Last week: Angelina Love get some help from Mandy Leon to overcome the in-ring debuting Quinn McKay to earn a bye in the first round of the ROH Women’s Championship tournament.
ROH TV Episode 504
May 15, 2021
Baltimore, MD
Ian Riccaboni had the intro duties, covering for Quinn McKay after her hard-fought loss to Angelina Love last week. Running down the card, Ian sent us to the ring for a Top Contender Battle Royal.
Top Contender Battle Roayl: PCO vs. Mark Briscoe vs. LSG vs. The World Famous CB vs. Mike Bennett vs. O’Shay Edwards vs. Sledge vs. Danhausen vs. Ryan Mooney vs. Bateman vs. Joe Keys vs. Eric Martin vs. Ken Dixon vs. Dante Cabellero
PCO got the entrance treatment as Dalton Castle joined the commentators for this battle royal where the last two competitors will wrestle on a future episode of ROH TV to earn a future Television or Pure Championship opportunity. Before Mike Bennett could come down the aisle, Bateman attack him as the other competitors entered the ring. As Bennett made a comeback during his fight with Bateman on the floor, Dutch of The Righteous ran out to sideswipe Bennett in preparation of executing a Boss Man Slam on the floor! ROH security stopped The Righteous from dragging Bennett to the back prior to a commercial break.
Big baseball slide dropkick from Keys put Dixon out of the match as Matt Taven helped Bennett to the back. Mooney made a crucial mistake trying to go strike for strike with Mark Briscoe, getting pitched over the top for his trouble. Martin skinned the cat after missing a clothesline on PCO, only for PCO to clothesline him into elimination. Danhausen confronted Mark & PCO, looking to double chokeslam both men. Instead, Danhausen was thrown out of the ring.
Pulling out an El Generico mask, Danhausen reentered the ring as El Genericohausen… only to be tossed out by PCO & Briscoe again. PCO and Mark went from chopping a prone Edwards to beating each other. LSG landed a springboard forearm before tossing Dante into elimination. On the other side of the ring was CB muscling Keys over the top from the apron. CB clocked Keys before climbing the ropes. Keys smartly shoved CB off the top for another elimination. Edwards and Mark were going tooth & nail until Keys dumped Briscoe for the most shocking elimination yet. Sledge and Edwards started shoulder ramming each other until Sledge sidestepped O’Shay to throw him over the top.
It was down to PCO, LSG, Keys & Sledge when PCO had another electrical malfunction and dove through the ropes to the floor! PCO got up ready to fight. After knocking LSG and Keys out of the way, PCO and Sledge went palm strike for palm strike until they both had the other goozled. PCO won the battle by pushing Sledge out of the ring into elimination by his throat. Before PCO could turn around, Keys & LSG grabbed a PCO leg respectively to eject him for the final elimination. It’ll be LSG and Keys battling for the title shot in the near future.
ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship: Shane Taylor Promotions (c) vs. Primal Fear
In a pre-match promo, Primal Fear promised to make the champs regret giving a pack of starving dogs a chance to finally feed on the platter that is the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. Quinn McKay had the chance to catch up with STP before her match last week where Shane Taylor explained that his faction is about giving people opportunity; an opportunity that extends beyond allies. Taylor didn’t take kindly to PF’s words and looked to turn an opportunity into a slaughter.
It was Moses starting off for the champs while Matthew Omen looked to overcome early for the challengers. Instead, Omen got shoved around with ease before feeling a big back elbow off the Irish whip.
Kaun tagged in, missing a dropkick as Gabriel Hoddler tagged in. Not connecting with the senton splash put Hoddler in prime position for senton from Kaun topped by a teeth-cracking back elbow. As Hoddler rolled to his corner, Adrien Soriano called out Shane Taylor. On the first tie-up, Taylor easily snatched Soriano to the mat before backing Adrien into the corner. Taylor actually broke clean while laying down the badmouth. Soriano responded with a slap. Infuriated, Taylor almost slapped Adrien out of his boots heading into the commercial break.
Soriano got up swinging, only to feel a headbutt that put Adrien in the corner. Avoiding that cannonball, Soriano was able to tag out and set up a triple team mudhole stomp. PF finally had Taylor down & on the wrong part of town; using quick tags to set up assaults featuring dropkicks and a double team back drop where Omen was propelled atop Shane off the lift from Soriano. Blocking an attack, Taylor used a knee strike-clothesline combo so he could tag out to Moses. Omen collided with Moses again unsuccessfully prior to Hoddler being sent out of the ring.
