**This is planned to be a live blog post of the ROH Best in the World PPV tonight. My area has been experiencing some rolling blackouts. So, I may miss some of the event or lose access to the internet during the show period. If that happens, I'll watch the show and post the review as soon as I can Saturday morning.**
Update: 9:10AM Saturday: I am watching the show after having internet and power turned off and on all last night. I'll be adding my thoughts on here as my viewing of the show goes on. A full review should be up by 2PM today.
Update: 1:27PM- The show is finished. The review continues below.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Before the show even gets started, here are some quick predictions for the card:
Pre-Show:
Rush defeats Flip Gordon
Main Show
Kelly Klein and Jenny Rose defeat The Allure
Nick Aldis and his partner (TBA) defeat The Briscoes
Lifeblood defeats Villain Enterprises for the ROH World 6-Man Tag Team Championships
Jay Lethal defeats Kenny King
Dalton Castle defeats Dragon Lee
Silas Young defeats Jonathan Gresham in the "Pure Rules" match
Bandido defeats Shane Taylor to win the ROH World Television Championship
Matt Taven defeats Jeff Cobb to retain the ROH World Championship
ROH Best in the World 2019
Baltimore, MD
June 28, 2019
Pre-Show
- I'm interested in seeing how many people show up to this event tonight. Hope they get a good, loud crowd.
Flip Gordon vs. Rush
- They are starting off hot immediately!
- The streamers shower the ring for Rush's entrance.
- Code of Honor is not adhered to by Rush, who kicks Flip's hand away.
- Rush shows disrespect to Flip through the opening moments and utter disdain for any of Flip's offense. But a slap in the face ticks the Ingobernable off.
- Flip gets flipped (lol) all around the ringside area into the guardrails. The last time sent Flip over the table at ringside.
- Next few moments are Rush manhandling Flip in the ring.
- Flip starts using his speed and aerial moves to fight back, including a springboard dropkick.
- Rush gets the upperhand back again and does the Tranquilo pose.
(And as I feared, the power went out. And FITE apparently cut the feed to the pre-show. Just great. Double Whammy.)
I turn on ROH's Facebook feed to see that Rush has apparently won the match. He cuts a promo saying he's here to be #1. Nobody wants to mess with him.
Seemed like a good match from what I could see. From what I read, FITE cut off the feed of the Pre-Show. So I had a hard time trying to find a feed to watch. Thankfully, ROH's Facebook page had live coverage going on.
- Nick Aldis comes out next and cuts a promo in the middle of the ring. He puts over Colt Cabana and wishes him a full recovery. He puts over Baltimore as NWA Territory. He announces his partner and NEW NWA star... James Storm comes out. He calls Nick the "protected one." Storm did not get picked as his tag team partner. Storm spent 22 years earning his respect in this business. He wants to know who Aldis's partner is. It's former Impact star Eli Drake! Nice surprise. He puts over his new company and his roots (Hagerstown, MD). He also puts over The 10 Pounds of Gold. He can't stop being Eli Drake. He's going to turn the wrestling world inside out.
(Nice surprise and an added bonus for the Best in the World audience. Drake adds some charisma to the NWA roster for sure. Does he move the needle any? Not now. But who knows? Social media is a funny thing.)
Main Show
The opening video package puts over the main storylines and the different paths the feuds have taken to get to this night.
1) Dalton Castle vs. Dragon Lee
- Dragon Lee has had a hot year so far, winning the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship in a shocker at G1 Supercard. Dalton Castle... well, he's had a conflicted year.
- Dalton is a heel. But he still gets showered with the streamers upon his entrance.
- They tease Dragon Lee finishing the match as quick as Rush did with the same finishing sequence from G1 Supercard. But Castle is able to avoid the pin. Lee gets caught trying the hurricanrana off the apron and gets powerbombed on the edge of the ring instead. Ouch.
- Lee gets thrown into the guardrail and goes into the front row. Some poor guy in the front row gets Lee's foot going down his face slowly. They do it AGAIN on the other side of the ring. (Are we looking for lawsuits tonight?! You would think ROH would have learned their lesson from the G1 Supercard when a ladder went into the audience.) Castle does it on a third side of ringside as well to Lee. Lee tries to do the same to Castle, but it doesn't have as much effect. No fans were hurt in the guardrail whip this time. (Absolutely ridiculous and unsafe. If the fans were a good six feet from the guardrail and not six inches, I would be more ok with what they did. But there's no excuse when fans are literally on top of the guardrails.)
- Castle takes Lee into the ring and continues to work on Lee. Dalton focuses on using groundwork to keep Lee down and tries to take the mask off along the way. Dragon Lee tries to get psyched up, but Castle stops that momentum. More mask and ground work by Castle. Lee's mask is torn exposing part of his face. Lee gets Castle to the floor and hits a nice suicide dive to the floor.
- Lee and Castle go back at it in the ring with some back and forth offense. German suplexes. A Reverse Rana by Dragon Lee.
- Dragon Lee starts mounting more offense after avoiding Dalton's finisher. He hits a series of running knees to Castle.
- Dragon Lee's comeback has come to an end. Dalton Castle hits Bang-A-Rang. But Castle doesn't want to end the match quite yet. Instead, he decides to hit "Bull's Horns" (Rush's running corner dropkick to a sitting opponent) on Dragon Lee (Rush's brother). 1-2-3. Castle wins.
Winner: Dalton Castle
Match Grade: C. I have to knock this down a grade due to the repeated body throws into the audience early on. There's no excuse for it. Also, as good as some of the moves were, this didn't reach anywhere near the capabilities of these two. It was an alright match. Castle's heel turn continues to evolve. Dragon Lee was brought in to do a job, being a guy who is not a full time ROH star. It was a good but disappointing match.
2) Jenny Rose and Kelly Klein vs. The Allure (Mandy Leon vs. Angelina Love) (w/ Velvet Sky)
- Klein and Rose run into the ring to start the brawl. The Allure get the advantage for a moment, but Klein and Rose take the momentum and start knocking The Allure over.
- Angelina Love takes the beating from Klein and Rose, but she is able to get help from Velvet Sky on the floor to knock down Jenny Rose on the floor. Rose then is the victim of The Allure's attacks in the ring. As they continue the attack, they are able to beat down Klein as well. Angelina Love hits an impressive dive off the top rope onto Klein and Rose on the floor.
