By Jason Powell, Prowrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Ring of Honor TV
Taped April 14 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at Stage AE
Aired in syndication on April 28 and Mondays on the FITE TV app
The show opened with still shots and highlights of the ROH Supercard of Honor event… The opening video aired and then introductions started as Ian Riccaboni and BJ Whitmer checked in on commentary…
1. Chuckie T vs. Josh Woods. The crowd was vocally behind T. Woods applied a cross arm breaker to start, but T reached the ropes immediately to break it. T used a thumb to the eye early on. Woods came back with an exploder suplex heading into a commercial break. [C]
T performed a falcon arrow and grinned as he covered Woods, then he acted surprised when he didn’t get the win. T hit Sole Food, but Woods came right back with a GTS for a good near fall. The fans rallied behind T. Woods performed a nice suplex into a bridge for a two count and then applied the cross arm break. T rolled him up while in the hold for the win. The wrestlers shook hands afterward…
Chuckie T beat Josh Woods.
Powell’s POV: Chuckie showed off the playful side of his persona so the match was helpful in that regard. I sound like a broken record, but why don’t we ever hear from him in promos? The match felt random. After getting a push to start, it seems like they have cooled down on Woods, who makes infrequent appearances on ROH TV. Woods is green, but he has talent and I continue to hope they will showcase him as a heel since he has yet to connect with the crowd.
A Cody and Brandi Rhodes promo aired. Cody asked Brandi to name her favorite wrestler. She named Cody, who said his is Dalton Castle. Cody said he wouldn’t be a hobby journalist or a keyboard warriors who write off Castle’s title reign as a failure and compare him to Bob Backlund in 1978 when they had to build the whole card around him to make people care. Brandi said Castle had a great match against Lethal, and Cody beat Lethal. She pointed out that Cody beat Kenny “Homega”. Cody asked where that leaves them. They agreed it’s the ROH Championship… [C]
Powell’s POV: I hope this means they are moving back to Castle vs. Cody. I wasn’t a big fan of the company’s decision to go with Castle as quickly as they did when Cody was a strong champion.
The Kingdom delivered a backstage promo. They mockingly congratulated The Young Bucks, Flip Gordon, and SoCal Uncensored for stealing the show at Supercard of Honor. They boasted that those teams fought for nothing since they ended up taking the ROH Six-Man Tag Titles…
2. Women of Honor Champion Sumie Sakai vs. Stella Grey in a non-title match. Jenny Rose sat in on commentary. A pre-taped Gray promo aired with her putting over Sakai while also putting herself over at the end. Sakai impressed early and connected with a missile dropkick before performing a Northern Lights supxlex into a bridge for a two count. Grey came back with a spear for a two count. Grey performed a nice tornado DDT off the middle rope and then performed a suplex and got another two count. Sakai came back with her Smashmouth finisher for the win…
WOH Champion Sumie Sakai defeated Stella Grey in a non-title match.
After the match, Rose entered the ring and congratulated Sakai on winning. She pointed to the big screen to show footage of a tag match they had where Sakai was thrown into Rose. Rose challenged Sakai to a title match. Sakai said she loves Rose and doesn’t want to fight her, but she said she would for the WOH Title. She said she’s happy that Rose is her first challenger. Rose blew off her handshake offer…
Powell’s POV: It was surprising to see Sakai give up so much offense when the match was about showcasing her as the new women’s champion. Grey has upside and she seemed very comfortable on the mic. I’m still not sold on Sakai as the first women’s champion, but we’ll see where it goes.
SoCal Uncensored delivered a promo backstage. Christopher Daniels did all of the talking and said they will do ROH a favor and get rid of The Kingdom once and for all… [C]
Marty Scurll delivered a promo after footage aired of him pinning Dalton Castle at the Masters of the Craft event on April 15 to become the number one contender. Scurll said Castle makes him sick and he wants his shot at Best in the World. He said Castle’s days as champion are numbered…
Powell’s POV: The Kingdom vs. SoCal Uncensored does nothing for me. The Kingdom are not clicking and it’s hard to imagine that a feud with fellow heels is going to change that. Meanwhile, this is the first show after the ROH Supercard of Honor event and they’re already setting up a rematch even though Castle pinned Scurll clean to win that she’s main event. Odd.
