Monday, July 22, 2019

ROH Wrestling Episode #409 Recap/Review: 7/22/19


In what should prove to be an absolute barn-burner, Lifeblood seeks vengeance as they take on Villain Enterprises in a 6-man main event. This should prove to be pretty damn good, but let's see how the rest of the show pans out.

Jeff Cobb vs. Jonathan Gresham vs. Dalton Castle vs. Kenny King

Castle and Cobb start the match with a quick technical exchange, highlighting their amateur wrestling experience. They run the ropes before Cobb dropkicks Castle; Gresham and King are subsequently tagged in. Gresham attempts some mat-based trickery, but King's size advantage gets the better of him as he responds with a series of kicks to ground Gresham. King and Castle exchange tags, attempting to further break Gresham down.

Their chemistry breaking down, King and Castle begin to squabble following a few surprise tags. Gresham takes advantage and tags in Cobb, who flies in like a bat out of hell as he takes Castle and King for a ride of suplexes. Cobb is distracted as Gresham tags himself back in; Castle takes advantage and takes Cobb down with a spinning bulldog. Gresham takes Castle down with a jumping enzuguiri; King responds to this with an inverted backbreaker, then heads to the top rope.

Castle drops King to a seated position to set up his signature knee lift, but is met with a lariat from Cobb. King recovers and hits a blockbuster on Gresham. He tries the same on Cobb, who catches him and plants him with a jackhammer. Following a kick-out, King goes on a tear as he spinebusters Cobb, clothesline Castle out of the ring then plants Gresham with a blue thunder bomb. King exits the ring to grab a foreign object (the time-keeper's high heel), but Cobb sees it and King enzuguiris him out of the ring in the process. Castle gets back in the ring only for King to send him back out via a forced/assisted suicide dive to Cobb.

With the referee distracted, Gresham grabs the high heel hits King with it, rolling him up and getting the victory to start out the show.

A pretty damn good match with a rather surprising finish. King and Cobb were the overall MVPs of this match, getting in the most offense and providing the most impressive spots. What really grabbed me, though was the ending. Akin to his victory at Best In The World, Gresham used dirty tactics to get a W; definitely apropos of his character, and I'm thinking this is signaling a heel turn, which is something I'm not sure how to feel about just yet. Regardless, a good match and a great way to kick the show off.

Soldiers Of Savagery (Moses & Khan) vs. Primal Fear (Matthew Toro & Soriano)

SOS lays waste to their opponents as a pair of elevated double chokeslams puts them way to garner a W for Moses & Khan.

It's a meh from me here. I've seen a thousand squashes, and this one was just like the rest. The finisher is pretty alright, but that's about it. Let's get to the main event now.

Lifeblood (Tracy Williams, Mark Haskins & Bandido) vs. Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO & Brody King)

The match begins with Haskins diving onto Scurll before every member of both teams start throwing hands. Williams connects with a sliding dropkick to PCO and Bandido hits King with a fosbury flop: Scurll and Haskins continue to duke it out on their own as the rest of the both teams continue to brawl on the outside. Back in the ring, Williams sets up a chair; PCO attempts to wriggle out of his grasp only for Bandido to assist Williams in tossing him into the corner.

Scurll and King send Williams and Bandido to the outside; Haskins responds by sending Scurll to the outside and throwing rapid-fire strikes and kicks at King, who asks for more. Haskins tries to oblige only to be met with a chair shot from Scurll, which prompts King to plant him with a spinning side slam onto said chair. Bandido hits King with a corkscrew crossbody as Williams attempts a diving kendo stick shot to Scurll, who dodges only for Williams to connect the second time around.

Williams then hits King with two shots of the kendo stick before wrapping his left arm up with it in a bastardized cobra clutch of sorts. PCO enters the ring to give Williams and Bandido each a chair, begging them to hit him. Williams and Bandido get a couple shots in before PCO clotheslines both to the outside. King hits them with a cannonball off the apron, then PCO follows up with one of his own. Back in the ring, Scurll and PCO hit Haskins with a boston crab/leg drop combo; King joins in with a kendo stick shot before following it up with a dual Scurll/chair-assisted jumping senton to Haskins.

