10/21 ROH TV on Dest. America: Briscoe, ANX, Kingdom, more

On this week’s ROH TV, which airs Wednesday on Destination America, Jay Briscoe faces Adam Page in a grudge match and All Night Express faces The Addiction in tag action…

ROH TV Report
Aired October 18, 2015 in syndication
To air October 21, 2015 on Dest. America
Taped 9/19 in San Antonio, Tex.
Report by Mike Metzger (@md0uble), PWTorch Contributor

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

The camera panned the Shrine Auditorium in San Antonio, as announcers Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino welcomed viewers to the show. They hyped tonight’s main event of Jay Briscoe versus Adam Page in a No Holds Barred match.

1 – THE ADDICTION (CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & FRANKIE KAZARIAN w/Chris Sabin) vs. THE ALL NIGHT EXPRESS (RHETT TITUS & KENNY KING)

The announcers reminded viewers that the All Night Express never lost the ROH World Tag Team Titles when Kenny King left the company in 2012. Both teams adhered to the Code of Honor, although Chris Sabin childishly threw pieces of streamers at Titus and King during the handshake. Kaz and Kenny started the match. Sabin tried to get involved but King was able to backdrop Kaz onto Sabin on the outside! The crowd popped huge, as the ref ejected Sabin from ringside!

ANX double-teamed Kaz with an atomic drop/clothesline combo and then did the same to Daniels when he ran in. King tagged Titus and then they isolated Daniels. King hit him with a spin kick, which allowed Titus to score a nearfall. Titus applied a side headlock. Daniels momentarily broke free, but Titus cinched it back on. Kaz grabbed Titus’s hair from the apron, however, which helped Daniels break free. The show then went to its first break at the 2:50 point in the match.

[Before the break began, a graphic for Briscoe-Page was shown. Jay Briscoe then cut a backstage promo about tonight’s main event. It was your typical Briscoe promo. He said that he had been doing this for a long time and tonight would be “the biggest damn bump in the road” for Page.]

[Commercial Break]

Back at 5:23, The Addiction was in firm control of the match. Daniels and Kaz each hit moonsaults on Titus, but he kicked out of a pin attempt by Daniels. Titus fought back with some fists, but Daniels cut off the momentum with a rake to the eyes. Daniels applied a front facelock on the mat, as the crowd cheered on Titus. Daniels voluntarily broke the hold to run over and knock King of the apron. The Addiction then double-teamed Titus behind the ref’s back as he checked on King.

The Addiction made some quick tags. They went for another double-team, but Titus escaped and made the hot tag to King! Kenny hit an atomic drop to Kaz and then kicked him in the head. He nailed Daniels with a spinebuster, which was good for a two count. King made the tag and then hit a backbreaker. Titus came in with a clothesline and another nearfall. All four men were in the ring, as The Addiction nailed a modified Total Elimination on Titus. They followed up with a springboard leg drop combo, but Titus kicked out of the pin attempt.

The Addiction went for another double-team, but King broke it up with shotgun knees. Daniels came right back with an STO. Titus got to his feet and collided head-first with Daniels! All four men were down on the mat, as the ref counted. After the smoke cleared, Kaz and King got to their feet and traded blows. King suplexed Kaz, but Daniels came in and hit King with a brainbuster. Titus tried to run in, but ate a uranage from Daniels! All of a sudden, someone in a red mask ran out to ringside. Daniels chased him into the ring but walked right into a standing dropkick from Titus! The distraction allowed King and Titus to hit their One Night Stand blockbuster/powerbomb combo for the victory!

WINNERS: The All Night Express via pinfall in 10:50.

ANALYSIS: Good match, although it felt like it was just thrown out there. I know there was an angle between the two teams on last week’s show, but this match could have easily been featured as a main event. Especially considering that this was a battle between two teams “that never lost the titles.” It’s nice to see ANX back in ROH, but the tag division seems very crowded right now. (**1/2)

[Commercial Break]

The Kingdom Speaks

The Kingdom, all dressed completely in black, made their entrance. Clips aired of the finish to the ROH World Tag Team Title match at All-Star Extravaganza where The Kingdom captured the championships. Mike Bennett spoke first and told a story about a farmer. It was about a farmer who held a snake close to keep it warm, but ended up being bitten by the snake in the end. C.M. Punk’s ROH World Title victory speech, this was not. Bennett said that The Kingdom were the snakes, as clips aired of Adam Cole costing Kyle O’Reilly his ROH World Title opportunity against Jay Lethal at All-Star Extravaganza.

