By Jason Powell
Ring of Honor TV
Taped on March 11 in Las Vegas, Nevada at Sam’s Town Live
Aired in syndication over the weekend, available Wednesdays on Comet TV
The show opened with a video package that showed Christopher Daniels winning the ROH Championship at the 15th Anniversary pay-per-view… The ROH TV opening aired… Ian Riccaboni and Kevin Kelly were on commentary. They hyped Matt and Jeff Hardy appearing on ROH TV for the first time…
Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian headed to the ring together. Daniels poured himself an appletini. Kazarian said it was his pleasure to present Daniels as the ROH Champion. Daniels said he faced a man in Adam Cole was who young, faster, and arguably more technically sound than he is. However, Daniels said Cole wasn’t smarter than he was.
Daniels boasted that he and Kazarian put together a plan that bamboozled the Bullet Club. Daniels said that’s the only thing sweeter than his drink of choice. Kazarian said he has goals of his own. He spoke about earning a shot at the ROH TV Title via the six-man mayhem match at the pay-per-view. He said he is coming for the title. Kazarian said he and Daniels will always be brothers and they will always be the addiction you just can’t kick.
Dalton Castle made his entrance while the broadcast team hyped his title shot at the SuperCard of Honor event… [C] Castle was in the ring with Daniels and Kazarian coming out of the break. Daniels told him the appletini isn’t just a drink, it’s an experience. Fans chanted “chug.” Daniels calmed them down, saying you don’t chug your first one, you drink it slowly. Funny.
“Christopher, what is that?” an exasperated Castle asked after taking a sip. “It’s wonderful.” Daniels asked Kazarian if they had another glass. Dalton said he had it covered. Castle snapped his fingers and The Boys came out with a glass for him. Daniels poured him an appletini.
Castle congratulated Daniels and said his title win was well deserved. “But now you’re going to have to wrestle me and I wouldn’t wish that on anybody,” Castle said in a serious tone. Daniels looked surprised. “Ooooooh,” Kazarian mocked. Daniels shot him a look and the crowd laughed.
The Bullet Club entrance theme played. Dama Cole and the Young Bucks walked onto the stage. Cole said Daniels and Kazarian screwed him out of his championship. He said they will pay for what they have done. Cole said the idea of Castle becoming champion instead of him is laughable. Cole said it won’t be Daniels vs. Castle at SuperCard of Honor. Cole said he is the only one who deserves a shot at the championship.
Kazarian questioned why Cole would even want to get into the ring with Daniels when “Adam Cole was kicked right in his Adam hole” at the 15th Anniversary pay-per-view. Kazarian proposed a six-man tag main event with the three Bullet Club members against him, Daniels, and Castle. The Bullet Club members accepted… The broadcast team hyped the Hardys vs. The Briscoes for later in the show…
Powell’s POV: A long but good opening segment. The crowd was into the comedic elements and treated everyone involved like stars. I wouldn’t want to see ROH TV open with long promo segments every week given that they are a true alternative, but in this case it was perfectly acceptable given that Daniels just won the championship and they needed to set up the Supercard of Honor and television main events.
Backstage, Marty Scurll billed himself as the most dominant ROH TV Champion in history. He said he has taken on all challengers and beaten them all. He said he came to ROH for competition, but he doesn’t see any. He told the roster to have a go if they think they are hard enough. A man off-camera said cut. “Are we done,” Scurll asked. “Good.”
Kenny King walked onto the interview set and confronted Scurll. King spoke about the wrestlers he has defeated and challenged him to an ROH TV Title match. Scurll laughed and accepted the challenge… Riccaboni hyped Scurll vs. King for the ROH TV Title as next week’s television main event…
Powell’s POV: I could have done without the “cut” call and Scurll looking like he was snapping out of character, but they quickly got it on track with Scrull acting like his persona while King issued the challenge.
The Briscoes made their entrance. Piano music (not that piano music) played as a graphic showed Matt and Jeff Hardy. They cut between highlight shots and a show of Matt and Jeff making their entrance. Matt still looked and acted like Broken Matt Hardy, but he was not billed as Broken…
1. Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy vs. Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe for the ROH Tag Titles. The Hardys were in control early. They delivered chops to which the crowd responded with “Delete” and “Obsolete” chants. The Briscoes came back and Jay performed a suicide dive onto both Hardys. Mark followed up with a Cactus Jack elbow off the apron onto Matt heading into the break. [C]
Matt took a hot tag from Jeff and worked over Mark while the crowd chanted “delete” after his punches and after he slammed Mark’s head into the turnbuckle. “Wonderful,” Matt said in Broken style. Matt went for the Twist of Fate, but Mark blocked it. Matt performed a DDT instead for a two count. The Hardys isolated Mark heading into another break. [C]
Jay took a hot tag and traded punches with Matt, who got the better of him with headbutts. Matt bit Jay’s head in the corner. Jay bled. Jay came back with headbutts while the broadcast team recalled the singles match history between the two. Matt avoided a Jay Driller and countered with a Side Effect for a two count.
