– Dalton Castle defeated Lio Rush in a good little match.
– Motor City Machine Guns defeated The Addiction
The Addiction were hugely over with the crowd.
– Jay White defeated Donovan Dijak
The crowd was quiet during this until Dijak did a moonsault from the apron to the floor, getting the crowd into it with a “This is awesome” chant.
– The Briscoes defeated ROH World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks in a non-title match
Originally scheduled to be one-on-one matches between the two teams, Jay got on the mic and pretty much said what the crowd was thinking and made it a tag match. There were lots of high spots, including a Razors Edge off the top rope. The Briscoes ended up with the win and were celebrating with the tag titles, until Nigel McGuinness came out and said it was a non-title match. The crowd booed, but the Bucks were over huge. There was a tremendous reaction to the whole match.
– McGuinness came out for a promo. There were lots of “Thank you Nigel” chants. He said his match with Bryan Danielson 10 years ago in Liverpool was legendary, and the title match tonight had potential to match it. Nobody bought that.
– Kyle O’Reilly defeated Travis Banks by making him tap out to the armbar.
Banks is a New Zealand wrestler based in the UK with a lot of potential.
– Marty Scurll defeated ROH World Television Champion Will Ospreay to win the title
Both guys were hugely over, with Scurll the crowd favorite. Lots of heat for this match. It wasn’t as good as their RevPro match from January but still a hell of a match. The finish saw Will Ospreay flash two fingers at Scurll, but Scurll snapped his fingers on both hands, got him in the chicken wing, and Ospreay tapped. There was a huge ovation for Scurll winning the title.
– ROH World Champion Adam Cole defeated Jay Lethal to retain his title
Cole was over huge, but the crowd was largely dead for much of the match being burnt out from the previous one. They got into it near the end, with Lethal kicking out of the Panama Sunrise after a one count. Cole hit the Last Shot and pinned him.
Nothing too flashy, Hendry’s “Local Hero” chant got quite over. There were a few high crossbody spots from White and Hendry caught him one one of them showing great strength. Jay White got the win.
– Donovan Dijak defeated Lio Rush
An incredible match, both guys showed tremendous athleticism, and Donovan Dijak looked like an absolute star. He took some crazy bumps over and into the barricade and sold really well. Dijak picked up the win with his backbreaker into a knee lift.
– Jay Lethal defeated Alex Shelley
Nothing special but Lethal was pretty over, he teased a Macho Man style elbow drop but jumped off the turnbuckle and went for a figure four instead which Shelley reversed. Lethal picked up
the win with the Lethal Injection
– reDRagon defeated The Briscoes
Solid match but nothing special. Kyle O’Reilly didn’t get a lot of action in the ring. The Young Bucks interfered near the end, resulting in reDRagon picking up the win.
– The Addiction defeated Delirious & Dalton Castle
The Addiction and Castle were very over, Delirious didn’t get much of a reaction at least at the start. There was a funny little exchange before the match where Daniels and Kazarian tried to recruit Delirious, enticing him with a pair of shoes before Castle stepped in.
The match itself was great, Castle did a few high power spots, but Addiction got the win with a BME/tombstone combination. Castle carried Delirious out like a child.
– ROH World Champion Adam Cole defeated Chris Sabin
Adam Cole’s trash talk is second to none, he was constantly trashing Sabin and the crowd. He teased throwing his shirt to the crowd but didn’t, then Sabin did and a kid caught it. Later on in the match, Sabin brought Cole up to the barricade and got the same kid to chop him. Cole ended up getting the win.
Cole called out Jay Lethal after the match, saying that even though they had a title match scheduled for the next night he wanted to do it now, but as soon as Lethal got in the ring Cole slid out.
– ROH World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks defeated ROH World Television Champion Will Ospreay & Marty Scurll
What can I say except that you have to watch this match. The Bucks cut a promo on Ospreay and Scurll before the match started, congratulating them on their new contracts and on Ospreay’s new title, then asked for the match to be made for the tag titles.
There was plenty of back and forth action, Scurll and Ospreay did the suck it motion and parodied the Terminator dive. The finish was insane, Bucks went for the Meltzer Driver and Ospreay
tried to counter mid-air with a hurricanrana, which just succeeded in helping the Meltzer Driver land and gave the Bucks the win.
