Ring of Honor TV 5/4/23 Recap
by Chris Soriano
Ring of Honor TV 5/4/23
Hey guys! It’s Chris with another week of ROH Wrestling!
Match #1. Pure Rules: Lee Moriarty w/ Big Bill vs. Rocky Romero
We start things off with a Flying arm bar by Rocky and Moriarty uses his first rope break at the opening bell! Both men exchange wrist locks before Moriarty heads to the outside. Rocky follows with a suicide dive and a head scissors back inside the ring. Hammerlock by Rocky and Moriarty goes to the apron as referee Stefon Smith calls for a second rope break. Moriarty delivers some brutal chops in the corner and grinds the elbow across Rocky’s face. Romero gets angry and delivers a closed fist and that’ll be a warning. Moriarty looks for mounted palm strikes in the corner but misses and gets his legs drop kicked out from underneath him. Rocky with another flying arm bar and Moriarty grabs his third rope break. Moriarty slides outside and Rocky comes off the apron with a flying knee. Running Sliced Bread by Rocky gets a two count. Rocky looks for a second Sliced Bread but Moriarty catches him with a Tiger Driver 18. One, two, no! Moriarty back to the shoulder with some elbow strikes. Moriarty misses a charging side kick and Rocky sets him up on the top rope. Flying arm bar off the top and Moriarty gets to the ropes, but he’s out of rope breaks. Moriarty taps! Romero wins and gets a nice win here and it looks like we’ll be headed for a rubber match in this series. More of these undercard storylines need to develop, much like Benoit/Booker in WCW 1998.
Match #2. ROH Women’s World Championship Proving Ground Match: Athena (c) vs. Angelica Risk
Athena is on the screen and you know I’m hooked. The woman has star power to me. Code of Honor and then Athena drops Risk with a big elbow strike. Wheelbarrow into a face buster and Risk is in trouble. Risk comes off the top with a crossbody but Athena catches her with an arm, gets Risk on her shoulders, and delivers three Wastelands in a row. Gory bomb onto the knees before the cross face and this one is over. Athena wins. She is legit. She has the look and she kicks ass. Keep pushing her. She calls out Skye Blue after the match. That should be interesting.
Match #3. ROH World Televison Championship: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Christopher Daniels
I’m not going to lie, I’ve been looking forward to this match all week. Two of my favorites and two ROH Vets. Daniels attempts a shoulder tackle to start off the match but Joe doesn’t budge. Twice. Classic Joe. Running back elbow by Joe flattens Daniels. A pair of kicks by Joe and a diving elbow drop. Two count. Snap powerslam by Joe gets another two count. Joe looks for the choke early but Daniels reverses and rolls him up for two. A Jawbreaker by Daniels and an STO plants Joe. Joe charges but Daniels gets a boot up and comes off the middle rope with the swinging Complete Shot for another two. Joe looks for Angel’s Wings but Joe back body drops him. Joe catches a charging Daniels with an overhead belly-to-belly. Muscle Buster by Joe finishes this one. Joe wins in a match that was very good and I thought was the perfect time.
