ROH TV Report
May 10, 2015
Taped 4/4 in San Antonio, Tex.
Report by Mike Metzger (@mD0uble), PWTorch contributor

The ROH TV opening aired.

Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino welcomed the audience to the show and introduced former ROH World Champion Adam Cole as guest commentator for the opening contest.

Chris Sabin was set to make his ROH TV debut against Kyle O’Reilly, as clips aired from two weeks ago when the Knights of the Rising Dawn were revealed and brutally attacked reDRagon. Sabin approached the ring, but then walked through the crowd and disappeared out of view.

Kyle O’Reilly appeared in the entranceway with a bandage wrapped around his head, selling the effects of being busted open by the Addiction and Sabin two weeks ago. Out of nowhere (but to the surprise of no one), Sabin attacked O’Reilly from behind and then threw him into the hockey boards around ringside several times. Sabin dropped O’Reilly face-first on the ring apron and then shoved his boot in O’Reilly’s face. Sabin rolled O’Reilly into the ring and the bell rang.

1 - CHRIS SABIN vs. KYLE O’REILLY

As soon as the bell rang, O’Reilly sprang to his feet and applied a cross arm-breaker to Sabin in the ropes. O’Reilly charged at Sabin on the outside and then threw him into the hockey boards! O’Reilly delivered some kicks and hit an overhead belly-to-belly suplex to Sabin on the outside! Back in the ring, O’Reilly hit some more kicks to Sabin’s chest. Chris tried to fight back, but O’Reilly was able to apply another cross arm-breaker out of nowhere! Sabin quickly made it to the ropes, however.

O’Reilly continued to work Sabin’s arm, until Chris rolled away and begged for a timeout. O’Reilly did not oblige. They ran the ropes until they met in the middle and Sabin spat in O’Reilly’s face! O’Reilly chased after him, but Sabin came back with a jawbreaker across the top rope and then a kick to the face, as the show went to its first break at the 3:45 point in the match.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 6:15, an image on the screen warned of graphic material. Sabin was still in control of the match, as he yanked the bandage off of O’Reilly’s head. Sabin wrapped Kyle into a hold for a few moments. O’Reilly fought out and both men traded blows, until Sabin responded with a dropkick. Sabin jumped off the top rope and made a big deal over a punch to the Kyle’s head while he was down on the mat. O’Reilly locked in a Triangle Choke out of nowhere, but the viewer was taken out of the moment as an overdub of Kevin Kelly broke in and hyped tonight’s ROH Code Line.

Sabin reversed into a unique hold, as the screen switched to black-and-white because O’Reilly had been busted open. Sabin applied an abdominal stretch, as O’Reilly tried to get the crowd behind him. He did and then mounted some offense with an explosive combination of kicks and slaps! The camera shot to close-up of O’Reilly, who displayed some gritty facial expressions. O’Reilly charged at Sabin in the corner and then delivered a series of double underhook slams. O’Reilly applied another cross arm-breaker, but Sabin was quickly able to make it to the ropes!

O’Reilly went up top, but Sabin crotched him. Sabin then stood on the O’Reilly’s groin while he hung upside down for a few painful seconds! Sabin went to follow up with a baseball slide, but missed and went groin-first into the ring post himself! O’Reilly charged at Sabin, but Chris got his boot up. Sabin followed up with a tornado DDT and covered his opponent, but could only get two.

Both men traded blows, as Adam Cole continually demanded an apology from the commentators for insinuating that the Kingdom was behind the Knights of the Rising Dawn. After trading several kicks and chops, O’Reilly went for his Ax & Smash combo, but Sabin cut him off with an enziguri! Sabin followed up with a superkick, but O’Reilly came back with a Dean Ambrose-style rebound lariat and then a brain buster, but he could only get a two count! Sabin kicked out so hard that he sent O’Reilly to the floor, as Bobby Fish ran out to support his partner.

The fans at ringside literally helped O’Reilly to his feet, as the former tag champ tried to get back into the ring. He grabbed the ring skirt, but ended up pulling it off of the ring as he fell to floor. He was able to get into the ring before the 20 count, and then traded blows with Sabin once again. They went back and forth, until O’Reilly came out on top with some kicks and then a Guillotine Choke! Christopher Daniels ran out to the ring to distract the ref, but Bobby Fish threw him into the hockey boards. While the ref’s back was turned, Frankie Kazarian ran in and attacked O’Reilly. Sabin hit a Michinoku Driver and covered O’Reilly for the victory.

WINNER: Chris Sabin via pinfall in 16:15.

ANALYSIS: Great match between these two. Sabin effectively worked like a heel, while the injured O’Reilly played the underdog babyface to a tee. Some of the sequences were very creative and just awesome to watch. The black-and-white effect was a bit distracting at times, but I think it will help this feud stand out in the long run. While this match was hyped on last week’s episode, it would have been nice to see a promo from either team beforehand.(***1/2)

[Commercial Break]

Ringside: Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino hyped this week’s co-promoted shows with New Japan Pro Wrestling, including a live iPPV this Friday, May 15. An overdub of Kevin Kelly ran down the card for Friday’s Global Wars iPPV from Toronto and then clips aired from last year’s critically-acclaimed shows.

