ROH TV Report
Aired May 31, 2015 in syndication
To air June 3, 2015 on Dest. America
Taped 5/16 in Toronto, Ont.
Report by Mike Metzger (@mD0uble), PWTorch Contributor

Backstage: The Briscoes cut a promo on their opponents tonight, “those scalawags” the House of Truth. Both Briscoes first screamed about giving Donovan Dijak a proper welcome to Ring of Honor. Jay Briscoe then turned his attention to Jay Lethal and promised to give him a preview of their “Battle of the Belts” match at the Best in the World PPV tonight.

The ROH TV opening aired.

1 -- WILL FERRARA vs. KUSHIDA

KUSHIDA took control with an early dropkick. He went for a standing moonsault, but Ferrara got his knees up. Ferrara took control and applied a side headlock. The crowd cheered on KUSHIDA as he fought out of the hold. KUSHIDA hit an enziguri on the apron and then slammed Ferrara’s arm across the top rope! He followed up with some strikes and kicks. Ferrara fought back with a clothesline that sent KUSHIDA to the outside. Ferrara immediately went for a dive and actually turned it into a Tornado DDT in mid-air!

Both men got back into the ring, where Ferrara continued to dominate with a back elbow and a dropkick. Ferrara went for the cover, but could only get two. Ferrara went for a suplex, but KUSHIDA reversed into a Kimura lock! Ferrara quickly got to the ropes, however. Ferrara struck KUSHIDA a few times, to which KUSHIDA invited more! Both men began to trade blows and KUSHIDA came out on top. He followed up with a top rope moonsault, but Ferrara kicked out at two! KUSHIDA went for a kick, but Ferrara ducked and rolled up his opponent for two. Ferrara charged at KUSHIDA, but the Japanese star was able to roll Ferrara into another Kimura for the victory!

WINNER: KUSHIDA via submission in 5:52.

ANALYSIS: Basic match with KUSHIDA getting a chance to show off his offense. Ferrara continues to be jobbed out. Not sure where ROH is going with him, but his star has certainly fallen since rubbing elbows with Jay Lethal and the House of Truth late last year. (**1/4)

ROH World Tag Team Champions Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian made their way to the commentary desk. Kaz grabbed a mic and said reDRagon has been whining for week’s about another shot at the “ROH World Tag Team Titles of the World.” Kaz said that O’Reilly and Fish were part of an “entitlement generation” that wanted things handed to them rather than working hard for them. Kaz said they would give reDRagon a shot at the titles, but only next week. Kaz then gave Kevin Kelly permission to worship them and the champs walked off.

[Commercial Break]

Silas Young made his way to the ring for the next match, as clips aired from the Global Wars Night 1 iPPV. For those who missed it, Young teamed with NJPW’s Watanabe in an unsuccessful bid against the team of Moose and Gedo. After the match, Young turned on Watanabe and thus…

2 -- SILAS YOUNG vs. WATANABE

Watanabe extended his hand but Silas responded with a slap to the face. The bell rang and Young put the boots to Watanabe. He charged at Watanabe, but ate a boot instead. They jockeyed for position in the center and Watanabe ultimately came out on top with a back suplex. Watanabe followed up with a German suplex as the fans cheered him on. Watanabe positioned Silas on the top turnbuckle, but Young knocked him down and followed up with a flying clothesline from the top! He went for the cover, but Watanabe kicked out at two!

Both men got to their feet and traded blows. Silas charged at Watanabe and missed. Watanabe capitalized with a hangman’s neckbreaker, followed by the swinging version! He covered Silas, but could only get two. Silas fought back with a kick to the jaw. Young’s comeback was short-lived, as Watanabe knocked him to the outside. Watanabe then drove Silas into the hockey boards and followed up with a release German suplex on the floor! Watanabe rolled Silas back into the ring, but could only get a nearfall. Silas eventually fought back with another kick to the head. He went for his finisher, but Watanabe blocked. Young came out of the exchange on top and hit an Airplane Spin into a TKO for the victory!

WINNER: Silas Young via pinfall in 5:53.

ANALYSIS: Very similar to the opening match, only this time the ROH star went over. I’m glad to see Silas back, as he was becoming one of my favorite acts in the company before his knee injury last year. (**)

[Commercial Break]

The Decade made their entrance as clips aired from a few weeks ago on ROH TV when Moose and B.J. Whitmer got into a shouting match. You see, Moose is sort of a babyface, but is managed by heels and Whitmer is just a jerk. B.J. grabbed the mic and said he would be happy to fight Moose and end his winning streak, but he would like to give one of his young, deserving stablemates a chance to make a name for himself. Kevin Kelly assumed he was talking about Adam Page, but then Whitmer announced that Moose would face Colby Corino!

Colby looked surprised at first, but then took off his shirt and began taping his wrists. Steve Corino was in disbelief on commentary, as Whitmer said that Colby would prove he was more of a man than his father ever was by taking on Moose. Colby’s physique was Cheesebugrer-esque to say the least. Colby walked right up to Moose and slapped him in the face and then the bell rang!

