ROH is back with classic matches of the past. This week has a heavy focus on ROH World Champion Rush, along with Hangman Page’s debut for the promotion back in 2013.
We’ll start with ROH Wrestling, episode #454 (here). Rush’s 2019 undefeated streak was profiled with title matches against Matt Taven and Jeff Cobb. This is a good taste to see why Rush is championship material and worthy of being the face of a company.
The opening match for the episode was Rush battling Matt Taven for the ROH World Championship at Death Before Dishonor. Taven hit the first major maneuver with a front suplex off the apron to drop Rush down to the floor. Rush would repay Taven with a suplex on the floor, bash him with a section of guardrail, and a suplex onto the commentary table. The two battled back and forth with big moves. For the finish, Rush pushed Taven into the ring post. Taven was caught in a tree of woe, so Rush went for a shotgun dropkick. Rush ended the bout via Bull’s Horns running dropkick in the corner to win the title. He celebrated in the ring with his father (Bestia del Ring), brother (Dragon Lee), and son.
Rush was put to work with big challenges when defending the world title. He went up against Jeff Cobb at Honor United in the UK. Cobb used a German suplex on the floor to take control and slow the pace. Rush turned it around on a shotgun dropkick. Highlights include a furious exchange of chops leading to a Mexican Destroyer by Rush, a deadlift superplex from Cobb, a standing moonsault by Cobb, and a superplex from Rush. In the end, Cobb surprised Rush with a spear on a Bull’s Horns attempt. Rush came back with a superkick then a German suplex. He hit two consecutive Bull’s Horns to put down Cobb for the 1, 2, 3 and retain the strap.
The show closed with highlights of Rush dropping the belt to PCO at Final Battle, the introduction of a new Los Ingobernables stable to battle Villain Enterprises, and Rush regaining gold in a three-way against PCO and Mark Haskins at Glory by Honor ‘20. Rush had a message that when the quarantine ends, he will come out charging like a bull against whoever ROH puts against him.
ROH also profiled Rush’s most dominant wins in The Honor List.
7. Mark Haskins (Mar. 16, 2019)
6. Flip Gordon (June 28, 2019)
5. Dalton Castle (Aug. 9, 2019)
4. Bandido (Mar. 15, 2019)
3. Mark Haskins & PCO to win World Championship (Feb. 29, 2020)
2. Matt Taven to win World Championship (Sep. 27, 2019)
1. Dalton Castle in 16 seconds (Apr. 6, 2019)
Rush’s three-way against Mark Haskins and PCO shouldn’t be considered a dominant win. He received an unplanned assist from an invading Nick Aldis. Other than that, it is a solid list to showcase Rush’s success. The top move of the video was Rush catching Bandido’s flying hurricanrana to powerbomb him through a table. Powerful and vicious. Rush is known for his humorous displays of disrespect, and I got the biggest chuckle out of him pulling the referee out of the ring then pointing to an unassuming girl for the blame.
Want more Rush? You got it. Enjoy his lucha libre style against fellow CMLL talent Barbaro Cavernario from ROH Global Wars Espectacular. Cavernario is a skilled luchador to acquaint yourself with. If he ever comes stateside for extended work, he should be scooped up quickly by one of the major wrestling promotions. Also to note, I’m 99% sure Rush is closer to 6 feet than the advertised 6’5” on the tale of the tape graphic.
The blast from the past this week is Hangman Page’s televised ROH debut. He wrestled Silas Young in the 2013 Prospect Tournament. This match occurred before the Hangman nickname was born. Page’s mode of transportation looked more like it would be a tractor rather than a horse. Even though Page was only 21 years old at the time, he still had enough skill to execute his signature running moonsault off the apron.
Other matches posted this week on ROH’s YouTube channel include:
- Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt, Caprice Coleman, Chris Sabin, Slyck Wagner Brown, and Jack Evans in the first-ever 6-Man Mayhem Match (here)
- Caprice Coleman provided commentary for his first ROH match (here)
We’ll close with PJ Black discussing his love of skydiving.
What do you think Rush’s ceiling can be in American professional wrestling? Could you see Hangman Page’s star qualities back in his ROH debut?