Last week: Eli Isom overcame Dak Draper to advance in the Survival of the Fittest tournament before Rhett Titus & Tracy Williams successfully defended the ROH World Tag Team Championship against Dragon Lee & Kenny King in a Pure Rules match.
ROH TV Episode 509
June 19, 2021
Baltimore, MD
– Quinn McKay was here to inform everyone about the recent Survival of the Fittest Tournament happenings when Eli Isom defeated Dak Draper last week on ROH TV. Then there was Chris Dickinson tapping out O’Shay Edwards on “ROH Week By Week” on Youtube. Next week on “Week By Week” it’ll be the final SotF qualifier before we get the finale on next week’s episode. But tonight it’s Bateman versus Bandido to earn a spot in the aforementioned SotF finale.
– Bandido acknowledged the wild nature of his opponent for the evening. Bandido stated he is fueled by his Mexican people to not only win tonight, but also achieve champion status once again in ROH.
– Bateman declared the table for victory is set, but it’s up to someone like himself to reach out and take what’s on said table. Polar opposites if there ever were two, Bateman proclaimed that God lives in his right elbow – an elbow that will put anyone down that it touches. Bateman, after working for far too long to reach this moment, has the chance to finally make the ROH World title righteous by winning the SotF tournament and handing the title over to Vincent.
Survival of the Fittest Qualifier: Bandido vs. Bateman
The referee wisely sent Dutch & Vita Von Starr to the back before the bell rang. No Code of Honor from Bateman prior to the pair locking up for the first time in ROH. Bandido used his fast movements to avoid illegal shots when Bateman wouldn’t break clean after they tumbled into the ropes. Bateman decided to mock his smaller opponent, only to almost get caught in a slam. Blocking Bandido’s backslide, Bateman turned the tables for an early two count. Bandido kicked out, landing a haymaker of a right that almost insulted Bateman. A thunderous elbow rocked Bandido, but the masked man was able to avoid the follow up stomp that essentially reset the bout. Bandido picked up the pace, landing a corkscrew cross body topped by the head scissors that sent Bateman to the floor. Bandido went for a running kick off the apron, only for Bateman to catch the incoming kick to yank him face first against the ring’s edge. The show entered a commercial break just as Bateman failed to pin his rallying opposition.
An interesting version of the belly to back suplex saw Bateman let Bandido go in midair before being shoved to the canvas. Feeling confident was Bateman in regards to Bandido’s striking prowess, luring him into a forearm exchange that Bandido lost. But Bandido did stop another belly to back release suplex that allowed him to dropkick Bateman’s legs from underneath him before driving him into the canvas. In an incredible show of strength, Bandido gorilla press slammed Bateman into a standing shooting star press … to gain a near fall!
Bateman rolled out of the ring, only to be taken down by a big dive. Rolling Bateman back in, Bandido jumped off the top for a springboard maneuver, but flew into another forearm. Bandido almost got pinned off the rolling neck breaker, firing off knees to stop Bateman’s assault. Crucifix driver connected for Bandido, but he couldn’t properly hook the arms & legs to hold his opponent down. Placing Bateman on the top rope didn’t help Bandido as he got his eyes poked into a flying knee drop. Countering This is a Kill with a sick reverse hurricarana, Bandido got up to see Bateman in prime position for the 21-Plex. Bandido muscled Bateman overhead into the German suplex portion of his finisher to pin Bateman for another advancement in the SotF tournament.
After Bandido left, Vincent & the rest of the Righteous came to the ring. Vincent, not wearing shoes, entered the ring to tell Bateman how good of a job he’s done since Vincent’s been gone. During his journey through time & space, Vincent discovered his need to win the ROH World title and Bateman failed to do what is necessary. Bateman accepted the punishment Vincent proclaimed was a “rebirth” that including Von Starr mounting & punching Bateman until he was prone to Dutch’s Boss Man Slam.
– On ROH TV episode 503, Flip Gordon & EC3 defeated The Briscoes thanks to Gordon hitting Mark Briscoe with a chair out of the referee’s view. The Briscoes were apparently home in their gym when Jay blamed his little brother for the loss. Papa Briscoe arrived to tell his boys that they’ll have to settle their differences right here on the farm. It’ll be a “Fight on the Farm” in two weeks when Jay and Mark do battle once again.
