Ring of Honor have confirmed that Kyle O’Reilly will be facing NJPW NEVER Openweight Champion Katsuyori Shibata at the Field of Honor show on August 27th. The match falls just over a week after the G1 Climax tournament has concluded and with Shibata slated to finally win the tournament this is a major bout for the ROH supershow.
— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) July 21, 2016
Ring of Honor recently announced that they would be touring the UK for the first time in a decade and now the venues for their tour have officially been announced:
Friday November 18th – Liverpool Olympia
Saturday November 19th – Leicester Community Sports Arena
Sunday November 20th – Seymour Leisure Centre, London
The first confirmed names on the tour are ROH World Champion Jay Lethal, The Briscoes, War Machine, “BULLET CLUB’s” Adam Cole and the Young Bucks.
Ring of Honor BITW – Briscoe vs. Lethal 2 – June 24, 2016, from the Carbarrus Arena in Concord, NC
Kyle O’Reilly defeated Kamaitachi via submission.
ACH defeated Silas Young with the Morning Star.
Mark Briscoe defeated Roderick Strong in Strong’s farewell match after 2 brainbusters.
Adam Cole & The Young Bucks defeated Moose & War Machine in a Tornado Rules 6-man tag. YB hit the 5-Star Meltzer Driver on Moose and kissed Cole as he covered for the victory.
The Addiction (c) retained the ROH World Tag Team Championships against the Motor City Machine Guns after Kamaitachi came out and attacked Jay White, who was sitting at ringside, causing the distraction.
BJ Whitmer defeated Steve Corino in an Unsanctioned Fight Without Honor. With both men bloody, the lights went out, Kevin Sullivan appeared and delivered the golden spike to Corino’s head. Whitmer hit the exploder and scored the victory.
Bobby Fish (c) retained the ROH World TV Championship over Dalton Castle with a small package.
ANX came out with Caprice Coleman, continuing their campaign to Make Wrestling Great Again. The three of them declared that moving forward, they will now be known as The Cabinet.
Jay Lethal (c) retained the ROH World Championship against Jay Briscoe. The rematch one year in the making saw Briscoe hit a Lethal Injection and Jay Driller, but Lethal followed up with a top-rope cutter and the Lethal Injection for the clean victory.
The show opens with spliced together backstage promos from Prince Nana and Donovan Dijack, as well as Jay Lethal and Taeler Hendrix. Nana says, “The time has come. We put out the man that led you to the ROH World Title.” Lethal says, “To be a great champion, you must remove all your personal affairs. Well, I’m having a damn hard time doing that.” Hendrix says, “What you did, was sick.” Lethal says, “You hurt our friend, Truth Martini.” Hendrix says, “The one man to ever believe in you.” Lethal says, “You broke his neck.” Nana says, “Right now, you have no one to turn to.” Hendrix says, “I’ve got news for you, pal. You are in the sights of the champion.” Nana, “The time for a new Ring of Honor World Champion has finally come.” Lethal, “We believe in revenge.” Hendrix, “It just got personal.” Dijack, “Jay Lethal, your time is up.”
Kevin Kelly and Nigel McGuinness welcome us from Ted Reeve Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. KK says, “And tonight the man who broke Truth Martini’s neck will speak, plus we will see the newest member of the Bullet Club, The Hangman Adam Page, against a man who is really looking for revenge, Colt Cabana, making his return to ROH TV after a 5 year absence. All of this, plus The Rainmaker is here.”
Matt Sydal vs. Kazuchika Okada
Co-holder of the IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship Reborn Matt Sydal walks to the ring, slides under the bottom rope, and poses in the ring. Okada’s music hits and KK says, “Next, the man who Jushin Thunder Liger called ‘a perfect wrestler’ is on his way to the ring,” he is followed by Gedo. The fans pop loudly for Okada. KK says, “Tens of millions of dollars of talent. The Rainmaker has arrived.” The camera gets a close up of one of the Okada dollars.
Tale of the tape says Sydal 5’10”/195 vs. Okada 6’2”/229 (Bobby Cruise says 236). KK says “Certainly there is a size advantage for Okada, but Sydal has faced The Big Show and Mark Henry. He’s given up size and weight many times before, and never even taken a back step. Nigel, it’s interesting, when your fellow countrymen Will Osprey was tabbed the newest member of Chaos in New Japan, Sydal felt more than a little slighted. That was an interesting conversation we had with Mr. Sydal.”
Collar-and-elbow tie-up, go behind by Okada, go behind by Sydal, wrist lock by Okada, Sydal rolls through, jumps to his feet, armbar, pump handle, snapmare takeover, headlock, armbar, Okada reverses into an armbar headlock of his own. NM says, “He’s called Reborn, because he came back from an injury that many thought was going to sideline him forever.” Sydal throws Okada off the ropes, Okada hits a shoulder block tackle, runs the ropes again, ducks under, jumps over, goes for The Rainmaker, but Sydal hits a hurricanrana, arm wringer by Sydal, back elbows by Okada, Sydal flips him down on the mat, does a backflip, Okada gets out of the way, jumps and stops and they stare each other down.
Okada wrist a wrist lock, arm wringer, shoulder block, whip reversal into the corner, Sydal meets an elbow, and then a spinning back heel kick takes Okada to the mat. Sydal goes to the second rope and tries for a tornado DDT, but Okada reverses and puts him back on the turnbuckle, and then nails a dropkick knocking Sydal to the floor, and we go to commercial.
When we return, Sydal fights out with an elbow and a kick, throws Okada off the ropes, he catches himself on the ropes, and Sydal meets a boot, Okada with a slingshot senton over the top rope, cover, kick out. Sydal is wincing in pain, Okada picks him up, Sydal with an elbow to the gut, chop kick chop kick, Okada returns with clubbing blows to the back. Okada slams Sydal’s head into the turnbuckle, slams his head into the opposite turnbuckle, now back to the first one, 2 elbows to the back of the neck, goes to throw Sydal’s head to another turnbuckle, but he blocks and kicks him in the face.
Sydal delivers 2 kicks to the back of the quad, then a kick to the back of the head, standing moonsault, folds him up like an accordion, cover, kick out. Sydal splashes Okada in the corner, flies off the top rope with a double sitting knee, cover, kick out. Sydal grabs hold of an injured knee, ducks a kick by Okada, and then connects with a back kick of his own, goes for a top rope hurricanrana but Okada slides through, catches Sydal’s head on the turnbuckle and then rolls through backwards and plants him with a jackknife neckbreaker to the knee, pin attempt, kick out.
Okada slams Sydal to the mat, climbs to the top turnbuckle and nails the big elbow. Okada calls for The Rainmaker as the camera zooms out, he picks up Sydal, spins around, Sydal ducks it with a Matrix-like escape, reverse headscissors by Sydal that drops Okada on his head. Sydal climbs to the top rope, goes for the Shooting Star Press, but Okada blocks with double knees to the gut, Okada goes for a tombstone piledriver, Sydal gets out, Sydal misses a kick and then Okada lands a standing dropkick. Now on his third try, Okada nails The Rainmaker, third time’s a charm, and it’s over, 1-2-3.
Winner: Kazuchika Okada
After the match, Okada and Sydal shake hands.
Adam Cole and the Young Bucks cut a backstage promo, “Hey Bucks, did you guys hear what the Best in the World main event is? Jay Lethal defending his title against Jay Briscoe? Everybody knows that whoever wins that match is just keeping the title warm for ol’ Adam Cole baybay. And Jay Lethal, tonight you’re wrestling Donovan Dijak. Well, I just wanted to make this very apparent to you, the BC, we might, I don’t know, come say hello to the champ,” and we go to commercial.
After the break, Silas Young cuts a backstage promo, “The other day, I came home and my son was sitting on the floor coloring this.” He shows ROH’s ‘The Best Coloring Book on the Planet Today.’ Silas continues, “And I look down, and he was coloring a picture of ACH. I told him ‘Son, that’s fine if you want to color that book, but just know that guy you’re coloring a picture of, the way he acts, that’s not the way men act.’ He looked at me, he closed it up, and he gave it to me and said, ‘Dad, if that’s the case, then I don’t want it anymore’. And it just made me think, my seven-year-old son is more of a man than ACH is. See the problem is ACH, you think I hate you, you think I got some big problem with you, but the fact of the matter is, I’m just trying to teach you some lessons, some lessons obviously you didn’t learn that you needed to learn, some lessons that your father failed to teach you on being a man.”
Adam Page vs. Colt Cabana
Out next, is the newest member of the BC, The Hangman Adam Page. NM notes, “Conspicuous by their absence, the rest of the BC. Normally they’re like packs of wolves, they come out here together.” KK comments, “You never know when they could be on the scene.” Colt Cabana’s video plays, the camera zooms in and out for the Boom Boom. Tale of the tape says 6’1”/240 Cabana vs 6’0”/207 Page (Bobby Cruise and the video department matched up correctly). The fans chant, “Colt Cabana!” The referee asks for the Code of Honor, both men refuse.
Collar-and-elbow tie-up, they push each other to the ropes, the referee calls for the break. The fans chant, “Art of wrestling!” Collar-and-elbow tie-up again, they push each other to the ropes again, the referee calls for the break again. Cabana shoves Page and then Page connects with a big right hand, Page with a chop, punch to the head, Cabana throws him off the ropes, but Page lands a shoulder tackle. Page runs the ropes, Cabana ducks under, leaps over, then runs the ropes himself, and hits a spinning headscissors
NM says, “Cabana has learned so much from going over and wrestling in England, from guys like Johnny Saint, Steve Grey.” Fans chant, “Boom! Boom!” Page goes for a kick, but Cabana catches him with a leg takedown. NM says, “You could make an argument that perhaps he doesn’t feel he feels his spot in BC is really secure yet, so he’s got to earn it. I don’t know.” Cabana goes for the Boston crab, Page fights out, Cabana with a wrist lock, go behind, snapmare takeover, cover, kick out, now Cabana transitions into a crucifix style pin attempt, kick out again.
Cabana and Page push each other, collar-and-elbow tie-up, headlock by Cabana, arm wringer by Cabana, Page with a forearm, Cabana arm wringer again, Page forearm, Cabana throws his hand to the mat. Cabana stands tall with a wrist lock, twisting the fingers, whip reversal, Cabana jumps up the turnbuckle, ducks underneath, Page throws him to the outside, and then Page hits a Shooting Star Press from the apron, and we go to commercial.
When we return, the fans have dueling chants going. Chop by Cabana, chop by Page, slap by Cabana, chop by Page, slap by Cabana, push by Page, forearm by Cabana, Cabana ducks a clothesline and then gets hit with a clothesline on the reversal. Page with the push kick into the corner, cover, kick out. Page with a pectoral stretch, Cabana runs his backside hip into Page’s gut twice, a kick and a punch by Page, whips Cabana in the corner, and then meets a back elbow.
Cabana with another elbow, climbs to the second rope and jumps off, Page goes under, then Cabana with a double-handed chop, two punches to the face, whip reversal off the ropes, Cabana ducks a clothesline, and then 4 punches and then a rolling punch. Cabana runs into the corner with the flying hip attack, Page with a kick to the leg, Cabana with a elbow to the head.
Page goes to the apron, comes back in with a slingshot lariat, cover, kick out. Page picks up Cabana for the Rite of Passage, Cabana holds himself on the ropes, ducks a clothesline and then a moonsault by Cabana, cover, kick out. Elbow by Cabana, elbow by Page, Page comes charging in, push kick by Cabana, leg-on-leg bridge pin attempt, 1-2-3, and Cabana wins.
Winner: Colt Cabana
After the match, the Guerrillas of Destiny come down and attack Cabana, with clubbing blows, stomps to the back, punches, elbows, as Page walks around the ring with the hangman’s noose. GoD hold Cabana, Page goes to put the noose around his neck, and KK says, “We need some help. We need security. Look at what they’re doing. Fans, we can’t show any more of this, we’ve got to go to break, go to commercial break, we need help.” The camera points at the apron and we cut away.
Rhett Titus asks, “Are you tired of little boys with itty bitty biceps?” KK asks, “Are you tired of really old dudes in masks? Hi I’m Kenny King.” RT chimes in, “And I’m Rhett Titus,” and together, “We’re the All Night Express.” KK asks, “See, when you think about Jushin Thunder Liger, what are the things you think of?” RT says, “Honor, respect, legendary.” KK continues, “Legendary, the man has fought names like Malenko, Juventud Guerrero, Chris Jericho,” RT says, “All of the greats.” KK continues, “But now Cheeseburger? See, this is what we’re talking about, now when I think of JTL, I think of Brett Favre, I think of Allen Iverson, aka. I think of old farts that stayed in the game way past their prime, but that changes in Toronto.” RT says, “And Toronto is the first stop on our campaign trail.” KK continues, “We’re listening to you. Even if it kills us,” and they say together, “We will make wrestling great again.”
BJ Whitmer comes down to the ring and grabs a mic, “Finally Nigel, finally you have come to your senses and you have booked the match. Lately Steve, you’ve gone online and you’ve thrown out all these empty threats. You tell me I’ve crossed the line, you tell me I’ve gone too far, but the truth of the matter is, you have no one else to blame for my actions, but yourself. So this all comes to a head on June 24th, Best in the World, live on pay-per-view. We stand across the ring from one another, in the ultimate Fight Without Honor. Now listen real close Steve, because this is not an empty threat. When you leave the house that weekend, you kiss that pretty little wife and that baby son of yours goodbye. Because not only am I going to break your body, I’m going to steal your soul.”
Steve Corino runs through the audience, security holds him back, Whitmer says, “Tough man, tough man. Oh, you want some now? You want some now? You know what? I ain’t gotta wait for Charlotte, let’s do this right now.” Corino gets into the ring, but Whitmer climbs out of the ring, and officials and security keep the two separated. KK says, “You went too far BJ Whitmer, that footage when you stalked his wife, stalked his son, how dare you.”
