Nick Aldis joined Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman at the announce booth.
Dalton Castle & The Boys defeated Karl Fredericks, Clark Connors & Alex Coughlin
Connors started it off with some amateur wrestling against Castle. Connors survived and tagged in Coughlin. Both Boys tagged in and Boy 1 landed a nice dropkick to Coughlin.
After the break, it was a melee until Boy 2 tagged in Castle. He dispensed the trio with slams and throws. Castle used an overhead throw on Fredericks, then tossed the Boys at each man repeatedly.
Castle eventually isolated Connors, but a double flapjack put Castle down. This allowed the trio to take advantage of the numbers game as Fredericks put Boy 1 into a Boston crab until Castle made the save. Fredericks and Castle traded chops, but Connors dumped Castle to the outside.
The Boys used the switcheroo as Castle had the referee’s back turned. Fredericks wasn’t aware of the switch and Boy 2 rolled him up with a cradle for the win.
A recap of Bandido defeating PJ Black from Honor Reigns Supreme aired, along with a video of Black discussing his time in wrestling and his change of attitude recently since the loss to Bandido. Black called it an “eye-opener.”
The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas) defeated The Voros Twins (Chris & Patrick)
Beer City Bruiser started it off with Chris Voros. Patrick Voros interfered on the outside, allowing Chris to chop block Bruiser. The brothers kept Bruiser contained with chops until Bruiser escaped and managed to tag in Milonas, who made quick work of the twins.
Milonas put each brother down with slams and then tagged Bruiser back in. Bruiser set up Patrick for the Last Call leg drop, which got Bruiser the pinfall victory.
A video package aired showing The Kingdom laying waste to Jonathan Gresham. While Gresham was being carried to the back afterward, Silas Young confronted Gresham and got in his face. He booted him and ashed a cigarette on Gresham’s back for good measure.
Silas Young defeated Johnathan Gresham
Young used some shortcuts to get the advantage on Gresham, but Gresham made referee Todd Sinclair aware of the situation. Gresham called for a test of strength with the much larger Young. Eventually, a series of reversals led to Young hip tossing Gresham over the top rope.
A big chop exchange took place on the floor. Riccaboni explained that because Young is taller, his chops hurt more because they are coming from a downward angle — also, he’s much stronger than Gresham. Multiple waist lock reversals led to Young hitting a big knee, but Gresham threw Young outside to the floor and followed that up with a big dive onto Young.
Back in the ring, Gresham went for a splash but Young moved. Young stomped Gresham in the corner and snapped him over with a suplex. He put Gresham down again with a hard whip into the turnbuckle.
Young taunted Gresham more and beat him down with strikes. Young squished him in the corner, but got greedy and went for it again. This allowed Gresham to evade and land a running double stomp to Young.
Gresham scored a two count with a roll-up, but Young escaped and caught Gresham with a roll-up of his own. Young turned Gresham inside out with a huge clothesline. That took everything out of both men. Young managed to get a hold of Gresham and used the Anarchist suplex to get a two count.
Gresham fired up and went after the knee of Young with strikes, but Young kept up the pressure. Gresham wouldn’t give up and kept getting up. Young obliged with more striking. Each wrestler connected with hard forearms.
Young would knock him down and Gresham would get up until Gresham hit a step-up enzuigiri, then followed it up with a German suplex. Gresham nailed him with three knockout blow forearms and another German, but Young kicked out.
The frustration showed on Gresham’s face. He called for the Octopus stretch but Young countered. This separation allowed Gresham to hit a running second rope springboard moonsault, which sent Young to the floor. Gresham then hit a running flip dive onto Young on the outside.
Gresham went to the top turnbuckle with Young laying prone and nailed a beautiful Shooting Star Press, but Young kicked out again! Gresham secured an ankle and it looked like Young, who had been busted open, was going to tap, but Young rolled through and Gresham was launched into the referee. With the referee not looking, Young hit a low blow and rolled up Gresham for the win.
Silas Young & The Briscoes defeated Shinobi Shadow Squad (Eli Isom, Ryan Nova & Cheeseburger)
Jay Briscoe and Isom started off. Isom used his quickness to evade Jay, but eventually Jay got the tag to his brother. Isom landed a nice arm drag and tagged in Nova, who worked the arm of Mark Briscoe until tagging in Cheeseburger.
After the break, the Briscoes had taken over on Cheeseburger. Cheeseburger finally tagged in Isom. Isom used a fireman’s carry driver on Jay and went for a pin but only got a two count. The edge for Isom didn’t last long. Jay used a Spicoli driver and Mark landed a Froggy Elbow off the top, but Isom kicked out at two.
It was all heart from Isom as he kept fighting back, and he actually used a brainbuster on Jay to get another two count. He went toe-to-toe with both Briscoes until Jay used a Jay Driller on him to get the win.
The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas) defeated Brian Johnson & Joe Keys
Keys started off by challenging Beer City Bruiser to a pose-off. Bruiser laughed at him and slapped him in the face. Bruiser then began chopping Keys in the corner. Keys tagged in Johnson, but Bruiser also cut him off. However, Keys distracted Bruiser, which allowed Johnson to catch Bruiser in the corner.
Keys was tagged back in, foolishly went for a body slam, and had no luck. He tagged Johnson in and the two of them were able to slam Bruiser.
Keys went for a big splash, but Bruiser moved and Keys nailed his head on the post. Bruiser tagged in Milonas, who went to work tossing around Johnson. They set Johnson up for the Last Call leg drop, which allowed Milonas to get the pin for his team.
Madison Rayne (w/ Sumie Sakai) defeated Thunder Rosa (w/ Holidead)
Rayne got the advantage early on Rosa, but Rayne got distracted by Holidead and went after her. That allowed Rosa to take control. Rosa used a slam and a running leg drop to attack Rayne.
After the commercial, Rosa used a running back elbow and a snapmare to get a two count. She stayed on Rayne with vicious chops, but Rayne was able to connect with a spear out of nowhere to buy her some time. Rayne picked up the pace and landed a crossbody off the second rope. She followed that up with an enzuigiri kick but only got a two count.
Rosa countered and used a spinning Gory Special slam but only got two. Rosa went crazy, which allowed Rayne to slide behind and connect with the Off with her Head reverse DDT to get the win.
Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Rocky Romero
Sabre took over early and attacked the wrist of Romero. Sabre used some sneaky submission attempts, but Romero survived. Sabre really stretched out the shoulders of Romero. Romero attempted to get the match moving quicker with some lucha moves. He used a standing dropkick to get Sabre to back off.
After the break, Sabre was back to work on the shoulders and arms of Romero. However, Romero countered the Japanese stranglehold and put Sabre in the move. Romero finally got some space and used a springboard tornado DDT. He followed that up with a hurricanrana.
Romero then taunted Sabre with some slaps to the head. He nailed the rewind kick and went for the Forever clotheslines, but Sabre caught Romero’s foot and used it to put him in the STF submission. Romero got to the ropes, forcing Sabre to break the hold.
Sabre then taunted Romero with some slaps, which fired up Romero. He was able to use a springboard dropkick to the prone Sabre. Romero landed Sliced Bread and nearly got a three count, but Sabre kicked out at two. Sabre was able to catch Romero in an abdominal stretch. He sat down on it and wrenched it in, and that forced Romero to tap out.
ROH TV episode #392 —
Lifeblood (Juice Robinson, Tracy Williams & Bandido) defeated Dalton Castle & The Boys
Castle and Robinson started it off. Each man faked a dive and strutted. Robinson tagged in Williams and Castle tagged in Boy 2. He quickly tagged in Boy 1, who quickly tagged Boy 2 back in. Williams had enough of that and chopped each Boy to the mat.
During the break, Bandido used some incredible athleticism on the Boys to get the advantage. However, Castle took the tag and pulled Bandido to the mat. The Boys tagged in and out quickly and went to work on Bandido’s shoulder. Castle launched each Boy in the air for an attack on Bandido. The Boys seemed to be in control until Bandido hit a tornado dive off the top rope and wiped out each Boy.
Bandido tagged in Robinson, with him squishing each Boy in the corner with running flip attacks. He followed that up with some stiff jabs to each Boy. He lifted Boy 1 onto his shoulders and spun him for a very long time until connecting with the Juice Box knees to the gut. Robinson then hit Pulp Friction on Boy 1, but Castle broke up the pin.
