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Csonka’s ROH Death Before Dishonor PPV Review 8.19.16

August 20, 2016 | Posted by Larry Csonka
Adam Cole
7.9
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Csonka’s ROH Death Before Dishonor PPV Review 8.19.16  

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Csonka’s ROH Death Before Dishonor PPV Review 8.19.16

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Four Corner Survival No. 1 Contender’s Match For Shot At ROH World TV Title: Donovan Dijak defeated Lio Rush, Jay White and Kamaitachi @ 8:10 via pin [***¼]
Non-Title Match: IWGP NEVER Openweight Champion Katsuyori Shibata defeated Silas Young @ 9:20 via pin [***½]
– CHAOS (Romero, Barreta and Yano) defeated. Bullet Club (Takahashi, Tonga, Loa) @ 11:17 via pin [**]
Anything Goes Match: Hangman Adam Page defeated Jay Briscoe @ 17:40 via pin [****]
Non-Title Match: IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada defeated Dalton Castle @ 13:35 via pin [***½]
ROH TV Title Match: Champion Bobby Fish defeated Mark Briscoe @ 16:04 via pin [***]
ROH Tag Team Title Match: Champions The Addiction defeated Los Ingobernables and Michael Elgin & Hiroshi Tanahashi @ 14:50 via pin [***½]
ROH World Title Match: Adam Cole (BAY BAY) defeated Champion Jay Lethal @ 24:10 via in to become the NEW champion [****½]


Four Corner Survival No. 1 Contender’s Match For Shot At ROH World TV Title: Donovan Dijak vs. Lio Rush vs. Jay White vs. Kamaitachi: Kamaitachi and Dijak, as the heels, worked a lot together since they have had issues with White and Rush. They really worked the Rush/Dijak and Kamaitachi/White pairings, with a great pace and everyone getting some time to shine. The best part about this was that the match flew by, it wasn’t long b any means, but they did a good job of keeping the action quick in the ring and also delivering on the dive and wild spits like Rush hitting a reverse RANA to Dijak on the floor and Dijak hitting a corkscrew dive to the floor. They worked into a series of near falls, and it then came down to Rush vs. Dijak, and after a lot of counters, Dijak finally hit feast your eyes to pick up the win and the title shot. Dijak was the right guy to win here, as they need to move forward with him after pushing him against Lethal and then seemingly not knowing what to do with him. Everyone looked good, and this was a really fun way to kick off the show. Built the TV Title division around these guys.

Non-Title Match: IWGP NEVER Openweight Champion Katsuyori Shibata vs. Silas Young : The crowd loves Shibata and are happy to see him. Young actually got control pretty early, sending Shibata to the floor and hitting a plancha. Young targeted the taped shoulder of Shibata, which was brutalized during the G1. Young was attacking, and Shibata just sat in the ring and dared him to keep hitting him. Shibata was having none of this bullshit, absorbing the strikes of Young and then hitting his running corner kicks. After some back and forth, Young hit the back breaker into the clothesline for a near fall. Young escaped the sleeper and ht a cutter for a near fall. Young got a heat near fall off of the Finlay roll into the moonsault. Shibata came back with the sleeper and the PK to put Young away. Post match they slapped each other and shook hands, because MEN! They gave Young a ton of offense again Shibata, and they need to follow up on that, Sure he didn’t win, but when you get to go that evenly with a guy like Shibata, you have to make it worth it. Overall a very good match with Young getting way more than I expected and them working the right kind of match to make sure that Young lost nothing with the loss to Shibata.

CHAOS (Romero, Barreta and Yano) vs. Bullet Club (Takahashi, Tonga, Loa): Takahashi and Loa are the lowest of the low for the Bullet Club, and they made sure to bring their epic averageness with them to the US. This felt way too cute/overbooked as they worked a match that went too long and was basically a way to get over Yano’s shtick. Yano can be fun, but I have had my fill. Combine him working with Takahashi and Loa and you’re going to have to do a lot to make me care about the match. It wasn’t bad. Romero, Barreta and Tonga did a good job of keeping the action moving, but it also felt sloppy in spots. It was a match. CHAOS won when Yano sent Takahashi into the exposed buckle and then got the Yano Special (low blow and cradle). Bullet Club were poor sports and laid out CHAOS post match. Adam Page arrived and tried to hang Yano, but Jay Briscoe made the save, which led into the next match.

