Hey all, sorry about last week, but when it’s back to school time as a parent, time is at a premium. I only just finished the show earlier today, if that gives you a feel for where we’re at. But it was a fun show, and you should check it out.
Anyway, we open in a somber tone, with an In Memoriam graphic for the recently departed Butcher, Andy Williams. I can’t say anything better than what has already been said, and if you didn’t watch Excalibur briefly memorialize him on Wednesday, do so.
But after that, we’re right into the intro, and heading straight to the ring for our opening contest.
MATCH 1 – Action Andretti(c) vs. Adam Priest – ROH World TV Title Match
The TV Champion defending the title on ROH TV? What sorcery is this? Andretti tries for a quick roll up out of the Code of Honor, but when that doesn’t work, it’s stalling time. And that turns into the story of the match. For every spectacular move Andretti hits there’s three or four shortcuts or stalls on the outside, and Priest fulfills his role as the underdog well, albeit one who is probably more powerful and explosive than the champion. About 7 minutes into a back-and-forth match, Priest generates some sustained offense with a couple of big strikes and an avalanche rana, but Andretti answers back with a roll-up. But Andretti misses a split-legged moonsault and Priest answers with a couple locomotion dragon screws and a half crab. But he goes for an O’Connor Roll and Andretti reverses and grabs the ropes for the three count.
Action Andretti pins Adam Priest with a roll-up in 9:43.
MATCH 2 – Lacey Lane & Janai Kai vs. Maya World & Hyan
Congratulations are in order for Janai Kai who recent reports indicate is officially under AEW contract. Kai opens up quickly with a couple of lightning fast kicks dropping Hyan. Some quick chain wrestling leads to a standoff and both women tag out. Lane and World exchange some unique pin combinations and World tags Hyan back in, leading to a couple of slick double teams. Kai tags back in, and starts chaining together judo throws into a vertical suplex, and brings Lane back in. Hyan escapes a double suplex with a double DDT and tags in World, who takes out both Kai and Lane with a cannonball off the apron. Another cannonball attack in the corner on Kai gets two for World. Lane hits a Finlay Roll on Hyan into Maya World seated in the corner, and Kai follows with a facewash for two. A missed charge sends Lane into Kai on the apron, and World and Hyan follow with their elevated complete shot for the three count.
Maya World & Hyan def. Lacey Lane & Janai Kai (Maya pins Lacey) with an elevated complete shot in 8:39.
Backstage, Sam Leterna is with Deonna Purrazzo and HER ROYAL HIGHNESS Emi Sakura. Emi says she respects Purrazzo and respects pure wrestling, so she’d like to team up. Purrazzo is on board, and we have a team!
MATCH 3 – Il Cartello Grillo (Rosario Grillo, KayJay Impala & Hayden Seal) vs. Serpentico & The Colons
Apparently this Temu FBI act is still a thing. Sure, why not. And of course no Code of Honor. I miss when even the heels in OG Ring of Honor would still follow the Code, and it was a big deal when you didn’t. Grillo and Serpentico start, and Serpentico’s quickness gets him the advantage quickly. For those watching back, that Orlando in the black trunks and Eddie in the blue. The Colons tag in and out, but a dropkick sends Grillo into his corner to bring in Hayden Seal, who doesn’t fare much better. Some increased traffic in the ring leads to Eddie eating a big boot for Il Cartello Grillo to take over. Impala lands a nice spinning back suplex for two. Orlando gets a hot tag and RUNS WILD, with a spinebuster for two on Seal. Back in, we’re in full-on party match territory as everyone’s going in and out, including Serpentico scoring with a nice tornado DDT on Grillo. Our legal men return with Orlando and Seal, and a superplex/splash combination gets the win.
Serpentico & The Colons def. Il Cartello Grillo (Eddie pins Seal) with a superplex/splash combo in 7:46.
Now, Caprice (AND IAN) are here to CHOP IT UP with MxM Collection. Ian is just unashamedly marking out in the background, when Mansoor mentions that they’ve been listening back to commentary on their matches, and say that Ian is doing a fabulous job, and THEY TOUCH TIPS. Caprice, they say, could do better. The interview goes completely off the rails in short order, and Caprice desperately tries to hold it together with actual questions. And they end with a pose. 15/10, no notes. Absolute perfection.
