A Violence Unlimited vs. The Foundation matchup is the first match to be confirmed for Ring of Honor’s next pay-per-view.
On the latest episode of ROH Week By Week, it was announced that Brody King vs. Jay Lethal will take place at Best in the World 2021. The PPV is being held at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore, Maryland on Sunday, July 11. It will be the first ROH event with fans in attendance since February 2020.
King is part of Violence Unlimited with Tony Deppen, Homicide, and Chris Dickinson, while Lethal is part of The Foundation with Jonathan Gresham, Tracy Williams, and Rhett Titus. The two factions faced off in an eight-man tag match on the most recent episode of ROH TV. It ended with King pinning Lethal after hitting a Gonzo Bomb.
Violence Unlimited debuted as a faction at the end of ROH’s 19th Anniversary PPV this March. After Rush retained the ROH World Championship against Lethal in the main event, Rush and La Faccion Ingobernable beat down Lethal and The Foundation. Violence Unlimited then appeared and stood tall over La Faccion Ingobernable. King extended his hand to Lethal, but he then dropped Lethal with a lariat. Homicide laid out Lethal with a Cop Killa to close the show.
This will be the first time King and Lethal have faced each other in a singles match.
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.
The main event of Ring of Honor’s 19th Anniversary pay-per-view is now official.
ROH World Champion Rush will defend his title against Jay Lethal at ROH’s 19th Anniversary PPV on Friday, March 26. On the latest episode of ROH TV, Lethal won a four corner survival match to be confirmed as Rush’s challenger for the Anniversary event.
Lethal pinned Matt Taven to win the four corner survival match. Taven, who is feuding with The Righteous’ Vincent Marseglia, was distracted by Righteous member Vita VonStarr leading into the finish. Jay Briscoe and EC3 were also involved in the match but fought to the back near the finish after EC3 tried to get away from Briscoe.
Rush is a two-time ROH World Champion, while Lethal has also held the ROH World Championship twice during his career. Rush regained the title by defeating PCO and Mark Haskins in a three-way match in February 2020.
On the ROH TV episode that premiered on February 27, Rush retained the ROH World Championship against Shane Taylor. Rush’s La Faccion Ingobernable stablemate Kenny King acted like he was going to stop Rush from using a chair during the match — but King instead hit Taylor with the chair himself.
King & Dragon Lee also defeated Lethal & Jonathan Gresham for the ROH Tag Team titles on that February 27 episode of ROH TV.
The 19th Anniversary event will be ROH’s second PPV since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Last year’s scheduled 18th Anniversary PPV didn’t take place due to the pandemic.
A four-way number one contender’s match will decide the next challenger for Rush’s ROH World Championship.
ROH has announced that Jay Briscoe, Matt Taven, Jay Lethal, and EC3 will face off in a four corner survival match on the ROH TV episode that premieres this weekend (will begin airing on local affiliates starting Saturday, March 6). The winner will challenge for Rush’s ROH World Championship at ROH’s 19th Anniversary pay-per-view on Friday, March 26.
Rush retained the ROH World Championship by defeating Shane Taylor on the latest episode of ROH TV. Rush’s La Faccion Ingobernable stablemate Kenny King acted like he was going to stop Rush from using a chair while the referee was down during the match — but King then hit Taylor with the chair himself. La Faccion Ingobernable’s King & Dragon Lee also defeated Lethal & Jonathan Gresham to win the ROH Tag Team titles on that episode.
It was announced last week that EC3 has signed a contract with ROH and is making the company his pro wrestling home. He recently returned to ROH TV and continued his storyline with Briscoe.
After Mike Bennett defeated Bateman on ROH TV in February, Taven attacked Bateman and threatened to hit Bateman’s ankles with a chair unless Vincent Marseglia would agree to face Taven. When Marseglia said no, Taven hit Bateman’s ankles with the chair and said he’ll do this every week until Vincent faces him.
The ROH TV episode that premieres this weekend will also feature Dalton Castle vs. Josh Woods in a Pure Rules match.
Former ROH World Champion and current ROH Tag Team Champion Jay Lethal has signed a new contract to remain with the company.
It was announced on Wednesday that Lethal has re-signed with Ring of Honor. Lethal currently holds the ROH Tag Team titles with ROH Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham and is part of ROH’s The Foundation stable with Gresham, Tracy Williams, and Rhett Titus.
Gresham and Williams are also among the wrestlers to have recently re-signed with ROH. Since the start of January, ROH has announced that Mark Haskins, Bandido, Amy Rose, Bateman, Brian Johnson, Sumie Sakai, Williams, The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas), Gresham, and Lethal have re-signed with the promotion.
Lethal made his ROH debut in 2003. He departed the company in 2006 and has been part of the ROH roster since returning in 2011. He’s held the ROH World Championship and ROH Television Championship twice previously and is also a former ROH Pure Champion.
ROH’s full announcement regarding Lethal’s new contract is available below:
Ring of Honor is pleased to announce that Jay Lethal has re-signed with the company.
Lethal is rightfully regarded as ‘The Franchise’ in ROH. The Elizabeth, N.J., native made his debut with the company as a teenager in 2003 and is the only man to have held all three singles championships — the World Title, World Television Title, and Pure Title.
Lethal also is the only man to hold the ROH World and World Television titles simultaneously. He is a two-time winner of both of those championships and holds the record for most days as champion for each title.
