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ROH TV REPORT
JANUARY 27, 2019
PHILADELPHIA, PA AT 2300 ARENA
AIRED ON SINCLAIR AFFILIATES & ROHWRESTLING.COM
REPORT BY HARLEY R. PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentary: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana
Opening theme.
-In the arena the NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis made his entrance in a suit and glasses. His valet Kamille accompanied him and held the title belt while Aldis joined Riccaboni and Cabana on commentary. He will defend his title against PJ Black on ROH television in a couple weeks.
(1) IWGP UNITED STATES CHAMPION JUICE ROBINSON vs. PJ BLACK – NON-TITLE MATCH
Black chopped Robinson instead of following the code of honor. Aldis put himself over as an honorable babyface on commentary, which Cabana and Riccaboni questioned. Black avoided a cannonball in the corner and caught Robinson with a jumping back kick to the head. [C]
Black with a top rope double stomp to a standing Robinson. Robinson started to rally at 6:00 but Black put him back down with a clothesline. At 7:30 Robinson caught him with a belly to belly suplex. Spinebuster. Fireman’s carry into a gutbuster. Black with a hurricanrana to Robinson on the top rope. A springboard moonsault gave him a two-count. They traded strikes. Robinson hit a series of jabs that put Black down. Cannonball in the corner. Robinson went up top but Black shoved referee Paul Turner into the ropes. Robinson was knocked to the mat and Turner called for the bell.
WINNER: Juice Robinson in 11:04 via disqualification.
-Black punched out Turner to a big ovation. Cabana was outraged. Black walked over to the commentary booth and he and Aldis jawed at each other. Aldis called him an embarrassment while Kamille stepped between them. [C]
(Pageot’s Perspective: A little slow moving but a nice showcase for two of the new faces in ROH, Black especially getting the bulk of the spotlight here. It’s refreshing that he’s firmly a heel as almost all the other new signees have been given babyface slots thus far. He’ll stand out for that reason alone.)
-Robinson was still in the ring and asked for a microphone. He said he didn’t come to Philadelphia for a disqualification. He spoke about the code of honor and promised we’d be seeing a lot more of him in ROH in 2019. He vowed to breathe some new life into ROH.
-The Kingdom were backstage for a promo. TK O’Ryan addressed Marty Scurll and admitted he surprised them with his new stable. Matt Taven said Brody King is another fake, just like Jay Lethal. Vinny Marseglia said PCO says he’s not human but he’s seen him bleed.
-Caprice Coleman joined the commentary team. “One Punch” Shane Taylor made his entrance as footage aired of him attacking Christopher Daniels three weeks ago. Taylor tore up Daniels’ new ROH contract and Daniels was apparently so scared of Taylor that he elected to go sign with AEW rather than risk facing him again. Taylor’s opponent was already in the ring.
(2) SHANE TAYLOR vs. MIKE LAW
The bell rang and Taylor hit his knockout punch. Greetings From 216 mercifully ended things.
WINNER: Shane Taylor in 0:32.
-Taylor took a mic. He said everyone’s been wondering who paid him to take out Daniels but nobody did. He decided to take him out of ROH on his own and he’s just getting started. [C]
(Pageot’s Perspective: Another short but strong segment helping elevate one of the up and coming heels.)
-Colt Cabana was in the ring with a mic and introduced Flip Gordon. He put over Gordon making Bully Ray quit at Final Battle. He asked what Gordon’s plans are in 2019. Gordon said he’s cashing in his shot at the ROH world title (which he earned by winning the Sea Of Honor tournament).
Kenny King made his entrance in street clothes and stood on the stage. He said every week some mediocre dude like Gordon, Marty Scurll, or Chris Sabin comes out talking about how they’re going to win the world title. King said he’s the last person to pin Jay Lethal and brought some tape. Closely-edited footage aired of King pinning Lethal for three at Global Wars: Toronto but King had edited out his feet being on the ropes and Todd Sinclair waving it off as the finish to the match.
King got in Gordon’s face in the ring and called him a phony. He said he has these people fooled that he’s some American hero but King’s tougher and a superior athlete. Gordon’s just some punk ass weekend warrior who was only brave enough to join the reserves. Mic drop. King walked off while Gordon fumed. [C]
(Pageot’s Perspective: This would appear to be setting up King vs. Gordon at the 17th Anniversary Show in March but with Gordon’s knee injury since then it’s unclear when he’ll return to action. This episode was taped six weeks ago and a lot can change in a month and a half.)
-Marty Scurll entered first for our main event: Villain Enterprises vs. The Kingdom for the six-man titles. Brody King was out second, then PCO. The Kingdom made their entrance but Taven cut off Bobby Cruise’s introduction. He asked why VE think they’ve earned a title match when they’ve never even teamed together. Instead he’s found VE some undefeated opponents to maybe possibly earn their way toward a future six-man title shot. Cheeseburger’s ninja squad made their entrance as Taven gave them a pep talk.
(3) VILLAIN ENTERPRISES (Marty Scurll, PCO, & Brody King) vs. SHINOBI SHADOW SQUAD (Cheeseburger, Eli Isom, & Ryan Nova)
VE jumped 3S from behind before the bell. Scurll whipped Burger into the guardrail. [C]
Burger got a two-count on Scurll but PCO broke up the pin. PCO roughed up Burger. Tag to Nova who tried to be a house of fire to no avail. Burger jumped on PCO’s back for a sleeperhold. Isom kicked Scurll and King off the apron. He hit a trio of superkicks to PCO with Burger still on his back but PCO no-sold. [C]
King beat up Burger again to scattered boos. The crowd clapped for 3S. The rookies went for stereo suicide dives but got caught. PCO with a buckle bomb to Nova and a pop-up powerbomb. Gonzo Bomb from King. Top rope moonsault from PCO.
WINNERS: Villain Enterprises in 11:41.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Very odd choice to have VE make their TV in-ring debut against the lovable Cheeseburger and his pair of rookies. The crowd was all set to cheer them in their title match against The Kingdom and didn’t seem to know how to react when it was 3S getting attacked from behind for no reason instead. In fact the crowd was far quieter for VE here than on their subsequent appearances for Honor Club events.)
-Bully Ray sat in front of a campfire at night with a bottle of lighter fluid. Clips were overlaid of his I Quit match with Flip Gordon at Final Battle. He kept squirting more fluid onto the fire as the clips led us to the end of the match and him quitting after a series of Singapore cane shots from Gordon. Ray said he never said he quit. The footage confirmed this as he was merely screaming in agony when Todd Sinclair called for the bell.
-Next week: it’s Silas Young vs. Eli Isom to become #1 contender to the TV title.
I am a big fan of Ring of Honor, but aside from the first match on this show, I thought this episode really was bad. The whole bully ray segment was silly. He didn’t say I quit, but he quit. Same thing. Dumb. 🙂 I hope this was just a one off week of bad tv, I realize it will take a while to get some of the newer talent involved in story lines, but this was not good. Bully Ray really should retire or find something else to do. I’d rather see the focus on new stars and younger stars instead of an old has been who seems willing to put someone over reluctantly. It took a long time to pay off the Flip Gordon angle with Bully getting over every time or nearly every time for months. By the time they were paying off the angle, many people were no longer interested. Tommy Dreamer puts over a lot of the younger talent without having to get himself over initially.