Ring of Honor Wrestling Television, Episode 394

ROH keeps things going on G1 Supercard Weekend! The Last Real Man got away with an attack on the Octopus, but who will have the last laugh?

OFFICIAL RESULTS

• Six Man Tag: Karl Fredericks, Clark Connors & Alex Coughlin VS Dalton Castle & The Boys; Castle & The Boys win.
• The Bouncers VS The Voros Twins; The Bouncers win.
• Silas Young VS Jonathon Gresham; Young wins.

PLAY BY PLAY

Six Man Tag: Karl Fredericks, Clark Connors & Alex Coughlin VS Dalton Castle & The Boys!

Three Young Lions from NJPW’s new LA dojo are here to show the results of their training, but is it too much to be going up against former ROH World Six Man Tag Champions?

The teams sort out and The Peacock starts against Connors. Connors and Castle circle but The Boys want in already? The Boys argue over who gets to be in, but Castle chooses Boy 1. Boy 1 hops in and circles with Connors. Connors gets a takedown and threatens ground ‘n’ pound, but he picks Boy 1 up to push him to the corner. Connors calls out Castle with a point of his finger! Fans applaud the bravado and Castle tags back in. Castle and Connors circle now and tie up. Castle pushes Connors around but Connors gets free. Connors rushes in and spins around with Castle as they grapple. Castle waistlocks and throws Connors down! Connors is up fast but Castle gut wrenches and drives him down.

Castle waistlocks and gator rolls with Connors but Connors powers his way up. Connors goes for a switch but Castle scoops. Connors escapes and gets to his corner, where Coughlin tags in. Coughlin rushes but Castle dodges and strikes the Peacock Pose! Coughlin tries again but ends up in a waistlock. Castle brings Coughlin to his corner, and both Boys tag in? Both Boys hop in and stomp Coughlin together. The Boys double whip while the ref tries to sort this out, and things speed up. Boy 1 dropkicks Coughlin and it seems he’ll be the legal twin. Castle wants back in but Boy 1 says hold on, while he CHOPS Coughlin. But it does nothing!

Boy 1 tries again, but Coughlin still doesn’t flinch. Coughlin swings but Boy 1 dodges and runs only to be run over! Coughlin stands Boy 1 up for a CHOP, then another! The Young Lions take over while we go to break.

ROH returns as The Young Lions blast the Peacock’s corner. Fredericks whips Boy 1 corner to corner but misses the corner splash! Boy 1 sends Connors out then dodges Coughlin to hot tag Castle! Castle rallies with CHOPS and clotheslines. He knees Fredericks low and DDT’s him down! Castle blocks Coughlin’s kick and brings him into a big back suplex! Connors returns but gets tossed back out! Fans fire up with Castle as he goes back to Fredericks. Fredericks hits Castle with a right then waistlocks, but Castle slips out to give Fredericks a German Suplex! Fredericks bails out and Castle has the ring. “Bring them Boys!” The Boys appear!

Castle throws Boy 2 at Connors! He throws Boy 1 at Coughlin! He throws Boy 2 at Fredericks! Castle throws Boy 1 at Connors! He throws Boy 2 at Coughlin! And he throws Boy 1 at Fredericks! Then BOTH Boys at Connors! The Boys put Connors back in and Castle gut wrenches him to a powerbomb! Cover, but Fredericks breaks it up! Fredericks whips but Castle reverses and throws Fredericks out. Castle knocks Coughlin back out of the ring then goes back to Connors. Sling-Dog! The Boys return and Boy 1 tags in, but Fredericks trips Boy 2 up and throws him into the post! Connors and Coughlin shoves Castle into Boy 1 then give Castle a BIG double flapjack! Fredericks feeds Boy 1 to Coughlin, who CHOPS away in a corner!

