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ROH on SBG Discussion Thread

600K views 8K replies 532 participants last post by  adamclark52 
#1 ·
Unlike HDNet, the weekly broadcasts will air at different times and for those of us abroad, we'll be seeing it at all different times online too, so I guess we can discuss events/happenings here.

Here's the preview for this week.



SBG have brought some great technical leaps since HDNet. The Haas/Benjamin segment with them holding the belts looks real clear, for instance.

Can't wait.
 
#3,692 ·
So the year of Roddy marches on. Tonight in Nashville he and Dalton Castle had a great match. A weird, odd and quirky beginning 10 minutes thanks to the bizarre Mr Castle and the the final 5 minutes after Roddy hit a picturesque superplex were absolutely phenomenal. Dalton busted out some incredibly inventive offense that took the finishing sequences up a thousand notches.

I love this match the more I think about it and another MOTN for Mr ROH. Dalton Castle also looked like a million bucks. Dude is fantastic.

Elgin and Sydal had a solid match with a spectacular final couple minutes and the main event was an overloaded, spotfest blast. Glad I went to the show.
 
#3,855 ·
Really dug another great episode. So glad they're showing all this War of the Worlds stuff. While the other two matches were great, I actually enjoyed The Addiction vs Okada & Gedo the most. The spot where Red Shoes did the fisticuffs to Daniels was absolutely gold and little spots where they snap out of the action like that is what makes the Indy's such a breath of fresh air in comparison to WWE for me.

I'm not enjoying a weekly wrestling show as much as I am ROH right now. Every match feels like it matters, and every match is usually good to great, or just exciting to watch.
 
#4,148 · (Edited)
@Jack Evans 187

ROH in Brooklyn was really fun. Probably my most enjoyable live wrestling event, surprisingly.

Started off on a bad note because we took the wrong subway, so we missed the meet and greet. Wanted to meet Nakamura soooo badly. I'm so jealous of all of the people with pics up on Twitter with him. Dammit. Seems like such a rare opportunity for an American. I was especially surprised it was only $20 for a photo & autograph. I'm so used to hearing about the big WWE prices.

So yeah, started off pissed and disappointed because I was really looking forward to that. On the bright side, we at least got there. If it wasn't for some kind New Yorker dude who literally got off the subway and walked us to exactly where we were supposed to be for the right subway, we'd probably still be in NY riding a subway somewhere. :lmao Thanks, dude!

Ok, anyway, about the show:


So with that disappointment in mind, and also the fact that I'd been up since 2 am, and only had a stick of cheese since 4 am (not a bright idea), I was feeling sick and couldn't focus in the beginning.

So I can't really comment too much on the Adam Cole match, which is a bummer, because I was looking forward to seeing him. Saw him interviewed once years ago by Bill Apter, when it popped up automatically on Youtube after watching something. Was impressed by him, and found him likable as a person without having seen him wrestle.

The crowd was very into him, and from what I could tell of the match, it was really smooth. Maybe the smoothest of the night. A couple of back and forth nearfalls at the end that got the crowd.

The Gauntlet was fun as hell. Never seen Dalton Castle before, but he was so great. One of the most over people with the crowd, and the most entertained the crowd seemed all night. Definitely got me into the show, & the migraine pill (which acts like coke for me for some reason) kicked in, and I was feeling better and very up by now.

Don't know if this is normal, but the crowd was chanting "FAN HIM! FAN HIM! FAN HIM!" at his sidekicks every time he was in trouble. Was great, because it seemed like the entire stadium was doing it. His sidekicks would get more and more exaggerated looking at the crowd as the crowd egged them on, and they'd do it in a much more over the top and vigorous and ridiculous manner, lol.


I wanted Moose to be better than he was. He looked awkward running the ropes, and it was so obvious that his opponents were directing him. Even then, things looked clumsy. He was over with the crowd, though, although I think that people just liked cheering his name. "Moose, there it is" chants and everything, lol.

Saw that @Jack Evans 187 said that no one saw the result coming. I agree, because just from my perception, other people in the match seemed like bigger stars. They were given more time and also the crowd reacted more heavily to some of the others (though the winner did get a good reaction). I had the guy pegged as filler.


Young Bucks were over as hell. Probably the most over after the Japanese guys. You can tell that they're old pros at working the crowd, because they were playing to the crowd at almost every moment.

Maria's actually funny in her role. She'd mime the moves that the guys were doing, and when one of them was going to attack her or something, she jumped off the apron and ran away in a hilarious Baywatch type of way.

There were hijinks with the teams running around the bases, and of course the Kingdom had Superkicks waiting for them when they got back.

Fun match, with it ending with the entire Young Bucks team doing flips and splashes off the top rope, IIRC.


Kushida & Shelley vs. Briscoes was alright. Was hoping for better. Felt like each team was just doing whatever they'd do versus any team. Didn't seem specialized at all. It was just like "getting your shit in."

I've always found Jay Briscoe compelling whenever I've watched him do a promo, and magnetic even just standing there. I've never watched his matches though, because I always had a real feeling that it'd be a disappointment for me. I want him to be so much more intriguing in the ring than he is, because his character is so good.

