Last week: Brody King overcame Shane Taylor, Kenny King and Jay Lethal in a Four Corner Survival match after Brian Johnson defeated mentor PJ Black during a Pure Rules encounter.
ROH TV Episode 524
October 2, 2021
Baltimore, MD
The Briscoes vs. Taylor Rust & Alex Zayne
Both duos cut pre-taped promos that aired during their entrances. Alex Zayne mostly spoke for his team, remarking on the fact Jay Briscoe is a former World champion – the perfect test for his upcoming World title match with Bandido after winning the Honor Rumble. Taylor Rust reasserted tonight is about taking down ROH legends on their path to their own super stardom. The Briscoes didn’t shy away from the fact they recently lost to The OGK, but both considered it a simple bump in the road; a bump that’s impossible to feel when they’re running at 100 MPH. Dem Boys were ready to run through ROH’s returning potential stars tonight.
Taylor Rust showcased his incredible grappling ability in the early going, grounding Mark Briscoe while twisting him up in knots & abdominal stretches. It wasn’t until Rust whipped Mark into the ropes did the momentum shift as Briscoe came off with a big strike topped by a pair of chops that put Taylor in The Briscoes’ corner. Jay ragged in, stomping a mudhole into Rust before his little brother became the legal man for a suplex leading into the commercial break.
Alex Zayne tagged himself in after his partner broke away from The Briscoes’ onslaught. The 2021 Honor Rumble winner was going hold for hold with Jay Briscoe, landing a hurricarana prior to spiking Jay on his head with a head scissors. Jay exploded off the mat, landing a big clothesline that Mark used to dive on Zayne when Alex fell out of the ring. Suplex onto the ring’s edge by Mark left Zayne open for a running big boot. Taylor attempted to help his partner, only to get clotheslined by the former two-time ROH World champion.
“The Sauce” wanted to punch his way to a tag, but slung himself into a belly-to-belly suplex from Mark. As if that wasn’t enough, Zayne felt a series of strikes from Jay as the eldest Briscoe brother exclaimed profanities and his yelping noises. Rust distracted Dem Boys long enough for Alex to recover and flip his way out of a double suplex to tag out to a fired up Rust. Taylor was on fire, landing a pair of scissor kicks on both Briscoes. Rust pulling Mark to the mat with a modified Saturn’s Rings ended with Jay stomping Taylor to free his brother before another commercial break.
Jay found himself in an ankle lock courtesy of Rust. Mark rushed Rust, only to get swept. Mark countered Taylor’s attack by shoving him to the floor, only for Taylor to pull Mark out as Zayne knocked Jay over the top for a springboard flipping moonsault that saw Alex down both Briscoes at ringside. Taylor brought Mark into the ring, setting up a Zayne frankensteiner by allowing his partner to use his back as a springboard… that gave Rust a near fall!
Jay ran in like a house of fire, knocking down both men before setting up the Jay Driller on Taylor. Rust attempted to fight out of the maneuver, but got Drilled. Mark came off the top, crushing Rust with Froggy Bow to pin Taylor.
– PCO was during bicep curls with equipment trunks. Danhausen arrived alongside Sledge to state that VLNCE UNLTD have an open challenge for tonight. Danhausen revealed he agreed to sign himself, PCO and Sledge to be three of the four VU opponents for tonight. But what about the fourth man? Sleeping in the shadows was none other than Demonic Flamita. Danhausen offered Flamita the fourth spot with the masked man laughing in apparent agreement.
– Brian Zane was in the ring to introduce the new ROH World Women’s champion Rok-C. Rok-C admitted that winning the title meant everything she dreamt of had now become reality. Dedicating her life to this sport, Rok-C proved that she is ready to defend the title against anyone, everywhere. Rok stated that the “C” in her name used to stand for “confidence”, “…but now it stands for ‘Champion’.”
