Post by Cauchi on Jan 22, 2020 13:25:31 GMT -5
RoH Wrestling
Friday, January 24th, 2020
Manhattan, New York
Announcers: Mauro Ranallo, Steve Corino & Tazz
Cue the music! Cue the pyro! A special episode of RoH Wrestling is live on the air broadcasting from Manhattan New York, the home of tomorrow night’s Best in the World PPV!
“Shhhhhhhhh”
The show starts with a video recap of the events that ended last week’s broadcast as well as the reveal of a third masked man who was later identified as Joey Mercury. The commentary team continues to speculate that motives of these masked men, and why they have continuously aided Seth Rollins who still maintains his innocence. Speaking of Seth Rollins, the two Semi-Final matches in the Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Championship Tournament take place tonight with the two winners battling for the RoH World Heavyweight Championship in tomorrow’s nights Best in the World Main Event!
Mike Bennett’s music hits to kick off the action for tonight’s broadcast as he makes his way to the ring with his shiny championship hung around his waist and a smile from ear to ear as the crowd showers him with boos.
Bennett grabs a microphone and begins to state how glad he is to be out in the ring right now. He corrects himself, by insulting New York and the New York crowd before beginning to elaborate on why he is in such a good mood. Bennett reminds the audience that after last week, he’s officially done with Chris Sabin. Bennett then brings up what he call “the best news yet!” which is a loophole he found while he was backstage this afternoon. Bennett explains to the crowd that after he defends his Television Championship against an actual deserving opponent, he’s getting on a flight and getting the hell out of New York, because he is not obligated to be here any longer, and he doesn’t have to defend the Television Championship tomorrow night either! Bennett “Dumbs his statement down” for the New York crowd by explaining very slowly and condescendingly that the Television Championship is only required to be defended on Television, and not on PPV. After stopping for a moment to soak in the crowd’s boos, Bennett demands we get down to the action to he can get the hell out of New York and asks his challenger to come out.
Drew Gulak’s music plays as he makes his way out to the ring, dressed to wrestle and happy to finally get his opportunity to challenge Mike Bennett for the Television Championship. Gulak stops at the top of the entrance ramp, raises the microphone up to his mouth, and begins to officially declare his intentions to challenge Mike Bennett tonight. Before he can do so though…..
The Motor City Machine Guns entrance music hits the loud speaker and out come Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin to a thunderous reaction from the crowd. Sabin snatches the microphone out of Gulak’s hand and quickly begins to calm down an irate Mike Bennett.
Sabin states that although he doesn’t necessarily agree with Mike Bennett’s actions last week, he admits he lost and can no longer challenger for the Television Championship. He then turn his attention to Drew Gulak and apologizes for cutting him off yet again, but tell him he won’t be getting his title shot tonight either. Visibly defeated, Gulak heads to the back with his head down as Sabin and Shelley slowly begin to walk down the entrance ramp. Sabin tells Bennett that he may not be able to challenge for the title any more, but he knows someone who can. Sabin then nods at Alex Shelley who begins to walk down the entrance ramp. Shelley then stops at the bottom of the ramp before getting in to the ring and begins to laugh before shaking his head. Shelley then steps aside and motions the attention of Bennett and the crowd back up to the stage.
The music of Kevin Owens blares through the arena speakers and the crowd reaction nearly blows the roof off the building as out steps Kevin Owens himself while the commentary team try to figure out just what exactly is Kevin Owens doing here in Ring of Honor. Mike Bennett is absolutely livid as Owens makes his way to the ring with a smile on his face. KO slides in to the ring ready for action as the referee rings the bell to officially start this Television Championship match.
Match #1: Singles Match – 10-Minute Time Limit
Kevin Owens vs. Mike Bennett ©
Ring of Honor Television Championship Match
As soon as the bell rings, Bennett charges at Owens, looking to smash KO over the head with the Television Championship, but Owens manages to duck under the arms of Bennett avoiding contact and catches Bennett as he turns around with the KO Stunner! Owens quickly pounces on Mike Bennett for the pin as the referee counts the 3! Just like that, we have a new Television Champion!
Winner & NEEEEEEEWWWWW RoH TELEVISION CHAMPION: Kevin Owens by pinfall @ 0:37.
Owens celebrates his RoH debut and Television Championship win with the cheering audience and Sabin and Shelley watch on from the ramp with smiles on their faces as we slowly fade out to our first commercial break of the evening.
