Today’s episode is focused on Mark Haskins.
Haskins discusses how he fell in love with wrestling as a child thanks to a friend who has cerebral palsy. He believes he has to wrestle because his friend can’t.
Haskins mentions that the opportunity to wrestle happened when he was given a call to face Silas Young, but that ROH really took notice to him when he was called in to face Jay Briscoe. He believes that what really opened management’s eyes for him.
ROH World Heavyweight Championship Match: Mark Haskins vs Jay Lethal (2018)
Haskins and Lethal trade insults to start the match. Haskins gets a takedown to Lethal to show off. Lethal isn’t amused. Lethal backs Haskins into the corner. We cut to a break.
Back from the break, Haskins has Lethal in a wrist lock. Lethal fights out, but Haskins takes him down with a shoulder tackle. Haskins attempts to reapply another submission but Lethal rolls out of the ring.
Back in the ring, Lethal takes down Haskins. Haskins can’t get to his feet because Lethal towers over him and threatens to attack each time. Haskins tries to escape, but Lethal grabs him and applies a leg lock. Haskins escapes immediately. Haskins goes for a Sharpshooter but Lethal also escapes. They counter each other’s moves as the fans applaud. Haskins gets in some offense and backs Lethal into the corner. Haskins goes for an irish whip, but Lethal reverses it into a running suplex out of nowhere. Lethal goes for a cover but its only a two count. Commercial break.
Back from break, Haskins is taken down and rolls to the outside. Lethal walks around the ring slowly, almost stalking him. Lethal runs him straight into the apron. Back in the ring, Haskins manages to duck an attack and take Lethal down. Haskins applies a wrist lock. They trade punches with the lock strongly applied. Haskins then rolls him up with a Rings of Saturn submission. Lethal is able to get to the ropes.
The trade offensive moves. Lethal hits the Lethal Combination but can’t capitalize. Lethal gets him up in a torture rack. He drops him hard and goes to the turnbuckle. Lethal hits the Heil to the King elbow drop. Lethal calls for the Lethal Injection, but Haskins avoids it. Haskins rolls him up and goes for the Sharpshooter, but Lethal fights him off. Haskins bounces off the ropes but recovers by rolling Lethal up into a fireman’s carry position, then hitting a Death Valley Driver. He goes for a pin, but its only a 2.
Haskins climbs the turnbuckle, but Lethal smacks him and stops him on top. Lethal climbs up with him. Lethal nails a superplex, then immediately follows up with a Tigerbomb. Lethal locks it in for a pin attempt, but Haskins kicks out at the last second.
They both get to their feet and meet in the middle to trade punches. Haskins wins the battle. He goes for a kick, but its a fake-out, and he punches Lethal instead. Lethal retaliates with an elbow to Haskin’s face, but Haskins bounces off the ropes and hits a Canadian Destroyer. Lethal tries to roll out of the ring, but Haskins nails a suicide dive and immediately tosses him back in the ring. Haskins sprints to the turnbuckle and immediately hits the Stompboy. Pin, but Lethal kicks out at 2.
Haskins applies to the Sharpshooter, but after some struggling, he reaches the ropes. Haskins tries for his Made in England pumphandle backbreaker, but Lethal fights away and nails the Lethal Injection instead. Lethal rolls him up for a close 2 count. Everyone is shocked. Fans chant “this is wrestling.”
Lethal goes for another Lethal Injection, but Haskins catches him and turns it into an armbar. Lethal struggles but does get away, however, Haskins once again goes for the Made in England. He nails it. He goes for a cover, but its only a 2 count.
Lethal gets Haskins to the outside. Lethal gets some momentum and hits a suicide dive. He climbs back in and goes for a second. He climbs back in and thinks he’s going for a third, but as soon as he turns around Haskins runs in and hits a flying knee to the face. Haskins calls for the Made in England again, but Lethal ducks then nails the Lethal Injection for the win.
Winner: Jay Lethal
We get clips of Mark Haskins feud with Bully Ray leading up their match, which Haskins won with help from his wife, Vickie.
Match: Mark Haskins vs. Alex Shelley (2020)
Mark Haskins is out first. Alex Shelley is out next to a decent pop. Code of honor is adhered to. We see a lot of chain wrestling with neither men really getting the upperhand. Shelley catches a kick from Haskins and boops him on the nose, which the fans love.
Haskins is able to get the upperhand in the chain wrestling and takes Shelley down. The fans applaud. They battle to the apron. Haskins kicks him off the apron, then delivers another kick from the apron to Shelley’s face. Haskins nails a suicide dive. Fans are getting behind Haskins. He fakes a suicide dive, which Shelley tries to dodge, then hits a real one.
Back in the ring, Haskins locks in an armbar. Shelley is able to escape. Shelley asks Haskins to bring it. Haskins kicks him in the chest. Shelley is getting fired up. Haskins goes for another, but Shelley catches it. Shelley with a forearm, then an elbow, but they both clothesline each other to end the sequence.
Shelley and Haskins take turns hitting offensive moves, until Haskins is able to lock in the Sharpshooter out of nowhere. Alex Shelley taps.
Winner: Mark Haskins
We see a montage of Mark Haskins while rock music plays. We hear a voice-over from Haskins say, “You’ll learn something about me, and that’s that I hit really, really hard.” We fade to black.
