– An eight-man tag match will headline Ring of Honor television the first weekend of February.
ROH has announced that Brody King, PCO & The Briscoes will face La Faccion Ingobernable (ROH World Champion Rush, ROH Television Champion Dragon Lee & La Bestia del Ring) & Flip Gordon in an eight-man tag match on the ROH TV episode that premieres the weekend of February 6.
“LFI member Kenny King is unable to appear, so the ROH Board of Directors named Gordon to be his replacement. RUSH, Lee and Bestia are said to be less than thrilled about the board’s decision. Their reaction is understandable considering Gordon, Brody King and PCO were associates not all that long ago,” ROH’s Kevin Eck wrote.
Rush retained his ROH World Championship against King in the main event of December’s Final Battle pay-per-view. Rush won that match after interference by Lee and Bestia del Ring.
– In an interview with PWinsider, The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas) revealed that they’ve come to terms with ROH on new contracts. Beer City Bruiser & Milonas are facing The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) on the episode of ROH TV that premieres this weekend.
ROH announced earlier this month that Mark Haskins, Bandido, Amy Rose, Bateman, Brian Johnson, Sumie Sakai, and Tracy Williams have also re-signed with the promotion.
The Big Takeaway: Shane Taylor defeated Kenny King in a hard hitting match, while SOS and The Briscoes had a fun, competitive tag team bout.
The show began with an Amy Rose led video package about La Faccion Ingobernable. She stated that while the world has changed, the faction hasn’t and should not be forgotten about. Rose noted that Rush is the ROH Champion and Dragon Lee is the ROH TV Champion. Rose said that ROH will belong to them when they return.
*******
Quinn Mckay checked in from the ROH Studio and ran down tonight’s show. She also showed highlights from last week’s contest between Dalton Castle and Brody King. Post match comments from King included him stating that he’s a new Brody King, and he lives by two words: Just Violence.
We then got a package hyping the upcoming tag team bout between SOS and The Briscoes. SOS told the Briscoes that their lives are in danger when they step into the ring with them.
The Briscoes pinned SOS (Jasper Kaun and Moses Maddox) (9:41)
As SOS were making their entrances, EC3 joined Riccaboni and Coleman on commentary.
Both teams adhered to the Code Of Honor.
Moses and Jay started the match off. Moses sent Jay to the mat with a running shoulder tackle. EC3 questioned whether either team actually had honor, and when Coleman asked him to define his definition of honor, EC3 said it’s undefinable. Jay tagged Mark in, who quickly took down Moses with a Russian Leg sweep. Mark threw Moses towards the ropes. Jay tagged himself in, but ran into a headbutt from Moses. Moses quickly tagged Kaun in, who steamrolled Jay with a clothesline.
Mark came off on the hot tag and back body dropped Kaun for a two count. The Briscoes performed a fluid sequence of double team maneuvers, tagging each other in and out. They positioned Kaun on the top turnbuckle, and hit a thudding double superplex off the top rope. It only warranted Jay a two count. We went to a break.
We return from break and both teams are present in the ring in the middle of a slugfest. Moses and Jay spilled to the outside, while Kaun came off the top rope delivering a frog splash to Mark, but only for a two count. Jay slid a chair to Mark, who set it up for him, which led to Jay using it to hit a diving senton on the outside to Kaun. Mark quickly recovered, went to the top rope and hit the frog splash on Moses for the win.
Both teams adhered to the Code Of Honor after the match. EC3 left the announce desk and stood with a blank face on the stage. Jay questioned why he was standing there, while Mark told him to not worry about it as they headed to the back.
*******
A video package featuring Bateman and Matt Taven aired. Bateman asked Taven what it’s like to live life being a coward. He said Taven went from winning the ROH Title at MSG to living life with a target on his back. Taven made fun of Bateman’s leader Vincent, noting that he says the word “man” obsessively. He said that’s the exact opposite of what Vincent is.
Taven said that vengeance is coming, and revenge is forever. Taven said that if he had to go through “Master Bateman” to get to Vincent then he would. Taven vs. Bateman is on tab for next week.
*******
Quinn McKay caught up with The Briscoes backstage. Mark told Jay to stop worrying about EC3, but Jay couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened. Jay issued a challenge to EC3 for next week’s show.
*******
A promo video aired for Kenny King and Shane Taylor. Taylor said that pro wrestling saved his life, because his childhood was troubled with violence and drugs. He also spoke about how Keith Lee helped him tremendously.
King complained about the way he was eliminated from the ROH Pure Title tournament, stating his lawyers had sent a letter to ROH about the incident. He told Taylor that this match was strictly business, not personal.
Shane Taylor pinned Kenny King (10:14)
King offered the Code Of Honor handshake, but Taylor refused. King took early control with a shifty little kick to the head of Taylor. Taylor retaliated with a booming forearm which dropped King to the mat with ease. King brought himself back up in the corner, but Taylor charged him with a clothesline, followed by another rough shot to the head.
King finally regained some momentum, dropping Taylor in the corner following a series of knees. After both men ran the ropes for a second, Taylor took back control with a clothesline. Taylor followed it up with a leg drop to the larynx of King. Taylor backed King into the corner and began to run at him, but King sprung forward with a spinning heel kick. We went to break.
We came back from a break with King landing a massive German Suplex on Taylor, who popped right back up. He followed it up with a dropkick in the corner, only warranting King a two count. King waited for Taylor to return to his feet to attempt a pump kick, which was caught by Taylor. Taylor rolled King backwards and crushed him with a pump knee strike. Taylor followed it up with a package piledriver, but King surprisingly kicked out. Coleman noted that you can count on one hand how many people have kicked out of that. King began to talk trash to Taylor, but Taylor quickly shut him up, hitting “Welcome To The Land” for the three count.
Taylor looked into the camera and told them to get the ROH World title ready for him as the show closed.
Final Thoughts: ROH is a fantastic promotion right now. Their new format, along with just brightening up the broadcast in general, has benefited them tremendously. Shane Taylor is improving weekly, and I fully expect him to challenge RUSH at Final Battle. His friends “SOS” are a really fun team to watch as well.
I’m still not really liking the direction EC3 is going in, he really bugged down commentary for the tag match. The Taven-Vincent stuff is good as well, and I’m excited for their hopeful payoff at Final Battle.
Looking Ahead: For the first time in 14 years, we will crown a new Ring Of Honor Pure Champion. Also on tab, Shane Taylor Promotions takes on the trio of EC3 & The Briscoes.
Quinn McKay welcomed us to the show. We get a promo package hyping up Tracy Williams vs. Jonathan Gresham. McKay notes that this is Gresham’s match to lose. She also reviewed last week’s encounter between Matt Taven and Vincent. She revealed that ROH will not tolerate another incident like this, and both men would be punished if it happens again.
McKay then replayed last week’s promos from EC3 and Shane Taylor to set up the six-man tag match.
Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses Maddox, & Jasper Kaun) defeated EC3 and The Briscoes after Taylor pinned Mark Briscoe (9:16)
EC3 started the match with Kaun. After an early lock up, EC3 immediately took Kaun down. Kaun rolled out, but baited EC3 right back in the ring. EC3 continued to dominate Kaun before tagging in Mark Briscoe. After some back and forth, Kaun sent Briscoe into the corner and hit a running splash, followed by Moses tagging himself in. After both men ran the ropes, Jay Briscoe tagged himself in and hit a double team maneuver on Moses.
We came back from break and all hell had broken loose. Kaun ran and ate a clothesline from EC3. Moses took advantage and smushed EC3 in the corner. Moses then ate a springboard dropkick from Mark Briscoe. Taylor and Jay made their way back in the ring, to which Taylor hit a V-Trigger type knee strike which only got a two count.
Taylor tagged out to Moses, who repeatedly stomped Briscoe in the corner, causing EC3 to enter the ring. The referee backed EC3 out of the ring while Moses tagged back in Taylor. Taylor knocked EC3 off the apron. Jay made the hot tag to Mark Briscoe, to which Briscoe double drop kicked Moses and Kaun off the apron. Briscoe went to the top and attempted a frog splash, but nobody was home. Taylor followed up the missed maneuver with his piledriver finisher for the win.
