– ROH Tag Team Champions The Addiction beat Silas Young & Beer City Bruiser to retain in a great match.
– Fish Tank segment with Mark Briscoe and ACH led to a number one contenders match for the TV title. Briscoe then beat ACH.
– Jay White made his ROH debut and beat Kamaitachi (with Christopher Daniels) by DQ. Postmatch, the Addiction beat them down which brings out the Motor City Machine Guns.
– Jay White & Motor City Machine Guns beat ROH Tag Team Champions The Addiction & Kamaitachi
– Keith Lee & Shane Taylor beat an unknown tag team.
– Dalton Castle beat Roderick Strong in Strong’s farewell ROH match
Both guys hugged afterwards and there were “Thank you Roddy” and “You deserve it” chants post-match. Strong gives an emotional speech, thanking fans for their support and says he hopes to wrestle in ROH again someday.
– Kyle O’Reilly came out for his World Title match with Jay Lethal, but before Lethal can come out, Adam Cole hits the stage and says O’Reilly has skipped him in line and doesn’t deserve this match, and, in fact, he won’t be wrestling at all tonite. Young Bucks sneak attack O’Reilly from behind and the Bullet Club injures his arm and shoulder with a steel chair.
– War Machine beat an unknown tag team.
– Caprice Coleman and the All Night Express beat Cheeseburger & Will Ferrera & Moose
– ROH World Champion Jay Lethal beat the injured Kyle O’Reilly in a great match
Bullet Club attacks both post-match, leading Nigel to declare that Adam Cole will never get a title shot as long as he’s in charge. Lethal asks that he be added to the announced main event.
– Moose beat Mike “P-Dog” Posey. Dijak came out to challenge Moose. Dijak beat Moose, then attacked Stokley Hathaway.
– ROH Champion Jay Lethal & Briscoes beat Bullet Club
After the match, the Bullets incapacitate Lethal in the ropes and Cole cuts off Lethal’s dreads, then violently shave his whole head. Bucks lead the crowd in “That was too sweet” and “You deserve it” (to Lethal) chants to end the show.
Fantastic show, crowd was really into almost all of it.
H returns to traditional PPV Friday night for Best In The World, the seventh such event in company history. The event emanates from Concord, NC, the first time BITW has been held there.
Headlining the show is ROH World Champion Jay Lethal vs. Jay Briscoe, a rematch from last year’s BITW event where Lethal downed Briscoe for the belt in a winner takes all match.
KYLE O’REILLY VS. KAMAITACHI
O’Reilly won with a brainbuster and armbar. Very good technically. The crowd reacted but didn’t go wild. Kamaitachi reufsed to shake hands and left. The crowd isn’t mic’d well as you can see them reactingbut dont’ hear it that well. Kamaitachi didn’t look as impressive as he usually does. But his role was to put O’Reilly over as the whole thing they pushed was how O’Reilly gets a shot at the winner of the main event tomorrow.
SILAS YOUNG VS. ACH
Yeah, we’ve got the same problem with the bad crowd micing whicnh hurts the matches. You can see people are into it and hear it lightly. This was a good match. ACH did a great springobard flip dive. Young missed a springboard move, and ACH won with jumping double knees, a brainbuster and a 450 splash.
They just introudced Jay White at ringside. He looks like a teenager in the crowd.
Mark Briscoe was hilarious on his pre-match interview.
MARK BRISCOE VS. RODERICK STRONG
With Strong leaving, Mark got the pin after a brainbuster and fisherman buster in a really good match. Strong was excellent here and Mark hung with him. Mark has shaved his head but came out with a wig to surprise Strong. Both worked at a hard pace, with Mark doing all kinds of cool stuff and Strong solid with everything he did. Mark survived the sick kick and gutbuster. Mark used a sick kick on Strong. I think if the crowd was mic’d this would have come across as excellent. Fans were chanting “Thank you Roddy” and he was shaking hands on the way out.
WAR MACHINE & MOOSE VS. YOUNG BUCKS & ADAM COLE IN A TORNADO MATCH
Excellent match. Non stop action and the crowd was pretty hot. Finish saw them use the Meltzer driver on Moose and all three kissed each other after winning. We’ll update this later because it was a crazy match with all kinds of big spots and a ton of superkicks. Once again it was hurt by the crowd micing. Hanson in particular did crazy stuff for a guy his size.
CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & FRANKIE KAZARIAN VS. CHRIS SABIN & ALEX SHELLEY FOR THE TAG TITLES
Another good match. Actually this at first had a hard time following the previous match. Kamaitachi came out and attacked Jay White at ringside. They were brawling and distracted ref Paul Turner and Daniels hit Shelley with a low blow and he was out of commission. Daniels & Kazarian then pinned Sabin after the Best Meltzer ever. You’d think at this point I was the booker and had an ego twice the size of Dusty Rhodes. Daniels & Kazarian & Kamaitachi left together so they are forming a group.
STEVE CORINO VS. B.J. WHITMER IN AN UNSACNTIONED FIGHT WITHOUT HONOR
Corino came out to Shinya Hashimoto’s theme music. Corino bleached his hair blond. The commentators said this is a match that nobody wanted to see happen. This match was crazy. It came from another era as Whitmer went to hardway him. Corino bled like crazy. Whitmer juiced and it was a bloodbath. The crowd loved it. Whitmer put Corino through a table with an exploder suplex. They beat each other with broken pieces of the table. The lights went out and Kevin Sullivan showed up, teased hitting Whitmer with the spike but instead spiked Corino and Whitmer pinned him. Because nobody does this kind of match, it really worked. They saved things like tables, never do blood like this and used rolls of quarters but didn’t over do the foreign objects like in TNA where the shots meant nothing.
BOBBY FISH VS. DALTON CASTLE FOR THE TV TITLE
Another good match. Castle dominated. Castle suplexed Fish on his head and they teased Fish being hurt, but he then went for the bang a rang and Fish turned it into a front rolling cradle for the pin.
The All Night Express and Caprice Coleman came out. They came out to Presidential music. Coleman noted they were never defeated for the titles. He claimed they had to pay for this segment. Said each watched each others back and said all three are underrated and underpaid and now they are uniting and are now the group is called The Cabinet. Coleman is the Minister of Information. Rhett Titus said this whole show has been young punks flip flying around and nobody looks like pro wrestlers, said guys need to do bench presses and squats, how the tag champs have no abs and how the Young Bucks skip leg day and keep doing superkicks. Said there is an Olympic gold medalist is selling T-shirts to make wrestling great again. The Cabinet will will make wrestling great, won’t skip leg day and will win all the gold.
JAY LETHAL VS. JAY BRISCOE FOR THE ROH TITLE
Great match. Shorter than you’d think but time got out of control. The crowd loved it, chanting “That was awesome” after the finish. Lethal retained with a diamond cutter and Lethal iinjection. So right after the match ended, they turned up the crowd mic and you could hear how loud they were. If they’d done that during the show every match would have come across better. Both shook hands after the match. Briscoe nearly go the pin earlier with the Lethal injection and Jay driller. Lethal did two tope’s in a row and Briscoe came back with two of his own and a running flip dive. A lot of near falls. Crowd may have been hottest in this match.
– Cheeseburger defeated Some Canadian Guy With A Fanny Pack. Cheeseburger was super over. The guy’s fanny pack was more over than the guy himself.
Main Show:
– Steve Corino promo on Whitmer, who was on commentary.
– ROH Tag Team Champions The Addiction defeated Kamaitachi and Juice Robinson via Best Meltzer Ever. Juice was super over.
– Dalton Castle defeated Will Ferrera via Deadlift German Suplex.
– Motor City Machine Guns defeated Lio Rush and Moose. This was a fun match. Rush is very impressive. MCMG put Lio over after the match by giving him the ring for the crowd to cheer him.
– Donovan Dijak defeat Trent Baretta. Prince Nana accompanied Dijak to the ring. Dijak is a decent heel.
– Four Corner Survival: Kyle O’Reilly defeated Roderick Strong, Michael Elgin and ACH via submission. This match ruled. Every sequence was jaw dropping. Elgin and Kyle had a great sequence of Germans and kicks. Roddy was great, per usual, as was ACH.
– BJ Whitmer promo. Two random dudes brought out a hog-tied Corino.
– War Machine destroyed two local talents.
– ROH TV Champion Bobby Fish defeated Rocky Romero via leg submission. Great match. Fish is awesome. Dalton Castle was on commentary for this match and they had a stare down after the match.
