By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Ring of Honor TV
Taped March 16, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada at Sam’s Town Live
Aired in syndication on April 20, 2019, Mondays on the FITE TV app
Kenny King made his entrance while the broadcast team of Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman, and Nick Aldis checked in on commentary and hyped the show’s matches. Bobby Cruise was the ring announcer. Tracy Williams made his entrance for the opening match…
1. Kenny King vs. Tracy Williams. King blew off a handshake offer from Williams. The broadcast team was quick to promote the NWA Crockett Cup event for Saturday while upcoming live events scrolled across the screen. King applied a headlock at one point and was censored for something he said to Williams. A short time later, Williams took offensive control heading into a commercial break. [C]
Williams once again offered a handshake and this time King punched him in the face. Aldis said the Lifeblood factions doesn’t have the ability to win psychological warfare so they cover it up by saying that they are trying to do the right thing. Aldis called Williams a “dope” for looking for a handshake during the middle of a match.
Williams performed a nice missile dropkick and followed it up with a couple of clotheslines in the corner. King caught him on the ropes with an enzuigiri. King went up the ropes and Williams performed a DDT onto the top turnbuckle, then performed a Death Valley Driver for a two count. [C]
King took Williams down and tried to use the ropes for leverage, but Williams kicked out. King fired chops at Williams, who fired up and removed his shoulder brace. Williams threw some chops at King, who hoisted him up for his finisher, but Williams countered into an inside cradle for a two count. Riccaboni said it would have been a big upset. Williams scored another near fall off a fisherman’s buster suplex. Williams performed a cross body block from the top rope, but King rolled through, powered up, and performed his Royal Flush finisher for the win…
Kenny King defeated Tracy Williams.
Powell’s POV: God bless Aldis. I realize this company was built on the Code of Honor, but Williams did look like a dope for offering a handshake in the middle of the match. And who is Tracy Williams in ROH? Regular viewers know nothing about him other than that he’s a member of Lifeblood and he uses Hot Sauce as a nickname. Anyway, King winning the match is logical given that he won the Honor Rumble at Madison Square Garden. Unfortunately, this is yet another episode taped prior to MSG, so it’s not like King’s win or new blind gimmick was acknowledged.
Riccaboni set up footage of Bandido pinning PJ Black to win their previous match. They included comments from the recent Black sit-down interview where he discussed coming in too cocky and realizing after the loss to Bandido that he needed to do things differently… [C]
A brief Crockett Cup video aired to promote the Nick Aldis vs. Marty Scurll match for the NWA Championship…
2. “The Bouncers” Beer City Bruiser and Brian Milonas vs. “Reno Scum” Luster The Legend and Adam Thrornstowe. Aldis noted that he and Luster trained at Harley Race’s camp back in the day. The teams shook hands prior to the match. Scum isolated Bruiser for a stretch. The Bouncers fought back and teamed up for their Closing Time finisher on Thornstowe, and Bruiser pinned him…
The Bouncers beat Reno Scum.
Powell’s POV: Reno Scum didn’t click in Impact Wrestling during Jeff Jarrett’s last run with the company, and now both Impact and ROH book the duo as enhancement guys when they hold tapings in Vegas. Nothing about this match suggested that ROH intends to do more with Reno Scum outside Vegas.
A split screen shot aired of Bandido and PJ Black… [C] An ad aired for the G1 Supercard. A graphic touted the replay, while the narrator hyped it as airing live on April 6…
3. Bandido vs. PJ Black. The wrestlers adhered to the Code of Honor. Bandido was on the offensive for a stretch, but Black came back and got a two count going into a break. [C] Bandido suplexed Black on the mat at ringside, then followed up with a moonsault from the top rope and onto Black on the floor.
Later, Black performed a Styles Clash on Bandido for a near fall. Black counted along with the pin and acted surprised when he didn’t get the three count. Black performed a cutter for another two count, then shot at frustrated look at referee Todd Sinclair. Bandido came back with a brainbuster for a near fall of his own. [C]
Bandido performed a top rope Spanish Fly for a near fall. Bandido went for a moonsault, but Black put his boot up. A short time later, Bandido hit his 21 Plex finisher and scored the clean pin. After the match, the wrestlers shook hands
Bandido pinned PJ Black.
Riccaboni hyped the Crockett Cup event for Sunday…
They cut to a shot of Tenille Dashwood lying in the middle of a broken table. Bully Ray showed up and questioned why bad things happen to good people. Bully said she’s been trying to figure out who attacked her for six months. Bully asked if she knows who he is, then said he’d say goodbye to Lifeblood for her…
Powell’s POV: The main event was good match, though not as entertaining as their previous encounter. It didn’t help that the crowd seemed to be fairly spent, as I assume this was taped late in the marathon tapings. I’m actually disappointed that Black remained babyface, though I am holding out hope that he’s pulling a long con. We’ve seen PJ Black as a babyface over the years and there’s always been something missing, so I hope he slides into a heel role and tries something new rather than become just another Lifeblood guy who lets Juice Robinson do all the talking.
Bully Ray attacking Tenille Dashwood was a surprise, but it makes sense because Dashwood’s allies are in Lifeblood rather than in the Women of Honor division. With her leaving, it’s not like there’s a storyline female friend to avenge an attack by a female heel wrestler. That said, I’m guessing they would have gone with The Allure trio as the attackers just to help get them over had they been introduced at this taping. Instead, it gives the Lifeblood members a reason to dislike Bully Ray, and it’s nice that the ROH creative team cared enough to deliver a payoff to the mystery attacker storyline before Dashwood left. Haydn Gleed will be by later today with his audio review of this episode.
Check below for the latest Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast with Jason Powell and Jake Barnett discussing WWE Superstar Shakeup and all the news of the week.
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