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ROH TV REPORT
MAY 20, 2018
PITTSBURGH, PA AT STAGE AE
AIRED ON SINCLAIR AFFILIATES & ROHWRESTLING.COM
REPORT BY HARLEY R. PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentary: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman
[Q1] Opening theme.
-Punishment Martinez cut a picture-in-picture promo for the opening contest, vowing to leave Lethal laying at his feet. Lethal got the same treatment and called Martinez the first stop on his road back to glory.
(1) PUNISHMENT MARTINEZ vs. JAY LETHAL
Martinez went for a big boot before the bell but Lethal avoided it and clotheslined him over the ropes to the floor. Lethal hit his patented trio of suicide dives but decided to keep going. He ended up hitting seven in a row while the crowd went nuts with deafening “Lethal” chants. Coleman and Riccaboni were just as animated and fired up on commentary. In the ring Lethal targeted Martinez’s left leg. Martinez came back with a discus clothesline. [C]
Lethal was in control again out of the break, kicking at Martinez’s leg. Martinez avoided a figure four and hit some shots in the corner. Sidewalk slam for two. Spinning tornado kick connected but Martinez landed on his sore knee. Martinez hit a spinning heel kick from the second rope. Lethal hit a suplex. [C]
[Q2] Lethal had Martinez in the figure four but the big man reached the ropes. Martinez blocked a Lethal Injection and hit the curb stomp for two. Martinez tried to chokeslam Lethal off the top rope but Lethal fought out and bounced his head off the turnbuckle. Hail To The King but Martinez kicked out. They traded kicks. Lethal avoided the Psycho Driver and South Of Heaven chokeslam. Martinez’s leg gave out on a jumping spin kick and he ate a Lethal Injection.
WINNER: Jay Lethal in 16:47.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Two weeks ago Lethal outlined his new quest to defeat everyone who defeated him in the recent past. Martinez’s win over Lethal came at Survival Of The Fittest in November, which was the setup for this match. This was a solid encounter with a hot start and an obvious effort to protect Martinez in defeat. The only other people with recent victories over Lethal are Dalton Castle in March, Matt Taven in November, Silas Young in September, and Chuckie T a week and a half ago in Lowell.)
-Video recap of Jenny Rose asking to be the first person to challenge Sumie Sakai for the Women Of Honor Championship and Sakai accepting. That one’s next week. [C]
-Joey Daddiego made a surprise appearance out of the break. We haven’t seen the former House Of Truth member since June 24 when he and Cheeseburger defeated The Tempura Boyz on television. Coleman was surprised to see him too. He wore ROH sweats and had his hands taped. In a picture-in-picture promo he tried to convince himself that, as long as he works harder than anyone else, it doesn’t matter if his opponent is Silas Young, Kenny King, or that big guy who thinks he can box. What’s his name? Oh yeah, Shane Taylor.
-Video recap of Shane Taylor defeating Ryan Nova by referee stoppage in 37 seconds two weeks ago.
(2) JOEY “DIESEL” DADDIEGO vs. SHANE TAYLOR
Daddiego hit some punches to the stomach but couldn’t lift Taylor in a fireman’s carry. Riccaboni said that Daddiego works 80 hours per week in a steel mill in addition to wrestling and is thinking of walking away from this if he can’t pick up a win. Taylor hit a sit-out power bomb and a standing frog-splash but Daddiego kicked out to the astonishment of the commentators. Taylor laughed it off. Daddiego avoided a cannonball in the corner. More body shots from Daddiego. Evidently he’s a Golden Gloves winner. Daddiego hit a big right to the jaw and lifted Taylor up for a death valley driver but Taylor kicked out at two. The commentators sold how impressive it is that Daddiego has not only lasted this long but has actually got offense in. Taylor roughed up Daddiego at ringside, throwing him into the guard rails.
[Q3] Taylor set up two steel chairs and laid Daddiego across the seats. He ran off the apron and splashed Daddiego through the seats of the two chairs. Two referees checked on Daddiego. Taylor grabbed one by the throat and chokeslammed him on the floor. The commentators spoke about fines and suspensions. Taylor chased the second ref into the ring. Security cut him off but took a throw. Security #2 took a sit-out power bomb. Security #3 ate a piledriver.