– Beer City Bruiser and Silas Young defeated The Briscoes and ANX in Tag Wars finals. BCB and Silas hit their finishers on ANX. Crowd celebrated like Milwaukee won the World Series.
– Colt Cabana and ROH Champion Jay Lethal defeated The Young Bucks via Double Lethal Injection. Crowd was super hot for this match. Bucks looked good after returning from injury. They hit an Indie Taker, but no Meltzer Driver. No disrespect to the Bucks, but they looked gassed and/or didn’t want to risk another injury. After the match, Colt had Lethal’s title and hinted he wanted a rematch. Lethal grabbed his belt and left.
Veda wins with a back suplex while Mary is seated on top rope. Good enough match to warm up.
Kelly Klein and BJ Whitmer come out. Klein gives Mary a Michinoku-driver like move and BJ harasses the ring announcer to announce Klein as ‘the only woman that matters’ in Women of Honor.
Jay Briscoe comes out and tells the crowd the ROH officials are concerned about his health and he is not supposed to wrestle tonight. Roderick Strong comes out to tell him it is better that way and Jay should take the night off. Of course, Jay doesn’t accept that reasonable offer, so the main event is still on.
– Caprice Coleman vs ACH
Good match. Caprice yelled out ‘Buddy Landel!’ and proceeded to do a Landel-style elbow off the ropes. Maybe a dozen people in the audience got it. ACH won with the 360 splash.
– Stevie Richards vs Mark Briscoe
OK match. Mark with a DVD like move and then FroggyBo off the top for the pin.
– Beer City Bruiser (w/ Silas Young) vs Cheezburger
What you’d expect. BCB wins with his finisher. Silas mocks Cheeseburger and expresses his disgust for the crown and ACH and CB. Silas picks CB up over his shoulders, but ACH makes the save.
– ANX vs Motor City Machine Guns
Fun match. Good team spots. Heat on Alex Shelley. Finish breaks down and MCMG do a double team buster move on Rhett ( I think) for the pin. MCMG are pretty over.
– Adam Page vs. ROH Champion Jay Lethal
Big pop for Bullet Club, and a good pop for Lethal. Crowd somewhat favored Lethal during the match. Back and forth action. Lots of leg selling by Jay. Page ripped off his knee brace at one point. Big pop for a Young Bucks run in. Superkicks on Lethal, but he kicks out. Another attempt and Lethal ducks and Page gets it. Then Lethal diverts one Buck’s superkick into the other Buck. Follows with a Lethal Injection on both a Buck and Page at the same time. Good for the pin. Really good match.
– Intermission had BJ Whitmer babbling. Crowd wouldn’t let him talk at all. “We want wrestling” chant.
– Dalton Castle (w/The Boys) vs Kamaitachi
Solid match. Fun spots w/ Castle and the Boys. Crowd into it. Castle w/ a bridging suplex for the win.
– Lio Rush vs Adam Cole
The rest of the Bullet Club came out w/ Cole. He then sent them off saying he didn’t need them. Really good match. Near falls and hope spots had me believing Rush would win it, especially after he finally hit a frog splash. But Cole caught him with the knee brain buster for a pin. Afterwards, he shook Lio’s hand and called hm the future of ROH. Then he hugged Lio … but it was just a cover for a Superkick party. Bucks were out and nailed Rush and then all 3 did. MCMG ran them off. Best match on the card.
– War Machine vs. ROH Tag Champions The Addiction (Daniels/Kazarian) in a no DQ title match
Early part was just WM mauling The Addiction with hairs and trash cans. Then they got Hanson taped outside to the corner and Rowe taped inside by his legs to bottom rope. Lots of offense on Rowe, but couldn’t pin him since feet on ropes! Daniels cut him loose and they tried to pin. Rowe kicks out. Powers up and frees Hanson. More brawling. They hit finisher on Kazrian, but Daniels saved. Then War Machine decided to get the tables.
Before they can, two big guys (Shane Taylor and Keith Lee) run in and demolish WM with power bomb moves. The Addiction recover and give Hanson a double suplex with a belly landing on the table for the pin.