Fredericks runs corner to corner for a BIG splash! Then Frederick whips Boy 1 for Connors to POUNCE! Fredericks CHOPS Boy 1 then feeds him to Coughlin’s CHOP! Boy 1 goes down, Fredericks drops an elbow! Fredericks turns Boy 1 for a Boston Crab! But Castle returns to throw Coughlin out and fire off hands and CHOPS on Fredericks. Fredericks CHOPS Castle back! They brawl, Castle elbows and clotheslines! Connors returns to throw Castle out! Castle drags Connors out with him, then hurries back up. But the ref stops Castle, he’s not the legal man. That’s okay, Boy 2 uses Twin Magic with his brother! Fans rally up as Boy 2 plays hurt. Fredericks gets up and drags Boy 2 up, but gets a cradle counter! Castle & The Boys win!!

Winners: Dalton Castle & The Boys, Boy 2 pinning

A big win for Castle, not just in the Six Man Tag Division, but also this close to his match with Rush! Will The Peacock use this momentum to defeat El Toro Blanco? Will Castle & The Boys find themselves contending for the Six Man titles in the near future?

ROH shares the finish of Bandido VS PJ Black at Honor Reigns Supreme.

LifeBlood’s luchador has the Darewolf on the top rope and climbs up to join him. Bandido stands PJ up for a SUPER MOONSAULT POWERSLAM! Cover, Bandido wins!

LifeBlood gets another win thanks to The Bandit, but PJ Black was feeling very down after that. PJ thought he knew better, because he’s been doing this for 22 years now. But given how long he’s been doing this, the frustration is building. He’s been trying to take shortcuts to get ahead, but it doesn’t work. ROH is built on honor and respect, of course, but PJ’s been doing the opposite. Now he’s doing some soul searching and rethinking his mindset. He knows he has to do it differently now. LifeBlood sets a great example for him, and he’ll learn to follow the honor in Ring of Honor. PJ knows now he didn’t know better, but will he be able to make it right in a rematch in two weeks, aka episode 396?

The Bouncers VS The Voros Twins!

Brian Milonas & The Beer City Bruiser are the literally biggest team on the ROH roster, but they also want to be the top team. Will they rise higher after taking on the debuting Chris & Patrick?

ROH returns and the Voros Twins psych the Bouncers on the Code of Honor. Chris and Pat shake each other’s hands, but Bruiser gets the fans on his side. The bell rings and BCB starts against Chris(?). Chris wants Bruiser to wait as he digs in his pockets. He brings out… two thumbs down! Fans boo Chris, Bruiser reels him in for a lariat! Chris scrambles to a corner and Bruiser runs in for a big uppercut! BCB drags Chris up for a suplex toss! Fans fire up with Bruiser while Chris flounders to his brother. Bruiser runs in but Chris gets clear. Patrick also moves out of the way and wants no beef with Bruiser. But then he pie faces Bruiser! Patrick runs away and Chris runs in but Bruiser elbows him away. Bruiser aims at Chris but Patrick trips him up! Milonas protests but Chris chop blocks Bruiser!

Chris stomps Bruiser to his corner then tags in Patrick. The Voros Twins mug Bruiser while mocking Milonas. Patrick stomps more while Chris gives thumbs up. Fans rally with “BEER! BEER!” but Patrick CHOPS Bruiser on his chest. Patrick gives thumbs down then tags in Chris. The Voros Twins play around and mug Bruiser with double chops. Chris bumps Bruiser on buckles then tags Patrick back in. The Voros Twins toy with Bruiser then high-five, but Bruiser dodges and tags to Milonas! The Mastadon rallies on the twins, corner splash on one then whips him to his brother for a Voros sandwich! Milonas keeps moving and POUNCES Patrick then SLAMS Chris! At least, I think that’s who got what… Well anyway, fans fire up as Milonas tags in Bruiser.

Bruiser drags Patrick up to shove him all the way out! Then he turns his attention to Chris while Milonas climbs up, Last Call Leg Crop! Cover, The Bouncers win!

Winners: The Bouncers, Beer City Bruiser pinning

The Voros Twins don’t have to go home, but they can’t stay here. Though after that, why would they want to? The Bouncers share a #ToastofHonor, but will they be toasting to a shot at the ROH World Tag Team Championships? Who even will be the champions after G1 Supercard’s Titles For Titles Tag Fatal 4 Way?

