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ROH TV REPORT
MAY 6, 2018
PITTSBURGH, PA AT STAGE AE
AIRED ON SINCLAIR AFFILIATES & ROHWRESTLING.COM
REPORT BY HARLEY R. PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentary: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman
[Q1] Opening theme.
-Video recap from three weeks ago when Bruiser & Milonas attacked LSG backstage, forcing Ali to enter the tag team gauntlet match alone and eventually falling to Bruiser & Milonas. C2C got a picture-in-picture promo vowing tonight was the night they get their revenge.
(1) BEER CITY BRUISER & BRIAN MILONAS vs. COAST 2 COAST (LSG & Shaheem Ali)
The big men tumbled to ringside over the ropes early. Ali took out Bruiser with a splash but Milonas caught LSG. As he was carrying LSG, Ali caught him with a dropkick, though. Ali took down Milonas again with a cannonball over the ropes. Bruiser went for his cannonball off the apron on C2C but they both moved and he hit the floor hard. Milonas scooped up Ali in the ring, LSG came off the top, and Milonas caught him too. He splashed them both at the same time. [C]
The heels kept Ali squashed in the corner. Milonas hit a back senton. Ali made the tag and hit a flurry of right hands on both men. Kip-up clothesline took down Bruiser. 450 splash on Milonas but he kicked out. Bruiser with a DDT. Ali with a flatliner on Bruiser. Milonas set LSG on the top rope for Last Call. Superplex from Milonas, frog-splash from Bruiser, but Ali broke up the pin. LSG off Ali’s back into a codebreaker on Bruiser. Milonas was down in the corner and they called for Coast To Coast. They hit it for the win.
WINNERS: Coast 2 Coast in 10:25.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Another big win for Coast 2 Coast. This one could have gone either way with both teams situated in a similar position as the new 2018 tag division prospects being established slowly but surely. Their pre-match promo seemed to set this up as the final blow-off to the feud so, for that reason, the faces going over is logical. C2C aren’t quite ready to tussle with The Briscoes for the tag titles yet but they’re definitely getting there. I suspect we’ll see it sometime this summer with C2C getting their biggest underdog story yet. As for Bruiser & Milonas, the Bucks and Machine Guns are the only face teams left in the division so maybe they and Silas can enter the six-man division for a while?)
[Q2] Jay Lethal was backstage. Without ROH gold around his waist, he’s lost. Management told him he has to rack up some more wins first if he wants another title shot. He suggested he go back and defeat everyone who defeated him recently. [C]
(Pageot’s Perspective: Terrific storyline logic and set-up for a redemption story. Every wrestler should have specific, individual goals and this is exactly that. The only person to defeat Lethal in 2018 is Dalton Castle but he did lose to Punishment Martinez and Matt Taven in November and Silas Young in September.)
-The Young Bucks were elsewhere backstage. They spent half their promo time discussing what they should discuss with the 45 seconds they were allotted before settling on the tag team gauntlet match. They quickly squeezed in a promo on The Briscoes and promised a superkick party next week.
-Titus cut a promo on the way to the ring. He said that Little Willy is going to turn The Octopus into calamari. Titus joined the commentary team.
(2) “LITTLE WILLY” WILL FERRARA (w/Rhett Titus) vs. “THE OCTOPUS” JONATHAN GRESHAM
Ferrara actually had the size advantage here, with 5 inches and 16 pounds on Gresham. Titus claimed it was supposed to he and Gresham originally but he told Little Willy to take care of the lightweight. Amateur wrestling lock-ups and exchanges in the ring. The commentators sold this as an opportunity for Ferrara to remind us that he can actually be a skilled technical wrestler when it calls for it. [C]
Both men targeted each other’s arms. Gresham tried for The Octopus but Ferrara escaped to the ropes. Ferrara got a couple near-falls off of surprise pin attempts. Ferrara locked in the crossface dawgface but Gresham made it to the ropes. They threw hands in the middle of the ring. Ferrara got the better of the exchange but Gresham kipped up, hit an enziguiri, and followed with a bridging German suplex for two. A bridging roll-up got the victory.
WINNER: Jonathan Gresham in 8:35.
[Q3] Titus ran down to the ring and stomped away at Gresham. Ferrara joined in until Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley made the save for their former Search & Destroy colleague.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Ferrara always seems small in The Dawgs’ tag matches but he’s actually only one inch shorter than the average height for adult white males. This was a Gresham “pure wrestling” match with lots of arm locks and switches, roll-throughs & bridges. Understandably not as dynamic as his recent encounters with Lethal but a win is a win and Ferrara got to show off a different side of his in-ring style.)
