By Jason Powell
Ring of Honor TV
Taped on June 24 in Lowell, Massachusetts at the Memorial Auditorium
Aired in syndication over the weekend, Mondays on the FITE TV app
ROH Champion Cody stood in front of the ROH backdrop and spoke about how Christopher Daniels interrupted and ruined his coronation. He said he was in the comfort of the studio this week, but next week they would do it all again. He said Daniels has been benched and he will tell everyone in the ring that he is the leader and your champion… The ROH opening video aired… The broadcast team of Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana checked in on commentary and hyped upcoming matches, and Bobby Cruise was the ring announcer…
1. ROH Six-Man Tag Champions Dalton Castle and The Boys vs. Flip Gordon, Leon St. Giovanni, and Shaheem Ali in a non-title match. Footage aired from the Best in the World event of Castle and the Boys winning the six-man titles. The wrestlers adhered to the Code of Honor. Castle struck his pose early. Gordon responded with a flip. Castle stretched and teased doing a move before punching Gordon. The Boys and Coast 2 Coast ran in and both teams traded punches. Castle and the Boys cleared the ring, then Castle tossed the Boys over the top rope and onto their opponents at ringside.
Ali performed a nice flip dive onto the Boys at ringside. Everyone other than Gordon ended up at ringside. Gordon ran up to the top rope and performed a flip onto his opponents, who barely broke his fall heading into the break. [C] In the end, Castle performed the Bangarang on St. Giovanni and pinned him clean… [C]
ROH Six-Man Tag Champions Dalton Castle and The Boys vs. Flip Gordon, Leon St. Giovanni, and Shaheem Ali in a non-title match.
Powell’s POV: A good opening with Cody followed by a spot fest style six-man tag. Gordon continues to impress with his athleticism, and I continue to hope that ROH will develop actual characters for the Coast to Coast duo.
Footage aired from Best in the World of Silas Young and Beer City Bruiser working over Jay Lethal and injuring his ribs… Footage aired of Young standing outside the hospital they said Lethal was taken to. Young said Lethal may have won the battle, but it was obvious that he was winning the war. He said it would be a long time before we see Lethal again…
2. Matt Taven (w/Vinny Marseglia, TK O’Ryan) vs. Ultimo Guerrero. O’Ryan is still on crutches. Guerrero fought off Marseglia’s attempted interference at ringside, but Taven took advantage of the distraction with a kick. Guerrero came back by clotheslining Taven over the barricade. Guerrero performed a springboard forearm off the barricade. Guerrero did the “raise the roof” gesture to pop the crowd going into a break. [C]
Taven came back with a Sharpshooter coming out of the break. Guerrero reached for the ropes and Taven grabbed his hand, but Guerrero eventually reached it. Guerrero came back with a powerbomb off the middle rope for a two count. Guerrero set up for his reverse superplex finisher, but Taven shoved him off and performed a frogsplash for a two count. Guerrero applied a version of the stretch muffler that Taven escaped. Guerrero grabbed Taven from behind. Taven grabbed the ref’s shirt and used his leg to low blow Guerrero. Taven followed up with the Climax finisher for the win…
Matt Taven defeated Ultimo Guerrero.
Backstage, Adam Cole and the Young Bucks cut a promo about facing The Briscoes and Bully Ray. They were upset that the Briscoes and Ray lost the titles and thus they are not getting their title shot. Matt Jackson said they would superkick their faces so hard that they won’t be able to say ’90s catchphrases. Nick Jackson did the “Whassup”… [C]
Powell’s POV: It’s nice to see that CMLL doesn’t seem to have as much of an issue as NJPW when it comes to their wrestlers losing to ROH talent. Meanwhile, the Bucks mocking the Whassup routine was laugh out loud funny.
Backstage, Silas Young delivered a promo in front of a workplace safety board. He updated the sign so that it read that Lethal has lost 15 days due to injury…
3. “War Machine” Hanson and Ray Rowe vs. “Motor City Machine Guns” Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley. Hanson and Sabin went back and forth. They shook hands and then tagged out. Yawn. Later, Rowe caught Sabin with double knees, which drove him into Shelley. Hanson performed a running dive onto Shelley heading into a break. [C] The Guns came back with leaps off the apron and onto the War Machine duo on the floor.
The Guns had a run of offense until Rowe performed a uranage on Sabin that drove him onto the back of Shelley. Hanson tagged in and worked over both Guns with running clotheslines in opposite corners. Late in the match, the Guns hit their Made in Detroit finisher on Rowe and pinned him clean…
The Motor City Machine Guns beat War Machine.
Riccaboni hyped Bully Ray and The Briscoes vs. Hangman Page and the Young Bucks for next week…
Powell’s POV: Really? I sure hope the idea is to make the Guns the most vanilla babyface duo ever so that fans will be surprised when they turn them heel. I realize it’s Ring of Honor, but Sabin and Shelley are just painfully dull characters. They still do plenty of cool things in the ring, but it’s so hard to invest in their characters, who seem to have no goal beyond helping younger wrestlers. Overall, a flat and uneventful show coming out of the pay-per-view. Things should improve next week with the Bucks and Page vs. Briscoes and Ray match, and Cody’s true first appearance as ROH Champion.
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