ROH TV Report
February 9, 2015
Taped 1/24 in Philadelphia, Penn.
Report by Mike Metzger (@mD0uble), PWTorch contributor

The ROH TV opening aired.

Kevin Kelly, Steve Corino, and Caprice Coleman were shown at the commentary desk. Tonight’s episode will feature the semi-finals of the 2015 Top Prospect tournament, as well as the Briscoes & ODB taking on the Kingdom & Maria Kanellis in the main event!

1 - DONOVAN DIJAK vs. ASHLEY SIXX - 2015 Top Prospect tournament semi-final match

For those unfamiliar with these wrestlers, Dijak is a 6’7” rookie who looks destined for a spot in WWE, while Sixx is a shorter, gothic rocker-type. The Code of Honor was adhered to and the bell rang. Both men tied up in the center. Sixx took control early with some chops in the corner. Dijak tried to overpower the smaller Sixx, but Ashley stayed on him with more chops and blows. Sixx then hit the Skid Mark, where he jumped on Dijak’s back while he was hunched over the middle rope.

Sixx came at Dijak, but Donovan caught him, delivered several consecutive backbreakers, and then just tossed Sixx over the top with ease! Dijak followed Sixx out and quickly threw him back into the ring for a two count. Sixx fought back with more blows. He hit two clotheslines, which phased Dijak a bit, but the big man wouldn’t go down. Sixx hit a third clothesline, which almost knocked Dijak down, but the big man responded with a roaring big boot instead! Sixx rolled out of the ring and DIjak attempted a huge moonsault from the ring apron. Sixx moved out of the way, but Dijak landed on his feet! Sixx took advantage, however, with a reverse STO into the edge of the ring!

SIxx then hit a “trust dive,” in which he dove back-first into DIjak on the outside! Sixx rolled Dijak back into the ring and hit a second-rope elbow, which was good for a two count. Dijak fought back with a big kick and then hit the “Feast Your Eyes,” in which he lifted Sixx up for what looked like a torture rack, but then dropped him head-first over his knee. Dijak then covered Sixx for the victory!

WINNER: Donovan Dijak via pinfall in 4:17 to advance to the finals of the 2015 Top Prospect tournament.

ANALYSIS: Short, but sweet. These guys were able to win over the Philly crowd in under five minutes. Dijak has a a great ring presence and displays unbelievable athleticism for a guy who is 6’7”. Working with an experienced veteran like Sixx certainly helped matters as well. (**1/2)

[Commercial Break]

2 - BEER CITY BRUISER vs. WILL FERRARA - 2015 Top Prospect tournament semi-final match

There were some “Husky Harris” chants aimed at Bruiser before the match. Bruiser responded to the call for the Code of Honor by slapping Ferrara in the face. Ferrara came right back with some chops and the bell rang. Ferrara went to slam Bruiser, but to no avail. Ferrara jumped at his larger opponent, but Bruiser caught him and just dropped him face-first on the top turnbuckle. Bruiser then hit two consecutive suplexes, which was quite the feat for a guy his size.

Ferrara tried to fight back by again attempting to slam Bruiser, but the big man fell on top of him and scored a nearfall. Bruiser followed up by pummeling Ferrara in the corner, and then hit an Umaga-style hip splash in the corner. Bruiser went for the same move again, but missed. Ferrara came back with some blows, but couldn’t knock Brusier down. Ferrara charged at Bruiser, but the big man just tossed him over the top rope.

Bruiser then went for a flip dive on the outside, but Ferrara moved out of the way and the Bruiser crashed onto the floor! Ferrara quickly followed up with a diving tornado DDT on the outside! He threw his opponent and covered him for two. Ferrara went to follow up, but ate a nasty clothesline from Bruiser. The fans started to get behind Ferrara, who out of nowhere, lifted Bruiser across his back and dropped him onto the mat, Wade Barrett-style! Ferrara then hit Eyes Wide Shut, where he drove Bruiser’s face directly into in his knee. The more brutal version of the Codebreaker was good for a three count!

WINNER: Will Ferrara via pinfall in 5:30 to advance to the finals of the 2015 Top Prospect tournament.

