– ROH Tag Champions War Machine defeated Kazarian/Sabin. Heels did the inevitable “let’s taunt St. Louis over losing the Rams” bit, then the match started with a few minutes of comedy spots. I believe this was a non-title match (but the champs won anyway).
– Michael Elgin defeated Adam Page. Elgin took about 80% of the match, and won with his sit-out powerbomb. Page came out for his match, but was almost immediately jumped from behind by BJ Whitmer. Michael Elgin came out, and Whitmer backed off. Page, despite having just taken a beating, still wanted his scheduled match with Elgin.
– TV Champion Roderick Strong submitted Cheeseburger to retain. Cheeseburger may have gotten the biggest pop of the night. Felt like a really long squash.
– The Briscoe Brothers defeated Silas Young and the Beer City Bruiser. Plenty of outside-the-ring action, including some presumably-unplanned spots when one of the big metal ROH banners they put on the guard rails came off. Briscoes won with a Jay Driller.
> Intermission went a bit long because the ring crew had to replace a board in the ring floor. Light “ring crew” chants.
– Will Ferrara defeated Kevin Lee Davidson. Quick nothing match.
– Dalton Castle (with the boys) defeated Delirious. Lots of comedy spots.
– ReDRagon (Bobby Fish/Kyle O’Reilly) defeated the All Night Express (Kenny King/Rhett Titus) with Chasing the Dragon.
– Adam Cole defeated Moose, after Moose took most of the match.
– The Young Bucks defeated ACH and Alex Shelley. Pretty much every Young Bucks match ever.
Castle is such a great performer with his gimmick. Crowd totally into him and his charisma.
ACH d. Moose and Silas Young in a 3-way
ACH got the pin on Young before Moose could get back in and break it up. Young is one of the few true heels in the promotion and pulls it off well.
Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish d. Frankie Kazarian & Chris Sabin
Really great action in this one. Both teams tried stereo submissions at different points. Lots of high spots. After Sabin was pinned, Kaz teased being angry with him but then they hugged it out.
Michael Elgin d. Tim Hughes
Can’t recall who Elgin beat. It was an extended squash really. Elgin did his vertical suplex for about a 35-40 count from the crowd.
> BJ Whitmer came out on commentary for the next 2 matches.
Kelly Klein d. Solo Darling
Klein picked up the submission win with a modified dragon sleeper. She has a lot of potential with her look and the way she carries herself as a heel. Solo did some comedy stuff wearing a squirrel tail.
Adam Page d. The Outlaw
Not much of note in this match. Afterward, BJ grabbed a mic and got in the ring because he wanted to talk to Page. Crowd kept massively booing every time he tried to speak. Finally he talked and said he’s willing to look past things if Page shakes his hand. Page said if BJ taught him one thing it’s that the Decade doesn’t shake hands and slapped BJ. Turns into a brawl with officials coming out to break it up. Corino then came out to help and took off his coat urging BJ to fight him. BJ powdered to the back. When the ring cleared, Corino out his hand out to Page and they shook hands.
ROH TV Champion Roderick Strong d. Curry Man
Strong was in full heel mode. Crowd kept doing a beat the clock countdown. Strong eventually won with the running knee.
Adam Cole d. Alex Shelley
Crowd was really into both guys. Awesome match with Cole working Shelley’s knee for much of it. Kazarian eventually came out to distract Shelley and let Cole get the win with the brainbuster to the knee.
ROH Tag Team Champions War Machine & Briscoes d. All Night Express & Young Bucks
This was a wild match as you’d expect with 8 guys. They teased tension with the Briscoes and War Machine throughout with hard and blind tags to each other. Lots of superkicks and wild moves. Really amazing to see some of the moves War Machine pulls off for their size. Briscoes eventually got the pin with the Doomsday Device on Titus.
Welcome to live coverage of ROH Final Battle, the company’s last major event of 2015. The show is available on traditional PPV starting at 9 PM EST, emanating from 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, PA.
