2016 Survival of the Fittest

[monster mafia]

also mcmg put over dijak as future world champion.

[ndp]

The above results stopped at spoiling the main so I guess I'll be vague as a precaution:

The winner was expected, and makes the most sense. I'm glad Lio did as well as he did and the match sounded like it turned out well. There was only one fall that made me scratch my head. The guy in question was protected, but I felt it was an odd choice in a string of odd choices on these two shows.

Alex Shelley says that the Cabinet were the ones that attacked him backstage last night.
Colt Cabana then beat Chris Sabin. Cabinet attacks MCMG after the match, but the latter are saved by Donovan Dijak, but to no avail.

So, Rhett wrestled Sabin (Shelley's partner) and Castle, and King wrestled Fish, yet they picked Shelley as the guy to jump and knock out of the tournament. I think I spot a flaw in the Cabinet's plan.

Kevin Kelly is accidentally taken out

How did the show go on without him?

O'Reilly/Kazarian up next. Surprise upset by Kyle. Was sure this was a victory for Kaz.
(https://twitter.com/ringofhonor/status/ ... 0384196608)

Huh???

I believe someone forgot the /s.

also mcmg put over dijak as future world champion.

If you're going to have someone put over a guy a future world champion, maybe you shouldn't do that right after he loses the latest in what has been a long string of losses on every live event he's been on for at least a couple months. Dijak winning a jobber squash once a month means little if he loses every match against a non-jobber on PPV and VOD during the same time. He may beat Joe Hendry on the next show, but he's definitely losing to Lio the next night and probably to someone else on Night Three. Now if he was in Martinez's place (minus the Whitmer/Corino/Sullivan zombie feud stuff) sure, but having someone say it about a guy with that push is eyebrow raising. It's unfortunate because Dijak is yet another guy they could be doing more with instead of just saying they'll do more with.

[Brada]

So so far advancing are:

- The Panther
- Jax Dane
- Punishment Martinez (who replaced Alex Shelley, who was apparently attacker backstage)
- Bobby Fish
- Lio Rush
- Dalton Castle

This is your finals for tomorrow

Isn't this the wackiest Survival Of The Fittest Finals ever?

It was the wackiest of Survival of the Fittests, it was the Tag Wars-est of Survival of the Fittests.

Pretty surprised and deflated to read that Punisher is in the finals. BJ Whitmer and Kevin Sullivan pablum is abound?

Good for Lio Rush to actually win something with stakes. For the sake of the match, I hope he lasts a long time.

And thanks to our man Brada for the results. Hope it was a fun show.

No sweat....was a great show. Wish I could have made San Antonio last night for Night 2..........looks on paper to be pretty good as well....ready to see the VOD...

[TYFDK]

Yeah I dropped the ball there guys, sorry about that. Had just got off work and fell asleep before the finals.

Yes the Kaz thing was a joke.

Check out Fidel Costco's post in the spoilers thread about the second night, he goes into a lot of detail on it.

Speaking of, in the future, I don't think we need a spoiler thread for live events/house shows. Unless we want to take a vote on it, otherwise it just gets confusing.

[The Dragon Saga]

Hearing night 2 was pretty good. Lots of good reports on Twitter about War MSachine/Lee & Taylor in particular. Happy for Bobby Fish to win SOTF. His promo on ROH's social media accounts is good, its already building possibilities for next year which is long term booking which is what ROH needs more of. We know Bobby Fish is the direction, we just don't know who the World Champion will be. Also, does this mean that Fish will be dropping the TV title? Could he drop it to Dragon Lee? Will they try to unify the titles again? Who knows, lots of interesting potential here, good booking.

[supersonic]

I said a couple months back that O'Reilly vs. Fish is an obvious top title program for 2017.

[christopherclinton55]

Ugh reading these results

[SandsShifter]

I said a couple months back that O'Reilly vs. Fish is an obvious top title program for 2017.

I almost think we'll be getting a repeat of 2010-2011 with ReDRagon and Cole, where Cole'll beat O'Reilly and then lose to Fish, who will face off with Kyle at BITW.

[Wilson]

Bobby Fish is a good choice to win if ROH has clear ideas what to do with him. Dalton Castle could have used the win more, but it would be for naught if there were to no long-term plan developed.

I’ve read skeptics about Bobby Fish, mainly addressing his age. Six years ago, Daniels was placed in a similar position that Fish is poised to be in. It wasn’t a mistake then, as it is not a mistake with Fish. I think it’s obvious that he is a star and deserves to have important matches at the top of the card. It’s great that he is being built there to have programs and put others over while he still can.