ACH cuts a backstage promo, “When I was 13 years old, my father actually told me, if you’re handling your business, and you’re taking care of your responsibilities, you do you. As long as you’re not taking food off another man’s plate, you do you. And Silas, I’m obviously not taking food off your plate, and I obviously don’t have a problem with you, you obviously have a problem with me. More importantly, you have a problem with yourself, because these things are called insecurities. You’re jealous of all the things that ACH does. See, its confidence to walk out and express yourself, and tell people that you can be you, no matter what you do. If you want to watch cartoons, watch cartoons, it doesn’t matter how old you are. And how dare you say my father never taught me how to be a man? Don’t worry about me, worry about your son. And the only reason why your son may be more man than I am? It’s because Silas, it’s simple, you’re not man enough to hold down your household.” He takes a PlayStation Vita out of his back pocket and walks away.
Donovan Dijack vs. Jay Lethal (c) (non-title match)
Dijack’s over-autotuned entrance music hits, he walks out slowly, smiling, screams on the ramp, and then continues suave to the ring. KK asks NM, “And why is this a non-title match?” NM says, “He hasn’t earned it yet, but if he were to win here, he would certainly be in line for one.” Next out is your ROH World Champion Jay Lethal, the greatest wrestler in the world, the greatest first generation wrestler. Lethal is all business as he walks to the ring, gives Dijack a long stare, takes off the belt, climbs in the ring, and immediately the two men go at it.
They exchange shots, Lethal with a knee to the gut, takedown, mount position raining blows, roll over, Dijack raining blows, Lethal raining blows. NM says, “Very uncharacteristic for the world champion, likes to usually take things slow. But as you said, the anger, the aggression,” Uppercut by Lethal, right hand by Dijack, throws him to the corner, Dijack fights out with 3 forearms, Dijack with 4 kicks, and then points at his nose and screams. Lethal fights out with 2 forearms, chop, Dijack picks him up and throws him up-and-over to the floor.
Dijack crawls outside after Lethal, pushes him in the back of the neck, clubbing blow to the back. Lethal walks around, then returns with the right hand, chop, forearm, but Dijack with a knee and then a suplexes Lethal on the floor. Dijack rolls back in to break the count, goes for a whip but Lethal reverses and sends Dijack upside down into the steel railing landing on a chair. Lethal picks up Dijack, and whips him upside down into the steel railing again. Lethal stares down Prince Nana, and then chases him around the ring. Nana climbs into the ring and pleads for mercy, Lethal grabs him by the jacket and points a finger in his face, suddenly Nana smiles, and then Dijack attacks from behind.
The two men exchange forearms, Lethal with a knife-edge chop, forearm, Dijack throws him off the ropes, Lethal catches himself, Lethal throws Dijack up-and-over, Dijack catches himself on the apron, and then Lethal with a dropkick sends Dijack to the floor. Lethal runs the ropes and suicide dives toffee onto Dijack once, twice, and looks really mad as he goes for it a third time, but Dijack sidesteps and shoves him into the barricade. Dijack does a standing backflip over the top rope onto the floor onto Lethal, screams at him, and we go to commercial.
When we pick it up, Lethal is on the mat. We see footage from during the commercial, Dijack picks up the belt and shoves it in Lethal’s face, “You see this? I’m taking it. Feast your eyes. I’m taking it, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Back to the action, Dijack picks Lethal up, he fights out, go-behind, Lethal with an arm drag, cartwheel, and then a low dropkick, but Lethal may have injured his knee. Lethal sends Dijack’s head into the turnbuckle, 2 knife-edge chops, Lethal with an armbar, whip reversal, Dijack runs in, but meets a boot, Lethal jumps off the second rope, but Dijack catches him with a belly-to-belly suplex, Dijack springboards to his feet and points at his nose, cover, kickout.
Dijack start pushing Lethal in the face and yelling at him, Lethal gets angry and stands up and slaps Diack, they exchange forearms, Dijack goes for a clothesline but misses, Lethal goes for the Lethal Combination but his knee gives out. Lethal with the right hand, Dijack with a kick, belly-to-back German suplex by Lethal. Dijack is to his feet first, goes for a chokeslam, but Lethal flips and lands on his feet, hits a spinning enziguri, but then a boot by Dijack turns Lethal inside out. Both men are down, Hendrix pounds on the mat. Dijack is up first, Nana says, “You’re making too much noise.” Taeler says, “You want some? Come and get it.”
Dijack is up first, Lethal hits the Lethal Combination, cover, kick out. Lethal gets to his feet, highly favoring the knee, positions Dijack, goes to the top rope looking for the Hail to the King elbow, NM says, “Taking way too long in my book, 5-6-7 seconds, at least. Dijack laying prone, but has he got one eye on Lethal?” Lethal jumps off, but Dijack catches him with a hand around the throat, Lethal tries to fight out, Dijack picks him up, and Lethal reverses into a pin attempt, Dijack picks him up wheelbarrow style transitions into Feast Your Eyes, but Lethal lands on his feet, Dijack with a kick to the face. Dijack punches Lethal in the face, picks him up, starts jawing at him, runs the ropes, but Lethal hits a superkick, goes for the Lethal Injection, but Dijack picks him up on his shoulders and nails a powerbomb, weak cover, Lethal kicks out. KK says, “Prince Nana very upset with Todd Sinclair about that count.” NM says, “He should be upset with Dijack for not hooking the legs.”
Dijack goes for the springboard moonsault off the top rope and misses, Lethal goes for the Lethal Injection, but Nana climbs up on the apron, Hendrix pulls him off, throws his scarf at him, she goes to slap him, but he catches her hand. Dijack tries again for Feast Your Eyes, but he turns around and gets super kicked by Kenny Omega and Matt Jackson. KK says, “The superkick was intended for Lethal, but he got out of the way.” Lethal pushes The Elite out of the ring, nails the Lethal Injection, and this one is over, 1-2-3.
Winner: Jay Lethal
After the match, GoD come down to the ring again and take out Lethal, punches to the face, stomps, punches to the gut, clubbing blows to the back, until the Briscoes run in to make the save. They throw the GoD out of the ring, the fans chant, “Man up!” as Mark runs the ropes and front flips onto the GoD. Jay Briscoe stands alone in the ring with Lethal, Hendrix hands Lethal the title, but Briscoe takes it from him. Lethal has a streamer on his head, stands up, the fans chant, “One more time!” Briscoe extends the belt, Lethal grabs his belt away and they stare at each other. KK calls the Briscoe v. Lethal rematch, one year in the making, “The biggest rematch in ROH history.” and then continues, “Fans next week, one-on-one, Kushida vs Kyle O’Reilly, and more, as we countdown to Best in the World. We’ll see you then.”
Kevin Kelly provides voiceover for a Bullet Club video package, “A faction reeking havoc overseas has found its way into ROH Wrestling. This week we look at Bullet Club, from its founding members to its newest recruits.”
KK introduces the show from backstage, “Red hot, super controversial, and more dominant than ever, for the next 60 minutes, it’s all about BC. What BC did at Global Wars has the entire wrestling world talking, but we will also take you back in time and show you how the club formed, how it has changed through the years, and how it’s now poised to become stronger and more dominant than ever. Since BC was formed in 2013 in New Japan, they have been popular, but have also seen members come and go. But one thing that has remained the same, BC is always trying to put everyone’s buttons to gain every edge they possibly can. They made their presence felt In New York City, at War of the Worlds 2014. At the time, their leader was Machine Gun Karl Anderson. He and Gallows were IWGP tag team champions, but how they would fare against the 8 time ROH Tag Team Champions, Dem Boyz, the Briscoes?”
Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson (Bullet Club) vs. The Briscoes (IWGP Tag Team Championship Match from War of the Worlds 5/17/14)
When we pick up the action, uppercut by Anderson on Jay, Jay returns with a fist, Gallows back body drops Mark on the floor, whip from Anderson to Jay, but Jay meets him with a boot, Jay hooks for the Jay Driller, but Gallows comes in and slaps him in the face. Anderson with a running kick to the face, Gallows with a back shoulder block, clothesline by Gallows, sitting senton by Anderson, splash by Gallows, Gallows picks him up into a fireman’s carry, Anderson comes off the ropes and kicks him in the face, cover, kick out.
Gallows and Anderson set up for the Magic Killer, until Mark comes in with a kick to Gallows, 3 Mongolian chops to Gallows, a fury of Kung Fu chops to the shoulder, then a running clubbing blow knocks the big man down. Mark tags in officially, and then goes after Anderson. Mark misses with a chop, hits a bunch of Kung Fu chops to the chest, push kick to the chest, running kick to the chest by Jay, clothesline by Mark, spinning forearm by Jay, and then Mark goes off the top and nails the Froggy Bow, but Anderson kicks out.
The Briscoes call for their springboard Doomsday Device, but Gallows runs off the ropes with a boot to the chest of Jay, Mark comes off the top rope, Anderson catches him mid-air and nails the Ace Crusher, and then a sitting slam by Gallows on Jay, BC pick up Mark, hit the Magic Killer, and this one is over, 1-2-3.
Winner and still IWGP Tag Team Champions: Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson (Bullet Club) (War of the Worlds 5/17/14)
On WotW commentary, KK says, “For the first time tonight, BC is victorious over RPH.” MW3 replies, ”You jinxed it.” KK says, “I might have.” MW3 says, ”You dummy, you blew it for Briscoe!”
After the commercial break, KK says, “If you love throwing them up, or too sweeting your friends, or joining a superkick party, then this is the hour for you, because we’re talking all about BC. The wars between BC and ROH didn’t begin at this year at Global Wars, in fact last year at the big event in Toronto, it was an amazing 10-man tag, BC taking on the ROH All-Stars.”
AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Young Bucks (Bullet Club) vs. Strong, War Machine, The Briscoes (ROH All-Stars) (Global Wars 5/15/15)
When we pick up the action, Hanson sets up for a front flip onto everybody and lands it. MW3 says, “Holy… you know the rest!” Hanson rolls Matt back into the ring, then throws in Anderson. Strong delivers knees to Matt, AJ, and Anderson. Strong hits the running knee to Matt, hooks Matt for the superplex and nails it. Strong with running knee to AJ, hooks AJ for the superplex and nails it again. MW3 says, “Jeez Louise!” Strong hits the running knee on Anderson, hooks Anderson for the superplex, MW3 says, “Cheese and crackers, Roderick Strong is on fire!” and nails it for the third time. Strong hits a running knee on Gallows, set him up for a 4th superplex, MW3 says, “No way!” Nick comes up on the apron and pulls Strong down, Strong fights out with forearms and a kick to Nick, Gallows tumbles to the floor, Strong then sets up Nick for a 4th superplex but in the direction of the floor, MW3 says, “Guys guys, too dangerous, oh for god’s sake!” then launches Nick onto the floor onto everyone and the fans go berserker.
Gallows is up first, he climbs back into the ring with Hanson, spinning back heel kick by Hanson, sit down chokeslam powerbomb by Gallows, hits the ropes but Rowe with a sidewalk slam, Anderson with a cutter and AJ with a suplex. “Did AJ styles just curse? I think he cursed!” AJ hooks Rowe for the Styles Clash, but Strong runs the ropes and delivers a kick to AJ, Anderson gets thrown to the outside, MW3 says, “We need 32 camera angles for this.” Nick gets knocked off the apron, Matt gets superkicked by Jay, flipping backbreaker by Strong, and then Jay hooks for the Jay Driller before Mark comes off the top rope with Froggy Bow to Matt, 1-2-3, and the ROH All Stars win.
Winners: Roderick Strong, War Machine, The Briscoes (ROH All-Stars) (Global Wars 5/15/15)
KK continues backstage, “You can’t talk about the BC and their dominance in New Japan Pro Wrestling without focusing on the fact that they have held every belt in that company, and most recently capturing the newly-minted NEVER Openweight 6-man Championship at Honor Rising.”
Kenny Omega & Young Bucks (Bullet Club Elite) vs. Toru Yano & The Briscoes (c) (NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship Match from Honor Rising 2/20/16)
Before the bell, Hall comes in with blatant interference and takes out the Briscoes from behind. Yano is alone in the ring with all four men and scared, they stomp him down. The referee throws Hall out of the ring. KK says, “Red Shoes doing all that he can to send the son of the bad guy out, now the bell sounds, now it’s an official contest.”
Nick jumps over turnbuckle and runs the apron with a kick to Yano. Elite pose in the middle of the ring before the Briscoes come in and nail YB from behind. Mark with forearms to Omega, kicks to the gut, whip reversal into the corner, Mark jumps over, rolls through, and then suplexes Omega. Jay throws Matt into the other corner, splash, snapmare takeover, running dropkick to the chest, and then Mark throws him out of the ring. Yano throws Nick back into the ring, Nick turns around slowly, and then gets kicked by the Briscoes. Mark with a punch, Jay with a headbutt, and then they launch him with a front flip up-and-over the top turnbuckle onto the floor as he crashes into on Hall, Omega, and Matt (but mostly Hall), very impressive.
Omega gets back in at 14, he tries to punch Yano, but Yano ducks in the ropes like Yano does, the crowd chants, “Break!” Hall grabs him by the legs, holds him on the ropes and the YB superkick him. Nick crawls out and rolls Yano and his shenanigans back in the ring, Omega throws him out the other side, and then The Elite too sweet each other, before doing synchronized suicide Triple Toffee dives. Nick looks at the camera and says, “The best on planet Earth.” Omega says, “I never knew that one. My God, that was good.” The fans chant, “Young Bucks!“ Matt crotch chops along with the chants, punches to Jay, Nick throws Yano back in the ring, Omega covers, kick out. Omega slams Yano on his head into the turnbuckle, kick to the gut, and then pushes a boot to the jaw, but the referee calls for the break. KK tells us, “Toru Yano is a very interesting athlete, you wouldn’t know it from looking at him. He even ran a marathon, and then wrestled that night. He had a decent time 5-6 hours, but still would take me 5-6 days.” Matt does a You Can’t See Me to Yano while he’s laying in the corner, drags him back to the center of the ring, stomps him in the back and shoulder, drops a forearm, leg drop, cover, kick out, and we go to commercial.
