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ROH TV REPORT
JUNE 3, 2018
CHICAGO, IL AT ODEUM EXPO CENTER
AIRED ON SINCLAIR AFFILIATES & ROHWRESTLING.COM
REPORT BY HARLEY R. PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentary: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana
Opening theme.
-In the arena we opened with Cody and Burnard The Business Bear making their entrance. Cody was wearing a “booked before Flip” pictogram shirt. He was showered with streamers by the fans but the crowd booed when he referred to himself as the leader of Bullet Club. He also claimed to be the next senator of Texas (see: recent episodes of Being The Elite) and the next NWA World Champion (after he challenges Nick Aldis at All In). He turned his attention to the upcoming triple threat match at Best In The World where he and “his Bullet Club subordinate” Marty Scurll will both challenge defending ROH World Champion Dalton Castle.
Scurll’s music interrupted and he made his way out with umbrella in hand. Cody sat in te ropes and smirked during the entrance before his expression turned to a scowl at the loud “Marty” chants. Scurll said Cody loves to brag about how great he is but Scurll doesn’t have to because everybody already knows it. Scurll claimed Cody is intimidated and threatened by him. Even though they’re friends, he’ll go through Cody to get his first world championship if he has to. He offered “a gentleman’s handshake.” Cody asked if that was all he was going to say. Scurll put down his umbrella and they both looked to the crowd before shaking hands. Scurll held on and teased breaking Cody’s fingers before patting Cody on the palm and slipping out of the ring. [C]
(Pageot’s Perspective: A little paint by numbers. Both men were true to their established personalities and the crowds are backing Scurll as the favorite of the two but this didn’t really progress anything beyond the tension we’d already established weeks ago in their backstage promos. The absence of our current world champion here says a lot. ROH has really become the Bullet Club show with their core five and the various New Japan guest stars treated as far more important than everyone else on the roster.)
-Silas Young was backstage. He hoped Austin Aries had been studying and training because he didn’t want any excuses after he beats him tonight.
(1) KAREN Q vs. TENILLE DASHWOOD
Q ripped up some streamers and angrily yelled at fans not to throw them so she’s clearly the heel here. Wristlock from Q as she yelled at Dashwood, asking who the superstar is now. They traded standing switches until Dashwood pulled Q’s legs out from under her. Q bailed to ringside but Dashwood caught her with a neckbreaker across the middle rope. Q dropped Dashwood on her back on the apron. [C]
Q was in control out of the break. She hit a handspring back elbow on Dashwood in the corner and followed with two running forearms. An exploder suplex got her a two-count. She stood on Dashwood’s hair and pulled her by the arms. Dashwood fought out of a Spring Roll attempt. Q charged in the corner, missed, and found herself locked in the tarantula. Sidewalk slam from Q for two. She vented in Mandarin at being unable to put Dashwood away. Dashwood caught her with a boot and two clotheslines. She threw Q across the ring by her hair and hit The Taste Of Tenille for a two-count. Q locked in the Spring Roll. Dashwood made it to the ropes. Q looked for her submission move again but Dashwood countered into a pin.
WINNER: Tenille Dashwood in 10:36.
-Q slammed a steel chair against the ring post and apron in frustration.
(Pageot’s Perspective: This was only Q’s second ROH appearance this year, the first being a Women Of Honor Championship tournament loss to Brandi Rhodes on February 18 TV. The fact that Dashwood got a fluke pin here and Q continued to heel it up after the match seems to indicate that ROH is somewhat interested in protecting her and we’ll likely see more of her going forward. That makes sense as Kelly Klein and possibly Jenny Rose are the only established heels in the women’s division at the moment. This was also notably the first Women Of Honor match to go longer than ten minutes since Klein vs. Mandy Leon on March 24 TV.)
-Video package on the Adam Page-Punishment Martinez feud with Ian Riccaboni narrating the story as it’s played out over recent live events. [C]
-Footage of the Briscoes-Young Bucks match from three weeks ago that ended in a DQ when Mark Briscoe used a steel chair. The commentators confirmed that their rematch and Page vs. Martinez have both been booked for Best In The World.
-The current Impact World Champion, Austin Aries, made his entrance for his first ROH match since July 2015. He had two other title belts with him. The commentators didn’t acknowledge which championships they were but did discuss his two reigns as ROH World Champion and his time as ROH World Tag Team Champion with Roderick Strong. Silas Young insulted various fans at ringside during his entrance.
