Csonka’s ROH All Star Extravaganza Review 9.30.16

Csonka’s ROH All Star Extravaganza Review 9.30.16

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– ROH TV Title Match: Champion Bobby Fish defeated Donovan Dijak @ 11:44 via referee stoppage [***]
– For a Shot at The ROH Tag Team Titles: Dalton Castle and Colt Cabana defeated War Machine Rhett Titus and Kenny King and Shane Taylor and Keith Lee @ 8:45 via pin [**¼]
– Dragon Lee defeated Kamaitachi @ 16:05 via pin [****]
– Kyle O’Reilly defeated Adam Page @ 9:58 via pin [**¾]
– ROH Six-Man Tag Title Tournament Match: KUSHIDA, ACH and Jay White defeated The Briscoes & Toru Yano @ 14:18 via pin [***½]
– Non-Title Match: Jay Lethal defeated IWGP IC Champion Tetsuya Naito @ 13:10 via pin [**¾]
– ROH World Title Match: Champion Adam Cole vs. Michael Elgin @ 14:10 via pin [**½]
– ROH Tag Team Title Ladder War Tag Team Title Match: The Young Bucks defeated Champions The Addiction and The Motor City Machine Guns @ 23:44 [****¾]

ROH TV Title Match: Champion Bobby Fish vs. Donovan Dijak: Dijak is flanked by Prince Nana and several New England Wrestling Academy trainees. He looked like Ivan Drago coming to the ring. Dijak is the hometown guy, and is loved here. They played up the size difference, with Fish yelling to Dijak that he was gong to take out his “spindly legs.” Fish worked leg kicks early and clipped out the leg a few times, keeping to his promise. Dijak hit the discus kick, but was too slow to cover, and when he did only got two. As Dijak started to take over, he had some more aggression and started to toss Fish around. Dijak made the mistake of trying to grapple, and that allowed Fish to escape the cravat and fight back, still getting in some shots to the legs. Fish hit the XPLODER to the corner, which got a near fall. Fish attacked the knee, but Dijak powered back and hit feast your eyes, but was slow to cover again because of Fish’s work on the knee. Fish got a foot on the ropes and survived, they got a great reaction for that near fall. Dijak then missed a corkscrew moonsault, they then traded strikes center ring, Fish escaped the chokeslam and got the heel hook. Dijak got the ropes as Nana distracted Fish. Fish then countered feast your eyes into a rear naked choke, and that led to the referee stoppage. This was a good match to kick off the show. Fish’s work on the leg was really good, Dijak’s sell of the work was also very good and I felt that they did a great job of not allowing the size different to cause them any issues. At the end of the day, Fish used his experience and was simply smarter and took out the younger competitor. The finish was a bit flat and it really felt as if they should have pulled the title change, likely another missed opportunity with a young star.

For a Shot at The ROH Tag Team Titles: Rhett Titus and Kenny King vs. Shane Taylor and Keith Lee vs. Dalton Castle and Colt Cabana vs. War Machine: Caprice Coleman cut a promo, King and Titus are kneeling in protest of the code of honor. After a brief brawl, things settled down with Rowe kicking the shit out of King, and then War Machine attacking Taylor and Lee. War Machine is totally focused on Lee and Taylor, but due to that, got cut off and beat down. This is really all over the place, with lots of tags (both intentional and not), and then Castle and Cabana facing off. Cabana smartly went for a cover to try and win the title shot, but it got broke up. As King and Titus argued with Cabana and Castle, War Machine brawled with Taylor and Lee on the floor. This isn’t bad, but it’s chaotic in the bad way. We got the big move buffet, which was fun as Castle hit a dead lift German onto Lee and did it with ease. We got some dives including a HOSS DIVE from Lee! Hanson then hit a dove onto the pile from off of the top rope. Castle then hit Bang a rang on Titus for the win. They worked themselves into a solid match after a really rough first half. Shane Taylor and Keith Lee and War Machine took each other out of contention at the end, which makes sense as they are building to a big blow off match. Taylor and Lee did a lot to help turn this thing around in the second half, the are an awesome hoss team.

