ROH TV Report
Aired July 26, 2015 in syndication
To air July 29, 2015 on Dest. America
Taped 6/20 in New York, N.Y.
Report by Mike Metzger (@md0uble), PWTorch contributor

The ROH "Creating Excellence" signature aired, followed by the ROH TV opening.

1 -- Then-IWGP Hvt. Tag Team Champions THE KINGDOM (MICHAEL BENNETT & MATT TAVEN w/Maria Kanellis) vs. HOLLIS & GRISHAM -- non-title match

Both teams shook hands and then The Kingdom immediately hit a double-superkick on their opponents. The Kingdom threw both men out of the ring, as a "let's go jobbers" chant broke out. The Kingdom pummeled Hollis and Graham around ringside, as Maria joined the commentary desk. Kelly asked Maria about the recent friction between Adam Cole and the Kingdom. Maria responded that Kelly was "wrong a lot."

Back in the ring, Taven scored a nearfall on Grisham. Grisham began to fight back, but found himself in enemy territory. The Kingdom went for a double-team, but a miscommunication caused Taven to hit Bennett with an enziguri! Grisham was able to make the hot tag to Hollis, who came in and splashed both of his opponents in opposite corners. He went for one splash too many, however, as he ate a superkick from Taven and then a spear from Bennett. Bennett went for the cover, but Grisham broke it up!

Grisham then hit a jump-up enziguiri on Bennett, followed by a German suplex! Unfortunately for Grisham, Taven immediately broke up his momentum with a spin kick off the ropes. The Kingdom then hit their Hail Mary spike piledriver for the victory.

WINNERS: The Kingdom via pinfall in 4:25.

ANALYSIS: Mostly a squash match, but Grisham showed some good fighting spirit with a couple of hope spots. (*1/2)

[Commercial Break]

2 -- CAPRICE COLEMAN vs. "BRUTAL" BOB EVANS vs. SILAS YOUNG vs. CHEESEBURGER vs. MOOSE (w/Stokely Hathaway) vs. DALTON CASTLE (w/his "boys") -- Six-Man Mayhem match

Prince Nana joined the commentary desk and revealed that both Moose and Hathaway were his proteges. Moose and Castle started the match. Castle did his spot where he leaned all the way backward. The brief distraction to Moose allowed Evans to tag himself into the match. Castle then tagged in Cheeseburger who wanted a piece of Evans, but "Brutal" Bob avoided his former partner by tagging in Young. Silas easily won a Test of Strength, but Cheeseburger eventually rolled his way out!

Cheeseburger out-quicked Silas with a kick to the face, but Silas yanked Cheeseburger's shirt over his head and raked his back! Cheeseburger rolled to the outside, which allowed Coleman to enter the match. Coleman and Young jockeyed for position until Silas hit a shoulder tackle. Caprice fought back with a dropkick, but Silas kicked out of a pin attempt. The show then went to a break at 3:20.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 5:50, Moose was splashing Silas in the corner. Moose positioned Silas on the top turnbuckle, but Silas raked him in the eyes. Coleman ran in and hit a top rope huracanrana on Young! Coleman went up top, but Evans shoved him to the floor. Cheeseburger got in his face, but Evans punched him. Evans then hit Moose, but was soon cut off by a beautiful dropkick from Castle! Castle went for a dive, but strutted around the ring instead. He posed for the crowd, but Silas hit him from behind.

Silas was in control, as he taunted the crowd. "Dalton Castle" chant from the crowd, as Evans tagged himself in and continued to pummel Castle. Silas tagged back in and kicked Castle in the gut. He followed up with a snap suplex, but he couldn't put Castle away. Instead, Silas applied a chin lock as the boys cheered Castle on from ringside. Castle fought his way out of the hold and went for a sunset flip while the boys tried to knock Silas over with the wind from their fans! Before they could, however, Silas ran over and nailed both boys off of the apron.

Castle hit an overhead throw and then Evans tagged Silas. Castle hit Evans with a backdrop and then made the hot tag to Moose! Moose came in and splashed both Silas and Evans in opposite corners. He threw Evans into Young and then splashed them both! Moose then hoisted Cheeseburger over his head and tossed Cheeseburger directly onto "Brutal" Bob on the outside. Coleman reappeared and hit a dive onto several wrestlers at ringside!

Back in the ring, Moose went for a dive, but he was cut off by Silas. Moose came right back by dropkicking Silas off the top turnbuckle and then he hit a flip dive onto a sea of humanity at ringside! "Moose" chants as Moose was alone in the ring with Cheeseburger. He went for a spear, but Castle broke it up. Silas came in with his backbreaker/clothesline combo on Castle, but Coleman was right there with a leg lariat from the top rope! Evans shoulder tackled Coleman, but was then hit with a palm strike by Cheeseburger! Moose hit Cheesburger with a clothesline. Castle nailed Moose with a deadlift German suplex to end the sequence!

The fans were behind Castle as he stumbled around the ring. He charged at Evans in the corner, but missed. Moose then went for a spear on Moose in the corner, but missed as well. Evans covered Moose with his feet on the ropes. Cheeseburger was a second too late with the save, but the ref stopped counting anyway. Moose got up and nailed Evans with a big spear for the win.

WINNER: Moose via pinfall in 13:04.

ANALYSIS: I'm not a big fan of multiple-man matches to begin with and this felt like they were just trying to cram several wrestlers and storylines into a TV taping. There were some good spots and a nice sequence at the end, but there was just too much going on. I also found it odd that Coleman was in the match instead of Cedric Alexander, as Alexander is the one who has an issue with Moose right now. (**1/2)

[Commercial Break]

(During the break, there was an in-house spot where the ROH narrator encouraged viewers to order the "Death Before Dishonor" VOD from last Friday on ROHWrestling.com and then ran down the card. Read my full iPPV Report HERE.)

