ROH Honorable Mention: ROH TV Review (03/25/2017)
Episode 288
Las Vegas, Nevada
Sam’s Town
The show this week was the second episode taped in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ian Riccaboni and Kevin Kelly were on commentary to start the show.
New ROH World Champion of the World Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian came to the ring to start the show, reveling in Daniels’ title win, as is customary after a new champion is crowned. After making himself an appletini, Daniels spoke about how he beat an opponent that was younger and faster, but not smarter than him. He and Kazarian had a good laugh about how they pooled the wool over Cole’s eyes. Kaz then spoke about how he will be challenging Marty Scurll for the TV title in the coming future.
Dalton Castle’s music hit and he came down to the ring and partook in the festivities, imbibing his first appletini ever before going on to tell Daniels that he does not envy him, as Daniels now has to defend against Castle. Cue Adam Cole’s music as Cole and The Young Bucks came out onto the ramp.
Marty Scurll cut a promo back stage about how he is still looking for competition and in something you don’t see everyday the cameras kept rolling after he cut the short promo. Kenny King came into the frame and expressed how he took offense to Scurll’s implication that there isn’t any competition in ROH. King continued to say that just like ROH has done, Scurll is ignoring the fact that King is a viable contender. This was a really great twist on a backstage interaction and builds nicely to a King title shot down the road.
First Match: ROH World Tag Team Championship
The Hardys(c) vs. The Briscoes
This was easily one of the best ROG tag team title matches to take place on ROH TV in the last year. Kelly and Riccaboni did an excellent job of selling how the result of this match could change the Supercard of Honor match between the Young Bucks and the Hardys. Although the match was taped far in advance which would have precipitated an announcement to already have been made, the two teams really convinced me otherwise. With taped episodes such as this one, the commentary team’s work to keep the viewers in the moment. Despite hitting a Doomsday Device on Matt, the Briscoe fell victim to successive Twists of Fate. Jeff caught Jay outside and Matt squirmed out of a fireman’s carry to deliver one to Mark inside the ring, followed by a Swanton from Jeff to retain the belts.
Winners: The Hardys
Matt and Nick Jackson came out after the match and challenged the The Hardys to put both the ROH World Tag Team and Superkick Party titles up for grabs in a match they made famous, a ladder match, at Supercard of Honor.
Main Event: Adam Cole & The Young Bucks vs. Dalton Castle (w/The Boys) & The Addiction
The match started in progress with all six men brawling in the ring upon the return from the commercial break. The Bullet Club was in control early, with Nick wiping out The Addiction and Castle with a senton off the top rope to the outside. They followed with a triple powerbombs on the ring apron before attempting to go for Rise of the Terminators that the Boys thwarted. The two then climbed in and went to go for the move themselves before being hit with superkicks on the outside. The match transitioned into the ring and a proper six man bought after that. An errant double superkick to Cole’s face led to Castle catching Cole with the Bang-A-Rang for the pinfall victory.
Winner: Castle, Kazarian and Daniels
Final Reaction: A-
This was a really excellent go home show. Not only did the show build towards the ROH World title match, but the tag team match as well. The ladder match stipulation makes an already exciting match that much better and although this episode was a bit promo heavy the interaction between Daniels and Castle worked here and didn’t try to do too much. The return of the appletini was a nice touch. Building matches for Scurll in the future with King is a new wrinkle and could mean a prolonged program for him which is what he needs. Both matches worked on multiple levels and it was a treat to see the Hardys take on the Briscoes.
Thanks for stopping by again this week and look for more Ring of Honor coverage the same time next week. Until then, please go over to Running Wild Podcast and take a listen to a show that covers oodles of wrestling news and ridiculous conversations. You can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud and Google Play store.