– Jay Briscoe vs Rodrick Strong
Lots of heat on Strong. Back and forth match. Ref bump and Jay got visual pin. Revived ref and hit the Jay Driller, but only got 2. A short exchange and Strong hit his suplex into front codebreaker like finish for a surprise victory. Solid match.
Decent showcase of Klein’s strength. James had a nice Black Widow on Klein. Klein wins via tapout choke. Post match, BJ Whitmer berates Scarlett to do a proper winner announcement. Issues open challenge for any woman to face Kelly.
Show Results
– Dalton Castle vs Stevie Richards turns into ANX vs. Dalton Castle & Stevie Richards
ANX (w) come out for a segment called what’s wrong with wrestling. Stevie was blasted for lengthy career and Dalton Castle, Human Trafficker. Castle changes the match to tag match vs the “fatbags”. (Lights keep going out in building during this segment). Kenny King delivers a chairshot to a spinning Richards and capitalized for the pinfall.
– Caprice Coleman def. Cheeseburger
Coleman comes out bearing gifts (protein powder, peanuts) to make Cheeseburger bigger. Caprice wins in a solid match by submission. Cheeseburger over with the crowd.
– Christopher Daniels def. Ray Rowe
Rowe surprisedly booed. Towards end, Kaz comes out followed by Hanson just enough to cause a distraction. Daniels hits BME for the 3 count. Daniels helps Kaz continue the beatdown on Hanson which turns into…
– Warbeard Hanson def. Kazarian
Kaz is over with the crowd and so is Hanson. Very good match. Hanson wins with swinging leg kick. Post match, Kaz comes out followed by Rowe. A brawl ensues and War Machine stands tall with the tag belts. War Machine leaves then Addiction stands up with their belts.
– Kamaitachi vs. Jason Kincaid vs Lio Rush vs Will Ferrara vs ACH vs Roderick Strong
Roddy clears the ring to start and stares at Rush. Match breaks down and Roddy does a sick spot outside the ring where he flings each opponent into the metal barricade. Then begins in the ring with Kamaitachi. ACH and Lio do some cool floppy counter stuff. Kincaid came in with a sick off the ropes bulldog/STO spot. Very fast paced, hard to keep up. Lot of Roddy dominance. Kincaid hits the sunset flip power bomb on Lio Rush to the guys on the floor. Kamaitachi then hits a spinning modification of air raid crash for the 3 on Kincaid in the ring. Great match.
Intermission
– BJ Whitmer tries to get on mic and is booed at every opportunity. He graces us with his presence in a practice match against a guy who may have been announced as Mark Sales, dressed in Corino trunks. Whitmer squashed him quickly.
– Silas Young and Beer City Bruiser vs Shane Taylor and Keith Lee
Taylor hits 2nd rope splash on Beer City Bruiser for the pin.
– Jay Briscoe vs. Moose w/ Stokely Hathaway
Both these guys chants to start. Stiff contest. Nice tope con Hilo by Moose. Briscoe hits a Death Valley Driver on the ring apron to Moose. Jay Driller to Moose for a near fall. Crowd goes nuts thinking it was 3. Moose powerbombs Jay through ringside timekeeper table. Jay gets back in the ring at the count of 19. Jay counters the powerbomb into another Jay Driller for the win. Match of the night!
– ROH Champion Jay Lethal (w/Taeler Hendrix) vs. Mark Briscoe
Back and forth match. Mark kicked out of the second diving forearm from Lethal. Jay hit a top rope elbow drop for a near fall, later locking on a figure four. Lethal blocked a Briscoe Elbow from top, kicks him in the face and dazes him, nailing Lethal Injection for the 3. Solid match.
– Bullet Club (Adam Page & Adam Cole) (w/Young Bucks) vs. Motor City Machine Guns
Match started out of the ring with barricade throws on MCMG. Bucks superkick Sabin before heading to the back. A lot of Too Sweet eye pokes by Cole. Page connects on the shooting star to the outside. MCMG hit tag team combination from the top rope to near fall because Todd Sinclair pulled out of ring. Upon getting back in the ring, MCMG superkicks him.
Bucks return and Superkick Sabin. Cole holds Shelley and Bucks inadvertently hit Cole with superkicks and get superkicked by MCM. Page gets back in the ring, MCMG hit their finish for the 3 count on Page.
