ROH TV Report
Aired August 23, 2015 in syndication
To air August 26, 2015 on Dest. America
Taped 7/25 in Baltimore, Md.
Report by Mike Metzger (@md0uble), PWTorch contributor

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

Tonight: The Addiction defends the ROH World Tag Team Titles against Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly!

Ringside: Steve Corino was back on commentary after being placed on a one-week "paid leave" for getting physically involved with B.J. Whitmer a couple weeks ago on ROH TV. Corino issued a brief apology, but was excited to be back this week because Adam Cole could become an ROH Triple Crown champion tonight.

1 -- THE BRISCOES vs. THE BLOODHOUND WARRIORS (RED SCORPION & GREY WOLF)

The Bloodhound Warriors appeared on ROH TV one other time in the last year or so. They are an 1980s throwback to the Road Warriors/Powers of Pain. Picture The Ascension, only smaller and stockier. The ref called for the Code of Honor. Red Scorpion instead broke into a scary pose. Mark Briscoe responded by mirroring said pose. Jay shook hands with Grey Wolf and then the bell rang. Both men stared each other down before a quick stalemate. Jay tried a couple of shoulder tackles, but Grey Wolf was un-phased. Jay came back with a running boot and Wolf quickly tagged in Scorpion.

Mark tagged in, but was quickly press-slammed onto the floor by Scorpion! Wolf then threw Mark into the hockey boards while the ref was distracted with Jay. The Warriors hit a double flapjack, but Mark was able to kick out of the pin attempt. Mark then thwarted a backdrop attempt and made the tag to Jay! The former champ nailed Wolf with several headbutts. Scorpion tagged himself in, but Jay avoided him and dove onto Wolf on the outside instead! Mark then came in to fight Scorpion, but was tossed over the top rope yet again. Back in the ring Jay hit a superkick and then a Death Valley Driver, but Red Scorpion kicked out of the pin attempt. Jay nailed Scorpion with a stiff lariat. Mark hit Froggy Bow and then Jay hit yet another lariat for the victory.

WINNERS: The Briscoes via pinfall in 4:19.

After the match, The Decade appeared in the entranceway. Adam Page had the mic and reminded Jay that he called him out two weeks ago, but he didn't respond. (Jay was not in the building at the time.) Jay told him to "hold up." Jay said, "No offense, brother, but I don't know who the hell you are." Briscoe went on to accept his challenge, but Whitmer grabbed the mic and said "not right now." Whitmer said he would give Jay the opportunity to "man up" next week against Adam Page. Briscoe accepted the challenge by saying Page would get his "ass whooped" next week.

ANALYSIS: Squash match getting the Briscoes back on track, although the Warriors did get some offense in. It looks like Jay is taking quite a few steps down the card after being defeated by Jay Lethal, but I think this Decade-Briscoes feud will help Adam Page develop further and that's a good thing for the future of ROH. (*1/2)

Backstage: ROH World & TV champion Jay Lethal and Truth Martini talked about Lethal's ROH TV Title defense against Hanson next week. Martini said that Lethal was what a champion looked like, not Hanson. Lethal said that Hanson beat him once before, but promised it wouldn't happen again. Martini ended the interview with his new line: "If life don't check you, Jay Lethal will."

[Commercial Break]

2 -- RODERICK STRONG vs. DONOVAN DIJAK (w/Truth Martini and J. Diesel)

Both men tied up in the center. Dijak overpowered Roddy to start. Strong fought back with a chop, but was shoved to the opposite corner by Dijak. Dijak pounded on Strong and then delivered a knee to the gut. He went for a powerslam, but Roddy fought out and kicked Dijak in the face! Dijak quickly overpowered Strong again, however. Strong again fought back with a kick to the face from the apron! Martini went for a Roddy's legs, but Strong jumped up and out of the way. The brief distraction allowed Dijak to knock Strong to the outside as the show went to break at the 2:20 mark.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 4:50, Dijak was in firm control of the match. Roddy tried to fight back with some kicks out of the corner, but Dijak picked up Roddy and just tossed him across the ring. Dijak called for the Feast Your Eyes, but Strong fought back with some forearms. Strong went for a Tornado DDT out of the corner, but Dijak caught him and delivered a backbreaker. Dijak applied a hold in the center of the ring at the 6:30 mark. Roddy fought out of it with a jawbreaker after 15 seconds. Roddy hit some forearms. He went for a backbreaker, but Dijak fought out. DIjak charged at Strong, who hit a beautiful dropkick out of nowhere!

