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ROH TV REPORT
NOVEMBER 11, 2018
PHILADELPHIA, PA AT 2300 ARENA
AIRED ON SINCLAIR AFFILIATES & ROHWRESTLING.COM
REPORT BY HARLEY R. PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentary: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana, Caprice Coleman
Opening theme.
-In the arena Shane Taylor made his entrance. As Jeff Cobb made his entrance we got a video recap of Cobb squashing Punishment Martinez to capture the TV title three weeks ago.
(1) ROH WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPION JEFF COBB vs. SHANE TAYLOR – NON-TITLE MATCH
They butted at each other like stags or moose to start. Cobb hit his spinning side slam. Taylor hit an overhead throw. Cobb took his hair bun out and they threw hands. Taylor caught him with a clothesline. [C]
Cobb hit a flying back elbow on Taylor in the corner. Taylor went to the second rope but Cobb caught him with a standing dropkick and pulled him off into a delayed vertical suplex. Standing moonsault for two. “Jeff Cobb” chant from the crowd. Taylor with a high knee to the jaw and a second. Taylor hit a Canadian Destroyer to the shock of everyone in the building. He followed with a clothesline but Cobb kicked out at two. “This is awesome” chant. Delayed German suplex from Cobb. Tour Of The Islands.
WINNER: Jeff Cobb in 7:09.
-Adam Page walked down to the ring. “Hangman” chant. He got in Cobb’s face as five security guards hit the ring to try to prevent things from escalating. Cobb and Page beat up four of the guards while a fifth cowered in the ropes. Page left. Cobb hit a superkick on the guard and another Tour Of The Islands.
(Pageot’s Perspective: The match was hot out of the gate so the early commercial break was disappointing. Hopefully Taylor gets built up more in 2019 and we can go back to this one for an extended feud. Cobb continues to look like a beast and he and Page, at Final Battle presumably, may end up being a solid send-off for Page if he’s leaving ROH with the rest of The Elite as suspected.)
-Jay Lethal was backstage for a promo addressing Kenny King attacking him last week. He turned his attention to the six-man tag main event and teased that his and Jonathan Gresham’s mystery partner would be someone everybody would be shocked to see.
-The Bouncers were also backstage for a promo. Brian Milonas sent a warning to Cheeseburger and Eli Isom but Beer City Bruiser wasn’t paying attention. [C]
-Milonas asked two guys in the locker room if they’d seen Bruiser. They hadn’t so he frantically ran off into another room.
-Marty Scrull was on the promo set. He brought up his feud with Shane “Hurricane” Helms (which is apparently still going on). Scurll talked about Helms picking up a victory over him (on October 7 TV) and spoke as if they were heading into match #3 in the series, though the text at the bottom of the screen said match #4 takes place next week. Clips aired of the actual match #3 (October 12 at Glory By Honor), which ended in a no contest when both men attacked the referee.
-Beer City Bruiser was sitting alone at a bar, drinking a can of Beer City Brew. Milonas ran up and said they have to go. Bruiser was distraught over Silas Young walking out on them (on September 30 TV). Milonas told him to snap out of it. Bruiser got fired up and grabbed his keg.
-We cut to the arena where the big men walked straight from the bar and through the crowd to the ring. As the new stable of Cheeseburger, Eli Isom, and Ryan Nova made their entrance a video recap played of Burger defeating Will Ferrara in a Fight Without Honor on October 7 TV.
(2) SHINOBI SHADOW SQUAD (Cheeseburger & Eli Isom w/Ryan Nova) vs. THE BOUNCERS (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas)
Isom and Bruiser started. Isom tried for some shoulder tackles but they didn’t budge him. He avoided a charge in the corner and hit a dropkick. Tag to Burger. Bruiser ran through Burger. Milonas tagged in and Burger jumped on his back for a sleeperhold. Bruiser dropkicked him into a sidewalk slam from Milonas. Burger made the hot tag to Isom. Jumping knee to Bruiser. High crossbody for two. Milonas caught him with an overhead belly to belly suplex. Burger hit a series of chops on Milonas and slaps on Bruiser. Isom hit a springboard dropkick to Milonas to prevent Last Call. Isom hit a brainbuster on Bruiser for a close near-fall. Milonas chucked Burger into the ring post. Isom got caught on the top rope. Milonas hit a superplex to Isom and Bruiser followed with a top rope frog splash.
WINNERS: The Bouncers in 6:02. [C]
(Pageot’s Perspective: The backstage stuff with The Bouncers was interesting as it’s the first character development they’ve ever had. I like that Bruiser was quite hurt about Silas abandoning them. The two of them were together for a good while before Milonas joined. Riccaboni spoke about them showing a bit of a softer side ever since he walked out on them and that helps explain some recent actions on their part like sharing beers with their opponents after the matches on the Global Wars tour.)
