SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
ROH TV REPORT
JULY 15, 2018
NEW YORK, NY AT HAMMERSTEIN BALLROOM
AIRED ON SINCLAIR AFFILIATES & ROHWRESTLING.COM
REPORT BY HARLEY R. PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentary: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana
The Kingdom (Matt Taven, TK O’Ryan, & Vinny Marseglia) were backstage with the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championships. “The time has come for the march of the melvins,” Taven said. O’Ryan pointed out that they’ll have new #1 contenders after tonight but Marseglia asked who cares. He called them the first and last six-man champions. It doesn’t matter who wins the gauntlet. The Kingdom will remain the champions.
-Opening theme.
-Riccaboni and Cabana appeared on screen to hype the trios gauntlet match. The crowd was deafening with their “ROH” chants.
-Video recap of Kelly Klein pinning Tenille Dashwood in a tag match at Honor United: Edinburgh on May 24. Klein was teaming Chardonnay while Dashwood was teaming with WOH World Champion Sumie Sakai.
(1) JENNY ROSE vs. “THE GATEKEEPER” KELLY KLEIN
Klein turned down the code of honor and looked for a slap but Rose blocked it and gave her one of her own. Standing wristlock exchanges. Rose with two quick roll-ups for one-counts. Armdrag out of the corner. Dashwood with a back elbow. She tossed her mouth guard to referee Todd Sinclair and went on the offensive against Rose. [C]
Rose elbowed out of a chinlock. A clothesline put her back down. Klein got distracted playing to the fans and Rose came after her but Klein quickly put her back down and made an arrogant one-hand cover. Rose kicked out. Clotheslines in the corner from Klein and a running boot. Double knee facebreaker from Rose. Release German suplex and spear got Rose a two-count. Snap suplex from Klein and she rolled through into End Of The Match. Rose fought it at first but passed out.
WINNER: Kelly Klein in 8:28.
(Pageot’s Perspective: Rose’s title match against Sakai was arguably the best women’s match in ROH this year and I’m a big fan of Klein so I had high hopes for this one. It was a fast pace out of the gate and both women delivered. If my only complaint is that I wish it had been longer, that’s a win in my book. Klein vs. Sakai for the title at Death Before Dishonor in September seems like our destination at this point.)
-The Dawgs (Rhett Titus & Will Ferrara) found Cody talking on his cell phone in the locker room. They asked him for a loan so that they could hire Shane Taylor to be their partner for the gauntlet match. Cody pointed out that it’s 2018 and nobody carries cash anymore. He also said he just self-financed a 10,000 seat arena. They suggested they should ask Marty Scurll for the money instead. Cody was insulted at the idea and found a wad of bills in his pocket after all. He threw them into the air and left the room as Titus and Ferrara giddily scrambled to collect them all. [C]
(Pageot’s Perspective: The cash-strapped misadventures of The Big Dawg and Little Willy has been a highlight of the past few weeks. Getting Cody involved here was totally unexpected but a fun deus ex machine to give them the money they needed. More little videos and backstage stuff like this please.)
-The Kingdom were hovering around the commentary table. Taven had a headset on while O’Ryan had his baseball bat and Marseglia had his ax and red balloon. Cabana humored them by agreeing that this gauntlet match is another sign of The Kingdom conspiracy.
(2) ROH WORLD SIX-MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP #1 CONTENDERS GAUNTLET MATCH
-Shane Taylor made his entrance first and The Dawgs appeared at his side. They looked confident but Taylor wanted no part of their goofiness.
(2a) ALEX SHELLEY, LSG, & “THE OCTOPUS” JONATHAN GRESHAM vs. SHANE TAYLOR & THE DAWGS (Rhett Titus & Will Ferrara)
LSG and Taylor began. Riccaboni acknowledged that Shaheem Ali was in a car accident, which is why Coast 2 Coast haven’t been around and LSG is here without him tonight. Taylor tagged to Titus and LSG to Gresham. Gresham with a step-up hurricanrana to Titus. Titus with a southpaw punch. Tag to Ferrara. Gresham quickly took control and tagged to Shelley. Blind tag from Titus. Slingshot shoulder block put down Shelley. Dawgapult to Shelley. Taylor asked for the tag. Forearms from Shelley. Headbutt from Taylor. Knee to the chin and another. Gresham broke up the pin. [C]
Taylor with a standing splash to Gresham. The Dawgs double-teamed Shelley but he avoided the dawgy-splash. Gresham helped Shelley double DDT Ferrara and Taylor. Hot tag to LSG. He unloaded on both Dawgs. Forward flip off the top rope onto all three opponents. Roll-up on Ferrara for the elimination.
WINNERS: Shelley, LSG, & Gresham in 8:58.
