PWTorch.com - METZGER'S ROH TV REPORT 10/26: All ROH Titles on the line on "Championship Week," including Briscoe vs. Bennett

Ring of Honor
METZGER'S ROH TV REPORT 10/26: All ROH Titles on the line on "Championship Week," including Briscoe vs. Bennett

Oct 27, 2014 - 5:50:18 PM

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ROH TV Report
October 26, 2014
Taped 9/27 in Wheeling, W. Va.
Report by Mike Metzger (@mD0uble), PWTorch Contributor

“You ready, boy?” asked ROH World champion Jay Briscoe. He was referring to Michael Bennett, the number one contender for his title. Briscoe brought up the recent friction within the Kingdom. Jay suggested that Bennett get focused because he’ll see him in the ring tonight!

The ROH TV opening aired.

Tonight: For the first time in ROH TV history, all three championships will be up for grabs!

1 - ROH Tag Team champions REDRAGON (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) vs. THE DECADE (Jimmy Jacobs & Roderick Strong) - ROH World Tag Team Title match

Kevin Kelly [finally] brought up reDRagon’s successful title defense against the Young Bucks at All-Star Extravaganza. I believe this was the first mention of that MOTYC since the iPPV aired seven weeks ago. The Code of Honor was about to be followed, until Jimmy Jacobs kicked away the hands of Fish and O’Reilly. Jacobs and O’Reilly started the match. O’Reilly nailed Jacobs with a boot, but the “Zombie Princess” came right back with a Tilt-a-Whirl headscissors takeover. O’Reilly tagged in Fish, which prompted Jacobs to quickly tag Strong.

ReDRagon briefly double-teamed Strong, until Jacobs interfered from the outside. This allowed Strong to nail O’Reilly with a kick. Jacobs was tagged back into the match, and he literally stood on O’Reilly’s throat before quickly tagging Strong. The Decade double-teamed O’Reilly and scored a nearfall. O’Reilly was able to come back by applying a dragon screw legwhip to both Jacobs and Strong at the same time!

Fish was then tagged in, and he cleaned house! Jacobs countered with a quick rollup for two, and then locked Fish into another Tile-a-Whirl headscissors takeover. Fish fought back with a snap suplex, and then tagged in his partner. O’Reilly dropped a knee on Jacobs for a two count. O’Reilly worked the arm and then tagged in Fish. Fish nailed a back suplex for a two count of his own, as the show went to its first commercial at 4:35 of the match.

[Commercal Break]

Back at 7:05, O’Reilly pulled Jacobs to his corner and tagged in Fish. The champs double-teamed Jacobs in the corner, but were unsuccessful on a pin attempt. Fish whipped Jacobs into the corner and charged at him, but somehow Jacobs reversed into an Ace Crusher off the ropes! Strong and then O’Reilly were tagged in and they battled each other in the center. ReDRagon took control when they double-teamed Strong, but Roddy was eventually able to fight them off and score a nearfall on O’Reilly.

Strong went for a move, but O’Reilly was able to smoothly reverse into a guillotine choke. Jacobs ran into break it up, but was intercepted by Fish. Jacobs then applied a guillotine choke of his own to Fish, while O’Reilly still had Strong locked in the original hold. This led to a fun spot where O’Reilly and Jacobs exchanged blows, each while still holding onto their respective guillotine chokes! The spot culminated with Fish and Strong each reversing by powerbombing their opponents into each other at the exact same time!

O’Reilly then exploded into offense on Strong in the ring. Jacobs tried to break it up, but was sent to the outside by Fish. There, Fish picked up Jacobs and rushed him into the hockey boards! Meanwhile in the ring, Strong scored a very believable pin attempt on O’Reilly, but Kyle was able to kick out at two! O’Reilly and Strong exchanged blows in the center, until Strong took control with a jumping knee to O’Reilly’s face! Whitmer distracted the referee, while Adam Page threw a chair to Strong. For some reason, Strong seemed upset at this and threw the char back at Page. The momentary distraction allowed O’Reilly to hit his Ax & Smash kick combination on Strong. Fish came in and hit a back duplex, and then the champs hit Chasing the Dragon for the pin!

WINNERS: reDRagon via pinball in 12:35 to retain the ROH World Tag Team Titles.

ANALYSIS: Fun tag match. The dueling guillotine chokes spot was very memorable and quite entertaining to watch. ROH has such a great act on their hands in reDRagon. It’s a shame they’re not doing more to promote them on TV. The champs are way more buzz-worthy than The Decade, who are on TV almost every week. (***)

[Commercial Break]

Will Ferrara made his entrance for the next match, while footage aired of the Honor Rumble from two weeks ago on ROH TV. The viewers were reminded that Ferrara scored a huge upset when he eliminated Lethal from the rumble match.

Jay Lethal and Truth Martini made their entrance, as the show shifted to pre-recorded comments from the two. Lethal did all the talking and said that no one knew who Ferrara was, and he’d make sure it stayed that way.

2 - ROH TV champion JAY LETHAL (w/Truth Martini) vs. WILL FERRARA — ROH Television Title match

Kelly mentioned that Ferrara was no longer aligned with “Benchmark” Bill Daly, which I assume means he’s now a full-blown babyface. Both men tensely shook hands and the bell rang. Lethal immediately overpowered the challenger by just stomping him in the corner. Lethal threw Ferrara to the outside and then just shoved him into the hockey boards. Lethal threw him back in, rolled in behind him, and then threw him right back out.

