ROH 12/15/18 TV Review: 10 Man Christmas Surprise
11/03/18
Stage AE
Pittsburgh, PA
This week was another episode from the set of tapings from Pittsburgh, PA. Ian Riccaboni, Colt Cabana and Caprice Coleman were on commentary and welcomed everyone to show.
First Match: Twisted Sisterz (Holidead & Thunder Rosa) vs. Madison Rayne & Dr. Brit Baker
Tisted Sisters worked very well together as a tag team here. Rayne was on the receiving end of some great tandem maneuvers and heel tactics to keep Rayne on their side of the ring. This built off of an attack by the Sisterz during a live show and was easily one of the best tag team matches in the division in recent memory. In the end,Holidead dropped Brit Baker and then Rose hit a double stomp to the lower back before picking up the pinfall victory. A really impressive tag debut here and an interesting possible new wrinkle for the division in 2019.
Winners: Twisted Sisterz
A video package of Taven and Lethal alternately find out who their tag team partners would be later in the night aired. Taven apparently picked two Melvins and was very grumpy.
A segment featuring Caprice Coleman and Jay Lethal aired next. Lethal seemed distraught and Coleman checked on him. Lethal admitted he was upset that he did not get Cheeseburger on his team. Coleman told Lethal to check under the desk and Lethal opened an envelope to find out Cheeseburger was on his team. A Christmas miracle!
Taven then opened the last envelope and seemed as miffed as ever.
A heartrate flashed on the monitor for a few seconds, indicating someone might be arriving soon.
Main Event: 10 Man Christmas Surprise
Matt Taven, Marty Scurll, Jonathan Gresham, Brian Milonas and Beer City Bruiser vs. Jay Lethal, Jeff Cobb, Cheeseburger, Rhett Titus & Vinny Marseglia
Taven and Lethal tried to trade Gresham for Marseglia to make the scenes a bit more aligned, but Todd Sinclair would not allow it. Riccaboni with an amazing Festivus reference, mentioning that it was not the time for the air of grievances. Taven was an enormous Grinch, throwing his hat to the ground. This was a spectacle, more of a fun match, as the matches have been in years past. With Final battle airing the night before this show, this time was used wisely, needing very little mention of the PPV, while still providing fun content. After a fun segment during which people stole each other’s finishers, Cobb hit Tour of the Islands on Bruiser to win the match via pinfall for his team and earn that sweet, sweet Christmas Bonus.
Winners: Jay Lethal, Jeff Cobb, Cheeseburger, Rhett Titus & Vinny Marseglia
Final Reaction: C…hristmas
This was a fun little episode of ROH television. Twisted Sisterz had an extremely strong debut as a team and would be a welcome addition to the division moving forward. The Christmas surprise ten man match was fun as usual, with everyone getting a chance to get their spots in and the crowd thoroughly into this one. Not a vitally important episode, but it was not meant to be. An enjoyable hour of ROH television as the company heads into some best of shows to close out the year before rebooting things with the TV tapings from after Final Battle.