Eyes On Wrestlemania Weekend: 6 Must See Matches

By @TrueGodImmortal

While WWE usually dominates the scene at Wrestlemania weekend, other promotions have decided to host their shows in the same city in order to get eyes on their product, as well as give options to the fans all over the world. Wrestlemania weekend is usually a wrestling fan's Christmas and today I’m going to discuss what I feel are the best matches of that entire weekend.

*AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE Championship 

Wrestlemania 34

-The rematch we all have been waiting on. These two men met at Wrestle Kingdom (NJPW's version of Wrestlemania) in a thriller of a match. Since then, both men signed with WWE and while AJ was introduced to the main roster upon his arrival, Nakamura went through a different approach and joined NXT first. Nakamura would get called up to Smackdown, which just so happen to be the show AJ Styles is making great TV. Eventually we were gonna get this clash and there is no better place than Wrestlemania for the first WWE encounter between the two.

*Johnny Gargano vs Tommaso Ciampa
NXT Takeover New Orleans 

-The longest running feud in wrestling will come to a head Wrestlemania weekend. The two former teammates turned enemies were once best friends until losing a tag team ladder match about 1 year ago. Ciampa would suffer an injury and while he was out, Johnny Wrestling ascended the ranks of NXT. Ciampa decided enough was enough and would interfere in everything Johnny was involved with including a match where his NXT career was on the line. WWE decided to make this better by having Johnny attack Ciampa at his home, at the Performance Center, and the NXT arena himself. This is probably the hottest feud going into Mania weekend and we finally get the payoff we’ve waited an entire year for.

*Cody Rhodes vs Kenny Omega Supercard of Honor 

-Most likely the main event of Supercard of Honor, the battle for leadership of the Bullet Club (maybe?) is on the line. The moment Cody joined Bullet Club, I knew his ego was just too massive to be second in command, especially considering that he brought a world championship to the group. Cody would attack the leader after quite a few issues between the two men, prompting Kenny’s friend Ibushi to make the save. With Cody manipulating the rest of the BC members claiming that he was indeed the leader, Kenny has thrown hints that he is still the leader so the infighting in Bullet Club comes to a head hopefully during Wrestlemania weekend.

 

*Ricochet vs EC3 vs Adam Cole vs Velveteen Dream vs Lars Sullivan vs Killian Dain
Ladder Match
NXT North American Championship
NXT Takeover New Orleans 

-A newly created champion will be crowned in this ladder match with arguably some of the best wrestlers in the industry right now. What’s not to like here? This could be the match of the weekend honestly.

*Charlotte vs Asuka
Smackdown Women’s Championship
Wrestlemania 34

The undefeated Asuka will get in the ring with arguably the best female wrestler in the world in a match that many (including myself) have waited to see. Asuka made history by winning the first Woman’s Royal Rumble and at Fastlane, she made her choice clear that she only wanted to face the best (sorry, Alexa) and that’s exactly what she's going to get. Charlotte has been the face of WWE’s Women’s division for a while now and while she has made history with matches with Sasha Banks, perhaps this match will make even more history.

*Cedric Alexander vs Mustafa Ali Cruiserweight Championship Wrestlemania 34

-This match will be fantastic. The Cruiserweight Division has stepped up since Enzo Amore was fired and we are getting a quality match for the vacant title. While these men are friends, they will do anything to win that title. Who wins this one? The fans.

-Phranchize

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Eyes on the Ring 11:09 PM  No comment

Eyes On WWE: The 5 Best Wrestlers On 205 Live

By @TrueGodImmortal

In the WWE, there is a ton of great talent, some of which can sometimes go to waste. One instance where that talent can go to waste is in the Cruiserweight division. With the company not knowing how to book the division, there's been issues throughout the entire run. Today, we wanted to go a different route, and rank the tpp 5 wrestlers on the Cruiserweight division show 205 Live. Who makes the list? Let's take a list.

