An emotional night in Philadelphia is in store.
The Premiere Athletes (Tony Nese, Josh Woods and Ariya Daivari) vs. Adam Priest, Rhett Titus and Tony Deppen
Just a match with no real story or point to it. Woods v Deppen was fun and the rest was just there? I heard Priest is standing out on the indies. He didn’t here. Varsity Athletes did bust out a terrific triple team finisher to win though. That was cool. **
Blake Christian vs. The Beast Mortos
Mortos is Black Taurus’ new name and it’s the same gimmick. This was a decent size vs speed battle with Mortos showing he can do the flippy stuff too. Christian had some moments but this was abut establishing Mortos as a threat and it did it’s job well. I could go for Mortos being pushed right into the ROH World Title picture and presented as a monster. ***1/4
Spanish Announce Project (Angelico and Serpentico) vs. Cole Karter and Griff Garrison
Not the total waste time of that it seems to be on paper. It was all about Karter and Garrison being pushed as these young, son-of-a-bitch heels with Maria Kanellis by their side. I like the act and think it could be a good addition to the ROH/AEW tag division with some more work. They ripped off Serpentico’s mask and stole the pin to win. **1/4
Mariah May vs. Momo Kohgo
Solid 6 minute match. Mariah is starting to feel her way into American matches but putting her back in there with STARDOM talent automatically made her more comfortable it seemed. Momo got some stuff in but more importantly, sold well for Mariah who won. ***
Kyle Fletcher (c) vs. Lee Johnson for the ROH TV Championship
The opener of the main card and a good showing by Fletcher and probably Johnson’s best match ever. I don’t think he’s a great PPV challenger but that’s just the state of ROH now. This was all about Fletcher’s ability v Johnson’s momentum as he went on a winning streak leading to this title shot. That’s why it became a story of Fletcher struggling to find the offense to put Johnson away as he just kept kicking out. They overdid it a little with the nearfalls (it was almost Gargano/Cole level) but I got the point and Johnson come out looking better than he did going in despite the defeat. he closest Johnson came to capturing the title occurred after a Canadian Destroyer off the top rope, followed by a pair of frog splashes that got a super close nearfall. In the end, Fletcher would put him away with a top-rope brainbustaaaah. A good piece of business here. ***1/2
Mei Seira and Empress Nexus Venus (Maika and Mina Shirakawa) vs. Tam Nakano and Queen’s Quest (AZM and Saya Kamitani)
A STARDOM showcase because now AEW can work with them which is good. Mina, AZM and Nakano were the stars here which is no surprise if you’ve followed their work over the last few years. The work was really crisp with a smart layout and even Tam teaming with her rivals was explained well. Good finishing sequence too with Mina and Saya squaring off and Shirakawa going over to make her look a big deal for an incoming feud with Toni Storm it seems. Smartly booked and the post-match angle with Mariah May was a good way to remind viewers of their history in STARDOM. ***1/2
Undisputed Kingdom (Mike Bennett and Matt Taven) (c) vs. The Infantry (Carlie Bravo and Shawn Dean) for the ROH World Tag Team Championships
This was kind of thrown together with a time limit draw angle on the last ROH TV before the PPV and the match was a result of that in that it also felt thrown together. Not a whole lot of story here apart from Infantry being good fighting babyfaces and the champs getting a solid defence in. Wardlow played a part in the finish to protect the Infantry who have impressed recently. ***
Billie Starkz vs. Queen Aminata for the ROH Women’s TV Championship
A good match boosted massively by a top-tier finish. This is for the vacant title and is the tournament final to crown the first champion. They start in Starkz (face) and Aminata (heel) roles but it almost felt like a double turn by the end. The match before the finish is good hard-hitting action. Aminata NAILS a big kick and the work on the neck was solid stuff with Starkz selling well. Of course, she got a few big pieces of offense in too but then the finish happens. Billie goes for a Swanton BUT AMINATA GETS HER KNEES UP. Starkz sells this like she’s broken her neck and it gets very serious. Announcers sound concerned. The referee gets the doctor in. Aminata looks upset and holds the ropes open as they carry Starkz out. BUT BILLIE ATTACKS HER. SHE’S FAKING IT. She nails a German and a choke hold to win the title. GREAT finish and Starkz has gone full circle to learn Athena’s lessons to get success. Aminata as a babyface wrestler who’s been screwed could be fun too. ***1/2
Bullet Club Gold (Jay White, Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn) (c) vs. Monster Sauce (Lance Archer and Alex Zayne) and Minoru Suzuki for the ROH World Six Man Tag Team Championships
Bullet Club Gold made a surprise appearance and an open challenge so out comes Monster Sauce and another surprise in MINORU SUZUKI. There’s lots of really nice Suzuki/White interactions here with the Gunns/Monster Sauce stuff just there really. White wants to prove he’s a top guy and not the young boy Suzuki remembers and Suzuki knows it. He obviously knows how good White is (he is a former IWGP champ that has beaten Suzuki before) but he plays into it because he knows it gets in White’s head. Eventually, BC Gold work together better as a team and White isolates Zayne to hit the Blade Runner and win. Decent. ***1/4
Dalton Castle vs. Johnny TV
A Fight Without Honor but a really boring one. It goes way too long at 22 minutes for what was essentially a midcard comedy match. They play into Dalton having confidence and boys again. It’s a perfectly fine story and Dalton is over which is good. But it needed max ten minutes and not a gimmick match that should be taken seriously. It wasn’t a Fight Without Honor – it was a fight without intensity. Some actor played a part in the finish and Dalton won. MOVING ON. **1/2
Athena (c) vs. Hikaru Shida for the ROH Women’s World Championship
Athena has run out of realistic threats to her title reign so they pull out one of AEW’s top female wrestlers for a good match. And that’s what this is. A good match. Shida goes after Athena’s neck but gets surprised when Athena goes over the knee. She works on it really well throughout and I loved how Shida sold it even on offense. Both got to hit their finishers for a near fall but Shida’s leg was proving a real problem. She’s slowed a bit at the end and Athena took advantage to hit her finisher again to retain. It went slightly too long for my liking but the match was good without being a classic or anything. ***3/4
Eddie Kingston (c) vs. Mark Briscoe for the ROH World Championships
The only match on the card that felt like a big deal and it’s MOTN as a result really. Both have big stories coming in and it’s a fascinating watch. For Mark, this is his big moment and it’s eleven years to the day that his brother Jay won the ROH World Title so it’s an occasion of destiny. For Eddie, he’s just lost the Continental Crown to Okada so how does he stop that moment for Mark which ultimately feels like a steam engine heading in Eddie’s direction? There are times in the latter stages of this where Mark is fighting back and Eddie has a look of desperation like ‘what can I do to stop this?’. It works really well. The other main thing I liked about this was how Eddie changed tact. Usually, he’s a wild never-give-up brawler but against Mark (who fights in the same way), he’s not the favourite in that regard anymore. So he finally smartens up and uses a strategy and it shows he’s learnt from some of his big AEW feuds. You can see Mox in the way he bust Briscoe open early on, you can see Danieelson in the way he works on the cut, you can see Claudio in the high-impact power moves to take away Mark’s momentum. This wasn’t the usual Eddie without an plan. Kingston had a plan and for the most part it worked. But it came back to stopping the destiny juggernaut again. No matter what Eddie did, Mark came back fighting. The gameplan ended up going out of the window and it was Mark’s to lose from there. Fittingly, Mark won with the Jay Driller and we got old-school ROH streamers to celebrate the win. Really great stuff. AWESOME psychology and a big moment that felt earned. ****1/2
DI Wrestling Reviews 