Ring Of Honor TV Results – June 12, 2019: Points For Trying? Maybe?
IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling
Ring of Honor
Date: June 12, 2019
Location: The Odeum, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Nick Aldis
It’s a big week this time around as we have hometown boy and NWA National Champion Colt Cabana defending the title against James Storm. I’m not sure how smart it is to have another promotion tying in to ROH but I’m also not sure if the company knows how to survive otherwise. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening sequence.
NWA National Title: Colt Cabana vs. James Storm
Cabana is defending and that title is still hideous. They lock up to start with Storm missing a right hand in the corner, prompting Colt to tell the referee to admonish him. Cabana grabs a headlock as they’re firmly in half gear so far. A cartwheel over Storm lets Colt go right back to the headlock but Storm is right back with a weak Sling Blade. Last Call misses as Cabana bails to the floor and we take a break.
Back with Cabana working on the arm, followed by a falling splash. Storm trips him down though and gets in a kick to the head. Some right hands to the same general area keep the champ in trouble, setting up a running knee to the face. That’s good for a delayed two as they’re really not exactly putting in that much energy here. Cabana fights out of a chinlock and blocks the Eye of the Storm.
A headscissors puts Storm down but Colt can’t follow up, after those devastating….what did Storm do that should keep him down? Cabana gets up for his running shoulder in the corner, setting up the double jump splash for two. Back from another break with Storm sending him into the barricade and then sending him into the barricade again.
Storm stops to glare at Aldis on commentary before breaking the count like a veteran. The delay lets Cabana get in a hiptoss onto the concrete and it’s a moonsault for two back inside. Storm hits a pair of Last Calls but puts on the Cloverleaf to mess with Aldis even more. The bell rings without a tap….because the fifteen minute time limit has expired (at 16:34).
Rating: D+. This was more long than anything else with Cabana surviving. I’m sure they’re setting up Storm vs. Aldis, which makes a lot of sense as Storm is still someone who can go in the ring and looks like a star. The NWA doesn’t have the deepest roster in the world at the moment so someone with some credibility like Storm is a good idea.
Post match Cabana says he’ll go five more minutes but here are the Briscoes to beat down Cabana to vent some frustrations with the NWA. The Briscoes say everyone has been screwing them so it’s time for them to do some screwing of their own (I’m sure there’s a Deliverance joke in there somewhere). They call out Aldis (Nick: “Oh we’re going there?”) so the tie comes off and the fight is on. The Briscoes take care of Aldis with no trouble and stand tall over he and Cabana.
Back with a recap of what we just saw as we’re now over halfway through the show.
We run down the Best in the World card.
We get the second half of Jeff Cobb’s biographical video, now focusing on his journey into pro wrestling. He didn’t know it existed in Hawaii but he knew he had to get into it and started training. War Machine got him into Ring of Honor and here he is. Then he won the TV Title in three minutes and he can do the same with the World Title. They’re doing well here.
Here’s Silas Young for a match but first, he talks about how he’s a changed man. He isn’t going to keep taking shortcuts because there isn’t a better pure wrestler in the world than him. Sure he could have a mat classic against anyone in the back right now, but he’s found a guy who has beaten Lou Thesz, Johnny Saint and Billy Robinson. That would be….THE SQUID.
Silas Young vs. The Squid
It’s a guy in trunks and a mask. Squid works on a wristlock to start so Young does a bunch of nipups to escape. That sets up a handshake as Squid keeps waving his hands. They go to the mat with Silas’ half crab sending Squid over to the ropes. Another handshake gets Squid pulled into a headlock, followed by a shoulder. An abdominal stretch makes Squid tap at 2:03.
Post match Young keeps the hold on and lights up a cigarette at the same time. Young has been awesome over the last few weeks.
We recap Bully Ray vs. Lifeblood, which hasn’t been all that interesting because Ray feels like he’s been feuding with the entire company forever now.
Here’s Mark Haskins for a chat. He talks about wanting to be a professional wrestler instead of an entertainer. A few months ago, he and Bandido tore the house down and Juice Robinson was watching. That was enough to set up Lifeblood and the ranks were formed, including Tenille Dashwood. Then Bully Ray powerbombed her through a table, so Ray needs to get out here right now.
Post break here’s Ray, to say he’ll take Haskins up on his challenge. He wants the ring announcer and the referee out of the ring first and the two scamper off. Ray gets in and asks if Haskins is going to bite with the barking. He talks about his retirement last year in this very arena, drawing a RETIRE AGAIN chant. Ray brings up the fans refusing to let him leave last year and the grown men crying in the front row. They cried because they’re suckers just like Haskins.
See, he lied because that’s what he’s been doing for his entire career. No one has been able to stop him so why can Haskins be the one to shut him up? Haskins wants to fight but here’s Shane Taylor to interrupt. Tracy Williams comes out to even things up before anything gets physical. Ray tells the referee to get back in the ring and start the match.
Bully Ray/Shane Taylor vs. Mark Haskins/Tracy Williams
And no match as the Soldiers of Savagery run in to jump Haskins for the DQ at 28 seconds.
Post match the big beatdown is on but PJ Black runs in with a chair. The numbers get the better of Black though and Ray superbombs him through the table to end the show.
Overall Rating: D. So yeah, one real match and that was for an NWA Title. This show was all about the villains dominating in three different stories and while that can work, it’s not the most thrilling stuff in the world this time around. You have the Briscoes as monsters, which has been done several times before. Young is more of a smarmy heel, who will get taken down by Jonathan Gresham in a good match to blow off an entertaining angle.
Then you have the big angle though, with Ray leading a four man (so far) heel team to fight Lifeblood. That’s good enough on paper, but as soon as Ray is the focal point of the heel team, it starts to fall apart. I like the idea of Lifeblood but Ray, Taylor and two monsters aren’t exactly interesting villains. It’s an idea, but it feels like something that has been done by better villains before. I can appreciate them trying something here and it was far from terrible. It’s just not very interesting and that’s going to be a problem.
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