ROH TV results: reDRagon & Dalton Castle vs. Adam Cole & Young Bucks

Ring of Honor television from this past week featured fallout from Final Battle along with the start of the Decade of Excellence tournament to determine who challenges for the ROH World Championship at the next pay-per-view.

The show opened with a recap of Kyle O’Reilly winning the World title at Final Battle. Highlights of the bloody no DQ match were censored yet it still conveyed the violent nature of the encounter.

Then, after the canned intro and such, new champion O’Reilly addressed the crowd at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. Taped the night after winning the title, O’Reilly looked to set the tone for his tenure as champion. The promo turned into a scene similar to a Raw opening segment.

O’Reilly used the company tagline of having “the best wrestling on the planet” to put over the title and himself winning it. He name dropped some former ROH champions that went on to greater stardom. His victory speech would have to wait as Adam Cole interrupted him.

Cole went on to call the title change at Final Battle a “travesty” as he complained about the outcome, while also insisting he is still the rightful champion. Basically, he was being a sore loser.

Dalton Castle interrupted Cole’s rant as he strolled on the scene. He was playing the Uno card game backstage when he overheard Cole going on and on. Castle pointed out the peacock himself owns a pinfall over Cole in a tag match while Cole was still champion. Therefore, he insisted he was the number one contender.

Bobby Fish was next on the scene to interrupt. He gushed about his tag partner winning the world title. However, Fish noted he won the Survival of the Fittest tournament so he also has a claim to a title shot.

Cole interrupted again, continuing to rant and be a sore loser. He did vow to eventually become the first three-time World champ in ROH history.

O’Reilly concluded the segment by cutting an impassioned promo about fighting until the death to remain champion. He also wished luck to all his challengers as the babyface champion showing good sportsmanship, even despite that fighting to the death thing.

This all led to authority figure Nigel McGuinness making a six-man tag team match for later on with Cole teaming with The Young Bucks against reDRagon and Castle.

Besides the opening segment being about future challengers for the World title, the first match on the show was the beginning of a tournament where the winner gets a title shot at the 15th Anniversary PPV. The Decade of Excellence tournament will play out over the next several weeks of TV. Entrants in the tourney are all ROH veterans having debuted in the promotion at least a decade ago. In the first match of the tournament, Chicken meets the Fallen Angel.

Christopher Daniels (w/ Frankie Kazarian) defeated Mark Briscoe to advance in the Decade of Excellence tournament

Pre-tape promos inserted into the show revealed a back story. Mark Briscoe debuted in ROH 15 years ago under the guidance of Daniels. Briscoe kept getting the better of early exchanges here until Kazarian distracted him so Daniels could dastardly gain the upper hand.

Through a commercial break, Daniels shined up Briscoe for a comeback. Chicken ran wild with clotheslines and high flying. The intensity picked up and Briscoe later jumped off the apron with a Cactus Jack elbow. Briscoe tried to follow that with a Froggy Bow, but Daniels rolled out of the way. Daniels then hit the Angel’s Wings and scored the pinfall.

Lio Rush defeated Caprice Coleman (w/ Rhett Titus & Kenny King)

Formerly known as The Cabinet, the heel stable is now called The Rebellion. They cut a promo before the match. Kenny King offered Rush a spot in their stable. Rush declined, basically saying he and them have different ideals. Coleman cut a promo on Rush.

The match itself lasted mere seconds with Rush playing the matador to Coleman’s charging bull. Rush rolled up Coleman with a schoolboy for the pin. The Rebellion began a beat down on Rush afterwards. They laid him out before Donovan Dijak and Jay White ran down to make the save.

reDRagon & Dalton Castle (w/ The Boys) defeated The Young Bucks & Adam Cole

O’Reilly and Cole were about to square off when Nick and Matt Jackson attacked O’Reilly from behind. Castle and Fish jumped in and a brawl ensued. Bullet Club was cleared from the ring as reDRagon dove to the outside. The Bucks retaliated with a superkick party to set up them and Cole doing the Rise of the Terminator spot popularized by Kenny Omega. They then powerbombed all three opponents onto the apron. Working over O’Reilly, Bullet Club did a comedy spot before a commercial break.

Bullet Club cut off a hope spot when O’Reilly fired up. Eventually, Castle turned the tide as he ran wild off a hot tag. Castle cleaned house with suplexes. There was a triple suplex spot involving everyone as well. Fish got to shine before he and O’Reilly executed the Two Man Smash Machine. The Bucks cut them off and exploded with a flurry of moves. They even superkicked The Boys on the floor.

For the finish, Nick Jackson went for a 450 splash off the top, but O’Reilly caught him in a triangle choke. Fish dispatched Cole with a Falcon Arrow and Castle delivered a Bang-a-Rang on Matt Jackson. O’Reilly transitioned into an armbar and Nick tapped out for a submission.

On the next episode of ROH TV airing this weekend in syndication and later this week on various streaming platforms, highlights from the Reach For the Sky UK tour featuring Will Ospreay and Marty Scurll.

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