We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s show so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to Dave Meltzer
We’re also looking for your thoughts on Wednesday’s NXT Takeover show and tomorrow nightt’s UFC on FOX shows.
Steve Corino is announcing the show under a mask as Mr. Wrestling III, doing a tongue in cheek pretending he’s not Steve Corino.
YOUNG BUCKS VS. ALL NIGHT EXPRESS VS. MARK & JAY BRISCOE FOR THE NO 1 CONTENDER SPOT
The All Night Express won with a Super One Night stand (combination superplex by Titus and blockbuster by Kenny King) on Mark Briscoe. The match was shorter than you’d think, all big moves and about 200 superkicks by the Bucks. The crowd early on booed whenever Titus & King would tag in as they only wanted to see the Bucks vs. Briscoes. Lots of dives, Matt & Nick both did 450s on Titus but King saved, there was a Meltzer driver in there as well. Crowd was really into it.
DALTON CASTLE VS. SILAS YOUNG
Young won again when Castle accidentally knocked down one of the boys, which distracted Castle, and Young used the TKO, called Misery, for the pin. Crowd was into the match. Match was solid.
Young after the match said I’ve already taken your boys and beaten you twice and told him to do the right thing and admit that I’m the real man. Crowd wasn’t happy with that. He didn’t and Young put the boots to him and told him to admit it. Castle refused and Young kicked him some more. Young brought in a chair. The boys each had a chair. He told Young to call him the real man or he’s going to sic the boys on him. The Boys were about to hit him with chair shots. Castle said, “You’re a man, but you’re a foolish man.” The Boys then turned on Young and Castle spun him around and slammed him. So they all reunited. They all posed together.
MICHAEL ELGIN VS. MOOSE
Elgin won clean with a burning hammer after crotching him. Both shook hands and raised each others hands when it was over. Before Elgin hit the burning hammer, he said, “Lethal, I’m coming,” talking about their match at the Tokyo Dome. The Dome match was mentioned several times with the idea that Elgin faces Lethal no matter what happens in the title match. Moose is still green but for a huge guy he was flying around. Elgin did some good power moves including a two German suplex spot. Moose did a plancha over the post and a couple of high dropkicks. No controversy on the finish.
Adam Cole did a promo on tape talking about triceps, elbow and shoulder surgery. Kyle O’Reilly said maybe Cole will go farther in the sport than me but this match isn’t about this. Cole said tha O’Reilly was a lesser version of Cole.
ADAM COLE VS. KYLE O’REILLY
This match was great. The finish saw O’Reilly catch Cole in the triangle, but Cole got his feet on the ropes and pinned him. O’Reilly attacked him after twice putting him in armbars. Crowd was chanting “O’Reilly” when this was over. Mostly O’Reilly doing all kinds of submissions and Cole escaping and hitting big moves including a number of superkicks. We may need a moratorium of those the rest of the night. This match had flying, submissions, kicks, knees, palms, a Frye-Takayama spot, dropkicks off the apron by O’Reilly knocking Cole off a chair.
ACH & MATT SYDAL & ALEX SHELLEY VS. CHRIS SABIN & CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & FRANKIE KAZARIAN
There were a few rough spots but overall this was really good. The story of the match was that Sabin would never get in with Shelley, even at the end they never had that spot. The finish saw ACH use the 450 on Sabin followed by Sydal doing the shooting star on him for the pin. Shelley had given Kazarian a DDT on the apron. At one time they lost the crowd but they got them back. Sydal is really good. Everyone in this match was. Sabin isn’t what he once was but after all the injuries he was still very good.
RODERICK STRONG VS. BOBBY FISH FOR THE TV TITLE
They did a total screwjob finish. Fish got Strong in a heel hook and Strong tapped out but ref Todd Sinclair was positioned badly and he didn’t see it. Fish got up and celebrated the win and fans chanted “You tapped out.” Strong gave him a flying knee to the chin and got the pin. This was a very well wrestled match from start to finish. The crowd was with it but not over the top with it. Strong had a lot of cool backbreaker type spots and Fish’s big spot was a falcon arrow off the top rope.
