This week’s show was aired from Sam’s Town in Las Vegas, Nevada and saw the return of Steve Corino to the commentary position following his yearlong suspension, personally feel that Corino and Kevin Kelly are the two best play by play guys in the business right now.
The Cabinet (Kenny King & Rhett Titus) w/ Caprice Coleman vs. Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa)
While I’m not the biggest fan of The Cabinet, I really enjoyed this match, it was another opportunity to show the real depth of quality that ROH has when it comes to its Tag Team Division. I’d much prefer Kenny King and Rhett Titus as ANX but I can certainly see the appeal to pair them with Caprice Coleman. Guerrillas of Destiny, however, are a big favourite of mine, thanks in large to such dominating and unique looks.
A decent match in all, with both teams having the opportunity to dominate the other with some excellent in-ring work. The finish came as Caprice Coleman tried to interfere by climbing to the top rope but was thrown off onto Kenny King. G.O.D took advantage and connected with Guerrilla Warfare, for the three count.
A video package came up showing what has recently happened in last week’s big six-man tag match. This played on Tetsuya Naito turning his back on Jay Lethal during the match, leaving him at the feet of the Bullet Club. Lethal cut a short promo on Naito talking about how he’s looking for revenge at September 30th’s All Star Extravaganza.
Another video package came up following the break and I have to say this was pretty special. In recent weeks a new team of Shane Taylor and Keith Lee have been dominating, this video package gave us a lovely look into the background of Shane Taylor and his history with Raymond Rowe of WARMACHINE, Taylor spoke from the heart about how betrayed he felt by Rowe leaving him behind and joining WARMACHINE. Taylor, in turn, vowed to get revenge on his former friend.
Shane Taylor and Keith Lee vs. Ken Phoenix and Ricardo Rojas
This match was led into brilliantly by a previous video package. We’re getting to know more and more about this dominating duo of Shane Taylor and Keith Lee each time we see them. I really like the way ROH are building them up; they don’t need much in-ring time against a lesser tag team as their massive frames show that neither are to be messed with.
A relatively quick match which saw Taylor and Lee win following Taylor splashing Phoenix in the corner, setting up a powerbomb/splash combination from the top, which led to an easy victory.
Shane Taylor got on the mic following this dominating win and proclaimed to tell the world that they are the baddest team in ROH and went into depth about his issues with WARMACHINE and Raymond Rowe.
Hanson and Rowe came onto the stage, commenting that Taylor and Lee should have finished them off when they had the chance to. Rowe commented that he felt Taylor had betrayed him and that they will regret everything they’ve said and done. This set up the match, which didn’t really get going. Both teams produced some hard hitting strikes to the other team before Rowe went for a suicide dive on Taylor, but Taylor blocked it with a chair which led to Hanson throwing a chair at Lee’s head. Todd Sinclair called for the bell, but the two teams continued to go at it in the ring, before being pulled apart by the ring crew.
I liked how ROH built this on from previous weeks and have given us a little backstory as to why Taylor & Lee have an issue with WARMACHINE, I also liked that we just didn’t get a short promo which leads into a match and then it’s all over like other companies seem to be doing. This has a really good feel to it and I hope it moves into maybe a Cage or a Fight Without Honor match at, say Final Battle in December?
Ladder Wars VI promo just hit….. I got goosebumps.
Matt Taven joined the commentary team before the match, this just added to the main event throughout. If you love Taven in the ring, then you’ll love him on commentary. His chemistry with Corino is second to none, Taven also announced that he and Kingdom will take part in the six-man tag title tournament.
Main Event: Kamaitachi, The Addiction vs. Chaos (Baretta & Rocky Romero & Kazuchika Okada )
Another excellent main event, both sides have huge star power and the recent rise of Kamaitachi in ROH has been impressive since joining forces with The Addiction. Any match with Kazuchika Okada in it, is sure to be good and this didn’t disappoint, Kamaitachi wanted to start the match with the NJPW World Champion and the Rainmaker gladly took him up on that invite. Both teams had the opportunity to hit some big moves in the match and have the upper hand. The finish came as Roppongi Vice tired to set up Strong Zero but for Daniels to hit Angel’s Wings and Kazarian reversed an attempt by Romero into a Best Meltzer Ever to win the match.
Another solid ROH TV, highlighted by the great work of Shane Taylor for me, great to have Steve Corino back on commentary with Kevin Kelly as well.