When we return, Omega has an abdominal stretch on Yano, he grabs Hall who is holding Matt’s hand on the outside, while Matt is holding the rail, and all three of them stretch Yano. Cover by Omega, kick out. Omega positions Yano face-first standing against the turnbuckle while Nick and Cody hold him, and then Omega rolls through and rakes his back. Nick does a handstand somersault flips over and rakes Yano’s back. Matt comes in and says, “Come on Yano, what do you got Yano, what do you got Yano, nothing nothing,” and punches him in the face, picks him up off the mat and runs his head into Nick’s foot, pushes him to the turnbuckle, and Nick tags in. YB whip Yano into the corner, Nick runs in, Yano throws them up and over, and then Omega lands a running back shoulder block, while the YB superkick him.
Yano begins to tear off the turnbuckle, Matt holds Briscoe while Nick runs over and kicks him, Yano gets up slowly, YB stomp the mat for the superkick, but he turns around with the turnbuckle, blocks both kicks, baseball swings the turnbuckle and takes both of them out. Omega kicks him in the gut, whip reversal off the ropes, and then he baseball swings Omega with the turnbuckle. Yano crawls over and gets the hot tag to Mark.
Mark with a running corner turnbuckle kick to Nick’s jaw, sets Nick on the turnbuckle, grabs him by the hands and flips him over the top for a suplex, cover, Matt comes in the break it up. Matt fights out with forearms, Jay comes in, they whip him to the corner, and then they kick Matt to the mat. Forearms by Mark to Nick, Mark slides under, give him the Kung Fu pose, goes to kick him, Nick flips him, he grabs Nick’s foot, and then Omega comes in with the superkicks assist. Jay runs in with a boot to Omega, a boot to Nick, closed hand punches to Omega, whip reversal off the ropes, and then Jay connects with a shoulder to the gut, Jay hooks Omega for a neckbreaker, but Matt comes in and superkicks Jay. Omega tags in, Matt with a running turnbuckle bomb into the corner on Mark while Nick kicks him in the back of the head. Omega with a running back elbow, Matt with a cannonball in the corner, then Matt holds Mark on the ropes while Nick swantons onto him, Omega covers, but Mark kicks out. Matt pulls Mark to his feet, snap dragon suplex by Omega, and then all 3 of them superkick Mark, Omega covers, but Jay comes in to break it up. Omega picks up Mark by his hair, knife edge chop, whip off the ropes, flips Mark over his shoulder, he lands on his feet and tags in Yano.
Yano comes in, Omega kicks him in the gut, Matt kicks him in the gut, another kick, and then all three of them setup to whip Yano into the exposed turnbuckle, Yano pleads for mercy, they send him in, but he stops himself, Matt runs into the exposed turnbuckle as Yano gets out of the way, Yano atomic drops Nick with a knee to the crotch, Omega misses a clothesline, Yano ducks a second clothesline, kicks Omega. Omega runs up the exposed turnbuckle, leaps over Yano, Yano gets out of the way, drop toehold sends Omega’s head into the exposed turnbuckle, and then Yano nails a double low blow to the YB, Yano shrugs and looks surprised like “What did I do?”
Hall comes in with a full nelson, Omega uses the spraycan but Yano ducks and Omega spraycans Hall, Yano covers, kick out. Omega with a double clubbing blow to the arm, Yano reverses into a roll-up cover, but Omega spraycans him in the face. Then Matt spraycans both Omega and Nick in the crotch and his own as well.
Jay and Mark comes in with kicks and forearms to Omega and Matt, Jay with 2 headbutts, uppercut to Omega, while Mark nails Matt, and then they hit the ropes, but Elite kick Briscoes, then Omega and Matt set up for dual Indytakers/ Meltzer Drivers as Nick springboards of the top rope and connects. The YB kick the Briscoes out of the ring, Omega with the rolling fireman’s carry slam, handsprings off his head to the ropes, moonsault off the ropes, Nick swantons, Matt hits a 450 splash, and then Omega covers for the victory on Yano.
Winners and NEW NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions: Young Bucks & Kenny Omega (Bullet Club Elite) (Honor Rising 2/20/16)
After we return from commercial, KK says, “BC has certainly had their fair share of transition, members coming and going over time. When one leaves someone else steps up, but what would happen when 2 members would leave at same time? We want to show you from Honor Rising, 2 of the mainstays of BC, the last match for machine gun Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows, 8-man tag team action.
Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Tama Tonga, & Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club) vs Katsuyori Shibata, reDRagon, & Hirooki Goto (Honor Rising 2/20/16)
BC are out first, Fale shoves down the ring announcer before the introductions are made. KK says Anderson and Gallows “definitely want to go out on a winning note here tonight.” The softly-beginning punk music for Shibata, ‘Takeover’ by Low IQ 01 (awesome song), leads the faces to the ring.
Anderson kicks a young boy in the back, knocking him off the apron and then jaws at O’Reilly. BC attacks before the bell, Anderson stomps O’Reilly, whips him into the corner, O’Reilly jumps over, rolls back to his feet, runs the ropes, kicks to the gut, kick to the chest, and a leg sweep puts Machine Gun to the mat. Armbar by O’Reilly, then a pump handle. KK mentions that “BC has seen the likes of the former Prince Devitt and AJ styles come and go.” Goto tags in and we go to commercial.
When we return, Fale slams Goto to the mat, and then sits on him for a cover, but Goto kicks out. Gallows tags in, pushes Goto to the corner, punches to the gut, and then an uppercut to the jaw, snap suplex by Gallows, cover, kick out. Gallows drops 3 elbows to the chest, cover, kick out again. KK says, “Not many men that size can move with that agility.” Gallows runs Goto’s head into the corner, and tags in Anderson. KK reminds us that “Of course, Karl Anderson had a tag team partner, before the formation of BC actually, Giant Benard. Able to plug in Doc Gallows, 3-time champs.” Snapmare takeover, headlock, Goto gets to his feet and fights out with elbows to the gut, runs the ropes, but Anderson with a jumping leg lariat, cover, kick out, cover, kick out, cover, kick out. KK says, “Marty Asami’s arm is getting worn out.”
Anderson tags in Tonga, 3 punches to the gut, runs around, slides around, jumping forearm to the chest, and then jumping dropkick to the chest, cover, but Shibata comes in to break it up with a kick to the back, Shibata then kicks his tag team partner Goto in the back to wake him up and for a little motivation, Goto looks pissed. Tonga with a stomp, punch to the chest, whip reversal, and Godo nails a clothesline, goes over to his team’s corner, Shibata asks for the tag, but Fish tags himself in instead.
Fish hits a kick to Tonga, and then clubbing forearms knocks the rest of the BC off of the apron, go behind by Tonga, but Fish backs him into the corner, and then reDRagon do their running kicks into the corner, Fish flips him up over his knee, and O’Reilly comes off the top rope with a stomp to Tonga, Anderson comes in to break up the pin. O’Reilly throws him to the outside and then does a crossbody over the top rope onto the floor. Back in the ring, Fish with 3 forearms to Tonga and then a kick to the leg, runs in, Tonga picks him up into a fireman’s carry, Fish fights out with a forearm to the jaw, punch to the gut, kick to the leg, whip but Tonga reverses into a fireman’s carry, and then a spinning airplane face slam by Tonga to Fish, Fish gets the tag to Shibata and Gallows tags in as well. Shibata throws Gallows into the corner, connects with a bunch of forearms, drops him to the mat, he runs in, but Gallows gets to his feet, and uncoils right hand to the jaw, throws Shibata off the ropes, but Shibata kicks the legs, knocking the big man to the mat, Shibata goes to lock in a figure four, but Anderson breaks it up. Anderson then lands blows to the head of Shibata (about 10 of them), dares Shibata to hit him, and Shibata returns with one big strike that knocks Anderson down.
Anderson, Fale, and Tonga come in and clear the ring, Tonga with a splash on Shibata, Anderson with a running kick, Fale with a splash, and Gallows with a splash, Gallows and Anderson nail the reverse neckbreaker, KK says, “It’s not the Magic Killer, but is it a win?” Pin attempt, but everybody comes in, it’s a melee, Gallows sets up Fish between his legs, but O’Reilly kicks Gallows, Tonga takes O’Reilly out with a back shoulder elbow, and then Fish lands a fireman’s carry backdrop on Tonga. Fale with a clubbing forearm to Fish, then Goto with a forearm to Fale, knocking him to the outside. Anderson with an uppercut to Goto, Anderson and Gallows hook Shibata for the Magic Killer, but Goto breaks it up. Anderson goes for the Gun Stun, but Goto fights out, runs the ropes, Anderson jumps over then ducks, goes for another Gun Stun, but Goto fights out again, hooks into a fireman, and then Goto nails a neckbreaker to Anderson, Gallows with a boot to Goto.
Gallows and Shibata in now, right hand by Gallows, Shibata runs the ropes into a boot from Gallows, but Shibata won’t go down, Shibata runs the ropes a second time, meets another boot, finally he goes down. Gallows picks him up with a sitting slam, cover, and Shibata kicks out. Gallows picks him up for a vertical suplex, but Shibata transitions into a rear naked choke, and Gallows begins to go to sleep, Shibata drops him to the mat, and then nails the PK Penalty Kick for the victory.
KK says, “Bullet Club has certainly raised a lot of thoughts in the minds of wrestling fans throughout the world. Were they looking to take over and have a good time? Or were they setting a course to take over the entire world professional wrestling? After what expired at Global Wars, I think we might have some insight of what the future of BC is all about.”
When we pick up the action from Colt Cabana vs. Jay Lethal, Cabana has an Boston Crab on Lethal, Hendrix pulls the referee Todd Sinclair to the outside, and then YB superkick ref and superkick Hendrix. MW3 yells, “I’m going to get the shirt!” They roll into the ring, hold up two Bullet Club shirts, offer them to Lethal and Cabana. MW3 says, “But I’ve worked so hard!” Suddenly, the lights go out, and when we return Adam Cole is in the ring wearing a BC T-shirt and chewing gum. “That’s Adam Cole! Adam Cole! He’s got a BC shirt on!” He yells, “Adam Cole baybay!” and then the YB superkick both Lethal and Cabana.
He grabs the mic and say, “My name is Adam Cole baybay! And we are the BC! Breaking news ladies and gentleman, this is our house, bitches!” and then he and the YB stomp a mudhole in Lethal. Three security guards run to the ring and gets superkicked, then Cole does the crotch chop. One of the security stands up and get super kicked again, Lethal gets superkicked. Guerrillas of Destiny come out, they continue to beat up security and ring crew, Nick with a Indytaker on the floor, another superkick.
GoD spraypaint BC on the table, and then powerbomb a security guard through the table. YB connect with a superkick to the back of the head of Kevin Kelly. MW3 stands up and yells, “KK’s down, KK’s down, woohoo!” and then gets superkicked himself. YB put on the headset, Matt imitates Jim Ross, “Oh dear God, dear God, every one of these people have families, for the love of God, for the love of God, for the love of God! Oh my goodness what does he have, he has the title belt!” Cole knocks Cabana off the apron, Tonga zipties Lethal to the ropes. “I can’t believe it King, what do you think of this, look at these guys with the face paint.” Cole with 3 superkicks to Lethal, picks up the belt and runs around the ring.
We cut to later on, the BC look at the cameraman, he asks to put the camera down first, they wait for it, then superkick him. BC crawl down on the mat, and look at the camera. Cole says, “This is our world now, this is our world now, nobody can touch us, nobody can stop us”, as YB kiss him on the cheeks.
Present day, Cole cuts a backstage promo, “This, this has been a long time coming. Because unlike those kids in the Kingdom who are trying to play catch-up, myself and the BC, we have a lot in common. We do what we want, we say what we want, and we take what we want. Speaking of taking Jay Lethal, this one is for you, because you’ve been spilling lies lately, you’ve been saying there are no more challenges left for you, come on Jay. Jay you know, the fans know, everybody in this locker room knows, that I’m the guy here, and it’s only a matter of time before I get my ROH Championship back, so how about you grow a set champ, and give me a shot. Just know, if you do, I will take the championship from you, and why? Because I can,” he smiles and the show ends.
Adam Cole was revealed as the newest member of NJPW’s Bullet Club faction during the ROH Global Wars show. The Young Bucks interfered during the main event between Jay Lethal/Colt Cabana and teased that both were joining the prestigious faction. The lights went out and returned moments later to reveal Adam Cole in the ring with a Bullet Club shirt, he and the Bucks then attacked everyone at ringside with Superkicks to close out the show.
This is a major acquisition for the Bullet Club brand after losing key members to the WWE in recent years.
Bobby Fish is the NEW ROH World Television Champion after defeating Tomohiro Ishii via submission
Bullet Club Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson)/Guerrilas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa) defeated Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Matt Sydal, & Kushida
ROH World Heavyweight Champion Jay Lethal retained against Colt Cabana as the match ended in a no contest when The Young Bucks superkicked Taeler Hendrix, offered Lethal and Cabana Bullet Club t-shirts, before the arena went dark. When the lights came back on, Adam Cole was in the ring wearing a Bullet Club t-shirt. All 3 of them superkicked Lethal and Cole, more members of the Bullet Club ran-in, and then everyone at ringside got a superkick (51 superkicks total) including Kevin Kelly, Mr. Wrestling 3, and the Young Bucks’ dad.
Kevin Kelly and Mandy Leon introduce the show. KK says, “Over the next 60 minutes, we will count you down and get you set for Global Wars, Sunday May 8th. Tonight’s ROH TV is a special Global Wars preview edition.”
Bobby Fish vs Tomohiro Ishii (c) (ROH World Television Championship)
We cut to footage of a match between Bobby Fish against Roderick Strong. Strong taps out, Fish thinks he won and celebrates. Fish climbs back down off the turnbuckle, asks Todd Sinclair what happened, and then Strong hits the running knee, cover, and scores the victory.
Next, footage from Ishii vs. Strong, Ishii hits the ropes and nails are running lariat, and Strong kicks out. Choshu-style lariat, goes for the sliding lariat misses, Roderick lands 2 jumping knees, forearm, headbutt, back elbow, and then a headbutt by Ishii knocks Strong to the mat. Ishii hits the sliding lariat, stacks up Strong for the pin, but Strong kicks out. Ishii nails a stalling vertical brainbuster on Strong, cover, and becomes the new ROH World Television Champion.
