By Jason Powell
Ring of Honor TV
Taped on February 11 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at Stage AE
Aired in syndication over the weekend, available Wednesdays on Comet TV
The ROH opening aired and they cut to Silas Young and Beer City Bruiser making their entrance. Ian Riccaboni checked in on commentary and hyped the Supercard of Honor event as well as the television main event of Jay Briscoe vs. Jay White…
1. Silas Young and Beer City Bruiser vs. Cheeseburger and Will Ferrara. Before the match, Silas and Bruiser teased their partner for the six-man title chase during a backstage promo. Bruiser teased revealing the person’s identity, but Young told him to wait until the April 1 event.
The heels jumped Cheesburger to start the match. Cheeseburger and Ferrara came back briefly. Bruiser wheelbarrowed Cheeseburger into a high knee from Young. Cheeseburger made a hot tag to Ferrara, who got the better of both opponents and scored a two count on Young.
Ferrara tried and failed to pick up Bruiser. Young knocked Ferrara to the floor, then Bruiser went for a sommersault off the apron only to have Ferrara move. In the end, Young performed a cutter on Ferarra, then Bruiser finished him off with a top rope splash… [C]
Silas Young and Beer City Bruiser beat Cheeseburger and Will Ferrara.
Powell’s POV: A fine opening match with Young and Bruiser getting the win over the undercard duo.
Riccaboni was joined on commentary by Silas Young and Bob Evans for the Top Prospect Tournament match…
2. Josh Woods vs. Chris LeRusso in a Top Prospect Tournament match. Woods identified himself as “Josh ‘The Goods” Woods” during a pre-taped promo that aired. LeRusso called himself the Heir Apparent in his video. He got a nice pop for being billed from Pittsburgh. Woods caught a kick and put LeRusso in a submission hold, which he countered into a pin attempt.
Woods went for a Cross Arm Breaker, but LeRusso avoided it. Young said he was on commentary searching for a third man for the six-man tag titles. Evans said he and Tough Tim are also looking for a third person. Ugh. Late in the match, Wood caught LeRusso with a high kick and then started throwing strikes. The referee called for the bell. Woods will face Brian Milonas in round two… [C]
Josh Woods defeated Chris LeRusso to advance in the Top Prospect Tournament.
Powell’s POV: Woods is a former NXT wrestler who was cut in July 2016. He works an MMA gimmick and has a pretty good look to him. He stands out more visually than everyone else in the tournament.
Jay Briscoe delivered a backstage promo. He questioned what all the hype about his rematch with Jay White is about and said he would make quick work of White this time around… A video package focussed on Lio Rush and Kenny King…
3. Lio Rush vs. Kenny King (w/Caprice Coleman). Chris Sabin sat in on commentary. Rush set up for a dive at King, who was on the floor. King caught him with a shot instead heading into the break. [C] King knocked Rush to the floor and then went for a dive over the top. Rush avoided it and then performed multiple suicide dives.
Rush performed a frogsplash for a good near fall. King came back briefly only to miss a double knee strike in the corner. Rush went for another frogsplash. King moved and eventually hoisted up Rush and then slammed him uranage style and scored the clean pin…
Kenny King beat Lio Rush.
After the match, Coleman and King were taunting Rush. Shane Taylor walked out and appeared to side with Rush. However, Taylor grabbed Rush and slammed him. Riccaboni played up the possibility of Taylor being the newest member of the Rebellion…
Powell’s POV: A nice match. I was surprised to see King win if only because King always seems to lose these days. The story on Taylor is that he re-signed with ROH, but his partner Keith Lee did not. So now ROH has to find something for Taylor and apparently a spot in the Rebellion is it.
4. Jay Briscoe vs. Jay White. Mark Briscoe sat in on commentary and took exception to the idea that White took his brother to the limit last time they met. White offered a handshake, which Jay Briscoe walked away from. White responded by dropkicking Briscoe to start the match. White dominated the opening minutes and caught Briscoe with a suicide dive. Jay came back with a huracanrana and performed a suicide dive of his own going into the break. [C]
Jay Briscoe dominated the action coming out of the break. Briscoe performed a DDT going into another break. [C] White caught Briscoe in a submission hold, but Briscoe reached the ropes. Later, White went up top. Briscoe tripped him up, then shoved him off the top rope and through a table that was set up on the floor. “Jay Briscoe simply no longer cares,” Riccaboni said. Mark spoke about his brother’s new attitude.
Briscoe set up for his finisher, but White avoided it. Briscoe connected with three kicks to the head and then performed a Death Valley Driver for a one count. Jay showed frustration. White and Briscoe traded blows. White got the better of it, but Jay spat at him. Jay caught White with a discus forearm and then a running lariat for the win…
Jay Briscoe defeated Jay White.
Powell’s POV: A good main event. I’m not sure why they waited so long to go to this rematch, but I like the way they hyped it over the last two weeks, as it felt like a quality television main event. It would have been nice to hear from White going into the match. It feels like we know nothing more about him today than when he debuted on ROH television, which is a shame.
Overall, this was a quality show considering it’s the second show coming out of a pay-per-view. We normally get some filler or the entertaining Women of Honor specials at these points, but this felt like a relevant edition of ROH TV thanks to the last two matches and the Top Prospect Tournament (the opener was random). I will have more to say about the show in Thursday’s All Access audio.
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