SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
HITS
Best Friends (Trent Beretta & Chuckie T) vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley – Current ROH World Tag Champs): This was a very good opening match. I thoroughly enjoyed. The crowd was into it and enjoyed the action. The action was back and forth throughout where I didn’t feel any one team dominated the other. As I watched and got into it, I didn’t expect the Motor City Machine Guns to lose but I kept wondering how they would finish the match since I did not expect the Best Friends to win the titles. And that is when it got interesting from my point of view. Just after a nice lawn dart cutter was put on Shelley on the outside the ring and just as Chuckie T hit a dive to the outside taking out both Motor City Machine Guns, the Briscoes hit the stage and attack the Best Friends from behind. The Briscoes then beat down Shelley and Sabin in the ring. Shelley is even tied to the rope with zip ties while Jay Briscoe hits Sabin with a Jay Driller on a steel folding chair. The Briscoes attack was met with loud boos and I loved it. This was well done because if we go back to what I said with how this match would end, I was curious at how they would finish this and who would put who over. I was sure the Machine Guns would win clean but not how. This no decision on the match was done well. I’m looking forward to seeing this feud develop further after the latest Briscoe Brothers attack on The Machine Guns. Excellent opening segment.
Beer City Bruiser, Brian Milonas, and Silas Young: As you know by now, Milonas and Bruiser are a new tag team. This was a quick promo where Milonas & Bruiser announced that they’ll debut next week and Young mentions that he cannot wait to see it. I thought this was a good quick promo that gave us something to look forward to next week with the debut of Milonas & Bruiser as a team.
Punishment Martinez Video Package: The production on this package was excellent. ROH is not a huge company but they hold their own when it comes to video packages. I thought this was a good way of giving some of Punishment Martinez’ background. They also show various clips of Martinez’ matches with many of ROH’s biggest stars and they show Martinez attacking Castle a few weeks back. We also find out from the package and at the opening of the next match that next week Martinez will get his title shot at Dalton Castle. Nice job by Ian Riccaboni tying in the pieces at the end of the package and promoting the big match between Castle and Martinez on next week’s episode.
Shane Taylor vs. Marty Scurll: I knew this match would be good before it started, and it did not disappoint. I have seen Taylor on the independents work with guys like Scurll in the past and what impresses me about Taylor is how versatile he is in his style of wrestling. Taylor is a big man but when he wrestles guys like Scurll, he has no trouble moving around quickly and putting on great matches. There was a sequence near the end of the match where Taylor and Scurll traded punches, forearms, and stiff slaps to the face where it looked like these guys were killing each other. I was shocked when Taylor kicked out of Scurll’s ghostbuster finish. The crowd too was a little shocked as they came alive. Soon after Taylor has powder thrown in his eyes old school wrestling style, and Scurll school boys Taylor and wins in a heck of a match. Scurll calls out Punishment Martinez on the microphone after the win. Martinez comes out from Scurll’s blind side. Scurll tells Martinez that he thinks Martinez will defeat Castle next week and become the ROH World champion. Scurll then asked Martinez if he could get the first shot at the ROH World title after Martinez wins it. Martinez nods yes and then chokeslams Scurll. It was a weird segment at the end. I assume they’ll do something with Martinez and Scurll down the line that they can use this for. For now, we will have to wait and see. Lastly on the match, the crowd was very much into this throughout which is a testament to both Taylor and Scurll who put on a very good match. While the end with Scurll and Martinez was good, the match between Scurll and Taylor was excellent and a good watch.
Recap of Bully Ray’s retirement: Quick video package of Bully Ray’s retirement. I was good with this. Not everyone sees everything every week, so it was good to throw this in here as a quick recap of what happened last week in case someone missed it.
WOH Clip & Announcement: Riccaboni and Colt Cabana tell us right after seeing a short video of the Women of Honor belt and short match clips that next week the tournament starts. Nice placement here for this quick reminder of what to look forward to with the WOH tournament beginning next week.
Cody vs Matt Taven: The crowd was loud to start this. They were into it as Cody got some loud “Cody” chants and we got a bunch of “WOOOOOOOS” from the fans as Cody hit Taven with some great chops to get things going. Midway through the match, Riccaboni mentions that there is bad blood between Cody and Kenny Omega. If you’re not following NJPW, you should check out what happened between Cody and Omega and why Riccaboni’s mention makes sense. Cabana also mentions that Cody had no Bullet Club teammates in his corner. As the finish began to develop, Sinclair has had all he can stand of Marseglia & O’Ryan who continuously circle the ring like wild dogs. With Sinclair’s back turned, Taven picks up his Kingdom stick but Cody punts Taven in the tender region and then Cody rolls up Taven and gets the win. After the match O’Ryan attacks Cody and hits him with a chair to Cody’s hand on the ring apron. With Marseglia & O’Ryan’s help, Taven punts Cody in the tender region. Taven hits his finisher and then Taven steals Cody’s ring of honor. Taven then puts the ring on and with Cody being out cold, he makes Cody kiss the ring. Once again, another solid match on the episode and I thought a really good finish with Cody winning but Taven leaving Cody knocked out at the end.
MISSES
Great show. Nothing to report.
FINAL THOUGHTS
ROH was hitting on all cylinders during this episode. I enjoyed it because there was not one wasted moment, match, or segment. The opening match was stopped because The Briscoes unexpectedly attacked The Motor City Machine Guns furthering their feud. Taylor and Scurll tied up a loose end of sorts from the last two weeks where we know that Taylor attacked Scurll when SoCal Uncensored paid him to watch their backs. It still was not seamless with Taylor and SoCal Uncensored and Bullet Club but at least we got this match from the attack last week. The video packages and promos about WOH, Martinez, Bully Ray’s retirement, and Bruiser/Milonas/Young were nice additions to the show that all had a purpose. Lastly, Cody and Taven had a solid match in the main event that saw The Kingdom beat down Cody after Cody defeated Taven. Great show this week, where the Nashville crowd was into it big time, and with a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks.
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 and you can check out his old school wrestling podcasts at tinyurl.com/BTTPod
NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S COLUMN: ROH HITS & MISSES 1/29: Martinez, Castle, Coast To Coast vs. War Machine, Bruiser & Brian Milonas, Bully Ray Retires, Women of Honor Tourney Update, SoCal vs. Bullet Club
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