Next KK says, “All three competitors would head to Vegas for the ROH 14 Anniversary show, to compete in a 3-way match for the ROH World Television Title,” and we see footage from the match. Ishii hits a sliding Lariat, but Strong kicks out and then Ishii hits a vertical drop brainbuster, gets the pinfall, and records his second win in the row. After the match, Fish gets in the ring, which has led us up to Texas, where Fish and Ishii faced off in a 2-out-of-3 falls match.
Fish throws Strong back into the ring, Strong pushes ref out of the way, and run hits a jumping knee, and then nails flipping backbreaker The End Of Heartache and scores the 1st fall. Later in the match, Fish gets the 2nd fall on a quick roll up in the corner. We pick up action, moments later, with the match tied at 2, Strong with a knife edge chop, Fish with a kick, then they exchange forearms, Fish gets 2 kicks, then Strong fights with forearms, back elbow, Fish goes for a kick, Strong catches him, and then Fish gets a heel hook and strong taps out.
This feud continues at Global Wars, Fish vs. Ishii, and we go to commercial.
Kyle O’Reilly vs IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito (Non-Title)
When we return, Mandy Leon tells us, “O’Reilly has kind of had a tough the last couple of months.” KK explains, “When Adam Cole derailed O’Reilly’s title shot, it all came to a head at SuperCard of Honor in Dallas, Texas,” and we cut to footage from that match.
Both men are on the top turnbuckle, O’Reilly with punches to Cole’s head, and then O’Reilly suplexes Cole through the table in the middle of the ring. The referee counts to 6 as both men are incapacitated, O’Reilly crawls over, puts his arm across Cole, but Cole kicks out. Later in the match, 2 chairs are set up in the ring, O’Reilly with a kick to the chest, Cole gives him the double bird, O’Reilly with kicks to the head and then Cole sits down on the chair. Cole stands up and fights out with elbows and O’Reilly sits on the other chair. They exchange forearms, until both men sit down in the chairs. They grab each other by the head and both land close-handed shots, Cole with a kick the leg, goes for a kick to the gut, but O’Reilly catches him and lands a vertical brainbuster. O’Reilly gets mad and throws the chair out of the ring, grabs the steel chain that is hooked to the rope, ties Cole up with the chain, and then locks in a cross armbreaker. The harder O’Reilly pulls on the arm, the more he strangling Adam Cole with the chain, Cole starts to make it back to his feet, tries to pick up O’Reilly, but Cole passes out, O’Reilly wins.
KK informs us, “Since the loss in Dallas, no one has seen or heard from Adam Cole. O’Reilly is really in a dangerous state of mind right now,” and we go to commercial.
Michael Elgin & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada & Moose W/ Gedo & Stokely Hathaway
KK tells us, “Stokely Hathaway was the one who announced this matchup in Dallas.” and we cut to Stokely’s in-ring promo from Supercard of Honor X. KK reminds us, “While Moose and Okada might seem like a very unlikely pairing, Vegas is where Moose earned the respect of The Rainmaker, and we cut to footage for the ROH 14th Anniversary Show.
Okada with 3 forearms, Moose with a big right hand, Okada with 2 forearms and then an uppercut, Moose with an open-handed shot, Moose punch, and then an uppercut. Moose hits the ropes, Okada ducks, picks him up, reverse piledriver on the knee, cover, kickout. Okada climbs to the top rope and connect with an elbow, calls for The Rainmaker as the camera pans out. Okada goes for The Rainmaker, but Moose ducks, runs up to the turnbuckle ropes, and hits a flying crossbody. Okada is slow to get up, Moose sets up for the spear, Okada jumps over, ducks a clothesline, misses The Rainmaker again, Moose spins around, and then a jumping dropkick sends Moose off the ropes, Okada nails a second drop, kick, picks Moose up and finally nails The Rainmaker for the win.
KK says, “Okada and Moose will face Elgin and Tanahashi who have been solidifying their tag team partnership in New Japan”, and we go to commercial.
Alex Shelley/Chris Sabin/Matt Sydal/Kushida vs Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson)/Guerrilas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa)
KK says, “To get an idea of the insanity you’ll see in the 8-man tag team match at Global Wars, we go back to the ROH 14th Anniversary, where the 6-man tag-team match stole the show.”
Omega runs into the corner, Matt runs into the corner, Matt drapes Sydal across the second rope, and Nick hits a swanton. Omega hits a double underhook suplex, Sydal stands up slowly and gets SUPERKICKED by all 3 members of The Elite. Omega stacks him up for the pin, but ACH comes in to break it up. Elite throw a ACH out of the ring, Omega points, Mr. Wrestling 3 says, “They name this move after Tiger Hattori, and he’s not very happy about it.” Fireman’s carry roll over, but Sydal gets out, Nick misses and then a top rope suplex by Sydal on Matt. Then Kushida and ACH with double moonsault, 1 off the top rope, 1 standing. Nick comes into break up the pin attempt, Omega gets thrown to the outside, Kushida leaps over but Omega catches him, sets him up for the piledriver. Sydal is conflicted about what to do, but can only watch as Kushida gets nailed with a piledriver on the floor. Nick kicks Sydal off the ropes, spikes him on his head, and Nick runs over and kicks ACH. All 3 members of The Elite have Sydal alone in the ring, 5-star Meltzer Driver turns Sydal inside out, and then Omega hits the One Winged Angel, and covers for the victory.
Mandy Leon says, “Wild, Kevin. That was only 6 men, imagine adding in 2 more guys at Global Wars,” and we go to commercial.
Mark & Jay Briscoe vs War Machine (Raymond Rowe & Hanson) (c) ROH World Tag Team Championship
KK tells us, “War Machine is coming off recent successful tag team defenses against Roppongi Vice and the All Night Express, but attitudes have been boiling over with the Briscoes.” Footage is shown from Episode 236 of the Briscoes picking up War Machine’s belts. Mandy Leon tells us, “This feud dates back many years, but was on temporary hiatus when Raymond Rowe suffered a life-threatening motorcycle accident.” KK reminds us, “War Machine have never been able to beat the Briscoes, and Hanson and Rowe have said themselves, they will never consider themselves to be the number one team until they beat the Briscoes.”
Footage from Conquest Tour is shown, Jay with punch, uppercut, kick but Rowe takes control and goes for the Fallout. MW3 reminds us, “Jay Briscoe hasn’t been pinned in over two-and-a-half years.” Jay gets out, back elbows, picks Rowe up into a fireman’s carry, Rowe fights out with back elbows, Jay turns around with a forearm, picks him up in the execution chair for the Doomsday Device, but Hanson knocks Mark off the apron. WM throw Jay up with a double chokeslam, cover, but Jay kicks out. Rowe with forearms on the outside to Mark, Mark picks up Rowe, and sends him into the steel barricade. Hanson nails a sit down splash in the corner, Mark comes off the top rope, but gets power slammed, and then Hanson picks up his partner Rowe and drops him on Mark. WM goes for Fallout, but Jay gets out, and runs Rowe into Hanson, clubbing blow to the back, picks him up on his shoulders, and then Mark comes off the top rope for Doomsday Device. Mark with a running neck breaker off the apron on Rowe, Jay is left alone in the ring with Hanson. Hanson with the Mongolian shop, goes for the deadlift brainbuster, but Jay wiggles out and nails the Jay Driller on Hanson, cover, but Hanson kicks out. Jay gets back up and hits to 3 running boots to Hanson, nails him with a second Jay Driller, cover, and the Briscoes win.
KK tells us, “Cabana has a luxurious career in ROH, he was ROH Tag Team Champion with CM Punk, held victories over Kevin Steen, and now has the opportunity to make a name for himself with newer ROH fans. Let’s take you back to 2005, Cabana faced his best friend CM Punk at Final Chapter.
They hit the ropes, Punk with an arm drag, headscissors by Cabana, Punk flips to his feet from his backside, Cabana drops into the mat, jump over, Punk goes for a monkey flip, but Cabana stomps him in the face. Punk gets back up, slaps him in the chest, and yells at him. We are reminded that Cabana is always funny, CM Punk is always serious. Cabana with a headlock, both of them run the ropes, Cabanas stops and says, “Look up. There there’s a bear up there.” Punk says no. Cabana says, “If you won’t look up, then look down,” and stomps on his foot. Later in the match, Cabana is on the turnbuckle, knife edge chop by Punk, hurricanrana, roll thru, Boston crab by Cabana. Referee is checking on Punk’s condition, Punk finds the ropes. The match is a 2-out-of-3 falls, tied at 1 fall a piece. Cabana with 2 uppercuts, Punk with 2 forearms, whip reversal off the ropes, and then CM Punk with a reverse hurricanrana spiking Cabana on his head, and we go to commercial.
When we return, Cabana is on the map, Punk first to his feet, slaps him in the face, back elbow kick, goes off the ropes, shining wizard from a standing position, cover, kick out. Punk climbs to the top turnbuckle, Cabana catches him, and then an inverted DDT off the top rope. But Cabana is worn down not, able to follow up. (Todd Sinclair was still calling the action way back then!) Whip reversal, Punk grabs the arm for the Anaconda Device on Cabana, but Cabana gets his foot on the ropes. Punk calls for the Pepsi Plunge, slams Cabanas head into the turnbuckle, climbs the ropes, hooks the arms butterfly-style but Cabana fights out, fireman’s carry by Cabana and then a Samoan drop off the top rope. CM Punk with a quick roll-up, crucifix pin attempt, but only gets 2 on Cabana. Both men get back to a standing position, exchange close handed strikes. Punk yells, “Come on Cabana!” and they keep exchanging close handed strikes, Punk hits 3 kicks to the back of the knee, a kick to the chest, runs the ropes, and connect with a kick to the head, cover, but Cabana grabs the ropes. Punk goes for a vertical suplex, Cabana reverses pin attempt, roll through pin attempt, another reversal, 1-2-3 and Cabana beats CM Punk.
KK tells us, “That was Chicago 11 years ago. 11 years later, Colt Cabana will challenge Jay Lethal for the ROH World Championship May 8th on Global Wars,” and the show ends.
ROH TV Recap – Episode 238 for the week of April 10, 2016
Kevin Kelly and Mr. Wrestling 3 introduce the show from Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kelly tells us, “What an unbelievable 60 minutes we have for you. World Tag Title defense by War Machine, the return of ‘The Cleaner’ Kenny Omega taking on ACH.” MW3 joins in, “And for the first time in Ring of Honor television history, we are going to see a Fight Without Honor, between Silas Young and Dalton Castle.”
Roppongi Vice vs. War Machine
Beretta and Rocky Romero come first, Romero has on a black tiger mask with an eye patch. MW3 asks Kelly, “Do you have the Roppongi Vice theme music on your iPod? My boy Steve Corino is going to do a remix version of this.” Kelly retorts, “He’s going to lay down some beats? He’s not going to tell Roppongi stories is he?” WM make their way to the ring, while WM pose on the apron, RPGV jump them from behind before the bell, knocking them to the floor. RPGV do a synchronized swan dive to the outside. Romero throws Rowe back in the ring, delivers clubs to the back of the head, Rowe tries to fight out, but Romero tags in Beretta. Beretta with shots to the face, tags back in Romero, they continue with kicks, standing moonsault by Beretta, cover by Romero, Rowe kicks out and throws Romero half way across the ring.
Rowe throws Romero into the corner, Hanson throws Beretta into the other corner, and WM put RPGV on their shoulders. RPGV both slide out, try to run WM into each other, they stop short, but RPGV continue with strikes on WM. Hanson throws Romero off the ropes, he catches himself in the ropes like a tarantula and laughs, before Hanson kicks him to the outside. Rowe picks up Beretta for a power press above his head, but Beretta grabs onto his beard. Rowe misses with the clothesline, Beretta hits 2 knife edge chops and a forearm, hits the ropes, but Rowe catches him tilt-a-whirling, hits a high knee, and we go to commercial.
When we return, Rowe whips Hanson into Beretta, Rowe runs in with shotgun knees, but Beretta gets out of the way, and Hanson gets caught instead. Romero tags in, Rowe catches a kick, Romero misses a swinging kick, but connects a swinging kick with the other leg, running knee off the turnbuckle, slam, cover, 1-2. Romero hits 3 running-yelling clotheslines, then Rowe comes out of the corner and decks him. Rowe tags in Hanson, they lift Romero in the air, but Beretta comes off the top rope and takes them both out with a split legged dropkick. Beretta with an elbow in the corner on Rowe, and then a tornado DDT using the ropes.
RPGV throws Hanson off the ropes, he cartwheels through meets a double knee, stays on his feet, runs in again, again meets a double knee in stereo, this time falling to the mat. RPGV pick up Hanson and drape him across the top rope, Romero connects with a springboard double stomp to the back of the head, Beretta with a standing dropkick off the ropes, pin attempt by Romero, but Hanson kicks out
Beretta sets up for Strong Zero, Hanson fights out, Rowe is in, they both pick up RPGV in powerbomb positions and throw them at each other. WM is now in with Beretta, fireman’s carry by Hanson, Rowe tags back in, Hanson drops Beretta for a backbreaker across Rowe’s knee, into the Path of Resistance, kickout. WM setup Beretta on the ropes, he fights out, lands a hurricanrana off the second rope, before Romero hits a top rope hurricanrana on Hanson. Beretta runs the ropes, jumps to the outside for a suicide flip dive, Rowe catches him, and delivers a nasty apron bomb. Romero in, sunset flip with a near fall on WM, but Hanson takes him out with the Kick of Doom, Rowe holds him for the double team, while Hanson hits the Fall Out top rope leg drop, cover on Romero, 1-2-3.
Winners: War Machine
Rowe stands on the apron and yells at the camera, “Briscoes, you see this? ROH World Tag Team Champions, War Machine. We’re ready, are you?”