Veda Scott came out with Cedric Alexander. She wanted Nigel McGuinness to come out. She claimed Cedric Alexander was subject to unsafe working conditinos. The crowd was chanting “Shut the fuck up” at her. She announced an agreement was reached and a settlement was confidential but we’re happy with it and 2016 will see more of us. Alexander showed an expensive watch from a supposed settlement from ROH.
MICHAEL BENNETT & MATT TAVEN VS. RAY ROWE & HANSON FOR TAG TITLES
Hanson & Rowe won the belts in 3:00. Bennett came in with a cracked rib and Taven may have blown out his knee, plus Bennett & Taven’s future in ROH was in question since they haven’t signed a new deal. Taven gave Rowe a spike piledriver off the middle rope to the floor before the match started. He came back and stopped selling that way too fast.
Taven was being helped out of the ring.
We just got word Taven has a right knee injury from he spike piledriver spot before the match even started. Until he’s examined there’s no word how serious it is, but it’s never a good time for such an injury and this is probably a really bad time.
JAY LETHAL VS. A.J. STYLES FOR ROH TITLE
Nigel McGuiness and Jerry Lynn are announcing the match. Lynn may be an angle.
Excellent match. Most of the match was Lethal working on Styles’ lower back. Styles took a lot of punishment. He took whips into the guard rail. Lethal did two topes but on the third, Styles did a springboard off the guard rail into an elbow. Lethal also threw Styles over the top rope through a table. Styles kicked out of the first Lethal injection. The finish came when Styles missed the Pele kick. After some reverses Lethal got out of the Styles clash, hit the Gotch piledriver and Lethal injection for the clean win. They pushed hard how he beat Styles using Jerry Lynn’s finisher right in front of Jerry Lynn, since Lynn’s finish was the Gotch piledriver.
The go-home show leading to Final Battle was the second installment in the current series of Ring of Honor television episodes from the Nashville Fairgrounds. The focus was on building the pay-per-view and every match had some purpose in an upcoming PPV match. Jerry Lynn returned to ROH for an interview segment and a confrontation with ROH world champion Jay Lethal. After this show aired, ROH announced Lynn would also appear at Final Battle.
The show opened with the entrance of Adam Cole. The announcers, Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuiness, talked about Cole’s upcoming match at Final Battle against Kyle O’Reilly.
Adam Cole beat Corey Hollis
Cole began squashing him while showcasing a variety a moves like a fireman’s carry into a neckbreaker and a shining wizard. Hollis made a comeback but Cole quickly cut him off. Though he was over with the crowd, the villainous Cole mocked some ringside fans. Hollis sidestepped an attempted superkick and used a schoolboy to roll up Cole for a nearfall.
Moments later, Cole hit a bicycle kick that they had teased earlier in the match. Hollis countered a suplex into a stunner then did a fireman’s carry into a spinebuster. Hollis jumped off the top rope and ate a superkick. Cole picked him up for a suplex into a neckbreaker for the pinfall. Afterwards, Cole remained in the ring to cut a promo. He promised to keep it short and said when he makes a promise he means it. He promised to beat O’Reilly at Final Battle and “end” him in Ring of Honor.
Last week on ROH TV, the show ended with three tag teams brawling. In a follow-up, Kevin joined Nigel (who is also the matchmaker in storyline) in announcing a three-way tag match at Final Battle with the Briscoes vs. Young Bucks vs. ANX.
Related to the tag team picture, the next match on the go-home show showcased War Machine as they readied to challenge the Kingdom on the PPV for the tag team titles.
War Machine (Hanson & Raymond Rowe) beat the Washington Bullets (Jon & Trey Williams)
In an updated version of a Road Warriors squash match, Hanson and Rowe wrecked shop on the Bullets. They did power moves all over the place and manhandled their opponents. Rowe held one Bullet over his knee while Hanson jumped off the ropes with flying legdrop for the pin. War Machine looked impressive and menacing.
