{"id":56459,"date":"2018-03-09T11:49:21","date_gmt":"2018-03-09T17:49:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=56459"},"modified":"2018-03-09T11:49:55","modified_gmt":"2018-03-09T17:49:55","slug":"ppv-primer-roh-16th-anniversary-event-3-9-18-castle-vs-lethal-briscoes-vs-machine-guns-daniels-aims-become-first-grand-slam-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/03\/09\/ppv-primer-roh-16th-anniversary-event-3-9-18-castle-vs-lethal-briscoes-vs-machine-guns-daniels-aims-become-first-grand-slam-champion\/","title":{"rendered":"PPV PRIMER &#8211; ROH 16th Anniversary Event (3-9-18): Castle vs. Lethal, Briscoes vs. Machine Guns, Daniels aims to become first grand slam champion"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-234754111\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><h3>ROH 16TH ANNIVERSARY PPV PRIMER<br \/>\nMARCH 9, 2018<br \/>\nAIRS ON PPV<br \/>\nPREVIEW BY HARLEY PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR<\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s the first pay-per-view of the year, the second event available through Honor Club, and Ring Of Honor\u2019s sweet sixteen.\u00a0 On Feb. 23, 2002 the era of honor began in Philadelphia with an event that saw Jay Briscoe (with Mark in his corner) losing in singles competition to The Amazing Red and Low Ki defeating Bryan Danielson and Christopher Daniels in a three-way dance in the main event. Sixteen years later, The Briscoes stand poised to begin a record-setting ninth ROH Tag Team Championship reign.\u00a0 Meanwhile, if SoCal Uncensored can capture the ROH Six-man Titles, Daniels will become the first grand slam champion in ROH history.<\/p>\n<p><b>A1.\u00a0 Sumie Sakai vs. Hana Kimura (Women Of Honor Championship tournament, pre-show)<\/b><\/p>\n<p>It was at <i>Final Battle <\/i>in December when the announcement was made that the women\u2019s division would finally be getting their own championship.\u00a0 Many of us wanted to be optimistic that this meant a new dawn for women in ROH and things did start off promisingly.\u00a0 The first two tournament matches aired in their entirety as part of weekly TV and included promos from both competitors before each match.\u00a0 Since then it\u2019s been back to square one.\u00a0 The next two matches in the first round were crammed into one TV segment with less than a minute of total in-ring action shown.\u00a0 Despite the best efforts of the wrestlers ROH continues to segregate them to YouTube or, as is the case tonight, the Facebook pre-show.<\/p>\n<p>This is the final first-round tournament match to take place, though three other eighth-final matches have yet to air in any capacity.\u00a0 Sumie Sakai is a 21-year veteran of both pro wrestling and MMA and won the very first women\u2019s match ever in ROH back in June 2002.\u00a0 In fact, Sakai was winning championships before Hana Kimura was even born.\u00a0 At the age of 20 Kimura\u2019s been wrestling for almost two years, primarily for Japan\u2019s Stardom promotion.<\/p>\n<p><b>Prediction:<\/b>\u00a0 The story of Sakai winning the first women\u2019s match in ROH history is too good to cast aside so soon.\u00a0 Sakai wins with a top rope splash and continues to build her presence as the veteran talent in the WOH division.<\/p>\n<p><b>A2.\u00a0 Tenille Dashwood vs. Brandi Rhodes (Women Of Honor Championship tournament, pre-show)<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Spoiler alert, apparently, as Tenille Dashwood\u2019s first-round match against Stacy Shadows hasn&#8217;t aired on television yet.\u00a0 Not that her winning there is actually a surprise.\u00a0 The former Emma of WWE arrived in WOH with a lot of fanfare at <i>Honor Reigns Supreme<\/i> last month and was instantly positioned as one of the top names in the division and a favorite to win the whole tournament, rightfully so.\u00a0 Rhodes has her own WWE background, though she never wrestled there, instead working primarily under the name Eden Stiles as the Smackdown ring announcer.\u00a0 Rhodes picked up a surprise victory over Karen Q in the first round but her Cinderella story ends here.<\/p>\n<p><b>Prediction:<\/b>\u00a0 Dashwood with the pin following The Spotlight.\u00a0 She seems destined to make it to the finals just as she did in the tournament to crown the first NXT Women\u2019s Champion.\u00a0 Whether she can succeed here where she failed there remains to be seen.