Ring of Honor television taping
Baltimore, Md.
Report courtesy of PWPonderings.com.

Dark Matches

1. Ricky Reyes over Grizzly Redwood. Ricky wins a good match in five. Cameras were rolling but I think it was dark.

Veda Scott out doing crowd work asking for people who are here for their first show, shilling merch. The show started late due to audio problems.

TV Taping For March 17 show

1. Adam Cole defeated Chris Silvio. Silvio won’t shake. Cole won in five. Cross armed german. Way too competitive. Kyle O’Reilly was on commentary. He got on the mic and challenged Cole for March 31. Cole says he has PMS and accepts. O’Reilly was a total heel.

Kevin Steen was interview by Kevin Kelly and had a tennis racket with Davey on it. He remixed his music to have wolf howl from Davey’s music added. He talked about Blind Destiny match with Eddie Edwards. Total face reaction. He said he’ll win the title and hold company hostage, and Cornette will kiss his feet, ass, and balls. Jim Cornette out. Steen did three 1/2 pushups to mock Cornette, saying they were more than Cornette has ever done. He announced El Generico vs. Steen on 3/30. He took his sweet time getting to the point, but he reiterated the piledriver ban. Steen messed up a couple times and called Cornette an idiot. He said anyone who gets in his way will be taken out, including Cornette, and poked him with racket.

2. Jay Lethal beat Roderick Strong (w/Truth Martini) in a March Mayhem Qualifier. Lethal came out without his ROH TV Title. “Black Machismo” chant turned to “Let’s Go Lethal.” Choreographed indie sequence of mutual respect and parity (or CISOMRAP). Strong still seemed to be recruiting. Truth's interference was botched. Michael Elgin's interference was botched. A rollup win for Lethal. Very very good 15 minute match. Roddy was very mad at Truth and Elgin, and left without them. Jay is getting better and better each month.

- Cornette came out to talk to the crowd between shows.

March 24 TV Taping

- Cornette interviewed Roderick (w/Truth and Elgin), Eddie Edwards (big pop), and Davey Richards (mixed, lots of heckling). Davey says he’s not sure he can trust Eddie. Eddie was pissed that Davey compared him to a prick like Roddy, who said he’s sorry they had a bad breakup and said Elgin will give him his match at 3/31. Elgin didn’t seem to agree, but Jay came out and called Roddy a butt-munch (chant) and a fart-head. He said he deserves Roddy’s spot after winning last week and he’ll start taking what he deserves.

Out came Kevin Steen with wolf intro in his music. He said he’s rooting for Eddie because he wants the title match. He said he’ll find a way to get a title shot no matter what. Steen was far less effective without his swear words. He called people in the ring a circle of jerks. Jawing between emasculated men in ring. Everyone leaves but Davey, who gets heckled with some overrated chants on his way out.

1. Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander (The New Combination) defeated Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas. Streamers! Proper face-heel reactions mostly, but some cheers for WGTT. New Combo win what was a fun match until Haas was hit in he head with an unprotected chair shot by one of the Briscoes.

Veda entered the ring with a mic and short skirt as the refs checked on Haas with Shelton. The mic didn’t work. New mic for Shelton, who decried chair shots and says Florida will be genocide for anyone with the last name Briscoe or anyone who cheers for them. He sold for a good five minutes as the crowd chanted “Man Up.”

2. Adam Cole defeated Michael Elgin (w/Truth Martini) in a March Mayhem Qualifier. Not a strong reaction for Cole which is surprising. O’Reilly on commentary. Botched interference from Roddy leads to a Cole roll up win in 12. There was an attack after the bell, but Eddie out for the save. A good match, but Cole had trouble getting face heat.

- Intermission. So far tonight, I’ve seen two suicide dives straight on and Cedric Alexander was dumped into the lap of the people to my left.

Taping for March 31

Nigel McGuinness and Kevin Kelly were in the ring to start. They announced O’Reilly vs. Ciampa, and Bennett vs. someone for last two spots in March Mayhem Tournament. Four-way with the winner next week (4/7 show which will be taped tonight). Cut to video package.

1. Tommaso Ciampa beat Kyle O'Reilly in a March Mayhem Qualifier. Ciampa did not have a title belt with him either. Boos all around, mostly. Mia looks very nice! O’Reilly wrestling mostly like a face here. Crowd finally gets into him. Ciampa’s offense is outstanding. He’s my favorite. Ciampa won by ref stoppage after a knee knocks out O’Reilly. The Embassy went nuts. A fun 7 minutes. The refs checked on KO like it was a serious, but it’s an obvious work from my angle. The refs dragged him out stumbling.

2. Davey Richards defeated Ryan McBride in a Proving Ground match. Davey had his IWGP Tag Title. More of a positive reaction here. There was a huge "Let's go Ryan" chant early because he was announced as a local, which is true because he's also a regular in CZW. McBride tapped in less than 30 seconds to boos. Handshake afterwards.

