ROH 17TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW – 15/03/2019 – SAM’S TOWN, LAS VEGAS, NV
Opening signature + embellishment of Jay Lethal’s historic title reign, interrupted by an angry Matt Taven who claims to be the ‘REAL’ ROH world champion
On Commentary Nick Aldis , Ian Riccaboni & Caprice Coleman
Opening Contest
Kenny King VS ‘The Villain’ Marty Scurll
The crowd is fully behind Scurll (weird as King is the hometown boy)
Marty starts the match quickly forcing King to the ringside area where he is not safe as he and his sidekick both eat Superkicks, courtesy of the villain.
Once back in the ring King & Scurll trade Knife Edge Chops, Kenny gets the upper hand and catches Marty with a spinning Enziguri, Macho Hotshot & Springboard Blockbuster for a 2 count.
A Blue Thunder Bomb by King gets another 2 count and it’s Kenny with the advantage. Marty counters a Suplex, King lands on his feet and hits an Enziguri which sends Scurll to the outside. King tries to follow up and attempts a Corkscrew Plancha but misses and Scurll makes him pay with a Tornado DDT off the apron, Marty gets Kenny back in the ring and gets a 2 count from a Half Nelson Suplex, Grounded Enziguri and Powerbomb Sequence , Marty still on the offensive places King on the middle rope and hits a 619 and gets another 2 count following a Casadora Pin attempt. He then hotdogs for the crowd but pays for it when Kenny plants him with a thunderous Spinebuster.
Both men then trade various pin attempts but to no avail, Marty then stomps on Kenny’s hand and attempts the trademark Finger Snap only for it to be countered by King with an Eddy Gordo type kick.
Marty Catches King on the top turnbuckle and delivers a Superplex and then he tries to follow up with The Graduation but King counters and hits his finisher, The Royal Flush but Scurll out of instinct rolls to the outside, much to the dismay of King.
Kenny obviously frustrated grabs a steel chair and tries bringing it into the match.But that was Kenny’s downfall because as the referee was getting the chair out of the ring Marty, in typical Villainous fashion hits King with the signature umbrella in the face behind the refs back for the 3 count.
WINNER- Marty Scurll at 21:40.
A decent opening match, which given the recent history between these two, had the right finish. The crowd were solidly behind Marty who now waits in the wings to see who he fights at G1 Supercard for the ROH World Championship.
Next up-
ROH TV CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Jeff Cobb (C) VS Shane Taylor
Flashback video package showing Taylor leaving Cobb laid out in the middle of the ring following the ‘ Greetings from 216’ (Rikishi Driver)
I was very intrigued to see how Shane Taylor would do in this spot. To my knowledge, this was his first singles match on ROH PPV, so it was certainly a big opportunity for him. Well, when the dust settled, he ended up having an awesome bout with Jeff Cobb for the ROH World TV Title. This was just two big dudes beating the crap out of each other for thirteen minutes. They charged at each other as soon as the bell rang, and they never slowed down. Cobb showed off his insane power on a number of occasions, as he managed to lift Taylor up for a delayed Pumphandle Suplex and a delayed German Suplex. Even with those incredible feats of strength, putting away Shane Taylor was far from easy.
At one point, Cobb hit a Lariat on Taylor with such force that he sent himself tumbling to the floor. I’m not sure if that spot was intentional, but it really helped put over the fact that Cobb was giving it everything he had as he tried to put Taylor away. Speaking of Taylor, he really took the fight to Cobb here, as he nailed the former Olympian with some big moves of his own. By far the biggest moment of the match saw Taylor hit a running Canadian Destroyer on Cobb, which was absolutely bonkers. Shortly after that spot, Cobb managed to hit Taylor with Tour Of The Islands, but it didn’t finish Taylor off, so he had to hit a second to finally win the match. This was a boss fight if I’ve ever seen one. A true ‘slobberknocker’ for sure. Cobb delivers another great title defence on PPV, while Taylor really stepped up to the plate with a performance that was probably the best of his career.
Yet again I’m left in awe with Jeff Cobb and I’m still wondering if there is a better pure athlete in the business.
Mayu Iwatani (w/Sumie Sakai) vs. Kelly Klein (w/Camp Klein) for the WOH Championship. Riccaboni noted that Klein has a 2-1 record against Iwatani, but added that unfortunately the loss is when the WOH Championship was on the line. Klein controlled the early offense. Iwatani performed a nice Northern Lights Suplex into a bridge for a two count at 3:35. Iwatani performed a double stomp and a running kick for a two count. Klein dumped Iwatani to the floor and the colour commentators questioned her strategy.