Kamaitachi vs. Dragon Lee: These guys have had a ton of awesome matches in Mexico and had a MOTY contender on the Fantasticamania tour in January. They worked a great back and forth stretch, doing a ton of counters and showing how well they know each other. Lee hit a suicide dive early, but Kamaitachi fought back and hit the sunset flip bomb to the floor and then a regular powerbomb on the he floor. They fought on the floor, which Kamaitachi whipping Lee over the barricade a few times and then hitting a running dropkick over the barricade. Back in the ring, Lee hit a series of dropkicks and then a sweet dive over the top. Lee then set Kamaitachi in a tree of HOA on the outside of the ring and hit a double stomp off the top. Lee took control, hitting a cool dump suplex for the near fall. Lee missed another try at the double stomp, Kamaitachi hit the XPLODER and sent Lee to the floor. Kamaitachi then hit the big senton to the floor. They teased the double countout after that, with both making it back in and trading chops from their knees. Once they picked up the pace, they did a ton of counters out of RANAs, and then lee hit a back suplex for the neat fall. Kamaitachi countered the corner charge, they battled up top and hit the wheelbarrow roll off the ropes and got a near fall. They traded German suplexes, and it appeared that they were going to do a Spanish fly spot that came off oddly. Kamaitachi hit a pair of German suplexes, but Lee survived. Lee locked in an arm bar, and managed to tie up both arms, but Kamaitachi made the ropes. Kamaitachi rolled to the apron, and Lee ran and jumped over the ropes and hit a RANA to the floor. Back in, Lee hit a series of northern lights suplexes into a brain buster, which got a great near fall. Kamaitachi fought back with the destroyer, but Lee somehow survived. Back to the corner and they fought up top again. Lee hit the double stomp, and went for the last ride but Kamaitachi hit the destroyer AGAIN, and after a delay scored a near fall. Kamaitachi hit the DVD to the corner, but Lee fought back and hit the Phoenix-plex and dropped Kamaitachi STRAIGHT on his head for the win. This was exactly what it needed to be. They worked their kind of match; it was a little sloppy and it could have been a minute or two shorter, but it was an overall excellent outing for these guys, just not a MOTY contender that their fans are used to seeing. But it was the right match to introduce Lee to the ROH audience, and likely Kamaitachi’s best ROH singles match.

Adam Page vs. Kyle O’Reilly: They worked back and forth to begin, with O’Reilly taking the early advantage as they worked strikes. Page then cut off O’Reilly, working a pretty aggressive heat but the crowd just didn’t seem to care after the previous match. The problem here is that you’re asking people to care about Page working a generally slow paced heat while he makes mean faces after they just saw some state of the art shit. O’Reilly fought back with strikes and knees, and then started to pick apart Page by working the arm and knee. They worked to the apron, where they traded strikes and Page sent O’Reilly to the floor and hit his shooting star press of the apron. Page was favoring the knee after that, which slowed his offense, and allowed O’Reilly to light him up with knees and kicks. O’Reilly got the arm bar, Page worked to escape but O’Reilly forced him to tap. The match was solid, but completely unspectacular and lacked any real crowd heat or sense of urgency from either guy. The booking of this match was a poor idea, as they killed all of Page’s momentum. Page won the huge PPV match against Jay Briscoe, and then has been lost in the shuffle. He lost on the go home show and then lost here, making the Jay Briscoe win mean next to nothing. Commentary tried to save this by saying Page took the loss to hurt O’Reilly for Cole, which is fine, but still did Page no favors.

– Post match Page attacked O’Reilly, wrapped O’Reilly’s arm in a chair and posted him Fish made the save.