***COMMERCIAL***
{We return from commercial break to a pre-taped interview from Austin Aries and Scarlet Bordeaux.}
Aries calls Brian Kendrick scum. He brings up the first match they had where Kendrick beat Aries, eliminating him from the RoH tournament, and seemingly eliminating him from relevancy in the company as well. Aries states that while he tried to get passed the loss, it festered in him, it affected him both in and out of the ring, the camera pans over to Scarlett who makes a sexual gesture seemingly pointing out problems in the bedroom. Aries says that this Saturday at Best in the World, he will not only get back on track, but he’s going to end the career of Brian Kendrick! Aries then turns his attention back over to his girlfriend and says “After I finish off Kendrick at Best in the World, you can finish me off in the hotel room.” Scarlett smiles and fans herself with her hand before both parties walk off screen and we fade to black.
We see Seth Rollins walking down the hallway getting ready for his match which is scheduled to take place next. Steve Corino comes running over to Rollins and asks him about the events that unfolded last week and if he’s had any contact with Joey Mercury now that we know he’s one of the masked men. Rollins tells Corino he’s got a match to wrestle as we here RVD’s entrance music begin to play over the loud speaker. Rollins then tells Corino he’s going to get some answers after his match before walking off as we head straight to the ring.
Match #2: Singles Match
Rob Van Dam vs. Seth Rollins
RoH World Heavyweight Championship Tournament: Semi-Finals
The first of two semi-final matches begin with Rollins and RVD shaking hands in the center of the ring, both honoring the original Code of Honor and trying to help Rollins looks like less of a bad guy in the eyes of a RoH crowd that has seemingly had its doubts over the past couple weeks. No interference from any of the masked men for once, as RVD puts up quite the fight, but it’s Seth Rollins who walks away victorious in this one, advancing to the finals after hitting RVD with The Stomp for the pinfall.
Winner: Seth Rollins by pinfall @ 18:35
Rollins is straight to business after the match, demanding a microphone from ringside before he begins to address the crowd who celebrate his victory with a mixed reaction. Rollins maintains his innocence regarding the masked attackers, but tell everyone it’s time to come clean on something. Rollins brings up what happened two weeks ago during the tag match between Kennedy and himself against Sanity, when Rollins left with the masked men, leaving Kennedy alone in the match. Rollins admits that he knew Joey Mercury was behind the attacks, because that’s what they told him. Rollins tell everyone that the masked men told Rollins it was Mercury who was the mastermind behind the attacks, and told him they would take him to Mercury to get his answers, but only if he left with them right away, which he did. He then tells the crowd that when he got backstage, he was escorted to a locker room, but was knocked out when he got hit from behind with a pointed object. Rollins says when he came to, he was on the locker room floor, and the masked men were gone. Rollins states that he knows Joey Mercury is in the arena tonight, and demands that he come down to this ring right now and explain himself!
Joey Mercury comes out to the ring alone, but refuses to get in to the ring with Rollins. Instead, he grabs a microphone from ringside and heads back over to the ramp where he begins to address his long time friend. Mercury tells Rollins that if he believes Mercury is the one behind all of this he is sorely mistaken. Mercury explains that he is merely a pawn in this game. Mercury states that the leader of the masked men is, and always has been Seth Rollins. Angry, Rollins denies any involvement in the attacks and claims he’s never once asked anyone for their help, which Mercury confirms. Mercury then tells Rollins that he may not have verbally given any orders for help, but the end game for the men have always been to see the prophecy fulfilled by having Seth Rollins return home to Ring of Honor and claim his rightful place at the top of the mountain as champion. Rollins tell Mercury he doesn’t need anyone’s help, but Mercury laughs telling Rollins “It’s not about what you need, it’s about what HE wants you to have!” Enraged, Rollins demands to know who “He” is, but Mercury just tells Rollins that he’s known who “He” has been all along, and he’ll come to realize it soon enough. Mercury then heads back up the ramp to the back, leaving a very confused Rollins standing in the ring.
{We head backstage to new Ring of Honor Television Champion Kevin Owens who is standing with Steve Corino.}
Corino and Owens exchange pleasantries and friendly jabs at each other as they both mention how long it’s been since they’ve seen each other. Corino tells Owens he looks like he’s lost weight, and Owen’s playfully tells Corino he looks like he found it. After a few more friendly laughs, they get down to business when Corino asks Owens about his title win tonight. Owen’s tells Corino he’s glad to be a part of Ring of Honor and it feels good to be back where it all began for him. Owens says he got the call 3 weeks ago that he was being traded to Ring of Honor, before stopping to say “Breaking News, Kevin Owens has been traded to RoH!” Back to business, Owens says he was thrilled when he was told he was coming back and he couldn’t wait to step back in to the ring. Owens promises to be the best fighting Champion he can be, and says he can’t wait to defend his title next week before hugging Corino and walking off.
