Csonka’s ROH Survival of The Fittest 2018 Review

Csonka’s ROH Survival of The Fittest 2018 Review

– Survival of the Fittest Qualifier: Christopher Daniels defeated Beer City Bruiser @ 1:59 via pin [NR]
– Survival of the Fittest Qualifier: Adam Page defeated Colin Delaney and Dalton Castle @ 9:55 via pin [***]
– Survival of the Fittest Qualifier: Jonathan Gresham defeated Tracy Williams @ 12:30 via submission [***½]
– Survival of the Fittest Qualifier: Guerrero Maya Jr defeated Andrew Everett & Flip Gordon @ 9:25 via pin [***]
– Survival of the Fittest Qualifier: PJ Black defeated Luchasaurus @ 7:02 via pin [**¼]
– Survival of the Fittest Qualifier: Marty Scurll defeated Stuka Jr. and Silas Young @ 8:30 via pin [**¾]
– Final Battle Four Corners Survival Title Match Qualifier: Madison Rayne defeated Dr. Britt Baker @ 7:20 via pin [**]
– ROH Trios Title Match: The Kingdom defeated Champions Cody & The Young Bucks @ 15:00 via pin [***]
– Non-Title Champions Challenge Match: Jeff Cobb & Jay Lethal defeated SCU @ 18:01 via pin [***½]
– Survival of the Fittest Finals: Marty Scurll defeated Christopher Daniels, Adam Page, Jonathan Gresham, Guerrero Maya Jr, & PJ Black @ 24:40 via pin [***¼]

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– Follow all of my reviews at this link.

– My Survival of the Fittest primer is here.

– My full preview for this show is here.

Survival of the Fittest Qualifier: Christopher Daniels vs. Beer City Bruiser: Bruiser finishes a beer attacks at the bell, hitting a cannonball and covering for 2. The big elbow drop follows for 2. He then misses an elbow drop and Daniels fires up with strikes and an enziguri. Bruiser counters angel’s wings and covers for 2. Bruiser heads up top and misses the splash. Daniels hits the BME and pins him. Christopher Daniels defeated Beer City Bruiser @ 1:59 via pin [NR] I’m perfectly fine with this.

Survival of the Fittest Qualifier: Colin Delaney vs. Dalton Castle vs. Adam Page: I’ll be interested to see how Castle does here as he appeared to be injured on the Jericho cruise. He’s also still wearing a back brace and a thigh wrap. They brawl at the bell, Page gets dumped and Castle dumps Delaney and poses. Delaney takes out Page and follows with arm drags on Castle. Page cuts him off and lays the boots to Delaney and hits the pump handle slam for 2. Castle cuts off Page, nut Page fires back and dumps Delaney. Castle and Page brawl, and page knocks him onto the boys. They help him back in and he follows with chops and Delaney flies in and misses the missile dropkick. Delaney hits a stunner on Page, and then one on Castle. He heads up top and hits a flying stunner on Page for 2. He and Page work up top, Castle joins in and Page fights them off and Delaney Germans Castle. Page hits the shooting star to the floor, wiping out Delaney. Back in and Page hits clotheslines on both, the dropsault follows and that gets 2. Rite of passage countered by Delaney, but Page hits he corner dropkick, Castle back in and takes out Page, and the doctor bomb gets 2 on Delaney. Delaney fights off Castle, but Castle cuts him off and hits the running knee strike and then one on Page. The bulldog gets 2 on Delaney. Castle follows with chops, an Page cuts off Bangarang and they trade strikes and Page superkicks Castle. The double buckshot lariat follows and rite of passage finishes Delaney. Adam Page defeated Colin Delaney and Dalton Castle @ 9:55 via pin [***] This was a good and fun all action match with Page moving on.

