3/5 Ring of Honor TV Review: Dalton Castle and Jay Lethal vs. Punishment Martinez and Marty Scurll, Adam Page vs. Christopher Daniels, The Briscoes vs. Best Friends, final push for the 16th Anniversary pay-per-view

By Jason Powell, Prowrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

Ring of Honor TV
Taped February 10 in Atlanta, Georgia at Center Stage
Aired in syndication over the weekend, Mondays on the FITE TV app

After the opening video aired, the broadcast team of Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana checked in and hyped the 16th Anniversary pay-per-view. They also hyped the television main event and Hangman Page vs. Christopher Daniels…

1. Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe vs. “Best Friends” Chuckie T and Trent Baretta. The Best Friends started to pose on the apron when they were attacked from behind by the Briscoes. Best Friends came back and worked over Mark. They hugged in the ring only for Jay to return with a kick. The Briscoes worked over Best Friends at ringside heading into a commercial break. [C]

Best Friends hit Jay with a combo stunner. The Briscoes battled back. Jay hit the Jay Driller on Baretta. Mark followed up with Froggy Bow on Baretta, then Jay pinned him…

The Briscoes defeated Best Friends.

After the match, the Motor City Machine Guns attacked the Briscoes. Alex Shelley coked Mark with a chain while Sabin performed his version of the Jay Driller on Jay Briscoe…

A brief recap aired of Kenny King defeating Silas Young to win the ROH TV Title in last week’s main event… [C]

Powell’s POV: The match was a little more back and forth than I expected given the Briscoes recent domination heading into their tag title match. The post match angle was bizarre in that the Guns got their revenge heading into the tag title match. Hopefully this means the Briscoes will be winning the straps. The live crowd’s flat reaction to the Guns attacking the Briscoes speaks volumes. Meanwhile, we see Best Friends on television regularly, yet fans who only watch ROH still have no idea why they are best friends, why they hug, etc. These two never get mic time. On a positive note, it was a simple and nice touch to replay the ROH TV Title change footage from last week as it makes it feel more significant than most television matches.

Riccaboni narrated footage from the Women of Honor Title tournament. He recapped some of the early matches and hyped that the tournament would continue on ROH television next week. He also hyped the arrival of Tenille Dashwood (Emma in WWE)…

SoCal Uncensored made their entrance to a flat reaction. The Bullet Club graphic received cheers and so did Adam Page when he made his entrance. Bully Ray walked onto the stage and thanked Bullet Club. He recalled saying that he didn’t want members of Bullet Club or SoCal Uncensored at ringside. Ray gave Bullet Club a “too sweet.” When Page objected, Ray said Paige can’t do it, but he can do it all day long. Funny. Bully gave Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky five seconds to leave the ringside area or he would disqualify Daniels and suspend him for 30 days. Ray started the count and then Kazarian and Sky scurried backstage. Bully called for the bell and told Page to kick the ass (censored) of Daniels…

2. Adam Page vs. Christopher Daniels. The fans chanted “Let’s go, Hangman” in support of Page. Daniels had offensive control going into a break. [C] Page avoided a late Best Moonsault Ever from Daniels. Moments later, Page performed a springboard lariat and scored the clean pin…

Adam Page pinned Christopher Daniels.

After the match, Shane Taylor attacked Page from behind and left him lying with a punch. Daniels leaned over Page and talked smack before raising the arm of Taylor. Daniels jumped into the arms of Taylor and they left together as the broadcast team spoke about Taylor being a hired gun. Bully Ray was waiting for them on the stage. Bully exchanged words with Daniels, then bumped shoulders and stared at Taylor… [C]

Powell’s POV: It’s great to see Page get a strong reaction from fans. He has gone from being that guy that people were surprised to see with Bullet Club to now getting a favorable reaction even when he’s the only member of the faction in the ring. The match was designed to build toward the six-man tag title match at the pay-per-view, but the idea of Bully Ray banning the partners from ringside actually took away from that. It looks like Ray is essentially feuding with SoCal Uncensored thus far as the ROH enforcer. I guess we can add Taylor to the mix after their confrontation.

Punishment Martinez made his entrance for the main event. A recorded promo aired with Martinez saying that if Marty Scurll wanted to survive the night then he should stay the hell out of his way. Scurll made his entrance. A Scurll video aired with him saying he doesn’t care whether Dalton Castle or Jay Lethal win the ROH Title match at the pay-per-view because he will beat either one of them. He said Martinez is safe as his partner on this night, but next week would be a different story. Jay Lethal was out next and in his promo he said he and Castle could have a good time in this match, but Castle was his at the pay-per-view. Finally, Castle and The Boys made their entrance. Castle delivered a promo about how teaming with Lethal makes things interesting… [C]

3. Dalton Castle (w/The Boys) and Jay Lethal vs. Marty Scurll and Punishment Martinez. Scurll knocked Lethal down at ringside with a kick from the apron heading into a break. [C] Scurll pumped up the crowd for his chicken wing finisher on Lethal. However, Martinez tagged himself into the match before Scurll could apply the hold.

Late in the match, Martinez grabbed one of the Boys and tossed him across the ring. Lethal worked over Martinez and set up for his finisher. Scurll tried to throw powder at Lethal, but Lethal avoided it and Martinez took it (to the side of the head). Martinez acted blinded and grabbed Scurll, who punched himself free. Castle clotheslined Martinez to ringside. Lethal hit the Lethal Injection on Scurll and pinned him. After the match, the referee raised the arms of the winners. Lethal pointed at the ROH Title belt and jawed with Castle…

Dalton Castle and Jay Lethal defeated Marty Scurll and Punishment Martinez.

Powell’s POV: I always laugh when a referee kneels down in a pile of powder to make a count as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. I guess the powder created an issue between Scurll and Martinez going into their pay-per-view match.

An ROH 16th Anniversary pay-per-view montage aired with brief promos from various wrestlers. Cody said Matt Taven is the king of nothing. Taven said Cody is an American Melvin. The Briscoes and Motor City Machine Guns both took turns talking. SoCal Uncensored said The Hung Bucks are out of their element in a street fight. The Hung Bucks said SoCal Uncensored would get their asses whooped. Scurll and Martinez took their turns. Lethal spoke about regaining the ROH Title. Castle closed it out by saying he would do what he has to do to walk out as ROH Champion…

Powell’s POV: A good television show that offered final hype for an odd pay-per-view lineup. Castle vs. Lethal is logical, but it’s odd to see Scurll vs. Martinez billed high on the lineup despite there not being much of a storyline issue between the two aside from this late powder moment. And while Castle vs. Lethal makes sense in that the former champion his facing the new champion for the first time, they didn’t really go beyond that with the booking so the match is missing that extra hook. Overall, though, I enjoyed the hour of television. Join me for live coverage of the ROH 16th Anniversary event on Friday night. You can also check out my review of ROH Manhattan Mayhem.


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