It's the last leg of the War Of The Worlds Tour, and we're in Chicago for what should be a promising card. The Kenny King/Jay Lethal rivalry comes to a head as the two square off, plus Jeff Cobb returns to ROH TV after dropping his World Television title to Shane Taylor. What's Cobb going to do next? How will Lethal/King play out? Let's tune in.
Karl Fredericks vs. Flip Gordon
The match starts at a fairly standard pace as Fredericks and Gordon exchange a series of basic holds in an attempt to gain leverage over the other. After trading shoulder blocks, Gordon comes out on top with a hurricanrana to Fredericks to the outside, followed up by a suicide dive. Back in the ring, Gordon hits a series of kicks then goes for a springboard attempt, which Fredericks counters with a spinebuster. Fredericks is in control for the time being, switching between stomping Gordon down and chooping him in the corner.
Gordon attempts a comeback, but Fredericks nails him with a front dropkick, then a stinger splash/hip toss/elbow drop sequence. Flipped over onto the ring apron, Gordon uses his agility and evasion ability to get Fredericks prone for a springboard missile dropkick. Hanging Fredericks up on the second rope, Gordon then hits him with a slingshot blockbuster. After superkicking Fredericks, Gordon executes a wheelbarrow facebuster then makes Fredericks tap out to the STF, securing the victory.
Pretty much your standard young lion match. Fredericks got a fair portion of offense in and he ultimately took the fall as predicted. With that being said, Gordon's not a bad guy to have as a singles opponent. He's an excellent worker and does a good job bumping for his opponents. Kind of surprised he won via submission, but I guess that's part of the young lion process. Not too much more to say here.
Jeff Cobb Promo
Cobb comes to the ring and recounts dropping his title to Taylor at WOTW: Toronto, but reminding everyone that despite losing his title, he's still undefeated in ROH, having yet to be pinned or submitted. Not interested in a rematch against Taylor, Cobb proclaims he's after ROH World Champion Matt Taven. Taven comes out to gloat about his accomplishments, then chastise Cobb, claiming he isn't worried about Cobb trying to take his title away from him.
Taven then states while he's willing to defend his title anytime, anywhere, tonight isn't the night. He tosses his microphone at Taven and walks off, leaving Cobb in the ring.
Man, I am BEYOND hype for the prospect of a Cobb/Taven feud. These guys are two of my favorite in ROH right now, and the fact it'll be over the world title just makes this all the more salivating. Count me in, signed, sealed and delivered.
Silas Young vs. Baxter Belafonte
Prior to the match starting, Young states his intentions with Mr. Belafonte is not to engage in a standard match, but rather a "catch-as-catch-can" seminar of sorts. Demanding ring announcer Bobby Cruise to come to the ring, Young then displays the basics of catch wrestling, talking his way through the process. He demonstrates a wrist lock, then a basic armbar; with Belafonte prone, he displays what's frowned upon in catch wrestling such as hair-pulling and fish-hooking the opponent's mouth.
Explaining that all of this is up to the referee's discretion, he then displays another no-no of catch wrestling as he sticks a thumb to one of Belafonte's eyes; holding it for six seconds, Young explains using an illegal move for this long would result in a disqualification. He low-blows Belafonte, explaining to him this was all a part of the learning experience.
Dead serious here, Young's character work as of late has provided some of the most entertaining moments in ROH. He's really pulled off this transition from "The Last Real Man" to "The Technician Of Honor" really well, giving us great matches with Jonathan Gresham as this well as this perfectly-executed segment. He really pulls off the persona of a delusional, hypocritical supposed mat expert, and I'm on board 100% to see where this goes.
Kenny King vs. Jay Lethal
King and Lethal start the match off with a battle for leverage at the beginning, with King throwing out an impressive pinning combo. Taking a long breather on the outside, King gets back in the ring and counters Lethal's signature hip toss/cartwheel dropkick with a crossface attempt. King then tosses Lethal into the corner and throws a few chops at Lethal while dodging Lethal's chop attempts in the process.
Frustrated, Lethal starts throwing straight punches. Tossing King onto the apron, Lethal goes for a springboard dropkick, but King evades. His back turned to Lethal, King mockingly throws up Lethal's signature pose. Lethal responds with a dropkick and attempts a suicide dive; King catches him and drives him into a ring post. Seemingly having an answer for everything Lethal throws at him, King has been firmly in control from the get-go. King evades another cartwheel dropkick attempt, then a spinning kick, grounding Lethal in a camel clutch.
Back to their feet, Lethal attempts to fight back with chops, but King responds with an eye poke then sends Lethal into the corner. Lethal evades a stinger splash attempt and the two go off the ropes; King sends Lethal onto the ring apron and hits him with his own take Lethal's signature springboard dropkick. He hints at duplicating Lethal's suicide dives, only to stop and swerve the audience in the process.
King prevents Lethal from getting back in the ring, only for Lethal to plant him with a DDT. Back in the ring, Lethal seemingly gets back into the groove, hitting all of his signature spots. He then heads to the top and hits King with his Hail To The King elbow drop. King kicks out and Lethal calls for Lethal injection only for King to get to his feet and drop Lethal with a blue thunder bomb. King picks Lethal back up and attempts his Royal Flush finisher, only for Lethal to get out and hit him with a bicycle kick/spinning enzuguiri combo.
King dodges several Lethal Injection attempts, then low-blows Lethal while the ref is distracted and hits Lethal with his own finisher, picking up the first W in their Best of 3 series.
A surprising affair, but believe it or not, I actually quite liked this match for what it was. It was a nice bit of storytelling; Lethal going through the motions while King finds an answer for everything, stealing Lethal's moves in the process. Sure, they may not have been executed the cleanest, but given it was outside King's normal repertoire, there's some leeway to be had. While I'm not going to say this was an absolute game-changer, it was still quite a bit of fun. I'm interested to see what they do with this feud. It's not much, but I'm enjoying it so far.
Another solid episode from ROH. A step down from last week, but that was to be expected given it was such a momentous occasion. The top highlights were the main event and the Silas Young segment (God, I love that man). Gordon/Fredericks was an okay opener and I definitely dig a potential Cobb/Taven feud, but they pale in comparison to Young's character brilliance and Lethal/King. Peep this episode if only for those two parts.
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