ROH TV Champion Kyle Fletcher will wrestle London Lightning in a Proving Ground match as part of tonight’s ROH on HonorClub.
If Lightning can pick up the win or go to a draw, he will earn a future title bout.
Jimmy Jacobs will step into the ROH ring for the first time since last September when he battles Satnam Singh who is coming off a DQ loss to Bryan Danielson on Wednesday’s Dynamite.
ROH Tag Team Champion Mike Bennett will face Matt Menard in singles action as an anticipated future clash between their respective teams looms in the distance.
In an eight-man bout, Lee Johnson, Action Andretti & Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) will battle Cole Karter, Griff Garrison & The Premier Athletes (Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari).
Other matches will see former AEW Women’s Champion Nyla Rose, Shane Taylor & Anthony Ogogo, and Serpentico & Angelico all in action.
Matches for this week’s episode were taped in three differetn cities: Edmonton, Alberta on May 8, Vancouver on May 11, and Portland on May 16.
The lights were on, the crowd was hot and the card was ring down, to kick off ROH TV this week. The first match up was a Proving Ground match!
ROH TV Champion Kyle Fletcher defeated London Lightning in a Proving Ground Match
in this Proving Ground match, if Lightning could pick up the win or go to a 10-minute draw, he would earn a future title shot.
Lightning has been all over ROH in recent weeks and really earned the spot he’s in. Fletcher was looking to continue his dominance in the ROH TV Title scene and had Lightning on his heels off the top. Lightning fought back with a series of crossbodies and high knees off the ropes. Fletcher, looking a little tired from his heavy AEW schedule slipped to the outside. Lightning followed and Fletcher absolutely demolished him, dropping him on his head outside the ring. This led to a near-count-out for Lightning but he made it back into the ring in time.
The time was ticking away as Fletcher tried to put Lightning down, but Lighting fought back and was looking like he might eke out the victory. Nearing the 7-minute mark, Fletcher tried to put Lightning away, but he kicked out to everyone’s surprise! The crowd got behind Lightning at this point as the clock ticked down. Lightning locked in a scorpion death lock on Fletcher with about 90 seconds left. Fletcher managed to break the hold, and hit a Chris Adams superkick followed by a pile driver to get the win and dash Lightning’s hopes just before time expired.
The Workhorsemen (JD Drake and Anthony Henry) defeated Spanish Announce Project (Angelico and Serpentico)
Serpentico and Angelico took a break this week from their feud with Garrison, Karter and Maria to have a good old fashioned fight against the Workhorsemen. The faster, high-flying SAP were an interesting match against the more brawler-styled Workhorsemen.
That said, Drake was able to keep up with Angelico easily enough off the top. Angelico seemed a bit confused as to how to deal with the big man, so he tagged in Serpentico. Drake tagged in Henry and the two locked up.
Serpentico and Henry were pretty even in terms of technical ability and the match jumped up a notch in terms of speed and crispness. The two teams had a lot of respect for each other, as both men in the ring started getting the crowd going. This let Henry get a big kick in on a distracted Serpentico.
Drake had about 100lbs on Serpentico and he used it to toss the smaller man around the ring. It didn’t keep him down though as the hit a second-rope DDT on Drake. A hot tag to Angelico and he cleared the ring of Workhorsemen.
Angelico planted Henry with a flatliner and Serpentico was about to land a move from the top rope with Garrison and Karter arrived at ringside to cause a distraction. This let Henry get a pin on Serpentico and the win for the Workhorsemen.
-After the match Garrision and Karter attacked Angelico and Serpentico. They tried to bring in a chair, but the SAP were able to fight them off though and stand tall in the ring as their music played.
Nyla Rose defeated Riea Von Slasher
Rose was looking for her 5th straight win in ROH and Slasher, a 20+ year veteran was one of the few women on the roster who matched up with Rose in terms of size and strength.
No matter the size though, when Rose kicks you in the head, you fall down. This was true of Slasher who Rose had complete control of throughout the match. Rose hit massive Beast Bomb for the win, and is now back in the title conversation in the ROH Women’s Division.
Satnam Singh defeated Jimmy Jacobs
Singh was coming off a DQ loss to Bryan Danielson on Wednesday’s Dynamite, and Jacobs hadn’t been seen in ROH in quite some time. His pyro announced his arrival to the world though as it was loud and plentiful. Singh was the larger of the two men, but as Bryan Danielson proved on Dynamite, size isn’t everything.