-SoCal Uncensored were already in the ring out of the break. “SCU” chant from the crowd. Scorpio Sky said Philadelphia was the worst town they’ve ever been in. Frankie Kazarian said he considered the 2300 Arena (f/k/a ECW Arena) sacred ground. “E-C-dub” chant. He pointed out banners hanging on the ceiling for people like Terry Funk and Chris Candido and led the fans in a shout of “SCU!” Christopher Daniels said he had to be serious for a moment. He spoke about the events that unfolded on January 14 TV when ROH COO Joe Koff told Daniels and Kaz that he was tired of their heel b.s. and that they would be done with ROH once their contracts expired after Final Battle on December 14. The fans booed but Daniels said Koff was right. They gave him every reason to want them gone. But since then they’ve realized they were in the wrong and they’re now trying to give him every reason they can to want to keep them. Right now that means ending the reign of terror of The Briscoes. At Death Before Dishonor Mark busted Kaz open and Jay tried to break Daniels’ neck. But next week The Briscoes will defend the tag titles against The Addiction (Daniels & Kaz) and The Young Bucks. Daniels promised the fans that The Addiction will win the tag titles and change Koff’s mind. The best thing about ROH in 2019 will be SCU.
As they headed up the ramp The Briscoes appeared from behind and cracked Kaz across the back with a steel chair. Mark ran Sky into a ring post. They double-teamed Daniels and Jay hit a Jay Driller on the stage. Daniels writhed in pain on the ramp, holding his neck, as Kaz chased them off with the chair.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Anyone who watched Streaming For Vengeance, Survival Of The Fittest, any of the four Global Wars shows, or visited ROHwrestling.com or any ROH social media in the past month already knows how that one turns out but next week we’ll finally get to see it.)
-The Kingdom assembled in a hallway backstage and started to the ring. [C]
-The commentators spoke over footage of Daniels receiving medical attention during the break. They wondered what this means for next week’s main event.
-The world champion, Jay Lethal, was out first for this week’s main event. Jonathan Gresham was out second. Lethal took a mic and teased the identity of their partner. Lethal said he asked their partner and they said no but Gresham asked and he said yes. Lethal introduced… the returning Dalton Castle. The fans went nuts as did the commentators. The Boys gave Castle the full peacock treatment and he appeared in his traditional robe. Once he disrobed his left thigh and ribs were bandaged up. The Kingdom made their entrance. [C]
(3) ROH WORLD CHAMPION JAY LETHAL, JONATHAN GRESHAM, & DALTON CASTLE (w/The Boys) vs. ROH WORLD SIX-MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS THE KINGDOM (Matt Taven, TK O’Ryan, & Vinny Marseglia) – NON-TITLE MATCH
Taven and Gresham started for their teams. Taven declared himself the real world champion in Lethal’s face before tagging out to O’Ryan. Gresham amused himself by messing with O’Ryan. Marseglia and Castle tagged in. Castle outwrestled him and tossed him from the ring. Taven asked for the tag. Marseglia and O’Ryan pulled Lethal and Gresham off the apron and everyone fought on the floor. Taven tossed Castle into the crowd. Gresham took O’Ryan into a chair with a drop toehold. Lethal sat Taven in a chair and looked for a running clothesline but referee Todd Sinclair got between them. Sinclair got sucked under the ring and disappeared. Lethal with a suicide dive to O’Ryan. Taven with a chair to his stomach and a shot to the back. Sinclair returned to count two. [C]
Taven hit Lethal with just the tip (of the knee). O’Ryan tagged in but ate a cutter. Tag to Gresham. He took out the two stooges before Taven tagged back in. Tag to Castle. He turned Taven inside-out with a clothesline. Running bulldog but Marseglia broke up the pin. Castle took out all three heels. Gresham with a missile dropkick to Marseglia and a springboard moonsault. Cannonball to O’Ryan on the floor. Shooting star press but Marseglia got his knees up. Lethal Injection to O’Ryan! Marseglia grabbed a chair but took a Bang-A-Rang from Castle instead.
WINNERS: Lethal, Castle, & Gresham in 12:41.
-Castle invited Taven to get in the ring with him one-on-one but Taven blew him off. The babyface trio posed together to cheers. Lethal and Castle had a friendly jostle of the world title between them. They shook hands.
(Pageot’s Perspective: If it weren’t for ROH’s much-delayed taping schedule this would have been a really hot episode. Unfortunately we already saw Castle wrestle multiple times, saw Christopher Daniels wrestle, and saw the winners of next week’s tag title match defend the titles so it really undercut what could have been a big surprise here and what should have been a really compelling segment with SCU. This is the first year of Honor Club so I suppose we’re still in trial & error mode but they need to figure out a better solution going into 2019. The easy answer would seem to be to treat taping developments as if they haven’t occurred until they air on TV. i.e. Don’t have Jeff Cobb show up places with the TV title and defend it on your own events when the match where he won the title hasn’t even “happened” yet in continuity.)
-Next week: it’s The Briscoes vs. SCU vs. The Young Bucks for the tag titles and Marty Scurll vs. Shane “Hurricane” Helms in a No Disqualification match.
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