Originally published at https://www.postwrestling.com/2019/03/15/roh-17th-anniversary-report-jay-lethal-vs-matt-taven/
Welcome to POST Wrestling’s coverage of the Ring of Honor 17th Anniversary card from Sam’s Town Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Tune in tonight on the site for our POST Show with Mike Murray and I reviewing the card. Feedback can be posted on the POST Wrestling Forum.
Ian Riccaboni is calling the show alongside Nick Aldis and Caprice Coleman.
QUICK RESULTS
*Marty Scurll over Kenny King in 12:53
*Jeff Cobb over Shane Taylor at 13:33 to retain the ROH Television title
*Mayu Iwatani over Kelly Klein in 8:56 to retain the Women of Honor title
*Jay Lethal and Matt Taven went to a 60:00 draw for the ROH title
*Rush over Bandido at 15:15
*PCO and Brody King over The Briscoes in 19:59 to win the ROH tag titles
KENNY KING VS MARTY SCURLL
King has two previous wins over Scurll. Scurll is scheduled to challenge for the ROH title at the G1 Supercard next month at Madison Square Garden.
Scurll landed a tornado DDT off the apron to the floor.
They each went for several covers after Scurll slapped King in the face. Scurll stomped the hand and King avoided the finger snap.
King countered Graduation and hit the Royal Flush, but both were down.
King grabbed a chair and was stopped by Paul Turner allowing Scurll to nail King with the umbrella and got the win.
WINNER: Marty Scurll at 12:53
A decent opener, although the finish didn’t come off as strong considering the role Scurll has at the Garden show next month.
JEFF COBB VS SHANE TAYLOR FOR THE ROH TELEVISION TITLE
Taylor hit Cobb early with the pounce…period. Later, he hit a cannonball off the apron to the floor.
Cobb lifted him with a pump handle and tossed Taylor. Cobb hit a lariat so hard that his momentum knocked himself to the floor.
Cobb and Taylor traded forearms and then Cobb placed Taylor on the top turnbuckle and landed the Okada dropkick. Taylor came back and landed a splash from the middle turnbuckle for a two-count.
Cobb slapped Taylor and hit a delayed bridging German for a two-count.
Taylor hit an inside-out lariat and a Canadian (Cleveland) Destroyer for a huge near fall. The audience was amazed at the maneuver. Taylor came off the ropes and was hit with the Tour of the Islands and Cobb hit it a second time to win.
WINNER: Jeff Cobb at 13:33 to retain the ROH Television title
This was a fantastic match and overachieved big time. The audience was going nuts by the end and they worked super hard with an athletic match from the two monsters. This was a big breakthrough performance for Taylor.
MAYU IWATANI VS KELLY KLEIN FOR THE WOMEN OF HONOR TITLE
Klein drilled her with a knee to the face and attacked with forearm strikes on top with her ground and pound. Iwatani landed a pair of sling blades a foot stomp off the turnbuckle.
Klein hit a release German suplex and Iwatani’s neck folder upon landing and looked horrific.
She quickly came back with a moonsault off the second turnbuckle and then came off the top and Klein got her knees up. Klein hit K Power and Iwatani kicked out.
Klein nailed her with a clothesline and started yelling at Iwatani and was caught with an inside cradle and Iwatani pinned her.
WINNER: Kelly Klein at 8:56 to retain the Women of Honor championship
Iwatani looked like she was dead after several of the moves in this match. It did feel rushed.
The next match was supposed to be the tag match with Lifeblood and The Kingdom. Instead, Matt Taven came out by himself. He said he’s the real champion and isn’t waiting any longer and wants the ROH title match now with Jay Lethal.
The next match was supposed to be the tag match with Lifeblood and The Kingdom. Instead, Matt Taven came out by himself. He said he’s the real champion and isn’t waiting any longer and wants the ROH title match now with Jay Lethal.
They announced that Jeff Cobb will be facing Will Ospreay at Madison Square Garden with the ROH Television and NEVER Openweight titles both on the line.
JAY LETHAL VS MATT TAVEN FOR THE ROH TITLE
Lethal’s first attempt at the Lethal Injection was avoided by Taven and he nailed Lethal with a spin kick and Lethal landed on his shoulder.
Taven was in control for a long time with Lethal continuing to sell the shoulder.
Coleman explained that Lethal’s chops are so hard they will make you forget who the president is. Lethal could market those.
Lethal hit three suicide dives and the audience got more into them with each dive. Lethal kicked away at the left knee. Taven distracted referee Todd Sinclair and poked Lethal in the eyes and sent Lethal’s injured shoulder into the post.
Taven applied a crossface and turned it into a Rings of Saturn until Lethal got his foot onto the bottom rope. Taven went back to his attack on the shoulder. Out of nowhere, Lethal hit the Lethal Combination and made a comeback.
Lethal got on top for the elbow drop when the balloons came up from the floor. Todd Sinclair was hypnotized as Vinny Marseglia ran in and attacked Lethal with a bat. Jonathan Gresham ran down and was attacked with a chair shot to the knee by TK O’Ryan. They brought out a table as Mark Haskins and Tracy Williams ran down to stop The Kingdom.