– Lio Rush defeated Kazarian in a good 15 minute opener.
This was a fun match. Rush scored the pinfall win with a top rope frog splash after kicking out of Kazarian’s Flux Capacitor.
– Nigel McGuinness came out for a promo to a big reaction. He reminisced fondly about the ROH Unified event in the same building 10 years ago and asked everyone whatever happened to that “Bryan” guy, causing everyone to chant “Yes.” He said the match against Danielson at Unified would be the match his career would be remembered for.
McGuinness put over the current ROH roster and the debuts of Will Ospreay and Marty Scurll on this show, and explained how Bobby Fish vs. Will Ospreay was originally going to be a non-title proving ground match, but Ospreay campaigned for a TV title shot and Fish approached Nigel and asked for it to be a title match, so McGuinness agreed.
He mentioned that Scurll and Ospreay were signed to ROH contracts, but Joe Hendry was not, and Hendry would be on tonight’s card attempting to impress the ROH top brass to earn a contract.
– Donovan Dijak defeated Joe Hendry with a GTS.
Hendry was very over and everyone knew who he was with lots of “Local Hero” chants. This was a decent, solid match, if unspectacular.
– Jay White defeated Christopher Daniels with a small package.
The crowd were surprised with the finish. A good match, both guys worked hard. Daniels teased doing Best Moonsault Ever, but never did it. Afterwards, Daniels teased being mad at the loss, but on the mic put over White, saying White was the better man this evening and shook his hand.
The crowd gave this a mixed reaction, some booing. White then put over Daniels as a legend, and mentioned that he started his wrestling career in England and said how much he loves the English fans.
– Jay Lethal defeated Chris Sabin
Lethal got a big reaction. The match built well and was the best match of the first half of the show. The finish saw Sabin dodge a Lethal top rope elbow attempt and small package him for a near fall before Lethal nailed him with an RKO out of nowhere, and then the Lethal Injection which looked spectacular. Very good match.
Intermission then took place. The first half of the show also had some technical difficulties, with the ring ropes coming loose multiple times and one of the lights above the ring going off, so the ring crew fixed all these things during the break. The show really picked up steam in the second half.
– Marty Scurll defeated Dalton Castle in Scurll’s ROH debut.
This was a very good and very entertaining match, and the perfect way to debut Scurll. Both guys were over huge and got major pops coming out. Castle had his Boys with him. The crowd sang a variation of Bayley’s “Hey Bayley” song to Castle, only singing “Hey Baby, oo aww, I wanna know if I can be your boy.” Castle seemed to get a kick out of it. The finish saw Scurll nail Castle with an umbrella shot to the head, then locked on the chicken wing submission for the tap out victory. Scurll winning got a big pop
– Will Ospreay defeated ROH World Television Champion Bobby Fish to win the title.
This was a great match, the best on the show and the perfect way to debut Ospreay and establish him as a major player in ROH. Both guys were over big, with Ospreay over huge. The match told a great story, with Fish injuring Ospreay’s leg early after Ospreay did a backflip while he stood on the ring apron, and Fish threw Ospreay into a ringside barricade really hard. Ospreay made it back into the ring at the count of 19, and had a huge red welt on his back.
The finish saw Fish lock on the Fish Hook on Ospreay’s injured leg, but Ospreay somehow bridged backwards and pinned him for the win. The crowd went nuts for the finish, giving him a standing ovation. Ospreay sold shock at his win. Fish teased leaving with the belt, but then handed it to Ospreay and raised his hand. This was one of those special matches and moments that many fans will see live at a show and will remember years from now.
– The Bricoes & Kyle O’Reilly defeated Adam Cole & The Young Bucks in the main event.
This was another great match. Both teams were heavily cheered, but Cole and the Bucks more so, even though they were heels. Bucks are so charismatic live, it’s unreal. Their athleticism and timing in this match was fantastic. All six guys looked great. The finish saw both Briscoes superkick one of the Bucks and O’Reilly locked on an armbar for the submission victory.
Ring of Honor presented the first night of their annual Survival of the Fittest tournament on a show Thursday night in Arlington, TX.