[M.M. Reax: Kudos to ROH for having the foresight to film the announcers hyping these events. I highly doubt they knew what the iPPV card would look like at the time, but they inserted the rundown of the card seamlessly. A 100 percent turnaround from last year, when there was virtually no mention of the ROH-NJPW shows ahead of time.]

[Commercial Break]

Video Package: Adam Page attacked A.C.H. two weeks ago on ROH TV. Next week, they will square off in a rematch!

2 -- A.C.H. & MATT SYDAL & ALBERTO EL PATRON vs. ROH World champion JAY BRISCOE & MARK BRISCOE & RODERICK STRONG -- six-man tag match

Alberto received a huge ovation from the San Antonio crowd. Mark and A.C.H. started the match. They went back-and-forth for a few moments until it ended in a stalemate. Sydal and Strong then tagged in. They broke into a chain wrestling sequence that also ended in a stalemate when Sydal hit a huracanrana, but Strong reversed into a nearfall. Then Alberto and Jay tagged in. They traded momentum, until Alberto hit a backstabber at the 3:30 mark. He rolled up Jay, but could only get two.

Jay fought back and tagged his brother. Mark pummeled Alberto in the corner and then hit a side Russian legsweep. Mark continued to pummel Alberto for a few moments and then tagged in Strong. Roddy charged at Alberto, but El Patron got the boots up and tagged A.C.H.! Both Roddy and A.C.H. exchanged chops in the corner. A.C.H. came out on top and tagged Sydal. Strong fought back with some chops. Sydal went for a spin kick, but Strong caught him and reversed into a backbreaker!

Mark tagged in and hit his Red Neck Kung Fu on A.C.H. and then turned his attention to his other opponents on the ring apron. He sent them all to the outside. He went for a baseball slide on A.C.H., but A.C.H. caught him with a spin kick of his own! Roddy quickly ran over and nailed A.C.H. with a baseball slide. Sydal then hit a flip dive on Roddy but got caught and thrown into the hockey boards. Then Alberto dove onto Sydal, followed by Jay hitting a big flip dive onto everyone on the floor!

Back in the ring, A.C.H. and Mark Briscoe were the legal men in the ring. A.C.H. charged at Mark, but Briscoe nailed him with a stiff lariat. Mark went for a cover, but A.C.H. kicked out at two. The show went to a break at the 7:57 point in the match.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 8:57, Jay Briscoe covered A.C.H. for a two count. Strong tagged in and continued to dominate A.C.H. Strong went to tag Mark, but gave A.C.H. another backbreaker first. Mark then tagged in and stomped A.C.H. on the mat. Mark remained in control, as the fans chanted for A.C.H. Strong tagged back in and hit a sick backbreaker. After another nearfall, Strong tagged Jay. The ROH World Champion came in and applied a chin lock. After about 15 seconds, A.C.H. reversed with a jawbreaker! He went for the tag, but Briscoe carried him back to his corner. A.C.H. fought back against all three of his opponents and then nailed Jay with a double foot stomp from the top rope!

A.C.H. tagged in Alberto and Jay tagged Strong. Alberto nailed his running enziguri on Strong in the corner, but couldn’t put him away. Alberto started the “Si” chants. Alberto hit a a superkick on Jay, but Strong grabbed him and nailed a double knee gut buster! He went for the cover, but Alberto kicked out! Briscoe came in and splashed Alberto in the corner. He hit a neckbreaker and went for the pin, but Alberto kicked out at two. The show went to another break at the 13:35 mark.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 14:35, Alberto nailed a DDT on Jay Briscoe! Alberto crawled over and tagged Sydal. Matt came in and hit a standing moonsault on Jay, but couldn’t put the champ away. Mark ran in, but Sydal held on by hitting a nice combination move on both Briscoes at the same time! Mark eventually knocked Sydal to the mat and hit an elbow drop from the second rope. He quickly followed up with some vicious stomps to Sydal in the corner. Briscoe charged at Sydal, but he rolled out of the way and tagged A.C.H.! Before A.C.H. could take advantage, Strong ran in and hit everyone that moved!

Strong hit a superplex on A.C.H., followed by a Froggy Bow from Mark! Mark covered A.C.H., but Alberto broke it up. Mark and Alberto battled on the top rope. Alberto won out and then hit him with a double foot stomp from the top! Alberto nailed Strong with a superkick. Mark ran in, but Alberto applied the cross arm-breaker, followed by a Shooting Star Press from Sydal and then a 450 Splash from A.C.H.! A.C.H. then covered Mark for the victory!

WINNERS: A.C.H., Matt Sydal & Alberto El Patron via pinfall in 18:27.

ANALYSIS: There was plenty of star power in this match, but it felt like more of an exhibition than a main event. That critique aside, the match was logically put together and all six men got to shine. It was nice to see A.C.H. score the victory as ROH seems ready to give him a big push. Fun match to watch, but really meaningless in the long-run. (***1/2)

FINAL REAX: Good show, although I would have flipped the match order and made O’Reilly-Sabin the main event. It would have given them both a chance to cut promos before their match as well. Nothing against the guys in the main event, but six man tag match featuring only babyfaces isn’t necessarily “must see” in today’s over-saturated wresting market. I’m very much looking forward to the Global Wars iPPV this Friday, though, and hope you will join the Torch for full coverage!

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