ROH TV Report
May 3, 2015
Taped 4/4 in San Antonio, Tex.
Report by Mike Metzger (@mD0uble), PWTorch contributor

The ROH TV opening aired.

Ringside: Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino hyped tonight’s main event of ROH TV champion Jay Lethal defending his title against Tommaso Ciampa!

1 - KILLER ELITE SQUAD (Davey Boy Smith, Jr. & Lance Archer w/ Michael Elgin) vs. WAR MACHINE (Hanson & Raymond Rowe)

Steve Corino identified the Killer Elite Squad as both the reigning GHC (Pro Wrestling NOAH) Tag Team Champions and NWA World Tag Team Champions, as evidenced by the title belts they wore to the ring. Both Smith and Archer towered over their opponents, which seemed to knock Hanson a notch or two down the big man scale, in my book. All four men shook hands, but the Killer Elite Squad didn’t let go and then immediately attacked their opponents. The bell rang and the international stars continued to pummel War Machine.

War Machine fought back. Hanson hit a big splash in the corner and then a Bronco Buster! Hanson climbed to the top rope, but Smith kicked ran up and kicked him in the knee when he wasn’t looking. Archer came in and they double-teamed Hanson with a nice splash/legdrop combo. Smith officially tagged Archer into the match and he continued to dominate Hanson. He easily slammed Hanson to the mat and then clotheslined him out of his boots! Smith tagged back in and hit a gut wrench suplex which was good for a nearfall.

Smith applied a cross arm-breaker on the mat, but Hanson quickly got to the ropes. Smith continued to control the match, while taunting both the crowd and Raymond Rowe on the apron. Archer tagged back in and splashed Hanson in the corner, as the show went to break at the 5:25 mark.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 7:55, Archer was still in control of Hanson. Smith tagged in and they again double-teamed Hanson, this time with a powerslam/splash from the middle rope combination. Hanson’s isolation continued for another minute or so, until he tried to battle out of a rest hold from Archer. He created separation momentarily, but Rowe was knocked off the apron before Hanson could tag him. Smith went for a piledriver, but couldn’t lift Hanson off the mat. The big man then reversed into a side slam! The fans cheered on Hanson, as he made the hot tag to Rowe!

Rowe came in and pummeled Archer. He followed up with a big German Suplex. Smith came in and broke it up, but Hanson wasn’t far behind. Rowe hit Smith with a flying knee strike. War Machine delivered a double clothesline to Archer and then hit their Fallout finisher. The referee was about to count to three, but Elgin yanked referee Paul Turner out of the ring! Hanson responded with a big dive to Elgin on the outside!

Back in the ring, Smith took control of Rowe with some stiff kicks. The Killer Elite Squad hit a Hart Attack, but Rowe kicked out at two! They then went for their signature powerbomb combo, but Hanson broke it up and powerslammed Smith. Archer hit Hanson with a Black Hole Slam, and then Rowe hit a Yuri Nagi on Archer. Smith ran in and slammed Rowe on his head. He grabbed Hanson and hit a Tiger suplex into a pinning combination, but Rowe broke it up at two! Things really broke down as all four men brawled in the ring This went on for about 30 seconds, until Paul Turner called for the bell.

WINNERS: No contest at 15:10.

After the match, Elgin ran into the ring and attacked Hanson. They brawled on the mat, until several ROH officials and security personnel ran into the ring. All five men continued to brawl with no clear winner, as the show went to another break.

ANALYSIS: The Killer Elite Squad got perhaps the least amount of hype for a hot international act that I can remember. Elgin mentioned the team name last week, but didn’t mention who was actually in the team. And tonight they walked out to the ring within the first minute of the show opening. Very inefficient. The match itself was fine, but nothing special. I didn’t particularly like how Archer manhandled Hanson early in the match. That should be saved for another ROH big man like Moose or Donovan Dijak, not a visiting international act that can’t even do a clean job in the end. (**1/2)

[Commercial Break]

Video Package: Last week, the Addiction won the ROH Tag Team Titles and then revealed themselves and Chris Sabin as the red-masked Knights of the Rising Dawn. I strongly recommend seeking this out if you haven’t seen it. It was one of the hottest angles to be featured on ROH TV in a long time.

2 - ROH TV champion JAY LETHAL (w/ Truth Martini & Donovan Dijak) vs. TOMMASO CIAMPA - ROH TV Title match

The announcers wondered where Martini’s bodyguard J. Diesel was. Odd, considering that Lethal comes out with various House of Truth pairings based on location, travel budgets, etc. Kevin Kelly spoke of the history these two men shared, as the crowd began dueling chants. Rather than tie up with Ciampa, Lethal rolled out of the ring as the show went to a quick commercial break at the 0:32 point in the match.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 3:02, both men appeared to be making first contact in the center. Lethal slammed Ciampa, but he totally no-sold it. Ciampa played possum on the mat and then rolled up Lethal for two as he turned around! This incensed Lethal, who overpowered Ciampa and stomped him in the corner. Ciampa got right back up and nailed Lethal with a boot and then some chops. Ciampa went for a running knee strike in the corner, but Dijak pulled Lethal to the outside, where he regrouped for a moment.

