydal has been out for a couple of years with a foot injury , he is just starting to return to form.

[Johnny Sorrow]

I'm into checking out ROH again now that the content is right there. I loved me some ROH back on the day. Granted, I loved shit like Carnage Crew. Special K, The Embassy, Ring Crew Express, and all the early undercard stuff with vets of the Indy scene and young little dudes who were never going any farther. That undercard was a blast, full of different types of wrestlers and different styles.

[Strand Peanut]

The Embassy and Prince Nana were the kind of fun only wrestling can provide.

 

Always puts a smile on my face.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

The Embassy and Prince Nana were the kind of fun only wrestling can provide.

Always puts a smile on my face.

I could listen to that Lil Kim song on loop. One of my favorite wrestling entrances ever.

[Strand Peanut]

 

Just for Jimmy Rave's entrance.

[soup23]

Shining Wiz: I would say AJ is above a part time ROH talent but not necessarily full time really like the Briscoes/Kingdom etc. He is probably on 75-80% of the shows and ROH seems to be his #2 priority behind New Japan. The conflict with New Japan is why I don't see him in the title picture any time soon but him facing upper midcard guys is pretty smart to me in that he isn't really burying the top talent but still getting over.

[bradhindsight]

Finally finished this one - catching up on the commentary here and the reaction show now.

 

Sydal/Alexander - perfectly fine opener. I thought it was interesting, and maybe my memory is off, but this match had more big move->dramatic kick-out back and forth than anything else on the card. Even for the short time they had.

 

Moose/Mark - perfect booking and the teased Moose face turn makes sense as well. He was super over at the Philly tapings and once he ditches his entourage he's the perfect guy to dethrone Lethal. The dropkick was awesome and I'm with Zellner, I actually like the somersault spear. Thought Briscoe had one of the bigger bumps with that blockbuster on the outside. My third favorite match on the show easy.

 

Triple threat tag - I'm in the minority, I thought Anderson cutting a promo saying he didn't want a replacement was fine, since the BC are faces in the US anyway. Not that the idea of a random guy being in the BC for one night is bad, totally could have gone that way also. This was what it was (worst analysis I've ever done - hard to describe a glut of spin kicks and dives with the rules thrown out midway for tags anyway). Right guy took the fall, liked the finish. Completely forgettable match.

 

Strong/Whitmer - Man, I think Roddy can work as a face pretty well (Ive also enjoyed his heel work in Evolve of late) and I like the storyline in principal (Mr. ROH, leaves the Decade and wants to make one last run) but as a grudge match this was plodding and I thought they were given TOO much time. I did like that they at least brawled to start before the bell but that was it for grudge-like match qualities. Disappointing but not a Whitmer guy anyway.

 

ODB/Maria - really enjoyed. Paid off the championship of love story plus a bit of revenge for the Kingdom winning the Briscoes feud. Bennett was great. Perfect length and booking.

 

AJ/ACH - my match of the night at ***3/4 and close to **** (I may re-watch). Brought in good psychology with the rope spots and (credit to Corino) even the calf killer at the end. Love the FU elbow from Styles after the dropkick early. I really, really enjoyed this.

 

Bucks/reDRagon - super hot babyface bucks and man the crowd was pissed at that ref pull-out. Standard good stuff from these guys but didn't like quite as much as their War of the Worlds match. Just a hair below the AJ match for me. ***3/4

 

Alberto/Lethal - maybe it was paint-by-numbers booking but I really do love how ROH leverages their part timers. Pre-match taped promo was great. Since Lethal is one of the best talkers in ROH, he really built this up well. Good nearfall with the first book strike while in the armbar and his finisher actually looked ok given the second one. When Lethal loses, it'll be a big deal (MOOSE).

 

Joe interview - perfect, put over the history of the company and absolutely should be an interim guy for Briscoe. Again, it was easy booking but it's the right booking, especially given their history.

 

4 corners - Hanson was heatless coming out but somehow Elgin's reaction topped that in the "no one gives a shit" category. Even as a full blown heel, he gets nothing from the crowd. I get using ref bumps but, considering Sinclair took a wicked super kick at BitW, this looked really tame in comparison and he was out FOREVER. the KDE stuff was at least able to get out of the way and not be a part of the finish and I get the Ciampa/Nigel story so that was "ok" but they topped that with a really lame finish. Ciampa looked like an idiot for having his knees bent too. (edit, given his injuries mid-match, this made sense. I wondered why he disappeared like he did for a lot of the finish.