On the outside, Tenille Dashwood got in Castle’s face for breaking up the pin. As they were arguing, Bandido wiped out Castle with a dive.
Robinson then got back in the ring and Boy 2 cut him off, but he bounced off Robinson and Robinson tagged in Bandido. There was a miscue and Boy 2 accidentally took out Castle on the apron. Bandido landed a springboard moonsault on Boy 2, but Castle broke up the pin again. It didn’t matter though as Bandido was able to connect with his rebound German suplex on Boy 2 to pick up the victory for his team.
Jay Lethal talked about what it will mean to him to wrestle in Madison Square Garden and said that he is still the best wrestler in the world.
NWA National Champion Willie Mack defeated Rhett Titus to retain his title
Titus used some methodical chain wrestling to ground Mack. However, Mack used a nice running knee to plant Titus. Mack then began chopping the finely sculpted pectorals of Titus. Titus attempted to chop Mack back, but Mack didn’t react at all.
Mack used a running vertical suplex to stop Titus. He went for a fireman’s carry, but Titus held onto the ropes. Titus fought back with a running boot. Mack countered a clothesline into a backslide pin, but Titus kicked out at two. Mack used his power edge to knock down Titus with big elbows and slams. He followed that up with a mammoth cannonball drop onto Titus in the corner. Titus fell out to the floor.
Mack put his body on the line and connected with a flipping dive. He tossed Titus back in the ring and then went up top, but Titus intelligently rolled to the apron and managed to drop Mack’s neck across the top rope.
Mack recovered and came back with a kip up, a standing moonsault, and a stunner, followed by a frog splash off the top rope, and that was enough to earn him the win.
Bully Ray talked about the many times he’s wrestled at Madison Square Garden, and said he was going to steal the show. He made an open challenge for anyone to battle him at MSG in a New York City street fight.
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham defeated Coast 2 Coast (LSG & Shaheem Ali)
Ali and Lethal were the two wrestlers who started off the match. Lethal punished Ali with chops until LSG made a blind tag and landed a neckbreaker. Gresham made a tag and began putting the boots to LSG. However, LSG powered up and threw Gresham into the corner as he made the tag back in to Ali. A double-team kick put Gresham down.
Ali tried to shoot Gresham off the ropes, but he countered into a stunner and tagged in Lethal. A unique enzuigiri dragon screw leg whip combination gained Lethal the edge as he went to work on the knee of Ali. Gresham used his ground assault to further injure the leg of Ali
Eventually, LSG got the tag from Ali. Coast 2 Coast took over on Lethal, but he fought back valiantly and was able to get the tag to Gresham. Gresham hit a flying dropkick to the leg of Ali and they exchanged blows.
Lethal landed a powerbomb on Ali and Gresham applied the figure four. LSG broke up the submission, but Lethal and Gresham then used the Cornette cutter on Ali for the win.
Eight matches have now been made official for Ring of Honor’s 17th Anniversary pay-per-view.
ROH announced on Wednesday that Jonathan Gresham will face Silas Young at the PPV. This will be the second singles match they’ve had in ROH, with Young having won their first matchup in 2017.
Jeff Cobb retained his Television title against Young in a match that aired on this week’s episode of ROH television. Young challenging for the title was set up by him winning a number one contender’s mini-tournament.
Gresham vs. Matt Taven on this week’s ROH TV episode ended in a disqualification when The Kingdom attacked Gresham. Jay Lethal tried to make the save but was beaten down. LifeBlood (Juice Robinson, Tenille Dashwood, Bandido, David Finlay, and Mark Haskins) then made the save for Gresham and Lethal. The angle ended with Lethal destroying the fake World title belt that Taven has been carrying around.
Lethal will defend his ROH World Championship against Taven in the main event of the Anniversary PPV. The event is taking place at Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas, Nevada on Friday, March 15. There will also be a set of television tapings at the venue the next night.
Here’s the updated card for the PPV:
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal defending against Matt Taven
ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes defending against PCO & Brody King
Women of Honor World Champion Mayu Iwatani defending against Kelly Klein
ROH TV Champion Jeff Cobb defending against Shane Taylor
Rush vs. Bandido
Marty Scurll vs. Kenny King
Jonathan Gresham vs. Silas Young
Mark Haskins & Tracy Williams vs. Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan
Will Ospreay and PAC will be sharing the ring together over WrestleMania week — but they’ll be doing so as teammates.
Revolution Pro Wrestling announced today that Ospreay & PAC will face CCK (Chris Brookes & Jonathan Gresham) at their WrestleMania week show in New York City on Friday, April 5. The show is presented by WrestleCon and will take place at the Hilton New York Midtown Ballroom. The start time is 3 p.m. Eastern.
Ospreay & PAC vs. CCK stems from the story of Ospreay and PAC’s first-ever match against each other from RevPro’s High Stakes event last week. Brookes and Gresham interfered and attacked Ospreay while the referee was down. Brookes went to hit Ospreay with PAC’s Dragon Gate Open the Dream Gate title belt, but PAC stopped him. Ospreay and PAC briefly worked together to take out CCK.
Ospreay and PAC’s match at High Stakes ended in a 30-minute time-limit draw. PAC escaped a Storm Breaker and low blowed Ospreay near the finish. PAC wanted the referee to call for the disqualification, but he let the match continue. PAC then went up to hit the Black Arrow, but he opted to celebrate instead as time expired.
The crowd chanted for five more minutes after Ospreay vs. PAC. Ospreay called for it too, but PAC headed to the back.
ROH was in Miami, Florida on Sunday for Bound By Honor, the final night of their short Sunshine State loop this weekend.
Caprice Coleman and Nick Aldis (w/ Kamille) were on commentary for tonight’s show. Aldis filled in for Ian Riccaboni tonight, as Riccaboni was home with his family awaiting the birth of their second child.
The venue was smaller but the front area looked packed in. The seats towards the back were peppered with fans but looked to be empty, mostly.
Jay Briscoe defeated Rhett Titus
Titus flexed his baby oil-laden muscles and cut a basic promo on Briscoe in the ring before the match. He at one point flexed until his face turned red. Moments later, the crowd began chanting “Jay is gonna kill you.”
Titus worked Briscoe over with stomps, chops, and a back-rake early on. He then used a tope con giro to the floor and received applause from a confused crowd who didn’t seem to know how to react after all of Titus’ heel work.
Briscoe quickly came back with a Rude Awakening-style neckbreaker. He followed up by hitting the Jay Driller for a quick win. Not a great match — but it felt like it did its job in keeping Jay strong in singles action.
Shinobi Shadow Squad (Cheeseburger, Eli Isom & Ryan Nova) defeated Dalton Castle & The Boys
Castle and the Boys shook hands with 3S before the bout. Castle’s trash talk was funny and his mat wrestling looked great, which allowed Nick Aldis to start to shine on commentary. He did a good job at detail-oriented play-by-play.
Cheeseburger got a few chants when he tagged in. 3S used some double-team work on both Boys, and Isom hit a decent springboard splash to one of them.
The crowd died halfway through until Isom hit the ring. Nice springboard missile dropkick and a few wild suplex from Isom here. Castle started yelling at the Boys after this, which led to some miscommunication on an Irish whip a few moments later, with Castle and a Boy getting knocked off the ring. Isom used a brainbuster on the other Boy for the upset win.
This could have been about five minutes shorter. It’s looking as though Castle and the Boys will split soon. That was the only real story within the match, and it didn’t become apparent until the last few minutes.
Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Colt Cabana
This was nonstop World of Sport-style mat wrestling — both looked excellent throughout. They had natural chemistry together; Sabre, the arrogant, vicious heel, Cabana, the fun-loving wrestling craftsmen who isn’t afraid to throw a few closed-fist punches every now and then.
There were almost no strikes in this match, actually, or at least for the first five minutes or so. It was all catching, all hold-for-hold, all pin combos and reversals.
The crowd heated up once the two started chopping and kicking each other. Sabre used a harsh penalty kick on Cabana, and later finished him with a triangle choke/straight reverse armbar.
If old WOS is your thing, you should probably go out of your way to check this out. ZSJ was really “on” tonight.
Kenny King defeated Marty Scurll, Willie Mack, and Silas Young in a four corner survival match
This was all action. Young shoved all the competitors in the ring before the bell and left the ring. He continued to jaw-jack from the floor after the match kicked off.
Willie Mack gave Kenny King a nipple-twister. There was a point early on when only Mack and Scurll were in the ring together and it looked like they have the capacity to pull off something special in a singles match.