5. Mustafa Ali 

-Many of these wrestlers in the division are slept on indie veterans who got a shot that they deserved by WWE. For me, watching the division, I seen Mustafa Ali as one of the better competitors due to his athleticism and his ability to put on a great match. While I find his social media adventures and posts to be a bit annoying, that has no effect on his great work in the ring. I think he's overdue for a title shot and feud and I can only hope he actually gets one before the summer of 2018.

4. Jack Gallagher 

-I'll admit, I was sold on Gallagher when he first debuted, and he would be top 2 to me if he hadn't turned heel to team with Brian Kendrick. He's charismatic, can actually cut a good promo, engages with the crowd, and his gimmick wasn't bad at all. The umbrella gimmick was actually pretty fun to watch, but now, he is struggling a bit as a heel. Still, as we have seen in his mini feuds with Neville and now Cedric Alexander, Gallagher is capable of having good matches and solid rivalries.

3. Drew Gulak

-I find Gulak more entertaining in the WWE than I did on the indies. His anti persona in the division sticks out in a good way and he's been one of the more entertaining components of the division alongside Enzo. What makes him such a joy to watch is the fact that he really seems to buy into his character and executes it flawlessly in promos. His ring work is solid, and he does manage to exhibit a bit of charisma in a slightly deadpan way, which works perfectly for the gimmick he currently has. Gulak is definitely going to become a contender for the Cruiserweight Title when Enzo moves away from the belt. At least I hope.

2. Akira Towaza

-Towaza has a catchy chant that people seem to enjoy, but what really sticks out about him to me is his in ring work. As a part of the Titus Brand, he upset Neville for the title in a great match before losing it back a few days later. Since then, he hasn't really been involved in the title picture, but despite his lack of amazing promo skills due to the language barrier (he can talk, but it's not as clear of course), he exhibits charisma and a bit of poise in his style and if he was put in a more high profile role in 205 Live, I think he would shine even more.

1. Cedric Alexander

-Of course. The only choice. Am I biased? Maybe. But it should be obvious who the best wrestler on the show is. Period. Cedric is one of the most popular wrestlers in the division and he always manages to show the crowd what he has to offer, dazzling the audience with his athleticism and his crisp moveset. Cedric is overdue for a title shot, feud, and a title reign. The fact that the WWE doesn't seem to recognize what a talent he is just shows everything we've said about the company for the last decade. Cedric might not be the true saving grace for the division, but allowing him the title run and more time in his matches is sure to turn the entire division upside down for the better. Give Cedric the belt and let him defend it weekly against the wrestlers on this list and others, and I guarantee you that he will show why he's the no. 1 choice on this list by far. Period.

-True

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Eyes on the Ring 6:55 PM  No comment

Eyes On WWE: WWE TLC 2017 Preview

By @TrueGodImmortal

If you're a WWE fan, times are tough for a number of reasons. The crowds aren't drawing, the product is lackluster and lazy, and Jinder Mahal is still WWE Champion and a failed experiment. The company has nearly ruined the once extremely over and popular Shinsuke Nakamura, they are trying another sad attempt to get Roman Reigns over. It's really sad times in the WWE world, but despite that, there's a lot to still discuss, and we return with our WWE PPV Previews just in time for the return of The Shield. Today, we take a look at WWE TLC. Let's get into it.

Kickoff Match
*Alicia Fox vs Sasha Banks 

-I was told that Nia Jax was originally meant for this match, and with her not a part of this feud, I suspect this is all a waste of time. Sasha deserves much better and unfortunately, this is not it. Still, if given decent time, we could see a solid match between the two ladies, I just hope the release of a new Alicia Fox shirt doesn't mean she'll be winning this match. Hopefully, Sasha walks away with the win then moves on to a feud with Asuka, Emma, or even Mickie James for the Women's Title. I'll get to why Mickie should win the title a little later, but let's hope Sasha wins the kickoff bout.

