Csonka’s ROH State of the Art Portland Preview

WELCOME back to column time with Larry! Today, I am going to discuss and preview tonight’s ROH State of the Art Portland event, which is the final show ahead of the Best in the World PPV. 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.”

Yes, Just 5 Matches: Yes, they have only announced five matches for this show. I am sure that they will fill out the show with another enthralling Kelly Klein title defense against someone we’ve barely heard of, and an equally great Allure segment to set up a title match or tag for Best in the World. Yes, that big ROH summer PPV scheduled for a few weeks. Good work Bubba & Lizard Man.

#1 Contender’s Tag Team Gauntlet Match: The Bouncers vs. The Kingdom vs. Coast to Coast vs. Shane Taylor & Silas Young vs. Rush & Dalton Castle: The Guerrillas of Destiny still hold the ROH Tag Team Titles, and will likely defend them at Best in the World. The Briscoes want a rematch, but are nowhere to be found in this#1 contender’s gauntlet match (the winners here get a future shot at the ROH World Tag Team Titles), which thins out the field considerably. The Bouncers are the wacky but over hoss team, The Kingdom are solid but at times unspectacular, Coast to Coast are completely underutilized and teasing a heel turn, Shane Taylor & Silas Young are the bullies, and Rush & Dalton Castle are the wacky partners that don’t get along. This feels like a chance to build to a rematch between them. In all honesty, this match has the potential to be a mess and does little for my excitement level. I’d love to see Coast to Coast elevated into the tag title picture, but ROH doesn’t feel committed to the duo right now. Almost anyone could win this (outside of Castle & Rush), and it feels like it doesn’t matter since they haven’t built anyone up outside of the Briscoes, which is why I think that Lethal & Gresham should have won the titles on the War of The Worlds tour. I guess I’ll go with… WINNER: The Kingdom

Jeff Cobb vs. PJ Black: PJ Black has had a rough go in ROH, coming in over confident, suffering losses, and then seeing the light and turning over a new leaf and showing respect for the roster. He’s also been picking up some wins recently a he looks to gain momentum. Unfortunately I think he runs into a meat grinder here as he faces off with a passed off Hawaiian in Jeff Cobb. Cobb is coming of losing the TV Title in a four-way, but remains an unpinned and unsubmitted juggernaut. Under normal circumstances, I’d say a rebound win here would get Cobb close to a TV Title rematch, but with Bandido locked into the Best in the World TV Title match, Cobb will have to wait, and judging from my life experience, Cobb is not the kind of man you make wait, so he’ll be extra pissed and motivated here. I am sure Black will bring a good effort and may be even challenge Cobb a bit, but when all is said and done, the only thing he’ll enjoy is an all expenses paid tour of the islands. WINNER: Jeff Cobb

Mark Briscoe vs. Josh Woods: Josh Woods recently returned to action (more aggressive than ever) after time off to compete BJJ torments and complete his degree But the former top prospect tournament winner still remains directionless, and is in desperate need of a marquee win here, Mark Briscoe is an ROH legend, currently obsessed with getting revenge on the NWA and also winning back the ROH tag team titles from the Guerrillas of Destiny. And it may be that obsession that allows Woods to overcome the vast experience advantage and pick up a big win here. While I feel that Woods may walk away the winner here, I don’t think it will come via pin or submission, as I see Mark either snapping or Jay getting involved, allowing Woods to win via DQ. WINNER: Josh Woods via DQ

Jay Lethal vs. Jay Briscoe: Jay Lethal recently lost the ROH world title, and also failed in his attempt to win the ROH tag titles with Jonathan Gresham. Jay Briscoe is an ROH legend, and like brother Mark, is currently obsessed with getting revenge on the NWA and also winning back the ROH tag team titles from the Guerrillas of Destiny. These two are great performers, and have a string history working against each other, so if they get some time, this certainly has banger potential. With Lethal having an announced title match coming up, it makes the most sense for him to pick up a win here over a former ROH world champion to help with his momentum heading into that match. WINNER: Jay Lethal

DEFY or DENY: Champion Matt Taven vs. PCO vs. Mark Haskins vs. Flip Gordon: Back at the G1 Supercard event. Matt Taven won the ROH championship and since then, successfully defended against all three of his opponents here, although with a little help from his friends. And when a champion does this, ROH tends to book the deny or defy match as an effort to either crown a new contender, or to thin the field. If Taven wins, whoever is eliminated last cannot challenge for the world title as long as he remains champion. Should one of the three challengers win, they will receive a future ROH World Title shot. Flip just lost to Taven on the 400th edition of ROH TV. PCO & Haskins lost on the War of The Worlds tour, but all three matches had interference from the Kingdom. With this being the final major event ahead of Best in the World, it feels like this match will determine Taven’s challenger for that event, which is somewhat surprising since I though it’d be Rush. When you look into it, PCO is the only one of the losers that they have kept linked with Taven and tried to keep heated up for a potential rematch. With the company seemingly holding off Taven vs. Rush, the rematch with PCO feels like the most likely scenario here. WINNER: PCO

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 24. On the show, the good brother, Jeremy Lambert, joins 411’s Larry Csonka; the guys will preview NXT Takeover 25, discuss Jon Moxley’s appearance on Talk is Jericho & the problems within WWE, Moxley’s upcoming debut with NJPW, and then play catch up with NJPW BOSJ reviews. The show is approximately 115-minutes long.

* Intro
* NXT Takeover 25 Preview: 5:15
* Jon Moxley on Talk is Jericho: 37:45
* Jon Moxley Heading to NJPW: 115:55
* NJPW BOSJ Day 10 Review: 129:05
* NJPW BOSJ Day 11 Review: 146:20

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