While we’re on the subject, I think he has looked great as TV champion. He comes off so much better than his opponents. Pushing him further up just makes too much sense to do otherwise.

[Brada]

Totally agree. I don't see age as an issue in his push either. Should Kyle O'Reilly win the strap at FB, a competitive program with Fish could be very entertaining. If that is the route taken, I just hope that it is competitive, without cheating or short cuts.....maybe a couple of marathon matches leading to draw's even. I just don't want one of them turning heel as a result, or completely following the Wolves storyline when Richards/Edwards were going back and forth.

I'm a big Bobby Fish supporter. Would be cool to see him elevated towards the top.

[BurningHammer]

Bobby Fish is a good choice to win if ROH has clear ideas what to do with him. Dalton Castle could have used the win more, but it would be for naught if there were to no long-term plan developed.

I’ve read skeptics about Bobby Fish, mainly addressing his age. Six years ago, Daniels was placed in a similar position that Fish is poised to be in. It wasn’t a mistake then, as it is not a mistake with Fish. I think it’s obvious that he is a star and deserves to have important matches at the top of the card. It’s great that he is being built there to have programs and put others over while he still can.

While we’re on the subject, I think he has looked great as TV champion. He comes off so much better than his opponents. Pushing him further up just makes too much sense to do otherwise.

I don't think you can doubt the quality that Fish within his promo work, his appearance and attitude he carries, Fish is a legimate guy and ROH has done a great job with him and he has also carried the ball. I do think though his work has suffered is suffering because of his age, I don't know if he is holding back or he just hasn't had the opponents that he will click with with but his matches have always just seemed fine rather than great. By the sounds of it he put in a great performance at SOTF and hopefully now he is being moved up it might give him that energy to push his body and mind on.

I do think now is the time for Fish to drop the title though, I think there is now a backlog of guys who should have been moved into the position but couldn't because of Fish doing so well. I imagine Castle or Page/Dijak will be the next guys in line. Although ROH might just not have Castle hold a title at all and just have him carry his on ball towards the Main championship with wins, personality and Feuds. Overall the backlog is why I wish another singles title was introduced as it could have given many other guys many different opportunities. Might be nice to have a tournament for the TV title say if Fish just drops saying no one is good enough to beat him and it's just beneath him now.

[TYFDK]

Looks like both shows are up on the PPV section of the website.

[Big Red Machine]

Speaking of, in the future, I don't think we need a spoiler thread for live events/house shows. Unless we want to take a vote on it, otherwise it just gets confusing.

I'd generally agree, but for a one-weekend tournament, I actually really appreciated it (I was able to stay spoiler free until watching the match last night) and would like this to continue for future SOTFs and the like.

[Big Red Machine]

Awesome match, albeit with too much in terms of pointless extracurricular activities for my taste. Lio Rush was definitely the MVP here, and Martinez also really showed me something. Dalton's entire inclusion in the match baffles me. He is already due a title shot so everyone knows he won't win, and you've now put him in a position where he has to get pinned going into this title shot... which of course necessitates protecting him via f*ck finish, which is something that should always be avoided if possible. Cabana being in Dalton's spot would have made a lot more sense, as getting a clean win or two helps him prove his point in his angle. I actually wouldn't have objected to Colt winning the whole thing, to be honest.

[monster mafia]

Awesome match, albeit with too much in terms of pointless extracurricular activities for my taste. Lio Rush was definitely the MVP here, and Martinez also really showed me something. Dalton's entire inclusion in the match baffles me. He is already due a title shot so everyone knows he won't win, and you've now put him in a position where he has to get pinned going into this title shot... which of course necessitates protecting him via f*ck finish, which is something that should always be avoided if possible. Cabana being in Dalton's spot would have made a lot more sense, as getting a clean win or two helps him prove his point in his angle. I actually wouldn't have objected to Colt winning the whole thing, to be honest.

so both nights are worth watching?

[Big Red Machine]

Awesome match, albeit with too much in terms of pointless extracurricular activities for my taste. Lio Rush was definitely the MVP here, and Martinez also really showed me something. Dalton's entire inclusion in the match baffles me. He is already due a title shot so everyone knows he won't win, and you've now put him in a position where he has to get pinned going into this title shot... which of course necessitates protecting him via f*ck finish, which is something that should always be avoided if possible. Cabana being in Dalton's spot would have made a lot more sense, as getting a clean win or two helps him prove his point in his angle. I actually wouldn't have objected to Colt winning the whole thing, to be honest.

so both nights are worth watching?

