Category: Ring of Honor

Ring of Honor television from Philadelphia was a wild and exciting show. Besides the action that channeled the spirit of ECW from the building in Philly where it rose to prominence, drama on the show continued developing storylines. Likewise, stories from the show included Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis finishing up with the company after being written off. AJ Styles also appeared in what would develop into likely his last appearance on ROH TV before starting in WWE. In other developments, BJ Whitmer and Colby Corino confront Mr. Wrestling 3 about his true idenitity. First after the opening match, a villianous act leads to a storyline suspension.

The Addiction (Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian with Chris Sabin) beat ACH & Alex Shelley

Sabin and Shelley are former teammates as the Motor City Machine Guns. That would play into the match and its conclusion. In the opening moments Shelley was dominating exchanges with the Addiction until Sabin caused his first of several distractions. Sabin jumped on the apron to distract Shelley and they had a momentary staredown.

With the Shelley’s attention diverted, Kazarian got a nearfall with a cradle of sorts. Shelley fired back up and tagged ACH, who flew around the ring. ACH stomped on the hand of Sabin when he tried to interfere by grabbing ACH’s foot as he ran the ropes. The distraction allowed for the Addiction to dastardly gain the advantage nonetheless.

However, ACH still ran wild on them until they double teamed him to cut off his flurry of offense. Addiction looked to get the heat on him through a commercial but, after the break, Shelley tagged in to jump off the top rope with a missile dropkick. Going back to the top moments later, Shelley missed a double foot stomp and the Addiction took over.

Shelley escaped their clutches to make a hot tag. ACH came in like a house of fire. All four began fighting at once and Addiction double teamed Shelley to take him out. ACH countered their double teaming only for Sabin to cause a distraction. That allowed Addiction to execute their Celebrity Rehab finisher and Daniels covered ACH for the pinfall.

Afterwards, Addiction did their finisher on Shelley. Daniels grabbed the timekeeper’s hammer used to ring the bell. Referee Paul Turner tried to pry it from Daniels hands and Daniels dropped him with a right hand. Authority figure Nigel McGuiness stormed to ringside to admonish Daniels. He told him there was a zero tolerance policy regarding wrestlers assaulting officials.

“Poke the dog enough, mate, he is going to bite,” Nigel said.

Nigel suspended Daniels without pay and ordered him to leave. The crowd mocked Daniels as he protested while being escorted away.

Mark Briscoe beat Adam Page (with BJ Whitmer & Colby Corino)

In a match with some wild and crazy bumps, the crowd was solidly behind Briscoe. Instead of booing Page, they chanted insults at Whitmer. Page hung with Briscoe at the outset but he was no match for redneck kung fu. Page countered with a powerslam sending Briscoe bouncing upside down off the turnbuckles into a nasty landing.

After Page got a nearfall, Briscoe made a wild comeback that led into a blockbuster off the apron on the floor. Back in the ring, they exchanged strikes before Page caught Briscoe with a swinging DDT for a nearfall. Moments later, Page broke out the money clip for another nearfall. Page went for his finisher but Briscoe escaped.

During all this, the masked Mr. Wrestling 3 was seated at ringside doing commentary. During the finish of the match, Whitmer was yelling about the identity of the masked man being Steve Corino. The commotion at ringside distracted Page. Chicken swooped in to finish him off.

Briscoe hoisted up Page to deliver a fisherman’s brainbuster followed by Briscoe climbing the turnbuckles. Briscoe dove off the top with a froggybow and covered Page for the pin. Like previously seen on TV, a distraction by Whitmer cost Page another match as tension mounts within The Decade.

The Decade remained in the ring after a commercial break. Page glared at him as Whitmer continued ranting at Mr. Wrestling 3. In cutting a promo, Whitmer told him to be a man, unmask and show everyone he was really Steve Corino.

“This Wrestling 3 nonsense has got to end,” Whitmer said.

Whitmer kept demanding that Mr. Wrestling unmask. He said everyone knows he is Steve Corino. He called into question Corino’s manhood then told him to set an example for his son Colby, who was serving as a the Decade’s young boy. With the mention of his son, Mr. Wrestling left his seat at the broadcast table and entered the ring.

Whitmer demanded again for Mr. Wrestling to unmask. The crowd heavily booed BJ.  Addressing BJ, Mr. Wrestling noted there was a zero tolerance policy like in the events from earlier in the show despite Whitmer trying to incite violence. The masked man also denied being Corino. BJ and Colby scoffed.