-Cody and Marty Scurll were backstage in the Bullet Club promo area. June 29, Best In The World, the day before Cody’s birthday. Last year he became ROH World Champion at that event by defeating Christopher Daniels. Cody said it’s going to be Castle facing the #1 contender, the most-deserving contender, the guy who is dominating the news feed, the guy who is just killing it, the #1 guy in Ring Of Honor… (implying himself) …but Scurll cut in. “That’s right, Dalton. You’re going to get beat by ‘The Villain’ Marty Scurll.” Cody pulled him aside and told Scurll to go along with him because Bullet Club is fine and Scurll already had his title shot. Scurll again told Castle that he was his and Cody walked off with a “damn it, Marty.” [C]
-SoCal Uncensored were backstage. Frankie Kazarian said that at Supercard Of Honor The Kingdom proved they’re as dumb as they look when they stole their six-man titles. Scorpio Sky suggested they should pay attention to tonight’s main event. Christopher Daniels said they’re going to end The Kingdom any way they see fit.
-Shane Taylor was in the ring with a microphone while Future Of Honor competitor Ryan Nova stood in the corner behind him. For eight years Taylor ran the streets of Pittsburgh, getting paid to beat people down. He’s been paid by the best to do what he does best, which is knock people out. He turned his attention to Nova. ROH has to pay guys like him when that money could be going to Taylor so he’s going to knock cats out of the box until there’s nobody left but him. He closed with his new catchphrase “more money, your problem.”
-Nova got a pre-taped promo. He said that Taylor was going to get scorched by ROH’s one true supernova.
(3) SHANE TAYLOR vs. RYAN NOVA
Taylor with a knee to the chin. Choke slam. Another. Michinoku driver.
WINNER: Shane Taylor in 0:37 via referee stoppage.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Would you believe that’s Taylor’s first win this year outside of the battle royal co-win with Flip Gordon? Obviously one match won’t make him credible but this was a good step and I liked his confidence on the mic and in the squash match.)
-The Kingdom came out for the main event wearing the six-man titles. Cut to a backstage promo. Taven told Castle this is just a preview of what will happen when he faces him for the world title in Lowell, Massachusetts this Wednesday. O’Ryan and Marseglia questioned what was stopping SoCal Uncensored from hitting the ring and stealing their titles back during the match but Taven said he knew a guy. Back in the arena it turned out Shane Taylor had never left after his match. He accepted the three title belts and a wad of cash from Taven before taking a seat at the timekeeper’s table.
-Castle & The Boys got a picture-in-picture promo. The Boys shouted and marched in the background while Castle hoped that Taven was ready for what they were bringing to the table. [C]
(4) ROH WORLD CHAMPION DALTON CASTLE & THE BOYS (Brandon & Brent) vs. THE KINGDOM (Matt Taven, TK O’Ryan, & Vinny Marseglia)
Castle and O’Ryan started. Castle’s right hand was still bandaged up from when Scurll broke it at Supercard Of Honor.
[Q4] Castle threw O’Ryan into his corner and Marseglia tagged in. Castle tried for Julie Newmar but Marseglia fought out. Tag to Boy 2 but both Boys came in and double-teamed Marseglia. Split-legged top rope dropkick for two. Marseglia took him down with some kicks. Taven with the tag and he asked for Castle. The champ tagged in. They went chest to chest. Castle with jumping knees in the corner. [C]
Taven clotheslined to the floor. Marseglia and O’Ryan went after The Boys on the other side of the ring. Triple team to Castle. Boy 1 tagged in and they both went after The Kingdom. Stereo dropkicks to Taven. Double flapjack to Boy 1. He tried to fight out of Marseglia and O’Ryan. Taven with the running knee.
Christopher Daniels hit the ring and looked to collect the six-man titles. Taylor shoved him down. Daniels tried to remind him they’re friends but Taylor reminded him that The Kingdom paid him tonight. As they squabbled Taven grabbed the belts and The Boys pulled twin magic in the ring. Boy 2 caught O’Ryan with a kick to the head and the hot tag to Castle. Castle took out Marseglia and O’Ryan. Seven times he threw The Boys over the top rope onto the individual Kingdom members on the floor. “ROH” chant from the crowd. Castle went for a punch to O’Ryan on the apron but he held up Taven’s CMLL belt and Castle hit it with his broken hand. Taven with The Climax to Boy 2.
WINNERS: The Kingdom in 13:47.
-The Kingdom beat down Castle and Boy 2 some more after the match. Marseglia with a steel chair to Castle’s broken hand. They wrapped the chair around the hand and Taven came off the second rope with a stomp. Castle writhed in pain.
(Pageot’s Perspective: You had to assume Taven would pin a Boy to win this one. It’s all fuel on the fire of their world title match this Wednesday but unfortunately not enough. Taven’s been demanding a world title match for four or five months and is finally getting it. If he wins he’ll become the second ROH grand slam champion after Daniels, yet all the match ends up getting is one segment on one episode of TV. Meanwhile we’ve got Cody and Scurll already talking about facing Castle on June 29 so if there was any question about Taven actually winning the title I think the match outcome is a preordained conclusion at this point.
As to the post-match attack, I thought there was a chance SoCal would make the save and head toward a face turn as they’re already positioned as the de facto babyfaces in the six-man feud with The Kingdom. The fact that they didn’t is noteworthy. Is this just a short-term feud with both teams intended to stay heel after it’s over?)
-Next week: it’s The Briscoes vs. The Young Bucks for the tag titles.
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