Roderick Strong beat Dave Rayne, Charlie Garrett, El Ligero, Bubblegum, and Kenny King.
Usual fun 6 man opener.
Sha Samuels beat Dalton Castle.
The East End Butcher vs the Peacock of Professional Wrestling was everything one thought it might be. Sha remains undefeated.
Adam Cole beat Ashton Smith to retain the PCW Cruiserweight title.
Decent match.
Noam Dar beat Cedric Alexander.
This was really good and a lesson in how to work with a tired crowd.
T Bone and Rampage Brown beat Martin Kirby and Joey Hayes, War Machine (Hansen and Rowe), and reDRagon (Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish).
All action 4 way tag action with T Bone and Rampage picking up the win with a double pin on Martin and Joey. A highlight of this match was just how ill O’Reilly looked, clearly very hungover.
Dave Mastiff beat Silas Young.
Solid match and Silas has impressed this weekend.
Lionheart beat Delirious.
Not much to say about this one. Lionheart is not a popular man amongst the fans.
Jay Lethal beat Doug Williams to retain the ROH World Title.
These two renewing acquaintances from TNA days. Looked like they had fun and it was a well worked match.
Show Three —
Dalton Castle beat Silas Young, Ashton Smith, Charlie Garrett, Martin Kirby, and Cedric Alexander.
Possibly the best multi man of the weekend so far. The very popular Dalton Castle got the pin on Silas.
Roderick Strong beat Lionheart.
Relatively short. Strong won by countout after Lionheart walked out. Such is Lionheart’s unpopularity that Strong’s usual “shitty little boots” chant became “awesome little boots” as he was very much the face here.
War Machine (Hanson and Rowe) beat reDRagon (O’Reilly and Fish).
This was really good and garnered “this is awesome” chants by end. Eventually War Machine killed O’Reilly and got the win.
El Ligero beat Kenny King.
King came out in BDC jacket and then faked a leg injury early on which got him some heel heat but generally fairly split crowd. Decent match, Ligero got the match after hitting the C4L.
X-Pac, Dave Rayne, Roy and Zak Knight w/ Scott Hall beat T Bone, Rampage Brown, Bubblegum, and Iestyn Rees w/ Joanna Rose.
Big reaction for X-Pac, Hall, and the Hooligans who were all surprises. Feel good match with the faces triumphing with Pac pinning Rees after some toothpick action from Hall.
Jay Lethal beat Joey Hayes to retain the ROH World Title.
With Hayes still on the mend from a pec injury this was a very respectable 10 minute match. Lethal winning with the Lethal Injection.
Sha Samuels beat Delirious.
Another clash of personalities and another choke out win for Sha.
Noam Dar beat Drew Galloway.
Originally billed as Dar vs PCW Academy trainee Jack Baron, Galloway came through the crowd and attacked him to set up Dar-Galloway III. This was really really good, match of the night. Brawling outside the ring, heated action inside it, and Dar having kicked out of the futureshock DDT made Galloway tap out.
Dave Mastiff drew 3-3 with Adam Cole in a 30-minute iron man match to retain the PCW Heavyweight Title.
This struggled to follow the previous match especially given the downsides of the iron man format. Still a decent match though, Cole took an early 2-0 lead, Mastiff came back to lead 3-2 before Cole equalised in the last minute. Declared a draw, a 5 minute overtime period was then declared a double DQ when Sha Samuels attacked both men. A bit of a flat ending to a good show.
Adam Cole beat El Ligero and Bubblegum to win the PCW Cruiserweight Title
Fun opener that brought a new champion. Ligero eliminated Bubblegum who then pedigreed Ligero before leaving. After some back and forth Cole picked up the victory.
Doug Williams beat Silas Young
Silas didn’t garner much reaction at first but this was a good match and the crowd had fun with his physical resemblance to Jake Roberts and Tom Selleck. Doug got the pin with the Chaos Theory after Silas missed his finisher.
Sha Samuels beat Kenny King
Usual variety of crowd chants for Samuels, and good reaction for King as the face. Samuels remains undefeated in PCW after choking King out.
Joey Hayes and Martin Kirby beat Delirious and Dalton Castle
Good comedy match with Hayes pinning Delirious. Dalton Castle and his eentrance much loved.
PCW Champion Dave Mastiff beat Roderick Strong
Good back and forth match once it got going. Usual shitty boots shenanigans between Roddy and the crowd. Mastiff won clean after his cannonball in the corner.
War Machine, Cedrick Alexander, and Lionheart (Team ROH) beat Dave Rayne, Ashton Smith, Charlie Garrett, and Iestyn Rees (Team PCW)
Fun all action 8 man that ended with a parade of finishers on poor Dave Rayne from the ROH team.
PCW Tag Team Champions Team Single (T-Bone and Rampage Brown) b reDRagon (Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish) in a street fight
This was really good with ringside brawling, use of chairs, rubber chicken/pig, and wrapping paper. Both teams had near falls broken up at two and three quarters before T-Bone pinned O’Reilly after a Steiner Screwdriver. Another tease of dissension between T-Bone and Rampage just before the finish. Post match Joey Hayes and Martin Kirby won the tag titles after a Money In The Bank cash in but heel GM Joanna Rose overturned it on the technicality Joey cashed in Martin’s briefcase. Mmm.
