SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
ROH GLOBAL WARS
NOVEMBER 7, 2018
LEWISTON, ME AT ANDROSCOGGIN BANK COLISÉE
AIRED ON ROH HONOR CLUB
REPORT BY HARLEY R. PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentary: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana
We opened with a wide shot of the arena. It looked quite full and the crowd was rambunctious. Our commentators ran down the top three matches and the cutest puppy in the puppy pile, Eli Isom, entered first. He was accompanied by Cheeseburger and Ryan Nova. They wore matching gear, including bandanas over their faces, and posed together in the ring. His opponent was Sea Of Honor tournament winner Flip Gordon, who appeared uninjured following a scary incident at Survival Of The Fittest on Sunday.
(1) FLIP GORDON vs. ELI ISOM (w/Cheeseburger & Ryan Nova)
Even back and forth in the opening minutes as they tested each other. Cabana pointed out that Gordon was more serious and less smiles than usual, likely as a result of his ongoing feud with Bully Ray. Gordon chopped Isom to the mat at 3:30 and hit a running dropkick in the corner. Isom came back with some forearms and landed a saito suplex for a two-count. They traded roll-ups. Gutwrench German suplex from Isom for a near-fall. The crowd applauded. Falcon arrow from Gordon for a near-fall of his own. Springboard spear. Flip-5 ends it.
WINNER: Flip Gordon in 8:00.
-Burger and Nova encouraged Isom for the effort. Code of honor exchanged by Gordon and Isom.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Good little match. Isom’s slowly establishing himself and winning the crowds over while Gordon continues to use his Bully Ray feud to establish a more serious, focused Flip.)
-The Bouncers’ music hit and we cut to backstage. They had literally just left the bar and were heading straight to the ring. SCU did their usual shtick and hit their catchphrases in the ring. Daniels acknowledged this was the first time ROH had ever been in Maine.
(2) ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS SOCAL UNCENSORED (Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky w/Christopher Daniels) vs. THE BOUNCERS (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas) – NON-TITLE MATCH
Kaz and Bruiser started things off. Kaz and Sky worked together to knock Milonas off his feet and send Bruiser to the floor. Bruiser took out Kaz with a cannonball off the apron. Back body drop from Milonas. The heels isolated Kaz in their corner and Bruiser gnawed on his head. Sky tried to rally the fans. Hot tag to Sky. He caused Milonas to splash Bruiser in the corner and hit a double-stomp to Milonas’ spine. Hurricanrana on Bruiser resulted in him spearing his own partner. As things broke down the Bouncers regained control. The Bouncers hit Last Call on Kaz but Sky narrowly broke up the pinfall. Sky knocked Bruiser off the top rope to the floor and he and Kaz hit a double-team powerbomb to Milonas who had been standing on the second turnbuckle.
WINNERS: SCU in 8:45.
-The Bouncers brought in four beers and offered two to the champs. They all clinked and drank.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Another good one. It might seem odd to have the big man tag team lose so often but their heavy drinking is an easy out for them. Should they ever decide to focus more on their wrestling careers and less on drinking they could easily turn things around. SCU have become one of the more popular babyface acts in the company, in part thanks to their increased profile on Being The Elite.)
-Nova and Isom were in Cheeseburger’s corner for his match. They were introduced for the first time as Team 3S. This was news to Riccaboni and Cabana who weren’t sure what it meant or where it derives from.
(3) ROH WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPION JEFF COBB vs. CHEESEBURGER (w/Ryan Nova & Eli Isom) – NON-TITLE MATCH
Burger tried for a side headlock but Cobb merely lifted him off. He waited patiently for Burger to try something else. He looked for a single leg takedown but Cobb just walked over to the ropes with him hanging off his leg. The referee made Burger break his hold. Burger tried for a hurricanrana and jumping back elbow to no avail. Cobb hit a reluctant chop at 2:45, feeling bad for having to do this. Burger leapt into a bear hug. Cobb with a standing dropkick to Burger sitting on the top turnbuckle. Cobb with a delayed vertical suplex to Burger from the second rope but Burger kicked out. He also avoided a standing moonsault from the champ. Running forearms from Burger and a stunner out of nowhere. Shotei! Springboard senton but Cobb kicked out. Cobb blocked another shotei and hit his patented spinning slam, then a Tour Of The Islands.
WINNER: Jeff Cobb in 6:22.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Fun twist on the underdog v. monster story with the babyface Cobb being reluctant to hurt the lovable Cheeseburger before finally giving in.)
-“The Big Dawg” Rhett Titus walked onto stage in his tiny trunks, covered in baby oil again like at Survival Of The Fittest. He joined the commentary booth and claimed he lost his suit at the airport. #wheresLittleWilly?