(Pageot’s Perspective: The new Search & Destroy trio felt very random but we were told on previous weeks that we’d be seeing some new makeshift teams and it makes sense that people like Gresham and LSG would jump at the opportunity to earn a title match. The commentators also pointed out Shelley’s record of taking younger guys under his wings. No explanation for the absence of Chris Sabin, though. It’s been two months since we’ve seen the Motor City Machine Guns. At the time they were discussing possibly splitting as a team but there’s been no follow-up since then.)
(2b) ALEX SHELLEY, LSG, & “THE OCTOPUS” JONATHAN GRESHAM vs. SILAS YOUNG & THE BOUNCERS (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas)
Silas Young’s music hit and he charged the ring. He pulled Shelley under the bottom rope and threw him into the guardrail. Gresham splashed him off the apron. Bruiser appeared and cannonballed off the apron onto Gresham. LSG tried flipping onto Milonas but the big man caught him and slammed LSG onto the apron. Milonas and Bruiser with a dropkick + sidewalk slam to LSG. Shelley avoided a dropkick from Bruiser and Bruiser took out Milonas. Young with a cutter to Shelley. Gresham and Young went back and forth on standing exchanges. Bruiser grabbed Gresham from the floor and the heels took over. [C]
Gresham was isolated in the heel corner. More standing switches from Gresham and Young that ended with Gresham DDTing Young. Tag to LSG. House of fire on Young. Milonas tumbled over the top rope. Springboard forearm to Bruiser. Front-face DDT to Young but Bruiser broke up the pin. Bruiser held LSG and Milonas hit a leg drop from the second rope but Shelley made the save. Young Combination to Shelley. Gresham avoided the same with a suplex. Bruiser with a DDT to Gresham. The Bouncers set up LSG for Last Call. Gresham and Shelley made the save. The faces triple-teamed Milonas on the second rope and knocked him down. LSG with a 450 on Milonas for the pin.
WINNERS: Shelley, LSG, & Gresham in 10:21.
(Pageot’s Perspective: This has been a hell of a match so far. I can’t even keep up with the action for my report. It had been ages since we’d seen Bruiser, Milonas, LSG, and Shelley so it’s all very refreshing. Riccaboni referred to Bruiser & Milonas as The Bouncers, which is a first to my recollection. Despite the fact that Young lost the television title on June 16 he was still champion here. How old is this footage?)
(2c) ALEX SHELLEY, LSG, & “THE OCTOPUS” JONATHAN GRESHAM vs. SOCAL UNCENSORED (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, & Scorpio Sky)
SCU hit the ring and went to town on the babyfaces. Daniels with a clothesline to LSG. Tag to Kaz, then a tag to Sky as they isolated LSG. [C]
SCU continued to work over LSG. Sky with a jumping hurricanrana to LSG seated on the top rope. Celebrity Rehab to LSG ends it.
WINNERS: SoCal Uncensored in 4:14.
(Pageot’s Perspective: LSG was made to look like a star in the first three matches here. I would be totally on board with him, Shelley, and Gresham continuing on as a trio. If Ali’s going to be out of action for a while and Shelley and Sabin want to take a break from each other, why not give these guys a team name and matching gear and make a go of it in the trios division?)
(2d) SOCAL UNCENSORED (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, & Scorpio Sky) vs. KENNY KING, CHUCKIE T, & ELI ISOM
Daniels and Chuck Taylor started. Taven and Cabana questioned Future Of Honor competitor Isom being in this match. Taven laughed about it and said it was because King and Taylor didn’t have any other friends. Taylor and King hit stereo elbows to Sky. Tag to Kaz. Right hands to King. Tag to Taylor. [C]
Isom had a brief moment against Kaz but SCU took over again. Triple-teams to Isom but he kicked out. Double clothesline put down Isom and Daniels. Hot tag to King. He unloaded on all three men. Taylor joined him and they took turns charging on Sky and Kaz in the corners. Daniels interrupted, Isom joined, and they triple-hugged in the ring. The other four men were taken out on the floor leaving Daniels and Isom in the ring. Daniels looked for Angel’s Wings but Isom backdropped him into a shocking pin for the win!
WINNERS: King, Taylor, & Isom in 8:51 to earn a shot at the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship.
(Pageot’s Perspective: The commentary team sold this beautifully and pointed out that Daniels was wrestling professionally before Isom was even born. Isom, the enhancement talent from Future of Honor, shouldn’t have even been in this match and he won it for his team by pinning the only Grand Slam Champion in ROH history. Taven vowed that Isom’s Cinderella story would end the moment they cash in their title shot. Overall this episode was a blast. It flew by with non-stop action and we got to see a lot of faces that we hadn’t seen in a while. It’s been a couple weeks without Bullet Club now so I’m almost starting to miss them. What a difference a break makes.)
-Nothing was advertised for next week.
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