This was the most tag team-heavy ROH episode we have seen so far with three different tag team matches and the amazing promo given by The Kingdom. This episode also had a lot of quick matches, which I really didn’t like but some episodes are good and some episodes are bad. Let’s break this all down.
ROH Women’s Championship Proving Grounds Match: Athena vs Lady Frost: Lady Frost got a lot of offense throughout this match which was nice to see. Athena continues her winning ways as she now goes 21-0 in ROH competition. Fun opener to start this episode.
Winner: Athena
Kingdom Promo:Â THIS PROMO WOW. Bennett and Taven say that they are tired of these younger talents taking away moments that are supposed to be theirs. Taven adds that at Final Battle they had a moment to give tribute to The Briscoes and all of these teams took that moment away from them. They go on to say that they are going after all of the teams that are in ROH to get back, which is rightfully theirs, the ROH Tag Team Championship. Go watch this, it was fantastic.
The Infantry (Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean) vs Preston Vance & Rush: Vance and Rush are a very good tag team. These two will soon be the faces of the ROH Tag Team Championship scene and may very well be the ones to defeat The Lucha Brothers. This was a quick one LFI remains dominant.
Winners: Preston Vance & Rush
Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Baretta) vs Joe Ocasio & Mookie Summers: Joe Ocasio makes his ROH debut! Make sure to check him out on Warriors of Wrestling’s 200th show on May 19th! This was another fast one to give Best Friends some momentum, they give the crowd what they want with a huge hug at the end.
Winners: Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Baretta)
Brian Cage vs Leon Ruffin: Cage is gaining a lot of singles wins over the last couple of weeks, which makes me wonder if he is soon going to move on from the Embassy and go towards Castagnoli and the World Heavyweight Title. Ruffin is a really talented wrestler and would definitely fit the ROH mold if Tony wanted to hire him full-time. Cage gets the victory over Ruffin.
Winner: Brian Cage
Jeeves Kay & Sonny Kiss vs Evil Uno & Stu Grayson: Vincent & Dutch joined this match by sitting on the top of the ramp and watching Grayson & Uno continue the storyline of them recruiting Grayson. Grayson and Uno are such a great pairing and you can tell they are having a lot of fun in the ring. Dark Order picks up the win as they face off with Vincent and Dutch at the top of the ramp. Looks like this tag match will be happening down the line.
Winners: (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson)
Christopher Daniels Promo: Daniels says that he is at one of the lowest points of his career because he has gained more losses than wins. Even though he has made a lot of history in ROH he knows he has to prove himself and work even harder to get to where he wants to be. He calls out Joe and challenges him to an ROH TV Championship match.Â
Diamante vs Skye Blue: Keep Diamante in ROH and use her, she is good and should be used more often. Blue has been on a roll all year appearing on both AEW & ROH, her in-ring skills have definitely improved and she has definitely learned a lot from Madison Rayne who she has teamed up with in the past. This was a great back-and-forth between two talented individuals, Blue now goes 4-0 on ROH TV.
Winner: Skye Blue
After the match, Athena stares Skye Blue down to hint at a future match-up! It’s happening, everyone!!
Rocky Romero vs Lee Moriarty: Moriarty continues to prove that he is one of the better wrestlers on the ROH roster. He was able to hold his own against Romero which was rather impressive. Big Bill had to get involved to ensure that he got the win, but he out-sneaked the king of Sneak!Â
Winner: Lee Moriarty
Rocky Romero Promo: Romero puts over Moriarty saying that he is the type of wrestler that ROH was built around. Although he got the job done by cheating he respects Moriarty and challenges him next week to a Pure Rules match where Big Bill can not get involved and ensures that he will get the victory next week.
Gringo Loco vs Blake Christian: Before the end this match was great. These two have similar styles and they have instant chemistry. This match went back and forth and could have been anyone’s match, and based on his promo last week I thought Loco was going to win. The end of this match was rushed and even the referee looked a little confused as he counted to three. Christian gets the win, but they should definitely run this one back.
Winner: Blake Christian
*The live episode ended here, but they showed Samoa Joe vs James Gibson in a Pure Rules Match from 2005. Thought this was weird because they don’t usually do this, and was a little curious as to why*
ROH TV Episode 9 Overall Thoughts:Â
This episode was all over the place. A lot of the matches were random and they were really fast. I don’t know if they were on a time crunch with the tapings, but this episode definitely felt that way. Luckily next week ROH is being taped in Universal so this does not happen again.
Episode 9 of ROH TV is now streaming on WatchROH.COM
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