SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
HITS
Video Recap of Lethal Winning The World Title: If you missed it last week, ROH aired a quick clip of Lethal winning the ROH title from last week. It was quick and before the main intro. I am sure by this point Lethal winning was known just about everywhere but if you are one of the few that had not seen it, this was a nice concise recap of last week’s big news.
Jonathan Gresham vs. Kushida: It would be very hard to explain with a good visual the number of counters, exchanges, and reversals these guys had in this match. It was everything I expected it to be with these two with tons of exchanges. I cannot say I was totally immersed into this match but these two gave us a match we have come to expect from them especially Gresham. Kushida ends up getting the win in a really nice back and forth match when Kushida hits Back To The Future on Gresham and then gets the pin. A really good match to open things up. Not your typical match of ROH with, as I say flips and dives, but Gresham and Kushida gave us a nice opener. Lastly, I was not sure who would win this which made it an even better.
Marty Scurll Promo: Following up from last week, Scurll addresses what happened with he and Shane Helms. Scurll puts Helms on notice. I thought Scurll had a great line in this promo when he told Helms that he does not cosplay (referencing Helms cosplaying as a Hurricane). Scurll said he’s a Villain. I said last week that I was willing to see where this led. It is something different and for that reason it was a hit on this week’s show.
Video Recap of The Briscoes Beating The Young Bucks: Quick video recap of The Briscoes beating the Young Bucks at Best in the World. They also show SoCal Uncensored (SCU) attacking The Briscoes after the match and saving The Young Bucks. I feel like Best in the World was so long ago at this point that everyone watching should have either have seen this or know it happened via social media. However, give them credit for showing the recap for those who have not seen it in the last month.
SCU Promo: This was a fantastic promo. Daniels told a nice story that wrapped up the last year or so of SCU’s time in ROH. The central theme of the promo referenced Joe Koff’s mention earlier this year that this would be SCU’s last year in ROH given the chaos they have caused. Daniels declares that by winning the ROH World Tag Team titles, it will make it impossible for ROH to send SCU away after Final Battle this year. Kazarian puts over The Briscoes as a very strong tag team but that have not had someone come at them the way SCU will. Kazarian makes the point that winning the ROH Tag titles is a matter of saving their lives in ROH. Sky also joins in on the promo and talks about how he has worked his entire career to get to ROH. Sky says he is not planning on going out after Final Battle but if Daniels and Kazarian leave, he is leaving with them. You really have to see this promo to understand it and enjoy how well it was put together and the story all three told. The only thing that worries me a little is we have 5 months before Final Battle. They are going to have to be very creative for the next few months with these teams and how they build up everything. That said, the storyline is already there, and it should be a good journey.
Oedo Tai (Hana Kimura & Kagetsu w/Hazuki) vs Mayu Iwatani & Jenny Rose: Mandy Leon joins Ian Riccaboni & Colt Cabana on commentary for this WOH match. Before I give my overall thoughts on the match, I will repeat that I really wish ROH would concentrate more on singles matches with the ladies. I understand wanting to showcase teams and get more ladies involved in the shows, but I still believe concentrating on the fact that they have a singles title and building contenders for the WOH title would be beneficial. With that said, this was a good match. Riccaboni once again does a good job of talking about Oedo Tai as a team when they came out for their entrance. I feel that this is very important given that most are not familiar with them. Long story short, very good match between these two teams where in a bit of a shocker to me Oedo Tai got the victory when Kagetsu hits Rose with her finisher. A very exciting match with a few false finishes in there. Really fun match to watch.
Lethal Backstage After Winning The ROH World Title Last Week: Lethal talks about how it took him nearly two years to win back the ROH World title. Lethal declares that he is at the top of his game and that everyone can come after him if they want but he is ready. I thought Lethal repeated himself a bit much but other than that it was fine. I am looking forward to seeing how ROH uses Lethal as a champion this time around.
Chuckie T & Kenny King & Eli Isom vs. The Kingdom (Matt Taven & T.K. O’Ryan & Vinny Marseglia): Austin Aries joined the commentary team for this one. He was at the announce table with a banana and the Impact title. Not sure what I made of the exchange with Aries and Cabana though. I guess I missed the joke or something. However, on to the match and promo beforehand. I love the arrogance of The Kingdom before their match. Instead of cutting a promo talking about what they would do to their opponents, they laughed at the fact that they were defending their belts against Chuckie T, King, and Isom. I thought Aries was really good on commentary during the match which does not surprise me since he is generally a really good promo guy and is good on the microphone. This match flew by to me. It was good, and I thought predictable, not that being predictable here was a bad thing, but the Kingdom retain their six-man titles when they hit Isom with their finisher and they get the victory via pinfall. Coming into this, this had to be what most expected. Isom, King, and Chuckie T pulled off a Rocky Balboa type victory a few weeks back in the six-man gauntlet match. I would assume most did not expect them to win that match, but they did. However, when up against a formidable 6-man team such as the 6-man champs, Isom, King, & Chuckie T fell short. Good match though to close the episode out.
MISSES
None to report. Far from perfect but a solid episode.
Final Thoughts…
Again, this episode was far from perfect, but I felt that it flew by and was good. It had a nice bit of promos and recaps mixed in that furthered storylines and explained how we got to where we are at. Not a bad week. Nothing jumps off the page at you but still a good week of ROH wrestling.
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 and you can check out his old school wrestling podcasts at tinyurl.com/BTTPod
NOW CHECK OUT LAST WEEK’S COLUMN: ROH HITS & MISSES 7/22 : Four-Corner Survival Match for the ROH World Title, Sakai vs. Hazuki, Scurll and Helms, Lethal promos interrupted
not misses…again. This is kind of laughable at this point. Maybe someone other than an roh fan-boy should do these?