11/3 ROH STREAMING FOR VENGEANCE report: Coverage of Jericho & The Young Bucks vs. Omega, Cody, & Scurll, the sea of honor tournament

ROH STREAMING FOR VENGEANCE
NOVEMBER 3, 2018
THE JERICHO CRUISE
AIRED ON ROH HONOR CLUB
REPORT BY HARLEY R. PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Commentary: Colt Cabana, Jay Lethal

We opened with a shot of the 16-man Sea Of Honor tournament brackets. Colt Cabana promised us the quarter, semi, and finals of the tournament plus the Alpha Club vs. Bullet Club six-man main event. He said we’d start with highlights from the first round of the tournament:
Christopher Daniels defeated Delirious with best moonsault ever.
Dalton Castle (w/ replacement Boys) defeated Matt Taven by disqualification after Taven hit Castle with the real ROH world title.
Marty Scurll defeated Rhett Titus with graduation.
Mark Briscoe defeated Will Ferrara with froggy-bow.
Flip Gordon defeated Silas Young with a TKO into a cutter.
Adam Page defeated Frankie Kazarian with rite of passage.
Cheeseburger defeated Beer City Bruiser with a body slam.
Jay Briscoe defeated Kenny King with a big boot.

-On the cruise ship SoCal Val was ring announcer. Music played and, after a long delay, a set of doors marked “Do Not Block Escape Door” were pushed open by a security guard. He walked out with Christopher Daniels behind him. Daniels slapped him on the shoulder and posed with him while the guard laughed. Daniels walked through a crowd of fans and headed to the ring. There was a guardrail at ringside and the crowd looked just as full as a typical ROH live event. There were fans standing at ringside and on a second deck overlooking the ring from a balcony situation. The ocean rolled by back in the background.

-Val received a memo that Dalton Castle would be unable to compete due to a concussion and was being replaced. She introduced… Smooth Sailin’ Ashley Remington. Cabana explained that Taven’s title shot hit to Castle’s head caused Castle to be unable to continue in the tournament.

(Pageot’s Perspective: For those unfamiliar, in 2013 in Chikara, Castle’s uncle Darkness Crabtree was murdered. In his will he left a small fortune to Dalton, which Castle used to become a rich yachtsman. He also changed his name to Ashley Remington and continued to wrestle as Remington until 2015. Note that they are not different characters, merely different chapters in Castle’s life.)

-Daniels was certain it was Castle but the fans chanted “That’s not Dalton.” He asked for a mic and said he’s pretty sure it’s Castle but, if the fans insist he isn’t, he’ll believe them. Referee Paul Turner called for the bell but it was inaudible to us.

(1) “SMOOTH SAILIN’” ASHLEY REMINGTON vs. “THE FALLEN ANGEL” CHRISTOPHER DANIELS – SEA OF HONOR QUARTER-FINAL MATCH

Remington hit a number of punches to the stomach through the opening minutes and won with a small package.

WINNER: Ashley Remington in 7:16.

-Remington always rewarded his opponents with a fruit basket after a loss. Sure enough, he brought a plate of wrapped pears into the ring and handed them to Daniels, who hugged him.

(Pageot’s Perspective: A light, mostly comedy match. Wrestling in the sun with the ocean behind them makes for a very unique visual (obviously, as this is the first time in history wrestling has occurred on a boat on the ocean). It was hard to say how many fans in attendance knew Remington from Chikara but at least some did.)

(2) “THE VILLAIN” MARTY SCURLL vs. FLIP GORDON – SEA OF HONOR QUARTER-FINAL MATCH

Scurll offered the code of honor. Gordon tried to shake but Scurll pulled his hand away and offered a hug instead. Scurll hit a rock bottom and asked referee Todd Sinclair to ring the bell. He did and Scurll covered but Gordon kicked out at two. Scurll hit a superplex at the 3:00 mark. Gordon hit a 450 splash at 7:00 and it looked like he got three but Sinclair said it was only two. In the end Gordon reversed a pin attempt into one of his own.