Mack did a crossbody block to all three wrestlers, then hit a huge tope con giro to the floor and received an entirely different response to the spot than Rhett Titus did earlier on.
Mack and Scurll were who people were most excited for in this match, which in a way is a shame because King and Young both looked pretty good tonight, too, tighter than usual, especially regarding Young.
Mack and Scurll did some nice double-team work on King and the crowd lit up. The two then had a chop-off.
Scurll used a half-nelson suplex on Young, then put him in the chicken wing. Young tapped, but King distracted the referee after he brought a chair into the ring. After referee Todd Sinclair grabbed the chair from King, King gave Scurll a low blow and pinned him for the victory.
This match was good but would have been better if it were either a tag match or a singles match between Scurll and Mack. The crowd hadn’t reacted to anything so vociferously up until those two were in the ring.
ROH Television Champion Jeff Cobb defeated Rocky Romero to retain his title
This was fine. A bit of a David vs. Goliath story at the start. Cobb stood like a stone and wouldn’t sell any strikes — he wouldn’t leave his feet for any wrestling-related holds.
After a couple of minutes, Romero decided to use an eye poke to shift the match’s momentum briefly. Cobb came back with ease and dominated the bout some more. He used a cool modified Oklahoma Stampede on Romero for two.
The crowd died in the middle of this until Cobb hit a standing moonsault. Romero rallied back and used an unassisted Sliced Bread on Cobb for two. Romero fluffed a few springboard spots. When he went for another Sliced Bread, Cobb reversed it into a backbreaker.
At the end of the match, Cobb went on a suplex tear and finished Romero off with Tour of the Islands.
This looked better on paper then it ended up being. I’m not sure if it was the awkwardness between the wrestlers, like with their chemistry together, or because the crowd sort of gave up halfway through the match.
Mayu Iwatani defeated Kelly Klein to win the Women of Honor World Championship
This might have been the best match of the show so far next to the ZSJ vs. Cabana WOS showcase.
Klein looks more confident with every show she’s been on since she’s won the WOH title. A few fans threw streamers in the ring for Iwatani.
The two started off with rough chops, headlocks, knees, and kicks. Up to this point in the show, no one was as good at selling as Iwatani was during this match. It helped Klein look like a monster, plus it induced the crowd to get behind Iwatani whenever she made a comeback. I mean, she was getting pops off of shoulder blocks at one point.
Iwatani hit a stunning plancha from the top turnbuckle to the floor. Klein returned with a release German suplex onto the floor.
Iwatani used two release Dragon suplexes and a few brutal kicks for two. She later used two moonsaults onto Klein for the shock win. The crowd was stunned and very into it.
LifeBlood (Juice Robinson, Mark Haskins, Bandido & Tracy Williams) w/ Tenille Dashwood defeated The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas) & Coast to Coast (LSG & Shaheem Ali)
Too many cooks in the kitchen here. The match didn’t feel like it really began until Bandido was tagged in. He springboard around the ring a bit until the heels and babyfaces all squared off for a small skirmish. This made for a nice visual that’d fit well into a promo package.
Haskins worked very hard in this match. Great selling and intense offense. He took much of the heel defense in the middle of this one.
Beer City Bruiser did his “I ain’t got no teeth!” catchphrase. The crowd responded with a confused groan.
Robinson was quite over but didn’t do a whole lot in this one. He used a nice spinebuster at one point. He looked to be the tallest guy in the match, too, which I found strange for some reason.
Bandido used a slingshot frankensteiner to the floor onto Bruiser, then a tornillo in the ring on LSG for two.
On the apron, Bruiser used a Death Valley Driver onto Haskins and it got a “holy sh*t” chant. This looked nuts.
The biggest pop of the night came when Bandido caught Bruiser off the ropes and cleanly powerslammed him. Wow. How he doesn’t have a hernia, I don’t know. He used 21+, the rolling slingshot German suplex, on LSG for the win. Lots of action at the end of this one.
The Bouncers busted out a small cooler and all of the wrestlers — Dashwood included — chugged a few.
PCO defeated Mark Briscoe
A great modern brawl with an unfortunately tired crowd. At the start, the two exchanged heavy strikes before running to the outside of the ring to grab steel chairs. They wanted to have a chair duel, but referee Todd Sinclair broke it up.
Mark Briscoe later hit a running blockbuster to the floor on PCO. They exchanged chops after this — and every one of them sounded painful. Briscoe’s chest was purplish-red.
PCO later returned the attacks with a big chokeslam and even more chops in the corner.
The crowd woke back up when PCO used a tope con giro through the middle ropes, like the one Fenix does, it’s just here it’s, well, it’s PCO. It should be noted that PCO was bleeding from the left eye at this point in the match.
The two really started going at it after the floor spots. PCO took another insane bump onto the edge of the apron tonight, the missed somersault senton. Mark Briscoe took advantage of this and did a corkscrew senton from the top turnbuckle to the outside.
The match spilled out into the aisle, then onto the stage. Briscoe powerbombed PCO onto the stage floor and it looked really dangerous. PCO no-sold this, then Briscoe dropkicked him down the entrance stairs.
Briscoe hit PCO with two hard chair shots, then hit a Froggy Bow for two. Somehow PCO came back and landed his monstrous moonsault for the win.
If you like late-90s ECW, this was pretty much that. It’s truly unreal to see PCO take so much punishment so regularly, which is worrisome, but a spectacle, still.
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan) defeated ROH World Champion Jay Lethal, Jonathan Gresham & Rush in a non-title match
This weekend in Florida was Rush’s official debut as an ROH talent. He and TK O’Ryan were terrific together early in this match. The audience loved all the Los Ingobernables taunts and poses he did.
Lethal and Taven bolted at each other outside the ring after this, apropos of nothing, really, and started blasting each other with punches. It was so heated and well done that the crowd went all in on it. The rest of the competitors followed suit, and the next few minutes of the match consisted of mostly brawling.
It was hard to figure out who the legal man was at points. The referees tonight allowed for tons of leeway with the wrestlers on the outside and basically didn’t use any counts.
This bothers a lot of fans. Realistically, it’s been a part of the American scene since the ECW days, so I and others have grown used to it and often don’t mind, but it’s something worth discussing. The same idea could be applied to the PCO vs. Mark Briscoe match, where the ref felt more like a piece of furniture with wheels, always there but not really adding much else to the aesthetic of the match.
Marseglia and O’Ryan used House of a Thousand Corpses on both Rush and Gresham, then Taven pinned Lethal after the Climax.
Kenny King came out and cut a promo on Lethal and Marty Scurll. Scurll followed King and attacked him, and then — pretty much the entire locker room emptied out and it looked like a very tired battle royale.
Bully Ray came out last and started screaming at Todd Sinclair for some reason. PCO confronted Bully and they exchanged chops until the Briscoes attacked PCO, who eventually came back and did a moonsault from the top onto about 20 wrestlers.
The match was chaotic and kind of a mess, but it wasn’t bad. I didn’t really understand the underlying function of the last segment, unless it was just to come up with an excuse for PCO to moonsault onto everyone so that the company can use it for their sizzle reel.
Final thoughts —
This was a decent show that was a bit of a slog at times. ZSJ vs. Cabana, Iwatani vs. Klein and PCO vs. Mark Briscoe were probably the best matches of the night, or at least the most fun to watch.
Three more matches have been added to the lineup for this month’s Ring of Honor television tapings.
In his second match for the promotion and his first since signing with them, Rush will be facing Tracy Williams at ROH’s TV tapings in Lakeland, Florida on Saturday, February 9. Rush debuted for ROH at December’s post-Final Battle tapings, while Williams made his ROH debut in last November’s Survival of the Fittest tournament.
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham vs. Coast 2 Coast (Shaheem Ali & LSG) and Dalton Castle vs. Kenny king have also been announced for the Lakeland tapings. Here’s the updated card:
ROH Television Champion Jeff Cobb defending against Silas Young
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan) defending against Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO & Brody King)
Lethal & Gresham vs. Coast 2 Coast
Castle vs. Kenny King
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Rocky Romero
Rush vs. Williams
The tapings are part of ROH’s Bound By Honor weekend in Florida, which also includes an HonorClub show in Miami on Sunday, February 10.
ROH was in Dallas, Texas on Thursday night as the Road to G1 Supercard tour began.