His first stint in ROH was from 2003 to 2006. He returned in 2011 and has been with the company ever since. In his mid-thirties, Lethal is still in his prime and continues to be the measuring stick in ROH.
Currently, he is one-half of the ROH World Tag Team Champions with Jonathan Gresham. Lethal and Gresham are members of The Foundation, a quartet of outstanding technical wrestlers whose mission is to ‘restore honor’ to ROH.
The Big Takeaway: Josh Woods defeated Jay Lethal in a Pure Rules contest. Brody King defeated Shane Taylor in a brutal, hard-hitting hoss fight. Matt Taven debuted a new talk show, and Mark Briscoe pondered his tag team future.
We began this week’s show with The Foundation. Jonathan Gresham introduced his illustrious faction, staking their claim on Ring Of Honor. Jay Lethal claimed that they aren’t the bad guys, and that they’re just trying to restore honor to their great company. Lethal revealed that the man under the red octopus mask is former ROH Tag Team Champion, Rhett Titus. Tracy Williams told Titus to not remove his mask just yet, because it would just lead to more lack of appreciation. Williams said that they’re here to rebuild Ring Of Honor brick by brick.
*****
We transitioned to the lovely Quinn McKay. She ran down the card for tonight’s show. Shane Taylor vs. Brody King and Josh Woods vs. Jay Lethal are on the schedule.
Next, a package for Josh Woods aired. Woods said he demanded perfection from himself in the Pure Tournament, but fell short to Jonathan Gresham. Woods said that his overall background is more impressive than Lethals career, touting his MMA and amateur wrestling experience. Woods said that he needs this victory over Lethal for fans to change how they feel about him.
We get another package, this time for Jay Lethal. Lethal said that it warms his heart to see pure professional wrestling back in ROH. Lethal called Josh Woods the most dangerous man in the company under pure rules.
Josh Woods pinned Jay Lethal in a Pure Rules contest. (14:02)
Code Of Honor was adhered to. Woods gained control early with a high wristlock. Woods attempted an armbar early which forced Lethal to use his first rope break. Each competitor gets 3 rope breaks under Pure rules. Woods began ground and pound on Lethal, holding him down for multiple pinning maneuvers. Lethal got back some control by countering an armbar with a cartwheel dropkick.
Back from commercial, Lethal had Woods in a camel clutch. This caused Woods to use his first rope break. Woods tried to lift Lethal up for a brainbuster, but his back gave out mid-maneuver. Lethal and Woods began trading brutal forearms to the skull when out of nowhere Woods hit a bridging German Suplex for a two count. Woods rolled out of the ring, but was immediately hit with a Lethal suicide dive.
Lethal threw Woods back in the ring, went to the top rope and attempted his Macho Man elbow drop, but Woods caught him in an armbar. Lethal escaped quickly and went for the Lethal Injection, but Woods caught him again with a rear naked choke. Lethal motioned out quickly, but Woods locked in a knee bar as Lethal was crawling away. Lethal again found a way out of the kneebar, but Woods trapped his legs again and rolled him up for the 3 count.
*****
Matt Taven now has a talk show called Trending With Taven. His first guest was the returning Mike Bennett. Bennett said that he has earned his way back to ROH, and that it’s good to be reunited with Taven. Bennett said Taven needed someone to have his back. A message flashed across the screen telling us that the rest of the interview was available on HonorClub.
*****
We got a promo from Mark Briscoe. He said being 12 time ROH Tag Team champions sounds better than being 11 time champions. He also stated his disappointment in Jay Briscoe for being so focused on EC3. Mark said he’s going for the tag titles with or without Jay.
*****
Brody King spoke on his upcoming match with Shane Taylor. King said he has many similarities with Taylor, but also a lot of differences. Brody said what motivates him is championship gold, while Taylor always feels like he’s owed something. He finished the promo saying that both him and Taylor are both rocks, but King is being shot out of a cannon.
Shane Taylor was next. Taylor said he had a weight lifted off his back after the match with Kenny King. The hypocrisy runs wild in Brody King’s fanbase because if he was running around in a ski mask like King is, everyone would judge him. Taylor said he has nothing against Brody King, but he’s going to beat him.
Brody King pinned Shane Taylor (13:03)
King and Taylor both attempted running shoulder tackles early, but neither man moved an inch. They traded forearms to the jawline before Brody took control and gave Taylor multiple chops and forearms to the chest. Both competitors spilled to the outside and King threw Taylor skull first into the ring post.
Back from commercial, Taylor planted King with a draping DDT off the apron to the floor. Taylor took control, hitting King with hard forearms every time he tried to stand up. Taylor backed up and drove his knee into King, which sent both men through the barricade. Taylor rolled back in the ring, starting a count on King. King rolled in at 19, but Taylor went and began stomping on him immediately. King gained control of the contest by draping Taylor on the ropes and hitting a cannonball on Taylor’s back, giving King a two count. King lifted Taylor’s dead weight and hit a Death Valley driver into the turnbuckle.
Both men are exchanging open palm strikes and forearms following a commercial break. King hit a running swing slam, only getting a two count on Taylor. King tried to follow up with a powerbomb, but Taylor hit a package piledriver with King kicking out at 2.9. King sprung up fast and hit a burning lariat on Taylor, who powered out at a 1 count. King followed up with another burning lariat, which resulted in a pinfall.
*****
Final Thoughts:
I have a hot take: Shane Taylor has been the MVP of ROH since its return. He has put on four high quality matches, and he’s such a great talker. He’s being booked very strongly, even being protected in a loss to Brody King, who also looks phenomenal and seems to be on a collision course with Rush heading into Final Battle.
