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 8/12/15)

Caught Between A Future Shock And A Kingdom 

– The Watanabe-ACH match had the hook of two guys’ differing styles, yet still alike on some fronts. The upstart Watanabe was looking to make a mark, while ACH looked to keep up his momentum. It’s good when both guys have something heading into it. Highly competitive bout that showed off the best of what ACH had to give us in terms of athleticism – some memorable spots. His Matrix-esque run up the turnbuckle was something cool and unique. Watanabe didn’t lose anything in defeat either, though he screams “glorified enhancement talent” at the moment and could be so much more right now.

– The Donovan Dijak/J. Diesel-War Machine match had ROH World Heavyweight/Television Champion Jay Lethal out on commentary too. The match was okay with some decent action, though Lethal was great on commentary, pushing his TV Title defense against Hanson in three weeks. For the purpose of that build, War Machine looked solid, albeit at Diesel/Dijak’s expense, who came off sort of goofy at times. We guess the House Of Truth stable in of itself is sort of goofy besides for Lethal, huh?

– The Adam Page-Tim Hughes match was an enhancement bout for Page, who could use one to showcase his rough and tough style anyway. Rather quick ending, but followed by classic heel behavior, as Whitmer groomed up Page, blaming “the company” for the match though it was established by commentary he made it himself, also allowing Page the floor to challenge Jay Briscoe, who wasn’t in the building. Whitmer also worked up Corino again to get him riled up, saying he shouldn’t had been out there since he physically assaulted him, pointing to ROH’s “zero tolerance” policy. Matchmaker Nigel McGuinness came out again to calm things down, sort of a repeat of the previous week. Corino was taken to the back and didn’t call the main event to help sell the angle. Good stuff again.

– The Matt Taven/Michael Bennett-reDRagon match had Tag Team Championship implications and added intrigue when Adam Cole came out to sit at commentary, much to the confusion of his teammates in The Kingdom. Cole talked the whole time remaining neutral, yet conveying his close friendship to Kyle O’Reilly and recent frustrations with Taven/Bennett. The action had barely any stops to it the whole time, very competitive and even. Liked the message that Taven/Bennett sent Cole by seemingly deliberately spike piledriving O’Reilly on the floor. The Kingdom used that same momentum to close things out on Fish to win the match. They threatened to do the same to Fish, but Cole made the save by stopping them with his words. This was a good followup to the last angle, as the lines of tension between Cole and the rest of The Kingdom continue to grow. At the same time, Maria is doing a good job of soaking up all the heat here.

Quick Results

• ACH def. Watanabe via pinfall
• War Machine def. Donovan Dijak/J. Diesel (w/Truth Martini) via pinfall
• Adam Page (w/BJ Whitmer, Colby Corino) def. Tim Hughes via pinfall
• Matt Taven/Michael Bennett (w/Maria Kanellis) def. reDRagon via pinfall