EC3 took to his blog to talk about the infection that has kept him out of action for the last month.
In the blog, he wrote about his experiences with a severe infection that occurred following his battle with COVID-19 last year, citing a torn toe tendon procedure and a cut suffered during a match.
“A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a swelling developing in my arm, and in other areas of my body,” he wrote. Paying it very little attention while using bro-science and internet diagnosis, I continued my daily missions and the overwhelming burdens I place upon myself in training, performing, business, and creative endeavors. When I thought about getting it looked at professionally, another thing would come up that I’d give priority.
“This repeated and I lived life normally, consistently going, no rest,” he continued. “Finally, after an attempt at some athletic based therapy, my arm became a gigantic, swollen, horrifying, ungodly, painful atrocity and I went to the ER. Next thing I knew, words like cellulitis, staph, and stenosis were thrown around, I was being pumped full of fluids, antibiotics, and morphine, and was in an ambulance to my STAYCATION DESTINATION, Advent Health Downtown Orlando.”
He continued to write that for the next ten days, he shut down both physically and mentally, tuning out family and friends.
“It was a reminder of both a childhood spent very ill, and a career spent where when things were very promising, began to reach an apex, and accomplishments being achieved I would drasticly be shattered with catastrophic injuries (torn ligaments, tendons, concussions etc.) Completely unforeseen. Completely unnecessary,” he wrote.
EC3 went on to write that he was now at home to heal and to rest, and he had circled three dates on his calendar, with May 27 being the first.
Last month, EC3 wrote on Instagram that he had been in the hospital with an infection. He has not wrestled since April 9, when he lost to Moose by DQ at a Game Changer Wrestling event.
A Tag Team title match will take place on ROH television later this month.
ROH has announced that The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) will challenge The Foundation’s Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus for the ROH Tag Team titles on the ROH TV episode that premieres the weekend of Saturday, May 22. This will be Williams & Titus’ first title defense since defeating La Faccion Ingobernable’s Kenny King & Bestia del Ring at March’s ROH 19th Anniversary pay-per-view to become Tag Team Champions.
Bestia del Ring was replacing Dragon Lee in the Tag Team title match at ROH’s 19th Anniversary PPV. Dragon Lee suffered a ruptured eardrum and had to be pulled from the PPV.
The OGK are 3-0 in tag team action since Bennett made his return to ROH last November. Their most recent win was against Beer City Bruiser & Ken Dixon.
Taven & Bennett formerly held the ROH Tag Team titles for three months in 2015. They also held the IWGP Tag Team titles together in 2015.
Vita VonStarr wrestled her first match in ROH, losing to veteran Sumie Sakai. Maria Kanellis-Bennett also revealed her first Ticket to Gold recipient, granting them a spot in ROH’s Women’s World Championship tournament.
**********
Sumie Sakai defeated Vita VonStarr (8:35)
As referee Joe Mandak was patting Sakai down, VonStarr rushed her in the corner. Sakai recovered and began working on the arm of VonStarr. Sakai had an armbar applied when VonStarr bit her leg, breaking the submission. This didn’t seem to bother Sakai that much, despite her bleeding.
VonStarr applied a vise stretch that kept Sakai grounded for a good bit. Whenever Sakai made her way out of the hold, VonStarr bit her in the head. VonStarr connected with a beautiful Northern Lights suplex.
Sakai got hot at this point in the match, hitting a few takedowns and following with a great swinging neckbreaker. Sakai then went to the second rope and blasted VonStarr with a shotgun dropkick. Sakai returned to the top rope but couldn’t hold her balance and slipped. I don’t know why that wasn’t edited out.
Sakai played it off like nothing happened and nailed VonStarr with a cradle brainbuster, but it only warranted a two count. Sakai tried to keep her offense going, but VonStarr cinched in a Muta Lock instead. The hold was broken by referee Joe Mandak after VonStarr turned it into a choke.
