SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
ROH BOUND BY HONOR
FEBRUARY 10, 2019
MIAMI, FL AT WATSCO CENTER
AIRED ON ROH HONOR CLUB
REPORT BY HARLEY R. PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentary: Caprice Coleman, Nick Aldis
NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis checked in on commentary with his valet Kamille standing behind him. Aldis was joined by Caprice Coleman as Ian Riccaboni is at home for the weekend waiting on the impending birth of his second child and Colt Cabana is in action tonight.
-Rhett Titus posed in the ring with his fitness survivor trophy. Jay Briscoe made his entrance. Titus told him to calm down and called him a fat ass like the fans in the crowd. The fans chanted “Jay’s going to kill you.” Titus said he was here to help Briscoe and invited him to join The Flex Express. He flexed. Titus pulled out a bottle of baby oil and offered to rub down Briscoe. Briscoe kicked him in the face instead.
(1) ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPION JAY BRISCOE vs. RHETT TITUS
Briscoe beat Titus around the ringside area to start. He hit a Jay Driller to a round of applause for the win.
WINNER: Jay Briscoe in 5:32.
(Pageot’s Perspective: The advertised match was Briscoe vs. Brody King. If they offered any explanation as to why that was changed I missed it. The pre-match promo was so misguided. Briscoe is one of the few actual heels in ROH at the moment and part of the top heel stable. Why would you have an enhancement wrestler go out and insult the fans, thus implicitly encouraging them to back Briscoe? I don’t get it.)
(2) DALTON CASTLE & THE BOYS (Dalton Castle, Brandon, & Brent) vs. SHINOBI SHADOW SQUAD (Cheeseburger, Eli Isom, & Ryan Nova)
Castle and Nova started. They wrestled to a stalemate. Isom tagged in. Castle tagged out to Brent but then immediately tagged back in. Brandon eventually tagged in and got worked over by 3S. The Boys pulled twin magic to regain the advantage. Castle hit a gutwrench slam on Burger. Team Castle worked over Burger until he made the hot tag at 10:15. Isom cleared house. Castle insisted on tagging in and put down Isom with a boot. Brandon hit a blind tag and a springboard dropkick. Castle yelled at Brandon for tagging himself in and demanded he tag back. Both Boys got knocked off the apron and Isom hit a brainbuster to pin the former world champion.
WINNERS: Shinobi Shadow Squad in 12:15.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Yikes. Castle is really in trouble. His losing streak continuing is bad enough but getting pinned by a rookie is even worse. The commentators spent most of the match questioning if there’s trouble in the Castle household. All signs point to a heel turn but Dalton Castle as a heel? How?)
(3) ZACK SABRE JR. vs. COLT CABANA
Sabre ignored the code of honor request so Cabana shook the hand of referee Paul Turner instead. Cabana was able to chain-wrestle Sabre down to the mat twice in the opening minutes, which perturbed Sabre. Cabana rolled through on Sabre and backed him into the ropes, getting into his face. Cabana’s mind games continued to fluster Sabre. Cabana put Sabre into a surfboard before taking his hands away and essentially holding Sabre into the air like a small child. He slammed him down on his rear and you could hear Cabana ask, “How’s your ass?” After some more chain-wrestling Sabre nailed Cabana with an uppercut. He hit four more and a headbutt to the midsection. Cabana put him down with a big swing. They traded pinning combinations. Cabana locked in Billy Goat’s Curse at 10:00 but Sabre escaped and they traded more pin attempts. More uppercuts from Sabre but another big strike from Cabana put him back down. Running European uppercut from Sabre in the corner and a kick to the chest. Cabana caught him with a punch. A series of jabs left Sabre punch-drunk. Sabre leapt into a triangle choke. Cabana powered up but Sabre stayed on and took him back down. Cabana tapped.
WINNER: Zack Sabre Jr. in 13:07.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Fantastic match and the best Cabana match in ROH in years. This is the Cabana that I’ve argued could be a valuable uppercard player in ROH, even if just on a part-time basis. Sabre wrestling from underneath the whole match was unexpected but fun. Sabre’s on a strong winning streak in ROH and I would not be surprised if he ends up challenging for the TV title or even the world title at Madison Square Garden. And kudos to Aldis and Coleman as well. They’ve been very good on commentary with a real old school quality to their back and forth. If Aldis doesn’t transition to a broadcast role after retiring from in-ring competition I’ll be very surprised.)
(4) “THE VILLAIN” MARTY SCURLL vs. KENNY KING vs. NWA NATIONAL HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION WILLIE MACK vs. “THE LAST REAL MAN” SILAS YOUNG – NON-TITLE MATCH
Scurll and Mack worked together early on to take out King and then Young. The babyfaces squared off temporarily but the heels dragged them to ringside. Young and King picked up their long TV title rivalry from last year. Mack and Scurll returned to take out the heels. Mack hit a top rope crossbody onto all three men in the ring and followed with a flip over the ropes onto them at ringside. Young looked for the Milwaukee Plunge on King but Mack superkicked him in the face as he posed upside down in the corner. King hit a springboard blockbuster on Mack but Young broke it up. Scurll catapulted King into a right hand from Mack. Mack followed with a senton onto King across Scurll’s knees. Scurll and Mack exchanged chops. You could see a cloud of sweat come off Mack’s chest. They traded strikes. Scurll stomped on Mack’s fingers but the heels prevented him from snapping his hand. King got his knees up on another Milwaukee Plunge attempt from Young. Scurll locked Young in the chicken-wing. King jumped into the ring with a steel chair. The referee grabbed the chair, missing Young tapping to Scurll. King hit a low-blow on Scurll and rolled him up with a handful of tights.
