Coverage
Mitchell’s WWE Monday Night Raw Results & Report! (1/14/19)
The Raw Women’s Champion named her challenger, but both of them have a common enemy to deal with. Can Ronda and Sasha coexist against The Samoan Dynasty?
OFFICIAL RESULTS
- Ronda Rousey & Sasha Banks VS Nia Jax & Tamina; Rousey & Banks win.
- Lucha House Party VS The Revival; The Revival wins.
- Six Woman Tag: The Riott Squad VS Bayley, Natalya & ???; Bayley, Natalya & Nikki Cross win.
- Jinder Mahal w/ Samir Singh VS Finn Balor; Finn wins and stays in the #1 Contenders Fatal 4 Way.
- WWE Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat: Dean Ambrose VS Seth Rollins VS Bobby Lashey w/ Lio Rush; Lashley wins and becomes the new WWE Intercontinental Champion.
- WWE Universal Championship #1 Contenders Fatal 4 Way: Baron Corbin VS Drew McIntyre VS Finn Balor VS John Cena; Finn wins and will face Brock Lesnar for the title at the Royal Rumble.
PLAY BY PLAY
Now arriving in a limousine…
It’s Vincent Kennedy McMahon! The Chairman is here for Raw, but he wants his driver to make sure the limo is perfectly clean. Vince then heads in, what will he have to do and say tonight in Memphis?
BRAUN is here, too!
The Monster Among Men awaits his second chance against The Beast at the Royal Rumble, but he was hoping to get a fight out of Brock Lesnar last week. Strowman tried goading Lesnar into reacting, but Paul Heyman and Lesnar simply brushed off all Strowman’s insults. Memphis chants “Get These Hands!” for Strowman has he picks up a mic. “You know he’ll never admit it, but Brock Lesnar has always been afraid of me.” When Strowman was the Monster in the Bank, Lesnar was constantly looking over his shoulder. When Strowman was about to beat Roman Reigns, Lesnar came down to bust the door of the Cell. And when Strowman was gonna beat Lesnar directly at WWE Crown Jewel, Baron Corbin rigged the match.
“Hey, Beastie Boy, I hope you’re watching this from training camp. Because I’m all healed up.” And Corbin is no longer in power, so there’s no one to save Lesnar now. Lesnar’s biggest fear will come true in Phoenix, because Strowman will get the Universal Championship, and Lesnar will #GetTheseHands! But speaking of Baron Corbin, he comes out on stage. Fans boo as Corbin tells Strowman that he may not run raw anymore– Because he got fired! But as Corbin was– Strowman gets it. “You Got Fired~!” Corbin says fans can chant all they want but they’ll still have to listen to him, even if he has to be out here all night. In fact, if Corbin’s out here for just another five minutes, that’ll be longer than Strowman lasted against Lesnar!
Corbin tells Strowman needs to stop lying. Fans believe in him but all he does is let us down. Strowman can’t win, and he knows it! Corbin will then win the Royal Rumble and go to where Strowman never will: the main event of Wrestlemania! But Strowman rushes Corbin on stage! The chase is on and ends up backstage. Strowman demands to know where Corbin is, and the Singh Brothers can’t decide which way, so he throws them both into catering! Strowman continues his hunt, where will the Monster Among Men find The Lone Wolf? The Drifter appears to sing as the bard of WWE. He knows where Corbin went, saw it with his own two eyes. Now the Monster’s on a chase, there’s something he should know. Corbin’s hiding in that limo. Strowman thanks Elias with a nod and closes in on his target.
Strowman goes right at the limo, and smashes the mirrors off! He drags out the driver and tosses him! The doors are locked, so Strowman demands Corbin get out. Corbin doesn’t, so Strowman finds himself a pipe! And he smashes the windows! Corbin screams as Strowman pulls the door right off!! Corbin escapes the other side and runs away. But then Strowman encounters the limo’s owner, Vince McMahon! McMahon is naturally angry, and perhaps for the first time in his life, Strowman is worried. What will the consequences be of demolishing the Chairman’s car?
Raw returns, and Strowman tries to fix the limousine.
It doesn’t work. McMahon sees this human wrecking ball, a walking danger zone. Look what he did! Strowman will have to pay $100,000. For this piece of crap?! If Strowman wants to raise his voice and be a bad guy, then his title match is off! Strowman is furious, so he decides to take it out on what’s left of the limo! He gets it up and over! But vehicular destruction aside, who will take Strowman’s shot at Lesnar?
Braun Strowman is escorted out of the building.
The Monster is out, and Corbin is laughing it up. Will the Lone Wolf capitalize on this opportunity?
Ronda Rousey & Sasha Banks VS Nia Jax & Tamina!
The Baddest Woman on the Planet challenged The Boss to be her next challenger, but the Irresistible Force wouldn’t let herself be passed up. Banks beat Nia in a #1 Contenders match and now Ronda and Sasha will have that title match. However, to keep the Samoan Dynasty out of their business, the #RowdyBossAlliance has been formed for tonight! Will they be able to coexist and survive to reach the Royal Rumble?
Raw returns as the teams sort out. Sasha starts against Nia as a rematch from last week, but Nia and Tamina talk it over first. Nia circles with Sasha and Nia says she wants Ronda. Fans like the sound of that, but Sasha hits Nia with forearms! Nia shoves Sasha but Sasha comes back to huricanrana Nia to a corner. Sasha runs in for double knees, then does it again. But Nia catches those and puts Sasha up top. Sasha boots back then runs to sunset flip. Nia lifts her up and puts her back in the corner. Sasha dodges to rock Nia with a chop. Sasha goes acrobatic to arm-drag, but Nia blocks! Nia yanks Sasha up but Sasha slips into a sleeper hold! Nia puts Sasha on buckles again, but Sasha hops back on! Sasha is a backpack but Nia tosses her off.
Nia runs in but Sasha dodges. Sasha hits a knee, then climbs up. She boots Nia again to hit a bulldog! Sasha keeps going, shining wizard! Cover, TWO! Sasha tags to Ronda and the Rowdy One kicks away! She throws hands, too, but Nia powers her to the corner. Tamina tags in and Tamina throws headbutts. She rocks Ronda, but Ronda comes back with a takedown into the armbar! Tamina flails and Nia saves her! The Samoan Dynasty regroups as fans boo and jeer. Ronda waits for Tamina, but she and Nia make Ronda wait a little longer as they talk strategy. Tamina finally returns, then ducks back out. Fans boo and jeer but the Samoans simply smile. Tamina slowly returns, but Sasha Meteoras Nia! Sasha saw through their plan, and things continue after the break.
Raw returns as Nia thrashes Sasha about in a bearhug! Fans rally for Sasha as she endures the squeeze. Sasha fights out but Nia pushes her away. Sasha rolls up but into a powerbomb! High stack, TWO! Nia barrels into Sasha with a senton! Cover, TWO! Nia is shocked but keeps on Sasha with a cobra clutch. Fans rally up again and Sasha continues to endure. We go picture in picture as Sasha feeds off the rally. Sasha stands but Nia wrangles her right back down. We return to single picture as Nia leans on Sasha. Sasha stands and jawbreakers out! Sasha runs but into a back elbow! Nia drags Sasha up and over, then tags in Tamina. Tamina stomps a mudhole into Nia, then drags Sasha up again.
Tamina scoops but Sashas slips out to roll up! TWO, and Tamina catches Sasha’s leap! Sasha’s so close but Tamina shoves her away from Ronda. Tamina hits Ronda down, and the ref has to keep Ronda back! Tamina runs into Sasha’s boot! Sasha fights out, goes up and over and Tamina hits Nia! Rolling leg sweep into the crossface! Tamina taps, Sasha and Ronda win!
Winners: Ronda Rousey & Sasha Banks, Sasha by submission
The Boss and the Baddest make it a win as a team, but now they’re back to being opponents. Charli Caruso interviews them in the ring and comments on that teamwork. It’s easy to trust each other when there’s respect. Sasha’s a great superstar, and it will be Ronda’s honor to defend against her. Ronda winning against Sasha will be the best win yet. Sasha heard that comment. Ronda didn’t mean it in a bad way. The way to show her respect is to make her tap out. Tap Sasha out? Again, that’s not how it sounds.
Sasha doesn’t like Ronda thinking she’s the only submission star here. Just ask Nia and Tamina what Sasha did. Sasha is ready to go any time, any where. And she’ll be the one teaching Ronda how to lose with class. Then teach by example, because Ronda’s not about to become the world’s classiest loser. Again, Ronda tries to say it’s not how it sounds, but Sasha won’t let her forget who she called out. Ronda said Sasha’s the best. Sasha isn’t afraid. And Ronda will get used to not having eh way around here, because Sasha’s gonna tap Ronda out and take back that title. #BankOnIt. Sasha leaves, but Ronda wants to apologize. This is meant to be respectful. Sasha isn’t listening, this is her house. But will that be her title again after the Rumble?
Mr. McMahon has a line outside his door.
But coming out of the office is Jerry “The King” Lawler! No Way Jose passes by with his conga line and King is clearly confused. But what is all this business about?
An argument breaks out backstage!
Ronda and Sasha won’t stop, so their friends Bayley and Natalya step in to keep the peace. Natty tells Ronda to just cool off in the locker room while Bayley tells Sasha to go somewhere else. Natty says Sasha needs to learn how to control herself. Bayley takes offense and says it’s Ronda who riled Sasha up. Ronda is the one talking out of both sides of her mouth. Natty says Ronda didn’t do anything, it’s just Sasha being sensitive. Now these two argue!
And the Riott Squad come by to tease everyone for “falling apart”. This isn’t any of their business. Oh sorry, is Bayley upset over Sasha dumping her for the Raw Women’s Championship? Again, this has nothing to do with them. Oh it has everything to do with them. Because they love making bad situations worse. If Bayley and Natty can find themselves another friend, they can have a match. Natty accepts for the both of them, but is that a wise move right now?
Lucha House Party VS The Revival!
The #TopGuys cry conspiracy over the two times they lost in Raw Tag Team Championship matches controversially, but also all those Lucha House Rules matches they were stuck in. Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson say LHP saw the ropebreak last week, but instead of saying anything, they just turned their backs. Tonight, they’ll pay the price for that. Will Dash & Dawson #SayYeah to some of their own personal justice?