-Dalton Castle was back in his traditional robe and trunks for the first time since returning from injury. Ring announcer Bobby Cruise informed us that this is now a title match. Matt Taven carried “the real ROH world title” with him in addition to wearing his six-man title belt. Marseglia took a shot at Brent before the bell and Castle clubbed him with one of the Boys’ fanny packs in response. Marseglia went down hard as Taven and O’Ryan questioned what was inside.
(4) THE KINGDOM (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia, & TK O’Ryan) vs. DALTON CASTLE & THE BOYS (Dalton Castle, Brandon, & Brent) – ROH WORLD SIX-MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
The Kingdom went after Taven’s back as he was still wearing athletic tape around his back and ribs. O’Ryan ran the ropes with Brandon in his arms. Castle hit some hard punches to the guts of Taven and O’Ryan. Marseglia was still out cold at ringside at 3:00. Castle took turns throwing the Boys over the top rope onto Taven and O’Ryan on the floor. They were successful seven times in a row. Castle peacocked in the ring but a red balloon floated into the air. Brent got sucked under the ring. Marseglia appeared from the other side and took out Castle and Brandon. He went crazy on Brandon to near-silence from the crowd. Bang-A-Rang from Castle but Taven and O’Ryan broke up the pin. Castle avoided Rockstar Supernova. Taven avoided Bang-A-Rang and hit him with just the tip (of his knee). Brent resurfaced from under the ring in a Freddy Krueger sweater. His right hand appeared to be possessed and he cleared house on the champions. He slashed Marseglia’s chest. “What have you become?” Castle cried. He ripped the sweater off. Taven and Castle brawled to ringside and up the aisle. Marseglia and O’Ryan hit House Of A Thousand Horses on one of the Boys for the win.
WINNERS: The Kingdom in 9:19 to retain the six-man titles.
-Taven took a mic and heckled Castle. Apparently they’re facing each other in a singles match at Final Battle.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Nice to see Castle back to almost-full strength. I assume their PPV match will be for Taven’s fake world title. They’re doing a long, slow burn on the road to Taven’s first real world title reign. Mark my words, it will happen sometime in 2019. In the meantime it leaves the door open for either Cody, Kenny King, Marty Scurll, or Flip Gordon to challenge Lethal at Final Battle.)
-Titus headed backstage to apply more baby oil.
(5) THE ELITE (Cody & Adam Page w/Brandi Rhodes) vs. THE BRISCOES (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe)
Page and Mark started. The feed went down for a couple minutes. Near the end of the match Cody reversed an Irish whip by Mark. Brandi was on the apron for some reason and was bumped to the floor. She went down like she was made of glass. Page cleared both Briscoes and hit a top rope moonsault onto the brothers on the floor. CrossRhodes from Cody to Mark but Jay broke up the pin. Page tried for a second rope Rite Of Passage but on Mark but Jay made the save. Jay Driller to Page + froggy-bow from Mark sealed it.
WINNERS: The Briscoes in ???.
-Brandi was back to her feet and she and Cody checked on Page.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Due to some circumstances in my home and the feed going down I missed the first section of that match and don’t have an accurate time. Too bad because this was the first match of the night where it wasn’t obvious who would win. The Briscoes are expected to get a rematch for the tag titles at Final Battle, though, so they needed it more. If The Elite are leaving ROH soon, as it seems, they should hopefully be putting a lot of people over on their way out.)
-Riccaboni acknowledged that there was a power outage in the building during the last match, which was the cause of their feed going down.
(6) JUICE ROBINSON vs. “THE FALLEN ANGEL” CHRISTOPHER DANIELS
Daniels had tape on the back of his neck. The commentators vaguely said it was a result of something that happened at the TV tapings but we likely won’t find out what occurred for another month or so. An STO from Daniels was the start of his first sustained run of offense. He locked in a Koji clutch but Robinson reached the bottom rope with his foot. Slow moving until Robinson hit a spinebuster at 7:30. A couple of lariats put down Daniels. Cannonball in the corner. Daniels with a blue thunder bomb. Daniels got crotched when he tried going up top. Robinson made a move to the top rope himself and the same happened to him. They traded right hands. Robinson hit Pulp Friction.
WINNER: Juice Robinson in 12:08.
(Pageot’s Perspective: A little slow and a little boring as a result, likely due to Daniels’ age. I don’t mean that to sound insulting. It’s simply a fact. People leveled the same criticisms at the WWE Crown Jewel main event last week and Daniels is only a year younger than the youngest of those four men. If the Joe Koff storyline that we started back in January is heading where I suspected it was back then Daniels may be retired within the next six weeks. If so, viewing this under the lens of a reunion tour, we can be a bit more forgiving.)