This was the first of three straight nights of Road to G1 Supercard shows in Texas. The three events feature a 12-team Tag Wars tournament, with the winners getting a Tag Team title shot at ROH’s 17th Anniversary pay-per-view and a spot in the Crockett Cup tournament.
Marty Scurll defeated Rhett Titus
Sterilized jazzy lounge music blared as the baby oil-soaked Titus flexed and posed in the ring at the beginning of the show. The crowd’s initial “R-O-H” chant overlapped with these moments.
Marty Scurll came out to a superstar’s response. He was wearing new leopard print tights with “Villain Enterprises” on the back, a different aesthetic from what he wore during his Elite run.
Scurll did his superkick on the apron spot and a superplex later on. Titus did a big tope con giro in response, and at this point all of the baby oil on his chest dried up. He used a pop-up Liger Bomb but missed a not-so-good looking frog splash, which led to Scurll catching Titus in Graduation for the win in this opening match.
This was fine. It felt like a good house show match in that it was solid in ring action, though it was nothing spectacular — and it didn’t have to be. It was purely fan service, and the fans sounded satisfied as they chanted “MAR-TY” over and over as Scurll exited.
Juice Robinson & David Finlay defeated Karl Fredericks & Alex Coughlin in a Tag Wars tournament first round match
They showed a package of Juice Robinson introducing a new stable in ROH, LifeBlood, which consists of Robinson, David Finlay, Tenille Dashwood, Tracy Williams, Mark Haskins, and Bandido. Robinson declared it’d be a new era for ROH and that they are hitting the figurative reset button on the company.
Dashwood came out with Robinson and Finlay, then joined the announce team to help call this match.
Juice was over with the crowd and they chanted his name before the match started. He and Coughlin kicked the bout off. Coughlin is huge. He’s built like a football player, which makes sense as Ian Riccaboni explained he was a former rugby player.
Finlay and Robinson both used sentons during the first part of this match. Robinson was the only one with charisma in this match and the crowd only really reacted to him throughout.
Fredericks used a nice dropkick and spinebuster on Finlay. The Young Lions did a double Boston crab spot and it got a loud reaction. Both showed lots of intensity during their high spots.
Finlay used Trash Panda on Coughlin to win the match. This wasn’t all terrible but it’s also not worth watching if you don’t have the time. The interesting takeaways here were Robinson’s popularity with the crowd and how well the US Young Lions did. They looked green, sure, but they didn’t look that much better or worse than Finlay, or even Robinson with regard to in-ring work.
ROH TV Champion Jeff Cobb defeated Clark Connors in a Proving Ground match
Katsuyori Shibata came out to second for Connors, his other NJPW LA dojo trainee.
Connors is another supremely athletic Young Lion and was not booked like a total rookie in this match — or at least he didn’t really come off as one. He was presented as a rookie to look out for throughout, like he’s possibly the Next Big Thing.
He wasn’t completely jobbed out in this match, though the bout itself was under ten minutes. Connors was able to slam Cobb and put him in a Young Lion Crab, but Cobb quickly hit a spinning back suplex and Tour of the Islands for the win. The two shook hands afterwards.
Dalton Castle & The Boys defeated Shane Taylor & ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes via DQ
Beer City Bruiser came out to do commentary with Riccaboni and Colt Cabana.
This was another decent but forgettable match. Castle was very popular with the crowd. He and Jay Briscoe kicked the match off. They jawjacked for a bit until Jay Briscoe grabbed the mic and asked Castle when he’d let The Boys grow up and fight like a man, so one of the Boys tagged in.
Both Boys got some high flying offense in at the front end of this match. The Briscoes are great at feeding moves to anyone and making them look good.
Aside from a huge pop-up Pounce from Shane Taylor, Jay Briscoe took the lead through most of this match, or any other time it involved a Boy.
Dalton Castle looked great in this match but was only tagged in for short spot-laden spurts. Considering Castle’s nagging back issues (he is still wearing a back brace), he’d probably be more valuable in a tag team scenario for 2019.
Castle almost got the pin after a Bang-a-Rang, but Shane Taylor dragged the referee out of the ring, breaking up the pin and ultimately getting his team disqualified.
Taylor and the Briscoes accosted the ref some more and pounded on everyone else until David Finlay and Juice Robinson made the save. Robinson got on the mic after this and told the heels and the crowd that they were going to deliver honor tonight in the main event (Gresham/Lethal vs. Williams/Haskins). He used the term “honor” a lot and implied that there was to be no more funny business for the rest of the night.
Madison Rayne defeated Holidead (w/ Thunder Rosa)
While they seem to still have a long way to go, the Twisted Sisterz, Holidead and Thunder Rosa, inject something resembling depth to the Women of Honor division. They look so much different than the other Women of Honor and that somehow creates an illusion of depth in the division, something it desperately needs for 2019.
Holidead heel’d it up for most of this match, especially at the beginning, growling at the crowd and refusing to break submissions. “She likes it!” was the explanation she used to the ref on not breaking a hold.
Madison Rayne has the fired-up babyface deal down pat, and midway through this match she showcased some fast-paced offense. Holidead is slow in the ring and Rayne is quick, so the visual dynamic shined through as the two went back and forth.
Holidead got a close two count after a ripcord cutter. Rayne attempted a crucifix into a sunset flip pin but botched it. They still went with this finish as Rayne picked up the pin here.
Thunder Rosa immediately jumped Rayne after the match. Sumie Sakai then came out and chased the Sisterz off with a chair in a mildly awkward angle setting up a possible tag match this week between Sakai and Rayne vs the Twisted Sisterz.
Matt Taven defeated Rocky Romero
This would have been a great match if it had been cut down by five to seven minutes. At the start, Taven got on the mic and made fun of a guy wearing a fleece vest before the match. He then mentioned that while both he and Rocky have held titles in NJPW and CMLL, the thought of the comparison makes him sick.
Taven called Rocky a Melvin and put himself and his purple title over for a while longer until Romero jumped Taven and the match got underway.
Taven’s heel aura is so much more obvious compared to other heels on the current ROH roster. He constantly built heat while Romero’s pops got louder as the match went on. Taven used a Disaster Kick to knock Romero off the apron. He then demanded the “idiots” in the crowd clap for him. They brawled outside. Romero later dove off the stage onto Taven.
A bunch of balloons floated up from under the ring and Romero thought it was from Vinny Marseglia, Taven’s Kingdom stablemate who often does the balloon spot, but it was a trick that allowed Taven to beat on Romero some more.
This slowed toward the middle. Taven did a top rope Boston Crab that looked very cool and got a loud reaction. Romero later did a tornado DDT and the crowd decided they’d get very, very behind Rocky at this point. That or they decided they just really hated Taven.
The two got into a slap fight that Taven got the better of. Taven later reversed Sliced Bread into a backbreaker. They went through a sequence of hot high spots and then the crowd started chanting “fight forever.” Like clockwork, Taven hit the Climax and the match came to an end.
Again, if this were five or so minutes shorter it’d have been great. It got the loudest reactions of the night so far, too.
The Kingdom came out right after this for their Tag Wars match.
Brody King & PCO (w/ Marty Scurll) defeated The Kingdom (Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan w/ Matt Taven) in a Tag Wars tournament first round match
Taven and Scurll teased getting into it with each other until Scurll chased Taven to the back. The crowd was loudly chanting for PCO before this one.
There was a point at the beginning of this match where PCO demanded Brody King chop him a few times before King whipped him into the opposite corner, where he basement dropkicked O’Ryan in the face.
Marseglia tried chopping King later on and totally whiffed; King’s reaction was priceless. The crowd wouldn’t really react to the Kingdom’s heel work and just wanted to cheer Villain Enterprises. This happens often at ROH shows, it seems like, where the crowd sits politely, silently, until they’re cued back into the match. It makes for a strange crowd dynamic.
Marseglia was obviously put off by the silent crowd and called them silent “puppets,” desperate for some kind of reaction. They eventually bit and chanted more for PCO.
PCO used a number of power moves I’ve never seen him use before. He took tons of punishment in this match, both intentional and unintentional, including one scary moment when the Kingdom and PCO miscommunicated on either a back body drop or flapjack. PCO landed on his neck but seemed like he was fine afterwards.
The Kingdom did House of a Thousand Corpses but Brody King broke up the pin. Marseglia later missed a diving senton atomico through a table, which got a massive reaction from the crowd.
King used a Gonzo Bomb on O’Ryan, then PCO hit his monstrous moonsault for the win.