The teams sort out, and Lince Dorado is the odd amigo out. Dash starts against Kalisto and circle. They tie up and Dash arm-drags Kalisto fast. Dash mocks the lucha chants, then hugs Dawson. Kalisto and Dash tie up again and Dash powers Kalisto to ropes. Dash arm-drags but Kalisto cartwheels through. Things speed up and Kalisto dropkicks Dash. Kalisto chops and goes acrobatic, for a big arm-drag! Kalisto tags in Metalik and they double whip Dash. They hip toss Dash down, then add the wheelbarrow senton! Cover, TWO! Metalik keeps on Dash and tags Kalisto. Kalisto climbs and hits the elbow. Kalisto wrenches but Dash tags Dawson. Atomic drop dropkick combo! Cover, TWO! Dawson drops leg drops while we check on Mr. McMahon’s office.
Dawson drags Kalisto up to whip and elbow him down while Dasha Fuentes notes that everyone wants that title match with Brock Lesnar. Dasha interviews one hopeful in Apollo Crews. Dawson drags Kalisto to a corner while Apollo says this line is crazy. That’s how important the Universal Championship is! Dawson rocks Kalisto with European Uppercuts and CHOPS. Dawson snap suplexes Kalisto then covers, TWO! Curt Hawkins comes in and says everyone is deserving. But no one brings what he brings to the table: The Streak! “You feel me?” No… Dawson keeps on Kalisto with a chinlock while The Top One Percent is spotted in line! EC3 just grins, because he doesn’t need to say anything more.
Kalisto endures the chinlock as fans rally up, but The B-Team speak to Dasha. The B stands for Brock! Wait, what? So who will face him then? Is that what this is for? Kalisto fights Dawson off with body shots, then slides under. The B-Team is undecided and will get back to Dasha on that. Kalisto kicks Dawson away, hot tag to Dash! Dash stops Kalisto from tagging Metalik while Slater and Rhyno walk up. Slater does NOT want to face Lesnar, he’s got kids. But Rhyno might give it a try. Kalisto kicks Dash away, hot tag to Metalik! Metalik swing kicks Dash then springboards to crossbody! Metalik boots Dawson and slingdogs him! Then he handsprings at Dash to huricanrana! Dawson tag sin but gets a dropkick!
Dash avoids Metalik, and the Revival regroup. They double suplex, but Kalisto saves Metalik. Kalisto rolls Dash for a Listo Kick! Dawson clobbers Kalisto! Metalik runs, springboards and sunset flips! TWO!! Metalik runs and walks the ropes, but Dawson ducks under. Dawson misses, Metalik ducks, but Dawson makes it a DDT! Cover, and Dash denies a ropebreak! The Revival win!
Winners: The Revival, Scott Dawson pinning
Poetic justice or bending the rules in their favor? It doesn’t matter to the #TopGuys, they got a win! Will they continue to “correct” the wrongs against them?
More stars wait outside Mr. McMahon’s office.
Vince comes out and sees Dasha. They want to know the scoop, right? Well he’s going to tell us, in the ring. Who has The Chairman chosen to be the Monster Among Men’s replacement?
Mr. McMahon heads to the ring!
Memphis is happy to see The Chairman in person as he picks up a mic. But before Vince can say anything, JOHN CENA appears! Cena stands across from Vince and tells him we already know what happened. The Universal Championships match is in jeopardy on the Road to Wrestlemania, so Vince wants someone to step up. Cena saves Vince the time and the trouble. When everyone else left Vince high and dry, from Stone Cold to The Rock, and even Brock Lesnar when he said “I’m going to play football”, Vince told the rejects and misfits to step up. Cena came up like a man and said “You give me a chance, I will not let you down.” Vince gave Cena that chance, and Cena didn’t let him down.
And then another chance and another chance. Cena missed birthdays, weddings and funerals for the WWE. That’s not for sympathy, but because he stepped up. So Cena just wants another chance, and promises not to let Vince down. Cena vows to walk in, defeat Lesnar, and become a 17-time world champion!! How does Cena know? Because he has something no one else has: RUTHLESS AGGRESSION! “No, no, no!” Drew McIntyre says this stops right now. How dare Cena do this. McIntyre doesn’t care about the title reigns, about the movie plugs or book deals, but he will not stand for Cena standing here with a straight face and claim that he still has that ruthless aggression. McIntyre will show us real ruthless aggression! Cena’s time is up, and McIntyre’s time is now! So like Stone Cold, just like Rock and just like Lesnar, Cena should just leave.
But Baron Corbin comes out now, and says that his life was threatened by Strowman. He’s not the kind of guy who has a lawyer on speed dial, but if he was, Mr. McMahon and Corbin could come to an agreement. Give him that Universal Championship match! Whoa whoa whoa. Finn Balor doesn’t want to interrupt, but he’s tired of being left out of the conversation. These three can claim a lot of things, but Finn is the only one who was ever Universal Champion. Vince likes the guts, but he’s not big enough for “all this beef.” Finn knows Vince never believed in him. But the fans did! And still do! Finn knows Vince is stubborn, and nothing he says will work. “So how about I show you.” And a fight breaks out! Finn rocks Corbin and McIntyre rocks Cena, but then McIntyre Claymores Finn!
The Scottish Terminator takes aim at Cena again, and hits another Claymore! McIntyre glares at Vince, and Vince likes what he sees! Each one of these men wants the title, so let’s find out who gets it! A Fatal 4 Way #1 Contender’s match! McIntyre stands tall in the scrum, but will he stand tall at the end of the night?
Vince McMahon encounters Jinder Mahal backstage.
The Modern Day Maharaja is honored to be in Vince’s presence. And Mahal is a little offended he wasn’t considered for that contenders match. He was a great WWE world champion, and was a finalist in the Mixed Match Challenge tournament. Plus, the WWE Universe was robbed of Lesnar VS Mahal a couple Survivor Series ago. So Mahal wants at the title? Yes, he wuold’ve been part of that argument if not for Strowman attacking the Singhs! Please, just one shot. Vince says that Mahal can choose one of those other four men. If he beats them, he takes their spot. Mahal accepts, and chooses Finn Balor! Then good luck. Will Mahal be able to rob Finn of his chance to grab his?
Six Woman Tag: The Riott Squad VS Bayley, Natalya & ???
Ruby, Sarah and Liv poked fun at the Huggable One and the Queen of Harts while they were in the middle of arguing about the argument between Sasha and Ronda. They were dared to find a third “friend” to make this match, but who did they find? It’s NIKKI CROSS!! The Loony Lass is on Raw as a free agent, will she make a major impact in her debut?
The teams sort out, and Sarah Logan starts against Bayley. They circle while Nikki runs about on the apron. But then Bayley thinks Nikki should have her turn, and fans like that idea! Tag to Nikki and she goes right at Sarah! Nikki hops on but Sarah throws her off, only for Nikki to dropkick Sarah down. Liv tags in but Nikki throws her around! Nikki grins as she slaps herself, and Ruby tags in. These two revisit their time in NXT together, but the Squad backs her up. Natty and Bayley come in, but Nikki tells them she’s got this, “Let Nikki play~!” Natty and Bayley let her play with the entire Squad! Nikki tackles Ruby and the Squad hurry to get their leader to safety. But then Bayley and Natty wreck Liv and Sarah with dropkicks!
Nikki drags Ruby under the ring! Nikki has Ruby in the apron skirt and hammers away! The wild one is in control, sorta, while we go to break.
Raw returns and Sarah toys with Bayley. Sarah drags Bayley up but Bayley fights back with forearms. Sarah whips but Bayley goes up and crossbodies! Cover, TWO! Sarah catches Bayley to toss her! Sarah runs and cartwheel knee drops! She scrapes Bayley out then goes out to fetch her. Sarah stomps Bayley and throws her back in. Bayley rolls Sarah, TWO! Sarah drags Bayley by her ponytail and tags in Liv. Liv climbs up and Sarah feeds Bayley to the knees and bulldog! Cover, TWO! Liv grins as she stalks Bayley to the ropes. Fans rally as Liv hops on for a sleeper pulling Bayley back. Liv lets up but Ruby gets in a cheap shot. Liv adds her dropkick then high stacks, TWO! The Squad keeps their cool as they toy with Bayley. Liv drags Bayley back but Bayley kicks her. Sarah tags in and stomps Bayley out.
Sarah drags Bayley up in a cobra clutch, but fans rally. Bayley endures and sits up. She fights back but Sarah gives her a backbreaker and toss into buckles. Sarah stomps Bayley then whips her to a corner. Bayley hits buckles hard, and Sarah roars as she runs in. Bayley gives her snake eyes! Sarah grabs Bayley but Bayley evades to hot tag Natty! The Queen of Harts rallies and German Suplexes! Then the discus clothesline! Natty keeps going with a whip, but Sarah wheelbarrows. Natty powers through to facebuster! Cover, but Ruby breaks it! Ruby drags Sarah away but Bayeley knees her down! Liv still tags Sarah, and runs to headscissor Natty! Cover, but Nikki breaks it! Liv swings but Nikki screams at her. Liv turns around into the Sharpshooter! But Liv pushes away, Nikki tags in!
Natty picks Liv up, Nikki climbs, SUPER Hart Attack! Nikki thrashes Liv around, then sees Sarah coming. Nikki gives her a neckbreaker, Natty gives Ruby a German! Ruby and Sarah end up in the same corner, Nikki sandwiches them with a splash! Bulldog for Ruby! Natty whips Nikki back to monkey flip Sarah! Natty adds a basement dropkick, then Nikki DIVES onto Ruby and Liv from the apron! Fans fire up with the frenzied Nikki, but Liv kicks her back. Liv brings Nikki back to the ring, but Nikki blocks the kick. Liv goes Matrix to dodge Nikki’s clothesline, then rolls Nikki up! TWO, and Nikki tags Bayley. Nikki gives Liv a draping neckbreaker! Bayley climbs, Nikki positions Liv, Macho Elbow! Cover, Bayley and team wins!
Winner: Bayley, Natalya and Nikki Cross, Bayley pinning
The crazy Cross makes a successful Raw debut! Will Nikki stay red or go to SmackDown blue tomorrow? And what of the issues between Bayley, Natty and each of their best friends?
Dean Ambrose speaks.
“Right versus wrong.” Right: Ambrose, all the time about everything. Wrong: a Triple Threat match for the title! Wrong: Seth Rollins is one of those two men! Also wrong: Bobby Lashley being the other! And the most wrong: defending it here in Memphis. But the odds could be 50-50 or 33 and one third chance, Ambrose will still win because no one is taking his title. Right or wrong, will the “Moral Compass” still be champion?
Finn Balor heads to gorilla.
Who is that talking to Mickie James and Dana Brooke? Why it’s the Lady of NXT, Lacey Evans! The Model Soldier talks her fabulous wardrobe, but when will she bring her ring gear to Raw and SmackDown?