ROH shares the finish to Jay Lethal VS Matt Taven, 17th Anniversary Show.

Jay Lethal was ready to Hail to the King, but the red balloons were released! Vinnie Marseglia the Horror King appears to attack but so does TK O’Ryan! The Kingdom gets away with beating down Lethal but Jonathan Gresham rushes out to even things up. However, that wasn’t enough when it was 2v1 on the outside. The Kingdom put Gresham on the barriers to SMACK a leg with a chair! In the end, Lethal VS Taven was a time-limit draw. But the night wasn’t over for Gresham as Silas Young came over.

The Last Real Man mocked Gresham’s pain, and said Gresham got what he deserved for interfering in someone else’s business. Silas worked hard to get a match with Gresham for the Anniversary Show and now this happens. What’s next? Gresham can’t compete? No way, Gresham is the best pure wrestler in the company! He’ll fight even with a bad knee! Silas says Gresham needs to lighten up and learn how to take a joke. But then he kicks the bad leg out! Silas adds injury to insult, but will he come to regret it?

The Briscoes speak.

“So here we are, getting ready to go qualify for the Crockett Cup. The greatest damn tag team of all time having to qualify?! Why? The hell if I know!” The point is, if they have to, then that’s what they’ll do. The first Crockett Cup in 30 years, and the best team on the planet has to qualify? No problem. Jay & Mark Briscoe will take on Jeff Cobb & Willie Mack, which team will make it into this prestigious tag team tournament?

Silas Young VS Jonathon Gresham!

As we saw, the Last Real Man goaded the Octopus into this match then took a cheap shot on the bad leg! Will Silas’ ego only anger the Octopus into strangling him in the ring? Or will he take advantage of The Kingdom’s handiwork to get an easy win on G1 Weekend?

Silas doesn’t uphold the Code of Honor, he just trash talks with Gresham. Gresham bumps chests with Silas but backs off at the ref’s orders. The bell rings, and the two tie up fast. They go around and Silas puts Gresham in a corner. Gresham turns things around and they go around the ropes. Silas gets control and grinds Gresham but the ref breaks them up. Fans cheer for the aggression between both men as Gresham and Silas circle again. They tie up and Silas gets a headlock takeover. Gresham gets the headscissors but Silas pops out. Silas gets the headlock takeover again but Gresham gets the headscissors again. Silas pops out again and gets another headlock, but then Gresham rolls it to his own.

Fans applaud the technical exchange, but then Silas thumbs at the eye. Gresham holds on but Silas keeps doing it, so Gresham thumbs Silas back! The ref reprimands both men as they literally go eye for the eye, and then he counts. Both men let up at 4 but stand right up. The ref keeps them both back and reprimands them again. Gresham and Silas cool off as they circle again. Silas talks trash to the jeering fans before talking trash to tiny Gresham. Gresham wants to prove size doesn’t matter, and the fans chant for “Test of Strength!” Silas and Gresham go for it, and tie up with the knuckle locks. They go shoulder to shoulder and Silas uses leverage to bring Gresham to his knees. Fans rally up and Gresham powers up to push back! Silas kicks low then headlocks, but Gresham powers out.

Silas runs Grehsam over then dusts his shoulder off before things speed up. Gresham goes to hip toss but Silas blocks. Silas goes to hip toss but Gresham blocks. They repeat hip toss counters back and forth, and Silas gets Gresham up and out! Silas goes out after Gresham but Gresham grabs him with a headlock. Silas powers out but Gresham stops himself to elbow Silas away. Gresham goes up and over to uppercut Silas! Silas CHOPS Gresham but Gresham CHOPS back. They trade chops but they’re forgetting the ring count. The count passes 10/20 but the CHOPS keep going! Gresham chops, Silas chops, repeat! The count passes 15, then they hear 18! Silas and Gresham run in at 19! Fans cheer as this match continues after the break!