ROH Champion Jay Lethal b Noam Dar to retain the ROH World Title
Special Star Wars entrance for Dar. Good, long match that never quite caught fire into a great one. Lethal won with Lethal Injection.
Ring of Honor announced on Monday that they will be bringing in stars from New Japan Pro Wrestling for their first PPV event of 2016, their 14th anniversary show, as well as for television tapings the next day.
Both the 2/26 PPV and the 2/27 taping for four weeks of TV will be held at Sam’s Town Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV. The weekend is timed to take place between New Japan tours so the top stars will be available, ensuring they’ll be on several weeks of ROH TV.
The first name publicly announced is New Japan’s most charismatic wrestler, current IC champion Shinsuke Nakamura with other names to be announces soon.
Just last week, ROH announced their move to Comet TV, a Sinclair-owned science fiction station that is available in some form or fashion in 65 million homes. The company’s final show on Destination America will be this Wednesday at 11 PM EST.
The Big Takeaway – Excellent TV title match caps off a strong episode of ROH TV this week.
Moose w/Stokely Hathaway vs Dominick Carter
Carter is a 200 lb’er that looks like he’s about 12 years old so this probably isn’t going to go very well for him. A handshake and a spear and it’s over.
WINNER – MOOSE by pinfall
Hathaway takes a mic and calls out Jay Lethal. He promises that Moose will be the next ROH champion. He says that this sounds familiar and references Big Mike, Michael Elgin. He says that Moose is bigger, stronger and a better wrestler than him because he beat his opponent faster than Elgin did last week. He suggests that Elgin packs up his things and gets to the back of the line. This brings out Elgin. He says that Moose did beat his opponent quicker but Elgin’s opponent was 200 lbs heavier. He chastises Moose for not speaking for himself and Moose says “we can do this right now”. They look like they’re going to square off but this brings out the House of Truth.
Truth Martini accompanied by an unnamed lovely young redhead, along with Donovan Dijak and J Diesel. He makes fun of all 3, calling Hathaway toddler-size and says none of them are worth of saying Lethal’s name. He does identify the woman as the “very lovely Tayler Hendrix”. She looks much different than she did in TNA, kind of Lady Gaga-ish, if Gaga had red hair. He says everything they were talking about was “whack”. Elgin says he’s going to take Martini’s side piece and check into a motel later, which pops the crowd. Martini says no one talks to Tayler like that and we can do this right now.
Moose w/Stokely Hathaway and Michael Elgin vs The House of Truth (Donovan Dijak/J Diesel) w/Truth Martini and Tayler Hendrix
They start by brawling on the outside with Elgin and Moose completely dominating as we go to commercial. After a break, they’re in the ring and Elgin is all over Dijak. He makes a tag to Moose, who nails a perfect dropkick. The story here is that Elgin and Moose are competing to see who looks more impressive. Moose stares at Elgin after each move and then does a hard tag to Elgin.
Elgin does the Harry Smith delayed suplex while the crowd counts on Dijak. They get to about 30 before Elgin finally drops him. Then Elgin and Moose get into a shouting and shoving match. Diesel and Dijak try to take advantage but Moose and Elgin are ready for it. Tayler gets involved and that’s enough to turn the tables as Diesel gets a brief flurry of offence on Moose. Kelly brings up that Diesel now wants to go by his real name, Jay “Diesel” Daddiego.
That doesn’t last long as Elgin gets tagged in and runs wild, ending off by nailing Dijak and Daddiego with a cannonball out of the ring and then grabbing Hendrix, threatening to kiss her but then tossing her aside. Kelly points out that the House of Truth is banned from ringside for the TV title main event. Elgin with a Buckle Bomb on Daddiego but not before Moose hits a blind tag. Moose hits a spear and steals the pin and the two get into another staredown after the pin.
WINNERS – MOOSE/MICHAEL ELGIN by pinfall
Storytime with Adam Cole is next and he’s here to talk about the Kingdom. Matt Taven and Michael Bennett have reigned supreme and beaten everyone that’s got in their path. We then get highlights of last week’s title defence against the Addiction. The masked KRD guy helped the Kingdom retain. They will face War Machine at Final Battle. And next week on ROH TV, Cole goes one on one with Dalton Castle.
We get a video package next for tonight’s main event with a promo from Roderick Strong mixed in with video footage of their previous battles. Excellent rundown for anyone that might just be tuning in and not familiar with their history.
Back to the ring and BJ Whitmer is there with Adam Page and Colby Corino. He mocks Steve Corino’s retirement speech last week. He doesn’t believe Corino’s story about a broken neck and feels he’s just scared. He calls out Nigel at ringside for believing his story. He then calls Nigel a liar for quitting a couple years ago. Nigel gets into the ring to confront Whitmer. Nigel is sick of listening to Whitmer’s whining. He says if Corino can’t be at Final Battle then neither can Whitmer. Adam Page is guilty by association and he can’t be there either.
Main Event for the ROH World Television Title –
Champion Jay Lethal vs Roderick Strong
Duelling chants to start. After a bit of grappling where Strong has the advantage, Lethal goes to the outside to regroup. Back in and Strong has Lethal tired up in knots but Lethal manages to escape and grabs his belt to tease a countdown but Strong follows him and chases him back into the ring. Strong nails a dropkick and Lethal rolls out again as we go to break.