Jinder Mahal w/ Samir Singh VS Finn Balor!
The Modern Day Maharaja is down a Singh after what Braun Strowman did, but he will soldier on in his attempts to become champion. He wants to remove the Extraordinary Man from tonight’s Fatal 4 Way, but will that be easier said than done?
Raw returns as Finn makes his entrance, but he doesn’t get to finish it! Samir Singh anchors Finn’s foot on the top rope, and Mahal blasts Finn off it! Mahal goes after Finn on the outside as fans boo and jeer. Mahal throws Finn into the apron again and again, then into the barriers! The referee tells Mahal to back off, but Mahal says he’s going to the Rumble to face Brock. Mahal throws Finn into more barriers, then back into the apron. He puts Finn in the ring, and tells the ref to ring the bell. The ref checks on Finn first, and Finn wants this match to happen, too. The bell rings, Mahal runs in, and boots Finn down! Cover, TWO! Mahal is furious this match isn’t over already, but he drags Finn back up for haymakers. He adds clubbing crossfaces, then puts on a chinlock.
Finn endures as fans rally for him. He fights his way up but Mahal wrangles him back down. Mahal and Samir trash talk but Finn fights his way up again. Finn fights but Mahal knees low. Mahal whips but Finn reverses. Mahal sunset flips but Finn rolls through to dropkick! Finn grits his teeth while Mahal rolls away. He fetches Mahal but Mahal back suplexes him up! Finn fights out and swing kicks Mahal! Mahal falls to the floor and Finn aims from the apron. Finn kicks but Mahal blocks it to sweep the legs! The Maharaja has the odds in his favor while we go to break.
Raw returns as Mahal drops knees at the ropes! Mahal stops to grind his knee into Finn’s face, then backs off at 4. Finn gasps and sputters while Mahal uses Shanti to keep focus. Mahal stomps Finn then drags him up. He whips Finn corner to corner and Finn hits buckles hard. The ref checks on Finn but Finn refuses to quick. Mahal drives elbows into Finn’s forehead, then pulls him back in a partial camel clutch. Finn endures as Mahal shifts to a half nelson. Fans rally again and Finn fights his way up. Mahal lifts for a big back suplex but Finn makes it a crossbody! TWO, and Mahal gets the chinlock again. Finn endures all over again, but fans rally up again. Finn jawbreakers free, and then throws hands! Mahal shoves and they collide, PELE! Both men are down and fans rally up!
Samir coaches Mahal up as both he and Finn stand. Mahal runs but into Finn’s feet. Finn hits a big forearm smash! Finn whips but Mahal reverses, only for Finn to hit another forearm. He trips Mahal up and hits the double stomps! Fans fire up with Finn as he aims from the corner. Finn runs but Mahal denies the slingblade. Finn sees Samir get up so he dropkicks him down! Mahal kicks Finn but Finn back drops him out of the ring! Finn builds speed to FLY! Direct hit hit on Mahal and Samir! Finn flexes and roars as he puts Mahal back up and in. Fans chant “Too Sweet! Woop Woop!” as Finn hits the slingblade! And the blasting dropkick! Mahal’s down while Finn climbs up, COP DE GRACE!! Cover, Finn wins!
Winner: Finn Balor, by pinfall; stays in the #1 Contenders Fatal 4 Way
The Extraordinary Man was truly extraordinary to survive this match! But he’s still banged up going into tonight’s match with Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre and John Cena. Will Finn be able to be even greater than extraordinary and punch his ticket to Phoenix?
Lio Rush speaks.
“In order to step up, you need to be willing to step on others.” Both he and Bobby Lashley understand that. They’ve suffered that, but now they’ll make others suffer. That includes Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. Lashley is the man Raw needs as champion, because Lashley is a fighter. Lashley will become Intercontinental Champion whether fans like it or not. Ambrose and Rollins better come correct or not at all, because Lashley is here to dominate and collect. That triple threat for that title, is next!
WWE Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat: Dean Ambrose VS Seth Rollins VS Bobby Lashey w/ Lio Rush!
The Lunatic Fringe doesn’t like anything about this Triple Threat match, but he doesn’t have much of a choice. Will he be able to settle things with The Architect while also denying the Rocky Mountain Machine? Or will one of them end his reign to bring that title down the Road to Wrestlemania?
Raw returns as Lashley makes his entrance with Lio. Rollins has a quick backstage interview. Is this his last chance to win back the title? Maybe it is, but that’s life. You need to make the best out of opportunities, and Rollins vows to do that when he kicks Ambrose’s teeth down his throat. Rollins is still hurting from Ambrose’s horrifying betrayal on the night of Roman Reigns’ life altering announcement. Ambrose betrayed six years of friendship, and Rollins cannot forgive him. As for Lashley, he’s impressive and intimidating, but all that only gets you so far. What matters is what you do, and no one on this planet does what Rollins does. If this is his last chance, then Rollins will lay it all on the line to take that title back. Rollins makes his entrance, and Memphis is ready to #BurnItDown!
The introductions are made, the belt is raised, and we begin! The fans are on Rollins’ side as the three men circle. Ambrose tells Rollins that they can still work together against Lashley. Rollins seems to accept, but then he throws Ambrose at Lashley! Rollins didn’t fall for anything, and got Ambrose first! Lashley throws Ambrose out but Rollins throws hands and chops. Rollins whips but Lashley reverses, and things speed up. Rollins dropkicks Lashley out of the ring, then slingshots out! He takes Lashley out but Ambrose comes around. Rollins senses him coming and hits Ambrose first. Rollins puts Ambrose in, shoulder shim away, then leaps for a crossbody! Cover, TWO! Lashley runs in but Rollins throws hands. Ambrose hits Rollins then grounds ‘n’ pounds. Lashley throws Ambrose off to rain down on Rollins.
Ambrose talks with Lashley, and now he talks an alliance between them. Lashley goes with it and puts Rollins in the corner hard. Ambrose throws haymakers then lets Lashley pick Rollins up. Lashley suplexes and floats over, ONE! Ambrose tells Lashley to take it slower, and they work together to mug Rollins. Lashley drags Rollins up for a neck wrench, then helps Ambrose mug Rollins again. Rollins gets to the apron but Ambrose drags him back in. Ambrose chokes Rollins on the ropes with Lashley’s help. Lashley holds Rollins for Ambrose to hit a forearm smash in the corner. Fans rally for Rollins while booing Lashley and Ambrose. Lashley puts Rollins in the corner to run and ram a shoulder in! Ambrose keeps on Rollins, then whips Lashley in. Rollins dodges and then rallies on both enemies! Rollins runs, but into a BIG spinebuster!
Ambrose shoves Lashley out and covers Rollins, but Rollins small packages! TWO, and Rollins clotheslines Ambrose out! Then he DIVES on both opponents! Rollins keeps going, but Lio Rush gets in! Rollins stops the kick to flip Lio. Lio dodges and the chase is on! Rollins runs into another spinebuster! Lashley catches Ambrose and throws him overhead! The former Shield brothers are down while we go to break.
Raw returns and Lashley has Rollins in a chinlock. Fans rally as Rollins endures. Ambrose returns but Lashley throws Rollins down to go after him. Ambrose gets away, and Lashley runs into Rollins’ boot. Lashley staggers into Ambrose’s clothesline! The former brothers use a familiar string of moves as Ambrose hits the sliding lariat and Rollins drops a knee! Ambrose drops the elbow, and even as enemies, they’re still in sync. They stomp away on Lashley a la The Shield! Rollins and Ambrose clothesline Lashley out of the ring, but they keep on him. They go to the steel steps and pull off the top. They aim at Lashley, and ram him with the steel! Lashley is down and Rollins returns to the ring. Ambrose and Rollins stare down, and the fight is own!
Rollins chops, Ambrose chops, repeat! Rollins gets an edge but Ambrose knees low. Ambrose runs but into Lashley’s roaring elbow! Rollins lifts Ambrose but Ambrose back drops out. Rollins sunset flips, TWO! Ambrose has the suplex, but Rollins reverses to a Falcon Arrow! Cover, but Lio breaks it on Lashley’s behalf! It’s legal because of No Disqualifications, but now Lio regrets getting everyone’s attention. The chase is on, again! Lio gets Rollins on the return, but Rollins grabs Lio. Ambrose runs in but only gets Lio! Rollins rolls Ambrose, TWO, SUPERKICK! Lashley clotheslines Rollins out! Cover on Ambrose, TWO!! Lashley is furious, but he refocuses from a corner. He aims at Ambrose, runs out, but into a kick! And an eye poke! Ambrose underhooks but Rollins springboards in!
Rollins goes after Lashley with the enziguri! Then he climbs up top. Frog Splash! But Ambrose throws Rollins out! Cover on Lashley, TWO!! Ambrose can’t believe it, but he’s not finished yet. Memphis admits “This is Awesome!” as Ambrose climbs up top. Ambrose aims but Rollins leaps up to join him! Lashley stands up and grabs Rollins! Electric chair leads to an unlikely Doomsday Device! But Rollins lands on his hands and knees to spring up and SUPERKICK Lashley! Mule kick for Ambrose, but Lio dumps Rollins out! SPEAR from Lashley to Ambrose! Cover, Lashley wins!!
Winner: Bobby Lashley, by pinfall; NEW WWE Intercontinental Champion
The Almighty Fighter finally has this title on his record! Lio helps Lashley celebrate, but he does share part in this victory. Will the Rocky Mountain Machine dominate even more as we roll down the Road to Wrestlemania?
Alexa Bliss’ assistant brings her her latte.
But she doesn’t respond right away, so he enters the dressing room. To find Alexa’s in the middle of changing!! She didn’t hear him at the door, and tells him to put the coffee on the table. He explains she’s up next then hurries out of the room. The second Moment of Bliss is up next, but will The Goddess be able to compose herself?
It’s time for a Moment of Bliss!
The Goddess welcomes Memphis to the second episode ever. And this past Christmas, Vince McMahon announced the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. But he didn’t tell us when and where. Bliss promises the inside information: Five weeks in Houston Texas, three teams from each brand, will compete in a Tag team Elimination Chamber Match! The surviving team will walk out the inaugural Women’s Tag Team Champions! And Alexa reveals the belts! Exciting, right? But that’s what Moment of Bliss does: make history!