-Silas Young entered alone first for our penultimate match. Bully Ray was out second. He bullied ring announcer Bobby Cruise and the fans. Riccaboni claimed Ray has a bulletproof contract that makes him basically impossible to fire.
(7) THE YOUNG BUCKS (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs. BULLY RAY & “THE LAST REAL MAN” SILAS YOUNG
Young and Nick started. Quick tags in and out as the Bucks worked over Young. Ray tagged in and pie-faced Matt on the apron. Matt tagged in. Ray powered him down at 3:15. Body slam. Matt avoided a chop and hit some arm drags. Stereo suicide dives to Ray and Young. Ray dragged Matt crotch-first into the ring post. Young got some shots in on the floor and Ray told the ref to count him out. “Yankees suck” chant from the crowd. Ray and Young isolated Matt. Matt fired up with a spear at 9:20 and made the hot tag but referee Paul Turner missed it due to the machinations of Ray. He sent Nick back out to the apron and Ray dragged Matt back to the heel corner. Top rope hurricanrana from Matt. Sidewalk slam from Ray. Matt finally made a tag at 11:20 as did Young. Nick was a house of fire on Young. Young came back with some of his signature offense but Nick hit a superkick. Sharpshooter in the middle of the ring. Ray broke up the hold and ate a double superkick from both Bucks. The ROH feed went down again. When it came back Young was being announced as a winner. Matt was on his back and holding his crotch so presumably the finish was low blow-related.
WINNERS: Ray & Young in 16:30ish.
-Cabana took a small victory in the fact that it was Young who got the win and not Ray.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Ray’s constant jawing with his opponents and fans is really engaging. The nuclear heat he’s achieved this year deserves the utmost credit. It’s very difficult for anyone with a résumé like his, who has been around as long as he has, to not be cheered by the fans. And early on in this run he was, with people calling for tables and chanting E-C-dub. These days, though, it’s almost universally negative toward him with ROH really prolonging the moment when he finally gets his comeuppance. It has to come at Final Battle. As for the Bucks it’s very unusual for them to not be involved in a title picture and they have no obvious match for Final Battle at this point. Where they slot into the card will be interesting and might just end up being a match against a guest team as they’ve already beaten everyone on the ROH roster at this point.)
-Riccaboni again apologized about the power outages. They weren’t sure whether it was an issue in the building or Lewiston-wide.
-Evil entered first for the main event. Bushi joined him on the stage, then Sanada, and finally Naito. Gresham was out first for their opponents, then Sabin, Kushida, and Lethal last.
(8) ROH WORLD CHAMPION JAY LETHAL, IWGP JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION KUSHIDA, CHRIS SABIN, & JONATHAN GRESHAM vs. LOS INGOBERNABLES DE JAPÓN (Tetsuya Naito, Sanada, Bushi, & Evil)
Gresham and Naito started for their teams. Naito immediately tagged out to Sanada. Gresham blocked the paradise lock. Tags to Sabin and Evil. Bushi took a cheap shot from behind. Sabin cleared him but Evil got a shot in. Kushida and Sabin hit the old Motor City Machine Guns’ dream sequence on Naito. Lethal and Gresham body slammed each other onto Evil. Everyone tagged in and out to take turns wrenching on and twisting Evil’s arm. Evil pulled referee Todd Sinclair into Kushida’s path. He avoided a collision but L.I.J. used the distraction to jump the other men at ringside. Naito worked over Kushida. Bushi choked him with his shirt behind Sinclair’s back. Sanada put Kushida in the paradise lock and dropkicked him free. Sanada cleared the apron to prevent Kushida from making a tag. Hot tag to Lethal at 11:06. He cleared all of L.I.J. and Sabin and Kushida took out Evil and Sanada with flips off the apron. Sanada avoided Lethal Injection and hit an anarchist suplex. Bushi and Gresham tagged in. Stunner, enziguiri, German suplex from Gresham. Octopus on Bushi. Lethal and Sabin tried to play defense but Evil slipped in to break it up. Everyone took turns hitting their finishing moves concluding with a Destino from Naito to Gresham.
WINNERS: L.I.J. in 16:46.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Standard multi-man ROH main event. Gresham’s being treated like a bigger star than he used to be simply by being allowed to hang in there with some of the top names from New Japan. Hopefully 2019 is finally his true breakout year. As to the other seven, like most NJPW guest appearances this was more about simply letting the locals see some NJPW talent compete than it was about any sort of stories or card progression. It’s highly unlikely L.I.J. winning here will mean anything a week from now.)
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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