SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
ROH TV REPORT
MAY 5, 2019
PITTSBURGH, PA AT STAGE AE
AIRED ON SINCLAIR AFFILIATES & ROHWRESTLING.COM
REPORT BY HARLEY R. PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentary: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman, Rhett Titus
Opening theme.
-In the arena we opened with Shinobi Shadow Squad, who have new music that includes the clinking of sword blades.
(1) “DAREWOLF” PJ BLACK vs. ELI ISOM (w/Cheeseburger & Ryan Nova)
Black with a Boston crab early. [C]
Billy goat’s curse to Isom. They traded chops. Isom went on a bit of a hot streak but he slipped on a springboard attempt and crashed to the mat. Black with a hurricanrana that took Isom off the top turnbuckle. Springboard 450 from Black to Isom but Isom kicked out. Top rope moonsault into a double stomp gave Black the victory.
WINNER: PJ Black in 8:34.
-Code of honor adhered to. [C]
(Pageot’s Perspective: I assume that matches like this are the reason Black was signed in the first place. The commentators noted that he’s been wrestling longer than Isom’s been alive so he’s the perfect veteran hand to be put in there with the young guys and teach them while on the job. This was Black’s first singles win in ROH, moving him up to 1-6. The commentators spoke about how impressive 3S have been in trios action but we’ve only seen them wrestle two matches in the past two and a half months and they lost one of those.)
-Riccaboni narrated a brief video hyping this week’s War Of The Worlds tour.
-As the Women Of Honor champion made her entrance a picture-in-picture video recapped the debut of The Allure at G1 Supercard, attacking Klein and drawing on her forehead with lipstick. The newly-babyface Klein offered the code of honor but Lynn walked past her and asked for a microphone instead. Lynn said she doesn’t like her or respect her and she’ll never shake her hand.
(2) WOH WORLD CHAMPION KELLY KLEIN vs. RAY LYNN – NON-TITLE MATCH
Klein overpowered her to start. [C]
Klein caught a top rope crossbody and tossed her over her shoulder. K-Power ends it.
WINNER: Kelly Klein in 4:03.
-Klein shook Lynn’s hand and the enhancement walked off with her tail between her legs. Klein said she was proud to represent WOH. Her win at G1 Supercard was the greatest victory of her career but some others wanted to steal the attention. She said they care about social media but she cares about wrestling.
Mandy Leon and Velvet Sky finally walked out. Angelina Love slipped in the ring from behind and took down Klein with a boot. Half-hearted boos from the crowd. Jenny Rose ran out and threw two punches before taking a DDT from Leon. Lipstick anarchy symbol to Rose’s forehead while the commentators oversold. The Allure posed. [C]
(Pageot’s Perspective: Just a short squash match. The commentators made a big deal out of Camp Klein not being in the champion’s corner. Also noteworthy is that this was a non-title match. During Klein’s first run as champon she vowed that every singles match she had would have the title on the line. That is apparently not the case this time around. Everything with The Allure is awful. I fully expect to be a broken record on that front going forward. Their interruption was predictable, Klein not questioning why Love was absent makes her look stupid, their offense looks weak, and even Avril Lavigne would think that drawing an anarchy symbol on somebody’s forehead with lipstick is cheesy. There are only three other women left in Women Of Honor at this point so expect Sumie Sakai to get the lipstick treatment next, setting up a trios tag down the line.)
-Video recap of former world champion Dalton Castle jobbing to Rush in sixteen seconds at G1 Supercard. After the match he beat up his Boys.
Castle made his entrance in street clothes with microphone in hand. He said he could see a lot of faces looking for answers. That’s fair. He owed some people an explanation. He called out The Boys. They hesitantly walked out on stage in full gear. Castle said he just wanted to make things right. They joined him in the ring. (The fans were already anticipating him attacking them again.) He took a step forward and they cowered like whipped dogs. He said he should have never taken his frustrations out on them. What they had was something special. He’s not willing to throw that all away because of a mistake. He wanted to just move past it and shoot forward. They offered hugs. He accepted with a smile on his face. Castle got teary. He said what we’re looking at is stronger than ever. We will never see him put his hands on his Boys ever again… because these are no Boys of his. Castle beat them both up again and took their masks. [C]
(Pageot’s Perspective: Spinning of the wheels. Anyone who’s watched wrestling longer than a few months knew where this was going the second he called them out. No justification provided for his heel turn, just a rinse and repeat of the same segment from G1 Supercard. The Boys teased on Twitter that they’ll be competing as The Tate Twins going forward. Castle will likely be jockeying with Kenny King for the spot of top uppercard heel.)
-The Kingdom made their entrance without Matt Taven for the main event, followed by Haskins and Williams without the rest of Lifeblood. The heels attacked before the bell.
(3) LIFEBLOOD (Mark Haskins & Tracy Williams) vs. THE KINGDOM (Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan)
Haskins and Marseglia ended up as the legal men to start. All four men hung around in the ring for a couple minutes as referee Todd Sinclair looked on. [C]
The Kingdom had taken off Williams’ shoulder brace during the break and targeted his arm. They tagged in and out as they worked over Williams. Hot tag at 7:00. Haskins took out both men. He dropped Marseglia onto the apron with a back suplex. Tag to Williams, who hit a top rope frog-splash on O’Ryan for two. Discus lariat for another two. Ankle lock, which Marseglia broke up. Marseglia was ready for House Of A Thousand Horses but O’Ryan was too dazed. Haskins with a sharpshooter to O’Ryan and he tapped.
WINNERS: Lifeblood in 9:56.
-Williams grabbed a mic and said that’s what ROH is all about. He called Bully Ray a snake, a stench, and a cancer. The only way to get rid of that is to cut it out completely. He called out Ray who eventually obliged. Ray asked off-mic if they’re still mad about Tenille and told them to go to hell.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Wow. Huge cliffhanger. What will happen next?? Just kidding. It’s The Bully Ray Show. We know how this goes. The match was fine but ROH booking is in a sorry state right now. Nothing feels like it matters and any episode of TV could be aired in any random order because nothing carries over and any time something moderately interesting does happen it takes two months for any follow-up. Tomorrow marks one month since Jay Lethal lost the world title and the only time we’ve seen him since then was in a tag match at a house show. One full month without your top babyface addressing his loss, what it means for him, what it means for ROH, or how he’ll push on.)
-Next week: it’s Bandido vs. Shane Taylor.
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