Now to business. Welcome the special guest, the greatest manager in WWE history, who now introduces himself. “Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Paul Heyman.” And yes, please welcome him, he’s very welcome in Memphis. Heyman congratulates Bliss on interviewing the Advocate for the “reigning, defending, undisputed Universal Heavyweight Champion, Brock Lesnar.” Give him your best shots. Bliss says it’s a wild night. Bobby Lashley is the new Intercontinental Champion. And Heyman was to talk Lesnar VS Strowman, but Strowman’s out. Lesnar defends against a new contender. With all this chaos, what are Heyman’s emotions? Emotions play no part, but it’s strategy that “practically guarantees” that the Universal Champion will still be Brock Lesnar.
The four challengers could line up and be defeated individually or all at once. But why clear out the entire Heavyweight Division at once? There can only be one, but who will that one be? Will it be the great John Cena? Heyman must remind everyone that “The Foundation of Suplex City” was built on Mr. Hustle, Loyalty & Respect. Will it be the ruthless Drew McIntyre? Heyman would be a liar if he didn’t admit he’s had his eye on McIntyre since his return. We all should be watching McIntyre! That man is almost guaranteed to be a future Universal Champion, just not now. Or what about the conniving Baron Corbin? Heyman knows Corbin isn’t that popular right now, but admit it, he was almost permanent GM but-
Wait, who is that making his way out on stage? It’s Otis Dozovic of Heavy Machinery! “Hashaaa!” The Dozer is ready, but what is he doing here now? “Boom shaka loo, yeah~!” Otis, no, this is not a Moment of Dozer. But Dozer says he and Tucker are COMIN~! Tucker Knight comes out to fetch his overenthusiastic friend away form the “pretty lady”, this is not their time to debut, either. But anyway, that ends the Moment of Bliss. And now it’s time to see who exactly faces Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble! The main event is after the break!
WWE Universal Championship #1 Contenders Fatal 4 Way: Baron Corbin VS Drew McIntyre VS Finn Balor VS John Cena!
The Lone Wolf, the Scottish Terminator, the Extraordinary Man and the Franchise Player all want their shot at the reigning, defending, undisputed Universal Champion, but must prove themselves strong enough to make it through this match! Finn was roughed up by Jinder Mahal both before and during their “qualifying” match earlier tonight, but he still manages a smile as he enters. Will he be a factor in this match? Or will he fall to “all this beef”?
The bell rings and Corbin goes right at Finn! McIntyre goes at Cena and throws him out while Corbin puts Finn in a corner. Finn dodges and slips to the apron to kick Corbin back. Corbin’s down, Finn climbs, but Corbin grabs him first. Corbin brings Finn down for the choke slam backbreaker! Cover, TWO! Cena and McIntyre return, and Cena finds himself between a Terminator and a Lone Wolf while we go to break.
Raw returns and Cena throws hands with Corbin. Corbin knees low then runs in, but gets nothing but post! Corbin falls out of the ring but McIntyre returns to stalk Cena. McIntyre drags Cena up to throw at Finn, but Finn dodges. Cena hits the floor while Finn slingshots and sunset flips McIntyre. TWO, and McIntyre runs, but Finn throws him out. Finn wrecks McIntyre with a dropkick, but Corbin blasts Finn off the apron! Corbin runs but into Cena’s feet. Cena leaps for a tornado DDT! Cover, McIntyre breaks it! McIntyre grounds ‘n’ pounds Cena with heavy rights. McIntyre says “You Can’t Bloody See Me!” and laughs. He runs but Cena dodges to hit the shoulder tackles! Cena hits the spin-out bomb, then tells McIntyre “You Can’t See Me!” Five Knuckle Shuffle hits! Cena lifts McIntyre, Attitude Adjustment! Cover, but Corbin breaks it!
Everyone is down, but Corbin and Cena are in the ring. Corbin clubs away on Cena with shots to the lower back. But Cena goes to lift! Corbin slips out and suplexes back, but Finn comes in to help Cena double suplex Corbin! Cena decides to work with Finn to mug Corbin in a corner. They haul Corbin up top, then climb up together. They want to superplex but McIntyre comes in to add on, DOUBLE Super Powerbomb! Corbin drags McIntyre up but McIntyre hits back. McIntyre climbs now, but Corbin trips him up! Corbin throws hands and McIntyre is in the Tree of Woe! But McIntyre sits up to throw Corbin off! McIntyre takes aim, but we go to break!!
Raw returns one more time, and Finn is in the ring. He builds speed but runs into End of Days! Cover, but McIntyre breaks it! Corbin and McIntyre stare down, and the brawl is on! McIntyre shoves Corbin, Corbin slides out then in, but into the Glasgow Kiss! Cena climbs up top and leaps! But into a POWERBOMB! Cover, TWO! McIntyre can’t believe it! All four men are down from exhaustion but “This is Awesome!” Cena and McIntyre stir, then Corbin and Finn follow. McIntyre and Corbin crawl with Cena and Finn. Corbin stomps away on Finn while McIntyre stomps Cena down. Fans boo and jeer as McIntyre stomps Cena’s hands. Corbin drags Finn up for haymakers, then McIntyre does the same. But Cena and Finn fight back! They go back and forth and pick up speed. McIntyre runs but is dumped out, Finn slingblades Corbin!
Cena lifts Finn, but Finn slips out. Finn boots Cena down then climbs up! But Cena stops Finn with fists! Cena climbs up to join Finn, and fireman’s carry. Finn fights back, but Cena keeps going. Cena hits a SUPER AA!! But Corbin throws Cena out to cover Finn! TWO!! Fans rally for Finn while Corbin is frustrated. Corbin gets up and goes outside to fetch a chair. This is No Disqualifications, after all. Corbin jabs and SMACKS Cena! He SMACKS McIntyre, then jabs him while he’s down. Corbin goes back to Finn in the ring, and grins as he looms over Finn. Corbin waits for Finn to sit up, before he SMACKS Finn back down! And SMACKS him again! Cover, but Cena breaks it!
Cena goes after Corbin but Corbin punches back. Corbin picks up the chair again, aiming for Cena. Cena dodges, lifts, AA!! CLAYMORE fro M McIntyre! Finn runs, tilt-o-whirl DDT! Cena’s down, Finn climbs! COUP DE GRACE!! Cover, FINN WINS!!
Winner: Finn Balor, by pinfall; will face Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble for the Universal Championship
Extraordinary is now an understatement! Finn Balor wins two matches in one night, and now has new life in the title hunt! Cena tells Finn that you fight to earn respect. Vince didn’t believe in Finn, but Finn said the fans did. “For what it’s worth, you’ve got one more person that believes in you.” Cena hopes Finn gives Lesnar Hell at the Rumble, and then raises his hand in victory. Will the endorsement of an all-time great give Finn the momentum to be greater than extraordinary against The Beast?
My Thoughts:
What an interesting episode for Raw. Vince arrives but mostly to shake up the hyped up Lesnar VS Strowman rematch. We’re not getting that match any more, but I hope that means Strowman can enter the Royal Rumble match and earn his opportunity that way. Sasha & Rousey VS Nia & Tamina was a decent tag team match, and we should’ve expected Ronda and Sasha to start losing that friendly attitude. All of Ronda’s friendly rivalries, outside of Natty’s, turns sour so this is just natural. And it continues to plug the possibilities that Ronda will finish up with the NXT Four Horsewomen and go into Horsewomen VS Horsewomen.
I wasn’t surprised to see Bayley and Natty arguing, that’s natural progression, too. I wasn’t surprised to see The Riott Squad to get at them. But I was surprised to see the third partner wasn’t Ember Moon! Nikki Cross makes her Raw in-ring debut and it was great! She got a much better Raw appearance than Lacey Evans and her cameo, or EC3 in that backstage segment. For that matter, that backstage segment was wasted being picture-in-picture with The Revival VS Lucha House Party. While it was hard to pay attention to that tag match, it was clear Dash, Dawson, Kalisto and Metalik were doing well. Revival wins by cheating, but that’s fine, they’re the Heels. I’m thinking they’ll cheat their way back to the tag titles, and maybe even cheat to finally win them, which will actually be great for them anyway.
But then, things got really good with the latter half of the show. The Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat was great, and I’m actually happy to see Lashley gets the title. Rollins and Ambrose never really needed that title for their feud, so it’s good to get it out of the way. Lashley can take that title with him against all sorts of Faces. Lashley VS Apollo or Lashley VS EC3 would be a lot of fun. Moment of Bliss was great with Heyman’s promos and the reveal of those amazing looking Women’s Tag Titles. Heavy Machinery’s cameo was pretty funny, too. The Women’s Tag Elimination Chamber match will be great, and I think we can all predict Sasha losing at the Rumble to fall back to this match with Bayley. And given that, they might not even win, and it’ll be The IIconics or Riott Squad winning instead.
Then the story of Strowman’s replacement was pretty well done. McIntyre stands tall after that brawl, but clearly Cena VS McIntyre is the story coming out of this. Mahal VS Finn was good, because of Finn toughing it out to win. And then I was shocked but excited to see Finn wins it all! Cena giving him props is also great, and brings Cena kinda full circle in his career from when he got the nod from American Badass Undertaker. I have no idea if Finn wins at Royal Rumble, but he better show up as Demon Balor to make a strong showing plausible. And if Finn does somehow win, I feel like Chase Field will explode, the internet will be broken, and I myself might truly, truly mark out. The Fresh Start is not real until Lesnar loses that title, and the sooner the better.
My Score: 8.5/10
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Coverage
Andrew’s TNA iMPACT! Results & Match Ratings: 4.18.2024
Motor City Machine Guns either go out on their backs, or head to Rebellion as champs! Lets see how they finish their current run in TNA!
No burying the lead here! The Main Event is The System versus Motor City Machine Guns, and it’s the Go Home episode before Rebellion! So we’re guaranteed a damn good tag match, and we should get either new wrinkles, or ways to keep the storylines cooking going into the Pay-per-View.
With all the rumors and innuendo about the Guns being on their way out, I think we all assume that MCMG is losing, but my inner fanboy is still excited.
Part Three: Acceptance @TheJonGresham #TNAiMPACT pic.twitter.com/NE9FPzCCz2
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) April 19, 2024
Ratings:
- Little Guido w/New FBI vs Hammerstone: Hammerstone wins via Torture Rack – SQUASH
- LSG vs Joe Hendry: Hendry wins via Standing Ovation – SQUASH
- Mustafa Ali & GYV vs Cody Deaner, Jake Something & Rhyno: Ali wins via 450 Splash – ** 3/4
- Rosemary w/Havok vs Jody Threat w/Dani Luna: Rosemary wins via Spear – ***
- Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) vs The System (Eddie Edwards & Brian Myers) w/Alisha Edwards: System wins via Roster Cut + Knee Party – *** 1/4
Results:
So we kick off the match with Josh coming out to commentary again to watch Hammerstone’s match. They really need a new way to try and keep heat without reusing the same tired gimmick of “ring side seat” to a Squash match.