When we return, Donovan Dijak walks out in street clothes to his heavily-over-autotuned song ‘Action’ by Rich Porter and Taho Papi, led to the ring by Prince Nana. Highlights are shown up the Dijack taking out the HoT. Prince Nana starts on the mic, “You idiots have been asking, what is in those envelopes that Prince Nana has been giving out, what has been in those envelopes? That is for us to know and for you to find out. Secondly, everybody keeps wondering about the enlightened ones, the enlightened ones? And another question they keep asking me, Prince Nana, who do you think is going to be the next Ring of Honor Champion, moving forward with the future of Ring of Honor?” A fan yells “Jimmy Ray!” before Nana finishes, “and his name is none other than Donovan Dijak.” Dijack takes the mic, “For one year, I’ve only had one real purpose in Ring of Honor,” He shows off his Jay Lethal t-shirt “and that was to protect Jay Lethal and the House of Truth.” He takes off the Lethal t-shirt, and tosses it aside. “But this man, Prince Nana, this man showed me that one year ago, when I won the top prospect tournament. And Truth Martini? He looked me square in the eye and said ‘Donovan Dijack, if you wrestled Jay Lethal for the TV title…’” Suddenly Jay Lethal comes running down the ramp, the two men go toe-to-toe, Lethal takes Dijack to the mat, pounds away on his head, Dijack returns the punches, the bell rings repeatedly, about 10 ROH officials come down to separate them, Nana and Veda Scott are amongst the melee, and we go to commercial.
Dalton Castle cuts a pre-recorded promo, “Silas Young, tonight we are in a Fight Without Honor. And you probably are walking to the ring with a whole lot of self-confidence, because maybe you’ve got a few wins over me. Let me remind you, every time we fought, my goal has been different. I’ve fought to show you that I was a man, I fought for my boys, and tonight I’m fighting to hurt you.”
Omega vs. ACH
Out first is ACH out of Austin, TX at 190 pounds, he flips over the top rope as he enters the ring. Kenny Omega’s horror music hits with the Bullet Club graphic, Kelly calls Omega, “one of the top stars in the entire world of professional wrestling.” Omega is introduced from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada at 203 pounds, and is accompanied by the Young Bucks. They are all wearing camouflage Young Bucks gear. Kenny grabs a headset from the announce table and sings his music into the microphone. Impressed by his own singing, he says “Wow wow wow.”
Omega hands the broom to Matt and crawls into the ring. The fans litter the ring with streamers. Tale of the tape says 190 ACH vs 203 Omega (hey, it’s correct this week!). Fans chant “Omega!” then “YB!” and the YB bang the mat in the beat of 12-3-45. Omega waves off the Code of Honor, Tiger Hattori calls for the bell. MW3 tells us “Both of these guys are huge video game fans and the anime. Is it the anime or just anime?” Kelly replies, “I think it’s just anime, but that’s not for our generation.” MW3 says, “I like Tom and Jerry.”
Omega with a go behind, ACH with an elbow lock, then a headlock, Omega throws ACH off the ropes, ACH hits a shoulder block. The fans chant, “Omega!” ACH hits the ropes, and then goes for a handstand cartwheel kick, but misses, and Omega takes control. Omega with chops to the shoulders, ACH fights back with chops to the chest, throws Omega off the ropes, reversal, reversal, ACH misses a clothesline, and then hits a Lou Thez press. ACH hits a Texas-style elbow, Omega back to his feet, ACH goes for the stunner, but Omega gets him in a full nelson, ACH with an arm drag, and then a drop kick ACH, and ACH shoots a fake basketball into the crowd. ACH leaps over the top rope, Omega crawls underneath, Omega receives a shot to the gut, ACH backflips to the outside, Nick SUPERKICKS! him in the head, and then pulls out a banana peel. The ref asks what happened and the YB point at the banana peel. Omega grabs his broom, sweeps the banana peel under the ring, and we go to commercial.
Adam Cole cuts a pre-recorded promo (note: this was excluded from the Comet broadcast), “Kick me out? You? Kick me out of the Kingdom? That medication they gave you post surgery, must have made you crazy. I created The Kingdom, this was always because of me. When I had an injury of my own, and you and my friend were in charge? You were a joke, you were a laughing stock, you were a Bullet Club ripoff, nobody took you seriously. Everybody took me seriously. Why? Because I was the ROH Heavyweight Champion and the ROH Television Champion. And the fact that you have the gall to remove me from this group? Well, that’s okay with me, because Matt Taven, you, you’re holding me down anyway.”
When we returned the fans chant “Headlock City!” ACH with a shot to the ribs, a forearm to the face, ACH jawbreaker on Omega, ACH runs the ropes and Omega hits a knee to the gut. Omega with a chop chop, fireman’s carry, drops him to the mat, rolls through, flips off the top rope, ACH moves out of the way. ACH with 3 chops, Omega whip reversal, throws ACH into the corner, ACH baseball slides, stops himself, turns around, kicks Omega in the head. Omega comes charging in again, ACH throws him to the apron, Omega catches him and runs his head into the top turnbuckle. Omega climbs the other turnbuckle, but ACH kicks him in the head, knocking him to the outside. Matt gets on the apron, ACH takes him out, Nick gets on the apron, ACH runs after him, Omega hits the ropes and charges in, but ACH throws him to the outside, now ACH with a second rope soaring springboard front flip over the top rope onto the Elite. Fans chant “Go go ACH!”
ACH tosses Omega into the ring, climbs to the top turnbuckle, Omega turns around and slaps him across the face. Omega hooks ACH for a superplex, but ACH fights out, pushes Omega off the ropes, Omega climbs back up again, but ACH again knocks him to the mat and then delivers a double stomp to the back of the shoulder, cover, 1-2, but Omega kicks out. ACH yells “Kamehameha!” sets Omega up for a Brain Buster, but Omega gets out, syncs a full nelson, ACH wrestles out, but then Omega with two strikes to the back, then a dragon suplex. Omega goes for One Winged Angel, ACH counters and drops Omega on his head with a vertical brainbuster, cover, 1-2 but Omega kicks out.
ACH goes to the top rope for a Midnight Star, but YB stand nearby, ACH climbs slowly, Omega gets out of the way. Both trade go behinds, ACH with elbows, Omega with knees, then they exchange open handed shots. Omega catches ACH by the foot, flips him over the top rope onto the apron, but ACH lands awkwardly on the ropes. Omega up first, stomping on the mat, tuning up band, ACH to his feet, Omega kicks, but ACH catches him, goes for a stunner, but gets pushed off the ropes, Omega fights out with elbows, and then ACH hits a stunner, cover, 1-2, Omega kicks out.
ACH goes to the top rope, but misses the Midnight Star, as Omega rolls out of the way. Omega takes the knee pad down, runs the ropes and hits a running knee to the side of ACH’s head, Omega hits The One Winged Angel, cover, 1-2-3.
Winner: Kenny Omega
Kenny’s horror music plays, Matt brings in the broom, they sweep ACH to the outside, and we go to commercial.
When we return Bobby Cruise introduces us to the television main event, a Fight Without Honor, which he tells us “simply means, there are no rules.”
Dalton Castle vs. Silas Young (Fight Without Honor)
“The Last Real Man” Silas Young from Milwaukee, WI, is out first to the song “Unified Divider” by Voodoo Johnson. Silas, carrying a trash can lid, looks in the camera, and says, “You want to fight without honor, Dalton? Now you’re going to find out what it means to fight the way men fight.” The Peacock’s music hits and the fans go wild. Castle stands on the ramp with The Boys. He does not have on his usual robe, just t-shirt and trunks, The Boys tears off his T-shirt, he points to the back, and sends them on their way.
Castle runs to the ring, ducks the trash can lid from Silas, connects several strikes, and the fans litter the ring with streamers. Both men go to the outside, the ring is covered in streamers, and when they get back in, both men are also covered in streamers. Silas with shots to the head, then Castle clotheslines Silas over the top rope to the outside. Kelly says, “We need to get this cleaned up.” Castle runs the ropes struts and spreads his wings. Castle hits the ropes, and then a suicide dive between the bottom and second rope onto Silas. MW3 says, “He’s a peacock and he’s got to fly!” The fans chant “Fan up!”
Deadlift belly-to-back pick up by Castle, slams him to the mat, Silas lands shots to the back of Castle’s head, Castle pushes him away, spear attempt misses, Silas climbs the top turnbuckle, but Castle kicks him off, then jumps over the rope to the outside apron, goes for a running knee, Silas gets out of the way, and shoves him to the floor. Silas flips over the ropes, propelling himself onto Castle. Silas reaches under the ring, digs through the streamers, grabs a chair, and delivers a shot to Castle’s spine with the edge of the chair. Silas with a stomp, then forearm shot to Castle’s face, goes under the ring, digs through more streamers, but can’t find his next weapon. Silas returns to Castle, Castle kicks him in the gut, chop, goes for another chop, but Silas gets out of the way, and Castle hits the ringpost. Silas then grabs his hand, and slams it off the ring apron, Silas looks under the ring again, now finds a second chair, sets the two chairs up side-by-side, positions Castle for the suplex, Castle blocks, Silas delivers 2 shots to the ribs, but can’t get Castle up. Castle flips Silas over his back and then runs backwards, sending his spine into the ring post, goes for another one, but Castle gets out of the way, and then Silas rakes the arms across his back. They walk around the outside of the ring, Silas sidesteps the announce table, Castle walks the apron, delivers a running knee to Silas, and we go to commercial.
Kelly tells us, “During the break, we had a few more elements brought into play. A ladder is laying in the ring, and Silas is setting a table.” Castle to his feet, 3 forearms, chop, punch, forearm, Silas goes to throw Castle into the ring apron, he slides back through, but Silas catches him again, and then drops him onto the two chairs. WM3 yells “Two chairs!” (like 2 chainz!)
Silas throws Castle back in the ring, squeezing him between the bottom rope and the ladder, jumps over the top rope, delivers a forearm, pin attempt, but Castle kicks out. Silas grabs the ladder, moves it to the other corner of the ring, picks up Castle by the hair, fireman’s carry, but Castle gets out, go behind, reversal, go behind, reversal, Silas rolls through with a victory roll, 1-2, kickout, locks in the STF, Castle is screaming in pain. Castle reaches the ladder, Silas breaks the hold and nails forearms, kicks, stomps, goes to the top turnbuckle, springboards off side rope, but smashes his knee into the ladder while Castle gets out of the way. Both men are laying on the mat.
The ref throws the ladder out of the ring, Kelly says, “Todd Sinclair has had enough of this ladder.” Both men to their knees, exchange strikes, both men to their feet, exchange forearms, the fans exchange “Boo! Yay! Boo! Yay!” chants, until one guy yells, “Booya!” Silas with the clothesline, rakes the back of Castle, the Peacock is up, but Silas with a knee to the face, diamond cutter, cover 1-2, Castle kicks out. The fans chant, “Fan up!” Silas with a fireman’s carry, spins him around, and hits Misery the face plant slam. Silas crawls to the outside, grabs the trash can lid, throws it into the ring, grabs the mic, and yells, “Come on, come on Dalton, you wanted to fight without honor?” and smashes him in the head with the microphone, “I just wish The Boys were here, to see how pathetic you really are.” And then all of the sudden The Boys run down from the back. Silas says, “Just in time boys, now you get to see me finish him.”
One of The Boys runs into the ring, jumps on Silas’s back, he throws him off. Boy #2 comes in with punches to Silas’s face, but Silas sends him to the outside, now Castle is on his feet delivering forearms. Kelly says, “You just don’t mess with a man’s boys.” Castle hits two running knees on Silas in the corner, misses the third, and flips over the turnbuckle to the outside. Now Silas with a suicide dive through the rope on to The Boys. MW3 says, “Did you see The Boys pushed Castled out of the way and sacrificed themselves in the process?”
Silas slides through the middle rope, Castle with a hurricanrana, climbs back in, Castle connects with a suicide dive to the outside. Silas gets thrown back into the ring by Castle, Castle grabs him from behind, picks him up, showing his strength, deadlift German suplex, bridge, pin attempt, but Silas kicks out. The fans chant, “Dalton Castle!” Castle goes for the Bangarang, but Silas grabs the ropes, and then Castle throws him backwards flip flat on to the table. The fans chant, “You just killed him!”
Castle rolls Silas back into the ring, covers him, 1-2, kick out. Kelly says, “He was thrown over the top rope through a table, and somehow, someway, he kicked out!” The fans chant, “This is awesome!” Castle grabs Silas by the head, one of The Boys throws a chair in the ring, but Silas hits a low blow on Castle. The fans chant, “Bangarang!” as Silas yells, “Get your ass up, boy! Get up! Get up!” and then spits on him. Castle connects with the Bangarang face first on the steel chair and covers him provocatively, staring in his face, 1-2-3, Castle wins.
Winner: Dalton Castle
Kelly says, “What an unbelievable physical fight encounter we just saw!” MW3 agrees, “It’s hard to put into words. Both men are going to need medical attention.” Ticker tape falls from ceiling, the ring is covered in streamers, and Kelly says “What a scene here in Las Vegas!” The Boys crawl in, and Castle stands tall. Kelly tells us, “Next week, we will see highlights of Honor Rising in Japan, goodnight everybody.”
Highlights from last week are shown when Donovan Dijak made his surprise return to confront Jay Lethal and the House of Truth. Lethal cuts a backstage promo, “Tempers are high and emotions are out of control, and I’m going to try to keep it together, because my best friend is in the hospital right now. Donovan Dijak congratulations, I don’t know what your goal was, but.you were successful in getting my attention. The World Heavyweight Champion is speaking to you. Was this your sad, pathetic attempt to get a shot? Well, it didn’t work, because you don’t deserve it. Last year, when you won the top prospect tournament, it was Truth’s idea to bring you in, shape you, groom you. We tried his way, now we’re going to try mine. You don’t deserve to be here in Ring of Honor, you don’t deserve the friendship that was shown to you by the House of Truth. Be sure to tell Prince Nana that Jay Lethal is coming and, I’ll tell you what, you ain’t going to survive this one.”
Kevin Kelly and Mr. Wrestling 3 welcome us to Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas, Nevada.
reDRagon vs Kazuchika Okada and Gedo
reDRagon is out first to their entrance music, “Dance Away” by the Damn Valentines (who sound a lot like The Misfits). The Rainmaker is out next to much fanfare, followed behind by his partner Gedo. The fans throw gold Okada dollar bills at the IWGP Heavyweight Champion. (Interestingly enough, total combined weights of Okada & Gedo are announced at 406 vs reDragon at 421, but the tale-of-the-tape graphic has them listed at 426 vs. 427.) Okada and Gedo refuse the code of honor, legendary referee Tiger Hattori signals the match to start, the bell rings, and we’re off.
