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hazyheel · 5 years

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ROH Death Before Dishonor 2019 Review

This was quite the night of ups and downs. We had several good to great matches, but we also had a fair share of stinkers in there too. Ring of Honor managed to put on a really good show in the midst of all the AEW hype, and I commend them for it. There were quite a few shocking and big moments here, so I’ll just hop right into it. This is my Death before dishonor review.

Brody King vs. Jeff Cobb: We started things out with the pre-show, which for some reason was this match instead of the barroom brawl. The two started out with a lock up, where neither man could really overpower the other. The two thad a bit of a contest of strength, and they traded northern lights suplexes a bit before going for shoulder tackles. Neither guy would go down, even when Cobb hit a dropkick. King immediately countered with a big boot, and gave Cobb several lariats in the corner. He gave Cobb one too many though, as he got caught and ate a belly to belly suplex. They started to trade strikes in the corner a bit, nailing chops intermediately as well. Cobb beat King down into the corner, and Irishi whipped him into another, but King scaled the ropes and gave Cobb a splash off the top. King beat down Cobb a bit, but Cobb fought back until they put each other down with stereo lariats. They yelled at each other as they kneeled in the middle of the ring, and began exchanging forearms back and forth. They slowly rose to their feet, and absolutely hammered each other with strikes and chops. As they both tried to run the ropes, they followed each other in for a strike. So Cobb faked King out with a superkick, only for King to nail a straight right back, before catching Cobb with a sidewalk slam for a near fall. The two then jockeyed for position until Cobb pushed King into the corner and nailed a European Uppercut. Cobb then put King on the top rope, and gave him a huge superplex, but King still kicked out at one. Cobb then hit a standing moonsault, this time for two. The two brawled until Cobb was hit to the outside, where King nailed a tope suicida. King followed that up with a piledriver, but Cobb kicked out right at the last second. King tried for the Gonzo bomb, but Cobb countered with a German, only for King to get right back up and hit one of his own, but Cobb too got back up, and he hit another german. He then caught King coming off the ropes and hit Tour of the Islands for the win.

Grade: B+. Really good match here. It was hard hitting, with a lot of awesome power spots and agility mixed in. These guys are actually awesome, and unless King is looking at AEW, he is the future. This was his first one on one match, and he did a great job. Cobb looked awesome as usual, and these guys really should’ve been put on the main card.

Colt Cabana vs. Marty Scurll in the quarterfinals of the ROH World Championship #1 contenders tournament: Cabana tried to start things off with the handshake, but before Scurll could decide whether or not to take it, Cabana just grabbed his hand and forced him to shake it. They started out with a bit of grappling, and Cabana made fun of Scurrll for still being a junior heavyweight. Cabana actually frustrated Scurll a lot in the early portion of this match, mimicking his taunts and using the “just kidding,” catch phrase. At one point, Scurll was looking for the superkick on the apron, but Cabana actually hopped up on the apron and chased Scurll to the top rope. They dueled a bit, with Scurll nailing an ensiguri and then a superplex for a near fall. Scurll then took control, and started to rake the back of Cabana as much as he could. Scurll then started to talk trash as well, and worked over just about any limb that he could get ahold of. Cabana then fired up as the crowd turned to his side, but Scurll still refused to stay down. At one point, Scurll hit his “eat shit” superkick, and then taunted Cabana a bit, only for Cabana to nailed a spinebuster off the apron, followed by a superman splash in the middle of the ring. The two then traded forearms back and forth, with Scurll nailing a discus forearm, a half and half suplex, a low ensiguri and then a powerbomb for a near fall. Scurll then tried to break the fingers, but Cabana countered with some jabs. He went for the Bullseye, but Scurll grabbed his hand and snapped the fingers, only for Cabana to catch him with the bullseye as he ran the ropes. They traded forearms once again, until Cabana went for a springboard moonsault, but Scurll caught him with a superkick, and then hit a piledriver for a near fall. Scurll then signaled for the Chicken Wing, but Cabana slapped him as he hit the pose. He then traded for a pinning combination, but Scurll countered into a chicken wing. Cabana then rolled him into a pin for a quick near fall, before nailing an elbow to the head, and then a moonsault for another near fall. Cabana then locked in a reverse boston crab for a tense submission sequence, but Scurll made it to the ropes. Cabana followed that up by going to the top rope, and nailed a Chicago Skyline, followed by the superman pin, but Scurll kicked out. Scurll then dodged a a flying elbow, and caught Cabana with an eye rake, followed by the Black Plague for the win.

