ROH TV
Episode 503
Original Air Date: May 7, 2021
Event Date: ?
City: Baltimore, MD
Venue: UMBC Event Center (empty arena)
Commentary: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman, Danhausen (2), Maria Kanellis Bennett (3)
Ring Announcer: Bobby Cruise
Intro Video
Video
Ian Roccaboni welcomes us to the show, announcing that he is replacing Quinn McKay this week since she is wrestling Angelina Love in tonight’s main event.
Match 1
Flip Gordon & EC3 vs The Briscoes
(referee: Joe Mandak)
Result: EC3 pins Mark Briscoe after a falling reverse DDT (and, unknowingly, Flip Gordon hitting Mark with a chain)
Time: 10:24 (with 2 commercial breaks)
Match Thoughts
Very good match. Everyone had respect for each other in this match… except for Flip Gordon. Flip was definitely the odd man out, but the cohesiveness and dominance of the Briscoes as a team seemed to push EC3 more towards Flip in how EC3 approached the match. Gordon used whatever tactics he could to get an advantage, whether it was through skill or more devious means, but EC3 wasn’t like that at first. However, as the Briscoes continued to pile on offense, EC3 started to get more and more aggressive. By the end of the match though, Flip began to hide his tactics even from his partner, and that led to a nicely-done and interesting finish. This was a fun match (and it was announced as the main event, so it sounds like they made a judgment call about the order of matches between taping and airing).
Video
Brian Johnson talks about how divided the country is, and how divided ROH is with everyone joining factions. Standing alone on an island all by himself is Brian Johnson. As an equal-opportunity ass-whipper, Johnson demanded a match with anyone in the ROH locker room as a way to begin to get people to talk about him. It will always be “Mecca versus everybody.”
Ring Area
Brian Johnson waits in the ring to find out who will answer his open challenge. Danhausen comes out to the stage, but since Danhausen has already defeated Johnson, Danhausen has brought a gifthausen tonight. That gift is PCO.
Match 2
Brian Johnson vs PCO
(referee: Joe Mandak)
Result: PCO wins vis submission with the Destro Death Grip (Mandible Claw)
Time: 6:03 (with 1 commercial break)
Match Thoughts
This was fun. PCO was dominant for large portions of the match, but he started to “malfunction” from time to time which led to PCO attacking the ringside crew and Johnson getting chances to mount some comebacks. Johnson’s offense was mostly ineffective, but Johnson was resilient to some of PCO’s stronger attacks. The match was rather silly, but I enjoyed it fine. It’s always fun to see PCO no matter what he does.
Video
Angelina Love is used to people being jealous of her, but she never though the person the most jealous of her in ROH would be a backstage interviewer. Quinn McKay hasn’t done anything in wrestling, and she’s not even a wrestler.
Video
Quinn McKay has wanted to wrestle in ROH for a long time, but she had gotten to a point where she accepted her role as an interviewer. Quinn has a history in roller derby prior to wrestling, so despite her inexperience in a wrestling ring, she knows how to fall down and get back up. McKay respects Love’s accomplishments as a wrestler, but she disapproves of Love’s destructive attitude when it comes to the future of women’s wrestling.
Match 3
Quinn McKay vs Angelina Love w/ Mandy Leon
(referee: Todd Sinclair)
Result: Angelina Love wins via pinfall after the Botox Injection
Time: 8:03 (with 1 commercial break)
Match Thoughts
Very good match. The story for this match has been building for a long time, and that combined with getting to see and get to know Quinn McKay every week helped put a lot of interest in this main event. It was the rookie versus the veteran in a long-simmering grudge match based on a lack of respect. Would McKay get embarrassed yet again, or would she hold her own in the ring against a former world champion? Added to that was the stipulation that if McKay could come away with a victory, she would be added to the upcoming women’s championship tournament. For those reasons and more, this felt like a make-or-break match for Quinn McKay. I’m happy to say, it looks like McKay has a bright future in the ring.
The first half of the match went about like you might expect. McKay looked somewhat confident but also a bit nervous. Love didn’t take McKay seriously, and that led to McKay getting some early advantages with some basic wrestling. As the match went on, Mandy Leon began to make her presence felt more and more with multiple distractions from ringside, and McKay, being relatively inexperienced, tended to take Leon’s bait. That helped Love maintain or regain control of the match. McKay finally unleashed a barrage of offense late in the match, and she looked great doing it. Love’s experience was the biggest factor in the match though, and that led to an unsurprising but still very well done finish. Regardless of the outcome, I can’t imagine that we won’t see more of Quinn McKay the wrestler going forward. If nothing else, she showed a ton of promise, and I’m already fully invested in her story.
Show Impressions
This was a very good show. Two highly entertaining matches to begin and end the night, and a fun segment in the middle.
Match of the Night
Quinn McKay vs Angelina Love
All of the different factors going into this match made this easily the most engaging match for me tonight.