Survival of the Fittest Qualifier: Jonathan Gresham vs. Tracy Williams: Williams charges, but Gresham takes him down and they work into grappling exchanges. Williams looks to work the arm, Gresham counters out and Williams quickly counters and starts working the legs. Gresham attacks the ankle, taking control until Williams scores with a takedown and again goes back after the knee. Williams now transitions and they work to the feet. They battle for position in the corner, Williams lays in chops and hits a belly to back suplex and covers for 2. Williams grounds things, attacking the arm now. Gresham counters out, follows with chops and hits knee strikes and a suplex follows for 2. Gresham fires back with chops, attacks the arm, and follows with a missile dropkick. He lays in chops and lights up Williams. Williams fights off a suplex, but Gresham finally hits it and covers for 2. Gresham attacks the arm with kicks, Williams fights off the octopus hold and heads to the ropes. Gresham cuts him off and follows him up. Williams hits the buckle DDT and follows with deep impact for 2. Gresham attacks the arm, and hits a RANA but Williams counters into a cradle for 2. The DVD connects and Williams covers for 2. Gresham fights off the piledriver, they trade strikes and Gresham keeps fighting as they continue to trade. Gresham pops up and hits an enziguri and runs into a lariat and Williams hits the piledriver for a great near fall. Gresham fights back with a dropkick, to the floor and Gresham hits a flying knee. Back in and Gresham hits a high cross and Williams rolls through for 2. Gresham locks on the octopus and lays in elbows as Williams taps. Jonathan Gresham defeated Tracy Williams @ 12:30 via submission [***½] This was a nice change in style, and a very good match and ROH debut for Williams. This started as a grappling match and then broke down into a brawl and finished with a hot closing stretch.

Survival of the Fittest Qualifier: Andrew Everett vs. Guerrero Maya Jr vs. Flip Gordon: Maya is a bog boy and overpowers to begin, hitting shoulder tackles. Gordon picks up the pace and hits a dropkick. Everett back in and he and Gordon work into some passes, countering head scissors, and Maya is back and they work into a standoff. Maya gets double teamed as Everett & Gordon try to one up each other. They trade strikes, and Everett hits a PELE and German for 2 as Maya breaks that up. He follows with arm drags, a springboard back elbow and that gets 2. Gordon wipes him out with a missile dropkick and misses a corner dropkick and is favoring his knee. He hits a PELE, Everett cuts him off sand hits the lionsault but Maya breaks that up. Everett follows with chops, Maya fires up and then hits a big hip toss and Gordon makes the save. Gordon follows with chops, Everett joins in and Maya hits lucha arm drags and back breakers on both for 2. Maya clears the ring and heads up top and the high cross wipes out both. Gordon now follows with a moonsault onto both. Everett now heads up top and hits a shooting star press and stands tall. Back in and Everett hits an enziguri and heads up top. Gordon cuts him off and hits kinder surprise. Bully throws a streamer at him to distract him and Gordon hits the 450. Gordon tries to fly into the crowd but Bully knocks him out. Everett misses the shooting star press and Maya hits Mayan sacrifice for the win. Guerrero Maya Jr defeated Andrew Everett & Flip Gordon @ 9:25 via pin [***] Again, this was another good change in style, going from the grappling/striking based match to highfliers. This was good and fun, even with the Bully Ray involved finish, which at least continues the angle with Flip.

Survival of the Fittest Qualifier: Luchasaurus vs. PJ Black: They open up, trading strikes and taking fighting stances. Black looks to slow the action and they work into passes and Luchasaurus hits a big boot. He follows with chops, but Black head scissors him to the floor. Luchasaurus fires back with a superkick and Black begs off. Luchasaurus then follows with an apron moonsault to the floor. Back in and Luchasaurus hits shotgun knees and a big boot. The spin kick follows and that gets 2. Black counters the chokeslam into a cradle for 2. The moonsault press follows again for 2. Black now hits a top rope double stomp for 2. Luchasaurus is back up and hits the Spanish fly for 2. Luchasaurus follows with kicks and a pop up knee strike. The chokeslam and standing moonsault gets 2. Luchasaurus looks to finish it, but Black counters out and eats elbows. Luchasaurus cuts off Black with superkicks and places him in the tree of WHOA, snags him up and the tombstone connects. Luchasaurus heads up top and misses the shooting star press and Black covers for the pin. PJ Black defeated Luchasaurus @ 7:02 via pin [**¼] This was ok, a bit disjointed and clunky at times, and Black came off as completely unmotivated.

