Baltimore, MD – 5.14.2021
Commentary is provided by Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman.
We start things off with a trios match from the May 11th edition of ROH Week by Week:
Will Ferrara, Dante Caballero & Eric Martin vs. Primal Fear (Adrien Soriano, Gabriel Hodder & Matthew Omen)
Shane Taylor is on commentary for this, with Kaun and Moses flanking him. The match remains competitive and fairly even as all six competitors see action. Soriano got Ferrara with a slap to the back of the head, and after some chain wrestling Ferrara responds with one of his own. A series of blind tags catches Ferrara off guard, allowing Hodder to surprise him with a forearm strike from behind. Primal Fear triple team Ferrare in their corner until Ferrara finesses a headscissors which sends Omen into Hodder. He escapes Soriano’s grasp and tags in Caballero, who monkey flips Soriano into Hodder. Martin superkicks Omen into a gutbuster from Caballero. Hodder breaks a pin from Martin after Martin slams Omen on his face. Martin however succumbs to a double flapjack into a lungblower, fiving Primal Fear the pin at 8:25. There’s a continuity issue as ROH already announced Primal Fear would be getting a Six Man Tag title shot before they earned this win and challenged Shane Taylor Promotions to the match. Nevertheless, Primal Fear definitely looked more polished and cohesive here than their debut, and I think that Six Man title match has potential to be quite good. It really speaks to the lack of built up challengers for those titles when a team who has a record of 1-1 is considered worthy of challenging. **¼
Women of Honor Wednesday presented a singles match between two debuting competitors.
Trish Adora vs. Miranda Alize
Adora is very pleased with herself that she is able to send Alize to the floor twice during the opening exchange. Alize picks up the pace to pull off some armdrag and headscissors variations, sending Adora to the floor. Alize follows up with a suicide dive and gives herself a literal pat on the back. In the ring, Adora james Alize’s left arm with a Sole Food variant, then focuses her attack on Alize’s left arm after the fact. Alize is able to maneuver her way into a Magistral cradle, but upn kicking out, Adora arm whips Alize shoulder first into the canvas. Alize fights her way out of a possible Death Valley Driver and gives Adora a neckbreaker. A forearm battle ends with an enzuigiri and suplex from Adora. Adora picks up Alize, and Alize tries an inside cradle. She only gets two, but she is able to bring down Adora in the Miranda Rights (a La Mistica), although Adora is able to get her foot on the ropes. Adora catches Alize coming off the ropes with a big slam for two. Alize ducks Lariat Tubman and sunset flips Adora for two. She ducks Lariat Tubman again and drops Adora with an Ace Crusher. The Drive By (shining wizard) gets Alize the pin at 9:54. This was a perfect showcase match, in that both competitors got to portray their personalities, their respective styles, and even though their styles were different, they were very complimentary. Although Alize won, I think both her and Adora had such good showings that they should both be in the Women’s tournament. Maria Kanellis-Bennett agrees with me, as both of them were offered spots! Check this out. ***
Ian Riccaboni is once again sitting in for Quinn McKay as host this week.
14 Man Rankings Battle Royal
Mike Bennett, Danhausen, PCO, Mark Briscoe, LSG, Bateman, The World Famous CB, Joe Keys, Dante Caballero, Eric Martin, Ken Dixon, Sledge, O’Shay Edwards, and Ryan Mooney
All fourteen individuals are currently unranked in all three respective singles decisions. The last two competitors standing will face off in a singles match on a future episode, with the winner earning a spot in the rankings of the singles division of their choosing. Rey Horus was announced for this match, but for whatever reason is not in the bout. Dalton Castle joins commentary for this bout.
