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ROH STATE OF THE ART
JUNE 16, 2018
DALLAS, TX AT GILLEY’S
AIRED ON ROH HONOR CLUB
REPORT BY HARLEY R. PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentary: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana
Riccaboni and Cabana appeared on camera to run down some of the matches for this show. WOH World Champion Sumie Sakai had joined them for the opening contest.
(1) TENILLE DASHWOOD vs. THUNDER ROSA
Rosa jumped Dashwood before the bell as she posed on the ropes amidst a flow of streamers. Referee Todd Sinclair gave Dashwood a moment to recover before calling for the bell. Rosa tackled Dashwood and hit some strikes. Dashwood came back with a side Russian leg sweep. Dashwood chopped Rosa around the ringside area. Rosa avoided The Taste Of Tenille and dropped Dashwood throat-first over the ropes. She responded with some chops of her own and locked in a bow and arrow lock on Dashwood around the ring post. Rosa with jumping knees to the back of Dashwood while she was hung over the middle rope. Dashwood locked in the tarantula at 5:30. She followed with a suplex and The Taste Of Tenille for a two-count. Dashwood avoided a top rope double stop from Rosa and locked in a submission only for Dashwood to hit the Spotlight moments later.
WINNER: Tenille Dashwood in 7:15.
(Pageot’s Perspective: A little slow at points but respectable. Rosa has spent significant time in Texas so the crowd was behind her more than you might expect. Dashwood continues to pick up wins and is now 5-1 in singles action this year, the best record behind Sakai’s own 7-0. It would seem they’re headed to a big match for the title at some point but they’ve also been portrayed as close friends thus far so it will be interesting to see if Dashwood turns heel or if it’s just two friends competing respectfully for the gold.)
(2) IWGP TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS THE YOUNG BUCKS (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs. THE BOYS (Brandon & Brent) – NON-TITLE MATCH
The Boys had red, white, and blue cowboy hats strung around their necks. Brent tried for the test of strength on Nick but it had no effect on Nick who laughed it off and hit a back elbow. A superkick put him down and Matt was tagged. Cabana said the Bucks referred to this as an enhancement match earlier and were insulted on behalf of the Boys. The Boys hit stereo flips over the top rope onto the Bucks on the floor and whipped Matt into a building post. They attempted the same on Nick but he ran up the post and hit a moonsault onto the Boys. The Boys pulled twin magic back in the ring. Matt went for a sharpshooter on Brent, who pulled him into an inside cradle for a two-count. The Bucks continued to take things lightly and goof off between moves. Brent jumped off the top rope with a hurricanrana onto Matt. Nick attempted twin magic but referee Paul Turner could tell the difference between the two Bucks and ordered him to the apron. Brent with a double hurricanrana on both Bucks. Matt and Nick collided by mistake and Brandon picked up a two-count. The Boys simultaneously jumped off the top rope into two superkicks. Matt put one Boy on each shoulder and Nick springboarded into a double Indytaker.
WINNERS: The Young Bucks in 9:49.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Just some light-hearted fun. The Boys hardly looked like in-ring threats in the way that they did against The Kingdom one night earlier.)
-The Bucks looked down on the fallen Boys with their titles over their shoulders when the lights went out and Cody’s music hit. He made his entrance with wife and bear in tow. Cody was dressed in a suit and hugged the Jacksons. Brandi and Bury entered the ring as well. Cody put over the Bucks being the new IWGP tag champions. He started to discuss All In, which led to a “book Flip” chant from the crowd. Cody sent the Bucks to the showers.
Cody discussed his 2020 Texas senate run. (See: recent episodes of Being The Elite.) He wanted to talk about safety and turned it over to his campaign manager, the bullet queen. Brandi mentioned that Christopher Daniels was almost burned alive the last time they were in Texas. In the interest of safety, Cody’s match with Shane Taylor is cancelled per her authority.