*The Demon Finn Balor vs Bray "Sister Abigail" Wyatt 

-This is honestly the funniest match of all time. It's going to be ridiculous in the worst way possible and I'm not going to lie, I probably won't even watch this match or a majority of this entire PPV anyways, but this whole feud is one big joke. Finn deserves better and Bray deserved better. With a Halloween themed style Demon for Finn and some form of gothic drag for Bray, this match is literally a Halloween special for the two to play dress up. I hope Finn wins and moves on, as this feud should never have continued beyond No Mercy, but WWE can't seem to help themselves. Finn should win this.

*Asuka vs Emma 

-I have very little to say about this match as we all know how this one will end. It's clear. Emma is being fed to Asuka on her main roster debut. My fear is the WWE will ruin Asuka sooner than later, but for now, they'll give Asuka a dominant win over Emma and set her on the right path.... For now.

*WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Kalisto vs Enzo Amore 

-This is likely going to be a bad match, though I can admit their first encounter in the main event of RAW was actually pretty fun to watch overall. I don't know if they manage to execute this match right this time, but I do like the focus on the Cruiserweight Division more now. Enzo seems to have a possible faction brewing and utilizing this could very well be a huge deal for the division if done right. I think Enzo regains the title by interference and we see a bigger feud leading into a Survivor Series Cruiserweight Match. Enzo wins this one and gets his title back.

*WWE RAW Women's Championship
Alexa Bliss vs Mickie James 

-I think this match should see Mickie James go over. Here's why. I don't think Alexa Bliss is doing a great job with the title honestly and with Nia Jax out of the way, Asuka seemingly due to dominate if booked right, and a possible Asuka vs Alexa Bliss feud to come, I think two things should happen. One, I think we should have a battle between Asuka and Alexa in December that isn't for the title, leading to a possible Women's Royal Rumble or No. 1 Contender Elimination Chamber that Asuka wins. I see Mickie winning the belt and dropping it to Sasha, which leads to a Bayley vs Sasha feud at the Rumble and finally to an Asuka vs Sasha match for the title once Sasha turns heel as champion. However, it's more than likely WWE just fucks up the momentum and has Alexa win and drop the belt to Asuka after retaining over Mickie. I think Mickie should win, but Alexa will likely win.

*The Brian Kendrick and Jack Gallagher vs Cedric Alexander and Rich Swann 

-Honestly, when we look back at some of these matches that have been in the Cruiserweight Division, there is rarely more than one match on each PPV. Now, WWE seems to want to give the division a bit more of attention and as a result, we get some interesting feuds and a second match on the show. This features the best in the division Cedric Alexander and Rich Swann against Jack Gallagher and The Brian Kendrick, and I hope this match is given a lot of time. If given time, this could be the match of the night. Cedric and Swann deserve to win and I think they will pull out the victory as I don't see a reason to give Gallagher and Kendrick the win here. Still, this could either way, but I hope Cedric and Swann get the win. 

*TLC 5 On 3 Match
Kane, The Miz, Braun Strowman, Sheamus & Cesaro vs The Shield

-The only match that really matters on this show. The show itself looks horrible on paper and this is literally all of the RAW star power in one match minus Wyatt and Balor. The Shield officially reunited and they seem to be fully back in Shield mode, and that's good for now. However, my biggest issue is that they return in an unnecessary 5 on 3 TLC Match. What is the purpose? If The Shield loses, it makes sense, but I don't see them losing their return match together and that makes all 5 competitors look weak in this contest. Because of that and knowing how WWE loves to protect Roman Reigns, you'll likely see Kane take the pinfall and Reigns defeat him for the Shield to get the victory. Still, this match seems silly and and there's no upside for anyone involved. At best, this will be a fun contest that allows us to have The Shield officially back and give them a win heading into Survivor Series for this short lived reunion. Will TLC end up surprising everyone and being a good show? I doubt it, but you never know.

-True

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Eyes on the Ring 10:24 PM  No comment

Ring Of Honor Wrestling Review 4/18/15

By Nathan Neumann (Twitter: @Headliner5)

What’s up Riingers?  Nathan here after taking last week off (due to ROH having a highlights show). This week’s show featured three matches (well, technically two...but we will get to that later) as well as a live in-ring edition of reDRagon’s show “The Fish Tank.” So, without any more delaying from yours truly lets down to business.