After the break, they’re both outside the ring and Lethal whips Strong into the barricade a few times and soaks in the jeers of the crowd. Lethal tosses him back into the ring after chopping him a few times and is firmly in control. They exchange chops in the ring and Lethal selling the power of the chop but still in control as Nigel explains that being whipped into the barricades took a lot out of Strong.
Another chop battle in the middle of the ring and Strong gets the better of it, knocking Lethal down. Lethal Injection but Strong counters with a dropkick to the back of Lethal’s head. Both guys down and another duelling chant from the crowd starts up. Both up and Strong nailing Lethal with chops and he’s grabbing his chest in pain. Lethal goes for the Lethal combination but Strong blocks it and then hits a series of running forearms on Lethal. He tries for a running knee strike but Lethal blocks it. Strong then hits a backbreaker for a 2 as we go to another break.
Back from break and Lethal has Strong in a triangle submission hold but Strong makes the ropes for the break and then rolls out. Lethal does his trifecta running dives to the outside but Strong catches him on the third and gives him an Olympic Slam (called as such) on the floor. They both struggle to get back in the ring before the 20 count.
Another chop exchange and Lethal gets the best of it, dropping Strong with a DDT at the end. Lethal goes to the top rope but Strong catches up to his and they battle on the turnbuckle. Strong with a slam off the top and they both go flying. Strong puts on the Stronghold in the centre of the ring. Lethal maneuvers into a pinning combination for two. Lethal with a Superkick to set up the Lethal Injection. Strong kicks out and that draws some boos and a THAT WAS THREE chant.
Lethal questioning the ref as well and sets up for another Lethal Injection but takes his time and Strong rolls him up for two. Strong then hits three straight high knees and then sets Lethal up on the top turnbuckle. Lethal reverses into a Blockbuster from the top rope and that only gets a two. More boos from the crowd and Lethal is incredulous.
Lethal covers him a couple more times but Strong kicks out and then springs to his feet. Lethal with two straight superkicks and then runs the ropes but Strong catches him with a jumping knee. Gutbuster, Sick Kick and a Backbreaker follow. Strong then puts on the Stronghold in the centre and Lethal taps.
WINNER AND NEW ROH WORLD TV CHAMPION – RODERICK STRONG by submission
Announcers put this over huge as it’s the first time in over a year that Lethal’s been pinned. Martini and Hendrix out to console Lethal outside the ring as Strong celebrates in the ring.
Submitted by Josh Baker with additional commentary from Jason Finley from Nashville, TN
Taping One
– Veda Scott beat Heidi Lovelace in a dark match
Scott pulled off a barricade-walking spot and a rolling Low Ki-style kick. She won with a Saito suplex on Heidi that looked like it killed both girls.
– reDRagon defeated Silas Young and Beer City Bruiser (w/The Boys)
Adam Cole came out for commentary during this. Good match, I was more impressed with Bruiser than I have been in the past. ReDRagon won with a Chasing The Dragon on Bruiser that Kyle O’Reilly couldn’t quite keep Bruiser up long enough for. After the match, RedDragon chased off Adam Cole, and Silas argued with the ref, which led to The Boys attacking the ref with a DDT. Dalton Castle hit the ring from the crowd to a big reaction, sending everybody to the outside. Castle told Silas he wants his boys back, then clocked Bruiser with the mic. The Boys teased getting into the ring to rejoin Castle, then left voluntarily with Silas.
– Chris Sabin came out for a promo. He wants to know who the mystery man is in the KRD mask that keeps interfering in Addiction matches. He says he’s hijacking the show until the KRD wannabe comes out and Sabin lays down in the ring. Eventually, a masked man comes out and faces off with Sabin, then removes the mask to reveal Alex Shelley. I popped big for this. Crowd chants for Shelley but Sabin just backs off shocked and leaves.
– ROH TV Champion Roderick Strong beat Samson Walker
Sampson looked like Taz coming to the ring. He also used an inhaler during the match, that was kind of funny. Bobby Fish came down for commentary on this match, which Roddy won with a somewhat botched lungblower, Sampson didn’t quite take it right. After the match Fish gets in the ring and gets all up in Roddy’s business. Much holding up of titles ensues.
– Young Bucks beat The Briscoes
Both teams got a huge reaction, and a THIS IS AWESOME chant erupted before the match even started. Great match as you could imagine, highlighted by Matt Jackson landing on his feet after a Briscoe Doomsday Device and hitting a superkick. The Bucks win with an Indytaker and More Bang For Your Buck on Mark. After the match, ANX gets in the ring and everybody starts brawling and several security guards get beat up to end the first taping.
Brutal Bob Evans comes out with Justin Hughes and Dylan Bostick. Bob says Hughes is the love of his life (?) and says both guys are the Future Of Honor, but then takes Bostick out of the upcoming tag match and attacks him.
– FUTURE OF HONOR MATCH: Brutal Bob Evans & Justin Hughes vs. The PBK (Pretty Boy Killers)
The PBK are two big guys named Keith Lee and Shane Taylor. Hughes was pretty entertaining trying vainly to execute power moves on the PBK, who weren’t going anywhere. Lee in particular looked good with a somersault dive to the floor that got the first HOLY SH*T chant of the night. Lee hit the Last Ride powerbomb on Hughes followed by a second rope splash from Taylor to win. Afterwards, Brutal Bob brought Bostick back in and beat him up some more. Cheeseburger ran in for the save with a big reaction and ran off the heels.