Grade: B-. This was a match that had some trouble with pacing at first, but it picked up quite a bit as it went on. At times it really felt like Cabana was going to win, possibly starting a very feel good story for a journey to the title, but Scurll was able to catch him slipping and got the win. That was the right choice too. Scurll is my pick to win, if he stays around that long.

PCO vs. Kenny King in a no disqualification match in the first round of the ROH World Championship #1 contenders tournament: This match was made No DQ at the last minute, and King brought out a whole entourage with him, and a huge amount of weapons, alongside Amy Rose. PCO came out to a new theme song by Jim Johnston, and I’m glad that Jim still has a job. He is a talented guy. King started with a quick jab, but he rolled right back out. King did this a couple times, just nailing a quick kick or punch here and there before running out of the ring. PCO was totally no selling most of the hits. The second that King started to really get moving and stayed in the ring, PCO caught him coming off the top and nailed a pop up powerbomb. PCO then brought the action to the outside, and threw King into various objects around the ring. He even gave King a suplex onto the ramp, followed by a senton. He brought King back into the ring, and hit a rolling senton off the top for a near fall. He then set King up on the apron, and gave him a top rope senton on the apron, and nearly took out a table while he was doing it. He then set King up on some chairs on the outside, but when he went to do the dive, the electrical currents malfunctioned, and he dove in the ring direction, and totally face planted on the other side of the ring. They really played it up, and started to take PCO out of the ring, but King just ran up to him for a big boot. He nailed a vertical suplex on the outside, and started to hit him with a ladder. He then grabbed another ladder, and stacked the two up, before scoop slamming PCO on top of them. He then hopped in the ring and gave a twisting tope con hilo to PCO on the ladder, but PCO kicked out. King got quite frustrated from there, and ripped up some of the padding on the outside, only for PCO to catch him with a couple strikes. He tried to powerbomb King onto the exposed floor, but Rose slapped him, which caused PCO to get distracted. PCO then went to get in the ring, but King swept his legs, and kinda botched a sunset flip powerbomb on the outside, so the they both just tumbled into the outside. They got back in the ring, where King poured water all over PCO, and Rose actually shocked him with a cattle prod. However, that corrected the electrical current problems that PCO had been having, so he gave King a chokeslam and got the win.

Grade: C. This was kinda boring, and some of the spots in it were a little bit too dangerous, with not enough of a reward to be worth it. PCO makes sense to move on, he is super over right now, and he definitely deserved the pay per view win. King is a good heel, and it was fun to see him get his comeuppance here, but it was just a kinda boring match. Not a lot of urgency here, and it was hard to care.

Angelina Love vs. Kelly Klein for the Women of Honor Championship: Mandy Leon came out to corner Love. The two started by locking up and showing their grappling, and Klein quickly established that she had the strength advantage. Love quickly retreated to the outside, where Klein wiped out both Love and Leon with a splash off the apron. However, on the outside, Love took advantage by throwing Klein into the barricade, and even nailed vertical suplex. However, as they continued to fight, Klein whipped Love into the barricade as hard as she could. Back in the ring, the two started to duel with strikes, and Love nailed a flatliner, followed by the Koji Clutch, although Klein got to the ropes. Love then went to the top rope, but Klein met her up there and hit a fallaway slam for a near fall. Klein then went to the top, but Love was the one who caught her opponent this time, and hit a cutter out of the corner for a near fall. Klein almost hit the firewoman’s carry, but Leon distracted the ref, and Klein dropped it. Love then went to the corner and sprayed Klein in the eyes with harispray, and followed it up wit hteh botox injection, but Klein kicked out! Love then tried to hold Klein in the ropes so Leon could spray more in Klein’s eyes, but Klein avoided it and Love was hit. Klein followed that up with a rollup, but Love kicked out and retreated to the corner, Leon then ran in, only for Klein to nail a spear and lay into her with strikes. She then went for Love again, but Love hit a second Botox injection for the win. We have a new champion.