Mr. Wrestling admitted he knew Steve Corino. He went on to say Corino was an evil man. According to Mr. Wrestling, Corino wanted BJ and Colby to know he had someone to deal with Whitmer.

Before the main event, Silas Young cut a promo addressing his feud with Dalton Castle over possession of The Boys. He described his disappointment over them leaving him to rejoin their partnership with Dalton. Silas said he brought them into his home, let them sleep in his basement and treated them like family.

The crowd chanted “you got dumped” at him. Still, Silas went on to claim those Boys appreciated being taught about being a man by doing chores like mowing the lawn and shoveling snow. Silas speculated Dalton had some sort of “mental hold” on The Boys. Silas said he was giving them one more chance to ether be boys or became men. He urged them to make the right decision or cautioned they would be sorry.

The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) won a three team Philly street fight over The Kingdom (Adam Cole & Mike Bennett with Maria & Matt Taven) and reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly)

Much like the action packed nature of the entire show, the main event channeled the spirit of ECW with weapons being used to compliment the brawling. The Kingdom were already in the ring when the Young Bucks attacked reDRagon on the entrance ramp. The Bucks rushed into the ring for a superkick party. They superkicked Taven, who was on crutches. Bucks dodged Adam Cole as went for a superkick that nailed ring announcer Bobby Cruise. He would not be the first hapless victim.

Craziness ensued with brawling and dives. Props used included chairs, tables, a shopping cart and a ladder. Many spots were a direct ode to ones popularized in ECW. Adam Cole did the Terry Funk spot of swinging a ladder around on his shoulders. He paused with the ladder to do his BAY-BAY catchphrase and pose. Then, Fish and O’Reilly clobbered the ladder with chairs.

In his swan song in finishing up with ROH, Mike Bennett made everyone look good by taking a variety of big moves. In doing so, he took a lot of punishment. Then again, everyone took punishment. Still, Bennett notably took a beating. He fell victim to More Bang For Your Buck and Matt covered him. Cole pulled the referee out of the ring to break up the count.

Nick gave chase as Cole backpedaled. Nick went for a superkick but Cole moved out of the way. The superkick caught Kevin Kelly. He went down at ringside as Mr. Wrestling screamed, “SUPERKICK!” Kelly joined Cruise as a hapless victim. Nick took a nasty bump on his head during an apparent botch.

Bennett took Chasing the Dragon on the floor as Cary Silkin somewhat replaced Kelly on commentary. Shortly thereafter, Fish speared Bennett through a table propped up on the guardrail. O’Reilly squared off with Cole then Cole took a powder and tried to flee. O’Reilly chased him up the ramp and they fought their way back through the curtain.

When a table inadvertently broke during a spot, Nick still jumped off the top turnbuckle with a splash on the floor. Back in the ring, Nick and Matt sat Bennett down in a chair, placed a party hat on his head. From behind, Maria gave the Bucks a dual low blow. Bennett went to hit them with a chair when AJ Styles in street clothes ran in to make the save.

Styles hit Bennett with the chair and delivered Bloody Sunday. The Young Bucks grabbed Maria and gave her the Meltzer Driver. They also gave Bennett the Indy Taker. As Styles held him, the Bucks gave Bennett a double superkick before AJ hit the Styles Clash. The Bucks both covered Bennett to score the pinfall.

Though unknown at the time of the TV taping, this would serve as the farewell of Styles on ROH TV. Styles celebrated with Nick and Matt in going out as a hero as the show closed in stark contrast to the heel departure of Mike Bennett and his wife Maria. 

Ring of Honor television from Philadelphia featured storylines with one partnership ending and the beginning of the end for another. In doing so, the House of Truth loses a member while elsewhere The Kingdom begins to crumble. Staying with the theme of partnerships, teams were a main focus of the show as reDRagon and the Young Bucks both issues challenges. Tag team champions War Machine hunt their prey. The main event also features tags but only in form of tagging out of a four corners survival match with Jay Briscoe vs. Matt Sydal vs. Moose vs. Dalton Castle. 

The show opened with tag teams focused on the nightlife.

