Ring Of Honor held their Survival of the Fittest Weekender in Hopkins, Minnesota, the 2 night tournament to find a new #1 contender for Jay Lethals ROH Championship.
Night 1 Results
1. Christopher Daniels beat Mark Briscoe, Hanson, and Kenny King in a Survival of the Fittest qualifying match.
2. Roderick Strong beat Cedric Alexander in a Survival of the Fittest qualifying match.
3. Silas Young beat Dalton Castle and Adam Page in a Survival of the Fittest qualifying match. Young won after interference from the Beer City Bruiser.
4. Matt Taven and Michael Bennett (w/Maria) beat Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly to retain the ROH Tag Titles after interference from Adam Cole.
The masked Mr. Wrestling 3 (aka Steve Corino) sat in on commentary for the second half of the show.
5. Jay Briscoe beat Rhett Titus, Ray Rowe, and Frankie Kazarian in a Survival of the Fittest qualifying match.
6. “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin beat Adam Cole and Moose in a Survival of the Fittest qualifying match. Elgin won after interference from Kyle O’Reilly.
7. ACH beat Matt Sydal in a Survival of the Fittest qualifying match to win the best of five series.
8. AJ Styles and the Young Bucks beat the Jay Lethal, J Diesel, and Donovan Dijak when AJ Styles pinned Jay Lethal.
Night 2 Results
1. Cedric Alexander pinned Will Ferrara. Fairly even match until Cedric dragon screw leg whipped Ferrara’s leg between the ropes. Cedric worked the leg and hit several running corner kicks. Will tried to fight back but fell victim to the Lumbar Check and was pinned.
It was announced that ROH TV Champion Roderick Strong suffered a concussion the previous night in Milwaukee and could not complete in the SOTF final. He came out and vowed to get a ROH Title shot.
BJ Whitmer and Adam Page came out to confront Mr Wrestling 3. BJ said he’d hold the show hostage until Wrestling 3 unmasked. BJ got in ref Todd Sinclair’s face and Sinclair ejected BJ from the building, leaving Page to fend for himself.
2. Dalton Castle beat Adam Page. BJ Whitmer ran back to ringside to attack Mr Wrestling 3 and distracted Page. Castle then used a spinning facebuster to pin Page.
3. Mark Briscoe pinned Frankie Kazarian. Kaz went up top for the Flux Capacitor, but Briscoe shoved him off and hit the Froggy Bow for the win. Good match.
4. Adam Cole, Matt Taven, Michael Bennett (w/Maria) beat Moose (w/Stokeley Hathaway), Ray Rowe, and Hanson. Taven took out Moose then the Kingdom hit another triple superkick on Rowe. Cole brainbusted Rowe over his knee then the ROH Tag Champs finished off Rowe with a spike pile driver.
Intermission
5. Joey “Diesel” Dadiego (w/Truth Martini, Taeler Hendrix) beat Cheeseburger. J Diesel hit a modified Death Valley Driver to win.
6. The Young Bucks beat Kenny King and Rhett Titus. Too many double team moves to count as The Bucks superkicked ANX before the bell. ANX nail Matt with the One Night Stand, but the ref was out. The Bucks recovered, disposed of King, and eventually downed Titus with the Meltzer Driver for the win.
7. AJ Styles pinned Matt Sydal. Classic match. Very even match that had Sydal fighting off both the Styles Clash and Bloody Sunday and hit the Slice for two. After exchanges by both men, Sydal missed a shooting star press. Styles hit a Pele kick, Bloody Sunday, the Hollow Point, then finally the Styles Clash to win. Great stuff.
Afterward,the crowd chanted “Next World champ” at Styles. He responded “You’re damn right I am.”
8. Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly beat ROH World Champion Jay Lethal and Donovan Dijak (w/Truth Martini, Taeler Hendrix).
reDDragon rallied to eliminate Lethal from the ring and floor Dijak with Chasing The Dragon to win.9. Michael Elgin beat Jay Briscoe, ACH, Silas Young, and Christopher Daniels to win Survival Of The Fittest 2015. Silas Young eliminated by ACH via German suplex pin after Young collided with Daniels. Daniels put Elgin and Briscoe through a table. ACH hit a 450 on Daniels but Kazarian distracted the ref. Sydal came out to brawl with Kaz. Daniels hit a low blow and the Best Moonsault Ever to eliminate ACH. Daniels managed to hit Angel’s Wings on Elgin, but he failed to land the BME and got kicked in the face by Elgin. A waiting Briscoe leveled Daniels with the Jay Driller to eliminate him. The match came down to Briscoe and Elgin. Some jackass started chanting “Elgin’s boring.” Elgin powerbombed Jay into the barricade. Elgin performed a Buckle Bomb, but the Spiral Bomb was countered into a Jay Driller for a very near fall. Briscoe tried another Jay Driller but Elgin countered with a Buckle Bomb and the Spiral Bomb for a near fall. Elgin then put Jay on the top rope, put him across his shoulders, and used a Burning Hammer to win. After the match, Elgin praised Jay and shook his hand. Elgin, who earned a title shot by winning Survival Of The Fittest 2015, said he’d face Jay Lethal in Japan for the ROH Title.