ROH TV taping spoilers: World title change, Best in the World fallout

Following up on Best in the World, Ring of Honor taped four weeks of television in Fairfax, Virginia on Saturday night — and delivered some excellent action. The order that everything will be airing in wasn’t made perfectly clear.

– Leon St. Giovanni won a Future of Honor match

LSG avoided a superplex and won with a 450.

– A parade of promos happened next, with Jay Lethal saying he has redeemed himself and wants to get back in the World Championship mix. Matt Taven said Lethal has had too many shots already, then Cody Rhodes came out and said that since Lethal is All In, he should be in the title picture.

Dalton Castle entered after this, cutting a promo about wanting to be coveted as champion and saying it made him feel like a Tamagotchi in ’97. He wanted to face them all in a fatal four-way match.

– Women of Honor Champion Sumie Sakai defeated Hazuki to retain her title

They had a pretty good match. It was fairly short, and Hazuki lost due to the interference of her Oedo Tai teammates backfiring. Sakai won with her modified Cross Rhodes finish, but Hazuki looked great with stiff kicks and a slew of submissions.

– ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes defeated Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas

Milonas got heat by pulling his straps down and revealing his chest. The Briscoes worked as babyfaces and the heel team got a nice reaction for a Veg-O-Matic spot. A Spicolli driver and froggy elbow won it for The Briscoes.

After the match, Jay said they’re nine-time champions and no one can beat them — especially SoCal Uncensored. Scorpio Sky came out and said The Briscoes were outnumbered out there and praised Jay for knowing that three of SCU was more than two Briscoes. A brawl broke out before officials broke it up.

– Madison Rayne defeated Tenille Dashwood, Karen Q, and Kelly Klein in a four-way number one contender’s match

Surprisingly, Rayne won this and was pretty over too. She got pyro and worked well with Dashwood. Things fell apart a bit whenever Klein and Q were in, and Dashwood was given the most time to shine with a Taste of Tenille to everyone in the corner. Rayne beat Klein with a Rayne Drop to get a future Women of Honor title shot.

– Flip Gordon, Cheeseburger & Josh Woods vs. Bully Ray, Punishment Martinez & Shane Taylor ended in a DQ

Gordon was taken out before this started, making it a handicap match until Colt Cabana came down to run in. Either Cabana getting involved will be a disqualification or the finish of Bully Ray using a chain will — there was no announcement made in the building. Gordon returned and chased the heels away with a chair.

Taylor was great in the match, only coming in when someone was hurt.

– Jay Lethal defeated Dalton Castle, Cody Rhodes, and Matt Taven in a four-way match to win the ROH World Championship

This was an excellent match. Lethal hit a double dive to everyone — and even poor Burnard the Business Bear ate one too. Cody had Brandi Rhodes toss him something to distract referee Todd Sinclair so Cody could hit low blows. Taven connected with a gorgeous five-star frog splash for two, while Lethal got a double Lethal Injection at one point.

Lethal defeated Castle with the Injection to win the title, so even though it changed hands in a four-way, at least the existing champion was pinned to lose the belt. Lethal’s celebration was over huge in the building and it was cool to see a World title change at a TV taping.

The match need some editing for TV, as Taven messed up his first attempt at skinning the cat.

– The Dawgs (Rhett Titus & Will Ferrara) won a tag match

– KUSHIDA defeated Jonathan Gresham

KUSHIDA won in an outstanding technical showcase. Most of the match was spent on the mat, which didn’t get over live, but seeing everything they do in person was remarkable. The speed of their transitions was unreal, and Gresham gave off a very Bryan Danielson-esque vibe with his gear and mat-based style. He escaped several Hoverboard Locks but fell to the Back to the Future fisherman buster.

– Austin Aries cut a promo about still being among the best in the world. He talked about his history in ROH and being a former champion while also changing the company with Generation Next. He said he isn’t here to be card filler on a PPV and wants to be in the World title picture to make an impact — which, as Impact Wrestling’s World Champion, he made sure to let us know was a pun he intended.

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– Oedo Tai (Kagetsu & Hana Kimura) defeated Jenny Rose & Mayu Iwatani

This was great when Iwatani was in and far less so when she wasn’t, partly because Rose was working as the face in peril and that looked bizarre visually with Iwatani being so much smaller than she is. Kagetsu won with her sit-out Death Valley Driver.

– Cody entered and said that Brandi is his lady luck. He asked for a kiss, with the crowd chanting for one more and Brandi obliging. He said she’s supported him with everything he’s done, including never flinching when he wrote a huge check for All In.

Nick Aldis then came in and said he’s similar to Cody, as Cody hitched his wagon to the Bullet Club — while he hitched his to the oldest brand in pro wrestling history.

Cody still wants his NWA title shot, but now he has no leverage. Cody offered up his ring as collateral, and Aldis accepted that before Cody told him that thanks to Cody, the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship will be on the line in front of 10,000 people. Cody said that Aldis needs to be prepare to face someone who isn’t a school teacher, referencing former NWA Champion Tim Storm.

Tensions mounted and Marty Scurll, The Young Bucks, and Hangman Page came down to keep things from escalating.

– ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan) defeated Kenny King, Chuck Taylor & Eli Isom to retain their titles

The faces weren’t given much here, losing to the Rockstar Supernova after a balloon pop threw King off his game.

– Chris Sabin defeated Silas Young

Sabin won in a fast-paced match. Young is so much more athletic than you would think with his size and gimmick, and he worked well with Sabin here.

Sabin used a lot of Penalty Kicks to get an edge, but Young beat him down with a nice Irish Curse backbreaker into a lariat. Sabin won with a Cradle Shock.

– Marty Scurll defeated Shane “Hurricane” Helms

Scurll got one of the loudest reactions of the night. Helms had his working shoes on and did a lot, including an avalanche swinging neckbreaker — which I haven’t seen him do in ages. This had a mix of comedy at first but got more serious when Helms was outwrestling Scurll because Scurll was taking him lightly.

In the end, a finger snap prevented a chokeslam — but Scurll couldn’t put him away with a chicken wing. He had to resort to a low blow and a small package to win.

– EVIL, SANADA & BUSHI defeated SoCal Uncensored (Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian & Scorpio Sky) and The Young Bucks & Hangman Page in a three-way match

The main event was complete insanity from bell to bell. It began with crazy dives from everyone, brawling around ringside, and eventually slowed down briefly before more fast-paced action. The Bucks hit a ton of kick-related attacks, but only a few superkick ones. Jay Briscoe interfering and hitting Daniels with a chair led to the Los Ingobernables de Japon team picking up the win.

This was a five-hour event from beginning to end, but the crowd was into things throughout it. Todd Sinclair was over, and a sheet got a huge reaction throughout the event after being used to wipe the ropes down following the KUSHIDA vs. Gresham match. It was announced after the show that ROH would be back in Fairfax, but they didn’t give a date.

Matt Jackson stuck around for a good 15 minutes after the show to shake hands and meet with fans. Given that a paid meet and greet was done before the show, that was a fantastic gesture for those who either couldn’t afford that or couldn’t make it for another reason.