Iwatani performed a German Suplex, then Klein returned the favour and dropped Iwatani on her head at 6:20. Damn. Iwatani popped up seconds later. Double damn. Iwatani went for a top rope Moonsault, but Klein avoided it. Klein went on the offensive, but Iwatani caught her in an Inside Cradle and scored the pin…
Winner and STILL WOH Champion Mayu Iwatani in a relatively quick 8+ minutes.
Klein’s over confidence cost her here and there’s a lesson to be learnt, if you have the chance to put your opponent away, then do it.
The Kingdom VS Lifeblood
But before this match even started, out came a very impatient Matt Taven saying he couldn’t wait another minute for his match with Jay Lethal, so O guess the main event has come early ………..not that I’m complaining.
Jay Lethal (C) VS Matt Taven for the ROH World Championship
This rivalry is soooooooo personal, and to be honest it showed, the hatred, the emotions of both men in this match, they actually wanted to really hurt each other, with Taven going after Lethal’s left shoulder and Lethal attacking the surgically repaired left knee of Taven, Both men emptied their respective arsenals in the ring and not even hitting each other with stolen finishers (Lethal with the Climax and Taven with the Cutter), I will admit that this should have been Taven’s night but Lethal showed the heart of a champion with what seemed to be divine intervention. Having sustained multiple running knee strikes to the skull (5 in a row I think it was) which seemed to have the Champ out for the count. Lethal himself hit the Lethal Injection twice for 2 near falls and countered a Taven Frog Splash with a Mid-Air Cutter. In the end with both men exhausted, senior official Todd Sinclair deemed this match a time limit draw, Taven was angry with himself, even shouting at Lethal that he hates him. After the match Marty Scurll came to the ring to survey the damage and took off with the ROH Championship.
WInner – Time Limit Draw ( 60 Minutes )
On a personal not , if you are a fan of ROH or if you are not I implore you to watch this match , great story telling, lots of OMG moments and the emotions from both men and the crowd was brilliant.
Ian Riccaboni stood on the stage and hyped the G1 Supercard for April 6. Riccaboni introduced Mega Ran, who came out with a buddy of his. He told the crowd to make some noise for what they’d seen so far. He said he decided to write a song about ROH going to Maddison Square Garden. First, the two men threw out some free merchandise. Mega Ran had the fans clap, entered the ring with his buddy, and then performed his song.
Bully Ray came out and threw a chair into the ring. Ran asked him what was happening. Ray complained about Ran wasting time on his pay-per-view and said he hates rap. He got in Ran’s buddy’s face and told him to wipe the smile off his face. Bully mocked Ran for getting his name from a video game. Ray said Ran is probably one of those marks who played as him in the WWE video games. “Well, actually, I chose D-Von,” Ran said. “Testify.” Ray shoved both men down and barked at them to leave the ring.
Bully Ray cut a promo about how no one in ROH or NJPW has ever performed at MSG. Ray said he sold out MSG, wrestled at WrestleMania at MSG, and main evented MSG. Ray barked at a couple of kids and said he’d slap them both in the face. Ray said no one is worthy in ROH or NJPW to step foot in the ring with him at MSG. The fans chanted for Flip Gordon. Ray asked if they meant the guy with the busted knee. Ray looked into the camera and issued an open challenge to anyone in the entire wrestling business to meet him in a street fight at MSG. “I’ll see you in the Garden, punk,” Ray closed…
A video package set up the next match…
Rush vs. Bandido.
Dalton Castle replaced Aldis on commentary and had The Boys at his side. Rush caught Bandido going for a Hurricanrana at ringside and then slammed him through a table on the floor. Rush brought Bandido back inside the ring and ended up doing his pose by lying down in the ring. Rush went after Bandido’s mask briefly. Meanwhile, Castle conceded that he hasn’t been at his best lately, so he came out to see two of ROH’s finest in hopes that it would bring something out of him.
Bandido came back and performed a suicide dive and followed up with a dive over the top rope onto Rush at ringside. Back inside the ring, Rush performed a Canadian Destroyer. Bandido ended up on his feet and followed up with a move of his own that left both men down. The crowd counted along with referee Paul Turner’s count in Spanish until both men got back to their feet. Nice. Rush and Bandido fought for position on the ropes. Rush powered up Bandido for a deadlift Superplex for a near fall. Bandido came right back with a Suplex of his own.
Bandido positioned Rush so that he was hanging on the middle rope, then performed a springboard 450 splash. Bandido went for a springboard move and Rush caught him with a Dropkick that sent Bandido to the floor. Rush performed a flip dive onto Bandido. Rush came right back with a huracanrana from the apron that left both men down at ringside. Back inside the ring, Bandido charged at Rush, who Suplexed him into the corner. Castle gushed over the match and the wrestlers. Rush performed a running dropkick on Bandido, who was seated in the corner. Rush pinned Bandido
Winner – Rush in just over 15 minutes, a good contest, both men gave a good account of themselves, to be honest it was the first time I’ve watched RUSH in action, and I liked what I saw, more to come from both of these men I’m sure.