Dijak fought back with a stiff kick to the face and a nearfall. Dijak went for Feast Your Eyes, but Strong punched his way out of it and delivered a kick. Roddy followed up with an Olympic Slam and then a running knee strike in the corner! Strong positioned Dijak up top. Dijak tried to fight out, but Strong regained control and nailed a superplex! He went for the cover, but Dijak kicked out at two!

Reset at 9:45, as both men traded blows in the center. Strong won the battle and hit a jumping knee strike, but Dijak came right back with a big boot and another nearfall! Dijak again went for Feast Your Eyes, but Strong escaped, hit another jumping knee strike, and then a double-knee gutbuster! Roddy quickly followed up with a Sick Kick for the victory!

WINNER: Roderick Strong via pinfall in 10:53:

Immediately after the bell, Jay Lethal ran out and attacked Strong. The rest of the House of Truth then ganged up on Strong. Dijak and Diesel held Strong back for Lethal, but Roddy fought out and startled hitting anything that moved! The numbers game started to catch up with him until War Machine ran out to make the save!

ANALYSIS: Good win for Strong. Dijak looked good, but he has definitely taken a back seat to rookie sensation Dalton Castle since winning the Top Prospect Tournament earlier this year. Dijak isn't necessarily in a bad position, but other recent Top Prospect winners Hanson and Matt Taven seemed to get much bigger pushes out of the gate, while Dijak seems stuck as a role-player. (**1/2)

[Commercial Break]

Inside ROH: "Exotic Goddess" Mandy Leon hyped ROH's All Star Extravaganza on traditional PPV in September. She announced the main event of Jay Lethal defending the ROH World Title against Kyle O'Reilly. Leon threw to a backstage promo where O'Reilly listed off a bunch of his nicknames and then promised to win the ROH World Title.

Leon warned that O'Reilly might not be facing Jay Lethal because he will defend the ROH World Title against Roderick Strong in two weeks on ROH TV. She then cut to a backstage promo from Strong, who promised there would be a winner this time and he would walk out as a two-time ROH World Champion. Leon then encouraged viewers to Tweet their thoughts on the current ROH World and TV Title pictures.

[Reax: Kudos to ROH for pushing this upcoming PPV hard. There were several mentions on commentary and a full commercial before this segment aired. Just another example of ROH tightening up their TV product in the last year.]

[Commercial Break]

3 -- ROH Tag Team champions THE ADDICTION (CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & FRANKIE KAZARIAN w/Chris Sabin) vs. FUTURE SHOCK (ADAM COLE & KYLE O'REILLY) - ROH Tag Team Title match

Cole and O'Reilly came out to the original Future Shock theme song, which was a nice touch. Kevin Kelly mentioned that Future Shock wrestled on the very first edition of ROH on Sinclair Television in 2011. Sabin joined the commentary table. In the ring, the Code of Honor was adhered to and then the bell rang. On commentary, Kevin Kelly asked Sabin if his career was over due to a neck injury. Sabin denied the rumors and said he had "super-mutant healing powers." Cole and Daniels started the match with a chain wrestling sequence for the first minute.

Daniels came out on top of the exchange. He stomped Cole on the mat and then in the corner. Cole reversed an Irish Whip and hit a backdrop. O'Reilly tagged in and then Future Shock double-teamed Daniels, as the show went to a break at the 2:20 point in the match.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 3:20, Daniels was able to tag Kaz. O'Reilly continued to dominate the match by kicking Kaz to the mat. Future Shock hit another double-team move on Kaz. Daniels entered the ring, but ate a superkick from Cole! Then Cole and O'Reilly lifted their arms and yelled "Future Shock, bay bay!" Things settled down with Cole and Kaz in the ring. A brief distraction from Daniels allowed Kaz to nail Cole with an enziguri that knocked Cole to the floor. Daniels continued the attack on the outside by throwing Cole into the hockey boards.