I've only seen night 2, and haven't seen Jay vs. Daniels or Kyle vs. Kazarian, but just between SOTF and the Lee & Taylor vs. War Machine match (which was NUTS), I'd say night 2 is definitely worth watching.

[DXvsNWO1994]

Awesome match, albeit with too much in terms of pointless extracurricular activities for my taste. Lio Rush was definitely the MVP here, and Martinez also really showed me something. Dalton's entire inclusion in the match baffles me. He is already due a title shot so everyone knows he won't win, and you've now put him in a position where he has to get pinned going into this title shot... which of course necessitates protecting him via f*ck finish, which is something that should always be avoided if possible. Cabana being in Dalton's spot would have made a lot more sense, as getting a clean win or two helps him prove his point in his angle. I actually wouldn't have objected to Colt winning the whole thing, to be honest.

so both nights are worth watching?

I've only seen night 2, and haven't seen Jay vs. Daniels or Kyle vs. Kazarian, but just between SOTF and the Lee & Taylor vs. War Machine match (which was NUTS), I'd say night 2 is definitely worth watching.

Are you posting a review of the whole show? Would love to hear your thoughts.

[AlexROH]

Survival of the Fittest Night 1 was disappointing for me. It is a very easy show to watch (just 2h and 10 minutes because the cut Keith Lee's VIP Title match) but ROH has produced better VOD shows this year. I mean, nothing was bad, but I didn't think the show had a GREAT match. If your a VOD viewer buy it, it was fine; but if you want to watch just one show, I would go with Night 2 (which I haven't seen it yet).

- Panther vs Yo vs Young vs Ferrara [**1/2] - Quick match, Panther didn't anything outstanding. Plus, his finisher is visual, but a simple dropkick looks weak to me.
- Dane vs Dijak [**] - Oh god, I knew Dane was gonna win, they hyped his debut a lot, but FUCKIN SQUASHING DIJAK? HELL NO! Nana didn't appear, Dijak (who now have a shitty theme song haha) lost clean in under 3-4 minutes. I won't say Dane is the worst thing I've ever seen, he didn't do much in the match, but why did Dijak loose clean? I don't know what are they gonna do with him at Final Battle. Still, not a bad match, just big move after big move type of match between monsters.
- Cabana vs Cheeseburger vs Martinez [**3/4] - Entertaining match. Heel Cabana is fine, but I prefer him as a babyface. He still did his comedy things during the match, btw. I think Cabana should have gone into the finals, not Martinez, but maybe ROH want to make Punishment a big deal.
- Fish vs King [***1/4+] - The first match I really enjoyed. Fish is an awesome worker and put another performance here. King looked great too, I like this new concept of the Cabinet, without the "comedy" gimnick.
- Titus vs Sho vs Castle [***] - Standard triple threat.
- Daniels vs O'Reilly [***1/2+] - Match of the night, by far. Shitty dead crowd, but Daniels work was aweeesome. Give him the Decade of Excellence Tournament, he deserve a last single run as a big heel. Best O'Reilly's match in a while, but I will repeat it again, he hasn't got momentum for a big title match/victory.
- Briscoes vs War Machine vs Taylor & Lee [***] - Lee and Taylor showed up and challenge War Machine for a match. Briscoes made it a Triple Threat under Street Fight Rules. Why did the book a Street Fight the day before a No Rules match? Didn't make sense. Match was kindda boring. Mark did his spot jumpping from the top of a truck, aside of that, nothing memorable here.

This felt like the first day of a two show weekend. Wrestlers didn't work full speed, which I understand. Hope night 2 is a better show, I will watch it this week so I can post a review here before flying to Liverpool on Friday.

As I said, not a bad show, just a ton of matches that I will forget in two days and that's not what I expect from SOTF.

Final rating: 5,75 - 6 / 10

[Brada]

Alex is right, the crowd was dead for Daniels and O'Reilly. I was there in the front row, and not to make an excuse for the crowd, but the venue was WAY too big for what they needed. So it was very difficult to be loud in that place.

[AlexROH]

Alex is right, the crowd was dead for Daniels and O'Reilly. I was there in the front row, and not to make an excuse for the crowd, but the venue was WAY too big for what they needed. So it was very difficult to be loud in that place.

Yeah, the crowd was fine until that match. In the main event street fight I saw that the venue was very very big for the little people that were inside.