Csonka’s ROH Death Before Dishonor 2019 Preview

WELCOME back to column time with Larry! Today, I am going to discuss and preview the ROH Death Before Dishonor 2019 event. The show will feature ROH World Champion Matt Taven vs. Rush, Tag Team Champions The Briscoes vs. Lifeblood’s Bandido & Mark Haskins, and more. So today I will breakdown and preview the event. Feel free to make your picks in the comment section. Thanks for reading! It’s wrestling, we love it and will disagree. The only rules are “have a take, be respectful, and don’t be a dick.”

– Csonka’s WWE Mae Young Classic III Wish List.

– Csonka: 5 Potential Opponents For Triple H in Saudi Arabia.

Jeff Cobb vs. Brody King: This is an added pre-show match, added in the final run up to the PPV. It’s a really great addition to he night, as they are using this match to entice last minute buyers into the show. Both guys are great, have worked with each other before and depending on how much time they get, could certainly have a strong match/addition to the card, and possibly a great match if allowed. I am all in on Lucha King against the adorable Buddha, and with the adorable Buddha about to challenge for the ROH title, he should pick up the win here. WINNER: Jeff Cobb

Bar Room Brawl: The Bouncers vs. Silas Young & Vinny Marseglia: While TK O’Ryan has been out of action due to post concussion issues, Vinny Marseglia has continued his issues with the Bouncers, This match was set up during the final night of the Global Wars Espectacular tour, when Silas Young & Vinny Marseglia beat down the Bouncers, including Marseglia viciously attacking Bruiser with a turnbuckle, bloodying his mouth and allegedly breaking some of the few teeth he had left. So we obviously have a clear heel vs. Face dynamic, and it will be interesting to see if Young’s conflicted protégé Josh Woods gets dragged into this, as he was reluctant to join in on the original beat down. Also, will TK be ok enough to get involved? With no rules and the heels potentially having the numbers advantage, I think they steal one here. WINNER: Silas Young & Vinny Marseglia

Jonathan Gresham vs. Jay Lethal: They have been heavily teasing the Gresham heel turn for a few months, as he had become disenfranchised with the way the promotion was treating him and eventually went into a “if you can’t beat them, join them” mentality and started picking up wins by nefarious means. This obviously didn’t jive with mentor/tag team partner Jay Lethal and caused friction within the team. Lethal just wanted Gresham to remain a good wrestle lad and win matches the right way, but when the duo lost on the Espectacular tour, Gresham had enough, fully turning and the men that were seemingly as close as brothers brawled and split. That brings us to this match, and we know that they have had great outings in the past, and they are capable of doing it again. This match will have a much different tone though, no longer will it be two wrestle lads looking to prove who was the best through a fair grappling contest, shit is personal now. The booking of this one is tough, as neither man should lose. Lethal is in the #1 contender’s tournament, while Gresham has a he match coming up with Alex Shelley. If I am booking here, Lethal can afford the loss and not be hurt, while Gresham needs this win going into the huge match with another mentor figure in Shelley. WINNER: Jonathan Gresham

#1 Contender’s Tournament Match: PCO vs. Kenny King: This contender’s tournament feels messy, with several of the guys having deals that are ending around the end of the year. On the surface, it seems possible that this becomes a Lifeblood vs. Villain Enterprises battle, but that feels too clean. I love PCO, he’s made the most of his run while Kenny King is fine; ROH is still trying to make him into something after all of these years and I just don’t feel it. PCO should really win to move onto a match with Haskins, but ROH will ROH, so Kenny King wins. WINNER: Kenny King

#1 Contender’s Tournament Match: Marty Scurll vs. Colt Cabana: Colt picked up a big win in Chicago to give him some momentum for this match, which he needed. Both guys are good, the match should be good, and Marty should win because he’s the better of the two in the ring, the bigger star, and more over. But with his contract coming up, I wouldn’t be shocked if Cabana won here. WINNER: Marty Scurll

