Paid Members Lorne Malvo Posted May 31, 2024 Paid Members Posted May 31, 2024 3 hours ago, JLM said: Jimmy Jacobs (!) vs Satnam Singh Unexpected. They wrestled to a 30 minute draw as you'd imagine. Jimmy Jacobs getting that much pyro had to be some kind of rib on him didn't it? It never ended! Quote
Chili Posted May 31, 2024 Posted May 31, 2024 20 minutes ago, Lorne Malvo said: Jimmy Jacobs getting that much pyro had to be some kind of rib on him didn't it? It never ended! They had loads of leftover pyro and apparently it's a bit of an issue taking stuff like that across state lines etc, so they just blew the wad and did a rib at the same time. Quote
Paid Members JLM Posted May 31, 2024 Paid Members Posted May 31, 2024 Haha that is amazing. Also didn’t notice the first time that Bobby Cruise breaks a little bit during his announcement. Quote
Paid Members JLM Posted June 18, 2024 Paid Members Posted June 18, 2024 (edited) ROH 30/05/24 Skipped: Serpentico vs Jobber (!!), Red Velvet vs Jobber. Billie Starkz attacked Velvet and did the title belt face bonk after it. Zak Knight vs Jobber, Lee Johnson vs Action Andretti vs Aaron Solo. Three of the blandest men in wrestling there. Oof. The Workhorsemen vs Top Flight. Athena vs Viva Van Wondering if this one was ended early due to an injury. It was looking like they were going for a more competitive match than the usual Athena squash, then it ended off a fore arm strike quite suddenly. The Kingdom vs Jacoby Watts/Nick Comoroto Intrigued enough by this Watts/Comoroto thing that I watched a Kingdom match. Nicky Boy playing a babyface loveable oaf character who's starting to believe in himself, only to be shafted by Watts' staunch refusal to tag in when they team together. It's like Otis/Gable but not as good, though I'm still finding it strangely watchable. Marina Shafir promo. She tells Lexi to ask her why she's The Problem, then does a short promo in which she uses the word "Problem" about 30 times. It was OK. By Marina Shafir on camera promo standards it was a masterpiece. I'd still stick with pre-taped vignettes (the one one the last episode was good!) and giving her a manager though. The Premier Athletes vs The Bollywood Boys OK The Bollywood Boys getting a great hometown reaction in Vancouver finally breathed some life into this episode. Don't think this was even 10 minutes long but was easily the highlight of the episode. Really good heat throughout, with the Athletes attacking before the match, repeatedly stopping the babyfaces doing their dance and then attacking them after the match for good measure. Nothing episode there. ROH 06/06/24 Skpped: Queen Aminata vs jobber. I did watch the end to see how she finished it. Happy to see she's using the running air raid crash as her finish, it looks so good. Dark Order vs Johnny TV/Carter/Garrison vs Iron Savages. It seems like it might be the sort of random ROH clusterfuck I'd enjoy but it has too many duffers in there. Iron Savages, Carter and Garrison are all completely dead weight. Dalton Castle promo! Apologises to Lexy for putting her through hell during the John Television feud. He's over it, he's challenging for the TV Title and he's running on cool now. So of course that piece of shit Jonathan Television has to butt in and accuse Dalton of stealing his designer sunglasses. As much as Garrison/Carter vs Serpentico/Angelico feels like a never ending waking nightmare, if they want to keep *this* particular feud rolling indefinitely I would be OK with it. Marina Shafir vs Jobber Despite some hideous ring gear, Shafir looked very good here. It was a simple squash but all of her stuff looked devastating and I love how her throws and takedowns look quite unlike anyone else's. Notable that Marina won with the Mother's Milk reverse sleeper she's been using on the indies. Seen a lot of criticism of the move and people saying it looks more like she's cuddling them than choking them out. I think that's the point of it though. She's a bit of a weirdo and I think it suits her perfectly in that regard. Also, as awkward a live promo as she is, she does have some great facial expressions and this hold allows her to do the Waylon Mercy/Dexter Lumis style stare at the camera as the opponent fades away. I liked Caprice's call during this one about Shafir not transitioning from MMA to pro wrestling, but rather bringing what she already has and just doing that in pro wrestling matches. I think that's what separates her from everyone else and when it