By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Ring of Honor Wrestling TV (Episode 434)
Taped December 15, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 2300 Arena
Aired January 11, 2020 in syndication and on SBG regional sports networks, available Mondays on FITE.TV
The ROH opening aired and then highlights aired of Alex Shelley pinning Jonathan Gresham at the Glory By Honor event. Jay Lethal encouraged Gresham to shake hands with Shelley afterward…
Show hosts Ian Riccaboni and Quinn McKay checked in while standing in front of the ROH backdrop and hyped the Shelley vs. Gresham rematch. Riccaboni said there was new talent coming to ROH in 2020. There was a rough cut and then McKay noted that Bateman, Flamita, and other newcomers that arrived late in 2019…
Highlights aired of Flip Gordon beating Rey Horus at the Final Battle Fallout event in Philadelphia. Gordon applied an STF and got the submission win…
Backstage, PJ Black made another pitch to Brian Johnson about mentoring him. Johnson declined. Black asked if he wanted to be on television or not, which stopped Johnson in his tracks. Black told him to think about it…
Ring entrances for the Crowbar vs. Eli Isom match. A promo aired with Crowbar talking about returning to the ECW Arena while a woman and a large bald man stood by. Isom said he is haunted by the need to hurt, the need to for violence, and the need to do what he has to do this evening. “I’m sorry,” Crowbar said before walking away. They cut to an Isom promo from the locker room where he promised that Crowbar wouldn’t beat him…
1. Crowbar vs. Eli Isom. The wrestlers adhered to the Code of Honor, then Crowbar worked in a cheap shot to start the match. With Crowbar at ringside, Isom set up for a dive. Crowbar pulled the large bald man in front of him. Isom ran the ropes, but the woman, whom Riccaboni said is the wife of Crowbar, grabbed his foot. [C]
Isom rolled to ringside. Crowbar followed to the apron and delivered a dropkick. Crowbar slammed Isom into the barricade and then worked over Isom with punches. Later, Isom escaped a powerbomb attempt and then clotheslined Crowbar. Isom followed up with a brainbuster and scored the clean pin…
Eli Isom pinned Crowbar.
Powell’s POV: A nice match. Crowbar is 45 and has understandably added some weight, but his gear covers it up nicely and he has a good look. It will be interesting to see if he ends up doing more with ROH. Meanwhile, hopefully this is the year that Isom breaks away from the Shinobi Shadow Squad undercard matches and becomes his own man.
Footage aired from Final Battle Fallout of Bully Ray stopping Maria Manic from powerbombing Angelina Love through a table. Bully grabbed Manic by the throat and chokeslammed her through the table while Riccaboni called him a piece of crap and a son of a bitch on commentary…
Footage aired from “later that night” of cameraman “James” asking Bully Ray why he attacked Manic. Bully said he’s a smart guy and made him say that they were in the ECW Arena. Bully took issue with Manic walking into his house and “doing my stuff.” He said he made a career out of putting people like her through tables. Bully called her “young girl” and said it’s disrespectful. Bully said that if Manic even dreams about tables then she better wake up and apologize to him…
A video listed the upcoming ROH live event dates… [C]
The Shinobi Shadow Squad trio of Cheeseburger, Ryan Nova, and Eli Isom stood in the ring coming out of the break. Cheeseburger said based on Isom’s win, it will be a big year for the faction. Cheeseburger said they weren’t stopping there and issued an open challenge that was answered by the SOS tag team…
2. Cheeseburger and Ryan Nova (w/Eli Isom) vs. “Soldiers of Savagery” Moses and Kaun. The SOS jumped out to a fast start and Kaun took out Nova at ringside. In the ring, Cheeseburger caught Moses with a jawbreaker and wanted to make the tag, but Nova was still down. Nova eventually recovered and took the tag and then used his speed to go on the offensive. Nova and Cheeseburger both covered Moses and for some reason the ref counted until Kaun broke it up. Kaun slapped his partner, who then performed a senton dive off the ropes onto both opponents at ringside. Moses rolled Nova back inside the ring where SOS hit double team DDT move on him and got the pin…
SOS defeated Cheeseburger and Ryan Nova.
Powell’s POV: The SOS duo is green, but they have a good look (especially Kaun) and strike me as a duo with a bright future if they continue to put in the hard work.
The hosts set up a video that listed the matches for the Honor Reigns Supreme event that took place on Sunday (my reports on both weekend shows are available in the ROH Live Events section)… [C]
3. Alex Shelley vs. Jonathan Gresham (w/Jay Lethal). There were two commercial breaks during the match. Here’s my recap from the Final Battle Fallout report on the end of the match: After a series of reversals, Gresham ended up pinning Shelley clean. The fans applauded despite Gresham and Lethal being heels. Shelley and Gresham shook hands afterward, then Lethal shook Shelley’s hand. Gresham told the crowd “that’s Ring of Honor.”
Jonathan Gresham defeated Alex Shelley.
Powell’s POV: I don’t get it. Lethal and Gresham have stated in promos that wrestlers who cheat benefit in ROH and now they have seen the light and intend to do the same, yet this was a technical match that resulted in the duo shaking hands with Shelley afterward. I was confused when I watched the match on HonorClub, and I thought they might add something on television such as a backstage confrontation that resulted in Lethal and Gresham attacking Shelley to cement themselves as heels, but that didn’t happen.
Overall, it was a decent show compared to other recent ROH television episodes. But the hard truth is that decent compared to low standards isn’t good enough. I don’t mean to be overly critical of ROH, but company officials really need to ask themselves what they offer on this weekly television series that viewers are not getting elsewhere. It’s a very crowded landscape with other companies giving away a lot of big matches on television every week. ROH’s weekly television series just isn’t measuring up and I hope that the creative switch to Marty Scurll as head booker will lead to the weekly television show being overhauled. There was nothing about this show that provided a hook for next week’s episode, and it feels like we’re back to the era of three random matches airing per week. I will have more to say in my audio review of this episode coming up later today for Dot Net Members.
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