The SmarK Rant for Ring of Honor Wrestling–07.19.19

The SmarK Rant for Ring of Honor Wrestling – 07.19.19

Continuing with my “stuff taped on the Fight Network’s free preview” run here, as I’ll give ROH’s weekly TV a shot. It’s available on FITE.TV every week as well so if it’s pretty good, I can continue on with it anyway.

Taped from Philly

Your hosts are Kenny King, Ian Riccaboni & Colt Cabana

Rhett Titus v. Shane Taylor

Taylor is the TV champion but this is non-title. Titus powers out of a takedown attempt and does a headlock while posing, but can’t get Taylor up for a fireman’s carry despite all his muscles and oil and such. We take a break and return with Taylor dropping a leg on the apron. Titus fights back with forearms and some running boots in the corner, and this time he does manage his samoan drop, which gets two. Taylor puts him down with a running knee and gets two off that. Titus fights back again, but Taylor hits him with a straight headbutt and pins him at 5:28. I don’t really get the deal with Titus and the crowd was dead for this so it didn’t really make much of an impression. *1/2 Like, is Titus supposed to be a comedy guy with the posing and flexing? Kenny King also wants to know the answer, because he leaves the commentary booth and questions his former partner’s heart because he was too busy flexing and he got beat “like a bitch” in front of his pregnant wife and children. Titus has no answer at this point and just leaves. Well that kind of proves Kenny’s point.

Angelina Love v. Tasha Steelz v. Stella Grey v. Jenny Rose

Winner of this gets a shot at the ROH Women’s champion Kelly Klein in August. Amazingly they’re still going with this Allure crap and trying to resurrect a gimmick from a decade ago. I literally have never heard of anyone else in the match, which seems about par for the course for ROH’s women’s division. Stella Grey fights off multiple people in the ring, but human stick figure Love tosses her. Like, WTF happened to her face? She looks like she’s cosplaying a Real Housewife or something now. PUT THE COLLAGEN DOWN. Steelz controls Love with some basic hiptosses and stuff and they slug it out, but Mandy Leon trips up Steelz and they get sent back to the dressing room.

Indeed. So we take from all the excitement and return with everyone doing dives, but now Kelly Klein leaves the booth to argue with Love. This allows Steelz to make her comeback, but Love takes Rose down with a Koji clutch and then hits a bicycle kick for two. Another one on Grey, but Steelz hits Grey with a cutter to win the match at 8:08. This was like some pretty low level WWE developmental stuff and was just a bunch of moves with no real flow to it. * And then the lights go out and Maria Manic lays everyone out, plus a bunch of security geeks in a pretty impressive display. OK then.

Meanwhile, Alex Shelley returns to ROH, and he doesn’t care about the fussin’ and feudin’ between Taven and Lethal, but he wants the winner in August. Huh, nice to see he’s still alive.

Beer City Bruiser & Brawler Millonas & Jay Lethal v. Matt Taven & TK O’Ryan & Vinny Marseglia

The Bouncers overpower the heels to start, and TK wants Jay Lethal. So Lethal controls with dropkicks and brings the Bruiser back in, but Taven wants Lethal as well. They slug it out and Lethal takes out the other geeks on the floor, but Taven attacks from behind and chokes Lethal out in the ring to take over. And we take a break. Back with Lethal fighting off both Vinny and TK and makes the hot take to Bruiser, who hits TK with a Sister Abigail for two. Milonas comes in and cleans house with a running splash on Marseglia for two, and slams both Taven and TKO at the same time to put them on the floor. Lethal hits them with a trio of dives, and back in TK gets smushed between the Bouncers and finished with a middle rope legdrop from Milonas at 8:41. Pretty fun match to end the show, although Taven interrupts the beer celebration by laying out Lethal on the floor, and we’re out. **1/2

I can see why this show isn’t much of a big deal. Sinclair obviously isn’t putting much money into it and it basically looks like an indie show with a big screen. I’m gonna take a pass on continuing on with it.