SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
ROH TV REPORT
SEPTEMBER 8, 2019
ATLANTA, GA AT CENTER STAGE
AIRED ON ROHWRESTLING.COM
REPORT BY HARLEY R. PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Hosts: Ian Riccaboni, Quinn McKay
Opening theme.
-We opened with clips of Shane Taylor pinning Brody King in a four-way to become TV champion (May 9, War Of The Worlds: Toronto, The Briscoes pinning Guerrillas Of Destiny to become 11-time tag team champions (July 20, Manhattan Mayhem), and Matt Taven climbing a ladder to win the ROH world title (April 6, G1 Supercard).
-I.Q. (Ian & Quinn) checked in and threw to footage from Saturday Night At Center Stage on August 24. Dalton Castle was mid-promo when he was interrupted by “The Prestigious One” Joe Hendry. It was Hendry’s first appearance after signing with ROH. Their back and forth exchange was chopped up to help hide the fact that Castle was treated like a babyface by the live crowd and Hendry received a flat reaction.
-In first-run footage McKay was backstage in Atlanta with Taven, Taylor, and The Briscoes. Mark tripped her up with his unique take on grammar. Taven said they’re champions for a reason but he upset the others a bit by declaring himself team captain. [C]
-In first-run footage Coast 2 Coast were hanging out in a crawl space somewhere. LSG was giving Shaheem Ali a pep talk when Kenny King showed up. He said he liked what he’s been seeing and hearing from them. Ali is facing Rhett Titus at some point in a singles match. King encouraged them to remind Titus of what he and King used to be. “It ain’t a shortcut if you win the damn race,” he closed.
(Pageot’s Perspective: ROH gave Coast 2 Coast a huge push in 2018, starting with them being the last team to defeat The Viking Raiders before they left for NXT. Then Ali was the victim of a car accident. By the time the team finally came back to action ROH had apparently lost interest and instead decided to relegate them back to enhancement. Them joining King and Amy Rose in a new stable would be something different for King and a welcome change of scenery for C2C.)
-Our hosts spoke about the 2019 Top Prospect tournament. Footage aired of Austin Gunn defeating “Number One” Brian Johnson, Haitian Sensation defeating Ken Dixon, and Dak Draper defeating Makita in the opening round. [C]
(Pageot’s Perspective: Following this weekend’s Global Wars tour we now know it will be Gunn vs. Draper in the finals. That match will take place at Death Before Dishonor: Fallout on September 28.)
-Our hosts spoke about the Global Wars tour and some of the CMLL stars who competed on those shows.
-Back in Atlanta the four champions and four all-stars were already in the ring for an eight-man tag. The bell rang immediately. Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman, and Lanny Poffo were on commentary. My original report was as follows.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Note that on the Saturday Night At Center Stage file on Honor Club the video abruptly ended with Taven choking Rush with a chair and the match still in progress as late as a day and a half after the event aired live. The final paragraph here will be new, assuming this week’s TV doesn’t end the same way.)
(1) ROH WORLD CHAMPION MATT TAVEN, ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS THE BRISCOES (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe), & ROH WORLD TELEVISION CHAMPION SHANE TAYLOR vs. RUSH, JAY LETHAL, JEFF COBB, & KENNY KING (w/Amy Rose) – ELIMINATION MATCH
Cobb and Taven started for their teams but Rush wanted in so Cobb allowed it. Taven tagged out to Jay Briscoe. After some even back and forth Rush spat on Jay and tagged in Lethal. Mark Briscoe also tagged in. More quick tags back and forth after every three moves. The all-stars began to isolate Taven. Rush and King worked well together but Lethal tagged in and slapped King across the face. Taven tagged to Jay at 10:30. Time for Lethal to be isolated by the champions including some dirty tactics behind Todd Sinclair’s back.
Things broke down at 16:00 with Mark leaping off a chair to hit a cannonball over the ropes that took out Cobb and Taylor. Redneck Boogie from The Briscoes to King. Cobb narrowly broke up the pin. Rose offered a water bottle to King in the ropes. Jay took it and poured it on her to a big pop. King rolled up Jay off the distraction.
Jay Briscoe was eliminated at 17:22.