– Silas Young says that he and The Beer City Bruiser couldn’t find a partner for the six-man tournament. He wanted to work to be ROH Champion and knew he’d have to earn it. Some guys piss and moan, but he is a man, and he thrives on opportunity. He won the Honor Rumble and he will turn that into a world title victory

ROH Six-Man Tag Title Tournament Match: The Briscoes & Toru Yano vs. ACH, Jay White & KUSHIDA: They worked a fun back and forth, working through the various pairings. The Briscoes took control as Yano laughed and then cut off a turnbuckle as we got some dives by the others. They worked the heat on White for a bit, but White eventually sent Yano into the exposed buckle and got the hot tag to KUSHIDA. He ran wild on Yano and worked for an arm bar, but Yano got the ropes. Yano then got his hair pull spot and the Briscoes then worked the heat on KUSHIDA. KUSHIDA got some good hope spots and got a luke warm tag to ACH. He hit the run up dive to the floor, and then back in hit a pair of lariats on Mark and then hit a series of knee and kicks to Jay. This was a great run by ACH, leading to he, White and KUSHIDA triple team Mark and score a near fall as Yano made he save. It broke down, allowing the Bricoes to beat down White. KUSHIDA saved him from a Jay driller, but he was taken out and White ate the DVD and froggy bow, and White kicked out. Yano tagged in as all three worked over White. ACH and KUSHIDA made the save again, but got tossed. White then got to make the big comeback, KUSHIDA stopped the low blow, but Yano threw him into White and got a near fall off the roll up. White took out Yano, KUSHIDA dove to the floor and ACH hit the midnight star to pick up the win. This was a very good match and a ton of fun. White got a ton of run here, and I felt that the right team won as there is a ton of upside in the juniors team moving on.

Non-Title Match: IWGP IC Champion Tetsuya Naito w/EVIL vs. Jay Lethal: Naito attacked the ring announcer as Lethal made his entrance, leading to Lethal attacking and sending Naito to the floor. Corino was so happy the announcer got taken out. They brawled on the floor for a bit, Letha hit a suicide dive and then got a near fall. Lethal continued to work over Naito, but Naito scored with the tornado DDT ad then choked out Lethal with his shirt. Naito followed with the corner dropkick combo, and that got 2. Lethal hit a desperation lethal combo, leading to a double down. They traded strikes center ring, Lethal hit the belly to back suplex and then rolled into another. He hit the third and went up top; hit the elbow drop and that got 2. Naito then cut off Lethal, hit the missile dropkick and then set Lethal up top and hit the RANA for a near fall. Naito then hit the side slam as he kept the heat. Lethal blocked Destino twice, hitting the cutter the second time. Naito countered the Lethal injection, and hit the rolling kick for the double down. EVIL quickly distracted Lethal, leading to Naito getting a pair of sloppy rollups for two. As Lethal worked a cross face, EVIL pulled the ref to the floor and attacked Lethal. He and Naito worked over Lethal, Lethal took out EVIL and hit a springboard cutter for the near fall. Lethal set Naito up top, followed and looked for the cutter but Naito countered. He tried the sunset flip bomb but lethal countered into a RANA and then hit the lethal injection for the win. I am pleasantly surprised that Lethal went over here, I didn’t think they would have Naito lose right after winning the IC Title. I guess we’ll see Lethal get a title shot soon. The match was pretty good, but felt really uninspired and never really got going for me. Naito felt as if he was completely on autopilot, relying on his charisma and signature spots. Disappointing.

ROH World Title Match: Champion Adam Cole vs. Michael Elgin: After some back and forth, Elgin fired up early with his power stuff and then teased the buckle bomb, but Cole cut him off and hit the last shot. Cole then took out the knee of Elgin with a superkick, which plays into the established injury from Japan, and the reason Elgin lost the IC Title. Elgin managed to hit some German suplexes, but had issues following up due to the knee. Elgin then hit a one-legged falcon arrow (HE DID THE DEAL) for the near fall. Elgin kept trying to shake out the leg, laid in some stiff standing lariats but Cole kept trying to attack the knee. Elgin managed a German suplex into the corner, climbed up top and Cole cut him off and sent him into the tree of WHOA, where he attacked the knee and then pulled Elgin to the match and locked in the figure four. Elgin made the ropes, countered the destroyer and the he hit the destroyer for a near fall, and that made no sense as he jumped off the ropes and never sold the knee. Elgin hit the buckle bomb and spun Cole around (how’s that knee dude?) for the Elgin bomb, but Cole hit the reverse RANA and then the destroyer for a near fall. Cole hit superkicks, but then ran into the lariat. Cole did counter the Elgin bomb into the last shot for a near fall that got next to no reaction. Cole worked the figure four again. Elgin slapped his way out, hit the spinning backfist and then Cole pulled the ref in to protect him, he then hit kicks to the knee and running knee strikes. The last shot finished it. Like the last match, this really felts if it was missing something. The match felt really uninspired, Elgin’s selling of the knee was way too sketchy and this felt way longer than it actually was. It was a complete disappointment.