In the final moments of the match, VonStarr was laying in some great punches on the ground. VonStarr lifted up Sakai for a powerbomb, but Sakai fell down and turned it into a cradle pin, scoring the three count and the win.
After the match, VonStarr put Sakai in a octopus stretch between the ropes until VonStarr’s stablemates Bateman and Dutch came down to the ring to summon her back.
**********
Ticket to Gold reveal
ROH announced last week that In order to be granted entry into the Women’s Championship tournament, you must receive a golden ticket from Board of Directors member Maria Kanellis-Bennett.
Kanellis-Bennett got straight to the point and said she was downright impressed with Rok-C’s performance last week. She offered a spot in the tournament to Rok-C who obviously accepted.
Kanellis-Bennett discussed the 19-year-old Rok-C’s career with her. Rok-C has been training since she was 13, including being trained by Booker T and Daga.
**********
Final Thoughts —
Another good installment of WDW in the books for ROH. I’ve never seen Vita VonStarr wrestle before, and I was quite impressed. She’s pretty good. I’ve never been the biggest fan of Sumie Sakai, but I respect her work and what she’s done for the business too.
Rok-C getting the golden ticket was 100 percent the correct move. Sometimes ROH let’s good talent slip through their hands, and I hope they sign Rok-C quickly before she gets more traction.
Ring of Honor has confirmed one of the entrants that will be taking part in their Women’s World Championship tournament.
At the end of this week’s ROH Women’s Division Wednesday episode, it was announced that Rok-C will be an entrant in the ROH Women’s World Championship tournament. She received the first “Ticket to Gold” from Maria Kanellis-Bennett, granting her a spot in the tournament.
Rok-C made her ROH debut on last week’s premiere edition of Women’s Division Wednesday. Rok-C teamed with Max the Impaler against Hyan & Laynie Luck. The match ended in a 15-minute draw.
The 19-year-old Rok-C goes by the nickname “The Prodigy.” She started training in pro wrestling at 13 years old and later trained at Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling school. Rok-C is a former Diamonds Division Champion in Reality of Wrestling.
Angelina Love is also set to take part in the Women’s World Championship tournament. On the ROH TV episode that premieres this coming weekend, Love will face ROH broadcaster Quinn McKay. The match is McKay’s ROH in-ring debut. If McKay wins, McKay receives a spot in the tournament. If Love wins, Love receives a first-round bye.
The ROH Women’s World Championship tournament will take place this summer. It was originally supposed to be held last year but was delayed following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The ROH Women’s World Championship is a new title that’s replacing the old Women of Honor World Championship.
It was announced earlier this week that former ROH commentator Lenny Leonard is returning to the promotion to call the Women’s World Championship tournament.
This jam-packed edition of ROH TV had three great matches that all furthered Best In The World storylines.
During the rundown, Quinn McKay announced that she’ll finally be taking on Angelina Love next week in singles action — a match I am really stoked for.
Flamita defeated Bandido (13:20)
Both men started out at a million miles an hour, running the ropes and exchanging multiple takedown attempts and reversals. Flamita sent Bandido to the outside and hit a great suicide dive that sent Bandido shoulder first into the ground.
After regaining control, Flamita started working over Bandido’s shoulder. That didn’t last long as Bandido hit four rotations on a flying headscissors that sent Flamita reeling to the outside. Out of frustration, Bandido wrapped Flamita’s leg around the post and yanked it multiple times. Bandido then grabbed a broom from under the ring and smacked Flamita in the leg.
Later in the match, both men positioned themself standing on the barricade. They traded forearms before Bandido sent Flamita to the floor with a phenomenal hurricanrana. As both competitors got in the ring before the twenty count, we went to the second commercial break.