MATCH 4 – Rocky Romero vs. Ortiz
Ian describes these two as East Coast/West Coast versions of similar athletes. And there’s 45+ years of experience between these two. Rocky gets a cheap shot closed fist, but Ortiz recovers quickly with a Manhattan Drop/Flapjack combination and rakes the back, and Rocky is calling for a time out. Ortiz gets too aggressive though, and Romero is able to hand the arm over the top rope to take advantage. Ortiz fights back with a couple chops, but an eye rake keeps Rocky in control. Ortiz is able to catch a Koji clutch, but Rocky escapes and goes with a hammerlock arm snap, and we’re setting up the FOURever clotheslines. Unfortunately, he only gets TWOever before Ortiz dodges and hits a powerslam for a double down. Ortiz sends Rocky outside and hits a tope suicida. Back in and a facebuster gets two. Rocky goes for a Shiranui but Ortiz counters and turns it into Snake Eyes. Rocky sends Ortiz to the outside and distracts Referee Brandon Martinez, while Trent Beretta hits Ortiz with a chair. He sends Ortiz back in, where Rocky hits the running Shiranui for the win.
Rocky Romero pins Ortiz with a running Shiranui in 8:58.
MATCH 5 – AR Fox & Soleil vs. Jacked Josh & Body Bundy
Now, do I make an Al Bundy joke or a King Kong Bundy joke. Or both, because they’re canonically related in the show. In the time it takes me to decide, this might be over. Josh and Bundy try to sneak attack, and in less than a minute, they’re both being actively destroyed by Fox and Soleil double teams. Josh and Bundy cut off dueling dives, but in short order they both wind up eating a somersault plancha from Fox. Soleil gets caught in a nice double team spinning uranage for a near fall, but he fights his way into his corner to tag in Fox. A double back handspring wheelbarrow cutter gets the win. Honestly longer than I thought it was going to be. But then again, Josh and Bundy have been a team on the southeast independents for a couple years now, and this is the first time Fox and Soleil have tagged, so I appreciate the team that knows each other getting some offense in before succumbing.
AR Fox & Soleil def. Jacked Josh & Body Bundy (Fox pins Josh) with a double back handspring wheelbarrow cutter in 3:51.
As Fox and Soleil celebrate, we learn that next week, they’ll be taking on the team of Bandido and Komander. All right, hell yeah, let’s go!
Backstage, Action Andretti is standing by with comments. Adam Priest is one of the best technical wrestlers in the world, but he’s no match for a killer. Everyone has just witnessed history, as Andretti made his first title defense clean as a whistle, with honor. He welcomes anyone to step up and see why he is the most dangerous (and honorable) man in ROH.
MATCH 6 – Jacked Jameson vs. Matt Menard
So…once they tossed Vance from The Frat House, they just dissolved the group? Weird choice, but okay. Jameson walks through the handshake and does some dips in the corner. In the early going, Jameson seems content to just do some basic power displays, without actually doing much offensively. Finally, he lands an firemans carry slam and a clothesline for two. Jameson runs Menard into the corner Oklahoma Stampede style, and hits a crossbody through the ropes, but misses a top rope senton allowing Menard to take over with a Russian legsweep, and a DDT gets the win for Daddy Magic!
Matt Menard pins Jacked Jameson with a DDT in 3:35.
Next week, Red Velvet defends the Women’s World TV Title against Remi Reade. Her only ROH appearance until now was a Proving Ground loss to Deonna Purrazzo back in April.
MATCH 7 – The Infantry vs. Alex Zayne & Mance Warner
That’s…that’s an interesting team. They teamed seven weeks ago in a losing effort against RPG Vice. Zayne coins the team “PsychoSauce,” and I don’t hate it. But then again, I’d also just as soon we get Lance Archer out of the Don Callis Family and put Monster Sauce together as a full time thing. After all, they were in World Tag League at one point. Anyway…Dean and Warner start. Bravo knocks Zayne off the apron, but Warner just starts firing away right hands on both men stacked in the corner, and Zayne follows with a big cannonball. Zayne is about to dive on them, but Warner cuts him off, hits the ropes and…calmly steps out of the ring and instead goes with a double eye poke. Work smarter, not harder. Zayne follows with a dive anyway. Back in, Warner pounds away but Dean hits a jawbreaker and tags out. Both Warner and Zayne take turns biting Bravo, because why not. Zayne gets sent outside and put into the post by Dean, who joins Trish Adora in stomping away. The Infantry tag in and out working over Zayne, and Christyan XO adds a high boot FROM THE FLOOR to Zayne draped over the middle rope. Dean hits a top rope splash for two. Zayne is able to get a springboard corkscrew moonsault to put both Infantry down, and tag in Warner. Warner goes off on both men, before Flip Flop and Fly on Bravo. He tags Zayne back in–an interesting choice, and a superplex/swan dive senton on Bravo gets two. Zayne hits a nice side slam into a flipping facebuster on Bravo for two. Bravo scores with the Carlie Crossover, but Warner sets Bravo up in the corner and PsychoSauce hits a nice assisted hurricanrana out of the corner. Dean sends Warner to the outside, and The Infantry hits a double team Go2Sleep and Two to the Head finishes.
