ROH TV Episode 132

Apologies for the delay, but a hectic schedule sometimes will do that. No worries, ROH TV Episode 132 is still up for another couple of days. Catch it while you can. Or read this and get the gist of it. Either way, let's get to the show.

Brutal Burgers (Cheeseburger and "Brutal" Bob Evans) vs. reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly)
reDRagon have been picking on Cheeseburger recently, trying to humiliate him in arm wrestling and in the debut episode of The Fish Tank. He gets a chance at revenge here. Not at the ROH Tag Titles though, which reDRagon come to the ring with.

O'Reilly starts with Cheeseburger. O'Reilly can throw the little guy around, no problem. Cheeseburger tries a German suplex on O'Reilly but isn't strong enough to pull that off. O'Reilly keeps toying with him, slapping Cheeseburger in the face, until Cheeseburger gets some comeuppance and returns the favor. O'Reilly lunges at Cheeseburger. Cheeseburger slips past him and gets a tag to Evans.

I never noticed how big Bob Evans is. He dwarfs Bobby Fish, who tags in for O'Reilly. That size doesn't prevent Fish from wrestling him down to the mat. The two trade armlocks. Evans outwrestles Fish, showing his experience, and Fish resorts to strikes to get his momentum going.

Cheeseburger tags back in and tries his luck at a vertical suplex. He's a bit small for that too, but Evans igives him a boost. Fish and O'Reilly both try to come at Cheeseburger, who rolls away once again to tag Evans back in.

Fish gets the better of Evans until a hard lariat. Evans falls back and tags Cheeseburger in. The underdog tries to stand up to Fish and O'Reilly, but they double team him. reDRagon catch Cheeseburger on a crossbody attempt until Evans charges in and shoulders the lot of them down. Cheeseburger lands a stunner on Kyle O'Reilly. That gets him a two count. Evans and Cheeseburger take O'Reilly up for a chokeslam, getting a second two count. reDRagon dump Evans outside and go back to doubling up on Cheeseburger. Evans has to make a save before they can get a three.

reDRagon pick apart Evans and dump him outside yet again. O'Reilly lifts Cheeseburger up and the tag champs finish him off with by chasing the dragon.

Match review: ** Really enjoyable match to start. reDRagon get to play prick heels who beat up on Cheeseburger. Cheeseburger, the undersized hero, tries to stand up to them but that's just not going to work. Evans is trying to help him out. Individually, Evans might have been able to handle one of reDRagon. As a team, him and Cheeseburger fall short.


"Unbreakable" Michael Elgin vs. AJ Styles
ROH World Heavyweight Champion Adam Cole joins Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino in the commentary booth. The tale of the tape hilariously lists Elgin as an inch taller than Styles, who is at least an inch taller than him when they face off. Both men adhere to the code of honor and we are off.

Elgin drives Styles back into the corner twice. Maybe locking up isn't the way to go. Styles has to use speed instead, which he does when he gets around Elgin, grabs a waistlock, and then transitions into a headlock. Elgin uses his strength advantage to keep ahead of Styles. Styles smartly refuses a test of strength and instead takes it back to the mat. Down there he gets the best of Elgin.

Styles and Elgin trade forearms. That's in Elgin's wheelhouse too, so Styles takes Elgin to the mat again. Styles works over Elgin's back. The announcing team talks up how strong Elgin is, saying he's physically ROH's strongest competitor ever. Styles works over Elgin, cutting him off with a dropkick after Elgin tried an Irish whip.

Elgin gets his delayed vertical suplex in. Styles pops a shoulder up at one. Elgin hurls Styles into the corner with a hard Irish whip, leading us to a commercial break. Don't fret! The ROH action continues even in the break. J.G. Wentworth must be a new corporate sponsor, because Jay Lethal is here to tell us about their wonderful business.

Elgin has Styles sitting in the corner by the barricades outside when the wrestling resumes. He plants a big boot square in Styles' jaw. A shoulder off the top levels Styles. Styles ducks under a discus forearm. He Pele kicks Elgin, though it didn't land too hard. Elgin cuts Styles off before Styles can get on a roll. Styles moonsaults onto Elgin, who's outside, and drops him with an inverted DDT. It wasn't one smooth motion, but an impressive sight nonetheless.

It takes until the count of seventeen before Elgin can drag himself in. Styles is full of fire. He drops the big guy with a springboard forearm. Elgin has to drive Styles back into the corner to kill this run. Styles catches Elgin facing away on the turnbuckle. He throws on a torture rack submission, though he can only hold it for a few seconds before he drops Elgin. Styles knees Elgin in the face twice when Elgin goes for another delayed vertical suplex. Styles bounces off the corner, trying another moonsault into an inverted DDT. Elgin catches Styles on his shoulder this time then spikes Styles with a tombstone piledriver! Two count and the match goes on.

The commentary puts over how Elgin landed weirdly on his knee there. Styles goes after it. He rolls Elgin onto the mat to cinch in a knee hold. Elgin grabs Styles by the hair and slams his head down repeatedly until Styles has to let go. Elgin finds himself up in the corner again. Styles tries a hurricanrana. Elgin stops him. He lifts Styles up for a superbomb. Now Styles counters, tossing Elgin with a hurricanrana. Elgin is down. Styles goes out to the apron. He launches himself back into the ring, springing off the ropes, hitting Elgin with a frontflip leg drop. Styles goes for a pin, Elgin kicks out at two. He wants to keep going but we're at 30 minutes. The time keeper rings the bell. We have a draw!

The crowd chants for five more minutes. Elgin, still on the mat, gets a mic. He says Styles couldn't beat him in 30 minutes and he can't beat him in 5 more minutes. Elgin will go all night long. Styles wants it, Elgin wants it, and the crowd wants it. Only Adam Cole wants nothing to do with this. He's a man of action too. Cole snatches the bell away from the time keeper and throws it aside. He slides into the ring with his title belt, which he uses to drop Styles and Elgin. Jay Briscoe comes running out. Cole escapes the ring before Jay can catch him. Cole tries heading up the ramp, but that's where Kevin Steen is there to stop him. Cole has to make a break for it, hurdling the barricade, escaping through the crowd.

Match Review: *** I liked this match a lot more than I like most Elgin matches, especially one going this long. Styles was great in there and he made Elgin look like a monster. Any time they went toe-to-toe, Elgin got the best of it. Elgin didn't fall into his routine spots, save for one delayed suplex that was only twenty seconds or so. Big thumbs up for ending on a draw too. Sometimes it's got to happen.


Final Thoughts
Another good hour of ROH TV. I normally prefer episodes with three matches instead of two, particularly when one of those takes the bulk of the hour, but Elgin and Styles did well. Next week's episode comes from CHICAGO, from the Raising the Bar Night 2 event. I was at that one live, so I'm looking forward to watching it again on TV. Until then watch wrestling.