******
We shift our focus to the main event. We first heard from Tracy Williams, who admitted his time in ROH so far has been flawed by failures. He also admitted he has failed to restore honor. Williams said he called Gresham before the tournament began and told him he’d meet him in the finals. Williams called his shot and says he’d be the one holding the Pure Championship over his head by the end of the night.
Gresham talked about this phone call as well. He says this tournament is more than just the championship, but it’s based on the principle of The Foundation. Gresham said it’s his job to bring attention to the men and women who view the sport the way he does. Gresham also said that ROH had lost honor and identity. Gresham said that no matter who wins, The Foundation has achieved their goal in restoring Honor.
Jonathan Gresham submitted Tracy Williams to win the Ring Of Honor Pure Championship (14:36)
Williams wore a cast on his left shoulder, selling the injuries from last week’s match with Jay Lethal. Both men adhered to the Code Of Honor. Gresham and Williams exchanged holds and twists early, which resulted in both men rolling out of the ring. Gresham hit an arm drag on Williams on the hard ringside floor. Williams recovered rather quickly and gawked down Gresham. Gresham and Williams mutually agreed to get back in the ring. As Gresham worked on Williams’ ankle, we went to break.
Back from break. Gresham sprung off the rope and kicked Williams bare arm. Gresham got Williams on the ropes, which cost Williams his first rope break. Williams takes advantage and begins to work on the neck of Gresham. Williams worked Gresham down to the mat for a series of near falls. Gresham used his first rope break. Gresham and Williams made their way back to their feet, where Williams began to work on the neck of Gresham again. Williams applied a front face lock to Gresham, but Gresham countered with a brainbuster.
Williams popped back up very fast and chopped Gresham in the chest, which dropped him to the mat. Gresham made his way back to his feet quickly, and pounced on Williams, nailing his shoulder with an Engurazi. He followed it up with a bridging German suplex, which warranted him a two count. Both men got up fast, to which Williams stiffly clotheslined Gresham for a two count.
Back from break and Williams and Gresham are laying on the ringside floor from a body scissors maneuver that took both men out of the ring. Williams was the first one back in. Gresham tried to spring through the middle rope, but Williams caught him and planted him with a brainbuster. Williams immediately followed it up with a crossface. After being in the submission for 25 seconds, Gresham used his second rope break.
Gresham sprung up as quickly as possible and hit a series of running forearms onto a grounded Williams. Williams fought through the pain and spiked Gresham with his signature piledriver, which got him a two count after Gresham used his third and final rope break. Williams, clearly frustrated, brought Gresham to his feet. Gresham blocked a chop from Williams, spun him around, and locked in The Octopus for the win.
Jonathan Gresham is the new ROH Pure Champion!
Jay Lethal makes his way to the ring to celebrate with Gresham after the match. Williams shook hands with Gresham and exited the ring. Lethal straps the title on Gresham and exits the ring as well.
Final Thoughts:
ROH rolls on with another great show. The six-man tag match was excellent. Shane Taylor has improved SO much over his tenure in Ring Of Honor, He’s quickly becoming one of my favorites. It was refreshing to see The Briscoes back in action as well. Also impressed by Kaun and Moses, they have the potential to be a great tag team.
I honestly expected the finals of the Pure Championship tournament to be a longer match, considering the time limit being 60 minutes. The story was excellent though, and the odds on favorite of the whole tournament, Jonathan Gresham, won. He deserves it, he’s worked his ass off to become one of the best in the world.
Sakai turned heel against Savoy at Saturday Night at Center Stage last month. Savoy had made her ROH debut by defeating Sakai in December, then they teamed up and lost to Angelina Love & Mandy Leon at Saturday Night at Center Stage. Sakai also defeated Savoy at Honor Reigns Supreme the next night.
Sakai, who was ROH’s first Women of Honor Champion, has been announced as the first entrant in ROH’s Women’s Championship tournament. It will begin at Quest for Gold on April 24.
Here are the updated cards for the 18th Anniversary PPV and Past vs. Present:
18th Anniversary PPV —
ROH Television Champion Dragon Lee defending against Bandido
ROH Tag Team Champions Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham defending against Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll & Flip Gordon)
The Briscoes vs. Dalton Castle & Joe Hendry
Adam Brooks vs. Slex
The ROH World Championship match for 18th Anniversary will be decided at Gateway to Honor on February 29. PCO is defending his ROH World Championship against Rush and Mark Haskins in a triple threat match at that show, and the wrestler who doesn’t lose the fall will challenge for the World title at the Anniversary PPV.
Past vs. Present —
Jay Briscoe vs. Mark Briscoe
Xavier vs. Jay Lethal
Generation Next (Alex Shelley & Matt Sydal) vs. Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll & Flip Gordon)
Homicide vs. Brody King
The Havana Pitbulls (Rocky Romero & Ricky Reyes) vs. Bandido & Flamita
Doug Williams vs. Jonathan Gresham
Delirious & Grizzly Redwood vs. Dalton Castle & Joe Hendry
The most decorated tag team in Ring of Honor history has re-signed with the promotion.
In a video that was posted this morning, Jay & Mark Briscoe announced that they’ve re-signed with ROH. Jay Briscoe said that their deals had been scheduled to expire in a couple of months.
Further details about the contracts they’ve signed haven’t been revealed.
The Briscoes have held the ROH Tag Team titles 11 times. While announcing that they’ve re-signed with ROH, The Briscoes hyped that a 12th title reign is what they’re focused on next.
The Briscoes first won the ROH Tag Team titles in 2003, and their most recent reign was during last year. They lost the titles to Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham at Final Battle in December.
Jay Briscoe is also a former two-time ROH World Champion.
ROH named The Briscoes their Tag Team of the Year for 2019 and their Tag Team of the Decade for the 2010s.
ROH was at the Nashville Fairgrounds Arena in Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday for their Honor for All event that streamed live on HonorClub. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman were the announce team for the night.
The Bouncers (Brawler Milonas & Beer City Bruiser) defeated Felino & Okumura and Coast 2 Coast (LSG & Shaheem Ali) in a three-way tag team match
Okumura and Felino were fun to watch in this, especially Felino when he’d work with The Bouncers. On commentary, Riccaboni mentioned how he thought he’d seen one of Dalton Castle’s ex-Boys watching this match in the wings. Riccaboni did an excellent job introducing the television crowd to both Felino and Okumura when they were in the ring.
For some reason, the crowd was absolutely dead at points in this. They’d come alive for big spots and some comedy spots. The Bouncers hit Closing Time (Smoking Gunns’ Sidewinder) on Ali for the win, then The Bouncers and the CMLL team shared beers afterwards.
– ROH announced that the ROH Six-Man Tag Team title match between Villain Enterprises and LifeBlood was off due to PCO’s injury from the night before. PCO smashed his face on the floor when he “malfunctioned” and did a tope to the wrong side of the ring.
PCO then came to the ring and the crowd erupted. It was like a completely different crowd in the building — they sure liked PCO. He started throwing chairs into the ring and shoved people around the ringside area.
PCO grabbed the mic. ROH security came to the ring, so PCO took everyone out by himself. After all of that, he put the last crew member through a table with a cannonball senton from the top rope to the floor.
Flip Gordon came out and PCO pushed him until Gordon could remind him who he was, that he was part of Villain Enterprises. He showed PCO his T-shirt and then PCO “snapped out of it,” but PCO kept selling his head like he was a confused, brainwashed monster. With the giant gash over his eye and forehead, PCO really does look like Frankenstein.
Joe Hendry & Dalton Castle defeated Cheeseburger & Eli Isom
Castle grabbed the microphone before the match and said that he usually sleeps 16 hours a night, but last night he could only sleep eight hours because he kept thinking about what happened between him and the most recent addition to ROH’s roster, Joe Hendry.
Like we mentioned at Saturday Night at Center Stage, Hendry sings his new ROH theme song and even made a music video to go along with it, which has lyrics that go “I believe in Joe Hendry” and cues in the video to the audience to sway back and forth like you’d see at an Amy Grant concert in 1994.