Footage aired of the Bully Ray heel turn from Supercard of Honor…
Bully Ray made his entrance for a promo. He said a certain portion of the fanbase was upset with him over his actions at Supercard of Honor. Ray asked what gives Cheeseburger the right to put a legend on the spot. Ray said Cheeseburger represents what he despises about a lot of young guys. He said a lot of the fans also represent a lot of what he despises.
Bully said guys like Cheeseburger and Flip Gordon and the fans are spoiled an entitled. Someone threw something into the ring. Bully looked toward the fans and said he would come over the guardrail and punch the fan in the face if he did it again. More fans threw debris and a streamer hit Bully on the head. A “yes” chant broke out.
Bully said another problem with the company is Joe Koff, who he pointed to in the crowd. He said Koff gives the young entitled wrestlers a platform and he only signs them because he wants to be the nice guy. Bully said he’s still the enforcer. Koff walked away. Bully held up his WWE Hall of Fame ring and said it makes him better than every person in the building… [C]
Powell’s POV: A good promo from Ray. The fans were bold for throwing things into the ring. I can’t even imagine what would have happened if they had done that back in the ECW days. Anyway, I like Bully as a heel and I’m curious to see where this goes, but I could do without Joe Koff being involved unless there’s a real storyline need for it.
Dalton Castle delivered a backstage promo while The Boys stood behind him. Castle said it’s been over a hundred days since he won the ROH Championship and yet people still ask if he’s championship material. Castle ran through a list of people he defeated and noted that he beat Scurll in front of the biggest crowd in ROH history. He said if people are asking if he’s championship material the answer is “you’re damn right I am”…
Powell’s POV: What’s with all the question this week about whether Castle is championship worthy? Sure, there are fans who are debating that, but I hope there’s a good reason why they are bringing it up on television when there are probably a lot of fans who weren’t asking that question yet are now after they’ve made it such an issue this week. I guess we’ll have to wait to see where this goes.
Ring entrances for the main event took place. Bobby Cruise delivered in-ring introductions for the ROH TV Title match…
3. Silas Young vs. Flip Gordon for the ROH TV Title. Shane Taylor sat in on commentary and noted that he was the man that Gordon pinned to earn the title shot after they were the last two entrants in a recent battle royal. Young turned Gordon inside out with a clothesline heading into a break. [C]
Gordon performed a nice springboard missile dropkick and had the crowd chanting his name. Gordon got on a roll and scored a two count heading into the final break. [C] Gordon continued to shine coming out of the break and it a falcon arrow for another near fall. The fans chanted “That was three” (it was not). Young came back and hit his Misery finisher and scored the clean pin…
Silas Young defeated Flip Gordon to retain the ROH TV Title.
Riccaboni hyped The Briscoes vs. The Young Bucks for the ROH Tag Titles in two weeks, and next week’s main event is The Kingdom vs. Dalton Castle and The Boys…
Powell’s POV: ROH failed big time with the presentation of the main event. Why in the world did we not hear anything from the champion or challenger going into the match? Why was this match simply thrown out there as the main event of the first show from the new taping when they could have spent at least a week building it up properly and making it seem like a big deal?
All title matches should be made to feel special on television, but this one was very appealing on paper and featured the company’s brightest young star getting a shot at the championship. I enjoyed the match and the fans rallied behind Gordon, but I came out of this wondering why this match even took place. Yes, Gordon earned a title shot recently, but it should have been presented as a bigger deal. If they didn’t have a plan to make this feel important then they never should have put Gordon in this match.
Overall, a wasted opportunity in the main event, yet it was also a good match and the highlight of the show. Some of the promos were more intriguing than the other two matches. It’s nice to finally have footage from the most recent television taping, yet it already feels dated since they were showing footage from Supercard of Honor for the first time and that show took place the night before WrestleMania. Haydn Gleed will be by tomorrow with his audio review for the Dot Net Members.
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