SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
ROH GLOBAL WARS
NOVEMBER 11, 2018
TORONTO, ON AT MATTAMY ATHLETIC CENTER
AIRED ON ROH HONOR CLUB
LIVE REPORT BY HARLEY R. PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentary: Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana, Caprice Coleman
There were probably close to 1000 people in attendance for the final stop on this fall’s Global Wars tour at the former Maple Leaf Gardens. The crowd was 85% men aged 20-50 and I only saw about six children all night. Wrestling tees were overwhelmingly Bullet Club with a few “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and then one each of a handful of other names.
-In the opening dark match the new trio of Shinobi Shadow Squad (Cheeseburger, Eli Isom, & Ryan Nova) defeated F4E, a stable of Toronto frat boys.
-Kelly Klein was on commentary for the opening Women Of Honor match.
(1) KAREN Q vs. KAITLIN DIEMOND – QUALIFYING MATCH FOR THE WOH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FOUR-CORNER SURVIVAL MATCH AT FINAL BATTLE
Q won with the Spring Roll, tapping out Toronto’s own Kaitlin Diemond.
WINNER: Karen Q in 6:31.
-Post match WOH World Champion Sumie Sakai came out and exchanged words with Q. They got into an altercation, which Sakai got the better of, before being jumped from behind by Klein. The heels double-teamed the champ until Madison Rayne hit the ring. All four women brawled until security managed to separate them. Sakai would end up hitting a top rope crossbody onto Q, Klein, and the security at ringside. She and Rayne had a show of respect in the ring afterward.
-Some smooth jazz hit and Rhett Titus came out with a hockey stick. He joined commentary for the second match. Just realized the smooth jazz brings up memories of The Romantic Touch. Whatever happened to that guy?
(2) “HANGMAN” ADAM PAGE vs. CHUCKIE T
Page won with the Rite Of Passage.
WINNER: Adam Page in 10:42.
(3) ROH WORLD SIX-MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS THE KINGDOM (Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan) vs. LOS INGOBERNABLES DE JAPÓN (Tetsuya Naito & Bushi)
Naito & Bushi vs. Dalton Castle & Juice Robinson was originally advertised but some matches were changed up due to Cody being injured. None of the match changes were announced to the live crowd so it’s a good thing we have Twitter. In the end Bushi misted O’Ryan behind the ref’s back and Naito hit Destino on Marseglia for the pin.
WINNERS: L.I.J. in 11:32.
-Matt Taven showed up and The Kingdom beat down Naito and Bushi until Christopher Daniels made the save. The tag teams were cleared from the ring, leaving just Daniels and Taven, so the bell was rung to start the next match. Dalton Castle would end up joining commentary.
(4) ROH WORLD SIX-MAN TAG TEAM CHAMPION MATT TAVEN vs. “THE FALLEN ANGEL” CHRISTOPHER DANIELS
Marseglia and O’Ryan returned to ringside at 9:00. Daniels hit Marseglia with “the real ROH world title.” As referee Todd Sinclair got rid of the belt Taven kicked Daniels between the legs and hit The Climax.
WINNER: Matt Taven in 9:36.
(5) THE BRISCOES (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe) vs. LOS INGOBERNABLES DE JAPÓN (Evil & Sanada)
Mark brought a steel chair into the ring. As the referee disposed of it, he hit Sanada with a second chair and Jay landed a Jay Driller.
WINNERS: The Briscoes in 13:54.
-Evil took out both Briscoes with a chair after the match.
-Silas Young joined commentary for the next match.
(6) “THE OCTOPUS” JONATHAN GRESHAM vs. FLIP GORDON
A springboard stunner and a Flip-5 put Gresham away.
WINNER: Flip Gordon in 8:56.
-Gordon took a mic and called out Bully Ray. When he no-showed Gordon challenged him to an I Quit match at Final Battle. I’m embarrassed to admit that my hometown crowd gave Gordon the “what?” treatment…
(7) SOCAL UNCENSORED (Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky w/Christopher Daniels) vs. SUPER SMASH BROS (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson) – ROH WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
In a pre-match promo Scorpio Sky quoted some Drake lyrics to boos (Drake’s awful, guys). This match got the first “this is awesome” chant of the night and crazy boos when SCU kicked out of a senton + 450 combo from the Smash bros.
WINNERS: SCU in 13:28 to retain the tag titles.
(8) JUICE ROBINSON vs. BERETTA
Robinson hit Pulp Friction for the win.
WINNER: Juice Robinson in 18:48.
-Robinson took a mic and told Cody to heal up because he’s coming for his IWGP Unite States Championship.
(9) IWGP JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION KUSHIDA & “CONSTELLATION” CHRIS SABIN vs. THE YOUNG BUCKS (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson)
Match of the night, featuring multiple “this is awesome” chants. Sabin eventually tapped to a sharpshooter from Matt.
WINNERS: The Young Bucks in 15:20.
-Champion and challenger both got pre-taped pre-match promos ahead of the main event. Jay Lethal made it clear that he doesn’t like the new Kenny King. King said he does like and respect Lethal. The reason he hit him with the title belt last week on TV was to ensure that Lethal’s focus was on him and not Taven, Cody, or the other would-be challengers.
(10) JAY LETHAL vs. KENNY KING – ROH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
At one point King stopped a suicide dive attempt by holding up the ROH title for Lethal to dive into. He spat on the champ a while later. Lethal hit a Lethal Injection but King kicked out at two and a half. King got a roll-up with his feet on the ropes and Todd Sinclair counted three before immediately seeing the feet and stopping the decision. Lethal would hit a second Lethal Injection for the win.
WINNER: Jay Lethal in 22:11 to retain the world title.
-Lethal sent the crowd home with a promo putting over ROH as being home to the greatest wrestling and greatest wrestlers around, while also commenting on the freezing weather (-1°C, 30°F).
Biggest Pops:
- The Young Bucks
- L.I.J.
- Jay Lethal
- Juice Robinson
- Kushida
Most Heat:
- The Kingdom
- SCU after kicking out of the SSB near-fall
- The Briscoes
- Kenny King
It was a bummer we didn’t get to see Jeff Cobb compete but some great action otherwise and arguably the best night of the four Global Wars dates.
Find Harley on Twitter @talkinghonor and listen to he and Emily Fear talk all things ROH every Tuesday on the PWTorch Livecast “Talking Honor.”
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