By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Ring of Honor Wrestling TV (Episode 414)
Taped August 9, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario at Mattamy Athletic Centre
Aired in syndication on August 24, 2019, Mondays on the FITE TV app
The ROH television opening aired… Footage aired of Jay Lethal cutting a promo, Matt Taven responding, and Alex Shelley interrupting them and saying he wanted to face the winner of their match for the ROH Championship…
Ian Riccaboni and Quinn McKay checked in from backstage in front of an ROH backdrop. They noted that Matt Taven beat Jay Lethal and Kenny King to retain the ROH Title in a three-way at Manhattan Mayhem…
Highlights aired from Alex Shelley, Jay Lethal, and Jonathan Gresham beating The Kingdom at the Mass Hysteria event. Shelley made TK O’Ryan tap to the Border City Stretch… [C]
McKay interviewed Shelley backstage at the Mass Hysteria event. Shelley said he can’t focus on what he’s done in the past, he’s focused on what he can do going forward. Shelley said Taven is really good, but he doesn’t represent the ROH he helped start 15 years ago. Shelley said he had nothing to lose and that’s when people are at their most dangerous…
Footage aired of Tasha Steelz winning a four-way to become No. 1 contender to the WOH Championship, then a brief clip of her backstage promo aired. They also showed footage of The Allure attacking Steelz. Kelly Klein made the save, and she also spoke with McKay…
Riccaboni and McKay checked in. McKay said they could go by the name of IQ. Riccaboni said he liked it. They set up highlights of Kelly Klein defeating Tasha Steelz to retain the WOH Championship at the Summer Supercard event. Angelina Love attacked both women afterward and then stood over Klein while holding up the WOH Championship…
McKay was about to interview Angelina Love backstage at Summer Supercard when Kelly Klein attacked Love. Security quickly intervened before anything interesting might actually happen on ROH television… [C]
The Lifeblood trio of Mark Haskins, Tracy Williams, and Bandido spoke backstage from one of the venues. Haskins said they should have seen it coming (Flip Gordon joining Villain Enterprises instead of Lifeblood). Williams and Bandido both spoke briefly. A graphic listed the Villain Enterprises vs. Lifeblood match for the ROH Six-Man Tag Titles at the Honor For All Event…
Powell’s POV: That match didn’t actually take place because PCO suffered a legitimate injury and wasn’t medically cleared. Oddly, that didn’t stop him from performing a big spot.
Riccaboni and McKay hyped the events that took place over the weekend…
Highlights aired from Summer Supercard of Flip Gordon attacking Tracy Williams with a kendo stick prior to his ROH TV Title match with Shane Taylor. They cut to Williams calling out Taylor and working the match later in the evening. Taylor beat Williams to retain the ROH TV Title…
Shane Taylor delivered a backstage promo after his match at Summer Supercard. Taylor said ROH wants to disrespect him and doesn’t want to promote him, but they let every other company in the world promote their shows. Taylor said he may have to start his own company to get the respect he deserves… [C]
Separate shots of Taven and Shelley warming up were shown. Riccaboni and McKay said that match would air in its entirety. They said they wanted to show the ROH Tag Title match between Guerrillas of Destiny and The Briscoes, but it was too violent. They showed footage of what led up to the match. They warned viewers to show discretion and a graphic appeared on the screen to warn viewers. Footage aired of The Briscoes beating GOD in a Ladder War to retain the ROH Tag Titles at Summer Supercard. A graphic touted that the full match was available via HonorClub… [C]
A video hyped Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham vs. Mark Haskins and Bandido as next week’s TV main event. The broadcast team also hyped highlights of the Donte Caballero vs. Joe Keys first round match from the Top Prospect Tournament…
Ring entrances for the Taven vs. Shelley match aired… [C]
Powell’s POV: The following match report is from my live review of the ROH Summer Supercard event. ROH had a commercial break, so the full match didn’t air, but they did show the majority of it.
1. Matt Taven vs. Alex Shelley for the ROH Championship. Taven entered to the usual Kingdom entrance theme. The wrestlers shook hands in the middle of the ring and spoke to one another. The wrestlers spat on one another early on. Shelley poked Taven in the eyes and did a Flair strut at one point. The crowd got caught up in counting to ten for some reason. Shelley applied a chinlock and they did it again (something happened in the crowd or I just missed something else).
Powell’s POV: Dot Net reader Kyle Van Sickle attended the show and wrote the following via email: “The reason the crowd was doing the 10 count during the ROH Championship match is that the guy that Shelley took the shoe from was passed out drunk. The crowd was having fun at his expense. He actually had to be escorted out because he kept passing out.”
Taven and Shelley went to ringside. Shelley ran Taven toward the barricade, but he stopped short and jawed at a fan. Shelley came flying from out of camera view with a knee to Taven’s back. Taven walked up to a fan and touched the New Japan Pro Wrestling logo on his shirt, then chopped Taven. Shelley grabbed a shoe from a fan and threw it at Taven, who threw it back. Shelley went into the crowd to touch the fan’s hand and then hopped back over and chopped Taven again. Riccaboni called him a miracle worker and noted that he’s now a personal therapist. Shelley went for Sliced Bread off the ring post, but Taven put and end to the fun by slamming him through a table, which led to “holy shit” chants.
Shelley picked up a mic as he crawled to the apron. Shelley fell off the apron and dropped the mic, then barely beat referee Todd Sinclair’s 20-count. Taven performed a nice backbreaker for a two count. Riccaboni said Shelley has battled lower back problems for years, then Taven put him in a bow and arrow style hold. Shelley rolled him into a pin for a two count. Taven came right back with a butterfly backbreaker for another two count. Taven put Shelley in a Boston Crab. Shelley reached the ropes.
Shelley got up and fired away with chops and then hit Taven with an inverted atomic drop. Taven came right back with a Russian leg sweep and a neckbreaker for another two count. Shelley rallied with a wild move that flung Taven from the apron to the floor. Shelley tripped Taven face first into the barricade, then performed a standing Sliced Bread that drove Taven onto the barricade. Shelley stood up and grabbed Taven, who kicked him over the barricade. Taven got a running start and dove over the barricade onto Shelley. Taven threw Shelley over the barricade and then rolled him back into the ring.
Taven went for a frogsplash. Shelley put his knees up and covered him for two. Shelley performed a Switchblade for a near fall. Shelley fired a couple of superkicks at Taven, then performed Sliced Bread off the ropes for a good near fall. Shelley immediately went for a submission hold, but Taven broke it by rolling him into a pin for a two count. Taven got up and hit a running knee, but Shelley hooked him into a pin. Both men got up and Taven hit Climax, but Shelley countered into a pin for a two count. Taven hit a running knee and Climax and scored the pin.
Matt Taven defeated Alex Shelley in roughly 17:30 to retain the ROH Championship.
Powell’s POV: The good news is that I can speed through the ROH show in roughly 20 minutes due to the new format. The bad news is that I’d never actually watch this show if it wasn’t my job to do so. The new format is awful. I suspect that ROH will be the first show that fans cut from their weekly pro wrestling viewing lineup if they have to scale back once NXT expands to two hours and AEW starts its two-hour run on Wednesdays.
Be the first to comment