ROH "Masters Of The Craft" Recap: Adam Cole's ROH Swan Song?, Young Bucks In Main Event, Jay Lethal
Thanks to Wrestling Inc. reader Vince Snyder for sending in this report for last night's ROH "Masters of the Craft" show at the Eisenhower Community Center in Hopkins, MN:
The autograph signings/meet n' greet included the Young Bucks, Jay Lethal, "The Villain" Marty Scurll, Hangman Page, Adam Cole, and Ken Anderson. Was stoked to meet the Villain and also met Mr. Anderson for the hell of it.
Dark match: Vinny Marseglia w/Matt Taven def. Shaheem Ali with a Swanton Bomb. Before the match Matt Taven told me I have a weird beard, and also cut a promo to hype his match with Adam Cole tonight because apparently the original Kingdom formed 3 years ago.
In the opener, Beer City Bruiser faced off against Jay Lethal. Lots of heat for Bruiser for being from Wisconsin, he takes a Lethal Injection for the Jay Lethal victory.
The Rebellion's Rhett Titus & Shane Taylor vs. IWGP Tag Team Champions War Machine. Hanson and Rowe were great, and Shane Taylor is still very green. Solid match, seeing War Machine land the Fallout for the win.
A good match between Matt Taven and Adam Cole was up next, the story seeming to be all there, with Taven working on Cole's arm and Cole working over Taven's previously broken leg. Taven goes for the Small Package, which Cole reverses, and Taven reverses once more for the flash pin victory. Thank You Cole chants after the match.
The last match before intermission saw ROH World Television Champion "The Villain" Marty Scurll defend against Mr. Anderson. Lots of fun mic work before the match, with Anderson insisting the ring announcer stand on a chair behind him and drop a microphone in his hands. Marty mocks him and introduces himself, followed by "welcome to Ring of Honor, b*tch" and a microphone to the face.
Very fun match, Marty truly is a star, and say what you will about Anderson but he can still go. A fun spot with both guys insisting the other hit them with a chair, and Marty ends up getting the win.
15 minute intermission
We come back to see a local tag team known as The Carnies up against Cheeseburger and Will Ferrara. Nothing to see here, Cheeseburger is as over as ever, and WIll looked good. Will gets the pin.
Punisher Martinez vs. the New Zealander from New Japan Pro Wrestling, Jay White. White has a bit of a following here which is good to see because he was quite impressive. Martinez is a decent big man, who can get a lot of heat, but it seems closer to X-Pac heat. After White gets the surprise win, Martinez puts him down with a sort-of Sitout Chokeslam and then comes back to land the Curb Stomp and get a big reaction. He then proceeds to come back for more, but leave when the crowd gets super into it.
Next up is what I would consider the match of the night between the Briscoes and the Motor City Machine Guns. Lots of love for both teams before the match, and as I type this at the Perkins down the road from the venue, I actually spotted MCMG and Jay White at the table across from me. Very nice guys, whom I definitely should've given time to order food before bugging them.
Anyways, MCMG showed amazing tag team work here but came up short when Jay Briscoe landed the Jay Driller on Chris Sabin for the win. Afterward, Alex Shelley lets us know that part one of this series happend in 2006, going to the Briscoes, part two was 2 years later going to them, and this was the rubber match thanks to Ring of Honor nearly a decade later.
Silas Young vs. Bully Ray becomes a No DQ match thanks to a lot of support for Bully and disrespect from Silas Young. A funny spot saw Bully convince referee Paul Turner to hold Silas for the whassup. Beer City Bruiser interfered, but Jay Lethal made the save, and Bully got the win with the Bubba Bomb.
Our main event was a cluster spotfest that was out of control from the start. Hangman Page and ROH World Tag Team Champions the Young Bucks taking on Dalton Castle & the Addiction, ROH World Champion of the World Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian. Lots of fun and crazy stuff, ending with the Addiction's Meltzer Driver spoof seeing Kaz hold Page for Daniels' Best Moonsault Ever for the win.
Overall, very fun show, ROH always delivers, and this fifth outing for me in two years was one of the finest I've had the pleasure of witnessing.