After the match, Love was going to paint on Klein’s face, but the lights went out. When they came back on, Maria Manic was in the ring, and she locked love in a torture rack. Some security ran out to run interference, but she annihilated all of them.

Grade: C. This match wasn’t all that good. There were some good spots here and there, but there was no urgency again, and the crowd was dead. I thought it was alright at times, and in my limited knowledge of what’s been going on week to week, it’s probably best that the Allure is holding the Women of Honor championship. I’ve never seen Maria Manic before, but she looks pretty exciting. ROH is shit on a lot for their women’s division, and I can kinda get it after this match. It was third from the bottom of the card. Show your belts some respect ROH.

Jay Lethal vs. Jonathan Gresham: Gresham immediately refused the handshake before the match, and started to talk trash as he did. As the bell rang, Gresham started to look for submissions right away, but Lethal could go hold for hold with the technical wizard. They locked up a few times, but they kept ending in a stalemate. However, the more that they went to that stalemate, the quicker that the escapes and counters came. Finally, Lethal was able to throw Gresham out of the ring, where the two scuffled a bit, before Lethal went for a suicide dive. Gresham then snuck into the ring around him, but Lethal put him back on the outside with a dropkick, and he nailed a tope suicida, and seemed to hurt his wrist in the process. The two then transitioned into some strikes and kicks, with Lethal looking to assualt Gresham’s knee. Gresham then caught onto the wrist injury, and after hitting a springboard moonsault, he delivered a PK to the arm. Gresham as then actually able to lock in some submissions, getting a really nice ankle lock before transitioning it into a pinning combination for a near fall. From there, Gresham started to pick the arm whenever he could, and kept working the arm. At one point, Lethal couldn’t hit an Irish whip because of the injury, so instead he hit some chops and locked in a figure four. They then rolled to the outside, still in the figure four, and nearly got counted out, but Gresham broke the count. They started to fight on the outside, and Lethal tried to give Gresham a drop toe hold into a chair at ringside, and Gresham blocked it, only for him to then go to hit Lethal with it, but the ref grabbed the chair before it connected. They then argued on the outside a bit, with Lethal asking if the chair was the only way that Gresham could beat him, and Gresham saying that Lethal thinks that he is the better man between the two. They then blamed each other for their tag team losing streak, and started to exchange strikes once again. They brawled all around the ring, and eventually back into the ring. At one point, Lethal put Gresham down, only for him to pop right back up into a superkick. Lethal then went for Lethal Injection, but Gresham kicked his arm out. Gresham then took Lethal down with a headscissors, but Lethal was able to fight out and into a cutter. Lethal went for the pin, and then reversed the kickout into another Figure Four, only for Gresham to get to the ropes. After they broke, Lethal still kept trying to attack the legs, and then went for the Lethal Injection again, but Gresham reversed into a backslide. Lethal kicked out, and then hit the Lethal Combination. He followed up with a superkick, but couldn’t hit the Lethal Injection because of the wrist. He fell to the mat, and then Gresham tried for a cradle, but Lethal kicked out. Lethal then hit a pump kick, but missed the spinning kick. Gresham then hit a PK to the arm, a slam on the arm, another PK, a series of slaps to Lethal, before locking in the Iron Octopus. Gresham forced Lethal to the mat, and got the win by submission.

After the match, the two then argued a bit about how they both went for the other’s weak points, but the two eventually shook hands and made up.

Grade: A-. Really good stuff here. They showed a lot of technical ability, and told a really good story. Gresham won the match without cheating, and proved that he could beat his old mentor. They were a bit heavy handed with the shouting match on the outside, but I didn’t mind it. The submission was a great way to finish this, and this kinda made Gresham as a competitor. He doesn’t need to be confined to the tag division, but I’m glad that this tag team is back together. Great match, just as expected.