After the match Dalton Castle issued a challenge to Rush in somewhat broken Spanish and Rush accepted, I think castle wants to get back on track after a dyer couple of months and he sees Rush as his starting point. Warning for Castle – Don’t take this guy lightly……..
Ok next up is the ROH Tag Team Championships- Las Vegas Street Fight (this is NOT going to be for the weak of heart)
Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe vs. PCO and Brody King in a Las Vegas Street Fight for the ROH Tag Titles. King wore a mask to the ring prior to the match and then threw it out to the crowd. Cruise delivered in-ring introductions for the title match. The match started just over a minute before the pay-per-view’s scheduled end time. The wrestlers threw chairs into the ring once the bell rang. The Briscoes won an early chair duel.
PCO slammed Mark from the apron through a table on the floor. King threw chops at PCO to fire him up, then whipped him into Jay in the corner. King followed with his own move on Jay. King slammed a chair into the groin of Jay. Mark hit PCO with a kendo stick from the floor. PCO no-sold it and went after him, but Mark dumped him onto the barricade. The Briscoes isolated King and set up a chair in one corner and a table in another. King ran Jay into the chair, then put Mark through the table. Jay bled from the forehead as the teams fought at ringside.
At 10:00, the Briscoes backdropped PCO onto the edge of the apron. Damn. Jay had an old school crimson mask as he worked over King inside the ring. A pair of tables were set up next to one another on the floor. Jay tried unsuccessfully to Suplex King onto them, but Mark ended up performing a Blockbuster from the top rope and both he and King fell through the tables. Jay got a near fall on King inside the ring.
PCO was also bleeding when he returned to the ring. PCO broke kendo sticks over his knee. The Briscoes picked up the pieces of the broken sticks and used them as weapons. Mark stabbed PCO in the throat with the broken edge of the stick. At 17:50, King, who was also bleeding, threw Mark from the ropes over a table on the floor and onto some chairs just past the table. Damn. King and Jay fought on the apron. King appeared to be going for a Piledriver, but he and Jay both tumbled sideways from the apron onto a table that collapsed on the floor. King placed Jay in the ring and put a chair over him, then PCO performed a Moonsault from the top rope and scored the pin…
Winners and NEW ROH Tag Team Champions PCO & Brody King beating the veteran Briscoes in a little over 19 minutes
ROH TV review 21/03/2019
RP Funding Centre , Lakeland, FL
On Commentary- Ian Riccaboni & Colt Cabana
Straight into the action and its a 6 man tag team match
Dalton Castle & The Boys VS LifeBlood (Bandido , Juice Robinson & ‘Hot Sauce’ Tracy Williams)
Both teams get a positive reaction from the crowd.
Juice And Dalton start things off and after throwing each other through the ropes a couple of times we come to a very comedic stand still after both men do their respective struts in the ring, both men seem very fun loving and a handshake is offered by Juice , Castle accepts and quickly surprises Juice with a school boy roll up for a 2 count , Juice not impressed by that. Tracy Williams and Boy 2 are now in the ring after respective tags, both boys try knife edge chops on Williams but they have no effect and he brings them both together then knocks them both down (CB)
After the commercial break, Bandido is in the ring with Castle and he is in the wrong part of town as the boys and Dalton try to injure Bandido’s arm and they get a near fall for their efforts. Bandido gets some distance after hitting a beautiful Springboard Corkscrew Plancha to both boys and manages to tag a very excited Juice who is a house of fire with corner Clotheslines, Cannonballs to both boys.Boy 1 gets a very dizzying airplane spin into a double knee Gutbuster (I would have lost my dinner at this point) and if that wasn’t enough Juice hot him with a picture perfect Pulp Friction only for Dalton to make the save.
Then it all gets confusing who the legal men are eventually after back and forth offence from both teams Bandido launched Boy2 into Castle who goes to the outside and it allows Bandido to hit his 21Plex for the 1-2-3. Winners are LifeBlood in just under 10 minutes. A good outing for LifeBlood – Bandido showing why he is the MVP of the group with a standout performance. More trouble for Dalton and The Boys as this poor run goes on.
