aceldamas presents ROH

[TTX]

Big win by Cheese and Joey.

[aceldamas]

cruefan68 - Lethal slapping Cole was meant to get the ball rolling. I had hoped Jay would beat Taven to keep the momentum going. It won't cause a change of plans but it does disrupt the flow.
Pariah - The Affluence story may be reaching it's climax at Final Battle, which is the next big event. If you are looking for motivations, that is where they might be revealed.
TTX - Cheeseburger & Daddiego beating the Young Bucks may be an upset on paper but the Bucks have never done well for me. So it didn't come as much of a surprise.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST 2016

November 26, 2016

San Antonio, TX

Survival of the Fittest Qualifier
Adam Page def. ACH by pin
This was the first of six qualifying matches for the SotF main event. Page was a surprise entrant, just back from his first tour of Japan. Commentators Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino speculated whether Page would be reuniting with the House of Truth now that he was back. Page returned to ROH action with a newfound vicious streak. He gave ACH a relentless beating, finishing it with a Rite of Passage.

Survival of the Fittest Qualifier
Nick Jackson def. Cheeseburger w/Veda Scott by pin
Jackson was looking for payback after the Young Bucks’ embarrassing loss last week to Cheeseburger and his partner, Joey Daddiego. Cheeseburger frustrated Nick, evading Jackson’s attempts at offense. However, Burger’s moves were also countered and Nick caught him with a superkick. The fan favorite was out and the three count was a formality.

Survival of the Fittest Qualifier
Matt Jackson def. Joey Daddiego w/Veda Scott by pin
It was the elder Jackson’s turn to avenge last week’s loss. The two ignored the Code of Honor and started brawling. Matt got the upper hand and a near fall after a moonsault. Jackson was in total control in and out of the ring. Joey tried making a comeback but it was short lived. Veda had to cause a distraction to prevent a pin after another moonsault by Jackson. After toying with his opponent for a while, Matt got the pin with a third moonsault. The Young Bucks would both be in the main event.

Survival of the Fittest Qualifier
Chris Sabin w/Truth Martini & Donovan Dijak def. Rhett Titus by pin
Sabin was favored by some to win SotF this year and with the ROH World Television Champion in his corner, along with manager Truth Martini, the odds seemed in his favor. The match started with some good back and forth. Titus began building momentum, putting Sabin in multiple pinning predicaments. Truth was getting antsy and Dijak lent encouragement to his House of Truth teammate. A Thrust Buster by Rhett motivated Truth to cause a distraction to draw the ref away from the pin situation. Sabin rolled out of the way of a frog splash by Rhett and went to work. Titus withstood Hail Sabin and a Cradle Shock but a second Cradle Shock ended it. Sabin escaped a close one to advance.

Survival of the Fittest Qualifier
Mark Briscoe def. Dalton Castle by pin
The two quirky fan favorites had an entertaining exchange before getting down to business. Castle was strong early, getting a two count with a Deadlift German Suplex. Mark surged back, hitting Froggy Bow but Dalton kicked out. Castle made a comeback of his own but Mark cut him off by reversing a corner splash with a lariat out of the corner. Briscoe hooked a leg and got the pin.

Survival of the Fittest Qualifier
Matt Taven def. Kenny King by count out
There was no shortage of swagger when it came to these two. They talked smack back and forth as they circled before the lockup, so it was no surprise that they came out of the clinch punching and clawing. Kenny turned things up to a frenetic pace, repeatedly knocking Taven to the mat. King hit a Royal Flush for a very close near fall. Down the stretch, each man withstood his opponent’s finisher twice. The deciding factor was the appearance at ringside by ROH World Champion, Adam Cole. As Cole distracted the referee, Taven gave Kenny the Climax onto a opened steel chair on the floor. King would be counted out and Taven was the last man to qualify for the SotF finals.