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-986161596\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Last year\u2019s 15th\u00a0Anniversary show featured eight matches on the main card and our television champion is notably absent from tonight\u2019s advertised lineup so let\u2019s add another two matches.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><b>1.\u00a0 Coast 2 Coast vs. The Dawgs<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>These teams have been butting heads on television lately.\u00a0 C2C are on a roll after picking up a huge win over War Machine in the latter\u2019s final ROH match.\u00a0 The Dawgs are jealous that everyone\u2019s fawning over LSG and Shaheem Ali instead of them.<\/p>\n<p><b>Prediction:<\/b>\u00a0 Coast 2 Coast clear \u201cThe Big Dawg\u201d Rhett Titus from the ring and hit a coast to coast on Little Willy.<\/p>\n<h3><b>2.\u00a0 Kenny King vs. Silas Young (ROH World Television Championship)<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>Young captured the TV title in a four corner survival match at <i>Final Battle<\/i> with an assist from Beer City Bruiser clocking King in the head with a beer bottle.\u00a0 When King finally got a rematch for the title two weeks ago on TV ROH enforcer Bully Ray sent Bruiser and Brian Milonas to the back.\u00a0 That leveled the playing field enough for King to win back his gold.\u00a0 Adding this match to the card unannounced feels insulting to the championship and both men but to not have the TV title defended on the first pay-per-view of the year in the champion\u2019s hometown would be even stranger.<\/p>\n<p><b>Prediction:<\/b>\u00a0 Bruiser and Milonas accompany Young to ringside and get away with a trick or two before Chuckie T and Cheeseburger come out to even up the odds.\u00a0 King eventually hits the Royal Flush on Young for the win, ending their feud.<\/p>\n<h3><b>3.\u00a0 Marty Scurll vs. Punishment Martinez (winner gets a future ROH World Championship match)<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>Ever since Castle won the world title challengers have been coming after him left and right.\u00a0 Scurll and Martinez are two of those.\u00a0 Martinez won the 2017 Survival Of The Fittest tournament, earning him a title shot last month on TV from which Castle narrowly escaped with the victory.\u00a0 Scurll\u2019s been vocal about not having received even one world title opportunity since arriving in ROH.\u00a0 These two were forced to team together on last week\u2019s TV against Castle and Lethal and that encounter ended with Scurll accidentally blasting Martinez in the face with two handfuls of flour.<\/p>\n<p><b>Prediction:<\/b>\u00a0 Martinez has a great look and is decent in the ring but last week\u2019s tag match showed that he\u2019s still just not quite at the same level as your Castles and Lethals yet.\u00a0 He\u2019d be better off tangling with King for the TV title.\u00a0 Scurll, on the other hand, has been on fire lately and might be the most popular singles act in ROH at the moment.\u00a0 The ovations seem to grow louder every week and this PPV\u2019s main event shows that ROH management aren\u2019t afraid to put Castle in the ring against someone equally as popular as he.\u00a0 Scurll wins with a schoolboy and a hook of the tights.<\/p>\n<h3><b>4.\u00a0 Flip Gordon vs. Hiromu Takahashi<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>While Gordon hasn\u2019t won any ROH matches on American soil this year, he always comes out looking great in defeat and has been slowly building himself up as a result.\u00a0 Two weeks ago he made his Japanese debut at the ROH\/NJPW co-venture <i>Honor Rising<\/i>.\u00a0 The first night he competed against Hiromu Takahashi and Kushida in a triple threat, pinning Takahashi off of a 450 splash.\u00a0 The next night Takahashi and Bushi picked up a pinfall victory over Gordon and Ryusuke Taguchi in tag action so this one is a rubber match of sorts.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2176093197\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><b>Prediction:<\/b>\u00a0 Takahashi is expected to have his stuffed cat Daryl in his corner so expect some fun and games there.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to go with Daryl pouncing to the top rope only to take a Kinder Surprise from Gordon.