After the break, Flamita attempted a muscle buster but it was reversed into a leg submission by Bandido. Flamita used open hand chops to the face to escape and things broke down into a chopping/slapping war. Bandido stunned Flamita and lifted him up for his X-Knee finisher, but accidentally hit referee Todd Sinclair in the process. Flamita used this opportunity to low blow Bandido and then get the pin.
OGK (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) defeated Ken Dixon and Beer City Bruiser (8:45)
Dixon started with Taven by cheapshotting him from behind. Taven came back fast and hit a great suicide dive on Dixon. Bruiser got angry at Dixon and tagged himself in which resulted in him being on the receiving end of a “Just The Tip” knee strike.
Dixon eventually found his way back in and immediately took Bennett off the apron. He hit a great looking powerslam and attempted a pin, but Dixon picked him up at two. Bruiser yelled at Dixon who claimed he was just trying to hit his “best move.” This cost Dixon and Bruiser the match as Bennett later tagged in and joined Taven in hitting their double team finisher.
After the match, Taven smacked Bruiser with a beer bottle and walked away. Brawler Milonas questioned Taven and Bennett as they walked away, helped Bruiser up, and admitted he was right.
Tony Deppen defeated Tracy Williams to win the ROH Television Championship (11:30)
Deppen went for Williams’ knee, but was denied quickly. Williams instead brought Deppen to the mat with a headlock. Deppen made it back to his feet and called Williams pure wrestling style “dogsh*t.” That fired Williams up and was he came at Deppen, unloading multiple chops and slaps.
Williams kept the attack, locking in a gory special submission. Deppen escaped to the apron with Williams following. Both men exchanged stiff forearms before Deppen hit a great enziguri that sent Williams to the floor. Deppen took advantage and hit a unreal cannonball suicide dive that sent Williams back about ten feet.
After a brief commercial break, Deppen was hammering away on Williams with constant chops in the corner. Williams pushed Deppen back and wrecked him with a McCulley driver.
In the closing sequence, Williams spiked Deppen with a piledriver. Williams went for a pin, but a rope break broke up the pinfall. Williams got back to his feet while Deppen begged to be hit. Williams went to do just that, but Deppen baited him in and locked in him a schoolboy pin for the win and the title change, his first in ROH.
Final Thoughts:
ROH is on a roll again after a few muddy weeks as this week featured three brilliant matches (although I wanted the TV title match to be a tad longer) and even a championship change! I hope they let Deppen have a good run with the title although I think Williams deserved a longer reign too.
One criticism: they need to put Shane Taylor and S.O.S back on TV. We haven’t seen Taylor on TV since his match with ROH World Champion Rush back in mid-March and they are Six-Man Tag Team Champions after all. Unfortunately, that division seems ofter overlooked by ROH quite often.
A former Ring of Honor commentator is returning to the company to call their Women’s World Championship tournament.
On this week’s episode of the ROHStrong Podcast, it was announced that Lenny Leonard will be part of the commentary team for ROH’s Women’s World Championship tournament. The tournament is taking place this summer.
Leonard was originally with ROH from 2005-2009. EVOLVE, Shimmer, Shine, Dragon Gate, and Dragon Gate USA are among the promotions he’s also done commentary for.
ROH Board of Directors member Maria Kanellis-Bennett will inform one competitor via a Zoom call on ROH’s YouTube channel on Wednesday that she has been granted entrance into the tournament, which takes place this summer.
The call will occur immediately following the Women’s Division Wednesday match on YouTube, which begins at 7 p.m. Eastern time. Every Wednesday going forward, ROH will air a new women’s match at that time and Kanellis-Bennett will present another competitor with a ‘ticket to gold.’
Angelina Love is also set to take part in the tournament. if Love defeats Quinn McKay on the ROH TV episode that premieres this coming weekend, Love will earn a first-round bye.
The ROH Women’s World Championship tournament was originally supposed to be held in 2020 but was delayed following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The ROH Women’s World Championship is a new title, replacing the former Women of Honor World Championship.
Tony Deppen is the new Ring of Honor Television Champion.
