ROH WRESTLING TELEVISION, EPISODE 322

All images courtesy of ROH’s official website video stream

OFFICIAL RESULTS

• Jay White VS Matt Taven w/ The Kingdom; Taven wins.
• ROH World Television Championship Contender Series: Shane Taylor VS Cheeseburger; Taylor wins and joins the ROH WTVC Elimination 4 Way at Final Battle.
• Dalton Castle VS “Hangman” Adam Page; Castle wins.

PLAY BY PLAY

Jay White VS Matt Taven w/ The Kingdom!

The Kingdom still claims there’s a conspiracy against them in ROH, and claim they should be the #1 contenders the the ROH World Tag Team Championships, not Best Friends, Trent Baretta & Chuck Taylor. As such, it makes perfect sense to the ringleader to have a match against Team Search & Destroy’s Kiwi Kid. Even before the bell, Taven gives White a stiff right punch and many stomps. After the bell and the official start of this match, the ref backs Taven off, Taven keeps on White with more stiff rights. Corner to corner whip reversed but Taven goes up and over, White gets him with an uppercut. Now White chops and whips but is reversed, he gives a big forearm to floor Tavne, then more stiff chops. Taven chops back but White is pretty tough, he dropkicks Taven right down. White puts Taven in the Indian Deathlock and bridges, Muda Lock!

Taven endures the stretch, The Kingdom cheers for their leader, and Taven gets the ropebreak. The Kingdom applauds and then rallies for Taven, they’re the only ones. White puts Taven in a corner, gives a stiff chop, then whips but is reversed, White goes up but Taven catches him to hang him up on the top rope by the kiwis. Taven then triangle jump enziguri knocks White down! He embraces the heat as fans build to a rally, Taven runs but White dodges the dropkick, White builds speed and DIVES! Both Philly and White are fired up as we go to break!

Upon return, Taven has control again as he and White brawl, Taven whips White to a corner but then misses his corner splash, White rolls him up, stiff chop to Taven’s chest. Taven ducks the next one, snapmare but then stiff strikes from White right back, both men down from exhaustion. Fans applaud as White gets up, the Kingdom rallies for Taven but White gets Taven on the apron, European Uppercut after European Upperct rocks Taven, The Kingdom protests but the ref is telling them to keep back. The Kingdom decides to take action, but Vinnie Marseglia takes a EuroUpper, and then so does TK O’Ryan. With the Horror King and the Sassy Wild Horse taken care of, White returns to Taven, brainbuster to the apron!

The fans are loving White’s merciless use of the apron’s edge, chanting his name as he gets back in the ring. The Kingdom gets Taven back in, but White is ready, big EuroUpper in the corner, Saido Suplex! TWO, but White is not frustrated just yet. He drags Taven up, Taven blocks the suplex so White chops Taven again. White lifts Taven but Taven rakes the eyes, then gives stiff strikes of his own. Taven runs, ducks, heel kick knocks White down. Taven gets to a corner, runs, springboard but misses the Lionsault, White get started on his single underhook Three Amigos. First amigo, second amigo, and for the third… Taven powers White to a corner.

White still holds on and wants that third, but Taven slips out into an arm wrench. White breaks the connection then brings Taven in for a DDT! He stalks Taven, deadlift waistlock, German Suplex! TWO, and now White is frustrated. The ref tells The Kingdom to stay back as White gets up again. He brings Taven up, O’Ryan is on the apron and spits at White! Vinnie slides O’Ryan’s baseball bat to Taven, Taven takes a swing at White but White ducks and rolls Taven up, TWO!

White rocks O’Ryan, Taven spins him around, spinning neckbreaker! Taven gets up and climbs to the top rope, takes aim, Frog Splash hits knees! White covers Taven, TWO. Vinnie distracts but gets knocked down, Taven goes for Climax but is pushed away, White brings Taven into the Sambo Suplex, TWO! So very close, but White keeps going as he goes up top. Vinnie again with that Ax, but it’s O’Ryan with his bat that trips White up! Taven drapes White out for a SUPER Climax! Cover, and Taven wins one for the Kingdom!

Winner: Matt Taven, by pinfall

However, The Kingdom isn’t done, Taven sicks Vinnie and O’Ryan on White. They stomp and choke White, and Vinnie even readies his ax!! Thankfully, Team Search & Destroy comes to the rescue of their friend! Jonathan Gresham and the Motor City Machine Guns run The Kingdom off! The Kingdom may cry conspiracy, but they’re the ones plotting against anything related to Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin. Will the MCMG shut The Kingdom up in time to prepare for the Best Friends?

Flip Gordon looks to recruit ROH talent to the #FlipArmy.

