By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Ring of Honor Wrestling TV (Episode 424)
Taped October 12, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana at UNO Lakefront Arena
Aired in syndication on November 2, 2019, Mondays on the FITE TV app
The show opened with footage of Silas Young winning a battle royal to earn a shot at Rush for the ROH World Championship…
Powell’s POV: Young teased wanting a hug, which Josh Woods eagerly accepted, only to have Young throw him over the top rope. In other words, Woods looked like a complete idiot.
Show hosts Ian Riccaboni and Quinn McKay checked in and hyped the main event and Jonathan Gresham vs. Alex Shelley…
1. Jonathan Gresham vs. Alex Shelley. Riccaboni, Colt Cabana, and Caprice Coleman were on commentary. Shelley offered a handshake, which Gresham eventually accepted. After a few minutes of the wrestlers trading offense, Gresham caught Shelley with a dropkick going into a break. [C] Shelley controlled the bulk of the offense coming out of the break and then dropkicked Gresham’s knee heading into another break. [C]
Shelley tuned up the band and hit Gresham with a superkick. They took turns countering the other’s attempts at big moves and then Shelley countered into a pin and scored the three count.
Alex Shelley defeated Jonathan Gresham.
After the match, Gresham grabbed a chair. Jay Lethal ran out and stopped Gresham from using it. Lethal told Gresham that was one of the greatest matches he’d ever seen. Lethal tossed the chair aside and Shelley offered another handshake. Gresham accepted the handshake while the broadcast team said there was nothing for him to be ashamed of.
Powell’s POV: The good technical match that you’d expect from Shelley and Gresham. I was surprised to see Shelley win of only because they’ve been building up Gresham, but it makes sense if the idea is to have him and Jay Lethal working more in the tag team division. That said, Shelley wasn’t at the shows held over the weekend, so I’m not sure what his status is.
ROH TV Champion Shane Taylor delivered a backstage promo and said people debate who is the greatest of all time. Taylor said he has no interest in what social media’s answer would be. Taylor listed black icons and said that’s the legacy that he is chasing. Taylor said culture shifting, sport altering, paradigm changing legacy, and said the ROH TV Title reign is just the beginning. He said he would break the record for the longest ROH TV Title reign and be the best champion inside and outside the ring…
Powell’s POV: If you only saw this promo then you’d probably assume that Taylor is a babyface. So while it was a well delivered promo, I’m not really sure it fit with what they’ve been doing with him as a badass heel unless the plan is for him to eventually morph into a respectable babyface.
Footage aired of TK O’Ryan and Vinny Marseglia being found laid out backstage, plus Taven delivering an in-ring promo while Marseglia stood by. Taven challenged the person who did it to come to the ring and face them like a man. They cut to footage of what was apparently ROH security asking Marseglia if they could ask him a few questions about the attack. Marseglia shoved one of the men into a wall and asked why he was asking so many questions. Marseglia wondered if he knew something or was behind the attack…
Powell’s POV: I found it strange when we saw the footage of the two men laid out two weeks ago and then it was completely ignored last week. It was good to see them get back to this storyline. I won’t spoil it here, but there was a major development in this storyline that played out on ROH’s weekend live events.
The broadcast team hyped the ROH events from the weekend and then set up footage of Bully Ray attacking Mark Haskins. New footage of a Bully promo was included. He said Haskins was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Footage aired of Vicky Haskins slapping Ray. A fired up Mark was shown saying he’s fed up with playing stupid games with Bully Ray. Haskins challenged him to try to do something when he’s ready for it. Bully wondered if Vicky wears the pants in their family… [C]
Powell’s POV: A well produced video package. They didn’t do anything with this at the weekend live events, so I assume that means thy are building up Bully Ray vs. Mark Haskins for Final Battle.
A video package showed highlights of Marty Scurll defeating Jay Lethal to earn a spot in the finals of the tournament to determine who will challenge for the ROH Championship at Final Battle. A graphic hyped PCO vs. Marty Scurll in the finals of the tournament for next week’s television show…
Footage aired of Rush defeating Matt Taven to win the ROH World Championship…
Ring entrances for the main event took place. The broadcast team noted that Josh Woods didn’t come to the ring with Young. Lanny Poffo joined Riccaboni and Cabana on commentary. Cabana asked if there was someone with the beer drinking and smoking that Young reminded Poffo of. Poffo said Mad Dog Vachon and noted that he was very henpecked at home. Funny… [C]
2. Rush vs. Silas Young for the ROH World Championship. Rush set up for his finisher early, but Young got up and speared him and then went on the offensive. Young had a chinlock applied going into the final break. [C]
Rush battled back and took the fight to ringside. Back inside the ring, Rush teased Young with his finisher, tapped him lightly with his foot, and then struck his pose in the ring. A short time later, Rush hit Bull Horns finisher and scored the clean pin…
Rush defeated Silas Young to retain the ROH World Championship.
Powell’s POV: The crowd was not as hot as they should be for a new world champion. For instance, most of the fans just sat there and a few fans cheered when Rush struck his pose in the ring. It’s only one town and one match so I don’t want to read too much into that, but it will be interesting to see he well he’s received as the champion.
Overall, a solid episode with two quality matches. Here’s hoping that the news that ROH TV will begin airing on Sinclair’s new Fox Sports regional networks will somehow make the company more of a priority at least when it comes to a quicker turnaround time for their weekly television series. I’ve made my feelings about the new show format known and they still stand. ROH has a good opportunity with this expansion of their television show and hopefully they take some steps to make the most of it because the dated highlight show they are offering isn’t going to cut it.
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