wrestling / TV Reports

Csonka Reviews The 2019 ROH Top Prospect First Round Tournament Matches

August 30, 2019 | Posted by Larry Csonka
Austin Gunn ROH Image Credit: ROH
5.7
The 411 Rating
Community Grade
12345678910
Your Grade
Loading...
Csonka Reviews The 2019 ROH Top Prospect First Round Tournament Matches  

Csonka Reviews The 2019 ROH Top Prospect First Round Tournament Matches

The ROH Top Prospect Tournament is back, and the company has been airing the matches via Youtube so far. Today will be the first round match reviews. Past winners include 2011 – Mike Bennett, 2013 – Matt Taven, 2014 – Hanson, 2015 – Donovan Dijak, 2016 – Lio Rush, & 2017 – Josh Woods.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Dante Cabaellro defeated Joe Keys @ 6:24 via submission [**½]
– Haitian Sensation defeated Ken Dixon @ 5:55 via pin []
– Austin Gunn defeated Brian Johnson @ 6:50 via pin [**½]
– Dak Draper defeated Makita @ 6:00 via pin [**¾]


Joe Keys vs. Dante Cabaellro: They lock up and work to the ropes. Cabaellro heels it up early on, grounding things and using the hair of Keys. Keys battles back and Cabaellro makes the ropes but Keys grabs him by the hair and then dumps him to the floor. Back in and Keys follows with chops, works him over in the corner, but misses a charge and posts himself. Cabaellro follows him to the floor, rolls him back in and covers for 1. Cabaellro lays the boots to him but Keys fires back until Cabaellro hits divorce court for 2. Cabaellro grounds the action, working the arm. Keys fights back and whips Cabaellro to the buckles. He follows with ground and pound, and they spill to the floor. Keys follows with strikes, back in and the backstabber follows for 2. Cabaellro begs off, but Keys attacks, takes him up top and follows him up. Cabaellro shoves him of but Keys fires back with a dropkick and then Cabaellro counters the superplex into the crossface for the win. Dante Cabaellro defeated Joe Keys @ 6:24 via submission [**½] This was a perfectly solid professional wrestling match, with no real heat and neither man really making a lasting impression.

Haitian Sensation vs. Ken Dixon: They dick around for nearly four-minutes before the bell finally rings and then Sensation tries to dance with Dixon, who attacks and mocks him and then dumps him. He follows, and they walk and brawl on the floor. Sensation fires back, and back in they go. Dixon follows with elbows and dumps Sensation again. Back in and Dixon chokes him out, lays the boots to him, and then slams him to the buckles. Sensation fires up, slams Dixon to the buckles, and follows with clotheslines. The neck breaker follows, and Sensation follows with running corner strikes. To the floor they go, trading strikes, and Sensation takes control. Dixon cuts him off, but Sensation follows with the Haitian vacation (leg lariat) for the win. Haitian Sensation defeated Ken Dixon @ 5:55via pin [*½] This was no good, there was no real layout to speak of, poor brawling and this felt like watching the bastard son of Kofi Kingston & No Way Jose battling Ray Rowe after he was shrunk in the dyer.

Austin Gunn vs. Brian Johnson: Johnson throws his robe at Gunn, attacking before the bell. He beats him down in the corner and Gunn picks up the pace and follows with a neck breaker and dumps Johnson. Back in and Gun follows with strikes, but Johnson dumps him and slams him to the apron. He stuns him off the ropes and follows with a springboard shoulder tackle for 2. Johnson lays in elbow strikes and grounds the action. Gunn fires back, but Johnson follows with a cutter. He follows with strikes, and then lays the boots to Gunn before firing him to the buckles. Gunn fires back and hits the belly to back suplex. He lays in jabs, lighting up Johnson until Johnson cuts him off with a neck breaker. The top rope clothesline follows, but Gunn rolls to the floor. Johnson follows him out and talks shit as he lays in rights. They trade and back in, Johnson gets tripped up and the fameasser connects for the win. Austin Gunn defeated Brian Johnson @ 6:50 via pin [**½] This was a smart match to book as Johnson has 10-years in, while Gunn is only 18-months in. They didn’t get much time, a theme in these matches, but I felt that Gunn showed a lot of potential considering his lack of experience. He has a good look, good selling, and not only played to the crowd well, but most importantly, never looked lost.

Dak Draper vs. Makita: Draper is a disrespectful asshole to begin so Makita attacks, and works him over. They trade some shoulder tackles rolling Liger kick by Makita but Draper catches the plancha and slams him off the apron. Back in and Draper grounds the action, working a chin lock and then a swinging full nelson until he slams Makita down. He grounds things again, Makita hits the jawbreaker, kicks, and an enziguri. The high cross is caught, but Makita counters back with kicks and hits John Woooooooooooooo. The sitout DVD connects for 2. Makita charges in but Draper cuts him off, pulls him up top and hits the dead lift superplex for 2. Draper now hits The magnum drop (wasteland) for the win. Dak Draper defeated Makita @ 6:00 via pin [**¾] This was pretty good, and while nothing special, was the best match of the first round. Draper has good size and showed good instincts as a heel, while Makita has potential as a fiery babyface.

 photo The411onWrestling-KHC15_1A_zps84kblpqb.jpg

The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 46. On the show, the good brother, Jeremy Lambert, joins 411’s Larry Csonka and the guys will breakdown and preview the huge weekend of events, including NJPW Royal Quest, NXT UK Takeover Cardiff, & AEW All Out. The show is approximately 117-minutes long.

* Intro
* NJPW Royal Quest Preview: 3:45
* NXT UK Takeover Cardiff Preview/Cesaro Possibly to NXT UK: 24:45
* AEW All Out Preview: 44:00
* Big Show Related Announcement: 1:48:30

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.

5.7
The final score: review Not So Good
The 411
The first round of the 2019 ROH Top Prospect was far from a hot start for the tournament, but I think that Gunn, Draper, and Makita showed good potential. The semifinals will feature Dante Cabaellro vs. Austin Gunn & Hatian Sensation vs. Dak Draper and I feel Gunn & Draper should win to advance to the finals.
legend