Ring of Honor TV
Episode #375
Aired on Fite 11/26/18
Pittsburgh, PA
We open to a video recap of The Briscoes taking out Daniels, Sky taking his place in the tag title match last week and SCU’s ultimate victory to take the Tag Team Championships. Another decent “Previously, on”, with some focus put on the contracts question between SCU and Joe Koff.
THE KINGDOM (Matt Taven & TK O’Ryan) vs THE BOYS
Ian Riccobani and Colt Cabana on commentary. The Kingdom out first, with Taven’s “Real” World Title belt in tow. The Boys out next, looking for a measure of revenge for last week’s beat down (which we see clips of). Taven has a mic, as the crowd chants for The Boys. Taven asks if this is a joke. He says he will put them on the shelf just like they did to Castle. Taven gets an idea, and sends TK to commentary saying he can take on The Boys by himself, because he’s the REAL ROH World Champion, HEEEEEE’S MATT TAVEN, and he takes out Boy 2 with a belt shot as the bell rings.
Taven corners Boy 1, who evades Taven with quickness. Boy 1 lays in shots but Taven hits strikes and a quick DDT to take control, before fanning off Boy 1 condescendingly. Taven talks trash and continues to stay in control of Boy 1 as we go to BREAK.
We’re back and Taven is still in control of both Boys. Big PK to Boy 1, looks to rush Boy 2 but Boy 2 fights off Taven, hits a boot to the face and a headscissor, and is able to set up a double team sequence that takes Taven down at ringside with double planchas. Boy 1 back in with Taven, but the balloons get released and Vinny grabs Boy 2 on the apron and pulls him under the ring! Boy 2 screams as Taven hits Climax on Boy 1, covers and gets the 3 count and the WIN.
Matt Taven defeats The Boys by pinfall after Climax
JAY’S RATING: 2 out of 5
This moved the story along just fine, with Taven continuing to build momentum on TV. The Boys worked their parts well, and a Taven/Castle feud to help feed the ROH title challenge picture is exciting to me, at least in the short term. The match served its purpose just fine.
VIDEO PACKAGE: Cody
Cody talks about his loss of the ROH title and history with Lethal while wearing a very snappy jacket. Cody never got his one on one rematch with Lethal, and so now this is exactly what he wants, with his upcoming match at Final Battle for the title. Another nice, honest promo video that I think worked very nicely. Come on, ROH, keep this up…
SEGMENT: Jonathan Gresham
Ian is in the ring and mentions Final Battle and some challenges to be placed and answered, as he introduces Jonathan Gresham. Ian talks about Gresham’s success as of late, but that he hasnt seen his name on the Final Battle card yet. Gresham says his partner, Jay Lethal, has a title match, so he has no match of his own. He says he came to ROH to prove that he is in fact the best pure wrestler in the world. So with that in mind, Gresham issues an open challenge to the world’s best technical wrestlers.
A video pops on the screen… AND ITS ZACK SABRE, JR! ZSJ says he’s the best technical wrestler in the world, and he’s coming to ROH next month, and he cant think of a better first match than Gresham. ZSJ accepts the challenge as the crowd erupts… and then chants distinctly for Sabre, Jr! Ian asks Gresham what he thinks, and Gresham accepts and hypes up the crowd, telling everyone to tune in and watch Gresham tap out ZSJ. HOLY SHIT THIS IS A DREAM MATCH FOR ME. This is my Match To Watch for Final Battle, 100%.
BACKSTAGE SEGMENT: Christopher Daniels talks to Joe Koff
We see Daniels talking to Joe Koff, saying that he will have the signed copies to him, and that he appreciates this. SCU asks what the word is, and Daniels says that THEY have contracts as the champs, but he Daniels is still without. They ask what he’s going to do, and Daniels says he’s going to figure it out, and walks out leaving SCU concerned. Eh, did its job fine.
Qualifying Match for Women of Honor Title Four Corners Match at Final Battle
KELLY KLEIN vs JENNY ROSE
We see footage of Klein and Rose’s animosity thus far, including Rose chipping Klein’s tooth. Rose gets right in Klein’s face, Klein slaps Rose and they lock up and start going hard. Klein looks for K-Power, but Rose gets a rollup for a 1 count and looks for her uranage. Klein fights it off and looks for a rollup, but only gets 2. Shots traded, Rose with a go-behind but Klein puts Rose in the corner and lays in elbows. Klein gets Rose through the ropes and heads to the apron to hit knee strikes, taking down Rose, and poses for the crowd.
Rose trips Klein down on the apron and fires up the crowd, hits a running dropkick to send Klein to ringside, and Rose follows out to keep the fight on Klein. Rose takes too much time, however, and Klein is able to send Rose into the barricade. Klein with shots to Rose, sending her back into the ring as we head to BREAK.
We’re back as Klein is still in control of Rose. Rose with a chop to Klein as Sumie Sakai comes out to watch at ringside with her WOH Title belt. Rose gets Klein sitting up top and looks for a superplex, but Klein pushes her off. Rose able to toss Klein off the top instead, the crowd fires up and Rose lays into Klein. Codebreaker on Klein followed by a spear, cover but Klein kicks out at 2. Rose keeps the fight on Klein, Klein fights out and is able to hit K-Power, covers and gets the 3 count and the WIN to join the challenge for the WOH Title at Final Battle.