Maria then introduced The Kingdom as the greatest faction in wrestling history. She said she worked in a male-dominated industry, but didn’t have to play by a man’s rules. Matt Taven took the mic and said that they had planned this moment a year ago when they originally formed The Kingdom. Taven said that you measure greatness by the gold you wear and then proclaimed he and Bennett the best tag team in the world today. Taven went on to say that the rest of The Kingdom would not sleep until Adam Cole was again the ROH World Champion.

Cole took the mic and immediately assumed that everyone wanted to know why he turned his back on Kyle O’Reilly. Cole said that O’Reilly didn’t deserve to be anywhere near the ROH World Title because that belt belonged to “the better member of Future Shock.” Cole referenced ROH Matchmaker Nigel McGuinness leaving him off the top contender’s list and took some shots at Michael Elgin in the process. Cole closed the promo by promising that both the ROH World Title and TV Title would be in The Kingdom’s possession shortly.

All of a sudden, Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish appeared at ringside! They tried to get into the ring, but were held back by ROH officials. Fish instead took the mic and said it was only a matter of time before reDRagon took the ROH World Tag Team Titles from them. But, their first order of business would be Adam Cole. It looked as if they were about to go at it, until Michael Elgin’s music blared throughout the arena!

Taven charged at Elgin, but flew straight out of the ring when “Big Mike” side-stepped him. Elgin knocked Bennett out of the ring and then Cole bailed, which left Maria alone in the ring. Elgin grabbed Maria, but Cole pulled her out of the ring in the nick of time. The fans chanted “Big Mike,” as he and reDRagon stood tall in the ring. Elgin challenged The Kingdom to a six-man tag. Fish ran after them, but the officials succeeded in keeping the two factions separated.

[Reax: Solid promo with a real old-school feel. It set the stage well for the upper mid-card going forward, as The Kingdom and reDRagon/Elgin can easily feud for the rest of the year. The separate mission statements regarding the titles did an especially good job of building anticipation for the future.]

[Commercial Break]

Inside ROH: Mandy Leon introduced the segment by throwing to clips of Silas Young winning “the boys” from Dalton Castle at All Star Extravaganza. Clips then aired from last week when Silas and the Beer City Bruiser destroyed “the boys” in a tag match. Leon concluded the segment by hyping that Dalton Castle would make his first appearance without “the boys” next week on ROH TV.

[Reax: Long recap, as they replayed most of the tag match from last week. Still, this was a simple yet effective way to hype next week’s show.]

Backstage: Adam Cole cut a promo on A.J. Styles. The two will meet in two weeks on ROH TV. Cole told A.J. that they had met before, but this time Styles would be facing a new Adam Cole. Cole said he would get what he wanted and that’s a shot at Styles’s #1 Contender status. Cole closed the the promo by saying that the only thing “phenomenal” about their match would be Cole dropping Styles on his head.

A brief Final Battle promo aired.

The Briscoes were then shown backstage. They simply introduced the next…

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, Kevin Kelly announced that The Kingdom would face the team of reDRagon & Michael Elgin on next week’s show!

2 – JAY BRISCOE vs. ADAM PAGE (w/B.J. Whitmer) – No Holds Barred match

Whitmer joined the commentary desk for this match. Kevin Kelly asked B.J. about the condition of Page’s taped-up shoulder. Whitmer said there were no issues and then traded some words with Corino. Referee Todd Sinclair called for the Code of Honor. Page surprisingly extended his hand to Briscoe. Jay went to shake his hand, but Page slapped him! Jay came right back with a kick to the gut and then the bell rang. He pummeled Page and then clotheslined him to the floor. Briscoe threw Page shoulder-first into the hockey boards. He went for a big dive, but Page cut him off with a protected steel chair shot to the head.

