Image provided courtesy of Ring Of Honor.

By Nicholas Jason Lopez

“Notes In Observance” features random thoughts and analysis on television shows. Quick results can be found at the bottom of the post. 

(Aired 3/13/17 On FITE TV) 

Pittsburgh Punishment 

– Alex Shelley was on commentary with Ian Riccaboni as Coast To Coast (LSG/Shaheem Ali) came out to battle ROH World Tag Team Champions, The Young Bucks. Once YB’s music hit, our hopes of anything purposeful for a CTC push went out the window. With a superkick-tastic pre-taped promo from YB as they hyped their encounter against The Hardys at Supercard Of Honor XI on April 1, it was obvious where this one would go. YB broke out their typical aerial antics along with a few moveset references to The Hardys. Good, subtle stuff. LSG did a sweet corkscrew springboard plancha. CTC did get to do their namesake double team, but in the end of things, the superkicks (way over with this crowd) did them in and a springboard 450 splash won it for YB. Post-match, YB did a Twist Of Fate/Swanton Bomb combo on Ali to send a clear message to The Hardys. We also liked that their post-match ambush style fit into their “rebellious” ways.

– Lio Rush stood onstage in a fancy blue blazer to explain his relationship with The Rebellion. He referred to them as children who played games, which drew more “What” chants than anything else. However, he was decent in his promo skill. Kenny King responded as he put himself over with quirky rhymes despite one blunder (said “last night” instead of “last week”) and we rolled our eyes. We also didn’t get the references to cruiserweights and 205 Live, but it happened. Anyways, the two will fight next week, so yeah – that’s happening. At least it worked as a hype attempt.

– Brutal Bob Evans was joined commentary for the match between Curt Stallion “The Lone Stallion” (who had a promo style that one would compare to an irritated yoga instructor – it’s hard to explain, but if you see it, tell us we’re wrong) and Preston Quinn, who had a manager named Andy Vineberg. Vineberg came off like a used car salesman in his brief promo, but we were thrown off at how great Quinn was tone-wise. Then again, Quinn has been in the business for years, so it makes sense. This was another First Round match in the Top Prospect Tournament. For what it was worth, we dug the old-school vibe we got from Quinn. Kudos to Shelley’s commentary as he was keen on the details of Quinn’s destructive strategy. Stallion lifted Quinn up for a power move, which was designed as a hope near-fall. Quinn responded with a piledriver, but missed an elbow drop as a followup. Stallion did a standing diving headbutt to score the win. We liked the hard-fought fashion, but we were more interested in the Quinn/Vineberg duo. Stallion would advance to face Jon Skyler in the next round.

– “The American Nightmare” Cody made his way to the ring and ragged on Jay Lethal for not being there, all in the style of a game show host. He topped it off with a “Lazy Jay” moniker, which led to his introduction of Hangman Page, whom he called “The Youngest Bullet Club Member.” He transitioned the topic into Page’s noose, which he used to sugarcoat his own family’s legacy and laid down the challenge to Lethal for a Texas Bullrope match at SOH XI. Well. Not the stipulation that lights the world on fire, but these two could make it worth it.

– Jay Briscoe cut a promo to hype his rematch next week against Jay White. He questioned who White has beaten and brought up his own undefeated streak when he took on all comers. We’ve gotten this before, but good to shine a light on it once more.

– The Jonathon Gresham-Dalton Castle match was unique, but too short to be relevant. With Castle on the brink of a World Title shot at SOH, it’d make sense for him to win here. Not much to gloss over besides the impactful Bangarang to conclude the match. The Peacock Express rolls on.

– The No Disqualification main event between Punishment Martinez/BJ Whitmer and War Machine had no predicament of identity crisis, as this was set to be a brawl from the get-go. We liked the idea that WM ambushed their opponents before they could even bask in their crimson stage lights. Mark Briscoe joined commentary, because he needed something to do? Didn’t add much to this besides his usual “country hardy har har” stuff. First notable highlight was Hanson’s running dropkick on a seated Martinez at the barricade. Quite artsy. Hanson took a chair to the head thrown by Whitmer. A double-team pop-up powerslam on Martinez for a two. Martinez did the Undertaker-esque Tope Con Hilo over the corner post again – a cool spot for him. The finish involved a Martinez top rope chokeslam on Hanson, so it was a definite statement. Post-match, our dreams came true when Martinez chokeslammed Whitmer to end their alliance. Let’s hope they don’t push out a feud of it. The less kooky Whitmer, the better.

Quick Results 

• The Young Bucks def. Coast To Coast via pinfall 
• ROH 2017 Top Prospect Tournament – First Round – “The Lone Stallion” Curt Stallion def. Preston Quinn (w/Andy Vineberg) via pinfall to advance to next round 
• Dalton Castle (w/The Boys) def. Jonathon Gresham via pinfall 
• No Disqualification – Punishment Martinez/BJ Whitmer def. War Machine via pinfall