Now, as promised, a special comment about Sunday's Ring Of Honor show at the Gateway Center in Collinsville, Illinois.
DISCLAIMER: I'm biased. Deal with it.
Sunday was a full evening in the greater St. Louis area. On top of the ROH show and the National Wrasslin' League's Sunday offering(featuring the rematch between Kyle O'Reilly & Davey Gibson), Metallica had a concert at Busch Stadium II AND wrestling fans had the option of staying home to watch WWE Extreme Rules. Given the wide range of options, it was cool to see that ROH had a strong turnout (and NWL reportedly had decent attendance as well). My choice hinged on the fact that NWL runs every two weeks while Ring Of Honor only runs in the Midwest once or twice a year. I was psyched for the originally-scheduled Tag Team Title bout between The Young Bucks and Ohio Is 4 Killers(Jake & Dave Crist), but Dave's nagging injury issues left him unable to compete; the lineup was shuffled a bit as a result. Hopefully we can still see that matchup down the line.
I didn't catch the identities of the ring announcer and one of the three referees; the other two officials were senior referee Todd Sinclair and Paul Turner. Your home video commentators were Ian Riccaboni & Colt "Boom Boom" Cabana.
"Hot Fire" Myron Reed vs. "The Lone Star" Curt Stallion for the Glory Pro Wrestling Crown Of Glory Title: Several area fans had their eyes on this bout, a showcase for the local crew from Glory Pro. With plenty of Glory Pro flyers on the seats, it may bring several new fans to the local shows who were not aware of the independent scene. Reed and Stallion set out to make an impact in their preshow match and it was one of the main highlights of the evening; quite a few fans were talking about that match after the show was over. Reed showed off his great aerial ability, capped off with a major somersault plancha over the turnbuckles and ringpost! Stallion had one last burst of offense, but Reed caught him on the top rope with a one-man Spanish Fly; that scored him the victory in 6:54 to retain his title!
"The Heavy Metal Rebel" Frankie Kazarian vs. Flip Gordon: Gordon is a recent signee to Ring Of Honor, debuting on television with a competitive showing against Matt Sydal. This was essentially a battle of fan favorites, though the veteran Kazarian controlled the pace to get the fans behind the newcomer. Kazarian holds the distinction of an undefeated record in WWE competition; he had a few televised matches and wins on Velocity back in the day, but he didn't stay with the company because he didn't want to cut his hair at the time. He was the first Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Champion and held that title on two occasions; he also held the X-Division Title and Tag Team Titles(twice with Christopher Daniels, once with Eric Young) in Total Nonstop Action/Impact Wrestling. He and Daniels jumped from TNA to ROH and they held their Tag Team Titles on two occasions; Kazarian was involved in a nice swerve where he seemingly joined the Bullet Club, only to double-cross Heavyweight Champion Adam Cole to give Daniels the title victory. Flip had a competitive showing, but Kazarian put him away by slingshotting him from the ring apron into a Diamond Cutter in 7:34. Cue the post-match Mutual Respect(tm).
Coast 2 Coast(Leon St. Giovanni & Shaheem Ali) vs. The Rebellion(Rhett Titus & Caprice Coleman)(w/ Shane Taylor): LSG and Ali have appeared on ROH TV a few times, including the 2016 Top Prospect Tournament. The Rebellion has been in a state of flux as they were unable to recruit Lio Rush, but they gained some serious muscle in the form of Shane Taylor. With Kenny King in the Gateway Gauntlet Match, this match featured a less consistent duo on the Rebellion side; despite that, both Titus and Coleman have extensive tag team experience (Titus with King, Coleman with Cedric Alexander among other past partners). Coleman is underrated as both a competitor and a character, particularly in the rulebreaking role (JIVE TURKEYS!). The Rebellion duo cut off Ali on the top rope and Coleman jumped from the mat to deliver a top-rope Frankensteiner(!). Titus finished off Ali with a frog splash in 7:34. Afterwards, Taylor bid his stablemates adieu and called out Jay Briscoe for their scheduled matchup.
Six-Man Tag Team Champion Jay Briscoe vs. Shane Taylor: Taylor made his name in ROH as a tag team partner of Keith Lee, but he was briefly left on his own after Lee's departure for the greater independent scene. He found new allies in the Rebellion, but this was a tough test with the two-time ROH Heavyweight Champion and eight-time Tag Champ across the ring. The Briscoes and Bully Ray recently capitalized on an untimely injury to T.K. O'Ryan to capture the Six-Man Titles from the Kingdom triumverate(Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia, & substitute Silas Young). This was a knock-down-drag-out battle as expected and Taylor acquitted himself very well in singles competition against a top-notch opponent. It took a herculean effort for Briscoe to take his larger opponent down; he delivered a superplex, lariat, and Jay Driller(double-underhook piledriver) in succession to finally notch the victory in 12:48.