Little Guido w/New FBI vs Hammerstone
Guido tries to shoot the half, but Hammerstone shrugs him off, lifts him like a child and runs him into a corner, few short shots and then just tosses him across the ring. Hammer gets a little distracted talking smack to Josh and eats a foot, but then tosses Guido with the ole Sack of Shit move and keeps working over Guido.
Hammer shoves Clayton, and provokes him to push him back right in front of the referee. She ejects them, Guido tries to take advantage but when he goes for the pinfall Hammer kicks out immediately and presses Guido out of thing through the ropes. Continues to dog walk Guido, puts the head gear on the ECW Original and then Torture Racks him while staring directly at Josh, and of course picks up the submission victory.
.@XiaBrookside and @Ashamae_Sebera face off NEXT WEEK on #TNAiMPACT! pic.twitter.com/Q0S3wSRpeu
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) April 19, 2024
LSG vs Joe Hendry
Hendry cuts a little promo, mentioning the Fat Uncle Phil joke…something about shopping at the TOP Dollar Store. Solid mic work.
LSG is a damn good local talent, he’s been seen in ROH and AEW in the past (perhaps others, but that’s what comes to mind immediately for me), but we all know this is an enhancement match. A few nice chain wrestling spots early, but Hendry uses his power to stop the smaller wrestler, Sack of Shit into Standing Ovation and the match is over quickly.
Mustafa Ali & GYV vs Cody Deaner, Jake Something & Rhyno
Well okay, having Deaner ask the crowd if they wanted a 3v2 or their third member…RHYNO…is pretty much a no brainer in Philly. But at least the gimmick isn’t quite as cringe as I expected.
Jake starts with Zack Gibson and throws him around. Jake goes for the tag and Deaner asks the crowd who Jake should tag, and the crowd picks Rhyno. Rhyno Whips Gibson into a corner, Drake actually softens the impact, allowing Gibson to fire back, tag out, but Rhyno levels both GYV members and then even knocks Ali off the apron. Rhyno tries to call to the crowd to tag in Deaner and that goes over like a fart in church. He tags him in anyway, and the crowd is kinda dead and doing whatever it wants after the obvious ECW chants when Rhyno tagged in.
GYV take a couple lumps but they of course start to work over Deaner and capture some momentum. Solid tandem work from GYV, they cut off Deaner from making a tag and goad Jake a little to cause the ref to block off the babyfaces so the heels can take a few shortcuts. Cody eventually makes the tag to Rhyno, hot tag, he tries to set up the Gore but the GYV manage to stop him in his tracks and hit an Enzuigiri to daze the Man Beast, he falls to his corner and Jake tags himself in. Jake literally runs them all over, tags in Cody and Launches him from the Top Rope into Zack Gibson. Ali makes the save and Jake tries to get his hands on Ali, but the GYV keep throwing themselves at him, literally. The triple team finally gets the best of Jake, they hit 3 Dives and then post Jake, so they gather around Cody like hyenas.
They forgot about Rhyno, he’s set up for a Gore, he Gores Drake, Gibson and Ali take out Rhyno, but then Cody starts to fight back. Ali stops Deaner’s offense with an Avalanche Sunset Bomb, then hits his 450 Splash. Jake barely misses being able to break up the pin.
.@TheEricYoung channels "The Sickness" as he prepares for FULL METAL MAYHEM with @FrankieKazarian at #Rebellion! #TNAiMPACT pic.twitter.com/tm1TqxZBLo
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) April 19, 2024
Rosemary w/Havok vs Jody Threat w/Dani Luna
Jody tries to start quickly with Shoulder Tackles, Lariats and Scoop Slams, and it does seem somewhat effective. Rosemary is having trouble finding offense against the intensity, but she keeps kicking out. Shotgun Dropkick finally gives Rosemary an opening, she goes into full mount and rains down strikes. Rosemary shoves Jody into a corner and Bites her in the corner. Jody tries to fight out, they go across and Rosemary catches her with the legs and puts her in the Upside Down. Splash in the corner from Rosemary, Exploder Suplex and Jody is eating a lot of offense.
Rosemary looks like she’s caught after she gets tripped up into the ropes and Jody goes for her Rope Knee into the German, but Rosemary dodges. Rosemary hits her own suplex and pulls out a beautiful Last Chancery! I haven’t seen her do that in a long time. Jody manages to fight to the ropes, Rosemary is a little slow to capitalize and eats a Pump Kick. Rosemary goes flying into the ropes, Jody hits the Double Knees into the German this time for 2, and they trade a few haymakers after that. Jody folds Rosemary with a low Lariat, Zombie rise spot a few times, Jody goes for a pinfall and Rosemary kicks out.
Havok jumps up on the apron, Dani meets her and they decide to step down, but the distraction was enough. Jody turns around and eats a Spear. Rosemary wins!
Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) vs The System (Eddie Edwards & Brian Myers) w/Alisha Edwards
Eddie and Shelley start off, and its a very simple slow start. Mostly an early stalemate, the typical Japanese style the TNA seem to love to employ. Starters tag out, but then Shelley with the blind tag, Sabin Baseball Slides out, picks Eddie’s ankle and sends his face bouncing off the apron, while Shelley sneaks up being Myers and they hit a tandem move before we cut to commercial. Off of the commercial it looks like Eddie and Myers regained control. But a nice Jawbreaker from Shelley sends Eddie falling back into the MCMG corner. Dragon Screws to both legs from Sabin and Shelley, and we get the Dragon Screw dissection spot for the Guns.
Myers gets sick of things, tries to get involved, but Simultaneous Figure Fours from the MCMG makes The System look silly. Alisha does the classic “push the rope forward” gimmick to assist Eddie in breaking the hold. She keeps chirping at Shelley until she finally grabs his foot. Shelley doesn’t take kindly, tries to grab her by the hair but she gets away, Shelley eats a strike and falls back to the ropes so Lish can just throttle him with the rope, Sabin walks over and acts like he’s going to PK her and the look of disgust on her face is hilarious, like “how dare he threaten to kick her”. Would I be mad is Masha decides to team with Lish and they win the Knockouts Tag titles? No, because the Knockouts Tags are trash. But I still prefer Lish as valet/manager.
Shelley starts fighting back after another commercial break, Eddie tries to cut him off, but Sabin clocks Eddie and Shelley manages to make the tag and Sabin comes in. Lights up both System members, Kick off Tornado DDT, into a Running Gamengiri. Eddie tries to counter but Shelley assists, tandem strikes, Double Baseball Slide into the classic MCMG spot 5 Hole Dive! Keeping up with the classics Shelley stacks the System members on each other and hit the Missile Dropkick/Flatliner spot. As the Guns are rolling, Sabin accidentally catches Sabin with his foot and The System take control! They hit their pieces of the System Overload spot, but Sabin kicks out. Roster Cut attempt from Myers, but Shelley is back. High Speed Dirt, Machine Gun Sandwich, but Lish grabs Shelley’s foot when they’re setting up Skull and Bones. Shelley gets dropped on the turnbuckle and thrown out, Sabin eats the Roster Cut followed up with Boston Knee Party and System retains!
Its a little weird to have had the two commercial cuts and the fact there’s still Nic Nemeth to follow. So it feels a little flat, I hope this wasn’t their swan song match, because it was nice to see some classic spots, but it was entirely too abbreviated.
Nemeth comes out, goes into the crowd and finds a kid with a kendo stick and borrows a beer from someone, so he does a bit of a Sandman tribute. Moose cuts off his promo basically immediately. He throws out the “can’t beat the system” line again, and Nic rolls with the punches well. Moose uses a few cute analogies about Nic having a failure laden past, but Nemeth bites back and its really damn good. He says he can see it in Moose’s eyes that he thinks he’s getting in the ring with Dolph Ziggler, but no, there is no more old Dolph Ziggler, just the new Nic Nemeth. And Moose’s cool seems to be slightly shaken after those words. Good promo.
Overall Score: 6.5/10
So this was okay, if it didn’t end as strongly as it did, I would’ve rated this much lower. Two squash matches in the beginning, reusing the Josh comes out to the announce table to watch trope is boring, hell even Clayton’s shove to Hammerstone was super lame looking. The Deaner match was luke warm at best, but things picked up around the Rosemary match.
Lets also not overlook the segments with ASH & Xia, Jonathan Gresham’s whole deal and EY having to return to the violence/sickness/world class maniac, whatever you want to call it, were all great building blocks. This definitely wasn’t what I would call a strong Go Home, but it didn’t hurt things for Rebellion. The whole injury of Cardona was addressed, which honestly sounded weird since Jordynne basically said she was expecting them to have a backup plan so she has a backup plan. I don’t really like how that video package came across.
But who knows, all I know is, this wasn’t an awful episode, it just wasn’t really strong either. Here’s to hoping Rebellion Saturday is still strong.
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Will the Ivy League MVP earn a title shot?
The NEW ROH World Champion, Mark Briscoe, is here to step onto the Proving Ground with one of Maria Kanellis’ baby boys, Griff Garrison! Will Griff make Maria proud? Or will he reach for the sky?
OFFICIAL RESULTS
- Bryan Keith VS Aaron Solo; Keith wins.
- Six Man Tag: Lance Archer & The Righteous VS Jon Cruz, Savion Truitt & Damian Chambers; Archer & The Righteous win.
- Lee Johnson VS JD Drake; Lee wins.
- Abadon VS Allysin Kay; Abadon wins.
- The Infantry VS The Iron Savages w/Jacked Jameson; The Infantry wins.
- Six Woman Tag: Diamante, Leila Grey & Taya Valkyrie VS Kiera Hogan, Leyla Hirsch & Trish Adora; Kiera, Leyla & Adora win.
- The Beast Mortos VS Nick Comoroto; Mortos wins.
- Lady Frost VS Marti Belle; Frost wins.
- The Dark Order VS Zak Patterson & Frank Milano; The Dark Order wins.
- ROH World Championship Proving Ground Match: Mark Briscoe VS Griff Garrison w/ Cole Karter & Maria Kanellis; Mark wins and denies Griff a title match.
PLAY BY PLAY
Mark Briscoe speaks.