(2) “THE LAST REAL MAN” SILAS YOUNG vs. AUSTIN ARIES – ROH WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP
Tale of the tape. Both men are from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and are the same height. Young has 15 pounds on Aries but Aries has two years of experience on Young. [C]
Aries got a crucifix pin for a one-count immediately and went for Last Chancery but Young was in the ropes. Back and forth exchanges with Aries coming out on top with a dropkick. Young put down Aries with a shoulder tackle. Aries ran Young along the apron, bouncing his head off the turnbuckles. [C]
Young threw Aries into the guardrail and stomped on him in the ring. Young hit the Young Combination (for lack of a better name) for a two-count. Aries came back with a suicide dive. Missile dropkick in the ring got Aries two. Young ran Aries into the corner with shoulders to the gut. Aries escaped two Misery attempts. Young escaped a brainbuster attempt. Aries ended up planting Young with a death valley driver on the apron. [C]
Young caught Aries on a dropkick attempt and hit the Milwaukee Plunge but Aries got his foot on the rope to break the count. “This is awesome” from the crowd. Young brought the TV title into the ring. The referee took it away and Aries locked in Last Chancery. Young got his foot on the bottom rope this time. Aries brought one of his belts into the ring. As the ref took it away, Young rolled up Aries with a handful of tights but Aries kicked out. They traded punches.
Young looked for Misery, inadvertently knocking out the referee with Aries’ legs in the process. When he saw the ref go down, Young dropped Aries. Aries recovered, hit a discus fivearm and a brainbuster, and went up top for the 450 splash. Beer City Bruiser charged the ring but Kenny King was mere steps behind him and cut him off. King fought off Bruiser at ringside but the distraction allowed Young to crotch Aries on the top rope. Young grabbed his TV title again and brought it into the ring. As he coiled to strike Aries with the belt, King stole it away and smashed Young with it. Aries draped an arm over Young as the referee recovered and counted three.
WINNER: Austin Aries in 16:48 to capture the TV title.
-Aries and King celebrated amidst a shower of streamers as the commentators were excited about the title change and Aries winning the one title that eluded him during his previous six years in the promotion. Senior referee Todd Sinclair ran down to ringside and spoke to the match’s referee. Cabana assumed he was checking on his health after taking the shot to the head. Instead they called over ring announcer Bobby Cruise to make a change.
WINNER: Silas Young in 16:48 by disqualification to retain the TV title.
Young and Bruiser looked smug as they grabbed his title and high-tailed it. Aries and King pleaded with the referees before Aries finally snapped and kicked Sinclair between the legs. The commentators instantly turned on Aries citing that, since Bully Ray was fired as enforcer, it’s up to people like Sinclair to ensure the rules are followed around here. Aries was enraged as King tried to talk him down. King hugged him and fetched Aries’ three belts for him. They high-fived before Aries kicked King between the legs too and hit him with a brainbuster. Aries locked King in Last Chancery as Riccaboni and Cabana were vocally disgusted at Aries’ actions. They mentioned his long friendship with King. (Aries managed King and Rhett Titus as The All-Night Express for a period in 2010.)
(Pageot’s Perspective: The three commercial breaks really hurt that one. The commentators were framing this in the same way as Jericho vs. Omega – two superstars from the same hometown, evenly matched, mirror images of each other. Maybe that came across better for the fans in attendance. After all, they did give them a “this is awesome” chant. But for the television viewers the constant interruptions really brought it down a notch. I thought going in that there was a chance we’d get a screwy finish and a rematch at Best In The World but it looks more likely that we’ll get Aries vs. King if we do see Aries again in ROH. I get it. Impact doesn’t want their world champion losing clean in ROH and ROH has no plans to put the TV title on Aries. Aries can pin King instead and maybe King can be elevated simply by having a meaningful feud with an established main eventer. Does this mean senior referee Todd Sinclair is the new go-to authority figure going forward in lieu of Joe Koff hiring a new enforcer? I guess I’m okay with that as long as finishes like this one don’t become a regular occurrence.
Throughout the show the commentators had been plugging a huge Best In The World announcement from Jay Lethal, even reminding us during this match that we would hear from him after it ended, but the show went off the air with Aries’ tantrum and no mention of Lethal. Presumably we’ll get that next week with Riccaboni explaining that we ran out of time this week due to all the shenanigans. I enjoy that. It’s one of the little touches ROH does to make it feel like these shows are live and wrestling is unpredictable. Besides, an ROH television episode opening and closing with promo segments would have been very unusual.)
-Next week: it’s Kelly Klein vs. future NXT superstar Deonna Purrazzo and a huge Best In The World announcement from Jay Lethal?
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