Last week: La Faccion Ingobernable of RUSH, Kenny King & La Bestia del Ring fougth to a no contest with VLNCE UNLTD’s Brody King, Homicide & Chris Dickinson.
ROH TV Episode 502
May 1, 2021
Baltimore, MD
Bandido vs. Flamita
Quinn McKay caught up with Flamita earlier in the day with the masked man stating he doesn’t care if this match solves the issues in MexiSquad; promising to set his fellow luchador ablaze. Bandido was in the interview area to give his thoughts on the match; declaring this is the match that settles all the problems in his trio.
Dey was a clubberin’ at da bell, Tony! Coming off the ropes, both were trading strikes before Bandido avoided a roundhouse kick. Flamita was giving Bandido the bad mouth prior to landing a dropkick that put his opponent at ringside for a big dive. Whipping Bandido against the barricades, Flamita was on fire as the show entered the commercial break.
During the break, Flamita’s dropkicks & submission attempts focused on Bandido’s left shoulder. Blocking a tornado DDT, Bandido came off the top with a corkscrew cross body topped by the deja vu head scissors. Flamita fell out of the ring, but couldn’t avoid the plancha. Flamita was begging off, but Bandido refused to stop as he whipped Flamita’s left leg against the steel ring post. Going underneath the ring, Bandido grabbed a broom to bash Flamita’s knee right in front of the referee.
As the commentators noted this is more of a grudge match, Bandido continued assaulting Flamita’s left leg without a weapon. Pitching his opponent to the floor, Bandido’s Irish whip failed as he was sent into the barricades again. Dropping Bandido groin first across the top of the barricade, Flamita broke the count before climbing the barricade alongside Bandido. They started slugging it out on the barricade until Bandido unleashed a hurricarana to the floor! Flamita bounced off the thinly padded floor hard. Somehow both men were able to reenter the ring before the twenty count and the commercial break.
Dey was a clubberin’ in da middle again, Tony! Back flipping off Flamita’s chest, Bandido slung around his former ally to crucifix bomb Flamita for a two count. Bandido’s attempted to follow up, but ran into the turnbuckles. Flamita came off the top with a 450 splash to gain a two count of his own. Flamita had the muscle buster in mind, but Bandido countered with a knee bar on the way down. Flamita slapped his way out of the predicament, rocking Bandido with thunderous slaps followed by the super kick.
Bandido flapjacked the incoming Flamita into an ace crusher, only for Flamita to pop up and land another super kick for a double down. Once again Flamita was jaw-jacking Bandido as they rose, only to run into an enzuguri that put him in prime position for an attack off the top. Flamita stopped what Bandido had in mind from the top, but not the springboard rana. Bandido gained a two count, immediately going for the X-Knee. Unfortunately for Bandido, the referee got caught with a pair of airborne boots that leveled him and prevented him from seeing a low blow from Flamita. Making the cover, Flamita attained the three count. To add insult to injury, Flamita exited by stepping on Bandido’s head.
A recent episode of ROH’s “Week By Week” Youtube show saw Beer City Bruiser defeat Joe Keys. The ROH Dojo guys stopped BCB from breaking a beer bottle over Keys’ head, only for Ken Dixon to take the bottle and attack his fellow Dojo mates. BCB proclaimed, “Welcome to my bar!” after he and Dixon double choke slammed a Dojo student over the ringside barricade.
OGK vs. Beer City Bruiser & Ken Dixon
Beer City Bruiser’s apparent former partner Brian Milonas was at the commentators’ table. Prior to the match, Mike Bennett attempted to get his best friend focused on winning the ROH Tag Team Championship. Taven went from marching back & forth to cutting a promo on Beer City Bruiser and his plans to avenge losses & having BCB bust a beer bottle over his head.
But it was Ken Dixon landing the first shot on Matt Taven when the bell sounded, only for the former World champion to dropkick Dixon in position for a dive attempt to the floor. Dixon was ready, rolling up Taven instead by slipping back into the ring. Taven kicked out and dropped Dixon across the top rope & onto the apron for a knockdown from Bennett. Blue thunder bomb connected for Taven on Dixon before he tagged out to Bennett. “The Miracle” was laying in some big chops to set up the clothesline. Reversing a whip, Dixon tripped Bennett into a BCB clothesline prior to a commercial break.