\u00a0 Takahashi is so devastated that he walks into the Star-Spangled Stunner and the ROH guy picks up the victory on his home turf.<\/p>\n<h3><b>5.\u00a0 Cody vs. Matt Taven<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>This is billed as a grudge match following months of groin kick after groin kick from both men.\u00a0 Really, if they don\u2019t both come out wearing a cup here it\u2019s their own fault at this point.\u00a0 It all began on the January 19 TV when Cody made his first appearance since losing the world title at <i>Final Battle<\/i>.\u00a0 He cut a babyface promo putting over Castle as the better man, only to be interrupted by Taven.\u00a0 Taven\u2019s been raving about \u201cThe Kingdom conspiracy\u201d for ages and ROH\u2019s supposed attempts to keep his faction down.\u00a0 When they met in singles action two weeks later Cody was outnumbered by The Kingdom (due to an absence of Bullet Club members amid the dissension that resulted from his attack on Kenny Omega in Sapporo).\u00a0 Not only did Cody take another shot \u201cright in the ding-dings\u201d but Taven walked off with his ring of honor on his finger as well.<\/p>\n<p><b>Prediction:<\/b>\u00a0 Bully Ray\u2019s big role as enforcer lately has been mostly about removing extra bodies from ringside during singles matches so I suspect this is where he makes his appearance for the night (short of an opening night promo promising us all thrilla, no filla).\u00a0 Ray boots TK O\u2019Ryan and Vinny Marseglia to the back.\u00a0 Taven tries to capitalize in the moment with a loaded ring of honor punch but Cody avoids it and nails CrossRhodes.<\/p>\n<h3><b>6.\u00a0 The Hung Bucks vs. SoCal Uncensored (street fight for the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship)<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>At 201 days Hangman Page and The Young Bucks are the longest-reigning champions in ROH at the moment.\u00a0 Bullet Club gradually turned babyface throughout 2017 in large part due to the massive popularity of <i>Being The Elite<\/i>.\u00a0 The Hung Bucks seemed to cement their new status when they were attacked by The Addiction and Scorpio Sky turned heel at <i>Final Battle<\/i>.\u00a0 The new trio of Daniels, Kaz, and Sky rebranded themselves as SoCal Uncensored and they\u2019ve been jumping the Bullet Club members every chance they\u2019ve had since then.\u00a0 SoCal appeared to win the six-man titles three weeks ago on TV after Sky clocked Matt Jackson with a title belt behind the referee\u2019s back but Bully Ray restarted the match and the champions retained in part two.\u00a0 These teams, with the addition of Marty Scurll and Shane Taylor, were supposed to meet in an ultimate mayhem match last weekend at <i>Manhattan Mayhem<\/i> but a snowstorm prevented SoCal from making the show so it all comes to a head here in a Las Vegas street fight.<\/p>\n<p><b>Prediction:<\/b>\u00a0 Shane Taylor is the wildcard.\u00a0 The gun for hire has been accepting a lot of paychecks from Daniels lately and the street fight stipulation means that Bully Ray has no grounds to ban anyone from ringside or restart the match following an instance of cheating.\u00a0 If the Jacksons are reading this I\u2019d suggest paying Taylor enough money to ensure he stays in the back but I think it\u2019s more likely Taylor comes to Daniels\u2019 aid again.\u00a0 Page and the Bucks no longer being held together by being co-champions increases the number of potential outcomes in the Bullet Club civil war.\u00a0 So Matt goes through a table, Taylor takes out Page, and Nick falls prey to a triple-team.\u00a0 We have new six-man champions and Christopher Daniels is your first ROH Grand Slam Champion.<\/p>\n<h3><b>7.\u00a0 Motor City Machine Guns vs. The Briscoes (ROH World Tag Team Championship)<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>The Briscoes are the best heel tag team on the planet.\u00a0 They have clear direction, focus, authenticity, and they haven\u2019t lost a tag match in nine months.\u00a0 Just one year ago they were one of the most beloved teams in ROH.\u00a0 Since then they have completely transformed themselves into vile, menacing assholes who tear into the fans, stalk their opponents, and ruin dream match-ups.\u00a0 It all started last fall when Jay blamed Bully Ray for costing them the six-man titles.\u00a0 A month later Mark was lured over to the dark side.\u00a0 They trashed the 3D Academy.