The Foundation has potential to be an all-time great ROH stable, on the levels of The Age Of The Fall or Generation Next. I’m not sure about the addition of Rhett Titus, but i’ll give it a chance. Lethal vs Woods was a fun watch; Woods has that smug star quality about him that a wrestler needs to succeed.
Quinn McKay opened the show, running down the card for us tonight.
Jay Briscoe cut a promo on EC3. Briscoe said that he had been derailed from his purpose of winning the tag team titles, and had to take on EC3. EC3 said he was looking to find out if honour is real, and he wanted to see if Briscoe would live up to the ROH name and if he had what it took to show him if honour is real.
EC3 defeated Jay Briscoe via DQ
EC3 kept offering to shake hands with Briscoe, but he wouldn’t meet Briscoe’s eyes. After a brief exchange, EC3 connected with an elbow and offered to shake the hand again, as the announcers speculated that EC3 has lost his mind, as he refused to look directly at Briscoe. Jay refused the handshake and attacked. Briscoe choked EC3 in the corner and didn’t stop at the 5 count, so the referee disqualified him.
Briscoe continued to attack and claw at EC3 as EC3 begged Briscoe to hit him, yelling “Control your narrative!”. He offered himself for a Jay Driller, but security broke it up.
**********
Quinn McKay asked why Jay Briscoe, of all people, wouldn’t uphold the Code of Honor when against EC3. Briscoe said “Because f*** him.” A simple enough reason, I suppose.
**********
A video aired for LSG telling us how he became a fan of ROH, and how seeing Jay Lethal live is why he became a wrestler. He said after years of work, and a bad 2019 with his tag team Coast 2 Coast he’s now in the position Lethal was years ago – no longer a young boy. He’s ready to step it up.
LSG said he was training harder than ever during the break from the pandemic, and that this match with Lethal meant everything to him because he wanted to prove he could hang with Lethal, saying “The boy who wanted to be you is now going to beat you!”
Jay Lethal cut a promo about how the Pure title tournament didn’t quite go as he planned, losing to Tracy Williams. He had no problem that Williams was the better man that night, and that his goal is rebuilding ROH and bringing structure to it. He wanted to have this match with LSG because LSG was in the same position he was with Samoa Joe years ago.
These video packages were phenomenal. I understood the motivation and character of both right away, with Lethal being the experienced veteran and LSG looking to Lethal as a mentor that he needed to overcome.
**********
Jay Lethal defeated LSG in a Pure Rules Match via split decision
This was contested under Pure Match rules, meaning it went for 15 minutes and each wrestler would get 3 rope breaks the entire match. LSG watched Lethal for years, so he was able to counter a lot of Lethal’s offence staying with him throughout the match. Lethal went for a figure four, but LSG used his first rope break. LSG stayed with Lethal as the match went on, with Lethal being one step ahead for most of the match.
Lethal went to the top rope, but LSG read him and knocked Lethal to the floor before hitting a dropkick to the floorl. LSG targeted the neck from that point forward. Lethal finally hit his cartwheel dropkick and dropkicked LSG to the floor before hitting a suicide dive. Lethal went for a Lethal Injection, but LSG caught him and hit the Rock-a-By-Baby Suplex and locked in the Muta Lock, pulling Lethal’s arm across his face.
Lethal managed to reach the ropes just as the time limit expired. It went to the judges decision, where they awarded Lethal the victory via split decision. They shook hands after the match, with LSG making it clear that he thought he could have beaten Lethal with more time. Lethal smiled and looked like he was embracing the challenge.
**********
Matt Taven defeated Bateman
This match marked Taven’s official return to the ring after his injury that left him out for almost a year. In storyline, Bateman and Vincent took out Taven, and he wants revenge en route to Final Battle, when he faces Vincent.
Taven took it to Bateman quite aggressively in this match. Taven hit a suplex early, so he went for one again later, but Bateman countered into a Twist and Shout. Taven countered an Irish whip with a complete shot then locked on the Trend Setter, but Bateman made the ropes.
Taven hit a dive over the top rope and nailed Bateman, but immediately began selling his knee. Taven then missed a frog splash, but succeeded in rolling Bateman up for a pinfall. Bateman attacked Taven after the match and hit a tombstone in Vincent’s direction.
Vincent cut a promo about how Taven was embarrassing and that there wasn’t a single soul in the arena, yet he was still desperate for attention. Vincent said that he would never get the approval he was looking for, and his legacy is that of a failure.
Vincent went to throw a dart at Taven’s chest, but the lights went out and it ended up being none other than Mike Bennett. Bennett ran Bateman and Vincent off and hugged Taven as the show went off the air. The Kingdom is back.
Two members of Villain Enterprises are getting a Tag Team title shot at ROH’s 18th Anniversary pay-per-view.
It was announced this morning that ROH Tag Team Champions Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham will defend their titles against Marty Scurll & Flip Gordon at the 18th Anniversary PPV. It’s taking place at Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas on Friday, March 13.
Lethal & Gresham have been the ROH Tag Team Champions since defeating The Briscoes for the titles at Final Battle in December.
This is the second match that’s been confirmed for the 18th Anniversary PPV. Dragon Lee will also defend his ROH Television title against Bandido at the show.
The main event of the 18th Anniversary PPV 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 Gateway to Honor, and the wrestler who doesn’t lose the fall in that match will challenge for the World title at 18th Anniversary.