After the match, the Addiction comes out to attack MCMG. MCMG clears them to the outside where the Bucks hit Addiction w/superkicks. Sabin gets on the mic and asks the crowd if they want to see Addiction as champs. Boos. They ask if the people want to see MCMG vs YB. They says if they win the YB will be first competitors.
Bucks gets on the mic and say that MCMG is their biggest rivalry. Shelley then puts over the ROH tag division and the fans. Shelley says MCMG + YB equal profits & 5 star classics. They call the Bucks back in the ring for handshakes. Surprisingly, no Superkicks and clean handshakes.
– BJ Whitmer did a promo vowing to destroy Adam Page.
– Kevin Kelly comes out to welcome crowd and announces that show will be on VOD, and has a special announcement after the main event regarding San Antonio. He then brings out Mr Wrestling 3.
– Mark Briscoe pins Silas Young with an inside cradle.
– Rhett Titus (w/ Kenny King) b Will Ferrara. King runs down San Antonio, and the female fans by saying they have “fishy smelling crotches”. King then demands that Bobby Fish come out to wrestle him now!
– Bobby Fish def. Kenny King by submission. Fans were into Fish.
– The Motor City Machine Guns b The Addiction when Chris Sabin pinned Kazarian. Post match, the Addiction laid out the Guns.
> Intermission
– Keith Lee & Shane Taylor b Andy Dalton & Ken Phoenix
– Young Bucks b Delirious & Cheeseburger when Matt Jackson pinned Burger after a Meltzer Driver on top of a prone Delirious. Bucks way over as was Burger.
– ACH vs Roderick Strong vs Moose vs Kyle O’Reilly vs. Jay Briscoe vs. ROH Champion Jay Lethal
Great match. Everyone got in their moves. After a ref bump by Paul Turner, Briscoe gets a visual pin on Roddy. Todd Sinclair runs to ring to make the count, but the count was broken up, ending with Lethal pinning ACH with Lethal Injection. Lethal cuts a promo saying no one can beat him which Briscoe responds by saying he never got his rematch for title. Lethal quickly leaves the ringside area.
– Adam Page b BJ Whitmer in a San Antonio Street Fight
Fans led Page to use posterboard, a cane, and even a sash on BJ Whitmer may have been hurt as he was attended to while announcement was made for a return date of 11/4. Show ended and while fans were filing out, Whitmer was still laid out.
Internet exclusive match: Brian Kendrick pinned Will Ferrara
TV Taping (week of March 14th)
– Cedric Alexander vs. ROH TV Champion Tomohiro Ishii
Veda Scott paid original opponent BJ Whitmer to leave and get the match for Cedric Alexander. Ishii won with a brainbuster.
– Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian demanded that Chris Sabin apologize to them for what he did. Sabin & Alex Shelley came out and they went at it with Sabin & Shelley demanding a match, but Daniels refused.
– Mark & Jay Briscoe beat Reno Scum
Scum is a local tag team of Adam Thornstowe & Luster the Legend.
– Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin beat Young Bucks
Post-match saw The Addiction attack the Bucks and the Motor City Machine Guns made the save.
TV Taping (week of March 21st)
– Roderick Strong won four-way over Adam Page, Moose and Matt Sydal when Strong pinned Page
– Adam Cole did an interview saying he would be the next world champion. Matt Taven returned, and said that Cole is no longer part of the Kingdom and that he would be forming a new Kingdom.
– Cheeseburger vs. an unknown ended when Kenny King & Rhett Titus attacked both guys and laid them out
War Machine and the Briscoes made the save. The segment ended with the Briscoes grabbing the tag team title belts so they are in the immediate tag title picture.
– ROH Champion Jay Lethal beat Hirooki Goto in a good match to retain
Lethal won thanks to interference from Truth Martini and Taelor Hendrix. Donovan Dijak returned with Prince Nana and kicked Martini. Martini laid motionless and they did an injury angle that was played up big in the building. A lot of people thought he had broken his neck, but he was taken out on a ringside table.
TV Taping (week of March 28th)
– Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly beat Kazuchika Okada & Gedo
Fish and O’Reilly won when they pinned Gedo after Chasing the Dragon
– Adam Cole beat Kushida with a brainbuster in a super match
– Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley beat Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian
After the match, Daniels & Kazarian jumped them until Kushida & Matt Sydal ran in. The Young Bucks ran in after.