The show opens with the traditional ROH video intro from here we get a panoramic view of the arena in which they are emanating tonight before we join the commentary team at the desk. We go over to Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino who welcome us to the show and send it right down to the ring for the first match of the night.

Match 1

Donovan Dijak vs. Dalton Castle

Thoughts: The first match of the night featured a former Eyes On The Ring radio guest as Donovan Dijak 2015’s top prospect winner took on a man who had a great showing in the tournament as well in the form of Dalton Castle.  The match starts out slow with both men trying to get a feel for each other while trading individual flurries of offense. About five minutes into the match, Dijak clotheslines Castle off of the ring apron and Dijak would continue the assault on the outside of the ring. Dijak picks Castle up and Castle comes back with a hurricanranna.

From there Castle rushes back into the ring while Dijak is dazed and runs off of the ropes and at Dijak jumping through the middle rope with a suicide dive that wipes Dijak out.Both men get back into the ring and Dijak finds himself with the advantage once again as he comes off of the top rope with a twisting splash. Castle recovers and starts to get desperate and begins running full steam at Dijak in an attempt to take the big man off of his feet but Castle’s efforts are unsuccessful.

Castle maintains the advantage and while Dijak is on the ground manages to pick Dijak up off of the mat to perform a dead lift German suplex (something another guy in ROH may have some sort of issue with).  Dijak recovers but Castle presses his advantage more by hitting a spinning slam only to have Dijak kick out at two.  Castle makes his way over to the rope near Truth Martini, which allows Truth to grab the leg of Dalton Castle.  This distraction from Truth allows Dijak to grab Castle up and hit Feast Your Eyes to pick up the win via pinfall.

Match Result: Donovan Dijak defeats Dalton Castle via pinfall via Feast Your Eyes
Match Rating: **3/4

After the match, Dalton Castle confronts Truth Martini about what just happened. Castle grabs Martini by the balls. Tere’s a giant blur mark on my TV screen because this show is on basic cable so they apparently can't show ball grabbing. But...from here, we go to the second match of the night

Match 2

War Machine (Raymond Rowe and Hanson) vs. Andy Dalton and Ken Phoenix 

Thoughts: So I guess this is going to be an ongoing thing with War Machine as they try to rebuild the team after Raymond Rowe returned from his motorcycle accident.  This match was a complete squash as Hanson and Rowe were able to win the match quick fashion with their back suplex top rope leg drop combination.  But hey at least I got the jobbers names this week so that’s a plus huh?

Match Result: War Machine defeats Andy Dalton and Ken Phoenix
Match Rating: N/A. A one-minute match doesn’t deserve a rating. Plus, this match wasn’t about producing a rating it was more about re-establishing War Machine as a dominate tag team which they are doing quite well it’s very old school but it works.

From there we head to the ring for a live edition of reDRagon’s talk show which is titled the “Fish Tank."

Fish Tank Segment

Jay Lethal was the guest and Lethal wanted Fish and O’Reilly to promote his brand new Best Of Jay Lethal DVD and he said something about his hot ex-girlfriend which if you know his history it was painfully obvious to me that he was referring to the former AJ Lee. ReDRagon started looking bored and Fish got on the microphone and dropped the gem of a line “Can’t sleep?  Pop in the new Jay Lethal DVD.”

From there Jay Lethal got mad but not mad enough, it basically led to him unveiling a brand new ROH World Television Championship that actually reads ROH World Champion because according to him he’s the World Champion and Jay Briscoe isn’t.  Jay Lethal then goes on to say that Jay Briscoe was born on a highway because that’s where accidents happen.  This brings out Briscoe who takes exception to what Lethal just said and the two men brawl to the back.  The Knights Of The Rising Dawn rush the ring and attack reDRagon as the segment comes to an end.

