ROH 06/10/17 TV Review
5/14/17
Philadelphia, PA
2300 Arena

The show this week opened with Ian Riccaboni and Colt Cabana welcoming us to the show as Hangman Page and The Young Bucks made their way to the ring.

The episode was the third taped in Philadelphia after the War of the Worlds PPV.

First Match: The Bullet Club (The Young Bucks & Hangman Page) vs. Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent Baretta) & Chuck Taylor
Romero got on the mic and said that he was upset that Baretta did not consult with him about the surprise partner. Baretta responded by saying that their partner was his REAL tag team partner, the Kentucky Gentleman Sexy Chuckie T. Bullet Club attack them right away, only for Taylor to hit everyone on the outside with a tope. Baretta hit a brutal face stomp before her and Taylor hugged, muched to Romero’s dismay, which allowed the Bullet Club to gain control heading into the first commercial break.

Nick Jackson kicked everyone and Riccaboni made a David Akers reference as the Bullet Club decimated everyone on the outside. The Bucks hit more Bang for Your Buck on Taylor, but Romero was able to break up the pinfall at the very last second. The Bucks and Page all hit superkicks on Taylor but as they went to hit a triple superkick on Taylor Baretta saved his friend, only to get kicked himself. Romero then protected Taylor as well, before the Bucks eventually connected with their desired target. However, as they set up for a 5-Star Meltzer driver, RPG pulled Nick off the apron, allowing Taylor to hit the Awful Waffle and score the pinfall for his side. Taylor Baretta and Romero all hugged in celebration afterwards. The crowd was hot for this match and Taylor’s debut was a rousing success. He needs to be a consistent part of the roster moving forward.

Winners: Romero,Baretta & Taylor

A Promo from the Kingdom about taking on the Boys next week. As per usual Taven, Marseglia and O’Ryan’s promos are effective in increasing your dislike for them as a team.

A Jay White video package aired during which we got to find a little more about him and what makes him tick. It feels like this should have been done long ago as it was really well done and made him seem much more important.

Second Match:
The Rebellion (Shane Taylor & Rhett Titus w/ Caprice Coleman) vs.
Search and Destroy (Jay White & Jon Gresham w/ Alex Shelley)
Titus and Taylor attacked Gresham and White in the aisle before they made it to the ring. Shelley joined Riccaboni and Cabana on commentary for this one, while Coleman directed his stablemates to go for a quick win. White and Gresham did manage to hit simultaneously suicide dives, but were not able to sustain the offense as Coleman interfered. Titus rolled Gresham into the ring which officially started the match.Taylor went for a splash off the ropes that almost earned him a three count, but Gresham managed to kick out. Gresham absorbed a good deal of punishment for a long stretch before finally making the hot tag to White.

White was able to show off his strength and body slam Taylor, but just as Search and Destroy where on the cusp of victory, Coleman knocked White off the top rope. Kenny King then stormed the ring and hit one of the best spinebusters in the business on Gresham before Shelley came out to even the odds. Sabin came to the ring as well and Jay White knocked the Rebellion down after a senton from the top rope to the outside. After the kerfuffle, Shelley grabbed a mic and basically said he wanted to put an end to this, so he challenged the Rebellion to a four on four match at Best in the World with the added stipulation that the losing team must disband.

Winners: Search and Destroy by DQ

Main Event: ROH World Television Championship Match
Marty Scurll(c) vs. KUSHIDA
The match started off a bit slow here and it was hard to miss the fact that this was a rather short match, especially considering that it ended with a title change. KUSHIDA worked on the arm early on, setting up for the Hoverboard submission. Scurll hit his normal notes, “breaking” KUSHIDA’s fingers. In the only time that I have seen this thus far, KUSHIDA recovered very quickly from having hit fingers broken and  locked on the hoverboard, which Scurll was able to escape. Scurll’s first Chickenwing attempt did not fare well, but he did catch KUSHIDA off of a handspring attempt, locking on the chickenwing. The lights went out and after they came back on, someone was standing on the apron in the Villian’s attire. Scurll was shocked to see it was Adam Cole, and the distraction allowed KUSHIDA to hit a DDT, followed by the Back to the Future suplex/credle combination to win the match via pinfall and become the new ROH TV champion. The match was by no means poor, but it was not how I envisioned seeing Scurll lose the belt, as he had been simply steamrolling everyone he faced. It’s unfortunate that he never got a meatier rivalry before dropping the title.

Winner: KUSHIDA

Final Reaction: B+/A-
Another strong week from ROH here. Every minute was used wisely this week, my only gripe is that the main event did not get more time. I understand that for the purposes of the show airing on Sinclair channels all episodes need be a certain length, but another five minutes or so would have done wonders here. The Rebellion/Search and Destroy match was well done and I’m a bit shocked by the stipulation for the match the PPV. It’ll be interesting to see how the disbanded team get utilized moving forward. Chuck Taylor in the opening match was well done and the crowd went crazy for him. Hopefully he returns, but either way, that match set the tone for a really solid show.

Thanks for stopping by again this week and look for more Ring of Honor coverage the same time next week. Until then, please go over to Running Wild Podcast and take a listen to a show that covers oodles of wrestling news and ridiculous conversations. You can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud and Google Play store.

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