11/18 ROH TV HITS & MISSES: Taven vs. White, Taylor vs. Cheeseburger, Castle vs. Page, Bully Ray Update

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HITS

Matt Taven (w/The Kingdom) vs. Jay White: Very good opening match. These two held nothing back. The chops that were thrown sounded off and you got the feeling that this was a real fight between two of these great talents in ROH. I believe this match showed me one of the first brain busters on the ring apron that I have personally ever seen. Somehow Taven recovered though and the match kept going. Throughout this match, I felt like both of these guys really did a good job of making each other look great. Unfortunately for White, The Kingdom being out there was just too much for White. The Kingdom got involved throughout the match once we reached the midway point of it. Taven wins and pins White with help from The Kingdom. Solid match to start the show. Both guys really held nothing back.

Flip Gordon Recruits Shaheem Ali, LSG, and Scorpio Sky: Last week Flip made his intentions known that he was recruiting an army to fight the Bullet Club. This week Flip recruits Ali and LSG. Later on in the show, Flip, Ali, and LSG recruit Scorpio Sky as well to work with them to take out the Bullet Club. We are still in the early going of this story. I am willing to see where this leads and what comes out of it. It’s still too early to judge but so far it’s got my attention. I like the idea of these newcomers to ROH and relative unknowns still going after the big bad wolves of ROH, The Bullet Club. While it does seem far fetched that these guys stand a chance against the Bullet Club, I think that is what is interesting. What will happen and how will Flip, Sky, Ali, and LSG do going up against them? I’m willing to give it a chance.

Shane Taylor vs. Cheeseburger: The winner of this match will earn his spot in the 4-way elimination match for the ROH TV title at Final Battle. Shane Taylor continues to impress in regard to his weight loss. He’s still a massive man but you can tell the weight he has lost recently, and he looks great. Cheeseburger gets in some offense early. But, it does not last. Taylor makes easy work of Cheeseburger when he hits Burger with his knockout punch which for an old school fan like me is beginning to remind me of when Ronnie Garvin knocked out many of men in the NWA with his hands of stone in the mid-80s. Taylor wins and earns his spot in the 4-way elimination match for the ROH TV title at Final Battle. The Dawgs (Will Ferrara aka Little Willy & Rhett Titus) come out at the end of the match with a glass full of pennies which they offer Taylor to “Take Out” Cheeseburger once and for all. Taylor turns down The Dawgs and sends them running with their tails between their legs. I could’ve done without the part with The Dawgs but this was still a good match and win for Taylor heading into Final Battle.

Recap of Mark and Jay Briscoe: Quick recap of what’s been going on with Mark and Jay Briscoe where Jay throws in the towel right as Mark was about to start his match with Kenny King for the ROH TV title. I say it all of the time, but when you only have one hour per week, I like these short segments because it keeps the story fresh in fans minds.

Silas Young Promo: Young will be fighting Jonathan Gresham next week for a chance to be in the ROH TV title elimination match at Final Battle. Anytime Young appears on ROH is a good thing. This was short but to the point which is what I think ROH does good each week with these short segments.

Dalton Castle vs. Hangman Adam Page: This match is as good as I expected when I first heard about it last week. The match starts of slow at the beginning. Cody is on commentary and it doesn’t take him long to get involved. At one point, Cody leaves the table and Castle chases him around the ring. Cody runs him to where Page is waiting to hit Castle with his shooting star off the apron. Page nails Castle. However, Castle fights back and not much longer than that Castle hits Page with a German Suplex and then Castle makes Page submit. Dalton Castle is your winner as we move closer to Final Battle where he will face Cody for the ROH World title. While Castle does get the win, Page and Cody attack Castle after Castle gets the win. Cody punches Castle with his ROH ring and then makes him kiss it. Although Castle won, Cody and Page leave him laid out. This was well done and plays into the match leading into Final Battle.

Bully Ray Update: Remember when Bully Ray seemed to retire from ROH? Yeah, me too. We even saw replays of this leading into Bully Ray’s update. Bully plays to the fans early on as he comes out and talks about how he’s proud of the letters ECW but he’s just as proud of the letters ROH. Bully puts on his old ECW and WWE Bubba Ray glasses on for a second to get a nice ovation. At this point Bully has a script that he is about to read from. But then he takes a nice shot at the WWE, in my opinion, when he says who the heck needs a script. Bully then says he’s done and thanks everyone. Joe Koff even comes out to thank Bully too. At that point, Jay Briscoe comes. This is where it gets interesting. Jay comes out and tells Bully Ray that if this is how he’s going out, that Bully is going out like a p*ssy and that Bully is a b*tch. Those are Jay’s words and not mine. I’m stating exactly what Jay said to Bully and not trying to be disrespectful in this column. Jay Briscoe then attacks Bully Ray from behind and then looks to attack him with a chair. Tommy Dreamer runs in to stop Jay. Then Mark Briscoe comes out and takes the chair from Jay. But Mark Briscoe turns on Dreamer and punts him straight in the groin. Velvet Sky comes out to stop the attack but Mark throws Velvet off of Bully. The Briscoes then hit Bully Ray with his own finisher! Let me be the first to say I was wrong! This segment was fantastic. While I do still want Bully Ray to step aside, I thought this was set up well from as far back as 3-4 weeks ago. I certainly hope that Bully and Dreamer lose but for what it’s worth, I was wrong, and this was a great moment for ROH. Let’s see what happens at Final Battle between these four assuming that’s where we are headed. Again, I was critical of Bully but the way they concluded today’s episode with Mark and Jay was very well done.

MISSES

None to report.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I can’t add anymore to what I have already said. This was a great week for ROH. The ending segment with Bully Ray, Tommy Dreamer, and the Briscoes was tremendous. While I still want Bully to just go away, he can do so after Final Battle 2017.

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. Also, check out his old school wrestling podcasts at tinyurl.com/BTTPod.

NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S COLUMN: 11/11 ROH HITS & MISSES: Briscoes, Jay Lethal, Martinez vs. Woods, Coleman’s Pulpit, Addiction vs. Best Friends