SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
ROH TV REPORT
DECEMBER 2, 2018
PITTSBURGH, PA AT STAGE AE
AIRED ON SINCLAIR AFFILIATES & ROHWRESTLING.COM
REPORT BY HARLEY R. PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentary: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana, Marty Scurll
We opened with a recap of the double DQ finish to last week’s Briscoes-Young Bucks main event and SoCal Uncensored challenging both teams to compete for the ROH tag titles in Ladder War VII at Final Battle.
-Opening theme.
-In the arena Kenny King made his first appearance since failing to capture the ROH world title at Global Wars: Toronto three weeks ago. Kenny King took a mic and called Christopher Daniels a timeless talent because nobody can tell him how old his ass is. King thought he could give Daniels one last loss before booting his ass out the door of Ring Of Honor.
(1) “THE FALLEN ANGEL” CHRISTOPHER DANIELS vs. KENNY KING
Daniels was out of the neck brace from recent weeks but had athletic tape in its place. He caught King with a springboard moonsault. Basement dropkick put King down on the floor. King got a shot in going into the break. [C]
King mocked Daniels’ age some more by pretending to be using a walker. Daniels hit a blue thunder as King came off the ropes. STO. Wheelbarrow slam. King with a spinebuster and he grabbed the bottom rope for leverage but referee Paul Turner caught it. King shoved Daniels off and into Turner, using the distraction to kick Daniels between the legs. Royal Flush ended it.
WINNER: Kenny King in 7:25. [C]
(Pageot’s Perspective: Daniels’ streak of bad luck continues with just 12 days left on his ROH contract. Thanks to ROHwrestling.com we know he’ll be facing Scurll at Final Battle for Scurll’s Survival Of The Fittest world title shot but that hasn’t been addressed on TV yet so I’m quite surprised it wasn’t established here. King continues to express a real confidence as a heel and he’s the most high-profile name in ROH not currently booked for Final Battle. Hopefully they have something significant planned for him come January.)
-Dalton Castle and The Boys were backstage on the ROH set. When Castle was out injured for three months his only focus was on regaining the ROH world title. He didn’t fight to come back just so he could face Matt Taven for his fake purple belt. But things changed. The belt may be fake but his rage isn’t.
-2017 Top Prospect winner Josh Woods made his entrance for the first time since September 2 TV when he lost the final match in his feud with Shane Taylor. 2018 “top prospect” Jeff Cobb was his opponent.
(2) ROH WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPION JEFF COBB vs. JOSH “THE GOODS” WOODS – NON-TITLE MATCH
Slow feeling out process with mat wrestling and take-downs. Adam Page immediately walked out with a steel chair and sat down at the top of the ramp to watch. Woods looked for an armbar but Cobb made a rope break. Very even back and forth technical wrestling until Cobb hit an overhead throw. Woods went back to the armbar but Cobb had his hands clenched. Woods springboarded into a Tour Of The Islands.
WINNER: Jeff Cobb in 3:48.
-Page walked past Woods and into the ring with a mic. He and the champ went face to face. Page sarcastically said it was impressive and told Cobb to get out of the ring so he could show him what a real ass-whuppin’ looks like.
-Pittsburgh native Façade made his third appearance of the year. (Interestingly, his previous appearance was a loss to Woods on July 1 TV.) [C]
(3) “THE NEON NINJA” FAÇADE (w/Danni) vs. “HANGMAN” ADAM PAGE
The match was joined in progress out of the break. Page stomped away at Façade in the corner as the referee pulled him off. Cobb watched from the chair on the stage. Page clotheslined Façade to the floor and hit his running shooting star press. Page with a fallaway slam pin for two. “Ninja” chant from the crowd. Façade kipped up into a handstand kick but leapt off the top rope into a big boot. Page with a second rope fallaway slam that threw Façade across the ring. Façade chopped at Page, who no-sold. Discus lariat. Façade with a springboard kick. Page went to the floor and Façade hit a springboard 450 double axhandle, landing on his feet at ringside. Page avoided a springboard 450 and hit buckshot lariat. Rite Of Passage.
WINNER: Adam Page in 5:15 of TV time.