ROH returns again and the brawl has resumed in the ring! Gresham hits, Silas hits, repeat, but then Silas picks up and powers Gresham to a corner! Silas backs off but runs into a boot. Gresham waistlocks but Silas standing switches, but then Gresham switches but then Silas switches, and so on! Things slow down as Silas runs out of steam, but he pushes Gresham to ropes. Gresham bucks Silas off and then runs in, but gets the backbreaker and lariat! Silas dusts off his hands but Gresham stands back up. Gresham and Silas glare but Gresham runs into Silas’ knee. Silas goes to throw Gresham but Gresham throws Silas out. Gresham slingshots and splashes down on Silas! Fans fire up but Gresham winces and holds his ribs.

The ring count begins again and Gresham gets himself up. Gresham drags Silas up and in then aims from a corner. Fans rally as Gresham climbs and leaps, but Silas gets clear of the crossbody! Gresham flops on the mat and his ribs hurt again. Silas gets up and stomps Gresham down. Silas stalks and mocks Gresham all the way to a corner, then stomps a mudhole in. The ref counts and Silas backs off at 4. Gresham gets back up but Silas rocks him with a forearm. Gresham fires back with a CHOP! Silas haymakers and stomps Gresham back for that, then drags him out for a snap suplex. Cover, ONE! Silas keeps on Gresham with an arm surfboard. Fans rally as Gresham endures and fights his way up. Gresham frees himself then throws forearms and chops. Gresham runs but Silas shoves him out!

The ring count begins again and Silas smirks at the writhing Gresham. Silas waits as Gresham crawls his way up at 10/20. Gresham gets in at 11 but Silas stomps him back down. Silas throws forearms in the corner then whips corner to corner hard! Gresham bounces off the buckles and hits the mat! Cover, TWO!! Silas grows frustrated so he springboard stomps Gresham. Silas taunts Gresham and the fans then rams his shoulder into Gresham. Gresham clubs back but gets more shoulders. Silas whips hard again and Gresham bounces off by his chest! Deep cover, TWO! Silas grows further frustrated but he’s still in control as we go to one more break.

ROH returns once more, and Silas taunts and toys with Gresham. Gresham gets mad, and as Silas goes to stand him up, he grabs the arm and tweaks it between his legs! Silas reels away but standing switches. Gresham switches, Silas switches, repeat all over again. Gresham rolls Silas up, TWO! Silas gets up and gives Gresham another backbreaker. But Gresham sees the lariat coming and gets around it to a waistlock. Silas switches again, but so does Gresham. They keep going and Gresham fakes Silas out to a DDT! Fans cheer as Gresham and Silas are down. Fans rally up and Gresham gets himself to the far side. Gresham uses the ropes to stand and grits his teeth as he goes for Silas. He scoops but the bad back stops that. Silas runs in but into boots.

Gresham waistlocks but Silas backs him into buckles. Silas runs in but into a drop toehold that sends him into buckles! Gresham goes corner to corner for a marching basement dropkick! Fans fire up with Gresham while Silas bails out. Gresham takes aim, builds speed, but Silas dodges. Gresham slides to the apron and leaps, but Silas gets clear! Silas throws Gresham back in the ring and slingshots but misses the stomps. Gresham rolls him, TWO! Silas trips Gresham to a jackknife, TWO with a bridge! Gresham spins Silas but Silas goes to roll him, only for Gresham to sit on it! ONE and Silas sunsets but Gresham rolls through to high stack! Silas blocks to a roll up, TWO!! Gresham survives and Silas is exhausted, but the fans are loving this.

A standing count begins and fans rally up. Silas and Gresham slowly sit up, and get forehead to forehead. They give short headbutts back and forth, and neither man backs off. Silas runs and rams Gresham but Gresham rebounds to hit back! Silas runs and rams again, but so does Gresham! Gresham then hits Silas again, but runs into a lariat! Fans are fired up again as both men fall! Another standing count begins but both men are up at 5. Fans cheer as Gresham staggers up, but Silas gets him for a Spicoli Driver to double stomps! Cover, TWO!! Gresham still lives and Silas can’t believe it. Silas and Gresham are slow to stand again, but Silas knees Gresham! Silas hits the Anarchist Suplex! Cover, TWO!! Silas has had it with Gresham and goes for a full nelson.