- Rose hits a spear on Leon in the ring a few moments later. Klein and Love start going at it in the ring with Klein getting that face momentum going.
- DDT to Klein by Leon takes her down. Spear on the apron by Rose followed by a slam on the floor to Leon. However, Leon is able to dispose of Rose by sending her into the guardrail.
- Angelina Love kicks out of a high impact move by Klein. The Allure use the numbers advantage. Leon hits Klein in the back of the head with a shoe. Botox Injection by Angelina Love gets the 3 count for The Allure.
Winners: The Allure
Match Grade: C-. There were some rough spots in the match and some awkward moments where you could tell they were talking through the match with each other, but they were busting their butts out there. For all the hate Angelina Love and Velvet Sky seem to get, I felt Angelina held her own in this match. This wasn't the greatest match in the world, but it wasn't the worst either. So, I'm giving it a low average score.
The Allure stand tall at the end of the match, and then, the lights go off. We see a bunch of dolls on the screen with one being plucked away from the rest. A woman by the name of Maria Manac(?) makes her debut when the lights come on. The Allure run off. The announce team make a bunch of "Maneater" references from Hall & Oates. She manhandles a bunch of independent wrestlers turned security guards for the paycheck. She powerbombs one out of the ring onto the other ones.
3) Kenny King vs. Jay Lethal
- This is the final match in a Best of 3 series. King has basically manhandled Jay Lethal throughout the series with him leaving Jay Lethal laying each time.
- I just noticed how empty this arena is during Jay Lethal's entrance. I was afraid of this as ROH was sending a lot of notifications and emails to get people to come to the event.
- King toys around getting into the ring, further angering Lethal. Lethal refuses to adhere to the Code of Honor prior to the match. (Can't blame him. He's been punked by King every time during this feud.)
- Jay Lethal is so good at the basics, especially at selling. He sold an arm wrench better than most men sell finishing moves. Hats off to Lethal.
- Lethal and King trade moves back and forth. King is going for the insults early on by trying to hit Lethal with Lethal's own signature moves, such as the corner dropkick and the cartwheel dropkick on the mat.
- King even steals Macho Man's top rope throat attack and mocks the late legend.
- They take the fight to the floor. Lethal is placed on a chair, but he is able to send a charging King face first into it. Moments later, King hits a suplex into the edge of the ring on Lethal. (That's a new one.)
- King now takes advantage and works on Lethal in the ring. Boston Crab by King followed by an armbar. Lethal fights back and gets a missile dropkick on King a moment or two later.
- Jay Lethal hits ROYAL FLUSH (King's finishing move) for a 2 count. Well, it's on now.
- King gets sent to the floor, and Lethal starts doing the suicide dives. But King catches Lethal on the second dive and drives him on the floor.
- They go back in the ring. Blue Thunder Bomb by King in the ring (Heh. That rhymed.). Shooting Star Press off the top by King. 2 count only. (This is easily the best match on this show thus far. Good job by both men.)
- Figure Four by Jay Lethal. King's cane is thrown into the ring. Lethal breaks the hold. During the distraction, King tries to low blow Lethal, but Lethal catches him and hits LETHAL INJECTION! 1-2-KICKOUT!!!! Not too many people have ever kicked out of Lethal Injection.
- Both men are on the top rope now. King throws Lethal off, and he hits a BLockbuster. A Cloth4esline. Kenny King HITS LETHAL INJECTION AND ROYAL FLUSH!!!!! 1-2-3!!!!!
Winner: Kenny King
Match Grade: B+. This was a very good match that maybe needed an additional 4-5 minutes to really get into that next level. Still, this was the kind of match that this show needed after a couple of average (at best) matches. Lethal helped put King over in this. The question is whether King can catch any momentum now as a wrestler for the company. This company really needs guys to step up.
4) Pure Rules Match
Jonathan Gresham vs. Silas Young
- Both men come out in robes for this match.
- The rules are: 3 Rope Breaks to break a pin or submission. After that, a rope break cannot break up either. Closed fists to the face are banned. First offense is a warning. Second offense is a DQ.
- Technical wrestling focused work thus far with both men trading hammerlocks, armlocks, and leglocks.
- Gresham uses his rope break to stop a submission hold by Young, though Young did push him into the ropes for that.
- Young continues to use his size advantage in the match against Gresham.
- Gresham uses Sila's foot to push Young into the ropes for another rope break.
- Gresham gets The Octopus Lock on Young. Young gets to the rope to use his second rope break. (A camera shot of Young on the floor exposes the rows of empty seats behind him. Yikes. Seriously, this company is in trouble come the fall and winter.)
- They continue to go back at it in the ring. Young uses a closed fist to punch Gresham in the face. He gets his warning. On the outside, Young throws Gresham into the guardrail a couple times. Back in the ring, Young continues to beat down on Gresham.
- A couple moments later, Gresham has to use another rope break to get out of a Single-Leg Boston Crab by Young. Each man has one rope break left.
- Gresham uses his last rope break to escape another submission. Now, he can't use the ropes to break up a submission or escape a pinfall. Young suplexes Gresham multiple times, and Gresham sells hurting his knees when he lands on his feet. Gresham then sells his back on the corner, allowing Young to throw him down onto the floor. Gresham gets caught in another submission in the ring. Gresham has to use his skills to escape as the ropes don't break the hold.
- Silas gets caught in another Octopus Lock. Gresham forces Silas's hand onto the rope to remove his last available rope break.
- Both men exchange forearms in the center of the ring. Both men try to suplex each other, but they end up crashing and burning over the top rope down to the floor.
- Gresham pulls the apron and causes the referee to fix it. HE LOW BLOWS YOUNG! (Payback from what Silas did to him in an earlier match.) He locks on the Octopus Lock submission and gets the tap out.
Winner: Jonathan Gresham
Match Grade: B. I personally enjoyed this match. Gresham and Young worked the rules well throughout the match in telling their story. The crowd seemed a bit stunned that Gresham stooped to Young's level to win the match. There are no pure babyfaces anymore in wrestling. So this does add a bit of character to Gresham in returning the "favor" to Young. But again, I enjoyed the match more than apparently the live crowd did.
5) The Briscoes vs. Eli Drake/Nick Aldis
- James Storm is on commentary. Sorry about our damn luck.