TV Taping 4 (week of April 4th)
– ROH Tag Champions War Machine retained beating Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta
– Donovan Dijak & Prince Nana did an interview. Dijak said he had been protecting the House of Truth, but now it’s time to go after the world title. Jay Lethal and Dijak ended up brawling so that’s a new title direction.
– Kenny Omega beat ACH with the One Winged Angel
– Dalton Castle beat Silas Young in a Fight Without Honor
Ring of Honor announced today that three of its top stars — ROH champion Jay Lethal, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly — have signed new contracts with the organization and there are major booking plans in place for all three men in the year ahead.
Lethal signed several weeks ago, while Fish and O’Reilly inked deals about a week ago.
All had been expected to re-sign since Lethal had not lost the championship in any of his recent title defenses. Additionally, Fish & O’Reilly staying on also included the provision they’ll continue to keep their jobs with New Japan Pro Wrestling, something the Young Bucks got in their deal when they re-signed in October 2015.
The new deals were similar to the old deals in that ROH will have exclusivity on the wrestlers in North America, but they are free to take overseas bookings. The lone exception to the stateside exclusivity are PWG shows.
Lethal vs. O’Reilly vs. Adam Cole for the ROH title will headline the 2/26 ROH PPV show from Las Vegas, Nevada.
The following are 5 Star Wrestling results from the January 15th Liverpool, England, show, submitted by Jay O’Leary.
5-Star Champion John Morrison vs. PJ Black
Morrison pins Black in about 10 minutes after Starship Pain to retain his 5* title. Decent opening match to get the crowd going.
Big Damo vs. Zack Gibson
Hometown boy and Liverpool’s number one Gibson is out next after challenging Nick Aldis for his GFW title in the local press. Few jeers from the blue half of Liverpool for Gibson who is in his usual Liverpool FC style t-shirt but otherwise a great reaction for Zack. Aldis comes out and talks down to the crowd before saying Gibson doesn’t deserve a shot at his GFW championship. He introduces Gibson’s opponent for the evening “The Beast of Belfast” Big Damo. Damo pinned Zack Gibson with a rollup after pulling the ref in the way of Gibsons attack. After the match, Gibson gets on the mic and challenges Damo to some sort of hardcore match to which Damo just walks off.
Colt Cabana vs. Timm Wylie
Fun match which saw Cabana pick up the win after hitting the GTS.
Will Osprey, Zack Sabre Jr and Rey Mysterio vs. Marty Scurll, Jimmy Havoc and GFW champion Nick Aldis
The kids (and adults to be fair) loved seeing Mysterio and when he hit the 619 and followed up with a frog splash on Jimmy Havoc for the pin the crowd went wild. After the match, Scurll attacked Mysterio but Rey countered. Marty ended up on the ropes primed for the 619 before Zack Sabre Jr stopped Rey from connecting. A confused crowd were stunned into silence when Osprey followed up with a superkick to Mysterio before the five british stars all attacked Mysterio together. They posed and left the ring.
Joe Coffey vs. Carlito
Cool ending when Carlito accidentally spat his apple into the face of referee Chris Roberts before Coffey rolled him up. Carlito’s shoulders came up at 2 but a partially sighted Roberts missed it, counted the 3 and called for the bell.
Zoe Lucus and Lou King Sharp beat Jamie Hayter and Kid Fyte in a mixed tag team match.
AJ Styles vs. Jay Lethal
A decent main event match ended when Lethal scored the pin with a handful of tights. They went back and forth on the mic after the match putting over 5* before they were laid out by Aldis, Osprey, Scurll, Sabre Jr and Havoc. Jimmy Havoc gets on the mic and says how sick they are of putting in the work week after week over here when the American guys come over, get paid ten times as much and all these people lap it up.
The beatdown continued until Colt Cabana and Rey Mysterio run down for the save. The British guys scarper with the exception of Havoc who gets hit with a 619, GTS, Lethal Injection and a Styles Clash before the four babyfaces pose in the corners to send the crowd home happy.
Notes:
Really fun show. Credit to 5 Star Wrestling, their production team, and every single person on their roster for ending the tour on such a high. Great turnout in the Echo arena for the show with mainly families with young kids.
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.
