ROH HITS & MISSES 7/1: Best in the World fallout, Daniels confronts Cody, Young Bucks in four-corners match, Cheeseburger

HITS

Cody and Christopher Daniels: If you thought that anything was resolved after Best in the World last week, well you would’ve been wrong. We kicked off the hour of ROH TV with Cody in the ring cutting a promo. Cody’s promo does not last long as Christopher Daniels appears when the lights go out. An intense fight breaks out between the two. Now this is no ordinary fight because both are in suits and ties. However, that doesn’t stop the two from going after each other. Referee Todd Sinclair attempts to break up the fight but he’s sent into the corner violently. Referee Paul Turner also attempts to break them up but he is unsuccessful. Finally, security helps get things under control and the two are separated. The hate between Cody and Daniels comes across as very real in this segment. I thought this was a very good opening segment and we’ll have to stay tuned to see where things lead to from here.

Jay Briscoe vs. Josh “The Goods” Woods: Before the match, they air a Jay Briscoe promo that was outstanding. Briscoe says that Woods either has a big pair of you know what or he’s just plain stupid. Briscoe puts over that Woods was a good collegiate athlete but then says this isn’t the NCAA and when you dive into ROH, you’re now swimming with sharks. Jay Briscoe continues to be one of the best promo guys in pro wrestling today. There is no doubt that Jay Briscoe means business. On to the match, they adhere to the code of honor at the start. They feel each other out early on. Things start speeding up when Jay Briscoe hits a very nice suicide dive to the outside nailing Woods. Briscoe is very aggressive and as Ian Riccaboni points out on commentary, he seems to be extra aggressive with Woods. It felt like Briscoe controlled a good bit of the match. This match was hard-hitting even though the crowd was very quiet in my opinion. The one thing that made me keep this a Hit for the week was Jay Briscoe. While Briscoe was on it, I didn’t feel that Woods wrestled a good match. The lead up to the match with the promos from Woods but mainly Briscoe is what made this a Hit for the week. I just felt at times the match slowed down too much. It felt like we saw a glimpse of Woods’ inexperience on display. But, I thought the experience of Jay Briscoe was able to carry Woods through the match to where it didn’t come across as a failure.

Bad Blood Between Will Ferrara & Cheeseburger: The dissention between these two has been going on for a while. Ian Riccaboni throws us to a recap of the mishaps that have occurred over the last few months. Ferrara is not happy with Cheeseburger any longer and he clearly communicates that to us. In summary, I liked this because it recaps that this has been an ongoing storyline and it keep it as least partially in the viewers minds that this is not over even though we haven’t seen much of it lately on the hour long weekly episodes.

Coast to Coast (Shaheem Ali & LSG) vs. The Tempura Boyz vs. The Young Bucks: Originally, we thought we were getting Coast to Coast vs. The Tempura Boyz. But before the match starts, The Young Bucks come out and declare that they are making this a Triple Threat tag match and that the ROH World Tag Team titles are on the line. If you remember, a few weeks ago, The Young Bucks declared that they were offering an open challenge for their tag titles since they’d already been through every tag team in ROH. From the point that they declare the 3-way tag match, we are off and running with tons of action. Colt Cabana said it best during the match right after Nick Jackson hits a front flip on to the outside taking out Coast to Coast and one of the Tempura Boyz. The Young Bucks eventually do get the win in an entertaining match. Not my favorite but entertaining nonetheless on this week’s episode.

Mark Briscoe vs. Kenny King vs. Beer City Bruiser vs. Chris Sabin 4-corner match: The winner gets a shot at the ROH TV title. King and Mark Briscoe start off the match with a very nice sequence of moves. I liked that Ian Riccaboni described the rules of the match as the match was near the beginning. As you would expect in an ROH 4-corner match, there is plenty of action not only in the ring but outside. Mark Briscoe midway through the match hits a back flip/moonsault from the corner top rope on to Bruiser and King. This is followed by Sabin launching himself from the ring apron with a missile drop kick to Mark Briscoe. We go to commercial. And as I said a second ago, there’s plenty of action. When we return we are treated with a suplex by Briscoe, King, and Sabin on Beer City Bruiser from the top rope that shook the ring. We get a simultaneous frog splash by Bruiser on to Sabin and Mark Briscoe hits a top rope elbow on to King. But then Bruiser and Mark Briscoe decide to mix it up and not stay with their pinfalls. King then gets back into the match and destroys Bruiser with a finisher leaving Kenny King the winner and he will get a shot at the ROH TV title. This was a very good match with tons of action. I thought these guys left it all on the line in a solid main event on this week’s show.

MISSES

Josh “The Goods” Woods: I mentioned above in the Hits that the match was fine and the promo on this week’s episode was excellent by Briscoe. However, I did get the feeling that Woods’ inexperience came into play in this match. The crowd was definitely quiet throughout and at times it just seemed like Woods was unsure of himself. I could be wrong but it was just a sense that I got. All in all, I still think the young man has a bright future but his performance in this match left much to be desired.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Good job by ROH this week following last week’s PPV. I liked the start of the show with Daniels and Cody going after each other. It seems that their feud is unresolved and we’ll have to see where else it leads. The middle of the show was average but they ended it with a good main event for a shot at the ROH TV title. If you’re reading this week’s article and are on the fence about watching, I’d recommend watching and enjoying this week’s episode.

NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S ARTICLE: ROH HITS & MISSES 6/24: The match to watch this week is Silas Young vs. Bobby Fish, plus Gordon vs. Gresham, Martinez vs. White, White promo

Mike Mills is the PWTorch.com ROH TV Hits and Misses Specialist, providing his point of view on ROH TV weekly. You can follow Mike at @BTT_Podcast and @Mike504Saints on Twitter.