- Kelly was in the ring for a Kevin Steen interview. Every time Kelly is in the ring alone, it’s Steen. Out with racket, serves a streamer like a tennis ball after a second try. Steen requested interview asking why ROH does everything they can to prevent him from wrestling on the show. Steen is doing straight comedy. Kelly says he’s a risk to his opponents and doesn’t stop beating him up. Now he’s playing to the crowd as a face, calling us fine people he wants to wrestle for. Says someone is either holding Davey back from facing him,

Davey can’t hear him because of his cauliflower ears, or can’t hear because his head is up Cornette’s ass.Davey and Cornette out. Says Steen is a novelty act or in his third trimester. Crowd chants let them fight. Cornette tries to tell Davey not to buy into Steen. Steen says Cornette should ban the ankle lock like he did the piledriver. Davey says he’ll shove the piledriver up Steen’s ass. Steen asks if Davey’s balls had been in Cornette’s pocket. Davey slaps Steen. Steen laughs and leaves as crowd chants “Kill Steen Kill.”

Davey argues in ring with Cornette, asks if crowd wants him and Steen. Cornette and Davey argue on the way out.

3. Mike Bennett (w/Maria & #WhyNotBob) defeated Eddie Edwards in the Final March Mayhem Qualifier. Good face heel dynamic. Boston vs. Boston! Eddie was cut on his back when Bob gave him a backdrop on the railing. Eddie got his revenge on Bob with a big dive. Lots of back and forth. Bennett won a very good 13 minute match after Maria oversold a bump on the apron from Eddie and the ref is distracted. Eddie got a massive post-match reaction for being a legit tough motherf---er. Four very visible bloody lines on his back, and he bumped on them the whole match.

Taping for April 7

1. The Young Bucks defeated TJ Perkins & Shiloh Jonze. No one knows Shiloh, but the Bucks are stars. Also, the technical lighting seems to have improved. The Bucks were screaming like girls both on offense and defense and it’s hilarious, but Shiloh took everything so they’re not getting heel heat. TJ entered and spiced up the match. Bucks are a little too cartoonish when selling. The Bucks won with More Bang for Your Buck. Seven minutes of good action, but the heat was kind of missing. The Bucks shook only each other’s hands before and after match.

2. Mike Mondo beat Matt Taven. A small, polite reaction for Taven. Streamers! They started off like guys who are feuding, which is nice. Mikey landed wrong and had a leg injury. He took off his left boot on the outside, but it’s a fake out! He rammed Taven into the barriers like a dozen times hard, then ran around in the ring with one sock and one boot. What a heel! Back to work and Taven destroyed Mondo by throwing him into the barrier. The girl sitting behind the barrier ran like halfway across the section. Hilarious. These guys continue to kIll each other, getting "this is awesome" chants because it was. Mondo won by reversing a flying move from Taven into a Downward Spiral. Both left to massive "that was awesome" chant. Six crazy fun minutes, and these guys will be remembered next month.

3. Tommaso Ciampa defeated Adam Cole, Jay Lethal, and Mike Bennett (all with all their usual crews). Maria and Mia in the same match. This is the climax of March Mayhem. Cole mouthed $24,000 to the camera, which may be the prize. Lethal tried to go after Ciampa but was stopped. Nice reaction for Cole, Ciampa is popular, boos for Bennett, big reaction for Lethal. $24,000 is indeed the prize. People have to tag in here.

Lethal started going hard after Ciampa. Lots of moving parts to this one, as Bennett’s crew and the Embassy are jawing too. Cole dove onto everyone on the outside, but was taken out of action on the outside by Bennett. Lethal eliminated Bennett with Lethal Injection but was immediately eliminated by Ciampa with a knee to the head. It came down to Ciampa against an injured Cole.

Huge knees to Cole in the corner but he comes back with a superkick. Ciampa hits Cole with Sheamus’ White Noise [Air Raid Crash] on the outside for a good nearfall. Cole eventually gets Ciampa in a really over read naked choke, but Ciampa gets his arm up on the third check. Ciampa won with Project Ciampa clean as Lethal was held back in the entryway. Really fun 14 minutes.

- Veda presented the check, but Prince Nana took it and sang, “We In The Money.” RD Evans says the $24,000 far exceeds the investors’ expectations. It felt like a crowning moment.

Dark Match

1. Jay Briscoe, Mark Briscoe, and Papa Mike “Big Man” Briscoe (w/a fat guy) beat Roderick Strong, Michael Elgin, and Truth Martini. Truth taunted Papa about saying he had a pretty mouth. Mark vs. Roddy to start. Papa is saying stuff like “yeah chicky.” Elgin entered to work over Mark, then Truth in and Mark plays possum as Truth goes to the top. Mark gets up and Truth bails. Mark tagged in Papa, and Truth tagged in Elgin. Papa tagged in Jay, who called Truth a pussy. Papa eventually got some licks in on Elgin, but mostly Jay vs. Elgin. There was some heel interference on the outside from Roddy, and Truth had Jay in peril.

Mark tagged in and cleaned house. Eventually, Papa got the tag and he speared Elgin, and chokeslammed Roddy. The Briscoes took out Elgin and Roddy on the outside, and Papa pinned Truth after a Stone Cold Stunner. Fun as f---, probably like 10 minutes.

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