\u00a0 They beat the hell out of Tommy Dreamer.\u00a0 They ended Bully Ray\u2019s wrestling career at <i>Final Battle<\/i>.\u00a0 They zip-tied Alex Shelley to the ropes and made him watch as Jay gave Chris Sabin a Jay Driller on a steel chair that took him out of action for weeks.\u00a0 Then a week later they double-teamed Shelley and gave him a Jay Driller while flipping off the fans.\u00a0 And the entire time they\u2019ve had the nerve to say that it\u2019s nothing personal, the Machine Guns are just in the wrong place at the wrong time.<\/p>\n<p><b>Prediction:<\/b>\u00a0 Sabin takes another Jay Driller to his already-injured neck and The Briscoes become 9-time ROH world tag team champions.\u00a0 (This passes the Dudley Boyz\u2019 8 ECW tag title reigns and ties their 9 WWE tag title reigns.)<\/p>\n<h3><b>8.\u00a0 Dalton Castle vs. Jay Lethal (ROH World Championship)<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>On the first TV episode of 2018 new ROH world champion Dalton Castle opened the show only to be greeted by Jay Lethal.\u00a0 Lethal put it simply.\u00a0 If there was a line forming to challenge for the title, he wanted to be at the top of that list.\u00a0 Castle appreciated the challenge and was happy to accept.\u00a0 The last time these two met one-on-one was three years ago, March 2015, when Lethal successfully defended the Television Championship against Castle on TV.\u00a0 That was only Castle\u2019s fourth match in ROH.\u00a0 Now Castle is your defending world champion and Jay Lethal has become the face of the company.\u00a0 This is being positioned as two of the top names competing for the top title but unfortunately the build never really went any deeper than that.\u00a0 Both men respect each other and there are no personal issues.\u00a0 It\u2019s sure to be a great match and they\u2019re certain to want to steal the show but this is clearly more about building Castle\u2019s r\u00e9sum\u00e9 than anything.<\/p>\n<p><b>Prediction:<\/b>\u00a0 Castle with the bang-a-rang.\u00a0 Lethal has become ROH\u2019s John Cena.\u00a0 Even if he\u2019s not holding a title, he\u2019s always near the top of the card and treated like a big deal.\u00a0 Clean losses for him are rare so this night is about putting over Castle in a big way in his first pay-per-view defense.\u00a0 Where Lethal goes from here is where things get interesting.<\/p>\n<p>Up next it\u2019s <b>Supercard Of Honor XII<\/b> on April 7 in New Orleans featuring the showdown between Cody and Kenny Omega.\u00a0 The Women Of Honor Championship tournament semi-finals will also take place on that show and that should end up being Kelly Klein vs. Deonna Purrazzo and Sumie Sakai vs. Tenille Dashwood.\u00a0 Let\u2019s also go with Dalton Castle defending the world title against Marty Scurll, Hangman Page vs. Kota Ibushi, and the Young Bucks vs. the Briscoes for the tag titles.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Find Harley on Twitter @talkinghonor and PWTorch VIP members can listen to Lola Bradbury and Harley discuss the 16th\u00a0Anniversary PPV in its entirety this Sunday on a special edition of our PWTorch VIP podcast, &#8220;Talking Honor.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-189916398\"><div id=\"pwtor-393936722\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>ROH 16TH ANNIVERSARY PPV PRIMER MARCH 9, 2018 AIRS ON PPV PREVIEW BY HARLEY PAGEOT, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR It\u2019s the first pay-per-view of the year, the second event available through Honor Club, and Ring Of Honor\u2019s <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/03\/09\/ppv-primer-roh-16th-anniversary-event-3-9-18-castle-vs-lethal-briscoes-vs-machine-guns-daniels-aims-become-first-grand-slam-champion\/\" title=\"PPV PRIMER &#8211; ROH 16th Anniversary Event (3-9-18): Castle vs. Lethal, Briscoes vs. Machine Guns, Daniels aims to become first grand slam champion\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,4447,27,5893],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-ppv-primer","category-specialists","category-tvprimers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/03\/ROH_16-PPV_3x2_600.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56459"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56462,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56459\/revisions\/56462"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}