Last week: Rhett Titus showcased why he’s a part of The Foundation by overcoming Delirious in the main event after Dalton Castle defeated Brian Johnson.
ROH TV Episode 484
December 26, 2020
Baltimore, MD
The annual Christmas ten-man tag bout would feature Jay & Mark Briscoe as opposing captains this year. Grabbing presents from a nearby table, Jay seemed pretty happy with three of his four picks.
Ken Dixon & Eric Martin spoke on their status as wrestlers including Martin wrestling around the world and Dixon traveling to make money & drink. Martin sees this opportunity as a big one. Dixon, however, is very disappointed with his time in ROH thus far. Martin is looking forward to showcasing his streamlined style while Dixon is excited to beat up people without consequences like catching a charge. Both emphasize their knowledge against their opponents
Dante Caballero moved from Puerto Rico five years ago to train with his intent of achieving a dream. Joe Keys too has been training for five years; having met a very forward Dixon on his first day training. Dante explained how himself & Keys have teamed in the past, but they need something else. Keys talked about how Jonathan Gresham emphasized how they needed to strip themselves of everything they knew. Keys saw this chance to prove they are worthy of being a part of the ROH roster and will become the new standard in ROH.
Eric Martin & Ken Dixon vs. Dante Caballero & Joe Keys
All four men were wearing black trucks & boots a la New Japan Young Lions looking to move from the Dojo to the main roster. It was Eric Martin and Dante Caballero starting off with a wrestling hold exchange as former ROH competitor and ROH Dojo coach Will Ferrara was watching from ringside. Showing great agility was Martin to avoid being stuck in a top wrist lock, but it was Caballero slipping past his opponent to execute a flapjack on the rebound. Double team corner attack by Dante & Joe Keys was topped by Caballero almost cinching in a crossface. Martin muscled his way out of a suplex, landing a suplex on Keys before finally tagging out to a ready Ken Dixon. Dixon seemed impressed with himself as he controlled Keys until Joe got underneath him for a modified hip toss. Dixon got up, running through Keys with the shoulder block. Keys kept his wits about himself, almost catching Dixon in a series of pinning combinations that ended with Dixon whipping his opponent into the turnbuckles before the commercial break.
Keys was stuck on the wrong part of town; getting slammed around no matter how much he wanted to make it to Dante. Keys stopped some ill-timed interference from Dixon to counter what Martin had in mind by taking him down with the head scissors. Dante got the tag, looking for a roll up as Dixon got the blind tag. Martin stopped Dante from submitting the now legal Dixon, only to take a boot to the face. Dixon recovered as Caballero fought Martin, power slamming Dante. Dixon called for the end, hitting a pumphandle suplex. Keys ran in, cross body blocking Martin to break up the pinning of his partner. Some growling forearms from Keys drilled Dixon; as did the tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Flying headbutt connected for Keys on Dixon with the prior putting Ken in the single-leg Boston crab after continuously kicking him in the back. When that failed, Keys locked in the Liontamer as Dante speared Martin before Eric could stop the pin. Dixon was stuck and had no choice but to tap out.
It was Mark Briscoe’s turn to open presents and he went for a plethora of sizes when it came to boxes and didn’t see how any of his partners could be bad picks including the last one being, “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.”
Jay Briscoe, Flip Gordon, Brian Milonas, John Walters & PCO vs. Mark Briscoe, Beer City Bruiser, Dak Draper, Tracy Williams & Dalton Castle
It was John Walters and Tracy Williams allowing their grappling skills to take precedence following their first encounter a few weeks ago. Williams and Walters were even as even could be with Dak Draper tagging himself in at Williams’ expense. Ducking Draper’s attacks, Walters set up a missile dropkick from Flip Gordon. Dak slammed Gordon across the ring to free himself from a rear naked choke. Both men tagged out to force The Bouncers to fight. Dey was a clubberin’ until Beer City Bruiser avoided a leg drop and missed an elbow follow up. Both Bouncers were thinking cross body blocks, tagging out after the crazy collision. Dalton Castle became the legal man, stating he’s the only one dressed for the occasion; especially compared to fellow legal competitor PCO. PCO got tripped, but didn’t get caught in a submission; mounting Castle for a series of strikes. Castle fought his way off the canvas; not before being splash as the show entered a commercial break.
PCO and Castle were still the legal men with “The Peacock” tagging out to Mark Briscoe. Jay wanted in also; leading to a cross-cross-knife-edge chop exchange before they all started a clubberin’. Everyone started spilling to the floor. After Gordon overshot a dive on BCB, PCO used the moonsault off the top to wipe out everyone. It was a fistfight between Dem Boys when they reentered the ring with Jay winning the initial battle, but Mark rallied back and forced Jay to tag out to “Hurricane” John Walters. Walters almost pinned Mark off a thunderous back elbow. It was quick tags for team Jay as they isolated Mark. Springing off the ropes, Mark landed a headbutt that allowed him to tag out to BCB leading into the commercial.
Williams and Walters were back in the ring grappling until “Hot Sauce” tagged out to Mark after doing a good amount of damage. Nerve hold by BCB on Walters had him down, but not out as he elbowed & chopped his way out of the hold. A parade of moves occurred with Jay taking that turnbuckle DDT from Williams. Walters ran in, quickly going for the pin. BCB splashed Walters after he was locked in the figure four. PCO entered, clearing house before using the DDT on Draper. Dak had nowhere to go as PCO came off the top with the Moonsault to pin Draper to win for his team.
Overall: It must be stated that considering everything as of late has been pre-taped including “Final Battle ’20”, it’s a little disappointing that this episode didn’t have any footage or results from the PP with ROH using the “wait two weeks” method they’ve been using for years. It would’ve been nice if they changed that, but it is what it is. Like so many ROH TV episodes airing directly after a PPV, this one meant little to nothing in the grand scheme of things; relying on some fun action to make it watchable. Kudos to the ROH Dojo grapplers who really showed up & showed out. Hopefully ROH follows up with them having more matches and promos because they all did incredibly well in both the in-ring and promo departments. The main event was simply a fun match with interesting scenarios playing out including The Bouncers and The Briscoes fighting, PCO and Mark Briscoe on opposite sides of the ring after challenging for the ROH World Tag Team title, and Williams and Walters showing no love lost after they wrestled each other a few weeks ago. Once again this isn’t a must-see episode, just a solid way to pass some time if you’re struggling to find some enjoyable wrestling that only lasts an hour.
