ROH TV results: Tracy Williams vs. John Walters
Date: 12/7/2020
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
The Big Takeaway: Mike Bennett defeated Vincent via DQ in a brutal match. John Walters made his return to Ring Of Honor in a losing effort versus Tracy Williams, and Mark Briscoe found a new tag partner in PCO for ahead of his World Tag Team title match at Final Battle.
We started off tonight’s episode with Quinn McKay. She recapped the main event contest from last week which saw Brody King defeat Shane Taylor. McKay then gave us a clip of King’s post match comments, with him saying he was coming for Rush and his ROH World Championship.
McKay then transitioned to a recap of Josh Woods defeating Jay Lethal in a Pure Rules contest. Woods commented on his win, saying he’s going to bring pure rules back to ROH.
*****
Mike Bennett defeated Vincent via DQ (11:34)
Code Of Honor wasn’t adhered to. Vincent got the upper hand early, backing Bennett in the corner and delivering punches and knees. Bennett came back and got into a chopping war with Vincent before taking him down with a clothesline. Vincent rolled out to the apron and lured Bennett into a neckbreaker through the ropes.
We returned from break. Vincent and Bennett engaged in a war of strikes before Bennett delivered a superkick for a two count. Vincent recovered quickly and got back to his feet and delivered a side effect to Bennett. Bennett began holding his neck in pain. Bennett recovered and got on his feet and delivered a superkick to the knee, then to the face. Bennett set Vincent on the top rope, but Vincent fought out and dove off onto Bennett, locking in a guillotine.
Bennett fought out of the hold, and lifted up Vincent for a suplex. Bennett brought Vincent to his feet afterward, and both men engaged in a slugfest.
Bennett ended up getting the best of the slugfest, and delivered a spear afterwards. Instead of going for the pin, he picked up Vincent and attempted a piledriver. Vincent instead pushed him into the corner and began beating him down. The official counted to five and Vincent still wouldn’t stop beating Bennett down, so Vincent was disqualified.
After the match, Vincent continued to beat down on Bennett. He threw him into the entrance stairs, but Matt Taven came flying off the stage onto Vincent. Bateman came out and fought off Taven before a ton of security guards got involved and separated all of the guys.
*****
A promo aired for Rhett Titus. Tracy Williams and Jay Lethal talk him up, complimenting his hard work of 15 years in wrestling. They called him under appreciated and under utilized. The package ended with Rhett Titus taking off his mask and saying “I am the Foundation”.
*****
A promo aired for Mark Briscoe. He says he’s locked in on the ROH Tag Team titles, and it’s a shame that his brother Jay isn’t. Briscoe says he’s okay with it, because he’s found another partner. PCO walks in behind Briscoe and they go crazy, declaring their shot at Final Battle against Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham.
*****
Another promo aired, this time for Tracy Williams. Williams said his ultimate goal was to win the ROH Pure Championship, but he failed. He then went on to say he knew he was gonna meet Jonathan Gresham in the finals, and they both decided to rebuild the company based on the foundation no matter which man won. He said that on his list of names of who originally built the Pure division, John Walters is at the top.
*****
John Walters spoke next. He called his Pure Championship win in 2004 the most prestigious moment of his career. Walters said while he hasn’t been in the public eye for a while, he’s been training and scouting for a long time. Walters said he’s going to convincingly beat Williams and make his way back to the ROH Pure Championship.
Tracy Williams pinned John Walters in a Pure Rules contest (11:40)
Flip Gordon joined the commentary team for this contest.
Code Of Honor was adhered to. Gordon commented on his amateur background and how he’s excited to show it off. Williams and Walters exchanged control early with arm locks. Williams got Walters to the ground with a slight armbar, but Williams wasn’t locked in all the way. Walters used his first rope break to break the hold. Williams rapidly followed up and began targeting the knee of Walters. We went to a commercial break.
Walters and Williams were back on their feet, but Walters sprung off the ropes and clipped Williams’ knee. Walters smartly goes to work on the left knee of Williams, locking in a sharpshooter. Williams quickly got to the ropes, costing him his first rope break. Walters wasn’t paying attention, so Williams took advantage and locked in a heel hook on him.
Walters quickly reached for the ropes, costing him his second rope break. Williams went to the corner and perched Walters on the top rope before suplexing him off, then transitioned into the crossface. Walters maneuvered his feet and got them on the rope, costing Williams his third and final rope break.
Williams tried to apply the face lock again, but Walters rolled out. Williams ducked a clothesline from Walters and spiked him with a piledriver, giving Williams the pinfall victory.
After the contest, both men shook hands. Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman ran down what’s on tab for next week, including Flip Gordon vs. Josh Woods in a Pure Rules contest and The Bouncers vs. Mark Briscoe and PCO.
*****
Final Thoughts:
This week’s episode of ROH TV was fine. It was a step down from the past couple of weeks, but still an eventful episode.
Seeing Mike Bennett back in ROH wrestling was a pretty cool thing, even though I think he should have outright beaten Vincent. I wasn’t a fan of PCO becoming Mark Briscoe’s tag partner, it feels extremely random and thrown together.
The action in the ring was good, with Walters and Williams being the best match by far. I’m coming around on Rhett Titus being the man behind the red octopus mask. Not a fan of Flip Gordon just randomly showing up and being announced for a Pure Championship match, someone like Josh Woods deserved that spot more. All in all, I’ll give this episode a solid C+.