All Night Express (Kenny King & Rhett Titus) beat Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta)

King shined in the opening moments then he and Titus starting doing double teams moves. The action spilled to the outside where Romero jumped off the apron with a flying knee. ANX jumped Rocky at ringside and rammed him into the guardrail. Baretta made the save with a corkscrew moonsault off the guardrail.

Back in the ring, Baretta went to the top rope only for Titus to cut him off before a commercial. After the break, ANX got heat on Baretta until a hot tag to Romero. He cleaned house and they transitioned into the finish.

Roppongi Vice was double teaming Titus. King tagged in but Baretta & Romero were unaware a tag was made. They executed their Strong Zero finisher on Titus and Baretta covered him. The referee would not count as Titus was not the legal man. In the meantime, King slid in the ring and rolled up Baretta with a schoolboy to score the pinfall.

The mistake of one team cost them a match and the next segment delt with someone calling out a team for previous mistakes. 

Enter The Kingdom with Adam Cole in the lead. Matt Taven was on crutches due to his injury. Seemingly ignoring the rest of the group, Cole sauntered down the aisle to the ring leaving them behind on the ramp. Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis stayed behind to help the injured Taven down the ramp and into the ring.

As security surrounded the ring, Cole said they were there to protect against Kyle O’Reilly, whom Cole labeled as a coward despite Cole himself being the one protected by bodyguards. Cole brought up his win over O’Reilly at Final Battle. The crowd chanted “on the ropes” at Cole since he cheated to win in that match on the PPV.

With his back to the group, Cole talked about some in The Kingdom like himself winning at Final Battle while others in the group were losers, referring to Bennett and Taven losing the tag team titles. Cole said they “dropped the ball” and he was about to explain to them on how to win back the titles when reDRagon interrupted his instructions. O’Reilly was seething and aggressively paced around rinsgide. Bobby Fish was calmer and spoke.

“Right now if this pitbull gets loose, man, you don’t live to see tomorrow,” Fish said when describing O’Reilly.

Fish challenged The Kingdom to a match. Matchmaker Nigel McGuiness, who was ringside doing commentary with Kevin Kelly, booked the match for next week. However, Young Bucks entered the scene to lobby for their own match against The Kingdom.

“If anybody is going to take out these Bullet Club marks,” Matt Jackson said, “it’s going to be us!”

He petitioned Nigel for a match. Nigel asked the audience their opinion and the crowd of course cheered for the Bucks. He wanted to do what the fans wanted yet noted he already booked a match. So, he added Young Bucks as a third team to the tag match airing next week and made it a Philly street fight. 

Later in the show, a backstage promo from reDRagon hyped the three-way street fight. A fired up O’Reilly said he was from the mean streets of Delta, British Columbia. O’Reilly went on to say he came from a broken home (meaning literally). He said his mom and dad were alright but a tree crashed through their house. O’Reilly wanted revenge on that tree. He said Mike Bennett would be that tree and they would chop him down. Fish added The Kingdom had no idea what was coming next week.

Tag team champions War Machine (Hanson & Raymond Rowe) beat House of Truth (Donovan Dijak & Joey “Diesel” Daddiego with Truth Martini)

War Machine pummeled Daddiego at the start. Dijak got in some offense early on and did a corkscrew plancha from the top turnbuckle to the floor. Martini slid Dijak the Book of Truth to use as a weapon but Dijak kicked it away. 

As Martini bickered with Dijak about him desecrating the book, Daddiego tagged himself in to get pummeled some more. War Machine began to squash them and Dijak attempted a last ditch effort to no avail. War Machine executed their Fallout finisher and Hanson covered Dijak for the pin.

Following a commercial break, the House of Truth remained in the ring. Martini chastised Dijak for losing. He also brought up him not helping Jay Lethal in his main event title defense at Final Battle. He noted Lethal did not need the help but claimed Dijak should have been there to offer help. 

Martini slapped Dijak in the face. The crowd chanted it was weak. As Martini kept cutting a promo on him, Dijak grabbed him by the lapels. Daddiego jumped in and attacked Dijak. He applied a head and arm choke only as Truth scremed to never touch him again. Dijak countered and lifted Daddiego up in the torture rack. Dijak delivered his All Seeing Eye finisher and left Daddiego laying. 

Martini bailed out of the ring and told Dijak he was fired from the House of Truth. The crowd chanted for Dijak as he stood defiant in the ring. Prince Nana, who gave Dijak a mysterious envelope weeks ago on TV, appeared at ringside and looked on approvingly.