It’s hard to get Hendry’s theme song out of my head. The two went back and forth while Isom stood in the corner. They argued about Saturday night, with Castle explaining that Hendry probably didn’t really understand what Castle is capable of, so he invited him to take a seat in the front row and watch him kick the crap out of Isom.
Hendry explained that he understood just fine and that he is more entertaining than Castle. His new catchphrase is actually more of a melody, where he screams his name and then sings “So prestigious.” The crowd didn’t sing along tonight and Castle called him on it later, explaining that he was the “cumin in this curry” and that without Castle, “this place would taste disgusting.”
Hendry offered to wrestle Isom instead of Castle and told him to sit and watch as he showed the crowd how good he was. Isom finally pushed both apart and grabbed the mic and pretty much told them to stop bickering and grow up. He then challenged both Castle and Hendry to a tag team match against him and his trainer, Cheeseburger.
Hendry tried really hard to get the crowd to do the “So prestigious“ thing. Riccaboni put both Castle and Hendry over for their amateur wrestling backgrounds.
Castle and Eli Isom were good together when they were in the ring. Hendry did a delayed vertical suplex to Cheeseburger and did the arm-swaying gesture with one arm. He and Castle argued for a while so Cheeseburger could crawl away and tag out to Isom, who tore through both guys for a minute until the match fell to the floor.
Castle and Hendry inadvertently saved each other from Isom and Cheeseburger outside the ring, then argued some more until Isom landed a moonsault from the corner to the outside. Momentum shifted quickly, though. When Castle went for the Bang-a-Rang on Isom, Hendry pulled Isom off and hit a Codebreaker on him to win the match. Castle complained that he could have done it as Hendry smirked his way to the back.
This angle is interesting, but it’s ironic that of all promotions, Ring of Honor is the one with a new program centered on who’s more entertaining than who, making it feel like a polished WWE or TNA segment. It’s too soon to tell whether it’ll pan out, but for tonight I think it was fine. And Hendry’s theme is still stuck in my head, unfortunately.
Angelina Love defeated Jenny Rose, Sumie Sakai, and Damaris Dawkins in a four-way match
Kelly Klein joined Riccaboni and Coleman on commentary for this next match. This was Dawkins’ ROH debut. Riccaboni mentioned that a few members of her family were professional boxers from the Philadelphia area and that she’s been mentored by Sumie Sakai and Cheeseburger at the Worldwide Dojo in Bristol, Pennsylvania.
Love cut a promo in the ring saying that she didn’t feel like she needed to be in the match because she’d pinned Klein at Best in the World and already beat Sakai the night before in Atlanta. When The Allure tried heading to the back, Dawkins and Rose chased after them and threw them back in the ring and the match was on.
Dawkins was okay but green. When she was in with Sakai she looked better. They did a four-way headscissors submission spot. Love tried sneaking a chair in the ring, and while the ref was distracted, Mandy Leon sprayed Sakai in the face with perfume and neutralized her out of the match. Love then hit the Botox Injection running kick on Dawkins to win.
The lights went out and then Maria Manic was standing in the ring. The Allure ran to the back while Manic did a double-handed chokeslam to Dawkins and then took out Rose after she’d laid in a few elbows.
Klein left the broadcast area and confronted Manic in the ring. When Klein tossed her Women of Honor title belt to the canvas, Love snuck into the ring, grabbed the belt, and knocked Klein out from behind with it. Manic then chased The Allure to the back while Klein sold the belt shot in the ring.
PJ Black defeated Silas Young (w/ Josh Woods)
Woods is acting as Silas Young’s assistant since Saturday night. Young yelled at Woods for not being in the right spots he needed to be in when Young wanted to cheat. Woods said his shoes were untied. “Safety first,” Woods said.
This is the third singles match I’ve seen between these two in the past month or two. The only real differences were that Black finally got a win and the Woods angle. Woods kept teasing like he’d go after Black but was conflicted. Riccaboni put him over as a nice guy. Moments later, Black won out of nowhere with a cradle.
Young berated Woods after the match and told him to “be a heel.”
– The Bouncers joined the broadcast team and brought beers for Coleman and Riccaboni. Both ROH announcers declined the offer but all four toasted. The Bouncers grabbed the two extra beers for themselves.
Rush defeated Vinny Marseglia
This wasn’t bad. Rush was great and this was one of the best matches I’ve seen from Marseglia.
Rush kicked up the tempo of this early on. He tried hard to get the crowd into it, but this place sounded empty. Marseglia landed a cutter on the floor and started beating on him. He whipped Rush into the barricade. Back in the ring, he choked Rush with his handkerchief.
Rush fired back up and swore at Marseglia in Spanish. Aside from Riccaboni, the commentary was really bad during this. Marseglia was bleeding from the nose or lip towards the end of the match and he started licking his blood before Rush hit the Bull’s Horns dropkick to win.
Rush stepped on Marseglia’s face and posed before he left.
ROH TV Champion Shane Taylor defeated Chase Owens to retain his title
This was good. Owens won a qualifying match in Atlanta over PJ Black and LSG for the title shot here. He’s a really smooth wrestler, it’s a shame we don’t see him in more singles matches.
Taylor is another one who’s been underrated this year, especially when it comes to being able to trash talk and sound intimidating on the fly, it feels organic. Taylor got the win with Greetings from 216.
ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) defeated The Rock ’n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) to retain their titles
This had no business being as good as it was. It was short but had so much energy you’d think you just got out of a time machine. I can’t believe even for one millisecond I was duped into thinking The Rock ’n’ Roll Express would actually win. Impressed.
The crowd woke up for The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express before the match got started. There were lots of “Rock ’n’ Roll” chants but also a good number of “Man up” chants in support of The Briscoes.
Morton and Jay Briscoe were in together. Morton was great, really. Not exaggerating. I mean he’s not Will Ospreay or something, but considering all the variables, he was great. Morton didn’t have to do all that much because The Briscoes are so good. The crowd sounded completely different here than from the other matches.
The teams started brawling on the floor and eventually Mark Briscoe went to do a Froggy Bow to Morton through a table, but Gibson pushed him off and Mark flipped through the table. When The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express hit the double dropkick on Jay, both Coleman and Riccaboni authentically sounded like they’d lost it. Coleman was shrieking.
Things settled for a second after Jay kicked out and then Mark eventually landed a Froggy Bow on Morton to win. They all shook hands after the match.
Villain Enterprises (Brody King & Marty Scurll) defeated LifeBlood (Bandido & Mark Haskins)
Scurll played the relentless heel role. Him and Haskins have very good chemistry. Haskins used a Boston crab on Scurll, who was lying on top of King. Scurll later got the whole crowd going wild before he was about to do the chicken wing spot, but Haskins blocked the attempt with a leg lariat.
When Bandido went to catch King off the ropes, he dropped him. The whole spot fell apart. They recovered quickly when Haskins and Bandido forced the double tope suicida to the floor. The Villain Enterprises team used some really cool double-team moves, innovative kind of things.
The last half of this match saw everyone exchange huge moves for about five minutes until Bandido hit the 21-Plex and Haskins followed up with his modified Sharpshooter to tap Scurll. LifeBlood will get a shot at The Briscoes’ ROH Tag Team titles.
Jeff Cobb defeated ROH World Champion Matt Taven, Kenny King (w/ Amy Rose), and Jay Lethal in a Defy or Deny match
The stipulation for Defy or Deny matches is that — if the champion doesn’t win — the winner will get a future shot at their title. If the champion wins, whoever is eliminated last can’t challenge for their title as long as they’re champion.
This started off really similar to the Defy or Deny match in Portland back in June with Taven talking trash at his three opponents and then getting beat up. Him and King were in first. Lethal and Cobb were good together and Cobb even attempted a cartwheel into a standing moonsault. Later he ragdolled Taven across the ring.
Taven and King formed a brief truce until King schoolboyed Taven. They started arguing and then Lethal decked King. Cobb later caught King off the ropes in a vertical suplex hold. King countered with an inside cradle.