WINNER: Flip Gordon in 11:14.

(Pageot’s Perspective: The winner of the tournament gets a world title shot at an undetermined date in the future, likely on television, so credible world title challengers like Taven, King, and Scurll being eliminated early isn’t a big deal.)

(3) CHEESEBURGER vs. JAY BRISCOE – SEA OF HONOR QUARTER-FINAL MATCH

Briscoe took a mic and said people won’t think less of him if he takes the count-out loss. Nobody wants to see him die on this boat. Burger gave Briscoe the finger. That set off Briscoe, who was aggressive out of the bell. Briscoe hit a death valley driver around 3:00 but Burger kicked out. Burger bit his way out of a camel clutch and Briscoe took an accidental shot between the legs when Briscoe put his knees up. Burger hit the shotei at 5:15 but Briscoe kicked out. Jay Driller for the win.

WINNER: Jay Briscoe in 6:33.

(Pageot’s Perspective: Classic Cheeseburger match. Mostly dominated but with a few hope spots mixed in before taking the pin.)

(4) “HANGMAN” ADAM PAGE vs. MARK BRISCOE – SEA OF HONOR QUARTER-FINAL MATCH

They traded chops to start. At 6:00 a bird flew out of the sky and crashed into the front row. Cabana and Lethal lost it on commentary. Briscoe hit a fisherman’s buster at 8:30 but Page kicked out at two and a half. Page avoided froggy-bow. Briscoe blocked a rite of passage, ducked buckshot lariat, and schoolboyed Page.

WINNER: Mark Briscoe in 10:29.

(Pageot’s Perspective: Four matches and three roll-up pins with only Cheeseburger taking a decisive pin. For more on Cabana, Lethal, and the bird incident check out this past Thursday’s episode of The Art Of The Wrestling podcast. Cabana calls it possibly the greatest moment in his long wrestling career.)

-We jumped ahead one day for the semi-finals, which took place at night. Lethal was replaced on commentary by Mandy Leon and Matt Taven.

(5) FLIP GORDON vs. DALTON CASTLE – SEA OF HONOR SEMI-FINAL MATCH

Castle informed SoCal Val that he had a very bad sunburn and asked Gordon not to touch him. Gordon hit a shoulder-tackle and Castle winced in pain. The fans chanted “asshole” at Gordon, then “aloe vera.” Gordon hit a chop to the chest and the fans booed. Castle rolled to ringside and took a fan’s bottle of water, pouring it down his t-shirt. Castle came back with a fury but Gordon hit a back rake that crippled Castle. Taven talked about the tournament being pointless because the winner faces Lethal for his meaningless title, rather than earning a shot against Taven and his real world title. Gordon also got a roll-up for the win to boos from the fans.

WINNER: Flip Gordon in 8:52.

(Pageot’s Perspective: That felt much longer than it was. The sunburn stuff was funny at first but they ran it into the ground. Which Briscoe will roll-up their way into the finals? Find out next.)

(6) JAY BRISCOE vs. MARK BRISCOE – SEA OF HONOR SEMI-FINAL MATCH

Mark charged with a dropkick in the corner. They were hard and fast at each other immediately. Mark hit a froggy-bow in the first minute and threw a steel chair into the ring. Jay grabbed it and hurled it at Mark’s head. They brawled at ringside. Jay bounced a can of beer off his brother’s head. Jay wedged a chair into the corner turnbuckles. Cabana said it was referee Todd Sinclair’s discretion whether or not to disqualify either man. Mark ran Jay head-first into the chair, then sat Jay in the chair and hit a doomsday device for two. There was a dueling “Let’s go Briscoe / Briscoe sucks” chant. Jay Driller ends it.

WINNER: Jay Briscoe in 10:49.

-The brothers hugged after the match and played to the fans.

(Pageot’s Perspective: The best match of the tournament by far.)