Dalton Castle (with The Boys) won a four corners survival match over Matt Sydal & Jay Briscoe & Moose (with Stokley Hathaway)

This was an eclectic mix of participants bringing a variety of styles to the four-way match. Anyone could tag in at any time. Likewise, lucha tag rules were in effect meaning if a participant left the ring then someone could get in the ring to replace that person without a tag.

Castle was quite over with the crowd. They teased Briscoe and Moose squaring off but held off on delivering that until later in the match. Dalton did some matrix moves and strutted around Jay. As he stopped to pose, Jay booted him in the face. 

Eventually, Briscoe and Moose squared off and had a slugfest. Castle got two nearfalls on Moose. With three of them brawling at ringside, Sydal dived off the top turnbuckle with a moonsault to the floor. Stokely stole the fans from The Boys and began fanning Moose. The Boys snatched them away from him. 

In the closing moments, Sydal got a nearfall on Moose with a hurricanrana. Briscoe got a nearfall on Sydal after a ratchet neckbreaker. Moose speared Briscoe. Castle hit Moose with a missile dropkick off the top. Sydal countered Castle’s attempt at the Bang-o-Rang and Dalton took a reverse hurricanrana from Sydal. 

For the finish, Sydal climbed the turnbuckles and The Boys caused a distraction by fanning him when he went for a shooting star. Sydal landed on his feet. Castle then delivered the Bang-o-Rang and covered him for the pin.  

Ring of Honor television from Philadelphia with more of the aftermath from Final Battle included the surprise return of Stevie Richards. In another ode to ECW, there was a match with wild brawling, chair swinging and a table breaking. Also, Cedric Alexander and Veda Scott get shocked after an upset. In the television main event, Big Mike provides a display of power.

Kevin Kelly and Mr. Wrestling 3 (Steve Corino) provided commentary.

Enter TV champion Roderick Strong to some cheers then a chorus of “you tapped out” chants. Roddy looked annoyed and continued his change to a more heelish demeanor as the champion bro. He bragged that he was still the champion following the last PPV and then he smirked.

The backstory being he tapped out to a submission hold applied by Bobby Fish without the referee seeing the tap. Strong went on to eventually retain. In continuing the Roddy vs. the world theme, Strong issued a new open challenge.

Surprisingly, Stevie Richards returned to challenge for the TV title in the same arena in which he first rose to prominence in during his ECW run.

ROH TV champion Roderick Strong beat Stevie Richards to retain

Richards looked in great shape as he did more than just hang with a conditioned machine like Strong. Corino noted both represented different disciplines of training and suggested the idea of the match being DDP Yoga (Richards) vs. crossfit (Strong).

The match was nip-and-tuck throughout and wide open in the early moments. They slowed down for a knuckle lock when Strong took a cheap shot and dastardly kicked Richards in the stomach. However, Richards escaped his clutches. Roderick cut off Stevie, nailed him with a sweet dropkick then kept him grounded on the mat. Roddy dashed a hope spot before a commercial.

Dashing hope again after the break, Strong got a nearfall. A moment later with Roderick perched on the top turnbuckle, Stevie hit a superkick to send Roddy tumbling down. Off an implant DDT, Richards got a nearfall. Another nearfall by Strong when he delivered a flurry of offense and a backbreaker for a two count. The crowd started dueling chants for their respective favorites.

Landing a series of forearms and elbows, Strong had Richards reeling when he executed a gutbuster and went for his finishing kick. Stevie hit a superkick out of nowhere for a nearfall. The crowd chanted “that was three.” Richards promptly applied the Boston crab on Strong, which is a move Roddy normally uses. Mere seconds later and Strong applies the same hold, which he calls “the stronghold”, on to Richards. As they began slugging it out, Strong suddenly hits a bome ye of sorts with a jumping knee to the face for the pinfall.

Post-match, the theme song for reDRagon interrupted Roddy’s celebration. Bobby Fish sporting a dapper suit entered the scene flanked by three aids collectively carrying a table and two chairs. Fish informed the audience this was an impromptu edition of his Fish Tank segment and he planned to interview Roderick. Clutching his title belt, the champion looked unpleased with the sudden turn of events.

Before the Fish Tank came a commercial break. ACH plugged ROH merchandise including but not limited to a water battle, his new t-shirt, a backpack to put it all in and a coloring book to keep you entertained.

