The Glimpse:
Now odds are, if you’re here to read this, you’ve heard the end-game of the TV tapings that we’ll discuss the next few weeks. For those of you who have not, we’ll keep this week to week so as not to spoil. ROH is in a strange place moving forward – iPPV is no longer an option for them, added to potential roster and title changes. Let’s see where we go…
The Action:
Match 1: Alex Reynolds & John Silver vs C&C Wrestle Factory
Winners: C&C Wrestle Factory via pinfall
Silver I recognize from EVOLVE…Reynolds rings a bell. A debut team against one of the hottest teams in ROH right now? Wonder how this plays out for them…
Alexander and Silver start and Silver shows off, getting a chop for his efforts. Alexander follows with a snapmare and low dropkick, then a tag to Coleman who still has his t-shirt on. Float over double suplex and double kick to the chest from C&C. Silver takes a scoop slam and a leg drop for two. Silver hits a leaping jawbreaker and tags in Reynolds who pumphandles Coleman – Coleman flips out and hits an elbow and a jab. Coleman hits a dropkick off the ropes and a small package for two. Now a short arm clothesline, which Coleman tries to follow off the ropes, but Silver kicks him in the back. The distraction allows Reynolds to drop him neck first on the top rope and tag in Silver for a jumping stomp. Silver hits a suplex of his own for a one count. Coleman jerks his head around like a pigeon, then the newcomers hit a combination snapmare and dropkick for two. Alexander breaks it up then Silver drops repeated elbows on Coleman. Silver shows off again and misses the last elbow, but he and Reynolds try a double team – Coleman dropkicks both and tags in Alexander to run wild, ending in a full nelson facebuster for two. Reynolds throws Alexander to the top turnbuckle, then he fights out of the corner, only to get kicked by Silver, followed by a chestblower from Reynolds and a German suplex from Silver. Coleman breaks up the pin and ACH/TD show up to stand on the apron. Silver hits a kick, but Coleman powers out and Alexander hits the huge dropkick in the corner. Overtime from C&C clinches it.
Nigel is out to remind us why he loves ROH – He doesn’t exactly get to his point. Nigel flies the flag of ROH quite often, but sometimes he’s way too wordy about it. Nigel gets to talking about the Briscoes. Steen hits the ring and begs for a spot in Steel Cage Warfare. Nigel reminds Steen that he brought SCUM unto ROH and is doubtful about Steen being the one to help kill it. SCUM storms the ring and attack both Steen and McGuinness. Whitmer, Elgin and Lethal run out for the save, followed by crew and security.
Match 2: Veda Scott vs MsChif
Winner: MsChif via pinfall
Took long enough, but we finally get the grudge match between these two.
Chif tosses Veda to the floor immediately. She gives chase then whips Veda into the barricade twice. Chif tosses Veda back in and gets a one count. Veda elbows out and when Chif ignores the blows, Veda takes out her knee and hits a dropkick. Veda puts Chif in the corner and kicks away at her, then ducks a clothesline. Veda hits a German suplex into the top turnbuckle then runs in for a cross body to the grounded Chif. They tumble to the floor and Chif hits a German of her own on the mats. Chif rolls back in at a count of 10 while Veda sells on the floor. Veda makes it in at 17 and gets to her feet, only to take a forearm from Chif. Veda answers with forearms of her own and a bridging Saito suplex for two. Chif screams at Veda, who answers in kind then takes a knee to the mouth. Chif hits a choke bomb, but Veda is out at two. Chif immediately follows with the Desecrator DDT, which Veda also kicks out of. Chif goes into a rage over this and admonishes the ref. Chif pummels Veda in the corner and then sits her on the middle rope, preparing for Obliteration. She connects and gets the win.
Match 3: Silas Young vs Adam Page
Winner: Adam Page via pinfall
Young starts out by saying he’s embarrassed to have to follow a women’s match. Again, this is the cheapest, worst kind of heat. Silas reminds us he’s the last real man in pro wrestling. Young mocks Page’s girl hair.
Right hands from both men to start and Page counters a leap frog into a catapult to the corner. Page throws Silas to the turnbuckle and chops away at him. Page wants a baseball slide on the floor, but Young tosses him to the barricade. Young dives from the apron and gets a dropkick midair. Young’s turn to get thrown to the barricade a few times. Young kicks Page off and they end up on the apron. Young drives Page into the ringpost. Young tries a running boot but Page dodges and he ends up straddling the barricade. Page ends up superplexing Young off the barricade and the crowd goes wild. Page throws Young into the ring and heads to the top rope for a crossbody but gets a very close two count. Page drives Young to the corner then sits him on the top. Page follows and takes a seat next to him on the rope. Page chops him, then wants a hold, but Young throws him off. Page runs under the leaping Young, then Young ducks a clothesline with a drop down and a kip up (not reaching his feet which the crowd immediately yells at him for). Young follows with a backbreaker/lariat combo, but Page gets out at two. Quick exchange ends in a boot from Young and a victory roll from Page for the win.