Bandido and Williams come to aid Haskins, pelting PCO and Scurll with kendo stick shots. With an assist from Haskins, Williams and Bandido powerbomb King off the top rope through multiple set-up chairs. Scurll comes in to crack both of them with a kendo stick, then fires up PCO before setting up Haskins on an outside table. Bandido blocks the attempt, allowing Haskins to scurry away before driving PCO through the table with a super hurricanrana.

Back in the ring, Scurll is alone with Williams and Haskins, who dodges a kendo stick shot and puts Scurll in a sharpshooter; Williams aids Haskins with a kendo stick-assisted crossface on Scurll. King breaks it up and sends both Haskins and Williams to the outside. He connects with a somersault tope onto his opponents, followed by PCO. Bandido sneaks into the ring to superkick Scurll, then ascends to the top rope to hit a corkscrew plancha of sorts to the outside. Back in the ring, Bandido hits PCO with a chair-assisted shotgun dropkick.

After hanging PCO up on the ropes with a Go 2 Sleep, Bandido sets up a chair in an effort to spice up his 21-Plex finisher. He connects, but is unable to follow up with a cover as PCO rolls out of the pin attempt. Scurll and King set up a table in the corner, only for Williams and Haskins to come at them with a flurry of kendo stick shots. Scurll responds with his umbrella and unloads upon Lifeblood; he then sets Bandido on the table and ascends to the top rope. Bandido comes back and puts Scurll through the table with a moonsault fallaway slam to secure the victory for Lifeblood.

An excellent match, probably one of the better matches ROH has put on this year. Ever since its inception, Villain Enterprises has proven it excels in chaotic, no-rules brawls, and this one was no exception. But don't leave Lifeblood out of the conversation, as they proved they can get just as dirty. It's hard to pick an overall MVP of the match, as seemingly every participant got their fair shot in. To make it easy, I'll say Bandido. He provided the best spots while simultaneously taking as much damage as his Lifeblood counterparts, proving his endurance. While not the exact definition of tag-team wrestling, it was nonetheless an immensely entertaining brawl with one of ROH's rising stars going over in a big way. I don't really see a downside to this, in all honesty.

A great show hampered by a nothing-ass middle. The fatal 4-way was a nice way to kick off the show, and the main event was an exceedingly fun brawl from start to finish. The only thing that really hampered this show was the SOS, but that's just me being nitpicky. Trust me when I say seek this one out ASAP.



Monday, July 8, 2019

ROH Wrestling Episode #407 Recap/Review: 7/8/19


After taking some time off, we're back to covering ROH week to week (probably). Tonight should prove to be a good show as Matt Taven defends his ROH World Championship against Tracy Williams in the main event. We'll have lots of hopefully great content coming our way, so let's not waste any more time and get right into it.

The Kingdom (TK O'Ryan & Vinny Marseglia) vs. The Bouncers (Brian Milonas & Beer City Bruiser)

The match starts out with Milonas pummeling O'Ryan, dishing out plenty of heavy-duty punishment. O'Ryan tries to wear Milonas down by running the ropes, but's it all for naught. Bruiser and Marseglia are tagged in and Marseglia immediately tries to cut down his larger opponents with a series of well-placed knees and bicycle kicks. They little to no effect, however, as The Bouncers go to work on their opponents with some tag-team offense, culminating with a Bruiser cannonball to the outside.

Bruiser tries to get Marseglia back in the ring, but Marseglia counters and tosses Bruiser into the ring post, then the barricade. Back in the ring, Marseglia grounds Bruiser and taunts him for a bit before hitting him with a series of running elbow strikes, then a spinning shiranui off the second rope. Bruiser blocks a double flapjack attempt then connects with a double sidewalk slam. Milonas gets the hot tag and makes quick work of O'Ryan & Marseglia. Milonas attempts a second-rope superplex, but Marseglia sneaks around to push Milonas' legs out from under him. O'Ryan lands on top to get the pin and secure the W.