Michael Elgin & War Machine def. reDRagon & Silas Young by pin
Silas Young joined ROH World Tag Team Champions Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly to take on the powerhouse trio of Michael Elgin, Raymond Rowe and Hanson. Elgin almost won it early with a Buckle Bomb/Elgin Bomb combo on O’Reilly. War Machine then combined for their finisher but Fish saved his partner from the Fallout. O’Reilly was at the mercy of the big men for a while but was able to tag in Fish. Bobby took a beating from Hanson and War Machine combined again for the pin. Young never saw action and left in disgust as reDRagon fell to an impressive threesome.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
Matt Taven vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Chris Sabin vs. Matt Jackson vs. Nick Jackson vs. Adam Page
The referee’s first order of business was to eject Truth Martini from ringside, to the chagrin of Chris Sabin. Page and Taven got the match under way. Taven toyed with his opponent before tagging in Matt Jackson. As expected, the Bucks worked as a unit and almost eliminated Page. Sabin tagged his former(?) House of Truth teammate Page. Chris hit Matt Jackson with a string of high impact moves, culminating with Hail Sabin for the pin.
Matt Jackson was eliminated.
Briscoe entered next against Sabin. Chris got a short two count against Mark after Hail Sabin. Nick Jackson slowed Chris’ roll, tagging himself in, angry about his brother’s elimination. Nick got in Sabin’s face but should have been paying attention to the legal man, as Briscoe dropped him with a Saito Suplex and then a Cut-Throat Driver for a near fall. Mark tagged Sabin back in. Nick was ready though and took it to Chris. A wicked superkick capped off a spectacular routine of offense from Jackson and Sabin kicked out at the last moment to avoid elimination. Briscoe tagged back in and hit Sabin with Froggy Bow for a two count. Taven made a blind tag, trying to steal some glory by hitting Chris with the Climax. Sabin again kicked out at two. A second Climax and Sabin kicked out at one! Taven threw everything at Sabin but Chris would not stay down. Sabin was able to tag out and Page was back in. Adam hit a jumping DDT on Taven for the flash pin. Matt was in disbelief, shocked at being eliminated so soon.
Matt Taven was eliminated.
Sabin stepped back. He and Page had a face off. Page broke the impasse with a big boot to the gut. Adam got in some good shots but Sabin put an end to Page’s noteworthy return this night with Hail Sabin.
Adam Page was eliminated.
Briscoe would be the next to try his hand at taking out Sabin. The two had an exciting volley. Mark was the fresher man and a pair of Saito Suplexes led to Sabin’s ousting.
Chris Sabin was eliminated.
It was down to two younger brothers known for being in teams with their siblings. Nick put up a good fight but Mark was the more experienced singles competitor. As Briscoe built steam, it was clear Nick was on the verge of defeat. His brother Matt saw this as well. As Mark walloped Nick around ringside, Matt ran out and blasted Briscoe across the back with a chair. The ref called for the disqualification in a finish that did not please the fans.
Nick Jackson was eliminated.
The Bucks put a beatdown on Mark until Jay Briscoe came to his brother’s rescue. Dem Boys rallied and chased off the Bucks. Despite the questionable outcome, Mark Briscoe was the winner of Survival of the Fittest and would receive a shot at the ROH World Championship sometime in 2017.




Current Rankings:

ROH World Champion - Adam Cole

1. Mark Briscoe
2. Chris Sabin
3. Matt Taven
4. Donovan Dijak
5. Jay Lethal
6. Michael Elgin
7. Nick Jackson
8. Adam Page
9. Kyle O'Reilly
10. Silas Young

[Pariah]

Highly impressive victory for Chicken and you've gotta wonder what Jay thinks of his younger brother now? Was rooting for Taven to take it all, but it just wasn't happening...

Sabin looked really good right up until he was eliminated and I thought he was destined to earn another shot at the top prize... Thinking we'll see a one-on-one encounter between him and Page in the near future...

Unfortunately, the six man tag match fell a little flat... Expected better from reDRagon... The Last Real Man probably wasn't REAL happy either...

Truly entertaining, my friend... As always!

[bookerbill]

Another solid and entertaining read.

[cruefan68]

I thoroughly enjoyed Survival of the Fittest with the only drawback for me being the Bucks not having to face each other. I had a feeling they would work together but my hope was to see them left facing each other at the end. However, all that said I can't say I'm not thrilled with the outcome as Mark Briscoe wins SOTF and gets an ROH World title shot. Very cool to see one of Dem Boys walk away with the victory. Best part of the match was seeing Matt Taven dealt some justice by Adam Page in getting eliminated from the bout. No one deserves that more than Taven!

I like the idea of Silas Young being pissed off at reDRagon after that loss to Michael Elgin & War Machine. Young versus either Fish or O'Reilly in singles action would be fun or perhaps he will find a tag partner to challenge reDRagon.

[aceldamas]

Pariah - Taven winning SotF would have made things interesting on the title front but it was not to be. It definitely looks like Adam Page is trying to distance himself from the House of Truth. Will he and Sabin mix it up? Time will tell. reDRagon getting trounced by War Machine in the 6-man could be seen as a receipt for the cheap win Fish & O'Reilly got over them the last time they met. More between those two teams on Episode 35.
bookerbill - Thanks for the comment!
cruefan68 - While seeing the Young Bucks have to face each other in SotF would have been interesting, Matt was eliminated too soon for that to develop. Taven's early elimination was certainly a crowd-pleaser. Except for one Pariah in the audience. Silas Young being disgruntled with reDRagon dropping their match is justified but he probably would have been just as sour if they had won!

