Powell's 5/27 ROH Wrestling TV review: Taiji Ishimori vs. Roderick Strong, Mark Briscoe vs. Colin Delaney, Cherry Bomb vs. MsChif in women's action

By Jason Powell

ROH Wrestling on SBG television affiliates
Taped in Toronto, Ontario at Ted Reeve Arena

[Q1] Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino checked in on commentary and hyped the main event...

1. Colin Delaney vs. Mark Briscoe. The wrestlers shook hands before the match. Corino praised Delaney for being in much better shape than he was last time he was on ROH. Kelly noted that he made it "to the national stage" a couple years ago. Corino said he felt Delaney got "a raw deal from that company."

Briscoe took the fight to ringside and threw a chair inside the ring before suplexing Delaney on the ring apron. Corino mocked Briscoe's appearance and said there should be subtitles whenever he and Jay do interviews. Delaney caught Briscoe with a good kick and had a brief run on offense. Later, Briscoe stood on the top rope for several seconds before coming down with an elbow drop for the win... [C]

Powell's POV: Delaney is in much better shape. He has short hair and has switched to trunks since his WWE days. He no longer plays the scrappy underdog role. He played the enhancement role here for Briscoe, who is challenging his brother Jay for the ROH Title at the Best in the World iPPV.

Adam Cole was featured in a brief promo for Columbus, Ohio on June 8. He didn't know who his opponent would be. Ugh... Carprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander were featured in an ROH text message campaign spot...

Nigel McGuinness announced Jay Briscoe vs. Mark Briscoe for the ROH Title at the Best in the World iPPV. The American Wolves (Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards) came to the ring. Richards announced that he would face his tag partner Edwards at Best in the World as well. He said he and Edwards are the two that made the pay-per-view famous.

Kelly noted that the Richards vs. Edwards match could be an ROH Title match if Richards beat Jay Briscoe on June 1 (he did not). Steve Corino entered the ring and complained that McGuinness put his hands on him at Border Wars. Corino said that whoever the champion is after Best in the World will have to defend the ROH TItle against Matt Hardy.

[Q2] A brawl broke out amongst the Briscoes and the Wolves. Corino ducked out of the ring nad a group of referees and security guys ran in to keep the wrestlers apart. Michael Elgin walked out and surveyed the scene as Kelly noted that Elgin is the number one contender... [C]

Powell's POV: Wait, so Mark Briscoe is getting the ROH Title shot even though Michael Elgin is the number one contender and Matt Hardy has a title shot coming as a result of stipulations at the last iPPV? Factor in The Wolves wanting title shots and it does make the title feel important, yet also a bit confusing.

Backstage, Veda Scott noted that she normally asks the questions, but this time she had answers for MsChif. She said MsChif tried to blind her because she never thought she would fight back. Scott said she has nothing to lose and will never stop fighting. Scott said Nigel knows she is more than just a journalist, and she said she wants MsChif in the ring...

Powell's POV: A good promo from the backstage interviewer/female wrestler. Obviously, good placement for this promo considering the next match.

2. Cherry Bomb vs. MsChif. MsChif went right after Cherry to start the match, Cherry came back with a clunky head scissors. MsChif took over the offense shortly thereafter and dominated aside from one more flurry of late offense from Cherry. MsChif was in control when Veda came out and clotheslined MsChif over the top rope, which allowed Cherry Bomb to perform a sloppy missile dropkick and a DVD for the win... [C]

Powell's POV: Cherry looked a little off early on and that missile dropkick caught MsChif closer to her knees than her head. I'm not a fan of MsChif losing here. She's the top heel of the division and I'd rather she look unbeatable heading into her feud with Veda Scott. As much as I think MsChif is the right person to be the top heel, she could do more to heel it up for the live crowd than she did here.

[Q3] Kevin Kelly hosted the Inside Ring of Honor segment. He hyped the San Antonio event and then ACH spoke about facing "my hero" Jay Lethal in his hometown. Nigel McGuinness spoke about Best in the World until he was interrupted by Kevin Steen, who asked when he will get his rematch for the ROH Title.

Nigel said he's not sure if Steen's head is in the right place because he didn't hold up his end of the bargain when he lost the match to SCUM at the last iPPV. Nigel questioned whether Steen is still working for the faction. Steen told Nigel to put him in singles matches with every member of SCUM and he would prove that he's no longer with them. Nigel agreed and said Steen would get his title match after he faces each member... [C]

The Adam Cole spot aired again... Roderick Strong was featured in a backstage promo. He said he's been asking Nigel for a challenge for months and that's exactly what Taiji Ishimori is. He said they've faced several times before in Japan, but this is the first time in North America. He thanked Nigel for giving him the challenge...

Ring introductions for the main event took place. Nigel McGuinness sat in on commentary with Kevin Kelly for the main event...

3. Taiji Ishimori vs. Roderick Strong. Ishimori got a strong reaction from the live crowd. The match started with good back and forth action with both men countering the other's moves. Ishimori showed incredible speed. Strong caught Ishimori with a suplex onto the ring apron heading into the break. [C]

[Q4] Strong remained on the offensive following the commercial break and the pace slowed down. Strong caught Ishimori with a couple of impressive back breakers and followed up by tossing him back first into the corner. Ishimori came back with crowd pleasing offense, including a double knee driver in the corner.

Ishimori went to the top rope and Nigel said he was setting up for the 450 he used at Border Wars, but Strong recovered and caught him with a shot. Ishimori fought off Strong and flew at him with both knees, driving Strong into a pin for a good two count. Strong came back with another backbreaker.

Strong caught Ishimori with a pair of running knees and got a two count shortly thereafter. Ishimori tried to back springboard off the ropes, but Strong caught him and put him down with another backbreaker, then followed up with a Boston Crab to continue his back assault. Ishimori reached the ropes to break the hold.

Later, Ishimori set up for a Tombstone Piledriver. After they jockeyed for position, Ishimori turned it into a double knee move and then followed up with a big kick for a two count. The fans started a "this is awesome" chant. Ishimori went up to and flipped onto his feet because Strong moved.

Strong came back with a gutbuster for a two count. Strong went for a powerbomb, but Ishimori countered into a flipping powerbomb of his own for a great near fall that the live crowd popped huge for. The wrestlers traded shots in the middle of the ring and Ishimori got the better of it only to run into a knee from Strong.

Strong went for a double knee gutbuster, but Ishimori flipped onto his feet to avoid it. A short time later, Ishimori went to the top rope again for the 450, but Strong recovered to block it. Strong went for a superplex, but Ishimori fought out of it, shoved him down onto the ropes, and then followed up with the 450 splash for the clean pin. The ROH production team replayed the 450 in rapid fire fashion and the live crowd chanted "this is awesome" as Kelly plugged next week's show to close out this one...

Powell's POV: A very good television main event. It was very cool to see an international star on the show and the Toronto crowd was really into him from the moment he made his entrance. I really enjoyed the way he set up for the 450 splash repeatedly, as it built up great anticipation for the move. The match had some of the same elements of the classic Rey Mysterio vs. Dean Malenko matches due to the style the two wrestlers work. Overall, a solid week of television with a memorable main event.