Survival of the Fittest Qualifier: Stuka Jr. vs. Silas Young vs. Marty Scurll: The crowd loves Marty. They brawl at the bell, Stuka hits a RANA on Marty and back breaker on Young. Marty & Young end up working together, but Stuka fights them off and suplexes Marty onto Young and covers for 2. They trade chops, but Marty drops him with an uppercut and hits the apron superkick. Young takes out Marty with a lariat, but Stuka and Marty lay in chops on Young and dump him to the floor. Marty & Stuka trade chops and spill to the floor. We get the countout tease, and then all make it back in. They all trade strikes, chops and Stuka powerbombs Marty onto Young and covers for 2. Stuka heads up top and Marty cuts him off and follows him up and hits the superplex for 2 as Young makes the save. Young dumps Stuka, and hits the back breaker/lariat combo on Marty but Stuka makes the save. The neck breaker follows but young gets the back rake. The Finlay roll follows, Marty cuts off the moonsault. Stuka moonsaults to the floor and follows with the torpedo splash on Young for 2. Marty & Stuka brawl now, superkick by Marty, Young cuts him off and it breaks down and Stuka takes control until Marty hits a lariat ad graduation for the win. Marty Scurll defeated Stuka Jr. and Silas Young @ 8:30 via pin [**¾] This was pretty good and fun with Stuka standing out the most.

Final Battle Four Corners Survival Title Match Qualifier: Madison Rayne vs. Dr. Britt Baker: They lock up, and Rayne grounds things and Baker escapes as they separate. Baker looks to work the arm, and grounds things. Rayne counters back, they work to the corner and we get a clean break. Rayne now gets a backslide for 2. Baer follows with a neck breaker, but Rayne gets the cradle for 2. The sunset flip follows and that gets 2. Rayne gets another sunset flip for 2. Baker cuts her off with the big boot, and follows with a clothesline. She hits another and follows with a knee strike and sling blade for 2. Baker grounds things, but Rayne hits an enziguri. Rayne follows with strikes, but Baker hits the rolling forearm and DDT for 2. Rayne now hits a cutter and covers for 2. Superkick by Baker and that gets 2. The pump handle slam gets 2. Rayne fires back and the northern lights suplex gets 2. Rayne follows with knee strikes and wins. Madison Rayne defeated Dr. Britt Baker @ 7:20 via pin [**] This was an ok, but very flat and lethargic match with no sense of urgency.

– Post match, Holidead & Thunder Rosa attack. They lay out Rayne & Baker and stand tall.

ROH Trios Title Match: Champions Cody & The Young Bucks vs. The Kingdom (Taven, TK, & Vinny): The Kingdom is still playing up the conspiracy angle and requested two refs for this match, which was granted. The crowd loves Cody & The Bucks. Nick and Vinny to begin. Nick hits shoulder tackles, and takes out the others. Matt in and double teams follow on Vinny. Double teams on TK follow. Cody in and triple teams now connect and the champions are in control and follow with planchas. Vinny back in and wants Cody. Cody tags in and he hits the dump suplex. Vinny cuts him off with a knee strike and Taven tags in. Double teams follow and Taven hits just the tip for 2. He then lays in ground and pound, tags in TK and they isolate Cody and work quick tags. TK grounds things, follows with strikes and knocks the Bucks to the floor. They dump Cody and Taven whips him to he barricade and then Vinny takes a turn. Back in and Vinny covers for 2. TK in and hits the spinebuster and double teams follow, and the cover gets 2. Taven in and beats down Cody with strikes. Vinny tags back in and continues to keep Cody grounded. Cody fires up one last time, but Vinny cuts off the tag and follows with a suplex for 2. TK back in and he and Vinny look for double teams, but Cody fights them off and runs them together. Hot tag to Matt and he runs wild, hits the double clothesline and hits sliced bread on Vinny. Taven distracts him and TK & Vinny work double teams and take control back. Matt superkicks Vinny and IT’S HOT TAG NICK TIME! The Bucks lock on sharpshooters as Cody gets the sharpshooter on Taven. They now isolate Vinny, triple superkicks follow and that gets 2. TK & Vinny are tossed and Cody hits the step up dive to the floor. It breaks down, the ref on the floor gets taken out and Cody hits cross Rhodes but Taven takes out the other ref with the kickoff the king. Cross Rhodes on him follows but TK attacks with bat shots. Rockstar super nova follows, but no ref. Brandi is out in ref gear and counts, distracting the Kingdom. The Buck hit superkicks, and cross Rhodes on TK follows and Brandi counts the fall. This leads to an argument. They announce Brandi wasn’t a legal ref and his will continue. Taven knocks Cody into Brandi and she’s down. Taven hits the climax on Cody, and house of A thousand horses follows on Matt and we have new champions. The Kingdom defeated Champions Cody & The Young Bucks @ 15:00 via pin [***] This was a good and fun match until the unneeded and completely over booked finish.