Gateway Gauntlet Match: This was a standard gauntlet with two men starting and a new entrant replacing each defeated competitor. The bout started with recent ROH signee "The Octopus" Jonathan Gresham and Tempura Boy Yohei Komatsu(known as "Yo" for short). Yohei was a young lion in New Japan Pro Wrestling along with his partner Sho Tanaka; they worked in Mexico before making the jump to Ring Of Honor. I recall him having a really good match with Jushin "Thunder" Liger on the NJPW On AXS television program (from Best Of The Super Juniors in 2014). Gresham has appeared at this area's indie shows a few times in recent years. A fine opening segment ended with Gresham scoring the pinfall via bridging O'Connor Roll in 6:10. (For the record, I kept my cellphone stopwatch going continuously for the duration of the gauntlet.)
Next up was "The Artist" Jake Crist(w/ Dave Crist); while Dave was unable to compete, Jake was ready to make an impact on his own. Gresham was up to the task as they had a competitive exchange; Gresham forced him to tap out to the octopus hold in 12:42.
#4 was Kenny King of The Rebellion and the worn-down Gresham was in a tough spot; King is a former ROH Tag Champ(w/ Rhett Titus) as well as former TNA X-Division Champion. Gresham came out of the gauntlet with a strong showing and two eliminations, but King put him away with the Royal Flush(fireman's-carry swinging uranagi) in 17:26.
#5 was Sho Tanaka of the Tempura Boyz and he had a fun sprint with King; King's an underrated guy and I hope he gets a chance to do more in ROH. Sho & Yo(hei) will have their day in the sun, I'm sure. King got the tapout win with the Last Chancery in 23:26.
#6 was Dalton Castle(w/ The Boys), getting one of the biggest reactions of the night. This was one of the best exchanges of the gauntlet and it could have gone either way. However, an incident from the previous weekend's ROH TV reflected on the situation here as Jay Briscoe came out to ringside and chased The Boys away (he blamed them for the eight-man tag team loss to Los Ingobernables). The distraction led to King scoring the upset win with the Royal Flush in 34:09.
#7 was Cheeseburger and King felt very confident in his chances, but outside forces would play a role once again. The Motor City Machineguns(Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) made their way to ringside to take issue with King's tactics...as a result, the underdog got the surprise pin with a small package in 36:34.
#8 was Will Ferrara...Cheeseburger was prepared to face his recent tag team partner, but Ferrara jumped the guardrail to attack him from behind with a steel chair! Ferrara continued the abuse despite the referee's warnings, meaning he was immediately disqualified in 37:41. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a heel turn.
#9 was "The Punishment" Damien Martinez...Cheeseburger was, dare I say, dead meat. *ducks thrown objects* Martinez took him out in short order with the South Of Heaven(sitout chokeslam), easily pinning him in 39:43.
#10 was Jay White...he and Martinez have had recent issues and immediately started throwing fists. The fight spilled out to the floor as the two continued to battle...ending in a DOUBLE COUNTOUT in 43:28. So who gets the Heavyweight Title shot? The champion himself, "The Almighty" Christopher Daniels, decided to add his two cents' worth...he said he was a fighting champion, so he could take on both in a triple threat match. That sounded good to the fans in attendance...woo.
Intermission~! Official Ben Simon Concession Count(tm): Bratwurst with ketchup on top. I stuck to the outside water fountain instead of buying a $2.75 20-ounce bottle of soda...need to cut back on soda anyway.
"The Exotic Goddess" Mandy Leon vs. "The Midwest Slayer" Stacy Shadows: I had heard of Shadows but hadn't seen her in action before; I didn't catch her name from the ring intro and found it out with a quick Internet search after arriving back at home. ROH consistently has Women Of Honor matches on their shows, but they tend to be relegated to YouTube-exclusive content. Given the rise of women's wrestling in recent years, I have no idea why they don't feature it more prominently (or just start up a Women Of Honor Championship). Oh well; I guess that's why I don't run or book a wrestling promotion. Mandy won with a sunset flip in 6:04.
Jay Lethal vs. "The Infamous" Bobby Fish: These two have clashed a few times in their mutual pursuit of the Heavyweight Title; Lethal is a former Heavyweight and T.V. Champ, while Fish previously held the T.V. and Tag Titles. Fish has begun taking more outside bookings, so it would seem like he's on the verge of departing from the company. Lethal's recent issues came to light in this one as Silas Young & The Beer City Bruiser came to ringside to "observe"...that caused Lethal to lose his focus on the match. When the referee was knocked down, Silas pounced on the opportunity to crotch Lethal on the top rope. Fish didn't seem to see the interference, but still took advantage of the situation...a top-rope Falcon Arrow led to Fish scoring the victory in 12:45. Silas & Bruiser gloated over their actions, then called out the opponents for their scheduled bout.
Six-Man Tag Team Champions Mark Briscoe & Bully Ray vs. "The Last Real Man" Silas Young & "Beer City Bruiser" Matt Winchester: I have developed a soft spot for Silas and Bruiser in recent times. Young & Bruiser had more experience as a team, despite Briscoe and Bully Ray being two-thirds of the trios champs. Briscoe and Bully scored the victory when Briscoe hit the Froggy Bow off Bully's shoulders onto Bruiser in 11:55.