3 -- COLBY CORINO (w/B.J. Whitmer & Adam Page) vs. MOOSE (w/Veda Scott & Stokely Hathaway)

Colby immediately hit Moose with blows to no effect. Moose easily tossed Colby over the top rope with one hand. Moose followed and just launched Colby into the hockey boards. Moose then picked up Colby and wheelbarrowed him into the boards several times. Colby’s head and torso were red as he writhed in pain on the floor. Moose grabbed him by the hair and then powerbombed him first on the edge of the ring and then another time right into the bottom rope! His body ricocheted onto the floor. Moose delivered a third powerbomb, this time directly on the floor. Steve Corino was begging the referee to stop the match, as Veda walked up to Colby and just slapped him in the face. Back in the ring, Moose put his foot on Colby’s lifeless body for the win.

WINNER: Moose via pinfall in 2:44.

ANALYSIS: This was fun for what it was, although I’m really not sure what ROH is trying to do with Moose. It seemed as if they were presenting him as a reluctant heel against Whitmer, but he showed little to no remorse while decimating the 18-year-old Corino. (n/a)

Parking Lot: Truth Martini was reading the Book of Truth until Jay Lethal ran over to him and interrupted. Lethal was concerned that he had to wrestle against the Briscoes in a tag match, but Martini said there would not be a “free preview” of Best in the World tonight.

[Commercial Break]

Inside ROH: “The Exotic Goddess” Mandy Leon hosted the return of ROH’s magazine segment. She segued to a video package on the feud between A.C.H. and Adam Page. The show then went to clips from the Conquest tour in Minneapolis, Minn. where Adam Page stole a victory from A.C.H. with a low blow. After the match, both men brawled to the point where referees and officials had to run out to break it up. While they were in the process of doing so, A.C.H. hit a huge flip dive onto Page and a sea of humanity! This led up to the announcement that A.C.H. and Matt Sydal will face B.J. Whitmer and Adam Page at the Best in the World PPV.

[Reax: Mandy Leon doesn’t have the smoothest delivery, but I’m happy to see this segment return to ROH TV. It is a great way to further storylines and recap big angles when you only have an hour per week to work with.]

4 -- THE BRISCOES (ROH World champion Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe) vs. HOUSE OF TRUTH (J. Diesel & Donovan Dijak w/Truth Martini and TV champion Jay Lethal)

ROH TV champion Jay Lethal joined the commentators at ringside, as Dijak and Mark started the match. Dijak got the early advantage, but Mark quickly fought back with some chops and strikes. There was a stalemate where Mark hit his “Karate Kid” pose. This was followed by another stalemate when Dijak performed a backflip and landed on his feet! Pretty impressive for a guy who stands close to 7-feet tall. Jay Briscoe and J. Diesel tagged in. Briscoe quickly roughed Diesel into a corner and pummeled him. Jay tagged Mark and held Diesel back while his brother threw some fists. Mark then chopped Diesel in the corner, as Lethal said he would get rid of Briscoe’s camouflage belt after winning both titles at Best in the World.

Jay tagged back in and continued to dominate Diesel. Briscoe turned his attention to Lethal at ringside, which opened him up to a double-team attack from Diesel and Dijak. Diesel slammed Jay to the mat and covered him, but could only get two. The fans cheered on Jay and he rallied back and made the hot tag to Mark! Mark came in and hit some Red Neck Kung Fu, followed by a pair of Uncle Mule Kicks on both of his opponents. Mark went up top, but Martini distracted the referee while Dijak illegally kicked Mark off of the top rope. The show cut to a late break at the 7:00 mark.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 8:00, Mark came off the top rope but was caught and dropped by Dijak. Diesel tagged back in and slammed Mark hard on the mat for another nearfall. Diesel picked Mark up again and delivered a fallaway slam. Dijak tagged in and put the boots to Mark in the corner. The heels double-teamed Mark, but he was able to flip out of the way and tag Jay! The ROH World Champion came into the ring and hit everyone in sight with his boot. He dumped Dijak out of the ring and then delivered a big spinning forearm to Diesel’s face! He hoisted Diesel onto his shoulders and Mark finished the Doomsday Device with a big clothesline from the top rope! Jay covered Diesel for the victory.

WINNERS: The Briscoes via pinfall in 11:03.

ANALYSIS: Standard Briscoes tag match. Having Jay Briscoe pin one of Lethal’s lower-card stablemates was Booking 101 at its finest. (**1/2)

After the match, Dijak nailed Mark Briscoe with his Feast Your Eyes finisher on the outside. Jay Briscoe responded with flip a dive onto Dijak on the outside! Briscoe rolled him back into the ring and went for a Jay Driller, but Jay Lethal ran into break it up. Briscoe had an answer for Lethal, however, and nailed him with a Jay Driller to close the show!

FINAL REAX: Pedestrian episode of ROH this week. It wasn’t bad by any means, but I wonder what the first-time viewer will think when this episode airs on Destination America this Wednesday. The in-ring action was just okay and none of the ROH stars really had a chance to stand out. I can already hear some groans when people see Daniels and Kazarian doing their same TNA schtick and former TNA comedy act Jay Lethal at the top of the card.

I’m guessing this show was already in the can once the Destination America premiere date was announced, but I think ROH would have been better off doing a “best of” show for the first week, perhaps featuring The Addiction’s recent victory over reDRagon and one of Jay Lethal’s stand-out matches from the past year to re-establish these acts to the TNA audience that might be crossing over on Wednesday. Average-at-best episode aside, ROH’s logical booking will probably be a breath of fresh air for WWE and TNA fans alike come this Wednesday.

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