Women of Honor Champion Kelly Klein vs. Angelina Love: With all due respect, the Women of Honor division has been trash for a long time and I can’t recall the last time they put on something enjoyable or event that I would consider good. I hope that they can turn it around, but it will take a lot, and they will have to do it for a while and build up equality with me and prove that they can do it more than once. They have been building to his match since G1 Supercard and I expect Love to win the title wit a little help from her friends. WINNER: Angelina Love

ROH TV Champion Shane Taylor vs. Tracy Williams vs. Flip Gordon: This match made absolutely no sense going into this PP as neither Tracy Williams or Flip Gordon were properly positioned for a title match. And then there is the fact that this match contains two of the worst ROH booking tropes that never work, the “worked shoot,” and the employee that’s disenfranchised with management. They never come off well, they never work, and they are desperately trying to create some buzz with the “contract buy out/but he’s working the PPV anyway” bullshit. It doesn’t work, makes no sense because why not just strip Taylor of the championship and make Tracy vs. Flip for the title. I hate this and that’s sad because I love Shane Taylor, but feel that this angle will only end up doing him more harm than good, and that’s not a lack of faith in him, that’s lack of faith in ROH storytelling and their management. WINNER: Shane Taylor

ROH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes vs. Lifeblood’s Bandido & Mark Haskins: In my opinion, this looks to be the best match on this show with real banger potential. Lifeblood has been one of the most consistent in ring acts in ROH during 2019, the Briscoes are ROH legends, deliver against everyone, and even dragged great back to back matches out of the Guerrillas of Destiny, which looking back was a real accomplishment. I love the potential of this match and it is my most anticipated match on the show. I don’t think a title change is in play here, but I obviously wouldn’t mind being thrown a curveball here. I think that it will be great and that the champions retain. WINNER: The Briscoes

ROH World Champion Matt Taven vs. Rush: And here we come to our main event of the evening, a match with history in CMLL that has been slowly built to since Rush’s ROH debut. It’s a match that makes sense, a match that needed to happen, but so did Volador vs. Taven, which came off as cold as ice. Rush has been booked extremely well, like a top guy, hasn’t been pinned or submitted, and feels like the biggest star in the company. If we’re being honest, Taven as ROH champion has been a failure and an even bigger blunder considering his contract status when you could have gone with Marty instead and possibly kept attendance and interest up. Taven’s been fine in the ring, but no one cares. He doesn’t put on matches worthy of the main event, worthy of the top guy position, and interest & attendance has been in a freefall due to that. There is no doubt in my mind that Rush should win here, win with ease, win dominantly, and that they should move on. If it doesn’t make dollars it doesn’t make sense, and that’s the current state of ROH with Matt Taven as the champion. But despite the fact that all signs pointing to needing to move on from Taven as champion. I am sure that Bully & Lizard man will be cowards and refuse to make the move, claiming that Taven’s “a real heel that gets real heat in 2019,” which if course is false. He’s champion because he was the best of what’s left, the Honor Club girls cream their jeans over him on Twitter, and he amuses middle schoolers with juvenile names for his moves like “the Climax & just the tip.” It’s like when I was seven and heard the word “TITTIES” for the first time and laughed. And then it was over because it was funny once. Unfortunately, Taven’s run isn’t even funny,. It’s just fucking sad, like the overall decline in ROH business, status, and quality in 2019. WINNER: Hopefully Rush

JOIN 411 FOR LIVE COVERAGE OF THE SHOW TONIGHT!

The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 53. On the show, the good brother, Jeremy Lambert, joins 411’s Larry Csonka as the guys will preview ROH Death Before Dishonor 2019 and question whether Rush as champion can save ROH, review the NJPW Destruction in Kobe event, look into the curious claims that Baron Corbin has become an all-time great, and more. The show is approximately 87-minutes long.

* Intro
* NJPW Destruction in Kobe Review: 2:45
* Can We Talk About Baron Corbin? (and his alleged greatness): 30:35
* Looking Into Possible Opponents For Triple H in Saudi Arabia: 46:45
* ROH Death Before Dishonor Preview, Can Rush Save ROH Or Is It Too Late?: 54:55

You can subscribe and listen to the 411 on Wrestling Podcast via the above player on Transistor, or on the following platforms:

* iTunes
* Spotify
* Stitcher
* Google Play

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.