And he starts with guys who understand being beaten up and beaten down by The Bullet Club, in Team Coast 2 Coast. Flip asks Leon St. Giovanni and Shaheem Ali to help out, because Flip is sure sick and tired of The Bullet Club bullying him. He is looking for guys with nothing to lose and everything to gain, and his first choices are them. What do they say? Did it before, do it again. And seeing as how Flip’s from the West Coast and they’re from the East, now these three truly are Coast 2 Coast. However, to match The Bullet Club, they need a fourth man, and they all have someone in mind. Who will the Flip Army’s fourth man be?

ROH World Television Championship Contender Series: Shane Taylor VS Cheeseburger!

The K I N G of ROH wants competition, and he already knows Punishment Martinez will meet him in New York, New York. Will the Notorious Hitman or the lovable underdog be the second contender to step to the throne? Caprice Coleman is ringside on commentary for this one, as he is an old friend to Taylor and wishes to support him. Fans are strongly behind Cheeseburger, the bell rings and Taylor tells Burger to get out now while he can. Burger wants to fight, so he shoves Taylor. Taylor keeps trying to make things easier on Burger, but another shove from the smaller man and Taylor shoves him to the corner with one arm! Taylor feels a bit bad about that, but he tried to tell Burger.

The fans rally for Burger, Taylor says that’s not a good idea. Burger slaps Taylor, that was worse. Taylor whips Burger, Burger tilt-o-whirls into a sleeper hold! Fans are fired up as Burger keeps that hold on tight. Taylor uses pure power to snapmare Burger off, SUPERKICK from Burger! Yet Taylor stays standing. If anything, that’s only upset Taylor more. Another SUPERKICK, then Burger powers up and runs, ducks, SHOTEI! Taylor staggers to a corner, Burger wants to keep going. But this time, Taylor puts Burger down with a Choke Slam! Standing pin, TWO! Fans are fired up for Burger and his super sized heart. Burger gets to his knees, daring Taylor to finish this. Stiff haymaker from Taylor, one handed cover, Taylor wins.

Winner: Shane Taylor, by pinfall

Fans boo but there’s nothing they can do, the Hitman is coming for Kenny King’s ROH World Television Championship.

However, The Dawgs, Big Rhett Titus and Lil’ Willie Ferrara are here to ask Taylor for a favor.

The Dawgs have a proposition for the Hitman. Ferrara has a “tall pint of pennies” all for Taylor, if he ends Cheeseburger for good! What does he say? Taylor doesn’t do anything for chump change from a chump, he takes that pint and pours it out on Ferrara’s head. Ferrara doesn’t appreciate his “copper shower”, The Dawgs will dig into Burger themselves. But Taylor gets in their way! The Dawgs have second thoughts about this, they decide to wait for another time and place. Will Burger be bullied by Big Rhett & Lil’ Willie? Will Taylor get a major payday at Final Battle?

There is dissension and tension between the Briscoe Brothers.

It has always been Mark Briscoe’s dream to become ROH World Television Champion, the same way his brother Jay was once ROH World Heavyweight Champion. Mark earned a 1v1 title match with Kenny King, and thought his brother was on his side. Turns out, not so much. Jay literally threw in the towel for Mark before the match had even lasted 30 seconds! Mark couldn’t believe it, Kenny King couldn’t believe it, the fans couldn’t believe it, and everyone just wants to know, “Why, Jay, Why?”

The Last Real Man speaks on his upcoming match with Jonathan Gresham.

“It’s not every day that Ring of Honor World TV title opportunities come knocking” on Silas Young’s door, but when they do, he’s ready to “kick it in and take what’s mine.” Gresham is the one man between Silas and that opportunity. As good as The Octopus is, he’s still going to wake up and see Silas with his hand raised, and know why Silas is the Last Real Man. Will Silas do as he said? Or will Search & Destroy’s Octopus surprise him?

Flip Army finds their fourth man!

It’s Scorpio Sky! They explain the situation, and he knows first-hand how bad The Bullet Club can be, so he’s in! Can this army of four humble The Bullet Club once and for all?

Dalton Castle VS “Hangman” Adam Page!

Seeing as how The Peacock wants to challenge the American Nightmare for the ROH World Heavyweight Championship, the ROH World Heavyweight Champion is on commentary. The American Nightmare wants to watch his Problem Solver take care of his contender before every coming close to a match at Final Battle, will his Christmas wish come early?

Cody comes over to give Page one last pep talk, but before he can, The Peacock DIVES! The champ runs away, so Castle keeps on Page all around the outside, putting Page hard into barriers! Then a suplex to the floor, Castle is all fired up and so are the fans. Castle puts Page in the ring and stalks him at the ropes, single underhook suplex. Page gets out, Castle runs again, not to dive but to strut! Peacock has Page on the defensive, we go to break.

