There's certainly some sort of celebration to be had as ROH Wrestling has finally hit 400 episodes. And they're certainly taking advantage of the occasion, as we've got ourselves a jam-packed episode. Matt Taven defends his ROH World Championship against Flip Gordon. Villain Enterprises defend their World 6-Man Tag Championships against the team of Jay Lethal, RUSH and Jeff Cobb. This should prove to be an exciting one, folks, so let's dive right into it.
Jeff Cobb, Jay Lethal & RUSH vs. Villain Enterprises (C) (Marty Scurll, Brody King & PCO), ROH World 6-Man Tag Team Championship match
Lethal and PCO start this match out with PCO constantly egging Lethal on to hit him. Lethal briefly take him with a couple of hip toss/cartwheel dropkick combos, sending him to the outside. Lethal teases a suicide dive, only to stop when PCO commences his goading once again. Lethal attempts to oblige, but is stopped by Scurll. RUSH is tagged in, and he and Scurll exchange a quick series of evasions off the ropes. Following this exchange, King and Cobb are tagged in.
They have a similar exchange, only to culminate in a dropkick from Cobb. Lethal is tagged in and King dodges the double clothesline and connects with a running crossbody to the both of them. King then sends Cobb to the outside with a hurricanrana; Lethal evens the odds with a springboard dropkick, then attempts a suicide dive only for Scurll to stop it once again. Lethal responds by dropkick Scurll off the ring apron and hitting him with a suicide dive.
Lethal tries to dive onto King, only for King to catch him; he and Scurll then hit him with an apron superkick/suplex combo. Back in the ring, King and Lethal trade suplex attempts; Lethal hits a desperation cutter. RUSH gets the hot tag, followed by Scurll; Rush goes to work on King and PCO with a series of rapid-fire strikes and dropkicks. It's now Scurll and RUSH alone in the ring; Scurll hits him with a superkick/enzuguiri combo, then teases the Crossface Chickenwing. Rush rises and plants him with a desperation headbutt.
Cobb gets the hot tag and commences suplexing all of VE, culminating with a samoan drop/standing moonsault combo to Scurll. King and Scurll then attempt a double-team, only for Cobb to suplex both of them at the same time. PCO enters the fray and manages to send Cobb to the outside, allowing him and King to land consecutive somersault topes on their opponents. Back in the ring, King and Scurll attempt to further break down Cobb with a series of tag-team maneuvers.
PCO is tagged in and Cobb superkicks in an effort to stop the beating. RUSH takes out VE with another series of strikes and kicks as Lethal gets the tag, connecting with his Hail To The King elbow drop. PCO shrugs it off, only for RUSH to connect with a basement dropkick, which PCO also shrugs off. RUSH suplexes PCO into the corner and Lethal connects with another Hail To The King; Scurll breaks it up, and he and King get in some more tag-team offense on RUSH.
Lethal hits Scurll with a Lethal Injection, then attempts the same on King, who catches and plants him with a modified Blue Thunder Bomb. PCO hits the moonsault and picks up the W, retaining the titles for his team.
Hot. Damn. This right here? Being dead serious, this is what I call pitch-perfect tag-team wrestling. Everything was on point here: the sequences (both individual and tag) were well executed, the chemistry all six men had with one another was off the charts and the tempo was kept at a high-octane level throughout, which really speaks to the abilities of these performers. Even though Cobb/Lethal/RUSH was a temporary team, they worked so well together that you really couldn't tell the difference. And we all already know what VE is capable of, given my previous coverage of their work on this page. Just a fantastic match all around.
Flip Gordon vs. Matt Taven (w/TK O'Ryan) (C), ROH World Championship match
Gordon starts the match off hot with a shotgun dropkick to Taven into the corner, followed up by a series of forearms. After an irish whip into the corner, Taven tries to send Gordon to the outside, who lands on the apron and connects with a slingshot monkey flip. Back in the corner once again, Taven plants Gordon on the top rope and shoves him to the outside, halting his momentum for the time being.
However, Gordon regains his composure and attempts a sunset flip. Taven rolls out and attempts a running knee, which Gordon evades; he then schoolboy rolls Taven to the outside and connects with a suicide dive. Gordon gets Taven into the ring only for O'Ryan to distract him, giving Taven the opportunity to shove him off the apron and into the ring barricade. He works Gordon over on the outside, slamming and tossing him around. They get back in the ring and run the corner ropes; Gordon dodges a spin kick and connects with a snapmare/running kick/standing moonsault combo.
Taven dodges a pescado attempt from Gordon and gets back in the ring, tripping up Gordon on the ring apron in the process. On the outside, Gordon dodges a wrecking ball dropkick attempt from Taven then superkicks him. Gordon looks for further offense but Taven counters, hip-tossing him into a steel chair. Back in the ring, Taven starts targeting Gordon's left knee, supposedly 100% following an MCL tear earlier in the year. Gordon attempts to fight back, but to no avail as Taven continues the damage to Gordon's knee, sending him to the outside in the process.
O'Ryan stomps on Gordon then gets him back in the ring. They run the corners before Taven hits Gordon with an enzuguiri, then a back suplex into a powerbomb. Gordon kicks out and Taven rolls him into a single leg Boston Crab, attempting further damage to Gordon's knee. Gordon fights back with a springboard spear. The two trade blows for a bit before Gordon plants Taven with an inverted Alabama Slam into the corner, then connects with a jumping inverted DDT.
The two battle on the top rope before Taven connects with a superplex. Gordon counters with a small package attempt, then hits a couple of kicks before Taven meets him with one of his own. Gordon counters Taven's springboard attempt with a russian legsweep, then plants him with a falcon arrow. Taven wriggles out of a fireman's carry attempt, then drops Gordon with a pop-up powerbomb/running knee combo.
Getting some time to recuperate, Gordon spins out of Taven's Climax finisher and hits him with his own spin on the TKO cutter. Gordon then gets up to the top rope for a 450 splash attempt; after another outside distraction, Taven hangs Gordon up on the top rope and drills him with a rope-hung Climax, picking up the W and retaining his title.
If the massive amount of detail I put into the recap tells you anything, it's saying I absolutely loved this match. Given maybe 15-20 minutes total, Taven and Gordon went out there and put on an absolute clinic, making excellent of their time and then some. It's another one of those instances where a match really exceeds your expectations. I knew these two were capable of putting a good match, but what they did out here tonight was absolutely killer. Everything was on point here: the sequences, the psychology, the storytelling, the 100% earned near-falls, etc. And the fact this was on free TV bumps it up just a little bit more.
So yeah, this episode was beyond lit, if you couldn't already tell given the probably excessive amount of detail I put into this post. Both matches were exceedingly entertaining and had me glued to the screen from bell to bell. Quite honestly, there was not a dull moment to be had with this episode. Whether you're a regular fan or an ROH newbie, do yourselves a favor and watch this episode ASAP. Trust me, it's that good.
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