Back in the ring, Kaz dominated Cole in his corner. Daniels tagged in and hit a moonsault. Kaz tagged back in and the Addiction hit springboard legdrops on Cole in succession. The quick tags continued as the champions isolated Cole. Cole eventually hit an enziguiri out of nowhere on Kaz. He went for the hot tag, but Daniels ran over and yanked O'Reilly off the apron! Cole fought back against Kaz in the ring and hit a neckbreaker. He went for a figure-four leglock, but Kaz rolled through for a nearfall. Kaz then applied a submission hold of his own in the center of the ring! Cole kicked his way out after only a few seconds.

Cole then got to his feet and applied the figure-four! Kaz screamed in pain, but wouldn't tap out. Kaz reversed the pressure after about 20 seconds, but O'Reilly came in applied an armbar! The ref tried to break it up, but Daniels came in and applied a Koji Clutch to O'Reilly! All four men were locked together for a moment before referee Todd Sinclair broke it up! The show then went to another break at 9:35.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 10:35, a miscommunication caused the Addiction to run into each other and Adam Cole finally made the tag to O'Reilly! Kyle came in and delivered several kicks to Daniels. Kaz got involved, but O'Reilly locked on a cross arm-breaker! Daniels quickly broke it up, but O'Reilly immediately locked him into a kneebar! O'Reilly then got up and dove onto Kaz on the outside! Back in the ring, O'Reilly lifted Daniels on his shoulders, which set him up for a superkick from Cole! Future Shock hit a clothesline/legsweep combo, but Kazarian broke up the pin attempt.

Things started to break down. Kaz kicked Cole in the groin while the ref was distracted with the other two men. O'Reilly came in and nailed Daniels with a brainbuster. Daniels kicked out at two, but O'Reilly immediately locked on a cross arm-breaker! All of a sudden, The Kingdom ran out and got on the apron. Kaz was tapping to the cross arm-breaker, but the ref was distracted. Daniels broke it up and then went for Celebrity Rehab, but O'Reilly reversed into a roll-up on Kaz. O'Reilly had a visual pinfall, but the ref was still distracted with the Kingdom. Matt Taven then nailed O'Reilly with a superkick from the outside and Kaz covered him, but O'Reilly kicked out of the pin attempt!

Kaz was shocked, as Bennett continued to argue with Todd Sinclair on the apron. Maria Kanellis grabbed O'Reilly's leg. Cole saw her do it and was incensed. He chased after her and the Kingdom followed. Back in the ring, the Addiction hit Celebrity Rehab on O'Reilly for the victory.

WINNERS: The Addiction via pinfall in 14:30 to retain the ROH World Tag Team Titles.

After the match, Sabin entered the ring and then all three men attacked O'Reilly. Fish tried to make the save, but the numbers game was too much. The Young Bucks then ran out and cleaned house! The Kingdom ran then reappeared. They fought with O'Reilly and Fish on the outside, as the Bucks and The Addiction found themselves alone in the ring. The Bucks hit Kaz and Daniels with superkicks and then followed up with big dives to the outside in stereo to close the show!

ANALYSIS: Strong match that built to a hot finish. The outside interference at the end was a bit over the top, but it furthered two tag team feuds simultaneously. The ROH Tag Team division is perhaps the strongest it has been in years. I think it even tops the height of the reDRagon-Young Bucks feud last year, as there are now clearly-defined babyfaces and heels feuding for legitimate reasons and not just wrestling for the sake of putting on a great performance. (***1/2)

FINAL REAX: Another strong episode of ROH TV. I would strongly recommend the current ROH product to fans of WWE NXT. The show formats are very similar and ROH has its own mix of up-and-comers and seasoned veterans. I'm actually surprised there is not more buzz for ROH right now because of the national cable TV clearance and the TV product being so good right now. It just goes to show the power of the WWE machine and perhaps the weakness of Destination America in the crowded cable TV landscape.

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