The Young Bucks(Matt & Nick Jackson) vs. The Kingdom(Matt Taven & Vinny Marseglia) for the Tag Team Titles: The Bucks were solid favorites in this one. I've been enjoying Marseglia's character work so far into his current run. The Bucks are fairly polarizing in wrestling discussions; my mindset is that being overly-elaborate "spot monkeys" who go out of their way to "get their (stuff) in" IS THEIR GIMMICK. Why do their superkicks not end a match when one superkick can end it for Chris Adams or Shawn Michaels? Because OF COURSE they'd sacrifice substance in favor of style, so they'd rather be showy than effective. At any rate, they held off on the superkicks for most of the match, but they busted out the party in the later stages. Marseglia was a victim of an Indy Taker(springboard-spike Tombstone) by the Bucks on the floor, then Matt Jackson pinned Matt Taven after the Bucks hit the Meltzer Driver(springboard-somersault-spike Tombstone) in 15:36. FLIPPIES. For the third time in the show, one match segued straight into the next as the Bucks introduced their Bullet Club brethren...
The Motor City Machineguns(Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) vs. "The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes & "Hangman" Adam Page: Cody was a late addition to the show, including a special autograph signing beforehand. Page has been a bit inconsistent in his success, scoring big wins over people like Jay Briscoe and (recently) Adam Cole but struggling against other opposition. The Machineguns have been playing a mentor role for some of the newer competitors in ROH like Jay White and Gresham, so they haven't been as active in recent months. They remain one of the most formidable tag teams in wrestling, having held championships all over the place(including TNA). The team experience factor was in their favor, but the subterfuge of the Bullet Club won out in the end; Sabin victory-rolled Page, but Rhodes turned the pinning combination in his partner's favor and Page got the three-count in 13:14. Afterwards, the Guns was upset about the loss...they noted that they had held titles everywhere EXCEPT Ring Of Honor, but they vowed to mark that item off their bucket list in the near future.
"The Almighty" Christopher Daniels vs. Jay White vs. "The Punishment" Damien Martinez for the Heavyweight Title: White is very talented and cut his teeth as one of New Japan Pro Wrestling's young lions; he hasn't stood out to me just yet, but I could see him moving up in the wrestling world over time. I've become a big fan of Punishment Martinez; he has a great look and size, plus he's surprisingly agile. His New Japan match with Hirooki Goto really caught my eye. Daniels' history is well-documented, of course; he started in the Chicago area, moved up in the wrestling world, and even had a few appearances in the WWF's original light heavyweight division. The story of the match was White and Martinez being more focused on each other than on their championship opportunity; the veteran Daniels capitalized on that edge on several occasions. After Reed's insane dive over the turnbuckles in the pre-show, Martinez took to the air to deliver a similar plancha onto Daniels and White! It took a tandem effort to get the big man out of the way, as White assisted Daniels in delivering the Angel's Wings(sitout Pedigree) on The Punishment. That left Daniels and White to battle it out; White scored an upset pinfall over Daniels early in his Ring Of Honor run, so he had the confidence to take it to the titleholder. However, Daniels was intent on evening the store and he finished with the Best Moonsault Ever in 13:45 to retain his title! Daniels gave some post-show comments related to his upcoming title defense against Cody Rhodes (at Best In The World) and that wrapped up the show.
NWL had an eventful night in their own right...they pulled the trigger on a double-turn as Maverick used brass knuckles provided by Drew Gold to defeat Todd Letterman for the St. Louis Title (in a triple threat also involving Cornell Douglass). Dante Poe debuted in a loss to Tommy Flagg, Davey Gibson evened the score against Kyle O'Reilly, and Xavier Church picked up a win for St. Louis in the I-70 Series against Ray Briggs. That leads into the next show where they'll give A.C.H. vs. Marcellus Gaines another shot...it'll be on a Friday to avoid conflict with WWE's Money In The Bank pay-per-view in St. Louis. (Hang on a sec, someone's telling me something over the headset...wait, what?...)
Ahem. Anywho, the upcoming schedule looks like this:
-Saturday 6/10: Pro Wrestling Championship Series in Alton, IL; Mid-Missouri Wrestling Alliance in St. Louis, MO
-Sunday 6/11: Wrestling Over Everything in Centreville, IL
-Saturday 6/17: World League Wrestling in Troy, MO; Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling in East Carondelet, IL
-Sunday 6/18: WWE Money In The Bank in St. Louis, MO
-Sunday 6/25: Pro Wrestling Resurgence in Swansea, IL
That's my special comment for this, the twenty-sixth wrestling show I've attended in the year 2017. Good night, good luck, and #yaywrestling.
-PB, Watching Wrestling Wrong Since 1991
P.S. We are all marks.
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