After the break, Fish was seated at a table in the ring. Though he was invited to sit, Strong threw a chair across the ring where it bounced into the turnbuckles.

“Looks like we’re standing,” Fish said.

With a slight dig toward the current champ, Bobby talked about the new heights Jay Lethal took the championship to in the past year. Bobby went on to say the year was a banner year for “Mr. ROH” as well. He put over Strong for a moment before showing a photo on the video screen that Bobby introduced as what the year meant to Roderick. It showed Strong tapping in their match at Final Battle. Roderick was already hollering about not tapping when Bobby asked him directly if he tapped. The champion defiantly shook his head and scoffed.

Strong grabbed a microphone. He fiddled with it in trying to get working, which helped convey his frustration though it was a mishap. Fish just kept ad-libbing. Roddy began to deny he tapped. Then he denied some more before cutting a promo on Fish.

“I did not tap out, you sore loser,” Strong said and angrily threw the mic at Fish then stormed off dragging his title behind him.

Before the next match, Caprice Coleman cut a promo on Will Ferrera. Coleman first bullied the ring attendant. He once again called Ferrera a “jive turkey” and said he would beat Ferrera while looking pretty from all angles. He claimed to “have the body of a god and the face of an angel.” With that, Ferrera jumped him before the bell.

Caprice Coleman beat Will Ferrera in a no disqualification match

After a getting into a brawl and dueling with chairs two weeks ago on TV, this match was no DQ. Upping the violence and the brutality with this match, Coleman and Ferrera took their feud to another level with Prince Nana mysteriously connected to the rivalry. That and they were in the ECW Arena so they took it to the extreme.

They brawled around ringside at the outset. Back in the ring, Coleman whipped Ferrera with a belt. Coleman got the better of a dueling chairs spot. On commentary, Mr. Wrestling #3 pondered about the involvement of Prince Nana and how that has somehow escalated the level of violence.

For the finish, Ferrera made a comeback and retrieved a table. Ironically, Coleman would jump off the top rope with a legdrop to put Ferrera through the table and cover him for the pin. From the aisle, Prince Nana looked on approvingly as he clapped and smiled.

Jonathan Gresham beat Cedric Alexander (with Veda Scott) in an upset

The beginning looked like any enhancement match. Cedric delivered a suplex series of three amigos. When he went for a fourth consecutive suplex, Gresham cradled him in a small package for a nearfall. The underdog fired up. Veda caused a distraction allowing Cedric to derail the comeback. He dropkicked Gresham in a corner a couple times before delivering a vicious falling backbreaker. Cedric and Veda smirked and showboated. When Cedric went for a lackadaisical cover, Gresham used a cruxifix to reverse it and score the pinfall. Veda couldn’t even *ugh*.  

Michael Elgin beat Donovan Dijak (with Truth Martini) in the television main event

Airing before the Tokyo Dome show, the story was Dijak trying to soften up Elgin for Jay Lethal and the House of Truth ahead of the title match at Wrestle Kingdom 10. Likewise, Lethal was at ringside providing guest commentary. Before the match, Jerry Lynn interrupted the proceedings and confronted Lethal. At first it looked tense but Lynn admitted he was wrong about his Final Battle predictions. They shook hands. Lethal proclaimed it was the final proof he was the now the greatest wrestler in the world.

This was a mean guy match. They started by slamming into each other with shoulder tackles. Elgin eventually got the better of the early exchange. The fans counted along when Elgin hoisted Dijak up for a delayed vertical suplex. They quickened the pace and Dijak knocked Elgin off the apron. Truth Martini celebrated by break dancing in the ring before a commercial break.

Dijak got heat on Elgin then Big Mike made a comeback. He pummeled Dijak for a few moments until using a German suplex with a bridge for a nearfall. On commentary, Lethal kept mentioning that this was pro wrestling and not powerlifting. So, he would beat the mighty Elgin because he was the best wrestler in the world as ROH world champion.

Elgin blocked a chokeslam. Seconds later, Dijak picked him for a chokeslam into a backbreaker. Dijak leaped to the top rope and did a moonsault for a two count. Elgin fought back with forearm smashes. Dijak lifted him up in a fireman’s carry. Elgin turned it into a sunset flip followed by a deadlift powerbomb. Elgin finished him off with sit-out powerbomb for the pin. He then stared down Lethal.