SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
ROH WAR OF THE WORLDS TOUR: LOWELL
MAY 9, 2018
LOWELL, MASS.
AIRED LIVE ON FITE TV & HONOR CLUB
B.J. Whitmer and Colt Cabana are on commentary.
(1) ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes (Mark & Jay Briscoe) vs. Flip Gordon & Jushin Liger – Non-Title. Liger hit a shotei on Mark and Gordon hit a 450, but instead of blocking Jay from making the save Liger counted along with the ref, so Jay broke it up. STUPID. Jay hit low blows on Flip and Liger behind the ref’s back, but he couldn’t get the pin on Flip. The Briscoes finished Gordon off with the redneck boogie (avalanche crucifix bomb/neck breaker combination). Holy s–t!
Winners: Mark & Jay Briscoe
Star rating: (**) – I’d rate this much higher in the three star range if not for Liger booked to be a moron. The in-ring action was tremendous for an opening match and the crowd was jacked for Liger and Flip.
(2) Skylar & Deonna Purrazzo vs. WOH Champion Sumie Sakai & Tenille Dashwood. Dashwood pinned Skylar with a running kick to the head. Purrazzo was arrogant at times working over Sakai during the match, which was odd given that she’s in a feud with a heel Kelly Klein.
Winners: Tenille Dashwood & Sumie Sakai
Star rating: (**) – the finishing sequence was nicely executed after the match was fairly slow leading into it.
After the match, Klein jumped Skylar and Purrazzo. She had a pull apart brawl with Deonna that didn’t get a huge reaction, but it was fine.
Dalton Castle came out and Whitmer said they had heard rumors about Dalton’s status. Castle came out with The Boys. Cabana referenced hip, back, and finger injuries. The fans were excited to see Castle, who talked about the fans energy powering his toaster oven to make a bagel. He got tired from the fans energy and sat on The Boys before sitting back up. Castle said he’d been champion for almost six months.
Castle announced he wouldn’t be facing Matt Taven for the title the night and asked The Boys to leave. Castle seemed disappointed. He said he got injured right after winning the title. He mentioned ignoring his hip and back pain to work around them. He said he broke his hand and taped it up. Castle said when you ignore things they just don’t go away. He said he saw a doctor that told him his back is garbage. He said his back was going to get worse unless he got it fixed. He said he’d been at different doctors every day for three weeks and it had hindered his ability to train. He said if he can’t be the best wrestler in the world, he shouldn’t be in the ring. He said Taven and the fans deserve better than what he has right now. He teased giving up the title by holding it out and the fans said no. He said he’s not relinquishing the title. He said he was going to fix his problems and get back in the ring and continue to kick everyone’s ass. He said he was going to give fans the brunch they deserve. The Boys came out and threw croissants into the crowd. That was bizarre.
Matt Taven came out with The Kingdom. He called Castle a baby back bitch. He said ROH officials should just hand him the title right now and they’d celebrate with The Celtics. The fans cheered. Taven said there’s a conspiracy against him and The Kingdom. Taven said he would not leave until they kill it. He said the next time he’s in this building, he’ll be the ROH World Champion and ROH couldn’t do anything about it.
Coast To Coast was out next.
(3) Coast to Coast (LSG & Shaheem Ali) vs. The Kingdom (Vinny Marseglia & T.K. O’Ryan). Marseglia dragged Ali under the ring. LSG tried to save him, but he couldn’t. LSG then went under the ring. The ref then got dragged under the ring, but he escaped. Some balloons came up from under the ring. The ref told O’Ryan to look. Ali and LSG came out when he lifted the apron. Marseglia then came out with balloons and an axe. The ref got the axe from him and Coast To Coast ran wild. T.K. took a sustained beating until he made the hot tag to Vinny, who ran wild. The Kingdom countered the coast to cost finish and had the upper hand, but SoCal Uncensored came down and took their titles back. Ali ended up rolling up Vinny for the win.
Winners. Shaheem Ali & LSG
Star rating: (**1/2) – This is a poor way to get Coast To Coast over by getting a fluke win to continue their streak.
Taven got on the mic and said those titles belong to them. He said they’re the only six man tag champs in history. Taven challenges SoCal Uncensored for the titles tonight in Lowell. The challenge was accepted. Taven said they would win tonight in front of their friends and family.
(4) Bully Ray vs. Cheeseburger. Bully hit three powerbombs. He went for his chain and then it appeared he low blowed Cheeseburger right in front of the ref after he took his chain. The ref didn’t DQ him. Bully went to the floor and stood in front of a fan and got counted out. This was HORRIBLE!
Winner: Cheeseburger via count out
Star rating: (dud)
Bully got back into the ring and hit another powerbomb on Cheeseburger. He went to ringside and yelled at Bobby Cruise about playing music. He went back and dragged Cheeseburger to the floor. He teased another powerbomb and let go. The fans booed. Bully then went up to Cabana and jawed with him before leaving.
