By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Ring of Honor Wrestling TV (Episode 416)
Taped August 24, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia at Centre Stage
Aired in syndication on September 7, 2019, Mondays on the FITE TV app
The show opened with footage of Shane Taylor winning the ROH TV Title, The Briscoes winning the ROH Tag Titles, and Matt Taven winning the ROH World Championship… Show hosts Ian Riccaboni and Quinn McKay checked in from in front of an ROH backdrop and talked up the Champions vs. All-Stars match…
Footage aired from the Atlanta event of Dalton Castle cutting a promo in the ring. Joe Hendry’s self-made entrance video interrupted him. Hendry walked onto the stage and had a verbal back and forth with Castle…
Powell’s POV: Hendry’s debut came off horribly when I watched it in on HonorClub. The live crowd liked Castle and didn’t seem to know who Hendry was. The production crew earned their paychecks by chopping this up to salvage it for television.
Backstage, Quinn McKay interviewed Taven, Taylor, Jay Briscoe, and Mark Briscoe and wondered if they could work together. Taven told her to take off her “Melvin bowtie” and said it was the greatest championship team ever because it was captained by him. Taylor and the Briscoes took offense to Taven referring to himself as the captain and then the champions bickered amongst themselves heading into a break… [C]
Backstage, LSG (Leon St. Giovanni) was giving Shaeem Ali a pep talk about facing Rhett Titus. Kenny King entered the picture and told them to keep going. He said he and Titus are no longer close and won’t be until he reminds him of what they used to be as a team…
Powell’s POV: Please let this somehow lead to ROH finally doing more with the Coast 2 Coast duo.
The hosts spoke about the Top Prospect Tournament…
Highlights aired of Austin Gunn beating Brian Johnson in a quarterfinal match, then brief highlights aired of Haitian Sensation beating Ken Dixon in a quarterfinal match, and then Dak Draper defeated Makita in the last quarterfinal match. The updated brackets showed Dante Caballero vs. Austin Gunn, and Haitian Sensation vs. Dak Draper in the semifinal matches… A brief video hyped the main event… [C]
Powell’s POV: Watching the Top Prospect Tournament matches in their entirety would be an upgrade over a show filled with so many brief highlight clips.
A video package hyped the Marty Scurll vs. Bandido match that will be the featured match on next week’s television show…
The hosts discussed the Global Wars events and focused on Matt Taven vs. Volador Jr. for the ROH Championship. They hyped some of the CMLL wrestlers who will appear on the tour, which is available on HonorClub…
1. Matt Taven, Shane Taylor, Jay Briscoe, and Mark Briscoe vs. Jeff Cobb, Rush, Jay Lethal, and Kenny King in a Champions vs. All-Stars match. They cut abruptly from the hosts talking this match with all eight men already in the ring. The broadcast team was Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman, and Lanny Poffo. There were no televised ring introductions and no explanation as to why Poffo was on commentary (I’m not really sure there is one).
Powell’s POV: The following is from my review of the the match from HonorClub. The match finish didn’t air on HonorClub for some reason, so I will add that at the end.
Poffo said his brother Randy Savage was a fan of Lethal and his impersonation because it’s the sincerest form of flattery. At one point, King took a move from the Briscoes and timekeeper Amy Rose came over to check on him and tried to give him water. Jay took the water bottle and shot water at Rose. King used the distraction to roll up and pin Jay to eliminate him from the match.
The next elimination occurred when Taylor hit his finisher on King and pinned him, leaving the teams tied 3-3 for number of men remaining. A short time later, Lethal hit a Lethal Injection on Mark Briscoe and pinned him to eliminate him, leaving the All Stars with a 3-2 advantage.
Rush took a hot tag from Lethal and worked over Taylor with a nice series of moves, but referee Todd Sinclair missed the tag because he’d been bumped. REF BUMP!!! Taven kicked Lethal below the belt and hit him with a Just The Tip knee, then Taylor hit a running knee as well, which led to a near fall. A short time later, Taylor hit his finisher on Lethal and pinned him to tie up the match with both teams having two men remaining.
Taven blocked a Tour of the Islands and hit a neckbreaker on Cobb for a two count. Cobb came back by flinging Taven into the air and letting him crash to the mat. Cobb wanted to tag in Rush, who was fighting with Taylor at ringside. Rush entered the ring and fought with Taven despite not being the legal man. Rush suplexed Taven into the corner and then teased his finisher and kicked Taven instead, then struck his pose in the ring. Taylor entered the ring and exchanged chops and elbows with Taylor. Rush set up for his finisher and then had to stand there and wait while Taven hit him from behind with a chair for the DQ. The All Stars were left with a 2-1 advantage.
Taven worked over Rush with the chair while Riccaboni spoke about Rush clearly being the No. 1 contender. For some reason, the HonorClub replay abruptly cut off while Taven was choking Rush with the chair.
New update: After Taven left the ring, Cobb powered up Taylor and performed a running power slam. Cobb tagged out and then hit a snap German suplex. Rush hit his Bull Horns finisher on Taylor and pinned him clean to give the All-Stars the win.
Jay Lethal, Jeff Cobb, Rush, and Kenny King beat Matt Taven, Jay Briscoe, Mark Briscoe, and Shane Taylor in a Champions vs. All Stars elimination match.
After the match, Taven stood on the stage briefly, then Rush and Cobb celebrated their win in the ring. Poffo said it was the most exciting night of wrestling he’d seen in forever. Cobb offered Rush a handshake, but Rush kicked his hand away and hit him with his shoulder before leaving the ring to end the show…
Powell’s POV: The majority of the show was dedicated to the match. If you didn’t see the match, it’s entertaining it’s worth going out of your way to watch. If you already saw it then there’s no reason whatsoever to watch this week’s show. I like the post match with Rush wanting nothing to do with Cobb, as I’m sure they will be facing one another sooner or later. If ROH is really going to stick with this new format then hopefully they will spice it up by including some first run announcements to at least make the show feel newsworthy. I will have more to say in my weekly audio review of the ROH television show.
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