A decent way to kick off the show with an interesting finish. Both teams played their roles well (The Bouncers being lovable hosses and The Kingdom being opportunistic heels), and played off each other well, creating some pretty good sequences. I love that Bruiser and Milonas are getting over with the crowd, and I especially love how they're being booked (despite other objections I have with ROH's booking, but that's another story for another time). Both teams looked strong (both in-ring and character-wise), and the finish added the proverbial cherry on top of the overall story being told. Not too much more to say here.

Brian Johnson vs. Josh "The Goods" Woods

Johnson puts up a surprising fight against Woods, using trickery in an effort to halt the momentum of Woods, who's been absolutely dominant as of late. After a quick clothesline, Johnson manages to ground Woods and works the left arm. Woods fights back with a bevvy of forearms, then a jumping corner knee strike followed up by an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Countering a snapmare, Woods hits Johnson with a running knee strike, then his Seismic Toss finisher to pick up the victory.

Surprisingly longer than most Woods matches as of late. About the same quality, though. A fun squash and I like Woods' finisher. That's about it.

Tracy Williams vs. Matt Taven (c), ROH World Championship match

It's a battle for leverage from the beginning as Taven and Williams exchange a series of holds and counters, with Taven taunting Williams throughout. Williams manages to get the early advantage with a combination of holds, throws and strikes. Taven attempts a comeback, but Williams answers back with a corner 619, then a wrecking ball dropkick. Williams works Taven over for a bit on the outside, then tries to get him back in the ring, only for Taven to respond by tossing him into the ring post, then the barricade (holy deja vu, Batman).

Taven tries to leave the match but Williams refuses, throwing more hard strikes before delivering a jumping elbow smash off the entrance ramp. Back in the ring, Williams attempts some top-rope offense; Taven counters and delivers a super russian legsweep to Williams, then a wrecking ball dropkick of his own. Taven tries some trickery back in the ring as he removes the padding from the corner. Williams attempts a top-rope double stomp and Taven dodges, cinching in a sleeper hold attempt.

Williams fights out and answers back with a attempt of his own. He ascends to the top rope once again, only for Taven to hit him with an enzuguiri. Taven attempts a backpack stunner, only for Williams to wriggle out and go to the top rope again. Taven connects with another enzuguiri, then perches Williams up on the top rope before delivering a stiff chop. Williams counters a superplex attempt with a single-arm DDT on the turnbuckle, then follows up with a diving DDT.

Taven then counters a sunset flip attempt with a running knee. After a brief rest, the two go right back at it as Taven hits Williams with a step-up enzuguiri and Williams answers back with a discus clothesline, transitioning into a crossface shortly after. Taven tries to get to the ropes as Williams tries to pull him back with an ankle lock then an STF attempt. The two men exchange sunset flip and finisher counters, then Williams dodges another Taven knee strike. Taven manages to connect with his Climax finisher, only for Williams to kick out.

Taven goes to the top rope for a frog splash attempt, only for Williams to block then hit Taven with a one-armed piledriver. After a referee distraction, Taven tosses Williams into the exposed turnbuckle, then plants him the Climax to retain his title.

A great match and an excellent way to end a show. Both men gave it their all from bell to bell, trying and succeeding at giving us a great title match. The styles presented from both men (Taven's flashy flamboyance with Williams' no-nonsense ring dedication) blended smoothly, giving us superb chemistry and well-executed sequences and counters throughout. Both men looked strong throughout this whole match, and got in their fair share of offense. As far as I'm concerned, this is a win-win from both sides. Taven gets another worthy challenger and Williams proves his worth with another excellent in-ring performance. Both wrestler's stock rises as performers, and we as an audience get treated to an excellent main event. Needless to say, this was a damn good match.

Given that I've missed the past two weeks of ROH TV, I'm probably not as good of a judge as I could be. But given what I've recently seen, this is probably one of their better episodes. The matches were good (if not great) and the booking was intelligent (which is surprising, given the BITW results). I'd definitely recommend giving this a watch ASAP.