We come back to see Page throw Castle into a barrier, in return for what Castle did to him earlier. Page drags Castle up and throws him into more barriers, then resets the ring count so he can climb up top. SUPER Asai Moonsault topples Castle down! Cody applauds, as do the fans, and Page gets Castle up and into the ring. Page keeps on Castle by putting him in a corner but Castle crawls out, Page stomps him down. Castle fights back, but Page keeps him cornered with strikes, then grinds a forearm into Castle’s face. The ref backs Page back, but Page winds up to yank Castle into the top rope. Page fish hooks Castle’s jaw, but lets go at 4 and Castle gets away from the ring.

Hangman pursues, ripping Castle’s shirt off to give a stiff chop. Castle is whipped at the apron but he spins around for a lariat, which Page sees coming, ducking it to ram Castle back into barriers. Castle is bent back on that barrier, Page drags him back into the ring. Page chops Castle again, putting him in a corner, then gives him an even sharper chop. Castle gets mad now, putting Page on the apron, but Page forearms him away to climb up, only for Castle to kick out a leg. From the apron now, Castle runs corner adjacent for a big knee strike that sends Page tumbling down! Castle throws Page into more barriers, then gives him a back suplex onto the apron edge.

Page is sore as Castle joins him in the ring, The Peacock glares at Cody. Cody tells him to focus on Page, Page runs in at Castle but gets a waistlock suplex, then a gutwrench suplex, and then a single-leg suplex! Castle’s all fired up again and tells off that “son of a bitch” Cody! Cody keeps his cool as Castle keeps on Page, waistlock hold but Page resists. Castle grabs an arm, hammers away on the hand, and then brings that arm around for a keylock. Page fights against whatever Castle is after, getting a ropebreak as we go to one more break.

We return this time to find Page has turned things around during the commercials and is now in control of Castle. He tries to get Castle up but Castle resists, sunset flip but roll-through, stiff right from Page. Waistlock but standing switch, German suplex but Page lands on his feet, SUPERKICK! Page spins around for a forearm but Castle blocks and spins him into a back elbow and forearm, saido suplex on top! Corner to corner, but Page boots Castle away, runs out but into BANGARANG! Castle covers, but Cody yanks the referee out of the ring before the obvious three count that was coming! The referee is furious with the ROH WHC, Page gets himself to a corner as The Peacock pursues the American Nightmare. Cody doesn’t want a fight right now, he runs away and Castle gives chase around the ring, Page with the Shooting Star shoulder tackle!

Fans are going wild as Page puts Castle in, slingshot for the Buck– no wait, BANGA– no! Page slips out, gets Castle up for Rite of Passage but Castle slips out of that, as well. Cody on the apron as Page lands out of the gutwrench to give Castle a stiff forearm. Castle staggers back, Cody grabs hold of him for Page! But The Peacock ducks, Cody takes the forearm! German Suplex Bridge, roll over, into a Keylock Sleeper! Page taps, Castle wins!

Winner: Dalton Castle, by submission

The Peacock stumps the Problem Solver, and he points right at Cody. The world champion knows Castle is still coming for him at Final Battle, so he gets on the apron and acts like he’s going to face Castle himself now. But that really is only an act, Hangman gets a chopblock on Castle! Only now that Castle is vulnerable will Cody get in the ring. Cody stomps away on Castle, he shows off his ring of honor and has Page stand Castle up. A stiff punch with the ring to Castle’s head, and Cody makes him kiss it. Cody and Page take their leave and leave Castle behind, has Cody cleared his calendar all the way to Christmas?

ROH takes a look at Bully Ray’s situation in Pro Wrestling.

The shot to the head he took from Jay Briscoe was perhaps the straw that broke the camel’s back. After a long career of extreme matches, the ECW original and former ROH World Six Man Tag Team Champion can’t risk anything more. Tommy Dreamer voiced his own guilt over his part in all that. There is nothing more Bully would rather do than say he’ll get his revenge on Jay, but Bully isn’t even sure if he can ever wrestle again. For the first time ever, Bully is considering retiring. He wanted to be a part of ROH so badly, but now, no one can be sure. If his last match really was his last match, Bully Ray wishes to thank God he was able to have it in an ROH ring. The fans replied, “Thank you, Bubba!” as they are just as unsure.

But Bully Ray is here!

Philadelphia is the city where it all began for him, so he wants to say what he has to say while ROH is still in town. Bully made it a point to be on the street to greet fans of ROH and Bully alike, to remind himself that he never forgot where he came from. Everyone talks about Madison Square Garden, the Tokyo Dome or the Staples Center, but 2300 Arena is “the building that changed professional wrestling forever!” Philly knows exactly what he means, “E C DUB!” echoes throughout the arena. Bully Ray is proud of those three letters, and is just as proud of the letters “R O H.” Fans agree and chant for ROH now. Bully has a formal list of notes to address. He gets his “reading” glasses out, too.

