ROH TV results: Mike Bennett vs. Rhett Titus
The Big Takeaway: Coming off the heels of a great Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view, ROH hosts a special “Pure” episode of ROH TV.
Quinn McKay welcomed us to the broadcast from the ROH studio. McKay revealed that this week’s episode of ROH TV would be themed after pure wrestling in celebration of the one year anniversary of the division returning. McKay announced the return of the Pure Rules gauntlet match for tonight’s episode, as well as a main event clash between Mike Bennett and Rhett Titus.
Brian Johnson won a Pure Rules gauntlet match
World Famous CB defeated Eric Martin (3:13)
CB and Martin started with a standard lockup that saw CB get the advantage. CB tripped Martin into the ropes and hold him there, costing Martin one of his rope breaks. After CB repeated the trick two more times and cost him all of his rope breaks, Martin found some momentum and hit a few clotheslines.
CB ran circles around Martin after recovering and eventually locked in a backbreaker-like submission, which Martin would submit to quickly.
Delirious defeated World Famous CB (5:32)
Delirious immediately targeted the lower half of CB, but was met with great resistance. CB responded to Delirious with a scissors takedown, followed by a scissor headlock on the mat.
CB ran the ropes and hit a German suplex on Delirious, who recovered rather quickly and nailed CB with a lariat. Delirious capitalized on the lariat with a triangle choke/armbar combination that made CB submit quickly.
LSG defeated Delirious (5:20)
Delirious was in control of LSG for the first portion of their encounter, but LSG fought back valiantly. As the match progressed, the two traded big moves back and forth but eventually LSG applied a Muta Lock to Delirious and made him submit.
LSG defeated Joe Keys (4:37)
After exchanging a few headlocks and takedowns, the two men came to a stalemate. Keys locked in an abdominal stretch and beat on the chest of LSG before tossing him over his head.
Keys showed a glimmer of hope when he hit a fantastic backbreaker and followed it up with a Boston crab submission. Keys stayed in full control as he perched LSG on the top rope and seemed to be looking for a brainbuster, but LSG reversed it into a crossbody pinning combination which warranted the three count.
Brian Johnson defeated LSG (1:04)
Johnson took advantage of a weary LSG and tried to go right after him, but LSG still had a bit of a fight in him and hit a Rocket-Baby slam for a near fall that was broken up by a Johnson rope break.
Johnson struck LSG with a closed fist and while the referee was distracted. Johnson pinned LSG with his feet on the ropes for a three count.
Mike Bennett defeated Rhett Titus via judge’s decision (15:00)
Bennett tried to out-power Rhett Titus to the mat with a knuckle lock, but was met with resistance from “The Professional”. Titus continued to attack Bennett into the commercial break.
When the break returned, Titus had a leg-lock applied which caused Bennett to use his first rope break. As the match progressed, Titus had control of Bennett as he transitioned between different submissions into the middle portion of the match.
Bennett eventually found a second wind and overwhelmed Titus with a series of strikes. Bennett applied his own leg-lock in the corner, which caused Titus to use his first rope break.
As we returned from another commercial break, Titus nailed Bennett with a running boot in the corner. Titus applied his foot to the neck of Bennett, which caused him to use his final rope break.
As Titus was catching his breath in the corner, Bennett slipped out from underneath him and applied an ankle lock. Bennett seemed like he had Titus trapped in the hold, but Titus was able to use his second rope break.
Once Titus and Bennett rose to their feet, Titus attempted his signature running German suplex but ultimately failed due to his knee giving out. Bennett capitalized on the hurt knee and heavily targeted it in the final stages of the match.
In the final minute, Titus and Bennett exchanged multiple strikes but neither could capitalize as the time limit in the match expired.
Per the Judge’s decision, Bennett was crowned the winner due to landing more submissions and strikes, as well as reversing more moves.
Final Thoughts: ROH TV this week was a mixed bag. While I thought the Pure Rules gauntlet match was a bit dull at times, Rhett Titus and Mike Bennett had a fantastic main event match that further submitted Bennett’s status in the Pure division.
In recent months, I’ve introduced a scale in order to let you know if the current week of TV is worth your while. The scale is as followed:
- Must Watch TV
- Go Out Of Your Way
- Recommended Viewing
- Watch YouTube Clips
- Avoid At All Costs
This week’s episode of ROH TV is: Recommended Viewing