Ring of Honor Gateway to Honor
2-29-20
St. Charles, MO
By Dylan Hager
Leap Day Wraslin everybody! Ian and Caprice welcome us to the show. They'll be on commentary tonight.
Villain Enterprises vs Slex and The Briscoes
HUGE match to open the show! With PCO in the main event, we have Marty, Brody, and Flip representing VE. The Villains got off to a hot start, but this match was back and forth from bell to bell. The Briscoes were close to a potential victory, but Slex tagged in and halted momentum. The teamwork of Villain Enterprises proved to be too much as Flip picked up the win over Slex after a springboard spear and the Flip-5. Great match!! Flip and Slex have great chemistry, and I would love to see them go one-on-one again. Winners: Villain Enterprises
Shane Taylor tried to attack Slex after the match again, but Slex was ready for it and escaped before Shane or the SOS could get to him.
Dan Maff vs Alex Shelly
Great battle between two veterans of the sport. Maff was able to use his power to negate Shelly's speed and technical advantage for much of the match. Shelly took advantage of a missed senton. After going for it multiple times, Shelly slammed Maff and followed up with a German suplex and a Sliced Bread for only a two count. Maff came back with a Burning Hammer for the win. Really good match to the surprise of nobody. Great seeing both of these guys back in ROH. Winner: Dan Maff
We go to a PJ Black and Brian Johnson training video.
2 Guys 1 Tag vs The Righteous
Just like last night, 2G1C is attacked before the bell. Vincent and Bateman took out Silas and Woods on the stage, mainly focusing of Young's injured knee. The Righteous worked over Silas for the early portion of the match while Woods was still laid out on the stage. Josh finally made it to the ring and made the tag to swing momentum into his teams favor. Brian Johnson came out and distracted 2G1C, allowing Vincent to hit the Acid Drop on Silas for the win. Decent match. I think it would have been better if Silas was 100%, but it was great for what they were working with. Still think there is potential with this Righteous group. Winner: The Righteous
The Bouncers join commentary for the next match.
Angelina Love vs Session Moth Martina
As always, Mandy Leon accompanied Angelina to the ring. Martina was all about having fun before the bell,but with a little help from Mandy, Angelina controlled the beginning of the match. Mandy distracted the ref from making a three count on a Martina cover, which resulted in Mandy being ejected from ring side. Martina tried to spit beer at Angelina, but Love moved and hit the Botox Kick for the win. Decent match. I enjoyed Savoy vs Angelina from the night before better, but this was still good. Winner: Angelina Love
The Bouncers went to the ring and revived Martina with a beer after the match. Brian is in love with Martina, but Martina seems to be in love with Bruiser.
Jeff Cobb vs Tracy Williams vs Kenny King vs Dalton Castle
Amy Rose and Joe Hendry were at ringside with King and Castle respectfully. Kenny actually dominated this match early. Dalton finally broke through and took out King, bringing the match to the normal four way chaos we're used to. All four men got in their offense. Cobb hit a dive onto all three opponents and Joe Hendry. Dalton picked up the win with a Bang-A-Rang on Hot Sauce. Fun four way. All four men looked good. How can you not love Dalton?! Winner: Dalton Castle
Bully Ray comes out with a microphone. He gets some cheap heat talking about St. Louis football. Bully challenges the ROH locker room, and Caprice leaves commentary and heads to the ring. Caprice says he's going to beat Bully and force him out of ROH.
Bully Ray vs Caprice Coleman
I guess we have a match. Caprice hits a spear at the bell and takes the fight right to Bully. Bully quickly hits a Bully Bomb for the win. Very, very quick match. Winner: Bully Ray
After the match, Bully works over Caprice with a chair until Cheeseburger makes the save. Bully quickly disposes of Burger, but Eli Isom runs down and takes out Bully. Isom takes the chair to Bully and pulls out a table. Bully low blows Eli and powerbombs him through the table. I still enjoy Bully on the mic, but this is essentially the third time they've done this exact same feud. First with Flip, then Haskins, and now Eli. It is kind of getting old at this point.
Brian Zane replaces Caprice at commentary. Title match time!
ROH World Television Title: Dragon Lee (c) vs Dak Draper
Draper earned this shot by winning the 2019 Top Prospect Tournament. After a back and forth start, Draper quickly used his size to gain the advantage. Dak controlled most of the match, but Lee used his speed to counter Dak and gain the advantage. Lee hit a running knee to the back of Draper's head for the win. Kind of sloppy match. Dak has potential, and I think he'll be big for ROH or wherever he ends up, but he still has some work to do. Dragon Lee moves onto the Anniversary ppv to defend against Bandido! Winner: Dragon Lee
Rhett Titus joined commentary for the next match.
Proving Ground Match: Mexisquad vs Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham
It is Bandido and Rey Horus representing Mexisquad. Proving Ground rules means if Mexisquad wins or last the time limit, they will receive a future title shot. The champs continued their shady ways and attacked Mexisquad before the bell. Lethal and Gresham worked over the knee of Bandido before he could tag in Horus. Horus swung momentum into his teams favor. The match would go back-and-forth until Mexisquad had a chance to win off of splashes onto Lethal from both men, but Bandido's knee gave way and the hesitation allowed Lethal to kick out. Lethal locked Bandido in the figure four for the win. Really good match as expected. Mexisquad doesn't have bad matches, and Lethal and Gresham are proving to be great champs. No title shot on the horizon for Mexisquad. Winners: Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham
ROH World Title: PCO (c) vs Mark Haskins vs Rush
Winner of the match becomes World Champ. Whoever does not get beat gets a title shot at the Anniversary ppv. Loser gets nothing. We had a chaotic start with an insane pace right at the opening bell. PCO missed his dive onto the apron (you know the apron is the hardest part of the ring). Haskins went on a run in the middle of the match. He had a great showing in there with the champ and former champ. The challengers tried teaming up, but PCO hit a double clothesline that left all three men laying. PCO chokeslamed Haskins and hit the PCOsault, but Rush pulled the ref out of the ring before the three. With the ref distracted, NWA World Champion Nick Aldis came in and hit PCO with the belt. Rush took advantage and hit PCO with the running knees in the corner for the three count. NEW CHAMP! Kinda short, but very fun main event. It wasn't very long, but the match had a great pace and intensity all the way through. Haskins stood up to Rush after the match, but he was beat down by LFI. Winner: Rush
I really enjoyed this show. ROH has really gotten off to a GREAT start in 2020. I never thought for a minute that they would change the World Title in St. Charles right before a ppv. The opener was really good, the main event was really good, the four way was really good, and I really enjoyed Maff vs Shelly and the Proving Ground match. Coming out of the main event it is important to note that Rush will defend against Haskins at the ppv, and PCO will have his chance to get revenge on Aldis when they meet one-on-one at Supercard of Honor during Mania weekend.
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