Taping Two
– Adam Cole pinned Corey Hollis
Cole won with a neckbreaker-to-the-knee. He grabs a mic and says it’s storytime, then vows to end Kyle O’Reilly at Final Battle.
– War Machine vs. The Washington Bullets
The Bullets are John and Tray, and they did a great job heeling on the crowd and being crash-test-dummies for War Machine, who won in a squash with their back suplex/leg drop finisher.
– Dalton Castle pinned Mike Posey
Castle fends off stable attacks during the match which somehow don’t result in a DQ, eventually T-bone-suplexing his opponent over the top rope onto his stablemates in an impressive spot. Castle is way over with this crowd. He hits the Bang-A-Rang facebuster to win the match. Afterwards, Castle grabs a mic and says he’s the Aurora Borealis of pro wrestling and calls out Silas Young. The Boys come out instead, and distract Castle while Silas runs in from the crowd and lays Castle out with a TKO.
– Kevin Kelly introduces Jerry Lynn, who comes out unrecognizable with a short haircut. Lynn thanks everyone everywhere for their support after his recent surgery, then Kelly prods him to talk about the upcoming Jay Lethal VS AJ Styles World Title match. Kelly wants Lynn to pick a winner, but before Lynn can answer Lethal comes out with Truth Martini and Taeler Hendrix. Lethal wants to know what Lynn’s pick is, then bullies him and tells him to turn up his hearing aid. Lynn calls Lethal an overconfident prick and picks AJ to win. Lethal threatens Lynn, who then brings up that he knows Lethal’s parents and they would be very disappointed in him if he beats Lynn up. Lethal cuts a heated promo on Lynn then angrily leaves. Lethal was great here, while Lynn was never much of a talker but did okay.
Alex Shelley is out for commentary.
– ACH & Matt Sydal def. Roppongi Vice
Good match, Sydal in particular looks better than he ever has lately. Sydal attempted a shooting star press onto Baretta, but Baretta got his knees up then hit a flying knee for a two count that I totally bought as the finish. The actual finish was fantastic, Baretta had Sydal over his back holding him for a Romero springboard attack, but ACH intercepted Romero in midair and Sydal flipped Baretta into a Last Call bomb for the win. Shelley came in after the match to congratulate Sydal and ACH and they celebrated to end the second taping.
– WOMEN OF HONOR MATCH: OBD def. Taeler Hendrix (w/Truth Martini)
ODB got a great reaction coming out. Lots of boob spots to start this match, including ODB motorboating Taeler and then Truth, who of course liked it. I’m fairly sure this match will not be on TV. Taeler kissed ODB to try and distract her for her kick finisher, but ODB kissed her back then hit a TKO for the pin. Fun little match, Taeler was a great sultry heel and showed a lot more charisma than I ever saw from her in TNA.
Taping Three
– Will Ferrara and Caprice Coleman went to a no contest when they attempted to use chairs on each other.
– Donovan Dijak and Ken Phoenix def. Truth Martini vs. All Night Express
Gimmick is Truth bummed a cigarette off Phoenix this morning so he’s giving him a tryout here. ANX mistimed their finish, which led to Rhett Titus powerbombing Phoenix while Kenny King was late jumping to the top rope. They quickly improvised into a King spinning plancha onto Phoenix laid out on Titus’s knees for the win. After the match, Truth informs Phoenix that he did not impress, and Dijak hits Phoenix with the Feast Your Eyes. On their way out, Prince Nana gives Dijak one of his cards behind Truth’s back.
– Kevin Kelly introduces Steve Corino, who comes out in a neck brace to a great reaction. Corino says some day the neck brace will be off, and BJ Whitmer will pay for his sins. I was sure this was all leading to some angle, but Corino just cut his promo then left.
– ROH TV Champion Roderick Strong, Cedric Alexander, Moose, Mark Briscoe and Matt Jackson def. ROH Champion Jay Lethal, Cheeseburger, Jay Briscoe, Adam Page and Cliff Compton
First thing referee Todd Sinclair did was send all the seconds to the back which was needed because It looked like a lumberjack match with everyone out there. With a bizarre mixed heel/face team dynamic here, you would think the psychology in this match would be real messed up, but it was fantastic. Too much went on to recap, but it involved some great double-teaming by Roddy and Matt Jackson, a chance for Cheeseburger to shine, Briscoe VS Briscoe, Compton going through a table, and much more. Well worked by everyone involved, the guys seemed to be having a great time, and the crowd was SUPER HOT for the match. After a parade of finishers, Roddy hit his suplex backbreaker on Adam Page then Mark Briscoe dropped the Froggy-Bow on Page for the pin. I was all set to give The Briscoes VS The Bucks the Match Of The Night, but this match stole the show and is well worth going out of your way to see. Great fun match. Afterwards all the faces gathered in the ring and Jay Briscoe thanked the crowd.
Notes:
– Not as big of a crowd as in the past for ROH at the Nashville Fairgrounds, but the crowd was lively enough to make a TV taping worthwhile.
– They announced a return to Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium in February.
Ring of Honor announced on Wednesday that its 14th anniversary event in Las Vegas, which had already been slated as its first PPV show of 2016, will now be a full weekend.
The company announced shows for Friday, 2/26 and Saturday, 2/27, at Sam’s Town Casino in Las Vegas. The PPV show will be on Friday followed by a television taping on Saturday.