Besides the company’s debut in Dallas during WrestleMania weekend, this was the first ROH show in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex to really test the waters of them running in the North Texas market.
VIP Champion Keith Lee defeated Lou Gotti Sterrett to retain his title
Lee was defending the championship of a local promotion that helped in promoting this show. Lee won via pinfall after pop-up sit-out powerbomb.
The Panther defeated Will Ferrara, Yo, and Silas Young in a four corner survival match
This was the first of many SOTF qualifying matches. Most folks in attendance seemingly didn’t know Panther was a legit luchador from Mexico. In winning and advancing in the tournament, Panther pinned Ferrara after a springboard missile dropkick.
Jax Dane defeated Donovan Dijak
In another SOTF qualifying match, Dane won in somewhat of an upset over a ROH regular. Dane speared Dijak for the pin.
Chris Sabin addressed the crowd, telling them his tag partner, Alex Shelley, was not there. Sabin claimed Shelley was “injured” after being allegedly attacked backstage by unnamed assailants. Sabin claimed Shelley was in a nearby hospital. Few believed him, mainly because he botched the name of closest hospital that was mere blocks away.
Punishment Martinez defeated Cheeseburger and Colt Cabana in a triple threat match
This was another SOTF qualifier. Now a heel after splitting from Dalton Castle, Cabana cut a promo before the match running down Castle. The match itself had some comedy mixed with seriousness. The fans loved them some Cheeseburger. Unfortunately, Martinez gave him a chokeslam before pinning him to advance in the tournament.
ROH World TV Champion Bobby Fish defeated Kenny King (w/ Caprice Coleman) in a non-title match
The Cabinet has apparently shifted to a militant group. Dressed like a Black Panther, Coleman cut a promo on Fish with the punchline being Coleman calling him a “jive turkey” before the match itself began.
For the finish, Fish executed a falcon arrow. As King kicked out at two, Fish transitioned into heel hook and King subsequently tapped out. The current TV champion, Fish, advanced in the tournament as this was non-title match in being a SOTF qualifier.
Dalton Castle (w/ local boys) defeated Rhett Titus (w/ Coleman) and Chris Sabin in a triple threat match
Castle was over huge with this crowd. Though he had local boys for his entrance, they left and did not stay at ringside. Coleman did stay around so he could insult fans at ringside. Castle pinned Titus after delivering the bang-a-rang. Afterwards, Castle did a promo talking about his split with Cabana. He went on to make vow about someday winning the ROH title.
Lio Rush defeated Sho, Hangman Page, Lio Rush, and Misterioso Jr. in a four corner survival match
Lots and lots of high flying in this SOTF qualifier. Rush especially shined with his dives and flying. Rush pinned Sho with a powerslam tilt-a-whirl into a scorpion drop. That was all one fluid move that wowed the crowd.
Kyle O’Reilly defeated Christopher Daniels (w/ Frankie Kazarian)
Arguably the best pure wrestling match on the show, these two took the crowd on a ride with psychology. Kazarian joined Steve Corino and Kevin Kelly on commentary. The finish was similar in some ways to the submission in Fish’s match, and it also resembled some spots in O’Reilly/Kushida matches.
O’Reilly teased it during the match, catching Daniels in a armbar. Daniels would go on to escape. Later on, Daniels went for his Best Moonsault Ever. He leapt right into an armbar applied by O’Reilly. Daniels fought until O’Reilly hooked a leg along with the arm, and Daniels tapped out.
The Briscoes defeated War Machine and Keith Lee & Shane Taylor in triple threat street fight
This was a wild brawl from start to finish. They all brawled in the ring. They brawled around ringside. They then hopped the guardrail and fought around the building like they were in the ECW Arena, or maybe a concession stand in Tupelo.
Mark climbed atop a Sinclair Broadcasting cargo truck that was parked inside the venue. Mark leapt off the truck New Jack style. He landed on several wrestlers. Back in the ring, Mark jumped off the top rope to deliver a froggy-bow on Shane Taylor. Both Briscoes then covered him for the pin.
After the match, War Machine cut promos on Lee and Taylor that hyped up their no rules match in San Antonio on Friday night.