Young offers a handshake after the match and then clubs away at Page. Young walks away with a scowl on his face.
Match 4: Eddie Edwards vs Matt Taven (c), ROH Television Champion
Winner: Matt Taven via pinfall
Edwards is out to his singles music, despite the Wolves having a taped team promo earlier in the night. Taven’s entire entrance focuses on Truth and the Hoopla Hotties…great way to make your title seem important. Edwards gets announced as repping the Wolves, so I guess the singles music was just a choice made.
Arm wrenches back and forth to start but Edwards wins the exchange, being the better grappler. Good old fashioned flipamagoo counters to each other’s arm wrenches until Taven pressures Edwards into the ropes and lands a knee to the gut. Taven hits a boot in the corner and heads to the top, but Edwards chops him off; Taven ends up in the tree of woe on the apron. Edwards hits the floor to capitalize and hits a sniper dropkick to the head. Time for chops, as a fan holds Taven’s arm back. Edwards takes Taven to the next barricade and hits another hard chop. Chop number three as he continues to move Taven around, then finally back in the ring. Edwards readies a surfboard and takes Taven up. Edwards rolls him back into a pin for two. Edwards with a whip to the corner, but he gets elevated as he runs in. Truth runs distraction duty and Taven hits a springboard enziguiri, knocking Edwards to the floor. Taven chats with the ref as Truth blatantly chokes Edwards into a commercial.
Taven rolls Edwards in for a two count, then lands a stalling suplex. Taven wants the top rope, but Edwards quickly knees him down. Edwards wants a superplex, but Taven starts to fight out and hits a gourdbuster from the middle rope. Taven tries a frog splash and comes up empty. Edwards chops Taven to the corner and it’s time for the rapid chops (this is one spot I can’t stand – looks awful). Taven rushes Edwards off the ropes but gets low bridged to the floor. Edwards wants a dive, but Truth distracts again. Taven skins the cat on the opposite side and shows off, only to take a lariat to the floor. Edwards hits a tope atomico over the corner onto Taven. TV Champ is thrown back in as Edwards climbs the ropes. Taven dodges a double stomp, but takes a kick to the shin and a shining wizard for two. Edwards sits Taven on the top rope and wants a Chinchecker, but Taven shoves him off, hitting a kick and an enzuigiri then Angel Wings for two. Edwards rolls to the apron and Taven sets up for an elevated neckbreaker, but Edwards avoids by hitting the Boston Knee Party after a boot. Taven answers with a discus boot and Edwards counters Taven’s finish with the belly to back facebuster. Taven kicks out at two and the crowd really begins to get invested. Edwards heads to the top rope, but Taven cuts him off and meets him up top. Edwards with a rope hung enzuigiri then the double stomp to the back and a pinning combination to lead into the Achilles Lock. Truth distracts and Taven gets the title from Scarlett. Edwards ducks and hits a rolling Achilles Lock, but gets pushed into Silezia (?) on the apron. Edwards avoids knocking her off and Taven lands his headlock drive for the win.
The Reaction:
C&C are a good way to open a show – High energy and all from the usual ROH high spots kick off. Interesting to see ACH/TD scouting; that’s usually something you see out of heels. Good match and C&C got most of the offense, as it should be for an established team facing newcomers. Silver and Reynolds hit a great team move in the middle of the match, but the producers focused on ACH/TD which was done at a poor time. That was S&R’s highlight of the match and it didn’t even make TV.
Well at least now people are willing to make the save for Steen. Easy way to show that the locker room is beginning to side with him a bit more.
If they don’t plan on Scott wrestling on the norm and being tough, this just makes every other woman that Chif has run through look weak. I’m almost always happy to hear Corino’s commentary, but the amount of tongue in cheek (and blatant) misogyny was a bit much for me. It’s important to make a straight up women’s match look like a serious contest and not “tee hee lady time”. Commentate like it’s an important match and it can BE an important match.
Young parrots the words of Corino, making the previous match seem worthless. Good to see Page pick up a win in ROH – He’s a good young talent and will need to rack up the wins if ROH will continue to use him. A lot of early spots, but a fair amount of offense for both men. Other than that, the usual ROH “go go go” kind of match.
Corino’s continued fear of chops always gives me a chuckle. Really good match from both sides, but it’s gotten a bit irritating to see Taven win this way every time. It really seems like they want to keep the TV Title on Taven just to give The Hoopla screen time, which is a bit backwards. Hard to say more about this match shy of “you should see it”.
The Preview:
Next week will have wrestling…that’s about all the preview I heard.
The Shill:
As always, if you like what you read here, let me know in the comments or on twitter @sbfantom. I sincerely would like to hear what people think and strike up some conversation!
