A David vs. Goliath battle if there ever was one, Bandido takes his rising star power in ROH and clashes with one of ROH's powerhouse stalwarts in Shane Taylor. Aside from that, we'll see Coast To Coast, Shinobi Shadow Squad and Kenny King tonight, so let's not waste any more time and get right into it.
Shinobi Shadow Squad (Cheeseburger & Ryan Nova) vs. Coast To Coast (Shaheem Ali & LSG) vs. The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas)
Nova and LSG start the match off, exchanging a quick series of holds and counters. Cheeseburger is tagged; he and Nova work over LSG with some quick tag-team offense. The Bouncers soon halt this momentum and begin taking everyone out. C2C send them to the outside and Triple-S try to take them out with dives. This is ineffective, leading to Ali taking out the whole crew with a somersault tope.
Seemingly in control, C2C take advantage of the situation and work Cheeseburger over for a while before he musters enough strength to tag in Milonas; he and Bruiser start absolutely wrecking C2C. then make their way over to Triple-S. Despite Cheeseburger and Nova's best efforts, The Bouncers take the W here following a spinebuster/second-rope leg drop combo to Nova.
A fun, fairly solid opener and a decent execution of a multi-team tag match. Each team got enough of their signature moves as possible and got over in the process. Triple-S build their momentum as plucky underdogs, Coast To Coast tease a heel run and The Bouncers continue their streak as lovable powerhouses. As far as I'm concerned, everyone got something out of this match.
Kenny King Promo
King slowly saunters to the ring, feigning blindness following a mist attack from Great Muta during the Honor Rumble at G1 Supercard. He reviews his road to winning the Rumble, and recounts Muta blinding him with his signature mist. Because of his situation, he announces he won't be competing tonight, then addresses current ROH World Champion Matt Taven; he goes lightly on Taven, saying he has nothing against Taven and his interests are only in the title. He does, however, go after Jay Lethal, questioning his wrestling abilities as well as his integrity. King then declares once he has his eye surgery, Lethal will be his first target.
A pretty entertaining segment, if I'm being 100% honest. This whole blind schtick King is actually pretty fun and he works it well. Calling out Lethal was weird considering has #1 Contenderships honors to the World Title, but I can see why it was done. If not done well, heel/heel matches are kinda weird; plus if it's anything involving Jay Letha wrestling, I'm immediately on board regardless of the circumstances.
Flex Simmons vs. Josh "The Goods" Woods
Woods starts the match out a lightning-quick spear, then tosses Simmons around for a bit before debuting a new finisher called The Seismic Toss (a fireman's carry spinebuster of sorts) and takes the quick W.
A quick squash to build up Woods' reputation in ROH. I've never really been that big a fan of his, but whatever. The finisher looks cool, and with enough time, I might get on board. But we'll just wait and see until then.
Shane Taylor vs. Bandido
Bandido starts the match out with the stick-and-move strategy, throwing quick strikes and avoiding Taylor's clubbing blows. After sending Taylor to the outside, Bandido hits a couple of dives, seemingly in control for the time-being. This is stopped short following a thunderous chokeslam from Taylor, who starts breaking down Bandido, continuously taunting him throughout. After a rest, Bandido tries to fight back with a couple of quick strikes, but Taylor answers back with a brutal lariat.
Taylor throws a haymaker at Bandido, then counters Bandido's various attempts at offense before hitting him with a brutal knee strike. Bandido kicks out of a pinfall attempt, and throws out all of the offense he can possibly muster, adrenaline furiously pumping. Taylor halts his momentum with a pop-up spinebuster, and the two men throw hands after staggering back to their feet. Taylor catches Bandido off the ropes and hits him with an End Of Days variation. Bandido attempts some offense on the apron, only for Taylor to catch him with a rope-hung stunner.
Avoiding a corner attack, Bandido hits Taylor with a springboard corkscrew crossbody, then finally gets him up for a Go 2 Sleep. He puts the nail in the coffin by landing the 21-Plex on Taylor and securing the victory. Following the match, Bully Ray comes down to the ring to confront Bandido, only to be met by his Lifeblood cohorts Tracy Williams and Mark Haskins. Ray backs down, and a new tag team called the Sons Of Savagery enter the ring, taking out Lifeblood. Ray and Taylor are perplexed by the situation, wondering if either one hired them, and the show ends.
A great match muddled by a confusing aftermath. Taylor is continuing to impress me as an in-ring worker; he's really stepped up his moveset and his matches are that much more interesting to watch. Call me crazy, but he may be one of ROH's best-kept secrets. Given his feud with Jeff Cobb and his performance tonight, I'd say it's fair to throw his name into that equation. And as for Bandido, it's just another day on the job. Time and again, he puts on consistently great performances, showing why he's one of the best in-ring workers in wrestling today. As for the post-match altercation, uhhh...it was weird and I'm not sure what the hell to make of it right now. Hopefully it falls into place and starts making sense sooner than later.
Another solid episode tonight. We got a decent tag-team opener, some entertaining character work from Kenny King and a great main event out of Bandido and Shane Taylor (weird post-match happenings aside). Definitely peep the opening and main event matches (but skip the weirdness after the latter). Thanks for tuning in again. Cheers.
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