On ROH Episode 403, Mark Haskins calls out Bully Ray. Colt Cabana defends his NWA National Championship against James Storm. Silas Young fights a new wrestler.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vpe27CN0k4
Quick Results:
- NWA National Title Match: Colt Cabana and James Storm ends in a 15 minute draw
- Silas Young defeated the Squid
- LifeBlood (Mark Haskins and Tracy Williams) defeat Bully Ray and ROH TV Champion, Shane Taylor by DQ
James Storm vs. Colt Cabana
Interesting match between to veteran performers. Early on in the match, the two wrestlers felt each other out. Colt was able to get the upper hand by out-wrestling Storm. Storm grew a little more frustrated each time Colt stifled him. Eventually, Storm started brawling to take the advantage.
After some last-call superkicks, Storm hooked in the Texas Cloverleaf. Time expired as Storm had the hold locked in. When the bell rang, Storm thought he had won. He grabbed the belt and started heading to the back. Cabana told him it was still his belt, but he’d give him 5 more minutes.
Instead of the match re-starting, the Briscoes hit the ring and attacked Cabana. After a quick promo against the NWA, the Briscoes then pointed at Aldis who was sitting at commentary. Aldis came down to the ring. There was a brawl with the Briscoes standing tall.
It has since been announced, Cabana and Aldis will face off against the Briscoes at Best in the World. The match between Storm and Cabana was fine. It wasn’t spectacular, but was a solid opening TV match. Because of the angle after the match, Storm came off looking like an afterthought.
Jeff Cobb Challenges for ROH World Title
I normally don’t cover too many video packages or vignettes in the ROH review. Mainly because, ROH’s strength isn’t really in developing those things. However, occasionally, they do hit one out of the park. I feel like these video packages are doing a good job of showcasing Cobb as a babyface with a real shot at dethroning Matt Taven. Either, Taven’s going to get a win over a well-built challenger or Cobb’s going to be “The Man” in ROH.
Silas Young vs. The Squid
Young is claiming to be a new wrestler who won’t take shortcuts to win. He has been feuding with Gresham and claiming to be a better technical wrestler. As he’s done recently, he’s bringing out a wrestler who will push him. Out comes the Squid. It’s a little guy in a Squid mask. This felt like it was right out of a WWE playbook. It wasn’t funny. It was lame. The only redeeming part was when Young smoked a cigarette while tapping out the wrestler. I’m assuming Gresham is ultimately going to go over in this feud. Can’t wait for that!
LifeBlood vs. Bully Ray and ROH Television Champion, Shane Taylor
Haskins came out to the ring and cut the obligatory “I’m a wrestler, not an entertainer” promo. Ultimately, he called out Bully Ray for attacking Tenille Dashwood. After some back and forth, Haskins challenged him to a fight. Out comes Shane Taylor. Tracy Williams came out to make it 2 on 2.
We get the tag match, kind of. Immediately after the bell, the Soldiers of Savagery hit the ring. They take out LifeBlood for the second time in a month. Haskins and Williams get the win by DQ. The beatdown then became 4 on 2. PJ Black came down to make the save. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. He ended up getting powerbombed through a table.
Final Take
I’m rating this a 2 out of 5 this week. The squid match was ridiculous. We also got two matches and two non-finishes. If I wanted to review bad comedy angles and matches that didn’t have actual finishes, then I could write about the shows on Monday and Tuesday nights.
I feel like a broken record. ROH needs to figure out what it is trying to be. When you have a wrestler cut a promo about being a true wrestler and not an entertainer, then you probably should allow them to actually be in a wrestling match. Otherwise, they just look like a hypocrite.
That said, next week we get a Four Corner Survival Match with Jeff Cobb, Jay Lethal, RUSH, and PCO. We should get a great match in the main event. I also need to give some credit to ROH because last week I called out making new stars. While the show did feature some of the more veteran guys around ROH, we got what looks to be a potential feud between LifeBlood and SOS. That has some intrigue behind it for sure.
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