Ring of Honor Wrestling TV Report
Episode #402
Aired 6/3/19
The Odeum, Chicago IL
Ian Riccobani & Colt Cabana on commentary.
IN-RING SEGMENT: The Allure
The Beautiful People are out with Mandy Leon (because that’s still how I view this stable at this point…), and Velvet talks about how they made women’s wrestling relevant in the modern era before anyone. Angelina Love talks about being a 6x womens champion. Mandy Leon takes the mic as chants of “boring” begin. She calls herself the foundation of Women of Honor. (….er….Sara Del Rey….Sumie Sakai….) Mandy runs down the womens division when suddenly Jenny Rose comes down to the ring, and is followed by Women of Honor champ Kelly Klein. Velvet bails as Angelina and Mandy get taken down by Kelly and Rose and security hits the ring to break it up. Velvet sprays Rose in the eyes with hairspray as Klein pushes security off and checks on Rose. The Allure bails and Kelly grabs a mic and says its time to back up their words. She says she and Rose dont want them here (and uses choice words to say so), and makes a challenge to them. Still not sold on The Allure, but the brawl was one of more interesting spots from WOH as a whole in a while.
4-Way Tag Team Match
THE KINGDOM vs THE BOUNCERS vs
COAST 2 COAST vs CLARK CONNORS/ALEX COUGHLIN
LSG and Milonas start off with LSG talking shit and Milonas showing the size and power advantage early. Vinny tags himself in off of LSG and chops away at Milonas, but the size comes into play again. A knee strike stuns Milonas but Milonas gets a running crossbody and tags in BCB. Strikes by BCB but Vinny goes after the mouth of BCB, and we get a “I aint got no teeth” spot. Tag to TK but Coughlin tags in off of BCB and shows amateur skill. Tag to Connors and they hit TK with a double hip toss, and they are firing up in classic Young Lions style. BCB takes out Ali and Coughlin at ringside, LSG takes out BCB and Milonas and The Kingdom keeps on Connors inside as we go to BREAK. We’re back and The Kingdom is double teaming Connors, hitting a nice double flapjack and a senton legdrop combo for 2. GREAT Saito suplex from Vinny who tags TK back in, but Ali tags himself in and keeps on Connors, hitting a tope atomico for 2. Tag to LSG and they hit Tu Los Sabes, LSG covers but gets 2. LSG grounds Connors but Connors escapes and tags Coughlin in hot to take down C2C. BCB tags in off of Coughlin and keeps on C2C, and the Bouncers dump Ali. TK tags in off of LSG but The Bouncers get a nice double team. Vinny in to help but Milonas catches him in a Black Hole Slam. C2C back in for a nice double team on BCB. Connors tags in and the Lions take it to C2C with a spear and a spinebuster. Kingdom back in and they hit House of 1000 Horses on Connors, but C2C in and Ali tags in to steal the cover but BCB breaks it up. Milonas tags in as Coughlin tags in as well and goes right after The Bouncers but they are able to catch him into Closing Time and gets the WIN.
The Bouncers defeat Coughlin/Connors, C2C and The Kingdom by pinfall via Closing Time
JAY’S RATING: 2.75 out of 5
A nice solid opening 4-way tag match with everyone getting good stuff in. Also, easily my favorite performance from The Bouncers yet, as they are getting smoother and smoother in learning how to use their size to tell a story. I’ll be curious to see how they can hang in a 15-20 minute match, but I’m starting to feel them more and more with each outing. Well done.
BACKSTAGE: Tracy Williams & Mark Haskins
We get an interview with the Lifeblood members, and are asked about the issues with Bully Ray. They say they are fed up, and its time to do something about it. PJ Black walks up and offers support. Did its job.
VIDEO PACKAGE: James Storm challenges Colt Cabana
We see footage of Colt Cabana winning the NWA National title, and James Storm coming out to make the challenge for the title. This could be fun.
VIDEO PACKAGE: Silas is a bully/Kenny King & Jay Lethal Cont’d
We see footage of Silas punting an indy dude in the balls and King defeating Lethal with his own finishing move, The Lethal Injection, last week.
VIDEO PACKAGE: Jeff Cobb Feature
We get some background on Jeff Cobb in advance of his challenging Taven for the ROH Title at Best in the World. Love learning about this dude. He’s super cool.
JOSH WOODS vs MAVERICK BOONE
I smell a squash. We get a Code of Honor, the bell rings and they lock up. Woods gets a gutwrench powerbomb, then slows down to look at the crowd, and hits the Seismic Toss to end it just that quickly.