Gresham crawls and reaches for ropes. Silas brings Gresham up and spins him, but Gresham blocks the knee to elbow the leg. Gresham dropkicks the leg out! Gresham has new life as he stands. He goes for the leg but Silas blocks the takedown to a gut wrench! Gresham pops out of the Canadian rack but his back stiffens up! Silas smirks as he stalks Gresham. He taunts Gresham to stand then brings him around, only for Gresham to throw forearms. Silas knees and clubs Gresham down but Gresham grits his teeth as he powers back up. Gresham forearms but Silas clubs. Gresham still hits back, so Silas gives it back. They go back and forth with those forearms and Gresham goes down. Gresham gets back up to give more forearms, but Silas keeps knocking him back down.

Silas tells the “boy” he’s gonna keep getting knocked down, but Gresham keeps getting up. Gresham swings but misses and Silas rocks him again. But Gresham nips up to enziguri! And German Suplex! And running forearm! Cover, TWO!! But Gresham keeps going, another running forearm! Cover, TWO!! Gresham won’t stop but he runs into a boot. He still side steps to another German, and a THIRD forearm! Cover, TWO!? Silas survives that surge from Gresham and Gresham isn’t sure what he has to do now.

Fans rally for Gresham as he refocuses. Gresham calls for it, and brings Silas back up. Gresham waistlocks but Silas elbows out. Silas runs, but Gresham goes perpendicular to jam Silas up. Gresham then springboards for a QUEBRADA! Silas bails out but Gresham DIVES! The fans fire up for Gresham again as he puts Silas back in. Gresham hurries up top, and hits a SHOOTING STAR! Cover, TWO?!? But into an Ankle Lock! Silas is bleeding as he flails and reaches! Gresham has him, but Silas rolls and Gresham bumps the ref! Gresham apologizes but Silas LOW BLOWS! Cradle, Silas wins!!

Winner: Silas Young, by pinfall

After all that, a bloody Last Real Man cheats the system! Will Silas ever win one clean? Or will that matter when he’s challenging for a title once again?

My Thoughts:

ROH is still running into this problem of having “go-home” episodes the day of a special event and having it result in being a filler episode. The three Young Lions looked good and worked well together, but naturally the established Dalton Castle & The Boys won. And it’s rather interesting that The Boys were the ones to get it done. I wonder if there’s something slowly developing for them as they’re starting to act more independent. Then those Voros Twins, they were definitely getting squashed. They look like the antagonists from a 90’s skater movie. The Bouncers are building momentum, but given the four teams in the ROH VS IWGP Tag Titles For Titles Fatal 4, I don’t know if Bruiser & Milonas are ready to dethrone any of them.

However, this episode at least had an incredible main event. Silas and Gresham have had history with each other and this was another great chapter in that story. Also a silly production thing, when the match ended and Silas’ bloody face was visible, they decided to blur censor just his head. It was really weird, I would’ve preferred them just turning everything black ‘n’ white. As for the match, I was really hoping Gresham was gonna pull it off given everything he was enduring and has endured at the hands of The Last Real Man. But Silas cheats to win, and perhaps he will circle back to facing LifeBlood like Bully Ray VS Juice Robinson. Personally still waiting on the 5v5 LifeBlood VS Bully and his fellow bullies.

I’m looking forward to seeing ROH televise their part of the Crockett Cup, but I do agree with The Briscoes that they don’t need to qualify for this tournament as one of the best tag teams today. But either way, Briscoes VS Cobb & Mack will be great. I don’t know all the teams between ROH, CMLL, NWA and NJPW, but I know they’re all going to bring their best and I would think the truly best possible match for the finals will come about. And hopefully ROH doesn’t fall too far behind like they tend to do with their own PPV results.

My Score: 8/10