7/22 ROH HITS & MISSES: Four-Corner Survival Match for the ROH World Title, Sakai vs. Hazuki, Scurll and Helms, Lethal promos interrupted

HITS

Best in the World Video Package: They played a nice and concise video package of some of the memorable moments from Best in the World. It was very short, but I thought well put together as we finally are in a spot where we will get to see some of the fall out from the last PPV.

Jay Lethal, Matt Taven, Cody, and Dalton Castle: Ian Riccaboni recaps the big win Lethal got at Best in the World when he defeated Kushida. Lethal starts the promo talking about how before he entered the World Title picture, he wanted to be at the top of his game. Lethal recaps avenging his losses which he has done over the last few months. Lethal then makes it official that he wants to fight Dalton Castle for the ROH World Title. Lethal was interrupted by Matt Taven and Taven made some great points. Taven claims that Lethal has had enough shots at the title. Then Taven turns to how he has only had two world title matches and both of those matches ended in interference and yet nothing was done about it as in he was not given more chances. Taven’s whole point was that Lethal needed to get in line behind him. That was then interrupted by Cody. Cody gets a nice applause during his entrance. Cody tells both Lethal and Taven that he is next in line for Castle’s title, so they can step to the side. We finally get Dalton Castle. Castle declares that through all of the injuries and everything he has dealt with that he is not afraid of any of these guys. Castle says that he is not scared of a four-way and that he will put his title on the line against them all. I thought this was an excellent set up for the four-way match for the ROH World Title. Everything made sense. Lethal has avenged his losses. Taven certainly has a gripe when he says his matches for the title always end in interference. And, Cody made a point that he is obviously still a contender. Castle, through all his injuries, also comes off as a fighting champion willing to put his title on the line against four of the top competitors in the promotion. This was outstanding. And to make this better, originally there was going to be another main event this week but that was pushed to next week in favor of the 4-way match for the ROH World Title. This segment was outstanding.

Hazuki vs. Sumie Sakai for the WOH World title: I have mentioned in the past that I would prefer that ROH continue to put WOH singles matches on as the company continues to build the division and build the title up. For that reason, I was happy up front that we got a WOH title match. Sakai was cheered loudly as she came out and during introductions. Additionally, the crowd was into this from the start and stayed with it throughout. Credit Riccaboni and Colt Cabana for putting over Hazuki by explaining who she is and how she is young but yet accomplished. Just before the commercial break during the match, Hazuki hit a nasty looking senton from the second rope to the floor. The crowd let out a big reaction. From there, there was not a dead moment in this match. As Colt Cabana said, “there has been a lot of great back and forth action.” Cabana was spot on with his assessment. Hazuki, who was accompanied by Hana Kimura & Kagetsu, has her friends gets involved towards the finish. However, Sakai fights them off. Sakai immediately hits her finisher after doing so and Sakai gets the pin and the victory in an excellent match. This is the type of singles matches I think the division needs. Great job this week by everyone involved. And as previously stated, showcasing your champ in singles matches defending the title helps continue to build the division.

Marty Scurll Attacks Gregory Helms: Marty Scurll is shown backstage appearing to give ring of honor security or a member of the ring crew some instructions on where to hide his powder under the ring. Helms appears and tells Scurll that he guesses that Scurll’s title match did not go as planned. Scurll mumbled something to Helms. I truly could not make out what he said after trying numerous times. Seconds later, Scurll attacks Helms and the security backstage. Scurll appears to break Helms’ fingers and we cut away. I am not sure where they are going with this but after everything I watched in the last set of tapings, I am just glad to get something different. My mind is open to see what they do with this moving forward and for that reason I felt this short segment was a hit.

Four-Corner Survival Match for the ROH World Title: I highly recommend checking out Harley R. Pageot’s excellent write up here on PWTorch.com for a full break down of this match. This match and the result was not new to me or many since it was posted on Honor Club the night it happened a few weeks ago. The match also got a ton of coverage on PWTorch.com and many other news sites. I enjoyed watching this again, but I will say seeing it as it happened a few weeks back was a treat. I knew Dalton Castle had been dealing with numerous injuries but when he did not lose the title at Best in the World, I assumed he was still going to fight through the injuries and continue to put the title up where he could. But then we got this surprise. The finish of the match saw a nice exchange between Lethal and Castle. Lethal finally got the upper hand and Lethal wins the title by hitting Lethal Injection followed by the pin. After the match, Lethal looked moved emotionally by the win. As always, Riccaboni and Cabana put over the moment as a big moment which it was. Riccaboni and Cabana also put over Castle’s 6-month run. Castle’s injury situation made it hard for him to be a “fighting champion” but I still feel he was a worthy title holder and once healed up I think he should be given another chance to show what he can do as the ROH World champion. I feel bad for Castle. He earned the ROH World title and it was only because of injuries that he could not be a better champion. For now, we will have to stay tuned to see what happens with Lethal and this run with the title. I think a Taven vs. Lethal feud has great potential. I also think Lethal vs. Silas Young has great potential. I know we saw Lethal/Young last year but imagine that amped up with the ROH World title being the prize. Lastly, just before going off air. Lethal laid down the title and Lethal and Castle shook hands. I thought that was a fitting end to the episode and a great week of ROH TV.

MISSES

None to report. I really enjoyed this week’s episode.

Final Thoughts…

This was one of the best weeks of ROH in recent memory. I hated being so negative towards the promotion over the last three weeks, but those episodes really felt like lame duck episodes for the most part whereas this week everything was mostly new. I say mostly because I am assuming many knew of the ROH World title change based on the coverage it got via social media and the media in general a few weeks back. What I had not seen was the excellent promo that set up the match. Additionally, the WOH match was tremendous. It was two ladies out there who put on a great match that make the division look like it is on the rise. I did not know much about Hazuki, but that did not stop me from being emotionally invested in the match. If you are a fan who does not watch every episode of ROH, I highly recommend this week’s show. It was packed from start to finish where everything made sense and it all mattered.

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

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