The Briscoes were really over, though, and their entrance was great and high energy. They were the most engaged with the crowd during their entrance, and climbing all over shit and everything. Ugh, I just wish I could like them as much in the ring.

Kushida got a warm reception before and after the match, but when he tried to get the crowd going they were barely responding. To me, that says something about the match.

The crowd did do a lot of Briscoe chants during the beginning of the match, though.


I am gonna write more about the other matches in my next post, because this is getting quite long.


Nakamura's entrance:




Okada's entrance:




Some pics:
Click the pics twice to make them big.

First pic shows that I agree with the person who wrote into the Wrestling Observer that Okada doesn't seem as tall in person. Very weird, because everywhere else he seems like a huge dude.

Nakamaura doing his pre-stretching routine.

Goto bowing.

Last pic is a shot of the crowd on the right side (click on it to make it vertical). Tried to get the left side, but people stood up as I was taking the pic. I'd say that the whole middle section was surprisingly full, with the far left & far right seats being totally empty.

When I saw all of those sections empty on the ticket selling site, I thought it'd look awful in the stadium, but it didn't at all. The fact that everyone was around the middle & front, made the empty seats barely even noticeable when you were there. Almost like they were just sectioned off or something.
 

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#4,149 · (Edited)
Goto vs. Elgin was good, but not to the quality of their G1 match. Goto did that cool move off the top rope where he sat on his opponent's back and then flipped them, which I remember @Jack Evans 187 liking in the match with Anderson, I think. Thought of you. :)

I could tell for the ones who had never seen the matchup before, they were super impressed by it. Lots of "oooohs" for the moves.

Good news is that Goto didn't have his back wrap on any more.

Cutest thing was as he was leaving, this Japanese woman who looked like she was transported straight out of a Tokyo Dome audience (complete with having a fan on a stick like they always have there), was soooo thrilled to get his attention. She ran up to the side, and when he acknowledged her, she ran back to her seat so excited & giddy, as if she just won a million dollars. Everyone was like "awwwww." It was good that he saw her, because he's the only one I saw her do that for.

Stood out especially, because it seems like he doesn't usually get that type of passion that others get from the Japanese audience.

Isn't it amusing how Goto was cheered over Elgin here, yet in Japan it's the opposite? Audiences are so weird.


The main thing I took away from the whole night was what a freakin' star Okada is. In a way that can't be put into words, and has to just be felt.

It was more star quality than I've ever witnessed or felt before.

I've seen many of the biggest stars in person. Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, John Cena, Randy Orton, The Shield dudes, Brock Lesnar, etc.

Never have I felt a "room" shift so much as it did when Okada walked in. I wish to God I got the whole thing on video, although I don't think that it would translate. But there was such a palpable buzz before he walked out. It was the first time the audience stood up in advance of an entrance, & you could just feel the anticipation as if it were an object.

It was surreal. Especially because it's not like it took a ton of time for his music to start or anything, but you could tell everyone was like "oh shit, this is it. It's going down."

I was honestly shocked by the way it felt, because it's the type of feeling I thought that the audience would have with someone like Brock or something.

Never have I so clearly experienced that "this guy is a star feeling" before.

So glad I got to see him before he becomes a legend, and I think that contributed to why everyone reacted the way that they did.

It's not even about popping, because there are definitely some guys who have outpopped him (including Nakamura that night, probably), but it's more of a respect thing. Like an awe thing, like "we're witnessing a star right now."

I also love the way that he walked to the ring. Fast, intense, and like he was on a mission, yet still turning back at the crowd while walking, like he knew he was the shit. Just had a swagger that you could feel, even when you weren't right close up.

I wonder how it's going to come off on tv, but now I understand when people say things like "you had to be there." TV doesn't really capture a moment or a vibe. Especially not the electric buzz.

The crowd was throwing money & streamers in during his entrance, so it looked really cool, lol.

The match was MOTN for me.

Okada got dropped into the guardrails a lot, which came across more vicious to me live than it would on tv. Mainly because you could hear the impact, but not see it. You'd just see Okada get dropped and disappear into an abyss, surrounded by a sea of people, and then hear a nasty crash.

You could tell both guys wanted the match to be good, and weren't just phoning it in (I was concerned the latter would happen, especially with the Japanese guys coming in after the G1 tournament). Okada's selling was great, and as usual, the ending sequence was terrific.

Since he's always the constant in these fab endings, I've got to give him credit for probably being the biggest creative mind behind them.

He got Strong with a second piledriver in a row, and was able to do his pose on the ground with both arms. When I tell you that it seemed like every single person in front of me did the pose right along with him, that's not an exaggeration. That tells you how many people knew exactly who he was, and weren't just watching from a casual perspective.


Nakamura is so beloved. I don't know how else to describe it, but people just love him like a brother or something. He's another one who had HUGE anticipation, but it was more like "yeah, that's our guy!" They feel apart of him or something, because he's so personable. It's such a great trait & quality to have, because people are automatically engaged in his matches due to this.