Taven hit Cobb with the ROH World title and got disqualified. King then hit Lethal with the belt and used the Royal Flush to eliminate Lethal. After another few minutes, Cobb destroyed King with a snap German suplex and then planted him into the mat with Tour of the Islands to win the match. Cobb is now in line for a shot at the ROH World Championship.
Final thoughts —
The in-ring work was decent from beginning to end. The show was definitely stronger in the last 90 minutes or so, and while the crowd was enthusiastic in general, the low draw was audibly noticeable and made for an awkward presentation at times.
I don’t believe I’m saying this, but The Rock ’n’ Roll Express had the most exciting match of the show with their bout with The Briscoes. Cobb winning tonight’s main event means we’ll see another shot at Taven for him coming soon. The next ROH shows will be their joint events with CMLL, the Global Wars Espectacular tour that begins on September 6 in Dearborn, Michigan.
ROH was at Center Stage in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday for their Saturday Night at Center Stage tapings, with most of the matches streaming live on HonorClub. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman were the announce team for the night. “The Genius” Lanny Poffo joined them for the main event.
Williams came to the ring in a lucha mask. Haskins has a new look and wore long tights here. Early on, PCO “malfunctioned” and did a tope to the wrong side of the ring — opposite where Lifeblood was — and smashed head-first into the floor. Hardway blood but he no-sold it.
This was so hard-hitting at times. No hesitation from anyone during the match. All the guys were pumped throughout, which you could see in there faces. PCO did lots of dives into and out of the ring. Brody King murdered Haskins with a Liger Bomb at one point. Williams was real fired up in this. By the end you could see PCO’s blood stained all over the ring.
The finish saw Flip Gordon run out and crack Williams in the back with a cane as he hit the ropes, which allowed King to spike Williams with a Gonzo Bomb for the win. Awesome match, though I sometimes worry about PCO. He looked like a mess after this.
– The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express came out and cut a promo pretty much saying thanks to the fans and that they’d become ROH World Tag Team Champions on Sunday in Nashville against The Briscoe Brothers.
They had a great short promo and pull apart together where The Briscoes asked if the Express hadn’t already had enough from their last match at the NWA-ROH Crockett Cup earlier this year.
Ricky Morton said there’s nothing that a good night’s sleep and a hot cup of soup couldn’t cure, and then they were all just riffing on soup until security came out and pulled the four apart.
Angelina Love (w/ Mandy Leon) defeated Sumie Sakai
Kelly Klein came out to do commentary for this match. Love ambushed Sakai before the bell. Leon interfered a bit behind the ref’s back in this. Sakai worked hard. Leon sprayed perfume in Sakai’s face while the ref wasn’t looking and then Love hit an ugly Botox Injection kick for the win.
Love and Klein exchanged words after the match.
Okumura, Felino & Silas Young defeated Shinobi Shadow Squad (Cheeseburger, Eli Isom & Ryan Nova)
This was good. Josh Woods was out with Young as his new assistant. Felino was great at times in this. Isom even more so towards the end.
They all did a big Tower of Doom spot. They showed Woods drawing stick figures in a notebook in the corner near the post ringside. Nova was impressive in this. When he went for a top rope frankensteiner, Felino countered with a super powerbomb to win the match.
Young got on the mic and called Woods a pain in the ass but said he had potential, then Woods took both the CMLL guys out. He hit a cool T-Bone suplex on Felino, with a mini-deadlift before the overhead toss.
Chase Owens defeated LSG and PJ Black in a triple threat match (winner gets a TV title shot at Honor for All on Sunday)
Lots of fast action in this. Things slowed for a second when Owens put Black in a Sharpshooter. In general, Owens really deserves more credit than he gets.
Black did a quebrada into the ring onto both guys after he’d stacked them. Black put LSG in a Japanese Swing while Owens chopped Black. Later, LSG used a 450 on Owens for two. They did a Tower of Doom spot, not even 20 minutes apart from the six-man just before.
Owens hit the package piledriver on LSG to win the match and a shot at Shane Taylor’s TV title on Sunday in Nashville.
– Dalton Castle came out wearing a wild, shiny, really colorful suit with glittery loafers. He felt ignored in ROH, like a “kiosk at a dying mall,” assuredly a mark of his real-life time spent living in upstate New York. He got a lot of chants for his shoes.
Castle said he is the most entertaining person in ROH and that he’d win the World title soon. Joe Hendry then came out — his debut in ROH. They showed a music video of him fake-playing guitar in the Highlands of Scotland as he sang a scarily catchy but awful version of his own theme song. The lyrics went something like “I believe in Joe Hendry.”
As soon as Hendry started cutting a promo, his microphone cut out. Seriously? The crowd chanted for Castle. They bantered after that and it was good.
These two could complement each other I think. Hendry in his video was waving his arms back and forth and then some of the crowd started doing it too. Hendry then said he’d be the next World Champion and threw Riccaboni a T-shirt that said “World Champ – Joe Hendry.”
Marty Scurll defeated Bandido
I was at night one of the NJPW Super J-Cup in Tacoma this past Thursday and thought this was just as good as any of those matches. At the start of this there were a ton of chants in Spanish at Marty Scurll, expletives in English.
The two had a posedown in the ring early on and the crowd was into it. Once they really started wrestling the crowd was even more into it. Scurll went into the crowd and took one of the fan’s replica belts and held it in the air, implying he wants to be the next ROH World Champion.
Bandido did a springboard tornillo and then a Fosbury Flop to the floor, which Riccaboni topped off with one of my favorite calls of the year: “The Fosburys taste like Fosburys!” — for all the Willy Wonka fans out there.
Later, Bandido did his top rope moonsault powerslam to Scurll and it looked awesome — the crowd chanted “holy sh*t.” It was over after Scurll hit a modified cradle piledriver and the Black Plague on Bandido. Scurll won. Really good match.
– Lanny Poffo came out to do commentary and threw Frisbees into the crowd before he joined Riccaboni. He said the performers of this generation were much better than the ones from his generation. Poffo was critically slammed for his short time on the NJPW English announce team last year.
ROH All-Stars (Rush, Jeff Cobb, Jay Lethal & Kenny King) defeated ROH Champions (The Briscoes, Matt Taven & Shane Taylor) in an elimination match
King and Lethal got into it before the match started. They brawled on the floor until they were split up and settled down. Rush was the most popular guy in this match according to the crowd. There were tons of “Toro Blanco” chants at the beginning of this.
Taylor and Cobb are awesome together. Cobb at one point lifted Taven up in a one-armed suplex for about 30 seconds and then chucked him to the mat. The All-Stars spent a few minutes chopping the hell out of Taven in the corner. The Briscoes were in and out for a while and slowed things down and beat on Lethal for a bit.
I know he’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I seem to enjoy Mr. Poffo on commentary with Riccaboni and Coleman. The stakes didn’t feel so high tonight and the way they started to gel was something I enjoyed. It’s sometimes silly but I connect with their sensibilities and it made the match fun to listen to. I’d understand how some fans may want or prefer a slightly more serious, more sportsman-like presentation.
Jay Briscoe spat at Rush and hell broke loose. Most of the wrestlers hit the floor to brawl around the ring. Jay Briscoe was rolled up by King after Jay had turned his attention to Amy Rose at ringside. Taylor later eliminated King by hitting Greetings from 216 (Bam Bam Bigelow’s old Greetings from Asbury Park).
Mark Briscoe was eliminated after being hit with the Lethal Injection, Taylor eliminated Lethal with Greetings from 216, and Taven got eliminated via DQ when he hit Rush with a chair.
My stream of the broadcast had trouble here, but Rush and Cobb were the survivors of the match after Rush hit his Bull’s Horn dropkick and pinned Taylor. ROH continued to tease Rush challenging for Taven’s World title and that Rush had just pinned the TV Champion.
Cobb offered Rush a handshake, but Rush kicked it away and bumped into Cobb as he walked out of the ring.
Final thoughts —
This was a solid show overall — nothing blow-away but impressive nonetheless. It was a much easier watch than their previous cards, and the Center Stage venue looks good on television. The smaller but more enthusiastic crowd helped a lot, too. And the best match was Scurll vs. Bandido, without a doubt.
