From Larry Goodman: Ring of Honor returned for their second TV taping of 2017 at Center Stage Theater, the famed venue that hosted...
From Larry Goodman:
Ring of Honor returned for their second TV taping of 2017 at Center Stage Theater, the famed venue that hosted WCW tapings during the early to mid 90s.
It was a whale of a homecoming for Cody and quite the contrast to his first ROH appearance at Center Stage when he buried Atlanta and his fans. They loved him anyway and last night, as the reigning ROH World Champion, Cody had them eating out of his hand.
Attendance was a close to the capacity of 750. Bullet Club t-shirts were everywhere. The crowd held up amazingly well considering the show ran four and half hours long. They started to fade during the third hour of television but came back strong for the finale.
Dark Match – “Cauliflower” Chase Brown defeated Gladiator Jeremiah.
Hour One -- Marty Scurll was introduced as the color commentator.
Bully Ray said despite Jay Briscoe’s recent weirdness, he and the Briscoes would be on the same page and beat Kingdom at Death Before Dishonor on the road to regaining the ROH World 6-Man Championship.
--Will Ferrara submitted Cheeseburger in 11:30 with a grounded cobra clutch. Cheeseburger was over. Why they wanted these guys doing back and forth false finishes in the opening match was beyond me.
Ferrara attacked Cheeseburger after the match. Rhett Titus spurred him on and joined in.
--Silas Young (with Beer City Bruiser) pinned Chase Brown with Misery in 2:32 and continued to beat him up after the match.
Jay Lethal hit the ring and had a pull apart with Young. Lethal said let’s not wait for Death Before Dishonor. Young said he had beaten Lethal in every type of match and deserved the opportunities that Lethal had been getting. He was waiting for the PPV where it would be a Last Man Standing match or in his case, the Last Real Man Standing.
Women of Honor-- Kelly Klein pinned Brandi Rhodes with a knee strike to the face in 5:54. Brandi scrambled to the ropes when Klein went for End of the Match. Best wrestling I’ve seen from Brandi.
Brandi cut the purest of babyface promos after the match, talking about her transition from ring announcer to in-ring competitor. She said Klein’s End of Match was not the end of her. She was going to keep learning and be champion one day.
Hour 2 – BJ Whitmer joined Ian Riccaboni on commentary.
-- Kenny King pinned Hangman Page in 8:32 with Royal Flush. King’s stuff looked super smooth. Easily the match of the night thus far.
-- Marty Scurll pinned Rocky Romero in 10:50 with Bird of Prey. This was another good match. Scurll’s entrance got a huge pop. However, the crowd was fairly evenly split once the bell rang. Romero countered the chickenwing and eventually got a cross armbreaker applied but Scurll made the ropes.
ROH World Champion Cody got a monster reaction from the crowd, a level above his first Atlanta appearance for ROH. “What happens when the undesirable becomes undeniable? This happens (referencing the ROH title).” Cody said it was time for a change and revealed the new ring of honor, a flashy piece of bling. He said he changing the code of honor to kissing the ring instead of shaking hands. Cody allowed two women in the crowd to kiss the ring, one of which was his sister.
--Briscoe Brothers defeated Kingdom (Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan) in 12:58 when Mark pinned O’Ryan after Jay hit the J Driller. Marseglia tried to use a chair, TKO tried to use his baseball bat, both to no avail. It was an OK main event but something was missing. Kingdom does not come across like main event talent.
Bully Ray joined Briscoes in the ring for a show of unity.
Hour 3
--Josh Woods defeated QT Marshall via submission in 7:33 with a kneebar. The natives were getting restless. Match wasn’t that bad but the fans crapped all over it.
