Ring Of Honor TV – October 3, 2018: They’re Not That Good
IMG Credit: Ring Of Honor
Ring of Honor
Date: October 3, 2018
Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman
We’re officially past Death Before Dishonor but you wouldn’t know that for a long time around here. Alas we’re stuck with another series of nothing shows that don’t follow up on the pay per view for a few weeks for reasons that even I’m tired of talking about. Hopefully they have something good for tonight, but you never can guess. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening sequence.
Eli Isom vs. Shane Taylor vs. Flip Gordon vs. Chris Sabin
One fall to a finish. Sabin shoulders Flip down to start and it’s time for a very early slugout. A double clothesline gives us a double knockdown and it’s off to Isom vs. Taylor. Eli makes the mistake of going right after him, only to get planted with a spinebuster for two. Sabin and Gordon go after Taylor as well but get choked for their efforts. Some double teaming puts him on the floor though and it’s Flip hitting the big dive onto everyone.
Shane is back up though and hits a Cannonball off the apron to take all three down and take us to a break. Back with Sabin dropkicking Taylor in the corner and flip spearing him through the ropes. One heck of a clothesline drops Gordon so Sabin comes back in with a high crossbody, followed by a missile dropkick. A tornado DDT gets two on Taylor but he slams Sabin out of the corner to get a breather.
Isom comes back in and avoids a charge before getting two off a suplex of all things. Sabin grabs a DDT/Downward Spiral combination for a double knockdown but Taylor is back up to be the monster again. A huge show drops Gordon but Isom rolls Taylor up for the huge upset at 11:31.
Rating: C. There’s nothing wrong with pushing an underdog but I really hope we’re not coming up on Cheeseburger’s replacement with Isom. This is his second big upset win but at least he’s not the smallest guy in the world. Having him pin Taylor is fine, but it doesn’t work as well if they have a singles rematch later. Hopefully they just let Isom get away with it, which is going to do more for him than anything else.
Post match Taylor cleans house until Gordon superkicks him to the floor.
Marty Scurll is ready to face Shane Helms again and wants Shane to be his hero.
TV Title: Aaron Solow vs. Punishment Martinez
Solow won a competition called Dojo Pro to earn this shot and is better known as Bayley’s fiance. A slap to Martinez’s face takes us to the opening bell and Solow has to duck a spinning kick to the head. The chokeslam is escaped twice and a dropkick has Martinez in some trouble. He stomps Solow out of the corner though and it’s time for a trip to the floor for a whip into the barricade.
Back from a break with Solow hitting a kick from the apron and clotheslining Martinez to the floor for the big flip dive. The chokeslam is countered again and the belly to belly (nice touch) into a spinning suplex gets two. Martinez is right back with the running stomp and a South of Heaven chokeslam retains the title at 8:43.
Rating: C+. Not bad at all here with Solow getting to show off a bit. That’s the kind of performance you need to put in when you have an opportunity like this. The match wasn’t exactly in doubt, but Solow looked good and showed off his talents, which is a good sign for his future. Maybe he’ll be back again, which wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
Coast 2 Coast is back next week.
Bully Ray isn’t happy that Silas Young is teaming with the Bouncers because he sees it as a step backwards.
We look at the Kingdom being cheated out of the Six Man Tag Team Titles.
Six Man Tag Team Titles: Cody/Young Bucks vs. Silas Young/Bouncers
Cody, with Brandi and Bernard, and the Bucks are defending. Matt tries his luck with the massive Milonas to start and gets knocked into the corner without much effort. Bruiser comes in to overpower Nick so everything breaks down with the champs triple dropkicking Milonas to the floor. More kicks and dropkicks clear the ring and of course the fans love it. Back in and things settle down with Nick rolling over for the hot tag to Cody but a cheap shot takes him down as well.
Silas hammers away at Cody before handing it off to an already tired Bruiser. Cody sidesteps a charge and Bruiser knocks Bernard over, allowing Milonas to crossbody Cody down for two. Back from a break with Cody powerslamming his way out of trouble and diving over for the hot tag to Nick (which is what he’s best at). Everything breaks down (well duh) and the Bucks clean house, including breaking up a variety of near finishers.
The splash/standing moonsault hits Bruiser for two and Cody dives onto Milonas and Young. Bruiser dives onto the other five, leaving Cody to take a big Trash Compactor for two back inside. That doesn’t bother the Bucks though as they start firing off superkicks, which is enough to have Young walk out. Cross Rhodes to Milonas retains the titles at 15:37.
Rating: C. Cody and the Bucks can only do so much with guys like Milonas and Bruiser, who just aren’t the most versatile people in the world. Young leaving makes perfect sense, especially given him being a bigger star and having more success than the other two put together. It’s fine for a one off main event, but the Bruiser and Milonas need someone smaller to do a big chunk of the matches
Overall Rating: D+. This wasn’t a great show by any means and it gave a good illustration of how these post-pay per view shows aren’t all that interesting. The matches are all standalone and none of them were anything more than a run of the mill showcase. Solow looked good, but I need a little more than Bayley’s fiance turning in a nice performance over the course of an hour.
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