- NWA guys come out acting like heels while The Briscoes come out acting like hometown faces. (Maybe I missed something, but aren't The Briscoes still heels?)
- Drake and Mark go at it for a few moments. Then, Nick Aldis and Jay Briscoe get tagged in to go at it for a few moments. The Briscoes end up getting Nick isolated in the ring and start working on him. Double Shoulder Tackle by The Briscoes. However, on the outside, Aldis and Drake are able to knock down Mark Briscoe.
- Both teams start getting some double-team offense on their opponents. Eli Drake gets beaten down for a few moments. He hits one big neckbreaker, does his "E-LI- DRAKE" taunt, tags in his partner, and falls to the mat. (That's some crappy selling if I do say so myself.)
- Moments later, Mark and Drake are going at it. During this sequence, there's some athletic moves such as a big jump up superplex by Drake. But Mark gets up immediately and falls back into his corner to get the tag from Jay. Selling is dead in this match.
- Drake gets Burning Hammer on Jay Briscoe for a 2 count. Redneck Boogie by The Briscoes and a clothesline only get a 2. Aldis suffers the Cactus Jack Elbow by Mark Briscoe on the floor. Eli and Mark fight at ringside, and you can see the sections (not just rows) of empty seats in the arena now. The bell rings as both teams have been counted out.
Winners: No Contest (Double Countout)
Match Grade: D. This may be one of the worst matches I've ever seen The Briscoes involved in, going back to the shows I've watched on Honor Club and in the last couple years of following ROH. The lack of selling in this match was horrific, and Eli Drake did not look good for much of this match. This felt more like a match that should have been on ROH TV.
- James Storm jumps Eli Drake and beats him up going to the backstage area. Aldis is left alone to deal with The Briscoes. A table is setup in the ring, and Aldis is set up in the ring. Aldis's female manager (Camille?) shows up, and the referees get her out of the ring. Security and officials try to stop The Briscoes from putting Aldis through the table, and they get beat up for their trouble. Aldis tries to fight back, but a low blow stops that nonsense. Froggy Bow to Aldis through the table. Marty Scurll runs down afrer The Briscoes have cleared the ring and helps Nick Aldis to the back.
6) ROH TV Championship
Shane Taylor (c) vs. Bandido
- Bandido hits a few nice moves in the ring to send Taylor to the floor. But Taylor catches Bandido flying at him in the ring and throws him against the side of the ring. Taylor tries to rile up the crowd with some insults thrown at some fans.
- Back in the ring, Taylor continues to pummel Bandido. After about 3 minutes, Bandido starts hitting some high flying moves. He gets Taylor to the floor and this time hits a Flop over the top to the floor.
- Springboard Hurricanrana only gets a 2 for Bandido. Bandido and Taylor continue to go back and forth with a couple awkward moments here and there. Taylor hits a a mid-rope corner splash on Bandido for a 2 count.
- Taylor blocks a lot of Bandido's offensive attempts. Powerbomb, knee lift, and a Package Piledriver by Taylor to Bandido only gets a 2 count. (Looked like a 3 to me.) The crowd's energy is lukewarm at this point.
- Taylor jumps off the corner. Bandido catches him (?!?!?!) and hits a spinning slam on Taylor for a 2 count.
- Shooting Star Press by Bandido again only gets a 2 count.
- Bandido jumps on Taylor once too many times and gets hit with Welcome to the Land/Greetings from 216. 1-2-3.
Winner: Shane Taylor (STILL ROH TV Champion)
Match Grade: C. And I feel that's being generous. While I respect Taylor's abilities to a point, this was a time to get some excitement into the product by putting the title on Bandido. Taylor and Bandido had a couple awkward moments and a couple good moments as well. But the crowd energy, up to the last minute, was muted. I honestly feel that Taylor is in the wrong position on the card right now, especially with so much competition coming up in the coming months. This was the time to make a splash, and like most of the show thus far, it has failed to do that.
7) ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championships
Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO, and Brody King) (c) vs. Lifeblood (Mark Haskins and Tracy Williams) and PJ Black
- Villain Enterprises come out to something seemingly from the Road Warriors closet. While the Road Warriors looked amazing and scarey as hell in the spikes, I'm not too much of a fan of Villain Enterprises wearing this. It screams desperation. And look: They have alternate tag team championships with their logo on it. I wasn't a fan of the Smoking Skull Belt, the Spinner Belt, or other modified championship titles (the Hemp-based WWE Championship of Daniel Bryan being the exception). This again just doesn't work for me.
- No Code of Honor.
- We get Scurll and Haskins starting the match. Then it becomes Black vs. PCO. Then King vs. Williams. Each results in a back-and-forth standoff between the two wrestlers. Williams gets beaten down by King. Then Scurll gets tagged in and begins working on Williams. Things start breaking down with everyone getting involved. Brody King and PCO dive out on their opponents with PCO hitting a Cannonball on the Lifeblood team.
- Back in the ring, Villain Enterprises continue to beat down on Williams with frequent tags from all three men.
- Eventually Williams gets a German suplex on King. Tags to Haskins and Scurll. Williams and Haskins start tagging in and out working on Scurll in rapid fire. PJ Black gets in on the fun as well. A Surfboard into a Running Boot by Haskins and Black. Reverse Boston Crab by Black leads to a double dropkick to the body of Scurll. Lifeblood and Black are unable to stop Scurll from getting the tag to King.
- Running clotheslines into the corner by King to Williams and Black. Senton on both men (who were stacked on top of each other). Villain Enterprises continues the momentum with a Quebec Crab by Scurll and PCO (A Boston Crab with PCO dropping the leg off the corner). PCO follows that up with a Suicide Dive through the ropes while King hits a running Senton onto Haskins in the ring for a 2 count. Villain Enterprises keeps the momentum and the abuse coming.
- PCO gets isolated. Lifeblood hits a couple top rope moves on PCO for a 2 count, but the pin gets broken up.
- Scurll and King get taken out on the floor. SPIKE PILEDRIVER! 1-2-PCO didn't really kick out, but the referee called it as such.
- Haskins goes back after PCO, but PCO is able to avoid another piledriver.
- Tags to Black and Scurll. PCO clotheslines Black to the floor, taking both men down to the outside. Haskins superkicks PCO on the corner, allowing Williams to POWERBOMB PCO ON THE EDGE OF THE RING!