ROH’s next major PPV is Final Battle 2015 from the 2300 Arena (former ECW Arena) in Philadelphia, PA, on December 18 — their version of WrestleMania. This year’s main event features Jay Lethal defending the ROH World Heavyweight Title against ROH and New Japan star AJ Styles. It will air live on traditional PPV at 9 PM ET/6 PT.
On Monday, Ring of Honor announced a TV deal, but not with a provider you may immediately be familiar with.
Starting Wednesday, December 2nd, ROH’s flagship show will air at midnight on Comet TV, a 24/7 science fiction network that is owned by Sinclair Broadcasting Group, ROH’s parent company. The press release sent touts that the network is available in over 60% of the country and in over 65 million homes as of October 31st.
Essentially, the deal is an extension of the current Sinclair deal, with many of the Sinclair stations now adding a Wednesday night at midnight replay, as well adding distribution in a number of new markets, most notably New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia San Francisco and Houston, where ROH doesn’t have distribution.
The key new stations will be KDOC-TV 32 in Los Angeles, KCNS-39 in San Francisco, WZME-42 in the Bridgeport, CT, market, WCCT-20 in Hartford, CT, KIKU-19 in Honolulu, WOCH-49 in Chicago, WTTV-48 in Indianapolis, WMFP-18 in Lawrence, MA, KVMY-2 in Las Vegas, and KUBE-41 in Houston.
ROH’s 26-week deal with Destination America expires in December, and their final episode on D.A. will be on Wednesday, November 25th. The removal of ROH from the 8 PM EST primetime slot as a lead-in to TNA Impact several months ago was not considered a good sign.
Reports dating back to August were that is was unlikely ROH would be renewed. Jane Latman, who took over from Marc Etkind as the General Manager of the station about six weeks ago, had said she was going to be reviewing all programming, and as of a few weeks ago, that was the information the company had received.
Fun opening match, Davidson hit a monster clothesline and a Finlay roll early. Ali hit a powerbomb and got the pin with a frogsplash.
Cedric Alexander def. Will Ferrara via pinfall
Alexander came out minus Veda Scott, which was kind of a bummer. Alexander hit some big spots early landing a huge knee and a backwards enziguri. Ferrara gained some momentum and performed an impressive DDT of the turnbuckle for a near fall. The two trashed talked and Alexander literally blew his nose on Ferrara before a lumbar check to get the win.
An ROH staff member took the mic in the ring and announced that while Roderick Strong won his match in night 1 of Survival Of The Fittest, he would not be wrestling tonight as he sustained a concussion in his win. Roderick then came out mentioning how he would wrestle injured, but for safety he needs to be cleared first. He went on to say upon his return he would be taking challengers from all over the world for the TV title.
Dalton Castle def. Adam Page via pinfall
Match went outside almost immediately, fans were fanning the very over Castle. Match made its way back into the ring. Blows are traded and Page builds some momentum. BJ Whitmer comes out and in the distraction, castle hits a Bang-A-Rang and gets the pin.
Mark Briscoe def. Frankie Kazarian via pinfall
Match starts with Kazarian hitting Briscoe during the handshake. Briscoe gets angry and beats on Kazarian. Kazarian rakes the eyes and almost pins Briscoe. Kazarian is arguing with the ref about the two count and almost gets rolled up. Briscoe got strung up on the ropes and kicked the the outside. Kazarian beat on Briscoe to a near count out. After Kazarian hit a diamond cutter, he attempted a flux capacitor. Briscoe reversed and hit an elbow drop off the top for the pin.
Adam Cole, Michael Bennett and Matt Taven defeated Moose, Raymond Rowe and Hanson via pinfall
Match started with Taven and Rowe in the ring. Rowe no sold an impressive looking dropkick from Taven. The two had a staredown and Taven spit on Rowe before tagging in Hanson and Bennett. The two were in a very short time before Moose and Cole were tagged in. Moose gets thrown out and all of the partners followed in a huge brawl. Moose got back in the ring and dazed Cole, Bennett, and Taven in a row in time with the “Moose” chant before getting superkicked by all three. Hanson has a few cool spots in which he stacks three men on a turnbuckle before starting his 10 punch count, hits a splash of the top rope, and then does a suicide dive. Moose hit a powerbomb off the top rope before the ring getting cleared out and Adam Cole hitting an assisted piledriver on Rowe.
Joey Daddiego def. Cheeseburger via pinfall
Match after the intermission. Not a very good one at that.
Young Bucks def. All Night Express via pinfall
Match started with the Young Bucks superkicking the All Night Express to the outside in tandem. They followed up with tandem dives to the outside. Back in the ring Matt gets beat up pretty good by the Express before the hot tag. Nick cleans house, gives the crotchchop and lands a facebuster on Titus. The ref gets superkicked and is out cold. The Express regain command of the match and pinned Matt but the ref was out cold. Young Bucks turned it around and hit a Meltzer driver before waking the ref up and getting the pin.
AJ Styles def. Matt Sydal
Match started methodically with the two grappling and trading holds. The pace picked up after Sydal landed a couple of huracanranas. The match turned in Styles favor after getting his knees up before Sydal connected on a standing moonsault. Styles delivered a spinning backbreaker as well as brainbuster. Sydal mounted a comeback before Styles reversed a powerbomb with a hurricanrana into a near fall pin. Styles pinned Sydal after landing a Styles clash.