Video Package with Jay Lethal who talks about pride, his passion and the little kid inside smiling about the reality of him wrestling at Madison Square Garden
The Briscoes also make comments about the G1 event and that they are going to show the world why they are the best tag team of the century (Bold Claim Some other teams come to mind, but they are good no doubt)
Rhett Titus VS Willie Mack for the NWA National Championship
Good crowd reaction for the champion
Code of Honor is adhered to which is good to see
Both men lock up and trade holds and counter holds to which in the end Titus get a quick pin attempt on Mack for a 2 count The champ counters a Hip Toss into a Lucha style Arm Drag then avoids a Clothesline, back elbow strike and hits Titus with flying knee strike which stuns Titus.
Titus tries warming the chest of Mack with knife edge chops but to no avail and Willie counters with a running Suplex, Titus to the apron where he kicks the knee of Mack that then hotshots him on the middle rope and Titus knocks him down with a big boot for a near fall(CB)
Following the commercial, Titus is in control, but Willie counters the attempted Backslide and it earns him 2 near falls. After that Willie goes on a tear hitting Titus with a Rough Ryder , clothesline, spinning back elbow, smiley slam, corner yakuza kick and an inverted cannonball ,Titus wisely rolls to the outside but he is still not safe as Willie comes over the top rope with a slingshot somersault Plancha.Titus snaps Willie’s neck on the top rope for the advantage but gets caught with a Samoan drop , Mack then kips up and flattens Titus with a standing Moonsault,. A dazed Titus gets back to his feet but then he is dropped again by a devastating Stunner, Mack hits a HUGE frog splash on titus for the victory.
Winner and STILL NWA National Champion Willie Mack in 8+ Minutes.
due to time constraints this match seemed rushed but not a bad mad overall, Mack Impressive.
Bully Ray Promo – on how he is the only guy from ROH or NJPW to wrestle / main event MSG and he makes an open challenge to anyone in the wrestling world for a NYC Street Fight at G1 Supercard. Imagine if another hardcore icon showed up? Imagine if it was D-Von or Rhino or Tommy Dreamer?
Main Event Tag Team Match
Coast To Coast (Shaheem Ali & LSG (Leon St. Giovanni) ) VS Jonathan Gresham And ROH World Champion Jay Lethal
A good reaction for both teams from the crowd
Code Of Honor adhered to by both teams
Ali & Lethal get us under way, a brief technical exchange by both men ends when Lethal knocks down Ali with 2 shoulder blocks and a Hip Toss which is followed up by a hard chop, a blind tag by LSG allows him to hit a Neckbreaker after Ali stunned Lethal with a back elbow to the gut then a European uppercut. LSG follows up with a Snap Suplex to Lethal but the champ blocks 2 further attempts.
Gresham makes a blind tag and catches the unaware LSG in a Waist Lock then gets drilled with a Dropkick/German Suplex combo by Gresham and Lethal. LSG down. LSG and Gresham trade blows and then Ali gets a tag from LSG and they both nearly kick the head off Gresham with tandem superkicks, Ali then Bodyslams the smaller Gresham then after a little hotdogging he flattens Gresham with a twisting splash and gets a 2 count. Gresham quickly gets his bearings and counters an Irish Whip by Ali with an arm trap Stunner and tags in the champ who then initiates another combo after hitting an Enziguri. Gresham takes down Ali with a nasty looking Dragon Screw Leg Whip and gets a 1 count.
Gresham tries to keep his larger opponent grounded with an Indian Deathlock on Ali (not seen one of those in a while)
After the commercial Ali rocks Gresham with a stiff headbutt and a version of an Olympic slam which lets him makes the tag to LSG , Lethal also runs in but gets hit with the Honor Roll for his trouble sending him to the outside then he turns his attention to Gresham and delivers a back elbow strike and Springboard forearm smash, whilst showboating Jay lethal rocks LSG with a great superkick and then he attempts a Lethal Injection which is countered into a Fire Thunder Buster (a la Jushin Liger) and Corkscrew Neck Breaker by LSG.
Lethal out of desperation backdrops Ali but Gresham is not in his corner, Lethal and Ali then trade hard strikes and chops, Lethal then trumps the chop with another hard Enziguri, Gresham tags in and with great precision hits a Dropkick to the knee from the top rope on Ali. LSG plants Gresham with a swing out single arm DDT, Lethal then hits a Lethal Combination on LSG and all men are down.
Ali & Gresham are first to their feet and they trade blows, Gresham works on the injured leg of Ali during this, then Lethal hits a dropkick and thunderous powerbomb on Ali. Gresham applies the figure 4 leg lock on Ali only for LSG to break the hold before the inevitable tap out. Coast to Coast try to regroup but get hit by stereo Suicide dives by Gresham and Lethal and they roll Ali back in the ring and finish him off with the Louisville Lunge (Rolling Slingshot Cutter).
Winners Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham in a little over 10 minutes.
A good showing by the returning Coast to Coast, but the Champ and the Octopus get the duke.
Both teams shake hands.