ROH Tag Team Title Ladder War Tag Team Title Match: Champions The Addiction vs. The Young Bucks vs. The Motor City Machine: We have a lot of ladders and tables at ringside. The Addiction were tossed early, but when they returned they had chairs and laid everyone out. They tried a conchaito spot, but the Bucks escaped and hen hit superkicks to the chairs, sending them back to the floor. They then worked into some dives and teased using the ladders. The crowd started to chant “Bucks of Youth” as an ode to Matt Hardy. A lot of the early part was the Addiction being taken out, leaving he Bucks and Guns to work. Daniels was the first one to take a shot from the ladder, he was busted open by the left eye as the ladder became more of apart of the match. They are doing a really good job of keeping the parts moving and not allowing any downtime. Matt powerbombed Daniels onto a ladder bridge and then held it so that Nick could hit the senton. The Guns have been setting up tables on the floor, and the bucks took a section of barricade and made a bridge on the floor with it. Kaz was in, climbing and fighting off the Bucks, and hitting a cutter onto Nick form on the ladder. The Guns returned, taking control for a bit. Everyone worked their way back in, and then we got a series of guys being put through tables., with the capper being Nick doing a 450 from the top trough the table on the floor. It was done in such quick succession and was impressive. Daniels is not bleeding from the BACK of his head as well, and is a fucking mess. Commentary sounds like they are reading stereo instructions, WAKE UP GUYS. As everyone recovered, we got a big six-way brawl on the three ladders in the ring. Bodies slowly started to get tossed off, Nick was left alone and then the Guns and Addiction PICKED UP the ladder and toppled it, sending Nick through a table on the floor and that bitch exploded. Daniels is the old crimson mask here, the Guns put him on the ladder and then stood it up, and then Kaz accidentally hit him with a chair. They then slammed Kaz into the ladder, and then the Guns slammed the ladder to the mat as Daniels was still trapped in it. The Guns and Bucks brawled again and the we started to get the superkick party, including one that sent Daniels onto the barricade bridge and he BOUNCED off and to the floor. Kaz is also busted open. Nick was climbing a ladder, it got toppled over and he stepped off the top rope and then we got an INDY TAKER on Shelly on the floor, THIS FUCKING MATCH! Just as the Bucks were about to win, Kamaitachi ran out to make the save. Daniels hit Angels wings to Shelley on as ladder, Jay White then ran out and shoved Kamaitachi off the top and through a table. Daniels low blowed him, and then Kaz hit a slingshot cutter to the floor and through a table onto White. Back in, Daniels hit he BME on Matt and posed before he and Kaz grabbed a ladder and a table. They set both up, laid Mat onto it as Nick placed a ladder bridge on the other side. Nick and Daniels brawled on the ladder and then raked his eyes and Nick backdropped him THROUGH the ladder he had set up. HE’S DEAD JIM! Matt and Kaz battled in the corner, Matt fought and Nick climbed and looked to grab the titles, but instead they hit the SUPER INDY TAKER THROUGH THE TABLE! HE’S DEAD AGAIN JIM! The Bucks then climbed and grabbed the titles for the victory. While everyone was really great and there were tons of awesome, dangerous and insane spots, Christopher Daniels (at the age of 46) put in an absolutely amazing performance. The promo he cut set it up, noting that the title meant everything to him and that he would do anything to keep them and he did just that. The crowd knew it as well, because he got a big “Thank You Daniels” chant. It was a hell of a performance from him, and all involved. This was everything I wanted form this match and more; top tier MOTY level shit right there. If you’ve been disappointed with recent TLC or ladder matches, I’d highly suggest checking this out.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”