By Jason Powell
Ring of Honor TV
Taped September 23 in Las Vegas, Nevada at Sam’s Town Live
Aired in syndication over the weekend, Mondays on the FITE TV app
ROH TV opened with footage of Christopher Daniels helping Frankie Kazarian eliminate Jay Lethal from the recent Honor Rumble. A backstage promo aired with Kazarian claiming he earned the Honor Rumble win, and Daniels being censored as he spoke about their match with Lethal and Kushida… The opening montage aired… The broadcast team was Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana…
ROH Champion Cody made his entrance and had a fan kiss the ring. Cody sat down with the broadcast team at ringside…
1. Jonathan Gresham vs. TK O’Ryan (w/Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia). Before the match, a Kingdom promo aired with TK O’Ryan talking about returning to the scene where he suffered his knee injury. He asked where his parade is. Cody spent some time mocking the idea of fans chanting for Dalton Castle. “There is no Dalton Castle,” Cody said. They show cut to break with O’Ryan in offensive control a few minutes into the match. [C]
Gresham fired several punches at O’Ryan coming out of the break. Gresham went to the ropes only for O’Ryan to shove him to ringside. The other members of the Kingdom teased getting involved, but Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley ran out to prevent it. All six wrestlers entered the ring. The referee ejected Sabin and Shelley, then ejected Taven and Marseglia.
O’Ryan shoved referee Paul Turner, who returned the favor, leading to O’Ryan falling over Gresham and into a pin for a two count. Gresham had a pin moments later, but Marseglia pulled the referee from the ring while he and Taven were still arguing about their ejection. Taven and Marseglia entered the ring and put the boots to Gresham for the DQ. Sabin and Shelley ran out to break it up…
Jonathan Gresham beat TK O’Ryan by DQ.
A video package aired on Bully Ray’s injury, and included footage of Tommy Dreamer’s recent appearance on the show… [C]
Powell’s POV: A forgettable match finish that will presumably lead to a six-man tag match with The Kingdom vs. Gresham and the Motor City Machine Guns on a future show.
A video package aired on ROH TV Champion Kenny King, and Mark Briscoe winning last week’s four corner survival match to earn a title shot…
Cody stood up at the broadcast table and spoke over the house mic while standing on his chair. Cody said he’s going to right some of the wrongs in ROH now that he’s “a company man.” He said a kid fresh out of wrestling school came to ROH looking for an opportunity that was taken from him by Daniels and Kazarian. Cody said he felt like defending the ROH Championship. Cody checked with ring announcer Bobby Cruise to get the name right, then introduced Scorpio Sky. The broadcast team quickly noted that Sky is not a rookie who is fresh out of school, but rather a veteran who has worked all around the world…
2. Cody vs. Scorpio Sky for the ROH Championship. Cruise delivered in-ring introductions for the title match. Cody kept his ring in his tights. He was in offensive control early and then did pushups to mock Sky, who swept his arm away. Sky came back with a double stomp on Cody’s back as he was going for a back body drop. Cody rebounded and applied the LeBell Lock. Cody released the hold and then led a “Yes!” chant.
The fans also chanted for Dalton Castle, which led to Cody giving them a mean face. Cody was censored as he apparently gave the fans the bird. Sky went on the offensive and set up for a big kick, but Cody pulled the referee in front of him. Cody gouged the eyes of Sky and then applied the American Death Lock submission hold for the win…
Cody defeated Scorpio Sky to retain the ROH Title.
The broadcast team hyped the tag team main event… [C]
Powell’s POV: I like the idea of cocky Cody defending the title against Sky, but the match wasn’t as fun as it could have been. It thought the plan would be for Sky to push Cody to the limit, but it didn’t really play out that way. That said, it is wise to have Cody defend the title in his manner as it sends the message to television viewers that you never know when he might do something like this.
Caprice Coleman hosted a Coleman’s Pulpit segment. After Coleman introduced the segment, they cut to his interview with Kenny King at an undisclosed location in front of a white wall. Coleman told King he’s proud of him. King spoke about bringing the title back to the United States after it had been held by Kushida and Marty Scurll before him.
Coleman said it could have been the six-man tag titles, referring to their time in the Revolution. King said they had one bad night and had to move on. Coleman asked if ROH believes in him or if they see a golden ticket because of what he’s done elsewhere. King said he believes in himself and just needed an opportunity. Coleman said ROH didn’t believe in King until he made it on his own. Coleman also said he was hoping that King would get the girl (on “The Bachelorette” reality show). King said he was secure enough to be dumped on national television…
Powell’s POV: A forgettable edition of the talkshow. I like when Coleman stirs the pot. He did some of that by making it seem like ROH didn’t appreciate King, but this felt like an opportunity for King to establish himself as a babyface and distance himself from Coleman rather than play nice with him.
Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian headed to the ring for the main event. Kazarian took the mic and reminded the fans that he and Daniels hate “each and every one of you stupid marks” in the building. Kazarian continued to rant as the broadcast team called for the show to go to break… [C] Coming out of the break, Daniels was sitting on the ropes and talking about ROH became what is has because of him. Riccaboni said Daniels and Kazarian complained throughout the entire commercial break. Kushida’s music interrupted Daniels, and then he and later Jay Lethal made their entrances for the main event…
3. Jay Lethal and Kushida vs. “The Addiction” Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian. Early in the match, Daniels left the ring and asked the crowd if they wanted to see Lethal and Kushida hurt them. Daniels said he won’t give the fans what they want. He said he and Kazarian would take the count-out. However, Kushida and Lethal dove onto them at ringside and got them back inside the ring to keep the match going. [C]
The heels isolated Lethal for a stretch. Lethal ended up fighting off both heels and then made the tag to Kushida, who applied his submission hold on Daniels, who quickly reached the ropes to break it. The Addiction recovered and isolated Kushida heading into the final break. [C] Kushida made it to his corner for a tag, but Kazarian had knocked Lethal to ringside. Kushida made the tag a short time later.
Lethal worked over Daniels and performed a top rope elbow drop on him for a two count. Kazarian entered the ring and broke up Lethal’s finisher attempt. A short time later, Kushida tagged back into the match and applied his Hoverlock finish on Kazarian, who rolled him into a pin for a two count and to break the hold. There was a botch spot with Kazarian having to go to his knees to get Kushida onto his shoulders as planned. Lethal checked back in and took out Kazarian with a Lethal Injection. Daniels took out Lethal. Kushida applied the Hoverboard Lock on Daniels, who tapped out…
Jay Lethal and Kushida beat “The Addiction” Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian.
Kenny King vs. Mark Briscoe for the ROH TV Title was hyped for next week…
Powell’s POV: It’s a questionable move to have regular tag team Daniels and Kazarian lose clean to the one-off team of Lethal and Kushida, especially considering how much focus the company has placed on the heel duo as of late. The loss makes The Addiction look more like pests than true threats to anything. Overall, this was a flat edition that had the potential to be much better. They also delivered minimal hype for next week’s ROH TV Title match and failed to make it seem like a must see match. Check out Haydn Gleed’s audio review of ROH TV as an All Access Daily Podcast on Wednesday.
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