The Allure arrived to remind Rok-C that The Allure runs ROH with Angelina alluding to calling the champ something derogatory. Miranda Alize arrived, followed by Trish Adora, Willow, Allysin Kay, and Maria Kanellis Bennett with the latter saying the women in the ring will compete in a pair of Triple Threat matches where the victors of those bouts will fight to determine the person who will challenge Rok-C for the title at “Final Battle”.
– During the commercial, Miranda attack Rok-C when she was leaving the ring with Quinn McKay making the save.
VLNCE UNLTD (Brody King, Homicide, Tony Deppen & Chris Dickinson) vs. Danhausen, PCO, Sledge & Demonic Flamita
It was Homicide and Danhausen locking up at the bell with the former ROH World champion actually getting counter-grappled to the point he started biting his way out of situations. Danhausen was mad, actually blocking the lariat to hit Homicide with his own ace crusher and the exploder suplex. As if that wasn’t enough, Danhausen cinched in the STF – Homicide’s patented submission. Homicide used the ropes to save himself prior to the commercial break.
It was Demonic Flamita and Tony Deppen going toe to toe when the show returned. Big shoulder block put Deppen down, but the former TV champ recovered and started throwing everything Flamita was able to avoid or counter until Deppen nonchalantly shoved him to the canvas. Deppen’s legs & knees started striking Flamita’s chin and cheat to allow for two counts against the masked man. Chris Dickinson tagged in, using Deppen as a cannonball on his Demonic opponent.
Flamita executed a enzuguri-shin kick combo to down Dickinson and tag out to Sledge who immediately showcased his power by using a delayed vertical suplex on the “Dirty Daddy”. Dickinson recovered, using a missile dropkick to stop the running Sledge after being placed on the top rope. Brody King tagged in, beating up Sledge while keeping him close to VU’s corner. Double knees in the corner from Deppen rattled Sledge and left him prone to a series of attacks from all of VU. Blocking & reversing a waist lock allowed Sledge to kick Homicide away for a tag to PCO. PCO laid out all of VU heading into the commercial.
Former tag partners King and PCO were slugging it out until PCO executed a pop-up power bomb on Brody for a two count. King recovered, hitting the piledriver on PCO that caused his opponent to have an electrical malfunction. PCO left the ring, asking for the tag from Brody like they were a part of Villain Enterprises again. PCO choke slammed Danhausen after King tagged PCO. Splashing Flamita and Sledge in the corner, PCO demanded that King chop him for motivation prior to avalanche splashing Sledge.
VU were cheering PCO as he came up short with the PCOSault and landed leg-first on Sledge’s stomach. Danhausen had to tagged himself in as PCO was pitched to the floor by Brody. Tornado DDT to King by Danhausen was topped by Danhausen using German suplexes on his other opponents. PCO ran back in after Deppen pulled off an incredible running counter into the Canadian Destroyer, knocking down Deppen. Homicide was also downed by PCO as the latter attempted to climb the ropes. Homicide crotched PCO on the top as Sledge reentered. Homicide got sidewinder slammed by Sledge. Sledge turned around, getting Ganso Bombed by Brody that allowed King to pin his fellow big man and give VU another big victory.
Overall: Another solid episode of ROH TV that didn’t necessarily produce much in terms of story advancement. Both matches were nice showcases for talent both new and rarely seen on ROH TV while the more established stars gained much-needed wins as units. Alex Zayne & Taylor Rust really gelled well as a unit and could be a formidable tandem if they go that route – would love to see a rematch with The Briscoes down the road. Danhausen’s troop did an admirable job attempting to take on VU, but the obvious result came about in less than obvious ways as PCO pretty much proved the downfall for his team due to that bump on his head following the piledriver.
Thankfully the new Women’s champion Rok-C got a spotlight while showcasing how lonely it is on the top and how everyone is ready to knock that person off the mount. It’ll be interesting to see who is the woman that reaches Rok-C first, but where is Chelsea Green in all of this? Once again, a good, easy to watch episode; though not a necessary one in terms of story development.