Match was fun. At a certain point, Lethal pretended like he was gonna tag Nakamura, but then slid his hand on his head, like too cool for school.

So when Lethal goes to tag Nakamura for real later on, Nakamura does the same thing and then starts dancing. Then he immediately and abruptly dismisses Lethal, by pointing his finger up like "get the fuck out of here." lmao. You had to just see it.

So later Lethal is pissed at Nakamura when Nakamura wants in. So Nakamura hugs him and does some shit with him, like "we good? We good now? Ok..."

The whole thing was amusing.

I find O'Reilly impressive every time I watch him wrestle, and I feel like he should be far more over due to how good he is. There is something about his personality that seems to not click for people, because his partner was getting cheered way more than he was. He'd try to play to the crowd and everything, and...I don't know. I expected him to get way more reaction & be more loved.

I think that part of it is that you can tell that when he plays to the crowd, it's not his natural personality. Maybe I'm wrong, but I get the sense that he's a quiet, serious, dude, so maybe people sense the discomfort?

They should just let him be him, and build his persona around being a serious wrestler, because I've never seen a dude wrestle in a complicated manner as slickly as he does. He's really good.


Overall, the night was fun as hell. Pretty much every match had something I liked about it, and the crowd was lively, engaged, and pitch perfect. Great atmosphere, which I'm thankful for, because everyone says that last year's audience was really terrible, in an obnoxious way.

There was some guy chanting "USA" when Elgin went against Goto, btw, lmao. Everyone was like "eyeroll." I know that he was just being intentionally stupid, though. I think so, anyway.

My seats were amazing too. You can't really tell by the pics or videos, but you could see everything & every wrestler soooo clearly. The backdrop of Coney Island at night, with the amusement park rides going on in the background, was magical.


One more video:

Lethal refusing to shake Nakamura's hand, and Nakamura doing the "YeOOOH" thing anyway. Plus exiting the stadium while dancing, lol (the video flips the right way at the 0:11 mark):



Sorry if there are any mistakes in my posts. Don't have time to check right now.
 
#4,176 ·
After watching the show last night and the most recent Inside ROH videos, I really like how they're having EVERYONE coming after Lethl at one time right now since he has both titles. You really have no idea how it's gonna end up and who he's gonna drop either of the belts to, but he's got defenses lined up for miles already.

Next week he's got Hanson for the TV Title, week after that he's got Roddy for the World Title, a couple weeks later at All Star Extravaganza he's got both reDRagon members in the same night, then later down the line he's got the winner from the Field of Honor Gauntlet, and now they already have a match made for Dearborn where someone could earn a TV Title shot there too! Not to mention both Cole & Elgin have made it apparent they want their gold back. This is gonna be pretty interesting.
 
#4,473 · (Edited)
- Not surprised Cole-O'Reilly isn't a specialty match, so how they'll probably continue their feud after Final Battle; anyone else notice both guys promising to run the other out of ROH? My guess is that the feud will end later than most think (mostly likely right down to the wire where one guy is on the verge of getting signed by WWE) in some kind of a "Loser Leaves ROH" Fight Without Honor (hopefully for the World Title) one day

- The tag division is so stacked right now it's fucking ridiculous; If there's one specific match I'd like to see, it's the Bucks v MCMGs one more time (doesn't even matter if it's in ROH it could be in PWG for all I care)

- Kinda worried about whether AJ will be able to wrestle Lethal with the back injury; If he can't go, maybe the winner of Cole-O'Reilly could get a title shot later that night instead :shrug
 
#4,610 ·
What takes place inside the ropes in ROH puts WWE to shame. That's why people watch ROH. They aren't setting out to be WWE.

And while WWE's popularity and presentation still puts ROH's to shame, ROH is actually growing. It's possibly the only promotion in all of North America that's showing meaningful growth. GFW is still trying to get off the ground, Lucha Underground was barely renewed for a new season, TNA has been kicked off two networks in two years, and WWE's attendance and TV ratings are in decline.

ROH is growing organically. They're not going to get overconfident and do something stupid like TNA did when they signed Hogan, moved to Mondays, and tried to tape live weekly. They know they can't come close to WWE's production values so they don't try. They don't focus on their weaknesses, they focus on their strengths. And their strengths are their in-ring performers and their general ability to stay the hell out of their own way booking/creative wise.
 
#4,628 ·
BJ Whitmer threw Adam Page so damn hard into our corner the gate smashed my knees. It hurt so f'n bad I wanted to kill that SONOFABI+€h (Whitmer). I'm sporting an amazing knot & bruise on my left leg because of that turd so for ME he's a very appropriate heel.

Point being; Page is obviously smaller than Bruiser so when the big guy came our way I braced the back of the gate with my foot and waited for impact. It sounded like a shotgun blast in a sheet metal room & the bump was unreal. I shoot asked him if he was ok. I don't think bracing it had any bearing on hurting him any worse but after his immense body smashed into our corner I knew by the feel of the hit we would've been toast otherwise. I had to choose him or my boys...So boys it was. That's my only exception though.

If it were my wife...Closed casket funeral for sure.
 
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