In-ring: B.J. Whitmer had the mic, as Adam Page made Colby Corino clear streamers from the ring. Whitmer talked about how fans have witnessed a youngster become a man over the past several weeks. He revealed he was talking about Colby. Whitmer had a lot of heat from the NYC crowd, as he sarcastically complimented Colby for taking both Moose and War Machine "to the limit." Whitmer said he was proud of Colby and now considered him like his own son. Steve Corino was disgusted on commentary. "Steve Corino" chant from the crowd, as Whitmer promised Colby he would be the father he "never had." Whitmer said he got Colby a gift- a gauntlet match against four ROH prospects!

Whitmer handed ring announcer Bobby Cruise a sheet of paper and then Cruise announced Colby's opponents at a combined weight of 1800 pounds: Shaheem Ali, Wildman Congo, "The Beast" Ortiz and "The Punishment" Martinez. The four huge men walked to ringside, but Steve Corino said he heard enough. Steve got up and walked over to Colby's four opponents. Whitmer taunted Steve on the mic, to which Corino responded by entering the ring and getting in Whitmer's face!

Whitmer accused Steve of abandoning Colby and then wondered aloud how long it would take until Steve abandoned his wife and baby. Steve charged at Whitmer, but things were quickly broken up by ROH officials and ROH Matchmaker Nigel McGuinness. Whitmer dared Steve to hit him, as Kevin Kelly demanded the truck cut to a break.

[Reax: This storyline isn't the worst thing ever to happen in pro wrestling, but I just wonder what the payoff will be. I can't imagine there is a huge demand for a Steve Corino-B.J. Whitmer showdown, and I doubt anyone really wants to see Steve fight his son, either.]

[Commercial Break]

Inside ROH: Mandy Leon reminded viewers that Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, and KUSHIDA will be appearing on upcoming ROH shows, including the much talked about Field of Honor event in Brooklyn that will run opposite "NXT: Takeover" in Brooklyn, New York on August 22. Leon then introduced clips of Okada, Nakamura, and KUSHIDA at the co-promoted ROH/NJPW shows this past May.

[Commercial Break]

3 -- A.C.H. vs. BOBBY FISH

Nigel McGuinness joined Kevin Kelly on commentary for this match after Corino went to the back to cool off. Both men shook hands and then the bell rang. The felt each other out for the first couple minutes. Things picked up when A.C.H. hit some acrobatics and then a dropkick. A.C.H. threw some punches and then hit a Tornado suplex out of the corner, but Fish kicked out. A.C.H. followed up with some chops in the corner, but Fish fought back with a European uppercut. A.C.H. tried to regain control with a dive to the outside, but Fish rolled out of the way as they show cut to a break at 3:25.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 4:25, Fish had A.C.H. in a hold. A.C.H. quickly fought out, however, and then nailed Fish with more chops. A.C.H. threw some kicks, but Fish eventually caught him. A.C.H. came right back with an enziguiri. A.C.H. followed up with a clothesline and a cover, but Fish kicked out at two. A.C.H. then hit a reverse STO off the middle rope, but he still couldn't put Fish away. A.C.H. threw a fist, but Fish ducked and hit a Samoan Drop! Fish went on the attack and then hit an exploder suplex on A.C.H. into the corner. Fish went for the cover, but A.C.H. kicked out at two.

Reset at 7:00, as both men traded blows in the center. Fish went for a cross body, but A.C.H. bent back Matrix-style to avoid it! Fish went to the outside and then ate a kick from A.C.H. on the apron! A.C.H. followed up with a flip dive in which he changed direction in mid-air! A.C.H. went up top, but missed a double foot stomp. Fish seized the opportunity and hit a Dragonscrew leg whip. Both men jockeyed for position until A.C.H. hit Fish in the face with a kick!

A.C.H. went back to the top, despite selling an injured leg. He went for a 450 Splash, but Fish got the knees up! Fish went for the cover, but couldn't put A.C.H. away! Fish went back to the leg. A.C.H. went for another enziguiri, but Fish ducked and applied his Fish Hook leg submission! A.C.H. tired to fight out, but Fish was able to convert it into a heel hook! A.C.H. rolled over and the ref began to count both men's shoulders to the mat until they both kicked out at two.. A.C.H. went to the top, but Fish cut him off and hit a Falcon Arrow off the top rope for the victory!

WINNER: Bobby Fish via pinfall in 11:05.

ANALYSIS: This took a while to get going, but came together nicely in the end. I liked Fish's creativity in working A.C.H.'s leg. I just can't believe A.C.H. lost another match and to Bobby Fish of all people. A.C.H. has consistently lost to every special attraction he has faced in recent months, and he even lost to Adam Page at Death Before Dishonor last Friday. You would think this random match was set up to give A.C.H. a solid win over a tag wrestler, but that would make too much sense I guess. Maybe ROH is setting A.C.H. up for a losing streak gimmick, but I feel like they just did that with Cedric Alexander last month. (**3/4)

Next Week: Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly and War Machine vs. Young Bucks!

FINAL REAX: This felt like leftovers from the NYC tapings in June. Not a bad show, but nothing really good either. Fish-A.C.H. did not seem like a main event and I wonder if this show will hold the Destination America audience, especially in the later 11:00 p.m. EST timeslot. I have avoided spoilers from the latest set of TV tapings in Baltimore, but I hope some more compelling match-ups were booked this time around, especially now that ROH has found itself in WWE NXT's crosshairs.

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

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