Bennett found himself on the wrong part of town during the commercial, but Dixon was enjoying taunting Taven with a potential tag before pulling Bennett back to the ring’s middle. Ducking a clothesline, Bennett planted Dixon with the Death Valley driver. BCB ran in, dropping an elbow on Bennett; verbally lambasting Dixon for a “rookie move.” But it was Bruiser acting like the rookie as he lost sight of Bennett as Mike tagged out. Taven was on fire, landing maneuvers on both opponents. Just the Tip gave Taven a two count on BCB. OGK was picking Bruiser apart with double team strikes Bennett muscled BCB into a brain buster, only for Dixon to save Bruiser from the follow-up after BCB avoided a frog splash. Dixon landed a power slam on Taven, but stopped himself from getting a pin because he wanted to do more damage & impress BCB. Confusion spread as OGK caught Dixon with the Proton Pack for the pin.
Grabbing a beer bottle, Taven broke said bottle over BCB’s head to get a measure of revenge. Milonas was reasonably upset over what just happened to his buddy. OGK left as Milonas entered the ring to check on Bruiser. Milonas suddenly attacked Dixon, kicking him out of the ring before embracing BCB to reunite The Bouncers.
ROH World Television Championship: Tracy Williams (c) vs. Tony Deppen
The opening minutes were nothing but pure wrestling with the challenger going toe-to-toe, move for move with The Foundation member. Tony Deppen threw the first strike, but got kicked & chopped into the corner. Deppen tried to rally to his feet when the champ caught him in a modified Gory Special. Sweeping Williams after countering the submission attempt, Deppen landed a double stomp leading into the commercial break.
They were trading big moves during the commercial, resulting in them slugging it out on the apron. Big roundhouse kick to the back of Deppen’s head allowed him to go for a brain buster. Deppen stopped the attack, knocking Williams to the floor for a somersault tope. Deppen was on a roll; utilizing a cross body-knee drop combo for another two count. Deppen landed chop after chop to back Williams against the turnbuckles. Deppen’s want for a superplex ended in him taking that turnbuckle DDT.
“Hot Sauce” immediately cinched in the crossface. Deppen made it the ropes to save himself. Death Valley driver worked for Williams, only for his follow up attack being hindered by a stunning forearm. Cattle mutilation put Williams in a bad position, but he held on long enough for the challenger to give up on the submission and go to the top. Williams avoided the flying attack, utilizing a piledriver … to gain a near fall thanks to Deppen getting his foot on the bottom rope!
A big grin accented the challenger’s face as he demanded Williams to bring it on. Catching an incoming clothesline, Deppen rolled up Williams … for the three count! New champion – Tony Deppen!
Overall: Following last week’s episode that felt like the precursor to something bigger, viewers got just that this week with a monumental episode that saw pretty much the end of MexiSquad, the reunion of The Bouncers as they find their mean streak, and Tony Deppen became the new Television champion. The main event turned out as good as expected with the intensity rising with every move until the shocking culmination. Deppen winning is not only huge for his career, but also establishes VLNCE UNLTD as a force that could shake up all the title divisions.
Though the main event was fun, the opening match’s craziness was both expected & phenomenal. Flamita’s winning actions pretty much ends MexiSquad as we know it; which really hurts ROH’s Six-Man division, but will hopefully give Flamita the shine he deserves just like Bandido. The match’s only issue was Bandido using a broom out of nowhere to attack Flamita’s leg. Considering Bandido tries to be honorable at all times and Flamita didn’t do anything illegal prior to the attack, Bandido broom-beating the guy he wants to be friends with again. The tag bout was good as well with OGK getting a much-needed win together while gaining a big measure of revenge. In a surprising twist, Milonas bounced Dixon out of his alliance with BCB. At first glance this seems the end of what could’ve been or still could be a fun trio. No doubt this is a must-see episode that was jam-packed with fantastic wrestling & interesting event turns.