Match #3: Singles Match
Elias vs. Orange Cassidy
The crowd is on their feet for Orange Cassidy in this one, but it’s certainly not the match anyone expected. Cassidy is able to start if the match with his lethal slow motion kicks which is accompanied by thunderous roars from the crowd, but Elias is quickly irritated with Cassidy’s antics and brings the pain to Freshly Squeezed, beating him down to the chorus of boo’s from the crowd before finishing him off with the Drift Away for a relatively quick victory.
Winner: Elias by pinfall @ 6:14.
Elias celebrates his victory in the ring, when suddenly a man in a hood jumps over the barricade and attacks Elias from behind! The man lands a number of lefts and right to Elias, before he is able to pull himself away from the man and rolls out of the ring. As Elias retreats up the ramp, nursing his wounds, the hooded man reveals himself to be none other than Elias’ opponent at Best in the World, Jeff Jarrett!
{We see Bobby Lashley and Kurt Angle each backstage getting ready for their match, the Main Event is coming up next!}
***COMMERCIAL***
As we return from commercial break, Steve Corino has rejoined the announce team after working most of tonight’s broadcast as both ring announcer and backstage interviewer. The commentary team inform the RoH audience that during the commercial break, Eric Bischoff announced another new edition to the Best in the World card, as Ken Kennedy will look to get retribution for last week’s assault when he gets a chance to get his hands on Joey Mercury!
Main Event: Singles Match
Kurt Angle vs. Bobby Lashley
RoH World Heavyweight Championship Tournament: Semi-Finals
The final semi-final match in the Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Championship Tournament is arguable the best possible match to have with the living legend Kurt Angle taking on the unstoppable Bobby Lashley as both men look to secure the victory, and the right to take on Seth Rollins at Best in the World. The fans are absolutely silences early in the match, as the bell rings and Angle comes to grapple with Lashley, but Lashley ducks under Angle’s arms, hits the ropes and levels Kurt Angle with the Spear!
Lashley covers Angle while the crowd sits in stunned silence, but Angle manages to get a shoulder up at 2 to reignite the crowd! Lashley continues to work over Kurt Angle for a portion of this match, using his power to pick about the Olympic Gold Metalist while the RoH crowd tries desperately to rally Angle back in to the match. Seeing an opportunity to end this, Lashley plants Angle with a hard spinebuster before heading to the corner for a second Spear. This time though, Angle is able to side step Lashley, and grabs his foot as Lashley dives, rolling him in to an Ankle Lock in the center of the ring!
Lashley tries to pull himself to the ropes as Angle wrenches the hold tighter, causing Lashley to let out a scream of pain. Always the opportunist, Lashley is able to roll Angle out of the hold just as Angle tried to grapevine the leg, sending him crashing in to the ringpost and staggering back to a belly-to-belly from Lashley! Lashley finds himself back in control of the match, but not for long as Angle’s technical wrestling proves to be too much for Lashley to handle, allowing Kurt to control some of the offense in the match as well. Angle tries for another Ankle Lock, but Lashley manages to catch Angle low with a kick to the groin, that the referee seemingly misses. Springing to his feet, Lashley grabs Angle and plants him to the ground with a Dominator!
The referee counts, but Angle again gets a shoulder up just before the 3 count! Enraged, Lashley begins to put the boots to the body of Kurt Angle, before picking him up for another Dominator, but this time, Kurt Angle manages to slip out behind Lashley and nails him with an Angle Slam for the 3 count, causing the crowd to go nuts!
Winner: Kurt Angle by pinfall @ 27:43
As Angle celebrates his victory in the middle of the ring, the music of Seth Rollins begins to play, as Angle’s PPV opponent makes his way down to the ring to get face to face with Kurt Angle. The two begin to share what looks like competitive, yet pleasant words as both men tell the other of their plans to walk out of Saturday’s PPV the first RoH World Heavyweight Champion. Just then, Joey Mercury and the two masked men enter the ring from out of nowhere, and begin to beat down Kurt Angle! Rollins steps forward to attempt to save Kurt, but the larger of the two masked men steps in from of him, blocking his path. Rollins hesitates before, backing up and leaving the ring slowly while the crowd shower him with boos, and the 3 men continue to beat down on Angle. The two masked men hold Angle still, as Joey Mercury yells to Rollins to come back and attack Angle with an unidentified spiked object that Mercury is holding in his hand. Rollins takes a step forward, teasing his willingness to attack Angle, before turning around and heading up the ramp to the back. In the ring, Mercury levels Angle with the spiked object, busting him wide open on impact. Ring of Honor Wrestling then fades to a close as Joey Mercury and the two masked men slowly leave the ring, leaving Angle a bloody mess on the mat.
***END OF THE SHOW***