Kelly Klein defeats Jenny Rose by pinfall to win a spot in the Final Battle 4 Corners WOH Title Match at Final Battle after K-Power
JAY’S RATING: 2 out of 5
This was fine, the right person won and all, but there just wasnt much urgency present. Rose seemed hungrier than Klein, which on the one hand could work, if Klein really pumped up her energy behind the aggression that she’s supposed to have. Its just not tight, and doesnt feel particularly motivated from a booking standpoint, which is sad considering the talent present.
We get a heartbeat promo video, with no name attached… hm…
#1 Contenders Match: ROH World Tag Team Championship Match at Final Battle
THE BRISCOES vs THE YOUNG BUCKS
The crowd is on fire for the Young Bucks. Jay tells the crowd to shut the hell up. Mark takes a shot at Pittsburgh, and the bell rings with Mark and Nick starting off. The action starts off quick, with shots and counters. Nick gets the corkscrew top rope armdrag, but Mark is able to follow up with a shot in the ropes but then eats a heel kick from Nick and they both go for shots and stand off.
They look to lock up but Jay hits Nick from behind, which draws in Matt. The Briscoes double team Matt but the Bucks are able to fight back with an assisted elevated dropkick to take control. The Bucks take Mark into the corner with Nick hitting a draping hangmans neckbreaker, held for Matt to hit an over the top senton to Mark and a wrecking ball dropkick on Jay at ringside. Matt skins the cat and he and Nick pose for the crowd as we go to BREAK.
We’re back and Matt is in with Mark, but Jay in with the assist which opens Matt up to a big single leg dropkick from Matt. Jay knocks Nick off the apron and retreats so Mark can tag him in, after which he stomps the mudhole on Matt. Jay keeps Matt in the Briscoes corner and tags in Mark, who hits a big chop and belly to back, covers Matt but only 2.
Mark stays on Matt and chokes him in the ropes. “Young Bucks” chants. Mark distracts the ref so Jay can get offense in unseen, and then keeps the pressure on before tagging Jay. Jay with a Euro sending Matt into the corner, and tags Mark back in. Matt fights back and hits a flying double clothesline taking down both Briscoes, and looks for the tag before Mark knocks down Nick. Matt able to regain the advantage and gets Mark seated backward on the middle rope and gets the tag to Nick, who comes in hot with one of his gorgeous hot tag sequences (in this case, the gamengiri-double stomp-roll into a backstabber. The crowd is hot.
Nick and Matt take down both Briscoes and are able to get the double sharpshooters, and the Bucks get a “tap” chant going before the Briscoes make the ropes. Nick tags Matt and they look for More Bang, but Mark escapes and hits a uranage suplex on Nick and the Briscoes hit Redneck Boogie on Matt but only get a 2 count. “Young Bucks” chant. Tag to Jay who looks for the sharpshooter on Matt and sits down on the back. Matt is able to get the ropes as we go to BREAK.
We’re back and the Briscoes are still in control of Matt, and look for Doomsday Device. Matt out of it and is able to dump Jay as both Bucks hit kicks on both Briscoes. Over the top facebuster on Mark from Nick followed by a tornado DDT on Jay at ringside. More Bucks double teaming for a neck-backbreaker combo off the top, but only gets 2 on Mark. “This is Awesome” chants. Both teams trade shots in the middle of the ring, Briscoes hit superkicks on the Bucks but the Bucks follow up with ones of the their own, and a double superkick on Mark into a cover, but only get 2!
They set up for the Meltzer Driver on Mark, but Jay throws a chair into the ring to interrupt, looks for a chair shot but Matt grabs a chair of his own and they stand-off, since neither team wants a disqualification here. Nick tries to calm things down as Mark comes in as well, and Jay throws the chair at Nick as Matt throws his at Mark at the same time. Todd Sinclair calls for the bell, and we have a double disqualification.
The Briscoes & The Young Bucks goes to a double DQ after simultaneous chair throws, leaving no #1 contender for Final Battle
JAY’S RATING: 3.25 out of 5
This was a nice, action-packed matchup with good storytelling all around, everyone looking good and making each other look good, and moving the story around the Tag Team Titles forward toward a potential show-stealing match at Final Battle. The Double DQ was well used to set up such an awesome PPV match, and the crowd was hot pretty much throughout this one. Well done all around.
After the match, Matt and Jay trade chair shots like a sword fight, and Todd gets taken out by a swinging chair. Both teams start laying into each other and all hell breaks loose. Chair shots, superkicks, superkicks and chairs. The Briscoes try to get the advantage with the chairs, but the Bucks keep trying to scrap as Ian calls for security. A bunch of security guards hit the ring and separate the teams, leading to “let them fight” chants.
SCU’s music hits, and Sky says this match was supposed to determine their challengers at Final Battle. And now they dont have challengers, and that doesnt work for SCU. Kaz takes the mic and recounts his history with the Bucks and these belts. Kaz says they just had themselves a war, and the crowd starts to get the idea… WE HAVE TRIPLE THREAT LADDER WAR AT FINAL BATTLE, with SCU defending the titles against both The Briscoes & The Bucks! This could be GREAT.
JAY’S THOUGHTS:
Another solid episode of TV, with a strong main event that sets us up for a potentially amazing Final Battle match in SCU defending the titles against The Young Bucks and The Briscoes. Between that and the Gresham/ZSJ announcements, this episode revealed two of the more exciting matches lined up for Final Battle, and thats a very good thing. Also, seeing some new approaches to promos and backstage content, which is giving me some hope. Now, if they can anticipate taping schedules and title managament and stuff, ROH could be on its most exciting path to date. But right now, I’ll take any sense of improvement and expansion. Final Battle is looking like it could be pretty great card – lets hope they can stick the landing with it, because if they can, that would be GREAT for this company heading into the new year.