Before the next match, Mike Posey from “the hood” in Trussville, Alabama, marched to the ring with a posse. His five-person entourage included three dudes and two women. In doing a white rapper gimmick, Posey began rapping badly and dissing Dalton Castle. Poesy’s entourage encouraged his behavior.
Dalton Castle beat Mike Posey
The announcers talked up Castle’s return grudge match at Final Battle with Silas Young over who should rightly have custody of The Boys. Castle took most of the offense in this match with Posey. At one point, the entourage caused a distraction allowing Posey some offense. Posey dove off the top rope into the arms of Castle, who caught him and tossed him over the ropes on to the posse at ringside. Castle gave Posey his finish, the Bang-a-Rang, to score the pin.
In a post-match promo, Castle eloquently compared himself to the Aurora Borealis and vowed to kick Silas Young’s ass before calling him out right then. Instead of Silas confronting him, The Boys sauntered to the ring and confronted Dalton.
With Dalton distracted by The Boys and their newfound attitudes, Silas attacks him from behind and gives him the Misery finisher to leave Castle down and out. The Boys raised the hands of Silas and acted as if their time with the “Last Real Man” truly has transformed them, creating another layer to the drama that will play out at Final Battle.
In an in-ring interview segment, Kevin Kelly brought out Jerry Lynn. Kelly asked Lynn about his recent surgery and Lynn thanked the fans for their support during his recovery. Kevin brought up the upcoming ROH world title match at Final Battle and asked for Jerry to predict a winner.
Though he tried to avoid directly answering the question, Kelly pressed him while Lynn dodged the question putting over both guys in the process. Cue House of Truth theme music and Jay Lethal emerges carrying his ROH world title belt while also accompanied by Truth Martini and Taeler Hendrix.
Lethal confronted Lynn, who offered a friendly handshake. Lethal no-sold the handshake and said he was out there for one reason, which was he really wanted to hear the answer to the question. Lethal instructed Lynn to “turn your hearing aid up because he asked you a question.”
The expression on Lynn’s face immediately changed. Lynn said he knew Lethal and his family for years.
“You are not the Jay Lethal that I knew back then,” Lynn said. “You’re an arrogant prick!”
Lynn then basically said that overconfidence would be Lethal’s downfall and AJ Styles will beat him to become the champion. The crowd chanted for AJ in response. Lethal ordered the audience to shut up before saying Lynn and everybody else blindly follows AJ and Lethal said he “don’t give a damn” what Lynn thought. He threatened to kick Lynn’s ass.
Lynn countered by bringing up he has known Lethal’s parents for as long as he has known Lethal. Lynn said Lethal wanted to make them proud, but by attacking him they would be ashamed instead. Lethal thought it over for a moment before snapping.
Lethal yelled at Lynn saying he was standing in the ring with the ROH champion and claimed he was the greatest wrestler in the world. Lethal shouted about climbing a ladder this past year to get where he is while AJ only climbed a step stool. With just a touch of trepidation in his voice Lethal continued screaming about AJ being pushed to the main events and the title picture unfairly.
Lethal went on to say he would not attack Lynn because he needed Lynn healthy so Jerry could console AJ when Lethal beats him at Final Battle. Lethal said that is when AJ will learn Lethal himself is the greatest just like he claims. Before storming off, Lethal concluded with the proclamation, “I am professional wrestling.”
Following an announcement of Moose vs. Michael Elgin being signed for Final Battle, a video package highlighted their feud. Their story is they both want a shot at the ROH world title and each stands in the other’s way on their journey to a title shot.
Alex Shelley came to ringside to provide guest commentary for the main event tag match. They quickly recapped the scene from last week in which Shelley unveiled himself as the mysterious masked character that had been causing grief for Chris Sabin and the Addiction. Shelley is set to team with Matt Sydal and ACH in a six-man tag match at against the Addiction at Final Battle.