A Hall of Fame tag team is set to challenge for the ROH Tag titles later this month.
ROH announced today that The Briscoes (Jay & Mark) will defend their titles against The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) at Honor for All in Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday, August 25. The show is taking place at the Nashville Fairgrounds Sports Arena and will air live on HonorClub.
The Briscoes vs. Rock ‘n’ Roll Express is a rematch from this year’s Crockett Cup. The Briscoes defeated Morton & Gibson in the first round of the tournament.
The Briscoes won the ROH Tag Team titles by defeating Guerrillas of Destiny in a New York City street fight at Manhattan Mayhem in July. A rematch then took place at Summer Supercard last Friday, with The Briscoes retaining in a Ladder War.
Here’s the updated lineup for Honor for All:
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO & Brody King) defending against LifeBlood (Bandido, Mark Haskins & Tracy Williams)
ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes defending against The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express
ROH World Champion Matt Taven vs. Jay Lethal vs. Jeff Cobb vs. Kenny King in a Defy or Deny elimination match (If Taven doesn’t win, the winner will get a future shot at his title. If Taven wins, whoever is eliminated last can’t challenge for the title as long as Taven is champion)
ROH Television Champion Shane Taylor defending against the winner of Chase Owens vs. PJ Black vs. LSG from ROH’s television tapings in Atlanta, Georgia on August 24
ROH’s SummerSlam week event takes place tonight as the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada hosts Summer Supercard.
The Tag Team titles will be on the line in a Ladder War. After losing the titles at Manhattan Mayhem last month, Guerrillas of Destiny will get their rematch against The Briscoes tonight.
The ROH World Championship will also be up for grabs as Matt Taven defends against the returning Alex Shelley. Shane Taylor will defend his Television title against Tracy Williams, and Kelly Klein defends the Women of Honor World Championship against Tasha Steelz.
Rush and Dalton Castle are set to continue their rivalry in a no DQ match, Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham will team against LifeBlood’s Bandido & Mark Haskins, Villain Enterprise’s PCO & Brody King face off with The Kingdom’s Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan, there will be a CMLL trios match with Caristico, Soberano Jr. & Stuka Jr. taking on Barbaro Cavernario, Hechicero & Templario, and PJ Black will face Silas Young.
Tonight’s show will air live on HonorClub. Our coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time.
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They did a 10-bell salute to Harley Race at the top of the show. The roster on hand was bowed in silence around ringside.
Next was a shot of the ROH Tag Team titles hanging over the ring opened the show. Fans in the first few rows look excited despite the bleacher areas looking pretty sparse.
Villain Enterprises (PCO and Brody King) defeated The Kingdom (Vinny Marseglia and TK O’Ryan)
They showed a video package of the Kingdom beating up the Bouncers in Manhattan, when Marseglia burned Beer City Bruiser with a cigar. The Bouncers were actually sitting in the first row for this match. King and PCO brought their ROH Six-Man titles with them to the ring. There was a few PCO chants early on.
O’Ryan tried slamming PCO but couldn’t; PCO countered with a Shibata low dropkick in the corner.
The hard cam positioning makes the show look pretty good on TV but whenever they cut to the ringside camera crew you can see how empty the upper tiers look.
King chopped PCO to wake him up, then whipped him into Marseglia who was in the corner. There were even more chants for PCO.
Marseglia shouted “You wanna be a monster, huh?!” at PCO. O’Ryan gouged at his eyes. Marseglia fishooked him. King came back and did a running somersault senton off the apron, then King monkey-flipped PCO onto the Kingdom but pretty much missed both.
Later, Marseglia threw PCO threw to the floor and they made it look like PCO did a suicide dive onto King. King hit the Gonzo Bomb and PCO did a moonsault on O’Ryan for the win. This felt more like the PCO Show than anything.
After the match the Kingdom and the Bouncers brawled outside the ring. Milonas threw a beer at them and it got all over the camera lens.
PJ Black and Silas Young went to a no-contest
Rhett Titus joined the commentary team before this one. Young came out and basically implied he got drunk with some fans before the match and showed a bottle he brought with him to the ring. He said he might’ve done this for a subconscious reason, because this week he talked with a “dork wrestling fan” was excited for his match with PJ Black because the fan thought it could be five stars. I assure you no dork wrestling fan was discussing that this week. Young told a fans his chants were boring and to shut up, which got a big reaction. He said Black hadn’t earned a another chance at Young because he won the TV title before (and possibly because he’s drunk).
Black got on the mic and said he was disappointed because he really wanted to wrestle tonight. He said maybe some of the unbooked tonight. He said “what about Cheeseburger?” which got a nice reaction, and then Marty Scurll’s music hit and the crowd lost it. He’d go on to take Black up on his open challenge.
Marty Scurll def. PJ Black
Good short match. They started off hot with a lot of near falls from both guys. Midway through he did a walk-up frankensteiner from the top rope followed by a moonsault press for two. He’s better than he gets credit for. It sounded like a completely different crowd from the first match. On commentary Ian Riccobani mentioned he wasn’t at the show tonight because he was doing the Edinburgh Comedy Festival in Scotland.
Black did a C4 for a two-count. He went for the Wildness quebrada but Scurll got his knees up. Scurll later did the finger snapping spot and the crowd chanted “holt sh**.” They traded nearfalls until Scurll hit the Black Plague for the win.
Women of Honor championship match: Kelly Klein (c) def. Tasha Steelz
Steelz did a tope suicida and just barely made contact with Klein, looked a little scary. The crowd tried getting into this but it sounded like they were just being polite, sometimes clapping over the bigger spots. Klein did a brutal-looking back suplex at one point. I could hear fans heckling both the ring and each other, one fan screaming “shut up!” at another. Steelz did a cutter and both were out for a minute, then Klein came back and did K-Power to win.
After the match Klein went to shake Steelz’ hand. Angelina Love from the Allure came out and took both out and did Botox Injection kicks. ROH has been doing this angle on almost every show since MSG.
Mark Haskins and Bandido def. Jonathan Gresham and Jay Lethal via submission
This went from a just-above-average match to an excellent match in the last minute. A few fans were ironically screaming “maschismo!” before the match. There sounded to be a lot of nonsense in the crowd until Haskins and Gresham got going. A few fans chanted for Haskins. Him and Gresham were awesome together if you’re into the Zack Sabre or Timothy Thatcher neo-shoot style wrestling.
People were chanting for Bandido after a few minutes of Haskins and Gresham, so both he and Jay Lethal tagged in. There were dueling chants for both but the Bandido contingency was louder. They had an awesome and really fast exchange next and the crowd loved it and started banging on the barricades.
Bandido later cut Lethal off in his team’s corner for a while, and he and later Haskins worked him over with submissions. Gresham did a deadlift German suplex on Haskins and flexed. The announcers put him Gresham over as though he has more confidence than ever and acted sort of cocky in the match. He went a little crazier later and went to bash Bandido’s head with a chair, taking everything way too far in storyline, and even shoved his partner Lethal over.
Gresham and Lethal tried a Cornette Cutter but Haskins caught Gresham mid-air and did a Death Valley Bomb onto to Lethal. Bandido did a surprisingly ugly frog splash. Lethal later put Haskins in a figure-four leg lock for a while and Gresham held Bandido off for a while until Bandido power bombed Gresham onto Lethal thus breaking the hold. The crowd chanted “R-O-H!” after this.
The finish saw Bandido busting out a few spectacular moves, including a pop-up cutter that saw him toss Gresham to the ceiling, and a crazy tope con giro to the floor while Haskins wrenched back on Lethal in the ring with a Sharpshooter for the win. Great finish to a good match.
ROH Television championship: Shane Taylor (c) vs. Tracy Williams
Flip Gordon jumped Tracy Williams during his entrance. He used an all-black kendo stick. The match has been postponed until later according to Ian Riccaboni.
No DQ match: Rush defeated Dalton Castle
Castle came out in a matador’s hat. His new “Boys” wore cow masks, which was meant to be a knock against Rush and his family. Castle tried attacking him before the bell but Rush controlled much of the match from here. One girl screamed for Castle.
