Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman were joined by Nigel McGuinness on this week’s episode of ROH television, taped last Wednesday in Pittsburgh, PA as part of the AEW Dynamite taping.
ROH Women’s World Title Proving Ground Match: Athena defeated Lady Frost
Frost used her acrobatic skills to get the upper hand on Athena, taking her up and over with a headscissors. Athena kicked her in the face on an up-and-over in the corner to take control. Frost laid in some shots after Athena paintbrushed her, but Athena dropped her with a backbreaker. Frost kicked Athena into the corner before cartwheeling into a cannonball.
Frost went to the top rope, but Athena got up and cut her off. Athena talked trash, which allowed Frost to hit a hurricane kick to take her down. Frost went to the top rope and hit a corkscrew moonsault, but Athena rolled to the ropes to avoid a cover. When Frost tried picking her up, Athena popped up into a big forearm for the win. After the match, Athena drove Frost into the title belt on the mat to get the final word in.
– The Kingdom talked about their frustrations in ROH lately in a lengthy video package. Instead of getting a rematch against the Briscoes at Final Battle, they lost to Top Flight. Instead of honoring Jay Briscoe by winning the tag team titles at Supercard of Honor, four other teams got in their way and took that from them. Now, they are not going to stop until they get back at all of the teams that were in that match.
La Faccion Ingobernable (Preston Vance & Rush) (w/Jose The Assistant) defeated The Infantry (Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean)
Vance hammered Bravo to start, drilling him with a big boot to send him down. Vance went to finish this match off quickly with the Full Nelson, but Dean cut him off after yanking Rush off of the apron. Vance took both men down with discus lariats before tagging in Rush to finish off Bravo with the Bull’s Horns for the emphatic victory.
Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta) defeated Joe Ocasio & Mookie Summers
Ocasio took the fight to Beretta, but Beretta shot out of the corner with a running knee to cut him off. Taylor dropped Summers with a pop-up powerbomb. Both Taylor and Beretta hit Ocasio with piledrivers before hitting Summers with a doomsday knee for the win.
Brian Cage (w/Prince Nana) defeated Leon Ruffin
A quality squash match here. The crowd got into Ruffin’s comeback before Cage efficiently shut him down.
Cage threw Ruffin around with ease before Ruffin fought out of a suplex with knees. Ruffin went for a top-rope crossbody, but Cage caught him and dropped him with a front slam. Cage went for an F-5, but Ruffin dropped him with a DDT. Ruffin evaded Cage and hit a cutter out of the corner for a close nearfall to a big pop. Cage hit a spinning lariat to shut Ruffin down, then hit a powerbomb over the knee. Cage won with a Sharpshooter-style submission hold.
The Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson) defeated The Trustbusters (Jeeves Kay & Sonny Kiss) (w/Slim J)
The Righteous watched from the stage as Kay got a jump-start on Uno. Kiss tagged in and hit a handspring into a slap. The Trustbusters tried to double-team Uno, but Uno hit a suplex on Kay while Kiss hung onto his back. Grayson tagged in and ran wild, leading to a kick-assisted brainbuster on Kay. Dark Order dropped Kiss with an electric chair throw into a powerbomb, then pinned Kay after a Grayson kick led to an Uno powerbomb. Grayson and Uno confronted The Righteous on the stage before walking off.
– Christopher Daniels was in the back with Dasha Fuentes, who asked what was next on his journey to victory. Daniels said this was one of the lowest points of his career. But he was going to earn his keep in ROH, and he wouldn’t start at the bottom. He called out Samoa Joe, noting their long history with each other, and challenged him to a TV Title match next week.
Skye Blue defeated Diamante
An early pinning predicament sent Diamante scurrying to the ropes. Diamante caught Blue in the ropes and hit a neckbreaker before sending her to the floor with a baseball slide. Diamante worked over Blue before Blue fought back, hitting a crossbody off the top rope for a nearfall.
Blue hit a rising knee and a low kick that sent Diamante to the apron. They got into a forearm exchange before Diamante caught Blue with a German suplex on the apron. Diamante hit a corner dropkick, but Blue got the ropes on the cover. Diamante tried rolling through a Skyfall attempt, but Blue stuffed the roll-up and got the win.
After the match, Athena came out with Blue’s custom hat and stomped on it, sending Blue a message.
Lee Moriarty (w/Big Bill) defeated Rocky Romero
Moriarty’s hometown crowd got behind him in the opening moments of this match. Romero tied up Moriarty in the ropes and hit a dropkick. Big Bill menaced Romero on the outside, allowing Moriarty to knock Romero off the apron and drive him into the barricade. Moriarty tore at Romero’s arm, popping his fingers while in an armbar. They traded arm control before kicking at each other’s arms, leading to a Romero tornado DDT.
Romero drilled Moriarty with chops and the Forever Clotheslines, but Moriarty misdirected Romero and hit a clothesline of his own. Moriarty hit the Tiger Driver ’18 for a nearfall. They traded arm submissions before Romero rolled up Moriarty for a nearfall. A strike battle ended with Romero hitting the rewind kick that sent Moriarty to the floor. Romero hit a headscissors off of the steps before hitting a Sliced Bread in the ring for a nearfall.
Romero caught Moriarty with a hurricanrana to the floor, but a dive caught Big Bill instead of Moriarty. Bill responded with a chokeslam to the apron while the referee was distracted, leading to Moriarty hitting a leg lariat for the win.
– Rocky Romero was in the back, unhappy that Lee Moriarty outsnuck the King of Sneaky Style. He challenged Moriarty to a Pure Rules rematch next week.
Blake Christian defeated Gringo Loco
Loco and Christian worked quickly, with neither man gaining an advantage until Loco avoided a Fosbury Flop and hitting a dive of his own. Christian cut off Loco in the ring and speared him on the apron before hitting the Fosbury Flop. Back in the ring, Loco cut off a Spanish Fly attempt with a head kick. Christian came back with a springboard into a handspring kick for a nearfall. Loco came back with a powerbomb for a nearfall.
Loco went to the top rope, but Christian met him there. Loco got control and hit an inside-out Spanish Fly type move for a nearfall. Loco took Christian up again, this time in Electric Chair position, but Christian tried to powerbomb him out. Loco landed on his feet, so Christian followed him with a Spanish Fly. Christian hit Loco with a springboard 450 to score the win.