Sinclair was distracted as Taven hit Lethal with a low blow for a big near fall. Taven hit a frog splash off the top for another two-count. Taven tried another splash, which Coleman warned it never works twice, and Lethal got his knees up. Lethal caught him with a cutter for a two-count.
Lethal applied a figure-four and it was turned over. Lethal gets control of the submission and Taven fights to the rope. Taven blocked a vertical suplex and sent Lethal through a table on the floor.
Lethal hit the Lethal Injection and Taven kicked out. Lethal followed with a cutter onto the edge of the apron.
Taven brought out a ladder, which Riccaboni gave a reason because of the gaffers that put up and tear down the set. Lethal came off the top and missed an elbow landing knee first on the ladder that was draped between the ring and a table.
Lethal was being helped up as Taven landed a tope to the floor and got a near fall inside. This came 55 minutes into the match and impressive. Taven spits into his face and hit a PK for a two-count. Taven leaped off the top and was caught with a cutter on the way down but he kicked out.
They ended the match on their knees with strikes and Lethal landing several superkicks and a Lethal Injection for a two-count.
The bell rang to signal the 60-minute time limit.
WINNER: Time limit draw
This will probably be a highly-debated match. I felt it went too long and was a tough match to pull off. The final ten minutes were strong and to their credit, neither guy was blown up at the end and worked hard.
The negative was that the audience had no idea how much time had gone by as they didn’t announce how much time was left at any point.
Because of the rarity of 60-minute draws, this will probably receive a lot of attention.
Marty Scurll came into the ring after the match and held the title.
Taven came out of this with the respect of the audience and they applauded both guys for the effort.
Rapper Mega Ran came out to perform and was stopped by Bully Ray. He asked why he is wasting time on their pay-per-view, he hates rap music and thinks they suck. He said he stole his name from Mega Man and is “a washed up nobody”. Bully asked if Megan Ran used to play his character in the video game, he said he played and D-Von and Bully shoved them down.
He said no one in ROH or New Japan has ever performed at The Garden and he’s sold it out. He threatened to attack two children in the front row. He issued an open challenge to anyone in the wrestling business for the G1 Supercard for a New York City Street Fight. He added “you know who you are” and ended the promo by calling the mysterious person “punk”.
RUSH VS BANDIDO
Dalton Castle joined the commentary team for this match replacing Aldis.
Both men have been undefeated since coming to Ring of Honor.
Rush powerbombed Bandido through the ringside table where Cary Silkin was sitting. Bandido landed a tornillo off the turnbuckle and a Fosbury Flop to the floor as the audience was chanting for him.
Rush hit a Canadian Destroyer and Bandido immediately popped up with a tilt-a-whirl where they fell near the ropes. Rush caught Bandido with a deadlift superplex. Rush was draped on the middle rope as Bandido did a double springboard into a 450 off the top.
Rush landed a tope con giro and Bandido came back moments later with a huracanrana off the apron to the floor.
Rush fired up in the ring and won after hitting the running dropkick to Bandido seated in the corner.
WINNER: Rush at 15:15
This was incredibly fast-paced, and the audience was into it. There was tons of action and big moves from start-to-finish.
Dalton Castle entered the ring and said he sees a challenge and wants to face Rush at the G1 Supercard. Rush asked who he was and in a roundabout way we were led to believe he accepted.
They announced due to the attack on Jonathan Gresham’s leg his match with Silas Young has been postponed. The tag match with Mark Haskins and Tracy Williams vs. The Kingdom is off due to The Kingdom leaving the building and both will happen in the future. They have been granted enough satellite time to get through the main event.
Silas Young joined commentary replacing Castle.
THE BRISCOES VS BRODY KING AND PCO IN A LAS VEGAS STREET FIGHT FOR THE ROH TAG TITLES
The ring was filled with chairs as they attacked each other with weapons. King is wrestling with a broken left hand that they bring up right away.
PCO lifted Mark on the edge of the apron and put him through a table on the floor with a Michinoku Driver. Minutes later, King lifted Mark onto his shoulders and drove him through a table in the corner.
Jay Briscoe was busted open and double-teamed on the floor with PCO attacking him with a broken piece of the table. PCO ran down the ramp and was back body dropped onto the edge of the apron. Then he was back body dropped onto the ramp.
Mark sent King through two tables on the floor with a blockbuster. Jay hit the Jay Driller and King kicked out.
The Briscoes attacked King and PCO with kendo stick shots. PCO stood and absorbed them and broke the kendo sticks over his knee.
Mark was on the top turnbuckle, King tossed him off and he missed the table and landed on the chairs on the floor, this was insane.
King tried to piledriver Briscoe off the apron and couldn’t lift him and they tumbled onto the table and floor.
The chair was placed on top of Jay and PCO landed the top rope moonsault and pinned Jay Briscoe.
WINNERS: PCO and Brody King at 19:59 to win the ROH tag titles
This was insane, tons of risky spots and these four killed each other for 20 minutes.
The story is PCO is returning to Madison Square Garden for the first time since 1994 as a champion.
There were too many dangerous elements to this match coupled with King working with a broken hand that it was a tough watch.
Most will peg this as the best match on the show and the effort was off the charts. It was a spectacle.