works I'm a fan of it. Her match against Mike Bailey in Revolver is her style at its best for me, and the best match of hers I've seen. The match is "ugly" in the best possible way. It feels like a frantic and chaotic struggle with the element of danger/ belief it could finish at any time you get in a real MMA fight. To me it's a clash of styles in a good way; they don't mesh perfectly but they shouldn't because they're trying to beat each other using two different disciplines. Bailey is doing his martial arts inspired cruiserweight pro wrestler thing, Shafir is almost exclusively doing strikes, judo throws and submission attempts. It's here if anyone cares to check it out: ROH TV Title: Dalton Castle vs Kyle Fletcher This was a belter! No comedy from Dalton here, just fantastic babyface fire throughout, and a little glimpse of what he is still capable of even after all the injuries. I love his comedy very much and I'm glad he keeps things light to look after his health most of the time, but it was a treat to get a bit of big match Dalton here. Fletcher was a great prick as well, constantly riling up the crowd and disrespecting our hero. Really good stuff, baffling that this wasn't the main event of the episode. Nick Comoroto and Jacoby Watts vs The Infantry Once again poor Nicky Boy spends the entire match as the legal man. Watts did at least distract and cheap shot The Infantry once or twice. He still showed no intention of tagging in at any point. I just want the best for the big man, he's trying his hardest bless him. Lee Johnson promo. It's bad but thankfully Kyle Fletcher interrups and bails him out a bit. They're gonna have a 2/3 falls match for the TV Title. If Supercard of Honor is anything to go by, that match will be three hours long and have 200 near falls. I will be skipping it but I'm sure it'll get loads of stars. Billie Starkz vs Zamaya Zamaya has completely lifted Bull Nakano's look. Bit cheeky that. Match was fine. Post match Velvet and Aminata corner Starkz and Velvet gives her a good beatdown as revenge for last week. Good stuff, slightly marred by them accidentally playing Billie's music instead of Velvet's and then hastily changing it. Whoops. Much better than the previous episode but only because of the Fletcher/Castle match. Edited June 18, 2024 by JLM Quote
Paid Members JLM Posted June 18, 2024 Paid Members Posted June 18, 2024 (edited) ROH 13/06 Skipped: NOTHING!!!! Unprecedented scenes on ROH TV. Billie Starkz vs Sandra Moone Fun little extended squash this. Sandra Moone is a likeable underdog babyface with some good looking offense. Starkz got the most heel heat I've ever heard her get for denying the people the swanton bomb at the end and submitting Moone instead. Liked that a lot. Nick Comoroto/Jacoby Watts vs Shane Taylor/Lee Moriarty Ok this is where sticking with the Watts/Comoroto saga pays off a little. This was good fun. Nicky dominates Moriarty and press slams him to the floor, and Watts actually accepts a tag! However, this is only so he can grab the house mic, cut a quick promo getting his catchphrase in, then tag back out again. Beautiful. Later in the match Nicky hits a beautiful running powerslam. Watts tags himself in, tries to pin Moriarty, then tags back out immediately when unsuccessful. Big fan of this schtick, give me them against The Righteous next please. The Comoroto skin the cat spot is definitely something that can get over if they stick with it too. He looks so pleased with himself. Other highlight of this was Taylor getting the win with an absolutely glorious knock out punch. Delightful. Taya Valkyrie promo. Calls out Queen Aminata for not being a real queen. Red Velvet vs Viva Van Good competitive match here, these two worked well together aside from one iffy looking flipping neckbreaker thing where Van didn't seem to know when to bump. Other than that this was solid. Lance Archer and The Righteous vs Top Flight and Andretti vs Dark Order vs Dalton Castle and The Infantry OK this is what last week's main event was going for, but with even more bodies and an infinitely more appealing line up. This is how you fill out your ROH undercard. Match was nuts and I was thoroughly entertained. Highlights included Dalton Castle suplexing damn near everybody back to back, Dutch Bossman slamming Evil Uno, Castle cheap shotting Archer as a receipt for blocking the hard cam during his entrance and a bonkers closing stretch with everyone killing everyone. I don't know if the ref or Riccabone