Lethal & Gresham will defend their titles against Silas Young & Josh Woods at Bound By Honor on February 28. ROH wrote that Scurll & Gordon will be in the title match at 18th Anniversary regardless of which team wins at Bound By Honor.
ROH Past vs. Present is also being held at Sam’s Town Live on March 14.
NEW JAPAN FROM KORAKUEN HALL MONDAY AT 5:30 A.M. ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Tiger Mask & Yuya Uemura vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Desperado
TJP & Clark Connors vs. El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori
Sho & Yoh vs. Volador Jr. & Titan
Will Ospreay & Robbie Eagles vs. Rocky Romero & Ryusuke Taguchi
Raw is tonight from St. Louis, with Jerry Lawler hosting a Divorce Court segment with Lana and Rusev, Seth Rollins vs. Erick Rowan in a falls count anywhere match and Becky Lynch vs. Kairi Sane in a non-title match.
NEW JAPAN ON WEDNESDAY AT 6 A.M. EASTERN FROM SHIZUOKA ON NEW JAPAN WORLD
Yota Tsuji & Tomoaki Honma vs. TJP & Karl Fredericks
Titan & Volador Jr. vs.; Douki & Desperado
Jushin Liger & Clark Connors vs.; El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori
Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi & Bushi & Sanada vs. Minoru Suzuki & Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii & Toa Henare vs. Jay White & KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi
Tiger Mask & Yuya Uemura vs. Sho & Yoh in tag tournament
Kazuchika Okada & Yoshi-Hashi & Will Ospreay & Robbie Eagles vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi & Rocky Romero & Ryusuke Taguchi
AEW FROM CHARLESTON, WV AT 8 P.M. WEDNESDAY ON TNT
Chris Jericho & Cody contract signing
Scorpio Sky & Frankie Kazarian vs. Pentagon Jr. & Rey Fenix in tag title finals with Rock & Roll Express presenting the AEW tag belts to the winners
Young Bucks & Kenny Omega vs. Jack Evans & Angelico & Kip Sabian
Hangman Page vs. Sammy Guevara
NXT FROM WINTER PARK, FL AT 8 P.M. WEDNESDAY ON USA
Cameron Grimes vs. Tyler Bate
Kairi Sane & Asuka vs. Dakota Kai & Tegan Nox for women’s tag titles
With both nights of the draft, free agent roster additions, and even a trade now out of the way, the new rosters for Raw and SmackDown look to be set.
WWE’s handling of the draft may have been lackluster, but this is a pivotal time for the company. If WWE is really going to commit to the brand split and making Raw and SmackDown stand out as different from each other, they need to get the roster mix right. They’re also working with two different television partners and will need to make sure FOX and USA Network don’t feel like they’re playing second fiddle to the other.
WWE is a promotion that’s overloaded with talent. That would seem like the ideal environment for a brand split, but the company’s lack of top-tier stars has been a barrier to the roster split’s long-term sustainability. When there’s a ratings slip, it’s easy to say Becky Lynch or Roman Reigns not being on both shows is the reason for it. And while the Wild Card rule may not have been overly popular, any of its short-term effects were probably a positive for ratings.
Here’s what the new Raw and SmackDown rosters look like coming out of the draft:
Current subscribers click here to continue reading.
We have a huge double issue this week, with a special Hall of Fame feature, some shocking ratings news from overseas, New Japan’s international expansion, Randy Couture’s heart attack and coverage of the major shows.We also cover:
The situation with Nate Diaz and why the UFC 244 main event looks to be in jeopardy.
New Japan Pro Wrestling’s opening up a new U.S. outpost. We look at what the goals of the company are for 2020, who is in charge, why they are in charge, who surprisingly isn’t involved and why. We look at how the U.S. market has changed for New Japan, ticket sales for the upcoming shows, how it would be best served for New Japan in this market and the lessons learned from what they’ve done so far.
The difference between the fans in Japan and the U.S. for New Japan, the type of buildings they are looking at running and the ultimate goals.
Update on the situation with Randy Couture.
WWE Crown Jewel, with the lineup and circumstances of the show.
AAA Heroes Inmortales with the Kenny Omega vs Fenix AAA title change as well as a look at the rest of the show.
Xavier Woods, have all the Canadian TV ratings, 2020 NXT plans, Randy Orton update, Seth Rollins talks Kenny Omega, WWE news regarding lineup for the Mexico City show, major WWE signing, Update on 205 Live, WWE 2K commercial news, former Lucha Underground star talking with WWE, Dana White talks Cain Velasquez in WWE, former New Japan star teaching at performance center, reasons for the stock price decline, most watched shows this past week on the WWE Network, as well as a rundown of all the NXT and WWE shows, with match-by-match coverage and business news.
Impact Bound for Glory, with match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
A huge feature looking at the 2019 Hall of Fame elections, strongest and weakest candidates with bios on a lot of the different performers. We look at everyone’s strengths ad weaknesses as well as the leading still active candidates.
A complete rundown of the Wednesday night wars over the past two weeks, how both shows are doing in every segment and with every demo group. We look at the median age of viewers, how the World Series affected viewing and more.
Full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
The results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
Current subscribers click here to continue reading.
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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Raw, Smackdown ratings, Albert Hardie Jr. on Wrestling Observer Radio. We’ll also be taking your email questions that you can send to [email protected]
Jay Lethal suffered a broken arm in his match with PCO in Bolton, UK at the ROH show. Brody King suffered a knee injury on Friday’s show at York Hall in London. No word on the seriousness of either injury.
