10/18 ROH TV RESULTS: Pageot’s alt-perspective on La Facción Ingobernable vs. S.O.S. for the tag titles, The Foundation in eight-man action, week 3 of exclusively tag matches

ROH TV REPORT
OCTOBER 18, 2021
AIRED ON ROHWRESTLING.COM
REPORT BY HARLEY R. PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Commentary: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

Opening theme.

-Quinn McKay was at the news desk and spoke briefly about the two matches on the show this week.

-S.O.S. were out alone without any support from the rest of Shane Taylor Promotions. The tag champs got a backstage promo. Dragon Lee said they’d always be the best tag team in the world. Kenny King said they played S.O.S. and this is a trap. Lee & King were also out without the other members of their faction.

(1) LA FACCIÓN INGOBERNABLE (Kenny King & ROH World Television Champion Dragon Lee) vs. ROH WORLD SIX-MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS S.O.S. (Moses & Kaun) – ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

Moses and Lee started. Tranquilo pose from the heels. S.O.S. started to isolate King. [C]

Out of the break, S.O.S. were double-teaming Lee. Kaun looked to suplex Lee back into the ring but King held his boot from ringside. They threw Kaun into the barricade. In the ring, the heels started to double-team Kaun. King with a single-leg crab. Rope break. [C]

Kaun with a back suplex to King. Tags to Moses and Lee. The luchador bumped for the big man. Powerbomb. King broke up the pin. Moses wanted a superplex on King but Lee interfered. Suicide dive from Lee to Kaun. La Bestia Del Ring showed up at ringside. Lee tossed to the floor. Double-team move to King but Bestia climbed on the apron and the referee idiotically decided to go talk to him with his back to the active wrestlers. Shane Taylor showed up and got in an argument with Bestia. King raked Kaun’s eyes and Lee hit the incinerator.

WINNERS: La Facción Ingobernable in 13:41 to retain the tag titles.

-Taylor and Bestia took swipes at each other. [C]

(Pageot’s Perspective: Totally formulaic. If there are 52 weeks in a year, ROH must do this finish at least 40 times per year. I don’t care about these faction wars at all because all the steam gets put behind the group as a whole instead of individual personalities. I have zero investment in Moses or Bestia as characters. They’re just bodies. It’s also not a great vote of confidence for S.O.S. that they would rather have a random match with Joe Keys and C.B. in the main event than the tag titles being defended.)

-A video aired announcing The Foundation vs. Vlnce Unltd in another eight-man tag match next week?

-C.B. was out first for the main event. He was followed by Joe Keys, Taylor Rust, and Eli Isom last for the enhancement team. They got a backstage promo. Isom claimed that this team came together after hearing Jay Lethal’s promo at Death Before Dishonor. The Foundation came out together as a unit. They also had a pre-taped promo. Lethal put over that all the wrestlers in this match were pure wrestlers and babyfaces. [C]

-A viewer discretion is advised warning aired.

(2) THE FOUNDATION (Jay Lethal, Jonathan Gresham, Rhett Titus, & Tracy Williams) vs. ELI ISOM, TAYLOR RUST, JOE KEYS, & THE WORLD-FAMOUS C.B.

Rust and Williams started. “Do not try this at home” came up on the bottom of the screen while Titus had C.B. in a side headlock. Isom planted Lethal with a backbreaker heading into the commercials. [C]

Gresham tagged in and requested his student, Keys. Gresham of course took control as The Foundation isolated Keys. Tags to Rust and Lethal. The former Diamond Miner was the most aggressive of anyone in the match, prompting words from Lethal’s teammates. [C]

Williams with a doctor bomb to C.B. Tag to Titus. He and Rust were evenly-matched. Tags to Lethal and Isom. Lethal wanted a Lethal Injection but he hit the ropes and collapsed. Gresham and Keys squared off again. Gresham tapped Keys out to a drop toehold while the rest of Keys’ partners were kept at bay.

WINNERS: The Foundation in 17:32.

(Pageot’s Perspective: No idea why we got that viewer discretion warning before the match. I assumed it meant somebody was going to get busted open the hard way but this was a completely straightforward match like any other. Has Sinclair Broadcasting been getting complaints of kids putting other kids in drop toeholds on the playground at school?

Weeks like this remind me why I stopped watching ROH for a year and a half there. None of this feels important. The promos are rote and unmemorable. There are no notable angles playing out or stories being told. And, since the increased focus on the pure branding, there have been even fewer heels in the promotion, which gives every match a “we’re just happy to be here” vibe. This was also the third week of TV in a row with exclusively tag matches. Evidently the narrative-less video package from earlier was trying to hype a Foundation vs. Vlnce Unltd-themed show for next week, not an eight-man tag.)

-A video played with Vinny Marseglia wearing a black crown and talking about pure wrestling, seemingly implying that he’s going after Josh Woods’ Pure Championship now.

-Next week: it’s Rhett Titus vs. Tony Deppen, Jay Lethal vs. Homicide, and Chris Dickinson & Brody King vs. Jonathan Gresham & Tracy Williams.