This was a decent brawl that felt centered on the star of the match, PCO, who has adapted quickly to the modern in-ring pace we see in ROH.
Bandido defeated Silas Young
On paper, this could have been a disaster. It wasn’t.
This was originally supposed to be Flip Gordon vs. Bandido, but since Gordon was injured at Honor Reigns Supreme, Young wrestled in his place.
Bandido was very over in Dallas. He didn’t struggle much working with Young, whose style is entirely different. Bandido showed more charisma than I’ve seen out of him before, especially compared to a few weeks ago in Concord, NC.
Young received his usual amount of heat tonight. He blended his style to Bandido’s, as opposed to vice-versa, and it felt like it mostly worked.
The crowd stayed mostly silent as Young worked over Bandido for the majority of this match. You could hear every taunt and every complaint to the ref from Young, which made the production feel unintentionally provincial.
The crowd eventually became restless and started jeering Young, and when Bandido made his comeback the crowd apparently did, too, as many of them came to their feet to see Bandido tornillo and Orihara moonsault around the ring.
Bandido tried deadlifting Young later on but threw his back out. After more back and forth, Young hit the Plunge for a very close two and, for some reason, the crowd became unglued. They started slamming their palms against the barricade and chanting “R-O-H.”
After Young superplexed Bandido, he rolled through and went for another, but Bandido countered with a deadlift vertical suplex. The crowd did a “This is awesome” chant after seeing that one.
The two cranked it up a few more notches for the final sequence that ended with Bandido using a rolling slingshot German suplex with a bridge for the win.
After the match, Young went to shake Bandido’s hand but kicked him in his left knee. Bandido sold this like crazy and was carried to the back by ROH staff. Riccaboni spoke in a hushed voice on commentary, with the intent obviously to turn Bandido into one of the company’s top underdog babyfaces. It seems to be working as the crowd chanted for Bandido as they cut away.
A short video package for Rush was shown after this.
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham defeated Tracy Williams & Mark Haskins in a Tag Wars tournament first round match
Kenny King joined Riccaboni and Cabana on commentary for this match.
All wrestlers shook hands before the bell. Typically straight-laced shoot style wrestler Tracy Williams came out to dance music. I’m still not sure why he’s called “Hot Sauce,” either.
Williams’ left shoulder is still in a functional sling. He began the match against Gresham and both exchanged fresh-looking chain wrestling and escapes.
Both tagged out to their respective teammates. Before Haskins and Lethal started wrestling, both posed and postured and it sounded like the crowd was very much behind Lethal.
Williams and Haskins showed a natural chemistry together. Both used a variety of joint locks and low-spots to wear down Lethal throughout the beginning of the match.
This seems to be the pattern in a lot of Lethal’s matches these days: He tends to let his opponents shine over him, Lethal always seeming to function as the underdog champion, always fighting from underneath.
Gresham eventually blind-tagged himself into the match and used a deadlift German suplex on Williams; Lethal followed up with a tope suicida.
Gresham and Lethal then worked over Williams’ leg for a long while, all in true Anderson family fashion, always cutting the ring in half, always cognizant of Haskins reaching out for the tag. Gresham used a number of creative submission moves on Williams during this section of the match.
Williams was able to counter eventually with a cradle brainbuster on Gresham. Haskins came into the ring with enough fire to illicit a few reactions from the crowd. He used a sit-out Death Valley Driver for a close two.
The match’s story became more clear when Williams was back in the ring, as he did a noticeably good job of selling his left leg, the one worked over by Lethal and Gresham. He was later whipped into the ropes by Gresham and collapsed on his way there, clutching his knee.
Lethal tagged in and locked a figure four onto Williams for a close call that was broken up when Haskins shoved Gresham into Lethal. Haskins used some impressive offense on Lethal after this, which included a rather long-distance diving double stomp for two.
The crowd chanted “this is awesome” during the final sequences. There were great high spots and near falls, and Williams and Haskins showed an authentic fire that eventually got them over with the crowd in that there were a handful of times where they and myself felt for a second that they really could have gotten a fluke pinfall tonight.
That was quickly kiboshed when Lethal and Gresham did a double team slingshot cutter maneuver for the win.
This was a very smart match with a good finish. All four wrestlers went to shake hands until the heel tag teams of Shane Taylor & Silas Young and the Briscoes came out and beat the babyfaces down. Juice Robinson then came out to help and got beat up for it.
Riccaboni then mentioned to find out what happens on Friday night in Houston as the broadcast faded out.
Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman, and Colt Cabana called the action from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
ROH TV Champion Jeff Cobb defeated Shane Taylor in a non-title match
A battle of the big men started off with a shoulder block exchange. Cobb was able to get the edge and toss Taylor, but Taylor then suplexed Cobb. However, Cobb stood right up and a back-and-forth forearm fest garnered Cobb control.
After the break, Taylor had taken over, but Cobb fought back with some flying uppercuts. A huge dropkick from Cobb stunned Taylor as he was perched on the top rope. Cobb followed that up with a delayed vertical suplex and a standing moonsault.
Not to be outdone, Taylor landed his version of the Canadian Destroyer that he calls the Cleveland Destroyer. Amazing. The fans chanted “This is awesome.” Cobb snatched up Taylor with a huge German suplex and followed it up with the Tour of the Islands for the win.
After the match, Hangman Page came out to confront Cobb. Security followed to keep the peace, but these two were not interested in peace, as they laid out security. Cobb hoisted the TV title. One unfortunate security guard was left behind, so Cobb nailed a superkick and another Tour of the Islands.
Jay Lethal cut a promo on The Kingdom for the six-man tag team main event, which will be Lethal, Gresham, and a mystery partner against all three members of The Kingdom.
Marty Scurll recounted his feud with Hurricane Helms.
Brian Milonas found his partner Beer City Bruiser sitting at a bar backstage drinking a beer. Bruiser was depressed because the last time they were in Philadelphia, Silas Young walked out on them.
The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas) defeated Cheeseburger & Eli Isom (w/ Ryan Nova)
The announcers made all sorts of cheeseburger-related puns. The Bouncers worked together to isolate Cheeseburger. Bruiser lost his hold on Burger — which allowed him to tag in Isom.
Isom fired off some rapid offense — including a high crossbody off the top turnbuckle. He tagged Cheeseburger back in, leading to Cheeseburger landing a DDT on Milonas and then Isom was actually able to suplex him. Isom went up top but got cut off. Milonas hoisted him up for a superplex and then Bruiser hit the splash, their finishing combination known as Closing Time. It got the job done and The Bouncers picked up the win.
SoCal Uncensored came out and said that they wanted to end the reign of terror of The Briscoes. They said they will change Joe Koff’s mind by winning the ROH Tag Team Championship.
After SCU had finished speaking and were headed to the back, Mark Briscoe came from behind and waffled Scorpio Sky with a chair. Jay Briscoe then dropped Christopher Daniels with a Jay Driller on the ramp before a commercial.
During the break, Daniels was helped to the back by ROH personnel, jeopardizing next week’s main event where The Briscoes will defend against SCU and The Young Bucks.
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal, Jonathan Gresham, & Dalton Castle defeated The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan)
Castle got the better of The Kingdom, but they regrouped on the floor and tossed all three of their opponents into the guardrails. However, Lethal fought back and set up Taven in a chair before referee Todd Sinclair stopped the attack. Sinclair was pulled underneath the ring. This allowed Taven to hammer Lethal with the chair. Just after that, Sinclair emerged to count the fall — but Lethal kicked out.
Lethal was in big trouble and looked to make a tag, but The Kingdom came in to prevent it. Gresham finally tagged in and handled his foes and made the tag out to Castle. In the corner, Castle landed a running knee and a huge bulldog. There were more knees for everyone from Castle and an assist by Gresham with a dive to give his team the edge. Gresham went up for a Shooting Star Press, but Marseglia got his knees up.
Lethal came in and landed a Lethal Injection on O’Ryan — who rolled to the floor. That left Castle in the ring with Marseglia. Castle hit the Bang-a-Rang on Marseglia for the win.
Ring of Honor’s Global Wars tour began in Lewiston, Maine on Wednesday night.
The Big Takeaway —
This was a low-stakes house show. The gymnasium was clearly half-empty on camera, but the crowd was enthusiastic throughout the night. Only the Matt Taven-Dalton Castle angle was furthered to build Final Battle.