Kyle O’ Reilly and Bobby Fish def. Jay Lethal and Donovan Dijak
Lethal began the match by stalling outside with Truth Martini. Lots of crowd interaction with the wrestlers going back and forth with louder fans. O’Reilly and Fish pummeled Dijak for ahwile after knocking Lethal outside. Lethal breaks up an armbar on Dijak from O’Reilly. They gain some momentum and Dijak performs a brutal chokeslam into a backbreaker on Fish from Lethal’s shoulders. O’Reilly raises some hell and Lethal gets thrown out of the ring before O’Reilly and Fish hit a 3-D-like combo move and O’Reilly pins Dijak.
Michael Elgin defeated Jay Briscoe, ACH, Silas Young and Christopher Daniels in a 45-minute main event
ACH pinned Silas Young with a german suplex.
Christopher Daniels pinned ACH after a low blow followed by standing moonsault.
Jay Briscoe pinned Christopher Daniels after a Jay Driller.
MIchael Elgin pinned Jay Briscoe after a Burning Hammer.
Daniels and Silas seemed to have an alliance at the beginning and often broke holds on the other throughout the match. They start beating on Briscoe until he hits a double clothesline on them. Elgin German suplexes all four of his opponents and fighting moves outside. ACH dove on all four from the ring. Christopher Daniels put Elgin with Briscoe on his shoulders through a table from the apron. The match rules get changed to a “tornado style match due to the chaos”. Elgin dominated this match including a fallaway slam/Samoa drop combo with Daniels on his chest and Briscoe on his back.
The Big Takeaway – Not your typical ROH show at all. Only two wrestling matches, neither of which were particularly good, surrounded by a bunch of skits involving Silas Young and the Boys and a memorable in-ring interview with Steve Corino.
The opening is a taped skit in a parking lot with Silas Young teaching the Boys how to be men. It starts with him teaching them how to change a tire, complete with cleaning each other off with spit, rather than hand sanitizer. Then he teaches them how to drive a stick shift.
Nigel is still on commentary but promises an announcement later tonight in regards to the future of Steve Corino. Silas Young and the Beer City Bruiser are coming out to the ring with Bruiser carrying a beer keg and the Boys struggling to carry another one.
Silas Young/Beer City Bruiser w/The Boys vs War Machine (Hanson/Rowe)
No adherence to the Code of Honor and Kevin Kelly is pushing a #FreeTheBoys movement on Twitter. War Machine dominates early and when Bruiser gets thrown out of the ring, the Boys try valiantly to lift him to his feet but after a couple minutes, they’re still struggling to do so. Bruiser finally does get into the ring and intercepts a charge from Rowe with a shoulder block. Young and Bruiser get a bit of offence in at this point, cutting off the ring.
Bruiser hits a frog splash from the top that nearly gets a three right before a break. Rowe gets the hot tag after a Urinage and Hanson is a house of fire. He’s about to do a suicide dive but the Boys interfere by grabbing his feet. Rowe sets them up on the turnbuckles. Young tries to save them and he gets put on top of the boys. Rowe then chops all off them off the top, one by one. Bruiser again makes the save but ends up eating a head and arm suplex from Rowe. Young has time to recover and hits a Stan Hansen lariat. The Boys grab Rowe outside the ring and Bruiser tries to do a cannonball dive onto him but Rowe gets out of the way and Bruiser takes out the boys.
Back in the ring, Rowe takes out Bruiser with a superman punch and War Machine hits the fallout on him for the win.
WINNERS – WAR MACHINE by pinfall.
Nigel reminds us that War Machine will have a tag team title shot at Final Battle. Young and Bruiser take out their frustrations over the loss by beating on the boys as we go to a pretaped package going over the Decade/Corino storyline. Corino stopped an attack by BJ Whitmer on Jay Briscoe after a no-DQ match with Adam Page and laid him out by hitting him with a role of quarters.
After a break, Steve Corino comes down to the ring for a meeting with matchmaker Nigel. He reminds Corino that he had been brought back with a zero-tolerance policy about touching wrestlers and he knew that and still put his hands on Whitmer. He tells him that he cannot reinstate him as a commentator but he can reinstate him as a wrestler. He then announces Corino vs Whitmer in a Fight Without Honor at Final Battle. Corino takes the mic and says it felt great when he hit BJ and he got that rush of being a pro wrestler again. He said that he has had numbness in his neck and arm for the last few months. He needs neck surgery and his in-ring career is over. He says it’s not goodbye because pro wrestlers never retire until their last breath. He thanks ROH for keeping him around when they didn’t have to. He puts over a ton of guys by name, including Adam Pearce, Jimmy Jacobs and Kevin Steen, who are all with WWE now.
The fans chant “Thank you Steve” and he says “No, thank you” and then says “My name is Steve Corino and I will always be an evil man”. He puts down the mic, shakes Nigel’s hand and walks out of the ring, stopping to huge Kelly and Bobby Cruise before heading to the back.
After a break, it’s another skit with Young and Boys. He is teaching them how to use the bathroom. They first want to go to the women’s bathroom and he makes them go to the men’s. When one of them sees a urinal, he tries to squat in it and tells them they need to stand up and one of the Boys gives a confused look at the camera as the skit ends.