Page took control on the outside. He raked Briscoe’s eyes and then grabbed a table from underneath the ring. However, Page took too much time setting up the table, which gave Jay the opening to launch a chair at Page’s head! Briscoe tried to throw Page into the hockey boards, but Page reversed and then threw Jay back into the ring.

Page set up a chair in the ring, but Jay fought back with some fists. Page held him at bay, though, and then asked for Whitmer’s crutch. Whitmer tried to oblige, but Mark Briscoe ran out and cut him off! Mark did a little dance with the crutch and then took it with him to the back! Meanwhile in the ring, Page was able to nail a DDT to Briscoe on the chair. The show then cut to a break at the 3:42 point in the match.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 4:42, Page scored another nearfall. He yelled at Briscoe in the corner. Briscoe tried to fight out, but Page just whipped him hard into the opposite corner. Page charged at Briscoe, but instead went shoulder-first into the ringpost! Page found himself on the table he had set up on the outside earlier. Briscoe ran and hit a double-foot stomp through the table and the crowd erupted!

Back in the ring, Briscoe hit a swinging neckbreaker. He grabbed a chair and thought about what to do with it for a moment. He apparently made a decision and wrapped it around Page’s head and proceeded to deliver another neckbreaker to Page! “Man up” chants as Jay went to the outside and grabbed another table. Jay pummeled Page in the ropes and then stacked the table against a corner.

On commentary, Corino wanted to know the whereabouts of his son, but Kevin Kelly quickly changed the subject to avoid things getting out of hand. Birscoe charged at Page in the corner, but Page got the boot up and then nailed a pumphandle suplex through the table! The show then cut to another break at the 9:45 mark.

[Commercial Break]

Back at 10:45, Briscoe was pummeling Page on the apron. Briscoe then set up Page for the Jay Driller through a table at ringside, but Page reversed into a backdrop on the apron! Page followed up with a Shooting Star Press off the apron! “You still suck” chant in response to the memorable spot from Page. He went back under the ring and pulled out another table. Briscoe fought back and then they traded blows on the apron. Page went for a slingshot lariat, but Briscoe knocked him out of thin air with a roaring elbow!

Briscoe went for another Jay Driller on the apron, but Page wriggled free. Briscoe came right back by throwing another chair at Page’s face and then finally hit the Jay Driller off the apron and through a table at ringside! You just killed him!” chant from the crowd. Briscoe rolled the lifeless Page back into the ring and covered him, but somehow Page kicked out at two!

The commentators were dumbfounded, as Briscoe looked a bit concerned as well. Briscoe staggered in the corner but then walked over and yelled at his opponent, but Page just spat in face! Briscoe pummeled Page, but Page came off the ropes with a super kick. Briscoe hit a clothesline and then the Jay Driller for the victory!

WINNER: Jay Briscoe via pinfall in 15:50.

ANALYSIS: Above average hardcore match. Page held his own against the veteran Briscoe. Not sure how memorable this will be in the long-run, but Page definitely got in some great spots. They built up to the finish well. And it was a clean one, at that. Definitely nice to see a clear winner considering how much this match had been built up to in recent weeks. (***)

After the match, Corino and Whitmer exchanged some more words on commentary while the crowd chanted “That was awesome!” Whitmer entered the ring and began nailing the exhausted Briscoe with his crutch. Corino got up and entered the ring, despite pleas from Kevin Kelly to stay put. They stared each other down mid-ring. Whitmer begged Corino to hit him. Corino obliged and the crowd went wild! Corino left the ring and hugged Kelly. He walked out of the arena, but looked back one last time before he disappeared and the show faded to black.

[Reax: I never thought I’d say this, but I hope this is just building to a Corino-Whitmer match instead of a way to write out Corino.]

FINAL REAX: Another solid hour from Ring of Honor. This is a must-see show for anyone interested in ROH right now, as it forwarded several storylines. The Kingdom-reDRagon/Elgin storyline has come together quite nicely over the last couple months. It’s perhaps the best story in wrestling right now outside of NXT and NJPW. Tonight’s angle was especially newsworthy as it set up some major matches that should fill out the rest of the year.