Last week: Shane Taylor Promotions retained the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team title before Silas Young pulled a fast one over former protege Josh Woods.
ROH TV Episode 505
May 22, 2021
Baltimore, MD
After the returning Quinn McKay ran down tonight’s card featuring the ROH World Tag Team title on the line, cameras caught up with Matt Taven as he had been attacked by an unidentified assailant. How will Matt compete in tonight’s main event?
Rocky Romero vs. Fred Yehi
Fred Yehi promised to be the purest he’s ever been by being himself in the ring against the former ROH World Tag Team champion. Rocky Romero was fired up about take on “The Savageweight” for the simple fact he’s ranked in the division Romero wants to champion.
Following the Code of Honor, Rocky came in throwing kicks while Yehi looked for a waist lock. Ankle pick by Romero didn’t get him a leg lock as planned; actually putting himself in a deathlock. Yehi had Rocky’s head & arm types of twisted before the commercial break.
Yehi seemed very cautious about locking hands as Romero attempted to keep his opposition on the outside with kicks. When they did tie up it was Rocky cinching in the side headlock. The pace quickened with Romero going for the side headlock every time Yehi countered something until “The Savageweight” rushed Rocky into the ropes for his first rope break.
Stunned by such a simple maneuver causing a rope break, Rocky got sideswiped with a shoulder to the stomach. Romero attempted to pick up the pace, only to be tripped before having his left hand stomped. Yehi was in full control by going after Romero’s arm including using it to overhead arm wrench suplex him into another stomp on that hurt hand. When Yehi went for that overhead arm wrench slam again, Rocky flipped out of the maneuver to knee Yehi. Fred responded with an elbow to the stomach, only to have his follow up strike kicked. Yehi stopped the Forever Clothesline series, but not the arm breaker divorce court prior to another commercial break.
Yehi turned a failed sleeper into the Koji Clutch. Rocky got his hands between his own throat & Yehi’s legs to pry the limbs away from him. Before Romero could recover, Yehi caught him with a big forearm to the jaw topped by the fisherman’s suplex. Yehi didn’t get the pin, going for something else when Rocky locked in the Diablo Arm Bar. Yehi rolled his way to the ropes to save himself. Kicks & European uppercuts were the setup for a sliced bread attempt by Rocky. Yehi countered the maneuver, yanking Romero into a t-bone suplex.
Romero had to stop the Koji Clutch again; this time using the ropes to stop the submission. “The Savageweight” was on top of Romero as the time reached the fourteen minute mark. Rocky slipped through the ropes to divorce court Yehi in position for a springboard dropkick-Diablo Arm Bar combo. Yehi refused to be caught in the Arm Bar fully, reversing the hold before coming up swinging with huge forearms & kicks until Romero was on his belly and prone to the Koji Clutch. Rocky reached for the ropes, but was too far away & had no choice but to tap out. It’ll be Yehi versus World Famous CB in the near future to rise up the Pure Division rankings.
– Matt Taven was getting his ankle taped up when Mike Bennett arrived on the scene to tell his partner they can wait and not wrestle tonight. Taven was adamant about competing in the main event because you never known when another championship opportunity will arise.
– After footage of a recent match that saw Flip Gordon cheat The Briscoes out of a win over himself & EC3, “The Mercenary” arrived to call out RUSH to cash in his ROH World title shot he earned over a year ago. Instead, Flip got EC3. Coming face to face with Flip, EC3 simply stated, “You’ve been warned,” before leaving as quickly as he arrived.
– The Foundation of Rhett Titus & Tracy Williams were excited about defending their Tag title for the first time when Jay Lethal arrived to inform the ROH World Tag Team champions that Taven is hurt. Titus & Williams were a little conflicted about having the match, but Lethal insisted on not taking The OGK’s opportunity away from them.
