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ROH Episode 89 Review: Ring of Tag Team Action
We are entering week two of Chris Jericho being our ROH World Champion and so far nothing has changed and we can not have him appear live on this episode. We had a lot more squash matches than we have usually seen over the last couple of weeks and as always we see minimal champions. Let’s review episode 89!
The Infantry (Shawn Dean and Carlie Bravo) vs Tom Mitchell and Trace Parker:
I would have loved it if the opening match of this week's episode had not been a squash match, but here we are.
Winners: The Infantry (Shawn Dean and Carlie Bravo)
Angelico and Serpentico vs Shawn Donavan and LSG:
Back-to-back squashes, this is going to be a long night.
Winners: Angelico and Serpentico
Lee Moriarty Promo:
Moriarty said that when he won the title, he wanted to make things interesting, and he is the reason why Taven is now in the Pure Division. He says that when he and Taven have their eventual match, he will show why he is the best technical wrestler in the world.
Preston Vance vs Sammy Guevara:
I am very happy that it took nearly 20 minutes to not only get our first real match on the show but also our first champions appearing live in front of the audience. Vance has been in a lot of singles matches over the last couple of weeks, so it looks like they are trying to build him up to be some sort of huge singles star in ROH for the time being. This match was fine Guevara took the action to the outside a lot which is a tad unusual for a babyface character to do. After the match was over the lights went out and you heard the snappings of The Righteous and Vincent saying “Can you hear us”, but they never came out. Looks like the mind games are continuing between these two teams.
Winner: Sammy Guevara
Lee Johnson and EJ Nduka vs Philly Collins and Marino Tenaglia:
Back at it again with the tag team squash matches.
Winners: Lee Johnson and EJ Nduka
Emergency MEM:
Last week Athena was in the main event and she was able to not only win but prove that she is still the forever ROH Champion. She says she wants to expand her horizons and take on women in all different countries to prove her dominance. Starkz interrupts and Athena walks off, Nair puts her in a minion time-out and walks away as well.
Diamante vs Rachael Ellering:
This one was quick, which is disappointing meaning that Ellering has been so start and go throughout her entire ROH run. After the match was over Diamante called out Red Velvet who jumped her from behind. The two brawled before Diamante got out of there and challenged her for another match down the line.
Winner: Diamante
Leyla Hirsch vs Tina San Antonio:
Very happy Hirsch is back, especially ahead of schedule. Unfortunately like most of the matches on tonight's card, this was also a quick one.
Winner: Leyla Hirsch
Matt Taven Promo:
Taven says that everyone will always stand in front of a camera and give their opinion, unlike him who will always say facts. He puts Moriarty over for being a great wrestler, but he is trying to solve a puzzle. The missing piece is the Pure Championship which will make Taven a Pure Champion and he will do everything he can to bring that title back to his kingdom.
Aaron Solo vs Tomohiro Ishii:
Since Ishii not only beat Solo on this episode of ROH but also pinned Jericho on last night's Dynamite episode I do wonder if they are setting him up to be the next person to challenge Jericho for the ROH Championship. I love it when Ishii appears on ROH/AEW do not get me wrong, but since he is not consecutively here due to him living in Japan it is difficult to build storylines around him.
Winner: Tomohiro Ishii
Tag Team Brawl:
Before the match started Guevara and Rhodes jumped The Righteous from behind. The two teams brawled down to the ring before security broke them up. There was supposed to be a tag team match between The Righteous and two local enhancement talents but that did not happen due to the beatdown.
Nick Wayne vs Ryan Clancy:
At this point in the show, we are an hour in and we have only seen three real matches. Does anyone see the problem yet?
Winner: Nick Wayne
The Infantry Promo:
Shane Taylor Promotions enters the locker room with a bunch of security guards The Infantry says that they do not like violence. They ask the security guards if any of them have seen Dustin Rhodes as they beat down each of the security guards. Taylor says that he does not like thieves and they are in the position of stolen property. They challenge Rhodes and Guevara for the ROH Tag Team Championships.
They showed Shane Taylor Promotions vs Mexisquad on the February 21st, 2022 episode of ROH.
Josh Woods vs AR Fox:
Before the match Mark Sterling put Woods over by talking about all of his collegiate wrestling wins and that he will use that strength to defeat Fox in his match tonight. Both of these men got the crowd into their match, as it was one of the louder reactions throughout the night. Fox always knows how to put on a good show as he was able to show that he is more than a varsity athlete and defeat Woods. After the match, Wayne attacked Fox to set up for their match tomorrow on Rampage.
Winner: AR Fox
The Butcher vs Katsuyori Shibata:
I would not have had this match main event because of how short it was and because the last match had a little bit of storytelling to it since both men are wrestling tomorrow on Rampage. There is not much to say about this one, Shibata showed why we call him “The Wrestler” and why he should be pushed more. One of the interesting things about this match is that A) It happened on the Dynamite taping compared to the rest of the matches on this episode and B) Ian Riccaboni mentioned that there are whispers about a Final Battle announcement.
Winner: Katsuyori Shibata
Overall:
I did not enjoy the fact that we saw so many tag team squash matches and it led nowhere. It seems as if they are setting up Righteous vs STP vs Rhodes and Guevara at some point, but without a pay-per-view announcement who knows when that is going to happen. The only other two champions that were relevant were the Pure Champion, since Taven is the number one contender as well as the ROH Women’s TV Champion as it seems they are running back Velvet and Diamante. Hopefully, soon we will see not only more champions on the show, but we will also get our announcement for Final Battle.
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