Ring of Honor TV – September 25, 2019: It Couldn’t Last Forever
IMG Credit: Ring Of Honor
Ring of Honor
Date: September 25, 2019
Location: Center Stage Theater, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman
Hosts: Ian Riccaboni, Quinn McKay
It’s the go home show for Death Before Dishonor and in this case that means very little. As usual, this company doesn’t tend to adhere to pay per view schedules, other than saying that the show is this weekend. Maybe the new format will help things out a bit. It’s not like they can get much worse. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening sequence.
We open with a clip of Lifeblood vs. Villain Enterprises in Atlanta with a bloody PCO having his face censored. Not that it mattered as King got the pin with a Gonso Bomb.
Beer City Bruiser vs. Vinny Marseglia
Fallout from Marseglia burning Bruiser with a cigar. Marseglia jumps him at the bell and the fight is on in a hurry, as it should be. Bruiser comes back with a whip into the barricade but misses the Cannonball off the apron for a crash. That’s fine with Bruiser, who comes right back with a dive off the barricade to crush security but not Marseglia.
Back from a break with Bruiser missing a Vader Bomb so Marseglia kicks him in the head to take over. Something close to a Swanton gives Marseglia two and frustration sets in. We get the I CAN’T BITE spot, followed by the Beer City DDT for two. Somehow Marseglia gets the turnbuckle pad off and Bruiser goes face first into the steel, setting up a Dudley Dog for the pin at 7:34.
Rating: C-. Bruiser is someone who has no business being good but has enough charisma to make up for all of his limitations. I’m not sure why I’d want to see these two in a singles feud as Marseglia works a good bit better when he’s in a team. This wasn’t too bad, but it shows how fast they are running out of talent around here.
There will be an eight man tournament to name a new #1 contender for the World Title at Final Battle. Here are the brackets:
PCO
Kenny King
Dalton Castle
Mark Haskins
Colt Cabana
Marty Scurll
Bandido
Jay Lethal
The first round will take place over Death Before Dishonor weekend and the finals are at Glory By Honor in October.
TK O’Ryan has attacked Brawler Milonas with the baseball bat.
In Nashville, the Allure bragged about how awesome they are and walked out of a scheduled match. We see some clips of Sumie Sakai vs. Jenny Rose vs. Damaris Dawkins….with Angelina Love joining things and winning. I know she isn’t the most popular star in the division but she has so much more charisma and star power that there is no way to avoid centering the division around her.
Allure doesn’t like the statement that Angelina stole the win and threaten McKay. Has Velvet Sky just disappeared?
Joe Hendry is selling t-shirts ala the Home Shopping Network and mocks Dalton Castle. Hendry has a ton of charisma but his in-ring work has never sold me.
Next week: Defy Or Deny.
We look at Matt Taven calling out for new challengers in Toronto and being answered by Rush.
PCO is not cleared for the main event so we have a replacement match.
Lifeblood vs. Villain Enterprises
See, we’re getting Lifeblood vs. Villain Enterprises instead of Lifeblood vs. Villain Enterprises. Instead of the Six Man Tag Team Title match, this is for the Tag Team Title shot at Death Before Dishonor. Bandido offers Marty the Code of Honor but Marty tags King instead. A single leg takedown attempt doesn’t work at all so they trade some flips, including King flipping out of a hurricanrana attempt.
Now the handshake goes through, allowing Scurll to get in a cheap shot from behind. Everything breaks down and Lifeblood takes over with a superkick, but walk into a double suplex from King. A double superkick puts him down though, only to have Scurll get in a cheap shot from the apron. One heck of a right hand drops Haskins to the floor and it’s the bird pose to take us to a break.
Back with Haskins still in trouble as Marty starts in on the hand. The overly elaborate chickenwing announcement lets Haskins get in a kick to the face and the hot tag brings in Bandido. House is cleaned, though Bandido can’t do his catch the diving giant as he dives from the middle rope. Haskins’ running Falcon Arrow sets up a frog splash for two on Scurll, but he’s right back up with a sunset flip into a slingshot German suplex on Bandido. Everyone gets knocked down and we take another break.
Back again with King getting low bridged to the floor and kicked in the face, setting up a top rope double stomp for two more on Scurll. Haskins’ Samoan driver gets another two but King has to be knocked outside again. The 21 Plex into the Sharpshooter makes Scurll tap at 14:41 as Bandido dives onto King.
Rating: B-. These guys mesh together so well and their matches are always worth seeing, even in the smaller form like this one. That being said, they are running out of ways to keep it fresh as it seems that we have seen this match half a dozen times in some form or another. It’s still good, but they need to find something new sooner or later.
We get the graphics for the pay per view matches, many of which were not mentioned during the show.
Rush promises to win the title to wrap things up.
Overall Rating: B. The wrestling carried this one but this show made it very clear how barren the cupboard is in Ring of Honor. There’s a tournament thrown together with a lot of the same names that we have seen around here for a very long time and the idea of any of them against Rush or Taven does very little for me. This company has been ravaged by so much of the talent leaving and they are in need of a major upgrade before it’s too late. It’s something they can survive for the time being but that isn’t going to last forever.
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