5/8 ROH TV REPORT: Marty Scurll welcomes fans to the show from his couch to talk life quarantined plus introduce his matches against Okada and Bandido

ROH TV REPORT (Ep.451)
MAY 8, 2020
AIRED ON SINCLAIR SYNDICATED TV & ROHWRESTLING.COM
REPORT BY RYAN SULLIVAN, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Host: No Host This Week

-The opening theme aired.

-The show begins with Marty Scurll’s entrance video and a highlight package of his top moments in his Ring of Honor career.

-The show shifts to Marty Scurll sitting on his couch, presumably at his home, welcoming the fans to this week’s show. Scurll says they would typically have events in front of large crowds to show on television, but they are unable to do so because of the pandemic. He said the fans have been loyal, and it is their responsibility to entertain the fans in return. If they can help fans forget about their troubles for an hour, then they are doing their job.

-Marty then says this week’s show is a historic episode, because it is presented by him! Scurll will take viewers though his favorite matches in his ROH career. Scurll talked about signing his ROH contract, and his debut in 2016 on the UK tour. In his second match with the company, Marty defeated Will Ospreay to become the Ring of Honor Television champion. Scurll said it was “an amazing match” and viewers who watch it will not be disappointed.

-Scurll then reflected on the All In show. He was part of “Bullet Club” and he wanted to challenge himself against “The Golden Boy of New Japan, Okada”. Scurll said no one gave him a chance to win the match, and it still gives him goosebumps thinking about it.

(1) MARTY SCURLL vs. KAZUCHIKA OKADA

As said above, this was took place in Chicago at All In. Both men were already in the ring and the bell sounded to begin the contest. The match had a slow pace to start, with both men trying to out chain wrestling the other to seize the advantage. Okada delivered a devastating suplex on Scurll to lead into commercial break. [c]

Back live, the match soon goes outside the ring, where Okada hit a DDT on Scurll. Okada throws Scurll back in the ring. Okada puts Scurll into a “Straight Jacket” submission, but Scurll counters into a lung blower to allow him time to recover. Scurll then delivered his “52 Pickup” maneuver on Okada to change the momentum. Scurll followed up with a tornado DDT on Okada for a long two-count into commercial. [c]

Back from break, Okada is now on offense. Okada and Scurll exchanged strikes and counter moves mid-ring, before Scurll eventually hit a “brain buster” suplex, which felt like the turning point of the contest. They brawled before Okada went to the top rope. Scurll met him there, hit an ear clap and a superplex on Okada. The crowd responded enthusiastically “Heavyweight, Heavyweight”! Next, Scurll hit a powerbomb, into a stack pinning predicament for a believable near fall. [c]

Okada counters Scurll’s attempt at a tombstone piledriver with one of his own. Okada then teased the “Rainmaker”, but Scurll countered with his patented “finger break” move. Shortly thereafter, Marty used his villainous ways to shove Okada into the referee, knocking him to the canvas. Marty uses his umbrella to block Okada, then hits Okada across the head with the umbrella. To add further insult, Scurll then hits a “Rainmaker” of his own, but only gets a two count. Scurll goes for his “chicken wing” submission, but a weary Okada counters with a “Rainmaker” of his own, but can only get a two count.

The finish occurs when both men are completely exhausted, mid-ring, exchanging strikes. Okada knocked Marty down, but Scurll spit in the face of Okada. Scurll attempted his “finger break” again, but Okada countered with two “Rainmakers” for the 1-2-3.

WINNER: Kakuchika Okada at 20:38.

-The crowd gave both men a standing ovation, in appreciation of this incredible matchup.

(Ryan’s Reaction: This went about 6-8 minutes long for my taste, but it told a terrific story of the upstart Scurll trying to prove he was better than established superstar Okada. Time complaint aside, this is probably the most well-known Scurll match of his career, and provides an accurate representation of how truly talented he is inside the ring.)

-Scurll is now back on his couch, and asks the viewers if this was worth five stars. He did not win the match, but he believed he proved he could compete with anyone in the world. It is one of his favorite matches, and he wanted to share it with the ROH fans. [c]

-Back from commercial, Scurll was in an empty room, with a chair in a delivery box. In hyper speed, they show Scurll putting together the chair and interacting with his dog. On a related note, his dog is very cute.

-A commercial was shown hyping that Ring of Honor has expanded their archives and are adding to the library available on Honor Club.

-Scurll is back on his couch, and said the next match he wants to share with the fans was against one of his chief rivals, Bandido. Scurll said Bandido is one of the best in the world, and he loved this match due to their clash of styles.

(2) MARTY SCURLL vs. BANDIDO

This match originally took place in August 2019, from Atlanta, Georgia. Scurll and Bandido both received their full ring entrances and were introduced by the dulcet tones of Bobby Cruise. The Code of Honor was adhered to by both, but Bandido was weary of Scurll’s villainous tendencies. The crowd was absolutely on fire for this match, and rather evenly split for both men.

The match starts with an incredibly fast pace, and Bandido quickly sends Scurll outside the ring with a superkick. The move ringside was beneficial for Scurll, who started working over Bandido and gained the advantage. Scurll sends Bandido back in the ring, and starts working him on the mat, in an effort to ground Bandido. Again, Bandido superkicks Scurll to ringside, but this time delivers a springboard plancha on Scurll, leading into commercial break. [c]

Back to action, Bandido and Scurll are mid-ring, exchanging chops and punches, and Bandido eventually gets the best of this exchange. Bandido delivers his “X-Knee”, then attempts his “21 Plex” finishing move, but Scurll counters this into his “chicken wing” submission. Soon, both Bandido and Scurll brawl to the top rope, where Bandido delivered his patented top rope “fall away slam”. The crowd popped huge for this.

The finish occurred when Scurll applied his “chicken wing” move, but Bandido rolled onto him for a pinning attempt of his own. Scurll then hits a package piledriver, and follows it with a “Black Plague” for the win.

WINNER: Marty Scrurll at 9:53.

(Ryan’s Reaction: This match was solid, but I do think Scurll had several matches that were superior to this one, including the Ospreay match he mentioned in the beginning. Nonetheless, this was fun to watch and I hope this is foreshadowing a future rematch.)

-Afterwards, Scurll is back on his couch, saying “Bravo, Bravo”. He said he got the victory, but it could have gone either way.

-Scurll finished the show by saying they would continue to provide fans with entertainment, and hopes this helped everyone forget the troubles going on from the pandemic. He hopes you enjoyed the episode, he loves everyone and hopes to see them all soon. The show then faded to black.

FINAL THOUGHTS: This is perhaps the best of these quarantine “spotlight” episodes Ring of Honor has produced in recent weeks. Both matches were terrific, and I greatly appreciated hearing Scurll out of character, talking about how this pandemic has changed things. I wish they cut a few moments from the Okada match, along with the chair assembly, to allow Scurll time to discuss his first year in ROH. Nonetheless, this was a quality and enjoyable hour of television. Bravo, Bravo!

CATCH UP… 5/1 ROH TV REPORT: Feature episode on Mark Haskins files to provide more depth of his character, leaves out key aspects of his act