“Now House of Black, I’ve been doing this dance with y’all a little while now, and I’m starting to understand how y’all operate. Starting to understand y’all’s M-O. You try to intimidate me. You try to strike fear into the hearts of men. Well I done told you, I fear no man, I fear no evil. And ancient wisdom says the violent take it by force. Now lemme tell you, Eddie Kingston, Adam Copeland, and Mark Briscoe, we some violent men! And at Dynasty, we bringing the violence, babeh! So heed my advice, House of Black! Be afraid, be very afraid!” The Sussex County Chicken is ready for a fight, will he, the Rated R Superstar and Mad King tear down The House of Black once and for all?
Bryan Keith VS Aaron Solo!
The Bounty Hunter is still looking for a prize, but he’ll gladly fight to earn his shot. Will Keith be heading for a golden opportunity on the other side of Dynasty? Or will Solo shoot first?
The Code of Honor is upheld with sarcastic enthusiasm by Solo, and Keith shoves him away. The bell rings and Solo SLAPS Keith! Keith TACKLES Solo and rains down fists! The fans fire up, Solo gets away then knees Keith low. Solo ROCKS Keith, whips him to a corner, but Keith comes back to run Solo over! Keith scoops to SLAM Solo, then stands on Solo’s face! The fans fire up for the KNEE DROP! Keith then SLAPS Solo! The fans rally for “BK! BK!” Solo storms up but Keith kicks low. Keith reels Solo in, suplexes, and he holds Solo up! Keith marches around, then SLAMS Solo down! Solo bails out and the fans fire up as Keith aims.
Keith builds speed, slides, but Solo ducks! Solo sends Keith into steel steps! The fans boo as Solo leaves Keith behind. The ring count starts, fans chant “SOLO SUCKS! SOLO SUCKS!” Solo counts along but wants it to go faster. Keith stands at 8 of 20, slides in, but Solo stomps and HAMMERS away! The fans boo more, but Solo stands Keith up to bump him off buckles. Keith CHOPS in return! Then CHOPS again! The fans “WOO~,” then Keith ROCKS Solo with a forearm. Keith CHOPS in the corner, but then Solo dodges. Solo tries but Keith dodges the chop to CHOP Solo down! The fans fire up while Solo is stinging.
Keith whips Solo, Solo reverses and CLOBBERS Keith! Cover, TWO! Keith grits his teeth but Solo knees him in the back! And again! The fans rally, Solo taunts them, and then ELBOWS Keith in the head. Solo stalks Keith to a corner, digs his boots in, but again the fans chant “SOLO SUCKS!” Solo stomps away on Keith, digs his boots in again, but Keith fights up! The fans fire up as Keith fires forearms! Keith fires forearms again and again and again, winds up, but Solo dodges! Solo comes back, but Keith ROCKS him after all! The fans fire up as Keith runs in to BOOT! Solo sputters, Keith runs, but then Solo SUPERKICKS! Keith just roars!
Solo swings, but into a T-BONE SUPLEX! Cover, TWO! The fans rally as Keith keeps calm. Keith waits on Solo as fans rally behind him. Solo staggers into a fireman’s carry, but he fights free! Solo shoves, goes to a corner, but then Keith comes back. Solo ELBOWS Keith, whips, but Keith reverses! Solo goes up but gets caught, for an USHIGOROSHI! Cover, TWO! The fans rally up again as Keith slashes his throat and aims his finger gun! Keith underhooks, but Solo fights the lift! Solo back drops, Keith sunset flips but Solo stays up to DOUBLE STOMP! Solo then runs up, catches Keith and hits a T-BONE! Cover, TWO!
The fans fire up but Solo hurries to a corner. Solo climbs fast, and DIVING DOUBLE STOMPS! Cover, TWO!! Keith survives that coup de grace and Solo isn’t sure what to do. Solo kicks Keith around, drags him up and reels him in to underhook. Keith fight that lift, Solo CLUBS away on him, but Keith Alabama Lifts! Solo grabs ropes so Keith lets him down, and ENZIGIRIS! But Solo SCREW HIGH KICKS! Solo goes up top, but Keith RISING HEADBUTTS! The fans fire up with Keith and he climbs! Keith reels Solo in, for DIAMOND DUST!! Cover, Keith wins!
Winner: Bryan Keith, by pinfall
A big win for BK! And he gives back that sarcastic handshake. Will the Bounty Hunter be hot on the trail of a championship after AEW & ROH pass through the Gateway City?
Mark Sterling speaks.
“If you ask AI to create the perfect professional wrestler, it wouldn’t even come close to you. If wrestling is a body business, then you’re a multinational corporation. Biology defying symmetry, no fat, all muscle, no waste. As functional as you are aesthetic. High-flying? You got it. Ground ‘n’ pound? You got that, too. Striking, brawling, submission, technical, there is not a single style you have not perfected. For the last 20 years, you’ve been one of the most consistent and proficient wrestling specimens for any company that’s been willing to throw money at you and begged you to stay. And now, it’s time for them to beg for mercy.
“You are Tony Nese, and you are a Premier Athlete.”
Now Mark Sterling & The Premier Athletes are here in person.
They stand backstage, Sterling’s guys in matching tracksuits, and he says the last time he looked into the camera, he told everyone he had a plan. The very next day, they enacted that plan. Sterling took them off the road, they entered a professional fight camp. They got the best coaches, best trainers, best doctors, and these three started to do what they do best: go to work. Supercard of Honor, against two former ROH TV Champions, PA got an impressive victory. Fruits of their labor. Ariya Daivari is back better than ever. Josh Woods is bigger and better than he was when he won the National Championship. And Tony Nese is in the best shape of his life, which is saying something.
In fact, what’re we even talking about? These three are the most underappreciated athletes in the company. They walk like stars, they move like stars, they present themselves like stars, and by the end of this year, they will be champions. Supercard was just phase one of this plan. Phase two… starts tonight. Then just what happens when the Premier Athletes start making moves?
Lee Johnson VS JD Drake!
Even though he lost at Supercard, Big Shotty stays positive! He got close to the ROH World Television Championship, will he get back there for another shot? Or will Scrap Metal be another speedbump in Lee’s momentum?
The Code of Honor is upheld, the bell rings, and the fans rally as the two circle. They tie up, JD HIP TOSSES, and Lee scrambles to ropes. JD flexes and fans cheer, which surprises JD. Lee gets up, he and JD reset. They tie up, JD arm-drags, but Lee gets up. Lee keeps calm while JD talks some smack. They circle, tie up again, and JD scoops! JD carries Lee around, with one arm! Then SLAM! JD dusts off his hands and the fans fire up more. Lee is a bit frustrated, but he fires himself up. The fans rally with him, he and JD circle to tie up. Lee goes to hip toss, but JD blocks! JD tells Lee he knows that’s not gonna work!
JD goes to hip toss but now Lee blocks! Lee arm-drags, then he goes to feint, but JD blocks with a headlock. Lee shoves JD, tries another arm-drag, but JD blocks that. JD whips Lee, Lee ducks ‘n’ dodges and arm-drags again! The fans fire up as Lee tries to scoop, but JD’s too hefty! JD SLAPS Lee, ROCKS him, then whips him to ropes. Lee ducks ‘n’ dodges again, shoves JD and hurdles! Lee drops, then DROPKICKS! JD staggers to a corner, Lee fires up, and the fans fire up with him! Lee runs up on JD in a corner to CHOP! JD barely flinches! JD puts his arms back and dares Lee to try again. Lee CHOPS, but JD puts Lee in the corner!
JD swings, Lee dodges and CHOPS! And CHOPS! And CHOPS! Lee whips, JD reverses but Lee ELBOWS back! Lee runs up but into a lift, and FLAPJACK off buckles! Lee falls, the fans rally up, and JD dusts himself off. JD storms back up on Lee, brings him up, and the fans rally. JD ROCKS Lee, stands him up in the corner, and CHOPS! The fans “WOO~!” while Lee sputters. The fans want that “One More Time!” so JD stands Lee up. JD winds up, to JAB! The fans boo JD trolling them, but JD stands Lee up to CHOP him after all! Lee is stinging, but JD brings him up. Lee throws body shots but JD ROCKS Lee!
JD whips, Lee sunset flips! JD stays up, but Lee avoids the hip drop! Ghost pin, TWO! JD gets up, kicks low and whips, to SPINEBUSTER! Cover, TWO! Lee stays in this and the fans rally up. JD sits Lee up, KICKS him in the back, then paces around. The fans rally for Lee but JD pie faces him around. Lee rises, JD brings him up and Lee CHOPS! And CHOPS! And CHOPS again! JD throat chops! The ref reprimands, JD claims he jabbed to the chest. JD then scoops and SLAMS Lee, to then FALLING HEADBUTT! Cover, TWO! Lee is still in this but JD CHOKES him! The ref counts, JD lets off, claiming he was just checking the pulse.
JD clamps on a chinlock, digging his knee into Lee’s back. Lee endures, the fans rally up, and Lee fights to his feet. Lee throws body shots, but JD knees low! JD suplexes but Lee slips free! Lee ROCKS JD, ROCKS him again, but JD CHOPS! JD runs, but Lee SUPERKICKS! JD flops out of the ring and the fans fire up! The fans rally as Lee builds speed, to FLY! Direct hit at the ramp and the fans fire up even more! Lee puts JD in, climbs a corner, and JD stands. JD staggers around, into the CROSSBODY! Cover, TWO! JD stays in this but then bails back out. Lee thinks on what he has to do and the fans rally up.
Lee runs, to slide, but JD gets under! JD pops Lee up to CLOBBER him! JD puts Lee in, aims from a corner, and Lee goes to the opposite end. JD runs up, but Lee moves, CANNONBALL hits buckles! Lee hurries up while JD is down! The fans cheer as Lee aims, FROG SPLASH, but JD moves! Lee rolls through, runs back at JD but JD puts him on the apron. JD ROCKS Lee, goes up, and he brings Lee around. The fans fire up as JD brings Lee up, but Lee fires body shots! Lee GAMANGIRIS, then climbs! Lee sunset flips for the POWERBOMB! The fans fire up and Lee climbs back up, FROG SPLASH!! Cover, Lee wins!
Winner: Lee Johnson, by pinfall
Big Shotty’s got range, and he hit the mark! Will Lee take this momentum and turn it into another chance at a championship?
Abadon VS Allysin Kay!
Speaking of second chances, The Living Dead Girl got screwed out of the ROH Women’s World Television Championship when Mercedes Martinez & Diamante conspired against her. And while AK Don’t Play, she knows the OG Badass well. Can Abadon prepare for revenge by taking down Martinez’s greatest rival?
