ROH TV results: The Foundation vs. Shane Taylor Promotions
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
**********
The Big Takeaway —
The fallout from Best in the World continued with three eventful and very different bouts.
**********
The show started with The Foundation in the locker room consulting Jonathan Gresham about a knee injury. Gresham revealed that he tweaked his knee while sparring with Joe Keys, to which Tracy Williams took concern with. Williams offered Keys a spot in the eight-man tag main event to allow Gresham some rest.
Not Quinn McKay, not Ian Riccaboni, but Brian Johnson joined us from the ROH studio. Johnson did his usual insult shtick and ran down the card.
**********
Rey Horus defeated Fred Yehi (7:02)
Yehi’s swagger was unmatched to start off, casually brushing off any offense that Horus had to offer. Yehi would keep Horus grounded to the mat and applied a Koji Clutch about three minutes in, but Horus escaped quickly. A commercial break ensued shortly after.
When the match resumed, Horus cleared the top rope to dive onto a staggering Yehi on the outside. Horus took control for the moment and capitalized with a rotating frog splash for a close near fall.
Yehi took back control after trying to snap Horus’ neck. He locked in the Koji Clutch, but Horus broke the hold with a rope break. Yehi continued to hammer away at Horus with his brutal offensive style, eventually going to the second rope.
Yehi perched and positioned for a move, but Horus ran at him full speed and jumped up to Yehi’s level. Horus then took Yehi back down to the mat with a bodyscissor driver, pinning him to get the win.
**********
Mandy Leon (w/ Angelina Love) defeated Quinn McKay (8:49)
If McKay wins, she gets the final spot in ROH’s Women’s World Championship tournament.
Right as the Code of Honor was adhered to, Leon clocked McKay with a cheap shot forearm. Leon grabbed a microphone and told McKay that she didn’t belong in The Allure’s ring.
McKay would muster up some offense, but Leon shut it down rather quickly. They also had a nice mat wrestling exchange that resulted in Leon on top.
After a short commercial break, Leon remained in full control. McKay was a sitting duck at ringside when Leon did an awesome running dropkick from the apron.
Leon’s trash talk would finally catch up to her when McKay delivered a great float-over neckbreaker. McKay got some more offense in and eventually locked in a sleeper hold.
Once McKay had the hold applied firmly, Angelina Love jumped up on the apron and distracted referee Joe Mandak. Leon tapped multiple times while Mandak was distracted. Once McKay realized what was happening, she screamed at Mandak, which allowed Love to slip brass knuckles to Leon.
McKay showed some more fight and lifted up Leon for a powerbomb, but Leon nailed her in the cranium with the brass knuckles and followed up with a pin for the win.
Maria Kanellis-Bennett, who was on commentary for the match, said Mandak may only be able to call what he sees — but she’s on the ROH Board of Directors and can do what’s necessary.
**********
Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor, Moses, Kaun & O’Shay Edwards) defeated The Foundation (Jay Lethal, Tracy Williams, Rhett Titus) & Joe Keys (16:54)
Edwards and Keys started off the match. Edwards attempted multiple power moves on Keys, but he seemed to reverse them easily — much to the applause of The Foundation. Taylor asked for an opportunity at Keys and took advantage of it by clocking him with a clothesline.
After a short commercial break, Lethal tagged himself in. Lethal and Taylor had a short encounter that saw Lethal tag out once he barely dodged the freight train of a knee strike that Taylor threw.
Moses and Williams got their turn afterwards and had a great striking battle. Williams draped Moses’ arm over the ropes and cinched in an armbar for a moment before referee Todd Sinclair broke it up.
At this stage in the match, frequent tags began. Kaun and Lethal had a small interaction that led to a Taylor and Lethal square-off. It resulted in Lethal being knocked out of the ring by a forearm.
Titus and Moses got great hot tags, allowing Titus to hit a few of his signature moves, including an inverted Sky-Splitter. Edwards tried to get involved to help out his teammate, but he ate a great belly-to-belly suplex from Titus instead.
Titus’ hot streak would result in another really cool moment that saw him dropkick Moses right into a half-and-half suplex from Keys. This almost resulted in Moses getting pinned, but Edwards broke it up at the last second.
The final minutes of the match saw Keys get a lot of shine. He was able to fend off three members of Shane Taylor Promotions by himself while The Foundation recovered at ringside. Keys did his best but ultimately fell short in the end, succumbing to Taylor’s strikes.
The final sequence saw the ring get cleared of all members of the match except for Edwards and Keys. Keys hit a few moves before eventually being crumbled by a Edwards’ powerbomb, allowing Edwards to score the win via pinfall.
*********
Final Thoughts —
It’s quite nice to see Shane Taylor Promotions back on my television screen. Considering their last appearance on ROH TV was around two months ago, I genuinely appreciate when they get the screen time they deserve. They had a great bout with The Foundation & Joe Keys that really allowed each individual their own shine.
Rey Horus and Fred Yehi had a good match. Yehi’s swagger really jumps off the screen, and I’m loving his work in multiple companies. Horus seems to be in line for a title match soon.
I liked the story that Quinn McKay vs. Mandy Leon told, but that was the wrong result. ROH really played into the fact of McKay getting one more shot at her dream, but still had her lose this match. Leon didn’t really need this win and I felt like the result takes away a lot of steam from the feud.
In recent weeks I’ve introduced a scale in order to let you know if the current week of ROH TV is worth your while. The scale is as follows:
- Must-Watch TV
- Go Out Of Your Way
- Recommend Viewing
- Watch YouTube Clips
- Avoid At All Costs
This week’s episode of ROH TV is: Go Out Of Your Way