wrestling / TV Reports
Cook’s ROH TV Review 12.17.21
Image Credit: ROH
Loading...Hey kids! It’s all about the kids this week, as we’ll be seeing matches featuring ROH Dojo kids & Top Prospect winners. Perhaps this will be a look into the future? Let’s hook em up!
Cook’s ROH TV Review 12.17.21
Quinn McKay welcomes us to Ring of Honor Wrestling. It’s a very special Top Prospect episode! Today’s main event features two previous winners of the Top Prospect tournament: Dak Draper & Josh Woods. We’ll also see Dante Caballero take on Matt Makowski & a Four Corner Survival pitting Eric Martin, Rayo, Adrian Soriano & Joe Keys against each other.
Ian & Caprice on the call.
Four Corner Survival: Adrian Soriano (w/Primal Fear) vs. Rayo vs. Eric Martin (w/Will Ferrera) vs. Joe Keys: OK, so we’ve seen Keys before teaming with the Foundation. Soriano & Primal Fear got a six-man title shot once. Rayo’s been in Peru, and Marin is ROH Dojo head Ferrera’s prized pupil. Things break down right away. Rayo hits a rana & a headscissors, but Soriano uses him for a Poetry in Motion on Keys. Soriano & Rayo go back & forth. Modified Blue Thunder gets 2. Keys sneaks in with some rolling German suplexes on Soriano. He suplexes both Soriano & Rayo. Martin hits a big slam on Soriano, then exchanges shots with Keys. Martin hits a powerbomb on Keys, then a sitout one on Rayo. Keys gets rolled up by Soriano for two. Soriano with a neckbreaker for two as we go to commercial.
Rayo with a bulldog on Soriano, butterfly backbreaker gets two. Rayo gets crotched on the top rope. Soriano follows him up, hits the superplex. Martin back in, sends both men into each other & slams Soriano down. Keys breaks up the cover with a middle rope splash. Rayo & Keys back & forth, Keys sends Rayo & Martin down, then gets sent into the ringpost by Soriano. Soriano covers people for two counts. He misses the frog splash, Rayo hits a big kick but Primal Fear drag Soriano outside. Rayo goes after them on the outside. Martin hits a dive, drags Rayo inside. Rayo evades a couple of moves, goes to the second rope and hits the tornado DDT. Springboard elbowdrop gets three!
Winner: Rayo (7:57 via pinfall)
Match Rating: **1/2
Rayo will be a force to be reckoned with. The non-Primal Fear folks shake hands.
We see Mike Bennett & Matt Taven pin people to win Top Prospect tournaments. After a commercial we see Hanson & Donovan Dijak do the same.
Eli Isom joins Ian & Caprice for the next match.
Dante Caballero vs. Matt Makowski (w/Rocco): Dante has gone through some changes since the last time we saw him. Rocco makes his way onto the stage, apparently he’s a manager. He went & found the toppest prospect. Makowski here did appear in Bellator back in 2009 & Elite XC as well, the announcers are tremendously impressed by Rocco’s signing. Pretty even Tale of the Tape. Makowski gets the advantage on the mat while Ian talks about the Riccaboni family’s crime background. An interesting way of repackaging one self in the final days. Makowski with a suplex into an armbar. Makowski into a choke, Caballero rolls out of it as we go to commercial.
Caballero with shoulderblocks for near-falls. Kick from Makowski sends Caballero down. Makowski works Caballero into the Pentagon armbreaker. Caballero tries to fight back, and sends Makowski into the corner. Caballero with a Northern Lights for two. Makowski into a cross-arm breaker, can’t lock it in so he transitions into the Rings of Saturn. Caballero finds the ropes. He fights back. Clothesline in the corner, a falcon arrow gets two. Spine on the pine gets two for Caballero. Makowski goes out to the apron to set something up, eventually locks in a bodyscissors and hits some elbows. Caballero fights out, but Makowski hits a springboard kick for two. Butterfly suplex gets two for Makowski. Rocco yelling about something or other. Forearm exchange, backdrop driver and a running kick from Caballero. Rocco with the distraction leads to the big kick and a cutthroat driver into a cross-arm breaker. Caballero submits.
Winner: Mark Makowski (12:06 via submission)
Match Rating: **1/2
One of ROH’s staples throughout its existence has been the extended squash. They put over Makowski like this badass world beater before the match, then it takes him 12 minutes to finish Caballero, a guy who might be a nice wrestler but holds no meaning to the television audience. I mean, it doesn’t really matter considering the current situation, but this sort of thing happened all the time in the Gabe Sapolsky days too. More concerned with having a good wrestling match than making a star.
Lio Rush won the Top Prospect tournament in 2016, Josh Woods won it in 2017 & Dak Draper won it in 2019.
First Top Prospect winner Mike Bennett joins Ian & Caprice on commentary.
Dak Draper vs. ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods: Draper only has one t-shirt this week. Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus urge Josh on during his way to the ring. Apparently Woods became a Foundation member at some point but I don’t remember seeing it. Draper with the obvious edge in the Tale of the Tape. Dalton Castle & the baby chickens come out, and Dalton has some hot dogs with him. He’s excited about these two athletes going at it, but the match is missing some spice & excitement. Dalton wants to win a Golden Globe, but this match needs some risk. He suggests that Josh put the Pure title on the line and make Dalton’s television dreams come true. Josh says you have to earn a spot in line in the Pure division. Dalton suggests that he & Dak leave, and that Silas was right when he said Josh was ruining ROH. Josh agrees to it, and now we have a Pure Rules match for the Pure Championship!
ROH Pure Championship Match: Dak Draper vs. ROH Pure Champion Josh Woods: Some grappling to start. Woods catches Draper on a leapfrog, and Draper uses the ropes to get out of the slam attempt. First rope break for Draper a minute in. Draper gains the advantage briefly but Woods works into an arm bar. Draper with an ankle lock. Some more mat wrestling. Woods with a slap and some forearms. Woods gets an armbar in the ropes, Sinclair doesn’t count that rope break but does issue a warning after Draper punches Woods. Draper with the deadlift superplex for two. We go to commercial!
During the break, Woods forced Draper to use his second rope break, but Draper regained control. Woods hits a gutwrench suplex. Draper with one of his own. Woods hits a springboard kick that sends Draper tumbling into the corner. Woods with some corner moves. The big knee rocks Draper, but Draper hits a powerslam for two. Draper goes up top & dives into Woods’ knee. Both men down. Woods with a kick and some knees. Big knee strike sends Draper down for a two count. Draper uses his final rope break there. Draper keeps trying to use rope breaks anyway, but Woods tries an arm submission. Draper powers out with a sitout power bomb for two. A series of reversals leads to Woods setting up a Tombstone and instead wheelbarrow suplexing Draper over. That gets three.
Winner: Josh Woods (13:45 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***
Josh Woods will end this era of ROH as Pure Champion. They shake hands.
Next Week: Rok-C vs. Holidead for the Women’s Championship, Annual Christmas Tag Surprise