- Springboard Back Kick by Black to Scurll. Moonsault only gets 2 thanks to King breaking up the pin.
- KING HITS A SICK SERIES OF MOVES INCLUDING A DOUBLE LUCHADORE STYLE ARM FLIP TO HASKINS AND WILLIAMS TO THE FLOOR FOLLOWED BY A SENTON DIVE TO THE FLOOR ONTO BOTH MEN! Jesus. And he follows that up by letting a fan know that they're "#1." Lol.
- Back in the ring, Black gets caught diving onto Scurll. Gonzo Bomb by King to Black. PCO hits the moonsault after losing his footing initially. 1-2-3.
Winners: Villain Enterprises
Match Grade: B. There was some good work done in this match by these guys. This was the right amount of time given, and despite a few hiccups, I thoroughly enjoyed the insanity of it all. Hats off to King and PCO for showing how awesome they are.
The Soldiers of Savagery come out and attack Lifeblood. Bandido comes out to help save his Lifeblood teammates. But Bully Ray comes out to knock down Bandido. He gets a chair, but Flip Gordon arrives and brings a Kendo Stick to chase off Bully Ray. Flip is offered a position in Lifeblood by being given a T-Shirt. He puts it on.
Lights go out. The video wall comes on. It's Marty Scurll (ala Kenny Omega when Omega kicked Adam Cole out of Bullet Club). He congratulates Lifeblood on their new member. He announces that he has a new employee of Villain Enterprises. He searched all over the world, but the newest member was right underneath his nose the entire time. He is The Intern. He is The Understudy. He is The Mercenary. He is Flip Gordon! The lights come back on. SUPERKICK by Flip Gordon. Villain Enterprises come back out and join Flip in beating down Lifeblood. They put Williams on a table on the floor. FLIP goes to the top of the corner and hits a 450 SPLASH THROUGH WILLIAMS THROUGH THE TABLE. Flip looked to about kill himself coming down from that move.
Main Event
ROH World Championship
Matt Taven (c) vs. Jeff Cobb
- I want to be nice. But everything about Matt Taven being champion screams minor league.
- Code of Honor adhered to.
- Cobb nails Taven with a chop so hard that he falls over the corner onto the cameraman. Taven charges Cobb back in the ring and gets sent right back over the top rope to the floor. Taven tells Cobb that it's on his time.
- Taven and Cobb continue the match in the ring. Taven gets hit with an Overhead Belly-To-Belly Suplex followed by a Delayed Vertical Suplex.
- Cobb gets caught chasing Taven to the floor with a Shoulder DDT on the apron. Taven uses this opportunity to hit a Suicide Dive, sending Cobb head-first into the guardrail. Back in the ring, Taven continues to work on Cobb, including an armbar.
- Taven misses a Frog Splash on Cobb and gets hit with a Snake Eyes followed by a Pumphandle Back Suplex.
- Cobb starts getting some momentum going against Taven including a huge lariat that inverts Taven. Standing Moonsault gets a 2.
- DDT is countered into a Northern Lights Suplex by Cobb for a 2 count.
- Spinning Back Suplex by Cobb gets a 2.
- Taven hits Cobb with Just The Tip (of the knee) multiple times. 1 count only.
- Climax connects for Taven. 1-2-Kickout. No crowd reaction at all for Cobb kicking out of Taven's finisher. Tour of the Islands countered into another Climax. Cobb does a RVD spike on that one. 1-2-3. The crowd goes mild. Little to no reaction.
Winner: Matt Taven (STILL ROH World Champion)
Match Grade: D+. I can't say I'm too surprised. I figured this would be the outcome given that Jeff Cobb will be in Japan for the next month and a half. Still, this didn't feel like a quality main event and was too quick. This probably had to do with some pacing issues on the show. And again, there's nothing about what Matt Taven did that merits his position on the card. The crowd was near dead for much of the match, and this didn't merit PPV money at all. This would have been lackluster for an HonorClub Special main event, let alone a PPV event.
Show Grade: D+. That may be a little low considering some of the matches were of B level performance, but for a company in need of some fresh momentum and buzz, this just failed. It exemplified the problems Ring of Honor has: low crowd turnout or engagement, lackluster performances in some matches, talent being misplaced on the card. This simply was not worth the money, whether you were buying it as a regular PPV, getting it 50% off via Honor Club, or getting it as part of the Honor Club VIP.
This is the last ROH show I'm going to cover for a while, if ever. This company is clearly in trouble. You can tell by the lack of seats in the audience. The only thing keeping it going right now is its corporate backing from Sinclair. You have to wonder how ROH fits its bottom line and if the point of no return for profitability has come. The product itself is not doing anything to put butts in the seat. They made some big hires, but they're using them in confusing ways. Rush is on the pre-show. PCO and Brody King are in a Six-Man Tag. Bandido is jobbing to Shane Taylor on a PPV. And people like Shane Taylor and Matt Taven are put in positions higher than their actual abilities merit.
Simply put, ROH has a lot of work to do if it is going to survive the coming wrestling wars that are about to break out in the Fall. This was NOT an encouraging sign. There's only so much you can do with NWA and New Japan to get a couple good houses a year. If NJPW enters a relationship with AEW formally and ditches ROH, they are in trouble. In October, you are going to have WWE and AEW going back and forth on cable TV. After that, NJPW is the next biggest wrestling promotion in terms of exposure in the country. The NWA is going to be the NWA. They aren't in any great position right now and still basically content on being where they are for the time being. ROH and Impact are in the greater danger in the coming months. Their saving grace for both of them are corporate backing to fund their operations, but at what point does an executive look at the expenditures and the lack of profits and decide to cut their losses and invest in something else? And for talent, we've heard the horror stories from Impact wrestlers (Killer Kross being very vocal lately about being told to get a second job if he needed more money) who are underpaid and overworked. These companies could be dying breeds if talents decide that the low-pay of being under corporate contracts is not enough and decide to either a) seek a position in one of the larger wrestling companies or b) go into the independent wrestling circuit and use that pay along with merchandising from Pro Wrestling Tees to fund their careers (the Joey Ryan route).
I know this is a lot to throw down at the end of a review, but I couldn't help thinking of all of this as this show unfolded. I'm worried for a bunch of wrestlers and their families. And I'm worried that the variety of wrestling programs is about to shrink very quickly if promotions fail to make the changes needed in order to survive. Because The Great Wrestling War is coming. And those who fail to adapt will perish. (I didn't mean to channel Jon Snow just then, but it fits.)
Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
Update: 9:10AM Saturday: I am watching the show after having internet and power turned off and on all last night. I'll be adding my thoughts on here as my viewing of the show goes on. A full review should be up by 2PM today.
Update: 1:27PM- The show is finished. The review continues below.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Before the show even gets started, here are some quick predictions for the card:
Pre-Show:
Rush defeats Flip Gordon
Main Show
Kelly Klein and Jenny Rose defeat The Allure
Nick Aldis and his partner (TBA) defeat The Briscoes
Lifeblood defeats Villain Enterprises for the ROH World 6-Man Tag Team Championships
Jay Lethal defeats Kenny King
Dalton Castle defeats Dragon Lee
Silas Young defeats Jonathan Gresham in the "Pure Rules" match
Bandido defeats Shane Taylor to win the ROH World Television Championship
Matt Taven defeats Jeff Cobb to retain the ROH World Championship
ROH Best in the World 2019
Baltimore, MD
June 28, 2019
Pre-Show
- I'm interested in seeing how many people show up to this event tonight. Hope they get a good, loud crowd.
Flip Gordon vs. Rush
- They are starting off hot immediately!
- The streamers shower the ring for Rush's entrance.
- Code of Honor is not adhered to by Rush, who kicks Flip's hand away.
- Rush shows disrespect to Flip through the opening moments and utter disdain for any of Flip's offense. But a slap in the face ticks the Ingobernable off.
- Flip gets flipped (lol) all around the ringside area into the guardrails. The last time sent Flip over the table at ringside.
- Next few moments are Rush manhandling Flip in the ring.
- Flip starts using his speed and aerial moves to fight back, including a springboard dropkick.
- Rush gets the upperhand back again and does the Tranquilo pose.
(And as I feared, the power went out. And FITE apparently cut the feed to the pre-show. Just great. Double Whammy.)
I turn on ROH's Facebook feed to see that Rush has apparently won the match. He cuts a promo saying he's here to be #1. Nobody wants to mess with him.
Seemed like a good match from what I could see. From what I read, FITE cut off the feed of the Pre-Show. So I had a hard time trying to find a feed to watch. Thankfully, ROH's Facebook page had live coverage going on.
- Nick Aldis comes out next and cuts a promo in the middle of the ring. He puts over Colt Cabana and wishes him a full recovery. He puts over Baltimore as NWA Territory. He announces his partner and NEW NWA star... James Storm comes out. He calls Nick the "protected one." Storm did not get picked as his tag team partner. Storm spent 22 years earning his respect in this business. He wants to know who Aldis's partner is. It's former Impact star Eli Drake! Nice surprise. He puts over his new company and his roots (Hagerstown, MD). He also puts over The 10 Pounds of Gold. He can't stop being Eli Drake. He's going to turn the wrestling world inside out.
(Nice surprise and an added bonus for the Best in the World audience. Drake adds some charisma to the NWA roster for sure. Does he move the needle any? Not now. But who knows? Social media is a funny thing.)
Main Show
The opening video package puts over the main storylines and the different paths the feuds have taken to get to this night.
1) Dalton Castle vs. Dragon Lee
- Dragon Lee has had a hot year so far, winning the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship in a shocker at G1 Supercard. Dalton Castle... well, he's had a conflicted year.
- Dalton is a heel. But he still gets showered with the streamers upon his entrance.
- They tease Dragon Lee finishing the match as quick as Rush did with the same finishing sequence from G1 Supercard. But Castle is able to avoid the pin. Lee gets caught trying the hurricanrana off the apron and gets powerbombed on the edge of the ring instead. Ouch.
- Lee gets thrown into the guardrail and goes into the front row. Some poor guy in the front row gets Lee's foot going down his face slowly. They do it AGAIN on the other side of the ring. (Are we looking for lawsuits tonight?! You would think ROH would have learned their lesson from the G1 Supercard when a ladder went into the audience.) Castle does it on a third side of ringside as well to Lee. Lee tries to do the same to Castle, but it doesn't have as much effect. No fans were hurt in the guardrail whip this time. (Absolutely ridiculous and unsafe. If the fans were a good six feet from the guardrail and not six inches, I would be more ok with what they did. But there's no excuse when fans are literally on top of the guardrails.)
- Castle takes Lee into the ring and continues to work on Lee. Dalton focuses on using groundwork to keep Lee down and tries to take the mask off along the way. Dragon Lee tries to get psyched up, but Castle stops that momentum. More mask and ground work by Castle. Lee's mask is torn exposing part of his face. Lee gets Castle to the floor and hits a nice suicide dive to the floor.
- Lee and Castle go back at it in the ring with some back and forth offense. German suplexes. A Reverse Rana by Dragon Lee.
- Dragon Lee starts mounting more offense after avoiding Dalton's finisher. He hits a series of running knees to Castle.
- Dragon Lee's comeback has come to an end. Dalton Castle hits Bang-A-Rang. But Castle doesn't want to end the match quite yet. Instead, he decides to hit "Bull's Horns" (Rush's running corner dropkick to a sitting opponent) on Dragon Lee (Rush's brother). 1-2-3. Castle wins.
Winner: Dalton Castle
Match Grade: C. I have to knock this down a grade due to the repeated body throws into the audience early on. There's no excuse for it. Also, as good as some of the moves were, this didn't reach anywhere near the capabilities of these two. It was an alright match. Castle's heel turn continues to evolve. Dragon Lee was brought in to do a job, being a guy who is not a full time ROH star. It was a good but disappointing match.
2) Jenny Rose and Kelly Klein vs. The Allure (Mandy Leon vs. Angelina Love) (w/ Velvet Sky)
- Klein and Rose run into the ring to start the brawl. The Allure get the advantage for a moment, but Klein and Rose take the momentum and start knocking The Allure over.
- Angelina Love takes the beating from Klein and Rose, but she is able to get help from Velvet Sky on the floor to knock down Jenny Rose on the floor. Rose then is the victim of The Allure's attacks in the ring. As they continue the attack, they are able to beat down Klein as well. Angelina Love hits an impressive dive off the top rope onto Klein and Rose on the floor.
- Rose hits a spear on Leon in the ring a few moments later. Klein and Love start going at it in the ring with Klein getting that face momentum going.
