SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
HITS
The Briscoes (Mark & Jay Briscoe) vs. Kenny King & Dalton Castle: On the surface, this was a very good match between all the champions in the promotion excluding the World 6-Man Tag Champs. It was a back and forth fight with everything you would expect from four of the best wrestlers in the company. Nearly 15 minutes into the match, Silas Young comes down the entrance ramp and slightly distracts King. I really did not like this finish because it made King look weak as he was slightly distracted by Young’s appearance. At the same time, I feel like the promotion was booked into a corner since there are four champions in the match and unless you do a time limit draw or DQ type finish then someone has to eat the pin. Because the match was good, I included it as a hit on this week’s episode, but the finish was weak at best. After the match, Young jumps into the ring and stands over King who was just pinned by The Briscoes. Young stands over King hoisting the ROH World TV title in the air as we head towards Supercard of Honor in New Orleans Saturday April 7. Additionally, at the end of the match, Scurll who was on commentary, leaves the announce table and grabs the ROH World Title. He sneaks up behind Castle, but Castle turns around and sees him. Scurll plays it cool and hands Castle the title as if he had no bad intentions. All in all, the match and the post-match shenanigans were good it was just the finish that I did not like. But, as stated I understand this is a tough one to book when you have four champions doing battle against each other.
The Kingdom: Before The Kingdom cut a promo, we are shown a recap of Bully Ray telling The Kingdom that their services are not needed at Supercard of Honor. While I am completely exhausted at the Bully Ray Enforcer role in ROH, I did not mind the replay for those who may have missed it. The Kingdom followed the replay with an excellent promo discussing how they never technically lost the 6-man tag belts. Technically he is correct. O’Ryan was injured when I believe Silas Young, Taven, & Marseglia lost the 6-man titles to Bully Ray & The Briscoes. Taven goes on to repeat that there is a conspiracy against The Kingdom and Taven closes it by calling Bully Ray a Melvin. The word Melvin has never been more fitting for anyone in the promotion than it is right now for Bully Ray. With a lot of holes in Bully’s “Enforcer” role, the term Melvin fits Bully perfectly. Therefore, chalk this up as a hit. With that said, I perfectly expect The Kingdom in some way or form to show up at Supercard of Honor even though Bully has said their services are not needed.
Tennille Dashwood vs. Brandi Rhodes and Sumie Sakai vs. Kagetsu: We are shown a quick video package of recent Women of Honor matches between Dashwood/Rhodes and Sakai/Kagetsu. I remember watching Dashwood vs. Rhodes during the 16th anniversary pre-show but I do not recall seeing Sakai vs. Kagetsu. I feel like this did not air, but I could be wrong. In any case, I am glad they showed a quick recap of where we stand with the tournament and the results of these two matches.
Mayu Iwatani vs. Deonna Purrazzo (Women of Honor Tournament Quarter Final Match): Coming into the Women of Honor tournament, Purrazzo was one of my favorites to win the tournament and the title. And as Purrazzo and Iwatani first made contact, I though they’d give us a good match and they did not disappoint. We witnessed a nice chop fest and some great back and forth action. Iwatani hit a missile drop kick off the top ropes towards the ends. Both women were completely exhausted when Purrazzo locked in a Fujiwara armbar. Somehow Iwatani fought towards the ropes and was able to break the submission hold. Still with both women exhausted, Iwatani nails Purrazzo with two strong kicks to the head and then Iwatani hit Purrazzo with her bridging German type suplex. Apologies if I am not naming it correctly. And the winner is Iwatani as she now moves on in the tournament. I stated above that Purrazzo was one of my favorites to win the tournament. I did not expect her to lose to Iwatani right here. Although this was unexpected, that is not a bad thing. Sometimes it is good to have a shake up and have a surprise win here and there. Also, I like the idea of Purrazzo chasing the title later down the line against someone like Kelly Klein. That is assuming Klein wins the title which is very possible in my opinion.
Supercard of Honor Promos: This was a very quick run through of promos by most of the talent that are competing at Supercard of Honor April 7. Nothing great but a decent last second build to what we can expected at Supercard.
Cody Speaks and Show Close: Cody comes out and declares that Bullet Club is fine. Then Cody says to name him a match that Omega has had that was a great one with anyone except someone named Jericho and Okada. Cody says the reality is Omega claims Cody is a reject from Cody’s former company but in reality, Omega is a reject from that same company’s developmental system. Cody claims Omega had the gall to put his hands on Brandi. Then Omega’s music hits. Omega walks out on stage with the head of Bury the Bear. Cody appears flustered. Omega tells Cody that before he says Bullet Club is fine, Cody should check with Bullet Club’s leader first. Omega claims Brandi forced herself upon him and he was confused. Omega claims that at the 16th anniversary it wasn’t the first time they kissed and as long as the kiss was, Brandi probably wants to do it again. Cody threw his jacket down and attacked Omega. The rest of Bullet Club hit the ring to pull Cody and Omega apart. From that point we go off air. I thought this was a fantastic way to close the show as we are less than a week away from Supercard of Honor. There is so much to be settled between Cody and Omega and The Bullet Club. The best part about this is that I have no clue how this thing gets settled with all parties involved and that is the beauty of what we are watching with this feud and conflict.
MISSES
Cheeseburger vs. Kikutaro: From the get go, this felt like a match that was put together and thrown out there to serve the purpose of filling up some TV time this week. The Dawgs (Rhett Titus & Little Willy aka Will Ferrara) join the commentary team. The match itself was nothing but comedy. The match only goes on for a few minutes before The Dawgs get involved which there is some logic in this if you consider Will Ferrara’s bad blood with Cheeseburger throughout 2017. Bully Ray made the save when The Dawgs were beating down Cheeseburger. Bully does not grab the microphone or anything, but he gives The Dawgs the death stare as they run away. Again, this felt like something to throw out there to fill up some TV time this week. If you would have missed this match, you would not have missed anything important and that is why this was a miss.
Final Thoughts
Except for the Cheeseburger vs. Kikutaro match, this was a solid show. I am looking forward to Supercard of Honor this weekend. I think Young and King are going to have a solid match. Given the emphasis on The Kingdom being shut out of Supercard of Honor, I am wondering what happens with them this weekend. Lastly, the drama between Omega and Cody along with the rest of The Bullet Club is interesting. I am not sure if there is anyone out there besides the guys involved that could tell you how this thing will end. For that reason alone, Supercard of Honor will be an interesting and intriguing card to watch.
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 3/26: Bully Ray’s camera time gets ridiculous, Gordon vs. Sky, Kingdom, Briscoe, SoCal Uncensored
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