'Tis the season for bad comedy gimmicks. But maybe, we will get a good match out of this.
ROH Thoughts (Written on 12/21/18 as it was viewed)
- The show starts off with hokey Christmas music and presents in front of World Champion Jay Lethal. He and Matt Taven will open up presents to determine who their partners are going to be. (This is beyond hokey. First of all, I'll be honest: Christmas music to me is mostly hokey and beyond terrible. I like the holiday, but I can't stand a majority of the music that goes along with it. Secondly, they are putting face snow and presents in front of their world champion. Then, to top it all off, we're supposed to assume that they are randomly getting partners from these presents and not from a pencil and paper from earlier today when someone booked this show. You're killing me, ROH.)
Matt Taven says he hates surprises. He doesn't want to be teamed with any "Melvin" (trying to get that term over yet again), and he only wants to team with TK and Vinny. Matt Taven hates Christmas. (Oh. Great. Stereotypical villain who hates Christmas show coming up. I've seen enough bad Raws over the years with this type of storyline. This honestly wasn't even that entertaining of a hokey promo from Taven or Lethal for that matter. Not a good start.)
- The Women of Honor start off the show as the Twisted Sisterz take on Madison Rayne and Britt Baker. (Baker is wrestling in front of her hometown crowd here to a great ovation, Bay Bay.) Britt Baker kicks one of the Twisted Sisters to start off the match. Rayne dives out off the apron on the two afterward. The Twisted Sisters get the advantage later in the match and isolate Rayne in their corner. Tree of Woe followed by a running dropkick in the corner. Baker and Rayne get the advantage after the hot tag to Rayne. The Twisted Sisters hit a good bit of tandem offense, but they botch the last move in the sequence. Still an impressive sight. So, I'll give them credit. A lot of great high impact moves by the women going down the stretch in the match. Ripcord Forearm into a Cutter by Baker and Rayne. A miscue by Baker and Rayne allows The Twisted Sisters to hit a White Noise followed by a Double Stomp to the back of Baker for the win.
Good match here to start off the show. Despite the problems in certain spots, I thought this told a good story and allowed all four women to have moments to shine.
- We return to Jay Lethal and Matt Taven. Taven hates his partners. After the break, Caprice Coleman gives Jay Lethal a gift underneath the table. He opens it up and finds Cheeseburger's name. Taven meanwhile looks in a stocking and finds another "Melvin." (Or at least that's what I think he found. He was speaking a bit off mic there.)
- The next match is the MAIN EVENT. Christmas Surprise 10 Man Tag.
Matt Taven's Team: Matt Taven (without his REAL ROH World Championship), Brian Milonas (from the bar, lol), Jonathan Gresham (nice surprise), Beer City Bruiser (bringing a keg from the bar, LOL!), MARTY SCURLL (WOOP WOOP!)
Jay Lethal: Jay Lethal (without his ROH World Championship but with festive sunglasses on), Cheeseburger (with an elf hat, lol), Rhett Titus (with a Snoopy Santa hat on; after all, he is one of The Dawgs), Vinny from The Kingdom (that makes things very interesting), and JEFF COBB (with an elf hat on as well, but without his ROH TV Championship).
Matt Taven lets it be known that he hates every single one of his partners as he walks to the ring. (The heel heels on his team, even though logically it is one of the best that he could have hoped for. I dig it.) He loves seeing Vinny on the other team though. A trade is attempted between the two teams, but the referee waves it off.
A fun match here with a lot of interesting encounters. Gresham and Lethal start off the match. Then, at one point, it ends up being Vinny vs. Taven. Their teammates jump to the floor to avoid getting tagged in. This leads to a massive brawl with Taven attacking Vinny's team, and Vinny attacking Taven's. Beer City Bruiser jumps off the top rope onto the crowd of people on the floor. Lethal accidentally superkicks Vinny in the ring when he forgets that he's his partner in this match. Later, Gresham refuses to help attack Lethal. Lethal's team seems to be working more cohesively as they attack Taven (though Vinny was whipped into Taven instead of doing it willingly). At one point, Jonathan Gresham breaks up a pin on Matt Taven, and Ian calls him "Johnny Wrestling." Colt has to correct Ian and says "Wrong show, Ian." Haha.
Craziness continues with all ten men getting their big moments. Lethal Injection to Taven. Milonas takes down Lethal, but Jeff Cobb hits a Pumphandle Suplex on Milonas. TOUR OF THE ISLANDS TO THE BRUISER! 1-2-3!!!!! Wow.
Despite the problems I had with how this match was set up, this was a really good main event with a lot of fun stories being told in the match. Jeff Cobb continues to find ways to be more and more impressive in his ROH run. The way he threw around Beer City and Milonas was damn impressive. Jeff Cobb is the guy ROH needs to continue building up towards an eventual ROH World Championship run. Despite the loss of The Elite, ROH can survive and thrive with the right people in the right places. Putting attention on Jeff Cobb and building him up like this seems like a no-brainer.
Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
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