The Bouncers vs. Vinny Marseglia & Silas Young in a barroom brawl: As Marseglia went to the ring, the Beer City Bruiser attacked him from behind, and the match was underway. Brian Miloni ran in from the crowd, and started to fight with Young in the ring. As the Bouncers took control, Marseglia got smashed in the head with a beer bottle. The Bouncers were beating on their opponents, suplexing them all around ringside. At one point, Bruiser grabbed a pool cue, but Marseglia dodged it and let it break on the ringpost, before pushing the bruiser into that ringpost. Young and Marseglia then beat on Miloni in the ring, and even zip tied in into the corner. They then started to take down Bruiser, with Marseglia even hitting a cutter. At one point, Young nailed Bruiser with a lungblower, followed by a side effect from Marseglia right onto the broken glass. They then grabbed a table and set it up on the outside, and entered the ring to find that Milonis had broken out of the zip ties. Milonis took his much smaller opponents down, and the Bouncers started to beat on Marseglia. As they did, Bruiser grabbed a pair of pliers, and tried to take one of his teeth out in revenge, but Marseglia avoided it, and started to use the broken pool cue as a weapon. The Bruiser looked to be setting up for a Vader Bomb of some sort, but Young crotched him on the middle rope, and then held him in place while Marseglia threw darts at his back. They then put him down on the mat, and Young hit an Arabian moonsault for a near fall. Milonis then ran in and took them down, even catch Marseglia out of a splash for a Brawler slam for a near fall. He then looked to put Marseglia through a table on the outside, but Young intercepted him with a chair shot to the back and then throwing it at his face. Marseglia then took it to the outside, where he gave Bruiser an ensiguri on the apron, before giving Milonis a Red Rum through the table. That took them both out, as Bruiser hit Young with. a death valley driver on the apron. Josh woods then ran off on commentary to save his mentor, living Marseglia alone. Bruiser then gave Marseglia a superplex through a series of chairs, but somehow Marseglia still kicked out. Marseglia still tried to talk trash but Bruiser called him a bitch, and gave him the Beer City DDT on a chair for the win.

Grade: D+. I didn’t like this at all. I am not a fan of Milonis or Bruiser, and especially with this match being heel vs. heel, I didn’t care who won. I liked the darts spot, but other than that I really didn’t care. I’m sure Josh Woods will get in a bunch of trouble for dragging Young out of the match though. So I guess that may be entertaining.

Shane Taylor vs. Tracy Williams vs. Flip Gordon for the ROH World Television Championship: PJ Black was on commentary for this match. it’d been a while since I’d seen Taylor, but he looked like he cut quite a bit of weight. It was impressive. However, as they were about to start, a fourth man was added to the match: Dragon Lee!

Shane Taylor vs. Tracy Williams vs. Flip Gordon vs. Dragon Lee for the ROH World Television Championship: Right at the bell, Gordan and Williams game right at each other and started to brawl on the outside. In the ring, Lee tried to take down the much bigger Taylor, but his strikes weren’t doing it. He was able to take the big man down with a rana, before also disposing of Gordon and Williams. He then faked a dive and hit the Los Ingobernables pose, which is interesting. Gordon put him on the outside, while Williams ran in and tied Gordon up in a dragon sleeper. Taylor broke it up, and the two exchanged strikes, with Williams going down after only a few shots, but he still fought back. Lee and Williams then showed off their very quick offense by trading agile strikes. They fought to a stalemate, and Gordon pulled Williams out of the ring, only for Lee to take them down with a tope suicida. Taylor then gave them all a somersault senton off the apron, and threw Gordon back in the ring. Gordon hit a slingshot tornado DDT on Taylor, and Williams ran right back in to challenge his rival. Williams gave Gordon a facebuster on the top turnbuckle, and then a discus lariat, but Lee broke up the pin by asking the ref to stop. Lee and Williams went fast and furious, where Williams ate a snap german and brainbuster for a near fall. Taylor then ran in, and Lee quickly hit a pump knee, only to eat a knee right back from Taylor. Gordon then started to duel with Taylor, who gave him a superkick, before trying to introduce a chair. Williams removed the chair from his hand and gave it to the ref, only to eat a forearm for it. Gordon then turned around into Greetings from 216 from Taylor for the win.

After the match, Dragon Lee got up in Taylor’s face, which is a match I’d love to see.