However, in this match, size was everything and Jacobs looked like a dwarf next to Singh. Jacobs threw everything he had at Singh, kicks, punches, leaps, but nothing seemed to move him. Singh hit a cross-body on Jacobs, flattening him like a pancake. He got the standing 3-count and won the match.
Shane Taylor and Anthony Ogogo defeated Jon Cruz and Artemis Spencer
Taylor has been stepping up as of late and no jaw was safe with Ogogo, who’s knockout punch is not one to be taken lightly.
Ogogo started off against Spencer and managed to interrupt or counter just about everything Spencer could throw at him. Cruz tagged in and called out Taylor who happily tagged in to beat up the smaller Cruz. Taylor hit a Marcus Garvey Driver and that was it. I don’t think Cruz or Spencer got an offensive move in before losing.
ROH Tag Team Champion Mike Bennett (w/ Matt Taven) defeated Matt Menard
-Earlier in the show, Menard cut a promo where he told us that he didn’t know where his partner was (in reality his partner, Cool Hand Ang, was off getting married to AEW’s Ruby Riot), but tonight “Daddy Magic” would be getting the win and a shot for his team against the tag team champions!
Menard had some taped up ribs as he enjoyed a big ovation from the Canadian crowd. Bennett for his part was cool and collected, even after finding himself thrown out of the ring by Menard. Menard had the size, but Bennett had the quickness and the two ran the ropes and ended up outside. Menard used several barricades as weapons as Taven caused a distraction, allowing Bennett to regain momentum, tossing Menard into the steel ring steps.
Back in the ring, Bennett slowed things down with a sleeper hold. The crowd rallied behind Menard though and he broke the hold in time to eat a dropkick. Bennett managed to get a kimura lock in on Menard, who managed to make it to the ropes and break the hold. Bennett tried five times to get Menard up for a piledriver, but Menard kept countering.
Bennett and Taven faked leaving to draw Menard out of the ring. Bennett tried the piledriver again, but Menard countered, slamming him on the ramp. Taven put Bennett back in the ring to try and beat the countout, but Menard made it back easily. Menard locked in a Boston Crab on Bennett inthe center of the ring, but Taven drew his attention, allowing Bennett to hit a Spiccoli Driver.
Taven entered the ring and tried to throw powder in Menard’s eyes. Unfortunately, he got his partner, Bennett instead, and that allowed Menard to get the pin and take the match. Afterwards, Bennett and Taven beat up Menard with the ROH Tag Championship belts.
-Backstage an emergency meeting of the minions was called by Lexi Nair, ROH Women’s TV Champion Billie Starkz and ROH Women’s Champion Athena. Athena was still hot over an attack by Queen Amniata and Red Velvet last week. She said they would never be able to call themselves champions and left in a huff, minions in tow.
Lee Johnson, Action Andretti & Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) defeated Cole Karter, Griff Garrison & The Premier Athletes (Tony Nese & Ariya Daivari w/ Mark Sterling)
This massive main event featured some of the brightest in ROH. Diavari kicked things off with Darious of Top Flight and this match was great right away. The athleticism of each competitor was on display with all of the men involved being fast, high-fliers with a healthy dose of technicality to boot. It was like watching a vintage match in a modern setting.
It was a back-and-forth affair. Lots of hot tags between competitors, with neither team really carrying or losing control. Karter tagged in and isolated Andretti in the corner, but a stalling suplex gave Andretti a chance to tag in Johnson. Dropkicks rained down on the ring like glitching Young Bucks with feet meeting face again and again. The brawl moved outside the ring, but ref Aubrey Edwards was able to keep things in order and everyone returned to their corners.
Top Flight tried playing some mind games, stealing Karter’s “I Love Hot Moms” t-shirt to throw off his opponent. It didn’t work however, and Diavari made him pay for it with some hard stomps. Johnson tried to get a hot tag to his partners, but Nese tagged in and cut him off. Johnson reversed into a blue thunder bomb and got a big tag to Duante (now wearing the Hot Mom’s shirt). Duante used the shirt as a weapon, and sent Garrison to the outside.
The match devolved into a brawl in the ring, with bodies being tossed outside as fast as they could get back in. Who was legal was hard to tell, but it ended up being Darius and Garrison. Karter slid a chair to his partner while Sterling distracted the ref. Suddenly, Serpentico ran down and pulled the chair out of the ring, drawing Karter up the ramp. Darius then planted Garrison and got the win for his team.