ROH TV Episode 299

6/10/17

Philadelphia, PA

The Bullet Club (ROH World Tag Team champions The Young Bucks & Hangman Page) vs. Roppongi Vice & Chuck Taylor

Grabbing the microphone, Rocky Romero admitted his butt-hurt-ness about Beretta announcing they had a mystery partner without his knowledge. Well, Beretta did have their partner lined up to give way to the ROH debut of Chuck Taylor. Dey was a clubberin’ early with Taylor clearing the ring before showing off his diving skills to wipe out everyone. With Page being pitched into the ring,, Beretta & Taylor unleashed the devastating face wash-slow senton splash double team that led to a big hug by the “Best Friends” of Taylor & Beretta. Needing the spotlight, Rocky went clothesline crazy as Beretta tried to tell Romero he wasn’t legal. Rocky’s partners literally had to maneuver him in the path of their opponents because he was ready to clothesline everyone. The moment of celebration didn’t last long for the apparent Super Best Friends as The Bucks reentered the ring and started unleashing double teams that ended with Beretta taking a Swanton bomb while being held across the apron by Page before the commercial break.

Taylor was ready to tag in after preventing Rocky from doing the same, dropkicking Page once he became the legal man. The overhead belly-to-belly suplex allowed Taylor to toss Nick into his brother before “The Kentucky Gentleman” sent Matt into a TKO from Beretta. Things were breaking down from The Bullet Club as Rocky caused Nick to moonsault Page, Beretta hitting a German superplex on Matt, and Beretta executing the cradle piledriver on Matt Jackson … to gain a near fall!

The fans were split between The Bucks and Best Friends as Page stopped the Strong Zero by Vice. Taylor took Rocky’s spot in performing the maneuver, only for the sure pin to be broken up by Nick’s Swanton. Nick was inviting all of his opponents to the #SuperKickParty! The action was hot & heavy, culminating in a sequence of maneuvers that allowed for More Bang For Your Buck on Taylor … that gave Matt a near fall thanks to Rocky’s interference!

Taylor was alone, feeling the #SuperKickParty when Beretta came in to save his friend. Unfortunately for The Bucks, they accidentally hit Page when aiming for Beretta before the former “Trent” felt a pair as well. Rocky, too, took a super kick when trying to save Taylor. The Young Bucks wanted a Meltzer Driver when Beretta yanked Nick off the apron. Taylor countered his position in Matt’s clutches to pull off the Awful Waffle to pin Matt Jackson!

The Kingdom was worked up about fighting The Boys again. They blamed The Boys for TK O’Ryan for breaking his leg and hoped to give them a little big of karma next week.

The Rebellion (Rhett Titus & Shane Taylor) w/ Caprice Coleman vs. Search & Destroy (Jay White & Jonathan Gresham)

And they weren’t waiting as The Rebellion met them in he aisle. White was actually doing well against Taylor before Gresham could recover and dive on Titus. The fans were behind S & D as the brawl continued on the floor. White actually tossed his own partner into both opponents as the referee tried to gain some semblance order. With everything going on, the ref never saw Gresham be illegally dropkicked by Coleman. The action finally made it inside where Taylor big splashed Gresham. But the big man wasn’t done, working over “The Octopus” in the corner. Titus showed his splashing skills as well, ensuring Gresham couldn’t tag out as the show entered a commercial break.

The show returned as Titus stopped Gresham’s comeback with a dropkick. Gresham held on, preventing a double team that allowed The Rebellion to hit one another before “The Octopus” tagged out to a fired up Jay White. Getting a little help from Gresham, White was able to almost pin Titus off the assisted flatliner. Showing incredible strength was White by slamming Taylor! Coleman jumped onto the apron just as White climbed the ropes to trip him. Gresham was alone to fight everyone when Kenny King ran out to execute a spine buster on him! The referee had lost control as the Motor City Machine Guns ran in to make the save. White took things one-step further, somersaulting off the top rope to wipe out The Rebellion on the floor!

The referee called for the bell and Shelley called for the microphone. Alex had an offer: The Rebellion vs. Search & Destroy in an eight-man tag where the losing faction must disband. Though The Rebellion didn’t give a definitive answer, it seems everything is set for “Best in the World”.

Frankie Kazarian spoke on Hangman Page and Page going whooping crazy lately courtesy of straps. Kazarian expressed his excitement of whooping Page with a strap in the very near future.

Last week, The Boys saved Dalton Castle from behind blinded by the dreaded green mist at the expense of Jay Briscoe and a big win. Jay Briscoe couldn’t get over the fact The Boys were responsible for him getting pinned. Briscoe promised to get his revenge against a pair of Boys he had a lot of expletives for that caused a heavily censored promo.

ROH World Television Championship: Marty Scurll (c) vs. Kushida

No Code of Honor to start off this championship contest before the two grapplers exchanged wristlocks and head scissors. The pace quickened and Scurll decided to have a little fun until Kushida got a hold of his head and did a little dancing of his own when he embarrassed the champ on the canvas. Kushida was starting to work over the arm of Scurll as the show entered a commercial break.

The show returned with Kushida kicking Scurll in position for a tomahawk chop topped by the cross arm bar for a submission attempt stopped by the champ turning it into a pinning combination. “The Villain” took a DDT topped by the capo kick that sent him to the floor. Scurll needed some aid from the ringside crew as Kushida scaled the ropes. Putting the crew in the path of destruction, Scurll caused the challenger to hit everyone but him. Though this seemed like a perfect plan, it didn’t stop Kushida’s momentum as he dropkicked Scurll when the action returned inside. Moonsault attempt by Kushida saw him take a pair of knees to the ribs. Scurll was looking for the rebound lariat, but took a Pele kick instead. It was time for the handspring back elbow from Kushida when he flew into the Chicken Wing! Kushida countered, cinching in the Hoverboard Lock. Like his challenger, Scurll was able to counter the patented submission by grabbing a hold of his opponent’s fingers to dislocate them before almost taking Kushida’s head off with the lariat. Hyped for the Chicken Wing, Scurll was spending too much time setting up the maneuver when the lights when out. When they came back on, someone stood on the apron wearing Scurll’s entrance attire. Unveiling himself as Adam Cole, the former World champ’s distraction worked as Kushida caught Scurll turning around with Back to the Future/God’s Last Gift … to pick up the three count! New champion!

Overall: This “War of the Worlds” TV taping has been nothing short fun thus far with this one, arguably, being the best episode. Opening the show was a fantastic six-man tag bout that saw Chuck Taylor make a fantastic first impression. Hopefully this won’t be the last time Taylor appears in ROH. The other tag team bout was also very good with a story purpose being the basis of everything that occurred while setting the stage for another “Best in the World” match. Then there was the main event. Though it didn’t get much build, the fans were hot for it from bell to bell thanks to the participants involved. While the ending left a little to be desired, it at least made sense in the overall narrative between Cole & The Bullet Club. Add that to the fact Kushida has made it known he wants to be a ROH champion; meaning the title change actually has some meaning to the person who won it than just some random occurrence. Between it all were promos including a great Jay Briscoe one and a different style of interview from Jay White that was posted on ROH’s Youtube a week prior that I really hoped ROH would utilize on TV and more like it more often. This is a must-see episode for sure and you shouldn’t miss it if you have the opportunity to watch.