or the wrestlers knew who was legal at the end of this and I don't think it particularly mattered. Loads of fun. Lady Frost/Leyla Hirsch/Abadon vs Marina Shafir/Diamante/Alex Windsor Once again I love this ROH women's undercard. What a wonderfully diverse bunch this is. The episodes are measurably worse when these lot are left off the card. Shafir rocking the same utterly awful gear as last time. Terracotta spandex with the Blue Dragon logo from the Sweet Chili Sauce slapped on it. Good lord. Enjoyed this match a lot. Some lovely grappling from Hirsch and Shafir, everything Alex Windsor does looks great and all wrestled at a nice brisk pace. Would have liked a few more flashy Lady Frost things but other than that I was satisfied. Harley Cameron vs Trish Adora Harley Cameron's great. Full of personality and trash talk and perfectly capable in-ring. She brought good fire and retaliatory trash talk out of Trish Adora here, when showing her personality is usually a bit of a weakness for her. Another solid match. The Kingdom vs The Wolf Zaddies I enjoy Bad Dude Tito *and* they drafted in Daddy Magic as guest commentator for this match? Well I guess I'm in then. People need to stop giving me reasons to watch The Kingdom matches, it's really eating into my wrestling viewing time. Short and sweet sprint match, highlight was Bad Dude Tito's hot tag. Just over an hour run time and I enjoyed everything on the show top to bottom. Can't quite believe it. This is what ROH on Honour Club could be... Edited June 18, 2024 by JLM Quote
Paid Members JLM Posted June 28, 2024 Paid Members Posted June 28, 2024 (edited) ROH 20/06/24 Nearly two hours this week. Was loving the one hour episodes, though this one does have the 2.0 vs Kingdom tag title match they've been building forever *and* the 2/3 falls TV title match. By ROH TV standards that's a stacked show. Skipped: Garrison/Carter/Anthony Henry vs Serpentico/The Infantry. Iron Savages vs Jobber, Lance Archer vs Jobber, Titan vs Aaron Solo Fun opener this. The crowd was behind Titan and these two had good chemistry. Would typically skip an Aaron Solo match but this was pretty good. Athena promo! This was great. Athena all emotional talking about her injury. She's going to miss 4-6 months, this isn't how she thought he reign would end. She's decided it's best for the title, the division and ROH if she... REMAINS ROH WOMEN'S CHAMPION. Tremendous. What an Athena thing to do. Aminata and Velvet are immediately out to call bullshit. Guessing we're finally getting the tag match at the PPV at the end of July and Athena is not as injured as she claims. Good segment and an unexpected development. Jacoby Watts vs Brandon Cutler This was weird. Watts is clearly a heel, but his promo is cut off by Brandon Cutler, who tries to out-heel him by ragging on the locals. Strange to go with this pairing. Short but passable match, still enjoying the Jacoby Watts character. Did not expect him to get the win with a Stone Cold Stunner. Oh also Brandon Cutler took off his tracksuit top to reveal that he has a hell of a physique. Don't recall that being the case before. Marina Shafir vs Jobber I hope this current Shafir push goes somewhere, enjoying her stuff a lot on this run. Only criticism is I still cannot stand the new gear. Not only the colour and the Blue Dragon chili sauce logo, but also the fit makes it look like one of those outfits the women have to wear on Saudi Arabia shows. Other than that though I think she's looked very good, her indy excursions have done wonders for her. She has the killer aura going on, she has a much better handle on how her skill set works in a pro wrestling match, and again I love the visual of her staring at the camera as the opponent passes out to Mother's Milk: Still needs either a stable and/or a mouthpiece but there is a lot of potential there and there is nobody like her on the roster. Atlantis Jr. promo. He wants to face the winner of Fletcher/Johnson for the ROH TV title in CMLL. Leyla Hirsch vs Diamante I like that this appeared to be the start of something rather than the usual women's undercard filler match. Diamante dominated for the whole match working the ribs and then lost to an upset roll up. She then snapped after the match and beat up Hirsch. Finally a feud is happening in this division. ROH Tag Titles: Cool Hand and Daddy Magic vs The Kingdom Ahh Daddy Magic is the greatest. Comedy heel, mentor and father figure to Danny Garcia and one of the best fiery underdog