WINNER: Kenny King in 11:17.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Fun one. Often they avoid heel vs. heel fighting in matches like this but with Young and King feuding for so long last year it was only logical that they’d take any opportunity to go at each other in this one. I really appreciate that attention to detail. King stealing the win over Scurll was somewhat surprising. All assumptions have Scurll cashing in his Survival Of The Fittest title shot to challenge Jay Lethal for the world title at the 17th Anniversary Show next month so I don’t know what King’s victory over him here means going forward.)
(5) JEFF COBB vs. ROCKY ROMERO – ROH WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP
Romero tried for waistlocks and suplexes but he couldn’t budge the big man. He landed an eye poke, though. Romero dropkicked Cobb off the apron but Cobb caught him on a splash over the ropes. Romero ran Cobb arm-first into the ring post and hit a running knee off the apron. Romero with a springboard dropkick. He looked for a cross armbreaker on the injured arm but Cobb powered out. Cobb also shrugged off a hurricanrana attempt and hit a powerslam. Cobb with a body slam and standing moonsault. Romero hit his four running clotheslines in the corner and nailed sliced bread for a near-fall. He went for another sliced bread but Cobb turned it into a backbreaker. Romero with a hurricanrana for a two-count. Palm strikes from Romero but Cobb threw him into the corner. Belly to belly suplex. German suplex. Tour Of The Islands.
WINNER: Jeff Cobb in 14:18 to retain the TV title.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Very solid and the longest match Cobb has had in ROH to date. He’s still a beast but they’ve scaled back a bit on him being invincible, which will make for better drama in his other matches going forward. Cobb is now 12-0 in ROH.)
(6) “THE GATEKEEPER” KELLY KLEIN (w/Camp Klein) vs. ARTIST OF STARDOM CHAMPION MAYU IWATANI (w/Sumie Sakai) – WOH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Iwatani connected with kicks. She tried for an Irish whip but Klein hung onto the ropes. Iwatani ran through her with more kicks. Klein locked in a cravat and hit some knees to the head. She tossed Iwatani into the guardrail. Klein sat on the top turnbuckle and choked Iwatani off the ground. Flying headscissors sent Klein to the floor and Iwatani hit a crossbody off the top rope onto her at ringside. Klein followed with a German suplex on the floor. Klein rolled in for the countout victory but Iwatani returned at 17. They exchanged strikes. German suplex from Iwatani. A roundhouse kick gave Iwatani a two-count. Clothesline from Klein. Dragon suplex from Iwatani. Another. Kick to the head. The champ kicked out at two. Shining wizard from Iwatani. Iwatani nailed a top-rope moonsault for another two. She nailed a second one for the win! What?!?!
WINNER: Mayu Iwatani in 11:03 to capture the Women Of Honor title.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Holy shit! Klein just won the title in December and she’s been pushed so hard. Nobody saw this coming. Iwatani is the ace of Stardom so I thought her losing clean was unlikely but I had my money on Klein getting herself disqualified. I wasn’t even buying into any of the near-falls because I figured there was no way the match would end until Camp Klein got involved. They got me. This is huge for Women Of Honor as it gives them one of the best women’s wrestlers on the planet as champion and the best friend of NXT stars Kairi Sane and Io Shirai as the face of WOH. Or is this just a short reign before she loses the title back to Klein at Madison Square Garden? Let’s find out.)
(7) LIFEBLOOD (IWGP United States Champion Juice Robinson, Tracy Williams, Bandido, & Mark Haskins w/Tenille Dashwood) vs. THE BOUNCERS & COAST 2 COAST (Beer City Bruiser, Brian Milonas, LSG, & Shaheem Ali)
Haskins and Ali started for their teams. All eight men squared off at 5:45. The fans wanted the referee to make it an impromptu tornado tag match but instead he was able to convince the illegal wrestlers to leave. Robinson got the hot tag at 11:35. He took out all four opponents. Robinson tried to body slam Milonas but fell under the weight. Robinson rolled out of the way of a sit-down splash, though. LSG and Bandido tagged in. Bandido avoided a charge which saw LSG collide with Bruiser on the apron. Bandido with a twisting corkscrew splash off the top rope onto LSG in the ring. Ali with a sidekick and he splashed over the ropes onto Robinson. Haskins took him out with a kick but Bruiser hit a death valley driver onto the apron. Bandido dove off the top into a DDT on Milonas. LSG hit a 450 on Bandido but Robinson and Williams broke it up. No clue who the legal men were at this point. Bruiser looked for a crossbody but Bandido caught him in mid-air. Wow. Upside-down Go To Sleep and a 21plex on LSG gave Bandido the pinfall.