Bateman blindsides Bennett during his entrance, but otherwise all participants begin in the ring at the same time. Dutch attacks Bennett from behind as he and Bateman are fighting ringside, and takes him out with a Black Hole Slam! ROH staff intercept as Dutch and Bateman try to drag him to the back. Dixon’s fellow Dojo training mates eliminate him first. Mooney gets bold in attacking Mark Brsicoe, but unfortunately he is eliminated shortly after the fact. PCO eliminates Martin, then stares down Mark Briscoe. Danhausen decides it’s his time to shine and he tries a double chokeslam, only for PCO and Briscoe to toss him outside. Danhausen slips on an El Generico mask to try and re-enter the match, but is tossed out right away. LSG eliminates Caballero and Keys eliminates CB. Keys also eliminates Briscoe which is quite an upset as far as battle royals go. Sledge eliminates Edwards bringing us down to the final four. Sledge and PCO engage in a strike battle until PCO goozles Sledge and shoves him over the top rope. Wisely, Joe Keys and LSG slip in from behind and dump PCO to the floor, co-winning the battle royal at 10:10. Keys and LSG have both been gaining momentum over the past months, so it makes sense they would be the last two standing. It’s also nice they got some key eliminations en route to doing so. Throughout the match we had the continuation of the Righteous/OGK feud, some humor from Danhausen, and a call back to O’Shay vs. Sledge. All three provided some worthwhile moments to make this an above average battle royal, which in general just aren’t great. **½
ROH World Six Man Tag Team Championship
Shane Taylor Promotions (Shane Taylor & S.O.S. (Kaun & Moses)) vs. Primal Fear (Adrien Soriano, Gabriel Hodder & Matthew Omen)
Shane Taylor Promotions have been champions since 2.19.2021 and this is their second defense. Moses’ large size allows him to dominate Omen easily. Hodder has a better showing against Kaun but ultimately is shut down with a hard back elbow. Soriano shows no fear going up against Taylor, but that bravery doesn’t save him from being rocked from a hard right forearm in the corner. Soriano is able to move out of the way of a corner cannonball from Taylor, and Primal Fear swarms him, and wisefly keep him trapped in their corner while making frequent tags to pull off tons of tandem offense. Taylor nails Soriano in the face with a knee and takes him down with a lariat. Moses tags in and has Primal Fear in position on the floor, but when he attempts a somersault senton, Primal Fear moves and Moses crashes on the floor. In the ring, Kaun gives Omen a gutbuster. Soriano and Hodder double team Kaun, leading to Omen scoring a close nearfall. Soriano wipes out Taylor again with a somersault senton. Moses catches Hodder as Hodder comes off the barricades and fallaway slams Hodder over the barricades! Kaun catches Omen on the top turnbuckle and brings him down with a super Jackhammer. S.O.S. hit the Victory Lap on Omen for the pin at 10:17. Primal Fear deserve big kudos having improved so much since their Week By Week match. The story was perfect, with Primal Fear having to more or less work 3-on-1 against any of their opponents, and taking advantage when STP made mistakes. Eventually they were overwhelmed, but I do appreciate that this wasn’t totally one sided in STP’s favor. Primal Fear looking very competent against champions speaks well for their future. ***¼
Josh Woods vs. Silas Young
This is as a result from Young turning on Woods at the “19th Anniversary Show.” Young attacks Woods during his entrance. He tries using a chair but Woods kicks it into his face and throws him into the barricades. Woods mauls Young in the corner as the match officially starts. Young uses the ropes to escape a waistlock, sending Woods throat first into the top rope. Young stands on Woods’ ribs after taking him down with a knee to the gut. When Woods tries to fight back, Young gives him a Code Breaker for two. He wears down Woods’ midsection and back with a bodyscissors. Woods is able to hip toss his way out of an abdominal stretch. Woods counters a suplex by hooking Young in a fisherman’s position and driving Young into the turnbuckles. Woods then gets a two count with a double underhook suplex. Woods ducks a back elbow and places Young in the ropes. He strings a backbreaker and German suplex together for two. He tries the Gorilla Lock, but Young rolls Woods on his shoulders in a pin before it can be applied. Young kicks him a couple times before delivering a modified Total Anarchy for two. Young blocks Woods’ Chaos Theory and gets a two count of his own in a cradle. They fight on the apron for a little bit. Woods then brings Young over the top rope, placing him in an armbar/muffler combo! In anguish, Young rolls Woods onto the shoulders and gets the pin at 12:06. Referee Joe Mandak missed Young using his foot on the bottom rope for leverage. In general this was solid. I liked the intensity both of them brough, but it got a bit sloppy at times. Nothing against Young, but this rivalry doesn’t seem like they’re capitalizing on the momentum Woods had built prior to this at all. **¾
Overall: Between the battle royal and Six Man Tag title match, this week had a lot of fresh faces and was easy to watch. The Six Man tag title match was especially enjoyable, and I strongly recommend checking out Alize vs. Adora from Women of Honor Wednesday.
I am also really excited for Survival of the Fittest to return in June, and for the Best in the World PPV on July 11th to have fans in attendance! It always nice to have big stuff on the horizon to give the shows some direction and have something to look forward to.
NEXT WEEK: Fred Yehi and Rocky Romero square off in a Pure Rules match, and The Foundation (Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus) make their first tag team title defense against the OGK!
The latest episode of ROH TV is always free to watch on ROH’s website and FITE TV. It can also be watched via the Honor Club.
For more information on Ring of Honor, check out their official website and the great ROH World.