Bubba is truly back as he realizes after writing all this down, “Who the Hell needs a script?” He’ll do what he’s always done, every single time, “shoot straight.” He really doesn’t have much else to say, everyone knows the deal: “It’s time.” Be happy for him, because he is happy for himself. Fans let Bubba/Bully know “We will miss you!” and he appreciates that, because he’ll miss them. He’s still under contract to ROH to stick around and help out where he can, because he “truly, truly” believes in ROH just like he did ECW, “there’s nothing but great things on the horizon”, thank you everyone. A bow and tip of the hat from Bubba gets a standing ovation from the fans, and in comes Mr. Joe Koff, COO of ROH.

“Every day is a dream for me when I’m in Ring of Honor, but when you came into the organization,” Koff realized more of his dream. He welcomes Bully into this company and everything Bully has to offer, because “We love you, Bully Ray”. However, one man who might not welcome Bubba is Jay Briscoe, who is coming down the ramp.

Things are suddenly tense now as Jay gets in the ring. Jay can’t believe Bully Ray, the legend, is going out like this. Jay tells Bully that he’s nothing but a bitch. He disrespects Bully by tossing his hat off. Koff tries to get security out here but they’re slow to responding, so Bully gets ready for a fight! Koff tries to keep the peace but fans want to see Bully beat up Jay one last time. Jay escalates by spitting on Bully’s face! Koff shoves Jay?! The boss is trying to get Jay to stop, everyone from ring announcer to security comes in to keep Koff safe from Jay, but they leave Bully open to a blindside from behind!

Bully goes down in a heap, Jay isn’t done there! He grabs a chair, brings it into the ring, and as Philly boos, in comes Tommy Dreamer! Not only that, but Velvet Sky, Bully Ray’s girlfriend, comes in to shield Bully from whatever Jay might do. Dreamer tries to talk sense into Jay, Jay won’t back down. Dreamer vows Jay better stop now or else, and even Mark Briscoe comes in. Mark takes the chair from Jay and tosses it aside, backing Jay down as a brother. But then, Mark kicks Dreamer in the balls!?

Down goes Dreamer, “Why, Mark, Why?!” But it doesn’t matter why, the fact of the matter is that Jay is open to SMACK Dreamer with that chair. Somehow the Briscoes are on the same side as they scare and intimidate Velvet. “Do you know who we are?!” Velvet is tossed aside, she can only watch helplessly as The Briscoes take aim at Bully Ray. Bully somehow stands up and turns around, to be put into his own legendary move, The 3D!! Bubba is down again, and Jay even blows his nose on him! This is the most extreme example of “adding insult to injury”, Philly is furious with the Briscoes, what will be the consequences of life-threatening disrespect?!

My Thoughts:

What a great episode of ROH with quite a powerful ending. The Kingdom continues the trend of going after MCMG’s friends, this will surely egg Shelley & Sabin into a tag team title defense they don’t have to give, winner moving on to face Best Friends at Final Battle. I estimate it’ll end up being The Kingdom winning to make Final Battle a Heel VS Face match to make it all the better when Best Friends win the titles.

Obviously Shane Taylor was going to beat Cheeseburger, but I like that he’s staying in Tweener territory as he won’t let full Heels like The Dawgs manipulate him or get away with Heel things like beating up Burger. Given that Kenny King is face and Martinez is Heel, Taylor joining means Silas Young will likely win against Jonathan Gresham, especially with The Kingdom messing with Search & Destroy members. This will make the Fatal 4 Way a mostly 2:2 Heel to Face ratio, and still anyone’s win as all four guys are definitely at the top of the ROH mid-card.

I like Flip Gordon’s choices for his #FlipArmy, because it is logical Scorpio Sky, Shaheem Ali & Leon St. Giovanni to want at The Bullet Club and are on good terms with Gordon, they’ll make a great combination against The Young Bucks and any other two Bullet Club members in next week’s episode 323. Castle VS Page was a great match, Castle still wins even with Cody trying to screw him over but Cody beats Castle down to keep the 50-50 booking tied this far out from Final Battle. Still hoping the Boys have an epic return myself.

And then I did not see Mark Briscoe’s swerve and Heel turn coming, I thought this was going to be Briscoe VS Briscoe since they couldn’t have Briscoes VS Dudleys. Instead, Bubba takes two nasty bumps (which means his head trauma concerns must not be that bad in reality) and Dreamer is also dragged further into this. Perhaps Dreamer will find an ECW original to join him in a match against the Briscoes to be the blow-off for Bubba’s story with them. I’m hoping for D-Von, it just makes sense.

My Score: 8.5/10