ANALYSIS: Another good match, although I liked Dijak-Sixx better. Ferrara played the undersized babyface role well and exhibited freakish strength by lifting Bruiser over his shoulders like he did. Ferrara seems to be primed to be ROH’s next break-out star, yet Dijak is right there with him. I’m really looking forward to the final. (**)

[Commercial Break]

Fish Tank segment

The ROH World Tag Team Champions came down to the ring, decked out in tailored suits. O’Reilly took the mic first and bragged about also holding the IWGP Jr. Hvt. Tag Team Titles, which drew a brief “New Japan” chant from the crowd. O’Reilly introduced his “life partner, err…tag team partner, Bobby Fish!” Fish took the mic and referenced the reign of terror they had inflicted all across the world. Fish then referenced the 13th Anniversary PPV on March 1 in Las Vegas. O’Reilly then introduced their PPV opponents, the Young Bucks!

The Bucks came out to streamers and “superkick” chants from the crowd. Fish said he was riled up and hot under the collar. He criticized the Bucks for wearing t-shirts and hats, while the champs were so well-dressed. O’Reilly comedically tried to calm his partner down and eventually did so. O’Reilly took over and asked the Bucks how it felt to share the ring with the greatest tag team the world has ever seen. Fish answered for the Bucks and claimed that it sucked to be them. The Bucks weren’t amused, but didn’t seem too upset either.

O’Reilly then asked the Bucks how it felt to fly their families around the world to NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9, just so they could watch them lose. The Bucks immediately responded with a double-superkick to O’Reilly. They went after Fish, but several ROH officials and security guards broke it up. The Bucks delivered several superkicks to the random security guards. The mysterious men in red masks appeared at the entranceway, as the Bucks hit a double-dive onto all the humanity at ringside! The Bucks stood tall in the ring and held up the title belts, as reDRagon regrouped in aisle..

[M.M. Reax: So after 18 months and countless four-plus-star matches between these two teams, they finally did an angle to set up a match. Watching every week since May 2012 and reviewing the show for the last year for PWTorch, I am pretty sure that this is the first time these two teams have actually exchanged words with each other to build a match. Regardless, that segment was awesome and I can’t wait until March 1!]

Backstage: Tommaso Ciampa hyped next week’s match against Jimmy Jacobs. Like a maniac, he said that even though he hears his opponent is Jimmy Jacobs, he hears Hanson, Michael Elgin, and Jay Briscoe instead. And even though Jimmy Jacobs will be standing there across the ring, all he’ll see is the ROH World Title.

[Commercial Break]

Before the next match, Q.T. Marshall grabbed the microphone from ring announcer Bobby Cruise. He said that he didn’t care if they threw streamers at him, he still didn’t like them. He talked about his ROH debut in Philadelphia back in 2012. He talked about how there hasn’t been a brighter star in ROH since he arrived, but Roderick Strong’s music cut him off and out walked “Mr. ROH!”

3 - Q.T. MARSHALL vs. RODERICK STRONG

Both men shook hands, although Marshall talked trash through the whole process. Both men felt each other out for the first 55 seconds, until Strong hit a jumping knee, forearm strike, and then a sick kick out of nowhere! Strong covered Marshall for the victory!

WINNER: Roderick Strong via pinfall in 1:01.

ANALYSIS: Awesome squash for Strong. Always fun to see an established guy destroy someone every once in a while. (n/a)

After the match, B.J. Whitmer and Adam Page appeared in the entranceway. Whitmer asked Strong if he was trying to play mind games with him by beating Marshall so handily. Strong grabbed a mic and called Whitmer an old man who had been dropped on his head too many times. They exchanged some more words, until Strong challenged Whitmer to a fight right there and then. Whitmer said that he would fight him, just not tonight. Strong threatened to end Whitmer’s career for good, as his music played.

[Commercial Break]

Backstage: Matt Taven claimed that the land the Briscoes once ran roughshod over, ROH, was now in their hands. Michael Bennett claimed that ODB was a man and said that if she (he?) got in his way, he would treat her like one.

