Ring of Honor – August 19, 2015: More Bang For Your Witty Jokes

Ring of Honor
Date: August 19, 2015
Location: William J. Myers Pavilion, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Kevin Kelly

We’re getting closer to All-Star Extravaganza and the big story continues to be the tag team division. Last week saw several teams fighting each other for the belts, which could lead to some very good matches for the titles in the future. On top of that we have Jay Lethal getting ready to defend both his titles so expect to see quite a bit of him in the near future. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

McGuinness is in King Corino’s place due to Corino going nuts over BJ Whitmer last week.

Silas Young vs. Dalton Castle

This feud continues and that’s not a bad thing. Castle does his posing but runs straight at Young in the corner for some forearms to the face. He rams Young’s face into the mat as you can feel the charisma melting off of Castle. Fans: “FAN UP!” A rollup gets two for Dalton and he muscles Young over for a suplex. The boys fan Young on the floor and that’s just not cool with him. Castle uses the distraction to go after him again but gets sent hard into the barricade as we go to a break.

Back with Silas getting the better of a slugout (shocking I know) but the boys get on the apron to fan things off again. The distraction doesn’t work so well this time as Young comes back with a middle rope clothesline. Dalton shows off some surprising power by lifting him up like a spinebuster and charging to the ropes, dropping both guys out to the floor. A hurricanrana drops Young again and a spinout Rock Bottom gets two. Young grabs the Killer Combo (a backbreaker into a mat slam) but the boys offer yet another distraction, allowing Castle to catch Young in the Bang A Rang (reverse helicopter bomb) for the pin at 10:40.

Rating: C+. I liked this better than I was expecting to as Castle’s charisma actually has some wrestling skills behind it. Young is good as a midcard heel and Castle is a perfect foil for him, so the chemistry and idea here worked quite well. Good stuff here, but I’m not sure how far Castle can go up the card.

Post match Young rants about Castle’s lifestyle with the boys (who are adult men) and how he’s corrupting them. Silas wants one more match but with the boys on the line so he can turn them into men.

Bobby Fish thinks he can win the TV Title. Jay Lethal comes in and says Fish has no chance, meaning some shouting ensues.

Will Ferrara vs. Moose

Prince Nana is on commentary. Ferrara looks tiny compared to the giant Moose. Moose shows off some agility by dropkicking Ferrara off the top and out to the floor. Now we go with the power as Moose picks Ferrara up and slings him from one side of the barricade to the other. Well that’s one way to hurt somebody.

Back in and Will grabs a DDT to send Moose outside. Ferrara loads up a suicide dive but gets caught in midair, only to keep moving and DDT Moose onto the floor for a pretty sweet counter. They head inside again with Moose running up the corner, stumbling a bit, and superplexing Will down. The spear gives Moose the pin at 3:25.

Rating: C. This was another match that surprised me as they had what looked one sided and managed to turn it into something good. Ferrara is better than his size would suggest and he had some good stuff here, while Moose looks like the complete (yet still mostly green) package. Another nice surprise here.

Adam Cole can’t believe that Future Shock is getting a Tag Team Title match next week, but he also can’t believe that his friends in the Kingdom don’t believe in him anymore. It’s not what he brings to the table because he brings the entire table. So he’s the lost Dudley?

Roppongi Vice vs. Young Bucks

Baretta and Rocky Romero (Vice) are the only ones willing to shake hands and it’s with each other. Nick and Baretta get things going but the threat of a superkick puts Baretta into the corner for some safety. It’s off to Matt vs. Rocky as their partners fight on the floor. The Bucks try the Meltzer Driver but Rocky breaks it up, only to have Nick hit a big flip dive to take out everyone on the floor.

Back from a break with Matt hitting a running neckbreaker on Rocky but the cover doesn’t count because he’s not legal. Baretta breaks up a cartwheel splash into the corner to take out his partner and everything heads outside. The crowd is oddly silent for this part. Back in and Romero mocks the cartwheel and rapid fire superkicks before Vice settles in for some double teaming on Matt. Baretta takes too long posing though and eats a superkick from Nick.

Rocky gets one as well and the tag brings Nick in to dropkick Baretta off the apron. The Bucks speed things up and hit their stereo dives to the floor. The double superkick misses though and Rocky hurricanranas both down at the same time. Back from a second break with Baretta throwing Nick’s foot into Matt’s face and tornado DDTing Matt for no cover. The Bucks fire off their kicks but Rocky scores with some hard clotheslines to put everyone down in a very fast sequence.

Matt is taken to the floor for a Doomsday knee to the face before a Shining Wizard gets two on Nick. A double knee puts Nick down again but Matt comes back in with a superkick, allowing Nick to come back with something like a Canadian Destroyer. Nick’s springboard 450 gets two on Romero and it’s time for all the superkicks. Baretta is taken out on the floor and More Bang For Your Buck ends Rocky at 20:10.

Rating: B-. Fun match but again, I’m not a fan of the Bucks’ video game style. I’m not going to bother ranting about it again here, but there’s just not much in there I’m going to care about with them. On top of that, I’m not interested in what’s going on in New Japan. I know these two are in warring stables over there, but this is Ring of Honor, not New Japan. Save that stuff for the big shows, not a regular TV show. And yes, I’m aware I’ll likely be told I don’t get something.

Post match the Addiction and Chris Sabin clean house. I know they’re another stable, because Heaven forbid there aren’t a half dozen of them in a promotion that has an hour of TV a week. Nick gets hit with a spike tombstone, called the Indytaker. My how clever. The Addiction and Sabin stand tall to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. I had a good time for this show, various overly smarky and flippy based main event match and story aside. The stories are making more sense now and their pacing is mostly fine, but I wouldn’t have twenty minute main events on a show that only runs an hour. Still though, good enough show this week which could still use some adjustments.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of NXT Reviews: The Full Sail Years Volume I at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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