ROH Wrestling recap: Los Ingobernables and The Foundation go to war

Episode 496 of ROH Wrestling featured Eli Isom scoring an impressive upset and Los Ingobernables clashing with the Foundation in an 8-man tag bout heading into the 19th Anniversary PPV.

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 Television and Tag Team divisions.

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

Kenny King was bounced from #2 after losing to Deppen, who subsequently made the move to #2 from #4. Flamita entered the top 5 with a win over Flip Gordon last week.

ROH World Tag Team Championship
5. The Righteous (Vincent & Bateman)
4. SOS (Moses & Kaun)
3. The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett)
2. Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham
1. Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus
Champs: Dragon Lee & Kenny King

Williams & Titus popped to #1 from #3 by winning a bonus three-way against SOS and the Bouncers on ROH Week by Week (starting at 27:25). The Bouncers were in control when Beer City Bruiser lit a cigar to burn Titus. Brian Milonas wasn’t about that action, so Bruiser left him high and dry. The Foundation took advantage to beat down Milonas. Titus exploded for an impressive belly-to-belly suplex. Titus took out SOS with an outside cannonball. Williams connected on a flying senton to Milonas. The hefty fellow kicked out on the cover, so Williams submitted him with a crossface.

Time to hit the weekly ROH broadcast.

Quinn McKay opened the show setting up interviews with Eli Isom and Rey Horus. Isom has worked hard to be in his spot. He continues fighting during his wrestling voyage to honor his mother. Isom aims to prove he can hang with the best. His climb starts with Horus. The luchador spoke about using his close loss to Dragon Lee for the TV title as a learning experience to grow. Isom may be the future, but Horus is the now. He will show Isom who is better.

Eli Isom vs Rey Horus

After a feeling out process, Horus hit the first big move by leaping over the ring post to crash onto Isom on the floor.

Back in the ring, Horus stifled Isom’s comeback with a standing Spanish Fly. The story was Isom making youthful mistakes and Horus capitalizing with his experience. In the end, it was Isom who has able to capitalize on a mistake. Isom blocked a tornado DDT to counter with a brainbuster. Surprisingly, that ended the match at 8:01 with Isom as the victor.

A mini vignette teased the return of violence to ROH.

Hype pieces played for Matt Taven versus Vincent and Jay Briscoe versus EC3 at the 19th Anniversary on March 26.

Los Ingobernables are the past, present, and future. They have so much gold that they will humiliate the Foundation.

With the 19th Anniversary around the corner, the Foundation is ready to go to war with Los Ingobernables. Tracy Williams can get behind the message of being ungovernable, because that is the only way to take power. What you do with that power is important. Los Ingobernables stand in their way of restoring honor to ROH.

Los Ingobernables vs the Foundation

8-man action between Rush, Dragon Lee, Kenny King & Bestia del Ring and Jonathan Gresham, Jay Lethal, Tracy Williams, & Rhett Titus. Amy Rose was on commentary.

The Foundation lost their cool early playing into the rudo tactics of Los Ingobernables. The Foundation rebounded by playing to their strengths in technical wrestling. That forced Los Ingobernables to resort to what they do best, which is making it an ugly brawl.

Back in the ring, Los Ingobernables picked apart the Foundation one at a time with 4-on-1 attacks. Gresham was able to turn the tide by rallying long enough for his teammates to get refreshed. That’s when the match broke down into chaotic moves. Hot tag to Williams for a piledriver to Bestia. Lee made the save then hit a German suplex on Titus. Williams pounced for a Spicolli driver to Lee. Rush took out Williams with a big punch. Lethal struck with a handspring cutter to Rush. King flattened Lethal with a blue thunder bomb. Gresham wiped out a bunch of wrestlers with a flying cannonball to the outside.

In the end, King was able to pull Williams’ throat down across the ropes. Bestia was ready and waiting for a piledriver to pin Williams at 18:50. Los Ingobernables stood tall heading into the 19th Anniversary PPV.

The show closed with a quick promo from Lethal. He will make things right by winning the ROH World Championship from Rush at the 19th Anniversary show on Friday, March 26.

The main event was everything I hoped for in the first major fight between Los Ingobernables and the Foundation. The hectic pace wasn’t just mindless action. There were bits of strategy involved by each team trying to wrestle the style that favors them. Most of all, I loved the intensity from all the participants. They made it feel like a very big deal. I’m a fan of classic Survivor Series matches, so I’d be delighted if ROH booked an 8-man elimination contest down the line.

Eli Isom surprised me with his upset win over Rey Horus. The match was unfolding with Horus in control as the veteran. All of a sudden, bing, bang, boom, brainbuster. Horus was coming in hot with momentum. That steam should now transfer over to Isom to rise up the TV title rankings. He would be a suitable championship challenger to put on an entertaining bout for the weekly broadcast.

Share your thoughts about episode 496 of ROH Wrestling. Which wrestler had the standout performance?