-Cobb got back in the ring and he and Page went nose to nose again. [C]
(Pageot’s Perspective: A tale of two matches and attitudes. Cobb was respectful to Woods and followed the code of honor. Woods, who is rarely portrayed as anything more than enhancement talent, got to hold his own for a few minutes and look an equal before falling to one move. Page was aggressive and dickish to the local talent and paid for it before getting serious and finishing things. Page has refused to take the threat of Jeff Cobb seriously and is fully engulfed in his ego, believing he’s just as good and just as strong. That’s going to come back to bite him hard at Final Battle.)
-Video recap of Marty Scurll winning the 2018 Survival Of The Fittest tournament by last eliminating Christopher Daniels in the six-way final.
After the match that night cameras caught Scurll in the locker room, telling Daniels that the better man won. Daniels said the only reason he lost was because he had to wrestle Scurll and Page at the same time for five minutes. Daniels said he can’t beat him one-on-one and challenged him to put up his world title shot. Scurll was insulted and arrogant enough to agree, even though there was nothing in it for him.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Oh, there it is. And it doesn’t exactly make Scurll look like the brightest guy around. If this is really Daniels’ last match as some of us have speculated, why not go all the way and just make it career vs. title shot? That’s the kind of proposal a Villain would make. Also, if that scene happened at Survival Of The Fittest on November 4, why are we only seeing it now? I mean just last week Daniels acted like he had no idea what was next for him or where he’d be come Final Battle. Why would he lie to Kaz and Scorpio like that?)
-ROH World Champion Jay Lethal was backstage on the ROH set. Lethal faced Cody in Cody’s first ROH match at Final Battle 2016. The premise was that Cody was wanted to prove he could hang in ROH but instead he kicked Lethal between the legs and stole the win. At Supercard Of Honor they faced off in a Texas bullrope match and Lethal won that one too. Even if he doesn’t always agree with what he says, Lethal likes Cody. But he’s learned all of his shortcuts. Lethal will not leave New York without the ROH title. Cody cannot win.
-Ian Riccaboni ran down the Final Battle card.
-The Kingdom were backstage. Matt Taven had his “real world title”, TK O’Ryan had his baseball bat, and Vinny Marseglia had one of the Boys’ peacock feathers as a trophy. Taven said Castle crumbled under the pressure of being ROH world champion. Castle was a one-hit wonder with a short-lived title reign but Taven is building a legacy.
(4) SOCAL UNCENSORED (Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky) vs. TEAM CMLL (Guerrero Maya Jr. & Stuka Jr.) – ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Maya and Sky started. The CMLL guests were wrestling out of the babyface corner. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker put down Sky. Tag to Stuka. The champs double-teamed Stuka. [C]
CMLL locked a double-team surfboard on Sky. Kaz tagged and dove between them for a pin on both men. Stuka held Kaz in the air by the armpits while Maya twisted his legs. Sky with a flying headscissors to Maya and double-stomp to Stuka. Kaz shoulder-first into the ring post. Stuka with a top rope moonsault onto Kaz on the floor. Maya with a suicide dive into a cannonball on Sky, landing with his legs on the guardrail and his feet in the front row. Kaz with a slingshot DDT to Maya. Burning Heart, Kaz and Sky’s new finishing move, put away Stuka.
WINNERS: SCU in 8:27 to retain the tag titles.
-Christopher Daniels joined his stable mates in the ring with a mic. He said he negotiated new ROH contracts for Kaz and Sky after they won the tag titles but he’s still out in the cold. He announced his match with Scurll to the live crowd and said he’ll go through Scurll to stay in the company he helped build and make famous.
Scurll left the broadcast booth and headed to the ring. He asked if Daniels wants to be known as a legend, the man who main evented the first ROH event ever, and the only grand slam champion or as a man known for spouting a stupid three-letter catchphrase. Scurll vowed this will be Daniels’ final battle.
(Pageot’s Perspective: If the predictability of match outcomes ruins your enjoyment of wrestling you likely won’t be too engaged in the next month of ROH. If you’re able to set that aside and just enjoy the action as it happens, though, matches like this one can prove to be a real treat. It ended up shorter than I expected but the CMLL guests brought some new stuff to the screen that we haven’t seen in ROH before and Kaz and Sky picked up another credibility-building win.)
-Next week: it’s the final push for Final Battle with The Kingdom vs. Jay Lethal, Cody, & Dalton Castle.
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