Gedo and Bobby Fish start it off, each men take pause to groom their facial hair. Gedo rakes the arm, takes Fish to the mat with a headlock, Fish tries to roll out, throws Gedo off the ropes, leapfrog, armdrag attempt, blocked, kick to the head, Gedo gets caught with knee lock, but Gedo reaches the ropes, and we get a clean break. Kelly comments on the good sportsmanship shown by Fish. Fish asks Gedo if he wants to tag in Okada, Gedo looks confused. Fish lays flat on his back, then beefcake poses, and welcomes in Okada. When Okada comes in, Fish tags in O’Reilly.
Collar-and-elbow lock up between O’Reilly and Okada. Kelly and MW3 talk about the recent flare up to O’Reilly’s cauliflowered right ear. He’s had it drained several times since Adam Cole irritated it at the ROH 14th Anniversary show. Okada backs O’Reilly into the ropes, the referee calls for the break, Okada fakes a cheap shot, then pats him on the chest. O’Reilly rolls his eyes. Another lock up, Okada hits the ropes, shoulder block to O’Reilly, O’Reilly ducks, leapfrogs, ducks, leapfrogs, then catches himself on the ropes. O’Reilly knocks Okada to the mat, runs up his back, throws him off the ropes, sunset flip, but O’Reilly gets in a cross armbreaker. Gedo comes in and punches O’Reilly in his ear. Okada tags in and continues to work on O’Reilly’s ear. Okada kicks him in the gut, picks him up, slams him down, goes to the outside, and flips over the top rope for a senton. Okada covers but O’Reilly kicks out at 2, and we go to commercial.
After the break, O’Reilly and Gedo exchange blows until Gedo grabs O’Reilly’s cauliflower ear again. Okada comes in and knocks Fish off the apron, O’Reilly ducks a double clothesline, kick to the gut, kick punch punch kick punch kick, and finishes with a leg sweep to Okada knocking him to the mat. O’Reilly gets the hot tag to Fish, Fish comes in with a sliding forearm, crossbody splash into Okada in the corner, back elbow drop, goes for a kick, misses, then picks Gedo up and suplexes him onto Okada, pin attempt, but Okada kicks out.
Okada delivers a knee, Fish delivers a knee, Okada goes for a jackknife powerbomb, Fish rolls through, and Okada drops Fish on his head. Okada picks up Fish, plants him to the mat, climbs to the top turnbuckle, and hits a top rope elbow drop. Okada picks up Fish again, spins him around, goes for The Rainmaker, Fish ducks it, picks him up in his shoulders, and Samoan drops Okada to the mat. Both men are down. Gedo tags in, knocks O’Reilly off the apron, picks up Fish, delivers a neckbreaker, superkick, pin attempt, but Fish gets out at 2. Gedo sets up for the Exploder, but Fish now fighting back with elbows to Gedo until Okada hits a standing dropkick, Gedo with an inverted pin attempt, but Fish gets out. Fish to his feet, backs Okada into the corner, Okada knocked to the outside, Fish sends Okada into the ringpost, then Fish and O’Reilly attack Gedo in the corner with fast smashing double-team offense. Fish covers Gedo, but Okada makes the save. Okada now trading forearms with reDRagon until O’Reilly hits the Ax and Smash. reDRagon picks up Gedo and hit Chasing the Dragon for the win.
Winner: reDRagon
reDRagon congratulate each other and we go to commercial.
When we return, we see highlights from last week between War Machine and the Briscoes. The Briscoes cut a pre-recorded promo, “The current reigning and defending ROH Tag Team Champions, Hanson and Rowe, War Machine, listen up. Fellas, we got a message for ya and it ain’t nothing abstract, it ain’t going to blow your mind. Boys, you ain’t never beat us. Four times we’ve been in the ring together, and you ain’t never beat us. And you know damn well, you’re the champions, congratulations, but you can’t call yourself the best when you ain’t beat Dem Boys. But don’t get it twisted, y’all ain’t the only ones with something to prove. It’s been too long, it’s been 3 years since Dem Boys held those titles. It’s been too long, man. Y’all ain’t the only ones with something to prove.”
Adam Cole vs Kushida (Non-Title Match)
Adam Cole weighing 207 pounds, makes his way to the ring. Out next, wearing his purple Back to the Future vest, from Tokyo, Japan weighing 192 pounds IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Kushida. The fans pop big and litter the ring with streamers. MW3 tells us Kushida has a both an MMA background and a baseball background. The two men to exchange the code of honor, the bell rings, and we begin.
They circle each other, collar-and-elbow tie up, Kushida gets backed into the corner, the referee calls for the break, Cole backs up and yells, “Adam Cole, bay bay!” Kushida looks confused, draws air quotes, and the fans laugh. Kushida goes to fight from his backside (as per his Jiu-Jitsu training) and tries to swat Cole away. MW3 tells us Kushida is a student of Tajiri. Kushida takes Cole to the mat, spins around his back, slaps him on the back of the head, and yells, “Kushida, bay bay!” Cole with a boot, headlock by Cole, reversal headlock by Kushida, Cole throws Kushida off the ropes, misses with the clothesline, fujita armbar, and then Kushida delivers a stomp to the back of the head. Kushida throws Cole off the ropes, reversal, Kushida catches himself in the ropes, flips to the outside, but meets an enziguri to the back of the head. Cole tells the fans to scurry at ringside so he can throw Kushida into the crowd, but instead Cole turns around, gives them an up yours gesture, and we go to commercial
When we return, Cole has Kushida in a headlock, Kushida fights out, hits the ropes, but Cole hits a back elbow and bows for the crowd. Kushida rakes Cole’s arm on the apron, Kushida flips back in and knocks Cole to the mat. Kick kick by Kushida, he gets caught by Cole, Cole punches him in the leg, then an atomic drop by Kushida, low dropkick, cartwheel and a dropkick to the side of the Cole’s head. Kushida working on Cole’s left arm, Kushida goes for a kick that misses, Cole connects with a kick, Kushida misses a clothesline, Cole connects again with a kick, Cole runs the ropes, but Kushida follows him with a cannonball that knocks Cole to be outside. Kushida climbs to the top turnbuckle, and then a crash-and-burn swanton onto the floor. The fans chant “Kushida!”
Cole gets back in at 10, but gets met by a standing drop kick from Kushida, then a top rope moonsault press, but Cole gets the knees up. Cole then hits a running Shining Wizard, pin attempt, but Kushida kicks out at 2. Kushida syncs a tarantula Hoverboard lock, Cole grabs the referee for leverage to break the hold, before the referee yells, “You keep your hands off me!” Cole picks up Kushida, small package, Kushida catches Cole in the hoverboard lock, rolling pins by both men, kickouts. They run the ropes, smash each other with forearms, bicycle kick by Cole, jumping enziguri to Kushida, and then Kushida delivers a Kuroda strike knockout blow to Cole. Kushida hits the ropes, rolls through, Hoverboard Lock, Cole nearly gets to the ropes, Kushida brings him back to the center of the ring. Cole picks Kushida up on his shoulder, Kushida slides down, Hoverboard Lock again, Cole reverses, pin attempt, stacks him, Kushida kick out. Both men to their feet, Cole catches Kushida, but Kushida hits a superkick. Off the ropes, reversal, Kushida goes for the flying back hip block, but Cole kicks him in the head, then inverted neckbreaker onto the knee and Cole covers, 1-2-3.
Winner: Adam Cole
Dalton Castle cuts a backstage promo, “Every time I meet someone, I’ve thought about how to fight them. Silas, I’ve met you a lot. It’s not about how I’m going to fight you, but what I’m going to fight you with. Maybe I’ll use a colander, maybe I’ll fill your pants up with flesh-eating piranhas. I don’t know how many years I got left on this planet and I’m going to get weird.” (Note: this promo was cut from the Comet broadcast.)
When we return, we are shown footage from the 14th Anniversary Show of MCMG reuniting.
The Addiction vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Tag Team Grudge Match)
“The Almighty” Christopher Daniels and “The Heavy Metal Rebel” Frankie Kazarian are out first. Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin make their way to the ring to Alex Shelley’s music and entrance graphic. Nigel McGuinness has joined on commentary. Daniels and Sabin start it off. “The Ring General” walks around the ring with his hands folded behind his back. They tie up, Kazarian and Shelley come in, and this thing has broken down already. All four men are in the ring, shot to Sabin, Irish whip to Shelley, Addiction throws both MGMG to the center of the ring, MCMG does the dosey doe, splash Addiction in the corner, throw Addiction into each other, and toss them out of the ring. The fans applaud and we go to commercial.
When we come back, Kazarian is on the outside, sunset flip over Sabin, reversal, pin attempt, kick out. Sabin holds Kazarian’s arm while Shelley comes off the top rope. Now Shelley holds Kazarian’s arm while Sabin leapfrogs over Shelley’s back, then they take turns jumping off each others back with running forearms on the Addiction. They throw Kazarian off the ropes, atomic drop, low dropkick, rolling neckbreaker, and then a kick to the face. Shelley climbs up on the second rope, opens up the five-hole, and Sabin connects with a suicide dive to the outside. Sabin throws Kazarian back in the ring, Shelley goes to the top rope, Kazarian is staggered, cross body block, pin attempt, but Kazarian kicks out at 2.
Kazarian gets to his feet, Shelley sizes him up Paparazzi Productions style, climbs to the top rope, gets 5 shots to the head before Daniels comes over distract. Shelley takes out Daniels and then Kazarian. Shelley rushes in with a forearm, Daniels pull Shelley’s legs off the second turnbuckle, and then Kazarian with a backbreaker to Shelley. Sabin tries to come in, but the ref stops him, and Addiction double-team Shelley in the corner. Kazarian picks Shelley up, club to the back of the head, throws him off the ropes, punch to the gut, knee to the face, swinging neckbreaker by Kazarian, Daniels covers for the pin, 1-2, kickout. Daniels holds Shelley in the corner, stomp stomp, Kazarian tags in. Addiction keep tagging each other in and stomping on Shelley. Kazarian poses in the ring while Daniels stands on Shelley’s hand.
Shelley now trying to fight out against both men, hits the ropes, ducks under Kazarian, but meets a clothesline, Daniels flips Kazarian onto Shelley, and then Daniels hits a second rope moonsault. Daniels stands with a boot on Shelley’s chest, the referee counts, but Sabin comes in to break up, and we go to commercial
When we return, Addiction have Shelley isolated in the corner. Daniels tags in Kazarian, Irish whip to the corner, spear, then Kazarian leaps over the top rope with a DDT to Shelley, pin attempt, but Sabin runs in and breaks it up. McGuinness tells us, “Shelley is taking a lot of damage.” Kazarian tries to hook him for a suplex, but Shelley fights out, Daniels comes in, and then Shelley nails a stunner/DDT combo on both of them at the same time. Shelley goes for the tag, but Daniels pulls Sabin off of the apron. Kazarian with a snapmare takeover, kicks to the back, and Addiction have Shelley in their corner again.
Addiction throws Shelley off the ropes, he ducks a double clothesline, turns around, gets caught by Daniels, kicks Kazarian and drops him to the mat, then Shelley delivers a drop toe hold to Daniels that slams Daniels head first into Kazarian’s groin. MW3 says, “Right in the ding ding!” Sabin with a crossbody block onto both members of Addiction, 3 elbows to Daniels, wrenches the arm, kick to the stomach, goes to throw Daniels off the ropes, reversal, Sabin ducks a clothesline, and hits a clothesline of his own. Sabin runs to the corner with a back elbow, climbs to the top rope, kicks Kazarian in the chest for good measure before leaping at Daniels, they run the ropes again, Sabin tries to leapfrog, Daniels catches him, Sabin gets out, and then meets a springboard DDT onto Daniels, Sabin hooks him, 1-2, but Daniels kicks out.
Addiction catch Sabin in a basket catch, double team offense, pin, but Shelley is in to break it up. Daniels up on the top turnbuckle, Kazarian positions Sabin to lock fingers with Daniels, but Daniels rolls through and then Daniels jumps to the outside. Kazarian catches Sabin and delivers a diamond-cutter over the top rope, but Sabin kicks out. Addiction go for Celebrity Rehab, but Sabin counters, Shelley in now, Daniels hits an STO, Sabin with an enziguri, MCMG catch Kazarian on their shoulders, and then spin him to the mat. MCMG double-team kicks to Daniels, Sabin with a neckbreaker, then holds Daniels while Shelley comes off the top for a diving crossbody for the Skull and Bones finisher. Sabin scores the victory.
Winner: Motor City Machine Guns
After the bell, Addiction take out MCMG until Matt Sydal and Kushida run down to make the save. While they are checking on MCMG, The Young Bucks come in and deliver a superkick to Kushida. Shelley takes out Matt, then Nick and Sabin go at it. Addiction, Sydal, and Kushida are in now as well. The bell is ringing while all four teams brawl. It’s a donnybrook, as the credits roll, the faces (MCMG, Sydal, Kushida) gain control of the ring, hug each other, and the show ends.
April 2, 2016 from the Hyatt Regency Dallas in Dallas, Texas
Jay Lethal defeated Cheeseburger
Colt Cabana defeated Jay Lethal
Matt Sydal and ACH defeated The All Night Express
Donovan Dijak defeated Will Ferrara
Bobby Fish defeated Roderick Strong (Two out of three falls)
War Machine defeated Silas Young and Beer City Bruiser
Dalton Castle defeated BJ Whitmer
The Briscoes defeated The Addiction, The Motor City Machine Guns, and The Young Bucks to become #1 contenders for the ROH World Tag Team Championship (Four Corner Survival tag team match)
Kyle O’Reilly defeated Adam Cole (No Holds Barred)
Recap of Ring of Honor TV for the week of March 27, 2016
Kevin Kelly and Mr. Wrestling 3 introduce the show from Sam’s Town Live, Las Vegas Nevada. Tonight we kick things off with a four corner survival match.