- DDT to Klein by Leon takes her down. Spear on the apron by Rose followed by a slam on the floor to Leon. However, Leon is able to dispose of Rose by sending her into the guardrail.
- Angelina Love kicks out of a high impact move by Klein. The Allure use the numbers advantage. Leon hits Klein in the back of the head with a shoe. Botox Injection by Angelina Love gets the 3 count for The Allure.
Winners: The Allure
Match Grade: C-. There were some rough spots in the match and some awkward moments where you could tell they were talking through the match with each other, but they were busting their butts out there. For all the hate Angelina Love and Velvet Sky seem to get, I felt Angelina held her own in this match. This wasn't the greatest match in the world, but it wasn't the worst either. So, I'm giving it a low average score.
The Allure stand tall at the end of the match, and then, the lights go off. We see a bunch of dolls on the screen with one being plucked away from the rest. A woman by the name of Maria Manac(?) makes her debut when the lights come on. The Allure run off. The announce team make a bunch of "Maneater" references from Hall & Oates. She manhandles a bunch of independent wrestlers turned security guards for the paycheck. She powerbombs one out of the ring onto the other ones.
3) Kenny King vs. Jay Lethal
- This is the final match in a Best of 3 series. King has basically manhandled Jay Lethal throughout the series with him leaving Jay Lethal laying each time.
- I just noticed how empty this arena is during Jay Lethal's entrance. I was afraid of this as ROH was sending a lot of notifications and emails to get people to come to the event.
- King toys around getting into the ring, further angering Lethal. Lethal refuses to adhere to the Code of Honor prior to the match. (Can't blame him. He's been punked by King every time during this feud.)
- Jay Lethal is so good at the basics, especially at selling. He sold an arm wrench better than most men sell finishing moves. Hats off to Lethal.
- Lethal and King trade moves back and forth. King is going for the insults early on by trying to hit Lethal with Lethal's own signature moves, such as the corner dropkick and the cartwheel dropkick on the mat.
- King even steals Macho Man's top rope throat attack and mocks the late legend.
- They take the fight to the floor. Lethal is placed on a chair, but he is able to send a charging King face first into it. Moments later, King hits a suplex into the edge of the ring on Lethal. (That's a new one.)
- King now takes advantage and works on Lethal in the ring. Boston Crab by King followed by an armbar. Lethal fights back and gets a missile dropkick on King a moment or two later.
- Jay Lethal hits ROYAL FLUSH (King's finishing move) for a 2 count. Well, it's on now.
- King gets sent to the floor, and Lethal starts doing the suicide dives. But King catches Lethal on the second dive and drives him on the floor.
- They go back in the ring. Blue Thunder Bomb by King in the ring (Heh. That rhymed.). Shooting Star Press off the top by King. 2 count only. (This is easily the best match on this show thus far. Good job by both men.)
- Figure Four by Jay Lethal. King's cane is thrown into the ring. Lethal breaks the hold. During the distraction, King tries to low blow Lethal, but Lethal catches him and hits LETHAL INJECTION! 1-2-KICKOUT!!!! Not too many people have ever kicked out of Lethal Injection.
- Both men are on the top rope now. King throws Lethal off, and he hits a BLockbuster. A Cloth4esline. Kenny King HITS LETHAL INJECTION AND ROYAL FLUSH!!!!! 1-2-3!!!!!
Winner: Kenny King
Match Grade: B+. This was a very good match that maybe needed an additional 4-5 minutes to really get into that next level. Still, this was the kind of match that this show needed after a couple of average (at best) matches. Lethal helped put King over in this. The question is whether King can catch any momentum now as a wrestler for the company. This company really needs guys to step up.
4) Pure Rules Match
Jonathan Gresham vs. Silas Young
- Both men come out in robes for this match.
- The rules are: 3 Rope Breaks to break a pin or submission. After that, a rope break cannot break up either. Closed fists to the face are banned. First offense is a warning. Second offense is a DQ.
- Technical wrestling focused work thus far with both men trading hammerlocks, armlocks, and leglocks.
- Gresham uses his rope break to stop a submission hold by Young, though Young did push him into the ropes for that.
- Young continues to use his size advantage in the match against Gresham.
- Gresham uses Sila's foot to push Young into the ropes for another rope break.
- Gresham gets The Octopus Lock on Young. Young gets to the rope to use his second rope break. (A camera shot of Young on the floor exposes the rows of empty seats behind him. Yikes. Seriously, this company is in trouble come the fall and winter.)
- They continue to go back at it in the ring. Young uses a closed fist to punch Gresham in the face. He gets his warning. On the outside, Young throws Gresham into the guardrail a couple times. Back in the ring, Young continues to beat down on Gresham.
- A couple moments later, Gresham has to use another rope break to get out of a Single-Leg Boston Crab by Young. Each man has one rope break left.
- Gresham uses his last rope break to escape another submission. Now, he can't use the ropes to break up a submission or escape a pinfall. Young suplexes Gresham multiple times, and Gresham sells hurting his knees when he lands on his feet. Gresham then sells his back on the corner, allowing Young to throw him down onto the floor. Gresham gets caught in another submission in the ring. Gresham has to use his skills to escape as the ropes don't break the hold.
- Silas gets caught in another Octopus Lock. Gresham forces Silas's hand onto the rope to remove his last available rope break.
- Both men exchange forearms in the center of the ring. Both men try to suplex each other, but they end up crashing and burning over the top rope down to the floor.
- Gresham pulls the apron and causes the referee to fix it. HE LOW BLOWS YOUNG! (Payback from what Silas did to him in an earlier match.) He locks on the Octopus Lock submission and gets the tap out.
Winner: Jonathan Gresham
Match Grade: B. I personally enjoyed this match. Gresham and Young worked the rules well throughout the match in telling their story. The crowd seemed a bit stunned that Gresham stooped to Young's level to win the match. There are no pure babyfaces anymore in wrestling. So this does add a bit of character to Gresham in returning the "favor" to Young. But again, I enjoyed the match more than apparently the live crowd did.
5) The Briscoes vs. Eli Drake/Nick Aldis
- James Storm is on commentary. Sorry about our damn luck.
- NWA guys come out acting like heels while The Briscoes come out acting like hometown faces. (Maybe I missed something, but aren't The Briscoes still heels?)