Just a note that the weekend coming up will have:
MLW’s first PPV on Saturday
UFC 244 with Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal on Saturday
Canelo Alvarez vs. Sergey Kovalev on Saturday
Power Struggle from Osaka at 2 a.m. Eastern late Saturday night
DDT from Sumo Hall on the DDT service late Saturday
Dragon Gate on late Sunday night on the Dragon Gate network with English commentary
Big Japan from Sumo Hall late Sunday
For those of you looking to watch UFC 244 elsewhere, Buffalo Wild Wings is serving up a limited edition BMF wing sauce for customers who come in on Saturday night. That’s to commemorate Diaz and Masvidal fighting for the one-time-only BMF title with Dwayne Johnson presenting the belt to the winner in Madison Square Garden.
WWE
Steve Austin’s new show on the WWE Network called Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions, which will be interview segments with different wrestlers, debuts Thursday on the WWE Network. Austin’s prior interviews were the most-watched non-PPV programming on the network in the past.
Regarding Albert Hardie Jr., Titus O’Neil wrote “I am 100 percent in agreement that the shirt is very distasteful. That being said,bringing others into this to vent your frustrations or issues that have nothing to do with WWE or the shirt is also very distasteful. If it’s for the culture, don’t attack those in it!!!”
Evolve is letting you pick Evan Bourne’s opponent for shows on 11/9 in Queens, NY, 11/10 in Brooklyn, 12/6 in Livonia, MI and 12/7 in Chicago. They have a limited number of choices so you can’t pick Ricochet or anything like that. Voting is at @WWNEVOLVE on twitter. They also announced for 11/9 in Queens, Arturo Ruas & Anthony Gutierrez vs. Joe Gacy & Sean Maluta and for 11/10 in Brooklyn, Ruas vs. Eddie Kingston. Andrew Everett also returns to Evolve on 12/;6 and 12/7.
A quick correction from what we had for a few hours yesterday. The San Juan main event was Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt on Saturday. Rollins vs. A.J. Styles was the main event in Fort Lauderdale on Friday.
MMA Fighting has reported Herbert Burns vs. Nate Landwehr with both making their UFC debuts on a 1/25 show. Burns earned a shot by winning on the Dana White contenders series and Ladnwehyur is the M-1 Global featherweight champion.
AEW
Luchasaurus appeared on Saturday night at a show for Pure Pro Wrestling in Saginaw, MI. He was booked to wrestle, but has a hamstring injury. He still came and interfered in the main event, helping CJ Anderson beat Kongo Kong.
MISCELLANEOUS
Among the events scheduled for Starrcast are:
11/7
10 p.m. Starrcast Karaoke with Tony Schiavone
1/8
11 a.m. Colt Cabana podcast
1 p.m. Taz interviews Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus
2:30 p.m. Young Bucks talk show
4 p.m. Jim Ross interviews Jon Moxley
5:30 p.m Kenny McIntosh interviews
7 p.m. Tony Schiavone talks Jim Crockett Promotions with Jim & David Crockett
8:30 p.m. Starrcast talk show
11/9
10 a.m. Lex Luger and Ricky Steamboat
Noon Great Muta
2 p.m.. Ron Simmons
4 p.m.Madusa, Missy Hyatt and Baby Doll
11:30 pm. Full Gear After party
Impact last night did a special TV show that will air on the Tuesday of Thanksgiving weekend called Throwback Throwdown. It was a studio show with people dressing like it was the 1980s including Michael Elgin & Mad Man Fulton playing a bald Russian tag team.
Low Ki vs. Brian Pillman Jr. was added to Saturday’s MLW PPV show.
AML Wrestling from last night in Winston-Salem, NC: Markus Kross & Griff Garrison b James Ryan & Chance Ryzer, Chip Day b Brandon Scott, Billy Brash b Franco Varga, Colby Corino b Jason Kincaid, Zane & Dave Dawson b Gym Nasty Boys, CW Anderson b Preston Quinn. Next show is 12/1 at the conclusion of the WrestleCade weekend convention(thanks to Brad Stutts)
Combate Americas has weigh-ins for its Friday night show on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. Central time at the Curtis Culwell Center in the Dallas area.
ROH’s Glory By Honor event streamed live on Honor Club this Saturday night. Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman and Colt Cabana were tonight’s main announce team. There looked to be a few hundred people in attendance for tonight’s show but there were a lot of empty seats in the bleachers and scattered around ringside.
Silas Young won a battle royal and advanced to challenge ROH World Champion Rush later in the show
Participants: The Bouncers, Kenny King, Joe Hendry, Rhett Titus, Big Daddy Yum Yum (CMLL), Coast 2 Coast, Cheeseburger, Brian Johnston, Josh Woods, Silas Young
Kenny King hid under the ring from the start, like he did at G1 Supercard. Beer City Bruiser did his “I can’t bite — I ain’t got no teeth spot.” Young eliminated Titus, who decided to pull Kenny King from out under the ring and into the match. He was quickly eliminated by Joe Hendry, who was a focal point of this match early on and was one of the only wrestlers who got a full introduction on the Honor Club stream.