Deppen defeated Tracy Williams to capture the title for the first time on Ring of Honor television, which aired this weekend in syndication. Williams had been champion since March 26, when he defeated Kenny King (subbing for Dragon Lee) to win the title.
Deppen confirmed the title win on Twitter, noting that despite winning the TV title, he currently isn’t signed to Ring of Honor.
“For everyone that told me I’d never get anywhere: f*** off,” he wrote. “To all the people that Always put their neck out for me to help me get in front of new eyes: im gonna continue to bust my ass because y’all Always believed in me. Oh. Still not signed. This belt is mine now.”
At Ring of Honor’s 19th Anniversary show back in March, Deppen joined forces with Brodie King, Homicide, and Chris Dickinson. Together, they are known as Violence Unlimited.
Every Wednesday on ROH’s YouTube channel is Women’s Division Wednesday — designed to showcase the division with past stars, veterans and current stars leading up to the big ROH Women’s Championship Tournament this summer. The series kicked off this past week with four debuts in a tag team match.
Laynie Luck & Hyan vs. Rok-C & Max The Impaler ended in a time limit draw (15:00)
Luck made a name for herself in Texas promotions like VIP Wrestling and Metroplex Wrestling. She also currently wrestles for Booker T’s Reality Of Wrestling.
Hyan, currently the Heart of Shimmer Champion also made a name for herself in Texas-based promotions, including Reality Of Wrestling. She’s also wrestled for RISE and has been an extra on WWE Raw before.
The 19-year-old Rok-C is another Texas-born and based female wrestler. She’s a former Diamonds Champion for Reality Of Wrestling and has wrestled for Game Changer Wrestling as well.
Max The Impaler has wrestled for RISE, Shimmer, IWA and House Of Hardcore. She’s also done some dark match work for Impact Wrestling.
Rok-C and Luck started with a tie up. Luck tried to keep her grounded, but Rok-C regained her vertical base and applied a Muta hammerlock. Luck escaped and tried to show off with a few dances, but Rok-C clocked her and sent her back to the mat. Luck got serious at this point and hit a great armdrag that sent Rok-C to her corner, allowing Max to tag in.
Max sent Luck to the mat with one shove, causing Hyan to tag herself in. Hyan reversed a chokeslam attempt and laid in some great knees to the face.
Rok-C tagged herself back in and dove off the second rope onto Hyan with a great meteora. Rok-C applied a full nelson and Max tagged herself back in. Max attempted to squash Hyan in the corner, but she ducked and dove to tag in Luck. Luck was demolished immediately by Max.
Max tagged in Rok-C, but then picked her up and used her as a weapon, smacking both Luck and Hyan. Max tagged herself back in, but Luck came in with a flurry of offense, bringing Max to her knees. Luck tagged in Hyan and they tried to double team her, but Max suplexed both of them.
The bell rang and Bobby Cruise announced a time limit draw as everyone looked genuinely confused.
Final Thoughts:
I’m really glad ROH has brought back the women’s division and it seems like it’s going be really good by the talent they showcased in the first edition of Women’s Division Wednesday.
All four of these women got to show out, but the one who stood out the most was Rok-C. She’s really good at such a young age and I hope ROH both signs her and puts her in the championship tournament. Hyan and Luck had some great moments too, but it’s pretty clear that Max The Impaler is the one that ROH likes a lot. She got the most offense in the match by far.
A non-finish was not the right choice here, though. There have been four non-finishes to matches in roughly three weeks of ROH TV which is a terrible direction to be heading in. I understand not letting talent lose, but there should have been a definitive winner in the first women’s match back.
Dak Draper and Eli Isom went to a time limit draw (15:00)
The commentary team noted that Draper put in a request and was allowed to change from the Pure Championship division to the Television Championship division.
