5/25 ROH TV – Metzger’s Report on Bullet Club special edition, Adam Cole promo

ROH TV Report
Aired May 22, 2016 in syndication
Aired May 25, 2016 on Comet TV
Report by Mike Metzger (@md0uble), PWTorch contributor

The ROH TV opening aired.

Backstage: Kevin Kelly welcomed viewers to a special Bullet Club-themed episode of ROH TV. Kelly immediately brought up the main event angle from Global Wars, promising that clips of Bullet Club’s attack would air later in the show.

Kevin Kelly spoke in generic terms about the history of Bullet Club, saying that members had come and gone over the years. Kelly then introduced the first clip of the night, featuring Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows versus The Briscoes at the inaugural War of the Worlds event in New York City back in May 2014. Roughly four minutes of the match were shown. Anderson/Gallows won the match with their Magic Killer finisher.

[Reax: Disappointing start to the show. When the Bullet Club theme was announced last week, I was hoping viewers would be treated to clips of the group’s formation in New Japan. Instead, it looks like tonight’s tribute show will be mostly ROH-centric.]

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, Kevin Kelly again hyped that “exclusive footage” from Global Wars would air later in the show. Kelly then introduced clips from a 10-man tag team match between Bullet Club and ROH All-Stars from Global Wars 2015 in Toronto. For those who don’t remember, the team of The Briscoes, War Machine, and Roderick Strong were victorious over Bullet Club. About three minutes of the match were shown.

[Commercial Break]

Backstage: Kevin Kelly continued to hype Bullet Club by referencing the fact that they had won every major title in NJPW, including The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega capturing the newly-minted NEVER Openweight 6-man tag titles. The Elite’s title defense against The Briscoes and Toru Yano from Honor Rising in February was then shown in its entirety. Omega assisted a More Bang for Your Buck on Yano for the victory.

[Commercial Break]

Kevin Kelly again teased the big Bullet Club angle from Global Wars. Kelly then introduced clips of Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows’s final match in NJPW, when they teamed with The Guerrillas of Destiny to face reDRagon, Katsuyori Shibata, and Hirooki Goto. Shibata won the match for his team after he hit Gallows with the Penalty Kick.

[Commercial Break]

Back from break, Kevin Kelly finally introduced clips from Global Wars, where Adam Cole joined Bullet Club and disrupted the ROH World Title match between Jay Lethal and Colt Cabana. The end of the title match aired, followed by Bullet Club’s beat-down in its entirety.

[Reax: I was surprised ROH aired the entire ending of the PPV. It’s been two weeks since Global Wars, but I’m sure some fans will be disappointed that they paid $45 for something that was re-aired on free TV shortly afterward.]

Backstage: Adam Cole, wearing a Bullet Club t-shirt, said that Bullet Club takes what they want. Cole then turned his attention to ROH World Champion Jay Lethal. Cole declared himself, “the guy here,” and vowed to win “his” title back. “Why? Because I can!” Cole said, as the show faded to black.

Final Reax: This episode was more of a way to feature additional matches from February’s Honor Rising shows than it was an actual Bullet Club tribute show. The Cole promo at the end was new, although it was very brief and generic.

All in all, this episode is a prime example of what’s wrong with ROH’s TV product. By the time the company addresses the big angle from Global Wars on TV, the online wrestling conversation has moved onto other topics. Hopefully, Ring of Honor can get people talking again starting next week with fresh TV episodes taped in Toronto.