WINNER: No contest in 4:30ish.
(Pageot’s Perspective: It wasn’t clear by the action whether they were both counted out or Taylor won by referee stoppage or Daddiego by disqualification but Riccaboni quickly mentioned the official decision as we cut away. The fact that we hadn’t seen Daddiego in 11 months makes me think the comments about him working in a steel mill and considering giving up wrestling were a shoot and this was him coming back for one last match to put over Taylor before hanging up his wrestling boots. I guess time will tell but, if that is the case, would he have got in any offense here? And wouldn’t they have had Taylor get the pinfall before letting the rest of this unfold? If instead this was about setting Taylor off on a rampage and reintroducing Daddiego as a tough underdog, mission accomplished. I guess Joe Koff better hurry up and hire a new ROH enforcer.)
-Cody and Brandi Rhodes were backstage on the Bullet Club promo set. They had some news and were too excited to decide who would make the announcement. Cody finally blurted out that he’s getting his rematch for the ROH World Championship at Best In The World against Dalton Castle. [C]
(Pageot’s Perspective: Until Marty Scurll cashes in his Defy Or Deny title shot to turn it into a triple threat, right?)
-Video recap of Bully Ray beating up Eli Isom, Façade, and Cheeseburger last week before Joe Koff officially fired him as enforcer. Ray then announced he’s unretired as an active wrestler.
-Video recap of The Briscoes’ attack on The Young Bucks with chairs at the end of last week’s show. Hangman Page, Flip Gordon, and Cody each tried to make the save only to fall to the Briscoes as well. Marty Scurll was notably absent.
(3) BULLET CLUB (Cody, Marty Scurll, & Hangman Page w/Burnard The Business Bear) vs. SOCAL UNCENSORED (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, & Scorpio Sky)
Page put his custom weight-lifting belt on Burnard before the match. Cody and Sky started things off. Cody hit a delayed vertical suplex. [C]
[Q4] Scurll and Daniels were the legal men but Page and Kaz tagged in to pick up their heated rivalry. Hockey fight mid-ring. Page with a discus forearm. Simultaneous clotheslines. Dropsault on Daniels and Kaz for a two count. Tag to Cody. Springboard dropkick on Kaz. Kaz avoided a Beautiful Disaster kick and Cody took out Scurll on the apron. SCU took over on Cody. They triple-teamed Cody including Sky hitting a leaping hurricanrana while Cody was seated on the top rope. [C]
Daniels still had Cody on the defensive. Tags to Scurll and Sky. Scurll stomped away on Sky in the corner. Kaz took a kick to the knee. Drop toehold from Cody on Sky into a dropkick from Scurll and a shooting star press from Page. Everyone took out everyone on the floor, ending with Cody superplexing Daniels onto the other four men. They fell hard. The referee counted out whomever the legal men were at this point. All six men rolled in at 19 to play it safe. Daniels and Scurll threw hands. Scurll looked to crack his fingers but Daniels countered with an eyepoke. Everyone took turns hitting moves on each other, ending with Scurll calling for the chicken-wing on Sky. Sky escaped and Page hit a blind tag. Buckshot lariat on Daniels and Kaz. Sky with a roll-up for two. Cody with Din’s Fire and Page with the Rite Of Passage on Sky.
WINNERS: Bullet Club in 15:04.
-Kaz hit the mandatory low blow of the week with Scurll’s umbrella on Page while Daniels jumped Cody. Scurll got control of his umbrella and tried to fight them off. He swung at Daniels, who ducked, and Scurll clocked Cody.
(Pageot’s Perspective: The match was a formula TV match but when Bullet Club and SoCal are involved that’s still a step up from almost anyone else’s TV match. A little disappointing that there was no real follow-up on Scurll’s absence at the end of last week but, with the Bucks not on this week’s episode, maybe that thread will be picked up later on. The Cody and Scurll conflict continues. Hopefully Dalton Castle gets involved in the Best in The World title match build sooner than later. Nearly his entire title reign has been overshadowed by Bullet Club drama thus far and he deserves better.)
-Next week: it’s Sumie Sakai vs. Jenny Rose for the Women Of Honor Championship.
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