Coast 2 Coast (Shaheem Ali & LSG) eliminated Bruiser, Brawler Milonas later threw out Coast 2 Coast at the same time, which got a loud “BEER” chant going in the crowd. Milonas and Big Daddy Yum Yum had a quick exchange together before Milonas dumped him to the floor, too. I enjoyed hearing the distinguished Ian Riccaboni say “Big Daddy Yum Yum” in these short moments.
The final three in this were Josh Woods, Silas Young and Brawler Milonas. The former two teamed up to eliminate Milonas, and a few seconds later, Young, Woods’ storyline mentor, offered Woods a hug, then eliminated his mentee. Silas Young will now face ROH World Heavyweight champion Rush later on in the evening for a shot at the title.
PCO defeated Dalton Castle in a Final Battle number one contender’s tournament semifinal match
Good brawl. A fan in the front row wore a homemade version of Castle’s ring gear and took a selfie with Castle during his entrance. PCO came out to his new Jim Johnston-composed theme music and in more makeup than usual, extra thick black eyeliner under his eyes his black darkwave jacket again. There was lots of smoke around the ring when the lights came back up, and Castle acted like he was afraid of getting in the ring to wrestle the match with PCO.
Early on, PCO demanded Castle hit him in the back. “If you wanna hit me, hit me!” he said, no-selling some forearm strikes. After this, and once the two really started mixing it up, it turned into a good brawl. The crowd was way into PCO but there was a group in house that was loudly pro-Castle.
They fought on the outside for a bit. Castle belly-to-belly suplex PCO on the floor. He threw PCO around a ton, actually, like he literally dumped PCO out onto the floor from a bodyslam, like he was in the battle royal earlier. He hip-tossed PCO onto concrete, the mats had been pulled up, PCO still in his awesome jacket, and when he finally did get up, Castle gave him a spinebuster onto an unfolded chair.
PCO finally stood up at the count of 16, back in the ring at 19. Castle was there waiting for him with a DDT and a running knee, but PCO was back up, “revived,” and then clotheslined Castle and himself to the floor, and followed that up with a tope con giro through the ropes. He’s 52. After some more back and forth, PCO used a big moonsault to put Castle away. The crowd was crazy for PCO throughout this.
Marty Scurll defeated Jay Lethal in a Final Battle number one contender’s tournament semifinal match
Very good match, all action and good drama in the last few minutes. They shook hands before the bell. Scurll dashed at Lethal, who caught Scurll with a dropkick. They started flying from here, back and forth both in and out of the ring. It was all Lethal for a while until Scurll, after two failed tries, finally landed his superkick off the apron to Lethal who was, standing on the floor.
This heated up when Scurll went for the chickenwing and had the crowd erupt for it. Lethal blocked and put Scurll into the figure-four, but the match was over when Scurll finally locked in the chickenwing and got Lethal to tap. Again, really good. You could tell in shots during this match that this was a small, small affair tonight, but both Lethal and Scurll went out and did what they could to tear it up. They shook hands again afterwards. Scurll is now scheduled to wrestle his Villain Enterprises stablemate, PCO, later tonight.
ROH Television Champion Shane Taylor defeated J. Spade to retain his title
They showed a promo of Taylor talking about himself on the radio or on the phone putting himself over. They’re doing the TMT Promotions spin-off angle with Taylor. Spade and Taylor used to wrestle each other on the indies, according to Riccaboni.
They had referee Todd Sinclair do a spoken introduction to the match, like they’d do for a Mayweather Promotions bout. Taylor asked if Spade was ready to get knocked out but Spade came out with a flurry of moves and a dive to the floor. The crowd was at times quite loud behind Spade in this one. Taylor used a nice spinning Greetings From 216 (Fire-Thunder driver) to put Spade away.
Kelly Klein defeated Angelina Love to win the Women of Honor World Championship
Klein stormed at Love at the bell and went on to beat the crap out of love for about a minute straight. Klein used a Northern Lights suplex for the first near-fall of the match. Love countered with a jawbreaker, and later landed a Thesz Press off the apron to the floor.
Klein powered out of Love’s anaconda clutch midway through this and started ragdolling her around the ring with suplexes and K-Power in her comeback. Love kicked out. These two were really working hard here. Love returned with a Botox Injection kick and plancha from the top rope to the floor. Mandy Leon assured Love that she was still pretty. Klein came in at the count of 19. Love missed another Botox Injection, and when Klein went for another K-Power, she accidentally knocked the referee out. People immediately started to boo, even before Mandy Leon entered the ring and started dancing with a chair.
The lights went out and Maria Manic came out and put Leon in a torture rack, then did the same to Love. Klein got back up, delivered K-Power again and pinned Love to regain the Women of Honor championship.
The referee apparently had zero idea that the lights went out, someone’s entrance music blared, then that said someone got into the ring and beat up a bunch of people. Because he was tapped in the head by someone’s foot. This would have been much better without the schmozz finish, but there probably wasn’t another way of introducing Manic unless it was during this match.
ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) defeated Luke & PJ Hawx to retain their titles
Pretty good. Luke Hawx was Altar Boy Luke in XPW. His son wrestled with him tonight, Riccaboni said he’s 20 years old. They showed a promo Luke Hawx cut before the match and it was good. The crowd was excited for the Hawx family. Luke Hawx wrestled alongside Jay Briscoe in CMLL in the Gran Prix tournament last month in Mexico. He looked good here tonight. I guess PJ Hawx is actually named Perry Hawx, because they started calling him that halfway through this match.