Draper immediately backed Isom in the corner, causing a referee stoppage, Isom tried to charge at Draper but was dropped with a clothesline immediately. He tried to focus on Isom’s midsection, but he was well-scouted by the “Infinite.” Isom used the opportunity and chargeed again, but was met with a suplex into the ropes.
Isom countered a few big moves, but the “Mile High Magnum” stayed in control, continuing to work on Isom’s waist. Isom finally got some momentum when he hit a great looking crossbody.
Once both men made it back to their feet, they began a chopping war. Draper obviously had the stronger chops, but Isom showed a lot of heart. Draper took advantage of a stunned Isom and hit a doctor bomb for a two count. Isom made his way back to his feet and Draper hit an awesome springboard elbow to send him right back to the mat.
In the closing sequence, Draper and Isom exchanged multiple finishing maneuver attempts when suddenly the bell rang. Bobby Cruise informed us that the match had gone to a time limit draw which came without warning.
Isom pleaded with the referee to give the match five more minutes. He agreed, but the lights went out. When they came back in, Dalton Castle appeared, joined by four other men wearing peacock masks. He danced to the ring and told both Isom and Draper that he wasn’t there to fight them. He also said “this place needs some more drama in it.” Castle proceeded to kick both guys in the groin and then danced away with presumably his new “Boys.”
— They aired a short recap video of Beer City Bruiser vs. Joe Keys, a match that aired on the YouTube “Week By Week” show. Bruiser won the match, but attacked Keys after the match. Fellow ROH Dojo members came out to help Keys, but Ken Dixon aligned himself with Bruiser instead of the Dojo.
— Bateman, Vita Vonn Starr and Dutch made their way to the ring for a promo. Bateman said while Vincent is gone for now, his hand still guides the proverbial knife. Von Starr read off a notecard, relaying a message from Vincent about still being there in spirit.
La Faccion Ingobernable (ROH World Champion Rush, Kenny King, La Bestia Del Ring) defeated VLNCE UNLTD (Chris Dickinson, Brody King, Homicide) by DQ (7:54)
When VLNCE UNLTD were making their entrance, LFI attacked. The bell rang and all hell broke loose. Rush and King fought on the outside while Dickinson and Kenny King fought in the ring.
Brody King became the legal man and tried to clean house, but the numbers game overwhelmed him quickly. Dickinson made a hot tag, but that got squandered quickly as well. Bestia hit a senton off the top rope and tagged out to Rush.
Rush was stomping on Dickinson when Brody King hit Bestia in the back with a chair. Referee Joe Mandak called for the bell, ending the match in a DQ.
The two factions continued to fight after the bell rang. King rubbed Homicide’s face into the apron while Rush smacked Brody King in the back with a chair. The Foundation ran to the ring and began beating on both groups, just adding to the chaos which ran through the end of the show.
Final Thoughts:
This was an above average episode of ROH. While Draper vs. Isom was good, I wasn’t a fan of the sudden time limit finish at all as it wasn’t teased or mentioned by the ring announcer or the commentary team. However, it was a cool way to reintroduce Castle. The main event was okay for the time it got (an astonishing seven minutes), but it ensured nobody took a pinfall with the DQ finish. I hope this leads to a three-way faction match of some sort between LFI, VLNCE UNLTD and The Foundation, preferably in front of fans.
New Ring of Honor Television Champion Tracy Williams’ first title defense is set.
ROH has announced that Williams will defend his Television title against Tony Deppen on the ROH TV episode that premieres this weekend. The episode will premiere on local affiliates starting on Saturday, May 1. It will be uploaded to ROH’s website on Monday, May 3.
Williams won the Television title by defeating Kenny King at ROH’s 19th Anniversary pay-per-view last month. King was defending the title on behalf of Dragon Lee, who had to miss the PPV due to a ruptured eardrum.
The Foundation’s Williams & Rhett Titus also defeated La Faccion Ingobernable’s Kenny King & Bestia del Ring to win the ROH Tag Team titles at the 19th Anniversary PPV. Bestia del Ring was replacing Dragon Lee in that match.