Matt Sydal & ACH beat Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta)
Sydal and Romero start slow but quickly picked up the pace with Sydal executing a monkey flip and later a hurricanrana on Romero, who begged off. ACH and Baretta squared off. At one point, ACH did a backflip then immediately sprung up with a dropkick.
After a commercial break, Roppongi Vice were in control with Romero getting heat on Sydal. ACH came in off the hot tag. He does a crossbody off the top, an enzuigiri on Romero and catches Baretta on the outside with a soccer kick. ACH then runs across the ring, springs off the middle rope with one foot and does his crazy flip dive over the ropes to the outside.
Romero and Baretta cut off ACH with a series of great double team moves. Sydal makes a bling tag only to get caught with sliced bread from Romero. However, ACH jumps off the top with a double foot stomp on Romero. Sydal and Baretta exchange strikes with Sydal gaining the advantage. Romero jumped in to make the save for Baretta and ACH jumps in to make the save for Sydal moments later.
ACH did a handspring over the ropes into a dive on the floor. Sydal went for the shooting star press but Baretta got his knees up. Roppongi Vice went for their finisher. As Romero did a springboard off the top rope, ACH flew in out of nowhere off a springboard to wipe out Romero. Sydal executed a code red on Baretta to score the pin.
Ring of Honor television continues on the road to Final Battle with the first in a series of episodes from the Nashville. Tag Teams were the focus of most of this episode as the main event featured Young Bucks vs. Briscoes. Also, a surprise unmasking by Alex Shelley, a TV title defense and The Boys declining to rejoin Dalton Castle round out the events taking place on the show. Another theme from the show was guest commentators featured in every match.
reDRagon (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) beat Silas Young & Beer City Bruiser (with The Boys)
The Boys carried the Bruiser’s keg to the ring. Fish and O’Reilly carried the IWGP jr. tag team titles. Fish and Bruiser start the match. Bruiser tries to be a bully but Fish makes a blind tag and reDRagon chop down Bruiser with a series of kicks. Silas tagged in and they double team him and make quick tags. O’Reilly gets cuts off leading to Silas and Bruiser doing a flurry of moves. Adam Cole strolled out to ringside before a commercial to provide impromptu guest commentary.
After the break, O’Reilly breaks free and tags Fish. Bobby came in off the hot tag and ran wild. Fish and Young traded strikes as the crowd did the yay/boo chants. There was action all over the place in the closing moments. Bruiser missed a frog splash off the top. One of the Boys jumped on the apron and O’Reilly kicked him off to send him flying before O’Reilly did a plancha. The other Boy snapped Fish on the top rope allowing Silas to use his Misery finisher (fireman’s carry into a diamond cutter). However, the Boys kept distracting the referee, causing him to be late to count the pin attempt and Fish kicked out. Moments later, O’Reilly tagged in and applied a guillotine on Bruiser. Silas broke up the submission and they did a series of double team moves on him leading to O’Reilly hitting a knee drop off the middle rope as Fish held Young for a backbreaker. They then executed the Chasing the Dragon finisher as best they could on the larger Bruiser and pinned him.
Afterwards, Silas ordered the Boys to attack the referee and they did so. They left him laying after a DDT. Dalton Castle came out to say he wanted his boys back. Bruiser confronted him and Dalton sent him packing. The Boys looked as if they would rejoin Dalton, but they instead left with Silas leaving Dalton bewildered and perplexed by their decision.
In another angle, Chris Sabin was in the ring and said he was hijacking the show hostage until the imposter in the KRD mask revealed himself. The masked man sauntered to the ring, confronted Sabin and, much to the surprise of everyone, revealed himself as Alex Shelley. Sabin would join Dalton in the bewildered and perplexed department.
ROH TV Champion Roderick Strong beat Samson Walker to retain
This was part of a theme of Roddy vs. the world, as Roderick wants to be a fighting champion and had vowed to take on anyone. Bobby Fish provided guest commentary and played heel in building his TV title challenge at Final Battle against Strong. Roderick dominated until Walker caught him on a dive and rammed him into the ring post twice on the outside. Walker proceeded to get heat on Strong. At one point, Walker pulled out an asthma inhaler from his singlet. He took a puff from the inhaler, put it back and pulled his straps down. However, Roddy made a comeback with a flurry and he gave Walker a gutbuster to set up a sick kick for the pinfall.