Jay Briscoe beat the hell out of him for much of this. The announce team explained both Hawx have acting experience, and Perry has a new show that’ll be on Hulu soon. Perry came back late in the match with a high angle German suplex, but the Briscoes used Redneck Boogie to Perry out. Jay pinned Perry after a Jaydriller.
Alex Shelley defeated Jonathan Gresham
Excellent match despite the quiet crowd. They were into it when they were supposed to be, but the venue sounded empty at times. It’s negligible, though, because this was one of the best technical matches I’ve seen this year. If mat wrestling is in your wheelhouse, go out of your way to watch this. I don’t think there were more than ten big bumps in this. Maybe a top-rope inverted atomic drop was the highest of spots. That is saying so much considering how long Shelley was away from wrestling, because he looked like he’d never really stopped, especially here.
Shelley pinned Gresham when Gresham went for an octopus hold; Shelley countered it into a clutch pin for the upset victory. Gresham threw a fit afterwards and shoved a staff member out of his chair ringside, grabbed the steel chair and brought it into the ring with the intent of some sort of revenge on Shelley. Jay Lethal came out and took the chair out of Gresham’s hands. He told him that him and Shelley just had one of the greatest matches he’d seen and things looked to be smoothed over in storyline.
They are still teasing a full-on heel turn for Gresham but aren’t pulling the trigger just yet.
Gordon comes to the ring in a gas mask now and grew a long beard. Everyone in the match is great, but Mark Haskins is unique, maybe someone ROH could bet the house on, that’s how good he is with the right people. Him and Gordon looked especially good together. Haskins and Williams did a cool double dive to the floor, Williams from the corner and Haskins through the ropes.
When Gordon tried using a kendo stick, he accidentally hit his partner, King, and Williams hit a piledriver for the pin on Gordon. Really good match. Bully Ray came out and beat LifeBlood up. Gordon came back into the ring and gave his kendo stick to Bully Ray, despite their differences in the past earlier this year. Ray got tons of heat when he screamed “Do you know who I am?!”
ROH World Champion Rush defeated Silas Young to retain his title
Lanny Poffo joined the commentary team for this match. This wasn’t as special as I think they wanted it to be. It felt like any other Rush match in ROH.
This bout started off fast, and Rush went for the Bull’s Horn running dropkick early on. Young blocked it with a spear and the two were quickly on the floor, Young leading the assault on Rush, smashing him into the ring post.
Young kept control of the match back inside the ring, but Rush returned the attack and again, both were on the floor. Rush roughed Young up for a while and threw him into the barricades. Poffo translated “tranquilo” for us, and it means “tranquil” in English, for those not in the know.
Rush missed a diving senton off the second rope, gave Young an opportunity to hit his finisher, the Plunge moonsault, for two. He used a swinging draping DDT for another nearfall, and Rush began to hulk up. Rush landed a superman punch and the Bull’s Horns for the emphatic victory. Rush kissed the the ROH World title, and Lanny Poffo called Rush vs. Young one of the best matches he’d ever seen in his life. I swear.
After cutting to the announce team, production played a video from Death Before Dishonor: Fallout last month. Someone attacked the Kingdom backstage at the show. Matt Taven and Vinny Marseglia came out and Taven then demanded whomever attacked them to come out and face them. The lights went out and they played footage of Taven and Marseglia before today’s show, doing scandalous activities, like unpacking their gear from an SUV, then unpacking inside the venue. It was an angle to imply that someone is stalking Taven for devious reasons. The Kingdom then stormed off.
PCO defeated Marty Scurll to win the Final Battle number one contender’s tournament
Awesome match, and maybe PCO’s best singles match in ROH to date. Scurll got on the mic and faked offering a truce before the bell, then whacked PCO in the face with an umbrella but only got a two-count. What a villain. Scurll did his version of the Iconoclasm and launched PCO from the top rope with it. Scurll flipped a fan off when he and PCO were brawling on the floor. This match would sometimes peak but would flame out quick because the crowd sounded tired. PCO rallied back with a pop-up power bomb.
Scurll made a comeback himself, snapping PCO’s fingers, which I suppose against a Frankenstein-type character like sounds like a silly thing to do. Later, Scurll press slammed PCO off the top through a table on the floor. This is his second match for the night. Scurll put PCO in the chickenwing but ref Todd Sinclair was knocked out. PCO landed the French-Canadian Slam but Sinclair was out. Brody King came out and gave PCO a bossman slam, apparently at the orders of Scurll. Scurll pinned him for a two-count.
Gordon came out later and kicked Scurll off the ropes, then Scurll hit PCO with the ROH Six-Man title for another two-count. The crowd exploded here with a “he’s not human” champ. PCO finally stuck the PCOsault but for only two. The crowd was peaking here and it was the loudest reaction of the night. It was about 60% PCO 40% Scurll. PCO missed that insane senton spot he often does onto the apron, looked like he died. Scurll hit a massive lariat for two. PCO used his own lariat for two, then landed another moonsault for three. Crazy match.
Afterwards, Scurll grabbed the mic and said for three years, he’d been trying to become ROH champion, and tonight, PCO took that chance away from him, and then congratulated him. Scurll said no one deserves more of a shot at the world title than PCO, who’ll now face Rush at Final Battle in Baltimore for the ROH World Heavyweight title.
This was a good show although it looked to be poorly attended. Great main event. PCO is a machine and won’t stop taking crazy bumps, but the truth is that I can’t say I have seen one ROH show in 2019 where PCO wasn’t wildly cheered. He’s a real star. Both he and Scurll were not only awesome once tonight, but twice. Jonathan Gresham vs. Alex Shelley was top-tier technical wrestling, on par with this year’s Virus vs. Metalico in CMLL or most of Zack Sabre’s work throughout the year.