– The Kingdom celebrates post match and says the Kingdom conspiracy is dead.

– Kenny King joins commentary.

Non-Title Champions Challenge Match: Kazarian & Scorpio Sky vs. Jeff Cobb & Jay Lethal: Kaz and Lethal to begin. They lock up and Kaz hits a shoulder tackle, and another. They work into a standoff and after some counters, into another stand off. Sky tags in and so does Cobb. Cobb works the arm, looking to ground Sky. Sky picks up the pace and runs into Cobb, but Cobb doesn’t move. Sky follows with a dropkick but Cobb kips up and counters the RANA and follows with a dropkick. Tag to Lethal, and he follows with chops and a back elbow for 2. Sky now lays in chops and strikes, Kaz tags in and hits the spin kick for 2. The neck breaker follows and that gets 2. Lethal tries to fight off both, but gets caught with double teams. Kaz follows with strikes, a Russian leg sweep, and covers for 2. He grounds things, Lethal fights back to his feet, lays in strikes, but Kaz hits the dropkick for 2. He whips Lethal to the buckles and Lethal powders to the floor, grapping at his nose. Sky rolls him back in and hits a side back breaker and covers for 2. To the floor and Lethal hits a desperation cutter. Back in and Cobb gets the tag and runs wild on Sky, tossing him around with ease. The Saito suplex and standing moonsault follows for 2. He follows with chops and pummels Sky in the corner. The delayed suplex follows, tags in Lethal and hands him off to Lethal and he finishes the suplex for 2. Lethal now attacks the lower back with knees and grounds things. Tag back to Cobb, and they trade strikes until Cobb hits a snap Saito suplex for 2. He grounds things, follows with knee strikes, and tags Lethal back in. Kaz makes the save, but Lethal grounds Sky again. He then repeatedly whips him to the buckles, but Sky hits a desperation neck breaker. They trade strikes. Sky hits a jumping knee, but Lethal hits a clothesline and both are down. Tag to Kaz, he knocks Cobb to the floor, but Cobb rushes back in only for Kaz to take out both Lethal and Cobb, and hits the backstabber, knee by Sky, and the unprettier gets 2 as Cobb makes the save. Cobb tags himself in and gets double teamed right away. Kaz hits the neck breaker, and takes Lethal up top. Lethal fights him off and Sky pops up and Lethal fights him off. Cobb over and suplexes both at the same time. Lethal hits the top rope elbow and suicide dive as Cobb hits a German for 2. The running uppercut follows, and Sky returns and RANAs Cobb. Cutter on Lethal, and planchas follow. The Briscoes arrive and take out Sky. Cobb hits tour of the islands for the win. Jeff Cobb & Jay Lethal defeated SCU @ 18:01 via pin [***½] This was a very good and fun tag match, that also continued the Briscoes vs. SCU feud.