Deppen unsuccessfully challenged Dragon Lee for the ROH TV title at Final Battle last December. Deppen won a four-way match earlier in the night and then advanced to face Dragon Lee.
ROH’s 19th Anniversary PPV ended with the debut of new faction Violence Unlimited. The group consists of Brody King, Deppen, Homicide, and Chris Dickinson. They beat down La Faccion Ingobernable and laid out The Foundation’s Jay Lethal in the show-closing angle of the 19th Anniversary PPV.
In the main event of the latest ROH TV episode, Brody King, Homicide & Dickinson faced Rush, Kenny King & Bestia del Ring in a six-man tag match. The match ended in a disqualification after Brody King hit Bestia del Ring with a chair. A brawl between Violence Unlimited, La Faccion Ingobernable, and The Foundation then closed the show.
The episode of ROH TV that premieres this weekend will also feature The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) vs. Beer City Bruiser & Ken Dixon.
Quinn McKay’s in-ring debut for Ring of Honor will take place on the weekend of May 8.
It was announced in Kevin Eck’s weekly Eck’s Files column that McKay would face Angelina Love on the episode of Ring of Honor television that will premiere the weekend of Saturday, May 8. The winner of the match will get a first-round bye in the upcoming ROH Women’s World Title tournament.
The match was set up last month at Ring of Honor’s 19th anniversary event. Maria Kanellis-Benett, who in storyline is a member of the ROH Board of Directors, made the match after McKay was previously attacked by Love and fellow Allure member Mandy Leon in an angle that took place last fall.
The Women’s World Title tournament, which will crown the first-ever ROH Women’s World Champion, will take place this summer.
Eck also announced that EC3 and Flip Gordon will face The Briscoes on the May 8 edition of Ring of Honor TV.
The ROH star wrote on Instagram that he has been hospitalized for the last five days with an unnamed infection. The picture included in the post shows him in a hospital room.
:#ControlYourNarrative CAN KILL YOU,” he wrote.”That’s not strictly just an attention grabbing headline. it’s more of an update. Short version; an infection I neglected proper care for, put others people’s needs before [mine], went straight empath, caught up to me and broke me. Long version; it’s extensive, I’ve been hospitalized 5 days and we’ll need longer. Anyways I will heal, if you want to help drop a comment or a thought or affirmation. Please do no not text. PLEASE.all I ask. If you want to help let me be alone.”
His most recent match was against Moose at the GCW We Run This Town event as part of WrestleMania weekend. He lost the match via disqualification.
EC3 has most recently been a part of the Ring of Honor roster. He lost to Jay Briscoe at the ROH 19th Anniversary show on March 26th.
ROH’s lead announcer, Ian Riccaboni, has re-signed with Ring of Honor.
Riccaboni confirmed a report by Fightful that he has re-signed with the company. He wrote the following on Twitter:
[Ring of Honor] and I quietly extended our agreement during the early stages of the pandemic. With the timing of the pandemic and overall great loss we collectively experienced due to COVID-19, it was a conscious decision not to celebrate this publicly at the time the agreement was reached although I and extraordinarily thankful.
ROH has always accommodated my work/family balance and my other commitments and provides generous compensation.
The agreement puts me on pace to call more ROH TV episodes and ROH events than any previous announcer and I am humbled by this. I appreciate everyone who has supported ROH and look forward to calling The Best Wrestling on the Planet for a long, long time.
Riccaboni has been calling Ring of Honor matches since 2015. In 2017, he became the company’s lead broadcaster, replacing Kevin Kelly.
Ring of Honor’s women’s division is making its return this month.
ROH has announced that Women’s Division Wednesday will kick off on YouTube on Wednesday, April 28. There will be a new women’s match airing on ROH’s YouTube channel every Wednesday at 7 p.m. Eastern time.