-The following afternoon it was time for the finals. Jay Lethal was back on commentary with Cabana.

(7) FLIP GORDON vs. JAY BRISCOE – SEA OF HONOR TOURNAMENT FINAL

Briscoe attacked Gordon from behind before the bell. He took him to ringside and choked him with his own t-shirt. Briscoe hit the Jay Driller at 9:50. Gordon kicked out but the fans chanted “that was three.” Gordon came back with a 450 moments later for the clean win.

WINNER: Flip Gordon in 10:54 to earn a future ROH world title match.

(Pageot’s Perspective: Not the winner I think anyone predicted out of the initial 16 and the fans were surprisingly not as behind Flip as a lot of ROH crowds usually are.)

-SoCal Val introduced the main event as the biggest wrestling match of the year. Scurll entered first wearing a purple tie-dye Nassau Bahamas tank-top and carrying his closed umbrella over his shoulder. Cody was second, wearing a green tie-dye Bahamas shirt. He was blonde and without Brandi or Burnard. Omega entered third, wearing a blue tie-dye Bahamas shirt.

-Don Callis and Scott D’Amore replaced Lethal on commentary. Callis pointed out that we had a Canadian, an American, and a Brit teaming together in international waters.

-The Young Bucks entered alone in somewhat typical gear for them, augmented by Alpha Club bandanas. Jericho was out last. He wore matching gear to the Bucks. Omega grabbed Scurll’s umbrella and threatened Callis at ringside. Team Omega was introduced as Bullet Club for the last time ever. Dueling “Bucks of Jericho / Y2Jackson” chant from the crowd, followed by “Vince can’t touch this.” Bullet Club seductively stripped off their tie-dye tees.

(8) THE BUCKS OF JERICHO OR IS IT Y2JACKSON? (Chris Jericho, Matt Jackson, & Nick Jackson) vs. THE ELITE (Kenny Omega, Cody, & Marty Scurll)

Cody and Nick started for their teams. Cody blew off the code of honor and hugged Scurll instead so Nick shook with referee Todd Sinclair instead. “All these guys” chant. Jericho entered around 2:00 for the first time. Quick tags back and forth between Alpha Club as they worked over Cody. Jericho joined in for some of the Bucks’ signature offense including a trio of suicide dives. Omega entered for the first time at 4:50 and called for Jericho. Before they could lock-up Cody tagged himself in. He paid for it, though, as Jericho took control. Bullet Club managed to isolate Nick for a period. Cody teased shattered dreams on Nick in the corner but chose to give the fans the finger instead. At 13:00 Jericho put Scurll in the Walls of Jericho while the Bucks put Cody and Omega into sharpshooters. Superkick party at 19:30 but Omega kicked out. Meltzer Driver on Omega, into a Walls of Jericho. Everyone took turns hitting their finishing moves. Walls of Jericho back on Omega with everyone on the floor. Nick hit a springboard facebuster as Omega crawled for the ropes. Sinclair admonished Nick for entering illegally (lol) and Scurll clocked Jericho with the umbrella behind his back. Cody prevented another Meltzer Driver on Omega. Omega looked for a One-Winged Angel on Matt but his back gave out. He hit it on a second attempt, though.

WINNERS: Omega, Cody, & Scurll in 23:17.

-Jericho and Omega talked trash to each other after the match as the others looked on.

(Pageot’s Perspective: Surprising outcome for sure as expectations had Team Jericho picking up the win on his boat. This match definitely felt like an epilogue of sorts to All In or, alternately, the end of a prologue if the rumors of The Elite leaving ROH and NJPW to start their own promotion end up coming true. After the initial match or two (save for a bird run-in) the novelty setting of a cruise ship wore off and the Sea Of Honor stuff pretty much felt like standard house show fare. Can next year’s event take place in some sort of underwater dome?)

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Find Harley on Twitter @talkinghonor and listen to he and Emily Fear talk all things ROH every Tuesday on the PWTorch Livecast “Talking Honor.”