Story Time with Adam Cole is back. He’s mad because he’s not on Nigel’s list of World title contenders. He’s made that Kyle O’Reilly is on the list and he’s not. He says that “just like Roderick” he needs to whine and complain to get a title shot, as Strong just was granted a TV title shot and we get a replay of that angle from a couple weeks ago. Cole tells us that this match will happen next week on ROH TV. He then reminds us of the World title match at Final Battle between Jay Lethal and AJ Styles. Because he’s not a contender for either title, he’s now focused on removing Kyle O’Reilly from Ring of Honor forever.
Another skit in the bathroom. Young is coming out of a stall and the boys are waving their hands in front of their noses as we hear a flush. Young emerges with a plunger and says “It’s all yours Boys, take care of it”
“Unbreakable” Michael Elgin vs Kevin Lee Davidson
Davidson looks like a slightly taller, slightly fatter Samoa Joe. Kelly and Nigel are still talking about Corino’s speech. The “Match” consists of a clothesline from Elgin and a pin.
WINNER – MICHAEL ELGIN by pinfall
Elgin’s got a mic. He says that after competing in the G1, he remembers why he does this and what’s important and that’s the ROH title. Unfortunately for Jay Lethal, that gold is around his waist and it’s not a matter of it, but when, they step in the ring for the ROH title and when they do, the gold is coming back to him. Solid no-nonsense promo from Elgin.
Highlights of the Kingdom winning the Tag titles at All-Star Extravaganza air next.
ROH World Tag Team Title Match – Champions The Kingdom (Michael Bennett/Matt Taven) with Maria Kanellis-Bennett vs The Addiction (“Heavy Metal Rebel” Frankie Kazarian/”Almighty” Christopher Daniels) w/Chris Sabin
The Champs are very pink today and judging by Maria’s shirt, it’s a breast cancer awareness thing as this was likely taped in October. Both teams use interference early in an attempt to get the advantage as Nigel says this may be a question of which team will cheat more. They end up with all four guys squaring off in the ring as we go to break.
Back in and the ref’s got it down to two men, Taven and Bennett. Neither team really able to get the advantage as both get flurries of offence broken up by quick tags on both sides. Fans are relatively lukewarm as they don’t particularly want to cheer for either team. Daniels makes some sort of comment that wasn’t really caught on camera and this fired up Bennett. They end up outside the ring brawling and take each other out with a double clothesline. In the ring both Kazarian and Taven have title belts and they both do the Eddie Guerrero drop to the mat with the belts beside them spot when the ref is about to come into the ring. Fans actually liked that spot.
Maria and Sabin outside the ring and both blaming the other team for the belshots. Ref makes a count on both guys but they both get to their feet arguing. They both attempt to do running clotheslines but get tripped up by Maria and Sabin from the outside. That’s enough for the ref as he throws them both out as we go another break.
After break, everyone’s brawling outside and Daniels hits a BME from the apron on Bennett and then Taven does a flying dive on the other three guys to take everyone out. Fans are pretty into it now, chanting ROH. All four guys end up in the ring and again, it’s neither team really getting a sustained advantage. Everyone’s coming in and out without tags and it’s a bit of a cluster. Bennett went for a spear on Kazarian but he moved out of the way and Bennett out the ref.
All four guys end up down and this brings Maria out from the back. Daniels gets his hands on Maria and goes for The Angel’s Wings. Bennett makes the save but ends up getting laid out by an STO from Daniels. As he’s celebrating, Maria kicks him square in the nuts and then lays him out with a Superkick. Kazarian grabs her from behind but Taven makes the save. He tries for a Lionsault on Kazarian but Kazarian gets his knees up. A guy in a red mask comes down to the ring and hits Kazarian with a superkick as Kelly says “Is that Sabin”. Bennett then hits Kazarian with a spear for the pin.
WINNERS – THE KINGDOM by pinfall
It seems fairly obvious that the third guy with the KRD mask is Adam Cole but we’ll see if that’s where they’re going. War Machine come out for a staredown with the champs as the show ends.
The Big Takeaway – Decent enough wrestling but nothing really stands out in as skippable a show as you’ll see from ROH.
Nigel McGuinness is back on commentary but they’re promising an update on Steve Corino’s status later in the show. Tonight’s show was taped in Kalamazoo and features a rematch from All-Star Extravaganza in the Main Event.
Cedric Alexander w/Veda Scott vs ACH
The announcers talk about Veda’s impending lawsuit due to unsafe working conditions during the intro and Scott and Nigel jaw at each other as Alexander makes his way into the ring. We are also reminded of the best of 5 series between ACH and Matt Sydal that resumes this Friday in Milwaukee with the deciding match.
Fans solidly behind ACH as Alexander is one of the few true heels in ROH. During the dead spots of the match, Nigel talks about how ACH and Sydal have both become better wrestlers as a result of the best of 5 and they’re often seen in the hotels after the match talking over their matches, what worked and what didn’t. Very different way to build a series like this than would’ve been done in the past.
A key spot in the match happened when ACH knocked Alexander out of the ring and then went to do a kick off the apron on him. Veda Scott got in the way and ACH stopped short, allowed Alexander to hit and STO on the apron and take control.
Alexander was still in control after a commercial break, milking the crowd for boos. ACH turned things around with a series of Ric Flair chops and then a reverse thrust kick and a running clothesline. Playing off the earlier spot, ACH teased a dive outside the ring but when Scott got in the way, he stopped himself. Alexander then got in the ring and tried one of his own but ACH pushed Scott in the way and Alexander stopped himself. ACH then hit a dive on Alexander to finish the sequence.