RING OF HONOR TELEVISION

2016 Season Episode 34

Matt Sydal & Caprice Coleman def. Adam Cole & Matt Taven by DQ
Color commentator, Steve Corino, speculated that, if the Affluence team of ROH World Champion Cole and Taven wanted to, they could probably win the ROH tag team titles. His announce partner, Kevin Kelly, replied that it would be hard to make an argument against that point. Cole and Taven worked over Sydal. Coleman had to make the save after a Hail Mary by the Affluence team. Sydal and Coleman put together some offense of their own but Cole and Taven cut them off with a double team superkick. Caprice had to make the save again when his partner was in trouble after a Florida Key by Cole. Coleman made a fiery comeback against Cole. The world champion got angry and took out his frustration out on Caprice at ringside, getting his team disqualified.
As Sydal helped Coleman to the back, Taven got on the mic and said that was the price you pay for trying to make the champ look bad. A murmur went through the crowd as Jay Lethal came out and confronted his Affluence teammates. His focus was on Cole. “You know what, Adam?” Jay began. “That old man did make you look bad. You couldn’t even get the job done with this clown helping you out,” he continued, pointing at Taven. “Well, I want you to pay attention.  Tonight I’m going to show you and everyone in this building who the best wrestler in Affluence is. Right here, in the middle of this ring, I’m going to destroy the Survival of the Fittest winner, who has just been named as your number contender - Mark Briscoe. And once that happens, what’s that going to say about me?”
Lethal dropped the mic and left. Taven dismissively shook his head as Cole sneered, his eyes following Lethal as he departed.

Michael Elgin def. Chris Sabin w/Truth Martini by pin
Sabin used his quickness to overcome Elgin’s power advantage early. Big Mike easily kicked out after a Cradle Shock and went to town on his opponent. Chris survived a Buckle Bomb/Elgin Bomb combo but Truth Martini had to interfere after a second Elgin Bomb. The two traded offense. The match was in jeopardy for Sabin after an enormous Black Hole Slam by Elgin. Truth jumped up on the apron to cause a distraction and Elgin had had enough. Going after the wily manager was almost his undoing as it gave Chris an opening to try and put him away with Hail Sabin. Mike got his shoulder up at the last possible moment and Sabin and Truth couldn’t believe it. Cradle Shock by Sabin and another kick out! Hail Sabin, kick out! Martini was going out of his mind. Elgin started a come back and got a near fall with another huge Black Hole Slam. Big Mike pulled out all of the stops, going for an Avalanche Elgin Bomb, bringing this epic confrontation to it’s conclusion.

ROH Update
“Hello, Ring of Honor fans! Ian Riccaboni here with your ROH Update. We are approaching our biggest event of the year - Final Battle. While plans are still in the works, I can, at this time, let you know that all of the championships in Ring of Honor are scheduled to be defended. I can also reveal that Kenny Omega is returning to take on one of the elite in Ring of Honor - Michael Elgin! That’s a can’t-miss match right there! I urge you all to check in next week for more big announcements concerning Final Battle!”

Jay Lethal def. Mark Briscoe by pin
Lethal tried to be true to his word when it came to destroying Briscoe. Mark withstood an intense opening salvo, including kicking out of two Lethal Injections. Mark fought his way through Jay’s punishing assault, going for Froggy Bow and a near fall. Mark climbed to the top one too many times as Lethal caught him with an Ace Crusher as he made his leap. Jay hooked a leg and got the three count.
Lethal was fired up about the victory. Adam Cole and Matt Taven came back out. Taven was downplaying the win but Cole was looking intently at Lethal. Kevin Kelly noted that maybe he saw a little bit of concern in Adam’s eyes. Jay pointed at Cole and yelled “Who’s the best now, Adam?! Who’s the best?!”

[Pariah]

The friction between Cole and Lethal is providing some of the most intense banter in this fed's history - Which is really saying quite a bit considering how emotional some past rivalries have become... As much as I can't wait to see Chicken get his shot at the World title, I'm really looking forward to the final collapse of Affluence... We all know it's coming and the fans will be the real winners when it all goes down...

Speaking of things going down, Sabin continues to be having a bit of difficulty... Meanwhile, it looks like Unbreakable Elgin had the desire to storm right back into the mix... His upcoming bout against the Cleaner had already given Final Battle a marquee matchup...

As always, Taven continues to dazzle the melvins with his elegant work on the mic...

Absolutely entertaining!

[cruefan68]

Chris Sabin vs. Michael Elgin was awesome, what a win for Big Mike! I am really looking forward to Elgin taking on Kenny Omega. I also liked Jay Lethal throwing the gauntlet down at Adam Cole taunting him earlier and then beating SOTF winner Mark Briscoe in the main event. Briscoe has his title shot coming so that could throw a monkey wrench into things but Lethal vs. Cole needs to happen regardless.

