Last week: The ROH World Women’s Championship tournament continued with Rok-C and Miranda Alize advancing after defeating Quinn McKay and Nicole Savoy respectively, before Demonic Flamita overcame Rey Horus in a No Disqualification match.
ROH TV Episode 519
August 28, 2021
Baltimore, MD
Ian Riccaboni was here to open the show by running down tonight’s card including the remaining Quarterfinal matches in the Women’s Championship tournament including Angelina Love taking Max the Impaler.
ROH World Women’s Championship Tournament Quarterfinal: Angelina Love vs. Max the Impaler
Amy Rose grabbed the microphone to ask Angelina Love if she really wanted to go through with this match. When Love said she was, Max the Impaler rushed her. Love quickly exited the ring, confronting Rose at ringside. Taking her eyes off Max allowed the Impaler to attack the former Women of Honor champion from behind, whipping her against the barricade and the ring’s edge leading into the commercial break.
Angelina was crawling around ringside until she was able to shove Max face-first against the ring post twice. The attacks didn’t affect the Wastelander at all. When Max reentered the ring, she hoisted Love into a torture rack where she bent Angelina backward so the bottom of her boots were almost touching the top of her head. Love collapsed to the floor again, getting whipped into the ring post like a rag doll. Rose had to convince Max to reenter the ring and finish this match now. When Max went to pull Love into the ring, she cinched in a sleeper while Love was in the ropes. The referee started counting Max down, but the Impaler refused to let go of the submission even though Angelina was in the ropes; leaving him with no choice but to disqualify Max.
Max dropped Love to the floor right on her arm as Amy Rose actually raised her client’s hand as if she won. Love goes on to face Rok-C in the next round.
ROH World Women’s Championship Tournament Quarterfinal: Allysin Kay vs. Trish Adora
Allysin Kay was excited about the battle of the lariats and her opportunity to prove that, “AK don’t play!”
Kay’s opposition in Trish Adora also understood how tough her next round match will be. But with her community supporting her including her mother, Adora promises to make it to the top.
Following the Code of Honor, the two locked up with the intent of working over the opponent’s arms to potentially weaken their patented lariats. Kay switched to focusing on Adora’s head, taking her over with side headlocks and takedowns. Adora gave Kay a taste of what it means to have your head stuck in someone’s clutches by countering the headlock with a head scissors that Trish accented by bridging off the mat. Kay eventually got free, going for the front face lock. Countering another head scissors attempt allowed Kay to go for the cross arm bar. Adora stacked up “AK-47”, failing to pin her before the commercial break.
Kay was looking to turn Adora into a pretzel when the show returned, eventually opting to Samoan drop Trish over the top rope, to the floor. Running kick off the apron connected for Kay. Allysin wasn’t done with those blistering kicks as she lit Adora up when Trish tried to rise. Kay wanted to keep Adora grounded, but the Pan-African champion refused to stay down even when Kay countered her comeback with something as simple as a hair pull. Kay lured Adora into swinging for the fences after doing some trash talking. Kay was ducking & striking until Adora avoided an attack in the corner. Trish landed right hand after right hand until she executed a backbreaker over her knee off the uranage. Snap DDT connected, but didn’t put Kay down for the three count.
Ducking an enzuguri, Kay executed a German suplex. Adora blocked the second German suplex attempt, only to get swept into the kimura. Adora countered with a jackknife pinning combination. Kay kicked out, catching Adora in a rear naked choke that resulted in Trish saving herself via the bottom rope. Kay’s roundhouse kick was meant to set up the “Big D” Discus Lariat. Adora avoided Kay’s finisher, only to miss Lariat Tubman. Kay grabbed her opposition for a double underhook maneuver when Adora flipped out of whatever Allysin had in mind. Adora exploded off the ropes, hitting Lariat Tubman to put Kay’s shoulders to the mat for the three count. It’ll be Adora versus Miranda Alize next week.
ROH World Television Championship: Dragon Lee (c) vs. Eli Isom
Eli Isom stated that for months his goal has to become the ROH World Television champion. Now he’s only three seconds away from reaching the promise he made to his family including his late mother.
Dragon Lee gave Isom credit where credit is due, but the truest champion is here and the dragon has awakened.
Busy man Dalton Castle was taking phone calls instead of being with the commentators. When Castle was watching he was excited about the drama Isom presented by being a fantastic competitor. There was an actual Code of Honor before the bell and the stern collar & elbow tie-up. Both men broke clean when they ended up in the ropes, but it was Lee who took the pace to a different level before proving why he’s tranquilo by doing the tranquilo pose heading into the commercial break.
When Lee offered the handshake again, Isom actually kicked the champ in response. The pace quickened and it was Lee who pulled off a head scissors that put Isom at ringside in position for a big dive. Lee surprisingly grounded Isom when “Infinite” was pitched back in. Single-leg Boston crab saw Lee standing on his challenger’s head. Running into a big boot in the corner, Lee was stunned and left prone for a crazy arm drag that saw the masked man leave the ring. Incoming Isom took down Lee with a plancha topped by a cross body block in the ring that gave him a two count. Lee gladly joined Isom in the ring’s middle to slug it out. Isom caught Lee on the jaw with several boots before running into a dropkick. Lee followed up with his springboard stomp in the corner prior to another commercial.
Lee’s attempt at Bull’s Horns saw him getting tossed across the ring; only for Lee to retaliate in kind. Poisonrana connected for Lee, but Isom avoided the Incinerator knee. Isom couldn’t keep the momentum in his favor as he ran into a big clothesline. Isom countered the charging Lee by executing a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker topped by the belly-to-back neck breaker. Isom going for a gourd buster failed as he was dropped across the rope for a springboard dropkick. Lee couldn’t follow up with the Incinerator from the front, but landed on the back of Eli’s head … for a near fall!
Lee was playfully kicking at Isom when he swung himself into the Promise … to give the challenger a near fall!
The commentators were going crazy when Lee caught Isom with a flying knee. Though the champ collapsed after the maneuver, Dragon still had a grip of Isom’s wrist. Eli found himself feeling a Royal Butterfly into the Michinoku driver … for another near fall!
Isom was out of it as he tried to get up, unable to avoid the Incinerator knee strike that allowed Lee to pin his game challenger.
Overall: What a main event! While it’s definitely understandable why ROH couldn’t have fans for these TV tapings, if only Lee-Isom was saved for the upcoming pay-per-view because the fans would’ve been going just as wild for the closing moments as the commentators. Lee is a testament to a luchador who adapts so well to different styles including against someone like Isom who, before the pandemic, seemed like a solid hand and that’s all. This Isom is a star and someone ROH can hang its hat on in the very near future. Lee-Isom is a must-see match.
The Women’s tournament bouts were both okay and fantastic. On the weaker, though understandable side was Love being slaughtered by Max. It made perfect sense that Love was outmatched and, thankfully, Max lost due to her brutality and not something like slipping on the figurative banana peel & being pinned out of nowhere. It’ll be interesting where this apparent rivalry between Max and The Allure goes post-tournament. Adora and Kay got a good amount of time and worked a very technical, hard-hitting match that I would love to see again. Personal favorite Adora advancing was great and sets up a tournament where some of the heavy favorites have actually been bumped. Next week’s episode will be interesting as we’ll see who is fighting for the Women’s Championship come “Death Before Dishonor”. A wonderful episode that definitely should be seen even in this bloated landscape of great wrestling action.
