SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
HITS
Jonathan Gresham vs. Kenny King: For a match that did not have much on the line, King and Gresham delivered an excellent back and forth battle. There was a sequence in the match near the finish that looked scary, Gresham delivered a hurricanrana to King, but King appeared to come down hard on the top of his head as he took the move. I thought King looked stunned for a moment but to his credit he countered a roll up attempt by Gresham and King nailed Gresham with the Royal Flush. King makes the pin and gets the victory over Gresham. Nothing was on the line between these two but give them credit in that it was a well-paced competitive match.
Six-Man Tag Gauntlet Match Video Packages: In two weeks, there will be a 6-man tag gauntlet match where the winner will get a future match against the current ROH World 6-Man Tag Champs. I like that they are trying to do something with the 6-man titles. I have mentioned a few times that I thought there was not much competition for the 6-man titles. Maybe this is a way to introduce a couple of teams at one time that could end up being legitimate contenders. I can think of a few I would like to see in this match but for the time being since I do not report on tapings that have happened but not aired we will have to wait to see who will be in the gauntlet.
The Dawgs (Little Willy & Rhett Titus) Approach Shane Taylor: We are shown a segment backstage where Little Willy tells Rhett Titus that they should recruit Taylor for this upcoming 6-man tag gauntlet match. Taylor was not receptive when they approached him. It probably was due to the fact that Willy gave Taylor a piece of paper that said “IOU” instead of cash for his potential services. Taylor sends The Dawgs packing and tells them to come back when they have cash. I thought this was a comedy segment but serious at the same time. Although the Dawgs themselves are a comedy act, Little Willy and Titus are good together in this act. I liked the segment and we will have to see if these three do team up in a few weeks.
Matt Taven (w/TK O’Ryan) vs. Ultimo Guerrero: A very fired up crowd at the very beginning that got the “LUCHA LIBRE” chant going. Taven and Guerrero gave us a good show. There was no lack of excitement throughout and it felt like the fans were on their feet the entire time. Guerrero dominated the match. It felt like he was on the offensive a good 75% of the time. In fact, it was not until the last few minutes of the match that Taven got in any consistent offense on Guerrero. As we worked towards the finish of the match, Guerrero is about to execute a maneuver off the top rope with Taven at his mercy. Guerrero slaps down O’Ryan who tries to get involved. Out of nowhere, red balloons come from under the ring. Guerrero looks down to where the balloons came from to see if Marseglia is coming out with them. But there is no sign of Marseglia on that side of the ring. Marseglia approaches from the opposite and pops a balloon on Guerrero’s face. Guerrero falls off the ropes. Taven hits Guerrero with Climax and Taven covers Guerrero and gets the victory. Nothing was on the line here, but that did not stop these guys from having an excellent match. Taven grabs the microphone after the match and questions the powers that be in ROH on what more he has to prove before the Melvins in the audience and ROH give him the credit he is due. This was just a really good match from these two guys that was fun to watch.
MISSES
Josh “The Goods” Woods vs. Façade w/Danni: Shane Taylor joins the commentary team of Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana. They are really trying to play up the bad blood between Taylor and Woods from months ago. Throughout the match, the commentary team points out the bad blood and a potential match between Taylor and Woods. I cannot say the match itself was bad. The effort was there from Façade and Woods, but I thought Façade’s match a couple of weeks back against Isom was much better. Woods does end up getting the victory and defeats Façade. After the match, Woods grabs the microphone and addresses Shane Taylor. Woods puts out that yes, Taylor did knock him out the last time they fought. Woods claims he knows something was up. Taylor says yes something was up. They call me one punch Taylor for a reason. The two go on to spar back and forth for a few where Woods challenges Taylor to a fight right here and right now. Taylor walks down to the ring and then has a change of heart. Taylor tells the fans that he is not fighting for free and that “Big Money Shane don’t fight for free.” Taylor goes on to tell Woods to have ROH sign the contract and then and only then will it happen. Credit ROH for trying to do something with both Taylor and Woods. Unfortunately, there is nothing about this that I want to see. I am a big fan of Taylor, but I just feel like something is missing with Woods. I cannot put a finger on it but there is nothing about him that makes me have an emotional investment in anything he does. Again, credit ROH for trying and I guess we will see where this match and feud goes but right now it is not doing anything for me. On another note, I hope Façade keeps getting opportunities with the company. He seems to have a world of talent and if there is one thing I still think ROH needs to do, it is to build more future stars. I do not know much about Façade but on the surface in the little I have seen he seems like he has the tools to do well in ROH.
Cheeseburger and Bully Ray Recap: First, we got a recap of Bully Ray attacking Cheeseburger at Supercard of Honor after Cheeseburger originally tagged with Bully Ray that night. Then we are shown two different recaps of Cheeseburger defeating Bully Ray by DQ. Cheeseburger responds via a promo declaring that he is still standing after all Bully has done to him. All of this was shown to build up next week’s no DQ match between Cheeseburger and Bully. Sorry ROH and no disrespect to Cheeseburger but Bully Ray overload took over months ago. I have no interest in this match nor how it plays out. Some people complain about there being too much Bullet Club drama on ROH TV. I totally disagree. No one has gotten more TV time than Bully this year. Please see the numerous columns before this if you are not sure why I think ROH needs to move on from Bully as an on-air talent.
Final Thoughts…
This was a weird episode when you consider when this was taped. This aired a day or few days, depending on where it was televised in your area, after Best in the World (BITW) 2018. At BITW, we witnessed a bunch of excellent matches. The very next day we witnessed Jay Lethal defeating Dalton Castle, Matt Taven, and Cody in a four-way match that will air in the coming weeks on TV, but Honor Club members got to see it the day after BITW. I mentioned this because after a really solid weekend, there was nothing this week’s TV would do to further anything we saw since it was taped well before Best in the World. I thought this episode was fine if you place it on an island by itself but, due to the way ROH does its TV tapings, this episode was a placeholder until we can get to the tapings that took place after BITW. I am not complaining, but this episode was not must-see TV even though most of the matches delivered.
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 6/25: Castle, Lethal vs. Chuckie T, Martinez & The Briscoes vs. The Hung Bucks, Bully Ray and Gordon, Final Build to Best in the World
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.