Two of the matches (The Briscoes vs. Cody & Hangman Page and Silas Young & Bully Ray vs. The Young Bucks) were interrupted by streaming issues and/or power outage issues in the town of Lewiston, according to Ian Riccaboni. Viewers were not able to see the finish of the Young & Ray vs. Young Bucks match
Show Recap —
A small but excited crowd were on their feet at the start of this show. Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana were on commentary tonight. They introduced the card.
Flip Gordon defeated Eli Isom
Rookie Eli Isom came out with Cheeseburger and Ryan Nova. Gordon got a noticeable pop from this Wednesday night crowd. Cabana brought up the “bird incident” from the Jericho Cruise last week.
Gordon and Isom began the match with a smooth set of chain wrestling and rope-running sequences. Gordon hit a great looking dropkick to Isom in the corner. He followed up with his nip-up Pele kick spots, finishing the sequence with a tope con giro.
Back in the ring, the two traded chops. Gordon’s one-foot dropkick is real pretty. Isom was pushed on commentary as a promising rookie. He didn’t look bad here. Isom hit a nice backdrop suplex onto Gordon. They did a wild spot that consisted of Gordon nipping up off the apron, a jump enzuigiri kick, and them rolling back into the ring for another kicking sequence. It was all at lightning speed, and the crowd was on their feet after this.
Isom’s suplexes are solid; he used a nice wheelbarrow German suplex for two at one point. Gordon responded with a Falcon Arrow, and later a springboard spear, before finally hitting a Flip 5 for the win. The two shook hands and posed afterwards.
A quick but satisfying opening match. These guys had great chemistry together, but Gordon was the obvious star meant to shine here.
ROH Tag Team Champions SoCal Uncensored (Scorpio Sky & Frankie Kazarian) defeated The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas) in a non-title match
The New Age Out–I mean SoCal Uncensored came out and did their pre-match promo work in the ring. They were very over with the crowd. The gymnasium looked empty on some camera shots but the fans down in front were enthusiastic, mitigating any embarrassing camera work.
The match itself was mostly fun old school-styled tag team wrestling. The Bouncers played big bully heels, and Beer City Bruiser did a few high spots to the outside.
There was a mildly funny moment where the ref accused Bruiser of biting. The camera zoomed in just as he said “I don’t have no teeth!”
Cabana said “Oh, mylanta” at one point during this match.
The Bouncers abused Kazarian for a long while. Sky broke up a number of near falls. The pace was slowed toward the end of this match because the Bouncers aren’t athletic. It weighed the match down. Milonas is impressive to a point but is very slow.
Sky and Kazarian powerbombed Milonas off the top rope to win the match. The teams shared beers afterwards.
ROH TV Champion Jeff Cobb defeated Cheeseburger in a non-title match
Cheeseburger came out with Ryan Nova and Eli Isom. The two shook hands before the bell.
The story was clear from the start of this bout: Cobb is massive and strong, Cheeseburger is wily, scrawny, and tenacious. Cobb rag-dolled Cheeseburger around the ring and it felt more like an exhibition than a contest for a lot of it.
A big, long bear hug spot, a bigger dropkick, and an insane dangling vertical superplex from Cobb to Cheeseburger all got just two.
Cheeseburger countered a few of Cobb’s moves and was able to use a Shotei in the corner, then a springboard cannonball senton for a pity two-count.
Cobb used a tremendous spinning backdrop suplex, then hit Tour of the Islands for the win.
A fine match that was more like an enhancement match for Cobb. The crowd seemed to enjoy it.
ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan) defeated Dalton Castle & The Boys to retain their titles
Rhett Titus came out before the match. He posed, then joined Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana on commentary.
It sounded like it was a surprise to the announce team that this had been scheduled to be for the Six-Man titles. Bobby Cruise announced it as such, though.
The crowd was into Castle and chanted for him before the match started. Marseglia attacked one of the Boys before the bell. While Castle screamed about the Boys’ bags to the referee, Taven and O’Ryan attacked. The bell finally rang.
This was chaotic from the start. Taven and company pounded on Castle with flurries of punches and kicks in the corner. O’Ryan worked over Castle’s injured back. Castle is still taped up around his left thigh, has a weight belt, and has some other serious looking knee compression gear.
O’Ryan did a cool running spot with the Boys. He carried one Boy in powerslam position and swung one Boy at the other.
The Boys did a flashy double stomp spot, then a wild nonstop sequence of “topes” that were basically just Castle taking the guys by the hair and repeatedly tossing them over the ropes onto The Kingdom.
Three red balloons flew up in the air at this point in the match.
Castle used a Bang-a-Rang on Marseglia for a near fall. Later, Taven countered out of another Bang-a-Rang attempt and booted Castle hard in the face.
One of the Boys came back into the ring wearing a rugby sweater. He was acting like Freddy Krueger and started back-raking Marseglia with his “claw.” He did a number of cool spots, like a standing Sliced Bread, and then Castle screamed “What have you become?” at the Boy, who then snapped out of it.
Taven and Castle squared off and did a Frye-Takayama punching spot all the way to the floor. The two other Kingdom members did a special tag team finisher — a modified double powerslam thing — on one of the Boys for the win here.
Taven cut a good promo on Castle. He claimed he owns this Kingdom of New England, and that he’ll get to him at Final Battle soon. The crowd booed without fire.
This match did its job. It built Taven and Castle for Final Battle, which could be better than people may expect.
The Briscoes defeated Hangman Page & IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Cody (w/ Brandi Rhodes)
The camera got an excellent shot of a very excited Briscoes fan, someone’s mother, I imagine, hopping up and down before the match.
Mark Briscoe tossed a chair into the ring for no apparent reason. The crowd woke up for this.
Mark and Page started off the match. There was a presence that all four wrestlers carry with them into this match that is very different from the wrestlers I watched in the matches before. Their body shape and size stood out, along with the conviction in the way they got into each other’s faces and locked heads.
The way Cody would rile the crowd up was something worth mentioning. His ring instincts are so attuned to the crowd regardless of what the plan is.
The ROH feed cut out in the middle of this match. The ROH logo spun around for a few minutes until it came back to the match. Riccaboni explained that the power in the building went out and that’s why the stream went out.
The match stayed on track in the building, with the crowd fiercely behind the newly-anointed Elite members (Elitists?). When the stream came back, Cody was in the middle of a hot high spot sequence inside the ring. It was eventually slowed to a halt, with both Jay and Mark Briscoe showcasing their unsung talent as vicious heels who are mostly always exciting to watch.
Page got a hot tag into the match later on. He and Jay traded a lot of punches and elbows and they really laid them into each other.
Page used a Shooting Star shoulder block off the apron, essentially out of nowhere, onto Mark on the floor. He hopped back into the ring and German suplexed Jay for only two.
Jay and Page brawled on the outside, and Cody and Mark got into the mix. Back in the ring, the Briscoes used the Redneck Boogie powerbomb/neckbreaker combination on Cody for a two count.
They exchanged uppercuts and straight right punches. Brandi Rhodes stood on the apron and was quickly knocked off it by Mark. There was some chaos outside the ring, which was capped off by a huge moonsault from the top turnbuckle to the outside.
This turned into a wild, fast-paced brawl in and outside the ring. Jay used the Jay Driller and then Mark smashed Page with a Froggy Bow for the win.
Despite the technical difficulties in the middle of this match, this was very much worth the watch. The Briscoes are having an under-the-radar type year of very good to excellent matches in various promotions. They are a great heel matchup with any of the Elite members, and this was all without a real storyline.
If there was a just a hair of narrative between these two teams, aside from the lightly touched upon history Riccaboni mentioned over the broadcast, it could make for a very hot two to three month program in either the United States or in Japan. Keep an eye out for matches featuring any combination of these four.
Juice Robinson defeated Christopher Daniels
Riccaboni put Robinson over as an international star. The wrestlers shook hands before the match started. The crowd seemed split over Daniels and Juice. I’d say 60/40 in Robinson’s favor.
This was a well-paced match, organic and smooth in every exchange. Daniels slowed things down for a while for a chinlock, but not to the levels of stagnancy often seen in some WWE matches. Daniels later used an Arabian press on Robinson for two.
People sounded to have sided more strongly with Robinson as the match went on. They did more back and forth, with one sequence of Robinson firing up. They fought to a double knockdown spot until Robinson headed to the top turnbuckle and Daniels crotched him onto the ropes.