Jay Lethal vs. Marty Scurll was also a match worthy of mention tonight. There were definite misfires, though, like the battle royal, which at least served a purpose and was quick, and the Women of Honor match, which wasn’t bad, but the finish left a sour aftertaste. LifeBlood vs. Villain Enterprises would be of note, as well, but the Bully Ray abusing LifeBlood and then leaving has jumped the shark, and it’s the last thing most fans are left thinking about, unfortunately. Action-wise, though, this was one of ROH’s stronger shows of late.
The semifinals of ROH’s number one contender’s tournament are now set.
PCO vs. Dalton Castle and Marty Scurll vs. Jay Lethal are the two semifinal matches for the tournament. The semifinals and finals will both be held at Glory By Honor in New Orleans, Louisiana on Saturday, October 12.
Castle defeated Mark Haskins and Lethal defeated PJ Black in the remaining first-round matches at Saturday’s post-Death Before Dishonor television tapings. Black was replacing Bandido, who ROH announced was unable to wrestle on Saturday due to a knee injury.
Scurll and PCO advanced by winning first-round matches at Death Before Dishonor. Scurll defeated Colt Cabana, while PCO defeated Kenny King in a no disqualification match.
The winner of the tournament will challenge for the ROH World Championship at Final Battle in Baltimore, Maryland on Friday, December 13. Rush is the current champion. He’s scheduled to defend his title against Jeff Cobb at ROH’s Honor United show in Bolton, England on Sunday, October 27.
ROH has also announced that Silas Young & Vinny Marseglia will face The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brawler Milonas) in a Bar Room Brawl at Death Before Dishonor. The updated card is:
ROH World Champion Matt Taven defending against Rush
ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes defending against LifeBlood (Bandido & Mark Haskins)
ROH Television Champion Shane Taylor defending against Flip Gordon and Tracy Williams in a triple threat match
Women of Honor World Champion Kelly Klein defending against Angelina Love
PCO vs. Kenny King in a Final Battle number one contender’s tournament first round match
Marty Scurll vs. Colt Cabana in a Final Battle number one contender’s tournament first round match
Jay Lethal vs. Jonathan Gresham
Silas Young & Vinny Marseglia vs. The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brawler Milonas) in a Bar Room Brawl
Original —
ROH has confirmed two more additions to the card for Death Before Dishonor.
Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham will face off at the pay-per-view. The Women of Honor World Championship match for the event has also been announced, with Kelly Klein set to defend her title against Angelina Love.
Lethal & Gresham lost to Silas Young & Josh Woods on the final night of ROH’s Global Wars Espectacular tour on Sunday. Young went to use a steel chair but was caught by referee Todd Sinclair. As Sinclair was distracted, Gresham tried to get Lethal to use a chair against Woods. Lethal refused to use the chair, and Young soon pinned him after hitting Misery.
Lethal and Gresham argued after the match and got into a pull-apart brawl. ROH then posted video of a backstage interview with Lethal. He said that Gresham is on the wrong path and the only thing he can think of that would help is settling things in the ring at Death Before Dishonor.
Love pinned Klein during a tag match at June’s Best in the World PPV after Mandy Leon hit Klein with a shoe. Klein teamed with Stacy Shadows against Love & Leon at Sunday’s Global Wars Espectacular show. Klein got the win by pinning Love, but Leon sprayed hair spray in Klein’s eyes after the match. Love then laid Klein out with a DDT.
Death Before Dishonor is taking place at Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday, September 27.
After the participants were confirmed last week, ROH has now revealed the bracket for their number one contender’s tournament.
The left side of the bracket has PCO vs. Kenny King and Dalton Castle vs. Mark Haskins in the first round. The right side has Colt Cabana vs. Marty Scurll and Bandido vs. Jay Lethal.
The winner of the tournament will challenge for the ROH World Championship at Final Battle this December.
PCO vs. King and Cabana vs. Scurll are set for ROH’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view on Friday, September 27. Castle vs. Haskins and Bandido vs. Lethal will take place at the post-Death Before Dishonor television tapings on Saturday, September 28. Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas, Nevada is hosting both shows.
ROH World Champion Matt Taven is defending his title against Volador Jr. at ROH & CMLL’s Global Wars Espectacular night two this Saturday. Rush will challenge for the ROH World title at the Death Before Dishonor PPV.
The semifinals and finals of the number one contender’s tournament are taking place at Glory By Honor at the UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana on Saturday, October 12.
ROH has confirmed the first four participants for their number one contender’s tournament.
It was announced today that Dalton Castle, Jay Lethal, Kenny King, and Marty Scurll will be participating in the eight-man, single-elimination tournament. The other four wrestlers for it will be announced tomorrow.
ROH wrote that the bracket will be revealed on Monday (September 2).
The winner of the tournament will challenge for the ROH World Championship at Final Battle, which is taking place at the UMBC Event Center in Baltimore, Maryland on Friday, December 13. Matt Taven currently holds the title.
The first round matches for the tournament will be held at ROH’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view on Friday, September 27 and their post-Death Before Dishonor television tapings on Saturday, September 28. Both of those shows are taking place at Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas.
The semifinals and finals will then be held at Glory By Honor on Saturday, October 12. The UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana is hosting that show.
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.
