Ring of Honor TV – September 27, 2017: It’s Time to Rumble in an Honorable Fashion
Ring of Honor
Date: September 27, 2017
Location: Center Stage, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, BJ Whitmer
Dang it we’re at a post-pay per view show and that could mean absolutely anything. Well almost anything as it certainly won’t mean anything about the pay per view itself. Hopefully they keep this part of the schedule short and don’t spend weeks before we get back to the important stuff. Let’s get to it.
QT Marshall vs. Josh Woods
This is fallout from Marshall paying Shane Taylor to attack Woods. Yeah I don’t remember it either. Marshall is billed as God’s Gift so he comes out of a big gift box. An early armbar has Marshall in trouble but he rolls outside, only to have Woods run him over again. Woods runs over a security guard by mistake but just shrugs it off, as he should. A running knee staggers Marshall again but Woods can’t suplex him off the apron. You know, because it would kill him.
Marshall suplexes him onto the apron and we take a break. Back with Woods firing off some shots in the corner but charging into a superkick. Something like an AA into the corner drops Marshall again and a running knee gets two. Marshall gets in a powerbomb but Woods slaps on a triangle choke. That goes nowhere so Woods grabs the kneebar for the tap at 9:36.
Rating: C. As usual, Woods looked like a star who could go somewhere with some more polish. This was a good performance that showed his versatility, which is more than you get from a lot of people around here. Marshall didn’t show me much and was little more than a guy in trunks.
It’s time for Coleman’s Pulpit, with Mark Briscoe (in a tie over his Briscoe Brothers t-shirt) as his guest. Mark doesn’t want to talk about what’s wrong with his brother Jay, but Coleman suggests that the team is over. That’s not cool with Mark, but he does think Jay needs an attitude adjustment. They briefly touch on Jay turning heel at Death Before Dishonor, of course without actually saying what happened. Anyway, Mark says the team isn’t going anywhere.
Video on the War of the Worlds: UK show, which really wasn’t anything special.
Honor Rumble
This is basically a twenty man Royal Rumble with the winner getting a World Title shot at some point in the future. Cody comes out for commentary and Ian mentions that he retained at Death Before Dishonor. Jay White is in at #1 and Sho is in at #2 and will fight for two minutes, though the rest of the intervals will only be one minute.
Sho bows at him to start and even kisses White’s boots. White doesn’t seem to approve of it (jerk) and tries to toss him but settles for a good looking dropkick. That goes nowhere though and it’s Punishment Martinez in at #3. Martinez starts cleaning house but misses a charge in the corner as Jonathan Gresham is in at #4. Rhett Titus is in at #5 as Sho is eliminated. Titus starts to clean house but runs into Martinez, who would rather choke White instead. Frankie Kazarian is in at #6 to what Cody calls a nostalgia pop.
Back from a break with Alex Shelley in at #9, seemingly following Yo and Will Ferrara in some order. Gresham and White are eliminated and it’s Silas Young, the defending winner, in at #10 to eliminate Ferrara. Everyone gets together to eliminate Martinez and it’s Sal Rinauro, who was half of the Tag Team Champions over a decade ago, at #11. Shane Taylor is in at #12 to eliminate Young and Shelley with no effort. Rinauro is gone as well, followed by Yo with little effort. That leaves us with Taylor and Kazarian but Cody hops the barricade to pay Taylor off.
Flip Gordon is in at #13 and he goes right for Taylor. That’s about as successful as you would expect but he skins the cat to stave off elimination. Jay Lethal is in at #14 and we take another break. Back again with Hanson in at #15 and hitting his running corner clotheslines. Kazarian is smart enough to run the corners to avoid taking a shot, which isn’t something you see very often. Taylor runs Hanson over though and it’s Chris Sabin in at #16.
Sabin goes right after Kazarian due to old issues and it’s Bully Ray in at #17. Some right hands to almost everyone has Ray in trouble until it’s Ray Rowe in at #18. War Machine gets together but can’t eliminate Ray. Mark Briscoe is in at #19 for some Red Neck Kung Fu. Finally, in one of those dumb moves for the sake of nostalgia, freaking GLACIER is in at #20. For some reason Cody is terrified of a 53 year old former jobber to the stars as we take a third break.
Back with a final group of Glacier, Lethal, Ray, Hanson, Rowe, Kazarian, Taylor, Sabin and Gordon (How is he still in this?). War Machine tosses Taylor and Rowe kicks Sabin out as well. Ray dumps Glacier (turning Ray heel for a few seconds) and gets rid of War Machine without too much effort.
Gordon slugs away at Bully but has to save himself from a backdrop. An enziguri drops Ray but a springboard takes too long, allowing Kazarian to eliminate Gordon. Kazarian and Lethal fight on the top until Frankie is shoved down, setting up What’s Up with Lethal playing D-Von.
Lethal and Ray slug it out with Bully being tossed but Kazarian saves himself on the apron again. A cutter drops Kazarian again but here’s Daniels for a distraction as Kazarian is eliminated. Naturally the referee doesn’t see it so Kazarian gets back in, only to be sent into Daniels. Kazarian bails to the floor so Daniels takes the Lethal Injection, allowing Kazarian to eliminate Lethal for the win and the title shot at 28:56.
Rating: B-. Not bad at all here as I didn’t know who was going to win until the ending and there were several possible outcomes. Kazarian winning is an interesting idea as it sets up a heel vs. heel match (kind of) next week. I didn’t think they would give us Lethal vs. Cody on such a nothing stage, but Kazarian is a fine choice for an opponent. They kept things moving here too and, save for Glacier as a stupid final entrant, there wasn’t anyone who felt out of place.
Post match the Addiction rips on the crowd and promises that Kazarian will take the title next week.
Overall Rating: B. The main event was the focus of the show but they threw in the opener to make things work a little bit better. I can live with something like this over something like a random midcard feud getting way more time than it needs. Good showing this week and having the title match next week is fine, especially with the Death Before Dishonor fallout likely coming the next week.
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Glacier is awesome! How did he not win?