Lethal got back in the ring and they tied up. Ciampa got the advantage and threw Lethal into different corners several times. Ciampa settled in a corner punched Lethal nine times, followed by a bite to the head! They ran the ropes, but Martini pulled them down which caused Ciampa to spill to the outside. It was in clear view of referee Todd Sinclair, but nothing was called. Lethal seized the advantage by hitting three consecutive dives to Ciampa on the outside! Lethal rolled Ciampa back into the ring, but the challenger kicked out at one. The show went to another commercial at the 7:34 mark.

[Commercial Break]

The show returned at 10:04, with Lethal still in control of the match. Lethal delivered a stiff chop to Ciampa and then just stomped him in the corner. Lehtal went on to choke Ciampa on the bottom rope, but the ref quickly broke it up. Lethal applied a chin lock, as the fans rooted for Tommaso. Lethal broke the hold and taunted the crowd. Then he blew snot at Ciampa. He went for a cover, but Ciampa kicked out. Lethal applied another chin lock. Ciampa fought out of it. He went for a clothesline, but Lethal ducked. The champ was back in control, as the show went to another break at the 13:05 mark.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 14:05, Ciampa began to mount a comeback. He hit a big knee strike on Lethal, which sent the champion to the floor. Ciampa went for a dive, but Martini got in his way. Ciampa simply sidestepped Martini and hit a big running knee strike on Lethal, who was crouched against the hockey boards. Lethal called for another knee strike and nailed it! Ciampa took a selfie with a fan at ringside and then threw Lethal back into the ring.

However, Lethal cut off Ciampa, and was able to hit a superplex! Ciampa held on, though, as he rolled up Lethal for two! Both men traded blows and then enziguiris in the center until both men fell to the mat. On the outside, Martini was shown flipping through the Book of Truth. Before long, Martini threw it into the ring, but CIampa stepped on the book and Lethal’s fingers! Ciampa planted Lethal’s face into the mat and went for the cover, but the champion kicked out at two!

Ciampa went for Project Ciampa, but Lethal reversed into a neckbreaker! He covered Ciampa, but could only get a two count. Lethal climbed to the top for Hail to the King, but Tommaso got to his feet. Lethal jumped down and hit a weak-looking Lethal Combination, but Ciampa actually held on and applied the Sicilian Stretch out of nowhere! He had it locked on for about 30 seconds, until Lethal was able to get his foot on the rope. The show then went to another, you guessed it, commercial break at 20:10.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 21:10, Ciampa went for a suplex on the apron, but Martini pulled his leg down like Bobby Heenan did to the Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania V! Ciampa was able to kick out and then turned his attention to Martini. Dijak got between them. Lethal tried to capitalize on the distraction by going for a dive, but Ciampa caught him and nailed White Noise on the floor! Tommaso rolled the champ into the ring and covered him, but Lethal kicked out at two! Ciampa went up top and nailed him with White Noise again! He went for the cover, but somehow Lethal kicked out. Martini distracted the ref, while Dijak ran in and kicked Ciampa’s head off. Lethal got his arm on top of Ciampa, but the challenger kicked out at two!

Lethal was irate and began pounding on Ciampa in the corner. Ciampa got away from Lethal and hit a flip dive onto Dijak on the outside! Lethal capitalized on the distraction with a dropkick, but Ciampa no-sold again and responded with a clothesline. Ciampa went up top and hit an elbow smash, but he couldn’t put Lethal away. He went for Project Ciampa again, but Dijak ran in. Ciampa tossed him to the outside. Referee Todd Sinclair finally had enough and ejected both Martini and Dijak from ringside. While this was going on, Lethal hit Ciampa with a low blow and then the Lethal Injection for the win.

WINNER: Jay Lethal via pinfall in 25:40 to retain the ROH TV Title.

ANALYSIS: I commend ROH for trying something different with several shorter commercial breaks during the match, but I thought they really hurt the overall flow. The match started with 30 minutes remaining in the show, which made it feel like ROH didn’t tape enough content and had to stretch things out with more commercials than normal. The last 10 minutes was good, but all of the House of Truth interference (some of which was blatantly done right in front of the referee without a DQ) and all the breaks brought this down a notch for me. (**3/4)

After the match, the crowd chanted “Thank You, Ciampa” and threw streamers into the ring, perhaps because they were aware he was leaving the company. Out of nowhere, Ciampa nailed Todd Sinclair with a low blow and then followed up with six consecutive running knee strikes to Sinclair’s head! Ciampa did snow angels in the streamers, as the fans chanted “Please Don’t Go.” Not quite the reaction ROH was looking for, I suppose.

FINAL REAX: More of a maintenance show for ROH after last week’s shocking ending. It made sense to have War Machine look strong against a major international team and for Lethal to go over ahead of his Champion vs. Champion match against ROH World Champion Jay Briscoe at Best in the World. Based on the show-closing angle, I’m starting to think that Ciampa leaving the company may very well be a storyline, similar to what the company did with Matt Taven last year. Not much else to this show, otherwise.

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