Grade: B+. Fun match, not a lot of time where every guy was involved. But the action was fast and those mini singles matches were quite entertaining. Lee and Williams really impressed me here, and their chemistry was awesome. I think that Taylor looked good here too, while Gordon didn’t really seem to do much other than brawl and eat the pin. Still, I thought he was fine in it, he just looked kinda weak. Good match, but I think this just made it into B+ territory.

Lifeblood vs. The Briscoes for the ROH World Tag Team Championships: Bandido and Mark Haskins were representing Lifeblood here. Mark and Haskins started things out (won’t that be annoying?) and Haskins quickly picked the arm, and the two grappled around a bit before breaking out of the corner. The two then traded blows in the middle of the ring, even exchanging pump kicks and then squaring off a bit. Mark then tagged in Jay, and Hawkins quickly tagged out to Bandido. The two then each went for quick pins, until Bandido hit a dropkick, and Jay tagged back out to Mark. Haskins then tagged back in as well, and the two chopped the hell out of each other’s chest, and Haskins picked up the pace with a flying forearm and a low dropkick. Jay ran in for a cheapshot on Haskins, but Mark couldn’t capitalize because Haskins kicked the leg and tagged in Bandido. The Briscoes then hit Bandido with some tandem offense, until Haskins ran in to defend his teammate. Jay then pulled Haskins out of the ring, and held him for a wreckingball dropkick. But Haskins dodged it, and Mark hit Jay. Mark and Haskins brawled again on the outside but Bandido took out Mark with a tope con hilo, and Haskins took out Jay with a PK on the apron. Lifeblood was feeling themselves, as they gave the Briscoes pump kicks into the barricades on the outside, but were met with drop kicks from their opponents when they tried again. Mark then brought a normal chair in the ring, and used it to give Lifeblood a tope con hilo to take them both out. The Briscoes then started to throw chairs into the ring, and set up a table on the outside. They fought so much on the outside that the ref didn’t even bother counting. They set Bandido up on the table, but he got up and met Mark at the top rope, only for Mark to suplex him back in the ring. The Briscoes then started to beat down Bandido in the ring. They beat him down for a bit, but Haskins quickly got the hot tag, and hit some awesome strikes, ending things with a DDT and Flatliner combo to the brothers. He then delivered a couple kicks to the chest, before Mark countered into a rollup, only for Haskins to counter that into a crossface for a quick submission sequence. LIfeblood then started to beat down Mark, hitting an awesome Falcon’s Arrow from Haskins into a frog splash from Bandido for a near fall. They kept up the offense with a reverse vertical suplex with a superkick from Haskins, and Haskins then gave Jay a tope suicida, but still only a near fall. Jay then took out Haskins on the outside, and once again beat down Bandido some nice offense. Bandido fought back with a twisting top rope splash to Jay and gave Mark a pop up cutter. Jay got back up to give him a discus forearm, and then Jay and Haskins took each other out with single leg dropkicks. They all kipped up at the same time, and started to brawl in the middle. Everyone traded huge kicks and knees, ending with a Brainbuster from Mark to Bandido. Jay tried for the Jay Driller, but Bandido countered into a backslide, and Haskins transitioned right into a sharpshooter. He held Jay in the sharpshooter as Bandido hit the 21plex on Mark, but Jay still was able to break it up from the submission. Bandido then gave Mark a superplex, followed by a double footstomp from Haskins. They tried to beat down Jay together, but he nailed Bandido with a snap dragon, and then nailed Haskins with a flying forearm. He tried the Jay driller, but when Haskins countered, he nailed a huge lariat instead for a near fall. They picked him right back up and into another Jay Driller, which hit, but Haskins still kicked out! They then powered Haskins up for a doomsday device, but Bandido nailed Mark with an ensiguri. They caught Bandido as he ran the ropes with a death valley driver, followed by an elbow drop from Mark. With than, Jay gave Haskins a Jay Driller for the win.

