By Jason Powell
Ring of Honor TV
Taped on April 8 in Baltimore, Maryland at William J. Meyers Pavilion
Aired in syndication over the weekend, Mondays on the FITE TV app, and Wednesdays on Comet TV
After the ROH opening, they went right to ring introductions. The broadcast team of Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana checked in and noted that they were coming off the War of the Worlds pay-per-view. Colt said it was a huge show and New York City was on fire…
Powell’s POV: Sure, it’s disingenuous for the broadcast team to act like this show was taped after the pay-per-view, but I’m not complaining. I’m all for the company making it feel like their shows are airing in chronological order rather than them showing filler for two weeks. However, it remains to be seen just how they will do this given that the first show taped after the pay-per-view probably won’t air for another couple of weeks. As I have mentioned in the past, I would love to see them splice first-run promos taped backstage at the pay-per-view into the television shows. That obviously wasn’t possible with this show that aired in most markets the day after the pay-per-view, but perhaps they can pull it off next week.
1. Chris Sabin and Jonathan Gresham (w/Alex Shelley) vs. Cheeseburger and Will Ferrara (w/Joey Daddiego). Cabana noted that Shelley “is a bit hurt.” Shelley took the mic and said the fans could thank The Rebellion for him not wrestling. Shelley said he has a concussion and he wasn’t cleared to compete, but he could recognize talent. Shelley put over Gresham for “busting both sides of his ass to get here.” Shelley told them to feel free to “search and destroy” (the name of the tag team). The wrestlers shook hands.
There was a cool spot with Gresham tagging in unbeknownst to Cheeseburger. When Cheeseburger went to leapfrog Sabin, Gresham caught him from behind and suplexed him. Cheeseburger came back with a dive onto both opponents at ringside. They caught him, but Ferrara performed a suicide dive into his partner, which knocked their opponents down heading into a break. [C]
The underdog duo continued to control the action coming out of the break. Sabin ended up taking out Ferrara with a neckbreaker off the apron. Gresham performed a springboard moonsault on Cheeseburger and then hit a suicide dive on Ferrara. In the end, Gresham forced Cheeseburger to submit to a an arm hold. Afterward, Ferrara left the ring without shaking hands..
Chris Sabin and Jonathan Gresham beat Cheeseburger and Will Ferrara.
Powell’s POV: An oddly competitive match that made it hard to be excited by the Sabin and Gresham tag team in that they struggled to put away Cheeseburger. I’m not a Cheeseburger hater, but it’s odd to see him work competitively against babyfaces given the way that some of his spots make his opponents look silly, which works well when he’s in the ring with most heel duos. By the way, Riccaboni referred to Daddiego by the name of Jay Diesel, so I don’t know if he’s going back to that or if it was just a mistake that went unedited.
The broadcast team set up “news of an unfortunate attack” involving Silas Young attacking Jay Lethal prior to a commercial shoot… Lethal was shown being given instructions by a producer when Young entered the room and complained about the “golden boy” getting another sponsorship. Lethal asked what his problem was. Young blamed Lethal for his leg injury. Lethal denied having anything to do with it. Young attacked him with punches and then attacked the left leg of Lethal by slamming it into the locker repeatedly. “Have fun doing your commercial, golden boy,” Young said…
Bobby Fish made his entrance. Riccaboni said Fish would face Silas Young after the break… [C] Silas Young and Beer City Bruiser made their entrance. Footage aired of Young and Fish fighting at Supercard of Honor… Young took the mic and said he doesn’t make excuses for his failures like Fish does. Young said it will be nothing but excuses from Fish after this match “like the dime store chump that you are”…
2. Bobby Fish vs. Silas Young (w/Beer City Bruiser). Riccaboni noted that Fish and Young actually made their TV debut in a tag match against the Young Bucks. Young was in offensive control heading into a break. [C] Fish came back and connected with some nice strikes Young cut him off with a cutter for a two count. Fish threw another nice combination of strikes and then performed a suplex for a two count. Cabana covered for Young not grabbing the ropes to break the pin even though he was by the ropes by saying that he may not have known where he was given the punishment he’d taken.
Young performed a nice neckbreaker and covered Fish, who put his foot on the ropes. Cabana said that might tell viewers more about who was more with it in that Fish knew where he was and put his foot on the ropes. Fish kicked the bad knee of Young repeatedly. Bruiser pulled Young to ringside while the ref was talking to Fish, who then followed to ringside and pushed Bruiser away. Bruiser pushed Young back. The referee got between them. Young returned to the ring and removed his knee brace. Bruiser distracted the referee and Young ended up hitting Fish with the brace and pinning him… [C]
Silas Young beat Bobby Fish.
Powell’s POV: A nice week for Young in that he beat up Jay Lethal backstage and then got a win over Fish. It would have meant a lot more if Fish had been presented as a player. I realize he’s not under contract, but that’s no excuse for not portraying him as a star so that it means more with the contracted talent beats him. This match would have felt bigger if Fish had been given a chance to discuss it beforehand.
Dalton Castle delivered a backstage promo while The Boys stood by him. Castle said viewers may think he’s hit rock bottom and question how he can come back from losing the ROH Championship match. Castle said he’s no ordinary man. He spoke about going on a blind date in Dubai in 2010 and he got through that. He said losing to Christopher Daniels stung to the point that he wanted to go home, lay down, and stay there forever. He said he didn’t because you can’t win the title by laying there. “I lost once, I’m not done fighting,” Castle said…
Powell’s POV: A really nice promo. Pro wrestling companies are guilty of moving on too quickly from one pay-per-view to the next without focussing enough on a big win or loss. This promo made the match and the ROH Championship feel more important and left me looking forward to seeing whatever Castle does next.
3. Bully Ray, Jay Briscoe, and Mark Briscoe vs. Caprice Coleman, Shane Taylor, and Rhett Titus for the ROH Six-Man Tag Titles. Early in the match, the Briscoes were jawing with Coleman and Titus. Taylor entered the ring. Bully stormed in and went right after Taylor for a big pop. Mark Briscoe performed a running leap off a chair on the floor onto Titus heading into a break. [C] The heels isolated Jay Briscoe heading into the final break. [C]
The babyface trio came back strong in the closing minutes with Ray taking a hot tag and working over all three opponents. Mark tagged in and ended up diving onto Titus and Taylor with a moonsault to ringside. Jay performed a suicide dive onto both men. Mark went for an elbow trop, but Titus put his knees up. Titus went up top and ended up performed a frogsplash into Mark’s knees. The Briscoes and Bully hit 3D on Titus, and Jay pinned Titus for the win.
Bully Ray, Jay Briscoe, and Mark Briscoe defeated Caprice Coleman, Shane Taylor, and Rhett Titus to retain the ROH Six-Man Tag Titles.
Afterward, Riccaboni noted that they didn’t get to see Ray and Taylor go at it (for more than a moment or two). Cabana said he would love to see it. Coleman jawed at Ray. The Briscoes brought a table inside the ring behind him. The Briscoes hoisted up Coleman and then Bully powerbombed him through the table and led an ROH chant…
Powell’s POV: A fine television main event with nice star power on the side of the champions. Oddly enough, ROH did more to promote this match last week than they did on this week’s show. It’s odd that they didn’t have a promo featuring Ray and the Briscoes early on to hook viewers on the main event. Even so, I am still in the honeymoon period when it comes to ROH presenting decent television shows during the gap between pay-per-views and the new tapings airing. This is a welcome change that has made the shows feel more “must see” in 2017 compared to past years. Unfortunately, they didn’t hype anything in particular for next week’s show. Haydn Gleed will by by on Thursday with his audio review.
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