Taylor made his entrance. Riccaboni mentioned that he lives in Texas these days and had friends and family in attendance. Burnard offered a handshake, which Taylor blew off. Taylor said he’s been around hustlers his entire life but Cody may be one of the best. Taylor was insulted about Cody trying to cancel the match for Taylor’s safety. Taylor tried to be the hardest worker in ROH but realized it made no difference so now he’s the guy that gangsters don’t walk to talk about. Brandi said that if Taylor lives in Texas now she’s glad they moved away. Taylor said in Texas they don’t let their women fight their battles for them. A fan responded with a “yes we do” chant. Cody said the match is back on and kicked Taylor in the stomach. He looked for a big boot but Taylor sidestepped and Burnard went down. Brandi and her boys scurried off. The commentators assumed we’ll get the match later tonight.
(Pageot’s Perspective: A long segment, kind of all over the place, and just so that we can get Taylor positioned as the babyface tonight and Cody as the heel? It seems like they can’t pick a lane with either of these guys. Cody’s tweener role is his established character but Taylor’s almost always a heel, except when he got cheered in Scotland recently and now they’re trying to get him cheered again tonight against a popular act. The crowd wasn’t really buying into it.)
(3) THE KINGDOM (Matt Taven, TK O’Ryan, & Vinny Marseglia) vs. TEAM CMLL (Atlantis, Guerrero Maya Jr., & Stuka Jr.) – ROH WORLD SIX-MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Atlantis and Marseglia went back and forth in the opening minutes. This is being contested under lucha rules, which means tags are not necessary as one partner can simply roll out and another roll back in to establish a new legal man. The luchadores hit a trio of submission moves on the Kingdom for the hard camera. At 8:00 Taven hit a frog-splash on Maya but his partners broke up the pin. Taven and Atlantis and O’Ryan and Stuka fought up the ramp to the stage. Stuka ran the stage and Atlantis used his feet to throw him through the air and onto Taven on the ramp. Marseglia fell to the luchadores in the ring until O’Ryan made his return. Rockstar Supernova on Maya ended it.
WINNERS: The Kingdom in 10:39 to retain the six-man titles.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Fast-paced and the luchas got to show off some impressive aerial moves and teamwork that we don’t normally see too much of in ROH.)
(4) “THE VILLAIN” MARTY SCURLL vs. JAY LETHAL vs. FLIP GORDON
Scurll told Gordon to step aside and watch as Scurll schools Lethal. Gordon reluctantly went and stood on the apron. Chain-wrestling from Scurll and Lethal. Gordon eventually came in and he and Scurll went back and forth while Lethal watched. Gordon got the advantage, which angered Scurll. Then the crowd called for Lethal vs. Gordon but Scurll didn’t want to be left out. As they cheered louder, he relented and said he was going home only to attack Lethal from behind. The triple threat was finally on. Scurll locked Gordon in a back stretch and Lethal in a Boston crab at the same time. Lethal made it to the ropes to avoid a chicken-wing attempt. Lethal hit some suicide dives on Gordon and Scurll on alternate sides of the ring. Lethal countered a Star-Spangled Stunner from Gordon into a torture rack. At 12:00 all three men were down. Lethal Combination on Scurll. Gordon with a Samoan pop, running shooting star, and moonsault. As he covered Lethal for the pin Scurll grabbed him from behind in the chicken-wing. Lethal locked the figure four on Gordon too but they broke it up. Scurll snapped Lethal’s fingers. Cutter from Lethal to Gordon. Scurll tried to hit him with the umbrella but Lethal blocked. Kinder Surprise from Gordon. Super-explex from Scurll and the chicken-wing again on Gordon. Lethal was nowhere to be found as Gordon tapped.
WINNER: Marty Scurll in 16:31.
-Scurll and Lethal left and Bully Ray hit the ring with a steel chair. He looked to attack Gordon from behind but Gordon caught him with a superkick. Gordon grabbed the chair and Ray hit a low blow. Ray took a microphone. “Look at you, army boy.” Maybe if Gordon wasn’t so concerned about being #ALLIN he would have won tonight. He told Gordon to be concerned about him. Ray said he’s a 25-time world champion and a two-time hall of famer. At Best In The World he’s going to shoot on Gordon, outshine him, and outwrestle him. He’s Bully Ray and he’s better than Gordon will ever be. Ray teased hitting Gordon with the chair but kicked him instead.
(Pageot’s Perspective: As good as you’d expect, especially if you’re a fan of the three men involved. Scurll winning was obvious as was Gordon taking the loss.)