ROH World Television Championship: Tony Deppen (c) vs. ROH World Tag Team champion Tracy Williams vs. Dragon Lee
Tracy Williams said in his pre-match promo that he let the future new TV champion take him out of his element by playing on his emotions. Getting a second chance, Williams is hoping to right two wrongs in regaining the title from Deppen and defeating the man he was supposed to wrestle for the gold at “19th Anniversary”.
Tony Deppen didn’t take kindly to being called the least violent member of VLNCE UNLTD. But Deppen, according to him, has the least amount of sanity – a trait that he’ll use to retain his title.
Dragon Lee took a quick exit, leading to the unmasked men locking up. Lee attempted to sneak in and cradle “Hot Sauce” for a quick pin, but failed before leaving the ring again. Williams was looking for the arm bar when Lee ran in and cradled Deppen for a failed pin. When Williams missed a chop on Lee to hit Deppen, the champion and the most recent former titleholder traded chops until they noticed Lee laughing at them. Lee knocked both men to the floor for a dive when they caught him flying to suplex Dragon on the floor leading to the commercial.
“Hot Sauce” and Tony wanted to pin Lee; initiating another strike exchange. After landing a dropkick, Deppen went for a dive on Williams that Tracy avoided. The titleholder caught himself in the ropes, rebounding with a dropkick to Lee. Williams yanked Deppen to the floor to send the champion into the barricades. Before Williams and Tony could reenter, Lee somersaulted atop his opponents. Lee had Deppen on his mind, double stomping the champ when the action returned inside. Williams stopped a three count in Lee’s favor.
Williams had to do the same thing by stopping a pin on Tony after the champion was dropkicked in the corner. Death Valley driver almost secured Williams a pin, but Deppen was right there to save his title. Deppen swept Williams into a knee drop to the back of his head that was the precursor to a top turnbuckle maneuver. Williams stopped whatever Deppen had in mind with that turnbuckle DDT. Lee ran in, landing a flying knee on Williams before Deppen took him down with a springboard maneuver. Everyone was down leading to the commercial.
All three got up slugging it out until they started trading German suplexes with Williams German suplexing Lee while Dragon held onto Deppen for a drop as well. Lee dropkicked Williams to stop the piledriver on Deppen, only for “Hot Sauce” to repay Lee by initiating a forearm exchange. Discus lariat after taking a slew of ripcord clotheslines that didn’t drop Tracy allowed Williams to set up the piledriver on Lee. Dragon rushed Williams backwards into the referee that allowed Lee to low blow his fellow challenger before the referee could recover. Deppen slid in, cradling Williams. Lee stopped short of breaking up the pin, allowing Deppen to roll up & pin Williams.
The Foundation was visibly upset, taking Tracy to the back as VLNCE UNLTD celebrated with Deppen. Kenny King’s voice rang out to inform Deppen that the main point of this match wasn’t to win, but to not get pinned if the route to victory never materialized. With Tracy taking the fall, Lee is now the number one contender with the masked man, via King, ordering Deppen to defend the TV title against Dragon at “Best in the World”. Deppen didn’t answer, but seemed ready for a fight with Lee as soon as tonight.
Overall: Interesting episode this week mostly thanks to the main event’s outcome. A rather formulaic three-way where a majority of the time it was only two people in the ring at a time accented by the athleticism & incredible wrestling talents of all three men ended in controversy as Lee allowed Deppen to win. King’s explanation as to why Lee did what he did was fine, but was a calculated risk considering how easily Lee could’ve been in Williams’ position. Deppen versus Lee should be a great bout come “Best in the World”, but the road to get there was a little too contrived.
On the opposite end of the spectrum was the outcome of Bandido-Bateman with the David vs. Goliath style affair where Bandido had to survive a vicious onslaught of strikes from his larger opponent. Bateman hasn’t had too much of a showcase on ROH TV, but he definitely deserves more TV time as he is mesmerizing to watch. Not to be outdone was Bandido who, too, is just so much fun bell to bell and really has to be the favorite to win the entire tournament. And then there’s Vincent’s return and his declaration of intent to win the ROH World title – giving The Righteous a goal other than antagonizing Matt Taven – something that has been necessary for the faction. Definitely a good episode worth watching mainly thanks to the Bandido-Bateman.