Josh Woods defeats Maverick Boone by pinfall via The Seismic Toss
JAY’S RATING: NR
I smelled right. But the weird slow down to look at the crowd actually hurt it more than helped. If Josh Woods wants to get some electricity going, keep it fired up. He’s not specific enough yet to fill the slowed time.
SATOSHI KOJIMA & YUJI NAGATA
vs
LOS INGOBERNABLES DE JAPON (EVIL/SANADA)
We get “All These Guys” chants to start. SANADA offers the hand but Nagata doesnt trust it. Nice opening trading and countering from both into a standoff. SANADA offers the hand again, Nagata takes it but SANADA sneaks in a kick. EVIL intervenes but so does Kojima, and Nagata takes SANADA down with kicks and tags in Kojima. Chants for Kojima. Kojima with a tackle, SANADA kips up and they trade pec flexes because why not. EVIL with a trip that allows SANADA to hit a low dropkick, and EVIL takes out Nagata at ringside. SANADA gets Kojima in the Paradise Lock, hitting the dropkick to the bum to release the hold as we go to BREAK. We’re back with LIJ in control, with the crowd chanting for LIJ. Kojima with a reversal and a DDT on SANADA, and he gets the tag to Nagata. Nagata in hot and hits chest kicks to SANADA, a running corner boot and an exploder suplex, covers but only gets 2. SANADA reverses a suplex attempt, they jockey and then trade shots, with Nagata getting the strike advanatage, but SANADA counters and tries a Paradise Lock. Nagata fights out and keeps countering SANADA, getting the eye-roll Fujiwara which the ROH crowd doesnt react to, which is a shame because I LOVE the Japanese reaction to that.
EVIL in but gets taken down as Nagata keeps working SANADA’s arm. SANADA fires back with a nice spring dropkick as EVIL makes the tag. Nagata fakes out EVIL to get a kick to the knee and tags in Kojima, who hits the machine-gun chops in the corner. SANADA tries to interfere but gets chopped as well. We get the corner elbow and diving elbow sequence from Kojima, covers but only 2. EVIL fires back and they trade, and EVIL goes to the eyes and uses Todd Sinclair to help land a kick. LIJ with a double team, EVIL hits a lariat and covers but only gets 2. They call for the Magic Killer but Nagata cuts it off and hits an enziguri, and Kojima gets a Koji Cutter on EVIL before SANADA breaks up the cover at 2. NICE brainbuster by Kojima on EVIL, cover but still only 2 (but a close one). Kojima calls for the lariat as he unwraps the arm, EVIL counters and looks for Everything Is Evil but Kojima gets a lariat to the back of the head. The lariat is tried but blocked again and LIJ is able to come in quick and land the Magic Killer, cover and thats the 3.
LIJ defeats Nagata & Kojima by pinfall via the Magic Killer
JAY’S RATING: 3.5 out of 5
This was a solid main event, with the crowd appreciating everyone. The NJPW Dads even got a “You Still Got It” chant at the end. LIJ looked strong as always, and this was a nice match to cap off the action portion of the episode.
IN-RING SEGMENT: Dalton Castle
Dalton has a mic and says he’s had time to think and reflect, and he has accepted that at Supercard of Honor he lost. But it was a Spectacular loss, because Rush beat him in 16 seconds. Dalton says he’s not ashamed because Rush is a dirty cheater, and cheaters need to be punished. So at Best in the World, he is formally challenging Rush’s brother Dragon Lee to a match. Dalton says Rush is going to pay for what he did with his family, and he’s going to break every bone in Lee’s body. And Rush will have to be ok with being the reason why. Suddenly The Boys hit the ring and stare down Dalton. The Boys start beating down Dalton with fury, dumping him outside. “This is Awesome” chants as Boy 1 tosses Boy 2 onto Dalton, Boy 1 looks for a dive but Dalton catches him and takes control, tossing both into the barricade and attacking viciously. He puts Boy 1 on a table at ringside, then slams Boy 2 on top of him, the table topples so Dalton kicks the table into them as we go out. A fine little segment, but I dont know what it really moved forward with The Boys. Dalton/Lee has some potential though.
JAY’S RATING:
A fine little episode of TV that keeps some stuff moving forward on a number of fronts. The Bouncers impressed me again here, and LIJ capped things off well. The Allure also had their first interesting interaction so far, but I’m not holding my breath at this point, and Josh Woods needs to specify his POV in and out of the ring. But besides that, solid work.