Thoughts: I’m assuming this is to set up a Champion vs. Champion match at ROH’s next Pay Per View, Best In The World 2015 as Jay Lethal will challenge Jay Briscoe for the title.  We could in fact see Jay Lethal win the World Title and be the first man in the company’s history to hold both the World and TV title’s simultaneously that’s if they don’t have Lethal lose the TV title before possibly winning the world title. If they did this it would add even more credibility to Jay Lethal going forward and bring some new possible feuds to the forefront as well.

From here, we cut to the backstage area for a pre-taped promo where BJ Whitmer says he wants a match with ACH. Then, commercial. We come back from commercial for the main event of the hour.

Main Event – Match 3

Michael Elgin vs. Cedric Alexander 

Thoughts: This match features another former Eyes On The Ring radio guest in Cedric Alexander as he took on Michael Elgin.  The bell rings and the two men circle around the ring and feel each other out.  Elgin finds himself on the outside of the ring early on as Cedric flies over the top rope and on to Elgin wiping Elgin out on the outside of the ring.  Cedric then picks Elgin up off of the ground and rolls him into the ring and makes his way to the top rope once again.  From there Cedric goes for over time but it misses as Elgin moves out of the way, Elgin recovers and hangs Cedric up in on the second rope and hits his signature flipping leg drop to get a near fall on Cedric.  Elgin gets another near fall just moments later after a rope assisted spinning neck breaker.

Cedric recovers and comes off of the top rope with a clotheseline and covers Elgin but only manages to pick up a 2 count.  Cedric still pressing the advantage he has found himself with hits a Michinoku driver and Elgin once again kicks out at 2.  Elgin gets the advantage and runs off the ropes taking out Cedric with a stiff lariat Elgin goes for the cover afterwards but this time Cedric kicks out at 2.  The two men make their way to one of the corners of the ring where they fight for the upper hand, Alexander shoves a tired Elgin into the corner and then runs at him with three back to back to back dropkicks.  Cedric hits overtime once again and Elgin again kicks out at 2.

Elgin comes back and hits Cedric with a Falcon Arrow but Cedric kicks out of it at 2.  Cedric again finds himself with the advantage as he hits Elgin with the lumbar check and pins Elgin but instead of kicking out of the move Elgin gets his foot on the bottom rope just before Todd Sinclair’s hand comes down for the three count thus it only counts for 2.  Elgin gets the advantage once again and finally hits Cedric with the spinning sit out Elgin bomb for the 1-2-3.

Match Result: Michael Elgin defeats Cedric Alexander via pinfall after a spinning sit out Elgin Bomb
Match Rating: ***

After the conclusion of the match Elgin grabs a microphone and announces that he wants everyone to pay for their sins.  He continues by saying that he’s a killer and that he’s going to start digging graves on his way back to the ROH World Title.

That closes out the show which also closes out another one of my ROH reviews for the site.  This show was a lot better structured than the one two weeks ago. Less matches equals more time for said matches. This means that the wrestlers can take their time and not rush their craft.

With the relaxed format as compared to two weeks ago we still got some storyline progression towards Best In The World and it will be interesting to see how things progress going forward as the event gets closer.

But, that will do it for me and another Ring Of Honor television review for EyesOnTheRing.com.  I hope you enjoyed reading this one and I hope you enjoy reading these reviews in general as I do my best to bring you something different and outside of the WWE norm.

Before I wrap this thing up I should tell you to follow me on Twitter at @Headliner5 and also make sure to follow the official Eyes On The Ring account which is located @EyesOnTheRing.  Also make sure to check out EyesOnTheRing.com for more of these reviews from myself as well as everything else that the entire Eyes On The Ring team chooses to write and provide you for your reading pleasure.

In closing, make sure to check out Eyes On The Ring radio this week as we come to you at 11:00PM EST this Sunday night.  We bring you the entire week in wrestling as it happened as well as all of our reactions of the happenings that took place during the week.  Finally make sure to head on over to Facebook.com/EyesOnTheRing and like us.  For now I am Nathan saying so long for now, next week I’ll be back here same review time same review website but in the meantime ringers keep your Eyes On The Ring.