PF avoided Moses’ somersault senton off the apron before going after Taylor. Kaun had to fight off all three opponents at the same time, taking a big uranage off the backbreaker. Confused as to who was the legal man cost PF precious time. At ringside, Moses caught a flying Hoddler to fall away slam Gabriel over the barricade. In the ring, Kaun executed a super jackhammer on Soriano. As if that wasn’t enough, the Soldiers of Savagery gave Adrien the Victory Lap double team (a 3D downward spiral) to put Soriano down for the three count.
Josh Woods was very emotional leading up to his sit-down interview, not saying a word while visibly growing angrier over the thought of what his tag partner did to him. Woods eventually stormed off without saying anything.
Silas Young vs. Josh Woods
New entrance for the “Technical Beast” Josh Woods that saw the camera focus on the back of his ring jacket featuring his “Technical Beast” logo. Before Woods got halfway down the aisle, Silas Young attacked him from behind; whipping him against the barricades. Woods kicked a chair out of Young’s hands and into his opponent’s face. Young got slammed against the barricade leading to the commercial.
Young was still on the defense, running forward to break a waist lock by sending Woods throat-first against the ropes. The upper body was Silas’ target as he executed a gourd buster topped by maneuvers like a slingshot double stomp. “The Last Real Man” was running off at the mouth; angering Woods enough to make a mistake and run into Young’s knees. Young had his own waist lock in mind by grapevining the body. Woods maneuvered out of the hold, only to find himself stuck on the mat and being choked by a boot.
Abdominal stretch by Young had Woods looking for every potential counterpoint including driving the point of his left elbow into the nearby leg. Young got hip tossed out of his hold, going for a suplex on the rebound. Instead, Young got driven head & back first against the turnbuckles via a fisherman’s buster. Woods rushed Young with forearms in the corner over & over again until he landed a knee strike into the butterfly suplex. “The Last Real Man” kicked out of his opponent’s pin attempt, only to find himself swinging for an incoming head. Young slung himself into a German suplex. Countering the follow-up attack with a pinning combination wasn’t enough to stop Woods, nor the Anarchist Suplex.
Woods ended up on the apron when he went for a running attack, only to be swept back-first across the ring’s edge. Young wanted to suplex Woods into the ring when the “Technical Beast” blocked the attack & brought Silas onto the apron alongside him. Dey was a clubberin’ on the edge of fate, Tony! Woods demanded more from Young after a forearm exchange. Woods had the German suplex in mind for Young to the floor. Silas blocked it, only to be tossed into the ring. Woods rolled through the toss to put Young in an arm bar. Young held on, kicking his way to the ropes. Pressing off the ropes with his feet, Young pressed Woods’ shoulders to the mat. The referee was so focused on Woods’ shoulders he didn’t notice the illegal action that saw “The Last Real Man” pin his former ally.
Overall: Another grand episode from ROH to showcase the potential rising talent the company has right now. Without some intriguing, integral stories, battle royals can suffering from being mundane & rather forgettable. A lot of what happened in this episode’s battle royal worked including the ROH Dojo boys working together to get rid of Dixon after his betrayal of them alongside Beer City Bruiser, PCO & Mark being a dominant force, Sledge & Edwards continuing their feud seen on ROH’s Youtube channel, and The Righteous taking out Mike Bennett. To top it off was the ending as the obvious choices fell to two potential big names who could make the most of a grand opportunity in the coming weeks. Primal Fear inevitably fell to STP, but did so in, arguably, the most impressive bout of the episode. STP both dominated & fought from underneath while PF showcased they have the makings of being a magnificent trio for ROH going forward.
As expected, the main event was incredibly fun with Young looking to use Woods’ anger & experience difference against him, but Josh’s tenacity & technical abilities allowed him to survive and eventually overturn the momentum. But as Silas has shown so many times in the past his savvy knows no bounds and allowed him to pull victory from the jaws of defeat. The door is wide-open for a rematch that, hopefully, will have a bigger stipulation (Fight Without Honor, maybe). Really enjoyable stuff this week with fresh faces getting a spotlight including a grizzled vet in Silas that hasn’t been on ROH TV much since the pandemic era of ROH TV began.