-Intermission. Our intermission match was Adam Cole vs. ACH from Supercard Of Honor X on April 1, 2016 in Dallas.
-Rhett Titus was on commentary for the next match. SoCal Uncensored made their entrance. Sky said this was the worst town they’d ever been in, Kaz dumped on all the reasons Dallas sucks, and Daniels gave the crowd permission to worship them.
(5) SHANE “HURRICANE” HELMS & DELIRIOUS vs. THE ADDICTION (Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian w/Scorpio Sky)
Daniels and Delirious started. Helms didn’t know what to make of Delirious but took a tag. Kaz took a cheap shot at Helms as he ran the ropes but Helms came back on both men. Delirious ran Kaz head-first into the turnbuckles. Kaz hit an eye poke and did the same but Delirious enjoyed having his head bounced off the turnbuckles. Dropkick to Kaz, gore buster to Daniels. At 7:00 Delirious disappeared under the ring and a dwarf in a Delirious mask came out the other side. He hit a series of arm drags and a back body drop on Kaz. Chops to Daniels. Flying headscissors to Daniels. He lifted Kaz in the electric chair and tagged Helms. They hit the Doomsday Device and Helms and “Delirious” posed on the ropes. “Delirious” went back under the ring and re-grew to his normal size. Delirious with a back rake to Kaz. Daniels drove him into the guardrail. The heels worked over Delirious. Tag to Helms at 12:20. Lungblower and unprettier from Kaz but he kicked out. He hurri’ed up and unloaded on Daniels with blows. The Addiction blocked a chokeslam attempt. Hurrichokeslam from Helms to Daniels.
WINNERS: Delirious & Helms in 14:14.
-Mini-Delirious returned to the ring post-match, proving that they were different people. Kaz flipped out and demanded that referee Todd Sinclair reverse the decision and reward them the match by disqualification. He did not.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Parts of this were very fun but it definitely went longer than it needed to. I feel like that statement applies to all of these Honor Club events in general, though. I still think that Helms as an in-ring competitor is going to be short-lived and he’ll instead take a non-wrestling role soon, likely as the new enforcer.)
-Riccaboni and Cabana thanked Titus for coming but he refused to leave. They checked their production notes to indicate that he was only slotted for the one match but he declared himself the new analyst so they shrugged and moved on with the show.
(6) THE BRISCOES (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe) vs. KILLER ELITE SQUAD (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer) – ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Both teams brawled around the ringside area early on. Jay threw a steel chair into the ring but the referee quickly removed it. At 9:50 K.E.S. hit the Hart Attack for two. Jay sent Smith to the floor and went after him while Mark fought Archer in the ring. Jay with a death valley driver on Archer and Mark with the froggy-bow but Archer kicked out. Overhead bell to belly suplex from Smith to Mark. Buckle bomb and chokeslam from Archer to Jay for two. Killer Bomb to Jay but Mark broke up the pin. Killer Bomb for Mark as well but Jay kicked out of the pin. Mark threw Smith into the guardrail. Archer missed a top rope moonsault. Jay with the tag to Mark. Smith grabbed Mark on the top rope. Jay took out Smith and Archer was caught with a Doomsday Device for another two-count. All four men back in the ring. Archer looked for another chokeslam but Mark rolled through.
WINNERS: The Briscoes in 15:19 to retain the tag titles.
-Jay took a mic and called themselves the baddest tag team on the planet. He told the stupid ass people wearing Bullet Club shirts to go to hell. In two weeks the Young Bucks are going to die and they’re going to kill the Bullet Club. Matt and Nick appeared from the crowd with steel chairs. They threw them at the Briscoes’ heads and followed up with superkicks. The Bucks posed with the ROH tag titles.
(Pageot’s Perspective: A hard-hitting match that the crowd seemed fairly invested in despite the fact that it was two unlikable teams, one of which ROH fans know next to nothing about. In fact there were moments when the Briscoes were bizarrely positioned as the babyfaces looking for hot tags and fighting from underneath. That felt particularly damaging to their characterization as of late but Jay tried to reverse the effects in his post-match promo.)
-J-Rocc, Shane Taylor’s buddy from Future Of Honor, joined the commentary team again as he did for Taylor’s match one night earlier. Brandi had her arm in a sling again despite not wearing one earlier in the show.