babyfaces you could ask for, the man can do it all. The crowd is always hard to win over for these ROH matches but he was not to be denied. Textbook heel vs babyface tag match here and I was rooting for our heroes throughout even if I didn't really believe they had a shot. The ending was rubbish though. Daddy Magic grabbing one of the title belts for no reason and then getting rolled up? Why not just have The Kingdom cheat instead? Weird. ROH TV Title Kyle Fletcher vs Lee Johnson (2/3 Falls) I liked this better than their PPV match because the structure made it more engaging to watch and tempered the fatigue these two trigger in me. They undoubtedly have amazing chemistry and can do some truly spectacular stuff together, but they also do too much of that and kick out of too many things. They bring out both the best and worst in each other. The first fall had some very silly near falls, but overall the 2/3 falls structure did rein in just how many massive things they could do to each other in a row without somebody being pinned. Some of the high spots were truly dazzling as well. The biggest was probably Johnson doing a tope con hilo turned into a sunset flip on the outside. Bonkers. Unfortunately a 2-1 win to Fletcher was the only possible outcome here. I would love them to get this belt off Fletcher and put it on a developing ROH guy instead. The ROH undercard titles living in ROH and mostly staying there like the NXT ones would be a massive improvement. I know they won't do it though, so there was no chance in hell of Fletcher losing this. Not a bad episode that. The top two matches definitely a cut above what you normally get on these shows. Edited June 28, 2024 by JLM Quote
Paid Members Lorne Malvo Posted July 8, 2024 Paid Members Posted July 8, 2024 A packed (by ROH standards) show this week. The Trios, Tag and Pure champions all in action, and 2 matches made for Death Before Dishonor (Aminata vs Athena should be a cracker). All of that and a 50-minute runtime too! More of this please. Quote
Paid Members JLM Posted July 9, 2024 Paid Members Posted July 9, 2024 ROH 04/07/24 Another short, snappy episode. Keep this up please. The Infantry are hosting the show because it's the 4th of July and they are America's tag team. They say some stuff, it's not great. Dark Order vs Bullet Club Gold This is a trios titles proving ground match, but the BCG team is the Gunns and Juice Robinson. So these three aren't allowed to defend the titles because it has to be Jay White instead of Juice, but you CAN beat them to get a shot at the titles. OK then. Fine little sprint match with some amusing shenanigans from Juice. The Infantry are back to give some independence day history. These bits are not for me. Red Velvet and Aminata confront Athena and Starkz backstage. Athena still claims she's not cleared, but Tony Khan and the board have declared otherwise. So Aminata vs Athena for the women's title and Starkz vs Velvet for the TV title both confirmed for Death before Dishonour. ROH feuds sure do have to spin their wheels for ages between these PPVs, but I am excited for both of those matches. The Infantry again, skipped it this time. The Kingdom vs Metallik/Komander Good match this, I do enjoy the Metallik/Komander team and their good lucha things. Metallik has some nerve calling himself the king of the rope though, when both Komander and Rey Fenix are way better at rope related lucha feats. Vignette for MXM! Excellent. Their online stuff is consistently hilarious, very happy to see this. Also the nickname "The Iron Chic" for Mansoor is sheer genius. The Infantry said more things. ROH Pure Title Proving Ground: Wheeler Yuta vs Lee Moriarty Pure title rules but also proving ground rules, so if Moriarty survives for 10 minutes he gets a title shot. Lots of lovely grappling and mat wrestling for the sickos from these two as you'd expect, very well matched opponents. The last minute they spend a full 30 seconds going back and forth exchanging one counts, to the point that it went on a bit tooo long and felt kinda silly. Also the drama of the last minute and the time running out was diminished a bit by the usual ROH lack of heat. A solid match regardless though, they worked well together and Moriarty's title shot should be a good one. Very easy watch this week with all the matches being competitive and with some stakes involved. Also very hyped for some MXM! Quote