On the outside, Lethal chopped Ferrara and then threw him back into the ring. Lethal got a quick one count, and then just slapped the back of Ferrara’s head. Ferrara tried to fight back on the apron, but Lethal kicked the challenger in the legs, which sent him back to the outside. This time on the outside, Lethal put his arm around Ferrara and did the selfie spot where Truth took a picture with his phone. Lethal threw him back in the ring and covered him for two.

Ferrara started to fight back, and then both men exchanged blows in the center. Lethal eventually stopped Ferrara with a knee to the midsection. Ferrara came back, though, with a series of back elbows to Lethal in the corner. Ferrara went for a suplex, but couldn’t lift up Lethal. He pounded Lethal’s back, tried again, and hit the suplex! He went to follow up, but Lethal reversed with a Lethal Combination out of nowhere! Lethal climbed up top and went for his “Hail to the King” elbow smash, but Ferrara got the boot up!

Ferrara hit a tornado DDT and a German suplex into a pinning combination, but Lethal kicked out. Ferrara went to follow up, but ate a superkick from Lethal! The TV champ followed up with the Lethal Injection for the victory.

WINNER: Jay Lethal via pinfall in 6:40 to retain the ROH TV Championship.

ANALYSIS: Good match. More than just a squash, as Ferrara got in a decent amount of offense. Ferrara looked good and displayed some convincing facial expressions during the match. Lethal continues to shine in his solid run as TV champ. (**1/4)

[Commercial Break]

3 - ROH World champion JAY BRISCOE vs. MICHAEL BENNETT (w/Maria Kanellis) - ROH World Title match

There was no handshake before the bell. Bennett started the match with a slap to Briscoe’s face. An angry Briscoe chased Bennett around the ring, but this allowed Bennett to take advantage when they re-entered the ring. Briscoe fought back with several stomps to Bennett in the corner. Briscoe whipped Bennett to the corner and charged at him, but Bennett moved out of the way. Bennett went for an axehandle blow off the second rope, but Briscoe caught him and then drove him face-first into the turnbuckle.

Briscoe continued to dominate the match, as the commentators talked about the dissension within the Kingdom. Briscoe hit a nice series of moves to the delight of the crowd. He followed up by clotheslining Bennett to the outside. There, Briscoe pummeled his opponent around ringside, until Bennett was able to fight back and throw Briscoe into the hockey boards. Bennett took his turn dominating on the outside. He went for a suplex on the stage, but Briscoe reversed into a suplex of his own, as the match went to a commercial at the 5:20 mark.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 7:20, Jay Briscoe was nailing Bennett in the face with some jabs. Each man countered out of a swinging neckbreaker attempt, until Briscoe hit his signature neckbreaker. Jay hoisted Bennett across his shoulders, but Bennett elbowed his way out of it and superkiecked Briscoe! Bennett then applied the Anaconda Vice submission hold! Briscoe struggled for about 20 seconds and then made it to the ropes. Both men found themselves on the apron. Bennett went for a piledriver, but in an outstanding display of continuity, referee Todd Sinclair prevented him from doing so because Bennett was banned from using the piledriver after losing a match to Kevin Steen earlier this year. The momentary distraction allowed Briscoe to hit a Death Valley Driver on Bennett across the edge of the ring!

Jay went up top, as the fans cheered him on. He flew off the top rope, but Bennett reversed with a dropkick! Bennett then hit a spear, but could only get a two count. Bennett called for a Twist of Fate, but Jay countered into a sleeper hold! Bennett got loose, but this didn’t stop Briscoe from just walloping the challenger with stomps and headbutts. Briscoe went for the Jay Driller, but Maria slid the “Title of Love” into the ring. This allowed Bennett to reverse into a piledriver, while the referee was distracted! Bennett went for the cover, but Briscoe was able to kick out! Bennett went up top, but missed a senton splash. Briscoe picked him up and hit the Jay Driller for the pin!

WINNER: Jay Briscoe via pinfall in 13:35 to retain the ROH World Title.

ANALYSIS: Another ROH TV main event, another great match. I actually put this match a notch above the tag opener. While the tag match featured some solid, non-stop action, this match actually told a better story. I loved how hardcore fans were rewarded with the two piledriver spots. (***1/4)

After the match, Maria came in and flaunted the “Title of Love” in Briscoe’s face. Ever the gentleman, Jay grabbed Maria and positioned her for a Jay Driller, but Adam Cole ran in and broke it up. This brought out Mark Briscoe to even the odds. The fair fight was short-lived, however, as Matt Taven made his return to ROH and nailed Mark Briscoe in the face with the “Title of Love.” “He quit the company! What the hell?” asked Kevin Kelly, for the benefit of those who don’t follow ROH on Twitter. Taven proceeded to unbutton his shirt to reveal a Kingdom t-shirt underneath. Cole then nailed Jay with the ROH Title belt. The Kingdom raised their arms in victory, as the show faded to black.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Another solid hour from ROH. I love the approach of building up some TV challengers, and then having the champs knock them down. This set of tapings has been much more newsworthy than the ill-fated Death Before Dishonor episodes last month, but I think it’s time for ROH to freshen up the product by breaking up the Decade once and for all, as well as injecting the main event scene with some new blood. Briscoe-Cole already seems tired after their program earlier this year, and the return of Michael Elgin doesn’t exactly shake things up. I definitely recommend this episode if you want an hour of good-to-great wrestling action.

[Torch photo credit Wade Keller (c) PWTorch.com]