- Drake and Mark go at it for a few moments. Then, Nick Aldis and Jay Briscoe get tagged in to go at it for a few moments. The Briscoes end up getting Nick isolated in the ring and start working on him. Double Shoulder Tackle by The Briscoes. However, on the outside, Aldis and Drake are able to knock down Mark Briscoe.
- Both teams start getting some double-team offense on their opponents. Eli Drake gets beaten down for a few moments. He hits one big neckbreaker, does his "E-LI- DRAKE" taunt, tags in his partner, and falls to the mat. (That's some crappy selling if I do say so myself.)
- Moments later, Mark and Drake are going at it. During this sequence, there's some athletic moves such as a big jump up superplex by Drake. But Mark gets up immediately and falls back into his corner to get the tag from Jay. Selling is dead in this match.
- Drake gets Burning Hammer on Jay Briscoe for a 2 count. Redneck Boogie by The Briscoes and a clothesline only get a 2. Aldis suffers the Cactus Jack Elbow by Mark Briscoe on the floor. Eli and Mark fight at ringside, and you can see the sections (not just rows) of empty seats in the arena now. The bell rings as both teams have been counted out.
Winners: No Contest (Double Countout)
Match Grade: D. This may be one of the worst matches I've ever seen The Briscoes involved in, going back to the shows I've watched on Honor Club and in the last couple years of following ROH. The lack of selling in this match was horrific, and Eli Drake did not look good for much of this match. This felt more like a match that should have been on ROH TV.
- James Storm jumps Eli Drake and beats him up going to the backstage area. Aldis is left alone to deal with The Briscoes. A table is setup in the ring, and Aldis is set up in the ring. Aldis's female manager (Camille?) shows up, and the referees get her out of the ring. Security and officials try to stop The Briscoes from putting Aldis through the table, and they get beat up for their trouble. Aldis tries to fight back, but a low blow stops that nonsense. Froggy Bow to Aldis through the table. Marty Scurll runs down afrer The Briscoes have cleared the ring and helps Nick Aldis to the back.
6) ROH TV Championship
Shane Taylor (c) vs. Bandido
- Bandido hits a few nice moves in the ring to send Taylor to the floor. But Taylor catches Bandido flying at him in the ring and throws him against the side of the ring. Taylor tries to rile up the crowd with some insults thrown at some fans.
- Back in the ring, Taylor continues to pummel Bandido. After about 3 minutes, Bandido starts hitting some high flying moves. He gets Taylor to the floor and this time hits a Flop over the top to the floor.
- Springboard Hurricanrana only gets a 2 for Bandido. Bandido and Taylor continue to go back and forth with a couple awkward moments here and there. Taylor hits a a mid-rope corner splash on Bandido for a 2 count.
- Taylor blocks a lot of Bandido's offensive attempts. Powerbomb, knee lift, and a Package Piledriver by Taylor to Bandido only gets a 2 count. (Looked like a 3 to me.) The crowd's energy is lukewarm at this point.
- Taylor jumps off the corner. Bandido catches him (?!?!?!) and hits a spinning slam on Taylor for a 2 count.
- Shooting Star Press by Bandido again only gets a 2 count.
- Bandido jumps on Taylor once too many times and gets hit with Welcome to the Land/Greetings from 216. 1-2-3.
Winner: Shane Taylor (STILL ROH TV Champion)
Match Grade: C. And I feel that's being generous. While I respect Taylor's abilities to a point, this was a time to get some excitement into the product by putting the title on Bandido. Taylor and Bandido had a couple awkward moments and a couple good moments as well. But the crowd energy, up to the last minute, was muted. I honestly feel that Taylor is in the wrong position on the card right now, especially with so much competition coming up in the coming months. This was the time to make a splash, and like most of the show thus far, it has failed to do that.
7) ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championships
Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll, PCO, and Brody King) (c) vs. Lifeblood (Mark Haskins and Tracy Williams) and PJ Black
- Villain Enterprises come out to something seemingly from the Road Warriors closet. While the Road Warriors looked amazing and scarey as hell in the spikes, I'm not too much of a fan of Villain Enterprises wearing this. It screams desperation. And look: They have alternate tag team championships with their logo on it. I wasn't a fan of the Smoking Skull Belt, the Spinner Belt, or other modified championship titles (the Hemp-based WWE Championship of Daniel Bryan being the exception). This again just doesn't work for me.
- No Code of Honor.
- We get Scurll and Haskins starting the match. Then it becomes Black vs. PCO. Then King vs. Williams. Each results in a back-and-forth standoff between the two wrestlers. Williams gets beaten down by King. Then Scurll gets tagged in and begins working on Williams. Things start breaking down with everyone getting involved. Brody King and PCO dive out on their opponents with PCO hitting a Cannonball on the Lifeblood team.
- Back in the ring, Villain Enterprises continue to beat down on Williams with frequent tags from all three men.
- Eventually Williams gets a German suplex on King. Tags to Haskins and Scurll. Williams and Haskins start tagging in and out working on Scurll in rapid fire. PJ Black gets in on the fun as well. A Surfboard into a Running Boot by Haskins and Black. Reverse Boston Crab by Black leads to a double dropkick to the body of Scurll. Lifeblood and Black are unable to stop Scurll from getting the tag to King.
- Running clotheslines into the corner by King to Williams and Black. Senton on both men (who were stacked on top of each other). Villain Enterprises continues the momentum with a Quebec Crab by Scurll and PCO (A Boston Crab with PCO dropping the leg off the corner). PCO follows that up with a Suicide Dive through the ropes while King hits a running Senton onto Haskins in the ring for a 2 count. Villain Enterprises keeps the momentum and the abuse coming.
- PCO gets isolated. Lifeblood hits a couple top rope moves on PCO for a 2 count, but the pin gets broken up.
- Scurll and King get taken out on the floor. SPIKE PILEDRIVER! 1-2-PCO didn't really kick out, but the referee called it as such.
- Haskins goes back after PCO, but PCO is able to avoid another piledriver.
- Tags to Black and Scurll. PCO clotheslines Black to the floor, taking both men down to the outside. Haskins superkicks PCO on the corner, allowing Williams to POWERBOMB PCO ON THE EDGE OF THE RING!
- Springboard Back Kick by Black to Scurll. Moonsault only gets 2 thanks to King breaking up the pin.