Paid Members Lorne Malvo Posted July 9, 2024 Paid Members Posted July 9, 2024 3 minutes ago, JLM said: Dark Order vs Bullet Club Gold This is a trios titles proving ground match, but the BCG team is the Gunns and Juice Robinson. So these three aren't allowed to defend the titles because it has to be Jay White instead of Juice, but you CAN beat them to get a shot at the titles. OK then. Fine little sprint match with some amusing shenanigans from Juice. I feel like Riccaboni kind of tried to cover for that by saying the Freebird rule has been used before in ROH, so I'm guessing it's allowed in ROH but not in AEW. But it doesn't really make that much sense considering the titles are now unified, and it's one of those little attention-to-detail things that Tony Khan's booking really doesn't explain that well. Quote
Paid Members JLM Posted July 15, 2024 Paid Members Posted July 15, 2024 (edited) ROH 11/07/24 Taya Valkyrie vs Marina Shafir vs Robyn Renegade This was pretty rough. Disjointed, messy and heatless. I'm guessing this was made a 3-way so Taya could win without beating Shafir, but I don't know if the ROH undercard is a place where people need to be protected from losses. Would have been much more interesting as a singles match. Kingdom Promo. They want to take Death before Dishonour as a night off. ROH TV Title Atlantis Jr vs Serpentico Amazing first defense for Atlantis here. Isn't there aaaanybody on the roster who could have had a competitive match with him to give him a decent filler defense? The Beast Mortos, Komander, Blake Christian, JD Drake, Anthony Henry, Lee Moriarty, AR Fox, Jack Cartwheel even?? None of those guys could afford the loss? Had to be bloody Serpentico did it? Some combination of those lads in matches to qualify for this title shot would have been nice too; I know the ROH TV Title is not exactly the most prestigious prize in our great sport, but what on Earth has Serp of all people done to earn a shot? Deary me. Anyway they had a match and Atlantis won. Skye Blue vs Laynie Luck. Snazzy new gear for Skye Blue, still wrestling borderline heelish but not doing the House of Black-adjacent look any more. Fine semi-competitive squash. MXM Vignette! ROH stands for Radiant Ozempic Hotties. Excellent. Billie Starkz vs Jobber. Fairly standard squash, made more fun by Athena's coaching at ringside. Highlight was Athena's hired security guards lifting her up so she could interfere in the match without having to stand on her "injured" leg. Diamante killed a jobber. Lots of women's action on the show but still none of the named/signed wrestlers facing each other outside of the opener. They're building to Diamante vs Leyla Hirsch, but couldn't Diamante have beaten someone other than a jobber to heat her up for that? Athena gives a minion rallying speech backstage, clearly moving around with no trouble at all, then collapses holding her leg when she sees the camera. The fake leg injury schtick is good silly fun. Lee Johnson and The Infantry vs Dark Order Solid little six man tag match. That's about it. The slimmest of pickings this episode. Squashes, a complete waste of Atlantis Jr's first TV title defense and a very ropey three way which exposed Marina Shafir after a few weeks of solid showings from her. Poor show. Edited July 16, 2024 by JLM Quote
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted July 15, 2024 Paid Members Posted July 15, 2024 @JLM could have been worse, Atlantis Jr could have fought Jon Cruz. Quote
Paid Members JLM Posted July 22, 2024 Paid Members Posted July 22, 2024 (edited) ROH 18/07/24 Athena and Starkz promo to open. Athena claims she's still injured and the footage of her walking unaided last week was due to an adrenaline rush. Billie Starkz seemed to lose her train of thought during her promo here but ultimately got it out. Athena says if she's forced to wrestle Aminata at Death Before Dishonor she'll comfortably beat her on one leg. Dalton Castle Promo! It is excellent, naturally. He's booked in a trios match against Lance Archer and The Righteous but doesn't have partners: I love how pleased Lexy looks when they offer to be Dalton's partners. Gutted that this will be the last time I see Dalton in action this year following his injury on Collision. Dalton Castle and The Outrunners vs Lance Archer and The Righteous At last Archer and The Righteous against non-jobbers! This was a lot of fun. The Outrunners are surprisingly good babyfaces and it's a real shame this alliance with Dalton will be cut short by his injury as they make a great trio. Archer and The Righteous as I