By Jason Powell
Ring of Honor TV
Taped October 29 in Baltimore, Maryland at the William J Myers Pavilion
Aired in syndication over the weekend, available Wednesdays on Comet TV
A video package featuring comments from Bobby Fish and Hangman Page aired to promote the main event… The ROH opening video played… Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino were on commentary…
Powell’s POV: A good video package to open the show. ROH has done a nice job of setting up this match even it meant delivering a rather disappointing Proving Ground match last week. It’s amazing to see how quickly Page has gone from fitting in on the undercard to updating his look and appearing like he belongs in the top mix.
1. Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, and Kamaitachi vs. Ultimo Guerrero, Shigeo Okumura, and Hechicero in an ROH Six-Man Tag Title Tournament match. The broadcast team put over the trios experience of Team CMLL, and that Kamaitachi has history with all three men. Corino said CMLL has been around since 1933 and is the oldest promotion in the world.
Late in the match, Hechicero performed a backbreaker on Daniels, but then missed a move and went to ringside. Kamaitachi hit a modified falcon arrow and went up top. Daniels tagged himself in and held Guerrero, who moved, causing Daniels to take the flying knee. Team CMLL got the win when Guerrero performed a reverse superplex on Daniels and pinned him.
After the match, Kamaitachi was pissed at Daniels, who admitted to messing up and then told him to go ahead and take his shot. Daniels put his hands behind his back and closed his eyes. Kamaitachi spat at his feet and then left the ring. Daniels and Kazarian bickered a bit…
Team CMLL beat Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, and Kamaitachi to advance in the ROH six-man tag title tournament.
The broadcast team hyped the other upcoming matches… [C]
Powell’s POV: With all due respect to the lucha legends, two-thirds of Team CMLL looks old. In fairness, Guerrero and Okumura are 44, which is younger than a lot of WWE legends and even Daniels, who has simply aged better. It’s easy to accept aging stars if you’ve been following them for years. I’d like to see ROH use younger stars such as Dragon Lee, but perhaps they feel there’s some appeal to using the older wrestlers as well. After all, this live crowd was receptive to the match. By the way, Hechicero has a badass look. Here’s hoping the post match angle is another step toward Daniels going babyface, and the underutilized Kamaitachi being his own man.
The broadcast team spoke at ringside and recalled Daniels telling them that a leader takes blame and credit…
Caprice Coleman, Rhett Titus, and Kenny King headed to the ring. Coleman took exception to being called The Cabinet. He asked if that’s the best that ROH could come up with. Titus said he’s been with the company a long time and said that he and his partners are no joke. King said they are world class athletes who are treated like clowns so the fans can laugh at them. “There are more of us than you think there are,” Coleman said. Kelly no-sold the line and then set up a video package on Colt Cabana and Dalton Castle…
Powell’s POV: I am thrilled to see the embarrassingly bad Cabinet gimmick disappear. Was it a coincidence that this occurred moments after the brought up Daniels saying that a leader takes blame and credit? Someone needed to take the blame for that gimmick behind the scenes, but I’m not a fan of blaming it on the company. Are we supposed to wonder what other wrestlers are just playing parts that the office created for them? The best thing they can do is move on from these three blaming the office. By the way, Coleman’s line at the end was seemingly important, yet Kelly just moved on as if he didn’t even hear it. Strange.
Backstage, Dalton Castle was looking for The Boys. Cabana told Castle they don’t need them and they can do it without them. They showed feathers on the floor of a door in their locker room…
Powell’s POV: Either Amish Roadkill was in the other room plucking purple chickens or something happened to The Boys.
2. Shane Taylor and Keith Lee vs. Colt Cabana and Dalton Castle. The teams shook hands before the match with Taylor and Lee avoiding Dalton’s awkward handshake, yet still shaking his hand. Taylor and Lee were in control heading into a break. [C] The babyface duo came back with dives onto Taylor and Lee on the floor.
Cabana took an impressive power move from Taylor, which was trumped by Castle performing a German suplex on Taylor. A short time later, Taylor and Lee hit their finisher on Cabana and got the clean win. Cabana showed frustration afterward and wasn’t in the mood to be consoled by Castle…
Shane Taylor and Keith Lee defeated Colt Cabana and Dalton Castle.
Powell’s POV: I’m looking forward to watching the apparent breakup of Cabana and Castle. With The Boys apparently taken out, it would seem to suggest that Cabana will be turning heel, though I suppose he could be framed. Colt typically works babyface, so it would be an interesting development if he turned heel for a feud with Castle.
The New Kingdom delivered a backstage promo about beating Bullet Club, and then facing Team CMLL next in the tournament… [C] Backstage, Adam Cole cut a promo about Bullet Club’s success. He spoke about facing Jay Lethal in London, and Kyle O’Reilly at Final Battle. He said they are both very credible opponents who can’t hang with him…
The broadcast team spoke at ringside. Corino said the odds are against Bobby Fish in the main event due to his injuries… Ring entrances for the main event took place. Page struck Fish from behind at ringside and then ran him into the barricade a couple times. Kelly said Page is the most vicious member of Bullet Club. He also said the referee was telling Page to get Fish in the ring so they could start the match. Ugh (why would they reward the heel for a sneak attack?). Page continued his assault at ringside. Fish rolled inside the ring before Page could hit him with a chair and then the bell rang to start the match…
3. Bobby Fish vs. Hangman Page for the ROH TV Title. Kyle O’Reilly walked to ringside and stood in Fish’s corner. Page dominated heading into the early break. [C] Page remained in control coming out of the break. Fish finally came back with an exploder suplex off the ring apron to the floor.
Back inside the ring, Fish performed an exploder suplex into the turnbuckle and got a two count. Page came back with a shooting star press off the apron on Fish, who was on the floor. [C] Fish sold his rib pain after performing a dragon screw leg whip. Page came back with a springboard clothesline for two. Page set up for his finisher, but Fish applied the kneebar. Page was close to the ropes, but he ended up tapping out…
Bobby Fish defeated Hangman Page to retain the ROH TV Title.
After the match, Adam Cole came out and jawed at O’Reilly about how he won’t take the title from him at Final Battle. Jay Lethal headed to the ring and stood on the opposite side, so Cole was had his next two challengers on opposite sides. Cole rolled out of the ring… A video package hyped ROH Final Battle for Friday, December 2…
Powell’s POV: A good main event. Believe it or not, I’m actually disappointed we got a clean finish. I didn’t think Page was going to win, but I really wanted them to drag this out by having him get disqualified to set up another match. The finish worked in terms of the broadcast team putting over the fighting spirit of Fish, but it also showed that even an injured Fish can beat Page clean. That said, it was an entertaining main event that received the proper build and felt more meaningful than most TV main events. The show left me curious to see where things go with Cabana and Castle, but I just don’t care about the six-man tag title tournament. As that guy named after dinner sang, two out of three ain’t bad.
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