Anything Goes Match: Hangman Adam Page vs. Jay Briscoe: They went with chairs right away as Briscoe hit a smash mouth as Page ran towards him. It’s all Briscoe early, hitting a he suicide dive that took out Page and sent himself into the crowd. They had great intensity early on as Briscoe was brutalizing young Adam Page. Page was able to finally cut off Briscoe, using the hangman’s rope to choke out Briscoe in the ropes. They then went to the floor, where Page took his turn dishing out the damage, powerbombing Briscoe onto a chair on the floor. Page tied Briscoe to the barricade and beat on him with a chair. Briscoe did a spot where he tied Page in the corner, face against a chair, and Briscoe just destroyed him with repeated corner splashes. They kept teasing rite of passage on the apron, and after some back and forth and the teases, Page finally hit the move off of the apron and through the table at ringside. These poor bastards got more than they bargained for, as Briscoe cut his back open and Page put a hole in his knee, which started to bleed, he was also in a ton of pain and may have done some serious damage to it. Just fucking brutal. Page then choked out Briscoe with the noose, and then hit the rite of passage to pick up the win. The goal of this match was to try and make Adam Page a star, and while the follow up will be the key, the match more than delivered and commentary played up the importance of the win very well. Page took a ton of punishment and on his own, defeated one of ROH’s biggest stars/former world champion. I won’t claim that Page will be come a big star, but the match was awesome (if you like the style) and is a great launching point. Much better than putting a directionless Page into Bullet Club and telling fans he’s a big deal. They now have something real to work off of.

Non-Title Match: IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. Dalton Castle: Okada controlled early, which frustrated Castle and he had to take a break and get fanned by the boys. Castle finally cut off Okada as he went for the top rope elbow drop, laid in some running knee strikes and finally took control. Castle grounded Okada, working a waistlock and laying in some elbows. Castle tried to pick up the pace, but that’s when Okada made his comeback with elbows and clotheslines. Both men missed charges, and then Okada dropkicked Castle to the floor. The Boys and the crowd fanned Castle to try and help him recover. It helped as Castle hit a RANA and then a suicide dive. Back in the ring Castle got a near fall off of the knee strike and running bulldog combo. Castle then started to hit some suplexes, easily tossing Okada around. The deadlift German into the bridge got a great near fall. Okada reached for the ropes and pulled the boys in, Okada fought back and then hit the top rope elbow drop. He had the Boys fan him as he did the rainmaker pose and then celebrated with them Okada was distracted, and Castle hit bangarang, but Okada roller do the floor. Castle rolled Okada back into the ring, hit a suplex for another near fall. Okada escaped a second bangarang, hit the dropkick and then went for the rainmaker. Castle fought it off, but ate the tombstone and then was beheaded with a rainmaker for the win. We all knew that Okada was winning here, so the key was to show Castle as a legit competitor to Okada and to make the fans actually believe that Castle could win this match. I think they were largely successful at doing those things here, the match was very good and certainly had its elements of fun. They really need to do something with Castle, who like Dijak is just a guy in search of a focused direction. Okada, Castle and the Boys all posed together post match.

ROH TV Title Match: Champion Bobby Fish vs. Mark Briscoe: Fish took control early, predictably outwrestling Briscoe on the ground and working for submissions. Briscoe started to score with strikes, Fish made him chase him to he floor and caught Briscoe on the way back in. Fish isn’t working full blown heel here, but the shortcuts are borderline enough to solidify him in that role. Fish focused on the leg to set up the heel hook. Briscoe was able to send Fish to the floor, avid the kicks and then hit the blockbuster off the apron. Briscoe took advantage on the floor, working over Fish for his first prolonged offense of the match. He hit the Cactus Jack Elbow, and then back in a clothesline connected for a near fall. Briscoe was selling the lower back and hip, likely landing badly on the Cactus elbow. Fish went back on the attack, laying in kicks to the leg. Fish went for a snap suplex, and Briscoe didn’t go over well for it. He looks to be hurting because it almost looked as if he sandbagged him. Sure he could be selling, but it looked too bad for that. Briscoe did fire up, daring Fish to hit him and then connecting with the running kick and fisherman’s buster for a near fall. Fish fought back with the gut buster, but Briscoe hit the DVD and went up top and the froggy bow ate knees. Fish hit a falcon arrow (HE DID THE DEAL) for a near fall. he then rolled into the knee bar, but Briscoe made the ropes. Briscoe again hit a DVD and then followed with a powerbomb. Froggy bow connects but Fish kicked out. They worked up top, Briscoe wanted the fisherman’s buster but Fish fought him off and kicked Briscoe off the ropes, where he landed on his head. XPLODER into the buckles, falcon arrow (HE DID THE DEAL AGAIN) and Fish scores the win. I am not sure if Briscoe really hurt his lower back, it appeared that way, but it made a lot of the patch disjointed from a pacing and selling perspective. Briscoe kept favoring his lower back and hip, which caused him to not sell the knee most of the match. It was good overall, but could have been better.

– Matt Taven is out on commentary.