The women’s matches will feature newcomers and ROH veterans.
At ROH’s 19th Anniversary pay-per-view last month, it was announced that a tournament to crown an ROH Women’s World Champion will begin this summer. The tournament was originally supposed to take place in 2020, but that didn’t happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“No participants for the championship tournament have been announced, so all of the competitors in Women’s Division Wednesday matches will be out to prove that they deserve to be part of the field,” ROH wrote.
The ROH Women’s World title is a new championship that’s being introduced. It’s replacing the Women of Honor World Championship. Kelly Klein had been Women of Honor Champion prior to her and ROH parting ways in 2019.
The Big Takeaway: To celebrate ROH TV’s 500th episode, they showcased two phenomenal matches that saw questionable finishes.
Quinn McKay checked in from the ROH Studio and welcomed the audience to the 500th episode of ROH TV. McKay thanked the fans and multiple executives for making it this far and said they don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
Jonathan Gresham defeated Jay Lethal in a ROH Pure Championship match (16:43)
Gresham and Lethal made their entrance together to celebrate the unity of The Foundation.
Lethal took Gresham to the mat and wrenched his ankle. Gresham escaped fast. He popped up quickly and locked arms with Lethal, and then took him to the mat with a headlock. Lethal tried to escape a few times but couldn’t muster it, so he used a rope break. This took us into a commercial break.
Back from the break and Lethal had Gresham on the mat with his knee on the shoulder of “The Octopus”. Gresham reversed the hold and applied a double hammerlock. Lethal found a way to counter and tried to bodyslam Gresham, but he followed through and applied another arm submission.
Lethal eventually found a backdoor out of that hold and tried to cinch in a figure four leglock. Gresham turned it into a cradle pin for a two count. The match picked up significantly here with Lethal catching a Gresham hurricanrana and turning it into a Boston crab. This caused Gresham to use a rope break.
In the closing sequence of the match, Lethal and Gresham were trading reversals of different holds when Gresham trapped Lethal’s leg and rolled him up for the win. This came off as a very anticlimactic ending.
******
Mark Briscoe defeated Jay Briscoe by countout (15:04)
Jay backed Mark into the corner and referee Todd Sinclair broke it up. Mark no sold a Jay hurricanrana and sent his brother to the mat with a shoulder tackle. Both brothers spilled to the outside as a commercial break ensued.
In firm control of the match, Mark jumped off the apron onto the floor with a diving elbow drop. The two fought outside the ring for a while before Jay tossed Mark back in and went to the top rope. Mark followed him up there and hit a great looking x-plex from the top rope.
Mark followed it up with a urange and rolled Jay to the apron. Jay fell from the apron after being nailed with a right hand from Mark, which was followed up with a blockbuster neckbreaker. Mark set up a chair in the ring and was looking to use it for a springboard, but Jay slid back in and caught a running Mark in a fireman’s carry slam on the chair.
Back from the break and Mark is scaling the top rope. He hit his signature Froggy Bow elbow drop, which Jay kicked out of. Jay retaliated with the Jay Driller, which Mark kicked out of. Jay hit the move a second time, but this time Mark rolled out of the ring. Jay followed and tore apart the timekeepers table. This bought Mark enough time to nail Jay with a few forearms and then set him up on the table. Mark climbed to the top turnbuckle and dove onto the table outside onto Jay with another Froggy Bow. When the referee’s count got to 19, Mark rolled in the ring and he was declared the winner via countout. Another perplexing finish.
*******
Final Thoughts: This episode of ROH TV saw 30+ minutes of really good wrestling, but just weird finishes. With a match the caliber of Gresham vs Lethal ending in a rollup pin, seems disappointing. To create some future tension within the group, I would have liked to see either man have a win over the other. For the Briscoes match, a countout finish is disappointing given their history with each other, with Mark not winning in about 15 years according to Ian Riccaboni.
