ROH TV tapings results: The Decade of Excellence tournament kicks off
Submitted by reader Richard Kelly
ROH did their post-Final Battle television tapings, taping four weeks of television from the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, PA. It was pretty full, but it wasn’t standing room only like I’ve seen it for previous tapings and last year’s Final Battle PPV. Steve Corino was not on commentary.
Pre-show match
– The Tempura Boys (Yohei & Sho) def. Coast to Coast (Leon St. Giovanni & Shaheem Ali)
Tempura Boys won with a combination package piledriver superkick move. Giovanni doing a springboard corkscrew moonsault to the outside was the big highlight.
Episode 1
– Kyle O’Reilly opened the tapings coming to the ring as the new ROH World Champion.
He cut a promo saying holding the title means he’s the best wrestler in the world. Fans chanted “You deserve it.” Adam Cole interrupts, complaining that he was preparing for a regular match, but at the last minute it became No DQ, and he wants his title back.
He’s interrupted by Dalton Castle, saying that he pinned Cole when Cole was the champion, so he deserves a title shot. He’s interrupted by Bobby Fish saying that he won Survival of the Fittest and he has a title shot too. Kyle says good luck to anyone trying to take it from him.
– Christopher Daniels def. Mark Briscoe in a Decade of Excellence Tournament first round match
Daniels beat Briscoe in about 10 minutes with the Angel’s Wings. Good match.
– Lio Rush def. Caprice Coleman
The Rebellion (formerly the Cabinet) comes out and offers Rush a spot in the team. He refuses, and Coleman cuts a ranting and raving promo, and then is cradled and pinned in about 15 seconds. Rush is beat down post match and Jay White and Donovan Dijak make the save.
– ReDRagon & Dalton Castle def. ROH Tag Champions The Young Bucks & Adam Cole
This was nonstop action and craziness from the Bullet Club almost the entire match. Tons of superkicks, dives, triple team spots, comedy. The Boys were at ringside and both ate superkicks near the finish. Nick came off the ropes with a 450, and O’Reilly caught him with a triangle, transitioned to an armbar and got the win. Fantastic match.
Episode 2
– Women of Honor: Deonna Purazzo def. Sumie Sakai
Purazzo won in about 5 minutes with a Fujiwara armbar.
– Jay Briscoe def. BJ Whitmer in a Decade of Excellence Tournament first round match
Whitmer came out with Punisher Martinez and Kevin Sullivan. Near the end, Sullivan told Whitmer to make a sacrifice and gave him the golden spike, but Mark ran down for the save. Jay takes advantage and hits the Jay Driller for the win. Whitmer after the match says that there must be a sacrifice next week.
– Silas Young & Beer City Bruiser def. Jon Silver & Alex Reynolds
Silas and the Bruiser win in about eight minutes with a banzai drop from the BCB. After the match, Silas tells the Bruiser that he found a 3rd man so they can go after the trios titles, and brings out Bull James. James got a really good reaction. However, Silas turns on Bull, and they lay him out, and the Bruiser hits a top rope frog splash.
– The Kingdom def. Will Ferrara, Joey Daddiego & Cheeseburger
The Kingdom wins in about 10 minutes with a combo emerald fusion, swanton and frog splash on Cheeseburger.
– The Young Bucks come out to cut a promo. They say they signed the most lucrative contract in ROH history, and after they beat the Briscoes at Final Battle, they’re the best tag team in ROH history. They talk about the Hardys’ challenge when the lights go out and a drone appears in the arena (meant to be like Vanguard One). It flies around, lands in the ring, and then is superkicked by the Bucks, and then superkicked again out of the ring.
– Chris Sabin def. Colt Cabana in a Decade of Excellence Tournament first round match
Sabin won in about 10 minutes when the Boys ran down and distracted Cabana, and Sabin cradled him and won. Cabana did a lot of comedy and had a great time playing with the crowd.
Episode 3
– Lio Rush, Jay White & Donovan Dijak def. The Rebellion
Dijak was one of the most popular guys on the show. The babyfaces get the win in about 10 minutes when White does a uranage, Rush stands on Dijaks shoulders and hits a splash, and then Dijak hits a moonsault. Post-match, the Rebellion attacks again, but spares Rush.
– Cody then comes out to one of the biggest reactions of the night, a lot of boos but some cheers.
He cuts a heel promo on the crowd and on ROH. No Brandi with him as he says the fans aren’t worthy of seeing her. He called ROH “Ring of Mediocrity” and that he’s the real star. Out comes Steve Corino in full white ring gear, flanked by Kevin Sullivan and BJ Whitmer. Cody cuts a promo on him, saying he has no respect for Corino. Corino says if it wasn’t for Dusty Rhodes, he wouldn’t be here.
He said something about Genghis Khan needing to sacrifice one of his two sons, and if it wasn’t Cody, it would be his brother. I’m assuming a lot of the stuff leading to this, and explaining this sudden Whitmer/Corino/Sullivan alliance will be vignettes on the shows, unless I’ve missed something.
– Cody def. Steve Corino
Corino goes for the Golden Spike, but Cody low blows him, hits a disaster kick, and then a Dusty Rhodes elbow and pins him after about 5 minutes. Sinclair did a slow count and was hesitant to ring the bell. Cody gets chased off after the match by Jay Lethal. Corino then gets a big farewell, standing ovation from the crowd, hugs everyone at ringside, and then you could hear everyone applauding him backstage when he went through the curtain. Nice moment for Corino on his way out.
– Lethal does a big promo on Cody, defending ROH and calling him smoke and mirrors.
– Jay Lethal vs. Jushin Thunder Liger in a Decade of Excellence Tournament first round match
Lethal won in about 10 minutes with the Lethal Injection. Wasn’t much of a match.
Episode 4
– Women of Honor: Taeler Hendrix def. Mandy Leon in a No DQ match
This was absolutely nuts. There was barely any wrestling in this one, but a lot of brawling all over. They did a double table spot when Mandy had a rear naked choke on the apron and they both went through a table on the floor. Taeler did a hangmans spot with a steel chain, and officials and Deonna Purazzo came down to help Mandy.
Deonna accidentally whacked Mandy with a chair, and then got DDTd on the floor by Hendrix. Mandy and Taeler did the spot where they sit in chairs across from each other and smack each other in the face. They got a ladder involved. Hendrix wins with a tombstone on a pile of chairs. Taeler came across as a monster and arguably the biggest star of this WOH division.
– Marty Scurll def. Jon Gresham
A lot of comedy and chain wrestling early. Once it picked up, it got pretty good. Scurll did the finger break spot which got over huge, and then locked in the chickenwing for the win.
– Christopher Daniels vs. Chris Sabin in a Decade of Excellence Tournament second round match
For two guys pulling double duty, this was a pretty damn good match. They started slow, but it got good by the end. Daniels won with the BME, so he’s going to the tournament finals against the winner of Lethal vs. Briscoe.
– Kushida def. Will Ospreay and Dragon Lee in a triple threat
This was pretty much what you’d expect, and even after a 4+ hour taping, the crowd was going nuts this whole match. This was better than the triple threat from Final Battle, Kushida added a whole different dynamic to the match. Ospreay did tons of flips and dives and counters and big moves. Kushida won with a big tornado DDT and then a small package driver on Ospreay.