ROH Tag Team Title Match: Champions The Addiction vs. Los Ingobernables (Tetsuya Naito & Evil) vs. Michael Elgin & Hiroshi Tanahashi: Lots of the usual stuff you’d expect; Naito being a dick, Elgin & EVIL doing power spots and the Addiction trying to out heel everyone. Tanahashi got some shine until the Addiction cut him off and worked the heat. Naito tagged himself in, hit his corner dropkick combo and then EVIL joined him for some double teams and a near fall. the Addiction and Los Ingobernables ended up fighting, leading to Tanahashi fighting back and scoring the hot tag to Elgin. Elgin ran wild, tossing the Addiction around with suplexes including both at once. He then hit the fall away slam/Samoan drop combo to Naito and EVIL. The Addiction finally worked double teams, Daniels then hit a suicide dive to the floor. They then looked for celebrity rehab, but Tanahashi made the save it broke down with brawling on the floor and Elgin scoring with a plancha onto the pile. BIG MIKE! EVIL then tagged in and tossed Elgin to the floor, he and Naito worked double teams but Naito made the save. Tanahashi back in and took out Naito, Elgin hit a powerslam off the ropes and then he and Tanahashi hit a double team for a near fall. Kamaitachi arrived for the distraction, but it almost backfired as EVIL scored a near fall on Tanahashi. Tanahashi countered the STO, sling blade hit and then Daniels blind tagged in, high fly flow hits and as Tanahashi covers Daniels covers as well to retain the titles. The finish was predictable as far as the Addiction retaining, but they worked a very good match with a creative finish to keep the Addiction as prime dick heels.

ROH World Title Match: Champion Jay Lethal vs. Adam Cole (BAY BAY): They went face to face, and then Cole pulled Lethal’s hair out of his trunks to torment him and Lethal went mental and attacked. Commentary played up the extra security to prevent another Bullet Club incident. Lethal controlled early, sending Cole to the floor and followed to continue the attack. Lethal kept control and searched under the ring for something. He failed two times to find it before finally producing a table. The momentum died during this portion as it felt as if it took forever for him to find the table. Lethal hit a cutter on the floor and then laid Cole on the table. He went up top and MISSED the elbow drop as Cole rolled out of the way. This plays into the story that Lethal is not fighting for the title but to hurt Cole, which may cost him. Lethal is cut on the head from that, and Cole then posted him and celebrated a bit. Back in the ring Cole took the heat, working a grounded headlock. Cole worked a solid, but flat heat; Lethal sold well. Lethal countered a charge, hit a leg lariat and then a DVD for a near fall. Lethal dropkicked Cole to the floor, and followed with a trios of dives. But that wasn’t enough so he hit a 4th and a 5th as he totally fired up, but when he went for one more Cole sidestepped him and sent Lethal into the barricade, which again sells the point that Lethal is too focused on punishment over winning. Cole started to slap Lethal around, which pissed off the champion and they traded strikes. Cole then turned Lethal inside out with a running boot for a near fall. Lethal avoided a superkick and laid out Cole with a clothesline. Cole cut off the Lethal injection, hit a low blow and then hit the last shot for a near fall. They again traded strikes, and then Lethal countered a figure four into a small package for 2. Cole locked in a hanging guillotine, Lethal powered out into the lethal combination for a double down. Lethal then hit a series of backdrop suplexes, went up top and the elbow drop connects for a near fall. Cole hit a series of kicks, Lethal then fired back with some of his own but Cole then caught him with a superkick for another double down. Cole then went for the destroyer, Lethal countered and hit the cutter off the ropes. Lethal injection countered with a superkick, Cole to the second rope, hops off into the destroyer! The last shot follows, but Lethal kicks out! Great near fall there off of that series. Cole then called Lethal a bitch sand slapped him around, and told him “you ain’t shit” before spitting at him. Cole missed the superkick, Lethal injection connects but Cole survives. They really got the crowd going here, Cole gave Lethal the double gun salute, Lethal missed a superkick and Cole got a near fall off of a roll up with the tights The last shot, shining wizard and another last shot by Cole all connect and he wins the title. This felt like a big time main event, and it more than delivered in the main event spot. They played into the story that Lethal was more concerned with revenge and violence against Cole, and his frustrations got to him and Cole out lasted him. It’s funny, for months I heard that lethal needed to drop the title, and then he got over so well and did the face turn and now people are upset because they wanted him to keep the title for a longer time. But I think it was time, as I said in the TV reports, the obvious direction was Cole winning to build to the O’Reilly match. Excellent work from both guys.

– Post match Kyle O’Reilly arrived and laid out Cole. He then posed with the title, and that is the set up for the Final battle main event.

* End scene.

* Thanks for reading.

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“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia.”

7.9
The final score: review Good
The 411
This was an overall very strong show from ROH, delivering a lot of good wrestling and two great ones that you need to make sure to see. The show felt like a change of direction, as with several talents gone and others rumored to leave, they have seemingly set the stage for guys like Page, Dijak, Castle and O’Reilly to step up. Make sure to catch Cole vs. Lethal and Briscoe vs. Page if you’re cherry picking matches.
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