Roderick Strong vs. Adam Page vs. Moose vs. Matt Sydal
Out first is former ROH World Television Champion, Roderick Strong, who lost his belt to Tomohiro Ishii at Honor Rising. The lights go out, the Clockwork Purple video entrance plays, and Adam Page poses on the ramp. Next the ‘Moose Nation’ music hits and Moose walks to the ring, led by Stokely Hathaway. Competitor number four is “Reborn” Matt Sydal, wearing the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship he won with his partner Ricochet from The Young Bucks at The New Beginning in Osaka. Adam Page refuses the code of honor, and we’re underway.
Sydal and Strong start off, arm rake, reversal, headscissors takeover, headlock, Sydal throws Strong off the rope, Strong knocks Sydal down, ducks under, leapfrog, ducks under, spinning side kick. Sydal gets in a kick, another kick, Irish whip to the corner, but meets an elbow, and then Strong catches Sydal with a backbreaker, cover 1-2, Sydal kicks out. Strong flips Sydal over his shoulder and Page tags himself in, slam to the corner, leapfrog, Page gets in a boot, and then a dropkick. Page pushes Strong to the other corner, and then rakes a forearm across the face and nose. Page looks for a suplex, but Strong reverses, flops Page across the ropes, dumping him to the outside. By the rules of a four corner survival match, Moose is able to declare himself legal with Page now on the outside. Moose is in the ring and wants some action punching and chopping with his orange and white football gloves, and then Moose with a sit-down powerbomb on Strong, pin attempt, but Page in to break it up. Moose dropkicks Page with his orange and white, size 16, boots. Sydal back in the ring hits the ropes, headscissors, spins around Moose, and then an ugly drop thigh hold and Moose. Sydal goes flying to the outside, Moose catches him and delivers a powerbomb on the apron, Strong comes through with a baseball slide taking Moose out, and then Page hits a running shooting star press on Strong. Page throws Strong back into the ring and we go to commercial.
After the break, Page and Strong in the ring, Page delivering chops and then a running dropkick in the corner. Pin attempt 1-2, but Strong kicks out. Page picks up Strong on his shoulders, Strong grabs the rope and makes it to the apron, Moose climbs the apron trying to get back in the ring, but receives a kick and then a side slam across the apron. Back in the ring, Sydal and Page do a roll up, bridge, and kickout. Moose comes in with the “Moose punches” until he gets caught by Strong. Moose comes back with a forearm to Strong, now to Page, then running forearms in each corner that turns Page inside out. Moose sits Page up on the top rope, then sits Sydal on the top rope, and delivers a standing dropkick to both of them, knocking them to the outside. Strong comes back and delivers a kick to Moose, and now sets Moose up on the top rope. Sydal runs in does a springboard off the rope into a hurricanrana, flipping Moose to the mat. Strong picks Moose up on his shoulders, delivers to go-to-sleep, then Page flips over the rope and delivers a running clothesline and DDT on Strong. Sydal in, catches Page by the boot, then gets a boot of his own.
But all of the sudden, running down the ramp is BJ Whitmer, who grabs the leg of Page. Page gets back in the ring and gets a kick from Sydal. Sydal hits an enziguri on Strong, jumping knee to Page, Sydal climbs to the top rope, and hits a shooting star press on Page, Strong breaks up the pin attempt. Strong hits a vertical back breaker that flips Sydal inside out, and then Strong connects with a running knee that knocks Page out, 1-2-3. Strong wins.
Winner: Roderick Strong
After the break, Adam Cole’s “Something for you” music hits, he walks to the ring, stands on the apron, and points at the high hair bun on his head. Cole takes the mic, “Are you ready for story time with Adam Cole, bay bay? I’m assuming that a lot of you expect me to come out here and talk about this downward spiral I was on, losing to Matt Sydal on world television, losing in the main event at ROH’s 14th Anniversary, dropping the ball and not getting the job done. I confidently stand here before you, the best pro wrestler on the planet. The reason being, there’s not a man in that locker room or anybody watching Ring of Honor around the world that can deny I am the undefeated Ring of Honor Champion. A guy like Kyle O’Reilly should not even have been in my rematch. I beat Kyle O’Riley at Final Battle and I will continue to beat Kyle O’Reilly. Sad news everybody, Kyle O’Reilly will never be Ring of Honor Champion. That’s a promise I will keep, another promise I will keep is that I will be the man who dethroned Jay Lethal for the ROH World Championship. His days are numbered, it’s done it’s finished, in a one-on-one situation with Adam Cole, bay bay, he don’t stand a chance. Jay Lethal always has the House of Truth watching his back, O’Reilly has Bobby Fish over his shoulder. Me? I have my Kingdom. With or without my Kingdom, I can promise you, one day, very, very soon, this face is your next ROH World Champion.”
The Kingdom’s music hits and it’s the surprising return of Matt Taven. Taven hobbles to the ring on a crutch, microphone in pocket. Cole helps him through the ropes and they hug. Taven speaks, “For the first time in 2016, The Kingdom is back on Ring of Honor television. We are going to pick up right where we left off in 2015, dominating professional wrestling. Not just here in ROH, not just in Japan, but all around the world, exceeding more than we ever have in our careers. Everyone except for you.” Taven turns and looks at Cole.
Kelly and MW3 are in shock, “What? What in the world!” Cole ask, “Matt, what are you talking about?” Taven interrupts, “No no no, you had two chances to win the ROH World Title and what did you do? You blew them both. And to think, I joined the Kingdom because I thought Adam Cole… he’s a big star, Adam Cole…I should attach my name to you, it’ll boost my stock. But what are you doing? You got hurt and I had to keep you relevant. Adam, you’re not better than me. And the only real star of The Kingdom was me.”
Cole on the mic, “You have a lot of nerve to be saying…” Taven interrupts, “I have a lot of nerve? I have a lot of nerve? The last time we were in this room together, you said that I dropped the ball. I blew my knee out a minute into Final Battle and continued wrestling for another 10-12 minutes. It probably cost me another 6 months of my career. But the thing is Adam, the thing is, this is the end. I don’t want to hear it. Adam, what I hear from you, you think things are finished, but they have only just begun. The Kingdom will be rebuilt in my image, and the only thing finished with The Kingdom is you.” Taven drops the mic and walks out of the ring. Kelly wonders “What will Adam Cole do now?” and we go to commercial break.
Backstage promo by Dalton Castle on Silas Young, “Rules. I’ve never been a big fan of the rules. Signs that tell me how fast I can go, restaurants that tell me what to wear. I’m a clothing-optional man! So I can relax, because Silas agreed to a fight without honor, for you will no longer be protected by rules.”
After the break, the announcers continue to talk about the Cole/Taven split.
Cheeseburger vs. Foxx Vinyer
Cheeseburger music hits and he comes out posing with the Shotei palm strike. In the ring already is Foxx Vinyer. Foxx has blue and white face paint, is wearing a black singlet with blue splotches and a blue wolf, he has on leg tassels, his head is half shaven, and a patch of hair is hanging off the side of his head. He offers to shake CHZB hand and then he smashes him over the head. Cheeseburger fights back with chops, then palm strikes to the chest, then a Mongolian chop. MW3 says, “He’s learning!” Then a boot to the midsection, Cheeseburger hits the ropes, but Foxx slams him to the mat, and hooks the leg 1-2, but CHZB kicks out. MW3 says, “Foxx looks like the love child of The Missing Link!” Foxx runs to the corner, Cheeseburger gets out of the way, climbs to the top rope, knee to the head. CHZB sets up for the Shotei palm strike, a move taught to him by Jushin Thunder Liger, and the fan start clapping. However, running down the ramp is the All Night Express. They beat up Foxx, throw him to the outside, pick him up together, and backdrop him into the apron.
Winner: No contest
ANX goes over to the announce table, grabs some microphones, point at Cheeseburger and climb into the ring. Titus is first on the mic, “Whoa whoa whoa, be easy cheesy. Put away the Shotei. We’re not here to do that to you, because we like you Burger. You’re like one of us, you are not like one of them.” King cuts in, “Juicy Burger, even though they cheer for you and chant ‘Cheeseburger!’ for you, they don’t like you. You’re out here risking your life, breaking your back, while they’re sitting in their seats and thinking ‘I could beat up Cheeseburger. That boy better eat a cheeseburger.’ They don’t put their bodies at risk like you do, like we do. They don’t know what it’s like going through a table. At the ROH 14th Anniversary show, my daughter sat in the first row and watched as my spine got bent over a ladder. I could see her tears in her eyes, but I can’t walk over to her, because my damn legs are numb. They don’t care about you Burger. Simple fact is, Cheeseburger, you got more heart in this little, teeny, tiny, minuscule, spaghetti string bicep than the most of you got your whole damn body. When we were the World Tag Team Champions, you loved us, you threw streamers for us, you popped champagne with us. And now we’re back, and damn well know we’re better than everybody. We’re Rhett Titus and Kenny King, the best damn tag team in the world.”
Titus says, “Now we’re going to do a segment called, ‘Wrestlers read mean tweets.” ‘All Night Express came out, and it was a mass exodus to the bathroom.’” Kenny points someone in the crowd, “You were probably the one who said that.” Titus continues, “We also got this one, ‘The All Night Express always remind me of a terrible overrated tag team.’” Titus points at someone in the crowd, “Was that you boy?” King address CHZB, “Cheeseburger, we’re the same dudes, we haven’t changed. I’m still carrying on as the Emperor of the City.” Fans boo. King responds, “How dare you treat me like that?” Titus says “You should have been throwing rose petals at his feet, when he walked into the building, that’s right!”
King continues, “Titus has got, and you might not be able to see this because he’s wearing the All Night Express t-shirt, available only at ROHWrestling.com, but Titus has got abs! Which now you ARE going to see, cuz he’s taking his damn shirt off. He’s got shoulders, he’s got eyes that hypnotize. Titus woah, don’t take your pants off in here! We’re still the same. But no, you’d rather cheer for spot monkeys with tassels on their legs like the Young Bucks. You’d rather cheer for those damn farmer rednecks the Briscoe Boys. You all look like you smell just like those bearded stinky chumps War Machine. Y’all even like Cheeseburger more than us.” Fans chant “Cheeseburger!” King says, “And that kind of means that you’re like us, but you’re also kinda like them. You’re smart dude, you know our catch phrase, read it on the back of the shirt, ‘If you ain’t runnin with us, you better run from us.’ And your ass ain’t running with us.” King turns around and decks CHZB, Titus joins in with stomps.
Kelly says, ‘You ran away from this company when you were the champ! And it’s not the fans fault, you can’t beat War Machine!” They go to leave, but come back in, pick CHZB up again, throws him in the air, and King nails a sidewalk spinning backbreaker. Titus connects off the top rope and Cheeseburger is not moving. War Machine runs to the ring, the Briscoes run to the ring, ANX to the outside. King says “There’s your damn heroes, look at this.” All 4 men stand in the ring yelling at ANX as ANX walks up the ramp. The Briscoes pick up War Machine’s ROH Tag Team belts and stand there looking at them. War Machine slowly turn, grab their belts back, and both teams exchange shots as we cut to commercial.
A rerun of the same promo from last week is shown, in which Jay Lethal and Truth talk about Hirooki Goto.
Hirooki Goto vs Jay Lethal for the ROH World Championship
After the commercial, it is main event time! Goto’s image appears on the screen. Kelly tell us, “Opportunities at the IWGP Championship have slipped through his fingers, leaving Goto to wonder which way he should go, what path he should take with his career.” MW3 says, “I don’t always agree, I don’t like the things he says or does, but when truth Martini does Jay Lethal is the greatest, there is no denying it. He’s the champion for a reason.” Jay Lethal hits the apron, poses with the belt, and streamers litter the ring. We go to Bobby Cruise for the introductions. “This is your main event, scheduled for one fall, for the ROH World Championship. Introducing first, the challenger out of Kuwana, Mei, Japan, Hirooki Goto. Accompanied by Truth Martini & Taeler Hendrix, wrestling out of Elizabeth, New Jersey, weighing 230 pounds, he’s the greatest first generation wrestler, Jay Lethal.” And we go to commercial.
When we return from break, the bell rings, and we’re off. Lethal grabs Goto and sends him to the corner, delivers stomps to the midsection, throws Goto off the ropes, Goto ducks a clothesline and then hits a shoulder block. Goto throws Lethal, reversal, armdrag, reversal, Lethal goes down. Goto kick, chop to the back, and then flips Lethal over, hooks the leg, cover 1, kickout. Kelly tells us, “Goto is attempting to become the second Japanese-born ROH champion (Takeshi Morishima). In the coming weeks, we will see Kenny Omega vs. ACH, plus the YB and reDRagon will be in action.” Goto is in full control, drops a forearm, Irish whip, but then runs into a boot by Lethal, and clothesline. Taeler Hendrix is on the outside, cheering on Lethal in her low-cut dress. Goto sets Lethal up on the turnbuckle, delivers three forearms, climbs to the top rope, but Hendrix climbs up on the apron. As Goto is distracted, Lethal slides underneath, drops Goto’s head to the turnbuckle, and then throws him to the outside. Lethal with a suicide dive through the middle rope, knocks Goto onto the ramp. Truth enters the ring, Hendrix poses on the apron, and Truth does a Truth-a-rooni. Lethal slides back into the ring to break the count, then goes back to the outside to get Goto, and throws him in the ring. Lethal covers Goto with a lax pin attempt without hooking the leg, and Goto kicks out. Lethal sends Goto to the corner and delivers about 10 stomps. Lethal goes back to the middle of the ring and poses for the crowd. Lethal picks up Goto, snapmare takeover, Lethal hooks in a headlock, and we cut to commercial.