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Eyes on the Ring 9:10 AM  No comment

Ring Of Honor Wrestling Review 1/17/15

By Nathan Neumann @Headliner5 on Twitter

Hello wrestling fans and welcome to another Ring Of Honor Wrestling review brought to you by yours truly. We had another solid hour of wrestling this week that leads in to next week, which I am really looking forward to so lets get to it.

The show started off with a pre-taped interview from ROH World Champion Jay Briscoe. He said that he was told that he would be defending the ROH World Title tonight, but that he doesn’t know who his opponent will be.  

From there we go inside of the arena and are welcomed to the show by Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino. They introduce the show and send it to the ring for the first match of the evening.

Match 1
Cedric Alexander vs. Kazarian

Result: Frankie Kazarian defeats Cedric Alexander via pinfall with the Kamikaze.

Thoughts: As the match starts off, Steve Corino informs us that he believes that Kevin Kelly is intoxicated (this has nothing to do with the match itself but I had to throw it in here somewhere). The match starts and the two shake hands per the code of honor. Both Alexander and Kazarian start the feeling out process with neither man really gaining a significant advantage, until Kazarian hits Alexander with a dropkick as we head into our first commercial break. Back from commercial and Kazarian is on the outside of the ring getting chopped to death by Alexander, who has since gained the upper hand.  Back in the ring and Alexander hits a beautiful Tornado DDT to pick up a near fall.  From there Kazarian who is on the apron jumps into the ring and grabs Alexander by the neck and swings him around for a tornado DDT of his own.  Alexander again goes to the apron, and this time it would cost him, as he would jump right into the open arms of Kazarian who would deliver an Ace Crusher.  Kazarian then follows it up with a Kamikaze to score the pinfall victory over a wrestler who had a breakout year in 2014.  Kazarian may have won the match, but the real story here is that Cedric Alexander is starting 2015 off with a loss.

Rating: **

From here we go to a backstage interview with Matt Taven, who says that it is him who will be receiving the shot at the ROH World Title later on tonight against it’s champion Jay Briscoe.

Match 2
Donovan Dijak vs. Jake Dirden
First round match in the 2015 Top Prospect Tournament

Result: Donovan Dijak defeats Jake Dirden via pinfall after delivering a Burning Hammer onto his knee.

Thoughts: This match was a vast improvement over last week’s farce of a match between J Diesel and Will Ferrera.  If this tournament keeps going the way this match did than it could be good in the end, but last week’s opening match wasn’t a good way to start it off.  Early on in the match Dirden would find himself on the outside of the ring and he would become the victim of an aerial onslaught, as Dijak would dive over the top rope to take out Dirden.  Back in the ring, a recovered Dirden (who’s a tall guy with long hair and a beard) hits Dijak with a vicious chokeslam to get a near fall.  The ending of the match came when Dijak would deliver a burning hammer type maneuver, where he would drop his opponent (Dirden) onto his knee to pick up the win and advance to the next round of the tournament.  

Rating: **

Coming back from a commercial and we are informed that people are coming to Ring Of Honor.  It’s apparently two guys who have disguised voices, who promise change.  I have no idea what this means and I’m sure that I’m not supposed to know what’s going on so we will have to see how this plays out in the coming weeks and what is to come of it in the future.

From there we head back into the arena where we are introduced to Alberto El Patron who has made his way to Ring Of Honor in 2015. He then takes a microphone from ringside, El Patron goes onto say that he is not a “F*cking Sports Entertainer, He is a wrestler.”  I know the F-word was bleeped out here, but I’m a bit surprised that ROH officials let him drop the F-bomb considering the fact that ROH is on broadcast television and not cable.