(7) “THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE” CODY (w/Brandi Rhodes & Burnard The Business Bear) vs. SHANE TAYLOR
Taylor immediately hit a sit-out power bomb for two. He manhandled Cody for the first six minutes. Cody came back and locked in a figure four but Taylor made it to the ropes. Brandi choked Taylor on the bottom rope behind the ref’s back. Cody tried for a Beautiful Disaster kick but Taylor avoided it and the ref went down. Taylor hit his sit-out piledriver but there was no one there to count the pin. Burnard entered the ring. Taylor charged Cody for a splash, Cody moved, and Burnard took the splash in the corner. Cody followed with a roll-up on Taylor as the ref recovered.
WINNER: Cody in 9:28.
-Taylor hit a kick to the head of Burnard to loud boos and a second rope splash while Cody and Brandi were devastated, watching from the ramp. Cody teased running back in for the save but he slunk off to the back instead.
(Pageot’s Perspective: More weird booking. We had a long segment earlier tonight trying to position Taylor as the babyface here but the actual match played out the same way as most Taylor matches and he came across as very heelish with Cody looking sympathetic. Yet the finish was a cheap heel win for Cody. Yet Taylor got the loudest boos of the match after for attacking Burnard. Yet Cody ran away without helping his friend like a cowardly heel as well. No idea what we were supposed to feel here.)
(8) ROH WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPION SILAS YOUNG vs. ADAM PAGE vs. SCORPIO SKY vs. CHEESEBURGER vs. JONATHAN GRESHAM vs. PUNISHMENT MARTINEZ– PROVING GROUND SIX-MAN MAYHEM WITH INSTANT REWARD
First pinfall or submission would win it. If Young won, the person he pinned or submitted would be barred from challenging for the TV title for one calendar year. If anyone else won, they would get a singles match for the television title immediately following this contest. Young and Burger started. Although it was called “mayhem” apparently it was only two legal men in the ring at a time. It was lucha rules, however, so if someone went to ringside you were allowed to jump into the ring and automatically become legal.
With the others falling to ringside Page and Martinez faced off for the first time but the other men returned before we could see any action between the rivals. Young and Sky tried working together against Gresham but Young speared Sky by accident. Young worked over Gresham who eventually tagged Page. He cleared the three heels. Whenever he started to get on a roll against Young, though, he became distracted by the opportunity to get revenge on Martinez. Superplex from Martinez to Page. Young tried to steal the pin but Page kicked out. Gresham put down Young then Burger caught Gresham with a shotei. People took turns flipping onto the rest of the crowd on the floor. Page gave Martinez a falcon arrow through the timekeeper’s table. Young rolled up Page with a handful of tights for two. Page with a package tombstone but Young kicked out at two. “That was three” chant from the crowd. After a series of back and forth moves between people Burger hit a big shotei palm strike to Young for another two. A louder “that was three” chant was the result. Rite Of Passage from Page to Burger. Martinez with a curb stomp to Page and South Of Heaven chokeslam to Burger.
WINNER: Punishment Martinez in 15:26 to earn a shot at the TV title.
(9) SILAS YOUNG vs. PUNISHMENT MARTINEZ – ROH WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP
Page still lingered at ringside, glaring at Martinez, before reluctantly heading backstage. Young previously pinned Martinez in a four corner survival match at Final Battle in December to win the television title for the first time. Martinez with a tombstone slam at 2:00. Young with a sunset flip from the second rope and his feet on the ropes for a two-count. Young avoided a Psycho Driver and Martinez avoided Misery. Ripcord kick and South Of Heaven chokeslam gives Martinez the surprise victory.
WINNER: Punishment Martinez in 4:32 to capture the TV title.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Very surprising title change. One would assume this means Page and Martinez at Best In The World is now for the TV title. Or is it a triple threat with Silas? I like Martinez as champion, especially since he’s been spinning his wheels lately. With a couple minor tweaks Young could be main event ready or he, Bruiser, and Milonas could always go after the six-man titles. This opens up some doors for different storylines.)
Find Harley on Twitter @talkinghonor and listen to he and Emily Fear talk all things ROH every Tuesday on the PWTorch Livecast “Talking Honor.”
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