The Code of Honor is upheld, the bell rings, but Abadon holds on, to BITE Allysin’s arm! Abadon then laughs, dodges Allysin to HEADBUTT low, HELL STAB, then mule kick! Abadon runs to SHOTGUN BOOT! Allysin goes to a corner while the fans rally up and Abadon shrieks! But Allysin BOOTS Abadon down! Allysin rains down fists, covers, ONE!! Abadon sits up but Allysin brings her around to fireman’s carry. SAMOAN DROP! Cover, TWO! The fans rally up, Allysin drags Abadon up to TOSS her to a corner! Allysin fires body shots, then she CHOPS! Allysin whips corner to corner hard and Abadon bounces off buckles!
Allysin takes a bow, puts pinkies up, and SPLASHES in the corner! Allysin CHOPS, whips, and runs up again, but Abadon BOOTS her! Abadon runs to BULLDOG! The fans rally as Abadon slithers out to the apron then climbs up the corner. Allysin crawls, Abadon aims, CROSSBODY! Abadon runs to KNEE Allysin back down! Abadon storms up on Allysin, reels her in, BLACK DAHLIA! Cover, Abadon wins!
Winner: Abadon, by pinfall
Abadon smiles, then shrieks into the night! Will Mercedes Martinez make sure to stay far, far away from the frightening Living Dead Girl?
Backstage interview with Taya Valkyrie.
Lexi Nair is with La Wera Loca and brings up her trios match alongside Diamante and Leila Grey. But this is also the first time we’ve seen her since Supercard, where Johnny TV lost to Dalton Castle. The question is: where is Johnny? Uh, recovering from that vicious attack by Dalton Castle and his “special boy,” Paul Walter-Whatever! Taya is gonna call up Fran Dreischer to file a complaint! For someone so TV Ready, Castle and Paul sure don’t look it. So yes, Johnny is rehabbing. Wait he’s in rehab? Ew, no, who do you think they are? Johnny is rehabbing the abs! This is an aesthetics business so he has to look amazing!
So tonight, Taya will carry the weight of the TV Family in trios action. So run along, Lexi, Taya has things to do. Uh, this is Lexi’s interview space. Oh, well, her apologies. Taya bumps Lexi on the way out, but will Taya’s team win some major points in the title chase tonight?
The Infantry VS The Iron Savages w/Jacked Jameson!
Captain Shawn Dean & Carlie Bravo may not be the ROH World Tag Team Championships, but they are not deterred. Will they get through the jacked ‘n’ juicy juggernauts to go after The Undisputed Kingdom once again?
The teams sort out, #BadNewsAndTattoos starts against Beefcake Boulder, and they keep the Code of Honor. They tie up, Bravo tries but can’t push Boulder back, but Boulder pushes Bravo back! Bravo resets with Boulder, beefs up, and they tie up. Bravo wrenches to wristlock, but Boulder WRINGS Bravo out! Boulder talks smack on Dean and Bravo, but Bravo pie faces. Boulder scoops Bravo, but Bravo slips free to DROPKICK! Boulder stays up, runs up, but Dean is there to GAMANGIRI! Bravo tags Dean while Boulder throws a fit, but DOUBLE DROPKICKS send him reeling! Bulk Bronson tags but runs into a DOUBLE HIP TOSS!
The fans fire up as the Infantry crisscross and SPLIT the wishbone! Bravo gets fans going with “OORAH!” Dean runs to JUMP ELBOW DROP! Cover, TWO! Bronson bails out, Boulder is there to help him, and Dean builds speed, only for Jacked Jameson to stand in the way! He wants Dean to sip the Savage Sauce! Dean says no thanks, but in comes Bronson! EXPLODER! Bravo protests but Bronson drags Dean to a cover. The ref is busy arguing, he finally sees the pin, TWO! Bronson is annoyed, but he mocks Bravo’s air machine gun. Bravo then tags Boulder before he brings Dean up. The fans rally but the Savages still hit a SHOULDER TACKLE SUPLEX COMBO!
Bronson flexes, Boulder taunts Bravo, and then Boulder whips Dean to the corner. Boulder wraps Dean’s arms around ropes to HEADBUTT again and again and again! Tag to Bronson, he brings Dean around, and they visit #TIDDYCITY! But Dean reverses, it’s Bronson who dives in! Boulder panics, runs up, but Dean DUMPS him! Bronson swings, misses, hot tag to Bravo! Bravo rallies on Bronson with big forearms! Bravo whips, Bronson reverses, but the CARLIE CROSSOVER takes Bronson down! Boulder gets up, Bravo fakes him out to SCISSOR KICK! Bravo then kicks Bronson, and manages a FALCON ARROW! Cover, TWO!
The fans rally, Bravo pounds the mat, but now Jameson wants Bravo to sip! Bravo says no, get outta here! Bronson runs up again, Bravo dodges, and Bronson barely avoids hitting Jameson! Bravo aims, Bronson dodges, the SUPERKICK hits Jameson! Jameson spews sauce! Boulder catches Jameson, Dean goes up, and Dean CROSSBODIES to wipe them both out! But Bronson rolls Bravo up! TWO, and Bronson grabs Bravo, only for Bravo to kick low! Bravo reels Bronson in, tags Dean, and TORNADO- NO, Bronson stops the DDT! Dean gets in, Bronson scoops, but Dean slips free! Feed to a SUPERKICK!
The Infantry coordinate, for BOOT CAMP! Cover, Infantry wins!
Winners: The Infantry, by pinfall
Dean & Bravo redeem themselves from Supercard and are ready to get back on track! But wait, The Premier Athletes make their way out here! Is this what Smart Mark was talking about for phase two? Daivari & Nese rush the ring and start throwing hands with The Infantry! Woods tips the scales as he DECKS Dean, then DECKS Bravo! But wait! Here comes Dalton Castle! The Peacock won’t stand for there to be bullies, and he takes off his sandals to weaponize them! The Premier Athletes dare him to, but wait! Here comes Mark Briscoe, Bryan Keith and Lee Johnson! They run The Premier Athletes off!
Sterling shouts, “Who do you think you are?!” but he’s shouting at THE ROH World Champion and many other big names around here! Will The Peacock, the Chicken and the rest of ROH humble Sterling’s stable once and for all?
Six Woman Tag: Diamante, Leila Grey & Taya Valkyrie VS Kiera Hogan, Leyla Hirsch & Trish Adora!
The Cuban Diamond has staked her claim at challenging for the ROH Women’s World Television Championship, but so has The Hottest Flame. But let’s not forget The Last Baddie Standing, La Wera Loca, the LEGIT One and The AfroPunk! Billie Starkz still sees herself above all six of these women, but which trio takes the lead in the title chase with a win tonight?
The teams sort out, Taya starts against Kiera and the Code of Honor is upheld. The bell rings, the two tie up, and Kiera gets around to waistlock. Taya pries the hold, backs Kiera into a corner and throws elbows! Taya stomps away on Kiera, then says who’s the hottest now? Taya snapmares, covers, ONE!! Taya drags Kiera up, whips her to ropes, but Kiera holds ropes to BOOT back! Taya runs up again but Kiera drop toeholds her onto ropes! HIP ATTACK! Taya flounders, Kiera runs to step-up and LEG DROP! Cover, TWO! Kiera keeps cool as she brings Taya up, but Taya ROCKS Kiera then throws her by her hair!
Taya tags Diamante, they stomp Kiera, then Diamante sucker punches Leyla! Diamante runs in to DROPKICK Kiera, then drags her to a high stack cover, ONE!! Kiera is tougher than that but Diamante says it’s just a matter of time. Diamante runs, PLANKING SPLASH flops as Kiera moves! Hot tag to Leyla! Leyla gut wrenches Diamante to GUT WRENCH SUPLEX! Tag to Adora, then Leyla wrenches so she can hand it off to Adora. Adora WRINGS Diamante’s arm, drags her up and wrenches again, but Diamante ROCKS her! Adora swings, Diamante dodges to tilt-o-whirl and RUSSIAN LEG SWEEP! Diamante snarls and pushes Adora down to rain down fists!
Diamante storms around, brings Adora up and CHOPS her on the back! Tag to Grey and she NECK SNAPPERS Adora! Cover, TWO! Adora is tougher than that but Grey rains down fists! Grey drags Adora up, bumps her off buckles, then tags Taya. Taya and Grey dig their boots in, then Taya stomps a mudhole. Taya sits Adora down to METEORA! Tag to Diamante and she stomps a mudhole! The ref reprimands but Diamante tags Taya back in. Taya steps over Adora and mockingly has Adora reach out to her corner. The ref has to keep Hirsch back so Grey gets shots in, then Taya drags Adora up.
Taya again mockingly holds out Adora’s hand but the fans rally up. Adora fights up, but Taya pulls her into the motorcycle stretch! Adora endures the knee in her back, fights up to her feet, and then arm-drags Taya away! Taya gets up, ducks ‘n’ dodges and mule kicks! But Adora ducks the buzzsaw to BASEMENT GERMAN! The fans fire up while both women are down! Adora and Taya crawl, hot tags to Kiera and Diamante! Kiera rallies on Diamante with big forearms, then a SUPERKICK! Turn and NECKBREAKER! Kiera goes up a corner while Diamante flounders around. Diamante stands, into a MISSILE DROPKICK!
Diamante flounders, Grey tags in but Kiera dodges to fire off forearms! Grey shoves back, but Kiera returns to SHOTGUN! Grey flounders, Kiera fires up, and says kiss this! HIP ATTACK in the corner! She sits Grey back down to run and BOOT WASH! Kiera drags Grey to a cover, Diamante breaks it! Diamante gets Grey outta there, and Taya tags in. Taya runs up to mule kick, KNEE LIFT and wrench Kiera, into a BLUE THUNDER BOMB! Cover, TWO! Leyla also gets in, she pushes Taya around. Leyla drags Taya up but Diamante runs in. Leyla gets around to SAIDO! Taya gets Kiera up but Kiera SUPERKICKS!
Kiera brings Taya over, tags Adora, and they feed Taya to the BUBBA BOMB! Body scissor and GEDO CLUTCH! TWO!! Hot tag to Grey, she runs up, ducks ‘n’ dodges, then SLINGBLADES! Cover, TWO! Grey is frustrated but she gets Adora up. Underhooks, but Adora breaks that to fireman’s carry! Adora storms over, tags Hirsch, but Grey slips free! Leyla dodges Leila and feeds her to Adora’s BOOT! Then GERMAN SUPLEX! Cover, TWO!! Grey survives but Hirsch tags Kiera. Kiera runs, but Taya trips her up! Diamante distracts so the ref misses that! But then Leyla DIVES onto Taya! Diamante CANNONBALLS Leyla!