Castle tried running to the back but Rush chased after him and they fought near the empty bleachers. Not the best look on camera but the live crowd was into it.
Things slowed a bit when Castle went on offense. He landed a German suplex on the floor and later bodyslammed Rush over the barricades onto a few security people. Castle got near the camera and said Rush should be in the seats. I guess he was telling him to go be a fan. Rush cursed in Spanish; Castle threw a steel chair at him. Rush power bombed Castle onto the ring announcers table but it didn’t break.
Rush threw a bin full of garbage into the ring, plus a chair or two, beat on Castle some more and then landed the Bull’s Horn dropkick for three. I imagine this is the blow-off to their feud but we’ll have to wait and see.
ROH Television championship match: Shane Taylor (c) defeated Tracy Williams
Tracey Williams came out selling his arm and called Shane Taylor out. When the match was underway Taylor basically abused him with hard chops and strikes in the corner. Williams tried to make a comeback and did hanging armbar over the ropes. Taylor came back quickly and slowed things down; he did a leg drop onto Williams’ injured arm on the apron. Taylor missed a splash off the second rope and put Taylor in a LeBell Lock. Taylor put him away a few minutes later with Greetings from 216 (Fire-Thunder driver) for the win.
—They showed a video package for Joe Hendry, the Scottish EC3, who said he’s coming to win the ROH World Heavyweight title.
Caristico, Sobreano Jr. & Stuka Jr. defeated Barbaro Cavernario, Templario & Hechicero via submission
This was a really cool match that sounded like it woke the crowd up. All action, no story or anything, but that wasn’t necessary. Everyone looked in the match looked good, too.
Things heated up a few minutes in, as soon as Caristico, Cavernario and Templario were in together. It was all high spots and dives. The rudos did three separate dives to the floor. People started chanting “lucha” after this. Hechicero used a swinging backbreaker on Soberano. Everyone looked awesome, actually. Stuka and Sobreno did simultaneous dives from the top to the floor towards the end. Cavernario tried really hard to get this crowd into the match, especially when it was him and Caristico in together before the finish. Caristico tapped Cavernario with La Mistica in the end.
ROH World Heavyweight title match: Matt Taven (c) vs. Alex Shelley
Ian Riccaboni gave us an impromptu music history lesson focused on the music of Detroit, which also happens to be where Alex Shelley is from, and likened him to the artists he mentioned, great but under appreciated performers.
Matt Taven wore a purple cape to the ring. They started slow and would mostly wrestle on the mat until Taven would get a rope break. Shelley poked Taven in the eyes and did the Ric Flair strut.
Someone was literally passed out in the front row during their match and everyone in the crowd was focused on that. Shelley took off his shoe and threw it at Taven. He went for Sliced Bread off the ring post but Taven shoved him off and Shelley went through the timekeeper’s table.
ROH World Heavyweight title match: Matt Taven (c) defeated Alex Shelley
Ian Riccaboni gave us an impromptu music history lesson focused on the music of Detroit, which also happens to be where Alex Shelley is from, and likened him to the artists he mentioned, great but under appreciated performers.
Matt Taven wore a purple cape to the ring. They started slow and would mostly wrestle on the mat until Taven would get a rope break. Shelley poked Taven in the eyes and did the Ric Flair strut.
Someone was literally passed out in the front row during their match and everyone in the crowd was focused on that. Shelley took off his shoe and threw it at Taven. He went for Sliced Bread off the ring post but Taven shoved him off and Shelley went through the timekeeper’s table.
They did a crazy slingshot to the floor spot, Shelley to Taven, but I don’t know what move it was. It was a scary botched slingshot suplex toss.
Taven returned with a big dive over the barricades onto Shelley into the crowd. The crowd was pretty into the match at this point. Shelley came back with a Bladerunner (the move he taught to Jay White) for a close two.
The last few minutes of this were really good, despite what you’re thinking. Lots of nearfalls and then Taven hitting the Climax for the finish, pinning Shelley clean.
Taven cut a promo on the crowd and called Toronto melvins. People started chanting “let’s go Raptors.” He said he’s on pace to be the greatest ROH champion of all time, then Rush’s music hit.
ROH World Heavyweight title match: Matt Taven (c) defeated Alex Shelley
Ian Riccaboni gave us an impromptu music history lesson focused on the music of Detroit, which also happens to be where Alex Shelley is from, and likened him to the artists he mentioned, great but under appreciated performers.
Matt Taven wore a purple cape to the ring. They started slow and would mostly wrestle on the mat until Taven would get a rope break. Shelley poked Taven in the eyes and did the Ric Flair strut.
Someone was literally passed out in the front row during their match and everyone in the crowd was focused on that. Shelley took off his shoe and threw it at Taven. He went for Sliced Bread off the ring post but Taven shoved him off and Shelley went through the timekeeper’s table.
They did a crazy slingshot to the floor spot, Shelley to Taven, but I don’t know what move it was. It was a scary botched slingshot suplex toss.
Taven returned with a big dive over the barricades onto Shelley into the crowd. The crowd was pretty into the match at this point. Shelley came back with a Bladerunner (the move he taught to Jay White) for a close two.
The last few minutes of this were really good, despite what you’re thinking. Lots of nearfalls and then Taven hitting the Climax for the finish, pinning Shelley clean.
Taven cut a promo on the crowd and called Toronto melvins. People started chanting “let’s go Raptors.” He said he’s on pace to be the greatest ROH champion of all time, then Rush’s music hit. The crowd started chanting “Toro Blanco,” Rush’s nickname. It looks like that’ll be Taven’s next program.
ROH World Tag Team Title match: The Briscoes (c) (Jay & Mark Briscoe) defeated Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa)
This was all weapons and high spots off tables and ladders. If that’s your thing, this was good, though their recent bout in Manhattan was much better.
Once the Briscoes made it down to the ring the two teams got into it. Mark did a dive to the floor within the first minute or so. They used lots of weapons. Tonga threw Mark onto a table and it didn’t break. The crowd got really excited when Jay Briscoe pulled a table out from under the ring.
The Briscoes set Loa onto a table and then set a ladder over him and did a senton, crowd did the “holy sh**” chant. Same fans in the front started a “this is awesome”chant. Tama Tonga did a few spots where he sprinted at a Briscoe and would just deck him with a weapon or just his arms. Tonga did a shotgun dropkick and launched Mark over the barricades into the crowd. The next spot was brutal if not worrisome and it saw Briscoe get back bodydropped onto an unfolded chair, he landed at a weird bendy angle that didn’t pop the crowd but actually silenced them.
Mark Briscoe was bleeding when Tonga powerslammed him on a ladder in the ring; Jay’s whole face was covered. Mark did a crazy-looking Blockbuster to the floor on Loa through two tables. This also elicited a “holy sh**” and “fight forever” chant from the crowd. Jay was bleeding so badly at this point. Him and Tonga started jawing at each other in the ring and then hit each other with chairs. Jay later did a Jaydriller to Tonga from the apron through a table on the floor.
Despite the building only half (or less) full, Mark Briscoe still dove from the top rung of what had to be a 20 ft. Ladder and splashed Loa through a table. He basically landed on his knees and the face he made toward the camera looked like his soul had just been ripped from his body.
Next was Tonga landing a flying Gun Stun from one ladder to another on Mark. Later he and Jay fought at the top of a ladder in the ring, punching each other until Jay knocked Tonga off. He grabbed one of the belts hanging above him and won the match for his team, and the Briscoes retain. Brutal match, total mess of a streetfight.
Final thoughts —
This was a decent show, but the standout match featured six guys who aren’t even under contract to ROH. The CMLL showcase and the Gresham/Lethal vs. Haskins/Bandido are worth checking out. Everything else on the card was fine but often felt flat, probably because of the stuffy booking, stale wrestling and a modest crowd.
The ROH Tag Team titles will be on the line in a Ladder War match at Summer Supercard.
ROH has officially announced that The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) will defend their Tag Team titles against Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) in a Ladder War at Summer Supercard in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on Friday, August 9. The Briscoes won the titles from Tonga & Loa in a New York City street fight at Manhattan Mayhem last weekend.
