3/24 ROH TV RESULTS: Lethal & Gresham vs. Coast 2 Coast, Lifeblood vs. Dalton Castle & The Boys, Willie Mack vs. Rhett Titus for the NWA national title

ROH TV REPORT
MARCH 24, 2019
LAKELAND, FL AT RP FUNDING CENTER
AIRED ON SINCLAIR AFFILIATES & ROHWRESTLING.COM
REPORT BY HARLEY R. PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Commentary: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana

Opening theme.

-In the arena we opened with Dalton Castle’s music.

(1) LIFEBLOOD (IWGP United States Champion Juice Robinson, Bandido, & Tracy Williams w/Tenille Dashwood) vs. DALTON CASTLE & THE BOYS (Brandon & Brent)

Castle and Robinson took turns tossing each other to ringside. Williams tagged in. The Boys tagged in and out, attempting to double-team Williams to no avail. [C]

Team Castle worked over Bandido. Brent actually got a two-count on the luchador. Bandido caught the Boys with a corkcrew plancha. Hot tag to Robinson. Clotheslines and cannonballs in the corner on both Boys. A series of jabs and an airplane spin for Brent. Pulp Friction. Castle pulled him out to prevent the three-count. Dashwood got in Castle’s face and Bandido flipped over the ropes to take out Castle. The Boys pulled twin magic in the chaos and Brandon got a two-count on Robinson. He springboarded into Robinson and bounced off. Tag to Bandido. Castle grabbed him on the apron but Bandido moved and Brandon took out Castle with a kick. Bandido with a hurricanrana to Castle. Springboard moonsault to Brandon hanging on the ropes but Castle broke it up again. Castle took out Bandido and Robinson, though he wasn’t the legal man. Bandido dumped him to the floor again and hit his 21plex on Brandon.

WINNERS: Lifeblood in 10:49.

(Pageot’s Perspective: This has become Kenny King redux. Castle’s not a heel, he’s just getting frustrated from losing so much and is slowly bending the rules a little more than he used to, such as breaking up pinfalls and pulling Robinson out of the ring to prevent a pin. It’s still strange to me that they would bury Castle this much over the past three months, knowing he’d be wrestling against Rush in the only singles, non-title, non-gimmick match at G1 Supercard.)

-They went to the video package they’ve played for the past few months featuring Jay Lethal talking about what it means to wrestle in Madison Square Garden. [C]

-Another short promo played for G1 Supercard.

-Promo from The Briscoes with them standing next to their truck in a field somewhere. They spoke about Madison Square Garden and said they’ll prove they’re the best tag team of the century.

(Pageot’s Perspective: The Briscoes still had the ROH tag champions over their shoulders, despite losing them nine days ago. Considering this was a pre-taped promo that never aired in front of any audience until now this is sloppy. They could have easily filmed this exactly the same without the titles and not draw attention to how outdated this footage is in the process.)

(2) WILLIE MACK vs. RHETT TITUS – NWA NATIONAL HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

Mack with a running vertical suplex. Titus kicked out his knee and hit a big boot. [C]

Mack with a clothesline, back elbow, body slam. Inverted cannonball in the core. Cannonball over the ropes onto Titus at ringside. He went up top but Titus rolled out of the way. Titus dropped him throat-first over the top rope. Samoan drop from Mack. Standing moonsault. Stunner. Top rope frog-splash.

WINNER: Willie Mack in 9:34 to retain the NWA national title. [C]

(Pageot’s Perspective: Mack is still a fun wrestler to watch, and the fans rallied behind him by the end, but nothing about his presentation in ROH has come anywhere close to matching the star power he accumulated in Lucha Underground. There he came across as one of the top babyfaces, a beloved man of the people who drank beer, stood up for his friends, and never backed down from a fight. I don’t really know anything about this Mack. Titus continues to have the worst record in ROH at 0-6 in 2019.)

-Backstage promo from Bully Ray. He again stated that he’s the only person on the ROH or NJPW roster to ever wrestle in Madison Square Garden. He cited WWE Royal Rumble 2000 and WrestleMania. He’s a god in MSG and he’s going to steal the show at G1 Supercard. It’s just a question of who he’s going to make famous.

-The two teams entered for the main event. [C]

(3) ROH WORLD CHAMPION JAY LETHAL & JONATHAN GRESHAM vs. COAST 2 COAST (Shaheem Ali & LSG)

Lethal and Ali started. Letahal controlled the action but C2C took over once Gresham tagged in. [C]

LSG blocked a Lethal Injection and hit a facebuster and neckbreaker. Gresham with a top rope dropkick to Ali’s knee. Lethal Combination to LSG. Gresham and Ali threw hands. Powerbomb from Lethal to Ali. Figure four from Gresham. LSG broke up the submission. Gresham dumped him to the floor. Stereo suicide dives from Lethal and Gresham. Lethal catapulted Gresham into a cutter on Ali.

WINNERS: Lethal & Gresham in 11:55.

(Pageot’s Perspective: The commentators spoke about C2C’s victories over War Raiders, Motor City Machine Guns, and Roppongi 3K but I’m not sure discussing those old wins is enough in itself to give them credibility in the tag division. Their last TV win was October 7.

Overall this was another filler episode. Other than a smidgen of continuation in the Castle heel turn story nothing here was important or factored into anything significant going forward. Watching this hour you would not believe that the biggest event in ROH history is two weeks away. ROH fans who don’t have an Honor Club subscription or follow their social media will literally have no clue what is happening in Madison Square Garden or any incentive to catch that show.)

-Next week: it’s The Kingdom vs. Villain Enterprises for the six-man titles on the G1 Supercard go-home show.