Alberto goes on to say that he wants the world title and he calls out the current World Champion Jay Briscoe.  He however gets the ROH Television Champion Jay Lethal who comes to the ring to confront ROH’s newest star.  Jay Lethal tells Alberto to “Do your homework before you come to class” Jay Lethal then goes on to cut a very passionate promo where he puts over the importance of the ROH Television Championship.  

From there we go to a commercial.  Back from commercial break Nigel McGuinness comes to the ring to give us the 411 on last week’s main event which brings out Jay Briscoe, who has a vested interest in what Nigel is about to say.  Jay Briscoe then goes on to say that he really doesn’t care what Nigel has to say and that he wants a four-way match for the ROH World Title in Las Vegas Nevada on March 1st at the 13th Anniversary show.  So it will be Hanson vs. Michael Elgin vs. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Jay Briscoe in a four corner survival match for the ROH World Title in Las Vegas Nevada on March 1st at the ROH 13th anniversary show.  

From there Matt Taven comes to the ring, which sets up the main event of the evening.  

Main Event – Match 3
Matt Taven vs. Jay Briscoe {C}
ROH World Championship Match

Result: Jay Briscoe defeats Matt Taven with the Jay Driller to retain the ROH World Title.

Thoughts: The match starts with the two in the ring. Taven quickly disposes of Briscoe on the outside.  From there Taven gains a head of steam and dives out onto the world champion taking Briscoe to the ground.  Taven recovers making it to his feet; he then takes off his Kingdom shirt and grabs Briscoe to bring him back into the ring.  From there, Taven goes to the top rope where he attempts a frog splash on the fallen champion.  However, Briscoe would counter the move by getting his knees up.  Taven would keep working on Briscoe and score a near fall as we go to a commercial break.  Back from commercial and Taven hits Briscoe with a super kick for a near fall.  Briscoe kicks out and makes it back to his feet and hits a super kick of his own and follows it up with a neckbreaker to score a near fall for himself.  Jay Briscoe gets Matt Taven in a vulnerable state long enough to hit him with the Jay Driller and pick up the win via pinfall to retain his title.

Match Rating: **½

After the match Bennett would run out and hit Briscoe in the face with the Title Of Love.  Maria then gets on the microphone and says that Jay Briscoe doesn’t have the balls to fight her, which brings out Mark Briscoe to make the save.  That will lead us to next week where we will see a tag team match as Matt Taven and Michael Bennett of the Kingdom will team up to take on both Jay and Mark Briscoe.

That brings us to another week of Ring Of Honor Wrestling and thus this review also comes to an end.  I hope you all enjoyed the read and that you are looking forward to where Ring Of Honor is headed in the future.  As someone who will be attending ROH’s 13th anniversary show in Las Vegas Nevada, this build has me really excited. I can’t wait to see where it leads us and how we go about getting the final card for the show.  We already have a main event set in stone, but who knows what else will happen in Sin City.

Before I leave you for the week I would just like to say that Eyes On The Ring is making great strides already in 2015.  We relaunched the radio show over at blogtalkradio.com/ElitePodcastNetwork so be sure to listen to us every Sunday night at 11PM Eastern Time.  Also be sure and check out the facebook page over at Facebook.com/EyesOnTheRing as well as follow us on Twitter @EyesOnTheRing.  Lastly if you want to show your support for what we do at Eyes On The Ring you can do so by buying one of our T-Shirts over at this link http://dartees.spreadshirt.com. So, with that all out of the way, Nathan here saying so long for now, see you next week with another review and in the mean time keep your Eyes On The Ring.

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Eyes on the Ring 6:17 PM  No comment

Ring Of Honor Wrestling Review – Airdate: 8/2/14

By Nathan Neumann (@Headliner5 on Twitter)

This week’s episode of Ring Of Honor Wrestling Television was centered around one match and one match only.  They gave the entire hour to this one match, which made it feel special.  I love it when ROH does this because they have a way of giving matches that they deem important enough time to be executed properly in ring by all of the wrestlers involved and that was exactly the case in this one.

