ROH TV 1/14/2018

This week on ROH TV, ROH World Champion Dalton Castle teams with the Boys to take on the Kingdom. Jay Lethal squares off against Will Ospreay in a first time ever match. Plus, Christopher Daniels forms a new stable! All this and more!

ROH TV
Date: 1/14/2018
From: Philadelphia, PA

In a pleasant surprise, ROH starts off this week of television with a singles match!

Opening Contest: Will Ospreay vs. Jay Lethal: Ospreay does several kip ups to get out of a wrist lock and flips Lethal over. Lethal comes off the ropes with a shoulder block. Ospreay counters a dropkick attempt with one of his own. Lethal counters a handspring attempt to the floor by pulling Will to the floor and sends him into the railing. Lethal takes Will out with three suicide dives with the third one sending Ospreay over the railing into the crowd. Marty Scurll has made his way down to the ring, as well as the show goes to commercial.

Lethal sends Ospreay into a corner and follows up with a backbreaker three times. Scurll is on commentary and saying he’s proud to have gotten the old Lethal out. Ospreay kicks Lethal on the apron and hit a slingshot senton back into the ring. Ospreay works over Lethal with strikes in the corner. Ospreay knocks Lethal to the apron with a forearm strike. Lethal battles back with a tilt a whirl backbreaker for a near fall. Lethal rams Ospreay into the corner face first a few times. Lethal continues to work over Ospreay with an uppercut and chops. Ospreay starts to fire up and stops Lethal with a jaw breaker followed by a kick to the chest. Ospreay kicks Lethal down in the corner but misses a dropkick. Ospreay hits a 619 over the top rope to knock Lethal into the ring. Ospreay body scissors Lethal over the top to the floor. Ospreay hits a handspring moonsault over the top onto Lethal! The show goes to another commercial break.

Ospreay has the fans behind him and goes for a springboard cutter. Lethal avoids that and attempts Lethal Injection but Ospreay catches him. Lethal catches Ospreay on a handspring to put him in the Lethal Express for a two count. Lethal takes off his elbow pad and heads to the top rope. Ospreay uppercuts Lethal forearms Lethal several times but gets knocked off. Ospreay connects with a top rope hurricanrana followed by a kick to the head and an elevated reverse DDT for a near fall. Ospreay nails Lethal with a back fist to Lethal’s head for a near fall. Lethal avoids a kick and drives Ospreay down with a Lethal Combination. Lethal goes to the top rope but Ospreay got a boot up. Will kicks Lethal but Lethal hits an ace crusher on Will in midair! Lethal finishes Ospreay off with Lethal Injection! (***1/2. A nicely done match to kick off the program and the finish was very strong. I can get behind Lethal getting back in the main event scene for ROH. This was a first time ever match that over delivered.) After the match, Lethal and Ospreay shake hands.

Backstage, Caprice Coleman has Jonathan Gresham with him. Gresham has promised to tie up all the wrestlers in ROH. Coleman’s Pulpit is the name of the segment. Coleman had a big chair and a small chair. Gresham chose to sit in the high chair. Gresham shares his background, which included being trained by Mr. Hughes. Coleman mentions that Gresham hasn’t won a lot of matches, which offends Gresham. Gresham admits he’s lost more than he has won but its all about how come back from the losses. Gresham believes he has mastered his style of wrestling and wants to showcase it to ROH. Gresham is trying to get special rules installed for guys like him. That felt like a low-level segment.

Second Contest: Kenny King vs. Brian Milonas: King tries a shoulder block but doesn’t do anything. King kicks Milonas but is met with a forearm. King dumps Milonas over the top to the floor. King takes Milonas out with a twisting dive over the top to the floor. A female fan tried to take a selfie but didn’t have her phone ready. King gets a one count after a springboard leg drop. Milonas drops King over the top turnbuckle and follows up with a splash in the corner. King tries to fight back but a clothesline stops him quickly. Milonas casually walks over King. King tries a sunset flip but Milonas nearly connects with a splash. King nails Milonas with a spinning kick to the face. King drops Milonas with a spinning heel kick and a double knee strike in the corner. Milonas cuts King off but misses a splash. King knees Milonas and hits a springboard blockbuster for the win. (*1/2. It was at least a competitive match between the two men. King seems to have gotten better compared to his TNA days.) After the match, King tells Milonas to be proud of himself. King can’t stop thinking about ROH Television Champion Silas Young. He calls out Young to finish their fight. Young makes his way down to the ring and brawls with King in the ring! King nails Young with a spinning heel kick causing Young to bail to the floor. Milonas clotheslines King from behind and Beer City Bruiser also gets in the ring. King gets triple teamed by Young, Milonas and Bruiser to end the segment.

Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky are in the ring to cut a promo. Daniels introduces themselves as SoCal Uncensored and wants the fans to make noise for them. Scorpio made his debut at Final Battle. Joe Koff comes out, the ROH COO. Koff says the fans don’t want to see him and instead they want to see the best wrestlers wrestle. Koff says they have been just disruptive and should fire them. Kazarian takes that as a threat and suggests he go over there and kick Koff’s ass. Daniels talks Frankie down and says they aren’t going to get fired tonight. Daniels talks about talking with Koff to make ROH a bigger deal. Daniels wonders what would stop him from calling Don Callis from spilling Koff’s plans. Or, he could call his friend AJ to tell people in the WWE office. Daniels knows where the bodies are buried. Koff says he is a business man and says he consulted with his lawyer. Koff notes that Daniels and Kazarian have their contracts expiring in one year. Koff says that they better enjoy the year because they are done after Final Battle 2018. Daniels is stunned.

In the parking lot, the Briscoe Brothers cut a promo on ROH Tag Team Champions Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin. They say that it’s just business and say that nobody is on their level. They are going to get the belts back.

Main Event: ROH World Champion Dalton Castle & The Boys vs. The Kingdom (Matt Taven, TK O’Ryan & Vinny Marseglia): Castle and TK kick off the six man tag match. TK backs Castle into a corner taunts the champ. Dalton takes TK down to the mat and they wrestle on the mat with Castle trying a gut wrench but TK lands on his feet. Dalton startles TK with a taunt. Vinny tags in and kicks Castle into the corner followed by a forearm shot. Vinny sends Dalton into the corner chest first. Dalton misses in the corner and looks like one of the Boys gets tagged in. Vinny decks Boy #2 but gets kicked by #1 and he this a cross body off the top. Taven gets tagged in. Taven wants a piece of Castle. Taven kicks Castle in the midsection and runs the ropes. Castle holds onto the ropes and takes Taven down to the mat. Taven misses a clothesline as does Castle. Taven kicks Castle in the corner to get the early advantage. Taven works over Castle with chops in the corner. Castle comes off the middle rope with a cross body after walking on the Boys. Castle clotheslines Taven to the floor and proceeds to do a taunt in the ring instead of a dive to the floor. Vinny tags in but is taken to the mat quickly. Castle tosses Vinny with a suplex. Boy #2 tags in and comes off the top with a double stomp to the arm of Vinny as the show goes to commercial.

Taven drops Boy #2 over the top rope throat first and the Kingdom tosses #2 into the guard railing hard back first. Vinny gets tagged in and TK work over #2. Kingdom hit a flapjack and a double team leg drop splash for a near fall. Vinny bites the forehead of Boy #2. Taven tags in and wants to work over #2 by himself. #2 avoids a back suplex and nearly made a tag. #2 dropkicks Taven into the corner and Castle gets knocked off the apron. Taven kicks #1 right in the face. TK gets tagged in to keep control of the match driving #1 down with a back suplex. TK sends #2 into the corner but is met with a kick to the face. #1 elbows TK and tags in Castle. Castle cleans house on the Kingdom. Vinny comes off the middle rope but is caught and slammed by Castle. Castle has Vinny but ducks Taven’s clothesline. They counter tombstone attempts a few times. Castle spikes Taven with a tombstone! TK kicks Castle and taunts the crowd. Castle has TK over his shoulder and spins around before dropping TK. Castle has a modified chicken wing on Vinny and gets the submission. TK had tossed an axe into the ring but Vinny couldn’t reach it. (**. It wasn’t a strong main event as Lethal/Ospreay was a better match. This was still decent and I liked that Taven wasn’t involved in the finish since he could challenge Castle at some point.)

Final Thoughts:
It was an easy hour of programming and the Lethal/Ospreay alone was worth the hour program. Joe Koff really needs to stop appearing on TV. Aside from that, I’ve enjoyed ROH thus far in 2018.

Thanks for reading.