LARIAT TUBMAN from Adora to Diamante! Kiera dodges Grey to ROUNDHOUSE! And then “That’s all, PERIODT!” FACE THE MUSIC!! Bridging cover, Team Kiera wins!
Winners: Kiera Hogan, Leyla Hirsch & Trish Adora, by pinfall
It was fast ‘n’ furious in the end there, but the Hottest Flame burns it down! Will she be first up to strike a match with Billie Starkz?
Backstage interview with Maria Kanellis, Griff Garrison & Cole Karter.
Lexi is with the First Lady of Wrestling and her baby boys, the Diamond in the Rough wearing the stolen mask from Serpentico. Lexi congratulates them on their win over Spanish Announce Project at Supercard, but it seems there might be some unfinished business. Are they ever going to give Seprentico his masks back? Karter takes the mask off to say hell no! Griff says Serpentico’s masks mean a lot to him and his lucha libre culture. But uh, they don’t care! It got them the attention that they deserve, and those wins have been a stepping stone in this company.
If Serpentico wants his masks back, he doesn’t need to trick them into a match. They’re happy to beat the crap outta him anytime, anywhere! Maria loves the confidence, and says Griff will need it in his Proving Grounds match against THE ROH World Champion, Mark Briscoe. Griff is all fired up, will the Ivy League MVP pass the test with flying colors? Or will he fail to #ManUp?
The Beast Mortos VS Nick Comoroto!
Black Taurus has evolved into something even more menacing than before, and he is looking to stampede all the way to the top of ROH! But Mr. Freak Beast has changed a lot about himself, too, in hopes of finding success. Whose transformation will prove to be for the better as these behemoths collide?
The Code of Honor is upheld reluctantly, the bell rings, and the fans rally up. The two tie up, go around, and Comoroto shoves Mortos down! Mortos gets up in a huff, gets in Comoroto’s face, but Comoroto pie faces him. So Mortos SLAPS Comoroto! Comoroto runs up, Mortos dodges, and they RAM shoulders! Mortos ducks ‘n’ dodges and jumps to RANA! Comoroto goes to a corner but Mortos runs in to UPPERCUT, CLOTHESLINE, and GAMANGIRI! Mortos wrenches and hits an ARMBAR CODE BREAKER! Comoroto staggers, but he blocks the whip! Comoroto shoves Mortos, runs up, but Mortos dodges to then roll off Comoroto’s back!
Mortos tries to hip toss but Comoroto blocks! Comoroto LARIATS Mortos down then rains down fists! Fans are torn as Comoroto huffs ‘n’ puffs and stomps Mortos around. Comoroto digs his boot into Mortos’ face, lets off to soak up heat, then he drags Mortos up. Comoroto scoops to SLAM, then he runs to JUMP ELBOW DROP! Cover, TWO! The fans rally as Mortos pounds the mat in frustration. Comoroto slashes his throat, but Mortos throws body shots. Comoroto CLUBS Mortos, Alabama Lifts, but Mortos sunset flips! Comoroto stays up, hauls Mortos up, but Mortos JAWBREKAERS, KNEES and ROCKS Comoroto!
Mortos goes to suplex but Comoroto’s a big guy, too! Comoroto suplexes Mortos, but Mortos knees free! Mortos goes to a corner, Comoroto runs in but Mortos dropkicks the legs out! Comoroto hits buckles, then Mortos runs in, CORNER 619! Comoroto staggers away and Mortos climbs, to MISSILE DROPKICK! Cover, TWO! Comoroto still has power to spare and he storms up on Mortos. Mortos UPPERCUTS first! Mortos goes to whip but Comoroto blocks again! Comoroto whips Mortos to a corner, runs up, but Mortos slips out to the apron! Comoroto hits buckles, Mortos goes up, and the fans rally! MORTOS TWISTER! Cover, Mortos wins!
Winner: The Beast Mortos, by pinfall
Comoroto is big and bad but this is a beast of a different breed! Will nothing stop the modern day minotaur from making ROH his domain? Will Jacoby Watts’ teachings ever pay off for Comoroto?
Backstage interview with Nick Comoroto.
Lexi is with Mr. Freakbeast as he returns backstage, and she asks him what his strategy will be moving forward after this tough loss. Jacoby Watts walks in to say, “Turn the page. Start a new chapter. Nothing changes if nothing changes, Nick. It’s a harsh reality. But I am your answer. Your beacon of hope in the darkness. Follow me and I will lead you into the light! For I am Jacoby Watts, the one and only, praise be to he, and he is me.” Watts waxes poetic while making himself the focus, but will Comoroto accept his guidance?
ROH World Championship Proving Ground Match: Mark Briscoe VS Griff Garrison w/ Cole Karter & Maria Kanellis!
The Sussex County Chicken won this title after a war with Eddie Kingston at Supercard, and those two are still going to be friends taking on The House of Black this Sunday! But will Mark be able to focus on tonight with Dynasty on the horizon? Or is this where Maria’s baby boys start building their kingdom?
Mark shows off the belt and its new camouflage patterned leather! The Code of Honor is upheld, the bell rings and we’re on the clock. The fans cheer on Mark as he circles with Griff. They tie up, Griff headlocks, but Mark powers up and out. Griff sunset flips, but Mark rolls through to drop on the headlock! Griff moves around, fights up, and powers up, but Mark holds tight! Mark hits the takeover, Griff headscissors, but Mark kips free. Roles reverse as Griff headlocks for the takeover, and Mark headscissors. Griff kips free, but Mark shows Redneck Kung-Fu stance and Griff scrambles away! The fans cheer but Maria coaches Griff back up.
Griff cools off, he and Mark reset, and the two circle again. They knuckle lock but Griff kicks low. Griff UPPERCUTS, UPPERCUTS again, then whips corner to corner. Mark goes up and out, SWATS the haymaker to REDNECK KUNG-FU UPPERCUT! Then Mark gets in to BOOT Griff down! Griff is on ropes, Mark runs in to BOOT WASH him right outta the ring! The fans fire up as Mark builds speed, and he DIVES onto Griff! Not the cleanest landing but Mark borrows a hat to put it on! The fans fire up with Mark, he gives the hat back, then drags Griff up to DECK him! Mark drags Griff up again, to scoop and SLAM!
Griff sputters, Mark goes to the apron, and the fans fire up as Mark takes aim. But then Karter and Maria stand in the way! The fans boo, Mark sighs and steps inside, and Maria coaches Griff up. Griff flounders up, the fans rally behind Mark but then Karter and Maria each get on the apron! The ref is busy arguing with Maria but Karter distracts Mark. Griff sneaks in to CLOBBER Mark! Griff fires forearms while the fans boo, but then Griff stomps a mudhole into Mark. The ref counts as Griff digs his boots in, but Griff lets off at 4. But then that lets Karter CHOKE Mark behind the ref’s back!
The fans boo as Karter gets away with one, and Griff drags Mark up. Griff UPPERCUTS, but Mark CHOPS! Griff sputters, Mark CHOPS again! Griff knees low, whips Mark to a corner, but runs into an ELBOW! Mark runs up, into a BOOT! Cover, TWO! Griff clamps onto Mark with a chinlock and he grinds Mark down. The fans rally as Mark endures and fights up. Mark throws body shots, then fires up to CHOP! CHOP! And CHOP! Mark runs, but into the ROLLING ELBOW! Griff then torture racks for the TOWER HACKER BOMB! High stack, TWO! Mark survives and Griff is frustrated but Maria coaches him up.
The fans continue to rally behind Mark as Griff aims again. Griff goes up but Mark REDNECK UPPERCUTS! Griff gets caught up in ropes, Mark lets him loose so he can fall to the floor. Karter hurries over, but Mark goes up to PLANCHA both baby boys! The fans are thunderous, and Mark cracks open a can of WOOOOO Energy! Mark chugs it, bangs the can against his head, then gets Griff in the ring. The fans fire up as Mark runs corner to corner, but Griff BOOTS him! Mark comes back to LARIAT! The fans fire up, Mark reels Griff in, but Griff wrenches out, only for Mark to LARIAT! Mark hauls Griff up again for underhooks!
Mark lifts, for the JAY DRILLER!! Cover, Mark wins!
Winner: Mark Briscoe, by pinfall (denies Griff Garrison a title opportunity)
Maria is upset but there’s nothing she can do, her baby boy wasn’t man enough to stop the NEW ROH World Champion! Will Mark continue to carry on his brother’s legacy and become one of the best champions in ROH history?
My Thoughts:
A very good episode of ROH for being 92 minutes. I still skipped some very clear filler, but Marti Belle got a good showing in her loss to Frost and The Dark Order got a good match out of Zak & Frank. Cruz, Damian & Savion got an okay showing but c’mon, they were against Archer & The Righteous, those guys have been running through everyone. It hasn’t really led them to anything yet, but maybe after we get undisputed AEW & ROH World Trios Champions after Dynasty, Archer & Righteous challenge the winners. And real good wins for Bryan Keith and Lee Johnson, each guy looking good towards midcard titles at some point.
Really good match from Infantry VS Savages, with the Savages being a bit more Heelish this time. Good win for Infantry, but I didn’t think The Premier Athletes would be going after them first. And I didn’t expect Faces like Keith, Lee and Briscoe to run out to get at them. Maybe the Premier Athletes can also position themselves to go after the trios titles after Dynasty. If The Acclaimed win, they’ll need Heel opponents. Archer & Righteous can play either side, but fans really like Archer so I kinda want him and Righteous to be Faces when facing Bang Bang Gang.
Good match and good win for Abadon over Allysin. Good win for Kiera, Leyla & Adora, though things got a little sloppy in the middle, Leyla’s timing wasn’t quite there. Athena & Billie are both Heels, so while Queen Aminata is in the mix, the champion she doesn’t choose still needs a good Face challenger so you can take your pick of the winners from tonight. Really good match from Mortos and Comoroto, and Mortos winning also helped serve Comoroto’s story with Watts. Watts keeps insisting he’s the answer, but this has to lead to Comoroto breaking free and beating Watts up for his arrogance.
Good promo from Maria, Griff & Karter, and they just kinda copy-pasted Mark Briscoe’s promo from Collision that same Saturday. Really good match for Griff against Mark but of course Mark wins. Mark getting involved with Premier Athletes, maybe Woods or Nese get a shot at Mark only to lose and be Mark’s solid first defense. Not sure who could be a more prolonged feud with Mark, but there are plenty of possibilities, and I’m just happy to see him showing up on ROH TV as the ROH World Champion should.
My Score: 8.5/10
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