WEEKLY OVERVIEW – ROH (thru 4/10): Top stories of week, major show lineups, live event results, schedule of live events, noteworthy social media posts, more

The following is the latest in a new series of weekly in-depth articles exclusive to PWTorch which will help put in perspective major wrestling promotions with a weekly overview, looking at news and roster developments, results, future line-ups, social media activity, key interviews, plus a timely commentary at the end. We will be featuring similar features on other promotions each week and each will be updated weekly.

•Top Stories of the Week

• A lot happened at G1 Supercard on Saturday the 6th. The most perplexing development was the introduction on nZo and CasXL. Formerly known as Enzo and Big Cass in WWE. At this time the two have announced that they are free agents, and no contract details have been reported.
• It has been reported by 411mania.com that Kevin Eck and Joey Matthews have been added to ROH’s creative team. The team already consisted of Delirious, Todd Sinclair, and Bully Ray.
• Jeff Cobb became the Never Openweight Champion at G1 Supercard.
• Matt Taven became the 30th ROH World Champion at G1 Supercard.

•Live Event Results

ROH/NJPW G1 Supercard
April 6th, 2019
New York, NY at Madison Square Garden

• Kagetsu, Jenny Rose, and Hazuki defeated Hana Kimura, Stella Grey, and Sumie Sakai
• Kenny King won the Honor Rumble at 42:21
• Jeff Cobb (c) defeated Will Ospreay (c) to become the New Never Openweight Champion and retain the ROH World Television Championship 12:52
• Rush Defeated Dalton Castle at 0:15
• Kelly Klein defeated Mayu Iwatani (c) at 10:38 to become the new WOH World Champion
• Flip Gordon and Lifeblood (Juice Robinson and Mark Haskins) defeated Bully Ray, Shane Taylor, and Silas Young at 15:01
• Dragon Lee defeated Taiji Ishimori (c) and Bandidio at 8:54 to become the new IWGP Jr. Heavyweight champion.
• G.O.D (c) defeated Villain Enterprises and The Briscoes and Evil & Sanada at 9:45 to retain the IWGP heavyweight Tag-Team Championships and become the new ROH Tag-Team Champions
• Zack Sabre Jr. (c) defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi at 15:14 to retain the RevPro British Heavyweight Championship
• Kota Ibushi defeated Tetsuya Naito (c) at 20:53 to become the new IWGP Intercontinental champion
• Matt Taven defeated Jay Lethal (c) and Marty Scurll at 29:35 to become the new ROH World Champion
• Kazuchika Okada defeated Jay White (c) at 32:33 to become the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion

Please click the link for our full report HERE.

•Upcoming Major Show: Next ROH PPV TBA

Upcoming Events

• Steel City Excellence (Honor Club Event) 4/13/19 in Pittsburgh, PA at Stage AE
• Masters of the Craft (Honor Club Event) 4/14/19 in Columbus, Ohio at Express live
• The Crockett Cup (Honor Club Event) 4/27/19 in Concord, NC at Cabarrus Arena
• ROH War of the Worlds (Honor Club Event) 5/8/19 in Buffalo, NY at Buffalo Riverworks
• ROH War of the Worlds (Honor Club Event) 5/9/19 in Toronto, ON Canada at Ted Reeve Arena
• ROH War of the Worlds (Honor Club Event) 5/11/19 in Grand Rapids, MI at Deltaplex
• ROH War of the Worlds (Honor Club Event) 5/12/19 in Chicago, IL at The Odeum In Villa Park
• ROH State of the Art (Honor Club Event) 6/1/19 in Kent, WA at Showare Center
• ROH State of the Art (Honor Club Event) 6/2/19 in Portland, OR at Viking Pavilion

All current live events are located on rohwrestling.com

•Latest TV Highlights: 4/7/19 ROH Wrestling

ROH TV Results
April 7th, 2019
Las Vegas, NV at Sam’s Town
Airing on Sinclair Networks and rohwrestling.com

• Dalton Castle & The Boys defeated NJPW Young Lions (Alex Coughlin, Karl Fredericks, and Clark Connors) at 8:46
• A video package building PJ Blacks character is shown
• The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser and Brian Milonas) defeated The Voros Twins (Chris & Patrick Voros) at 3:20
• Silas Young defeated Jonathan Gresham at 21:28

Click HERE to read our full report.

•LATEST “TALKING HONOR” PWTORCH LIVECAST COVERING ROH

“G1 Supercard.” This week, Emily Fear and Harley R. Pageot discuss every match on the G1 Supercard, how ROH holds up against NJPW in situations like this, Matt Taven and Guerrillas of Destiny as ROH champions, and the debut of The Allure, all while struggling with a feeling of dread for the future of Ring of Honor. Plus, listeners weigh in on G1 Supercard and their similar frustrations with the ROH booking.

•Social Media Scene

Below is this week’s round-up of social media posts from ROH personalities.

Thanks, I hate it.

https://twitter.com/danthegrapsfan/status/1116365810681954305

A match I never knew I needed

This Saturday @ringofhonor presents #SteelCityExcellence

First time ever, #ThePrettyBoyKiller Shane Taylor vs Bandido!!

There will be violence!! #PutOneThroughThem #NJPW #ComingForEverything #WatchROH #ViolenceAtItsFinest pic.twitter.com/JdvyEo7wB9

— Shane Taylor (@shane216taylor) April 11, 2019

The only true heel in Pro-Wrestling today. My thoughts below.

On top of the world pic.twitter.com/S4XVwvvDEM

— Matt Taven (@MattTaven) April 8, 2019

•Closing Commentary

I want to discuss the true ROH World Champion, Matt Taven. I have been vocal in my disapproval of his character in ROH, and the push he has been on. I have decided to look on the other side of my opinion. Is Matt Taven the greatest heel in all of Pro Wrestling?

I’m serious with this. Name other heels in the other major promotions. Samoa Joe? He is way too cool to actually dislike. Sami Callihan? While it is questionable that he takes to many liberties in the ring with the other performer, the way that he performs is hard to deny. Brock Lesnar? Yes, everyone is tired of him. But if he fights Daniel Cormier, I guarantee that you will be cheering for the beast.

Now we have Matt Taven. His matches are underwhelming compared to other current major champions (Seth Rollins, Kazuchika Okada, Kofi Kingston, even Johnny Impact). His character is a straight down the middle generic heel, who basically says his name and does shady things.

Matt Taven reminds me of Cactus Jack at the end of his run in ECW. He would intentionally do long head locks and make his matches boring in order to get over as a heel. What if Matt Taven, who was put in charge of Adam Cole’s former group (not the easiest spot), decided to go full heel? But he knows that hardcore ROH fans are over the standard face and heel dynamic. I mean, a guy that has the moniker “The Villain” is the biggest face in the company.

What if Matt Taven decided the best way to get over as a heel was to have no character, be a part of a boring group, have boring matches, and be an average performer in the ring? If this is the case I would like to thank Matt Taven for playing three-dimensional chess with his character, while the rest of us are playing checkers.

Or maybe Matt Taven’s character is not very good, and he is an average professional wrestler?

Tyler has been a wrestling fan for 20 years. He’s from Columbus, Ohio. Check him out on Twitter @ringoftyler and check out his podcast @tandbwrestling.

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