By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Ring of Honor Wrestling TV (Episode 527)
Taped in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 2300 Arena
Aired October 23, 2021 in syndication and on SBG regional sports networks, available Mondays on FITE.TV
After the standard opening, Vincent was shown backstage looking into a mirror. Vincent wore all white and a crown, and asked the other members of The Righteous if they thought “he” was going to love it. He looked into the camera and asked viewers if they thought he would love it…
Quinn McKay checked in from the studio and hyped the Pure vs. Violence themed matches… Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman checked in on commentary while ring announcer Bobby Cruise handled the introductions for the opening match.
A promo aired with Deppen stating that Titus had been in ROH and accomplished a lot, but he’s also accomplished a lot in a fraction of the time. Titus had a pre-tape and said he and Deppen have similarities, but the difference is that he’s a professional…
Powell’s POV: It’s been a tough week for ROH with the news of the company not renewing contracts and going dark in the first quarter of 2022. While my job is to take a business as usual approach with my reviews, I just want to take a moment to convey that my heart goes out to everyone in the company that has been affected by these changes.
1. Rhett Titus vs. Tony Deppen. Deppen targeted the left knee of Titus and wrapped him into a submission hold, but Titus reached the ropes heading into the first commercial break. [C] Homicide walked to ringside and stood on the apron for a moment. Coleman said that Deppen seemed to turn things up a notch when Homicide came out. Deppen went for a senton, but Titus put his knees up. [C]
Titus caught Deppen in a half crab. Homicide teased entering the ring, but he remained on the floor and reached his hand out. Deppen tried to grab his hand, but referee Todd Sinclair intervened. Homicide slid a chair inside the ring. Titus released the hold and threw the chair to ringside. Deppen got another chair and jabbed Titus with it, then hit him with a running knee strike to the head and scored the pin…
Tony Deppen defeated Rhett Titus in 12:23.
A graphic listed the tag match as coming up after a break… [C]
Powell’s POV: A good opening match. Deppen is starting to feel like a better fit with Violence Unlimited.
Brian Zane caught up with Titus as he returned to the backstage area. Titus was upset and questioned where his stable mates Jay Lethal, Jonathan Gresham, and Tracy Williams were when he needed them…
Zane interviewed Deppen, who took issues with ROH having rules for shaking hands and watching what you tweet and what you say. He said he only cares about the Violence Unlimited faction…
A video package hyped Bandido vs. Alex Zayne for the ROH World Championship, and Josh Woods vs. LSG for the ROH Pure Championship for the Championship Edition of ROH Wrestling in two weeks…
2. Chris Dickinson and Brody King (w/Homicide) vs. Jonathan Gresham and Tracy Williams (w/Jay Lethal). Both teams had brief promos that aired during their entrances. The teams adhered to the Code of Honor. A few minutes in, Williams clotheslined Dickinson in the corner and then performed a suplex from the ropes that led to a two count. [C]
After some good back and forth action, King ran the ropes and Dickinson made a blind tag before Williams blasted King with a boot to the head. Williams ran the ropes, but Dickinson pushed King out of the way before catching Williams with a kick that led to a near fall. [C]
King and Dickinson put Williams and Gresham in simultaneous submission holds. Williams reached the ropes to break the hold and then Dickinson released the hold he had on Gresham. Dickinson put Williams in an STF while King held Gresham at ringside. Williams escaped and countered into a facelock, but Dickinson rolled him into a pin. Gresham kicked out and held onto his move temporarily. Dickinson caught Williams in a rear naked choke for the submission win.
Chris Dickinson and Brody King defeated Jonathan Gresham and Tracy Williams in 12:52.
The broadcast team noted that Violence Unlimited was 2-0 for the night. Coleman pointed out that there was nothing dirty about the way that Dickinson and King won the tag match. Homicide jawed at The Foundation members. King offered Gresham a handshake, which he accepted. The jawing continued. Gresham and Williams started to leave, but they returned to ringside when Lethal and Homicide continued to argue. [C]
Powell’s POV: A very nice tag match. I’m happy they didn’t go with the formula of the factions splitting the first two matches to set up a winner take all final match.
3. Homicide (w/Chris Dickinson, Brody King) vs. Jay Lethal. Jonathan Gresham and Tracy Williams headed to the back as the match started. Riccaboni recapped the history between Homicide and Lethal, noting that Lethal looked up to Homicide back in the day. Lethal hit a trio of suicide dives. Riccaboni said the first time Lethal fought Homicide was in 2002 and the last time in ROH was in 2012.
Homicide rallied with a somersault suicide dive that left both men down briefly. Back inside the ring, Lethal avoided a cutter from the ropes and then missed a missile dropkick. Lethal took Homicide down and went for a figure four, but he pulled a fork out of Homicide’s kneepads and gave it to the referee.
Homicide took the fork back and tried to stab Lethal with it, but Lethal moved and the fork was stuck into the turnbuckle pad. They took turns trying to slam the other’s opponent into the fork. Homicide pulled it out, but he dropped it when lethal hit him with a move.
Homicide removed his t-shirt and choked Lethal with it until the referee’s count forced him to break it. Lethal came back with a superkick. Tony Deppen walked to ringside with a chair in hand. Dutch from The Righteous knocked Deppen down with a shoulder block. In the ring, Lethal hit the Lethal Injection on Homicide and pinned him.
Jay Lethal defeated Homicide in 5:37.
After the match, Vincent, Vita VonStarr, and Bateman walked out dressed in white and joined Dutch. They all stood on the stage and applauded Lethal, who looked confused by their actions. Riccaboni said that The Righteous did the same thing at Death Before Dishonor and questioned why they were there.
Riccaboni hyped a Halloween edition for next week. Graphics listed Rok-C and Quinn McKay vs. Miranda Alize and Max the Impaler, Shane Taylor, Moses, and Kaun vs. PCO, Danhausen, and Sledge for the ROH Six-Man Tag Titles…
Powell’s POV: It did not get a graphic, but Kevin Eck’s blog on the ROH website also listed a Wildcard Trick or Treat Halloween Tag Team Four-Corner Survival with the teams drawn at random out of a jack-o-lantern for next week’s show. ROH has announced that this weekend’s show will stream on the ROH YouTube page on Sunday at 6CT/7ET and will not be available on Sinclair stations due to technical difficulties. Sinclair will instead air a Best of Jay Lethal edition.
As for this show, the main event was fun given the history between the two men. The overall concept of The Foundation facing Violence Unlimited members worked and produced some good in-ring action. The two storyline takeaways were The Righteous coming out during Jay Lethal’s match, and Rhett Titus being upset with his Foundation faction mates. I will have more to say about the show my weekly ROH Wrestling audio review, which is available exclusively for Dot Net Members.
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