WINNERS: Lifeblood in 16:20.
-Bruiser brought in a cooler and passed beers around to the eight men. Dashwood looked upset about being left out so she joined them. They all toasted.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Very high-energy multi-man match from the new Bullet Club. It took me a little to get into it because I was still buzzing off the previous match but the last few minutes there were crazy fun. We know that Robinson and co. are bonded in their desire to bring honor back to ROH but we need to hear from the rest of the crew sometime soon. I know Robinson’s motivations and he and Dashwood have been friends since their days in NXT but why did Haskins, Williams, and Bandido specifically want to come on board and join this faction?)
(8) ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPION MARK BRISCOE vs. PCO
It took a minute for both men to bring steel chairs into the ring. Referee Todd Sinclair warned them not to use them. Briscoe hit a blockbuster off the apron to PCO on the floor. PCO no-sold a bunch of offense and unloaded with chops to Briscoe in the corner. Cannonball through the ropes onto Briscoe at ringside. Briscoe dropped him throat-first across the guardrail. Cactus Jack elbow off the apron. PCO had a cut above his left eye. He went for a cannonball off the top rope onto Briscoe on the apron. Briscoe moved and PCO just thudded and bounced off the apron. Ugh. Briscoe hurled him into the guardrail. They brawled up the ramp to the stage. They traded chops on the stage. Sinclair followed and watched them. Briscoe powerbombed PCO onto the stage. Briscoe hit a knee that sent PCO tumbling backwards down the ramp stairs. Sinclair went back to the ring and suddenly decided to start counting them out now. Okay then. Briscoe re-entered the ring with PCO left for dead in the aisle. He sprinted back into the ring. Briscoe fetched another chair. He threw one in the ring. As Sinclair took it away Briscoe grabbed a second and threw it at PCO’s head. He connected with a second unprotected chair shot to the head. Briscoe hit a top rope elbow drop but PCO kicked out. Body slam from PCO. Top rope moonsault.
WINNER: PCO in 12:35.
(Pageot’s Perspective: No thank you. I know a lot of people eat this stuff up but the unprotected chair shots to the head and Sinclair looking like a complete moron for watching them fight up the ramp for two minutes and then deciding to start counting was too much. It’s a shame because the PCO character is great and everything else in this match was solid. Cut out the head shots and book your referees to have some sort of logic and this would have been just as effective.)
-As The Kingdom made their entrance a fan in the front row was mouthing off at them so Taven took his gum out of his mouth and shoved it in the fan’s mouth.
(9) ROH WORLD SIX-MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS THE KINGDOM (Matt Taven, TK O’Ryan, & Vinny Marseglia) vs. ROH WORLD CHAMPION JAY LETHAL, “THE OCTOPUS” JONATHAN GRESHAM, & RUSH – NON-TITLE MATCH
Gresham and Marseglia started. Things broke down with everyone brawling everywhere. The referee didn’t see Rush get DDTed onto a chair at ringside. He was also driven into the guardrail multiple times and head-first into the ring post. Taven dragged Rush by his hair (a sore spot for Taven where Rush is concerned) as The Kingdom isolated him in their corner. Tag to Gresham at 10:00. Tag to Lethal at 11:00. He hit his trio of suicide dives. Taven avoided Hail To The King but took a Lethal Combination. Just The Tip (of the knee) from Taven. Rush and Gresham blocked Rockstar Supernova. Three-way dropkick to O’Ryan but Marseglia broke up the pin. House Of A Thousand Horses to Rush, then again to Gresham. The Kingdom set up Lethal for Rockstar Supernova again but he fought out. Taven blocked a Lethal Injection and hit The Climax on Lethal for the pin.
WINNERS: The Kingdom in 15:06.
-Kenny King walked out and called Lethal a pathetic loser. Not him. He’s a winner. Everyone saw him whup Marty Scurll’s ass. He began to threaten Lethal but Scurll showed up and tackled him. O’Ryan and Marseglia jumped Scurll. Taven and Lethal brawled to ringside. Silas Young showed up, then PCO. Titus, Castle, and The Boys were next, Coast 2 Coast, Romero, Rhett Titus, The Bouncers, Willie Mack, 3S, Zack Sabre Jr., Bandido, Jeff Cobb, and maybe some others hit the ring as well. Everyone brawled until just referee Todd Sinclair was left in the ring.
Bully Ray hit the ring and backed Sinclair into a corner. PCO grabbed Ray. They circled each other and threw hands. The Briscoes jumped PCO “like a plague.” PCO took out both tag champs and hit a top rope moonsault onto at least a dozen men at the foot of the ramp. Insane.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Well then. My assumption a week ago was Lethal-Scurll at the 17th Anniversary Show but based on tonight it seems like it will be Lethal-Taven for the world title and Scurll-King instead. The locker room brawl at the end was goofy fun but just seemed to be a chaotic show-closing visual. It’s doubtful it actually sets up anything in particular.)
Find Harley on Twitter @talkinghonor and listen to he and Emily Fear talk all things ROH every Tuesday on the PWTorch Dailycast “Talking Honor.”
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