The finish of the NYC street fight was The Briscoes hitting a Doomsday Device on Tonga, with Mark Briscoe jumping from the top of a ladder and sending Tonga through a table. Tonga & Loa appeared at ROH’s Mass Hysteria show the next night and took part in an angle where they attacked The Briscoes.
Before losing the titles at Manhattan Mayhem, Tonga & Loa retained against The Briscoes at War of the Worlds: Chicago in May, with Jay Briscoe getting pinned after being hit with a title belt.
Tonga & Loa are NJPW’s current IWGP Tag Team Champions.
Summer Supercard will air live on HonorClub. It’s being held at the Mattamy Athletic Centre on the Friday of SummerSlam weekend.
Here’s the updated card:
ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes defending against Guerrillas of Destiny in a Ladder War
ROH World Champion Matt Taven defending against Alex Shelley
Women of Honor World Champion Kelly Klein defending against Tasha Steelz
Caristico, Soberano Jr. & Stuka Jr. vs. Barbaro Cavernario, Hechicero & Templario
The ROH Tag Team titles changed hands at Saturday night’s Manhattan Mayhem event at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.
The Briscoes won the titles by defeating Guerrillas of Destiny in a New York City street fight in the main event of last night’s show. The finish of the match was The Briscoes hitting a Doomsday Device, with Mark Briscoe pinning Tama Tonga after jumping off the top of a ladder and sending Tonga through a table while Tonga was on Jay Briscoe’s shoulders.
This is The Briscoes’ 11th reign with the ROH Tag Team titles.
Before losing the titles last night, Guerrillas of Destiny had been ROH Tag Team Champions since defeating PCO & Brody King, EVIL & SANADA, and The Briscoes in a four-way match at G1 Supercard this April.
The NYC street fight was set up after Guerrillas of Destiny retained against The Briscoes at War of the Worlds: Chicago in May. In that match, Tonga rolled up Jay Briscoe after Tanga Loa hit Jay with a title belt.
ROH was at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Saturday night for their Manhattan Mayhem TV tapings. Six of the matches were broadcast live on the HonorClub streaming service.
Quick results —
Dragon Lee defeated Jonathan Gresham
The Bouncers defeated Soldiers of Savagery and Coast 2 Coast in a three-way match
Rush defeated TK O’Ryan
ROH World Champion Matt Taven defeated Kenny King and Jay Lethal in a three-way match to retain his title
LifeBlood (Bandido, Mark Haskins, Tracy Williams & PJ Black) defeated Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, Flip Gordon, PCO & Brody King)
The Briscoes defeated Guerrillas of Destiny in a New York City street fight to win the ROH Tag Team titles
Dragon Lee defeated Jonathan Gresham
Great opener. They shook hands before the match, but Gresham was hesitant in doing so. He tried to swing himself into an octopus hold, but the two instead went into a really quick exchange of counters and strikes and the crowd began to percolate.
Gresham has been teasing a heel turn since his match with Silas Young at the last PPV. He’s gotten way jacked since seeing him at Best in the World last month. These two had a match in NJPW’s Best of the Super Juniors last month and the first few minutes of this were more heated than that one.
These two slapped the hell out of each other both on the chest and in the face until the ref turned his back and Gresham landed a very unsportsmanlike sack-tap that elicited tons of boos.
Gresham slowed things down for a while, bullying Lee and stretching him. It reminded me of Daniel Bryan when he went heel with the Wyatt Family a couple years ago, when he modified his style to make it less flashy and more mean.
Lee made a comeback and hit the Shibata running dropkick in the corner. They started trading tons of high spots and more strikes. They both wrestled on the top rope until Dragon Lee was able to land the tree of woe stomp and later an exposed running knee to Gresham’s temple to grab the win. Really good, and that’s crazy to say considering the quality of the G1 this week.
– Matt Taven came out wearing a Red Sox jersey. He recently threw out the first pitch at a Red Sox game and talked about that. He said it was the greatest moment of his life and people booed. He said tonight the rivalry between him and “that Melvin” Jay Lethal comes to an end. He said he’s going to prove the critics wrong because he’s Matt Taven. It was a good quick promo.
– Kenny King came out and called Taven’s jersey lame. He said he didn’t care who he beat because the last time he was in Manhattan he beat Jushin Liger and Great Muta. He insisted on being in Taven’s match with Jay Lethal. The crowd screamed “Noooooooo” and then started chanting “shut the f**k up” at him.
Taven basically said he was Matt Taven again and King called him more names as he went to the back. King was now in the ROH World Championship match.
Jay Lethal stormed out and got in Taven’s face. They got into it and started punching each other until “security” and referees came out and broke them up. The crowd was lukewarm at first but then started chanting “let them fight.”
The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brawler Milonas) defeated Soldiers of Savagery (Moses Maddox & Jasper Kaun) and Coast 2 Coast (LSG & Shaheem Ali) in a three-way match
The Bouncers drank beer in the crowd and Beer City Bruiser came out with a cigar in his mouth. Is he doing a Crusher parody?
LSG and Bruiser started off. Bruiser did the “I can’t bite — I ain’t got no teeth!” spot and it bombed yet again. You could here one guy chuckling as production zoomed in on Bruiser’s face.
Milonas and Moses from Sons of Savagery were in next. Milonas ironically called Moses “fat boy.” SOS are huge dudes and remind me of guys you’d see in EVOLVE or NXT these days. The big guys hoss’d out and exchanged shoulder blocks and punches.
LSG tagged Milonas as he ran the ropes and Moses then tagged out to Jasper. They later chokeslammed Bruiser through the timekeeper’s table, so referee Brian Hebner ejected them from the match. The crowd booed and started chanting “bullsh*t.” They perked back up when The Bouncers landed the Closing Time (the Smoking Gunns’ Sidewinder) on LSG to win.
Vinny Marseglia and TK O’Ryan attacked The Bouncers with chairs after the match. People booed — but aside from one girl with pink hair in the front row it felt like cold heat.
Marseglia smoked Bruiser’s cigar. The Kingdom sat on the chairs and talked about how they thought they should’ve been the Tag Team Champions long ago and then burned the cigar out on Bruiser’s chest. TK O’Ryan said he liked whiskey better. This segment was borderline embarrassing. No one seemed to care.
Rush defeated TK O’Ryan
O’Ryan stayed in the ring and called out Rush, who then made his entrance. He wrestled at Arena Mexico on Friday night. People were way into Rush but didn’t react much to O’Ryan.
O’Ryan wore new tights tonight so I guess he’s updating his look. The crowd was really quiet when he was on offense unless he cued the audience to boo for him. He did the Eddie Guerrero rolling vertical suplexes and did the Eddie shimmy to the crowd for some reason.
Rush spit on O’Ryan and started no-selling all of O’Ryan’s chops, then did a snap dragon suplex (like his brother Dragon Lee did in the match before). People started going nuts when Rush started whipping O’Ryan into the barricades.
This quickly turned into a disaster when Rush went to do a surprise back kick to O’Ryan, but Rush completely whiffed because O’Ryan was out of place. He sat up before Rush could see him and the camera caught the whole thing. Maybe on the side opposite the hard cam it looked okay because Rush smacked his thigh — but wow, that didn’t look good.
Rush then tried doing a belly-to-belly into the bottom turnbuckle, but it looked atrocious and O’Ryan bumped short and on his side. The crowd barely reacted. Rush obliterated O’Ryan with the Bull’s Horns for the win moments later. It looked crazy. He was extremely over with this crowd, but they really didn’t care about O’Ryan and it was stark.
Rush posed with fans in the front row and did the LIJ pose. One “fan” wearing a glittery Pierroth mask attacked him. It was Dalton Castle and they did the Jericho/Rey Mysterio or Jericho/Naito angle. Castle did his own Bull’s Horns and took the mask off before they cut to a promo package about Jay Lethal.