Rose was dripping wet so King sent her backstage. (He is still a heel after all.) King danced around the ring in celebration while Taven, Taylor, and Mark conferred on their strategy. King meanwhile talked smack to his own partners about being the only one to eliminate somebody so far. King and Taven locked up. Lethal tagged himself in. He got the advantage over Taven, which sent Taven scrambling to tag Taylor. King blind-tagged himself back in, annoying Lethal. King goaded Taylor into charging before ducking and sending the big man toppling to the floor. King with a corkscrew crossbody. Taven leapt in and took a blue thunder from King. Taylor ran Lethal back-first into the ring post. King with a spinebuster to Mark. King looked for an up and over but Taylor caught him and nailed Greetings From 216 for the clean pin.
Kenny King was eliminated at 22:29.
Taven rolled Lethal into the ring. Taylor with a backbreaker. The heels worked over Lethal. On the floor Lethal dodged a big boot from Taven and Taven took out Taylor by accident. Back drop to Taven at ringside. Mark wanted a superplex on Lethal. Lethal fought him off. Lethal Injection!
Mark Briscoe was eliminated at 27:56.
Taven immediately jumped on Lethal and started pummeling him. The heels isolated Lethal again. Lethal looked for a tag. Taylor tried to pull him back from his corner. Lethal kicked Taylor off and Sinclair took a back elbow from Taylor. Tag to Rush. Snap German suplex. High knee to Taylor. The Worst Referee™ Todd Sinclair yelled at Rush for being in the ring “illegally.” (He didn’t care about that sort of thing during the trios tag earlier.) As he ordered Rush out of the ring Taven of course kicked Lethal between the legs. Two high knees from Taven and Taylor but Cobb broke up the pin. The four other men fought with Lethal down. Taven leapt over the ropes to take out Cobb and Rush with a splash. Lethal took out Taven with a springboard dropkick. Lethal Injection caught and Taylor planted him with Greetings From 216.
Jay Lethal was eliminated at 32:21.
Taylor was in ecstatic disbelief that he pinned Lethal. Rush and Cobb went face to face with Taven and Taylor. They threw hands. Cobb avoided a Climax. Spinning side slam. Taven countered a Tour Of The Islands into a Russian leg sweep. Rush and Taylor fought on the floor. Cobb wanted a tag but his partner was nowhere to be found. Rush jumped into the ring and went after Taven. Sinclair just watched while they fought. Rush disposed of Taven. Taylor snuck up from behind. They traded chops, then forearms. Rush put him down in the corner and looked for The Bull’s Horns. Taven jumped onto the apron with a steel chair. Rush saw him coming and tensed up, bracing himself for the shot to the back, instead of… I don’t know… moving?
Matt Taven was eliminated via disqualification at 36:35.
Taven with two more chair shots to Rush’s back. More chair shots to the ribs, then he choked Rush with the chair.
Rush hulked up and powered the chair off of his throat. Taven left while Rush no-sold being choked to death. Cobb had a stare-down with Taven as he exited. Taylor caught a distracted Rush with a knockout punch. Taylor avoided a Tour Of The Islands. German suplex from Cobb. Tag to Rush. The Bull’s Horns. Rush pinned the TV champion.
WINNERS: Rush & Jeff Cobb for Team All-Stars in 38:58.
-Taven looked on from the stage as Rush and Cobb celebrated. Cobb offered the code of honor but Rush kicked his hand away and stormed off.
(Pageot’s Original Perspective: The match was pretty good. Taylor looked like a big deal. The King-Rose partnership was forwarded a little. Lethal loses again, which will be fuel for Jonathan Gresham to goad him about. Rush didn’t quite look as special as you might expect since he’s obviously the next person challenging for the world title but that’s par for ROH in 2019. They’re great at hearing who’s special on the indies, scooping them up, and riding their already-established wave of success. They just don’t really build on it in any way.
Updated Perspective: The moment at the end there between Rush and Cobb is obviously meant to be significant. Cobb won Defy Or Deny at Honor For All on August 25 to earn another world title shot. His challenge will come October 27 at Honor United: Bolton. Rush challenges for the world title himself at Death Before Dishonor on September 27. They also teamed together successfully in the main event of Global Wars Espectacular: Milwaukee the same night that this episode aired, defeating Taven and Vincent Marseglia in tag team action. After that match Rush again refused to shake hands with Cobb but he did share a fist-bump with him. All of this plus word that Taven’s ROH contract expires at the end of this month can obviously lead us to assume that Rush will defeat Taven for the title at the pay-per-view in two and a half weeks and defend against Cobb in England in October.)
-Next week: it’s Bandido vs. Marty Scurll from Saturday Night At Center Stage.
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