– They announce that the night after Final Battle, RUSH will debut for ROH.

Survival of the Fittest Finals: Christopher Daniels vs. Adam Page vs. Jonathan Gresham vs. Guerrero Maya Jr vs. PJ Black vs. Marty Scurll: This is elimination rules. Maya and Daniels to begin. They work into some back and forth with Maya taking control. Page tags in and Daniels cuts him off and tags in Black. He hits shoulder tackles, and then work into a stand off. Marty tags in and so does Gresham. Marty misses the dropkick, and they trade pin attempt and Gresham rolls into an ankle lock. They work up top and Daniels joins in and so does Maya. Everyone is in and page breaks up the tower of doom and saves Marty. Maya hits them with a missile dropkick and back breakers. Black in and heads up top. Maya cuts him off with an arm drag and covers for 2. Maya follows with a powerslam, but Black powerbombs him and Maya is gone at 5:25. Gresham in and attacks the knee, Page tags in and takes Gresham down. They work into passes, and Gresham hits a RANA and dropkick. Marty in and Gresham runs them together. Stunner and enziguri to Marty and the German connects, Buckshot lariat by page and rte of passage connects and Gresham is gone at 7:22. Marty & Page look to work together, as do Black and Daniels. Marty and Daniels lock up, and Marty grounds the action. Mary counters out of the head scissors, and attacks with kicks. Black cheap shots Marty and Daniels hits a clothesline for 2. Daniels and Black work double teams, Daniels hits the slam and Black hits a suplex and rolls into a submission. Marty powers out, but Black takes him down and covers for 2. Daniels tags back in and double teams follow. Daniels now hits the leg lariat and that gets 2. Tag to Black and hits a slingshot double stomp for 2. Black works into a pendulum and then tags Daniels back in. He follows with rights, Marty fights back but Daniels cuts off the tag, grounding the action. Back to the feet and they work into a double down. Black tags in and Marty fights him off and Page tags in. He runs wild, knocking Daniels to the floor and laying into Black with clotheslines. Back in and page hits corner clotheslines on Black and Daniels, the dropsault follows for 2. Black cuts off Page, but flies into a big boot. Page heads up top and Daniels cuts him off. Black heads up with Page and gets tossed off. Page then moonsaults onto both and the lariat gets 2 on Daniels as Black makes the save. Page and Marty take out Daniels on the floor with a superkick and shooting star from the apron. Marty and lack trade pin combos and Marty cradles Black and he’s gone at 18:00. Daniels fires up and attacks both men, but is cut off and double-teamed. Superkicks connect and Marty attacks the hand of Daniels. They ground Daniels and work double teams and then dump him to the floor. Marty whips him to the barricade, and Page does the same. They take time to jaw with the crowd and back in; Marty lays the boots to Daniels. Marty then cradles Page for 2. Page is pissed and Marty begs off. They argue, and that allows Daniels to attack, he whips them together and uranages Marty onto Page. Daniels runs them together and cradles Marty for 2. The blue thunder bomb follows for 2. Marty & Daniels trade, and Page hits Marty with the buckshot lariat and the uranage and BME finishes Page at 23:35. Daniels kicks out of the Marty driver and counters the chicken wing, but Marty hits superkicks and graduation for the win. Marty Scurll defeated Christopher Daniels, Adam Page, Jonathan Gresham, Guerrero Maya Jr, & PJ Black @ 24:40 via pin [***¼] This was an overall fun and good main event. The middle felt a bit flat, but I thought that the Daniels story really held thematic together and created some good drama ahead of the surprise Marty win, which I am cool with and would love to see him eventually get a run with the belt.

– End Scene.

6.9

The final score: review Average

The 411

The 2018 ROH Survival of The Fittest event was a solid and fun show, that gets Marty Scurll back into the ROH Title mix and shifted the trios titles back to the Kingdom. They did a good job of not making the tournament, they also advanced the booking for the Final Battle women’s title match. While far from a must-see show, and it lacked in great wrestling, it was pretty good overall.