say every single time should be a permanent trio and get more outings on the main shows. Vincent yelled a bunch of stuff about going for the tag team titles after the match but I can't see them dethroning The Kingdom. Red Velvet vs Maya World Fine semi-competitive squash to showcase Velvet and her new finisher ahead of the Billie Starkz match at Death before Dishonor. Evil Uno vs Katsuyori Shibata Evil Uno cut a short promo that started like he was about to announce his retirement then transitioned into an open challenge. Genuinely surprised to see it answered by Shibata! Bit of a strange one this. The crowd was initially cold but they drew them in with some big strikes and a lot of intensity. Looked like it was about to get good, then Shibata put on a cross arm breaker, Uno got to the ropes and it was broken, but Uno then stayed down and the ref stopped it. He seemed to be selling the arm so I *think* it was a worked injury. Best MXM vignette so far in my opinion: The Cage of Agony slaughtered some jobbers. They threw one of them from the ring to his partners on the floor after the match. I liked that. Excellent fiery promo from Shane Taylor calling out Mark Briscoe. Would definitely watch that match. He's furious because nobody from ROH or AEW called to check on him and his family during Hurricane Beryl in Texas. I hope that isn't true. Queen Aminata murdered a jobber. Really looking forward to her match with Athena. Aminata is a star who needs to be on a bigger stage than this. Full of charisma with a naturally likeable personality, growing in confidence with every appearance, looks stunning and everything she does in the ring looks fantastic too. I hope they realise what they have with her and don't let her languish in ROH purgatory for too long. I say this every time too, but maaan that running air raid crash looks awesome. Unsanctioned Match: Diamante vs Leyla Hirsch This match was bananas. Diamante is highly underrated and has shown herself to be particularly great in these plunder matches, but Hirsch was very game as well. This was at the end of a four hour taping but the crowd couldn't help but get into it. RVD-inspired chair spots, a comedy plunger spot, the dreaded thumbtacks and two completely batshit table spots. The first was Hirsch with a moonsault from the top to the floor through a table which she just barely made and landed all knees onto Diamante, looked rough. The finishing spot was executed beautifully though and made for an immensely satisfying and spectacular ending: An ROH-built feud paying off with a big TV match that got over with the live crowd. It's like living in some kind of wonderful waking dream. Hirsch and Diamante are doing this again in a Texas Death match at the PPV. I am both intrigued and slightly terrified by what they'll do to top this. What a fun episode that was, the hour breezed by. The word is they'll be using this temporary Texas residency to introduce more consistent storytelling and happenings of consequence on these ROH TV episodes. I truly hope that plays out because there are lots of people on this roster I enjoy watching and they deserve it. Edited July 22, 2024 by JLM Quote
Paid Members Statto Posted July 26, 2024 Paid Members Posted July 26, 2024 Just seen on a YouTube video they've got Paul Wight doing the authority figure thing in RoH. Thought for a while that "avatar for Tony Khan" would be the best role for him in the company if they were to go down the on-screen authority figure route given he can talk, do both serious & funny as the situation demands, and is physically imposing enough for it be be believable that wrestlers would listen to him (whilst being able to balance the fact he's physically fucked so he's not in a position to just beat everyone up if they don't listen ). Quote
Paid Members Lorne Malvo Posted July 26, 2024 Paid Members Posted July 26, 2024 Paul Wight as an authority figure is a cracking idea for the reasons @Statto outlined above. I just wish it were in AEW where people would see it. Fuck it, switch Paul Wight and Christopher Daniels around, Curry Man can be the GM of the show nobody watches. A decent episode this week. I didn't like the eSports arena for Collision but it's low-rent pitch black vibe fits the ROH aesthetic perfectly. Can't see EJ Nduka staying in ROH for long, what a look! The Von Erichs are still really shit, especially Ross who stumbles around the ring like he's pissed up. Quote
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