Last week: With some illegal help from Kenny King, RUSH defeated Shane Taylor to retain the ROH World Championship after King & Dragon Lee defeated Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham to become the new ROH World Tag Team champions.
ROH TV Episode 494
March 6, 2021
Baltimore, MD
New ROH World Tag Team champion Kenny King was in the backstage area to remind the world and, especially Shane Taylor, that you can’t trust anyone. King proudly introduced RUSH so the ROH World champion could tell everyone including the likes of The Foundation and Shane Taylor that he will prove he is the only one that matters. La Bestia was by his son’s side, promising discipline & humiliation for all who cross La Faccion Ingobernable.
Josh Woods commented on his upcoming rematch with Dalton Castle; expressing his surprise that some people including Castle himself believe their last match where “The Goods” won was a fluke. Woods reiterated that his record is pretty impressive considering Castle, Jay Briscoe and Jay Lethal have all fallen to him. Woods is on his journey to challenge Gresham for the Pure title and Dalton won’t stop him tonight.
Pure Rules: Dalton Castle vs. Josh Woods
Dalton Castle rushed an unsuspecting Josh Woods instead of looking for the collar & elbow tie up. Woods easily stopped his opponent’s underhook attempt, causing the two to shove each other back & forth so they were tangled in the ropes. The grappling moved back to the ring’s center, leading to Woods looking for a leg lock countered into Castle’s rear naked choke attempt. Like Castle, Woods had a reversal in mind; cinching in the Fujiwara arm bar. Castle made it to his feet, only to be tripped and put in position for that Gorilla Lock that ended their previous match in Woods’ favor. Castle grabbed the bottom rope to save himself, bringing the action to the floor so he could pitch “The Goods” over the barricade before the commercial break.
“The Peacock” was still in control, only for Woods to land a flying clothesline that put him back in the driver’s seat. Woods was coming out of everyone corner with strikes before landed a modified butterfly suplex to gain a two. Castle found himself clawing for the ropes to stop the Gorilla Lock again. Woods stayed atop Castle, only for him to get rolled up for another two count. Castle got up with his back apparently giving out on him. Woods’ concerned nature allowed Castle to small package him out of nowhere for the pin fall.
Silas Young came out to confront his tag team partner. Young recapped Woods’ recent shortcomings including failing to win the Pure title or the TV Championship. But Young had an offer: restart 2 Guy One Tag so they can do what he knows they can by winning ROH World Tag Team Championship.
ROH World Championship Top Contender Match: Jay Briscoe vs. EC3 vs. Jay Lethal vs. Matt Taven
All four men cut pre-taped promos with EC3 promising to free his opponents of their addictions of becoming the ROH World champion so they could finally control their narratives. Jay Lethal saw this as an opportunity to prove that what The Foundation stands for is what ROH is & should be: about nothing but pure wrestling. Matt Taven reflected on how his injuries led to his falling as ROH World champion – a title reign’s end topped by Vincent turning against him and forcing him for the past year to fight for this moment. Jay Briscoe claimed the people want to see RUSH versus Jay Briscoe, and he plans on giving the people what they want.
Briscoe refused to follow the Code of Honor with EC3 after everyone else shook hands. Briscoe took the fight to EC3 to the floor while Lethal and Taven slugged it out in the ring. Lethal gained an early pin attempt after connecting with that cartwheel dropkick. Taven paid Lethal back soon after with a dropkick of his own that sent the Foundation member out of the ring. Briscoe turned an Irish whip against him into a double clothesline on Taven and Lethal. EC3 caught Briscoe with a suplex into the ring. The focus was on Briscoe’s back until Lethal attempted to intervene. EC3 almost turned Lethal inside out with a clothesline. Taven jumped off the top, dropkicking EC3; but his momentum was halted by the Lethal Combination. Lethal had that tope series in mind, only for Taven to stop him by clotheslining Lethal over the top for a Flight of the Condor. Briscoe reentered, catching Taven with a hurricarana-big boot combo. Briscoe had taken control as the show entered a commercial break.
Briscoe was stomping a mudhole into Taven until Lethal came running. Briscoe overhead tossed Lethal into a cornered Taven for a failed pin attempt on Taven afterward. Taven countered Briscoe’s neck breaker with one of his own, only for EC3 to pitch Taven out of the ring. Thesz press from EC3 downed Briscoe and allowed EC3 to knock Taven and Lethal off the apron when they attempted to come in. Briscoe got up throwing jabs before Lethal reentered and set off a series of strikes that downed everyone. Taven was looking to splash someone from the top when Lethal caught him on the ropes. Briscoe and Lethal started battling over whom would superplex Taven; opting to do it together as EC3 got underneath them all for the tower of doom superplex. Instead of going after Taven or Lethal, EC3 mocked Briscoe while demanding Lethal super kick Briscoe. Lethal opted to knockdown EC3. EC3 grabbed Taven as Lethal put Briscoe in the figure four leg lock, power bombing Matt atop their opponents before the commercial break.
EC3’s eyes were locked on Briscoe as he set up for the Jay Driller on Taven. Briscoe jumped into the ring, beating EC3 out of the ringside area. Vita Von Starr arrived just as Taven gained a two count off Just the Tip. Lethal seemed to be on the verge of losing when Taven saw Vita. Lethal attempted to take advantage of the distraction, only to feel Just the Tip again. Vita started running around the ring; distracting Taven long enough so he walked into a Lethal ace crusher. Taven was out on his feet and prone to the Lethal Injection & the subsequent three count so Lethal will battle RUSH at the “19th Anniversary” pay-per-view.
Overall: With ROH gearing up for its upcoming pay-per-view, the PPV’s main event is now set up thanks to a very enjoyable main event that saw the expected happen with Jay Lethal winning to give us a first-time match-up for the “19th Anniversary”. This episode’s main event also reiterated that Taven’s problems with Vincent aren’t over; the same can be said about Briscoe and EC3 – pretty much confirming those matches for the PPV. The stakes were pretty high in the opener as well.
With Castle falling further in the rankings, he was in a do or die situation and had to use cunning over physical ability to defeat the man who seemed poised to challenge Gresham for the Pure title at the “19th Anniversary”. With Silas returning and proposing Woods & Young’s return to the Tag division, and with so much time before the PPV their unit could be challenging for the Tag Team title come that event. A really good episode with some big implications makes this one must-see.