-- Frankie Kazarian won the 20 man Honor Rumble in 26:46 to earn a shot at Cody. Cody came out to do commentary. Order of entrances: Jay White and Sho Tanaka, Punishment Martinez, Jonathan Gresham, Rhett Titus, Kazarian, Ferrara, Yo Kamatsu, Alex Shelley, Young, Sal Rinauro, Shane Taylor, Flip Gordon, Lethal, Hanson, Chris Sabin, Bully Ray, Ray Rowe, Mark Briscoe and Glacier. Taylor was given a chance to shine, and shine he did scoring a string of impressive eliminations. The reaction to Glacier was off the chain, one of the longest, loudest pops of the night and a “WCW” chant. The people were pissed when he was eliminated. Bully Ray ran wild. Rowe and Hanson tossed Taylor. Bully dumped War Machine. Final four were Bully Ray, Gordon, Kaz and Lethal. Bully and Jay teamed up for the Whassup? on Kaz. It came down to Lethal and Kaz. Lethal eliminated Kaz but referee Todd Sinclair didn’t see it because Christopher Daniels was diverting his attention. Lethal gave Daniels the Lethal Injection but was a sitting duck for Kaz to throw him out.
Brandi was onstage for a Q and A with the fans during the intermission. They were taking their chances with the Q and A. Brandi had to field some awkward questions and handled them well.
Women of Honor - Karen Q defeated Sumie Sakai in 9:03 with a fisherman suplex on a steel chair.
The postmatch was the low point of the night. Q got into a stilted verbal exchange with Deonna Purrazzo. It turned physical. Purrazzo almost landed on her head doing a tope when her foot caught the rope on the way out. They brawled on the outside with fans chanting “botch-o-mania” before Purrazzo dropped Q on a chair.
Hour 4
-- War Machine (Hanson & Rowe) defeated Tempurz Boyz (Sho & Yo) and Coast to Coast (LSG & Shaheem Ali ) in a tornado tag match at 9:40. Hanson pinned Sho with a splash off the top. War Machine looked every bit the world dominating tag team they claimed to be after the match. Hanson did a flip dive off turnbuckle onto everyone else garnering a holy s chant.
War Machine said they got screwed out of the ROH tag titles over a year ago. Then they got screwed out of their rematch when some other team showed up three hours before the event so their good behavior ends tonight.
--Flip Gordon defeated Corey Hollis in 7:24. Gordon’s aerial arsenal looked fabulous – precise and flashy at the same time. Gordon won it with a 450 from a kneeling position on the top rope.
--Cody pinned Kaz with Cross Rhodes to retain the ROH World Championship in 11:12. Kaz wasn’t about to kiss the ring and got an “FTR” chant. Kaz hit a beautiful a slingshot rana to the outside and brutalized Cody with shots into the barricade. The crowd gave Kaz grief for using a bionic elbow. Cody cut Kaz off at the pass with an arm drag off the top rope. Cody locked in the crossface and there was Daniels on the apron. Scurll ran down to check Daniels but got slung into the post. Sinclair got bumped and didn’t see a belt shot by Daniels. Kaz followed with the Tomikaze but Cody kicked out. Kaz tried to go up top and got spilled by Kaz. Daniels tried to interfere and barely escaped Cross Rhodes. Kaz was not so fortunate.
Cody talked about being in the dressing room at Center Stage with Dusty as a child, watching Sting put on his face paint. “If this run ends tomorrow, I’m glad it ended here.” Cody said t had been 31 years since a Rhodes held a world championship. The crowd responded with a standing ovation. Cody was clearly moved by the reaction.
ROH Web Exclusive--Search and Destroy (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley & Jay White & Jonathan Gresham) defeated Bullet Club (Young Bucks & Guerrillas of Destiny) in 13:36 when Sabin pinned Nick. Bucks were insanely over and did all their usual great stuff. Match was tremendously entertaining. Nick got a bloody nose along the way. Finish was out nowhere with a lot going on at the time. I didn’t catch what MCMG did to Nick.
NOTES: Mike Posey was one of the referees....Nathaniel Spivey, Alan Angels and A.C. Mack worked ringside security...No return date was announced...Young Bucks were in the lobby before the show. Bully Ray was there during the intermission.
