Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.

By Nicholas Jason Lopez

“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on recent television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post. 

(Aired 7/1/15)

The Battles Go On 

– This was yet another show dedicated to the New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Ring Of Honor matches, whereas we thought this would have the Best In the World fallout, but that was instead hyped for next week. It’s giving people a chance to seek out BITW for themselves, but they’re losing a lot of momentum gained right after that show. It will be nearly three weeks before we see any kind of development and that’s asking a lot of your fanbase to stick around to see. On the plus side, anytime we see ROH vs. NJPW, we’re destined for good action and considering the main event, it was hard to argue with. Not to the extent of last week’s spectacular show, but pretty close.

– The opening match on the show saw The Addiction come out and soak up all the heat as only they can, as they took on the much over team of Kazuchika Okada/Gedo. It was acknowledged from an on-screen graphic that this match was from night one of  “War Of The Worlds.” Regardless, the action was hard and fast, pretty pleasing. It made sense for The Addiction to win here, keeping their momentum going. They even tried to get some heat post-match, but this made the crowd happy in that they got to finally see the Rainmaker get hit.

– The intrigue of Colby Corino continued on here, as he was in the corner of Adam Page who took on Watanabe. This mainly felt like an enhancement match for Page though Watanabe had his offensive moments too. Corino helped out Page several times and that led to the finish in a good way. This was consistent with what we saw at Best In The World, so it carried over well.

– The Adam Cole-AJ Styles match was billed as a rematch of their classic encounter from last year at All-Star Extravaganza. Another aspect of it was Cole’s return after being out for five months. Obviously, he hadn’t missed a beat. The match was incredible, especially within the last five minutes. Creative, inventive spots, especially using the apron for piledrivers and powerbombs. The finish was more than enough to put Styles over for his resilience and Cole for his comeback effort. Postmatch saw Styles try to be a sport, but Cole wanted none of it, resorting to a half-enthusiastic handshake. This was easily the best part of the show and it wasn’t close. These two can go at it all night for all we care. Next week will look like when the real fun begins since we haven’t seen the likes of the Briscoes or House Of Truth since Best In The World. The follow-up should be fun as things build to Jay Lethal vs. Roderick Strong at Death Before Dishonor on July 24.

Quick Results

– The Addiction def. Kazuchika Okada/Gedo via pinfall

– Adam Page (w/Colby Corino) def. Watanabe via pinfall

– AJ Styles def. Adam Cole via pinfall