By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Ring of Honor Wrestling TV (Episode 411)
Taped July 20, 2019 in New York, New York at Hammerstein Ballroom
Aired in syndication on August 3, 2019, Mondays on the FITE TV app
The ROH opening aired to open the show… ROH Champion Matt Taven was shown making his entrance while wearing a Boston Red Sox jersey. They cut to Taven in the ring boasting that he won the ROH Title the last time he was in New York for the G1 Supercard event that was held at Madison Square Garden. They cut to footage of Kenny King in the ring with Taven asking for a shot at the ROH Championship. Taven said he would be happy to beat King to the list of men he’s defeated.
They cut to Jay Lethal coming out to confront Taven after King had left the ring. Lethal was upset because he was supposed to have a singles match with Taven, who tried to blow him off. Lethal spun Taven around and they traded punches until security intervened…
Riccaboni and Quinn McKay spoke while standing in front of an ROH and HonorClub backdrop. They spoke about how the ROH Championship match at Manhattan Mayhem became a Triple Threat. They said they would show highlights from that match as well as “The Guerrillas of Destiny” Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa vs. The Briscoes for the ROH Tag Titles…
A Jay Lethal promo aired from a backstage area. It was the video with Lethal talking about how took a train ride to MSG before the G1 Supercard event and then having to take the train back without having the ROH Championship belt in his possession… A graphic touted the Taven vs. Lethal vs. King match…
Matt Taven delivered a backstage promo and said he would add two more names to the list of men he’s defeated to keep the ROH Championship… [C]
Powell’s POV: So this is the new vision for the ROH TV show. Apparently, the idea is to show the key matches on HonorClub, then show highlights on the television show. It’s more timely for HonorClub subscribers, but I’m not sure if a highlight based show is going to be enough for standard television viewers or if it will give the HonorClub subscribers enough incentive to watch both. Of course, we’re only a few minutes into the first show of its kind, so we’ll see how it goes.
A video package recapped The Briscoes defeating “The Guerrillas of Destiny” Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa to win the ROH Tag Titles at the Manhattan Mayhem event. They showed the closing moments with Jay hoisting Tonga on his shoulders while Mark climbed to the top of a ladder and performed a missile dropkick that drove Tonga through a table in the ring, which led to the Briscoes scoring the pin in the street fight to win the tag titles…
Footage aired from the Mass Hysteria event that was held in Lowell, Massachusetts on July 21 of The Briscoes having a post match toast with The Bouncers. They cut to footage of the GOD duo attacking the Briscoes. Jay was bleeding from the forehead and it was digitized…
Tanga and Loa cut a backstage promo. Loa said they write their own story. Tonga said God giveth and God taketh. He said they’re not waiting two or three weeks, they came right back. “Man up, bitches,” Tonga said (bitches was censored)…
Riccaboni and McKay hyped The Briscoes vs. GOD in a Ladder War for the ROH Tag Titles on Friday’s ROH Summer Supercard event that will be available on HonorClub from Toronto… [C]
A video package recapped the Dalton Castle vs. Rush feud, including Castle dressing up as a masked Rush fan and attacking him… McKay interviewed Castle backstage at an event. Castle said he’s not afraid of Rush or to put on his dirty, sweaty mask, which he said he bought from a fan. Castle cut the interview off while saying that it was street pretzel time…
Highlights of Dalton Castle defeating Rush at the Mass Hysteria event in Lowell, Massachusetts aired. Castle hit Rush below the belt and was disqualified. Castle threw a chair at the face of Rush afterward…
Rush cut a brief backstage promo and said nothing happens unless he says so…
Riccaboni and McKay hyped Rush vs. Castle in a No DQ match for Friday in Toronto. McKay hyped that viewers would find out how the challenger for the ROH TV Title in Toronto earned his title match… [C]
Highlights aired from the ROH Youtube Exclusive match that resulted in Tracy Williams defeating Josh Woods, Silas Young, and Shane Taylor in a four corner survival match to earn an ROH TV Title match. Woods low blowed Young to give him a taste of his own medicine at one point, and Williams pinned Young later to win the match. After the match, Taylor and Williams jawed. Taylor offered a handshake. When Williams was about to accept, Taylor spat on the hand of Williams and then left the ring. However, Williams picked up the ROH TV Title…
McKay interviewed Tracy Williams backstage following his match. Williams said ROH is a proving ground and he came to ROH to prove he is the best in the world. Williams said he earned his shot, but he didn’t pin the champion. Williams said he tried to show respect, but Taylor spat on his hand. Williams said he will take the ROH TV Title in Toronto in front of his mom, dad, and brother…
McKay interviewed Shane Taylor about facing Williams in Toronto. Taylor vented about Lifeblood being a crock because Williams came to ROH from a company that wanted to put ROH out of business. “And why, because you couldn’t evolve as fast as your buddies and now you’re here trying to prove something?” Taylor said its his company. “See if you can catch this point,” Taylor said before he hopes that Williams family are all there because he’s going to knock out Williams…
Powell’s POV: Taylor was great! The Evolve references were well done and attention grabbing. Even without those lines, I liked the overall intensity that Taylor showed throughout this promo. This was the best promo that I’ve seen Taylor deliver to date.
