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 2/17/16)

The Page Turns 

– Easily the match of the hour was the one that started it off (yes, we know what the main event was, but we stand by this, more for the surprises) as we had Jason Kincaid (who resembled a deranged, homeless wizard with his attire) taking on Lio Rush (who came off as a young punk-rocker with a nice mohawk with one year wrestling experience) and the results were great on both ends. To Kincaid’s credit, he managed to turn critics into fans, right around the point he broke out the coast-to-coast and then the cutter through the ropes and to the floor below. The crowd was hot at that point and we would’ve been okay with Kincaid going on to the next round, but then Rush hit a nice finisher (described as a “one-man Spanish fly”) and all was forgiven. Seriously though, we want to see more of what Kincaid can bring to the dance.

– We had more progression in the storyline with Prince Nana “motivating” clients like Will Ferrara and Caprice Coleman, teaming them up after having them go at each other’s throats recently, taking on Silas Young/The Beer City Bruiser, who were fresh off seemingly eliminating The Boys recently after Young warned them to get back under his wing. Nana did some decent explaining on commentary of how he had eyed Donovan Dijak as a big name and faulted Truth Martini for letting him go, not wanting to go on much further about what he was building up. The action was entertaining and we dug the finish, with The Boys coming down to distract Young, which indirectly helped Coleman/Ferrara to get a needed win, while The Boys/Dalton Castle celebrated on the ramp. This feud will never slow down, huh?

– We applaud the idea of Adam Page turning on BJ Whitmer, revealing him as “the guy” who wanted to fight Whitmer as Steve Corino addressed the rumor himself on the stage and set up the moment, though something still felt like it was missing. Page did just go from “angry man no one likes” to “angry man the fans can get behind,” so it might take some time to warm up to him, but it’ll be interesting to see what Colby Corino will do now. The shock of the moment worked since nobody saw it coming, but we’ll need some time for it to digest and see if it truly pays off.

– Mark Briscoe squashed Tim Hughes because him and Jay Briscoe will team up to take on “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin and Hiroshi Tanahashi at the ROH 14 Year Anniversary Show. That’s how it came off anyway. Hughes did some shouting, Briscoe ended it with a Froggy Bow, life goes on.

– Now for the main event – The Young Bucks-Matt Sydal/ACH. That already sounded good on paper and translated seamlessly into the spot-fest party we expected it to be. Bucks were brash and disrespectful at points (all Bullet Club) as Sydal/ACH met them in intensity every step of the way. ACH is such an incredible talent and then you put him in the ring with the Bucks and magic happens. Got a kick out of the Bucks’ throwing around imaginary basketballs and tossing them into the crowd, as we saw more crowd-pleasing, well-timed spots that led into a surpassing finish of Sydal/ACH getting the victory. The win was nice, but felt a tad bit anticlimactic. Still a good end to a good show overall.

Quick Results

• ROH Top Prospect Tournament – Round 1 – Lio Rush def. Jason Kincaid via pinfall to advance to next round
• Will Ferrara/Caprice Coleman def. Silas Young/The Beer City Bruiser via pinfall
• Mark Briscoe def. Tim Hughes via pinfall
• Matt Sydal/ACH def. The Young Bucks via pinfall