The Infantry def. Alex Zayne & Mance warner (Bravo pins Zayne) with Two to the Head in 10:32.
Backstage, Sam Leterna is with The Kingdom, and their new personal AI, Sparta. They decide that Top Flight screwed them out of the Tag Titles at Death Before Dishonor, so they need a third person to take out SkyFlight, so how about a Bounty Hunter. And so we have The Kingdom and Bryan Keith. Works for me.
MATCH 8 – Steph De Lander vs. Zayda Steel
Steph has an obvious size and experience edge here, and it shows early on with two lockups. Steel grabs a headlock and a lucha inspired armdrag, and a headscissors sends De Lander into the corner, where she eats a step-up knee. De Lander heads outside and pulls Steel with her into an electric chair, marches halfway around the ring and drops her face first on the apron. Back in, De Lander maintains control with strikes and power, including a fallaway slam for two. Steel fights back with Sole Food, but a headscissors gets countered into a slam for two. Steel rolls outside, and De Lander follows, but decides to get in Christopher Daniels’ face, which ends with Steel hitting a dive to take over momentum. Tornado DDT gets two for Steel. She goes up to the second rope, but De Lander hits a running boot and takes her off the ropes with a Royal Butterfly suplex, shades of Sara Del Rey. Steel ducks a clothesline and hits a tilt-a-whirl DDT for two. Steel goes for her spinning tomikaze but De Lander shoves her off and hits a spear for two. De Lander gets up Steel in a fireman’s carry, but Steel slips off and rolls her up for the win.
Zayda Steel pins Steph De Lander with a roll-up in 7:34.
MATCH 9 – The Bang Bang Gang (Juice Robinson & The Gunns) vs. The Premier Athletes (Tony Nese, Ariya Daivari & BEEF)
Because Mark Sterling is in a lot of pain today, BEEF is going to finish the cheer. It doesn’t work much better, despite his earnest efforts. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this in any of their prior appearances, but Juice was a member in the ROH group Lifeblood, and Austin actually competed in the ROH Top Prospect Tournament back in 2019, where he lost in the finals to Dak Draper. Daivari and Juice Robinson start. They fight over a wristlock, then fight over a hammerlock before Juice takes over and…roars at the Athletes. Then BEEF roars back, then Austin roars back, and we’re getting silly. Colten tags in, and the Athletes take over in their corner. BEEF tags in and backs Colten into a neutral corner with chops, but whips him across, allowing Colten to dodge a charge and bring in Austin, who fires off some jabs and a jumping spinning complete shot, and the Gunns clear the ring. Juice follows with a plancha but celebrates too long allowing the Athletes to send him into the guardrail. BEEF tags in Nese, who hangs Juice in the Tree of Woe and stomps away. Daivari tags in and adds a neckbreaker for two. Daivari locks in a sleeper, and Juice escapes, but Nese cuts him off trying to run the ropes, and tags in himself. Quick tags as the Athletes cut off the ring on Juice and taunt the Gunns. Nese adds a Macho Man neck snap, but misses his outside-in Asai moonsault. Juice makes the tag to Austin who runs wild and tags Colten, who adds a big clothesline, a corner splash, and a gorgeous dropkick on BEEF. Full nelson slam on Nese gets two. Sterling makes the distraction allowing Nese to get a two count. Nese tags in BEEF who misses a charge, and we start spamming finishers, before Juice gets in and starts firing off punches on all the Athletes, including Mark Sterling. This leaves Colten and BEEF and 3:10 to Yuma finishes.
The Bang Bang Gang def. The Premier Athletes (Colten pins BEEF) with 3:10 to Yuma in 11:24.
The Bang Bang Gang celebrates as Ian wishes us HAPPY WRESTLING, EVERYBODY!
Total Run Time: 1:49:30
Total Ring Time: 1:12:02 (65.8%)
Avg. Match Time: 8:01
An enjoyable show this week that was nearly two hours but didn’t really feel like it. Next week we’ve got the World Champion in action again, a Women’s TV Title match, and don’t forget that Final Battle will be here before you know it. And you can keep tabs on it here at Bodyslam! See you next week!
