wrestling / TV Reports
Csonka’s ROH TV Review 9.30.15
Loading...
ROH TV 9.30.15 – Episode 210
OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Non-Title Match: Matt Sydal defeated IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion KUSHIDA @ 12:15 via pin [***]
– Watanabe defeated Will Ferrara, Adam Page and Moose @ 5:45 via pin [**]
– Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Adam Cole @ 22:55 via pin [***¾]
Matt Sydal vs. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion KUSHIDA: I am all about this match, Sydal is still a really fun performer and KUSHIDA has come into his own as a performer, putting all of the pieces together. They worked a fun back and forth few minutes, KUSHIDA looked to get the advantage but Sydal took him to the mat and worked the Muta lock to try and ground the champion. They then worked through a commercial break. After the break KUSHIDA was trying to make a comeback and started to work the arm of Sydal, to set up the hoverboard lock. KUSHIDA, still selling the leg, got to the top and hit a big senton dive to really get the crowd going. KUSHIDA, as he tends to do, started abandoning the selling of the leg and got the hoverboard lock on Sydal, but he made the ropes. They traded strikes and kicks and then did the double down spot; they then went back and forth and Sydal got a near fall off of a reverse RANA. Sydal would miss the shooting star press, leading to KUSHIDA getting the hoverboard lock, but it was another tease as Sydal escapes and they went into another set of trading kicks and strikes. Sydal then fought back and hit the shooting star press to pick up the surprising and anticlimactic victory. That was a fun match, and it was nice to see Sydal win because the general thing when the NJPW guys come over is that the champions and certain guys are heavily protected, which is understood, but leads to a lot of fun matches with no drama. So having a champion actually lose is a nice change. I thought it was a fun and quality opener, but lacked energy down the stretch; I just never felt it really build to the finish, which is why it felt anticlimactic to me.
* Oh yay the Decade are here. Whitmer talks about Adam Page not getting main event matches. Thankfully it did not last long.
Adam Page (with BJ Whitmer & Colby Corino) vs. Will Ferrara vs. Moose (with Stokely Hathaway) vs. Watanabe: This was one on one, with the other on the apron and needing to be tagged to get in. They did the gimmick early with various pairings and guys constantly tagging themselves in. To me this just had no flow, as it felt very rough and haphazardly put together. They did stuff, Colby Cornio tried to distract Moose at one point and ate a kick to the face for his troubles and then they went into the big move buffet. Watanabe then hit an STO on Ferrara and that was it. It was just sort of there for me, with a fun final minute or so. The thing for me is that no one really got a chance to shine, and no one really felt important. Moose is someone that they seem to want to do big things with, but this felt as if we had four dudes that people somewhat care about doing stuff and then one of them won and it never felt important. I am not saying that every match needs to be treated as the biggest match in the history of the sport, but it just felt like a match to fill the show. Commentary was stagnant, not really doing much to put over what a win means for Watanabe other than “it’s a big win”.
* Bushwacker Luke did his wacky walk past commentary. We see footage of Brutal Bob Evans and his new mini me protégé attacking Cheeseburger from earlier in the night. Luke made the save, including doing a horrible stunner and then the battering ram with Cheeseburger. They then did the Bushwacker walk. We also got a short interview with Luke, who had on an insane amount of paint (hair dye) and then he licked Corino.
* Next week we get matches from Field of Honor, including Roderick Strong vs. Kazuchika Okada and The Briscoes vs. The Time Splitters. That looks to be a hell of a show.
Adam Cole (BAY BAY) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: So they had a really fun back and forth to begin, which ended in Cole sending Nakamura to the floor. Now I am watching on the local channel that carries the show now, so when they went to commercial and came back, the match restarted! Like, they rewound the tape and showed the intros and first two minutes and then went to a commercial again. Amazing how this happens in 2015. Anyway, after seeing the first two minutes again we came back to them brawling on the floor and then Cole taking control. Nakamura quickly came back for a bit, until Cole laid him out with a kick and got a near fall. Cole started to work the leg and grounded Nakamura as we went to another commercial. And that’s where it got cut off. I decided to share my journey with you, as I had to wait for the Destination America version to watch the match proper. Cole played the heel role in the match; the middle part of the match had some nice aggression from both guys, the action escalated slowly but at a nice pace that felt natural and effortless. Cole started to work the leg before the break, and when we came back, he was able to lock in the figure four. Nakamura would escape, but Cole kept his focus on the left leg with the dragon screw leg whips. Nakamura kept trying for he arm bar to counter Cole’s attacks. After a double down spot, and then Nakamura started to make his comeback, selectively selling the leg. Cole connected with what appeared to be his version of a boma ye, and we had another double down spot. He then scored with another knee for a near fall. Cole connected with the superkick and Florida keys, and got a near fall, and almost killed the ref when he didn’t get the three count. Cole abandoned the knee, which Nigel even discussed on commentary, and Nakamura hit a boma ye off the ropes for another double down spot. Nakamura then said fuck all selling, landed a bunch of stuff and they went back and forth. Nakamura hit the landslide and boma ye again to score the win. This was a fun match, but fell short of being great because of Nakamura being Nakamura. Having his leg worked on, dodgy selling and hitting 25 boma yes have become a crutch for him. It was a ton of fun and I liked it, but it wasn’t great. Adam Cole came off really well here though, even in defeat.
– End scene.
– Thanks for reading.
“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia.”
