ROH HITS & MISSES 7/15: Bully Ray & Briscoes vs. Young Bucks & Page, Cody, Gresham, Martinez, Tempura Boyz, Cheeseburger, Daddiego, Ferrara

HITS

Cody Promo: Cody comes out to a loud “YOU DESERVE IT” chant as the crowd is very much pro Cody. Cody brings up Christopher Daniels and pokes fun at Daniels by saying it appears Daniels has lost his smile since losing the ROH World title. Cody then appears to challenge Daniels to a best of two out of three falls to settle he and Daniels’ feud once and for all for the ROH World title. Nothing spectacular here but a nice opening to this week’s episode. Based on what Ian Riccaboni tells us later in the episode we’ll also have to wait to see if Daniels will accept Cody’s challenge.

The Briscoes & Bully Ray Promo: Bully Ray and The Briscoes are shown backstage immediately after losing the 6-man titles at Best in the World. Jay Briscoe is blaming Mark Briscoe and Mark is blaming Jay. Bully in return is blaming both Briscoes as he says we win together and we lose together. I get the impression that these three aren’t going to be together much longer just based on this promo. Good promo and we’ll wait to see how things develop.

Mandy Leon interrupted by Silas Young: Mandy is in the process of telling us that in two weeks there will be a Women of Honor (WOH) episode airing. Young, as the last real man, isn’t having it and thinks no one cares about the upcoming WHO episode. Young continues and brings attention to the fact that it has now been 22 days since “Golden Boy” Jay Lethal has appeared on ROH TV. I said it last week and I will say it again. I like what’s going on with Lethal and Young and I don’t mind them taking time to let it play out and that’s what they’re doing. After Young rudely interrupts Leon, Leon finishes off her promo regarding the WOH reminder in two weeks. Excellent stuff by Young here as usual. A man interrupts a woman in a rude manner. Then he proceeds to insult the “Golden Boy” Jay Lethal. Silas Young is money as usual.

The Tempura Boyz vs Cheeseburger & Joey Daddiego: At the beginning of the match we are shown a quick recap of when Will Ferrara finally had enough of Cheeseburger and laid Cheeseburger out. This match was good but nothing great. To me, the match was secondary. It’s what happened after the match that ties into what’s been going on with Cheeseburger and his former or usual tag partner, Ferrara. Cheeseburger and Daddiego get the win when Cheeseburger pins one of the Tempura Boyz after nailing his finisher. Two Cheeseburger fans hop the barricade after the match and begin celebrating with Cheeseburger. They even pick Cheeseburger up and look like they want to carry him on their shoulders to the back. Security breaks this up and sends the fans away. One of the security guards is in disguise with glasses on and a hat pulled down over his head where you can’t recognize him. It is Ferrara. Ferrara attacks Cheeseburger from behind. Daddiego helps chase Ferrara away and we go to commercial. Like I mentioned, the match played second fiddle to the attack that happened afterwards with Ferrara attacking Cheeseburger. This bad blood has been going on for a while and will continue based on this match and segment. Was this spectacular? Not really but one of the things I do enjoy about ROH is the long storylines. This will never be mistaken for angle of the decade but with most things with ROH, things take time to develop and play out and that’s a good thing.

The Briscoes & Bully Ray vs. The Young Bucks & Adam Page: If you like action, then you’ll love this match. I really enjoyed all the action that we got to see here between The Young Bucks, Briscoes, Page, and Bully Ray. We got to see a Jay Briscoe dive, Mark Briscoe moonsault, and of course a few superkicks from The Young Bucks. The Briscoes and Bully Ray have everything in their control as we work towards the end of the match. But during this process, referee Todd Sinclair is taken out when he is hit by Bully Ray accidently in the corner. The Briscoes and Bully Ray hit 3-D on Page but Sinclair is still knocked out. Paul Turner comes out and makes a two count but the Young Bucks pull him out of the ring. Turner ends up being caught in the wrong place at the wrong time when Turner is then super kicked. Back in the ring, Jay Briscoe is about to finish Page. But, Briscoe is attacked from behind by Marty Scurll as Scurll hits Jay Briscoe across the back with his umbrella. Sinclair doesn’t see the interference but he comes to just as Page goes to pin Jay Briscoe. Page gets the three count on Briscoe at this point. The Briscoes and Bully Ray are not happy. The Briscoes are so angry they begin attacking ringside security. I sense a break up with these three but we’ll have to watch things develop. Other than that, this was a good main event during today’s episode.

MISSES

Jonathan Gresham vs. Punishment Martinez: I was intrigued by this match when it started. The size difference is what drew me in. I also remembered Martinez and Lio Rush’s match in the 2016 Top Prospect tournament that I thought was a very good one last year and I thought we were in for another similar type match. Unfortunately, I could not get into this match. The live crowd in Lowell was also fairly quiet. This is not to say there weren’t some nice spots and moves executed during the match. I remain impressed with Punishment Martinez. Gresham was able to work Martinez knee and Martinez did a good job selling the knee as to try to chop down the larger Martinez. Additionally, I may not have liked the match as a whole but Gresham pulled off a nice shooting star press that only got a two count. I was also impressed with Martinez nearly crucifying Gresham with a powerbomb on to the edge of the ring apron. After that move, Martinez then rolled Gresham in and hit Gresham with his finisher. Martinez gets the win. After beating Gresham, Martinez proceeds to further attack Gresham but Jay White comes out for the save and between White and Gresham they fend off Martinez. I did not hate this match but the first half of it left a lot to be desired. I did however like what appeared to be the furthering of the angle with White and Martinez at the end. Obviously more is to come with these two but the match just didn’t do it for me.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Most of this episode was average but the main event was very entertaining and to me it made the entire episode. While I did like the promos during the episode, the main event made this week’s TV worthwhile. Not spectacular but a good episode of ROH TV.

NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S COLUMN: ROH HITS & MISSES 7/8: War Machine, Motor City Machine Guns, Cody Rhodes, Matt Traven, Castle & The Boys, Coast to Coast

Mike Mills is the PWTorch.com ROH TV Hits and Misses Specialist, providing his point of view on ROH TV weekly. You can follow Mike at @BTT_Podcast and @Mike504Saints on Twitter.