After the match, Bully Ray ran down and beat up Bandido and Haskins. Vikki Haskins was going crazy in the crowd as he gave them both powerbombs and whipped them with his chain. Tracy Williams ran down for the save, and grabbed the chain. He was going to beat down Bully with it, but Flip Gordon ran down and whacked Williams with a kendo stick. He gave Bully the evil eye, but left without beating Bully up at all. Bully then threw them around ringside a bit, and talked crap to Vikki over the barricade. She slapped him, so he powerbombed Mark Haskins through a table.

Grade: A. This was a great tag match. It was fast, there was a lot of intense teamwork, and all the moves were actually huge. I could’ve done without all the hardcore stuff, because that was more disbelief than I was really willing to suspend. But I thought the commentators did well to sell the reason for the ref not doing something about it, saying that he was young and inexperienced, and never had to deal with something like this. But I thought Lifeblood looked absolutely great here, and they would make awesome tag team champions some day. Match of the night.

Matt Taven vs. Rush for the ROH World Championship: right at the bell, the two beat the living crap out of each other. Rush quickly hit a pump knee, and Taven responded with two superkicks. Rush then gave him an exploder suplex into the corner, but he missed the Bull’s horns, and Taven started to throw Rush around ringside. When he threw him into the barricade near his family, Taven talked trash to Rush’s dad and Dragon Lee. Taven tried to give Rush a powerbomb on the ramp, but Rush countered into a back body drop instead,, and then threw Taven into the barricade around ringside in the same way that Taven did to him. He started to blister Taven’s chest with chops, but when he brought things back into the ring, Taven gave scooped him out of the ring and dropped him on the floor in a rough looking bump. Taven followed up with a wrecking ball dropkick, a tope suicida, and a tope con hilo. He pulled Rush back in, nailed a frog splash, but only got two. Rush kept trying to get things going, but Taven would catch him with some clever strikes and power moves. He started to work over Rush’s back a bit, and slowed the match down a lot to do so. Rush then dodged some of Taven’s offense, nailed a snap german and then a psycho knee to put Taven on the outside. He then pulled the barricade apart, giving Taven a suplex into one of them, and chucking a full section of the barricade into his face, which wasn’t a disqualification for some reason. Rush then dragged Taven towards the announce table, and gave Taven a suplex onto a table, but it didn’t break. The two fought back into the ring, and started to exchange huge chops back and forth, with Rush coming out on top. Rush then faked the Bull’s Horns. , stopping to just kick Taven in the face, and hitting the Ingobernables pose. He then continued to beat down Taven with a missile dropkick. He went for a tope suicida, but Taven moved, so he gave Taven another missile dropkick off the apron. He rolled Taven back in, but missed the diving senton. Taven couldn’t take advantage, as Rush nailed a hard knee, and a Jay driller, but Taven got right back up and hit a PK, followed by the climax, but Rush still kicked out. They both stood up, and started to slap each other, with Rush hitting incredibly hard, while Taven hit quick and tactical slaps, only for Rush to still take control with a half and half suplex into the corner. He then went for the Bulls Horns, but Taven speared him out of it. Taven then hit two just the tip’s, only for Rush to spit in his face. Taven hit a third, but Rush countered Climax. He went to the top rope, but Rush gave him a double chop and sent his his chest into the post. Rush then hung him in the tree of woe and nailed Bull’s Horns. Taven fell down, and Rush hit the finisher again to win the ROH World Championship.

After the match, Rush celebrated with his family, and his son even hit the Los Ingobernables pose. As he was celebrating, Taven came back in to shake his hand.

Grade: A-. Honestly, I don’t think that this would have been as good of a match if Taven retained. But Rush was the right choice here. He is a star right now, and he deserved that title more than anyone else in the company. The match was really fun, with lots of high impact offense and some moments when I really thought Rush may lose. But he didn’t, and that finish was both awesome and brutal. Really good main event, they killed it.

Overall Grade: B

Pros: cobb vs. brody king; gresham vs. lethal; tv title match; tag title match; main event

Cons: PCO vs. kenny king; woh title match; barroom brawl

#hazyheel #roh #ring of honor #roh death before dishonor #death before dishonor #ring of honor death before dishonor #wrestling pay per view #pay per view review #ring of honor pay per view #ring of honor pay per view review #bandido #lifeblood #mark haskins #the briscoes #jay briscoe #mark briscoe #matt taven #rush

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