ROH World Champion Matt Taven defeated Kenny King and Jay Lethal in a three-way match to retain his title
Alex Shelley was on commentary for this match. They played up Lethal’s ties to NYC and how bummed out he was to lose the ROH title at MSG. Half the crowd was for Lethal and just about half were for Taven, but everyone seemed to hate Kenny King.
Once this got going, it was pretty good. It didn’t feel like there were any awkward transitions between any of the guys. King was a little clumsy in how he does some moves. He makes up for what he lacks in the ring as a decent heel and his ability to rile the crowd up.
Taven and Lethal started slapping each other in the corner. King broke things up and then he and Taven got into it. King was trapped in the corner when Lethal put Taven in a tree of woe and dropkicked Taven, then King. Taven and Lethal went pretty hard at each other and it looked real crisp.
King later took both Taven and Lethal out with a double lariat and everyone sold on the mat after that. King then did a capoeira kick to Lethal on the apron and Taven dropkicked king to the floor. Taven did a few dives, then Lethal did a few too. The crowd really heated up here. The rhythm was sort of fractured before but from here it felt like things began to cook.
Taven frog splashed Lethal as he tried locking on a figure four on King. All three traded submissions and about three guys in the crowd chanted “fight forever.”
King landed a double blockbuster for two on both Lethal and then Taven. When Lethal hit the Lethal Injection on Taven, the place actually went nuts. It’s so strange because they weren’t making a sound just a few seconds earlier.
King snuck in and landed his version of the Lethal Injection and a Royal Flush on Lethal, but Taven came from the corner and spiked King with the Climax. He then pinned Lethal to win the match. This was pretty good.
LifeBlood (Bandido, Mark Haskins, Tracy Williams & PJ Black) defeated Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, Flip Gordon, PCO & Brody King)
Good match with an excited crowd, especially towards the end. Villain Enterprises all came out in gear that looked like a steampunk remix of Demolition’s old ring gear. Williams and Scurll were in first. The crowd was hot for Scurll and chanted his name over and over. All four got in the ring and squared off a minute later.
Bandido and Gordon were in next. Ian Riccaboni said these two could be a main event anywhere. I think that might actually be true. Gordon tagged out to King, who did crazy lucha spots on the ropes.
Haskins and Scurll were solid together. Bandido later dove off the top rope and double-stomped Scurll’s left arm.
Later, King did a huge tope con giro to the floor, then Scurll back body dropped PCO onto everyone else outside. The crowd was freaking out. PCO looks huge and was great here. He has the one-strap top, old school style.
Bandido legitimately caught PCO mid-air and powerslammed him. What the hell? Then he did a dive from the top to the floor and Colt Cabana said he didn’t even know that was a move. I didn’t either. It was a crazy twisting delayed moonsault thing. He’s nuts.
PCO did a giant moonsault onto everyone and the place lost it. Bandido did a running Canadian Destroyer, but the timing was botched and PCO landed awkwardly near the edge of the apron.
King went on a tear and almost pinned Haskins when everyone started chanting “This is awesome.” Bandido hit the 21-Plex and Black landed a 450 to win the match. Black celebrated with LifeBlood afterwards.
The Briscoes (Mark & Jay Briscoe) defeated Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) in a New York City street fight to win the ROH Tag Team titles
This was relentless. Wow. The crowd chanted “G-O-D” over and over when Tonga and Loa came to the ring. They sounded like the biggest stars on the show so far. People started chanting “New Japan” when they stepped through the ropes. Yikes.
When the bell rang, things got out of control quickly. This all felt like FMW meets Crossfit, if that makes any sense. There were always at least three chairs in the ring at all times.
The Briscoes pulled out a bunch of weapons from under the ring. They got into a rapid-paced brawl and didn’t let their feet off the pedal until the finish. Tonga did a crazy missile dropkick on the floor and landed on his back.
They beat the tar out of each other with chairs and kendo sticks. Mark Briscoe put Loa through a table, or rather down onto it, and onto the floor. Loa later body slammed him through the table and finally split it into pieces.
This just never let up. Loa dropped Mark off the apron onto a pile of chairs on the floor. Loa destroyed him with chair shots. This all had the same vibe as Jon Moxley’s G1 matches this week, raw and violent with none of the guys in the match holding back in the least.
Guerrillas of Destiny super powerbombed Mark onto Jay Briscoe off the apron through a table and the crowd freaked again. As if things couldn’t get more nuts, Mark dragged a ladder out from under the ring. Jay was cut open and was juicing everywhere.
Just as Loa and Mark were atop the ladder, the HonorClub stream cut out. It wouldn’t be a proper HonorClub show without the stream going out. Thankfully it didn’t miss the absolutely most insane finishing spot I’ve seen all year.
Mark and Tonga fought on the top of the ladder and there was a table set up in one corner of the ring. Jay came from underneath Tonga and put him on his shoulders and they did a high-angle Doomsday Device through said table and got the win. It looked crazy. The Briscoe Brothers are now 11-time ROH Tag Team Champions. Well deserved.
We’ll be back tomorrow covering ROH’s next HonorClub show, Mass Hysteria.
ROH has announced when Guerrillas of Destiny and The Briscoes’ Tag Team title rematch will be taking place.
Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa defending their ROH Tag Team titles against The Briscoes in a New York City street fight is set for next month’s ROH Manhattan Mayhem television tapings. The show is being held at the Hammerstein Ballroom on Saturday, July 20.
Guerrillas of Destiny won the ROH Tag Team titles by defeating PCO & Brody King, EVIL & SANADA, and The Briscoes in a four-way match at G1 Supercard this April. Tonga & Loa are also the current IWGP Tag Team Champions in NJPW.
Guerrillas of Destiny retained the ROH Tag Team titles against The Briscoes at War of the Worlds: Chicago in May. Tonga got the win by rolling up Jay Briscoe after Loa hit Jay with a title belt while the referee was checking on Mark Briscoe.
Following that match, ROH posted video of a promo where The Briscoes challenged Guerrillas of Destiny to a rematch and said they wanted it to have no rules this time.
The Briscoes are facing Nick Aldis & Colt Cabana at ROH’s Best in the World pay-per-view on June 28.
Jay Lethal challenging for the ROH World Championship is also set for Manhattan Mayhem. Matt Taven will defend the ROH World title against Jeff Cobb at Best in the World.
The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion and NWA National Champion will be teaming up at ROH Best in the World.
NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis & NWA National Champion Colt Cabana vs. The Briscoes has been announced for Best in the World. The pay-per-view is taking place at the UMBC Event Center in Baltimore, Maryland on Friday, June 28.
The match was set up after Cabana’s National title defense against James Storm at last month’s ROH television tapings. The NWA uploaded video of Cabana vs. Storm and the post-match angle today, with The Briscoes laying out both Cabana and Aldis.
In storyline, The Briscoes are out for revenge against the NWA after they were disqualified for using steel chairs in their match against PCO & Brody King at the Crockett Cup.
Both teams had chairs in their hands at the end of the Crockett Cup match. Jay Briscoe went to hit King, but King moved out of the way and PCO hit Jay with a chair. The referee didn’t see it because he was trying to take Mark Briscoe’s chair from him. The ref then disqualified The Briscoes when Mark gave King a chair shot.
Here’s the updated card for Best in the World:
ROH World Champion Matt Taven defending against Jeff Cobb
ROH Television Champion Shane Taylor defending against Bandido
Two pairs of brothers will be facing off at ROH’s post-Best in the World television tapings.
ROH has announced The Briscoes vs. Rush & Dragon Lee for their TV tapings at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Saturday, June 29. This is the first match announced for the tapings.
This year’s Best in the World pay-per-view is taking place at the UMBC Event Center in Baltimore, Maryland on Friday, June 28. At ROH’s most recent set of TV tapings, Dalton Castle challenged Dragon Lee to a match at the PPV. Castle has been involved in a feud with Rush, with Rush defeating him in seconds at G1 Supercard.
The Briscoes cut a promo last week challenging ROH Tag Team Champions Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) to a no disqualification match, but when that match will be happening has yet to be revealed.
Two matches have been made official for the Best in the World PPV. ROH World Champion Matt Taven will defend his title against Jeff Cobb, and Shane Taylor will defend the Television title against Bandido.