- KING HITS A SICK SERIES OF MOVES INCLUDING A DOUBLE LUCHADORE STYLE ARM FLIP TO HASKINS AND WILLIAMS TO THE FLOOR FOLLOWED BY A SENTON DIVE TO THE FLOOR ONTO BOTH MEN! Jesus. And he follows that up by letting a fan know that they're "#1." Lol.
- Back in the ring, Black gets caught diving onto Scurll. Gonzo Bomb by King to Black. PCO hits the moonsault after losing his footing initially. 1-2-3.
Winners: Villain Enterprises
Match Grade: B. There was some good work done in this match by these guys. This was the right amount of time given, and despite a few hiccups, I thoroughly enjoyed the insanity of it all. Hats off to King and PCO for showing how awesome they are.
The Soldiers of Savagery come out and attack Lifeblood. Bandido comes out to help save his Lifeblood teammates. But Bully Ray comes out to knock down Bandido. He gets a chair, but Flip Gordon arrives and brings a Kendo Stick to chase off Bully Ray. Flip is offered a position in Lifeblood by being given a T-Shirt. He puts it on.
Lights go out. The video wall comes on. It's Marty Scurll (ala Kenny Omega when Omega kicked Adam Cole out of Bullet Club). He congratulates Lifeblood on their new member. He announces that he has a new employee of Villain Enterprises. He searched all over the world, but the newest member was right underneath his nose the entire time. He is The Intern. He is The Understudy. He is The Mercenary. He is Flip Gordon! The lights come back on. SUPERKICK by Flip Gordon. Villain Enterprises come back out and join Flip in beating down Lifeblood. They put Williams on a table on the floor. FLIP goes to the top of the corner and hits a 450 SPLASH THROUGH WILLIAMS THROUGH THE TABLE. Flip looked to about kill himself coming down from that move.
Main Event
ROH World Championship
Matt Taven (c) vs. Jeff Cobb
- I want to be nice. But everything about Matt Taven being champion screams minor league.
- Code of Honor adhered to.
- Cobb nails Taven with a chop so hard that he falls over the corner onto the cameraman. Taven charges Cobb back in the ring and gets sent right back over the top rope to the floor. Taven tells Cobb that it's on his time.
- Taven and Cobb continue the match in the ring. Taven gets hit with an Overhead Belly-To-Belly Suplex followed by a Delayed Vertical Suplex.
- Cobb gets caught chasing Taven to the floor with a Shoulder DDT on the apron. Taven uses this opportunity to hit a Suicide Dive, sending Cobb head-first into the guardrail. Back in the ring, Taven continues to work on Cobb, including an armbar.
- Taven misses a Frog Splash on Cobb and gets hit with a Snake Eyes followed by a Pumphandle Back Suplex.
- Cobb starts getting some momentum going against Taven including a huge lariat that inverts Taven. Standing Moonsault gets a 2.
- DDT is countered into a Northern Lights Suplex by Cobb for a 2 count.
- Spinning Back Suplex by Cobb gets a 2.
- Taven hits Cobb with Just The Tip (of the knee) multiple times. 1 count only.
- Climax connects for Taven. 1-2-Kickout. No crowd reaction at all for Cobb kicking out of Taven's finisher. Tour of the Islands countered into another Climax. Cobb does a RVD spike on that one. 1-2-3. The crowd goes mild. Little to no reaction.
Winner: Matt Taven (STILL ROH World Champion)
Match Grade: D+. I can't say I'm too surprised. I figured this would be the outcome given that Jeff Cobb will be in Japan for the next month and a half. Still, this didn't feel like a quality main event and was too quick. This probably had to do with some pacing issues on the show. And again, there's nothing about what Matt Taven did that merits his position on the card. The crowd was near dead for much of the match, and this didn't merit PPV money at all. This would have been lackluster for an HonorClub Special main event, let alone a PPV event.
Show Grade: D+. That may be a little low considering some of the matches were of B level performance, but for a company in need of some fresh momentum and buzz, this just failed. It exemplified the problems Ring of Honor has: low crowd turnout or engagement, lackluster performances in some matches, talent being misplaced on the card. This simply was not worth the money, whether you were buying it as a regular PPV, getting it 50% off via Honor Club, or getting it as part of the Honor Club VIP.
This is the last ROH show I'm going to cover for a while, if ever. This company is clearly in trouble. You can tell by the lack of seats in the audience. The only thing keeping it going right now is its corporate backing from Sinclair. You have to wonder how ROH fits its bottom line and if the point of no return for profitability has come. The product itself is not doing anything to put butts in the seat. They made some big hires, but they're using them in confusing ways. Rush is on the pre-show. PCO and Brody King are in a Six-Man Tag. Bandido is jobbing to Shane Taylor on a PPV. And people like Shane Taylor and Matt Taven are put in positions higher than their actual abilities merit.
Simply put, ROH has a lot of work to do if it is going to survive the coming wrestling wars that are about to break out in the Fall. This was NOT an encouraging sign. There's only so much you can do with NWA and New Japan to get a couple good houses a year. If NJPW enters a relationship with AEW formally and ditches ROH, they are in trouble. In October, you are going to have WWE and AEW going back and forth on cable TV. After that, NJPW is the next biggest wrestling promotion in terms of exposure in the country. The NWA is going to be the NWA. They aren't in any great position right now and still basically content on being where they are for the time being. ROH and Impact are in the greater danger in the coming months. Their saving grace for both of them are corporate backing to fund their operations, but at what point does an executive look at the expenditures and the lack of profits and decide to cut their losses and invest in something else? And for talent, we've heard the horror stories from Impact wrestlers (Killer Kross being very vocal lately about being told to get a second job if he needed more money) who are underpaid and overworked. These companies could be dying breeds if talents decide that the low-pay of being under corporate contracts is not enough and decide to either a) seek a position in one of the larger wrestling companies or b) go into the independent wrestling circuit and use that pay along with merchandising from Pro Wrestling Tees to fund their careers (the Joey Ryan route).
I know this is a lot to throw down at the end of a review, but I couldn't help thinking of all of this as this show unfolded. I'm worried for a bunch of wrestlers and their families. And I'm worried that the variety of wrestling programs is about to shrink very quickly if promotions fail to make the changes needed in order to survive. Because The Great Wrestling War is coming. And those who fail to adapt will perish. (I didn't mean to channel Jon Snow just then, but it fits.)
Until next time, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
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