Footage aired of Silas Young and Josh Woods running into each other outside the building. Young said Woods hitting him below the belt shows he’s not so stupid after all. Woods asked him where his icepack was. Young said the difference between him and Woods is that if he would have hit Woods with a nut shot then he would have won the match. Young told Woods he has a lot left to learn…
Riccaboni and McKay spoke about the dynamic between Young and Woods briefly, then hyped Taylor vs. Williams for the ROH TV Title in Toronto and some of the other matches. Riccaboni hyped the ROH Title match main event for after the break… [C]
Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana, and Alex Shelley checked in on commentary from the Manhattan Mayhem event, then ring entrances for the ROH Title match took place… [C]
1. Matt Taven vs. Jay Lethal vs. Kenny King in a three-way for the ROH Championship. Taven caught King with some strikes and a DDT for a two count heading into a break. [C] Taven performed a suicide dive onto both men. Taven returned to the ring and dove over the top rope toward both men, but Lethal moved and Taven landed on King. Lethal performed a suicide dive on Taven, then followed up with two suicide dives on King.
Lethal rolled King inside the ring and then went up top for a move, but King put his boot up. Lethal landed on his feet and put King in the figure four. Taven performed a top rope splash onto Lethal. Taven put King in the figure four. Lethal went up top and performed a top rope elbow drop, but Taven avoided it and rolled himself into a reversed figure four. Lethal applied a crossface. King gave up the figure four and kicked Lethal to break the crossface.
A short time later, Taven performed an enzuguiri on Lethal, then King performed a double blockbuster on both men. King covered Lethal for two, then covered Taven for two. King went for his Royal Flush finisher, but Taven countered into an inside cradle for a near fall. Taven hit a running knee on King. Lethal performed the Lethal Injection on Taven and covered him, but Taven kicked out at the last moment. King performed a Lethal Injection on Lethal and followed up with a Royal Flush. Taven recovered and performed his Climax finisher on King and scored the clean pin…
Matt Taven defeated Kenny King and Jay Lethal in a three-way to retain the ROH Championship.
A video listed the graphics for the ROH Summer Supercard matches…
Powell’s POV: A good three-way match, but I can’t help but wonder how many NYC fans the company pissed off by advertising the Taven vs. Lethal match for the ROH Championship only to add King to the match during the show and then have Taven pin King.
I need to see more of the new ROH TV format to fairly assess the new direction. Is this the approach coming out of live event weekends and then it will be a different format when they’re not coming out of live events? If ROH aired this style of show the weekend after their pay-per-view events then I would praise it heavily because it recaps the event nicely and features some good first-run promos coming out of the pay-per-views. But I just don’t know what the show will be when they’re not coming off a pay-per-view or a weekend of live events, and the matches are always going to feel somewhat dated due to the long delay between the taping date and when the footage airs. I like the increased role of Quinn McKay, though she could tone down the studious look just a touch to come off more authentic rather than looking like she’s wearing a costume. Hopefully we’ll get a better feel for what the format is going to be starting next week. I will have more to say about this episode in my weekly members’ exclusive audio review.
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