ROH World Tag Team Championship: The Foundation (Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus) (c) vs. The OGK
Mike Bennett volunteered himself to start off with Tracy Williams. The former Television champion and current Tag Team titleholder immediately went after his opponent’s left arm. “Hot Sauce” was working from top to bottom of Bennett while keeping him grounded. Using incredible strength, Bennett muscled his way off the mat when his legs got tied up & his head pulled back. Quick tag & double team from the challengers allowed Taven to almost gain a pin. Unfortunately for Taven, his right ankle was really giving him trouble. Taven unwisely went for a leap frog, landing hard on that leg. Taven rolled to the floor as the show entered a commercial break.
The OGK had recovered during the commercial as Taven came off the middle rope with a dropkick that almost pinned Titus. Shin breaker counter by Titus stopped the side headlock & set up a modified Hart Attack on Taven. Taven had to use the bottom rope to save himself from a Boston crab by Williams after Tracy became the legal man, but “Hot Sauce” wasn’t deterred in regards to continuing his attack on the right leg of his challenger. Taven kept moving when he got up, landing an enzuguri. Titus used a simple drop toe hold to stop Taven from tagging out before cinching in the single-leg crab as a way to tag in Tracy. Williams was dropping knees all over Taven’s body to prepare the former World champion’s body for a crossface chicken wing. Taven stopped the submission, hitting Just the Tip. Taven made it to Bennett for the tag as Titus became the legal man.
Bennett was chopping anything in his path, attacking the arms of his opponents directly afterward. Titus went for a leap frog on the running Bennett when Mike caught him, almost dropped Titus on his head, and muscled Rhett into the DVD. Taven couldn’t take advantage of the situation as Bennett wanted the Proton Pack, having to opt for a simple super kick into Bennett’s spear on Titus for a two count prior to the commercial break.
Titus flipped out of a suplex to tag out. When Taven tried to do the same thing when Titus grabbed him, Matt’s leg gave way. Williams became the legal man, hitting a super DDT off the top. Bennett saved his partner from a sure pin, only to get caught in a sleeper. Bennett fell backwards, crushing Williams between the turnbuckles & Bennett’s body. Taven tried to follow up, but took another DDT. When “Hot Sauce” rushed the rising Taven he ran into a downward spiral followed by the Koji clutch. Thankfully for Williams Taven’s leg was too hurt to really cinch in the hold. Taven fell into a tag as Williams went for the crossface. Bennett put Williams in the ankle lock to help his partner and almost submit Tracy. As Bennett put Titus in the London Dungeon, Williams locked Taven in the single-leg crab.
Bennett and Williams let go of their holds to exchange forearms. Williams and Bennett were taken away from each other by an intervening Taven and Titus respectively; giving their Matt and Rhett piledrivers to put everyone down. Bennett and Williams rose swinging for the fences. Taven got a blind tag during the exchange, trying to attack Tracy from behind. Instead, Taven was swept into a knee bar. Bennett saved his partner, but took a Titus belly-to-belly suplex for his trouble. Titus warned Williams about Taven’s incoming Beautiful Disaster. Williams avoided the kick, sending Taven into a super kick. Taven couldn’t stop Tracy’s Piledriver or the subsequent three count.
When the champs left following the Code of Honor, Vincent appeared on the Cary Tron to mock Taven.
Overall: Going back to the two-match format with a big match topping the card definitely worked for the matches. Though you had an injured Matt Taven in the main event it actually add so much more drama & heart to the match as he attempted to fight through the pain & overcome true mat specialists. Bennett was the driving force behind his team; making saves & utilizing the high impact maneuvers in hopes of overcoming the force of the Foundation. It was a perfect example of the great tag team wrestling ROH can deliver – just a fantastic match that should be seen.
Not to be forgotten was the opener as Yehi and Romero had the purest of Pure Rules matches two men can have. Hard-hitting, grapple-based action with Yehi taking it to the next gear to eventually win. Once again, a terrific outing with Yehi looking great in victory. In between it all was a simple challenge by EC3 to Flip Gordon that should give us a really fun outing. This is the wrestling fan’s episode through & through as it’s just full of great in-ring competition from the beginning to end.