During the match, Fish grabbed the TV title belt. Following the match, Fish strapped on the belt and confronted Strong in the ring. Strong unsnapped the belt and took it back in his possession as they had a stare down with referees getting in between them.
“Inside ROH” with Mandy Leon highlighted the results from recent Survival of the Fittest tournament. Michael Elgin won the tournament and challenged Jay Lethal to a title match at the Tokyo Dome.
The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson) beat The Briscoes (Mark & Jay)
Calling this action packed would be a great understatement. There were moves and sequences all over the place. The All Night Express provided guest commentary. Eventually the action slowed just a bit and the Briscoes got heat on Nick. After a commercial break, the Bucks made a comeback and the pace quickened again with a hot tag to Matt. Mark cut him off with redneck kung fu only to get cut off himself with a superkick from Nick.
A few moments later, Nick did a moonsault off the apron to the floor. Mark moved and Nick landed on his feet. He took a flying neckbreaker from Mark, who jumped off the apron. Mark signaled for the Cactus Jack elbow off the apron but he jumped down to eat a superkick instead. Jay did a dive to the outside. Back in the ring, Jay went for the Jay Driller on Matt and Nick made the save with a superkick. Jay then gave Nick a superkick. Mark delivered a froggybow and the Briscoes went for the doomsday device. However, in taking the move, Nick landed on his feet and hit a superkick. A superkick party began. Bucks used Indytaker for a nearfall before using More Bang For Your Buck to score the pinfall.
Afterwards, ANX stormed into the ring and all three teams had a pull-apart brawl to close the show.
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.
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.
It wasn’t good news when it came to pro wrestling ratings on Wednesday, November 4th, on Destination America.
TNA Impact did 262,000 viewers at 9 PM — its third lowest to date since they started on the network. What’s really bad about that number is it was very slightly down from last week’s show which went head-to-head with the World Series. The replay did 81,000 viewers, so the combined total was the sixth lowest to date.
The show was headlined by Bobby Roode vs. Eric Young, and also featured Eddie Edwards vs. Davey Richards in a battle of tag team partners.
On the Ring Of Honor side of things, their 11 PM airing fell from its record 227,000 viewers to a lower-than-usual 141,000 viewers. ROH only has a few weeks left on its Destination America contract and as of yet, no renewal has been announced. The show featured AJ Styles vs. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Adam Cole, and the Young Bucks vs. Silas Young and the Beer City Bruiser.
Those that hoped to see a superkick party in a WWE or NXT ring will have to wait a while longer.
Nick & Matt Jackson — the Young Bucks — have signed an exclusive deal with Ring Of Honor, announced by the promotion Wednesday morning and by the Bucks in this video. Matt, 30, and Nick, 29, have been part of ROH since 2009.
While ROH called the deal ‘exclusive’, the Bucks will continue to work with New Japan Pro Wrestling. The former ROH Tag Team Champions are also three-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Length and terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
On Wednesday night’s Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer added some details:
– They can’t work in U.S., Canada, or Mexico for anyone other than California-based PWG.
– They will be working 10 weeks a year for New Japan at a minimum.
– They get to keep their t-shirt business.
There had been some buzz in recent week that the Bucks might be on their way to NXT, given the WWE’s developmental organization’s recent propensity for signing talents like Samoa Joe, James Storm, Uhaa Nation, and others.
From the release:
“We evaluate the landscape right now, we look around at professional wrestling, and everything is evolving. Tag team wrestling is what we do, and this place [Ring of Honor] has the best tag team division in the world, and we want the best competition,” said Matt Jackson. “We want the best matches. It’s all about quality for us. We call Ring of Honor home; you’ll be seeing a lot of us.”