4 - THE KINGDOM (Michael Bennett & Matt Taven & Maria Kanellis) vs. THE BRISCOES (ROH World champion Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe) & ODB) - six-person tag match

Bennett was sporting a New England Patriots jersey, which turned out to be a good call on his part. There was no Code of Honor. Instead, Jay hit a big dropkick on Taven out of the gate and tagged Mark. The younger Briscoe pummeled Taven for a little and tagged ODB, who came in and hit a big splash in the corner on Taven! ODB quickly tagged Mark back in, but Taven got away and tagged Bennett. Michael ran at Mark, but was suplexed for his troubles!

Jay tagged in and charged at Bennett in the corner, but missed. Taven came back in, but couldn’t take advantage. Jay tagged ODB. She held Taven for Mark, but Maria got involved. ODB went to chase her, while the Briscoes attacked Bennett on the outside! Taven came out of nowhere with a dive onto both Briscoes, but ODB followed right up with a low blow to Taven! ODB turned her attention to Maria, who quickly crawled under the ring. The teams continued to brawl on the outside, as the fans chanted “man up.”

Things settled back down with Mark and Taven in the ring, as Maria reappeared from under the ring. Mark dropped Taven on his head, as Adam Cole walked to the ring. ODB came in and charged at Taven, but Matt got the boot up! Taven tagged Maria, but ODB quickly got up, which caused Maria to run back out of the ring. Kelly questioned Cole at the commentary desk, but Cole remained silent. Back in the ring, the Kingdom regained control and Maria ran in and scored a nearfall on Mark! The show then went to a commercial at the 5:10 mark of the match.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 7:10, the Kingdom was still in control of the match. Bennett charged at Mark, but Mark hit a chop out of nowhere and then clotheslined Bennett to the mat! The crowd cheered on Mark and he was able to make the hot tag to Jay, while Bennett tagged in Taven. Jay nailed Taven with a superkick and then a shoulder block, which was good for a two count. Briscoe then hit a neckbreaker and scored another nearfall. Jay tagged ODB, who got up on the top turnbuckle. ODB slapped her chest and then nailed a Lou Thesz Press on Taven from the second rope!

Bennett ran in, but Jay quickly came to the rescue and clotheslined him to the outside! Back in the ring, Taven hit a nice springboard kick to the face of Mark, while Bennett hit Jay with a spear on the apron. Bennett rolled Jay back into the ring. Bennett hit Jay with a Twist of Fate, immediately followed by a Swanton Bomb from Taven, but they couldn’t put the champ away! ODB ran in and jumped on Bennett’s back, but he just flipped her over. The Kingdom members were standing tall for a moment, until the Briscoes re-entered the ring and lifted Bennett and Taven onto their shoulders! ODB went up top and hit a double Doomsday Device! ODB went for the cover, but Maria broke it up!

The Briscoes and ODB had Maria surrounded. The Briscoes lifted Maria on their shoulders, while ODB climbed up top. Unfortunately for them, Cole ran in and broke it up. In all the confusion, ODB still hit a double splash onto Bennett and Taven. ODB set up Maria for a piledriver, but Bennett and Taven reappeared and both superkicked ODB in the face! Maria arrogantly covered ODB for the victory.

WINNERS: The Kingdom via pinfall at 12:10.

ANALYSIS: Really fun brawl to watch. It was incredibly well-booked and perfectly executed by all six participants. ODB was right up there against her male opponents, so I don’t think the double superkick went too far, and it was a shocking finish to the match. As tired as this feud feels, ODB breathed some new life into it tonight. (***)

FINAL REAX: Great show from start to finish. The Top Prospect tournament matches were short, but good. The reDRagon-Young Bucks angle was a spectacle and got me excited for their upcoming match at the 13th Anniversary PPV. Even those sick of the Decade were treated to an awesome one-minute squash for Roderick Strong in the process. The main event is definitely worth seeking out, as I believe this was the first time Maria Kanellis and ODB have crossed paths in their 10+ years in wrestling (with the exception of OVW, possibly). Things seem to be coming together quite nicely ahead of the 13th Anniversary PPV, and that’s something ROH definitely needs in order to stay relevant in a crowded 2015 wrestling market.

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

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