[bookerbill]

Each time I check out this fed I always come away with wanting to know what is next. There is always something building and the pay off is usually excellent. Solid stuff.

[aceldamas]

Pariah - I’ve been building the Cole/Lethal rivalry for some time now. It got put on the back burner for a while when Lethal lost the title but now that Adam has it, the heat is obviously back on. I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by saying they will be main eventing Final Battle. Will Affluence collapse? I think you may be surprised by the outcome I have planned.
cruefan68 - Michael Elgin looked strong against Sabin and his upcoming match with The Cleaner should deliver. But I’m going to let another cat out of the bag here: Final Battle will be Elgin’s last appearance for a while. It’s time to rotate him out. Thus, he’ll be making way for some new blood, so that’s a good thing. I’ve got big things coming up for 2017 and I need to free up some room on the roster.
bookerbill - Well, I'm glad I'm able to hook people with what I have going on. I always have a few plotlines waiting in the wings, so I always have the next thing ready to go as other stories wind down. Sometimes they overlap. For instance, the story for 2017 has already begun. There's just not enough of it to see yet. As far as them paying off, this year, the blow off for Final Battle won't be totally dependent on those damn dice.

RING OF HONOR TELEVISION

2016 Season Episode 35

The Young Bucks opened the show, running down Cheeseburger and Joey Daddiego. Matt and Nick Jackson recounted how they beat Joey and Burger in singles competition at Survival of the Fittest and that it was a fluke that they were defeated as a team a few weeks back. They challenged Veda Scott’s pair of wrestlers to come out right now and promised lightning wouldn’t strike twice.

The Young Bucks def. Cheeseburger & Joey Daddiego w/Veda Scott by DQ
The Bucks wasted no time giving Cheeseburger More Bang For Your Buck. Burger valiantly got a shoulder up, raising Nick’s ire. Cheeseburger tried fighting back but was once again on the receiving end of More Bang For Your Buck. The little guy kicked out again and the fans got behind him as he struggled to get to his corner. Burger caught Nick with a palm strike as he came off the top rope. He went for an unsuccessful pin attempt but was able to tag Daddiego in. Joey roughed up Nick some but the Bucks were soon back in control. They tried to put Daddiego away but Veda made a timely distraction to delay the ref’s count. Matt and Nick stayed focused and looked to finish it with the Indytaker. As Nick covered Joey, Veda broke up the pin attempt by clobbering Nick with a foreign object behind the ref’s back. When the official saw the result, he looked around for an explanation for Nick’s semi-conscious condition. At that point, Stokely Hathaway came out and took the concealed object from Veda and presented it to the referee. That was enough for the ref to disqualify her team. Te Bucks thanked Stokely as Nick rubbed his sore head. Veda was furious and did not take it well when Cheeseburger confronted her about the questionable tactics she had employed.

Adam Page def. Jay Briscoe by pin
Page returned at Survival of the Fittest on his first night back from Japan with a new, more aggressive attitude. He came out looking for a fight and Briscoe did his best to make him regret it. Page took everything that Jay dished out as they slugged it out inside the ring and out. Page pulled off the upset, pinning Briscoe after a Rite of Passage.

ROH Update
“Ian Riccaboni here on the Road To Final Battle! Last week we announced the first big signing for the year-end show as Kenny Omega takes on Michael Elgin. We have a lot of fans on social media asking if Jay Lethal, with his impressive win over Survival of the Fittest winner Mark Briscoe, will be named number one contender for the ROH World Championship at Final Battle. This would pit Lethal against his teammate in Affluence, world champion Adam Cole. The rivalry between these two has reached a fever pitch and the word is from Nigel McGuinness that he is trying to get the match made. We’ll know for sure next week. While we wait for the answer, we can confirm that the Young Bucks will once again face Veda Scott’s team of Cheeseburger and Joey Daddiego. Could we see Stokely Hathaway in the Bucks corner? You’ll have to order the pay per view to find out. That’s all for now. Tune in next week for the full lineup for Final Battle! See you then!”

No Disqualification
reDRagon def. War Machine by pin
ROH World Tag Team Champions, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly, have poked the bear that is War Machine. Even though this was a non-title match, Raymond Rowe and Hanson could make a case for a future shot at the gold with a win tonight. And with the rules thrown out, the champions would not be able to get a cheap win.
Fish came out at the bell landing heavy strikes on Rowe. O’Reilly tagged in for a brainbuster and clamped Armageddon on his opponent. Ray fought the submission hold and escaped by making it to the ropes. Fish and O’Reilly combined for Chasing the Dragon and got the convincing win. Announcer Kevin Kelly reminded fans to tune in next week for a number one contender match to see who would challenge reDRagon at Final Battle.