ROH 10/20/18 TV Review: The Briscoes vs. Coast to Coast
09/30/18
The Orleans
Las Vegas, NA
This week was the second episode from the set of tapings from Las Vegas, NA. Ian Riccaboni, and Caprice Coleman were on commentary and welcomed everyone to show.
First Match: ROH World Tag Team Championship Match
The Briscoes vs. Coast to Coast
Coast to Coast has been undefeated since beating the departing War Machine and the company was really getting behind the duo before Shaheem Ali suffered an injury, keeping him out of the ring for most of the summer this past year. Coast to Coast has been presented as a strong team since and during Ali’s injury, LSg was part of a 6-man gauntlet match in NYC that really gave him a chance to shine.With the team heading to Germany, the story here was that they were itching to get their title shot, so much that although they were scheduled to be the main event of the evening they came out earlier than that, eager to win the titles. That very eagerness seemed to have led to their downfall here, as they went up against the veteran duop of the Briscoes. The two teams were given a good amount of time here and what was vitally important was that Coast to Coast really felt like contenders here. It almost seemed as C2C would walk out the victors as they hit Mark with the Coast to Coast finisher followed by an LSG 450, but Jay made the save at the last second. Ali recovered and dumped Jay to the outside, but it wasn’t enough to prevent him from thwarting their final attack, allowing Jay and Mark to hit the Doomsday finisher on Ali for the win. C2C did not win here, but the presentation allows for them to be viewed as viable contenders when they return and the loss can be explained as their exuberance getting the best of them.
Winners: The Briscoes
Second Match: ROH Television Championship Match
Jeff Cobb vs. Punishment Martinez (c)
This was all Cobb from the very outset, essentially a complete squash, ending with a Tour of the Islands from the champion. With Martinez already at the WWE performance center by the time this aired, it was a smart booking move to have Cobb dominate here. Kudos to Martinez to being a pro here and going out on his back to put the new champion over. Cobb’s career in ROH has gotten off to a great start and is some of the best booking this year. Martinez really grew as a wrestler in ROH and become an important piece for the company. He will be missed, but with Cobb sliding here
Winner: and NEW ROH World TV Champion, Jeff Cobb
Tenille Dashwood came down to the ring sporting a sling. Before she arrived to the ring footage was shown of her match against Sumie Sakai, during which it seemed she may have injured her arm. Dashwood revealed that she has not been honest as of late, keeping to herself that she has been injured for a while, first from an autoimmune disease and a shoulder injury. Due to her stubbornness, she kept the injury to herself an only got worse. Dashwood then revealed that she was attacked from behind after her match at Death before Dishonor. She has no idea who attacked her, but would not have been able to do anything as she will need to step away to sort out her injuries. A real shame that Dashwood needs to step away from the ring-she was the brightest star in the WOH division and I hope she makes a speedy recovery.
Main Event: Chris Sabin vs. Marty Scurll
It was a bit odd to have this match in the main event spot, but that was explained earlier in then show that due to C2C being eager to get their title shot the team essentially walked out and demanded to have their match earlier in the night. Overall this was a solid workrate match and gave both Sabin and Scurll a chance to showcase their chain wrestling here as well as some of their speed. This was a pretty even contest that saw Marty take the win after absorbing a superkick and enziguri combo. Scurll managed to reverse the Cradle shock attempt into a chicken wing, but Scurll was unable to hold on to the move. Scurll then hit Graduation, a butterfly suplex toss for the win. Scurll has now introduced yet another “finisher” to his repertoire and it’s victories like this one that will really establish him as someone important within the company. His profile has not been as high as it was when he was challenging for the word title, but a win against a solid veteran and recent TV title number one contender in the form of Sabin. A solid match here that may not have had the bells and whistles of other matches, but was a good example of ROH wrestling.
Winner: Marty Scurll
Final Reaction: B
This was a strong show overall, with two title matches as well as a chain wrestling fest from Scurll and Sabin. The order of the matches was a bit odd but added to the idea that Coast to Coast was super eager to get their title shot and with their excursion in germany this allows them to have reason when they are back from the tour as to why they had come up short. Cobb’s win fwas done perfectly and the only thing that detracted from it was knowing the result going in. Kudos to martinez for doing the job on his way out and to the company as a whole for doing such a bang up job in presenting Cobb as a beat here.