ROH Episode #388 (Review)

Life Blood (Juice Robinson, Tracy Williams, David Finley, Mark Haskins, and Bandido) vs. Team Lethal (Jay Lethal, Dalton Castle, Jeff Cobb, Flip Gordon, and Jonathan Gresham)

This match started off with all 10 guys getting their own individual entrance.  It was clear from the beginning this match was intended to be a showcase of the 10 guys in the ring.  It was as though ROH was telling it’s audience, “We’re going to be okay after all those AEW guys left. Here’s 10 guys we still have to build around.”  Whether they have the star power to truly fill the hole is yet to be seen.

This match did start off feeling more like a televised house show match than an intense match to prove who’s the best.  Jay Lethal and Juice started us off in the ring.  After a bit of back and forth, Dalton Castle, with the crowd fired up, got in the ring.  I believe ROH thought the crowd would be excited to see the flamboyant duo in the ring together.  However, the Atlanta audience had a different opinion.  They wanted Bandido in the ring badly.  They had to wait.

Dalton and Juice traded reversals and counters for a few minutes, highlighted by the Boys mimicking each move on the outside.  Eventually, Tracy Williams entered the ring who begged for Gresham to get in.  The two men put on a great display of technical wrestling before another man tagged in.  This was the story for a bit.  Haskins got in and wanted Cobb.  Finally, the last two guys to tag in were Bandido and Gordon.

They had what has become to be a fairly expected anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better-lucha-flippy-do sequence in the ring.  While we’ve seen these before between guys like Ricochet and Ospreay, this one was still quite impressive.  Say what you will about these two guys, but one thing that cannot be argued is their athletic ability.  Finally, in the last few minutes, the showcase portion stopped and the intensity picked up.  Bandido and Gordon both hit super impressive dives to the outside.  Cobb showed off his power and athleticism.  Haskins got to shine as an intense wrestler.  The final part of the match came when Dalton Castle looked to hit the bang-a-rang on Haskins.  Somehow, he reversed this into a sharp shooter.  Castle tapped for the win.

After the match, nine of the 10 men shook hands.  Castle was nowhere to be found.  ROH has been teasing a heel turn for Castle.  This just furthers the speculation for the “Peacock” to finally snap.

• Lethal
• Life Blood
• review
• ROH

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