After a long-ish lull in the match, Robinson started doing the Terry Funk/Dusty Rhodes cowboy punches. He tried Pulp Friction a few times and eventually landed it for the win.
This was good but not great, everything the sixth match on a Wednesday night card should probably be.
Silas Young & Bully Ray defeated The Young Bucks
Bully Ray came out to only boos. He screamed at ring announcer Bobby Cruise to shut up and was generally bully-ish. As he should be. He and Matt Taven were the most loudly booed wrestlers of the night so far.
People threw ribbons in the ring for the Bucks before the match. Bully Ray was very, very loud. He did a lot of crowd work here; he screamed “Your heroes SUCK!” at someone in the crowd. It was all very house show-ish, charming in its aesthetic.
The Bucks finally were able to tope their way onto the offense. Young was the pawn in the match, the way to let the Bucks shine without devaluing Ray as a heel.
As the match slowed, the heels took over. The crowd began chanting “Yankees suck!”
Matt Jackson used a spear on Bully Ray. Young put Matt into a Boston crab, working his storyline-injured back. Nick came into the ring with energy and made a few attempts to connect with the crowd after doing some of his signature moves to Young.
Young used a handful of power moves on Nick Jackson, including an Anarchy suplex. Nick was able to turn things around quickly with a couple of superkicks and a moonsault from the apron onto Bully Ray outside of the ring.
More superkicks inside the ring, and just as things were getting exciting, the stream went out again. The ROH logo spun around Windows 98 screensaver style for a couple of minutes until the feed came back and, apparently, Silas Young pinned one of the Bucks to win the match for his team.
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI) defeated Jonathan Gresham, Chris Sabin, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion KUSHIDA & ROH World Heavyweight Champion Jay Lethal
Between the matches, Riccaboni explained that there may have been a power outage issue in Lewiston tonight and apologized for the other stream outage.
LIJ were introduced one by one, each of them in full character garb. The crowd roared for Naito. They looked like absolute superstars tonight, with a visual charisma that carries across the screen in an almost jarring way.
His name is “Constellation” Chris Sabin now. Colt Cabana was as surprised as you and I were about this because he found out when we did. “Constellation’s” hair is in currently at AJ Styles soccer-mom length.
Gresham and Naito started the match. Naito looked gigantic compared to Gresham. He quickly tagged out, rudo style, allowing for SANADA to enter.
The crowd started chanting “Sa-Na-Da!” He had a fun but forgettable exchange with Gresham. EVIL and Sabin had it out for a bit in the ring. EVIL was popular with the crowd and received loud chants.
Sabin and KUSHIDA did some good tag work to EVIL. Lethal and Gresham double-teamed EVIL for a while and showed off some of the offense they’re using together these days as a semi-regular tag team. Gresham worked over EVIL’s arm and elbow.
Naito stepped in by tripping KUSHIDA, allowing for SANADA to dropkick KUSHIDA in the face. LIJ dominated from here, using a strategy of two wrestlers standing on the apron and two seemingly guarding the area around the ring, something we see much more in Japan than in the States.
Naito and later BUSHI finally showed up in the ring. A BUSHIroonie happened. Fans rallied behind KUSHIDA minutes later, but he wasn’t able to escape SANADA’s Paradise Lock and shotgun dropkick to the posterior.
KUSHIDA fired up and used a handspring back elbow. He was able to tag Lethal back into the ring. Lethal cleaned house and soaked in some of the louder crowd reactions of the night.
The ROH/NJPW team did a triple plancha spot. SANADA did a slingshot swinging neckbreaker suplex to Lethal.
BUSHI and Gresham worked well together. I found it fresh since BUSHI was the big guy. He’s usually a few kilos lighter than whomever he’s in the match with in NJPW matches, so this matchup felt like it could lead to something new or interesting.
The finishing sequence consisted of Lethal hitting a Lethal Injection on BUSHI, then EVIL using Darkness Falls on Lethal, and finally Naito using Destino on Gresham for the win.
This was a good match but, again, not a great one. It felt like a warm-up match, a match where some of the guys who haven’t worked with each other much before (BUSHI and Gresham, for example) can feel each other out and plan a tighter set for the bigger shows this weekend.
Zack Sabre Jr. will be wrestling for Ring of Honor for the first time later this year.
At last night’s television tapings in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, ROH set up a match between Sabre and Jonathan Gresham for Final Battle. Sabre didn’t appear in person at the tapings, though a video of him was shown.
Sabre and Gresham have faced each other several times before, including a series of matches for Beyond Wrestling.
ROH also publicly announced that Women of Honor World Champion Sumie Sakai will defend her title in a four corner survival match at Final Battle. Her three challengers will be wrestlers who won qualifying matches.
Final Battle 2018 is being held at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Friday, December 14. This will be the third straight year that the venue has hosted the pay-per-view. Aside from Final Battle 2015 being held in Philadelphia, the event has taken place in New York City since 2006.
Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman called the action on this week’s episode, which was taped in Las Vegas at the end of September.
Hangman Page defeated Scorpio Sky
Page, who has been on a roll, took it to Sky early. Page put a hurting on Sky and launched him head-first into the ring post on the outside.
After the break, Sky had regained his composure and had the edge until Page caught a crossbody block and turned it into a slam. Page connected with a running dropkick into the corner, a cradle fallaway slam, and a bridging German suplex, but only got a two count.
Sky fought back and used an inside-out slingshot cutter that nearly won him the match, but Page kicked out. He followed it up with a variation of the fisherman’s suplex. Page broke free and went for the Buckshot lariat, but Sky countered with a roll-up. Page nailed him with a kick and was able to hoist him up and land the Rite of Passage for the win.
Matt Taven and The Kingdom continued their degradation of the ROH World Champion Jay Lethal and his “fake” title.
Shane Taylor defeated Eli Isom
In a complete show of disrespect, Taylor spit in Isom’s palm. However, Isom was not intimidated. He started off hot until Taylor blasted him with a punch, which set up a draping stunner. Taylor slapped Isom with a thunderous chop, which led to the commercial break.
It was all Taylor until he missed a big splash. That allowed Isom to come back with jumping forearms, and amazingly he was able to pick the big man up onto his shoulders and hit a Samoan drop. Taylor kicked out, but Isom turned it up a notch. His fury didn’t last long as Taylor ended his efforts with a Greetings from the 216 for the pin.
After the match, Taylor continued the attack until Cheeseburger came to the rescue. Burger’s save was thwarted as he too took the Greetings from the 216. Undeterred, Flip Gordon came to the ring with a chair and laid out Taylor. He grabbed a microphone and called out Bully Ray, and said he was open to any stipulation match.
Bully responded and told Gordon that he’d make a deal. Both he and Gordon would pick a representative to have a match next week, and if Gordon’s man beats Bully’s man, then Gordon gets to do whatever he wants to Bully. If Bully’s man wins, Bully can do whatever he wants to Gordon.
Silas Young will be the man to grapple on Bully’s behalf. Gordon did not announce a selection.
Kenny King came out to help call the main event.
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham defeated KUSHIDA & Jushin Thunder Liger
Mutual respect was shown by all four to begin the match. Liger used his patented offense, but Gresham hung with him. Lethal tagged in and went toe-to-toe with Liger as well. A blind tag from Gresham allowed him to snap off a German suplex on the legendary Liger.
Lethal and Gresham attacked the lower back of Liger as they cut off the ring and used some double-team attacks until Liger was able to battle back. Liger made the tag to KUSHIDA, who propelled into the ring and went to work using some of Lethal’s own offensive moves to get the advantage. A pinfall exchange with Gresham took us to the final commercial break.
After the break, Liger used his elevated surfboard and KUSHIDA used an armbar for a double submission attempt. KUSHIDA used an interesting hammerlock and octopus on Gresham. KUSHIDA and Gresham exchanged submission holds until Gresham tagged in Lethal.
Lethal hit the Lethal Combination on KUSHIDA and went for the Lethal Injection, but KUSHIDA kicked him in the head as he was inverted. KUSHIDA tagged in Liger, who used the rolling heel kick on Lethal.
The match then broke down into a melee. Gresham hit a running knee off the apron, taking out KUSHIDA. Inside the ring, Lethal finally was able to hit the Lethal Injection on Liger for the pinfall finish.
The first four wrestlers have been confirmed for this year’s Survival of the Fittest tournament.