Back in the ring, ACH hit a spinning discus punch and then a suplex with a bridge, which only got a 2. Nigel continually putting over how ACH’s strategy in the match has changed as a result of the Sydal series.
Alexander hit an enziguri and then followed with a dropkick in the corner to take control. He then went for a springboard move that looked like he messed but given the way the match played out, maybe have been a planned spot. ACH hit a superkick and a brainbuster and followed up with the Midnight Star to get the win.
WINNER – ACH by pinfall
Angle alert as Kevin Kelly did an in-ring interview with ACH after the match. He said he was going to walk in with the same mentality he had against AJ Styles but the difference is he would walk out with his hand raised. And that was it. I guess I’ve been watching too much WWE.
After a break, Veda and Alexander were at the commentary table and Scott blamed Alexander slipping on the rope on the rope being covered in baby oil, adding to the unsafe working conditions. She screamed at Nigel without a mic in the most annoying way possible and Kelly brushed her off, saying “Go file a brief”.
Will Ferrara vs Caprice Coleman
The angle from seemingly months ago when Coleman accepted an envelope from Prince Nana was shown at the beginning. Coleman did a promo that started off putting over Ferrara but ended up burying him and came off kind of jealous of him. “You had a great match with Kushida….I would’ve liked to have wrestled Kushida”. Seemed like the start of a heel turn.
Match was what you’d expect. Back and forth early with Coleman eventually taking over. Coleman was definitely more aggressive as Kevin Kelly talked about him doing things “the right way” over and over again. They also talked about how Coleman has been a mentor for Ferrara so this is your basic teacher vs student match.
Prince Nana showed up at ringside taking notes. Ferrara was selling his shoulder and running into the post shoulder first. The ref asked Ferrara if he needed a minute but Coleman threw him into the post. He then grabbed the shoulder in a submission move he called “Judgement Seat” and got a tapout win.
WINNER – CAPRICE COLEMAN by pinfall
Coleman shook his hand after the match and mockingly put him over to the camera afterward. On his way to the back, Nana handed Ferrara an envelope and he accepted it, acting confused. No idea where this angle is going.
Inside ROH has been replaced this week by Story Time with Adam Cole, complete with the same background music as the previous show. He talks about his feud with Kyle O’Reilly. He says there’s no question who the better man in is since he pinned O’Reilly in the 3 way main event last week. They also flashed back to June of 2012 and their hybrid fighting rules match and of course Cole won that one as well. Cole’s memory from that match was a scar on his lip that he got from an O’Reilly kick that he’ll have for the rest of his life. It’s a constant reminder that he’s better than O’Reilly. He says that he won’t stop until Kyle O’Reilly is gone from ROH.
Kevin Kelly interviewed Prince Nana at ringside and asked “what’s in the envelope”. Nana of course doesn’t answer and says that this is “The Edge of the Enlightenment” and that the Keys to Life are in that envelope. Still have no idea what’s going on and the fans sure didn’t seem to care.
Hilights of the Briscoes/ANX match from All-Star Extravaganza air to hype up the main event. The All-Night Express won of course in their return to ROH and the Briscoes will be looking for revenge tonight.
All-Night Express (Kenny King/Rhett Titus) vs The Briscoes (Jay and Mark Briscoe)
All four adhere to the Code of Honor at the start, as the fans chant MAN UP. Kevin Kelly talks about the long history of these two teams which originally culminated at Ladder Wars before picking up with the return of ANX a couple months back. Very even for the first part of the match with ANX taking over after a blind tag that even the announcers missed. A leg drop, standing splash combo from ANX got the first two-count on Jay but no one bought it. Nice spot, though.
Titus and Jay exchanged kicks to the face before Jay tagged in Mark. Mark with a series of Ric Flair chops in the corner on Titus and then takes out King outside with the ring with a suicide dive. A bit of Briscoes double-teaming culminates in a running clothesline from Mark on Titus but that only gets a two. Briscoes cut off the ring, isolating Titus in the corner. They are very much wrestling a heel style but the fans are still solidly behind them. Mark tags in and does some redneck Kung-Fu. Titus gets a brief flurry of offence but Jay runs in without a tag to prevent him from tagging out. Mark tags in Jay and then knocks Kenny King off the ring apron so he can’t make a tag, which leads into another break.
Back from break and the Briscoes are still double-teaming Titus but he makes the hot tag to King, which gets a lukewarm reaction from the crowd. King gets a two count on Mark but it’s broken up by Jay without a tag. King sets Mark up for a superplex but hits a dropkick instead. Titus then takes him down with an X-Factor from the top rope. Mark hits an exploder on Titus into the ringpost but King is the legal man.
Jay Briscoe comes in without a tag and takes out King and then Mark hits a neckbreaker on Titus. They set up for a Doomsday but King knocks Mark off the top rope. ANX sets up for the One Night Stand on Jay but Mark breaks that up. They all end up outside the ring brawling, which the Briscoes get the better of. Jay Briscoe eventually gets Titus in the ring and hits the Jay Driller and then Mark follows up with Froggie-Bo for the win.
WINNERS – THE BRISCOES by pinfall
The dynamic was all off in the main event as the Briscoes were clearly playing heel but the crowd did not want to boo them. All four guys did shake hands after the match, though and you get the sense that this might not be it between them.