We are back, Jay Lethal in control. Lethal delivering forearms to Goto’s head, until Goto stands up and gestures “Hit me again!” Chop chop, Lethal runs the ropes, Goto runs the ropes, and turns Lethal inside out with a clothesline. Goto delivers forearm, forearm, forearm, Irish whip to the corner, and then a spinning heel kick in the corner. Goto goes for the Saito suplex, Lethal fights out, goes for Lethal Injection, Goto fights out and hits a suplex, cover, 1-2, Lethal kicks out. Goto picks Lethal up on the shoulders, Lethal fights out, nails a big forearm, but Goto returns with a headbutt that knocks Lethal out cold. Lethal is dead on his feet. Goto picks him up on his shoulders, delivers an AA-style backbreaker on the knee, but Lethal somehow kicks out again. Hendrix reaches into the ring and grabs for Goto’s leg, but Goto turns around and steps on her hand. Lethal throws Goto into the ropes, Truth goes to smash him with the Book of Truth, but Goto stops him, stands up and turns around, but it met by a dropkick by Lethal, handstand DDT Lethal Injection, 1-2-3.
Winner and still ROH World Champion: Jay Lethal.
As the HoT poses in the ring, a returning Donovan Dijak runs down the ramp. He gets into the ring and exchanges forearms with Lethal, as the bell rings calling for the extracurricular action to stop. Lethal runs the ropes, but Dijack clotheslines him to the outside. Truth climbs in the ring and slams the Book of Truth across Dijack’s back. Dijack smiles, laughs and does the slow turn, as Truth apologizes and begs for his life. As Truth is backing up, he runs into Prince Nana, Truth turns back around around, and catches a big boot to the jaw from Dijack. The fans chant “You just killed him.” Dijack stands tall as the announcers say, “We have to get some help for Truth.”
Ring of Honor star Adam Cole recently spoke with Scott Fishman of Channel Guide Magazine to promote ROH and comented on whether or not we’ll ever see him jump to WWE. Cole said:
“If you were to ask me two or three years ago, I would say I definitely want to end up in WWE. There is no doubt that is where I want to go and end up.”
“However, over the years and the leaps we’ve made as a company is something I’m really proud of. I’m happy I got to be at the forefront of that whole thing. Wrestling has gotten crazy lately in that guys can really make comfortable, good livings outside of WWE. I’m going to be with Ring of Honor for a while. So I’m focused on making ROH the best company it can be.”
Cole had been scheduled for ROH’s upcoming “Honor Rising: Japan 2016” live events from Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall, but won’t be appearing due to “personal family issues preventing him from leaving the United States.”
Earlier this week, ROH star Adam Cole spoke with the folks at Busted Open Nation about the ROH-PWG working relationship. Below are Cole’s comments on the subject.
“I think really what it is as far as just us getting started, Ring of Honor is a very cool company and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla is a very, very cool company. I think a lot of our guys in our locker room enjoy working there, enjoy the prospect of working there. Guys in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla would love to entertain the thought of coming to work for Ring of Honor. The fact that guys in the Ring of Honor locker room are so passionate, guys in the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla locker room are so passionate, of course, some relationships had been created and relationships have been made so in turn there’s a lot that Ring of Honor knows about PWG and PWG knows a lot about Ring of Honor.
“Long story short, I really feel like the company realizes how much it can benefit from each other. PWG has a very strong West Coast presence. Ring of Honor is pretty much in control as far as independently goes in the United States and we’re on television so we’re not even an independent anymore, even though some people view us that way. Again, the potential growth with the two of us coming together is stronger than doing this by our self. It’s kind of like a strength-in-numbers thing. With NXT being around, I think a company like Ring of Honor and PWG being together is just going to help our cause. It certainly won’t hurt us.”
– The Thursday, December 17th edition of WWE SmackDown scored a final cable rating of 1.68, up from last week’s 1.55 final draw. Thursday’s SmackDown averaged 2.332 million viewers, also up from last week’s show, which averaged 2.133 million viewers.
– The latest edition of “The Taz Show: Bodyslams & Beyond,” which is available for download right now at Play.it, features ROH’s Adam Cole and former head WWE writer Vince Russo as guests. The official description for the show reads as follows:
“The Taz Show has Adam Cole on to discuss Ring of Honor! Taz also welcomes Vince Russo as an impromptu guest and gets into a disagreement about Kevin Owens. Lastly, Taz chats about Smackdown from Newark, NJ.”
– John Cena checked in on social media on Saturday, praising the efforts of both the WWE and NXT brands during his absence to film various television and movie projects. Cena wrote the following on his official Twitter page on Saturday afternoon:
It is always heartbreaking to be away from the @WWE but gives me great pride to see the success of many new faces as well as @WWENXT#evolve
Ring Of Honor star Adam Cole recently spoke with The News Hub’s Marc Madison about a number of topics. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On about training under DJ Hyde, John Dahmer, Al Snow and Les Thatcher: “Well with all four of those guys they sound completely different. They helped me on completely different levels. My two main trainers were John Dahmer and DJ Hyde. DJ Hyde mainly taught me how to be tough, I mean the beatings that he used to give the students as far as wrestling initiations go were as tough as they come and I’m thankful for it. When I left his training, I wasn’t really afraid of anything, anymore and then on top of that DJ is very good about taking his students to other wrestling events and getting their names out there whether it be helping set up the ring, or helping set up chairs or anything like that. It was kind of networking from a very early stage in our career. Whereas John Dahmer taught us what the technique behind a lot of the wrestling and then the multiple seminars I did with Al Snow and Les Thatcher at the time. They really taught me the psychology of what we do. Understanding why and when you do certain things so I’m totally thankful for all four and they were all completely different styles of wrestling for me.”
On his initial tryout with the WWE: “That particular tryout I went down to Afa the Wild Samoan’s training school which at the time was located in I believe may be Tampa, Florida but I may be incorrect on that but somewhere in Florida. We actually got to train for a week with Haku and Afa himself and it was awesome. It was such a good experience. I got my ring conditioning up and I learned little tricks of the trade. I learned how to be more intense in the ring because the Samoan’s are so intense. Then going into that tryout, again the harsh reality of that now looking back as to where I was in wrestling at that time, I was in just way over my head.
“I was a 19 year old kid, I was 170 ibs soaking wet. I didn’t have an identity. I didn’t have a look. I didn’t have the proper gear. I was just a young guy trying to be a wrestler. So to be honest, WWE didn’t even give me a second look. I don’t even know if they looked me in the eyes based on my size, based on my experience. I literally looked like a child there. For me it was more motivating as going forward and now I kind of have an idea of what I need to do. A lot of that just comes with just time. When you’re an independent wrestler, committing a lot of time and effort into honing your craft as much as possible in as many different places as possible will catch the WWE’s interest as far as the independent level goes. It was definitely an eye opening experience for me.”
Former Ring of Honor World Champion Adam Cole joined the Greg DeMarco Show this week to discuss his return from injury, the company’s brand new cable television deal, the Best In The World pay-per-view and more. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
His reaction to ROH’s Destination America television deal:
“It’s huge. We’re in 57 million additional homes. It’s pretty exciting. We always knew that this was going to be a slow but steady incline. It’s awesome to be able to saw “Wednesdays at 8pmeastern you can see Ring of Honor on your television on Destination America.” It floored the locker-room. We were just as shocked as you guys were, trust me. When you hear the word(s) national, cable television that just seems big league. It’s exciting for me to say that I’m going to be able to wrestle on cable TV.”
How soon he’s looking for another chance at the ROH World Championship:
“I’m looking after Best In The World, that’s going to be my entire focus. A lot of people were surprised that my return match was against AJ Styles, who is arguable the best in the world. So I’m not looking to ease back into anything, I’m looking to jump right back into the fire. The last thing that I challenged for in Ring Of Honor before I said goodbye for five months was the ROH World Championship. After me & The Kingdom take care of the Bullet Club, my goal certainly will be going after the ROH World Championship once again.”
How being out of action for five months changed him:
“It’s mentally the most challenging thing I’ve ever gone through in my career. Fortunately Ring of Honor took care of me while I was on the shelf. The truth is, we’re so focused and so driven on being the best that we can be, we want to be a part of the show, anybody on the ROH roster, we want to be a part of the event. It was very, very mentally difficult for me. It was good for me, as a man, to go through that maturing process.”
On his return match against AJ Styles:
“There was a second there where I was not going to be cleared to come back and wrestle AJ [Styles]. I was actually cleared on Monday. Not only was that my first match back, I hadn’t stepped foot in a professional wrestling in five month. The butterflies were strong that Tuesday evening.”
On the potential of wrestling in the WWE:
“My immediate focus has changed a lot. If you were to ask me this question two or three years ago my answer would have been “I’m focused on Ring of Honor but getting to WWE is my priority.” Of course the thought is there, but that thought is getting smaller and smaller and smaller, and my immediate focus is more and more on Ring of Honor. I really do believe in this group. I’ve literally grown up as a man in Ring of Honor, and I feel like there’s a lot more left for me to do. It’s really cool to be able to be part of a group that you feel like you’re climbing the ladder with. That very much is my focus right now.”
His Ring of Honor contract status, and if he is exclusive to Ring of Honor:
“That was a question that has come up quite a bit, and I’ve been waiting for the right time to say it. The contract that I currently am under does only permit me to work for Ring of Honor. They’re much more cautious of their guys being as healthy as they can be, and obviously the financial compensation is very different for those guys who are able to fully commit to Ring of Honor. As of now you won’t be seeing me out in Reseda [for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla], but trust me when I saw “Never Say Never” is a saying you must live by in wrestling.”
Other topics include exactly what he was doing when he learned of the Ring Of Honor television deal, his amateur wrestling experience, his love for the UFC and Mixed Martial Arts, which present or former UFC fighter he’d like to see in Ring Of Honor and more.
– One-half of the former TNA World Tag-Team Champions, Eddie Edwards, got married this past weekend in Texas. Other wrestlers such as Roderick Strong, Matt Tavern, Adam Cole, Davey Richards and his girlfriend Angelina Love were among those in attendance for the ceremony.
– Talents within TNA have been told that they are free to work for other pro wrestling promotions as long as they don’t have television deals, meaning they are able to work for internet pay-per-view shows and other companies without television deals. While the talents in TNA were told they can’t work for Ring Of Honor, as TNA considers them competition, many TNA talents are currently looking to secure bookings with such independent promotions as EVOLVE and Pro Wrestling Guerilla.
– WWE Superstar David Otunga taped his second appearance on The Steve Harvey Show on Tuesday. He posted a clip of himself backstage at the show, which you can view at Instagram.com.
– ROH star Adam Cole is the guest on this week’s edition of the Jim Ross “Ross Report” podcast. The official description for the show reads as follows:
TRR – Ep52 – ROH’s Adam Cole
“Ring Of Honor rising star Adam Cole joins JR to talk about his wrestling start, the Stone Cold/Rock match at Wrestlemania 17 that inspired Adam to pursue pro-wrestling, his training, his in-ring technique, philosophy on selling, his thoughts on Kevin Steen, working for New Japan, and the effect social media has on storylines and character development. Plus, Adam reveals his top 7 fantasy matches!”
– As noted, the first edition of Taz’s new weekly podcast premiered this week, with special guest, WWE Hall Of Famer Edge.
Taz’s next three weeks worth of guests are Rob Van Dam (week two), Matt Hardy (week three) and MVP (week four). The show is available via Radio.com and iTunes.
– The next guest on WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross’ weekly “Ross Report” podcast, which drops next Tuesday night at 9pm EST., will be masked wrestling legend Len “The Grappler” Denton, who will be appearing to promote his new book, “Grappler: The Diary of a Masked Madman.”
After Denton, JR will interview former WWE Diva Victoria (Lisa Marie Varon) on January 20th, WWE Hall Of Famer Terry Funk on January 27th and Ring Of Honor star Adam Cole on February 3rd. All of those shows will be available at the official home of the Ross Report show, which is located online at PodcastOne.com, as well as iTunes.
The following matches are advertised for tonight’s Ring Of Honor “Best in the World” show, which is the company’s official debut on regular pay-per-view.
ROH World Championship
– Adam Cole (c) vs. Michael Elgin
ROH World Tag-Team Championships
– Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish (c) vs. Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian
ROH TV Championship
– Jay Lethal (c) vs. Matt Tavern (with Truth Martini handcuffed to the ring post)
Submission Match
– Roderick Strong vs. Cedric Alexander
Six-Man Mayhem Match For ROH TV Title Shot
– ACH vs. Takanaki Watanbe vs. Caprice Coleman vs. Tadarius Thomas vs. BJ Whitmer vs. Tommaso Ciampa
– Kevin Steen vs. Silas Young
– The Briscoes vs. Matt Hardy & Michael Bennett (with Maria Kanellis)
ROH World Champion Adam Cole recently spoke to Steven Muehlhausen of BetweenTheRopes.com to promote Saturday’s “Global Wars” show.
Lack Of Attention To Detail In Wrestling: “I think your 100 percent right. I think that the guys that do pay attention to detail stand out so much more. And my reasoning behind this is to me, pro wrestling being an event, being a spectacle that people come and watch and check out. Wrestlers and the moves that we are doing are just a small part of the entire show. So like for example, if something needs to be done or something needs to be said, there are often times where I will communicate with the referee, I will communicate with the commentator whether it be Kevin Kelly or Steve Corino. I will communicate with the cameraman and I will let them know there places to be or their stories to tell, to help me tell my story, so the story is told to a broader audience of the people watching it on their computer screens, watching it on their television screens. Because when you have everybody on the same page, paying attention to the same detail that your paying attention too, your story gets told so much better and it’s told so much easier because everyone’s on the same page. And Kevin Steen is very good at that. I like to think I pay attention to that as well, but that is something very very important, that like you said guys don’t pay attention to as much, but I’ve always tried too especially in this role I’ve had as champion.”
How He Relates to Daniel Bryan: “I think for sure. I think that was one of the coolest moments about Wrestlemania 30. There’s a lot of independent wrestlers that are smaller guys from all over the world who wrestle and I looked at that and I said, “ok it totally is possible and it totally is doable.” I think there’s definitely cases where people have made that comment to me before about me with people saying that maybe I am too small or maybe I’m not big enough and I’m not six foot four or 265 pounds. But Daniel Bryan has proved that size doesn’t matter and its true. I know that cliché and said over and over again. If your good enough at what you do in this job, the people will recognize it and their voices will be heard and let the world know that you deserve to be in the position you’re in. Bryan has done great in that role and I can certainly relate to that. It’s very very motivating.”
Cole also gives his thoughts on facing Kevin Steen this Saturday, who he thinks the best wrestler in the world is right now and much more.