ROH TV
Episode 481
#ROH
Original Air Date: December 4, 2020
Event Date: ?
City: Baltimore, MD
Venue: UMBC Event Center (empty arena)
Commentary: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman, Flip Gordon (2)
Ring Announcer: Bobby Cruise
Pure Rules Judges: Will Ferrara, Sumie Sakai, Gary Juster
Intro Video
Video
Quinn McKay welcomes us to the show and goes over tonight’s matches.
Backstage
After his match last week, Brody King said he’s going after Rush and the ROH World Title at Final Battle.
Backstage
After his match last week, Josh Woods said that even though he didn’t win the Pure Tournament, his path of helping to reshape the foundation of ROH is not over.
Video
A look at the rivalry between Mike Bennett and Vincent. Bennett is pissed off and motivated by Vincent and his betrayals.
Match 1
Vincent vs Mike Bennett
(referee: Joe Mandak)
Result: Mike Bennett wins via DQ when Vincent won’t stop attacking Bennett in the corner
Time: 11:34 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Good match. This story with Bennett, Vincent, and Taven feels like it’s still in its early stages, so I didn’t expect a whole lot from this match. Even so, I did enjoy this fight. The finish was based more in story than in competition, but the action leading up to the finish was entertaining. Bennett is definitely the more angry and emotional person in the ring, and that caused him some problems initially. Vincent took advantage of some of Bennett’s carelessness, but Bennett’s anger pushed him to start taking over the match fairly quickly. Most of the fight from that point on had Bennett in control, but Vincent had some effective counters and holds every now and then that completely stopped Bennett’s momentum. This was a nice match as a way to build to something bigger, because it really did make me want to see more while still delivering solid action right now.
Ring Area
After the match, Vincent slams Bennett into the ringside barricade. Vincent laughs as the show goes to a commercial break.
When we return from the break, we see that Vincent has continued his attack on Bennett throughout the commercials. Back to live action, Vincent sets Bennett up on the steps leading up to the stage. Vincent prepares to do something terrible, but Matt Taven appears and leaps off the stage onto Vincent. As Taven beats up Vincent, Bateman runs out and attacks Taven. Security rushes out to separate everyone.
Video
Rhett Titus is one of the best pure athletes in wrestling, but he has been overlooked and undervalued for fifteen years. It’s time his hard work is rewarded. Rhett Titus is The Foundation.
Backstage
Mark Briscoe has found a new tag team partner while his brother Jay is concerned with other things. His parter, his own personal monster, is PCO, and they’re coming for the ROH World Tag Team Titles.
Video
Tracy Williams says he didn’t win the Pure Tournament, but he did further his bond with Jonathan Gresham and The Foundation. He also talks about John Walters, saying many people might have forgotten about Walters, but Williams hasn’t forgotten.
Video
John Walters talks about winning the ROH Pure Title in 2004. Now he’s back in ROH because the Pure Title is back.
Match 2
Pure Rules Match
John Walters vs “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams
(referee: Todd Sinclair)
Result: Tracy Williams wins via pinfall after a piledriver
Time: 11:41 (1 break)
Match Thoughts
Great match. Once again, Tracy Williams wrestled a very smart match within the Pure rules. This was a very technical match from both men, but Williams was able to force Watlers to use all three of his rope breaks before the final part of the match. But even though Walters might have been down on points if the match had gone to a decision, he was still doing a good amount of damage to Williams, especially to his leg. Because of Walters’ strength on the mat, Williams changed up his attacks a bit late in the match. Williams drew Walters into a corner where Williams unleashed a quick combination of moves that had a devastating effect. Williams often talks about how a pure wrestler has to change up strategy on the fly depending on how a match is going, and that’s just what he did here tonight. I enjoyed this quite a lot.
Show Impressions
This was another good episode. I think the grudge match between Bennett and Vincent was solid, and it got me a little interested in the story even though my interest in their story as a while isn’t very high. The Pure Division was once again a standout of the night though.
Match of the Night
John Walters vs Tracy Williams
Great action, and a great way to re-introduce someone like Williams to the current ROH.
Official Results: https://www.rohwrestling.com/news/roh-tv-recap-tracy-williams-bests-former-pure-champion-john-walters-mike-bennett-beats-vincent