Match #4. ROH World Championship: Claudio Castagnoli (c) vs. Robbie Eagles
Eagles flips out of a top wrist lock and gets pushed to the ropes. Eagles hops over Claudio and hits a head scissors that sends Claudio to the floor, frustrated. Claudio slaps Eagles in the face and Eagles returns the favor. Clean break is teased but Claudio puts the boots to Eagles in the corner. Release vertical suplex by Claudio. Gorilla press by Claudio and a two count. Eastern stretch by Claudio has Eagles grounded in the center of the ring, fighting towards the ropes. Eagles fights out with strikes and a dropkick to the knee. Eagles focuses the attack on the knees now and hits a running European uppercut to the back of the neck. Claudio heads to the outside but Eagles comes flying with a somersault suicide dive and lands perfectly. Back in the ring Eagles comes off the top with a springboard dropkick to the knee and Claudio is struggling. 619 to the knee and a running pair of knees in the face by Eagles in the corner! Two count. Claudio tries for the Big Swing but the knee is hurt and Eagles reverses into an Eagle Lock. Claudio gets to the ropes but Eagles continues the attack on the knee. Now big boots to a grounded Claudio. Spinning back kick and a standing Sliced Bread by Eagles gets another two count! Eagles goes up top but misses the 450, landing on his feet. Claudio reverses with a Michinoku Driver for a long two count. Back slide by Eagles gets two. Another cradle gets two. Hurricanrana into a pin gets two. Lariat by Claudio gets a two count! High kick by Eagles and a Pele kick. Sliced Bread by Eagles but Claudio catches him, tosses him up into mid-air like a sack of potatoes, catches him in a powerbomb position, traps the arms, delivers knees to the back of the head, and THEN finishes this one with the Ricola Bomb. Great match. Eagles looked strong. How a world championship match was not the main event, is a bit much.
Match #5. 10 Tag: The Kingdom & The Varsity Athletes vs. Best Friends, Action Andretti, Darius Martin, & Stu Grayson
Technical difficulties on my end. Did not catch this match.
Match #6. Rich Adonis vs. Preston Vance w/ Jose the Assistant
Vance wins in a match that was just there. Joe and Daniels or the world title match could have gone longer instead of having this match.
Match #7. Skye Blue vs. Robyn Renegade
Both women trade offense to start the match. Renegade rolls to the outside and pulls Blue out awkwardly, before sending her head-first into the post. Running double knees in the corner by Renegade. Two count. Camel clutch with a double fishhook by Renegade. Head scissors by Blue and a diving hurricanrana. I’m loving the fast pace of this match. Running knee on the ropes and a single leg dropkick by Blue for a two count. Shotgun dropkick by Renegade gets a two count, Uranage attempt by Blue but Blue counters with a superkick. Blue wins with a skyfall. Both women looked great in this match. I have to say, the women’s wrestling is getting better every week on ROH.
Match #8. Brian Cage w/ Prince Nana vs. Brock Anderson
Cage wins in another squash match that does nothing for him. It does nothing for Anderson either and Anderson was made to look horrible in this match.
Match #9. Steph De Lander vs. Willow Nightingale
Go back to what I said a few matches ago. The women’s wrestling continues to evolve in ROH. De Lander slaps Willow in the face after the handshake. Hard shoulder block and an enziguiri by Willow. De Lander catches Willow off the top and delivers a hard running boot to the face. Snap suplex by De Lander. Two count. European uppercuts by De Lander and some shoulders in the corner. Dropkick by Willow and a cannonball in the corner. De Lander fights out of a DVR but Willow catches her with a spinebuster for the win. Willow continues to look impressive.
Match #10. Angelico vs. Komander
Both men trade blows to start the match. We are seeing some high flying offense here. Angelico walks to the opposite side of the ring and Komander walks the ropes with a crossbody to the floor. Sunset flip by Komander hits hard but only gets a two. Rebound kick by Angelico and a suplex get two. Razor’s Edge attempt by Angelico but Komander counters with a hurricanrana into the turnbuckle. Power Bomb by Komander gets two. Frankensteiner by Komander gets another two count. Angelico rolls to safety on the outside but Komander walks the far turnbuckle and hits a twisting plancha to the floor! Shooting star press off the rope by Komander finishes this one. Kommander is great and happy he got the win, but can we do a bit less with all the flying moves off the ropes. This would be like if Shane McMahon did the coast to coast 6 times in a match. It loses its luster. But he’s athletic as hell.
To end it, I think it was quality wrestling overall this week. You had 2 matches that maybe should not have been there, but again, when you have all this talent, you have to try and fit them in. How the world title match was not the main event, I don’t know. It was the match of the night. Joe and Daniels I loved and the women’s wrestling keeps killing it.
Until Next time!