Later, the Briscoes superplexed the Hardys. Mark hit Froggy Bow on Matt. The Briscoes covered the Hardys and there was a two count. Jeff performed a Twist of Fate on Jay, and Matt rolled up Jay for a two count. The Briscoes performed a springboard Doomsday Device on Matt, but Jeff broke up the pin.
Jeff performed a Twist of Fate on Jay at ringside. In the ring, Matt hit a Twist of Fate on Mark, then Jeff performed a Swanton. Matt covered Mark, who rolled him over into a two count. Fans chanted “this is awesome.” In the end, Matt tagged Jeff and then performed a backslide on Mark Briscoe. Jeff dropped both legs onto Mark’s legs and held him in that position for the three count…
Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy defeated Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe to win the ROH Tag Titles.
After the match, the Young Bucks walked onto the stage and delivered a promo about how they are going to tear the house down at Supercard of Honor. Matt Jackson challenged the Hardys to put the ROH Tag Titles and the Superkick Titles they stole from the Bucks above the ring at Supercard of Honor. The fans got excited. Matt Jackson officially proposed a ladder match. The Hardys agreed… The broadcast team hyped the six-man tag main event… [C]
Powell’s POV: It’s a shame this match just popped up on television without any hype. It definitely creates the feeling that you can’t miss ROH television, but I can’t believe the company didn’t do more to promote this as a major happening. It continues the odd recent trend of failing to get the most out of notable television events. I realize the timing of the Supercard of Honor show may have sped this up, but it’s a shame they couldn’t have set this up at least a week in advance with promos. By going right to the match, it took away some of the dream match feel. It also prevented the Hardys from putting over their ROH Tag Title win. All of that said, it was still cool as hell to see a Hardys vs. Briscoes match on free television.
2. Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, Dalton Castle (w/The Boys) vs. Adam Cole and The Young Bucks. The match was joined in progress. The broadcast team said the wrestlers couldn’t wait to get their hands on each other and that’s why the match started before the end of the commercial break. The Bullet Club members got off to a fast start.
The Bucks teased the Terminator dives, but the Boys tripped them. The Boys entered the ring and stood next to Cole, who was still down. They ran the ropes only to be pulled to ringside by the Bucks, who took them out. The Bucks performed their suicide dives on their three opponents.
The heels isolated Kazarian. They all tried to perform brainbusters on him. Kazarian punched Matt and then Cole. Nick Jackson was about to hit the move, but Castle and Daniels stopped them. All three heels went for the brainbuster, but the babyfaces suplexed them heading into the break. [C]
Later, Daniels performed a springboard moonsault on Nick for atwo count. Daniels set up for an Angel’s Wings suplex, but Cole broke it up and then tagged himself into the match. Castle tagged in moments later. Castle performed a nice suplex on Cole and then hit both Bucks with German suplexes. Castle performed a German suplex into a bridge, but Nick performed a swanton onto Castle to break it up.
After a spot with all six wrestlers being taken out with various moves, the fans chanted “this is awesome.” Cole performed a destroyer on Kazarian. Daniels performed a uranage on Cole and then performed the Best Moonsault Ever. However, Cole moved, and the Bucks hit Daniels with a double superkick. The Bucks went for the same move on Castle while Cole held him, but Castle moved and the Bucks superkicked Cole accidentally. Castle took a double superkick, but he was able to come right back with a clothesline on the Bucks.
Daniels performed a springboard moonsault onto the Bucks on the floor. In the ring, Castle performed a Bangarang on Cole and pinned him clean to win the match for his team. Daniels and Castle shook hands. Riccaboni told viewers to go to the ROH website for more information on how to join them for the event…
Dalton Castle, Christopher Daniels, and Frankie Kazarian beat Adam Cole and The Young Bucks.
A vignette aired on the ROH Supercard of Honor that showed promoted the Briscoes and Bully Ray vs. Bullet Club. The Briscoes delivered a brief promo. It also hyped Cody vs. Jay Lethal and featured brief comments from Lethal. Christopher Daniels delivered brief comments about defending the title against Dalton Castle, who then responded by saying Daniels is the ROH Champion…”for now”….
Powell’s POV: An excellent hour of television. I can complain all day about the lack of promotion the company delivers or that they finalized their iPPV deal for Supercard of Honor too late to promote it on television, but that doesn’t change the fact that this was a really fun hour of TV. They only managed to deliver strong hype for two matches for Supercard of Honor before the closing vignette, but they chose the right ones by going with the ROH Title match and the Hardys vs. Bucks ladder match. Go out of your way to watch this week’s show if you haven’t done so already. The opening angle and the two matches were a lot of fun.
Check out my free interviews with Colt Cabana, Dalton Castle, and Frankie Kazarian at PWAudio.net.
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