Ring of Honor announced Andrew Everett and Jonathan Gresham for Survival of the Fittest today. They join Tracy Williams and Marty Scurll in the lineup for the one-night tournament, which will take place in Columbus, Ohio on November 4 and air live on HonorClub. The first round of Survival of the Fittest will lead to a six-man elimination match in the final. The winner will receive a future shot at the ROH World Championship.
This will be the first time Everett has wrestled for ROH since 2015. Last month, Everett announced that he had been granted his release from Impact Wrestling. He thanked the company for the opportunities he received there and noted that he felt he needed to test the waters in free agency.
Williams will be making his ROH debut in the tournament after departing EVOLVE Wrestling.
Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman called the action on this week’s episode, which was the go-home show for Friday’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view.
Best Friends (Trent Barreta & Chuck Taylor) defeated The Boys
The Boys each used lungblowers on Barreta for a near fall. Barreta and Taylor each went for package piledrivers. The Boys countered into pins, which didn’t get it done and allowed for Barreta to hit the Dudebuster as Taylor nailed the Awful Waffle for the win.
A video package of the feud between The Briscoes and SoCal Uncensored aired. The Briscoes are set to defend their ROH Tag Team titles against Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian at Death Before Dishonor.
Kenny King defeated Hangman Page
King came to the ring wearing a sun hat, sunglasses, and with a huge blow-up inner tube that resembled a sprinkles donut and another huge blow-up raft shaped like a bottle of champagne. No explanation was given.
The two exchanged grappling maneuvers until a clean break. King took over with a high dropkick and then posed for a selfie with a fan. That lapse allowed Page to hit a Shooting Star Press off the apron, then he also posed for a selfie with the same fan. Page brought the bottle of champagne into the ring and suplexed King onto the raft for a hilariously large pop, which led to commercial.
After the break, King connected with a nice knee and wheel kick combination that set up a spinebuster. A string of reversals led to Page landing on his feet after a German suplex and landing one of his own. Page connected with the Buckshot Lariat but only got a two count.
Page was set up to hit the Rite of Passage, but King countered and used the ropes to get extra leverage on the pin. The referee saw it and didn’t count the fall. That led to a series of rolling pins that ended with King grabbing the tights and getting the three count. That makes two matches in a row that King has cheated to get wins over the Bullet Club.
Dante Caballero vs. Brian Johnson ended in a no contest
These two young guns started off quickly, but that didn’t matter as Jeff Cobb came out and mauled them with throws and slams. Cobb took the microphone and said that the Top Prospect Tournament was over because he was the top prospect. No debate.
A recap aired of Sumie Sakai calling out Tenille Dashwood. That match for the Women of Honor World Championship will happen at Friday’s PPV.
Silas Young & Bully Ray defeated Jonathan Gresham & Jay Lethal
Ray and Young were seemingly not thrilled to be teaming together as Ray tagged in Young and turned his back on him. Young mocked Gresham, but Gresham landed a hurricanrana and then slapped Ray in the face — forcing Young to tag him in. Ray then appeared to walk out of the match but instead threw a tantrum at ringside before entering the ring.
Ray launched Gresham with a backdrop and then pie-faced Lethal — causing Gresham to make the tag. Ray and Lethal had a quick exchange and both missed dropkicks. That led to the commercial.
After the break, Ray was chopping Lethal. Lethal fired back with slaps and chops of his own but then ran into a huge shoulder tackle. Lethal nailed an enzuigiri, tagged in Gresham. and both did suicide dives in tandem. Gresham got the Octopus lock on Ray, but it wasn’t for long. Ray dished out some monster chops to Gresham, who just kept getting back up.
Ray missed a back senton, allowing Lethal and Young to tag in. A Lethal Combination on Young brought in Ray. Lethal couldn’t suplex Ray over on his own — so Gresham came in for the assist. Gresham and Lethal did the “wazzup” headbutt to the groin.
Lethal took over on Young and landed the Macho Elbow and Gresham landed a Shooting Star Press, but Ray broke up the pin. Ray tossed out Lethal and Young hit Misery on Gresham for the win.
This week’s episode of Ring of Honor television continued the run of shows that were taped at Center Stage in Atlanta in July.
Frankie Kazarian defeated Mark Briscoe
This match was already in the ring with both men brawling as the show started. The brawl ended up outside the ring and Briscoe hit a backdrop on Kazarian on the apron, which looked unpleasant. Kazarian countered a suplex into a backcracker and then a front backcracker. Kazarian managed an electric chair drop for a near fall that led into a commercial.
After the break, Jay Briscoe was at ringside but Kazarian dispensed of him with a dropkick. Mark missed the Froggy Elbow, allowing Kazarian to get the crucifix roll-up for the pin.
Immediately, The Briscoes put the boots to Kazarian until SoCal Uncensored made the save. Punishment Martinez then entered the fray to beat down Daniels and even the sides. A Jay Driller on Scorpio Sky and a huge chokeslam on Daniels from Martinez ended the segment.
A hype video for the upcoming Jay Lethal vs. Jonathan Gresham 30-minute Iron Man match aired.
To ensure there was enough time to air the entire main event, they highlighted an HonorClub exclusive triple threat tag match.
The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas) defeated Cheeseburger & Ryan Nova and The Dawgs
The Bouncers won, but there were no highlights from them. The only highlight was Ferrara mocking Cheeseburger’s Shotei palm strike, which he hit on Nova and Cheeseburger.
Caprice Coleman joined Colt Cabana and Ian Riccaboni on commentary for the main event.
ROH World Champion Jay Lethal defeated Jonathan Gresham in a 30-minute Iron Man match to retain his title (2-1 after going to sudden-death overtime)
The Code of Honor was adhered to as the match began. A lot of slow chain wrestling started it out. Some innovative counters that are Gresham trademarks were employed, but Lethal was with him every step of the way. This was very reminiscent of an old ROH Pure Wrestling Championship match. Nigel McGuinness would be proud.
Lethal decided he’d had enough of the chain wrestling and started chopping Gresham, including hitting a throat chop. Half way through this match, neither man really had an advantage.
Gresham started working on the arm of Lethal with Kimuras, hammerlocks, and a unique arm drop across the ring apron. With 20 minutes elapsed, Gresham was firmly in control, continuing to stretch and injure the left arm of Lethal.
A crazy chop exchange brought the crowd to their feet. Gresham countered the Lethal Combination twice, but Lethal countered the counter with an enzuigiri. Lethal took control with a springboard dropkick. That allowed Lethal to connect with the Lethal Combination on the third attempt, but Gresham kicked out.
With five minutes remaining, Gresham hit a deadlift German suplex for a two count. The action really picked up as Lethal went for the Lethal Injection, but Gresham countered with a kick and put Lethal in the Octopus. Shockingly, Lethal tapped out with only three minutes and 30 seconds left!
Lethal had to fire back quickly and did so, using strikes to set up a figure four leg lock. Cabana and Riccaboni questioned if Gresham could last the final two minutes in the painful hold. Gresham fought to reverse it, but he was forced to tap with about a minute left.
With only one minute remaining, Gresham went for several pin attempts, but the time expired with the match tied at one fall each.
Gresham got on the mic and declared he would not let the match end in a tie. So he demanded five more minutes! The fans wanted it, the ref agreed, Lethal accepted, and the match restarted.
A forearm battle erupted. The crowd was going nuts. Each man connected with vicious blows. Tons of reversals allowed Gresham to get a two count. Lethal looked like he was in trouble, but he valiantly fought back and went up top to hit his elbow drop, which earned him a two count.
With two minutes left in overtime, Gresham grabbed a sleeper hold, but Lethal hit a cutter out of nowhere, which set up the Lethal Injection. The finisher landed and earned Lethal the pin and the win.
On this special audio interview for the website, I talked with rising Ring Of Honor star Jonathan Gresham.
Here’s a few of the topics we hit upon in our 30 minute talk:
– How he got his start in the business and what he has done to get himself to the position that he is in now, including his struggles with a promotion that refused to book him anywhere but the opening match
– His recent ROH title match with Jay Lethal at Center Stage in Atlanta and the reception it received
– Why he thinks that weight classes could be a good thing for the wrestling industry and why he likes wrestling an individual style as opposed to a hybrid style
– His ambitions in Ring Of Honor, his role there, and how they are developing new talent for the future
– How he was married to wrestler Jordynne Grace by none other than Nikita Koloff…in Koloff’s hotel room…with wedding music played from Koloff’s iPad.