(5) Roppongi 3K (SHO & YO & Rocky Romero) vs. Bullet Club (Cody & Hangman Page & Marty Scurll w/Burnard The Business Bear). They teased tension between Marty and Cody throughout the match. At one point, Marty was going for the chicken wing and Cody blind tagged himself into the match. Later, Scurll accidentally kicked Burnard from the apron to the floor. Cody ended up finishing off Romero with the Cross-Rhodes. Scurll stormed off after the match while Cody checked on Burnard.
Winners: Cody & Marty Scurll & Hangman Page
Star rating: (***1/4) – The action was good here and The Bullet Club drama was entertaining.
(6) LIJ (IWGP IC Champion Tetsuya Naito & SANADA & EVIL) vs. The Beer City Bruiser & ROH World TV Champion Silas Young & Brian Milonas. Naito took a beating during the early going. Naito mounted a comeback on Bruiser and hit a tornado DDT. SANADA got the hot tag and went after Bruiser. He connected with his signature dropkick sequence on Bruiser. He then tied up Silas in the paradise lock before nailing him with a dropkick. The paced picked up and Bruiser accidentally wiped out Silas with a cannonball when Naito and SANADA got out of the ring. Milonas was up top alone with EVIL, but Naito and SANADA ran into the ring and hit a double powerbomb on him off the top. EVIL eventually hit everything is EVIL on Milonas for the win.
Winners: Tetsuya Naito & EVIL & SANADA
Star rating: (**¼) – This was a fine showcase for LIJ, but not much of a preview for Bruiser vs. Naito on the next show.
LIJ stood tall in the ring after the match and soaked in the applause and a LIJ chant from the fans.
Because SoCal Uncensored are putting their titles up against The Kingdom, Chuck Taylor vs. Jay Lethal vs. Jay White was signed.
(7) IWGP U.S. Champion Jay White vs. Jay Lethal vs. Chuckie T – Non-Title. Taylor and White are both in the NJPW stable CHAOS, so they tried to work together against Lethal during the early going. Lethal fired back and ran back and forth hitting dives on Taylor and White. He then whipped Taylor back through the other side of the ring next to White and wiped them both out with a dive. Lethal tried to overcome the numbers game as he struggled with Taylor as he tried to work over White. White eventually nailed him with a suplex. Taylor and White continued to work over Lethal. Lethal finally hit a Lethal combination on Taylor while White had his back turned. He then took out White and the fans fired up. White and Lethal went back and forth. Lethal hit White with the Lethal injection, but Taylor ran into the ring and got a jackknife pin on Lethal for the win.
Winner: Chuck Taylor
Star rating: (**) – This was fine for what it was. Taylor and White worked together most of the match against Lethal. Lethal mounted a comeback, but Taylor stole the win in the end.
White didn’t want to follow the Code of Honor after the match when Taylor offered him a handshake.
(8) ROH World Six Man Tag Team Champions SoCal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky) vs. The Kingdom ( Matt Taven & T.K. O’Ryan & Vinny Marseglia). Matt Taven’s grandfather and some other family members were shown in the crowd. SoCal Uncensored jumped The Kingdom and both teams brawled to the floor. Cabana mentioned Joe Koff’s ultimatum to SoCal Uncensored that their contracts would not be renewed at the end of December. Late in the match, Sky wiped out the ref by accident. A short time later after some rapid-fire action, Taven hit a frog splash on Daniels for the win.
Winners: Matt Taven & Vinny Marseglia & T.K. O’Ryan
Star rating: (**½) – This was solid, but with two heel teams it was hard to invest in this one, especially since The Kingdom were presented as heels in this feud and cheered in their hometown.
(9) The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) vs. L.I.J. (BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi w/Daryl Jr.). Matt got isolated for a long period of time during the first half of the match. Cabana mentioned that the first ROH show would be available on Honor Club soon. LIJ dragged Matt up to the stage with Nick nowhere to be found. Matt mounted a comeback on his own. He then got a running start and hit a running flip dive off the stage to the floor. WOW! Whitmer wondered how that was going to impact his injured back. Nick got the hot tag and ran wild. Both teams went back and forth and Matt really favored his back. Nick called for a superkick party and the YB eventually wiped out Takahashi with a double superkick. The YB set up for the Meltzer driver, but BUSHI broke it up. BUSHI positioned the ref so he could mist Matt in the face. Matt was blind, but he hit BUSHI, Takahashi, and Nick with superkicks because he couldn’t see. The ref tried to help him and he put him in the sharpshooter. The ref tapped out. Nick got the water that the ref was trying to give to Matt. He cleared his eyes and Matt realized what he was doing and let go. BUSHI hit a Canadian destroyer on Matt a short time later, but he kicked out at the last second. The action really picked up down the stretch. Matt flipped BUSHI up into the tombstone position suddenly and Nick executed the Meltzer driver for the win.
Winners: The Young Bucks
Star rating: (***¼) – This was a good high-energy match to end the show, but the outcome never felt in doubt.
Overall score: (4.5) – There were some good matches on the show, but nothing worth going out of your way to see.
Write Sean at pwtorchsean@gmail.com. Follow him on twitter @sr_torch.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.