ROH Wrestling recap: Mark Briscoe gets payback on Flip Gordon

Episode 495 of ROH Wrestling featured Dak Draper rising high in the Pure division, Brody King returning only to get annihilated by Los Ingobernables, and Mark Briscoe getting payback on Flip Gordon.

Check for ROH channel listings in your area. Watch the episode on ROH Honor Club (here) or Fite TV (here) released on Mondays.

Before getting into the recap, let’s start with a rankings update from ROH Week by Week. Quinn McKay revealed the new top 5 for the World, Pure, and Television divisions.

ROH World Championship
5. Jay Briscoe
4. Shane Taylor
3. Matt Taven
2. Brody King
1. Jay Lethal
Champ: Rush

Lethal moved to the top from #3 after winning a #1 contender match against Taven, Briscoe, and EC3 last week. Lethal will get his shot at Rush at the 19th Anniversary show on March 26.

ROH Pure Championship
5. Dalton Castle
4. Wheeler Yuta
3. Rhett Titus
2. Josh Woods
1. Dak Draper
Champ: Jonathan Gresham

Castle’s crafty victory over Woods last week put him back in the mix. Woods dropped to #2 with the loss, which means Draper is the new #1.

ROH World Television Championship
5. Bandido
4. Tony Deppen
3. LSG
2. Kenny King
1. Tracy Williams
Champ: Dragon Lee

Brian Johnson got the boot out from #3 after failing in his title shot against Dragon Lee. LSG and Tony Deppen move up one spot accordingly, and Bandido joined the mix at #5.

Time to hit the weekly ROH broadcast.

The show opened with Quinn McKay recapping last week’s matches and backstage interviews with the winners. Jay Lethal had tunnel vision to the win the #1 contender four-way. That win sets up the Foundation to purify ROH, but they will need all the titles to achieve that goal. Lethal will wrestler Rush for the ROH World Championship at the 19th Anniversary on March 26.

Dak Draper is a heralded standout, and his first taste of success went straight to his head. That’s not a bad thing though. Success is what Draper thrives on. No amount of success will be enough for him.

Fred Yehi needs the win against Draper to solidify his position in ROH. If Yehi doesn’t win, then he won’t eat. The savageweight is hungry.

Dak Draper vs Fred Yehi

Pure rules with a 15-minute time limit, but no rope breaks were utilized in the contest. Yehi had the technique advantage, while Draper had a strategy based on using his height advantage.

After an exchange of roll-ups, Draper came out on top for a powerslam. Yehi rallied with strikes to turn the tide, but Draper clocked him with a closed-fist punch. The referee gave an official warning, however, the damage was already done. Yehi was woozy, and Draper attacked with a big boot, back elbow, and fireman’s carry front slam for victory at 11:17.

Tony Deppen needs to beat Kenny King in order to earn a TV title rematch with Dragon Lee, but he will have to watch his back from interference by Los Ingobernables.

King was flowing with rhymes. Deppen stepped in dangerous waters. If Deppen is stupid enough to step in that ring, then that is where he’ll get left in.

Kenny King vs Tony Deppen

Amy Rose, Dragon Lee, and Bestia del Ring were ringside. King offered a Code of Honor handshake as a trick to blast Deppen with a forearm. King dominated much of the bout after that cheap shot. The story was Deppen repeatedly escaping King’s Royal Flush finisher.

King had Deppen down and out after a chin checker and a tiger driver. 1, 2, King lifted Deppen up because he wasn’t done teaching him a lesson. King wanted to humiliate Deppen. King wasted time with trash talk. As he went for Royal Flush, Deppen escaped for an inside cradle roll-up to win.

Bestia immediately stormed the ring to stomp Deppen. King finally hit Royal Flush. Lee executed his running knee finisher, and Bestia clobbered Deppen with a piledriver. Brody King ran in to clear the ring. Rush came out as well, but Brody got the better of him on a sidewalk slam. The numbers game took its toll for Los Ingobernables to pummel Brody. Bestia had the last laugh with a flying senton onto Brody through a table.

Flip Gordon was angry about being suspended from the Pure division. He’s also angry about not getting his title shot at the World Championship that he is owed. Gordon will play ROH’s games, but he better get that title shot after he beats the hell out of Flamita.

Flamita hasn’t forgotten Gordon trying to take his mask in the past. Gordon has a dark side, but Flamita has rudo blood. The luchador will prove he is better than the mercenary.

Flip Gordon vs Flamita

The action spilled to floor as Gordon ducked a sliding dropkick to ram Flamita into the guardrail. Gordon flattened Flamita with a superkick. Back in the ring, Flamita struck with a back elbow. Gordon tried the same tactic on the floor, but Flamita adapted to hit a superkick of his own. The luchador then flew for a moonsault.

The match progressed with Gordon getting the edge until Flamita surprised him with a poison rana. Both men took their time regaining their wits before throwing blows in a striking exchange. Flamita unloaded a superkick then a frog splash. Gordon kicked out on the cover.

Gordon caught a 619 to hoist Flamita onto his shoulders. Someone slid a chair into the ring to distract the referee. As Flamita escaped and forced Gordon into the ropes, Mark Briscoe popped up to hit Gordon with a different chair. That was payback for Gordon interfering in the Briscoes’ match a few weeks back. Flamita pounced for a high stack pin to win.

Gordon was furious and stomped Flamita to rip his mask off.

Bandido and Rey Horus made the save to protect their MexiSquad teammate.

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This episode offered solid action with funny business finishes across the board. Dak Draper’s closed-fist punch was savvy and shows how Pure rules have a flaw in manipulation. ROH should consider upping the penalty to an immediate lose of one rope break instead of just a warning. Draper chose to break the rules on purpose with no downside and pure benefit. Yehi was knocked silly, so it was easier for Draper to execute his finishing flurry.

Kenny King got his comeuppance for being a blowhard in defeat to Tony Deppen. King outclassed Deppen for much of the contest. Deppen showed heart, but he didn’t do enough to excite me for a TV title rematch against Dragon Lee.

Brody King’s return was surprising. The subsequent beatdown from Los Ingobernables was not. King has stated that he is looking for a crew. Deppen would be a good fit with him. Both have a hard rock style.

Flip Gordon and Flamita were in the midst of a dandy before Mark Briscoe interfered. Normally, I would be annoyed at Briscoe for ruining an exciting contest, however, I can’t help but laugh at his sly stratagem and huge grin when exiting. It is nice to see the callback to Gordon’s previous interference to keep both of these men busy as they wait for opportunity while other stories play out.

We’ll close with bonus material. In honor of the upcoming 19th Anniversary show on March 26, ROH released a special 19 Amazing Years, 19 Amazing Matches video on YouTube featuring one amazing match for each year. That sucker is over 9 hours long, so be sure to clear your day when digging in.

Also on the video tip, Joseph Montecillo looked back the ROH feud between Samoa Joe and Nigel McGuinness.

ROH Week by Week featured a bonus three-way (at 19:58) in the TV division between LSG, Tracy Williams, and Bandido. LSG surprised the luchador with the Starjammer powerbomb for the first elimination. Williams used a crossface submission to eliminate LSG and win the match.

Share your thoughts about episode 495 of ROH Wrestling. Which wrestler had the standout performance?

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