Match 1

BJ Whitmer vs. Caprice Coleman vs. Matt Taven vs. Romantic Touch vs. Jay Lethal vs. Cedric Alexander

Result: Cedric Alexander wins the match last defeating Jay Lethal after the lumbar check to win the match and receive a future Ring Of Honor World Title opportunity.

I hope I can do this match the justice it deserves because it was so good.  BJ Whitmer and Caprice Coleman started off the match.  If you can’t remember who Caprice Coleman is, he’s the guy who is kind of floundering on the roster after splitting up from his former partner Cedric Alexander.  It’s not that Coleman isn’t good because he is. But, they haven’t figured out what to do with him since the break up of C and C Wrestle Factory.

Regardless of what I just said, Caprice Coleman started off this match looking very good in the early going.That is until BJ caught him a few minutes in and took over on the offensive, not letting up until he defeated Caprice Coleman with a Lariat.

Elimination #1: Caprice Coleman

Next out was Matt Taven, Taven was a guy who when he first started in the promotion after winning 2012’s top prospect tournament that I could really care less about.  He was a decent wrestler but he seemed to not be able to put it all together.  Once he was paired with Truth Martini he started figuring things out and now that he’s split from Truth and the House Of Truth as a result he’s built himself a nice foundation to go off of and really come into his own. Taven would go on to eliminate BJ Whitmer with a Frog Splash.

Elimination #2: BJ Whitmer

Next out was The Romantic Touch, it was here where we figured out that The Romantic Touch was NOT Matt Taven.  For those that may not follow Ring Of Honor weekly like I do (Shame on you) they were playing up the fact that Matt Taven was, in fact, The Romantic Touch. Taven took it a step further when he dressed up like the Romantic Touch to score an unsuspecting win against Jay Lethal with whom he lost the Television Championship to. Taven hits an arm drag on The Romantic Touch, later on in the match Taven would execute his finishing maneuver the Climax on The Romantic Touch to eliminate RT from the fray and move on to the next entrant.

Elimination #3: The Romantic Touch

The next entrant was the ROH World Television Champion Jay Lethal with Taven’s former manager Truth Martini.  These two men faced off at June’s Best In The World Pay-Per-View and would once again meet as a part of this match.  Later on in this stretch of the match Taven punched Truth in the face and shoved Seleziya Sparx to the ground.  As Taven got back into the ring Sparx recovered and hoisted Truth Martini onto her shoulders and carried him to the back leaving Lethal alone with his arch rival Matt Taven.  However this wasn’t enough. Shortly after, Jay Lethal would eliminate Matt Taven after Jay Diesel, an independent wrestler and crack security guard, rushed the ring. He distracted Taven, which allowed Lethal to hit the Lethal Injection and Hail To the King (top rope elbow drop) to score the pinfall victory over Taven.

Elimination #4: Matt Taven

That would bring out the sixth and final entrant into the match, Cedric Alexander. The action started off with some back and forth action until Cedric Alexander was finally able to gain the upper hand on Jay Lethal. Alexander then hit Lethal with his finisher, the Lumbar Check--which looked extremely nasty, by the way--which allowed Cedric to pin Lethal and earn himself a future Ring Of Honor World Championship Opportunity.

Final Thoughts: I thought this match was very well done. Normally, matches like these can be a mess. But, Ring Of Honor really knows what to do when it comes to these types of matches. I was happy to see a true gauntlet match (not a battle royal that is called a gauntlet because that’s not what the match really is) and I figured that Cedric Alexander would come out of it the winner due to how popular he is and how good he has gotten within the last year or so. Cedric Alexander has had a hell of a 2014 and we still have five months to go.  Right now he is a dark horse for independent wrestler of the year because he’s really come into his own since splitting away from his former partner Caprice Coleman.

That will do it for me and this week’s review, I hope you had just as much fun reading it as I had writing it.  Until next week keep your eyes on the ring and be sure to be on the lookout for some great content from all of us here at eyesonthering.blogspot.com/

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Eyes on the Ring 11:21 AM  No comment